You will not find this recipe anywhere online, because I invented it using only experience and desperation. It's not particularly healthy, but one does not need a lot of this sauce to make a delightful rotini. It is very, very flavorful, with subtle hints of mild cheese and wine under the bright zest of the chilis and warm garlic. I recommend trying it with only zucchini to start, and then experimenting with other combos of veggies.
1 zucchini, peeled Japanese style (in stripes, for attractiveness) and sliced thinly AND/OR
7 or 8 mushrooms, sliced
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
Dash to 1/4 t chili pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 c dry white wine
1 T lemon juice
2 - 3 T cream cheese
Splash of milk
2 T olive oil
Heat up your olive oil to medium temperature and add the garlic; don't burn it. Add your chili flakes to taste (a little go a long way) and your salt and your pepper, and sautée together until garlic smells delightfully roasted. Toss in your zucchini and mushrooms, stirring constantly until soft and cooked through. Spritz with lemon. Add white wine, cooking for a minute or so, and then lower heat and add milk. Stir together and then add your cream cheese. Stir until melted.
The sauce should be relatively thin but still viscous and extremely flavorful. Taste to ensure a good balance of chili and salt. It is delightful with just mushrooms or just zucchini, and I suppose with wilted chopped spinach as well (be careful with the spinach; add it near the very end of the veggie cooking process). Pour over pasta (penne or rotini) and toss. Nom.
As you can tell, I am mostly recovered, although I have a very painful rib injury from prolonged and intense coughing. I also managed to ace my written and listening comprehension midterms even after missing an entire week of class. Who cares if it snowed three inches last night?
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Chicken Stew with American Dumplings
Stew:
Chicken stock (enough for a medium-sized stew)
1 whole chicken breast (two breasts with back and skin still on)
New or creamer potatoes
Carrots
Mushrooms
Rotini or egg noodles (or any other noodle you've got)
1/2 of a large onion or 1 small or medium onion (use your common sense and affinity for onions)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t olive oil
Salt, pepper and rosemary
Dumplings (makes 4 big ones):
1 c all-purpose flour
1/4 t salt
2 t (yes, 2!!!) baking powder
1 T or so of chopped parsley
1-2 T margarine or butter
1/2 or 3/4 c milk, as needed
Preheat oven to 380 or 400 F. Heat up skillet to medium-high. Add a bit of oil and some sea salt (and any other of your favorite poultry herbs) to the pan. Place chicken skin-side down and brown briefly; drain fat. Put browned chicken in a baking dish skin-side up and roast in the oven for around 40 minutes.
While that's roasting, put your stock in a stock pot and heat up to boiling. While you're waiting for your stock to boil, chop up your onion and sautee in a little bit of oil with garlic until translucent (no burning, so watch and stir!). Add to the stock pot. Slice mushrooms, potatoes and carrots and add to the pot, too. Maybe you've got a couple of other veggies on hand; toss 'em in. Boil for a few minutes, and then turn the temperature down to simmer.
When your chicken is baked, remove from the oven. It should be very juicy and tender. I just slice and pull off pieces with a carving knife and my (clean!) fingers when the chicken is cool enough to touch, until I have removed all the meat. Meat goes in the pot. Add your salt, pepper and not too much rosemary (just a pinch or two, maybe). Simmer until veggies are soft.
At this point, I might add some corn starch + cold water to thicken, but it's not really needed, since flour is going into the mix later.
Once the veggies are soft and you have a nice, fragrant soup, mix the dry dumpling ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Cut the butter in until you have a powder with a crumbly texture. Add the milk and stir together until you have a very cohesive, firm dough. Make into big lumps - not spheres, but sort of cylindrical irregular ones (spheres may not puff up all the way through, if they are big). Bring your chicken soup back to boiling.
When the soup is boiling, put your noodles in, no more than a cup or less. Pop your dumplings in, cover tightly, and reduce the heat to med-low, cooking for 15 minutes.
