Scootin' around the shore!

So, we are emptying our refrigerator and I made a dinner of the following

Minced Chicken for Lettuce Wraps from Trader Joe's
Potstickers
Stir fry vegetable with a sauce of hoisin, soy, rice wine vinegar and some bottled Bulgogi marinade.....

It was remarkably good, and I feel virtuous for having used up things we had just around!!

Pork Tenderloin with Red onion confit, Indian Potato Patties, Salad

So, we had a dear friend over for a special xmas feast: here was the menu with recipes:

Guacamole and chips

Roast Pork Tenderloin
Red Onion Confit
Indian Potato Patties
Spinach Salad with spiced pecans and parmesan cheese

Vanilla Ice cream with English Toffee Bits

Guacamole:
3 ripe avocadoes, peeled, pitted and mashed
3 Tbs. mayonnaise
1 Tbs. plain yogurt
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp. salt
dash franks hot sauce
handful chopped cilantro (3 Tbs?)
minced red onion (optional)

Combine all and correct seasonings.

Roast pork: Rub a tenderloin in oil, salt and pepper and roast in a 425 oven for 30 minutes. Let sit 10 miutes before carving.

Red onion confit
(about 2 cups)
Combine in a medium nonreactive saucepan over medium heat:
*3 1/2 large red onions, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices; slices halved crosswise
*1/3 cup dry red wine
*1/3 cup red wine vinegar
*1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
*1/4 cup mild honey
Cook stirring, until the sugar is dissolved; then simmer, stirring often, until the consistency of marmalade, about 45 minutes. Stir in:
*1 tablespoon orange juice
*1 tablespoon lemon juice
Continue to cook, stirring, until the juices are absorbed. Let cool, then cover and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks. Serve at room temperature.

Indian Potato Patties:
1.5 pounds peeled quartered russet potatoes
1 Tbs. canola oil
1 tsp. black mustard seeds
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. salt

Put potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Heat until boiling and simmer until soft. Mash potatoes, set aside.

In a small skillet, heat oil and cookmustard seeds until they start to pop. Add garlic and stir fry until fragrant. Add to potatoes with rest of ingredients.

Shape potato mixture into patties and brown in 1-2 Tbs. canola oil, each side about 2-3 minutes.
Keep in a warm oven until ready to serve.

Click here for salad dressing recipe

Click here for toffee recipe

Lentil soup

It is FREEZING here--so unusual. I had planned on grilling, but soup seemed like the only option!

Lentil Soup (this can adapted for vegetarians by omitting the sausage and using vegetable stock --it is very flavorful!)

Ingredients:
1/2 pound lentils (green or brown)
2 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large chopped onion
4 chicken sausages, cut into ½ inch pieces
3 carrots, peeled and diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 teaspoon dried italian herbs
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
6 cups chicken broth

Put lentils in a bowl and pour boiling water on top. Let sit for 15 minutes, drain and set aside.

Heat oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add onion, sausage, carrots and celery and sauté for 15 minutes. Add herbs, salt, sugar, paste and vinegar-- stir to coat vegetabless. Add broth and lentils; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 1 hour or more, stirring occasionally. Soup will get thicker the longer it simmers and will get thicker if refrigerated and reheated the next day.

We had this with ciabatta rolls, and a simple green salad. Perfect for a cold night!

Grilled Chicken, Caponata, Couscous, Simple Green Salad

A good dinner tonight!

Chicken was marinated in my standard (juice of one lemon, salt, pepper, dried italian herbs and olive oil) I have found that marinating for a half a day is really perfect. More than that and the chicken gets tough. I grilled on high for 7 minutes per side. Chicken was completely cooked but still juicy.

Caponata--based on a family recipe, but I was missing several ingredients and so I improvised:
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 large eggplant, peeled and diced
4 celery stalks, diced
12 large stuffed olives, chopped
1 tbs. sugar
3 tbs. tomato paste
1 cup water
4 Tbs. red wine vinegar
a handful of pinenuts
several torn basil leaves (maybe six or so)
salt and pepper to taste
Heat olive oil. Saute onion, eggplant and celery until soft. Add the rest of ingredients and simmer for 20 mins. or so until flavors combine. Season with salt and pepper.

Couscous
1 red pepper chopped
1 cup chopped onion
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup couscous/

Saute pepper and onion in olive oil until soft. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add couscous and stir. Remove from heat and cover. Let sit for 5 minutes and fluff with fork.

Turkey Burgers, greek salad

Burgers
1 lb. ground turkey
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
1 egg
1/4 cup chopped cooked spinach
1/4 cup roasted red pepper, chopped

Mix all together and form into patties. Grill.

I deliberately made these on the smallish side ( got 6 burgers from the quantity above) and served them on small toasted ciabatta rolls with

Feta-garlic aioli:
1 cup non-fat greek style yogurt (or reg. plain yogurt)
2 Tbs. light Mayonnaise (Best foods or Hellmans)
Juice of ½ lemon
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. dried oregano
½ cup crumbled feta cheese
1 clove garlic, peeled and halved
several dashes Frank's hot sauce

Usually I combine all in a bowl and then fish out the garlic halves before serving. This time I whizzed it all in the food processor --I made it an hour or so before serving and MAN was it garlicky---yummy, but I am regretting it a little. Right now I have that post garlic consumption massive dehydration feeling. And I am sure my breath stinks! Oh, but it was worth it!

Greek salad was romaine, chopped olives, feta and cucumbers with my lemon vinagrette.

