A New Year's Surf n' Turf Shout Out to All Guys: Caesar Salad, Sauteed Shrimp, Grilled Steak, Baked Tomato, and a Dirty Martini

My good friend Hank who lives in a converted church in Lincoln, R.I. reacted to a piece I wrote about Skinny Bitch's vegetarian advocacy with a strongly worded email:

hmm, let's see-give me a pack of Camels....a 5th of bourbon and for lunch I'll have tuna and steak tartar....with bacon.

Clearly what's good for the goose is not good for my friend Hank. And I have to agree with him--except for the "pack of Camels"--all the rest sounds good.

So for Hank and all other guys, here's my version of a dream meal: Caesar Salad, Sauteed Shrimp with Shiitake Mushrooms, Grilled Steak with a Baked Tomato, and a Dirty Martini.

Baked Tomato

Get the tomatoes started while you prepare the rest of the meal, so they'll be ready to serve when you've finished the other dishes.

Yield: 4 servings
Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

4 tomatoes, farmers' market fresh, washed
2 tablespoons bread crumbs, preferably homemade
Olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the top off the tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil, season with sea salt and black pepper, top with a sprinkling of bread crumbs, and drizzle with olive oil (again).

Put on a Silpat sheet or piece of aluminum foil on a baking sheet. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until the tomato has started to collapse.

Caesar Salad

Yield: 4 servings
Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 garlic clove, skin off
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
4 anchovies
1 egg, farmers' market fresh
1/4 teaspoon Worcester sauce
2-3 drops of Tabasco, optional
2 hearts of romaine
3-4 tablespoons olive oil depending on taste
1 teaspoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/4 cup Parmesan or Romano cheese, freshly grated
1/2 cup croutons
Black pepper

Method

Use a wooden bowl if you have one. Sprinkle the sea salt on a wooden cutting board. Mash the garlic back and forth on the salt with the flat side of a chef's knife, then sweep the garlic-salt mash into the salad bowl.

Boil water in a small saucepan. Add the egg and cook for 4 minutes. Remove the egg, let cool, then open, scoop out the yolk and white with a small spoon, and add to the salad bowl along with the Worcester sauce, Tabasco (optional), olive oil, and lemon juice.

With a fork, mash the anchovies into pieces against the side of the salad bowl and dissolve them in the dressing. Mix well.

Tear the romaine leaves into pieces, add to the salad bowl, top with the grated cheese, croutons, and season with the pepper. Toss to coat the leaves. Taste and adjust the flavors by adding more lemon juice or sea salt.

Sauteed Shrimp with Shiitake Mushrooms

Yield: 4 servings
Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound shrimp, washed, shelled, deveined
1/2 pound shiitake or brown mushrooms, washed, ends trimmed, sliced thin
2 garlic cloves, peeled, finely chopped
2 shallots, peeled, finely chopped
2 teaspoons sweet butter
Olive oil
Sea salt and pepper

Method

Heat a frying pan, drizzle with olive oil, season with sea salt and pepper, add the shrimp and 1 teaspoon of the butter. Cook until pink and lightly browned on both sides, 5-6 minutes total. Remove from the pan.

Drizzle olive oil into the same pan, add the mushrooms, garlic, and shallots. Saute until lightly browned, add the other teaspoon of butter. Season with salt and pepper. Move the mushrooms to one side and return the shrimp to the pan to reheat.

Serve either mixed together or separated on the plate.

Grilled Steak

Yield: 1 serving
Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 10 oz. steak, T-Bone, Porterhouse, Rib Eye with the Bone-in, washed, pat dry
Olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper

Method

Preheat the grill or broiler. Drizzle olive oil on a large plate, season with sea salt and black pepper. Dredge the steak through the olive oil. Put on the hot grill or on a tray in the broiler. Turn every 5 minutes until done to your taste.

Put on a plate, cover lightly with a piece of aluminum foil for 5 minutes, then transfer to a dinner plate, top with the juices, and serve immediately.

