Sounds like Thanksgiving

This is probably unusual, but I looked in the freezer today and realized that a half a turkey breast has been there for a long time.  Defrosted and used Barefoot Contessa, How Easy Is That cookbook as a guide. 

She has a turkey recipe called Accidental Turkey.  It is for a whole turkey and I had ½ breast.  She also starts 2-3 days before.  I started this morning. So I defrosted it and before cooking warmed the oven to 450 degrees.  This half had one of the manufactured pop ups,so I watched for it to pop. I adapted the recipe as follows.

Ingredients: 

Half a turkey breast

Thyme

Butter

Salt and pepper

Directions:

1.       Heat the oven to 450 degrees.

2.       Slather the breast half with butter and then cover with salt, pepper and thyme. 

3.       Place in the oven for 30 minutes. 

4.       Reduce the oven to 325 and roast the turkey for approximately 45 minutes depending on the weight. 

5.       Remove and cover the breast for 20 minutes before covering. 

Jim said the turkey was outstanding.  I baked a very large sweet potato that we shared.  While the turkey was resting I increased the oven to 400 degrees and roasted some asparagus and a sliced yellow pepper.  Jim served a very young Zinfandel, but decanted it and it was great.  I think this coming Turkey Day I will try this recipe with a whole turkey. 

I know not too creative, but remember I served Jim tofu the night the club was serving prime rib.  I had to do something to get back in his good graces. 

Veal Dumplings in Broth with Escarole

This is from Rachael Ray’s My Year in Meals cookbook.  This is also very healthy and quite low in calories.  Even though she says serves 4.  Jim could only eat 2 servings.  It was very easy except that escarole is foreign to our local markets.  I substituted kale.

Ingredients:

2 slices good-Quality white bread (I used rye)  

1 C whole milk (I used skim)

1 ¼ # ground veal (I had to grind it in the food processor)

Freshly grated nutmeg

Kosher salt and pepper

10-12 medium sage leaves, very thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, grated

1/3 C gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

1/3 C Parmigiano cheese

1 egg lightly beaten

EVOO for drizzling

8 C chicken stock

1 head escarole, cleaned and chopped into 2” pieces (I bought a bag of chopped kale)

4 oz. extra-wide egg noodles (I had 4 oz. shell pastas left over and used them)

Grated lemon zest (I forgot)

Directions:

1.       Soak the bread in the milk to soften. 

2.       Place the veal in a bowl and season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.  Then add the sage, garlic, cheeses, and egg. 

3.       Squeeze the liquid from the bread and crumble into fine crumbs between your fingertips as you add it to the veal mixture.  Drizzle in a little EVOO and mix well to combine. 

4.       Use a 2 oz. ice cream scoop and form about 20 meatballs.  Set them on a plate.

5.       In a large saucepan, combine the chicken stock and 3 C of water and bring to a low boil.

6.       Add the meatballs and cook for 10 minutes.  (As I was using pasta instead of egg noodles, I also put the pasta in at this time.)

7.       Wilt in the escarole (kale) for about 2 minutes. 

8.       RR cooks the noodles separately and adds to the mixture.  I did it all in one pot. 

This meal was very good.  We have leftovers and I am sure it will even be better the second time around.  

Quinoa Mushrooms and Peas with Miso

I got this recipe from a bulletin board at Whole Foods. You can serve it as a side dish or add Tofu as I did and make it a main course.  It says serves 4-6.

Ingredients:

1 C uncooked Quinoa

2 medium carrots, diced

2 C sliced white mushrooms

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

½ t ground ginger

4 t mellow white miso paste

¼ C frozen peas

½ C sliced green onions

Optional:

1 package firm tofu

Salt and pepper

Directions:

1.       Place quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer and rinse under cold water until water runs clear.  Drain quinoa and set aside.

2.       In a large skillet, bring ½ C water to a simmer over medium-high heat.  Add carrots and cook about 2 minutes.

3.       Add mushrooms, garlic and ginger.  Cover and cook until mushrooms are tender and have released their liquid.  Uncover and cook until most liquid has evaporated.

4.       Add quinoa and stir 1 minute. 

5.       Whisk miso into 2 C water and add to quinoa.  Bring to a simmer, then cover and continue simmering until quinoa is almost tender, about 12 minutes. 

6.       Add peas, cover and continue cooking until quinoa grains are tender and liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes more. 

7.       If you are adding the tofu, do so at the same time as the peas.  When all is warm, stir in the onions off the heat.  I had to add salt and pepper.  This was in the “Health starts here section of the whole foods area, so they probably shun salt. 

