Monday night dinner with Grandma...12/24/12

I'm making meatloaf.  How exciting.  I know, it's probably the most boring meal in the world.  But it's hot.  It's "cozy."  And most importantly, it's classic.

And guess what I'm serving with it?  That's right, boys and girls, Mashed Potatoes.  These will be a little more on the whipped side because the last time I served Grandma mashed potatoes, she questioned the "lumps" and said they needed more salt.  I'm nothing if not flexible.

So I'm off to start preparing the vegetables for the meat loaf.  I like to saute the veggies first.  This time (I never make it exactly the same way) we'll have shredded carrot, celery, onion, and green pepper.  All in a small chop or mince.  I may throw a little garlic in for good measure.

When the veggies are done with their "steam, " I'll add a small can of tomato paste.  When the veggies have cooled, I'll add an egg (or 2) and some bread crumbs.  Then I'll add the ground beef to that mixture; form it into a "loaf" and  top it with a glaze of Ketchup, Dijon, and Worcestershire sauce.  I'll reserve some of the glaze as a "dipping" sauce.

Now to the potatoes.  As I always do, I'll  cook them in stock with a heavy dose of salt and pepper.  After draining them, I'll mash them by hand and add butter and sour cream.  After mashing them some more, I'll pull out my immersion blender and "whip" the pants off my tators.  At this point I'll add some snipped chives and have Josh taste for S and P.

To round out the meal, I'll grab a bag of frozen veggies from my freezer.  Maybe green beans; maybe snap peas.  I can't plan everything this far ahead of dinner.

That's what I'm cooking today.  How about you?

happy cooking.

Monday Night Dinners with Grandma

First of all, I realize it's Friday.  Usually "Dinner with Grandma" happens on Monday.  This week was different.  Sue me.

Secondly, I know it's been a long while since I've posted.  I've been trying to eat South Beach style and thus I have felt uninspired by my cooking.  Don't get me wrong...I'm still trying to lose weight and just be healthier all around, and I haven't completely abandoned SB.  I'm just loosening up a little.

Like I'll have a cookie. ;-)

Anywhoo, Josh and I have dinner once a week with his grandmother (hence today's post.)  Actually I spend part of the day with Grandma, come home make dinner, and go back with Josh after work.

I'm really feeling good about tonight's dinner.  I don't usually think that I've tinkered with a recipe enough to call it my own, but there's a first time for everything.

Let me give you the posted recipe first (from Epicurious.com); then I'll give you my changes/additions/subtractions.  You tell me what you think.

Lemon Pasta with Chicken and Pine Nuts

 Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons plus 2/3 cup canola oil or vegetable oil
• 3/4 pound skinless boneless chicken breast halves

• 12 ounces lemon-pepper fettuccine or regular fettuccine
• 2 1/2 cups snow peas (about 5 ounces), cut into matchstick-size strips
• 3/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Preparation

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and sauté until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Cool. Cut chicken crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick strips.

Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite. Drain well; transfer to large bowl. Add 1 tablespoon oil; toss to coat. Add chicken, snow peas, pine nuts and parsley; toss to incorporate all ingredients.

Whisk lemon juice and mustard in medium bowl. Add remaining 3/4 cup oil in thin stream, whisking constantly. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss pasta with enough dressing to coat. (Can be made 3 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Toss before serving.)

So, for my version I began by marinating my chicken breast in the zest and juice of one lemon,  about  a T of EVOO, one large, thinly slice clove of garlic, and a few grinds of black pepper.

Next, I cut up a head of broccoli (into small for florets for Grandma); put the pasta water on to boil (I used bow-ties); and then I made the dressing.  

Now for the dressing, I used the zest of one lemon and the juice of two, about 3 T of dijon mustard, 3-5 grinds black pepper, enough EVOO to cut the bitter lemoness of it and 1/2 tsp of garlic powder.

I cooked the broccoli with  the pasta but I pulled it out 5 minutes shy of the pasta being done.  I sliced my chicken before sauteeing it another T of EVOO and added the remaining marinade to the pan before cooking.

Finally, I drained the pasta and returned it to the pot; added the chicken and broccoli and tossed well with the dressing. 

Right now, it's all chilling in the fridge.

I hope everyone likes it, because it's the perfect meal to take to Grandma.  Protein, veg., and grain in one fell swoop.

So I leave you with 3 questions:

1.  Is my recipe original

2 . If it is, what do I call it

3.  What are you having for dinner tonight?

happy cooking

Date Night--10/16-12

So it's a Tuesday.  What's up with that?  Our friends are taking us out for anniversary tomorrow.  So we'll do date night tonight.  We're nothing if not flexible.

So what is Date Night this evening?

The best flank steak Josh has ever eaten...complete with shallot and mushroom "ragu."  A TBD veggie.  I'm thinking asparagus, but I'll see what's available at the market. Oh and those really good cottage fries.  YUM!!!

Dessert.  I'm going to try this apple crumble recipe.  I have all the ingredients on hand; and these days, that's really important.

Appetizers.  Some kind of cheese and crackers.  Maybe with bruschetta.  Maybe just cheddar.  I'll let Josh choose.

Cocktails.  Up to the mix master.

That's all for now.

happy cooking!

my love affair with chickens

I don't mean while were they're alive and bach-bach-baching around a farm.  I mean after they're dead and in my grocery store.  BOGO is best but .$99/lb isn't too bad either.

