Vegetarian Squash Casserole

In anticipation of our honeymoon extravaganza to the Big Easy, CCO and I decided to go vegetarian for a month. Although we've been eating vegetarian once a week for Meatless Monday, doing it all day everyday was a challenge at first. (There are only so many days in a row you can eat eggs before it gets boring...)

So CCO suggested we pick up a copy of The Moosewood Cookbook. When he had been a vegetarian during his college days at Harvard, it was his stand-by. Once I finally found a copy, I could see why. There are tons of suggestions for how to move to vegetarian without eating a salad every night (though there is a great chapter on salad). One section that caught my eye was the one on baked dishes, in particular this squash casserole. It's super easy and most things you'd probably have in your house anyway.

If you want to make this, I'd suggest it as a side dish along with something else. If you want it to be the main feature, serve it with crusty bread or pita, something else that has some texture and substance. My one criticism was that everything was so smooth, it was a little like eating baby food (very delicious baby food, but baby food nonetheless).

Eat Rating: Delicious. The squash complements nicely with the tanginess of the yogurt and feta.
Difficulty: Easy.

Adapted from The New Moosewood Cookbook by Molly Katzen

4 cups cooked squash or pumpkin, mashed or pureed (LN: I used acorn. You could also do this with butternut)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 small bell peppers, any kind, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup yogurt (LN: She recommends using firm Greek yogurt. It worked find with plain Yoplait)
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Heat the olive oil in skillet and saute onions and bell peppers until vegetables begin to soften. Add garlic and cook until vegetables completely softened.

Place the mashed squash in a large bowl. Add the onions and peppers, yogurt and feta and mix until well-combined. Spread the casserole into a 9-inch square baking dish (or comparable) and sprinkle the walnuts over the top.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the casserole is thoroughly heated and bubbling. Serve immediately with some crusty bread or warmed pita.

Chard Sweet Potato Gratin

I like to pretend that root vegetables are just as healthy for me even when I slather them in cheese.

The only major change we made was the cheese. Deb calls for using gruyere cheese. I forgot to pick it up at the store, so we were stuck with what was in the fridge. Those choices were parmesan or smoked cheddar that I had picked up from our CSA. We went with the cheddar and it was a brilliant choice. The smokiness added a nice subtlety to the sweetness of the vegetables. We also cut this recipe in half since it feeds 12 and even if we included the dog and his massive appetite separately, we'd still only have four. CCO and I thought this would be lovely as a side at Thanksgiving dinner.



Eat Rating: This is what heaven tastes like.
Difficulty: Medium. It helps if you have a mandoline for slicing the sweet potatoes. Also a whisk for making the bechamel sauce.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

3 1/2 tbsp butter
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1 large bunch of swiss chard, leaves cut off the stalks and roughly chopped
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 tbsp flour
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled
1/2 tsp dried thyme
3/4 cup smoked cheddar, grated

Fill a medium-sized pot with water and add the sweet potatoes. Bring the water to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. You just want the potatoes parboiled a little.

After ten minutes, drain the potatoes and allow to cool until you can easily handle them. Using a mandoline, slice thinly, about 1/8 inch (Note: you can do this with a knife if you don't have a mandoline. Try to get the slices as thin as possible). Set aside.

In a medium saute pan, melt 1 tbsp of butter. Add the onions and saute until translucent. Add the chard and cook until the greens have reduced by half. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat the remaining butter (1 1/2 tbsp). Add the garlic and sautee about 1 minute until browned. Using a whisk, add in the flour, constantly stirring until you have a light brown paste. Gradually add the milk to the flour/butter paste about a 1/4 cup at a time, stirring constantly between additions. You want a thick, gravy-like sauce to develop. Once it's sufficiently thick, remove from heat.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Butter or grease a 8 x 8 square glass dish. Layer some 1/3 of your sweet potatoes on the bottom, then 1/2 of the chard on top. Spoon a few tablespoons of the bechamel sauce on top and sprinkle cheese. Repeat once more, topping with the last 1/3 of sweet potatoes. Top with any remaining bechamel sauce and cheese.

Bake for 1 hour until the cheese on top has browned and the liquid is bubbly. Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly and serve immediately with crusty bread for soaking up the leftover sauce.

Butternut Squash Gnocchi

Nothing says comfort like an enormous bowl of squash, butter and cheese.

Eat Rating: Delicious.
Difficulty: Medium. Be careful not to add too much flour or overknead. You want it to be light and airy, not thick and chewy.

