MUSING RI etc.

Split Personality Pizza

2012-02-09T19:49:00.001-05:00

Let me first say that I love making my own dough - pizza, bread and pasta. I have even had the ridiculous notion that I should make bread every couple of days. Not a bad idea, but there are so many things ahead of this one... sorry fresh bread. Living in Rhode Island, uncooked dough is as common as 'sauce to go' on Sundays. With bakeries every quarter mile (slight exaggeration) there are lot of options available, most are generous enough to offer us pre-packed dough made on the premises.

I tasted the most unique pie 'shell' at a local grocer's - I have found myself picking it up every couple of weeks in lieu of making my own dough. You know it's good if I'm passing up my own dough and actually spending a little 'dough' - hee... As I have been photographing more than posting as of late, I have some delightful Split Personality Pizzas, dough courtesy of my new fav - wood grilled pizza crusts by the pizza gourmet. I love finding a good product that I don't seem to tire of, the fact that it's made locally, all the better.

Split Personality Pizzas

Pepperoni, Portabello, Cherry Tomatoes / Eggplant, Portabello, Hot PepperCherry Tomatoes

Ham, Mushroom, Mozzarella and Smoked Cheddar / Asparagus, Red and Green Peppers, Cherry Tomatoes, Mozzarella and Smoked Cheddar

What's in the Fridge: Asian Meatballs with Vegetable Lo Mein

2012-01-29T17:08:00.001-05:00

We found ourselves home on a Saturday night undecided about dinner. One of those nights you expect to go out but suddenly home just sounds better. Too late to hit the grocery store, another case of What's in the Fridge, a happy accident on the fly. If I had actually thought this would work, I would have better documented it.

Asian Meatballs
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 small onion, minced
1" piece ginger, minced
1 medium carrot, minced
1.25 lb ground beef
1 egg
2 TBS soy sauce
2 TBS oyster sauce
2 tsp chili pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 350º
Combine all of the above, with a teaspoon make meatballs appx. 1" round, place on a foil lined baking sheet, bake for 25 minutes.
While the meatballs bake, prep the veggies for the lo mein

Vegetable Lo Mein
1 crown of broccoli, trimmed to small florets, cutting the remaining stalk on the bias
2 carrots, peeled into strips
4 savoy cabbage leaves cut into strips
1 TBS sesame oil
2 cups chicken stock
10oz package of Chinese noodles

Heat the sesame oil in a dutch oven, add all the vegetables and sauté for 3 minutes.
You will notice that the meatballs have created a gravy on the foil. Remove meatballs, keep warm in the oven, spoon the gravy into the vegetable mixture, add the stock, brink to a boil and add the noodles.
The noodles only take 3 minutes or so, the moment you see them soften, pull apart with chopsticks, be persistent, eventually they separate and will absorb the liquid. Top with the meatballs and serve.

Do you Anjou?

2012-01-13T13:03:00.001-05:00

Pears are aplenty this time of year. Juicy Anjou pears with lemon, nuts and a little gorgonzola over spinach makes this delightfully bright and light salad.

I used roasted walnuts, an annual Christmas gift from my sis-in-law - brown sugar and a little spice make these really nice - if you weren't lucky enough to get my sis-in-law's care package, just add a little brown sugar and cayenne to the dressing.

Simply Made Spinach Salad - serves 2
1 Sliced anjou pear
1/2 fresh lemon
1/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola
1/4 cup spiced nuts
3 cups baby spinach
drizzle of olive oil
salt and pepper

'Lemonize' the pears to prevent browning, but this also brings out the juiciness of the pear.
Squeeze any leftover lemon juice over the spinach, salt and pepper to taste, drizzle with olive oil and toss; top with pears, nuts and gorgonzola, toss again
Simply Made!

Chickpeas and Sprouts

2011-12-05T19:22:00.001-05:00

A simple weekday lunch, delicious all alone or served with couscous or a salad.

Into a pan of hot extra virgin olive oil, add spices of choice: cumin, cayenne pepper, ground ginger, curry powder. As the herbs become fragrant, add 1/2 can of drained organic chickpeas, 1/2 cup fresh sprouts. Mix well and continue to cook for a few minutes, add a little water and simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Moo Shu - the Other Pancake

2011-12-04T15:44:00.001-05:00

It's football Sunday, the menu is never overlooked on this day of all days, always something good and usually simmered all day by King Comfort. Instead he prepared a delicious sesame and broccoli chicken the previous night. To celebrate the leftovers, I made us moo shu pancakes from scratch - totally amazing, I can't wait to make them again. Adding boiling water to flour is a new concept to me, kneading warm dough that is.

Equally amazing is the assembly process: oiling 1 small 3" pancake and topping with another small pancake, to then roll out a much bigger 6" pancake which then splits apart after being cooked with miraculous ease and consistency perfection.

I halved the general recipe in the video, (text version) for a total of 9 pancakes. I also settled for 6" cakes which were plenty big.

Moo Shu Pancakes
1 1/2 cups flour
1 pinch of salt
1/2 cup boiling water
2 TBS ice water
sesame oil

mix flour and salt
slowly incorporate the boiling water to the flour, followed the cold water
once combined, knead on a floured surface for 10 minutes (I lasted 7 minutes, no harm done)
let the dough rest, covered for 45 minutes.

split the dough in half and roll each into a 1 1/2" diameter log shape, cut into 5 equal pieces if possible ( I got 9 equal pieces).
take each piece, roll into a ball, flatten and roll into a 3" diameter circle
brush sesame oil on half of the total rounds, on each of these place another round so that you have appx 5 double layered discs. Roll each of these pairs into an 8" diameter.

On medium heat, lightly oil a cast iron pan, heat through appx 30 seconds each side, remove from the heat. Split apart each double layer for individual pancakes.

Cranberry Sauce Pancakes

2011-11-27T13:27:00.001-05:00

I love fresh cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving, it smells wonderful and compliments pretty much anything on the table. There is always so much sauce left over and remarkably a lot of things you can do with it, plus it's very good for you - heart healthy and all that stuff.

Fresh Cranberry Sauce
1 16 oz container of fresh cranberries
1 orange zested and juiced
1/2 cup sugar
several shakes of cinnamon

combine all of the above in a sauce pan and cook on medium until bubbly, then turn down to low and simmer for 10 minutes.

Cranberry Sauce Pancakes
dry ingredients:
3/4 cup flour
2 TBS yellow corn meal
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt

wet ingredients:
1/2 cup 2% milk
1 egg
1 TBS olive oil

In separate bowls, whisk together the dry ingredients and the wet.
Now add 1 cup Fresh Cranberry sauce to the wet ingredients.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry.

Butter a griddle or skillet (medium heat) and drop 1/4 cup of batter at a time, turn after 3-4 minutes. Turn heat down to low and cook another 3 minutes.

Serve with heated maple syrup.

Roasted

2011-11-16T19:07:00.001-05:00

I roasted a chicken for the first time and it is quite possibly the best new thing I haven't tried before.
The taste was unbelievable, photos cannot be salvaged, but I do have a shot of the giblets as proof!
Served sliced with a little pan gravy, brussels spouts and quartered red bliss potatoes. I watched this video of Julia Child from 1965 - obvious inspiration and education, however really gross kitchen habits - just fondle that raw chicken, take of your glasses with the same hand and why not open the refrigerator door while you're at it... whoa, times have changed!

I made soup stock with the lil gibs and was very surprised to recognize a few of those parts - liver and kidneys were a surprise... neck? yuck, but I bet that stock will be delicious a few dishes from now. I wasn't brave enough to try any of these elements this go around, maybe next time...

I used some of the leftover chicken for Tortilla Soup - just another bonus. So far this roaster is the most affordable meal plan I can imagine.

Then what? oh of course Enchiladas. It turns out enchiladas are really simple and basically delicious because they are basic. I actually ran out of sauce attempting to use the reserved tomato liquid from the can of tomatoes used in the tortilla soup, they were still worthy of making again and look how they fit in the cute little pan.

a fall eve in Newport

2011-10-17T08:12:00.001-04:00

Trotting around Newport in the fall is one of my favorite things, the only Newport activity I prefer to it is trotting around Newport in the winter - that is some good stuff right there. Something about the briskness and wild winds. Trotting to me is a long adventure with many food and drink stops along the way - an appetizer @ The Mooring, drinks @Asterix, dinner @ Mama's, probably back to Asterix for dessert (we pop in almost every time we walk by), and so the fun goes.

today's bread

2011-08-24T20:57:00.003-04:00

In my retail days, I had a day off mid-week and it was my day to do anything and everything. No one to answer to, no one to update, just my time. It was usually a Tuesday. Most Tuesdays, I started out at Today's Bread down the block to have one of their most delicious and airy plain croissants and a perfect cup of coffee. Otherwise known as "Today's Attitude", we put up with their smirks and grimaces because it was all that good.

I have found it difficult to find time to record what I am cooking. But I often want to record or wish I had recorded what I am eating. Details aside, it's all on the plate.

udon noodles with spinach, bell pepper, scallions and toasted sesame

Summer Tomatoes

2011-08-08T14:29:00.003-04:00

My excitement for thinly sliced eggplant was immediately overshadowed by local summer tomatoes. Not mine of course, not from my garden because my garden never happened this year. The oregano is mine! but the tomatoes and eggplant came from Rhody farms undisclosed by my grocer. I'm having a lazy Monday and finding it easier to prepare lunch than to get down to work. Nothing but nothing beats a fresh summer tomato, some thinly sliced eggplant alongside is pretty nice too...

1/2 eggplant, cut into 1/4" slices, salted to remove the moisture (about 15 mins) and patted dry
1 egg + 3 TBS milk
flour for dusting
1/2 cup grated parmesan mixed with 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
Olive oil for the skillet

dust the eggplant slices with flour, then dip them each into the egg wash, then lightly drop into the panko cheese mixture, both sides, leaving a light coating.
Heat some olive oil in a skillet, once hot add the eggplant and let cook through on 1 side - appx 4 minutes.
Flip eggplant, adding oil if needed and allow to cook through, another 3-4 minutes.

Lightly salt slices of fresh tomato, layer eggplant slices on top, top with a little fresh oregano or basil and serve with fresh lemon on the side.

Curtains 101 - the Plan

2011-05-22T10:34:00.004-04:00

I have dabbled in sewing, it's not even really fair to give it that much. Let's just say I can picture myself sewing, it doesn't all together frighten me. I have been musing about new curtains in our dining room since November - almost 6 months! I think it's time...

This is my 101 - I'm learning how to do this and kind of doing it my way with help from many online guides and photoshop.

The dining room 5 months ago, back when this project 'first started'

6 months later, still no curtains...

Inspiration

feeling it all out #1

I took the plunge, made a final decis on the fabric. I love it! I hope I'm not crazy thinking that this will look great... from Day Glo Diva

feeling it all out #2

Tie Back Options

My soon-to-be Sewing Table

food. design. design. food

2011-05-21T08:28:00.001-04:00

I guess my blog mentality is a little confused, a little wayward. My love of cooking is still thriving, I just can't seem to write about it. I am more focused on the spring garden and tending to the many many many outdoor projects. This place has endless upkeep opps... Beyond that, I want to 'finish' our house. It's a great house, I love this house. I would love it MORE, I would love it MOST if I could really set to finishing old and starting new projects to really make it our dream house. Why not already live in your dreamhouse? This is going to take some time (as it should).

Meanwhile, the kitchen is still a busy place...

Roasted Cauliflower baked with champagne cheddar beschamel and bacon.

Mixed Potatoes roasted with vidalia onions, shiitake mushrooms and thyme + delicious ribeye steaks

New England Clam Chowder

2011-04-11T15:26:00.006-04:00

More than 15 years living in New England and I have never even thought to make clam chowder - I can't explain that one. I just have to make a batch and get past my negligence.

RI clam chowder is made with the juice from the clams and stock, never any milk or cream - no dairy. I'm sure it's wonderful, but I just love New England clam chowder too much not to make it my first attempt.

As per usual, I don't have cream or light cream, or milk with any fat for that matter. And as per usual, it all works out with 1% milk. I actually like this version every bit as much as the fattier classic. I woke up this morning thinking about how darn delicious last night's homemade chowder was, that's a sign of a keeper. Fresh thyme would have been ideal, I can only imagine, I probably would have eaten it for breakfast!

Steaming your own clams is great fun, but so is buying fresh local clams, already chopped if you can get it.

New England Chowder

1 small yellow onion, chopped

2 TBS unsalted butter

1 tsp olive oil

1/2 lb fresh chopped clams with juice

2.5 cups chicken broth

Juice from clams

1 cup potato, peeled and cubed

1/4 cup flour

1 cup 1% milk

1 TBS thyme

Salt, white pepper

Melt 1 TBS butter in a soup pan, add onion and sauté until transparent.

Add juice from the clams, chicken broth and potatoes. cook until potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, in a separate pan, melt 1 TBS butter, add flour and whisk 2 minutes, add olive oil and combine for another minute.

Add milk and heat through, stirring often until the sauce becomes thick.

Pour the white sauce into the broth, add the clams

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes

Add thyme

Season with salt and pepper to your liking, I probably used 2 tsp. kosher salt.

