Sunday Roast Chicken

I installed new under-cabinet lights today.  They are so bright against the white tile we can use them to land an airplane in the kitchen.  I'm psyched!

We had low-volt lights installed when we did the kitchen in 2001.  They worked fine until 2007 or so.  The transformer blew and then the replacement blew.  Not good.  Last year, we had them redone as rope lights.  Also not good.  They just didn't put out enough light.  I even added to them.  Still not enough light.  Our kitchen is always dark - and even more so in winter.

So...  off to the local lighting store.  Any idea how many options one has for under-cabinet lights?!?  Any idea how much money one can spend on under-cabinet lights?!?   Holy light-bulb, Batman!  I wanted them to work on a dimmer switch, and I wanted them hard-wired.  I didn't want to have to build anything.  We found some xenon lights that fit the bill perfectly - and fit our minimal budget.

We can see, again.  Our always-dark kitchen is now bright and cheery.  I only cursed a few times, too.

With new lights ablaze, I roasted a chicken for dinner.  I ground up a few juniper berries with rosemary, garlic, salt, pepper and just a bit of olive oil and spread it under the skin.  Into a 375° oven for about and hour and 15 minutes.  Thermometer was at 170°.

Egg noodles with pan gravy and spinach with mushrooms finished off the plate.

And Victor was so enamored of the new lights that he decided to bake a cake for dessert!

A flourless chocolate cake to munch on while watching the Oscars.

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.

This is just a great cake.  Every time he makes it I'm in chocolate heaven!

C'mon Oscars!

by Tim Dineen

Salad Weather!

It's no secret that I love the snow.  Multiple back-to-back snowfalls is my idea of winter heaven.  But if I had to choose warm or cold, warm would win every time.  If I'm going to live where it snows in the winter, I want to see LOTS of snow in the winter.  But then I want it to get warm.  Like today.  And then I want to stop eating soups and stews and casseroles and start eating salads.  Like today.

There may still be snow on the ground, but I was craving a salad today.  Mixed greens, micro greens, avocado, tomato, cucumber, hard-cooked eggs, and sauteed beef and mushrroms with a red wine vinaigrette that Victor whipped up.    I cleaned my plate!

And for some strange reason, I had a hankerin' for something I haven't made in years - microwave caramel corn!

I really don't know the last time I made this - we may have still been living in San Francisco.  It's been a long time.

It may be one of the eassiest and most fun things to do!

Microwave Caramel Corn

  • 4 qts popped corn
  • 1 stick butter
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup corn syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp baking soda

Pop corn and place in brown paper grocery bag.

Place butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla in a glass bowl and  bring to a boil in microwave.   Remove from microwave and carefully stir in baking soda.  Mixture will thicken and lighten in color.

Pour over popcorn in bag, roll closed, and shake very well to mix.

Place bag in microwave and heat for 90 seconds.  Shake very well to mix and return to microwave and cook for another 90 seconds.

Shake, again, rip open bag, and enjoy!

Warning:  It's addictive.

by Tim Dineen

Cassoulet and Apple Fig Coffee Cake

The Super Bowl is on TV.  I hate to admit it but I'm really not all that interested this year.  I'm not home for the first time in forever.  We used to fly home for my father's birthday - which just happened to coincide with Super Bowl Sunday.  A big party at my sister Eileen's house, lots of fun, food, laughter - and football pools.  No matter what, it was the one time of the year we knew we would all be together.   Pop's no longer with us and because we're flying home in a couple of months for my nieces wedding, we stayed east this year.  Right off the bat, I'm feeling the blah's.

And there are two teams playing that I really could not care less about.  Okay.  Not totally true.  I don't particularly want New Orleans to win, but I do want Indianapolis to lose.  I opened a hotel in Indianapolis circa 1988.  I pretty much dislike Indianapolis.  A lot.

So while others are having their football parties, I'm catching it peripherally.  It's on in the corner of the computer and it's on in the living room.

I decided to cook for the weather, not football tonight.  I soaked a pound of black  beans last night thinking I might make chili.  The chili morphed into a cassoulet of sorts.  Not a classic cassoulet by any means.  More just a homey slow-baked bean stew.

Kinda Cassoulet

  • 4 bacon slices, coarsely chopped
  • 1 lb beef, cubed
  • 1 lb pork, cubed
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tbsp herbs d'Provence
  • 1/2 cup brandy
  • 1 lb black beans, soaked over night and cooked
  • 1 can diced tomatoes in juice
  • 1 10-ounce package frozen baby lima beans, thawed
  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

Preheat oven to 275°F.

Cook bacon in heavy large ovenproof pot until wilted. Add onions and garlic. Add meats and brown.

