Corn Dogs and Chipotle Baked Beans

I've had a hankerin' for a corn dog for a while now, and decided a couple of weeks ago that I was going to make them today. I think the last time I had a real corn dog was at the Iowa State Fair in 1993.  That's more than a few years ago.

They really are easy to make but not something that is on the normal meal rotation.  Deep-frying anything is not on the normal meal rotation.  I would absolutely love to have a commercial deep-fryer, but I'm not going to get a counter-top home version.

But I digress.....

I couldn't tell you the last time I made a corn dog, but I'm sure it was long before Iowa.

I don't have a deep-fryer, so I took a 9" braising pan and filled it halfway with oil - about 2" - and cooked them without sticks and added the stick after the fact.  I more or less made up the batter recipe, but used Alton Brown's suggestion of rolling the dog in cornstarch to keep the batter on the dog.  (His online recipe looked really good, but I was wanting something more traditional today...)

Perfectly crusty exterior, a soft cornbready interior, wrapped around one of my more favorite foods - a hot dog.  How could it be bad?!?

Corn Dogs

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup cornmeal
  • 2 tbsp buttermilk powder
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup milk (about)
  • pinch salt
  • 8 hot dogs
  • 8 sticks (popsicle sticks would work just fine)

Heat oil in pan or deep fryer to 350°.

Mix dry ingredients together.  Add eggs and enough milk to make a fairly thin batter.

Roll hot dogs in cornstarch and dip into batter.  (You need to work it a bit - the cornstarch doesn't want to stick right away.)

Carefully add to hot oil.  If using a pan, flip over after a minute or so.

Drain on apper towels and serve with mustard.

The baked bean recipe came from my sister, Phoebe.  I've shared this recipe many times.  I love 'em!

Phoebe's Baked Beans

The original recipe comes from Cooking Light magazine. Phoebe made these at their housewarming “Open House” and nary a bite was left!

These are now the only baked beans I make.

  • 1/2  cup minced shallots
  • 1  tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1  tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1/2  cup tomato puree (I use tomato paste – I never have puree in the house!)
  • 1  tablespoon canola oil
  • 1/4  cup honey
  • 1/4  cup cider vinegar
  • 2  tablespoons molasses
  • 1  tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4  teaspoon salt
  • 2  chipotle chiles, canned in adobo sauce, seeded and chopped
  • 2  (28-ounce) cans baked beans

Preheat oven to 300°.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add shallots; sauté 4 minutes or until golden. Add cumin and garlic; sauté for 1 minute. Add tomato puree and oil, and cook for 2 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Add remaining ingredients (except beans.). Reduce heat; simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Combine beans and shallot mixture in a 2-quart baking dish. Bake at 300° for 1 hour or until thick and bubbly.

The potato salad is like my mom used to make.  It seems everyone I know has a potato salad recipe like their moms.  This one is actually pretty simple...  potatoes, onion, celery, carrots, pickles, hard-cooked eggs, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, salt, pepper, garlic powder.  There's a bazillion and one ways to make a potato salad, but this one is my favorite.

Chicken on the grill with Memphis BBQ sauce.

There's more Poppy Seed Cake for dessert later on this evening.

Right now, I'm ready for a nap.


Super Salmon Salad

While I was working today, Victor was enjoying the first day of his 4-day weekend.  And when I got home, I got to enjoy a lovely dinner.

He created salads tonight that were just out of this world.  They had everything in them...  poached salmon, tortellini, tomatoes, cheese, hard-cooked eggs, marinated artichoke hearts - that he marinated, asparagus, kalamata olives, arugula, other assorted greens, and a simple homemade vinaigrette.

Just perfect.

I do love a man who can cook!

He did leave one chore for me, though - a loaf of bread.

I had the easy job.  So I made dessert.  A raspberry and banana tarte from La Cucina Italiana magazine...

Time to go put it together.....


Burgers on the Barbie

I was recently asked when I plan dinner.  The answer, of course, is "It Depends".

There are no set rules.  Sometimes it's a few days in advance, sometimes the night before, sometimes that morning, and sometimes an hour before we're going to eat.