When you open your pot after 15 minutes, you should see four gigantic, puffy, herb-filled dumplings just waiting to be devoured (they puff up to maybe 4x their original size, and should be foamy all the way through)! The broth should have thickened up nicely, and the noodles should be cooked and plump. Eat with a friend or a lover, preferably with a glass of expensive white wine for some contrast to this homestyle, all-in-one dish.
Chicken stock (enough for a medium-sized stew)
1 whole chicken breast (two breasts with back and skin still on)
New or creamer potatoes
Carrots
Mushrooms
Rotini or egg noodles (or any other noodle you've got)
1/2 of a large onion or 1 small or medium onion (use your common sense and affinity for onions)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t olive oil
Salt, pepper and rosemary
Dumplings (makes 4 big ones):
1 c all-purpose flour
1/4 t salt
2 t (yes, 2!!!) baking powder
1 T or so of chopped parsley
1-2 T margarine or butter
1/2 or 3/4 c milk, as needed
Preheat oven to 380 or 400 F. Heat up skillet to medium-high. Add a bit of oil and some sea salt (and any other of your favorite poultry herbs) to the pan. Place chicken skin-side down and brown briefly; drain fat. Put browned chicken in a baking dish skin-side up and roast in the oven for around 40 minutes.
While that's roasting, put your stock in a stock pot and heat up to boiling. While you're waiting for your stock to boil, chop up your onion and sautee in a little bit of oil with garlic until translucent (no burning, so watch and stir!). Add to the stock pot. Slice mushrooms, potatoes and carrots and add to the pot, too. Maybe you've got a couple of other veggies on hand; toss 'em in. Boil for a few minutes, and then turn the temperature down to simmer.
When your chicken is baked, remove from the oven. It should be very juicy and tender. I just slice and pull off pieces with a carving knife and my (clean!) fingers when the chicken is cool enough to touch, until I have removed all the meat. Meat goes in the pot. Add your salt, pepper and not too much rosemary (just a pinch or two, maybe). Simmer until veggies are soft.
At this point, I might add some corn starch + cold water to thicken, but it's not really needed, since flour is going into the mix later.
Once the veggies are soft and you have a nice, fragrant soup, mix the dry dumpling ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Cut the butter in until you have a powder with a crumbly texture. Add the milk and stir together until you have a very cohesive, firm dough. Make into big lumps - not spheres, but sort of cylindrical irregular ones (spheres may not puff up all the way through, if they are big). Bring your chicken soup back to boiling.
When the soup is boiling, put your noodles in, no more than a cup or less. Pop your dumplings in, cover tightly, and reduce the heat to med-low, cooking for 15 minutes.
When you open your pot after 15 minutes, you should see four gigantic, puffy, herb-filled dumplings just waiting to be devoured (they puff up to maybe 4x their original size, and should be foamy all the way through)! The broth should have thickened up nicely, and the noodles should be cooked and plump. Eat with a friend or a lover, preferably with a glass of expensive white wine for some contrast to this homestyle, all-in-one dish.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Simple and Delicious
Fresh Summery Pasta Salad
A pile of whole wheat macaroni, cooked al dente and chilled
3/4 c Miracle Whip
1/3 c finely grated carrot
1/3 c finely chopped green pepper
1/2 of an onion (or to taste; I hate too much onion)
hot horseradish sauce to taste (optional)
Not so many adventures during the week. I had clinical obs last week and was rated outstanding; I have a lot of new students in France, Russia and Japan.
Much of my dance cockiness has left me after my last few weeks of lessons. I feel like an uber rookie once again, toddling along, but I'm reminded of the hundreds of hours I've dedicated to it when I do simple things, like early morning yoga with Caspian, or skipping lightly over uneven stepping stones to cross a creek. While intoxicated. My balance is excellent.