Adapted from Apples and Butter

1 butternut squash, about 2 lbs
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 - 3 cups of flour
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Peel the butternut squash, cut in half and scoop out the seeds and membrane. Cut into 1 inch chunks, toss in olive oil and then place on a baking tray. Bake the squash for about 30 minutes, turning the pieces or tossing after about 15 minutes, or until the squash is easily pierced with a fork.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool. (This step can be done a day or several hours ahead of time)

Place the cooked butternut squash in a bowl and mash until you have a thick puree. Add in the nutmeg and stir until thoroughly mixed in. Gradually add in the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the squash forms into a thick dough.

Flour a cutting board or the countertop and turn your dough out onto it. Divide into four pieces, then roll each piece into a long, thin cylinder. Use a knife to cut the strand into 1 inch pieces.

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Drop the gnocchi into the pot of water. The gnocchi should drop to the bottom. When they are finished, they will float to the top.

While the gnocchi is cooking, melt the butter in another small saucepan. Once it's melted, remove from heat.

After gnocchi floats, remove from the water using a slotted spoon. Toss with butter and parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

Any uncooked gnocchi can be frozen for up to a month.

Acorn Squash Stuffed with Sausage Apple Pilaf

Squash stuffed.

I made this recipe up on the fly for dinner a few nights ago. It turned out even better than I had hoped.

2 medium-sized acorn squash, cut in half and seeds removed
1 cup of brown rice
2 cups water
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 white onion, diced
1 large apple, peeled, cored and diced
1 lb sausage, removed from casing (LN: Italian or herb will do. I used Sage Sausage I picked up at the Farmer's Market)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush the faces of the acorn squash with some olive oil and place face down on a cookie sheet. Bake for 45 minutes or until a fork inserted into the squash comes out easily.

While the squash is cooking, place 1 cup of brown rice and 2 cups of water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 45 minutes or until rice is tender. (LN: Note, you can also do this in a pressure cooker and it will take half the time)

When there's about 15 to 20 minutes remaining on the rice, cook the sausage in sautee pan until browned. Add in the onion and apples and cook until soft. Remove from heat. Once the rice is cooked, mix the sausage/vegetable mixture into the rice. Once squash is done, remove the cookie sheet from the oven and carefully transfer a half squash to a place. Fill the center of the squash with the pilaf mixture.

Serve immediately.

Peach and Tomato Bread Salad

Peaches and tomatoes: a perfect summer combination.

My co-worker Kathy suggested this recipe -- a salad of fresh peaches and tomato. At first I found this idea weird. But after I thought about it, I decided to give it a try. I modelled it after the Cherry Bread Salad. So if you particularly like a certain ingredient you can add more or omit if you don't like it.

We skinned both the tomato and the peach. To do that, bring a small pot of water to boil. Once it's boiling, drop the peach or tomato in the hot water for about 30 seconds, then place in a bowl of cold water. The skin should slide right off.

Inspired by Kathy W.

Eat Rating: Delicious. Make sure the peach is very ripe for best results.
Difficulty: Easy.

1 peach, skinned and cut into slices
1 yellow tomato, skinned, seeded and cut into slices
1/2 loaf of day-old crusty French bread, cut into cubes
1 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
1-2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Mozzarella cheese, if desired


Place the tomato and peach slices in a large bowl and squeeze lemon over, tossing until coated.

Heat a skillet on the stove, then doss in the cubes of bread, coating lightly with olive oil. Continue cooking on the stovetop until bread has begun to brown. Once browned, remove croutons from pan, cook slightly and then add to the tomato and peach slices.

(If using cheese, add it now)

Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the croutons and fruit, tossing until well-coated. Serve immediately.

Couscous and Feta Stuffed Peppers

The reason I didn't have enough peppers to pickle.

I liked this recipe but I shall share a secret: I don't actually like stuffed peppers. The fillings are definitely good. I always feel like the peppers get dried out, though, and taste somewhat leathery. Half the time I just end up eating all the filling out. But this filling was so delicious, I've made just the filling another half dozen times and eaten it all by itself. If you want to do that, just skip the part about baking the pepper shells and chop one to add to the onion/zucchini mixture.

Eat Rating: Delicious, though better without the outer-pepper shell.
Difficulty: Easy.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 1/4 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup of dry couscous
5 bell peppers
1 tbsp olive oil
1 zucchini, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup chickpeas, either canned or soaked overnight then cooked (LN: CCO liked them, but I've omitted them subsequent times)
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp fennel seeds (can omit if you don't like the taste of fennel)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the tops off the bell peppers and pull out the seeds and membrane. Place the peppers cut side up on a baking sheet and cook for 10 minutes until softened. Remove from oven and set aside.

