I was thinking a crunchy broccoli salad would be a fresh change from roasted broccoli for our dinner vegetable. I was tired of the salad of broccoli, cheese, raisins, sunflower seeds, etc. A quick Google search revealed a different treatment from the New York Times Cooking section. It required making it in advance (you gotta' love that) and there were not many ingredients. I had them all on hand! It was a taste hit! It was even better the next day as an accompaniment to a sandwich for lunch. This would be a great picnic or pot luck salad. If you try it, I'd love to hear your comments.
Garlicky Sesame-Cured Broccoli Salad
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt, more to taste
1 pound broccoli cut into bite sized pieces
1/4 c olive oil
2 fat garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
red pepper flakes, to taste--a pinch to 1/2 tsp
In a large bowl, stir together the vinegar and salt. Add broccoli and toss to combine.
In a skillet, heat olive oil until hot, shimmering but not smoking. Add the garlic and cumin and cook until fragrant, about one minute. Stir in sesame oil and pepper flakes. Remove from heat, pour over the broccoli and toss well. Let sit for at least an hour at room temperature or chill up to 48 hours. Adjust seasonings.
The acid in the recipe works on the broccoli like ceviche on fish. It turns the broccoli bright green and the broccoli soaks up all the seasoning. This makes 4 to 6 servings.
I did make a couple of changes to the recipe. (I can't leave some ingredients unmolested!) The recipe called for a teaspoon of salt and three times !!!! as much olive oil--3/4 cup! I think there is plenty of olive oil at 1/4 cup. And, of course, salt can always be added at the table.
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Friday, March 20, 2015
Quick and Tasty Dinner with Browned Butter
In the February 19, 2015 edition of the Seattle Times Pacific NW Magazine, there was a piece about browned butter. Or in French, Beurre Noisette. Sounds better in French, right? Noisette means hazelnut which suggests the flavor of browned butter. The article suggested serving it over pasta with roasted squash. I tried it and my two "tasters" declared it delicious. I thought so too. And easy.
Brown butter is made from butter and needs only one pan to make a luscious, nut-like golden sauce for pasta or roasted vegetables. To make the browned butter, melt 1/4 inch slices (one per serving) of butter in a light colored saute' pan over medium-low heat. Slowly melt the butter, swirling the pan so it melts evenly. Butter has three components: water, butterfat and milk solids. The water will evaporate and the milk solids--foam--will brown. Initially, the butter will sputter, but will soon quiet down as the water is evaporated. Taking care to not burn the milk solids, continue to cook until it becomes oil-like and smells like toasted nuts. It's ready!
Roasted Butternut Squash over Cheese Ravioli
Serves 4
1 small butternut squash, peeled, halved, seeded and sliced into 1/4 inch thick pieces
1 T Olive oil
1 lb. cheese ravioli--from the refrigerator case at your grocery store
4 T butter
8 fresh sage leaves
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 c walnuts, chopped and toasted
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Toss squash slices with 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Spread the squash slices one layer deep on a parchment lined baking sheet. Roast about 25 minutes or until the edges caramelize, turning once.
While the ravioli is cooking, brown the butter. Add the sage leaves when the butter starts smelling sweet and nutty. Cook the sage leaves until crisp, a minute or two. Remove to a paper towel if the butter isn't quite ready. When the butter is ready, remove the pan from the heat.
Drain the pasta and divide between four pasta bowls. Top with the squash. Spoon the butter and sage on top then sprinkle the cheese and walnuts. Serve immediately.
I served it with roasted asparagus (which shared the roasting pan with the squash during the last 10 minutes.)
Brown butter is made from butter and needs only one pan to make a luscious, nut-like golden sauce for pasta or roasted vegetables. To make the browned butter, melt 1/4 inch slices (one per serving) of butter in a light colored saute' pan over medium-low heat. Slowly melt the butter, swirling the pan so it melts evenly. Butter has three components: water, butterfat and milk solids. The water will evaporate and the milk solids--foam--will brown. Initially, the butter will sputter, but will soon quiet down as the water is evaporated. Taking care to not burn the milk solids, continue to cook until it becomes oil-like and smells like toasted nuts. It's ready!
Roasted Butternut Squash over Cheese Ravioli
Serves 4
1 small butternut squash, peeled, halved, seeded and sliced into 1/4 inch thick pieces
1 T Olive oil
1 lb. cheese ravioli--from the refrigerator case at your grocery store
4 T butter
8 fresh sage leaves
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 c walnuts, chopped and toasted
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Toss squash slices with 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Spread the squash slices one layer deep on a parchment lined baking sheet. Roast about 25 minutes or until the edges caramelize, turning once.
