Before an after

I don't like it when my Robbie has to travel for business...but I do get to eat foods he won't.  Tonight it was Mussels in White Wine.

Before

After

Mussels are so quick to make.  Health protein and yummy.  This recipe is shallots, garlic, white wine, chicken stock, diced tomato and parsley.  You can add a little saffron when sauteeing the shallots to get an exotic taste and color.





Fava Beans

I seem to always fail at finding Fava Beans at the Italian market near me so this year I decided to grow my own.

Fava beans have a very mild tasted.  They can be boiled, sauteed, or blended into a dip...and much more.

What I really like about them is the foliage.  It's very 'artistic'.  I don't know if it comes through well. They don't like warm weather so I'm hoping they fruit out before the heat sets in.

Roasted Asian Shrimp and Brussels Sprouts.

Dinner tonight: Roasted Asian Shrimp with Parmesan Brussell Sprouts.

Shrimp
Preheat oven to 500
 Minced scallion, garlic and fresh ginger
Soy sauce, Miran and a T of canola oil
Mix well
On a baking sheet, mix peeled cleaned shrimp shrimp with the marinade
Place in hot oven for 10 minutes

Brussells Sprouts
Clean and half enough brussell sprouts for two
Blanch for two minutes in well salted boiling water
Drain and then plunge into ice water bath that is salted
In a non-stick pan melt some butter and add sprouts.
After browning begins add grated parmesan.

Play with the proportions based on what you like. Was yummy!

 

 

Bangalore Chicken Curry

One of my 'goto' Indian dishes.  Great spice, creamy sauce. Served with white rice, Major Gray's Chutney and sour cream.  Very smooth.

Very good.  Email me for the recipe.

Happy Eating.

Indian Spiced Pork Tenderloin

I love pork tenderloin.  Tender, juicy, it cooks fast and takes flavors very well.  Many think about pork and fruit.  I went with Indian inspired flavors. And my take on a standard, green beans almondine. 

The spice rub:
1T brown sugar
1t salt
1t garlic powder
1t cumin seed ground
3/4t smoked paprika
3/4 fenugreek seed ground
1/8t cayenne pepper
1/2t pepper ground

I had a single tenderloin that I first pat dry and put a little drizzle of olive oil on it then the spice rub.  Put it back in the fridge for an hour.  Then browned on all sides and finished in a hot oven. It came out medium and very juicy.

The take on the green beans is....sauted not boiled.  And I toasted the almonds to bring out the flava. 

Very good.

Happy Eating!



Dinner tonight.

Maybe if I post right after I eat I'll get more of these up here.  Halibut Steaks in Papilloite. A bed of saffron rice with yellow raisins and toasted almonds cooked in chicken broth.  A layer of sauted sweet onions and red onion and on top a halibut steak cooked in papilloite with lemon slices, white wine and fine herbs.

Papilloite

Plated

Very light and delish!  The raisins are a nice sweet surprise in a savory dish.

Happy Eating!

Some Randoms

Hi everyone.

I am still cooking!  Here are a few dishes.  If you'd like the recipe, let me know and I'll post.

Chicken and spinach empanadas 



Pork Ragu for Easter Dinner

Pork chops, sausages and meatballs

Beef and Mushroom Pie

(Left over roast beef)

Out of the oven

 Plated with Asparagus with Parmesan Chips

Happy Eating!  I have lots of pics to post!

Red Beans and Spicy Sausage

I don't remember what I did here, exactly.  Red beans, red pepper, chilies, probably ground cumin and then spicy Portuguese sausage.  I did add some liquid and then mashed a bunch of the beans to thicken the brew.

Cesear Salad

There are probably a zillion recipes for this salad...let me add mine.  I like lots of garlic and the creamy dressing made from the almost raw egg.  We're having this with a small steak tonight.  My perfect summertime dinner.

Garlic croutons:
Slice a baguette into 1/2 inch ovals and toast both sides under the broiler on high.  I like to have for or five croutons per person.

Mince 6 or more cloves of garlic.  When is fine, add a sprinkle of kosher salt and slide the flat side of the knife across the garlic until its a fine paste.