This was a very good dish and very good for you. 

Ginger-Lime Beef Stir-Fry

Last night we tried a recipe from Weight Watchers magazine.  I bought the magazine because it had this great looking Mac n cheese dish on the front.  I would rate this recipe as OK.  I did not make enough cellophane noodles.  I had not made them in a long time and forgot that unlike pasta that expands, this gets smaller.  I might have liked it better on a heaping bowl of noodles as shown in the photo.  It is a very quick dish to make. 

Ingredients:

1 T sugar

1 T freshly grated peeled fresh ginger

2 T fresh lime juice (1 had to use two, the recipe says one)

1 ½ t lower-sodium soy sauce

¼ t crushed red pepper

1 T canola oil

12 oz. boneless sirloin steak, cut into thin strips

½ C diagonally cut green onions

Directions:

1.       Combine the first five ingredients in a bowl. 

2.       Soak the noodles for 5 minutes and put water on to boil for the noodles. 

3.       Heat canola oil in a large nonstick skillet (I used my wok) over medium-high heat. 

4.       Add steak; cook 4 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently.  At the same time add the noodles to the boiling water as they need an additional 4 minutes.

5.       Remove the meat from the heat and drain the noodles.

6.       Place the noodles in a bowl and top with the beef.

7.       Drizzle evenly with ginger-lime mixture.

8.       Garnish with the onion.

This dish serves 3.

Tahini

I am always putting things in the freezer but rarely taking them out.  I decided to take that Chicken Shirataki noodle soup out tonight and it was very good.  I served it with the remaining quick bread that I did not like for breakfast.  It was better with this soup and it is gone.  Yesterday watching Trish Yearwood show on FoodTV I learned how to make Tahini if you can’t find it.  This is great as I have a ton of sesame seeds and hate buying Tahini in quantity to use a T.   

Ingredients:

¼ C vegetable oil

1 C toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

1.       Combine in a mini food processor and blend until smooth. 

How easy is that!

Brown Butter and Sausage Quick Bread

We still have company and today I am getting away with murder.  I made blueberry pancakes with my Williams Sonoma pumpkin pecan mix and cooked sausage that I buy in Lebanon.  I am still waiting for my order of Benton’s Bacon.  We started the day by touring Lebanon and the site we were going to build on.  My friends agreed that we made the right choice in moving into Nashville although they thought the property was beautiful.  Before leaving the area we showed them where Riba’s house was and then our golf club on the way to Barbara Mandrel’s house.  She no longer lives there, it is owned by the managers of the group Alabama among other groups and artists.    When not on tours it is used for guests and parties.  The tour guide said it might appear on the new show called Nashville. It is a very unique and the largest log house ever built.  It is another of my must sees if you come to Nashville.  They also have an excellent Italian restaurant on the site and we had dinner there.  It is my second time dining there and I was not disappointed.  They had a great musician singer entertaining.  We had dessert at home, finishing that chocolate torte and Jim served Valpolicella Classico, 1994 Amarone Boscaini from Vineti di Marano and so ended our Italian wine venture in Nashville. 

On our last morning together, I thought I would be serving a spectacular quick bread as they were leaving early to fly home.  It was ok, I guess.  I was disappointed.  I cut this recipe out of a Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  I served this with mixed fruit of cantaloupe, pineapple, blueberries, kiwi, and banana.  I squeezed a whole lemon and ½ lime over the fruit and mixed. 

Ingredients:

½ C unsalted butter

1 sprig fresh sage

8 oz. Italian sausage

1 T vegetable oil

1 ½ C all-purpose flour

1 t sugar

1 t baking powder

½ t salt

1 t ground black pepper

6 eggs, room temperature

2 t finely shredded lemon peel

3 oz. pecorino cheese, coarsely shredded

1/3 C golden raisins, roughly chopped

Directions:

1.       In a small saucepan melt butter over low heat.  Add sage.  Cook and stir, allowing the butter to brown to a nutty color.  Remove the sage.  Cool to room temperature.

2.       Remove sausage from casing, if necessary.  In a large skillet heat vegetable oil over medium heat.  Lightly sear the sausage, stirring and breaking it into small chunks as it cooks.  Cook through (but don’t allow it to sear too heavily).  Transfer to a plate.  Cool to room temperature.

3.       Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter an 8” cast-iron skillet; set aside.  In a medium bowl sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Stir in black pepper.

4.       In a large bowl whisk eggs and lemon peel about 2 minutes, or until frothy.  Stir in flour mixture.  Add brown butter.  Fold in sausage, pecorino, and raisins. 