Frittata for One

2011-04-10T08:15:00.007-04:00

I didn't realize how long it would take to use this huge bunch of kale. I am the only one who will eat it, and a little goes a long way, fortunately it seems to have a very long fridge life. This simple breakfast is a nice way to pack in a few extra vitamins and minerals.

Food as Medicine (Dr. Weil backs it up)

Kale is among the most nutrient-dense commonly eaten vegetables. One cup provides 1,327 percent of the Daily Value (DV) for vitamin K, 192 percent of DV for vitamin A, and 88 percent for vitamin C.

Kale Frittata

1 cup chopped kale
1/2 lemon
2 eggs

3 TBS 1% milk

salt and pepper
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 vine ripened tomato, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup habanero cheddar cheese, cubed
Chop Kale and place into boiling salted water, add lemon juice and the squeezed lemon to add flavor;
Boil for 4-5 minutes until wilted, remove and squeeze out excess water
In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, salt and pepper

Preheat the broiler
Heat the olive oil in a non stick pan or an omelet pan (my personal preference) on medium heat
Pour in the egg mixture and gently work the eggs/nudge them around, like you would with scrambled eggs, then leave them alone.
Evenly distribute the chopped kale, tomatoes and cheese

Continue to cook on the stove until the bottom is browned, then place under the broiler for 3 minutes to brown the top.

A Perfectly Poached Egg

2011-03-27T10:51:00.057-04:00

"This is my last hurrah!" she says as she plans to eat accordingly for the day.

The poached egg for this decadent sandwich was an experiment of joy. It really is a scientific process, I don't have a thermometer so I don't test the waters, but this guide to poaching eggs provides more than sufficient detail - so successful I managed to cook two eggs at different doneness, so that's a winner! 3 key points I'll remember for next time:

• room temp eggs, in ramekins

• 2" deep water with a spash of white vinegar brought to a boil then down to simmer before sliding in the eggs

• 3 minutes for a darn good egg

In all honesty the jalapeno biscuits were the intended star of this morning's breakfast - they were good, but I have made better. To the jalapeno biscuit sand, I added an arugula salad dressed with rice vinegar, olive oil, salt/pepper and topped the egg with what else but bacon!

Springlings

2011-03-26T07:55:00.009-04:00

Spring has sprung, but alas it's still freezing here... Signs of new life popping up everywhere amongst winter's hardy remains.

I am happy to find that last fall's transplants (at least some) have taken to their new homes nicely.

Bearded Iris

Hosta

Best Burger In Town (last night anyway)

2011-03-22T08:08:00.009-04:00

Smoked Mozz Cheesy Burger with Onion Chutney

I blame good food tv lately showing too many to die for burgers and dogs, summer must be near...
and the eating of things like this really must stop given that SUMMER MUST BE NEAR. It was well worth it. I can say I have had my Best Burger fix (at home by the way) and hopefully showcase lighter/healthier dishes over the next few weeks. The proof is in the blog as they say (to be continued around May 1...)

A well seasoned beef patty (just salt and pepper) dressed with a dyno-mite cheese sauce (also good for dipping fries): Smoked Mozzarella from our local Narragansett Creamery and a VT 'seriously sharp' Cheddar. The bun is spread with an onion/garlic chutney which gives the creamy and smokey sauce a run for its money: a blend of paprika, cumin, chili powder - all cooked down with apple cider vinegar and water. Serve with a red onion slice and leafy lettuce.

Shrimp and Artichoke Stuffed Poblano

2011-03-15T08:46:00.009-04:00

Spring has me thinking a little lighter in the kitchen. This is a perfect 'transition' dish to the lighter side of the scale!

Shrimp and Artichoke Stuffed Poblano
garlic - 2 cloves, minces
12 shrimp with shells on
1/2 TBS unsalted butter
1/2 of a lemon + 1-2 tsp cold water

ginger - 1 inch piece, minced

marinated artichokes - 1/4 cup chopped

pecorino - 3 TBS
1 cup cooked brown rice
2 poblano peppers, tops removed
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350º
Prepare rice: add 1 cup of rice + 1 TBS olive oil to 1.5 cups cold water, bring to a boil, then lower heat and partially cover, simmer for about 40 minutes.

Melt butter in a sauté pan over medium heat, add garlic and stir for 1 minute, add shrimp with shells and cook for 1-2 minutes each side, then add lemon juice, adding a little water as the pan get dry, continuing to cook until shrimp turn pink. Remove shrimp and sauce from the pan to a mixing bowl to cool. Once cooled remove the shells.

To the same pan, add the artichokes and heat through, 3-4 minutes on medium heat.

Add artichokes and ginger to the shrimp, fold in 1/2 cup of the cooked rice and the pecorino.

Spoon the rice mixture into each pepper, pressing with a spoon to compact the mixture, adding more if necessary to fill the peppers to the top. Holding the peppers upright, slowly pour milk into the pepper, watching as the rice absorbs the milk, pressing again with the spoon to form the mix to the pepper.

Place the peppers in the hot oven for 15 minutes, gently turning half way through. Then broil 3-4 minutes per side to your desired char.

Serve with a garnish of lime, cilantro and a dollop of Sriracha chili sauce.

Mac and Cheese with Tomato - Bad Enough

2011-03-07T17:31:00.007-05:00

I heard America's Test Kitchen on the radio the other day - they quickly rolled through a popular mac and cheese from the 1950s that changed all my dinner plans for that evening. Whatever I was planning that night just wasn't good enough, I think we ended up going out, Thanks Test Kitchen for ruining my frugality plan. I definitely had issue with their choice of ingredients - more so the quantity - did I just hear correctly? 6 TBS butter? 6 cups of cheese? 4 cups half and half? gotta love the 50s... I love to eat badly and sometimes VERY badly, but my version is Bad Enough.

Mac and Cheese with Tomato
1.5 cups chunky tomato sauce (I had leftover sauce based on Giada's Simple Sauce - it's wonderful)
1 lb orechiette al dente (or macaroni of course!)
3 TBS olive oil
3 cups 1% milk
1 cup Chicken stock
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp cayenne pepper
4 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
salt and pepper

Drain the cooked pasta, keep in the pan over medium heat and add the tomato sauce
Cook and stir occasionally for a few minutes until the pasta absorbs the sauce
Remove from the heat

Cheese Sauce
Heat olive oil over medium heat, whisk in flour and cayenne pepper, stir occasionally until flour browns slightly.
Slowly whisk in milk and stock, once blended, turn the heat up to boil, then turn to down to simmer for 15 minutes until thickened
Add cheese, salt and black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400º
Pour cheese sauce over tomato pasta and mix gently
Transfer mixture to a casserole and bake for 20 minutes until bubbly

Allow to cool before serving.

Black Bean Soup in 30 minutes

2011-03-01T17:55:00.002-05:00

I don't pretend to be a purist all the time, I KNOW raw beans are better and easy to prepare. Somehow, I see a sale on Goya Black Beans and I can't pass them up - $.65 - can you really beat that?

I am working from home and although I am tempted to spend hours in the kitchen, the work has to get done and I need to get fed. This was a perfect soup for today - black beans, serrano chile, plum tomatoes - onion, garlic and some spices. Don't knock the black beauties in the can.

Black Bean Soup
1 TBS olive oil
1 small onion diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 serrano chile, minced
2 plum tomatoes diced
Cumin
Epazote
Salt to taste
Cilantro, Tortilla chips

Heat the oil in a sauce pan
Add onion and garlic, sauté until translucent (5 minutes)
Add chile, sauté another couple minutes
Add tomatoes and cook down, 3 minutes
Add 1 can of Black Beans with juice
Add spices, stir and simmer for 15 minutes
Garnish with cilantro and Tortilla chips

Rosemary Crusty Bread

2011-02-27T19:25:00.006-05:00

I can't get enough of the scent of this bread - ah... rosemary! and the olive oil really comes through unlike store bought versions. I so love home baked bread and every time I explore this realm of baking I wonder why I don't do it every other day.

Rosemary Crusty Bread
1 packet active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (remember that too cold and the yeast won't grow, too hot and the yeast won't grow...)
3 cups all purpose flour
3 TBS olive oil
1/2 cup 1% milk (room temp, fattier milk will only make this BETTER)
Kosher salt to taste
1/4 cup fresh rosemary, chopped

Start by sprinkling the yeast over the warm water in a small bowl, allow to sit 10-15 minutes until foamy
In a food processor, add all the ingredients, including the yeast mixture
Run the processor for a minute or so, the dough will ball up on the sides of the processor - the goal is a wet, sticky dough
In a well oiled large bowl, let the dough rise for 1 1/2 hours, covered with a towel
Lightly deflate the dough after it has doubled, shape into a loaf and place on an oiled cookie sheet

Cover the dough again with the towel and allow to rise again for another hour
Slice a pattern in the center of the loaf about 1/2" deep, sprinkle kosher salt into the crevasses

Preheat oven to 450º
Briefly remove dough from the cookie sheet to dust the pan with corn meal or flour
Place in the oven at 450º for 10 minutes, spray with water occasionally (for a nice hard crust)
Lower heat to 400º and bake another 30 minutes

Allow the bread to rest 10 minutes before enjoying - it's sooooo good!

What's in the fridge: Spinach and Cheese Pancake Tart

2011-02-13T10:08:00.028-05:00

Inspired by Saveur's breakfast collection, this feta tart led the way - vodka in what looks to be pancake batter? why not! I used a mixture of random cheeses, added fresh spinach, and removed over half of the recommended olive oil. I also don't have an oven that likes 500º, so baking at 400º for an additional 10 minutes did the trick.

Spinach and Cheese Pancake Tart
5 oz. fresh spinach
3/4 cups cheese, cubed and crumbled (cheddar gran padana, feta)
2 TBS olive oil
2 tsp. vodka
1 egg
1 cup water
1 1/4 cups flour, sifted
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 400º
Heat a blank cookie sheet for 10 minutes
Prepare the spinach: spray with water, microwave for 2 minutes, once cooled, squeeze out as much water as possible and chop

Prepare the batter:
In a small bowl, whisk together: oil, vodka, egg and water
In a larger bowl, whisk together the remaining dry ingredients
Now incorporate the wet into the dry mixture, whisk until smooth

Lightly grease the hot pan and pour the batter evenly into a thin rectangle. I used about 3/4 of a 9x13 pan
Top with spinach and cheeses, bake for 35 minutes. Cool slightly, slice and serve.

Walnut Crusted Chicken and Broccoli Orecchiette

2011-02-06T09:24:00.007-05:00

I love saying 'Orecchiette' almost as much as I enjoy eating it. Crumbled walnuts make an excellent coating for the chicken with the addition of fresh squeezed lemon for a bright contrast. If I'm craving garlic, any broccoli and garlic combo will do, however this pasta dish is my new favorite! I found that if you start the broccoli while prepping the chicken, you will have a hot pan from the finished chicken in which to sauté the garlic, without really needing heat from the burner. If heat is required, make it low so as not to burn or even brown the garlic.

Serves 2 (amply...)
Walnut Crusted Chicken
1 cup flour
1 egg + 1/4 cup milk beaten together in a bowl
1 cup walnuts, roughly ground in a food processor
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
6 chicken tenderloin flattened (place the chicken between 2 sheets of parchment paper and flatten with a rolling pin)
2 TBS canola oil, 1 TBS olive oil
1 lemon
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 225º
Once flattened, season the chicken with salt, pepper and lemon juice (1/2 lemon)
Dredge chicken in the flour, then coat in the egg + milk bath
Add the ground walnuts to the remaining flour, and coat the chicken
In a hot skillet, add half of the oils to the pan, swirl about and add half of the chicken.
Cook 3 minutes per side and remove from the heat, finish in the oven
Once the pasta is drained, squeeze the other half of lemon over the chicken in the oven, lightly season and keep in the warmed oven until you are ready to plate.

Garlicky Broccoli Orecchiette
3 cups broccoli florets, trimmed
6-8 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBS unsalted butter
1 TBS olive oil
1 TBS chili pepper flakes
1/2 lb orecchiette
1/4 chicken stock
Grated reggiano
Salt to taste

Boil the broccoli in salted water for 3 minutes, then remove to an ice bath
Meanwhile, start the pasta in boiling salted water
Melt butter in the hot skillet (from the chicken), add the olive oil and blend.
Toss in the garlic, add salt and slowly sauté
Add the chili flakes
Drain the broccoli and add to the garlic mixture
Drain pasta 1 minute sooner than al dente - reserving a little liquid from the pot and add the pasta to the garlic and broccoli
Raise the heat to medium, add the stock and cheese, stir until incorporated.
Salt to taste

Remove from the heat and server warm, not hot or you'll miss all the greatness!

Dressed up Mushrooms

2011-02-05T09:27:00.002-05:00

As kids, we had sautéed mushrooms on crackers as an appetizer nearly every weekend, probably because it's so easy to make. and pleasing... It was an early introduction to party food, or 'get dressed up' food. An appetizer this easy is good for any night of the week, dressed up or not, it will make you feel like you're doing something special.

