All that and she cooks, too

Fresh and creamy banana cake

2011-06-22T20:21:00.000-07:00

I was skipping through the Ina Garten book, "Barefoot Contessa: How Easy is That?" when I saw a recipe for Old-Fashioned Banana Cake.
With a toddler in the house, bananas are always a staple.
He eats a whole banana in a sitting, or we use them in smoothies, or I add them to his cereal.
But a couple weeks ago I had a few left at the end of the week that were, well, close to the trash bin.
Hating to waste food, I perked up when I saw the recipe for this cake that called for three very ripe bananas.
I slimmed it down a touch with low-fat sour cream and neufchatel for the frosting instead of cream cheese. I also skipped the butter in the frosting and reduced the sugar by 1/2 a cup.
I would have posted it sooner, but I think it has been so long since I blogged here that I forgot how.
Lucky for you, my two readers, I remembered my password, remembered how to take a picture with something besides my iPhone and remembered how to post to the blog.
Now, let them eat cake. Banana cake!

Fresh and creamy banana cake (my lower-fat version of Ina)
with "cream cheese" frosting

Cake:

3 very ripe bananas
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra large eggs, at room temp
1/2 cup sour cream (I used low-fat)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
grated zest of one orange
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

"cream cheese" frosting:

8 ounces neufchatel cheese
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar

for the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350.
Grease and flour a 9 x 2 inch round cake pan

Mix the bananas, sugar and brown sugar on low until combined. Add oil, eggs and vanilla, sour cream and orange zest and mix until smooth.

Add the dry ingredients in thirds and mix on low until just combined.

Stir in the walnuts.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 45-55 minutes, until a pick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 15 minutes then turn out onto cooling rack.

While cake is cooling, make the frosting.

for the frosting:

Mix neufchatel cheese, and vanilla until just combined. Add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.

Spread evenly over the cake and garnish with more walnuts, if desired.

OK.
Yum.

The cake is so moist and creamy. Even without the frosting it is great.

The orange zest gives it the perfect brightness that it needs to lift it from banana cake to BANANA cake!

The frosting is just, well, the icing on the cake.

Enjoy!

Sp

Slow-cooker lasagna in red and white

2011-03-12T13:08:00.000-08:00

I am on a roll lately with the great slow-cooker recipes.
First the short ribs.
Then the carnitas.
Then I decided to experiment with making lasagna in the slow cooker. And it was really good.
I made my version vegetarian, but it should work to add cooked ground meat in the layers, if you like that sort of thing.

There was a bit of work involved in this one. Which is typical of lasagna. I tried to cut down on that by using pre-washed bagged spinach and pre-cut bagged mushrooms. If I did not already have carrots at home I would have bought the pre-shredded ones. It did not add too much time to peel and grate the ones I already had. Same for chopping the onion.

Slow-cooker lasagna in red and white

Makes 8-10 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 5-6 hours

3 eggs
2 cups evaporated milk (do not use regular milk - it does not work well in the slow-cooker)
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
2 cups low-fat ricotta cheese
1 cup low-fat sour cream
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

1 jar of your favorite red pasta sauce (I used Classico Spicy Red Pepper)

1 box lasagna noodles
1 cup Parmesan cheese (divided into thirds)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (divided into thirds)
12 ounce bag baby spinach
5 ounce bag sliced brown mushrooms
4 carrots, peeled and grated
1 medium white onion, chopped

Mix first 11 ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside.

Get all your veggies open, cleaned prepped and ready to use.

Spoon about a cup of the egg-cheese mixture into the bottom of the slow cooker then sprinkle with about 1/2 cup of the red sauce.
Layer noodles over the sauce in a single layer, breaking into pieces if needed to make them fit.

Sprinkle half the carrots, half the onion and all the mushrooms over the noodle layer, then sprinkle on about a third each of Parmesan and mozzarella.
Spoon over about a third of the remaining egg-cheese mixture and then about a third of the remaining red sauce.

Make another layer of noodles.
Cover that layer with spinach and remaining onion and carrot, then add another third of the Parmesan and mozzarella.
Spoon on another third of the egg-cheese mixture and red sauce.

Add one more layer of noodles. Cover with all the remaining egg-cheese mixture and remaining red sauce.
Sprinkle on remaining Parmesan and mozzarella.

Cook on low setting for 5-6 hours.

This was tricky to scoop out the first night.
The noodles were a little "loose" in the sauce, so it did not want to stand up.

But it tasted really good!
And it was even better reheated for dinner the second night.

And it stood up nicely then, as seen in the picture.

This is not a slow-cooker meal I can make on a weekday since it cooks in only 5-6 hours. On work days I need 8-10 hour recipes.

But it was a great thing to start at midday on a day off and just forget about until dinner.
I got it all ready and started while Ben napped.
I paired it with Caesar salad and a good wine for dinner.

I liked the blend of red and white sauces in this. I was just creamy enough, but not too rich.
And the veggies were terrific. If I had anything like ham or prosciutto, I would have chopped that up and added it to one of the layers. I think that would be good.

I thought about doing the ground meat, but that was one more step and would have dirtied another pan. With the veg version it was all just done right in the cooker.

Slow-cooker carnitas

2011-02-06T14:37:00.000-08:00

When I mentioned this recipe on Facebook, I wrote it as "carnitas," with the quote marks.
That was because it is not made in a traditional way of braising then frying the meat, instead it cooks all day in the slow cooker.
But now that I have had it as leftovers (and it was even better than the delicious first meal), I dropped the quote marks.
I know purists may argue with me, but this recipe is worthy of no quote-mark innuendo.
And it is so easy. Seriously. Just about the easiest thing I have made in the slow cooker.
Even easier than the oh-so-simple braised short ribs.
And I was skeptical of the results since I like my carnitas to have a bit of crispness to the edges. But I think that using such a small amount of liquid is the key. The juice/broth barely covered the meat when I started it. By the time I got home, most of it had cooked off.
Not all of it. It was not dry. But enough had cooked off so that the top edges were above the liquid and and developed a sort of dry (in a good way) edge.

Slow-cooker carnitas

2 pounds pork tenderloin (This is what I used since it is what I had. Shoulder would work, too.)
Freshly squeezed juice of a large orange (about 1/2 cup)
Freshly squeezed juice of two limes (about 1/2 cup)
9 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon cumin
1 cup beef broth

Trim pork of excess fat.
If using tenderloins, cut each into four pieces and place in the bottom of the slow cooker.
Sprinkle with salt and cumin, then toss to coat.
Add orange and lime juices and the smashed garlic cloves to the pork.
Add broth.

Cook on the lowest setting for 8-10 hours (I set mine for 10 hours since I was going to be gone for work.)
When the meat is cooked, remove it from the pot with the garlic, leaving any excess juice. Roughly chop the meat and garlic.
Serve in warm tortillas with your favorite taco toppings.

For dinner I served these with warmed corn tortillas and several garnishes so we could customize our tacos. (avocado chunks, chopped white onion, chopped cilantro, shredded cheese, sour cream, lime wedges, salsa)
Since I wanted to have a more complete meal, I made some sauteed yellow squash with shallot and garlic and then mixed in a can of (drained) black beans.

Today for lunch we had the leftover meat, once again in tacos. The citrus flavors were even more present than the prior night. I reheated the meat in a skillet on the stove to crisp it up a bit.

When I think about making this, I think I spent more time getting the garnishes ready than I did prepping the meat and then chopping it at the end.
We loved it, the kid loved it and it was easy.
This will definitely become part of the regular rotation.

Mint-cilantro pesto

2010-09-04T11:13:00.000-07:00

Cheese ravioli with steamed white rose
potatoes and mint-cilantro pesto.

I am a big fan of the cilantro. And mint ain't half bad either.
So the idea of a pesto that uses both of those, a nice Parmesan cheese and some pine nuts? Yeah, I like that idea. A lot!
This is an easy, versatile sauce.It is great on ravioli (get the pre-made ones from the store for a very quick dinner) and a nice condiment for kebabs (lamb, beef or chicken - I have not tried it with shrimp, that could be good, too).
I like a traditional pesto, made with basil, just fine. But the brightness of the mint and the cilantro just make this shine as a "summer" pesto. Though I will be making this all through the fall and winter.

Grilled lamb and veggie kebabs with mint-cilantro pesto.

Mint-cilantro pesto

1 cup packed, fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
3 tablespoons pine nuts
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 medium garlic cloves, peeled
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (plus more to taste if you like it lemony)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil (I use a fairly good one here since the oil is key to pesto)

Blend mint, cilantro, pine nuts, cheese, garlic, lemon juice and salt and pepper to a coarse puree in a food processor. Keeping the food processor running, slowly pour in olive oil and puree until almost smooth.
Taste and add lemon, salt and pepper to taste, if needed.

Enjoy on your favorite pasta for a really quick dinner (seriously, there are some really good pre-made raviolis and tortellini out there!) as a dip for a good crusty bread, as a dipping sauce for grilled meat or veggies.

Really, just enjoy!

By the way, if you are looking for more ways to zip up that store-bought ravioli, check out these ideas from Real Simple.

Citrus and beer steamed tilapia - on the grill

2010-07-28T14:05:00.000-07:00

Well, I am not sure where the warm weather went, but there for a few days we had a hot spell and I was determined to cook everything on the grill that I could.
One of my favorite things to do is to cook using foil packets, and one of the best things to do in those packets is fish. In this case I went for tilapia because it was cheap, it looked nice and fresh and it just sounded good.
This was an easy prep and a short cooking time on the grill, which was really just a bonus to how good it tasted.
This is from an Epicurious recipe that I modified. They called for flounder. I called for tilapia.

Before cooking.

Citrus and beer steamed tilapia - on the grill
(two servings)

2 small shallot bulbs, peeled and sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 thin slices of lime
2 thin slices of orange
2 tablespoons butter
2 tilapia fillets
4 sprigs fresh thyme
cayenne or black pepper
salt
6 tablespoons beer (I used Sam Adams, because that is what I had - white wine works, too)

two pieces of aluminum foil, each twice as long as the pieces of fish (maybe 14-inches long)

Arrange foil pieces over a shallow baking dish or pie pan, sort of lining the pan to create a bowl-like space for your ingredients, leaving an overhang that will be sealed up to create your packet.

Divide shallots and garlic equally and sprinkle into the foil "bowl."
Put two slices of lime and one slice of orange into each packet.
Put 1 tablespoon of butter into each packet.
Set a piece of tilapia on top of this and season lightly with pepper and salt.
Arrange thyme sprigs on top of fish.
Pour 3 tablespoons of beer into each packet.

Gather excess foil and roll to seal the edges.

When your grill is heated on medium-high heat, put the packets (seam side up) on the rack and cook 10 minutes.

After cooking.

I think if you don't like beer, you can definitely use white wine.
If beer or wine is not an option, a little broth of some type probably would work. Or maybe clam juice. I figured there is so little alcohol in the beer and what is there cooks off anyway.

The beer and butter make for a nice little sauce that steams the fish beautifully.
The cayenne adds just a touch of heat. And the citrus is, well, citrusy and lovely.

I served this with grilled white corn and red potatoes that I also had roasted on the grill.
My only regret was that I did not have a lovely, crusty piece of bread to sop up that extra cooking sauce.

Steak bun - nope, not a sandwich!

2010-07-02T10:46:00.000-07:00

Looking for a cool dish for a hot day, I came across this recipe for a Vietnamese noodle salad in the newest issue of EatingWell.

It did involve a fair amount of chopping and prep at the front end. But nothing was complicated and I was able to get this together in about 35-40 minutes.

It turned out to be a good option for a warm day.

The recipe from Eating Well called for pan-cooking the steak. I opted to grill it. I think I made the right choice. First of all because it meant not having to clean that pan later. Also because I prefer grilled steak.

I also added a hit of Sriracha chili sauce to the dressing because I like a little heat. That is up to the maker, I suppose.

Here is my version.

Steak bun (Vietnamese noodle salad)

makes about 6 servings

1 tablespoon canola oil
2 large NY strip steaks (1-1 1/4 inches thick), trimmed of fat
6 ounces wide rice noodles (I used the Thai rice noodles from Trader Joe's since I had them.)
1/2 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
4 cups shredded napa cabbage
1 1/2 cups shredded carrot
1 cup thinly sliced radishes
1 cup slivered fresh basil and/or mint (I used a combination of these and it was good.)
1/2 cup finely chopped unsalted roasted peanuts
1 tsp Sriracha or chili paste (I started with a little and added until I got the heat level I wanted)
Salt and pepper

Heat grill over high heat.
Season steak with salt and pepper.
Cook, turning once, until cooked through to your liking. Let rest on a clean cutting board for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook rice noodles according to the package directions, until just tender. Drain the noodles and rinse under cold water.

Whisk vinegar, fish sauce, sugar and Sriracha to taste in a large bowl until the sugar is dissolved.

In a large bowl, toss the dressing with the noodles, cabbage, carrot, radishes, herbs and peanuts.
Then plate up your portions.

Slice the steak into thin strips and serve it on top of the noodle salad. (I cooked two steaks, but each portion only had about half a steak each sliced on top of it since they were big steaks. Then I had some left to eat later without any meat.)

Grilling the meat was the way to go. The EW version also mentions sirloin as a possibility.
I think this would be good with grilled chicken or shrimp, too. Or even just as a meatless option.

Low-and-slow baby back ribs

2010-06-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry the picture is not the best. I forgot the real camera,
so this was taken with my phone. And I was anxious to sink
my teeth into those ribs, so I kind of rushed the shot.

Living in Southern California, it is pretty much barbecue weather all year long.
But summer is, of course, prime season for grilling.
And ribs are always a favorite at any cookout.
I have tried several methods for making barbecued ribs.
The method that yields the most tender, flavorful ribs for me is a combination of a long briny soak, a low-and-slow roasting in the oven then a quick trip around the grill.
I also like to use a dry rub after brining and before roasting.
Sauce or no sauce is up to the cook. Sometimes I like no sauce, letting the brine and rub shine through. Sometimes I like to use a little sweet, spicy sauce.

So yes, these take a while from start to finish, but most of the time is not active time.
If you plan on making these, allow overnight to brine and a good 2-3 hours of roasting before you need to grill them.
They can be brined and roasted ahead of time and then grilled later. I have done this where I have cooked them on a Saturday and grilled them on a Sunday. It works just fine.

Low-and-slow baby back ribs

4-6 servings (depending on how hungry you are!)

for the brine:
8 cups water
1/2 cup kosher or sea salt
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons black peppercorns, cracked (I use a mortar and pestle to crack the spices)
2 tablespoons fennel seeds, cracked
2 tablespoons coriander seeds, cracked
4 bay leaves
1 tablespoon dried marjoram or oregano
3 garlic cloves, smashed or split horizontally
4 pounds pork baby back ribs (I cut the racks in half so they will fit in the pan I use)

for the rub:
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

make the brine:
In large pot combine water, salt, sugar, spices, herbs and garlic. Simmer and stir until sugar and salt dissolve.
Either arrange the ribs to fit into the pot with the brine, making sure they are fully submerged, or arrange them in a single layer in a roasting pan and pour the brine over them.
Refrigerate, covered, for 8-12 hours.

make the rub:
Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container until needed.

once the ribs are brined:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Remove the ribs from the brine, rinse and pat dry.
Divide the rub evenly over the ribs and rub it into the meat.
Arrange the ribs in a single layer on a baking sheet or sheets and cover with foil.
Roast for about 2 hours, or until the meat is very tender.

Either grill the ribs now, or put them in the fridge to grill later.

grill the ribs:
Get the grill started, it is ready at a medium-high heat.
If you use sauce, brush the ribs lightly with your favorite barbecue sauce.
Grill the ribs for 5-10 minutes, turning occasionally, until they are done to your liking.

I like these with and without sauce, probably a little on the longer end of grilling time. I like them to get a little crispy outer crust on them and the meat inside stays very tender and moist from the roasting.

Bacon-y tomato soup with red peppers and goat cheese

2010-06-03T12:10:00.000-07:00

I am that person who can eat soup pretty much any day of the year.

I like it in cold weather and I like it in hot weather.

I am a soup person.

Lately I have taken to making a simple dinner at least one night a week. Often this involves some combination of soup, salad and/or sandwich.

I enjoy all sorts of soups, but really like a puree.

Combining several favorite flavors and using ingredients I already had on hand, I made a lovely puree:

Bacon-y tomato soup with red peppers and goat cheese

Serves 4

8 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces - I like the Nieman Ranch bacon from Trader Joe's

1 small white onion

3 garlic cloves

6 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed and chopped (about 1 tablespoon)

3 stalks celery, diced

3 carrots, diced

14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes, with the juice

8 ounces roasted red pepper, drained and chopped

15 ounce can of white or pinto beans, drained

4-5 cups chicken broth

3 ounces goat cheese, crumbled

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

salt

pepper

creme fraiche or sour cream, optional

Cook the bacon in a large stock pot. Once bacon is crisp, remove from pan and set aside.

Discard all but about 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat.

In the remaining bacon fat cook the onion, garlic and thyme until soft.

Add celery and carrots and cook on medium heat about 10 minutes, until soft.

Add tomatoes with juice, red peppers and beans.

Stir in 4 cups of the chicken broth and cook on medium heat about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat.

Using an immersion blender, puree soup until it is smooth (or to the texture you like). Add more broth as needed to get the texture you like.

(If you do not have an immersion blender, puree in batches in a food processor or blender. Return soup to pan when done.)

Put soup back on medium heat and add goat cheese, stirring until cheese is melted.

Salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, ladle soup into bowls. If you like, add a small dollop of creme fraiche or sour cream.

Divide chives and sprinkle on top of soup.

Finally, sprinkle bacon pieces over the whole thing.

I, of course, added the creme fraiche.

I actually got five decent sized servings out of this.

For dinner for two at home I paired this with grilled white cheddar sammies on sourdough.

The remaining three servings went to my mom, sister and brother-in-law.

They all raved about the soup.

I am guessing it was even better the next day when they ate it. It is just that kind of soup.

