Inexpensive Eating

Geocache This: Grilled Eggplant Sandwich with Creamy Mushroom Spread

2011-08-13T11:40:00.004-04:00

I’ve mentioned before that I am the resident caterer for my group of friends. I’ve done birthday parties, anniversary parties, surprise birthday parties, more birthday parties, but this one was a first – my friend, Robin, called up and asked me to cater her geocache party.

If you knew Robin, you’d know that this is not a normal request. I didn’t even know what geocaching was (and after a trip to Wikipedia, I’m still not sure I understand it). As far as I can tell, you run around pretending to be a cyber-era Jack Sparrow looking for buried treasure, using your smart phone to find specific coordinates. (I know, sounds like oodles of fun, huh?) I still haven’t gone beyond making calls with my cell phone, and now I find out that you can hunt for the wreck of the Queen Anne’s Revenge while playing Angry Birds at the same time.

What is Robin thinking? I mean, she really doesn’t come across as an outdoorsy type of gal, if you know what I mean. She’s pretty buttoned-down, so running through the woods with a phone in her hand doesn’t jive with my vision of what Robin would qualify as ‘fun’.

So of course there’s more to this story: Robin’s daughter, Lauren, was recently engaged. Her new fiancée, Tim, evidently proposed by making Lauren geocache her way to a diamond ring (aww). “So wouldn’t it be romantic to throw them a Geocache-themed Engagement Party? We were thinking of a Gourmet Picnic to go with it.”

OK, I fully understand the gourmet picnic idea, so I was immediately on board. 50 people, gourmet sandwiches, and portable sides. No problem. But in addition to the beef tenderloin and roast turkey breast sandwiches, I had to come up with a vegetarian sandwich to ~~placate~~ accommodate some friends who would be attending.

Gourmet Picnic Spread

It’s the height of summer, so the zucchini and eggplant are overflowing at the market. I thought that would be a great start – throwing them on the grill would be even better. Add a little fresh spinach, throw it on a baguette, and call it a day. Problem was, the test run was really missing something. Back to the drawing board.

Turns out that I didn’t have to go far. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t finished. After rummaging through the fridge, I found I had some cream cheese (really doesn’t say ‘gourmet picnic’) and some mushrooms. I decided to sauté the mushrooms with a little garlic and shallot, toss it with the cream cheese, then take it all for a spin in the food processor. Pretty good, but not quite enough. On a whim, I tossed in some sun-dried tomatoes that have been on the door of the fridge for a little while. That did it: the ordinary, boring cream cheese was no more, and becomes the flavor backbone of the sandwich. Actually, I think I liked this sandwich better than the beef and homemade pesto option.

The party was a hit – OK, I skipped the whole geocaching thing (well after all, someone had to set up the food), but it was a lot of fun – even if I did get replaced by Paula Deen for the next party (it’s a long, painful story).

And wouldn't you know it, the eggplant sandwiches (of which I only made a few) were the first to go. Oh well, just goes to show that there's a little vegetarian in all of us, I guess.

Lauren and Tim, the happy couple

Of course, this is just the beginning. Lauren and Tim aren’t getting married until the spring, so there’s plenty of time for more parties. Even better, since Lauren works for Destination Wedding magazine, she was under a little pressure to not have the ceremony in the back yard. That means a Savannah wedding is looming on the horizon. In fact, if you want to follow along, Lauren is writing a wedding blog for the magazine’s website. Check it out. If you need some help finding it, maybe you can geocache it.

Recipe: Grilled Eggplant Sandwich with Creamy Mushroom Spread

Wing and a Prayer: Lemon Ginger Wings

2011-08-07T13:49:00.001-04:00

Three months ago, things were looking pretty rosy: the kitchen remodeling business was on a consistent upswing, and I was able to ditch the nightmarish, weekend gig. It was so nice to be able to work one job. The free-time even made me a little lazy – I haven’t posted a single recipe since.

Cut to present-day: Congress is acting like a bunch of babies, S&P has downgraded the U.S. credit rating, and the phone isn’t ringing quite a much as it was. So what do I do? I start cooking, of course. (What can I say? It’s one thing to have free time; it’s another thing to not have enough to do.)

I actually played with this recipe over the summer, and Don has been harping at me to get it up on the site ever since (he really just wants me to make it again). He’s a hot wings freak. I’m not a big fan of the hot sauce based kind, but I enjoy these because they have a more complex flavor.

I also roasted these wings instead of deep frying them. I’m certainly not averse to deep fried goodness; I’m just too lazy to clean up the mess when it’s over. Besides, I can lie to myself and call them healthy this way.

It’s a simple marinade – both in ingredients and assembly. There’s something about the combination of lemon and ginger that I love. I didn’t want an overt Asian bent to the flavor, but you could also switch out the salt for soy sauce and add a little toasted sesame oil to get yourself there.

And it’s a total do-ahead too. I mixed it up the night before and made them for lunch on a weekend. The best part is that the reduced marinade makes a phenomenal glaze on the roasted wings – a frugal bonus.

This will also translate very well to other chicken pieces if you don’t want to make wings. And have you noticed how expensive chicken wings are? They are just as expensive as boneless chicken breasts at the local mega-store! Once in a blue moon they’ll go on sale for about 99 cents per pound, which is the only time I buy them. I just can’t bring myself to pay almost three bucks a pound for what used to be throw-away parts (damn the rising popularity of Buffalo wings).

If you’re going to use other chicken parts, I’d recommend using the skin-on variety. You need that crunch factor you get from the roasted skin – my test of skinless chicken breasts felt like it was missing something. Besides, you aren’t deep-frying, so you need something to keep the chicken moist. I didn’t try these on the grill, but I think they’d do just fine. If you do decide to grill them, let me know how they turn out.

There’s an ancient Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.” Something tells me that the economy over the couple of months is going to be anything but dull. I imagine I won’t be the only one putting in some above-average prayer time. Add these wings, and you should be all set.

Recipe: Lemon Ginger Wings

Stolen Inspiration: Chipotle Poached Shrimp Tacos

2011-05-31T15:16:00.000-04:00

Chipotle Poached Shrimp Tacos

I find that inspiration for new dishes comes from a multitude of sources: childhood memories, fantastic restaurant meals, conversation with friends, bizarre dreams (yes, it’s true – I do dream about cooking from time to time), etc. But I think the most often used source of inspiration comes from the plethora of cooking and travel shows with which I seem to fill my television-viewing time.

The local PBS station has added an additional HD channel to its line-up called Create. It’s full of familiar PBS programs that show you how to build, garden, paint, sew, travel, and cook. The travel hosts are these intrepid globe trekkers hopping from country to country, showing us not only the history, art, and architecture of each place, but also the unique cuisine of the region (always makes me alternate from cringing to salivating as I see what they eat). One recent afternoon, sandwiched between trips to London and Paris, was a repeat of America’s Test Kitchen, which was tackling Mexican food. Don and I both stopped in our tracks as we watched them work their magic on chicken tacos. They came up with a preparation that I knew I needed to ~~steal~~ pay homage to in a recipe.

OK, I freely admit that I stole the cooking method they presented – but the flavor profile and ingredients are my own. The only ingredient common to both recipes is chipotle in adobo. I’m telling you, this is like no flavor you’ve ever had in a taco. The cooking method poaching the protein in citrus juice, then reduce the juice to create a great sauce to spoon over the tacos. (If tacos aren’t your thing, this would make a great addition to a seasoned rice dish as well.)

The added beauty is that all of the ingredients are staples in my fridge. It’s quick and simple – two adjectives that I can’t apply to many of the recipes I come up with. I chose to use lime juice for my shrimp because it’s the first thing I think of when it comes to Mexican food. The only trick is removing the shrimp before they are cooked all the way through. Since you are adding them back to the reduced sauce at the last minute, you want to make sure the final dish isn’t overcooked (nothing worse than rubbery shrimp, is there?)

I know there are all sorts of theories about not serving dairy products with seafood, so I left it off for the glamour shots, but I certainly loaded the jack cheese and sour cream onto my taco before I ate it.

Lime Corn Salad

I also had some fresh ears of corn in the fridge that needed a reason to be cooked. I always think lime pairs well with corn, so I decided to roast the corn along with some scallions and created a simple Lime Corn Salad to go with the shrimp tacos.

The chipotle gives a smoky punch to the shrimp. The natural sweetness that comes out of roasting corn complemented the tacos brilliantly. (I have to say, being a Hoosier boy, there’s nothing like fresh corn you pick up at an Indiana roadside stand, but I am certainly developing a fondness for fresh Florida corn as well. I think it’s a little sweeter, but Indiana corn has more depth of flavor). And with the obvious lime flavor running through the meal, an ice-cold Corona is the only thing that made sense. Just like the right wine selection, it enhanced the flavors and pulled the meal together.

I made enough for leftovers – and let me tell you, both dishes were even better after they’d had a chance to sit overnight. (I always think it’s strange how some leftovers can taste even better than the fresh dish.)

Regardless of where the inspiration came from, I’m just glad that this new dish is around. Don is already hitting me up to make it again. That’s always a good sign.

Recipes:

Chipotle Poached Shrimp Tacos

Lime Corn Salad

Egg-cellent Perk: Perfect Scrambled Eggs

2011-05-25T05:00:00.006-04:00

I started blogging because it seemed like a fun way to keep track of the recipes I created. Once I got into it, I found out that there are some unexpected perks that can come with it as well – I’ve had some fun competing in (and losing) contests; I’ve been given money to throw a party, and every now & then, I get some free stuff to play with. Most of these perks have come because I am part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program. It’s because of them that I recently received a supply of Eggland’s Best eggs as my latest bonus.

Yes, premium eggs do cost just a little more, but I think eggs are one of the places where you get what you pay for. It really makes a difference in the final taste of dishes like my Ham and Tomato Mini-Frittatas, Gorgonzola EggSpread with Pita Sticks, or even Three Cheese Grits Soufflé.

Eggland’s Best have less saturated fat and more nutrition than other eggs (if you’re into the healthy eating thing). In addition to that, I love the fact that they don’t have that super-strength inner shell membrane that always drives me insane when I try to crack less expensive eggs (do they breed chickens to produce that Spiderman-like lining?). And let’s be real here: at about 20 cents apiece, even quality eggs are plenty cheap. When you are trying to eat inexpensively, eggs are one of the best values you can find, so it makes sense to buy the ones that taste better. Don’t believe me? Pick up a dozen premium eggs and see for yourself.

One dish I seldom order at a restaurant is scrambled eggs. They are always too dry and chewy. There are several things that go into a really good scrambled egg dish. It sounds a little fussy, but the extra effort is completely worth it. It really doesn’t take much time either – ask Don. He has a variation on this dish once or twice during the workweek for breakfast. I’ve already touched on the quality of the eggs, but there are a few more things that go into perfect scrambled eggs:

I do not like severe flavors first thing in the morning, so you won’t see me adding onions, peppers, garlic or anything like that, but I do add a little hot sauce anytime I make an egg dish. It’s not for the heat (I don’t add enough for that), but the combination of pepper and vinegar really enhances the flavor of eggs, making it brighter and deeper at the same time. I notice it when it’s not there.

I also think eggs need a little richness, so I add a touch of half & half to the scrambled eggs and just a small amount of butter to the pan. Again, it is noticeable when it’s absent. You don’t have to go overboard – you can get too much liquid in the eggs, and too much butter can just make the eggs greasy (which isn’t good either). I figure about a teaspoon of liquid per egg and a half teaspoon of butter per egg for the pan.

Scrambled eggs are just fine with nothing else but a little salt & pepper, but to make them perfect, they need some additional ingredients. Fresh herbs (or dried in a pinch) and a little cheese are usually my minimum requirements. A combination of parsley, dill, and Colby cheese are my default settings. Any type of pork product in an egg is always an excellent combination too. You can certainly vary the ingredients in this step to suit your individual taste.

Of course, the cooking method of scrambled eggs is just as important as the ingredients you add to them (perhaps more so). You have to cook them low and slow to get that creamy texture I love so much. If you are cooking scrambled eggs in less than 6 or 8 minutes, you’re doing it way too fast! A nonstick pan is essential in my book, otherwise the pan ends up eating too many of the eggs. And I never set the cooktop above medium low (that’s between 3 and 4 on my electric range – out of 10). You also need to babysit it (oh come on, it’s only for a few minutes). By stirring the eggs most of the time, you eliminate the possibility of browning, which for me is never good on scrambled eggs. Then you turn the pan off just before the eggs are completely cooked (the residual heat from the pan will finish it off without overcooking them).

If you follow these simple rules, you too can have perfect scrambled eggs each and every time.

Recipe: Perfect Scrambled Eggs

Bleu-Lite Special: Chicken Cordon Bleu Roulade

2011-05-19T15:29:00.000-04:00

Free at last! Free at last! I have been banished from the Land of the Eternal Bluelight. That’s right; I have FINALLY been able to punt my weekend gig! (I never knew that freedom could be so satisfying)

What I thought was going to be a 5 or 6 month stopgap measure turned into 2 ½ years of multiple nights per week. Talk about exhausting – this is the first week in that amount of time that I get to work under 60 hours. One thing the experience has taught me – I really enjoy being my own boss. There is no way I could work in corporate America – common sense is something I value too much and (evidently) large corporations don’t value at all. Enough said.

I celebrated my first evening of freedom by hitting happy hour on the waterfront. Honestly, to empty your head of the nightmares of discount retail, there’s nothing like a nice glass of Malbec at your favorite restaurant as you watch the water traffic. Ahhh, peace and serenity…

Of course, I also had to play a little in the kitchen as part of my ongoing festivities. And since I’ve now ditched my second job, I still have to keep an eye on the grocery budget – so Inexpensive Eating must go on. I’ve saved this recipe for just this occasion – the play on words was just too childishly easy to pass up.

Chicken cordon bleu is one of my all-time favorite dishes. It just seems so decadent to shove a ham & cheese sandwich in the middle of chicken doesn’t it? (People love shoving ham & cheese in a variety of things – can you imagine the guy who came up with a Monte Cristo?) But we’ve also been trying to eat a little healthier lately, so I wanted to lighten it up a little. And I was still celebrating; I thought a little unnecessary fanciness was in order too. The result was this little ham & cheese roll-up.

I pounded the chicken out pretty thin between two sheets of plastic wrap (the poor dog always runs and hides when I start beating the countertop with a frying pan). It’s a little satisfying to release all of that aggression too (maybe I should have made this before I ditched the part-time gig). Once I added the ham, cheese, and other things, I rolled it up tight and secured them with toothpicks. I then proceeded to sear them off right away, but I think 20 or 30 minutes in the fridge would have helped them hold their shape a little better.

You could easily run these through a breading station before you throw them in the pan, but in an attempt to be virtuous, I skipped it. Instead, I made a pan sauce at the end that was mostly butter. (What can I say? Virtue is in the eye of the beholder.) It was still definitely decadent enough to celebrate with.

So make this dish and hold your own little celebration on my behalf. And remember – never take a job that requires you to utter the phrase, “Attention Kmart shoppers…”

Recipe: Chicken Cordon Bleu Roulade

Easter Embarrassment: 3 Easy Candy Recipes

2011-04-20T04:30:00.001-04:00

White Chocolate Cherries

Isn’t it funny how the most mortifying moments of your life are some of the most vivid images your memory conjures? I haven’t been able to pick up Easter candy for the last 40 years without recalling one of the earliest times I embarrassed the heck out of myself (I wish I could say it was the last time I did it. Unfortunately, there have been many opportunities since then to top myself). I was young (really young) – and it was the first time I got to go into a store by myself. (Boy, do I wish it wasn’t.)

I was visiting my grandparents, and we were out and about one afternoon. I’m not sure of the sequence of events that led up to it, but my grandfather gave me some money and let me go into the candy store by myself to buy something for not only me, but my two younger brothers as well.

I can remember being very proud of myself because I spent quite a bit of time browsing everything and giving careful thought to what Matt and J.J. would each like (as most of you with siblings are aware, thinking about what they’d like isn’t always high on a kid’s priority list). Grown up enough to go to the store alone and so unselfish – I was sure everyone was going to fawn all over me. I took my selections to the counter, and then the embarrassing light of reality was shone straight in my eyes.

The woman rang up my purchase and I handed her my money. I guess at this point I should tell you that it was right before Easter, and I had taken great care in selecting not one but three very large, filled Easter baskets – complete with candy, toys, cellophane wrapping, and a big bow. What I gave her was three quarters. Yes, bargain shopper that I am, I was trying to by (I’m guessing) ten or fifteen dollars worth of merchandise with seventy-five cents. The woman very kindly explained to me that I didn’t have quite enough money and offered options that were in my price range. What I left with was three packages of marshmallow peeps. I was so dejected – my basket had a pistol and holster in it, for crying out loud. I slunk out of the store and back to my grandparents, red-faced and defeated.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Easter eggs

Every year when the holiday rolls around, I think about this story every time I buy Easter candy. You know, I still refuse to buy those cellophane wrapped baskets, and I cannot stand marshmallow peeps, even now.

