Burgers, fries and salad

I made regular hamburgers for andy and me and a marinated portobello burger for Judy. (marinade--olive oil, salt pepper, fresh lemon juice and italian herbs). I served the burgers on toasted olive bread. The fries were spicy chipotle flavor. A good dinner!

Butternut Squash Soup, Onion Pie, Salad

Tonight we are having a soup night. It's been rainy and cold all day, and this is a cozy, autumnal combination. Click here for soup recipe. Click here for onion pie recipe.

Lasagna

Made another quickie lasagna --I was out helping my nutrabella friends sticker 2,000 bellybars, for sample giveaway. I think I ate my weight in "baby needs chocolate". YUM!

Mel's diner

Sunday night and we are going to go to family swim at the Y and then out for burgers afterward at Mel's.

Indian take out

From Pakwan, the cheapest and best Indian food in San Francisco. Their Bengan Bhartha (eggplant) is particularly good!

Soup, foccacia and spinach salad

I made a vegetarian version of my Ribollita--no proscuitto--and used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. I added about a 1/2 cup cabernet sauvignon to the soup which added some depth. We had it again the next day for lunch and it was even better. I love that my kids, who are very suspicious of vegetables, will eat this up!

This is a great, easy foccacia: buy Trader Joe's herbed pizza dough--bring to room temperature in the bag, spray a pizza pan or a baking sheet with cooking spray. Stretch out the dough on the pan, drizzle with olive oil and bake for 20 miutes at 400 degrees. An easy way to make a meal feel a bit more special.

Thanksgiving!

We will be 5 at the table, presuming the kids are in bed by the time we sit down (7:30ish?)

Here is the menu--scroll down to see the recipes.

Turkey (owen and erika are bringing!)
Stuffing (ditto)
gravy (ditto)
Baked Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
Mushroom Gravy
Company Spinach
Roasted Green Beans with manchego, spiced pecans and red onion
Mashed Potatoes
Chipotle mashed yams
Spoonbread

Apple Pie a la Mode
Pumpkin Pie with whipped cream (owen and Erika, again!)

Drinks:
Schramsburg sparkling wine (vintage details, later)
Sauvignon blanc (vintage dets. later)
beer (details to follow)

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
A great main dish for vegetarians on thanksgiving. Makes enough stuffing for 4 portobellos, or 2 with leftover stuffing.

3 Tbs. butter
1 small onion, minced
3 celery ribs, minced
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
1 tsp. dried Italian herbs
Handful dried cherries
6 dried apricots, chopped
Handful pine nuts
4 cups crusty, day old bread, cubed
¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese
4 portobello mushroom caps, cleaned with stems removed

Melt butter in stockpot. Add onion, celery, salt, pepper and herbs. Sautee until onion and celery are tender. Add ¼ cup water, cherries, apricots and pine nuts. Bring to a boil. Dump in bread and cheese and toss to coat. Remove pot from heat and cover for 5 minutes. Heap stuffing into caps and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until mushrooms are slightly browned and are cooked through (check by inserting a sharp knife into the side of mushroom to see if it is tender). Serve with pan juices or Mushroom Gravy.


Mushroom Gravy
A great sauce for vegetarians on thanksgiving.

3 Tbs. butter
1 small onion, minced
2 cups sliced cremini mushrooms
1 stalk fresh rosemary
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
3 Tbs. dry red wine
½ cup water
1 Tbs. cornstarch dissolved in 1 Tbs. water

Melt butter in stockpot. Add onion, mushrooms, salt, pepper and rosemary. Saute until tender. Add wine, bring to a boil and scrape to deglaze the pan. Reduce heat and let simmer for 5 minutes or so, until sauce has reduced. Add water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 10-15 minutes until sauce has reduced a bit more. Add cornstarch mixture and stir to heat through. Gravy will thicken quite rapidly, now. Can be refrigerated and heated later--add more water if gravy is too thick.


Company Spinach
5 10oz. boxes frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 8oz. brick cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
Salt and Pepper
1 cup breadcrumbs
½ stick butter, melted.
1 tsp. dried sage

Combine spinach, cream cheese, butter, salt and pepper in electric stand mixer with paddle attachment. Mix until combined. Spread into casserole dish. Combine crumbs, butter and sage in a bowl. Sprinkle over the top. Bake for 20-30 minutes until slightly browned on top and bubbly. Great to assemble in advance, refrigerate, and cook later.

