It is with sadness that at Meg’s request we announce the end of our collaborative blog postings. We have created and enjoyed so many wonderful meals, used unfamiliar spices and ingredients, tiptoed into wine pairing, and generally had a wonderful time of it.
There is a good likelihood that we will get together on occasion to cook and eat and have fun, and perhaps post, just not on our usual every other Saturday schedule.
We want to thank all of our followers for keeping track of our exploits, sending comments, and, we’d like to believe, cooking some of the meals we’ve shared.
Be adventurous, open your kitchen to a friend or two and have fun cooking, eating and drinking together and have your very own Saturday Night Specials!
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Steelhead Trout Season
We found this recipe that called for baking a whole trout with tomatoes and potatoes, and have been waiting for a chance to try it. Fresh, wild caught, steelhead trout is now available in our markets, and we jumped at the chance. As we are wont to, we took our own path and substituted fillets for the whole fish (no pesky bones to deal with).
Whole Baked Trout with Cherry Tomatoes and Potatoes
Source: “Martha Stewart Living”, May 2014
Active time: 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Serves: 4
2 Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed and thinly sliced
12 oz. cherry tomatoes, broken into smaller clusters if on the vine
1 clove garlic, smashed
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano
1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. coarse salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 whole trout (about 9 oz each,) scaled, gutted, and cleaned
6 thin lemon slices (from 1 lemon)
Preheat oven to 425’. Toss together potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, oregano, 1 Tbsp. oil, and ½ tsp. salt. Season with pepper. Arrange potatoes in a 9 x 13 baking dish, overlapping, them; top with tomatoes.
Roast until tomatoes are juicy and potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Rub fish with remaining 1 teaspoon oil, dividing evenly. Season inside and outside of fish with remaining ½ tsp. salt; stuff with lemon slices. Arrange on top of potatoes, shifting tomatoes alongside.
Roast until fish are cooked through, about 20 minutes; serve immediately.
Meg found the baby squashes at Costco and couldn’t resist how cute they were. (We are probably lucky to be eating them, she was that enamored). We steamed them and drizzled them with butter and lemon. Yum!
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A bottle of 2011 Spanish Tempranillo by Tapena followed Meg home from Raley’s one day. By buying six or more bottles (and who wouldn’t take a deal like that?) it was only $7.19. The label mentioned that it went well with salmon, so we thought it was a good choice for the steelhead trout. It was.
Strawberries also followed Meg home from Costco. They are so picture perfect and luscious looking that we decided to simply eat them.
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Oh all right, they are adorned with orange or lemon or ginger flavored turbinado sugar. And at the last moment, Meg opened a bottle of Red Chocolate Decadence wine. We can only be so simple.
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Our unsolicited and biased opinions:
The recipe called for a clove of garlic smashed, but we grated a very large clove and left it in the olive oil for a couple of hours. We used grape tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes on the vine. Rather than add the tomatoes with the potatoes for the total cooking time, we chose to add them for the last twenty minutes with the fish. Because we did not use whole fish, we put lemon slices both under and on top of the fish.
We loved this dish! It can easily work as a week night meal or company dinner. Steelhead trout is similar to salmon in taste and texture. Buy what is fresh and adjust your baking time accordingly.
The strawberries were truly delicious on their own. Meg’s whim of making the dipping sugars turned out to be a really good idea. The crunch of the sugar crystals contrasted nicely with the juicy strawberries. The ginger sugar surprised Sue and was both of our favorites. Orange was a close second, though.
Each sugar combination was made with a quarter cup of turbinado sugar and a heaping half teaspoon of zest and/or fresh grated ginger. There was lots of sugar left over for further dipping or baking.
Welcome summer and all its bounty!
Whole Baked Trout with Cherry Tomatoes and Potatoes
Source: “Martha Stewart Living”, May 2014
Active time: 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Serves: 4
2 Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed and thinly sliced
12 oz. cherry tomatoes, broken into smaller clusters if on the vine
1 clove garlic, smashed
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano
1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. coarse salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 whole trout (about 9 oz each,) scaled, gutted, and cleaned
6 thin lemon slices (from 1 lemon)
Preheat oven to 425’. Toss together potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, oregano, 1 Tbsp. oil, and ½ tsp. salt. Season with pepper. Arrange potatoes in a 9 x 13 baking dish, overlapping, them; top with tomatoes.
Roast until tomatoes are juicy and potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Rub fish with remaining 1 teaspoon oil, dividing evenly. Season inside and outside of fish with remaining ½ tsp. salt; stuff with lemon slices. Arrange on top of potatoes, shifting tomatoes alongside.
Roast until fish are cooked through, about 20 minutes; serve immediately.
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| Steelhead trout, nestled on a bed of roasted potatoes, ready for the oven |
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| Twenty minutes later - out of the oven. A one pot wonder! |
Meg found the baby squashes at Costco and couldn’t resist how cute they were. (We are probably lucky to be eating them, she was that enamored). We steamed them and drizzled them with butter and lemon. Yum!
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| Baby vegetables. Those zucchinis are about finger size! |
A bottle of 2011 Spanish Tempranillo by Tapena followed Meg home from Raley’s one day. By buying six or more bottles (and who wouldn’t take a deal like that?) it was only $7.19. The label mentioned that it went well with salmon, so we thought it was a good choice for the steelhead trout. It was.
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| 2011 Spanish Tempranillo by Tapena |
Strawberries also followed Meg home from Costco. They are so picture perfect and luscious looking that we decided to simply eat them.
Oh all right, they are adorned with orange or lemon or ginger flavored turbinado sugar. And at the last moment, Meg opened a bottle of Red Chocolate Decadence wine. We can only be so simple.
Our unsolicited and biased opinions:
The recipe called for a clove of garlic smashed, but we grated a very large clove and left it in the olive oil for a couple of hours. We used grape tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes on the vine. Rather than add the tomatoes with the potatoes for the total cooking time, we chose to add them for the last twenty minutes with the fish. Because we did not use whole fish, we put lemon slices both under and on top of the fish.
We loved this dish! It can easily work as a week night meal or company dinner. Steelhead trout is similar to salmon in taste and texture. Buy what is fresh and adjust your baking time accordingly.
The strawberries were truly delicious on their own. Meg’s whim of making the dipping sugars turned out to be a really good idea. The crunch of the sugar crystals contrasted nicely with the juicy strawberries. The ginger sugar surprised Sue and was both of our favorites. Orange was a close second, though.
Each sugar combination was made with a quarter cup of turbinado sugar and a heaping half teaspoon of zest and/or fresh grated ginger. There was lots of sugar left over for further dipping or baking.
Welcome summer and all its bounty!
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Just Roll With It
We love it when a plan comes together, but we love it even more when a last minute substitution is possibly better than the original idea. We planned to grill fish kabobs and fresh vegetables, but after checking 3 stores, Meg said “no fish this week”! So Thursday night we brainstormed and decided to “roll with it”. Meg is a big fan of the torta rolls from Costco and happened to have bought a package of them. We took stock of our pantries and refrigerators and came up with these wonderful sandwiches.
Both sandwiches included:
Sue’s sandwich also had:
Roasted Garlic Aioli
Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 06/14/14
Makes about ½ cup
6 garlic cloves, roasted
1 tsp. white balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
3 Tbsp. really good olive oil
2 Tbsp. beaten egg
Add all of the ingredients except olive oil to a blender and blend on high until thoroughly mixed. Drizzle in olive oil until emulsified.
Do not eat it all before you put it on the sandwiches.
