A Simple Steak

Sometimes ya just want a steak.  That was tonight.  Thick, juicy, really, really rare... A Steak.

And that's what we had.  A Steak.  And Corn.  And Oven-Roasted Potatoes.

I almost did onions, then I almost did mushrooms, and then I took the easy way out and made a simple gorgonzola butter. (Gorgonzola and butter.  Really easy!)

It really was the perfect meal.

(And since the weather is supposed to turn chilly tomorrow, I think I have the perfect idea for those onions and mushrooms!)

by Tim Dineen

Mildly Moroccan

Buying groceries is a committment.  I think I've noted before that we don't have buyers remorse in our house.  If we buy it, we use it.  As you have all seen over the years, it can lead to some interesting meals at times.

When I picked up that basket of fresh figs last week, I really didn't have any plans - they just looked good and the price was right.

So... half a basket went to the onions and figs with the pork tenderloin the other night, but that other half of the basket has been sitting in the 'fridge mocking me.

Until today.

I had chicken breasts and started thinking about chicken and figs.  And then I thought Morocco.  Cinnamon, corriander, cumin... That spicy, sweet flavor combination.  A concept was forming...

I had a recipe for a grilled Moroccan chicken that I've made before, but there's no sauce - and I really wanted a figgy sauce - that was pretty much the whole idea tonight - use the figs.

I decided to combine a couple of recipes - and cultures while I was at it!

Grilled Moroccan Chicken

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp coriander
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix everything together. Pour into ziplock bag, add chicken, and marinate 4 to 6 hours.

Grill chicken until just cooked through.

Enjoy!

Really easy and really flavorful.  But I still needed a fig sauce.  I found a basic Moroccan chicken with prunes that I new I could convert... I pretty much took the recipe apart and made it a stand-alone sauce with lots more vegetables.

After tasting it cooking I decided it needed some heat, so I added some Ethiopian Berbere.  (Okay, all you food purists out there, quit howling.  I'm in suburban Pennsylvania, not Casablanca.  I didn't have any harissa in the house.)  The flavors worked.

Fig Sauce

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 2 celery stalks, sliced
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp berbere (harissa, if you have it - or cayenne, as desired)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup pitted prune
• 1 cup sliced figs
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp honey

Cook onion, celery, carrots, and garlic in 2 tbsp oil.  Add flour and spices and mix well.  Add broth and mix well.  Add prunes and figs, lemon juice and honey.

Bring to a boil and cook until nicely thickened.

I had a bit of mahogany rice left from last night, so I added just a bit of white to stretch it out.

I plated the rice, added the chicken, and topped it all with the sauce.

A dish worthy of Rick's Café Américain!

by Tim Dineen

(Relatively) Painless Weight Loss

8 weeks ago I got on the scale and "240" stared back at me.  20 pounds higher than my all-time high - and 45 pounds higher than before I quit smoking.

This morning, that same scale read "218.4".  Twenty-two pounds (I'm rounding down!) in 8 weeks.  2.75 pounds a week.  And we're obviously eating well!  Victor is down 13 pounds but started at a better place than I did.  He doesn't have to lose as much.  The bum.

Breaking that 220 line is a big psychological boon for me.  It's just the incentive I need to keep going. I'm psyched!

It means I will continue to eat breakfast before leaving for work (and I am so not in the mood to eat at 6am) because at 7am at work, there are cookies and other dangerous things aplenty.  It's no problem refusing them when I eat breakfast.  Will-power likes a full tummy!  There were so many days where I could pack away a thousand calories before having my second cup of coffee.  Now, I merely tap into my infamous stubborn streak.

So speaking of full tummy, we did a good one, tonight.  A bit of those caramelized onions from last night became the inspiration for tonight's meal - Pork Tenderloin with Figs and Caramelized Onions, Gorgonzola Polenta, and Zucchini with Sundried Tomatoes and Locatelli.

I sprinkled salt, pepper, and garlic powder on the pork and then pan-seared it and placed it in a 425° oven for 25 minutes.

Figs and Caramelized Onions

• 10 fresh figs, halved
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1/2 cup Caramelized onions with fig sauce (from yesterdays dinner)
• 2 tbsp Stonewall Kitchen Vidalia Onion Fig Sauce

Place figs, broth, and wine in small skillet or pot.  Bring to boil and reduce down a bit until syrupy.  Add onions and Stonewall Kitchen sauce and heat through.

Serve over absolutely anything. (Or just stand by the stove and eat right from the pot.)

It really is that good!

Gorgonzola Polenta

Make polenta according to package instructions, using half non-fat milk and half broth.  Just before serving, crumble in gorgonzola cheese.  Mix well and enjoy!