5.       Pour batter into prepared skillet.  Bake about 30 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 

6.       Remove from pan; cool on a wire rack.  Serve warm. 

I warmed this up in the microwave, but it cooled off fast. 

Roasted Asparagus and Prosciutto Breakfast

I made the following breakfast from, you guessed it, the Barefoot Contessa’s Foolproof before we left to toured The Country Music Hall of Fame.  Fan or not this is a must see when visiting Nashville.  This recipe serves 3 so I increased everything as we were 4.  I also served William Sonoma croissants with this dish, juice and coffee or tea.

Ingredients:

1 # fresh asparagus

EVOO

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 large slices prosciutto

1 ½ T unsalted butter

3 extra large eggs

Hollandaise Sauce (it is in the book, but I use Knorr’s)

Directions:

1.       Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

2.       Cut off and discard the bottom 1/3 of the asparagus.  Depending on the thickness you can also peel about halfway up the stalk.  Plan of 5 or 6 stalks per person.    

3.       Place the asparagus in a single layer on a sheet pan, drizzle with EVOO, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

4.       Roast about 10 minutes, until the stalks are just tender.

5.       Meanwhile place the prosciutto in a single layer on another sheet pan and roast in the same oven for 5 minutes.  Mine took about 6 minutes.

6.       Melt the butter in a medium sauté pan over medium heat and wait until      the bubbles almost subside.  Crack the eggs into the skillet, keeping them separate, if possible.  Sprinkle the eggs with salt and pepper and cook over medium heat until the whites are cooked but the yolks are still runny.  Don’t turn them over.  (Our guests did not like runny yolks, which is my preference.  I’d say check this out before serving this dish,)

7.       Arrange the asparagus on 3 palates. 

8.       Place 2 slices of prosciutto on top of each pile, drizzle with hollandaise and place a fried egg on top of the prosciutto. 

9.       Serve hot. 

We had a late lunch at the museum and then returned home to work on our cooking trip to Italy.  We fed Max and then headed downtown to the Honky Tonks.  This is a venue I can do without, but I seem to be alone in this.  It is Friday night and Kid Rock is playing at the Bridgestone.  I thought we would never find a place to park.  The first establishment we went into was called Tootsies.  It was wall to wall people with two bands playing.  I could hardly wait to get out of there.  In case of fire, you are dead!  Next Jim wanted to go to the Wild Horse.  Luckily it had a 1 ½ hour wait.  We ended the evening at BB Kings.  Music was better and the whole place is clean and civilized.  The food was not half bad for those places.  Enough said. 

Valentine's Day Chocolate Meal

Today is Valentine’s Day.  We took our guests to the Loveless Café for breakfast.  It is a Nashville institution.  I think they enjoyed it very much.  We also toured Cheekwood which is the estate of the family responsible for Maxwell House Coffee.  They had an exhibit in the main house of Gold metal high school artists.  It was amazing.  After we did a driving tour of downtown before returning to the house for our all chocolate Valentine dinner.  This dinner was developed by Michael Chiarello.  I first made this dinner in 2004 for just Jim and me.  I knew it was worth repeating especially when your visitor is a chocoholic.  As it is a large dinner, I set out olives and nuts.  Jim served a Lodi Zinfandel, 2010 called Brazin. 

First Course:  Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter and Bittersweet Chocolate 

Ingredients:

Purchased butternut Squash Ravioli (I used 2 8oz. packages of fresh ravioli for 4 people)

4 T sweet butter

8 fresh sage leaves

2 oz parmesan, for grating

1 oz bittersweet chocolate, for grating

Directions:

1.       Cook the ravioli in boiling salted water until tender about 2 minutes.  Reserve 2 oz of cooking water.

2.       While the raviolis are cooking, in a 10” skillet, melt the butter with the sage and a pinch of salt until it foams and becomes light brown. 

3.       On medium heat toss the cooked raviolis in the sage butter then transfer to a serving platter. 

4.       Add 2 oz of cooking water to the pan and swirl with any residual butter.

5.       Spoon the butter sauce over the raviolis, and then finish with a generous grating of Parmesan and bittersweet chocolate. 

In the original recipe Michael makes his own butternut filling for the ravioli.  I have done that in the past, but if you have done it and can find good quality, I say use it.

Main Course: Seared Pork Tenderloin with Cocoa Spice Rub and Mixed Green Salad with Whole Citrus Vinaigrette and Cocoa Nibs 

Ingredients:  for the Pork Tenderloin

1 T whole white peppercorns (I used black)

1 T whole coriander

4 ½ T ground cinnamon

2 t ground nutmeg

1 t ground cloves

3 ½ T unsweetened Cocoa

4 T sea salt

2 (2#) boneless pork tenderloin

2 T EVOO

Directions:

I made the rub and coated the tenderloins before my guests arrived.  I placed them in a Pyrex pan covered with plastic wrap and placed them in the refrigerator.

