I’ve found a lovely way to cook- well, just about any kind of protein- and its splendid results are something I’d like to share with you. The secret is yogurt, my friends – a yogurt marinade, especially a thick yogurt, will break down the toughness of your protein and leave a soft, pliable, delicious meat/fish. I’ve been doing it with yellowfin tuna and it’s scrumptious. Grill it with some lemon, herbs, and keep on some of the yogurt coating – and it’ll be a light, summery dish.

Yogurt-Herb Yellowfin Tuna

Ingredients:

• 2 yellowfin tuna steaks, sashimi-grade
• 1 heaping cup yogurt (suggestion: greek gods honey greek yogurt, organic)
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/4 tsp garam masala
• 1.5 tblspn herbes de provence
• 1 lemon, halved
• 2 tsp organic canola oil, for grilling
• large-grain sea salt & freshly-cracked black pepper, to taste

Process:

1. Place yogurt, herbs, garam masala, and honey in a medium-sized bowl and gently mix without ruining the thick yogurt texture. Pat down your tuna to keep it as dry as possible, then place in bowl and cover entirely with yogurt marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 2+ hours (up 24 hours)
2. Heat a cast-iron grillpan with the canola oil; once hot enough (test by sprinkling in a little pepper- if it sizzles, it’s ready) and place in the tuna steaks, keeping on a thick coating of the marinade if possible.
3. Grill for about 3-4 minutes per side, until nice grill marks heat onto the fish (the honey should help caramelize into a nice colour)
4. Serve with lemon halves. Pairs well with a starch like a baked sweet potato half or some fresh-roasted corn.

Simple and easy, this is a great way to jazz up some fish and ensure its tenderness. The grilling will allow for a crispier interiour without ruining the soft integrity of the fish’s insides. Cut along the grain and it’ll fall like butter!

Oh, yes. I’m not saying 12 for exaggeration’s sake- this monstrosity of a dessert is twelve moist, crunchy, and amazing layers of beauty. Baklava is traditionally relatively thin- 4-6 layers as a max- and fairly bite-sized. These ones are diamond-esque shaped (hey, I tried) and can happily feed two people as an entire dessert in and of itself. They may be a caloric nightmare, but they’re a tasty dream, so why not treat yourself to one as a special occasion? :)

12-Layer Baklava

Recipe Adapted from Baklava by LolFoodie

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 package (1 lb) organic filo dough
• 2 cups walnuts, whole
• 1.5 heaping cup pistachios, shelled (be liberal on the pistachios, they’re meant to be the star here)
• 1 cup almonds, whole, dry roasted
• 2 sticks of soy butter (sadly you really can’t cut this out, but at least it’s for a whole pan of baklava)
• 2 tsp cinnamon (I put in 3)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• pinch of nutmeg, cloves, and ginger

Syrup Ingredients:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup clover honey (or wildflower, if you’ve got it)
• 2/4 cup room-temperature filtered water
• 1 teaspoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice (if you’re Italian, that means 2-3 tbl instead)
• 1/2 tsp each of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, coriander
• a tiny pinch of lemon zest (again, if you’re Italian, go over on that amount (which you would do, anyway))

Process:

1. Syrup first – and it’s going to boggle you as it did I, but it’s okay, trust that this works. Take a medium saucepot and place all the syrup ingredients in it on low heat. Cook this down for 15-20 minutes- the longer you reduce it, the stickier and thicker your syrup will be. I left mine on for a good 20 minutes. Let this sit at room temperature to cool while you prepare the filling – it’ll coagulate and thicken and become glorious.
2. Place walnuts, pistachios, almonds, filling spices and salt in a food processor until appropriately broken down (I liked mine to be on the chunkier side, but yours can be as powder-y as you like) and set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and thoroughly butter all sides (up to the very top) of a baking dish (I used a 9 x 9 pyrex to get the super thickness going- if you’d rather thinner, use a larger rectangular dish)
4. You’re going to have to work quickly here- first, place the remaining butter minus what you used to coat the dish into a microwaveable bowl and mirowave until liquid. Prepare a pastry brush.
5. Take one layer of filo and place it into the bottom of the dish. It’s going to be too big, and that’s all right – just fold the sides. Brush it with butter, and repeat with two more sheets, buttering each time.
6. Spoon on about 3-4 tbl of the nut mixture evenly onto the filo. Then take 3 more filo sheets and add them one at a time, brushing with butter and folding over to fit- or you can cut and trim and just treat them as two sheets each, it’s up to you. Keep repeating this process of filo layering, buttering, and placing the nut mixture, until you place your last 2-3 sheets of filo right on top. Butter the top generously (of course).
7. Place in the oven for 35-45 minutes (depending on the heat of your oven) or until the top is golden brown (see below picture). You can cut them prior to baking if you like, but my father (whom I made these for) suggested cutting after so that they’d be more moist inside. That’s your choice!
8. Remove from oven once golden brown and let sit 5 minutes. Then, using a sharp knife, patience, and gritted teeth, cut them (roughly) into large diamonds. Get your now-thick syrup out and douse the whole thing with all the syrup, making sure to get into all the cracks.
9. Let sit another 15-20 minutes until the syrup is well absorbed. It’ll actually be better the next day once it’s been fully saturated with honeyed goodness, but if you must serve it now, wait a half hour after syruping to ensure moistness all over.

