Oatmeal Currant Scones

I took some time to think about what I could talk about in this blog post that I'm writing today. I hesitate to talk about being a vegetarian ALL the time because that might bore you all as readers. And since everyone is not vegetarian, I need to appeal to the masses. And I do picture just droves and droves of people reading this blog on a regular basis, and keeping the audience happy and entertained is key. And I can only mention Andy in so many paragraphs without it being overkill on you all as readers. And if I talk too much about swimming in the pool on a weekly basis for exercise, it just might stress Mom out.

Vegetarianism. If I must mention the vegetarian thing today, and I feel that I should, since this is a food blog after all, I will say that it is going very well. The vegetarian chili this past week with 2 beans and soy crumbles was very good. Yes I did say soy crumbles. Gasp. For those of you that don't know, you can find the soy crumbles in the frozen food aisle at the store. I was not even aware that a product known as soy crumbles even existed. I didn't bother to look at the ingredient list on the back of the package - because how you can take a soy product and make it taste like ground beef is just beyond me. It sounds odd yes, but you actually couldn't even tell a difference. After making a pan of cornbread, which Andy is completely in charge of, since his cornbread seems to be better than mine, it made a for a great complete meal throughout the week.

Andy and I have talked about using meat alternative products, and for the most part, we aren't really going to go down that path. It just seems counter-productive to give up meat and then load up your body with these "fake meats" with seasonings to taste like the original dish. Faux buffalo wings with buffalo sauce are just not all that appealing. Have an apple with some peanut butter instead. It is easier to just eat simple ingredients that aren't processed, fresh vegetables, and healthy grains. It is not only cheaper, but it is healthier, and you can easily find recipes to make on a weekly basis that taste good and are good for you.

Andy and I started the vegetarian kick on February 7th, which means this is day 51 of being vegetarian. As of right now, we are thinking of continuing this through the end of the year, but that could change. We shall see.

Brackets. Yes, I filled one out. No, I hadn't watched a single college basketball game leading up to the big dance, but filled one out anyway. I learned that picking Louisville to go to the Final Four because I like Rick Pitino was not such a great idea. Having 3 number one seeds in the Final Four was also not a good idea, and I reminded myself going into the tournament, that things rarely shake out like that. So, I'm hoping Connecticut pulls out a victory to win the tournament, so that I have something to be excited about.

Scones are one of my new "must-haves" in the freezer at all times. I was never much of a scone eater, but ever since I got my very own coffee pot, scones have been making a more often than not appearance in my kitchen. When I'm at home, I'm set on making my own coffee, grinding my own beans, and having a pot of coffee ready in the kitchen for most of the morning. I can't even tell you the last time I have been to the Starbucks by my apartment? Who is this person speaking here? Me, not go to Starbucks everyday? I never thought that would happen!

Now, this isn't to say that I don't frequent Starbucks on a weekly basis. I still get my daily cup of coffee at work from the Starbucks in the building, but I now make my own coffee on the weekend and also when I work from home on Wednesdays. My favorite part of the day when making coffee is the smell that arises from grinding the beans and also going back to the coffeepot at various points throughout the morning to "top off" my cup. I love sitting down on Wednesdays to my cup of coffee, a fresh scone that has been defrosted out of the freezer and heated up in the oven, and some apricot jam. It is a once a week treat that I intend on keeping.

I have quite a few scone recipes bookmarked on my Epicruious app, and I intend to get through all of them at somepoint. I had never baked or cooked with currants before, so this was something new. I easily found them at Whole Foods, but didn't have luck when I was at Jewel to get them. You could easily substitute any dried fruit here if currants aren't available to you. These scones were so good. I still have some in my freezer and intent on making them last for another couple of weeks. These scones do not disappoint. They have a ton of flavor, and just go so well with coffee. Make them for your weekend treat!