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The heirloom tomatoes have been beautiful and abundant the last couple weeks and inspired our Caprese salad. It doesn’t get much better than fresh mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil. A drizzle of the good olive oil, salt and pepper completes the salad. Can you say “summer”?
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We chose a 2012 Nevada Frontenac included in Sue’s latest mix of wines from Tahoe Ridge Winery in Minden, Nevada. It went very well with our sandwiches. Frontenac was a new variety for us and we checked online and found that the 2014 Frontenac from Tahoe Ridge is a gold and silver medal winner. (Sue is checking to see how many bottles of this vintage she got in her case.)
We were going to have fresh fruit for dessert, but Meg was still in pie mode and a Galette came to mind. It was Sue’s task to get simple vanilla ice cream, but she came home with Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Bean Gelato (because she could).
Blueberry Galette
Cream Pastry Crust
2 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
7-8 Tbsp. half & half
Filling
4 cups blueberries
2 Tbsp. minute tapioca
1 Tbsp. sugar
Juice from ½ lemon
2 Tbsp. turbinado sugar
2 Tbsp. cream
Vanilla ice cream or gelato to serve
In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. In a food processor or mixer, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the half & half, 1 T at a time, until dough clumps together. Gather the dough with your fingers. Wrap one third of the dough, refrigerate and reserve for future use. Wrap remaining dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least ½ hour.
Mix blueberries, lemon juice, tapioca and sugar in a bowl and let sit for an hour.
Preheat oven to 375
Roll out pastry on a lightly floured work surface. Transfer to a parchment lined cookie sheet. Pile blueberries in center and fold edges of crust over berries. Brush top of crust with cream and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden on top and berries are bubbly.
Serve topped with ice cream.
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Our unsolicited and biased opinions:
We loved these sandwiches! Yes, we picked ingredients that we love, but the combination of the toasted rolls with melted cheese, grilled vegetables, and the garlic dressing were stellar. This would be a great “build your own sandwich” idea for a party. Toast the rolls and melt the cheese on the top half. Lay out all of ingredients on platters and stand back. One cautionary note: it can be juicy (read finger- licking good).
For the Galette we only used one tablespoon of sugar in the berries, so the true blueberry flavor came through. We got a little extra sweetness and crunch from the turbinado sugar on the crust. This may have taken care of the pie cravings around here (at least as long as the leftovers last).
We are looking forward to a “berry” good summer!
Both sandwiches included:
- Split toasted torta rolls
- Provolone cheese
- Roasted garlic aioli (recipe below)
- Roasted red bell pepper
- Grilled eggplant slices
Sue’s sandwich also had:
- Grilled red onion
- Grilled zucchini strips
Meg’s sandwich had:
- Fresh cucumber strips
Roasted Garlic Aioli
Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 06/14/14
Makes about ½ cup
6 garlic cloves, roasted
1 tsp. white balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
3 Tbsp. really good olive oil
2 Tbsp. beaten egg
Add all of the ingredients except olive oil to a blender and blend on high until thoroughly mixed. Drizzle in olive oil until emulsified.
Do not eat it all before you put it on the sandwiches.
The heirloom tomatoes have been beautiful and abundant the last couple weeks and inspired our Caprese salad. It doesn’t get much better than fresh mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil. A drizzle of the good olive oil, salt and pepper completes the salad. Can you say “summer”?
We were going to have fresh fruit for dessert, but Meg was still in pie mode and a Galette came to mind. It was Sue’s task to get simple vanilla ice cream, but she came home with Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Bean Gelato (because she could).
Blueberry Galette
Cream Pastry Crust
2 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
7-8 Tbsp. half & half
Filling
4 cups blueberries
2 Tbsp. minute tapioca
1 Tbsp. sugar
Juice from ½ lemon
2 Tbsp. turbinado sugar
2 Tbsp. cream
Vanilla ice cream or gelato to serve
In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. In a food processor or mixer, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the half & half, 1 T at a time, until dough clumps together. Gather the dough with your fingers. Wrap one third of the dough, refrigerate and reserve for future use. Wrap remaining dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least ½ hour.
Mix blueberries, lemon juice, tapioca and sugar in a bowl and let sit for an hour.
Preheat oven to 375
Roll out pastry on a lightly floured work surface. Transfer to a parchment lined cookie sheet. Pile blueberries in center and fold edges of crust over berries. Brush top of crust with cream and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden on top and berries are bubbly.
Serve topped with ice cream.
Our unsolicited and biased opinions:
We loved these sandwiches! Yes, we picked ingredients that we love, but the combination of the toasted rolls with melted cheese, grilled vegetables, and the garlic dressing were stellar. This would be a great “build your own sandwich” idea for a party. Toast the rolls and melt the cheese on the top half. Lay out all of ingredients on platters and stand back. One cautionary note: it can be juicy (read finger- licking good).
For the Galette we only used one tablespoon of sugar in the berries, so the true blueberry flavor came through. We got a little extra sweetness and crunch from the turbinado sugar on the crust. This may have taken care of the pie cravings around here (at least as long as the leftovers last).
We are looking forward to a “berry” good summer!
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Justify Pie . . . Or Not
The “justify pie” idea started when Meg read the latest “Martha Stewart Living” and saw the upside down lemon meringue pie recipe. This was at least 6 weeks ago (or three blog posts), and we have been trying to work this pie into every meal since.
Meg is a bit obsessive about lemon meringue pie. She has actually refused to go back to a once favorite, local restaurant (that shall remain nameless), because it was sold without the lemon meringue pie recipe! No kidding.
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Upside Down Lemon Meringue Pie
Source: “Martha Stewart Living”, May 2014
Active time: 50 minutes
Total time: 12 hours
Serves: 8
Crust
Unsalted butter, softened, for pie plate
4 large egg whites, room temperature
¼ t cream of tartar
1 c sugar
Filling
8 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 c sugar
1 T plus 1 t finely grated lemon zest (from 2 lemons)
¼ c plus 2 T fresh lemon juice (from 2 lemons)
1 c heavy cream
Topping
1 c heavy cream
1 T sugar
1 lemon, for serving
Preheat oven to 300’ with rack in center. Lightly brush 1 9-inch pie plate with butter. Whisk together egg whites and 1 T cold water with a mixer on high speed until foamy, about 30 seconds. Add cream of tartar and continue to beat until soft peaks form, about 1 minute. Gradually add sugar and beat until thick, glossy peaks form, about 5 minutes.
Transfer egg-white mixture to prepared pie plate; spread along bottom and up sides to form crust. (Don’t spread past rim of pan.) Bake meringue until crisp and light golden on outside, about 40 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool in oven 1 hour, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks in a medium saucepan (off heat) until thickened and pale yellow, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in sugar and lemon zest and juice. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture is very thick, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto surface of curd. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
Whisk curd until smooth. Whip cream with a mixer on high speed until soft peaks form, about 30 seconds. Working in batches, gently fold whipped cream into curd. Fill meringue crust with lightened curd; smooth top. Refrigerate, loosely covered, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.
Whip cream and sugar with a mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 40 seconds. Spread over pie. Finely grate lemon zest over top. Slice with a chef’s knife, wiping blade between cuts, and serve.
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We felt that a salad was required to justify the pie. We included plenty of protein and feel really good about that. This salad is our take on a salad that Sue eats on a fairly regular basis at another local restaurant (not the missing pie restaurant). Their recipe uses fried chicken strips, but we oven baked ours with crispy panko coating. Otherwise, the ingredients are the same. Oh yes, and we made a killer garlic and blue cheese dressing for it.
