Oven Fried
Tonight's dinner is brought to you by store-bought frozen mozzarella sticks. I know, I know... but sometimes you just have to give into the Dark Side.
But while the cheese may have been a store-bought, the potatoes and chicken strips were homemade. As low as they may be, I do have my standards!
The chicken started out as two boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips, marinated in a bit of buttermilk, and then dredged in a combination of bread crumbs, corn meal, garlic powder, freshly-grated parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and Hungarian paprika. The potatoes - one large russet - was cut into 8ths, rolled in olive oil, and then covered with bread crumbs, salt, pepper, garlic powder, freshly-grated pecorino romano, and Spanish paprika. Everything cooked at 425° - the potatoes about 25 minutes, the chicken about 20 minutes, and the mozzarella, about 9 minutes.
Of course we needed fabulous dipping sauces... Ketchup - organic, of course, local honey and dijon mustard, soy sauce with sambal oelek, and salsa. I actually considered a fifth sauce and then came to my senses.
It was a fun finger-food dinner and since it was just the to of us, we even got to double-dip.
And speaking of dipping... More chocolate-dipped strawberries for dessert, tonight.
It doesn't get much better.
Valentine's Day
We don't celebrate Valentine's Day. That hokey Hallmark-Florist-Candy-Industries-Holiday. We did the first few years we were together, but... heck - every day is Valentine's Day at our house. We buy flowers for no reason, buy candy, or cook a special meal just because. We're nauseating that way.
But just because we don't celebrate Valentine's Day was no reason for me to not buy Victor a dozen roses, today, as well as plan a fun dinner. Just as there was no reason for Victor to buy me a dozen roses and a big box of chocolates. For not celebrating Valentine's Day, we did pretty good.
It is typical that we both decided to ignore our non-Valentine's Day. We also have a long-standing rule about not buying single-use appliances. One year for Christmas, we both bought the other the exact same Ice Cream Maker. Obviously, rules are made to be broken, around here.
The rule that wasn't broken, though, was a fun dinner. We do have those every night.
Tonight it was pork tenderloin, fresh spinach, and roasted little potatoes.
The pork tenderloin was really good. I sliced it open, filled it with Monterey Jack and Pecorino Romano cheese, and then wrapped the entire thing in bacon. Into a 425° oven for 3o minutes.
I can actually see this one in a lot of different ways. I have a few tenderloins in the freezer, so I think I may be experimenting in the future.
In the meantime, I'm off to chocolate-dip strawberries. You know... for that holiday we don't celebrate...
Mardi Gras
About a dozen years ago, the company Victor worked for tried to get him to transfer to New Orleans. They flew us down there first class, put us up at The Fairmont (now a Waldorf Astoria,) wined and dined us, and, generally, did everything they could to convince us that Victor should take the job.
We arrived the week after Mardi Gras - just in time for St Joseph's Day. It seems that they do the parade-and-bead-thing down there all the time. Mardi Gras is just the one that gets all the attention.
New Orleans is a fun town - I spent a couple of weeks down there when I worked for Hyatt - but New Orleans at 25 and New Orleans at 45 are two different cities. When we looked at the neighborhoods we could afford, it was more Ninth Ward than it was Garden District. And outside of the French Quarter, I saw too many rebel flags and Ol Miss sweatshirts. This Liberal Yankee Gay Boy just wasn't going to fit in.
Victor turned down the job, but our love of Creole and Cajun food hasn't diminished. One food item I always have in the house in andouille sausage. Always. I really don't recall the first time I had it, but it has been a staple for years. Love it.
I decided we needed a bit of Jambalaya to get the Mardi Gras juices flowing...
Jambalaya at it's core is a Creole paella. Chicken, sausage, seafood, tomatoes, peppers, rice... It's a one-pot meal with a punch.
I had the ingredients in the house - chicken left from the pumpkin soup and andouille in the freezer. I was set.
Jambalaya
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- 4 stalks celery, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 oz andouille sausage, sliced
- 2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
- 4 oz langostino
- 1 can diced tomatoes with juice
- 1 cup rice
- 3 cups broth
- 1 tsp thyme
- Tabasco sauce
- Salt & pepper
Saute onion, celery, and pepper. Add garlic and saute. Add andouille and brown.
