Cookish: What's for dinner?

This is a really easy and pleasing pasta dish: http://www.bhg.com/recipe/pasta/avocado-basil-pasta/

My adaptations are below:

• 8 ounces dried bow tie and/or wagon wheel pasta
  2 medium avocados, halved, seeded, peeled, and coarsely chopped
  6 slices bacon, crisp cooked, drained, and crumbled
  2/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
  2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
  1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup finely shredded Pecorino Romano cheese
  2 ears of corn, roasted, kernels cut from cob
  1 small tomato, chopped
  
  
  Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain
  
  
  Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine the rest of the ingredients, except the cheese. Add the hot pasta and toss to combine. Transfer to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with cheese. Makes 4 servings.
  
  

Cookish: Dinnertime

Spinach Pasta bake
Adapted from This Recipe from Rachael Ray Magazine

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 lbs. baby spinach (I used frozen--a bag and a half)
• 4 tbsp. butter
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper
• sprinkle of nutmeg
• 8 oz. wide whole wheat egg noodles
•  Bechamel Sauce (see below)
• 5-6 oz. fresh goat cheese (1 pkg)
• 3 tbsp. prepared pesto
• 1 1/2 cups coarse fresh breadcrumbs

1. Defrost the spinach and squeeze out any moisture. 
2. In a large skillet, melt 2 tbsp. butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir until golden, about 1 minute. Stir in the spinach. Season lightly with salt and pepper and nutmeg; remove from the heat.
3. Preheat the oven to 400°. In a large saucepan of boiling, salted water, cook the noodles, stirring often, until al dente. Drain— but do not rinse—and return to the saucepan. Stir in the white sauce to coat.
4. Lightly grease an 8-inch square glass baking dish. Layer in half of the noodles and press with a spatula. Dot with half of the goat cheese, spread the spinach on top and press down. Stir 3 tbsp. pesto into the remaining noodles and spoon over the spinach. Dot with the remaining cheese. Cover snugly with foil and bake until hot and bubbling, about 35 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt the remaining 2 tbsp. butter over medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs and cook, stirring, until golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. sprinkle  the crumbs on the baked pasta.
   Note: I think you could just use some panko and brown the top of the casserole with the crumbs on at the end of baking. I did like the fresh crumbs--I'd suggest adding them directly to each serving, and storing any extra in a ziploc outside of the fridge so they don't get soggy. 
   
   
   Bechamel
   • 2 tbsp. butter
   • 1 finely chopped shallot
   • 1/4 cup flour
   • 2 cups milk, warmed
   • 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
   • Salt and pepper

   DIRECTIONS:

   1. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour for 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in warm milk; bring to boil and cook for 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and stir in parmesan and 1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper.

Cookish: What's for dinner/party?

The following is adapted from This Recipe on CookingandMe.com.

Chickpea Patties

(I am reluctant to call these falafel because they didn't really have the texture I associate with Falafel. I think that is because falafel is made with chickpea flour, but I am not sure.)

Makes 16-20 small-ish patties

Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder1/2 tsp chilli powder
4-5 cloves minced or crushed garlic
small bunch parsley, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
juice from 1/2 lemon
3 tbsp plain flour + more for dredging
Salt to taste

Oil for pan-frying

Transfer the drained chickpeas with rest of the ingredients to a food processor and blend until smooth and dry. You should be able to shape them easily into small discs. If the mixture is too moist or sticky at this stage, add more flour. Mine stayed kind of loose and I was not sure how they would fry up, so I scooped small balls with my cookie scoop and rolled in flour before flattening into patties, but next time I think I might just add more flour when blending.

Preheat your oil. Deep-frying frightens me a bit, so I just pan-fried, adding a good bit of oil to the pan and frying one side, then flipping and frying on the other. Drain on paper towels and serve with Tzatziki sauce (see below)

These were pretty good, but I would have liked them a bit firmer and with a bit more zip. I think I will add some cayenne or more chili powder next time. I am also curious if I could bake them instead of frying.

Tzatziki sauce (adapted from this recipe on allrecipes.com)

• 32 ounces plain yogurt
• 1 large cucumber, peeled, deseeded, and shredded
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• salt to taste

Place a strainer lined with a paper towel over a small bowl. Place yogurt in the strainer and drain at least two hours (up to overnight). Peel the cucumber, cut in half, and use a spoon to scrape out seeds. Grate on the medium holes on a box grater. squeeze out the liquid before adding to the yogurt with the other ingredients. Enjoy!

