Author Archives: Dave

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Baked Rigatoni with Sautéed Vegetables

Posted by Dave in mediterranean, pasta, vegetarian and tagged with , , ,

Baked Rigatoni with Sautéed Vegetables

This is a simple, colorful vegetarian baked pasta dish that I make often.

Prepare fresh or dried rigatoni as usual. While it’s boiling, sauté coarsely chopped red onion and green pepper in olive oil until they become slightly tender; season with oregano and black pepper then add quartered fresh mushrooms and continue until mushrooms are lightly sautéed. Drain pasta and pour into a baking dish or pan (e.g., 9″x14″ for 4 servings, so that it forms a shallow layer) greased lightly with olive oil. Mix sautéed vegetables and one can drained diced, stewed tomatoes into pasta. (Many other roasted or sauteed vegetables, olives, and toasted pine nuts are nice additions.) Lightly top with grated Pecorino Romano or other aged Italian cheese, sprinkle with oregano, generously with fennel seed, thinly sliced garlic from a couple cloves, and salt and pepper as you like. Bake 15-20 minutes at 425°F – until the garlic slices on top just begin to brown.

Baked Rigatoni with Sautéed Vegetables

Serve with garlic toast. Here I also added a few pieces of fresh mozzarella ciliegine (e.g., Trader Joe’s) per serving after baking, so that it doesn’t melt.

Fish Tacos

Posted by Dave in fish, texmex and tagged with , , , ,

Fish Tacos

Fish Tacos are one of my favorite dishes at restaurants, so lately I’ve been preparing them myself!

Red Cabbage Slaw: Toss finely sliced red cabbage with a citrus onion vinegrette dressing. Prepare dressing, in a blender, by pureeing ingredients: sweet onion pieces, apple cider vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, brown sugar, garlic, salt, pepper, celery seed. (Alternatively use orange juice rather than lemon and reduce amount of sugar.)

Pico de Gallo: Mix diced tomato, finely diced sweet onion, diced ripe avocado, finely diced jalapeno or serrano pepper (seeds removed), lime juice, mexican oregano, salt.

Fish: Here I used catfish chunks; tilapia, salmon, or shrimp are also good choices. Dip either strips of fillet or slightly larger-than-bite-sized fish pieces in an egg wash and coat with a spiced flour mixture, e.g. spiced with: salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, perhaps a touch of cayenne. (I like to use Morton brand “Nature’s Seasons” which is a salt blend including onion, celery, and parsley as well. This time I also used a touch of a spice blend called Vulcan’s Fire Salt: http://www.thespicehouse.com/spices/Vulcans-Fire-Salt Be sure to limit additional salt if you use salt-based blends.)
Alternatively, you can use a cajun blackening spice rub rather than an egg/flour batter.
Pan fry and place on paper towels to draw oil.

Assemble tacos in warmed corn tortillas at the table to your liking.
Here I also added sour cream; you may like cheese instead.

Toasted Italian Bread with Fresh Basil Pesto

Posted by Dave in mediterranean, vegan, vegetarian and tagged with , , ,
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Toasted Italian Bread with Fresh Basil Pesto

Something simple: yup, *toast* – haute cuisine, indeed.

Instead of me describing how I made a pesto, you can just watch this beautiful Italian make it instead: http://thepastachannel.com/pesto-sauce-pasta/
(We only disagree in that I’d rather use “too much” garlic…
Oh, and she made this in 5 minutes and it took me half an hour. :-)

Hmm, can I count the mortar and pestle effort as my second workout today?

Jambalaya and Jalapeno Cornbread

Posted by Dave in meat, shellfish and tagged with , , , ,

Jambalaya and Jalapeno Cornbread

This is a proper Jambalaya with grilled andouille sausage, chicken breast, and whole shrimp accompanied by jalapeno corn bread.
OK, I’ve posted Jambalaya before, but this one’s more different.The meats here are grilled, and I did the rice in a rice cooker with hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce in the water.

Grilling for Jambalaya

Ingredients are pretty much Emeril’s http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/cajun-jambalaya-recipe2/ , except celery seed instead of celery, whole (dried) oregano, and I switched up the paprika, using smoked and turkish hot.

Jiffy brand corn muffin mix (thankfully less sweet than Trader Joe’s) with a seeded jalapeno, finely chopped, added.

