Udon and Veg

I've been in a really Asian mood lately, mainly because I've been trying to eat more vegetables and Asian food makes it so easy to incorporate veggies in the diet.



This was a really tasty stir-fry kind of dish that came together really fast on a weeknight. I bought the udon at an Asian market, but I've seen it in the grocery store as well. You can also sub a thick Italian noodle.

1 package (about 1/2 pound) wide noodles
4 cups vegetables, fresh or frozen
2 T soy sauce
2 T chicken broth
2 T cornstarch
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
salt
pepper

If you are using crunchy vegetables, like carrots, broccoli, snow peas, etc you will want to blanch them in boiling water for a few minutes. You don't want them soft, just softened a little bit so they don't take forever to cook later.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add noodles.

Heat a large skillet to very high heat and add 2 teaspoons light flavored oil, like corn or canola. Add the toughest vegetables first, and start stir-frying each vegetable until tender. Turn the heat down to medium low.

Mix up the sauce in a measuring cup, adding the soy sauce, chicken broth, cornstarch, sugar, and vinegar. Whisk with a fork then add to the vegetables. Add the udon when it is just tender to the tooth, not mushy. Add salt and pepper to taste, although you shouldn't need much salt with the soy sauce.

French dinner

One night this week, I made an all French dinner. For the appetizers and dessert, I used choux paste (you may remember this from the cream puffs, before)

For appetizers, I made a savory dough and added gruyere and parmesan cheese, and created gougeres. The savory choux paste has no sugar and more salt and some pepper, and then you fold in the cheeses.

For dessert, I crafted profiteroles, which are sweet choux paste dough split open, with a scoop of ice cream inside and chocolate sauce on top. Yum!



For the main course, we had blue cheese souffle, with a side of baby greens with vinaigrette.



The vinaigrette was awesome! The souffle - meh. I thought it tasted kinda like scrambled eggs. Hubby thought it was tastearrific.

Blue Cheese Souffle

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the dish
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan, plus extra for sprinkling
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup scalded milk
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pinch cayenne pepper
Pinch nutmeg
4 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
3 ounces good Roquefort cheese, chopped (or other blue cheese)
5 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Butter the inside of an 8-cup souffle dish (7 1/2 inches in diameter and 3 1/4 inches deep) and sprinkle evenly with Parmesan.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. With a wooden spoon, stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Off the heat, whisk in the hot milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, the cayenne, and nutmeg. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, for 1 minute, until smooth and thick.

Off the heat, while still hot, whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time. Stir in the Roquefort and the 1/4 cup of Parmesan and transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Put the egg whites, cream of tartar, and a pinch of salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on low speed for 1 minute, on medium speed for 1 minute, then finally on high speed until they form firm, glossy peaks.

Whisk 1/4 of the egg whites into the cheese sauce to lighten and then fold in the rest. Pour into the souffle dish, then smooth the top. Draw a large circle on top with the spatula to help the souffle rise evenly, and place in the middle of the oven. Turn the temperature down to 375 degrees F. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes (don't peek!) until puffed and brown. Serve immediately.

Green Salad Vinaigrette

3 tablespoons Champagne or white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good olive oil

In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, garlic, egg yolk, salt and pepper. While whisking, slowly add the olive oil until the vinaigrette is emulsified. Toss the greens with enough dressing to moisten and serve immediately.

The recipes above call for room temperature eggs, which beat easier with more air, and emulsify easier. To bring eggs to room temperature fast, cover them in a cup or bowl with warm water and let sit for about 10-15 minutes.

You can find the profiterole and gougere recipes here and here.

Baby Food

While I *did* make the following 2 recipes into baby food, they are really appropriate for adult eating. I simply made 2 pots and made one w/out seasoning and ground it up in the baby food grinder. The other was perfectly seasoned for grown-ups.

Bree's Lentil Tomato Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 1/3 cups water
2 1/3 cups dried lentils
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 (14 1/2-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (28-oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
light sour cream (optional)
shredded cheese (optional)

1. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion; saute for 3 minutes or until tender. Add the turmeric and the next 6 ingredients (turmeric through garlic); saute for 1 minute. Add water and next 4 ingredients (water through diced tomatoes); bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer 1 hour.

2. Reserve 2 cups lentil mixture. Place half of remaining mixture in blender; process until smooth. Pour pureed soup into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with other half of remaining mixture. Stir in reserved 2 cups lentil mixture. Garnish with sour cream and cheese if desired.

Sometimes I don't even grind some up if I am lazy. Sometimes I make this less soupy and serve over rice. You can leave out the turmeric if you don't have it, maybe up the cumin.

Conor thought it was great, even though to me his tasted awful since it had no seasoning, not even salt and pepper.

