Early Fall Weekend in Mentone

This weekend Russ, Cash, and I went up to Mentone with Sumner and John. We had a very fun relaxing time! While the boys watched the football games Sumner and I had fun cooking and catching up. For dinner we decided to grill out steaks and serve them with a spinach salad and mushroom risotto.

The spinach salad is a new recipe that Jane made up at the beach over Labor Day. Russ and I really liked it and I have wanted to try it ever since. I decided to make the dressing, candied walnuts, and cook the bacon prior to heading up to Mentone. To make the walnuts you whisk an egg white and then add a little water to it. The walnuts get mixed in the egg white mixture and then get coated in a sugar mixture. The sugar mixture has granulated sugar, brown sugar, a pinch of cayenne, cinnamon, and salt. They then bake at 300 F for 15 minutes. Then you stir them around and let them continue baking for about 15 minutes more. Once cooled then put them in an airtight container. To make the dressing you whisk the mustard with the vinegar and then slowly add the oil whisking as you add it. Lastly you whisk the reserved bacon fat in and season it with salt and pepper to taste. Russ cooked the bacon (we used turkey bacon) for me and then crumbled it. Once in Mentone Sumner and I seasoned the tomatoes and broiled them. We then added part of the bacon and dressing to the spinach and then layered the tomatoes, walnuts, and rest of the bacon on top. I brought basil up with us, but forgot to include it in the spinach mixture. Neither Sumner nor I felt like we missed out on anything by not including it.

This is a great spinach salad that is worth the extra effort to make it. It is wonderful mixture of textures and flavors. You could easily serve this as a main course and serve it with grilled sliced steak or chicken on top. Russ rates the salad a 9.

I have made Giada’s mushroom risotto before and while we liked it I wanted to try a different recipe this time. I found Tyler Florence’s recipe for Mushroom Risotto online that looked like a tasty one to try. To make the risotto you sauté the garlic and part of the onion in one pot and then sauté the rest of the onion in a sauté pan. To the sauté pan you will add the herbs and mushrooms and sauté until the mushrooms are cooked. To the pot you will add the rice and let it become opaque before adding the white wine. Risotto is a slow cooking process (which I love doing when I have the time) where you add warm broth (chicken broth here) to the risotto as it slow cooks and absorbs the liquid. You continue adding the broth ladle by ladle until the rice is fully cooked and not crunchy. Then you add the mushroom mixture to the rice and mix them all together. Lastly you mix in the grated parmesan cheese.

This was a wonderful hearty mushroom risotto that really let the mushrooms and herbs take center stage. I like the overall flavor better than Giada’s and think that this recipe may be my go to recipe for mushroom risotto. It also worked well with the steaks and salad. Russ rates the risotto a 9.

Spinach and Basil Salad with Tomatoes, Candied Walnuts and Warm Bacon Dressing
Fine Cooking Fresh, Fall 2007

Serves four.

½ lb. baby spinach leaves, washed and dried
1 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves, washed and dried
6 slices bacon
2 Tbs. white-wine vinegar
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1/3 cup plus 2 tsp. olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pint grape tomatoes, washed and dried
1 and ½ dried herbes de Provence
½ tsp. dehydrated minced or granulated garlic
Candied Walnuts (see recipe below)

In a large salad bowl, toss the spinach and the basil.

Cut each slice of bacon into thirds. Cook in a medium skillet over medium to medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp; drain on paper towels. Reserve 1 Tbs. of the bacon fat. Crumble the bacon into pieces.

In a medium metal bowl, whisk the vinegar with the mustard. Slowly whisk in 1/3 cup of the oil and then whisk in the 1 Tbs. bacon fat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside in a warm place.

Position an oven rack as close as possible to the broiler element. Put a heavy duty rimmed baking sheet on the rack and heat the broiler to high. Toss the tomatoes with the remaining 2 tsp. olive oil, the herbes de Provence, dehydrated garlic, and ½ tsp of salt. Pour the tomatoes onto the hot pan and broil, stirring occasionally, until the skins are cracked and blistered and the flesh is warmed through, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn off the broiler. Transfer the tomatoes with a slotted spoon to the bowl with the salad dressing. Stir to coat and mix the seasonings into the dressing. Put the bowl in the oven to keep warm until ready to serve.