Add brandy and simmer until almost evaporated. Add tomato paste and heat through. Stir in beans with about 2 cups cooking liquid, tomatoes with juices, and spices. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to boil.

Cover pot and transfer to preheated oven and bake 2 hours.

I was going to make some beer bread but  got sidetracked with a project I'm working on for a friend... so we had the last of the Pugliese I made last week.  It worked.

And every dinner needs dessert, right?!?  Well... we think so!

Victor made an Apple and Fig Coffee Cake.  Not a coffee cake in the traditional sense of the word, but a cake with a cup of coffee in it!

Apple Fig Coffee Cake

  • 1 Tbsp instant coffee
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped figs
  • 2 medium apples
  • 2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 c packed brown sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 beaten egg
  • 2 tbsp butter, melted

Dissolve coffee in boiling water. Cool. Peel, core, and shred the apples.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

Combine egg, apples, melted butter, and coffee. Add to dry ingredients, stirring just till moistened.

Put it into a greased 9x5x3 loaf pan. Bake at 350°  for about an hour or until cake tests done.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

I did stop what I was doing to watch The Who.  Roger can't hit those high notes anymore, but he does a pretty good job for being 66.  I was bummed that Pete Townsend didn't destroy his guitar at the end.  Oh well.

And as long as I'm ranting... Wasn't the Super Bowl - once upon a time - where they ran really cool, innovative commercials?  These things they've shown tonight are awful.

by Tim Dineen

Picture Perfect Pizza

I have to laugh at the pizza commercial that says their frozen pizza is as good as delivery pizza.

Uh.  Right.

I made hand-spun pizza for years.  I made a hellava lot of pizzas for delivery.  Not one of them was half as good as having that pie delivered to your table right out of the oven.  It's great marketing that can convince someone that a mediocre product is as good as a mediocre product - and get them to buy it.

I've had a few frozen pizzas in my time that were reasonably good - for a frozen pizza - but nothing compares to a fresh-made and fresh-baked pizza.

In case you hadn't heard, it's snowing back here today.  A perfect excuse to turn on the oven and bake a fresh pizza.

This was a team effort.  Victor made the dough and the sauce, I put it together and baked it.  We work well in the kitchen together.

We have a couple of pizza dough recipes we use.  Today was BH&G New Cook Book. (Well...  it was new in 1981 when Victor got it...)

Pizza Dough

  • 1 1/2 cups warm water (100º to 105º)
  • 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
  • 4 cups “00” flour or unbleached all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
  • 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
  • olive oil for bowl

Sprinkle yeast over warm water in bowl of mixer fitted with dough hook. Let proof about 5 minutes.

Mix together flour and salt. Add to yeast mixture. Mix on low speed about 4 minutes or until dough forms a coarse ball. Stop mixer and cover bowl with a towel. Let dough rest about 5 minutes, then remove towel and continue mixing another 2 minutes or so.

Lightly oil a large bowl. Form dough into a ball, transfer to bowl and turn to lightly coat with oil. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes, then refrigerate overnight.

Punch down dough, re-roll, and return to bowl. Tightly cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.

Divide dough into 2 pieces; shape pieces into balls and place on a lightly floured work surface. Loosely cover with a damp kitchen towel and let rise at warm room temperature until doubled, about 2 hours.

The pizza sauce was simply a can of tomato sauce, a splash of red wine, garlic, Greek oregano, salt, and pepper.

I topped it with cheese and homemade Italian sausage.

It was the exact size of the pizza stone.  Luck or skill?  If you voted luck, you would be right.

Pizza for lunch was just what the weatherman ordered, since it's been snowing now for about 20 hours non-stop - with more to come.

A good dinner tonight and another loaf of fresh bread tomorrow.

I love this weather!

by Tim Dineen

Billowing Clouds of Smoke

I made a quick loaf of beer bread tonight.  Chicken sandwiches on warm, fresh bread just sounded good.  And trust me, it was.  I thin-sliced the chicken breasts and  marinated them in a bit of olive oil, garlic, Tabasco, and Dale's Seasoning.  Into a hot skillet they went until browned and cooked through.  Slices of warm bread, mayo, tomato and lettuce.  Real simple, real basic, real good.

But the billowing clouds of smoke nearly drove us out doors.

The beer bread recipe calls for pouring some melted butter on top of the dough before baking.  Some of it always manages to make its way down to the bottom of the oven and smoke a bit.

Tonight, a LOT of it made it down to the bottom of the already-not-that-clean oven.  It smoked a lot.

And silly me...  I turned the oven up to cook the fries.

Billowing clouds of smoke.  So much smoke, in fact, that I had to open every single window and turn on the ceiling fan in hope of blowing it away.  I'm surprised the neighbors didn't call the Fire Department.  Then, again, it's not like they've never seen it before...