I know folks who plan out their meals a week in advance and know exactly what they're going to have on Thursday of any given week.  Not me.  I just can't say on Monday what I'm going to be in the mood for on Thursday.  Or what mood I'm going to be in to cook whatever it was I thought I was going to be in the mood for.

I usually prefer to wing it a bit.

This morning, however, I knew I wanted burgers on the barbie - even at 0-dark-thirty.

I thought about them all day long.  Bacon and cheese and lettuce and tomatoes and avocados and pickles and mayo and mustard and catsup and potato chips and homemade hamburger buns. All day long.

I got home and made the buns right away.  I used the no-knead dough that is almost a regular feature in our 'fridge.  It was hot and muggy outside. A perfect proofing room.  In a mere 30 minutes they were ready for the oven.  15 minutes later, they were cooling.

I added juuuuust a little bit of Memphis BBQ Sauce to the beef for a bit of added flavor.  I mean, bacon, cheese, and all that other stuff was just crying out for more.

And all of that savory goodness was screaming for sweet fresh fruit.

I obliged.

In the meantime, the temperature has dropped 20 degrees and were under a severe thunderstorm alert.  The alert warns of the obligatory golf  ball-sized hail and 75 mph winds.

Whatever.

I need to figure out dessert.


BBQ Ribs

I've been thinking about ribs all day.

Messy, spicy, falling-off-the-bone ribs.  And I got my wish.

I got a good deal on a whole slab of ribs and - for a moment - thought about cooking the whole thing.  For two of us.  Common sense prevailed and I cut it in half and froze the rest for another day. I sliced the ribs into individual bones and into a pot they went with garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika.  I simmered them on the stove for about 90 minutes and then started the grill.  And broke out the Memphis BBQ Sauce.  It was my weekly freebie from Wegmans and it had clean ingredients.  Slightly sweet with a nice tang to it.  One of the better bottled BBQ sauces I've had in a while.

I slathered it on, set the ribs off to the side of the grill and closed the lid.

Fall-off-the-bone-good!

I took some assorted fingerling potatoes and mixed in some garlic, smoked paprika, salt and pepper along with a bit of olive oil and coated them nicely.  Into the grill-pan they went with the ribs.

And then I made some creamed corn.

I've been looking at fresh corn-on-the-cob and haven't seen anything I really want to bring home, yet.  I'm fussy about my fresh corn.  I want it fresh.  And it ain't local corn season, yet.

So, I settled for frozen.  I boiled up some nonfat milk, added the corn and let it simmer for a bit.  I then added some S&P and just a little bit of Kasseri cheese.  I thickened it with a bit of cornstarch, smashed a few kernels of corn with my spoon, and that was that.

And while all that was going on, I baked a loaf of bread.

It was a loaf of the infamous No-Knead Bread I've been making for the past few months, now.  The recipe calls for 6 1/2 cups of flour.  This batch I used 2 1/2 whole wheat and 4 white.

All-in-all, a successful dinner.

And there's still Buttermilk Cake.


Monday Ham

An 8.6 pound ham is a bit of a commitment for two people.  Ham sandwiches last night, sliced ham tonight.  I think tomorrow a good portion is going to be vacuum-packed and placed in the freezer.  I want fried ham this Sunday.  Besides veal cutlets and dirty potatoes, nothing can invoke my father more than fried ham.  And french bread toast.  It's just amazing how some foods can conjure up someone.  Not that we ever has "spiral cut" hams growing up.  Back in the dark ages, ham came in a funny-shaped can you opened with a metal key.  (Coffee cans were opened the same way).  Fond memories, indeed.

But back to the present...

I had sweet potatoes, I had carrots, I had mushrooms, I had asparagus, and I had fresh herbs.  I had our side dish.

I peeled one sweet potato and one large carrot.  Sliced both and nuked them for about 5 minutes.  I then put them into a buttered casserole with the mushrooms and asparagus, chopped dill, rosemary, basil, and oregano, salt and pepper.  That went into a 400º oven for about 15 minutes.

