Cheese Burgers
Lunch the way it is supposed to be.
A bacon cheese burger with lettuce, tomato, fried peppers, mayo, ketchup, and mustard.
And tonight is Victor's Pasta Night.
I can't wait!
Sunday Brunch
What a fun day we had today! Our dear friend Ruth was visiting from Vermont, so she stopped by to spend a few hours with us. Naturally, that means food.
I made a variation on the Rustic Summer Tart from a couple of weeks ago.
Here's the original recipe and my changes will follow...
Rustic Summer Squash Tart Recipe
By Woman’s Day Kitchen from Woman’s Day | August 1, 2008
Active Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutesRecipe Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 lb mixed summer squash (zucchini, yellow squash and pattypan), cut in 1/4-in. rounds
- 2 shallots, thinly sliced
- 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme or marjoram, plus sprigs for garnish
- 1 tsp chopped garlic
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1 refrigerated pie crust (from a 15-oz. box)
- 4 oz Roquefort cheese, Gorgonzola or other good-quality blue cheese
- 1 roasted yellow or red pepper (freshly roasted or from a jar), cut in strips
- 1 large plum tomato, sliced, seeds removed
- 1 large egg, beaten
Recipe Preparation
- Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add squash and shallots and cook, turning pieces as they start to color, 7 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove from heat; stir in thyme, garlic and pepper to taste. Cool to room temperature.
- Heat oven to 400° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; unroll or unfold pie crust on the parchment. With a rolling pin, roll crust to a 13-in. round. Crumble half the cheese over crust to within 2 in. of edge. Arrange squash mixture, pepper strips and tomato slices on cheese; fold edge of the crust over filling and brush crust with egg.
- Bake 35 to 40 minutes until pastry is golden. Slide tart, still on parchment, onto a wire rack. Crumble remaining cheese over top. Let cool before serving.
I made it with arugula, mushrooms, leeks, red onions, zucchini, red and yellow peppers, tomatoes, really good gorgonzola, and assorted fresh herbs from the garden. And homemade crust, of course.
A bit of fresh fruit, of course...
And scones.
This is the second batch I made. I forgot the baking powder in the first batch. They didn't come out very well.
The second batch came out great!
Scones
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1/3 cup jam
Preheat oven to 400°. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in large bowl. Add butter; rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles fine meal. Gradually add 1 cup cream, mixing until dough comes together. Pat to 1/2-inch thickness. Ccut scones into wedges. Make indentation on top of scone and fill with 1 teaspoon jam. Transfer to baking sheet. Bake scones until brown, about 18 minutes. Serve warm.
We had a lot of fun sitting around and talking up a storm. And eating.
And we'll be seeing her in October in New Hampshire.
Life is good.
Oh... And tomorrow is Victor's Pasta Day.
Life is really good!
Pork Tenderloin
Tonight's dinner went through three different incarnations before finally getting onto a dinner plate!
My first idea was to make pork sandwiches on focaccia and a cold green bean salad. I had focaccia left from last night, so I didn't buy any bread today. And I've been remiss - no dough in the 'fridge.
So... getting home, I found Victor had made pizzas for lunch with the focaccia. My bad. I didn't say I was going to use it.
Next idea was to grill the pork with some BBQ sauce. Turned on the grill, went inside, came back out... Out of gas.
Third time's the charm.
I sliced the tenderloin into inch-thick slices, pan fried them, added the bbq sauce, and then popped them under the broiler to finish cooking.
The cold bean salad became sauteed green beans with red onion and mushrooms. Roasted teeny potatoes finished off the plate.
Steaks and Corn Relish
Gorgeous weather outside. Perfect for firing up the grill.
I grilled a couple of steaks with the Gates Kansas City BBQ Sauce and topped them with a bit of the gorgonzola cheese I picked up the other day. The cheese is great and it went well with the spicy-hot BBQ sauce.