In a cold 10" skillet put in a layer of olive oil and add the garlic slowly warm the garlic when hot add the croutons and shake them around to coat.  At this point I saute until the garlic turns a light brown.  Remove all from heat.

They now sell Organic Romaine Hearts for the same price as conventional.  I take a head out of the bag and cut off the first two or three inches from the top (greenest) part.  I then cut across the circumference of the head and then wash well and dry in paper towels so all water is gone.  It helps the dressing ad hear to the lettuce.

In a big bowl, add about 1/4c olive oil, a couple shakes of Worcestershire sauce or one anchovy mashed around the size of the bowl.  Add the juice from 1/2 lemon...more if you like more...and 1/2c finely grated Parmesan cheese.  Mix well. 

Boil water in a small pan. When rolling, add one egg that you have stuck a needle into one end to prevent an explosion. Cook exactly one minute and then run under cold water so you can handle it.  Open end over bowl and mix well.  If you are skittish about raw eggs, people say a little good quality mayo can sub.

Add romaine and mix well.  Add more olive oil if it's just too dry.  I like there to be nothing fat the bottom of the bowl after serving the salad.  Add croutons with the garlic bits and toss well.  Serve.

Cornish Hen (Small Chicken)

We're trying to eat lighter dinners...and keep down the leftovers.  Here's my attempt at Cornish Hens.  I put some lemon wedges in the bird before wrapping it in bacon and trussing.  It's laying on a bed of aromatics that really add value to the pan drippings.

Before

After

One little glitch...it acted done...but wasn't.  This was about the third roast that wasn't finished in an appropriate time.  A couple of nights ago, I made homemade pizza and after 10 minutes on 450...not much was happening.  So then I went to reset the temperature and when I did it showed it was down at 315 degrees.  So I went to the broiler and that didn't come on!  Needless to say GE is coming in the AM.

Happy Eating!



Roasted Garlic

This is one of our favorites...Roasted Elephant Garlic.  Slice off the top.  Drizzle with good olive oil, some salt and put in a small roasting pan in a 375 degree oven.  In the oven for about 30-45 minutes, until soft.  Remove the outer husks. 

Stuffed Poblanos

Very easy. Roast the poblano, remove skin.  Cut a V-shaped opening on the top and fill with your favorite.  Here I used some leftover chili.

Egg-cellent

The girls are laying again.  This is just four days production.

Sweet Italian Sausage

I've been wanting to make sausage at home for quite some time.  Finally acquired the rest of the equipment...and the raw materials of a Boston Butt roast and hog casings...

My Kitchenaid stand mixer, my friend for almost 30 years, is the work horse along with the grinder and sausage stuffing attachments.  If I enjoy sausage making, I'll make the investment for a metal meat grinder...but all in time.

Here's the recipe.  I change from Anise seed to Fennel seed doubling the amount in the recipe and I added a little more garlic.  I'll try to scan this to a document and post with my changes.

Here's an example of a Boston Butt or Picnic Roast.  It's actually from the shoulder of the pig.  So there is sinew and good marblization.  I also added about a quarter pound of saltpork that I cut and blanched to get the salt out.  Should have added even more.  Today's pig - unless your being locally grown Heritage breeds as so much leaner than 10 or 15 years ago.

As you can see, the marbling.  The five pounds had to be cut into 1" squares.  Thanks for my 10" chef knife that had just recently been professionally sharpened! 

Then, you need to put in the freezer for a few to firm them up before grinding.

Next, grinding.  This took a lot more time than I had anticipated and my hands were sore by the end of the process.

Then mix!  One of the chef's I follow recommended adding a little water to the sausage and mix with the paddle of the Kitchenaid to make a smooth filling.  Mines a little rustic, but that didn't bother me.

Next comes the stuffing part.  Supposed to lube the tube with Crisco, which I couldn't find in the pantry, so I used veggie oil.  I'll buy Crisco for the next batch!  It took a little bit to get the diameter of the sausage the same and not go too fast and not get enough sausage in there.  Oh, and you have to manually fill the stuffer as well.  A lot to manage.