Fig and goat cheese tart with arugula salad

2010-05-25T10:58:00.000-07:00

I saw a version of this on the Whole Foods blog and immediately knew that I wanted to try it.
I have had their Adriatic Fig Spread before, and it is perfect with strong cheeses.
Plus, Marcona almond crust made with honey?
Sold!

The differences in my version and the Whole Foods version is that I used a slightly larger tart pan, but I doubled the recipe. So you get a thicker crust, more fig, more cheese ...
And I added pine nuts to my version and served the arugula salad on the side so people could take it if they wanted it.

A note: Marcona almonds are a Spanish almond. They are sweeter than the standard almond and are lightly fried in oil and salted with a little sea salt. I got these at Whole Foods, but I believe they also have them at Trader Joe's.

Fig and goat cheese tart with arugula salad

1 cup Marcona almonds
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
5 tablespoons honey
8-ounce jar of fig spread (I like the one from Whole Foods)
5 1/2 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled

1/4 cup pine nuts
4 cups packed baby arugula
4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Equipment: 10-inch fluted tart pan - the kind that is the fluted sides and the flat bottom piece

Steps: Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grind almonds and 1/2 cup flour to a coarse powder in a food processor. Add remaining flour and process until well blended.

Add butter to nut-flour mixture and pulse until blended.

Add honey and pulse until clumps of dough begin to form, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.

Lightly spray tart pan with non-stick spray.

Press dough into the bottom of the pan, building it evenly up the sides. Freeze 15 minutes until firm.

Bake crust for about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. (Crust can be made the day before and kept covered until you are ready for the next step.)

Spoon fig spread evenly over the crust and evenly distribute crumbled goat cheese and pine nuts on top.

Bake about 10 minutes longer until crust is golden brown and goat cheese is softened. Allow to cool slightly.

While tart is cooling, toss arugula with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Top tart with arugula and serve.

I took this to a girls night gathering. It was a great choice to have with red or white wine (I have to say, it really was great with the 2002 Lamborn Napa Valley Zinfandel that I brought.)

The arugula adds a nice, cool crunch and the balsamic on the salad really complements the fig and cheese.

The best part other than how good it tasted? It was really pretty easy to make.

Crock-pot braised short ribs with mushrooms and carrots

2010-05-17T07:51:00.000-07:00

Continuing in my attempts to make dinners that are easy but still amazing, I am trying to use the slow cooker a little more often.

I also am trying to save myself some time by buying things that are already prepped to some degree. So for this recipe, I bought pre-sliced mushrooms. I used canned tomatoes. For the side dish of sauteed greens, I bought a bag of mixed greens from Trader Joe's that are already cut and cleaned. The jasmine rice came from Trader Joe's freezer case and was nuked hot in just a few minutes.

Really, the toughest thing about making these braised short ribs was chopping an onion. Oh, and waiting all day at work to get home and eat dinner!

Crock-pot braised short ribs with mushrooms and carrots
(makes 4 servings)

8 boneless beef short ribs
kosher or sea salt
black pepper
1 cup beef broth
1 cup dry red wine
14.5 ounces canned, diced tomatoes (with juice)
4 bay leaves
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
1 small white onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
8 sprigs Italian parsley
8 carrots, peeled

Season the ribs with salt and pepper and place in an even layer in the slow cooker.
Add broth, wine, tomatoes and bay leaves.
Mix onions, mushrooms and garlic and add to slow cooker.
Layer Italian parsley sprigs over the top.
Arrange carrots on top of parsley.
Cook in crock pot on low heat for 8 hours.

Remove bay leaves and parsley before serving.

I served this over jasmine rice with some of the extra juice from the crock pot.
Also on the side were the mixed greens that I sauteed with some sliced onions and veggie broth.

This is like pot roast from my dreams. And it makes terrific leftovers.

Jalapeno mac n cheese n cheese n cheese

2010-04-23T20:54:00.000-07:00

Somehow I made it to the ripe old age of 38 without ever making homemade mac n cheese.
I decided to give it a try for a potluck at work.
How did I never know how easy this stuff is?

Jalapeno mac n cheese n cheese n cheese

1 pound elbow macaroni or shell pasta
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter
6 tablespoons flour
3 cups half and half or whole milk

1 package (5.2 ounces) Boursin garlic and herb cheese
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
8 ounces pepper jack cheese, shredded
2-3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped (I used 2, but could have used 3)
Salt and pepper to taste
Topping:
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs (I used half panko, half fine bread crumbs)
3 tablespoons melted butter

Grease or spray a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray or baking dish. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the pasta in boiling water following package directions. Drain and rinse; set aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt butter. Add the flour and cook, stirring, until smooth and bubbly. Add the milk or half-and-half and Boursin cheese. Cook, stirring, until hot and thickened. Add the cheese and peppers. Cook, stirring, until cheese has melted. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Combine the sauce with the pasta and stir to blend. Spoon into prepared baking dish.

Toss melted butter and bread crumbs together and sprinkle over the casserole. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until bubbly and lightly browned.

I like the bread crumbs to be pretty toasty, so I gave it a few minutes under the broiler to get them very golden and toasty.

This seemed to go over pretty well at the potluck. I made a big pan of it for that and a smaller pan for Nick and I to have for dinner with a salad on the side.

There were no leftovers at all.

I used two jalapenos in this, but I think one more would have been good for a little more heat.

Or, if you want more chile flavor but not more heat, maybe add in some roasted red pepper or a small can of chopped ortega chiles.

grilled lamb chops with smoked paprika and garlic (and a link to lemony chick pea salad)

2010-04-04T16:37:00.000-07:00

I got a nice little package of lamb at Trader Joe's and decided that I wanted to do something different than my normal grilled lamb chops with redcurrant glaze.
I really like the flavor and aroma of smoked paprika, so I decided to try a simple rub with garlic and smoked paprika and then cook the chops in the grill.

The chops I used are the small, lollipop type chops.

This recipe fits into the 3-4 ingredient category even though it is not from my 3-4 ingredient cookbook.

Grilled lamb chops with smoked paprika and garlic
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
8-10 small (lollipop) lamb chops
salt and pepper

Combine smoked paprika, garlic and olive oil in a small bowl.

Season chops with salt and pepper.

Rub the chops all over with the paprika-garlic rub and let sit for at least 30 minutes.
Grill on high heat about 3-4 minutes on each side.

Boom. Done. Simple.

These were really good and really tender. It was a nice change from the sweeter redcurrant chops.

I served the lamb with lemony chick pea salad from Food & Wine's Web site and some sauteed mixed greens.

salmon with arugula and warm lentil salad

2010-03-30T20:42:00.000-07:00

Since I had the baby, dinner is all about what is easy. But it also still needs to be up to my dinner standards.
This dish fits the bill perfectly.
The lentils are very flavorful and hearty as a side dish. They could be a meal if you are as big a fan of lentils as I am.
They also would go great not just with the salmon, but with most main dishes. I think a grilled or roasted chicken would be good with the tangy mustard flavor of the lentils.

Salmon with arugula and warm lentil salad
(modified from a Real Simple recipe)
makes 4 servings

1 pound cooked lentils (I cheated and used Trader Joe's steamed lentils)
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
4 pieces skinless salmon fillet
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 bunch arugula, torn (about 4 cups)
1 lemon, cut into wedges
kosher salt
ground black pepper

heat lentils microwave or on stove top until very warm
mix together 2 tablespoons oil, the vinegar, mustard, onion and parsley
season to taste with salt and pepper
stir in lentils and set aside

heat remaining 1 teaspoon oil in a skillet on medium-high heat
season salmon with salt and pepper
cook salmon about 4 minutes on each side, or until opaque

To serve mound about 1 cup of arugula on the plate, spoon lentils over arugula.
Serve fish on the side with a wedge of lemon.

I also served this with some lemon-herb poached baby artichokes that I had left over from the previous night.

Lemon-cornmeal shortbread

2009-10-27T11:21:00.001-07:00

I love shortbread. It is so easy and so satisfying.

I grew up making a basic butter-flour-sugar version. It was simple and the ingredients were always on hand.

Lately I have been into trying new varieties of shortbreads.

One of my favorites has been the oatmeal-pecan shortbread. I even made it at the holidays and added a chocolate garnish to pretty it up.

As I was cleaning out a drawer a few days ago, I found a clipping for a recipe for lemon-cornmeal shortbread.

I needed a "fun snack" for my childbirth class (all the expectant couple take turns so there is a "fun" and a "healthy" snack each week. Of course I chose a "fun snack!")

The lemon-cornmeal shortbread seemed like a nice choice.

And, as it turns out, it was quite popular. People asked for the recipe... Nice!

So here it is:

Lemon-cornmeal shortbread

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal (I used medium grind, but would recommend a finely ground)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups butter, at room temperature

1 3/4 cups confectioner's or powdered sugar

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (I used my fab microplane grater.)

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

With the rack set in the middle spot, preheat the oven to 325.

Lightly grease a 9x13-inch pan.

(A straight-sided metal pan would be great for sharper edges, but I had a jelly roll pan, so that is what I used.)

Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. This will make getting the cookies out so much easier.

In a medium bowl stir together flour, cornmeal and salt.

In a larger bowl, mix butter, sugar, lemon zest, lemon extract and vanilla extract with electric mixer on medium-high, until creamy, about 4 minutes.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add the flour-cornmeal mixture and beat on low speed until it forms moist clumps. Turn dough out of bowl into the prepared pan.

Using a floured rubber spatula or floured fingertips, spread the dough evenly in the bottom of the pan.

I used my fingers at first, adding more flour to them as needed to keep from sticking, to get the dough spread out. Then I used a floured rubber spatula to smooth it out more.

Bake until the top is golden brown and dry-looking, about 40 minutes.

Remove pan from the oven and immediately cut into pieces.

1-inch by about 2-inch bars are good.

I cut mine into 1 by 1-inch squares to get more pieces, cutting off any edges to get nice, clean squares.

You want to CUT THEM IMMEDIATELY. If you wait until they cool, the shortbread is too dry and will crumble.

Let the shortbread cool in the pan completely, then use a small metal spatula or knife to carefully remove the pieces from the pan.

Note: The dough can be made ahead, spread in the pan and frozen for up to a month before thawing and cooking. Baked shortbread keeps for about three days, kept well-wrapped at room temperature.

The result: Crumbly shortbread with a light lemony flavor. The medium cornmeal gave the shortbread a distinctive crunch that I liked, but MF found a little odd and unexpected.

For this reason, I would recommend getting a finely ground cornmeal if possible.

Lemon spaghetti

2009-09-14T20:41:00.000-07:00

I was looking for a tasty side dish to pair with pan-roasted pork tenderloin and came across a recipe in "Everyday Italian" by Giada DeLaurentis.

The combination of lemon and Parmesan cheese sounded like it would be a nice compliment to the meat and a simple side of steamed asparagus.

After reading the recipe, I decided (of course) to make a couple of my own modifications.

So, here is my version, with a little more cheese than she called for and with some garlic that she did not call for.

Lemon spaghetti

2/3 cup olive oil

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 pound dried spaghetti

1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped

1 tablespoon lemon zest

salt and pepper

Cook spaghetti according to package directions.

Meanwhile, whisk together olive oil, Parmesan, lemon juice and garlic. Salt and pepper to taste.

Once pasta is cooked, reserve 1/2 cup of cooking liquid, then drain pasta.

Toss pasta with lemon sauce, basil and lemon zest. If you want the pasta to be saucier, toss in reserved pasta water, 1/4 cup at a time to get desired consistency.

This was a great side for my roasted pork. The lemon gave it nice little zing and the garlic I added gave it more of the bite I was hoping for.

I think this would be good on its own as a simple dinner with a salad. It also seems like it would pair well with grilled shrimp or fish.

Herb-grilled chicken with herb-yogurt sauce

2009-09-09T16:11:00.001-07:00

Since my fish options are limited these days, I am trying to find new and different (and easy) ways to make chicken.

This was a very easy, very tasty option. I started the chicken marinating the night before, so it got close to a full 24 hours in the marinade.

As I was making Tuesday's dinner, I just whipped up the marinade for this and got a head start on Wednesday's meal.

The herb puree-marinade made a nice crust on the chicken when it was grilled, and the herb-yogurt sauce was a cool and tangy contrast.

Herb-grilled chicken with herb-yogurt sauce

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or breast steaks
salt and pepper
1 cup Italian parsley leaves
1/3 cup basil leaves
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne or other hot pepper
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup Greek yogurt

Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper.

Puree the parsley, basil, garlic, salt and cayenne until it is a paste.
Blend in olive oil until it is smooth.

Set aside half the herb mixture.

Using the other half of the herb mixture, set the chicken to marinate. Cover and refrigerate. The chicken can be marinated for up to 24 hours.

Get your grill ready... I used a gas grill set on high to preheat it, then lowered to medium before I put the chicken on to cook.

Cook chicken 7-10 minutes, turning halfway through, until firm to the touch.

Once the chicken is done, remove it from the grill and let rest 10 minutes.

While chicken is resting (or in my case, the night before) mix the yogurt with the herb puree that you had set aside. Sauce will be fine in the fridge overnight.

Serve chicken with sauce.

I made some grilled yellow squash, zucchini and orange peppers with this. I gave the veggies a quick dip in some olive oil and balsamic vinegar before grilling.

For a carb, I brushed some baguette slices with the oil and vinegar and grilled those on each side.

It was a flavorful meal, but still fairly light. And it was sooooo easy.

Chocolate, cream and raspberry tart

2009-08-17T16:27:00.000-07:00

I saw a version of this ages ago in Sunset magazine and ripped the page out just based on the picture.

It took me a while, but I finally got around to making it this weekend.

After reading through the recipe, I decided it was not chocolatey enough. So I basically doubled the amount for the chocolate layer. It was perfect.

My taste testers had no complaints about the extra chocolate!

Chocolate, cream and raspberry tart on almond shortbread crust

Makes 10 to 12 servings

Special equipment: 10-inch tart pan with removable rim

3/4 cup sliced almonds (for crust)

1/2 cup sliced almonds (for top of tart)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

1 egg plus 1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon almond extract

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream (for chocolate layer)

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (for cream layer)

8 ounces mascarpone or soft cream cheese

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 350°. In a food processor, pulse almonds and granulated sugar until finely ground, but NOT until they turn into nut butter.

Add flour and salt and pulse to blend. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. With motor running, add egg, egg yolk, and almond extract and whirl until dough comes together.

Evenly press dough into the bottom (not the sides) of a 10-in. tart pan with removable rim.

Bake about 25-30 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool to room temperature, then remove rim.

To get the base of the tart pan off, I waited until it had cooled some, then carefully slid a butter knife between the base and the crust to loosen it. Be careful not to crack or break the crust.

The crust can be made a day or two ahead and stored in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic.

In a the bottom of double boiler, bring water to boil. Reduce heat to medium. Put chocolate in the top of the double boiler and stir until melted.

Stir in 4 tbsp. cream, stirring constantly to blend.

Spread chocolate on crust and let cool to room temperature, about 10 minutes. (I put mine in the fridge to speed up the process.)

In a large bowl, beat remaining 1/2 cup cream to firm peaks. Beat in mascarpone or cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla.

Spread cream mixture on chocolate-coated crust. Arrange raspberries on top and sprinkle with extra almond slices. (The original recipe did not call for the extra almonds, but I wanted a little more crunch. I toasted the almonds to golden brown in a dry saute pan, stirring frequently to keep them from burning.)

Serve tart immediately or cover with plastic wrap and chill up to overnight.

Sweet-spicy peanut slaw

2009-07-20T17:02:00.000-07:00

So I obviously have been absent from the food blog for a while.

If you read the other blog you know why: I am knocked up!

It has taken me a while to get my appetite back for anything other than cereal or cheese and crackers.

Not to mention not having the energy to do any cooking.

But I am into the second trimester and the appetite and energy are returning.

So I hope to try some new recipes and post here more.

Up now...I think it is clear that I am fond of certain Asian flavors. I use sesame oil and rice vinegar and Sriracha chile sauce in a lot of things. A favorite way to use them is in a light slaw that is great with grilled meats (or even on its own!).

Sweet-spicy peanut slaw
(makes 4 side-dish servings)

1/2 a nappa cabbage (about 6 cups) cut into thin strips
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
2 carrots, grated
4-5 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup honey roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp Sriracha (or other chile sauce) - this can be adjusted to suit your own heat level

Toss cabbage, cilantro, carrot, green onion and peanuts in a large bowl.

Whisk together sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, ground ginger and Sriracha.

Add dressing to cabbage mixture and gently combine to coat.

That's it!

chocolate-caramel crackers

2009-04-13T23:27:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah.

Really.

Yeah.

Just freaking awesome.

I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen (great cooking site, by the way).

I was hoping to find a chocolate dessert for Easter to contrast the walnut-pear cake that I love.

I was thinking cake or pie or tart. Instead I found this.

And it was just what I wanted.

Chocolate caramel crackers, co-opted from Smitten Kitchen.

(I used the matzo version, not the saltines, with sea salt. Perfection.)

Apparently this is not a new recipe. But it was new for me, so I give credit where it was due.

I am not even going to post the recipe here, just my own picture and the link, above.

Go there. Make it. Get addicted.

cool cous cous and edamame

2009-04-08T18:12:00.000-07:00

This came to me in a moment of laziness.
I was ready to make dinner Monday night, but did not have the gumption to get myself to the market.
A quick tour of the pantry yielded a box of cous cous. In the freezer I found some precooked soybeans in the pods and a pork tenderloin.
Hmmmm...
Yeah, I can work with these.
I set the pork to thaw in a sink full of cool water then got to thinking about how to make it all work together.

My inspiration was two yummy salad options from the Corner Bakery. At my branch of this chain they have an option of getting a trio sampler of some of the salads. Two that I really like are the ginger and asparagus cous cous with dried cranberries and almonds, as well as a mixture of edamame with asparagus and tomatoes in a tangy Asian-inspired dressing.

Somehow toward the end of my meal they are commingling on the plate so that I get cous cous and edamame together. Which is fine. It tastes pretty good.