Dressed Up Mushrooms
To a hot pan, add a olive oil and a small bit of butter
Once melted, add chopped shallot, cook until translucent
Add chopped or sliced mushrooms, salt generously to extract the water in the mushrooms
Add a swig of vermouth and some fresh herbs - today I used parsley, thyme is often a favorite addition.
Continue to sauté until the mushrooms have lost their liquid, add a squeeze of lemon and continue to cook on low until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Serve hot on toasted crostini (for me that's left over baguette) or crackers.

Green Onion Garlic Mashed Potatoes

2011-01-29T10:22:00.006-05:00

Something so satisfying is not to be underrated, no matter how simple. With garlic roasting in the oven and the addition of fresh green onions, the comforting scent had to be captured. I used local Rhode Island spuds and lowfat plain yogurt instead of milk or cream, a little butter, and a healthy dose of salt and pepper.

Green Onion Garlic Mashed Potatoes
5-6 small baking potatoes, quartered in boiling salted water until fork tender
1 bulb of garlic, roasted in a 400º oven for 20 minutes (slice off its top, set on a some foil, drizzle with olive oil)
1 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/2 TBS unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste

Mash all the above in a large bowl, then transfer to a baking dish, and bake at 325º for 10-15 minutes until a little browned on top.

Game Day Chicken with Taleggio Cheese Sauce

2011-01-23T09:23:00.010-05:00

Buffalo chicken of any shape or size or part is a game time staple - all American Football Food.
Doyle's Cafe in Boston makes the very best Buffalo Chicken Fingers I have ever had. Theirs is crispy and the sauce is so perfectly tangy, few can do what Doyles does so well.

I want to raise the bar on 'buffalo.' These fingers are marinated in lime, cilantro, grated onion and olive oil. The dipping sauce is an indulgent taleggio instead of the traditional blue cheese.

Marinade:

1 lime, zested and juiced
1 handful cilantro, chopped
1 spanish onion, grated
2 TBS olive oil
2 lbs chicken tenderloins

Combine all the above and refrigerate for 1 hour or more.

Preheat oven to 325º
Now you are ready for the breading steps:
Step 1: dredge in flour
Step 2: coat with egg and milk bath (you may need 2 eggs)
Step 3: coat with panko
Step 4: 1 cup of Texas Pete's wing sauce - from Panko to hot sauce and then line them up in a buttered casserole dish.

Bake for 35 minutes, turning after 25 minutes. If you want a toastier looking dish, place under the broiler for a few minutes at the end.
Important NOTE: Let these rest a good 10-15 minutes to avoid the breading from coming off.
Of course you could fry these as is more traditional, I thought the taleggio was a sufficient indulgence and opted for baking.

Taleggio Cheese Sauce:
Melt 1TBS of butter and 1 TBS olive oil together
Add 2 TBS of flour, stir for a couple minutes to toast the flour
Add 1 cup of 1% milk, turn up the heat and stir, once thickened add 4 ounces of taleggio and stir
Top the sauce with some chopped green onions.

Hearty Soup or Soup with Heart

2011-01-20T06:48:00.000-05:00

Just because it's freezing outside and it doesn't ever seem to get warm inside, soup seemed to be the natural answer to 'what am I going to make for lunch this week?'

Hearty Soup or Soup with Heart

1 cup of bacon, in 1/2" slices

1 cup finely chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup cubed carrot

1/2 head white cabbage, loosely chopped

1 TBS fish sauce

1/4 cup chopped clams and juice

1 cup sliced and cooked sausage (I used lamb sausage, any meat will do)

5 baby bella mushrooms, sliced

3 cups chicken stock

Garnish:

bean sprouts

cilantro

cherry pepper

green onion

Start with the bacon on medium high heat - in the same pot you will simmer the soup in.

Once browned and sizzly, remove the bacon while reserving the oil in the pot.

Turn heat down to medium, add the onion and garlic, stir to combine - 3 minutes or so

Add carrot, cook another 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally

Add cabbage and fish sauce, cook down - 5 minutes

Add clams, sausage and mushrooms, stir and simmer, 5 minutes

Add chicken stock and simmer for 20 minutes.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Add to a preheated soup bowls: 1 handful of each sprouts, cilantro and green onion, add hot pepper as desired. Then ladle the soup over the mix, top with a smattering of crunchy bacon and a little extra cilantro, and serve. Be warm.

Zesty Ginger Orange Chicken

2011-01-12T06:54:00.015-05:00

This would be great as is on the bone. I used the pan drippings from the baked chicken to make an amazing tomato cream sauce for gnocchi, which unfortunately went unphotographed....

Zesty Ginger Marinade
For the mushrooms I used dried shiitake and soaked them in 1/4 cup hot water for 10 minutes or so and saved the broth.

1 orange, juiced and zested
1" fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
2" fresh ginger, grated
3 TBS grated carrot
1 cup minced onion
1/2 cup chopped shiitake mushroom
1/2 cup mushroom broth
2 TBS sour cream
1 cup plain low fat yogurt
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp white pepper
1 TBS fennel seed
2 TBS dried cilantro
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp A1 steak sauce
2 chicken breasts on the bone, with skin

In a large bowl, mix together all of the above and spoon under the skin and work all around the chicken. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Bake at 350º for 1 hour.

Zesty Chicken Wontons
Wontons are one of my most favorite things to make, the filling possibilities are endless... They're bite size, perfect for appetizers for all occasions and you can't seem to eat enough of them!

Zesty Chicken Wontons

makes 20 wontons

1.5 cups pulled chicken

1/4 cup carrots, julienned
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
1/4 jalapeno, minced
1 oz neufchatel or cream cheese
2 TBS rice vinegar
1 TBS soy sauce

Stir together all of the above and add 1TBS to each wrapper wrapper and fold as per the directions on the wrapper packaging - or as you can see from my photo, fold any which way!

Serve with dippings sauce - I blended the following with no particular measurement:
soy sauce
sugar
hoisin
sesame oil

What's in the Fridge - Mediterranean Mélange

2011-01-06T12:19:00.004-05:00

Prior to New Year's I was on a veggie mission - or so shows my fridge. Since the New Years celebration I have been less than interested in cooking and even less interested in what I would soon lose to old age in the produce drawer. Having finally snapped out of it, there is a pretty good looking mediterranean mélange going in the oven.

Eggplant • Plum Tomatoes • Tomatillos • Jalapenos • Leeks • Garlic • Olives

Roast everything but the olives in a 400º oven for 30 minutes, tossed with olive oil, balsamic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Add the olives for the last 10 minutes.

Ideally, I would want this as a side to kabobs, with feta cheese, but that's why this is 'what's in the fridge' and not 'what I desire today.' A box of linguine stared me down...

There was plenty of roasted goodness left over to make a fab dip. In the food processor, just add juice form 1/2 of a lemon, a little olive oil, and about 1 TBS of water. Perfect as is, I think this would be excellent served over a nice piece of white fish. Tay-stee...

No thorns allowed

2011-01-03T08:04:00.008-05:00

The New Year always initiates some home sprucing for me. I got to it and found myself in an elaborate string of trial and error with the fireplace mantle. What was missing was greenery or something live from the outdoors. I chose these great frond stalk things that are a winter result of tall summer grasses along with some red berry branches that I still cannot identify - not barberry, not bayberry, not hawthorne...

These pretty red berry branches are loaded with thorns - and as expected, thorns inside the house are really bad feng shui - apparently inside the house, they trap negative energy - what a horrible way to start the new year! Outside the house however, the thorns defend me from my enemies, so I will consider myself full of positive energy inside and defended on the outside. Happy New Year and best wishes for a thorn-less interior!

Cheddar Jalapeno Scones

2010-12-11T09:23:00.010-05:00

A nice treat and really easy to make - awesome for overnight guests or a quick care package to lift someone's day.

Cheddar Jalapeno Scones
makes 12 scones

2 cups flour
1 TBS Baking Powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 stick of butter, softened and broken up in to chunks
2 ounces cheddar cheese, cubed
1/4 cup chopped jalapeno (I used jarred and it worked out great)
1 TBS flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup 1% milk
Parchment paper

Preheat oven to 400º
In a food processor, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
Add butter and pulse until crumbly
Separately, lightly whisk the eggs and milk, with the processor on, slowly pour this through the feed to combine with the flour mixture
Stir together the cheese and peppers with a little flour and fold these into the processor
Mix until combined, remove the dough to a floured surface- it's going to be sticky, just a warning...

Kneed the dough for a minute or so to ensure that the cheese and peppers are evenly distributed
Form into a rectangle or square and with a rolling pin, flatten to about 1/2" thick.

With a knife, cut 3 even sections, then cut again cross-wise to make squares
Cut the squares on the diagonal for triangles - you should end up with 12 triangles

Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 25 minutes.
Check on them at 20 minutes, depending on your oven... they are finished with the tops brown a bit.

Enjoy!

Tuna with Cucumber and Avocado Salad

2010-12-07T21:11:00.011-05:00

How many times I have overcooked a quality tuna steak and just lamented...

This time was different - Alton has the answers, you know he does - :30 per side - c'est suffit.

Sure, it's winter and we want comfort, but this refreshing plate is better than what mac 'n cheese could provide, hard to imagine... the cheesy stuff is so darn good, but absolutely out of the picture here.

Pan Seared Tuna Steak
serves 4

marinade:

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup honey

3 TBS ground ginger

1 pound tuna loin

Stir this marinade until well-blended and reserve a small bowl for dipping.

Evenly coat the tuna in marinade, cover in plastic and rest at room temp. for 1 hour, then discard marinade.

Heat iron skillet with a bit of olive oil - medium high heat

Add Tuna to the pan, :30 per side (thank you Alton!) - I probably went :45 on the 2nd side, no matter.

Remove from pan and the heat, cover with foil for a few minutes while you compose the salad, this will help finish the cooking.

Avocado and Cucumber Salad

1 avocado, cubed

1/2 English cucumber, sliced, then halved

2 TBS olive oil

2 TBS Rice Vinegar

3 dashes Sri Racha sauce or other hot sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Blend the oil, vinegar, hot sauce and seasonings

Fold in avocado and cucumber - easy quick preperoo!

Brussels Sprouts and Chestnuts

2010-11-28T15:41:00.005-05:00

I found these in New York magazine - it is a perfect combination, a must try. My version is adjusted slightly, but to see the original article, 'My Mother's Thanksgiving' where 11 chefs (including Tom Colicchio and Mario Batali) share their secret holiday recipes. This recipe is adapted from Zak Pelaccio of The Fatty Crab. I don't often post other people's recipes, but this was so perfect, if I ever get to host Thanksgiving again, these will make it to the menu!

Makes 4 servings.

Roasted Chestnuts
10 chestnuts - with a sharp knife, make 1 slit in each chestnut
Place on a cookie sheet in a 400º oven for 40 minutes.

Brussels Sprouts and Chestnuts
1/4 lb bacon, chopped into 1/4 pieces
20 Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
1 tsp kosher salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp herbes de provence
1/4 cup 1% milk
2 TBS maple syrup
1/2 lemon

In a dutch oven, render the bacon over medium heat until they are cooked through.
Remove the cooked bacon to a paper towel lined plate to drain, leaving the fat for the sprouts.
Add brussels sprouts and salt, toss well and cook another 3 minutes
Add Chestnuts and cook for 4 minutes
Add garlic and herbs, cook for 3 minutes
Add milk, raise heat if necessary to simmer and reduce milk by half
Lower heat, Add bacon, syrup and 1/2 lemon squeezed
Cook until incorporated, just 2-3 minutes longer
Salt and pepper as desired.

The Almighty Bun and the Turkey Burger

2010-11-04T17:57:00.016-04:00

At the grocery store the other day, I examined the ingredients on numerous bags of hamburger buns and couldn't bring myself to buy any. I wondered what it would be like to make my own, here's why: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Datem (?? - that's 'dough conditioner), Calcium Propionate (??? 'to retard spoilage') - not a huge deal, I have eaten worse probably today, but nonetheless I couldn't bring myself to do it.

The turkey burger of choice includes mustard, lemon zest, worcestershire, shredded cheddar and chopped jalapenos and scallions, topped with bacon, cheddar and a red cabbage slaw. Tang-ay.

Sandwich Buns
makes 8
1 1/4 cup lukewarm water
1 packet instant yeast
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
3 1/2 cups flour

Reserving 1/4 cup of the water, mix all of the above in a food processor, or knead by hand. With the mixer, the dough is ready when it balls up along the sides of the bowl. Add water as necessary.

Set dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a dish towel and let rise for 1 hour.
Deflate the risen dough only slightly into a log shape. Divide evenly into 8 pieces. This is where I get lazy - I ended up with 6 large buns, which is fine, but try to eyeball before you start slicing...

Then shape each slice into a round and gently pat the top downward to flatten somewhat - ideally about 1" tall. Place rounds on an oiled baking sheet and allow to rise for another hour.

Preheat oven to 375º
brush buns with an egg wash (1 egg mixed with a little water)
then sprinkle tops with sesame seeds
Bake for 15 minutes (22 mins if they are BIG and you only make 6)

Sandwich Slaw
2 cups sliced red cabbage
1 small onion thinly sliced
1/2 lemon juiced
1 TBS mayonnaise
1 TBS dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all of the above and let marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Turkey Burger
makes 3 burgers
1 lb ground turkey
zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 jalapeno, chopped
1 TBS dijon mustard
1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
2 green onions chopped
1/4 cup shredded cheese
sliced cheddar
1 slice bacon/burger

With the exception of bacon and sliced cheddar, incorporate all of the above with a fork and form 3 patties, you can probably get 4 if you try...

