Reba's Adventures in Cooking

A Quick and Tasty Pasta Dish

2009-08-02T21:11:00.007-05:00

Recently I have managed to catch several of Giada and Ina’s shows on the Food Network. I really haven’t seen either of them in a while, so I really enjoyed seeing what they were cooking. Giada had one episode for quick and easy meals for a busy day. Well, Russ and I have lately wanted to eat at home more and I am always looking for a quick, easy, and tasty new meal. She made a one-dish meal of Ravioli with Arugula, Tomatoes, and Pancetta. I decided to make it the next night since I knew I had a lot to do during the day and wouldn’t have a lot of time for cooking that night.

To make the pasta dish you start by slicing the pancetta into small pieces and frying it in a skillet until it is crispy. Once it is done drain it onto a plate with paper towels. Meanwhile start the water for cooking the pasta and add the ravioli once it has come to a boil (I always salt my pasta water). Next add olive oil and the tomatoes (which are drained). I also added a couple cloves of diced fresh garlic. Then add the basil and arugula. The grocery store didn’t have just arugula, so I went with baby spinach instead. Gently toss the spinach as it wilts, so that it mixes in with everything else. Next add salt, pepper, and butter. Once it has all cooked together for a few minutes add the pancetta back in and then the cooked ravioli. Add a little more butter and carefully toss the pasta into the tomato / arugula mixture. Serve immediately.

This was a very simple and quick meal to put together. It only has a few ingredients yet the flavor is fantastic. It really exceeded my expectations. I told Russ that I obviously thought it would be good (or I wouldn’t have tried it), but I certainly had not thought it would be as flavorful as it turned out to be. I love the combination of spinach, tomatoes, and basil. We also both enjoyed the cheese ravioli which I haven’t bought since I was in graduate school. I also imagine that if you have children you could serve them some of the ravioli with just the tomatoes or with just Parmesan cheese on top if they are not interested in the spinach etc. All in all this was a tasty dish that will definitely be repeated in our house. Russ rates it an 8. (The picture of Cash is from the beach earlier this summer. He is a beach bum!)

Don't Faint... I think I am back to blogging!

2009-07-27T20:56:00.007-05:00

So, to say it has been awhile since I last posted is probably a little bit of an understatement. It has essentially been nine months… I have been cooking though, but I have also been busy with taking a few classes for my certification, sleeping during most of my first trimester, among other things. Thankfully I am now done with classes and have most of my energy back. I wish I had posted over the last months because I know I made several dishes that we loved including some new cookie recipes for Christmas, new Indian dishes… and I don’t remember the names to even post the recipes. Alas, I hopefully to pick back up with cooking, baking, and blogging now.

The most recent season of The Bachelorette finished up on Monday night and we had quite the meal to celebrate the end of a mediocre show (this season was fairly boring until the end) and several weeks of yummy meals and fun times with good friends and their pups. Seth and Elizabeth out did themselves with a surf and turf entrée consisting of petite fillets, grilled shrimp, and homemade crab cakes. Emily and Dowe did tasty sides of baked potatoes (with all the fixings) and asparagus. Russ and I followed up this fancy meal with a rather plain, but still yummy dessert. Since I am back to blogging I am also finally finding time to catch up on other food blogs that I enjoy reading, including Smitten Kitchen. I knew that I wanted to do something that involved the fresh Mentone blueberries Russ and I picked with his family the other weekend. I didn’t want to do the obvious blueberry cobbler though. I remembered seeing a blueberry dessert on Smitten Kitchen recently and went back to find where she made Blueberry Boy Bait. It is apparently based on an older recipe that a young girl submitted to a contest and won. She named it because of its effect on boys. Well, since we are watching The Bachelorette it sounded like the perfect fit.

To make the Blueberry Boy Bait you combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt) together in a bowl. Using an electric mixer you beat the sugars and softened butter together until they are light and fluffy. Next you add the eggs one at a time while the mixer is still going. Next you lower the speed of the mixer and add 1/3 of the flour of mixture until it is combined. Then add half the milk followed by half of the remaining flour mixture, the remaining milk, and lastly the remaining flour mixture. Once it is all combined you fold in ½ cup of blueberries. Pour the batter into a greased baking dish. Then combine the sugar, cinnamon, and another ½ cup of blueberries and sprinkle it evenly over the top of the batter. Put it in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center. Let it cool and then cut it into squares and serve.

This was a simple, but tasty summer cake. It really would work just as well (maybe even better) as a coffee cake in the morning as opposed to dessert. It was not an over the top cake, but for the ease of preparation and amount of time it is winner for simple blueberry cake. The only change I would make next time is either increasing the cinnamon in the topping by a pinch or adding a little cinnamon to the batter. It really is perfectly fine without upping the cinnamon, but I love a little spice in my cakes. It would be an easy coffee cake to take for a weekend trip with friends. Overall I was pleased with the dessert and while Russ didn’t feel any strong effects from it he did like it and rates it an 8.

Election Night Chicken

2008-11-04T20:40:00.001-06:00

Lately I have had a hankering for chicken piccata, so tonight I decided to do a repeat of Ina Garten's chicken picatta that I made before here. I tend to not repeat many recipes as there are always so many new ones that I want to try, however, tonight I decided to go back to one that we enjoyed once before since I knew it was quick, easy, and tasty. One of the things I love about chicken piccata is the tang and bright fresh flavor from the lemon and that was what I was really craving. It was also a perfect meal for tonight since it is quick with it being election night. We ended up with plenty of time to not only enjoy a home cooked meal, but also watch all the exciting election coverage. Tonight's repeat chicken piccata was just as yummy as the last time we had it! A wonderful repeat. Russ gives it a 9 once again.

Our Old Favorite Stir Fry

2008-10-23T21:06:00.002-05:00

Recently I talked about how my sister made the comment that I was fairly critical of stir fry recipes and I admitted that she is right (see this post). I mention that there is a recipe that there is an older Cooking Light stir fry recipe that we love that we used to make frequently and then for some reason have not made since I started blogging. Well, tonight I decided to revisit it to see if we still love it like we remember and in hopes of blogging about a chicken stir fry recipe that we really love. The recipe is for Kung Pao Chicken.

To make the Kung Pao chicken you start by adding a little bit of oil a non-stick skillet or a wok if you happen to have one. Then add the broccoli florets and some of the ginger and saute for a couple of minutes. Then add just a little bit of water and cover the pan and let the broccoli stem until it is done like you like it. For stir fries I like to have my vegatables slightly on the crunchy side. Then remove the broccoli from the pan and set aside. Add the rest of the oil to the pan along with the remaining ginger, crushed red pepper and chicken. Saute for a couple of minutes. While the chicken is cooking add the chicken broth, hoisen sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, cornstarch, and minced garlic to a bowl and wisk it all together. Then add the sauce to the pan and let it cook for about a minute until it thickens. Then add the broccoli and toss it to mix everything together and coat it with the sauce. Serve over hot rice and top with peanuts. I did make two additions to the recipe by adding bamboo shoots and onions to it. I love both bamboo shoots and onions and think they work well with the broccoli and add a little complexity and more texture to the dish. Also, the pictures are of Russ' plate without peanuts since he doesn't care for them in his food; I on the other hand love the crunch and saltiness that they add.

I absolutely love this simple stir fry. It takes little preparation, cooks quickly and is an entire meal in and of itself. Now, if you don't happen to keep ingredients like hoisen sauce, rice wine vinegar and ginger around I don't want this to turn you off from this recipe. When I first started cooking I wanted to try different Asian recipes, but was concerned that I would end up with a fridge and pantry full of bottles of sauces that I would never use again. Well, I finally bit the bullet and bought hoisen sauce and made this recipe. I now have a pantry and fridge full of Asian ingredients that all get used frequently. Back to my review... I really enjoy the slightly sweet, yet spicy sauce in this dish. The sauce really makes this for me and is part of why I am often critical of sauces in other stir fries. I think this sauce is incredibly well balanced with a hint of sweet from the hoisen sauce and a punch of flavor from the garlic and rounded out with a kick from the crushed red pepper. We usually serve this over brown rice, but tonight we used white as we were out of brown. Both work well, but we prefer the brown as white tends to be fairly bland. Russ rates this a 9.

Since Cash has not made an appearance on the blog in far too long here are a few new ones of him including one in his Halloween costume!

Chef Russ

2008-10-22T21:50:00.002-05:00

While I do most of the cooking in our house, Russ is very involved. He does all the grilling, dishes, pictures for the blog and sometimes he takes the reigns and cooks the entire meal. Tonight was one of those nights when I had a meeting after work and knew I would come home hungry, too tired to cook, yet wanting a home cooked meal. Enter the sweetest husband ever who cooked up his new specialty that he has made once before for me, Pasta Puttanesca while I was at my meeting.

Russ loves this recipe because not only does it taste great, but he says it is fairly simple to prepare and all the ingredients are ones that almost always have in the pantry. I love it because it is delicious and required no effort on my part. It has great flavor from the capers and garlic, a nice kick from the fresh cayenne peppers from our garden, and fantastic color and texture from the olives. The tomatoes still take center stage and are just amplified by all the other tasty ingredients. I give it a 10 and Russ rates it a 9.

Tagine Night

2008-10-20T21:26:00.004-05:00

Some weeks I have more recipes I want to try than nights for cooking and then there are other weeks where I am just at a loss as to what to cook. This week fell into the latter category. So, I started perusing some of my cookbooks, magazines, and several websites looking for some inspiration. I ended up finding it online at Cooking Light’s website. I love my tagine that Russ gave me for Christmas, so when I ran across a recipe that not only used my tagine, but also sounded super tasty I was sold. So, tonight we tried an older CL recipe for Chicken Tagine with Lemons and Olives.

To start with you let the chicken marinate in a little bit of lemon juice for about 30 minutes. I did use boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead of thighs since I had some in the freezer that needed to be used. Once they have marinated then I cut them into large pieces and tossed them in the flour. Then I sprinkled the spice mixture (salt, pepper, cayenne, and tumeric) over them. Next you add a little oil to pan and brown the chicken on both sides. The chicken does not need to be cooked all the way through at this point, but I wanted it mostly cooked. Then set it aside and add a little more oil to the pan and sauté the onions, garlic, and ginger until they are soft. Next add the olives, lemon rind, cinnamon stick, and chicken to the pan. Finally add the chicken broth and bring it to a boil. Once it is boiling then you reduce the heat to a simmer and put the top on and let it slowly simmer away for about an hour. Once it is done you add the cilantro to it, however, I forgot to do this so we just topped ours with the cilantro. I served it over cous cous with a side of steamed broccoli.

This was very tasty and flavorful. I really liked the subtle lemon flavor and the tang from the green olives. It makes plenty of sauce which I liked and it was nice to put over the cous cous which soaked it up. The chicken was tender and flavorful. We both really enjoyed this recipe and while I did feel like I used a million bowls and plates while I was preparing it overall it was fairly simple to make. Russ rates the dish a 9.

Not quite vegetarian...

2008-10-08T21:19:00.003-05:00

We recently went to the beach with some friends and on the way down Russ and I stopped and had dinner at a cute place in Milton, Florida. Russ ordered red beans and rice for dinner and it took me a little by surprise. You see I tend to think of red beans and rice as a vegetarian dish. One that I love, but that Russ would be underwhelmed by its lack of meat; however, what I forget is that it doesn’t have to be vegetarian in fact it usually isn’t. Russ and I both love beans, so I decided to put red beans and rice on the menu soon.

I didn’t have a recipe, so I went online and found an Emeril recipe that looked very tasty. It starts with dried red beans that I soaked in water overnight. When you are ready to get started drain the beans and set them aside. To get started you add bacon grease to the pan. I did this by cooking a couple pieces of bacon in the pan and removing it while leaving its grease. Next you add the onions, green pepper, and celery to the pot and season them with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Let the vegetables cook until they are soft. You can also add tasso ham as the recipe calls for, but I couldn’t find it and just left it out. Once the vegetables are soft you add the bay leaves, sausage (I used turkey sausage), parsley, thyme and ham hocks and let it brown for a couple of minutes.

In case you are waiting for me to say that I left out the ham hocks I’ll explain how Russ made sure they were included. I looked for them at the grocery store and I really did look, but I couldn’t find them anywhere. So, I called Russ on my way home to tell him that there was no ham hock in the store and I didn’t have time to stop anywhere else to look for it. Well, Russ absolutely hates going to the grocery store, but in this case he loves his pork enough that he stops on his way home and finds the smoked ham hock. So, thanks to Russ we did include the ham hocks. Back to the recipe… you then add the garlic and let it cook for a minute. Next add the beans and stock (I used homemade chicken stock). Bring it all to a boil and then lower the temperature to bring it to a simmer and leave it uncovered to simmer for about two hours. After two hours, mash about a ¼ of the beans against the side of the pot and then let it continue to simmer for about 15 or 20 more minutes until it is creamy and the beans are tender. Serve over rice and top with green onion slices.

This was very tasty. The beans had nice flavor that was both smoky and savory. The sausage complemented the beans well without trying to compete or overpower them. The beans were rather thick and somewhat creamy. I especially loved the green onions as a garnish. They not only added a punch of color, but also added a nice fresh flavor to it. Russ and I both felt like despite the beans soaking overnight and simmering for almost 2 and half hours that they still could have cooked for longer to be a little more tender. Russ also said he would have preferred if the bean mixture had not been quite so thick. Next time I can change this by not mashing the beans and by adding more stock as the mixture cooks. Overall we both thought it had wonderful flavor and was tasty meal. Russ rates it a 9.

Red Beans and Rice, Emeril Lagasse 2001

Yield: 8 servings

1 lb. dried red beans, rinsed and sorted over
3 tablespoons bacon grease
¼ cup chopped tasso or chopped ham
1 and ½ cups chopped yellow onions
¾ cups chopped celery
¾ cup chopped green bell peppers
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch cayenne
3 bay leaves
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
½ lb smoked sausage, split in half lengthwise and cut into 1 inch pieces
1lb. smoked ham hocks
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
10 cups chicken stock, or water
4 cups cooked white rice
1/4 cup chopped green onions, garnish

Place the beans in a large bowl or pot and cover with water by 2 inches. Let soak for 8 hours or overnight. Drain and set aside.

In a large pot, heat the bacon grease over medium-high heat. Add the tasso and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the onions, celery and bell peppers to the grease in the pot. Season with the salt, pepper, and cayenne, and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are soft, about 4 minutes. Add the bay leaves, parsley, thyme, sausage, and ham hocks, and cook, stirring, to brown the sausage and ham hocks, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the beans and stock or water, stir well, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender and starting to thicken, about 2 hours. (Should the beans become too thick and dry, add more water, about 1/4 cup at a time.)

Remove from the heat and with the back of a heavy spoon, mash about 1/4 of the beans against the side of the pot. Continue to cook until the beans are tender and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and remove the bay leaves. Serve over rice and garnish with green onions.

Leftovers Recreated

2008-10-06T21:09:00.001-05:00

Now that it is October and January was months ago my poor New Year’s resolutions have been a bit forgotten. If you happen to remember they were to cook from some of the neglected cookbooks that are on my shelf and to create my own recipes. Tonight I somewhat resurrected my resolutions by creating my own quesadilla recipe. Apparently the only things so far this year that I am creating on my own are quesadilla recipes, but to my credit both have been very good.

Tonight I had several tasty leftover ingredients in the fridge that I didn’t want to go to waste, so I decided to combine them all for a tasty quick dinner. The ingredients I had were fresh spinach, goat cheese, and grilled chicken all of which go together really well. I sautéed the spinach with a little bit of chopped onion until it was wilted. Next I took the tortilla and put it in the nonstick skillet that I coated with cooking spray and layered the spinach, goat cheese, and chicken on top. I then topped it with a little more cheese and another tortilla. I let it cook until everything was heated through, the cheese had melted, and it was a browned on both sides. I served it with salsa and sour cream.

This was a super fast meal that was very tasty. The goat cheese complements both the spinach really well and the chicken adds a heartiness to the meal. I love fresh spinach and it cooks so fast and is such a beautiful color that it really makes the meal. These could not have been easier and while far from gourmet they were a perfect quick weeknight dinner. Russ rates the quesadillas an 8.

Ready for Fall

2008-10-02T21:24:00.003-05:00

I love Fall and I get so excited about it every year and am just waiting for it to turn cool and crisp outside, so that I can make warm soups, chilies, and all the other yummy Fall and Winter dishes that I love! Like every year in the past I get impatient and at some point decide that while it is not as cool and crisp out as I would like that it is cool enough and I make my first soup, chili or stew of the season. The September issue of Cooking Light had a fantastic chili section that included a Venison, Sausage, and Black Bean Chili recipe. It just so happens that I still have a freezer full of venison and am still not quite sure what to do with it. So, this recipe kills two birds with one stone by fulfilling my burning desire to go ahead and declare it soup / stew / chili season and a way to use up some of the venison that has taken over our freezer.

To make the chili you heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and coat it with cooking spray. You then remove the sausage from the casing and add it along with the onion and garlic to the pan. I could not find spicy chicken sausage, so I went with spicy turkey sausage instead. Next add the venison to pan and cook until it is browned. I used ground venison instead of loin since we have lots of ground venison and both Russ and I prefer ground meat in our chili. Next stir in the tomato paste and let it cook for a couple of minutes. Then add the chicken broth, tomato (I used two cans of diced tomatoes), ancho chile powder, water, salt, and cumin to the pot. Cover the pot and let it simmer for about an hour. Then stir in the black beans and let it continue to cook for ten minutes until it is heated through. Check for seasoning and add salt if needed. Serve toped with goat cheese and jalapeño slices.

This was a very simple and easy chili to make in fact I made it on a weeknight and usually I save dishes like this for a weekend when I have longer for it to simmer. The venison gave it a nice flavor and worked really well with the black beans. I didn’t have a lot of ancho chile powder left, so I used some chipotle chile powder too. The combination worked well adding a nice level of heat and smokiness to it. I especially loved topping it with goat cheese. This was a nice way of balancing out the heat and adding some creaminess to it. This was a nice change for us from just the traditional chili I usually make. I really liked it, but both Allen and Russ thought it was excellent! Russ rates it a 9.

Venison, Sausage, and Black Bean Chili, Cooking Light September 2008
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup chili and 1 tablespoon crumbled goat cheese)

1/4 pound spicy chicken sausage
Cooking spray
2 cups chopped onion (about 2 medium)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound boneless venison loin, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup chopped plum tomato (about 2 medium)
1 cup water
2 tablespoons ancho chile powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled goat cheese
Jalapeño pepper slices (optional)

Remove casings from sausage. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add sausage, onion, and garlic to pan; sauté minutes or until onion is tender, stirring to crumble sausage. Add venison; cook 4 minutes or until venison is browned. Stir in tomato paste; cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chicken broth and next 5 ingredients (through cumin), scraping pan to loosen browned bits; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour and 15 minutes or until venison is tender. Stir in black beans; cook 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Top each serving with crumbled goat cheese. Serve with jalapeño slices, if desired.

A Big Hit with No Meat!

2008-09-30T21:13:00.002-05:00

Every now and then my meat loving husband will agree to a vegetarian meal if enough cheese is involved. Tonight was one of those rare occasions. Whenever I go through a new issue of Cooking Light I dog ear the pages of recipes that catch my eye. In the September issue this was one that not only did I dog ear, but also I kept coming back to each time I flipped through it. The recipe is for Ziti with Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes, and Gorgonzola Sauce. Russ and I both love macaroni and cheese and Cooking Light touts this recipe as a grown up version by showcasing the pungent flavor of gorgonzola cheese.

To make this dish you start by heating the water and cooking the pasta. This dish comes together so fast that you have to start the pasta first or you will be sitting around waiting on it. Then heat olive oil in a pan and add the cherry tomatoes, crushed red pepper, salt, and garlic. Once they have cooked for a minute or two then add the half and half and gorgonzola cheese and cook it for about two minutes while stirring constantly. Once it has thickened some add the spinach and allow it to wilt. Drain the pasta and then add the pasta to the pan with the sauce and mix to combine. Serve immediately.

This could not have been any quicker or easier to make. The most time consuming part is literally boiling the water for the pasta and cooking the pasta. This is a great weeknight dinner when you don’t have a lot of time or just don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. It is also a great one dish meal since it includes your veggies. The strong pungent flavor of the gorgonzola is fantastic and creamy. The sauce while still being light is rich and wonderful. The spinach and cherry tomatoes add beautiful colors to the dish and great, fresh flavors. We both thoroughly enjoyed this dish and it will definitely be repeated in our house. Russ rates it a 10.

Crazy about Squash

2008-09-22T21:45:00.005-05:00

As you know I always love getting a new cooking magazine in the mail, however, this one was squeal worthy! Quite literally as I flipped through it I was squealing with delight over all the delicious recipes and was beyond thrilled to see a fantastic squash section. You see I didn’t like squash growing up because I thought it was all yellow squash and zucchini, neither of which I liked as a child. Since then I have not only grown to love both yellow squash and zucchini, but also to realize that there are so many other fantastic squashes out there that I absolutely love! After the first time I cooked with a butternut squash my cooking world was shaken. It is a totally different kind of squash then what I had known before and I loved everything about it. Well, tonight I tried a new to us squash, spaghetti squash, and I absolutely loved it!

Tonight I made Fine Cooking’s Spaghetti Squash with Indian Spices. To make the squash you start out by cutting it into half lengthwise and roasting it. This was the hardest part. I have had trouble cutting a butternut squash before and my hand was sore for a day after cutting and peeling a pumpkin, but this spaghetti squash would not budge for me. We ended up eating later tonight than planned because I had to wait until Russ got home for him to cut it in half. Now don’t let this turn you off from this recipe or any squash recipe for that matter as I now have a new trick. Literally the next day I was reading more of the articles from this issue and in the back it includes tips for cutting squashes and tells you to prick it with a fork in several places all over and microwave it for just a minute or so and let is soften just a bit so that it will cut easier. Anyway, once cut in half you scoop out the seeds and roast it at 350 for about an hour. Then remove it from the oven and let it cool slightly. Then use a fork and rake out the flesh into strands. While the squash is cooling I added oil to a skillet and put the mustard seeds in and covered it. The seeds pop and once the popping has died down then you uncover it and add the butter. Next add the onion, ginger, cumin (I used ground as I couldn’t find the seeds), and coriander and let cook until the onion is soft. Next add the tomato (I used canned petite diced tomatoes) and chile to the dish. Next toss in the squash and finally season with salt and toss in the cilantro.

This was fantastic! I absolutely loved the soft, warm Indian spices and the mild, delicious flavor of the spaghetti squash. The texture of the squash with the soft onions and tomatoes was perfect. This is one of my top ten favorite dishes I have ever made. I could have eaten a bowl of it with nothing else for dinner and been beyond thrilled. Russ liked the dish, but was not as crazy about it like I was. The main reason that Russ didn’t care for it as much as he felt like it had too strong of a squash flavor. In reality it is a mild squash, however, Russ strongly prefers the flavor of sweeter squashes such as butternut, pumpkin and acorn, so to him this was too “squashy”. Russ gives it an 8, while I give it a strong 10.

Spaghetti Squash with Indian Spices, Fine Cooking November 2008

Serves four to six.

1 small (3 lb.) spaghetti squash
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 tsp. brown mustard seeds
3 Tbs. unsalted butter
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
2 tsp. minced fresh ginger
2 tsp. chopped garlic
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 cup seeded and chopped tomato
1 small serrano chile, seeded and minced
Kosher salt
1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Halve the squash lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a sturdy spoon. Set the squash halves cut side down on a heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet, and bake until strands of flesh separate easily when raked with a fork, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Taste a few strands—they should be tender. If not, continue to bake. Set the squash halves aside until cool enough to handle. Use a fork to rake the cooked squash flesh into strands. In a 10-inch skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the mustard seeds and cover. The seeds will start popping; cook until the popping subsides, about 1 minute. Uncover, reduce the heat to medium, and add the butter. As soon as it melts, add the onion, ginger, garlic, cumin seeds, and coriander and cook, stirring, until the onion is soft, about 3 minutes. Add the tomato, chile, and 1 tsp. salt and cook, stirring, until the tomato begins to soften and the chile is fragrant, about 2 minutes. Increase the heat to medium high and add the squash to the skillet. Continue to cook, tossing with tongs, until heated through, 1 to 3 minutes. Toss in the cilantro, season to taste with more salt, and serve. You can bake the squash in advance and then finish the dish right before serving.

Tough on Stir Fry

2008-09-02T21:24:00.002-05:00

The September Cooking Light had a section on stir fry recipes and despite loathing stir fry night as a child I now am drawn to stir fry recipes and had to give the Curried Chicken and Cashews recipe a try. To make the dish you start by combining the chicken broth, water, fish sauce, sugar and rice vinegar and setting it aside. You then cut the chicken into strips. Once cut heat the oil in the pan and then sauté the chicken in batches until cooked. When the chicken is cooked set it aside and add more oil to the pan. Then sauté the onion, ginger and garlic for one minute or until lightly brown. I added red bell pepper to the dish, so I added it right before the onions and then let it continue to sauté with the onions etc. Then add the curry powder and chiles to the pan and sauté for a few minutes. Next add the chicken back into the pan and the sauce and let it cook for a couple of minutes. Serve it over rice and top it with cilantro and cashews.

I talked to Jess on the phone shortly after making this dish and told her that it was just okay. She commented that I am a tough critic on stir fry dishes on the blog. I think she is right; I am tough on stir fry dishes. To me there are two keys to an excellent stir fry 1. not overcooking or undercooking the ingredients and 2. a tasty sauce. The first just takes practice to make sure you get the vegetables cooked, but not limp or that you don’t leave them to crispy. This is somewhat personal preference too. I tend to like them cooked through, but with some texture left and definitely not limp and overcooked. The sauce is where I think I tend to become critical on a new recipe. To me it does not take an inordinate number of ingredients to make a tasty sauce, but I want it to have some complexity, some heat, and a fairly substantial flavor. To me the sauce in this dish was not complex or substantial. It did have some heat from the chiles and I did like the curry powder in it, however, the rest of the sauce just fell short and left the dish somewhat bland. All in all there are better recipes out there including one that was a staple in our house in the pre-blog days and has yet to make an appearance on the blog (not to self, add it into the rotation in the next few months) and a few that have made an appearance such as . This was quick and easy and I did enjoy the curry and cashew combination and the addition of red bell peppers, but I don’t think I’ll make it again. Russ was in agreement rating it a 7.

Curried Chicken and Cashews, Cooking Light September 2008

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup chicken mixture and 3/4 cup rice)

1/3 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons water
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
3/4 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1 1/2 cups vertically sliced onion
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon Madras curry powder
3 small dried hot red chiles, broken in half
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup dry-roasted salted cashews, chopped
3 cups hot cooked short-grain rice

To prepare sauce, combine the first 5 ingredients; set aside. Cut chicken across grain into 1/4-inch slices; cut slices into 1/2-inch-wide strips. Cut strips into 3-inch-long pieces. Heat a 14-inch wok over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil to wok, swirling to coat. Add half of chicken to wok; stir-fry 2 minutes. Spoon cooked chicken into a bowl. Repeat procedure with 2 teaspoons oil and remaining chicken. Add remaining 1 teaspoon oil to wok, swirling to coat. Add onion, ginger, and garlic to wok; stir-fry 1 minute or until lightly browned. Add curry powder and chiles; stir-fry 30 seconds. Add sauce and chicken to wok; stir-fry 1 minute. Spoon into a serving dish. Sprinkle with cilantro and cashews. Serve over rice.

My New Toy

2008-08-28T21:21:00.005-05:00

I love kitchen gadgets and really can always find a few more that I would like to have, but our kitchen is getting full so I have to make sure it is something that I really want and will use in order to buy it now. While up in Pawley’s this summer I went to one of my favorite cooking stores and found a utensil that Jamie Oliver had used on a recent episode of Jamie at Home, a bean cutter. I had never seen one before, but I knew if I ran across one I would just have to get it. So, I picked it up and was anxious to try out the recipe Jamie had made on the episode. It is Grilled Butterflied Monkfish with a Sweet Runner Bean Stew.