Sauteed shrimp and Capellini

So, after a long weekend of socializing (and very little cooking) it was a nice change to eat in!

The shrimp was sauteed in butter and lemon. I tossed the cooked capellini with shredded parmesan cheese and marinated cherry tomatoes (halved and doused in olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, slivered basil and crushed red pepper.)

The presentation was nice: a my huge white pasta bowl: first the pile of capellini and the sauteed shrimp scattered on top. We had a yummy salad to round out the meal.

Pork Tenderloin, Risotto, Spinach Salad

Pork tenderloin:
1 pork tenderloin, room temperature
salt
pepper
olive oil

Drizzle about 1 Tbs. olive oil on tenderloin. Liberally shake with salt and pepper. Rub to coat. Grill on med-high heat until cooked to desired doneness. (we cook it for about 10 minutes per side). Let sit and slice.

Risotto--a gift from my upstairs neighbor, Joe, who wanted us to try it. It was peppery and delicious!

Salad-- baby spinach, shaved manchego cheese, a big dollop of "olive bruschetta" from TJ's and a handful of halved sugar plum (cherry) tomatoes. The dressing was a basil pesto vinagrette (we are out of dijon mustard--but this is really a good alternative!) A big dollop of pesto, red wine vinegar, salt pepper and olive oil. Shake to emulsify.

Hearty eggplant soup

A soup for people who don't like eggplant--my sister gave me the recipe and calls it hearty hamburger soup. We are having it with salad and popovers tonight.

Hearty Eggplant Soup

Ingredients:2 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. Butter
1 large chopped onion
1 Lb. ground beef
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
1 large eggplant, peeled and choppped
2 garlic cloves, minced or ¼ tsp garlic powder
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
28 oz. beef or chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ cup uncooked pasta
Parmesan for passing

Directions: Heat oil and butter in a soup pot. Add onion, cook until soft. Add hamburger. Brown. Drain fat. Add tomatoes, eggplant, garlic, carrots celery, broth, sugar, salt, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil; cover. Reduce heat and simmer 1 to 11/2 hours. Add pasta. Cover and cook 10-15 minutes. Serve hot.
Soup improves with standing.

Old English Toffee

I spent the morning making this. My mother, sisters and I make it every year to give as gifts. I love to serve it with vanilla ice cream for a delicious dessert. It takes some getting the hang of, but once you get over your fear of candymaking, it's a snap.

3 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup cold water
1 1/2 lbs (6 sticks) butter
3 Tbs. white karo syrup
1 1/2 cups slivered almonds
1 large package of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Grease two large cookie sheets. Toast the almonds in the oven. Chop 1/2 cup of toasted almonds for the topping.

Place sugar, water, butter and karo syrup in a large heavy pan. Cook, stirring constantly, until candy reaches a deep golden brown color and the hard crack phase-- 290 degrees (either use a candy thermometer or test the liquid by dropping a bit into a dish of cool water and seeing if becomes brittle.) Quickly add the toasted almonds and stir. Pour evenly into two greased cookie sheets. While mixture is still hot, sprinkle chocolate chips over entire surface. Wait a minute or two and then frost melted chips as you would frost a cake. Sprinkle chopped almonds on top, and allow to cool gradually. When totally cool, break into pieces.

Mediterranean Comfort Food

...that's how a friend described what I was making when we talked earlier tonight.

Grilled chicken (marinated in lime juice, salt, pepper, italian herbs, olive oil)

Greek salad with a pesto vinagrette (romaine, cucumbers, tiny sugar-plum tomatoes, feta, kalamata olives tossed with a dressing of 1 part red wine vinegar, 4 parts olive oil, salt, pepper and a huge dollop of prepared pesto)

Roasted red onions and red peppers in olive oil and balsamic vinegar (400 oven for 30 minutes)

Warmed, fresh pita bread

TJ's tziziki

Two dinner parties

A house full of guests, (5 adults and 4 kids in our small apartment!) -- lots of entertaining this weekend. I am going the easy, easy, easy route- using premade spreads for hors d'oeuvres and a bakery cake for dessert one night.

Last night we had 8 adults for dinner-- here was the menu:

Olive tapanade (TJ's)
sour cream spinach dip (TJ's)
crackers, carrot sticks, tortilla chips

One dish Lasagna
Salad of Romaine, parmesan cheese, olive bread croutons (recipe below) and lemon vinagrette

Assortment of chocolates
Vanilla ice cream
Strawberries, Lisa's way (slice a quantity of strawberries, sprinkle with a little sugar, stir and refrigerate for 30 minutes and you have lovely soupy berries to top ice cream!)

Olive bread croutons:
3-4 slices (3/4" thick) of a loaf of rustic bread (I like olive)
2 - 3 Tbs. olive oil

Cube the olive bread. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and cook over med-hi heat, turning the bread cubes as they crisp in the oil. When at least two sides are crisp, drain on paper towels and keep out of salad until just ready to serve. People just LOVE these croutons!!

Tonight we have 9 adults for dinner:
Rouge et Noir Sampler of cheeses (camembert, petit dejuner, blue)
Hummus
Sour cream spinach dip
crackers, carrots

Mortons' Chardonnay-marinated Tri tip (just take out of the package and cook in the oven!)
Brown rice pilaf (cooked with chicken broth, rosemary and onion)
Ditto Salad (same as last night, by request!)

Just Desserts Mocha Cream Cake

Off to go make more croutons!