Accidental Italian Supper

My beau and I frequently cook together. In order to plan better, we typically discuss things a few days out. One recipe on the "to do" list is his spaghetti sauce. Based loosely on a recipe from Alton Brown, it consists of roasting tomatoes for a few hours (over night) in a very low temperature oven. We attempted it last night, but sadly, the oven at its lowest setting is too hot, so we awoke to tomato raisonettes. They were very chewy and dry, so they ended up getting tossed.

In order to maintain the Italian theme, I went to the grocery store after a light lunch and some errand running. While there, I picked up bread ( a staple of any Italian themed dinner), fresh Mozzarella cheese, balsamic vinegar, basil, and mussels. I also picked up the ingredients for a put together tomato sauce that didn't need to roast overnight in the too hot oven.

Because sauce typically takes a long time, I determined it best to cook the mussels as a light appetizer, followed by a caprese salad, to finish with pasta and sauce. The recipes follow.

Mussels in White Wine

One habit that I frequently employ is searching far and wide for recipes, following a mixture of multiples, and then endlessly creating variations until I find what I like. Mussels are one of the easiest, quickest fine foods one can make.

I go to the seafood counter and order a pound or two, depending on how many I am serving.

Once home, thoroughly rinse the mussels, scrubbing off any debris. Here's a nifty 'how to' for cleaning and debearding mussels. Be sure to do this every time! Additionally, I check for "freshness" or to see if the mussels are alive. You want all of the shells to close very tightly, inspect them carefully. If you squeeze them and they reopen, toss it, this means the mussel inside is dead. You can also check this by a firm tap against a hard surface, the edge of the counter or sink top works just fine. Any that don't stay closed tight are duds, and you can discard them. Additionally, any mussel that doesn't open during cooking should also be discarded.

Ingredients
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 of a large onion, finely chopped
1 tbs of olive oil
2 tbs of  finely chopped parsley
1/2 of a lemon (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups of white wine (any white wine that you would drink is fine. I used a Riesling. Let me note here that I didn't actually measure the wine, I eye it until it "looks right" - I know, not terribly useful. 2 cups will work.)

Begin on by combining the garlic, onion, and olive oil over medium low heat. Cook these together for a few minutes, just until they start softening. Make sure the temperature is a little bit below medium, garlic burns very quickly and the goal here is to extract flavors - not to crisp your garlic.

Add the white wine, salt, and pepper, and bring to a boil (basically to bring to temperature) and then reduce to a simmer until you've reduced the amount of wine by approximately half.

Add the mussels and a pinch of parsley, promptly put a tight fitting lid on the pan. I use a clear lid so that I can monitor the doneness of my mussels.

One can cook mussels to a few different stages. White are done, but on the very rare side. A light orangy tan is the right color to know when they are done. When all of the mussels are open and approximately this color, call it done. At approximately 5ish minutes they will turn white, 6ish minutes gets you orange. Any additional time after that and I would say you risk getting mussel erasers.

Put them into a serving dish, toss with a few squeezes of fresh lemon and the rest of the parsley, and then eat.

Digging into the mussels. We got excited before I could take the picture!

Caparese Salad

This is a terribly simple salad, and based on plating and how many you are serving, its an easy treat for entertaining.

Ingredients
1 fresh tomato
1 ball of fresh mozarella
fresh basil leaves
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
fresh cracked pepper

Slice your tomato and mozarella to be approximately the same width. I find that a quarter inch works best. Layer it onto a plate, starting with the mozarella, then tomato, then a fresh basil leaf. Repeat this pattern with a second tomato slice, mozarella slice, and basil leaf.

Drizzle lightly with a good olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Finish with cracked pepper. 

Spaghetti Sauce

I will confess - I have my own sauce recipe. The recipe that follows it not it. This is my partner in crimes sauce, and as I've mentioned to him on multiple times, I am a terrible passenger. I have to frequently resist the urge to side seat drive, and cook. Which means when he starts up the stove, I normally have to leave.

I did have some input into this recipe, however, I can't say that he listened to me very much.

