Lisa's Day

Cookie Break

I finally tried this recipe from Martha Stewart Living: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/big-ginger-cookies?autonomy_kw=big ginger cookies

I had some molasses to use up that had been in the cupboard awhile. These cookies are so good! Nice and chewy. I froze some of the dough, rolled into balls - didn't affect the cookies at all. I didn't use allspice or white pepper - just the powdered ginger (Penzey's!). I liked them like that - the other spices tend to get lost in the flavor anyway. Just chewy ginger molasses goodness. We don't even have any allspice since the cupboard purge (after the first Penzey's order).

Snack yesterday. Oops - didn't see that coffee sploosh on the counter.

Yum!

Sundried Tomato Pesto

I found this recipe a few weeks ago:  http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/red-pesto-ravioli-recipe.html

We decided to have it over chicken (cooked in the iron skillet, of course), with Goat Cheese, over Asparagus the first time we made it:

Doesn't that look good?

We made it again, and had it over rice (instead of asparagus). And it occurred to us to try it on pizza, which we did for lunch today. No picture - it wasn't very pretty, but dang was it good. Especially the pesto that was on the edge, not covered w/cheese, so it got browned in the oven. MMmmmm. And the crust came out great, thin but not too thin.

It's odd, but this pesto tastes more like sundried tomatoes than just a straight sundried tomato. Maybe it needs to be blended with other ingredients to really bring out the flavor. As Emeril would say, this stuff would taste great on a bumper.

The Most Awesome Roasted Pork Tacos

We made the most awesome Roasted Pork Tacos on Sunday, thanks to a stroke of brilliance from Steve. We still had some corn tortillas in the fridge from making enchiladas last week. What to do with them? I didn't want more enchiladas. I suggested soft tacos. We decided on a pork roast. Steve picked out a small one. We roasted it in our huge roasting pan. It came out perfect. Moist and juicy, but with a roasted crust.

Look at all this pork goodness!

After Steve pulled out the roast to let it rest, he put the can of green chilis into the roasting pan, over medium high heat on the stovetop, and deglazed the pan, adding a bit of olive oil. This made the most awesome sauce - we're sorry we didn't add two cans. BRILLIANT!

 We just added a little cheese, nothing else.

 These were so frakkin' good.

We had leftovers last night. All gone - sob. Yes, tacos, then Miso Soup - what can we say? We planned on the soup, but really wanted more tacos, too. And steamed Sugar Snap Peas on the side. A mismatched dinner, but awesome.

Roasted Pork Tacos

1 pork shoulder roast

Olive Oil

Penzey's Smoked Spanish Paprika

Penzey's Chili 3000

Penzey's Cumin

Kosher Salt, Pepper

2 4.5-oz cans Old El Paso chopped Green Chiles, undrained

Corn Tortillas

Shredded Cheese

Oil Rub for Pork Roast: Place roast in a glass pan or bowl. Combine 1/4 cup Olive Oil, 1 Tbsp Paprika, 1 tsp Chili 3000, 1 Tbsp Cumin, and 1 tsp each salt and pepper into a sandy mixture. Rub all over the pork roast and let marinate overnight.

Preheat oven to 325.

Heat up the bottom of the roasting pan on the stovetop, over medium-high heat. Add some olive oil. Sear the pork roast 4-5 minutes per side. Cover and place in oven - check in 3-4 hours, depending on size of roast. The roast above was 2 1/2 lb. and was done in 3 hours. It was also boneless, but you could get one with the bone in it. Don't add anything else to the roasting pan. Some recipes call for some water or broth to add moisture - we didn't add a thing, which contributed to the wonderful crust on the roast.

When the roast falls apart when prodded with a meat fork, it's done. Pull the roast out and place on plate or cutting board to rest. Heat up the roasting pan on the stovetop over medium-high heat.

