Simple and Stunning Steak and Mushrooms

In our household, we mostly eat vegetables and protein. We try to limit our simple carbs but really enjoy them when we do eat them. We keep sugar generally low, have cut out dairy except occasional butter, and try to get our 1 ounce of dark chocolate and 5 ounces of red wine most days. We love how our diet reflects what we value, what our families have passed on to us, what we’ve learned about the foods that make us feel good or remind us of wonderful things. For us, a perfect medium rare steak is a food that hits the protein goal, is a fun occasional indulgence in red meat, and brings a little fancy to our home cooking for a much lower price than ordering a steak out.

We often sous vide our meats because you truly cannot mess it up and everything stays moist and delicious and perfectly cooked, so duh. Still, sometimes we like to use the cast iron and live for the thrill of trying to get the grill just right without a timer, just on instinct.

Here’s the “recipe" for my favorite version: Go to Trader Joe’s and get one package of cremini mushrooms, one package of shiitake mushrooms, butter, a package of rosemary, and two grass-fed organic ribeye steaks for around $30 in total. Put half a stick of butter in your cast iron as it heats up to medium heat. Tear up the mushrooms with your hands and add them directly to the cast iron as you go. Use a spatula to coat the mushrooms evenly in the butter. Once mushrooms are softening, push them to the outside edge of the cast iron and arrange the rosemary sprigs whole on top of them. Place the ribeye in the center of the cast iron, charring on one side for 3-4 minutes. Flip and do the other side for approximately the same amount for medium rare. Voi là!

Ice Cream Social

I turned 29 on Cinco de Emma this past year. To celebrate my “first annual 29th birthday” as Jackson and I have jokingly called it, we invited lots of friends and family over to build themselves an ice cream sundae. I ordered some fun little pink ice cream cups online, found matching spoons at a local party store, and gathered toppings and bases. Most importantly, I rush ordered a used banana split dog costume off of eBay (the seller was very supportive of its purpose and helped me get it in time for the party).

For the ice cream, we offered Blue Bell chocolate and vanilla (if it ain’t broke…) and a Trader Joe’s vanilla soy that was truly impressive for our dairy-free and vegan folks. Then, I made several custard-style ice creams: lemon mascarpone, dulce de leche, and birthday cake! Each had recommended sundae pairings, obviously.

• For the lemon mascarpone, I had a gluten-free lemon poppy seed coffee cake crumble and lemon lavender sauce to top.

• For the birthday cake, we had rainbow sprinkles, brownie pieces, and hot fudge.

• For the dulce de leche, I added a caramel sauce and chocolate sprinkles.

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We had a blast and it was a great way to see some folks and have people drop in on a Sunday afternoon without taking up the whole day or having to feed 30+ people a full meal. Would you ever host an ice cream social?

xo,

em

Spinach Pancakes

Adapted from Bon Appetit with Low FODMAP tummies in mind! To make vegan, opt for vegan butter and ditch the smoked salmon. To make gluten free, opt for gf flour.

Ingredients:

• ½ small red onion, thinly sliced and quick pickled

• a pinch of salt

• 4 large eggs

• 1 large egg white

• ½ garlic clove minced

• 1 ½ cups spinach

• ⅔ cup dairy-free milk of your choosing (just nothing sweetened)

• ½ cup cilantro

• ½ cup basil

• ⅔ cup flour

• 1 to 2 T cornstarch

• 2 Tbsp. unsalted (regular or vegan) butter, chopped

• 6 oz. smoked salmon

• Serve with: ½ lemon, freshly ground black pepper, salt

Instructions

Before you get started: Quick pickle the onions. Make sure you have a rack in the middle of the oven. Put your cast iron on this middle rack. Preheat oven to 425°.

Step 1

Add eggs and egg white to blender. Blend on high until frothy.

Step 2

Add garlic, spinach, df milk, and 1 cup of the herbs. Blend on high until well combined and even.

Step 3

Add flour, cornstarch, and a pinch of salt. Blend to combine.

