A little something for lunch and dessert...

This weekend Russ and I did no cooking or baking at all. We had a lazy weekend and ate out or picked up something for every meal including breakfast. That’s right we didn’t even brew our own coffee. While I enjoyed the break I was anxious to get back into the kitchen, so on Sunday night I started working on two things for today / tonight.

We have been trying to eat at home most weekdays for lunch and while I have tried to keep things varied I think we are both tired of turkey sandwiches. So, I decided to make a batch of Russ’ Mom’s chicken salad for our lunch the next couple days. It is really tasty and simple to make. You boil chicken in a pot with green pepper, onion, celery and pepper. Once the chicken is done and has cooled you pull it and add mayonnaise, a little lemon juice, salt, pepper and chopped celery. You can eat it in a sandwich, by itself, or on top of a bed of lettuce. I have watched his Mom make it several times and have made it myself a few times, but Russ and I both thought this batch was the best I’ve made. Russ and I both really enjoyed the chicken salad and the break from turkey sandwiches!

Tonight was Bachelor Night and Emily and Dowe hosted. Russ and I were in charge of the appetizer, bread, and dessert. Russ had an idea recently of doing an antipasti platter for an appetizer using some of the goodies that our new Whole Foods has including olives, roasted tomatoes, stuffed grape leaves, prosciutto, spelt etc. Since we weren’t really making anything for the appetizer and just bought a baguette for the bread I decided to make the dessert. I went with Ina Garten’s Chocolate Cupcakes and Peanut Butter Icing. I made the cupcakes last night and then made the frosting tonight. They are not too complicated to put together and I always have fun using my Kitchen Aid mixer (one of my favorite wedding gifts!). The cupcake batter does have several steps, but the result is a rich, chocolate, fluffy batter. The icing comes together quickly using the KA mixer and spreads well over the cupcakes. The icing is wonderful and tastes like a Tag Along (Girl Scout Cookie)! The only change I made was to omit the chopped peanuts on top. Russ doesn’t really like nuts on things and I wasn’t sure I wanted a crunch to my cupcake. While we really liked the cupcakes I think the icing is what makes them, so next time I plan to either make mini cupcakes to have less cake or to pipe some icing in the center of each cupcake in addition to having it on top.

Emily made her Mom's corn flake chicken which was really moist and tasty. Elizabeth was in charge of the sides and made stuffed, baked onions and a yummy salad out of the new CL. It is one I had marked to try, so I was excited when she said she planned to bring it. It is the Asparagus-Apple Salad with Blue Cheese Vinaigrette. It was wonderful! I always like fruit in salads, but I really liked the addition of asparagus in this one. I think I will be giving this one a try soon.

Russ rates the chicken salad a 9 and the cupcakes a 8. Tomorrow night Allen is coming over for dinner and he and Russ will be bottling the beer. I am planning to make a salmon dish of Ina Garten's... I think there may be a trend in the recipes for this week....

Light Lettuce Wraps

Tonight we wanted a lighter meal where we could take advantage of the nice weather. We went with a recipe we have made once before and enjoyed. It is Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps from the January 2006 CL. While the recipe says to grill the chicken indoors we enjoyed the nice weather by grilling and eating outside.

This is a simple recipe that involves you putting together a marinade for the chicken and letting it sit for 1 hour. I made the marinade as soon as I got home from work and then Russ and I took Cash on a long walk while we waited on it. When we got back Russ got the grill going and grilled the chicken while I washed the lettuce and got the other toppings ready. I did double the marinade and used iceberg and romaine since the grocery store was out of Boston bib lettuce. Besides these changes and grilling outdoors we followed the recipe as is.

These have a wonderful fresh taste and all the toppings work really well together to add flavor and crunch. We both enjoyed this meal and the added bonus of how simple it is to both prepare and clean up. If the chicken didn’t have to marinate for an hour it would be a quick and easy meal. This is one that will definitely be repeated this summer at our house. In fact, it would even make a wonderful lunch at home on a Saturday or Sunday. We also look forward to using the leftover mint in Mint Juleps this weekend! While it is not the actual Derby Day weekend it is close enough! Russ rates these wraps a 9.