Put the chilis - undrained - into the roasting pan, and deglaze the pan - use a wooden spoon to scrape up all the tasty bits stuck on the bottom, and bring the sauce to a bubbly simmer. Add some olive oil if necessary (Steve added 1-2 Tbsp).

Shred the pork apart with two forks.

Heat up a small nonstick pan over medium heat and soften the corn tortillas in the dry pan for about 10 seconds on each side.

Fill tortilla with a little pork, then shredded cheese, then top with the Awesome Chili Sauce. Enjoy.

p.s. Penzey's makes it awesome! http://www.penzeys.com

Draining Food Items

 I refer to drained yogurt and/or tofu in many dishes, so I thought I'd take some photos as long as I was setting them up in the kitchen. This is how I drain yogurt. I prefer Dannon full fat Plain Yogurt (not low fat, not fat free). I spoon it gently into the strainer set inside a tall glass bowl, and set it in the fridge for about 4-6 hours. Overnight is too long - it will just keep draining.

 Here is a block of tofu, removed from its container (pour out all the liquid). I place it on a folded paper towel on a plate. This is Whole Foods tofu, with the orange label - we wanted to try the Firm (vs. Extra Firm).

 I then place another folded paper towel on top, another plate, and a can of something to weight it down. This also goes in the fridge for about 6 hours. It can then be put into a plastic container (w/lid) with a paper towel on the bottom for storage until ready to use. I drained this Sunday, then stored it. Last night (Monday) we made a Miso soup. Never tried Miso before, but I got a container of Yellow Miso at Whole Foods. Sunday night we had steak for dinner, and Steve cut up white mushrooms and green onions, and sauteed them in the iron skillet after the steak was done. We reserved half of that for the Miso soup (recipe on Miso container lid). We put vegetable broth, the mushrooms and onions, and a serving of spinach from the steak dinner into a soup pot, and brought to a simmer. Then added two spoonfuls of Miso, then some of the tofu cubed small, and simmered some more. It was really good! And the Firm tofu is softer than the Extra Firm.

 I made some more Cold Borscht with orangy-red local beets from Whole Foods. They took longer to cook, and the soup is a dirty red-orange color (vs. the bright magenta). But still really good. Aren't they a pretty color?

Like our liquor cabinet?

Stale Bread = Bread Pudding

We had half a loaf of Panera French bread that was going stale, so sammiches weren't very good. I made my famous White Chocolate Bread Pudding, but drastically changed the previously complicated recipe. We were out of Vanilla, so I put in a "glug" of Jack Daniel's -mmmmgood.

White Chocolate Bread Pudding

Roughly half a loaf of bread, cubed small

3 Cups milk (I use 2%)

1/2 Cup sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp Vanilla or a half-shot of Jack Daniel's ; )

1/2 to full package White Chocolate Chips

Cut up bread into small cubes. Put milk, sugar, eggs and flavoring into the blender and blend well. Spray large glass baking pan with nonstick spray. Add bread. Pour custard mixture over bread, then add white chocolate chips. Let mixture sit in the fridge for half an hour to let bread absorb custard mixture. Toss bread and chips with your hands, bringing the soaked bread up to the top. Let sit for another half an hour. You can toss again and let sit some more if there's still too much liquid. DO NOT add any more milk if it looks dry. You want the bread to absorb up the liquid.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake bread pudding 45 minutes to an hour (depending on your oven). When done, there shouldn't be any liquid left and it should be lightly browned on top. If you want to stick a knife in it, it should come out clean, not custardy. Serve warm. Heat up leftovers in the toaster oven or microwave.

I like it better spread out shallow in a large glass baking pan vs. crammed into a smaller one. This bread pudding was about half crunchy bread on top. I like that better than a big congealed brick like you sometimes get in restaurants.

p.s. The bread does not have to be stale. I used to bake bread in the bread machine specifically for bread pudding. In my experience, fresher bread absorbs up the custard liquid better. Slightly stale is okay; really stale, like: time to make bread crumbs or just toss it bread doesn't really make great bread pudding.