So I decided to take what I liked about those salads and combine them, being limited to what I had at home.

Here you have it:

Cool cous cous and edamame
(with toasted almonds)

3 cups cooked plain cous cous, cooled
(for me this was 1 1/3 cup dry cous cous cooked to package directions)

1 cup slivered almonds, toasted in a saute pan until golden brown

1 lb frozen edamame in the pods, cooked and shelled
(should yield about 1 1/4 cups beans)

3 tbsp minced shallot

combine all of the above, stirring or tossing gently to mix

for the dressing

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp ponzu sauce
3 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp red chili paste, such as Sriracha

combine all of the dressing ingredients, stirring until sugar has dissolved

Pour dressing over cous cous mixture and gently stir or toss to coat.

Enjoy!

If there had been a red pepper in the fridge, I would have diced some of that up and added it for a little more color and flavor. But this was pretty good as is.

I served this on a bed of chopped romaine lettuce.
To make it more of a dinner for the manfriend and me, I added some slices of grilled pork tenderloin.
Since the cous cous dressing had some tang and spice to it already, I kept the meat simple, just marinating it in a mixture of 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup brown sugar and 2 tbsp sesame oil.
Then I grilled it.

This was awesome. I like a combination of cool and hot like this.
And the lettuce underneath gave it an extra layer of crunch.

I had leftover cous cous over more lettuce for lunch today. Still good.
And so, so, so easy to make.

Seared scallops in lemon-shallot sauce

2009-02-09T15:15:00.000-08:00

Cravings are funny things. Where do they come from? Why one thing and not another?
I get cravings a lot. Popcorn, chocolate, steak, cheese.
They just pop up for no particular reason.
But my recent craving for scallops... That I can blame on "Top Chef."
They have been cooking a lot of scallops on that show this season.
"It'sa notta 'Toppa Scallopsa!' It'sa 'Toppa Chefa!" according to contestant Fabio.

So when I was planning dinner yesterday, I decided to give in to the craving and make a scallop appetizer.

Seared scallops in lemon-shallot sauce

Makes 4 appetizer servings

1 tablespoon olive oil
8 large scallops
sea salt
pepper
1 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoons minced shallots
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/3 cup dry white wine (I used chardonnay)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped Italian parsley
about 4 small handfuls of baby arugula

Heat oil in a large nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat.
Lightly salt and pepper the scallops on both sides.
Add scallops to pan. To get a good sear and good color on them, do not move the scallops.
After about 2 minutes, turn the scallops over and let the other side sear about 2 minutes.
Remove scallops from pan and place in a covered bowl to keep them warm.
Turn heat down to medium and add butter to melt.
Add shallots and garlic; saute 1 minute.
Add wine and lemon juice, cooking 1-2 minutes until liquid reduces by about half.
Stir in parsley.
Return the scallops to the pan and turn to coat with the sauce.

To serve:
Divide arugula among four plates.
Put two scallops on each plate.
Drizzle sauce over scallops and arugula.
Serve immediately.

This was perfect.
The flavors were all perfectly balanced: just enough lemon, just enough garlic. And the shallots were sweet and not too strong of an onion flavor.

I thought about using mixed baby salad greens, but went with baby arugula for its slight peppery flavor and the fact that it does well when wilted a bit by the warm sauce.

I could eat this all the time.

It probably would also make a very nice main dish to make extra sauce and a couple more scallops each and serve it all, including the arugula, over a bed of angel hair pasta.

I have made scallops before, but this is the best preparation I have tried as far as ease and taste go.

Shortcut chicken and rice soup

2009-01-08T09:02:00.000-08:00

I love soups of all sorts.
And when I take the time to make soup, I usually make a big pot so I can have leftovers.
Then I put those leftovers in single serving portions in zip-top bags and put them in the freezer.

My trick for this is to freeze the bags flat. Then once they are frozen, I can stand them up or stack them or whatever. It makes them easier to fit in the freezer than misshapen frozen lumps in bags and seems to take less space than using several small bowls.

You can see what I mean HERE. The picture was from a cooking frenzy last year about this time.

So, to get back on track, my soup project this time was chicken and rice with veggies and a hint of lemon.

I have made the chicken soup from scratch in the past, starting with the chicken and roasting it and cooking down the bones for stock. So much work.

These days, I love a good shortcut.

So I used a cooked chicken from Whole Foods. It was a smoked chicken, so it gave the soup an extra layer of flavor, though a regular roasted or rotisserie chicken also works well.

I also used pre-shredded carrots from Trader Joe's and the low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth from Trader Joe's.

Oh, and in most of these recipes, when I say salt, I am using a fine-flake sea salt or kosher salt. And pepper is fresh ground black pepper.

Shortcut chicken and rice soup

3 tbsp olive oil or butter
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
10 ounce package shredded carrots (3-4 carrots depending on size if you get whole carrots)
2 cups celery, thinly sliced
1 cup white wine such as chardonnay
8 cups chicken broth (I like Trader Joe's low-fat, low-sodium, gluten-free)
1 whole, cooked chicken, meat removed from bones, roughly chopped (4 cups roasted chicken)
2-4 tbsp lemon juice, depending on your taste
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
3/4 cup arborio rice
salt and pepper

Heat oil or butter in a large stock pot over medium-high heat, adding onion, carrots and celery.
Add dash of salt and a couple grinds of pepper.
Cook with lid on for about 5 minutes until veggies soften, stirring and making sure they are cooking, but not really browning.
Add wine and cook another 5 minutes.
Add broth, chicken and lemon juice and cook until hot.
Add cilantro and arborio rice plus salt and pepper to taste.
Cook 20-30 minutes or until rice is done.

So I like lemon. A lot. I tried to temper that and make sure this soup was not too lemony. I think 4 tbsp is a good amount of lemon juice. But if you are not so big on the lemon, add 2 tbsp, taste it and add more until it has the amount of lemon that you like.

I also really like cilantro, but I know some people don't.
This would work well with Italian parsley as a substitute.

Same with the rice. I had arborio, which is normally used in risotto. So I used arborio.
Pretty much any rice would do. But I tend to like a sturdier rice like arborio. I think it stands up better to being cooked, frozen and reheated.
Or use some orzo pasta.

I like to cook the rice right in the soup instead of cooking it separately and adding it later because the starch in the rice helps thicken the broth a little.
So you end up with a brothy soup that is not thin. And it is packed with stuff.
Every bite has chicken and veggies.

Oh, and I got nine 1.5 cup servings out of this.

Cookies with cranberries, white chocolate and macadamias

2008-12-30T22:40:00.000-08:00

from left: white chocolate-cranberry-macadamia, oatmeal fruit bars,
chocolate with walnuts and peanut butter chips

So a few days before Christmas I decided to go with my baking frenzy.

I've already posted about the oatmeal-pecan shortbread and the oatmeal fruit bars.

I also made another version of these super chocolatey cookies, but instead of chocolate chips in the chocolate cookies, I used peanut butter chips in the chocolate cookies. Just a straight substitution.

Finally, the fourth cookie variety was this:

I opted for the small cookies.

Cookies with cranberries, white chocolate and macadamias

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup golden brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups dried cranberries
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely chopped roasted salted macadamia nuts

Heat oven to 350.

Sift first 3 ingredients in medium bowl.

Use electric mixer to beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Add brown and white sugars; beat until blended.

Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Then beat in vanilla.

Add dry ingredients, beating until just blended.

Gently stir in cranberries, white chocolate chips and nuts.

For larger cookies, drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, 2 1/2 inches apart. For smaller cookies, drop dough by level tablespoonfuls onto sheets, 1 1/2 inches apart.

Bake until just golden, about 18 minutes for large cookies and about 15 minutes for small cookies. Cool.

After a full day of cleaning and baking, I was able to get the dough for these made that night, but I did not bake them until the next morning. The dough had hardened up a lot in the fridge, so I let it sit out of the fridge for about 30 minutes then baked them.

The dough can be made and stored in the fridge in an airtight container for two days or in the freezer for up to two weeks.

And that was the last of the cookies.

Though I did also make a chocolate-rum cake on the 25th for Christmas dinner's dessert.

It may be a while before I bake again!

Chile verde with potatoes

2008-12-29T09:09:00.000-08:00

For years on Christmas Eve, if I didn't have to work, I have cooked some sort of fish dish.
I am not sure why that is. It is just something I have done.
Maybe because I know on Christmas Day I will get meat, meat and more meat.

But this year I was craving chile of some sort.

Instead of my usual tomato-based bean chile with ground beef, I decided on a chile verde: pork cooked in a green sauce of roasted tomatillos and peppers. I added the potatoes to bulk it up and because that is how my dad liked to make it.

It was an excellent choice and was even better as leftovers once the flavors had time to really meld. It also freezes well. I did several single serving portions in zipper bags that I can pull out of the freezer as needed.

Chile verde with potatoes

4 pounds pork, trimmed of fat and cut into 1-inch cubes

2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
flour for dredging
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 white onions, diced

2 Anaheim or Poblano chiles
2-3 jalapenos
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 1/2 pounds tomatillos
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
about 1 cup cilantro leaves, cleaned and chopped (I like cilantro, so I had more and added it to taste)
4 cups chicken stock

2-3 large russet potatoes

Garnish with:

extra chopped cilantro

grated cheese (I used queso blanco)

lime wedges if you like that sort of thing

Serve with:

your favorite tortillas and/or rice

Pork shoulder works well in this. I could not find that this time, so I used a boneless pork roast and cut it into cubes.

Remove outer husks from tomatillos. Wash and dry tomatillos and peppers.

Place tomatillos and peppers on a baking sheet and broil, turning every few minutes, until they are roasted on all sides and skin starts to bubble and split. Let cool and set aside.

Season pork cubes with salt and pepper then dredge with flour.

Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium high heat.

Brown pork in small batches, on all sides.

As batches of pork are done, transfer from skillet with slotted spoon into a large stock pot.

Continue until all the pork is cooked and in the stock pot. You may need to add a little oil to the skillet depending on how many batches you have to cook.

While the pork is cooking, dice the tomatillos and set aside in a bowl with the juices.

Dice Anaheim/Poblano peppers and set aside.

Also cut jalapenos in half, discard seeds and ribs, then mince, add to set aside Anaheim/Poblanos. (I wear plastic gloves when dealing with chiles, even when they are cooked. Just to be safe. That chile residue stays on the hands a while and can burn, especially if you touch your eyes.)

Once the pork is all cooked and in stock pot, add onions to the skillet and cook over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.

Add peppers and cook 3-4 minutes, then add garlic and cook 1-2 minutes.

Transfer the onions and peppers to the stock pot with the meat.

Add chopped tomatillos, dried herbs and cilantro to the meat.

Pour in chicken stock just to cover the meat.

Bring to a boil over medium high heat then reduce to a simmer.

Cook for about 2 hours uncovered or until the pork is fork tender.

When pork has been cooking for about 2 hours, peel potatoes and cut into 1-inch cubes.

Add potatoes to the pork and cook another 30-45 minutes or until potato pieces are tender.
Adjust the seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.

Garnish with cilantro, cheese, etc. Enjoy.

Oatmeal-fruit bars

2008-12-24T08:27:00.000-08:00

These are a favorite treat all year long. This was the first time I made them as a Christmas cookie, and they were a big hit at work.

Lucky for me I did not take the whole pan to the office yesterday.

I will be bringing some of these to my aunt's tomorrow for Christmas dinner.

Oatmeal-fruit bars

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal

1 1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup butter

10 ounces of your favorite fruit preserve

(I used Knott's brand seedless blackberry)

Heat oven to 350.

In a large bowl combine flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, baking soda.

Cut in butter and mix until it forms coarse crumbs.

For me, the best way to do this is to use my hands.

But that might just be me.

Firmly press about half, maybe slightly more, of the flour-sugar-oat mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 pan.

Heat fruit preserve in microwave for about a minute or until softened but not hot so that it is easily spreadable.

Spread softened fruit preserves over first flour-sugar-oat layer, but not quite all the way to the edges. Leave about 1/8 inch at the edge. This will help keep the fruit from seeping to the edge and sticking to the pan during baking.

Sprinkle remaining flour-sugar-oat mix over top of preserves and gently press it down.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until the top gets golden brown and crispy.

Cool in pan then cut into squares to serve. If they stick a little, just run a butter knife around the edges. They usually come up OK with minimal sticking.

For cookie bars, this is best to cool completely before cutting. It needs a little time to set up.

But I have served it warm with vanilla ice cream, kind of like a fruit crumble or crisp.

For the cookie plate that I took to work, I cut these fairly small. Just about two little bites.

This time I used blackberry preserves. I have also made them with marionberry and peach. And I wonder how they would be with marmalade.

I may have to try that next time.

Oatmeal-pecan shortbread - part 2

2008-12-23T23:19:00.000-08:00

My Sunday, which is most people's Monday was busy with cleaning and cooking and baking.

One of the things I baked was this oatmeal-pecan shortbread that I have posted here previously.

To dress them up for the holidays, I melted down some chocolate chips and drizzled it over the top of the cookies.

I like Guittard brand. It is tasty and it melts nicely and sets up quick.

I made the cookies Monday night, melted and drizzled the chocolate Tuesday morning. I melted the chocolate in a glass bowl according to package directions then used one of those mustard/ketchup/condiment bottles to drizzle it on the cookies.

After about 30 minutes of fridge time on baking sheets to set up the chocolate, I packed them in layers separated by wax paper so they would not stick together.

These were a big hit the first time I made them with no chocolate. I think they were more popular this time with the chocolate drizzle.

Spaghetti carbonara

2008-12-19T08:59:00.000-08:00

So the pictures of this did not come out great.

For some reason I have trouble photographing pasta.

But the dish was so tasty I had to post it anyway. I mean really, really tasty.

I only started making this recently. I looked at several recipes and took the parts of each that sounded best to me, cobbling together this version.

On a whim, I added some sauteed shrimp on top. But it is still good without the shrimp.

It's also good with some sauteed asparagus or peas or zucchini tossed in with the pasta.

Spaghetti carbonara

6 ounces bacon or pancetta

1 small white onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp dried oregano or thyme

1 cup dry white wine

4 eggs

1 cup cream

1/2 tsp nutmeg

salt and pepper

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus a little extra for garnish

3 tbsp fresh Italian parsley, chopped

8 ounces spaghetti or other pasta

Cut bacon or pancetta into a small dice and cook until crispy. Drain on paper towel and set aside. Discard all bout about 1-2 tbsp of the bacon fat in the pan.

Cook pasta according to package directions. If the pasta is done before the sauce, drain it and set it aside.

In the same pan that the bacon cooked in, sautee the onions, garlic and dried oregano for about 5 minutes or until tender and just starting to brown.

Add wine and boil until reduced by half, 1 to 2 minutes.

In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and cream. Add in a dash of salt and pepper, nutmeg and grated cheese.

Add bacon and pasta to onion mixture. (If pasta has gotten sticky while siting, give it a quick rinse with hot water and drain it well.)

Toss gently over medium heat to combine.

Remove pasta/onion mixture from heat and add eggs/cream mixture and parsley, gently tossing to combine.

Serve immediately with an extra sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

Roasted cauliflower with curry

2008-12-10T22:06:00.001-08:00

I have always liked cauliflower, but just steaming it gets old.

Another option is to roast it. It gives it a nice, nutty flavor.

Add a little curry and lemon juice, and you get a lightly spiced version.

And it's super easy.

Roasted cauliflower with curry

2 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp curry powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 head of cauliflower, cleaned and cut into pieces (about 2-3 bites per piece)

Heat oven to 450.

Whisk oil, lemon juice, curry, salt and cayenne in a large bowl.

Toss cauliflower in the oil mixture to coat.

Spread cauliflower on a baking sheet in a single layer and roast 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and chewy, turning about halfway through the cooking time.

Gadget: Garlic gator

2008-12-09T09:06:00.000-08:00

I use a lot of garlic. Which means I chop a lot of garlic.

Normally I am not that into kitchen gadgets. I like to chop and dice and julienne.

But on those days when I need a lot of garlic chopped, I like the Alligator garlic chopper.

It is made up of three pieces: the bottom piece with the teeth, the top part with the grid cutting blade and the little piece that keeps garlic from sticking in the teeth.

This little piece goes down in the teeth. It makes cleaning the thing easier. Just pull the little grid out and any little remnants come out of the teeth.

So you set your peeled garlic cloves on top of the teeth...

Then push the top part with the blade all the way down...

And you get neatly sliced bits of garlic.

A lot of times I use the garlic at this size. But sometimes I want it minced more finely, so I will run a knife through it a couple times.

Zucchini stuffed with ricotta and manchego

2008-12-02T09:07:00.000-08:00

OK. I am back.

Yes, I have been cooking the past couple weeks.

And now I have a few things stored up in my brain to blog about here.

First up:

Zucchini stuffed with ricotta and manchego

This was a great side dish to have with a simple grilled flank steak. It was very rich and creamy and flavorful, but still light with the ricotta.

And the next day I cut one of the stuffed zucchini pieces into slices and scrambled it with an egg and a little bit of chopped up, leftover steak. It was delicious!

Zucchini stuffed with ricotta and manchego

4 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise

5 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small yellow or white onion, chopped

2 medium roma tomatoes, cored, seeded and chopped

1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese

3/4 cup manchego cheese, grated (pecorino or romano or parmesan will work, too.)

3/4 cup bread crumbs

3 tbsp Italian or flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

2 tsp dried mint

2 tsp fresh oregano, finely chopped

2 egg yolks, beaten

salt and pepper

Using a small spoon (I like to use a grapefruit spoon), scoop out the pulp from the zucchini halves and discard. You want to scoop it out to leave a rim about 1/4 inch around the edges.

Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a sautee pan or skillet over medium heat.

Cook garlic and onions until translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes, or until soft.

Remove from heat and set aside to cool a bit.

In a medium bowl combine ricotta, 1/2 cup of the manchego, 1/2 cup bread crumbs, parsley, mint, oregano and egg yolks.

Gently stir in the tomato-onion mixture and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Rub inside of zucchini with remaining olive oil to coat lightly and season with salt.

