Still taking it easy, In the Wegman’s flyer they had an Easy Steamed Clams.
Bag of Littleneck Clams, 50 ct.
1 ½ C water
1 container of Wegman’s, Garlic Cheese Finishing Butter, divided
Quite frankly you could make your own garlic butter by adding garlic to butter. This is just a lazy summer meal and I am sure more than Wegman’s has these flavored butters.
1. Rinse the clams in cold water and discard any that are broken or open. If you put them in cold water with ice, any that may have opened in the ref., if they are alive, will close.
2. Bring water and half of the garlic butter to a boil.
3. Add clams carefully to the pan. I used a Chinese spider to get the clams out of the cold water into the large brazing pan. Cook on medium high for 8 minutes, covered. Discard any clams that do not open.
4. Add the remaining garlic butter. Toss and serve.
I served with a parmesan cheese French baguette to soak up the garlic butter or have with the cheese and tomatoes. I served mozzarella and tomatoes with pesto and additional tomatoes. I served the cheese as Jim is big on getting a lot of protein now. Today at lunch I learned that he did not realize that tofu is pure protein. Maybe I will not meet as much resistance from now on.
We had a Spanish dry white wine from the Vina Reboreda estate in the Ribeiro appellation of Spain. It was very good. We got this from the Oprah House, I hope they have more.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Perfect hot summer meal
Although this looks complicated, if you take it slow and in steps it was easy and just a great dog days of summer meal. It is called Citrusy Tofu and Rice Salad. Don’t turn off. Tofu tastes like what you add to it. And the lightness and citrusy taste was wonderful. I got this recipe from the Washington Post Wednesday food section. It serves 4 and they say 360 calories per severing. Jim ate for 2.
Dressing:
1T sesame seeds
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
2 T peanut oil
2 T unseasoned rice vinegar
2 T freshly squeezed orange juice
1t honey
1t tamari soy sauce
½ t freshly grated ginger
½ t toasted sesame oil
Salt
Pepper
I put all of the ingredients on the counter including the OJ, minced garlic and ginger so I would not forget anything. If you only have raw sesame seeds you need to toast them, but in the Oriental markets they have roasted seeds you can buy. So earlier in the day I made the dressing and put in a container in the refrigerator.
When ready for dinner, I did the rice first:
½ C Jasmine rice
½ C dry white wine
½ C water
Salt to taste
Put all in a small pan and bring to a boil for one minute. Cover and turn the heat to the lowest temperature and cook for about 18 to 20 minutes. Stir a couple of times and fluff when all the liquid is absorbed.
Next the salad:
7 oz of mixed salad greens
1 medium carrot peeled and grated
1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 scallions, white parts only, minced.
I mixed all this in a salad bowl.
Final Steps:
14 oz firm tofu, drained and cut into 3/4 “cubes
I used my flat bottom wok on top of the stove. Spray the wok with cooking spray and put the tofu in on medium heat. Add 2T of the dressing and cook for 12 minutes tossing every 2 minutes to evenly brown the cubes. Toward the end I had to turn the heat down and turned separately any cubes that were white on top.. At the end of the cooking time add the rice to the tofu off the heat and add one more T of the dressing. Toss to combine. Add the rest of the dressing to the greens and toss to combine. I then spread the greens on a platter and topped with the rice/tofu mixture.
This was so good and light for a very hot summer night.
Dressing:
1T sesame seeds
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
2 T peanut oil
2 T unseasoned rice vinegar
2 T freshly squeezed orange juice
1t honey
1t tamari soy sauce
½ t freshly grated ginger
½ t toasted sesame oil
Salt
Pepper
I put all of the ingredients on the counter including the OJ, minced garlic and ginger so I would not forget anything. If you only have raw sesame seeds you need to toast them, but in the Oriental markets they have roasted seeds you can buy. So earlier in the day I made the dressing and put in a container in the refrigerator.