To start out making the stew you put all the beans through the bean cutter and they end up in gorgeous, thin slices. Next you add olive oil, anchovies, garlic and the chile to a pot and let them cook until the anchovies have broken down. Next add the tomatoes, beans, and rosemary to the pot. Season it with salt and pepper and bring it to a boil. Once boiling turn it down to a simmer and cover the pot. To prepare the fish (we used grouper instead of monkfish) we salt and peppered it and grilled it. I skipped the gremolata that looks and sounds delicious, but we ran out of time. Serve the fish over the beans.

We both absolutely loved the runner bean stew. Beans and tomatoes are one of my very favorite flavor combinations and mixed with the savory rosemary it is just fantastic. I also really liked the texture of the thin slices of beans. I would highly recommend a bean cutter as it was a neat tool to use and cut the beans slices that were a perfect thickness. The beans complemented the grilled fish very well and made for a beautiful presentation. All in all this was a delicious meal and that I anticipate us making again in the future. Russ rates it a 10.

Back to Blogging and Cooking

2008-08-07T21:58:00.003-05:00

So, my poor blog has been on the back burner lately. In fact cooking has been on the back burner lately. Life has been busy with changing jobs, adjusting to a new routine, and becoming an Aunt to Andrew and Walt. I have truly missed cooking and blogging, so I am excited to finally feel like I am back in a place where I can find the time for both. I have been cooking some, so you will see those posts coming up in the next few days. I do backdate them as I like to keep up with how many blog worthy meals we cooked each month. So, here we go again…

We love to grill in the summer and tonight we decided to try a new Grilled Maple Salmon recipe out of the July Cooking Light. The marinade is super simple with only three ingredients - rice wine vinegar, orange juice, and maple syrup. You put the marinade and salmon in a plastic bag and stick it in the fridge for three hours. After three hours you remove the fish and pour the remaining marinade into a saucepan and bring it to a boil and let it reduce down. Once reduced take the salmon and grill it and baste it with the reduced sauce.

This was a very simple recipe that packed great flavor with just a few ingredients. I really like the sweetness from the maple syrup and the tang and citrus flavor from the orange juice. We didn't have quite 3 hours for it to marinade, so I think it would have been even better if we had let it marinade for longer. This is a solid, simple marinade for salmon. Russ rates it a 9.

Roasting with Friends

2008-08-06T21:57:00.006-05:00

I have mentioned several times on previous posts how one of the best parts of living in Birmingham is having both of our families within about a ten mile radius. I am not sure I have mentioned that one of the other best parts is having so many childhood friends living within that same radius. We have friends that we have known since preschool and elementary school just minutes away. While we love all our friends, old and new, it is really special to have memories with someone that date back twenty plus years. As is life not all of our friends from growing up still live here in Birmingham, however, lucky for us they tend to come and visit their families every so often and we usually get to see them too. This week Julie, Brian, and their precious little ones were in town for a few days. So, tonight Sumner, John, Julie, and Brian all came over for dinner. It was a fun time catching up, sharing some wine and food, and maybe even playing a little Wii!

I decided to make a dish that could be in the oven when everyone arrived, so that all I had to do was pull it out and place it on a serving platter when it was done. These are the types of dishes that are great for entertaining as it maximizes the time you get to spend with your guests and it allows you to have the kitchen cleaned up before your guests arrive. For tonight I made Mediterranean Chicken with Mushrooms and Zucchini from one of the recent issues of Fine Cooking.

To start you mix the balsamic vinegar, rosemary, brown sugar, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Next add the olive oil and mix it well until incorporated. Then take 1 tablespoon of the mixture and set it aside to use later. Next take your roasting pan and scatter the pearl onions over the bottom. Then add the mushrooms placing them cap side up. Stir the vinegar mixture and then brush the tops of the mushrooms with the mixture. Then scatter the pancetta over the mushrooms and onions. Next arrange the chicken pieces, skin side up, over the mushrooms and onions and brush them with the remaining vinegar mixture. Place this in a preheated oven (400) and roast for 30 minutes. While it is roasting toss the zucchini with the reserved vinegar mixture. Next combine the wine, rosemary, balsamic vinegar and salt in a measuring cup and stir together. Once the chicken has roasted for 30 minutes remove it from the oven and pour the wine mixture around the chicken. Then scatter the zucchini around and lower the temperature to 375. Put the chicken and vegetables back in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes more or until the chicken is cooked through and tender.

This was a very savory and delicious dish. The chicken was tender and the vegetables were cooked perfectly. I really liked the flavor combination of the mushrooms, zucchini and onions. The rosemary and balsamic vinegar both gave great flavor that was savory and earthy. Like I mentioned earlier I love dishes like this when I am having friends over. When everyone arrived the dish was roasting in the oven and all the dishes I used doing prep were already in the dishwasher or put away. It makes for a nice relaxing dinner where you can enjoy everyone’s company. Roasting meats and vegetables is also a very simple process that if you have not tried before I would encourage you to do so. Russ rates this dish a 9.

Mediterranean Chicken with Mushrooms and Zucchini, Fine Cooking

3 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp. firmly packed light brown sugar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1-1/2 cups peeled red pearl onions (6 to 7 oz.), halved if large
8 oz. cremini (baby bella) mushrooms, stems trimmed
2 oz. pancetta, cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 1/3 cup)
4-lb. chicken, cut into 8 serving pieces, trimmed of extra skin and fat, patted dry
2 small zucchini (4 to 5 oz. each), trimmed, cut in half lengthwise and then crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick half-rounds
1/2 cup medium- to full-bodied red wine, such as Merlot or Syrah

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 400°F.

In a small bowl, mix 1 Tbs. of the balsamic vinegar, 1 Tbs. of the rosemary, the brown sugar, 3/4 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper; stir to dissolve the sugar and salt. Add the olive oil and mix well.

Scatter the pearl onions over the bottom of a metal, glass, or ceramic baking dish that measures about 10x15x2 inches. Add the mushrooms, cap side up. Stir the vinegar mixture to mix well; spoon 1 Tbs. into a second small bowl and reserve. Use about half of the remaining mixture to brush the mushroom caps. Scatter the pancetta over the mushrooms and onions. Arrange the chicken pieces, skin side up, on top of all, and brush with the remaining vinegar mixture. Roast for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, toss the zucchini with the reserved 1 Tbs. of the vinegar mixture. In a measuring cup, combine the wine with the remaining 2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp. rosemary, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Remove the roasting pan from the oven and reduce the temperature to 375°F. Pour the wine mixture around the chicken and then scatter the zucchini around the chicken, keeping it toward the edges of the pan as much as possible. Return the pan to the oven and continue to roast until the vegetables are tender and an instant-read thermometer registers 165ºF in several pieces of chicken, 20 to 30 minutes.

Transfer the chicken to a warmed platter. With a slotted spoon, arrange the vegetables and pancetta around the chicken. Sprinkle the vegetables with a little salt.

Tilt the roasting pan so that the juices gather in one corner. With a large, shallow spoon, skim as much fat as possible from the pan sauce. Spoon a small amount of sauce over the chicken and vegetables. Put the remaining sauce in a pitcher to pass at the table.

Fresh Berries

2008-07-30T20:51:00.004-05:00

This summer I have had a container herb garden again. I don’t know that I have mentioned it much on the blog, but I have enjoyed it just as much as I have in the past years. We have incorporated the herbs into many meals and they have been delicious. Even though I have loved my container garden, I dream of having an in ground, large garden someday. You see when we redid the backyard I was hoping it would work out to have a large fruit, vegetable and herb garden, but the shade, trees, layout etc. all worked against me and it just didn’t work out. It is probably for the best as I am not sure I have the time to take care of a larger garden right now, but I can still dream right and at least we have Mentone. That’s right, Mentone has a garden of sorts. There are all sorts of things growing up in Mentone and among them are blueberries and blackberries in the summer. This past weekend Russ, Jason, Allen, and I all picked berries. Thanks to Russ being a fabulous picker we ended up with lots of berries. Picking the berries was relaxing and fun and something I look forward to doing again next year. So, until I get a large garden of my own I’ll enjoy some yearly berry picking up at Mentone.

So, what does one do with lots of fresh blueberries and blackberries? Well besides eating lots of them as a snack everyday I decided to make a pie for my Dad’s birthday. There have been so many great blueberry recipes in all of my cooking magazines lately that it was a tough choice of which to make, but in the end I decided on Fine Cooking’s Black and Blueberry Pie with Lemon-Cornmeal Crust.

To make the pie you start by making the dough. You start by adding the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and lemon zest into a bowl. Then begin adding the cold butter by cutting it into the dough. Once the butter is still in large pieces add the cold shortening and continue cutting it in until it is pea size. With a fork add the lemon water until the dough comes together. Then wrap the dough in two discs and cover with plastic wrap. These need to chill for at least 60 minutes or up to a couple of hours. While the dough is chilling you can start the filling. Start by combining sugar with the cornstarch, allspice, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Then toss the black and blueberries with the mixture until they are all coated. Then set this aside. Once the dough has chilled roll out one half of the dough and roll it out over the pie pan. Let the dough fall in and cover the bottom and sides. Then add the filling into the pie. Next take the other disc of dough and roll it out. Cut it into strips and then lay these out on top of the pie in a lattice formation. Cut the remaining butter into small pieces and put them in the open spots in the lattice. Next put the entire pie in the freezer to rest for 15 minutes. Have the oven preheated to 425 and put a baking sheet in to let it heat up. Remove the pie from the freezer and brush the dough with melted butter and then sprinkle with sugar. Put the pie on the heated baking sheet and let it bake for 15 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 375 and let it bake for an additional 60 to 80 minutes or until bubbly in the center. Let it rest and cool prior to serving.

This was an excellent pie. I really liked the subtle lemon flavor that was in both the dough and berries. The cornmeal in the dough added nice texture and flavor and overall the dough was easy to work with when it came to rolling out and forming the crusts. The berries were center stage as they should be and had great flavor and texture. Russ and I both felt like it could have been a touch sweeter, so next time I would increase the sugar in the berries slightly. I really liked the combination of black and blueberries and felt like the proportions worked out really well. Overall this was a wonderful pie with fantastic fresh, hand picked berries. Russ rates it a 9.

Black and Blueberry Pie with Lemon-Cornmeal Crust, Fine Cooking

For the dough:
9 oz. (2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour; more as needed
1/3 cup fine yellow cornmeal
1 Tbs. granulated sugar
2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
1 tsp. table salt
6 oz. (12 Tbs.) cold unsalted butter, cut into 10 pieces
2 oz. (4 Tbs.) cold vegetable shortening
1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice combined with 1/4 cup ice-cold water

For the filling:
2/3 cup plus 1 Tbs. granulated sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. table salt
5 cups room-temperature blueberries (1 lb., 10 oz.), washed and drained on paper towels
2 cups room-temperature blackberries (10-1/2 oz.), washed and drained on paper towels
1/2 oz. (1 Tbs.) cold unsalted butter
1 oz. (2 Tbs.) melted unsalted butter

Make the dough: In a large bowl, stir the flour, cornmeal, sugar, lemon zest, and salt. Using a pastry blender or two knives, begin to cut the butter into the flour. While the butter is still in large pieces, add the shortening to the bowl and continue to cut the fat into the flour until most pieces are the size of large peas.
With a big fork, stir in the lemon water, 1 to 2 Tbs. at a time, until the mixture looks shaggy but is moist enough to hold together when pressed. With well-floured hands, gently gather and press the dough into two equal disks, handling it only enough to make the edges of the disks reasonably smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for at least 60 minutes, but preferably 2 to 4 hours, before rolling.
Roll the bottom crust: Roll one disk of the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a 13-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Gently transfer the dough to a 9-inch metal, glass, or ceramic pie plate (I like to fold the dough in half and unfold it into the pan). Don't stretch the dough as you line the pan, or it will spring back when baked. If necessary, trim the overhanging dough to 1 inch from the edge of the pan. Refrigerate until needed.

Make the filling: In a large bowl, whisk 2/3 cup of the sugar with the cornstarch, allspice, cinnamon, and salt. Add the blueberries and blackberries and toss gently until thoroughly combined. Set aside.

Fill and top the pie: Roll the second disk of dough out on a lightly floured surface into a 13-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into 3/4-inchwide strips. Pour the fruit filling into the pastry-lined pie plate, being sure to include any dry ingredients remaining in the bowl. Lay five of the dough strips over the pie, parallel to each other and spaced evenly (use longer strips in the center of the pie and shorter strips near the edges).
Carefully fold back the second and fourth strips a little past the center of the pie and lay a long strip of dough across the center of the pie, perpendicular to the other strips. Unfold the second and fourth strips over the perpendicular strip.
Next, fold back the first, third, and fifth strips and lay a new strip across the pie, perpendicular to the folded strips. Unfold the three strips over the new strip.
Use this alternating technique to weave in three more strips (two go on the other side of the pie), completing the lattice top and evenly covering the pie. Trim the strips to overhang the pie by 3/4 inch.
Roll the overhanging bottom dough and the strips together into a cylinder that rests on the edge of the pie pan.

Crimp the edge. Cut the cold 1 Tbs. butter into small pieces and dot over the open areas of the lattice. Freeze the assembled pie for about 15 minutes to relax the dough.

Meanwhile, position a rack in the center of the oven and set a foil-lined heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet on the rack. Heat the oven to 425°F. Just before baking, brush the lattice top with the melted butter and sprinkle with the remaining 1 Tbs. sugar. Put the pie on the heated baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and bake until the fruit is bubbling consistently at the center of the pie, 60 to 80 minutes more. This is important—if it isn’t bubbling near the center, it hasn’t thickened yet. If the crust starts to get too brown, cover it loosely with foil during the last few minutes of the baking time.
Let the pie cool to just warm before serving.
The dough can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated, or up to 2 months ahead and frozen. And the baked and cooled pie can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Hot Off the Grill

2008-07-23T20:32:00.005-05:00

July is proving to be one of our busiest months of the year. I am in the midst of changing jobs, we went to the beach for several days for the 4^th, and we just seem to have lots of plans with friends and family. While we are having a very fun, busy month we are not finding much time to cook or grill. July for some reason just begs you to grill out and bake with fresh berries and we really have not had time for either. So, tonight we decided to dust of The Egg and finally grill out some chicken.

The latest issue of Fine Cooking has a tasty recipe for Grill-Roasted Honey Barbecue Chicken that I had been dying to try. To prepare the chicken you start by butterflying it which I happily let Russ handle. While he was doing this I started making the rub. In a small bowl you mix the olive oil, salt, chili powder, paprika, brown sugar, fresh thyme, black pepper, chipotle pepper, and garlic together. One the chicken is butterflied and patted dry you spread the rub all over the skin side and let it sit for about 30 minutes. While it rests you can go ahead and make the honey glaze. To make the glaze you combine the honey, soy sauce, ketchup, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, cider vinegar, and chile paste in a small bowl. You then take ¼ a cup of the glaze and set it aside. Once the chicken has rested you grill it. I would tell you how to do this, but I really don’t know as Russ is the grill expert in our house. Fine Cooking does give great instructions in the recipe if you are not familiar with grilling. You do brush the glaze on the chicken while it is on the grill. Once the chicken is done you remove it from the grill and serve it with the remaining glaze drizzled over it.

This chicken just screamed summer grilling! It had a wonderful tasty outside with tender, juicy meat on the inside. I really liked the sweetness that the honey added to the dish and the overall balance of all the delicious flavors in the rub and glaze. The drizzled glaze on the chicken once it is done just makes the dish. This was a wonderful meal that we would recommend if you are looking for a fun meal to grill on a hot summer night. Russ rates the chicken a 9.

Grill-Roasted Honey Barbecue Chicken, Fine Cooking

2 Tbs. olive oil
2-1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. sweet paprika, preferably Hungarian
1 tsp. light brown sugar
1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
3/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. chipotle chile powder
1 clove garlic, minced
4-lb. chicken, butterflied, patted dry
1 recipe Honey Glaze

In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, salt, chili powder, paprika, brown sugar, thyme, black pepper, chipotle powder, and garlic. Rub all over the chicken and between the breast meat and skin. Cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours or let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Set aside 1/4 cup of the honey glaze for drizzling over the cooked chicken.

Gas-Grill Instructions:

Heat all burners of a gas grill to medium low. An oven thermometer resting on the grill grate (over the hot zone of the charcoal fire) should register about 450°F with the lid down, or you should be able to hold your hand a couple of inches above the grill for 3 or 4 seconds. If it’s hotter than this, lower the burners slightly. Brush the grill grates with a stiff wire brush and then wipe with a lightly oiled wad of paper towels.

Set the chicken, skin side down, on the grill, cover, and cook until it’s nicely browned and easily releases from the grates, 5 to 10 minutes. Watch carefully during this stage and if a flare-up occurs, move the chicken away from the flames until they die down. If necessary, squirt the flames with a little water to quench them.

For a three-burner gas grill, turn the middle burner off and set the front and back burners to medium low. For a two-burner grill, turn the back burner off and set the front burner on high.

Move the chicken to the cooler zone of the grill (an oven thermometer set on the cooler part of the grill (with the lid down) should register about 350°F). Brush the bird with some of the glaze, cover, and cook, brushing with the glaze every 5 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thighs registers 165° to 170°F, about 30 minutes. Let rest on a cutting board for 5 minutes. Carve and serve drizzled with the reserved glaze.

Charcoal Grill Instructions:

Prepare a charcoal fire with a hot zone and a cooler zone by pushing all the coals to one side of the grill. An oven thermometer resting on the grill grate (over the hot zone of the charcoal fire) should register about 450°F with the lid down, or you should be able to hold your hand a couple of inches above the grill for 3 or 4 seconds. If it’s hotter than this, let the coals cook down. Brush the grill grates with a stiff wire brush and then wipe with a lightly oiled wad of paper towels.

Set the chicken, skin side down, on the grill over the hot zone of the fire, cover, and cook until it’s nicely browned and easily releases from the grates, 5 to 10 minutes. Watch carefully during this stage and if a flare-up occurs, move the chicken away from the flames until they die down. If necessary, squirt the flames with a little water to quench them.

Move the chicken to the cooler zone of the grill (an oven thermometer set on the cooler part of the grill (with the lid down) should register about 350°F). Brush the bird with some of the glaze, cover, and cook, brushing with the glaze every 5 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thighs registers 165° to 170°F, about 30 minutes. Check on the fire occasionally; it may be necessary to add fresh charcoal as the fire dies down. Let rest on a cutting board for 5 minutes. Carve and serve drizzled with the reserved glaze.

Honey Glaze, Fine Cooking
Yields about 1/2 cup.

1/4 cup honey
1 Tbs. soy sauce
1 Tbs. ketchup
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. cider vinegar
1/2 to 1 tsp. Asian chile paste, like Sriracha

In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients. Set aside 1/4 cup of the glaze for drizzling over the cooked chicken.

The glaze may be made up to 3 days ahead.

A Perfect Summer Dinner

2008-06-29T21:49:00.000-05:00

Lately the days have been hot and hotter and by the end of the day Russ and I both want just a light, fresh meal for dinner. Tonight’s dish is exactly that – light and fresh and perfect for a hot summer night.

Tonight I made Sautéed Chicken Paillards with Herb Salad and White Balsamic Vinaigrette from the May issue of Fine Cooking. This came from the quick and delicious section, so it is quick and easy for a weeknight dinner. You start by making the dressing. You mix both the white balsamic and white wine vinegars together with the shallot, mustard, salt and pepper. Then you slowly whisk in the olive oil into it until combined. Next you season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper. Now I usually stay away from convenience items because they are more expensive and I just prefer to chop my own onion, garlic etc., but when it comes to chicken cutlets I let the grocery store do the pounding. This to me is worth the extra little bit to not have to pound away at the chicken. Once the chicken is seasoned you heat the olive oil in a skillet and then cook the chicken until it is browned on both sides and just cooked through. Next toss the mixed greens and herbs with the salad dressing reserving some of the dressing to drizzle over the chicken. To plate the dish you place the chicken on the plate and drizzle it with the reserved dressing and top it with a large pile of the mixed greens and herbs. For the herbs I used a mixture of mint, parsley, and basil.

This was a very quick and easy and absolutely delicious! It was light and fresh with the bright dressing just topping it all off. The dressing was perfect with the shallots adding a nice flavor and texture and the mustard adding warmth and tang. We both also loved the mixture of mixed greens and herbs. Russ felt like the parsley was a little too strong, so next time I’ll cut back on it a little bit and add a little more mint which was a great flavor addition to the meal. The herbs definitely made the dish feel and taste like summer. The chicken complemented the salad perfectly and was very tasty with the drizzle dressing over it. This was close to the perfect summer dinner and Russ rates it a 10. This will definitely be repeated in our house.

Sautéed Chicken Paillards with Herb Salad and White Balsamic Vinaigrette, Fine Cooking May 2008

1 Tbs. white balsamic vinegar
1-1/2 tsp. white-wine or cider vinegar
One-half small shallot, finely chopped
1/4 tsp. Dijon mustard
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 Tbs. plus 2 tsp. olive oil; more as needed
8 boneless, skinless, thin-cut (1/4- to 1/2-inch-thick) chicken breast cutlets (1-1/2 to 1-3/4 lb.)
5 cups mixed baby greens
3 cups mixed fresh, tender herb leaves, such as flat-leaf parsley, mint, chives, tarragon, basil, and chervil, roughly torn if large

In a small bowl, mix both vinegars with the shallot, mustard, and 1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper. Slowly whisk in 3 Tbs. of the oil.

Season the chicken on both sides with 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Heat the remaining 2 tsp. oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Working in two to three batches to avoid crowding, cook the chicken until lightly browned on both sides and just cooked through, 1 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer each batch to a platter, cover loosely with foil, and keep warm. If the pan seems dry at any point, add 2 more tsp. of oil.

Combine the greens and herbs in a large bowl. Add about three-quarters of the vinaigrette and toss well. To serve, arrange two cutlets on each serving plate and drizzle the remaining dressing over the chicken. Divide the herb salad among the four plates, piling it attractively onto the chicken.

Loaded Baked Potatoes

2008-06-28T21:14:00.004-05:00

Without realizing it I am pretty much keeping with the same theme of the last post where I left out a major ingredient in the recipe only this time I left out or rather didn't make the main part of the meal. Russ and I watched an episode of Tyler’s Ultimate and saw his Ultimate Surf and Turf, but instead of making the surf or the turf we decided to make the Ultimate Stuffed Potatoes that he made as a side. It just seemed like the perfect meal for a Sunday night – a baked potato filled with broccoli and oozing with cheese. Yum! For the record the surf and turf both looked very tasty, but for tonight we were all about the loaded potatoes!

To make the Ultimate Stuffed Potatoes you start by baking the potatoes. Tyler has you pierce the potatoes with a fork and then rub them with olive oil and salt. Then let them bake at 400 for about an hour. This will give you a nice crisp skin. While the potatoes cook you start making the filling. First start by cooking the bacon. Cut it into a medium dice and then cook it. Once it is cooked remove it from the pan and pour off the oil. Then in the same pan (with the yummy brown bits on the bottom) combine the butter and flour and then slowly whisk in the milk. I went ahead and used whole milk as the recipe called for, but next time I might try something a little lighter to save a few calories. Next fold in about 2 cups of the cheese until it is melted and incorporated. In the meantime go ahead and blanch the broccoli florets (you can steam them instead if you prefer). Once the cheese has melted into the sauce remove it from the heat and add the bacon, broccoli, chopped chives and season it with salt and pepper. Then remove the potatoes from the oven and cut a slit in the top and fill with the yummy cheese and broccoli mixture. Then top with a little more cheese and put it back in the oven for a couple of minutes until the cheese on top melts. Serve immediately.

These were delicious! The cheese sauce was rich, cheesy, and oozed out of the potatoes. I loved the broccoli and how it played such a key role in the dish and complemented both the potato and the cheese. It also added nice texture and a bright punch of color to the dish. As for the potatoes while I don't bake potatoes very often from now on when I do this is definitely the method I will use. I loved the crisp, salty skin and the soft inside. These were tasty and cheesy and a perfect Sunday night one dish meal. Russ rates the stuffed potatoes a 9.

Without the Beans...

2008-06-25T21:09:00.000-05:00

It is not uncommon for me to make minor tweaks to recipes. Sometimes it as simple as just not measuring ingredients, but eyeballing them or swapping out one ingredient for another or leaving out a minor ingredient. Well, tonight I did something I haven’t done before… I intentionally left out a major ingredient. Jamie Oliver recently did an episode titled “Peas and Broad Beans” and I decided to make his Quick Sausage Meatballs with a Tomato and Basil Sauce, Spaghetti, and Sweet Raw Peas from it only I left out the peas. Now I know I said it was intentional, but that is not exactly the truth. The truth is I looked for the peas at the store, but I just went to the regular grocery store and not a vegetable market or a grocery store with more variety and consequently didn’t find them. So, I made the call to go ahead with the recipe and leave out the peas, which was disappointing as I was curious how the raw peas would work in the recipe. In the end the recipe was delicious despite my leaving out the peas, only I am still left wondering what it would have been like had I included them… I guess there is always next time.

To make Jamie’s Quick Sausage Meatballs with a Tomato and Basil Sauce, Spaghetti, and Sweet Raw Peas you start by snipping the end of the casing on the sausage (I used turkey sausage instead of pork) and then pushing the meat out into imperfect balls. These then sauté in olive oil until they are cooked through. While the sausage meatballs are cooking go ahead and start the water for the spaghetti and once it comes to a boil salt it and add the pasta. Once the meatballs are just about done cooking add some herbs to the pan. I used chopped fresh thyme, basil and parsley. In order to cut down the number of pans I was using I removed the sausages from the pan and then made the tomato sauce in the same pan where as the recipe calls for doing them in separate pans. To make the tomato sauce you start by heating olive oil and adding chopped garlic and basil stalks to it. Once these have cooked for a couple of minutes add some of the basil leaves and the cans of tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring this to a simmer and break up the tomatoes with a spoon or spatula and add a swig of balsamic vinegar to the dish. At this point I added the meatballs into the tomato sauce and let it simmer until everything was hot and incorporated. Serve over the pasta and top with fresh basil and Parmesan cheese.

As the recipe name indicates this really is a quick meal. It came together in very little time and was easy to do. I loved the simple tomato sauce, which had a great fresh flavor from the herbs and a little kick from the vinegar. I thought the sauce was so tasty that I would have been happy without the meatballs. However, the sausage meatballs were the easiest meatballs I have ever made and they did add nice texture and density to the dish. Russ loved the meatballs and thought they really completed the meal. While I was disappointed to not have the fresh beans to include in the dish, it was a wonderful meal that was perfect for a weeknight dinner. Russ rates the meal a 9.

Flank Steak 101

2008-06-18T21:02:00.005-05:00

Every so often I really crave a piece of red meat. While for me I could just eat red meat every now and then and be fine, but Russ on the other hand could probably eat red meat at least four or five nights a week and love it. After all his favorite meal is a cheeseburger. Since I do enjoy red meat and Russ can’t live without it I have made myself learn how to cook different cuts of meat in order to fulfill our carnivorous appetites. You see when I started cooking I was completely intimidated by most cuts of beef except for ground beef. Ground beef is easy – it is packaged in small quantities, it is cheap, it is easy to cook, and there is only one choice when selecting it (how much or little fat you want included in the meat). The other cuts of meat are usually much larger portions, many have various names depending on what store you go to, and they are more expensive all of which make them intimidating to me. I still call my Mom from the store when I am buying any type of large cut of meat to make roast beef or something similar, however, I have found a couple cuts of meat that do not require a phone call to Mom and are not super scary to buy, prepare or cook. One of these is flank steak. I really enjoy flank steak and how versatile it is – you can marinade it with almost anything, you can grill it, cook it on the stove top, use it in tacos, put it over a salad, and the list goes on and on.

