Pasta del frigorifero
Refrigerator pasta. I tried doing "Clean out the refigerator pasta" in Babelfish, but it wasn't quite translating the way I was meaning... Oh well. I guess I should learn Italian and not rely on free internet services. But I digress.
Tonight's dinner was brought to you by Burrata. I had some in the aforementioned refrigerator that I really wanted to have tonight as a part of dinner. Burrata - for those of you not in the know - is fresh mozzarella filled with cream. Yes. Cream. Actually, it's a mixture of cream and mozzarella. Fresh mozzarella is fantastic. Burrata is orgasmic.
So...
I started by cooking up some bucatini (that's spaghetti with a hole in it). Then I emptied out all of those odds and ends in the 'fridge...
- A couple of slices of bacon from yesterday's breakfast that I didn't cook
- a broccoli crown
- baby bella mushrooms
- yellow squash
- red bell pepper
- red onion
- radicchio
- grape tomatoes
- about a cup (grated) of fresh parmesan
- parsley, oregano, and basil from the garden
- burrata
- and a big ol' chicken breast on the bone.
I had roasted the chicken breast earlier in the day...
While the pasta cooked, I sauteed the onion and pepper with the chopped bacon, added the rest of the veggies and about a 1/2 cup of white wine and about the same of chicken broth. Let it cook down. I then added the chicken, cheese and the fresh herbs, salt and pepper. And, finally, the sliced burrata on top.
The richness of the cheese with the simplicity of the various vegetables worked well. The chicken was almost unnecessary (except I was cleaning out the refrigerator) and it could easily have been a vegetarian dish.
It was pretty much a 15-minute meal.
Who says they don't have time to cook?!?
Chocolate Overload Cookies
I said I was in the mood for cookies. I'm really, really in the mood for cookies after that first bite!
The original recipe called for chocolate chips. I added semi-sweet chips, white chocolate chips, and mini peanut butter cups. The recipe also specifically states NOT Dutch process cocoa - and that was all I had, tonight. (I usually have Guittard cocoa - the last of the family-owned San Francisco chocolatiers which is Dutched - and Hershey's natural cocoa powder in the cabinet. Not tonight.)
A little science lesson... Dutch processing adds alkali to cocoa and neutralizes the acid. It makes for a smoother and deeper cocoa flavor and works well in cakes and pastries where you're not masking the chocolate flavor or competing with the slightly acidic chocolate tones. I usually make brownies with regular cocoa powder for a more pronounced chocolate flavor. Both kinds have their uses and one is not better than the other, so all you chocolate snobs can go lie down.
Back to science... cookies relying on baking soda will not work as well with Dutch process cocoa, because baking soda wants acid to work. While a lot of your basic ingredients will have a bit of acid to them, a simple workaround (and what I did tonight) is to add a quarter-teaspoon of white vinegar to the mix. It adds the necessary acid and punches up the chocolate flavor. It worked quite well!
Chocolate Overload Cookies
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder (add 1/4 tsp white vinegar with Vanilla if using Dutch process)
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup mini peanut butter cups
Preheat oven to 350°.
Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy and beat in egg and vanilla until combined well. Mix in flour mixture until just combined and stir in chips.
Drop dough by tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets and bake about 12 minutes.
Cool as long as you can, and then eat!
These really are pretty awesome. And it's unusual for me to make 'normal' sized cookies. I usually make humongaloid cookies. Tonight I thought I'd try actually doing small scoops. I'm glad I did. It made about 65 cookies!
Pork Chops and Mango Salsa
I had taken chicken out of the freezer this morning, but pork chops were calling my name, today. The pork chops won. Actually, what was calling my name was mango salsa and I just thought it would go better tonight with bone-in pork chops that it would bone-in chicken breasts.
I had all the ingredients for the salsa at home- frozen mango chunks, red onion, cilantro and parsley both growing outside... Happy Hal's Jalapeno Relish for the kick... Simplicity.
I grilled the chops with a bit of mango chipotle sauce and the brown rice got a quarter-cup of unsweetened coconut mixed in to cook. The asparagus steamed and then drizzled with butter, salt and pepper.
For dessert..... I think I'm in the mood for cookies.....
A Simple Steak Sandwich
I am having so much fun with my new Adobe suite that I'm surprised I stopped playing long enough to cook dinner - but I did!
Four-napkin steak sandwiches were the perfect muggy spring fare, tonight.
