This blog is a record of the fun I'm having cooking and discovering new tastes. It's a way for me to share recipes with others and record my favorites.
I really wish I had thought of photographing the wonderful meals I had on vacation. The beach was a fantastic way to decompress after a really stressful summer semester at Loyola taking classes part time after work to get my teacher's certification. However, I missed cooking for real. Making meals that just "wowed". And so, when my husband mentioned that he wanted to take lunch into work, I took it to mean I should COOK.
I also had approximately six pounds of tomatoes waiting for me after a week of being away from my garden.
Two soups resulted, the first and most amazing was from America's Test Kitchen, a beef and vegetable soup.
If you have ever watched this show, you know that they try all sorts of ideas to make a great dish even better. To make this soup, they concentrated on the idea of umami, that extra aspect of taste. You can think of it as that something extra your beef lo mein has that you can't place. Umami is found in mushrooms, soy sauce and red wine as well as in other foods. All three are in this meal. The meat is soaked in soy sauce before cooking. The next new idea was to add a small amount of unflavored gelatin to thicken the soup without decreasing or changing the taste. The end result was a visual feast for the eyes, soup that was like the soup you see advertised on TV, and soup that smells better than it should and tastes even more amazing. The tomato soup was much simpler, with the twists being a rounded tablespoon of pesto to add a kick, and some last minute chicken broth to stretch it out. So all my work gave me much bounty in the form of perfect lunches. Two soups that are the reality that canned wishes it could be and most of America has forgotten. Luckily, I have plenty of plastic ware and a new knowledge that will replace yet another supermarket staple.
I apologize for taking so long before posting. Please forgive, I've had classes and little time to try new recipes. Hopefully this makes up for it.
Tonight, we had ostrich. Yes, ostrich. And let me say that it was just as bloody and iron full as you would want any beef steak. Any beautiful, rare premium beef steak.
We had two 4oz steaks tonight. Justin seasoned them with the small amount of Worcestershire sauce we had with some crushed black pepper garlic powder and fresh lemon juice. He used very little liquid, maybe 1/4 cup, mixed the ingredients, then covered the steaks with the sauce. As most websites instructed, the steaks needed very little time to marinate, as they are very porous. Fifteen minutes later, they were ready for the grill. We grill them less than ten minutes total. Most places also say to make sure you have them no more cooked than medium as they have very little fat to keep them juicy. They were very right. Ours were pink to red in the middle and perfect. Justin is a very medium-well kind of guy and his was to his liking, even if it was pretty dark pink.
We supplemented that with some grilled veggies coated in red wine vinegar, honey and some red pepper flakes. And after that? Well some True Blood of course!
So, the last picture of the garden is extremely out dated. The spinach grew like mad, so I harvested it and cooked and and waited. The spinach continued to grow, but upwards and started to produce seeds. Justin and I decided it had run its course and picked the rest. I have a very substantial second harvest of baby spinach and a large empty spot in my garden.
Similarly, the lettuces have started to over-grow. I think I have to just remove a few of the plants and donate them to a friend for some awesome salad. Next year I won't grow as much lettuce, as that really over produces compared to other plants.
The kale is at the point of harvesting, which is great since they were always the runt of the litter. I plan on purchasing a pound of bacon or so and cooking all of that in the grease. Add a bit of balsamic vinegar, and you've got yourself a meal!
After that, we watch the broccoli and tomatoes ripen. Two of the broccoli plants have already started to produce and so have all three of the tomatoes. Now all I have to do is wait for them to ripen to the point of harvest. I especially look forward to the broccoli. One year my mom grew broccoli in a little garden of her own. She only got one harvest before the deer got to the plants, but I remember that one dinner distinctly. I have to say that the broccoli I ate that night was the best broccoli could ever hope to be. It was broccoli like it was before they mass produced for sale. And soon I will get that again!
I can't believe I got something other than the dishes done (which consisted of turning on the dishwasher). I had such an awesome lazy day, and so it was doubly awesome when Justin helped me make my last recipe for this week, a grilled vegetable pizza. Not only were the veggies grilled, but we cooked the dough on the grill as well! I didn't make the dough, but I did make the sauce. Very garlicy, very yummy.
Oh, and the color difference of the cheese is because Justin decided to "improve" my recipe with some store brand light mozzarella. My side (the right side) only has the artisan fontina cheese on it.
Yield: 5 servings (serving size: 2 pieces)
Ingredients:
Fresh pizza dough
Cooking spray
2tablespoonsyellow cornmeal
12ouncesbaby eggplant, cut crosswise into 1-inch-thick slices
1medium zucchini, cut crosswise into 1-inch-thick slices
1large red bell pepper, quartered and seeded
3garlic cloves, minced
2/3cupBasic Pizza Sauce (recipe follows)
1/4teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper
1cup(4 ounces) shredded fontina cheese
Preparation
1. Pour 3/4 cup warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook attached. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups and spoons; level with a knife. Add flour to 3/4 cup water; mix until combined. Cover and let stand 20 minutes. Combine remaining 1/4 cup water and yeast in a small bowl; let stand 5 minutes or until bubbly. Add yeast mixture, 4 teaspoons oil, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to flour mixture; mix 5 minutes or until a soft dough forms. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray; cover surface of dough with plastic wrap lightly coated with cooking spray. Refrigerate 24 hours.
