Pasta With Veggies

I have an unhealthy attachment to pasta. Ever since I was little, it has been one of my favorite foods. As a squirt, I would order it at every restaurant. If we were at a Chinese restaurant I'd order lo mein, and if we were at any type of American restaurant, I'd order spaghetti; the only thing that looked appealing at a Greek restaurant to my childhood palate was pastisio, because it had noodles.

Even during the low-carb/no-carb craze, I held onto pasta. I didn't cave to the fad. Right now, my pantry is stocked with sea shells, rotini, thin spaghetti, acini di pepe, two types of egg noodles, couscous, some asian black noodles, buckwheat noodles for a Korean soup, some gourmet spinach garlic fettuccine, and 5 boxes of mac'n'cheese. I'll go through all of that within the next few weeks.

Tuesday nights I'm on my own for dinner and invariably, I make pasta. Over the weekend, we picked up some yellow tomatoes at the local farmer's market, and were given some red tomatoes by a friend. I decided to make my go-to dish, which involves tossing pasta with whatever veggies happen to be in my fridge.

This time, I finished up the open box of elbow macaroni. I blanched a couple handfuls of baby spinach during the last minute of cooking the pasta, and drained. Then I heated up a good amount of olive oil, and threw in a large clove of garlic that had been sliced in half. I sauteed the garlic for a few minutes, so the oil would get garlicky, then took the garlic out. Normally, I would chop the garlic up and leave it in the dish, but I didn't want to smell of garlic the following day.

I then threw the pasta and spinach in the pan, and tossed to coat with the oil. Then a chopped yellow tomato and a chopped red tomato were added, as were a few freshly chopped leaves of basil. I seasoned with salt and pepper, and it was ready to serve. If I had a chunk of parmesan, I would've sprinkled some on. I love how colorful the dish turned out.

Lunar New Year: shrimp and bok choy

The final components to our dinner involved shrimp and bok choy. The dishes were cooked separately, and served with the previously posted dumplings and noodles. Happy New Year! Give it up for the year of the Ox.

Spicy Stir Fried Shrimp

adapted from Singapore Chili Stir-Fried Shrimp

Cooks Illustrated, January 2001

1 lb jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 tsp soy sauce

1 Tbs rice wine vinegar

3 scallions, green parts, minced

1/2 jalepeno, seeded and chopped

1 tsp minced fresh ginger

1/4 c chicken or vegetable broth

3 Tbs sriracha sauce (chili sauce)

2 tsp oyster sauce

dash of sugar

1 tsp cornstarch

Vegetable oil for stir frying

Toss shrimp with soy sauce and vinegar. Let marinate while preparing other ingredients.

Combine scallions, jalepeno, garlic, and ginger; set aside. Mix broth, sriracha, oyster sauce, sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl; set aside.

Heat a skillet over high heat. Add enough oil to thinly coat the bottom of the pan. Add shrimp; cook until just opaque, stirring frequently. Move shrimp to one side, and add scallion mixture to the pan. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in shrimp. Add broth mixture and cook until thickened. Remove from heat and transfer to a serving plate.

Bok Choy With Shitake Mushroom in Oyster Sauce

1 head of bok choy

2 tsp vegetable oil

3/4 c fresh shitake mushrooms, sliced and stems removed

2 Tbs oyster sauce

4 Tbs chicken stock

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp cornstarch

Trim bottom off the bok choy, leaving the leafy green part.

In a skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and cook until mushrooms turn soft.

Combine oyster sauce, stock, soy sauce, sesame oil, and cornstarch in a small bowl. Add to mushrooms, stirring until thickened.

Blanch bok choy in boiling water for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from water with a slotted spoon and add to the mushrooms and sauce. Toss to coat bok choy with sauce. Serve.

Spicy Sesame Noodles

Noodles are served at the Lunar New Year to represent a long life. Usually they are made by hand, and are very, very long. The longer the noodles, the longer your life. This year, I opted to make one of my favorite dishes - sesame noodles.