Dirty Martini

Yield: 1 serving
Time: 2 minutes

Ingredients

3 jiggers of vodka, freezer cold
Vermouth to taste
1 cocktail olive
1/4 teaspoon olive juice

Method

I avoid the shake vs. stirred debate by keeping the vodka in the freezer. Stick a toothpick in the olive and put into the bottom of the martini glass. Add the vodka, vermouth, and olive juice.

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Roasted Walnuts

And for the ideal dessert: a piece of flourless chocolate cake with roasted walnuts, topped with whipped cream. Recipe will be forthcoming. Until then, here's the photograph.

No. More. Cookies.

Berry Pavlova

To break up the decadence that is christmas cookies, I made a pavlova one night, using this recipe with the addition of ~1/3c unsweetened coconut at the end. Thinned a little apricot jam by warming it in the microwave, then piled it high with blueberries, blackberries and pomegranate arils. I was on cloud 9 ;-) hehe!


More on how I get my arils in the next post...

Potato Pierogies

Any thoughts on the new header? I've been meaning to do something for awhile and played around last night... Now, onto the excitement that is homemade pierogies :)

These are present at many family gatherings, not just christmas! My great grandmother used to make them all, but she never let anyone watch... so we've had to adapt it from several sources to get ones that closely match the ones she used to make! While you can put many different fillings inside these, the two most commonly at our table were potato and cabbage. Since I didn't like cabbage as a kid, these quickly became my favorite and the ones I enjoy making now. I tried to take some photos along the way to illustrate the process...

The filling

The dough

The dough rests while you clean the mess

Rollin and cuttin

Assembled

Up close and pinched

*drool*

Potato Pierogi
Yield: 48



Filling:
3c mashed potatoes (cook ~2lb yukon gold potatoes in well-salted water, drain **SAVE WATER** & mash)
10oz cottage cheese, drained
3 slices american cheese
1 onion, sauteed in butter

Mix all ingredients together. Can be prepared ahead and refrigerated until needed.

Dough:
6c AP flour
1-2c potato water (saved from boiling the potatoes, see above)
2 eggs, beaten
2t salt

Make a well in flour, add salt, eggs, and 1c water. Mix well to make soft dough, adding more water if needed. Knead until smooth and does not stick (you may need to add more flour). *Today I made another batch (made too many potatoes last time!) and did most of the dough mixing in the mixer with the dough hook. It worked well and contained the mess, so that was nice! I added some of the flour, salt, eggs, water, then added the rest of the flour a cup at a time. It came together and started pulling off the walls of the bowl. Then I took it out onto a floured surface and added some more flour until the dough was no longer sticky.* Cover with a dish towel and let sit a few minutes.

Clean the counter, line 2-3 baking sheets with wax or parchment paper, get a glass or cookie cutter (I think the glass I used was ~3" in diameter). Dust your working surface with flour, and get ready to roll :)

Cut dough ball in half, working with 1 half at a time. Keep dough that's not being used covered. Same goes for pierogies as you make them. Roll out dough on floured surface (i'd guess it was about 1/8-1/4" thick) and cut rounds with glass. Stretch out rounds a bit in your hands, and fill with ~1T filling (this will depend on the size you use). Seal edges and pinch with fingers for the scalloped edge, or press with the tines of a fork. (If you do different fillings, this is a good way to differentiate them) Place pierogies in a single layer on the prepared baking sheets.

You can do one of two things at this point, cook them immediately (7min in boiling salted water) or freeze them on the baking sheets. Since I was doing these by myself, I stuck them in the freezer, and a few hours later, repackaged them into freezer bags for safe keeping. When ready to eat, cook the frozen pierogies in boiling salted water for ~7min, or until they float. Drain and then toss with onions cooked in butter. Once you have these, you just can't have them any other way!!

Christmas Barszcz

In case you're interested, I (finally) added a search tool on the right side of the blog if you want to find anything you'd seen one time or another. I'm trying to come up with a better way to tag my posts, and create some sort of archive for the recipes I've featured. From the Christmas Eats, some of the dishes (the ones that weren't mine) have the recipe linked by name.

