Leftovers

We had some great leftovers from my mom's BD Extravaganza.

Sunday Morning, Brian made Mexican Breakfast. He took the rest of the refried beans and reheated them. Then he chopped up some potatoes and sauted them with some onions, green pepper and seasoning. Then he scrambled up some eggs and topped it all up with some cheese. MMMMM.

My mom bought the Tortilla Warmer at a church bazaar. It is basically a hot pad that you can slip tortillas into and pop them in the microwave. It works amazingly well, just as well as my old method of wrapping tortillas in 4 or 5 paper towels and sprinkling with water before nuking.

The rest of the Dulce de Leche and Whipped Cream made an amazing Cafe con Leche, and I don't know how I went back to my low fat version the next day.

Now, on to Brian's Spanish Rice! Brian makes the best Spanish Rice. I discovered this when I had a Supper Club where I was supposed to make Spanish Rice. I had tried to make it before, with no success - the rice ends up looking like it has acne, and it doesn't soak up the flavors at all. It's basically just ick. My sister had made a good package rice that would have worked just fine, but Brian said he would make it for me. He wrote out the recipe:

It made so much rice, my mom took some home, my brother-in-law took some home, and we still had a ton left. I made black beans and rice for dinner and we STILL had some left for lunch.

The black beans were super easy - I sauted garlic, onions, and red chili pepper flakes in some olive oil. I added a can of black beans, chopped tomato and green bell pepper and taco seasoning. Sauted until heated thouroughly.

I heated up the rice and put it in a pasta bowl. I made a well in the middle and put the beans in the well. I topped it off with grated cheese.

Veggie Tacos and Birthday Extravaganza

Yesterday, my family came over to our place for my mom's Birthday Extravaganza. The menu was:

Veggie Taco Filling
Beef Taco Filling
Flour Tortillas (from Rosa's Tortilla Factory), Grated Cheese, Chopped tomato, Avocado
Spanish Rice
Refried Beans
Queso
Salsa
Chips
Angel Food Cake with Strawberries and Whipped Cream and Dulce de Leche

My sister made the Beef Taco Filling and Refried Beans. Brian made the Spanish Rice and Queso, and I made the the Veggie Taco Filling and Dessert.

I came up with the Veggie Taco recipe when I lived with my parents. My mom would buy tons of vegetables that we would never get around to cooking before they went bad. One day I took what was in the crisper - some carrots, zucchini, onion, corn and spinach and tossed it into a skillet with some taco seasoning, chuck it in a tortilla, and voila! Veggie Tacos!

Veggie Tacos

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus 2-4 tablespoons extra
1 clove Garlic
1 small onion (3/4 cup) – chopped
1/2 cup carrots - chopped
1 bell pepper – chopped
1 cup frozen corn
1 medium zucchini – chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon coriander
3 cups fresh spinach
Salt to taste

In a large pan over medium heat, sauté garlic and onion in 1/4 cup olive oil until just starting to soften (about 2 minutes).

Add bell pepper, carrots, and zucchini. Saute until just starting to soften (about 4 minutes).

Add corn, cumin, chili powder, and coriander. Stir well. As vegetables are cooking, add more oil if it is starting look dry.

Cook uncovered until all vegetables are cooked through (about 10 minutes), stirring periodically.

Stir in spinach and salt to taste. Cover and cook until spinach cooks down (about 2-4 minutes).

Serve in tortillas with shredded cheese, sour cream, and chopped avocado and tomato.

Brian's Spanish Rice made so much, I'll talk about that when have the leftovers!

Okay, so I cheated on the cake. I did not make it. I have never made an angel food cake from scratch, because it takes so many egg whites. I also realized that I don't have a pan to make it in, so I just picked one up at Tom Thumb.

I topped the store-bought cake with strawberries and whipped cream and dulce de leche. I made the dulce de leche from a recipe from Daisy Cooks!. I didn't cover it with foil, so it ended up lumpier with more sugar crystals than I wanted. Basically, you pour sweetened condensed milk into a dish (I used a square baking pan) , put it into a larger dish (I used a 13x9" baking pan). Boil water in a kettle, and pour water into the larger dish about halfway up (basically making a water bath). Cover loosely with foil. Put in a 350 degree and cook until it turns into dulce de leche. (about 45 minutes).

I sliced up the 2 pints of strawberries and tossed them with 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 Tablespoon Bouchant.