In my opinion there are a few simple keys to flank steak that will help you prepare and cook it perfectly no matter how much experience you have in the kitchen. First, I prefer to always marinade or put a rub on the steak and allow it to sit in the marinade or rub for a couple of hours if possible. In my opinion flank steak is not the type of steak you just salt and pepper and toss on the grill and have it turn out tasty. It needs a little more help from you with the flavoring, however, you can do a super simple marinade or rub or you can get fancy with it and both will yield good results. Second, don’t over cook it. It is best when cooked medium or a little less if you prefer. If you cook it well done it gets very tough. Third, after you remove it from the grill or stove let it rest for a few minutes. When you go to carve it cut it in thin slices on the bias. This is the only way we ever cut flank steak.

Tonight we tried a new simple marinade out of the May issue of Cooking Light. You simply add the four ingredients (reduced sodium soy sauce, ketchup, chopped scallions, and sesame oil) to a plastic bag and put the flank steak in the bag. I let it marinade for about 6 hours, but you can do it for as little as four hours or as long as ten or so hours. The recipe says you can marinade it for up to twenty-four hours, but I am concerned that it would get too salty despite using the reduced sodium soy sauce. Once the meat was marinated Russ cooked it on the grill until it was about medium in doneness.

This was a very quick and simple marinade to put together and it had a fantastic Asian flavor to it. We both felt like it was a little salty even with using the reduced sodium soy sauce. Next time I think I’ll add a little water to the marinade to try and cut the soy sauce a little more. One thing I love about marinating flank steak is that if you prepare it in the morning or at lunch then when you get home from work it is ready to be grilled / cooked. This was a great, easy marinade that had a wonderful flavor and smell to it. Russ rates it an 8.

Soy, Ketchup, and Sesame Marinade, Cooking Light May 2008

¾ cup low-sodium soy sauce
¼ cup ketchup
¼ cup chopped scallions
1 and ½ tablespoons sesame oil
1 lb. Flank steak

Combine all ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag; add 1 pound flank steak trimmed of excess fat. Seal bag and refrigerate for four hours or overnight. When ready to cook, remove steak from bag, and discard marinade. Grill steak six minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove from grill, and cut diagonally across the grain into ¼ to ½ inch thick slices.

My First Time Cooking Game Meat

2008-06-16T21:58:00.006-05:00

My palate was opened up to a whole new world of foods and flavors when I finally gave in to my picky eating and started simply giving more foods a try. This really started when I was living abroad in Spain during spring semester of my sophomore year of college and has continued ever since. Now (with the exception of pork) I will try almost anything at least once. Russ is the same way and since we have been married I have exposed him to some fruits and vegetables that he either hadn’t tried before or didn’t think he liked. He now loves butternut squash, pumpkin, and mangos and while he still isn’t a huge fan of zucchini if I make it with enough cheese he likes it. I on the other hand have been opened up to a new array of meats – game meats. While my Dad and brother have always eaten game meat (especially quail and dove) the females in my family have always taken a pass with them. Russ orders them at restaurants sometimes and I have found that I love elk and while I am not a big fan of quail or dove I’ll still give them a try if they are prepared in a new way. I have also been introduced to venison and currently have a freezer full of venison. It is true that it tastes similar to beef, but is leaner which is I think why I am not totally sold on it yet… I miss the fat… Since we have lots of venison right now I decided to give cooking game meat a try for the first time. So, here goes….

If you read this blog at all then you will know that Russ and I love Jamie Oliver and his new show Jamie at Home. He did a mushroom episode a while back and one of the dishes he made was a Wild Mushroom and Venison Stroganoff. At the time we didn’t have a freezer full of venison, but we both made a mental note that when we did this would be a good recipe to try. To start you sauté the onions and garlic in olive oil until they are soft and golden. Once they are done set them aside. Next season the meat with salt, pepper, and paprika. Then add a little more olive oil to the pan and add the mushrooms. Now Jamie went out in the woods and found these amazing Chicken of Wood wild mushrooms. They looked fabulous, but not to my surprise Publix didn’t have them. So, I used a mix of baby Portobello and shitake mushrooms. Once the mushrooms have started to brown add the meat. Next add the parsley stalks and add the cooked onions and garlic back to the pan. Then add the butter and brandy. Now Russ actually added the brandy for me and while he tried to get it to flambé it just didn’t work (I think it was more the pan than Russ’ flambé skills). This was a concern in our home considering how frequently I set of the smoke alarm and the still infamous burnt popcorn… that is why Russ handled the brandy. After it has simmered for a few minutes add the lemon zest and crème fraiche and season to taste. I added a little more salt and pepper at this point. Finally serve over rice and top with parsley leaves, more crème fraiche, and sliced gherkins (yes, really gherkins… I was surprised too, but they really go well with it).

This turned out really well with one major exception… I overcooked the venison. In hindsight I should have just seared the pieces of venison on each side and then let them finish cooking while I finished the dish. I didn’t cook them all the way through when I sautéed them, but I did let them cook longer than needed. Since venison is so lean (I still miss the fat…) it is really important to not over cook it. Aside from my error with the meat the dish was delicious. I was a little concerned about serving what I consider to be a more Fall / Winter dish in June, but the sauce is really on the lighter side since it only has a little bit of crème fraiche in it. It is not a typical heavy, cream based stroganoff sauce, but it still has a smooth, . I have to say that the highlight for me was the sliced gherkins. I am really not a huge fan of gherkins and I came so close to leaving them out, but I decided to bite the bullet and give them a try. I can’t explain it, but the slightly sweet, little green gherkins go so well with this dish that you just have to include them (and if anyone in Birmingham does just this I have a rather large jar of gherkins hanging out in my fridge that I am happy to share). All in all this was a very good. Russ rates it a 9.

What became a PB and J Night...

2008-06-08T21:15:00.005-05:00

Over the past few years I have had some real flops in the kitchen where Papa John’s has ended up with a late night delivery to our house. There was the infamous night where the beer cheese soup never thickened, tasted terrible, and then I severely burned microwave popcorn… and there was the night where I very unsuccessfully attempted to make crepes… or the eggplant pasta sauce that was inedible (ended up at Surin that night)… well you get the picture. Tonight will get added to the list as a dinner that just didn’t turn out. Now this one is a little different from the others in that in hindsight I should have know from reading the recipe that it just wasn’t going to be very tasty. I made Cooking Light’s Sesame Shrimp Salad and as everyone (except my Mother who eats salad dry – no dressing) the salad dressing plays a fairly key role in the overall taste. Well, the main ingredient in the salad dressing for this salad is fish sauce. Now, I do eat and like fish sauce when it is a minor ingredient in a larger more complex sauce that is hot, but cold fish sauce as the main ingredient… just not my thing. Just the pungent smell is really enough to turn me off from the entire salad. Now, some people may think the salad is great and it did have redeeming qualities like the use of mint in the greens. As a whole though this just didn’t do it for us and I blame the dressing. We had PB and Js and they were tasty and didn’t smell like fish. Russ rates the salad a 5.

Quite Possibly the Perfect Meal

2008-06-06T22:16:00.002-05:00

I tend to be skeptical of super simple recipes that only have a few ingredients. From my experience cooking it seems that more often than naught the more you put into a dish (blood, sweat, tears, time, energy, ingredients…) the more delicious it turns out in the end. For instance I am sure Rachel Ray, the queen of quick dinners on the Food Network, has some wonderful, tasty meals, but whenever I have seen her show I always think to myself that if you just take a few minutes longer and make a few changes or let it simmer for a half hour instead of five minutes then it is bound to be even tastier. Most of the time I pass these recipes by, maybe I am gluten for punishment or just enjoy the process of cooking as much as the final product, but whatever it is I shy away from really simple recipes that only have a few ingredients.

Well never say never right… Tonight I was looking in Cook with Jamie (one of the awesome cookbooks Russ gave me for my birthday) to find something we could grill out. We both wanted to eat at home but didn’t want to spend all night in the kitchen. I found a couple of options and showed them to Russ to have him pick. Well, the one he ended up picking you actually don’t grill, but roast it in the oven. I had thought we could convert it to using the grill, but decided in the end to just follow the recipe as is and roast it in the oven. The recipe is for Roasted Chicken with Cherry Tomatoes and Asparagus and it is so simple with so few ingredients, but good ingredients that go well together. This is really a classic Jamie Oliver recipe. He is after all the Naked Chef because he takes away the fussiness of food to make simple dishes that are packed with good quality, fresh ingredients and lets them do the work for him. Well, not that I have ever doubted him, but he was spot on with this one. Despite it only having a few ingredients and taking almost no time at all to put together it was fabulous. I’ll probably still be a little skeptical of really simple recipes, but I am definitely more open to the idea now.

To make the Roasted Chicken Breast with Cherry Tomatoes and Asparagus you start by trimming the asparagus and cutting the tomatoes in half. Then toss them in a bowl with the rosemary sprigs, rosemary leaves, olive oil, chicken (bone in, skin on breasts), salt and pepper. Toss this to get everything seasoned and then make small rimmed packets of aluminum foil. Place the asparagus and tomatoes on the bottom of each packet and top with a chicken breast and a sprig of rosemary. Add a little white wine to the bottom and pop in the oven. Let them roast for approximately 40 – 45 minutes or until the chicken is just cooked through. Mine took a little longer than the recipe indicated, but I think this is because I did bone in and large breasts. I also forgot to drizzle them with balsamic vinegar when they were done which would have been a fantastic way to finish it off.

As I said above these were fabulous! I was so impressed with how well the asparagus, chicken, tomatoes, and rosemary worked together. It was a perfect symphony of flavors and ingredients – savory, fresh, bright colors, and fragrant. It takes just minutes to prepare and then you just toss them in the oven and let them bake. I really think this is the easiest meal I have ever made and not only that, but one of my favorites. I highly recommend this recipe and for those of you who are new to cooking this is a great one to try. It is definitely one that you could serve to company or just cook for a simple weeknight dinner. I didn’t serve it with anything else, but you could add another side or bread if you wanted. Russ rates this recipe a solid 10! This is one that I know will be repeated frequently in our house. Jamie has three more similar recipes (baked chicken in foil packet) with different ingredients and seasonings that I can’t wait to try.

Roasted Chicken Breast with Cherry Tomatoes and Asparagus, Cook with Jamie
Serves 1

Preheat the oven to 400F. Put 1 chicken breast, with its skin left on, in a bowl. Add 8 trimmed sticks of asparagus, 6 halved cherry tomatoes and the leaves from 1 sprig of fresh rosemary plus a whole sprig of rosemary as well. Toss everything together with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Put the veg into an aluminum foil pan and place the chicken and rosemary sprig on top. Season well. Add some white wine and cook in the middle of the oven for 25 to 35 minutes. Serve drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

Pasta with Lots of Olives

2008-06-03T21:46:00.002-05:00

I love it when I get a new Fine Cooking, Cooking Light and Cooks’ Illustrated all within a few days of each other! I spent time going through all three and this past weekend read out a list of recipes to Russ to let him pick one for dinner one night this week. He chose a pasta dish from the new Cooks’ Illustrated.
To make the pasta dish you start by mincing the garlic, chopping the olives, and slicing the sun dried tomatoes. Mix these three along with the olive oil, anchovies, tomato paste, and red pepper flakes in a bowl and set aside. Then you can make the bread crumbs, but I decided to skip this step for the sake of time. While I think they would add a nice crunchy texture to the top I didn’t have the time for them tonight. Next get the pasta cooking and while it is going put the olive mixture in the skillet and let it cook for a couple of minutes. Once it has cooked for a few minutes add some of the pasta water to the pan and let it continue to cook. Then add the cooked pasta to the sauce and toss it together. Finally add the cheese, parsley and basil to the dish and toss. Add additional pasta water if it is needed. I added slices of turkey sausage as Russ is not a big fan of meals without meat. Serve it with a lemon wedge.

The pasta was very tasty! If you love olives then this is a great dish for you as the olives are the dominant flavor. I love the combination of salty olives and the somewhat sweet and savory sun dried tomatoes. The fresh herbs really add a nice pop of color along with a fresh from the garden flavor. I was a little skeptical of serving it with a lemon wedge, but it really did work well with the flavors and I felt like it brought out the flavors of the fresh herbs even more. As for the sausage… Russ, the meat eater himself, felt like it would have been better without it. I certainly don’t think you need to add meat to this dish at all. Russ felt like grilled chicken sliced over the top would have gone well with it. I think if you are going to add meat then that is probably the way to go, but next time I’d rather put the time towards the bread crumbs and skip the meat. All in all this was a wonderful pasta dish. Russ rates it a 9.

Pasta with Olives, Garlic, and Herbs, Cooks’ Illustrated July and August 2008
Serves 4 to 6

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon anchovy fillets (4 to 6 fillets)
¼ - ½ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
¼ cup drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed, patted dry, and cut into thin strips
1 cup pitted kalamata olives rinsed and coarsely chopped (For a milder olive flavor, use manzanilla olives in place of kalamata.)
2 large slices white sandwich bread (about 3 ounces), torn into quarters
1 and ¾ teaspoons table salt
1 pound mezze rigatoni or fafalle
2 ounces finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 cup)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 ½ cups lightly packed fresh basil leaves, roughly torn
Ground black pepper
1 lemon, cut into wedges

Combine 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon garlic, anchovies, tomato paste, red pepper flakes, sun-dried tomatoes, and olives in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Pulse bread in food processor until coarsely ground, about 16 one-second pulses. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in 12 inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add bread crumbs and cook, stirring frequently, until beginning to brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in remaining tablespoon garlic and ¼ teaspoon salt. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant and bread crumbs are dark golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Transfer to plate to cool. Wipe out skillet with paper towels.

Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts water to boil in Dutch oven over high heat. Add pasta and remaining 1 ½ teaspoons salt. While pasta is cooking, return now-empty skillet to medium heat and add olive mixture. Cook until olive mixture is aromatic and oil has turned rusty red, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove ¾ cup pasta cooking water from pot and add to skillet. Bring to simmer and cook for 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat while pasta finishes cooking.

When pasta is just shy of al dente, drain pasta, reserving ½ cup of pasta cooking water, and transfer back to Dutch oven. Add olive mixture to pasta and toss over medium heat until pasta absorbs most liquid, about 2 minutes. Stir in ½ cup Parmesan. Adjust consistency of sauce with reserved water. (Sauce should cling to pasta but not be too loose or runny.) Remove pot from heat and stir in parsley and basil; adjust seasoning with pepper. Serve, passing lemon wedges, remaining Parmesan, and bread crumbs separately.

Dip and Drinks

2008-06-02T21:27:00.004-05:00

I am not sure why, but appetizers are one of my real weaknesses when it comes to cooking. Just look to the left at the number of times I have posted about appetizers since I started blogging… six, just six appetizers in over a year. Now, to my credit there are plenty of times we have served cheese and crackers, fruit, chips and salsa, or cashews as appetizers and while these are all tasty they are not creative, exciting, or different. I think part of my issue is that if I am cooking the entire meal then I don’t leave enough time or don’t start preparing far enough in advance to include a more creative appetizer. Also, there are plenty of appetizer recipes out there that would take you just as long to prepare as a main course and somehow on nights like tonight when that is all I am preparing then I feel like I should get a break and not have to work as hard for just an appetizer. The thing is though when we eat out appetizers tend to be my favorite. I love the idea that they are tiny dishes that can still have all the flavor, complexity, and texture of a main course, but in a nice small package. Tonight I decided to not go the super simple / quick and easy route, but to not get too elaborate or involved either. I flipped through my cookbook from Magnolias and found a recipe for their Spinach and Artichoke Dip. After reading through the ingredients I was sold on it. You might be thinking in my excitement over the recipe that I forgot about dessert. Me… forget about dessert… are you kidding! We planned what we were doing for dessert a week and a half ago! More on it later.

To make the Spinach and Artichoke Dip you start by sautéing the onions in butter. Once they are soft you add the garlic and let it sauté for a few minutes. Next add the flour and stir everything together to make a roux. Keep stirring it for a couple minutes and then add half the cream until it thickens. Then add the rest of the cream and let it thicken. Next add the spinach (thawed and drained), artichokes (chopped), Havarti cheese, Parmesan cheese, nutmeg, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Stir this together and let it cook for a few minutes. Serve warm with herb toasts. Russ made the herb toasts and he started by making the olive oil, herb mixture. He minced the garlic, chives, and basil. He put these in a bowl and added the olive oil, salt, and pepper. After mixing it all together he cut the baguette into quarter inch thick slices. He then tossed the slices in a bowl and poured the mixture over them tossing to coat. These then bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. They can be served at room temperature.

This really turned out well. The Spinach and Artichoke Dip was creamy and warm with a nice balance of cheese, spinach, and artichoke. I felt like the nutmeg and cayenne didn’t really show through. Next time I might increase the amount of both slightly to add a little more of a kick and spice to it. The herb toasts were a nice change from a plain baguette, but I do think a plain baguette slices (toasted, untoasted, or grilled) would work fine too. Russ and I did taste test it after I finished it and felt like it was slightly salty. I added a little more cream and let it cook down to try to counter act the saltiness and I think it worked. Next time I won’t add all the salt at first, but add part of it and then taste it before adding any more. All in all this was very tasty and creamy and a real hit. While not a complicated appetizer it was well worth the effort and a nice change from cheese and crackers. Russ rates it a 10!

I still haven’t forgotten about dessert and I guess you could say I am saving the best for last. The Country Club makes these amazing dessert drinks called Mississippi Muds. We both love them and Russ figured out that all they are made of is vanilla ice cream and Kahlua. The key is to getting the right consistency – thick, but not too thick. Russ has been practicing and he made them for everyone tonight for dessert. They are creamy and sweet without being too sweet. It is a great quick and easy dessert. They were a huge hit that even the non-sweet eater of the group, Dowe, requested one! Unfortunately we drank them before getting a picture, but I imagine they’ll show up again on the blog another day. Russ wouldn't rate them since he made them, but I'll give them a 9. They were a little on the thick side this time or they would have received a 10.

Spinach and Arthichoke Dip, Magnolias - Authentic Southern Cuisine
Makes 3 ½ cups

3 tablespoons butter
½ cup minced onion
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups heavy cream
3 (10 oz) packages frozen spinach, thawed and all the liquid pressed out
1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and cut into ½ inch pieces
6 ounces Havarti or fontina cheese, grated or finely diced
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for 2 minutes, stirring to prevent browning. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Sprinkle the flour over the onion and garlic mixture to make a roux. Stir well to combine and allow to cook over medium-low heat 1 minute more. Add half the cream and stir vigorously until the mixture combines and thickens. Use a spatula to release any of the mixture that may be stuck to the bottom edges of the pan. Add the remaining cream and stir again until the mixture is smooth and thickened. Add the spinach, artichoke hearts, Havarti or fontina cheese, Parmesan, nutmeg, salt, white, black, and cayenne pepper. Continue to stir over medium-low heat until the cheeses have melted. Check seasoning for a balanced flavor. Serve with Herb Toasts.

Herb Toasts, Magnolias – Authentic Southern Cuisine

¾ cup light olive oil
2 teaspoons mashed garlic
1 tablespoon very finely minced chives
1 tablespoon very finely minced basil
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 long loaf of fresh, crusty French bread cut into ¼ inch thick slices (or less)

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all of the ingredients except the French bread and let sit for 15 minutes. Place the slices of bread in a large bowl and drizzle on the oil and herb mixture as you are tossing the bread slices to coat. Lay the bread slices out on a baking sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are crisply toasted and light golden in color. Remove from the oven and allow for them to cool to room temperature before stacking in a basket.

Cash's Birthday Treats

2008-06-01T18:03:00.003-05:00

Russ and I adopted Cash over a year and a half ago. When we got him he was already a few months old. Based on the West Alabama Animal Rescue’s information and our fabulous vet’s opinion Cash was born during the month of June in 2006. We count June 1st as his birthday, but I told him he can really celebrate all month long since we don’t know the exact day! Today ended up being the perfect day to celebrate his birthday as Bernie (my parents’ dog) was staying with us and Hugo (Jess and Scott’s dog) had come to play for the a couple hours this afternoon. The dogs had a blast playing together and I decided to bake them a new treat recipe in honor of Cash’s 2nd birthday.

This is a new recipe that I found on a cooking blog that I check out periodically. I like his blog as he cooks lots of recipes from Cooking Light and he frequently makes homemade dog treats for his pups. When I saw his recipe for Crunchy Cheddar Oat Snacks I just knew Cash would love them. While we have done others that he has really enjoyed this new recipe has cheese in it which just so happens to be Cash’s favorite food.

To make these you start by softening the butter. Once it is soft put it in a bowl with the oats and hot water. Stir the ingredients together and then let it sit covered for about 10 minutes. Then add the cornmeal, sugar, bullion, milk, cheese, and egg and mix together. Then add the flour and mix it together until it is a firm ball of dough. Add some flour (as needed) if it the dough is sticky and put it out on a floured surface. Then knead the dough until it is smooth and no longer sticky. Then roll it out until it is about a quarter of an inch thick and cut out your shapes. I did dog bone shapes, circles, and Cs (for Cash). Let these bake for about 30 to 45 minutes at 325. Rotate pans halfway through.

All three dogs served as taste testers and these treats got six paws up! They loved them! Bernie who has not been a fan of my homemade treats in the past loved these and wanted more. I sent some home with both pups’ parents and Cash is planning to take some to share with Wagg and Chester when we watch the Bachelorette tomorrow night. I think Cash had a good birthday!

Simple Fish with a Fancy Relish

2008-05-27T21:28:00.005-05:00

I love a three day weekend (of course who doesn’t)! For Memorial Day weekend we went up to Mentone with a few friends to relax and enjoy the nice the weather. As I mentioned in my last couple of posts May has been a really busy, fun month. It just seems like we have been going non-stop, so I told Russ earlier this week that while I love cooking I just didn’t have the time or energy to do any menu planning or shopping for this weekend. Being the sweet husband that he is he planned out all of the meals and did all of the grocery shopping. He also included eating out one night at Canyon Grill, one of our favorite restaurants! I had a delicious halibut that was pan sautéed and served with capers and lemons juice (piccata style). It was wonderful! The next day I was relaxing on the porch and reading my most recent copies of Cooking Light and Fine Cooking and found lots of recipes for halibut. Since I enjoyed my halibut so much at Canyon Grill I decided to put it on the menu for this week.

I decided to try the Fire-Roasted Pepper Relish from Fine Cooking and serve it over halibut. To make the relish you first roast the peppers. Now, I normally would roast my own peppers, but a friend of mine recently gave me a jar of fabulous fire-roasted red peppers, so I decided to use those tonight. Whether your roast your own or use jarred you slice the peppers into wide strips. Put them in a bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Mix everything together and let it sit while you cook the fish. Originally Russ was going to grill the fish outside, but since it was raining we decided to pan sauté it inside. I simply rubbed the fish with a little olive oil and sprinkled it with salt and pepper. I then got my sauté pan hot and put the fish side down and let it cook for several minutes on that side. I then flipped it (so the skin side is down) and let it cook a few more minutes. I served the relish on top of the fish with a side of roasted green beans.

I love roasted red pepper, olives, and capers, so it was no surprise that I loved the relish. It had a wonderful mix of shapes and sizes that gave great texture combined with the soft flakiness of the fish. I like that the mildness of the halibut was complemented by the bright flavors of the relish. Our only complaint was that the parsley didn’t seem to fit with the rest of the flavors and tasted a little off. I’ll be honest I am not sure if we didn’t just get a not so great, not so fresh bunch of parsley at the store (all the more reason I need to finish up my herb garden outside!). Either way, next time I think I will skip the parsley and use either cilantro or basil. All in all this was a delicious, simple, quick and easy meal that was perfect for a weeknight. Russ rates the halibut with the relish a 9. He said that it would have received a 10 had the parsley not been included.

Fire-Roasted Pepper Relish, Fine Cooking
Yields about 2 cups

Serve over grilled steak, chicken breast, or fish fillet such as halibut or swordfish. The recipe calls for both parsley and cilantro, but feel free to use other herbs like sliced chives or chopped basil.

3 red or orange bell peppers
¼ cup pitted Nicoise or Kalamata olives, halved
¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, very roughly chopped
¼ cup fresh cilantro, very roughly chopped
2 Tbs. thinly sliced scallions
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbs. capers, rinsed
½ tsp. minced garlic
½ tsp. minced jalapeno or Serrano
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon plus a squeeze of lemon juice
Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Prepare a hot gas or charcoal grill fire. Cut the tops and bottoms from the peppers and cut the peppers into 3 or 4 flat pieces, discarding the tops, seeds, and ribs. Grill the pepper sides and bottoms skin side down until blistered and charred all over; 6 to 8 minutes. Put the peppers in a bowl and cover with a plate. Let sit until cool enough to handle. Peel the charred skin and discard. Don’t be too concerned if flecks of skin remain attached. Cut the peppers into bite-size pieces or wide strips.

Put the pepper pieces in a medium bowl and add the remaining ingredients, stirring well and seasoning to taste with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

Make ahead: The relish keeps well in the refrigerator in a sealed container for at least a week. It’s best to make it a couple of hours ahead to allow the flavors to develop.

Comforting Chicken Casserole

2008-05-21T21:47:00.003-05:00

Not quite a year ago Sumner called me and asked what I thought about starting a Book Club. I love to read and to discuss books, so I was very excited thought it was a great idea! Sure enough there were several other people who felt the same way and shortly thereafter the Edgewood Book Club was underway. (It is an open Book Club, so new members are welcome anytime. If you are interested in joining just email me.) About every six weeks we get together at one of the members homes and eat, drink a glass of wine, and discuss the most recent book. I have really enjoyed the camaraderie and reading books that I may not have picked out on my own.

This week it was my turn to host and therefore I was responsible for the main course. We have been really busy lately and I had the Bachelorette on Monday and a meeting on Tuesday night, so I needed a dish that could be made ahead and wouldn’t take a lot of time or work to make. Russ suggested Chicken Tetrazzini which can be made ahead of time, but is still a fair amount of work and a little time consuming. I talked to Mom and she mentioned one of her casseroles, Chicken Spectacular. I don’t tend to make a lot of casseroles, so I tend to forget that my Mother has lots of wonderful casserole recipes that I grew up eating and find just as yummy and comforting now as I did then. Sometime soon I need to go copy more of Mom’s casserole recipes down and give them a try.

To make Mom’s Chicken Spectacular you start by boiling chicken breasts (I used bone in, skin on breasts) in water until they are just cooked through. Then remove them from the water, let them cool, and shred the chicken. Next cook the curry rice by using the chicken stock from cooking the chicken instead of water. Once the rice is cooked, combine the chicken and other ingredients in a large bowl and mix until combined. Then spread the mixture into a casserole dish and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes to one hour or until warm all the way through.

The Chicken Spectacular was wonderful! It not only worked well for my hectic schedule this week, but it was tasty, filling, warm and true comfort food. Everyone at book club seemed to enjoy it and Russ and I plan to polish off the leftovers for lunch this week. The combination of rice, chicken and green beans is excellent and the curry from the rice gives the dish a real warmth and depth to it. Be sure and include the water chestnuts as the crunch they add really balances out the soft texture of the dish. The only change I would make next time is to add one more can of green beans. I don’t think you have to, but I would prefer a few more beans in it. This may require additional cream of celery or mayonnaise to be added to keep the consistency and prevent it from being too dry. This was very yummy and it would be great to make ahead and freeze if you want to stock your freezer. Russ rates the casserole a 9.

