Smoked Salmon and Roasted Padron Peppers

Yummy Smoked Salmon

Ryan: "I made a rub of two parts salt, one part pepper, one part sugar. I rubbed the salmon down with it and let it get to room temp. On the grill: I put all of the coals on one corner of the grill and put a little pan of water on the other side, next to the hot coals. The water helps to regulate the temperature throughout the BBQ. Before I put the grill on, I sprayed it with pan so the salmon wouldn't stick. I kind of messed around with the temperature a little bit by opening and closing the top and bottom vents of the BBQ to get it just right. We do not have a thermometer set up for our grill yet, so just right means, hot enough so that I could feel the heat but cool enough that I could keep my hand over it. Before I put the salmon on, I added a handful of applewood chips to the coals. These chips had been soaking in water for a while to keep them from burning. I cooked it for an hour over the water side of the grill, or in BBQ terms; indirect heat. I also added water to the left over rub to make a little "mop" or basting liquid. I applied it about every twenty minutes. I took off the grill and let it rest for about ten minutes before I split it in two!"

The amazing Padron Peppers:

These peppers are ridiculously easy and so good! Maybe as not kid friendly as some of our other side dishes but very tasty, not spicy and super fun to eat!

So we used our cast iron skillet for these little beauties as well. I got it screaming hot, put a little tiny bit of olive oil in it and tossed the peppers in. Once in they cooked for about ten minutes total. I turned them every once in a while so they got browned but not burned. Right before serving, I added generous pinch of salt and two cloves of finely chopped garlic. Tossed the garlic and peppers around a little bit and then threw them on the plate with the smoked salmon and some fresh summer melon. 

Delicious 

Criticisms:

The heat was a little too high on the salmon so the outside was just a little too cripsy. Overall it was really good, but in the future it would be better cooler and longer. 

Roast Chicken and Root Vegetables

So I have been craving some more wintery meals lately and this one is one of my favorites. Its super simple and pretty easy make for those of you who like homey meals and don't like to spend the time over a stove! I actually asked my mom to make this chicken dish for my birthday dinner, like three years in a row! Another great thing about roasting whole chickens is that they are usually a great price and you can usually use them for more than one meal in a week (sandwiches, tacos etc.). You can also use the bones to make stock, which is a nice little trick (if you like spending your time over a stove :) )

For the Veggies:

So I happened to have a napping baby and really wanted to relax, so I sat at my kitchen table, poured myself a glass of juice, put on some trashy tv show, and then peeled and chopped my veggies. I honestly love "lazy" afternoons like this when I can relax and get things done at the same time.

A few carrots

One sweet potato

One turnip

One yellow beet

One yellow onion

7 ish Garlic cloves

Olive Oil 

Salt and Pepper

You really can use any root veggie you want, these just happen to be my favorite. 

Peel and dice all the veggies so they are about the same size. Fun fact side note, my dog Pepper happens to LOVE veggies, so while I watched my show, I peeled the veggies and put the peels in a bowl and set it on the floor for her to eat while I chopped them up. I think she likes my lazy cooking days as much as I do! Anyway, any size you like will do, just make sure they are all the same size so they will be able to roast together and be done at the same time. Put the veggies into a Pyrex or baking dish, sprinkle with olive oil and salt and pepper and throw them into the oven at 450. 

Now for the Chicken:

1 Roasting chicken

5 Cloves roughly chopped garlic

Salt and Pepper

2 TBL Honey

1TBL Lime Juice

2TBL Soy Sauce

Once you put your veggies in, start on your chicken. Take it out of the wrapper. Make sure all of the giblets or anything extra are taken out. Rinse your chicken and pat it dry with a paper towel. Put your chicken right into your Pyrex or roasting pan. I know staring at a whole chicken may seem daunting but it really isn't that hard at all! (Why do you think Costco sells them for like 5 dollars?!) Just slide you hand under the skin so it pulls away from the breast. Go ahead and stick that garlic right under there so its between the breast and the skin. You can also add some thyme under there, I just didn't have any. Sprinkle the outside of the chicken with salt and pepper (an the cavity if you want). Then throw that chicken in the oven with your veggies and turn the oven down to 350.