And then tonight's vegetable.  This came about because I was thinking of making zucchini fritters but didn't want to buy a pound of ricotta cheese for just 2 tablespoons.  I'd feel compelled to use the other 30 tablespoons for something silly - like cannolis or something.  This was much wiser.

Zucchini with Sundried Tomatoes and Locatelli

• 1 zucchini, cut into matchsticks. (I used my mandoline)
• 4 sundried tomato halves in oil
• balsamic vinegar
• Locatelli cheese (or pecorino romano cheese of your choice)

Place zucchini in individual oven-proof dishes.  Top with minced tomatoes.  Drizzle a bit of reserved oil from tomatoes and a bit of balsamic vinegar over all.  Salt and pepper, to taste.  Place into hot oven for about 30 minutes.  Add slivers of Locatelli about 10 minutes before pulling out of oven.

So... 28 pounds to go.  Oh - and the added bonus, today...  I squeezed my 218.4-pound butt into a pair of jeans I haven't worn in a year and a half.

28 and counting!

by Tim Dineen

Onions

We baked cookies for a neighbor's BBQ last Sunday.  LOTS of cookies.  Way too many cookies.  About 14 dozen.  It's what we do.  Feed the world.

Knowing just how many cookies we had baked - and knowing that we were NOT bringing cookies home with us (we had bags in the freezer, also) - we brought over baggies for folks to bring some home with them.  As we were lamenting our over-baking, another neighbor mentioned that they had a son in Iraq, and if we found ourselves with too many cookies in the future, they would be more than happy to take them off our hands and ship them off.  The next morning Victor showed up at their doorstep with a whole bunch of cookies.

I've officially lost 19 pounds.  I do not want and/or need cookies in the house right now.

Besides... I was a baker on an aircraft carrier in the middle of the Gulf of Tonkin during the Viet Nam War.  I know first hand that a stale cookie from home is infinitely better than the freshest-baked military-issue cookie.  It's just the way it is.  Our neighbors did us a favor taking them.   It was great getting them out of the house in such a good way.

So yesterday in our mailbox, we find a lovely package and a really sweet thank you note.  In the package was a bottle of Stonewall Kitchen Vidalia Onion Fig Sauce!  Oh Boy!  I just love new sauces and condiments and stuff!  And they included a recipe for:

Caramelized Onions with Stonewall Kitchen Vidalia Onion Fig Sauce

Chef Carol Austin

Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons butter
* 2 large Vidalia onions,(or other sweet onions) thinly sliced
* 2 tablespoons Stonewall Kitchen Vidalia Onion Fig Sauce

Directions

1. Melt butter in a large skillet.
2. Add onions and cook covered until the onions have softened.
3. Mix in the Stonewall Kitchen Vidalia Onion Fig Sauce.
4. Cook with cover off until the onions are dark brown.

Recipe Tips
A great side dish or as a sauce for hamburgers or a steak!

Naturally, I had to try it right away - as in tonight!

I had 1 large sweet onion and 2 large red onions, so that's what I used.  It came out excellent!  It made a lot (thankfully!) and a good-sized container went into the 'fridge.  While I'm sure we'll eat it up fairly quickly, I'm also sure it's going to have a pretty good shelf-life.

The onions went on top of a perfectly cooked and perfectly tender filet which sat atop mashed potatoes.  Peas were cooked with garlic and fresh tarragon.

I have a container of fresh figs in the 'fridge and seriously thought about adding some to the onions, but I hadn't really tasted the sauce enough to know how well they would work.  I think tomorrow may be chicken breasts with figs - and more of the onions!

I just love new foods!

by Tim Dineen

Mahi Mahi and Pineapple

The only thing I knew for certain this morning when I took the mahi mahi out of the freezer was that dinner was going to include pineapple.

Mahi mahi and pineapple are a natural combination.  I've had it served a score of different ways in my travels to Hawai'i - from macadamia and/or coconut encrusted to slathered in citrus or bananas.  My favorite is always a sweet and spicy pineapple.  Tonight's dinner was sweet and spicy!

Spicy Pineapple Mahi Mahi

• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 shallots, minced
• 1/2 tsp sambal oeleck
• 1 can pineapple chunks
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• mahi mahi fillets

Saute garlic and shallots until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add pineapple and continue to sauté until pineapple is softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add fish sauce, sugar, and sambal oeleck. Stir in cilantro.

Place fish in broiler-proof pan.  Drizzle with soy sauce and sprinkle with garlic, salt, and pepper.  Broil about 5 minutes or until cooked.

Top with pineapple.

The rice was fun...

I added pineapple juice and a bit of soy sauce to the water when cooking it and put it on the stove for its 45 minutes.  40 minutes into the cooking, I was getting ready to put the fish in the oven and noticed that the %$#@& burner had gone out and the rice was sitting on the stove in lukewarm water!  Grrrrrrr.

