Spring Pasta

I saw Giada deLaurentis make some simple pasta dishes on the Today show a couple of days ago, and got inspired. She made one with penne, slices of strip steak, and arugula. Here is my riff on that recipe, using the fancy olive oil I brought back from San Francisco.

Penne with Tuna and Spring Vegetables

1 pound penne
1 pound tuna steak
1 pound asparagus
1 box cherry tomatoes
2 handfuls arugula
Stonehouse Persian Lime Olive Oil

Trim woody ends off of asparagus and chop into pieces about an inch long. Place the arugula in a large serving bowl. Generously oil and pepper the tuna steak. Saute or cook on the grill until done. Set aside. Throw the pasta in some boiling water. While the pasta cooks, in a medium saute pan, saute the asparagus in a generous among of Persian lime olive oil until it begins to soften. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook until they begin to burst. Dump the cooked pasta onto the arugula in the serving bowl and top with the sauteed asparagus and tomatoes. Toss well. Slice the tuna steak. Serve the pasta topped with a few slices of tuna.

Oysters!

We had many wonderful meals in San Francisco, including scallops with coconut-pineapple sauce at the Slanted Door, fried shrimp balls in Chinatown, and grilled fava beans at Zuni Cafe. But the standout was the fresh oysters at Hog Island Oyster Co. We stopped there in the late afternoon and sat outside, on the waterfront, with a view of the Bay Bridge and the ferries moving in and out. Ordered a mixture of the waitress's favorite varieties, sweetwaters and two others that I can't remember. The combination of the setting, the pristine shellfish, and a crisp savignon blanc was sublime.

Last-Minute Cake

Dinner prep was easy tonight (grilled chicken, rice, and salad), so I thought I'd throw something special together for dessert. Here is my adaptation of a recipe I found in this month's Oprah magazine. It's nice, because the cake is made from staples, and I usually have some fruit around to top it. I'm sure it would be good with plums or peaches, any kind of berry--even pineapple would be tasty.

Last-Minute Cake

1 1/4 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch salt
1 stick butter
10 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 egg
2 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
handful of blackberries
juice of half a lemon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add 6 tablespoons of the sugar and stir. Take the saucepan off of the heat and set it aside for a few minutes to cool. Meanwhile, butter a springform cake pan. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a small bowl. Slice the apples about 1/4-inch thick and toss with the lemon juice.

Add the egg to the butter/sugar mixture and stir well to combine. Add the dry ingredients and stir together. Turn the cake batter out into the greased pan. Top with the apples and blackberries, arranging prettily. Sprinkle remaining 4 tablespoons of sugar on top of the fruit. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the cake is done. Serve warm with ice cream for maximum deliciousness.

Nick Tries Sardines

Nick Tries Sardines
Originally uploaded by mickeynick.

We shopped at August Grocery again Friday after school, and Nick found this tin of sardines while I was in the back buying halibut. He wanted to try them, so they came home with us. Turns out Marshall likes them, too. Nick took particular delight in eating the bones. I just really dig the box.

Fun with Mini Marshmallows

Ribs!

It's the first warm Sunday this spring, so it's time to pretend it's summer and throw some ribs on the barbeque. I would have preferred starting these with a good spice rub and slow roasting them in the oven before taking them to the grill for a smoky finish. But, I figure we have all summer to experiment with spices and methods. And yes, those are Christmas lights still up on my balcony railing.

Lentils for Lent

Here's another recipe from Everyday Food; curried lentils with tomato sauce. Served over a hot bed of basmati rice, with a warm piece of naan on the side. Inexpensive, easy, and delicious. I used a new curry powder I got from the Spice House--it was wonderfully piquant.

Homemade Potstickers

Here's an easy weeknight recipe for homemade potstickers. I served these tonight with whole-wheat pasta with snow peas, carrots, red bell peppers and peanut sauce, a riff on a recipe from this month's Everyday Food.

