I thought the margarita photo was a good opener for my May installment of Month Through My Lens. We celebrated Cinco de Mayo with some margaritas and crunchy black bean quesadillas. See photo below for the food portion of the meal.
This recipe was posted on thekitchn.com, a blog I love. It is from the cookbook Love Your Leftovers by Nick Evans. It is vegetarian, totally filling, delicious, and a perfect match for our Cinco de Mayo margs.
View from our deck.
Fun fact: did you know I work part time for a bakery? I sell their bread and other baked goods at farmers markets around town. Their bread is amazing. Smelling like bread after work is not a bad thing.
The result of working at the market is that sometimes I impulse shop at the market for dinner! The result one night was spinach pasta with Alaskan smoked salmon, cream sauce, parsley, and lemon.
My little plant friends I bought at the market. They are now happily living in larger pots on our balcony.
Fixings for fresh rolls. Recipe to come soon! Continue reading
Tag Archives: two coast kitchen
Super Bowl Cupcakes
As I have mentioned on this blog, I am from Seattle. I grew up with a little mix of girly/sporty. And as the father of two girls, I’m sure my dad appreciated the sporty side in me. Growing up, I have really fond memories of going to baseball games with my dad. Over the years, we have attended not only baseball games, but Sounders games (soccer), University of Washington football, basketball, and softball games, and Seahawks games.
I know this sounds like a sports post, but don’t worry… there will be food. Promise.
Over the years, Seattle sports teams have had highs and lows, moved away (yes I’m still bitter about the Sonics moving to Oklahoma City), and gone through many many changes. In 2005, the Seahawks made it to the Super Bowl, only to lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Besides Seattle’s two WNBA titles by the Storm, only the 1979 SuperSonics have brought a Championship title back to the city… that is until 3 weeks ago. Under the poise of 2nd year quarterback Russell Wilson, the Beast Mode of Marshawn Lynch, our unstoppable Legion of Boom Defense, and the best fans in the NFL – the 12th man, the Seattle Seahawks crushed the Denver Broncos and brought the Lombardi Trophy to Seattle.
Now, to the food part. For the past 5 years, I have been making cupcakes for Super Bowl parties. I always frost the teams logos on the top who make it to the big game. It’s a fun cooking and art project for me as I have to plan out the frosting colors, the design, and how it will fit on a cupcake! Here is a look back on some of the cupcakes from past Super Bowls.
New Orleans Saints vs. Indianapolis Colts
Now that’s a football play.
Continue reading
Caramelized Onion Frittata with Artichoke Hearts, Zucchini, and Goat Cheese
Eggs are amazing. There, I said it. You can do so many things with eggs, and they work for every meal. Frittatas are a great fridge cleaner – if you have some vegetable odds and ends, you can just throw them into the veggie saute mix before combining them with the eggs. For example you could add peppers, asparagus, leftover baked potato, or any kind of precooked meat (sausage, ham/canadian bacon/regular bacon, etc.)
For this frittata, I used zucchini, onion, and artichoke hearts (I LOVE artichoke hearts). Oh, and quite a bit of goat cheese because I also LOVE goat cheese. And goat cheese makes everything better. Well really any cheese… I digress.
The frittata comes together super quick, and with a finishing zap under the broiler, this parmesan topped fluffy egg ensemble can be eaten hot out of the oven, warm, or even cold the next day. Continue reading
Chicken Stock
For my first recipe, I decided to go with a staple – chicken stock. While I use canned or boxed chicken stock as default, home made always tastes better. Also, my caring instincts kicked in when J got sick and chicken soup has magical curing powers (it’s science), so it all fell into place.
Yes, that is carpet in the background. Creativity is key when your kitchen doesn’t have good light.
I tried making chicken stock once before with the chicken carcass along with the usual carrot, celery, onion in my crockpot, and I didn’t get the intense flavor I was looking for. This time, I tried using whole chickens and the result was much better.
A few notes on the stock. Because of the long cook time, the stock cooks down which helps intensify flavor. Yes, 24 cups of water seems like a ton, but because it reduces, you won’t be getting 24 cups after you are done. You can also halve this recipe if you don’t have a pot that is big enough.
On this particular evening, I added frozen corn and peas to the stock, some of the shredded breast meat from the chicken, fresh chopped parsley and dill, and served it to my sick husband with toasted crusty bread on the side for dunking. Based on his health the next day, I’m still convinced chicken soup has special powers. Continue reading
Finally…
Well… it’s official! Welcome to the new blog!
Two newlyweds from opposite coasts (Seattle & New York) come together to document our kitchen adventures, restaurant visits and travel excursions with a whole lot of photos.
After many “so when are you going to start a food blog?” comments, I took the plunge and am going to make it happen (of course with a lot of help from my husband J). My Instagram and Facebook photos will now turn into blog posts.
I hope you enjoy the blog!
Cheers!
two coast kitchen 