Food Odyssey: August 2020

Welcome to the first of many posts in the Food Odyssey series.  I would like for this to be an interactive journey where we learn how to cook new recipes, try a variety of cuisines, and learn new techniques together.  Whether you have a go-to dish to share, advice to give to improve upon a recipe, suggestions for what to cook next, or a brilliant idea for a recipe, I would love to hear it.  I want all of us to come away inspired to cook and willing to try new things. 

Every month, I plan to share my food journey with you.  None of the things I am sharing with you are sponsored.  If I ever do have a sponsor, I will give full disclosure.  There is no affiliation between me and this blog with any blog, Youtuber or other influencer I mention in these posts. My promise to you is that I will be completely honest in my review of recipes and products.  That being said, we all have different tastes, so you may not agree with my assessment on certain things and that’s fine.  I am sharing my preferences and you can share yours too in the comments.  Without further delay, here is my food journey for August 2020. 

The only good things about summer are watermelon, berries, the farmer’s market and BBQ. The summer heat is just not for me. I don’t think you can convince me that taking a walk on a summer day isn’t the same as roasting in an oven. So when summer comes around, I try to balance out my hatred for heat with my love of summer fruits and vegetables. With that being said, I made blueberry scones.  I went to visit family this month and these are one of my brother’s favorite baked goods, so I had to make it for him.

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The recipe is courtesy of the blog Sally’s Baking Addiction (https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/my-favorite-blueberry-scones/).  If you do not know about her yet, you are missing out.  Her blog is the first thing I check when I am in the mood to make something sweet.  The scones were not too sweet and filled with blueberry goodness.  Top it with icing and/or coarse sugar if you so choose.

Speaking of delicious baked goods, I made this almond ring coffee cake.  Look how pretty!  I’m so proud of myself for making this. My mom saw the first picture and complained that the ring wasn’t symmetrical. It never will be. If there is a day that I make a symmetrical ring, a non-lopsided cake or a pizza that is even remotely close to resembling a circle, you better make sure you’re saved because it is a sign of the end times. I’m sure it’s mentioned somewhere in Revelation.

I got this recipe from America Test Kitchen’s “Bread Illustrated” cookbook.  This is the first recipe I tried from this cookbook and my friends and I loved it.  I have been inspired to do more almond recipes after a friend of mine expressed his love for almond paste.  I didn’t realize how much I loved it until he started talking about it.  If you don’t love almond paste, this is not the recipe for you.  There are big pockets of it all through the ring.  I also wouldn’t call this a coffee cake.  It’s like an almond bread.  I recommend it for almond lovers and people who just to take photos to impress other people.

If you’re looking for breakfast options, you can’t go wrong with a breakfast taco.  Unless you don’t like tacos…but that doesn’t even make sense.  If you don’t like tacos, I can’t believe you’re a real person.  You can make tacos out of anything.

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Let me tell you what I have going on in these tacos.  I love the combination of Columbus peppered salame and eggs.  The Columbus brand of salame can be on the expensive side, but MAN it’s good if you’re into cured meats.  I buy a block of the peppered salame, cut it into chunks and pan fry it with a little bit of oil.  Some of the pieces in the picture look burnt on the side, but that is the layer of pepper…that I left in the pan for too long and burned.  Heat up some tortillas.  I prefer corn tortillas.  Then you throw in some scrambled eggs and top the taco with cotija cheese and hot sauce.  I used Cholula hot sauce this time, but I also like Frank’s extra hot.  I also mixed that hot sauce with a pineapple habanero hot sauce because I like sweet, savory and spicy flavor combinations.  What’s missing in that picture is some green onions.  The beauty of a breakfast tacos is that it is whatever you want it to be.  Bacon, avocado, cheddar cheese and sunny side up egg?  Why not?  You do you, boo.  If you choose the combination I gave you, but can’t handle the heat of hot sauce, I recommend doing a salsa, mild sauce or splash of lime juice because the taco can be kind of dry otherwise.

Next up is another favorite of mine: a Korean seafood green onion pancake (해물 파전 = haemul pajeon).  One of my friends recently moved to the west coast and gave me a couple things leftover in her freezer.  This included a Trader Joe’s seafood medley that had shrimp, scallops and squid.  My mind automatically jumped to this Korean pancake.  The recipe is from Seonkyoung Longest (https://seonkyounglongest.com/pajeon-korean-seafood-pancake/).   

Once you have all the ingredients, it is so simple to make.  I think the only unusual ingredient is tempura powder, but she also has recipe for that on her site as well.  If you do not like squid or scallops, you can just do shrimp.  This recipe is perfectly customizable.  I have had other versions with octopus as well.  Throw some kimchi into that photo and you have yourself an easy, delicious meal…unless you don’t like seafood or kimchi.

Speaking of seafood, I tried a cod recipe with shallots and cream.  The cream sauce is rich and delicious.  This recipe comes from Shaye Elliot’s “Family Table”. 

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Listen, don’t judge the dish by my awful photo.  If you like creamy sauces and cod, try this recipe.  I paired it with some oven roasted broccoli.

Last, but not least, let’s talk pizza.  My pizza adventures this summer all started with my CSA box.  I have a share in a local farm and get fresh vegetables from them every week.  One week I got a lot of beets, so I looked into beet recipes.  Behold!  I give you the beet pizza.  The pizza dough recipe is from Sally’s Baking Addiction (https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-pizza-crust-recipe/) and the overall recipe is from Andrea Bemis’s “Dishing Up the Dirt” cookbook. 

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I know beet pizza sounds terrible, but hear me out.  A beet and goat cheese sauce, caramelized onions, more goat cheese on top, pecans (original recipe uses walnuts), parmesan cheese and greens (original recipe uses kale).  The earthy taste of the beets with creamy goat cheese, sweet caramelized onions and crunchy pecans is so good to me.  To modify the recipe a bit one time, I used a honey infused goat cheese, threw in a few splashes of bourbon into the caramelized onions and added Italian seasoning, oregano and garlic powder in the pizza dough. Delicious fam.  For greens, I have used kale, beet greens, spinach and arugula.  All good options.  I never thought I would be one of those people to defile pizza with all this healthy crap, but I am…and I did. 

For a pizza a little more on the traditional side, I have a sausage pizza pictured below.  The pizza dough for this one is from America Test Kitchen’s “The New Family Cookbook” cookbook.  Their classic pizza dough recipe uses bread flour instead of all purpose flour to give a nice chewy crust.  I actually think I prefer their crust over Sally’s crust, but they are both delicious and easy to make.  Of course I added some seasonings to the crust.

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Because I’m weird, I added jalapenos, yellow peppers and caramelized onions.  The sauce is a homemade tomato basil sauce because my CSA boxes have been loaded with tomatoes.  The cheese is a combination of mozzarella, feta and parmesan.  Lastly, if you’re a fan of greens, I later topped the pizza with fresh spinach and arugula.  Judge me if you must!!

That’s all for now folks.  Share your thoughts, critiques and recipes in the comments.  We’ll talk September recipes next time.  God bless you and keep you! Also enjoy this picture of my doggy at the park on your way to the comment section. He does not like the sound of my camera, so this was the only decent photo I could get before he started complaining.