Everything was great, and another great part - Leftovers! (That will be the next post)

Salad du Jour

Tonight's salad was little of this thrown into the bowl and a little of that thrown into the bowl. No measuring or reason to it. This is how most of my salads happen. Today's salad ingredients were:

Spinach
Fresh tomato
Sun-dried tomato (I know - a lot of tomatoes, but we didn't have any olives, I had to do something)
Pepperocini slices
chopped green bell pepper
chopped green onions (white and green parts included)
Pine nuts
Feta cheese crumbles
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Garlic granules
Dried oregano
Dried Thyme

Toss desired amounts of ingredients in a bowl and toss with tongs. I usually add the cheese last, on top of the salad because I don't like salad dressing-soaked cheese.

Served with crackers and Brian's famous hummus (which used to be my famous hummus, but I thought him how to make it and he now makes it better than I do).

The Friday Experiment

My mom's BD is coming up, so my sister and I decided that we would cook dinner at my place. She gave us the following criteria: No spicy Italian, no garlic. She suggested my Veggie Tacos. Then, she changed her mind and faxed me a recipe that she wanted me to make. I wanted to try it out first before I made it for her birthday dinner, so here it goes!

Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe (Spaghetti with Crushed Black Pepper and Pecorino Cheese)

Salt for the pasta water
2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns, or more to taste
1 pound spaghetti
1 1/2 cups freshly grated Pecorino Romano, or more to taste

Bring a big pot of salted water to the boil.

Grind the peppercorns very coarsely, preferable crushing them in a mortar with a pestle or in a spice grinder.

Warm up a big bowl for mixing and serving the pasta - use some of the pasta water to heat the bowl, if you like.

Cook the spaghetti until al dente. Quickly lift it from the pot with tongs, let it drain for an instant, then drop it into the warm bowl.

Immediately scatter a cup of the grated cheese and most of the ground pepper on the pasta, and toss in quickly. As you mix, sprinkle over spoonfuls of hot water from the cooking pot to moisten and amalgamate the pasta and condiments - add more pepper or cheese to taste.

[originally appeared in ''Lidia's Italy" by Lidia Bastianich.]

It sounded like more of a side-dish pasta, so I decided I would make this to go along with it:

Balsamic-Glazed Salmon Fillets

6 (5 ounce) salmon fillets
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon white wine
1 tablespoon honey
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Coat a small saucepan with non-stick cooking spray. Over medium heat, cook and stir garlic until soft, about 3 minutes. Mix in white wine, honey, balsamic vinegar, mustard, and salt and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, for about 3 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
3. Arrange salmon fillets on foil-lined baking sheet. Brush fillets with balsamic glaze, and sprinkle with oregano.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 14 minutes, or until flesh flakes easily with a fork. Brush fillets with remaining glaze, and season with salt and pepper. Use a spatula to transfer fillets to serving platter, leaving the skin behind on the foil.

Any time I google a recipe, inevitably several foodie blogs will be amongst the search results. I'm not sure why, but I decided to google the pasta recipe to see if anyone else had tried to make it. Sure enough, I found this incredibly informative posting: Bad Home Cooking: Mistakes were made: Spaghetti cacio e pepe (with cheese globs). I had the exact same results! All the cheese basically stuck to my tongs, and I had to pull it off. I even warmed the bowl. I even watched Lidia herself make it on the Today Show! Now, it wasn't bad, it was pretty good, but it wasn't any different than when I was in high school and I'd cook up some pasta for lunch and throw some butter, cheese, and pepper on top. Nothing special at all. Definitely not good enough for a birthday dinner.

Now, I included the recipe for the salmon that I used as an inspiration, but I didn't follow the recipe. I did cover the pan with foil, and I did make it in a sauce pan, and I did use all the ingredients, but I just dumped them in and didn't follow the the recipe. I also used olive oil to saute the garlic instead of artificial cooking spray. Oh, and I used Red wine instead of white. And I used Ground Mustard instead of Dijon. And I used dried oregano instead of fresh. Wow, I think I made something completely different!

It was pretty good. The flavor was a little more delicate than I thought it would be - it would have been nice with a little more punch.