So what did I do with my BOGO chickens?

I made more stock.  Nothing terribly exciting or different there.  I will add this one word of caution--make your stock when the garbage gets picked up no more than two days later.  It gets noxious and noisome rapidly.

So that took care of one bird.  What did I do with the other? 

I ROASTED it! And it was really good, if I do say so myself.  And I do.

How did I roast it, you'd like to know?  I followed Thomas Keller's recipe exactly!  I even learned how to truss a chicken with this video. 

I admit, I had to watch parts of the video three, even four times.  But int he end it was easy peasy and the bird was delicious!

That's all from me.

happy cooking!

Happy Anniversary to US!!

Our 8th anniversary is on Wednesday and Josh is taking me out to dinner.  Not wanting that to be our only celebration, I made a really nice dinner last night.

I'll start with appetizers.  Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms.  Now, I really just used this as inspiration.  I minced the mushroom stems and added Italian sausage to the stuffing.  They were very tasty and we ate them up.  We, however, could not finish our dinners as a result.  (That's okay...no more cooking for me this week!)

I made martinis to accompany our appetizers.  Hendricks gin, vermouth, and a twist of lemon.  Cannot get any more classic than that.

Now to dinner.  I made individual beef wellingtons.  Yum!  I did not use the pate called for in the recipe and I added thyme to the mushroom duxelle.

The wellingtons are accompanied by mashed potatoes (duh) and Brussels Sprout Hash with Caramelized Shallots.  Delish!  Tender and flavorful and not too "brussels sprouty."

Now to dessert.  Oh dessert!  I made (drum roll please)  Creme Brulee.  I do not have a kitchen torch; the broiler had to do.  I followed the indredients part of this recipe.  The technique I used was outlined by one of the recipe reviewers, ChefPeon.  Her methodology made a lot more sense to me and was, in fact, less labor intensive (and scary) than the oen in the recipe.

We had coffee with dinner.  But that's not all.  I had his idea to serve Josh a whisky flight. So I selected three of his whiskys (he said I chose the right ones! yay me!!) and I had a port pairing (we have two ports so I had a little of each.)

If you look closely you can see the single malt glasses and the port glasses.  Yes we do have a lot of specialty barware.

That's all for me .  Yesterday was a long day of cooking (I started at 11 with dessert).  But it's a new day and we have our leftovers (no sprouts!) for todaay.

happy cooking!

What's in my oven now

Blueberry & Raspberry Baked Oatmeal

adapted by The Curvy Carrot
from Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson
via Annie's Eats
makes 6 servings
nutritional value will vary depending on the fruit and ingredients you use

Ingredients:

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, divided
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup maple syrup (I used sugar free)
1 cup milk 
 1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2-3 ripe bananas, peeled and sliced
1 cup blueberries or raspberries, fresh or frozen, divided

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. Lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish. In a medium bowl, mix the oats, half of the walnuts, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to combine. In a liquid measuring cup, combine the syrup, milk, egg, butter, and vanilla.
3. Spread the sliced bananas in a single layer over the bottom of the baking dish. Top with half of the berries. Sprinkle the dry oat mixture over the fruit in an even layer. Pour the liquid ingredients evenly over the oats.
4. Sprinkle the remaining nuts and berries over the top. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the top is browned and the oats have set. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

( http://www.sohowsittaste.com/2012/06/blueberry-raspberry-baked-oatmeal.html)

I found it only needed 2 bananas.  I also used only raspberrries (2 for $3 at Jewel).  Haven't tasted them yet...but they smell really good.

Final thoughts after tasting...

I didn't think it was sweet enough, but maybe that's just me.  I added a little honey and it was much better.  

Will I make again?  Probably, but I would use blueberries or maybe even apples.  And I wouldn't use the sugar free maple syrup; I'd use honey. 

Best Oven Fries ever!!!

And sooo easy.

Baked Oven Fries

Ingredients

• 3 russet potatoes (about 24 oz. total), peeled and cut lengthwise into even sized wedges
• 5 tbsp. vegetable, canola or peanut oil, divided
• ¾ tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste
• ¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 475˚ F. Place the potato wedges in a large mixing bowl. Cover with hot water; soak for 10-30 minutes. Put 4 tablespoons of the oil onto a heavy, rimmed baking sheet. Tilt the sheet side to side to evenly coat the pan with oil (a pastry brush can also help with this). Sprinkle the pan evenly with the salt and pepper. Set aside.
• Drain the potatoes. Spread the wedges out on layers of paper towels or on clean kitchen towels. Pat dry with additional towels. Wipe out the now empty bowl so it is dry. Return the potatoes to the bowl and toss with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Arrange the potato wedges on the prepared baking sheet in a single layer. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 5 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake until the bottoms of the potatoes are spotty golden brown, 15-20 minutes, rotating the baking sheet after 10 minutes. Using a metal spatula and tongs, flip each potato wedge keeping them in a single layer. Continue baking until the fries are golden and crisp, 5 -15 minutes. Rotate the pan as needed to ensure even browning.
• When the fries are finished baking, transfer to a paper-towel lined plate to drain some of the grease. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.

(http://www.annies-eats.com/2010/02/25/baked-oven-fries/)

So like "real" french fries that we eat 'em with ketchup.  Really, really good.  And easy