Beef Stew

I posted about my Moroccan Chicken Stew a while ago but now I am going to give you the other half of that fun chilly weekend. Even though the weather seems unsure of where it is going I am still up for snuggling on the sofa with a warm cup of soup. This recipe is another one that I started on the stove but finished in the crock pot. For this one I decided to head out with some friends and leave dinner at home cooking for me while I enjoyed myself!

I just crave hearty stews like this once the temperature starts to go down. There is something about a cup of soup that just warms your whole day up. Luckily I haven't started to feel the winter sniffles and coughs but if you are this is a low maintenance way to enjoy some really tasty homemade soup. This soup was inspired by a new line of organic beef that was made available at my super market and was on sale... don't need to ask me twice!

Better than ever Herb and Wine Pot Roast

There are some dishes that just taste like comfort. Pot roast is absolutely one of those. I can smell my mom opening the oven bag that she would often use to make this dish. We didn't eat too many meals that would be considered your standard American fare but this "meat and potatoes" standby still reminds me of running in the door just barely making it for dinner at 5 pm sharp. I decided to put my own little spin on this dish as so many recipes call for the "classic" version using ketchup for flavoring. I would like to think our pallets are a bit more sophisticated so I used a blend of red wine, diced tomato and plenty of fresh herbs to season this dish instead. I did stick with the traditional carrots, onions and potato though since some things just work well and don't need to be messed around with.

There are a lot of good things happening with this pot roast, the first being how easy it is to make (and its easily adaptable for the crockpot!) I always sear my meat first so I don't usually use the crock pot since once the dutch oven is dirty I figure why waste another pan but you can switch over if you want to be able to leave it cooking while you are away from the house. I put my carrots and onions in with the meat for almost the full time but left the potatoes out until that last 90 min so they wouldn't get over cooked and mushy but I have to admit, I think that might be part of the charm of pot roast. I also made a gravy to go with the dish by reducing by 2/3rd the juices and then straining and adding a touch of Wondra flour while whisking but feel free to serve as is. Don't forget to take some time when you are prepping and make sure the veggies are similar sizes to ensure even cooking.

Mediterranean Pepper Steak

Steak sandwiches are one of the most classic hot sandwiches....and probably one of my most craved! I don't think that has ever been a sandwich shop that I have visited that I didn't contemplate ordering one -but usually I end up with a salad instead. My favorite pepper steak still is my grandfathers - I don't know how he made it - just sandwich steaks with salt and pepper and a slice of cheese but they were just so good that 20 years later I still can't forget them. This sandwich isn't like that though...No surprise I decided to do things my own way and went in a different direction using a bunch of veggies & tomato salad to brighten things up.

Meditteranean Pepper Steak
1 lb flank steak
1 red bell pepper - sliced
1 green bell pepper - sliced
1/2 cherry bomb pepper - finely diced
1 frying pepper - sliced
1 red onion - sliced
10 mushrooms - sliced
olive oil
salt & pepper

Tomato Salad
sliced cheese(we used american but swiss or mozz would be nice too)
Trader Joe's Middle Eastern Flatbreads

1) Season the meat with salt and pepper and place on hot grill pan
2) In a separate pan, heat oil with onions then peppers and finally mushrooms.
3) Once steak is medium remove from heat and rest
4) Lightly grill the pita before lining with cheese 
5) Slice steak on the bias and add to sandwich - top with veggies and top with tomato salad

VIDEO POST! Pan Roasted Chicken with Ratatouille Sauce

It has been really fun using my new Flip Camera to record recipes. And so far I have gotten some great feed back...and even had a friend make something new because of my video! They say a picture says a thousand words - so what about a video? I know that personally I often look up videos of new cooking techniques because so many of us are visual learners. This recipe really turned out amazing. As I say in the video its fast, easy and really is perfect for company as it makes a great presentation. Don't be afraid of the hard to spell French name - Ratatouille is a wonderful vegetable dish that is a perfect recipe to have when your summer garden is making you see green (zucchini that is!)