Birthday Lasagna

Tonight was the Bachelor night and Russ, Cash and I hosted. This means we were responsible for the entrée. This weekend I was trying to decide what to make, but I was not coming up with any great ideas. So Russ suggested I try making my Mother’s lasagna. Growing up we could always pick what we wanted for dinner on our birthday. Jessica always picked fondue, Dad picked fried chicken, Will usually picked turkey, Mom picked a restaurant, and I always picked lasagna. My Mom has lots of wonderful dishes, but this is by far my favorite. I have watched her make it for years and helped a couple times, but this is the first time I have made it all on my own.

It is fairly time consuming to make, but not too difficult and is fun and relaxing when you have the time. You basically have three parts, the meat / tomato mixture, cheese mixture, and the noodles. There are not exact amounts for the seasoning or some of the other ingredients, so you have to base it on taste, texture etc. So yesterday afternoon while Russ and Allen brewed beer outside I cooked inside. Allen and Russ served as tasters for the meat / tomato mixture once the beer was done. Once all the parts are done then you layer them in the dish starting with the noodles, then the meat, then the cheese and repeat.

Mom always made lots when she made it because it freezes so well and is a good dish to share with others. So, I did the same and made a lot including a large dish for tonight, a smaller one for the freezer, and a small one for Allen. I thought it turned out well for my first try, but it is not quite as good as when Mom makes it. Emily brought a great salad and loaf of french bread and Seth and Elizabeth brought an artichoke dip for an appetizer and bananas foster for dessert. All the puppies came and they had a blast playing together! Cash was pretty disappointed when Wag and Chester left, but he will sleep really well tonight. Russ rates the lasagna a 9, but I think it is more of an 8 since there is room for improvement.


Mom’s Lasagna
(approximate quantities are based on what I used)

Meat and Tomato Mixture:

3 lbs. ground chuck or ground round
1 chopped large onion
4 cloves of garlic, minced
Dried basil, to taste
Dried Italian seasoning, to taste
Salt and pepper, both to taste
Dried parsley, to taste
2 bay leaves
¾ of a small can of tomato paste
2 cans (14.5 oz each) of diced tomatoes (I used one regular and one with Italian seasonings)
1 (14.5 oz) can of tomato sauce
Water, if needed add a little water to the sauce

Cheese Mixture and Other Cheese:

1 large carton of cottage cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup or a little more of sour cream
1 bunch of green onions chopped

1.5 bags of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup of grated parmesan cheese

Noodles:
1 to 2 packages of lasagna noodles (I used one full package and a little of the 2nd)

For the meat mixture you brown the meat and drain the oil from it. Then add the onion and garlic and sauté for a couples minutes. Then add the remaining ingredients and simmer for at least 45 minutes. Periodically taste it to check for seasonings and adjust as needed.

For the cheese mixture beat the eggs with a fork and then add the cottage cheese, sour cream, and chopped green onions.

Boil the noodles and then rinse with cold water once they are done.

To assemble spray the pan with Pam and then put a layer of noodles on the bottom. Then cover with a layer of meat sauce. Then put spoonfuls of the cheese mixture all over and spread them with the back of a spoon to cover. Then sprinkle the mozzarella and parmesan all over. Top with noodles and repeat. You end with noodles on the top and before you back it you put toothpicks in to keep the noodles from curling up too much. Bake at 350F for 45 to 60 minutes. Bake it uncovered for the first half and then cover it with foil for the remaining time. When it is hot throughout and bubbly it is done.