Of course, I think a lot of people have stories like this. (Don has a similar tale about trying to pay for $25 worth of McDonald’s breakfast food with the single dollar bill his mother gave him for an Egg McMuffin.) I also think this is why I always have a running total in my head whenever I shop for anything - I don’t ever want to have to settle for a three-pack of peeps again.

To escape the possibility of being humiliated this year, I decided to make my own candy for Easter. Of course, the problem is that I cannot stand fussy detail when I cook. To get around that, I came up with three ideas that are simple to execute but still have a little bit of bang. Besides, telling someone you made candy always elicits amazement.

For the most part, I don’t even think you can call these recipes ‘cooking’. It is basically melting chocolate and dipping stuff into it. (I don’t think Jacques Torres has much to worry about from me.)

Don can’t stand white chocolate, so I thought I’d be safe dipping candied cherries in it (I’ve let go of a little of that unselfishness since the incident at the candy store – life lessons will do that to you). Of course, it turns out that the white chocolate cherries were his favorites of the three – I ended up having to hide them in order to preserve them for the holiday.

The only trouble I came across was the peanut butter filling for the eggs. I didn’t want to put anything in the mix that would cause the filling to be stiff, so getting the pliable peanut butter eggs in and out of the melted chocolate proved to be a tad nerve-wracking. But just like everything else, I tell people that they’re ‘rustic’. Honestly, I spend all week being anal retentive as I manage installation projects – the last thing I want to do on the weekend is worry about making things perfectly identical. If you don’t like the rustic look, then, by all means, fuss to your heart’s content.

Toasted Almond Chocolate Clusters

I also like different varieties of chocolate combined with different things. The toasted almonds work great with bittersweet chocolate (just like most nuts do), and it is a nice contrast to the super-sweet cherries and white chocolate.

All in all, I think it took a little over an hour to concoct all three confections. Not much trouble at all to escape more Easter embarrassment.

Recipes:

White Chocolate Cherries

Chocolate Peanut Butter Easter Eggs

Toasted Almond Chocolate Clusters

Bo Peep’s Revenge: Braised Lamb Shank Minestra

2011-04-14T05:05:00.003-04:00

I hate coffee (I know, it’s me and three other people over the age of 12 in the United States). I don’t have anything against coffee; I just don’t care for it. I also don’t like licorice or bell peppers. I’ve learned to work around all three when I am eating someone else’s cooking. I don’t make a big deal out of it, but I pass on coffee with dessert, and I always leave the green pepper chunks discreetly on my plate.

Everyone has something that they don’t care to eat. I use to ask people coming over for dinner “what do you like?” They invariably said, “Oh, I’ll eat anything,” and I end up making the one thing they absolutely detest. So now I ask, “What do you hate?” - and they tell me. It makes preparing a menu much easier, believe me.

We used to have a friend (who is no longer in the picture) that had this absolutely childish aversion to seafood. Wouldn’t eat it; wouldn’t consider eating it; and made unnecessary comments if someone else was eating it. In fact, his wife told me she had to throw out the Worcestershire sauce after he found out it contained anchovies. Like I said, a completely immature attitude about it. (He also had the same problem with mushrooms – you couldn’t order mushrooms on half the pizza because the mushroom juice would evaporate in the oven and the essence would land on his half.)

I try to be attentive when someone tells me they don’t care for something. I would much rather alter my menu plans than intentionally serve someone something they don’t like. Same goes for people with allergies, people with moral aversion to eating meat, and such. But sometimes you just need to secretly tweak someone who makes a big deal out of hating a particular food. (Although chicken stock is vegetarian, isn’t it? I mean, it doesn’t contain chunks of meat or anything. I hope so or a vegetarian friend is going to be really upset when she reads this)

I can admit this now: After his wife told me about the Worcestershire sauce, I used to sneak anchovy paste into anything I could when I cooked for this friend. I know – it’s mean. No one else knew about it at the time, just me. It was my own little secret revenge because he was such a big baby about it. I would snicker every time he would rave about the macaroni & cheese (by the way, anchovy paste is an AWSOME addition to cheese sauce! I still use it when I make mac & cheese). It didn’t hurt him, and it made me feel a little better about having to put up with his grousing.

And I know I’m not alone. A different friend (don’t you love how I’m not using anyone’s name here – trying to protect the guilty, you know) had her mother for an extended stay. The mother swore she was allergic to onions – she even went so far as to put Post-Its on all the food in the pantry that contained onions “Mom can’t eat this – it contains onions”. She wasn’t really allergic, and it drove my friend crazy. One day they were invited to dinner at someone’s house. When the casserole was presented for dinner, Mom immediately said, “It doesn’t contain onions, does it? I’m allergic to onions!” The hostess shot a look at my friend who rolled her eyes. The hostess then smiled sweetly and told Mom, “Oh, don’t worry. I didn’t put any at this end.” Mom ate it, was unaffected, and the other two still laugh about it to this day.

Do I feel guilty about the anchovy paste? I used to, just a tiny little bit - then my guilt was lifted. I told you that he wasn’t in the picture any more. That’s because he and his wife went through a rather ugly divorce (he was running around with his pants on fire). Needless to say, she was distraught, and I was trying to comfort her. I decided to tell her about my secret little revenge. I’ve never seen someone turn from tears to laughter so fast in my life. In fact, she said she was going to steal my idea and rub anchovy paste all over the furniture he was coming to pick up the next day. I think she used some expletives too. I don’t think she really did (at least that’s the story I plan on telling the authorities), but it’s better than the pickaxe she was planning on using.

It just goes to show you: a little revenge is good for the soul. Think about what Bo Peep would have done to those wayward sheep once she got her hands on them.

Which leads me (although rather awkwardly) to this dish. I think I’ve mentioned my love for lamb before, but lamb isn’t always that budget-friendly. Because of that, we eat it rather sparingly around our house. Luckily, with Passover around the corner, lamb shanks were on sale this week. (I’m very ecumenical when it comes to bargains.) I also had 4 different kinds of greens in my CSA haul this week that I was trying to figure out how to use. I like lamb and cannellini beans, and I like beans with greens, so I just decided to throw everything together. It simmers for a couple of hours, so it’s low maintenance, and the lamb imparts so much flavor to everything else that it tastes much more upscale than it’s peasanty origins.

I used canned beans for this because I can’t find dried cannellinis anywhere. Of course, I could have used dried navy or great northerns, but I like the creamy texture of the bigger cannellinis. If you choose to use dried beans, just soak them overnight and add them at the beginning of the braising. You’ll probably have to go back and add some additional water as well.

At the last minute, I decided to throw a little acid in the pot. Boy! Did it make a difference! Just a tablespoon of red wine vinegar really highlighted the robust flavors of the lamb and cut through some of the creaminess of the beans (and vinegar’s always good on greens).

And I have to say that I’m torn – leaving the shanks whole makes a much nicer presentation, but stripping the meat and throwing it back in the pot makes it much easier to serve. Do whichever you want (like I’m going to know the difference).

So next time someone frustrates you with their unnecessary dietary demands, find a way to exact a little harmless culinary revenge. It does wonders for your mood. Just don’t be as extreme as Bo Peep.

Recipe: Braised Lamb Shank Minestra

Karmic Celebration: Strawberry Almond Ice Cream

2011-04-09T14:09:00.000-04:00

Don’t you hate it when life gets in the way of the things you really want to do? It has been six months since I was last able to play with my food and tell you about it. That’s far too long, but three jobs and writing regular blog entries just became a little too much to do all at the same time. Something had to be postponed for a little while. Unfortunately, the blog lost out. Sigh.

Well, now Job #3 is gone and it looks like Job #2 could be a fond memory in the near future. I said I wouldn’t pick the blog back up until I escaped from The Land of the Eternal Blue Light, but sometimes Karma hands you something that makes you want to celebrate. I won’t bore you with all the details, but here is the quick, self-indulgent rundown:

I belong to a volunteer organization. About a year ago, we were on the hunt for a paid staffer to run the show. The headhunter committee brought us their final candidate, who proceeded to set off every warning bell and siren I have installed in my body: self-importance, duplicity, passive-aggressiveness (in short, I thought he was a creep and a jerk). Being the person that I am, I forcefully voiced those concerns. I was in the extreme minority. In the end, the person was hired by a vote of 64-2 (yes, I was one of the two). The two dissenters were then ostracized, vilified, and our emotional stability was even questioned. I didn’t quit, but I faded away from the organization.

Fast forward 11 ½ months. The staffer ended up being let go and escorted out of the building for doing exactly what we said he would. Oh yeah, he then lobbed a grenade to try and inflict as much damage on the volunteer organization as he could while he was being let go.

I know it’s childish and petty, but I laughed out loud when the news reached me. It was that hearty, superior kind of laugh that comes when you know you’ve been vindicated. Actually, I think I did a little “I told you so” dance too (OK, maybe they were right to question my emotional stability afterall). Even though I feel bad for the organization, I couldn’t help it. Now the people who were doing the vilifying are dumbfounded as to how it could have turned out this way. All I can say is that Karma can be a real bitch – unless it works in your favor, then it’s kind of cool.

Being in such a festive mood, I decided it was time to break the seal and get back to blogging. If you are a food blogger, you know that there is no such thing as just running to the kitchen and whipping something up. Nope. Plans have to be laid out; notes must be made; stages must be set; and photos must be taken. It’s an undertaking requiring precision and planning. This entry didn’t go that way. Once you get out of the habit, it’s amazing what you forget. It may take an entry or two before I get my sea legs again, so forgive the errors and omissions.

So what does all of this have to do with Ice Cream? Why, what else would you celebrate with? I mean, one part-time job was shed, the other is quickly fading, I have time to blog again, and (best of all) Karma really is the great equalizer…

Recipe: Strawberry Almond Ice Cream

Project Food Blog Round 2: Vote Early and Vote Often!

2010-09-27T10:14:00.000-04:00

The voting for Round 2 of Project Food Blog is underway! You can vote between now and Thursday, September 30 at 9pm (EDT).

Just make sure you vote for my entry, Extras Credit: Lomi Lomi Pupu. Unfortunately, Foodbuzz is in San Francisco - not Chicago - so you’re really only allowed to vote once.

Extras Credit: Lomi Lomi Pupu

Thanks for all of the support!

Scott @ Inexpensive Eating

Extras Credit: Lomi Lomi Pupu

2010-09-23T05:30:00.001-04:00

My friend, Jennifer, is a great big thespian. That’s right, she’s a stage actress – educated and professionally trained. Jennifer is also married to Phillip, a naval officer, so they have hop scotched around the globe, landing at various naval bases. Because of that, she hasn’t had the opportunity to run to New York or LA and be ‘discovered’. Instead, she’s landed in Jacksonville, Dallas, and now Hawaii (and I don’t see the Navy building major installations in either LA or New York anytime soon).

Hawaii is the first place she’s landed that hasn’t had a large theater community, so Jennifer has branched out – she’s auditioned for the circus and for some television shows that film in Hawaii, including Lost, which is one of my all-time favorites – except for the finale (oh, don’t get me started).

Now there’s a second television show filming in Hawaii, the CBS remake of Hawaii 5-0. And guess what – Jennifer was cast in a major role! OK, maybe ‘major’ is overstating it a little. But the part has lines and everything!

Since Hawaii 5-0 is a crime drama, it has to set-up the murder to be investigated – that’s Jennifer’s part. She plays a mom with a pre-teen son who discovers the body of the murder victim. Alright, it’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it part, but it happens on a submarine!

Jennifer’s mother is one of my best friends, so I knew I had to organize a viewing party to watch her big Hawaii 5-0 debut, but I don’t know anything about Hawaiian food (because I don’t think ordering ham and pineapple on my pizza counts). I’ve never been to Hawaii, so I hit the interwebs to do a little research. Of course, I focused in on some classic luau dishes, and found one that really spoke to me: lomi lomi salmon. (Lomi means massage in Hawaiian, so it’s twice-massaged salmon.)

It’s a salt-cured salmon dish that is served with tomatoes and onions. Think gravlax meets ceviche meets salsa. I’m a sucker for all three, so I thought that this would be perfect. Then, when I found out the Hawaiian word for appetizer, the adolescent in me decided that I had to put my own spin on it and turn this into an hors d’oeuvres, just so I could call it Lomi Lomi Pupu.

Turns out that it’s an incredibly easy dish to make, Curing the salmon takes about 5 minutes to set up, but it has to set for 6 or 8 hours, so you need to plan ahead. Most of the recipes I looked at also called for peeling the tomatoes, which is no big deal if you first dunk them in boiling water for 30 seconds. I also thought the dish was in desperate need of some color, so I swapped out the sweet onions for scallions and used a yellow tomato as well as a red one. Some recipes called for some heat, while some others didn’t – I chose to add a little jalapeño to give it some background flavor.

One other tip – do not fall victim to the desire to season the vegetation before you add the salmon. Even after washing off the excess, the salmon is quite salty. Once you add the tomatoes et al, it balances out – but it certainly does not need any more salt.

To make it finger food, chopping it into smaller chunks turned out to be the best thing (the small-chop made it easier to get the filling in). I hollowed out some cherry tomatoes, used a melon baller to create some cucumber cups, and perched some of the salmon mixture on top of thick-cut pineapple. The pineapple turned out to be the favorite in the test run – the salty Lomi Lomi needs that sweet counterpoint for the best balance. In fact, the next time I make this, I think I’ll add a little pineapple to the mixture.

Jennifer and her "son" hanging out in her on-set trailer

So Jennifer is scheduled to kick off Episode 4 of Hawaii 5-0, which means that her episode should appear October 11 (Hawaii 5-0 airs Mondays at 9pm EST on CBS). Make sure you watch the beginning – look for the woman who is trying to make a cell phone call on a submarine while she ignores her son (yeah, I really don’t understand this set-up either). Then, all it will take is for the producers to see what potential her character has – they could bring her back. Oh! I know! She could have a torrid affair with Daniel Dae Kim’s character. OK, maybe that’s just a little projection on my part – but it could happen! Hey, at the very least, Jennifer ought to finally get a page on IMDB out of it – they always credit the extras.

Recipe: Lomi Lomi Pupu

Game On!

2010-09-20T09:04:00.000-04:00

Project Food Blog

This is it, folks – voting for Project Food Blog has begun! Between now and 9pm (EST) on Thursday, September 23, your vote can send me to the next round of the competition. So what are you waiting for?!

Check out my entry for Project #1: Ready, Set, Blog, entitled Pilgrim Food.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Banana Bread

If you don’t, then I won’t win the $10,000 grand prize, and I’ll be hitting you up for a loan. So isn’t voting for me really the easier choice to make? (Oh, don’t worry - I know who you are…)

Thanks a Million (which is way more than ten thousand),
-Scott @ Inexpensive Eating

Pilgrim Food: Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Banana Bread

2010-09-16T05:30:00.001-04:00

We all have that inner voice that drives us. Whether you are led by your faith in a higher being, your political and philosophical ideals, or the almighty dollar, we are all pulled somewhere. Sometimes that pull leads you on a physical journey to find more understanding about the thing that compels you. I have been on such a physical journey to find enlightenment – to Graceland. Of course, it wasn’t my journey. I was eleven, and I was forced to go on a family vacation.

Yes, I can admit it now – my family was one of the original blue-suede-shoes-set that traveled to the hallowed city of Memphis for the first anniversary of the death of its most famous son, Elvis Presley. I understand that now you can tour the inside of the mansion – see the Jungle Room, the pool, everything. Not then. We waited for over three hours in the hot August sun just to walk around gravestones of the Presley family and then walk back down the driveway.

People were fainting left and right (I’m not sure if it was the heat or they were overcome with grief – I always hoped it was the heat). At eleven years old, I can remember thinking that if this many people were falling over, then why were we still standing in line? But stood in line, we did. I think this was probably my mother’s favorite family vacation of all time.

While we were there, you would think that we could have tried some of the great cuisine of the city, but, no. It was nothing but fast food, although we did get some barbeque – from a chain restaurant. That’s the family I grew up with – not a culinary adventurer in the bunch. Except me.

I’m not sure where I got it, but I have become quite the foodie. I even started a gourmet cooking club a few years ago. I don’t have any formal training, but that hasn’t stopped me from exploring the food that excites me. Of course, all of that is easier when you have a disposable income.

We’ve been hit pretty hard by the economic downturn. It has meant giving up our favorite foodie haunts: cutting edge restaurants, the gourmet food store. Shoot, even a trip to the regular market gets a little hairy from time to time. But I try to live by the old adage: When life hand you lemons, make limoncello. (You can make lemonade if you want - but if things are that bad, I’d rather be liquored up.) That’s where Inexpensive Eating was born.

I really began my blog as a way to fill the hours while my kitchen and bath design business was in the dumps (there are only so many revisions you can make to the same bathroom drawing before you start to go insane). Having no money for exotic (or even non-seasonal) ingredients means that getting creative is the only way I have to cook. Turns out, that it’s a blast! My creativity (and my foodie soul) is re-energized by coming up with original recipes. The fact that other people seem to like them too is just icing on the cake.