Just before serving, transfer the tomatoes from the dressing into another bowl with a slotted spoon. Whisk the dressing to recombine. Add half the bacon to the greens. Drizzle with 3 Tbs. of the dressing and toss lightly to coat. Add more dressing only if needed; don’t overdress the salad. Mound the greens on four salad plates. Garnish with the tomatoes, the remaining bacon, and some of the candied walnuts (you’ll have leftovers for snacking). Serve immediately.

Candied Walnuts
Yields about 3 cups.

1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 and ½ Tbs. brown sugar
½ tsp Kosher salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch cayenne
1 large egg white, at room temperature
½ lb. walnut halves

Heat the oven to 300 F. In a small bowl, mix both sugars with the salt, cinnamon, and cayenne. In a large bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy; whisk in 1 Tbs. water until combined. Add the walnuts and stir to coat. Sprinkle on the sugar mixture and stir to distribute evenly.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with a non-stick baking mat or parchment. Spread the sugared nuts in a single layer on the sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, stir the nuts, and continue baking until the nuts smell toasted and the sugar coating is caramelized, about another 15 minutes.

Let the nuts cool on the pan, separating them as they cool. When completely cool, transfer them to an airtight container. They’ll keep for two weeks.

Firey Salmon...

Well, tonight’s dinner turned out to be a little more exciting than I thought it would be. While we have had several kitchen mishaps before including one that where I ended up with stitches and one where the inside of the microwave changed colors permanently and I have set the smoke alarm off on many occasions, however… tonight was our first kitchen fire.

So, we haven’t had fish in a while, so I decided to try an old CL recipe for Bourbon Glazed Salmon. For the salmon you make a marinade of brown sugar, crushed garlic, soy sauce, ginger, and bourbon. The recipe calls to have it marinate for 30 minutes, however, I think it would have been better to let it marinate longer. You then broil the fish for 11 minutes. This is exactly what I did, but I think I had the rack in the oven too close to the boiler because the marinade that had run off the fish caught fire in the last minutes of its cooking. I panicked and opened the oven door only to confirm that the orange I was seeing through the door was in fact flames. Still panicking I ran to get Russ who was outside to help put the fire out. He pulled the baking sheet out and blew out the fire that had by this point mostly put its self out. The fish turned out a little crusty on the top from the flambé, but was still very edible and good. Russ rates the salmon a 7 and I definitely think if I make it again and don’t flambé it that it will get an even higher rating!

My Mom gave us some fresh okra and black eye peas earlier this week that I wanted to have with the salmon tonight. The black eye peas I just cooked on the stove with water, onion, thyme, salt and pepper. The okra I decided to try something a little different and have Russ grill them. There is a restaurant that we like that does okra this way and it is really flavorful. I put them on wooden skewers with four to a skewer and sprinkled them with salt and pepper. Russ grilled them for a couple minutes on each side. Next time I think I’ll have him grill them a little longer as they were not as tender as they probably needed to be, but they were still really tasty and a fun new way to serve okra.

Needless to say cooking is certainly an adventure for Russ and me and tonight was no exception. Let’s just hope that the next time I flambé a dish it will be intentional…

Bachelor Night!

As I mentioned before the new season of the Bachelor starts tonight and we are starting back up our tradition of eating dinner and watching it with Elizabeth, Seth, Emily and Dowe. This week we are in charge of bringing the appetizer and dessert. For the appetizer I decided to go with a recipe out of the new Junior League cookbook that is a real winner and very easy. It is called ….. and is like the “grown up” version of the traditional hot artichoke dip. As for dessert, Emily’s birthday is tomorrow so I wanted to make a birthday cake. Since she is a chocolate fan I decided to go with the cover recipe off of a new cookbook that Russ’ Mom gave me recently for a Devil’s Food Cake with Bittersweet Chocolate Icing.

For the appetizer you mince the garlic and chop the artichoke hearts (I buy them already quartered, so that there is less chopping involved) and sun dried tomatoes. You then mix everything together with the mayonnaise (I use light) and feta. Then put it in a baking dish and let it bake for about 15 minutes at 375F. Serve it hot with crackers, bagel chips, pita chips etc. It is super simple and really yummy! If you are hosting any get togethers or going to any parties where you need to take an appetizer I highly recommend this one. It is a real crowd pleaser! (Nicole – You could make this one very easily.) Russ gives the dip a solid 9.

