Sunday Dinner
Homemade meatballs, sausages, and pork loin, rigatoni, cheese, homemade Pane Siciliano, pepperoni bread, and Apple Cake.
We ate well, today!
We called Victor's mom, brother, and sister-in-law to come over for Sunday Dinner. It's a time for family to sit around the table for a few hours and eat. And talk. And eat. And eat. What a great tradition! We did the Irish version at my house when I was growing up. Different food, same concept. It really is a great tradition.
Today, it was cold, wet, and raining outside, so a big pot of sauce on the stove and a couple of loaves of bread and a cake in the ovens was the perfect way to get the day rolling!
Victor started off by making sauce. No two Italians make their sauce the same way. In fact, he doesn't even make it exactly the same way every time. Into the tomato sauce goes the browned meatballs and browned pork and sausage, red wine, garlic, all the basics. Suffice to say, it is always fabulous.
And while the sauce was simmering on the stove, I made bread. Pane Siciliano.
Last night I pulled out my beat-up old copy of The Italian Baker by Carol Field. I had planned on making her Pane Pugliese and it needs a biga, or starter. It's one of my most favorite breads. I was pulling the ingredients together when I turned the page and saw a recipe for Pane Siciliano. Something new. I actually had the semolina flour (shock!) and decided to give it a try.
Pane Siciliano
Makes 2 loaves
- 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp malt syrup
- 1 cup water, room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups durum flour or semolina for pasta
- 1 cup plus 1 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 to 3 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup sesame seeds
By hand:
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a large mixing bowl; let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Whisk in the oil, malt, and 1 cup of water. Mix the flours and salt and whisk in 1 cup at a time into the yeast mixture. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until smooth. Knead on a floured surface 8 to 10 minutes, occasionally slamming the dough down vigorously to develop the gluten.
By mixer:
Stir the yeast into the 1 1/4 cups warm water in a large mixer bowl; let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in the oil and malt with the paddle; then add the flours and salt and mix until smooth. Change to the dough hook and knead on medium speed until; the dough is firm, compact, and elastic with lots of body, 4 to 5 minutes. Finish kneading by hand on a lightly floured surface.
First rise. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. The dough should be springy and blistered, but still soft and velvety.
Shaping and second rise. Punch the dough down, knead it briefly, and let it rest for 5 minutes. Flatten it with your forearm into a square. Rollit into a long, narrow rope, about 20 to 22 inches long. The dough should be so elastic that it could almost be swung and stretched like a jump rope. Cut the dough in half and shape each into a loaf. (The book shows 3 classic shapes and illustrations; Mafalda, Occhi di Santa Lucia, and the baked Corona. I made the Santa Lucia.)
Place the loaves on floured parchment paper, peels sprinkled with corn meal, or oiled baking sheets. Brush the entire surface of each loaf with water and sprinkle with sesame seeds; pat the seeds very gently into the dough. Cover with plastic wrap, and then a kitchen towel, and let rise until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Baking. Thirty minutes before baking heat the oven with baking stones to 425°. Sprinkle the stones with cornmeal just before sliding the loaves onto them. Bake 10 minutes, spraying 3 times with water. Reduce the heat to 400° and bake 25 to 30 minutes longer. Cool on racks.
The final bread came out excellent, but I had to play with the dough a bit.
First off, it was way too dry. I know that there are a bazillion and one factors involved in making bread; the moisture content of the flour, the weather and humidity, yadda yadda yadda, but I had to add almost a half-cup of water to the dough. I finally worked it into a close approximation to what was described "firm, compact, and elastic with lots of body" but it never really had the elasticity I think it should have had from the description. Same with the forming of the dough. It rolled out well, but didn't have the "so elastic that it could almost be swung and stretched like a jump rope" texture. It had some, but not what was being described.
Nonetheless, it came out great! It had that rich semolina flavor and fine texture.
Marie brought over Pepperoni Bread, so we had that as an appetizer along with some salame, provolone, garlic crackers...
It was pretty good!
We sat down to a big salad, the pane, the meats, and a bowl of rigatoni.
Enough food for a small army.
Just what Sunday Dinner is supposed to be.
And then it was coffee and Apple Cake.
Victor got the recipe from his cousin Nancy, years ago. It is really really good and I love it when he makes it!