Ingredients
1 16 oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 stalk of celery, diced
a handful of baby carrots, diced
1/4 of a large onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup of red wine
2 tbs of Italian seasoning
1 cup of water
1 tsp of sugar
1 and 1/2 tsp of salt
2 tbs of olive oil

Combine the olive oil, celery, carrots, onion, and garlic over medium heat in a hot sauce pan.  Cook just until vegetables are translucent, approximately 6 minutes. Add the whole can of tomatoes and rinse out the can by filling it up about halfway, swishing the water around, and adding it to the sauce pot. Add the rest of the ingredients at this point. Bring the pot to a slow simmer. Cook over medium low heat, maintaining the simmer, until sauce reduces by approximately an inch and a half. (I argued for more reduction. I was shot down.)

At this point, remove the pot from the stove. CAREFULLY use a food processor, blender, or immersion blender, to finely puree the sauce. I used the immersion blender by covering the pot with a towel and pulsing until the sauce was smooth.

Your sauce is done!

To serve the sauce, boil up spaghetti until al dente in a different pot of salty water. Reserve a small amount of the pasta cooking water. (I will typically snag about a cup and a half in a liquid measuring cup large enough for 2 and a half cups.. This way I have more than I need. I've too often forgotten all about this step, drained the pasta, and then been left with nothing.)

Heat up a skillet on the stove, add the noodles to the pan with enough sauce to coat, and then add a few bits of water. This requires NO MORE than 1/4 cup of reserved cooking water. This is a step where you have to eye ball it, you want the starch from the cooking water to be enough to thicken the sauce. Cook for a minute or two, and the spaghetti should absorb some sauce, while some liquid cooks off.

Serve your pasta. If you want to get really fancy, go ahead and chiffonade some basil on top along with a little bit of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

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I've been informed that a traditional Italian meal consists of five courses - the antipasto, the pasta, the fish course, the meat course, and finally dessert. We had three of these five, out of order!

Too bad there is no gelato nearby, and the bakery with canolli is closed...

Feel Better Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls

Having been fighting off the death pollen after relocating to Chicago from Florida, I decided yesterday that I would make my old tried and true classic, Matzo Ball Soup. I've never been a fan of the watery broth, laden with MSG, from the envelope of soup mix that one sees at every holiday table. While this soup isn't bad, particularly as an appetizer for a huge holiday meal,  it is not full of healing chicken soupy goodness.

This is a rather large endeavor, and one needs multiple/days or hours to complete the soup making process from start to finish. I got impatient about midway through, and instead of simmering the broth for an hour or two as typical, I used my pressure cooker on high pressure for ~ 15.

As an aside, I keep a "bone bag" in the freezer. I predominately purchase bone in, skin on thighs, and then debone and deskin them, throw the remnants into a gallon sized bag that I keep in the freezer. When I want soup or stock, I take out the bone bag and make what I want with it, and start a fresh bag the next time I cut up chicken. I didn't have a full bag this time, so I supplemented with a whole roaster chicken, which I think was really useful for this soup. Typically, I use the bones to make stock for butternut squash soup, or this smoked cheddar with bacon and potato mixture I've come up with..

The recipe is fairly simple and the ingredients are nothing spectacular, but there are some specific steps that ought to be followed.

Ingredients
1 large onion (or two small) medium dice
2 cups of baby carrots (cube one cup for the stock, leave the rest whole)
3 stalks of medium celery, cut crosswise in 1/8 strips.
1 whole roaster chicken, any misc. bones
1 lemon, halved
salt
pepper
thyme (fresh or dried)
rosemary (fresh or dried)
1 tsp poultry seasoning
fresh parsley
olive oil

Matzo Balls
2 eggs
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup matzo meal
spare water or broth if mixture is too dry

Roasting the Chicken 

Place chicken pieces in a 9X13 pan. Season liberally with salt, pepper, thyme, and rosemary, and a few drizzles of olive oil. Squeeze both halves of the lemon over the chicken, and then put the lemon halves into the pan. Roast, covered with aluminum foil for as long as it takes the chicken to reach 160 degrees internal temp. Approx 90 minutes or so. Remove the aluminum foil for the last half hour of cooking.

Once finished, set aside to cool. (This can be done the night before if you so desire.) Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, peel the skin and meat off the bones. Set the bones and skin aside with the lemon halves, and put the meat into a bowl, cover, and store refridgerated. Keep the roasting juices as well. If doing this the night before, store in a covered bowl. (I left mine in the roasting pan because I was incorporating it immediately.)