Chicken Stew

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 large onion, diced
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 28-ounce can (or 2 14-ounce cans) diced tomatoes
1-cup (or more) chicken broth
assorted diced veggies, such as carrots, peas, corn
1 can of beans - kidney, pinto, black, cannellini, chickpea
salt and pepper

Heat the butter in a large, deep skillet or dutch oven over medium heat. When melted, add the onion and cumin and cook until soft, 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add the chicken and brown on both sides, about 5-6 minutes per side. Add the canned tomatoes, broth, veggies, and beans. Season with salt and pepper to your liking. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low and simmer until tomatoes are soft.

Add enough broth or a combination of broth and water until you get the consistency you desire. You can make it watery and more like soup, or thick. I make it on the thick side and serve over wild rice. (those 90-second stick in the microwave wild rice pouches are really good)

Again, for the baby I made it soupy and without seasoning. Instead of diced carrots, one time I added some carrots I had already pureed for him and he didn't like. It just added to the sauce of the stew. I ground it up in both the food processor and the food mill and he LOVED it.

When I make the variation with cumin and chili powder, kidney beans, and corn, it makes a kind of Southwestern stew. You can take this in any direction you want with the veggies and seasoning - Italian, Indian, etc. Curried with chickpeas over couscous or basmati rice would be really tasty!

Sloppy Joes...slop, sloppy joes!

Way before the song made famous by Adam Sandler, my family was eating sloppy joes. If I think about it, my mom always used either a jarred sauce or a seasoning packet to flavor up what was surely not very lean ground beef. Now I prefer to season the meat my own way, and use lean ground turkey instead of beef. What my mom DID do that I liked was toast the buns, and melt cheese on top of the meat before eating. Yum!

Sloppy Joes
2 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 - 2 pounds lean ground meat
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 14 oz can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon mustard
Salt and pepper
Hamburger buns
Butter
Shredded cheese

Heat the 2 teaspoons oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, not browning, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add the cumin and chili powder and cook for a minute, allowing the spices to bloom. Add the ground meat, breaking into pieces, and cook until browned.

Reduce heat and move the ground meat to one side so you reveal a little spot on the pan to caramelize the tomato paste. Add the paste and cook for a minute or so. Cooking the paste in this way will add a nice complex flavor, and reduce any tinny taste. Add the tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard.

Turn your oven to broil and cover a cookie sheet with foil.

Turn the heat down to medium low and continue cooking the meat mixture until thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Line the hamburger bottoms and tops on the cookie sheet and brush lightly with butter. Broil until golden brown. Remove cookie sheet from oven and place hamburger tops on plate. Add meat mixture to hamburger bottoms. Sprinkle with cheese and return to broil just until cheese is melted. You can add raw onion, pickle relish, or any other toppings, add the hamburger top, and enjoy!

Diced green pepper can be added with the onion to cook for additional crunch. Veggie lovers may like added frozen (thawed) chopped spinach to the meat mixture as well.

Experiment with the seasonings - added chili powder or cayenne will make a nice spicy sauce. Added basil and oregano will make Sloppy "Giuseppes".

Carrot Soup

I whipped this up because I bought an enormous package of baby carrots at Costco. I knew when I bought it that it was too large a bag and I would never eat that many carrots. So after many nights of sauted carrots, steamed carrots, and carrots in salad, I had to make a soup to use up what was left before they went bad.

Carrot Soup
feeds 4 as an appetizer, 2 as a full meal

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 a large onion, diced
1 clove garlic
3 cups diced or baby carrots
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ginger
2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons cream
salt and pepper
cayenne pepper, if desired
sour cream or creme fraiche for garnishing

Melt the butter in a dutch oven or large saucepan over medium heat and add onion. Let sweat for a few minutes, then add garlic. Don't let your heat get too high - we are not looking to caramelize the onion, just sweat and soften it. Add a pinch of salt to bring out the water. Add the cumin and ginger.

After a few minutes, add the carrots and turn heat down to medium low. Put on the lid and let the carrots cook with the onions for a few minutes. Add the chicken brothe. Replace lid and let carrots cook until softenend.

Add the contents to a blender and blend until smooth, adding additional chicken broth if necessary. You can also use an immersion blender in the pan. Return to the pan to heat through and finish with the cream and a teaspoon or 2 of butter if desired. Add more broth until you have your desired consistency and salt and pepper to taste. You can add a dash of cayenne pepper if you want more spice.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream or creme fraiche.

Chcken Friiiiied Steak

What is more Texan - more deep down-home cooking - than chicken fried steak? It never occurred to me to try and make my own, but then I saw an episode of Good Eats and I changed my mind.

We bought 2 butt roasts at Costco for about $13 and I had a horrible experience with the first one, not realizing how tough a piece of meat it is. Thankfully before I butchered the second I saw Alton Brown's episode called "Cubing Around".

The meat was so flavorful. I was frankly pretty amazed by the outcome, especially because at many points in the preparation I had considerable skepticism. The breading tends to want to slide off, either before or during the frying, but it all worked out in the end. Our roast made nice little tidy pieces about 3 inches in diameter. A couple of these, veggies, and a baked tater and I felt like I was at a fancy rest-ahh-rant - like Luby's!