Sue & Meg’s “Fried” Chicken Salad
Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 05/31/2014
Serves 2
Breading for chicken:
½ cup panko bread crumbs
¼ cup flour
¼ cup cornmeal
½ tsp. granulated garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
½ tsp. or to taste ground chipotle
½ cup milk for coating
Vegetable cooking spray
Salad ingredients:
4 chicken tenders, sliced into 1 ½ - 2 inch strips
1 cup cherry tomatoes
½ cup chopped red onion
2 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
2.25 oz. can sliced black olives
2 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 head Romaine lettuce, torn into bite size pieces
½ cup sharp cheddar cheese, cubed
Blue Cheese dressing (see our recipe)
Combine breading ingredients in a Ziploc bag. Dip chicken in milk, toss in bag until well coated.
Place on silicone coated baking sheet or rack. Spray with vegetable oil on both sides, (we used a “Misto”). Cook in a 375 degree oven for 40 minutes turning once halfway through cooking.
Allow time to cool chicken slightly before adding to salad.
In a large bowl, combine lettuce, chopped onion, tomatoes, cubed cheddar, and olives. Divide onto two plates. Arrange sliced chicken strips, eggs, and crumbled bacon on top of greens. Serve with dressing on the side.
Meg & Sue’s Garlic Blue Cheese Dressing
Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 05/31/2014
½ cup whipping cream or half and half
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 large clove garlic, grated
¾ cup crumbled blue cheese
Combine all ingredients except blue cheese in a bowl and whisk until combined. Add blue cheese and stir.
Serve in a bowl to ladle liberally onto salad. This makes a thick dressing. If you prefer a thinner dressing add a bit of milk.
Please note the choice of Cava with this meal. Meg actually suggested it (after telling Sue earlier that we couldn’t have it with every meal). Her excuse was that it would go really well with the pie, and Sue went along without any arm twisting. Have we mentioned that we purchased a case of this Cava and split it? It went very well with the salad.
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We love chipotle and adding it to the breading base gives a nice smoky kick to the chicken. You can omit it if you are not a fan of chipotle, or add something that you like.
Meg is a bit obsessive about lemon meringue pie. She has actually refused to go back to a once favorite, local restaurant (that shall remain nameless), because it was sold without the lemon meringue pie recipe! No kidding.
Upside Down Lemon Meringue Pie
Source: “Martha Stewart Living”, May 2014
Active time: 50 minutes
Total time: 12 hours
Serves: 8
Crust
Unsalted butter, softened, for pie plate
4 large egg whites, room temperature
¼ t cream of tartar
1 c sugar
Filling
8 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 c sugar
1 T plus 1 t finely grated lemon zest (from 2 lemons)
¼ c plus 2 T fresh lemon juice (from 2 lemons)
1 c heavy cream
Topping
1 c heavy cream
1 T sugar
1 lemon, for serving
Preheat oven to 300’ with rack in center. Lightly brush 1 9-inch pie plate with butter. Whisk together egg whites and 1 T cold water with a mixer on high speed until foamy, about 30 seconds. Add cream of tartar and continue to beat until soft peaks form, about 1 minute. Gradually add sugar and beat until thick, glossy peaks form, about 5 minutes.
Transfer egg-white mixture to prepared pie plate; spread along bottom and up sides to form crust. (Don’t spread past rim of pan.) Bake meringue until crisp and light golden on outside, about 40 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool in oven 1 hour, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks in a medium saucepan (off heat) until thickened and pale yellow, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in sugar and lemon zest and juice. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture is very thick, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto surface of curd. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
Whisk curd until smooth. Whip cream with a mixer on high speed until soft peaks form, about 30 seconds. Working in batches, gently fold whipped cream into curd. Fill meringue crust with lightened curd; smooth top. Refrigerate, loosely covered, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.
Whip cream and sugar with a mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 40 seconds. Spread over pie. Finely grate lemon zest over top. Slice with a chef’s knife, wiping blade between cuts, and serve.
We felt that a salad was required to justify the pie. We included plenty of protein and feel really good about that. This salad is our take on a salad that Sue eats on a fairly regular basis at another local restaurant (not the missing pie restaurant). Their recipe uses fried chicken strips, but we oven baked ours with crispy panko coating. Otherwise, the ingredients are the same. Oh yes, and we made a killer garlic and blue cheese dressing for it.
Sue & Meg’s “Fried” Chicken Salad
Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 05/31/2014
Serves 2
Breading for chicken:
½ cup panko bread crumbs
¼ cup flour
¼ cup cornmeal
½ tsp. granulated garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
½ tsp. or to taste ground chipotle
½ cup milk for coating
Vegetable cooking spray
Salad ingredients:
4 chicken tenders, sliced into 1 ½ - 2 inch strips
1 cup cherry tomatoes
½ cup chopped red onion
2 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
2.25 oz. can sliced black olives
2 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 head Romaine lettuce, torn into bite size pieces
½ cup sharp cheddar cheese, cubed
Blue Cheese dressing (see our recipe)
Combine breading ingredients in a Ziploc bag. Dip chicken in milk, toss in bag until well coated.
Place on silicone coated baking sheet or rack. Spray with vegetable oil on both sides, (we used a “Misto”). Cook in a 375 degree oven for 40 minutes turning once halfway through cooking.
Allow time to cool chicken slightly before adding to salad.
In a large bowl, combine lettuce, chopped onion, tomatoes, cubed cheddar, and olives. Divide onto two plates. Arrange sliced chicken strips, eggs, and crumbled bacon on top of greens. Serve with dressing on the side.
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| Salad before dressing |
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| Salad with dressing |
Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 05/31/2014
½ cup whipping cream or half and half
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 large clove garlic, grated
¾ cup crumbled blue cheese
Combine all ingredients except blue cheese in a bowl and whisk until combined. Add blue cheese and stir.
Serve in a bowl to ladle liberally onto salad. This makes a thick dressing. If you prefer a thinner dressing add a bit of milk.
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| Killer Garlic Blue Cheese Dressing |
Our Unsolicited and biased opinions:
We love chipotle and adding it to the breading base gives a nice smoky kick to the chicken. You can omit it if you are not a fan of chipotle, or add something that you like.
The combination of all the ingredients in this salad is like a party in your mouth! Add the blue cheese dressing and you elevate it to a jamboree ... break out the party hats (and the Cava). It has everything, the crunch of the lettuce, red onion, bacon and the chicken and the lusciousness of the cheese and olives, not to mention the blue cheese dressing. We didn’t think about the pie once while we were eating this salad.
Being the critic/fan of lemon meringue pie that she is, the next one of these that Meg makes will be totally different. Here are the things that she would do differently:
- Increase the amount of lemon juice in the curd. It was not tart or lemony enough to our taste.
- Don’t add whipped cream to the curd for the filling. (The filling doesn’t gel properly after adding the cream.)
- Make the meringue into individual servings rather than a pie crust. This crust did not come out of the pie plate as advertised.
This is a very sweet dessert; too sweet for us and a disappointment.
However, the path to this pie lead us to a wonderful salad. Find your happiness where you can. We will live to “justify pie” another day.
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Croque Monsieur!
May is “National Grilled Cheese” month. We wonder who decides these kinds of things. Not that we are questioning the wisdom of a month devoted to grilled cheese! As confirmed cheese heads we are ready, willing and able to support it.
This seemed like the perfect occasion to make Croque Monsieur. The picture that accompanied the magazine recipe had us salivating. Bubbly, gooey, ham and cheese, throw on a bit of béchamel and seriously, what’s not to like?