Sitting under the steaks is a corn relish. I had an ear of corn, a yellow squash from our next door neighbor, and some odds and ends that needed using up. And deep-fried potato-tots.
There are no right or wrong amounts for the relish. Use what you have and have fun with it! The yellow squash we had was not a typical summer squash. It was quite hard and needed cooking to make it tender.
Corn Relish
- corn cut from 1 ear, cooked and cooled
- 1/4 red onion, diced
- 1 tomato, diced
- 1 yellow squash, diced, cooked, if necessary,and cooled
- 1/4 cup sliced olives
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
- salt and pepper, to taste
Mix all ingredients, cover and refrigerate.
We're getting ready for the onslaught. Our niece is down visiting from North Jersey so we're going to make homemade ice cream with her - and whatever other family members make it over.
It should be fun!
Tacos
It's amazing how many dishes, pots, and pans it takes to make a simple taco dinner!
The meat, the rice, the beans... guacamole, sour cream, salsa, cheese, lettuce, olives, tomatoes, onions... and the taco shells! I'm beginning to remember why I don't make these very often!
But they are good!
I got silly with the deep fryer and deep-fried the corn tortillas. And just to be a little sillier, I fried a couple of flour tortillas, as well. They puffed up like balloons! Victor made a taco salad sort of affair with one of them. I made a really big taco and used a dozen napkins to help clean up the mess I was making eating it.
I don't have a real taco shell basket, so I used a cannoli form and tongs to help them hold their shape in the oil. It worked pretty well.
No real secrets for the beef... It was hamburger cooked with some chopped onion, and then a bunch of different herbs and spices; Mexican oregano, chipotle powder, chili powder, cumin, garlic, salt and pepper, and a can of tomato sauce. Oh - and half a can of diced green chiles. The other half went into the beans.
The kitchen was properly destroyed, Victor put it all back together, and we have tapioca pudding for dessert later on.
Life is definitely good!
Farro, Eggplant, and Buffalo Mozzarella
Dinner tonight was slightly different than I originally envisioned. I planned on making farrow cakes/patties, frying them, and topping them with the eggplant and tomato sauce. Alas... the farrow just didn't want to hold together in a patty shape.
No matter. It came out pretty good, nonetheless!
I had a homegrown eggplant from our neighbor up the street that I definitely wanted to use tonight. She's cute. She just leaves an eggplant or a zucchini on the table by our back door now and again. I have told her for years that I will take any and all homegrown produce she wants to send our way, but I think she's a bit embarrassed and doesn't want to be seen as the neighbor everyone hides from when they see her with her bounty. Nope. Not me. You grew it, I'll cook it. Bring it on!
So dinner tonight was actually vegetarian. Not unheard of, but not the most common for me, either. But it worked.
Because I planned on making patties from the farrow, I added an egg to help bind it. Because I added the egg, I had to saute the mixture to cook it. This recipe is for making it as a side dish without the egg, because I'll never try and make farrow patties, again.
Farrow with Gorgonzola
- 1 cup farrow (or brown rice)
- 2 oz gorgonzola
- 2 tbsp minced parsley
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- salt and pepper, to taste
Cook farrow (or rice) according to package instructions. Drain completely. Stir in gorgonzola, parsley, garlic powder, and S&P.
Serve
The eggplant and tomatoes were another simple saute.
Eggplant and Tomato Sauce
- 1 medium eggplant
- 6 plum tomatoes
- 1 small yellow onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 cup button mushrooms
- 1/4 cup red wine
- 1/4 cup chopped mixed fresh herbs (I used basil oregano, rosemary, and sage)
- salt and pepper, to taste
- buffalo mozzarella
Peel and dice eggplant. Sprinkle with salt and put in colander to drain - about 30 minutes.
Coarsely chop onion, garlic, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Add onion to skillet and cook until translucent. Add garlic and then mushrooms. Add wine and cook until it is almost evaporated. Add eggplant and tomatoes and cook until they release their juices and begin to break down.
