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Beautiful clusters of oats, seeds and coconut

Homemade granola is such a staple in our house, I often forget what the store bought version tastes like, but I vaguely recall it resembling overly sweetened cardboard.  But for some reason I always bought it. I liked the idea of having granola on hand. I remember a lovely bed and breakfast on our honeymoon that had a giant bowl of homemade granola displayed in the kitchen (along with a big jar of biscotti but that’s another post!) and not until 10+ years later did I make that happen on a regular basis in my own kitchen. 

Extra large mason jar with scoop

I also realized that when we are on vacation at nice resorts and I see housemade granola on the menu, I always make sure I order it at least once during our stay.  I figure if the Chef has a house granola, I have to try it! And I’m almost always glad I did. It feels like a light and healthy way to start the day, especially since most days I’m an egg girl.   

I’ve tried many many granola recipes, and at one time or another, I’ve declared them the “best granola recipe.”  But, while they were all really good, this recipe is the one that has become a house favorite. So, below, I present to you my House Granola.  It’s inspired by many recipes out there, but mostly by one of my favorite cookbooks Cooking at Home with Bridget and Julia.

A perfect breakfast: House Granola with Fresh Peach and Oatmilk Latte

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House Granola

Granola has been a staple in our household for longer than I can remember. Everyone in our house likes it served differently, but my favorite is with almond milk and sliced fresh peach or banana on top. It's also delicious over Greek yogurt flavored with a little maple syrup and orange zest or juice. With the crunchy clusters of oats, seeds and nuts and the chew of the cranberries and apricots, it couldn't be more satisfying. This version is inspired by one of my favorite cookbooks Cooking at Home with Bridget and Julia.

Course Breakfast

Keyword dried fruit, granola, pecans

Author Christina Shoup

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

• 5 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 2 cups pecans raw, unsalted, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup flaked coconut unsweetened
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds raw, unsalted
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 pinches flake sea salt, such as Maldon can use 1/2 tsp kosher salt instead

Wet Ingredients

• 3/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 4 tsp vanilla
• 2 large oranges finely zested with a microplane

After Baking Add-Ins

• 2 cups dried cranberries, cherries or golden raisins
• 1/2 cup dried apricots roughly chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325° Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

3. In a glass measuring cup, melt coconut oil until liquid, about a minute. Add rest of the wet ingredients and whisk until throughly combined.

4. Pour wet mixture over dry mixture and fold together until all oats, nuts and seeds are well coated.

5. Place mixture on prepared baking sheet and spread out evenly, pressing firmly with a spatula.

6. Bake on an upper middle rack until slightly golden, about 40 minutes. Be sure to spin your sheet pan after 20 minutes to ensure even baking.

7. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle on dried fruit. Let sit until granola is completely cool and gently mix together, taking care not to break up too many of those granola clusters. Stores well in a sealed container for several weeks.

Tomato Pie- the best kind of pie there is!

It’s late July and the local farmer’s markets in the Bay Area are overflowing with summer’s bounty.  I don’t usually have a go to list from week to week (depends what is on the meal plan!), but one staple from June until at least late September are tomatoes.  Only three out of my five family members even like tomatoes but that doesn’t stop me from making all things tomato. And as it turns out- it doesn’t stop five out of five from eating dishes with tomatoes in them.  Funny how that works! So many ways to use them: fresh cream of tomato soup, tomato salsa, gazpacho, tomato sauce… but my all time favorite way to eat ripe summer tomatoes is in Tomato Pie. This is my childhood in a pie shell.

Recently a farmer selling me tomatoes asked what I was planning on doing with the tomatoes and because July 4th was just days away- Tomato Pie was definitely on the holiday menu! It’s a summer staple.

There are a few but critical easy steps to ensure a delicious tomato pie!

Step 1:

Roll out dough into 9″ pie dish and prick all over with fork.  This can be store bought- Trader Joe’s has a decent one or my favorite is an egg and butter based Pâte Brisé that is very easy to work with.

Pate Brisee

Step 2: Blind bake

Line pie dough with parchment paper and fill with dry beans or pie weights.  Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes.

Blind baking the shell

Step 3

While crust is baking, slice tomatoes and give them a gentle squeeze to remove some juices. Place tomatoes on a baking rack and salt both sides.

Salting and draining tomatoes

Step 4:

Remove parchment paper and beans and bake for another 5 minutes, or until golden.  Let sit while crust is baking and you prepare the topping.