First up for the family meals is a polish soup that's present at most holidays. This is the mushroom-based Christmas version, likely the Easter one will follow around then :) Alot of this is "to taste," as you see in the recipe that mom had from my grandmother (click to enlarge)...


Umm, yeah :) Do you see any amounts or measurements?? I wondered if it was invisible ink, but no such luck. Mom guided me a bit, and I guesstimated the amounts I put in... and after some tasting and adjusting, it came out JUST like my great grandmother and grandmother used to make it, I was thrilled!!!


Christmas Barszcz
Reczek family recipe


~1/2c dried mushrooms
4c boiling water
scant 1T oil (I think i used smart balance oil, for a mild-flavored fat)
1/2c minced celery
1/4c minced onion
4c "kielbasa water" (water used to cook kielbasa, with the fat skimmed off- can be kept in the freezer)
3/4c evaporated milk
1 bay leaf
3 mushroom bouillon cubes
~1/4t dried dill
barley (?? we forgot about this until afterwards... but i think it's supposed to go in ;) )


Pour boiling water over dried mushrooms (or drop them in), cover with lid or saran wrap, and let sit for ~30min. Once they are reconstituted, roughly chop mushrooms (I ran my knife through 3 or 4 times). Reserve some of this liquid (I probably kept 1/4c or so out, but the exact volume isn't important) and mix well with 3T flour.

Add oil to large pot over medium-low heat. Saute onions and celery until softened, but don't brown them! Add remaining ingredients (the water-flour mix last) and adjust to taste. Be careful adding the mushroom liquid, as there may be some sediment at the bottom from the mushrooms that doesn't need to go into the soup. We also added one bouillon at a time, as the amount needed may vary depending on the mushrooms and broth (or water) that are used. I prepared this ahead of time and just kept it on low heat until the rest of dinner was ready! The flavor will deepen as everything comes together. Enjoy!

Holiday Vacations, Vietnamese Food & A Lobster Roll Lunch

How lucky we are that holidays allow us to take time off from our daily routines. Right now we are enjoying the in-between time that begins with the day after Christmas, extending until the day before New Year's Eve. In the retail world this is the make-or-break period when the year's profits will tip one way or the other. Besides the year-end sales, a few other price breaks are helping make the season merry.

Lower gas prices definitely help. Filling up for half the cost of a few months ago continues to be a treat. On the food front, while many commodities continue to cost more, a very few have come down in price. One in particular, lobster, surprises and delights. Mark Bittman recently wrote about lobster prices coming down on the East Coast. Even in LA, prices have fallen. At Gelson's, the upscale supermarket, lobster has been on sale for most of December.

For the holiday our family makes a yearly pilgrimage to a week's time share we bought when the boys were young. Less than two hours drive and we're in our home away from home.

Driving south from LA, we have an excuse to stop in Little Saigon, where we can have lunch at Ha Noi and shop at ABC Supermarket. At Ha Noi we had three of our favorite dishes: a shrimp spring roll, pho ga (noodle soup with chicken), and vermicelli noodles with bbq pork and shrimp.

In Vietnamese supermarkets like ABC, the cost of fresh produce, meat, poultry, and seafood tends to be 1/3 to 1/2 the price in mainstream markets. Which means we splurged and bought a lobster and lots of produce, shrimp, and a crab.

Our first lunch on vacation was a simple one: lobster salad and a Persian cucumber salad. The salads are easy to make, fresh tasting, and delicious courses to serve over the holiday or to help you welcome in the new year.

Lobster Salad

Yield: 4 servings
Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

2 lobsters, 1 1/2 pounds each
1 cup corn kernels
1 cup Italian parsley, washed, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, washed, finely chopped
1/4 cup capers, finely chopped
2 scallions, washed, ends trimmed, finely chopped, white and green parts
1/4 - 1/3 cup mayonnaise
Olive oil
Sea salt and pepper
Cayenne (optional)

Method

The lobsters can be steamed or grilled, either technique is fine. Use the one that's easiest. If steamed, boil 2" of water in a large pot. Hold the live lobsters, head down in the boiling water for 10 seconds. Cover, reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. Take the lobsters out of the pot, let cool so they can be handled, remove the meat, and clean away the liver.

