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In my opinion (which you get a lot of here on my blog) I have found nothing sexier then simplicity. When you can take something or someone and just enjoy them as they are. The most beautiful things on earth are those that require no particular accoutrement, for example a beautiful sunset or a newborn baby. True beauty is natural, uncomplicated, and done with ease. Life is incredibly short and it seems we manimals have a particular gift for over complication, in relationships, in appearance, even in food. From experience the best dishes I have made usually have the least (usually 5 or less), but best ingredients I can find.
Continue reading “Broiled ruby red grapefruit with vanilla bean or a discussion on simplicity.”
Vegan IPA beer cheese
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I love browsing the recipes and ideas that others have to share. I was doing some reading on food52 and came across this recipe for vegan cheese and thought it sounded really easy and good. It also made me think of one of my favorite things at the bar I used to work at in Ogden, their Stout ale dip is delicious!
Continue reading “Vegan IPA beer cheese”
Lamb Biftekia with Anchovy, sundried tomato and mint sauce
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Biftekia is basically the Greek word for burger. After I graduated high school in 1999 my parents took myself and my sisters to Greece and I ate this several times, usually made with ground lamb, these were often served on skewers and served with different condiments. I decided to try my hand at my own version of these, which are similar to meatballs or meatloaf, I used a roll of delicious Papa George’s 100% American ground lamb and combined it with a few other seasonings. For my sauce I used another flavor packed pantry item….ANCHOVIES! Packed in olive oil and salt these lil’ babies can add umami flavor and depth to many dishes. Anchovies are not just for pizza, they are a great way to add the salt element to a dish, and I used mint, lemon, capers and sundried tomatoes to round out the flavors and served with the lamb biftekia it balanced out perfectly. Similar to the use of the condiment Nuoc Cham in Vietnamese cooking, this condiment can be used with a variety of roasted meat, veggies, or even as a topping for pasta.
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Anchovy, sundried tomato and mint sauce:
3 olive oil packed anchovy fillets
2 Tablespoons chopped, oil packed sundried tomatoes
1 clove garlic
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons Bragg’s liquid aminos (you can use soy, I would suggest temari for this)
¼ cup fresh mint
¼ cup fresh curly parsley
Juice of one lemon
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons hot water
2 teaspoons capers
I like to use a mortar and pestle for this to keep a more rustic texture, you can you a blender or food processor but just pulse a few times. Combine anchovies, garlic, sugar, sundried tomatoes, mint and parsley, muddle until it forms a thick paste, add the rest of ingredients, and stir to combine. Can be made up to a week in advance and kept in the fridge.
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For lamb biftekia kabobs:
3/4 lb ground lamb, I used one roll of Papa George’s ground lamb
1/4 cup minced onion
1 clove minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
a pinch of red pepper flakes
1 Tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
6 bamboo skewers
In a medium bowl mix meat with other ingredients, portion into six logs. Wrap the meat mixture around skewers. Grill 4 minutes flip, cook another 3 minutes or so until firm. I used my indoor grill pan, you can also do these under a broiler, just watch closely to not over cook. Serve with anchovy sauce.
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Simple 7 ingredient Pico de gallo
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For the last week and a half I have been in my hometown of Ogden, UT. The visit wasn’t planned and was a result of a family emergency. The worst of it has now passed and with a ton of support of family and friends we made it through and are hoping for a full recovery for my Dad. When I was here last summer I posted a recipe for tacos made by my nephew’s girlfriend Felisha. We decided to make them again for dinner and realized I never blogged her outstanding, but simple pico recipe, which is quite essential for the full experience. I went to my favorite Mexican market Rancho Market in Ogden, and as usual the produce was the best around, the roma tomatoes especially ripe and beautiful considering its February and more then a few months out of peak tomato season, the beef is ground fresh to order and the experience is one that shouldn’t be missed if you enjoy a friendly small town shopping experience, if you live in O-town and you haven’t gone there you are to say the least missing out on a rare gem in our tiny ski town.
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We made enough for a crowd, so I am blogging that amount, if you want to half everything to make less you can, but it does stay quite nicely in a sealed container in the fridge for a week or more.
Ingredients:
2 lbs Roma tomatoes, stems removed and diced small
1 medium red onion, diced small
3 Jalapenos, diced small, with seeds, now the amount you like depends on how spicy you like it, ours was spicy but not hell fire by any means, choose your own adventure
juice from 3 juicy limes, think ceviche level, in fact you could add fish and make this into an easy ceviche!