I've tried a bunch of recipes for sesame noodles, but none have quite matched my memory of the first time I ate them. They were made by a co-worker's mother, a girl who I sadly do not see anymore. All versions I've seen use some form of paste - peanut butter, tahini - which in my opinion make the noodles goopy. So I came up with my own version of sesame noodles.

Firstly, soba noodles are one of my favorite types of pasta. They are slightly nutty, and they taste good cold. Not having any at hand, I used some buckwheat noodles that were meant for naeng myun, a cold noodle soup. Good enough. They were a bit delicate in texture, but held up well.

Next was the sauce. I wanted to keep the noodles from getting gloppy and sticky, so I kept the sauce thin. For some reason, I can never toast sesame seeds properly - they always end up burned. The least burned of the seeds were sprinkled over the noodles along with some chopped green onion.

The result: flavorful and easy to eat.

Spicy Sesame Noodles

12 oz soba noodles
2 cloves chopped fresh garlic
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
2 Tbs vegetable or peanut oil
2 Tbs sesame oil
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs siracha or other chili sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbs white sesame seeds
2 green onions, chopped

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and rinse well under cold water.

In a large pan, heat the vegetable oil over medium high heat. Saute garlic and ginger in vegetable oil. Add noodles and toss to coat. In a small bowl, combine sesame oil, soy sauce, siracha, and sugar. Pour over the noodles and blend in well. Remove from heat.

Spread sesame seeds in a thin layer on a toaster oven pan. Toast until light brown.

Garnish noodles with sesame seeds and green onion, and serve hot or cold.

Lunar New Year: dumplings

The Lunar New Year is not something I have always celebrated. As a child, I grew up in a household more influenced by Polish and British traditions. I shunned learning about my Korean heritage. As an adult, I appreciate Asian customs and traditions more. It started when I visited a friend stationed in South Korea, and was fascinated by the culture.

This year I decided to cook a few dishes in celebration of the Lunar New Year. I browsed a few articles and websites to see what is traditionally served. I ultimately decided on shrimp for wealth, noodles for long life, bok choy for prosperity, and dumplings for good luck.

First up: Dumplings. I've tried making these a few times before, and they are labor intensive. It's also a very sticky job. I'm still figuring out the dough. The right thickness is important - too thin and they fall apart, too thick and the dumpling is chewy and tough. I used my kitchenaid pasta attachment to roll out the dough in batches. I still ended up with varying thicknesses when it came time to pinch the dumplings. The pinching technique also takes some practice. My two plates of dumplings came out rather gimpy. The flavor of the filling more than made up for their apperance. I opted for a potsticker method of cooking.

Kneading the dough

My doughy fingers pinching the dumplings

Plate of gimpy dumplings ready for the pan

Five Spice Dumplings

adapted from Chinese Style Dumplings

by Bobby Flay, as seen on "Throwdown with Bobby Flay"

Dough:

2 c flour

1/8 tsp salt

3/4 c hot water

Filling:
1 lb ground pork

1 c shredded napa cabbage

2 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro

1 Tbs chopped fresh chives

1 Tbs chopped fresh green onions

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 Tbs chili paste

1 Tbs hoisin sauce
1 Tbs corn starch
1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder

Salt and pepper

Sauce:

1/2 c sweet soy sauce

1/4 c rice wine vinegar

2 tsp chili sauce

1 tsp chopped fresh mint

Stir together the flour and salt. Mix in the water. Turn onto a floured surface and knead until soft and pliable but not too sticky. Cover with a towel and let rest while you make the filling.

Mix all filling ingredients in a bowl until combined.

Flour your work surface and roll out the dough until about 1/8 inch thick. Cut out 3-inch circles with a cutter. Have a small bowl of water next to you. Place a small spoonful of filling in the middle of the dough circle. Wet the edge of the dough all around. Fold and pinch one edge to the opposite edge, making sure all is sealed.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add a little oil to the pan, heat, and add dumplings. They should be tightly packed in the pan; they can be touching. Cook until the bottoms are golden brown, 3-4 minutes. Add enough water to fill the pan about 1/2 inch. Cover the skillet, adjust heat to medium-low, and simmer for about 5 minutes. Uncover the skillet and if there is remaining water, let it cook off. If dumpling bottoms are not brown enough, add a little more oil and let them cook a bit more.

