Knives, Fire and Fun!

Wrong protein

2012-02-06T21:32:00.000-05:00

Another adventure in salmon tonight. I liked this recipe a lot for several reasons. It uses salmon without dill, it uses balsamic vinegar which I love. It's also quick, which means it's good for a weeknight supper and then I can get back to studying or watching Sam Neil be ominous on Alcatraz.

The ingredients sounded like they'd go together:

6 5oz salmon fillets
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 T white wine
1 T honey
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
4 t Dijon mustard
slat & pepper to taste
1 T chopped fresh oregano

Prehead oven to 400 F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray
Coat a small saucepan with non-stick cooking spray. Over medium heat, cook and stir garlic until soft, about three minutes (I was not stirring fast enough, obviously, my garlic got kind of toasty).
Mix in white wine, honey, vinegar, mustard and salt and pepper. Simmer, uncovered for about three minutes, or until slightly thickened. (more like 5-7 minutes before it started getting thick)
Arrange salmon fillets on baking sheet. Brush with glaze, sprinkle with oregano.
Bake for 10-14 minutes, or until flesh flakes easily. Brush with remaining glaze and season with salt & pepper

I have a few quibbles with this one. The glaze was tasty and tangy, though I didn't taste the Dijon at all. My sweetie found it too sweet, but admitted that the balsamic would be overwhelming without the honey. The oregano didn't really add much. I think it might be better to add it to the glaze itself, let it release its essential oils into the glaze.

The big thing, though? I kept wishing my salmon was chicken. My sweetie agreed that this would work much better on something white-fleshed, either white fish or poultry. So this means we have some plans. One to make this again, sans Dijon, with a much dryer wine (the labels sometimes lie) with some chicken. Two, we may have a guest post from my sweetie coming up as he designs some enhancing flavors for salmon. Stay tuned!

Coming soon--overstuffed quesadillas!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-26T15:23:00.002-05:00

This has been an interesting month. I wrapped up 2011 being sort of sick, which kind of killed the week I had taken off from my day job. I've made a few things, some memorable and some less so. I'm going to talk about a couple of the less memorable ones, that might be able to be saved.

The first one was an herbed chicken I put together. I've used yogurt and spices as a successful coating for baked chicken before. My vision was marjoram and black pepper and nice juicy chicken.

I think I goofed in trying to use Greek yogurt for this one. I did thin it out a little bit, but it was more like a frosting than a coating. I just wasn't thrilled with the results. My sweetie liked some of it, but we agreed that this was not my best effort. I will be experimenting some more with this one.

Another one, I made last night. I didn't make a New Year's resolution to eat more fish, but we are starting to do so. Salmon is very low in mercury (unlike two of my favorite, tuna and halibut), so I think I'll be looking for a lot of salmon recipes in the future. Fish is also the easiest protein for me to chew these days. I can only eat so much soup, yogurt and quiche.

Now I like the herb dill as much as the next chef. Heck, I have a friend called Dill (though that's short for Dillanger). Still, I wanted something a little different. This gets challenging with a couple of different palates in the house. The sweetie doesn't like teriaki, and the mustard/brown sugar glaze I made when we still lived with Austin didn't go over too well either.

So you can imagine my delight when I found this recipe. That is, until I made it:

3 lbs salmon (I actually had about 3/4 of a pound, two small fillets, and this recipe was just enough to marinate.
1/3 cup soy sauce (I use Kikoman)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 T oil (I used vegetable, as my other choices were peanut, olive or sesame and I wasn't sure any of them would work)
1 large clove garlic, crushed (or in my case, pressed)
2 tsp dijon mustard
Handful fresh chopped parsley. (Whose hand, I ask you? My hands aren't very big, someone who's over six feet is going to have much bigger ones. I decided on a generous quarter up)

Marinade for 2-3 hours. Broil

Definitely trying for three hours next time. On my sweetie's suggestion, I will be cutting down on the soy sauce. It overwhelmed everything. I think I will also increase the lemon peel, cut down on the oil and add a little more garlic. Possibly, there will be some thickener to make the marinade into a glaze afterwards. We'll see how it goes.

Next time: Flounder. Really Easy Flounder.

Comments? Questions? Recipes to try? Let's hear from you!

I need a second opnion

2011-12-27T00:58:00.002-05:00

While the weather outside is not necessarily frightful, it's still nice to have a hearty soup or stew to enjoy on a cold dark knight. A friend of mine on G+ posted a harira recipe that got my attention. Tomatoes, lentils, chick peas, Middle Eastern spices . . . this had Kate written all over it, or so I thought.

Let's get into the ingredients before I give you my take on it.

1/4 pound dried chickpeas
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2-inch pieces
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup diced onions
1/2 cup diced celery
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes and their juices
1 1/2 quarts rich chicken stock
1/4 pound dried green lentils
1/2 cup long-grain rice
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Cilantro sprigs, for garnishing

Another attractive thing about this recipe is it's pretty inexpensive, unless you need to refresh your entire spice cabinet. I'm running low on nutmeg, which is normal for this time of year because where there are winter holidays there is nog and I must have my freshly ground nutmeg over eggnog laced with good booze.

Anyway, the only changes I made to the recipe was to put in more chickpeas that strictly called for, and I used chicken tenders. I added additional olive oil to make up for the fat that would have been there had I used thighs. Maybe this was my mistake.

Pick over the chickpeas, cover with cold water, and soak overnight at room temperature. Drain chickpeas and rinse well with cold running water. Drain and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a medium stockpot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season the chicken pieces with 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Add the chicken in batches, and cook until well browned, about 4 minutes per batch. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside. Add the onions and celery and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the ginger, turmeric, pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Return the chicken to the pan and add the tomatoes and their juices, stirring well. Stir in the chicken stock, lentils, and chickpeas and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook at a gentle simmer for 1 hour.
Add the rice and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and return the soup to a simmer. Cook covered for 30 minutes. Remove the lid, add the cilantro, parsley, and lemon juice and cook, uncovered for 5 minutes.
Ladle into warmed soup bowls and garnish with fresh cilantro sprigs.

The recipe was easy to follow, and everything smelled delicious, but when it all came together, I didn't have that little rush of excitement that told me, "Kate, you did well." It was warming, smelling more of the cinnamon than anything else, but I didn't feel like the chicken had absorbed much of the flavor from the spices and the onions were totally lost.

My sweetie, however, had a different opinion. We've both been a little sick, and he found the stew very enjoyable, and also reasonably easy to digest, which is always a plus when you aren't feeling well.

So, I'd like to throw this out to y'all. If you make this, would you please let me know your opinion? Did you get layers of flavor, did you get a beautiful gestalt? That gestalt is what I look for in a soup or stew, and if it's here, I'd like a road map.

Questions? Comments? A recipe for me to try? I'd love to hear from you!

coming up: a southern favorite I found myself missing. Stay tuned!

Make Mine Mild--Variations on a theme of chili

2011-12-16T22:39:00.000-05:00

Among my hobbies are role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons. I have two groups I meet with pretty regularly, one hosted by Austin the minimalist. Austin frequently makes stew for us, or in the summer, marinates and grills some delicious steaks or chicken.

I thought I'd make chili for this group, but I was asked to make it a little milder for those in our group with more delicate palates (and stomachs). It took some consideration on my part. Anyone can make bland food, but I wanted both flavorful and mild. My final ingredient list ended up like this:

3 pounds of stew meat
4 cans of black beans
2 small cans tomato paste
6 cans of diced tomatoes with green chiles
3 tomatillos chopped
2 T vinegar
two large white onions chopped (these were the size of small grapefruit)
3 heaping T cumin
2 heaping T chile powder
four squares of Lindt dark chocolate with chiles
1 bottle of Guinness

There was so much liquid from the tomatoes that I could only fit one bottle of Guinness in the Dutch oven. I kept the heat pretty low, and it took its sweet time thickening. I stirred it pretty freqently, but I did end up with some of it sticking to the bottom.

Everything was in the pot by around 6:30 p.m. I stayed up until about 1:00, stirring every half hour to forty-five minutes or so. My sweetie, bless his heart, got up at 6 a.m., put the heat back on under it and did some stirring until we turned the heat off around noon.

Transporting it wasn't as difficult as I might have thought. A while back, I bought a large Rubbermaid tub with a locking lid, so there were no disasters on our way north. We also brought some accessories for further doctoring: some smoked gouda with jalapenos, some sharp cheddar, additional chopped onions, a few jalapenos and two kinds of hot sauce.

I was very pleased at the reception. Second and third helpings were had in several instances, and one compliment was slightly incomprehensible because the giver had his mouth full. I'll take it. The heat built underneath at a very low rate, not so much that it would put anyone off. I call it success.

Questions, comments? Let's hear them!

Variations on a theme--Peppercorn Quick Bread

2011-12-14T14:25:00.000-05:00

Not that I don't love the Irish soda bread I've made in past years, but I wanted something a little different for Thanksgiving with my family this year. After a lot of searching, I found a great recipe that lent itself to a few different variations.

From when I was born until I was about fourteen, I spent at least two Sundays a month at my Nana's house. To this day, I can navigate directly there from I-95/Rte 128, though if you asked me to write directions down, I'd probably have to go to Google Maps. Anyway, Nana was a great cook. Sunday dinners were often turkey, but occasionally she made roast beef (which I have yet to be able to duplicate, darnit). Either way, there was mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy.

Now Nana had a heavy hand with the black pepper, so when I found the recipe, I knew I had struck gold. Check out the ingredients:

1.5 cups all-purpose flour
.75 cup whole-wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
.5 tsp salt
1.5 tsp black peppercorns, cracks (I crunched them a bit with a mortar and pestle. I really need to get one of these of my own and give the one I'm using back to my friend Vivian)
1.5 tsp fresh rosemary
.75 cup peccorino romano cheese, grated or shredded
1 egg
1 cup of milk
.25 cup extra-virgin olive oil

I liked that it used olive oil instead of butter, as well as employing whole wheat flour, which gave it a nice chewy, but not off-putting texture. Don't ask me to eat whole-wheat pasta, for example, but I digress.

The instructions are simple:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease an 8.5 x 4.5 loaf pan
In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, salt, pepper, rosemary and cheese. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, milk and olive oil. Pour your wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine until it is evenly moist.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for five minutes, then move to a rack to complete cooling.

My sweetie and my youngest cousin (she's in her teens) thought the pepper was a little heavy-handed. My aunt and uncle loved the pepperyness.

I made three of these. One per the above recipe. Another with rosemary, fresh sage (left over from the chicken marsala of a few weeks ago) and some dried thyme (no parsley, only my uncle and I got the joke), which is what got served at dinner. The third, I made with dried marjoram, just for something different. Everyone was eager to take the leftovers home, so I had to promise my sweetie I'd make another one.

I did make a yeast bread a while back, that will be coming up in a future post. Additional plans include shrimp & grits and a chicken tikka marsala. I'm also due to make chili for one of my gaming groups. I hope three pounds feeds the lot of us.

Happy holidays whatever you're celebrating!

Questions? Comments? I'd love to hear from you.

This was too easy

2011-12-03T16:45:00.001-05:00

Before I get into the quickbread post, I wanted to post about our pre-Thanksgiving dinner. We spend a lot of Thanksgiving driving to Massachusetts to visit my uncle, aunt and some cousins. I thought it would be a nice treat to have a bird for just the two of us the night before.

I lucked out in finding a special on duck breast--it was about $10, which is less than half of what I usually see duck going for in a fine restaurant. I pounced.

For my next trick, trying to find a duck recipe that did not involve cooked fruit. While my sweetie makes exceptions for cranberry sauce, and the occasional mince or apple pie, he generally doesn't like cooked fruit. He also tends not to eat meat with fruit (or cheese with fruit, but I'm working on that).

I found this week's recipe at the Food Network. I couldn't believe how easy it was. Plus, Emeril's Essence is a cinch to make and if you make it yourself, you can control the amount of salt in it. Bonus.

First, your spice mix, and I'll be most of you have these items already:

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients, store in an airtight container.

Now for your duck. Gotta love the ingredient list:

3 duck breasts (I thought breasts came in sets of two. That's what I purchased. Maybe Emeril has mutant ducks)

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

Essence, as above.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Season the entire duck breast with Essence. In a large saute pan, over medium heat, add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the duck breast, skin side down. Sear for 6 minutes. Flip the duck breast over and place the pan in the oven. Roast the breasts for 8 to 10 minutes for medium rare. Remove the pan from the oven and allow the duck breasts to rest 2 to 3 minutes before slicing.

This tasted fantabulously succulent. My hat is off to Emeril for making a gourmet out of anyone who can read with this one. Tender, juicy, rich. This is food porn at its finest.

Happy Holidaze

2011-11-28T12:43:00.000-05:00

Ah, the insanity that is November and December. The cooking frenzy in many a kitchen. I started on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving with a variation on last year's cranberry sauce recipe. I figured a day for the flavors to meld into a whole would be a good thing and as it turns out I was right. Our ingredients:

2 12-ounce packages whole cranberries
2 cups sugar
1.5 teaspoons orange zest
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 generous teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup orange juice
6 Tablespoons Gran Mariner

Preheat the oven to 350F. Rinse the cranberries in cold water and drain. Put in a glass baking dish in one layer. Stir in sugar, zests and cinnamon until well blended--the cranberries will be coated with sugar, but you shouldn't see the spices. Cover and bake for sixty minutes. After removing from the oven, stir in orange juice and Gran Mariner. Remove spoon from sweetie's hand so he doesn't eat it all. Let cool and store in the fridge in an airtight container.

My thirteen-year-old cousin was a little confused at the appearance. "How did you get the stuff in the can to look like that?" To her credit, she tried some and said she liked it. I can't say I'd have done the same at that age.

Next week: Variations on an herbed quickbread!

Questions, comments? I'd love to hear from you!

What to do with leftover cabbage

2011-10-23T14:45:00.000-04:00

When we last left our intrepid heroine, she was serving fish tacos with a lovely cabbage slaw. Now that recipe only required 4 cups of cabbage, so I had a ton left over, even after removing the outer leaves.

One of my favorite dishes on an Indian buffet is curried cabbage. It's not a creamy recipe like many curries, but vinegar-based. This one has quite a bit of mustards. Here's our ingredient list:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup minced shallots
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons whole-grain Dijon mustard (I used a beer mustard that I picked up on my last trip to New Orleans)
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
12 cups thinly sliced green cabbage (about 3 pounds)
1/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add mustard, curry, and turmeric; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in cabbage and remaining ingredients; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently.

.................
I think this one needs a little bit of tweaking, even as I enjoyed the results. The mustard was a little bit overwhelming to me, though my sweetie liked it quite a bit. I'm thinking a touch more curry and tumeric, perhaps another teaspoon each.

Some news on a personal level. I just recently had some braces installed on my teeth, so my posts are going to be changing slightly. There may be a few more soft foods than usual, as quiche and soups are easier on my mouth than say, lamb or beef. Next post will be my first attempt in over ten years making a yeast bread. Flatbread, specifically, cooked in a dry pan on the stovetop.