Place zucchini cut side up in a shallow baking dish or on a baking sheet.

Broil on high for about 5 minutes.

Remove baking sheet from oven and fill each zucchini half so that filling mounds a bit, but does not spill over the sides.

Mix together remaining bread crumbs and cheese. Sprinkle over the top of the filled zucchini pieces.

Cook at 400 degrees about 10-15 minutes until hot, then zap under the broiler to get the tops golden brown and crispy.

I like this picture. The cross-section shows how really yummy that filling is.

The ricotta is creamy, but fluffy; the manchego has a lovely, nutty flavors; and the herbs and tomatoes give it a nice, fresh flavor. The eggs and bread crumbs hold it all together.

I served these hot, but they can also be served at room temperature.

All's quiet in the kitchen

2008-11-19T09:50:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the cooking blackout.
I have just not been in a creative cooking mood.
Then there was the whole vacation thing.

But I am home. And I need to cook.

So maybe this weekend I can get my mojo back and make some new stuff.

Any requests?

Double chocolate chips with nuts

2008-10-28T22:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the slacking. I've been cooking here and there, but mostly stuff that is either on here already or stuff I am not ready to put here because it is new or not what I think is special enough.

Yeah. I am a food snob. At least when it comes to this.

So when I made these cookies I thought they would be a great recipe to post here. Because chocolate on top of chocolate is always special!

I made a double batch of these and took them to work. It is my own little effort at morale boosting.

Double chocolate cookies with nuts

makes about 2 dozen cookies

11.5 ounces 60% cacao chocolate chips or chocolate broken into pieces

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips (I've made these with peanut butter chips, too. Yum!)

1 cup chopped nuts (I have used walnuts, pecans and pistachios before, all good)

Put 60% cacao in a microwave safe bowl with the butter.

Melt on medium heat for 30 seconds.

Stir.

Continue melting about 20 seconds at a time until chocolate is just melted but NOT bubbling hot.

In a separate bowl, beat together eggs and sugar until well-blended.

Stir in melted chocolate.

In a small bowl, mix flour and baking powder, then stir into chocolate mixture.

Mix chips and nuts in gently until blended.

Place half of the dough on a large piece of plastic wrap and form a log about 2 inches in diameter and 8 inches long.

The dough will be pretty soft, almost like batter. Use the plastic to form the dough.

Wrap tightly.

Repeat this with another piece of plastic wrap and the rest of the dough.

Chill dough in fridge for at least an hour.

Heat oven to 375.

Unwrap dough and cut into slices about 3/4 inch thick.

Put dough on parchment lined or greased baking sheet about 1 inch apart.

Bake 12-13 minutes or until cookies have a shiny crust on top.

The interior will still be soft.

Cook on wire rack.

Enjoy!!!!

Cheesy twice-baked potatoes with pancetta and roasted garlic

2008-10-14T15:18:00.000-07:00

I love twice-baked potatoes. For me they are one of the ultimate comfort foods.
If I am baking potatoes for another meal, I might throw in a couple extra to have for twice-baked.
And you can pretty much add anything you want to them as far as the cheese and herbs and add-ons go.
This time around I had some pancetta in the fridge, so I decided to give that a try in there with the other goodies.

I like pancetta, which is an Italian type of bacon.

Cheesy twice-baked potatoes with pancetta and roasted garlic

8 cloves garlic, roasted in oil (click here for method)
3 oz pancetta (bacon will work if you can't get pancetta)
1 tbsp olive oil
4 large potatoes, BAKED (I work with them warm, but not hot)
1 stick butter, cut into cubes
1 1/2 cup cheese, shredded (I used a 4-cheese blend: Parmesan, asiago, fontina and provolone)
2 tbsp dried oregano

preheat oven to 35o degrees

cook pancetta in olive oil (if using bacon, omit oil)
drain on paper towels and set aside
cut potatoes in half lengthwise
scoop out potato filling into large mixing bowl
set aside empty potato skins

mix butter, cheese, oregano, crumbled pancetta and chopped roasted garlic into potato mixture
season with salt and pepper

spoon potato mixture back into skins
bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until hot and a little crispy on top

I make extras of these and don't bake them.
I freeze them in pairs to bake later.
They make great freezer food!

And they are easy enough to make more vegetarian friendly. Just skip the pancetta.

Garlic roasted in olive oil

2008-10-14T09:31:00.000-07:00

This is the garlic, before cooking.
After cooking it will be golden brown.

I like to use roasted garlic in a lot of things.
It is great in pasta dishes and potato dishes.
It's also great on the side with baked brie and bread.
Or just with the bread.

Once at an Italian restaurant in San Francisco's North Beach, they put out a little bowl of what they called "Italian candy."

It was just plump cloves of garlic roasted in olive oil.

Roasting garlic turns the sharp taste into a mild, nutty flavor.

This is quite a simple method.

Garlic roasted in olive oil

garlic cloves, as many as you want or need
olive oil
sea salt

preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Peel the garlic cloves, but leave them whole.
Put garlic cloves in a small, oven safe dish. I like to use glass or ceramic. I worry metal might react with the garlic and change the flavor. Who knows? I just play it safe.
Pour just enough olive oil over garlic to cover it about half way.
Season lightly with sea salt.

Place dish of garlic in oven and cook for 30 minutes. Stir and cook for no more than 30 minutes more, keeping an eye on it.
You want the garlic to get soft and a little bit golden brown. You don't want it to get too dark and brown. If you cook it too long, it turns from nutty to bitter.
If it looks done before the full hour is up, take it out.

Remove garlic from oil, setting oil aside.

The garlic can now be used in any number of ways.
Oh, and the oil is now infused with roasted garlic. It's great as a bread dipper.

Balsamic-glazed cipollini onions

2008-10-14T08:44:00.000-07:00

When I make something like a simple grilled steak, sometimes I like to make a little something that at least looks fancy to garnish it.
Stuff like this goes well with most meats, roasted or grilled.

Sometimes I make mushrooms sauteed with wine and garlic.
Sometimes I make the easy roasted roma tomatoes.
They both have good, bold flavors to stand up to the meat.

Another thing that works well?

Balsamic-glazed cipollini onions

I usually buy the whole onions with the peels on. But Trader Joe's (oh how I love that place) recently started selling them already peeled.
I just opened the bag, washed them and sorted them to make sure there were no duds. I found only two in the whole bag that were mushy, so I tossed them.

1 lb cipollini onions
3 tbsp olive oil
3 rosemary sprigs
3 tbsp butter
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup red wine
2 tbsp sugar

peel and clean onions
heat oil in large sautee pan
add rosemary sprigs and sautee
when fragrant, add butter
melt butter over medium heat, but do not let it brown
add onions and cook until golden over medium-high heat, turning to cook evenly, about 8 minutes
add vinegar, red wine and sugar
stir to mix
simmer on low-medium for 10 minutes until onions are soft and liquid has caramelized into a sticky glaze, stirring occasionally
be gentle with the stirring to keep onions from breaking apart

serve on the side of your meat dish or spoon some over the top

Just showing off

2008-10-10T10:02:00.000-07:00

When I make a steak that looks this pretty - restaurant pretty - the manfriend says I am just showing off.

So why not really show it off?

This was from last weekend.

I know grilling purists will not like to hear this, but it was cooked on a gas grill.

I use a grill pan similar to this over the regular grill rack.

It is a large cast-iron sort of pan with raised ridges.

These ridges are what make the lovely, lovely marks.

I get that thing as hot as possible then put the steaks on.

The steaks are seasoned simply with salt and pepper and rubbed with a little olive oil.

The key for the grill marks is to let the steaks really cook in one place for few minutes, then without flipping them over, turn them a quarter turn.

Let them cook another couple minutes and you get the crisscross pattern.

Then flip them to cook the other side.

Now me, if I get the pretty, pretty grill marks on the first side, I don't even bother with the other side. I just let the steak finish cooking.

Because making it perfect on both sides would really be showing off.

Pork chops stuffed with chard and pine nuts

2008-10-08T08:39:00.000-07:00

I am been meaning to post this for a couple of weeks now.

Various things have kept me from do so.

Mostly just laziness, I guess. You know, looking back on it.

Anyway... Here you go:

I like this dish because the chard is unexpected. And within the chard, the pine nuts are unexpected. Plus it is pretty easy and very satisfying when you want big comfort food.

Pork chops stuffed with chard and pine nuts

serves 4

3 tablespoons pine nuts

12 ounces Swiss chard, washed and dried and torn or cut into pieces

olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

Salt and pepper

4 pork loin chops, each 1 1/2 inches thick (I used boneless)

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup dry white wine

First, toast the pine nuts.

To do this, put pine nuts in a small sautee pan and heat on high.

Let pine nuts start to brown, stirring frequently.

These will go fast, so do not leave them unattended. They can burn quickly.

You just want them to turn a rich, golden brown.

Once they are done, remove them from the hot pan immediately and set aside.

Next, make the chard.

In a large sautee pan, heat 2 teaspoons olive oil on medium high heat and add chard and garlic.

Cook, stirring frequently, until chard is wilted. Turn off heat and stir in pine nuts. Season with salt.

Set chard aside to cool a bit.

Finally, it's time to prepare the pork chops.

Cut a pocket in the side of each chop. Do not cut all the way through.

Fill pockets with chard, gently press closed. Secure with toothpicks.

Season chops with salt and pepper.

Wipe excess liquid out of pan used to cook chard.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat.

Add chops to the pan and cook until browned on one side, then flip them.

I removed the toothpicks at this time because my chops seemed to have set up enough at this point.

Once they are browned on both sides, add broth and wine to the pan.

Heat liquid to boiling then reduce heat and cook, covered, for about an hour at low heat.

When chops are done, remove from pan.

To make sauce, heat liquid on high heat and boil until liquid reduces to about 3/4 to 1 cup.

To serve, remove tooth picks if you did not do this in the browning stage, plate chops and pour sauce over them.

Sorry, my pictures of the finished product were not good. So you get a shot from the browning process, just before I added the broth and wine to simmer them.

I served these with the roasted tomatoes and mushroom-sage bread pudding.

Mini potato pancakes

2008-10-03T08:46:00.000-07:00

I was at the grocery store recently and saw a magazine with these beautiful little potato cakes on the cover.

I decided, without even buying the magazine, that I could attempt something similar.

I have made the big, skillet size potato pancake before. This would just be on a smaller scale.

And a little fancier as an appetizer.

Mini potato pancakes with dill

served with chopped shallots, capers, smoked salmon and wasabi cream

This recipe makes about 12 cakes

1.5-2 pounds potatoes - I used a small white variety

3 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup very fine bread crumbs

1/4 cup chopped dill

salt and pepper

canola or vegetable oil for cooking

to garnish:

1 large shallot, chopped

smoked salmon slices

capers

sour cream

wasabi (the prepared kind in the tube. If you don't like horseradish, just skip the wasabi.)

Wash potatoes. Depending on the type you are using and your taste, you may want to peel them, too.

Since I used the tiny potatoes with the thin skins, I just washed them.

Using a cheese grater or a food processor (this was a big time saver!), shred potatoes.

As you work, transfer potato shreds to a large bowl of cold water.

Let potatoes rest in the cold water for 15-20 minutes to reduce the amount of starch in them.

Drain potatoes and rinse with cold running water and dry using a clean kitchen towel or paper towels.

Dry the large bowl used to soak potatoes and put the dried potato shreds back in it.

In a medium bowl whisk together eggs, dill, bread crumbs, salt and pepper.

Add egg mixture to potatoes and stir to mix well.

To cook:

Heat a large frying pan with 3/4 inch of oil in it over medium-high heat.

Once the oil is hot, use a large spoon or your hands (I used my hands, they are the best kitchen tool!) to scoop out a ball of the potato mixture about the size of a golf ball.

You want kind of a loose lump of potato. Don't compress it too much or you will squeeze out all the egg, which is what holds it together.

Flatten the potato ball slightly and use a spatula to slide it into the hot oil.

Press down a little more to make the potato patty.

Do not crowd your pan. I cooked these four at a time.

Cook until edges are brown and crispy, about 2 or 3 minutes, then carefully flip them over.

Cook on other side about 2 or 3 more minutes until that side is also golden and crispy.

Remove from pan and drain on paper towels.

To serve:

I like these at room temperature, but they are sure good hot, too.

They also are good plain, but for me even better with a few tasty treats on top.

This time around I went fancy.

First, I made the wasabi sour cream. Which basically means taking a couple spoons of sour cream and mixing in some wasabi until I get the flavor and heat I like.

I drizzled a little of the cream on each potato cake, sprinkled on a bit of shallots, added a piece of the smoked salmon then some capers.

We had two each as an appetizer. The rest went in the fridge for leftovers.

Manfriend was not a fan of the capers. He said they were quite strong. Which is why I liked them. We had leftovers of these the next night and I reheated the cakes in a little oil and skipped the capers on MF's portion.

easy roasted roma tomatoes

2008-10-02T21:52:00.000-07:00

The finished product, fresh from the oven. Can't wait
to have a few! I cook them in a foil pan that I can
toss in the recycling. I've done this on cookie sheets
and in glass dishes, but it can turn into a
hard to clean, sticky mess. So this is easier.

I know some people are not fans of tomatoes.
Me? Love 'em.
I will eat them like apples.
I like them sliced with cottage cheese.
I put them in sauces, in salads, on sandwiches and in stews.
And if I see an unripe, green tomato at the market, which is a rare thing, I buy it to make fried green tomatoes.

But one of my favorite ways to prepare them is to roast them.
It's very easy and the result is soft, yummy tomatoes with a super concentrated flavor.

So, if you are not a tomato fan, this is not for you.

But if you like tomatoes as much as I do, give this a try.

I eat these roasted tomatoes as a snack, as a garnish for roasted meats, on burgers, on sandwiches, on salads, with bread and a good sharp cheese as an appetizer, tossed in pasta... really, I just eat them.

I made some Monday to go with dinner and they were gone in a flash.

So tonight I made some more.

I like to use a grapefruit spoon to scoop out the seeds.
The serrated edge is also good if you cook artichokes
and need to scoop that fuzzy stuff out to get to the heart.

These are the seeded tomatoes, coated in olive oil
and seasoned with pepper, sea salt and dried oregano.

Easy roasted roma tomatoes

10 roma tomatoes
olive oil
salt
pepper
dried basil or oregano or your favorite herb blend

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Cut the tomatoes in half and scoop out and discard the seeds and juice.
Place in baking dish.
Coat tomatoes with olive oil.
Season with salt, pepper and herbs.

Roast at 425 degrees for an hour or until as roasty-toasty as you like them.

I like mine when they are just starting to get crisp around the edges but are still soft and juicy in the middle.

They are good hot or at room temperature.

Tonight I just ate a few of them straight out of the oven as a snack.

I will put the leftovers in the fridge to add to a salad for dinner tomorrow.

Grilled lamb rib chops with redcurrant glaze

2008-09-23T09:05:00.000-07:00

A while back I got this cookbook at Costco.

It was a total impulse buy.

It had a lot good pictures, a wide variety of recipes and, best of all, the title:

"Best Ever Three & Four Ingredient Cookbook."

The cover says it has "400 fuss-free and fast recipes - breakfasts, appetizers, lunches, suppers and desserts using only four ingredients or less."

I quickly got past the fact that it should be "four ingredients or fewer" and bought myself a copy.

As I have said before, I am a cookbook junkie. This was a great find, I was sure.

Then I put it in the cabinet with the rest of the cookbooks and forgot about it.

Until Sunday. I was in the mood to try something new, and I had decided on lamb.

I have never made lamb before, but recently had a great dish at a little place, Bistro 767, not far from my house. They had a yummy appetizer of lamb "lollipops" with cherry glaze and black bean hummus.

It was the perfect combination of salty and sweet and grilled.

So I decided to try this at home.

And to my surprise there was a recipe in this cookbook that sounded pretty similar, minus the black bean hummus.

And with only four ingredients!

By the way, salt and pepper do not count toward the ingredients. They are in the recipe, but I guess since they are sort of stock items, they don't count.

So... My lamb experiment... I modified it a bit from the book. The original recipe called for lamb steaks, but the store did not have those. So I got rib chops, which are more like the little "lollipops" I had at the restaurant.

Grilled lamb rib chops with redcurrant glaze

Serves 4

5 large fresh rosemary sprigs

12 lamb rib chops

(they look small, but three each is plenty with side dishes, etc.)

5 tablespoons redcurrant jelly

2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar

(red wine vinegar is also listed in the book, but I had raspberry, so that is what I used)

salt and pepper to season/taste

Strip the rosemary leaves from stems and chop into very fine mince.

Season chops with salt and pepper and rub rosemary onto chops.

Preheat grill on high.

Melt redcurrant jelly in small pan over low-medium heat. It should not boil, just melt.

Stir in vinegar.

Reserve about 1/4 of glaze for serving.

Brush one side of chops with glaze and place, glaze side down on grill.

Cook about 3 minutes, brush glaze on uncooked side, then turn.

Cook about 3 minutes more or until to desired doneness.

To serve, place on plates and drizzle with a little of the reserved glaze.

These were not exactly like the restaurant chops. I think they used more salt and pepper.

Since this was the first time I had made lamb, I was cautious about over seasoning it.

It was still very good, still that sweet and salty flavor.

But next time I might go for it a little more, especially with more pepper.

Even though it was not the same, it was still pretty freaking good. An experiment that went quite well.

And I will take a closer look at that cookbook for more ideas.

Tomatoes stuffed with herbed rice

2008-09-22T09:50:00.000-07:00

This was a very easy side dish made easier by using that boil-in-a-bag type of rice.

I like Uncle Ben's. It's easy and the rice does not get too mushy.

One bag should be enough to stuff four medium-size tomatoes.

The other good thing about the prep can be done ahead and then they can be baked when you need them. They also can be served at room temperature. Which is what I did.

I made the tomatoes and then while they were cooling a bit, made the rest of the dinner.

Here's what I did.