While your chicken and veggies are in the oven, mix the honey, soy sauce, and lime juice. For the last 15 minutes of cooking, brush your chicken with this mixture. It is what gives this chicken its super crispy, brown delicious skin. I know in the photo below it looks a little burnt, but it really wasn't, it was just perfect!  I roasted my chicken for about an hour, but the rule of thumb is about 20 minutes a pound (my chicken was 3 pounds). Another way to tell if your chicken is done is by using a meat thermometer. Chicken is done at 165 degrees or until the juices of the chicken are running clear. 

While your chicken is cooking make sure to keep an eye on your veggies. They may get done before your chicken but for this 3 pound bird they were fork tender at the exact same time my chicken was finished. You can give the veggies an occasional toss too if you think they might be getting too brown on the top or the bottom, but this meal should be one of those "set it, and forget it" type deals. 

Now, cut up that bird, throw those veggies on a plate and enjoy this easy roast chicken and root vegetables as if it were winter outside! 

Scallops and Sauteed Spinach

So after our big shopping trip on Sunday we came home and had this delicious meal! 

One of Ryan's and my favorite things is scallops. I could honestly have them any day of the week. This time we did these lovely scallops from Berkeley Bowl along with sauteed spinach with bacon, never a bad thing. We also just got some hand-me-down seasoned cast iron pans. My guess is you will be seeing a lot of pictures with these new beauties. 

The great thing about scallops AND spinach is that they are both super quick to cook. Scallops can be a little fickle but spinach, on the other hand, is super easy. For this recipe we started with the spinach. First we took some left over bacon from a recipe earlier this week, chopped it up with some onions and sauteed them together. Once the bacon and onions are cooked to your liking, take them out and set aside. Then add a bunch of spinach to the pan with all of the bacon bits and goodness in the bottom. You should always add more than you think because it cooks down a ton! Once the spinach is cooked and the extra moisture is cooked off, add the bacon and onions back in. Season to your liking with salt and pepper and enjoy with what ever you want, pork, beef, chicken, and even scallops!

When cooking scallops there are some very important things to remember. 

1. Make sure your scallops are fresh and still smell fresh

2. Make sure your scallops are very dry. We leave ours on a paper towel for a while so it soaks up any extra moisture. 

3. Cook your scallops at a very high heat

4. Cook your scallops quickly and get off the heat as soon as you think they might be done. They are super easy to over cook!

We sauteed our scallops in our cast iron pan. If you don't have one we recommend using a non-stick skillet unless you are great with a regular skillet, they just have the tendency to stick if you don't cook them at the perfect temperature. I like to cook mine in butter, but Ryan does a better job at trying to keep us healthy : ) He likes to use high heat avocado oil or olive oil. Again, get your pan and oil super hot, add your scallops and cook for about two minutes on each side. When looking at the side of the scallop you can see how cooked through they are, take them off well before you think they are all cooked through otherwise they will be over cooked for sure. Season and enjoy!

MMM SCALLOPS AND BACON... Could you ever have a better pairing?!

Smith Family Shopping Date

So this past Sunday, our little family had the pleasure of taking a trip down to Berkeley to go to one of our favorite grocery stores. Well, honestly, its more than a grocery store. It is like foodie heaven and its name is Berkeley Bowl . Seriously, it has the most amazing selections you could ever dream of. I have never seen more choices or selections anywhere! The photo below its JUST MUSHROOMS!!!! 

There are isles and isles of regular and organic produce, amazing fish selections from six different kinds of salmon to beautiful sushi grade sea urchin, escolar, and shark. Any fish you want, they got it! Same goes for their meat selection. They have beef galore, veal, buffalo, pork, sausage, lamb, duck, turkey, chicken, guinea hen, venison, elk, kangaroo, camel, quail, and pheasant. I have never seen so many choices and pretty much all with a choice of organic, natural, free range, air chilled, grass fed, choice and prime cuts!  

Oh Lordy and their produce! I can't even explain the amounts of produce! Their produce section is like the size of a regular grocery store! This is a photo of Ryan picking out the perfect heirloom tomato out of a batch of like 1,000+. Any kind of fruit or vegetable you want, they have durian, star fruit, like 15 types of pears, and 20 types of apples. The selection is beyond incredible. Seriously, every time I go there it blows my mind!