When ready for dinner, I did the rice first:
½ C Jasmine rice
½ C dry white wine
½ C water
Salt to taste
Put all in a small pan and bring to a boil for one minute. Cover and turn the heat to the lowest temperature and cook for about 18 to 20 minutes. Stir a couple of times and fluff when all the liquid is absorbed.
Next the salad:
7 oz of mixed salad greens
1 medium carrot peeled and grated
1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 scallions, white parts only, minced.
I mixed all this in a salad bowl.
Final Steps:
14 oz firm tofu, drained and cut into 3/4 “cubes
I used my flat bottom wok on top of the stove. Spray the wok with cooking spray and put the tofu in on medium heat. Add 2T of the dressing and cook for 12 minutes tossing every 2 minutes to evenly brown the cubes. Toward the end I had to turn the heat down and turned separately any cubes that were white on top.. At the end of the cooking time add the rice to the tofu off the heat and add one more T of the dressing. Toss to combine. Add the rest of the dressing to the greens and toss to combine. I then spread the greens on a platter and topped with the rice/tofu mixture.
This was so good and light for a very hot summer night.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Pesto Pasta and Chicken
Remember Friday I made pesto. Tonight we grilled chicken and put pesto on it. I bought as an experiment some whole wheat gnocchi in the dried pasta section. I cooked them and put some of the pesto on them. They were better than I thought they would be. Not as good as making from scratch, but better than the "fresh" ones. I served a salad also. Jim believes we will sell this house so in the drinking down of the wine cellare we had a Spanish red wine. He can't remember where he got it, but it was quite good. Stay tuned, tomorrow is tofu night.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
A Smarter Caesar Salad
We were out to dinner on Friday and I made burgers on Saturday, so tonight we had salad. Salad was perfect for a 99 degree day. That is 99 in the shade. I got this salad from Easy Lving magazine. It is a rather loose recipe. They don’t give how much so I will just list the ingredients and you can judge how much. I can't tell you how much as I just looked at it and added what I thought we could eat.
Ingredients:
Romaine hearts, washed and chopped
Sardines, in water
Hard-boiled eggs
Parmesan croutons
EVOO, mustard and lemon juice for the dressing
I bought sardines in water and was surprised as to how few were in the can. I buy sardines in oil for Max all the time and this was about half the amount per can. So if you are serving 2, I’d buy 2 cans. I washed and chopped the lettuce. Squeezed ½ a lemon and squeezed in some Dijon mustard. To this I whisked in EVOO to emulsify. I added the store bought croutons to the salad and dressing and divided between two plates. Place the sardines and one hardboiled egg cut in half decoratively on top. I really like this. Jim said he did, but with the voice of “if I don’t agree, she may stop cooking.” He served a Stellina di Notte, pinot Grigio. It worked.
In the summer I watch all the reruns of the cooking shows. I always use freshly ground pepper. Tonight on Good Eats, Elton Brown said that pre ground pepper has Cole dust and wood something to stretch it. Ick! Jim and I are going to read the ingredients on the can the next visit to the grocery store.
Also I am not sure if I ever imparted my way to make perfect hard boiled eggs, doesn’t matter how many. Cover the eggs with cold water and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and cover the pan for 15 minutes. Immediately dump the water and fill the pan with cold water and lots of ice. Crack all around the shell in the cold water and peel. No green between the yolk and white ever.
Ingredients:
Romaine hearts, washed and chopped
Sardines, in water
Hard-boiled eggs
Parmesan croutons
EVOO, mustard and lemon juice for the dressing
I bought sardines in water and was surprised as to how few were in the can. I buy sardines in oil for Max all the time and this was about half the amount per can. So if you are serving 2, I’d buy 2 cans. I washed and chopped the lettuce. Squeezed ½ a lemon and squeezed in some Dijon mustard. To this I whisked in EVOO to emulsify. I added the store bought croutons to the salad and dressing and divided between two plates. Place the sardines and one hardboiled egg cut in half decoratively on top. I really like this. Jim said he did, but with the voice of “if I don’t agree, she may stop cooking.” He served a Stellina di Notte, pinot Grigio. It worked.