Cookish: What's for dinner?

Spinach and mushroom quiche

1 pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and liquid squeezed out

1/2 pkg (4 oz) mushrooms, chopped

2 cloves garlic

oil

salt

pepper

5 eggs

1 cup milk (I used 1/3 heavy cream and 2/3 skim milk, because I needed to use up the heavy cream, but use what you have)

1/2 cup-1 cup mozzarella cheese (or shredded cheese of your choice)

parmesean cheese, for sprinkling on top

1 pie crust.

You'll need these

And this.

Blind bake your pie crust at 375 for about 20 minutes.

This picture should be rotated the other way. It is a pie crust filled with pie weights for blind baking. (I use dried black beans as pie weights--just don't try to cook them after!)

While this is baking, saute the mushrooms and garlic, adding the defrosted spinach when the mushrooms are nearly done. Season with salt and pepper.

Saute it up!

Mix up 5 eggs and milk.

Can't make quiche without breaking eggs.

Add cheese to egg and milk mixture.

Remove crust from oven. Add mushrooms and spinach.

Pour eggs on top. Sprinkle with parm.

Turn oven down to 350 and return quiche to oven.

Bake about 30 minutes or until center is set; Eat up!

Cookish: What's for dinner?

Several years ago, my dear friend the Free Market Mommy made portobello sandwiches for dinner one night when I was visiting--so delish! And very easy. So, I'm going to give a general outline of how to create your own.

Ingredients
portobello mushrooms (1 per person)
cheese slices (1 per mushroom. I recommend provolone)
olive or veg oil
bread or buns (I used multigrain toast, but they're also tasty on hamburger buns)
lettuce
mayo
mustard (I used creole, but you can use your favorite)
salt and pepper

What to do.

Use a spoon to remove the stems and gills from the portobellos. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat, with enough oil to coat the bottom. (Or use a grill pan, ora real grill, or a George Foreman grill--you get the idea.) Cook the mushrooms for a few minutes per side, seasoning with salt and pepper once they are cooked (the salt will draw out a lot of juices, so they will cook faster if you salt them after cooking instead of before). Once they're about ready, top each with a slice of cheese (the provolone works well because the slices are round, like the mushrooms) and heat until melted. (You can cover the pan to speed the melting.) If you're using sandwich bread, toast it. spread one slice with mayo & mustard, top with a lettuce leaf, and your cheesy 'shroom. Top with the other slice of bread, cut it in half, and enjoy your sammie!

Cookish: What's for Lenten dinner?

Continuing our theme, the next easy Lenten inspiration may be obvious: Tomato sauce! It is easy and cheap to make at home, and can really be delicious. Here are some ideas for what to do with it:

• Easiest one: pasta and sauce. Jazz it up by using some different pasta shapes: spaghetti, rotini, penne, cavatappi, farfalle--anything you like! You can also jazz it up with some extra vefggies: sauteed mushrooms, peas, eggplant, or spinach (call it Florentine!). You can add some cream to make a rosa sauce or turn it into vodka cream sauce.
• Pizza! Use refrigerated dough or make your own, and top it any way you like. You can also make individual bagel or English muffin pizzas.
• You can poach eggs directly in tomato sauce and serve over toast (assuming no one in your family is allergic to eggs!)
• Use it making rice (you need a little for the Mexican rice I posted the other day)
• Eggplant Parmesan.
• Lasagna!
• Shrimp fra Diavolo--shrimp cooked in a spicy tomato sauce

Usually, I sauté some onion and garlic and add canned crushed tomatoes and/or whole canned tomatoes, basil, oregano, crushed red pepper, a little sugar, and let it cook down, but I recently tried a new recipe from Smitten Kitchen (one of my favorite blogs, as you know). Here's the original recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/01/tomato-sauce-with-butter-and-onions/

It could not be easier and is so delicious! No chopping! Here's what I did:

Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onions

28 ounces whole peeled tomatoes from a can (I used generic San Marzano-style tomatoes with basil from my local grocery)

5 tablespoons butter

1 medium-sized yellow onion, peeled and halved

2 medium garlic cloves, peeled

red pepper flakes, to taste

Salt to taste

Put the tomatoes (do not drain), onion, garlic, red pepper, and butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Bring the sauce to a simmer then lower the heat to keep the sauce at a slow, steady simmer for about 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat float free of the tomatoes. Stir occasionally, crushing the tomatoes against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat, discard the onion, add salt to taste.