I have been overhauling our front garden, installing plenty of impatiens and petunias and lamb's ear, with a couple of marigolds thrown in for good measure. I've discorporated a whole army of wild violets and the giant mutant dandelions that are apparently native to Quebec; they are knee-high with flowers three inches in diameter. My allergies are out of control! Days are usually around 73 degrees, breezy and so beautiful it's almost surreal... Or, it's pouring. Summer in Quebec beats the heck out of summer in the southern US.
The highlight of the week? Getting moderately sloshed with Felix, Raomi and Caspian on Sunday afternoon and taking walks around the lake. There were many irritating noises made on grass blades, and much dandelion seed scattered through neighbors' yards, plenty of frolicking and even some opera singing.
A pile of whole wheat macaroni, cooked al dente and chilled
3/4 c Miracle Whip
1/3 c finely grated carrot
1/3 c finely chopped green pepper
1/2 of an onion (or to taste; I hate too much onion)
hot horseradish sauce to taste (optional)
Not so many adventures during the week. I had clinical obs last week and was rated outstanding; I have a lot of new students in France, Russia and Japan.
Much of my dance cockiness has left me after my last few weeks of lessons. I feel like an uber rookie once again, toddling along, but I'm reminded of the hundreds of hours I've dedicated to it when I do simple things, like early morning yoga with Caspian, or skipping lightly over uneven stepping stones to cross a creek. While intoxicated. My balance is excellent.
I have been overhauling our front garden, installing plenty of impatiens and petunias and lamb's ear, with a couple of marigolds thrown in for good measure. I've discorporated a whole army of wild violets and the giant mutant dandelions that are apparently native to Quebec; they are knee-high with flowers three inches in diameter. My allergies are out of control! Days are usually around 73 degrees, breezy and so beautiful it's almost surreal... Or, it's pouring. Summer in Quebec beats the heck out of summer in the southern US.
The highlight of the week? Getting moderately sloshed with Felix, Raomi and Caspian on Sunday afternoon and taking walks around the lake. There were many irritating noises made on grass blades, and much dandelion seed scattered through neighbors' yards, plenty of frolicking and even some opera singing.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Shinseiko's Honey Lemon Oatmeal Cookies
I was up at 7am, sweeping, mopping, cleaning and cooking, just for the heck of it; I made egg salad (with horseradish, minced red onions, dijon mustard and dill), oatmeal cookies and wheat bread. Caspian planted his herb and vegetable seedlings into their little places in his hanging garden. It was uncommonly beautiful outside; the atmosphere here in Quebec is much different than where I grew up in the south - deepest blue skies, plenty of wind, tall firs and other evergreen trees that like the cold temperatures. I jogged a good 6 miles or so in the afternoon, then slept... Ahh, life is beautiful. Except Jesper chewed through the USB cord of my keyboard and thus I am forced to type on my tiny netbook. I ordered a new one, and also won an eBay auction for an otherwise pricey headset to replace one that Jesper nommed.
I cobbled together a surprisingly healthy recipe that I am SURE you will enjoy.
Shinseiko's Honey Lemon Oatmeal Cookies
1/2 c lightly packed brown sugar or to taste
1/4 c honey or to taste
2-3 T butter (or margarine)
1 egg
1/8 t nutmeg
1/8 t cinnamon
1/2 c flour (any kind, white, wheat, all-purpose; I only had bread flour and whole wheat, so I used wheat)
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt (or to taste)
1 1/2 c quick oats (more or less, depending on how runny you want your dough)
A dash of water, if needed
For frosting:
1 t lemon juice, freshly squeezed (a little bit of zest might be good too)
1 T margarine or butter
1/2 c loose confectioner's sugar (adjust to make frosting thicker or thinner)
Mix egg, butter, water, honey and sugar together to make a paste. In another bowl, mix all of the remaining ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet paste and mix thoroughly. Drop onto a nonstick cookie sheet and bake at 350 F for about 13 or 14 minutes.