So the oven is being cleaned right now.  I'm at the opposite end of the house and I can smell it.

When you're good, you're good.

Speaking of a weeks worth of dinners, we ate well this week.  i just didn't write about it.  I had a few other projects going on and just didn't make the time to write and post.  But I took pictures!  here goes:

We went to Morocco one night...  A Moroccan beef with figs and a Moroccan rice.  Sweet and spicy.

We had some sauce left from Sunday Dinner, so I made a variation on a chicken parmesan.  Under the layer of melted fresh mozzarella is sauce and the last of the fried peppers and roasted garlic we made a while back. m Polenta on the side with fresh carrots and leeks.  I need to get more peppers.  Those really rocked!

And last night there was a filet roast with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes and cauliflower au gratin.  I came really close to making a shepherd's pie for dinner tonight with the leftovers.  The house probably would not have filled with quite as mush smoke if I had...  Then, again... ya never quite know with me...

The cauliflower last night was really good, too. (And probably contributed to tonights smoke.)

We will have a nice, clean oven in just a few hours.

Tomorrow I think I'll roast a chicken.  I should be able to contain it in one pan.

by Tim Dineen

Our Biannual Dinner with Linda and David

Twice a year we have dinner with our friends Linda and David.  July at their house to celebrate Linda's and my birthday, and the week between Christmas and New Year for our holiday festivities.  It's great.  They love food just as much as we do.  We all go over the top just a bit when figuring out what to cook - always something we wouldn't do unless they (or we) were coming to dinner.  It's a lot of fun.

This year, we decided to do a prime rib and individual Yorkshire puddings.  I was going to do Trevor's popovers, but changed my mind at the last minute.  Actually, I chickened out.  I hadn't made a popover or Yorkshire pudding in a bazillion years and didn't want to publicly screw them up.

We started with a 4-bone rib roast.

I don't remember the last time I did a prime rib other than at some hotel or another where I was working.  I actually may have never cooked one at home before.  And I did mention that there were only four of us, right?!?

The roast went into the oven and the hors d'oeuvres were started.

We started with a baked brie with roasted figs in a citrus glaze.  This was an impulse buy at Wegmans when we were shopping for dinner items.  Victor saw the figs and went wild.  We then picked up a wedge of brie and a star was born. It looked like cheesecake with topping before it went inti the oven.

It was ridiculously good.

And we had crab on cucumber slices.

These were really good, too.

Crab Salad on Cucumber Rounds

  • 8 ounces crabmeat
  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise
  • 3 tbsp minced red onion
  • 1 tbsp fresh thyme
  • 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 cucumber, sliced

Mix first 5 ingredients together.  Add salt and pepper, if desired.

Place on cucumber slaices.  Top with paprika.

We also had a hot artichoke and spinach dip, but I missed getting a picture.

Artichoke and Spinach Dip

  • 1 cans  Artichoke Hearts, coarsely chopped
  • 1 box  frozen Spinach, thawed and drained
  • 1/2 cup  Shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 cup  Mayonnaise
  • 1 tsp Garlic Powder
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix ingredients well and transfer to shallow baking dish.  Broil until bubbly and browned.

And Dauphine potatoes!

These are fun.  One of the hotels I worked in years ago served these all the time.  When I win the lottery I want a commercial kitchen in the house - with a real deep fat fryer!

This recipe comes from Gourmet Magazine.

Dauphine Potatoes

  • 1 1/2 pounds russet (baking) potatoes (about 3)
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 large eggs
  • vegetable oil for deep-frying the potatoes
  • coarse salt for sprinkling the croquettes if desired

Bake the potatoes in a preheated 425°F. oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until they are soft, halve them lengthwise, and scoop the potato out of the shells with a spoon, reserving the shells for another use. Force the scooped-out potato through a ricer or a food mill fitted with the medium disk into a large bowl. (There should be about 2 cups riced potato.)

In a saucepan combine 1/2 cup water, the butter, the salt, and the nutmeg, bring the mixture to a boil, and stir in the flour all at once. Reduce the heat to moderate and beat the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon for 3 minutes, or until the paste pulls away from the side of the pan and forms a ball. Remove the pan from the heat, add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition, and beat the mixture until it is smooth and shiny.