Mom’s Chicken Spectacular

Ingredients:
Chicken (3 to 4 breasts depending on the size), cooked and shredded
1 can Del Monte seasoned French green beans, drained (I plan to use 2 cans next time)
1 small box of curried rice
1 can of water chestnuts, sliced and cut into quarters
3 to 5 Tablespoons chopped onion
1 can of cream of celery soup
¾ to 1 cup of mayonnaise
1 medium size jar of pimento, chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Cook the chicken in water. Once it is cooked, remove it from the water, allow to cool, and shred. Use the water from cooking the chicken to cook the rice following the directions on the package (just replacing water with the chicken stock). Once the rice is cooked, combine all ingredients, and mix until they are combined. Spread the mixture into a casserole dish and bake for 40 minutes to one hour or until it is warm all the way through. Bake uncovered, however, check it periodically and if it is getting too brown on top then cover the dish with aluminum foil for the remaining baking time.

Crawfish Etouffee

2008-05-19T22:15:00.007-05:00

I know I have eaten crawfish before Russ and I started dating, but I really can’t remember where or when or any details about it. Since Russ and I started dating I have eaten a lot more crawfish. We have had them at festivals, at home, and I am pretty sure we have eaten them at every Cajun restaurant in Birmingham. For the past two years we have had a small crawfish boil at our house, however, this year with both Russ and I turning 30 we decided to do a little bigger crawfish boil and make it a joint birthday party too. My parents hosted it at their house, Russ’ parents’ brought the drinks, we invited friends and family, and Russ boiled a lot of crawfish. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed lots of yummy crawfish!

One of the things I love about having a crawfish boil is leftover crawfish. We ended up with quite a few leftover crawfish this year which I was really excited about… until Russ and I had to peel them all… Since we were hosting The Bachelor (now Bachelorette) at our house on Monday I decided to make crawfish etouffee for dinner. I have made it once before and used a recipe of Emeril’s that I found on the Food Network site. I didn’t have a lot of time to look around at other recipes, so I decided to use it again.

To make the etouffee you start by making the roux. You melt the butter and the whisk the flour in and continue stirring until it is a warm peanut butter color. Then you add the chopped celery, onion, green pepper, garlic, bay leaves, and fresh thyme to it. Mix this together and let it cook until the vegetables have softened. Next add the stock, tomatoes, salt, crushed red pepper, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce and bring it to a boil. For my stock I actually cooked a few shrimp (peel on) to add to the etouffee in case anyone didn’t care for crawfish. So, the water I cooked the shrimp in I let cool a little and used it as my stock. If I hadn’t had any shrimp or fish stock then I would have used chicken stock and I think it would have worked just fine. Once you bring it to a boil you skim the surface and then reduce the heat and let it simmer with the lid on for about 30 minutes. Be sure and stir it every now and then. Next add the crawfish (and / or shrimp), lemon juice, green onions, and parsley and let it cook for about 20 minutes uncovered and stirring periodically. Last add the remaining butter and stir to combine. Serve over white, steamed rice.

This is a great way to use leftover crawfish and while there is a fair amount of chopping and it does cook for a while you can do other things while it is cooking making it not too labor intensive of a meal. I love the texture of etouffee with all the chopped veggies and the little crawfish tails and the flavor from all the spices and the kick from the hot sauce. This recipe definitely has some heat to it, but once you put it over the rice it really does take some of the heat away. I put several bottles of hot sauce out on the table, so that those who like it even hotter could add more to their liking. This was a yummy meal and I look forward to using the rest of the crawfish that we froze in the near future. Russ rates the etouffee a 9.

Dinner at Home

2008-05-15T21:53:00.005-05:00

Russ and I have had a really busy schedule lately, so nights at home have been almost nonexistent. We’ve been celebrating Russ’ birthday, watching the Bachelor with our Bachelor group, various meetings at night, sewing class (that’s me, not Russ, and Sumner and it is so fun!), celebrating Russ’ birthday some more (I mean it is a big one and don’t worry we are celebrating it again tomorrow night and the next night), and the list goes on and on. Even our weekends have been packed with going to out of town to a wedding and up to Mentone. Everything is something that we wanted to do and I wouldn't change a thing about any of our plans, but at the same time I have really started longing for those nights (especially weeknights) where we come home from work and have nothing more to do that cook dinner, eat dinner, clean up dinner, and relax together. Tonight I was supposed to have my last basic sewing class, but it got moved until next week. While I am loving my new hobby and hanging out with Sumner on a weekly basis I was beyond excited that this would allow for Russ, Cash, and me to have a plain, nothing special, regular, old night at home! I knew exactly what I wanted to do tonight… try out a new recipe using my tagine and relax with my boys.

Tonight’s recipe comes from a new source for me, one that I almost hesitate to tell you about as I am kind of embarrassed by it. You see I have this aversion to free recipes that just show up in the mail. In almost every way this blog has been a good and positive experience for me except one. What one you ask? Well, I’ll tell you… it has turned me into a little bit of a food snob. I’ve said it before here and I’m sure I’ll say it again, but at times and to be fair it is not very often I have a snobbish attitude towards certain things one of which is free recipes that show up in the mail. I am not sure why because it is not like I am some accomplished chef who can create amazing recipes, but still I somehow just can’t bring myself to try any of these recipes. Usually I just throw out any free recipes that show up in our mailbox, but there is one exception. I have received a sample issue of Cuisine at Home a couple times now and each time I not only flip through the issue, but also have something in it catch my eye. Usually it doesn’t strike my fancy enough for me to give it a try or want to subscribe to the magazine, but just enough for me to hang on to the sample issue for a week or so and then pitch it. A couple weeks ago I received another sample issue and I again thumbed through it and there was one dish that struck my eye for a couple reasons that I couldn’t forget about. The first was that it was a tagine recipe that they modified so you didn’t have to have a tagine to make it, but I do have the a beautiful, blue tagine that I am madly in love with so I just modified it back to a tagine recipe. The other reasons were the ingredients – kalamata olives, chickpeas, tomatoes, lemon wedges, cinnamon stick, and several fragrant ground spices – I mean my mouth starts to water just listing them off. This recipe kept sticking in my head, so despite my somewhat food snobbish tendencies towards free recipes that show up in the mail I decided to give this one a go.

To make the Spiced Chicken Thighs in Tomato Broth with Olives and Chickpeas you start by combining the spices in a small bowl. I normally am not good about measuring things out and go with eyeballing it, but this time I did measure it out and I think it is important in order to get a the balance of flavors that these spices bring to the dish. Next you rub it on the chicken and let it sit for a few minutes. I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts simply because I had some that I need to use, but I do think that the thighs would work even better here. Next sauté the chicken for a few minutes on each side and then remove it and set it to the side. Then you sauté the onions for a few minutes and then add the ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, and cinnamon stick. Once you have sautéed these for a few minutes you add the white wine and tomato paste. Once the liquid has mostly cooked down you add the tomatoes, chicken broth, chickpeas, olives, honey, lemon, and bay leaf. Toss these together until they are all mixed in and then add the chicken to the top. Let this simmer for about 20 – 25 minutes. I served it over cous cous with a side of steamed broccoli.

First off let me say that I love my tagine and I have so much fun cooking with it (thank you sweet Russ!). Tonight’s dish really exceeded my expectations which were rather low since it was a free recipe from the mail even though I thought it looked good. The spices on the chicken were so fragrant that from the moment I started cooking the kitchen smelled warm and delightful. I really enjoyed this dish because it had several of my favorite ingredients in it, but I must say that what made the dish was the salty, meaty, a little tangy flavor and dark color of the kalamata olives. They not only looked beautiful in the dish, but they really did add great flavor. The dish as a whole had a nice balance of warm spices and heat from the cayenne and red pepper flakes. I do think I over cooked the chicken (which is why thighs would be even better in this dish), but all in all it was a very savory, delicious dish. Russ rates it a 9.

Spiced Chicken Thighs in Tomato Broth with Olives and Chickpeas, Cuisine at Home
Makes 4 thighs; Total time: about 45 minutes

Combine; Rub Over and Sauté in 1 T. Olive Oil:
1 t. paprika
1 t. ground coriander
½ t. ground cumin
¼ t. ground cinnamon
1/8 t. cayenne
Pinch salt
4 chicken thighs (I used 2 breasts that I cut into medium size pieces)

Add and Sauté:
½ cup onion, diced
1 T. fresh ginger, minced
1 T. garlic, minced
¼ t. red pepper flakes
1 cinnamon stick

Deglaze with:
¼ cup dry white wine
1 t. tomato paste

Add and Simmer; Season with:
1 cup tomatoes, chopped (I used canned diced tomatoes)
½ cup chicken broth
½ cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed (I used the entire can)
½ cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved
1 T. honey
1 lemon, cut into wedges
1 bay leaf
Sautéed chicken thighs

Finish with:
Chopped fresh parsley
Salt to taste (since I used canned tomatoes it didn’t need any extra)

Serve with:
Toasted pita bread (I served it over plain cous cous)

Combine spices and salt in a dish, then rub over chicken thighs; let stand about 5 minutes. Heat oil in a skillet (I used my tagine) over medium; add chicken, skin side down, and sauté until browned on both sides, 10 minutes total (less if using boneless, skinless breasts like I did). Remove chicken and pour off all but 1 T. drippings.

Add onion and sauté 3 minutes. Stir in the ginger, garlic, pepper flakes, and cinnamon stick; cook just until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Deglaze with wine and tomato paste, stirring to combine. Simmer until liquid evaporates.

Add tomatoes, broth, chickpeas, olives, honey, lemon, and bay leaf; stir to combine. Arrange reserved chicken on top, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low (low if using a tagine). Simmer until chicken is cooked through and sauce is reduced, 20 – 25 minutes.

Finish with parsley and salt just before serving. Serve with pita bread.

Crunchy Tacos

2008-05-06T22:16:00.005-05:00

I have mentioned a couple of times how much Russ and I love Jamie Oliver’s new show on the Food Network, Jamie at Home. Well, what I may not have mentioned is that his show comes on at 8:30 am on Saturday mornings. While this may surprise some of you, I am actually a morning person on the weekends (I can’t explain it, but I am… only on the weekends), so I am usually up by 8:30 but Russ is usually still sleeping. It has become our routine to record Jamie at Home and watch it when we are both up and drinking coffee. We don’t have a Tivo or DVR though, so Russ records it to a blank DVD which he sets to start recording just a couple minutes before the show starts. For the first few times we watched Jamie at Home we kept catching the very end of Tyler Florence’s show Tyler’s Ultimate and every time his dishes looked amazing. So, Russ started recording both shows and now we watch both of them once Russ wakes up over a cup coffee – a perfect way to spend a Saturday morning!

One episode that we caught the end of was for his Ultimate Beef Tacos and they looked so delicious that we had to give them a try. Luckily I learned my lesson earlier this year here to always read the recipe through ahead of time. To make the beef tacos you have to sear the meat and then let it simmer for three hours. Well, on a weekend this would be fine, but on a weeknight we would end up eating after 9 pm… I had already gotten the ingredients at the store, so I decided that I would sear the meat at lunch and then let it cook slowly in the crock pot for the afternoon. To make the beef you salt and pepper it on each side and sear it in oil until it forms a crust on each side. While it is searing you add the onion and garlic and let them cook. At this point I then moved the beef, onion, and garlic into the crock pot and added the crushed tomatoes, water, ancho chili powder, cumin, cayenne, and bay leaves. I left the crock pot on low for the afternoon. When I got home I turned it off and let it cool. Then I shredded the meat. I saved the tomato liquid to put the leftover meat back in to keep it moist for lunch the next day. While the meat was cooling I made the salsa. You basically just toss all the ingredients into the food processor and let it go. The only change I made was to substitute two jalapeno peppers for the Serrano (only because the grocery store was out of Serranos). While I made the salsa and chopped some lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and avocado for toppings, Russ fried the tortillas. To make the taco shells you heat vegetable oil in a large pot. You then add one or two corn tortillas to the oil and fry them until they are golden brown. The recipe calls for you to then shape them to fold in half once they are out, but ours folded up on there own while cooking, so we just took them out and put them on paper towels and sprinkled them with salt.

These tacos were wonderful and a nice change from our typical quick and easy tacos with ground beef. The beef had great flavor and texture and while I think our meat got a little over cooked it was still tender once it was shredded. The tacos shells were fantastic with great crunch and flavor. Russ is usually not a fan of corn tortillas and I am usually not a fan of hard taco shells (as I think store bought ones taste stale and have a fake corn flavor… I’ll admit it I’m a food snob at times), we both loved these! The taco shells had great crunch and nice flavor and were the perfect size. We decided not to use the slaw and instead used lettuce, tomato, onion, salsa, shredded cheese, and avocado slices as toppings all of which went really well with the meat. The salsa was so simple to make and very fresh tasting with a nice flavor from the cilantro. The only problem was that the two jalapenos I used had a huge kick to them and made it almost too spicy for me. Next time I’ll cut back on the pepper at first and then taste and add more only if it needs it. This salsa is not a chunky one, but more of a pureed salsa that still has some texture to it (not perfectly smooth). We usually eat chunky salsa, but I have to say I loved the texture of this one and thought it worked really well with the shredded meat and crunchy taco shell. These tacos were a real winner! Russ rates them a 9.

Another So So Bachelor Performance

2008-04-29T11:04:00.006-05:00

I am not sure how many of you watch “The Bachelor” anymore, but Emily, Elizabeth and I have all decided that it each season gets a little trashier than the previous. So, we’ve started talking about maybe finding a new show to replace “The Bachelor” for our get togethers. Much like the show I feel like Russ and my food contributions have also gone downhill over the seasons too. You might remember a few of our not so great contributions like the Stuffed Chicken Breasts that took forever and were just okay, or the Shish Kebabs that got a little over cooked, or there was another recent Bachelor that didn’t make it to the blog where I made the Roasted Broccoli (that I raved about here) only to under cook it and that is just naming a few... So, tonight Russ and I are in charge of the appetizer and dessert. I decide to try a new recipe for the appetizer and go with a fool proof dessert recipe repeating the Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip Cookies that I made here. Well, despite the fact that the appetizer featured two of my favorite foods – roasted red peppers and goat cheese – the recipe as a whole fell flat and was didn’t take advantage of these amazing ingredients. Oh, the cookies you ask… well I forgot to soften the butter and I was running late, so I picked up some ice cream sandwiches at the store… at least they were tasty!

The appetizer I made tonight is Goat Cheese Spread with Roasted Red Peppers from the Birmingham Junior League "Food for Thought" cookbook (which is one of my underused cookbooks and counts towards my New Year's Resolution!). To make it you start by combining the goat cheese, cream cheese, and thyme. I did this in the food processor, but if you don’t have one you could do it by hand. Spread this evenly in a serving dish and set it in the fridge to chill. Next you roast the red peppers. You can do this several ways, but tonight I decided to just do it on the stove top (must be gas). You just lay them over the flame and turn them periodically until they are fairly black. Then toss them in a zip lock bag and let them hang out for a few minutes. Once they have cooled, pull them out, and peel off the outer peel. Then cut them into pieces and puree them in the food processor. Pull out the cheese spread and pile the red pepper puree evenly over the top. The recipe instructs you use plastic wrap to pull the cheese spread out and put it on a plate and then top it with the peppers. While this may be a little more appealing as far as appearance I didn’t find it necessary so I just left it in my container. I served it with crostini (slices of baguette that Russ grilled lightly on both sides).

As I mentioned earlier roasted red peppers and goat cheese are two of my favorite foods (hence why I selected this recipe to try). Despite having these two ingredients the recipe just didn’t add any extra flavor to them and didn’t do a good job in bringing the flavors together. To be honest it would have been just as tasty and easier to just take the crostini and spread some goat cheese on it and top it with a roasted red pepper. The thyme didn’t add much flavor and the cream cheese while it added some creaminess to the dip it really wasn’t necessary. All in all it was just okay and with a combination of goat cheese and roasted red peppers you could definitely come up with a better way of pairing them. Russ rates the dip a 7. In case you are wondering what show we are going to start watching after this season of The Bachelor... well we just discovered that they are doing another Bachelorette season - so we have to watch that!

Goat Cheese Spread with Roasted Red Peppers, Food for Thought
Makes 2 Cups

Ingredients:
1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened
8 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
3 sweet red peppers

Combine the first 4 ingredients in the food processor, and blend until smooth. Press mixture into a ramekin or mold lined with plastic wrap and chill. Roast peppers over gas flame or under broiler, turning until the skins are charred all over. Place peppers in a bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and set aside for 20 minutes. Halve the peppers and remove the cores; peel off skin. Cut peppers into 1 inch strips, and place strips in the food processor; pulse 3 or 4 times. Unmold chilled cheese mixture; top with red pepper puree. Serve with crostini or melba toast.

Make Your Day Bread

2008-04-26T17:12:00.003-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post I was pleasantly surprised when Claire called and came down to my floor with a surprise of Amish Friendship Bread starter for me on Monday. I have always heard of things like this, but have never done one so I was beyond excited to give it a go. So, the way it works is that you take the starter and follow the directions on how to care for it which are basically to mush the bag for several days, then add flour, sugar and milk to it, then mush the bag for a few more days, and then add more flour, sugar and milk to it. At this point you then remove part of what is in the bag to make four new starters. Then you take what is left and add the remaining ingredients and make 2 loaves of delicious bread! So, I decided that instead of making 2 loaves that I would make 4 small loaves and deliver a small loaf with a starter to Jess, Elizabeth, and Sumner. I kept one starter to make the bread one more time, so if anyone wants their very own starter give me a holler or post a comment to make your claim. I already have one claimed (Ken, that’s you), so there are three left up for grabs this next go around.

The bread is delicious! It is moist and sweet and savory all at the same time. It really works well for breakfast or dessert (anyone noticing a theme with the breads I have been baking lately…. I can pass them off as not dessert, but they really can count as dessert…). I love the cinnamon in the bread and think it adds a savory component to it and balances out the sweetness. I am looking forward to making it again in about 10 days and then I think I will stop and hope that I’ll have my day made again by someone bringing me a bread starter! Thanks Claire! Russ rates the bread an 8.

Saturday Morning Muffins on Wednesday

2008-04-23T22:11:00.004-05:00

For the last few weekends when we have been home we have eaten muffins for breakfast on Saturday. The way it works is that we wake up and I am starving (I am always starving when I wake up and it runs in my family) and I want a muffin, but I am too hungry to find a recipe, make sure we have all the ingredients, make the batter, and bake them. That is a lot of work when one is already starving for a muffin. Russ likes a good muffin too, so he is usually game for going to get muffins (he is very sweet!) for both of us. There is a local coffee shop, Cool Beans, just down the rode that makes wonderful, huge, homemade, tasty, yummy muffins and that is where we (as in Russ, except for one time when I went) have been going to get muffins. While this is a great relaxing Saturday morning ritual I have to be honest that I have missed baking muffins or bread of any kind for that matter. So, I finally decided to make muffins tonight because it is a Thursday night…. Right now you might be wondering what a Wednesday night muffin has to do with a Saturday morning muffin ritual. Well, I will tell you. I got a very exciting surprise from Claire on Monday. Right now it is in a plastic bag on our counter and looks kind of gooey. She claims it will turn into bread if I feed it. I am super excited, so the muffins got moved to Wednesday and on Saturday morning I’ll attempt to make the gooey stuff in the plastic bag turn into a loaf of bread for breakfast. Magic will not be involved, but I may need luck… stay tuned to see how it turns out.

The muffins I made tonight are ones we saw on Jamie Oliver’s show on the Food Network, Jamie at Home. Russ and I both love this show and pretty much want to try most of the recipes. This is the first one we have had time to try. The muffins are called Butternut Squash Muffins with a Frosty Top. During the episode when Jamie made these he called them muffins sometimes and cupcakes other times. I am not sure if the two are interchangeable in British English or not, but I think they really could pass for either a muffin or cupcake.

To make the muffins you start by deseeding the butternut squash and giving it a rough chop. You don’t peel it which really surprised me, but on the same episode Jamie made a butternut squash soup and again left the skin on the squash when he cooked it. You take the pieces of squash and put them in the food processor and process them it is finely chopped. Then add the sugar and eggs and pulse it a couple times until it is blended. Then add the salt, flour, baking soda, cinnamon and olive oil and process it until it is all blended. You could add walnuts when you are adding the previous ingredients. I left them out as Russ doesn’t really like nuts in things. I think they would be so small that he probably wouldn’t have even noticed, but to be on the safe side I left them out. You then take the batter and fill the muffin tin (use paper muffin liners). These bake at 350 for about 20 to 25 minutes. While they are baking you make the frosty topping. In a bowl zest a Clementine and a lemon. Then add the juice from half of the lemon. Then mix in the sour cream, confectioners’ sugar, and a little vanilla extract (I used this instead of a vanilla bean). Then taste and adjust it as needed to have a good balance of sweet and sour. Mine was a little on the sour side, so I added more confectioners sugar until it was tart, yet sweet. Stick the frosting in the fridge until the muffins are done and then when they come out and cool slightly frost them.

These were really tasty and as I said before they could pass for a muffin or a cupcake. The muffin is dense and moist and has a wonderful flavor from the butternut squash and cinnamon. I love how bright and colorful they are too from the squash. As I mentioned earlier it really surprised me that he didn’t have you peel the squash. I have never not peeled a butternut squash unless I am going to roast it and then scoop out the squash after it roasts. You really can’t tell that the peel wasn’t removed and it makes preparing the muffins so much easier and faster. The frosting is more like a glaze as it is runny and slightly thin. I love the tart and sweet flavor combination from the lemon juice and the confectioners’ sugar and the zest adds a bright freshness to it. While I really, really liked the muffins to me the frosting was phenomenal. It might not have been Saturday morning, but we still enjoyed them and plan to eat them for breakfast tomorrow. Russ rates the muffins a 9.

Exceeding Expectations

2008-04-16T21:27:00.003-05:00

I have always liked mayonnaise spread on my sandwiches in fact it is my preferred condiment when it comes to sandwiches. It has a creamy texture and great flavor that just add that perfect touch to a sandwich. I’ve always loved it in chicken salad and pimento salad too. It wasn’t until I ate hot artichoke dip for the first time and requested the recipe that I realized I’ve probably been eating mayonnaise in lots of other dishes for years and not even known it. When I saw the ingredients in baked artichoke dip for the first time I almost fell out of my chair. I couldn’t believe that baked mayonnaise with just some cheese and chopped artichokes could be good. I mean really the thought of hot mayonnaise is disgusting and this is coming from a long time fan of mayonnaise. I am not sure I will ever understand how hot, baked mayonnaise can actually taste good, but you know what it really does. Even knowing that I like it baked in dishes such as hot artichoke dip I am still skeptical every time I try a new recipe that involves baking with mayonnaise. Tonight’s recipe was no exception. After reading the recipe I thought these are going to taste like hot mayonnaise… but once again I was proven wrong. I guess I need to just accept the fact that I am an all around fan of mayonnaise cold or hot.

To make the chicken tenders you start by mixing the panko with salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. I would highly recommend not substituting a different kind of bread crumb for the panko. You can now find panko in almost every grocery store and it really is the best for this recipe. Then you trim the chicken tenders to remove any of the exposed tendon if they have it. Then in another bowl mix the mayonnaise, hot sauce (I used wing sauce), cayenne, and salt together. Then add the chicken tenders to the mayonnaise mixture and make sure each one gets a good coat on it. Then take each chicken tender and roll it around in the panko mixture and then place them on a rimmed baking sheet. Preheat the broiler for at least ten minutes. Once the broiler has been thoroughly heated then put the baking sheet in making sure it is far enough away from the flames to not burn the breading. Let them broil for about 6 minutes on each side. While they are broiling mix the blue cheese, sour cream, milk, salt and pepper together in a bowl. This made a lot, so next time I would cut this back by half. I served the chicken tenders with carrot sticks, celery sticks, and John’s slaw.

These really exceeded my expectations! They were crisp on the outside and moist on the inside. They had a little bit of a kick from the wing sauce and cayenne without being too spicy. They were really simple and quick to make in fact I think tonight was the earliest we have eaten dinner in a long time. These were excellent as an entrée, but I think they would also make a fabulous appetizer or great game day food (if you are watching the game at home). The blue cheese dipping sauce was very creamy and tasty. I felt like it definitely had a fresher and brighter flavor than most store bought blue cheese dressings. It did make a ton, so as I mentioned before next time I'll cut the recipe for the sauce in half. Russ and I both really enjoyed the chicken tneders and blue cheese dipping sauce. After a having the last four recipes come in at 8s I have finally broken the streak and Russ gave the chicken tenders a 10! (Hass: I think you would really like these.)

Crisp and Spicy Chicken Tenders with Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce, Fine Cooking
Serves four.

Ingredients:

2-1/2 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper1-1/2 lb. chicken tenders3/4 cup mayonnaise1 Tbs. hot pepper sauce (I actually used our favorite wing sauce – Phil’s)1/4 tsp. cayenne3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese (about 4 oz.)1/2 cup sour cream3 Tbs. milk

Pour the panko into a shallow dish (like a pie pan) and toss with 3/4 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper.

Trim off any exposed tendon ends from the wide tips of the chicken tenders, if necessary. In a medium bowl, whisk 1/4 cup of the mayonnaise with the hot sauce, cayenne, and 1/8 tsp. salt. Add the chicken and toss with your hands to coat well. Coat each tender in the panko and arrange in a single layer on a heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet. Refrigerate while you heat the broiler and make the sauce. Position an oven rack 6 inches from the broiler element and heat the broiler on high for at least 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the remaining 1/2 cup mayonnaise with the blue cheese, sour cream, milk, 1/2 tsp. salt, and a few grinds of pepper in a medium bowl. Whisk until well combined and only small bits of cheese remain intact. Broil the tenders, flipping once, until they are crisp and golden brown in spots on the outside and cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes per side (rotate the pan as needed for even browning). Transfer the tenders to a platter or to individual plates and serve with the dipping sauce.

Serving Suggestions:

As with Buffalo wings, fresh carrot and celery sticks are perfect here.

Stir Fry Night

2008-04-15T22:15:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post I was just in a rut trying to decide what to make for dinner this week. I think I was also fairly tired because not counting last night’s very involved dinner I only selected fairly quick and easy meals for the menu. Tonight I went back to my New Year’s Resolution of using my underused and never used cookbooks. This is actually (Jess, sit down so you don’t faint)… the second time this year I have used one of my previously underused cookbooks, Southern Living’s Light and Easy Comfort Food. Tonight I made the Beef, Pepper, and Shiitake Mushroom Stir Fry from its Cooking for Two Section.

To make the stir fry you start by slicing the peppers, mushrooms, steak, shallot, and garlic (mince the garlic). Then heat the oil and cook the beef. Then remove the beef and wipe out the skillet. Then add all the vegetables except the mushrooms and stir fry for a couple minutes (I actually used more peppers than the recipe called for, so I did mine longer than the 1 minute the recipe says). Then add the mushrooms and stir fry for a couple minutes. Then stir in the wine and let it cook for a minute or so. Then add the broth and bring to a simmer for at least 3 minutes. Then add the beef back in and finally add the basil, salt, and pepper.

This was super fast and easy to make. The brown rice took the longest, but since I started it first it was ready by the time the stir fry was done. I love peppers and mushrooms and they really are showcased in this dish. The beef was tender and complemented the vegetables well. The sauce while very simple and fast was nothing exciting and a little bland. I love stir fry dishes and I think that this has a good base with the three colors of peppers and the shiitakes, but I think the sauce left a little to be desired. I think next time I’ll go with a stir fry similar to this one or this one both are still quick and easy, but their sauces have just a few more ingredients that give them a more exciting and tasty flavor. Next time I will use the tenderloin instead of the other cuts of beef (that the other stir fry recipes call for) and include the shiitakes. All in all it was super easy and a great week night meal. Russ rates the stir fry an 8.