For the cake I decided to make the cake part yesterday and then make the icing tonight before we go. For the cake you start by letting the butter, eggs, and buttermilk all come to room temperature. (For the eggs you can put them in warm water for about 15 minutes to let them come to room temperature and the others I just let sit on the counter for a while.) While you are waiting on these you can go ahead and sift the flour, salt, and baking soda together. You can also

To make the icing you again let the butter come to room temperature. You then mix it with a rubber spatula in a bowl until it becomes the consistency of mayonnaise. Next you cut the unsweetened chocolate into small pieces and then put it in a bowl. Under the bowl with the chocolate you put a smaller bowl with hot water in it and let the chocolate slowly melt. Once melted you add the eggs to it one by one and then add the vanilla extract. It kind of freaked me out that the recipe called for raw eggs, but the author said that as long as you handle the eggs properly and buy them from a reputable source you should be fine. Russ also said that he has eaten plenty of cookie dough and batter before and has always been fine and I guess I have too. So, I got over the freak out and added confectioners sugar (that had been sifted) to the chocolate little by little until it is all mixed. Then I took part of the chocolate mixture to the butter and mixed them together. I then added the chocolate / butter mixture back to the rest of the chocolate mixture and mixed them all together. I then iced the cake by putting one layer on the cake stand and icing its top and placing the other layer on and icing the top and sides.

I thought the cake turned out pretty well. The cake part was moist and had a nice mild chocolate flavor to it. The icing I thought was fantastic with a wonderful bittersweet flavor to it. I really thought the icing outshone the cake part. Everyone loved it and gave it a 10, but Russ felt like the birthday cake I made for him is even better, so he gave tonight’s cake a 9.

Elizabeth and Seth were in charge of the entree and did marinated rib eye steaks. The marinade had a wonderful flavor to it! Emily and Dowe handled the vegetables doing corn on the cob and steamed broccoli with a yummy bernaise sauce. It paired really well with the steaks and the bernaise sauce make a fantastic finishing touch. It was a fun night with good friends and this season of the Bachelor looks like it is going to be very entertaining!

Hot Feta Cheese and Artichoke Dip, Tables of Content JLB
Serves 8

4 oz oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and rinsed
1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
8 oz feta cheese, crumbled
1 cup mayonnaise
2 garlic cloves, minced

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Pat the sun-dried tomatoes dry with a paper towel and chop. Combine the tomatoes, artichokes, cheese, mayonnaise, and garlic in a bowl and mix well. Spoon the artichoke mixture into a shallow 1 and 1/2 quart baking dish and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until bubbly; do not overbake. Serve with bagel chips and / or thin plain crackers.

(Cake recipe will be posted soon.)

Back in the Kitchen Again

After being away from the kitchen for most of this month I started to make up for it this weekend cooking on Friday night and then spending a lot of today in the kitchen too. When I talked to Jess earlier this week she was telling me about Scott and her menu for a brunch they were hosting on Sunday (today). She already had several great menu items, but she wanted a veggie to round it out. I offered to take on the veggie because I have wanted to try Ina Garten’s Spinach Pie for a while now. In addition to the Spinach Pie I wanted to make the first pot of chili for the season. Russ seemed to think I was jumping the gun since it is still warm out, but it is technically Fall now… Lastly I started a baking project that is for tomorrow night’s Bachelor. That’s right a new season starts tomorrow night and Emily, Dowe, Elizabeth, Seth, Russ and I are back to our Bachelor Nights! I am in charge of the appetizer and dessert, but you’ll have to wait until later for the rest of the details!

First up is the Spinach Pie. Ina describes the inside as all the yummy tastes and flavors that you find in spanakopita, but with more of it. You start by sautéing chopped yellow onion in olive oil. Once it is done you mix in the salt and pepper and set it aside to cool. You then drain the defrosted spinach and put it in a bowl. Then add the onions, egg, nutmeg, Parmesan cheese, feta, breadcrumbs, nutmeg, and pine nuts to the spinach and carefully mix it all together. You then butter the pan and place the phyllo in it brushing each layer with melted butter. Then put the spinach mixture into the phyllo covered pan and fold the phyllo over. I needed to add more phyllo to cover the top of the mixture. Then brush the top with melted butter and bake for 1 hour at 375F.

This turned out really yummy! I only have a picture of the outside since I took it over to Jess and Scott’s for their brunch where it received good reviews. It has the wonderful flavor similar to spanakopita only more complex. It is served at room temperature, so it would be great to make for company since you could make it earlier and let it slowly cool while you finish the rest of the meal. This will definitely be repeated! Jess rates it a 9. (A quick thank you to Jess for standing in as the blog rater for this dish. Russ only had one bite and it was too early in the morning for spinach for him, so he passed on rating it.)