Stir together sauce ingredients. Serve dumplings with the sauce.

Dinner Party #1

Tonight was our first dinner club party. A group of about eight of us hope to get together once a month and share dishes and recipes. We hosted tonight, so we provided the main dish. Thank goodness the group wasn't bigger, or we would've run out of dinnerware and seats.

The menu:

Spicy Tomato Soup

Cedar Plank Grilled Salmon

Sweet Potato Casserole

Roasted Asparagus

Kiss and Chip Cheesecake

Since we used the outdoor grill, the stove and oven were available for use. That worked out nciely. It was a fun evening of eating, drinking, laughing, and playing Outburst.


Brown Sugar Dijon Salmon

1 lb salmon filet
2 Tbs Dijon mustard
2 Tbs brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste


Soak cedar plank in water for 3o minutes. Remove from water.

Season both sides of salmon with salt and pepper. Mix mustard and brown sugar to form a paste. Spread a thick layer of paste over the topside of salmon. Place salmon skin side down on the cedar plank.

Heat grill to internal temperature of 350 degrees. Place salmon and cedar plank on the grill. If using charcoal, scrape charcoal to the sides, and place grill in the middle. Cook until opaque, about 15-25 minutes, depending on thickness of fish.

Photo upgrade

I made my own lightbox, following these instructions. I made a small modification, taking a little off the top edge, making it easier to shoot at an angle from above. For now, I'm using two basic goose neck desklamps to light each side. I think I need another, taller lamp to light from above. Also, the posterboard I bought isn't quite large enough as a backdrop. Here are before and after pictures of a three day old salad. Please pardon the brown lettuce.

In the kitchen with dim lighting

In the lightbox

With the latest pictures, it seems like I need to experiment with the exposure time, but I'm excited about how my photos will turn out from now on.

Meatballs for a semi-chilly night

The weather has finally turned chilly here, and we were craving something hearty yet healthy. The original recipe, from this month's issue of Cuisine at Home, calls for equal amounts of ground pork and ground turkey. It was easier to buy meatloaf mix, so that's what I used. It was a combination of ground pork, beef, and....something else. I'm not sure what. It looked like more beef, but who knows.

I beefed up the amount of veggies called for, especially the eggplant. Hubs bought a generously sized eggplant, and wanted to use it all. I always have trouble with meatballs sticking when I brown them, and these were slightly more successful. They broke up a little, but not too badly.

I've heard the term "gremolata" tossed around a lot, particularly on Top Chef. Most notably, a recent season 5 episode involved one crazy-eyed Carla, and scallops garnished with an overly-garlicky gremolata. I decided to lookup the word:

gremolata: a garnish made of minced parsley, lemon peel, and garlic. It's sprinkled over osso buco and other dishes to add a fresh, sprightly flavor. (from epicurious.com)

Spiced Meatballs in Fragrant Tomato Sauce

with eggplant, zucchini and cilantro gremolata

adapted from Cuisine at Home, February 2009

Meatballs:

1 lb meatloaf mix

1/4 c minced onion

1 egg

2 Tbs cornstarch

1/2 tsp each kosher salt, black pepper, ground cumin, ground coriander

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 Tbs olive oil

Sauce:

1 c diced onion

1/2 c thinly sliced carrot

1 Tbs tomato paste

2 tsp paprika (I used sweet)

1 tsp each of dried thyme, cumin, and ground ginger

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 14-oz can diced tomatoes with juice

2 c diced eggplant

1/2 c low-sodium chicken broth

1 c diced zucchini

2-3 Tbs orange juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Gremolata:

1/3 c chopped fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp minced orange zest

Combine all meatball ingredients except for the oil. Shape into about 24 balls.

Saute meatballs in oil in a dutch oven or saute pan over medium heat until browned on all sides. Remove meatballs from pan.