Add the potatoes and beat the mixture until it is combined well. The potato mixture may be prepared up to this point 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled. In a deep fryer or large kettle heat 2 inches of the oil until it registers 340°F. on a deep-fat thermometer. Transfer the potato mixture to a large pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch star tip and pipe eight 2 1/2-inch lengths, cutting them with kitchen shears or a small knife, directly into the oil. Fry the croquettes, turning them with a slotted spoon, for 3 minutes, or until they are crisp, golden, and cooked through, transfer them as they are fried to paper towels to drain, and sprinkle them with the salt. Make more croquettes in batches with the remaining potato mixture and transfer the drained croquettes to a rack set in a jelly-roll pan (to prevent them from becoming soggy). The croquettes may be made 2 hours in advance, kept covered loosely with paper towels at room temperature, and reheated on the rack in a preheated 400°F. oven for 5 minutes, or until they are heated through and crisp. If not making the croquettes in advance, keep them warm in a preheated 300°F. oven.

The zucchini boats were just hollowed out zucchini with a carrot puree - cooked carrots, honey, dill, and S&P.  Baked at 350° for 20 minutes.

A simple salad...

And the Yorkshire Puddings...

These were a lot of fun - and gave me the confidence to make the popovers relatively soon.

Yorkshire Puddings

  • 4 large, fresh eggs, measured in a jug
  • Equal quantity of milk to eggs
  • Equal quantity of all purpose/plain flour to eggs
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 tbsp beef drippings
  1. Heat oven to 450°.
  2. Pour the eggs and milk into a large mixing bowl and add the pinch of salt. Whisk thoroughly with an electric hand beater or hand whisk. Leave to stand for 10 minutes.
  3. Gradually sieve the same volume of flour (as the eggs) into the milk and egg mixture, again using an electric hand beater or hand-whisk to create a lump free batter resembling thick cream, if there are any lumps pass the batter through a fine sieve.
  4. Leave the batter to rest in the kitchen for a minimum of 30 minutes, longer if possible - up to several hours.
  5. Place 1 tsp drippings in a Yorkshire pudding tin or muffin tin and heat in the oven until the fat is smoking. Give the batter another good whisk adding 2 tbsps of cold water and fill a third of each section of the tin with batter and return quickly to the oven.
  6. Leave to cook until golden brown approx 20 minutes.

And then we had dessert.

Okay.  I freely admit that I must have been on drugs when I made these.  My thought process was to make 4 individual Baked Alaskas.  Another thing I haven't made in 30 or so years.  The key word to note here is individual.  Right.

Chocolate Cake

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1-1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup grapeseed (or other neutral) oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line sheetpan with parchment paper.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely.

I started off with what looked like a small cake round.

And then it just went out of control.

I drizzled Blood Orange Syrup on the cake because I needed an excuse to open the syrup we bought down in DC at Cowgirl Creamery.

That "small cake round" was really pretty big.  It took a lot of ice cream to properly cover it.

And then the meringue.

Meringue

  • 6 egg whites
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Whip egg whites until foamy. Add vanilla and cream of tartar.

Slowly add sugar and whip until still and glossy - about 5 minutes.

The final step is to brown the meringue in a hot oven.  One could use a blow torch, but I don't have one.

We split two of them between four of us - and even that was too much!  (Okay - I could have eaten a whole one myself, but I'm a dessert/ice cream pig. And another great thing is we now have more desserts just for us!)

I actually did learn a few lessons with this meal - especially the all-important portioning.  I really did forget just how big those desserts would grow.  I could have made them on cupcake bottoms and they probably would have been just right.

But we had a wonderful time - and that's the most important thing.

And now we get to think about what to get Linda for her birthday...  July is not that far away!

by Tim Dineen

Beard on Bread, Tim on Chili

 

By far, one of the best bread-baking books out there is Beard on Bread.

The beauty of anything written by James Beard is that he writes in a straight-forward way, gives common-sense instructions, and gives a list of variations.  His basic premise is "you can't screw it up."  I've been following that advice for years.

So after making a big pot of chili today, I thought making some bread bowls would be a fun way to serve them.  It's cold outside.  I can pretty much justify the calories.  Besides, fresh bread is one of life's great pleasures.

My 'go-to' recipe for a quick and easy bread is Beard's French-style (also called Cuban) Bread.  It's a one-rise and into a cold oven bread that has a great crust.  I thought it would be perfect for bread bowls.  They almost were.

I followed the directions and formed into balls instead of loaves and into the oven they went.  They actually rose up more than they rose out, so, while they could have worked, I decided to put the chili in bowls and serve the bread on the side.  It worked.

Here's the complete 2-page recipe and schpiel from his 1973 cook book.

French-Style Bread

French bread, as we all know, has been praised and prized above all other breads in the world for its distinctive crumb, crisp crust, and superb flavor. However, the carefully controlled preparation of it in commercial bakeries is difficult to duplicate in one’s own kitchen. If you are ready for the challenge, you should search out a recipe that is as complete as the one developed by Julia Child and Simone Beck for Volume 2 of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Their method seems tremendously complex but it is great fun to follow through to the final goal (and once mastered, not difficult to do again); the loaves are startlingly good and genuinely French.