In the summer I watch all the reruns of the cooking shows. I always use freshly ground pepper. Tonight on Good Eats, Elton Brown said that pre ground pepper has Cole dust and wood something to stretch it. Ick! Jim and I are going to read the ingredients on the can the next visit to the grocery store.
Also I am not sure if I ever imparted my way to make perfect hard boiled eggs, doesn’t matter how many. Cover the eggs with cold water and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and cover the pan for 15 minutes. Immediately dump the water and fill the pan with cold water and lots of ice. Crack all around the shell in the cold water and peel. No green between the yolk and white ever.
Sunday Brunch
I finally arose around 10:00 this morning. Made up for Friday nights lack of sleep. Jim and Max got up earlier and read the paper. I had some tea and then made brunch around noon. We had Bread Cheese. This was a first for me. I had a coupon from Wegman’s. Supposedly the Fins though it looked like bread and gave it its name. If you read about it on line it says that it is either made out of reindeer milk or cow’s milk. Mine came from Wisconsin so I doubt a reindeer was used. I sautéed it in cubes per the label directions and served sprinkled with walnuts and honey. It had a sweet and savory flavor. Jim said that if he didn’t know he was eating cheese, he’d think it was bread. I served this with melon and blueberries and peppered bacon. I thought it was a good diversion from the usual breakfast. Reading on line there seem to be a great deal of ways to serve it. It was new to me.
Speaking of new to me, We went to a wonderful restaurant on Friday called Trummer's on Main in Clifton, VA. The restaurant is gourgous and the food was divine. But there were words on the menu that were food I had never heard of before. Everyone kept asking me and all they got was, never heard of it. So our waitress had a lot of explaining. I started with duck salad and had soft shelled crabs for my main course. I had room for dessert. I loved the portion sizes. On the way home when I mentioned this to Jim he just grunted. I think he was still hungry. They also do brunch. I'd go there again in a heartbeat. So sad to see Roger and Carole go to NC. Carole always knows the best restaurants to go to in the area.
Speaking of new to me, We went to a wonderful restaurant on Friday called Trummer's on Main in Clifton, VA. The restaurant is gourgous and the food was divine. But there were words on the menu that were food I had never heard of before. Everyone kept asking me and all they got was, never heard of it. So our waitress had a lot of explaining. I started with duck salad and had soft shelled crabs for my main course. I had room for dessert. I loved the portion sizes. On the way home when I mentioned this to Jim he just grunted. I think he was still hungry. They also do brunch. I'd go there again in a heartbeat. So sad to see Roger and Carole go to NC. Carole always knows the best restaurants to go to in the area.
Grilled Burgers and Salad for Saturday Night
Question: Why do we buy beef that is 99% fat free?
Answer: So we can put 1.5 T of butter in the middle before we grille it.
I was looking through the July Bon Appetite and came upon Grilled Burgers with Meyer Lemon Butter. You can use a regular lemon as here Meyer lemons are as rare as a cool day. Makes 4 burgers
Ingredients:
6 T room temperature butter
1T finely chopped fresh tarragon
1T finely chopped fresh basil
1 T finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
1t finely grated lemon peel
1 t lemon juice
11/2# ground beef
Vegetable oil for brushing
4 sesame seed hamburger buns
1 large tomato, thinly sliced crosswise
1 bunch arugula
Earlier in the day I set out the butter. I had the herbs in the garden so I picked, washed and dried. I put them all in the mini Cuisinart to finely chop. So the one T chopped was relative. I grated the lemon peel into the butter, added the chopped herbs and lemon juice. Mix well and place the butter in wax paper to roll up to chill, about 3” long. The recipe says freeze to firm. I just put in the refrigerator as I had plenty of time.