 This row is just the non organic citrus!

Some of the isles and choices get us into trouble... like the cheeses, beer, and wine selections. 

This shopping trip was not our most price conscious trip but we still made it out of there with some amazing stuff for the next week+ for $200.00. It sounds like a lot but we got scallops, veal, chicken, sausage, salmon, root veggies, roast beef, turkey, wine, chard, spinach, various asian sauces, and much much more. Our cart was packed to the brim! We thought we might have to leave Cyrus behind to fit it all in the car, but luckily he is still pretty small!

Rub Potion #9 Chicken with Braised Savoy Cabbage

Cyrus was just a little too awake (and happy) to be put to bed just yet... so he got to cook with us for a little while on Wednesday night... lucky little dude.

So Wednesday night we usually try and do something a little less time consuming because I have a women's group I have to get to by 8 o'clock. 

Olivers, this week, had boneless, skinless chicken breast on sale for $4.99 a pound. We simply bought two which ends up being a little less than .75 of a pound. Tuesday night Ryan put them in a freezer bag with avocado oil and Oliver's "Rub Potion #9," which has way too many ingredients to list. It is honestly super delicious and only $3.99 for a significant amount. Shout out to my sister-in-law, Bria, for recommending it to us! We are officially hooked!

We BBQed the chicken and Ryan put it on the grill while I put our little Cy Guy down for bed. (The timing just happens to work out well for us) Ryan usually cooks the chicken for about 20-25 minutes (depending on the size of the chicken breasts). And then, as always, he likes to rest the meat for 8-10 minutes once its off the grill. 

While the meat was on the grill, we tried something new; braised savoy cabbage with bacon. This recipe was also from the Paleo Foodie Cookbook, that we got from the library.

4 Bacon slices, diced - We did 5 because we love bacon

1 head savoy cabbage

1 cup carrots, peeled and diced - Ryan forgot we needed carrots when he made the carrot puree on Tuesday night so we did it without carrots but I am sure they would make it great!

.5 yellow onion, diced

.25 cup garlic, diced

Sea salt and pepper

.5 cup chicken broth

"Heat a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-low heat. Add bacon and cook until cripsy. Once bacon is cooked, set bacon bits aside, leaving bacon fat in the pan. Let the bacon fat cook slightly. 

Meanwhile, cut the heads of the cabbage in quarters. Cut out the cores and cut the quarters into thick clices. Add the carrots and onion to the pan and cook over medium-high heat until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 2 more minutes. stir in the cabbage and generously salt and pepper.

Add the chicken broth. Turn down the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for about 15 minutes or more until the cabbage is tender and check brother had evaporated. Top with bacon bits and serve immediately." 

So here is what we thought! 

Ryan says, "The rub was great and the chicken was cooked really well. The rub can be a little salty so next time, I want to add a little more brown sugar to the rub to balance out the saltiness and to add some caramelization to the outside of the chicken when it is on the grill." Ryan also wanted to note that "We shop a lot at Trader Joe's, but we have been having bad luck with their chicken. It tends to go bad very quickly and doesn't taste as good as chicken from Oliver's or Whole Foods." "The real star of the meal was the cabbage. It was very flavorful and very fresh tasting. It was a really good mixture of textures because of the softness of the cabbage and the crispy bacon on top." It is making my mouth water just thinking about it! 

We also forgot to mention that we made a quick side salad as well. It was an arugula salad with grilled artichoke hearts and avocado with our absolute favorite dressing (even though it is not the cheapest) Girard's Champagne Dressing. And you know, because we are trying to be healthy, we got the "lite" version : )

This cabbage recipe was super simple and totally worth trying! All in all dinner took us about 40 minutes to make... Very easy and very delicious.

Rib-eye with Carrot Red Bell Pepper Puree

Since we have already done our grocery shopping for the week we will explain our menu planning and shopping adventures starting next week.

For the next few days we will show you what we cooked, how we did it and what it tasted like (just to make you jealous).