I used two Newman's Own products in this recipe - Family Recipe Italian Dressing as a marinade for the chicken and Cabernet Marinara as part of the ratatouille. I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts as I find them much more flavorful than the standard boneless, skinless chicken breast. However, if you wanted to serve this with on the bone chicken breasts I think that would be a great option as well. Also feel free to serve this over brown rice, another type of pasta or even something more exciting like quinoa or couscous!

Click the link for the full recipe and instructions

Valentine's Day Dinner

It was around noon on Monday that I decided that it just wasn't right to have leftover soup on Valentines Day. Even though we weren't planning on going out and instead had plans to go and work out, I didn't want to make dinner so 'normal'. So when I ran to the store and saw the last package of baby lamb chops sitting right in front of me - Perfect! I had been talking to a friend who was making lamb for the first time that night for her fiance and it was right in the front of my mind.

This time I took the extra step of removing the small piece of fatty meat under the chop to make them "Frenched". This step makes it much easier to eat the lamb chop and turns it into just a few choice bites.... A luxurious dinner if there ever was! For this dinner, I applied a rub of sea salt, fresh crushed pepper and rosemary and seared the chops on my grill pan. Only about 15 min from fridge to dinner plate - good food doesn't have to take a long time to make!

Baby Lamb Chops

They are just so irresistible. Baby Lamb Chops just are decadent, delicious and oh so savory. This fast cook just needs a herb rub before a quick sear and then a few minutes warming in the oven at 350 F.  They make a great little appetizer or first course.....

Christma-Channuk-Thanksgiving-mas!

Its seems that it is always hard to find time to get everyone together but during December this is especially true. One of the best parts of the holidays is visiting with friends and family that we might not see often enough during the rest of the year. This year it seemed like we had even more than usual going on and so we decided to combine our usually holiday parties into one big dinner....for 12! Officially our biggest sit down dinner to date.

Last year, we held a Latkes/Christmas Cookie party - everyone really enjoyed dinner and loved decorating cookies so we knew that was definitely part of the evening. Since my Thanksgiving was a little short of leftovers,  I was really itching to cook a turkey so there was another huge part of my menu. With so many holidays to celebrate we certainly didn't have a shortage of traditional foods to choose from! Everything came out really well except for my stuffing... which needed a little more time in the oven to get nice and brown.

I used a Martha Stewart recipe for the sugar cookies and they came out wonderful! Just make sure you watch them because a sheet of mine (or maybe two) ended up in the trash when I got distracted. For the latkes, I used about 7.5 lbs of potato and 2 onions to make about 60 latkes. I didn't have any matzah meal on hand so I went with panko breadcrumbs....it didn't seem to cause any issues.

Rosemary, Garlic & Mustard Rubbed Pork Tenderloin

Shhh! I have a secret - while I might wish that I was a world traveling, music loving, NYC bar hopping super star sometimes in real life I sometimes am just absolutely unable to leave the 4 walls of my living room behind. I am currently in the middle of a particularly busy November that had me away from home more than half of the month (18 days). I knew that this weekend would be one of the only chances that I had to cook at home and I was really excited to eat something that didn't come wrapped in its own single serving package! Before I left I had stocked up on a few things so that I would have some supplies when I got back waiting for me....because as I have mentioned before grocery shopping on the weekends is just not an option!

Pork tenderloins are one of the fastest and easiest dinners to serve a crowd. Because of their even size and shape, it cooks well in the oven and can be quickly done to a perfect medium. The benefits and the downfall of pork tenderloin lies in its low fat content - as a very lean meat, it is prone to being dry if overcooked (similar to a chicken breast). Don't be afraid of cooking it though! Just invest a few dollars into a meat thermometer and you will never have to second guess if it is done enough for safety but still retains enough juices to make it delicious. I removed this pork tenderloin around 142 F which is in the medium range - it then rested for about 10 -15 min while we all gathered around the table and sorted out seating assignments (we had to vote on who got the "kids" chair....luckily as the hostess I was given the head of the table!) The pork was served with a side of string beans dressed in 15 yr balsamic and red & purple roasted potatoes.

