Another Summer Salad
This was a bit of a clean-out-the-refrigerator-and-produce-bowl salad since I'm doing the grocery shopping tomorrow.
Perfectly ripe plums, a slightly over-ripe avocado, mushrooms, zucchini strips, heirloom cherry tomatoes, chicken, and Israeli couscous.
The couscous was left over from the other night when I stuffed zucchini blossoms. I added some diced sugar plums (I'm sure I'll be having visions of them dancing in my head, tonight!) and a couple of teaspoons of the dressing Victor made. I thin-sliced a zucchini on the mandoline, baked the strips in the oven for about 5 minutes with a bit of S&P, formed them into tubes, and filled them with the couscous salad.
I had planned on grilling the chicken breasts, set up the charcoal chimney, lit everything... waited until it looked as if it took, and headed into the house. 20 minutes later, I went out and it was stone cold. Ooops!
So... I thinly sliced the raw chicken (it was in a fig and vinegar marinade) and stuck it under the broiler. It wasn't quite as lovely and juicy as it could have been, but it was really good with Victor's simple balsamic dressing (olive oil, balsamic vinegar, fresh basil & oregano, garlic, S&P).
And we were good boys tonight - we didn't clean our plates!
Masala Salmon and Squash Blossoms
Masala, Mango, and Mayo. A great combination - especially when salmon gets included.
The masala was masala tandoori naan - the bread base for... the mango was the mango ginger chutney that was mixed with... the mayo - which became the sauce covering the masala tandoori naan.
I dusted the salmon with garam masala and popped it into a 350° oven for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, I cooked a half-cup of Israeli couscous and set it aside. I diced a shallot and half a small zucchini in a drizzle of olive oil, added a diced tomato, garlic, and a pinch of S&P.
I mixed that all with the couscous, some chopped fresh basil, and about 3 ounces of feta cheese.
It was stuffed into squash blossoms and then into a hot skillet with a dab of butter. I turned down the heat, put a lid on the pan and let them cook for about 2 minutes.
Everything totally rocked. I think I could have eaten a dozen of the squash blossoms.
And there's gonna be a homemade cherry cobbler for dessert!
Sausage and Peppers and Onions - and Cheese!
I think it was Bonnie who asked if we ever had a bad meal... Does undercooking the sausage count?!?
I had some really good spicy Italian sausages and I fried them whole with onions and then added roasted red peppers... Put 'em on baguettes with shaved manchego cheese, took a big bite and asked Victor how cooked HIS sausage was... The same as mine - not quite cooked, enough. How sad.
The sandwiches came apart, the sausages went into the microwave and three minutes later, we were enjoying dinner, once again.
It happens. Oh well...
The clafouti from last night was perfect.
Life is good.
Repurposing Mexican-Style
That really good Empanada Filling from a couple of days ago made a super-yummy hot taco dip tonight! I mixed in a bit of enchilada sauce, a can of pinto beans, and lots of cheese and baked it at the ever-popular 350° for about 45 minutes. Blue corn tortilla chips were the perfect vehicle to get it from bowl to mouth. Corona's on the deck, sunshine and blue skies. Summer has been pretty good, thus far.
But it was back inside for the main course - build-your-own-burritos.
Ground beef with onions, peppers, chipotles, cumin, tomato sauce... sliced avocados, chopped tomatoes, refried black beans, rice, corn, nectarine salsa, sour cream, manchego cheese, and handmade tortillas (not handmade by me...) We stuffed ourselves and Victor is still going to have leftovers for lunch for a week. Yum.
And there's a nectarine clafouti in the oven right now...
Dover Sole
Bastille Day. I can hear a flippant Marie Antoinette stating "qu'ils mangent de la brioche".
I suppose I could have found a fabulous French recipe for sole tonight. Sole Meunière would have been a great choice - it was Julia Child's first meal in France, after all - but I wanted a bit more tonight. I've already had my culinary revelation and wasn't looking for another...
I found a recipe for a Sole Picatta with Capers and Grapes and thought it held promise. I didn't care for the fact that it called for white grape juice in the sauce. That stuff is just waaaaaaay too sweet for me - but I did like the combination of grapes and capers. A new recipe was born!