In honor of this new pilgrimage that I have begun, I thought I should come up with something that connects the memories of my youth with the path I’m on now. As ashamed as I am to admit it, one of the things I adored from my childhood (and still eat occasionally) is a peanut butter and banana sandwich. And can there be another food that more embodies the Elvis Presley experience? Personally, I can’t think of peanut butter without thinking of chocolate. And chocolate goes great with bananas too!

So as a means of making this flavor combination more appealing to a wider set (at least those who live outside of the rural south), I decided to roll them all together into a dessert. It hits every comfort food button that is installed in my body. It really has become one of my new favorites. I hope it is yours as well.

I also hope that you find the thing that sets you on the path to begin your pilgrimage – even if it does lead you to Graceland (or Dollywood, or the Liberace museum…)

This isn't our pilgrimage, but it sure looks familiar. Thanks to Mona over at Itawamba Connections - it's her traveling grandmother, Beck, standing at the gates of Graceland in the late 70's..

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Curse of the Black Thumb: Rosemary Focaccia Bread

2010-09-02T05:30:00.001-04:00

Sigh. I look through all of these wonderful food blogs with pictures of people in their immaculate vegetable gardens. These people look so happy as they grow their heirloom tomatoes, beautiful squash, and complain about what to do with the bushels of basil they produce. I hate them.

Why? Because I can’t even grow dirt. I’m serious. Our yard looks post-apocalyptic: nothing but bare sand and weeds. The citrus trees have withered away, and the Live Oak is becoming ironic. When I go to the plant store, I look like a cartoon villain – the plants all wither and die as I walk by. It’s just sad.

I've always told Don that his OGT (obviously gay trait) was supposed to be gardening. Mine is cooking (OK, and I’m an interior designer too). But instead of HGTV, he got hooked on Project Runway and picked up a sewing machine – just no cooperation at all. In the meantime, our yard suffers and I’m reduced to buying dried herbs because neither of us can grow fresh ones.

I’ve come to grudgingly accept dried herbs. Given the choice, I will always prefer fresh, but I was spending $10-$15 per week on fresh herbs at the grocery store. It was either cut out fresh herbs or cut out half of the weekly wine budget. When you put it that way, there’s really no contest.

The one exception I make is parsley. It’s relatively cheap - I can spend a buck, make it last for 2 weeks, and add a lot of life to dishes with just one fresh herb at the end. Unfortunately, everything else was jettisoned.

I’ve tried the dried versions of most herbs. Some are OK (like thyme and bay leaves), while there is no point in even using others (like basil or mint). One of the herbs that I think works well dried is rosemary. Of course, I love rosemary anyway. I mean, what’s not to love? Earthy, piney, lemony, bold – it’s wonderful.

The one thing rosemary doesn’t do is play second fiddle. Because it’s so strong, it ends up being the dominant flavor most of the time (at least the way I use it). So I figured, why not let it stand out in front?

I was throwing together a pretty easy weekend dinner, so I thought I should spend some time and make some bread. Because we were having pasta, I thought a focaccia would go nicely. Like I said before, rosemary is always high on my list – besides, I figured it would work well with the chicken and tomato sauce on the pasta. I was right.

The thing I love about focaccia is the crispy, crunchy outer layer. It’s baked with so much oil, that it almost deep fries. Can there be anything better than deep fried bread? OK, maybe deep fried dessert – but we’re talking dinner here, not sweets. I’ve never tried it, but a friend told me that she just picks up refrigerated pizza dough and makes focaccia out of it. Personally, I don’t like the pizza dough you buy in a whomp tube (you know, you peel the label and whomp it on the edge of the counter), but if you do, try it. It will save you a little time.

So until they come up with a cure for Black Thumb, I guess I’m resigned to using dried herbs a little while longer. Maybe the CDC should look into this. Or maybe I should take a trip to the witch doctor and see if she can lift the curse.

Recipe: Rosemary Focaccia Bread

Half Coq’ed: Chicken and Mushrooms in Red Wine

2010-08-30T05:30:00.001-04:00

I, like most foodies, speak of Julia Child only in hushed, reverent tones. I would venture to guess that most American food bloggers would list her as one of the culinary influences in their lives. (Do you think it’s mere coincidence that her initials are also J.C.?) Let’s face it, the woman is an icon. And I certainly appreciate her dedication to gastronomy – she was a consummate researcher. But be honest (and I swear, I’m whispering as I say this) – a couple of the recipes are a little overblown, don’t you think?

I have made her Coq au Vin recipe from start to finish a couple of times. It is absolutely out of this world! It also dirties almost every cooking vessel I own, takes hours, and completely tries my patience (seriously – blanching bacon and peeling pearl onions are some of the most tedious things I’ve ever done).

Now it’s confession time (Don doesn’t even know this one): I had avoided eating coq au vin since I was a child. If I saw it on a menu, I wouldn’t consider ordering it. I couldn’t believe someone would want to eat that concoction. Want to know why? Because I had no idea what I was talking about.

I guess I’d never seen an episode of The French Chef where she made the dish. I had never seen the name written down. The only thing I was able to pick up was that it was a chicken dish. Also, I don’t speak French. When someone says, “Coq au Vin,” it sounds exactly like “Cocoa Van. “ Putting together the little tidbits that I had gleaned, I couldn’t understand how anyone would want to eat chocolate covered chicken (that I assumed was somehow prepared in a moving car)! I won’t tell you how old I was, but you can not imagine how stupid I felt when I found out the truth (and never let on to anyone that I was so off-base.)

This is all by way of telling you about the dinner party I threw this weekend. My friend, Catherine, is great - a southern belle, through and through. She has this phenomenal home that looks like a French chalet from the outside. Inside, it’s decorated with wonderful French Provencal influences. The kitchen is a complete masterpiece (shameless self-promotion, since I’m the one who designed it). She is a Master Gardener, and has this weakness for all things chocolate. When I say that she’s a serious chocoholic, I’m not kidding. She once brought back cocoa hulls from Hershey, PA to use as mulch around her garden.

So when we decided to have an intimate birthday dinner for Catherine, what else could I make but French chocolate chicken? (OK, I’ve obviously figured it out by now, but this is still what I call it in my head). There was no way I was tackling the Julia Child method - I wanted to simplify it and make it a little less expensive to prepare. I got it all down to a single pot and about an hour’s worth of active cooking time. If you can taste the difference, more power to you – I certainly can’t.

I gave up on cooking with expensive wine long ago, but I still avoid anything labeled ‘cooking wine’ (yuk). I keep a $4 bottle of white wine on the fridge door that I cook with, and I picked up a $5 bottle of Zinfandel to make this dish this weekend. Honestly, you cook the bejeezus out of the wine for this dish, so I just can’t see spending $15 or $20 for something that isn’t recognizable in the end anyway. If you want to, have at it. I also dirtied only one pot for the whole meal, and skipped the stinking pearl onions.

The payoff was completely worth it. Catherine loved the meal, and I found a Chocolate Orange Cappuccino Cake from my buddy, Megan, over at Foodalution that is over the top stupendous! It doesn’t exactly fit into the category if Inexpensive Eating, but you have to splurge once in a while, right?

So I was able to cut out half the steps, ¾ of the pans, and about an hour’s worth of work. Not bad for going off half coq’ed.

Recipe: Chicken and Mushrooms in Red Wine

Brain Dead Weekend: Breakfast Bread Pudding

2010-08-26T05:30:00.006-04:00

I love entertaining, but I hate the morning after. It never fails: once the guests leave, we either stay up until the wee hours to clean the kitchen – or worse yet, we leave it until the morning and the kitchen looks like a Williams-Sonoma delivery truck exploded all over the countertops when we wake up. It’s just a no-win situation. (Of course, I’m glossing over the occasional wine-induced deteriorations that add to the troubles).

When I’m faced with these morning-aftermaths, this is one of the dishes I love to make. Partly because is let’s me use up the inevitable leftover bread; partly because it doesn’t take high-level brain function to accomplish; but mostly because it takes an hour to bake, so I can go back to bed. (OK, I actually end up cleaning the kitchen instead of sleeping – but it’s a nice thought).

This is nothing but simple comfort food, all the tastes of French toast without the standing around and babysitting it. It’s not going to win any awards for creative cooking, but when I’m faced with hand washing 637 pieces of crystal stemware, creativity is not high on my list (by the way, how do 8 people dirty that many dishes to start with?) I guess someone more organized than I am could even prep it the night before and stash it in the fridge (I don't see that happening at my house anytime soon though).

I so dearly love really good, crusty, rustic bread. But being on a budget, we usually reserve a trip to the ‘good bakery’ for company. I think that’s the reason I end up with so much bread left over – it’s some subconscious hoarder mentality because I know I won’t get the chance until we entertain the next time. And I think this is the only kind of bread to use when you’re making bread pudding or French toast. When I bite into it, I want it to bite back.

The other thing about this recipe is that it’s not overly-sweet. I’ve had some bread puddings that need to be topped with ice cream to cut the sweetness. Like I said, this one has a little sugary substance, but still plenty of room to douse it with maple syrup.

I have also eschewed the whole water bath approach for this recipe too (too much manual dexterity required for this type of morning). Besides, it would be just one more dish to deal with after already going through 3 bottles of Palmolive soap. Who needs it?

So next time you need to make breakfast without engaging your brain, try this one. It makes tackling that delivery truck’s worth of dirty dishes totally worth it.

Recipe: Breakfast Bread Pudding

Summer Squeeze: Roasted Corn and Tomato Salad

2010-08-23T13:36:00.000-04:00

When I was coming up with side dish ideas for the pasta tasting I did a few weeks ago, I knew I wanted to use tomatoes and fresh corn for one dish because they were in such abundance, and both crops have tasted better than average this year. When I showed the idea to a friend, she said “but it’s so everyday and boring.” Well, of course she’s right, but I would not be daunted. I set out to come up with a couple of twists that might look a little less everyday.

I love to squeeze every bit of flavor out of the ingredients I have, so instead of a raw salad, I thought I would roast the vegetable. Besides, I thought a roasted salad would pair better with a raw pasta sauce (pesto).

To try and make it a little more elegant, I decided to serve the salad in tomato boats – just hollowed out the tomato halves and roasted them along with the corn. It makes portioning much easier (don’t you sometimes hate trying to figure out how much is enough?), and I used the tomato flesh for another dish later on.

The salad dressing couldn’t be simpler – just oil and vinegar with a couple of dried herbs thrown in. And I used one of my favorite inexpensive flavor weapons: roasted garlic.

Roasted garlic is such a breeze – I just throw a halved-head of garlic and some olive oil into foil and toss it in the oven for 30 or 45 minutes. It comes out so fragrant and rich. I mash it down, combine it with a touch more olive oil, and stash it in the fridge for weeks. I’m not sure how long you can realistically expect to keep it in the fridge, but I’ve worked off of the same head of roasted garlic for a month or more. The trick is to make sure the oil covers the garlic – it acts as a great preservative. You’ve got roasted garlic add at a moment’s notice, and it costs about 45 cents to make.

Roasted garlic can make all the difference in a simple dish like this. Raw garlic could easily overpower the other flavors, but roasted boosts the overall flavor without drowning out the corn and tomatoes.

This dish was part of the winning combination for the pasta tasting party. You could say that it squeezed out a win.

Recipe: Roasted Corn and Tomato Salad

Change of Seasons: Grilled Tilapia Packets with Tomato Arugula Cous Cous

2010-08-12T05:30:00.002-04:00

I always tell people that there are two seasons in Florida: 1) summer; and 2) Oh, My God, It’s Hot! We have definitely transitioned into the second season around here. I mean, when the overnight low only gets to 85 degrees, it’s definitely time to find a way to make dinner without turning on the oven.

I’ve never been a big ‘cold dinner’ guy. It’s a psychological thing: salads and sandwiches are lunch food, not dinner food (and if anyone tells you that I have other psychological issues, don’t believe them – they’re crazy). But I have no issues with eating light for dinner, as long as it’s hot.

I had some leftover ingredients from my Buitoni pasta tasting that I needed to use up – a sliced sweet potato, some onion, and a couple of tomatoes that I couldn’t figure out what to do with. There wasn’t enough to use them separately, so I decided to throw them together.

Fish in parchment is a great, light meal that takes a small amount of any ingredient to assemble. But like I said, there is no way I was turning on the oven, it’s OMGIH Season. So I decided to switch out the parchment for foil and throw the dinner on the grill (besides, I’ve yet to find the end to my bedeviled propane tank). And this is the only way I’ve ever figured out to cook tilapia on the grill without leaving half of it behind.

To get some extra mileage out of the tomatoes (and to cut down on the amount of liquid in the fish), I decided to scoop out the interior of the tomatoes. I sliced up the flesh for the tilapia packets and pulverized the guts to add to some cous cous.

The packets are easy to assemble and can be done ahead. Just make sure you crimp the ends and keep them seam-side up so the juices don’t run out (I usually start layering with the firmer vegetables on the bottom so they get the most direct heat). Grill it on indirect heat for 20 minutes or so, and it’s done. (My grill has 4 burners, so I preheat zones 1 &3, then place the tilapia packets on zones 2 &4.) The added bonus is that you don’t have to tend it. I mean, if I’m cooking outside because it’s too hot to turn the oven on, then I sure as heck do not want to be standing out there in the sun over a hot grill.

As for the cous cous, it takes about 7 minutes. I do eat salad as an accompaniment to dinner, just not as the main course, so I thought I’d combine the salad and starch into a single dish by throwing not only the tomato into the cous cous, but some arugula as well. (I guess that would be considered ‘eating my words’, huh?)

So there it is: a light, hot dinner that heats up the house just as much as a wimpy dinner salad, perfect for this time of year. But I have to be honest, I’d rather put up with Oh, my God, It’s Hot, instead of dealing with Holy Crap, Is It Cold!

Recipes: Grilled Tilapia Packets
Tomato and Arugula Cous Cous

Lick the Salt: Corn and Pesto Ravioli with Parmesan Butter Sauce

2010-08-09T05:30:00.002-04:00

I get teased all the time by friends because I don’t shop and cook like they do. What can I say, I’m just weird. I know that most people utilize processed foods for convenience sake, I just don’t happen to be one of them. Seriously, I think the only processed foods I buy on a regular basis are peanut butter and dry pasta (do dried cranberries count? If so, add them to the list). I know there is a cadre of passionate healthy-eaters who bemoan the evils of processed food. I couldn’t give a flip about that, I just don’t think it tastes all that good.

I recently picked up some prepackaged fresh pasta and sauce for the first time in ages. It wasn’t until then that I realized exactly how spoiled I have become. While the mass-produced stuff was OK, I just couldn’t get past the amount of salt that was in it. It didn’t taste salty when I ate it, but I bet I drank 3 gallons of water the rest of the night and still woke up the next morning with cotton mouth. I bet if you had tapped my vein, you could have used it to brine pickles. No offense, but I’m not sure how anyone can eat that kind of processed stuff all the time and not suffer some consequences.

My recent experience sent me back to homemade. There’s really no big trick to making fresh pasta – and it impresses the heck out of people when you tell them it’s homemade. If you’ve got the right equipment, you might have 15 or 20 minutes of active working time in it. And if you don’t have the right equipment, then you might spend twice that much time. I still think it’s pretty easy – and foolproof.

I don’t know where I picked up this basic pasta dough recipe – it isn’t mine, but I use it all the time. I also substitute some whole wheat flour on occasion (about 40% of the total) to give it a little more bite. I happen to like the texture of whole wheat pasta. I know some people don’t. Because this recipe is ravioli, I didn’t use any whole wheat flour – I figured the ravioli was chewy enough without it.

And it seems like the local corn season has hit its peak, so I want to get a little more out of it before it completely fizzles out. I figured some fresh corn inside the ravioli might be fun, so in it went. And whenever I’m doing Italian food and corn, I automatically think of pesto. But just throwing pesto sauce on the ravioli is too easy, so I decided to put it on the inside instead. (Besides, I treat fresh pesto like gold – if it goes inside, I’ll use less. That way, it will last longer.)

Since the pesto went inside, I wanted something that would be both good with the corn and simple as well. How much simpler (and better with corn) can you get than butter and parmesan cheese? (Remember how I was complaining about too much salt? You would think I’d have some issues with too much fat too, but I don’t. Go figure.)

The nice part of this is that you can make the ravioli ahead of time and just stash them in the fridge. Then at dinnertime, the whole dish comes together in just a few minutes. It’s great to entertain with – you can actually spend some time with your friends when they come over.

So throw together your own fresh pasta and leave the excess salt where it ought to be – on the rim of a margarita glass.

Recipe: Corn and Pesto Ravioli with Parmesan Butter Sauce

The Never-Ending Propane Tank: Asian Marinated Pork

2010-08-05T05:30:00.000-04:00

Do you remember Willie Wonka and his Everlasting Gobstoppers? Well, I’ve got the propane tank equivalent. We last traded out the propane tank in September – nearly 11 months ago. Granted, we didn’t use it prodigiously throughout the winter (it was freaking cold this year – even if you did live in Florida), but the thing has been near-empty for the last two months. Every time I use it, I assume I’ll have to finish the dinner in the oven when the tank fizzles. But it just keeps going and going (Maybe the Blue Rhino is somehow related to the Energizer Bunny).