Simply Indulgent: Roasted Vegetables with Seared Steak

Even though I love to cook, I have to admit there are many nights that I come home from work tired, annoyed, aggravated, hungry, over-worked and just not in the mood to cook. But unlike in the movies, a fairy Godmother never shows her face to cook me my dinner while I relax in a nice bubble bath (and while we are talking about that no one cleans the tub so I can take that bubble bath either!). This is where some stand by favorites come into play. This dinner is about the opposite of time consuming or thought provoking but it tastes good, pretty much cooks itself and it fancy enough that you could even serve it to company! What makes it even better is that a little prep in advance, gets this dinner on the table in the time it takes to sear a steak (about 15 min total including rest time).

 

The secret of this dinner is to peel, cut and dice the vegetables ahead of time and then dress with oil and herbs and roast. I try to do a big batch on Sunday or whenever I have a few hours of TV time to enjoy.  My veggie roasting involved 2 pans this time, one for harder root veggies (potatoes in this case) dressed with rosemary & thyme and one for some of the softer end of summer veggies: bell peppers, zucchini, eggplant, red onions etc with just some salt, pepper, olive oil and a bit of basil and oregano sprinkled on top. When its time to serve either heat in the oven for a few minutes at 350 F or about 3 minutes in the microwave (or a hot frying pan). Just don't forget the cardinal rule of veggie baking (and stir-frying): even size vegetables have even cooking times!

Rosh Hashanah Dinner 2010...old favorites and new takes

Last year, I held my first ever Rosh Hashanah party. Since I am not Jewish all these foods and customs were so forgeign to me that I pretty much just followed the recipes as written. The one place I felt comfortable doing my own twist was in the noodle kugel I figured as an Italian I knew all I needed to know about what is basically a pasta dish but those who know and love kugel were not happy! They wanted the old-fashioned kind.

This year was a complete flip....I did the traditional for the kugel but went my own way on the other foods and it seemed to turn out well. We were joined by even more of our veggie loving friends so the brisket was barely touched but the roasted vegetables were demolished! Looks like I should have cut up those last two sweet potatoes!

8/21/10 - Boneless Crockpot Ribs

There are some nights that coming home and opening the fridge to create a masterpiece... and there are nights that you just want to come home to something warm to put in your belly and veg on the couch. With the end of summer rolling in this dinner is a perfect break from cooking, no matter if its too hot to turn on the stove or so cold that you just can't warm up. My favorite part of this dinner was that my boyfriend made most of it!

The recipe for the boneless ribs was simple as can be (ribs + BBQ sauce + 8 hrs in the slow cooker) however, it was the rice and beans that made this a meal. By using the juice given off from the rib, the rice is bursting with savory flavors. To keep things at least mildly healthy, I stuck with brown basmati rice instead of a more traditional white rice. Like all grains using brown, whole grains is much healthier than the white version which has been polished to have the color (as well as important nutrients) removed. While I don't think that this meal is ever going to win any awards simple, home cooking can be better than any 5 star restaurant some nights.

7/22/10 - Lamb Chops

I really love the taste of lamb but the price usually has me looking for alternatives. Earlier this year I splurged on some Frenched baby lamb chops.... and boy were they delicious! This week we were expecting company again and some how I had nothing ready so a quick run to the store was in order. I was pleasantly surprised to see that lamb loin chops were on sale for a very reasonable $5.99/lb while they weren't exactly like the ones from Whole Foods I didn't mind paying 50% of the price! Only Lamb rib chops are "Frenched" (which means cutting away the meat as to expose the bone) so they didn't have the lovely little 'handle' instead they were more like a little miniature T-bone! But either way I found them to be very good.