1.       In a medium saucepan over medium heat, toast the peppercorns and coriander seeds until they begin to pop.  Remove from heat and grind to fine powder in a spice mill.  Mix the ground pepper and coriander with remaining spices, cocoa and salt. 

2.       Trim the pork tenderloins of fat and silver skin.  Rub with a generous amount of cocoa spice rub.  (After this I refrigerated as described above.  Before cooking, remove and let come to room temperature.)(I freeze the extra cocoa spice rub for future use.)

3.       Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

4.       Heat the EVOO in a large sauté pan over medium high heat until hot but not smoking. 

5.       Sear each tenderloin on all sides until a rich brown color, about 2 minutes on each side.

6.       Place the skillet with the tenderloins in the oven for about 10 minutes or until cooked through. 

7.       Let the tenderloins rest out of the oven for 10 minutes covered with aluminum foil before carving.  

Ingredients: for the salad

2 lemons

½ navel orange or 1 small orange

1 shallot

1 ½ C EVOO

1 t gray salt

½ t ground pepper

8 C mixed young green lettuces

Coco Nibs (I prefer Scharffenberger brand, but tried Trader Joes as I did not have to order. I still prefer Scharffenberger.) 

Directions:  I made the dressing ahead of time.

1.       Juice the lemons, orange, and shallot in a juice extractor. 

2.       Put the juices in a bowl and whisk in the EVOO in a slow stream to form an emulsion. (I did this in the food processor.)  Cover and it can be refrigerated up to 3 days.  A full recipe is 2 cups, I cut in half.

3.       Just before serving, place the greens in a salad bowl, add about ½ C vinaigrette and toss well.  We also cut up an avocado and added to the greens.  Finish with a sprinkling of cocoa nibs to taste. 

This dressing is a pain to make, but worth the effort.  The pork was absolutely delicious.  I know what most are thinking chocolate rub, but it is really good.  We started the main course with a 1994 Barolo from Viberti Vineyards.  I really wanted to serve a bottle of the Gaja that I bought Jim for Christmas.  He talked the wine merchant.  To serve this early he recommended that Jim open the bottle two days ahead and set up in the wine refrigerator.  Before serving he was directed to decant the bottle.  The wine is a 2009 Sori San Lorenzo.  It will age very nicely and is a long lived wine. 

For dessert I made the Tiramisu Bon Bons that went with the dinner.  When I made the dinner in 2004, I did not make this dessert.  This is very good, but the directions did not quite work.

Ingredients:   

1 tray store-bought tiramisu

½ # bittersweet chocolate cut into small pieces

Directions:

1.       Using a small ice cream scoop, spoon out balls from the tray of tiramisu to create the bon bons. 

2.       Freeze the bon bons on a cookie sheet covered in parchment or waxed paper overnight. 

3.       Melt the chocolate in a double boiler until smooth and glossy.  Dip the frozen tiramisu bon bons in melted chocolate until covered on all sides.  (This resulted in it immediately falling apart.  So after fishing out the first one and getting it back on the tray, I spooned the chocolate on the remaining bon bons, rolling them slightly to get chocolate all around them.  They looked homemade.

4.       Return to the freezer and let them thaw for about 15 minutes before serving. 

These are very good, but I would have liked them to look better.  We ate them all. 

Fig & Fennel Caponata with Spaghetti and Meatballs

We have company arriving today, by plane.  That is scary for planning dinner as there is the “relatively on time factor.”  So I decided to make a spaghetti and meatballs recipe that I saw on FoodTV.  Ted Allen made the dish, but he credited Lidia Bastianich for teaching him how to make it.  Yes, I am serving spaghetti and meatballs to guests.  Of course, these are probably the only guests that I can do this for.  My friends love Italian food.  In fact we are all going to Italy together this year.  My friend Carole and I are taking cooking lessons for a week in Italy and then we will tour.  The guys would not sign up for cooking so they can either come later or find some wineries to visit.  Spaghetti with sauce has always been a favorite of mine.  Two of my father’s sisters married Italians.  They would both serve spaghetti and meatballs when you visited them.  We did not get this kind of cooking at our house and I loved it.  Two of their children would not eat sauce on their spaghetti.  I thought they were crazy.  As I said, I was in heaven.  Thank god for company as Jim will not be able to pout through the meal.  He is in heaven here in “Meat and Three” country.   