I know, I know: we should just pick up a spare tank. I just can’t bring myself to spend an additional 50 bucks for a second tank when we can trade in the empty for $20 (and heaven forbid we trade the tank before it’s empty). So I just keep playing Russian Roulette every time I decide to grill.

This week, I finally decided to dare the thing to run out – I invited some friends over and planned on grilling. I figured that meant it would poop out about 5 minutes into preheating. Then I could finally get some peace of mind, and trade out this possessed propane tank.

I fumbled through the freezer and realized I still had some pork sirloin steaks that I’d picked up a little while back. Now I like the flavor of pork sirloin, but I don’t think it’s a particularly pretty piece of meat – to me, it always looks like it’s been cobbled together. Like I said, its saving grace is that it tastes great, and it holds up well to marinating, so that’s what I decided to do.

This marinade is just a quick and simple amalgam of my favorite Asian flavors: sweet, savory, salty, and spicy. A little bit of ginger, some scallions, garlic, pineapple, and of course, soy sauce. The best thing about marinades is that the meat just sits around in it until you get ready to cook. There’s no schedule to keep. And I tend to not use the exact same ingredients for a marinade twice – I just improvise with what I have on-hand. It’s just less stressful, and saves on last-minute trips to the grocery store too.

Since I was tempting the grilling fates, I decided to throw some broccoli on the grill as well. I mean, if the dinner was going to go down in flames (instead of up in flames – HA! Get it? It's a grill...), then I figured I might as well send it all down together. The broccoli just got a simple dressing of olive oil, salt, pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes.

Then, of course, you can’t have an Asian-inspired meal without white rice. And I figured that using the side-burner on the grill would surely squelch that blasted propane tank, so on it went. Just a little chicken stock and some additional soy sauce is what I used to steep the rice. It turns out looking like brown rice, but it tastes good, so who cares?

The grill heated up, the food went on, and I waited for the inevitable flame-out. And I waited. Then the food came off, and the grill was still going. So I finally relented and turned off the grill, defeated once again.

I don't know, maybe I shouldn’t be so obsessed with the capacity of this propane tank. Or maybe I should just start looking for Oompa Loompas in the backyard.

Recipe: Asian Marinated Pork

Bothersome Baby Brunch: Ham and Tomato Mini Frittatas

2010-08-02T05:30:00.004-04:00

My good friend, Carol, is on her way to Hawaii as we speak (I know – we hate her). She’s headed there for her first grandchild’s christening. OK, it’s not a ‘christening’. It’s a New Age, hippy-dippy, nondenominational, waterside, baby-blessing (but ‘christening’ is so much easier to write). Either way, she’s thrilled. Of course, she’s been there two weeks out of every month since the baby was born (and she wonders why she’s always tired), so you would think the ‘new’ would wear off after a while, wouldn’t you?

Anyway, a couple of nights before she left, she casually said, “I meant to ask you: could you come up with a recipe for me? We’re doing a brunch for 30 people after the waterside baby blessing. Oh, and I leave day after tomorrow, so there’s not much time.” (Some days I really don’t care to be the food and entertaining expert of the group, you know?)

Luckily, the day in between was Sunday, so I had some free time to kill (yeah, right). She wanted something egg-y that could be done ahead of time and could be used as finger food. On top of all that, it also had to be fairly easy to make because everyone’s hands would be a little full, what with a newborn to look after and thirty guests and all. (Anything else? Want me to solve world hunger for you too while I’m at it?)

So that’s what I set out to do: easy, egg-y, finger food. What I came up with was a ham and tomato mini frittata. I think it fills the bill pretty nicely.

I tried desperately to figure out a way to crisp up the ham and use it as the shell, but I didn’t have any luck. When I used just the ham, the egg bled through and you couldn’t get it out of the muffin tin. I tried baking the ham first, then setting it inside a paper liner, but that didn’t get anywhere either. I finally gave up on crispy ham and settled on a paper liner, then lined the liner with ham as well (maybe if I’d had more time).

And evidently the grocery stores in Hawaii don’t stock quite as wide a variety of items as stores here on the mainland do, so I kept to a pretty simple set of ingredients. (Carol loves to tell the story of trying to find smoked salmon while in Hawaii. The clerk said, “You mean, for Jewish?” Turns out, they didn’t have it.) The tomato slice on top helps keep the eggs from being too dry, and the cheese, both in the eggs and on the top, give the whole thing quite a bit of richness.

Personally, I like to eat them warm, but they’d be perfectly fine at room temperature too. And it’s stable enough to make a day or two ahead, stash in the fridge, and just bring back to room temperature on the morning of the brunch. Should be a snap (these are all subliminal directions for the party throwers).

Like I said, being the resident party authority can be bothersome – then again, how could anything be too much trouble for a face like this?

Macy, the Party Girl

Recipe: Ham and Tomato Mini Frittatas

Buitoni, Homework, and Wine: What Could Be Better?

2010-07-26T05:30:00.009-04:00

I hope you will indulge me while I take an editorial detour for the day...

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received a boatload of Buitoni Riserva Pasta and a few bucks to host a party. (Who is going to turn down money to throw a party?) The idea was to come up with a vegetable side dish pairing to go with one of the Riserva Pasta flavors. Always the overachiever, I decided to come up with four side dishes – one for each of the four Riserva flavors (What can I say? I use to do the extra credit assignments in school too).

Then, if that wasn’t bad enough, I decided to structure the party as a tasting. I mean, if I’m going to cook all day for people, they are darned well going to have to participate somehow. Everyone received a sheet that listed the pasta, Buitoni sauce, vegetable side dish, and a wine that was paired for that course. They then had to rate each individual dish and the whole course as a pairing (Of course, this probably explains why all the pictures look like the people are taking their SAT's).

Many thanks to Jonathan at the Wine Warehouse in Palmetto for coming up with great wine options that averaged $10 per bottle. And thanks to the Baroness for the use of her home for the evening.

Pan frying the Pub Course

This is Serious Work

Since I cooked all day, I decided to let my friends from the party write this blog. Below you will find each paired course, its overall score, and comments (positive and negative; useful and not) from the judges The names have been changed to protect the innocent (come to think of it, the names have actually been changed to protect the guilty).

The original side dishes will get some spotlight time over the next few weeks, and I’ll be back to my regular format next time. In the meantime, enjoy the party…

Pairing #1 – the Pub
AVERAGE SCORE 9.25/10
Pasta: Buitoni Riserva Quattro Fromaggi Agnolotti (breaded and pan fried)
Sauce: Buitoni Tomato Herb Parmesan
Side: Baked Zucchini Fries
Wine: 2008 Ruffino Orvieto Classico

“Breading on ravioli makes it a great appetizer. I would consider taking this to a party.”
[side] “fun appetizer. Healthy too. I think I could do this.”
“how clever”
[pasta] “very fresh tasting, nice crunch”
[sauce] “I like the chunky texture”

Everyone Waiting for Dinner

Pairing #2 – Raw and Roasted
AVERAGE SCORE 9.6/10 (the winner)
Pasta: Buitoni Riserva Chicken and Four Cheese Ravioli

Sauce: Buitoni Pesto with Basil

Side: Roasted Corn and Tomato Salad
Wine: 2007 Teruzzi & Puthod Terre di tufi

“favorite pairing of all”
“the server is getting a bit snippy now…”
[pasta] “taste is somewhat lacking – would have liked chunks of chicken”
“pesto was a little mild”
“pesto was nice addition to the 4 cheeses”
[side] way cute. The color is a welcome addition to the plate”
[pasta] “moist and delicious”
“great combination; loved it!”
“they didn’t come together for me, seemed too different rather than complimentary”

Prepping the Next Tasting Round

Pairing #3 – Hearty and Traditional
AVERAGE SCORE 9.0/10
Pasta: Buitoni Riserva Spicy Beef and Sausage Ravioli
Sauce: Buitoni Marinara
Side: Kale & Cannellini Beans
Wine: 2008 LeSalette Valpolicella

“didn’t taste beef & sausage too well”
“I’m getting in trouble for looking at Jane’s paper”
[wine] “brings out the earthiness of the vegs; interesting spiciness”
[side] “eating this, then following it with the wine brings out a very earthy flavor w/the kale mixture; nice pairing”

Two Tables, One Party

Pairing #4 – Fast Forward to Fall

AVERAGE SCORE 9.1/10

Pasta: Buitoni Riserva Wild Mushroom Angolotti

Sauce: Buitoni Alfredo Sauce

Side: Sweet Potato & Fennel Gratin

Wine: 2007 Donna Marzia Primitivo del Salento

[pasta] “the best – delicious combo – pasta is light, filling good flavor & texture”
[sauce] “rich yet not cloying” (I don’t even know what this means, but it sounded good)
[pasta] “delicious – mushrooms tasted wonderful – not overpowered by pasta”
“good PMS dinner”
[pasta] “sharp mushroom flavor; not bland”
[side] “best part of meal – wonderful flavors”
[side] “best dish – want this often”

This Table Was Well-Behaved

This Was the Disruptive Table

And the best comment of the night:

“The people at this table confuse me. Or maybe the wine did.”

Thanks to the Wine Warehouse for the Great Selections

You Are Pudding Me On: Blueberry Barley Pudding

2010-07-23T10:59:00.000-04:00

One of the things that I find appealing in dishes is a combination of textures. You know, crispy fried chicken with creamy mashed potatoes; smooth yogurt with crunchy granola; you get the idea. It just hits more of your senses when you eat.

On these incredibly hot evenings (even for Florida standards), I have not wanted to bake anything for dessert (even though I am about to die for a cookie) - I mean, it was still 91 degrees at 9:30 Tuesday night! But my sweet tooth must be satisfied, nonetheless. To substitute, I’ve been turning to cooler options: gelato, sorbet, and pudding.

Even though you have to fire up a burner on the stove to make a pudding, it doesn’t heat things up like turning on the oven. Besides, serving it chilled adds a little relief to this oppressive heat. And anything that beats this heat gets an automatic ‘thumbs up’ in my book right now.

If you’ve read anything earlier, you might know that I have this newfound love affair with barley. It’s just one of those things that I never had occasion to cook with until recently. I’ve been substituting barley for rice here and there, but hadn’t thought about dessert until the other night.

On a whim, I decided to make a barley pudding. I had some blueberries that were about to outstay their welcome, so I thought I’d throw them into the mix as well.

What came out was this incredible textural concoction in lavender. The barley stays so chewy compared to the minor bite left in rice pudding that it surprised me. I was prepared to throw in a handful of toasted nuts to give me that syncopated texture combination that I crave, but didn’t see the need. Even after sitting around for a couple of days, the barley still holds that bite. I just wasn’t expecting that. It’s like a tapioca texture on steroids.

I have a friend who is the exact opposite of me when it comes to food texture – she won’t eat anything on the plate if there’s a combination of creamy and crunchy. I don’t get it. She doesn’t know what she’s missing, so barley pudding probably wouldn’t be for her. But if you dig that mix of sensations on your tongue, then try this one.

Recipe: Blueberry Barley Pudding

Stupidly Simple: Grilled Cabbage Slaw

2010-07-21T05:30:00.001-04:00

Don’t you hate it when life gets in the way of the things you want to do - like cook? Me too. We recently attended the monthly Gathering of the gourmet club we belong to (Get Together Gourmets), and time was not on my side. The theme for the month was BBQ – not only did I need to make a BBQ dish, but I also had to come up with a side dish to accompany it as well.

I have this self-inflicted rule about the dishes I take to these things: I have to make an original recipe for the Gathering. I’ve fallen short of that a few times (Chinese New Year being a prime example), but by-and-large I keep to my rule.

It turned out to be a particularly busy week – multiple jobs, a fussy client, and a minor emergency all piled on one another until it became the morning of the Gathering, and I still really didn’t know what I was going to make. I decided to fall back on my Balsamic Rosemary Glazed Chicken that I blogged about a couple of months ago, but I still couldn’t figure out the side dish.

At the eleventh hour (and out of desperation), I decided to throw all of the ingredients for cole slaw on the grill and see what happened. The results turned out to be fantastic. The grill brought out all of the amazing natural sugars of the cabbage, carrots, celery, and scallions. It was absolutely surprising. Mingled with the smoky flavors that the grill infuses, I was well on my way to a pretty decent dish.

Don and I held an impromptu tasting to decide on a dressing. I didn’t want to do a mayonnaise-based dressing after I tasted the sugary-grilled marvel of the vegetables, so I switched gears and we tried to figure out which vinegar would compliment the slaw best. We went through cider (too sharp), rice wine (too delicate), white wine (too blah), and balsamic (too overpowering) before finally settling on simple, everyday red wine vinegar.

I had drizzled so much olive oil over the veggies before I slapped them on the grill that it wasn’t even necessary to add any more for the vinaigrette. Just some salt, pepper, and an extra tablespoon of sugar (I like my slaw on the sweet side) was all it took to give this salad the perfect flavor balance it needed. (Of course, the fact that we were doing this about 30 minutes before we had to walk out the door had absolutely nothing to do with the nakedly simple dressing either).

I think we ended up sampling 9 different types of barbeque and almost as many side dishes that night, and not a clunker in the bunch. Of course, I don’t think anyone else was trying to finish creating their dish as they ran out the door. It just goes to show you – sometimes it pays to keep it stupidly simple.

Recipe: Grilled Cabbage Slaw

Torta Reform: Mushroom and Rosemary Potato Torta

2010-07-19T05:30:00.002-04:00

Do you have one of those pieces of kitchen equipment that you only use when you have to? For me, it’s a mandolin. It’s difficult to clean, it’s awkward to use, and every time I touch it, I think I’m going to end up with one less finger by the time I’m finished. Of course, the fact that I have a cheap (in the negative sense of the word) mandolin probably has more than a little to do with it. Regardless, I seldom get it out – unless I absolutely have to.

We went to a party this weekend. One of us (not me) ended up having a little too much fun and was paying for it the next day. I hate days like that. I can certainly empathize with anyone who wakes up because they hear the ants crawling outside the bedroom window (I’ve been there once or twice myself). In an effort to combat the remnants of an exciting evening, Don had requested something starchy but light for dinner (yes, he was still not himself by dinner time – he thought it was a really good party).

Starchy but light? I threw out a few ideas, but each one made his face a little darker shade of green. Then he mentioned potatoes. Finally a light went off over my head – potato torta! It’s light with a little crunch on the outside and a creamy center on the inside. Great idea – except for that stupid mandolin. You see, the key to a good torta is thinly and uniformly sliced potatoes. That means dragging out the mandolin. I wasn’t in the mood to fight that thing (plus I’d been at the party the night before as well, and my manual dexterity was a little in question), so I started playing with other options to create the starchy but light. I ended up grating the potatoes instead. I figured that would get me close to the texture I was after.

Whenever I grate potatoes, I always wring out the excess moisture. Try it sometime – you’ll be surprised how much water a potato holds (just use a tea towel that you don’t want to display because the potato starch will leave a nasty stain that doesn’t go away). Besides, potatoes brown up much nicer when you eliminate all that moisture. I also made sure to use a smaller than average pan so I could get a certain level of thickness in the potatoes and create the creamy center I was after.

I gave the potatoes flavor by adding some herbage to the mix before sautéing: garlic, rosemary, and scallions. And because it was going to be dinner, I didn’t want to leave it with just potatoes, so I sautéed some mushrooms first that could be added on top. (Just like potatoes, mushrooms have an excessive amount of water. When I was mushrooms to brown, I avoid adding any salt until they are finished. The salt just pulls out all the water and you end up with stewed mushrooms instead of nicely browned.)

I was about to finish up the dish when I realized that the mushrooms would just roll around without a little glue to hold them in place. Luckily, I had some cheese that would do the job just fine. Besides, when did a little cheese ever hurt anyone?

I paired this with a little bit of green salad, and it turned out to be a fine meal. The mushrooms give it some meatiness that rounds out the crispy/creamy potatoes. There’s just enough flavor from the rosemary to compliment everything, but not overpowering (like rosemary can be).

I think this would also work fantastically as an accompaniment to beef – or better yet, lamb. And the nice thing is that you can change up the flavors to go with any dish you’d like. So go ahead and create your own torta reform.

Recipe: Mushroom and Rosemary Potato Torta

Just Beet It: Balsamic Roasted Beets with Gorgonzola and Walnuts

2010-07-16T05:30:00.001-04:00

I did not grow up eating beets. My parents were not adventurous eaters, and beets just looked too odd, what with that startling crimson color and all. I was probably in my 30’s before I had ever voluntarily tasted beet roots, and I was hooked from the beginning.

I was watching TV the other day and came across an episode of Gourmet’s Diary of a Foodie. I’ve seen it a few times, but it can be a little esoteric for my tastes. I’m not knocking it. It just isn’t my cup of tea, so to speak. But this one featured a dish that had my mouth watering: Pasta with Beet Greens. There was really nothing to it, just some pasta with onions, cured olives, some pine nuts, and beet greens. It had my mouth watering so much that I had to pick up a bunch of fresh beets with the tops when I was at the store so I could make it. But it left me with a dilemma: what do I do with the beet roots?