Look: some of the White Chocolate Chips turned brown and caramelized - mmm!

The original recipe called for 2 C milk and a half pint of whipping cream - too much fat and too rich. There was also a sauce to go on top involving more whipping cream, butter and white chocolate. The bread pudding doesn't really need a sauce on top, but if you're interested, here is the original recipe. I can't remember where I got it - probably online back in the early 90s when I was in Atlanta. I mainly used the internet for recipes! Remember those old "alt-recipe" sites? I still have some of those old ones printed and in my recipe binder.

Lisa's Rapidly Becoming Famous White Chocolate Bread Pudding

(Everytime I made this for an event, for the office, etc. I was very popular)

Roughly half a loaf of bread

2 Cups milk

1 half-pint container whipping cream

1/2 Cup sugar

3 eggs

1/2 tsp. Nutmeg

1 tsp. Vanilla

1/3 pkg White Chocolate Chips

Same instructions as above for the Bread Pudding.

SAUCE:

Remaining 2/3 pkg White Chocolate Chips

1 half-pint container whipping cream

2 Tbsp butter

Melt butter in a saucepan. Stir in the White Chocolate Chips. Stir constantly until the chocolate is completely melted. White Chocolate is very temperamental, so stay with it, stirring and stirring. After the chocolate is melted, stir in the whipping cream and keep stirring until it is hot. Immediately pour the sauce onto the bread pudding. Don't let the sauce sit and cool or the white chocolate will start to harden into little clumps. You can pour over the entire pan of bread pudding or serve into bowls and then top with the sauce.

A Thrown-Together Meal from Last Weekend

Chicken Breasts cooked in iron skillet (how else?). Check.

Leftover pasta. Check.

Some frozen Spinach. Check.

Goat Cheese. Check.

Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese. Check.

Wait, let me get the camera...

Oatburgers

It has been ages since I've made Oatburgers. This recipe is from Squash Blossom Market, which no longer exists. It was a natural foods grocery store in Memphis, TN where I worked during and just after grad school (1996-1998). They were bought out by Wild Oats Market (see my journal pieces from the late 90s). Later, on a visit from Springfield, Misery (2005?) the old location on Union had closed. 

I adjusted their recipe so it makes less than would feed an army. Also, the original recipe contained psyllium husks, which are used to add fiber to your diet (???), and also Nutritional Yeast, which is a flavor enhancer made from molasses - it adds a tart flavor. I substituted lemon juice and they taste just fine.

Oatburgers (makes six burgers)

1 onion, diced small

Few cloves garlic (if desired), chopped small

Any other vegetables, such as carrots, bell peppers, etc., all diced small

2 Tbsp dried red bell pepper flakes*

1 tsp Italian Seasonings

Salt, Pepper, other seasonings to taste

1/3 Cup Worcestershire Sauce

2 Tbsp lemon juice

4 Cups Old Fashioned Rolled Oats

3 Cups water

Measure dry oats into a large mixing bowl and set aside. Saute vegetables in olive oil till browned. Add red bell pepper flakes and any seasonings. Add Lord Wooster and Lemon Juice. Stir into the dry oats.

Bring water to a boil. Pour over oats, and mix well. Don't worry if it's watery - let it sit on the counter and the oats will absorb all the water. Let sit till cool enough to handle (1-2 hours).

Stir the Oatburger mixture - the oats on top may be dry, and the oats on the bottom may be too wet. Form into patties. Make them big, as they will shrink when baked. I use a 3/4 Cup measuring cup to measure the amount - scoop to measure, then dump into your hand and flatten to form patties.

Preheat a baking stone in the oven at 400 degrees. Bake 15-20 minutes on each side (till they are browned on top) - flip and brown on the other side - use two spatulas to do this.

