Exploring Paris

Exploring Paris

by | Oct 25, 2017 | Vacation

Paris Fall 2017 street sign

We arrived in Paris sleepless and desperate for a shower that didn’t smell like eggs. Our AirBNB wasn’t available for a few hours, so we found a place to park our bags at a cafe a few blocks away. After several days of averaging around $75 a piece for a meal in Reykjavik, we ate like kings and splurged on a $22 five course brunch. After a nap and a shower, we regained the composure of normal humans and spent the evening meandering from Marais to the Eiffel Tower.

We spent the next few days in a similar fashion — walking too much and eating too much in between museum visits and trying to make it to as many of the shops on our bookmarks list as possible.

 

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Chestnut Sage Stuffed Squash

by | Nov 18, 2016 | Entrée, Food, Recipes, Vegetarian

I’ve been willfully ignoring the alarmingly warm November and going all in on squash season. Ed’s been working some late nights, and while my inclination is to crack open a box of mac n cheese and binge watch Netflix with cats, I’m hanging onto some of my pride with squashes full of grains. Nearly as easy, just as satisfying, and with a bright orange that wasn’t sprinkled out of a packet of powdered cheese.

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Chestnut Sage Stuffed Squash
 
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Autumn inspired comfort food featuring a cheesy grain blend and slow roasted acorn squash.
Author:
Recipe type: Entree
Serves: 6
Ingredients
Squash
  • 6 acorn squash
Stuffing
  • 1½ cups cous-cous
  • ⅓ cup Quinoa
  • ⅓ cup red lentils
  • 1 tbsp
  • 2.50 cup, Water
  • 3 Tbsp, Butter
  • 2 clove, Garlic, raw
  • ½ yellow onion
  • 2 oz mushrooms (I used a mix of crimini, oyster, and shitake)
  • 1 bunch sage
  • 1 tbsp flour
  • 5 sprigs fresh thyme
  • ½ cup vegetable stock
  • 1 ounce, Midnight Moon Aged Firm Goat Milk Cheese
To Finish
  • 3 tbsp pomegranate seeds
  • 2 chestnuts, roasted and coarsely ground
  • 1 ounce Parmesan
Instructions
  1. Halve the acorn squash and roast at 400* for 1 hour.
  2. While squash are roasting, dice onion, garlic, and mushrooms and saute on low in 3 tbsp butter.
  3. Once the onions are translucent, add flour and allow to thicken.
  4. Add vegetable stock, sage, thyme, and aged goat cheese. Reduce to low and cover.
  5. Meanwhile, bring 2.5 cups water to a boil and add salt, cous cous, quinoa, and lentils. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
  6. Remove grains from heat. Combine grains and sauce mixture, stirring to incorporate evenly.
  7. Evenly divide grain blend between the roasted squash halves. Top with chestnuts and grated parmesan.
  8. Broil until golden. Serve topped with pomegranate seeds and freshly chopped herbs.

Smoked Lamb Sandwich with Cherry Onion Jam

Smoked Lamb Sandwich with Cherry Onion Jam

by | Sep 9, 2015 | Entrée, Food, Recipes, Sandwiches, steve's deli

steve's deli, table magazine, lamb sandwich, cherry jam, savory jam, baguette, arugula, fall, food, recipe

A few weeks before our official opening for Steve’s Deli, Table Magazine asked us about our favorite fall sandwich. The issue dropped last week and we’re really excited to be a part of it. See our full recipe below and make sure to grab a copy of the current issue with some killer additions from Thin Man Sandwich Shop and The Vandal.

Ingredients

  • 1 baguette
  • 1/2 cup pitted sour cherries
  • 1/4 cup red onion chopped
  • 2 sprigs thyme
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 3 tablespoon butter
  • 2 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 1 lb boneless butterflied lamb leg
  • 4oz creamy firm cheese (we used Cypress Grove’s Lamb Chopper)
  • 1 bunch sage chopped into ribbons
  • salt and pepper
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
Preparation
For the jam:
  1. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a small sauce pan
  2. Add onions and cook until translucent
  3. Add thyme, cherries, balsamic vinegar, sugar and a pinch of salt, cover and cook on medium low for 15 minutes (until jammy).
  4. Remove from heat and reserve
For the lamb:
  1. Chop lamb into 1 inch chunks and generously season with salt and pepper.
  2. In a medium skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of butter and saute garlic.
  3. After about a minute, add lamb and sear on high until rare (about 3-5 minutes).
  4. Reduce heat and add your choice of cheese, top with a lid to melt.

Assembly

  1. Divide baguette into 4 sections
  2. Layer lamb and cheese, cherry jam
  3. Top with fresh sage and a squeeze of lemon juice
Sweet Potato Soup

Sweet Potato Soup

by | Mar 3, 2015 | Entrée, Food, Vegan, Vegetarian

As winter drudges on I find myself spending my lunch hour curled up by a space heater at my desk oggling photo after photo of soup on pinterest. One recipe in particular kept stopping me in my tracks, a cluster of vegetable based soups in bright technicolor that promised to detoxify my liver. Since I have been forced to adhere to high carb diet, our pantry was stocked with sweet potatoes so I thought I’d try my luck with this alluring orange number.

I’ll cut straight the chase on this one before we dive into the particulars. When you see a bowl of food this beautiful that also promises to rid your body of any number of toxins, the author probably hasn’t actually eaten it. If they have, I’m not really sure what their definition of “soup” is. I will categorize this more as “healthy” mashed potatoes, a little too sweet for my tastes with a one note flavor that had me fantasizing about Hearty Cheeseburger Soup by the time I’d made it through a quarter of the bowl. Yeah, thats right, Hearty Cheeseburger Soup.

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We made a few alterations to the original recipe as we went along, the most important of which was the cook time and temperature of the vegetables. The original recipe called to cook for 20 minutes at 329*, which after the timer went off I realized was completely insane. We upped the temperature and roasted for an additional 40 minutes. I’d recommend starting off at 400* and roasting for an hour at a minimum.

In the end I wish we had introduced more liquid and more heat to the soup. A little cayenne went a long way on making it more palatable, and I wish I had had the foresight to blend in more stock or coconut milk to improve the consistency. Overall I think it is a promising base that, while easy on the eyes, could use a bit of massaging before I’d recommend it as a memorable soup.

 

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Sweet Potato Soup
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Soup
Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
  • ½ cup cooked red lentils
  • 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut in cubes
  • 3 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 1 parsnip, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 1 onion, peeled and cut in quarters
  • 3 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • Pinch of chili powder
  • ¼ tsp sea salt
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • ½ inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
  • 1 tsp coconut oil
  • Fresh parsley, 1 teaspoon coconut milk, to garnish
Instructions
  1. Heat the oven to 400*
  2. Line a baking sheet with baking paper, add the sweet potato, carrots, parsnip, onion, and garlic, season with salt, chili, turmeric, and cumin, add the coconut oil and toss to combine.
  3. Roast for 1 hour then transfer into the blender.
  4. Add the warm vegetable broth, grated ginger, and cooked red lentils into the blender and process to obtain a smooth cream.
  5. Serve warm, garnished with fresh parsley.