Part of what attracts me to beets is their ability to taste both earthy and so sweet at the same time. It really is a unique flavor, isn’t it? I usually roast them simply, with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. No fuss, no muss. Of course, now that I have to come up with something interesting to write about on a regular basis, I can’t really rely on simple now, can I?

The problem is that you don’t want to do too much with beets. Like I said, part of their appeal is their singular flavor. If you add too much, the flavors begin to compete, and then you’re left with a mess.

I started by adding some balsamic vinegar to the olive oil and let the beets marinate for a few minutes. Then I tossed in just a sprinkling of thyme to highlight the woodsy flavor. A little salt and pepper, and there you go. Still simple but right, you know? For presentation sake, I also sliced the beets before I marinated them. Laying them out on a baking sheet that way also cut the cooking time from 50 or 60 minutes for whole beets to about 25 minutes for the sliced version. Then I hit it with the secret weapon: sweet, creamy, and tangy gorgonzola cheese.

I don’t think there’s a better flavor combination than blue cheese and something sweet. Dates, figs, ice cream, you name it. So why not add a little gorgonzola to contrast the sweetness of the beets? (My mouth waters just thinking about it.) So I had earthy, sweet, tart, and tangy. All I lacked was a little crunch. Another natural pairing with blue cheese (I think) is nuts. So I toasted a handful of walnuts and sprinkled over the top.

Let me tell you, the key to this dish is getting it all in one bite: beet, cheese, and nut. It’s to die for. This side dish is so great, that I think you should serve it with a main course that has very simple flavors, like a simple sautéed chicken breast (which is what I did). Just salt & pepper in a sauté pan. Let the beets be the star of the dinner. You know, just beet it.

Recipe: Roasted Balsamic Beets with Gorgonzola and Walnuts
Link: Gourmet’s Pasta with Beet Greens (in case you want it)

Did It All for the Gnocchi: Rosemary Gnocchi Stew

2010-07-14T05:30:00.002-04:00

When you want comfort food, you want comfort food. Who cares if the weather isn’t cooperating? It was 90+ degrees last weekend, but that didn’t stop me from satisfying my desire for something hearty and rich.

It all started out with a craving for my grandmother’s chicken & dumplings. She’s been gone for over 20 years, but there are still some dishes she cooked that I can’t get enough of. Various family members picked up the secrets to several of her prized recipes (I’m the only one who can reproduce her biscuits), but no one ever learned the secret to her chicken & dumplings. I’ve tried to mimic the dish multiple times over the years. I get close, but not close enough. Isn’t it strange how that works sometimes?

I wasn’t in the mood to fall short of my craving this time, so I decided to twist everything and come up with my own unique dish. Chicken was out – I wanted to start my own tradition – so I ended up with ground beef meatballs. They become incredibly tender after simmering for so long, and are full of flavor.

The dumplings were a little more difficult. I was tempted to leave them plain and pour all the flavor into the thick, luscious broth, but my second idea turned out to be the better choice: I loaded the dumplings with the sharp taste of rosemary and thyme. It turned out to be the perfect balance to the meatballs.

Let me make this confession – I guess they aren’t technically gnocchi. They consist of flour, eggs, and broth without the potatoes. But the translation for 'gnocchi' is 'dumpling' (thank you internet), so I stretched it a little. Besides, gnocchi stew sounds a little more sophisticated than dumpling stew. So I beg the forgiveness of you Italian purists and ask that you cut me a little slack.

After the whole thing simmers for an hour or two, there’s no way that it can’t be good. And to make a stab at eating healthy, I threw in a handful of peas at the last minute.

When it was finished, I knew I had to share this one - the taste is out of this world! I called up a couple of friends for an impromptu dinner party. The verdict was unanimous; the gnocchi stew is a new favorite all the way around.

So even if you have to turn down the A/C to make this one – do it for the gnocchi.

Recipe: Rosemary Gnocchi Stew

All Choked Up: Chicken with Tomatoes and Artichokes

2010-07-12T05:30:00.001-04:00

I was supposed to be taking the night off. Don was at work, and I had the house to myself for the evening (which certainly is not a common occurrence). I had considered diving head first into a bag of chips for dinner, but then I got the dreaded phone call: Don needed me to bring him something to eat because he wasn’t going to get the chance to get away for a break.

So much for a Doritos dinner. I hadn’t planned anything, so it was going to be a scrounged up meal. And I wasn’t in to making a big, fancy affair either – it was going to have to be quick and simple. I’d bought chicken breasts the day before and had thrown them in the fridge (just too lazy to prep them and store them in the freezer like I should have – lucky me). I had some grape tomatoes that didn’t have any plans and I always have lemons, garlic, onions, and shallots. Then there’s always the trusty canned goods that are in the back of the pantry and seldom used.

I don’t know why I always keep them, but they’re there: canned pumpkin, black olives, a few different types of beans, and the artichokes. None of which I use regularly (or even crave all that often), but once in a while something comes in handy. This was one of those times. Since pumpkins didn’t work with chicken and tomatoes (and I just was not feeling the olives that night), artichokes seemed like the only viable option.

So I set about throwing things into the sauté pan. To round out the flavor, I threw in a little rosemary. And darned if it didn’t turn out tasting pretty good, too. I mean, lemon and garlic are naturals for artichokes (and chicken – and tomatoes too for that matter). Then I tossed in a little fresh parsley, just to brighten it all up after the trip through the pan. Then I threw it all on some firm polenta just to round out the plate. Even though I hadn’t planned on it, I ended up taking pictures and writing down the recipe before it fell out of my head (which doesn’t take too long anymore).

And wouldn’t you know it: just about the time I was packing it up to run it to Don, he called. Turns out that he wasn’t going to have time to eat after all, and he was calling to tell me that I didn’t need to make anything for him. Ugh.

Well, at least it wasn’t a total loss – I got a recipe I wasn’t planning on, even if it cost me a night off. But I’ll tell you what, next time Don calls at the last minute asking me to bring him dinner, he’s getting a bag of Doritos – or the canned pumpkin.

Recipe: Chicken with Tomatoes and Artichokes

You’ve Been Quick-Rolled: Quick Bread Cinnamon Rolls

2010-07-09T05:30:00.001-04:00

Ah, the weekend, the only time of the week when every-single-freaking-minute of my day is not scheduled. It’s nice to have one morning a week when I don’t have to be up and out. It gives me a chance to make something a little nice (and a little naughty) for breakfast. For that, there’s nothing like the taste of homemade cinnamon rolls – warm, yeasty, buttery bites that take a little time, but are totally worth it.

The problem is – I can’t wait 2 or 3 hours while I put a yeast dough together and watch it proof twice before I bake it. And of course, I can never get my act together before the weekend to prep the dough and have it ready to pop in the oven when I get up on Saturday morning (if you are that organized, keep it to yourself - you make the rest of us feel bad). Because of that organizational deficiency, I’ve been perfecting this cinnamon roll recipe using quick bread methods over the last couple of years.

This recipe is great – it gives me the satisfaction of warm, spicy cinnamon rolls in well under an hour. It’s really just my grandmother’s biscuit recipe repurposed and jazzed up. But let’s face it: the cinnamon roll is just a delivery device for the glaze. And this sour cream glaze delivers a little tang to go along with its sugary sweetness. When I first put this recipe together, I thought that it was a little too much glaze for a dozen cinnamon rolls. Then I realized: there could never be too much glaze.

I usually make the entire dozen for just the two of us. I’m embarrassed to say that most of the time they are completely devoured before noon (I’m not sure if that actually means the cinnamon rolls are good or we’re just that gluttonous). By then, we’re both hungry again, and it’s time to start making lunch – hey, maybe I just answered my own question…

By the way, for those of you who don’t get the pun in the title, I’ve added a special bonus recipe link below. Make sure you click on it. You’ll love it, I swear.

Recipe: Quick Bread Cinnamon Rolls
Bonus Recipe: The Best Cinnamon Rolls - EVER

Crepe Crusader: Sweet Corn Crepes with Scallion Dill Sauce

2010-07-07T05:30:00.001-04:00

Don and I found ourselves with an unusual set of circumstances – a rare Saturday night with no work and no plans with friends. What better opportunity for a date night? Unfortunately, it was the first of the month – the mortgage was paid, and not much was left over for dinner and a movie.

So date night at home it was. I didn’t want to do just a regular every night meal. I wanted to make something a little special, but I wasn’t sure what. What eventually came to my rescue? Crepes. What was my inspiration? IHOP, of course. I mean, when you think of a special meal with a gourmet twist, my thoughts automatically go to IHOP, don’t yours? (OK, I saw an IHOP commercial with crepes in it – what do you want? Every great idea can’t come with a flattering story to tell, can it?)

I had plenty of choices to fill the crepes, but I settled on fresh, sweet corn. It’s corn season, and it seems like I’ve been buying it by the silo. But it’s so good this year. And cheap - I think an entire bushel costs about 3 ½ cents (give or take).

I’ve been giving most of my corn dishes an Italian bent lately (garlic and basil go so wonderfully with the sweetness of corn), so I wanted to do something decidedly non-Italian for this rare event.

Other than basil, my favorite flavor pairing for corn is dill. I don’t know what it is, but dill brings out the best qualities of corn, and the corn rounds out the punch when you bite into dill. Once I know I’m using dill, my brain automatically jumps to sour cream. Voila! The basis for my sauce took shape.

By the time I was finished, I realized how ironic the dish turned out to be: French crepes filled with American corn, and topped with a Scandinavian (or is it east European?) based sauce. Where else could this idea come from but the International House of Pancakes?

The reason crepes are special is because I rarely make them. In my head they seem laborious. But every time I make them, I realize that I’m wrong. They’re simple. And it takes no more time to cook 12 of these one at a time, than it takes to cook 12 pancakes 4 at a time. They can also be done ahead. So I threw together the crepe batter and finished them off before lunch. All I had to do was pop them in the fridge until I was ready for them. (I guess you could buy some pre-made crepes from the store instead - but I'm assuming they are designed for dessert and have some sugar added. Not my thing for a savory dish, but that's your call to make.)

The rest of this dish came together in just a few minutes. The corn filling is a snap, filling the crepes is a cinch, and then you bake them off for 20 minutes. Speaking of which, I love baking filled crepes uncovered – it gives the tops and ends a little crunch. If you don’t like the crunch, then throw some foil over the baking dish before popping it in the oven. The crepes will stay soft and pliable.

Since I spent a little time on the crepes, I didn’t want to expend too much energy for the sauce. This one is a no brainer: basically sauté a few scallions, dump in some sour cream with a couple of other flavors, and heat it through. The sauce is piquant and is a phenomenal contrast to the sweetness of the corn-filled crepes.

I have to say that for no more effort than it took, the crepes saved the day and turned an at-home date night dinner into something special. But in the end, it didn’t matter: Don got called into work, and date night turned into 45 minutes on his dinner break. Look on the bright side: at least we didn’t waste our reservations at IHOP.

Recipe: Sweet Corn Crepes with Scallion Dill Sauce

All They’re Cracked Up To Be: Black Sesame Crackers

2010-07-05T05:30:00.005-04:00

I’ve discovered there are two things that people are always impressed to find out that you made from scratch: the first is marshmallows, and the other is crackers. “Oh, my God! I can’t believe you made those! I wouldn’t even know how to start.” I’ve heard it several times, and it always surprises me.

I’ve made marshmallows, and they’re a pain. OK, I guess that even I am impressed when someone tells me they made marshmallows (they aren’t overly difficult, just really messy). But crackers? They’re so easy, and these are no exception.

We were invited to a Fourth of July barbeque, and I was asked to bring a side to go along with the main course, as well as an appetizer. Well, you can’t have a Fourth of July cookout without potato salad, so that was a no-brainer. But I was stumped about the appetizer, until I remembered The Bottle.

The Bottle is a 20 oz. canister of black sesame seeds. Don, my Significant Other, had a consulting gig for a big food supplier a little while back. Somehow he ended up bringing home this enormous container of black sesame seeds. I don’t really know how or why, but he walked in the front door and said something like “Here, I brought you a present!”

It’s just what I’ve always wanted. (Can you hear the sarcasm in my voice? I mean, who wouldn’t want enough seeds to fill a stadium?) So I’ve been hard-pressed to use these things before they go bad – I’ve cooked with them, I’ve filled centerpieces with them, handed them out to children as Halloween treats. You name it, I’ve done it. They’re tasty – but there’s too much.

So that’s how the crackers came to contain black sesame seeds. Now, if you don’t have a spouse who cares about you enough to bring you a half-kilo of the black ones, you can certainly use white sesame seeds without any trouble. Actually, I like the visual contrast that the black seeds bring to the table. And the flavor of either is neutral enough that you can pair them with almost any dip or spread that you’d like.

I have to tell you, there are two things I absolutely detest when cooking: peeling hardboiled eggs (which is why you’ll never see a deviled egg recipe from me), and rolling out dough. I can never get the dough even. It ends up sticking. If I use parchment or cling wrap, I end up ripping the paper. It drives me crazy. I hate it. So here’s a tip for you: drag out the pasta roller.

I use the pasta roller attachment on my stand mixer for this instead of mutilating the dough with a rolling pin, and it eliminates my stress level. The only trick is to make sure you have ample flour on the dough before passing it through the rollers. I knead it 3 or 4 times on the first setting, just like I would for pasta. I then run it through until I’m on setting #3. You can make them thinner, but that thickness worked for me.

So the next time you’re feeling a little down on yourself, whip up some of these crackers for someone – they’ll be impressed all to heck, it will stroke your ego, and it’s a lot simpler than those sticky marshmallows.

Recipes:
Black Sesame Crackers
Springtime Scallion Spread

A Quick ‘Between Jobs’ Dinner: Tomato, Asparagus, and Pesto Salad with Chicken

2010-07-02T05:30:00.003-04:00

I hate working two jobs. OK, let me correct that before the gods of irony get involved and have a field day: I hate the fact that I need to work two jobs.

Three nights a week I have to run from the office, back to the house, scarf down dinner, and head out to job number two. I just can’t hit the drive-thru and be on my way, like normal people. Why? 1) If I ate fast food three nights a week, I’d be as big as a house; and 2) spending money to eat fast food defeats the purpose of working two jobs (I mean, if I’m going to pay for dinner, then I want to appreciate the food, not the plastic cup full of soda). The solution is to come up with some quick and easy recipes to keep in my back pocket. That’s where this one comes into play.

All these veggies pair nicely with pesto on their own, so I thought I might as well toss them all together. Same goes for the chicken. I seasoned the chicken breasts with just simple salt and pepper, instead of doing anything that would compete with the pesto.

In an effort to add a little body to the sauce (which is really just pesto), I cook the orzo as I would a grain – a 2:1 ratio of liquid to orzo (when it's finished cooking, it looks like a pot of rice). That way I can use all the starchy goodness that comes from the pasta when it cooks to give the sauce a little more heft. Cooking it in chicken stock just imparts that much more flavor. The only thing the recipe lacks is some crusty bread to go with it (which I happened to have on hand).

I know this is short, but that’s all the time I have – it’s a two-job day.

Recipe: Tomato, Asparagus, and Pesto Salad with Chicken

Barley Any Trouble at All: Sausage and Barley Stuffed Tomatoes

2010-06-30T05:30:00.001-04:00

I’ve been in a rice rut lately. I’ve got long grain, short grain, white, brown. I’m tired of rice. I love quinoa, but unfortunately quinoa is a little out of the budget for the immediate future. So while I was roaming through the grocery store this week, I noticed pearled barley.

I’ve used barley once or twice before, but only for mushroom & barley soup. I’ve never really branched out and used it in any other way. Since it’s actually less expensive than white rice, I grabbed some and started mulling some ideas in my head.

Right away I’ve noticed that barley is kind of like Rice Plus. Like rice, it has the starchy capability to thicken liquids as it cooks, and it has the added benefit of a more hearty texture. You can really sink your teeth into grains of barley. I like it, and it’s been underused in my kitchen for far too long.

I haven’t had any vine ripe tomatoes in a while because the grape tomatoes have been so cheap and so sweet, but the season must be over because they were back up to their normal prices. So I picked up some tomatoes that I could stuff, not sure what I was going to stuff them with.

I decided to give it an Italian feel by pairing the barley with some sweet sausage and parmesan cheese. In a frugal step, I used the tomato pulp that I removed before stuffing to prepare the barley and just added a little more chicken stock. It was totally the right call.

When I stuff tomatoes, I purposely make too much stuffing. I like to fill the baking dish with the extra stuffing, which allows it to get a little crunchy and contrasts with the texture of the tomato version. The little bit of parmesan cheese helped the crunch factor along.

The vibrant red of the tomato on the plate just screamed for a green counterpoint, so I obliged. I paired the stuffed tomatoes with some simple roasted green beans that I tossed in a little lemon vinaigrette.

