She was happy, happy, happy, and she ate some beans

My in-laws have an impressive garden, and we get to enjoy the fruits (and vegetables!) of their labor! Lucky us! This week she gave us some zucchini.

Granny enjoyed the enchiladas!

I made the in-laws a round of my enchiladas non-auténtico whilst visiting their house. It's a simple concoction. Into the sauce pan, add a glug of oil and sautée onions (this time omitted because of the granny's diet, but still tasty, I promise). Combine with 1 ample tbsp flour, spices (my beau-père is not a spice enthusiast so I didn't use the cayenne as per usual; I also didn't want to aggress the granny's stomach). I normally use some paprika, chili powder, the afore mentioned cayenne, and cumin), and mix. Slowly add a bit of stock of choice and a small can of tomato paste. Once all is combined, keep adding stock--maybe 2+ cups worth. I like saucy enchiladas so I make plenty. Bring it all to a boil  and simmer for about 15 minutes. It'll start to get thick. Add more spices or herbs to taste. I don't add salt because I figure the stock has plenty. Remove it from the heat and let it cool. You'll be dipping your tortillas into it, so it's in your fingers best interest to wait. For this batch, I used sweet potatoes and chard for a filling. Sometimes I throw in beans, sometimes I throw in shrimp, or corn. I oven roasted the sweet potatoes with cumin, sautéed the stalks of the chard, and wilted the leaves. Sweet potatoes are not a regular part of the swiss diet, so the in-laws were curious what I was up to. They had this same reaction when I made them Thanksgiving dinner.  To assemble the enchiladas, I dipped a corn tortilla into the sauce, placed it into the pan, plunked the sweet potatoes and chard into the middle of the tortilla and rolled it up, making sure the seam was on the bottom. Once the pan was filled, I covered it with more sauce and sprinkled on some asiago. I find that asiago is a better replacement for jack or "Mexican" cheese mixes.  These suckers get baked at 200 for about 20-25 minutes, until the cheese is ooey gooey on the top.  On the side, I served charred corn with shrimp and cilantro and lime juice. My beau pére was super brave! sweet potatoes AND corn AND spice! In one meal! I put out sour cream and avocados as well. 

The in-laws wanted to know what mom thought--were they the right taste? did I do a good job? Mom answered that, in short, my enchiladas kicked ass. I am paraphrasing. She really said that they were comparable to what one might find at a restaurant. Thank you, mumsie! 

This morning I decided to make us another round of brunch. I made us a team USA brunch mom's first morning here. She's also had some Greatest Hits: mojo sauce with dorado and canary island wrinkled potatoes, zucchini pie, baozi, and a variety of salads because it has been freaking H O T. 

Because I am always dreaming of beans, I made us a beancentric brunch. A sort of huevos cuauhtemo, inspired by this post.  

First, I toasted strips of corn tortillas  and sautèed onions in my cast iron, liberally adding chili powder and cumin. Then I threw in some zucchini from my in-law's garden. I let that hang out, and used the immersion blender to combine a can of beans and the remaining tomato paste from the tube in the fridge. Again, I added some spices. Because spices are good. I threw the bean mess into the skillet, made three holes for the eggs, sprinkled some cilantro on top, and shoved the whole thing into the oven at 200° for 15 minutes. 

good, filling, and yum.

Qapla'! How star trek led me to corndogs

the trees are turning, the air is crisp, and it's almost my birthday. that means it's nearly fall! that also means that the summertime foods are soon to be a memory.

i found myself at the thinkgeek website oogling the kitchen goodies (it is almost my birthday, after all)--more specifically, the star trek cookie cutters--and i stumbled upon the corndog factory. the mister happened to walk into the room right when i said, "ooooOOOooocoooorrrrrndoooooog" ... and he had no idea what i was talking about. lo! I had to show him the video.

this is the face he made


shock! horror! disbelief! "you EAT those?!" well, yes. i mean, i have not in a long time, but yes, i enjoyed corndogs in my youth. i explained how they were fried and didnt involve bacon. i got mine at the local A&W. (true fact: A&W rootbeer came from lodi, where i went to high school. true fact: i made the swiss mister try a root beer float when we were visiting california but it was waaaay tooooo rich for him. the swiss guy. who has chocolate and cheese pumping through his veins.)

still in shock, he skulked away, probably to cleanse his palate with fancy cheese. he was not going to be home for dinner, so i decided to give myself a little treat: corndogs! and what goes with corndogs? beans!! and what else? coleslaw! i decided to give myself one last summertime cookout dinner. except for i cooked in. and baked the corndogs.

i plundered the local market and got some veggie dogs. then i gathered the following and mixed them together:
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1 tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

i also amassed the liquid ingredients:
3/4 cup/180 ml milk
1 egg
1 tbsp greek yogurt

the two were combined, and the batter was born!

they were to be baked at 400°/205° for around 15 minutes-ish.  sadly, the first batch was way runny.  fear not! i simply added more flour and tried again.  Qapla'!

these turned out tastily delicious! but what made dinner super awesome was not the corndogs alone, but the combination of corndogs and side dishes.

and cookies. but we'll get to that.

first! the beans.  i used my trusty bbq bean recipe


next up? slaw!
i used:
1/2 head cabbage (chou)
a few carrots
1 apple
a little lemon juice
2 healthy splashes of white vinegar
1.5 containers honey greek yogurt

i gingerly coaxed the cabbage into the slicing and dicing machine. then i shredded the carrot and apple, dropped in some raisins, and mixed the whole lot together.