Salt and pepper both sides of the burger and grill or pan grill 4 minutes each side.
Top with bacon and sliced cheddar, finish in the oven for 6 minutes.

What's in the fridge - Spinach heaven in a skillet

2010-09-27T21:21:00.008-04:00

Hear me all you non-spinach eaters, this IS WHERE it's at:
• perfect toast (from my newly functional broiler, day 2)

1 thinly sliced clove of garlic sautéed in olive oil, medium heat
topped with 3 handfuls of baby spinach, heat through until wilted.
top the perfect toast with this spinach heaven, season with salt and black pepper
top with a little cheddar, broil until melted.

in a skillet- 5 minutes TOPS!

French Onion Soup and Gruyère Croutons

2010-09-26T20:59:00.008-04:00

Many great famous chefs publish their french onion soup, but I can't get past Julia Child's. It works so well every time. JC uses yellow onions and beef stock, and it's delicious of course. Here, I'm using vidalia and vegetable stock, a little less time involved and with my electric range, the timing and heat are more appropriate as well.

French Onion Soup
Serves four.

2 large vidalia onions, thinly sliced
3 TBS unsalted butter

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp sugar

3 TBS flour

32oz hot vegetable stock - I use a Kitchen Basics carton, microwave on high for 3 minutes.

1 cup red wine

1 bay leaf

1/4 tsp ground sage

In the soup pan, melt butter on low heat, you don't want to brown it...
Add onions to the melted butter, toss to coat, cover for 15 minutes, stir occasionally.
Add salt and sugar, raise heat slightly, simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring frequently
Add flour, stir for 2 minutes to brown the flour
Remove from heat, whisk in 1 cup broth, stir until blended and return to the heat.
Add remaining stock, wine, bay leaf and sage, simmer slowly for 30 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper, serve with toasts.

Gruyère Croutons
Thank goodness my oven out of nowhere started working today ~ it has been almost 6 months without an oven and I turned it on by accident while cleaning and the blinkling lights weren't blinking anymore. It was heating, it eventually 'preheated' - imagine my GLEE!

Preheat oven (mine does that now!) to 300º
Baguette style loaf, I was lucky to get an Olga's Pane Francese
Cut 1" slices - 2-3 per person, I'm sure 2 is more fashionable...
Brush both side of bread with olive oil, slice into cubes and lay on a cookie sheet
Sprinkle herbes de provence across slice tops
Bake 7 minutes. Remove from oven and top with sliced gruyère, return to oven for another 5 minutes.

Corn Chowder - Hot & Sweet

2010-09-12T20:16:00.005-04:00

Carmelized red onions and a sweet potato enhance the already sugary end of summer corn. Adding some jalapeno at the near end of its simmer ensures a hot finish. I like that the cob has a purpose in flavoring the vegetable stock. As if to say summer isn't quite over yet, serve topped with fresh cilantro.

Corn Chowder
3 ears of corn, kernels sliced from the cob, cobs reserved (3 cups)
1 TBS olive oil
1.5 TBS unsalted butter
1 medium red onion, chopped (1 cup)
1 small sweet potato, cubed (1 cup)
1 small idaho potato, cubed (1 cup)
1 large jalapeno (1/4 cup)
1 cup 1% milk
1/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock, hot
1 TBS kosher salt

Heat olive oil and 1 TBS butter in a soup pan
Add chopped red onion and cook, medium heat, 10-15 minutes until browned
Add corn cobs and potatoes, stir in milk and bring to just under a boil,
Cover and simmer for 10 minutes
Remove the cobs, add the chopped jalapeno and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes
Add corn and 1/4 cup hot stock, simmer 5 minutes until corn is done
Strain 1.5 cups of solids from the soup pot and run through the food processor until smooth.
Return to the soup pot, add .5 TBS butter, stir to blend.
Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Eggplant Dip

2010-09-07T19:39:00.007-04:00

It's not baba ganoush, and it's not hommus, but somewhere in the middle, sans tahini... if that helps with expectations.

1 medium size eggplant, split in half lengthwise, salt generously and let it do its thing for 10-15 minutes, rinse, pat dry, and brush lightly with olive oil
In a hot pan, heat 1 tsp olive oil and place eggplant halves face down on medium heat for 8-10 minutes.
Allow the eggplant to cool, scoop the flesh out of the skin into a food processor; use a spoon to scrape the insides of the skin, there's more there than meets the eye!
Add 1/2 cup canned chick peas, rinsed
Add 1 garlic clove
1 tsp dried herbes de provence
Start the processor and stream 3 TBS olive oil through the spout, follow with 2 TBS lemon juice
Add 3/4 tsp sea salt
Blend until smooth, add more lemon if too thick.

What's in the fridge - Ginger Stir Fry with Curry Grilled Vegetables

2010-08-19T06:44:00.016-04:00

I thought dinner would never happen. One kitchen disaster led to another: a fridge spill that just couldn't wait, a steam burn that ruined Plan A, a broken glass in the dishwasher... This dish is a result of sheer hunger and nearly zero thought or innovation - as most of the good ones are...

Ginger Stir Fry with Curry Grilled Vegetables

1 small eggplant cut into 1" slices, salted, rinsed and patted dry

1 small zucchini cut into 1" slices

curry powder, ground cumin, salt, pepper

2 TBS chopped ginger

1 TBS slivered garlic

2 cups sliced cabbage

1 cup chopped onion

1 carrot, 1/4" diagonal slices

1 1/2 cups snap peas

2 cups leftover brown basmati rice

2 TBS soy sauce

mirin

Handful of chopped parsley

2 TBS sesame seeds

For the grill:

Simply sprinkle the following onto 1 side of the sliced eggplant and zucchini:

curry powder, ground cumin, salt, pepper

Then place face down in an oiled grill pan, medium-high heat

Flip after 7 minutes (I turned the pieces in the middle after 5 minutes)

Lower heat to medium, cook another 5 minutes

Turn heat to low and cover for another 5 minutes

Briefly steam the ginger, garlic, onion and carrots combined

Heat 1 TBS vegetable oil in a wok and add the steamed mix along with the cabbage and snap peas

Stir fry for 3 minutes, add a splash of mirin and the soy sauce, cook another 3 minutes

Add leftover rice, sesame seeds and parsley - toss until heated through.

Serve 1 cup of rice mixture topped with a few slices of the grilled vegetables

Makes 4 servings

Hail to the Nectarine: Sweet & Sour Chicken

2010-08-09T07:35:00.039-04:00

Sweet & Sour Chicken
Ingredients
3 white nectarines, peeled and cut into chunks
1 1/4 lbs chicken breast cut to 1" pieces
1 TBS canola oil
2 cups sliced red cabbage
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 green pepper cut into 1" pieces
1 tsp chopped ginger
1 tsp chopped jalapeno
1 tsp chopped garlic
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Nectarine Prep:
In a skillet or sauce pan, melt 1/2 TBS unsalted butter over medium high heat.
Once sizzling, stir in the fruit and cook 5 minutes, turn occasionally.
Add salt and pepper to taste, turn the heat down to medium low and simmer 5 minutes longer.
Remove peaches with a spoon to cool while reserving the pan and syrup.
Chicken Marinade:
1/2 cup juice from last weekend's nectarine salsa*
3 TBS corn starch
Blend above with the cut chicken, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
*I had strained some homemade salsa that was too soupy, the remaining juice makes for a perfect spicy marinade. Substitute: Tomato juice blended with minced jalapeno, coriander, salt, pepper, juice from chopping the nectarines, sugar, rice vinegar, lime. Or just strain some salsa, easy.
Sweet & Sour Sauce:
1 TBS sesame oil
1 TBS minced garlic
1 TBS chopped jalapeno
1 TBS chopped fresh ginger
1 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
3 TBS soy sauce
1 TBS sugar
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
In the pan left from the peaches, heat sesame oil on medium high heat.
Add garlic, jalapeno, ginger, cook on high while stirring 4-6 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and cooke 3 minutes, turn heat to medium and let simmer 20 minutes.

Stir Fry:
In a very hot wok, add the chicken and marinade and stir fry until cooked through. 12-15 minutes.
Remove chicken and wipe pan.
Heat oil and add cabbage, onion and green pepper. Stir to Combine.
Add cooked nectarines. Stir and continue cooking for 7 minutes.

Add Sweet & Sour Sauce, cover and bring to a boil for 3 minutes, turn heat down to low and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Add green onions for the last few minutes of cooking.

Served over brown jasmine rice, topped with cilantro.

Cake & Gazpacho

2010-08-03T07:09:00.004-04:00

Super sound on a summer afternoon provided by Cake (and others, namely Calexico was fantastic). I suppose if I had to come up with a recipe for Cake listening, it would include sun, friends, dancing feet (preferably bare) with a side of cool gazpacho and corn fritters. Seriously, they were truly amazing and downright comedic at the same time. But onto the food...

Gazpacho
4 farm fresh tomatoes - peeled, seeded and chopped - vine ripe are best, I have made with others and the color, texture and taste are no match.
(how to easily peel a tomato: mark and X on the bottom of the tomatoes, drop into boiling water for :15 and remove to an ice bath for a minute or 2, the skin peels right off).
1 lime, juiced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 small cucumber peeled, seeded and chopped.
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs

Combine all of the above into a bowl - don't be afraid to use all the juices left on the cutting board, the more the merrier. Pour all but 2 cups into a cuisinart or blender and pulse until somewhat smooth. Combine with the non-blended remaining 2 cups. Chill overnight.

Corn Fritters (griddled not fried)
So delicious and so easy, a perfect gazpacho partner. Makes 2 dozen.
2 eggs
2/3 cup 1% milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBS melted butter
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 ears of corn, cooked and cut from the cob
butter for the griddle

Beat together: eggs, milk, salt and butter. Sift the flour with baking powder into the mixture slowly, stirring and combining to form the batter. Stir in corn and cayenne.

On a griddle set to high, melt butter, add 1 TBS batter for each fritter. Flip after 3-4 minutes. You may need to flip a couple times and press down gently with a spatula to get side #2 brown.

Today's Yield

2010-07-24T16:38:00.000-04:00

1 Tomato, 2 tomato 3.

Pasta Ricotta Lemonata Chickenata

2010-07-16T08:16:00.012-04:00

Ricotta Lemonata Chickenata
serves 4

1 Chicken breast
fry fixins: olive oil + canola oil, 1 egg, 1/4 cup milk, nutmeg, flour, panko bread crumbs, s&p
6 baby bella mushrooms, thinly sliced
oregano
1 lemon, 1/2 should sliced into 4, 1/2 use for juice only
3-4 TBS ricotta cheese
1/4 cup pecorino cheese
2 TBS parmesan cheese
2.5 cups marinara sauce, heated through
1/2 box spaghetti

Chicken Prep:
In a cast iron skillet, heat 1 TBS olive oil and 2 TBS canola oil
Begin by pounding out 1/2 of a split chicken breast to 1/2" thickness.
Liberally season with salt and pepper and heavily dredge in flour.

Make an egg bath with the milk, while blending add a couple dashes of nutmeg.
Soak the floured chicken in the egg bath for 10 minutes.
Lastly, coat with panko bread crumbs.
When the pan is just smoking add the coated chicken to the pan, about 5 minutes per side on medium high, then lower heat to medium-low, cover and cook another 10 minutes.
Remove from the pan to rest, then slice into 1" wide strips

Mushrooms:
In a sauté pan, heat 1 tsp olive oil, add mushrooms and salt, sauté on medium high heat
Stir occasionally, when the mushrooms are tender (5 minutes), season with oregano, turn heat to low for a few minutes and set aside.

Assemble the 'ata':
On medium heat, in a 2 quart sauce pan, spoon in 3 TBS marinara and evenly coat the pan.
Assemble chicken slices across the pan, dot each in several places with ricotta
Top with a generous sprinkling of pecorino
Ladle with 1/4 cup of sauce.

Repeat starting with the chicken layer, filling in the gaps first, then stack on top.
Top with lemon slices, sliced pecorino, mushrooms and parmesan.
Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing into quarters. Plate 1/4 slice atop 1/2 cup spaghetti.

To the prepared pasta, ladle in 2 cups of heated through marinara, add lemon juice, and a drizzle of olive oil.

I'm dreaming of a White Pizza

2010-06-30T06:54:00.024-04:00

I remember in the early 90s getting really into making white pizza, ie. no sauce. Not sure if I was just coming into cooking age or if that was a 90's food trend. This is not THAT white pizza, sauceless but highly endorsed by fresh herbs and good olive oil. THIS white pizza is white because of white wine cheese sauce.