Baklava is my father’s favourite dessert, and I owed him some since months ago :) so this was for him. I think next time I’ll try thinner ones with all pistachio or almost all, at any rate…. but these were delicious and so gargantuan that they made for a fun picture. As a note- the syrup for me was very watery for a long time- hence my cooking it down lengthily- but the second I took it off the heat, it began to thicken- so don’t be alarmed if it takes its time becoming a syrup! Just trust in it.

I say Greek-inspired… that’s a loose term. Slightly crazed is what I was, when I had the sudden and inexplicable urge for a scoop of vanilla’d goodness, and confusion as to how to make it have a bit more ‘oomf’. My mother had gifted me with some incredibly delicious fruit that would not last the weekend I planned to spend at the house with my family, and thus I needed to finish it prior to leaving the apartment. The solution? This yummy and delicious concoction that I’m, at least for the purposes of this blog entry, going to assume has some vague Greek roots to justify its title.

Greek-Inspired Ice Cream Snack

Ingredients:

• 2 medium-sized scoops of low-fat vanilla ice cream (or Greek yogurt, to make it more apt)
• 1/3 – 1/2 cup Tuscan melon balls
• 1/4 cup fresh raspberries
• 1.5 tablespoons toasted almond slivers
• 1 tablespoon clover honey (or the honey of your choice)
• large sprinkle of large-grain sea salt

Assemble in the order of the ingredients: ice cream or yogurt on bottom, then fruit, then almonds, honey, and salt. It’s this explosion of taste of tart and sweet that’s just delicious and unique. I really enjoyed the contrasting textures and degrees of sweetness, and the stickiness of the honey. You could switch out different fruits, or perhaps even switch the almonds for pistachios to get a more baklava-inspired dish… maybe add some crushed rose petals… very open to experimentation!

If you’re like me, you’re a fan of Jamba Juice. For those who haven’t the luxury of having a Jamba near them, it’s your standard juice/smoothie bar/stop with a variety of healthy, thick smoothies (try their peanut butter and granola ones… now that is THICK!). They’re yummy, and being a creature of habit, I get the same one every time (I’ve experimented with a few others over the years, but always come back to this one)- the Banana Berry. It’s a delicious smoothie, full of banana and blueberries and who knows what else (their recipes are, of course, secret). Oddly, I’m not a big banana fan, but something about the taste, texture, and viscosity of this smoothie makes me happy. So, naturally, I sought to recreate this happiness at home.

I’ve attempted to get this recipe down many a time and am happy to say I’ve finally got it. This may not be the perfect way- and you may find a variant you like better (not everyone happens to have raspberry sorbet on hand)- but this tastes really, really close to the Jamba version, so why not make it yourself at home and save?

Banana Berry Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 small to medium-sized, incredibly ripe banana (so ripe it won’t hold its shape. THAT ripe.)
• 1 tablespoon raspberry sorbet
• 2/3 cup natural vanilla ice cream
• 1 cup frozen strawberries, chopped coarsely
• 1/4 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/4 cup organic skim milk
• 1 tsp clover honey
• sprinkling of sea salt

Process:

To quote Selena Gomez in her Borden Milk commercials, it’s “seriously delicious”. If you’re looking for a healthier alternative, substitute the ice cream for low-fat vanilla yogurt and cut down a bit on the milk (unless if you like it to be thinner, in which case by all means keep the liquidyness!). Yum yum yum.

Oh, goodness, this was a yummy one. H and I were searching through potential victims for our weekly cooking date and I had happened upon this one on David Lebovitz (he’s one of my culinary idols, for his post on the boiled tart crust, if nothing else) earlier that week and was in love. (sorry, boyfriend, but no worries, I’m not leaving you for tomato and goat cheese!) Plus, this was a fabulous opportunity to break out three birthday presents- the food processor from the boyfried (!!!), the silpat from H; and the lovely ceramic tart dish from my parents. :) Opportunities to use exciting new gifts? Yes, please!

