Hahaha...I've successfully conned my dearest sister into letting me post on her blog. Oh, the shenanigans I can employ!
In all seriousness, I love cooking as much as the "lawyer to the stars" does. Especially right now. You see, I SHOULD be studying for my second round of law school exams. I should be ordering takeout every night. Instead, I'm honing recipes, because cooking is a LOT more fun than learning the "rules" of property law. Last night, I reworked a recipe that came courtesy of the family of my Little Lady - Sausage Cacciatore.
Start out by sweating two green peppers, one large white onion, and four cloves of garlic (all finely chopped) in 3 tbsp of olive oil. I refuse to say EVOO. Once the aromatics are soft, set them aside. In a large pot, warm one 28oz can of tomato puree, one 28oz can of crushed Italian-style tomatoes, and one 6oz can of tomato paste over medium heat. Once the tomatoes start to bubble, stir in the softened aromatics. Then, cover the entire mixture with mixed Italian seasoning. Yes, I'm serious - cover the entire thing with the stuff. Add salt, ground black pepper, and red pepper flake to taste. (For me, that means 1/4 of a cup of crushed red pepper - I like stuff spicy.) Also, if you like garlic, add another 1tbsp of crushed now - the different garlic flavors are nice. Finally, add two cups of red wine - preferably cabernet, but if that's not available, use whatever is lying around. Reduce the heat to simmer, and let's get to work on the sausage.
Well, would you look at that - I'm short a few ingredients. My future mother-in-law makes this using linked Italian sausage, both hot and mild, but those aren't in my freezer and I'm a law student on a budget. Fortunately, I have venison burger and sausage thanks to "Father to the Stars", so I set out to make me some meatballs. For the burger, I made traditional Italian meatballs. To the 1lb of meat, I added two eggs, 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan, 1/2 cup of Italian breadcrumbs, and a healthy eyeball-full of dried oregano. I rolled these into about 40-50 small (1cm diameter) balls. For the sausage, I wanted something spicy, so for the 1lb of sausage, I only added one egg, 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs, and another 1/4 cup of red pepper flake. I rolled the sausage mixture into about 20-30 larger (1in diameter) balls, so that I could tell them apart. For all the meatballs, I parfried them - not enough to cook them through, but enough to get a nice crust on the outside. Once all were finished browning, I added them to the sauce.
Then you wait and stir. And wait and stir. And two hours later, you are ready to go, with a nicely thickened sauce and deliciously cooked meatballs. Serve over your favorite pasta (I prefer penne) with garlic bread...and a salad, if you are one of those people. This should make a relatively huge batch - enough for 8-10 servings - but will freeze well.
More recipe goodness later this week.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Monday, April 24, 2006
Marinara sauce
My basic marinara sauce recipe is a hybrid of Giada and my own recipes.
Over medium heat, I sweat 2 roughly chopped onions and 2 peeled and chopped carrots in a bit of olive oil with some kosher salt. Let them go 12-15 minutes until softened. Meanwhile, squeeze out the seeds from 2 28 oz. cans of peeled whole tomatoes.
Add about 4 cloves of roughly chopped garlic to the onions/carrots. Cook for one minute. Toss in some freshly ground black pepper, red pepper flakes, 2 bay leaves, and any other seasonings (oregano, basil, etc.). If available, add a hefty splash of red wine and cook for one minute. Add whole tomatoes, plus half of a 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes. Simmer gently for 20-30 minutes, or as long as you want to babysit it. Remove the bay leaves and carefully puree the tomato mixture.* Add the remaining half-can of diced tomatoes.
Keep the sauce over low heat and taste it. Too acidic? add a pat of butter and a scattering of sugar. Too blah? Add another splash of wine. This is definitely a recipe that can easily be affected by its ingredients and their whims, so change it as your taste demands!
*I use an immersion blender, but you can use a food processor or blender, taking care NOT to fill it more than halfway, or else the tops will blow off
Over medium heat, I sweat 2 roughly chopped onions and 2 peeled and chopped carrots in a bit of olive oil with some kosher salt. Let them go 12-15 minutes until softened. Meanwhile, squeeze out the seeds from 2 28 oz. cans of peeled whole tomatoes.
Add about 4 cloves of roughly chopped garlic to the onions/carrots. Cook for one minute. Toss in some freshly ground black pepper, red pepper flakes, 2 bay leaves, and any other seasonings (oregano, basil, etc.). If available, add a hefty splash of red wine and cook for one minute. Add whole tomatoes, plus half of a 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes. Simmer gently for 20-30 minutes, or as long as you want to babysit it. Remove the bay leaves and carefully puree the tomato mixture.* Add the remaining half-can of diced tomatoes.