The bread I am giving here is not truly French, and for that reason it is called “French-style.” Actually it could be called “Continental,” because it is very much like the bread one finds in Italy, Spain, and Portugal. It has also been known for many years as "Cuban Bread." It is a casual, easy-to-make bread that can be played with in several ways. If made according to the basic recipe below it produces a good loaf ready for eating almost the minute it comes from the oven. It will not hold for more than half a day but, of course, can be frozen.

Yield: 2 long loaves

Ingredients

  • 1½ packages active dry yeast
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 2 cups warm water (l00° to 115°, approximately)
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 5 to 6 cups all-purpose or hard-wheat flour
  • 3 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
  • 1 tablespoon 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 two long, French bread-style loaves. Place on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with the cornmeal but not buttered. Slash the tops of the loaves 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 tops are rapped.

VARIATIONS

For a wheaten loaf, use half white flour and half whole-wheat flour.

Substitute equal parts of whole-wheat flour and cracked wheat for half of the white flour.

For a more involved, more tightly textured loaf: Use either the original recipe or the whole-wheat variation. After the first rising, remove from the bowl, punch down, and knead again for 5 to 10 minutes. Return to the buttered bowl for a second rising. When it has doubled in bulk, form into two loaves and place on a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes. Slash with a sharp razor or knife, brush with slightly beaten egg white or water, and place in a cold oven set for 375° or 400°. Bake until nicely browned and hollow sounding when tapped with the knuckles.

Line the oven rack with tiles (see page 12), preheat the oven to 400°, and slide your bread loaves from the baking sheet directly onto the tiles, which have been sprinkled with cornmeal.

Add to the liquid in the first step 4 to 5 tablespoons olive oil and then proceed with either the original recipe or the whole-wheat variation. You may need to use a small additional amount of flour.

Use 1/3 white flour, 1/3 whole-wheat, and 1/3 cracked-wheat. This will give a very nice coarse, nutlike texture to the bread. With this mixture I would advise adding olive oil in the beginning to give tenderness.

© 1973 James A. Beard

Chili is one of those things I just kinda make.  I don't really have a favorite recipe and I more or less make it differently every time I do make it.  I make it with ground beef, cubed beef, stew beef, fresh beans, canned beans, dried beans, whole tomatoes, canned tomatoes, fresh chilis or dried or ground.

It's chili.  Ya can't really screw it up.

This chili was pretty much a canned affair.  Beans and tomatoes were canned and the beef broth came out of a carton.  The beef was real.

Canned beans are a great convenience and I always pick up a can or three when when they're on sale.   While I was actually planning to use dried beans, Victor gently reminded me last night that we had probably a dozen cans of various beans on the shelf taking up more room than a single bag of beans.  I just love a logical man!  Canned beans, it was!  I used Roman beans, cannellini, pintos, pink beans, and red beans.

5-Bean Chipotle Chili

  • 2 pounds beef, cubed
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 14oz can diced tomatoes
  • 2 8oz cans tomato sauce
  • 1 qt beef broth
  • 6 cans assorted beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 tsp chipotle powder
  • 1 tbsp cumin
  • 1 tbsp chili powder
  • salt and pepper
  • cheese and sour cream for toppings

Brown beef (I browned it in bacon grease because I had some from breakfast).  Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is wilted.

Add spices and cook to rid them of their 'raw' taste.

Add tomatoes and then broth.  Bring to a boil and then simmer about an hour.

Add beans and simmer another hour or so.

Check for seasoning and serve with cheese and sour cream.

Bread was served on the side.  It was crusty, crunchy, and perfect for dipping and sopping.

And there are leftovers.

Yum.

by Tim Dineen

Spaghetti Sauce

Beth Dineen Engel

  • 1 lb. hamburger
  • 1 lb. hot sausage
  • 1 onion (chopped)
  • 3 cloves garlic (chopped)
  • 3 cans Italian style tomato paste
  • 15 oz. tomatoes (I use home canned)
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil.

1 teaspoon each:

  • oregano
  • marjoram
  • rosemary
  • basil
  • 2 bay leaves

Cook onion and garlic in oil until onion is clear. Add meat and brown. Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer on low for two hours. If you are going to be gone simmer in slow cooker. This makes a lot of sauce for more than two people so I freeze half. Cook any kind of pasta and pour hot sauce on top. I use this sauce with Mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, fat free ricotta, and cottage cheese to make lasagna.

by Tim Dineen

Sopitos

10-18-sopitos

I recently heard of a store in Norristown called Plymouth Produce.  It's all of about 8 miles from us in a pretty empty shopping center.  (Parts of Norristown are pretty blighted...)  While I wasn't in the market for another produce store, the intriguing part of what I had heard was that they had 2 long aisles devoted to Mexican and Italian products - things one doesn't usually find at the local grocery store Mexican or Italian Food Aisles.

