Burgers on the Barbie

6-30-burger-2

Those peppers from yesterday?!?  Boy, did they ever make a great burger!  As did a bit of the strawberry BBQ sauce, cheese, bacon, tomato, red onion, catsup, mayo, and mustard.

I mixed a bit of the BBQ sauce in with the meat before forming the patties for a bit of added flavor.   Not a lot - just enough to add that extra flavor.  I normally add just a bit of S&P to the meat - nothing else.  This was a good call.

The burgers were huge, of course.  Impossible to properly eat.  They made a huge mess and required lots and lots of napkins.

6-30-burger-1

Dessert is definitely going to wait awhile, tonight.....


Chicken Salad Salad

6-29-grill

Tonight's dinner started with my weekly trek to Gentile's this morning.  Sunshine, blue skies, minimal traffic... It was the perfect drive down.  I had the wiondows open, the radio blaring.  What's that expression... "Dance like no one is looking"?  Well... that was me singing in the car.  It was rather fun.  Wendy Wadsworth and I belting out "I'm Guilty" and me, Dolly Parton and Vince Gill doing a great rendition of "I Will Always Love You".  (Eat your heart out, Whitney!)  Who knew 8 miles could be so much fun?!?

My timing was perfect, too!  The store wasn't crowded and I had time to actually browse around a bit.  The very first thing I saw was my oblong watermelon - with seeds!  I'm psyched!  I have to figure out how to carve it into a Hawai'ian outrigger or something for Saturday!  I picked up a lot of fruit that should be perfect on Saturday to chop and fill it up.

One thing I picked up for today was a bunch of long hot peppers for Victor to fry.  I like having them in the 'fridge to add to things.  And these guys have been pretty hot.

Victor said he would actually grill them this time around, so I got the fire going and cooked off a couple of chicken breasts for salads.  Victor was still working, so i charred them nicely, placed 'em in a bag to sweat, and then peeled and seeded them.  They smelled fantastic and tasted fantastic. At that point, all I really wanted was a chicken sandwich with peppers, but I also wanted a salad.  The salad won - but with a twist.

I made a quick chicken salad with the cubed grilled chicken, a couple of the peppers, diced, a tablespoon of mayonnaise, juice of a lime, salt and pepper.  Tart, creamy, spicy.  Perfect.

I also had an avocado that needed eating tonight.  It was r-i-p-e.  It was actually a little too ripe to just slice into the salad, and as I stood at the island, I saw those deep red, vine-ripened tomatoes and thought "Stuffed Tomatoes"!  I made a quick guacamole with the avocado and a couple of tablespoons of picante sauce, hollowed out the tomatoes and filled.

Foe the dressing, I added 2 tbsp of mayonnaise to the bowl I had made the guacamole in (there was a tiny-tad left in there), juice of a lime, a tablespoon of picante sauce, and a bit of S&P.  Instant Mexican Thousand Island!

Diced green onions, grapes, and apricots finished the plate.

6-29-chicken-salad

And tonight's dessert will be ice cream.


Salmon and Mango

6-27-salmon

I can tell it's time to go shopping - the plates are getting a bit disjointed.  But that's okay - everything tasted pretty good!

Tonight was salmon on the barbie.  Marinated with a bit of garlic and soy sauce, grilled to perfection over hot coals, and served atop a mango and sambal oelek coulis.  Grilled lemons and limes topped the salmon, while grill-basket potatoes and frozen corn rounded out the plate.

Tomorrow is going to be a bit of a busy shopping day...  I need to head down to Gentile's for lots of produce - plus a nice long shopping list for Victor's mom - and then trek out to Wegman's for all of our July 4th party needs.  Plus we're going to have house guests, so we need 10 times more stuff in the house than we normally have. (I'm neurotic, remember?!?)  Busy shopping day, indeed.

We're going for a modified Hawai'ian theme for the party.  That means we can have pork tenderloins with pineapple and still have hot dogs and potato salad.

We make the rules!

Time to start creating menus and writing out shopping lists.....


Strawberry Pineapple Pork Tenderloin

6-27-pork-1

After grilling all day long, I thought I would come home and - grill.  What can I say?  I'm a glutton for punishment.

Actually, it's pretty much the easiest way to get dinner on the table - and the least amount of mess. (Not that I clean, mind you, but I do like to think of others from time to time...)