Add rice, tomatoes, broth, thyme, a few healthy shots of Tabasco, and a pinch of S&P. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and let simmer about 15 minutes.
Stir everything well, and add chicken and langostino. Cover, again, and cook another 10 to 15 minutes or until rice is cooked.
Add a few more healthy shots of Tabasco and enjoy.
It really is an easy one-dish meal that is sure to please. And I am surely pleased we did not move to New Orleans. I am relatively certain that had we been living in New Orleans when Katrina hit, we would have stayed. Even with lots of ex-in-laws and a couple of good friends we could have stayed with, I think I might have been stupid enough to think I was invincible. You would have seen us on TV at the Super Dome.
Pumpkin Pepper Soup
Time to break out the canned pumpkin. I used up all the Fairytale Pumpkin months ago but still get a hankerin' for it now and again.
Pumpkin is one of those fun foods that do anything... Pies cakes, cookies, soups, stews, breads, dinner rolls... you name it, pumpkin can do it. So tonight, I thought pumpkin should be a part of soup.
I started off with a whole chicken and cooked it off in a big pot of water and broth. It simmered away, making the house smell good, while my mind wandered about what to do when it was cooked.
I actually hadn't thought pumpkin when I started, but when I opened the cabinet, there it was. A recipe was born.
I've made a goodly amount of pumpkin soups in the past, but I flashed on my Uncle Dick's Jalapeño Pumpkin Soup because I had jalapeños in the 'fridge. Unkie Dickie was my Aunt Kathleen's husband. Born in Mazatlan of an Irish father and Mexican mother, my father called him his wetback brother-in-law. Needless to say, my father lacked a political correctness button, but it didn't stop him from loving him like a brother. Victor and I had season tickets to the Giants with them - Unkie was a rabid Giants fan and was a docent at Candlestick and Pac Bell Parks.
I didn't make his soup but I got to reminisce a bit about how much fun we used to have. I have lots of good memories.
So back to soup...
This became a throw-together soup. I just started building it and declared it finished after I had added a final can of diced green chilis.
Pumpkin Pepper Soup
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
- 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 qt chicken stock
- 1 can pumpkin
- 1 can diced tomatoes in juice
- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 cup whole grain brown rice
- 1 cup roasted corn
- 2 cups diced cooked chicken
- 1 can diced greed chilis
- salt and pepper, to taste
Saute onion, peppers, and garlic in a bit of olive oil. Add broth, pumpkin, and tomatoes, and bring to boil. Add rice and cook about 20 minutes.
Add beans, corn, chicken, and chilis, and continue cooking about 30 minutes. Check for seasoning and add S&P, as desired.
It wasn't as spicy and Uncle Dick's, but it definitely hit the spot. And it got us talking about all those baseball games we shared...
And that was a good thing...
Gung Hay Fat Choy
40 years ago, today, I was in Hong Kong for Chinese New Year. I was a 20 year old sailor living it up. And I do mean living it up...
Hong Kong was magical. It was foreign, exotic, and strangely familiar at the same time. It was Chinatown in San Francisco on an immense - and I do mean immense - scale. I had a blast.
The food, the bars, the drugs... It's kinda difficult to actually explain what it was like. The freedom to do just what I wanted to do, see what I wanted to see, experience just what I wanted to experience in Hong-Freakin-Kong! I had dress blues in gabardine hand-made for me. They were the most form-fitting clothes I have ever owned - and at 20, my 6' frame barely held 150 pounds. They were hot.
I had a solid week off and money in my pocket. Three of us got a room at The Excelsior Hotel. It was pretty grand.
It was so grand, that it had the outrageous cost of HKD 119 per night! $27.00/night US with taxes. Split between three of us was $9.00 each, per night. 40 years later, The Excelsior rate is HKD 1,680/per night. Just a tad more... It was the newest hotel in Hong Kong, with a revolving rooftop restaurant and a disco in the basement. A full-blown English Pub on one of the floors and a gourmet Chinese restaurant with views to die for. When I pulled out a cigarette in the lobby, a half-dozen people were there with butane lighters to light it for me.