Ingredients:

Meatballs:

1# ground beef

½# ground pork

½ C freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish

¼ C fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped

1/3C fresh breadcrumbs

1/3 C chicken stock

1 ½ t kosher salt

½ t cayenne pepper

2 large eggs

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 T EVOO

Gravy:

2 T EVOO

2 ribs celery, chopped

2 medium yellow onions, chopped

1 large carrot, chopped

3 cloves, garlic, chopped

2 bay leaves

1 T tomato paste

1 (28 oz.) can chopped tomatoes

3 quarts chicken stock

2-3 sprigs fresh thyme, tied together with cotton string

½ C fresh basil leaves, chopped

1 # spaghetti

Salt

Directions:

1.       In a large bowl, using your hands mix together the beef, pork, Parmesan, parsley, breadcrumbs, stock, salt, cayenne, eggs, garlic and onions until evenly combined.  Be careful not to over work the mixture; you don’t want to compact the meat too much or the meatballs with be tough.  I used a medium ice-cream scoop and formed 26 meatballs about the size of a golf ball. 

2.       Heat the EVOO in a large Dutch oven over medium heat.  Gently add the meatballs and brown thoroughly on all sides; this will take about 15 minutes.

3.       Transfer to a plate, and refrigerate until you are ready to cook them in the gravy. 

4.       In the same pan, heat the EVOO over medium heat and add the celery, onions, and carrot.  Cook stirring occasionally, until soft, about 8 minutes. 

5.       Add the garlic and bay leaves and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. 

6.       Push the veggies to one side and add the tomato paste, toasting it on the bottom of the pan for 1 minute.  Stir into the vegetables.

7.       Add the tomatoes, chicken stock and thyme, and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer very gently, partially covered until thick and significantly reduced, about 1 hour (Mine was 1 1/2hour before I thought it was right.)

8.       Carefully add the meatballs, a few at a time, and simmer, stirring very gently now and then for about 40 minutes. 

9.       Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. 

10.   Add most of the basil and stir, reserving a little to sprinkle over the top for serving.

11.   Cook the spaghetti in a pot of salted boiling water until al dente; follow the directions on the package.  I am using whole wheat pasta. 

12.   To serve, put the pasta into a large serving bowl. Immediately ladle sauce on top and then the meatballs.  Garnish with chopped fresh basil and freshly grated Parmesan.

Actually I let my guests decide how much cheese they want. 

For our appetizer I have a Fig and Fennel Caponata which is a Sicilian condiment.  I used to make this a lot when I first started cooking in large quantities with eggplant and raisins and would can it for company.  I love it.  Jim, well he has no ethnic blood.  Spaghetti is a reach for him.  This recipe is interesting as it uses figs and fennel.  They are two of my favorites.  This is from the Barefoot Contessa again. 

Ingredients: 

3 T EVOO

1 ½ C diced red onion

2 C diced fennel

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/3 C sherry vinegar

1 C canned crushed tomatoes in puree

8 dried Calmyrna figs, stems removed and ¼” dice

2 ½ T light brown sugar, lightly packed

2 T drained capers

½ C green olives, pitted and coarsely chopped

1 t grated orange zest

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/3 C freshly squeezed orange juice

3 T chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Grilled bread for serving

Directions:

1.       Heat the EVOO over medium heat in a medium sauté pan. 

2.       Add the onions and fennel and sauté for 7-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. 

3.       Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.

4.       Stir in the vinegar, tomatoes, figs and brown sugar, stirring to coat everything with the tomatoes. 

5.       Stir in the capers, olives, orange zest, 1 ½ t salt and ½ t pepper.

6.       Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, and simmer for 8-10 minutes, until thickened.

7.       Stir in orange juice and parsley. 

8.       Taste for seasonings; the caponata should be highly seasoned.

9.       Serve the caponata warm or at room temperature with slices of grilled bread. 

One orange gives you both the juice and the zest.  This was very easy to make and I think very tasty.  We will see what my guests think.

Remember that great flourless chocolate cake I made last Saturday.  Well, I froze it and defrosted it today.  Carole is a chocoholic.  Well, no one really enjoyed the Caponata as much as I did.  The spaghetti was very good.  Jim wore his dinner.  Everyone enjoyed the chocolate cake.   
Jim served all Italian wines with dinner.  All wines tonight were from Tuscany.  The wine served with the appetizer was a 1988 Nardi, Brunello Di Montalcino.  For dinner we started with a Montegiachi Chianti Classico, 1995.  The second wine was another Brunello di Montalcino, 2001 called Aglieta.