Successful Sorbet

This weekend was a big weekend, but not for cooking or baking. Cash had his first spend the night company, Hugo. Jess and Scott have been out of town and we kept Hugo Saturday and Sunday. The boys had tons of fun playing together and by Sunday night they were worn out! It was also a big weekend because Allen and Russ got back to their beer brewing. They brewed a couple times last year and picked this Sunday since not much was going on and the weather was perfect to sit outside and brew. The only cooking I did was making pineapple sorbet from a recipe I found on another foodie blog. It was very yummy and easy!

Russ and I got an ice cream maker as a wedding gift and while we hadn’t registered for one we ended up keeping it thinking it would be fun to have around. I made one attempt at making ice cream in it, but I didn’t read the manual in advance to know that I should have frozen the bucket ahead of time. So, the ice cream did not turn out. Now we leave the bucket in the freezer so that it is ready.

To make the pineapple sorbet I bought a fresh pineapple that had already been peeled and cored. It saved some time and made it even easier to prepare. You cut up the pineapple and cook it with the water and sugar. This mixture gets put in the blender with the other ingredients and once blended it goes in the refrigerator to cool. Once cooled it goes in the ice cream maker for about 25 minutes and then into the freezer to harden. After it has been in the freezer for at least two hours it is ready.

Russ and I both really liked it along with Seth and Allen who tried some when they stopped by this weekend. I also sent some up to Mentone with Mom and Dad who loved it. Mom called to tell me that she rates it a 9! It had a light, refreshing texture and flavor that will be great for the hot days of the summer. I definitely think we will use this same recipe again, but we plan to try different fruits in it to vary it up a bit. I think I’ll try a mango or peach version next! Russ rates the pineapple sorbet a 9 too!

Pineapple Sorbet
Servings: 10

Ingredients:
1 medium pineapple (cubed)
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 lime (juice)
2 tbsp. rum
1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. Cut the crown (aka the leaves) and the base off the fruit — what remains should be barrel shaped. Quarter the barrel shaped fruit and then use your knife to cut the core (the woody center) away. Place flat on a board and then run your knife between the fruit and the skin. Slice up the remaining fruit into small pieces.
2. In a large pot over medium heat, add the sliced pineapple, the sugar and the water. Cook for about 15 min. or until the liquid begins to be viscous or the pineapple begins to fall apart.
3. Transfer the mix to a blender. Add the salt, lime juice and rum, and blend (or “blitz,” if that’s your vernacular) for 30 seconds, or until the pineapple is completely broken up. Transfer to the refrigerator and let cool for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
4. Churn your mixture in an ice cream maker according to instructions. Once firm, transfer to the freezer and let finish setting for approximately two hours. Enjoy.

Pizza Night

Since I had lots of leftover homemade ricotta cheese I figured we needed to use some of it in one of our dinners this week. So, we decided to make CL's Basil and Three-Cheese Thin-Crust Pizza from September 2006. Russ and I are working on eating at home more to save money and eat healthier and on working out more. We like to run together and then we both have separate weight routines we like. This morning Russ was good and got up and did his weights and I did not... Being the sweet husband he is he cooked dinner tonight while I worked out. He did an excellent job and I think he enjoyed doing it!

The pizza is fairly simple to make, but does take some time especially since it involves rising time for the dough. We have tried a couple different homemade pizza dough recipes before and this one fell in the same categories as the others - good, but not outstanding. The sauce we did think was really good and while it is called Spicy Pizza Sauce it is not overly spicy. I think that what really made the pizza yummy were the cheese and especially the ricotta. It added both great texture and flavor. I think that store bought ricotta would work well with this, but if you have the time and interest I highly recommend making your own.

We served the pizza with a small Caesar salad and sliced strawberries. Russ did add some pepperoni to his half of the pizza which he thought went well with it. I think we will definitely use ricotta on future pizzas we make. As far as the sauce we will most likely use it again too, but we will continue looking for a better pizza dough recipe. Russ rates tonight's dinner a 8.