Chicken Fried Steak

2 pounds beef bottom round, trimmed of excess fat
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 whole eggs, beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

Cut the meat with the grain into 1/2-inch thick slices. Season each piece on both sides with the salt and pepper. Place the flour into a pie pan. Place the eggs into a separate pie pan. Dredge the meat on both sides in the flour. Tenderize the meat, using a needling device, until each slice is 1/4-inch thick. Once tenderized, dredge the meat again in the flour, followed by the egg and finally in the flour again. Repeat with all the pieces of meat. Place the meat onto a plate and allow it to sit for 10 to 15 minutes before cooking.

Place enough of the vegetable oil to cover the bottom of a 12-inch slope-sided skillet and set over medium-high heat. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the meat in batches, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Cook each piece on both sides until golden brown, approximately 4 minutes per side. Remove the steaks to a wire rack set in a half sheet pan and place into the oven. Repeat until all of the meat is browned.

Add the remaining vegetable oil, or at least 1 tablespoon, to the pan. Whisk in 3 tablespoons of the flour left over from the dredging. Add the chicken broth and deglaze the pan. Whisk until the gravy comes to a boil and begins to thicken. Add the milk and thyme and whisk until the gravy coats the back of a spoon, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Season to taste, with more salt and pepper, if needed. Serve the gravy over the steaks.

A note - I didn't feel like buying a "needling device". I understand the purpose - make the meat more tender. So I poked the meat on both sides, first one direction, then the other, with a fork. I could definitely tell a difference in the slices where I was a little more diligent in my poking - much more tender meat.

Chicken Paillard

A paillard is simply a piece of meat pounded so that it is one even thickness. You will recognize the "paillard" if you've had schnitzel or chicken fried steak. Wiener Schnitzel is just veal pounded thin, breaded, and fried. I believe we had Wiener Schnitzel in Vienna on our honeymoon, though we weren't overly impressed by it. In fact, I probably had none considering veal grosses me out.

Over on this side of the pond, a paillard is used mainly so you can cook stuff quickly. A normal chicken breast would probably take 12-14 minutes in my kitchen to cook, but these took about 3 minutes per side. Last week I made paillard but couldn't find my grill pan so they were cooked in a regular nonstick skillet. I can tell you the grilled version is FAR superior.

These received very little treatment, just a brushing of olive oil, salt, and pepper. I went a little heavy on the pepper, and they were a little spicy when done.

You can use a lot of things to pound the meat thin - DO NOT use the pointy side of one of those meat mallets. Ever. For anything. They'll just tear up your meat. One of the things that basically looks like a metal disk with a handle on top work well. You need one that has enough heft that when you come down on the meat it actually does something. You can improvise with a rolling pin, but the problem is that it's so large that the end gets a lot more pressure than the middle, and you end up bashing the heck out of the meat and getting holes in it. If you're using a rolling pin, come down lightly and from not a high distance and use the middle of the pin, not the end.

I have this one, which was a wedding gift. I think I would prefer to have this one in the upper right - they call it a pounder.

Pound your meat out between 2 pieces of plastic wrap or parchment paper to about a 1/4 inch thickness. Brush with oil and season with salt, pepper, and whatever other seasonings you want. A brush of dijon mustard would be nice, sprinkled with some dried thyme.

Heat your grill pan over high heat. Using tongs place your paillard in the pan. It will stick - don't worry about it! At some point, it will start to release (after some nice grill marks are placed) and you can turn it 45 degrees if you want to get nice marks. Cook for about 3-4 minutes. Turn over and do the same to the other side. Remove from pan and let sit for about 5 minutes before serving.

Serve with mashed potatoes, salad, pasta, or any vegetable you like. A nice easy, healthful meal.

Pesto Pasta Potluck

Italian Potluck at work - much thanks to my J-dog Joana for giving me the idea. It saved me from slaving over vegetable lasagna - which is good, but dang I didn't want to spend that much time in the kitchen on a summer night.

To me, pasta salad is all about throw together what you have. Pasta, whatever vegetables, and a dressing. Tonight I made use of the basil taking over my tiny garden and in fact, some of the tiny cherry tomatoes we have as well. I added some green onion and red bell pepper. I was going to add defrosted peas but forgot - oh well.

The recipe for the basil pesto can be found here.

Pasta Pesto Salad

2 boxes wheat rotini pasta
1 cup basil pesto
halved cherry tomatoes
1 red pepper, chopped
chopped green onion tops
salt and pepper

Boil 2 quarts hot water with enough salt that it's salty to the taste.

Boil the pasta until slightly more al dente than you would serve warm with sauce. Drain and plunge into icy water to stop the cooking. Leave a few minutes to chill if you are serving right away.

Drain and add the pesto. Add the halved cherry tomatoes, red pepper, and onion. Stir together. Taste, then add appropriate salt and pepper.