Of course, you can substitute any grain of your choosing instead of the barley for this recipe. But why would you? Really the barley was barely any trouble.

Recipe: Sausage and Barley Stuffed Tomatoes

Bilingual Blueberries: Mango and Blueberry Galette (or is it Crostada?)

2010-06-28T05:30:00.002-04:00

I’ve got a friend who owns a bakery. She makes these wonderful dessert bites – little hors d’oeuvres that seem like they should be on display rather than eaten. I have neither the skill nor the patience for that. My desserts lean heavily towards the rustic. It doesn’t mean they are any less flavorful. But they are definitely meant to be eaten, not admired for their artistic quality.

Galettes and crostadas fall nicely into this category. I’m not sure exactly what the difference is (other than French and Italian origins). Honestly, the way I look at it: if it has Italian influences, then it’s a crostada; otherwise it’s a galette. (If you have any idea and I’m completely wrong, let me know).

Mangos and blueberries are in abundant supply right now. The local mega mart has blueberries for $1.50 a pint and mangos for 65 cents apiece. Who can pass that up? The blueberries, even though they’re the big cultivated kind, are pretty flavorful this year (nothing compares to those tiny little azure orbs that grow wild, does it?).

Somewhere in the past I’ve had something that combined mangoes and blueberries, but for the life of me, I cannot recall where or when. Maybe it was ice cream (who knows?). But I thought I’d try pairing the two in a pie. Like I said, the blueberries seem to be bursting with flavor this year, and the mild acidity of the mangoes compliments the jamminess of the berries. My only regret is that I didn’t have any cream (either whipped or ice) in the house to go with it.

The crust is flaky and delicate - almost too delicate, but not quite. It definitely needs to cool completely before you try to cut it. If the juice runs out during the baking process, you should probably use a large spatula and loosen it from the parchment before it sets up completely.

This is one of those things that tastes even better when it sits overnight, but I’m not suggesting you make that a regular habit. If I don’t have the patience for fine details, I certainly don’t have time to wait around overnight for flavors to meld (even though I ought to). I’m surprised we had any that lasted into the second day in order to find out.

So take some time and enjoy the great flavors of the season. Maybe next time I should avoid the confusion and just make this in a dish and call it a pie instead – or is that a cobbler?

Recipe: Mango and Blueberry Galette

My Childhood Favorite with a Twist: Noodles and Green Beans with Asian Peanut Sauce

2010-06-25T05:30:00.001-04:00

When I was a kid, one of my favorite things to eat was pasta and peanut butter. I don’t even know where I got the idea. Mom didn’t make it, my brothers didn’t eat it, but I absolutely loved it. In fact, I think my brothers’ collective reaction was ‘Eew, gross,” when I made it. They just didn’t know what they were missing.
I still get a craving for it every once in a while, but I won’t make it unless there are no witnesses (I guess I don’t want to illicit the same ‘gross’ response from people). But I can get the same satisfaction out of an Asian peanut sauce with noodles. No one seems to turn their noses up at that, for some reason. It’s basically the same thing. But hey, if I can merge pasta and peanut butter without people reacting negatively, then I’m all for it.

It’s not exactly diet food, but it tastes pretty light. Adding veggies is a way to lighten it up and round out the meal. Believe it or not, sautéed celery is pretty good in the dish, but I had some green beans in the fridge. Wasn’t sure if the green beans would work out, but it came together pretty well.

Green beans are one of the rare vegetables that I like overcooked (yet another thing to blame on the culinary habits of my childhood). I’ve spent several years in a twelve-step program to learn not to overcook green beans (with a pound of bacon). It’s a slow process. I won’t sit here and tell you that I love crunchy green beans yet, but I’ve learned to appreciate them (even without the bacon).

The fact that this recipe comes together in a short amount of time is a bonus. I can throw the peanut sauce together while the pasta water comes to a boil, blanche the green beans in the same pot, and have it on the table in about 20 minutes.

So maybe I shouldn’t be so self-conscious about my childhood favorites. It’s just a matter of tweaking the concepts just a tad. Now to get to work on making mayonnaise and banana sandwiches presentable.

Recipe: Noodles and Green Beans with Asian Peanut Sauce

Rolling the Dice: Mushroom and Spinach Stuffed Pork Loin

2010-06-23T04:30:00.002-04:00

Some good friends are getting ready to head north for the summer (that’s the problem with living in Florida: no one else lives here year-round), so we decided to get together for one last dinner party before they head to the Arctic Circle (OK, they’re summering in New Hampshire, but that’s close enough for me). Even though we were not hosting the evening, somehow I ended up preparing dinner - again.

I didn’t want to do BBQ and burgers, and I also didn’t want to do a formal, sit-down affair. Comfortable but nice is what I was going for. I’ve done too much chicken, seafood, and pasta recently, so I was grasping for something different to make. That’s when I decided to play The Game.

The Game is stupid and is only played in my head. I usually only play it on Friday and Saturday, because the conditions aren’t right the rest of the week. It’s kind of like my own private version of Iron Chef. The goal is to make dinner for company using only what’s in the house. A trip to the grocery store disqualifies you, and you lose. (OK, I’m the only one keeping score and the only one playing – why are the rules so stringent?)

Combing through the fridge, freezer, and pantry I came up with pork loin, purple cabbage, chocolate, spinach, rice, an orange, and mushrooms. So I flagged the chocolate and orange for a dessert. I knew the cabbage, spinach, and mushrooms would work with the pork, but I wasn’t sure how to put it together. So I started playing with ideas in my head.

I thought about roasted pork with some sort of glaze, but that sounded boring. Spinach and rice sounded blah. Then I happened to remember the Beef Wellington I made last Christmas. There was a duxelles spread on the puff pastry before it was wrapped up. So I zeroed in on Pork Wellington, but I didn’t have any puff pastry, and going to the grocery store meant I’d have to accept defeat. So I started playing with the idea of stuffing the pork loin with a knock off of a duxelles with mushrooms and spinach. Instead of pulling out a recipe, I just decided to wing it and came up with this stuffing.

I also remembered Dijon going into the Wellington, so I brushed the pork loin with mustard before adding the mushroom mixture (and who doesn’t like mustard with pork anyway?).

Sautéing the cabbage became a no-brainer after that. Besides, the plate was going to need some color. I think purple cabbage tastes so much better than green cabbage. It’s sweeter, especially when it’s sautéed with some onions. Green cabbage always tastes a little bitter to me. I rounded out the meal with an herbed rice.

All of this gave the dinner a little more class than a BBQ, but it wasn’t anywhere near stiff and stuffy either. The roulade looked pretty on the plate, and I scored with the entrée. Dessert, on the other hand, needed some work. (I’ll spring that on you when I perfect it – it’s still a good idea, just wasn’t executed well.)

All in all, I think the score in my head was an 8.7 (that East German judge always brings down the average). Oh well, it’s just a game. Right?

Recipes:
Mushroom and Spinach Stuffed Pork Loin
Sauteed Purple Cabbage

Call It Whatever You Want, Just Eat It: Three Cheese Grits Soufflé

2010-06-21T04:30:00.001-04:00

There’s something about a stick-to-your-ribs breakfast that just makes the morning better. Granted, you can’t do it every morning, but a weekend indulgence is just the time to reacquaint myself with my rural roots.

When I was a kid, the best thing in the world was to spend the night at my grandparents’ house. It was totally full of unique experiences: hunting forgotten treasure in the woods; a ride in the wagon pulled behind the tractor; sleeping on the hide-a-bed (OK, I was 6. It seemed like an adventure then – now it would break my back); but the best experience was breakfast.

You have to understand, when I was a kid, breakfast at our house was cereal and milk – every day. I mean, every day. Both of my parents worked, and my mother has always looked on cooking as a chore to be avoided whenever possible. So a weekend at my grandparents’ meant a true, rural farmhouse breakfast: biscuits, gravy, fried eggs, the works. It always made the rest of the day a little brighter to begin with such hearty fare (or maybe it was just some sort of arterial haze because of all the grease, salt, and carbs). Obviously, my grandmoteher was a bigger influence on me when it came to the kitchen than my mother was. My grandmother would never have made this dish (I grew up far enough north that grits were still foreign), but it certainly reminds me quite a bit of her breakfasts.

The nice thing about this dish is that it puts all the components of a hearty breakfast (eggs, ham, cheese, grains, and milk) in one pot. And it only takes a few minutes to pull it all together. If you want, you can certainly cut back on the butter and cream, but why? A hearty breakfast was meant to fill your stomach, not watch your waistline.

I’ll admit that this is not the most sophisticated of dishes in my repertoire, but it puts a smile on my face. I also know that a lot of people have a natural aversion to grits. If I called it polenta soufflé, I’m sure it would get much more consideration. Don’t believe me? Ask 10 people if they like polenta. Then ask the same people if they like grits. You’ll get a majority to answer yes to the former and no to the latter.

Honestly, the only real difference between grits and polenta are A) the size of the grind; and B) the color of corn used. Grits are usually made of white corn and ground more coarsely. Polenta is usually yellow corn and a finer grind. There is this whole thing about grits and hominy, but it just confuses the issue. I challenge you to make the same dish with grits and polenta and have someone be able to tell the difference.

So if it makes you feel better, by all means call this dish polenta soufflé. But having this breakfast is all that I need to feel better – no matter what you call it.

Recipe: Three Cheese Grits Soufflé

More Than One Way to Skin a Catfish: Catfish Tacos with Cucumber Salsa

2010-06-17T05:34:00.001-04:00

I’ve mentioned before that I grew up in the rural Midwest (Bedford, Indiana, to be exact). Catfish was a part of everyday life. You could order it any way you wanted – as long as it was fried. I think I was pushing 40 before I found out that there wasn’t a law preventing you from preparing catfish different ways. I’d never had it other than batter-dipped, deep fried, and covered in tarter sauce. Now all of that has changed. How much farther can you run than Catfish Tacos with Cucumber Salsa?

Catfish has a uniquely gamey taste. I know it’s not for everyone’s palette, but I really enjoy it. It’s earthy and flavorful. Because of that, it can stand up to some strong flavors. If you don’t like the taste of catfish, then you obviously grew up in the big city and never fished in a creek behind your grandparents’ house. (OK, maybe you did go fishing and still don’t like catfish – just substitute a firm white fish, like tilapia or cod). Luckily, one of my local markets has catfish nuggets as a loss leader almost every week (they’re just the unattractive cuts of fish left over after they prepare the fillets). I used them, but you can certainly use catfish fillets, or any other fish you want.

Even though I’m running quickly from the deep-fried, tarter sauce-laden version, I still wanted to stay true to some of my roots. Instead of using tarter sauce with sweet relish, I decided to pair it with a cool yet sharp cucumber salsa and some sour cream. It’s not quite tarter sauce, but it’s reminiscent and tastes great - cool and spicy all at the same time.

And just because there wasn’t much color going on in the dish, I shredded up some red cabbage that I had in the crisper drawer – just to add a little contrasting hue, as well as some flavorful crunch.

To boost the color, flavor, and appeal of the plate, I tossed together some simple Cumin Sweet Potatoes as a side. (Sweet potatoes have to be one of my favorite vegetables – I’m always trying to come up with new ways to prepare them).

I used my TexMex Seasoning Blend to coat my catfish, but you can use any spicy grill seasoning blend you prefer. It’s no skin off of my nose (and it’s not like I’m ever going to find out either).

So if you haven’t tried catfish in a while (or if you think you don’t like it because of your past foray into the deep-fried version), give this recipe a try. You may just end up grabbing your fishing pole and heading for the creek to pull out some fresh ones.

My Rosetta Scone: Orange Ricotta Scones

2010-06-15T04:36:00.002-04:00

Just like the 19th century artifact that unlocked the secret of Egyptian hieroglyphics, I have finally stumbled upon the secret to making great scones. You know, fluffy and moist on the inside while simultaneously being a little crunchy on the outside with that great looking, craggly crater that forms on the top. I’ve tried recipes for years, and they all turn out too dry or too biscuity or too something else. Never have I been able to produce a scone that rivals the ones I grab at the bakery (or even Starbuck’s for that matter), until now.

They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and that’s what happened here. I wanted to make something sweet for a weekend breakfast, but I was totally out of milk. No cream or half & half either. Not even contemplating a run to the grocery store (at 7:30 on a Sunday morning?!), I punted and decided to substitute some ricotta cheese for the liquid dairy in my off-the-top-of-my-head scone recipe. What I ended up with was Orange Ricotta Scones that were simply to die for. Who knew that laziness could lead to something good?

Honestly, I rarely think to myself, “Damn, that was a really good dish that I made.” I’m usually critiquing my own food before it hits the table (“it needs more of X or less of Y; if only I’d cooked it at a little lower temperature; why didn’t I think to add this to it? Blah, blah, blah…”). But I impressed even myself with these. They are honestly one of the best things I have ever baked (of course, coming from me, that’s not too sweeping a statement – I’ll admit that I’m nowhere close to a world-class baker). They aren’t too sweet, but the addition of the orange zest makes it almost taste like the marmalade was baked right in. Besides, if you make the scones too sweet, then you can’t have a rich, sticky glaze over the top. For me, that’s not something I’m willing to compromise.

If you’re going to make these, be advised to use quite a bit of flour when you turn them out because the dough is pretty tacky and soft. I ended up flouring my knife as well when I cut them. I usually brush the top with some cream, but since I didn’t have any, these went bare. They browned just nicely too. I imagine that the solids in the ricotta helped that along. And just that little hint of nutmeg in the background kept them from tasting like straight oranges.

In science, it only counts as a success if you can repeat the process. I haven’t tried yet – actually I’m a little worried about making lightening strike twice. So I may be back here in a little while, eating my words. Just in case, if you’ve got suggestions to make the perfect scone, let me know. I may need it.

I’m excited. This could open up a whole new world of both savory and sweet treats in my future. I wonder if the Egyptians had a hieroglyph for ‘scone’?

Rubbed the Right Way: TexMex Rubbed Shrimp Skewers with Peach Salsa

2010-06-13T05:24:00.001-04:00

Dry rubs and grill seasonings are a handy thing, aren’t they? But I just can’t bring myself to buy the premixed things off of the grocery store shelves. Why? Because A) you don’t know what’ they’ll taste like until you get them home and open them up; B) they’re mostly salt; and C) they end up being way too expensive per ounce. I can make up my own rubs and seasoning blends at home for a fraction of the cost, control the salt, and know that they taste good.

I made up a batch of my TexMex dry rub the other night. For about 37 cents I made enough to get me through the next month or two, if not the whole summer. It only makes a quarter cup, but it goes a long way.

I had a bag of shrimp in the freezer that had been mocking me for a week or so (I bought it and just haven’t been in a shrimp mood since then). So they were the lucky candidates for my southwest rubdown. (TexMex Shrimp Skewers with Peach Salsa)

While I was at the grocery store this week, I noticed that the first batches of peaches are beginning to show up. One of the megamarts had what they call Eastern Peaches on sale. I don’t know exactly what variety they are, and I’m not incredibly fond of them (the Georgia peaches that roll in a little later in the year are larger and more flavorful), but I’ve been a little over-mangoed lately, and wanted a change.

The TexMex rub needs something to soften its blow, so peach salsa seemed like a logical accompaniment, and gave me an excuse to use the peaches. (Just as an aside – have you ever made the mistake of adding garlic to a fruit salsa? Not a pleasant taste, let me tell you.) So I got busy skewering shrimp.

Since I used the grill pan, I didn’t bother soaking the wood skewers first. If I’d made it outside, I would have soaked them in water for 30-45 minutes. I also use 2 skewers for shrimp – no matter how careful I am, I can never get the blessed shrimp to turn over and grill on the second side with just one skewer. So I figured using two skewers was better than having a fit and throwing twirling shrimp across the kitchen. It works (and saves me from having to mop the floors afterwards).

I don’t like a lot of stringent flavors when I make a fruit salsa, but I want some. So I used scallions and a small amount of jalapeños to give me that contrast and to cut through the sweetness of the fruit. Then I tossed it all with a little lime juice to bring it all together.

So instead of paying extra to rub down your food, make your own grill rub and use your savings to get a massage for yourself.

Grilled Fruit Salad with Kiwi Sauce

2010-06-11T05:30:00.000-04:00

I had one of those moments the other day. I don’t like to talk about it too much because it’s kind of embarrassing, even though it happens to all of us. Luckily the moments are rare and mostly fleeting – I decided to make a virtuous dessert.

I don’t know what possessed me. I’d like to say that it was a one-time thing, and that it will never happen again. Unfortunately, I know that’s a lie. I’ve learned that the best way to deal with these lapses in character is to embrace the moment and move on as quickly as possible.

The infraction in question occurred when I volunteered to make dinner for a friend at her house. I was trying to be nice because she just got off the plane after a long trip, and there was no chance for her to do any grocery shopping (not to mention the jetlag from jumping 6 time zones). I didn’t want to make anything heavy (I knew she wanted to get to sleep about 14 seconds after we walked out of the door), so I grilled salmon with blueberry dijon sauce that I wrote about earlier.