Apple Cake
- 3 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup oil
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 4 tsp sugar
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 5 large apples
Preheat oven to 350°. Peel and cut apples into small chunks. Add 4 tsp sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon and stir together.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and set aside.
Beat together eggs, OJ & vanilla. Add oil, mix in flour mixture.
In a well-greased tube pan, pour alternate layers of batter and apples. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top.
Bake at 350° for 1 1/2 hours or until cake tests done.
Cool before slicing.
Another great thing about this cake is it works well as a morning coffee cake as well as an evening dessert.
I see a great breakfast in my future!
Pork Roast, Rye Bread, and an Apple Tart
I decided it was time to do something a tad bit different tonight - a bone-in pork roast!
It's been a while.
The seasonings were pretty basic - garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper. The fun twist cam in the pan - red wine and lingonberry concentrate! (Thank you, Ikea!!) I poured about a cup of wine and a half-cup of the lingonberry concentrate in the pan and used it to baste the pork as it was cooking.
I quartered a couple of potatoes and added them to the pork roast pan about half-way through the cooking. The pan juices made a perfect sauce.
And because I was at the grocery store today... I picked up a bag of rye flour. Which, of course, meant I had to make a loaf of rye bread.
Actually, I made two loaves. James Beard, again.
Rye Bread
- 1 pkg active dry yeast
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 cup warm milk combined with 1/2 cup warm water
- 2 tbsp softened butter
- 1 heaping tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp caraway seeds
- 2 1/2 cups rye flour
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (or more, if needed)
- 1/4 cup cornmeal
- 1 egg white beaten lightly with 2 tbsp water
Disolve the yeast and honey in the warm water and allow the mixture to proof for 4 or 5 minutes.
Combine the warm milk and warm water with the softened butter and add to the yeast mixture along with the salt and caraway seeds.
Add the flour, 1 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When you have addeed about 4 1/2 cups the dough will become difficult to stir and quite sticky, but continue to add the remaining flour a tablespoon at a time.
Scrape out the dough onto a floured board, and using a baker's scraper or a large metal spatula, scrape under the dough and fold the dough over. Continue to lift and fold, and with your free hand start pressing down and away from you on these folded areas, adding more flour as needed to dust your hands and to sprinkle the board.
After 2 or 3 minutes of this procedure you can eliminate the scraper.
Flour both hands and knead for about 10 minutes, until the dough is soft, velvety, and elastic.
Shape the dough into a ball and place in a well-buttered bowl, turning to coat with the butter. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft-free area to double in bulk, which will take from 1 to 2 hours.
Punch down, turn out on a lightly floured board, and divide into two equal pieces.
Let the dough rest for 2 or 3 minutes, and then shape into two loaves, either free-form or for well-buttered 8 x 4 x 2-inch loaf pans.
If you are making free-form loaves allow them to rise, covered, on a buttered baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal until almost doubled in size, and then quickly invert them and brush with the egg and water mixture.
Otherwise, let the loaves rise, covered, in their pans until they have doubled in bulk and then brushing the tops with the egg white and water mixture.
Bake at 400° from 45 to 50 minutes or until the loaves sound hollow when tapped with the knuckles.
Cool thoroughly on racks before slicing.
Beard, like Julia Child, or many other cookbook writers, go into a lot of detail and tend to make things sound more complicated than they really are. This is a pretty easy bread to make.
And tasty, too!
Speaking of tasty...
Guess what Victor made for desert last night?!?
A bit of a free-form puff pastry with apples!
He rolled out a sheet of puff pastry, sauteed a couple of granny smith apples in butter, brown sugar and a bit of white sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon. He sprinkled in a big teaspoon of flour to help thicken it all, and set it in the middle of the pastry, folded up the sides and into the oven it went - following the instructions on the puff pastry package.
Yumlicious!
Lentil Soup and Fresh-Baked Bread
It's raining outside. It started raining yesterday on our way home from North Jersey. It's been raining ever since. It's melted all of the snow. All of it.
But melted snow or not, it's still cold outside. Damp and cold. Perfect soup weather. And fresh-baked bread weather.
We had the perfect ham bone that just screamed for a pot of water and a couple of bay leaves. It's amazing how so little can give so much. Victor made the soup. I made the bread.
Quantities are mere estimates. Add more or less of something. It's soup. It's flexible.