Tomatoes stuffed with herbed rice

1 bag Uncle Ben's boil-in-a-bag long grain rice

1 teaspoon plus 2 tablespoons olive oil

4 medium tomatoes, ripe but firm

3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

salt and pepper

Cook the rice according to package directions, then rinse with cold water to cool.

(I actually used half white wine-half veggie broth instead of water to cook)

Heat oven to 350.

Lightly coat baking dish with 1 teaspoon of olive oil.

Cut a slice, about 1/2 inch thick, off the top of each tomato, saving the tops.

Scoop the seeds, juice and flesh out of each tomato into a small bowl and set aside.

Place hollowed-out tomatoes in baking dish.

If they do not sit steady in the pan, flatten the bottom by cutting off a thin slice.

To the cooled rice add:

1/4 cup of the reserved tomato flesh

2 tablespoons of olive oil

basil

parsley

garlic

lemon juice

Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Spoon rice mixture into each of the hollowed-out tomatoes.

Replace reserved tomato tops.

Bake about 20 minutes or until rice is heated through and tomato softens.

These can be served hot or at room temperature.

They can be made up to 4 hours ahead of time, which gives you time to work on the rest of the meal.

I made mine about 90 minutes ahead of time and they came out great.

I tasted the rice right from the oven and it was good, but I think letting them sit and cool a bit brings out the fresh herb flavors even more.

Tilapia wth tarragon butter and Swiss chard

2008-09-17T09:06:00.000-07:00

I have this little addiction to cooking magazines.

It's been a problem for years.

What I do is I look through them, tearing out recipes that look interesting to me.

I have accumulated quite a collection of torn out magazine pages over the years.

To organize these, I have several three-ring binders for various categories: appetizers, side dishes, entrees, pastas, desserts... just to name a few.

Then I put the magazine page into a clear page protector and put it in the binder.

Basically, my own customized cookbooks.

The problem is sometimes I forget about these binders for months at a time.

Then I go back to them and pull out a few things I want to finally give a try.

I did this recently, and this is one of the recipes that sounded good to try.

I served this with a simple rice pilaf on the side.

I am not sure when or where I found this recipe originally. But it has tilapia, which is an easy fish to cook, and chard. I like chard. It's a little bolder than sauteed spinach. It's got a little more flavor and bulk to it. If you don't like chard, spinach would work, too.

Plus with a sauce that includes tarragon and shallots and lemon juice...? Yeah. Sold!

Seems like lately I have been very into things with sauces. The little pan sauces that are not difficult to make, but can make a dish taste so complete.

So...

Tilapia with tarragon butter and Swiss chard

Serves 2

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound Swiss chard

(cleaned, fibrous stems removed and ribs discarded, leaves coarsely torn or chopped, washed and dried. **See note below about cleaning greens like this**)

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

5 tablespoons butter

2 tilapia fillets, about 6 ounces each

1 shallot, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons fresh tarragon, chopped

Before you do anything else, make sure the chard is cleaned and dried and ready to go.

Also, once you start this, it all goes very fast. So you will want to have all the ingredients prepped and ready to go in the pan before you start cooking.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat.

Add garlic and cook about 30-45 seconds, until fragrant, but not browned.

Add a large handful of chard and cook, tossing often.

Once this settles, add more chard and continue cooking and adding until it is all in the pan and cooked until tender, about 3-4 minutes.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Divide chard onto two dinner plates and cover with foil to keep warm. Set aside.

Wipe out the skillet to remove any excess liquid.

Add 2 tablespoons of the butter and let it melt over medium-high heat.

Season fish with salt and pepper, and place it in the skillet to cook.

Cook fish until golden brown and cooked through, turning once.

It will take about 4-6 minutes of total cooking time.

Remove fish from the pan, placing it on top of the chard. Cover to keep warm.

In the same skillet, add the shallot and cook about 30-60 seconds, stirring occasionally.

When shallots are just starting to brown and soften, add lemon juice.

It should evaporate pretty fast, if not cook until nearly evaporated, maybe 30 seconds.

Remove pan from heat and add the remaining butter and the tarragon.

Stir constantly until the butter melts and makes a sauce.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Pour sauce over the fish and chard and serve.

**I wash chard like I do spinach or pretty much any other greens... Oh yeah, works great for leeks, too.

Once you have it torn or cut into the pieces you want to cook, put the greens in a large bowl or basin, cover with cold water and let sit for at least 15 minutes.

Any sand or grit will settle to the bottom of the bowl and the greens will float to the top.

Use a slotted spoon or your hands to gently scoop the greens off the top of the water.

Place in a colander and rinse one more time.

To dry these, a salad spinner works great, or just let them air dry.**

Caprese salad - or tomatoes with mozzarella cheese

2008-09-16T08:58:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite easy salads is a simple concoction of tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.

I have had this in various forms: thick slices of large tomato layered with slabs of mozzarella cheese; tiny tomatoes with creamy white pearls of mozzarella; chunks of juicy romas with long shreds of cheese on top.

All are were slightly different, but all were good.

I even had one at a great restaurant in Sonoma wine country that used a mild sheep's milk feta instead of the mozzarella.

I have not had a Caprese salad in quite a while. I used to order it at restaurants a lot, but once I started making it at home, I sort of stopped that. I like how easy it is to customize this to what I am craving.

Yesterday while I was at Whole Foods picking up a couple things for dinner, I saw this little basket of mixed tomatoes.

Red, orange and yellow... all beautiful and bite-size.

It was too pretty not to buy.

And the idea of sweet little tomatoes with creamy fresh mozzarella began to sound lovely.

I used white balsamic vinegar. Regular balsamic works in this, too. It will just be a little darker and a slightly heavier flavor. You also can just use a bit of your favorite Italian dressing or vinaigrette.

Also, the herb I use depends on what looks best or what flavor I want. Sometimes I use basil. This time I used oregano.

Sometimes I use a little garlic. This time I did not. Again, it is all what the mood calls for.

In the past, when I have made this with large tomatoes, I have used the drier type of mozzarella, cut into slices to place atop the tomato slices, then top it with the dressing.

More often when I make this I use the mozzarella that comes packed in water. I like the texture better, and the flavor. This time I bought mozzarella pieces the size of cherry tomatoes.

Here is the simple version I made last night. I did not really measure this stuff. It's a taste thing for me. The sweetness of the tomatoes will determine how much or little salt and pepper and herbs I add.

Let your taste buds and the number of people you want to serve be your guide here and make it to your liking.

Jill's late-summer Caprese salad

Red, orange and yellow grape/cherry tomatoes
1-2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
olive oil
white balsamic vinegar
sea salt flakes and fresh black pepper to taste
fresh mozzarella cheese

Wash tomatoes, remove any stems then cut each in half and place in a bowl. You want the juices here. They combine with the oil and vinegar to make the dressing.
Season lightly with salt and pepper.
Add a splash of the oil and vinegar and toss gently.
Then try it, and adjust to your taste.
Add the oregano.
Taste it again. Adjust the seasoning and oil and vinegar as needed.

You can serve this immediately or let it sit a while. I put mine in the fridge for about an hour.
I also made a little extra to have for lunch the next day. It will keep overnight just fine.

To serve I cut the mozzarella pieces in half and put them on a small plate.
Then I spooned tomatoes on top of that and drizzled some of the oil/vinegar mixture over that.

The oil and vinegar mixed with the juice from the tomatoes makes a good amount of dressing for this.

I added a piece of a good crusty bread to the plate and used that to mop up some of that dressing.

It was an excellent starter to dinner. It's light, but substantial with the cheese in there. The flavors are so fresh and so bright and clean. It's a perfect, beautiful late-summer plate.

Chicken Marsala

2008-09-15T10:57:00.000-07:00

I love chicken. It's just so easy.

But it can get boring to have it the same way over and over.

So I like to mix it up.

And really, it's not that tough.

Last night I made a dish I have had several times at different restaurants, but had never made at home: Chicken Marsala.

Basically this is sauteed chicken breast cutlets in a mushroom sauce flavored with Marsala wine.

I served this with some capellini pasta and simple steamed baby green beans.

It was a very easy meal to make. Restaurant food at home!

Why do I eat out again?

Oh yeah... Then I don't have to do the dishes.

I planned on one piece of chicken for each of us and then a couple extra for leftovers for lunch today.

Chicken Marsala

(4 servings)

4 chicken breast steaks or boneless, skinless breast pieces pounded to about 1/4 inch thick

salt and pepper

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 large shallot, finely chopped

6-8 ounces mushrooms, sliced or quartered

(I used 6 baby portabellas and the rest were small Italian brown mushrooms. I cut the baby portabellas into eighths and the small brown mushrooms in half. White mushrooms would work fine for this, too.)

1/2 cup sweet Marsala wine

1 fresh rosemary sprig

3/4 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped

Season the chicken cutlets with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoon of the butter with the olive oil on medium-high heat.

Cook the chicken until golden brown on each side, mine took about 2 minutes on each side.

Transfer to another dish and cover. Set aside.

In the same pan, melt 1 more tablespoon of the butter and add the garlic and shallots.

Cook about 30 seconds.

Add the mushrooms, season lightly with salt and pepper and cook about 3 minutes.

Mushrooms should be tender and the juice should be cooked off.

Add the Marsala wine and the sprig of rosemary.

Cook until wine reduces by about half, 2-3 minutes.

Add the chicken broth and cook about 5 more minutes or until broth is reduced by about half.

Stir in parsley.

Add chicken and any juices back into pan and cook about 1 minute, until heated through.

Remove and discard rosemary sprig.

Stir the last tablespoon of butter into the sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Top: Baby portabellas

Middle: small Italian brown

Bottom: portabellas,
cut into eight pieces each

Penne in vodka cream sauce with asparagus and grilled chicken

2008-09-08T20:13:00.000-07:00

I have this favorite recipe that I have been making for years.

It is a great date meal.

Penne with smoked salmon in vodka cream sauce.

One of these days I will post that recipe here.

For tonight, I am posting a variation of it I made for dinner.

I did not follow the recipe to the letter, I just went by memory on some things and the rest was pure experimentation.

For example, the original recipe has penne and vodka and cream and Parmesan cheese, as does this recipe.

But that is about where the commonalities end.

One of these days I will post the original recipe. It's really a great dish. And easy.

Now, let's see if I can remember what I did and if I can read the notes I was making as I cooked.

This recipe might be a little more free-form than normal.

Penne in vodka cream sauce with asparagus and grilled chicken (serves 2)

for chicken:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

olive oil

white balsamic vinegar

dried herb mix, whatever is your favorite

salt

Sprinkle chicken with herb mix and salt

Coat in olive oil

Drizzle on a little of the white balsamic vinegar

I let this sit about 30 minutes while I chopped the veggies for the pasta and let the grill heat up.

Just before I started cooking the sauce, I put the chicken on the grill and cooked it until done. This will depend on the size of the pieces. I didn't really time it. They were done before the sauce, which took about 15 minutes to cook. I just took them off the grill and let them rest.

So, about those veggies and the sauce...

for the pasta and sauce:

Penne pasta, whatever brand you like

Cook your penne according to package directions, drain and set aside

1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced then cut into smaller pieces. Not exactly minced, but not long strands. About 1/4 - 1/2 inch long pieces

3 cloves garlic chopped, but not minced too finely

15-20 asparagus spears washed and broken in to 1/2 inch pieces

1/4 cup roasted red pepper, diced. I used the stuff in the jar. Just make sure to get the kind packed in water, not vinegar.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon dried tarragon or whatever herb you like, then more to make it to your taste

1/2 cup vodka

1 cup cream

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in medium heat in a large sautee pan.

Add onion, garlic, asparagus and red pepper.

Cook about 5 minutes.

Add dried tarragon or other herb.

Add vodka.

Cook about 5 more minutes to let the alcohol burn off.

Add the cream and Parmesan cheese and let cook until it starts to thicken just a bit, maybe 5 more minutes.

To serve I put some pasta on the plate, spooned the sauce with veggies over it and then topped it with slices of the grilled chicken.

It was great.

I think it would have been good without the chicken. With the veggies and the cream sauce this was a pretty filling dish. And using peas instead of asparagus would be good.

Or tomato instead of red pepper.

Or pretty much whatever you like. Ahhh, the beauty of experimenting.

Go on, play with your food!

So, that is it. My experimental dinner.

It is fun to try new stuff. And even better when it doesn't suck.

Vietnamese-style summer rolls

2008-09-05T19:24:00.001-07:00

OK, I will not claim that these are authentic Vietnamese Summer rolls.

But they were good. And, other than the chopping, they were easy to make.

Vietnamese-style Summer rolls

1 medium carrot - julienned

1 small cucumber - peeled, seeds removed and julienned

1/2 cup bean sprouts

4 to 5 green onions - julienned

1 bunch cilantro leaves

1 tablespoon soy sauce or Ponzu sauce

1/2 teaspoon fish sauce (optional)

1 package thin rice noodles - optional - (I used mee krob type)
Cook about a handful of these according to package directions and let cool.

8 (8-inch) rice sheets (plus more in case some tear)

Warm water, for soaking rice sheets

So here, we go... a little picture show on making summer rolls.

First get all your veggies cut up and ready to go.

As I pointed out in the previous post, I find this ceramic blade slicer very handy.

I sliced the veggies thin, then used a chef's knife to cut the julienne strips.

Thin, thin, thin.
This did not work for the green onions though. I just used the knife for that.

Once all the veggies are chopped, combine the carrots, cucumbers, green onion and bean sprouts. Toss with soy or Ponzu sauce.

Assembly goes pretty fast, so you want to have all your ingredients on hand.
Have veggies, noodles and cilantro ready.

The rice sheets are dry and stiff and must be reconstituted in warm water.
I used a small sautee pan of warm water, just from the tap. No need for boiling. You will be working with your hands in this, so it should not be too hot.

Soak one sheet at a time in the water until the sheet is soft and pliable. If there are any large holes or tears, discard and start with a new sheet.

Carefully remove sheet to a work surface and spread it out as flat as possible.
This is where you need to work somewhat quickly so the sheet does not get too dry and stick to the surface.

In the center of the sheet, sprinkle some cilantro leaves.

Add a small portion of the noodles on top of that, then top with some of the veggie mix.

Fold one end then the other over, like above. Then fold a third side all the way over the veggie mixture. From here, roll it up tight like a little burrito. The last side should basically stick to the outside of the roll and seal itself.

To serve, I cut them in half and served with a few things: peanut sauce, hot mustard, red chili sauce and Ponzu mixed with a little honey.

These were vegetarian (no fish sauce in mine), but I think they would be good with some cold, cooked shrimp in there.

This was an experiment, but it was a fun one that turned out to be a tasty one, too. Use what you like, basically.
These were great as a starter. And with the leftover ingredients, I was able to quickly assemble a couple for my lunch the next day after diving.

OK. That's all I got for today.

Gadget: Ceramic blade slicer

2008-09-01T15:06:00.000-07:00

For a while now I have been wanting to post some entries about some of the handy little kitchen tools I love and use on a regular basis.

I am a big believer in really getting my hands into making a dish, but sometimes the right tool really is a help in the kitchen.

One of my favorite tools is a ceramic blade slicer.

I got this several years ago at Williams-Sonoma.

The brand is Kyocera. Yeah, the same Kyocera that makes cell phones.

Go figure.

I like this took because it makes super thin slices of pretty much any veggie you want.

I used it to make thin carrot slices that I then julienned for summer rolls.

I use it a lot to slice onions for just about anything.

I like the thin, thin, thin slices. They add flavor to a dish without big chunks of onion.

I really don't like biting into something and ending up with a mouth full of onion.

It makes great slices of potato for chips.

It makes great slices of zucchini and mushrooms for the grilled pizzas I like.

The veggies cook very fast this way.

I have used it to slice apples to make a filo-apple tart.

It's not like I couldn't do all these things with just a knife, but this makes it easy and fast to get nice, uniform slices that are thinner than the blade of my chef's knife.

Jerk-spiced grilled mahi mahi with avocado-melon salsa

2008-09-01T14:18:00.000-07:00

Spicy, tangy, crispy, creamy and sweet.
These all describe the grilled fish I made last night.

After a four-store hunt for mahi mahi, it finally came together.
The result was a light and tasty fish dish that also was super, SUPER easy.

Jerk-spiced grilled mahi mahi
with avocado-melon salsa

salsa

1 small avocado, ripe but not mushy, peeled and diced
1 cup cantaloupe, diced
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, minced
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
3/4 tsp lime zest

salt and pepper to taste

Gently toss all ingredients to blend. Season to taste.
Keep in fridge until ready to use.

Now for the fish...
You can use any jerk seasoning you like, whether you make it or buy it.

I made mine this way:

jerk seasoning

2 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground allspice
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

4 6-ounce mahi mahi fillets

Heat grill on high.
I used a solid cast-iron grill pan on my gas grill for this. This way I could flip with no worry about the fish falling through the grill.

In a small bowl, stir together the oregano, allspice, ground black pepper, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and salt. Add oil and mix to make paste then rub seasoning onto fish, coating completely.

Once grill is very hot, put fish on the grill.
Cook about 4 minutes and flip.
DO NOT mess with the fish until it is ready to flip. This will help reduce breakage.

Cook on the other side until fish is opaque in the middle, about 4 more minutes.

Serve with salsa.

The lime juice in the salsa is a good acid for this.
The fish is spicy and a little crisp.
The salsa adds sweet with the melon, creamy with the avocado.

It was a fabulous combination.

I would try this seasoning and salsa on chicken and expect it to be good.
It even sounds like something that would be good on steak, especially a nice thin carne asada type.

Chicken stuffed with spinach, prosciutto and Boursin cheese

2008-08-26T09:06:00.000-07:00

Oh.My.Goodness.

I wanted to make something rich and lush and satisfying and this was exactly the right thing.

I was afraid the cheese would totally melt away in this, but there was still some present in the chicken. And what did melt away was there in the sauce, giving it some creaminess.

The spinach gave it good color and a little texture. The prosciutto just sent it to another level for me. I love prosciutto.

I would guess you can use sliced ham instead of prosciutto. I also think I may try this again and substitute mushrooms for the spinach. That might give it an earthier flavor. Or some asparagus spears to give it a brighter flavor.