If I'd had some cheese, say feta or goat cheese, I would have added that. This could be done with boccacini, tomatoes, and julienned basil to make a Caprese pesto salad. Mmm!

Indian Butter Chicken

I am not sure why this is called "Butter Chicken" but after looking at some recipes on the internet it seems to be fairly common. This can also be called "Indian Chicken in Tomato Cream Sauce". I am quite fond of the cream and tomato combo, as this is what I usually do in the last few minutes of my marinara. Not too much that the cream takes over, but just a tablespoon or two to really mellow it out.

This recipe is courtesy of the "Sara's Secrets" show on Food TV. I am pretty sure once upon a time I went looking for recipes with garam masala because I love it bunches and would like to incorporate it more into our meals. You can buy it already prepared (the McCormick brand is pretty good) or make your own. Because it changes from family to family (masala means "mixture" and garam means "warm") I'm sure you'll find 101 recipes on the internet for it.

Spice Blend:
1 tablespoon garam masala seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Sauce:
3 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes in juice
1 skinless rotisserie chicken, boned out and pulled into 1 1/2 by 1/2-inch chunks
1 (10-ounce) box frozen peas, placed in a colander and run under hot water to thaw
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Hot basmati rice, for serving
Pita bread, warmed according to package directions, for serving

To make the spice blend: Stir the ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.

To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until the pieces just begin to turn gold, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, tomato paste and spice blend, and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly to prevent burning. The spices will be fragrant. Add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes and stir will. Add the chicken pieces, spoon the sauce over the top and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to low and cook, uncovered, until the chicken is warmed through and the sauce is flavorful, about 10 minutes. Stir frequently. Remove the chicken to a serving dish and cover to keep warm.

Shake any excess water from the peas. Add the peas and cream to the sauce in the pan, stir well and heat through. Do not boil. Spoon the sauce over the chicken. Serve with rice and warmed pita bread.

Variation: If you prefer shreds of chicken to whole pieces, remove the skin from the chicken and pull the meat into large chunks by hand. Add to the pan along with the garlic, tomato paste and spice blend. Cook for 3 minutes and then add the tomato sauce and continue with the recipe. Serve over basmati rice.

I used the rotisserie chicken because I was lazy and tired. Next time I'll just saute some boneless skinless breast pieces and use those. Because I used shreds of chicken, the chicken was more incorporated into the sauce than it being a chicken vs sauce thing. Next time I'll probably omit the peas and do potatoes and carrots.

Stuffed Peppers

Normally, I make stuffed peppers as a way to use up meatloaf mix. It's usually the last in series of 3 dishes of meatloaf: first night, meatloaf - 2nd night, meatloaf sandwiches - 3rd night, stuffed peppers. This time I was making meatballs and just planned to use a pound of the 3 pounds of ground beef I bought in the peppers.

Stuffed Peppers
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne, if desired
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 pound ground meat
1 can diced tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup cooked rice

4-6 bell peppers, any color

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil in a medium heat pan. Add the onion and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute one more minute. Add the oregano and paprika, and cayenne if desired, and tomato paste and saute another minute. Add the ground meat and cook until all the meat is browned. Add the can of diced tomatoes. Cook for 10 minutes or until mixture is thick. Add salt and pepper to taste. Turn heat to medium low and add rice.

Cut the tops off the peppers and clean out the ribs and seeds. Slice off just enough of the bottom so that the peppers sit level. Arrange the bottoms in an oven-proof pyrex or metal baking dish. Fill the peppers with the mixture and put tops back on. You can cover the peppers with tomato sauce prior to putting the tops back on. I was simultaneously making spaghetti sauce so I added a couple teaspoons to the top. Cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Depending on what kind of pepper you use, the flavor will be different. The picture above was actually the next day with green peppers. The first day I used red peppers and they turned really sweet when cooked. Both the filling and the pepper get deeper and better flavored after cooking. Even the filling, while good before baking, benefited from the flavor of the pepper.

Basghetti and Meatheads

That's how I referred to the classic dish when I was just a wee one. To this day I have difficulty saying "meatballs" rather than "meatheads". I got to thinking after watching a recent episode of Barefoot Contessa that I've never actually attempted meatballs from scratch. If I want meat in my spaghetti I usually just throw in ground beef and brown it up then throw the sauce on top. After making this recipe, I can say I probably won't be doing it again. What a hassle, and what a mess all that grease made. Granted I haven't even eaten it yet (Queen of Food Prep!) but I can't imagine it's going to deliver.

I'm including the recipe here off Food Network's site because Queen Ina doesn't allow her recipes to be posted more than 2 weeks after the show airs (can you see me rolling me eyes?!).
It also occurred to me the cost incurred to make these LK#@(H%$! meatballs was way more than if I'd just bought the great Butterball turkey meatballs, and they would have been a lot healthier.