I decided to give it a shot.

The store itself was exactly what I expected to find in a rundown, empty shopping mall - it was a bit rundown.  But the stuff IN the store wasn't.  Produce looked fresh, cans weren't dirty, dusty, or rusty.  It appeared that, at minimum, they had a good turnover of product - and fairly reasonable prices.

The downside to the produce was it was all prebagged and priced.  With only two of us, I don't need 8 zucchini, even if the price is only $2.50.  Or 8 bell peppers, 6 ears of corn...  I'm just not going to use it.  But I did pick up a bag of tomatillos.  I don't see them often at the local grocery, and a bag of about a dozen tomatillos of various sizes was only $2.50.

It was fun walking up and down the aisles - I found some fun products like strawberry balsamic vinegar for a mere $2.99.  Okay, I'm not expecting "Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena" for $2.99, but it looked as if it would be something fun.  They also had lemon and orange.  I figured if nothing else, they'd make a good reduction. I bought all three.  It won't go to waste.  A bit of papardelle pasta, Cento cherry pepper shooters, canellini beans, tuna in olive oil... time to head over to  Mexico.

I was surprised at how many of the Mexican products I already had.  I still have lots of chipotles in adobo, sofrito, recaito, red and green moles...  I passed on a lot of things I can pick up closer to home, but I did get some piloncillo!  It's unrefined sugar in a cone shape.  I have NO idea what I'm going to use it for, but I had to have some!  It was too good (and cheap!) to pass up.

In the front of the store is a deli counter as well as a display unit that had fresh Mexican chorizo with jalapenos, several types of queso fresco, and something I hadn't seen in years  (and never pre-made!) - Sopes!

Sopes are thick corn tortillas with a rim, for lack of a better description.  Little flat-bottom bowls.  Perfect for filling with shredded pork and beans and cheese and the like.  When fried, they're crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside.   I bought a pack.  And some chorizo, and two types of queso fresco.

Dinner was starting to come together!

I thought a layered approach was the way to go and started with the tomatillos.  This is a bit of a spin on a Rick Bayless recipe...

Tomatillo Sauce

  • 10-12 tomatillos
  • 3 tbsp salsa ranchera
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper sauce
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • juice of one lime
  • 2 cups broth (I used beef, tonight)
  • cilantro, to taste
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Remove the husk from the tomatillos and rinse them to remove the sticky residue. Place the tomatillos on a baking sheet and broil until they are slighly blackened.

Place the tomatillos and the chiles in a food processor and pulse until they are broken up, but not pureed.

Cook the onion and garlic in a small amount of oil until soft.

Add to the food processor. Pulse until everything is almost smooth.

Fry the puree over medium heat until it starts to thicken, darken, and smell very fragrant.

Slowly add the broth, stirring occasionally, and cook sauce until it thickens.

Add the chopped cilantro and stir well.

Chorizo

  • 4 links fresh chorizo
  • 1/2 small onion, diced
  • 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper sauce
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Begin browning diced onion in a bit of olive oil.  Remove chorizo from casing and add to pan.  Cook through.

Add tomato sauce and simmeruntil nice and thick.

Check for seasonings and add salt, pepper, and additional hot sauce, if desired.

The beans were unadulterated canned black beans, and the rice was white rice cooked in broth with a cup of frozen corn.

To assemble:

Fry the sopes according to package instructions.

Fill with a spoonful of chorizo filling,.

Top with a spoonful of black beans.

Top that with tomatillo sauce.

Sprinkle queso fresco on top and serve rice on the side.

Enjoy!

These really were awesome!    All through the meal we were both saying "Gee, these are good" and "Wow, I really like these".

I dirtied four pots, but it was worth it!

Tomorrow morning, I'm heading up to the new Wegmans in Collegeville.  I already have my shoppers card, my list, my coupon book, and my card for a free reusable shopping bag (I only have about 15 of them right now... why not get a few more, eh?!?)  I'm hoping that a Monday morning trip will get me in and out within a reasonable amount of time.  But it's a brand-new store, only open a week.

We shall see...

by Tim Dineen

Hot Soup Cold Day

10-16-soup

It was cold today.  And wet.  One of my favorite weather combinations.  I like cold, wet, and windy, too.  That icy wind that penetrates right to the marrow, no matter how many layers one is wearing.  Ah, yes.  My kind of weather.

Actually, I think weather like that really is just fine - provided I don't have to go out in it, there's a roaring fire in the fireplace, plenty of oil in the tank, and a nice soup or stew on the stove.