2-3 cloves garlic, minced or smashed, Felisha says a teaspoon of garlic powder works fine if you don’t have fresh
one bunch cilantro, stems and all chopped
1/2 Tablespoon salt
Method:
Combine in a bowl! Put on everything and anything!
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This is one of those recipes that won’t require a recipe and you will find that you will no longer need to buy any jarred salsa ever! I must say the better the produce the better the product will be, find your own ethnic market in your town and talk to your grocer, butcher, and check out person get to know them and show interest in what they do and tell them you appreciate them…they will let you know about all the best stuff!
For me cooking is a way to show love, and when times get rough sometimes the best you can do is make something to share with your loved ones and to have a meal together. Tell your family and friends you love them and be available when others are experiencing hard times…bumps in the road are essential to living life and with every trial that comes my way I learn from and become a bit more understanding of others….you never know what someone is going through till you walk a mile in their shoes.
Sage Sausage and Leek stuffed mushrooms
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Awww the 80’s what a magical time for appetizers! When I was a kid sausage and boxed stuffing mix, stuffed mushrooms were all the rage. Some of the recipes I was reading were rather funny, cook sausage, add cream cheese, add eggs, add more fatty stuff to your already fatty bowl of fattitude and stuff some shrooms…haha! So I set out to make a version with less steps, less fat, and more visual appeal. I also wanted to use some Papa George’s Sage infused sausage and figured some leek would pair well with the other ingredients. I was pleased with the result and was also pleased to revive a nostalgic recipe without the processed ingredient list.
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You will need:
1 8 oz package of mushrooms, I used plain old “button” shrooms, but crimini would be good.
Clean with a damp cloth, remove stems, and use a small knife or spoon to dig out some of the innards to leave room for maximum stuffage….not a word…yet! Dice up the innards and stems to put in stuffing.
12 oz roll Papa Georges Sage flavored sausage
1 tsp soy sauce
1 small leek, tough outer leaves removed (save those for stock), cleaned well and sliced.
2 T olive oil
2 T butter
3 T dry white wine
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 T fresh chopped, parsley
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T panko breadcrumbs
2 T grated Parmesan
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Place mushroom caps in a medium sized casserole dish, sheet, or cake pan, drizzle with 1 T olive oil, and place 1 T butter cut into chunks next to caps. Over medium heat, in a skillet place rest of olive oil, stem and mushroom innards, leeks, and garlic, saute until leeks are tender about 5 minutes, add soy and wine, cook another minute. Remove from heat, add raw sausage, stir well to combine. Stuff each cap generously with filling. Place stuffed mushrooms in oven cook 20 minutes, melt other 1 T of butter, add panko and parm, remove mushrooms from oven add panko topping, return to oven cook another 15 or 20 minutes until golden. Serve at your next dinner party or anytime you wanna relive the 80’s!
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Pork sausage Ramen with collard greens
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So I have been loving the “Momofuku” cookbook, but not having a brigade of cooks available to perform some of the tasks necessary, not to mention the time it takes to prep, and a two and a half year old, tiny tyrant ransacking the joint some recipes are not always plausible for the home cook although not impossible, maybe when my kids are in college in 15 years…haha! The book is totally inspiring though and I love his unique techniques, storytelling, and of course obsession with ramen. This week I have teamed up with Papa George’s sausage to create some recipes with this fabulous product. The sausage is 55% less fat then conventional sausage and upon tasting them and cooking with them realized that they have all the flavor without the grease! Ramen is on my mind of late and David Chang’s ramen broth has bacon, so I figured why not turn it on its head and use sausage to make a “quick” weeknight version? Collards are often used as well so I stuck to that but I just boiled them with my stock instead of doing a separate preparation. It ended up great and it was done in an hour!
You will need:
12 oz roll Papa George’s regular variety
1 inch knob fresh ginger cut in half
4 shitake mushrooms
1 bunch scallions
2 quarts chicken stock
1/4 cup mirin
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1 bunch of collard greens, stripped off of stems and coarsely chopped
In a large saucepan or stock pot place crumbled sausage over medium heat, when the sausage begins to render add ginger, and white parts of scallions (save the green part for topping bowls), add shitake, add collards, when wilted and shrunken in size, add stock. Bring to boil, reduce to medium, add soy sauce, mirin, and sugar. Simmer. Skim any oil off the top.