Continue to cook until slightly thickened.
Stir in fresh chopped herbs and check for seasoning, adding salt and pepper, if desired.
To assemble:
Plate farrow. Spoon tomato and eggplant sauce on toip and top with slices of fresh buffalo mozzarella.
Brussels sprouts are probably my most favorite vegetable. A lot of folks don't like them because they think they're too bitter. Slicing them really thin and sauteing them with a bit of olive oil, garlic, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar makes them a really delicious vegetable and they're not in the least bit bitter.
Really.
Chicken Stuffed with Gorgonzola
I did a real hit-and-run shopping trip on Monday. Other than fresh produce, we just didn't need a lot. But as I was walking through the cheese section, I espied an Italian gorgonzola that really looked good. Very soft - almost runny - with a really subtle aroma. I picked up a piece with no idea what to do with it other than slather it on bread.
So... I decided to use it to stuff chicken breasts!
Traditionally, when stuffing chicken breasts, I make a slit in the thickest part of the breast, put a bit of stuffing in it, and close it up with either toothpicks or kitchen twine. If it's a cheesy stuffing, it all oozes out and it really doesn't hold all that to begin with. The other option is to pound the breast thin, put a scoop of stuffing in the center, and then fold and/or roll it up like a softball. Neither option was what I was looking for tonight.
Instead, I made my slit in the thickest part of the breast and then laid it open on its side. I filled the cavity with lots of filling, doused it liberally with panko bread crumbs, and then baked them off at 425° for about 25 minutes.
What a concept! No pounding, no tooth picks, and lots of stuffing!
Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Spinach, Walnuts, and Gorgonzola
- 2 chicken breasts
- 6 oz fresh spinach
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 3 oz gorgonzola
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
- salt and pepper, to taste
Wilt shallots in a hot skillet with a bit of olive oil. Add garlic, then spinach. Remove from heat when spinach is cooked and add gorgonzola. Mix well, add salt and pepper to taste, and refrigerate until cold. When chilled, add walnuts.
Make slit in chicken breasts, lay on side and open. Stuff with spinach and gorgonzola mixture.
Place panko bread crumbs on plate and carefully place each stuffed breast in the plate to coat the bottom with crumbs. Place on a well-oiled baking pan, and sprinkle liberally with additional panko.
Bake in a preheated 425° oven for about 25 minutes.
I wanted to make Israeli couscous with dinner tonight but - shock and horror - I was out! I did have the Sardinian couscous which worked out perfectly. (Note to self: Next shopping trip is not a hit-and-run!)
The Sardinian couscous cooks up pretty much the same was as the Israeli, but needs to be rinsed before cooking and can take a bit longer to cook. I also used up the last of the homemade chicken stock I had, but packaged broth will work just fine.
Couscous with Currants
- 1 cup Israeli or Sardinian couscous
- 1 shallot, minced
- 3 oz button mushrooms, quartered
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1/4 cup currants
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp minced Italian parsley
- salt and pepper, to taste
Wilt shallot in medium saucepan with a bit of olive oil. Add mushrooms and cook a minute or two. Add couscous, broth, currants, and garlic powder. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and cook 15 or so minutes until couscous is done.
Remove from heat, stir in minced parsley, and add salt and pepper, if desired.
This was one of those meals that looked - and tasted - like it took forever to prepare, but everything was done in less than an hour.
Fried Hot Peppers
One of my most favorite things to have in the refrigerator -at all times- is a big container of fried hot peppers.
They go on everything, from burgers and sandwiches to stirred into pasta or baked into bread or on top of pizza.
A juicy cheeseburger with mayo and fried peppers is to die for. Or on a turkey sandwich. Scrambled into eggs. They go on everything. Really.
I usually use a mixture of Italian peppers and long hot peppers, or sometimes cubanelles. Today I added some anaheim peppers into the mixture. It's what's at the produce store and what looks good.