Once I delivered the Spinach Pie I came home to start the chili. The last couple times I have made chili I have used an old CL recipe for All-American Chili. While I am not sure it will be my forever recipe I do really like the flavor and texture. Until I find a recipe that catches my eye more than this one it is my go to recipe for chili.

You start by sautéing the turkey sausage (casing removed), ground beef, onions, green pepper, garlic, and jalapeno (from our garden). Once the meat is cooked and the veggies are tender then you add chili powder, brown sugar, tomato paste, cumin, bay leaves, dried oregano, salt, and pepper. Mix the seasonings in and let them cook for about a minute. Then add the wine, tomatoes (I use 1 [28 oz] can of crushed tomatoes and 1 [28 oz] can of diced tomatoes), and the beans (which I drained and rinsed first). Bring this to a boil and then down to a simmer for at least one hour. Check it for seasoning as it may need a little more salt and pepper (especially if you use the no salt added tomatoes). Like any chili it is always better the next day. I served the chili with corn bread and toppings (sour cream, shredded cheese, diced onion, oyster crackers etc.).

This is exactly what its name says All-American Chili. It is a good solid recipe that we have enjoyed for a couple seasons now. Russ rates the chili a 8.

Spinach Pie, by Ina Garten

(Serves 6 – 8)

3 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 and 1/2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
3 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
6 extra-large eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons grated nutmeg
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons dry plain breadcrumbs
1/2 lb feta cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup pine nuts (pignoli)
1/4 lb salted butter, melted
6 sheets phyllo dough, defrosted

Preheat the over to 375 degrees.

In a medium sauté pan on medium heat, sauté the onions with the olive oil until translucent and slightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the salt and pepper and allow to cool slightly. Squeeze out and discard as much of the liquid from the spinach as possible. Put the spinach into a bowl and then gently mix in the onions, egg, nutmeg, Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, feta and pignoli.

Butter an ovenproof, non-stick, 8-inch sauté pan and line it with 6 stacked sheets of phyllo dough, brushing each with melted butter and letting the edges hang over the pan. Pour the spinach mixture into the middle of the phyllo and neatly fold the edges up and over the top to seal in the filling. Brush the top well with melted butter.

Bake for 1 hour, until the top is golden brown and the filling is set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Serve at room temperature.

Sicilian Style Chicken

The past few weeks we have been eating out more than we normally do. So this Friday night instead of going out to eat we decided to cook and eat at home. I decided to try a new recipe out of the September Cooking Light since I just got the October issue and haven’t cooked out of the September one yet. I wanted a chicken dish and decided on the Sicilian Chicken because of the simplicity of the recipe and all the yummy ingredients that go into the sauce.

To make this dish you start by pounding the chicken. I have found that the easiest way for me to pound chicken is to put it in a large zip lock bag and pound away. I used to use wax paper, but it would tear on me. This method has become my preferred way for cooking whole chicken breasts on the stove because having the same thickness (post pounding) allows it to cook evenly which helps me to not over cook it. Once pounded you sprinkle it with salt and pepper and then dredge the breasts in flour. They are then added to a hot pan that has a little olive oil and cook for a couple minutes on each side. Once they are partially cooked you add the wine, tomatoes, olives, raisins, and balsamic vinegar. This cooks for a few minutes while the sauce reduces and the chicken finishes cooking. Lastly you add the fresh basil and then serve. I served it over orzo with a side of steamed broccoli.

Russ and I really enjoyed the flavors of this dish. We tend to really like the combination of tomatoes and green olives and then when you mix in golden raisins, basil, wine and balsamic vinegar it just becomes even better. This was a very flavorful dinner that came together quickly with not too much effort. Russ rates it a 10! I followed the recipe as is except that I only cooked two chicken breasts.

Meat and Veggies

Russ and I wanted to take advantage of the nice weather and our new patio and cook out tonight. For some reason we have several cans of beer in the fridge right now, so we decided to do Beer Can Chicken. Earlier today I had been thumbing through several of my cookbooks and landed on an asparagus recipe of Ina Garton’s that we have not tried before that looked simple and tasty. It is for Parmesan Roasted Asparagus. Russ requested black eye peas, so that with sliced fresh strawberries rounded out our meal.

