Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Frittata

Every year, Zach surprises me on Valentine's Day with Nutella, strawberries, and mimosas in bed. Now that we live on opposite coasts, I find myself clinging to little traditions like this. This year, I was hoping since Zach was going to be in town for Valentine's Day, he would find a way to recreate this special tradition.

Then Storm Pax happened, and Zach's flight was delayed until Saturday morning.  So long Valentine's Day tradition of decadent breakfast in bed. I took the news by moping around and feeling sorry for myself.  After a day of being very annoying, I came to understand that change is natural, and though traditions are meant to tie us to the past, they can also adopt to our lives now.

So this morning, I woke up early, went to the store, and bought the ingredients for a great brunch at home. I kept with our traditional theme of strawberries and mimosas-but had to make a few changes to add my own flair (and to adjust for Whole Foods choosing not to carry Nutella...really Whole Foods?). 

I ended up surprising Zach with blood orange mimosas, Philz Tesora coffee, strawberries, croissants, an arugula salad, and butternut squash, onion, and goat cheese frittata. The menu was different from how we typically celebrate Valentine's Day, and we were not celebrating on Valentine's Day, but it was still lovely and romantic.

This frittata is an easy brunch dish to throw together--especially if you cook the butternut squash the day before.  

Hope you all are having a lovely weekend with your Valentines!

Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Frittata

3/4 cup butternut squash, diced into cubes

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 teaspoons salt, divided

2 teaspoons black pepper, divided

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 onion, chopped

3 ounces of goat cheese (feel free to add more)

6 eggs

1/2 cup whole milk

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. 
• Toss the butternut squash with olive oil, one teaspoon of salt, and one teaspoon of black pepper. Bake in the oven, turning the squash occasionally with a spatula, for 30 minutes, or until the squash is tender. Leave the oven on--you are going to need it again soon!
• Meanwhile, in a small pan on medium heat, melt the butter.  Add onions, and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are soft and beginning to brown.
• Spray an 8x8 in. Pyrex dish with cooking spray. Layer the squash, onions, and goat cheese in the dish.

• In a medium sized bowl, whisk the 6 eggs, and remaining salt and pepper together.  Add in the milk, and whisk again.
• Pour the egg mixture into the Pyrex dish.

• Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the eggs are completely set on top. The frittata should look similar to very firm scrambled eggs.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Faux Pho

This post was originally supposed to be about pesto because I had a ton of basil and parmesan cheese. But then I realized making pesto would have required a trip to the store for some pine nuts. Poking around my kitchen a little bit longer, I discovered some rice noodles tucked behind my cereal, and some chicken soup in my freezer.

And that is how my faux pho came to be. With a few ingredients, you can easily elevate chicken soup into something a little more exciting and fresh. It is not necessarily the most traditional, but it will curb your pho cravings until you can make it out to your favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant.

Perhaps the best thing about this meal is that is was ready in 15 minutes. Seriously! Which means you have plenty of time to unwind after a busy Monday back at the office...

Faux Pho

I used frozen homemade chicken soup, that already had carrots and chicken in it.  If you don't have any, feel free to use store-bought low-sodium broth and rotisserie chicken.  To make it vegetarian, simply sub the chicken broth and chicken for veggie broth and tofu!

Handful of rice noodles (feel free to grab as much as you want)
4 cups of chicken broth
1/2 cup shredded rotisserie chicken
1/4 onion, chopped
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
Juice from 2 limes
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
Siracha

• Cover the noodles with boiling water.  Let sit for approximately 7-10 minutes.  I prefer my noodles on the chewier side, so I err on 7 minutes.  
• Drain noodles when done.

•  Combine broth and chicken in a pot, and heat over medium-high heat.  Add in chopped basil, lime juice, and onions.  Continue to cook until the soup is hot.
• Stir in soy sauce and fish sauce.

• To serve, place noodles in a bowl.  Add soup on top, and then add Siracha. 

Valentine's Day Pizza Party

I am a big fan of stay-at-home date nights. I love going out to eat and trying new restaurants, but sometimes there is nothing more romantic than staying at home, cooking a delicious meal together, and then cuddling for the rest of the night. When I think of date nights, it conjures up ideas of fancy meals that might take a few hours to make, but I am much more partial to interactive and fun meals that are simpler to make.

These pizzas are one of my favorite weeknight date-night meals. Not only are they incredibly easy to make thanks to Trader Joe's, but they are also so much fun to put together. This is a great meal to put together for Valentine's Day--especially since everyone will be celebrating on Friday after a long week at work.

My friend Kara and I made three pizzas--fig, goat cheese, prosciutto, and arugula pizza, margherita pizza, and potato, egg, and rosemary pizza.  Feel free to customize!  For example, Kara loves prosciutto, so she add that to her fig and goat cheese pizza, while I was more partial to the potato, egg, and rosemary pizza.

