Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

I've been dreaming of Sweet Potatoes.  They're one of my favorite foods - yet, like a lot of things, they tend to get overlooked.  They're almost always in the house - and almost always just get popped into the oven and baked.  Until tonight.

I actually peeled one, sliced it thin, and made a sort of galette out of it.  I'm going to eventually fry some sweet potatoes, I know.  But not tonight.

Sweet Potato Galette

  • 1 large sweet potato
  • 3 tbsp butter, divided
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp flour
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Peel potato and slice thin. Mix potatoes in bowl with brown sugar, spices, and flour.  Mix well.  Add 2 tbsp melted butter and mix.

Melt 1 tbsp butter in an 8" skillet and layer potatoes evenly, overlapping in concentric circles.

Press down, cover with foil, and place a 425° oven for about 45 minutes.  Remove foil for last 15 minutes of cooking.

The cicken was marinated in olive oil, red wine, garlic, salt, pepper, and herbs d'Provence and then grilled over indirect heat for about 45 minutes.

I made the bean salad yesterday.

Fresh Bean Salad

  • 1 1/2 cups shelled cranberry beans (or a can of beans of your choice, rinsed and drained)
  • several ounces of fresh green beans, trimmed
  • 1/2 red onion, sliced
  • 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • fresh basil
  • fresh oregano
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Cook beans until soft.  Blanch green beans.  Place both in ice water to stop cooking and quickly chill.

Drain.  Mix in bowl with remaining ingredients.  Serve chilled or at room temperature.

And I used up the last of the bread dough in the 'fridge for a fresh loaf of bread.

Time to mix up a new batch tomorrow!

by Tim Dineen

Sausage and Peppers

You know the warning about wearing gloves when dealing with hot peppers?  I do.  Quite well, in fact.

Did I heed that warning when cleaning that pound-plus of long hot peppers today?!?  Of course not.  I don't have any gloves in the house!  Several hours later, I can still feel a bit of burn in my hands.  The only good thing about it is it's keeping me focused to keep from rubbing my eyes.

I would die.

I almost died cleaning them.  I have never coughed and sneezed so much doing anything.  Ever.  They were totally overwhelming.  Non-stop sneezing and coughing.  Rivulets of water pouring from my eyes.

I loved every minute of it.

I usually get long Italian peppers to mix with the hots, but the produce store was out of them this morning.  Plan B.  Red and green bells, cut into strips.

Now... Victor usually does the peppers.  He's the Italian.  He knows his peppers.  But he was working today and I wanted them with dinner.  Time to do it, myself.

I mixed about 2 pounds each of red and green bell peppers with the pound and a quarter or so of the hots.  Into a really large skillet with olive oil and eventually, some salt and pepper.

Just before they were done, I shredded 3 cloves of garlic into them.   The garlic gets bitter if ya put it in too soon.

90 degrees outside and I opened windows and turned on the exhaust fan to fry them up.  The breeze blowing through kept me from keeling over in the kitchen.  Those peppers are wicked!

The peppers keep for a really long time in the 'fridge (not that we allow them to stay around long...) They go with just about anything, from sausages to sandwiches, steaks to salads.

And speaking of peppers...  here's a recipe I used to make all of the time and haven't in a few years.  Red Pepper Relish. This one really lasts forever in the 'fridge.  It's from Chris Leishman's cook book Recipes From The Heart.  It's one of those things you end up finding a million and one uses for.  It's especially good on a cold flank steak sandwich on a crusty french roll.  Find some red peppers on sale and go make a batch!

The fried peppers made the perfect accompaniment to dinner tonight.  Grilled Italian sausages, grilled polenta, broccoli rabe, and a loaf of crusty Italian bread.

For the polenta, I used 2 cups of non fat milk, 3/4 cup of polenta, salt & pepper, and about 2 ounces of asaiago cheese.  When it was cooked, I put it into a well-buttered 8"x8" pan and when it was relatively cool, cut it into quarters and each quarter diagonally.  Onto the grill for a few minutes.