Oatburgers are better the next day! You can eat them fresh, but the flavor improves when they sit. Reheat in the oven or microwave. Serve with your favorite burger toppings: slice of cheese, mayo, mustard. They are great with fresh tomato and sprouts.

*You can order the red bell pepper flakes from Penzeys: http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/shophome.html

p.s. That is a Prop Burger! I put it together while packing lunch in the evening - note the cheese is not melted. I didn't want to bring my camera to work. Today, at lunch, I gazed longingly at my Oatburger with the perfectly melted cheese - Steve said to zap the burger in the microwave and then put the cheese on, and just let the heat melt it. He could tell I zapped it with the cheese on it when he had to wash dried-up cheese out of my plastic container. Sigh. One day I will have a decent camera phone. And learn how to microwave.

A New Chili Recipe

We were watching an episode of Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives a few weeks ago. It featured a place called Slim's Last Chance Chili Shack, in Seattle, WA. It's south of downtown, and we hadn't heard of it while we lived there.

http://www.slimslastchance.com/

Anyway, they make both a red chili and a green chili. And the owner was showing Guy how to make both chilis, listing off all the ingredients as he put them together. So, when it came on again (you know how Food Network is), Steve realized it was the same show, so I put in a tape and taped the episode. Then I spent about half an hour playing it over and over, pausing it, even putting on the closed captioning, to write down everything that went into the chilis.

Last weekend we made the Green Chili, or Chili Verde. We just guessed at amounts. Here is our recipe:

NOTE: We ordered spices online from Penzeys: http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/shophome.html

When Steve was cooking chicken (in the iron skillet) with his Steak Seasoning, I could smell the garlic and onion powder six feet away at the computer! Steve tossed all our old spices. No more 99-cent spices from Shoppers, or even the name-brand spices from other grocery stores. When we had Corey over and made Two Alarm Chili, but using our own spices*, it didn't taste very good. From now on, only the good stuff from Penzeys! So, everything below is from Penzeys, except the salt (Morton Coarse Kosher Salt), but including the pepper (India Special Extra Bold Peppercorns - really good!).

*Before we moved from Memphis to Seattle, I was afraid we wouldn't be able to find the Two Alarm Chili mix, so I measured everything in the packets. However, if using cheap spices: ugh! And we still sometimes buy the mix because it's easier - and very good, too.

So, here's our recipe:

Our Approximation of Slim's Last Chance Chili Verde

1 Tbsp Onion Powder

1 Tbsp granulated Garlic

1 Tbsp Smoked Paprika

1 Tbsp Ancho Chili Powder

2 tsp Chili 3000

1 Tbsp dark brown sugar

1 tsp Kosher salt

1 tsp black pepper

About 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 pork butt (shoulder) roast, preferably bone-in (about 2-3 lb.)

Set aside about 2/3 of the dry spices to be used as a rub on the pork roast, and reserve the rest to add to the chili. Mix the 2/3 of the spice rub with the olive oil to make a paste, then rub all over the pork roast.**

We did the usual with the pork roast: heat up roasting pan on stovetop, sear pork roast, then into oven at 325 for 4 hours.

For the green sauce, we oven roasted everything (rather than reserving the onion and garlic to saute in a pan). We used:

2 Poblano peppers

2 Anaheim peppers

2 Jalapeno peppers

About 10 very small Tomatillos (probably fewer if they were bigger)

1 Yellow Onion

4 cloves fresh Garlic

About 2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 tsp each salt and pepper

Rinse and dry the peppers, but leave whole. Peel onion and roughly chop into quarters. Peel garlic cloves. Put all vegetables into a roasting pan (metal or glass) and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in a 400 degree oven and check in 45 minutes to see if everything is roasted golden brown, but not burning (depends on your oven). Let vegetables cool. Pull the stems off the peppers and seed them, also pulling out the veins (the heat is in the seeds and veins). Or, you can leave some seeds in for heat. You can peel if you want - we never bother with peeling peppers. Put all veggies into the blender and blend until smooth.