The fresh herbs from the garden were great.  Veggies perfectly cooked.

And there's Buttermilk Cake for dessert tonight.

I can't wait for Sunday!


Sunday Ham

My thought this morning was to have a Sunday Ham Dinner.  Ham, sweet potatoes, green beans, dinner rolls...  the whole megillah.  That burger at lunch, however, curbed my enthusiasm.  It takes a lot of work to maintain this figure, but even I have to conceded defeat once in a while.

We decided on sandwiches.

Little sandwiches.  On little rolls.

The 'fridge still has lots of little pieces of right now - I did a Wegmans run last Monday - so we got to choose different cheese and different mustard for each sandwich.  Sweet beer mustard with provolone, grainy Dijon mustard with creamy gorgonzola, and hot Irish mustard with aged San Joaquin Gold.  Last nights parslied potatoes on the side.

It was just enough to do the job, and light enough to save room for dessert.

There's a buttermilk cake with blackberries coming up .....


Stuffed Pork Chops

Victor cooked dinner tonight.  He had a rough day at the office and wanted to decompress a bit in the kitchen.  I had a great day at the office, and was more than happy to oblige.

I had pulled a couple of thick bone-in pork chops out of the freezer this morning with no real idea for them, other than I thought I would stuff them with something.  Victor had the same idea.

The first thing he did was make a cold green bean salad.  He blanched some fresh beans and then cooled them quickly.  Diced a ripe tomato and mixed it in with some chopped garlic, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, fresh basil from the garden, salt and pepper.  Mixed it all together.

It was perfect.  Simple flavors that blended perfectly together, yet were individually present.  Did I mention perfect?  Perfect.

And the pork chops...

Fresh bread crumbs, sun-dried tomatoes, onion, garlic, celery, carrot, mushrooms...

He sauteed the vegetables in olive oil, then added the sun-dried tomatoes to the milk-soaked crumbs.  He added just a bit of the sun-dried tomato butter I made a while back just for grins and giggles.  He slit the chops and stuffed them, adding the leftover stuffing on top.  They baked at 400° for about 35 minutes.

He boiled some yukon gold potatoes and served them simply with butter and parsley - also from the garden.  (The herbs have taken off!)

It was one of those meals that just work on every level.  Simplicity and complexity of flavors, colors, textures.  I loved it!

Not that I would ever wish a bad day on someone, but...  It was definitely my gain that Victor had one, today!

(And speaking of gain - I was down a pound at weigh-in today!)


No-Brainer Chicken

I've been a little busy.  I have two websites that are migrating to a new hosting company, email addresses that need to be reconfigured, the real-live-job, and, a life.  I have spent a bit more time in front of this machine the past two days than I care to admit.  But, in a few hours if the computer-gods are on my side, all will be well with the world.

In doing all of this, I need to keep up my strength.  What I haven't made is time to be in the kitchen.

Tonight's throw-it-in-a-pot-and-put-it-in-the-oven dinner was perfect for the occasion.

We have a great earthenware casserole dish with a lid that I just love.  It can go anywhere.

Tonight, I started it in the microwave with 2 small potatoes, sliced.  I cooked them for about 5 minutes just to get them started.

While they were cooking, I played clean-out-the-refrigerator.  Broccoli, yellow squash, 4 assorted cheese, some mushrooms, 2 chicken breasts, and some sour cream.

I cubed and then browned the chicken in a splash of olive oil, and then added it to the potatoes.  I then browned the mushrooms and added a splash of white wine.  Added them to the potatoes and chicken.

Next went the rest of the veggies and then the cheese.

I mixed it all up with about a cup of sour cream, salt and pepper, put the lid on it and baked at 350° for about 45 minutes while I adjusted DNS servers and configured email addresses.

For a totally throw-together meal, it was pretty good.

One site done, one to go.


Mushroom Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce

Homemade ravioli.  It doesn't get much better.  Really.

Another issue of La Cucina Italiana has arrived - and more things are jumping out at me to make.  This particular recipe is actually a combination of several ideas I've seen recently - from wildly different places.  The over-sized ravioli idea came from the magazine.  The sauce and filling... well... you know how it is...