Place the meat and skin, along with any additional bones/meat/trimmings, into a shallow pan, and roast at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or so. This helps concentrate the flavor a little better, creating a richer stock. This step can be skipped. 

Making the stock

In a large stock pot, put a dollop (1-2 tbs) of olive oil. Add diced carrots, celery, and half of the diced onion. Add salt, pepper, thyme, and rosemary to taste. Add poultry seasoning. (if using dried herbs).

Cook at medium low until the vegetables have turned translucent.

 Add the bones, skin, lemon, and reserved roasting juices into the pot, and fill with enough water to liberally cover the bones. Add in 6-8 sprigs of fresh parsley. If doing without a pressure cooker, bring to a low boil/high simmer for a few hours. (Anywhere from 1-2 based on your patience). If you are making Matzo Balls to go with your soup, now is a good time to make them, since the mixture needs to chill for about 20 minutes.

I threw up my hands because it was getting on towards dinner (and I'm not always the best planner) and threw the whole mixture into my pressure cooker. I cooked it at full pressure for about 15 minutes, and it came out perfect.

Once your stock is finished, strain through a fine mesh strain. I promise. You want to do this step. All of the flavors have been extracted from the bones and vegetables. It will taste like cardboard if you leave it in your soup - and the only cardboard I like in my soup is Matzo.

Soup
Once your stock has been strained, you've mostly got soup! Congratulations!

Before you have a full pot of soup, take your whole baby carrots and the rest of the chopped onion. Cook with 1 tbs of oil until the vegetables are translucent. (approx 5-10 minutes) Add your strained stock. Get out your chilled matzo mixture, and go ahead and add gently formed balls to your soup. Let them cook at a low simmer until they are done. The box says this takes 30-40 minutes. (Or, do like I do. Throw them into a roiling boil and cook them for about 15 minutes. I didn't even know they took that long until I checked the box this time.)

While the matzo balls are cooking, take some of the chilled chicken and chop it. Do whatever kind of chop you want. Or shred it. Or whatever gets it into spoon sized pieces. Add these bits back into the soup stock.

There you have it! Feel better chicken soup with Matzo Balls. I serve it with Matzo Farfel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matzo_farfel) and topped with some finely chopped fresh parsley.

Pauper's Pesto

Tonight I had a craving for 'Italian'. Not so much craving, as I have a spaghetti squash that desperately needed to be used, and I typically prefer it with red sauce. Out of store bought stuff (which I do buy occasionally, for evenings when I don't want to cook from scratch) I had decided to do my "quick red sauce". Then, in a moment of inspiration, I decided to come up with a "poor man's pesto"

The recipe follows:

Pauper's Pesto

I took a basic basil pesto recipe that I got from a friend a while back, and adopted it to the ingredients I had on hand. My version is the one I've included

2 cups packed spinach leaves
1 cup packed parsley (with the stems sort of lazily trimmed)
3/4 cup grated Bella Vitano Balsamic Cheese
1/8 cup pulverized walnuts
1/8 cup pulverized almonds
1/2 cup olive oil

Puree everything together in a blender or food processor fitted with the steel blade until it becomes a uniform paste

Store in a tightly lidded jar, with a slight layer of olive oil on top to prevent oxidation.

I served mine over 1/4 of a medium roasted spaghetti squash

1/2 lb ground turkey browned
1/2 red onion cubed
1 small red tomato cubed
2 tbs white wine
the following spices to taste:
basil
oregano
salt
pepper
rosemary

Brown the turkey and onion
add the white wine to cook off
add spices
add tomatoes at the very end

Enjoy!

Mexican Style Pizza

So - It appears this blog has languished in disuse for far too long! I've finally cooked something interesting, and also had the initiative to update!

Last night, I pulled a wad of frozen whole wheat pizza dough from my local grocery store. I think I purchased it on a whim, threw it in the freezer, and then promptly forgot about it. I also put a bowl full of black beans on to soak overnight.

So today, after getting home from work, I had to figure out how to use both items.

I figured Mexican Pizza could be tasty- since I also had red bell pepper, avocado, yellow squash, and red onion hanging about.

