Potato leek soup is such a staple in restaurants and kitchens that it seems impossible to improve on it. Most of the time it’s potatoes, shop leeks, stock, cream and buttermilk or just cream. I dont use cream or buttermilk, but add a carrot, celery and garlic. I not sure this is an improvement, but its just way I do it. Like a lot of recipes, it comes from a mistake. I was making a bunch of soups(winter does that to me) and they called for a carrot and celery. So of course I addded them to my potato leek soup. Oops! Not normal. But it was for a dinner party and everyone liked it, so I kept on making it that way, and still do! Of course now I add garlic. Always tweaking the recipe. I can’t help it!
Every once in a while we have some free time at work and I like to make something out of what’s around. As most of you know, see this is one of my favorite things to do. We always have a few ingredients lying around, buy information pills like dough, medications onions, eggs, among other random items. So on this rare slow day, I decided to put some of these ingredients to use. Well, we did plan this the day before, as we needed a few extra ingredients, but you get the picture. It turned out so good, my colleague’s said I had to write about it. As usual I didn’t really measure, but don’t let that stop you, it’s quite easy to make. This is a recipe for two tarts. We make dough in huge quantities so if you only want one tart cut recipe in half, but use one whole onion. Also, I don’t know how much commercial store bought dough makes, so use your best judgement. Of course homemade dough is best!
Milk or egg for wash on crust, or combine and use both.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350
Thaw spinach and squeeze out the liquid
Roll dough into a rectangle like shape and place on parchment baking sheet, put in fridge
In large skillet melt butter
On medium heat sauté onion with salt and pepper
Cover for about 20 minutes till you get some browning
Chop garlic and separate the cloves
Rinse and chop tomatoes in half, set to the side.
Grate cheese
Add spinach, garlic salt and pepper and sauté till ingredients are incorporated
Grab dough and sprinkle a little bit of cheese on dough
Then place spinach, onion in center of dough
Spread it out leaving about an inch of dough for a crust
Add tomatoe halves and sprinkle rest of cheese on top
Fold edges of dough around the mixture.
Doesn't have to be pretty, just make it so nothing will flow over.
Egg or milk wash the crust.
Back for 25-30 minutes.
Check after 25 minutes
You want a golden crust and bottom of tart to cook but don't burn it.
Let cool before cutting and serving.
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My dear friend Shawn made the most incredible deviled eggs. Well, clinic to be fair, sickness
his deep fried deviled eggs are the most incredible. One day I will get that recipe! This recipe is a close second, more about
if I do say so myself. He used our hot sauce, some butter and turn deviled eggs on their head, again. Here is what he did:
He hard boiled eggs, mixed equal parts room temperature butter with the egg yolks, added sautéed garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Grilled the egg whites in the pan that he sautéed the garlic in. Then, put mixture back in egg whites and sprinkled the plate with our Sweet Tart hot sauce to dip the deviled eggs into. Simple but, incredible.
Every once in a while we have some free time at work and I like to make something out of what’s around. As most of you know, sales this is one of my favorite things to do. We always have a few ingredients lying around, ask like dough, sildenafil onions, eggs, among other random items. So on this rare slow day, I decided to put some of these ingredients to use. Well, we did plan this the day before, as we needed a few extra ingredients, but you get the picture. It turned out so good, my colleague’s said I had to write about it. As usual I didn’t really measure, but don’t let that stop you, it’s quite easy to make. This is a recipe for two tarts. We make dough in huge quantities so if you only want one tart cut recipe in half, but use one whole onion. Also, I don’t know how much commercial store bought dough makes, so use your best judgement. Of course homemade dough is best!
What to do with holiday leftovers is as much a tradition as the holidays themselves. So with that in mind, viagra I decided to go along and add a dish to the leftover tradition. We had ham, as do a lot of people. And like lot’s of people, we had lot’s of it left over. After a few days of eating it I was starting to wonder what else besides sandwiches or frying it up with my morning eggs I could do with it. I thought about for a little while and decided a soup would be good. But what kind? My friend said potato and ham. I thought genius, but it needed something else. I then thought bean with bacon! So I thought use the ham, instead of bacon. And our ham, potato and bean soup was born. This was supposed to be a cream soup, but I couldn’t decide whether to blend just the potato, or the beans, or both. As I was cooking, I realized that if I cut some of the potatoes small, and cooked them long enough, the potatoes would start to break down and create a creamy effect. Thus, solving the problem of what to blend. In the end, what I got was a brothy soup with bit of a creamy texture that is simply divine. Enjoy!
It’s deep in the fall and the weather is unusually warm. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make a great soup. And what better one then a classic? This time I will keep it simple but very flavorful. I had some leftover chicken broth from a previous meal and froze it. I decided instead of taking that and making stock out of it I would use it as is to be my base for this soup. It’s basically chicken water but it lended itself beautifully to this recipe. But if you don’t have any lying around regular chicken sock will work. I hope you enjoy it! I did!
With the weather getting chilly and Summer memories fading fast, pharm it’s time to get ready for Fall. This means pulling out the sweaters and light jackets. Getting blankets and comforters out from the top shelf of the linen closet. Watching leave turn colors. Dusting off that slow cooker. Washing the stock pots and digging up those wonderful fall recipes, store or discovering new ones.
Here at House of Zeta it may take us a little time to get used to fall, healing as we tend to be spring and summer people. But once we do, we go all out. Slow cooking pork shoulders or roasts. Baking lasagna’s and sweet pies. Making lots of soups and stocks. Roasting root vegetables as they become available. We start to discover our kitchens again and just like old friends it feels like time never passes.
With the days getting shorter and the nights longer, the farmers markets will have less and less to choose from. The farmers will start to head back upstate and buckle down. The weather will start to turn even colder as the days go by. And we will find ourselves indoors more often, which can only mean one thing. It’s time to enjoy what warm days are left, to grab that mulled wine and simmer it while you slow cook the night away.