After the cookies have cooled, gently melt the butter and mix up your frosting ingredients to make a lemony glaze. Drizzle or dollop on your cookies. Wait a few minutes for the glaze to harden, then enjoy!
This recipe only makes about 1 sheet of tablespoon-sized cookies, a nice number for a 2-person household. The interplay of the honey, lemon and spices are what makes this oaty, cakey cookie a joy to eat! I thought the recipe would taste too autumny, but the lemon really makes it work. I had five of these babies today, Caspian had more. ++WILL MAKE AGAIN!
Tomorrow, we are invited to a garden brunch at Felix and Raomi's country house, after our dance lesson (Caspian is coming to meet my coaches, Mireille and Pierre, for the first time). I'm relieved the world didn't end today. Or start ending. Or whatever. The city may be beautiful and diverse, but I am tired of the sounds of cars.
I had my first real "French moment" on Friday night, as Felix and I were chatting with the night guard, J, at Conseil des Arts. She and Felix were discussing the merits of the three ballrooms in the building; one has an ultra slippery floor (with mirrors), one is just right (but the room has no mirrors) and the other has a pointe floor for ballet (but beautiful mirrors), which is very gritty. J and Felix were talking in French, and without even thinking about it, I swear, I nodded and added some of my thoughts... In English, though. It was effortless! No concentration, little translation, etc. and as we made our way to our practice room, I grabbed Felix's arm, squealed in his ear and told him all about it.
I cobbled together a surprisingly healthy recipe that I am SURE you will enjoy.
Shinseiko's Honey Lemon Oatmeal Cookies
1/2 c lightly packed brown sugar or to taste
1/4 c honey or to taste
2-3 T butter (or margarine)
1 egg
1/8 t nutmeg
1/8 t cinnamon
1/2 c flour (any kind, white, wheat, all-purpose; I only had bread flour and whole wheat, so I used wheat)
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt (or to taste)
1 1/2 c quick oats (more or less, depending on how runny you want your dough)
A dash of water, if needed
For frosting:
1 t lemon juice, freshly squeezed (a little bit of zest might be good too)
1 T margarine or butter
1/2 c loose confectioner's sugar (adjust to make frosting thicker or thinner)
Mix egg, butter, water, honey and sugar together to make a paste. In another bowl, mix all of the remaining ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet paste and mix thoroughly. Drop onto a nonstick cookie sheet and bake at 350 F for about 13 or 14 minutes.
After the cookies have cooled, gently melt the butter and mix up your frosting ingredients to make a lemony glaze. Drizzle or dollop on your cookies. Wait a few minutes for the glaze to harden, then enjoy!
This recipe only makes about 1 sheet of tablespoon-sized cookies, a nice number for a 2-person household. The interplay of the honey, lemon and spices are what makes this oaty, cakey cookie a joy to eat! I thought the recipe would taste too autumny, but the lemon really makes it work. I had five of these babies today, Caspian had more. ++WILL MAKE AGAIN!
Tomorrow, we are invited to a garden brunch at Felix and Raomi's country house, after our dance lesson (Caspian is coming to meet my coaches, Mireille and Pierre, for the first time). I'm relieved the world didn't end today. Or start ending. Or whatever. The city may be beautiful and diverse, but I am tired of the sounds of cars.
I had my first real "French moment" on Friday night, as Felix and I were chatting with the night guard, J, at Conseil des Arts. She and Felix were discussing the merits of the three ballrooms in the building; one has an ultra slippery floor (with mirrors), one is just right (but the room has no mirrors) and the other has a pointe floor for ballet (but beautiful mirrors), which is very gritty. J and Felix were talking in French, and without even thinking about it, I swear, I nodded and added some of my thoughts... In English, though. It was effortless! No concentration, little translation, etc. and as we made our way to our practice room, I grabbed Felix's arm, squealed in his ear and told him all about it.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Light and Tasty Seafood Recipes
As I get older, I enjoy the taste of meat less and less. I eat beef only a couple times a year, and pork only a little bit more often than that. Recently, I've gotten to the point where even the blasé, unoffensive texture of chicken makes me nauseous. Based on the trend, I see a lot of fish and eggs in my future.