Yield: 6 servings

For the meatballs:
1/2 pound ground veal
1/2 pound ground pork
*edit - I don't eat veal so I used 1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
1 cup fresh white bread crumbs (4 slices, crusts removed)
*edit - oops, yeah, I used wheat and I left the crusts on - egads!
1/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 extra-large egg, beaten
Vegetable oil
Olive oil

For the sauce:
1 tablespoon good olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 onion)
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 cup good red wine, such as Chianti
* edit - since I'm pg I wasn't going to just open a full bottle and let it go to waste, so I used this cheapie 2-serving bottle of red. I didn't look at the label b/c I didn't want to salivate
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, or plum tomatoes in puree, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For serving:
1 1/2 pounds spaghetti, cooked according to package directions
Freshly grated Parmesan

Place the ground meats, both bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg, egg, and 3/4 cup warm water in a bowl. Combine very lightly with a fork. Using your hands, lightly form the mixture into 2-inch meatballs. You will have 14 to 16 meatballs. (Her meatballs are enormous, and if I'd left them 2 inches they never would have cooked. I had 24 normal-person-sized meatballs)

Pour equal amounts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large (12-inch) skillet to a depth of 1/4-inch. Heat the oil. Very carefully, in batches, place the meatballs in the oil and brown them well on all sides over medium-low heat, turning carefully with a spatula or a fork. This should take about 10 minutes for each batch. Don't crowd the meatballs. Remove the meatballs to a plate covered with paper towels. Discard the oil but don't clean the pan. (I used my Le Creuset Dutch oven which does not have a 12-inch bottom. Not all of us have enormous skillets Ina! Plus I like to make sauce in the oven - it NEVER would have fit in a skillet. Is she smoking again???)

For the sauce, heat the olive oil in the same pan. Add the onion and saute over medium heat until translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the wine and cook on high heat, scraping up all the brown bits in the pan, until almost all the liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Return the meatballs to the sauce, cover, and simmer on the lowest heat for 25 to 30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve hot on cooked spaghetti and pass the grated Parmesan.

The sauce I tasted before the long simmer was very strongly flavored of the wine. This is probably my fault for the wine I picked. But still, I like my tomato sauces on the sweet side, and this is definitely NOT sweet. We'll see how it tastes after it's mellowed and picked up the flavor of the meatballs. I have a feeling this is a "grown-up" sauce, and I like mine like I liked it when I was a kid - sweet like Prego. Granted I'd never eat Prego now, but still. Mine is a little grown-up since it has brandy in it...

Since I had bought 3 pounds of ground beef and had some red peppers in the fridge I decided to do a 2-for-1 and made some baked pepper filling as well. I'll add that tomorrow...

Saucy!

Much as I wanted to just come home and have a bowl of cereal for dinner tonight, I forced myself to cook the boneless, skinless chicken breasts defrosting in the refrigerator. What easier way than a simple saute, with a sauce made in the same pan.

The technique for making a simple pan sauce is easy - saute a savory ingredient or herb in the pan drippings (or fond, as it is often called), add a savory liquid, let it thicken, then add a finish, if so desired. You start by sauteing your chicken on high heat in olive oil, vegetable oil, or a butter and oil combo. You can even do this in stages, as I did, as I had 4 rather large breasts, and only 2 fit in the pan. Get a really good sear on the chicken on both sides, and you'll notice that some brown bits form in the pan. This is the fond, and the basis of a really good sauce.

Once done with the chicken, you'll want to add some savories - finely choppen onion, shallot, green onions, or garlic. Sage is also good to add now - it may crackle in the pan as it "fries". I had sauteed some minced garlic in my olive oil just prior to adding the chicken. Be careful about garlic, I only let mine saute for about 30 seconds, as it can get brown fast and brown = bitter. I minced a shallot, and added it to the pan, where the reamaining oil softened the shallot. You only want to cook your savories until just soft.

Next you add your savory liquid - chicken broth, vegetable broth, white wine, red wine, lemon juice are the usual players. Today I added a half a can of low sodium chicken broth and the juice of a lemon. I think the broth comes to about a half cup. Measurements really are not important. Then you let that boil away, scraping up the brown bits until it gets thickened and you have a syrupy but pourable sauce. Then quickly finish the sauce, if desired. Butter and cream are standard. I added 2 teaspoons of butter and it thickened the sauce slightly and gave it a nice creamy finish. I also added a scant teaspoon of cream. Now is the time to finish with fresh herbs as well, as you they will lose the note of freshness if they cook too long. Capers are popular to add to a lemon sauce as well, though I would skip the cream.

I poured the sauce over my chicken and garnished with some chopped green onion tops. Parsley would also be great.

I added some saffron rice with chopped green onion whites and a simple salad and dinner was done. (and would feed me for the next 2 nights as well)

Chugga Chugga Couscous

When faced with the need to provide a dish for a work potluck, I always think SWEET first. Not sure why. Am I a baker before a cook? I certainly cook more than I bake, but maybe it is the baking process that really gets my creative juices going.