The broccoli rabe was sauteed with onions in olive oil and a splash of red wine vinegar.

It really was a simple dinner with some really awesome flavors.

For dessert, we have more Boston Cream Pie.

There's also fresh peach ice cream, but, really...  One dessert at a time.

by Tim Dineen

Burgers and Salads

This was one of those days where I felt like making stuff, but nothing seemed to go together - or, at least, what I had wasn't what I wanted.  I made a black barley and corn salad earlier, Victor had made a huge fruit salad, and I had burger thawing.  But I didn't want burgers.  Or, I didn't want plain ol' burgers.  For a brief moment I thought Salisbury Steak, but gravy didn't go with cold corn salad and fresh fruit.

I grabbed my new Lidia cook book for inspiration.

She had a recipe for a meatloaf - but I wasn't in the mood for meatloaf.  But I did have all the ingredients.  I decided to make the meatloaf into burgers!  I mean...  meatloaf is just a big hamburger with stuff in it, right?!?

So...  dinner is burgers with stuff in them.  Problem solved.

Needless to say, I cut the ingredients waaaaaay down - I pretty much quartered the recipe.  And it came out real good!  Here's her recipe.  Try making the meatloaf.  I'll bet it's good, too!

Polpettone di Manzo con Ricotta

Lidia Bastianich

Serves 8 or more

  • 1 cup milk
  • 3 cups day- old bread cubes, from a loaf of country bread
  • 3 pounds ground beef (freshly ground preferred)
  • 3 large eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt
  • 1 pound drained fresh ricotta (about 2 cups), plus more for the sauce if you like
  • 1 bunch scallions,finely chopped (about 1 cup)
  • ½ cup grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano- Reggiano
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
  • ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • ½ pound fresh mozzarella, cut in ½- inch cubes (about 2 cups)
  • ¼ cup extra- virgin olive oil
  • 4 to 5 cups tomato sauce

Recommended equipment: A sturdy roasting pan, 10 by 17 inches or larger

Preheat oven to 375º. Pour the milk over the bread cubes in a bowl, and let soak for a few minutes, until the bread is saturated.

Squeeze the soft bread a handful at a time, pressing out as much milk as you can (discard milk, or give it to a pet), then tear bread into small shreds and toss back into the bowl. Crumble the ground beef into the bowl, and add the eggs, ricotta, scallions, grated cheese, parsley, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Fold and toss everything together, and squeeze the mixture a few times between your fingers to distribute all the ingredients evenly. Scatter the mozzarella cubes on top, and fold and mush them throughout the loaf mix.

Brush the roasting pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Gather the meat mixture in the bowl, turn it into the pan, and shape it into a fat oval loaf. Drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cover the pan with foil—tent it so it doesn’t touch the meat—and bake 45 minutes. Remove the foil, and continue to bake until the meatloaf is browned all over and completely cooked through, another 1 hour and 30 minutes or so. (If you check the loaf with a meat thermometer, it should reach a temperature of 160º.) Remove the roast from the oven, and let it rest for about 10 minutes.

Heat the tomato sauce to a simmer in a saucepan as the meat rests. Turn off the heat, and, if you like, stir ½ cup or so fresh ricotta into the sauce. Cut the loaf crosswise in the pan or on a cutting board, in slices as thick as you like. Serve on warm dinner plates, topped with a spoonful or two of sauce, and pass more sauce at the table (or, for family- style serving, arrange the slices on a warm platter, topped with some of the sauce). To accompany this meatloaf, I love braised broccoli rabe (broccoli di rape) or escarole, served on a separate plate or platter.

Note: If you love fresh ricotta, as I do, you can stir some into the tomato sauce, too, just before serving the meatloaf.

The Corn, Black Barley, and Bean Salad was a whim.