Pasta, Cheese and Veggies

Today was a fun filled day in the kitchen for me. There are a few recipes that I have been wanting to try that lend themselves to weekend cooking. Before getting started Russ and I went to the grocery store where we stocked up on lots of dairy products. Russ thinks I am concerned on his calcium intake after seeing what we bought.

The first is a CL recipe from a couple years ago for homemade ricotta cheese. This was super easy and very fun to make. The ricotta turned out really well and had great flavor! All you do is put a gallon of 2% milk and 5 cups of buttermilk in a large pot with a thermometer. You stir it occasionally and watch the temperature. When it reaches 170F you stop stirring and when it reaches 190F you take it off the heat. You then use a slotted spoon to carefully remove all the curds. I discarded the leftover whey, but you could keep it and incorporate it in other recipes (I have heard of using it when baking breads). The curds then drain in cheesecloth and then are lightly salted and fluffed with a fork. While store bought ricotta has good flavor this was hands down much tastier! I definitely think this will be a repeater only next time I'll either half the recipe or make it when Jess is in town to split with her.

The next recipe we tried was for ratatouille. I mentioned in an earlier post that Jess and Scott gave us some wonderful veggies that they didn't have time to use before leaving for Boston, but I didn't mention that she also lent me her Moosewood cookbook with their favorite ratatouille recipe in it. It was easy to prepare and very yummy! While Russ is not a huge fan of eggplant or zucchini he did like it. This will also be repeated. It could easily be a meal in itself if served over rice, but we ended up using it a different way tonight and plan to use it as a side for tomorrow night.

Our last cooking adventure today was a team effort. This is Russ and my second attempt at making homemade pasta. Both times we have tried making homemade ravioli. Tonight's turned out okay, but not great. I have a feeling we are overworking the dough as the pasta when finished is a little tough and thicker than I would like. Jane has offered to come over to help us learn how to make pasta and I think we definitely need to take her up on the offer. We stuffed some of the pasta with ricotta, some with the ratatouille (which we pureed first), and some with sausage. The pasta stuffed with the ratatouille had an excellent flavor, but it was a little soft when purred for a filling. The ricotta worked really well. We will definitely try making homemade pasta again, but hopefully we'll find some time for a tutorial before then! All in all it was a fun day in the kitchen with some yummy results!

Ratatouille ("Moosewood Cookbook" by Mollie Katzen)

4 - 6 servings, 35 - 40 minutes to prepare and simmer

1 medium onion (fist-size), chopped
2 medium bell peppers, in strips or cubes
2 small or 1 medium zucchini, cubed (or summer squash or a combination)
1 small eggplant, cubed
4 cloves crushed garlic
2 medium tomatoes, in chunks
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. each: basil, marjorm
1/2 tsp oregano
dash of ground rosemary
3 Tbs. burgundy (or dry, red wine of your choice)
1/2 cup of tomato juice
2 Tbs. tomato paste
2 tsp. salt (approximately)
black pepper to taste
1/4 cup of olive oil (I used less)
freshly-chopped parsley

Heat olive oil in large, heavy cooking pot. Crush the garlic into the oil. Add bay leaf and onion; salt lightly. Saute over medium heat until onion begins to turn transparent. Add eggplant, wine and tomato juice. Add herbs. Stir to mix well, then cover and simmer 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper, tomatoes and tomato paste. Mix well. Continue to stew until all vegetables are tender. (How tender is tender? Do a taste test and decide what seems right to you.)

Just before serving, mix in the fresh parsley.

Serve on a bed of rice, or in a bowl, accompanied by some good french bread. Top with grated cheese and chopped black olives.

$150 Pancakes!

That's right, this morning I made $150 pancakes! Well, not exactly... I have been pondering getting a large Cuisinart food processor for a little while and I have been wanting to try a pancake recipe out of King Arthur's Whole Grain Baking since I got it for my birthday.... so, I finally decided to use some of the last of our wedding credit at Macy's to get one.