The ravioli pasta was actually fresh lasagna sheets.  I thought they would be a bit easier to work with but they're not as thin as I would have liked them.  They worked, but barely.  And I had to par-cook them.

The original concept is a cheese filling with an egg yolk sitting on top.  They barely simmer, the egg yolk barely cooks, life is beautiful.  Alas, working with thick pasta tends to make egg yolks break and cook hard because of lengthened cooking time.  (Regardless, they tasted awesome!)

Instead of plain cheese, I very finely chopped an assortment of mushrooms, and sauteed them in a bit of butter.  When they were dry, I added a splash of Marsala and a pinch of salt and pepper.

I then added some fresh French goat cheese that was covered in fresh herbs.  It made it nice and creany.

I cut the lasagna sheets in half and par-cooked them for about 5 minutes.  I then added the mushroom filling and made an indentation and added the egg yolk.  I brushed the sides with egg and topped them with another half-sheet of pasta.

I broke three of the four yolks trying to seal the ravioli.  The picture in the magazine shows a much thinner pasta.  Oh well...  live and learn.

I then simmered them in a really large skillet with water for another 7 or 8 minutes.

For the sauce, I used a cup of heavy cream, about 4 ounces of an outrageously good Italian gorgonzola, and a pinch of parsley, salt and pepper.

OMG it was good!

The spelt side dish was very interesting.  I was reading a food blog and came across it...  here it is verbatim from Becks & Posh:

Autumnal Farro Salad with Smokey Roasted Grapes, Walnuts & Mushrooms

Last weekend I threw a casual buffet supper for a few 'dead-celebrity' impersonators before we all headed to a Hallowe'en party where being an expired famous person was the raison d'etre. As you all know, celebrities can be a needy bunch and consequently I had to juggle several dietary preferences in a meal where I hoped I could include things that everyone might like. I wanted to make a seasonal salad that would be wholesome and comforting without screaming out "Hey I am a *vegan* salad".

The inspiration came from a fabulous feast we were invited to last Christmas day at the home of some restaurant-owning friends who had built a wood-fired oven in their back yard. One of the the appetizers they sent out was a wonderful smokey dish of roasted grapes and walnuts. So simple, but delicious, it had been playing on my mind ever since a more recent roasted grape salad at Incanto had reminded me of it. Now that grape season is upon us, I wondered if I could riff on that idea a little and create something inspired by the grape and walnut combination in my far-less-glamorous-than-a-wood-fired-oven electric stove.

Turns out that my gut instinct served me well and I knocked up a dish that I was congratulated on from several quarters. It couldn't be much simpler to make, here's how:

Cook up half a pound (or more if you are feeding a larger group), of farro in salted boiling water. I find that using the farro I purchase from Boulette's larder, it only takes about 10 to 15 minutes before the grain is perfectly al dente. Use your own taste buds to make that judgment. Drain the farro.

In the meantime, heat the oven to 400F and pop a handful, or two of walnuts into a roasting pan. Toast them in the heated oven until you start to smell their nutty aroma, but before they become too deeply browned. Remove the pan from the oven (using gloves of course) and throw in some seedless grapes (I like the green/blush ones), and small whole mushrooms. I favour a mix of shiitake, tree oysters and maitake (which I tear into smaller pieces). Sprinkle with a scant teaspoon of smoked Spanish paprika and a couple of bold pinches of Maldon salt before dousing in a decent glug of olive oil. Using a spatula, fold all the ingredients together until everything is evenly coated and well mixed. Pop back into the oven to roast, for 20 about minutes, stirring once half way through.

Once you can smell the mushrooms, the grapes are just on the verge of starting to shrivel and everything else looks golden brown you can remove the pan from the oven and stir in the strained farro grains. Taste and add more salt as necessary (but be careful doing that whilst those grapes and nuts are still piping hot).

I like to serve this salad warm or at room temperature. I am hoping you might like to too...

We did.


