Ward Street Bistro

Spinach Ricotta Pie

One of the many great things about Seattle is that there are almost no bugs in the summer, making Seattle an ideal locale for picnics. You may think of Seattle as rainy and cloudy but the reality is that we have many beautiful, sunny, not-too-hot summer days.

A picnic favorite that we enjoyed recently is this spinach and ricotta pie. It's easy to fix and travels beautifully. Somehow, a savory pie or quiche makes any picnic seem more festive.

I'll show you how to make this, step-by-step...

Behind the Apron

Mostly, my goal is to keep this blog 100% focused on recipes and cooking. But, after reading about Behind the Apron, I decided to participate. So, here it goes...

Here Drake and I are enjoying Hawaii - a trip we took with his folks, his brother, and his two kids (who were then 11 and 14 years old). Believe it or not, I was somewhat lukewarm on a trip to Hawaii. I'd never taken a "fun-in-the-sun" vacation, thinking it might be, well, kind of boring. Ha. That attitude lasted about 10 minutes. We had a fabulous time and I can't wait to go back.

Some more randomness, since I've been tagged by Sookie's Kitchen to write 6 random things about myself...

Mushroom and Tomato Risotto

I am very pleased to be doing a second guest post over at one of my favorite cooking sites, startcooking.com. This time I'm featuring a quick & easy risotto - no stirring required - that makes a great weeknight dinner. The key is cooking a flavorful plain risotto on its own and  mixing it into a skillet that contains a desired combination of vegetables, herbs, seafood, sausage...whatever strikes your fancy. I'm demonstrating the recipe with one of my favorite combinations - tomatoes and mushrooms - both of which have had their flavors concentrated before being mixed into the rice.  I hope you'll stop by startcooking.com to check my latest post and of course the wealth of other recipes and information Kathy Maister provides.

P.S. If you're curious on how Kathy does her amazing how-to videos, there is a complete explanation here.

Corn Fritter Casserole

Some time ago, Cooking Light published a lightened version of the classic "Jiffy Mix" corn casserole. If you're not familiar with this side dish it is really tasty. But the original version - which contains Jiffy Mix corn muffin mix, sour cream, eggs, canned corn and a stick of butter - packs on the calories. Fine if you're Paul Deen (her version, BTW, adds cheddar cheese), but not-so-fine for the weight-watching head chef here at the Bistro. (That would be me.)

So, I gave the Cooking Light version a go and Drake loved it. I, however, was a bit bothered about the Jiffy Mix. The mix is is loaded with hydrogenated fats and it uses de-germinated corn meal, which has less flavor (and less fiber) than whole grain. To top it off,  Jiffy Mix is quite sweet, which made the casserole very sweet - tasty - but a bit too sweet to my taste.

So, I re-worked the recipe into a healthier, "from scratch" version that's less sweet than the original and with richer corn flavor. I'm quite happy with my variation, and it passed the hubby test with flying colors.

Served along side some BBQ it's a hard-to-beat summer side dish. I'll show you how to make it, step-by-step...

Crab, Asparagus, and Orange Salad

This light and lively salad is perfect for a warm evening. You could serve it as an appetizer salad, but I'm showing it here as a main course (as we recently enjoyed it). The fresh crab is definitely a splurge; you could certainly substitute shrimp or scallops. And the fresh, local asparagus... cooked under the broiler until lightly brown... the direct heat brings out all of its natural sweetness. Rounding the salad out is a bit of tang from fresh orange segments and a citrus dressing.

I'll show you how to make this salad step-by-step...

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

I love these cookies. When the occasion calls for a chocolate-chip cookie, these are what I make.

For me, three things elevate them above the standard chocolate-chop concoction:

• using ground oats in place of some of the flour (for a chewy texture and pleasing oat-y flavor)
• melted milk chocolate incorporated into the dough (which adds depth to the chocolate flavor) and
• hand-chopped bittersweet chocolate chunks.

They keep wonderfully, too. The recipe is an adaptation from Cook's Country magazine, sister publication to Cook's Illustrated.

You can go directly to the printable recipe (pdf) or I'll show you how to make them step-by-step:

Market Seafood Chowder

I think every cook should have an excellent seafood chowder in their repertoire. This is mine. Well, actually, it's my cousin Elise's, who was kind enough to share the recipe with me. Elise is the best cook I know. Now she should start a food blog. What I love about this chowder is how all the flavors just seem to sing together. It seems sometimes chowders can be too bland--or have flavors that overpower the seafood. I find the flavors in this version are just right.

You can go directly to the printable recipe (pdf) or I'll show you how to make it step-by-step...

Red Wine & Mushroom Sauce for Beef

In my dreams, I would be the type of cook that makes my own stock, reduces it down, and makes all manner of fabulous sauces from the homemade demiglace. But, alas, my weekends are normally full of other activities that interfere with tending a long-simmering stock pot.

That's why I love this recipe - it's a deep, full-flavored sauce for beef that uses the technique of reduction, but with a much-quicker combination of red wine and purchased broth. And there is no limit to the variations: you can combine different types of fresh mushrooms, use all or part dried mushroom (incorporating the soaking liquid), and/or finish the sauce off with some fresh herbs (tarragon is a favorite).

I'm showing the sauce draped over a slice of beef tenderloin, but it's also excellent on grilled steaks and other cuts of beef. It can be made well ahead of time, stored in the fridge, and reheated before serving.

You can go directly to the printable recipe (pdf) or I'll how you how to make it step-by-step...

Press-in-the-pan Pie Crust

This no-roll crust is delicious and super-quick to make. The folks at Cook's Illustrated call it a "No Fear" Pie Crust and I think it really is foolproof. Even if you are experienced at making pie crust this recipe has the advantage of being fast. Plus, the cream cheese in it gives it a bit of a tang and wonderfully tender texture. It will likely become a standard for me when making pies with a single crust, such as the Rhubarb Custard Pie.

I'll show you how to make this crust, step-by-step...

Rhubarb Custard Pie

It's high season for fresh, local rhubarb right now - the perfect time to make a rhubarb custard pie. This pie is a simple and old-fashioned combination of diced rhubarb, sour cream, and sugar with a brown-sugar streusel topping. Darn - spring eating doesn't get much better than this!

You can go directly to the printable recipe (pdf), or I'll show you how to make it step-by-step...