Regardless, I had a really hard time thinking of a dish for hubby to take for lunch until I remembered the boxes of couscous I bought recently. Most people think couscous is a grain, like rice, but in fact it is a pasta. It cooks up really fast because they are tiny pieces of pasta, and also they are steamed, then dried, before you use it so it's almost like reconstituting it. Couscous is of North African origin and can stand up to really strong flavors. It is a great vehicle for any kind of vegetable.

Today I decided to make it with zucchini and the incredibly sweet grape tomatoes we buy every week. Green onions, spice, toasted pine nuts, and hot boiling water and we are there!

Vegetable Couscous Salad

1/2 cup pine nuts
2 1/2 cups water
2 cups couscous
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 small zucchini, split lengthwise and sliced thinly
4 or 5 green onions, diced
2 handfuls grape tomatoes, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place pine nuts in a round or square baking pan and heat at 350 degrees for about 2 1/2 minutes. Shake pan. Heat for about 2 1/2 more minutes. Watch them carefully because they can go from toasted to burned in no time. Remove from oven and pour into a bowl to cool.

Bring water to boil over medium-high heat. Add couscous, cinnamon, turmeric, and cumin. Tightly cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Add zucchini, onion, tomato, and pine nuts. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate before serving.

Friday Night Panko Fest

Panko...Japanese bread crumbs. They are light and fluffy and kind of make a tapping sound against each other. I finally bought some at the store last week so when I was faced with an evening stretch alone at home and time to make a bigger dinner, I decided to experiment.

A quick googling on the 'Net yielded chicken and onions. Onion rings! I looove onion rings, but I hate the grease that goes along with them, especially on my current low-fat health diet. Correction, I love onion rings when they are done well, not when the coating doesn't stick to the onion and falls off in globs. So I grabbed some chicken breasts at the store and went home excited to getting to the experimentin'.

The technique that I used to bread the chicken and onion could be used with really any surface you want to have a crispy, light, coating. You need to dry the food with a little flour, then dunk in something sticky so that the crumbs will stick, then dunk in the crumbs. What I found is that if you are dunking in the crumbs, the crumbs will inevitably get wet with the sticky solution and won't be usable. So alternate in small batches, don't just dump out all your crumbs you'll need at once. The other alternative which worked well, was to do the flouring and crumb-ing in a paper bag, shaking the food. This coated everything really well and the sticky stuff didn't leach all over everything.

Baked Onion Rings

2 egg whites
all purpose flour for coating
salt and pepper
2 small or 1 large onion, cut into rings
Japanese Panko bread crumbs, about 1 cup

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Lightly beat the egg whites in a pie plate or other flat, wide dish. In another bowl, add the flour. Add salt and pepper to the flour to your liking, or some seasoned salt, herbs, etc. In another flat, wide dish add the crumbs. Alternatively, use 2 small plain brown paper bags and add the flour to one and the crumbs to the other. Flour the onion rings, then dunk in the egg whites, letting the excess drip off. Coat in bread crumbs and lay on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake for around 10-15 minutes, turn over, and bake again until they are to desired brown color.

Panko-Crusted Dijon Chicken

4 skinless boneless chicken breasts
2 egg yolks (or 2 eggs - I had yolks from the above whites)
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
all-purpose flour for dusting
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
Japanese Panko bread crumbs, about 2 cups

Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl and add the Dijon mustard. Mix well. Add the flour to a wide, shallow dish and add the Parmesan cheese. Add any other seasonings and salt and pepper as desired. Add Panko crumbs to another shallow dish. Alternate coating the chicken breasts with flour, then the egg mixture, then the crumbs, pressing the crumbs into the chicken. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees F for 20-30 minutes or until the juices run clear and internal temperature reads 160 degrees F. Add a shaving of Parmesan on top, if desired.

Gnocchi'n on Heaven's Door

Lest you think I was not a proper wife and didn't make something FABULOUS for our 1-year anniversary, I give you dinner, Guns 'n Roses style. Having become the recent owner of a ricer, and having some fingerling potatoes growing sad and forgotten in our veggie basket - gnocchi was to be the new recipe of the evening.

Have you ever had gnocchi? It's pasta. Made from potatoes. And done correctly they are light and airy and wonderful. The best gnocchi I ever had was in London's Notting Hill neighborhood. Since then I've wanted to make them, but didn't have a ricer, and like Alton Brown, I hate uni-taskers. Recently I read you could use a regular box grater to grate the cooked potatoes. Makes total sense. I don't know why it didn't occur to me.

We made gnocchi in cooking class a month or so ago so I felt I had my technique down. Potatoes, eggs, flour - that's all there is to it. The starch in the particular potato matters, and I'd always heard fingerlings were the best but all the recipes I seemed to find involved russets. I'm trying those next time because they sure are easy to find and I think the skin comes off easier as it's thicker.