Step 4

Wearing oven mitts, take skillet out of oven. Add butter to the pan and swirl to coat the bottom. Pour green batter into the buttered cast iron. Put cast iron back into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until puffy and brown around the edges.

Step 5

Let the pancake/Dutch baby deflate and cool on the counter in the cast iron. Top with smoked salmon, pickled red onion, and more herbs; season with pepper and salt. Serve with a squeeze of lemon.

It is DELISH! And an easy way to get some extra greens in your life.

xo

em

Where to Pick Your Own Berries Around Nashville

May

Green Door Gourmet

Website | Phone | Email

Call for availability.

20 minutes from downtown Nashville | 7011 River Road Pike, Nashville, TN 37209

For $10 per person, you get to pick your own quart of certified organic strawberries (though you’re welcome to pick more for increased charge). Arrive close to 5 pm for the extra bonus of entertainment after your sunset harvest at their Pickin’ Party or visit on a Saturday morning from 9 am - 1 pm throughout May.

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June

Kelley’s Berries

Website | Phone | Email

June - September: Daily from 7 am - 6 pm

30 minutes from downtown Nashville | 631 Beckwith Road Mount Juliet, Tennessee 37122

Kelley’s has it all: strawberries in May and June are replaced by blackberries and peaches in July. Blueberries are ripe toward August with raspberries close behind.

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July

Stoney Creek Farm

Website | Phone | Email

July: Wednesday and Saturday 8 am - 1 pm, Sunday 1-5 pm

30 minutes from downtown Nashville | 4700 Coe Lane, Franklin, TN 37064

Stoney Creek offers not only blueberries and blackberries but also herbs and flowers that you can pick yourself! Get some berries for a snack and put together your own farm-to-vase bouquet.

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August

Breeden’s Orchard

Website | Phone | Email

July - October: Thursdays 4-7 pm, Fridays - Saturdays 8 am - 12 pm.

30 minutes from downtown Nashville | 631 Beckwith Road, Mount Juliet, Tennessee 37122

A local farm with decades of history and new ownership, Breeden’s offers peaches and apples for picking. Apple cider donuts return on September 1st and are the perfect way to kick off the fall season.

The Perfect Green Smoothie

Once upon a time, Jackson worked at Nektar making fresh cold-pressed juices, ginger shots, and green drinks for the wealthy moms of Orange County after their Orange Theory class. The result? He makes a mean health drink! Here’s his latest creation.

The Perfect Green Smoothie

1 cup frozen mango chunks

1 frozen banana

2 scoops vanilla protein powder

3 cups fresh spinach

8 oz macadamia nut milk

Combine all ingredients (in order - you always want to add your liquid last!) in your blender (we use a Vitamix). Escalate blending power until smooth. Pour into cups and enjoy! Ours made about 32 oz, enough for 2 people for breakfast.

Crab Rangoon

Let’s start with some clarity: crab rangoon is an American invention. It is not authentic Asian food. It first appeared formally on the menu of Trader Vic’s in San Francisco in 1956. While Trader Vic claimed it was inspired by a traditional Burmese recipe…we don’t buy it.

But it’s still delicious! I am grateful to the many Asian American restaurants that cater to suckers like me and put it on the menu anyway. It’s crispy and warm but creamy and saucy. You can dip it in Meiploi, which if given the chance I might bathe in because it’s so freaking delicious.

In an effort to expand my home cooking repertoire, I thought I’d give it a shot. I make a lot of Thai and Japanese food at home, occasionally sticking to a traditional recipe but often blending flavors and experimenting with fusions. (At some later date, I’ll share my recipe for Asian fusion nachos).

We had all the ingredients on hand, except the wonton papers. Because I’d forgotten to purchase them. So I had to make them. Fortunately, as you’ll see below, you likely have the ingredients for the wonton wrappers on hand and they’re fairly easy to make. (Think reallllly thin pasta dough).

