For tonight's dinner I selected:
Balsamic-Garlic Glazed Carrots
Braised Lentils with Parsnips
Griddled Olive Oil Salt Rolls (which I turned into dumplings)
Ingredients
Balsamic-Garlic Carrots - balsamic vinegar, carrots, minced garlic
Braised Lentils - my dish included red lentils, olive oil, chopped sweet onion, chopped fresh mushrooms, diced celery, diced parsnips, sherry, water, bay leaf, salt & pepper
Griddled Olive Oil Salt Rolls - flour, olive oil, baking powder, salt + water
Good stuff. I didn't see the "cup of water" in the olive oil rolls recipe and I thought it was dry so I added more olive oil. Turns out I was missing the water part of the recipe, which was not in the ingredient list but instead in the instructions. I totally missed it. I shaped the dough as best I could into patties and put them to grill in a pan of hot olive oil, but I could quickly see that wasn't ever going to happen. So, I gingerly picked them up and put them into the lentil mixture as dumplings. Quite good - the olive oil flavor. Love it.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Beginning Bittman
Decided that 2010 is the Year o' Bittman. I am going to cook as many recipes as I can in Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. Yes, I just saw the movie Julie/Julia for the first time.
Why vegetarian? Well, it's cheaper. And generally, healthier. And I need both...
Why vegetarian? Well, it's cheaper. And generally, healthier. And I need both...
Friday, January 1, 2010
Angelhair...and breadcrumbs!
Once I saw Giada de Laurentiis made a dish with spaghetti, roasted peppers and breadcrumbs. I had made it myself with penne and really liked it.
I was starving tonight, so I decided to make a variation. I put some angelhair pasta on to boil and then took out a frying pan. I chopped a sweet onion and set that to sauté in some olive oil. Then I opened up an 8oz can of Hunts tomato sauce (a backup!) and poured that in. I then covered the lot with what was probably a 1/2 cup of seasoned bread crumbs and two handfuls of grated parmagiano reggiano.
When the angelhair was finished, I scooped that into the frying pan mixture and gently stirred it all together.
At some point, I will take this same recipe, mix it together with my homemade sauce, put it into a pie dish, top it with mozzarella and bake it in the oven. This is fantastic...
I was starving tonight, so I decided to make a variation. I put some angelhair pasta on to boil and then took out a frying pan. I chopped a sweet onion and set that to sauté in some olive oil. Then I opened up an 8oz can of Hunts tomato sauce (a backup!) and poured that in. I then covered the lot with what was probably a 1/2 cup of seasoned bread crumbs and two handfuls of grated parmagiano reggiano.
When the angelhair was finished, I scooped that into the frying pan mixture and gently stirred it all together.
At some point, I will take this same recipe, mix it together with my homemade sauce, put it into a pie dish, top it with mozzarella and bake it in the oven. This is fantastic...
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
It was a porcupine meatloaf
I had two pounds of hamburger and wanted a way to stretch it. Decided to make porcupine meatballs and realized that my meatball-cooking-dish was in the car! I wasn't wanting to brave the 22F weather, so I improvised: Porcupine Meatloaf!
(this meatloaf makes a very loose mixture that you can stir with a fork even when it's cooked, but you can bind it with an egg or something if you want)
This tastes like stuffed cabbaged without the cabbage.
- 2lbs hamburger
- 2 cups jasmine rice (or, what have you)
- 2 tbsp dried marjoram
- 1 tbsp dried italian-mix seasonings
- 1 pinch dried crumbled thyme
- 1 28oz can of Muir Glen crushed fire-roasted tomatoes
- 1 lb extra-sharp cheddar cheese
Take a big bowl and add all of the ingredients. Put into a casserole dish. Cook at 350F for 1.5 hours, longer if need be. Cover.
About every 30 minutes, stir the hamburger mixture to make sure all of the rice gets moist.
When there's about 15 minutes left, dice up a block of extra-sharp cheddar cheese. (You can also use shredded cheese.)
Take the "meatloaf" and stir in the cheese. Add as much cheese as you want. Put back into the oven until it melts, about 15 minutes.
I scooped this meatloaf into a bowl and ate it that way --
(this meatloaf makes a very loose mixture that you can stir with a fork even when it's cooked, but you can bind it with an egg or something if you want)
This tastes like stuffed cabbaged without the cabbage.