I've also noticed a skill in myself that I'd never thought to have - that of cooking. It seems that my honed ability to multitask has given me an edge, and the inventions I concoct, simple and complex, are usually surprisingly delicious. I wanted to share a couple of really delicious and light seafood recipes that I've had success with in the past week.
Green Onion and Lemon Tilapia
Tilapia is great. It's nutritious, inexpensive, ubiquitous, and it takes about 15 minutes to bake. It has no fishy smell (even though I looove fishy fish). When cooked properly, it delicately assumes the flavors of spices and sauces, and it pairs perfectly with my beloved dry white wine.
2 tilapia fillets
1 lemon (can sub lemon juice)
2 T butter, almost melted
1 T parsley (fresh or dried)
salt and cracked black pepper
3 T green onions, finely chopped
Zest lemon and squeeze out juice while the oven is preheating to 400 degrees F. Mix the almost-melted butter with the parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, pepper and onions. You should have a paste-like glob of buttery, herby goodness.
Brush some butter in your glass or ceramic baking dish so the fish doesn't stick, and then arrange it artfully, tucking in the really thin sides (so they don't overcook). Slather your butter paste all over them and bake for 15 minutes.
Light and Spicy Seafood Pasta
This worked really well with spinach pasta, but I'm sure it works well with almost anything. I recommend buying frozen uncooked shrimp; buying thawed shrimp is much riskier, because you have no idea how long they have been thawing. Frozen shrimp was likely frozen just after it was caught and deveined. Anyway. My 2 cents on shrimp.
For this recipe, I didn't measure anything, so I will approximate. I am a big fan of swooping through the kitchen like a mad scientist, mwahahah-ing over a steaming, sizzling pan and tossing ingredients in left and right. You may also want to experience this dubious pleasure, but for those measuring types, here you go.
2 servings pasta
2 servings worth of shrimp (c'mon, guesstimate!)
2 T olive oil
2 dashes of chili powder
2 dashes cracked red pepper
2 cups broccoli (or other delicious veggie of your choosing)
1 big, fat clove of garlic (or two normal ones)
uhhh 3 splashes of dry white wine? 1 cup?
3 T water from cooking pasta
1 T unsalted butter
1 T lemon juice
2 dashes of basil (not required)
salt and pepper to taste
I added more chili powder at the end of the cooking process, which gave it a pleasant heat. Who knew lemon would go so well with chili pepper?
Cook pasta and set aside, saving some of the water from the pot. Take a saucepan over medium heat and add olive oil, spices and garlic. Let them cook for a bit to develop their flavor, and then add your shrimp and veggies. Stir for about a minute, then remove veggies and shrimp and set aside; they should not be fully cooked at this point.
Add your 3 or 4 generous splashes of wine to the saucepan and reduce. When you think your sauce looks delightful (after a few minutes), add in your veggies and shrimp again, and stir in your pasta water. Cook until shrimp is done, veggies should still be tender and almost crunchy (don't overcook your broccoli like I did). Remove your pan from heat and stir in your butter, lemon juice and basil. You might want to add more salt and pepper at this point - I added more chili powder.
Toss with pasta and NOM! This is a very light sauce, but it should have a lot of complex flavor.
I've also noticed a skill in myself that I'd never thought to have - that of cooking. It seems that my honed ability to multitask has given me an edge, and the inventions I concoct, simple and complex, are usually surprisingly delicious. I wanted to share a couple of really delicious and light seafood recipes that I've had success with in the past week.
Green Onion and Lemon Tilapia
Tilapia is great. It's nutritious, inexpensive, ubiquitous, and it takes about 15 minutes to bake. It has no fishy smell (even though I looove fishy fish). When cooked properly, it delicately assumes the flavors of spices and sauces, and it pairs perfectly with my beloved dry white wine.