Potato Gnocchi
(serves 4)

1 pound russet potatoes
3-4 egg yolks
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 cup all purpose flour, plus more for dusting

You can bake the potatoes in the oven, or boil them in water. Cook until they are tender when pierced with a skewer. You don't want to overcook them or the flesh will soak up more water, and more water equals more flour. A light hand with the flour is the key here - more flour equals a less tender gnocchi. Don't overwork the dough.

Let the cooked potatoes stand just long enough so that they are cool enough to handle. The hotter the potato when you rice them, the fluffier.

Scrape the peels off the potatoes and rice or grate the potatoes. Spread the riced potatoes out in a thin layer to expose as much of their surface as possible to the air. You should have about 2 cups of potatoes. In a large bowl whisk together 3 egg yolks, the cheese, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Add the potatoes and mix well. Sprinkle half cup of the flour over the potatoes and using your knuckles, press it into the potatoes. Fold the mass over on itself and press down again. Sprinkle on more flour, little by little, folding and pressing the dough until it just holds together. If the mixture is too dry, add another yolk or a little water. The dough should give under slight pressure. It will feel firm but yielding. To test if the dough is the correct consistency, take a piece and roll it with your hands on a well-floured board into a rope 1/2 inch in diameter. If the dough holds together, it is ready. If not, add more flour, fold and press the dough several more times, and test again.

To form, cut the dough into 4 to 6 pieces. Roll out each piece into a rope about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 1/2 inch thick pieces and lightly flour any sticky sides. You'll now form them into dumplings with the ridges that are familiar to gnocchi. The ridges are what helps sauce stick. I doubt you have a gnocchi board - the tines of a form work just as well. Rest the fork upside down and at a 45 degree angle. Hold the gnocchi to the fork with your thumb and with light pressure press down and away from you. The gnocchi will roll away down the fork and get the impression from the tines. It will be slightly curved. Don't worry, it will take practice to get the right force and motion.






Rope for cutting








At this point you can lightly dust the gnocchi, place on a cookie sheet in the freezer, and freeze for later use. Simply move them to a ziptop bag when they are frozen through. Or you can bring a large pot of salted water to boil to cook them. They only need about 90 seconds to cook. Place them in the boiling water and when they float to the top, they are done. Use a skimmer or strainer to fish them out and dump into prepared sauce.

Frozen gnocchi can be placed in boiling water for cooking and remove when they have floated to the top - slightly longer than fresh gnocchi.

Sauces should be prepared and kept barely warm to simply coat the gnocchi and heat them through. I did a very simple brown butter coating with another grating of Parmesan cheese and a sprinkling of kosher salt. A simple cheese cream sauce, a light marinara, or a pesto would also be excellent. Next time I'll be doing the basil pesto when the basil in the garden gets mature enough.

These took a long time from start to finish (being about an hour or so) but were well worth it considering how long I've waited to make them myself. They had a really strong potato taste plain, but I think switching to russets will help. Next time I'll watch the flour content more to try and make them even lighter. They were really good and went well as a side dish to our pork loin and Italian squash.

Potluck Dinner

Last weekend we had a lovely afternoon at a friend's house. We were attending a matinee of her most recent dramatic endeavor, and afterwards we had a nice potluck dinner. I volunteered to make the entree and a vegetable side dish. Both dishes made use of a "bechamel" - one of the 4 classic French sauces from which all others originate.

My entree was a macaroni and cheese casserole reminiscent of tuna noodle casserole. Instead of tuna I used chicken, and instead of noodles we used wheat penne pasta.

First, I poached the chicken breasts in a combination of cool water, a splash of whiskey (bourbon, whisky or brandy would be fine), some peppercorns, and a couple bay leaves. Just barely let the water come up to a simmer, and simmer about 8-10 minutes. Be careful because over-cooking will make the chicken tough and dry.



Once cooked, let the chicken breasts cool and then shred or cube into bite-sized pieces.



Every bechamel begins in the same way - savory vegetables or garlic sauteed in a fat to a certain point of brown, and then flour added to help thicken the eventual sauce. Here, I've sauteed the onions in butter until soft, then added flour. You want to cook the flour a bit to cook the pasty taste out but not too long such that it browns. When you have a mostly white sauce, it is considered "blonde". You may realize this is the same process for making a "roux". Many Cajun dishes begin with a roux that is browned deeply to a deep rich brown color.

The next step in a bechamel is to add a liquid to make it saucy. Usually this is a broth, milk or cream, or a combination. Here I've used a combination of broth and milk. Usually you are heating the milk or cream while cooking the roux so that when you add it to the flour mixture the temperature doesn't drop suddenly.



The sauce will thicken, based on what ratio flour to liquid you use. Adding nutmeg to the bechamel is very traditional, along with salt and pepper to taste.