The concept is pretty simple:
Clean and seed the peppers, fry them in olive oil, and eat.
I start with a really big skillet and coat the bottom of the pan with olive oil. In go the peppers and I keep the heat up for a while, moving and stirring the peppers around.
As they start to wilt, I turn down the heat and let them start to brown a bit.
I add a bit of salt and pepper, but that's pretty much it.
When they're nice and cooked, they go into a resealable container and into the fridge where they get eaten quite quickly.
A couple of huge words of caution:
- Do this on a day you can open windows.
- Wear gloves.
I have come close to dying inhaling the cooking pepper fumes. Eyes watering, sneezing and coughing like there's no tomorrow... It can be extremely painful.
Which shows you just how good they are if I'm willing to put myself through all of that!
Thai Red Curry
I've been working on updating the recipe site all day. There are 866 posts dating back to November 2005 that need to be tagged and put into categories. Plus a couple hundred that have needed pictures re-associated with them.
I'm not even a quarter of the way through.
I needed a quickie dinner idea and stirfry was it!
I sliced up some beef top round and sauteed it with onion, peppers, and mushrooms, plus a couple of hot peppers from the garden.
I added a can of coconut milks and 2 tbsp of Red Thai Curry paste.
Instant dinner.
Now back to reformatting posts.....
Dja'jeh Burd'aan b'Teen
What's in a name?!? In the middle east, dinner tonight was Dja'jeh Burd'aan b'Teen. In English, it translates to Orange Chicken with Golden Raisins and Figs.
A rather exotic-sounding and foreign dish made with common ingredients found in almost any home in America. Orange juice, potatoes, chicken, raisins. Figs. Who hasn't had a Fig Newton at least once in their lives?
I mention all of this because I am just so sick and tired of the hate spewing forth from people who are wrapping themselves in the flag and calling themselves Americans, yet have no concept of what America is, or what America is supposed to stand for. The emails I've been getting from people who really should know better read like Saturday Night Live skits except people are actually taking them seriously.
"Give me your tired, your poor,your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Unless you're a Mexican, or, worse yet, a Muslim.
The Crusades ended in 1292. And began, again, in 2010. Different location. Same hate and rhetoric.
What's sad is, just like the nine Crusades before it, this is based upon ignorance and being perpetrated by politicians who don't care about you, me, the real victims of the WTC attack, or anyone else but themselves and their power.
This isn't about a community center in New York City, this is about politicians dividing and conquering us - again. It's about their power and the hell with our Constitution, our laws, and our religious freedom. Blaming all Muslims for the actions of Osama bin Laden is like blaming all Ugandans for Idi Amin or all Americans for Lindsay Lohan.
Give it a rest, folks.
Food. The great equalizer. It's amazing when you look at the cuisines of the world how similar they all are. But it's how the ingredients are put together than makes them unique. Just like people.
Through all of my years of cooking - and eating - I have really come to appreciate just how similar we all are. Universally, food is about family, community, and sharing. And, universally, people pretty much just want to live their lives as best they can. Unfortunately, we're constantly being driven apart with our differences instead of being brought together with our many - many - similarities.
Food. The common denominator.
Tonight's common denominator was anything but common. Slightly sweet and slightly spicy without being hot, it's one of my favorite flavor profiles.
It come from the book A Fistful of Lentils by Jennifer Felicia Abadi
I halved the recipe for two of us but added a lot of figs and served it over whole grain red rice cooked in chicken stock. I also used two boneless chicken breasts.
Here's the full recipe. Enjoy!