Thyme & Anise Farfalle

Posted by Dave in mediterranean, pasta, vegetarian and tagged with , , ,

Thyme & Anise Farfalle

When you have thyme but not much time, try this simple pasta dish with two of my favorite flavors. If you don’t like anise (a licorice-like flavor), omit the liquor.

Prepare farfalle or any pasta. When pasta has just a few minutes left, lightly saute sliced sweet plum tomatoes and sliced green olives in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, with fresh garlic, fresh thyme, oregano, and black pepper. Add a splash (i.e., just a fraction of a teaspoon) of an anise-flavored liquor such as Pastis (French, that I had on hand), Ouzo (Greek), or Sambuca (Italian). When the pasta is done, add diced fresh mozzarella to saute so that it just begins to melt and the garlic and herbs cling to it. Drain pasta and serve topped with the oil and sauteed ingredients.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

Posted by Dave in meat, potatoes and tagged with , , ,

Corned Beef and Cabbage with Garlic Mashed Yellow Potatoes

OK, this was an easy to prepare, so perhaps not worth describing, but I’d never made it before and it’s always been one of my favorites.

I bought the brisket already brined and used the included pickling spices so can’t take credit other than taking it out at the right time: ~3 hours total at 350°F (4 lbs). The cabbage was in just for the last half hour.

I prepared half the cabbage separately with cumin seed and smoked paprika… if you like cumin, that was a pretty good addition.

Served with Garlic Mashed Yellow Potatoes.

Oven-fried Chicken

Posted by Dave in meat, potatoes and tagged with , , ,

Oven-fried Chicken with Garlic Mashed Red Potatoes and Green Beans

This is one of my favorite comfort foods and it’s an easy recipe that I’ve been making for years and everyone seems to love.

Select your preferred chicken pieces, e.g., I used one whole chicken (~8 pieces), cut up. Remove the skin from the chicken pieces to reduce fat content. A really easy way to do this is to pull it off by grasping the skin with a paper towel… it’s a simple tip that works great.

In a large zip-lock bag, break about one and a quarter sleeves of saltine crackers into crumbs; don’t pummel them into dust, just into perhaps ~1/4 inch crumbs. Add spices according to your taste: e.g., ~2 tsp thyme, ~1/2 tsp oregano, black pepper, and ~2 tsp paprika. I like to use smoked paprika, but you can use any… even a spicy paprika (or a pinch of cayenne too) if you like it hot.

Dip the chicken pieces one by one in a wash (beat one egg in milk), and place each in the bag, coating them as best you can. Place the chicken pieces in a greased baking dish, leaving space between the pieces. Sprinkle remaining cracker crumbs over the chicken pieces and drizzle with melted butter (~1/2-3/4 stick). Alternatively, you can drizzle with a couple Tbsp of vegetable oil or olive oil.

Bake at 370°F for ~1 hour.

Baked Pork Chops with Sauerkraut & Apple

Posted by Dave in gluten-free, meat and tagged with , , , ,

Baked Pork Chops with Sauerkraut and Apple

This Bohemian dinner is based on the tender pork chops that my mom makes, but with a bit more flavor.

Listen to “Sauerkraut Polka” repeatedly while preparing or consuming:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX1nJVvaSZ4

Select end or center cut pork chops with bone (e.g., one chop per serving, 1/2″-3/4″ thick), brown chops lightly in a frying pan on medium-high heat and place them in a single layer in a baking dish then season them with salt, pepper, thyme, oregano. In the frying pan, lightly sauté sauerkraut combined with thin slices of apple (I used 2 cans of Frank’s brand sweet sauerkraut with caraway seed and 1 Braeburn apple for 5 chops); season kraut with some ground cinnamon, allspice, a tablespoon or two of brown sugar, and minced cloves of garlic while sautéing. In the baking dish, cover the chops completely with kraut and apple mixture and ensure that there is enough moisture in the dish. (The liquid from canned sauerkraut was sufficient; otherwise add water or balanced lager beer so that there is at least 1/4″ of liquid in the pan.) Cover the dish and bake for one hour at 300°F. Uncover and splash a few ounces of red wine over the top, then continue to bake, uncovered, for another half hour or more at 325°F; occasionally spoon liquid over top as necessary to keep moist. Serve with garlic mashed red potatoes as a side.