I will be going away for a week next month on a cruise and also participating in Nanowrimo, so I may be a bit distracted. Okay, I'll be a lot distracted and living mostly on coffee, tea and red wine in approximately equal amounts. Fortunately, vanilla protein powder makes a semi-decent coffee creamer.

Until next time, thank you for reading and your comments are always welcome!

Weeknight dinner--Easy fish tacos

2011-10-03T10:34:00.000-04:00

Weeknights can be a challenge. After eight or so hours at my desk (I am lucky enough that my day job lets me work from home), the last thing I feel like doing is a lot of chopping, dicing, julienne or mincing.

On the other foot, sometimes a meeting goes so well that spending my lunch hour destroying a vegetable can be downright therapeutic. When I found the below recipe on Cooking Light, I decided to make the slaw at lunchtime and I think the meal was the more enjoyable for it. Slaw generally is made better a day before so the flavors have a chance to blend anyway

4 cups thinly sliced cabbage
1 cup chopped plum tomatoes (this turned out to be 2)
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
2 T fresh lime juice (I used the whole lime, a small one a little bigger than a golf ball. It yielded about 3.5T)
5 T extra virgin olive oil (there's a bit of a math problem in the recipe)
1/2 t salt, divided
1 pound tilapia filets (I used cod. Partly because I try to buy local when I can, partly because it has a little more flavor than tilapia)
1 t chili powder (I was a little more generous, see below)
corn tortillas

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Add juice, 1 tablespoon oil, and 1/4 teaspoon salt; toss well to combine. (I added a t of cumin as well)
Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle fish evenly with chili powder and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add fish to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Remove from heat, and cut fish into bite-sized pieces.
Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spoon about 1/4 cup cabbage mixture down the center of each tortilla. Divide fish evenly among tortillas; fold in half. Serve tacos with remaining cabbage mixture.

--------------------------------------------
I used two T of oil to cook the fish, and next time I'll do it on medium heat. Even in a non-stick pan, my fillets stuck. I also just shook the chili powder onto the fish until it was nicely coated.

I love the way this turned out. Corn tortillas are definitely the way to go, partly for their sturdiness, partly for the texture adding to the overall mouthfeel. I also added sliced avocado to my tacos, which added a creamy element without taking away from the flaky fish or the crunch of the cabbage.

For a contrast, I served with black beans. I ate some of the leftover cabbage in the remaining tacos (we had three apiece) for lunch the following and it was delicious on its own.

Now, what to do with all the leftover cabbage? Tune in next time!

Questions? Comments? Recipes you'd like to see? Let's hear them!

Scarborough Fair Part Four--Pasta with White Clam sauce and a lot of parsley

2011-09-18T20:15:00.002-04:00

You can't grow up in New England and not eat clams. Fried, baked, casino, steamed in wine, steamed in beer. It's hard to pick a favorite. I do love a good fried clam platter--crunchy outside, chewy necks inside, bellies that melt in your mouth. On the other, and theoretially healthier foot, there are some adaptations that won't send your cholesterol through the roof.

Nobody taught me how to make clam sauce, I've perfected this over the years and for the first time, have the measurements. The following serves 2 and should be easily scalable for more:

Your favorite pasta--for clams, I like linguine, but thinner will do.
One small can of clams (the ones that are the size of your average tuna can)
Juice of half a large lemon (1/4 to 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup dry white wine (I used a Pinot Grigio. This is not a place for Chardonay)
1 cup chopped fresh parsley (not packed)
2 cloves of garlic, chopped or pressed
black pepper to taste
salt to taste
1 T olive oil

Put pasta water on to boil. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat, add the chopped garlic and stir to coat. When garlic starts making sizzling noises, open the can of clams and add everything, including the juice to the pan. Reduce the heat to medium low and stir frequently until the broth begins to bubble. Add salt & pepper, the lemon juice and the wine, reduce heat to low.

Drain the pasta and return to the pot or to a large bowl. Pour the clam broth over the pasta and mix well. Some of the liquid will be absorbed, but not all. Add the parsley and toss well. Serve with remaining wine.

How do you like your clams? Comments? Questions? Let's hear them!

Yep, out of cumin

2011-09-07T15:30:00.000-04:00

I wouldn't say cumin is my favorite spice, but it's definitely up there. I use it in a wide variety of dishes from equally wide areas of the world. It features heavily in my chili, in curries, it's wonderful in fajitas or black bean soup, or gyros.

I had a half-pound pork loin, leftover rice (we almost always have leftover rice) and a can of black beans. To turn this into a meal:

After preheating the oven to 375 F, into a medium-sized bowl went:

juice of one lime
2 T olive oil
almost 1T of cumin
one shake of chili powder
one shake of cayenne
2 cloves of garlic
dash of sea salt

Stir well until all ingredients are combined. Add pork loin to bowl and coat thoroughly. I mushed it around for about two minutes. Move pork to a foil-lined roasting pan and cover with remaining liquid. Roast for about 45 minutes or until pork is no longer pink in the center.

While the pork was roasting, I emptied the black beans into a small saucepan and added:

a dash of white wine vinegar
half a small onion, chopped
two jalapenos, chopped
a tablespoon of salsa

I let that simmer until the pork was done, then spooned the beans over the rice. Optional toppings include sour cream or some shredded cheddar.

No pictures this time, we were a little too hungry for that and it went very quickly.

What do you like to do with cumin? Other questions? Comments? I'd love to hear from you.

Shameless Self-Promotion

2011-08-29T19:58:00.000-04:00

On a completely different note, I'm pleased to announce the e-publication of my first novel:

Zofia Smith left behind a promising career as a journalist when she realized her former employers meant it when they said, "You'll never work in this business again." Convinced by her best friend to move to New Orleans and start over, Zo opened a bookstore in the Crescent City's French Quarter.

For six years, life was peaceful, enjoyable. Bloody Murder made a profit with its focus on mystery books and its regular patrons enjoyed Zo's homemade muffins and fresh coffee.

Things changed one morning when Zofia walked downstairs from her apartment above the store and tripped over a corpse, landing in a heap of blood and muffins. The clues the police found included a knife with a Polish eagle and the corpse's criminal record that indicated he typically worked for a crime family, though not a local one.

Clues came from and pointed to different directions. A narrow miss with a gunshot, mysterious phone calls, and oddly enough to a man Zofia long thought dead.

While there are no recipes, food is almost a character. If you've ever been to New Orleans, you'll understand why. I hope you enjoy, and please, spread the word!

A lesson in humility

2011-08-29T19:52:00.000-04:00

Cucumbers are right up there as a favorite vegetable, especially if I can find some that have a thin-to medium skin, some serious crunch, and ideally, no wax on them. It's a pain in the whatsis to get off.

I like them in a lot of ways, cut into spears and eaten with nothing but salt & pepper; with onions, yogurt and a touch of white vinegar, in a sandwich with Swiss cheese, in a salad, in a cold soup with dill, I could go on.

When I lived in Nashville, I visited some friends in Atlanta and they introduced me to a sushi place called RuSan's. This local chain (still expanding!) serves some of the tastiest and most creative sushi I've ever had. Before a meal at the sushi bar, they serve a small appetizer of cucumbers, sesame seeds, ponzu and some crab.

I didn't have any crab in the house, but I thought to myself, "Self, let's have something different for lunch. Ponzu is just citrus and soy sauce, right?"

Wrong.

I was on my lunch hour, so this impulse didn't leave me much time for research. I put into a bowl:

2 T soy sauce
2 T rice vinegar
1 T fresh lemon juice.

Then I sprinkled the whole things with sesame seeds. It did come out rather pretty.

The tea towel I'm using as a table runner was hand-stitched by my friend Opal. You can see more of her jewelry and art at The Hyper Monkey.

Back to my experiment. It did not come out tasting like ponzu. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't the combination I was looking for. I discussed it with my sweetie when he got home and he was very sensitive and didn't laugh. He also said that ponzu involves some citrus only available in Japan and the recipes I found a little later were something similar, but not, but his native definition, ponzu.

So, not my finest experiment and I will use the bottled ponzu when I'm next in the mood for the above dish. While RuSan's has spawned some restaurants in Nashville, they certainly haven't made it into Connecticut, so I'm on my own.

Questions? Comment? Let's hear them!

As a note, I used to sign off joking about Death Threats. I will not be doing that any longer. A friend pointed me to Ittybiz, and suddenly my jest didn't seem to be as funny anymore. I hope you'll show your support and spread the word.

Next time--something with pork and a lot of garlic, and cumin, if I'm not out of it. Thank you for reading!

This summer's top salad

2011-08-16T14:51:00.001-04:00

I haven't gone to a lot of barbecues this summer. Austin the former landlord did find some lovely steaks a few weeks ago and marinated a few of them in a store-bought raspberry vinaigrette which turned out delicious. My contribution to the party was a salad that was both easy and a little unusual. No pictures this week, it got eaten a little too quickly, so I would definitely call it a success.

Epicurious is a fantastic source for salads; I have several saved to be used at upcoming galleries. Fortunately, my friends don't mind being used as guinea pigs.

This week's recipe has only a few ingredients, but they all add a new level of flavor when blended together:

Romaine and Arugula Salad with Toasted Seeds

2 teaspoons sesame seeds
1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon (packed) finely grated lemon peel
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large head romaine lettuce
4 cups baby arugula leaves

A couple of quibbles with the ingredients. I would have found it easier to have said, "Juice from half of a small lemon." Unless you have the hand-eye coordination of a superhero, it's a little hard to squeeze lemon juice into a tablespoon.

And packing the lemon peel? Don't. Grate the zest off an entire small lemon--about the size of a couple of golf balls. If you can fit it whole into your coffee cup, that's about the right size. When you tightly pack lemon peel, it stays packed and can be a bit of a pain in the ass.

Back to our recipe:

Combine all seeds in heavy small skillet. Add large pinch of salt. Cook over low heat until white sesame seeds are pale golden, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Using potato masher, press mixture in skillet until coriander seeds are coarsely crushed.

There's an assumption here. Specifically, that one has a particular type of potato masher:

So, next time I do this, I'm toasting the coriander seeds first, then crushing them in my mortar and pestle. You don't want the sesame seeds smushed with this salad.

Back to the recipe:

Place lemon juice and peel in small bowl. Whisk in olive oil. Season dressing with salt and pepper. (Seeds and dressing can be made 8 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

Combine romaine and arugula in large bowl. Add dressing and half of seeds; toss to coat. Sprinkle with remaining seeds and serve.

This came out beautifully. The seeds add a nice, but different kind of crunch,and just loved the coriander. I never would have thought about putting it together with sesame seeds. If you're not used to shopping for sesame seeds, you can often find a large container of them in the Asian food section of your grocer. If they aren't there, yell at them. You may also find them on the spice rack.
Black sesame seeds are a little tougher to find. I got mine at an Asian grocer when we lived in Danbury. Our friends at Amazon have a variety of brands and prices if you don't have an Asian grocer handy.

I'll be making the salad again, and maybe one or two more new ones by the time the summer is over.

Next week: How not to make ponzu!

Questions? Comments? Death Threats? All are welcome!

Nachos that won't kill you (quickly)

2011-08-01T20:58:00.000-04:00

I'm going to do something a little different today and actually use brand names. I have, generally speaking, taken a page from our friends at the Food Network, and not used any brand names. Partly because all things aren't available in all places (and I have no idea where half of you are) and partly because, well, nobody is paying me to do it. If they offered, and I liked the product, I'd consider it.

Anyway, I love nachos. Most people I know do. When we get them in Mexican restaurants, they're so damn heavy, though, afterwards I feel like I swallowed a bowling ball. And let's face it, half the reason they're so good is because they're so bad for you. Gooey cheese, sour cream, meat dripping with juice and fat. . .

A while back, I bought some chips from the nice people at Food Should Taste Good. They make a variety of chips and crackers and I've enjoyed several flavors. I saw the mulit-grain chip and I started thinking.

I usually have black beans in the house. Meat? Well, why not chicken for a change? I took the lazy way out and got a rotisserie bird from the supermarket. It was a lime & garlic flavor, I thought it would work. For cheese, I went with Cabot low-fat cheddar. I forget what salsa I had in the house, probably something chunky and organic (and no sugar!).

So, let's list this out:

One package multi-grain tortilla chips

one avocado, sliced

one jar salsa

one cup shredded low-fat cheese

two cans of black beans

two cups of shredded chicken (about two breasts and a drumstick off your rotisserie bird)

one medium onion (smaller than a baseball)

one jalapeno (optional)

Grate cheese

chop onion

Slice avocado. If you wait to do these things until you're ready, the chips will get soggy.

Arrange chips on a microwave-safe plate. Good stoneware will do. I did about a layer and a half. You should see no dish showing through.

Throw the beans, chicken, onion and a heaping spoonful of salsa in a pot. Heat on low until the chicken is heated all the way through.

Microwave your chips for about thirty seconds to get them extra crisp. Spoon chicken and bean mixture over the chips. Top with cheese. Microwave on high for thirty seconds until cheese is melted. Top with salsa and sliced avocados:

Dig in!

Questions? Comments? Death threats? Spokesmodel offers? Let's hear them!

Almost Perfect--Special guest post

2011-07-13T23:16:00.000-04:00

This post has been a long time coming. Not because it wasn't delicious, just because there were so many other recipes I want to share (and I still need to get the parsley entry).

A while ago, a friend asked us to a BBQ, and would I please make a salad? Not a problem, I love making salads and they tend to get good reviews. Then I was asked to bring dessert and I said, "Oh *&^%$!" and promptly started looking for recipes. Seeing me in an utter panic, my sweetie gallantly said he would make dessert, and even make it a creme brulee, a trend which I hope doesn't go away any time soon.

So without further ado . .

The Almost-Perfect Creme Brulee

For this creme brulee recipe, I used Alton Brown's and Paula Deen's as the basis, but there are ingredients and steps that make it mine.

Ingredients:

1 Pint Heavy Cream

1 Vanilla Bean , cut lengthwise in half

3 Large Egg Yolks

1/4 Cup Sugar

4 Tbsp Cognac

1 tsp Xanthan Gum

2-3 Qt of water.

Preheat the oven to 325F. It's very important to use a good oven thermometer here. Custard is one of the least forgiving things I do.

Scrape seeds from the vanilla bean

Scraping seeds from the vanilla bean

In a small saucepan, bring the vanilla bean seeds, cream and half of the cognac to a simmer. As an aside, never, ever cook with booze you're not absolutely delighted with. I used Remy Martin's 1738. Let the mixture come to a simmer, but not to full boil. Remove from heat.

Place the mixture in a blender. Carefully and slowly add the Xanthan gum while pulsing it. You really don't want this to clump, and it will if you let it. Blend for another 30 seconds or so to make sure it's smooth, and then let sit for about 10 minutes.

Take the 3 egg yolks and the half of the sugar, and whisk until slightly lightened in colour. <em>Slowly</em> add the cream mixture while whisking.

Put the ramekins in a roasting pan or similar, and then pour the boiling water so it covers about half-3/4 of the way up. Then slowly pour the cream-egg mixture into the ramekins. This will come really, really high. Don't worry, it will shrink a bit.