For the Beer Can Chicken (also known as Drunk Chicken) Russ rubbed some of his latest spice mixture that he used with his ribs on the outside and under the skin. He then stuck several rosemary sprigs in the beer and put it on the Egg for about two hours. I know I have mentioned before how much we like cooking with whole chickens and this is another great way to use one. You can pretty much do whatever you like to the chicken as far as seasoning it. We have used salt, pepper and the beer before and it turns out flavorful and moist. I would recommend being liberal with your seasoning on and under the skin. With Russ’ spice blend we both agreed that next time it would be better to let it hang out for a couple hours with the spices on it to absorb more of the flavor. The chicken turned out very moist and tasty tonight.

We both love asparagus and despite having several recipes we love for it I am always up for a new one. This recipe is not that different from ones we have tried before, however, we have not used Parmesan cheese on it before. Thinking back on it now I am not quite sure why we haven’t because the saltiness of the Parmesan worked really well with the asparagus. For this recipe you put the asparagus on a baking sheet and drizzle them with olive oil, salt and pepper. They then roast in a 400 F oven for about 10 to 15 minutes. When you pull them out you sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over them and pop them back in the oven for another minute. The result was delicious. Russ rates the asparagus a 9.

Our kitchen has been pretty dormant this month and this week is unfortunately not going to break that trend. I am busy every night after work this week, so there won’t be much action in our kitchen for the next few days. Russ has offered to cook one night this week (as he did last week – which was yummy!), so I am looking forward to seeing and tasting what he makes.

(Cash is hanging out in the Bobcat that did some of the work on our backyard.)

Ready for Fall

Russ and I got back from the beach with his family last night and we ended up with 3 lbs of fresh shrimp and two new cook books! I was too tired when we got back last night to cook, so instead we picked up take out Chinese and are cooking some of the shrimp tonight. There are so many yummy shrimp recipes that I want to try that Russ and I spent part our trip back deciding between the top two. The winner is Rigatoni with Squash and Prawns from an episode of Giada’s show “Everyday Italian” that I caught a couple weeks ago. Butternut squash is one of my favorite foods, so when I saw her make the pasta sauce out of the squash I was sold. Now with fresh shrimp at home this is the perfect opportunity to give this recipe a try.

To make this dish you start by cutting the butternut squash into 1 inch cubes. This is easier said than done as I find it tough to cut the thick skin of the squash, but it is well worth the work. The best way I have found it to cut of the ends to get it flat on both ends and then stand it up. Start at the top and run your knife down it to “peel” it. Once the peel is off scoop out the seeds and cube the flesh. Then sauté the squash cubes in oil with garlic, salt, and pepper for several minutes. Once the squash is tender add the vegetable broth and bring it to a simmer. Continue to let this cook until the squash is very soft. Once the squash is very soft then remove the mixture from the pan and puree it using a blender, food processor, or my favorite the hand blender. While you are making the squash mixture go ahead and get your water boiling for the pasta and cook the pasta. Once the squash mixture is pureed you are ready to cook the shrimp. Add olive oil to the pan and sprinkle the shrimp with salt and pepper and then sauté them for just a couple minutes. I used my new peperoncino oil when sauteing the shrimp for extra flavor. Once the pasta is drained add it to the pan with the squash sauce and add the milk (I used half and half instead of whole milk). I also added some red pepper flakes to give it a little heat. Once the consistency is good then add the basil, cheese and shrimp and cook over low heat until everything is combined and warm.

I decided to keep the side really simple tonight so I went with mixed greens with balsamic vinaigrette (just mix olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt together in a bowl and give it a good whisk and taste).

We really liked this pasta dish as something different from a tomato or cream based sauce. The sauce was creamy and fairly mild, but the heat from the peperoncino oil (thank you Jess and Scott) and red pepper flakes helped. I was a little concerned that the basil wouldn't work as well as sage might, but I liked the basil with the other flavors. The shrimp were tasty and worked well with the rest of the flavors. We still felt like it was missing something to give it a little more flavor and color. While we really liked the butternut squash sauce in this dish we will probably make a different dish next time we are craving butternut squash. Russ rates the dish a 9.

This is the first of many butternut squash dishes for us this season. I love Fall and all the yummy soups, breads, vegetables, and hearty dishes that go with it. Even though I know we still have more hot weather in store for us I am ready for the cooler days of Fall and all the cooking and baking that goes with it. I am also excited to try new recipes out of my new cookbooks and do some fun game day food now that it is football season. While we have dinner plans out the rest of this week and I have volunteer work at night the next two weeks I plan to be back in the kitchen full force soon enough.

A big thanks to Jason, Mary Margaret, and Jane who stopped to pick up the shrimp on their way back from the beach!