Serve with pasta, with or without grated parmesan cheese to pass.

*When cooking your pasta, PLEASE add more salt than you think you should. The pasta water should be salty like sea water--it is the only way to add flavor to the pasta itself and it does make a difference.

** if making this for pizza, add some oregano

***I simmered with the lid on and the sauce was pretty thin. Next time I will simmer with the lid off to let the sauce thicken.

Cookish: Side Dish

Easy "refried" beans

Oil

2 tbs trinity*

salt

pepper

cumin

chile powder

1 can black beans or pinto beans

chicken stock

For an easy side dish to a Mexican meal, it is hard to beat these beans. Add a small amount of oil (or bacon grease, in you're feeling indulgent) to a skillet with the trinity and sweat the veggies. When soft, add salt, pepper, cumin, and chili powder to taste. (I usually do just a couple of shakes of the spices). Drain and rinse your beans and add to the skillet with a splash of chicken stock (or water). Smash about half of the beans to create a creamy consistency. Cover and simmer on low for 10-20 minutes to develop the flavors.

*Trinity is a New Orleans cooking staple consisting of green bell pepper, celery, and onion. The French have their version, mire poix, which substitutes carrot for the bell pepper. I make a big batch, chopping all of the veggies together, and then freeze the extra, so I can use it in recipes like this (In our grocery stores, you can also buy it pre-chopped in the refrigerated section or in the frozen section). If you don't have it on hand, you can just use a small amount of chopped onion or onion and celery, or onion and a jalepeno for some spice. It adds a lot of bang for your buck--you'd be surprised the flavor even a small amount can generate

Cookish: Side Dish

Mexican Rice

I in no way claim this is authentic, but it's pretty yummy and seems somewhat similar to the rice you'd get in a Mexican restaurant.

butter or oil

1 cup long-grain rice

1 packet Goya Sazon con achiote y cilantro

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp chili powder

1 carrot, peeled and sliced

3/4 cup chicken broth

3 tbs tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup frozen peas

Put enough oil/butter into a saucepan to coat the bottom. Add in the rice and seasonings and toast over medium-high heat for a few minutes Add the carrot, chicken broth, tomato, bay leaf and peas. Cover and bring to a boil. Turn down to low and simmer for 20 minutes. If it is still a little liquidy, put a dishtowel between the pot lid and the pot and let sit, covered, off the heat for 5 minutes or until ready to serve. Fluff with a fork.

Cookish: What's for dinner?

Colcannon

This recipe is adapted from Darina Allen's Ballymaloe Cooking School CookbookIB

3 large baking potatoes

1/2 head of cabbage

2 garlic cloves, slightly crushed

1 cup milk*

salt and pepper

butter

Peel potatoes and cut into quarters. Put in a large pot and cover with water. Add some salt. Cover, and while the water is coming to a boil, remove the core from the cabbage and shred thinly. When shredded, add to a steamer basket suspended over the boiling potatoes. If you do not have a steamer set-up like this, you can steam in the microwave in a covered bowl with a very small amount of water. In the meantime, put the milk in a small saucepan with the garlic and warm over medium-low heat. Keep an eye on the cabbage--it will likely be tender before the potatoes are done. When the cabbage is tender, toss with salt, pepper, and butter. When the potatoes are done, drain and mash with the warm milk. Add salt and pepper. Stir in the cabbage and add a little more butter. Yum!

*I only keep skim milk in the house, but I had a small amount of whipping cream, so I mixed the two. Use whatever milk you usually use for mashed potatoes.

Cookish: Snacktime

Easy Salsa

Adapted from Cook's Country

1/2	small red onion
1/2	cup fresh parsley leaves
1/4	cup drained jarred pickled jalapeños
1/2	lime, juiced
2	garlic cloves , peeled
1/2	teaspoon salt
1	(28-ounce) can diced tomatoes , drained

1. Quarter the onion and add to the bowl of your food processor. Add parsley, jalapeños, lime juice, garlic, and salt. I prefer my salsa smooth, not chunky, so I puree this pretty much all the way, but do it to your taste

2. Add drained tomatoes and pulse until combined. Again, puree more if you like it smooth, less if you want it chunky.

It's super easy and really delicious. You can easily add more jalapeños if you like it hot, or more lime juice if you want more tang. I think this would also make a very tasty bruschetta topping. The original recipe calls for draining the finished salsa a bit, but I like mine thin, so I left as-is.

Cookish: What's for dinner?

Eggplant Parm Ravioli

This recipe is adapted from Rachael Ray Magazine.