We did wonder what “Paris ham” was. Google to the rescue, we found out it is a French charcuterie recipe for ham that is cooked slowly in its own juice, and wrapped in its skin. We opted for deli Black Forest ham since a trip to Paris was not possible.
Croque-Monsieur
Source: “Bon Appetit”, May 2014
Makes: 4
Béchamel
¼ c ( ½ stick ) unsalted butter
¼ c all purpose flour
1 1/3 c whole milk
2 T whole grain mustard
½ t freshly grated nutmeg or ¼ t ground nutmeg
Assembly
1 ½ inch thick slices country-style bread (8)
6 oz ham, preferably Paris ham (about 8 slices)
3 oz Gruyere, grated (about 1 ½ c)
1 t herbes de Provence
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until foamy. Add flour and cook, stirring, until mixture is pale and foamy, about 3 minutes. Gradually add milk, stirring until mixture is smooth. Cook, stirring, until sauce is thick and somewhat elastic, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in mustard and nutmeg, season with salt.
DO AHEAD - Béchamel can be made 1 day ahead. Let cool; press plastic wrap directly onto surface and chill.
Preheat oven to 425’. Spread bread slices with béchamel, dividing evenly and extending all the way to the edges. Place 4 slices of bread, béchamel side up, on a parchment-lined baking sheet; top with ham and half of cheese. Top with remaining slices of bread, béchamel side up, then top with remaining cheese and sprinkle with herbes de Provence. Bake until cheese is brown and bubbling, 10 -15 minutes.
DO AHEAD – Sandwiches can be made (but not baked) 1 day ahead. Cover ; chill.
For something green and in an attempt to present a healthier appearance to this meal, we selected baby arugula for our salad. We used our basic vinaigrette recipe which has good olive oil, white wine vinegar (in this case), garlic, Dijon, salt & plenty of coarsely ground black pepper. You can find several iterations of our vinaigrette in previous postings if you need exact amounts.
After careful perusal and consideration of Sue’s chilled wine we chose this Courtney Benham 2010 Edna Valley Reserve Chardonnay. As chardonnays go it was soft and not oaky. We liked it with the Croc Monsieur.
And in another attempt at being health conscious, there are berries for dessert. Granted they are marinated in Limoncello and are topped with ricotta-whipped cream, but they are berries.
Originally, the berries were going to be topped with some yogurt, and then Meg found this recipe in Bon Appetit, and the yogurt was down the drain, so to speak. Meg wants it noted here that she did not have to twist Sue’s arm.
We have been talking about making ricotta for some time, and this recipe presented the opportunity. Hmm, does this sound like we are trying to justify the topping?
Ricotta Cheese
Source: “Bon Appetit”, April 2014
Makes: about 1 cup
2 c whole milk
1 c heavy cream
½ t Kosher salt
2 T fresh lemon juice or distilled white vinegar
Bring milk, cream, and salt just to boil.
Remove from heat, add acid (lemon juice or white vinegar) and stir until mixture curdles.
Line a fine-mesh sieve with a double layer of cheesecloth, set over bowl. Pour milk mixture into sieve and chill until ricotta is thick. It’ll keep for three days.
Ricotta Mousse with Limoncello Berries
Source: raleys.com
Prep: 10 minutes
Serves: 6
½ c heavy whipping cream
¼ c powdered sugar, divided
½ c ricotta cheese
6 T limoncello, divided
½ t vanilla extract
6 c mixed berries (halved or quartered if large)
Finely grated lemon zest (optional)
Beat cream and 2 T powdered sugar in a medium bowl until stiff peaks form
Beat ricotta with remaining sugar, 1 T limoncello and vanilla in another bowl until light and fluffy; carefully fold in whipped cream. Cover tightly and refrigerate until ready to serve. (May be prepared several hours ahead.)
Marinate berries in remaining limoncello while mouse is chilling. Place berries in t dessert cups or small bowls and top each with a large dollop of mousse. Top with lemon zest, if you like.
We are posting early today, because we are attending a reception for a fellow fused glass artist at a local gallery. This meal was easy and quick. The sandwiches can be assembled, wrapped, and baked when ready to serve. The béchamel, ricotta and whipped cream topping can also be made ahead. It’s a pretty impressive dinner when you are short on time. Not to mention yummy.
Our unsolicited and biased opinions:
The Croque Monsieur is fabulous! It’s rich, cheesy and totally satisfying. We made the full recipe, so we each get leftovers. There was even extra béchamel – good for something yummy later. The whole grain mustard in the béchamel added so much flavor to the sandwich. We cut our sourdough bread in about 5/8 inch slices instead of the prescribed 1 ½ inches. More stuff, less bread. We lightly toasted the bread when the oven was preheating. The béchamel didn’t need salt, but a good grind of coarse black pepper was added to the top of the sandwich before baking!
The process for making ricotta is very straightforward, and the results are worth the small effort.
There are a couple of things worth mentioning that caused a bit of consternation. First of all, things boil at lower temperature here at 4,500 feet, so the first heating of the milk was probably not quite hot enough. Then there is the lemon juice versus white vinegar…ever notice that all lemons don’t have the same pucker power? There are requirements for vinegar, which make it a more reliable source of acidity.
Meg noticed that there wasn’t much curdling going on using the lemon juice and probably “not hot enough” milk. Allowing what she thought was a reasonable amount of time, she opted to bring the mixture to a boil again. After removing it from the heat and still not seeing the curdling thing happening, she added 1 tablespoon of distilled white vinegar. Wahoo!
Instead of using cheese cloth, Meg used nifty sieve gizmos lined with a fine plastic mesh that she uses to make yogurt cheese. They worked like a champ!
The texture of this homemade ricotta is so creamy and tangy and is nothing like the store bought version. We loved it!
For cakes and other cooked dishes, buy packaged ricotta, but for recipes like the berries we prepared this week, by all means make your own. You will be very pleased with the results and with yourself for making your own cheese.
In our opinion the lemon zest is not optional. Believe it or not, the berries were the stars in the dessert. We are so lucky to have access to exceptional produce.
We are so happy someone decided to make May National Grilled Cheese Month!
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This seemed like the perfect occasion to make Croque Monsieur. The picture that accompanied the magazine recipe had us salivating. Bubbly, gooey, ham and cheese, throw on a bit of béchamel and seriously, what’s not to like?
We did wonder what “Paris ham” was. Google to the rescue, we found out it is a French charcuterie recipe for ham that is cooked slowly in its own juice, and wrapped in its skin. We opted for deli Black Forest ham since a trip to Paris was not possible.
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| Béchamel, ham and cheese! |
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| Ready for the oven. |
Source: “Bon Appetit”, May 2014
Makes: 4
Béchamel
¼ c ( ½ stick ) unsalted butter
¼ c all purpose flour
1 1/3 c whole milk
2 T whole grain mustard
½ t freshly grated nutmeg or ¼ t ground nutmeg
Assembly
1 ½ inch thick slices country-style bread (8)
6 oz ham, preferably Paris ham (about 8 slices)
3 oz Gruyere, grated (about 1 ½ c)
1 t herbes de Provence
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until foamy. Add flour and cook, stirring, until mixture is pale and foamy, about 3 minutes. Gradually add milk, stirring until mixture is smooth. Cook, stirring, until sauce is thick and somewhat elastic, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in mustard and nutmeg, season with salt.
DO AHEAD - Béchamel can be made 1 day ahead. Let cool; press plastic wrap directly onto surface and chill.