Bake for about 15-20 mins. Turn it to cook it evenly, and bake for another 20 minutes or so. They should be jiggly but not bubbling. My first batch was bubbling. Oops.

Take them out of the oven, and let them sit, hot water and all, until the ramekins are cool to touch. Remove the top crust layer, and "discard". Then mix the custard until it's even and smooth. Put it in the refrigerator for minimum of 2 hours.

In a small saucepan, mix the rest of the Cognac and the sugar, and warm it a little to get the alcohol to start evaporating, then turn off the heat. Make sure all loose clothing, hair, etc., are tied down. Torch the sugar several times to get most of the booze out. Let this mixture sit and cool for the rest of the 2 hours.

Before serving, warm the flambe'ed mixture a little, and then divide it evenly on top of the creme. Take the torch, and in quick, circular motions, melt the sugar. Being stingy with the sugar here will help it melt easier before it burns.

Let sit for 5 mins or so, then bon appetit

Scarborough Fair Part Three--Thyme Potato Salad

2011-07-04T14:11:00.000-04:00

When it comes to potato salad, I have some non-traditional preferences. I like skins on, for flavor, texture and yes, because peeling takes so much time. I prefer a vinegarette or olive oil-based dressing over mayo. No pickles, either. I love pickles by themselves, but I've never been one for including them in potato salads and keep them the heck away from my tuna.

The grocery had a sale on purple potatoes last week, and I'd never used them before. The package was just big enough to make a salad for two, so I didn't get any other potatoes to mix up the color a little bit. Check out the color:

I love it, it's practically the same color as the cutting board.

Ingredients, not perfectly measured:

2 cups potatoes in bite-sized pieces
1 t salt divided
freshly ground black pepper
fresh lemon juice to taste
1/4-1/3 cup of olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh thyme.

Boil potatoes in water with 1 t salt for slighly less time than you would if you were cooking them for mashed. When you stick a fork in them, you should feel a little bit of resistance in the center. Otherwise, when you stir, they will fall apart. It'll still be tasty, but it won't earn you any points on presentation. Strain the potatoes and rinse with cold water. Allow to cool, about 20 minutes.

When it comes to mixing salad dressings, I like to use a medium-sized glass jar, such as one left over from salsa or jam.

I start with the juice of one lemon, which yields about 1/4 cup. add olive oil, salt to taste and several grinds of black peper. Add the thyme, and mix well. This is where the jar comes in handy, you can just seal and shake.

Once the potatoes are cool, gently toss with the dressing. This goes very well with poultry. If I were to serve beef, I'd try it with fresh tarragon. With pork, probably rosemary.

Questions? Comments? Death threats? I'd love to hear from you!

Berry Season!

2011-06-24T18:14:00.000-04:00

Strawberries are a beautiful things. Once, when I was waiting tables at a reception, they had strawberries on the buffet table. Nearby, I was operating the champagne fountain. A few glasses disappeared, to be placed under the table with strawberries in them. One of my co-workers caught me and before she could finish saying, "What the expletive are you doing?" I popped one in her mouth. Thus began my lifelong affair with strawberries and booze together.

Austin the former housemate has a patch in his garden that he diligently guards from the local wildlife. Sometimes the deer figure out ways around the netting. Sometimes he gets a nice crop. You can't do better than just-picked, you really can't. Even if it means fighting the deer and the bunnies.

The berries my sweetie and I ate last night were fresh, plump and juicy, though they were not from Austin's garden. While they're delicious just washed and munched on, I like to gild the lily a bit:

1 pint strawberries
1 teaspoon sugar (I used organic. Brown sugar also lovely here, especially with rum)
1.5 Tablespoons good dark rum (I used Plantation,which is made in Barbados. The best rums I've ever had have been in the Caribbean)

Hull the the strawberries and slice them into a medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle the sugar over the sliced berries and stir well with a rubber scraper. Add the rum and stir again. The rubber scraper will help pick up the liquid and spread the flavors around.

Let sit for a bit--I usually make this an hour or two ahead. Stir a few times every fifteen minutes or so. You'll notice liquid beginning to form in the bowl. Not quite syrup, not quite juice, just a luscious marriage of flavors.

Spoon into serving dishes. Add fresh cream if you wish or simply enjoy with a spoon.

I've been making this and variations thereof for at least fifteen years, using several different liqueurs--Chambord, Kahlua, Gran Mariner. The last adds a slightly earthy feel to it that I love. If you like a lighter flavor but still orangey, I recommend Cointreau. If I were to use champagne, I wouldn't add the sugar or cream. I just found a mini-bottle of Limoncello in my gaming bag, so that may be up next, if the berries are still fresh next week.

Questions? Comments? Death threats? I'd love to hear from you!

I don't think it's me

2011-06-23T21:37:00.000-04:00

But it could be. The recipe looked intriguing to me, but. . .let's take a look:

12 oz sweet orange marmalade

4 Tablespoons cider vinegar

2 Tablespoons honey

1 Tablespoon Asian Hot Garlic Chil sauce (does that mean anything byt Sriracha?)
Pinch salt
2 lb pork tenderloin
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash ground black pepper

I look at this ingredient list and I think, "We have sweet, but we have vinegar to counteract it from being too sweet, we have spicy from the garlic chili sauce. We'll have a little bitter on the back end. This has potential."

Instead of the black pepper, I decided to use red--I'd had red pepper flakes in a spicy plum sauce at a Chinese/Vietnamese restaurant in Salt Lake City called Cafe Trang. They've expanded quite a bit since I lived in the Beehive State and that dish is no longer on the menu, but if you're in the area, check them out. Best egg rolls I've ever had.

I also thought I'd eliminate the honey. Marmalade is sweet enough, yes?

The recipe itself was pretty easy to follow:
.....................................
Combine the marmalade, vinegar, honey, Asian chili sauce and the pinch of salt. Reduce to reduced by about 1/3, about 10-15 minutes.

Cut tenderloins into 1-inch slices. Flatten slightly with the heel of your hand (I just used the flat of my big knife). Combine the flour, 1/2 t salt and pepper in a food storage bag. Shake tenderloin medallions in the mixture until well coated.

Heat olive oil (I used an extra-light one, about 2T) over medium-high heat. Sear tenderloin medallions for about 3 minutes on each side. Add the reduced sauce, simmer for about 20 minutes.
......................

I know the measurements were correct, and when I tasted the reduced sauce before I poured it over the meat, I got a nice blend of sweet and spicy. Twenty minutes later, I had beautifully tender pork in a way-too-sweet sauce. I think if I'd added the honey, I wouldn't have been able to eat it. The pepper was not there, the vinegar was not there, the Sriracha was completely missing.

How to fix this? Less marmalade is an obvious start. More Sriracha? More pepper? All of the above? I'm really not sure where to go next with this one. I would love to hear your ideas. If someone submits one I like, I will make the dish again with their improvements sometime this fall. I need a bit of a break before I make this one again.

Scarborough Fair Part Two--Sage and Onion Chicken

2011-06-16T14:44:00.000-04:00

Today's entry came out of the "What the hell do I make for dinner?" school, with some help from, "You can't put that chicken back in the freezer so you better cook it in the next couple days."

For the previous few days, I had shucked rosemary and thyme to the point where I was going to soak my fingers in vanilla extract so I didn't smell like an herb garden. Garlic? I had one bulb left and I needed it for the clam sauce. So to the cupboard I went. My sweetie suggested oregano and lemon, but I had used up the oregano. Marjoram? Nothing sprang to mind. Then my eyes settled on the bottle of Dalmatian sage. We had a winner.

I'm afraid today's ingredients were not exactly measured, so please bear with me.

2 chicken breasts

2 T light olive oil

enough sliced onions to cover the bottom of a large frying pan

fine sea salt

freshly ground pepper

ground sage

After heating the olive oil in the pan for about a minute on medium, I added the onions and let them cook until they started to turn translucent around the edges. I placed the chicken breasts on top of the onions, sprinkled sea salt, ground some pepper and gently shook the sage over everything in the pan. I covered the pan for about three minutes, then stirred everything and flipped the chicken, added more salt, pepper and sage and made a point of trying to keep the chicken on top of the onions as much as possible. Lather, rinse, repeat until onions are caramelized and juices from the chicken run clear.

This came out better than I expected and was a treat for the nose as well as the taste buds. I served it with potato salad and steamed brocolini.

Scarborough Fair Part One--Rosemary Scones

2011-05-28T14:07:00.002-04:00

Before I get into today's entry, I thought I'd give you a quick preview of what's coming up in future entries. If you recognize the song title above, you'll have correctly inferred there will by thyme (potato salad), parsely (linguine with clams) and sage (I have no flipping idea) coming up in the next several weeks. We'll also have a treat in which I will play photojournalist and take pics of my sweetie as he creates a creme brulee or two.

Today's dessert intrigued me and it's all my friend Mike's fault. Mike lives in Athens, Georgia, which is towards the northeast part of the state. It is home to UGA and some of the most fabulous food I've had. We went to a restaurant called the Farm, who grow as much as they serve as possible and source the rest locally. I remember an omelette with lemon-infused tomatoes that still makes my mouth water, and for dessert, we had an olive oil-rosemary pound cake. It was my first foray into combining a normally savory spice into something sweet and I was hooked.

Like most Americans, we'll be at a cookout on Memorial Day--does anyone do parades and read "In Flander's Field" anymore? We were asked to bring a salad, and then also dessert. The salad will be, I hope, a replica of one I had in a restaurant/club a couple weeks ago. Avocados and black pepper are involved, but I'll save the rest for the upcoming posts. After driving myself nuts about dessert, Ken said he'd make the creme brulee, but I kept browsing for desserts that didn't involve an ice cream maker.

Today's recipe comes from Giada De Laurentis of the Food Network. I like this recipe and the layout because it was accurate with the timing, and had some good hints about what the mix should look like before adding liquid. I also appreciated that it did not insist on a food processor--anyone with a fork can cut butter into dry ingredients, it just takes a little longer. Anyway, copyright is Food Network, if they're paying attention. Here's our ingredient list:

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary leaves

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into small pieces (I was really tempted to switch out a tablespoon or two for olive oil. Maybe next time)

1 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup strawberry jam
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 cups confectioner's sugar

I really love my half-moon chopper for cutting up herbs. I also saved myself a little time by cutting off a lot of the rosemary with scissors. My fingers still smelled like the fragrant herb, but I can deal with that.

For the scones: Place an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with asilpat or parchment paper. Set aside. (I used aluminum foil lightly greased with olive oil. I don't know where my parchment paper is)

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, baking powder, rosemary, salt, and butter until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. (I used the cook's note below) Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Gradually stir in the cream until the mixture forms a dough.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 1/2-inch thick, 10-inch circle.

I ran into a small problem here. I don't own a rolling pin. I don't do an awful lot of baking, so it's never come up as a need. Instead, I used an iced-tea glass that came from Tea Forte (delicious stuff, but I digress, and they're not paying me to endorse)

Using a 3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out heart-shaped pieces of dough and put on the prepared baking sheet. (I used a round juice glass, though at the end, I rather liked the lumpy hand-shaped one. I may go with that the next time) Gently kneadtogether any leftover pieces of dough and roll out to 1/2-inch thick. Cut the dough into more heart shapes and add to the baking sheet. Using an index finger or a small, round measuring spoon, gently make an indentation in the center of each pastry heart. Spoon a heaped 1/2 teaspoon of jam into each indentation. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Transfer the cooked scones onto a wire rack and cool for 30 minutes.

For the glaze: In a medium bowl, mix together the lemon juice and powdered sugar until smooth. Gradually add the water until the mixture is thin enough to spread. Using a spoon, drizzle the glaze over the scones. Let the glaze set for about 30 minutes. Serve or store in an airtight plastic container for 2 days.

I had a bit of a problem with the glaze. I don't know if I made it too thin or if 30 minutes wasn't enough time, but it just ran right off the scones, leaving only a taste behind. Didn't take away from the deliciousness, though.

Cook's Note: The dough can also be made by hand by stirring together the flour, sugar, baking powder,rosemary, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter. Using your fingertips or a pastry blender, work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Gradually stir in the cream until the mixture forms a dough.

Overall, I was really pleased with the results. They're not too sweet, the lemon in the glaze is a nice finishing touch and I find them good for breakfast or dessert. The finished product:

Stir Crazy IV--Mac & cheese for adults

2011-05-15T17:00:00.001-04:00

I haven't made mac & cheese since we left Austin's over a year ago and I've had a craving. After making the beer cheese soup with gruyere, I wanted to try gruyere with mac & cheese. Today was a rousing success, though because it was so rich, it is certainly not for everyday consumption.

Same basic recipe as I've used in the past:

3 T butter
3 T all-purpose flour
2 cups cream (because the cream we bought for the coffee jelly topping was about to expire)
1 cup whole milk
2 cups shredded gruyere
1 cup shredded edam
1 pound pasta
2 T dark beer (I used Smithwick's)
chopped fresh parsley for garnish

I love edam, it's delightfully buttery and I thought it would add both some creaminess and some richness to counteract the sharp taste of the gruyere.

photo by KMKulig

I also added one head of roasted garlic (I happened to have this handy because I was going to make a garlic aioli last week, but that didn't happen, so why not here?)

If you use this recipe, don't attempt to bring this particular cheese mixture to a boil. It will clump. Instead, do a lot of stirring on lower heat, I was just shy of medium low through most of it. I strongly recommend a tool like the silicone whisk above.

I used orichiette pasta, also known as "little ears". They're a little more open than small shells, which can hold water if you don't shake the whatsis out of them after draining.

I served today's meal with andouille, and for dessert, my sweetie and I shared a very tart granny smith apple:

Questions? Comments? Death threats? I'd love to hear from you!

Coffee Jelly!

2011-05-10T19:05:00.000-04:00

photo by K. Hashimoto

This week was next week last week. . .

2011-05-08T17:38:00.000-04:00

and I should have said, "next entry" instead of "next week" in my last post. At the time, I wasn't thinking about my trip to Nashville, which was last Sunday.

For those who don't know, I telecommute. My main office is in Nashville and I visit 3-4 times a year. It was a good trip overall, though I missed my regular hotel (long story) and didn't have any time to be social with local friends.

So, today I made sure I had all the ingredients to put today's recipe together.

brief pause for some boggling

Yes, folks, you read it correctly. As I type this, I have coffee jelly hopefully gelling in my fridge. I first had this with my sweetie and a dear friend at a Japanese restaurant on the Upper East Side of New York. It was as delicious as the concept was astonishing.

You may have noticed I don't make a lot of desserts. This is generally because they require more exact measurements than I tend to use. I wasn't exact with this either, so let's see how it goes:

My ingredients (makes 4 half cup servings):

4 oz espresso (purchased from the nearby cafe. We don't own a coffee maker)
12 oz water
1 heaping T of sugar (according to the local authenticity monitor, the sweet in this dessert should be incorporated into the whipped cream topping)
1 envelope Knox gelatin, which works out to about a Tablespoon

funnel
coffee filter

Dissolve the gelatin in 4 T of water
Add the coffee, gelatin and water to a small saucepan. Stir on low until gelatin and sugar is dissolved. Strain through coffee filter (You can use your coffee maker for this). Pour into serving dishes. Chill. Write blog entry. Check fridge every 20 minutes until sweetie tells you to calm down and go watch the Criminal Minds marathon on A&E.