Keep the sauce over low heat and taste it. Too acidic? add a pat of butter and a scattering of sugar. Too blah? Add another splash of wine. This is definitely a recipe that can easily be affected by its ingredients and their whims, so change it as your taste demands!
*I use an immersion blender, but you can use a food processor or blender, taking care NOT to fill it more than halfway, or else the tops will blow off
Weekend cooking
We did a bit of cooking this weekend. On Saturday, we dined on grilled flank steak fajitas with Boston cream pie for dessert. Sunday, we used the leftover steak to make the Rigatoni with Steak Sauce about which I've raved in previous posts.
For the flank steak, I marinated said piece of meat for about 6 hours in the fridge. The marinade consisted of splashes of olive oil, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, a dash of sesame oil, a hefty handful of steak seasoning, ground pepper, red pepper flakes, and some lime juice. It was grilled and sliced thinly to serve in tortillas, with grilled onions and peppers. And cheese and sour cream and salsa. All the normal fajita accoutrements.
For the Boston cream pie, I relied on an Everyday Food recipe. I have to admit I wasn't wild about it. I have nightmares about vanilla pudding after participating in an "over-the-head pudding feed" contest at Duke's TIP program in high school, where the pudding was room temperature (the room being the quad on Duke's West Campus when it was approximately 99 degrees outside) and I remember gulping down vast amounts of warm vanilla pudding. Ew. Gives me the shivers now.
But back to the dessert and the present day. A normal Boston cream pie is yellowy sponge cake, custard, and a chocolate topping. This cake was fine - kind of boring, and definitely an unusual preparation method, but dull. Which I guess is the point, as the custard and chocolate should be the show. The chocolate topping is fine - basically a ganache. However, I cheated. The recipe is already having you cheat a bit - using their vanilla pudding recipe. I cheated more - I bought a box of Jell-O instant french vanilla pudding.
Strike 1) This pudding is yellow in color, and looks like lemon curd. I'm not a fan of lemon curd. It kinda grosses me out.
Strike 2) See commentary on pudding competition above.
It tastes fine. R liked it. But I think the traditional custard filling would be better. So I'm not giving up on this recipe entirely...we'll see what the future holds for me and this "pie."
Note - Boston cream pie is not a pie. I don't know why it is called a pie. I bet Alton Brown knows. In fact, I know he knows, I just can't find the relevant episode. Dang.
For the flank steak, I marinated said piece of meat for about 6 hours in the fridge. The marinade consisted of splashes of olive oil, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, a dash of sesame oil, a hefty handful of steak seasoning, ground pepper, red pepper flakes, and some lime juice. It was grilled and sliced thinly to serve in tortillas, with grilled onions and peppers. And cheese and sour cream and salsa. All the normal fajita accoutrements.
For the Boston cream pie, I relied on an Everyday Food recipe. I have to admit I wasn't wild about it. I have nightmares about vanilla pudding after participating in an "over-the-head pudding feed" contest at Duke's TIP program in high school, where the pudding was room temperature (the room being the quad on Duke's West Campus when it was approximately 99 degrees outside) and I remember gulping down vast amounts of warm vanilla pudding. Ew. Gives me the shivers now.
But back to the dessert and the present day. A normal Boston cream pie is yellowy sponge cake, custard, and a chocolate topping. This cake was fine - kind of boring, and definitely an unusual preparation method, but dull. Which I guess is the point, as the custard and chocolate should be the show. The chocolate topping is fine - basically a ganache. However, I cheated. The recipe is already having you cheat a bit - using their vanilla pudding recipe. I cheated more - I bought a box of Jell-O instant french vanilla pudding.
Strike 1) This pudding is yellow in color, and looks like lemon curd. I'm not a fan of lemon curd. It kinda grosses me out.
Strike 2) See commentary on pudding competition above.
It tastes fine. R liked it. But I think the traditional custard filling would be better. So I'm not giving up on this recipe entirely...we'll see what the future holds for me and this "pie."
Note - Boston cream pie is not a pie. I don't know why it is called a pie. I bet Alton Brown knows. In fact, I know he knows, I just can't find the relevant episode. Dang.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Two Fab Sandwiches
R and I dined on two fabulously delicious sandwiches last night - Venetian Panino and Nutella sandwiches. Mmm.
As you can read in the recipe, the Venetian panino are simply pieces of bread (we used ciabatta rolls) lathered with a cheese/garlic/dijon/butter spread and filled with ham or turkey. We then put ours on the panini grill and enjoyed.
