A Homemade Life

Last spring, I did my student teaching with Liz, an amazing first grade teacher. She was not only an inspiring mentor, but she was also a great friend. I spent many mornings sipping chai lattes that she brought me, as we got ready for the kids to come. Numerous times were spent doubled over in laughter from her hilarious jokes and animated stories. And many lunches were spent sampling her delicious recipes. Liz was a foodie at its best. She knew the best restaurants to visit in the city, and she always seemed to find the best recipes to cook. She often brought me some of her left overs from dinner the night before, because she knew how much I loved to cook.

When it was time for me to leave her classroom, I was extremely sad. Not only was I closing one chapter in my teaching career, but I was also leaving behind a person who I had come to admire, respect, and care for. As a parting gift, I gave her a copy of one of Bon Apetit's cookbooks, and she gave me a book called A Homemade Life. Earlier on in the semester she turned me onto a cooking blog called Orangette. From the moment I first read it, I loved it. The author of the blog told a story through her food. Each recipe had a memory or experience attached to it. I loved the way she regarded food as an integral part of life and family. I saved many of her recipes and stored them away in my gmail "recipes" folder. The blogger had received so much support for her blog that she was given a book deal and thus came about A Homemade Life.

I read the book over the summer and put little blue sticky notes on almost all the recipes. It has been sitting on my bookshelf since then, but today when trying to decide what recipes to feature next on my own blog, I pulled it down off the shelf and looked through it. Both the recipes in this post can be found in this book. I highly recommend that anyone who loves cooking, food, and the way they add a richness to life, read this book! 

As I was going back through the book, I was once again struck by the title: A Homemade Life. To me, that means a life full of rich foods that not only satisfy and delight people, but also carry with them a story and a sense of love. I truly believe that if you put love and care into the food you cook, your cooking will make all who eat it feel better. It has always been my dream to have big family dinners, to be the house where everyone wants to come to eat, and to always have something filling and comforting for my future family and guests to enjoy. InshaAllah this dream becomes a reality. 

The two recipes I will be featuring today are Bouchons Au Thon and Red Cabbage Salad with Lemon and Olive Oil Dressing.  

Bouchons Au Thon are essentially baked tuna cakes. I know to some of you that might not sound like the most appetizing thing, but believe me, they are good! They are one of the things that my mentor teacher shared with me and now I am sharing them with you. 

First put the tuna in a medium bowl and use a fork to break it up into small pieces. There should be no chunks!

Next grate the Gruyere cheese until you have 1 cup. Cheese is always easiest to grate when it is cold, so keep the cheese in the refrigerator right up until you want to grate it. 

Then finely chop 1/4 of a cup of a Spanish (yellow) onion. It is very important that your onion is very finely chopped so it cooks fully when in the oven. Also chop about 2 tablespoons parsley. (I am not a huge fan of measurements, so I just eye-balled it. I used the amount you see in the picture.) 

Add the cup of Gruyere cheese, the onions, parsley, 1/3 cup of creme fraiche, and 3 tablespoons of tomato paste into the bowl with the tuna. Mix thoroughly until everything is combined. 

Then add three eggs to the tuna mixture. Use the fork to thoroughly mix everything together. 

After greasing 8 muffin tins (I used cooking spray to grease them), fill each tin to the top with a heaping spoon of the mixture. If you get any of the mixture on the sides of the tin, wipe it off, because it will burn in the oven. 

Put the muffin tin in the oven at 325 degrees. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the bouchons look set on the tops and around the sides. 

Remove from the oven and use a butter knife to loosen the sides. 

Let the bouchons cool then carefully remove each from the tin. Do not try to remove them too early, because if they are hot, they will fall apart. 

The bouchons were very good! I am not quite sure what bouchon even means (I don't speak any French), but I know they sure taste good! 

To accompany my bouchons I decided to make Red Cabbage Salad with Lemon & Olive Oil Dressing. This salad is perfect for winter, because during the colder months cabbage is at its sweetest. 

I do not own a garlic press, so I grated the garlic cloves instead.
Make sure not to grate your finger!!  

To make the dressing, mix 2 tablespoons of olive oil with 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, the grated garlic, and some salt. Make sure to whisk the mixture so you are able to combine the oil and lemon juice. 

Then chop the cabbage into small pieces. I hate salads with big chunks of vegetables in them! I tried to make all the pieces bite size. 

After you chop the cabbage, toss with the dressing and 1/4 cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. 

Then, enjoy! 

Bouchons Au Thon (Written Recipe)

Ingredients:

One 6-ounce can tuna packed in water, drained well

1 cup lightly packed finely shredded Gruyere

1/3 cup creme fraiche

3 tablespoons tomato paste

3 large eggs

1/4 cup finely chopped Spanish onion

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Set oven to 325 degrees and grease 8 cups of a standard-sized muffin tin. 

2. Put tuna in a bowl and mash up into small pieces. There should be no large chunks! Add the remaining ingredients and stir well, mashing a bit as you go, until the mixture is thoroughly combined. 

3. Divide the mixture evenly among the 8 muffin cups. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the bouchons look set on top and around the edges. 

4. Transfer the tin to a rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Carefully run a small knife around the edge of each bouchon to make sure it isn't stuck, then carefully remove them from the tin. They will collapse a bit as they cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. 

Red Cabbage Salad with Lemon and Olive Oil Dressing 

(Written Recipe)

Ingredients: 

2 tablespoons olive oil 

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon pressed garlic

1/3 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 pound red cabbage

1/4 cup finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

1. Make the dressing first. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and salt. Set aside. 

2. Pull away the bruised leaves from the outside of the cabbage. Cut the cabbage into quarters. Use one quater and put the rest away. Slice the cabbage as thin as you can (think cole slaw size). 

3. In a large serving bowl, toss the cabbage with the dressing. Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano and toss to distribute evenly. Taste to see if there is enough salt (add more if you would like). Then enjoy!