Braided egg rolls with mayonnaise, lettuce (I had sprouts!) tomatoes, pepper and onion relish, cheddar cheese, and thin-sliced grilled london broil rubbed with lots of spicy spices. And french fries, of course!
I was even a good boy and ate my dinner properly at the table.
Now, all I have to do is figure out how to use all of these programs.
Life is good!
Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
I love to cook, but I also love it when others cook. And I especially love it when I was planning to cook and Victor surprises me with a fantastic meal!
I pulled a pork tenderloin out of the freezer this morning, planning to make some little cutlets, parmesan rice... When I got home, Victor said he had a plan and to go and relax. I like plans like that!
The pork was perfect! He stuffed it with breadcrumbs, celery, carrots, raisins, goat cheese... Just all sorts of fun ingredients! It was perfection!
I'm off to make a raspberry clafouti for dessert!
In the Pink
Panko, and Almonds, and Raspberries, Oh My!
And blackberries, roasted grape tomatoes, roasted peppers, cucumbers... Lots of crunch!
The chicken was really tasty! I mixed a bit of mayonnaise with dijon and hot and sweet mustard, chopped mint, and some salt and pepper. I then coated the chicken with it and dredged it in a mixture of panko breadcrumbs and crushed almonds. I lightly browned it in a skillet, then put it in the oven to finish. The mint really worked in it - about 6 leaves all chopped up was just enough to add a "hmmmmm" to the chicken.
The dressing looks really rich, but I did it in a blender...
About 6 oz of raspberries and a handful of blackberries pureed with 3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar and then maybe a quarter-cup of olive oil drizzled in. Salt and pepper.
I pretty much had to make a salad after last night's dinner...
A porterhouse steak so big I had to put the veggies on a separate plate! And cheese-fries.
I think I've had more steaks in the past two weeks than I have in the past two years. I do love that charcoal grill..... But it is time to start eating more salads and less cheese-fries...
I think.
Victor's Favorite Dinner
The beauty is in the simplicity - meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and peas.
Today was a fun day. I completely reformatted my computer. I use it so much that every 6-9 months it's time to start anew. And a planned reformat is always so much easier than those panicked @#$%& where everything dies and you haven't backed up in two weeks...
And I took Victor's mom's car in to have her tire checked. She thought there was a problem with it - the experts said no, it's fine. (And no one tried to sell me a tire I didn't need!)
It was also a bit chilly outside today. Turning on the oven seemed like such a good idea.
So we have a computer that's working at top speed and a simple comfort-food dinner.
Life is good.
Playing with your dinner
Mom always told us not to play with our food. Well... this is one time I didn't pay attention!
There is a great website out there that has pictures of food (from various blogs around the world) like you wouldn't believe. I stopped by today and came across a photo of a Peruvia Causa made with multilayers of multi-colored mashed potatoes. The person used food coloring to get some pretty deep purples and oranges that weren't necessarily appetizing, but the pictures were excellent and it gave me an idea for tonight. The Peruvian Causa is a cold layered potato salad. I thought the concept could be translated to a hot potato dish, so I set out to see what I could do.
I didn't want to use food colors, so I grabbed a sweet potato and a white potato. I cooked them and mashed them separately, the white with butter, garlic, and a tiny splash of cream, and the sweet with butter and a hint of brown sugar. Both got salt and pepper.
I finely shredded a carrot and a zucchini, and cooked each of them up separately in a bit of butter, dill for the carrots and a bit of garlic and basil for the zucchini..
For a mold, I used an empty chipotle pepper can with both top and bottom removed. (I saved one end to use to push the potatoes out.)
To assemble, I put in a layer of sweet potato, some shredded zucchini, then the white potato, the carrot, more zucchini, and topped it with more sweet. Placed the lid on the can and pushed while lifting the can.
I was really pleasantly surprised! They were really, really good! A bit time-consuming to make, and I dirtied lots of pots and pans, but since the chicken took so long to cook, I actually had time to clean up most of the mess before dinner!
I can see where this would make a great cold salad, because you could mold and plate in advance and they would probably stay together easier.
The chicken was cooked on the barbie with a rub of Mozambique Piri Piri spice blend and topped with a chipotle mango sauce. Sweet, spicy, and smoky. Peas on the side and dinner was served!
While we were eating, we talked about the different foods we have seen cylindrically stacked. When we were in the Cayman Islands a couple of years ago, we had a Caprese salad that was a perfectly cylindrical six layers of tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. (It was at the Ritz Carlton...) We've had desserts with mousse and cake. It's nothing exactly new, but it's been brought to the forefront and it definitely is fun.