One of my favorites things to do is to have a lazy Saturday morning at home with Russ and Cash. Russ usually sleeps in a little longer than me and I get up and do some fun baking. Lately I have been trying new blueberry muffin recipes, but I decided to try the Orange Cloud Pancakes this morning. They were not too difficult to make, but did require the use of both the new food processor and my Kitchen Aid mixer. While Russ thinks it is ridiculous to use all this equipment to make pancakes when you can add milk to the Bisquick bottle and pour I happen to enjoy it. When I have the time there is nothing I enjoy more than using all my fun kitchen tools.

For this recipe you add all the ingredients except the orange zest and the egg whites to the food processor. You then make the batter and stir in the orange zest. The batter then rests for 10 minutes. I am still new to whole grain baking, but one thing that almost every recipe calls for is a period of rest for the batter or dough. I believe this is to help bring out the flavor. While resting you whip the egg whites until they are stiff and then fold them in the rested batter. I cooked mine on my cast iron griddle which I think adds even more flavor to them.

I really liked the light and fluffy texture that the whipped egg whites added and the orange flavor. Russ, who is not a huge pancake fan, did not find them sweet enough for him and didn't like the orange zest. I don't mind that they are not overly sweet because to me that is what the syrup is for, however, next time I will increase the sugar, decrease the orange zest, and increase the orange juice. Russ didn't want to rate these since he doesn't love pancakes, so I'll rate them an 8.

Orange Cloud Pancakes (King Arthur Whole Grain Baking)

3/4 cup cottage cheese
3 eggs, separated
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon orange juice
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch of ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon orange zest

Place the cottage cheese, egg yolks, melted butter, and orange juice in a food processor, and process until the cottage cheese is smooth, about 30 seconds. Add the flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon and process again. Scrape the mixture into a medium bowl and stir in the orange zest. Let this mixture sit for 10 minutes. In the bowl of your electric mixer, whip the egg whites until they're stiff but not dry. Use a rubber spatula to stir in a spoonful of the whites into the batter to loosen it, and then gently fold in the rest of the whites. The batter does not need to rest; cook the pancakes right away as directed below.

Heat a nonstick griddle if you have one, or a heavy skillet, preferably cast iron. If your surface is not nonstick, brush it lightly with vegetable oil. When the surface of your pan is hot enough that a drop of water sputters across it, give the pan a quick swipe with a paper towel to remove excess oil, and spoon the batter onto the hot surface, 1/3-cupful at a time. Cook the cakes, checking them frequently to be sure they're not browning too quickly. When they're beginning to set, and you see small bubbles starting to form around the edges, flip them and finish cooking until both sides are golden brown. Serve immediately. These pancakes are light and fluffy and do not hold well in the oven. We suggest serving them as soon as they come off the griddle.

Bum Shrimp Recipe

So, tonight we tried another new recipe from the April Cooking Light. Despite the yummy results from last night's dinner tonight's did not get rave reviews. We tried the New Orleans Style Shrimp. It was easy to prepare and clean up, but this was not enough to make up for the mediocre flavor.

To start the dish you prepare a simple marinade and put the shrimp (with the shells on) in it for 30 minutes. Ours ended up marinating a little bit longer because we decided to take Cash on a walk while we waited for them to marinade. Once marinated you put them in foil packets and bake them. I prepared a simple salad with hearts of romaine, grapefruit slices, goat cheese and pecans to go with it. We also served crusty french bread with it per the recipe's recommendation. While it was fun to peal the shrimp since it reminds Russ and me of the summer and being at the beach the shrimp did not have much flavor. In fact we pulled out the cocktail sauce out of the fridge since these needed some help. We dipped our bread in the sauce only to find it bitter and the shrimp were slightly overcooked. This could have been somewhat in part due to the longer marinating time, but I still don't think they would have been much better if we had marinated them for only 30 minutes. Clean up was easy since you just roll up the foil and toss it and there were no pots or pans involved.