If you want to make lobster fume for sauces or a soup, reserve the cooking water. Add any liquid inside the lobster and all the shells to the cooking water, simmer for 20 minutes, reducing the liquid by half, strain, and discard the shells and solids. Add the fume to a finely diced saute of olive oil, celery, potatoes, carrots, onions, and garlic, simmer for 30 minutes, strain, use the fume as the base for a pasta sauce or lobster-vegetable soup.

Saute the corn in olive oil, seasoned with sea salt and pepper until lightly browned. Cut the lobster into bite sized pieces and mix with the other ingredients. Season to taste with sea salt, pepper, and (optional) a light dusting of cayenne.

The lobster salad can be served many ways: with romaine lettuce leaves, grilled rolls or a halved baguette with drizzled olive oil or a heated tortilla, either traditional or ones made from brown rice (found at Trader Joe's and favored by my wife, Michelle).

Christmas Eats

As mom is recovering (thanks for all the well-wishes!!), we stayed home this year and had a very nice, relaxing Christmas. I had a great time preparing the holiday meals, which weren't too extravagant, just included some of the favorites. Today will just be the pictures, I'll feature the family recipes soon!

Christmas Eve Dinner

Christmas Barszcz

Shrimp- Dad's tradition

Potato Pierogies

Asparagus with Egg Topping

Cardamom Roasted Beets and Carrots

and a parfait!

I made some French Vanilla Mousse from a box, cooked down some blueberries to make a sauce, and layered the two with blackberries and pomegranate arils. Very yummy, and a nice way to end the night.

everything was SOOOO good, i did a happy dance at the table :)



Christmas Dinner

Ham with Champagne and Vanilla Glaze

Sweet Potato Salad

Roasted Green Beans and Peppers

and...

CHRISTMAS COOKIES!!
As requested by mom, I made:

Seven Layers

Snowballs

Flourless PB Blossoms

Christmas Oatmeal Cookies (with craisins and white chips sub'd for the cherries)

Don't be surprised if i don't do too much baking for awhile... :) Hope everyone had a wonderful couple days with loved ones as 2008 comes to a close!!!

White Christmas

I shoveled the porch the other night and couldn't help snap that picture of our front yard! Loving the beautiful-ness that is the snow :) If only the roads clear up a bit so I can get out for a run...