Add 1 diced onion and carrot to the same pan; saute until onion is soft. Stir in tomato paste, paprika, thyme, cumin, ginger, and cinnamon; saute for 1 minute. Add tomatoes, eggplant, and broth. Return meatballs to skillet. Stir to coat with sauce. Cover pan and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes, halfway through.

Add zucchini; cover and simmer another 10 minutes. Stir in orange juice and salt.

Combine cilantro, garlic, and zest for gremolata in a bowl. Serve meatballs and sauce over pastina that's been dressed in olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice and parsley. Sprinkle with gremolata.

Chicken Tikka Masala

I always mispronounce it - I call it chicken tikki masala. At least this is better than hubs' version - he calls it chicken tikki tikki. My brother-in-law gave us this recipe to try, exclaiming it was the best chicken he's ever had. We waited until it was cold out before making it, which in FL, took a while. It really is the best tasting chicken I've made. The yogurt coating keeps the meat very moist, and the seasonings give it lots of flavor.

I would have posted the entire recipe, but I've heard that it's against copyright to do anything but post the link to the recipe. Unfortunately, unless you have a subscription to Cooks Illustrated, you won't be able to view the page. Leave your email addy if you would like a copy of the recipe.

Cake tasting

I had my very first cake tasting yesterday! My friends Alyssa and Stephen are getting married in July, and took me up on the offer to make their wedding cake. They requested white or yellow cake, something fruity, and not too sweet. I made 4 types of cake - yellow, almond, lemon, and vanilla cinnamon. I also made three filling flavors to try with the cakes - lemon curd, strawberry, and chocolate hazelnut buttercream. The white chocolate ganache I made didn't make the cut, as it was sickeningly sweet and had an unappealing consistency.

Lemon cake and fillings. The chocolate hazelnut looks kind of like doo-doo, but it tastes great.

Alyssa and Stephen came over for dinner, and we had the cake tasting for dessert. We tried all the cakes with each of the fillings. Their decision: lemon cake with lemon filling, and almond cake with chocolate hazelnut filling. The vanilla cinnamon with strawberry filling came in third.

Alyssa and Stephen, enjoying cake

Homemade fondant

The first time I tried to make fondant from marshmallows and confectioner's sugar was about two and a half years ago. It turned out perfectly - it was pliable, slightly shiny, not too sticky. I added a tinge of green dye and blended it into a marble pattern. I draped it onto a measly little cake I made in a hurry, and hubs took it to a poker game to share with friends.

Every time since, the fondant hasn't looked or felt as good. It has turned out too dry, too sticky, a horrible color (a nauseatingly dull yellow-green). Once, the marshmallows almost exploded in the microwave. It's a messy process - sugar gets everywhere, but homemade fondant tastes way, way better than store bought. Not to mention, it's much more economical.

This recent attempt is probably my best since that magical first time. It still doesn't have that sheen that fondant should have, but the texture is good. This is a sample cake I made. I didn't have time to decorate, but more about that later....

Marshmallow Fondant

1 cup of mini-marshmallows, packed tightly
2.5 tsp water

1 1/2 - 1 3/4 c confectioners sugar

Place the marshmallows and the water in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 20 seconds at a time, until the marshmallows are poofy and have just begun to separate. Stir so the mixture becomes slightly soupy. Work in the confectioners sugar, a little at a time, kneading until the fondant is pliable.

Vegetable Donburi

Hubs and I were looking for something light to eat to offset all the cassoulet we've been consuming this week. We made this recipe, accompanied by some pan seared tilapia. I'm not sure why the recipe calls the rice "seasoned," as it's just regular sticky rice. I used beef broth instead of vegetable broth, as the store did not have any low-sodium veggie option. The sugar and miso gave the broth a pleasant sweetness.

Cassoulet-Off, Round 1

For hubs' birthday in December, we had dinner at a local french restaurant. Hubs had an amazing cassoulet, and it's been on our minds ever since. Coincidentally, a recipe for cassoulet appeared in each of the cooking magazines we have a subscription to - Cooking Light, Cuisine at Home, and Cook's Illustrated. We had trouble deciding which one to try, so we took the cop out - try all three! Thus began our 2009 Cassoulet-Off. Cassoulet Cook-off may be a better name for it, but it's not nearly as fun to say.