Successful blindbaking- golden and no puffed up spots!

Step 5:

Lay the drained tomatoes in the pie shell, overlapping as needed.  Fill in gaps with cherry tomato halves.

Beautiful local tomatoes

Step 6:

Sprinkle fresh basil and chive over the tomatoes.

Fresh herbs

Step 7:

Gently dollop cheese/mayo mixture on top of seasoned tomatoes and press lightly.

Sharp cheddar, mayo, scallion and a few seasonings for a delicious topping

Step 8:

Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and golden brown.

Let sit for 10 minutes before slicing. Best served warm or room temperature.

I hope you love this as much as I do!

Cheers

~Christina

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Tomato Pie

This savory pie is the best of summer. Ripe, in season tomatoes seasoned with fresh herbs sit in a flaky crust with a cheesy topping. What's not to love?

Course Main Course, Side Dish, vegetarian

Keyword herbs, pie, savory pie, tomato

Servings 8 servings

Author Christina Shoup

Ingredients

• 1 9" pie crust baked
• 3-4 medium tomatoes thickly sliced
• handful cherry tomatoes sliced in half
• 2 tbsp fresh basil julienned
• 1/4 cup chives minced
• 2 cups sharp cheddar shredded
• 1/4 cup mayo
• 2 scallions thinly sliced
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Instructions

1. Roll out pie dough into 9" pie dish and prick all over with fork. Line pie dough with parchment paper and fill with dry beans or pie weights.  Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes. Remove parchment paper and beans and bake for another 5 minutes, or until golden.

   While crust is baking, slice tomatoes and give them a gentle squeeze to remove some juices. Place tomatoes on a baking rack and salt both sides.  Let sit while you prepare the topping.

   For the topping: Combine cheese, mayo, scallions, garlic powder, and cayenne in a small bowl. Set aside.

   Lay the drained tomatoes in the pie shell, overlapping as needed.  Fill in gaps with cherry tomato halves. Sprinkle herbs evenly over tomatoes.

   Gently dollop cheese/mayo mixture on top of seasoned tomatoes and press lightly.

   Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and golden brown. Let sit for 10 minutes before slicing. Best served warm or room temperature.

Back in my early twenties, when my friends and I wanted a drink, liquor cabinet foraging was a pretty regular occurrence.  I was legal, working hard and with little responsibilities, a cold drink after a long day was a treat. There was really never any “plan” to the beverage of choice other than what we had on hand- Is there a beer in the fridge? Perfect- I’ll take it straight from the bottle.  A little rum to mix with the flat two-liter bottle of Coke? That will do. Some kind of box wine leftover from camping? Great. The bar was low and I didn’t care much if it paired well with my frozen dinner. 

Fast forward to my real adulting years with many responsibilities, more refined taste buds in food and alcohol, and deeper care and appreciation for what I put in my body. With a slower metabolism in my forties (ugh) and a busy life, there is always a plan for the beverage I’m thinking of consuming.  Are we sitting at a baseball game on a sunny Saturday afternoon for 2+ hours? A cold beer in a tumbler mixed with a little limeade is not a bad idea.  A Friday night where all my people are at home and the Warriors are on? An old fashioned “sipper”- as my husband calls it- is in order.  Hubby and I are celebrating a good week at work? Corking a bottle of our favorite B cellars wine is a treat.  

Recently, I made a nice restaurant-quality dinner at home- and I wanted a restaurant/fancy bartender quality cocktail to start the meal off.  This is when I did old-school liquor cabinet foraging. I basically pulled out my favorite bottles in the cabinet, some citrus from the fruit bowl and some sparkling water from the fridge and got to work.  I may have regretted this decision of careless mixing except that it ended up being one of the best cocktails I’ve had in recent memory. This baby also would have commanded a $15 price tag in a nice establishment.  I’ve since made it a few times and always have these ingredients on hand to ensure my liquor cabinet foraging game is strong.

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Summer Sipper

A refreshing gin, citrus and floral sipper born out of liquor cabinet foraging. The results were very drinkable. Enjoy!

Course Beverages

Keyword cocktail, gin

Servings 2 drinks

Author Christina Shoup

Ingredients

• 2 ounces Hendrick's Gin
• 2 ounces Aperol
• 2 ounces St. Germain
• 4 dashes Angostura Orange Bitters
• 2 Lemons squeezed, about ¼ cup
• splash Lemon La Croix Sparkling Water

Instructions

1. Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake it like you mean it for 30 seconds. Add a splash of sparkling water and strain into two glasses.