We played the rich American tourists for a week, and trust me when I say we had a blast. Heading out to the Wan Chai district for all sorts of illicit things, playing tourist and riding the tram to the top of Victoria Peak, and eating the most spectacular foods in high-end restaurants and carts on the street, we immersed ourselves into the city. It was such a city of contrasts. Glorious high-rises and 2-story ramshackle buildings. And neon. OMG the neon. The bright lights were everywhere. While the daytime views were spectacular - just stunning beauty - the nightlife was something I have never experienced since. Which, in retrospect, is probably a good thing! The city came alive when the sun went down and the lights came on...
In our role as Rich American Tourists, we decided we wanted to go out to the Red China border and the hotel concierge recommenced a tour. We said, no - we wanted to out there like the locals. He was aghast, but finally relented and gave us directions.
On the train, we could only book 1st class. Although we tried to book lower, they would not allow it. We took the ferry, we caught the train, and then - literally out in the middle of nowhere in The New Territories - we caught a rickety old bus. The New Territories stretch from the end of Kowloon to the Red China border. It was mostly small villages and farmland in 1973. We were now out where no one spoke or understood a word of English.
We got off the train, walked about a half-mile, and waited for the bus.
Our directions from the concierge had our destination written in Chinese so when the bus arrived, all we had to do was show it to the driver who would understand where to drop us off.
The bus... It was the type of ancient vehicle one would expect to see out in the middle of Nowhere, China. Chickens in bamboo cages were on the roof. It was crowded but an elderly Chinese couple got up to offer us their seats. I was raised that youngsters offer their seats to their elders, so, without being able to speak the language, we politely declined.
They were crestfallen. They seriously looked stricken. It took a moment to realize that they were offering us their hospitality and the only thing they had to give us. They were losing face by us refusing their gift. So... we accepted and sat. They stood by us and beamed with delight as we sat there totally uncomfortable. Smiling and shaking their heads, bursting with pride.
We got off the bus with a lot of bowing and smiles, and wishes for prosperity. I can still see them, today. It was one of those moments one never forgets.
Magic, indeed.
So tonight I thought I should probably pay respect to those thrilling days of yesteryear with a noodle pancake. One of the easiest things to make, it is merely cooked thin Chinese noodles mixed with oil, a few vegetables, soy sauce, and rice wine, and then fried in a skillet until crispy, flipped, and fried, some more. You can make them as complex or simple as you like, make them the main course or a side-dish.
The chicken was cubed, dredged in cornstarch, fried, and then baked with broccoli. I then made a quick sauce of soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sambal oeleck, orange marmalade, garlic, and sesame oil.
The meal may not have been the most authentic or even close to anything I had in Hong Kong all those years ago, but it was enough to bring out some really grand memories.
Seafood Chowder, Italian-Style
It was supposed to get cold, we were supposed to get a bit of snow overnight... I had cod, langostino, and clam broth. I knew I was making a fish chowder, but wasn't sure if it was going to be a creamy New England-style, or a southern Italian tomato-inspired... I asked Victor what his preference was and he immediately said "tomato." A recipe was born.
As we were talking, he said that he has seen Ina make a tomato-based chowder the other day and he thought it looked really good. Her secret ingredient was adding some saffron. And there just happened to be some saffron in the cupboard.
The secret to making a soup like this is to cook everything, and then just a few minutes before serving, add the seafood. It's really easy to overcook - and really easy not to.
Seafood Chowder, Italian-Style
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup celery, chopped
- 1 pound potatoes, small-dice
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 qt clam broth
- 2 cans diced tomatoes with juice
- 1 tsp Greek oregano
- pinch saffron
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper - or to taste
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 pound firm white fish
- 6 oz langostino or other shell fish
- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
Saute onion in a bit of olive oil. When almost done, add minced garlic and cook.
Add red wine and cook until almost evaporated. Add clam broth, tomatoes in juice, celery, potatoes, and spices, and cook until potatoes are just barely done. Add seafood and cook about 10 more minutes. Stir in parsley.
Check seasonings and add more, as desired.
I made garlic bread to dunk.
It was a pretty easy under-an-hour dinner - and most of the time was letting the potatoes simmer. Active work-time was less than 15 minutes. Plus, there was plenty left over for lunch...
So... we didn't get the bit of overnight snow and we haven't gotten all the rain we were supposed to get, today. They're calling for snow tonight and into tomorrow. Nothing like up Boston-way, but the mere mention of a dusting of snow turns people around here into frazzled maniacs. Of course, when I lived in Boston back in the early '80s, it had been a city for some 350 years, yet every time it snowed, they acted like it was the first time they had ever seen it...