While the ravioli is cooking, brown the butter. Add the sage leaves when the butter starts smelling sweet and nutty. Cook the sage leaves until crisp, a minute or two. Remove to a paper towel if the butter isn't quite ready. When the butter is ready, remove the pan from the heat.
Drain the pasta and divide between four pasta bowls. Top with the squash. Spoon the butter and sage on top then sprinkle the cheese and walnuts. Serve immediately.
I served it with roasted asparagus (which shared the roasting pan with the squash during the last 10 minutes.)
Thursday, February 5, 2015
The Best Week Night Dinner
When I'm pressed for time, especially for dinner preparation time, I have a great fall back menu. It is fast, tasty, healthy, easy to prepare and easy to clean up afterwards. The menu is:
We are very fortunate to have a local meat and seafood market that stays open until 6:00 PM weeknights--B & E Meats & Seafood. As I'm cruising home from a busy day, I stop and pick up a shy pound of salmon or steelhead. When I come in the door, I turn the oven on to 450 degrees. I prepare the gratin first as it takes the longest time to cook.
Potato Gratin (serves 2)
3/4 pound of Yukon Gold or russet potatoes, washed and dried
2 - 3 T. olive oil
1 T. Italian parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Slice the potatoes in 1/8" rounds. Oil the bottom of a small baking dish. Layer the potatoes and parsley, drizzle the remaining olive oil over the top and add a little salt and pepper. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. The potatoes are done when soft all the way through and a little crusty on top.
Roasted Vegetables (serves 2)
Take a large roasting sheet--commonly called a half sheet--and cover the bottom with parchment paper or foil. Wash and dry bite size pieces of broccoli, cauliflower and carrots--about three cups worth. Toss with salt, pepper and 1 - 2 T. olive oil. Spread out in a single layer on two-thirds of the prepared baking sheet.
Tom Douglas' "Rub with Love" Salmon (serves 2)
Mix 1 T. olive oil with 2 T. Tom Douglas' "Love the Rub" seasoning. Place the salmon fillet on the open space on the prepared baking sheet. With the back of a spoon or your clean fingers, rub the paste over the top of the salmon.
Place the baking sheet on the lower rack in the oven and roast for about 13 minutes. The time will vary depending on the thickness of the salmon fillet (usually around 1 inch) and how done you like your salmon and vegetables. We like our vegetables singed but still crunchy and our salmon on the medium rare side.
Your table setting is minimal--dinner plate, beverage glass and flatware. And minimal clean up--the parchment paper protected the baking sheet--no washing required. And the baking dish with the gratin will be no work for your dishwasher along with the serving plates, the dinner plates, glasses and flatware.
You have just had a wonderful meal, clean up is over and you're in the den watching Law & Order re-runs before 8:30 PM! Life is good!
Tom Douglas' "Rub with Love" Roasted Salmon
Potatoes Gratin
Roasted Vegetables
We are very fortunate to have a local meat and seafood market that stays open until 6:00 PM weeknights--B & E Meats & Seafood. As I'm cruising home from a busy day, I stop and pick up a shy pound of salmon or steelhead. When I come in the door, I turn the oven on to 450 degrees. I prepare the gratin first as it takes the longest time to cook.
Potato Gratin (serves 2)
3/4 pound of Yukon Gold or russet potatoes, washed and dried
2 - 3 T. olive oil
1 T. Italian parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Slice the potatoes in 1/8" rounds. Oil the bottom of a small baking dish. Layer the potatoes and parsley, drizzle the remaining olive oil over the top and add a little salt and pepper. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. The potatoes are done when soft all the way through and a little crusty on top.
Roasted Vegetables (serves 2)
Take a large roasting sheet--commonly called a half sheet--and cover the bottom with parchment paper or foil. Wash and dry bite size pieces of broccoli, cauliflower and carrots--about three cups worth. Toss with salt, pepper and 1 - 2 T. olive oil. Spread out in a single layer on two-thirds of the prepared baking sheet.
Tom Douglas' "Rub with Love" Salmon (serves 2)
Mix 1 T. olive oil with 2 T. Tom Douglas' "Love the Rub" seasoning. Place the salmon fillet on the open space on the prepared baking sheet. With the back of a spoon or your clean fingers, rub the paste over the top of the salmon.