Noodles:
4 portions Ramen noodles, I used a fresh variety from my local Asian market, but you can you those dried ones as well.
Boil as per directions on package, this all depends on what you end up using, fresh cook fast mine were done in about 1 minute.
Toppings:
1 cup of corn, use frozen, canned, or if its in season fresh!
1 cup bamboo shoots, if you can’t get the fresh one’s canned work fine.
Green parts of scallions sliced
4 soft boiled eggs or fried eggs are good as well, your choice.
sesame seeds
Assembly:
Divide noodles up evenly into four bowls, fish out your mushrooms and remove stems, and slice, place in bowl, add corn to each bowl, fish ginger out of broth and discard. Using tongs or chopsticks remove some of the collards and mushrooms(remove woody stem)slice, place on bowls, do the same with sausage using a slotted spoon, add broth, sliced scallions, eggs, bamboo shoots and a bit of sesame seeds or ramen pepper. Enjoy! A whole new way to get your sausage and eggs!
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Gluten free, creamy polenta with rotisserie chicken cacciatore
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Do you have those days where you fully intend on making a full meal for the family, but then once dinnertime hits you find that your plan was never put into action? Between school, soccer, and basic “Mom” functions in general I have really been trying to stretch my pantry staples into hearty, fresh, meals that can be cooked in less than 30 minutes (Oh geez, that was a corny line circa 1956, I need to read “The Feminine Mystique” apparently). I have a two and a half year old, and if you or someone you know has one you could understand why even trying to shop at the grocery store is totally impossible on most days. I think that there are a few pre-made items that are totally acceptable to use and actually make delicious homemade meals quick and easy. One of my “go-to” items is rotisserie chicken, depending on where you shop, some are better than others, but most times they are good, as is or as I like to do, removed from bones, skin removed, shredded and used as the protein in your dish. Another thing to have on hand that is a never a bad idea, is a good, high quality, no sugar added, jarred marinara. I’m kinda picky with what I will use, but there are some really good ones, buy your favorite. I also like to have dried mushrooms in my pantry and grains of all sorts. Right now I love polenta, its rich, filling, easy, and just happens to be gluten-free for those of you who try to avoid gluten. So here is a quick weeknight meal that your family will love, easy to be vegan as well, skip the animal products all together and it is still yum.
You will need:
1 rotisserie chicken, skin and bones removed, meat shredded
1 big jar of your favorite marinara, or use 4 cups of homemade
½ green bell pepper diced small
1 palmful dried porcini mushrooms, reconstituted in ½ cup hot water, I love these because they add instant flavor and can are cabinet safe, if you prefer you can use 1 cup diced mushrooms of choice.
For polenta:
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup polenta or yellow cornmeal
1-3 tablespoons butter (optional)
Bring stock to a boil, add salt, reduce heat to medium-high, add polenta, whisk vigorously and often for about 12 minutes, turn down to medium and whisk every few minutes while you make your sauce.
Place sauce ingredients in a saucepan, heat over medium until simmering, cook 15 minutes or so until green peppers are tender.
Add butter to polenta if you are using it, stir until melted. Top a scoop of creamy polenta with Cacciatore sauce and top with parmesan and fresh parsley.
Spanikopita Grilled cheese
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Spanikopita is a delicious spinach and feta savory pastry that is wrapped in crispy, butter laden, phyllo. Several different cultures have their own version of this treat, we are Greek so ours is very Mediterranean. A great thing for lunch or a snack, it isn’t always easy to find the time to make the whole pie, or work with the phyllo or even pre-heat the oven for that matter. I found a way to have all the flavor of the original with the ease of a sandwich, I was inspired by when I was in Rome and went into a panini shop where they had paninis filled with just cooked spinach and buffalo mozzarella, they were a cheap and delicious lunch on the go for the broke, American, back packer. With that in mind, I decided that Spanikopita grilled cheese would be a no-brainer for a recipe.