The weather wasn't really that bad, today, but it was the first really cold day we've had - a perfect excuse for a pot of simmering something on the stove.

I had taken some stew beef out of the freezer this morning, but I really wasn't sure until I got home whether it was to be stew or soup.

Soup won.

Ingredient-wise, I could do either, but a thin-broth beef and bean soup was really calling my name.  I had made a sausage and bean soup at work for the crew today which whetted my appetite, so to speak.

As one of six kids, I was raised on soups, and like my mother, I find cooking them to be a natural.  Unless I'm making a very specific soup recipe - like a Mulligatawny or something - I don't go to the store to buy ingredients to make a soup; I open the cupboards and refrigerator to see what I can throw into the pot.  9 times out of 10 they're clean-out-the-refrigerator concoctions, using up stray bits of this and that.

The local grocery store had canned beans on sale several months ago and over the course of a couple of shopping trips, I probably bought a dozen assorted cans or more. There were 6 left in the cupboard this afternoon and I've been on a kick to use up what's in the house before going out and bringing in more.  Now there are only 2 - I can almost justify that trip to the new Wegmans this coming Monday!

Beef and Bean Soup

  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 4 ribs celery, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 pound stew beef
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes in juice
  • 6 cups beef broth
  • 4 cans assorted beans, drained and rinsed (I used canellini, garbanzo, black, and pinto)
  • 1 tsp French herbs
  • salt and pepper

Wilt onion, celery, and garlic in a  bit of olive oil.  Add beef and brown.

Add red wine and cook to reduce by about half.

Add remaining ingredients and bring to boil, then simmer, covered,  about an hour or so.

Taste for seasoning and serve with a crusty bread.

Speaking of Wegmans, the cupboards are getting a bit bare around here since we were in DC and I didn't do my normal weekly shopping ...  We've received LOTS of circulars, coupon books - all sorts of freebie-goodie-come-ons to get us into the new Collegeville store that opened last Sunday.

The goal is to spend a couple of hours walking the aisles, resisting all of the things I flat-out don't need, and make it out of the store under $200.00.

I can do it.

I am a professional.

(Famous last words?!?  I'll let ya know Monday afternoon!)

by Tim Dineen

Dinner Times Deux

7-30-yam-2

Too busy to type, but not too busy to eat!

Last night I came up with an interesting dish - stuffed yellow sweet potatoes!

I had taken a chicken breast out of the freezer before leaving for work thinking I'd make salads when I got home, but ham kept calling my name...  I knew we had a couple of sweet potatoes, there was some broccoli in the fridge...  Ham steak, baked sweets, and broccoli. Done.

Except...

When I was checking out, a coworker asked what the ham was for.  I told him "Ham steak, baked sweets, and broccoli."  He replied, "Gee, that sounds awfully boring, for you."  I got into the truck and thought, "he's right - it does sound boring".  Baked Stuffed Sweet Potatoes were born!

First, I baked the two sweet potatoes.  Whilst they were baking, I took the aforementioned chicken breast and diced it.  Into a skillet it went with a drizzle of olive oil.  When it was about 3/4 cooked, I added the diced ham, some cut up steamed broccoli and about 2 oz of grated manchego cheese.  A bit of salt and pepper.

When the potatoes were done, I sliced 'em in half, scooped out the potao, leaving a 1/4" shell, and mixed the scooped potato into the ham/chicken/broccoli/cheese mixture.  I didn't add any butter or anything - I let the cheese and the potato be the binder.

IT got scooped into the shells, and back into a 350° oven for about 20 minutes.  (I didn't use it all.  Most, but not all.)

Dinner was served.

It was a great combination of flavors - definitely not boring and  reasonably healthy!  A 4 oz plain, baked sweet potato is less than 120 calories.  These spuds were probably about 6 ounces, so allowing for a bit more, call it 200 calories. Chicken, 100 calories, ham, another 100 calories, max.  25 calories for the broccoli and roughly another 100 calories for the cheese. 525 calories for dinner.  Not too shabby.

7-31-cod

Tonight it was time to have some fish!  6 ounce cod fillets - 135 calories.  Baked in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil, and half a plum tomato - maybe 30 calories.  350° for 10 minutes.

I cut up a zucchini and a yellow squash (maybe 50 calories per serving) A drizzle of olive oil  and another 2 plum tomatoes, diced - 50 more calories per serving - and then the big one - gnocchi!  That was a whopping 240 calories per serving - half the bag for the two of us.  What's rather amusing about that was I used to cook the entire bag for the two of us and still think it wasn't enough.