Oatmeal Currant Scones

adapted from Epicruious.com

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1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar plus additional for sprinkling

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/3 cups old-fashioned oats

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces

Finely grated zest from 1 large navel orange

2/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk plus additional for brushing

1/2 cup dried currants

Preheat oven to 425ºF. Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, and salt into a food processor, then add oats and pulse 15 times. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with small (pea-size) lumps, then transfer to a bowl. Stir together zest and buttermilk. Toss currants with oat mixture, then add buttermilk, stirring with a fork just until a dough forms. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead 6 times. Pat dough into a 1-inch-thick round, dusting surface with more flour if necessary. Cut out as many scones as possible with cutter, dipping it in flour before each cut, and transfer scones to a lightly buttered large baking sheet. Gather scraps into a ball, then pat into a round and cut out more scones in same manner. Brush tops of scones with buttermilk and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Bake in middle of oven until golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes, and transfer to a rack.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Roasted Pork Loin with Brussels Sprouts, Shallots, and Garlic

I feel like I'm hungry. A lot. I've been swimming almost 4 times a week now, and there is something about swimming that just triggers the appetite. I'm not sure what it is. I'm swimming about 3200m twice a week, and anywhere between 1800-2400m twice a week. Swimming is such a fantastic workout, and one that is really easy on my leg. I never leave the gym in pain and I can tell that my legs are getting stronger just from being in the pool more often. I can't tell you how good I feel after getting out of the pool. Completely exhausted and relaxed all at the same time. It feels good to be working out again on a regular basis. 6 months was a long time coming, and a long time to wait to get back to doing something that I love so much.

I've even joined up with Andy's swim group to participate in their weekly swim class. I've never been officially taught how to swim, or even worked on that many swimming techniques, but this class is proving to be extremely helpful already. Granted, it takes me about two tries to get the jist of each drill, but I can tell a difference by the end of the class in the quality of my swim stroke. Now if I could just get a bit faster....I would be 1 happy camper. Maybe the vegetarian lifestyle will help with that.

Week 6 of the vegetarian lifestyle is still in full swing. I'm already starting to recipe plan for next week, and here's what I'm thinking: Spinach Lasagna (I vow to not make it crunchy this time), Vegetable Enchiladas (using flour tortillas and not corn so they don't fall apart immediately), Soba Noodle and Vegetable Stir Fry (never cooked with Soba noodles before), and a Two-Bean Vegetarian Chili (because two beans are better than one). I'm starting to find the appropriate line between meals that make for great lunch leftovers and meals that are best to be served and eaten right away. For weekly meal planning, I'm allowing myself one non-leftover recipe per week. After that, the juice that goes into planning meals like that is not worth the squeeze. There are not enough minutes in the day to be making a big home-cooked vegetarian meal every night of the week.

So cooking at home vegetarian style is going great. It starts to get a little tricky when it comes to being social and going out to dinner. Last weekend we wanted to go out to dinner and searched and searched through menus of various restaurants in the area. Nothing was jumping out at us. I mean, aside from the bean tacos, and the spaghetti with marinara, I can't say there are a lot of vegetarian main dish meals available to the average diner. Funny how I hadn't ever noticed this before. One of my favorite past times, other than working out, laying on the couch at night, searching for recipe, and menu planning, happens to be trying new restaurants. The excitement of dining out while vegetarian, just really isn't there.

I want to start compiling a list of go-to vegetarian restaurants that I can have in my arsenal. I've started to ask around and have gotten some great recommendations already. If you have any to add, just let me know. And even better, if you are up for trying one of them with me, I'm all for that as well.

Chicago Diner – 3411 N Halsted
Earwax café – 1561 N Milwaukee
Handlebar grill – 2311 W North Ave
Flying Saucer (great brunch) – 1123 N California
Green Zebra – 1460 W Chicago
Sultans Market (middle eastern) – one on North Ave and one on Clark St
Dharma Garden – 3109 W Irving park
Victory’s Banner (great breakfast)- 2100 W Roscoe
Karyn's - one on North Ave. and one on Halsted

Mana Food Bar - 1742 W. Division

It feels a little odd to be posting a non-vegetarian recipe on the blog today, especially when eating meat hasn't been the norm around here lately. However, this recipe has been sitting in my "to post" pile and I just cannot look at it for another week. I made this Roasted Pork Loin recipe during the blizzard. I figured I needed a dish that would last throughout a couple of meals, and I needed something warm, comforting and slightly healthy. I mean, what's not to love about Brussels sprouts, apples, shallots, potatoes, carrots and garlic? The original recipe did not call for apples or potatoes, but since I had them on hand, I decided it might be a good idea to get everything into the pot.

The pork was really, really good. It doesn't get dried out while cooking because of the mustard schmear that you slather all over the meat. And despite popular belief, the roast is actually done in no time at all.