Pork tenderloin grilled with strawberry bbq sauce sitting atop grilled pineapple - straight from the Dole can - and a drizzle of more bbq sauce on top.  Yes, I could have bought a fresh pineapple - and it really would have been excellent - but I bought 5 cans of pineapple on sale a while back and do need to use them up.  It sorta defeats the purpose of getting a  deal on something if ya don't use it, right?!?

The rice was cooked in the pineapple juice from the can, a bit of water, and a pinch each of allspice and ginger, salt and pepper.  I toyed with the idea of adding some coconut, and then changed my mind. - I thought it might end up being too dessert-like.  And green beans fresh from the freezer because my fresh produce is dwindling.  I have to go shopping Monday.

It was a 20 minute meal that took forever because the charcoal chimney just wasn't cooperating today.  It took three attempts to finally get it going. Oh well...  I still like it better than the gas grill.

And...  we have slices of Leslie's wedding cake for dessert, tonight.

Life is good.


Friday Fish

6-26-cod

As a kid growing up in the '50s and '60s, fish on Friday was an automatic.  But...  since my mom wasn't really crazy about most fish - and she did the cooking - our Friday Fish was usually relegated to her iceberg lettuce tuna salad in the summer, or tuna casserole in the winter.  Fish sticks never entered our home.

I've always liked fish, but, not having had it regularly as a kid, I just don't think about it that much as a dinner item.  And if I do, it's usually a nice, classic recipe such as a Sole Meuniére - sole dredged in flour and fried in half a pound of butter.  Or a nice, meaty fish steak with a Beurre Blanc - more heavy cream and butter.

Adding a few hundred grams of saturated fat to a product that is supposed to be lean and reasonably healthy is pretty much defeating the purpose of eating it in the first place.  Of course, I have never been accused of being logical or rational, either.

I've made a few strides in trying to lighten the classic French-style cooking I learned so many years ago...  I make lots of salsas and other sweet/savory combinations and make broth sauces and gravies where I once would have made a bordelaise.   But my first instinct is always to go with a classic.  And did you know that a hollandaise sauce can go on just about anything?!?  It's frightening.

So...  the challenge is always how to get the flavor and texture I want without resorting to "lite" versions of what was once real food.  (I do have my standards - low as they may be!)

I have to say that I hit a homer with this one, tonight!  It had all the necessary ingredients:  quick and easy to do, tons of flavor, and reasonably healthy, to boot!

Morue Sur un Croûton

  • 2 tomatoes, diced
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
  • 5 anchovy fillets, minced
  • 2 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 cod fillets
  • olive oil
  • 2 thick slices good bread
  • a dozen or so fresh basil leaves
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 475°F.

Mix first 4 ingredients and set aside.

Place fish on baking sheet. Brush both sides with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until just done, about 6-7 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a splash of olive oil in a skillet. Add tomato mixture. Cook until tomatoes soften and sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.  Season with S&P to taste.

Lightly toast bread. Place on plate and top with tomato sauce, basil leaves, fish, and then a final spoon of sauce.  A bit of fresh basil on top, and dinner is served!

I did some mixed squash on the side - olive oil, garlic, and oregano.

This was so easy to do and got rave reviews from Victor.

And there's still angel food cake with fresh strawberries for dessert.


Strawberry BBQ Sauce

6-25-strawberry

I knew at 7:30 this morning I was making a Strawberry BBQ Sauce tonight.  What I didn't know was how I was going to make it.

I was looking at 2 full pallets of absolutely beautiful strawberries... "The possibilities are endless",  thought I...  I must have had a dozen or more ideas going through my head simultaneously - such is the curse of a cook.  Of course, half the fun of being surrounded by food all day long is figuring out fun things to do with it, and being presented with "an ingredient" really is fun.

The barbecue sauce came together really easily, and was perfect atop grilled pork chops.

Strawberry BBQ Sauce

  • 1 pound strawberries, hulled and roughly sliced
  • 1 small bell pepper, diced
  • 1 8oz can tomato sauce
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup lingonberry vinegar
  • 2 tbsp molasses
  • 1 tsp liquid smoke
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • salt and pepper

Add strawberries and bell pepper to saucepan and cook until strawberries release theiur juices and peppers soften.

Add  brown sugar and then lingonberry vinegar.  Add tomato sauce and remaining ingredients.

Bring to boil and then simmer.

Blend everything with an immersion blender until smooth.

Continue simmering until thickened.

I used the smooth sauce to grill the chops, and then added some sliced strawberries to about a half-cup of the sauce to serve over the chops after they were cooked.