Perfect job for the cast iron pan

It’s supposed to be sunny and warm outside- it’s mid-May in California after all.  The sun is coming, we just have to wait several more days.  For now, keep calm and roast a chicken! There is something so satisfying about knowing how to roast a chicken.  It’s simple, comforting, and can produce meals for days and broth for weeks.  Zuni Cafe’s late Chef Judy Rodgers is credited for this easy technique for Roast Chicken and it’s so easy to replicate at home.  All you need to do is plan ahead and make sure to salt that chicken the day before.  The old saying goes- you get what you pay for. Buy the very best whole chicken you can afford. It will pay dividends with the meat and the quality of the broth.  Some chickens have a nice clean poultry flavor, and some just do not.

Meal #1

This chicken gets a lot of use! Meal #1 includes cut up chicken, roasted veggies and a side salad. Meal #2 takes the chicken off the bone and gets stuffed into chicken tacos with black bean and corn salsa or gets used as the star of a cobb salad. Meal #3 turns into a risotto dish with herbs and mascarpone once you make that homemade broth!

Risotto with Spring Peas, Herbs, and Mascarpone- this was a hit with my family!

Speaking of broth- this is one of the few reasons I own an Instant Pot.  I’m not a huge fan, but definitely use it for a few kitchen tasks that would otherwise take constant monitoring or more time than I want to spend. This chicken broth is a great base for many future recipes.  In cooking school, I learned the best chicken stock is a neutral stock- one without garlic, ginger or even salt.  This way it can be used for a variety of dishes and seasoned appropriately according to the intended dish. In true wannabe Barefoot Contessa style, these quart containers of chicken broth live in my freezer and it makes me happy knowing they are there.  

Cheers,

Christina

Spring has definitely sprung in Northern California! The temperatures in the Bay area have my kids barefoot and jumping in the chilly pool after school.  In the non-food world, Spring to me means baseball season is in full swing, NBA playoffs are underway, it’s light outside until after dinner, and the windows and doors are open from morning till evening.  In the food world, it means- local strawberries (with fresh whipped cream), blueberries (eaten straight out of hand), rhubarb (makes a delicious fruit crumble or simple syrup for a mixed drink), and spring onions, green garlic, and asparagus (delicious in a frittata)- all popping up at the farmer’s market.  

Over the beautiful spring weekend, we celebrated our daughter’s Confirmation.  Because we needed to keep the meal short and sweet in order to get to the church on time, I decided on an easy, make-ahead meal that satisfied adults and kids alike.  It needed to be ready when guests arrived, not too messy as we were all in dresses and suits, and not too heavy as we were going to be sitting for the ceremony for nearly 2 hours.  The following menu was a hit!

Menu planning and a prep list is key to a relaxed gathering!

I feel instantly better when the table is set or the serving pieces are ready

The more I think about this menu, the more I think it would be a great Easter or Mother’s Day menu, too.  And, the bonus is that local salmon season is almost here and I read recently that it is on track for being a prolific season with lower prices than in the past.  I’m looking forward to sharing some of my favorite salmon recipes!

Gougeres

Gougeres with Gruyere Cheese- light and airy and addictive 

These tasty little French cheese puffs are so easy and an impressive start to the meal with a glass of champagne. They are a bit more impressive looking and seem to have more “puff” when they are piped from a pastry bag, but I can assure you that just scooping them with a small-sized ice cream scoop will work just fine- they taste the same!

Macaroni and Cheese

That delicious crunchy top

Any homemade recipe will do, but in cooking school, we made some pretty tasty versions- one of my favorites was with roasted poblano and scallion.  Whatever version or add-ins you include, be sure to: put the macaroni mixture in a buttered casserole dish and top with crunchy panko breadcrumbs that have been toasted in a pan with butter and garlic and then tossed with grated parmesan cheese.  Bake at 400 degrees till golden and bubbly.  *I made this for the kids but the adults didn’t mind a little pile next to their salad with salmon!

Slow Roasted Salmon

Slow Roasted Citrus Salmon

Alison Roman’s Slow Roasted Citrus Salmon with Herb Salad is the recipe I pretty much went off of.  However, I used a sheet pan, half the amount of olive oil, turned up the heat to 400 degrees for the last 5-7 minutes and skipped the herb salad on top.  I served it on top of an arugula salad with sliced strawberries, toasted almonds, shaved manchego cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette. A perfect light Spring main dish.