While the peppers are baking, in a small saucepan, bring the broth to a boil. Remove from heat, add the couscous and stir just until combined. Cover and let sit for 10-15 minutes.

If desired, cut the stem out of the middle of the pepper tops and chop the leftover peppers.

In a large saute pan, heat oil then add the onions, zucchini and pepper if using. Saute for about 5-7 minutes until softened. Add the chickpeas, fennel seed and tomato paste. Cook another minute. Remove from heat.

With a fork, fluff the couscous, then add to the vegetable mixture. Stir well, then add the feta cheese and mix until well combined.

Fill the pre-baked peppers with the couscous mixture. Return the peppers to the oven for 5 minutes until cheese has softened. Serve immediately.

Tomato Bread Soup

Crunchy and soft, all in one.

I have been sick with a cold for several days now, drinking pitcher upon pitcher of water and pots of tea. A couple days ago I picked up a few heirloom tomatoes at the farmer's market, intending to make caprese salad this weekend. Instead, I opted for Tomato Basil soup. But since I can never do anything without a little bit of flair, I opted for this tomato bread soup I had seen on Mark Bitman's blog awhile back. It's similar to French onion soup, with chunks of bread incorporated into the soup to give it some bulk. I did make one change: I held back a couple chunks of the bread and used them to top the soup like croutons, so there were several textures from the sogginess of the bread that sits for 10 minutes plus some crunch from the crouton tops.

To peel the tomatoes easily, heat a pot of water to boiling, then drop each tomato in the water for about 10 seconds. The skins should easily peel off.

Eat Rating: Awesome. I'm sensing a new staple.
Difficulty: Very easy. One pot even.

Adapted from Tomato Soup With Bread (Pappa al Pomodoro), Bitten Blog, NYT

1/4 cup olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 cups of tomato, peeled, cored, seeded and chopped (LN: This was about 3 large-ish heirlooms)
2 cups of broth, water or tomato juice
1/2 loaf of crusty bread, preferably day-old, cut or torn into bite-size chunks (LN: I used a baguette bought that morning, cubes toasted in the oven for a few minutes)
1/2 cup basil leaves torn into bits
Salt and pepper to taste

In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the oil then add the onion and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occassionally, until the onions have softened. Add the tomatoes, then cook for 10-15 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down. Add the broth/water/juice, return to boil. Add the hunks of bread, reserving a handful, and the basil leaves. Stir to combine, then remove from heat. Let the soup sit for 10 minutes to let it soak into the bread chunks.

Serve immediately, topped with some parmesan cheese and the reserved croutons.

Enchiladas Verdes

Enchiladas Verdes.

I apologize for the delay in posts. But rather than making excuses, I shall make promises. I took a class last week on pickling, so posts on Leah's Adventures in Pickleland shall begin shortly. Look for a bunch of posts on peaches in the near future as well.

I love Mexican food. But I am a wimp when it comes to spicy things. Seriously. Sometimes I start sweating when I eat salsa. I've had these enchiladas booked for awhile (since May 21st, if my Delicious account is to be believed), but was a little bit scared of them because of the serrano chiles. So I just cut them out. I know, pretty wimpy. But I thought the enchiladas were perfect without them. If you aren't a wimp, feel free to add them back in.

Eat Rating: Awesome.
Difficulty: Easy to medium. Requires a food processor or blender. Also a tolerance for hot oil.

Adapted from Eating Out Loud

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs (LN: You can also use breasts. These were on sale.)
6 cups water
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 small onion, cut in half
1 carrot, cut into chunks (LN: omitted. I dislike carrots.)
4 serrano chiles, seeded (LN: omitted because of previously disclosed wimpiness.)
2 lbs tomatillos, husked
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
12 corn tortillas
1/2 cup oil for frying (LN: I used peanut oil. Canola oil would work too.)
1/2 cup monterey jack cheese, shredded

In a medium sized pot, place chicken, water, two cloves of garlic, half of the onion and carrot if using. Bring to boil, then reduce to medium, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove chicken and shred it into pieces. Reserve the broth.

Bring a second pot of water to boil. Place two more garlic cloves and chiles, if using, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the tomatillos, cook another 7 minutes, then drain.