Again all I did was a simple seasoning with a bit of "steak seasoning" (salt, pepper, garlic, dill, crushed red pepper) that I have in a grinder and seared them on a hot grill pan for about 3-5 min per side. I served them with an ancient grain mix from Trader Joe's which is my fast easy go-to when company unexpectedly arrives. I also made a veggie mix (not pictured) of sauteed zucchini, onion, pepper, mushrooms, new zealand spinach, and some diced tomatoes in some garlic seasoned with salt & pepper.

7/7/10 - Fillet Mignon and Spring Pea & Mint Risotto

I have to admit there are some vegetables that even I won't go near. A few of them have gotten knocked off the list since I have been subscribing to my CSA (like my new 'favorite' beets). Fresh from the farm food is just so good that even a hater like me can't say no! But for a while now my dislike for peas had stood. Now, I love green beans and sugar snap peas and snow peas even fava beans! But those regular old peas which tend to find there way into so many cafeterias and hospital kitchens and usually live in the freezer section..... yuck! But then a mix up at the Farmer's Market changed this pea-hater's life forever - freshly shelled spring peas are nothing like those mushy green mystery objects in the Lunch Ladies meatloaf surprise...they actually taste good!

This classic recipe uses arborio rice that is first roasted then slowly cooked...with a lot of stirring to get its signature creamy texture. Check out this seafood risotto recipe for a more detailed look into make risotto. The big changes that I made were adding the onions right to the oil with the rice in the first step and of course there wasn't any seafood to saute on the side or add in. Instead I just added the peas at the last minute and then places the cover on while the meat rested so that they were just barely steamed and warmed up but still had a bit of a bite as to not be over cooked and mushy.

What are your "no way never, don't even let it touch my plate" veggies? or was there a meal than changed your mind about a certain food?

6/28/10 - To market we go!

A Saturday at home means a trip into the city to the Greenmarket in Union Square. Its wonderful to visit my favorite stands and be inspired by all of the goodies. This week I had to be careful about sticking to my list though. I will be traveling on Tuesday though Thursday and then heading straight for vacation over the 4th of July. In my family, our tradition is a large family party on the 4th at our lake house in New Hampshire. When I was younger there would be upwards of 100 of us gathering together for a giant potluck buffet. But as we get older it becomes more and more difficult to all get together. While we still have many people gathering together each family tends to do their own thing for dinner.

I wanted to get a few things that could travel well so I could give my family a little taste of the Greenmarket. I decided that sausages were probably the easiest meat to transport and ready to grill up as a perfect lunch. Unfortunately even though we were up earlier than usually many of the vendors were already sold out! I guess you need to be even an earlier bird to catch the worm...uhhh sausage! We were able to get one of our favorites (the Bavarian Beef) and we did get some other things to try including some more of the baby fingerling potatoes which are just amazing when roasted! The rest of the goodies will become dinner tonight and tomorrow before our trip. Since we were running around I decided to throw some sliders together using some meat that I had ground a few weeks ago which made a delicious burger. On the side I served some swiss chard (from my CSA) and crimini mushrooms from the market (Bulich's Mushroom Farm) sauted with some shallots.
Click though to see our market finds!

3/29/10 - Chicken Rosa

With the weather getting crazier by the day (last week it was 80 and sunny now its 45 and pouring) and my health only somewhat improved (officially bronchitis), I decided to rely on a shortcut that was sent to me a month or so ago by Foodbuzz Featured Publisher's Tastemaker program, Bertolli's Four Cheese Rosa Sauce. Since Spring is officially sprung, I wanted to include some fresh veggies to give this dish a little of a more healthful spin (if that is possible when using an Alfredo base). I also tried to cut down on the amount of pasta used so that there was a good balance of vegetables, proteins (boneless, skinless chicken breast) and starches.

This dinner was slightly reminiscent of Mac & Cheese because of the cheese based sauce however it was more elegant than even the most adult versions. With a nice light tomato base, the cheesy Alfredo sauce was the perfect companion to the large chicken chunks. The fresh green taste of the vegetables and parsley, especially,  kept it from being too rich and creamy. It was really tasty and fast dinner that got good reviews from my dinner table.