So...  I turned off the broiler, turned the heat on under the rice, RE-set the timer, and stomped out of the kitchen.  30 minutes later, I took up where I had left off...

The broccoli (which ended up being a bit overcooked - oh well) was steamed in water, soy sauce, and sprinkled with sesame seeds.  I figured I'd just keep with the theme.

So it was a little late, but all-in-all was really good.

I highly recommend the pineapple on anything!

by Tim Dineen

Soup Weather

I've been looking at this recipe since the October issue of La Cucina Italiana magazine arrived...

I loved everything about it - except for the fact that Victor really dislikes cabbage in virtually all of its various incarnations.  No Corned Beef and Cabbage on St Paddy's Day, no Stuffed Cabbage Rolls... No cabbage chopped up and added to vegetable soup.

Fortunately, he has a bazillion and one other redeeming qualities, so I can forgive him this one little gastronomic idiosyncrasy...

But as I was looking at the picture and the recipe, I was thinking that something else could be used in place of the cabbage - in fact, just about anything!  A concept was forming.

Here's the magazine recipe:

crema di ceci con pollo e cavolo rosso

Ingredients

• 1 1/2  cups dried chickpeas
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4  pound skinless boneless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• Coarse sea salt
• 3/4 pound red cabbage, cored and thinly sliced (4 1 /2 cups)
• 3/4 cup dry red wine
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• Fresh thyme leaves

Instructions

Soak chickpeas in water to cover by 2 inches overnight (8 hours), then drain.
Simmer chickpeas in water to cover by 2 inches in a large pot, partially covered with lid, adding more water if necessary, until tender, 1 to 1 1/4  hours.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, season lightly with salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden and cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes; transfer to a plate.

Return pan to heat. Add remaining 2 teaspoons oil, cabbage and pinch salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is wilted, about 5 minutes. Add wine and 2 tablespoons water; cook for 1 minute more. Reduce heat to low and cook, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until wine has evaporated and cabbage is tender, about 35 minutes. Season with salt to taste.

Drain chickpeas. Set aside 1/2 cup chickpeas. In a blender, purée remaining chickpeas with 1 3⁄4 cups vegetable broth until smooth. Transfer to a saucepan. Bring chickpea purée just to a low boil, stirring occasionally; thin with some of the remaining broth, if desired. Remove purée from heat and season with salt to taste.

Divide purée among 4 bowls. Top with cabbage, chicken and reserved chickpeas. Garnish with thyme leaves. Serve warm.

What a great picture.  What a great idea.  Of course, I had to change everything!

The first change was going from a chick pea soup to a sweet potato and bean soup.  I had two small sweet potatoes that needed cooking - one yellow and one deep orange.  They would forn the base of the soup along with a can of great northern white beans.

The chicken became beef from those lovely tenderloins this morning.  The cabbage became spinach and the garnish was some of the oven-dried tomatoes we made a few days back.

Isn't it good to have a recipe to follow?!?

Actually, more than anything, this shows the fun you can have in the kitchen.  Recipes are concepts that can give one a starting point.  They're ideas - not absolutes.

So... here's my idea...

Sweet Potato Soup with Beef and Spinach

• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 qt broth (I used chicken because that's what I had in the house.)
• 1/2 cup marsala
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Cook onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil until wilted.  Add marsala and cook a few minutes more.

Add broth, potatoes, carrots, and seasonings and cook until potatoes and carrots are mushy.

Using an immersion blender, puree soup until smooth.  Thin with more broth, if necessary, to reach desired consistency.

Check for seasonings and add more S&P, if desired.

Meanwhile... cook beef.

• 1/2 pound  good-quality beef, cut into small cubes
• 1/4 cup marsala
• 1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/4 tsp red chile flakes
• S&P, to taste

In a small skillet, brown beef in a drizzle of olive oil. Add marsala and spices.  Continue cooking until wine has evaporated.

Steam Spinach

Place several handfuls of damp spinach in a dry skillet.  Add a squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper, and cook until completely wilted.

To Serve:

Ladle soup into bowl.  Float spinach atop soup and then carefully add beef cubes, keeping them from sinking into the soup.

Top with julienned tomatoes.

The soup probably took an hour to make, start-to-finish.  I was probably in the kitchen for about 30 minutes.  It's just three simple things stacked upon one another.

Provided the base soup is something thick, the possibilities with this are pretty endless!

And we just happen to be entering into Soup Season!

by Tim Dineen

I Am SO Spoiled...

Victor cooked dinner again, tonight!   He and his mom stopped by to visit me whilst I was grilling all those steaks today and we briefly talked about dinner tonight.  I said I thought I'd do a pasta dish with some of the veggies in the 'fridge.  We left it at that.