Preheat oven to 425’. Spread bread slices with béchamel, dividing evenly and extending all the way to the edges. Place 4 slices of bread, béchamel side up, on a parchment-lined baking sheet; top with ham and half of cheese. Top with remaining slices of bread, béchamel side up, then top with remaining cheese and sprinkle with herbes de Provence. Bake until cheese is brown and bubbling, 10 -15 minutes.
DO AHEAD – Sandwiches can be made (but not baked) 1 day ahead. Cover ; chill.
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| Croque Monsieur in all its glory! |
For something green and in an attempt to present a healthier appearance to this meal, we selected baby arugula for our salad. We used our basic vinaigrette recipe which has good olive oil, white wine vinegar (in this case), garlic, Dijon, salt & plenty of coarsely ground black pepper. You can find several iterations of our vinaigrette in previous postings if you need exact amounts.
After careful perusal and consideration of Sue’s chilled wine we chose this Courtney Benham 2010 Edna Valley Reserve Chardonnay. As chardonnays go it was soft and not oaky. We liked it with the Croc Monsieur.
And in another attempt at being health conscious, there are berries for dessert. Granted they are marinated in Limoncello and are topped with ricotta-whipped cream, but they are berries.
Originally, the berries were going to be topped with some yogurt, and then Meg found this recipe in Bon Appetit, and the yogurt was down the drain, so to speak. Meg wants it noted here that she did not have to twist Sue’s arm.
We have been talking about making ricotta for some time, and this recipe presented the opportunity. Hmm, does this sound like we are trying to justify the topping?
Ricotta Cheese
Source: “Bon Appetit”, April 2014
Makes: about 1 cup
2 c whole milk
1 c heavy cream
½ t Kosher salt
2 T fresh lemon juice or distilled white vinegar
Bring milk, cream, and salt just to boil.
Remove from heat, add acid (lemon juice or white vinegar) and stir until mixture curdles.
Line a fine-mesh sieve with a double layer of cheesecloth, set over bowl. Pour milk mixture into sieve and chill until ricotta is thick. It’ll keep for three days.
Ricotta Mousse with Limoncello Berries
Source: raleys.com
Prep: 10 minutes
Serves: 6
½ c heavy whipping cream
¼ c powdered sugar, divided
½ c ricotta cheese
6 T limoncello, divided
½ t vanilla extract
6 c mixed berries (halved or quartered if large)
Finely grated lemon zest (optional)
Beat cream and 2 T powdered sugar in a medium bowl until stiff peaks form
Beat ricotta with remaining sugar, 1 T limoncello and vanilla in another bowl until light and fluffy; carefully fold in whipped cream. Cover tightly and refrigerate until ready to serve. (May be prepared several hours ahead.)
Marinate berries in remaining limoncello while mouse is chilling. Place berries in t dessert cups or small bowls and top each with a large dollop of mousse. Top with lemon zest, if you like.
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| Berries, oh my! |
Our unsolicited and biased opinions:
The Croque Monsieur is fabulous! It’s rich, cheesy and totally satisfying. We made the full recipe, so we each get leftovers. There was even extra béchamel – good for something yummy later. The whole grain mustard in the béchamel added so much flavor to the sandwich. We cut our sourdough bread in about 5/8 inch slices instead of the prescribed 1 ½ inches. More stuff, less bread. We lightly toasted the bread when the oven was preheating. The béchamel didn’t need salt, but a good grind of coarse black pepper was added to the top of the sandwich before baking!
The process for making ricotta is very straightforward, and the results are worth the small effort.
There are a couple of things worth mentioning that caused a bit of consternation. First of all, things boil at lower temperature here at 4,500 feet, so the first heating of the milk was probably not quite hot enough. Then there is the lemon juice versus white vinegar…ever notice that all lemons don’t have the same pucker power? There are requirements for vinegar, which make it a more reliable source of acidity.
Meg noticed that there wasn’t much curdling going on using the lemon juice and probably “not hot enough” milk. Allowing what she thought was a reasonable amount of time, she opted to bring the mixture to a boil again. After removing it from the heat and still not seeing the curdling thing happening, she added 1 tablespoon of distilled white vinegar. Wahoo!
Instead of using cheese cloth, Meg used nifty sieve gizmos lined with a fine plastic mesh that she uses to make yogurt cheese. They worked like a champ!
The texture of this homemade ricotta is so creamy and tangy and is nothing like the store bought version. We loved it!
For cakes and other cooked dishes, buy packaged ricotta, but for recipes like the berries we prepared this week, by all means make your own. You will be very pleased with the results and with yourself for making your own cheese.
In our opinion the lemon zest is not optional. Believe it or not, the berries were the stars in the dessert. We are so lucky to have access to exceptional produce.
We are so happy someone decided to make May National Grilled Cheese Month!
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Chilaquiles y mas
We are so excited that it is margarita time again! Not that we can’t enjoy them whenever we want, but since we are celebrating Cinco de Mayo it is a requirement, right?
This became our favorite margarita recipe after making it for last year’s Cinco de Mayo blog. We are including the recipe again; so you don’t have to waste any time searching the blog.
Margarita
By Erika Kotite • January 23, 2013 • 9 Comments
Source: Food 52
Serves 2
4 ounces tequila
2 ounces Cointreau
2 ounces fresh-squeezed lime juice (plus spent lime rind)
1/2 ounce agave syrup
Ice
Coarse sea salt
Additional lime wedges (for garnish)
Mix tequila, Cointreau, lime juice and agave syrup in a shaker or large measuring cup filled partway with ice and stir or shake until thoroughly chilled.
Spread salt on a plate. Rub rims of two rocks glasses with the spent lime. Turn glasses upside down in the salt. Fill glasses with ice and pour in the margarita liquid. Add lime wedge to each.
To go with the first batch of margaritas we chose spicy garlic shrimp.
Garlic Shrimp with Chiles de Arbol
Source: “bon appetit”, May 2014
Servings: 6 appetizers
1 lb small shrimp
½ c olive oil, divided
4 finely chopped garlic cloves, divided
2 crumbled dried chile de arbol (or ¼ t crushed red pepper flakes), divided
bunch of flat leaf parsley
salt to taste
(This is cooked in two batches.)
Peel and devein the shrimp.
Heat ¼ cup of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 finely chopped garlic cloves and 1 crumbled dried chile de arbol. Cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is barely golden, about 1 minute. Season half of the shrimp with salt and cook until just cooked through, about 1 minute per side; transfer shrimp and oil to a bowl.
Repeat with the remaining shrimp, oil and chiles. When the shrimp are cooked, return the first batch of shrimp and oil to the skillet, season with salt and toss in some chopped flat leaf parsley.
Serve with crusty bread.
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Sue recently returned from a vacation in Oregon with this “Mexico, The Beautiful Cookbook” in hand. It was published in 1991, and is a “coffee table” book with beautiful pictures and fascinating information not only about the food, but also the various regions of Mexico. She is seriously considering not returning it to the rightful owner.
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We chose the chilaquiles recipe because neither of us had cooked with tomatillos. The challenge, (isn’t there usually one?), was finding the epazote, which is a green leafy herb. It looks somewhat like baby dandelion leaves.
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Ever adventurous, we decided to ignore the online descriptions, which included “gasoline like” taste and the alternate name “wormseed”. We found it in a local market, (Marketon), that caters to Hispanic shoppers. They had both fresh and dried epazote. We tasted the fresh herb, and it indeed had a slight gasoline taste at first bite. In this recipe, the epazote is cooked briefly in the sauce and then removed. So we decided to go for it.