Victor's Lentil Soup
Large Ham bone – most of the meat cut of and coarsely diced
Large pot of water
- 3 cups Lentils
- 4 stalks Celery, diced
- 4 Carrots, diced
- 1 Onion, chopped
- 2 Garlic Cloves, nimced
- 3-4 Bay Leaves
- S&P
- Tabasco – to taste
Boil the ham bone with the bay leaves a couple of hours.
Add remaining ingredients (except the saved coarsely diced ham).
Simmer, uncovered, until lentils are cooked through.
Add S&P and a generous few splashes of Tabasco.
Remove bone and bay leaves.
Puree about a third of the soup and return to the pot.
Add the reserved ham and heat through.
While the soup was simmering, I made a loaf of bread. I used the same recipe as a few days ago. I formed it into a loaf and after brushing with the egg white and water, I generously sprinkled on sesame seeds. This is a half-batch which makes one loaf:
French-Style Bread
Ingredients
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 2 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 cup warm water (l00° to 115°, approximately)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups all-purpose or hard-wheat flour
- yellow cornmeal
- 1 egg white, mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water
Directions
Combine the yeast with sugar and warm water in a large bowl and allow to proof. Mix the salt with the flour and add to the yeast mixture, a cup at a time, until you have a stiff dough. Remove to a lightly floured board and knead until no longer sticky, about 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary. Place in a buttered bowl and turn to coat the surface with butter. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1½ to 2 hours.
Punch down the dough. Turn out on a floured board and shape into a long, French bread-style loaf. Place on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with the cornmeal but not buttered. Slash the top of the loaf diagonally in two or three places, and brush with the egg wash. Place in a cold oven, set the temperature at 400°, and bake 35 minutes, or until well browned and hollow sounding when the top is rapped.
This really is one of the easiest breads in the world to make. It's quick, easy, and foolproof.
So... Tomorrow we are actually going shopping together. Victor hasn't been up to the new Wegmans, yet. This could be dangerous.
We're specifically shopping for Tuesday dinner with Linda and David. Prime Rib au jus, Yorkshire Pudding (instead of the popovers!), Dauphine Potatoes, Stuffed Zucchini, and Baked Alaska for dessert. It's going to be fun, because I haven't made any of these things in quite a while.
The danger is the two of us in a grocery store together. We've been known to spend the GNP of a few small emerging countries when shopping together, which is why I usually shop alone. (Not that I don't keep the economy afloat by myself...) And we even have a gift card.
It's gonna be fun!
Playing Catsup. er... Catch-up...
We've been playing with cookies so much, I haven't made time to talk about all the fun things we've been eating besides cookies-cakes-and-candies. And there's been plenty. So much, in fact, that I've gained back five pounds. Victor, on the other hand, has actually managed to drop a couple more. (Note to self: Stop eating at work!)
I'm not going to worry about it or go crazy. It's Christmas. I'll be back on track after the first. In the meantime, I shall enjoy life!
As we were getting ready to deliver cookies yesterday, our neighbor up the street rang the bell. She asked if we wanted some lemons. Her niece sends them up from her Florida garden and they just can't use them fast enough. Fresh-picked lemons?!? You bet! They're beauties! I have to think of something fun with them tomorrow...
Victor's workload slows this time of year while mine goes crazy - so he's cooked dinner the past couple of nights.
Last night was a chicken picatta with baked mashed potatoes with cheese and fried shallots. Heavenly!
Very simple. He cooked and mashed the potatoes, mixed in a bit of parmesan cheese and topped it with the fried shallots. Into the oven for about 15 minutes.
The chicken was equally easy. Egg-dipped and then floured chicken breast, fried in a bit of olive oil. When it was browned, he added white wine, lemon juice, and capers. Delish!
Tonight, he made pizza!
This was a fun one because after he made the dough and it was rising, we lost our electricity! Huge snowstorms, windstorms, monsoon rains... nothing. Lights stay blazing. Not a blip. Perfectly clear day?!? Electricity goes out. Figures.
Fortunately, it was only out for about 90 minutes. Dinner was saved!
The dough is from Lidia's Italian American Kitchen.
L’Impasto per la Pizza
All sorts of people put all sorts of things into pizza dough. I want to give the recipe to you straight, as I had it in Naples--water, flour, yeast, and salt. This makes a soft but elastic dough that is easy to work with. Don' be afraid to stretch the dough when you're shaping it into pizza crusts: for something that feels so soft, it really is quite tough.