Carrot Sheet Cake

There are dozens and dozens of really tasty carrot cake recipes out there.  Layered, chock-full of nuts, pineapple, raisins, etc, 3 layers, 5 layers- I love them all!  Since we had more kids than adults at our dinner celebration, I thought it best to have a simple single layer carrot cake with nothing else in the batter but warm spices and carrots and a nice thick layer of cream cheese frosting.  It was a hit with kids and adults alike and the best part- it’s SUPER simple to make!

My favorite single layer carrot cake comes from America’s Test Kitchen Complete Series Cookbook (pretty much my kitchen bible) and if you have access to this- be sure to try this recipe! I cannot easily share the recipe because it’s in a cookbook and even the digital version requires a paid membership (which I personally think is well worth the money, along with a subscription to NYT food app, but this one from Fine Cooking (my favorite cooking magazine) is pretty close if you leave out the nuts and currents!

Whatever your family celebrates- religiously, culturally or traditionally, I hope you enjoy this beautiful weekend and great food with your friends and family.

Cheers!

Christina

We’ve been home from a Hawaiian vacation for less than 24 hrs and the relaxation is already a distant memory! Sound familiar? So much fun, sun, sand, water, and wonderful family memories were made this spring break, but back to dreary, cloudy skies is enough to suck that pineapple brain and tanned skin right from you!

Maui Shores

Never get tired of Hawaiian Sunsets

Pink Perfection

Delicious Gin and Hibiscus Cocktail at The Hideaway, Kapalua Bay

The other part of returning home from vacation usually means piles of laundry and most annoyingly, an empty refrigerator.  Life of hours on the beach or in the pool can quickly be forgotten when you get bombarded with such immediate downers such as laundry and grocery shopping.  While I don’t have any great solutions to the laundry situation except for the fact that I’m happy to say my kids are old enough to tackle their own laundry now.  I do, however, have a great solution for never coming home to an empty refrigerator again.

For the past few years, I’ve gotten in the habit of spending 30 minutes on the last day or two of our trip to make a meal plan and grocery list for the first few days home.  The last thing you want to do is grocery shop to restock milk, eggs, and other essentials. Or worse yet, have to go out to eat at one more restaurant or get take out. Indulging on vacation is one thing, but I don’t know anyone who doesn’t come home from a fun vacation to “reset” their food and alcohol intake.  No Mai Tai’s and onion rings with banana ketchup on my meal plan!

Such a welcome sight on our front porch! And, our guard kitty- 16-year-old Jasper

Enter Good Eggs food delivery! Years ago I used other delivery services such as Instacart and Safeway, but I have to say I am most happy with Good Eggs.  They deliver all the staples that I need- milk, eggs, veggies, fruit, chicken and most are local brands that I’d buy at my local grocery store or farmer’s market and FOR THE SAME PRICE! I’ve done some cost comparison with a few items just to see what the markup is, and I cannot really find much difference.  My 32 oz container of Straus Organic Whole Greek Yogurt is $7.99- same as two local grocery stores. And, a half gallon of Clover 2% milk is actually a dollar cheaper than I can find locally. Anyhow, I would actually pay a small premium to have my groceries sitting on my front porch when I arrive home from a trip.  They have been packed perfectly with reusable, returnable, and recyclable materials and can sit outside for hours in case our arrival is a bit delayed. Happy camper to say the least!

And for the meal planning strategy- I take a few minutes and scroll through my saved collection of Instagram recipes (because my cherished cookbook collection is at home!) and select three to make a grocery list from.  This week I decided on one vegetarian Buddha bowl, one hearty salad, and one soup. This gets us three dinners that I don’t have to think about when we return home. The rest of the grocery list is filled in with fresh fruit, veggies, yogurt for smoothies, bread, cheese, milk for coffee, etc.  It definitely doesn’t fill in all the holes but buys us enough time for me to make my weekly or bi-weekly trip to Trader Joe’s or Costco.

A good start on restocking the refrigerator! 

The following recipes are the ones I selected to make for dinner for the next three days.  I haven’t made any of them yet but all are super simple and healthy and I know my family will enjoy them.  I’ll report back on any that we deem keepers!

Sweet Potato Budha Bowl

BBQ Chicken Salad with Creamy Avocado Ranch

Chicken and Rice Soup with Garlicky Chile Oil

For now, rain rain go away!!

Cheers,

Christina