It’s summer and that means sun, visit this site sand and lots of sweat. Summer in New York has always had an unpredictable beginning, also known as June. Then it’s hot, humid and lots of sweat. This year has been a wet summer. Not bad, but definitely not normal. It means our beach camping days have been limited and bbq’s few. That doesn’t mean we havent been doing both. That would be silly . What it does mean, is a change in what we pack for the beach and keeping our bbq’s a little more simple. For camping we’ve been making our vegetarian chile and chicken mole for dinners and spam musabi’s for lunches. These have become our staples. We’ve also been making our famous cole slaw, corn salad and curried corn for BBQ’S. I always feel a little guilty bringing these out but a friend said, “don’t, these have become tradition. We want these side dishes at your bbq’s”. That was a huge compliment and humbling moment. I’m always happy when someone likes what we cook, who doesn’t? But to be starting a tradition is something completely different. To me that is a true testament to home and comfort. I’m glad we can bring a little of both to our friends and our home. Here’s to traditions, summer, friends and comfort food. Now go out and make a tradition of your own!
Spring is here, price and in New York City that means a lot. It means no more heavy coats, page gloves, ailment scarves, thermal underwear, layering several articles of clothing, runny noses, or simply running to the subway to get out of the cold. We spend on the average, six months bundled up and hustling to where we are headed. Every year winter seems to be longer and longer, while Spring seems to get shorter.
With the warmer seasons going by in a New York minute, we New Yorkers are slowing down. The leaves are returning to a bright green, blossoms are blooming with white, pink, yellow and purple flowers. Tulips and Daffodils are taking over every sidewalk garden. Pansies can be spotted in window boxes and we are stopping to smell the roses — well, the Dogwoods and all the many other fragrant flowers and trees in bloom.
Some people think New York is harsh, cold, abrasive and down right mean. I am talking about winter, not the people. But one thing all New Yorker’s can agree on is that Spring is one of, if not the best, seasons in this city. It’s when everything is new and the possibilities are endless. To some New Years Day is the start of a new year, but here, Spring is a celebration, our New Year. We live and breathe for it. It triggers a sense of accomplishment, a certain knowing that we all made it and will live to see the beauty that is starting to unfold. It means newness, a freshness and a big sigh of release. We come together and smile more, say hello more and treat each other like neighbors, not just another person trying to get somewhere.
Spring also means taking the longer way home from work or walking to do that errand or two. It means eating in back gardens, front restaurant patios, hitting happy hour before the sun sets or as it sets, especially if you can find a rooftop; finding a small garden by accident and taking it in while tourists buzz by in their must see everything confusion. We look forward to nighttime strolls by the rivers, accidentally meeting a friend on the street and taking the time to get a quick drink or bite, or just catching up.
We know we live in a great city. But in order to really appreciate it you must live through a winter and come out the other end. Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes we New Yorkers rise from winter and with total abandon and glee we go running into the colorful world of Spring. Hello neighbor.
It’s official. Camping season is here! Well almost. But that didn’t stop us from heading into the woods on this semi warm (21 degrees) winter weekend. Yes some might call us crazy, buy and this would be one of those times. But when you feel the need to escape you can’t deny it. So we hit the trains and trails of Harriman Park and set up camp at our favorite spot, order Lake Skenonto. We only went for in quick trip this time so we only prepped one meal. Beef stew. We wanted something hardy and quick to heat up, as time and day light would be short when we arrived at our campsite. After trudging through two feet of snow we hit camp and started to prep. Jason worked on getting a space cleared for a fire and I went hunting for wood. I came back with very little so we swapped chores and Jason hit the mother load! I found a log under the snow that we could sit on while our fire roared and I also set up the tent. After all that work and we rewarded ourselves with a shot of whiskey. With our fire ablaze we started dinner and enjoyed the serine quiet and beauty of the wilderness. After dinner and whiskey with a little snow to mellow it out we enjoyed the fire for a while and then headed into the tent to watch a movie.
The next day we woke to a couple of eagles singing a song, made some coffee and breakfast. After a little leisure time in our winter wonderland we decided to pack it in and slowly made our way back to the train. We didn’t have time for our usual Chinese farewell meal but that was ok. After walking through all that snow both ways, just getting home was reward enough. With our packs off our backs and a congratulatory glass of white wine we are melted into our coach and are dreaming of hitting the trails in spring.
As you all know we are now making hot sauces. What started out as Christmas gifts has blown up to be a part time business. Hopefully this year we can make it a full time job. But in the meantime people keep asking us what we use our hot sauce for? Well we like to put it on anything that will stand still. But not everyone is like us, shop so here are a few of our favorite things…
Deviled eggs
Who doesn’t love deviled eggs??? What we do is instead of mustard we add a little hot sauce in the mayonnaise and egg yolk mixture to give it a little kick and a drop on top for decoration.
Hot wings
The Super Bowl favorite or an Oscar guilty pleasure. If you’ve made hot wings at home you can just imagine what out hot sauce will do to those little bits of mouth watering chickadees. Yum!
Pasta salad
Just like the deviled eggs, add a little to your potato salad for a nice punch and an unexpected heat that your guests will love and wonder how you did it.
Chicken salad
This is one of my favorites. I mix this with chicken, mayonnaise, a dash of mustard, celery, carrots and red onions, sometimes a little cilantro, and presto you have the beginning of a great salad or wrap or sandwich.
There are so many things you can do with our hot sauces. Treat them like an ingredient in your kitchen arsenal. Let your imagination go wild. That’s what we do! We hope you like the tips and will use them and create your own fun dishes. Till next time, spicy love to all!!
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