And there really is just no end to the amount of things that can be created.
Time to play with my food!
Happy Mother's Day!
Happy Mom's Day out there to all!
We're having Victor's Mom over for Brunch in a few... Challah French Toast, bacon, fresh fruit... Simple and basic.
Breakfast is one of my favorite meals (along with lunch, dinner, and between-meal snacks). The variety of goodies is unlimited and you can mix sweet and savory on the same plate in ways you can't with other meals.
Definitely fun.
Chicken on the barbie for dinner. Maybe island-style with papaya or mango... Hmmmmm.....
Ribs on the Barbie
There's something about spicy, charred, just-greasy-enough ribs that can set my heart a'flutter. (In a good way, that is!)
I've been looking at a whole rack of ribs all week, speculating on just how to cook 'em. Actually, on the grill was an automatic - it was what to do with them before they hit the grill. I have done them in any number of ways in the past, from boiling them to baking them to putting them on the grill whole to putting them on the grill in individual ribs. There are pluses and minuses to everything.
I finally decided to make a dry rub of chipotle powder, garlic, cumin, black pepper, paprika, boonie pepper, Mexican oregano, and salt, rubbed it all in, and then put them into a hot oven for about 30 minutes.
I then sliced them into individual ribs and onto the grill they went. I started out with them all around the perimeter so they would smoke, and the last 10 minutes or so were over pretty hot coals to char. Love the char!
The end result was a spicy-smoky rib with meat that just fell off the bone. Have I mentioned how much I'm enjoying charcoal grilling?!?
We served them up with leftover potatoes from last night and some corn.
The perfect finger-food (as long as there are lots of napkins)!
And later on there's that same Dessert Dilemma as last night.
Chipotle Bacon BBQ Sauce
Have I mentioned how much I like our new grill? Well... I do.
I'm getting a whole new appreciation for outdoor cooking. While I can't be quite as spontaneous as I used to be (If I want hot dogs for lunch I have to think about it a bit earlier, for example) but, otherwise, it really is a flavor-improvement over gas. I like. A Lot.
So... tonights gastronomical delight was the bone-in strip steaks Victor pulled out of the freezer yesterday. And oh, boy, were they good. I used the Harry and David's Chipotle Bacon BBQ Sauce on them, and while it didn't add a lot of flavor, it didn't detract from the excellent flavor of the steaks, either. Kind of a win-win, actually.
Basic steamed broccoli, but the potatoes were kinda fun. I made basic mashed potatoes and then added some triple cream blue cheese to them, put 'em in a casserole with buttered garlicky panko bread crumbs on top, and then baked at 350°. Another delight to the tastebuds!
And tonight, we have a choice of desserts!
I made two small cheesecakes last night - one for Victor's mom for Mother's Day to take home with her - and one for us, since I'd rather make two than cut the recipe in half, ya know?!? And there's still a bit of the coffee brownie and there's that half-gallon (a REAL half-gallon not one of those one and a half quart things!) of Double Rainbow vanilla ice cream that could go with any of them or stand on its own...
I just love dilemnas like this.....
Frozen Solid
I called Victor at lunchtime today, and he asked me if I wanted anything taken out of the freezer for dinner. I said to take anything he liked out and I'd figure out dinner with it when I got home...
Fast-forward several hours and when I get home, I see two beautiful NY steaks on the counter. Rock solid. It seems Victor got busy with work and didn't take them out until about 5 minutes before I got home. Ooops!
Now... I'll fast-thaw just about anything in running water (even the microwave if I'm really desperate) but there was no way those steaks were going to thaw and be edible tonight. Into the 'fridge they went for tomorrow and Plan B was initiated - Chicken Something.
I quick-thawed some chicken breasts and sliced 'em fairly thin. Into a skillet with a bit of olive oil and mushrooms. When they were mostly done, I added a hefty splash of marsala, cooked it down, added a hefty splash of chicken broth, a quarter-cup of heavy cream, and maybe 2 ounces of brie. Yes, brie. It all melted in and had just the rich flavor I was looking for. I added no other spices or seasonings. I didn't even salt and pepper.
Brussels's sprouts and brown rice finished the plate.
Yum.
And those steaks are going on the grill tomorrow. I'm debating a BBQ sauce. We shall see.