White Wine Cheese Sauce
1 large shallot, sliced
1/2 TBS unsalted butter
1 TBS olive oil
3 TBS flour
1/4 cup sauvignon blanc
1/4 cup chicken stock (hot - microwave for :40)
1/2 cup of blended shredded cheeses: cheddar and mozzarella
1/4 cup grated reggiano

Melt the butter and olive oil in a sauce pan on medium heat.
Add the shallots, stir occasionally and cook until translucent
Gradually stir in the flour, turn the heat down a bit and cook for another 5 minutes or so.
Turn the heat up again and add the wine, stir :30, add cheeses and stir to blend, your sauce should be kind of thick at this point, now add the hot stock and blend.
A final stir and let sit on low heat. Add salt and pepper as desired.

I used store bough whole wheat pizza dough. This is 'pan' pizza as our oven is busted, yes still... In this case you need to pre-cook the crust a bit. I used an oiled cast iron skillet on medium low heat and poke fork holes all over the dough, cook for about 15 minutes. I added a little oil on top of the dough and once it started heating up, added a little grated parmesan to the base.

Top with sauce, then remaining toppings, finish stove top covered another 10-15 minutes. OR, if you are so fortunate to have a working oven, bake at 350º for 10 minutes.

Next up: Carmelized Onions
1 spanish onion sliced into rings
1/2 TBS olive oil
Salt and a splash o' water

Simply heat the oil add the onions and stir with a fork until translucent, add some salt and stir until the slices look like they need a drink, then add a splash of water and watch them get gooey and brown and delicious.

Final toppings are sliced marinated red peppers and a touch of fresh basil.

Black Bean Soup

2010-06-11T12:08:00.003-04:00

A messed and tinkered with, herbed up and down concoction that I was hoping would be worth the wait proved to be just that.

Black Bean Soup
1 lb dried back bleans, rinsed, then soaked in 8 1/2 cups water

To your soup pan, add and melt
3 TBS butter

Then stir in and simmer for 15 minutes:
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 cloves of garlic

Then add and simmer another 5 minutes
2 tsp ground cumin
3 tsp sugar
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp cayenne pepper

Add chopped ham - I used a smoked ham steak, 1/4" cubes
Stir and let the ham meld, 10 minutes

Add beans and water, bring to a boil, then cover and let simmer 3 hours.

Serve over rice and top with chopped scallions and plain yogurt, and cheddar if you like, I know I do.

Orange Chicken and Fennel Potatoes

2010-05-23T11:02:00.006-04:00

Please forgive me for I have sinned, it has been nearly 2 months since my last post...

I have lots of excuses that don't matter, but in particular our oven is broken and the grill is currently non-useable! Not that we don't eat around here... I have managed to bake bread and spinach fatayer on the stove top, tasty and delicious but not worth recording. For those of you who can empathize, there is a lot you can do with only burners.

Orange Chicken
Orange Sauce:
1/2 cup honey
3 oranges, sliced thin
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 lemon

In a sauce pan, heat the honey on low until it is liquidy
Add the sliced oranges and bring to a boil
Add vanilla and lemon juice, stir and cook for an additional 5 minutes
Remove from the heat and let cool.

Chicken:
1 lb chicken tenderloins, seasoned with salt and pepper in a bowl

Once the orange sauce has cooled, remove the slices only and incorporate with the chicken

Let marinate for 1 hour

Remove and discard the oranges

Heat 1/4" canola oil in a frying pan

Dredge chicken tenderloins in flour and slowing place in the hot pan

Brown on one side and flip, 6-8 minutes/side on medium high heat. Do not be afraid to break up the tenderloins as you go...

Once browned, drain on paper towels.

Reheat the orange sauce on low to bring to its liquid state and drizzle over the chicken.

Fennel Roasted Potatoes

Parboil 6 smallish cleaned and peeled idaho or russet potatoes, about 10 minutes in boiling water

Drain the potatoes, let cool a few minutes until you can handle their heat

You'll want to cut each potato in half lengthwise, then again cut each half lengthwise, so you end up with quarters (like home fries)

Add 1 TBS butter to a deep stainless pan, medium heat

Add 1 tsp fennel seeds and let them aromatize for a minute

Then add the quartered potatoes, cover the pan

Shake the pan occasionally as the potatoes brown, hand turning to ensure even browning on all sides

After about 30 minutes, add 1 TBS canola oil, shake the pan and add a generous amount of salt

Turn the heat down to medium low for another 20 minutes.

Drain on paper towels and salt one last time.

Something Mediterraneanish

2010-04-13T20:52:00.004-04:00

That's what I wanted, and I pulled out every jarred, stuffed, and pickled item I could find. Enter a dare I say dazzling pasta - a great first course dinner party dish if you can remember where you saw this recipe when you need it. It started with garlic of course, then I remembered the portabello and decided that I needed to pare down this crazy array of players.

Mediterranean Pasta
2 TBS olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 portabello mushroom, chopped
5 Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives, chopped
1 jarred banana pepper, chopped
2 TBS marinated red pepper, chopped
2 TBS bread crumbs
2 TBS grated parmesan
1/2 lemon - juice and zest
1/3 bag ditali cooked or other smallish type tube pasta
1 handful flat leaf parsley chopped

Heat 1 TBS olive oil in a sauce pan, add garlic and turn heat to medium - stir occasionally, 3-4 minutes
Raise heat, add mushrooms, salt and pepper to taste - cook another 4-5 minutes
Add olives, stir for another couple of minutes
Add both peppers, stir until heated through, lower heat
Stir in bread crumbs and parmesan
Stir in 1/2 TBS olive oil
Gently stir in cooked ditali
Add lemon zest and juice, stir to mix through
Drizzle in last 1/2 TBS olive oil, toss in parsley

What's in the fridge - Acorn Squash Bowls

2010-04-02T06:28:00.004-04:00

I'm not one to buy acorn squash without intent - usually soup or a stuffed pasta. I don't know how this even got into my cart, but it's one of the last items left after Flood Week at home.

Acorn Squash Bowls
Preheat oven to 375º
Halve 1 acorn squash, scoop out center flesh and seeds; leaving enough of a skin, cut the bottom down for a flat surface.
Sauté in olive oil 1 onion chopped and 1 cup chopped mushrooms until cooked down, 10-12 minutes; season with salt/pepper, remove from the pan and set aside.
1 english muffin cubed - brown these into croutons in the pan used for the onion/mushroom mixture.

In a mixing bowl combine:
1 cup cubed brie (easier to cube if chilled)
1 handful walnuts pieces
onion/mushroom mixture
1 handful chopped fresh sage
3 TBS sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Spoon mixture and pack down into bottom third of each squash
Add a few croutons, spoon more mixture, top with croutons
Bake for 1 hour, 15 minutes.

What became of those greens?

2010-03-29T21:05:00.032-04:00

Awesome Shallot Vinaigrette
Combine:
2 TBS chopped shallot

2 TBS chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 zested lemon rind

1/2 squeezed lemon juice

2 TBS rice vinegar

4 TBS extra virgin olive oil

salt and ground peppercorn to taste

Preheat oven to 400º and line a cookie sheet with foil

Add portabellas on top of a very little bit of dressing

Add to the pan: 1 leek, halved and thinly sliced

Top each mushroom cap with 2 tsp vinaigrette

Roast for 25 minutes, the caps will have a little river of warm dressing, the leeks could use a little less time, keep an eye on those tenderonies!

Using 2 tsp dressing per person, toss with mixed greens

Plate and top with 1 cap and several leek strings

Today's Market

2010-03-28T08:25:00.002-04:00

Saturday is often best spent at home for me - after whirlwind weeks at the office it's nice to catch up on house stuff, but not today! I raced around all day and why is it that the ever-so-occasional time I allow myself complete freedom, the stars seem directly opposed to all of my desired destinations? One stop that did not go awry was a visit to the Pawtucket Farmer's Market. good stuff to inspire some Spring cookin...

Scrod in Tomato, Artichoke and Shrimp Sauce

2010-03-07T13:46:00.010-05:00

I think scrod needs a little boost if it's not fried and this is just the ticket, the shrimp in the sauce did it for me... the champagne may have had something to do with that.

Scrod in Tomato, Artichoke and Shrimp Sauce
1 scrod filet
lemon juice
1/2 medium yellow onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
6 shrimp, shell on
1 small can whole tomatoes - or 5 whole canned tomatoes, chopped with 1/4 cup tomato juice
1 small jar artichokes in oil, cut into pieces
champagne
oregano

salt/pepper

Marinate fish:

season fish with sea salt and pepper on both sides

drizzle with lemon juice, cover with plastic and return to the fridge 30 minutes or so.

Preheat oven to 325º

Sauce:

In a hot pan with olive oil, add onion and garlic, stir occasionally until onion is lightly browned
Add shrimp and cook for a bout 3 minutes, then flip and cook another 3 minutes.

Add tomatoes and juice

Add artichokes, a few shakes of dried oregano and salt and pepper to taste

Bring to a boil and turn heat down to low and simmer 20 minutes covered

In a separate pan, heat a drizzle of olive oil and add fish when hot

Pan fry for just a few minutes per side, remove from the heat

Uncover the sauce, add the fish in pieces to the sauce

Add 1/2 cup champagne, loosely stir and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

What's in the Fridge - Mashed Chickpea Fritters

2010-03-02T06:37:00.004-05:00

I knew I was coming home to an empty fridge, but not enough knowing in the world could make me stop at the grocery store! "I'll find something..." Yes, indeed, couldn't have had a better dinner had I planned on it.

Mashed Chickpea Fritters

Makes 6 fritters

1 can chickpeas, rinsed

1/2 cup parsley

1 clove garlic

1/2 medium onion

3 TBS olive oil

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cayenne

1 tsp coriander seed

1 TBS whole wheat flour

2 pinches kosher salt

Using 1 TBS of the olive oil and all the rest: place in a processor and blend until almost smooth.

I noticed a lot of fritter recipes want them thick so they hold shape, which is also good. The end result on these is more like a potato pancake.

Preheat oven to 325º

Heat remaining oil in a skillet, have a side plate of flour waiting

2 TBS of batter make 1 patty - coat both sides with flour then drop in the pan - sauté 4 minutes/side.

Finish by baking in the oven for 20 minutes - this will mellow the garlic and allow the delicate cakes to firm.

I served 2 over a bed or romaine, a sprinkle of parlsey and Lemon vinaigrette:

1/2 lemon squeezed

2 TBS olive

kosher salt

Savory Broccoli and Mushroom Custard

2010-02-28T07:00:00.005-05:00

Setting the scene for how this dish came to be:
It's Friday night, a long stressful week at work and we want some reward BUT we are also counting calories and the meter doesn't lie, so we opt for a little treat - a stop by the only restaurant near our house and split an order of their really delicious onion rings. Will power wins and we return home to make salads. sigh...

Salad just isn't enough for this tough week. What can we have that's savory but not high in calories or fat and will actually feel like a reward?

Custard, tustard and you! you o'l poop! does anyone know where this line comes from?

Savory Broccoli and Mushroom Custard
1 red bliss potato
1/2 onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 head broccoli, separated and roughly chopped
6 baby bella mushrooms, halved and sliced
6 shiitake mushrooms, chopped
1/2 lemon
1 egg
1 TBS ricotta
1-2 TBS 1% milk
Provolone cheese

Preheat oven to 325º
Thinly slice potato, toss with canola oil, salt/pepper
Bake for 20 minutes, flip and bake another 5-10 minutes or until brown and crispy.

Heat 1 TBS olive oil on medium-high heat in a sauté pan and add onions and garlic - cook 5 minutes
Add mushrooms, salt to taste and blend. Cook this down until mushrooms look soft/tender
Add lemon, salt and pepper to taste, blend and simmer another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a small bowl, whisk together: egg, ricotta and milk
Divide this mixture into 2 shallow buttered ramekins or custard pans
Top with broccoli/mushroom/lemon mix
Sprinkle a few thin pieces of cheese on top

Bake for 10 minutes, give the ramekins a gentle shake. Bake 5 minutes longer until the egg has set.
Top with potato crisps. A nice prelude to a big salad...

One giant salad built for two

2010-02-25T21:40:00.011-05:00

It's salad night chez nous. Lemony, Woodsy, Earthy is this salad. I encountered great looking shiitake mushrooms at the market - these combined with walnuts, a little garlic and lemony shrimp atop romaine with a simple olive oil and lemon dressing. Oh right, and there were potato crisps - don't forget those.

Shiitake, Walnut and Lemon Shrimp Salad
Preheat oven to 325º

12 shrimp (shell on),
1 lemon juiced
Marinate the above together

1 Red Bliss Potato, thinly sliced tossed with olive oil and salt
Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes

Meanhwile gather:
1 garlic clove, minced
1 handful of walnuts, roughly chopped, not to small
1/2 dozen shiitakes, medium sized chops
Sauté these 3 in 1 TBS olive oil over medium high heat, salt to taste

When the mushrooms are tender, add shrimp with the lemon marinade
Blend, lower heat to medium, add a couple drops of truffle oil
Turn the shrimp after 3 minutes, simmer 3 minutes more

Let the mushroom/shrimp mixture and baked potato slices cool, peel shrimp before plating.