You'll want to cook your pasta or noodles more al dente than normal as you'll be cooking it in the oven. Along with the pasta and sauce, I used frozen peas that had been blanched and cooled, cheddar cheese, the pre-cooked chicken, and some breadcrumbs for the top.

Chicken Pasta Cheese Bake, adapted from Macaroni and Cheese by Marlena Spieler

4 chicken breasts
2 bay leaves
5-6 peppercorns
2 tablespoons whiskey, brandy, or bourbon
6 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup flour
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
2 cups hot, not boiling milk
grating of fresh nutmeg
12 oz pasta or noodles
6 oz sharp cheddar, shredded
1/2 to 3/4 cup fresh or frozen peas
3-4 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs

Preheat over to 375 degrees.

Cover chicken breasts in a large saucepan with water and bring to a slow simmer with the bay leaves, peppercorns, and whiskey. Let simmer 8-10 minutes until there is no pink left in the breasts. Do not overcook. You'll want to skim off any foam that develops as they cook. Cool and chop or shred into bite-sized pieces.

Blanch the peas in hot water for 2 minutes, then cool in ice water. Drain and set aside.

In a large saucepan melt 4 tablespoons of the butter, add the onion and cook until softened. Raise the heat slightly and add the flour. Cook for a few minutes to cook out the flour taste, and take off the heat. Stir in the broth and hot milk and return to the heat. Cook the sauce over medium-high heat for 7-10 minutes or until thick. Use a whisk to beat out any lumps. Add salt and pepper to taste along with the nutmeg. Set aside.

Cook pasta or noodles until al dente but less cooked than normal and drain.

Butter a large shallow caserrole pan. Add 1/4 of the sauce to the bottom of the pan along with 1/4 of the cheese. Add 1/3 of the chicken, peas, and noodles, in layers. Repeat the layers 2 more times and end with the sauce and cheese. Sprinkle with the breadcrumbs and dot with 2 tablespoons butter.

Bake about 30 minutes until brown and crisped in places.



The vegetable side dish I made was Creamed Spinach. It begins the same way, with a bechamel of onions, butter, and flour. I added only milk, and a lot less, as you want this sauce to be thicker than that for the pasta dish. Add 2 defrosted and drained packages frozen spinach to the bechamel. Add salt, pepper, and a dash of grated nutmeg to taste.



Creamed Spinach

2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup milk
2 boxes frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and add onions. Cook until softened. Add flour and cook a few minutes to cook out floury taste. Add milk and cook until incorporated and thickened. Add spinach, breaking up strands. Cook until heated through.

Give Peas a Chance

I had been seeing a lot of blogs lately with peas. Spring peas. They had been on my mind a lot since I used them in a casserole on the weekend. So today, when I had leftover pasta and a quick weeknight supper to make I decided to do a pasta with spring pea puree.

I decided I wanted a creaminess, and some herbs. I had chives, that would be good. I was out of cream...so I used sour cream. Definitely need some parmesan... I whirred it all up in the food processor but the flavor was way sweeter than I would have imagined, so I decided I needed some onions for earthiness and spice (really a shallot would have been perfectly delicate). Heated it up with the pasta and more chives and cheese on top and voila!

Spring Pea Pasta

1/2 - 1 bag frozen spring peas, or fresh (remember, no fancy farmer's markets here)
a creamy ingredient - cream, sour cream, or ricotta cheese
olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 an onion or 1 shallot
herbs - chives or something similarly delicate - mint perhaps

Blanch the peas in boiling water for just a few minutes, then plunge into cold water to stop the cooking. Whirr them up in the food processor or blender with the creamy ingredient, herbs, and salt and pepper to taste. Chop the onion or shallot and soften in some olive oil and the butter. Add the peas and heat. Here I wish I could have added more cream. You can add another tablespoon of butter to finish the sauce too. Add leftover pasta or add pasta you've just boiled up. Garnish with parmesan cheese, herbs, or a dollop of ricotta. mmmm.

I am the captain of my suburban food domain.

Butterflies

After watching one of Martha's "cooking school" segments last week on butterflying, I decided to take that huge hunk of pork tenderloin we had in the fridge and butterfly it. I didn't know really WHAT to use inside, but I love onions and we had them, so I settled on that. Probably not the best thing to do, use raw onions. Caramelized would have been better. And some fresh herbs. More seasoning. But you can see the results below. Not bad for my first try at butterflied pork.

I used a really sharp butcher's knif to split it open twice, like a book. Then I seasoned the inside and spread the onions. I rolled it all up jelly-roll style and secured it with some cooking twine. I even got all fancy!



I used the Taylor probe thermometer and cooked it at 350 degrees until the internal registered 160 degrees. Ta-da! You can see the 3 "layers" of the pork. It kinda looks like Pac-Man with onions stuffed in his mouth...



It was pretty darn tasty, and big as that piece of meat was, we'll be eating leftovers for a while. Go Costco and big hunks of meat!

I am the captain of my suburban food domain.