Each recipe has its merits and drawbacks. All use a variety of meat, some more difficult to obtain than others. I first intended to make the Cooking Light recipe, but hit a few snags. Duck leg quarters became quite a challenge. Our local supermarket didn't have a duck in sight. Whole Foods had only whole duck. It wasn't worth purchasing three whole ducks just for the legs. What would we do with all the spare duck? A quick search on my blackberry showed that most butcher shops were closed on Sunday. I didn't feel like driving 30 minutes on a wild "duck" chase, so we opted to try the Cuisine at Home cassoulet.

This recipe is a two day event. First the beans need to soak; then a lamb shank, pork shoulder, and bacon get slow cooked for six hours. Then the meat gets removed and pulled into bite sized chunks. The broth from the slow cooker gets strained and skimmed of fat. The meat gets tossed back into the broth along with the beans, a can of diced tomatoes, diced carrots, and smoked sausage. All that gets slow cooked for another ten hours.

All set for simmering

We were able to condense the cooking time to 18 hours by boiling the beans, and skimming the fat while the broth was still hot. The house smelled amazing for hours, making us drool. We started cooking at 4 p.m. on Sunday, and it was ready by lunch the next day.

Hubs had some for lunch, and I tried it for dinner. It was divine. He said, "It's like I'm eating France." Hmm....the entire country? Maybe he meant, "It's like I'm eating in France." I was reminded of the scene from Ratatouille when the mean food critic takes his first bite of the ratatouille Remy makes, and is immediately transported to his childhood. The dish was so...rich. All the slow cooking really built up layers of flavor. The bacon probably helped as well. Hubs came up with a rubric for scoring: 20 points each for taste, texture, and aroma.

New Years Eve Nachos

For the first time in about four years, we did not have to work on New Year's Eve. We weren't quite sure what to do with ourselves. So we hung out with some friends, played "Guitar Hero," and played Beyond Balderdash. We all brought snacks to share, and we decided to try our hand at nachos. We looked up a recipe on Cooks Illustrated (our new favorite recipe source), and used that as a template.

Hubs took on the guacamole, and I threw together the salsa. You could totally substitute them with store-bought salsa and guac. We brought all the ingredients to the party, and baked the tortillas there. They tasted fantastic, and we had to make a second batch.

Loaded Nachos

Guacamole:

1 small ripe avocados
1 Tbs minced red onion

1/2 clove garlic, minced

1/4 small jalepeno, seeded and chopped

2 Tbs fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

1 1/2 Tbs fresh lime juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Halve and remove the pits from the avocados. Scoop the flesh into a medium bowl and lightly mash until slightly chunky. Mix in the remaining ingredients

Salsa:

1/4 small jalepeno, minced

1/4 small red onion, peeled and root end removed

1/2 small clove garlic, minced

2 Tbs fresh cilantro leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Tbs fresh lime juice

2 small tomatoes, seeded and cut into eighths

Pulse all ingredients except tomatoes in a food processer until minced. Add tomatoes and pulse until rough chopped.

Nachos:

Large bag of tortilla chips

1/2 lb shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 lb shredded jack cheese

1 large jalepeno, sliced thin

1 can black beans, drained (can substitute with refried beans)

2 scallions, sliced thin

6 oz sour cream

1 lime, cut into wedges

Heat oven to 375. Spread half the chips in an even layer in a 13x9" baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with half of each cheese, half the jalepenos, and half the black beans (omit beans if using refried beans). Repeat with remaining chips, cheeses, jalepenos, and beans. Bake until cheese is melted, 7-10 minutes. Remove nachos from oven, and sprinkle with scallions. Along the edge of nachos, drop scoops of guacamole, sour cream, and salsa (also do this with refried beans, if using). Serve immediately, passing lime wedges separately.