I had two ears of fresh corn I wanted to use for something other than corn on the cob.  I opened the cabinet and the first thing I saw was the black barley.  Hmmmmm... corn and black barley salad.  Sounds good.  I was thinking black beans would go well with it - but I didn't have any black beans in the cabinet!  Pintos, great northern, and red kidney.  The kidney won.  They're better cold in a salad, anyway.

The dressing was a no-brainer.  Ruth and I used to make a shrimp, corn, and pea salad with a lime and mayonnaise dressing.  I had limes and I had mayonnaise.  A salad was born.

Corn, Black Barley, and Bean Salad

  • 2 ears fresh corn, cut from the cob and blanched (or about 1 1/2 cups frozen, thawed)
  • 1/2 cup black barley, cooked, drained, and cooled (or grain of choice - rice, farro, wheat berries, wild rice, etc...)
  • 1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained (or beans of choice)
  • 2 tbsp assorted fresh herbs, minced
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 lime - zest and juice
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Mix corn, beans, and barley.  Add the mayonnaise, lime juice, and lime zest.  Add minced herbs, salt and pepper.

Cover and chill.

These are some of the easiest and most basic salads one can make, and they're especially good and refreshing on a hot day.  The lime brings a fresh taste that cannot be compared.  And they're ready in the time it takes to cook the grain.  If you have fresh herbs growing in the garden, just grab some and mince them up.  It really doesn't matter which herbs you use.  It's the freshness that comes through.

You can switch out the vegetable, the grain, the bean, add chicken, shrimp, tofu, or diced cooked pork tenderloin.  The constant is the mayonnaise and the lime.

Yum.

by Tim Dineen

Crespelle with Spinach

I have Lidia's book in hand again tonight.  There are just so many great recipes in this book.  I see a lot of fun in our future!  I've mentioned before how much I like the simplicity of flavors she puts together.

Tonight's dinner is an Italian version of crepes.  These are a bit thicker than their French counterparts, but extremely versatile.  I can see any number of fillings with these - and some pretty fun desserts and other dishes.  Extremely versatile.  I think the recipe sounds a bit more complex than it really is.  There are a mere three steps:  make the crespelle, make the filling, and put it all together.

Crespelle with Spinach

scrippelle agli spinaci
Lidia Cooks From The Heart Of Italy

Italians have many local and regional names for crespelle (what the French, and most Americans, call crepes) and innumerable ways to enjoy them. In Abruzzo, these traditional thin pancakes are called scrippelle and are the versatile foundation for both savory and sweet dishes.

Here's a typically simple casserole of spinach-filled scrippelle, lightly dressed with tomato sauce and a shower of grated cheese. Serve bubbling hot from the oven as an appetizer or a fine vegetarian main dish (even meat-lovers will be satisfied).

The batter for these scrippelle is a bit thicker than the usual crespelle batter, but it is easy to work with and produces a pancake with fine texture. The Abruzzesi use them in all sorts of creative ways: layered with cheeses and sauce like a lasagna or a pasticiatta, rolled and stuffed and baked like manicotti. A popular technique is to stack and slice the scrippelle into thin, tagliatelle-like ribbons. These ribbons are often used as a soup garnish  or in clever desserts.

For the Scrippelle

  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 cup plus 2 tbsp cold water
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 4 tbsp soft butter, or as needed

For filling and baking the scrippelle

  • 1 1/2 pounds tender spinach leave, rinsed well, tough stems removed
  • 5 tbsp butter plus more for the baking dish
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 cups Tomato Sauce or Marinara Sauce
  • 1 1/4 cups freshly grated pecorino or more, as needed

RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT: An electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment, or a sturdy wire whisk; a 9-inch crepe pan or a 1O-inch nonstick skillet (with a 9-inch bottom); a heavy-bottomed skillet or saute pan, 12-inch diameter or larger; a large baking dish or shallow casserole, 10 by 15 inches, or similar size .

To make the scrippelle batter with an electric mixer: Put the eggs and salt in the mixer bowl, and whisk on medium speed until foamy. Lower the speed, mix in the water, then stop and sift the flour on top. Whisk on low just until smooth. Follow the same mixing procedure if using a hand whisk.