And a whole fanned strawberry on top because, well...  it's all about the picture, right?!?

And the cooking continues...  We're having a Salad Throwdown at work tomorrow, so I decided a Whole Wheat Salad was in order.

Whole Wheat Salad

  • 1 pound whole wheat grains
  • 1/2 yellow squash, diced
  • 1 small zucchini, diced
  • 2 large radishes, diced
  • 6 green onions, diced
  • 1/2 small bell pepper, diced
  • 8oz dried mixed berries, plumped with sour apple schnapps
  • 1/4 cup lingonberry vinegar
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup chopped assorted fresh herbs
  • salt and pepper

Cook wheat in salted water about 45 minutes, or until chewy-tender.  Drain and cool.

Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Serve cold or at room temperature.

And right now, there's an angel food cake in the over awating more strawberries and some whipped cream.

Angel Food Cake

  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup sifted cake flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups egg whites (about 11 large)
  • 2 teaspoons warm water
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Sift 1/2 cup sugar, flour and salt into medium bowl.  Beat egg whites in large bowl until foamy. Add 2 teaspoons warm water and cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1 cup sugar and vanilla and beat until stiff but not dry. Sift sugar-flour mixture over whites 1/4 cup at a time and gently fold in.

Place batter in an ungreased 12-cup angel food cake pan with removable bottom (do not use nonstick pan).

Bake until cake is light golden, top springs back when touched lightly and cake begins to pull away from sides of pan, about 45 minutes.

Remove cake from oven. Turn cake pan upside down; place center tube of pan over a funnel and cool completely.

I think I'm going to split the cake into three layers and add a bit of whipped cream and a lot of strawberries...

We shall see.....

6-24-angel-food-cake

I split individual slices...  I also made strawberry whipped cream. It was yum.


Fresh Fruit Salsa

6-24-chicken

I am lovin' the produce market, right now!  All my favorite fruits are arriving - fresh and ripe!  Peaches and plums have been really good, thus far, although a decent apricot still alludes me.  Don't know what happened to the apricots, but they have been disappointing me for years, now.  Oh well...

Tonight I made an Asian-inspired salsa (Asian, because I used sambal oelek instead of jalapeños to spice it up) and grilled a plantain that had been sitting around for a while.  I probably could have left the plantain for a few more days - it was a bit starchier than I would have preferred, but a bit of honey and allspice helped cure that.

The salsa went atop a chicken breast I had marinated in Moore's Teriyaki Marinade and then grilled.  Rice on the side and dinner was served.

Fresh Fruit Salsa

  • 3 cups diced fruit (I used 3 peaches and 2 plums)
  • 1 cup diced onion
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1 tsp sambal oelec (or diced hot peppers of your choice)
  • pinch of salt

Mix and enjoy.

Amounts are approximate.  You can make salsa with one peach if you like - just adjust the other ingredients to your liking.

And ANY ripe fruit will work.  Use your imagination and have fun with it!


More Clean-Out and Repurposing

6-23-sloppy-joe

Tonight's dinner is brought to you courtesy of last night's taco filling and the night before's macaroni and cheese.  I made too much meat filling (what a shock!) and had more cheese sauce than I needed for the mac and cheese (another "you've got to be kidding!" moment).

It made for a delectable Sloppy Joe with Cheese Fries!

It was an 18 minute dinner - the length of time needed to cook the fries.  They went into the oven, I sauteed a bit of red onion (also left over from last night) and a green pepper (just something that needed using up) in a drizzle of olive oil.  When it was pretty well cooked, I added the taco filling and a can of tomato sauce.  Made it hot.  It didn't need any other spices or seasonings.  And I finished off an open bag of fries and used a couple more frozen buns.  I'm beginning to see into the freezer!!!

Fries came out of the oven and they were topped with cheese sauce and some green onions.

I was actually a little bit bummed.  I was talking at work with one of my coworkers and he mentioned cheese fries with bacon and green onions - which is how the cheese fries came about in the first place.

I forgot to cook the bacon!

Oh well...

On a fun note, I just received a big box from Oriental Trading Company.  For those who don't know OTC, they are the king of the tacky, cheap, plastic, made-in-China party favors, and such.  I love the place.

We're hosting a neighbor July 4th party and decided to do a Hawai'ian Theme.  I bought hibiscus everything, plastic sippy cups with lids and straws for the little kids, pink flamingo  tooth picks, a whole gross of little drink umbrellas, silk flower picks... dinner plates, dessert plates...  Tacky as tacky can be.