We let the roasted pork and green sauce rest in the fridge overnight and made the chili the next day.

2 Cups Chicken Broth

1/4 Cup Masa flour

1/4 Cup Canola Oil

Reserved 1/3 of Dry Rub

1 tsp granulated Garlic

1 tsp Season Salt (we use McCormick Season All Season Salt)

1 tsp Mexican Oregano

1 tsp Cumin

Salt, Pepper to taste

Shred pork and put into a big pot. Add the green sauce, 2 cups chicken broth, and the spices, and bring to a simmer. In a small bowl, mix the Masa flour and Canola Oil into a smooth paste. Whisk the masa paste into the chili and simmer about 20 more minutes.

We served it over rice. Leftovers are also good with pasta. We did not add any cheese or sour cream - it didn't need a thing added on top.

**Adding oil to the spice mixture is Steve's most recent brilliant idea. He's been doing that with everything - mixing oil with the Steak Seasoning before putting on chicken or pork chops. It adheres to the meat better than just putting on dry seasoning.

Sorry the chili is kind of an unappetizing color. It really is very, very good. And oven-roasting the chilis and then seeding them is the way to go - I didn't have capsaicin on my hands for days, burning myself.

Okay, this is funny. I went to the Food Network site to be sure I had the show name correct, and searched recipes - here's the recipe! http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chili-verde-recipe/index.html

Knock Knock...Madame

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Madame.

Madame who?

Madame sammich was AMAZING.

First, the competition:

This is a Croque Monsieur, which is essentially a grilled ham & cheese with extra cheese on top. We used Ina Garten's recipe, which included a cheese sauce. I love cheese sauce. I can make it in my sleep.

Here is Ina's recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/croque-monsieur-recipe/index.html

Although, I don't use her measurements for cheese sauce - I use equal amounts butter and flour for the roux: 1 Tbsp each butter and flour and 3/4 Cup milk made a perfect amount for one serving each on top of our sandwiches. If I'm making macaroni and cheese, I'll go with 2 Tbsp each butter and flour and 1 1/2 Cups milk. (I used to just wing it, but you really need to measure; if you don't have enough butter, the mixture is dry - it should be bubbly and kind of "fluffy" looking as it's bubbling while you're cooking the flour till it browns.)

We didn't use Gruyere, either. Couldn't find it, and if we did, I'm sure it would have been pricey. We just went for shredded Monterey Jack. And sliced Havarti inside the sammich. Shredded Parmesan on top of the Croque Monsieur.

So, a Croque Madame is a Croque Monsieur with a fried egg on top. We had that for dinner last night.

Was this freaking awesome! Like, WOW.

You can see the fried egg peeking out in the lower right corner of the sammich. After making the sammiches in the EGG PAN, this time (last time I used the big skillet, forgot it gets too hot - didn't burn but kinda singed them). ...after making the sammiches, without cleaning the pan, Steve cooked the eggs, in all their browned butter glory. The combo of the cheese sauce, fried egg and mustard - OH! So good.

If you're wondering about "sammich" - Gir had a sammich in his head:

S A M M I C H ! ! ! ! ! !

Squish.....

Flying Sammich! (Invader Zim, which aired on Nickelodeon, since these pix don't have the logo on them.)

Summer Borscht with Tzatziki

Today I made Martha's Summer Borscht soup, a cold version of Borscht. We really liked it. Better than as a hot soup.

Find the recipe here: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/summer-borscht-with-tzatziki?autonomy_kw=summer borscht

Friday I went to Whole Paycheck and got too much produce. The bag was really heavy to carry to Metro. And the cashier put my lovely peaches on the bottom, then heavy beets and tomatoes on top, so I had to step over to one of their booths and redistribute. Then, the tomatoes had rung up wrong, and the avocados, so I had to go to customer service. They refunded the price of the tomatoes, and a dollar for the avocados (since that's how much they rung up over).