I wish we were getting their storm...
Stuffed Peppers
I wanted to make a huge pot of spaghetti sauce and I had a hankerin' for stuffed peppers. I decided to do both.
Spaghetti sauce may be the easiest thing in the world to make. I'm surprised at how many people never make it and at how popular jarred sauce is. I mean... the jarred sauce tastes... jarred. Yet, when you look at the shelf-upon-shelf of sauces at the grocery store, I am clearly in the minority.
Folks speak of the convenience of jarred sauce. I make big batches of sauce and freeze it in convenient containers. And I don't have to think about the sugar, sodium, dehydrated onions, and lord knows what else they have put in the stuff. I like being able to pronounce the things I eat.
For this batch of sauce, I had ground beef and Italian sausage, so I used some of each and saved a bit of each for the pepper filling.
The sauce was onions, garlic, bell pepper, mushrooms, olive oil, red wine, ground beef, Italian sausage, Greek oregano, basil, rosemary, tomato paste, ground tomatoes, tomato puree, salt, and pepper.
This was a wintertime simmer sauce. As soon as fresh tomatoes are on the vine, and fresh herbs in the garden, a sauce can be made in the time it takes to boil the pasta.
The peppers were a bit less traditional. I cooked up some whole-grain rice and then added minced onion, minced garlic, minced celery, and minced carrot, and mixed it with the beef and sausage. S&P and some Italian seasoning finished them off. I didn't use any binders, bread crumbs, egg... none of that stuff. I put a bit of sauce in the bottom of the dish and into the 350° oven they went - covered - for about 40 minutes. Off came the cover and on went some grated cheese.
Victor had leftover peppers for lunch and six containers of sauce went into the freezer.
Take that, Ragu!
It's It
A San Francisco favorite from the old Playland-at-the-Beach.
It's It is an oatmeal cookie ice cream sandwich, dipped in chocolate. Back when I was a kid, they were made and dipped right in front of ya. I don't remember how much they cost back then, but I do know that no trip to Playland was complete without one.
With the Super Bowl starting up and the Niner's going for their sixth win, I thought a bit of San Francisco was needed tonight.
They are mass-produced nowadays - someone bought the license when Playland closed - but they're just not the same as a fresh cookie, premium ice cream, and thick melted chocolate.
I may have to have a couple.
The cookies are a pretty basic oatmeal. Not a lot to them but lots of flavor!
Oatmeal Cookies
- 1 3/4 cups rolled oats
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 375°. Grease pans or line with parchment
Stir together oats, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
Beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined well. Add flour and oat mixture and beat until just combined.
Drop dough by heaping tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets and flatten mounds slightly with moistened fingers. Bake until golden, about 12 minutes total.
Place a scoop of vanilla ice cream between two cookies and carefully press together. Dip in chocolate and enjoy.
Le Creuset
I just love our Le Creuset Braiser. It is our go-to pan for so many things - from risotto to chicken and biscuits to swiss steak, baked pastas, and so much more. This particular pan is over 25 years old. It was Victor's before we merged kitchens. I got Le Creuset and Calphalon. He got a Kitchenaid. It was a good deal for both of us...
Wednesday night it was a simple chicken and biscuits. Chicken stew topped with biscuits and into the oven for 20 minutes. Pretty basic and pretty easy. The biggest thing to remember when making something topped with biscuits is to make sure the stew or whatever is really hot before putting on the biscuits and putting in the oven. If the filling is cold, the biscuits will not cook on the bottom and will be raw dough even as the top is overdone.
And last night Victor made a great baked rigatoni! Same pot, different ethnicity.
A really great meat sauce mixed with cooked rigatoni, big dollops of ricotta, grana padano, and fontina cheeses. Baked in the oven for about 30 minutes. The epitome of perfection.
Oh, yum.
These are great winter dishes - there's plenty for dinner as well as lunch the next day. It's the pan that keeps on giving.
And it really is a great pan. Food really does taste better when it comes out of a sturdy, no-nonsense pan. The le Creuset is great - it's the perfect stove or oven-to-table pan. And while it wasn't cheap, it's already 25 years old with more than 25 more years of life. We will never have to get another.
Not bad, at all...