2 tilapia fillets
1 lemon (can sub lemon juice)
2 T butter, almost melted
1 T parsley (fresh or dried)
salt and cracked black pepper
3 T green onions, finely chopped
Zest lemon and squeeze out juice while the oven is preheating to 400 degrees F. Mix the almost-melted butter with the parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, pepper and onions. You should have a paste-like glob of buttery, herby goodness.
Brush some butter in your glass or ceramic baking dish so the fish doesn't stick, and then arrange it artfully, tucking in the really thin sides (so they don't overcook). Slather your butter paste all over them and bake for 15 minutes.
Light and Spicy Seafood Pasta
This worked really well with spinach pasta, but I'm sure it works well with almost anything. I recommend buying frozen uncooked shrimp; buying thawed shrimp is much riskier, because you have no idea how long they have been thawing. Frozen shrimp was likely frozen just after it was caught and deveined. Anyway. My 2 cents on shrimp.
For this recipe, I didn't measure anything, so I will approximate. I am a big fan of swooping through the kitchen like a mad scientist, mwahahah-ing over a steaming, sizzling pan and tossing ingredients in left and right. You may also want to experience this dubious pleasure, but for those measuring types, here you go.
2 servings pasta
2 servings worth of shrimp (c'mon, guesstimate!)
2 T olive oil
2 dashes of chili powder
2 dashes cracked red pepper
2 cups broccoli (or other delicious veggie of your choosing)
1 big, fat clove of garlic (or two normal ones)
uhhh 3 splashes of dry white wine? 1 cup?
3 T water from cooking pasta
1 T unsalted butter
1 T lemon juice
2 dashes of basil (not required)
salt and pepper to taste
I added more chili powder at the end of the cooking process, which gave it a pleasant heat. Who knew lemon would go so well with chili pepper?
Cook pasta and set aside, saving some of the water from the pot. Take a saucepan over medium heat and add olive oil, spices and garlic. Let them cook for a bit to develop their flavor, and then add your shrimp and veggies. Stir for about a minute, then remove veggies and shrimp and set aside; they should not be fully cooked at this point.
Add your 3 or 4 generous splashes of wine to the saucepan and reduce. When you think your sauce looks delightful (after a few minutes), add in your veggies and shrimp again, and stir in your pasta water. Cook until shrimp is done, veggies should still be tender and almost crunchy (don't overcook your broccoli like I did). Remove your pan from heat and stir in your butter, lemon juice and basil. You might want to add more salt and pepper at this point - I added more chili powder.
Toss with pasta and NOM! This is a very light sauce, but it should have a lot of complex flavor.
Monday, October 18, 2010
A Recipe for You
It may not look like much, but it was probably one of the most beautiful things I have ever cooked. I had no idea pork shoulder would turn out so well. We had it with hoisin (a sweet potato based Chinese condiment) sauce, steamed short grain rice, katsuo furikake and steamed green beans. The pork was melt-in-your-mouth tender. I'm going to use the rich, flavorful sauce it produced to make noodles tomorrow.
Recipe:
1 c water
1/2 c mirin
1/2 c soy sauce
1/4 c sake
1 small clove garlic, pressed
.75 lb. pork shoulder, sliced into chunks
Brown pork pieces in a tasteless oil, such as canola, in your medium-sized dutch oven, turning until browned on all sides. Set the meat aside in a bowl and pour out excess oil (do not scrape the pork cracklings from the bottom of the pan). Replace the meat, and then pour the sauce ingredients over it. The pork chunks should be only just covered by the sauce. Simmer on very low for 2 hours. Do not allow the sauce to boil - it will make the meat tougher and reduce the sauce. Dip pieces in hoisin sauce for an inexpensive, flavorful and rich meat course that pairs well with simply-prepared and healthy side dishes.
To feed four, you will have to double this recipe.
Seriously guys, this is a gem. Write it down!
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