The recipe is as follows:

Approximately 1/2 cup of cooked black beans ( I cooked dried beans for a few hours with some garlic cloves - if you don't put garlic in here you will need to either cook some raw cloves quickly, or substitute garlic powder to taste)

1/8th cup store bought salsa
1 thinly sliced tomato
1/2 thinly sliced bell pepper
3/4 thinly sliced small yellow squash
1/2 thinly sliced avocado

1 Tbs adobo spice
2 tbs olive oil
Pinch of fresh cilantro
1 cup shredded cheese of choice ( I used cheddar, its what I had) 
I pizza worth of pizza dough (or pre made pizza crust.. or make your own dough)


Prepare the pizza dough according to the instructions. Lightly spread some olive oil on top. Puree black beans, salsa, and 1-2 cloves of cooked garlic. Puree until "saucy" consistency. I retained the black bean cooking water to add so that the salsa flavor didn't become over whelming.

Sprinkle adobo spice over sauce. Carefully layer toppings. Sprinkle cilantro and cheese on top of toppings.

Layer toppings of choice on the pizza

Bake according to pizza crust instructions.

When pizza comes out, add sliced avocado. (You don't want to cook the avocado, it will turn bitter)

Slice, and Enjoy with some cervesas!

Minestrone Soup and Beer Bread

Minestrone, like many big pot recipes, is infinitely variable depending on region, seasonality, and taste. So, while there are commonly accepted practices of what a traditional minestrone is, not every recipe is identical.

In an effort to use up spare ingredients and make something that I can eat as a staple in the upcoming week, I've thrown together a gargantuan pot of Minestrone. I read a few recipes, and took ideas from both, but ended up substituting with the ingredients that I had on hand.

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3 stalks of celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 diced tomatoes
1 diced red onion
1 cubed large rutabaga
1 cubed small red potato (accidental addition)
16 oz diced mushrooms
1/4 cup packed spinach
1 cup navy beans, soaked and cooked*
1 cup "pink beans" soaked and cooked*
1/4 cup fresh basil
3 tbs dried parsley
1 4inch long sprig of rosemary
lots of cracked black pepper
1 bay leaf
3 cups beef broth
5 cups water
2 tbs olive oil
1 cup uncooked orzo
grated Parmesan cheese

heat olive oil in bottom of large pot. Add in onions, celery, and carrots, and cook on medium until they are softening and releasing their juices, about 20 minutes. Add the broth, water, beans, potato, rutabaga. Add bay leaf, basil, parsley, rosemary, and pepper. Cook on a simmer until vegetables and beans are soft and cooked through, 40 minutes to an hour.. or longer depending on how large the cubes are. Add spinach, mushrooms, cook for 20 minutes. Add orzo, cook until soft. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. 

*note: I used soaked and uncooked beans, and they ended up taking longer than the soup to finish. Everything else ended up wonderfully juice and tender. Remember when cooking beans, add salt after they are fully cooked, otherwise they end up an unpleasant texture. I'm wondering if the beef broth had enough salt in it to accomplish this task, because the soup cooked forever it seemed like, and the beans were still chewey when I finally decided to serve it.

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Beer Bread (from the Joy of Cooking)

Serve with heart soups or stews and mild or strong cheeses. Slices are good toasted or you can rewarm the whole loaf in the oven for a crisp outer crust. This bread keeps for 2-3 days.

Preheat oven to 400 deg. Grease an 8.5 X 4.5 inch loaf pan.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt


Whisk together completely in a large bowl 1 cup whole wheat flour 1 cup all purpose flour 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda1/2 tsp salt

Add
1&1/2 cups light or dark beer (but not stout) cold or at room temperature but not flat (pretty much a regular bottle of beer in volume. I use the whole beer and haven't had any issues)

Fold just unil the dry ingredients are moistened. Scrape the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center and all the way to the bottom of the pan comes out clean 25-40 minutes Let cool in pan on a rack for 5-10 minutes before unmolding to cool completely on the rack.

* For the Beer I used an IPA. I really liked how it turned out because the IPA accentuates the wheaty/hoppy taste of the bread. The bread is really moist and dense, and absolutely delicious! 
** I've also been known to add cheese, this most recent time I added about 1/8th cup of Gorgonzola, and 1/8th cup sharp cheddar, finely diced. (It was what I had on hand in the cheese department..) 

Guest Blogger: Quick Pickle

This is from a guest blogger, from Beth, best friend. We frequently discuss home cooking, and she has good recipes a lot of the time. I will let her guest post speak for itself. :D If you have any questions, feel free to comment and I'll let Beth clarify.