1 large eggplant (1 1/2 lbs), peeled and coarsely chopped

EVOO

3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled

salt and pepper

1 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

1/3 cup grated or shredded Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping

4 small vine-ripened tomatoes, chopped

fresh or dried basil

12 egg roll wrappers

Put on a large pot of salted water to boil. Put the eggplant in the food process and process until finely chopped. (You may have to do this in batches.) In a large skillet, heat enough olive oil to coat the bottom (1-1 1/2 tbs) over medium high heat. Add one smashed clove of garlic and cook until golden, 1-2 minutes. Remove the clove. Add the eggplant, salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until browned (about 10 minutes). Remove the eggplant to a bowl to cool for 5 minutes, then add the cheeses to the bowl and mix well. In the skillet add another 1-1 1/2 tbs of olive oil, the tomatoes, salt and pepper. If using dried basil, add it now, and cook about 4 minutes, until tomatoes are softened. (If using fresh basil, add at the end).

Fill each eggroll wrapper with about 2 tbs of the eggplant filling. Wet two sides of the wrapper and fold in half diagonally to make large triangular ravioli. Press out all of the air and seal tightly. Once the water boils, drop in the ravioli in batches. Depending upon the size of the pot, you can probably cook 4-5 at a time. Cook for 3-4 minutes per batch. Fill four bowls with 3 ravioli each and top with tomato sauce and a sprinkle of parm. (You can add a little of the cooking water to the sauce, if you wish, but my tomatoes were juicy enough).

These were really delish! Please give them a try.

Cookish: What's for dinner?

Quinoa and Tofu Salad

1 1/2 cups quinoa

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup water

8 oz extra-firm tofu

8-10 oz frozen, chopped spinach

2 medium shallots

2 cloves of garlic

2-3 shakes red pepper flakes

chopped parsley (optional)

salt

pepper

olive or vegetable oil

zest of one orange

1 handful almonds, chopped and toasted

1 handful dried cranberries

balsamic vinegar, for drizzling

Rinse quinoa under cool water. Put the chicken (or vegetable) stock and water in a pot and bring to a boil (you can use all chicken stock, if you want). When boiling, add quinoa and turn down to a simmer. Cook 20 minutes, covered, or until all liquid is absorbed.

In the meantime, cut the tofu into cubes; mince your shallots, and grate the garlic. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté shallots and garlic until soft. add red pepper flakes, tofu, orange zest, frozen spinach, salt, and pepper. When spinach defrosts and everything warms up, add cranberries, almonds, and parsley.

When Quinoa is cooked, toss with spinach and tofu mixture. Drizzle each bowl with a little balsamic. Serve hot or cold.

Cookish: What's for dinner?

Asian Eggplant Stir-fry

Ingredients

1 shallot, chopped or thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, grated or minced

vegetable oil

sesame oil

about 3 cups chopped eggplant (about 1/2 medium eggplant)

1-2 cups sugar snap peas

1 carrot, sliced

1 tsp oyster sauce

1/2 tsp chili-garlic sauce (could be increased)

1 tbp soy sauce

1 tsp hoisin

splash water

Cooked rice, for serving (I used brown rice, but white or jasmine would also be good)

Put a pan over medium-high heat and add the vegetable oil to coat. Begin sauteeing the chopped shallot until it begins to caramelize. Add the garlic and the eggplant and stir-fry until the eggplant begins to brown and soften. After a few minutes, add the carrots, followed by the sugar snap peas. Stir together the oyster sauce, chili-garlic sauce, soy, hoisin, and water. Add the sauce mixture to the pan, cover, and allow the eggplant to cook for 5 additional minutes. Test for doneness, and serve over rice!

The amount I made was determined by the size of my pan, but if you have a bigger pan, you could make more, or do the sauteeing in 2 batches.

Cookish: What's for dinner?

Creamy Linguine
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1/4 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 bunch asparagus
1/2 box whole wheat linguine
olive oil
salt
pepper
flour
peas
tarragon (optional)
1/2 cup cream
chicken stock


Saute mushrooms & onions over medium-high heat. Let the liquid in the mushrooms cook out and continue cooking until liquid cooks off. Don't add salt until after mushrooms are sauteed. When mushrooms are brown and liquid has cooked off, push them to the side, add some more oil (or butter) and a couple teaspoons of flour. Let flour cook for a minute, then add some chicken stock and stir. Add salt and pepper. Add asparagus and a couple pinches of dried tarragon (optional). As sauce thinkens, add some more stock, and then a couple of handsful of peas and the cream. Stir. Allow peas and asparagus to cook. Add some parmesean cheese. Taste for salt and pepper.


