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?
Red Cabbage Slaws
As my contribution to friends’ Independence Day barbeque party, I made these two red cabbage slaws.
I found both of them to be excellent recipes.
The first of these is also a great slaw for Fish Tacos!
Jambalaya and Jalapeno Cornbread
Grilling for Jambalaya
Jiffy brand corn muffin mix (thankfully less sweet than Trader Joe’s) with a seeded jalapeno, finely chopped, added.
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 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 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.
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.
Jambalaya and Cornbread
Mon cheri belle!
This dish is a fusion of my usual simple bachelor-style mock Jambalaya (packaged Vigo brand red beans and rice prepared as directed, adding sauteed peppers and onions and hot italian sausage, hot sauce) with Emeril Lagasse’ proper Cajun Jambalaya: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/cajun-jambalaya-recipe2/
Prepare packaged red beans and rice with about 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce added. (Yes, I know beans are not a usual ingredient in Jambalaya. :-) While that is cooking, sautee celery, onion, green pepper, one serrano pepper, tomato, and 2 cloves garlic in olive oil. Combine meats, e.g., two sliced hot italian sausage (cooked) and about 1/2 pound of cooked Langostino tails (cooked) with seasonings: smoked paprika, salt, black pepper, cayenne (sparingly), oregano, thyme. Mix everything together for about 4 reasonably generous servings.
The Langostino is a prawn or shrimp-like crustacean that I used instead of shrimp or crawfish: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langostino
The corn bread was from Trader Joe’s mix. It’s good (moist, yet crusty at edges), but on the sweet side.
Pita Pizzas
Cornish Pasties
If you’re in need of a respite from foul weather and misery, try making comforting Cornish pasties. History has it that these originated in Cornwall, UK, and were popular with miners; subsequent immigration seems to be the basis for their popularity in regions of the U.S. Some sources claim that a miner would hold the pasty by the crimped crust, eat the center, and then discard the crust as it may have been poisoned by tin ore dust from the miner’s hands.
Here are two varieties I just made:
Traditional: beef, rutabaga, potato, and onion
Traditionally, the crust is filled with raw ingredients then baked, e.g.:
http://www.suite101.com/content/british-food-cornish-pasties-a48188
Beef with Caramelized Onions and Stilton Cheese
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Beef-Pasties-with-Caramelized-Onions-and-Stilton-Cheese-351530#ixzz1DYFbbbgY
These shown are halved as they were unusually large with 10″ pie crust. Next time I’ll try the pastry on my own and aim for serving-size. Feel free to have your own debate about whether the crimp should be on the side or the top. I used this video as a reference:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iuQMTEYLRM but there are lots of others on youtube involving people recording their grandmum’s version. :-)
Kitchen Convivial 