But for last night, this was perfect.

chicken stuffed with spinach, prosciutto and Boursin

4 servings

5 ounce bag of baby spinach
4 thin chicken cutlets (6-8 ounce each piece)
(I bought thin-cut chicken breast steaks and pounded them into thin cutlets)
Sea salt and fresh black pepper
dill - minced fresh or dried flake
(I used dried here since my market was out of fresh. Fresh is my preference)
8 thin slices about prosciutto
(I bought about 1/3 pound and it was just enough)
5 ounce package Boursin or similar cheese, cut into five pieces
1/4 cup flour
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbsp water

Heat large oven-safe skillet and cook spinach about 1 minute or until wilted.
Save this skillet, the chicken will cook in this.

Put spinach in colander and rinse with cold water until cool.
Squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
Set aside.

If using thicker pieces of chicken, pound them into thin pieces.
I put the chicken between sheets of plastic wrap. This way I can see them, but the mess is contained.

Heat oven to 425.

Season cutlets with salt and pepper then sprinkle with the dill.
Layer prosciutto evenly over chicken.
Layer spinach evenly over that.
Crumble Boursin over that. Reserve the 5th piece to be used in the sauce later.

Roll cutlets and secure with toothpicks in 2-3 places.
My toothpicks were sticking out a lot so that it would make it difficult to turn them to cook.
So I cut them off to be more flush with the top of the chicken. They can be removed before serving.

Season outside with salt and pepper and then dust with flour, shaking off excess.

Wipe any moisture out of skillet then heat olive oil on high heat.
Add chicken, seam side down.
Cook until browned on bottom, about 4-5 minutes, then turn chicken.
Cook about 2-3 more minutes or until browned.

Turn so they are seam side down again and add the wine and broth.

Cover and bake in the oven for 12 more minutes, until chicken is done.

Remove from oven and transfer chicken to a platter. Remove toothpicks and cover with foil.

Transfer skillet to the cooktop and heat on high.
Add the cornstarch mixture and whisk until it starts to thicken.
Add remaining piece of Boursin and whisk until blended.
Salt and pepper to taste.

To serve this I cut the chicken down the middle and poured the sauce down into it.

I served this with roasted shoestring potatoes with rosemary and lemons.
For veggies, keep it simple with steamed green veggie like broccoli or asparagus.
The sauce is rich. The sides can be much more simple.

This would be excellent dinner party food. You can get the chicken assembled up to just before you dust them with flour and keep them in the fridge.
When you want to cook them, remove from the fridge and let stand about 10 minutes.
Dust them with flour and cook according to the recipe.

This is how I did it and they were perfect.

shoestring potatoes with rosemary & lemon

2008-08-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

I served this as a side dish to a rich, creamy chicken dish.

The simple, crisp flavors of rosemary and lemon were a great balance to the chicken stuffed with prosciutto, spinach and boursin.

It was easy, with the most time-consuming part being cutting the potatoes and then soaking and rinsing them several times to remove the starch. Removing the starch helps them crisp up more.

shoestring potatoes with rosemary & lemon

four servings

3 medium russet or Idaho potatoes (total about 1 1/4 pounds)

3 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp fresh rosemary, minced

1 tbsp lemon zest, finely grated

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 sea salt or kosher salt plus more to taste

1/4 tsp fresh black pepper

heat oven to 450

Clean potato skins thoroughly, but leave skin on.

Slice potatoes into 3/8-inch thick slices.

Cut slices into 3/8-inch think sticks.

Alternate rinsing and soaking potato slices in cold water until water runs clear.

Let potatoes rest in cold water for 5 minutes.

Drain completely and spread potatoes on towels or paper towels.

Cover with another towel or some paper towels and let dry.

While potatoes are drying, combine olive oil, mustard, zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.

Whisk until totally blended.

Add potatoes to bowl and toss/mix gently until each piece is coated.

Spread potatoes in single layer on baking sheet. I used two baking sheets.

Bake until browned on the bottom, about 10-15 minutes, then turn.

Bake in single layer until the other side is as brown and crispy as you want them, turning every 5 minutes.

I like mine crispy, so I baked them at least another 10-15 minutes, turning them a couple times.

Remove from oven (they will keep cooking if you leave them on the hot baking sheet)

Sprinkle with more salt to taste.

Serve immediately.

Grilled tri tip with smoked paprika mayo

2008-08-23T17:53:00.000-07:00

Can it possibly be that I have not cooked anything since July 23, the date of the last post?

Well, no. Not exactly.

I have cooked, just nothing too exotic or new.

Plus there was that little matter of being gone on vacation for a bit longer than a week.

But I am back.

And I have cooked.

And I shall cook again.

I am thinking Monday will be a good day to really break out with something new since I am off work and can spend some time thinking about it.

But for now, I give you a recipe that I made once before going on vacation and once since being home: grilled tri tip with smoked paprika mayo.

I adapted this from another recipe, as I so often do.

The original recipe, which used tenderloin instead of tri tip was in the July 2008 issue of Gourmet magazine.

I used tri tip because it was waaaaaaaay less expensive than the tenderloin.

So, let's grill.

for beef:

2 large garlic cloves

1 1/4 tsp sea salt

1 tsp smoked paprika (there IS a difference between this and regular paprika. get the smoked)

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tri tip, trimmed of excess fat

Mince garlic and then mash with salt. I use a mortar and pestle, you also can use the back of a spoon.

Stir in smoked paprika, cumin, pepper and oil.

Pat tri tip dry and rub with garlic-paprika mixture to coat.

You can cook it right away or let it sit. I let mine sit at least a couple hours.

Heat grill on high.

Cook meat on one side to get a nice sear and coating then flip it over to sear the other side.

Lower heat to medium and cook until done.

Meat should have a center temperature of 125-130 degrees with a meat thermometer.

This should give you a meat cooked to medium in the center. The ends will be more well done.

Remove meat from grill and let rest while you make the mayo.

Reserve any juices to use in the mayo.

for mayo:

1 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 large garlic clove, finely minced

Stir together all ingredients and then add in reserved juice from the meat if you want it.

I did one with the juice and one without when I cooked this.

Both times it was really tasty.

And the mayo will keep in the fridge for a couple weeks.

I used some of the leftovers on grilled portabello mushroom sandwiches. It was excellent.

to serve:

Slice the meat thinly and on an angle.

Serve warm or at room temperature with the mayo.

Leftovers of this are yummy and would make excellent sandwiches.

The second time I made it I used the leftover meat, chopped up, to make carne asada tacos.

pots of gold (or grilled camenbert or brie)

2008-07-23T14:53:00.000-07:00

This was quite yummy. I made just one to share and had bread and apple slices for dipping/spreading.
You can probably use whatever you like. It called for a tomato and basil salad thing. I skipped that and just made a simple salad. I will include that in the recipe.

Here is my modified version that served two.

I got the grill heating before I started the salad, since the salad was so fast.

Salad

2 cups of your favorite salad greens (I used romaine and arugula)
red onion to your liking - sliced as thinly as possible into slivers
sea salt
ground pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2-3 teaspoons olive oil

Mix lemon juice and olive oil. Toss with greens and onions. Salt and pepper to taste.
Set aside.

Pots of Gold

enough of your favorite bread for two people, cut into chunks or small pieces
1 small green apple, cut into slices
1 small round of camenbert or brie. It MUST be totally incased in the rind.
olive oil

special equipment:

grill pan (Mine is a big, flat cast iron plate with grill ridges on one side and flat on the other. In the small pictures on that link it is on the right, in the middle.)

to make:
Put grill pan on barbecue rack and heat barbecue to high.

Rub all sides of the cheese round with olive oil to coat.

Place cheese on hot grill pan and let cook for about 5 minutes.

Using a flat spatula, carefully flip cheese over.

Grill about 5 more minutes on the second side or until cheese starts to feel soft and runny when you squeeze it with tongs.

This is where I was overly cautious. I ended up with mostly soft cheese, but it could have gone a little longer.

I was worried about it getting too soft and breaking open.
So I took it off a little too soon. My fix? I nuked it for less than a minute with the rind still intact.

To serve, cut open the top of the rind and dip!

I especially liked the apples. I think it would be good with slightly steamed then cooled asparagus spears, too. And of course, the bread was good.

The salad was not for dipping. It did provide a nice bright flavor in contrast to the creamy, creamy cheese.

I made this for two. But as an appetizer it probably would work for four depending on the size of the cheese round.

I would be leery of doing a round that is too large since it may take too long to melt before the rind starts to break down on the grill.

penne with pancetta and peas in lemon cream sauce

2008-06-09T21:11:00.000-07:00

After a few very meat-centric meals, I wanted a pasta.

But I was not thinking tomato-based. I wanted a fresher taste.

So I modified a recipe a bit to come up with
penne with pancetta and peas in lemon cream sauce.

For you vegetarians, just skip the pancetta
and use veggie broth instead of chicken broth.

I have no doubt this will still be a winner.

Some other ways to mix it up: Use fresh asparagus
instead of peas; add some grilled chicken pieces;
serve with shrimp or as a base for baked or grilled salmon
or other fish; add bite size pieces of ham instead of pancetta...
really, whatever sounds good. The sauce seems pretty versatile.

This comes together pretty fast once you get the sauce started.
So you want to have all your ingredients ready to go before you start.

penne with pancetta and peas
in lemon cream sauce

10-12 thin slices pancetta

1.5 ounces pine nuts

2 tablespoons butter

3 shallots, halved then sliced thinly

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 cup whipping cream

2 teaspoons lemon zest

1 teaspoon orange zest

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

12 ounces penne pasta

Grated or shredded Parmesan cheese

In a large sautee or frying pan, cook pancetta
until crispy and set aside. This does not have to be done
in perfect strips or circles since it will be crumbled later anyway.
Save this pan, you will use it to make the sauce.
Just drain any excess fat.

RAW PANCETTA

Start water to boil and cook pasta according to package directions.

In a dry sautee pan toast pine nuts over medium-high
heat until golden brown. Keep an eye on these.
Once they start to brown, they go fast. Remove toasted nuts
from hot pan or they will continue to cook.

TOASTED PINE NUTS

In pan that you cooked pancetta, melt butter over medium heat.

Add shallots and garlic, cooking until soft, about 2-3 minutes.

RAW SHALLOTS

Add broth and wine. Simmer over medium-high
heat until reduced by about half.

Add cream, lemon and orange peels and cayenne pepper.
Simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 3-4 minutes.

LEMON AND ORANGE ZEST WITH MICRO PLANER

Add peas. Simmer until peas are just
heated through, about 2 minutes.

FROZEN PEAS, THAWED AND ADDED TO SAUCE

CHOPPED FRESH MINT

Stir in mint, lemon juice and pine nuts.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Remember, you will be adding the pancetta, which is salty.
I actually did not add any salt, just a touch of pepper.

You can toss the sauce and pasta together
or serve the sauce over the pasta.

I served the sauce over the pasta.

Crumble some pancetta on top
and add a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

OK. I think that is it.

Mangia!

YEP, IT WAS TASTY!

Pizza on the grill

2008-05-27T09:46:00.000-07:00

I will grill pretty much anything.
Especially when it starts to get warm and I don't want to turn on the oven.
Plus some things just taste better from the grill.

For me, pizza is one of these things.

I don't have the money to build a beautiful stone pizza oven in my back yard.
So I improvise. I make pizza on the gas barbecue.

There is no real recipe for this. Just add what you like.

I have made it right on the grill which works fine. You just have to watch it more to make sure the fireis not too high and the crust is not burning.

I recently got a cast iron grill pan (Emeril brand, bought at Bed Bath and Beyond, in case you are looking for one).
One side is ridged to give meats and veggies great grill marks, but solid so small stuff cannot slip through the grate. One side is solid, like a griddle.
I used the solid side for the pizza.
I made pizza last night. Here's what I used and what I did.

Pizza from the grill

1 package of your favorite pizza dough (if you have Trader Joe's near you, they have great
dough in the refrigerator section near the dips and dressings.)

whatever sauce you like, for this one I chose marinara. (again, I used Trader Joe's.)

I also have made pizza with no sauce and with white sauce, such as alfredo.

toppings: use what you like. What did I use last night?

red onion, thinly sliced

brown Italian mushrooms, sliced

pepperoni

shredded mozzarella cheese

dried oregano

grated Parmesan cheese

OK. The pizza cooks fast.

The trick is to have everything ready to go before you start the crust.

Heat the grill to high and let it warm up.

On a lightly floured surface, work the dough by handto stretch it to the size and shape that works for you.

You can stretch it fairly thin, it will contract a bit when cooking.

Mine are oblong since that is the shape of the griddle pan I have.

Get all your ingredients set up near the grill so assembly is quick and easy.

Put dough on griddle pan or grill (if cooking directly on grill, lower heat to medium).
Close the grill and let crust cook, checking every couple minutes.
Cook until crust is as done as you like it.
Remember, this is all about making the perfect pizza for you.

Flip the crust.

Begin adding your toppings.
I layered in this order:
sauce

a small amount of cheese
(to give toppings something to stick to)
onion
mushrooms

pepperoni
remaining cheese

Close the lid and cook until cheese is melted and bottom crust is as done as you like it.

Once the pizza is done, remove it to a cutting board and let sit for a couple minutes.

Slice and enjoy.

I added a touch of Parmesan and dried oregano to mine.

Some other tips for making pizza on the grill:

Slice the veggies super thin.

I use a ceramic blade slicer to make paper-thin slices.

If you want chunkier veggies but are worried they won't cook quickly, because the pizza does come together in about 10-15 minutes from start to finish, give the veggies a quick sautee to start them softening.

I do prefer the thinly sliced veggies. They keep their freshness and cook just fine in only a few minutes.

Keep everything close at hand. I had the mushrooms, onion, pepperoni and cheese on my cutting board in little piles and the sauce in a little bowl.

I used the same board to stretch and form the dough before cooking and then to remove the pizza when it was done.

The easiest way to get the pizza off the grill and onto the board is to slide it off onto the board using a big spatula.

If you have an extra set of hands to hold the board, even better.

Experiment. Customize. Mostly, have fun.

romaine salad with blue cheese vinaigrette

2008-05-27T09:11:00.000-07:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah... It's just salad.

Really almost just lettuce.

Except for the dressing.

I love blue cheese dressing.

And I make a great one using tons of cream
and cheese and sour cream.

This olive oil-based version is lighter and,
even with the oil and cheese, probably at least a little healthier.

And it's easy and looks great.
Oh, and the anchovy paste in here does not make it taste fishy.
It just gives it a little different saltiness than adding salt.
If the idea of anchovy paste skeevs you out, just omit it.
If you think it needs to be saltier, just add a little sea salt to taste.

romaine salad with blue cheese vinaigrette

4-6 servings

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
4 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons anchovy paste
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup (about 4 ounces) crumbled blue cheese
(Maytag is nice. I used Salem. Whatever you like would work.)
3 hearts of romaine lettuce
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

Whisk together olive oil, chives, vinegar,
anchovy paste and garlic in medium bowl.
Whisk in blue cheese crumbles.
Use a fork to smash some of the cheese,
but leave some pieces whole.

Season with pepper to taste.

To compose salad there are many options.

Chop the lettuce, halve the hearts into wedges or pull the leaves off
and layer them on the plate (which is what I did).

Rewhisk dressing just before adding to lettuce.
Drizzle over lettuce and sprinkle with sliced onion.

I think this would also be great with some bacon on it.
I mean, bacon. Duh!

Also some halved grape tomatoes would be tasty.
Maybe some avocado.
Radish.
Whatever you like would work.

I kept this one simple and it was perfect.

I also think you could use feta cheese if you don't like blue.

Me? I love blue.

mini zucchini and goat cheese tarts

2008-05-18T20:34:00.000-07:00

It has been quite warm here the past few days.

My plan, since I had four days off work, was to cook up a storm.

But it is almost too hot to even think about cooking.

At least cooking in the house.

But Saturday was manfriend's birthday and he wanted chocolate-rum cake.

I figured since I already had the oven on for that I would try some mini zucchini and goat cheese tarts.

I saw the recipe in the June 2008 issue of Bon Apetit.

I really like goat cheese and these looked easy.

The trick is that you use premade pie crusts for the tart crust.

They were really good.

I think, since I am more likely to have puff pastry than pie crusts in my freezer that I will try them with puff pastry next time.

And I would imagine you can use something other than the zucchini if you don't like that or don't have it.

Maybe red peppers, mushrooms, a bit of sundried tomato... So many possibilities.

Oh, and I did not make as many as this recipe calls for. I just made enough for me and the manfriend. That was four each.

This recipe says it makes six servings, or 24 pieces.

Mini zucchini and goat cheese tarts

1 refrigerated pie crust (half of 15 ounce package)

2.5 pounds zucchini (1-inch diameter) cut into 1/16 to 1/8 inch thick slices

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional oil for drizzling

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme (lemon or regular)

3 ounces soft, fresh goat cheese at room temperature

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

black pepper

Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place pie crust on floured surface.

Using 1.5 to 1.75 inch cookie or biscuit cutter dipped in flour, cut out 24 pieces; transfer to prepared baking sheet, spacing 1/2 inch apart.

Place in freezer until dough is firm, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Toss sliced zucchini with salt and let sit 15 minutes.

Drain, rinse and pat dry.

Toss zucchini with 2 tablespoons olive oil and thyme; sprinkle with pepper.

Spread goat cheese generously over each piece of dough.

Fold 3-4 zucchini slices in half and place on goat cheese, making a flower-like or criss-cross pattern.

Repeat until all pieces are assembled.

Reserve any extra zucchini for another purpose.

Sprinkle with Parmesan.

Bake until crusts are light golden, about 20 minutes.

Transfer to serving dish.

Drizzle lightly with olive oil.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

The recipe did not call for it, but I had some extra grape tomatoes.

I sliced some up to add to the top of the tarts before serving.

It gave it another flavor and a punch of color.

I barely had them on the plates and garnished before
manfriend was trying to sneak a taste.

red snapper Vera Cruz style

2008-05-06T18:23:00.000-07:00

So it's not like I haven't cooked at all in the past month.