Orange Chicken with Golden Raisins and Figs
Sauce
- 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped yellow onions
- 2 cups peeled and cubed white potatoes (any kind)
- 1/4 cup golden raisins
- 1/2 cup whole Black Mission figs or the larger, amber-colored Calimyrna figs, cut into halves
- 1 1/2 cups fresh orange juice, strained
- 4 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, (preferably Lea & Perrins, or another brand that lists tamarind as an ingredient
- 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
- 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
Chicken
- 3 pounds chicken pieces (white and dark meat)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Several grindings of black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 4 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
To Serve
1 recipe Basic Syrian Rice (recipe can be found in book)preparation
1. Prepare the sauce. Combine all the ingredients in a medium-size bowl and set aside.
2. Prepare the chicken. Rinse the chicken under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Place on a plate.
3. Combine the salt, pepper, garlic powder, allspice, and paprika in a small bowl. Rub the spices into the chicken skin.
4. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. When the oil is very hot, add the chicken pieces and brown, cooking for 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Pour the sauce over the chicken and simmer, covered, over medium heat until the chicken is cooked through and very moist, 30 to 45 minutes.
5. Serve the chicken pieces over rice, with the sauce spooned on top.
Chicken Boursin
I really don't recall when I first had Boursin cheese. It seems as if it has always been around. It's one of those things that I like, but never really think about. I definitely don't go out of my way to buy it. But I really do like it.
I picked up a package of it a few days ago thinking I might use it in dinner, somehow - and then didn't. This morning, I knew exactly what I was going to do with it - it was going to become a sauce for chicken breasts!
The beauty of boursin is it mixes with anything. Into mashed potatoes, into casseroles, into dips, and into sauces.
Tonight, all I did was melt it in a small pot with a bit of milk. That's it. It doesn't get easier.
I marinated the chicken in a bit of olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. I then seared it in a skillet and popped it into the oven for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, I had whole-grain brown rice in a pot with homemade chicken stock from a few days ago.
When the chicken was moments from being ready, I put a couple of thick slices of homegrown tomato on them and put them under the broiler. Then quickly cooked up a half-pound of arugula in a drizzle of olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper.
Arugula on the plate, the chicken with tomato atop it, and the boursin sauce on top of it all.
Real chickeny rice on the side.
And...
The last loaf of the latest batch of no-knead dough.
I made a walnut pie, too.
Shrimp and Andouille Pot Pie
Okay. It's not exactly pot pie weather outside, but I was feeling slightly brain-dead. Besides... It's not your typical pot pie.
The idea was always shrimp and andouille. I just wasn't sure exactly how they were going to go together. I first thought a kind of jambalaya - really simple - and even toyed with the idea of a fritatta of sorts. But when I got home, I found we were down to one ripe tomato. I didn't want to use canned, so...
Time to change gears.
I remembered a recipe I had seen in Bon Appetit a while back and came up with a variation on a theme.
I had picked up the puff pastry during my weekly shopping trek and there was a tad of heavy cream left from making ice cream and two pasta dishes.
Shrimp and Andouille Pot Pie
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 leeks, chopped
- 1/2 bell pepper, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 link andouille sausage, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup white wine
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 cup cubed red bliss potatoes
- 1/2 pound shrimp
- salt & pepper, to taste
Preheat oven to 400°. Cut out pastry rounds to fit bowls. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet and bake about 15 minutes, or until golden.
Whisk cream and flour in small bowl. Heat skillet and add a drizzle of olive oil. Sauté leeks, celery, and bell pepper until tender, about 10 minutes. Add andouille and garlic and sauté until sausage colors.
Add wine and simmer until liquid evaporates. Add chicken stock and and thyme. Bring to simmer. Add potato and cook uncovered until tender.
Add cream mixture to skillet; stir. Simmer until sauce thickens and boils, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat. Add shrimp; simmer about 3 minutes.
Add salt and pepper, to taste
Divide hot filling among oven-proof bowls. Top each with pastry round. Bake until filling bubbles, about 10 minutes.
This was really good. Creamy, slightly spicy, the puff pastry made a crumbly mess all over the place when we started eating... Perfectly fun food!
Doing to pastry topping in the oven first really helps to keep it flaky on top of the pot pie. No doughy-gooey unbaked pastry to deal with.
I can see several more variations on a theme as the weather turns.....