Roasted Pork Loin with Brussels Sprouts, Shallots, and Garlic

adapted from Alex Guarnaschelli

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1/2 cup dijon mustard

1/4 cup grainy mustard

1 lemon, zested and juiced, plus 1 lemon, zested and juiced

8 sprigs fresh thyme

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 pork loin

Salt and pepper

12 cloves garlic, separated but not peeled

2 cups Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed and outer leaves removed

1 apple chopped

1 red potato, diced

3 shallots, peeled

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, add the Dijon mustard, grainy mustard, the zestand juice from 1 of the lemons, the fresh thyme and the butter.Whisk together and set aside. Heat a large cast iron skillet over high heat and add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil to the pan. Season the meat on all sides with salt and pepper, to taste, and gingerly put the pork loin in the hot oil. Brown the pork, without moving it around, for 3 minutes. Use a pair of kitchen tongs or 2 large spoons, to gently, but firmly, rotate the pork a 1/4 turn in the oil. Repeat this process turning the pork every 3 to 4 minutes. The most important thing? Be patient. Get the other vegetables together as the meat browns.

For your "Built-In Vegetables":

Meanwhile, toss the garlic cloves, Brussels sprouts and shallots in a bowl with the remaining 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil. Season with salt, to taste, and stir in the chili flakes. Heat a roasting pan over medium-high heat. Arrange the vegetables evenly in the bottom of the roasting pan and cook just until the vegetables begin to caramelize, about 5 minutes.

When the pork is browned on all sides, remove it from the skillet and put it on a rack in the roasting pan, flesh side up, fatty side down.

In the same cast iron pan that was used to brown the pork, discard some of the leftover fat, leaving about 1 to 2 tablespoons in the pan. Add the diced bread and toast over low heat. Remove to a paper towel lined plate and set aside until service.

Take care to disperse the vegetables so the heat in the oven can circulate around and under the pork as it cooks. Pour the mustard mixture over the pork. Turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees F and put the roasting pan in the center of the oven and roast for 30 minutes. Test the temperature in the center of the loin. You are looking for an "ideal" internal temperature of 90 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Roast for 10 to 15 additional minutes and test again. You are looking for an ideal temperature of 125 degrees F. Remove the pork from the pan and allow it to "rest" for 10 minutes.

Put the roasting pan on top of the stove, over low heat, and add thevinegar and the juice and zest from the remaining lemon. Stir toblend with the vegetables. Taste for seasoning.

Arrange the pork in the center of a platter (sliced or whole) and spoon the vegetables and any cooking liquid over the top. Garnishwith croutons and serve.

Potato Asparagus Frittata

What did everyone give up for Lent this year? I'm not Catholic, but like the challenge of giving something up every year that is sometimes a temptation in my everyday life. So the results for this year? I'm giving up salting my food once it is plated (unless using salt while actually cooking a meal), eating after dinner (the nightly glass of chocolate milk is going away for awhile), and drinking wine (Andy gave it up as well as Ironman training is beginning, so I figured I would just go along on this one). 3 things this year. So far, so good on all 3 fronts. I did accidentally take a bite of Andy's cut up apple, that we apparently salts?? Who salts a cut-up apple? I will dismiss that slight hiccup, and continue on. I will admit that not salting the boiled cabbage, potatoes, and carrots last night was really hard, and not as tasty, but I survived the meal experience sans the salt.

Yesterday, I was in Starbucks at about 3:15. With the amount of people that were out in the city for St. Patrick's Day, Andy and I were both surprised at how quiet the Starbucks was for a Saturday afternoon. A 3:15 coffee hour is way late for my normal schedule. My coffee time is usually between 12:15 and 12:45, and never straying too far from that gap. Creature of habit? Yes. After starting the morning at Fleet Feet Sports yesterday for the Soldier Field 10 Kickoff with our DetermiNation team, and a good 3200 yards swimming in the pool, followed by some polenta/chickpeas/marinara for lunch, somehow it was already mid-afternoon. Because of my late coffee hour, I was rewarded with a treat in the Starbucks line. Apparently, this weekend, if you get coffee between the hours of 2-5, you get two free samples of their newest pastry selections that they are rolling out. I disregarded the fact that Andy had given up sweets for Lent, and I happily accepted the barista's offer to choose my snacks.

Now usually, this wouldn't be something I would jump at the opportunity for, as sweet treats aren't necessarily my thing. However, after swimming 2 miles in the pool, I seem to be constantly hungry for just about anything, so I was willing to give them a try. Last Tuesday, I swam in the morning, came home, ate breakfast, got to work, and by 9 o'clock I was already craving my lunch that I had brought in the fridge. Hungry for your lunch at 9am is never a good way to start your morning. I went with the red velvet mini whoopie pie and the mini lemon square. I can't remember what my other options were. My thoughts after trying a bite of each? Eh. Not all that exciting in my mind. Both options were overly sweet and didn't necessarily taste homemade. I didn't finish either. So while I love Starbucks, and love that they are trying something new, I didn't have an overwhelming response of enthusiasm from my first go-round with this.