I just haven't cooked anything very interesting or blog worthy.

I've grilled some steaks.

I've made some pastas.

I've made various fish and chicken dishes.

All pretty routine.

But since yesterday was Cinco de Mayo,

I wanted to do Mexican food.

But something different than

tacos, enchiladas or burritos.

So I made red snapper Vera Cruz, green rice

and those pickled spicy carrots.

Here I will share the snapper recipe with you.

It's a simple preparation that probably would

work just as well with halibut or tilapia or some other similar white fish.

I think it would even be good with chicken.

Red Snapper Vera Cruz style

4 snapper fillets, 6 ounces each

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion (I used a sweet variety), finely sliced

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/4 cup dry white wine

2 large tomatoes or 4 small tomatoes, chopped

(I used 2 small red tomatoes and 2 small yellow tomatoes)

2 tablespoons capers, drained

1 serrano pepper, finely chopped

I skipped olives, which also go in this dish.

The manfriend is not a fan of olives.

But if you like them, throw in

1/4 cup green olives, pitted and chopped.

Salt and pepper the fish on both sides.

Heat olive oil in a non-corrosive saute pan over high heat,

add fish and cook a few minutes on each side.

I tried to build up a crunchiness to it, hence the high heat.

Once fish is done, remove from pan and cover.

Reduce heat on pan to medium-high

and add onions and garlic. Cook until soft.

Add the wine and cook until it is reduced.

Add the tomatoes, capers and pepper

(and olives if you like 'em) and bring to a boil.

Cook until reduced and it starts to thicken.

Reduce heat and add fish. Cook for 2 minutes.

Serve fish with the onion/tomato mixture on top.

Garnish with lemon or lime wedges.

This came out nice. It was pretty light.

The sauce is meant to be redder than mine was.

But I used red and yellow tomatoes.

It still tasted good and I wanted to experiment with the yellows.

For the green rice, just make your favorite type of white rice.

When it is done, add in some of your favorite green salsa.

I just do this to taste.

I will post the carrot recipe separately in the next day or so.

Tomato tart (on phyllo dough crust)

2008-04-01T19:29:00.000-07:00

This recipe was passed along from my friend, Jennifer. She made it for the main course at our last stampers gathering.

I used it as a savory bite to go along with the tea sandwiches and cake at a little luncheon I had at my house over the weekend.

It is very easy to make and has a beautiful presentation.

I had a lot of the ingredients left over, so I made another tart this morning and took it to work.

I was very popular today.

Tomato tart

6 sheets phyllo (may also be spelled fillo or filo) dough, thawed

(Look for it in the freezer section near the puff pastry)

6 tbsp. butter, melted

6 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

1 medium onion, very thinly sliced

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

8 Roma tomatoes, cut into 1/8-in thick slices

1 tbsp. fresh thyme leaves

1 tbsp. fresh basil

salt and freshly ground black pepper

parchment paper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Lay 1 sheet phyllo on paper and brush lightly with a little melted butter.

Sprinkle all over with 1 tbsp Parmesan.

Repeat layering 5 more times (with phyllo, butter and Parmesan), pressing each layer firmly so it sticks to the sheet below.

Lay the last phyllo sheet on top, brush with remaining melted butter and sprinkle with remaining 1 tbsp Parmesan.

Scatter onion across top, sprinkle with mozzarella and arrange tomato slices in a single layer.

Sprinkle with thyme and basil.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Bake until phyllo is golden brown, 30-35 minutes.

Cool 10 minutes, then serve.

Makes about 20 3-in squares.

Note: cut tomatoes very thinly so juice evaporates while baking, or dough will be soggy.

I pretty much followed this to a T. But I did not add salt. I figured Parmesan is usually salty enough.

Oh and the original recipe only called for thyme.

I like a little more herb, so I added the basil.

The second time I made it I used oregano and basil instead of thyme and basil.

I think pretty much any combo of thyme, basil and oregano would be fine.

I think dill or tarragon or sage might not be the right flavor with the tomato and cheeses though.

And when I cut it, I cut it into smaller pieces. It ended up being one lovely Roma slice in the middle of each piece of tart. I got 30 pieces out of it.

The dough, which is very fragile when you are handling it, holds up really well to the tomato. I think the Parmesan acts as a good binder in there.

Next time I make this I want to experiment with some different veggies. Maybe toss some red and yellow peppers on there or some mushrooms.

The key with the veggies will be to make sure they are sliced thin enough so they don't sog down the dough. And if juicy Romas work, a pepper should be just fine.

Walnut-pear sour cream cake

2008-04-01T19:09:00.000-07:00

This is one of my go-to cakes.

I have made it for teas and baby showers.

I have made it for potlucks and sit-down dinner parties.

I have made it for stamping brunches and just to take to work and share.

I like the pears. They are a bit unexpected. Most people would expect apple, I think.

Usually I get whatever pears look best. This time I used Bartletts.

Oh, and my recipe is modified from the BH&G one. I like more nuts and more topping. So I upped the amounts of those.

My modified version is below.

If you don't want it so nutty, click here for the non-modified version.

Walnut-Pear Sour Cream Cake

(based on Better Homes and Gardens Magazine - October 1999)

(topping and filling)

2 cups broken walnuts

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 cup butter

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

(cake)

2-3 medium pears, peeled, cored and sliced (about 2 cups)

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

1 8-oz. carton dairy sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch springform pan or 9x9x2-inch baking pan.
(I like a springform because it looks so pretty on the plate when you take it out of the pan.)

Combine the nuts, brown sugar and cinnamon.

For topping, cut the 1/2 cup butter into 2/3 cup flour to make coarse crumbs. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of the nut mixture.

Set nut mixture and the topping aside.

For cake:

Toss pears with lemon juice; set aside.

In a medium bowl combine the 1 3/4 cups flour, baking powder, soda and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl beat 1/2 cup butter with electric mixer 30 seconds. Beat in granulated sugar and vanilla.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.

Add flour mixture and sour cream alternately to batter. Beat on low speed after each addition until combined.

Spread two-thirds of the batter batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with reserved nut mixture.

Layer pears over top.

Gently spread remaining batter over pears.

Sprinkle with reserved topping.

Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes.

Remove side of springform pan, if using.

Cool at least 1 hour.

Serve warm with whipped cream, if desired.

Serves 12.

Refrigerate any leftovers.

Now, I like the whipped cream idea just fine.

But even better is to take some extra sour cream, mix in a bit of milk to make it more like a sauce and add a bit of brown sugar.

It should be a bit sweet, just to take the edge off the sour cream. But not too sweet. The cake is sweet enough.

Then I drizzle that over the cake.

Yummmmm!

Preview of coming attractions

2008-03-27T18:58:00.000-07:00

Yeah. I know.
I have not posted here in a while.
I have really not cooked much beyond the basics the past couple of weeks.
It's just been that way.
But it will get better.
Some friends are visiting from Wisconsin and I am hosting a little get together for them.
It will be like a mini tea thing.
Which I love.
I get to make little sandwiches.
And I am finally going to make that walnut-pear cake with sour cream sauce.

Oh yeah, and I got some baby back ribs.
I am going to do those up for Monday dinner.
Which means I will set them to brine Sunday night.

Yum!

See you after the food-filled weekend!

sweet and tangy grilled pork tenderloin (with red onion reduction and tangy Asian slaw)

2008-03-04T14:45:00.000-08:00

I'm giving you the money shot, right up front. No having to wait for it until the end this time.

It was such a nice day Sunday that I decided to barbecue.
I went to an old fallback, the pork tenderloin. I find it hard to screw up this cut of meat.
And for a change I measured the ingredients for the marinade I like. Usually I wing it and it is always similar, but never exactly the same twice.

This is a fairly cheap cut of meat. The tenderloin I got was 1.35 pounds and cost about $6.75.
It made dinner for me and the manfriend and enough left for him to take for lunch the next day.

I get the ponzu sauce from the Asian food aisle at my market. I have found recipes online for how to make it myself, but the stuff in the bottle is easier.

When I am out of ponzu (or if the store is out) I use soy sauce and lemon or lime juice instead (about equal parts). It is not exactly the same. But it works for me.

Oh, and I use a gas grill.

Here you go:

sweet and tangy grilled pork tenderloin

(with red onion reduction and Asian slaw)

1 cup ponzu sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp hot chili sauce ( I use Sriracha)
1 1/2 tsp Chinese Five Spice
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp sesame oil

1 pork tenderloin

1/2 red onion
1/2 cup dry white wine (I used Chardonnay)

Whisk together first 5 ingredients ingredients.
Transfer about 3/4 cup of the liquid to a small sauce pan and set aside.

Trim any excess fat or silverskin from the meat.

Put tenderloin in a dish or zip-top bag and pour marinade over it.

Let pork marinate at least an hour, turning meat every 15-20 minutes to evenly distribute flavors. The longer you marinate, the more intense the flavors will be. I would not marinate the tenderloin for more than 4 hours. This is a pretty strong flavor.

Begin heating grill to medium-high heat.

For the reduction
(I started this, then put the meat on the grill so they cooked at the same time)

Heat the reserved liquid over medium heat and add wine.
Slice the half onion as thin as possible and add to liquid.
Keep cooking on medium heat until liquid reduces and you are left with almost a relish of the onions.
If it starts to boil rapidly, turn heat down a bit. I should just be at a high simmer.
There should be more onion that liquid and what liquid there is should be thick enough to coat a spoon.
Once this is done, turn it off and set it aside to be used as a garnish for the tenderloin.

To cook meat
Place the tenderloins on the grill and cook for 18-20 minutes, turning a few times. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part will read 155 degrees F when the meat is ready.

Remove from grill and let meat to rest for 5-10 minutes before carving.

Slice meat into medallions and serve with a bit of the onion reduction on top or on the side.

I served this with side dishes of sweet potato "fries" and a quick Asian slaw.

For the slaw
1 small Napa or Savoy cabbage, cut into quarters, cored and thinly sliced
2 carrots, peeled and grated
1 small bunch cilantro, washed and roughly chopped
(I try to use mostly leaves, but cilantro is an herb that can be used stem and all)
1/4 to 1/2 red onion (depending on your taste), thinly sliced into strips
1/4 cup honey roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

Your favorite Asian style salad dressing or Chinese chicken salad dressing (I like a brand called Feast from the East that I found at Costco.)

Toss all the veggies together with enough of the salad dressing to make it how YOU like it. I like mine lightly dressed.

Serve with a bit of the chopped peanuts sprinkled on top.

immune from my black thumb

2008-03-04T09:43:00.000-08:00

I am not a gardener.

I wish things could have been different.

But most things I try to grow do not do well.

Probably because I tend to plant things and then just hope for the best.

I don't do the work of looking after them and nurturing them.

Flowers, herbs, veggies... They don't do well in my yard.

Except that is for the lemons and rosemary.

The lemon tree was already here when I moved in about 12 years ago.

I think it was planted sometime in the 60s.

It produces beautiful lemons all year long.

They used to be too big and pulpy, with very little juice.

But the past few years they have been perfect.

No longer the size of grapefruit, they fit in the palm of my hand.

They used to have thick, mealy skin which was barely good for making lemon zest.

Now the skin is bright and yellow and slightly slick from lemon oil when I run the microplane over it.

I use lemon a lot, so I love this tree. I do nothing to it. It just continues to bear fruit.

The rosemary I did plant.

About 4 years ago I bought three, 1-gallon pots of rosemary and just stuck them in the back of the flower bed.

They get tons of sun all day and pretty much just get water when it rains.

Those three small rosemary pots eventually merged into a larger rosemary bush which has since turned into a giant rosemary monster that is the size of a VW bug.

The pictures here were taken last week and you can just start to see the shoots of my daffodils popping up through the ground in front of the flower bed.

The daffodils are now in full bloom, their full, bright yellow heads nodding in the breeze. They are such happy little flowers.

I trim it the rosemary monster occasion, when it starts to grow taller than the block wall behind it and threatens to head into the neighbors' yard.

It flowers much of the year. The delicate blossoms are a lovely purple-blue and attract passing bees.

And the smell.

On a warm day just standing near it makes me think of roasted chicken and red potatoes with rosemary. It can be enough to make my mouth water.

Sometimes I cut off a few sprigs and put them in a vase just to give the house that smell.

I find it especially nice if it has been a while since I cooked a proper meal.

It just makes the kitchen smell amazing.

But it has been a while since I cooked anything with that rosemary.

So that will be one of my things for the coming weekend.

I have made lots of things with rosemary, including a polenta and rosemary cake served with strawberries and whipped cream. That was quite tasty.

Maybe I need to make that again. I remember really liking the dry, crumbly texture and the fact that it was not overly sweet.

And I want to find a couple of new recipes using rosemary and do some experimenting.

And I may throw in some of that lemon, too.

my ever-evolving recipe style

2008-02-29T09:02:00.001-08:00

You will notice, if you link to some of the older recipes on the other blog, that my recipe writing style can be loose.
As I have been putting more recipes in here, things get a little tighter and a little more clear as far as ingredients and instruction go.
I also like to give suggestions on altering a recipe or how I might try to change it up a little the next time I make it.
The photography is also improving with the newer posts.
That makes me very happy. I like producing a good picture almost as much as I like producing a good meal.
But shooting food is tough, especially when it is just in the kitchen and with no extra, special lighting.
And you have no idea how many pictures I will take of a dish now to get just the right shot.
I think I took about 20 pictures of that chocolate cake to get one I was really happy with.
So this blog really is a labor of love for me in all ways.
I don't post here every day, but when I do you can sure it is something I am proud of and something I think people will really enjoy.
Happy eating.

rustic apple tarts

2008-02-29T08:56:00.000-08:00

From the other blog...

These individual APPLE TARTS are made using frozen puff pastry as a base, so that cuts down on the work involved in making a pate brise.

I have made the pate brise, and it is not difficult, but it does add to the time it takes to achieve pretty much the same results as just getting the frozen stuff.

Sorry, Martha.

And I have made the tarts with plum, peaches and pears, too. All yummy.

oatmeal-pecan shortbread

2008-02-29T08:47:00.001-08:00

Here is another one from the other blog.

I made these on a whim one night after work.

I have been going through appetizer recipes to plan a party menu and was just in the mood to cook something.

I pretty much always have the stuff on hand to make basic shortbread.

The pecans and oatmeal were a departure for me. But a very tasty departure.

Plus it allowed me to cut the amount of flour in the shortbread.

I took them to work where they were a big hit.

They are a nice nibble with coffee or tea.

Oatmeal-pecan shortbread

2 cups flour

2/3 cup quick-cooking rolled oats

6 tablespoons sugar

1 cup butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix flour, sugar and oats.

Cut in butter. I use my hands. it is messy, but that way I get a good mix.

Mix in pecans.

Mix until it resembles fine crumbs and starts to hold together.

Form mixture into a ball.

On floured surface, roll dough out to about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness.

Cut into rounds (or whatever shape you fancy). I used 1.5 inch scalloped circles.

Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until bottoms just start to brown.

Cool on wire rack.

chicken pomodoro

2008-02-27T18:55:00.001-08:00

Here is a link to a recipe for a great chicken recipe: chicken pomodoro.

There also is a fun thing on making little baskets out of Parmesan cheese that you can put salad in.

It is from the other blog, posted before I got this one up and running.

I want to try to go through and find the food things I posted there and get them at least linked here.

The thing is, you have to scroll down past the part about my new table.

But trust me, it is worth it for that chicken.

totally decadent potato-leek soup

2008-02-27T15:27:00.000-08:00

For me, potato soup is the ultimate comfort food.

I like to make a big pot of it, laced with cream and herbs and leeks, on a cold day.

The first bowl usually gets the royal treatment: garnished with sour cream and a bit of shredded sharp cheddar.

The rest goes into single portions to be frozen for later.

Growing up, I looked forward to winter when I knew my mom would make potato soup.

She makes an excellent potato soup.

I like to think of my version as mom's potato soup, but on steroids.

Oh, and I like leeks. A lot.

So my version is loaded with them. Which is why it looks a little greener than most potato soups.

But I love the mild oniony flavor of leeks.

So here is my totally decadent potato-leek soup:

1 pound bacon, diced

3 leeks, sliced including white and green parts*

4 stalks of celery from the heart of the bunch, sliced including leafy tops

4 cloves of garlic minced

6-8 russet potatoes, peeled and diced

5 cups chicken broth

4 tbs butter

1/4 cup flour

1 tbs dried tarragon

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

salt

pepper

cook bacon in large pot, then set aside

in drippings, cook leeks and celery over medium heat about 10 minutes, until softened

add garlic and potatoes; toss to coat

cook on medium heat about 5 minutes

add chicken broth cover and cook until potatoes are tender, 20-30 minutes. cooking time will vary based on the size of the potato pieces

off the heat, use an immersion blender or hand mixer to lightly puree the potato mixture (I like to leave a few chunks of potato)

in a separate sauce pan, melt the butter over medium-low heat

add the flour, cooking for 1-2 minutes, whisking constantly

add the cream and tarragon, stirring constantly until cream begins to boil and mixture begins to thicken

pour flour/cream mixture into potato mixture and stir well

add the reserved bacon pieces and cilantro and stir

the soup can get pretty thick, so I use more chicken broth to get it to a consistency I like (which is usually still fairly thick)

salt and pepper to taste

if you want to be really decadent, garnish with a dollop of sour cream or a bit of grated cheddar cheese.

*tip for cleaning leeks: place the sliced leeks in a large bowl of water and use your hands to break up the rings. let soak about 10 minutes and any grit will fall to the bottom of the bowl. use a slotted spoon to strain the leeks, being careful not to stir up the grit at the bottom of the bowl

chocolate-rum cake

2008-02-26T12:34:00.000-08:00

When it comes to baking, I don't mess around with recipes. Especially when baking cakes.

I can improvise on pretty much anything, but baking is trickier than a pasta or soup or meat dish.

If you don't do it just right, you can ruin a lot of great ingredients.

So when I find a good recipe, I honor it by not trying to get creative.