Mix Dressing:
3 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced
Kosher salt to taste
Whisk above with a fork in a small bowl

Toss romaine in dressing
Top with shrimp, a sprinkling or 2 of walnuts and mushrooms

Pho Ga at home Take II

2010-02-23T19:40:00.002-05:00

Originally posted in January
Not sick this time, have my wits about me, well sorta. It seems I opted not to take my leftover pho to lunch - I had mixed the rice sticks in with the broth, thinking it could do nothing but enhance the flavor over the morning hours. Well, 2 lunches have since passed and tonight I finally had Monday's pho lunch - the rice sticks had marinated in the rich broth for 2 days. pretty darn good.

Local Beer

2010-02-21T15:41:00.001-05:00

We had a nice interlude Saturday afternoon at Trinity Brewhouse. It was there I discovered my new favorite Good Gift - their Kolsch growler for $13. You have to visit to get one, might as well enjoy their nuclear wings while you're there!

Vegetable Stir Fry

2010-02-18T07:04:00.006-05:00

Just out of college, stir fry was the apartment cooked meal of choice. I suppose I used a lot whatever jarred chinese concoction I had on hand, but this with a more traditional Chinese sauce is so much better and healthier and I am happy to re-introduce this common quickie to my repertoire. Give it a try, great for the diet days...

Vegetable Stir Fry
I served over brown basmati rice. serves 2 amply.

Stir Fry Sauce
2 TBS canola oil
2 tsp sesame seeds
1 garlic clove, minced
1" piece of ginger, minced
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 TBS low sodium soy sauce
1 TBS brown sugar
a couple dashes Thai chili sauce or other hot sauce
salt/pepper
1/3 squeezed lemon juice

Mix the following in a separate glass for the final step:
1 1/2 tsp corn starch
1 TBS rice vinegar

Heat oil in a sauce pan
Add sesame seeds and heat for 10 seconds, swirling the pan, careful not to burn the seeds
Add garlic and ginger and heat through, again careful not to burn!
Add broth, soy sauce, sugar, chili sauce, s/p, and lemon juice
Bring this to a boil and add the corn starch mix

Stir Fry
1 TBS canola oil
1/2 medium head red cabbage, roughly chopped
1/2 white onion, chopped
1 head of broccoli, separated
6 baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 green onions, chopped

Heat oil in a wok
Add the cabbage and onion until soft (6-8 minutes)
Add broccoli and mushrooms, stir 3-4 minutes
Add stir-fry sauce and cook until the mushrooms look tender
Add green onions and stir to blend.

Serve over rice.

Turkey & Spinach Patty Cakes

2010-01-26T17:52:00.005-05:00

A satisfying lunch to bring to work. I had one of these with a side of plain low fat yogurt for dipping, really good! I'll be doing variations on this, too many combinations come to mind!

Turkey & Spinach Patty Cakes
makes 4 cakes, 1 per serving
2 handfuls fresh spinach, place in a large bowl, 2 TBS water, microwave as 'Fresh Veg', once cool enough to touch, squeeze out excess liquid, chop and set aside.

Mix together in a bowl:
1 egg
1 TBS olive oil
1/2 lb lean ground turkey
several leaves of basil, chiffonade
1/4 cup bread crumbs
Chopped spinach
1/2 cup feta cheese

salt & pepper

Red pepper flakes

With your hands, mold 4 evenly sized cakes, coat in flour

Heat 3 TBS olive oil until just smoking
Add cakes and brown on 1 side (4-6 minutes)
Flip and let cook 3 minutes, turn heat down to medium low and cover 4-5 minutes longer.
Serve aside some cool plain yogurt.

Pho Ga at home

2010-01-19T13:09:00.016-05:00

I won't pretend that this is an authentic recipe. It's pretty close... close enough that it satisfied my craving. Any of you under the weather, feeling blue or trying to get over a bad cold (me - bronchitis), this satisfies and will hopefully perk you up a bit. It did me.

Pho Ga
the Broth:
1 large yellow onion, quartered and roasted with skin on
1 2" piece of ginger, roasted
(I did this in the oven at 400º for 20 minutes, then under the broiler to brown for about 3 minutes, tossing halfway through).
Toast the following in a skillet over medium heat for about 5 minutes: 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground clove
3 chicken breast halves - I supposed skin on and/or bones would be flavorful, I used organic skinless chicken breasts.

Peel off the onions skins, mash the ginger and remove its skin.
Place onions, ginger and chicken in a stock pot, add toasted herbs
Add 3 TBS fish sauce, cover with water and set to boil.
Reduce heat to medium and simmer until chicken is cooked through - 30 minutes.
Remove chicken to let cool, resume cooking stock at a simmer for 2 hours
Once chicken is cooled, slice into 1/4" pieces
Strain the soup over a large bowl, return the liquid to the pot and cook down as desired. I actually added water at this point - the flavor was so concentrated that I opted to add 3 cups of water, bring to a boil and simmer for another hour.

the Stuffins:
Dried Rice stick noodles (1 cup/bowl)
Bean sprouts (1 cup/bowl)
fresh basil, chiffonade (or fresh cilantro leaves)
green onions, thinly sliced
serrano chile or jalapeno, thinly sliced or chopped
hot chile sauce

prepare the Noodles:
set in warm water for 20 minutes to soften
Then in boiling water, dunk noodles in a strainer for 20-30 seconds.
See a modified version with marinated noodles in Pho Ga Take II

Meanwhile

Plating:
Place noodles in the soup bowl, top with remaining ingredients, then ladle broth on top.
Add chile sauce as desired.
Prepare sinuses for a wake up call! and enjoy!

What's in the fridge: Vegetable Soup - Asian inpsired

2010-01-09T13:49:00.006-05:00

I made a simple Indian style cauliflower and potato dish earlier in the week and had intended all week long to make an interesting potato soup using this excellent starter. When it came to task, I wasn't confident I had enough nor was there enough Indian flavor to pull it off. Substitute whatever vegetables you have... Abandon the guilt from finding old vegetables in the fridge!

Plan B - Vegetable Soup

A grand idea - no measurements required. Just chop and stir!

With olive heating in a sauce pan,
Add chopped onions, carrots, celery, garlic and ginger.
Let this meld together on medium heat for about 10 minutes.
Add spices: salt, pepper, ground cumin, ground coriander
Stir and cook another 4-5 minutes.
Add Chicken stock and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low and cook 30 minutes.

This was when I added my leftover vegetables - Indian spiced cauliflower and potatoes.
Add another round of spices: salt, pepper, ground cumin, ground coriander
Bring to a boil, reduce to medium low and cook 10 minutes, covered.
Turn the heat off, stir in chopped green onions and green garlic sprouts.

I really enjoyed this soup, I served with croutons - however I think this would be awesome with rice noodles. Next time!

Leftover Fried Chicken???

2010-01-06T20:00:00.007-05:00

I must say the holidays were good to me. 6 days into January and thankfully I no longer feel stuffed! Man did we eat - but it was such fun cooking with family and sharing with friends, good thing it happens but once a year!

New Year's Day, my mother got busy with her famous fried chicken and fortunately sent us home with a bunch, not until now have I been able to even consider its consumption. Here I am all ready to heat it up in the oven, browsing around to see what other folks do with leftover fried goodness - the results were hilarious ~ the main point being 'What's leftover fried chicken?'
Apparently all fried chicken know-it-alls indeed know that it needs to be eaten cold or at room temp. So I done turned that oven off and had me a leg - I couldn't resist AND they were right. It's getting serious time now and I need a dish, this is what happened:

Fried Chicken Macaroni
1/2 lb elbow macaroni
1/2 TBS butter
1/2 TBS olive oil
2 TBS flour
3/4 cup 1% milk
3/4 cup white cheddar cheddar cheese, cubed
chile pepper flakes as desired
2 cups cut up chicken fried chicken breast, with skin
1 1/2 TBS bbq sauce
1/4 cup chopped green onions
Splash of light cream

Preheat oven to 325º
Set salted water to boil for elbow macaroni - this should just under al dente, as it will cook in the oven
Melt the butter and olive oil in a sauce pan over medium low heat
Whisk in 2 TBS flour, stir for 4 minutes
Add milk, 1/2 cup at a time raising the heat to medium
Add cheese and whisk constantly until blended
Stir in pepper flakes
Add salt and pepper to taste
turn heat down to low, stirring occasionally until pasta is ready

Combine pasta in sauce in a baking dish with a lid
Season well with salt, pepper and chile flakes
Add chicken and stir to combine
Top with green onions
Add a splash of cream
Cover and bake for 15 mins.

Vegetable Fritatta

2009-12-20T12:48:00.006-05:00

Veggie Fritatta
1 TBS olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
3 TBS green onion, chopped fine
4 oz. sliced mushrooms
4 cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 cubanelle pepper, thinly sliced
4 eggs
3 TBS grated gruyere
salt and pepper

Heat oil in a non-stick sauté pan
Sauté green onion until wilted and fragrant, medium heat
Add garlic and stir, sauté another 3 minutes or so
Add mushrooms, salt to taste, let this cook 8 minutes, stirring occasionally
Add tomatoes and pepper, salt and pepper to tasted, 3-4 minutes more, stirring often

Preheat broiler
Mix 4 eggs and grated cheese together, salt and pepper to taste.
Stir egg mix into vegetable pan, incorporate and let cook, medium low heat, about 8 minutes
Occasionally release the edge of the pan with a non-stick spatula, swirling the pan to fill the gaps and even out the consistency.
Once the outer edge is set and just the center shows a little liquid, place under the broiler for 2 minutes.

Last step:
Check for any pan sticking, then flip on top of your serving plate.

Chicken Fried Steak

2009-12-16T20:08:00.007-05:00

I have had some great meals lately, awful photos, but great food! I'll have to revisit my recent spinach and chickpea obsession, it just looks like mush on a plate, but it tastes so darn good. Time is to blame. I prefer to decide to cook, open the fridge, cook, then eat. Not that I don't want to think about food strategically. Blame Time, the jerk.

It's often easier being told what to cook. Perhaps that's just my mood these days. I picked up top round sirloin steak, no plan intended, just filled a protein gap in the ole grocery cart. King Comfort suggested chicken fried steak (naturally.)

A super simple preparation for a way savory dish. I served it over baby spinach greens, very nice.

I adapted this from the master of all things I don't know how to do when I need a quick answer: Alton of course! The main differences - eggs and cream, I rarely if ever use whole milk or cream, and eggs I try to minimize if possible.

Chicken Fried Steak
serves 2
preheat oven to warm/170º

3 1/2" slices top round sirloin
1 egg
1 cup flour + 2 TBS
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
2 TBS canola oil
1 tsp herbes de provence

Prep the steaks:
the 5 step method: Flour, Tenderize, Flour, Egg, Flour:
Trim any fat, and season both sides with salt and pepper, dredge in flour
I don't have a meat tenderizer - (oo! hint hint), so I did what I could with a fork and felt guilty as hell about what I was doing to this poor piece of meat, so I opted for the pounding method instead, thank you mr. rolling pin, my 2nd favorite tool (the stainless juicer is #1, who took the vintage glass juicer's place). Pound out to 1/4" thick.

Dredge in the flour once again, sweep through an egg bath, back to the flour. Let these rest 10-15 minutes.

Coat an iron skillet with canola oil, once hot add the steaks and cook 4 minutes each side.
Keep the steaks warm in the oven while making the sauce.

In the same pan, add a little more canola oil. Whisk in 2 TBS flour,
Add the chicken stock, whisking constantly until the sauce starts to thicken, bubbly in the center,
Add milk and herbes and whisk together, continue whisking occasionally for 8-10 minutes.

To plate:
Make a circle with baby spinach, mound it up in the center, the steak will flatten and dress it all on its own. Top with steak, with a final sweep of 3-4 TBS sauce.

Spicy Baked Spring Rolls

2009-12-06T07:04:00.008-05:00

Any filling will do, I picked up a nice savoy cabbage and some fresh snow peas and felt inspired to go Asian for tonight's appetizer. As long as these are baked until crispy, you won't miss the frying! (or the mess from frying, or the clean up from frying, or the guilt from frying, etc.)

Spicy Spring Rolls
all you need:
large square wonton wrappers
rice vinegar, soy sauce, oyster sauce
ginger, garlic, green onion
cabbage, snow peas, jalapeno pepper, carrots
dippin sauces: garlic chili and hot mustard

Add the following to a bowl:
1/2 cup chopped cabbage
1/2 cup, julienned carrots
1/2 cup green onion, julienned
1/2 cup snow peas, julienned
1 jalapeno chopped

Stir the following to the above vegetable mix:
several sprinkles rice wine vinegar
a dash or 2 low sodium soy sauce
2 TBS oyster sauce

In a wok, heat 1 tsp canola oil
Add 1" fresh ginger chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
Stir over med-high heat for 2-3 minutes
Add vegetable mix and toss until heated through, 5-6 minutes
Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature

Preheat oven to 400º
Prepare baking sheet with vegetable spray or canola oil
In a row, spread 2 TBS vegetable mix along the center of the wonton wrapper
Fold diagonally once, fold in each side and roll
Place tabbed side down on the cookie sheet
Bake for 20 minutes total, turn after 10 minutes to brown both sides
Let a cool a few minutes, slice on the diagonal and server with garlic chili sauce and Chinese mustard along side. Garnish with sliced green onion.