For dessert, I didn’t figure there was anything simpler than a fruit salad. But fruit salad is so boring. I wanted to put a small twist on it, so I decided to grill some of the fruit I had on-hand to play with.

In the fridge I had a few kiwis that had been sitting around too long. They were too far gone to eat raw, so I thought, ‘What the heck?’ I put them through the food processor and basically made a kiwi simple syrup out of it. If nothing else, the green flesh and black seeds would add some interesting contrast to the pineapple, peaches, and blueberries I had in my arsenal.

Of course, grilling the fruit brings all of those sugars to the surface (OK, I didn’t grill the blueberries – I couldn’t find a way to keep them from falling through the grate). The hint of smoke from grilling contrasts with the natural sweetness of the fruit, making a more complex taste. But, I’ll tell you what, the kiwi sauce brought the whole thing together. That little extra sweetness from the simple syrup pushed it over the top. I imagine I’ll make Grilled Fruit Salad with Kiwi Sauce again in the future.

So this is one moment that might not have been all that embarrassing after all. In fact, it turned out pretty good – I just don’t want to repeat it too often.

My Blue(berry) Heaven: Grilled Salmon with Blueberry Dijon Sauce

2010-06-09T07:35:00.002-04:00

The blueberries are starting to roll in from the Florida fields, the prices are getting within my budget, and I once again have the opportunity to cook with fresh berries. (Yea!)

For some reason, it seems like I eat healthier when I can incorporate fresh berries into my diet: berries for breakfast, berries for dessert, and berries seem to find their way onto my dinner plate as well. It’s like a gateway food to healthy eating. I realized that I eat more fish and fewer starches when I cook with fruit. And the blueberries are coming just in time – my pants have been getting a little tight over the past couple of weeks.

So to try and wipe away a month’s worth of poor eating habits with one meal, I came up with this dish: Grilled Salmon with Blueberry Dijon Sauce over Roasted Green Beans. (That makes up for a month’s worth of pasta, potatoes, and pizza, right?) Of course, economies were made – the texture of the frozen salmon fillets I used were nothing compared to the wonderfully firm flesh and ocean smell you get from fresh sockeye. But it does the trick.

Since I had this whole Pacific Northwest feel going with salmon and blueberries, I thought I’d pair it with some simple roasted green beans. (Did you know that Oregon grows a lot of green beans? I learned that from West Wing – who says TV isn’t educational?) These are nothing like the down home, bacon-laden, boiled-til-they’re-grey green beans that I was forced to eat growing up. These are crisp and caramelized. Roasting them adds a nuttiness to the flavor that you can’t get any other way. It’s become my favorite way to serve them. My nieces once turned their collective noses up at the thought of roasted green beans until I told them they were green French fries. They bought the lie and ate them up – with ketchup, no less. (Hey, don’t judge. They ate the green beans.)

So I’m going to be rolling in blueberry goodness for the next few weeks (I hope). If you have some ideas for savory blueberry dishes, send them along. Unfortunately, the blueberry window is slowly closing, even as we speak.

Half-Baked: Multigrain French Bread

2010-06-07T10:27:00.001-04:00

I really like to bake. I’m not good at it, but I like it. I think that part of the trouble is the demanding precision that good baking requires. I’m a kitchen designer by trade – it requires me to be exacting all day long. You would think that those skills would translate into good baking, but it turns out that one of the reasons I love cooking so much is the total lack of precision that’s needed for most dishes (you know, everything else BUT baking).

I just can’t bring myself to weigh all those ingredients or survey the weather conditions before I start. And my hand-eye coordination (to make the finished product look good) is a joke. But still I journey on. Why? Because I love good bread, and the stuff that’s in my budget right now is, let’s just say, less than ‘Wonder’-ful.

So I’ve been on a journey to come up with a good, regular bread recipe that’s still low-maintenance enough for me to pull together. This one isn’t fancy, and you real bakers will probably not be all that impressed, but it works for me. It’s not quite as good as the loaves I can pick up at the bakery, but the cost of ingredients rivals the cost of a loaf of the vacuous, gummy stuff you can pick up off of the grocery store shelf. I like the compromise. (Multigrain French Bread recipe)

Turns out, the piece that had been missing to this recipe was oat flour. It seems to have added something to the tooth of this bread that was lacking in its absence. I was impressed that swapping out 25% of the flour could have that much impact.

For me, the thing that makes all the difference in the world as to the frequency of my breadmaking was my investment in a KitchenAid stand mixer. I love my stand mixer. I don’t know why I waited so long to get one (yes, I do – it was the price). But the dough hook and the stand mixer do most of the work. The most taxing thing I have to do is count the scoops of flour as they go in (and still I’ve screwed that up on more than one occasion). I use to make bread every couple of months, now I do it about every other week. It’s so easy this way.

Actually, I read that the secret to a good, crusty loaf of French bread requires just a little bit of fussiness at the commencement of baking. And what’s the point of French bread if it isn’t crusty? So I do babysit the dough during the first 10 minutes of it’s baking, brushing it with cold water every 3 minutes. According to what I’ve read, the cold water evaporates off of the surface of the dough and that’s what makes the great crunchy crust on French bread. Sounds like alchemy to me (using something liquid to turn something solid), but it works. It’s a small price to pay for an incredible difference in texture.

Still, I don’t think anyone would confuse this loaf with any artisan bread, but for a baking klutz, it’s a work of art.

(If you’ve got some tips to enhance my baking skills, I’d love to hear them.)

Balsamic Rosemary BBQ Chicken & Grilled Corn with Pesto Butter

2010-06-05T08:47:00.001-04:00

This is one of my latest attempts to ‘class-up’ BBQ chicken. Now there’s nothing wrong with BBQ chicken in its everyday state – thick and spicy with a tomato-based sauce. You know, the kind that takes 3 napkins to eat. The problem is that is has a markedly casual connotation – visions of poolside eating while still in your bathing suits. I’m looking for something that feels like it could be eaten indoors, at the table with a knife and fork.

Because this sauce cooks for so long, I didn’t use the good balsamic for the recipe. I save 10-year stuff for use in its straight-out-of-the-bottle form. The balsamic I use for this is the 3-year / $3 per bottle stuff. Besides, the additional flavor components in the sauce are bold in their own right, so it would mask the deep, rich flavor a more expensive balsamic has. Additionally, I used dried rosemary instead of fresh. Make no mistake, I’d much rather use fresh herbs, but it’s one of the financial compromises I’ve had to make. If fresh herbs are in your budget, then use them. But remember that you want to use about 3 times the amount of fresh herbs as you would use dried, so bump the measurement up to 1 tablespoon of chopped, fresh rosemary – instead of 1 teaspoon of dried.

The sauce is thinner than the tomato-based, and has a mouth-feel closer to a glaze than a traditional BBQ sauce. On the other hand, the flavor is a little more adult and gives the illusion that it could be eaten in the dining room, instead of finger food in your bathing suit.

Since I already had the grill fired up, I thought I’d throw some corn on the grill at the same time. There’s nothing like sweet corn with a little char on it. I grew up in Indiana, which is basically the corn capital. Unfortunately, as a child I never had corn that was anything but boiled – and usually overcooked (I can remember corn being on the stove in a big pot of water for 30+ minutes). This is quick and easy – it takes about the same amount of time as the chicken – and infinitely tastier. The sugars get the chance to caramelize and pair with the smoky depth of flavor that comes from cooking over an open flame.

I mentioned in another post that a friend had given me a bunch of basil that I turned into unbelievable pesto. Basil is a wonderful flavor to pair with corn, so I finished up my grilling with a little compound butter to spread over the top. Delicious. I know that serving corn on the cob goes against the concept of a more upscale BBQ, so you could always cut off the corn and place it in a serving bowl before adding the pesto butter.

I hope you enjoy Balsamic Roesmary BBQ Chicken and Grilled Corn with Pesto Butter.

Just as an aside: I’ve developed my own corn husking tricks to remove all of the silks, but I know that there are many others out there. If you’ve got a foolproof one, I’d like to hear about it.

Seasonal Abundance: Onion and Arugula Tart

2010-06-03T10:30:00.002-04:00

Have you ever heard of a CSA? It stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Basically, people buy a share of the produce harvest that a farm produces all season. They are nationwide, and there is one here in Bradenton – Geraldson Community Farm. Even though I’m not a shareholder, I’ve been the recent recipient of their bountiful harvest.

Last week was the final pick-up of the season at Geraldson (it runs from November through May – this is Florida after all), and the Vidalia onions were overflowing. How do I know this? It turns out that I have two different friends who are members of the CSA and passed along about three pounds of sweet onions, each. (One friend also gave me this wonderfully fragrant bunch of sweet basil that I turned into a pesto sauce and parked in my freezer. I’ve tried all sorts of prepared pesto sauces from the grocery store, and absolutely nothing compares to homemade. I’ll be able to work off of the two cups of freezer pesto for a few months.)

So, back to the story: six pounds of onions and two people in the house – what do you do? Well, I started playing with onion recipes, of course. The first one up is a real winner: an Onion and Arugula Tart. The filling is composed of sweet onions that have been caramelized with a little balsamic vinegar, mixed with peppery arugula, and combined with ricotta cheese. That all goes into a homemade pie crust that’s been seasoned with dried herbs. It was a total experiment, and turned out better than I ever thought it would. I think the only thing I might do differently next time is add a little heat to the filling. I thought the sharpness of the arugula would cut through all the sweetness of the onions, but it needs a little help.

As for the crust, I don’t know where I picked up this basic pie crust recipe, but it’s all I ever use. It takes about 2 minutes to put together and is just about foolproof. I usually add a little sugar to it when I’m making dessert, but when I’m using it for a savory dish, I try to spike it a little that way as well. The addition of dried thyme to the dough really adds a complexity of flavor that I thought was lacking when I left it out. Of course, you can certainly use a refrigerated pie dough from the grocery store, if you want (I won’t tell anyone), but when it’s this easy, why would you? Besides, the 30 minutes that you need to park the dough in the fridge is about the same amount of time that it takes to caramelize the onions, so it’s not like you’re gaining that much time anyway.

So I’m starting to think that this CSA idea is a pretty good one. I’ve been contemplating it for the last couple of years, and I think it’s time to pull the trigger and sign up for next fall’s harvest. Either that, or make friends with more people who are already members.

Silence of the Lamb Chops

2010-06-01T20:56:00.003-04:00

One of the bad habits that I have recently adopted is to stop at the lamb section in the meat department of the grocery store and wish longingly (Have I mentioned that I really like lamb? Only about every other post). Most days I think I probably whimper a little to myself too. I miss it, but at $13 or $14 per pound, lamb chops really aren’t in the budget right now. Sigh. (Want to know the really sad part? I hit 3 stores, and I do the same thing in all three.)

I was making my usual grocery store rounds this weekend. I did my lamb sigh in the first two and was rambling through store number 3 when I saw it. It was there, tucked between the veal cutlets and the beef hearts: lamb chops - on sale for only $6 per pound! YES! SIX DOLLARS PER POUND! I think I actually squealed like a 4-year old when they find out they’re going to Disney World. (Seriously – I squealed out loud. It takes a secure man to admit that, don’t you think?)

I resisted the urge to empty the whole section into my cart, but I grabbed 4 and ran home. It was almost as good as winning the lottery. Once I was in the kitchen, I pondered how I should prepare them. They were too rare a find to experiment with, so I finally decided that a clean, simple dish was the best way to go. I mean, who knows how long it would be before I got the next opportunity? So last night we feasted on Grilled Lamb Chops Gremolata with Rosemary Polenta and Roasted Tomatoes with Feta. Simple, succulent, and sublime. I was in heaven.

Now, I use regular yellow corn meal instead of specialty 'polenta corn meal'. It's a heck of a lot cheaper, and no one has ever noticed the difference. (And, just between us, I routinely interchange polenta and grits in dishes. If you call it polenta, people like it. If you call it grits, no one will touch it - it's the same freakin' thing, people!)

Ahhh. Now my lamb chop craving has been sated for a little while. But who knows for how long? At least next time you’ll know what that whimpering is when you’re in the meat department.

Weekend Lounging with Oatmeal Peanut Butter Pancakes

2010-05-31T11:54:00.004-04:00

Don’t you love weekends? You don’t have to be anywhere, you don’t have anything on your to-do list. The only thing you’re required to do is laze around the house. Does that sound like your typical weekend? Yeah, me neither - but once in a while you have to ignore the piles of laundry and waist-high lawn in exchange for some much-needed down time. The next time one of those mornings hits, try these Oatmeal Peanut Butter Pancakes. They take a couple of minutes more to prepare than the boxed mix, but they are totally worth it. Luckily, it’s a 3-day weekend, and that usually gives me at least one morning to indulge in a fun breakfast.

It’s a little embarrassing, but I love peanut butter (What can I say? Parts of me are still just an overgrown 8 year-old). So any time I can add it into breakfast, I’m a happy man. This dish combines the best of my favorite morning meals: peanut butter, oatmeal, and pancakes. Make no mistake, this is decadent. That’s why I only make them on those rare, lazy days. But they’re both comforting and remarkably light at the same time. I know it sounds odd, but it’s true.

Ideally, you might cut the portions in half and serve them with some fresh fruit, but what’s the fun in that? Instead, I just top the pancakes with sliced banana. (That’s a healthy compromise, right?) Besides, one of the all-time classic flavor combinations is peanut butter and banana. It’s enough to make Elvis smile.

So the next time you want to ignore being a responsible adult, try out these pancakes. Child or adult, they’ll be sure to make you smile too.

Where's the Beef? Not in Eggplant Lasagna

2010-05-20T20:29:00.002-04:00

One of the biggest dilemmas I continually experience while eating inexpensively is how to also eat healthy. I mean, it’s easy to load up on pasta and grains for little money. And cheaper cuts of meat tend to contain more fat than the more expensive cuts. But if you stick to just those things, you are missing quite a bit of vital nutrition. I finally realized that the way to kill two birds with one stone is to create some (sort of) vegetarian meals.

Now, I have nothing against vegetarians. If you’ve got reasons to be vegetarian or vegan, more power to you. I grew up in the Midwest where every meal was meat and potatoes – and ‘vegetarian’ was a derogatory term. Needless to say, it’s taken a little effort to get over that negative stigma of meatless dishes. For me, the one thing a vegetarian dish has to have is enough body to be satisfying. I’ve just never been a ‘salad-for-dinner’ kind of guy.

Because of that, most of my vegetarian dinners are take-offs of my favorite meaty dishes. This dish takes it one step farther – not only do I use eggplant instead of ground beef, but the eggplant planks take the place of the pasta as well. So this Eggplant Lasagna is so freaking healthy that it ought to come with a prescription. But, like I said, who cares if it’s healthy when it tastes like the lawn? Well, there’s the beauty of this one – it still tastes thick and rich - like the pasta and sausage laden version. Don’t believe me? Then try it for yourself.

Huh. Who knew that you didn’t need cows and pigs to make a great meal?

Cheap Mediterranean Vacation with Saffron Lamb Ragu

2010-05-18T23:15:00.003-04:00

Ah, Sardinia – Island breezes. Blue Mediterranean waters. Laidback culture. What bliss.

OK, so I’ve never been to Sardinia. In fact, it’s been almost two years since we’ve been able to get away at all. But once in a while you have to have a little mental holiday, even if it’s only for a meal. This month’s Gathering for Get Together Gourmets gave us the opportunity to experience a little faux-retreat for an evening.

Get Together Gourmets is the cooking club we formed a couple of years ago. It’s been great fun – we’ve made some new friends and had the opportunity to experience some wonderful food. It really runs the gamut, we have some professional culinarians (so I made up the word – get over it): a trained chef, a professional baker, food writers, etc.; some folks who are terrified of the kitchen (you know who you are); and a host of people who fall in between. The one thing we all have in common is our love of food. It’s a good time. If you’re interested in more information, here’s a link.

This month’s Gathering theme was The Island of Sardinia. The concept is really a subset of the Mediterranean Diet: lots of seafood, olive oil, etc. The one exception is that a large portion of Sardinia’s way of life revolves around shepherding (so I’ve read). That means lamb, and I noticed that no one had chosen a lamb dish when they signed up.

I love lamb. It is one of my all-time favorite flavors. Of course, the best cuts are out of my price range right now. I started researching some Sardinian lamb recipes and came across a recipe for a saffron roasted leg of lamb. It sounded good, so I improvised. I took the flavor components of the dish and turned it into an appetizer: a ragu with ground lamb, saffron, tomato paste, and red wine. I served it with another island staple, Sardinian Parchment Bread, called Carta Musica.

I adapted the parchment bread from some recipes I found online, so I don’t know if I can completely call it my own, even though I tweaked it (especially the rolling. Holy cow! How did they do that everyday?!), but the Saffron Lamb Ragu is an original. It went over well with the group (I, personally, have never had a lamb dish that I didn’t like), and the parchment bread is certainly going to make a return appearance at a future cocktail party. There is so much that I can do with flavor components to make it a stand alone dish – I’m sure you’ll see some future recipes on that.