You should have about 3 cups of batter.

Brush the crepe pan with a thin coating of butter. Set over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Ladle about 1/4 cup of batter into the pan, then quickly tilt and swirl the pan so the batter coats the bottom. Let cook about 30 seconds to I minute, until the bottom is lightly browned all over. Flip with a spatula, and cook another 30 seconds or so, until that side is lightly browned.

Flip the crespelle onto a dinner plate. Cook all the crespelle in the same way-a dozen or so total-stacking them on the plate when finished. Brush the pan with butter if it becomes dry or the scrippelle are sticking.

If you won't be using the scrippelle right away, wrap them in plastic wrap when cool, so they don't dry out. Refrigerate, well wrapped, to use the next day (or freeze).

To make the spinach filling: Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add all the spinach at once, stir, and cover the pot. Blanch until tender, about 4 or 5 minutes, then drain in a colander. Let the spinach cool, firmly squeeze all the moisture from the leaves, and chop them coarsely. (This step can be done ahead of time: cool and refrigerate chopped spinach for use the next day.)

When you are ready to fill and bake the scrippelle, heat the oven to 425° and arrange a rack in the center.

Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in the large skillet over medium heat. Scatter the spinach in the pan, and season with 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring, for a minute or so, just enough to heat the spinach through.

Heat the tomato sauce in a small pot until bubbling, then turn off the heat and whisk in 2 table¬spoons of butter until incorporated. Spread another 2 tablespoons of butter, or as needed, in the baking dish, coating the bottom and sides well.

To fill each scrippelle: Lay it flat, scatter about a tablespoon of chopped spinach in the center, and sprinkle Yz tablespoon or so grated cheese on top. Fold the scrippelle in half and then into quarter¬rounds. Repeat until all the scrippelle are filled and folded.

Spread 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce in the bottom of the buttered baking dish. Arrange the filled and folded scrippelle in the dish in overlapping rows, with the pointed ends covered and the pretty fanlike edges visible. Spoon the remaining sauce on top of the scrippelle, in streaks down the center of the rows-don't try to cover them completely. Sprinkle the remaining grated cheese (or a bit more if needed) lightly allover the top.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil, making sure the foil doesn't touch the cheese. Bake for about 15 minutes, remove the foil, and bake until the sauce is bubbling and the gratinato topping is golden and crispy, about IO minutes more.

Serve very hot, right from the dish.

They totally rocked.  The crespelle were substantial without being overwhelming.  Two was definitely an adequate dinner portion.  Of course, we both went back for a third.  And as full as I was, I could have gone back for a fourth.  They really were good.

The beauty of these really is their simplicity.  I can see a mushroom filling with a cream sauce.  Fresh fruit with a caramel sauce.  The possibilities are endless.

And once again, Lidia comes through.

Try it.  You'll like it.

by Tim Dineen

Back Home

To quote Simon and Garfunkle: Gee, but it's great to be back home.  Home is where I want to be.

Yep.  So true.

The wedding was a blast.  We had a great time with the family, meeting Jessica's new in-laws, finally meeting my nephew Jacob's wife, Rachael.  And little Phoebe Rose - the sixth to carry the name Phoebe in our family.  I wish we lived closer.

The downside of travel - other than the airports and airplanes which totally and completely disgustingly suck - is not having my own kitchen.  Restaurants are great - but not for every meal every day. Fortunately, we had a local restaurant - not a cookie-cutter chain - by the hotel that had some pretty decent food.  Fresh chilies in my omelette, fresh chilies on a burger... It was great to be back in Civilized California!

So to start counter-acting all of that restaurant food, it's salad-time around here!

Today I made three different salads.  A lentil, a rice, and a pasta.  I'm working on portion control, so I didn't make my normal feed-the-entire-neighborhood-and-the-school-down-the-street batches.  Nope.  Small, reasonable batches.  Enough for dinner and tomorrow's lunch.  I'm workin' on it...