- 2lbs hamburger
- 2 cups jasmine rice (or, what have you)
- 2 tbsp dried marjoram
- 1 tbsp dried italian-mix seasonings
- 1 pinch dried crumbled thyme
- 1 28oz can of Muir Glen crushed fire-roasted tomatoes
- 1 lb extra-sharp cheddar cheese
Take a big bowl and add all of the ingredients. Put into a casserole dish. Cook at 350F for 1.5 hours, longer if need be. Cover.
About every 30 minutes, stir the hamburger mixture to make sure all of the rice gets moist.
When there's about 15 minutes left, dice up a block of extra-sharp cheddar cheese. (You can also use shredded cheese.)
Take the "meatloaf" and stir in the cheese. Add as much cheese as you want. Put back into the oven until it melts, about 15 minutes.
I scooped this meatloaf into a bowl and ate it that way --
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Mini-Meatball Soup
Years ago I lifted the basic recipe for Italian Wedding Soup and made it my own. The soup becomes a luscious, silky concoction of vegetables, meatballs and pasta. Absolutely delicious on a cold spring day, light enough for hot summer days.
I put a soup pot on the burner at sauté heat and drizzled in a round of extra virgin olive oil.
Got out the chopping board and my knife. I diced up:
- one large red onion
- two stalks of celery
Earthbound Farm Organic sells snack packs of really small carrots, so I threw in three packs of those.
I then put in two bay leaves and stirred the pot.
I went to the fridge and pulled out the jar of pureed fresh ginger. I put a scant spoonful of that in there. (A regular spoon, not a soup spoon.)
I stirred.
I turned the heat up to high and put three 16 oz cans of chicken broth into the pot. I then added two cups of water.
Pulled 1 lb of hamburger and the jar of minced garlic out of the fridge and put it into a bowl.
I then put two handfuls of parmesan cheese into the bowl.
I poured two cups of breadcrumbs in there.
I put an egg in there and a 1/2 cup of water.
I put a heaping spoonful of minced garlic in there too.
I waited for the pot to bowl and walked over to the stove with my meat bowl.
I made miniature meatballs with my hands and dropped them into the boiling soup.
When I was done, I put a cup of alphabet pasta into the soup.
Then I put a cup of tubettini pasta into the soup.
I then let it boil away until the pasta was done...
In the meantime, I grabbed the bag of fresh spinach that we had in the fridge and chopped it up. All I did was run my knife through the spinach about 10 times.
Then, when the pasta was nearly done, I started dropping handfuls of the spinach into the soup pot. I let the spinach wilt in and I would drop the next handful. I'd stir it periodically with the soup still boiling away.
When the spinach was all in, the soup was done!
I don't serve it with anything because we find it's a full meat, but crusty bread or grilled cheese sandwiches are a fantastic accompaniment.
Beware: the soup is really hot! You may want to wait for it to cool a bit.
I put a soup pot on the burner at sauté heat and drizzled in a round of extra virgin olive oil.
Got out the chopping board and my knife. I diced up:
- one large red onion
- two stalks of celery
Earthbound Farm Organic sells snack packs of really small carrots, so I threw in three packs of those.
I then put in two bay leaves and stirred the pot.
I went to the fridge and pulled out the jar of pureed fresh ginger. I put a scant spoonful of that in there. (A regular spoon, not a soup spoon.)
I stirred.
I turned the heat up to high and put three 16 oz cans of chicken broth into the pot. I then added two cups of water.
Pulled 1 lb of hamburger and the jar of minced garlic out of the fridge and put it into a bowl.
I then put two handfuls of parmesan cheese into the bowl.
I poured two cups of breadcrumbs in there.
I put an egg in there and a 1/2 cup of water.
I put a heaping spoonful of minced garlic in there too.
I waited for the pot to bowl and walked over to the stove with my meat bowl.
I made miniature meatballs with my hands and dropped them into the boiling soup.
When I was done, I put a cup of alphabet pasta into the soup.
Then I put a cup of tubettini pasta into the soup.
I then let it boil away until the pasta was done...
In the meantime, I grabbed the bag of fresh spinach that we had in the fridge and chopped it up. All I did was run my knife through the spinach about 10 times.
Then, when the pasta was nearly done, I started dropping handfuls of the spinach into the soup pot. I let the spinach wilt in and I would drop the next handful. I'd stir it periodically with the soup still boiling away.
When the spinach was all in, the soup was done!
I don't serve it with anything because we find it's a full meat, but crusty bread or grilled cheese sandwiches are a fantastic accompaniment.
Beware: the soup is really hot! You may want to wait for it to cool a bit.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
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