I'm leaving the making of the topping to my sweetie. Later this evening, or possibly tomorrow, we will have the results.

From the Wing-It School: Ginger Beef

2011-04-24T17:55:00.001-04:00

I don't recall if I've mentioned this, but I'm taking Project Management classes online. It takes up a great deal of my time and a lot of focus. I haven't created anything new in the kitchen for a while.

Today, during the break between classes (next one starts in June), I had a chance to do so. My sweetie was born in Tokyo, and I wanted to make something appropriately Asian. He said his mom would enjoy today's results, which pleased me to no end.

I did go hunting for recipes. I'd had in mind to make ginger pork or beef, but all the recipes I found had sugar or honey, which I am told is nowhere near authentic. One had balsamic vinegar. I didn't get that at all. I love balsamic, but if I'm going to incorporate it into meat, it's counter-intuitive to me to combine it with soy sauce, never mind sugar.

The following serves two, but can be easily expanded:

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup rice vinegar (make sure you get one with no sugar or sodium added)
red pepper to taste
2 T sesame oil, divided
5 green onions, cut into 1 1/2 to 2 inch pieces
3/4 lb beef shoulder steak cut into 1/2" slices
(1 cup of mushrooms, which I was out of, but will incorporate next time)
1/4 cup ginger cut into matchsticks (you could go up to 1/3 cup if you have serious ginger fans in the house. Also--get as young a piece of ginger as possible, it's more fragrant, tastier and easier to cut)
sesame seeds for garnish
2 cups cooked rice (I like brown, Ken prefers white. What we had in the house was leftovers from take-out)

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the soy sauce, vinegar and several grinds of red pepper.

Heat 1 T of the sesame oil in a wok or deep pan on medium heat. A saute pan will work nicely. I have a pan with deep curved sides that also does the job. Add the ginger and stir for about five minutes (this is when I cut up the green onions). Add 1 T of the sauce and stir frequently for another three minutes.

If I'd had mushrooms, this is where I would add them, with a couple of T of the sauce, stirring for about a minute.

Add the other tablespoon of oil. Chase sweetie out of the kitchen (the smell of cooking sesame oil makes both of our mouths water), then add the meat. Stir in the other T of oil, adding more sauce as the liquid gets absorbed into the meat and vegetables. When you only see a little bit of red left in the meat, throw in the green onion and stir.

Put rice onto plates. When the onions are bright green, but not wilted, your meal is done. Spoon over rice, add a bit more sauce, red pepper to taste (or, if you have access to Shichimi Togarashi, a Japanese red pepper blend, go for it). Top with sesame seeds, enjoy!

I think I'll try this with pork in a few weeks. Stay tuned!

Next week: an unusual sweet

Questions? Comments? Death threats? Let's hear them!

In which Kate wishes she had a tagine or for the weather to clear up already

2011-04-19T13:26:00.000-04:00

I love food from the Middle East. Falafel, couscous, stews in a tagine, lots of lamb, really strong coffee, pita, cucumbers, I could go on. There used to be (and for all I know still is) a great restaurant in Salt Lake City called Cedars of Lebanon where I had some fantastic food. There was also Robert's Deli, where I first ate sharwama, but that's gone now.

I came across this week's recipe while searching for a Moroccan chicken dish, all the better to use my preserved lemons. One link led to another, one reason I love the internet, and I found the Chrysalis Voyage site.

Most of the ingredients I had in my kitchen, but I had to look up za'atar. Sumac I had heard of but never tried. Penzey's had both, if I needed, but I tried locally first and lucked out. Fairway Market had both. While I have objection to mixing up my own spice blends, I was in kind of a hurry. It was Friday night, I wanted to relax.

Being a mistress of making my own life difficult, I went all the way through the market to the cashier only to discover I'd left my wallet at home. Fortunately, I live close enough that they hadn't put the items in my cart away before I went home and back.

I decided to double the marinade recipe, because I was going to be serving four or five people, but I'll put Kim's measurements here:

I use Rock Cornish Hens because I find ½ a hen a nice individual portion, but feel free to use whatever you prefer. Boneless chicken breasts work just as well.

3-4 Rock Cornish Hens or equivalent of your fave chicken pieces

Juice of 2 lemons

¾ C Olive oil

2-4 cloves crushed garlic-to your taste

Very generous pinch of each: cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric

Salt and Pepper— to your taste

1 T Za’atar

1 T Sumac

1 onion thinly sliced

3-4 T pine nuts

Set aside. In a bowl, mix olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt/pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric, za’atar, and sumac. Pour in a large Ziploc bag and add hens or chicken pieces marinating in fridge for 6-8 hours, turning the bag over occasionally. Remove hens/chicken pieces from marinade and heat marinade in a separate serving bowl to boiling in the microwave (my sweetie was a little edgy about cooking something in the marinade until I reassured him it was heated to the boiling point first). Set aside marinade. Roast hens in a tagine or oven for about an hour at 350, or until cooked through. Or, you can grill the chicken on the barbeque—also delicious.

The original plan was to descend on Austin the former landlord in a small celebration of the anniversary of my sweetie and I getting our own place. Austin loves grilling and dangit, it's April, even in New England it should feel somewhat like spring. It poured rain all day, so no grill. We ended up roasting the chicken in the oven and they came out very well, but I do want a tagine, like the one at the left.

When hens/chicken is about finished, saute sliced onions and pine nuts in 2-3 T of hen marinade. Put cooked chicken on a large serving platter and scatter onion/pine nuts on top. Sprinkle with a little more sumac and drizzle with a little more marinade, passing the rest at the table. Recipe serves 6 approximately. (1/2 a Cornish hen for each person)

I toasted the pine nuts first, I find that ends a little bit of flavor, and it only takes a few minutes. The onions and the nuts topped off an already special dish and brought it to a higher level. Eight small chicken breasts served four of us. Next time, though, we grill!

Questions? Comments? Death threats? I'd love to hear from you!

In which Kate learns take better inventory of her wine

2011-04-08T23:08:00.000-04:00

This week's entry should have been a resounding success, if it weren't for one thing: I grabbed the wrong bottle of wine. Let me begin at the beginning:

A while back, I found this recipe. Olive Oil Cured Swordfish. I loved it on sight. First off, I really enjoy the flavor and texture of swordfish. Second of all, a lot of the recipes I've seen for swordfish are heavy on the citrus, almost too much so. This one used it as an appetizer, and the orange and coriander made it very different from what I've seen. And it was pretty easy--my biggest challenge was finding a vessel big enough to lay out the fish slices:

Ingredients:

6 oz fresh swordfish

1/4 cup dry white wine. Dry. Note that, it's very important.

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 t salt

1 orange

Sea Salt

Freshly ground black pepper.

What happened with the wine was this, I took inventory, found the wine I wanted to use (we only had two whites in the house), made a mental note and prepared my shopping list. When I grabbed the wine to make the marinade (see below), it was a sweet wine, not a dry one. If I'd had more lemon juice to counter it, things might have turned out better.

As it was, I sliced the swordfish thinly, the hint in the recipe to lead with the heel of the knife was very useful. I ended up with pretty uniform slices.

in a small bowl, whisk together the white wine, lemon juice and salt to combine. Pour this mixture over the raw fish slices and allow to rest for 1 hour at room temperature. I would recommend a little more than an hour if you have the time. My thicker slices didn't get "cooked" in the full hour.

Meanwhile, zest the orange, then segment (supreme) it, slicing the segments again in half lengthwise. Reserve both. Toast, then grind the whole coriander in a mortar & pestle. Here is a place where I need a lot of practice, my knife work is not, shall we say, supreme. Fortunately, my sweetie goes through satsumas in the winter the way I go through chocolate when I have PMS.

Remove the fish slices from the marinade and set them atop a large piece of paper towel set on a plate. Top with another piece of paper towel to cover and gently press to dry.

Transfer the fish slices to a serving platter, arranging them in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil to just cover. Scatter the orange segments, zest and ground coriander over them and sprinkle with a bit of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

I decided to serve this over an arugula salad as a main dish. It worked reasonably well, but it wasn't perfect. A day later, the marinade had done its job completely and the results was delicious. I plan to make this again, and when I have the money, serve it on a block of Himalayan salt like the one below

Happy eating everyone! As always, comments are encouraged.

Next week: something with sumac, and I don't mean the poison kind.

In which Kate gives up on seeing robins and crocuses (croci? croqui?)

2011-03-28T16:03:00.000-04:00

March is supposed to come in like a lion and out like a lamb. Here in southern New England (or annexed NYC, depending on how you look at it), we had one 70-degree day a couple weeks ago and have gone back into the forties and rainy. I suspect Spring got mugged in Central Park and is being held hostage somewhere.

So, no robins on the grass (at least when I get downstairs. On the 11th floor, I just get the Goodfeathers on my balcony. And the occasional hawk), no crocuses. I may have seen daffodills, but that could be a pipe dream.

This all leads to part 2 of What to do With Preserved Lemons. I'm really pleased with how this came out. Light, and fresh and a reminder that eventually, the winter dolldrums will be behind us. The following serves 2:

1.5 medium tomatoes (about a cup and half, tomatoes being just slightly smaller than a baseball) chopped
2 T olive oil
1/4 cup brine from preserved lemons
1 preserved lemon, pith removed, finely diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste

2 servings of your favorite pasta, cooked. I used spaghetti.

I recommend making this ahead. While the tomatoes will take on the lemony flavor pretty quickly, an hour or so in the brine makes this just sublime.

Combine the first six ingredients in a bowl, stir well and let sit about an hour. Toss with pasta.

Yes, really, that's it. It was fantastic and fresh and gave me some hope that the second signs of spring are on their way.

Next week--something fishy.

Questions? Comments? Death threats? Let's hear them!

Half an onion feels lonely-Spicy Roasted Chick Peas take 1

2011-03-23T18:45:00.000-04:00

I've been wanting to try this week's recipe for a few weeks now, but life kept getting in the way of serious cooking. Finally, this evening, I had a chance to do so.

I wasn't familiar with Clean Eating Magazine, and I came across a "clean" fish & chips recipe. It used whole-grain bread crumbs and baked thinly-sliced sweet potatoes. It didn't quite work for me and the test eater (hi, sweetie!), which is why you haven't seen it here on Knives, Fire and Fun.

I love chick peas. They're so yummy and so flexible. Raw on a salad, in channa masala or saag, I've pan-cooked them with onions and stirred in avocado afterwards (where did I put that link?). I've had them in a tagine as well. Then there's hummus. You get the idea.

Anyway, this recipe looked interesting, though it didn't strike me as a snack, so I thought I'd whip these up and put them on top of a salad. Here's our ingredient list:

2 cups canned or cooked chickpeas, drained and well rinsed --the cans I had were 15.5 ounces. Close enough
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (Crap, I just realized I forgot this)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp maple sugar flakes (I skipped this, in case my sweetie decided he wanted some. He doesn't do sweet & spicy combos. I say he's missing out)
1 1/2 tsp cumin, ground
1/2 tsp coriander, ground
1/4 tsp cinnamon, ground
1/4 tsp each sea salt and ground black pepper
Pinch cayenne pepper, to taste

I also chopped up half a lonely onion and threw it in the mix.

Preheat oven to 425°F.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl; toss well.
Spread chickpea mixture on foil-lined baking sheet.
Put in oven, roasting for 20 to 25 minutes; toss mixture about halfway through.
When chickpeas are dark brown in spots, remove from oven and let cool.
Store in airtight container in refrigerator

These did not come out perfect. I think next time (which may be tomorrow, I do have another can of chick peas), I will stir them more often, maybe every 8 minutes instead of every ten. I believe the goal is a light crunch on the outside with a creamy center. Almost, but now quite. So, you'll see this one again.

Thanks for reading!

Questions? Comments? Death threats? Let's hear from you!

What to do with Preserved Lemons

2011-03-09T12:08:00.000-05:00

I hemmed and hawed a little bit about this post because the results were mixed. This occasionally happens when I cook by the seat of my pants.

Anyway, you'll recall about a month ago, I put up some lemons to preserve. I checked them on a regular basis and added some additional lemon juice to keep them covered. Then I ran out of lemons, so taking a cue from my friend Beki, added some water.

A few weeks later, the brine tasted delicious. Next batch will have a lot more pepper, possibly a bay leaf. This batch had coriander and cinnamon and I was so thrilled with the taste I had to have it in something.

I breaded some chicken breasts with panko, thyme and pepper, and thought for a side dish, I'd make quinoa (which to my amusement does not pass my spell check) with some lemony mushrooms. The thought was to brighten the nutty quinoa with the freshness of the lemons. I put about a T of olive oil in a pan, chopped the mushrooms into 1/2 inch pieces and sauteed the shrooms for a bit over medium heat. After a few minutes, I added a half cup of brine , half a chopped lemon peel and cooked it down until just a little bit of liquid was left.

I should have left the mushrooms on their own. They tasted delightful, as if they'd been marinating for weeks. I liked them stirred in with the quinoa, my sweetie was less than enthusiastic. He didn't think the flavors meshed very well, and in retrospect, I think I have to agree. Naturally, I was disappointed, but my spirits perked up when he said he would try the lemon flavor in other things.

I'm thinking of tossing it with fresh tomatoes, garlic and olive oil and serving over pasta. Fresh parsley too, now that I think of it. I bought a bottle of Turkish olive oil that's a lovely yellow-green, so I think it will have a good olive taste.

To my knowledge, there's nothing special about Turkish olive oil. I was TJMaxx and I can't shop there without taking something home from the gourmet foods section. They always have pretty bottles of olive oil and I was running out. And now I'm running on, so I will sign off. Thank you as always for reading.

Questions? Comments? Death threats? Let's hear them!

Variations on a theme

2011-02-28T17:36:00.001-05:00

Today's post will be a little short, as it was meant to be last week's post and I'm still not completely over the cold. This is to the annoyance of my poor sweetie as well as myself because, probably like most people, I snore when congested.

Anyway, back in November, I tried Rachel Ray's recipes, specifically that of Beer Cheese Soup. I found the recipe easy to follow, no what I considered unnecessary ingredients (you can skip the chicken broth rant), and it was very flavorful and warm and went deliciously with a toasted English muffin.

At the bottom of her recipe, there was a note, "try it with gruyere!" So that's what I did. I was a little short on the exact amount of cheese, so I threw in a few slices of Havarti. It's mild, it's creamy, and I figured it would do more for texture than taste. I also used a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale instead of Harp (BTW, if you see a guy in a green windbreaker who answers to Lucas Payton, tell him I said thanks for getting me hooked on Newcastle).

The gruyere I had was pretty mild, and I wasn't left with a very strong cheesy taste the first time I ate it. When my sweetie had the leftovers, the flavors had combined to a taste that was greater than the sum of its parts. Maybe I should have left it on the stove a little longer, I don't know. This is a combination I'll try again.