Fridays at home - Tortilla Sunrise

2009-12-04T11:52:00.015-05:00

At work, we recently initiated Fridays at Home, we all work remotely and try to be as productive as if we were at the office. The first Friday didn't go so well for me to be honest. I was totally UNproductive which is not what we're after. Today is a new kind of Friday, a fit it all in kind of Friday. I realized how every Saturday I spend most of my day cleaning, this time at home is a little gift in that I can chip away at the big picture and still be available to tend to work stuff. Another advantage is of course breakfast! I was so busy that I didn't get to it until 10:30, but what a delight to take my time and make what I'm wanting at the moment, while working of course...

Tortilla Sunrise
1 small flour tortilla
1 egg
1 quarter avocado, sliced
2 thin slices cheddar cheese
chopped green onion
hot sauce (I am in a Sriracha Chili Sauce mood this particular Friday)

This takes no time and makes no mess, I promise.

Spray the inside of a ramekin and place 1 egg
microwave for :40

Place tortilla on a cookie sheet
Top with sliced avocado, then the egg, 2 slices of cheddar
Broil until tortilla is brown and the cheese is bubbly
Sprinkle green onion
Dash some hot sauce (or not)

Giving Thanks

2009-11-29T10:33:00.006-05:00

Like many families, we gathered with friends and enjoyed a wonderful fall weekend to kick off the holidays. It is fitting for Thanksgiving to be the prelude to the Christmas Season isn't it? For me, a time dedicated to giving thanks for the harvest is also a time for reflection, to find a little perspective and be thankful for this life in general. Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving!

Saturday morning biscuits

2009-11-21T09:59:00.010-05:00

Gruyère Green Onion Biscuits
makes 6 biscuits
pre-heat oven to 350º

Mix the following in a bowl:
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp cayenne

Add:
2 TBS chopped green onion
3/4 cup Gruyère cheese

Stir in:
1/2 cup 1% milk
form a thick dough and spoon onto parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake 20 minutes. If tops aren't brown after 20 minutes, turn the oven to broil for 2 minutes.

Pumpkin Custard with Nutmeg Foam

2009-11-21T07:18:00.005-05:00

I have been thinking about making pumpkin cookies for days with this last lonely sugar pumpkin. It never happened and now the moment is gone. When I lack inspiration, I look to Joy of Cooking - it has all the answers... Their recipe for Pumpkin Buttermilk Pudding cut in half and with 1% milk instead of buttermilk yields a smart little custard!

Pumpkin Custard with Nutmeg Foam
serves 8 for dessert
butter a shallow baking dish, preheat oven to 400º
you'll need 2 bowls.

In 1 bowl:
2 eggs, whisked

add 1 1/2 cups fresh (or canned) Pumpkin Purée (see recipe below)
add 1 1/4 cups 1% milk
add 1/4 stick unsalted butter, melted

Dry Ingredients in 2nd bowl:
3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt

Add the blended dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, whisk together.
Pour this mixture into the baking dish, bake 45 minutes.

Pumpkin Purée

Simply halve the pumpkin, scoop out the stringy stuff (save and rinse the seeds ), brush flesh side with canola oil and roast in a 400º oven for 45-50 minutes. Let it cool, then spoon the insides of each half into the food processor, let run until smooth.

Nutmeg Foam
adapted from Joy of Cooking, Hot Foamy Sauce

If like me, you don't have a double boiler, simply boil a few inches of water in shallow sauce pan and place a heat resistant bowl on top.

In the bowl, mix the following with a hand mixer, medium speed until creamy.
1/4 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt

Separately mix, 1 egg and 2 TBS brandy.
In a steady stream pour (mixer on) into the bowl mixture. Now whisk in 2 TBS boiling water and watch it foam!

French Fries

2009-11-19T20:54:00.005-05:00

Anthony Bourdain's little diddy on his method and recipe: Les Halles Fries on Cookstr, check it out, it's great!
It does take time, it is a labor of love, but when you have to have those fries... it really is the only way to go.

A Pie to Remember

2009-11-17T07:10:00.009-05:00

A great vegetarian pizza worth documenting so we can make this savory pie again!
I still attest that the best pizza is pre-baked for 10-15 minutes before adding toppings, sometimes you can't wait that extra 10 mins, but it is worth it.

What's unique about this pie?
Cheesy Crust: mozzarella cheese outlines the outer edge, then the perimeter is rolled over the cheese. Now do you want to give up your crust??

Carmelized Onions: quartered onions thrown in the pan, tossed around in olive oil until brown and sweet
This is the bottom layer of the pizza in lieu of tomato sauce. You don't see it in the finished product unless you look from the side. This is topped with mozzarella cheese.

Additional toppings include mushrooms and jalapenos - always interchangeable, but a great choice!

Balsamic Reduction: The final step is a hefty drizzle of cooked down Balsamic Vinegar

Buono!!

Pizza on the brain

2009-11-16T19:43:00.002-05:00

Just look at this pizza menu!
nice website too...
another of the Batali brand, from Tarry Lodge

Pizza Pizza

2009-11-16T07:26:00.012-05:00

It has been a long standing family favorite - home baked pizza. My mother makes the most unusual tasting pizza in that her crust is so ultra thin and crispy. I can't replicate her 'za' - but then again mine is different almost every time I make it. Included here in Pizza Pizza are 2 versions: mine (whole wheat) and King Comfort's (never whole wheat).

KC's was more traditional tasting, but not looking - I love the open center of his meatball, mushroom and cheddar pizza.

Progressive Pizza
This deserves further exploration, but I have determined that a progressive pizza is a journey planned by the chef. Depending on how you slice your pizza determines the path of flavors with every bite. In this case it starts with hot peppers with a dollop of local goat cheese to ease the fire, followed by olive tapenade and mozzarella, ending with spinach topped with the goat cheese. It's almost like 3 pizzas in one slice, or... a Progressive Pizza!

TJ's Masala - amp'd!

2009-11-13T07:42:00.006-05:00

For years now I at all times have Trader Joe's masala sauce in the pantry. It comes out when we're really hungry, really short on time and really disinterested in cooking (gasp - can you imagine?). I actually have been - dare I say - somewhat disinterested in cooking these last few weeks, with sparks of utter cooking joy but little desire to record. So here I am, coming off un petit hiatus. There was a masala jar in the pantry, staring me down. I was feeling a little cooking creative and I had a little time and thought it perfect to ease back in with 'old reliable' in my back pocket.

Tikka Masala
Makes 4 servings, takes about 1 hour to make.

1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 potato, peeled, 1/2" cubes
1/4 cup dry white wine (I used a Riesling)
spices: cayenne pepper, ground coriander, cumin - as much as you like
I add spices in 2 stages, see below.
1 large or 2 medium tomatoes, chopped (big chunks)
3 chicken breasts, cooked then cubed (2" cubes)
1 jar Trader Joe's Masala sauce

Start with an iron skillet and some olive oil, medium high heat
add onion (4 min)
add garlic, salt and pepper (4 min)
add potato, medium high heat, salt liberally
add spices: cayenne pepper, ground coriander, cumin
simmer 8-10 minutes stirring occasionally

add 1/4 cup water, stir well and let simmer, uncovered for 20 minutes, add another 1/4 cup of water as needed. You don't want the potatoes sticking to the pan. I used 3/4 cups of water overall.

add tomato, salt and stir. Add spices: cayenne pepper, ground coriander, cumin.
Simmer 5 minutes.

add masala sauce and chicken and stir, cover and let simmer 15 minutes.

Julia meets Joy - Flank Steak, Brussels Sprouts & Fingerlings. Oh! & Apple Pie

2009-10-25T08:34:00.012-04:00

Last night was one of those pure Fall, rainy, blowy nights - a picture perfect night for french onion soup or fondue. But we had flank steak, brussels, and fingerlings, for which it was also a perfect night!

Fingerlings
Preheat oven to 400º
Coat potatoes with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, herbes de provence
On a cookie sheet, roast potatoes for 35-40 minutes, stirring occasionally

London Broil
The Joy of Cooking brief description on London Broil is simple preparation, simple cooking, and quick.

2 lbs flank steak, seasoned with salt and pepper, rubbed with garlic (The Joy of Cooking's recommendation)
Let set covered for 20 minutes.
Julia's cooking method: 4-5 minutes in a hot pan, then flip for 3-4 minutes, rest for 5. Perfect outcome.

Brussels Sprouts
Luckily these take the exact same amount of time as the steak. Perfect timing means having a pot boiling, ready for the sprouts when the steak hits the pan. Boil 7-8 minutes. Drain, season with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Really, this is the cleanest purest dish I have made in awhile. olive oil, salt, pepper, repeat. Can you say Julia meets Joy?

Oh and Apple Pie
Preheat oven to 425º
1 frozen pie crust (clearly I have accepted that it does help occasionally to use pre-made)

3 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced and tossed in the mix below. Let it sit for 20 minutes, stir occasionally to incorporate.

3/4 cup sugar
2-3 TBS flour
1/2 lemon, squeezed
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp kosher salt

Spoon the apple mixture into the pie pan, dab with a little bit of butter across the top.
Bake for 30 minutes, let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

What's in the Fridge - Chicken Penne with Lemon Padano Cream & Marinara

2009-10-25T08:03:00.011-04:00

Hunger strikes with little left in the fridge...

Ingredients:
2 halves chicken breast, cut into strips
vanilla toasted bread crumbs, with a little drizzle of vanilla extract
1 egg
Roasted Garlic Marinara (jarred)
Grana Padano, shaved
Parmesean, shaved
1% milk
3 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
Flour
1/2 lb penne, slightly underdone (to finish in the oven)
1 lemon, sliced

Vanilla Chicken
It might sound terrible, but it adds complexity - the good kind. The vanilla toasted bread crumbs were left over from a dessert, I did not expect to notice the vanilla, but there's no denying it's presence. I might add a little cayenne next time...

Coat the chicken with flour, dip in egg and coat with vanilla bread crumbs
Pan fry chicken in olive oil, 3 minutes/side, keep warm in the oven.

Padano Cream Sauce
Sauté 3 cloves of garlic on medium heat, lowering to simmer 7-8 minutes
Add 2 TBS flour, stir and cook until color darkens (medium heat)
Gradually add 1 cup hot milk and blend
Add cheese, continue to stir as sauce thickens.
Season with salt and pepper (liberally)

You may need to keep this warm in the oven, I had to free up burners. If it gets too thick, just add a little milk and stir until incorporated.

Roasted Garlic Marinara
In a sauce pan, add extra chopped vegetables and/or cooked meats to olive oil. We had some leftover steak. Then add the 1/2 of a jarred sauce and stir to heat through.

The Dish
Preheat oven to 325º

Spoon penne and a light layer of sauce into the pan as the bottom layer
Drizzle with olive oil
Spoon another layer of penne, a light layer of sauce
Spoon cream sauce on top
Add chicken pieces
Top with any remaining cheese
Finish with lemon slices
Bake for 15 minutes, let stand for 5 minutes.

Restaurant City

2009-10-22T15:05:00.002-04:00

I don't know what has come over me, I mean, I am NOT a gamer, never have been. The only games I truly have enjoyed are pac man, turbo and Adams Family pinball. I'm that much NOT a gamer that I include pinball in the list.

Restaurant City somehow has my almost undivided attention. As if it's not enough to manage my restaurant staff - keeping them fed and rested, my score keeps going up and they keep giving me more dining space. Then I have to decorate, now I don't have a large enough staff to accommodate the space, the patrons are p'od and tired of waiting. It is curious to me why the little diners (much like pac men) pee in one bathroom and sometimes wash their hands in another. Some little diners don't even wash their hands. How does the program determine who washes their hands and who doesn't?? Yesterday, reality got in the way and I didn't manage my staff as well. My rating dipped and I lost 1/2 of my second star - a terrible way to the end the day. My reward for checking in before bedtime? my first plot in the garden, of course they stiffed me 2000 points to plant a little seed. Now I need to check back and tend to watering that plot on top of tending to my tired and hungry staff! When will the novelty wear off??

Paper Chef #45 - Judgement

2009-10-20T22:27:00.017-04:00

The added bonus of winning a Paper Chef challenge is the honor of judging the next competition. Last month's judge annointed my dish. My turn! This month's Paper Chef challenge was to drum up something different using the following ingredients: chicken, lentils, yams and green tea. What do you do with tea and chicken? lentils and yams?

As dubbed by Paper Chef's Mikey, "4 brave competitors" have stretched their creativity in the kitchen. Brave for certain ~ from the looks of it we would all enjoy a nice chicken dinner together! Worth a visit to see this month's Paper Chef entries. Who is the winner of this chicken dinner? Dale from Home on the Range won with extreme creativity. Her dish was Lentil Naan Filled with Chai-Spiced Tofu and Surna Koot (spicy yam chutney).

Job well done! I enjoyed walking through making lentil flour naan and grilled green tea chai tofu! Thank you for sharing your Indian spice substitutions as well.

I had to join in the fun - these are indeed perfect fall weather ingredients.
TEA TEA TEA! Tea infused chicken, tea broth to simmer the lentils and tea seasoned yams.