Breakfast for dinner. It's quite a concept. I could actually eat breakfast at any meal throughout the day. Ironically, I just finished having a bowl of cereal, Kashi Go Lean for anyone who is wondering, and a chopped up banana for lunch. I can eat eggs for any meal of the day, and I find that breakfast foods are always on hand and they are relatively easy to prepare. Oatmeal is another key staple for various meals throughout the week. We always had breakfast for dinner at least one night a week when growing up. It usually rotated between Aunt Jemima's pancakes on the griddle, sometimes with blueberries, french toast, waffles on a waffle iron that looks like it is from the 70's, and omelettes. I love all of these options. I'm bringing back the breakfast for dinner trend, or trying to at least. While challah french toast would definitely qualify as a breakfast for dinner meal, this potato asparagus frittata recipe is more up my alley.

A frittata is really easy to make actually. I sauteed the diced up potato in the skillet, added some asparagus and cherry tomatoes, added the eggs to let it set on the stove, and then finished it in the broiler to cook all the way through. Not only is it a cheap, protein filled meal, but it also is a blank canvas for whatever you might have in your refrigerator. There was plenty of leftover frittata and I was a little worried as to whether or not it would keep for lunch, and it definitely did. It tasted good both cold and heated up as leftovers. Frittatas will definitely be on my weekly recipe list - especially in the vegetarian world - when eggs make great proteins for meals.

Potato Asparagus Frittata

adapted from The New York Times

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2 red potatoes

1 pound asparagus, trimmed

Handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil or butter

1/2 onion, chopped

6 eggs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Microwave the potatoes in a microwave safe bowl until slightly tender, about 5 minutes. Once cool, dice the potatoes, and saute them in the pan with a tablespoon of olive oil. Remove from heat and cool. Put the asparagus in the saute pan and saute until tender with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Remove from heat. Add the onion in the same skillet, with salt and pepper, stirring occasionally, until soft.

Add the asparagus back to the pan. Add the cherry tomatoes. Turn the heat to low. Preheat the oven to 400. Beat the eggs with some salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the Parmesan. Pour the egg mixture into the skillet. Cook, undisturbed, until the mixture is nearly firm, about 15 minutes.

Nestle the potatoes into the top of the frittata. Finish it in the oven until it is set. Serve warm or at room temperature. Top with remaining asparagus and tomatoes, if you have any.

Challah French Toast w/ Caramel Banana Syrup

Week 5 of going vegetarian is in full swing, and to be completely honest, it is getting easier as time goes by. Shocker. The staples are beginning to present themselves: quinoa stir fry, tofu and steamed broccoli, sauteed vegetables over rice, vegetable tacos, and pasta with cherry tomatoes, garlic and basil. When we eat the weekly quinoa stir fry, I think Andy says aloud "that was a great meal" at least 3 times between the start and end of dinner. I secretly want to record him saying that, so I can replay it when things don't go so well in the kitchen (I won't mention the crunchy spinach lasagna I made on Sunday night).

Andy: How's the lasagna?

Emily: Uhhhh...well.....a little dry tasting.

Emily: What do you think?

Andy: It's kind of crunchy. I mean the middle two layers taste normal, but the top and bottom are crunchy.

Emily: I know. I honestly don't know where I went wrong

The usual quinoa stir fry involves quinoa, a can of drained chickpeas, 1 red pepper, 1 yellow squash, 1 zucchini, a few sliced almonds, and a few tablespoons of a low calorie stir fry sauce. It is so simple. Filling. And delicious.

One of the things I'm noticing as going through this process, is that vegetarian meals make for fantastic leftovers. In general, they are healthy options which make for great light lunches, they keep well, they are easy to heat up, and they fill you up during the day. There was never anything appealing in my mind about reheating a grilled chicken breast in the microwave for lunch, which is probably why I never warmed up to the idea of bringing it as a leftover. But leftover sauteed vegetables over rice? Absolutely. I've had some amazing meals leftover for lunch, which have easily trumped the old stand-bys of oatmeal with bananas and apple with peanut butter.