Place the chiles, garlic and tomatillos in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the remaining half onion and cilantro. Pulse again. Add one cup of the stock, pulse one last time until combined. Pour the sauce into a saucepan (you can use that second one from before if you'd like) and cook for about 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened a little. Remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Get out a baking dish, a large 12-14 inch one and set next to the stove. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet or cast iron pan until hot. Add the corn tortillas one at a time, cooking about 10 seconds each side. Remove from the oil, let drain for 30 seconds or so on a paper towel, then dip the tortilla in the tomatillo sauce. Fill with chicken, pour a little tomatillo sauce in the middle, then place in the baking dish. Repeat with the other tortillas, then top all of them with the remaining tomatillo sauce. Cover dish with foil and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with the monterey jack cheese then cook for another 8-10 minutes until cheese has melted.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a helping of black beans.

Enchiladas as modern art.

Roasted Summer Squash with Feta Vinaigrette

Squash + feta = yum.

I love roasting vegetables. I think it's because I lived in the suburbs as a kid and we would spend half the summer grilling out on our deck. Sadly, our tiny apartment in the city also has a tiny yard and no space for a grill. There's a guy down the street who grills in his front yard. I've considered this, but I think our landlords would dislike it if I destroyed their nicely cultivated flower beds by placing a charcoal grill in the middle of them.

So I content myself with roasting. One day, I'll get around to buying some planks to add smoky, grilled flavor to my roasted foods. But in the mean time, I am content with the crispy, deliciousness of a plain roast.

I first saw this feta vinaigrette recipe on The Bitten Word. It's from Food and Wine magazine, one of the few food-related magazines I have yet to subscribe to. I followed their directions, but my vinaigrette came out a little too oily (You can see the olive oil pooling a little around the edges of the dish in the picture.) So I would suggest adding a little less oil and incorporating it gradually while whizzing the food processor. Mine was also not as creamy, I think because I bought some fresh aged feta at the farmer's market that was more Greek style. Look for French-style feta, the kind made from sheep's milk. Also, the recipe makes a good deal of vinaigrette, about 3/4 cup or so.

Feta vinaigrette.

Adapted from The Bitten Word, Food and Wine magazine, June 2009

2 medium-sized summer squash, any shape
1/2 tbsp olive oil
Salt
3 oz. feta, crumbled
2 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp water
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 cup olive oil (LN: As noted above, you might need less)
Salt to taste (LN: Omitted. My feta was pretty salty already)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wash the squash and chop off the ends. If you have a long thin squash, cut in half lengthwise, then chop into 1-inch half-moon pieces. If your squash is more round, cut into quarters. Toss squash with 1/2 tbsp olive oil and a little salt, then lay out flat on a cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, turning squash after 10 minutes.

While the squash is cooking, combine the feta, vinegar, water and oregano in the food processor. Pulse to combine. Through the spout on the top, gradually add the oil while the processor is whizzing until you have a dressing consistency.

Remove squash from oven after 20 minutes and let cool. Drizzle squash with feta vinaigrette and serve immediately.

With a grill: If you do have a grill, try grilling the squash instead. Wash and cut off ends, then slice the squash in half lengthwise. Grill for 5 to 8 minutes until tender, then cut into chunks and drizzle with vinaigrette.

Risotto with Spring Vegetables

Risotto with Spring Veggies.

In case I hadn't mentioned before, I love risotto. A normal person, after returning from the market with fresh peas, spring onion and mushrooms would make a stir fry. I make risotto. The funniest part about it is I never made risotto until I met CCO. I always thought it would be too hard. But he taught me the secret. It's not hard really. Just don't add more than 1/2 cup of broth at a time. That'll let it soak in the broth slowly, making it luscious and creamy.

Eat Rating: Awesome. My mouth is watering a little just thinking about it now.
Difficulty: Easy to Medium. Two, maybe three pots.

1 1/2 cups of arborio rice
4 to 5 cups mushroom broth
6 oz. fresh mushrooms, preferably shitake
1 quart English shell peas (or any other peas that require shelling)
2-3 spring onions
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine (LN: I used a Viognier because it was open in the fridge)
1/4-1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (optional)

Cut the bulbs off the spring onions, reserving the stalks. Dice the bulbs finely. Cut up the onion stalks, making sure to keep separate from the bulb. Dice the mushrooms, if necessary.

Shell the peas. Bring a pot of water to boil, then steam or boil the peas for about 5 minutes until they become a bright green color. Remove from heat and set aside.

Bring the mushroom broth to a boil, then reduce heat. In a medium-sized saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil, then add the bulbs from the spring onions and sautee until softened. Add the rice and wine, cooking for about 1 minute until wine has begun to absorb. Add about 1/2 of the heated broth and mushrooms. Cook the risotto until the rice has almost fully absorbed the broth. Add another 1/2 cup of broth and repeat, until all of the broth is incorporated. The rice should get puffy, the texture creamy like oatmeal. Once all of the broth is incorporate, mix in the Parmesan cheese and peas. Cook just until cheese is melted. Stir in the remaining onion from the green stalks. Serve immediately, preferrably with any leftover wine.