Yield: Makes enough dough for four 12-inch Margherita pizzas, two 8-inch square Sicilian pizzas, or fifteen 4-inch calzones
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1 cup warm water
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, and more as needed
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- Olive oil
Directions
Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a medium bowl and let stand until dissolved.
Toss the flour and salt together and stir into the dissolved yeast, using a wooden spoon or your fingers, until you have a stiff dough.
Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead 5 to 10 minutes, adding flour as needed to prevent sticking, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turn the dough to coat all sides with oil, and cover with a damp cloth. Set the bowl in a warm, draft-free spot until it doubles in volume, about 1½ hours.
Punch down the dough and, if necessary, divide into the number of portions called for in the recipe. Place the dough balls on a lightly oiled baking sheet and cover with a piece of plastic wrap pressed directly against the dough. Refrigerate until the dough is roughly doubled in bulk. This can take from 12 to 24 hours. Punch down the dough and continue with the recipe.
I made hand-spun pizza for years and this is as close to the dough we used to make at Pirro's that I've ever seen. Flour water salt yeast oil. It's perfect. And it really is tough in that you can really spin it!
Victor opted for the square pizza tonight. He made the sauce with tomato sauce, tomato paste, a splash of red wine, garlic, and Italian herbs. He topped it with slices of prosciutto-wrapped mozzarella and salami. We had a couple of Cento Hot Pepper Shooters on the side.
Delish, again!
One more meal tomorrow and then we head north for Christmas. Christmas Eve is the Seven Fish.
I'm psyched.
Stuffed Shells
I was planning stuffed burgers tonight. Victor had other ideas while I was at work. We've been on a bit of a kick to use up stuff that has been collecting in the cabinets, refrigerator, and freezer. I buy on sale, buy bulk, and otherwise try to maximize my shopping dollar, so at some point there can easily be six different pastas on the shelf, 8 cans of tomatoes, cheeses and other assorted odds and ends left from other meals. The fun and the challenge is putting them all together.
That's what Victor did tonight!
We had pasta sauce left from Monday, a box of shells, pancetta from last week, the ground beef I had taken out of the freezer for the burgers...
So...
Victor made a filling of the ground beef, garlic, bread crumbs, chopped oil cured olives, gorgonzola, roasted yellow and red peppers, salt and pepper.
Stuffed the shells and topped with the leftover sauce and then added crisply-fried pancetta and lots of freshly grated parmesan.
Into the oven for about 45 minutes.
We had rolls in the freezer that became garlic bread.
And fruitcake for dessert.
True Confessions Time...
After the picture was taken I added another shell to my plate - and then got two more after those were finished! OMG it was good!
Burgers, Brasiole, and a New Look
Lots of things have been happening around here.
We're still eating well, still managing not to gain weight (although the weight-loss has slowed to a trickle) and I finally have gotten ALL of the recipes into one place! What a chore!
The recipes were actually on 5 different subsites. Updating anything was a huge chore. I knew it had to be done, but I just kept putting on another band-aid. I've been avoiding this for years. Really.
No more.
The look itself is going to be tweaked a bit more. I don't really like the header picture all that much, but it's okay for now. And everything can now be reached from the navigation bars along the top. All of the recipes are at your fingertips!
And in going through every single recipe, I was amazed at how many I had forgotten about and how many are really, really good! I'm thinking that in January, I may just do a month of recipes from the site a la Julie and Julia!
So...
The photo up there?!? It's a stuffed burger. Stuffed with spinach, chevre, and roasted red pepper. A bit of S&P and garlic powder. That's it. Mashed potatoes, and cauliflower baked in the oven with a bit of butter and parmesan cheese.
This is what we had last night...
Brasiole and rigatoni. The brasiole was left over from our Food Fest a couple of weeks ago. Vacuum Sealer bags are a good thing.
So... take some time to visit some of the other recipes on the site. You may just find your next favorite dish!
Victor in the Kitchen
I just love the fact that Victor likes to watch cooking shows while I'm at work on Saturday - Saturday dinner is always so much fun!
But before he started dinner, Victor made a flourless chocolate cake to bring up to his sister's house tomorrow.
The recipe came from Tyler Florence and he's made it before - the first time for my birthday last year. It is really good. Rich and decadent - just as a chocolate cake should be!