Roasted Green Beans:
2 Packages tiny green beans (trader joe's) --about 4 cups?
1 small red onion, slivered
1 cup spicy pecans (trader joes)
1 cup shaved manchego cheese

Drizzle beans, onion and pecans with olive oil and roast in a 400 oven for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking. Take out of the oven and toss with a manchego and a few tablespoons of lemon vinagrette.

Mashed Potatoes
4 russet potatoes
½ stick butter
¼ cup whole milk
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 425. Wash and prick the potatoes with a fork. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Wearing an oven mitt, slice each potato lengthwise. Scoop out flesh. Reserve skins for Baked Potato Skins or discard. Mash potatoes with the rest of the ingredient. Serve immediately, or keep covered and warm in a low oven until serving.

Chipotle Mashed Yams
2 lbs. cubed peeled sweet potatoes or yams
¾ cup half and half
3 Tbs. softened butter
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice
1 chile in adobo sauce, chopped OR 1 Tbs. adobo paste plus ¼ tsp. dried chipotle pepper
2 Tbs. brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. cinnamon

Place potato or yam in saucepan, cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer 15 -20 minutes until tender. Drain and return to pan. Mash and add half and half, butter, lime juice, chile/adobo, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. If it is too chunky for your liking, puree in food processor. Serve immediately, or transfer to covered casserole and re-heat before serving.

Spoonbread
Preheat oven to 425. Grease small souffle dish. Combine in a bowl:
1 cup sour cream
1/2 stick butter, melted
1 cup cream-style canned corn
1 egg
1 package jiffy corn muffin mix

Pour into souffle dish and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 400 and bake 30 minutes more. Serve hot.


Apple Pie
Intimidated by making piecrust, I buy the prepared kind (trader joe’s) that you can unwrap and put in your own pie plate.

1 box piecrust (2 rounds)
5-6 fuji apples, peeled and sliced (about 6 level cups)
¾ cup sugar
3 Tbs. flour
1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
½ tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Thaw piecrust and pat into glass piepan. Combine apples through salt and stir in a large bowl. Let sit for 15 minutes. Dump into pie plate and wet edges of lower crust. Cover with upper crust and crimp edges, removing excess crust. Bake in preheated 425 oven on lowest rack for 30 minutes. At this point, slide pie plate onto a baking sheet, and reduce heat to 350, cooking for 35 minutes more. Let sit 3-4 hours.

Tri tip, orzo with pesto, olives, feta and pinenuts, salad

I roasted the tri tip, but I think next time I will grill it. The orzo is the following recipe--also great with grilled chicken!

Orzo:

1/4 cup prepared pesto
1 cup kalamata olives, chopped
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup feta cheese
splash red wine vinegar
1/2 pound hot cooked orzo

While orzo is cooking, assemble the rest of the ingredients in a serving bowl. Drain orzo and toss with pesto mixture. Adjust seasonings and serve.

White Chili, Salad

I love this white chili! Tonight I substituted half and half for the heavy cream. It didn't make a difference at all. Still yummy!

One dish Lasagna

So, lasagna can be waaaay too labor intensive for something that is basically a simple casserole. This version comes from all Trader Joe's ingredients--and you can assemble it in less than 10 minutes, directly INTO the pan you bake it in. No boiling the noodles, no sauteeing the veggies or making marinara sauce....comfort food that is easy to make!

1 Bottle TJ's Vodka Marinara Sauce (or other tomato-based pasta sauce)
1 package TJ's fresh, no boil, lasagna sheets (found in refrigerated pasta section)
1 large (4 cup?) bag TJ's quattro formaggio shredded cheese (or mozzarella)
1 16 oz. container fresh ricotta
2 Tbs. prepared pesto
2-3 fully cooked chicken sausages (I like the basil ones), sliced thinly, on the diagonal

Spray the bottom of a 9 x 12 pan with cooking spray. Dump in about a 1/2 cup sauce and spread all over the bottom of pan. Layer with lasagna noodles. Open the ricotta container and add the pesto to it, stirring. Add 1/2 cup shredded cheese and stir. Dump the ricotta mixture on the noodles, spreading evenly. Add a thin layer of sauce on top. Add another layer of noodles, sauce, a good helping of shredded cheese and then sausage slices. Add the last layer of noodles, sauce and then cheese.

At this point the lasagna can be covered and refrigerated until you are ready to cook it.

Preheat oven to 350. Bake lasagna uncovered for 45 minutes or until browned and bubbly. (if it seems like it is getting too browned too fast, cover loosely with foil. Let sit for ten minutes, and then serve.