And this chocolate-rum cake recipe is not just good, it is freaking GREAT!

It is from a Bon Appetit special issue on the Caribbean from April of 2006.

When I make this, I serve it with homemade whipped cream (I like to add a hint of almond extract) and fresh berries.

This time I made a raspberry puree. The raspberries had a bit of tartness that worked well with the sweetness of the cake.

Chocolate-rum cake

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon dark rum

9 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

15 tablespoons butter (2 sticks minus 1 Tbs) cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar

6 large eggs, separated
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 cup chilled whipping cream

Preheat oven to 300.

Butter and flour 9-inch diameter springform pan.

Boil 1/2 cup of rum in heavy small saucepan until reduced to 2 tablespoons, around 3 minutes.

Cool.

Place chocolate and butter in a saucepan and melt over low heat, stirring constantly.

Cool slightly.

Whisk 1 1/2 cups sugar, egg yolks and reduced rum into chocolate mixture.

Using electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Fold 1/3 of egg white mixture into chocolate in saucepan, then fold that mixture into remaining egg whites.

Sprinkle flour over the batter and fold in until just blended (don't over mix) and then transfer batter into prepared pan.
Bake cake until top puffs and cracks and tester inserted comes out with very moist crumbs, around 45 minutes.

Cool completely in pan before trying to remove outer ring.

Can be made 1 day ahead, cool and store covered tightly at room temperature.

To serve, whip cream with 1 Tbs sugar and a bit of almond extract. I add a bit, tasting as I go until I get the right amount for my taste.

For the raspberry puree, I used an immersion blender to puree a small package of fresh berries and then strained out the seeds by pressing the puree through a fine mesh strainer. Once the seeds were removed, I stirred in about a tablespoon of sugar.

This is also great with any type of berry.

mushroom-sage bread pudding

2008-02-11T17:34:00.000-08:00

I love the sage bread pudding that Restaurant Christine serves as a side dish to their prosciutto wrapped filet mignon medallions.

So I wanted to try making my own version, with the addition of some mushrooms.

heat oven to 375

1 tablespoon butter
2 cups chopped brown mushrooms
1 chopped maui onion
1/4 cup dry white wine
salt
4 cups sourdough bread cut into small cubes
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk or whole milk
1/4 cup chopped, fresh sage
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
6 ounces grated Swiss cheese

Melt butter in sautee pan.

Add mushrooms and maui onion. Season lightly with salt.

Cook for about 3 minutes, then add white wine.

Cook until wine is reduced and mushrooms and onions just start to brown.

Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs, buttermilk, sage and black pepper until blended.

Fold bread cubes into egg mixture to coat.

Gently mix in cheese.

Press bread-egg mixture into 8x8 inch baking pan so that all bread is submerged in egg mixture.
Let sit for 15 minutes so bread can absorb egg mixture.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, rotating once, until egg is set.

Place under broiler for 3-4 minutes until top starts to get brown and toasty.

Serve immediately.

My thoughts on this dish: Wow. I wanted an alternative to a potato or rice or pasta as a starchy side dish and this was a good one.

It was hearty and cheesy and the mushrooms and sage gave it a nice earthy flavor. I probably could have skipped the rest of the meal and just had the bread pudding for dinner.

Which I may do tonight with leftovers.

And I may make this as the main dish casserole for my next Sunday stampers group.

The manfriend went back for seconds and was tempted to go for thirds. Instead he took some leftovers home with him.

I can see this as a standalone brunch dish or as a great side to any kind of meat. I know it goes with the fish and steak. I bet it would be a great substitute to stuffing with a roasted chicken or as a side for any kind of pork roast or tenderloin.

And really, inspite of all the steps, this was a pretty easy dish to make. Most bread puddings are.

I love a good, cheap Pinot Noir

2008-02-10T12:44:00.000-08:00

Pinot Noir is one of those good wines to have in the house.
As a red, it can pair with most meats nicely. As a lighter red, it can even work well with fish and light pastas.
One that I have been enjoying lately is the Mirassou Pinot Noir, 2006.
I found this at my local market on club discount at $6.99 a bottle. Even at the full price of $9.99 a bottle, this wine is a bargain.
I have recently paired it with the asparagus-prosciutto risotto, a basic spaghetti in red sauce with meat and mushrooms, the fish in garlic sauce and even just when I want a glass of wine for the sake of having a glass of wine.
The price tag was the first thing that caught my eye.
The second thing was the label. Yeah, I am a sucker for nice label graphics.
So how does it taste? Well, the fact that I bought one bottle at $6.99 and then, after trying it, went back and bought 6 more bottles, is a good indication that it does not suck.
Anyone who knows me knows that while I like cheap wine, I like GOOD cheap wine.
Sorry. I am not a fan of the two-buck Chuck they sell at Trader Joe's.
But I digress...
The 2006 Mirassou Pinot Noir is a fruity wine without being a sweet wine. There are lovely notes of berries and jam.
It has a hint of spice or pepper on the finish, which I love. But it is still smooth going down.
This wine does not fall flat as soon as you swallow it like some Pinots. There is a good finish that lingers, but is not a bitter or chalky aftertaste.
All in all, this is one of the nicest Pinots I have had since my trip to Oregon in 2004.
This is a California Pinot, with Mirassou being based in Modesto. Not exactly a chic wine-country address.
My guess is the grapes are from some other part of the state and the facility is in Modesto because real estate is cheaper there than in Napa or Sonoma or even Santa Barbara counties.
So, the gist of this is, if you like Pinot, get thee to your nearest market (Ralphs has it cheap if you are in SoCal), wine shop or liquor store and see if you can find it.
Cheers.

fish in garlic-herb sauce

2008-02-05T09:41:00.000-08:00

I wanted to make this with halibut, but the market was out of halibut. So I tried cod. And while it tasted good, I did not like the texture of the cod.
So I will try it again another time using halibut. It probably would be good on salmon, too.
The key here is the sauce (sooooo easy to make).
The manfriend liked the sauce so much, he said he could pour it over just about anything and eat it.

So, here you go, easy baked fish in a simple garlic and herb sauce.

1/2 cup mayo
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons white wine
juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried dill
1 tablespoon dried tarragon
1 tablespoon salt-free seasoning mix of your choice
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 pieces pieces of fish such as halibut or salmon. I like the boneless, skinless filet pieces.

heat oven to 450
whisk together all ingredients except fish
place fish in a baking dish and pour the sauce over the top
bake 15-20 minutes or until fish is flaky in the middle (timing will vary based on thickness of fish, so keep an eye on it)

I served this some of the sauce poured over the fish and garnished it with lemon slices.
For sides, I made simple steamed broccolini and sauteed potatoes.
The sauce was great on the veggies, too.

It seems like pretty much any dried herbs or seasoning mixes will do. I tried to keep the salt down though. Fresh herbs probably would work, but obviously the dried are a bit easier and that is what I had on hand.

I may try making just that sauce to use as a simple alternative to hollandaise sauce over veggies.

Hmm... I just had another thought... maybe a sort of gratin of shredded carrots, zucchini and other squashes, a little red onion... pour the sauce over it and bake...
Great. I have barely finished my tea and I am already thinking about next week's dinner.

strawberry-cream cheese muffins

2008-02-04T10:12:00.000-08:00

Yum.

These are definitely best warmed up a little so the cream cheese can get melty again.

preheat oven to 400 degrees

2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons sugar (for coating the cream cheese)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

6 tablespoons cold butter cut into small pieces

1 cup chopped strawberries (I used fresh. I would think frozen would work if they were thawed and drained)

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk

1 egg

4 ounces cream cheese cut into 12 cubes

12 paper muffin pan liners

line a 12-cup muffin pan with papers then spray lined pan lightly with non-stick spray

stir together flour, 3/4 cup sugar,baking powder, baking soda

cut in butter with pastry blender (I used a potato masher) until mixture is crumbly

stir in chopped berries

in separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk and egg.

gently stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture until just combined.

divide batter evenly among 12 muffin cups

place 2 tablespoons of sugar in a small dish and dip each cube of cream cheese to coat

press cheese cube into center of each muffin, but do not fully submerge the cheese, the top of the cube should be visible

sprinkle remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar evenly over tops pf muffins

bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown (toothpick inserted into doughy part should come out clean - do not insert toothpick into cheese to check doneness)

cool muffins in pan for 10 minutes before removing

store leftovers in refrigerator

pineapple coffee cake

2008-02-04T09:51:00.000-08:00

This coffee cake recipe did not include a crumbly topping.
Now, in my humble opinion, it ain't coffee cake unless it has a crumbly topping.
So I improvised one. I will do my best to describe how I made it.

This recipe also calls for canned pineapple in syrup. I had fresh pineapple, so I used only half the sugar called for in the original recipe. I will note my modifications in **( )**.

preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cake:
1 cup corn oil
1 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt

Filling:
1 large can crushed pineapple in heavy syrup
**(fresh cubed pineapple - about the equivalent of a whole pineapple)**
1/2 cup granulated sugar
**(1/4 cup granualted sugar)**
3 tablespoons corn starch

Crumbly top:
butter
flour
brown sugar
chopped pecans

for filling:
combine ingredients, heating until bubbly, then set aside.
**(to break down the pineapple, I cut the larger cubes down into small pieces then mashed them down with my potato masher)**

for crumbly top - this is all by feel for me; it is about the texture of the crumbles:
combine about 1/2 stick of butter with 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup chopped pecans.
using fingers, mix until large crumbles are formed (measurements are approximate)

for cake:
beat together oil and sugar
add eggs, then vanilla

sift together dry ingredients.
add dry ingredients, a little at a time, to the egg mixture.
put 3/4 of the batterin a 9x3-inch pan
sprinkle pineapple filling over top of batter
put remaining batter on top of filling
sprinkle crumbly topping over cake
bake 30-40 minutes, or until top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into a doughy part comes out clean.

This cake was very moist and lightly sweet as I made it. I am not sure how much sweeter it might be with canned fruit.
Since most fruited coffee cakes have apple in them, the pineapple was a nice new flavor in there.
The cake is good at room temperature, but even better when it is warmed up a bit.

Risotto with asparagus and prosciutto (or using up party leftovers in creative ways)

2008-01-29T10:05:00.000-08:00

I wanted to use the leftover prosicutto and asparagus rolls from the party, so I figured on cutting those into chunks and putting it in a risotto.

Then I figured I could also add the leftover mushroom and tarragon filling from the mushroom cups. I had maybe a cup of it left and it would add some creaminess and earthiness.

I also had about 6 slices of prosciutto and 12 asparagus spear left that I did not use for the rolls, so in they went, too.

(I also had a lot of leftover tomato and basil bruschetta. I just set that to boil for a few hours until it reduced into a nice sauce for pasta. Then I portioned it out and stuck it in the freezer.)

First up, a simple risotto that serves as the base for whatever ingredients YOU like to toss in there.

1/2 stick of butter

1 small onion, chopped

2 small garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 cups risotto

4 cups broth (I used what I had, which was a mix of veggie and chicken)

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup chopped Italian (flat-leaf) parsley

start broth heating in a small sauce pan

in a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat and cook the onions and garlic until soft

add the rice and stir to coat it in the butter

cook, stirring frequently, until rice looks milky, about 10 minutes

slowly add heated broth to rice and continue to stir occasionally until mixture comes to a boil

reduce heat and boil gently for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally

Once the rice is al dente or cooked to your liking (it will be a bit sticky, that is just the way risotto is since it is so starchy), toss in whatever ingredients you like. I had the asparagus and prosciutto (I tossed the raw asparagus in a couple minutes before rice was done since it had to cook a little to catch up to the asparagus from the party).

I have made this in the past with some frozen peas and prosciutto.

It's also good with some frozen artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, grilled shrimp, sliced mushrooms, a drizzle of truffle oil if you are feeling decadent ... Pretty much anything.

I finished the dish by stirring in the Parmesan and parsley.

And it went quite well with a bottle of wine that was opened, but not finished at the party: 2004 Francis Coppola Black Label Claret.

Thanks again for that, Bob.

Chevre and mango steak bites

2008-01-28T10:55:00.000-08:00

This was from something I saw in Sunset magazine.
I lost that page somehow, but found this version online:

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1654760

It seems to be exactly what I saw in Sunset.

I made the flank steak and cheese mixture two days ahead, sliced the steak a day ahead and rolled them up the day of the party.

I used two big flank steak from the Costco meat department. They came out great.

Asian-spiced meatballs with snow peas and hoisin sauce

2008-01-28T10:18:00.000-08:00

I made these two weeks ahead and froze them, cooked.

Meatballs
1 pound ground pork (I have used ground turkey in the past, but pork is a richer flavor)
6 sweet Italian sausages, removed from casings
3 teaspoons fresh ginger, finely chopped or grated
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 can water chestnuts, finely chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons red chili sauce (Sriracha type sauce)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Hoisin Sauce
splash of sesame or olive oil
1 jar prepared hoisin sauce (Most grocery stores will have this in the Asian-food aisle.)
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons white wine

Snow Pea garnish
48-50 snow peas of approximate size (I knew I needed 48 since I made the meatballs ahead of time and bought the snow peas a couple days before the party. You can guess how many you will need. The recipe should make about 4 dozen meatballs.)

wooden picks to hold snow peas to meatballs

For meatballs:
Preheat oven to 400.
Combine all the ingredients. I find the best way is to use my hands. It feels a little gross, but then I know all the stuff will be really well-mixed.
Form meatballs into 1-inch balls and place in large roasting pan.
Roast 20-25 minutes, turning every 5-7 minutes so they can brown on all sides.
Once cooled, these can be frozen. Thaw before reheating.
To reheat them, I put them in a skillet with a splash of chicken broth and steamed them for about 5 minutes.

For the sauce:
Heat oil in sauce pan and add garlic and ginger.
Sautee for just a couple minutes over medium heat, but do not let it brown.
Add store-bought hoisin sauce and wine.

That is it for the sauce. I made this three days ahead and stuck it in the fridge.

For the snow peas (Make this part the day of your event):
Bring large pan of salted water to a boil.
Add peas and cook until bright green and flexible. This should be 30-60 seconds.
Rinse with cold water.
Drain and set aside.

To assemble:
Warm hoisin sauce in microwave or on stove.
Pour onto platter in thin, even layer.
Fold each snow pea in half and attach it to a meatball with a wooden pick.
Place the meatballs on top of the sauce.
Serve.

I think that is it.

This one sounds more complicated than it is. Especially since I did in stages. But that really makes it easier. Then you just have to heat the meatballs and sauce and serve them.

I think these meatballs would be good in some type of brothy soup with bok choy. I may have to experiment.

Creamy mushroom and tarragon bites

2008-01-28T09:56:00.000-08:00

First up, make the bread cups. This recipe makes two dozen:

Oh, and you need a mini-muffin pan to make these.

1 1-pound loaf sliced white bread. I like Milton's brand if you can find it.
1/2 stick melted unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 375.
Cut bread into 2-inch squares. I have a set of square cookie/pastry cutters and use one of those. You can just use a knife, too. I get two squares per bread slice.
Brush a light coating of butter on each side of bread.
Press the bread square into a mini-muffin tin making the sides fairly even.
Bake 5 to 8 minutes or until golden brown.

They can be made ahead and kept in airtight containers or frozen for up to three weeks.

For the filling (slightly modified from Cocktail food Deck recipe):

4 tablespoons butter
4 cups sliced brown (cremini or Italian brown) mushrooms
3/4 cup chopped onion
salt and pepper
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon

Melt butter in large skillet.
Add mushrooms and onions, seasoning with salt and pepper.
Cook about 7 to 10 minutes, or until mushrooms start to brown.
Add wine and cook until liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes.
Put mushrooms mixture in food processor with creme fraiche/sour cream, Parmesan and tarragon.
Pulse 4-5 times or until mixture is combined but not pureed.

I made the filling a week ahead and froze it. I took it out the night before the party and thawed it in the fridge. It worked great.

To assemble:

Spoon mixture into bread cups and place on baking sheet.
Bake in 400-degree oven until filling is hot.

Roasted Asparagus with Mountain Ham

2008-01-28T09:49:00.000-08:00

The recipe called for serrano ham, which is Spanish cured ham. It is great, but tough to find.
I used prosciutto di Parma, which is great and easy to find.
And the book said this was a fine substitute.

This is the recipe from the book. Obviously I made more than 12 of these.

2 tablespoons olive oil
6 slices serrano ham
12 asparagus spears, trimmed
pepper

Preheat oven to 400.
Coat bottom of a roasting pan with olive oil.
Cut each piece of ham in half.
Roll asparagus spears in ham slices.
Season with pepper.
Roast for about 10 minutes, depending on thickness of asparagus. They should be tender, but firm so they can be eaten as finger food.

The recipe called for making a complicated aioli.

I passed on this. I blended some mayo with dried tarragon, lemon juice and a bit of sugar. I got a sweet, but tangy sauce that went nicely with the salty ham.

I served this in a little bowl on the side of the asparagus/ham rolls.

spinach and smoked gouda spheres

2008-01-28T09:35:00.000-08:00

From the Cocktail Food Deck with a couple of my own variations (I like extra cheese!):

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
pinch of pepper
1 10-ounce package froze, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove excess liquid
1 1/4 cups dry bread crumbs
1 cup grated smoked gouda
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 egg
3 tablespoons salted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350.
Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat.
Add onion and season with salt and pepper.
Cook until tender, 5 to 7 minutes.
Remove from heat.
Put spinach in a food processor, adding the onion, 1/2 cup of the bread crumbs and the remaining ingredients.
Process until combined and smooth.
Form mixture into 1-inch spheres and roll each sphere in remaining bread crumbs to coat completely.
Place on foil- or parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake until hot and lightly golden, about 10 minutes.
Do not overcook, or they will get dry.

I made these a few days ahead of time and frozen them on a baking sheet. Once they were individually frozen, I put them in a freezer bag. I took them out to thaw the morning of the party and cooked them just before guests arrived.

The freezing worked great. I have made these before with no freezing and there was no difference in taste or texture.