I also skipped one of the carrots and added two shallots in its place. I definitely liked this better. Sweet and sharp at the same time.

I might go for the stronger beer wtih the sharper cheddar next time, and a milder beer with the gruyere. Or maybe that cheshire with onions that was so nice when I was experimenting with macaroni and cheese, the possibilities are endless. . .

Questions? Comments? Death Threats? And everyone say hi to new follower TNJ! TNJ, send a quick email to that smart blonde at gmail and I'll get your Amazon gift card right out!

Please excuse us we are experiencing technical difficulties

2011-02-21T20:32:00.000-05:00

Good evening everyone. For those that got to celebrate a three-day weekend, I hope you had some fun and time for relaxation.

I did just that, got away to Newport, Rhode Island for some R&R. Unfortunately, before I left, I picked up a cold that has settled itself quite comfortably in my head and shows no signs of leaving.

Cold meds make me stupid. When I'm a little more clear-minded I will do a quick "revisit" entry, where I adjusted a couple of recipes I used in the past year or so.

Meanwhile, I'd like to see some more followers. The first person who gets me a new follower will receive a $5 gift card from Amazon, and the new follower will get one too.

Spread the word about Knives, Fire and Fun!

Creating ingredients (1 of many) Preserved Lemons

2011-02-13T17:50:00.000-05:00

I like food from the Mediterranean region, whether it's from Greece, Italy, Turkey or the north of Africa. In some of my web browsing I've seen some Moroccan recipes that look interesting, and several of them call for preserved lemons like these.

If you have an Arab market in your neighborhood, you may be able to find them there. After doing some reading and finding David Lebovitz, I decided to give it a try and make some of my own:

Scrub the lemons with a vegetable brush and dry them off.

Cut off the little rounded bit at the stem end if there’s a hard little piece of the stem attached. From the other end of the lemon, make a large cut by slicing lengthwise downward, stopping about 1-inch (3 cm) from the bottom, then making another downward slice, so you’ve incised the lemon with an X shape.

Pack coarse salt into the lemon where you made the incisions. Don’t be skimpy with the salt: use about 1 tablespoon per lemon.

Put the salt-filled lemons in a clean, large glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Add a few coriander seeds, a bay leaf, a dried chili, and a cinnamon stick if you want. (Or a combination of any of them.)

Press the lemons very firmly in the jar to get the juices flowing. Cover and let stand overnight.

The next day do the same, pressing the lemons down, encouraging them to release more juice as they start to soften. Repeat for a 2-3 days until the lemons are completely covered with liquid. If your lemons aren’t too juicy, add more freshly-squeezed lemon juice until their submerged, as I generally have to do.

After one month, when the preserved lemons are soft, they’re ready to use. Store the lemons in the refrigerator, where they’ll keep for at least 6 months. Rinse before using to remove excess salt.

To use: Remove lemons from the liquid and rinse. Split in half and scrape out the pulp. Slice the lemon peels into thin strips or cut into small dices. You may wish to press the pulp through a sieve to obtain the flavorful juice, which can be used for flavoring as well, then discard the innards.

..............

This was so easy to do, it's almost embarassing. I didn't have a glass jar--I don't have storage space for a dozen quart jars which seems to be the only way you can buy them, so I used a plastic container that had a wide top and held three lemons comfortably. For spices, I chose a cinnamon stick, some coriander seeds and several grinds of red pepper. To smush (it's a technical term) them down to get the juices flowing, I used a potato masher.

So far, it seems to be working. On the second day, the lemons were already softer and when I applied the potato masher, I got a lot more juice. I did end up squeezing another lemon to get enough juice to cover. The juice (I suppose since it's full of salt, I should technically call it a brine) tastes fabulous. They should be completely ready at the beginning of March. I'm excited to use them in recipes. I have a pasta recipe picked out and there's also a lot of Moroccan chicken out there!

Ideas for preserved lemons? Questions? Comments? Death threats? Let me hear from you!

First Time for Everything: Split Pea Soup

2011-02-06T20:36:00.001-05:00

At the rate things are going this winter, I'm going to be making a lot of soup. We've had snow, ice, more snow. My landlords have plowed my car into its parking space on one hand and on the other demanded I clean it and move it on their deadline. So I'm staying inside a lot.

First time I had split pea soup was in my first apartment. My landlady made some and served it with bits of ham and swiss on the side. It was rich, thick enough to stand the spoon straight up, and was very warming and delicious.

I realize ham is traditional, but I've always had a thing for a good smoked sausage, so when I found a recipe to start with, I made, as usual, my own adjustments:

My final list of ingredients, which differ slightly from Simply Recipes:

One pound split peas (I used yellow; the store didn't have green that day)
One large onion, chopped
One large leek, chopped
One large carrot, chopped
6 cloves of garlic chopped
2.5 quarts low-sodium chicken broth
garlic salt to taste
freshly ground peppercorns to taste
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
8 sprigs Italian Parsley
12 oz smoked sausage, sliced to 1/2"

I knew if I overcooked the sausage, it wouldn't be a lot of fun, so I took the advice of another recipe (I lost the link; I looked at so many) and lightly cooked the sausage at the bottom of pot on low heat, then removed it with the slotted spoon and set it aside.

Next, I sautee'd all the chopped vegetables in the remaining sausage fat for about five minutes. I ended up throwing in about tablespoon of butter because the fat was getting absorbed.

Next, I added the chicken stock. The recipe said to add water, but this is a place where I happily had broth. While beer might be a good accompaniment, I was not making beer soup, wine had the wrong flavor profile, and chicken broth is mild enough not to overpower the sausage.

Lastly, I stirred in the peas and brought the whole mixture to a boil. After skimming the foam off the top (there wasn't much), I brought the heat down to just above simmer, put the cover on 7/8 of the way and let it cook for the required hour and a half.

Then I called my friend Gina in a panic. "It's not soup!" The peas were only partly soft, and it didn't taste like anything. After being calmed down and reassured that it probably just needed to cook down some more, I stirred it, took the lid off and let it cook for another couple hours.

Sometime in that two hours the magic happened because I had soft peas with lots of flavor, tasty vegetables and a hint of spice. I added some more pepper.

There is an immersion blender in this apartment somewhere. There's also my digital camera and a nice pair of knee-high boots. I did find my purple sweater yesterday, so there's hope. So, lacking the immersion blender, I ran the soup through my regular blender two cups at a time. Never overfill your blender, and always keep one hand on its lid. Trust me on this one. I nearly lost a brand-new sweater not heeding this advice

After blending, I reintroduced the sausage, stirred and fed a bowl to my sweetie. He wasn't sure he had had pea soup before, and definitely liked this one. I had mine topped with a little swiss and a toasted English muffin. The recipe makes four generous servings--enough for a main dish, or six small servings if there's a sandwich and salad involved.

Next time, I think a little heavier on the spices. I'd like more of the allspice. I'm not sure the celery seed was necessary. Watch this space for take two.

How do you like your split peas?

Questions? Comments? Death threats? I'd love to hear from you!

From the wilds of . . . . Salt Lake City? Irish Cream.

2011-02-02T16:12:00.000-05:00

Irish Cream is a beautiful thing in my world. It's smooth, creamy, and has a nice kick. You can drink it on its own, or add it to a number of things. A friend of mine adds his to chocolate soy milk. I've had it with Sambucca (slippery nipple), Buttershots (buttery nipple) and on the rocks. Many people add it to their coffee (this does not make what they're drinking Irish coffee, but I'll get to that in a minute). Popular media seems to associate it with the holidaze and parties. Me, I'd drink it all the time if I could afford the calories.

I thought I'd put a myth to the test in this week's blog entry.

Irish coffee is coffee, Irish whisky, and topped with whipped cream and sugar is usually involved somewhere. I've seen the recipe with sugar on top of the cream, add sugar to the cream, some with brown sugar, and for some, a sugared glass rim. I like Jameson's Irish whiskey in mine. Irish coffee does not include Irish Cream, though the two make a nice combination, especially if you throw in some Frangelico.

Irish cream is a cream liqueur made with Irish whisky, cream and other ingredients.

A long time ago when the earth was green, I lived in Salt Lake City, Utah, trying to eke out a living as a disc jockey. One of the other women at the radio station gave me a recipe for Irish Cream that is better than the commercial stuff and has a little bit of flexibility built in. I often wonder what happened to her. Kristen, if you're out there, thank you very much for this!

To make about a quart:

3 eggs whipped in a blender until frothy
1 cup whisky
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 T instant coffee granules (or a few tablespoons strong coffee)
1 T vanilla extract
1 T chocolate syrup

after the eggs have been whipped, add one ingredient at a time to the blender, taking about thirty seconds to blend in each one. Store in the refrigerator in a glass container, covered. Stir or shake well until serving. I'm told this will keep for up to a month, but I've never had it last longer than a few days.

If you comb the web, you'll see more variations of this than there were bones on the Irish Rover (and if you haven't heard this silly song, download the Pogues' version. It's fabulous). I've seen several with almond extract. A friend of mine tried it with orange extract and got a sweet mellow flavor. Bailey's now makes a mint version, which I'm sure could be obtained by a T of peppermint extract. Not quite sure how they got the caramel flavor one though. I'll have to research this. Darn. :)

Questions? Comments? Death threats? Let's hear them!

Slightly hot stuff--variations on a theme

2011-01-23T17:24:00.000-05:00

I can eat chili any time of the year, but it is especially nice when it's really cold out. Since my last batch wasn't very hot, I thought I'd modify my basic chili recipe. Here's what I came up with:

2 Bottles Newcastle brown ale

2 pounds of stew beef in large chunks

2 cans black beans

3 cans chopped tomatoes with diced chiles

2 large onions finely chopped

6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 long hot pepper finely chopped

1 jalapeno finely chopped

1 cubanelle pepper, also finely chopped

2 heaping Tablespoons chili powder

2 heaping Tablespoons cumin

scant teaspoon of cayenne

scant teaspoon of vinegar (helps bring out the flavor in the black beans)

scant teaspoon of cinnamon

One of the advantages about working from a home office is I can take my lunch hour to work on dinner if I choose. Chopping and throwing everything in the Dutch oven took about half an hour. I kept it on low for the better part of five hours, then turned up the heat just slightly and took the lid off, stirring often so it didn't stick to the bottom.

The end result was something to be proud of. It had a slow burn towards the end of the bite. I considered it mildly spicy, my sweetie considered it medium-low. We brought a serving to Austin the former landlord and he deemed it delicious. At least I think so, his mouth was full.

Questions? Comments? Death threats? Your personal variations? I'd love to hear from you!

Next week: a touch of the Irish!

Bay-Leaf Crusted Pork

2011-01-16T14:36:00.001-05:00

This week's recipe comes again from the The Perfect Pantry. There's a lot of neat recipes in there and I'm sure I'll be going back. In doing some browsing around, found this pork roast recipe, which challenged me to think of bay leaves as more than something to be fished out of stews, soups and sauces before eating.

8 garlic cloves, peeled
8 dried bay leaves
Coarse salt and ground pepper I have a salt grinder with variable settings like the one pictured here. It's a beautiful thing.

4 medium onions, peeled (root ends left intact), each cut into 8 wedges
3 Tbsp olive oil I used Truffle oil, I thought the earthiness would work well.
1 pork rib roast with 8 ribs (4 1/2 to 5 pounds), backbone removed, ribs Frenched (*see note, below) My roast didn't actually have ribs and weighed closer to three pounds, but I kept the proportions the same.
2 cups fresh parsley leaves I didn't pack it too tightly
1 cup Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 375°F. Using a chef's knife, finely chop garlic and bay leaves together. Gather into a pile; sprinkle with 2 tsp coarse salt and 1/2 tsp ground pepper. Using the flat side of the knife blade, mash mixture into a paste. Set aside.

I used my half-moon chopper for this, because it's easy to blend herbs together or herbs with garlic in this case. I also didn't quite get a paste out of it, so I added a little truffle oil. I was able to pick up some very small bottles of it for around fifteen dollars and it has a delightful earthy flavor.

On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss onions with 2 Tbsp oil; season with salt and pepper. Push onions to the edges of baking sheet. Place pork in center of sheet, fatty side up; rub top with remaining oil, and press on garlic mixture, coating evenly.

Even though I had a smaller roast that was in the recipe, I think I'll do ten and ten instead of eight and eight. I didn't have quite enough to cover all of the roast and I chopped everything very finely.

Roast, dabbing occasionally with pan juices, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in center of meat (avoiding bones) registers 140°F (temperature will rise 10 to 15 degrees as roast rests), 65 to 75 minutes. (If browning too quickly, tent loosely with aluminum foil.) Transfer roast and onions to serving platter; let rest, loosely covered with foil, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a food processor, blend parsley and mustard until smooth; season with salt and pepper.

This came out delicious. Very juicy pork, the bay leaves and the garlic permeated it well, even though the fatty layer. My sweetie said it was the best pork he'd had in the last twelve months, and that includes a bite of the chop I had at John Besh's steakhouse in New Orleans. Who am I to argue with that?

Questions? Comments? Death threats? A recipe for me to try? I'd love to hear from you!

Next week I'm making chili and I think I'm stealing a variation from Austin the former landlord. He made a batch this weekend that included Italian sausage as well as stew meat and it was just lovely. I'll let you know how it goes!

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Happy Birthday to Knives, Fire and Fun!

2011-01-09T21:35:00.002-05:00

First off, I'd like to thank all my readers for sticking with me over the past year. Especial thanks to Beki, Squid, Heather, Sarah and Andral who are among my first subscribers, frequent commenters and generally supportive human beings.

When I first conceived of this blog, I thought I'd be doing product comparisons as well as critiquing recipes in my own (hopefully) inimitable style. As I look back over the last year, I see some critiques, but more often, I see my own take on things, and a lot of recipes from the Wing-It school. I never did get around to comparing any products, and I'm okay with that. I've had a lot of fun, and I've decided to keep this going. I hope you'll stay with me.

Today's recipe comes from The Perfect Pantry. I came across it randomly browsing food sites and the Mexican Spiced Fish intrigued me (so did a pork roast recipe that will be next week, assuming I remember to take the pork out of the freezer).

I liked the looks of this because it was a very different take on fish--I'm so used to citrusy blends. It also used cinnamon in a savory fashion. So let's have a look:

3 1/2 lbs striped bass, cod stead or any non-oily white fish, cut into six portions. I used Chilean Sea bass, which was very rich and cut in very thick pieces. Next time, I'm thinking of using cod. I think it might take the marinade a little better.

2 T canola or vegetable oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, chopped

12 oz tomatoes sliced I actually cut some cherry tomatoes into chunks

2 drained canned jalapeno chiles, rinsed and sliced, or 2 fresh jalapenos, seeded, ribs removed, rinsed. I went with fresh

a few flat parsley leaves, for garnish

For the marinade:
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground annatto I have not been able to find ground annatto, but I did come up with some seeds. They are very oily and very hard to pulverize, either in a mortar with a pestle or in my Cuisinart chopper

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 cup mild white vinegar I used white wine vinegar which may have been a mistake
Kosher salt, to taste

Arrange the fish in a single layer in a shallow dish.