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday (whichever one you celebrate)!! Lots and lots of food coming soon, but for now I'm off to enjoy the family. Best wishes to you and yours!!

~~~
Until then, go comment on this post, to help Katie say ENOUGH to genocide.

Nick is also celebrating the big 100 by giving away peanut butter, so click on over!! As contradictory as that seems, it's nice of him to think of others at the time of this great accomplishment :)

Yukon Gold Latkes

For dinner on the first night of Hanukkah my mother always started with a romaine lettuce salad topped with scallions and Lawry's French Dressing. Then there was a brisket of beef with carrots and mushroom gravy. But the real stars of the meal were the latkes served with apple sauce and sour cream.

My mother's latke recipe was handed down from her mother: grated potatoes, eggs, flour, a little salt and pepper. She'd fry them in vegetable oil and serve them as soon as they were browned. So simple and yet the result was so soul-comforting: crispy on the outside, soft inside, with just the right amount of oil and salt. There are few dishes that are as satisfying as food and so emotionally evocative.

Like most kids, my sister, Barbara, and I waited eagerly at the table. As soon as the plate full of latkes was passed around, we emptied it. I kept count, because I didn't want her to have more than I did. They were that good. When my grandmother was in town, she and my mother made Hanukkah dinner together. Their relationship was competitive to say the least, so there was always considerable discussion about the right way to make the latkes: flour vs. matzo meal; onions or no onions. My grandmother liked to point out that she had given my mother her latkes recipe but my mom insisted that she hadn't remembered it correctly.

These days we look forward to celebrating all the nights of Hanukkah but the first night is special. That's when both our sons are certain to be home. Now that they're off on their own, we're happy when we can be assured they'll share a meal with us.

Michelle likes to make the Hanukkah latkes and they're always delicious. Her recipe is similar to my mother's. This year I asked her to make a small adjustment. I wanted her to use Yukon Golds instead of Russet potatoes because they're sweeter and less starchy.

After the first night's candle was lit and placed in the menorah, presents were given and opened. Then Michelle made latkes as fast as she could and they disappeared as soon as they arrived at the table. In the end, there were only two left. Michael ate those for a late night snack. The family's opinion was unanimous. The Yukon Gold latkes were a keeper.

Yukon Gold Latkes

Yield: 4 servings
Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

4 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, washed
2 eggs
1/4 cup white all purpose flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper (optional)
1 medium yellow onion, peeled, finely chopped (optional)
1/2 cup parsley, washed, finely chopped (optional)
4 tablespoons safflower or canola oil

Method

Peel the potatoes and keep them covered in a bowl of lightly salted water so they won't discolor. Using the large holes, grate the potatoes by hand. Keep the grated potatoes submerged in the bowl of water.

Take a handful of grated potatoes. Gently squeeze out the water so they are "dry" but still light and fluffy. Put the grated potatoes into a second bowl and mix together with the eggs, flour, and olive oil. Season with sea salt and pepper. Add the parsley and onions (optional). Mix well.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan or griddle. Use a parsley leaf to test the oil. When it sizzles, the oil is hot enough. Form the latkes and fry them in batches. With our griddle, that means we can make 4 or 6 at a time.

Each side will take 4-5 minutes. When they're golden brown on each side, remove them to a plate with several sheets of paper towels to drain off the excess oil. Finish with a light dusting of sea salt.

Serve with sour cream and apple sauce.

Rosemary Lovin

Right before I left to go home, the heat of my apartment got to my Rosemary Tree :( I picked off all I could, and got to work!

I made some Rosemary Peanuts, based on this recipe, just using different nuts.


The bulk of what I had left went into some Rosemary Rolls, which were fantastic (yes, i had one fresh out of the oven! At least it was only 11pm this time :)) but I wish I had more rosemary in them! Nice crispy crust, fabulous texture (crumb?) inside, I was pretty excited at the way these turned out.



Rosemary Rolls
adapted from Two Fat Als
Yield: 12

1/2 packet dry active yeast
1/2 tbsp white sugar
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk, room temperature
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp butter, softened (I used Smart Balance 50/50, as that's all i have at the moment)
chopped fresh rosemary (I probably had ~1/4-1/3 cup, and could've easily added double that)
2 1/4c AP flour, plus more if needed (I needed more)
1c whole wheat pastry flour
1T vital wheat gluten
olive oil, for brushing (might also be good with some kosher salt dusted after the olive oil too!)

In a large bowl, add yeast to warm water and sugar and let sit ~5min, until foamy.