The pasta salad was first.

I cooked up about six ounces of mini cheese-filled ravioli.  I added 3 stalks of blanched asparagus, sliced, a minced green onion, 6 sliced pepperoncini, oil cured kalamata olives, and about a half-cup of red pepper and onion relish and about a half-cup of fig and caramelized onion sauce.  Clean out that refrigerator!

The Lentil Salad started off with about a cup of French green lentils.  I cooked them up and added some golden raisins, currants, walnuts, celery, diced red onion, green onion, herbs d'Provence, salt, pepper, red wine vinegar and olive oil.

For the rice salad, I cooked up a half-cup of whole-grain brown rice.  To it, I added some walnuts, celery, diced carrots, peas, dill, salt, pepper, and white wine vinegar and olive oil.

They all went into the fridge.

For the salads, I plated some iceberg lettuce and baby romaine, topped it with the three salads and some grilled beef tips.  I made a quick 1000 Island dressing with mayonnaise, chili sauce, and pickle relish.

It's great to be back in the kitchen!

by Tim Dineen

Artichokes

I don't remember the first time I ate an artichoke.  Like many foods, they just seem to have always been.

Artichokes grew just a few miles south of the ancestral home until they were plowed under for the Serramonte shopping center, 280 freeway, and houseshouseshouses. There's a card room in San Bruno called Artichoke Joe's that's been around since 1916.  Artichokes have been around the area for a long time.  They were always on the table in season.  Mom used to put out mayonnaise for dipping, but I wasn't a huge mayo fan in my youth and preferred them plain.  Still do, I think, although I certainly won't turn down a good dipping sauce.

Which leads me to tonight's dinner...

I'm now 3000 miles and too many years away from those artichokes of my youth, but one thing I don't remember are artichokes the size of cabbages.  We're talkin' huge artichokes.  Really huge.

And sweet, and tender, and flavorful.

I loved every one of the million and a half petals that came off as I ate my way to the finish.

Two of them barely - and I do mean barely - fit into a 12 qt stock pot.

I added about 4" of water to the pot and a splash of apple cider vinegar and a pinch of salt.  Then covered and cooked for about 40 minutes.

Dipping sauce tonight was mayonnaise with lemon juice and dill, salt & pepper.

And if you happen to find artichokes out there with a nice stalk or stem - cook it, don't cut it all off!  The stem is just an extension of the heart.

It's all good eatin'!

by Tim Dineen

Rice Salad and Focaccia

What started out as just something to use up the last of the no-knead dough turned into dinner tonight.  I like it when meals just sort of evolve.

Victor will be out of town for a couple of days and we head to California for my niece Jessica's wedding when he gets back, so cooking-wise, it's going to be a use-up-whatever-is-in-the-house next few days.

This is always a fun challenge.

Tonight started it off with the aforementioned no-knead dough because whenever Victor leaves for a few days I have a habit of eating hot dogs.  Well, chili dogs to be precise.  I thought I'd give myself a fighting chance to eat something different.

I oiled a sheet pan, spread the dough out, drizzled it with more olive oil, and then covered it with tomatoes, mushrooms, and bell pepper.  A bit of garlic powder, and then a good shredding of Locatelli and some pepper.  Into a 450° oven for 25 minutes.

I also made a nice big batch of rice salad.

Rice and Oat Salad

  • 1/2 cup black whole grain rice
  • 1/2 cup mahogany whole grain rice
  • 1/2 cup wild rice
  • 1/2 cup whole oats
  • 1 qt chicken broth (use water or veg stock to make vegetarian)
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 star anise
  • 4 allspice berries
  • 8 peppercorns
  • 1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 1 stalk celery, diced
  • 1/2 large zucchini, diced
  • 3 green onions, minced
  • 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
  • 1/2 cup golden raisins
  • 1/4 cup strawberry balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 cup olive oil

In a large pot, bring first 11 ingredients to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and cook for 45 minutes.  Cool.