Dover Sole Picatta
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Dover sole fillets
- flour
- 1 cup seedless grapes, cut in half
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp capers
Heat oil in large skillet. Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper and dredge in flour. Add to skillet; cook until browned and just opaque in center, about 2 minutes per side.
Transfer fish to plates. Add wine and whisk up any browned bits. Add butter and capers. Bring to boil and add grapes. Simmer sauce until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.
Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over fish.
It was served with a mixture of black japonica rice, mahogany rice, and wild rice cooked with a shallot sauteed in a bit of butter, garlic, S&P, and chicken broth.
Vegetable was zucchini with tomatoes and fresh basil.
And... besides the chocolate cake, we have G Carl Tripician Macaroons from Atlantic City! Their website states: Tripicians is now in the ninety-nineth year of the Jersey Shore Macaroon tradition. Our Macaroons are made from the finest of ingredients, using a complex baking process and a time-honored recipe that hasn't changed since 1910. Our chewy flavorful Almond Macaroons and Coconut Macaroons are truly unlike any others. They're delicious, they're sinful, they're addictive. Try some today!
And by jove, I think we might!
More Sumptuous Summer Salads
'Tis the season!
Our bountiful bevvy of beauties tonight consisted of:
- Mixed baby greens
- Arugula
- Asparagus, marinated in balsamic and lemon pepper
- Hard cooked eggs
- Nectarines
- Tomatoes
- Gorgonzola cheese
- Avocado
- Grilled chicken
and a dressing made of balsamic, olive oil, honey, champagne mustard, and garlic.
And we had more of that wonderful chocolate cake for dessert.
Chicken and Chorizo Empanadas
Growing up out west and living and working with folks from all over Mexico, Central and South America, I do know there are some huge regional differences among the various countries and cultures. Food-wise, even similar ingredients can be put together in such a way that one look or bite can yell out 'Nicaragua' or 'El Salvador', or 'Mexico'. But knowing there are huge differences doesn't necessarily stop me from lumping everyone and everything together when I'm looking for dinner ideas. Using a Salvadoran pupusa-type filling for a Mexican-style enchilada with a Cuban sauce is a natural for me. And if I happen to have brussel's sprouts in the fridge, they can become that night's side vegetable. My own mini-UN dinner.
If I'm cooking for company or for an occasion of some sort, I'll generally follow the rules a bit more, but Tuesday dinner is Tuesday dinner...
With that thought in mind, I decided to make empinadas for dinner tonight.
The recipes started out at Bon Appetit, but I played around with them to suit my ingredients.
Empadada Dough
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 stick butter
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup ice water mixed with
- 1 tbsp distilled white vinegar
Pulse flour, salt, and butter in food processor about 4-5 times. Add egg, ice water and vinegar and pulse a few more times to bring it all together. Knead it a few times on a lightly floured board and mthen roll out to about a 1/4" thickness. Using a 4"-5" bowl as a guide, cut out as many circles as you can. Reroll scraps and cut out a few more.
Empanada Filling
- 2 lbs chicken thighs (bone-in are best)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 large onions, sliced
- 1 bell pepper, sliced
- 1 jar pimento, diced
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 lb diced chorizo
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 cup chopped pimento-stuffed green olives
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
Heat oil in a heavy skillet over moderately high heat. Brown chicken and then transfer to a plate. Sauté onions, peppers, garlic, and bay leaves in fat remaining in skillet, stirring frequently, until onions are softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add chorizo and paprika and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add olives, raisins, wine, and broth and bring to a boil, stirring and scraping up any brown bits. Return chicken to skillet along with any juices accumulated on plate, then reduce heat to moderately low and simmer chicken, covered, until tender, 30 minutes total.
Remove chicken, shred, and mix back into sauce. Sauce shoulkd be pretty thick. If it's not, simmer, uncovered, for a few minutes. Cool.
Fill empanadas with about 2 tbsp filling, crimp and seal with fork.
Fry in hot oil about 5 minutes or until nicely browned.
I also made a quick sauce for the empanadas with tomato sauce, chipotles, garlic, cumin... yum.
Spanish-style rice, a bit of corn, and a cold Corona.
Life is good.
Baked Alaskan Cod
For the first time in months I've actually written the word "Alaska" and not first referenced their soon-to-be-former-governor. I love the seafood up there but can't say the same for their politicians. Then again, there really aren't too many politicians I do like. They're all politicians.