2. Prepare grill to high.
3. Remove dough from refrigerator. Let stand, covered, 1 hour or until dough comes to room temperature. Punch dough down. Press dough out to a 12-inch oval on a lightly floured baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Crimp edges to form a 1/2-inch border. Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap.
4. Brush eggplant, zucchini, and bell pepper with remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Grill eggplant 4 minutes on each side or until tender; place in a bowl. Grill zucchini 3 minutes on each side or until tender; add to eggplant. Place pepper quarters, skin side down, on grill rack; grill 6 minutes or until blistered. Place peppers in a zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand 10 minutes. Peel peppers; add to vegetable mixture. Coarsely chop vegetables. Add garlic to vegetables; toss to combine.
5. Place pizza dough, cornmeal side up, on grill rack coated with cooking spray, and grill for 4 minutes or until blistered. Turn dough over; grill 3 minutes. Remove from grill. Spread Basic Pizza Sauce evenly over top side of crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Arrange vegetable mixture evenly over sauce; sprinkle evenly with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and black pepper. Top with cheese. Return pizza to grill rack, and grill for 4 minutes or until thoroughly cooked. Cut pizza into 10 pieces.
Basic Pizza Sauce
Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 1/3 cup)
Ingredients:
2tablespoonsextra-virgin olive oil
5garlic cloves, minced
1(28-ounce) can San Marzano tomatoes
1/2teaspoonkosher salt
1/2teaspoondried oregano
Preparation
1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Remove tomatoes from can using a slotted spoon, reserving juices. Crush tomatoes. Stir tomatoes, juices, salt, and oregano into garlic mixture; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
I thought I would start the post with an updated picture of the garden. The lettuce is out of hand, and I cannot eat it fast enough! Those huge plants? The broccoli. And apparently they don't flower until July. I can't believe how large they've gotten!
The main recipe for this post is an Indian inspired dish that also saves money on meat. As I mentioned before, you don't have to give up meat to eat more balanced. Ground meat, no matter what animal, is one of my favorite ways to have meat in a dish, but increase the amount of grains and vegetables.
The Greek yogurt and cucumber give this dish a really fresh bright flavor, and the pitas just make it fun to eat. It's a fun way to introduce new flavors into dinner.
2cupsdiced plum tomatoes or boxed diced tomatoes, undrained
1bay leaf
4(6-inch) whole-wheat pitas, cut in half
1/2cupplain 2% Greek-style yogurt
1cupthinly sliced cucumber
Chopped fresh mint (optional)
1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and lamb; cook 5 minutes or until lamb is browned and vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally to crumble lamb.
2. Add lentils, cumin, and thyme; stir until seasonings become fragrant. Add 1/2 cup water, tomatoes, and bay leaf; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook 15 minutes. Stir lentil mixture; add remaining 1/2 cup water. Cover and cook 15 minutes or until lentils are tender and mixture is thick (add additional water as needed). Discard bay leaf. Fill each pita half with 1/2 cup lentil mixture. Spoon 1 tablespoon yogurt into each pita half; top with 2 tablespoons cucumber. Sprinkle with mint, if desired.
Oh, I know, it's been a while. The end of classes for the semester was such a welcome break, I forgot to do anything on the computer! However, I never stopped cooking. I started a vegetable garden: (you should see it now!)
Grilled some kabobs: Made some awesome steak tacos: (key is the sauce that can double as a salad dressing. combine one avocado, 6oz fat free greek yogurt and 1/4 cup cilantro in a food processor)
Made an insane gourmet-style grilled asparagus salad: Had time for gorgeous black bean burgers: And even played some beer pong with sis! Tonight we had a veggie-tastic meal. I want more vegetables, but I can't give up meat. To me, meat is another wonderful taste to add to food, one of many. So I've been trying dishes that have meat, but it isn't the solo player. The first dish was with pork. Later this week we'll try one with lamb and lentils!
Spanish Pork with Redskin Potatoes 2 redskin potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces (we did three smaller ones) 1 zucchini (we had two for added veggies) 1 medium onion 3 tsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided 4 cloves garlic, chopped into slivers 3/4 lb extra-lean ground pork 1 cup frozen peas 1 cup frozen corn 1 tbsp sweet paprika 1 red bell pepper, minced 1 medium tomato, chopped Juice 1/2 lemon 1/2 tsp dried sage 1/2 tsp dried thyme sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste 1 oz goat cheese
Fill a medium pot with water and bring to a boil. Add potatoes, cover, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes. Pierce potatoes with a knife to make sure they're tender, then remove from heat and drain.
While potatoes are cooking, saute zucchini and onion in 1 1/2 tsp oil over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minute, stirring constantly to prevent garlic from burning. Stir in pork, peas, corn and paprika. Cook for 5 more minutes, making sure that all ingredients are evenly distributed across surface of pan.
Remove pork mixture from heat and stir in bell pepper, tomato and lemon juice. Cover with lid to keep warm while finishing potatoes.
Gently toss potatoes with remaining 1 1/2 tsp oil. Add sage and thyme and season with salt and black pepper. Place about 1/2 cup potatoes alongside quarter of pork mixture on each plate, then crumble quarter of cheese over top before serving.
The end result was a visual feast for the eyes, soup that was like the soup you see advertised on TV, and soup that smells better than it should and tastes even more amazing.
So all my work gave me much bounty in the form of perfect lunches. Two soups that are the reality that canned wishes it could be and most of America has forgotten. Luckily, I have plenty of plastic ware and a new knowledge that will replace yet another supermarket staple.