Tonight Ryan was Mr. Mom. I had an appointment this evening so he bathed the babe, fed him, put him to bed AND COOKED DINNER! What a lucky woman I am! (you will hear that a lot in reference to his amazing cooking skills!)

The menu tonight was Rib-eye Steak and Carrot Red Bell Pepper Puree.

We kind of have a rule that we buy .75 – 1 lb of meat for two of us. The rib-eye was on sale for $11.99 a pound ($5 off its usual price).  Being the BBQ Master in this household, Ryan always likes to charcoal BBQ our steaks but before we had a grill, we invested in a grill pan. A grill pan works great but it doesn’t add all of that amazing BBQ grill flavor.

We season our steaks simply: salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Ryan likes to take the back of a spoon and push the seasoning into the meat. Ryan has heard that some people think that doing this is a BBQ “no-no” but he really thinks it tenderizes the meat, pushes the salt into it, and brings out the natural flavor and juices. 

He then cooks it (depending on the thickness), 4 minutes on each side uncovered, then 2-3 minutes on each side, covered. For doneness, we like the “feel of it” technique. When cooking beef, we like to pull the meat off of the heat when it feels like the squishy part of your hand, right by the base of your thumb, when making a loose fist). Weird, I know. Once the meat is off the grill, we let it rest for 8-10 minutes, uncovered.

For the Carrot Red Bell Pepper Puree we are following the Paleo Foodie Cookbook by Arsy Vartanian. On a side note, one of the great things about Sonoma County – we have awesome libraries! I picked up this little gem along with a few other paleo cookbooks at our local library. Back to the recipe:

2 Red Bell Peppers, halved and seeded

1.5 LBS. Carrots, peeled and chopped

2 TBSP Balsamic Vinegar

.5 TSP Salt

.25 TSP Pepper

.25 Cup Butter

.5 TSP Sweet Paprika

2 TBSP Cilantro, chopped

“Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place peppers on a baking sheet, cut-side down. Bake for 45 minutes or until peppers are blackened. Removed the skins. While the peppers are baking, place carrots in a large pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil until carrots are soft, about 30-45 minutes. Drain carrots. Using an immersion blender puree the peppers, carrots, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, butter, paprika and cilantro.” 

Our take/ version on this recipe: Everything went according to the recipe, but it does take a little while to blend. And of course, as with every recipe, season to taste. We added a little more salt, pepper and paprika to ours. 

As for the vino, we love shopping for (inexpensive) wine at Trader Joe’s. Tonight we are drinking La Finca, oak aged, Argentinean Cabernet Sauvignon. It was $4 and decent! Its not the most full-bodied cab sav we have ever had but for 4 bucks it works! We have found that for the money Argentinean wines are really great and Argentinean Malbecs are our favorite. (there is at least one bottle coming later this week)

And for the taste: Ryan says that the puree was AWESOME and I completely concur. The steak was cooked well, seasoned well and tasted decent but there is a noticeable difference between “choice” beef and “prime.” You get what you pay for. It was a great deal and overall worth the money because “prime” is for sure double the price.  

For me, I think the puree AND the steak was awesome. Ryan tends to be a little bit harsher of a critic than I. It was a great steak with no complaints from me!

We are the Smiths

We are the Smith Family. We are Ryan and Kristen Smith and we have one son Cyrus and a black lab named Pepper. 

The first thing to know about us is 1, we love God, 2 we love each other and 3, we LOVE food. 

We met at Biola University, 7 years ago in 2007. Immediately we connected with our love for food and we are pretty sure we were the only two students at Biola trying to decide between culinary school or bible college. Based on the fact that we are happily married, we know we made the right choice but still have a insatiable craving for the culinary arts!

We were married in January 2011, and had our son, Cyrus, in May 2014. Since I, Kristen, am now a stay at home mom, menu planning and keeping a food budget is key to our family’s survival. More than surviving financially, we thoroughly enjoy menu planning and our shopping dates once a week. Daily, we enjoy putting our son to bed, and coming together in the kitchen to drink a little wine, cook the food we love and eat together as a family. 

We are starting this blog at the urging of some friends to share with everyone our love of cooking, food, family, and how we make it all possible on a budget in Sonoma County.