6-23-party

It should be fun!


Multi-Meat Tacos and Canned Salad

6-22-taco-1

The cabinet and freezer clean-out continues.

I tend to buy whole beef or pork loins, whole chickens, etc.  I have a couple of knives and know how to cut steaks or chops, quarter a chicken - whatever.  I portion-and-vacuum-pack everything with my food saver, and into the freezer, it goes.  I sometimes end up with a single thin chop, an end to a beef tenderloin, the odd piece of chicken here and there.  Things that on their own aren't much use.  Victor always throws them into his sauce when he makes it, but I can buy more than he can cook!  I get tired of moving them around the freezer.  At some point, they all have to get used.

Tonight was that night.

I made beef, pork, and chicken tacos.

I took the reasonably-thawed meat and put it into a pot with half a bottle of Mojo Marinade (a real citrusy Cuban marinade) and a can of chipotle sauce.  Covered it and let it simmer for several hours.  I drained it, shredded it with two forks, and then put it into a dry skillet.  IAs it was heating, I added a can of chipotle sauce and it was ready.

Served it with fried corn tortillas for me and soft flour tortillas for Victor, along with guacamole, sour cream shredded iceberg lettuce, diced tomato, green onions, and shredded cheddar cheese.

And canned salad... I just made this one up to clear out some of the cabinets, as well...

Canned Salad

  • 1 can black beans, drained
  • 1 can white beans, drained
  • 1 can corn, drained
  • 1 can diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1 small jar pimentos, drained
  • 2 stalks celery, diced
  • 1/2 small red onion, diced
  • 3 green onions, sliced
  • 1 tsp Happy Hal's Jalapeno Relish
  • 4 radishes, diced
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/4 cup malt vinegar
  • 1/2 cup chopped parsley
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
  • salt and pepper, to taste.

Mix, chill, and eat!

It's really colorful and really went well with dinner, tonight.

And, in keeping with my clean-out mode, tomorrow night's dinner is going to be sloppy joe's made with tonight's leftover meat.

Eating weird and loving it!


Tonight's Dinner and Last Night's Dessert

6.21-macaroni-and-chese-2

I've been working at cleaning out the fridge and the freezer.  Tonight was all about finishing off those pieces of cheese collecting in the cheese bin and the hunk of ham in the freezer from Easter.  There was going to be a cheese sauce, definitely, but there was too much for rarebit, so mac and cheese, it was!

My mother made the best macaroni and cheese.  We never-ever had the boxed stuff growing up, and to this day I can honestly say I have never purchased one.  Mac and cheese is just too easy to make! I make it like mom did - a medium white sauce with whatever-cheese is in the house, a shot of tabasco and worcestershire sauce, ham if it isn't Friday... and elbow macaroni.  Buttered crumbs on top.  350° for about 30 minutes.  Comfort-food simplicity.

It was everything I knew it would be - and more.  I was bad and even went back for seconds.

I did save juuuuuust enough room for dessert, though!

Victor made this last night from his apple cake recipe.

6.21-cake-1

Victor's Banana  Cake

  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup oil
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 4 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 2 large bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 350°.  Mash bananas.  Add 4 tsp sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon and stir together.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and set aside.

Beat together eggs, milk, bananas & vanilla.  Add oil, mix in flour mixture.

Pour into a well-greased tube pan.  Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top.

Bake at 350° for 1 1/2 hours or until cake tests done.

Cool before slicing.

6.21-cake-2

It's really good!


Canard avec l'orange et la sauce à chipotle

6-19-duck

Yep.  You read that right - Duck with an Orange and Chipotle Sauce.  Can we say WOW boys and girls?!?

I've had a duck breast in the freezer for a while, and it just seemed time to use it.  At lunch today, I went to the Epicurious site and this recipe jumped out at me.  It was totally no-brainer easy, and REALLY had a great flavor!

I used an 18 ounce moulard breast and followed the cooking time fairly closely.  The sauce just rocked!  I strained it about half-way though and then cooked it down to about a half-cup.  Hot, sweet, and smoky.