Flourless Chocolate Cake
- 1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 9 large eggs, separated
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
- 1/4 cup strong black coffee
- 2 cups heavy cream, cold
- Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan.
Put the chocolate and butter into the top of a double boiler (or in a heatproof bowl) and heat over (but not touching) about 1-inch of simmering water until melted. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a mixing bowl until light yellow in color. Whisk a little of the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture to temper the eggs – this will keep the eggs from scrambling from the heat of the chocolate; then whisk in the rest of the chocolate mixture. Add the coffee and mix well.
Beat the egg whites in a mixing bowl until stiff peaks form and fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until the cake is set, the top starts to crack and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it, 25 to 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes, then remove sides of pan.
Serve at room temperature dusted with confectioners’ and the whipped cream.
Dusted with powdered sugar and served with whipped cream, it will be the star of the show!
And speaking of shows, Rachael Ray made a really simple ricotta pasta dish that Victor decided he wanted to try tonight.
It could not have been easier. It came from her quick meals series. Cooked pasta mixed with ricotta. That's pretty much it. Victor added maybe a tablespoon of sour cream to the cooked and drained pasta, stirred in a cup of ricotta and added some sundried tomatoes and shredded parmesan cheese. Oh - he first drizzled the cooked pasta with garlic-infused oil.
Damn, it was good!
And - we had breadsticks made from refrigerated pizza dough.
He also brushed them with the garlic-infused olive oil.
I love Saturday!
Soft Pretzels
I love it when Victor watches cooking shows. He can actually be a lot more adventurous than me. I'll dismiss something out-of-hand, where he will actually give an idea a fair shake - like today's pretzels.
I don't think I've ever made soft pretzels before. I've made bagels - which have some similarities - but never pretzels. So... when Victor mentioned a pretzel recipe from Alton Brown, I encouraged him. (I ain't no fool!)
He printed off the recipe and off to the kitchen he went.
Less than 10 minutes later, I hear a shriek of despair. Warily treading into the kitchen, I see Victor, sobbing. We had no flour! I couldn't believe it. We always have flour in the house. I start going through the cabinets, myself. We had half a bag of self-rising flour (which wouldn't do at all) and half a bag of King Arthur White Whole Wheat. We decided that white whole wheat would make perfect pretzels. Crisis averted (and note to self to buy flour tomorrow)!
The recipe is very straight-forward and really quite easy. The weather was perfect and we put the dough out in the back yard to quickly proof.
After rolling and forming, they went - one at a time - into the boiling water.
Our "pretzel salt" was actually "San Francisco Bay Salt" from - you guessed it - San Francisco. I remember the huge salt ponds in the bay when I was a kid growing up. It's a really large crystal and the perfect size for the pretzel.
Homemade Soft Pretzels
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2007
- Prep Time: 30 min
- Inactive Prep Time: 1 hr 0 min
- Cook Time: 25 min
- Level: Intermediate
- Serves: 8 pretzels
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
- 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
- Vegetable oil, for pan
- 10 cups water
- 2/3 cup baking soda
- 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
- Pretzel salt
Directions
Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.
Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.
In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.
Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.
I had mine with a sweet and spicy mustard, Victor stayed with traditional yellow.
Now... these are not exactly diet-foods but at about 200 calories each, they're doable in moderation! I froze half of them to lower the temptation factor!
Yum.
Turkey and Tuna
I was going to do something with pork tenderloin tonight. Victor had another idea.
We were both thinking salads, but I liked his idea, better! He makes a great Tuna and Cannelini salad based upon a recipe he got from one of Lidia's cookbooks (I think we have all of them - or at least most).
Tuna and Cannelini Salad
- 1 can cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can tuna in olive oil, drained
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 oz feta, crumbled
- S&P
- drizzle of olive oil
Mix all ingredients, chill or serve at room temperature.
It's great cold, great at room temperature, or great eating standing in front of the refrigerator when no one's looking. It's good.
Tuna in olive oil may have more calories, but it is so far superior to tuna in water that there's really no comparison. It's one of those areas where I'll take the hit on an extra 50 calories rather than compromise on quality. I feel the same way about cheese. I know there are many folks out there who swear by their lowfat cheeses. I'm not one of them. I'll just eat less of the real stuff.
But I digress...