All in all this was a bust. Russ rated it a 6 only because of the easy clean up and that it was fun to peal the shrimp. As you can see from Cash's expression in the picture he was even disappointed in it. We will not be trying this recipe again. In fact next time we are in the mood for something similar I'd rather take a little more time and effort and do a small shrimp boil.

A different kind of taco...

Tonight was a big night here for several reasons. First, my sweet husband stopped after work and bought me the new Giada cookbook "Everyday Pasta". I have glanced at it and looks really good, so I look forward to spending more time with it this weekend. Second, Jess and Hugo stopped by and brought us a big bag of veggies from Whole Foods. Scott is running the Boston Marathon on Monday, so since they are leaving town we got their leftover veggies. Hugo and Cash had a wonderful time playing together. The picture below is after they had worn themselves out playing. Lastly, we tried our first recipe out of the April Cooking Light.

I made the Thai Beef Tacos with Lime Cilantro Slaw tonight. You prepare a marinade (that is really more like a rub) for the flank steak and let it sit for at least 20 minutes. While it marinated I made the slaw which came together pretty quickly except for the fact that the grocery store was out of match stick carrots, so I had to slice them myself. Once the meat marinated for a bit I grilled it and finished up the slaw. We served them in flour tortillas with lime wedges on the side.

Both the marinade and the sauce called for a new to us ingredient, fish sauce. I have seen it called for in other Asian recipes, but had not cooked with it before. While it doesn't exactly smell wonderful I think it did add good flavor to the dish. If you have not cooked many Asian dishes before don't get scared away by the ingredient list. Many call for the same ingredients, so if you plan to try other Asian recipes you will wind up using them again.

As far as tonight's dish, we really liked the flavor of the tacos and enjoyed the texture and freshness that the slaw brought to the dish. Another big plus was that these were quick and easy to prepare and did not dirty many dishes. Russ rates the tacos a 9. Tomorrow night we will be trying another new recipe from the April CL. It is very different in flavor and ingredients from tonight's dish, so stay tuned....

Bachelor Night!

Yes, tonight was Bachelor Night! When Elizabeth and I lived together a couple years ago we started watching the Bachelor with Emily each week. We have watched it every season since and now include the husbands and eat dinner together. The new season started tonight and Russ and I brought the side dishes. Elizabeth and Seth served steaks with Bearnaise sauce which were wonderful. I made scalloped potatoes and a salad to accompany the steaks. Emily and Dowe made a yummy appetizer of several cheeses and crackers. They also brought a Ben and Jerry's Chubby Hubby and brownies for dessert!

As for my sides... I have been wanting to make scalloped potatoes for some time now mainly so I can use my mandoline. It is fancy slicer that we got as a wedding gift that I just love. It makes slicing so much fun and keeps the slices consistent in thickness. I didn't have a scalloped potato recipe, so I looked online for one. I ended up not having a lot of time to look for one and picked Tyler Florence's Scalloped Potato Gratin. I thought that overall they turned out well, however, the color of the potatoes changed a little sitting over night. I loved the size of the potato slices thanks to the mandoline. I think the texture from the slices really made the dish (and the heavy cream didn't hurt the flavor!). While I overall liked the dish I think there are probably better recipes out there. Next time I'll try a new recipe and make them the day I am going to serve them.

For the salad I did a simple salad of romaine hearts, sliced apple, crumbled goat cheese, pecans, and my balsamic dressing. This is one of my favorite salads and I change it up using different fruits (such as pears), different nuts (like walnuts) and different cheeses (such as feta). It is really easy and tasty!

We had a wonderful time with everyone and this season's Bachelor looks like it is going to be very entertaining! Next Monday Russ and I are bringing the appetizer and bread to Emily and Dowe's house. I did just get a new appetizer cookbook from our trip to Colorado.... so I may be checking it out this weekend!

There are no pictures yet because Russ and I forgot our camera. However, Seth saved the day and took pictures for us. So, once we get them from him we'll post them.