It was all sauteed  with a bit of garlic, and a pinch of Italian seasoning, and then a splash of red wine.  I would have used the fresh herbs out back, but it was pouring rain (as in torrential downpour) just as I started cooking.  That's why I keep a well-stocked larder - to cover emergencies and not wanting to get soaked.

Actually, the whole reason I decided to serve it up this way was because I thought a real-sized portion of the gnocchi would just look too small on the plate.  This way, with the veggies and the gnocchi mixed together, it became a really generous accompanyment to the fish.

And it made for a better picture!  :)

Oh... and we're both losing a bit of weight!

by Tim Dineen

Grilled Turkey Breast with Corn Peach Salsa

7-20-chipotle-turkey-2

It's officially Day One of our weight-loss-and-smaller-portions regime.  I started my recipe search over at Words to Eat By - a great food blog written by Debbie Koenig.  Debbie is a great cook, a wonderful writer, and the wife of Victor's sister-in-law's sister's son, Stephen.  We're almost like cousins - or something.  Okay - that's pretty much a stretch, but Debbie is the person responsible for me writing this blog.   It was Thanksgiving 2005 that they were here for the festivities.  Debbie was writing Words To Eat By and pretty much convinced me that I should write one, too.  That weekend I installed a blogging program on my recipe website.

The rest, as they say, is history.

So... fast-forward to this morning...  I had been on WtEB yesterday looking for ideas and had found a great-sounding recipe for Grilled Chipotle-Lime-Tequila Chicken.  While that in and of itself sounded great, the Corn and Peach Salsa she served along with it was the deciding factor.  The only problem was, I had already pulled a big ol' bone-in turkey breast out of the freezer. (It had been there since Easter - Victor's mom got it as a freebie from one of the local grocery stores.)  But I wanted that salsa... Tonight's dinner was born!

I decided that I was going to BBQ the turkey breast.  Had I roasted it in the oven, I would have been compelled to make gravy, mashed potatoes, probably sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, a small batch of dressing...  You do see where this is going...  Turkey in the oven pretty much requires all of the traditional accompaniments.  A turkey on the grill can become anything at all.

So...  I dusted the breast with chipotle powder, cumin, garlic, salt and pepper.  I put it on the grill with briquettes around the side and slow-cooked it with lid for about 2 1/2 hours.  Perfect.

I had been to Gentile's earlier in the morning for my weekly produce binge, so while the breast was cooking, I made the corn salsa.

Corn-Peach Salsa - from Words to Eat By

Serves 6

Kernels from 2 ears extremely fresh corn (if it’s not perfectly fresh, you’ll have to cook the corn first, then cool it)
1 ripe peach, peeled and diced fine
½ small red onion, diced fine
10 pappadew peppers, diced fine [I used pappadews because the chicken it’s going with is quite spicy—if you want a spicy salsa, too, substitute one small jalapeno, minced]
Juice of ½ lime
8 mint leaves, chopped
Fleur de sel

Combine all ingredients except fleur de sel in a bowl and stir. Refrigerate for ½ hour or more to let the flavors meld. Just before serving, sprinkle with fleur de sel.

This salsa should probably have some cilantro in it, so if you’re crazy enough to like that dirty-dish-water-tasting weed, go right ahead and swap it for the mint.

I made it pretty much just as stated - with fresh uncooked white corn and the mint.  While I am a huge fan of that dirty-dish-water-tasting weed, cilantro, the idea of mint in a spicy salsa intrigued me.  I'm glad it did. I swapped out the pappadew peppers for Goya Aji Picante Hot Pickled Peppers because I just happened to have them in the cabinet.

The salsa rocked.  I'm a huge fan of fruit salsas to begin with, but the fresh corn and perfectly ripe peaches really went well together.

Since I hadn't marinated the turkey, but still wanting that kinda boozy, citrusy, smoky flavor, I decided I'd make a bit of  a sauce out of the marinade.  Alas, I had no tequila and no limes in the house!  I had every other liquor in the world as well as lemons and oranges - but no tequila and lime.  A bit difficult to make a chipotle tequila lime sauce without two key ingredients, right?  Right.  So I didn't.  I made a chipotle orange sauce, instead.

Chipotle Orange Sauce

  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • juice of 1 large orange
  • 1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo, finely minced
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tsp cornstarch mixed with about 2 tbsp water

Mix first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan.  Bring to boil and reduce to about 1/2 cup.  Thicken with cornstarch to desired consistency.

Brown rice cooked with cumin, chili powder, and cherry tomatoes,  and zucchini waffle-cut on the mandoline and then put under the broiler.

The portions were smaller than in days (weeks/months/years) past.  We ate without going back for seconds, and we have leftovers for some fun lunches!  We were both on the treadmill this morning and will be going back on tonight.

All-in-all, a successful first day!

by Tim Dineen