Tonight's salad started with a base of mixed greens and then was topped with a hard-cooked egg, steamed broccoli, diced celery, diced zucchini, mushrooms, a stuffed Italian shooter pepper, and another sprinkling of feta. I think the tuna salad was probably the biggest calorie-buster tonight at about 250 per serving. But it comes with a lot of nutrients. That shooter pepper had 80 calories all by itself! Prosciutto wrapped around cheese and stuffed into a hot pepper soaking in oil. Damn, they're good!
It was funny because 3/4 of the way through the salads, we simultaneously said we were getting stuffed. It seems that when I actually wait until I'm hungry to eat, I find myself eating less. What a concept! And when I don't eat at work all day long I actually enjoy what I'm eating more.
So it's been working. In the last two weeks I've dropped 11 pounds. That's rather more than I should lose in that time frame but I'll take it as my motivation to keep going.
Thirty-nine to go.
Panorama, Parmesan and Panini
Friday night saw us in Old City Philadelphia to meet friends for dinner. We had a fantastic dinner at Ristorante Panorama on Front Street. They bill themselves as "... contemporary, authentic Italian with influence that leans toward the Northern Italian region and features homemade pastas, authentic veal dishes, and fresh seafood specialties." They came through!
Alas, I forgot the camera, and trying to explain all of the food we ate would be nigh on impossible at this point. We had five different appetizers, five different entrees, five different desserts, and walked out with stomachs smiling. It was a great time. Here's the menu!
Still in an Italian mode, Victor made dinner while I was at work, yesterday. Chicken parmesan and ravioli. We still have those huge chicken breasts I picked up at the farmer's market, so he sliced them thin, pounded and breaded, fied, and finished off with sauce and cheese.
Two more of the cutlets went to today's lunch!
Santa brought us a Panini Press/Grill/Griddle for Christmas and I broke it in for lunch today! Breaded chicken breasts, cranberry sauce, bacon, herbed chevre, and vidalia onion relish on thick slices of raisin walnut bread brushed with garlic butter. Can we say "gastronomic heaven" boys and girls?!?
Dayum, it was good!
Tonight I'm going all out with a really fun dinner - individual beef wellington's!
The diet's start January 6th.
A New Spin on an Old Recipe
Victor got a recipe for an Apple Cake years ago. It's really, really good. Today, however, we were home - without apples - and Victor wanted to make a cake. What we did have was a lot of dried fruit we had bought for our train trip home.
Apple Cake became Dried Fruit Cake.
Here's the original recipe and Victor's tweaks, after:
Apple Cake
- 3 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup oil
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 4 tsp sugar
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 5 large apples
Preheat oven to 350°. Peel and cut apples into small chunks. Add 4 tsp sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon and stir together.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and set aside.
Beat together eggs, OJ & vanilla. Add oil, mix in flour mixture.
In a well-greased tube pan, pour alternate layers of batter and apples. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top.
Bake at 350° for 1 1/2 hours or until cake tests done.
Cool before slicing.
Dried Fruit Cake
- 3 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup oil
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 2 cups chopped dried fruit (an assortment of pears, pineapple, apricots, dates, cherries, and peaches)
Preheat oven to 350°. Peel and cut apples into small chunks. Add 4 tsp sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon and stir together.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and set aside.
Beat together eggs, OJ & vanilla. Add oil, mix in flour mixture. Dust fruit with flour and stir into batter.
Pour batter into a well-greased tube pan. Top with pecans and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.
Bake at 350° for 1 1/2 hours or until cake tests done.
Cool before slicing.
It smells divine!
As soon as we finish our soup.....
Baked Pasta
It is so nice to have another cook in the house! Really, really nice!
My main computer decided not to play nice the other day and I've been spending a lot of time getting things moved to the backup disk. I auto-backup every couple of days, but... I wanted to transfer some stuff onto the laptop. And I wanted to reformat the main computer - just in case - before bringing it in for service. Believe it or not, I can get rather narrowly focused when working on the ol' computer. It was fantastic knowing that someone was taking care of the culinary needs.
And Victor - fantastic cook that he is - took care of them with style!
He made a baked tortellini that was to die for! OMG YUM!
He made a great meat sauce, with fresh herbs from the garden, mixed in tortellini, and quattro formaggio... added more sauce and baked.
And a basket of garlic bread made from the Puglia rolls I made the other day and dinner was served!
It was a perfect meal and it gave me the strength to make that phone call to {{{shudder}}} Circuit City.