3/21/10 - Baby Back Ribs ...dry rubbed

After walking over 17 miles this weekend (spring fever really got a hold of me!) and getting my butt kicked at pilates class I was ready for a treat. We headed over to the grocery store to pick up a few veggies to complete our dinner tonight (real grocery shopping usually happens on Tuesday after I have a chance to check the circular and make my meal plan) but I got distracted. Always a sucker for a sale, I noticed that they had some ribs on special so I went to take a look. I ended up buying baby backs (instead of spareribs) which weren't actually on sale but once my head was filled with juicy ribs I really couldn't help myself. 

I made ribs for the first time ever on a snow day earlier this winter but this time I was looking for a little more advice. Don't get me wrong Alton Brown's recipe was delicious but a little messy (my foil didn't seal completely and I ended up with braising liquid all over the place). One of my friends who is a CIA graduate and chef suggested that I keep the dry rub but skip the braising. I was a little worried that the meat would end up dry but I decided to follow his advice.......

3/4/10 - Left Over Chicken Soup...recycling in the kitchen

Since I had a party on Saturday night I wasn't up to roasting my usual Sunday afternoon chicken (in fact I wasn't even up for most of the day!) so I didn't have chicken stock on hand for my usual weekly soup. Soup is one of my favorite meals - honestly I could eat it every day (and I usually do have a bowl at lunch most days) so I had to resort to some boxes of stock that I had been saving up when they go on sale (4 /$10 for the organic chicken at stew leonards). While the broth wasn't its usual flavorful self I did have plenty of left over veggies and appetizers that were perfect for making this soup more than just your average chicken soup.

I started with the left overs from my crudites plate - carrots, celery and red peppers and I added in some onion. Then I went to my hot appetizers and used the mini meatballs (both the chipotle and the moroccan) as well as the cheese wontons as my pasta. While each had its own unique taste when it was served on its own, together they blended together and complemented the dish nicely. I threw in a few more veggies (mushrooms and spinach) and a touch of grated cheese to pull it all together.

2/10/10- Snow Day Adventures - Ribs & Blondies

Another post with no picture but I couldn't resist mentioning these amazing recipes to others.
After missing out on all the fun the past few winter storms, New Jersey basically shut down in preparation for a huge chunk of mid-week snow on Tuesday night. School was called before 5pm on Tuesday and it was looking like it might be a day stuck working at home. With all of my essentials packed up, I headed to the grocery store to deal with all those stocking up on water and canned goods for the impending storm. My mind was no where near survivalist food, I was much more focused on some lunch time excitement.
I made my first ever attempt at Baby Back Ribs using Alton Brown's recipe. While they were very good I think that the spiced rub overwhelmed the taste of the meat itself at times but I did love the glaze that was basted over the ribs before I broiled them for some color.
I also tried Joy the Baker's Peanut Butter Blondie but left out the frosting in exchange for some mini peanut butter cup pieces and chocolate chunks. These took a little longer than expected to cook (about 35 min) but they were absolutely delicious. I couldn't help but steal the one we had put aside for a photo when I came home from a long day on the road on Thursday.

2/8/10 - Oven Baked Chicken Fingers

As always I went a little crazy and planned way to much food for our Super Bowl "party". There was only 3 of us here so we didn't really need the rounds of courses that I had on hand just in case. I saw a picture online for some oven baked chicken fingers using a spiced up breadcrumb to season them and decided to do my take on them. It was easy and a lot lighter than anything fried yet it made boneless skinless chicken breast delicious and fun.

2/7/10 - Super Bowl with out the snacks - Bacon wrapped Asparagus

I couldn't wait to try a fun new technique that I found online this week (I know it seems like all I do is go online to food blogs but I promise I do other things too) Bacon Wrapped Asparagus! So fun and a perfect mix of the healthy with the excessive! With all the snow on Saturday our party didn't end up as planned and this was pushed to Sunday and a different friend. No matter who dinner might have been with this was just delicious and not too hard to master. Some suggest that you use toothpicks to secure the ends of the bacon but if you are careful you can get them tucked in on their own