But politics aside for a moment, Victor cooked up a great Alaskan Cod tonight. Really good!
He made up some fresh breadcrumbs, added a bit of garlic and a pinch of Italian seasoning and a drizzle of olive oil to moisten it a bit. He patted it onto the cod and into the oven it went.
And as a treat, he made a really good tartar sauce - mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish and worcestershire sauce.
Israeli couscous medley and broccoli finished the plate. It was just the perfect mix of flavors - and even more perfect because I didn't cook!
Sumptuous Summer Salads
I've been a bit remiss in my salad-making this summer. It's strange because I've probably been buying a lot more produce than in years past - it's just not ending up on a plate with a dressing. It probably has a bit to do with the charcoal grill vs the old gas grill, too. It was easier to toss something on the gas grill and then use it to top a salad. Now... if I'm starting a fire, I want something a bit more substantial. Trade-offs....
But... the coals were lit tonight for a couple of chicken breasts sprinkled with a bit of garlic, olive oil, S&P. I also grilled some Belgian endive - excellent on the grill!
I also added tomatoes and avocado, and served it atop fresh arugula.
Victor made a vinaigrette with orange juice, balsamic and olive oil, with garlic and herbs from the garden.
I'm going to have to do these more often. (Except tomorrow... I have a couple of steaks that are ready for the charcoal...)
Sofrito Stuffed Peppers
Sofrito sauce is my friend. It's amazing just how many things I have been able to make with it.
For those just tuning in, sofrito sauce is a basic Spanish sauce of onions, tomatoes, garlic, and a variety of seasonings. It has many variations and is widely used in Central America, Cuba, and throughout the various Hispanic communities. It's good. And I can buy it jarred.
Tonight's variation on a theme is a simple stuffed pepper. The concept came from an item I saw in a grocery store freezer.
I used red peppers and black japonica rice, but any peppers and any rice will work. I also had a goodly amount of filling left over. This would easily stuff four peppers (eight halves).
Sofrito Stuffed Peppers
- 1 cup rice
- 1 jar sofrito sauce
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth
- 1 lb langostinos (or shrimp)
- 1 tomato, diced
- 5 green onions, diced
- 2 cups shredded cheese
- 1 small can sliced black olives, drained
- 4 bell peppers, halved
Cook rice with 1/2 cup sofrito sauce and 1 1/2 cups beef broth until tender.
When cooked, add remaining sofrito sauce, langostinos, tomato, cheese, green onions, and olives. Reserve a bit of onion and olives for garnish.
Mix everything well and stuff into pepper halves.
Place on sheet pan and bake at 350° for about 30 minutes.
This is one of those things that is only limited by ones imagination... Switch out the peppers, any type of rice will work, but so would so many other things - barley, lentils, couscous, beans... The filling could become vegetarian really easily by substituting some diced vegetables for the langostinos. Different cheeses...
Play with it. Have fun.
It's pretty much guaranteed to be good no matter how you do it!
Snapper
After the excesses of the holiday weekend, it's time to lighten the dinner plate a bit.
Scarlet Snapper, zucchini, green onions, and a bit of red pepper and onion spread. Covered and baked at 350° for 15 minutes.
Can we say easy, boys and girls?!?
I added nothing to the dish - no oil, butter, anything. Didn't need it. The zucchini gave of enough liquid to steam everything quite nicely. The spread was slightly spicy...
It worked well.
Pork Scallops with LOTS of Mushrooms
When I pulled two thick pork chops out of the freezer, this morning, I didn't have much of a plan, but I did kinda figure they would go on the grill. I still have BBQ sauce as well as a bazillion different things to marinade with.
When I got home from work and opened the fridge, I knew something else was going to become of them - and it was going to involve mushrooms!
I had lots of mushrooms in the ol' vegetable bin, and mushrooms don't usually like to stick around that long. Those nice, thick pork chops were about to get sliced in half, pounded, floured, and sauteed - with a big ol' sliced leek, white wine, a splash of chicken broth, and a pinch of French herbs.
It was a good call, if I do say so m'self! And... it was a lot quicker than firing up the grill!
Lumpy, unpeeled mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli finished the plate.
And since it's hot and muggy outside, we'll have ice cream for dessert later on.
And we're going to have guests starting tomorrow!
Oh boy!