Monday, March 31, 2014

Slow-Cooked Salmon, Chickpeas and Greens

Bon Appetit, March 2014, pg 81.  Also:

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/slow-cooked-salmon-chickpeas-and-greens
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Slow-Cooked-Salmon-Chickpeas-and-Greens-51224050

This was yummy.  Got some good salmon on sale - used about a pound for the 2 of us plus juju instead of 6oz servings.  There was a small lunch portion left over - thanks geronimo!

The vinaigrette was quite good, especially for dunking bread.  We got foccacia to serve with it.  Yum.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Green Lentils With Wine-Glazed Vegetables

Deborah Madison, pg 301.  Used extra carrots and celery, and a bit more of the rest of the stuff.  Chard.  But otherwise followed the recipe pretty much.  Served with good crusty bread.

This is really pretty good.  It's a bit of a stretch to make it two dinners.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Ginger Vegetable Chicken Noodle Bowl

Rachel Ray, pg 75.  Turned out pretty well.  We had fresh stock so we used 8 cups, and then added a bit extra of everything else.  I may have put too much 5 spice on it though.  Shredded the carrots in the food processor, which was ok but probably would have been better to have longer-shredded carrots.  Vermicelli is foolish.  That is all.

Friday, March 21, 2014

Carne Asada

We did it proper style this time.  Got the meat from the carniceria on Thursday.  Turned out really well.  Good guac.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Tofu Pudding

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/20/dining/201mrex.html?_r=0

Just in case somehow the New York Times disappears, the recipe is below.  Make sure you use silken tofu, as anything else will make it too thick.  Whipped cream is required.

3/4 cup sugar
1 pound silken tofu
8 ounces high-quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon chili powder, or more to taste
Chocolate shavings (optional).
1. In a small pot, combine sugar with 3/4 cup water; bring to a boil and cook until sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly.

2. Put all ingredients except for chocolate shavings in a blender and purée until completely smooth, stopping machine to scrape down its sides if necessary. Divide among 4 to 6 ramekins and chill for at least 30 minutes. If you like, garnish with chocolate shavings before serving.  

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Glorious Macaroni and Cheese

Glorious one-pot, pg 176.  Used whole wheat macaroni this time - turned out well but should have added a touch more water.  Doubled it as per usual.  Added cauliflower, broccoli, peppers.  No tomatoes.  About 12 oz sharp cheddar again.  Barely got 2 handfuls of spinach in!

Cooked it for right around 30 minutes again.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Garlicy Greens Tacos

Rick Bayless, pg 161.  Added mushrooms and a can of beans this time.  We made the tomatillo-chipotle salsa, and it was delicious.  I put in quite a bit of chipotle in adobo.  Maybe just one pepper, but lots of sauce.

We just simmered down the greens in the pan instead of boiling them ahead as he says.  Saves a bit of time.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Mushroom Bourgingnon

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2009/01/mushroom-bourguignon/

Someone may have come back from the store with 3 pounds of mushrooms.  Not saying who.  So after making the dish earlier this week, we went in search of a good mushroom-user.  And this turned out quite well.  Basically followed the recipe.  Used cremini and beef broth.  And more carrot.  But otherwise followed the recipe.  We did the boil-for-three-minutes trick for the pearl onions.  It mostly worked.

Wasn't quite enough for two dinners as is.  Salad or something to go with it would have been good.

Serves 3

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 pounds portobello mushrooms, in 1/4-inch slices (save the stems for another use) (you can use cremini instead, as well)
1/2 carrot, finely diced
1 small yellow onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup full-bodied red wine
2 cups beef or vegetable broth (beef broth is traditional but vegetable to make it vegetarian; it works with either)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (1/2 teaspoon dried)
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup pearl onions, peeled (thawed if frozen)
Egg noodles, for serving
Sour cream and chopped chives or parsley, for garnish (optional)

Heat the one tablespoon of the olive oil and one tablespoon of butter in a medium Dutch oven or heavy sauce pan over high heat. Sear the mushrooms until they begin to darken, but not yet release any liquid — about three or four minutes. Remove them from pan.

Lower the flame to medium and add the second tablespoon of olive oil. Toss the carrots, onions, thyme, a few good pinches of salt and a several grinds of black pepper into the pan and cook for 10, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for just one more minute.

Add the wine to the pot, scraping any stuck bits off the bottom, then turn the heat all the way up and reduce it by half. Stir in the tomato paste and the broth. Add back the mushrooms with any juices that have collected and once the liquid has boiled, reduce the temperature so it simmers for 20 minutes, or until mushrooms are very tender. Add the pearl onions and simmer for five minutes more.

Combine remaining butter and the flour with a fork until combined; stir it into the stew. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 more minutes. If the sauce is too thin, boil it down to reduce to the right consistency. Season to taste.

To serve, spoon the stew over a bowl of egg noodles, dollop with sour cream (optional) and sprinkle with chives or parsley.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Hearty Polenta and Sausage

One pot, pg 98.  Turned out pretty well.  Doubled it as per usual.  Used 6 carrots, a lot of mushrooms, a good 4 handfuls of spinach (as much as would fit).  Doubled the polenta.  4 spicy chicken sausages.  Forgot to top with Parmesan though!

Cooked it for right at 45 minutes.  It was way liquidy when it came out, but I think when we eat it again the polenta will have absorbed everything.  Or maybe we got the liquid in the first course.  Either way, it was delicious.  Very garlicy - Julia didn't like it that much, but we thought it was good.

Friday, March 7, 2014

Warm Chorizo Salad

4 links chorizo.  Sauteed the onions quite a bit.  Added a bit more dressing.  Yum.  Topped with Feta.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Chicken Satay

One pot, pg 130.  Doubled the recipe basically.  Doubled the rice as well, but it turned out to be probably too much rice.  Only had a quarter head of cabbage, so we supplemented with broccoli and a red pepper.  shiitake mushrooms.  We also slightly more than doubled the sauce (5T soy sauce), which was a good thing.

Turned out pretty well.  The chicken breasts were put in the pot whole, which seemed odd but turned out ok.