Shrimp Scampi

Dinner for one, as my dinner pal has the flu. Tonight's menu: Sauteed shrimp in olive oil, garlic and the juice of one freshly picked meyer lemon. (thank you, teresa, and bon voyage!) I am going to heat up some leftover cheese raviolis to soak up the sauce and make a salad for the side...

Roasted Sausages, Roasted Green Beans, Spinach Salad

Finally, food tastes good again! Before the next member of the family falls to this insidious bug, I am cooking cooking cooking!

Combine some tiny green beans (trader joe's has a great little package of ones all ready to go) with slivered red onion and a handful of pinenuts. Drizzle with olive oil and roast in a 400 oven for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking. Take out of the oven and toss with a handful of crumbled feta cheese and a few tablespoons of lemon vinagrette.

When you put in the beans in, you can also put in the sausages (I like the fully cooked turkey or chicken kind)--I just prick them with a fork so they don't bubble up too much. We had the sausages with good buns, and lots of relish, sauerkraut and mustard.

The salad was baby spinach, peeled and sliced asian pear, and spicy pecans with lemon vinagrette.

Creamy Balsamic-Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Dippers

Am recovering from a bout with the stomach flu--hense the hiatus from saturday's post. Tonight we are having comfort food--I'll see what I can eat!

This is a tomato soup recipe I got from my dear friend Erika--originally from cooking light magazine.

Creamy Tomato-Balsamic Soup
Cooking the vegetables at the high temperature of 500° caramelizes their natural sugars and deepens their flavor; the liquid poured over them ensures they won't burn. Prepare the soup up to two days ahead; reheat over medium heat before serving.

11/2 cup less-sodium beef broth, divided
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 cup coarsely chopped onion
5 garlic cloves
2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes, drained
Cooking spray
1 1/2 cup half-and-half
Cracked black pepper (optional)

Preheat oven to 500°.
Combine 1/2 cup of broth, sugar, vinegar, and soy sauce in a small bowl. Place onion, garlic, and tomatoes in a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Pour broth mixture over tomato mixture. Bake at 500° for 50 minutes or until vegetables are lightly browned. Transfer to a cuisinart and pulse once or twice, so soup is still chunky. Place tomato mixture in a soup pot. Add remaining 1 cupbroth and half-and-half. Garnish with cracked black pepper, if desired.

My secret for grilled cheese (and I have been told by one nephew--a grilled cheese connosieur, that mine are the best!) Butter both sides of the bread with softened butter--use colby cheese in the middle, and cook in more butter (melted) over medium heat so the bread crisps and the cheese melts. Cut into thin rectangles serve immediately with hot soup. Paradise in every bite!!

Shipwreck

This is when you empty the refrigerator and eat all the leftovers. In my family, it has also been called "scootin' around the shore." I am not sure why the euphemisms for leftovers have such maritime connections?

Chinese Take out

No cooking tonight. Mu shu chicken, Sesame Beef and Szechuan Pork all from Eric's in Noe Valley.

Hamburgers, fries, salad

Tonight I am going to grill hamburgers, make frozen garlic fries (trader Joe's) for my dinner pal and make a big salad to go with it. Nothing special, but good.

Angel Hair with Cherry Tomatoes

Going out again tonight, so I left my dinner pal with pasta. The cherry tomatoes marinated all afternoon in oil, garlic, red pepper and basil. When he got home, all he had to do was boil the water, cook the pasta, toss with the tomatoes and garnish with some shredded parmesan. See recipe in October 7th post.

Butternut Squash Soup

I'm out at women's group tonight, but everyone else will be having this:

1/2 stick butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored and diced
2 Tbs. curry powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
4-6 cups chicken broth
4 cups peeled, cubed butternut squash

Melt butter in soup pot. Add onion and apple, saute until soft. Add curry powder, salt, pepper and stir to coat. Add chicken broth and squash, bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Simmer for 20-30 minutes, until squash cubes mash easily with the back of your spoon. Either using an immmersion blender or carefully tranferring liquid to food processor/blender in batches, puree until smooth. Return to pot, taste and correct seasonings. Serve with a hearty salad (maybe spinach and bacon?) and crusty bread. A great first course for an autumn meal, too.

Tri-Tip, Balsamic Baby Zucchini, Couscous with peppers, pine nuts and feta

A stellar dinner tonight! I baked a santa maria marinated tri tip from trader joe's based on the package recommendations--delicious!

The zucchini was a single package of baby zucchini --about 1/2 pound, cut in half lengthwise and sauteed with 1/2 cup of slivered onion in butter. Just before serving I drizzled balasamic vinegar into the saute pan and covered for about 5 minutes over low heat.