Place the baking sheet on the lower rack in the oven and roast for about 13 minutes. The time will vary depending on the thickness of the salmon fillet (usually around 1 inch) and how done you like your salmon and vegetables. We like our vegetables singed but still crunchy and our salmon on the medium rare side.
Your table setting is minimal--dinner plate, beverage glass and flatware. And minimal clean up--the parchment paper protected the baking sheet--no washing required. And the baking dish with the gratin will be no work for your dishwasher along with the serving plates, the dinner plates, glasses and flatware.
You have just had a wonderful meal, clean up is over and you're in the den watching Law & Order re-runs before 8:30 PM! Life is good!
Monday, January 26, 2015
Food Adventure
Years ago I saw a movie, Big Night (1996). It was a story about two Italian immigrant brothers who came to the New Jersey Shore to open an authentic Italian restaurant in the 1950's. The climax of the plot revolves around this huge Italian feast. One of the dishes prepared was a timpano. A timpano is layers of yummy Italian dishes encased in a pastry. Once baked, it is cut in wedges exposing the multiple layers of the dishes. I had never heard of it and was immediately interested given it takes multiple days to make, or it did in the movie. I found the recipe on the internet, but never got up enough nerve to try it.
Jump to the holiday season 2014. My friend Debbie and I volunteered to prepare the entree for the annual Irate-8 Holiday Dinner Party. As we discussed recipes, I remembered the timpano! What better testing ground that your friends? Debbie, being the great sport that she is and a great cook, said "Let's do it!" I couldn't find the recipe I had printed off the internet so many years ago so I did another internet search. I found lots of recipes and ingredient ideas from five recipes that I incorporated to come up with what we prepared. Since a timpano is layers of ingredients we actually made our favorite components and then layered them into a pastry-lined large stainless steel bowl. A timpano is traditionally cooked in a round enamel washbasin.
Debbie prepared some killer ragu sauce and some terrific mini-meatballs. She actually baked the meatballs in mini muffin pans--very ingenious and much less messy that rolling raw meatballs between your palms and then dropping into a hot skillet to brown. She scooped tablespoons of raw meatballs and dropped into the muffin cups. She baked them turning them over with a fork at the half way point. They came out round and brown!
I roasted some red and yellow bell peppers and some Swiss chard. Made a pie pastry large enough for three single pastry pies. Also boiled and peeled some eggs, grated several kinds of hard cheeses, procured some sliced salami and cubed mozzarella.
Early afternoon the day of the dinner, we met and assembled the timpano. The process went like this:
Roll out two-thirds of the pastry dough so it is large enough to completely fill the oiled interior of the baking bowl with some pastry hanging over the edge. Start layering the ingredients remembering that the bottom of the bowl will be the top of the timpano. We started with cooked elbow pasta mixed with some of the ragu sauce, followed by a layer of meatballs and a layer of mozzarella cubes. Next came the eggs and more ragu sauce and more pasta. While filling the bowl, we tapped it against the counter top to keep the contents tightly packed. Air spaces are not good. We finished off with the vegetables, the salami and finally pasta and the remainder of the ragu. Roll out the remaining pastry dough and cover the top of the bowl. Fold the two pastry layers together to created a seal and pinch a low edge all along the top.
Cleo was our supervisor!
.
Bake at 350 to 375 degrees for 60 to 90 minutes. Take it out of the oven and let sit for 15 minutes in the bowl. This is a heavy dish! Carefully run a thin knife along the inside edge, place your serving platter on top of the bowl and with the help of someone else, flip the whole thing over allowing the contents of the bowl to fall carefully onto the platter in one piece. Again let it sit for a few minutes. During these cooling breaks, it is good to drink some of the fine red wine that you will be serving with the entree!
Cut the timpano into wedges and serve like a cake wedge. Pass additional ragu sauce and serve with a simple green salad.
I thought the dish quite yummy and was a lot of fun to make! And there were leftovers!
Jump to the holiday season 2014. My friend Debbie and I volunteered to prepare the entree for the annual Irate-8 Holiday Dinner Party. As we discussed recipes, I remembered the timpano! What better testing ground that your friends? Debbie, being the great sport that she is and a great cook, said "Let's do it!" I couldn't find the recipe I had printed off the internet so many years ago so I did another internet search. I found lots of recipes and ingredient ideas from five recipes that I incorporated to come up with what we prepared. Since a timpano is layers of ingredients we actually made our favorite components and then layered them into a pastry-lined large stainless steel bowl. A timpano is traditionally cooked in a round enamel washbasin.