I opted for baked instead of fried because a) I hate frying things at home, b) I’m awful at frying things at home, and c) baking seemed like the healthier option, which would allow me to justify personally downing half of a block of cream cheese. The wrapping process turned out to be super fun!

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Ingredients:

Feeds four as an appetizer or snack

Wrappers (adapted from Whisk Affair)

• 2 c flour

• 1 tsp salt

• 2 eggs

• 1/2 c cornstarch

Filling

• 8 oz. package crab or krab (we went with krab! #budget)

• 8 oz. package cream cheese

• 3 green onion sprigs, chopped

• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

• 1 tsp onion powder

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• sweet chili sauce like Meiploi, for serving

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400. We’ll begin by making the wrappers. In a bowl blend together the flour, salt, and cornstarch.

2. Then, put down the flour mixture on a clean, dry surface and make a well in the middle.

3. Crack one egg into the well and get out a fork for whisky-whisky time. Whisk egg, incorporating flour as you go until you get closer to a coherent dough. Add cold water sparingly as needed to get the right consistency. It should feel similar to pasta dough.

4. Chill the dough for a few minutes while we work on the filling.

5. Make the filling by adding the crab, cream cheese, green onion, Worcestershire, onion powder, and garlic powder to a bowl with a mixer or one in which you can use a hand mixer. Blend together until one small spoonful of the mix would have a bit of everything in it.

6. Bust out that chilled dough, baby. Roll it as thinly as you can without it breaking. If you have a pasta maker/press, you can totally use that. I don’t so I separated the dough into small pieces, then rolled them out until they were a size and thinness I liked.

7. In a small ramekin or bowl, whisk the second egg. You’ll use this to help seal the wontons. Place a small scoop of the filling in a wonton wrapper; don’t overfill or they’ll burst and you’ll lose all the filling. Brush the outside of the circle with whisked egg (I just used my fingers) and fold the wrapper over the filling, making a half moon. Pinch the edges closed. Then twist the pointed edges toward the middle, overlapping, and pinch them together.

8. Place all those lil rangoon babies onto an oil-sprayed nonstick baking sheet. Bake for 10-13 minutes or until the wonton edges are golden.

9. Enjoy with a generous amount of sweet chili sauce. Voila!

xo

em

Broccolini Pasta Carbonara (vegetarian)

When Jackson suggested that we go pescatarian this year, I said, “NOPE.” And when I have a negative reaction that fast, it usually means that I need to seriously reconsider. So, I did. And I agreed: pescatarian for 2021.

Instead of viewing this as a negative (giving up meat), I decided to flip this into a positive. I am going to fall in love with vegetables. I have always kind of tolerated them. I love a few things: mushrooms, kale, tomatoes. But there are a lot of vegetables I haven’t really gotten into.

This is the year of the vegetable!

And as such, I’m hoping to discover and create some delicious new ones. I’ve been missing bacon and pancetta the most, so I figured I’d attempt a rent-week, vegetarian twist on the pasta classic of carbonara.

Also I hate when blogs make you scroll endlessly through rants just to get to the recipe so lemme lay it on you:

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Ingredients:

Feeds two pretty hungry people

• 1 head broccolini

• pasta (we used quinoa pasta)

• 3 T butter

• 2 eggs, beaten

• 2 cloves garlic

• 1/2 lemon, juiced

• 1/4 c freshly grated parmesan

• salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Cut up the broccolini until it’s in bite-size pieces. Then we’re gonna do something I call “shock and awe” to the broccolini. Place the broccolini in boiling water for until it turns bright green. Then promptly move the broccolini to a colander in the sink and rinse it under cold water.

2. Boil the pasta in the same water you used for the broccolini until it’s al dente. Drain it in the same colander.

3. Pour out the water from the pot you used to boil everything. Add the butter to the pan and melt it while whisking constantly. Add the garlic, lemon juice, and parmesan, whisking all the way.

4. Add the pasta and broccolini back into the pot with the butter mixture. and toss the veg and pasta until coated. Plate and serve with salt and pepper to taste.

Hope it’s as tasty for you as it is was for me!

xo

em