When I bought the salmon at Central Market, the Fishmonger asked me if I wanted the head or the tail. I paused for a moment and looked at the whole side of the fish and said "Head." He said, "I that that part better too." I had to fess up - I said, "Honestly, I don't know the difference, you're the first person to give me the option." He said the head side was flakier, and the tail was a more solid piece. He ended up giving me the pound of fish I asked for from the head side, and he through in a little piece of the tail for me to try. I have had tail meat before: my mom used to buy a that whole piece and sometimes I would be the one to get the tail. I just couldn't remember the different except that it is a thinner slice. I suppose I could taste the difference - the tail is slightly gamier, but it is but it is barely discernible. The texture is definitely different and it stays together better. I can't say I prefer one side of the other. But unless I'm grilling it, I will probably continue to buy the Head side unless I'm grilling it.

So, needless to say, we'll be having tacos for her BD.

Pumpkin Waffles

A co-worker asked me for my Pumpkin Waffle recipe. I haven't made it in a while, but I thought I'd go ahead and add it since I mentioned it in the pasta post below. Mmmm... I'm craving them now. So simple. So good.

Pumpkin Waffles

Makes 4-5 Belgian Waffles

3 C Belgian Waffle Mix (I use Krusteaz)
2 eggs
1/3 C oil
1 C canned Pumpkin puree
1 C water
1 tsp. or more to taste Pumpkin pie spice (or a mix of nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves)

Heat waffle iron. Mix all ingredients together until smooth. Cover bottom of lightly greased waffle iron. Cover lid and cook until done (about 3-5 minutes).

I have to admit I have never made them of this proportion before - I usually make them for 2-3 waffles, but the math of figuring out how much was one half of everything was hurting my head. I also usually don't measure too closely, but they always turn out good.

The Erica Salad

Brian and I eat several salads a week. This is one of my favorites. If you don't want the baked goat cheese on top, you can substitute feta crumbles. I told a lovely co-worker about it, and she makes it now too. She named it the Erica Salad. I usually just call it Baked Goat Cheese Salad. I adapted the goat cheese from a recipe appearing in Real Simple magazine. Here's the recipe (I'm afraid I don't really measure, so just do it to taste):

Baked Goat Cheese Salad

Spinach
Dried Cranberries
Toasted Pine Nuts
Onion
Baked Goat
Cheese (recipe follows)
Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing (recipe follows)

Baked Goat Cheese:
Slice Goat Cheese 1/2 " thick. Coat goat cheese slices with olive oil, and dredge in bread crumbs Italian flavor, or plain mixed with oregano, thyme, garlic powder, and pepper). Refrigerate coated slices for 30 minutes. Bake Goat Cheese slices at 350 degrees until crumbs turn golden
brown.

Dressing:
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Nutmeg
Garlic
Powder
Oregano
Thyme
salt
pepper


Mix together a couple TBSPs of Balsamic Vinegar, a couple dashes of nutmeg, garlic powder, oregano, thyme salt and pepper. Slowly drizzle in Olive Oil and whisk until emulsified. Pour dressing over a couple handfuls of baby spinach, a handful of dried cranberries, chopped onion, and toasted pine nuts. Toss. Plate and then place goat cheese rounds on top.

I highly recommend a glass of red wine with this salad. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bowtie Pasta

Back in October, I made pumpkin waffles over one of the weekends, and I only used a couple TBSPs of it. I didn’t want it to go to waste, so I thought I’d try to make a pasta dish out of the rest. Inspired by an acorn squash pasta sauce that I’ve made a few times before, I thought I’d try similar ingredients with the pasta. It got a “thumbs up” from Brian. So, last Friday, I tried it again.

Pumpkin Bowtie Pasta

3 C Bowtie Pasta, cooked
2 TBSP butter
1 small onion, chopped (about 2/3 Cup)
1 can pumpkin puree
Couple dashes nutmeg
Red pepper flakes, to taste(optional)
1/2 C Parmesano-Reggiano
1/2 C Heavy Cream or Half and Half
6 fresh sage leaves, chopped
salt/pepper to taste
chopped pistachios (optional)

In a saucepan, melt 2 TBSP butter. Add 1 small chopped onion (about 2/3 Cup). Sauté until starting to brown.
Stir in 1 can pumpkin puree. Mix in chopped fresh sage, nutmeg, and red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste (about 2 - 3 TBSP loosely packed sage, and ¼ to ½ tsp. Nutmeg).
Stir in about ½ cup grated Parmesano-Reggiano cheese and ½ Cup Half and Half or Heavy
Cream. Stir until cheese melts.
Toss with about 3 cups cooked bowtie pasta until sauce completely coats pasta.
Serve in pasta bowl with extra grated parmesan and crushed pistachios on top.