I'll admit my crispy yam strings didn't turn out as I had hoped - I burned 2 batches! What was I thinking? obviously not about how delicious they would be if crisped to perfection. Lesson learned, doing too many things at once - results in burnt chips. Nor did I get the shape I wanted - probably only achieved by deep frying and I was baking. Ideally, curly thin long strips is what I was after... Nonetheless:

Crispy Yam Strings
With a peeler, cut strips from one Yam
Spread these on a cookie sheet and add:
1 TBS canola oil
1 tsp green tea leaves
Salt to taste
Bake at 325º for about 15 minutes (please let me know how long it took you not to burn your crispy yam strings!)

Tea Spice Rub
1 TBS loose green tea leaves
1 TBS oriental 5 spice (cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, anise, ginger)
1 TBS garlic powder
1 TBS onion powder
1 TBS red chile flakes
1 tsp red chile powder

Tea Salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp cracked pepper
1 tsp green tea leaves
mix the above ingredients

Tea Broth
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup chardonnay
1 TBS tea leaves

Lentils and Chicken
Preheat oven to 325º
Pat the rub onto your chicken and let sit overnight
1 split chicken breast (skin on)
3 chicken thighs
When ready to prepare the rest of the dish, rinse the rubbed chicken and pat dry.

Parboil 2 cups of french lentils for 20 mins and drain
Spoon lentils evenly into a casserole
Top with 1 thinly sliced yellow onion
Top with Tea Salt
Top with Chicken pieces and any remaining Tea Salt
Add Tea Broth
Cook in the oven for 60 minutes, let settle for 10 minutes or so before serving, top with crispy yam strings.

Chicken Piccata

2009-10-11T09:57:00.008-04:00

Tangy, served over a light cheesy pappardelle.

3 split chicken breasts, pounded thin
Dredge in the following:

Coating
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
salt, pepper

Heat 2 TBS olive oil in pan, medium high heat, when melted add 1/2 TBS unsalted butter
Add the chicken in batches, turning when one side is brown, 2-3 minutes, keep warm in the oven
Add oil/butter if necessary, save the pan drippings for the sauce.

Sauce
To the hot pan, add juice from 1 lemon
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1/4 cup capers, rinsed
1/2 cup vegetable stock
1 small container organic button mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp Salt, pepper to taste, allow to simmer 8-10 minutes
Turn heat to low and let rest until ready to plate.
Just before plating, add 1/2 cup roughly chopped parsley to the pan and stir.

Cheesy Pappardelle
Prepare pappardelle, and drain
In the same pan, add 1/4 cup milk and 1/2 TBS butter (medium low)
Add 2 ounces Reggiano, grated and stir
Add noodles back into the pan and mix
Add 2 ounces Reggiano, stir
season with salt and pepper

Top with a chicken breast and 2 generous spoonfuls of sauce.

Cheddar Scones

2009-10-11T09:38:00.003-04:00

I used to get these regularly en route to the Design Center in Boston. Rosie's Bakery in South Station was the more than occasional stop. It has been 10 years since I have had one, but I can still place the smell. Inspired by an old favorite...

Cheddar Scones
makes 15 scones

Pre-heat oven to 400º

Mix together:
2 cups flour
1 TBS baking powder
1 TBS sugar
1 tsp salt

Add:
1 TBS unsalted butter, chilled
3 ounces cheddar cheese
At this point, work the ingredients together with your hands, pinch the butter into the flour to really work it together.

then Add:
1/2 cup chopped green onions, mix
1 1/2 cups 1% milk
4 ounces sausage (or bacon, ham, linguica.....) cooked/browned
I used kielbasa, quartered - the pieces were a little big, however. I think cubed is the way to go.
Now that you have a heavy sticky mound of dough, on a floured surface, roll the dough with your hands back and forth to form a log, about 2" in diameter. Then slice into the log every 1.5".

Place on parchment paper, set apart from one another to allow room to grow.
Bake 20 minutes, let cool. server with butter, yum.

Orange Mustard Greens

2009-10-09T07:48:00.008-04:00

A great alternative to spinach as a use, but I wouldn't say that it tastes like spinach. It's more of a tangy bitterness, a good pairing with citrus, orange in this case.

Orange Mustard Greens
30-40 mustard leaves
The leaves will need a good soak and rinse to clean. They seem to close naturally on their own as if to show me where to slice the stem out in one clean sweep.

1 TBS olive oil heated in the pan, medium heat
Add 1 clove of garlic, chopped, sauté 2 minutes
Add 2 TBS orange juice
Add salt
Add 1/2 of the mustard leaves
Stir until wilted, 3-4 minutes.
Remove greens from the pan, add second batch and a pinch of salt.
Add a splash of orange juice if needed, stir until wilted.

Makes 1 cup

also added it to a linguine dish with walnuts, polish sausage, carmelized onions and pecorino. It would be good in so many things...

Paper Chef #45

2009-10-06T00:13:00.009-04:00

Paper Chef is a monthly cooking challenge that caught my attention before I had a food blog and was just the encouragement I needed to get started. Cooks from all over the world check here for the month's featured ingredients, then submit their recipes 1 week later to be judged by the previous month's winner. Lucky me won last month with Ginger, Ricotta & Pumpkin Wontons (chocolate required!)

What a thrill to win the last challenge! Now it is my pleasure to announce October's challenge. There are 4 total ingredients - 3 from the Paper Chef plus 1 chosen by me. From the list of suggested ingredients: Lentils, Green Tea, and Chicken.

The random fourth: Yams!

There are so many varieties of each ingredient and subtleties of flavors in each - so many possibilities! I look forward to seeing your entries, and nobody loses points for swapping out the chicken for a vegetarian substitute.

You have until Tuesday midnight (where you live) to send your entry to paperchef@gmailcom . The roundup will be posted on Paper Chef (where you can also view the rules) and the winners will be announced first here and on Paper Chef.

Allez Cuisine!

Samosas

2009-10-05T22:31:00.008-04:00

makes 8 Samosas
Potato and Pea Filling
Prepare peas and potatoes:
1/2 cup green peas, simmered in 2TBS water, a little bit of butter
2 baking potatoes quartered in boiling water until tender, mash lightly with 1/4 cup milk.

Heat 2TBS canola oil, season with 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
Add 1 jalapeno pepper, minced, sauté
Add mashed potatoes and peas
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 tsp kosher salt
Mix all the above, cook 8-10 minutes, add juice from 1/2 lemon, set aside to cool.

Pastry
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup canola oil
1/8 cup water
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 tsp kosher salt
Mix all of the above until a firm dough, add water as needed. Divide into quarters and cover with a towel.

Assembly
Roll the quarters into 6-8" discs, cut each into half moons for 8 semi-circles.
Wet the straight edge of a circle and roll into a funnel shape
Fill each funnel with 2TBS of potato/pea filling
Close the open edge by pressing the open ends together, seal with water

Fry in 1/4" canola oil - turning frequently for about 3-4 minues, 2 batches.
Drain on paper towels, serve with dipping sauce, cilantro mix or chutney.

Dipping Sauce
sauté 3 cloves of garlic, chopped in 1TBS canola oil
add 1" chopped ginger
Add 1/2 tsp chili sauce
1/4 cup wine vinegar
Add 3TBS brown sugar

Add 1 tsp kosher salt
Bring all the above to a simmer, constantly stirring until the sugar dissolves, simmer 10-15 minutes.

Cilantro Mix
1 cup cilantro chopped
2 TBS mixed hot peppers, minced
1" ginger, minced
1 TBS rice wine vinegar

What's in the Fridge - Sausage Potato Crisp Lasagne

2009-10-04T06:41:00.021-04:00

I have returned from a hearty work trip - long enough that there is little left in the fridge.
It's one of those things - I am happy to be home and prefer not to leave if I don't have to.
Plus it has been days since I have cooked anything although I enjoyed lots of Dallas good eats. The seafood enchiladas at Pappasittos and Sonny Bryans' pulled pork bbq sandwich and onion rings top the list if you're interested...

So what do we have? very little pasta and that is what I want of course. We are left with a measley 6 sheets of no-boil lasagne. But there is enough 'stuff' to make some interesting layered thing.

chicken sausage links

potatoes

carrots

walnuts

garlic

provolone

roasted/marinated peppers

sofrito

vegetable broth

bread crumbs from last week's rustico

no-boil lasagne

Baked Hash Browns
Pre-heat an oiled cookie sheet at 300º
Shred 1 potato and add to the cookie sheet
Salt liberally, had fresh cracked pepper, olive oil and mix together.
Finally match the shape of the lasagne pan and bake 20 minutes, scoot a spatula around the edges occasionally, flip (virtually impossible) and bake 10 minutes longer. I just reassembled mine into the shape - the goal is crisp and brown in the general shape of the lasagne - tough to do without frying.

Walnut Tomato Sauce
Heat 1TBS olive oil over medium heat.
Add 3 garlic cloves, loosely chopped, 2-3 minutes
Add 2 carrots chopped, sauté until browned, 5-6 minutes, stir occasionally
Add 1 cup chopped walnuts and stir, heat 5 minutes
Add 1 cup vegetable broth, 2TBS sofrito, turn heat down and simmer 20 minutes
Salt/Pepper to taste, stir in 1TBS balsamic and set aside

Meanwhile, slice 2 links of sausage (1/2" pieces) and brown in a skillet

Sausage Potato Crisp Lasagne
Spread 2 TBS walnut tomato sauce in the pan
Add slices of provolone across in line with the noodles
Add sausage for first layer
Add marinated roasted peppers on top
Top with a little more sauce
Add more provolone slice, top with crispy hash browns
Final pasta layer topped with any leftover sauce, bread crumbs, provoloneBake for 35-40 minutes at 375º

Cornmeal crusted Dover Sole over Kalamata Orzo

2009-09-26T15:16:00.003-04:00

This was such a quick meal to prepare, and I love the purple orzo.
I used one long filet of dover sole, serves 2+

Pat the fish dry, season with salt and pepper, then dredge in 1/2 cup of cormeal.
Pan fry on med-high heat until brown on both sides, about 5-6 minutes on each side

Kalamata Orzo
1 cup orzo
12 kalamata olives, halved
1 lemon juiced
1 handful chopped parsley
olive oil
chile pepper flakes

Add olive oil and a squeeze of lemon to boiling water, prepare orzo as directed, about 8 minutes
In a sauce pan on medium heat, add the olives and let breakdown, you will get a nice purple sauce
Add 1/2 of the lemon juice to the pan
Season with salt and pepper.

When the orzo is finished draining, add it to the sauce pan with the olives. Add the remaining lemon juice, red chile pepper flakes, stir to blend and heat through, add parsley for one last stir.

Wax Beans

2009-09-21T18:44:00.004-04:00

By default I pick up green beans. always. and I love green beans, I usually prepare them with olive oil, garlic, rice wine vinegar or lemon and dijon mustard. Wax beans I just don't see as often. I picked up some at the local farm stand really just because they were different. Joy of Cooking says that they are tart - I don't find them to be tart, but it's tough to argue with their sentiment that "they (all edible-pod beans) have a great affinity with butter, bacon, and chopped toasted nuts....Especially good herbs for beans are dill, mint, chives, parsley and basil."

Wax Beans
1lb yellow or wax beans
1 handful chopped fresh basil
1 handful chopped fresh dill
salt/pepper
butter
1/2 cup walnuts

Steam the beans over a pot of boiling water
Toss with salt and pepper, 2 TBS olive oil
Add chopped herbs

In a sauté pan, add a little butter
Add walnuts and simmer over medium-low heat, until nuts are browned
When finished, add to the top of the beans.

Fried Green Tomatoes

2009-09-14T16:39:00.008-04:00

3 green tomatoes, cored and 1/2" slices
1/2 cup milk
1 cup corn meal
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
dash smoked paprika
chopped fresh herbs of choice (I used dill)
canola oil

Soak each slice in milk, then dredge both sides in the dry ingredients
Pan fry in 1/2" of canola oil, turning once, browning both sides

Serve with aioli

Rapid Fire Aioli
3 TBS Light Mayo
1/4 squeezed Lemon
1 garlic clove minced

Butternut Soup

2009-09-13T14:26:00.007-04:00

It occurred to me that since this goes in the food processor ultimately, why bother finely chopping and mincing? For once I don't have jalapeno fingers. It saves a bunch of time to toss all things chopped roughly - no finesse required.

One butternut squash, sliced, halved, however you do - salt and brush with olive oil, roast in the oven @ 375º, about 35 minutes. Set aside to cool.

1 Vidalia onion (roughly chopped of course)
3 cloves of garlic...
1 2" piece of ginger...
1 jalapeno pepper...
sauté all of the above in olive oil in a deep pan 10 - 12 minutes.

By now, the squash has cooled and you can easily spoon out the flesh - add it to your pot of vegetables.
Heat 4 cups of broth in the microwave (3-4 minutes) - add this to the pot.
Let simmer 20 minutes, stir and break apart as needed.
Meanwhile, brown some cubed prosciutto (or bacon, or pancetta, sausage...)

Blend the soup in the food processor, return to the deep pan for one last step.

Add 2 tsp kosher salt
Stir in 2 TBS part skim ricotta cheese
Stir in 1/2 cup Milk
blend until heated through

To plate, top with chopped cilantro, 2 tsp. prosciutto and 1 slice of a hot pepper.