Blueberry Cream Scones

Oh hey there blogosphere.

Apparently, I decided to take an extended vacation from blogging. The sad thing is that I don’t really have an excuse. Posting kept being pushed back with another, “I’ll do that next week,” or, “I’m too tired to write tonight,” or, perhaps even worse, “That’s not blog-worthy.” Fail, Rosemary, fail.

The other sad thing is that it’s not like I haven’t been cooking. I have so many pictures of food it’s unhealthy. I’m totally that hipster who only takes pictures of food–but I don’t post them to Instagram or a tumblr. I’m like the not-cool, cool kid. Whoops.

So today marks my return to blogging. And I bring you some blueberry scones as a peace offering. These were absolutely delicious. I LOVE scones. Love them. They take about ten minutes to put together, fifteen minutes to bake, and the reward is amazing. These scones are a good mix of flaky and fluffy (is that weird?), and they taste great the next day. I personally like them slightly warm so the berry juice gets flowing, but they taste just as good at room temperature.

Happy Eating!

Strawberry Chia Smoothie

I’m currently basking in post-exam bliss. 2L is almost over (still wrapping up clinic things), and I am ridiculously excited to enjoy the warmer weather before starting work for the summer (for which I’m also excited. Yes, I am a dork). Now if only it would stop raining.

Berries made their market debut a bit earlier this year, and they are actually quite sweet! I bought some strawberries at Trader Joe’s the other day for some strawberry shortcakes (recipe coming shortly. Oh. Ha. Pun.) and decided to use the leftovers for a smoothie–my new go-to study snack when working at home. I  recently picked up a bag of chia seeds at TJ’s and threw some of them in as well. I became fascinated by chia seeds after learning they are rich in Omega-3s and fiber. Plus they are supposed to help with weight loss (always a good thing in my book) and, unlike flax seeds, you don’t have to worry about grinding them up or having them go rancid. They’ve got a pretty long shelf life and can be eaten straight out of the package. I wonder what other 90’s fads will turn out to have crazy good health benefits…

Happy eating!

Mexican Wedding Cookies

2L classes have finally come to an end. It’s amazing how quickly this semester has flown by. In honor of the last day of class, I made some cookies for my clinic seminar on Monday. I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (I swear by the Williams-Sonoma recipe) and, one of my personal favorites, Mexican Wedding Cookies (also known as polvorones).

I’ve been making variations of these cookies since I was in high school. Personally, I like the traditional version, but know that you can easily switch things up and satisfy even the pickiest of eaters. By making some substitutions, these can be transformed into a nut-free and/or dairy-free treat. I’ve tried many a recipe, but these have definitely become my favorite. They are soft and easy to make, plus no fancy equipment required (alway a win in my book).

Also, Happy Birthday to my dear friend Jocelyn who puts up with my crazy shenanigans, accompanies me on random restaurant outings, humors (and tastes) my cooking experiments, listens to my life rants, helped me fight mice in my last apartment, willingly subjects herself to appearances on this blog, and is just a lovely person all around. Happy Birthday, Joss!! <3s you!

Happy eating!

Post-Travel Breakfast: Baked Eggs

Why, hello there! Sorry for going MIA again. It’s beginning to turn into a talent, if I do say so myself.

So what have I been up to for the past few weeks? Well, let’s see:

1. I finished my scholarly note. For those of you with a law student in your lives, you are probably well-aware that this behemoth of a legal paper is the bane of our existence. That being said, it felt incredibly rewarding when I turned in that thing. After massive amounts of editing, restructuring, then restructuring my restructuring, I was actually somewhat proud of the finished product–in that it contained at least one intelligible sentence. I consider that a success, don’t you?
2. I caught the plague! There was no Easter celebration at our house this year. Yours truly came down with the stomach bug from hell within 24-hours of reaching my mom’s house. I couldn’t keep anything down for two-and-a-half days. I’ll spare you the details, but  know that I ruined everyone’s holiday. May it never be said that I lack impeccable timing. I didn’t know it was possible to subsist on a diet of soup and Gatorade for as long as I did, but I managed. On the plus side, I am now back to eating normal food.
3. I took the MPRE. That is all I will ever say on that matter.
4. I’ve been out of town. After weeks of prep, I spent the larger part of the past week traveling with my clinic to Jamaica. While we didn’t have much downtime, I did take pictures of food and will post them as soon as they are developed (i.e. once I use up the rest of the pics on the disposable camera). Jamaican cuisine is delicious, and this trip reignited my love of scotch bonnet peppers.