When ready to grille cut the butter in 4 equal pieces. Flatten the rounds to about 2” round disks. Divide the meat into 4 equal pieces. Using damp hands form the meat into a ball. Press 1 lemon butter round flatly into the middle and press the meat securely around it. Enclose the meat around the butter entirely or the butter will leak out while grilling. I was pretty successful. Jim said he only had one little flare up. Grille 4-6 minutes per side and heat the buns. Top with the tomato and arugula unless you are Jim, then use mustard. The lemon, herbs and yes, the butter really added to the beef.
I served this with spring greens to which I added sunflower seeds, blueberries and green pepper. I dressed lightly with Wegman’s Caesar dressing. Jim served Van Ruiten “Old Vine” Zinfandel, 2007. We got this from The Opera House Gourmet and are thinking of buying more.
Answer: So we can put 1.5 T of butter in the middle before we grille it.
I was looking through the July Bon Appetite and came upon Grilled Burgers with Meyer Lemon Butter. You can use a regular lemon as here Meyer lemons are as rare as a cool day. Makes 4 burgers
Ingredients:
6 T room temperature butter
1T finely chopped fresh tarragon
1T finely chopped fresh basil
1 T finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
1t finely grated lemon peel
1 t lemon juice
11/2# ground beef
Vegetable oil for brushing
4 sesame seed hamburger buns
1 large tomato, thinly sliced crosswise
1 bunch arugula
Earlier in the day I set out the butter. I had the herbs in the garden so I picked, washed and dried. I put them all in the mini Cuisinart to finely chop. So the one T chopped was relative. I grated the lemon peel into the butter, added the chopped herbs and lemon juice. Mix well and place the butter in wax paper to roll up to chill, about 3” long. The recipe says freeze to firm. I just put in the refrigerator as I had plenty of time.
When ready to grille cut the butter in 4 equal pieces. Flatten the rounds to about 2” round disks. Divide the meat into 4 equal pieces. Using damp hands form the meat into a ball. Press 1 lemon butter round flatly into the middle and press the meat securely around it. Enclose the meat around the butter entirely or the butter will leak out while grilling. I was pretty successful. Jim said he only had one little flare up. Grille 4-6 minutes per side and heat the buns. Top with the tomato and arugula unless you are Jim, then use mustard. The lemon, herbs and yes, the butter really added to the beef.
I served this with spring greens to which I added sunflower seeds, blueberries and green pepper. I dressed lightly with Wegman’s Caesar dressing. Jim served Van Ruiten “Old Vine” Zinfandel, 2007. We got this from The Opera House Gourmet and are thinking of buying more.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Homemade Pesto
Today we are going out to dinner to send off our longtime friends to their retirement in North Carolina. We’ve known Roger and Carole since married housing in Michigan State. Their daughter and most importantly their grandson live in North Carolina and thus the whole family is returning to their roots.
But I have lots of basil leaves in my garden so I made the Barefoot Contessa’s pesto
Ingredients:
¼ C walnuts
¼ C pignolis (pine nuts)
3 T chopped garlic (9 cloves)
5 C fresh basil leaves, packed
1t salt
1 t black pepper
1 ½ C EVOO
1 C grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Place the walnuts, pine nuts and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 30 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt and pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is finely pureed. Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute.
Serve, or store the pesto in the refrigerator or freezer with a thin film of olive oil on top.
But I have lots of basil leaves in my garden so I made the Barefoot Contessa’s pesto
Ingredients:
¼ C walnuts
¼ C pignolis (pine nuts)
3 T chopped garlic (9 cloves)
5 C fresh basil leaves, packed
1t salt
1 t black pepper
1 ½ C EVOO
1 C grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Place the walnuts, pine nuts and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 30 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt and pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is finely pureed. Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute.
Serve, or store the pesto in the refrigerator or freezer with a thin film of olive oil on top.
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