Honest ABE

Liz, this one's for you.

I've recently started reading the Atlantic's food blog. There are a lot of articles about how food is produced, the ethics of food, food trends, etc. But occasionally they also throw in a recipe. When I saw this post on an Asparagus Bacon and Egg Sandwich, I knew we had to make it, mostly because it reminded me of my friend, Liz.

Liz is one of my best friends. However, she hates to cook. She eats more salads than anyone I know. I'm half convinced this is because they require minimal assembly. Despite her hatred of cooking, she makes a mean fried egg sandwich. So Liz, this one's for you.

In keeping with my minimal reprinting of other blogger's recipes and to celebrate the return of the camera, I thought I would illustrate this recipe's preparation with photos.

A thought on preparation: I followed his recipe exactly. However, the cooking everything in bacon grease, I felt, overwhelms the other flavors. You can't really taste the asparagus, just the bacon grease. So, if I had to make it again, I think I'd just steam the asparagus, rather than cooking with the bacon.

Eat Rating: Good. Definitely for the bacon lover, though.
Difficulty: Easy to medium.

2 thickly cut slices of bread
Mayo
Bacon
Asparagus
1-2 eggs
Pepper, to taste

Slice your bread.

Cook your bacon.

Cook the asparagus in the leftover bacon grease.

Fry an egg (or two) in the grease.

Slather mayo on the bread.

Assemble.

Summer Squash with Garlic, Lemon and Pepper

Lemony slices of squash.

Apologies for the lack of posts. It has been very hectic the past two weeks, necessitating carryout. Also my camera wasn't working, so I missed out on pics of a great stir fry.

Anyway, it is officially the start of summer squash season. This weekend at our farmer's market they had huge crates of squash, so I picked out some for Meatless Monday. I got six since they were small, three zucchinis, three yellow squash and some other light green variety. The light green was actually my favorite. I found the yellow one sort of bland. Feel free to mix and match with various squashes for a variety of flavors or use all the same kind.

Mini zucchinis.

Thinking that these probably also would have been good in my stir fry, I sauteed them up with some garlic and lemon. I think some spices might have been a nice touch, but sadly I didn't have any fresh ones.

Eat Rating: Good. It wasn't great as a main course, mostly because it's all the same flavor and texture. But I definitely think I'd make again for an easy, simple side dish.
Difficulty: Super easy.

Non-zucchinis. My favorites.

Adapted from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

6 small squash or 3 large ones, washed and sliced
1-2 tbsp olive oil
2 clove garlic, minced
1 lemon, juiced
Ground black pepper, to taste

Heat the oil in a large sautee pan, then add the garlic. Cook for about 1 minute until garlic is soft. Add the squash, and cook for about 10 minutes until softened. Remove from heat. Squeeze the lemon juice over the cooked squash, tossing to cover. Add black pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Fried Chicken

Blurry photo of chicken and waffles, taken with my friend's IPhone.

Sometimes I do crazy things. Like invite a ton of people over to my house for chicken and waffles, thus causing me to spend an hour standing over a pan of boiling peanut oil. Yeah, crazy.

Last weekend, I had some people over for dinner. I had seen this recipe for pan-friend chicken in Cooking Light and, for whatever reason, I decided it would be a good idea for me to make that for dinner. It was good, but it took A LOT of work.

The Cooking Light recipe suggests putting the flour in a ziploc bag and shaking. I think this doesn't coat the chicken as well so even though it gives you dough fingers, I always hand coat in a bowl.

I also used Michelle Obama's fried chicken techniques. Ever since I worked on the book, I've always wanted to bust those out and then casually mention, "Oh yes. This is Michelle Obama's recipe." But it's actually just a pretty common technique. Flour the chicken once, then soak in milk (or buttermilk for a nice tang) then flour again. Her real secret, that I did not incorporate, involves crumbling Ritz crackers into your flour mixture. Perhaps we'll have to try that sometime.

Eat Rating: Delicous. The spices in the flour mix really kick it up a notch.
Difficulty: Hard. The peanut oil is finicky. Also it spits at you.

Adapted from Pan-Fried Chicken, Cooking Light Magazine, June 2009

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 bone-in chicken breast, skins removed
2 bone-in chicken thighs, skins removed
2 drumsticks, skins removed
2 cups milk or buttermilk
2 cups ice-water
1/2 cup peanut oil

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Set aside.