We followed it really quite precisely according to the recipe, and it was delicious. We had leftover ingredients and thus used the silpat to line the bottom of a sheet pan with the leftover dough made free-galette style, basil-less because the sister tends to not be too crazy about fresh basil and I didn’t want her missing out on the tart. Because, really, no one should miss out on this sort of thing. Mmmmh.

Tomato & Goat Cheese Tart

Following David Lebovitz’s French Tomato Tart, adapted from A Culinary Journey in Gascony

Ingredients (because ours differed slightly):

• 1 1/2 cups organic AP flour
• 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, cut into cubes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg, cage-free, brown
• 3 tablespoons cold water
• 1 1/2 cups (210 g) flour
• 1.5-2 tablespoons Dijon mustard (we used Grey Poupon)
• 8 large roma tomatoes, ripe (quantity will vary based on tomato size and your tomato preferences
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• a large amount of fresh basil (we chopped it, came out to probably around 4 tablespoons)
• 8 ounces fresh goat cheese, sliced into rounds about 3/4-inch thick (we used Montchevre)
• 2 tablespoons clover honey for drizzling
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Process:

Visit David! (Recipe at the very bottom- we followed the same process, save for using the food processor to mix the tart dough; adding basil in stead of other herbs (both below and on top of the goat cheese- see pictures below for process); etc.

We glazed both tarts- the galette and the traditional one- with clover honey prior to baking. We also greatly abused the large one with fresh basil, throwing on gobs of it (I adore basil, and definitely got this from my mother. Best herb ever, hands-down) so feel free to switch it up (David used thyme and a few other herbs in its stead). The sister keeps asking for a repeat performance of this one and the boyfriend didn’t get to taste since he wasn’t hanging out with us that night, which means this one is very likely to happen again in the near-future (as in today or tomorrow… which means I’ll be 7 behind for here, I think…. aye.)

In other news, I’ve discovered that there’s a large, bountiful rosemary plant right outside my building, on the corner. I have plans to go down sneakily around midnight, clad fully in black, and secretly snip a sprig or two to use in my next night of culinary inspiration…or to use for making rosemary skewers… just don’t tell anyone, please. Shhhhhhh.

So on my week of breading (yes, this post is late) the boyfriend had friends over for boardgaming and I thus decided on yet another loaf to entertain with. For this one I wanted to try a honey wheat bread, but added in a small army of herbs to add a robust flavour. And, ah, they certainly did! This bread was incredibly moist, and so good warm out of the oven. I liked it a bit less once cooled down, but the crust in particular was fantastic. Definitely a winner to make again, and very simple, as yet again it’s a beer bread! The use of a Blue Moon beer in making this gave it a very light citrus taste that came out only on the very tip of your tongue, before being wrapped in rosemary and honey. Try this mouthwatering bread out and you’ll see everyone in the house/apartment flock to the wafting deliciousness out of the oven.

Honey Wheat Herb Beer Bread

Adapted from / variant of Farmgirl Fare’s Beyond-Easy Beer Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 12-oz bottle Blue Moon beer
• 1/3 cup clover (or your preference) honey
• 1 tablespoon each of dried rosemary, mexican oregano
• 1 teaspoon each of dried thyme, basil
• 1 clove garlic, minced and smashed
• 1/4 cup grated San Pietro cheese
• 1 cup organic all-purpose flour
• 2 cups organic whole wheat flour
• 1 tblspn granulated sugar, baking powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp large rock sea salt for garnish
• 1 egg  + sprinkle of san pietro for garnish

Process:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Mix together all ingredients other than the beer and honey- San Pietro, herbs, garlic, flours, sugar, salt, and baking powder, in a large mixing bowl. Make sure that these are evenly distributed- once the beer is in, you don’t want to overmix, so it’s essential to make sure that things are as uniform- or not- as you’d like at this point.
3. Then add the honey in and mix slowly, being sure not to mix too much!
4. Add the beer a bit at a time in a steady stream, mixing as little as possible. There may be a few small clumps of flour that remain unmixed- despite the strong urge to mix them in thoroughly, don’t- just know that the baking process will fix it for you :)
5. Grease a bread pan with soy butter and pour in the dough. Crack the egg into a small mixing bowl and beat thoroughly. Take a pastry or basting brush and brush on the egg , then sprinkle on large sea salt and extra cheese if you’d like acrispier crust (if not, leave out the extra cheese).
6. Place the bread in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 50 min – 1 hour, until the middle is cooked through (use a toothpick) and the top has a rich golden hue. Cool on a wire cooling rack once cool enough to handle quickly, and then transfer to a cutting board and slice it up!

Seriously. Try it. Count to 5, see how long it takes for people to come knocking and ask if you can cut them a slice. Makes for a perfect gift,t oo, just wrap it in some parchment paper and add a ribbon or some twine!