The Nutella sandwiches are also simple. I used slices of a farm loaf I purchased at the WF, buttered the outer sides, and spread Nutella thickly on one slice. I then grilled them on a griddle and served sliced in half with a dusting of powdered sugar. Mmm. I attempted to take a photo, but the batteries on my camera were not being helpful.
A shoutout to Elle, who prepared some delicious snickerdoodles and shared some with me. I've now eaten 3. Only 1 left. Its fate is sealed....
As you can read in the recipe, the Venetian panino are simply pieces of bread (we used ciabatta rolls) lathered with a cheese/garlic/dijon/butter spread and filled with ham or turkey. We then put ours on the panini grill and enjoyed.
The Nutella sandwiches are also simple. I used slices of a farm loaf I purchased at the WF, buttered the outer sides, and spread Nutella thickly on one slice. I then grilled them on a griddle and served sliced in half with a dusting of powdered sugar. Mmm. I attempted to take a photo, but the batteries on my camera were not being helpful.
A shoutout to Elle, who prepared some delicious snickerdoodles and shared some with me. I've now eaten 3. Only 1 left. Its fate is sealed....
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Monday, April 17, 2006
The Ham has risen....all rejoice!
So, due to the ultimate sacrifice of a porcine savior, R and I enjoyed a delicious Easter feast of baked ham, hash brown casserole, roasted asparagus, and zuccotto. It was a Food Network frenzy.
Alton provided the ham. We used SoCo instead of bourbon (it may be a type of bourbon come to think of it) since we didn't have real bourbon and we have 2 handles of SoCo. Note - two people don't need to have an 8 pound ham. We will be eating ham until next Easter.
Ina Garten provided the asparagus. I added a handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese at the end. Mmm.
Giada provided the zuccotto. I used angel food cake instead of pound cake, and I would recommend any number of other "cake-like" substances to substitute as well - soft ladyfingers, etc. It was delish.
The hash brown casserole was your classic "potatoes, onions, cheese, sour cream, cream of whatever soup, cornflakes" masterpiece. Mmm. Many thanks to my aunt L for preparing that for a number of football parties thereby addicting to me to the HBC's siren call.
PS - I enjoy pretty flowers!
Monday, April 10, 2006
Freakin' AMAZING pasta
Once again Giada does it. This weekend, R and I prepared her delicious Rigatoni with Steak Sauce. And no, that does not mean pasta smeared with A-1. It means pasta tossed in a delicious red wine, tomato, onion, garlic, and RIBEYE sauce. It was completely luscious, served with a salad and crusty garlic bread. I could have eaten 10 pounds of the stuff if that wouldn't have caused a major stomach upset.
Some tweaks I made:
1) I added sliced crimini mushrooms shortly after sweating the onions and carrots (and I halved the amount of carrots, as they upset R)
2) I used Barilla pasta sauce, which seemed a bit more acidic than I was looking for, so I added about a 1/2 tbsp of sugar and a pat of butter
3) I probably cooked the wine too long, thereby boiling it out of the recipe, so about 5 minutes before we ate, I added a hefty splash of wine to the sauce to give it a deeper flavor.
This was totally delicious, ribeye was the perfect cut for the dish, and I HIGHLY recommend it.
Some tweaks I made:
1) I added sliced crimini mushrooms shortly after sweating the onions and carrots (and I halved the amount of carrots, as they upset R)
2) I used Barilla pasta sauce, which seemed a bit more acidic than I was looking for, so I added about a 1/2 tbsp of sugar and a pat of butter
3) I probably cooked the wine too long, thereby boiling it out of the recipe, so about 5 minutes before we ate, I added a hefty splash of wine to the sauce to give it a deeper flavor.
This was totally delicious, ribeye was the perfect cut for the dish, and I HIGHLY recommend it.
Monday, April 03, 2006
I've been gone too long....
I've been gone a long time. I know. Not a lot to report. I had a birthday, so I got presents and cake (see photos). Yummy yellowy, buttery cake with chocolate frosting. Mmm. You can see the fab immersion blender (mini boat motor) in one photo.
I also received from R some fun summery table decor from Crate and Barrel along with some fab Peacock Fiesta. You can also see the delightful Vaseline bath beads I favor. Fascinating, no?
Finally, lovely R prepared a sumptuous meal for me to be eaten upon my return from B-lo (more on that later). Our meal consisted of a delicious salad (BLT Caesar, available from Fresh Express for an insane price, I appreciate the splurge R) and lovely Beef Bourgignon Potpies. Emeril may be insane, but that man does have some good recipes. We're not really big on making the puff pastry look pretty, but it was TASTY and the pies were ginormous (obviously, neither of us ate one of those pies - both were prepared in 1 quart fiesta serving bowls). Merci beaucoup, mon cher.
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