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Having recently moved back in with my parents (thanks, big university), I find myself mostly relegated to the role of backup-cook or sous-chef. My mother precariously balances the nutritional balance of four trying-to-lose weight adults with some differently picky eaters thrown into the mix. I don’t really envy her the task, it’s hard enough to just feed my sister healthy, enjoyable food.



A few weeks ago, I house-sat for a lady who grows cucumbers and tomatoes. “Take them all,” she said, and I took her at her word. The tomatoes were easier to use, they ended up as bruschetta and salsa. I had a little more trouble with the cucumbers, and I ended up doing the traditional cucumber salad, also called a quick pickle.



The basics of a cucumber quick pickle is pretty much this: slice and peel your cucumbers (if they are the tiny cucumbers, you can skip the peeling). In a measuring cup, mix together white vinegar, sugar, salt, and black pepper. You want to have about 1/2 a cup of dressing for 4 cucumbers. This is all to taste, but I like about two tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, and I really just eyeball the pepper. If the vinegar seems too potent, cut it with some water. Stick your measuring cup in the microwave, cook until hot (but not boiling) and pour it over the sliced cucumbers. You can eat it right away, but I like it covered and chilled for about twenty-four hours.



After some feedback from my sister, I found a Rachael Ray recipe that called for adding dill to the cucumbers and garlic and mustard powder to the dressing. I tried that, which is pretty good, and my mom liked it. My sister continued to not be fond of the dish, but at that point, I decided that she could make her own damn cucumbers, and went on to make it to my own preferences. The latest batch has crushed red pepper in it and one green onion sliced up and marinating with the cucumbers.


During the slicing phase, if you find your cucumbers are bitter, don't despair. Take the slices and put them all over the sides of a colander or strainer. Salt them liberally, and let them sit for half an hour or so, and then rinse them off. This will get rid of the bitterness.


Some other variations that would work include using lemon pepper or paprika. Those with a fondness for the flavor of curry could try swapping that for the mustard. What else can you think of?

Chicken and Biscuits

This is an old recipe that isn't my own, but I don't recall where I managed to pick it up from. Its a great cold weather stick to your bones kind of meal, but its also great to throw in a crock pot and forget about. The flavors are rich and delicious, and its one of my favorites. I'm going to prep my ingredients tonight, then get up tomorrow morning and put it together in the crock pot so that I have a nice meal when I get home from work.

Chicken:
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 chicken (about 3 lbs), cut into pieces
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
4 large carrots, peeled and sliced 1" thick
2 stalks celery, sliced 1/2" thick
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp. dried rosemary
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup frozen peas
4 Large cloves of garlic, chopped finely
DUMPLINGS:
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
GARNISH:
Fresh rosemary sprigs


Directions

Combine flour, salt and pepper in a bag. Add chicken pieces and toss to coat. Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Brown chicken in oil on all sides (8 to 10 minutes). Set aside.
Put carrots, celery, onion, garlic and rosemary in slow cooker. Set chicken pieces over vegetables. Pour 1/2 cup stock into skillet and cook over medium high heat, scraping up brown bits. Pour pan juices into slow cooker along with remaining stock. Cover and cook on High for 4 to 6 hours or on Low for 8 to 10 hours. Add peas and stir gently to combine.
DUMPLINGS: In a bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, rosemary and salt. In a measuring cup combine milk and egg. Mix well and add to flour mixture. Stir with a fork to make a lumpy dough (do not overmix - lumps are fine). Drop dumpling mixture over chicken pieces. Cover and cook on High for 25 to 30 minutes or until tester inserted in center of cumpling comes out clean. Serve garnished with fresh rosemary sprigs.
TIP: Drop the dough on the chicken pieces rather than into the liquid for fluffier dumplings.
Note: I had to add more stock, but I think it was the difference between a small chicken, and 3 lbs of boneless skinless breasts.. However, the chicken diced and coated in flour was tasty and amazing!
Note: In making it a second time, I added more broth again. I think it may be because I like mine pretty saucy. I used a whole chicken this time, but it also had all its bones. I had my butcher cut my chicken into 8 pieces. I think next time, I will do the same cut, but de-bone the breast/thigh meet before putting it into the crock pot, since the bones displace a lot of the liquid. Not sure.