Boil about 1/2 box of linguini. Reserve some of the pasta cooking liquid before draining. Toss with sauce, loosening with pasta water or chicken stock as needed.

Cookish: What's for dinner?

Corn chowder

4 ears of corn

1 small onion

1 carrot

2 large red potatoes

2 cloves garlic

salt and pepper

chicken stock

cornstarch

Chop up the onion and carrot and begin to sweat in a pan with some olive oil. (Alternatively, you can brown some bacon in the pan and cook the onion and carrot in the bacon drippings. Mmm...bacon.)

Cut the kernels off of the ears of corn. An easy way to do this and catch the kernels is to put a small bowl inside a larger bowl, rest the cob on top of the small bowl and cut down. You can also use a bundt pan to do this, sticking the cob in the middle, but I don't have a bundt pan.

Put the corn in with the onion and carrot and grate in the garlic. Add a small splash of stock to help the corn cook. Add salt and pepper

Meanwhile, put the corn cobs in a pot and cover with stock (or water). Boil for about 15 minutes, to get all the flavor from the cobs. I think it was 3-4 cups. I used some homemade stock I had in the freezer. This is really easy, honestly. The next time you get a rotisserie chicken or roast a chicken, save the bones. Put them in a pot with another water to cover. Add a carrot, celery (if you have it), an onion, a clove or two of garlic, some sal & pepper, thyme, oregano, bay leaves--basically whatever herbs you want, and then bring to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, turn it down and let it simmer for a couple of hours. Strain out all of the stuff and you've got some tasty stock on your hands. It takes almost no effort, just time, and you paid for the chicken--you might as well get everything out of it.

Back to the soup. Remove the cobs from the stock. At this point, I would add about half of the corn mixture and blend until smooth, then add the rest of the corn so the soup is chunky but not too chunky....except that my hand blender died on me, so all the corn went in as is.

Chop up the potatoes into bite-sized chunks and boil in the soup until tender. (Likewise, you could blend up the potatoes in the soup or leave them as chunks...or leave them out all together.) Once the potatoes are done, mix a bit of the broth with some cornstarch and then pour into the soup. Bring the soup back to a boil and let boil for a minute or two so the cornstarch can thicken the soup a bit. Take the soup off the heat and stir in about 1/4 cup of cream (again, this is optional, but I had cream on hand, so why not?)

There you go! You could easily add chicken, crab, crawfish, or shrimp to this. It would be tasty. You could also leave out the potatoes, add some chiles and perhaps some black beans and you'll have a tex-mex corn soup.

Cookish: What's for Dinner?

Featured Ingredient: Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah)

Quinoa is a delicious, nutty grain. If you like couscous, I'd suggest giving it a try; it has kind of a similar texture, but more flavor, and it is a very healthful, whole-grain ingredient.

So, for dinner this week, I made a quinoa salad inspired by a recipe on chow.com. You can find the original recipe here: http://www.chow.com/recipes/10179

Here's what I did:

2 cups quinoa

3 cups water

2 tsp garam masala

1 tbs sesame oil

3 stalks celery, finely diced

2 carrots, finely diced

salt

pepper

mandarin oranges

nuts

Rinse the quinoa and toast in a dry skillet over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Bring the water to a boil with 1 tsp of the garam masala and salt. When the water boils, add the quinoa and return to a boil. Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes.

In the skillet, heat the sesame oil. Add the 2nd tsp of garam masala, carrots, and celery and saute until your desired tenderness. Season with salt and pepper.

When the quinoa is done, fluff with a fork and add the veggies, nuts, and mandarin oranges. Serve hot or cold.

Notes: The original recipe called for currants. I planned to use raisins (which I would have added when the water was boiling to plump them up), but I discovered my box of raisins had about 5 left. Oops. I did have a can of mandarin oranges, though, so I drained those and added them at the end. Raisins would be fine, too, though.

I cooked the quinoa in water as the recipe suggested, but next time I will use chicken stock as I usually do.

I don't like scallions, so planned to use onions, but then found I didn't have any. Oops. I will probably saute some with the celery and carrots next time.

For the nuts, I had a few almonds and pecans, but mostly used peanuts. Anything with some crunch is good.

I ate this hot for dinner, and it was okay, but it was much better the next day, cold, for lunch.