Place the ice water in a bowl and the milk in another bowl. Dunk a piece of chicken in the ice water, shake off and then drop in the flour bowl. Coat thoroughly. Drop in the milk mixture for a few seconds, then recoat in flour. Repeat with all the pieces of chicken. Don't throw away your flour mixture.

Place the chicken on a cookie sheet and cover with plastic. Refridgerate for 90 minutes.

In a large skillet, heat the peanut oil. You want the peanut oil to be 350 degrees. That's hot, but not spitting. If you have a thermometer, use it.

Line your cooling rack with brown paper bags. (If you use paper towel, they will make the coating soggy because they hold in the steam). I recommend using the ones you get from the grocery store. If you don't have those, you can use lunch bags, but make sure to add several layers.

Once the oil is hot, take a piece of chicken and coat it one last time in the flour. Then add to the hot oil. Cook for 25 minutes, turning the pieces every five minutes to ensure even cooking. Place cooked chicken on the brown paper to cool for at least 5 minutes. Serve immediately (over waffles, if you'd like).

Mushroom Ragout with Creamy Polenta

Creamy polenta goodness.

Back in the day, when we were first starting "Meatless Monday," I found a bunch of vegetarian recipes I wanted to try and made a list. One of those was a mushroom ragout with creamy polenta. I don't actually know what a ragout is and I promptly lost the recipe. I still wanted to try it though, so I Googled, got the basic gist and made it for dinner last week. Initially CCO was not on board because of previous bad experiences with polenta. I think this might have made him change his mind.

Eat Rating: Awesome. I think this is going to become an MM staple.
Difficulty: Easy. Two pans. A knife. Some mushrooms.

Adapted from "Creamy Polenta" at Simply Recipes, Wild Mushroom Ragout from Martha Stewart

Polenta
4 cups water
1 cup coarse cornmeal
4 tbsp butter
6 oz. (3/4 cup) cream cheese
Salt to taste

Mushroom Ragout
2 tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
3.5 oz. sliced button mushrooms
3.5 oz slice shitake mushrooms
3.5 oz porcini mushrooms (LN: You might have to buy these dry and reconstitute)
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1/2 cup red wine (LN: I used a Pinot Noir, but anything comparably full-bodied would work)
Fresh parsley, for garnish (optional)

In a medium saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Whisk in the cornmeal, reduce heat to a simmer and add in butter. Cook five minutes or until the mixture appears to be the consistency of thick grits. Turn off heat, cover and set aside.

In a skillet, sautee onions and garlic for 1-2 minutes until translucent. Add mushrooms and sautee until they have cooked down. Add the rosemary and cook for 1 minute until thoroughly mixed. Add the red wine and continue to cook until most of the wine has been incorporated. You want the mushrooms mixture to be the consistency of a thick sauce. Once it has reached the desired consistency, remove from heat.

Return to the grits and add the cream cheese, whisking thoroughly until fully incorporated.

Top a large spoonful of the polenta with the mushroom mix. Garnish with parsley if desired.

Orecchiette with Carmalized Onions, Sugar Snap Peas and Ricotta

Slightly creamy with peas (the good kind).

It is not yet June. There are, in fact, another two weeks before it becomes June. But last week the Bon Appetit that suggests what I should cook in June arrived in my mailbox. And though I probably should be cooking things from the May issue since, you know, it's still May and it features foods available in May, I am highly suggestible. So I started adding dishes from the June issue to the Meatless Monday list. Which is how we ended up with orecchiette with sugar snap peas even though it is May and even though sugar snap peas won't really be available till next month.

Orechiette is one of the little pastas, like orzo and conchigliette. The article that accompanied this recipe called it "ear shaped." I always think of it as shaped like a buttercup, which inevitably makes me think of the song. So orechiette and the Foundations, wierdly associated in my head. Anyway, it's a good pasta. So bookmark this page and come back to it in a few weeks when sugar snap peas are everywhere.

Eat Rating: Good. Not awesome. Slighly below awesome. But still good. Particularly because I love crisp snap peas.
Difficulty: Easy. The only weird instrument required is a zester, my favorite kitchen invention ever. If you don't have that, the finer holes on a grater would work.