Broiled Duck Breasts with Orange Chipotle Sauce

Gourmet | October 2005

Adapted from Mark Miller's Indian Market Cookbook

Duck breast is a sadly underrated meat. Served rare to medium-rare and sliced on the diagonal, it has the mineral tang of beef. This southwestern version, with its slightly spicy sauce, elicits every ounce of flavor from the bird. And it's so easy!
Yield: Makes 6 servings
Active Time: 25 min
Total Time: 1 hr
ingredients
For sauce
2 1/2 cups fresh orange juice
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons maple syrup (preferably dark amber or Grade B)
1 tablespoon finely chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo
1 (3- to 4-inch) cinnamon stick
2 whole cloves
1 teaspoon salt

For duck
3 (1-lb) boneless Muscovy duck breasts with skin or 6 (7- to 8-oz) Long Island (also called Pekin) duck breast halves with skin
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Special equipment: an instant-read thermometer
preparation
Make sauce:

Boil all sauce ingredients in a 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, skimming foam occasionally, until syrupy and reduced to about 1 cup, 30 to 40 minutes. Let stand while duck broils.

Prepare duck:

Remove rack of a broiler pan, then add 1 cup water to broiler pan and replace rack. Preheat broiler with pan 5 to 6 inches from heat.

Pat duck breasts dry and score skin at 1-inch intervals with a sharp knife (do not cut into meat), then sprinkle all over with salt and pepper. Broil duck breasts, skin sides down, 4 minutes for Long Island duck or 8 minutes for Muscovy, then turn over and broil until thermometer inserted horizontally into center of a breast registers 130°F (see cooks' note, below), 8 to 10 minutes more for medium-rare. Transfer to a cutting board and let stand 5 minutes. Add any juices accumulated on cutting board to sauce and simmer until slightly thickened, 1 to 2 minutes.

Holding a sharp knife at a 45-degree angle, cut each duck breast into thin slices and serve with sauce.

The sauce is a real keeper.  I can see lots of variations and uses with this!

I made my own Rice-A-Roni with angel hair pasta, rice, garlic, broth...  And the zucchini was sliced with this wavy-knife-thing that lives buried in the back corner of the utensil drawer... (It was easier to dig it out than break out the mandoline for one zucchini...) and sauteed with a bit of butter, salt and pepper.

And there's more of that mixed fruit crisp for dessert tonight!


Chicken, Mushrooms, Wild Rice, and Another Great Dessert

6-18-chicken-1

Under those saucy mushrooms is a panko-breaded chicken breast stuffed with ham and asiago cheese.

The sauce is champagne and mixed mushrooms, broccolini, and a brown and wild rice pilaf.  Just your typical Thursday night supper.

Actually, I was having Cordon Bleu Cravings earlier today, and, knowing that I had chicken breasts at home, picking up the ham and cheese was a snap - and there's enough left over for Victor to make a couple of sandwiches for lunch.  Plan ahead. That's me.

The chicken was pretty basic.  I pounded the breasts thin, topped with the ham and the cheese, folded everything up (a couple of strategically-placed toothpicks helped, immensely) and then did a flour-egg-breadcrumb dip.  Into a 350° oven for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, I diced a green onion and into a pot t went with a splash of olive oil.  Then a couple of handfuls of assorted mushrooms (chantrelles, oyster, crimini, whatever...) and a clove of garlic, chopped.  When they were looking cooked, I added a 187ml bottle of champagne (a bit more than 6 ounces) from my vast collection of 187ml bottles of champagne.  (I buy several at Cost Plus every time we fly home.  They're great for cooking!)

I cooked it down by half and then added a cup of chicken broth, and reduced that, as well.  I thickened it with a tad of cornstarch.

The Pilaf was a half-cup of wild rice, a half-cup of brown rice, a green onion, diced, and sauteed in a pat of butter, and 2 cups of chicken broth.  Cooked for 45 minutes.  Also simple.

And then we had dessert...

6-18-cobbler-1

A really tasty Mixed Fruit Crisp.

I mixed one bosc pear, 4 nectarines, and 6 plums with a half-cup of flour, a quarter-cup sugar, and 2 tbsp melted butter.  Into the dish it went.  It was then topped with a cup of oatmeal, 1/2 cup of flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup crushed graham crackers, 2 handfuls of walnuts, and 3 tbsp melted butter.  Mixed everything together, sprinkled it on top and put it into a 400° oven for 30 minutes (I was in a hurry).

Really good, ripe, juicy fresh fruit doesn't need a lot of spices, sugar, or much of anything else.  This was simplicity - and really, really good.  Maybe even too good for a scoop of vanilla ice cream - and I'd put a scoop of ice cream on almost anything!