Chilaquiles Verdes
Source: “Mexico, The Beautiful Cookbook”, Collins Publishers San Francisco, 1991
Serves: 6 main courses, 8 as first course
“ The Aztecs combined their leftover tortillas with chiles and herbs to create chilaquiles, which in their Nahuatl language means just that – “chiles and herbs in broth.” Chilaquiles can be prepared ahead up to the point of adding the sauce to the fried tortilla pieces.
1 whole chicken breast, about 12 oz
5 cloves garlic
1 T plus 1 t salt
½ onion
7 sprigs parsley
6 chiles serranos (or to taste)
1 ½ lbs. tomates verdes (tomatillos), husks removed
¼ onion
½ c chopped cilantro
1 T oil
16 corn tortillas, preferably day-old
Oil for frying
1 small sprig epazote
1 c thick cream (crème fraiche)
½ c crumbled queso fresco or queso anejo (feta cheese)
Place the chicken in a large saucepan and add enough water to cover. Add 2 cloves of the garlic, 1 T of the salt, ½ onion and the parsley. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the chicken is tender. Remove and shred the chicken, reserving 2 cups of the stock.
Place the chiles and remaining 3 cloves garlic in boiling water and cook for 5 minutes. Add the tomatillos, cook 5 more minutes and drain. Transfer the chiles, garlic and tomatillos to a blender, add the remaining onion, then puree. Add 1 t salt, the cilantro and 1 cup of the reserved stock, and process briefly. Set aside.
Heat 1 T oil in a skillet, add the sauce and sauté for 5 minutes. Correct the seasonings, lower the heat, cover and cook for 10 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, dilute with more chicken stock.
Cut the tortillas in half and cut each half into 3 pieces. Place ¼ inch oil in a large skillet. When it is very hot, add one third of the tortilla pieces and fry, stirring constantly, until they are golden and crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a colander. Repeat until all the tortillas are fried. Drain and set aside.
Before serving, heat the sauce and add the epazote. Add the tortillas and stir carefully so as not to break them. Add the shredded chicken and top with cream and cheese. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until the cheese melts.
The salad recipe is also from the above cookbook. They had us at avocado. We hear that there are people who don’t like avocado. Really!?
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Ensalada Mixta con Aderezo de Aguacate
Source: “Mexico, The Beautiful Cookbook”, Collins Publishers San Francisco, 1991
Serves: 6
1 large head of Romaine, torn into bite-sized pieces
1 ½ large avocados, cut into thick slices
2 large, firm, ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges
3 green onions, sliced (optional)
Dressing
2 T mayonnaise
6 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
¼ c chopped onion
1 T lime juice
½ t dried thyme
½ t salt
¼ t freshly ground pepper
1 bay leaf
½ avocado, peeled and pitted
½ c water
1 c corn oil
To make the dressing, puree the mayonnaise, garlic, onion, lime juice, thyme, salt, pepper, bay leaf, avocado and water in a blender. With the motor running, add the oil in a thin stream until the mixture forms an emulsion, about 2 minutes. Chill.
Arrange the lettuce on a platter and top with the avocados and tomatoes. Cover with the dressing, garnish with the green onions and serve immediately.
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Source: marthastewart.com
Active time: 10 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes
Makes: about 3 pints
2 pounds ripe or overripe mangoes (preferable Champagne)
1 t finely grated lime zest, for sprinkling
½ to 1 t lime juice
pinch of coarse salt
lime wedges for garnish
Peel mangoes and cut flesh away from pits; discard pits. Cut mango flesh into 1 inch chunks and spread in a single layer on a plastic-wrap-lined baking sheet. Freeze mangoes, uncovered, until hard, at least 8 hours; once hard, mangoes can be transferred to plastic freezer bags and kept frozen up to 2 months.
Remove mangoes from freezer and let soften slightly at room temperature, about 15 minutes. Place mangoes and salt in a food processor; puree until smooth, about 2 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Pulse in juice to taste. Serve immediately, scooped into bowls and sprinkled with lime zest and garnished with lime wedges.
**Alternate preparation:
Freeze mangoes until hard. Put through a “Yonannas” machine. Stir in lime juice and salt to taste. Scoop into bowls and serve.
The shrimp recipe called for small shrimp, and for once we followed the recipe. Next time, we will use larger shrimp, and use Maldon salt to finish the dish. The salt really brings out the shrimp flavor. The chile de arbol is immediately noticeable but mellows as you eat the shrimp. If you don’t want the heat, this may not be the dish for you, because we think the chile flavor is essential. Sue says “you could take the seeds out”. Meg says “too much trouble”.
This became our favorite margarita recipe after making it for last year’s Cinco de Mayo blog. We are including the recipe again; so you don’t have to waste any time searching the blog.
Margarita
By Erika Kotite • January 23, 2013 • 9 Comments
Source: Food 52
Serves 2
4 ounces tequila
2 ounces Cointreau
2 ounces fresh-squeezed lime juice (plus spent lime rind)
1/2 ounce agave syrup
Ice
Coarse sea salt
Additional lime wedges (for garnish)
Mix tequila, Cointreau, lime juice and agave syrup in a shaker or large measuring cup filled partway with ice and stir or shake until thoroughly chilled.
Spread salt on a plate. Rub rims of two rocks glasses with the spent lime. Turn glasses upside down in the salt. Fill glasses with ice and pour in the margarita liquid. Add lime wedge to each.
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| Salud! |
To go with the first batch of margaritas we chose spicy garlic shrimp.
Garlic Shrimp with Chiles de Arbol
Source: “bon appetit”, May 2014
Servings: 6 appetizers
1 lb small shrimp
½ c olive oil, divided
4 finely chopped garlic cloves, divided
2 crumbled dried chile de arbol (or ¼ t crushed red pepper flakes), divided
bunch of flat leaf parsley
salt to taste
(This is cooked in two batches.)
Peel and devein the shrimp.
Heat ¼ cup of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 finely chopped garlic cloves and 1 crumbled dried chile de arbol. Cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is barely golden, about 1 minute. Season half of the shrimp with salt and cook until just cooked through, about 1 minute per side; transfer shrimp and oil to a bowl.
Repeat with the remaining shrimp, oil and chiles. When the shrimp are cooked, return the first batch of shrimp and oil to the skillet, season with salt and toss in some chopped flat leaf parsley.
Serve with crusty bread.
Sue recently returned from a vacation in Oregon with this “Mexico, The Beautiful Cookbook” in hand. It was published in 1991, and is a “coffee table” book with beautiful pictures and fascinating information not only about the food, but also the various regions of Mexico. She is seriously considering not returning it to the rightful owner.
We chose the chilaquiles recipe because neither of us had cooked with tomatillos. The challenge, (isn’t there usually one?), was finding the epazote, which is a green leafy herb. It looks somewhat like baby dandelion leaves.
Ever adventurous, we decided to ignore the online descriptions, which included “gasoline like” taste and the alternate name “wormseed”. We found it in a local market, (Marketon), that caters to Hispanic shoppers. They had both fresh and dried epazote. We tasted the fresh herb, and it indeed had a slight gasoline taste at first bite. In this recipe, the epazote is cooked briefly in the sauce and then removed. So we decided to go for it.
Chilaquiles Verdes
Source: “Mexico, The Beautiful Cookbook”, Collins Publishers San Francisco, 1991
Serves: 6 main courses, 8 as first course
“ The Aztecs combined their leftover tortillas with chiles and herbs to create chilaquiles, which in their Nahuatl language means just that – “chiles and herbs in broth.” Chilaquiles can be prepared ahead up to the point of adding the sauce to the fried tortilla pieces.