Beef, Pepper, and Shiitake Mushroom Stir Fry, Southern Living Light and Easy Comfort Food
Serves 2

Cooking spray
1 teaspoon olive oil, divided
1 (6 oz) beef tenderloin steak, cut into ½ inch strips
½ cup sliced shallots
½ cup (1/4 inch thick) strips green bell pepper
½ cup (1/4 inch thick) strips red bell pepper
½ cup (1/4 inch thick) strips yellow bell pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups sliced fresh shiitake mushroom caps (about 1 [3 and ½ oz] package)
¼ cup dry white wine
½ cup fat-free, less sodium beef broth (such as Swanson)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 and ½ cups hot cooked rice, cooked without salt or fat

Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; add ½ teaspoon oil, and place over medium-high heat until hot. Add beef; stir-fry 2 minutes. Remove beef from skillet; set aside. Wipe drippings from skillet with a paper towel.

Heat remaining ½ teaspoon oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots, bell pepper strips, and garlic; stir-fry 1 minute. Add mushrooms; stir-fry 2 minutes. Stir in wine, and cook 1 minute. Add broth; reduce heat, and simmer 3 minutes. Return beef to skillet; cook 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in basil, salt, and pepper. Serve over rice.

Another Lesson Learned

2008-04-14T22:40:00.003-05:00

I have learned a lot about cooking over the past couple years and lots of what I have learned has been through my own mistakes. Some as simple as that microwave popcorn does not need very long to pop and our microwave has a popcorn button that pops it perfectly… I ended up with black popcorn that sent smoke all over the house and forever stained the inside of our microwave yellow. I learned that fish marinated in alcohol needs to be a good distance from the broiler while cooking… or it will catch on fire. There are many more and tonight I learned yet another lesson the hard way.

Our “Bachelor” group came over for dinner tonight which meant Russ and I were in charge of the entrée. On Sunday I was trying to figure out not only what to do for our “Bachelor” dinner, but also for the rest of the nights of the week. I couldn’t come up with anything for any night. You would think if you receive three cooking magazines on a regular basis and own a lot of cookbooks that you would be able to come up with a million ideas of what to make for dinner, but for some reason nothing was catching my eye. It was either too wintery or too summery or too boring or too similar to what we just had last week… So, I finally just chose a few recipes including a recipe in my new Cooks’ Illustrated for Stuffed Chicken Breasts. The problem is that I didn’t actually read the article or the recipe… I just saw the name, scanned the list of ingredients and thought this is perfect for tomorrow night…. It ended up being okay, but it was a lot more work than I had thought and you didn’t finish it by baking it in the oven as I had assumed and it had a sauce that I didn’t know it had and I didn’t know it involved using the food processor twice and… well you get the picture.

To make the Stuffed Chicken Breasts first read the recipe in its entirety (lesson learned). Then take the chicken breasts and butterfly them, pound them, trim them to form an 8 by 5 inch rectangle and set them aside. This is a lot of work by the way when you are doing multiple chicken breasts. Thankfully Russ did all of this while I made the stuffing. To make the stuffing you clean, trim and slice the mushrooms. Add some oil to a skillet and then add the mushrooms cooking until all the moisture has evaporated and they are brown. While they are cooking wash and chop the leek, mince the garlic and chop the thyme leaves. Once the mushrooms are cooked add a little more oil and the leeks and continue to cook until the leeks are soft. Then add the garlic and thyme and cook for just under a minute. Than add the lemon juice and cook until the moisture has evaporated. Move the mushroom mixture to the bowl of the food processor and pulse until it is roughly chopped. Then move the mushroom mixture to a separate bowl. In the pan that you cooked the mushrooms in return it to the stove and add the wine and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. (I was slightly exasperated with this recipe since it was turning out like I thought it was based on the name and list of ingredients… so I opted to skip the step of heating the wine and getting the brown bits up. Russ convinced me that we should not skip it and it did turn out to get lots of goodness up from the bottom of the pan. This meal was definitely a team effort and the team gets a little bigger in just a minute.) Set the wine with browned bits aside in another bowl. Then take the chicken trimmings and add them to the food processor until they are pureed. Then add the chicken puree, parsley, salt, and pepper to the mushroom mixture and combine. Then grab the butterflied, pounded, trimmed chicken breasts and lay one out flat and spread the stuffing evenly over it and roll it up and place it seam side down. Then use three pieces of kitchen twine and tie it up. Then season the chicken with salt and pepper and heat the oil in a skillet. Once it is hot add the chicken bundles and brown them on all four sides for about two minutes on each. Then add the broth (low sodium… only I managed to skip that on the ingredient list when making my grocery list and used bouillon cubes to make the chicken broth which is anything but low in sodium…) and wine to the pan and bring it to a boil. Elizabeth arrived just in time to help with browning the bundle (see what a mean… it took three of us). Then put the lid on and reduce the heat to a simmer and let it simmer until the chicken breasts are done. Once the chicken bundles are done then remove them from the pan and make the sauce using the remaining liquid. Whisk the mustard into the broth / wine mixture and scarp the bottom of the pan to get the brown bits up. Finally take it off the heat and whisk in the butter, parsley, lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper (trust me mine did not need any more salt). Spoon the sauce over the chicken and serve.

This took forever and was a ton of work for what it was. That being said I still should have read the recipe in its entirety to realize this prior to deciding to make it on a night when we were having people over… The mushroom stuffing was very tasty; however, I thought goat cheese would have made an excellent addition to it and made it a little moister. Our chicken bundles ended up a little salty, but I think that was mainly because of not using the reduced sodium chicken broth, as the recipe stated to use, and because we added more to the pan thinking it needed more which only added more salt. Also, I didn’t think to put the meat thermometer in the chicken after we browned it, so I think I let them cook a little too long. I did like the look of the chicken when you cut it and it was all rolled with the mushroom stuffing showing through. Overall this was good, but not worth the time or effort. There are dishes where I think it is worth every minute and every dirty dish even if it takes a long time and uses every clean dish, but this is not one of those. I think that the work involved tainted our view of the dish as it was good. Russ rates it an 8.

Elizabeth brought butter beans and a salad as sides. Emily brought Baked Pimento Cheese Dip for an appetizer and chocolate / peanut butter treats for dessert. We enjoyed being with everyone (only we missed Seth who was working late counting beans) and watching the dogs play together!

Stuffed Chicken Breasts, Cooks’ Illustrated May / June 2008
Serves 4 to 6

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (8 ounces each)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
10 ounces white mushrooms, trimmed, wiped clean, and sliced thin
1 small leek, white part halved lengthwise, washed, and chopped (about 1 cup)
2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
½ teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon juice from 1 lemon
½ cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves
Table salt and ground black pepper
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

For the chicken: Use tip of sharp chef’s knife to cut each breast horizontally, starting at the thinnest end and stopping knife tip ½ inch away from edge so that halves remain attached. Open up breasts to create 4 cutlets. Place one cutlet at a time in a heavy-duty zipper lock bag and pound to ¼ inch thickness (cutlet should measure about 8 inches by 6 inches). Trim about ½ inch from long sides of cutlets (about 1 and ½ to 2 ounces of meat per cutlet, or a total of ½ cup from all 4 cutlets) to form rectangles that measure about 8 by 5 inches. Process all trimmings in food processor until smooth, about 20 seconds. Transfer puree to a medium bowl and set aside. (Do not wash the food processor bowl.)

For the Stuffing: Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12 inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until all moisture has evaporated and mushrooms are golden brown, 8 to 11 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon oil and leek; continue to cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 2 to 4 minutes. Add garlic and thyme, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add 1 and ½ teaspoons lemon juice and cook until all moisture has evaporated, about 30 seconds. Transfer mixture to bowl of food processor. Return pan to heat; add wine and scrape pan bottom to loosen browned bits. Transfer wine to small bowl and set aside. Rinse and dry skillet.

Pulse mushroom mixture in food processor until roughly chopped, about five 1-second pulses. Transfer mushroom mixture to bowl with pureed chicken. Add 1 and ½ teaspoons parsley, ¾ teaspoon table salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Using rubber spatula, fold together stuffing ingredients until well combined (you should have about 1 and ½ cups stuffing).

To Assemble and Cook: With thinnest ends of cutlet pointing away from you, spread one quarter of stuffing evenly over each cutlet with rubber spatula, leaving ¾ inch border along short sides and ¼ inch border along long sides. Roll each breast up as tightly as possible without squeezing out filling and place seam-side down. Evenly space 3 pieces of twine (each about 12 inches long) beneath each breast and tie, trimming any excess.

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat remaining tablespoon oil in skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add chicken bundles and brown on 4 sides, about 2 minutes per side. Add broth and reserved wine to pan and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pan, and cook until instant read thermometer registers 160 degrees when inserted into thickest part of chicken, 12 to 18 minutes. Transfer chicken to cutting board and loosely tent with foil.

To Make Sauce and Serve: While chicken rests, whisk mustard into cooking liquid. Increase heat to high and simmer, scraping pan bottom to loosen browned bits, until dark brown and reduced to ½ cup, 7 to 10 minutes. Off heat, whisk in butter and remaining 1 and ½ teaspoons parsley and 1 and ½ teaspoons lemon juice; season with salt and pepper. Remove twine and cut each chicken bundle on bias into 6 medallions. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve.

Our Spontaneous Dinner Party

2008-04-11T21:52:00.003-05:00

Russ and I both love having company and even though I generally like planning ahead and being organized sometimes the best things are those that are unplanned. This afternoon we had heavy downpours and thunderstorm that knocked out my parents’ power and took down a few of their trees. Since they were in the dark and Russ and I had just planned on staying in tonight and cooking we invited them to come over for dinner. Mary Margaret was driving home during the torrential rain and since she could barely see to drive she stopped by our house to wait for it to let up some before driving home. We opened a bottle of wine, pulled out some cheese and crackers, and got our spontaneous dinner party started. Mom and Dad came over later and Mary Margaret, after a little convincing, stayed through dinner. Since it was unplanned it almost made me relax a little more about everything. The house was fairly clean, but I didn’t feel the need to swiffer the floors. Dinner was already planned and we just added a little more to it. It was a relaxing, wonderful evening with great company!

I made Oven Roasted Salmon with Tomato Relish for dinner tonight and served it with a side of sautéed spinach and wild rice. To make the salmon you heat the oven up to 500 with the baking sheet in it. While it is heating up you take the salmon fillets and make shallow cuts in the skin side of each. Then rub them with olive oil and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Once the fillets are ready and the oven has reached 500 degrees turn it down to 275 and remove the baking sheet. Place the salmon fillets skin side down on the baking sheet and put them in the oven. Roast them until they are done to your liking. While they are roasting chop the tomato, shallot, garlic, and basil. Combine them in a bowl with the olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. When the salmon is done serve the relish on top of the fillets.

This was a very quick and easy recipe and the salmon turned out very moist. The salmon had a nice simple flavor to it, but I was really expecting it to have a stronger flavor from the roasting process. The relish was wonderful and I always love the combination of salmon with tomatoes and shallots, but at the same time it was nothing new or exciting. In hindsight I wish I had tried one of the other relish recipes offered - Spicy Cucumber Relish, Tangerine and Ginger Relish, or Grapefruit and Basil Relish. It also reminded me a lot of Giada’s Salmon Baked in Foil only it wasn’t as flavorful. The other relish recipes are very intriguing to me, so I think next time I’ll let Russ grill the salmon and then I’ll try one of the more exciting relishes. All in all it was a good meal with great potential. Russ rates the Oven Roasted Salmon with Tomato Relish an 8.

Oven Roasted Salmon, Cooks’ Illustrated March / April 2008
Serves 4

1 skin-on salmon fillet (1 and ¾ - 2 pounds), about 1 and ½ inches at thickest part (see note)
2 teaspoons olive oil
Table salt and ground black pepper
1 recipe relish (recipe follow)

Adjust oven rack to lowest position, place rimmed baking sheet on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Use a sharp knife to remove any whitish fat from belly of fillet and cut into 4 equal pieces. Make 4 or 5 shallow slashes about an inch apart along skin side of each piece, being careful not to cut into flesh.

Pat salmon dry with paper towels. Rub fillets evenly with oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. Reduce oven temperature to 275 degrees and remove baking sheet. Carefully place salmon skin-side down on baking sheet. Roast until centers of thickest part of fillets are still translucent when cut into with paring knife or instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of fillets registers 125 degrees, 9 to 13 minutes. Transfer fillets to individual plates or platter. Top with relish and serve.

Fresh Tomato Relish
Makes about 1 and ½ cups

¾ pound ripe tomatoes, cored, seeded, and cut into ¼ inch dice (about 1 and ½ cups)
½ small shallot, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
1 small garlic clove, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about ½ teaspoon)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
Table salt and ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in medium bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Not so simple sauce...

2008-04-08T22:35:00.000-05:00

So, I have only had my Cooks’ Illustrated subscription for a few months now, but even before the subscription started I began to have a love / hate relationship with it. I don’t know if you remember the cookies from Jess and my holiday baking this past December. Well, two of the cookie recipes came from Cooks’ Illustrated. The Nut Crescent Cookies were easy to make, looked great, and tasted wonderful. Now, the Chocolate Butter Cookies were a major pain and very time consuming to make. They did end up tasting good and while they looked fine they didn’t look as good as they should have since the white chocolate topping didn’t work out… These cookies pretty much started my love / hate relationship with Cooks’ Illustrated. Since then I have made their Roasted Broccoli which was amazing and pretty much the best broccoli ever which makes me love Cooks’ Illustrated. Which brings us to tonight… where I make their Simple Italian-Style Meat Sauce which while it was not difficult it was also not a simple, week night sauce at all as it was touted to be. I am not sure that Cooks’ Illustrated cares, but we are having a very tumultuous relationship.

To make the “Simple” Italian-Style Meat Sauce you start by cleaning the mushrooms and giving them a rough chop. Then put them in the food processor until they are finally chopped. See what I mean, when a food processor is involved it is not exactly what I would I would call a simple sauce. Then you put the mushrooms in a bowl and set them aside. Then add the bread, milk, salt and pepper to the food processor and process it until it is pasty. Then add the ground beef and pulse until it is combined with the bread mixture. Add the oil to the pan and heat it up. Then add the onions and mushrooms and cook until they are browned. Then add the garlic, red pepper flakes, and tomato paste. Next add the tomato liquid and oregano. Lastly add the meat mixture to the pan and use a wooden spoon to break it up while it cooks. Once the beef has lost its raw color then add the crushed and diced tomatoes and let is simmer for about 30 minutes. Last add the parmesan cheese, the remaining oregano (or a little more to taste), and salt and pepper to taste. Serve over pasta.

The sauce was tasty and even a little creamy. It had a nice smooth texture to it which I liked as a change from my chunkier spaghetti sauce. I did need to add extra oregano, salt, and pepper to it. Russ and I both thought it would be better with a smaller pasta than the rigatoni that we used (which was what CI showed with it in the picture). While we both enjoyed it and I did especially like the creaminess and smoothness of the sauce it really wasn’t anything special. I also did not think it was as simple as Cooks’ Illustrated did since it involved lots of equipment and steps for a fairly plain sauce. Russ rates the sauce an 8.

Simple Italian-Style Meat Sauce, Cooks’ Illustrated March / April 2008
Makes about 6 cups

4 ounces white mushrooms, cleaned, stems trimmed, and broken into rough pieces
1 large slice high-quality white sandwich bread, torn into quarters
2 tablespoons whole milk
Table salt and ground black pepper
1 pound 85 percent lean ground beef (not ground round)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped fine (about 1 and ½ cups)
6 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 2 tablespoons)
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained, ¼ cup liquid reserved
1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
½ ounce grated Parmesan cheese (about ¼ cup)

Process mushrooms in food processor until finely chopped, about eight 1-second pulses, scraping down side of bowl as needed; transfer to medium bowl. Add bread, milk, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper to now empty food processor and process until paste forms, about eight 1 second pulses. Add beef and pulse until mixture is well combined, about six 1 second pulses.

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add onion and mushrooms; cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are browned and dark bits form on pan bottom, 6 to 12 minutes. Stir in garlic, pepper flakes, and tomato paste; cook until fragrant and tomato paste starts to brown, about 1 minute. Add ¼ cup reserved liquid and 2 teaspoons fresh oregano (if using dried, add full amount), scraping bottom of pan with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Add meat mixture and cook, breaking meat into small pieces with wooden spoon, until beef loses its raw color, 2 to 4 minutes, making sure that meat does not brown.

Stir in crushed and drained diced tomatoes and bring to simmer; reduce heat to low and gently simmer; reduce heat to low and gently simmer until sauce has thickened and flavors have blended, about 30 minutes. Stir in cheese and remaining teaspoon fresh oregano; season with salt and pepper to taste.

Simple and Yummy Chicken Fajitas

2008-04-01T22:05:00.005-05:00

Sometimes simple recipes end up being my favorites. Tonight’s recipe came out of the fold out section at the end of Fine Cooking that has simple, quick meals that work great for weeknight dinners. What I love about a simple recipe like this is that I’ll probably never pull this recipe out again, but I’ll use it as a building block for quick dinners in the future. This recipe has just a few ingredients and the method of cooking it is very simple which makes it great for making it your own. You could easily use a variety of additional ingredients including yellow and green bell peppers, black beans, avocado slices, diced fresh tomatoes, and so on. There are so many options and I think that any twist you take on it will be delicious!

To make the chicken fajitas we sprinkled the chicken with the chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. I’ll be honest here… I didn’t measure them all out into a small bowl. When it comes to recipes like this one I tend to not measure the ingredients. I just gave them a good sprinkling on each side of all the spices and then Russ grilled them on the Egg. We used boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead of thighs because that is what we had on hand. I put the sliced onion and red pepper in the skillet with a little oil and let them cook for a couple minutes until they were soft. I added a little salt and pepper to them while cooking. Next time I’ll add the red peppers first as they need a little longer than the onions need to soften. Once they are soft you add the garlic, cumin, and chili powder. I didn’t measure again, but just added a nice sprinkling of the cumin and chili powder. Once the chicken came off the grill, Russ let it rest and then cut it into strips on the bias. I heated the tortillas and then we filled our fajitas with chicken and the red pepper and onion mixture. I realized at this point that I had not added the lime juice, so I just squeezed a little lime juice over the fajitas. We topped them off with a little sour cream and the shredded Monterey Jack cheese.

These were incredibly flavorful and tasty. I liked the warmth from the cumin and chili powder and the nice fresh flavor that the lime juice added. While I think cooking the chicken in the skillet would work just fine, I did enjoy the grilled flavor from the Egg. These came together really quickly and worked well for an easy weeknight dinner. As I mentioned before we will definitely make a variation of these again! Russ rates the fajitas a 9.

Chicken Fajitas with Red Pepper, Onion, and Lime, Fine Cooking
Serves four.

Ingredients:
1-1/2 tsp. chili powder

1-1/4 tsp. ground cumin

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 to 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (1-1/2 to 2 lb.), trimmed of excess fat

2 Tbs. canola, vegetable, or corn oil (I used canola)

1 very large or 2 medium yellow onions, quartered and thinly sliced crosswise (about 4 cups)

1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into strips about 1/4 inch wide and 2 inches long

3 medium cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbs. fresh lime juice

Twelve 5- to 6-inch corn tortillas

1-1/2 cups crumbled queso fresco or grated Monterey Jack cheese

Mix 1 tsp. of the chili powder, 1/2 tsp. of the cumin, 3/4 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper in a small bowl. Season the chicken on both sides with the spice rub. Heat 1 Tbs. of the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Cook the chicken without disturbing, except to flip, until both sides are browned and the chicken is firm to the touch, 3 to 4 minutes per side. If it browns too quickly, reduce the heat to medium. Transfer the thighs to a cutting board and let them cool slightly.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 Tbs. oil in the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, just until the vegetables begin to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic and the remaining 3/4 tsp. cumin and 1/2 tsp. chili powder and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the lime juice. Transfer to a bowl, cover loosely with foil, and keep warm.

Cut the thighs on the diagonal into thin slices, transfer to a plate, cover, and keep warm.
Heat the tortillas according to package directions. Fill each one with a few slices of the chicken and some of the onion mixture and cheese. Fold the filled tortillas and serve.

My Notes: We used boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead of thighs. Russ grilled the chicken for us and we used flour tortillas instead of corn. I couldn’t find the queso fresco, so we used the grated Monterey Jack. I am keeping my eye out for crumbled queso fresco, so if you happen to run across it let me know where you saw it please.

Spring Cooking and Spring Showers

2008-03-29T22:20:00.004-05:00

I consider myself to be a fairly patient person; however, when it comes to the arrival of Fall and Spring I just get flat out impatient. It is almost April, Easter has come and gone, our azaleas are blooming, we have had a few warm days, everything is turning green, and it is officially Spring now… but we still have colder days and I haven’t worn my flip flops yet. Today has been gorgeous our and sunny and warm and just how I like Spring to be. So, we decided to dust off the grill and have some friends over to eat outside tonight. Well, I managed to forget another major characteristic of Spring is rain. After the major drought last year I am not going to complain about the rain, but it did remind me that for some reason though we always manage to pick nights when it rains to grill out. Tonight was no exception. While today was gorgeous and sunny it started raining just about the time that Russ was starting up the coals for the grill… Lucky for me Russ doesn’t seem to mind grilling in his rain coat.

Tonight we did a somewhat early Spring meal that came from my new Jamie Oliver cookbook, Cook with Jamie. I also made an appetizer from my other new cookbook, Jamie’s Italy. Elizabeth, Seth, Mary Catherine, and Allen (and their furry ones, Wagg and Bitzy) all came over to eat with us tonight. For the appetizer I did crostini with mozzarella and chiles and some with cherry tomatoes instead of chiles. Russ grilled the slices of baguette for me and then I rubbed garlic on one side of each. I topped them off with pieces of fresh mozzarella and either some of the red chile or tomatoes, a drizzle of olive oil, and torn pieces of fresh basil.

For dinner we decided on Grilled Fillet Steak with the Creamiest White Beans and Leeks. Russ and I both like a traditional steak and potato meal, but I love it when I come across a recipe that takes a new twist on the traditional. Here Jamie keeps a creamy starch in the picture, but uses white beans and leeks instead of potatoes. The recipe calls for canned lima beans and while I am a fan of canned beans I have never used canned lima beans and the thought kind of scared me (especially when I looked at the sodium in them). I do use frozen lima beans fairly frequently and decided to use those instead because while I am sure the canned are fine I am much more comfortable with the frozen. I just cooked the frozen lima beans until they were done, but not too soft in water with a little salt and pepper. When the beans are cooked go ahead and drain them and set them aside. While the beans were cooking I put the sliced leeks, thyme, and chopped garlic into the pan with a little olive oil and butter. I kept it over low heat for about 20 minutes. Many of you may already know this, but if not then here comes a fun cooking fact. The combination of olive oil and butter here is not an uncommon combination and there is a reason why he is using both. Oil has a much higher threshold for heat and butter has a lower threshold for heat, but it has more flavor than oil. So combining them the oil will help keep the butter from burning and the butter will add flavor. Back to the recipe now… Once the leeks are soft and sweet then you turn up the heat and add the white wine. Let the wine come to boil and then add the beans and a little water until the beans are almost covered (don’t cover them or it will take too long to reduce). Let the beans simmer and reduce a little until they are creamy. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed for taste. Last add the chopped parsley, crème fraiche, and a little olive oil. For the steaks, Russ got some really pretty looking New York Strips and salt and peppered both sides. He then grilled them to medium and pulled them off to let them rest. While resting he drizzled them with olive oil and fresh lemon juice. He decided to not carve the steaks into thin slices, but rather serve them whole. We served the steaks over the beans and with a simple side salad of mixed greens with homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

The crostini were really simple and quick to put together. Russ grilled the baguette slices on the grill which was complicated by the fact that it was raining and since the grill was hotter than it needed to be (since he had prepared it for grilling the steaks since I forgot to mention to him that I needed him to do the bread too), but other than that is only took a couple minutes that had a great toasty texture to them. The mixture of mozarrella with the red chiles was wonderful! I was a little worried about the red chiles, so I did some with tomatoes too. Both were really good and I enjoyed having a little variety to them. I love simple appetizers like this and think you could come up lots of easy variations based on ingredients you have on hand or ones you love. Russ rates the crostini a 10.

Russ did a fantastic job on the steaks and they grilled perfectly. They were flavorful with great color and texture. The beans were fantastic! I love lima beans and leeks and the combination was wonderful. The crème fraiche at the end really added an extra creamy touch to the creamy beans and the parsley added a punch of flavor and freshness. The beans definitely take center stage in the dish with the other ingredients just adding to their flavor and creaminess. The steak and lima bean combination was fantastic and they both complimented each other well in texture with the chewiness of the steak and the creaminess of the beans and flavor. This was a great meal for entertaining and if I had been a little better organized and started the beans earlier then I think this is a dish that you could have ready before your guests arrive (up to where you add the crème fraiche, parsley, and olive oil) and then just turn off the heat and put the lid on it until a few minutes before you serve when you can reheat it and add the last few ingredients. Had it not been raining then we would have been outside before hand which would have allowed Russ to grill the steaks while still being with everyone. This is definitely a dish that I would recommend for Spring entertaining. Russ rates the Grilled Fillet Steak with the Creamiest White Beans and Leeks a 10.

Grilled Fillet Steak with the Creamiest White Beans and Leeks, Cook with Jamie
Serves 4

4 leeks, washed, trimmed and finely sliced
A small bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
Olive oil
A knob of butter
A wineglass of white wine
1lb. 2 oz good-quality canned lima beans, drained and rinsed
A small handful of freshly picked parsley leaves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon crème fraiche
Good-quality peppery extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
7 oz. well-marbled fillet steaks, preferably free-range or organic, 1-1 and ½ inches thick
1 lemon

Sweat the leeks, thyme, and garlic with a splash of olive oil and the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan on a low heat for 20 minutes until they are soft and sweet. Turn up the heat and add the white wine. Let the wine come to the boil, then add the beans and a splash of water, so that the beans are almost covered. Allow to simmer gently for 5 to 10 minutes until the beans are lovely and creamy. Add the parsley, crème fraiche and a good glug of the extra virgin olive oil and taste for seasoning.

Heat a griddle pan until white-hot, season your steaks and pat with olive oil. Grill a 1 and ½ inch steak for 2 to 3 minutes on each side for medium-rare. You can keep them on there for longer, turning as you go, until cooked to your liking. Remove from the grill on to a dish and rest for 5 minutes. Squeeze over some lemon juice and drizzle over some extra virgin olive oil. Carve the steaks into thick slices. Divide the creamy beans between your plates and place the steak on top, drizzling over some of the resting juices.

My Notes: I used frozen lima beans and just cooked them first. Russ grilled the steaks on the Egg and let everyone slice their own steak.

Crostini, Jamie's Italy

Ingredients:
1 loaf of ciabatta bread, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 large clove of garlic, peeled and cut in half
good-quality extra virgin olive oil

Grill your slices of ciabatta. While they're still hot, rub them gently with the cut side of the garlic and drizzle with good-quality extra virgin olive oil. Finish with your favorite toppings.

Buffalo Mozzarella and Chili

Tear 3 5 oz. balls of buffalo mozzarella into quarters, then top each of your hot crostini with one of the quarters. Deseed and finely chop a fresh red chili and sprinkle this over the mozzarella. Add a little seasoning and finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Lovely with a little fresh basil torn over it.