Make the marinade: With a mortar and pestle, grind the garlic and peppercorns. Add the oregano, cumin, annatto and cinnamon, and vinegar, and mix to a paste. Add salt to taste, and spread the marinade on both sides of the fish. Cover and leave in a cool place, or in the refrigerator on a very hot day, for one hour.

I don't know if my technique was off today, but I did not end up with a paste, but a liquid. Maybe more time with the mortar and pestle? I'm not quite sure.

In a flame-proof pan large enough to hold the fish in a single layer, pour in the oil and spread it to cover (use more oil if necessary). Place the fish in the dish, and top with the remaining marinade. Arrange the sliced onions, garlic, tomatoes and jalapeño over the fish.

Cover and cook over a low heat on the stovetop for 15-20 minutes, or until the fish is no longer translucent. Garnish with some flat-leaf parsley, if desired, and serve hot with rice.

. . . .

This was my second attempt at this dish. The first, I misread the amount of vinegar and added too much. It still made a tasty dish, but it wasn't the perfection I was seeking.

Today? Maybe I was off my game, I don't know. As I mentioned above, I didn't get a paste, I got a heavily spiced liquid. I also added more garlic than called for, and it didn't seem to be enough. The fish didn't absorb very much of the marinade and the flavors never quite gelled for me.

I'll try this again, but not for a while. If anyone tries it, I'd love to hear the results. Maybe I can figure out where I went wrong.

I do have to say the appetizer came out rather well. I roasted orange, red and yellow peppers along with an onion in a mix of olive oil, oregano, several grates of mixed peppercorns and a touch of salt. I served these with corn torillas and manchego cheese.

Other comments? Questions? Birthday wishes? Let's hear them!

and as always, thank you for your support.

In which Kate wonders if a voice-activated recorder might do her some good

2011-01-05T22:35:00.001-05:00

Oh good, it's working today. I wanted to do an update last night, but for some reason, Blogspot wasn't cooperating, no matter which browser I tried it in.

Anyway, a couple weeks ago, I came across a recipe for spiced chick peas that involved cumin and lime and avocado and thought it sounded delicious (it's from another food blog and I'm waiting for permission to link to it). I showed the recipe to my sweetie the uber-carnivore. He said, "that would be really great with some shredded chicken."

Into a medium saucepan went the following:

Four chicken breasts

One bottle of beer

one minced jalapeno

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

a couple of teaspoons of cumin

a dozen grinds of mixed peppercorns

at least I think so. I kind of lost track of what I was adding. Hence the topic of today's post, I really need a better way to keep track of my wing-it recipes.

I brought the mixture to a boil, then turned the heat down and let it cook for about fifteen minutes. Afterwards, I broke apart the chicken with a pair of forks, but didn't completely shred it. I called it stewed, though one could also say poached. It turned out quite delicious and went well with the chick peas and some corn tortillas. I also had some leftovers over brown rice for lunch the following day. My sweetie didn't bother wish tortillas or rice for his second meal of it.

Questions, comments? A recipe to try? I'd love to hear from you:

Coming soon--a (hopefully) thoughtful anniversary post.

Seeking perfection: Aloo Gobi

2010-12-19T17:55:00.000-05:00

This week's entry is a couple of tries in the making. I'm trying to fit more vegetables in my diet. This does not mean said vegetables can't be interesting. I love steamed broccoli as much as the next person (well, maybe not as much as Austin the former housemate), but I like a lot of variety in my diet.

For those not that familiar with Indian food, aloo gobi is a dry-spiced dish of cauliflower and potatoes. In my digging around, I discovered that tomatoes are not necessarily a part, although that was what I was most familiar with in restaurants. I thought I'd try it without.

My first try was this recipe, which just came out too subtle, so I started my search again and ended up here. Almost, but not quite perfect. A little too spicy, even for me. I love spicy dishes and this one gets more so the longer it sits, the more plain yogurt I needed to cool it down. My final recipe:

1 head of cauliflower, washed and chopped into florets
5 small red potatoes cut into 2" chunks (a "small" potato here is about the size of my fist. I'm 5'3". Adjust accordingly)
2 small yellow onions
2 cloves of garlic, crushed (I love my garlic press!)
1 t of chopped ginger (you can also use jarred paste or dry if you wish)
1/2 t salt
1/2 t tumeric
2 t cumin
2 t coriander
1 t cayenne
1 t garam masala
2 T oil, separated

In the interest of saving time, I thought I'd try chopping the potatoes and the cauliflower while I was cooking the onions. Don't do this. Chop everything first. Trust me.

I also mix the dry spices together in a ramekin. This helps with even distribution later on

Heat 1 T of the oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat, add onions and cook until they start to get translucent.

Add your wet spices--the ginger, the pressed garlic stir well. Add potatoes and stir well.

Cover to cook and check about every two minutes until the potatoes are half done--you should feel some resistance when you try to pierce them with a fork.

Add the cauliflower and the remaining oil, stir to coat. add in your dry spices, stirring all the while. Cover, stir every few minutes until potatoes are done and cauliflower is soft, but not mushy.

I can make a meal of this on its own, topped with plain yogurt. I've also served it as a side dish with a mild chicken recipe.

Questions? Comments? Death threats? I'd love to hear from you!

Comfort food in fifteen minutes

2010-12-15T18:24:00.000-05:00

I didn't feel like cooking tonight. It had been a long day at the office and it was cold and gloomy outside. On the other hand, I wanted something hot.

In the fridge, there was a pint of white rice leftover from take-out. A good start. It was a little dry, but I mixed it up with some water and put it in the microwave for three minutes and it was good as new.

I love black beans, and try to always have a can of them in the house. Luckily, I did tonight. Into small saucepan over medium-low heat they went, then I added:

a few drops of lime juice
one shake of cumin
one shake of onion powder
one shake of garlic powder
a heaping tablespoon of salsa
half a long hot pepper, chopped
one small jalapeno chopped
one green onion chopped (it was all I could salvage, the rest were pretty scary)
a dash of salt

other variations on this them include a shot of vinegar, a chopped white or yellow onion.

The chopping took less than five minutes while the rice reheated, heating the beans took another five. Rice in the bowl, top with beans. Top with shredded cheese and sour cream as desired.

Enjoy!

Where Kate once again cooks by the seat of her pants

2010-12-12T18:19:00.001-05:00

Greetings one and all! I know a lot of you out there are doing some holiday baking, and I may do a little more this month, but today I decided to use my dear boyfriend as a guinea pig. He's a brave soul and has a nose and taste for food, so he's really a good person to try news tastes on.

Originally, I had wanted to make butter chicken, or chicken makhini. One slight problem in that I was out of tomato paste and it was pouring rain out. So I adjusted. What did I have? Chicken, butter, a few mushrooms, some peppers, assorted spices. I came up with a taste I really enjoyed, but will be tweaking a bit:

1/2 stick of unsalted butter

1/4 cup of beer (I had Harp in the house)

2 t coriander seeds
1/2 t coriander powder

sliced mushrooms

1/2 long hot pepper chopped

about ten grinds black pepper

1 pound chicken tenders

1 minced shallot

1/2 teaspoon salt

heat a large frying pan at medium-low heat. Add coriander seeds and shake pan gently until the seeds start to pop. Add butter to the pan. When it's melted, add the shallot, the mushrooms and salt, stirring until shallot is translucent. Add the long hot pepper and powdered coriander and stir to coat. Increase the heat to medium and add the chicken to the pan. Cook until chicken is just done, about fifteen minutes.

I served this with aloo gobi, a recipe I will bring to you next week. I think it would also go well with rice and a green salad.

Enjoy whatever holidays you celebrate, if any!

Questions? Comments? Death threats? Happy to hear from you!

In which Kate transforms a recipe without testing it first

2010-11-29T19:17:00.002-05:00

The day after Thanksgiving, my friend Scott sent me a link to this recipe for a bourbon cranberry sauce. I read through the recipe, and thought I'd give it a try, but the more I read, the more I thought, "I can do a little better." Their list of ingredients:

1 pound (about 4 cups) cranberries
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup bourbon

The amount of bourbon seemed about right, but a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon for a whole pound of cranberries? That didn't sound right to me. After some mental calculating, I came up with this:

My list of ingredients:
1 12 oz package of cranberries
1.25 cups sugar
generous half teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 Tablespoons bourbon

This is so easy to make, it's scary. If you're teaching a child to cook, this would be a great one.

Preheat the oven to 350F
Rinse the cranberries in cold water, put in a 9x9 baking dish
Stir in sugar and cinnamon until the berries are well coated
Cover the baking dish with foil, bake for approximately one hour
Stir in bourbon, let cool. Serve warm or chilled (I like it warm)

While cranberries are still in the store, I'm considering trying a variation that uses Gran Mariner and lemon zest. Watch this space!

Questions? Comments? Death threats? Let's hear them!

An odd Thanksgiving Tradition

2010-11-24T19:38:00.000-05:00

Last year, I got it in my head to start baking bread. I've made bagels before, so I wasn't completely inexperienced with yeast doughs. Still, it had been a while, so I thought I would start with a soda bread. I'm only a wee bit Irish (a great-grandmother I never met was half-Irish. Touch of English, too, which explains why I have a taste for good whisky and make tea when there's a crisis)

There are a lot of Irish soda breads out there. Which is like saying New York City has a couple Irish bars, but anyway. Some recipes add flavor with caraway, some with raisins, some with oatmeal. I came across one set of base ingredients I liked, then another recipe mentioned using herbs instead of caraway and raisins, and I thought the buttery flavors in the bread would go well with herbs, so I ended up with the following:

3 Cups all-purpose flour

1/4 Cup sugar

1 T baking powder

1 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

4 T unsalted butter (half a stick)

1/2 cup chopped fresh herbs (I've made this with rosemary and thyme so far, the thyme wasn't as successful. This year I'm trying chives)

1 Cup buttermilk

1 large egg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

-Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well

-Add the butter and blend in until it disappears into the dry ingredients--if you can get it the size of large pebbles, you're in good shape

-Stir in the herbs and blend well

-in a separate small bowl, whisk the egg and buttermilk together

-add liquid to dry ingredients, folding in with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. If it still remains dry, add another tablespoon of buttermilk

-lightly flour a work surface and turn dough onto it.

-fold dough over itself a few times and shape it into a loaf. I've done both oval and round; either works fine

-cut a cross in the center (without fail, all the recipes I've read say this is to let the fairies out. Who am I to argue?)

-bake in center of the oven for fifteen minutes

-turn heat down to 350 F and back for another fifteen to twenty-five minutes, checking for doneness with a toothpick in the center. Crust should be deep golden brown and toothpick in the center should come out clean.

-cool on a rack for as long as you can stand it.

-serve with butter as desired.

This went over so well last Thanksgiving, that my uncle asked me to make it again. So maybe later in the holiday season I'll try something yeasty. When I lived in Salt Lake City a friend used to make Parker House rolls every Thanksgiving, and they were delicious. They also were the perfect size for a small turkey sandwich the following day.

What are your Thanksgiving traditions?

Beer cheese soup. Hold the chicken.

2010-11-07T14:20:00.000-05:00

No, really, hold the freaking chicken. I like poultry in a variety of presentations. Between marsala, cordon bleu and other variations, I think I've established that I have nothing against the bird and enjoy it frequently.

But there are some places where, in my less than humble opinion, it doesn't belong. In my clam sauce, for example, from a couple weeks ago. There was no reason to put chicken broth in a clam dish. I might add it to the sauce for my chicken cacciatore, but that dish is all about the chicken.

After cruising the web for a couple hours looking for the right beer cheese soup recipe to try, I almost threw in the proverbial towel. Over 90% of the recipes I found contained chicken broth. WHY? I was looking for a very specific flavor profile--beer, cheddar and a little bit of vegetables.

I was surprised to find a recipe for beer soup. Yes, beer soup. I would not lie to you. I may try it at a later date as an academic exercise, but don't look for it any time soon.

Also to my surprise, I ended up with one of Rachel Ray's recipes for this week's venture. I've never been fond of Rachel Ray. I can't handle that much perky. I am the anti-perky (you might have noticed I don't put up a lot of breakfast and brunch recipes). But I have checked out a few of her recipes and this one worked really well:

5 tablespoons butter
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 leeks, white and light green parts only, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
1/3 cup flour
3 cups milk
One 12-ounce bottle amber beer, such as Dos Equis
1-1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
10 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated (about 3 1/2 cups)
Croutons, for garnish

I liked this ingredient list a lot. It depends on the beer for flavor, by asking for an amber as opposed to a Light or a "lite." A little mustard? Why not, though a bit of horseradish might also be interesting. A lot of the recipes I looked at wanted celery, which I like, but I like leeks much better and might not have thought of that on my own.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the carrots and leeks, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until soft, 10 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes.
Slowly pour in the milk, whisking constantly. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the beer and mustard and bring the soup to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, whisking, until creamy and thickened, about 10 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat. Whisk in the cheese 1 handful at a time until combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Top with the croutons.

The instructions here are easy to follow. When you add the flour to the butter and vegetables it's going to clump up until you add the milk. Don't panic, it'll all thin out when you add the milk.

One important note: either made this ahead of the rest of your meal, make the rest of your meal ahead, or get some help in the kitchen. You really need to be whisking almost constantly. I served this with a salad and some turkey tenderloins and it made an excellent accompaniment. The leftovers were a main dish with a salad.

I think I might cut down to 1 large carrot and throw in a shallot instead. The suggestion to use gruyere instead also intrigues me. I'm saving that for a later dish.

Questions? Comments? Death threats? I'm all ears!

another crumby recipe

2010-11-02T13:04:00.000-04:00

I haven't deconstructed anything recently, unless you count the below as deconstructing my last bread crumb and herb mixture. I've been in a more creative mood in the kitchen, and have really enjoyed myself. If you have a recipe you'd like me to deconstruct, I'd love to hear from you.

This recipe is a crumb mix for chicken, though I suspect it would work on pork chops as well.

3/4 cup panko
1 heaping T of lemon peel
1 heaping t dried thyme
1 heaping t parsley
1 heaping t sage
a few grinds of black pepper to taste
1 t garlic salt

This one worked really well on about a pound and a half of chicken breasts (cooked covered with foil at 375 for about 40 minutes, flipping halfway through). I didn't even oil them beforehand and they came out nice and crunchy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside. The herbs worked very well together, and the overall effect was light and tasty.

To add some earthiness to the meal, I caramelized some onions, mixed them with some mushrooms I sauteed in white wine and olive oil, and stirred them up with some quinoa. If you haven't tried quinoa, I recommend it. It's got a nice nutty flavor, but not so strong that it doesn't work with herbs and spices. I also served some peas. Overall, I was very pleased with the combination.

This doesn't mean I'm done with bread crumbs. Not by a long shot. Putting this together was a lot of fun, and I'm sure I'll be doing it again!

Questions? Comments? Death threats? Let me know!

