The Adventures of Bob & Shan

an unfolding story of food & adventure.

Homemade Pasta Dough

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What’s slim, elastic, tasty as hell, and served al dente? Pasta. This pasta recipe has brought me so much happiness, and many great memories. I once came over to Bob’s place, and he made dinner while I napped. (I can’t remember why I could be so tired!) Waking up to fresh pasta topped with zucchini, beet greens, tomato, herbs, and salmon probably made me love this guy. I can see myself making pasta last fall, alongside my best friend. We downed moscato, and danced while rolling out some beautiful pasta. We enjoyed the wine so much Bob might have had to supervise us. He finished that dish with mushrooms, herbs, and a light cream sauce. Then I can see myself driving over to my mother’s house a few months ago, with fresh pasta and a slowly simmered tomato sauce ready to top with basil. It was penance for moving out and making her miss me.

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Pesto & Gouda Grilled Cheese

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Grilled cheese is kind of my thing, or rather, kind of used to be my thing. On my previous blog, BS’ in the Kitchen, I was somewhat renowned for grilled cheese. In fact, I dedicated an entire month to them, posting a new one each day. Maybe I overdosed, or maybe my tastes have grown, but for whatever reason, I don’t make many these days. Looking at these pictures, I’m thinking that may need to change! Gooey Gouda, nutty basil pesto, sandwiched between two pieces of homemade sourdough bread. It’s the stuff dreams are made of. At least my dreams… I think it’s time to add a few more “grown-up” grilled cheese sandwiches to the blog….

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Almond & Cashew Pesto

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As fall slowly crept up on us, it was time to dig up all our basil plants and put them to good use. I love having fresh basil around to toss on salads, into a sauce, or use as garnish, so it’s always a bit heartbreaking when I have to uproot the plants. Fortunately, that just means it pesto time! Rather than going to traditional (and expensive route) of using pine nuts, I decided on a mix of almond and cashew. Cashew for their creamy texture, and almonds for their flavour. The pesto turned out great, taking on some different flavours from the nuts, but still providing the classic flavour thanks to an abundance of basil, parmesan, and a squeeze of lemon….

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Zucchini & Wild Rice Gratin

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What do you do when two huge zucchini babies are presented to you? Bob’s mom gave us some zucchini, along with other produce from their garden, and I was very excited about it. Not because I have a particular love for squash or anything, but because I had been perusing a Food52 cookbook of basic, yet satisfying classic recipes recently. I came across a zucchini gratin that promised to make zucchini creamy, almost like a scalloped potato. The best thing about this recipe is that it forms it’s sauce from juices of the squash itself, and a bit of milk. Sounds like a win to me!  I love recipes that really highlight the ingredients and showcase what they have to offer. Complexities are great, but sometimes the basics are so satisfying….

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Ulysses Left on Ithaca Cocktail (Earl Grey, Ginger, Lemon, & Bourbon)

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I love cocktail books. I sometimes go to Indigo and flip through their pages, picturing the taste of what is usually bourbon, or whiskey, and the added components that make them shine. (Yes, I’m whipped, should’ve been born in Kentucky.)  I linger there as Bob looks for potential props, I reluctantly slink away to peruse the rest of the store – eventually. I have a mental list of all the things I would like to try, what syrups we can make, how to use my beautiful bitters, and so on….

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Apple Galette

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Apples are nice. Apples thinly sliced and mopped with butter and vanilla bean, lightly crowned with sugar, and snuggled in pastry are heaven. (Can you tell I’m a romantic?) I’m writing while wearing my new favourite accessory – ironically called reading socks. The kind that look hand knit, and extend to your knees. A basic bitch’s favourite fall accessory….

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Spiced Pumpkin Loaf

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Let me tell you about the wonder that is pumpkin loaf. It’s perfectly textured, just weighty enough to satisfy you, and a touch of sweetness from the simple glaze. It’s perfect. Best of all, no one truly knows how to classify it. Some would claim dessert, but I proclaim it’s breakfast, it’s a snack, and it just might fill the little hole in your heart telling you that summer is gone forever. (Okay, it really is dessert. How you go about indulging is up to you.)…

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Pumpkin Coffee Pie

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When you love coffee as much as Shan and I do, it makes sense to incorporate it into as many things as possible. In this case, I saw an opportunity and took it! We were putting together ingredients for the filling (a task nearly resulting in another baking disaster…we’ll get to that later), when it dawned on me, we could steep the cream in coffee grounds! Excellent idea Bob *patting myself on the back for that one*. After steeping the cream, I strained it before leaving Shan and Olya to finish the rest, while I worked on some bread. With the filling finished, I hear Shan say “It seems a little thin…” as I walked over to inspect it. Running a spatula through the watery filling, it dawns on me…they grabbed the wrong bag of pumpkin puree… I turn around to open the fridge and sure enough, my perfectly strained bag of puree is sitting in the back of the fridge, untouched. Meanwhile, the nearly empty, lopsided bag of watery puree sits in front, glaring back at me. I pull it out, asking Olya “you used this bag, didn’t you?” knowing her answer would be yes….

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Fig & Almond Oatmeal

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Do you ever have the problem where you buy beautiful fresh ingredients, but are so overwhelmed by all the wonderful things you can do with them, that you have trouble doing anything at all? I do. These figs were a prime example. After Shan and I made a few recipes with them, we still had some purple figs left. As we contemplated all the beautiful recipes we could try, they sat there, slowly going bad. Determined not to waste any, I settled on doing something simple. A nice hearty oatmeal with fresh figs. It’s not a showstopper, but it’s a breakfast I would eat again and again. Thanks to their jam-like texture, figs make a wonderful breakfast fruit that I could see spread on toast, added to yogurt, or in this case, folded into warm oatmeal….

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