One-Pot Pork Chops

My original plan was to cook a pork loin on the grill today.  It was a whole loin and I figured I could get several meals out of it.  It's the perfect cooking mode when it's a perfect 74° outside.

Windows open, birds chirping, light breeze.

Naturally, when I got home, there wasn't enough charcoal to get the job done.  It was Saturday at 3:30pm. I was not about to go to the store.  I had dealt with enough people for one day.

Time for Plan B.

I cut off two chops and wrapped the rest for tomorrow.

I floured the chops and browned them in a casserole.  After they were browned, I took them out of the pan and added thick slices of peeled sweet potatoes.  I put the pork chops atop them, and added brussels sprouts. I sprinkled on some salt, pepper, and sage, and then poured about a quarter-cup of maple syrup over everything.  I put on the lid and into the oven they went.

350° for 45 minutes.

It was the perfect no-brainer, no-effort dinner.

Tomorrow I will tackle the pork loin and the grill.  We're taking Victor's mom out to breakfast in the morning, so I should be feeling sociable enough to tackle the grocery store on the way home.

I'm thinking vaguely Mexican.....  I have some tomatillos in the 'fridge..... and tortillas...


Chorizo and Potatoes

I do have to admit I was feeling lazy tonight.  Just not feeling the creative spirit.  But, feeling creative or not, we have to eat.  It's a rule, I think.  Besides, it takes calories to maintain this figure!  (As an aside, I was down one at the weigh-in, today!)

But I digress...

I had potatoes, I had chorizo, I had spinach, I had provolone cheese.  I had dinner!

I quartered the potatoes and oven-roasted them.  I browned the chorizo  and added the spinach.  Mixed in the cooked potatoes, then some cheese.

About as basic as one can get.

And it did the job.


Sicilian Tuna

It's been a crazy day.  I've been a bit distracted most of the day because today would have been my mom's 84th birthday.  She left us at a much-too-early 75.

But besides that, there's just been a million and one things that have needed doing today, and time to only do a million of them.  So in the midst of it all, I cooked dinner.

Cooking has a way of bringing me back to reality - of balancing me.  On a good day, it channels my energy to the task at hand.  On a bad day, it forces me to concentrate on the task at hand.  Or I burn things.  And since I hate burning things, I do try and concentrate.

Tonight was perfect, because I had a couple of tuna loin steaks I wanted to do a bit differently - so I had to concentrate.  I came across a recipe in an old Gourmet  for Sicilian Tuna.  Victor's Sicilian.  How could I resist?!?

It really did come out good.  And it was quick - about 15 minutes for the tuna, and just a few minutes to make the marinade.  Whole-grain brown rice with some ricotta salada stirred in after it was cooked, and some chopped spinach finished off the plate.

Sicilian Tuna

ingredients
For tuna:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 3 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 2 teaspoons finely chopped oregano
  • 4 (6-ounces) tuna steaks, preferably albacore (1 inch thick; see cooks' note, below)

For sauce:

  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 celery ribs, cut into 1/4-inch dice, plus 3 tablespoons celery leaves, coarsely chopped
  • 2 ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch dice
  • 1/4 cup Kalamata or other brine-cured black olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons small capers, drained and chopped
  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped basil
  • 1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Equipment: a 2-burner grill pan
preparation
Marinate tuna:

Combine oil, lemon juice, anchovies, garlic, oregano, and tuna in a large sealable bag and seal bag, pressing out excess air. Let stand at room temperature, turning occasionally, 30 minutes.

Grill tuna:

Remove tuna from marinade and shake off any excess. Lightly oil grill pan and heat over medium-high heat until smoking. Grill tuna, turning once, until pale pink in center, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm.

Meanwhile, make sauce:

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add diced celery and cook, stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, olives, and capers and cook until sauce is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
Stir in basil, lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper and remove from heat. Spoon sauce over tuna and sprinkle with celery leaves.

Cooks' note:

You can also use bigeye or yellowfin (ahi) tuna.

I didn't use a two-burner grill pan - I just pan-fried it in a splash of olive oil. Worked just fine.  And it was just the thing to get me focused.  Fish=brain food.

Now to finish those tasks.....