From Bon Appetit Magazine, June 2009

2 tbsp olive oil
3 cups onion, chopped
1 cup (8 oz) sugar snap peas, cut into pieces
1/2 cup ricotta cheese (LN: They recommend whole milk, but we used fat-free)
Fresh basil leaves, torn
1 1/2 tsp lemon zest (About one lemon's worth)

In a large skillet, heat the oil and then saute the onions until lightly browned, about five minutes. Reduce heat to medium and saute the onions for another 15 minutes. You want them browned all the way through. While the onions are cooking, boil a pot of water for the pasta. Cook pasta according to the package directions (mine took about 8 minutes.)

Once the onions are thoroughly cooked, add the cut peas and saute until slightly tender, about 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat until pasta is cooked.

Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 cup of liquid. Add the pasta and 1/2 cup of the water to the onion/pea mixture and return the pan to medium heat. Cook for about 1 minute, then stir in the ricotta, basil and lemon zest. Stir until well-incorporated, adding additional pasta water if necessary.

Serve immediately.

All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up.

Halibut with Tomatoes and Basil

Roasted Halibut with couscous.

I've had a hankering for fish recently. My go-to fish is (predictably) salmon, mostly because I only like fish that is firm and flaky. But CCO was tired of my salmon obsession, so we bought a filet of halibut at the store this weekend.

Roasted in a foil packet with tomato, basil and oil, it was everything I dreamed of and more.

Eat Rating: Delicious.
Difficulty: Easy. Just a long strip of aluminum foil.

1 cup of basil leaves, loosely packed and then chopped
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp dry white wine (LN: We used Sauvignon Blanc)
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 1/2 lb filets of halibut

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Tear two long sheets of aluminum foil, about 6 inches long.

In a bowl, combined the chopped basile, grape tomatoes, garlic, wine and olive oil. Mix until all the ingredients are coated and add salt and pepper to taste. Wash the filets and pat dry with a paper towel. Place a filet in the middle of a sheet of aluminum foil. Top with half the tomato/basil mixture. Fold one end of the foil up over the fish, then fold the other side over so you have a roll with two open ends. Then fold each of the open ends over so all sides are closed. Repeat with the second filet. Place the packets on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

Unwrap and serve immediately.

Italian Meatballs

Tiny balls of buffalo meat.

The farmer's markets have returned! Which means I should probably use up the ground buffalo I bought last fall in order to buy fresh. Having exhausted CCO on my favorite recipe for ground meat, we decided to make meatballs instead.

Eat Rating: Good. The buffalo makes them nice and savory.
Difficulty: Easy. No fancy instruments, just get your hands dirty

Adapted from Christie's Corner, "Italian Meatballs"

1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup skim milk
1 lb ground buffalo
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup fresh oregano, finely chopped (LN: I subbed 1 tbsp dried oregano)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs and milk. Set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the buffalo, onion, garlic and egg with your hands until well mixed. Add the oregano and milk/bread, and mix again until combined through-out. Add the parmesan and nutmeg. Break off small clumps of meat and roll into balls. You can get up to 48 bite-sized meatballs. (I got more like 25)

Set out the meatballs on a cookie sheet and cook for 20 minutes.

Add the meatballs to the sauce and mix with pasta, or cool and then freeze to use later.

My hands.

Pesto!

Basil + pine nuts + garlic + oil

For Meatless Monday this week, I made CCO some pesto. It's apparently his favorite sauce. I am not an enormous fan, but we ate it on some of the leftover gnocchi from a few weeks ago and it was delicious.

Eat Rating: Awesome (if you like pesto, of course). Very basilly and nutty.
Difficulty: Easy. Requires either a blender/food processor or mortar and pestle (for the hard-core among you)

45 fresh basil leaves, about 1 cup packed
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2/3 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/2 cup walnuts

Combine the basil, garlic, salt and nuts in the bowl of a food processor (or blender) and pulse several times. You want the mixture to be a little mealy, don't overmix or the basil will turn to liquid. Through the feeder tube, gradually add the oil while pulsing. Pulse just until combined. Add to 1 lb of cooked pasta (gnocchi) and serve.

Spanish-style Pork Roast with Pan-Roasted Romesco Sauce

Juicy circles of pork.

Romesco is a tomato and red pepper sauce from Catalonia, Spain (or so Bon Appetit magazine tells me). All I know, is it looks real good in the picture. When my brother and sister-in-law came over for dinner last weekend, I made a pork loin roast with the sauce and, man, was it good. Bon Appetit tried to convince me that instead of buying pork at the store, I should buy something called heritage pork from one of these web sites. It was not exactly clear to me why buying pork on the Internet was better, so I just picked up a pork loin at the store. The recipe recommends you use a pork rib roast, but they were out at the store I visited. The pork loin worked just as well, same time roasting even. The recipe also calls for Marcona almonds - these are apparently roasted, salted Spanish almonds. My usual go-tos for random ingredients (Whole Foods, Trader Joes, random Hispanic grocery up the street) did not have them, so we subbed regular roasted almonds.