Makes two
You will need:
4 slices of good quality bread, I used a Sicilian loaf studded with sesame seeds
1 Tablespoon softened butter
1 10 oz bag of baby spinach, or if you buy in bulk two big handfuls
1 shallot, sliced thin
1 clove garlic, sliced thin
1 teaspoon dill
2 oz feta cheese, crumbled
4 thin slices of provolone
pinch of salt
a few cranks of fresh cracked pepper
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Plug in panini press, I’m ghetto fab so I use my default early 2000’s wedding gift “George Foreman grill”, you can also heat a skillet over medium heat and grill it that way your choice. Divide butter evenly between four slices of bread, spread thinly on one side of each slice. In a medium skillet heat olive oil over medium high heat, add garlic and shallots, cook four minutes or so till the garlic is golden brown. Add spinach, pinch of salt and pepper, cook a few minutes till spinach is wilted and most of the moisture is cooked out, add dill and feta, turn off heat, mix. Assemble sandwiches by placing two slices of bread butter side down on your press, or pan, add one slice of provolone to each, next divide spinach mixture in half and place on half on each slice, top with other slices of cheese and slices of bread, making sure butter side is up. Put the lid down on the panini press and cook about five minutes or until golden and bubbly or if using a pan flip after about five minutes, cook other side for three. These are a fun alternative to replace the usual grilled cheese and tomato soup you know and love.
20 minute one-pan Mediterranean shrimp and couscous
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Ahhh January! Mine and many other peoples least favorite month of the whole year! It’s dreary, holiday bills are coming due, and those ten pounds of “holiday merriment” are giving me a nice muffin atop my jeans. Eating better in January is hard because most of us want comfort food, but still want to detox from the holiday gluttony. So this dish is a quick, healthy, and comforting way to serve comfort to your friends or family. Using couscous, spinach, and shrimp makes it quick, and a bit of feta and tomatoes makes it delicious.
Serves 4
1 1/3 Cup whole wheat couscous
¼ Cup Kalamata olives, haved.
1 pound good quality large shrimp, peeled and clean, at whole foods they have some great ones that are cleaned for you!
1 shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, sliced “Goodfella’s” style, if you haven’t seen the movie, you should, but just slice them as thin as possible.
2 handfuls, baby spinach
1 cup diced tomatoes, canned works fine, just use a good San Marzano variety.
½ cup dry white wine
Pinch of dried oregano
2 T fresh Italian parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper
4 oz Feta
1 T olive oil
A few lemon wedges
In a medium skillet or thick bottomed pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat, add shallot and garlic, cook three minutes, add shrimp seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper, when first side turns pick flip and, add tomatoes, oregano, and white wine. Cook for a minute or so then add 1 cup of water and ½ teaspoon of salt, when boiling add olives, couscous and spinach, stir, cover, remove from heat. After five minutes remove cover and top with crumbled feta, you can put it under the broiler at this point to melt the feta (optional but tasty), chopped parsley, and squeeze of lemon, serve! This dish is awesome because not only is it easy, it is cooked and served in the same pan, elegant enough for guests and done in 20 minutes!
Navy Bean and Ham soup
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Well the holidays are nearly done, and I hate to be this way but I am awfully glad. So much pressure, Christmas, my anniversary, and birthday in a week timespan. Poor planning and in hindsight the events I had control over I would’ve changed, too late now, onward and upward! For Christmas eve I made a duck, and I used the rendered fat to make my au gratin potatoes for Christmas day, to go with our spiral cut ham and roasted beet salad. It was a great meal, but now I am ready to begin a bit healthier regimen to begin the New Year. I did have some ham leftover, you know the parts that aren’t easily accessible off the bone, so I used the rest to make ham and navy bean soup. I used a small organic navy bean, they were advertised as the “cognitive bean” full of vitamin B1, always needing a bit of help with cognitive function I went for them! This soup is easy and super delicious and I am guessing you have most of the needed ingredients in the fridge! A repurposed use of Christmas leftovers, with top notch results!
1 cup of ham, I used what was left on the bone /of our ham, using the bone makes for a rich and simply delicious broth, you could use turkey or leave out the meat as well.
1 ½ cups dried navy beans, or use two cans drained.
2 carrots, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh herbs of choice
In a large, thick bottomed stock pot, place rinsed beans covered with water, bring to a boil, rinse again and cover with fresh water filling the pot about half full, add ham on bone or meat of choice, carrots, celery, and onion, and bring back to boil, reduce heat to medium cook 30 minutes or until veggies and beans are tender. Check for seasoning and serve. Easiest soup ever and super delicious! Even better the next day as the flavors meld together if you don’t have ham on the bone or you are using a different meat (smoked turkey wings work great) you may need to use veggie stock to heighten the flavor, the bone in ham is amazingly flavorful in soup, mine had a bit of glaze on it and it worked out amazingly well! Happy New Year!