Then the money shot.  I figured that the width of my hand was a good size for the links.  It made about twenty sausages and I had some left over mix that I froze as well.  Total cost of the ingredients (pork and salt pork) was about $27 for 5lbs, might not be a bargain, but you know what's in it.

Happy Eating!

Posting Absence.

I've come back to the blog after a long time missing.  I have a camera full of pictures to match up with the recipe and get back on track.

Sausage making is my first new post back.  It was a lot of fun and didn't set me back that much to get started.  I've purchased a mini-fridge because my eventual goal is to make Italian Salami.

Happy Eating everyone!

Gratin Parmentier

I just picked up a copy of Jacques Pepin's "Essential Pepin".  I love it.  It's like "Joy of Cooking" for French food in the American market.  My first try was a recipe for leftover beef.  Even Robbie ate the potatoes...laced with eggs, cream and Gruyere cheese!  It was like a heavy souffle on top of beef stew.  Highly recommended.

Then there were potato leftovers.  I put them into a smaller gratin dish.  It looks lovely.

Great flavor.  Can't wait to try more recipes from the book!

Happy Eating!

Dinner tonight.

Stumbled back upon a cheese/gourmet shop in Newburtport this morning before having lunch with my friend Beth.  I just couldn't resist!

Jambon Bayonne
Humboldt Fog
Pecorino San Gimignamo
Mousse Truffe
Urchrutend Swiss
Country Pate - mine
Brined Olives with Herbs de Provence
A bottle of French red wine
Olive oil flavored crackers

Yummmm.

Happy Eating!

Lip smacking Split Pea Soup

This is delish!  Didn't take long to make.  The ham hock is from Green Meadows farm in Hamilton.  They raised pigs on the farm this year.  Very gently smoked.

4 to 6 servings
1/4c olive oil
1 large onion finely diced (I used a white onion)
2 carrots finely diced
2 stalks celery finely diced.  (Try to make all the veggies about the same size)
1 lb bag of split peas, rinsed
11/2 lb smoked ham hock (or your leftover ham bone)
2 quarts chicken stock, water or combination (I used chicken stock)
Salt and pepper to taste. (I would put some salt with the veggie saute and wait to correct seasoning at the end.  The pork might be salty.  I didn't add any at the end)

In a large saucepan, saute onion, celery and carrots over medium-high heat.  Add the split peas and ham hock cover by about 2". (That would have been another quart and then the soup would be too thin.  So I didn't cover the ham hock just the peas.

Bring to a boil and simmer for about 1 hour until the soup is thick and the peas have almost disintegrated, but not quite.  Season.  Remove ham hock and shred.  Serve with some of the ham on each bowl of soup.

Happy Eating!

I need beef!

I'm so sick of Turkey.  Yes, it is a roast beef covered in bacon.  And look carefully, there are several dollops of Criso on the veggies...they get really crunchy that way.  My mom's secret....

No regrets....but yum...

Happy Eating!

Thanksgiving Dishes

Well, I'm still in food coma from yesterday, but I think everyone had fun.  Had 18 adults and 4 little kids...and the dog was so happy to see everyone!

Appetizers and desserts were provided by our guests:  the family chicken wing recipe, baked stuff shirmp, Mexican dip...then the pies and sweets...and Italian cookies!

The table.  Flowers from Chapmans...love the colors.  They do really great work.  The three arrangements had orchids in them...lovely.

Yes, the walls in our dining room are painted red.  Actually BenMoore "Country Redwood".  The drapery fabric is a reproduction of a men's waistcoat fabric from India c. 1780. Thank goodness my sister has those folding chairs!  Many would have been sitting on the floor!

The Sweet Potato "Cannelloni" was a crowd pleaser.
http://www.marthastewart.com/314723/sweet-potato-cannelloni?czone=food/thanksgiving-center/thanksgiving-center-dishes

Thin slices of sweet potato filled with a puree of sweet potato, spices, parmesan and apples.  Topped with shaved parmesan and toasted walnuts.... It was a little fussy, but I had time Thursday AM having prep'ed the rest of the meal the night before.

More coming!

Happy Eating!