Canned Tuna: The Saga

2008-03-28T22:18:00.003-05:00

When I started cooking for I came up with a simple and yummy pasta with tuna dish that I would make for lunch on the weekends fairly frequently. It is simple because it takes very little time to prepare and because it has only a few ingredients all of which I tend to always have on hand: pasta, a can of tuna, mayonnaise, onion, salt and pepper. The dish is fairly self explanatory based on the list of ingredients, but basically I would cook the pasta and then drain it. I would then mix it with a drained can of tuna, some diced onion, some mayonnaise, and season it with salt and pepper. I love it; however, when I introduced Russ to it he did not like it at all. He has named it “Tuna Surprise” and won’t have anything to do with it. His reaction to my beloved “Tuna Surprise” was and is still so strong that he doesn’t want to eat anything involving a can of tuna for fear of it being ever so slightly similar to my tuna dish. Well, after an almost three year hiatus from canned tuna we finally gave it another go in a new recipe tonight.

Russ spoiled me on my birthday this year including giving me two Jamie Oliver cookbooks. We both love Jamie Oliver and have a renewed interest in him after becoming hooked on his new show on the Food Network, Jamie at Home. I have been flipping through both of my new cookbooks, Cook with Jamie and Jamie’s Italy, and ran across a simple pasta with tuna dish that looked very tasty! I showed Russ the recipe and the picture of the dish and while he was hesitant he said he’d be okay adding it to the menu this week. Yeah! I gave it a go tonight and I think I can safely say we are back to eating canned tuna again!

To make the dish you start by chopping the red onion and basil stalks and then sautéing them in a little olive oil with the cinnamon. Once the onions are soft and a little sweet you add the tuna, tomatoes and their juices, and a little salt. Let this simmer for about 20 minutes. Cook the pasta until it is al dente and then drain it. Add the torn basil leaves, lemon zest, lemon juice, a little olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and pasta to the sauce. Toss it all together and taste for seasoning. I added a little more salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Russ and I both enjoyed this dish. It is a simple, light pasta dish with great flavor from the cinnamon and basil. While the cinnamon seemed a little odd to me it worked really well in the dish and added some real depth and warmth to the seasoning. The torn basil leaves added near the end give it a pop of color and a fresh burst of flavor. I served it with a side of steamed broccoli. We both really enjoyed this meal! Russ rates it a 9.

Jools’ Favorite Saturday Afternoon Pasta, Cook with Jamie
Serves 4

Olive oil
1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 – 2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
1 level teaspoon ground cinnamon
A bunch of fresh basil leaves picked, stalks chopped
2 x 14 oz. cans good quality plum tomatoes
2 x 10 oz. cans good quality tuna in olive oil, drained and flaked
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1lb. 2 oz. good quality rigatoni or penne
Zest and juice of 1 – 2 lemons
A small handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Heat a splash of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and cook the onion, chilli, cinnamon, and basil stalks on a medium to low heat for 5 minutes until the onion has softened and is slightly sweet. Turn up the heat and add your tomatoes, tuna, and a good pinch of salt. Break the tomatoes up using the back of a spoon, then bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes. Taste for seasoning.

Meanwhile, cook the rigatoni in a pan of salted boiling water according to package instructions. When al dente, drain the pasta in a colander, reserving some of the cooking water. Toss the pasta into the tuna and tomato sauce with the roughly torn basil leaves, a glug of olive oil, the lemon zest and juice, and Parmesan and mix together well. Loosen the pasta with a little of the reserved cooking water if needed. Check the seasoning and serve immediately.

My Notes: I left out the chillies since I could not find them at the store. I cut the recipe in half since it was just for the two of us.

Picture Notes: My Venezuelan brother, Ernesto, was in town for a visit this past week. Ernesto, Russ, and I went with Mom and Dad to the Oklahoma vs. Louisville NCAA game together. It was a lot of fun except poor OU didn't play very well.

A Tasty Repeat in Telluride

2008-03-17T22:16:00.007-05:00

If you have been reading this blog since it started then you may remember that last March I went with Russ and his family out to Telluride, Colorado to go skiing. This year we were blessed to be able to all go again (plus a few newer significant others). I did not grow up in a skiing family, so last year was my first time ever to go skiing. Since I am still new to skiing I am still learning lots about how to ski and the skiing lifestyle. One thing that struck me odd was that despite it being after daylight savings that the lifts close at 4 pm. It stays light for several hours after 4 pm and while I know that certain things have to happen after the lifts close such as ski patrol making a last run and the snow “cats” grooming the runs it still seemed like they would at least run until 5 pm. Well, by the second day I was thankful that they did close at 4 pm. Skiing is a lot of fun, but it is totally exhausting and by 4 pm each day I was ready to take off my ski boots and find a cold beer.

I was especially happy to have the lifts close at 4 pm on the night that Russ and I cooked dinner for everyone. Last year and again this year each of the four Chambliss “kids” and their respective significant other take one night to cook for everyone. Last year Russ and I did a Mexican theme with tortilla soup and tacos, here. This year I debated about what to make… Being a planner I wanted to know what we were going to make before we went, so this meant I wanted to stay away from dishes that I thought might be prepared by the other siblings in order to not duplicate. I finally decided on a simple, yet hearty dish that makes a great presentation and everyone loves – Chicken Vegetable Braid. It is a repeat on the blog that Russ and I made once before here.

The Chicken Vegetable Braid is pretty when it is whole like a present all wrapped up. Once you cut into it you see all the bright and pretty colors of the vegetables. It is a delicious and filling meal. I really like how all the flavors and textures play together in this dish. Russ and I were especially pleased that everyone seemed to enjoy it! Russ rates it a 9.

Chicken and Vegetable Braid (Mom from Pampered Chef)

1 cup broccoli, diced

2 cups chicken, cooked and cubed

1/2 cup green pepper, diced

1/3 cup red pepper, diced

4 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
2 tsp. dill mix
½ cup mayonnaise (I use reduced fat)

¼ tsp. salt

2 packages crescent rolls (I use reduced fat)

Preheat oven to 375 F.Mix everything except the crescent rolls together in a bowl (this can be done the night before if you want). Then roll out the rolls and cut slices. Put the mixture in the middle and then wrap the slices cris crossing at the top (to form the braid). Bake at 375 F for 25 minutes. (My notes: To serve 10 I made two braids and did a little more than double the chicken / veggie mixture.)

Maybe I don't have a sweet tooth after all...

2008-03-10T21:56:00.002-05:00

Russ and I have lots of things in common and overall our tastes in foods are very similar. When we eat out we frequently are considering some of the same options from the menu and can predict what the other will order. I always want a bite of whatever Russ is having and he (whether he admits it or not) wants one of mine. However, tonight we found out a difference in our taste preferences that we had never known. Tonight’s dinner had a very sweet flavor to it. While you are probably thinking that I loved it Russ and didn’t care for it since I (hands down, no questions asked) have the bigger sweet tooth, you would actually be wrong. While I don’t think either of us has ever thought about it before, we discovered tonight that when it comes to meals I prefer savory while Russ enjoys both savory and sweet. Who knew!

Tonight for dinner we tried Fine Cooking’s recipe for Shrimp Stew with Coconut Milk, Tomatoes, and Cilantro. To make it you start by peeling and deveining the shrimp and tossing them with salt. Then heat the oil and add the bell pepper and cook until it is tender. Then add the scallion whites, cilantro, garlic, and red pepper flakes and cook for about a minute. Then add the tomatoes and coconut milk and bring it to a simmer. Let it simmer and reduce for about 5 minutes. Then add the shrimp in and let them cook until they are just cooked through. The recipe says to cover it partially with the lid and let cook for 5 minutes, however, Russ and I used 1 lb of shrimp and not 3 lbs and it took just about 2 minutes for them to cook through. Then add the lime juice and serve it over rice garnished with the green part of the scallions and rest of the cilantro.

This was very good, but way too sweet for my tastes. I would cut the coconut milk back by half next time at first and taste it as I go. I also could not find my favorite brand of coconut milk and had to use my not favorite brand which I find to be sweeter and I believe it is coconut cream which may be my problem… Russ really liked the sweetness and would not change a thing, so next time I might let his cook a little longer and add more coconut milk to it for that sweet flavor he liked. Besides it being too sweet I really enjoyed the dish. It does have some complexity to the flavor with the cilantro and red pepper flakes. We both really liked the tomatoes in it as it added great flavor and texture. The entire meal came together very quickly and is great for a weeknight meal. Russ rates it a 9. I will say this is the first time I would really disagree with his rating. If the sweetness were cut in half I would then agree and give it a 9. I highly recommend this dish, but make sure you get coconut milk and start with half the can and add more if you think it needs it.

Shrimp Stew with Coconut Milk, Tomatoes, and Cilantro, Fine Cooking
Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients:

3 lb. jumbo (21 to 25 per lb.) shrimp, peeled and deveined Kosher salt2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil1 large red bell pepper, sliced into very thin 1-1/2-inch-long strips4 scallions, thinly sliced (white and green parts kept separate)1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro4 large cloves garlic, finely chopped1/2 to 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes14.5-oz. can petite-diced tomatoes, drained13.5- or 14-oz. can coconut milk2 Tbs. fresh lime juice

In a large bowl, sprinkle the shrimp with 1 tsp. salt; toss to coat, and set aside.
Heat the oil in a 5- to 6-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the bell pepper and cook, stirring, until almost tender, about 4 minutes. Add the scallion whites, 1/4 cup of the cilantro, the garlic, and the pepper flakes. Continue to cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 to 60 seconds.

Add the tomatoes and coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer to blend the flavors and thicken the sauce slightly, about 5 minutes.
Add the shrimp and continue to cook, partially covered and stirring frequently, until the shrimp are just cooked through, about 5 minutes more. Add the lime juice and season to taste with salt. Serve sprinkled with the scallion greens and remaining 1/4 cup cilantro.

My Notes: We used 1 lb. of shrimp for the two of us and it was more than enough.

Having the Girls Over

2008-03-06T21:05:00.004-06:00

Shortly after I moved back to Birmingham Sumner moved back too and we lived in adjacent apartment complexes. My next door neighbor was Cathleen and we all had similar stories of going away for college and eventually ending back up in Birmingham. Not too long after the three of us started to hang out, Elizabeth, having followed the same pattern, moved back too. We all enjoyed getting together and quickly realized we shared a common interest in hanging out together, cooking, eating, and sharing a bottle or two of wine. I was very new to cooking at this point and anxious to cook more but tired and frustrated with cooking for one. I won’t speak for the others, but I think we all felt somewhat the same. As far as cooking skills and practice I was probably the most green of the four of us with Cathleen being the most experienced. A quick side note… Cathleen may not remember this, but I stopped by her apartment one day to say hi and she was making an appetizer of polenta topped with mushrooms and a sauce for her family and let me have a taste – fantastic and believe it of not it was my first time trying polenta! Anyway, I don’t remember what all I cooked or any of us for that matter when we would get together, but I do remember it always being lots of fun with lots of yummy food. One of us would host and cook the entrée and the others would divide up bringing an appetizer, side dishes, and wine. We got together fairly frequently over a span of a couple years until it gradually became more difficult to find times to get together and we slowly let our dinners fall to the wayside. We would still all see each other, but not with our frequent dinners. For a while now I have wanted to get the four of us together again for dinner, so with Russ out of town this week it was the perfect time to have all the girls over for dinner instead of cooking for just me. Everyone was able to come and it was a wonderful, relaxing, fun evening of eating, drinking, and catching up! Hopefully we’ll be able to get our schedules to coordinate again sometime soon and do it again.

I decided to try a new meatloaf recipe tonight as my meatloaf craving from back here was still hanging around. One of the latest issues of Fine Cooking had a section on meatloaves and all the recipes looked tasty. I decided to finally breakaway from using the same meatloaf recipe and try a new one. For tonight I decided to make Meatloaf with Fresh Scallions and Herbs.

To make the meatloaf you sauté the onions in a little oil until they are soft and then set them aside to cool. Combine the meat (I used ground beef and turkey) in a bowl until it is mixed well. Then add the onions, paprika, salt and pepper and combine. Next add the remaining ingredients: eggs (beaten), panko, sliced scallions, sour cream, flat-leaf parsley, ketchup, tarragon, thyme and garlic. Mix this all together and then take a small piece, about the size of a quarter, and cook it in a pan on the stove. Taste the sample and adjust the seasoning as needed. I added a little more salt and pepper after tasting.

This meat loaf is really moist, but not mushy. I love the sour cream in it and think it really helps give it a creamy, moist texture. The tarragon is the dominant herb in the meatloaf and even though I really like tarragon I think I’ll cut it back a little next time in order to balance the flavors of the other herbs a little better. I am not sure why, but in the past I have always baked my meatloaf in a loaf pan. This time I formed the loaf by hand on a baking sheet and I will never go back to the putting it in a loaf pan again. I really like the look and shape of the free form loaf and I think it stayed even moister and cooked faster since the shape was not as thick and deep as the loaf pan I have used before.

When Russ got back in town he had a plate of leftovers and rated the meatloaf an 8.

Meatloaf with Fresh Scallions and Herbs, Fine Cooking
Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. vegetable oil; more as needed1 cup finely chopped yellow onion3/4 lb. ground beef (80% lean)1/2 lb. ground veal1/2 lb. ground pork1 tsp. sweet paprika, preferably HungarianKosher salt and freshly ground black pepper3 large eggs, lightly beaten; 1 more if needed1-1/2 cups homemade dry breadcrumbs or panko breadcrumbs; more if needed1 cup thinly sliced scallions (both green and white parts)1 cup sour cream3/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley2/3 cup ketchup1/3 cup chopped fresh tarragon1 tsp. lightly chopped fresh thyme2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F.

Heat 1 Tbs. of the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool.

Put the ground beef, veal, and pork in a large bowl and gently knead them with your hands until just combined. Add the cooled onion, paprika, 2 tsp. salt, and 1 tsp. pepper and gently knead to blend. Add the remaining ingredients (except for the remaining vegetable oil) and gently knead with your hands or stir with a large spoon until just incorporated.

Wipe out the skillet and heat the remaining 1 tsp. oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add a quarter-size piece of the meat and cook, turning halfway through cooking, until the meat is cooked through, about 1 minute on each side. Cool briefly and taste. If it’s too moist to hold together, add up to 1/2 cup more breadcrumbs to the meat mixture; if it’s too dry, add an extra egg. If necessary, add salt and pepper. Repeat cooking quarter-size pieces of the meat until you’re satisfied with the flavor and consistency.

On a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet, mold the meat mixture into a 9x5-inch loaf. Bake until the meat is firm to the touch and has an internal temperature of 160°F, about 1 hour. Allow the meatloaf to rest for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

My Notes: For the meat I used ground beef and ground turkey.

One Year Later and Still Blogging

2008-03-05T20:47:00.003-06:00

Tonight I didn’t cook, but I did want to post to mark my blog’s 1st birthday! I can hardly believe it, but I have been a cooking, blogging fool for a year now. My first post on March 5, 2006 started it all. Russ, Cash, and I have all had a fun time with it and it really has become a family project.

Despite the fact that the blog is named after just me; Russ plays a big role… in fact many roles in the blog. He is my official photographer and looking back at the posts from a year ago I think his food photography skills have only gotten better and better. He really amazes me with the beautiful pictures he takes! Russ also serves behind the scenes as my technical support and there is no way that this blog would work without him. There have been countless times that I have downloaded new pictures, saved them, and then can’t find them…. Russ always manages to find them and help me post them. He also surprised me by getting me the domain name for www.rebacooks.com so for all of you still using the blogspot address it still works, but rebacooks.com should load a little faster and is an easier address to remember!

Russ also serves a big role in the cooking and tasting process. I don’t even want to know how many times he has helped air the kitchen out, taken the batteries out of our smoke alarm, and ordered pizza when dinner just didn’t work out. He may have put out a couple fires too… Russ also does a fantastic job grilling and has produced some of our best meals off of the Egg. Lastly he is my faithful food taster and rater. He tries everything I make and is always supportive of the recipes I want to try even when they don’t turn out quite as planned. I love that he rates the meals too and am always curious as to what he will rate them.

Cash is my faithful cooking companion as he tends to hang out in the kitchen whenever I am cooking and is always available to clean up anything that falls on the floor. He is also very helpful when Russ grills following him in and out of the house. I love that he likes to be wherever we are and that he loves hanging out with me while I cook!

This blog started as a way for me to explore my interest in cooking even further and for Russ to remember what I made and what it tasted like, so that when I asked him about a meal I made two months earlier he would remember it. As cheesy as it may sound, this blog really has come to mean even more to me. It has become a creative avenue to not only explore new recipes and cooking techniques, but also to write. It has pushed me to try different kinds of recipes and things I never thought I could make before. Until this past year I shied away from many ethnic dishes since they would include ingredients I had never used before and now I really enjoy cooking all types of ethnic foods including Asian, Indian, and Moroccan. This is just one of the many examples of ways it has encouraged me to flex my cooking and baking muscles. I never would have guessed a year ago that I would enjoy and put as much thought into writing posts as I have. I don’t consider myself a writer and I know I tend to leave out commas, but I have really enjoyed putting into words how I feel about cooking, past experiences that inspire and are reflected in my cooking, how family has been an influence, what something tastes like, why I love stirring a warm a pot of soup and on and on. It has been a fun year and I look forward to another year of cooking and blogging! I hope that you, as a reader whether frequent or infrequent, have enjoyed my blog as much as I have!

My New Cooking Magazine

2008-03-02T20:16:00.006-06:00

Ever since I graduated from college I have been receiving Cooking Light magazine. I still love it as much as when I first started receiving it and even exposed my slight obsession with it earlier this year here. The over a year ago I started reading Fine Cooking whenever my Mother-In-Law had one lying around Mentone or the beach. I really liked it and for Christmas of 2006 Cash gave me a subscription to it. I have now been receiving it for over a year now and think it is a fabulous magazine with great information and recipes. Well, that thoughtful little pup outdid himself this past Christmas and added to my cooking magazine collection by giving me a subscription to… drum roll please… Cooks' Illustrated! I was super excited the other week when my first issue arrived and then over the top excited when Russ showed me the Cooks' Illustrated podcasts the other night. With three cooking magazine subscriptions and all my cookbooks I have a feeling I’ll be hanging out in the kitchen a lot this year in order to try as many recipes as possible. I decided to go ahead and get a jump start tonight by trying two of the recipes out of my new Cooks' Illustrated!

There are several recipes in this issue of CI that have lengthy cooking times, so since it was Sunday and I could start it earlier than on a weeknight I had Russ pick one of these to try. He chose the French Chicken in a Pot. This is really a simple recipe and most of the cook time is inactive while the chicken cooks in the oven for well over an hour. To prepare the chicken you start by patting the chicken to get it dry and seasoning it. Then you heat the oil in the Dutch oven and add the chicken breast side down. You toss all the vegetables and herbs in around the chicken. Once it has browned on the one side then you flip it over to the other to brown it. Once both sides have browned you put the pot in the oven on the lowest rack and cook it for 80 to 110 minutes at 250. We checked the temperature of our chicken at 90 minutes and it was done in fact it could have cooked several minutes less. Once it is cooked we removed it from the pot and let it rest on a plate. You then drain the sauce into a bowl to eliminate the chunks of vegetables and the herbs. Then put the liquid back in the Dutch oven, add a little lemon juice, and let it reduce.

I decided to try the recipe for Roasted Broccoli as a side for the chicken tonight. I love roasted vegetables, but have never had roasted broccoli before. To roast the broccoli you heat the oven to 500 degrees and put the baking sheet in to get it hot. Then cut the broccoli crowns into thirds or quarters (depending on the size) and peel the outer layer of skin off of them. Toss the broccoli with the oil, salt, pepper, and sugar. Then put the broccoli on the hot baking sheet cut side down and roast for 9 to 11 minutes.

The chicken made the entire house smell wonderful while it was baking. It was really juicy and falling off the bone when we pulled it out of the oven. The flavor was very good, but not any more special than the other roasted chickens or beer can chickens we have done. All the whole chickens we have done have ended up with a tasty savory flavor, but all fairly similar. The meat was really moist, but we both felt like it could have been even more moist if I had baked it breast side down (apparently I need an anatomy lesson as I thought I had put it breast side down…) and if we had used the remote thermometer from the start to monitor the temperature because it could have cooked for less time. All in all it was delicious, moist, savory chicken! As for the broccoli, roasting it is my new favorite way to eat it. It was fantastic and the best broccoli I have ever eaten! We both ate every bite of broccoli on our plates. Roasting it gave it a great nutty yet sweet flavor and a light crispy texture to the flowers. This was so easy to do and was just delicious. I highly recommend you give roasting broccoli a try. Cooks' Illustrated gave a couple of other variations on roasting broccoli, with this being the classic / simple one, that look yummy too… so we may be having a lot of broccoli in the near future. Russ rates the chicken an 8 and the broccoli a 9.

French Chicken in a Pot, Cook’s Illustrated Jan / Feb 2008
Serves 4

1 whole roasting chicken (4 and ½ to 5 pounds), giblets removed and discarded, wings tucked under back
2 teaspoons kosher salt or 1 teaspoon table salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped medium (about ½ cup)
1 small celery stalk, chopped medium (about ¼ cup)
6 medium garlic cloves, peeled and trimmed
1 bay leaf
1 medium sprig of rosemary (optional) – I used it
½ to 1 teaspoon juice from 1 lemon

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 250 degrees. Pat chicken dray with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat until just smoking. Add chicken breast-side down; scatter onion, celery, garlic, bay leaf, rosemary (if using) around chicken. Cook until breast is lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Using a wooden spoon inserted into cavity of bird, flip chicken breast-side up and cook until chicken and vegetables are well browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove Dutch oven from heat; place large sheet of foil over pot and cover tightly with lid. Transfer pot to oven and cook until instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees when inserted in thickest part of breast and 175 degrees in thickest part of thigh, 80 to 110 minutes.

Transfer chicken to carving board, tent with foil, and rest 20 minutes. Meanwhile, strain chicken juices from pot through fine mesh strainer into fat separator, pressing on solids to extract liquid; discard solids (you should have about ¾ cup juices). Allow liquid to settle 5 minutes, then pour into saucepan and set over low heat. Carve chicken, adding any accumulated juices to saucepan. Stir lemon juice into jus to taste. Serve chicken passing jus at table.

Roasted Broccoli, Cook’s Illustrated Jan / Feb 2008
Serves 4

Trim away the outer peel from the broccoli stalk, otherwise it will turn tough when cooked.

1 large head broccoli (about 1 and ¾ pounds)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon table salt
½ teaspoon sugar
Ground black pepper
Lemon wedges for serving

Adjust oven rack to lowest position, place large rimmed baking sheet on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Cut broccoli at juncture of florets and stems; remove outer peel from stalk. Cut stalk into 2 to 3 inch lengths and each length into ½ inch thick pieces. Cut crowns into 4 wedges if 3 – 4 inches in diameter or 6 wedges if 4 to 5 inches in diameter. Place broccoli in a large bowl; drizzle with oil and toss well until evenly coated. Sprinkle with salt, sugar, and pepper to taste and toss to combine.

Working quickly, remove the baking sheet from the oven. Carefully transfer broccoli to baking sheet and spread into even layer, placing flat sides down. Return baking sheet to oven and roast until stalks are well browned and tender and florets are slightly browned, 9 to 11 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately with lemon wedges.

Allen is 30

2008-02-23T16:58:00.005-06:00

Math has never been my best nor my favorite subject, but tonight I think I reached an all time low with it. Russ and I are on the verge of turning 30, but until that happens we are enjoying celebrating our friends who are older turning 30 first. Tonight was Allen’s turn to leave his twenties behind, so to mark this occasion Russ and I decided to have a surprise birthday party at our house for him. We wanted to keep it casual, but have food for anyone who wanted to eat dinner. I decided to make Santa Fe Soup and Butternut Squash Roasted Garlic Bisque. Since we were having a small crowd I decided to double both the recipes….which brought math into the picture. Now you would think this wouldn’t be that hard, but somehow I added too much water to the Santa Fe Soup making it not as thick as I would have liked and I managed to not double the garlic in the Bisque. I mean seriously roasted garlic is half the name of the soup and I managed to forget to double it. The bisque was still good, but it didn’t have a pronounced roasted garlic flavor in it. I’ll chalk this up to a learning experience in paying closer attention when multiplying by two to double a recipe….

I found this recipe for Butternut Squash Roasted Garlic Bisque several years ago on the Cooking Light Bulletin Boards. It is hands down one of my favorite soups and is quite possibly in the number one position except that I really liked the Classic Tomato Soup from a couple weeks ago. Anyway, I have made this every year since I found the recipe and just love it. In fact my meat and potatoes husband loves it too even though it doesn’t have any meat in it. To make the soup you roast the garlic and butternut squash. To roast the garlic you cut it in half (crosswise) and rub olive oil on the cut surfaces. Then put it back together and wrap it in foil. For the squash cut it in half lengthwise and rub olive oil on the flesh side. Place the flesh side down on a baking sheet covered in foil. Both will roast for about 40 minutes or until soft. Meanwhile chop the onion, carrots, and celery and sauté these in butter until they are soft. Once the squash is roasted scoop the flesh out and add it to the pot along with the broth and sage. Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer. Let it simmer uncovered for about 25 minutes. Once it has simmered you can add the roasted garlic (which you have squeezed out of the skin and mashed) to the soup. Then puree the soup either in batches in a blender or using a hand blender. (If you are making this a day in advance like I was then stop here and refrigerate and finish it off tomorrow.) Then add the cream to the soup and season it with salt and pepper to taste. I like serving the bisque with a crusty bread. Santa Fe soup showed up recently on the blog here.

The butternut squash is thick, creamy, and a beautiful orange color! I really love the flavor of butternut squash and it works so well with the roasted garlic. This is a savory delicious soup that is hearty and tasty. As I mentioned before I forgot to double the garlic, so the roasted garlic flavor did not come through as strong as it should have. Russ rates the soup a 9.

As for the party, Allen was totally surprised and I think everyone had a good time!

Butternut Squash Roasted Garlic Bisque, Found on the Cooking Light BB

2 heads of garlic, halved crosswise

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

3 cups chopped onions

3/4 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery

4 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1-inch pieces (or cut in half if you are going to roast it like I do)

6 cups canned low-salt chicken broth (you can use vegetable broth if you want to make it vegetarian)

3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon whipping cream (I used half and half)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Rub cut surfaces of garlic with oil. Put halves back together to reassemble heads. Wrap each tightly in foil; bake until tender, about 40 minutes. Cool garlic in foil. Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onions, carrots and celery; sauté until onions are beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add squash, broth and 2 tablespoons sage. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered until squash is tender, about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, unwrap garlic. Squeeze from skin into small bowl. Discard skin. Mash garlic with fork until smooth. Stir garlic into soup. Working in batches, purée soup in blender until smooth (I use my hand blender). Return to pot. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Refrigerate uncovered until cold. Cover and keep refrigerated. Bring to simmer before continuing.) Stir in 1/2 cup cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer soup to tureen. Drizzle with remaining 1 tablespoon cream. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon sage.

My Notes: I like to keep this recipe simple and roast the butternut squash along with the garlic. To do this cut the squash in half lengthwise and rub olive oil on the flesh side. Place the flesh side down on a baking sheet covered in foil. Depending on the size of your squash it may be done after 40 minutes (same as the garlic) or it may need a few minutes longer. Once it is done (aka soft) then just scoop out the squash and add it to the soup in the same place in the recipe where you would if you cut it into 1 inch pieces.