Fast-forward a few hours and we're both home and Victor says he'll cook dinner!    I'm psyched. He really is a good cook and I just love the things he puts together from whatever is in the house. Tonight is a perfect case in point.

I had oven-dried a few dozen plum tomatoes from the garden and they're in the 'fridge in olive oil.  He took a few of those, half a zucchini, some mushrooms, peas, pancetta, garlic, cheese ravioli, and locatelli and made a fantabulous pasta dish.

Excellent, indeed!

Calorie-wise, it wasn't "lite" by any stretch of the imagination - the ravioli were a good 400 calories and the pancetta alone was 300 - but we 1) didn't clean our plates (as much as both of us could have!!!) and 2) we didn't have a loaf of garlic bread along with it!  Our plan is eating sensibly - but not being fanatics, either.  A bit of balance.

So... my tummy is smiling and I am smiling.

Have I ever mentioned how spoiled I am?

I love it!

by Tim Dineen

Simply Salmon

Another glorious day with Victor in the kitchen!

Whilst I was at work suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Victor was enjoying day one of a four-day weekend.  He bought a new fish tank for his fish, Sushi, did a bit of laundry... and bought some salmon.  I'm okay with reaping benefits!

The fish was simply broiled for just a few minutes and then topped with an excellent sauce of yellow bell pepper, lemon, capers, and a pat of butter.

Totally simple and totally delicious!

Finished with rice and broccoli.

Yum.

by Tim Dineen

REAL Hatch Chiles - From Hatch, New Mexico

OMG!

Yesterday at work I was speaking with one of my more favorite co-workers about chiles.  She had lived in New Mexico - I had eaten chiles in New Mexico - she had just received a new shipment of chiles from New Mexico.  She said she'd bring me a few in.  We're exciting people at work!

And today, she did!

The whole conversattion brought back some very hazy memories of a vacation back in the '70s.  I think this was the same trip that I stood on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, but since illicit drugs and lots of alcohol were involved, I'm not positively positive about anything.  Names have been changed to protect the guilty.

One thing I do remember is being out in the middle of nowhere and being at a little cantina in New Mexico.  We were on our way to Juarez, so it probably was Hatch - or at least in the Hatch Valley.  It was pretty much a dive, but they were roasting chiles and offering them for sale - maybe a dime a piece - maybe not that much.  I've always enjoyed my chiles but even in California back then, chiles other than jalapeños weren't widely available except from Latino grocers.

So there we are in this little dive bar and they're offering fresh, fire-roasted green chiles.  They were roasting them in this wire-drum contraption that looked like a Bingo spinner.  It sat over a hot, smokey wood fire.

They were  putting the whole chile in their mouth, and then with a quick yank, pulled out the stem and the seed pod, munching on the chile.  It looked easy - it always looks easy - but after only a couple of mishaps, I was eating chiles like a native.  I'm sure the beer and tequila helped.

I'm also pretty sure this was the first time I ever had a fire-roasted pepper of any sort.   And the flavor was remarkably like the peppers we had tonight.  The originals were hotter, probably due to the amount of seeds I was actually eating, and not as sweet.  The word I was first thinking of was "refined".  I think these have probably been cultivated to be a bit smoother, over-all.  Refined in a good way.  Courvoisier vs brandy.

Fast-forward to a couple of hours ago, and I have maybe 8 or 10 roasted peppers, rapidly thawing in their baggie.  I peeled them, seeded them, and then started playing!

I knew I wanted the peppers to take center stage, so no tomatoes were allowed in the dish.  I'd save them for the 'polenta'.

Chicken and Green Chiles

• 8 or so roasted green chiles, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 1 chicken breast, chopped
• 1 cup corn
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp Mexican oregano
• 1 cup shredded jack cheese
• salt, to taste

Wilt onion and yellow pepper in a splash of oil.  Add diced chicken and cook.  Add chiles and spices.

Add corn.  Check for salt and add, if necessary.

Stir in cheese, heat, and serve over Red Polenta.

Red Polenta is the easiest thing in the world.

Red Polenta

• 1 cup prepared salsa (your choice)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup corn meal

Mix water and salsa in saucepan and bring to boil.  Gradually stir in corn meal.  Cook about 20 minutes or per package instructions.

To serve, spread polenta on a plate and top with chicken-chile mixture.

Enjoy.

Victor was in and out of the kitchen marveling at the aromas.  Today was his turn to feel tired and irritable after not sleeping last night, and he apologized as we sat down, asking me not to be offended if he only ate a bit.

He cleaned his plate.

And what a fun ride down Memory Lane.  It really is nothing short of amazing that I am alive, today.

by Tim Dineen