Baby Artichokes with Bread Crumbs and Almonds

I love fresh artichokes. I've grown up eating the giant thistles, steamed until tender, dipping the meaty ends of the leaves into melted butter and scraping off the good stuff. And the heart is the best part, I would carefully scrape off each tuft of fluff, leaving the heart as intact as possible, so as not to waste any. They were always such a treat!

So when I saw a giant package of baby artichokes at Trader Joe's, I couldn't resist. I had never had baby artichokes before, I had no idea what I would do with them, or even exactly how you prepared them, but I took them home anyway.

So after poking around for recipes, and not finding too many, I decided to wing it. A crunchy topping sounded like a good idea, so I grabbed some old bread I'd stashed in the freezer. I was actually going to use pine nuts, but it seems I was out, so I subbed in blanched almonds - which turned out to be a great idea! And of course, lemon has to go in there somewhere. It all turned out really good - and very simple.

Asian-inspired Turkey Burgers with Cabbage Slaw

It's always really nice when you throw some things together in a clean-out-the-fridge kind of moment, mostly hoping for something simply edible, and you end up with something so delicious, you make it again and again. Tonight was one of those nights. I'd had some gai-lan (Chinese broccoli, which is sooooo good) languishing in the fridge. Half of a sad cucumber. An old half-head of cabbage. I knew I needed to use these up, so an a-ha moment came on - I had some hamburger buns and some ground turkey in the fridge that I had randomly picked up but hadn't had any plans for - what about turkey burgers with a cabbage-cucumber-cilantro slaw?

I threw a couple of my favorite Asian condiments, plus ginger and green onion, into my basic turkey burger recipe and was exceptionally pleased. They had a ton of flavor, and were so moist and tender! And these had no cheese, but you won't mind. Slap these on a whole-wheat bun, and you have a super-lean and healthy burger that tastes great. These will definitely go into standard rotation.

Steak and Arugula Salad

Hooray for summer! That means wonderful fresh fruit and veggies, and lots of salads. I love salads, they're fresh and crisp, and you can throw in whatever you've got, and you've got a pretty good chance of it coming out good for little time and effort. Bonus 1: lots of veggies, so lots of vitamins, it's good for you. Bonus 2: no to little cooking! And when it's over 80 degrees inside, because there is no A/C in Seattle, that counts for a lot.

This is one of my favorite salads. It's a snap to put together, and it's got steak and crispy shallots, 2 man-pleasing ingredients. It's budget-conscious since it stretches a steak -- you only need about 4 oz per person. It's pretty simple, so don't skip the crispy shallots, they really add a lot of dimension to the dish.

I'm giving approximate amounts - this is salad, after all - feel free to tweak as you like.

Summer Bounty Hash

I think this is my favorite summer meal. I might declare something else my favorite later on, but for right now, this is it. Light and loaded with sweet corn, juicy tomatoes, delicate fingerlings and herbs, a little bit of crispy bacon for texture and salty pork goodness if you like, and an egg to round it out, it brings together some of the best of summer in one easy, but super delicious, dish. And please excuse my egg; they can't turn out perfect every time!

Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Semifreddo with Caramel Sauce

This is such a snap to put together, and has a luscious taste of vanilla and brown sugar. It has all the components of ice cream - egg yolks and cream - but none of the cooling and churning. Plus, my ice cream always seems to turn out icy if not immediately consumed - this stayed nice and creamy. I highly suggest chilling the serving plates - this stuff melts quickly, and it will buy you time to serve to your guests, or at least keep your own serving from melting before you're halfway done.

For something that's even richer than ice cream, it has an amazingly light and fluffy texture.

Buttermilk Macaroni and Cheese

Here's a great way to lighten up mac and cheese a little bit, while improving flavor and giving it a little extra tang: buttermilk. Even the very low fat buttermilk has a thick, creamy texture, so you get a nice sauce without having to resort to a lot of whole milk or cream. Maybe not so great for drinking (people do that, really?), but great in this application: because I'm sure as heck not gonna skimp on the cheese!

Thomas Keller's Lemon Tart

What a fantastically, easy dessert: a lightly crisp crust, that crumbles easily but stays in shape while you cut slices, a sweet-tart lemon filling that is light, creamy and a snap to make. The crust is a pat-in-the-pan crust too - so no rolling, no patching, no fighting with the dough, and the filling takes 15 minutes to make, and sets up quickly.

I did make a few minor changes to the recipe - I added a little salt to both the crust and the filling, I increased the filling by 50%, so that it filled the tart completely, and I skipped the broiling part, opting for a smooth, glossy finish.

This is something I'll definitely make again and again.

Here is a link to the original recipe.

The Land of Beer and Honey

I've been absent lately, I know. I've been busy, and I have been cooking! But oft forgetting to take pictures. But I also spent a few days in my favorite city, our smaller, cooler neighbor to the south: Portland, OR. Portland has the most breweries of any city in the world! And to those that know me, it should come as no surprise that I love Portland, in good part because of the beer.

We did a lot of walking, drinking and eating, a lot of great food, and a lot of great meals. This time we were most excited for Deschutes - overall, my husband's favorite brewery. While the new-ish place in the Pearl District in Portland is a little cavernous and impersonal, overall, it did not disappoint, and their XPA on tap is quite possibly the best Deschutes brew I've ever had. A very hoppy pale ale, a baby IPA, whatever you want to call it, it was crisp, refreshing, and very well executed Northwest style ale. We came here twice, and left with Deschutes gear as well (we're beer nerds, what can we say?)

We also made a couple stops at Bailey's taproom - a newer taproom, from what we can tell, that has a good foundation - good beer list, good location, good layout - but sadly suffered from lackluster and inattentive service. However, because of the close proximity to our hotel, the sofas with games, and the very well thought out beer menu, we made our way back despite service hiccups.