To make the couscous I sauteed minced onion and mini-peppers (about a 1/4 cup of each) in 2 Tbs. butter. I added 1 cup of chicken broth, brought the pot to a boil and added 1 cup couscous. Stir, and cover for 5 mintes. I then added 1/4 cup of crumbled feta and 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts and fluffed it all together.

A great combination!

Chef's night off!

We are heading to the pool this afternoon, followed by dinner at Mel's Diner. Burger and Fries? Chinese Chicken salad? Decisions, decisions.......

Papardelle with Proscuitto and Peas

Dinner party. To start we had cheese and crackers (two mini cheeses-- a camembert and a blue cheese from rouge et noir) and hummus and carrots. At the table we had papardelle with proscuitto and peas, salad with homemade croutons, parmesan and lemon vinagrette. For dessert we had vanilla gelato and passed a bowl of peanut butter cups and other halloween candy.

Here is the pasta recipe--quick and easy!
1/2 stick butter
3 small onions, chopped
1/2 lb. thinly sliced proscuitto, chopped
1 tsp. dried italian herbs
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
3/4 cup dry white wine
2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
1 cup shredded parmesan, plus more for passing
1 lb. wide, flat pasta, I like papardelle.

Heat a big pot of water for the pasta. Heat a large saute pan with the butter. Add onion, proscuitto, herbs and pepper. Saute until onion is soft --about 8 minutes. Add wine and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer until liquid is reduced to about 1/4 cup. Add cream. Bring a boil and then reduce heat and simmer until sauce thickens--about 15 minutes.

While sauce is thickening cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.

Once sauce is thick and pasta is cooked add the peas and parmesan to the sauce and stir. Dump the pasta into the sauce and toss to coat. Serve in warm bowls and pass the parmesan.

Leftovers, again

Soup from a few nights ago, plus olive bread from Acme bakery (my favorite in the bay area), and a green salad with shredded parmesan cheese and a lemony vinagrette. Glad it's friday night!

Mexican Dinner Salad

This is a favorite--lots of flavor and very hearty. Even good on a cold night--grill the chicken, slice it and serve it warm over the salad.

Dressing Ingredients:
2 seeded cored tomatoes
½ cup cilantro
2 cloves garlic
Juice of 1 lime
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup olive oil

Directions:
Whizz all dressing ingredients in the food processor.

Toss with:
6 cups tossed romaine lettuce
1 cored, seeded, chopped tomato
½ cup pitted kalamata olives
½ cup crumbled feta cheese
1 avocado, peeled and sliced
¼ cup diced red onion
¼ cup pumpkin seeds
2 grilled chicken breast halves, sliced.
optional: 1 cup peeled thinly sliced jicama

BBQ Beef

This recipe came froma colossal accident where I MAJORLY overcooked a recipe (from my sister's husband's mother, Jan) for Sirloin Tips. What resulted was a very caramelized, stringy beef that tasted great on toasted buns. You can serve it with coleslaw or a green salad, corn on the cob, etc. Tonight we are having it with a big green salad.

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 lb. beef tips (or stew beef) in cubes
1 Cup ketchup
juice of 1 lemon
3 Tbs. worcestershire
1 clove garlic, minced
shake pepper

Preheat oven to 400. Brown meat in oil in Dutch oven. Add the rest of ingredients, stir to coat. Cover and bake in the oven for 1 hour. Check it, and if it seems too dry, add some water. reduce heat to 300 and bake for 30 minutes more. At this point, meat should shred fairly easily as you stir it. Serve on toasted buns.

Sopa Caldosa

We, in this household, are still battling bad colds, and this seemed like just the thing. Chicken soup, but with a spicy, vinegar-y twist:

Ingredients:
Chorizo:
1 pound ground pork or turkey
2 Tbs. cider vinegar
1 Tbs. chili powder
1 1/2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. dried organo
1/4 tsp. salt
1 garlic clove, crushed

Combine all in ziploc bag and mash until meat is coated. Let marinate 8 hours or overnight.

Soup:
2 bacon slices, chopped
8 cups thinly sliced green cabbage
1 large onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
5 cups chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can chickpeas, drained

Saute bacon until crisp in dutch oven. Add cabbage and onion and garlic, saute ten minutes. Add broth, chickpeas and tomatoes, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. While soup is simmering, heat frying pan and cook chorizo until browned--about ten minutes. Ladle soup into bowls and top with 1/2 cup chorizo.