Removing the Training Wheels on Cooking Fish

2008-02-18T20:38:00.000-06:00

After dinner tonight Russ made the comment that her really likes having fish for dinner and you know what so do I, but for some reason we don’t eat it near as often as we do chicken or beef. We love the flavor and texture of grouper, tuna, Mahi Mahi, halibut, salmon, and the list goes on and on. We both appreciate how quick it is to prepare and how after dinner we are full, but in a very light, clean way. There are so many varieties of fish and so many different ways to prepare them that it should have us up to our ears in recipes to try for fish. So, why is it that we don’t eat it more often… I mean really at least once a week right. I really think a lot of this has to do with my not being able to take my cooking training wheels off. You see I am picky about where I buy my fish and there are only a couple places in town where I will go for fish. I almost always buy it the day I am going to prepare it, so that it is as fresh as possible. However, this carries a risk because I usually have bought all the other ingredients for the dish and what if I get to the fish counter and they are out of salmon and my recipe calls for salmon. This is where I get nervous and panic because what if there is not an alternative type of fish that fits my recipe… then what… I still consider myself a novice cook and I did not grow up eating fish or seeing it being cooked, so I am still learning how different types of fish taste, cook, and what types are able to substitute for another type. Consequently I find it easier and less nerve wracking to just skip the fish recipes and go for the chicken because have you ever gone in the store and had them be out of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Tonight I go to the store and my recipe calls for cod, but it lists seven other types of fish that will work well and you know what they didn’t have any of them….so I just asked the fish monger for his recommendation from what they did have and he suggested the black grouper. The black grouper worked great in fact Russ thinks he would prefer it in this recipe over the cod! I do love fish and want to have it at home more often, so I am going to try and remove the training wheels and go ahead and put fish on the menu more often and trust myself that it will turn out alright (and if it doesn't Papa John knows where we live).

Tonight I made the cover recipe from the January Fine Cooking, Cod with Mushrooms, Garlic, and Vermouth. You start by sautéing the mushrooms in a little butter for several minutes. You then add the garlic and sauté it for about 45 seconds. Next you add the vermouth, parsley, vinegar, salt, and pepper and bring it to a boil. Let this reduce by half and then add the fish to the dish. Cover the dish and leave it until the fish is cooked through. Once the fish is cooked remove it and add the last of the butter to the sauce. Spoon the sauce over the fish, add a little more parsley and serve. I served the fish with brown rice and green beans.

The mushroom sauce was fantastic! It was light, flavorful and I loved the mushrooms in it. The fish was light, flaky, and tasty. Cooking the fish with the lid on allowed the fish to cook through while staying moist. This came together very quickly in fact I had to wait to start it to give the brown rice ample time to cook. Russ and I both really enjoyed this dish. Russ rates it a 9.

Cod with Mushrooms, Garlic, and Vermouth, Fine Cooking January 2008
Serves four.

4 Tbs. cold unsalted butter
10 oz. white or baby bella (cremini) mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced about 1/8 inch thick
4 medium cloves garlic, minced
½ cup dry vermouth
3 and ½ Tbs. chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
½ tsp. kosher salt; more to taste
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper; more to taste
Four 6 oz. skinless cod fillets

In a heavy 12-inch skillet, melt 3 Tbs. of the butter over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring only occasionally, until well browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until golden brown and fragrant, about 45 seconds. Add the vermouth, 3 Tbs. of the parsley, the vinegar, salt, and pepper and boil until the liquid is reduced by half, about 2 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat, lightly season the cod with salt and pepper and add it to the pan (tuck under the tails if necessary to even out the thickness), nesting the fillets into the mushrooms and spooning some of the mushrooms on top.

Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer over medium heat, cover the pan, reduce to medium low, and simmer until just cooked through (use the tip of a paring knife to check), 7 to 12 minutes, depending on thickness. With a slotted spatula, transfer the fish to serving plates or a platter. Over low heat, whisk the remaining 1 Tbs. butter into the sauce. Spoon the sauce over the fish and serve sprinkled with the remaining ½ Tbs. parsley.

Variation: This recipe works well with many types of fish. Mahi mahi, pollock, haddock, sole, flounder, sea bass, and halibut make perfect substitutes; just reduce cooking time for thinner fillets.

A Delighted Husband

2008-02-12T20:04:00.006-06:00

My favorite person to cook for is without a doubt Russ, but I also really enjoy cooking for friends and family. Some of my favorite meals with friends and family are the spontaneous, relaxing, casual weeknight dinners that seem to just plan themselves. Tonight I had planned to make Husband’s Delight for Russ and me for dinner. Russ and Allen just happen to be at a stage in the beer brewing process where they need to get together and move the beer from one container to another. So, Russ emailed Allen this afternoon to see if he wanted to join us for dinner and then beer stuff. Allen has heard Elizabeth, Seth, Russ, and me talk about Husband’s Delight before, but he has not eaten it yet and I just knew he would love it. Tonight was a relaxing, enjoyable dinner with Russ and Allen. While I enjoy entertaining on a more elaborate scale I also enjoy not worrying about how clean the house is, if the table is set, and how the food will turn out and just fixing a simple meal for a laid back evening with a good friend.

This recipe is one that I got from Elizabeth and it holds true to its name in that most males really like it. I will put a disclaimer out that I am not sure every husband or male will love it as much as Seth, Russ, and Allen do; however, if they at any point in their life were a fan of Hamburger Helper then I would pretty much guarantee they will love this! To make Husband’s Delight you start by browning the ground beef. Once it is cooked you pour off the excess grease and add the garlic, salt, pepper, sugar, and tomato sauce. I also added diced white onion because I love onion and tend to add it to any recipe that doesn’t already call for it and if it does call for it then I usually increase the amount called for – I’m just wild and crazy like that! Cover this and let is simmer for about 15 minutes. While it simmers bring a pot of water to a boil and add the noodles. I used spaghetti noodles, but almost any thin or small size pasta will work well. While everything is cooking you chop the scallions (I increased the amount – again just wild and crazy) and mix them in with the sour cream and cream cheese. Once the noodles are cooked you drain them and set them aside to start the assembly process. One note on the noodles though, when you are making a dish like this where the noodles are going to be cooked or baked more it is imperative that you do not over cook them. I would recommend cooking them to al dente and not a second longer. For the assembly you take baking dish and spray it with Pam and then start layering the ingredients into it. Start with the noodles first, then the meat sauce, then the sour cream mixture, and then a layer of shredded cheddar cheese. Then repeat making sure that you end with the layer of cheddar cheese. This bakes for about 20 minutes at 350 F or until heated through and bubbly.

This really is like a fancier, homemade version of Hamburger Helper. It is gooey and cheesy and the pasta / beef / tomato sauce combo just seems to hit a homerun with Allen and Russ. I really like Husband’s Delight, but much like the Manly Sandwich while I like it Russ and Allen love it. It is a heavy dish, so I served it with a side of steamed broccoli to help balance it out some. This is a yummy comfort food dish that is great for a cold winter night. Russ rates it a solid 9.

Husband’s Delight, from Elizabeth (adapted from Linly Heflin’s recipe)

1 plus lb. ground beef (Elizabeth recommends doubling it)
1 clove garlic or garlic salt
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
Black pepper to taste
2 cans tomato sauce – 8 oz. size (Elizabeth recommends adding more)
5 scallions (I added more)
1 package small noodles – 8 oz. size
1 package of cream cheese, softened (the standard rectangular size, I used all of it)
1 carton of sour cream (I used the large size and used almost all of it)
½ cup grated cheddar cheese (I used more)

Brown beef, pour off excess grease. Add garlic, salt, pepper, sugar and tomato sauce. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. Cook noodles and drain. Chop part of tops and part of bottoms of scallions, finely. Mix with cream cheese and sour cream. Grease baking dish lightly. Put layers of noodles, meat sauce, sour cream mixture, and grated cheese, ending with the grated cheese on top. Bake about 20 minutes – to heat thoroughly – at 350 degrees. Best mixed the day before. Serves 8, with seconds.

Quick Chicken Roll Ups

2008-02-11T20:04:00.002-06:00

After college I moved to Charlottesville, Virginia for graduate school. Sophie, the family Pomeranian, and I lived together in a cozy two bedroom apartment for two years. This was my first time to live without a roommate, a non-furry one that is. When I moved back to Birmingham I moved into another apartment by myself for a year before buying a condo. After living alone for several years I was ready to have a roommate again. I was excited when Elizabeth was moving back to Birmingham and we decided to be roommates in the condo. There are definitely great things to be said about living alone, but I was ready to have someone else around at night after work to talk to, eat with, and just have around. Living together was a lot of fun and one of the best parts was our shared interest in cooking. We would cook together almost every night after work and it was a wonderful experience to share with her. Once Seth and then Russ joined the picture you could find the four us eating together most nights. After Elizabeth got married and moved out we no longer cooked together every night, but we still enjoy getting together frequently to cook and eat together. Even though we both have different roommates now, Elizabeth and I still love to talk about cooking, share recipes, and get together to cook and eat.

Tonight’s dinner is a recipe that Elizabeth and I developed to mimic one of our favorite dishes at a local restaurant. We ate this at least once a week while we lived together as they were simple, quick, and delicious. To make the Chicken Roll Ups you start with cooked chicken. Russ smoked a beer can chicken last night just in case the turkey wasn’t big enough for everyone, so that is what I used. Elizabeth and I would either buy a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store or cook chicken tenders (often after marinating them in Italian dressing) on the indoor cast iron grill. You can pretty much cook it anyway you like but once it is cooked either shred or chop it into small pieces. Then sauté sliced onion in a little olive oil. Once they are mostly cooked add cut up tomatoes (I used grape tomatoes that I quartered) until they are heated through. I seasoned these lightly with salt and pepper. You then start an assembly line with the chicken, flour tortillas, crumbled feta, onions and tomatoes. Lay out a flour tortilla and add a little bit of all the ingredients to the middle and then roll it up. Once you have made all the rolls then place them on a lightly greased grill pan or skillet and let them heat through on each side for a couple minutes. Serve them with salsa for dipping.

These are so quick and easy to make that it is perfect for a busy weeknight or a night when you are really tired, but still want to eat at home. If you are having a really busy week then a great way to get quick dinners at home is to buy a rotisserie chicken and use it for the rolls ups one night and in other ways such as a salad or tacos another night. This recipe is also a great way to use up leftover chicken. The roll ups have great flavor with the feta adding a nice taste. After they are heated the feta turns soft and is just delicious. I also like the combination of onions and tomatoes. I think next time I might add cut up kalamata olives to the mix. You can really mix up the ingredients in lots of different ways to suite your taste. Russ rates the roll ups a 9.

Turkey Dinner with the Siblings

2008-02-10T21:36:00.007-06:00

Russ and I are truly blessed to have not only our parents, but also all of our siblings in town. Selfishly we hope this never changes and everyone stays within a ten minute drive of us, but realistically we know this may not last forever. For now we enjoy seeing them any chance we get. Ever since we moved in our house we have wanted to have all of our siblings and their significant others over for dinner. After over a year and a half in the house a turkey of all things is what finally gave us the push we needed to get our act together and just do it. A turkey in February might sound out of the ordinary, but we have actually had it since the end of November. One of the local grocery stores holds an annual event each November where you can get a free turkey. Every time during a certain time period where you spend over $50 you get a turkey feather and once you have collected four you get a free turkey. Two years ago I came up one turkey feather short, so this past year I made an effort to only shop at this store in order to collect all my feathers. Ever since we got the turkey we have talked about having our siblings over, but with the holidays things got busy and then in January we were in the mood to relax after the holidays… so finally in February we did it!

Tonight we had Jess, Scott, Will, Mary Margaret, Jason, Jane, Daniel, and Beau over for dinner. Since our dining room is not very large and our table seats six at the most we decided to eat in our den. It is probably the largest room in our house and I have been entertaining the thought of moving some furniture out of it and putting tables in for a dinner party for a while now. Thanks to some loaner tables, table clothes, and extra chairs from my parents that is exactly what we did. I really enjoyed having everyone in the same room at the same table to eat!

Now for the food! Russ comes from a turkey frying family and he does an excellent job frying turkeys. This time he wanted to try something new and smoke the turkey. He did some research online and came up with a great recipe. The turkey had an amazing smoky, savory flavor to it that I loved! It wasn’t as moist as the fried turkeys he has done before, but we think that if he brines it and works on his smoking technique that it would be more moist. I do love fried turkey, but the smokiness was wonderful… I think next time Russ may need to do one of each for a side by side taste test!

I handled the sides and did mashed potatoes, green beans, and a salad. I also made a lime curd tart for dessert. For the mashed potatoes I tried a new recipe that I found on the Pioneer Woman Cooks blog. I chose it because it you can make it ahead of time and then reheat it in the oven just before serving. Also, it has cream cheese in it which I found very intriguing. I actually test ran the addition of cream cheese in some mashed red potatoes earlier this week and loved the creamy texture and flavor it added! To make the mashed potatoes you peel 5 lbs of Russet potatoes, cut them into large chunks and boil them. Once they are cooked you drain them, add them back to the pot, and mash them. Then you add the butter, cream cheese, half and half, salt and pepper. Once this is mixed well and seasoned then you add it to a buttered baking dish.

For the green beans I used a recipe of Jane’s (Russ’ sister) that she got from the Fresh Market cookbook. You cook the green beans in boiling water. When they are cooked you drain them and add them back to the pot. Then add small cherry or grape tomatoes to them. Lastly toss them with balsamic dressing (balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, and a little creole mustard).

The salad recipe came from a cookbook that Jess and Scott gave me a while ago that I have never used. Russ is scared of this cookbook and has even tried to hide it before… It is the Enchanted Broccoli Forest and Russ is scared because it is a vegetarian cookbook. To make the salad you peel and section 6 oranges and then combine them with the cinnamon and honey and set it aside. Then you slice the radishes and onions. Lastly you toast some chopped walnuts. When it is time to serve you toss the greens with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Then you add all the other ingredients including part of the juice that is with the oranges.

For dessert I decided that I wanted something that was not too sweet or heavy since we were having a large meal. After flipping through several cookbooks I decided to make Ina Garten's Lime Curd Tart. To make the tart you mix the butter and sugar together. Once mixed you add the vanilla and finally the sifted flour and salt. The batter looked to dry and crumbly to me, so I added one egg to hold it all together. You then fold it into a disk and press it into the tart pan. The dough chills in the refrigerator until it is firm. Once firm you bake it covered and filled with beans for 20 minutes. You then remove the foil and beans and prick it with a fork and let it bake again for about 20 minutes. Set it aside to cool. To make the lime curd. You mix the sugar, lime zest and butter until combined. You are supposed to mix the zest and sugar in a food processor prior to this step, but I left it out by accident. Once it is all combined you add the eggs. You then pour the mixture into a saucepan until it reaches about 175 F and thickens. Ina says this should take about 10 minutes, but mine took about 30. Once it thickens pour it into the tart shell and let it cool.

Overall the sides were really good, however, I was a little disappointed that the mashed potatoes and green beans were not hotter when we served them. I failed to do a heat test before putting them out and regretted it later… The mashed potatoes were creamy, soft, and tasty. I think the cream cheese actually worked better with the red potatoes in my test run earlier this week though as they added a more distinctive flavor. I would definitely make these again when making a large dinner as the ability to make them ahead of time is very helpful and with the butter, half and half, and cream cheese you know they are good. They did reheat very well just not quite long enough. The green beans were very tasty. This is a simple, colorful, and flavorful dish. The contrasting color and texture of the green beans and tomatoes makes this a real winner. Their flavors work really well together and the dressing adds a great tangy zip to the dish. The salad was excellent! I happen to love salads that combine fruit, vegetables, and nuts. The combination of oranges, walnuts, red onions, and radishes did not disappoint and worked really well together not to mention being very colorful. I was a little concerned that there really isn’t a dressing to the salad, but when eating it you didn’t even notice or miss it. The olive oil, salt, and pepper along with a little of the juice added all the dressing the salad needed. What really made this fantastic to me though was the hint of cinnamon from the oranges – perfect! If this salad is any indication of what other tasty recipes are hidden in the Enchanted Broccoli Forest… then I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot more out of this cookbook in the near future. Russ is still scared of it, but the salad did help him to start conquering this fear. The tart turned out fairly well. I felt like the tart shell browned a little more than I would have liked. Next time I'll check it earlier and cover it with foil if the edges are browning up to much. The tart shell had a great buttery flavor with good texture. The lime curd had a wonderful light flavor that was both sweet and tart. The recipe has you serve it at room temperature, but I think it would have been better to chill it and serve it chilled. The texture was firm, but at the same time a little runny. I think if it had been chilled it would have had better texture and would have been more refreshing. Overall I really liked it and think it would be a great summertime dessert. Russ rates the turkey a 9, the potatoes a 9, the green beans a 9, the salad a 9, and the lime curd tart a 8.

It was a truly enjoyable night with wonderful company! My only regret (besides the vegetables not being hotter...) was that we waited so long to finally have everyone over. I certainly see a Sibling Summer Party in our backyard with maybe some croquet or bocce and Russ grilling something yummy!

I also want to mention that Scott and Jess brought an appetizer. First, a big thanks to them for bringing it! Second, it is a recipe that I have reviewed on the blog before here and it is so tasty and such a crowd pleaser that I want to bring your attention to it again. It is simple to make with only five ingredients and the bowl was all but licked clean tonight – it is that tasty!

Last, but not least a big thanks to Mom who provided and arranged all the beautiful flowers!

Moroccan Orange-Walnut Salad, The Enchanted Broccoli Forest
Yield: 4 – 6 servings

Ingredients:
6 large oranges
1 Tbs. honey
½ tsp. cinnamon
1 lb. mixed salad greens – cleaned, dried, and chilled
½ small red onion, thinly sliced
10 radishes, thinly sliced
6 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
Salt to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1 cup chopped, toasted walnuts

1. Peel and section the oranges, using a sharp paring knife or a serrated knife. To do this, first cut off the polar ends of the peel off the sides. With a gentle sawing motion, cut in one side of the membrane and out the other, releasing each orange section into a bowl. Squeeze all excess juice from the remaining membrane in to the bowl as well, and pick out the seeds, if necessary. Discard the membrane.
2. Drizzle honey and sprinkle cinnamon into the orange slices. Stir gently to mix, cover, and set aside until serving time.
3. Shortly before serving, toss the greens in a large bowl with the onions, radishes and olive oil. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
4. To serve, bring the orange sections, the tossed greens, and the walnuts to the table in separate containers. Let each person assemble his or her own salad, by piling some greens on a plate, spooning over some oranges-au-jus, and sprinkling a few walnuts on top. (My Notes: I did not serve it this way due to limited table space, but I think if you have the space it is a nice way to do it.)

Super Yummy Tomato Soup

2008-02-07T20:33:00.001-06:00

As you probably know by now I LOVE soup and I love it in any form thick and chunky, thin and pureed, brothy, with meat, without meat… Russ likes soup, but I am not sure he feels quite as passionately about it as I do. He also tends to prefer just the hearty soups that include meat; however, he has a soft spot in his heart for Campbell’s Tomato Soup. This is his go to soup when he is not feeling well, but he likes it paired with a grilled cheese sandwich even when he is healthy and feeling fine. Call me a food snob, but I’ll be honest I really can’t eat Campbell’s soup unless I am super sick and no one will bring me Hot and Sour Soup or Chicken Corn Chowder from the Chinese restaurant. So, when Fine Cooking had an entire section on tomato soup I was elated because we could now both enjoy a meal of tomato soup since it wouldn’t be coming out of the red and white can. I let Russ pick which recipe we try first and he selected the Classic Tomato Soup. While the other recipes sound a little more interesting and different what better place to start than with the classic. So, I made it and I am in LOVE with this soup and once Russ eats the last can of Campbell’s Tomato Soup that is sitting in the pantry I will never buy it again because this was so, so, so much better and super easy to make.To make the soup you start by heating the oil and butter in a large Dutch oven and then adding the garlic and onion until they are soft. Then mix the flour in with the garlic and onion until they are combined. Next add the broth, tomatoes, sugar, thyme, salt and pepper. (A couple things on the can of tomatoes: First be sure and buy a high quality brand of tomatoes. Second, I realize that you are buying a can of whole tomatoes just to puree it, however, I forbid you to buy a can of pureed tomatoes for this recipe. You will be compromising the taste and it only takes a couple seconds to puree the whole tomatoes.) Bring this to a simmer while stirring and then reduce the heat to low, cover it, and let it simmer for 40 minutes. Once it has simmered remove the thyme sprig and throw it away. Then puree the soup. I used a hand blender which if you don’t have one is a very useful thing to have for making soups or smoothies (which is why Russ bought ours). Then taste it and add salt and pepper as needed. Ours needed both with a little more salt than pepper. You can then top it with any of the garnishes mentioned in the recipe. I went simple and just used a dollop of sour cream. After tasting it though I am definitely going to garnish it with thin slices of fresh basil next time.This soup is so simple and really quick to make except for the 40 minutes of simmering and the taste is fabulous! Both Russ and I were blown away with what great flavor it had! We both thought it would be good, but it was really fantastic with a light, fresh tomato flavor and a smooth texture. My only complaint is that I wish I had made more. Next time I make it I will definitely double if not triple this recipe. The leftovers will be eaten tomorrow for lunch, but this would freeze really well. It would be a great soup to make and stock your freezer with the leftovers for a cold, rainy day or really any ole day for that matter. We served ours with a side of cheese toast, but I think a small salad of mixed greens with balsamic vinaigrette would be another great side option. Russ rates the soup a 10.

Classic Tomato Soup, Fine Cooking February / March 2008
Yields about 8 cups, serves eight (Russ and I had it as an entrée, so in our case it would serve 4)

2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 large white onion, finely chopped
1 large clove garlic, smashed and peeled
2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
3 cups lower-salt chicken broth
28 oz. can whole peeled plum tomatoes, pureed (include the juice)
1 and ½ tsp. sugar
1 sprig fresh thyme
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 Tbs. thinly sliced fresh basil, chives, or dill, or a mixture of all three (omit if using one of the garnishes below)

In a nonreactive 5 to 6 quart Dutch oven, heat the oil and butter over medium-low heat until the butter melts. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft but not browned, about 8 minutes. Add the flour and stir to coat the onion and garlic.

Add the broth, tomatoes, sugar, thyme, and ¼ tsp. each salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat while stirring the mixture to make sure that the flour is not sticking to the bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 40 minutes.

Discard the thyme sprig. Let cool briefly and then puree in two or there batches in a blender of food processor. Rinse the pot and return the soup to the pot. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Reheat if necessary. Serve warm but not hot, garnished with the herbs or dolloped with one of the garnishes below.

Add a creamy touch:
Sour cream, goat cheese, and Parmesan garnish: In a small bowl, combine ½ cup sour cream with ¼ crumbled goat cheese. Add 1 Tbs. freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, 1 Tbs. thinly sliced chives, and 1 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil. Mix thoroughly and season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add a dollop to each serving.
Crème fraiche, herb, and horseradish garnish: In a small bowl, combine ½ cup crème fraiche with 1 Tbs. minced fresh dill and 1 Tbs. minced scallion. Add ½ Tbs. well-drained prepared horseradish and mix well. Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add a dollop to each serving.

Judging a Book by the Title

2008-02-04T20:41:00.000-06:00

I am sure you have all heard the saying “Don’t Judge a Book By the Cover” and I am well aware that it is talking about a lot more than books… however, tonight’s dinner came from one of my neglected cookbooks (remember my New Year’s Resolutions) and it is safe to judge this one by the cover or better yet the title. Jessica and Scott gave me Southern Living’s Light and Easy Comfort Food well over a year ago and in that time I have used it once... So this weekend I pulled it off the shelf and began thumbing through it again and it is full off recipes that are just as the title reads light and easy comfort food dishes. None of the recipes are super complicated or time consuming, they are all on the lighter side, and they are all dishes that at some point in time during the year you crave. I found several recipes that looked tasty and perfect for a weeknight dinner. I couldn’t decide so I asked Russ to pick between the three and he chose the Lemon-Chicken Pasta.This particular recipe came out of a section on Cooking for Two. I want to point out that while it does make two servings that it would still be a good recipe for one person. You could easily half this recipe and most of the ingredients are ones that will save for later such as the frozen peas and extra dried pasta. Other ingredients such as the unused chicken and chicken broth could be frozen for later.

Russ and I both really liked this dish and it fit the title of the cookbook exactly as it was easy, light and comfort food. It wasn’t an out of the ball park homerun for us, but it was a solid, delicious weeknight dinner for just the two of us. One aspect of the dish I did really like is the use of chicken broth with cream cheese. The sauce is both light and tasty and one that you could adapt in so many different ways. I don’t know that I’ll follow this recipe exactly again, but I certainly will use aspects of it and then make it my own by adding different vegetables and flavors to it. You could easily sub asparagus (as long as you let them cook a little longer) and shrimp and I think it would be super tasty. I also think I would add a little lemon juice to it. Russ rates it an 8.
Quick Note: If you are interested in tracking my progress towards my New Year’s Resolution of cooking from my underused or never used cookbooks I am categorizing all applicable blog entries as “Cooking the Books”.

Lemon-Chicken Pasta, Southern Living Light and Easy Comfort Food
Yield: 2 servings

Cooking Spray
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into ¼ inch-wide strips
½ cup frozen green peas, thawed
1/3 cup shredded carrot
½ cup condensed low-sodium chicken broth, undiluted
2 tablespoons tub-style light cream cheese
2 cups hot cooked farfalle (about 1 and ¼ cups uncooked bow tie pasta), cooked without salt or fat
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Fresh chives (optional)

Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and oil and place over medium-high heat until hot. Add garlic; sauté 15 seconds. Add chicken and sauté 1 minute. Add peas and carrot; sauté 1 minute. Remove chicken mixture from skillet and set aside.
Add chicken broth and cream cheese to skillet, and cook over medium-high heat 3 minutes of until cream cheese melts, stirring constantly with a whisk. Return chicken mixture to skillet. Stir in pasta, Parmesan cheese, lemon rind, salt, and pepper; cook 1 minute. Garnish with fresh chives if desired.This is a family photo with the addition of Cash's cousin Hugo from our hike this weekend.

My Chocolate Chip Cookie Quest

2008-02-03T20:59:00.000-06:00

A couple of weekends ago I made two different kinds of cookies including a new chocolate chip cookie recipe. While we liked the chocolate chip cookies I didn’t think they were the end all be all for chocolate chip cookies. I’ve made several cookies that were to me a look no further this is the recipe such as these Oatmeal Chocolate Chip and these Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, however, I have not had such an experience with a chocolate chip cookie recipe yet. I’ve decided to try and make an effort to seek out the best chocolate chip cookie recipe out there. Now, this is tricky as everyone has different things that they like about a cookie since I like chewy cookies over crunchy or cakey ones that will be goal. I also like a lot of chocolate chips in them and for them to be sweet, but not too sweet. Since Russ and I were going over to Allen’s to watch the Super Bowl I thought it would be the perfect time to try out another chocolate chip cookie recipe and what better one to start my quest with than the classic Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe. Believe it or not this is my first time trying this recipe even though I know it is considered the standard recipe to many people. I tend to shy away from recipes that I find on packages although I am not quite sure why except that I might be developing a few food snob tendencies…

I followed the recipe as is, however, it doesn’t specify unsalted or salted butter or light or dark brown sugar. I used salted butter and light brown sugar this go around. Cookies tend to come together in a very similar fashion – wet ingredients in one bowl (mix together to incorporate the butter) and dry ingredients in another. Then slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet and finally fold in the chocolate chips and nuts if you use them (I left out the nuts since Russ doesn’t like them in his cookies). These bake for 9 – 11 minutes at 375 F.

I can see why this recipe is considered the standard for chocolate chip cookies as it was a good, classic chocolate chip cookie. However, I felt like it was a little cakey for me. I am not sure if maybe I should have made them smaller to make them less cakey or not. I also felt like while some cookies had plenty of chocolate chips that there were others that were lacking in the chip department. I do think that at some point I’ll give this recipe another go and this time I’ll add more chocolate chips, try using dark brown sugar, and make smaller cookies. Everyone seemed to like them, but there were no rave reviews like those that the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies garnered the other weekend… so, I’ll keep trying out recipes until I find one that gets the same wow reviews. Russ rates these chocolate chip cookies a 9.