Hot Stuff! Chili revisited

2010-10-24T18:12:00.000-04:00

When I lived in Nashville, a deli in my office's building made a red chicken chili that I loved. I knew I'd never make it taste exactly the same as John's, so I took my basic chili recipe and made a few modifications. This is what I came up with:

1.75 pounds of chicken tenders cut up

2T olive oil for browning chicken

2 cans kidney beans (I used Goya)

2 large cans Muir Glen diced tomatoes and green chiles

1 Jamaican hot pepper, fine dice

2 small yellow onions chopped

1 jalapeno, fine dice

2 heaping T of chile powder

1 heaping T of cumin

1 T ground cinnamon

1 T cayenne

2 bottles Harp

WTF? I hear some of you say. Cinnamon? Yes. Cinnamon has a good amount of savory applications. Look for a Mexican spicy fish and a Greek Cinnamon chicken in coming weeks. There's also Cincinnati chili, which, when I tasted it, had strong flavors of cinnamon and chocolate. I loved the canned stuff, I can imagine what a good home-made batch would taste like.

Besides, I ran out of cumin.

I made this in a Dutch oven, because my crockpot only holds about a pound of meat and beans. First, I sauteed the chicken in some olive oil until I no longer saw any pink parts, then added my beans, veggies and spices. I cooked it on low for about four hours, covered, stirring around every 30 minutes. For the last hour, I took the lid off, letting some of liquid evaporate.

I served this to a very skeptical sweetie. He'd never had a chicken chili before, and had strong doubts when I mentioned the cinnamon. After three bites, his attitude was "shut up and let me eat." I consider that a success.

One note, I found this recipe to be much more compatible with cheese than sour cream. I used Sargento's low-fat four-cheese Mexican blend.

Variations on a mollusk

2010-10-18T18:31:00.000-04:00

I find quite a few recipes on the Food Network. This time, I found two, took elements from each and came up with something I'm calling Linguine Oreganata with clams.

It's a little hard to quantify my white clam sauce. It involves clams, clam juice, lemon juice, garlic, white wine and a load of fresh parsley. It's a refreshing dish, more for spring and summer than fall, and I thought I'd try finding a red clam sauce recipe. Best one I've ever had came from Christiano's restaurant in Syosset, Long Island. If you're a Billy Joel fan, this is allegedly the Italian Restaurant his song "Scenes From" was written about.

I found this one by Robin Miller and thought it worth a try, though I was planning to substitute either wine or beer along with the clam juice for the chicken broth. I wanted to taste the clams, not chicken. Unfortunately the people who deliver my groceries had other ideas and didn't include the thyme or basil.

I'd heard of a dish called clams oreganata, and I wondered if it might translate to a pasta dish. I found Giada DiLaurentis, who despite looking like she'd break if you hugged her too hard, seems to have a good eye, tongue and nose for Italian food (never trust a skinny cook!). I pulled some ideas from her recipe, skipping the mint, and came up with this, which generously served 2:

3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 T minced shallot
2 T butter
2 T olive oil
1/2 cup white wine (I used a pinot grigio)
1 T lemon juice
1 6.5 oz can minced clams (Snow's is what I get in New England)
3/4 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup fresh oregano
1 T dried parsley
bread crumbs
linguine (I used fresh from Buittoni)

Put water on for the pasta to boil

heat the butter and the olive oil in a large pan over medium low heat until the butter is melted. Stir in the garlic and shallot, stirring occasionally until they are translucent and just starting to turn brown.
Stir in the clams, the juice from the clams, the wine and the lemon juice until well-blended
Cook pasta until just tender, drain.
Add the tomatoes to the pan, salt and pepper to taste. Stir in parsley
Add oregano and cook for two minutes more.

Toss the clam/tomato mixture with the pasta. The pasta will absorb most of the liquid. Put onto plates, top with bread crumbs. Serve with white wine.

I was really pleased with the results. The flavors were subtle, but I could taste each individual note while I was enjoying it. Ken said I could use more clams next time. If I do that, I'll probably up the oregano and white wine as well. If you try it and have improvements, let me know!

How do you like your clams?

Stir Crazy III Stovetop mac and cheese

2010-10-10T17:45:00.000-04:00

If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll recall earlier this year I made a couple posts with variations of mac and cheese. You can find the latest here.

I think I have the cheddar formula down this time, but let's start with the basics for anyone who's just joined us

3 T unsalted butter
3 T flour
3 cups whole milk
3 cups cheese
1 pound your favorite pasta

For this batch, I used a cup and a half of smoked gouda and a cup and a half of the sharpest cheddar I could get my hands on. Success! We had the smokiness from the gouda, and the nice sharpness from the cheddar and no graininess at all.

Regarding pasta, I'm not going to tell you one noodle or another. For a cheesy dish, I like rotini or small shells, something that will grip the sauce and bring it to my mouth. If you're feeding kids, you might go with the traditional elbows, there's no wrong answer here.

Since I've made this, I've tried a few different "upscale" mac and cheeses at a few different restaurants. Boston Market is nice and creamy, but I think they use processed cheese food (sounds like something cheese eats, doesn't it? You can thank my friend Barbara for that one) as opposed to cheese. A restaurant chain in the south called J. Alexander's makes a nice one using gruyere, and I think that will be a project sometime in November.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Death threats? Let's hear them!

Special Guest Post: Beki D's Pho

2010-10-04T16:40:00.000-04:00

When a lot of people think of Vietnamese food, they think Pho (unless you're one of my HealthStream friends, then you're likely to think bun. Mmm. Bun bowls . . but I digress). I've tasted some delightful pho from various locations, but never considered making it myself until my dear friend Beki posted this elsewhere:

Quick and easy Pho
Ingredients:
soup broth choose whatever will compliment your choice of meat (I used 2 cans of chicken stock)
rice stick noodles (aka rice vermicelli, pho noodles)
meat You can use any type of meat I used chicken
1 star anise
thin sliced young ginger (a medium to smallish nub) Make sure its “new” ginger as its not fibrous and is much easier to slice I use a microplane grater that does thin slices.
thin sliced shallot (I used 2)
thin sliced garlic (I used the rest of the garlic we had, maybe 3 small sections I could have used more)
Garnishes:
bean sprouts
fresh cilantro
fresh basil
minced green onion
lime
thin sliced carrot or julienned carrot
snow peas
water chestnuts
baby corn
plum sauce
siracha sauce (HOT stuff)
fish sauce

The original recipe didn’t really give amounts, so I think the porportions will work well. Even the kids ate it.

What I did:
I took 2 cans of broth and about 4 cups of water and tossed them in the pot. I turned up the heat to get the broth to boil. While waiting for the broth to boil, I sliced thin some ginger, some shallot, and garlic. I tossed that in along with the star anise. Once the broth was up to a boil, I tossed in the meat and let it cook.
While I was waiting for the broth to come up, I put on the kettle to boil. I put the rice sticks in a bowl and then added the hot water to let the noodles steep. I drained them once the broth was ready. Fish out the star anise. The steeping of the rice noodles took about 15 or so minutes.
Once those bits are ready, Get a bowl and put in whatever garnishes you want to have. Put in some noodles and ladle the broth and make sure you get some meat. You might want to steam the pea pods a bit if you don't like them crunchy.
You can add any accompaniments you want, a lot of this is suggestions.
.....................................
I haven't made this yet, but it's on the list now that it's getting cold and soup sounds more and more tantalizing. It's also coming up on chili season. I have a chicken chili in mind for later this month, with long hot peppers and not a small amount of garlic.

What do you cook in the fall? Le't's hear it!

? School of Improvised Cuisine

2010-09-27T19:45:00.000-04:00

When I worked as a computer tech, I used to say I graduated from the Wing-It School of Computer Science, an affiliate of the CYA School of Business.

I need a name for my cullinary improv school, out of which tonight's recipe came.

You may recall a while back, I bought some marjoram. I'd found a recipe involving pork, but I don't have all the ingredients, so I decided to focus on what I did have in the house.

I don't do a lot of breading, I don't need the extra calories, but it's a lot less than say pan frying, so I started with a cup of panko. Please note I don't say panko breadcrumbs. Panko means breadcrumbs, otherwise you're saying breadcrumbs breadcrumbs. Like Automated Teller Machine machine or spiced chai tea. Anyway, I like panko over American bread crumbs because they're flaky and soft and crisp up nicely in the oven, sealing in juices.

I ended up with the following:

1 cup panko
1/2 t garlic salt
1 t dried marjoram
1 t dried parsely
1/2 t dried thyme
about 20 grinds of black pepper

This coated 6 thin-cut pork loin chops that were about 1/2 to 3/4 inches thick with plenty leftover. I served them with mashed potatoes, broccoli and corn. The whole meal was very tasty, as judging by the amount of food my sweetie attempted to steal from my plate.

This is a recipe that needs more experimenting. There was a vague herbal flavor that stayed at the front of the mouth, but nothing really definable. The herbs got lost in the pepper.

So, we shall consider a good, home-made herb breading my next perfection project. Which reminds me, I did so another version of the macaroni and cheese, that'll be coming up in a couple of weeks.

Next week, we'll have a special guest. A dear friend and a fabulous cook, my friend Beki, who makes her home in West Seattle. Beki has an easy-to-follow pho recipe that demystifies a favorite Vietnamese dish. I think you'll love it.

Questions? Comments? Death threats? Let's hear them!

Too much information! Or how Kate found what was in front of her the whole time

2010-09-11T13:36:00.005-04:00

Back in the earlier days of the World Wide Web, I'd come across a great recipe for chicken marsala. It wasn't difficult, but tasted like it had taken lots of preparation, in other words one of my favorite types of recipe.

It was on a page of low-carbohydrate recipes, but I couldn't remember the URL. The site had no distinguishing graphics, it was all text. So I went searching.

A Google search for chicken marsala results in 293,000 recipes. Even if I didn't have a full-time job and a life, I couldn't go through all those in a reasonable amount of time. But I did look at quite a few.

Some had ingredients I didn't feel belonged in the recipe. Emeril Lagasse would have you add his famous Creole Essence. This one asks for cooking sherry, which to me is nothing but wine-flavored liquid salt. Epicurious, one of my favorite sites, adds cream and lemon juice. I knew the flavor profile I was after and none of these were it, so I kept hunting.

I liked the concept of the whole Cooking for Engineers site, but I really didn't like the recipe on this site at all. I really don't think the chicken needs to be brined, and the author had problems dredging chicken in flour. Instead of figuring out or learning how to do it properly he spends time and effort on brine.

When I went shopping, still without a recipe, and figuring I may have to wing it, I saw veal scallopine on sale and it dawned on me that a)if you can do something with a chicken paillard, you can do it with a veal cutlet. Back to my trusty search engine.

And immediately, I felt like an idiot. Who is one of the most famous Italian chefs on the planet? Mario Batali. And not content with just one recipe, we have a few variations.

Basic Marsala cutlets:

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 veal cutlets
All-purpose flour, for dredging
1/2 cup dry Marsala

For the basic: In 12-inch saute pan, heat the olive oil over high heat until hot, but not smoking. While the oil heats, salt and pepper both sides of each veal cutlet. Dredge through the flour, shaking to remove any excess flour.

Place the floured cutlets in the pan and fry until golden brown on one side, about 5 minutes. Flip the cutlets over, and pour in the wine. Continue cooking until almost all of the wine has evaporated and a thick gravy-like sauce has formed.

Garnish veal with chopped parsley and extra-virgin olive oil

I served with angel hair with olive oil and parmesan cheese and a salad.

I haven't tried all the versions yet, but I really liked #2, which had only small changes from the basic:

4 leaves fresh sage
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup dry Marsala
For number 2: Prepare the pan and the veal cutlets as described above. When the pan is ready, add the sage leaves, pushing them around to infuse the oil with their flavor. The sage will become lightly fried. Remove the sage leaves and set them aside for garnish. Add the mushrooms and saute until beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the floured cutlets and cook until golden brown on one side, about 5 minutes. Flip the cutlets over, and add the wine. Continue cooking until the wine has evaporated and a thick gravy-like sauce has formed. Top with sage leaves. Garnish veal with chopped parsley and extra-virgin olive oil.

The sage adds a really nice subtle flavor to the sauce, and I think a level of sophistication.

What are some of your variations on this classic dish? Other comments, questions? Let's hear them!

Roast. . .cauliflower?

2010-09-07T13:35:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!

I hope you had a fabulous Labor Day weekend. Mine was severely busy, and involved a trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame, which was a lot of fun, though the drive was long.

We ended up eating at a small-town diner on the way home, and while the dessert was delicious, the rest of the meal was kind of lackluster. Canned, overcooked green beans. Not my thing anymore, not when I know what fresh tastes like, and even frozen ones can retain crunch and more flavor. So, I've been inspired to find recipes that use veggies creatively.

When I first saw this recipe, I was a little curious and a lot intrigued. I like cauliflower in its most typical steamed fashion. I also find it delicious in curries like an Aloo Gobi (all spelling errors mine). I've had it raw, and like most Americans, I've had it smothered in cheese, but never roasted. This recipe allows you to enjoy the cheesiness of a childhood comfort food with the sophistication of a good balsamic vinegar. It also employs marjoram, which I have heard is making a comeback in culinary circles. I put a great deal of thought into this, and I couldn't for the life of me think of anything I'd ever eaten with marjoram, though I'm sure I must have. If you ask my friend Beki, it never went out of style, but I digress:

    8 cups 1-inch-thick slices cauliflower florets, (about 1 large head; see Tip) Make sure your favorite large knife is really sharp, or it could get stuck in the core of the cauliflower.Also, beware the crumbling of the edges. You will have little bits of cauliflower everywhere, but it's worth it.
    2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
    1 teaspoon dried marjoram
    1/4 teaspoon salt
    Freshly ground pepper to taste I have a grinder with a blend of peppercorns, about five grinds worked here
    2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
    1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Toss cauliflower, oil, marjoram, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Spread on a large rimmed baking sheet and roast until starting to soften and brown on the bottom, 15 to 20 minutes. Toss the cauliflower with vinegar and sprinkle with cheese. Return to the oven and roast until the cheese is melted and any moisture has evaporated, 5 to 10 minutes more.

No quibbles here. The recipe is straightforward and easy to follow. What you'll end up with is a mix of textures, as the bits that came into contact with the pan with be softer, yet there is still some crunch. I thought I should have cooked them about five minutes longer, my sweetie disagreed. While this was meant to be four servings, I didn't serve a starch with dinner and we ate the whole thing, including scraping the burnt cheese off the bottom of the baking pan in a very undignified fashion.

Tips & Notes

* Tip: To prepare florets from a whole head of cauliflower, remove outer leaves. Slice off the thick stem. With the head upside down and holding a knife at a 45° angle, slice into the smaller stems with a circular motion—removing a “plug” from the center of the head. Break or cut florets into the desired size.

I actually sliced straight down, and removed the core parts as necessary, I think it worked just fine. No need to complicate a side dish with geometry unless it's absolutely necessary.

I served this with chicken in a cream sauce with chives. The vinegar contrasted nicely with the chive sauce.