Pretty Good Potstickers

1 package gyoza wrappers
1 lb ground pork
5 green onions, chopped
3 tablespoons Whole Foods soy ginger sauce
chicken stock

Mix the pork, green onions, and soy ginger sauce until well combined. Lay two gyoza wrappers on top of one another. Dip your finger in water and "paint" the edges of the wrapper. Fill the wrapper with a scant tablespoon full of the filling, and fold it into a triangle. Lay the potstickers on a parchment lined sheet pan. Refrigerate until ready to cook. Heat a large, nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat. Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Fill the pan with potstickers, making sure not to overlap. Let them fry for a couple of minutes until lightly browned on one side. Turn. Add 1/4-1/2 cup of chicken stock. Bring to a boil and cook until most of the stock evaporates and potstickers are brown and crunchy on one side. Serve.

Marvelous Mussels

Nick and I stopped at a new place on the way home from school, August Grocery on Division. A wonderful little market, with lots of fresh fish, quality ingredients, and a friendly staff. We picked up a couple of pounds of mussels, some parsley, shallots, and pasta, and I made moules mariniere for dinner. Yum. Nick has almost finished his plate. Next time, I want to try the skatewing.

Crabcakes

Crabcakes
Originally uploaded by mickeynick.

Skip and Barb recently visited from Buffalo, which occasioned the making of Skip's famous crabcakes. Originally from Maryland, Skip knows a thing or two about shellfish. His recipe features crab, a little Old Bay seasoning, crab, some fresh breadcrumbs, crab, a dollop of mayo, crab, some beaten egg, and crab.

We added a homemade remoulade sauce, some crisp cole slaw, and a green salad, and a delicious dinner was enjoyed by all.

Dessert for Breakfast

Sometimes, Foodiemom is just not in the mood to cook and you've just got to go out for breakfast. So it was the morning before Nick's karate performance test. To fortify him for two hours of punching and kicking, we went to the Bongo Room on Roosevelt for a hearty repast. He ordered the "half" portion of the S'mores Pancakes--two gigantic cakes, sprinkled with sliced bananas and slathered with chocolate sauce and creme anglais.

Retro App

On a cold winter Sunday afternoon, nothing beats a hot dip. I used to make this in the 80s, but stopped in a fit of health consciousness. Now, I've brought it back, for a limited time only.

Artichoke Dip

1 can artichoke hearts, chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
several dashes Tabasco

Mix ingredients together. Place in an ovenproof baking dish (I use ceramic soup bowls). Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until hot and bubbly. Serve with tortilla or pita chips.

Happy Breakfast

I may be the cook around here, but my dear husband is the master of presentation and food styling. Here is some pineapple and mini-muffins, dressed up for breakfast.

Pretty Good Pork

Hubby picked up some pork tenderloins at Costco last week, and I was looking for a flavorful way to prepare them that didn't involve the grill. Here's an sauce that uses fall flavors and is easy to prepare on a weeknight.

Pork Tenderloin with Cranberry Sauce

two pork tenderloins
olive oil
1 large shallot, finely diced
1 cup canned cranberry sauce
1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 400.

In a medium saucepan, saute the shallot in a tablespoon of olive oil until it is transparent. Add the cranberry sauce, the chicken stock, the balsamic vinegar, and the rosemary. Bring to a boil and stir to combine. Boil the sauce for 10-15 minutes until it gets syrupy and the stock reduces by half or so.

Meanwhile, liberally salt and pepper the tenderloin. Heat a large, ovenproof saute pan over medium-high heat until it is good and hot. Add a little olive oil and/or butter to the pan. Sear the tenderloin until nicely browned on all sides, 7-9 minutes. Put the saute pan in the oven to finish--it will take 10-15 minutes for the tenderloin to reach at least 155 degrees.

When the meat is done, take it out of the pan and set it aside on a cutting board. Pour the fat out of pan, being careful not to lose the drippings. Put the pan over medium-high heat and add the sauce to the pan. Heat to a boil and continue to reduce until it reaches a consistency you like. Just before serving, whisk a couple of tablespoons of butter into the sauce--this will further thicken and enrich it. Slice the pork and serve napped with the sauce.

Note: This would be even better with leftover homemade cranberry sauce instead of canned.