When rice is cool, mix in remaining ingredients.  Mix well and refrigerate.

And, I had taken some bone-in chicken breasts out of the freezer before planning dinner, so I poached then and shredded the meat.

I am now set for meals until Victor gets home!

(I also made cupcakes!)

by Tim Dineen

(Almost) Breakfast for Dinner

 

My last issue of Today's Diet and Nutrition magazine had several rice recipes.  As is my wont, I read the recipes and then pulled out the parts that interested me.  One that particularly struck me was a brown rice patty with a basted egg on top.  It just sounded right.

The premise was simple enough - cold (or at least not hot) brown rice mixed with grated parmesan cheese, formed into a patty, and lightly fried.  When it begins to brown a bit, crack an egg on top, put a cover on the pan, and cook until the egg is set.

And that is exactly what I did.  I added about a half-cup of lightly shredded parmesan cheese to one cup of cooked whole grain brown rice.  And a pinch of pepper.  That's it.

Two Italian sausages on a bed of sauteed spinach and mushrooms.  No big mystery there.  I sauteed the mushrooms in a pinch of olive oil, added the fresh spinach and let it wilt.  The bread was homemade beer bread from yesterday, toasted and buttered.

It was a really simple meal that had tons of flavors and textures.  But the star of the meal was definitely the rice and egg.

One cooking note is next time I make these I will do them individually in non-stick pans.  I made two of them in a calphalon braiser and it was just a tad awkward getting them out of the pan.  And make a nice indentation in the patty to hold the egg.  I made them, but one egg slid right off, anyway.  The kitchen gods were on my side, though, and I got it back on without a problem.

I see a lot of possibilities with this...

by Tim Dineen

Stuffed Pork Loin and Roasted Cauliflower

I had an idea that I wanted a pork loin for dinner.  I wasn't sure what I wanted, but knew that two of the ingredients really needed to be cauliflower and arugula.  This time of year, "fresh" produce can either last indefinitely (which makes me suspicious) or can go off overnight - which makes me suspicious.  I decided I needed to use these before I started getting suspicious.

I made a pretty simple bread and arugula stuffing with ingredients already in the house.

Arugula and Bread Stuffing with Bacon

  • 3 slices thick-cut bacon, diced
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 6oz arugula
  • 1 cup bread crumbs
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper

Fry bacon until almost crisp.  Add onion and cook until wilted.  Add garlic and continue cooking.

Add arugula and cook down until wilted.  Remove from heat.

Add bread crumbs, thyme, salt, pepper, and egg and mix well.

To assemble:

With sharp knife, slice pork loin open and flat.  Spread stuffing and roll.  Tie with butcher twine.

Roast at 350° about an hour or until desired doneness.

The potatoes were simply boiled and tossed with butter and parsley, salt and pepper.

The cauliflower was oven-roasted, caramelized goodness.

Roasted Cauliflower

  • Cauliflower
  • olive oil
  • garlic powder
  • salt and pepper
  • Romano or parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 500°.

Mix cauliflower with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.  Arrange on baking sheet in one layer.

Roast in hot oven about 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and top with grated cheese.

Cut cauliflower into small florettes.

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

Instant Noodles Romanoff

Kathleen Dineen Kelly

  • 1/2 lb. wide egg noodles
  • 1-1/2 C bottled creamy ranch salad dressing
  • 1/4 C sour cream
  • 1/4 C Parmesan cheese

Cook noodles and toss with remaining ingredients. Serves 4.

by Tim Dineen

Tomato Bread

Peg McCaslin Dineen

  • Pancake mix
  • Bread
  • Tomato soup
  • Dash of sugar
  • Flour and water for thickening

Make pancake mix as directed. Dip bread in mix and fry on griddle. Meanwhile, mix soup with milk or water and add thickening and sugar. Heat. (This should be the consistency of gravy.) Pour over fried bread.

by Tim Dineen