Open up a bottle of wine, start rolling out the dough, and great ready for a great date night.

Weeknight Pizzas

Feel free to use whatever ingredients you like, and whatever amounts of topping you like, which is why I do not specify certain amounts of topping.  Use your creativity...the options are endless!  

1 potato

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 1/2 tablespoons rosemary

3 packages of Trader Joe's pizza dough

Flour, for rolling out the dough

Olive oil

Fig butter

Goat cheese

Prosciutto (optional)

Arugula

Marinara sauce

Basil

Burrata cheese

Two eggs

Parmesan cheese

• Let the pizza dough rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cut the potato into small slices.  Toss with two tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, and 1/2 tablespoon of rosemary. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees until the potatoes are soft and begin to turn brown. Set aside to cool.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
• Toss a cutting board with some flour.  Using a rolling pin, begin rolling out the pizza dough until the crust is approximately one inch thick.  Go for any shape you want--though rectangles and circles are the easiest and most traditional.
• Once you have three crusts ready to go, coat three cooking sheets with olive oil.
• For Kara's fig, goat cheese, prosciutto and arugula pizza, first coat the pizza with fig butter.  Then top with goat cheese chunks and a few slices of prosciutto.   

• Place in the oven and let it cook for 15 minutes.  Depending on how thin your pizza is, it may take longer.  You want to make sure the dough seems crispy and and the edges are nicely brown.
• Top the pizza with arugula before serving.  

• For my margherita pizza, top the pizza dough with marinara sauce and fresh basil.  

• Place in the oven, and let it cook for 15 minutes, until the edges of the dough is nicely browned. 
• Top the pizza with fresh buratta right before serving.

• For my potato, egg, and rosemary pizza, coat the pizza dough with olive oil.  Place the cooked potatoes onto the dough, creating a single layer. Crack two eggs onto the pizza.  Add the remaining salt, pepper, and rosemary, and grate a little bit of Parmesan over the pizza.  

• Cook in the oven until the egg is set and the edges are crisp, about 12-15 minutes. 

Valentine's Day Chocolate Truffles

This Valentine's Day, I am especially grateful for all of my valentines, not just my boyfriend. I love my boyfriend, and I am ecstatic that he is coming to DC for Valentine's Day weekend. However, there are so many people in my life whom I love--old friends, new friends, sister, brother, father, grandparents, mentors, sorority sisters, roommates--and I want to make sure that I take some time to thank them for making my life a little bit better. Life is too short to not celebrate all of your loved ones on Valentine's Day.

These chocolate truffles are the perfect gift, no matter who your valentine is.  They only require about 10 minutes of actual cooking, and the recipe only calls for a few ingredients, making it easy to cook up a large batch for all of your valentines.

To all my valentines near and far, I am thinking of you this Valentine's Day!

Chocolate Truffles

Adapted from Ina Garten

Note: the better the chocolate, the better the truffle

1/2 pound bittersweet chocolate

1/2 pound semisweet chocolate

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons of liqueur (I prefer Grand Marnier or Frangelico's)

1 tablespoon prepared coffee

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cocoa Powder

• Chop the chocolate finely with a sharp knife. Place the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. 

• Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it just begins to boil. Turn off the heat and allow the cream to sit for 20 seconds. Pour the cream through a fine-mesh sieve into the bowl with chocolate. With a wire whisk, slowly stir the cream and chocolate together until the chocolate is completely melted. Whisk in the liqueur, coffee, and vanilla.  Set aside at room temperature for 1 hour.

With 2 teaspoons, spoon round balls of the chocolate mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roll each ball of chocolate in your hands to roughly make it round. Roll in the cocoa powder. They will keep in the refrigerator for at least a few weeks, though you should serve them at room temperature.

The Perfect Coffee

Thanks to my father and the Bay Area, I am a bonafide coffee snob. Starbucks, Peet's, and Caribou are all fine coffee places, but they don't hold a candle to places like Philz out in the Bay or Filter here in DC. A cup of coffee brewed individually just for you is truly luxurious.

Luckily, there is a way to recreate these artisanal coffee shops in your own home. Thanks to Blue Bottle Coffee's coffee guides, you can master the technique of your favorite coffee shop. They have step by step instructions on how to brew coffee properly, resulting in a delicious cup every single time.

My personal favorite method is drip (or pour over). With the drip method, you have more control over every element, water, brewing time, coffee grounds, resulting in better coffee. I also prefer it because it is quick, cheap, easy to clean, and perfectly-sized for one person. It also happens to be the brew choice of so many of my favorite places, so it must be the best!

Browse the Blue Bottle guides, order your supplies, and get ready for coffee-house quality coffee at home. PJs required.