Sunday Beef Stew

One of my favorite Sunday suppers is beef stew. Stew lends itself well to long afternoons puttering in the kitchen and it makes the house smell wonderful. Here's my version.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a large pot (I always use my Le Creuset french oven), saute 2-3 pound beef stew meat in little olive oil until browned on all sides. Don't forget to season the meat with salt and pepper before searing it. Remove the meat to a plate and set aside. Add a little oil to the pot if necessary and saute 1 large, chopped onion, a few celery stalks, chopped, a couple of carrots, chopped, and 3-4 cloves of sliced garlic. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper and stir them about a bit until they begin to brown. Add 1/2-3/4 cup red wine (preferably left over from last night's libations) to the pot. Cook for a minute or so to burn off most of the alcohol. Return the meat to the pan. Toss in some fresh herbs (I like thyme, rosemary, bay leaves--whatever you have on hand in the fridge that smells good). Add enough beef stock to submerge the meat nearly all of the way--you don't really want the meat covered in broth. Cover the pot, put it in the oven, and forget about it for at least two and as many as four hours.

When you are starting to get hungry because your house smells so yummy, chop up some more carrots, some turnips, some parsnips, and some potatoes--whatever root vegetables you have on hand, even the "tired" looking ones. Pull the pot out of the oven and add your vegetables along with a 32-ounce can of chopped tomatoes. Stir it together gently; again, your solids should be just shy of being submerged in your liquids. If necessary, add a little more stock or water. Put the pot back in the oven and jack the heat up to 350 degrees. Cook for another hour or so, until the potatoes (and the other veggies) are just tender.

The last bit of magic. Just before serving, add a can of tomato paste and stir it thoroughly into the stew. This thickens the sauce and adds a bit of sweetness to the overall flavor profile. Taste for seasoning. Serve with a crusty bread and a big red wine.

Super Soup

Yesterday's Wall Street Journal featured a recipe for Greystone Gruyere Onion Soup, created by the executive chef at the Greystone Restaurant at the Napa Valley campus of the CIA. It's your basic onion soup, made extra special by topping it with a cheese souffle instead of the usual crouton with melted gruyere. A hearty dinner for a cold winter night.

Delicious Fish

Marshall bought a gigantic piece of salmon at Costco this weekend, so I decided to make something good with it. I pan-seared the fish, then poured a sauce of Dijon mustard and molasses over the top and finished it in the oven. For sides, I made risotto with porcini mushrooms that a friend had brought me from Italy, along with steamed green beans and corn. Happy, happy!

What's for Dinner

Quick, post-karate dinner tonight. The Jewel on Ashland has an excellent "international" aisle, which includes a number of products from Patak Foods. I threw together some chicken, broccoli, and spicy tomato sauce, served with coconut rice, and fried pappadams.

At dinner, we asked the children to guess what was flavoring the rice. Surprisingly, Maddy got it right away; Nick thought it was buttery, sweet, and salty all at the same time, but did not guess coconut.

Yeasty Adventure

Yesterday's food section in the New York Times featured a really interesting article on a new, "no-knead" method for homemade bread. The kids have been bugging me for awhile to make bread again, and I was intrigued by the instructions and inspired by the author's enthusiasm, so I thought I would give it a try.

It is a very wet dough, with a small (1/4 teaspoon) amount of yeast. I let it sit our all night to ferment (per the instructions), and got something looking like this.


Before I went to pick Nick up at school, I pulled the dough out of the bowl, folded it over onto itself a couple of times, and formed it into a ball. I set it in a well-floured towel, covered it, and left it to rise again for about two hours.


It is a very soft, sticky dough, and a little hard to work with. But, because you need not handle it much, that's not a big problem. When I got home from school, I put my heavy, cast iron soup pot in the oven and preheated it to 450 degrees. After about half an hour, I pulled the hot pot out of the oven and carefully rolled the dough into the pot. It stuck a little to the bottom of the towel (next time, I might put parchment paper on the bottom instead), but I managed to move it without deflating it too much. I covered the pot and baked it for half an hour. Then, I took the cover off and finished baking it for another 20 minutes.

The loaf was crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside, rivaling some of the best bread I have bought at Whole Foods. Really yummy, really easy. Definitely a keeper recipe.

Fish Cakes

Fish Cakes
Originally uploaded by mickeynick.

Tonight, I made fish cakes with tilapia, inspired by a recipe in the current issue of Everyday Food. Baked, flaked tilapia, combined with chopped parsley and bound with mayonnaise, horseradish, and eggs. Served with homemade tartar sauce and lemon wedges, rice, and green beans. Nick especially liked them.

Still in the oven: Indian Pudding (from another issue of Everyday Food), which is basically slowly baked half and half with molasses, cinnamon, and ginger.