1 whole chicken breast, about 12 oz
5 cloves garlic
1 T plus 1 t salt
½ onion
7 sprigs parsley
6 chiles serranos (or to taste)
1 ½ lbs. tomates verdes (tomatillos), husks removed
¼ onion
½ c chopped cilantro
1 T oil
16 corn tortillas, preferably day-old
Oil for frying
1 small sprig epazote
1 c thick cream (crème fraiche)
½ c crumbled queso fresco or queso anejo (feta cheese)
Place the chicken in a large saucepan and add enough water to cover. Add 2 cloves of the garlic, 1 T of the salt, ½ onion and the parsley. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the chicken is tender. Remove and shred the chicken, reserving 2 cups of the stock.
Place the chiles and remaining 3 cloves garlic in boiling water and cook for 5 minutes. Add the tomatillos, cook 5 more minutes and drain. Transfer the chiles, garlic and tomatillos to a blender, add the remaining onion, then puree. Add 1 t salt, the cilantro and 1 cup of the reserved stock, and process briefly. Set aside.
Heat 1 T oil in a skillet, add the sauce and sauté for 5 minutes. Correct the seasonings, lower the heat, cover and cook for 10 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, dilute with more chicken stock.
Cut the tortillas in half and cut each half into 3 pieces. Place ¼ inch oil in a large skillet. When it is very hot, add one third of the tortilla pieces and fry, stirring constantly, until they are golden and crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a colander. Repeat until all the tortillas are fried. Drain and set aside.
Before serving, heat the sauce and add the epazote. Add the tortillas and stir carefully so as not to break them. Add the shredded chicken and top with cream and cheese. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until the cheese melts.
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| Verde sauce in blender |
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| Homemade tortilla chips |
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| Shredded chicken in sauce |
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| Chilaquiles |
Ensalada Mixta con Aderezo de Aguacate
Source: “Mexico, The Beautiful Cookbook”, Collins Publishers San Francisco, 1991
Serves: 6
1 large head of Romaine, torn into bite-sized pieces
1 ½ large avocados, cut into thick slices
2 large, firm, ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges
3 green onions, sliced (optional)
Dressing
2 T mayonnaise
6 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
¼ c chopped onion
1 T lime juice
½ t dried thyme
½ t salt
¼ t freshly ground pepper
1 bay leaf
½ avocado, peeled and pitted
½ c water
1 c corn oil
To make the dressing, puree the mayonnaise, garlic, onion, lime juice, thyme, salt, pepper, bay leaf, avocado and water in a blender. With the motor running, add the oil in a thin stream until the mixture forms an emulsion, about 2 minutes. Chill.
Arrange the lettuce on a platter and top with the avocados and tomatoes. Cover with the dressing, garnish with the green onions and serve immediately.
Somehow we knew we would want something cool and soothing for dessert. The mango lime sorbet was the answer.
Mango Lime Sorbet
Source: marthastewart.com
Active time: 10 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes
Makes: about 3 pints
2 pounds ripe or overripe mangoes (preferable Champagne)
1 t finely grated lime zest, for sprinkling
½ to 1 t lime juice
pinch of coarse salt
lime wedges for garnish
Peel mangoes and cut flesh away from pits; discard pits. Cut mango flesh into 1 inch chunks and spread in a single layer on a plastic-wrap-lined baking sheet. Freeze mangoes, uncovered, until hard, at least 8 hours; once hard, mangoes can be transferred to plastic freezer bags and kept frozen up to 2 months.
Remove mangoes from freezer and let soften slightly at room temperature, about 15 minutes. Place mangoes and salt in a food processor; puree until smooth, about 2 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Pulse in juice to taste. Serve immediately, scooped into bowls and sprinkled with lime zest and garnished with lime wedges.
**Alternate preparation:
Freeze mangoes until hard. Put through a “Yonannas” machine. Stir in lime juice and salt to taste. Scoop into bowls and serve.
Our unsolicited and biased opinions:
The shrimp recipe called for small shrimp, and for once we followed the recipe. Next time, we will use larger shrimp, and use Maldon salt to finish the dish. The salt really brings out the shrimp flavor. The chile de arbol is immediately noticeable but mellows as you eat the shrimp. If you don’t want the heat, this may not be the dish for you, because we think the chile flavor is essential. Sue says “you could take the seeds out”. Meg says “too much trouble”.
You know how we are always telling you that a dish isn’t spicy, well listen up, because guess what, the Chilaquiles ARE spicy. The recipe called for 6 serrano chiles and did not specify removing the seeds; so we didn’t. Next time we think we would use 3 chiles with their seeds. The depth of flavor in the sauce is wonderful, but we both agreed that it was just a little too hot. Our other critique is that we would serve the tortilla chips separately. We suppose that would make this not true chilaquiles but we loved the crunchy tortilla chips.
The cooked epazote added another dimension to the sauce. We were a little surprised after tasting it raw, but would definitely cook with it again.
The salad was a nice counter point to the heat of the chilaquiles. The dressing makes about two cups, and you will want to make the full recipe. It is absolutely delicioso.
We are now fans of fresh bay leaves. They are aromatic and so much more intense then the dried ones. They made the dressing extra special.
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| Fresh bay leaves |
Meg used her “Yonannas” machine to make the mango lime sorbet. She froze chunks of mango earlier this year when they were in season and has been waiting somewhat impatiently for the opportunity to make this sorbet. Basically this sorbet is straight mango and a touch of lime juice. No added sugar. Totally refreshing and creamy.
Feliz Cinco de Mayo!
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Feliz Cinco de Mayo!
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Easy Easter
There has been a bit of cake obsession going on around here. Meg saw a rerun on the Food Network of Ina Garten making this Lemon Yogurt cake and decided we had to have one. Luckily, Easter provided the perfect opportunity to indulge, even though Ina didn’t use any butter, making this a small indulgence. Readers of our previous posting will remember the salted caramel gelato and know why we are toning it down a bit. Knowing that we couldn’t eat just cake, we quickly decided, since it was Easter, a quiche and salad would nicely pave the way for the cake.
Sue saw some golden beets in the store and our salad grew around them as the featured ingredient. We decided to roast the beets to retain their full flavor.
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Roasted Beet and Greens Salad
Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 04/19/2014
1 bunch of golden or other beets
Salad greens of your choice
3 Tbsp. good olive oil
1 Tbsp. whole grain mustard
2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 clove grated garlic
¼ tsp. agave nectar
2 Tbsp. chopped roasted, salted pistachios for garnish
Coarsely ground black pepper to taste
Salt to taste
Scrub the beets and cut off the greens leaving about one inch of stem and the roots on the beets. Save the greens for a later use.
Line a large piece of foil with parchment paper, place beets on parchment and seal the package by rolling the foil and parchment together. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour.
Remove from oven and carefully open package to allow beets to cool. When beets have cooled enough to handle, cut off stem and root ends and slip or peel skins off.
At this point they can be put in a sealed container and kept refrigerated for several days.
Combine dressing ingredients and allow the flavors to blend for at least an hour. This will mellow the raw garlic.
To prepare the salad, slice the beets in about ¼ inch slices and dress with some of the vinaigrette. Toss the greens with the remaining dressing, arrange beets on top of greens and sprinkle with nuts.
Asparagus is in all of the markets here and was a natural for the quiche. And because it was Easter, Sue said, “How about some ham?” One of the great things about a quiche is that you can put anything in it.