Eat Rating: Very good. Ours was a little too salty, so I recommend omitting the salt from the pork rub.
Difficulty: Medium. You need a food processor for the Romesco sauce. Also requires some random ingredients: Marcona almonds, smoked paprika and dry Sherry. I subbed for the almonds and sherry.

Adapted from Bon Appetit magazine, May 2009

2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp kosher salt (LN: I'd recommend omitting, otherwise the pork is really salty)
1 tbsp chopped fresh marjoram (LN: I used 1 tbsp dried)
1 tbsp smoked paprika (Sometimes labelled Spanish paprika)
2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 8-10 bone pork rib roast, or 6 lb pork loin
4 large roasted red pepper (about a 15 oz jar), drained
6 garlic cloves, sliced
1 ripe Roma tomato, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup Marcona almonds (or roasted, salted almonds)
1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 cup dry Sherry (LN: Don't use cooking Sherry. It has extra salt added and is generally gross. I couldn't find any at my neighborhood package store, so I subbed 1 cup Ruby Port)

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl and mix to form a paste. Rub the paste on the pork loin and let rest in the roasting pan for 1 hour. (You can do this up to a day ahead of time. Refridgerate and then let come to room temp for 1 hour before proceeding). Preheat oven to 425 and roast the pork for 15 minutes. While pork is roasting, combine the red pepper, 6 cloves of garlic and tomato in a pie dish and set aside. After 15 minutes, reduce temperature to 325 degrees. Place the dish of red peppers in the oven with the pork and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the red peppers from oven and cool.

Continue roasting pork for another 1 hour and 15 minutes (2 hours total) or until meat thermometer read 140 degrees. Remove from oven. Transfer pork to a cutting board and tent with foil. Reserve any drippings from the pan (LN: To be honest, there were practically no drippings from the pork loin, probably because it doesn't have as much fat as a rib roast. But keep any you do have.)

Chop the almonds and bread crumbs in the food processor until you finely ground. Add the red pepper mix and blend until you have a rough paste. Spoon any reserved drippings into a saucepan and add the 1 cup of Sherry/Port. Boil until reduced to about 1/4 cup, about 7 minutes. Let cool 1 minute, then add to the sauce in the food processor. Mix until smooth.

Cut the roast into slices, about 1/2 inch thick if pork loin or between bones if rib roast. Serve with sauce.

With Romesco sauce.

Baked Ziti with Walnut Sauce

Almost like an exotic mac n cheese.

I am a tomato and pasta kind of girl. I might consent to a creme sauce ala alfredo, but in general if it doesn't have tomatoes I wonder what's wrong with it. CCO, however, is an exotic sauce kind of guy. He's always trying to convince me to add strange things to our pasta like canned tuna or bacon (I'll admit that one was good). So when he said he wanted to make walnut sauce for pasta on meatless Monday, I balked a little. True I had a 10 lb bag of walnuts I bought at Costco on a whim, but still they didn't need to be used for pasta. He eventually wore me down and I consented to replacing tomato with nuts.

Eat Rating: Good, but not stellar. The walnut sauce is very subtle, you could almost miss it entirely. The dish overall ends up almost like an exotic type of mac n cheese, except it would need more cheese.
Difficulty: Medium. Requires a food processor or blender. Also a lot of cheese grating. Note: You can make the walnut sauce ahead of time, if desired.

Adapted from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

For the walnut sauce
1 slice of Italian bread
1/2 cup milk
1 cup walnuts
2 gloves of garlic
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

For the baked ziti
1 lb ziti
1/2 lb fresh mozzarella, grated or chopped
bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place the milk in a small bowl and soak the bread in it. In a food processor, combine the nuts, garlic, cheese and marjoram. Gradually add the oil while the machine is still running. The mixture will form a thick paste. Squeeze out the bread and add it to the mixture, combining until the bread is completely diced. Add the milk. If your sauce is still a little thick (ours was) add a few tbsp of water. You want the consistency to be about that of thick tomato sauce, not like tomato paste.

Walnut sauce

Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the ziti, about a minute or two less than the instructions on the box. (If you start this at the same time as the sauce, you won't have to wait as long).

Once the ziti is cooked, toss it with the sauce and half the mozzarella. Grease a baking dish and pour the ziti mix in. Top with the remaining mozzarella and bread crumbs. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until the top is browned.