So don’t despair if your budget doesn’t allow for international travel. Whip up a dish that’s out of the ordinary. Sardinia really is within your grasp.

Comfort Food: Roasted Tomato Risotto

2010-05-13T22:47:00.003-04:00

There’s something about comfort food after a bad day. It’s just so, well, comfortable. And, luckily, because of their peasant food origins, most comfort foods are fairly inexpensive to make. Around our house, we refer to it as ‘eating thick’.

One of my favorite ‘thick’ dishes it risotto. It’s starchy and creamy and simple to make. I don’t know why risotto has this reputation of being difficult to prepare. It’s done in less than 30 minutes, and all you have to do is stir it every minute or two to get the creamy consistency that everyone desires. The trick is not to ignore it – so as long as you’re doing something in the kitchen anyway, what’s wrong with a little stirring?

Most risotto recipes call specifically for Arborio rice. Unfortunately, Arborio can be a little on the pricey side, so I substitute a less expensive rice. Just make sure it’s a short grain rice – the long grain varieties don’t have the starch content necessary to get the starchy goodness that you expect. I’ve found a Valencia rice on my local supermarket shelf that costs about two-thirds less than the Arborio options.

The other fantastic feature of risotto is that it’s a totally blank canvas. You can add whatever flavors you have on hand, making it easy to keep the costs down. I found some grape tomatoes on sale this week, and decided to incorporate them into my risotto fest. I’m a sucker for any roasted vegetable too. It’s such a simple way to bump up the flavors components of simple ingredients. So roasted tomato risotto was on the menu for comfort food night this week.

And because you can never have too many carbs on comfort food night, I also made some spinach bruschetta – because you have to have something to help scrape the risotto out of the bowl, right? It’s simple, quick, and tasty. The bonus is that it’s made of staples I always have on hand.

So who cares if the Atkins people won’t ever call and ask me to cook for them? Carbs help cope with stress – and that’s all that matters when you’re craving ‘thick’ after a long day.

Picnic at Home with Chicken and Chimichurri

2010-05-09T22:57:00.002-04:00

It was one of those weeks that made you want to hide from the world. And once the weekend rolled around, that’s exactly what we did. We unplugged the phone, locked the door and cocooned for two whole days.

Since Don and I were determined not to interact with the anyone, we decided to have a picnic at home instead of venturing out into the cruel world. Besides, it’s a lot easier to make good food when you don’t have to schlep it out to the beach.

For some reason, when I think of picnics, I think of bold flavors. And if it’s a picnic, then there has to be both chicken and potato salad involved (isn’t that some sort of picnic law or something?). So our indoor picnic consisted of chicken with chimichurri sauce and roasted potato salad, complete with roasted garlic for good measure.

And it can’t be a picnic without dessert, can it? (OK, who am I kidding? It’s a rare dinner at our house without dessert.) I had made ice cream earlier in the week, and since ice cream is definitely picnic food, I made caramelized pineapple with ice cream for dessert. (It’s fruit, so that made it a healthy dessert, right? I mean, that fact cancels out the sugar and ice cream, doesn’t it?)

So maybe a picnic on the beach might have had more atmosphere, and the dog might have enjoyed a trip to the park – but (at least for this weekend) an agoraphobic picnic was just what the doctor ordered.

Cocktails for Dessert: Mango Margarita Sorbet

2010-05-06T18:52:00.004-04:00

There’s nothing like an after-dinner cocktail. And there’s nothing like dessert. What’s the best of both worlds? Combining cocktails and dessert into one great offering.

Mangoes were on sale last week, and I had picked up a few without knowing what I was going to do with them. I had thought about making some frozen cocktails, but I was also having trouble coming up with a dessert for a casual dinner party last weekend. That’s how I decided to combine the two into Mango Margarita Sorbet.

If you don’t own an ice cream maker, I think you should. I use mine all the time. I don’t think I’ve actually bought ice cream in years. If it’s too much of an investment to purchase a new one, check out Craigslist or E-bay to see if you can find a deal - and use it. There is nothing like homemade ice cream and sorbet. And they are easy to make. It takes 10 or 15 minutes of active preparation, then just some waiting.

The mango sorbet is quite refreshing. As you can see from the picture, I served it with a couple of orange shortbread cookie sticks (that need a little more work before sharing the recipe). If you’re concerned about having a family-friendly dessert, just omit the tequila and substitute orange juice for the orange liqueur. The alcohol keeps the sorbet from freezing too hard, so the absence of it will probably make the sorbet freeze a little harder.

I also didn’t have any limes, or I would have served the sorbet with a wedge that could be squeezed over the top before eating. The acid in the lime juice would cut through a little of the sweetness of the sorbet and round out the flavors.

Not Quite Cinco de Mayo, But Close Enough for Shrimp and Mango Ceviche

2010-05-04T23:30:00.002-04:00

So I know this week is supposed to celebrate the Mexican battle victory, and that you usually see a bevy of authentic Mexican foods on May 5th, but I didn’t feel like actually heating up the kitchen with the stove (it’s just too hot outside). So I broadened the definition of ‘Mexican food’ to include some other Latin cuisines. What I ended up with was Shrimp and Mango Ceviche and a side of Black Bean Salad for Cuatro de Mayo (sorry, but I have to work on the 5th).

After looking through the freezer, I had narrowed the ceviche choices down to either shrimp or tilapia (I didn’t think that salmon ceviche sounded all that appetizing – and even less authentic than the ceviche concept itself). I think the tilapia would have worked fine, but settled on the shrimp because I thought it would retain its shape better in the citrus juice. By the time I had it plated, it looked much more expensive than the 6 bucks I spent on four servings – and more importantly, it tasted like more than $6.

The black beans were a nice compliment to the sharpness of the ceviche. I purposely used less dressing with the beans than I would normally in a salad – just because I knew the ceviche would be so sharp to begin with.

Of course, if money weren’t an issue, I probably would have used sushi-grade tuna instead, but for farm raised and frozen, the shrimp was OK. You just have to be really careful when you’re eating raw fish – you don’t want to take any chances. I mean, if you’re going to be sick on Cinco de Mayo, then it should be because of the excess of Coronas you drank, right?

Chocoholics Anonymous Approve of Walnut Bar Cookies

2010-05-03T15:02:00.005-04:00

I’m a die-hard chocoholic. It just doesn’t matter – if it’s chocolate and cakey, I’m probably going to like it (even if it’s not cakey, I’ll probably still like it). When left to my own devices, dessert will probably be chocolate-based (and usually is). On the other hand, Don (my significant other), doesn’t really care for chocolate all that much (I know! But I let him stay around anyway). Every once in a while I try to come up with something that isn’t chocolate-based so he can enjoy it too. That’s how this recipe for Walnut Bars came about.

It’s kind of the best of both worlds – a crunchy, crumbly exterior and an ultra-moist, chewy interior. This recipe has been morphing for several months, and it finally got Don’s seal of approval last night, so I thought it was time to share it. The concept is pretty similar to a brownie / blondie, but I think the texture is so much better. Hope you like it.

Taking Stock; Chicken Stock 101

2010-05-02T21:59:00.003-04:00

There are several culinary compromises that I’ve had to make because of the economy. I’ve had to eliminate eating out at nice restaurants. Rack of lamb and artisan cheeses are just a couple of the things I can’t wait to reintroduce to my gastronomic life. But there’s one thing I started doing to economize that I will continue long into the future: making my own chicken stock.

I was spending about $10 every week to get 3 quarts of prepackaged stock at the grocery store (what can I say? I use a lot of stock). I finally had to break down and see if making my own would be any cheaper. It is. And it’s infinitely better too. I’ve even got to the point that I take the restaurant approach – using scraps for the bulk of my stock ingredients. I can make 6 or 8 quarts of stock at a time and use about $2 worth of ingredients to do it. It’s the best $2 I can spend on eating.

All I have to do is make a couple of strategic decisions during the month and I usually have all the makings of a good stock waiting for me in the freezer. The main strategy is to make a roasted chicken at least once a month – the carcass then goes on ice and is ready to make stock when I am. You could also buy a 2-3 pound package of chicken legs when they’re on sale. I prefer to roast them first, but you could use raw chicken. With raw chicken, it seems to make a lighter, more gelatinized chicken stock. It’s not bad, just different. I like the dark color and flavor you get from roasting the chicken first.

Additionally, I keep a ‘Stock Sack’ in the freezer. It’s just a gallon-size zip top freezer bag that I use to hold the vegetable cast-offs for my new, secret weapon. Onion and carrot peels, celery tops, parsley stems, and over ripe tomatoes use to go down the disposal. Now I squeeze every last ounce of goodness out of them before they get discarded. Additionally, I add anything else that I think would add to the flavor of my stock: fennel tops, mushroom stems, scallion ends and wilted salad greens all go into the Stock Sack for future use. Some of the things I intentionally skip are: anything overly starchy (like potato skins), bitter (like cucumber peels), or that don’t seem like they would blend with (or overpower) the stock (like asparagus, broccoli or squash).

Once I see what’s in my Stock Sack, I augment the deficiencies with fresh vegetables to come close to my basic chicken stock recipe.

You will also notice that I don’t put any salt into my stock. That’s because I consider stock to be an ingredient, not a finished dish. Since I’m going to cook with the stock later, I prefer to add salt to the dish I’m preparing with the stock. I’ve got much better control over salt content that way.

It really only takes about 30 minutes of active work to make a batch of stock that then lasts for a few weeks (or longer, if you don’t use as much stock as I do). I’ll put the stock pot on early Saturday morning, go about my business, and take it off the heat about lunchtime. I also tried putting it on to simmer as I went to bed one night, thinking it would be ready for me when I woke up. But it turns out that I am much too paranoid about burning the house down to get any sleep when I do that, so I wouldn’t recommend it.

Like I said, I use a lot of stock – to make rice and pasta dishes, for sauces, to poach fish, for quick soups, and a host of other things. It’s the easiest trick for better cooking that anyone could ever come up with.

Think about it: I was paying $3.50 for a quart of stock at the grocery store, and I can make up to 8 quarts for about $2. That’s a savings of over $25 for a batch of stock that tastes better than the stuff I can buy anyway. Why the heck did I wait so long to start doing this?! Now if I could only find a way to make gasoline at home as cheaply…

Last Minute Appetizer Panic Allayed with Gorgonzola Egg Spread

2010-04-29T14:25:00.004-04:00

It was Easter Sunday, and friends were coming for dinner. Unfortunately, I neglected to plan an appetizer. I’m not sure how either – I’m usually pretty on top of these kinds of things (Oh, who are we kidding? I’m completely anal retentive when it comes to menu planning). So as the leg of lamb roasted away in the oven, I scurried around the kitchen in an attempt to come up with something to serve with a pre-dinner glass of wine.

The obvious (and sadly clichéd) thing to make for Easter appetizers would be some sort of deviled eggs, but of course I didn’t. Why? Because first, it’s cliché. Second, it’s boring. Third, because I’m not a huge fan of deviled eggs. But eggs do go along with the traditions of Easter: rebirth, spring, renewal. And I had eggs. And some cheese. And pita bread. And not much else to work with. So, instead I came up with this Gorgonzola Egg Spread with Pita Sticks.

I must say that even I was impressed by how it went over. It just goes to show you: panic and ingenuity can sometimes win over careful preparation.

Welcome Home Brunch - Salmon Frittata

2010-04-27T23:30:00.007-04:00

Our good friends just returned home after being gone for almost a month (first grandchild). We couldn’t wait for a night on the town – we wanted to see the baby pictures! So we invited them over for Sunday brunch. On the menu: Salmon Frittata served on a bed of dressed arugula, Brunch Potatoes, and Cheddar Biscuits.

Brunch is a great way to entertain on a budget. Eggs, potatoes, bread – all cheap stuff. As long as you accent them with the right ingredients, it can be quite an elegant affair. Salmon always makes things feel expensive. Granted, I would much rather use fresh or smoked salmon with eggs, but I’ve found that when it’s not a stand-alone ingredient, canned salmon can be surprisingly good – and a lot less expensive. To go along with the salmon, I want a mild cheese. You can’t be much more mild (or inexpensive) than cottage cheese. (If you don’t like the idea, then you can substitute ricotta, cream cheese, or mascarpone cheese.) Additionally, a mild onion flavor will keep from overpowering the eggs and salmon. I used scallions, but you could also use some shallots – just sauté them in the butter for a few minutes before adding the egg mixture. Additionally, I always like to add a little hot sauce any time I make eggs. Not for the heat. I find that the vinegar and the peppers add some background flavor that accentuates the eggs. (I really don’t like heat first thing in the morning. I know a lot of people do – so sue me.)

Additionally, potatoes are such a blank canvas that you can add just about any flavor you want. It’s also a fantastic way to round out a simple menu. And being a rural Midwestern boy, I can make biscuits about 654 different ways (give or take). Again, not wanting to overshadow the salmon, a simple cheddar flavor worked well for this menu.

The brunch was a big success. The baby pictures are just precious, and the new grandparents are grinning from ear to ear. All in all, it was a good day.

Grillin' Weather for Mushrooms - and Pasta

2010-04-22T20:18:00.003-04:00

The weather here has been absolutely gorgeous for the last couple of weeks: 78 degrees, low humidity, the sun is shining. There is absolutely no way that I want to turn on the oven and heat up the kitchen, so I’ve been doing a fair amount of grilling. It’s great to stand around in the breeze and cook. I’ll still grill once the summer heat and humidity gets here, I just won’t stand over the grill and sweat like a pig while things cook (what can I say? I’m a wimp).

Just as an aside - have you ever noticed that grilling sounds odd compared to grillin'?

Last night, I ended up making the entire dinner out on the grill – including the pasta (we got a great deal on a nice grill with a side burner at the end of last summer). This is such a simple dish, that I decided to use some homemade pasta I had in the freezer. The grill adds so much to the flavor of button mushrooms, and marinating them in herbed olive oil for a few minutes beforehand sent it over the top.

Hope you like the pasta recipe for Lemon and Grilled Mushroom Pasta.

Caramelized Dinner

2010-04-21T11:20:00.006-04:00

One of the keys to inexpensive eating is squeezing out every last drop of flavor from your ingredients. It’s pretty easy to take a mundane item and either roast it or grill it to develop the most flavor imaginable.

That’s what I did with a couple of onions I had that were getting a little advanced in age. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them, but by cooking them, it gave me a few more days of useful life before I had to decide. It takes about 30 minutes to caramelize the suckers, but it’s well worth the time. (You need to slice the onions very thin – this increases the surface area of the food: more surface area means more space to caramelize. More caramelization means more flavor. Get it?) The nice thing is that you don’t really have to babysit them while they’re cooking. I did it on a Sunday afternoon, and threw them into the fridge until I figured out what to do with them.

Skip to Tuesday. It’s a TV night - the final season of Lost is on (if you aren’t a fan, then you wouldn’t understand), and I needed finger food to eat in front of the television. I decided to turn the caramelized onions into a pizza. Not bad either (of course, it’s hard to go wrong with pizza). Paired it with some faux-fried zucchini sticks (which still need some work before I share the recipe) that we dipped into some store-bought pesto which I thinned with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.

Grab the pizza recipe in PDF form here.

Wine Find

2010-04-20T10:47:00.006-04:00

My friends know that I am not a real wine aficionado, but I know what I like. I tend to like big, bold reds that have a real earthy quality to them – lots of smoke and chocolate and tobacco notes are what I gravitate towards – my favorite varieties being Malbec, Shiraz/Syrah, and Pinot Noir.

Turns out that not being a wine snob is a positive thing when you’re on a budget: I’m not afraid to try really cheap wines. Most of the time, I get exactly what I expect – fairly bad, raw stuff whose only good quality is that you taste it less on the second or third glass. But once in a while I come across something that’s acceptable. I really lucked out this time. Not only is this one acceptable, it’s actually good. And only $4.75 a bottle at my local Albertsons!

It’s a 2009 Pinot Noir from Crane Lake, a California vintner. (I just did a quick Google search, and looks like you can find it all over the place.) It has a wonderful, smooth texture and finishes pretty well (not that acidic after-burn you find in most cheap wines). Goes great with the more robust meals I cook.

If you find something that’s both a steal and tastes great, let me know: I’d love to try it out.

I should point out that I intend to post an entry like this any time that I come a cross a really great find. It’s not an advertising ploy – I’ve never met (or talked to) the Crane Lake people, their distributor, or the Albertsons people. Any advertising that I do will be more overt – ads down the side and such – you will definitely be able to tell the difference.

In The Beginning...

2010-04-19T15:18:00.001-04:00

Welcome! I'm Scott, a heavy-duty foodie. That's me, on the left (the pork loin is on the right). I love to cook and eat and experiment with food.

Unfortunately, the current economic climate makes it difficult to indulge in my favorite exotic ingredients. That's why I've come up with a new plan - to work on inexpensive, flavorful dishes that still feed my foodie soul without breaking the bank. My goal is to experiment with dishes and post the results (and recipes) here. I hope you like it.

By the way, this picture was taken during my foray into running a restaurant. It lasted one night (don't ask).