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Asparagus and Ham Quiche
Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 04/19/2014
Serves: 4 – 6
1/3 lb. Emmentaler cheese, finely shredded
1 9” unbaked pie crust
12 large spears asparagus
¾ lb. diced ham
3 eggs
1 ½ cup heavy whipping cream
3 tsp. flour
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Trim ends of asparagus and steam lightly to partially cook. Reserve 5 spears to decorate the top of the quiche. Cut remaining spears into about ½ inch pieces. . Combine with diced ham and sprinkle with 3 teaspoons of flour. Set aside.
In a small bowl, beat eggs, cream and black pepper until blended.
Scatter half of the cheese evenly in pie crust. Layer the ham and then the asparagus evenly over the cheese. Add remaining cheese and then pour cream mixture over everything. Decorate with reserved asparagus tips, pressing lightly into the mixture. Sprinkle top with red pepper flakes.
Bake for 15 minutes at 450 degrees.
Turn oven down to 350 and bake for 15 minutes.
Turn oven down to 300 and bake for 15 minutes.
Cover crust during baking if browning to quickly. Cool to room temperature before serving.
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And finally we arrive at the reason for this meal, the lemon pound cake. It is dense, moist, lemony and absolutely delicious. If you are going to be obsessive about a cake this is a good place to start.
Lemon Yogurt Cake
Recipe courtesy of Ina Garten , 2006, Barefoot Contessa at Home, All Rights Reserved
Total Time:1 hr 20 minutes
Yield:1 loaf
Ingredients
1 ½ c all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
½ t kosher salt
1 c plain whole-milk yogurt
1 1/3 c sugar, divided
3 extra-large eggs
2 t grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
½ t pure vanilla extract
½ c vegetable oil
1/3 c freshly squeezed lemon juice
For the glaze:
1 c confectioners' sugar
2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 ½ by 4 ¼ by 2 ½ -inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.
When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.
For the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.
Our unsolicited and biased opinions:
We used a homemade crust for our quiche. Meg’s secret is to replace the cold water with whipping cream and use butter as the shortening. (I guess it’s not a secret any longer.) If you are not into making crusts, then buy one.
We selected the Emmentaler specifically to go with the ham and asparagus. If you choose other ingredients, suitable cheeses could be Fontina, Gruyere, Jarlsberg, Muenster or Port Salut.
We did not use any salt in the quiche preparation, because ham is inherently salty.
If you are not a fan of the traditional red beets, this golden variety is worth a try, as they are milder flavored. The whole grain mustard and letting the vinaigrette rest at room temperature mellowed the garlic and rounded out the flavors in this dressing. We also marinated the sliced beets for about an hour before assembling the salad. We intended to use only arugula for the greens, but instead used a mix of “Super Greens” containing red and green chard, tat soi, arugula and mild spinach. The pistachios added a nice crunch.
We did not make the glaze for the cake and served it with sliced, sweetened strawberries. Meg says she feels less guilt eating cake with fruit. Sue says who cares.
Happy Easter to all!
Buona Pasqua!
Feliz Pascua!
Frohe Ostern!
Joyeuses Pâques!
Sue saw some golden beets in the store and our salad grew around them as the featured ingredient. We decided to roast the beets to retain their full flavor.
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| Golden Jewels |
Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 04/19/2014
1 bunch of golden or other beets
Salad greens of your choice
3 Tbsp. good olive oil
1 Tbsp. whole grain mustard
2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 clove grated garlic
¼ tsp. agave nectar
2 Tbsp. chopped roasted, salted pistachios for garnish
Coarsely ground black pepper to taste
Salt to taste
Scrub the beets and cut off the greens leaving about one inch of stem and the roots on the beets. Save the greens for a later use.
Line a large piece of foil with parchment paper, place beets on parchment and seal the package by rolling the foil and parchment together. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour.
Remove from oven and carefully open package to allow beets to cool. When beets have cooled enough to handle, cut off stem and root ends and slip or peel skins off.
At this point they can be put in a sealed container and kept refrigerated for several days.
Combine dressing ingredients and allow the flavors to blend for at least an hour. This will mellow the raw garlic.
To prepare the salad, slice the beets in about ¼ inch slices and dress with some of the vinaigrette. Toss the greens with the remaining dressing, arrange beets on top of greens and sprinkle with nuts.
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| Roasted Beet and Greens Salad |
Asparagus and Ham Quiche
Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 04/19/2014
Serves: 4 – 6
1/3 lb. Emmentaler cheese, finely shredded
1 9” unbaked pie crust
12 large spears asparagus
¾ lb. diced ham
3 eggs
1 ½ cup heavy whipping cream
3 tsp. flour
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Trim ends of asparagus and steam lightly to partially cook. Reserve 5 spears to decorate the top of the quiche. Cut remaining spears into about ½ inch pieces. . Combine with diced ham and sprinkle with 3 teaspoons of flour. Set aside.
In a small bowl, beat eggs, cream and black pepper until blended.
Scatter half of the cheese evenly in pie crust. Layer the ham and then the asparagus evenly over the cheese. Add remaining cheese and then pour cream mixture over everything. Decorate with reserved asparagus tips, pressing lightly into the mixture. Sprinkle top with red pepper flakes.
Bake for 15 minutes at 450 degrees.
Turn oven down to 350 and bake for 15 minutes.
Turn oven down to 300 and bake for 15 minutes.
Cover crust during baking if browning to quickly. Cool to room temperature before serving.
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| Ham and Asparagus Quiche |
Sue lobbied to have Cava again, but Meg said we couldn’t have it with every meal. So the second choice was a nice bottle of barrel aged Chateau Ste. Michelle 2011 chardonnay from the Columbia valley in Washington. It actually went very well with the meal.
And finally we arrive at the reason for this meal, the lemon pound cake. It is dense, moist, lemony and absolutely delicious. If you are going to be obsessive about a cake this is a good place to start.
Lemon Yogurt Cake
Recipe courtesy of Ina Garten , 2006, Barefoot Contessa at Home, All Rights Reserved
Total Time:1 hr 20 minutes
Yield:1 loaf
Ingredients
1 ½ c all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
½ t kosher salt
1 c plain whole-milk yogurt
1 1/3 c sugar, divided
3 extra-large eggs
2 t grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
½ t pure vanilla extract
½ c vegetable oil
1/3 c freshly squeezed lemon juice
For the glaze:
1 c confectioners' sugar
2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 ½ by 4 ¼ by 2 ½ -inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.
When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.
Our unsolicited and biased opinions:
We used a homemade crust for our quiche. Meg’s secret is to replace the cold water with whipping cream and use butter as the shortening. (I guess it’s not a secret any longer.) If you are not into making crusts, then buy one.
We selected the Emmentaler specifically to go with the ham and asparagus. If you choose other ingredients, suitable cheeses could be Fontina, Gruyere, Jarlsberg, Muenster or Port Salut.
We did not use any salt in the quiche preparation, because ham is inherently salty.
If you are not a fan of the traditional red beets, this golden variety is worth a try, as they are milder flavored. The whole grain mustard and letting the vinaigrette rest at room temperature mellowed the garlic and rounded out the flavors in this dressing. We also marinated the sliced beets for about an hour before assembling the salad. We intended to use only arugula for the greens, but instead used a mix of “Super Greens” containing red and green chard, tat soi, arugula and mild spinach. The pistachios added a nice crunch.
We did not make the glaze for the cake and served it with sliced, sweetened strawberries. Meg says she feels less guilt eating cake with fruit. Sue says who cares.
Happy Easter to all!
Buona Pasqua!
Feliz Pascua!
Frohe Ostern!
Joyeuses Pâques!
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| Needlepointed eggs by Meg |
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