Let's hear from you! What's a creative way you do vegetables? Questions? Comments? Death threats? (just kidding) Please comment below.

A Wet Rub (sounds kinky, doesn't it?)

2010-08-29T16:12:00.000-04:00

This week's recipe is a real find. Besides being hearty and flavorful, the vegetables give you a mix of colors and textures that make it a joy to partake. I pan-zapped the steak, because of apartment grilling regulations, and I have to say this is a delicious summer dish.

I found this one on the Eating Well website. I'm not sure if I got there by search terms or if I was clicking links and found myself here. I love the combination of lime and chile together (this also works well with tuna. When I perfect that, I'll post it here), and even more so I love the mellowness of sherry vinegar. Further, here was a potato salad that wasn't loaded with mayonaise. I sincerely prefer my potato salads with a vinegarette-style dressing instead of mayo. While a creamy salad can often offset a spicy main dish, the lime, chile powder and garlic on the steak's rub are not going to make you turn red, sweat, or have steam blow out your ears while you're scrambling for some bread or a glass of milk.

When I looked at the ingredients, my first thought was, "This is not enough." So I doubled all the supporting players.

        1 teaspoon lime juice
        1 teaspoon chili powder I prefer "Mexican hot" style
        1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
        1 clove garlic, mashed into a paste
        8 ounces sirloin steak, trimmed
        3/4 pound small purple potatoes, (see Tip), scrubbed I was not blessed with finding purple potatoes at Whole Paycheck, so we went with some baby reds; unpeeled.
        2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
        1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
        1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
        1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
        4 large radishes, sliced
        3 scallions, thinly sliced
        1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

    1.    Mix lime juice, chili powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt and garlic in a small bowl to form a paste; rub onto both sides of steak. Refrigerate the steak.

I think the next time I make this, I'm going to make the rub and prepare this step a day ahead of time. While it's important to marinade in the fridge (there are exceptions), it's also easier to get an evenly-cooked piece of meat if you let it sit (covered, of course) and come to room temperature before you cook it.

2.    Place potatoes in a large pot, cover with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until tender when pierced with a fork, 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes. Drain, let cool for 10 minutes, then quarter.

3.    While the potatoes cool, preheat grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Oil the grill rack (see Tip) or pan. Grill the steak, turning once, until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 140°F, about 10 minutes total on the grill or 16 to 20 minutes in a grill pan. Let rest for 5 minutes, then cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices.

4.    Whisk vinegar, oil, cumin, pepper and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Add the steak and any accumulated juices, the potatoes, radishes, scallions and cilantro; gently toss to coat.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did. I got raves from my primary audience, and while I had issues with the amounts, I wouldn't change the ingredients at all.

Questions? Comments? A recipe to deconstruct? Let's hear it!

In Which Kate wonders when a recipe becomes hers

2010-08-22T21:29:00.001-04:00

Recipes evolve. Sometimes you're out of one ingredient and need to substitute another. You may not like an ingredient, but like everything else about the recipe. Sometimes local ingredients creep into your traditional cuisine, even if the tradition is based hundreds of miles away. I'm pretty sure that's how we got the California roll (nothing against the California roll, mind you. I do prefer my avocados with eels, though)

A while back, I bought some hing powder. I'd originally bought it for the possibility of making samosas, but after realizing that none of my cooking equipment was really appropriate for deep frying, I scrapped that idea. Anyway, I came across this recipe and thought it sounded tasty. Then, upon my second reading, I noticed that the author got it from Manjula's Kitchen. So I thought, why not go to the source?

Well, remember what I said about being out of ingredients? Yeah, that. While Manjula's recipe is, I suspect, more authentic, there are some things like fenugeek seeds that I don't usually have in the house. Manjula also didn't use mustard or hing, but she did use coriander, which I love.

So following both recipes, I came up with this:

4 small new potatoes, chopped into cubes My personal definition of a "small" potato is one about the size of my fist. I'm 5'3". Cubes here, I typically make about 1"
2 Tablespoons Oil I had also bought peanut oil in preparation for the aborted deep frying. I've also used olive oil and they've been wonderful either way
1 teaspoon cumin powder I was out of seeds
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon hing
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon tumeric powder
about six grinds of black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 long green chile or two serranos chopped the serranos were about three inches long. I liked it better with the serranos, but the milder lighter green chile (I forget its full correct name) was also tasty

Heat oil in pan on medium heat. When oil is hot (test with a drop of water, listen for sizzle), add seeds, stirring well until seeds start to pop. Add powdered spices, and stir a few times. Add potatoes and about 3 tablespoons of water. Cover and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally (occasionally for me means every 3-4 minutes). When you can comfortably pierce a potato with a fork, add the peppers and stir well. Cook for another 3-5 minutes, until peppers are soft, but still have a little crunch to them.

Serve topped with yogurt, if you wish. Fight over leftovers with boyfriend. Consider a success.

So what do you think folks, can I call the above "Kate's spicy potatoes?"

Other comments, questions, recipes, let me know!

Memphis Barbecued Chicken or Kate's favorite spice rub

2010-08-17T11:55:00.001-04:00

Back in the day, I used work part time in bookstore, a job/hobby I've had off and on for several years. Besides the generous discounts, there was the opportunity to read books as they hit the streets, or before somebody snatched the last copy off the bargain table.

You never know what you're going to find on the bargain table. By sheer good timing, I came across this small book called The American Grill. I can't find it on Amazon, but if you want to go hunting, the ISBN is 0-8118-0699-5

I've made this recipe several times, in four different states, and everywhere it's received rave reviews. My sweetie's reaction was to tell me it was horrible and he had to eat the whole platter to protect me. My knight in shining armor.

One 3.5 pound chicken, cut into quarters (this can also be made with boneless skinless breasts or tenders)
Olive oil for coating
1 Cup Hickory spice chips (I've never used these, but if you try it, let me know!)

1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon allspice
4 teaspoons sweet Hungarian paprika.

Coat chicken evenly with olive oil. I use a basting brush. My favorite is a silicone one. Bristles tend to soak up the oil, and might tear chicken skin.

Mix spices in a bowl and blend thoroughly. Rub the spice mixture all over the chicken and let it sit at room temperature until your coals are ready (if you're using a gas grill, let it sit about 20-30 minutes).

Sear chicken on each side for 5 minutes over high heat, then cook the chicken on medium heat for ten minutes a side for a total of 30 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil and let sit ten minutes before serving.

I actually don't have any bones to pick with this recipe. It's flavorful, it's not overly spicy so can be served to those with delicate palates. For accompaniments, I suggest corn on the cob and a light potato salad.

I may try it with smoked paprika, just for variation. Watch this space!

Questions? Comments? Recipes to deconstruct? Let me know!

Here's the rub (adapted for roasting)

2010-08-11T20:15:00.002-04:00

One thing about living in an apartment is it tends to be frowned upon if you grill on your balcony, should you have one. I don't let that stop me, nor should you let it stop you.

Sometimes the broiler works in place of the grill, but in this week's recipe, I opted for roasting. I also served the fruit for dessert because someone else who lives in this apartment doesn't like fruit with his meat.

Tablespoon.com is a new site to me. I found it when a friend of mine linked to it on Facebook and checked it out. It's a sharing site, and one thing I liked about it is you can upload your version of a recipe. I may do that with this one:

Spice Rub
4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
4 teaspoons ground cumin
4 teaspoons garlic salt
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
Pork
1 pork tenderloin (1 1/4 pounds)

Mix all Spice Rub ingredients. Place pork in heavy-duty resealable food-storage plastic bag. Sprinkle with Spice Rub. Turn bag several times to coat pork. Seal bag; refrigerate 15 minutes.

I made two adjustments in the ingredients. I put in 2 teaspoons of garlic salt and 2 teaspoons of garlic powder. I also increased the cayenne to a full teaspoon

If I'm handling a spice rub, I usually do just that, *rub* it on the meat. Pat the extra all over it. Get to know your meat a little bit, learn it, love it. No, not that way you silly pervert. You know who I'm talking to.

I used a roast, which is a little fatter than a tenderloin, so I wasn't sure how to time it. Fortunately, the recipe does come with some advice: cook until it reaches 160 on a meat thermometer. Mine is a dial-style like this $10 one here. There are others that are digital and cost three times as much. If you need to go digital, by all means do.

The roast I cooked was about a pound and a half after I trimmed the fat off it. The total time was a little over an hour. I took it out when the temperature reached 155 degrees, and then let it sit for 5-10 minutes before carving.

Tender and juicy pork goodness with a little bit of spice. For sides, some black beans with chiles and onion, and some blue corn chips.

Next week: a Memphis bbq rub!

Questions? Comments? Recipes to try? Let's hear from you! And as always, thank you for reading.

There's the Rub (placeholder)

2010-08-10T16:58:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! I took a much needed break last week and am going to be getting back to regular blogging . . .tomorrow.

It was going to be tonight--I have a pork roast that will be covered with a Caribbean spice rub and served with rice and beans, with fruit for dessert. This was going to go up last week, but I discovered I left out a crucial ingredient, so I have to make it again.

Please stand by, I really appreciate your patience. Meanwhile, there should be an entry up tomorrow night, and I have another winner of a spice rub to go up next week.

Meanwhile, I come to you, spatula in hand, for some assistance.

I need something to tear apart, folks. Or send me an idea, and I'll research like I did with the pesto.

I have tons of recipes that work, some (like the ones I got from the food Network's Mario Batali (and why did they release him from Iron Chef? Idiots) that don't need any adjustment at all. You'll see some of those in later weeks.

Until tomorrow!

Salad Days Fin

2010-07-28T14:18:00.000-04:00

I apologize for the lateness of this weeks post. I've been digging through recipes, experimenting, and then had a doctor's appointment.

The nice thing about the doctor's appointment is it takes me near Whole Paycheck, and I come away with wonderful things like nice fresh strawberries. I had them for dessert the first night, with some Greek yogurt and a spoonful of Nutella. Then I started thinking of various recipes I've seen and tasted and put the following together:

Mix of baby lettuces

fresh sliced strawberries

slivers of chevre (soft goat cheese)

freshly ground black pepper

touch of light oil (not flavored)

balsamic vinegar.

This blend is fun, sophisticated and has a great mix of textures. I've seen recipes for strawberries with pepper and balsamic over ice cream or by themselves, but I thought the tartness of the goat cheese would make a good counterpoint.

And one more with protein!

Toasted pine nuts

fresh basil (though I often make it with dried in the winter)

a crushed garlic clove or two

chopped cold chicken

just enough mayo to moisten

salt and pepper to taste

a scoop over salad greens makes a nice low-carb lunch, and the nuts help make it filling. If you have a nice multi-grain bread, it makes a fabulous sandwich. With some good parmesan or provolone and said bread, you can grill it (or press it) for a hearty lunch that won't leave you feeling heavy.

I hope you've enjoyed July's salad days. I had a lot of fun putting these recipes together.

Next week starts a couple of weeks of spice rubs. Stay tuned!

As always, comments, questions, et cetera are welcome.

Toss it! (Salad Days Part 3)

2010-07-19T17:53:00.000-04:00

This week's salad is another one from the college of Winging It (I also graduated from the Wing-it School of Computer Science in the late nineties. It's an offshoot of the CYA School of Business, but I digress). I developed this a long time ago for use at Pot Lucks when I couldn't afford to bring much. It makes a great side or a great meal or a great sandwich stuffed in a pita, depending on how you decide to serve it:

Tossed Chef's Salad

1/2 pound deli ham sliced thin

1/2 pound sliced turkey

1/2 pound sliced swiss

1/2 pound of cheddar, in thin slices

Optional ingredients:

3 hard boiled eggs, sliced

1/2 pound roast beef

1 head iceberg lettuce torn (since we're feeding people and not rabbits)

1 package spring mix to vary texture and taste.

1 cucumber sliced

Cherry tomatoes, cut in half

Cut meats and cheeses into roughly 3/4" square pieces. Toss all ingredients together, top with oil and vinegar and salt and pepper. Serve. It's that easy.

This was always a hit at parties I brought it to. It's crunchy, full of interesting tastes and textures, and full of protein, so even big macho guys who never eat veggies will eat it.

If you can get your veggies at a farmer's market or a health food store, you won't have to worry about washing the wax off your cucumbers. (this applies to English hothouse cucumbers as well). Peels should be left on cucumbers to help you avoid gas.

Questions? Comments? Critiques? I haven't heard from anyone in a while, all comments are welcome!

Salad Days Part Deux

2010-07-11T17:40:00.001-04:00

I believe I mentioned a while back that Epicurious has an iPhone app. I have insomnia and there are nights when I can't sleep that I will page through their application looking for recipes to try.

I love fruit and cheese together. Give me a really tart apple like a granny smith, and a really sharp non-moldy cheese, and I am one happy camper. I grew up in New England, where it is not out of the question to have a big chunk of cheddar with your apple pie.

My sweetie wasn't brought up with this food combination. He does, however, enjoy wine and cheese, and when he lived in Chicago, we went to a lovely place called The Tasting Room a couple of times. Their cheese platters came with nuts and fruit as well as crackers and when I read this recipe, I said, "A-ha! Pears with manchego! He's eaten that at the tasting room, I bet he'll eat it in the salad."

Not only did he eat it, bless his heart, he wrangled the pears when we expanded the recipe to feed twenty. Here goes:

1/3 cup green (hulled) pumpkin seeds (pepitas; not toasted) I switched out the pumpkin seeds for sliced almonds. I definitely wanted the texture, but I don't like pumpkin seeds very much. I was very pleased with the flavor.

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided

3 tablespoons Sherry vinegar I usually get this at Whole Paycheck or Trader Joe's or through Amazon, who has a nice assortment

1 teaspoon mild honey

1 teaspoon grainy mustard There's lots of good grainy mustards out there. Your average grocery store should have some Inglehoffer

4 cups packed spicy salad greens, such as radish greens, watercress, and/or arugula, tough stems discarded

4 cups packed frisée (French curly endive), torn into bite-size pieces The type of greens is especially important in this mix, the cheese is pretty strong, but you don't want it overpowered

1 (1/2-pound) piece Manchego cheese, rind removed and cheese shaved into 32 thin slices (preferably with a cheese plane) if you're not making individual plates, then go ahead and grate it.

8 small red or yellow Bartlett pears (preferably with stems)

Cook seeds in 1 tablespoon oil in a small heavy skillet over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until puffed and beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels and reserve oil. Season seeds with salt and pepper.

I skipped this part, since I skipped the pumpkin seeds.

Whisk together vinegar, honey, mustard, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Add remaining 1/3 cup olive oil and reserved oil from skillet in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified.

Divide greens and cheese among salad plates. Cut off 2 opposite sides of each pear (reserve for another use), leaving a 1/2-inch-thick lengthwise center slice with stem and core. Arrange a pear slice on each plate and drizzle dressing over salads. Sprinkle with seeds.

If muliplying this recipe for more people, then I recommend simply cubing the pears and grating the cheese. This combination is delicous, unique and will get you a second glance if you bring it to a group gathering.