Debbie prepared some killer ragu sauce and some terrific mini-meatballs. She actually baked the meatballs in mini muffin pans--very ingenious and much less messy that rolling raw meatballs between your palms and then dropping into a hot skillet to brown. She scooped tablespoons of raw meatballs and dropped into the muffin cups. She baked them turning them over with a fork at the half way point. They came out round and brown!
I roasted some red and yellow bell peppers and some Swiss chard. Made a pie pastry large enough for three single pastry pies. Also boiled and peeled some eggs, grated several kinds of hard cheeses, procured some sliced salami and cubed mozzarella.
Early afternoon the day of the dinner, we met and assembled the timpano. The process went like this:
Roll out two-thirds of the pastry dough so it is large enough to completely fill the oiled interior of the baking bowl with some pastry hanging over the edge. Start layering the ingredients remembering that the bottom of the bowl will be the top of the timpano. We started with cooked elbow pasta mixed with some of the ragu sauce, followed by a layer of meatballs and a layer of mozzarella cubes. Next came the eggs and more ragu sauce and more pasta. While filling the bowl, we tapped it against the counter top to keep the contents tightly packed. Air spaces are not good. We finished off with the vegetables, the salami and finally pasta and the remainder of the ragu. Roll out the remaining pastry dough and cover the top of the bowl. Fold the two pastry layers together to created a seal and pinch a low edge all along the top.
Cleo was our supervisor!
.
Bake at 350 to 375 degrees for 60 to 90 minutes. Take it out of the oven and let sit for 15 minutes in the bowl. This is a heavy dish! Carefully run a thin knife along the inside edge, place your serving platter on top of the bowl and with the help of someone else, flip the whole thing over allowing the contents of the bowl to fall carefully onto the platter in one piece. Again let it sit for a few minutes. During these cooling breaks, it is good to drink some of the fine red wine that you will be serving with the entree!
Cut the timpano into wedges and serve like a cake wedge. Pass additional ragu sauce and serve with a simple green salad.
I thought the dish quite yummy and was a lot of fun to make! And there were leftovers!
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Leftovers? Bestovers!
We returned from a great Labor Day weekend on Hood Canal, Washington, with a few left overs. Our Labor Day weekend is an annual event with three other couples and eating is a big part of the weekend. We all love to cook and, of course, eat! We had shopped at the Olympia Farmers' Market www.olympiafarmersmarket.org on the way to Hood Canal. They have a wonderful three season market near the waterfront. In addition to buying some lovely peaches, we bought corn and tomatoes. It's the season!
We returned home with a couple of roasted ears of corn on the cob and some peeled and chopped tomatoes. I did a recipe search on corn and tomatoes and hit upon a great recipe called Tomato-Basil Bread Pudding that I used as a starting point. Thanks to Gaida De Laurentis, here it is, renamed and with a few changes:
Tomato and Corn Bread Pudding
8 ozs rustic white bread, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
3 T olive oil
1/4 c chopped green onions or sweet white onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 c chopped fresh tomatoes (peeled optional)
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 c packed chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 c shredded Parmesan
1/2 c corn
6 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup whole milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9" by 13" glass baking dish. Add the bread and set aside.
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic. Cook, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, basil and corn and season with salt and pepper. Pour the tomato mixture and Parmesan cheese over the bread and combine well.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs, milk, salt and pepper together until smooth. Pour the mixture over the bread mixture gently tossing to coat. Bake until slightly puffed and golden, about 25 to 35 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool about 5 minutes.
We had the pudding along with some ground beef patties, also leftover, and a green salad. Yum!
We returned home with a couple of roasted ears of corn on the cob and some peeled and chopped tomatoes. I did a recipe search on corn and tomatoes and hit upon a great recipe called Tomato-Basil Bread Pudding that I used as a starting point. Thanks to Gaida De Laurentis, here it is, renamed and with a few changes:
Tomato and Corn Bread Pudding
8 ozs rustic white bread, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
3 T olive oil
1/4 c chopped green onions or sweet white onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 c chopped fresh tomatoes (peeled optional)
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 c packed chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 c shredded Parmesan
1/2 c corn
6 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup whole milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9" by 13" glass baking dish. Add the bread and set aside.
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic. Cook, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, basil and corn and season with salt and pepper. Pour the tomato mixture and Parmesan cheese over the bread and combine well.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs, milk, salt and pepper together until smooth. Pour the mixture over the bread mixture gently tossing to coat. Bake until slightly puffed and golden, about 25 to 35 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool about 5 minutes.
We had the pudding along with some ground beef patties, also leftover, and a green salad. Yum!
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