Add milk, egg, salt, butter, rosemary, 1c AP flour, 1c WW pastry flour, and gluten to the yeast mixture and stir. Add remaining AP flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough has come together and starts pulling from wall of the bowl. If it's sticky, add more flour as necessary. Knead dough on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic (8 min? i don't time it). Place dough in lightly oiled large bowl and cover. Let rise until doubled in volume, ~1hr.

Grease a baking sheet. Once risen, deflate the dough and divide it into 12 pieces. Shape each piece into a round ball, and place onto the baking sheet. Cover the rolls with a warm, damp cloth, and let rise until doubled in volume again, about 40 minutes. Preheat oven to 350, brush rolls with a bit of olive oil, and make cross-hatches on the dough with a knife (i wasn't very enthusiastic here...). Bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown.


And that about does it with the uni-colored food photos for the day!!

Millet

Another new grain, plus a recipe from one of my new books! Wow you guys are lucky ;-) This Autumn Millet Bake hails from Mark Bittman's How to Eat Everything Vegetarian, although before I had the book I found it on Heidi Swanson's site here (where she also wrote a glowing review of the book).


It was my first time trying millet, and it was good, reminded me alot of quinoa. Which, apparently can be substituted in the recipe if you have that on hand! Anyone else tried millet? This is also another great dish that can be made ahead of time. The tartness of the cranberries and the sweetness of the squash made for a nice pairing. So go check out the recipe! I'll have to do a more formal review of the book once I can pick out some more recipes... too many that sound fabulous!



In the mean time, this image came as part of an email advertising winter cycling wear and I thought it was hillarious!!

Let it Snow!!

It's beginning to look a LOT like christmas :):) I'm loving the snow outside right now!!! I got to walk home in it ~3 and by the time i got to my apartment, I looked like a snowman :) how fun!

Before I forget, two very important things. Another easy way to give, go comment on MizFit's site here. She'll be donating to a domestic violence shelter. Second, a shoutout to Erin, who sent me some of that infamous trail mix (it's as dangerous as it seems...) and some Super Charge Me Cookies!! How she knew I've been meaning to try those, I don't know, maybe she's psychic! Both of the delicious goodies refused to be photographed, they didn't want to make everyone jealous :)

Oooh, you came here for the food? Right. Well I feel like I haven't been feeling the creative bug in awhile, but when I came across these I had to pick them up!


Then it was what to do with them... I was immediately thinking cookies (witches hats), but didn't really think the peanut butter was the right pairing. I thought almond would be the best flavor base to go with these, and while I toyed with the idea of using almond butter, here's how they ended up...


Chocolate Raspberry Almond Shortbread
adapted from my aunt's Almond Glazed Sugar Cookies

1c butter, softened (I used Smart Balance 50/50 sticks)
3/4c sugar
1t almond extract
2c AP flour
1/2t baking powder
1/4t salt
Dark Choc Raspberry Kisses, unwrapped

Preheat oven to 400deg. In a small bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt together. Combine the first three ingredients (butter, sugar, extract) into the bowl of a mixer and beat at medium speed until creamy. Reduce speed and add flour mixture. Beat until well mixed.

I used a cookie scoop (probably ~1t) to scoop out cookies onto a cookie sheet, 1" apart or so. Bake 7-9min, until edges are lightly browned. Cool 1minute while you top the cookies with kisses, then remove from cookie sheet.

Look at how ooey-gooey they got!!!

A note on the Smart Balance Sticks... they seem to have different melting properties than butter. In recipes like this, where you cream the butter and sugar, it seems to work just fine. Be careful, however, when melting it for other recipes, it happens quickly and splatters!

Pizza Pizza

While I love any and all squash(es?), I never would've thought to put it on a pizza. Galette? sure, but something never clicked in my head. My awesome aunt was the one who introduced this Roasted Acorn Squash & Gorgonzola Pizza to me, and I can't thank her enough, it's fabulous!!!

a peek inside

Here's my lazy version:
Roasted Acorn Squash & Gorgonzola Pizza
adapted from Giada
Serves 1 (as a side or part of a meal... if you have my kind of appetite;-))

1/2 acorn squash (sliced thin, mixed with 1/2T maple syrup, 1/4T olive oil, dash red pepper flakes, roasted at 375 until tender... this was done the day or two ahead of time)
1 pita
gorgonzola
handful of spinach, tossed with a little bit of balsamic vinaigrette (I didn't measure, but you don't want it too heavy, just for a little flavor)

Top pita with gorgonzola (as much or as little as you like, I think I had ~2T or more on a medium-size pita) and toast until warm and melty. Meanwhile, warm acorn squash (if prepared ahead of time) slightly. Top pita with acorn squash then the balsamic-dressed spinach. Dig in!