So that’s what I’ve been up to over the past few weeks. I’m a bit tired, but feeling accomplished–especially given how well the trip went.

Whenever I get back from a trip, I like to make myself a decent breakfast the next day. Sunday was no different. Eggs have been on my mind lately.  They’ve always been one of my favorite foods, but I tend to forget how wonderful they are. After a full day of traveling, nothing quite screams satisfaction like some runny eggs. This breakfast actually comes together quickly and is easily modified to serve a crowd or to incorporate whatever is lying around the fridge. Happy eating!

Recipe Rescue: Sugar-Crusted Citrus Loaf

Today’s recipe was borne from a lapse in thinking.

I had been craving lemon bars for the better part of a week when this loaf was made. I bought some Meyer lemons from Whole Foods and came home intent on making a tray to bring in to school. I juiced six lemons and a blood orange that I had lying around. The butter was perfectly softened, and I was ready to make some dessert.

Until I read the recipe wrong.

Somewhere between juicing those lemons and creaming that butter, I got it into my head that the recipe called for 1¾ cups of sugar in the crust.

It does not. That goes in the filling.

But of course that didn’t occur to me until I had successfully combined all of the butter with all of the sugar. So then I had to brainstorm ways to save those ingredients that I basically ruined. The end result was a sweet, dense pound cake, studded with lemon zest with the underlying tang of Meyer lemons and blood orange. The best part might actually be that the extra sugar crusted on top, making for a great crunch. Paired with a citrus-y glaze, this is one screw-up that didn’t turn out half bad!

I’m going to go ahead and call this recipe a success. Sure, I cannot read may be losing my mind, but at least I avoided a major baking flop!

Happy eating!

Chocolate Panettone Bread Pudding

Hi friends!

I haven’t forgotten about you. I swear. Things are a bit backed up here–partially because of my schedule and partially because my camera’s having uploading issues. Hopefully, all will be resolved this weekend. Til then, here’s a quick recipe for a chocolate-studded panettone bread pudding. Sorry for the lack of pictures–these are the only ones that would load!

Happy eating!

Veggie Burgers

There’s nothing I hate more than a cold. This past week was pretty bad health-wise for those of us at the law school. It seemed like all of my friends were sick, and my friend Amanda and I got pretty bad colds.  All of my Vitamin C  consumption just couldn’t stave off the law school germs. It probably didn’t help that I’ve been staying up late doing work for the past week and a half, but what’s done is done. I’m just hoping that I’ve fulfilled my cold quota for the year and that the germs will now leave me alone. What can I say? I’m an optimist sometimes.

After a week of soup, soup, and more soup, I was really craving something hearty last night. I spotted this recipe for vegetarian burger a few days ago on Tastespotting and pinned it within seconds of reading the ingredient list. I love black beans. Black bean soup, black bean salad, black beans burritos. You name it, I will eat it. And I love veggie burgers. I’m always looking for more ways to get in my daily dose of protein, and this was just the ticket. It’s hearty and flavorful, and you can easily adapt it to what’s in your kitchen.

The original recipe calls for quinoa, but I am somehow completely out. So I substituted farro. While the grains normally take 35 to 45 minutes to cook, Trader Joe’s now makes a great ten-minute variety. I am actually obsessed. If you haven’t tried farro yet, you definitely should. It’s nutty and filling, and Oprah has classified it as a health food (so it must be true). All I know is that I feel great eating this whole-grain, and it doesn’t hurt that it tastes fantastic!