Setting the Record Straight on Breakfast

2008-02-02T10:53:00.000-06:00

There have been several breakfast posts where I have made waffles, pancakes, muffins, cinnamon buns etc. Russ has even made it on the blog once for his omelets. However, I feel like you may be getting a skewed view of what breakfast is really like in our house. You might think that Russ is spoiled rotten by my making him homemade breakfasts on Saturdays… but truth be told I am hands down the one that is spoiled rotten in the mornings. On weekday mornings Russ wakes up, showers, and then starts to wake me which tends to take a while, so in the meantime he lets Cash outside, then feeds him, and starts a large pot of coffee. He then brings me a cup of coffee with just a little milk and sugar and Cash and he continue to check on me until I finally make it out of bed and into the shower. So, despite Russ getting a yummy homemade breakfast every now and then on Saturday morning I am the one who is spoiled in the mornings with coffee delivered daily. I did treat Russ to homemade pancakes this morning and I even made the coffee to go with it!

The recipe for Lemon Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce is from one of the cookbooks that Russ had before we got married that has sat on our shelf gathering dust until today. I am working on cooking from some of my poor underused cookbooks as part of my New Year’s resolutions. Since this cookbook is Williams Sonoma Weekend with Friends the recipes are for several people, so I cut it in half for just Russ and me.

I started by making the blueberry sauce. You mix water, lemon juice and cornstarch in a pan until the cornstarch has dissolved. You then add a portion of the blueberries (I used some of our remaining stash of Mentone blueberries – yum!) and let it cook until the sauce thickens. You then puree the mixture in a food processor and then run it through a sieve back into the pan. Next you add the rest of the blueberries and the sugar and let this cook for just a couple minutes. The last step is to add in the cinnamon and more sugar if needed.

To make the pancakes you mix the wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls. You then slowly fold the wet ingredients into the dry. The batter is still a little lumpy. You then cook them on a skillet. I used a non-stick skillet with just a little bit of butter. If you were cooking for a crowd then you would keep the cooked pancakes in the oven while you cook the rest. Serve the pancakes with the blueberry sauce on top.

Russ and I both really liked the pancakes and the blueberry sauce. Lemon and blueberry is a wonderful flavor combination and they work really well together here. Russ felt like the blueberry sauce could have been a little sweeter as he tends to like his sweet breakfasts a little sweeter than I do. Next time I’ll add a little more sugar to part of the blueberry sauce for him. We both thought the texture and flavor of the pancakes was excellent. They are light and fluffy with a hint of lemon. These are really delicious and would be perfect for a weekend in Mentone with friends. Russ rates them a 9.

Lemon Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce, William Sonoma’s Weekend with Friends
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 35 minutes
Serves 6

Ingredients
For the Blueberry Sauce:
1 cup water
5 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 cups fresh or unsweetened frozen blueberries (thawed and well drained)
5 tablespoons granulated sugar, or more to taste
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the Pancakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 and ½ cups milk
1 cup sour cream
2 eggs
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
6 tablespoons lemon juice
4 and ½ teaspoons grated lemon zest

About 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or unsalted butter
Confectioners’ sugar

To make the blueberry sauce, in a saucepan over low heat, stir together the water, lemon juice, and cornstarch until the cornstarch dissolves, about 2 minutes. Add 2 and ½ cups of the blueberries and raise the heat to medium. Cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens and coats a spoon, about 5 minutes. Let cool for 5 – 10 minutes, then transfer to a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth, then pass through a sieve placed over the saucepan, pressing down with a spatula to extract as much liquid as possible. Add the 5 tablespoons granulated sugar and stir the remaining 1 and ½ cups blueberries. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring, until the berries soften slightly, 1 – 2 minutes. Stir in the cinnamon. Taste and add more sugar, if needed. Keep warm. You should have 2 and ½ cups.

Preheat over to 200F.

To make the pancakes, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, sour cream, eggs, melted butter, lemon juice, and 3 tablespoons of the zest. Pour the milk mixture over the flour mixture and stir just until combined. The batter will be lumpy.

Place a griddle or large, heavy frying pan over medium heat. Brush lightly with some oil or butter. When hot, using a ¼ cup measure, ladle the batter onto the griddle or pan; do not crowd the surface. Cook until small bubbles appear on the surface and bottoms are lightly browned, 2 – 3 minutes. Flip the pancakes and cook until the second sides are lightly browned, 1 – 2 minutes longer. Transfer to a baking sheet in one layer, tent loosely with foil, and place in the warm oven. Repeat, using more oil or butter as needed. You should have 24 pancakes.

To serve, gently reheat the sauce. Serve the pancakes on warmed individual plates. Ladle some of the warm sauce over them and sprinkle with the remaining 1 and ½ teaspoons lemon zest, dividing evenly. Dust with the confectioners’ sugar. Pass the remaining sauce at the table.

Leftover Pot Roast

2008-01-30T20:15:00.000-06:00

My first experiences cooking on my own were in my apartment in Charlottesville, Virginia while I was in graduate school and I was pretty clueless. I distinctly remember one of the first meals I made just for me for dinner one night – sticky white rice, overcooked flavorless chicken, and steamed broccoli. I seasoned the entire dish with soy sauce and nothing else and it was edible, but not exactly tasty. To be honest I really didn’t cook all that often back then mainly because I was studying all the time and didn’t have much time to cook, the most amazing Chinese restaurant delivered, I have a wonderful friend, Betta, who also happens to be Italian and an incredible cook (think delicious pasta dishes, fantastic chicken cacciatore, and so many more) and she fed me and the rest of our grad school group frequently, and to be quite honest cooking for one is not that easy. Like most people I don’t really love to eat the same thing for several days straight and if you live alone and cook a meal that is often times what ends up happening. So, while this post doesn’t exactly show new recipes or anything really exciting it does show how to cook one main meal and then incorporate the leftovers into several different meals throughout the week that would work well for someone who lives alone or for a family. We are not always this creative with our leftovers, so I really wanted to show how you the pot roast could easily be incorporated into other meals where you won’t feel like you are eating the same meal over and over.

I started with a 3 lb roast and if you are cooking for one person you could easily do a 2lb or if you are cooking for a family a larger one. For lunch yesterday Russ made us delicious sub sandwiches. He toasted a whole wheat bun open faced in the toaster oven for a couple minutes. Then he put Swiss cheese and slices of the pot roast on the sandwich and put it back in the toaster oven (open faced) until the cheese melted and the meat was heated. We both added a little A1 sauce to them and they were delicious!

Tonight I made a version of Russ’ Mom’s Beef and Vegetable Soup like what I had made for my Mom last month here. This time I used the remaining pot roast instead of ground beef. I shredded the leftover meat and added it to the pot along with canned tomatoes (1 can diced and 1 can Rotel), a little vegetable broth, a little of Tony’s seasoning, the leftover vegetable gravy, and a little bit of all the frozen vegetables that we happen to have in our freezer right now (green peas, green beans, corn, and black eyed peas). Once I had all the ingredients in I added a little bit of water as it was too thick. You can always add more water (or broth) as it cooks – just eye ball it until you get it to the thickness that you prefer. I brought the soup to a boil and reduced it to a simmer for about an hour (you could do less).

The soup was perfect for a cold night! It was warm, hearty and filled with wonderful vegetables and tender, flavorful shredded pot roast. I really prefer this soup with the shredded roast over the ground beef for the texture and the added flavor that it brings to the soup. We’ll eat the rest of the soup for lunch this week, however, if you have lots left over it freezes really well. Russ rates the leftover pot roast soup and sandwich both a 9.

The Good Roast

2008-01-27T21:31:00.000-06:00

Just a few weeks ago I spoke of my bone to pick with the weather and how I had decided to wait until it turned colder to make a pot roast. Well, I have been dying to make a pot roast, but since it needs to cook for a minimum of three hours then I really need to do it a weekend so we don’t eat at nine o’clock at night. It finally turned cooler, but our weekends just haven’t allowed time for a pot roast. So, today I decided that come hell or high water I was going to make a pot roast and not just any pot roast, but The Good Roast. My Mother has two pot roast recipes which I have dubbed The Good Roast and The Bad Roast. I’ll be honest The Bad Roast is not actually bad it just doesn’t compare at all to the flavor and vegetable gravy of The Good Roast. I have never made The Bad Roast, but apparently it is easier and takes less time than The Good Roast which is why Mom has two pot roast recipes. Today I finally make it to the grocery store to get the ingredients around five or so… and by the time I get the roast in the oven and cook it we still end up eating at nine o’clock… Luckily it turned out delicious and was worth the wait and late dinner.

The pot roast was moist and flavorful and the vegetable gravy that it cooks in just makes this dish. I served it with green beans and mashed red potatoes. It is definitely a favorite winter time comfort food of mine and Russ will never turn down a meat and potatoes meal. It was delicious and I look forward to using the leftovers in a couple different ways in the coming days… so stay tuned. Russ rates The Good Roast a 9.

The Good Roast is a family recipe that I have been asked not to post on the blog which I respect. However, if you are family and would like a copy of the recipe then you are more than welcome to submit a blood sample, appropriate paper work (including a marriage certificate if you are related by marriage), and a formal letter requesting the recipe… or just email me.

100th Post

2008-01-21T20:05:00.000-06:00

Ever since I graduated from college my Mother has given both Jessica and me subscriptions to Cooking Light magazine. If you look at my blog then you probably have noticed that I make quite a few recipes from Cooking Light and that Jess frequently comments on them as she has either made it too, had seen it in the magazine, or wants to try it out. Well, what you may or may not know about me is that fondness for Cooking Light may have turned into a slight obsession over the years. You see I know each month about what day it should be in my mailbox and I get pretty excited when it shows up. I treat each issue the same way by flipping through the food section first checking out the recipe titles, pictures, and the index (which is very interesting with lots of good info!). Then I go back through and read the food section in its entirety dog-earing any pages that have recipes I want to try. Lastly I go back to the front of the magazine and read through all the health and fitness articles. At some point in this process Jess and I usually converse about what we thought of the issue and what recipes we want to try. I save every issue for the year and will only throw them out once I have the Cooking Light annual for that year because I can’t seem to live without knowing that I have access to all the recipes all the time and yes, I do realize they are online, but the internet could be down or the power could go out... And speaking of online, Cooking Light has a website where you can rate the recipes and see what other people have rated them and there are the bulletin boards where other Cooking Light readers talk about the recipes they tried and what they thought of them and other food topics…. All this to say that it seems very fitting that my 100th blog post is a Cooking Light recipe.

I love enchiladas and would love to have the perfect enchilada recipe, so I am always excited to find another enchilada recipe to try. This one is for Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas. I will start off by saying that this is a rather time consuming dish to make, but many of the parts can be made a day or two in advance and then just assembled and baked the night you are having it. To start with you preheat the broiler and then put the Anaheim chiles on a baking sheet in the broiler for a few minutes on each side until charred. Once they are good and black then you put them in a zip lock bag, seal it, and leave it alone for about 15 minutes. After wards you peel them, remove the seeds, and chop them up. Then sauté chopped onion and garlic in a little oil until softened. Stir in some flour and then add the chiles, coriander, salt, and chicken broth to the pan. Bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat and let it simmer. Once it has simmered for about 15 minutes take half of the mixture and puree it and then add it back to the pan. Set this aside for now. Next prepare the chicken by boiling it in a pot of broth seasoned with chopped onion, garlic, dried oregano, bay leaves, and salt. Bring this to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer until the chicken is just cooked through. The recipe calls for boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but I used bone in, skin on breasts. I think the bone in breasts have more flavor than boneless, skinless when preparing chicken this way (and they are cheaper). Once the chicken is cooked and has cooled then you can shred it and add it to the rest of the onion (which I sautéed in a little oil first) and sour cream. Now it is time to assemble. Start by putting part of the chile sauce in the bottom of your pan. Then start filling the tortillas (I used flour as Russ doesn’t care for corn) with the chicken mixture and then placing them seam side down in the pan. Once you have filled the pan, top the enchiladas with more chile sauce and finally cheese. These bake until they are heated through.

The green chile sauce has a great smoky flavor with some real heat to it from the roasted peppers. The texture is perfect being a little chunky, but somewhat smooth at the same time. I thought the chicken was flavorful, but overall the inside of the enchiladas seemed to be missing something to me. As for the tortillas while I like the flavor of the flour they don’t hold up as well as the corn when they are baked. Next time I might do flour for Russ and corn for me. All in all they were very flavorful and yummy, but not the perfect enchilada. I am not quite sure what the perfect enchilada will be for me, but I’ll keep looking for new, different recipes and experimenting until I find it. Russ rates the enchiladas a 9.

My Sweet Tooth

2008-01-20T19:16:00.000-06:00

For as long as I can remember I have had a major sweet tooth. My biggest weakness is candy which my family, friends, and dentist can all attest to; however, no sweet is safe around me. I am just not one of those people who can have a bag of candy or homemade cookies in the kitchen and not eat them. If sweets are in the house and I know about it then they are gone within days… okay hours… fine, I’ll fess up they are gone within minutes… So, while I love baking sweets I have to either give most of them away shortly after making them or wait until we are going to be with friends or family who join me in demolishing them. A weekend in Mentone with three guys seemed like the perfect opportunity to try a new cookie recipe or two.

I couldn’t decide between two cookie recipes I found on Smitten Kitchen’s blog, so I made both. The first is a Peanut Butter Cookie that has both chocolate and peanut butter chips in it and the second is Smitten Kitchen’s favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie. Like most cookie recipes both of these you mix the wet and dry ingredients separately and then add the dry slowly to the wet. Once the dough is formed you fold the chips into it. The only unusual part to me is in the Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe where you use cold and not softened butter. I am not quite sure why he calls for cold butter, but I imagine there is some reason I am not aware of for it. It did take longer for it incorporate with the other ingredients. I followed both recipes exactly with the exception of leaving the nuts out of the chocolate chip cookies (since apparently boys’ prefer cookies with no nuts). Both cookies required longer baking times for me, but I think the cold weather may have played a part in this. Either way be sure and watch them and just adjust the baking times as needed without over baking them.

While everyone liked both cookies the Peanut Butter were hands down the favorite. The Peanut Butter cookies had great flavor, texture, and chip to cookie ratio. I really liked not only the peanut butter flavor, but also the addition of the two kinds of chips. They were sweet, but without being super sweet. They were thick, but not chewy. They don’t really brown, so be sure and don’t over bake them waiting for them to brown on the edges. These were enjoyed by all and will certainly be repeated! The Chocolate Chip cookies were good, but nothing special and I felt like they were missing something. I will say that I do think that this recipe needs the nuts in it for the extra texture and flavor and this is probably what I sensed what missing. If you like cookies with nuts then I would love it if you gave it a try and told me how they turned out. These also spread a lot on me and ended up being a fairly thin cookie and I tend to prefer a little bit thicker texture. Russ rates the chocolate chip cookies a 9 and the peanut butter cookies a 10.

Keeping Warm in the Kitchen

2008-01-19T21:40:00.000-06:00

I imagine that if you have read this blog at all that it is obvious by now that I enjoy cooking and baking, however, you probably also know that there are certain aspects of it that I especially love. One of those is a lazy, long weekend with no real plans and plenty of time to cook and bake. This weekend Russ, Cash, and I went up to Mentone with Allen and Gil. The boys were planning to take advantage of it being one of the last weekends in deer season and I was planning on taking advantage of the cold weather and staying inside either in the kitchen or curled up by the fire with a book. I pretty much accomplished my goal considering I didn’t leave the house, tried out three new recipes, repeated one old recipe (in addition to the Santa Fe Soup in the previous post), read the new issue of Fine Cooking cover to cover, and started a new book. Top it off with good friends, Cash curled up on his blanket and it was a wonderful, long, winter weekend!

To start the cold morning off right I decided to try out the Fastest Cinnamon Buns from the November issue of Fine Cooking. I actually wanted to make these for Christmas morning to go with the Cinnamon Bread… because apparently I didn’t think one cinnamon bread would be enough for just Russ and me…. but I ran out of time to make it and have had it on the top of my bread list to try ever since. The reason these are called the Fastest is that there is no rising involved and the dough comes together very quickly. To make the dough you toss the wet ingredients in the food processor and until it is smooth. You then add the dry ingredients and pulse until the dough just comes together. You then take it out and put it on a floured surface and knead it until it is smooth. Then roll is out into a rectangle and brush it with melted butter. Then mix the filling ingredients together. I left out the pecans as Russ is not big on nuts in his breads and apparently neither is Gil or Allen. I also used Vietnamese cinnamon that Russ gave me for Christmas which is stronger than regular grocery store cinnamon. Spread the topping evenly over the dough and roll it up. Then cut it into 12 pieces and place them cut side up in a pan that has been sprayed with Pam. The recipe calls for you to use a springform pan, however, we didn’t have one in Mentone so I used a round cake pan that worked perfectly. Then bake them at 400 F for about 20 to 28 minutes (ours took around the 28 minute mark). While they bake mix together the confectioner’s sugar, milk, and vanilla extract for the glaze. I used more confectioners’ sugar than it called for because it seemed too runny to me. You want a thick, but pourable glaze, so you will just need to add more confectioners’ sugar if it too runny or more milk if it is too thick. Once the cinnamon buns came out I poured some of the glaze over them and served the rest on the side (which was a hit with the boys).

The cinnamon buns were delicious! They are sweet with a great balance of dough and filling. This was my first time using the Vietnamese cinnamon and it was fantastic! While the buns have good balance the cinnamon really does shine and Russ even commented on how good the flavor of the Vietnamese cinnamon was – potent, fragrant, and fresh. I am generally not a fan of icing on cinnamon rolls as I find it too thick, too much, and too sweet; however, the glaze on these is just the perfect amount of extra sweetness and the gooey texture really works well with the baked buns. I think that these buns would be lacking if you left it off. Russ rates the cinnamon buns a 10!

Side note on Vietnamese Cinnamon: Usually when you use a stronger cinnamon you are encouraged to cut back on the amount called for in a recipe, but since it was my first time and I am just a baking rebel I wanted to try it with the full amount to see how it tasted. I think there are definitely recipes where I might cut back on the cinnamon if I use the Vietnamese so that it won’t overwhelm the other flavors, but I liked the strong flavor of it in this recipe. Call me a baking snob, but I am not sure I can go back to using the grocery store cinnamon… especially when Penzey’s has so many different ones I need to try!

For dinner I decided to make one of Russ’ favorite dishes, Chicken Marsala. This is a recipe of Giada’s that is for Veal Marsala and I just substituted chicken for the veal (either works great). To make this dish you start by sprinkling the chicken with salt and pepper. Then heat a skillet and add a little butter and olive oil. In batches cook the chicken for a couple minutes on each side. It will cook a little more once you pull it out and later in the recipe, so don’t cook it all the way through or you might over cook it in the end. Set the chicken to the side and add a little more oil to the pan and then add the shallot and garlic. Once this has sautéed for a couple minutes add the mushrooms. I increase the amount of mushrooms because I love them and I used a mix of white and baby bella this time. Any combination of mushrooms will do, so pick what looks best and what you like. Once the mushrooms are tender and the juice has evaporated add the remaining ingredients. I increased the amount of shallots, garlic, Marsala, rosemary, chicken broth, and rosemary sprigs since I increased the amount of mushrooms. Once this has cooked down then add a little more butter, salt, and pepper. Lastly add the chicken back in until everything is heated through. I served it over linguine with a side of spinach salad.

If you love mushrooms and rosemary then you will really enjoy this dish! The woodsy flavor of the mushrooms and rosemary is brought out and complemented by the Marsala for a delicious combination. I like to serve this over pasta to help soak up some of the extra sauce. I chopped and prepped everything ahead of time which made it come together very quickly and easily when I prepared it. Russ rates it a 9.

Fastest Cinnamon Buns, November 2007 Fine Cooking
Yields, 12 buns

Cooking Spray for the pan

For the Dough:
¾ cup cottage cheese (4% milk fat)
1/3 cup buttermilk
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 oz. (4 Tbs.) unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
9 oz. (2 cups) unbleached flour; more for rolling
1 Tbs. baking powder
½ tsp table salt
¼ tsp baking soda

For the Filling:
¾ oz (1 and ½ Tbs.) unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1 and ½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground allspice
¼ tsp ground cloves
1 cup (4 oz) chopped pecans

For the Glaze:
2 and ½ oz (scant 2/3 cup) confectioners’ sugar
2 to 3 Tbs. cold whole or low-fat milk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Heat oven to 400 F. Grease the sides and bottom of a 9 or 10 inch springform pan with cooking spray.

Make the dough: In a food processor, combine the cottage cheese, buttermilk, sugar, melted butter, and vanilla. Process until smooth, about 10 seconds. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda and pulse in short bursts just until the dough clumps together (don’t overprocess). The dough will be soft and moist.

Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it with floured hands 4 or 5 times until smooth. With a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 12x15 inch rectangle.

Make the filling: Brush the dough with the melted butter, leaving a ½ inch border unbuttered around the edges. In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Sprinkle the mixture over the buttered area of the dough and pat gently into the surface. Sprinkle the nuts over the sugar mixture.

Starting at a long edge, roll up the dough jelly-roll style. Pinch the seam to seal, and leave the ends open.

With a sharp knife, cut the roll into 12 equal pieces. Set the pieces, cut side up, in the prepared pan; they should fill the pan and touch slightly, but don’t worry if there are small gaps.

Bake until golden brown and firm to the touch, 20 to 28 minutes. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Run a spatula around the inside edge of the pan and remove the springform ring. Transfer the rolls to a serving plate.

Make the glaze: in a small bowl, mix the confectioners’ sugar, 2 Tbs. milk, and vanilla to make a smooth glaze. It should have a thick but pourable consistency, so add up to 1 Tbs. more milk if necessary. Drizzle the glaze over the rolls. Let stand 15 minutes and serve.

Planning for the Weekend

2008-01-17T20:37:00.000-06:00

When Russ and I were first dating I would ask him on Sunday night what he wanted to eat for dinner the next couple of nights. I am a planner and while I don’t mind grocery shopping I loathe going to the grocery store multiple times in a week. So, I like to make a meal plan for the week on Sunday night and go do all my shopping or at least most of it on Sunday. That way when I get home after work I am able to relax and cook dinner and not have to hurry to the crowded store to hurry home to put away groceries and get dinner started. However, Russ was used to a bachelor lifestyle that included little meal planning and more pulling a box of macaroni and cheese out of the cabinet when he gets home from work. Russ wasn’t quite sure how he was supposed to know what he would want to eat on Thursday night when it was only Sunday night. So, I started to try and build a little more flexibility in to our meal planning and Russ accepted the Sunday meal planning. Russ may disagree, but I think he has become more of planner since we’ve been together. This weekend we are going to Mentone with Gil (Russ’ college friend) and Allen. Russ started talking about the menu for the weekend days ago. One dish we decided on was Santa Fe Soup. Since I am a planner I decided to make the soup tonight to take up for lunch on Saturday.

This is such a simple, fast recipe that everyone always loves. (Nicole you could easily make this.) To start you brown ground beef with chopped onions (if you want sub ground turkey). Once it is cooked you drain the grease off and add the taco and ranch seasoning and mix it all together. You then start exercising your biceps as you open cans and dump them into the pot – beans, corn, and tomatoes. One tip that I think makes a big difference is to drain and rinse canned beans. The liquid that is in with canned beans to me is not tasty and takes away from the flavor of the soup. I always drain and rinse my canned beans with cold water. I love black beans, so I used two cans of black beans, one of light red kidney beans, and no pinto beans. Any combination will work, so just use what you like. Add water to the pot, bring it to a boil, and then let it simmer away.

Making Santa Fe Soup is really easy and you end up with a delicious, hearty, flavorful soup. I served it with several options for toppings – sour cream, shredded cheese, hot sauce, and tortilla chips. I usually have chopped raw onions as a topping too, but forgot them this time. This is one of those dishes that everyone always loves and unless you want to you don’t have to tell them that it is super easy. If you are having people over for Super Bowl Sunday this could be a great dish to serve! Like most soups, stews, and chilies this one is even better a day or two later. Russ rates the Santa Fe Soup a 9.

Santa Fe Soup, adapted from the recipe in the JLB cookbook
Serves 6 (large servings)

2lbs ground beef or turkey
1 onion, chopped
2, 5oz packages of Ranch style dressing mix
2, 1.25 oz packages of Taco Seasoning
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can of pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can of diced tomatoes with chiles, undrained
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can white corn, undrained
2 cups of water
(all cans are 14 oz)

Cook the meat and onion together until meat is brown. Drain the grease. Stir in taco seasoning and Ranch mix. Drain the beans and rinse them in water. Add all remaining ingredients including water. Simmer for 2 hours. It is best when made a day in advance and then reheated on the stove.

Garnish each serving with sour cream, chopped green onion, and shredded cheese. Serve with tortilla chips.

The Christmas Tagine!

2008-01-10T20:41:00.000-06:00

Russ is a wonderful husband in many ways one of which is that he is very supportive of my hobby of cooking. He cleans up the dishes after I cook, he fans the kitchen out and stops the smoke alarm from beeping more than I am sure he ever thought he would, he tries anything I make and calls Papa John when needed, he encourages me to try new cooking techniques or ingredients, he indulges my cookbook and cooking gadget habit… For Christmas this year he surprised me by giving me a tagine and a Moroccan cookbook to go with it. The tagine is a Le Creuset and blue and so beautiful it just makes me happy looking at it (part of the reason why it is still sitting out on the stove several weeks later)! I have been pouring over the Moroccan cookbook to try and decided what to try first. Several of my top picks all included preserved lemons which I don’t have yet (more about that later), so I ended up deciding to try Chicken with Apricots and Rosemary first.

To make this dish you sauté onions, ginger, rosemary, and chiles in a little butter and olive oil until they are tender. (Tip: I use a spoon to scrap the peel off of fresh ginger. It works really well and is very quick.) Then you add cinnamon sticks and rosemary sprigs to the dish. You then take the chicken thighs and brown them in the dish. Now a tagine is not very large on the bottom and will all the ingredients already in there I had a difficult time getting the chicken to brown since there was a layer of onions under it. Next time I’ll brown the chicken in a separate pan and then add it or remove the other ingredients and set them aside then brown the chicken and finally add the other ingredients back in the tagine. Once the chicken has browned on both sides you add a can of whole tomatoes and their liquid, the apricots, and honey. Then add the top of the tagine and leave it for around 25 minutes over very low heat. Once it is finished cooking you add the basil to the top and serve.

This dish was very fragrant as it cooked and was flavorful with the combination of sweet and savory when we ate it. The chicken was very moist and worked well with all the other flavors. I served it over cous cous which soaked up the extra sauce. The apricots made the dish to me as they were so moist and tender and had a very sweet, but mature flavor. While Russ and I really enjoyed this dish I am anxious to preserve some lemons (look for my attempt to preserve them to show up on the blog soon) and try several other recipes out soon. Russ rates tonight's dish an 8.

Spicy Chicken Tagine with Apricots, Rosemary, and Ginger

Tagine by Ghillie Basan, Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil with a pat of butter
1 onion, finely chopped
3 sprigs of rosemary, 1 finely chopped, the other two cut in half
A 1 and ½ inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 red chiles, seeded and finely chopped
1 – 2 cinnamon sticks
8 chicken thighs
¾ cup dried apricots
2 tablespoons clear honey
1 (14 oz) can plum tomatoes with their juice
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
A small bunch of fresh green or purple basil leaves

Heat the oil and butter in a tagine or heavy based casserole dish. Stir in the onion, chopped rosemary, ginger and chiles and sauté until the onion begins to soften. Stir in the halved rosemary sprigs and the cinnamon sticks. Add the chicken thighs and brown them on both sides. Toss in the apricots with the honey, then stir in the plum tomatoes with their juice. (Add a little water if necessary, to ensure there is enough liquid to cover the base of the tagine and submerge the apricots.) Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat. Cover with a lid and cook gently for 35 – 40 minutes.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Shred the larger basil leaves and leave the small ones intact. Sprinkle them over the chicken and serve the dish immediately.

My Notes: I used three large chicken thighs and left the other amounts the same.