the dressing was a combination of the juice, vinegar, and yogurt. the bonus honey was just perfect.

i mixed the dressing together and drizzled it over the veggies and gave it a stir. then i stuck it in the fridge to chill while the corndogs were corndogging.

the corndogs might look a little wonky, but boy howdy, did they hit the spot.

and then i thought, you know what? it's been a long time since i made cookies. i should make cookies. i used to make chocolate chip cookies in china sometimes, to share. see, it's cultural.

inspired by a post i read, i went ahead and made some holycannoli delicious cookies.

i used:

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup browned butter
a little less than 1 cup raw sugar
2 large eggs
1 heaping tablespoon honey greek yogurt
chopped up chocolate (the chocolate "chips" here are square. and weird.)

these tasty treats were baked at 175°/350° for 10 minutes and then sprinkled with alp salt, the swiss version of sea salt.


the mister came home late from work to a divine smelling house.

it had been way too long since i made chocolate chip cookies.  way too long.  i do not think i'll wait so long again.

bright and cheery summer salads to eat during a thunderstorm

i'm super lucky to have my laura (and her always entertaining partner ryan) here! we're having a great time doing and sharing items and places of cultural importance.  for the 4th of july, team USA decided to show the swissies what we do for the 4th of july: have a barbecue at the park (with fireworks).  this was a huge cultural hurdle for our swiss friends.  after all,  the swiss, for their independence day on august 1st, have a barbecue at the park (with fireworks).

the fireworks were lacking (which suits me fine because after living in china, well, ive had enough fireworks to last me a lifetime), but mother nature provided a dazzling light show in the summer sky which i found much more rewarding.  as we all gathered at the park, a storm was gathering itself together as well.  we saw the foreboding clouds as we were walking to the park...  gorgeous!

here it comes!

while the grill was warming up, laura and ryan took advantage of the winds to fly a kite!

i threw some peaches on for salad number 1, a delightful combination of greens, grilled peaches, and mozzarella.

peaches!

the first time i made this salad was for my mom, and the poor woman instantly became hooked.

rest assured, the salad is easy to put together.  when i made it for mom, i used buffalo mozzarella, because it was on sale, but regular ol' mozzarella is still tasty.

assemble your salad greens as desired, throw in grilled peaches, add sliced mozzarella, and done! 

the salad dressing is a combination of balsamic vinegar, mustard of choice, and honey to taste, with a healthy blob of crème fraîche (greek yogurt would be super delicious as well).

laura prepared a potato salad, swiss style (she got the basic recipe from christian's mom), and i made another pot of beans in addition to the salads.

potato salad with corn and chives

my other salad was inspired by what we had laying about: 1 cucumber. and since im a huge fan of quinoa, i decided to throw those two items together.  i mixed in some fresh mint from the balcony, some chopped parsley, and added a good swig of rice vinegar.   laura looked at the salad and said, "hey, why not throw in these apricots?" and i said, ooooOOOoooo, yes.  and i'm glad she made that suggestion.  the salad went from awesome to super! awesome!

laura and i watched the storm approach and very cleverly packed up all that we could, save what was on the barbecue, and waited. we had barely gotten things grilled (the carnivors made a pile of sausage) and on a plate when the skies opened up...

we ran to the covered boat dock not far from where we were situated and continued our picnic, along with others seeking shelter.

dining by candlelight 

lightning storms are amazing here, and especially over the lake.  we had front row seats to a dazzling light show.

bon appétit <3

we are full of (vegetarian BBQ) beans

we got married!

on the shores of Lac Léman. (photo by nicola pravato)

...which means international visitors, lots of laughter, lots of sharing, and not a lot of time for writing. rest assured, the folks are being fed well. in fact yesterday, we had a monster barbecue at my in-laws house. and the evening before that? we were at an enchanting private pond of a friend, catching fish to throw on the giant schwenker-like grill.

 for that occasion, i made some delightfully easy and tasty bbq beans and a melon and feta and cucumber salad.  the swissies arent big on beans, so it was an occasion to share something tasty and cultural.  now, i shouldacouldawoulda made my own bbq sauce for the beans, and i didnt--they were inspired by a jar of store bought bbq sauce i could not resist.  it was one of those "wait a minute, im not used to seeing that here" moments complete with swirling strings and a halo of light.  this also happened once when i found root beer in the beer section.

normally, i would also advocate soaking dried beans overnight, but sometimes we dont always have the brain juice to remember such things.    with everything we've been juggling the last month, well, i just used canned beans.
as always, i dont have exact measurements.

1 onion 3 cans cannellini beans
about 3/4 cup of tomato paste (it comes in a tube here, so i just used my toothpaste skills and squeezed as much out as i could)
about 1/4 cup bbq sauce (i probably used a little more)
1/3 cup-ish coveted brown sugar from US (moooooooleaaaasses)
a few good shakes of ground cloves
maybe a cup of water?

i sautéd the onions with some olive oil, added the paste and bbq sauce, and swirled those things around a bit.  then i added the beans and then water, a little at a time, and added the cloves.  then the pot simmered for hours.  and the result? YUM-O
we had to sample it the next morning, the day of the fishing trip, just to make sure we didnt accidentally make poison.  i wanted to make it the night before so the flavours would be ka-POW zam WOW! and they delivered.

beans, fried eggs, veggie sausage

at the pond, we warmed the beans in a fondue pot over the open flame.

my husband and the laura 

i was tempted to steal my pot and run off with the beans and my two team USA buddies--all these beans are belong to us! well, maybe the swiss mister too.  after all, he chopped the onion.

bon appétit <3