The other thing I am noticing, is that a vegetarian lifestyle is relatively cheap. On Sunday, I went to the store and bought groceries for the entire week - lunches and dinners included through Saturday, and my bill at Jewel? $68. Now that is a deal. At Whole Foods, I could by $68 in guacamole alone. Ok, so maybe that is an exaggeration. I've purchased more zucchini, quinoa, chickpeas, and tofu in the past 5 weeks than I would have ever thought possible. The $15/lb kabobs at the Whole Foods meat counter are no longer calling my name and the $22/lb ahi tuna purchasing has just gone on a short hiatus.

At the beginning of the year, Andy and I decided we needed to come up with a collection of awesome recipes to always have on hand in the kitchen. I think the goal here is to come up with some tried and true dishes when it comes to things we like to eat on a regular basis. I always had many of the same dishes growing up: goulash with elbow macaroni noodles and meat sauce, baked chicken and rice, macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, soup and grilled cheese, meatloaf, waffles, pancakes, and so on. I know exactly how those recipes that I had growing up taste. There was never any variance in what we were making, and that is what makes those meals such great memories. Looking back, I realize that it was slightly boring, but it works. I want to have those go-to dishes in my kitchen. I want to make the same thing year after year and begin to have those classic recipes of my own. Ideally, these could be thrown into a cookbook as time goes on. I won't try and get ahead of myself though.

I've been charged with creating the perfect french toast recipe - and let it be made known - that through past experiences, I am not all that great at making french toast. Andy is in charge of creating the perfect homemade marinara recipe. For people that eat pasta every Friday night, an over the top marinara recipe is a must. I guess this process just doesn't happen overnight. In my style of not having a lot of patience for things, I'm telling myself that I can't just create one really good french toast recipe and be done. Although it sounds ideal, I probably need to try at least 10 different options before picking my perfect recipe.

In the past, I've made french toast with your average loaf of wheat bread. I soaked it in an egg bath for a few seconds on either side, and put it on the griddle. The result? Slightly dry, not all that tasty, french toast. And the Log Cabin Lite syrup that I grew up on, just doesn't do anything to really make the french toast jump out at you. I also tried a baked french toast recipe last year. It was an epic fail. Some of the bread/egg mixture was cooked, some wasn't. I threw most of it away.

So needless to say, I was a little worried when officially trying my first round of finding the perfect french toast recipe. I officially declared aloud to Andy that I was nervous in how things were going to turn out. For my first recipe, I turned to Ina Garten, who is a master at cooking just about everything. I had heard a lot about challah bread and it being key when making a french toast recipe. I don't believe I have ever purchased challah bread, or if I had, I don't really remember it. Next time I try a recipe with challah bread, I hope to make it from scratch, and put my own twist on it by making challah cinnamon bread.

I altered Ina's recipe just a touch, leaving out the honey and the orange zest, but increasing the amount of vanilla added, and throwing in some cinnamon. I initially wanted to stay away from the Log Cabin syrup for my first go round, and decided on a banana syrup. I used a little less sugar than the recipe called for.

The outcome? The french toast was really, really, really good. The best I've ever made. Now is it the best that I can possibly make? That I am not sure of. The bread was cooked all the way through, but not dry. It had an eggy bite to it, and tasted of cinnamon and vanilla. The syrup was good, but not great. I liked having the bananas in there, but it was just too sweet. I need something a little different. I'm tempted to just make a decision, and go forth with this recipe from here on out, but I think I can do even better. This is an amazing recipe. Andy agreed.

And the good thing about french toast? It can replace the Sunday morning staple of having eggs and bacon for breakfast/lunch. Last time I checked, bacon doesn't fall in the vegetarian category.

Challah French Toast w/ Caramel Banana Syrup

french toast adapted from Ina Garten

syrup adapted from Epicurious.com

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4 eggs

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 slices challah bread

cooking spray

In a Pyrex 9x13 baking dish, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Cut the challah in 3/4 inch thick slices. Soak the 4 pieces of bread in the egg mixture.

Heat a griddle to 350 degrees. Spray griddle with cooking spray. Add the soaked bread and cook for 5 minutes on each side, until nicely browned. Make sure the french toast is cooked through in the middle.

Caramel Banana Syrup

1 banana, peeled, sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Melt butter in pan. Add sugar and dissolve. Allow sugar and butter to start to caramelize and thicken, about 4 minutes. Add the chopped bananas and cook on low heat for 2-3 minutes. Add in the vanilla. Top on french toast.