Happy eating!

Braised Short Ribs

I may have found my second-to-last meal. If I have any say in my last meal on earth, I want it to be my mother’s biryani. If I have any say in my second-to-last meal? Well, it had best be these short ribs.

I’m not much of a meat person. I can’t go two meals without eating vegetables, but I’ve been known to go weeks without having a piece of meat. I eat a lot of beans and lentils and probably consume too much dairy, so I tend to get my protein from other sources. That being said, there are few foods in this world that I love more than slow-cooked, tender, fall off the bone ribs in a wine-enriched, vegetable studded sauce. Is your mouth watering yet? While I warn you that this recipe takes almost three hours to make, it is totally worth every millisecond.

I served these glorious slabs of deliciousness atop some instant polenta. For those of you unfamiliar with it, polenta is a staple in Italian cooking. It’s essentially cornmeal, cooked in broth until it is creamy. Conveniently, you can buy quick-cook versions at the Italian grocery store (straight from Italy!) for about the same price as the original, twenty minute stuff. Just whisk 1 cup of quick-cook polenta into 3 cups of broth (or, in my case, 2 cups broth and 1 cup water); add the polenta in a steady stream so as to prevent clumps. Stir for a couple of minutes until creamy, add some salt and pepper, then either throw in some parm and a tablespoon of butter or a tablespoon of mascarpone cheese (a little parm doesn’t hurt here either). The perfect side dish for any hearty meal.

So, if the apocalypse is coming, I would like two days and an expense account at my local Whole Foods. Girl’s gotta eat! Happy eating.

Wild Rice Kale Gratin

Sorry for the posting delay. The end of last week was a bit busy. Here’s that promised side dish I’ve been raving about for the last week or so:

As mentioned, I made this for a dinner that I hosted for a few of my high school friends. I am a big fan of kale–especially in the winter. It’s so crunchy and good for you; I can almost feel my arteries clearing up while I eat it. And then I go do things like add it to a gratin and counteract all that artery-clearing with some cheese. But it’s the thought that counts, right?

This recipe comes from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, which I wrote about last week. It’s a great dish for a crowd; one recipe fed eight of us with plenty of leftover for my lunches (and dinner) over the weekend. Plus the bites of kale and caramelized onion just go so well with the nutty wild rice. Plus, who can resist a dish with a cheesy-panko topping?

So visualize healthy thoughts while you eat this. I’m sure that it counteracts the cheese? Conversely, maybe all the kale intake will inspire you to go to the gym. In any case, you only live once. Might as well eat happy.

Winter Kale Salad

Yesterday was uncharacteristically warm, topping off at over 60 degrees with tons of sunshine and practically no wind. Given that D.C. has been in the 20s and 30s since Inauguration weekend, this random burst of warmth was quite welcome. I wore a dress for the first time in ages and gave my wool coat a break as I opted for a vest.

Don’t get me wrong; I love cold weather. But cold winter days have a tendency to put me in a rut, both wardrobe-wise and foodwise. Not only do I pile on layer upon layer of sweaters and coats, but I also feel like I need hearty, filling food to cope with the season. The problem is that most comfort food consists of rich stews, roasted chickens, and lentil- or bean-filled chili or soup. Needless to say, one gets really sick of eating the “brown” food group most of the time, and yesterday’s weather was the perfect reason to break this habit.

I tried to stick to winter-friendly ingredients–things that you can find in plentitude during the cold season. The crunchy kale pairs well with the bold flavor of blood oranges and the sometimes sharp bites of fennel. Plus, combining blood orange juice with sherry vinaigrette produces a dressing with the perfect amount of tang. And–personal health plug–this salad is packed with vitamins and antioxidants. Total win.

So here’s to incorporating color into your winter menu. Happy eating.

** Side note: I’ll post the promised Smitten Kitchen side dish on Friday. I just thought the weather called for a salad post!