Anyway, here are some pictures, because I clearly don't have any artwork to show you.

I got too many beets. Organic, and local (from PA).

Sometimes cut beets are really pretty inside. Back in Grad School, when I worked at the Juice Bar at Squash Blossom (Memphis, 1996-98) I loved cutting up the beets. I used to press them on my t-shirt to make beet prints, and was so disappointed that it never stained the clothing (I wanted it to). At first, I didn't like the carrot juice. And the thought of putting beets in it sounded so gross - but it was really good. I finally tasted some (there was always a bit leftover after pouring a cup) and I was surprised the beet makes it taste really sweet. I haven't had fresh carrot juice in forever. Carrot Ginger Beet is a good combo.

See how pretty?!

Another pretty one. In Grad School, I would have had something to say about sexual female imagery. But not now.

And three together.

Fresh herbs. Basil was for Pesto. Dill was for Borscht.

This is a very big head of purple cabbage. Safeway had this one, and a really tiny one. I should have just gotten the tiny one. This rang up at $7.99. It was the most expensive item we bought, and we did our usual weekly shopping. The boneless skinless chicken breasts came in at #2 at $6.30. The cabbage was over 5 lb. What can I say? Sometimes I just don't think.

Let me explain what the cabbage is for (although I have posted this story before). In Memphis, Steve and I used to go to this restaurant called Cafe Samovar. They served marinated cabbage with green olives to have with bread before the meal, sourdough bread. I was able to duplicate it at home using my Mom's Vegetable Marinade recipe. See this post: http://klisaanne.typepad.com/lisas_day/2008/08/marinated-cabbage.html

So, today, here's what I used:

1 Cup Red Wine (I used Fish Eye Merlot that I got at work, leftover from some event - it's a very mild Merlot, not that I drink Merlot, I just cook with it)

1 Cup Chicken Broth (normally I would have used Vegetable Broth, but they didn't have the Low Sodium Vegetable Broth, only Chicken)

1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil

1 Red Onion, chopped

1 Tbsp Honey (I didn't measure, but it was a long drizzle)

Salt, Pepper

Bring to simmer. Add tons of chopped cabbage. And some chopped green olives (from the Olive Bar). Toss to coat.

There was so much cabbage, it wouldn't fit into the big pot I used, nor did the big mixing bowl help. We finally got out our huge covered roasting pan. See?

It's Cabbage Week! Yay! (sigh)

So, onto the soup and the Tzatziki. First, I made the Tzatziki in the blender, following the recipe, which calls for yogurt not drained. And I should KNOW by now to always drain yogurt. Anyway, I put in the yogurt, the English cucumber (NOT peeled, but seeded, the way we like them), fresh lemon juice, fresh Dill, salt, pepper. No garlic, though. And it made cucumber soup! Not that this was a bad thing, but Tzatziki should be thick, right? So, I set up the rest of the yogurt to drain. Then I washed the blender and got to the Borscht.

Rather than just chop the beets and stir the stuff together, as per Martha's recipe, or grate them as I found in a recipe by Emeril, I decided to put the soup in the blender. I put everything in the blender but the sour cream and yogurt. And since I got a few too many beets, that much just about filled the blender. But no dairy. Steve came to taste it and told me to just leave it as is, that we'd stir in the Tzatziki as we served it.

Later, I stirred the drained yogurt with the rest of the fresh Dill and some of the Cucumber Soup I made earlier. Perfect. We never did use any sour cream.

Isn't this pretty?!

With the Tzatziki stirred in. The Borscht was like a sweet beet puree.

Here's the whole meal. Marinated cabbage top left, Cucumber Soup next to it (because it was good enough to have on its own), Borscht below that, and Panera Sourdough bread to the left. And Steve just couldn't stand to have a Russian meal without vodka, even though the only vodka we have in the house is blue and raspberry-flavored: