LtDan'sKitchen.com

Saturday, January 21, 2012

I've Been Chopped

I will not call it my new favorite show but I have definitely been watching it quite a bit since last week. I have known of its existence and never bothered to watch it but I finally did this week. We had a neighbor over for dinner last weekend and she kept telling me I should go for Chopped or the Food Network Star. I politely said, "I don't think I'll go past the first round," and I mean that with all sincerity. Looking at how they cook under time constraints, I don't think I'll be able to finish one dish since I like to pace myself when I cook.

After last night's pizza dinner though, I had the momentary inspiration to challenge myself with leftover ingredients and recreate a solo friendly version of Chopped. Friendly is an understatement since the leftover items we have in the fridge are fairly easy to rework into a second dish: chicken breast, pesto sauce and Romaine lettuce. Now, I was not about to make a dessert out of these three ingredients but I figured, a starter/entree type of dish will be perfect.

First step is to season the chicken with salt and pepper. Next step is to smear three tablespoons of pesto sauce to the chicken as a quick marinade. At this point, I can either grill or pan fry it and the latter is what I chose to do in a hot pan with a bit of olive oil over medium high heat. Sear the chicken and lower the heat to medium and cook for about 5 minutes. Flip and cook for another five minutes or until the thickest portion is cooked and is no longer pink. Let rest for a minute and slice into wedges. Arrange on a bed of Romaine lettuce and slices of Roma tomatoes and garnish with a bit of the pesto sauce. And there you have it, my "Chopped" moment.

Pizza Party

Today was a good day to have dinner with friends and what's unusual is that I'm not even in charge of the food. I was given the task to make the ragu and the pesto sauce for our pizza party. Somebody made the dough and others were told to bring the toppings and the cheese. One other issue is the presence of lactose intolerant guests so we had to make some of the pizza with rice cheese which is fairly good actually. For this dinner, we made three pizzas: regular, non-dairy and pesto-based.

As always, I have to go beyond what is expected of me and even though I was only in charge of making the sauces, I also decided to make a salad and a non-dairy coffee cake. The salad was easy since I still have my Lou Malnati's dressing from last week. I had to make a slight change since bacon will not be a welcome addition and regular parmesan is also not going to cut it. I ended up using cranberries to impart its dark pink color reminiscent of friend bacon and for the cheese, I used Pecorino Romano which is a hard dry cheese with a sharp tang to it.

The dessert I made is the the Blackberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake which I turned non-dairy and I also served my remaining tiramisu which I topped with raspberries. All in all, it was a good time had by all. We are now planning the next theme dinner and Mexican has been considered the next possible route. I could sway it to either Indian or Filipino but we'll just have to wait and see. Oh, incidentally, this dinner inspired me to make my own pizza dough which I will feature in a separate post including the ragu recipe.

Blackberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake - Non-Dairy Cake 3

This will be my third non-dairy coffee cake and I'm actually starting to like it except for the fact that the prices for the dairy substitutes are a bit on the high side. Still, having friends who are lactose intolerant actually forces me to make non-dairy creations that is both delicious and tastes like the real deal. I was torn between making a new creation or sticking to a new favorite, the Clemintine Torte, but I finally decided to go with a new recipe. After all, the more the better, and I know that a few have commented how they preferred non-dairy versions of my cakes.

I'm using Stephanie Jaworski's recipe but adapting it using non-dairy substitutes and I'm quite pleased that I'm three for three when it comes to substituting her coffee cake recipes from regular to the non-dairy kind. As stated in her recipe, you can definitely switch from blackberries, blueberries to raspberries and I daresay, a combination of two or three will also work. I'm using a combination of blueberries and blackberries for my cake. The batter might seem a bit on the sparse side but they do rise to about an inch after baking.

Blackberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake - Adapted*

Cake:

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 cup Earth Balance buttery sticks, room temperature

1/2 cup white sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup soy yogurt

1 cup fresh blackberries, raspberries or blueberries or 1/2 cup raspberry

Streusel Topping:

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup white sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup cold unsalted Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks, cut into pieces

Cream Cheese Filling:

8 oz Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese, at room temperature

1/4 cup white sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tbsp lemon zest (peel)

1 tbsp flour

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch spring form pan and line the
bottom of the pan with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, and ground cinnamon.
Cut in the buttery sticks with a fork until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Set aside.

3. In your electric mixer or food processor, beat the Tofutti cream
cheese until creamy and smooth. Add the rest of the filling
ingredients and beat until smooth and creamy. Transfer to a bowl
and set aside.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and
salt. In the bowl of your electric mixer with the paddle attachment,
beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Add the sugar and beat
until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until
incorporated.

5. Add the alternately with the soy yogurt, and beat only until combined.

Spread the batter onto the bottom of the pan and and form a slight

ridge on the edges.

6. Spread the cream cheese filling over the cake batter. Scatter the fresh

berries over the filling and top with the streusel.

7. Bake for about 60 to 70 minutes or until the streusel is golden brown and
a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool slightly.

8. Serve warm or at room temperature with a side of whipped cream

and espresso coffee.

* Blackberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake - Joy of Baking recipe

Monday, January 16, 2012

Quintissential Roasted Vegetables

This is one dish that I make when I'm roasting chicken or pork or if you want something simple to make that will go well with rice pilaf. Not only is this dish simple, it is also healthy and is a good way to introduce somebody who is not big on vegetables. I've made this a number of ways but it always comes out really good so this is another "fool proof" recipe. Adapted from Michael Chiarello's recipe, this is definitely one to try. One other thing, you can definitely make this with your favorite vegetables and a good addition are asparagus spears and even baby potatoes.

Quintissential Roasted Vegetables

3/4 lb Crimini mushrooms

1/2 lb pearl onions

cloves from one bulb of garlic

4 medium carrots

1/2 tsp Herbes de Provence

salt and pepper

olive oil

chopped parsley

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Trim carrots on both ends and slice in thirds and

halve the thicker pieces. Set aside. Peel the pearl onions and combine

with the carrots.

2. Slice the mushrooms in half. Set aside. Heat a skillet over medium heat

and add 2 tbsp olive oil. Saute the mushrooms and season with salt and

pepper. Cook until it releases its water and turns golden brown. Let cool.

3. In a large baking pan, combine the carrots, onions, mushrooms, and garlic

and douse with olive oil until coated. Season with salt and pepper and

the Herbes de Provence. Bake for about 20-25 minutes.

4. Serve the vegetables warm and garnish with chopped parsley.

Rice and Potato Soup

This soup from Sophia Loren has become a favorite of mine due to the fact that it is very simple to make and yet, it is what you will refer to as comfort food. The soup is flavored with bacon or pacetta but even a good smoked ham will work. What gives the soup some heft is the combination of diced potatoes, white beans and cooked rice. Flavored with classic Italian herbs and spices, this soup is definitely one to make for the cold winter season.The soup itself is very sparse when it comes to the amount of meat used but the idea is to have the meat impart its flavor to the broth and not overpower the rest of the fairly mild-flavored ingredients. If you do love some meat in your soup, feel free to add more but make sure that you check the flavor for balance.

Rice and Potato Soup - Adapted*

1 lb potato, peeled and diced
1 lb Great Northern beans, canned
1 cup Arborio rice, cooked
1 stalk celery, diced finely
2 bay leaves
1 large onion, diced
1/4 lb bacon, diced
6 cups broth
salt and pepper
grated Parmesan cheese
olive oil
Basil leaves chiffonade

1. In a large pot over medium heat, render the fat from the bacon. Once
    golden brown, add the onions and celery and season with salt and pepper.
    Cook for about 3-4 minutes.

2. Add the bay leaves and saute until aromatic. Add the broth and bring to a
    boil. Add the potatoes and lower the heat to low. Cook until the potatoes
    are tender but not overcooked.

3. When ready to serve, add the drained canned beans and the rice and
    simmer for about 5 minutes. Check for flavor and season with salt and
    pepper.

4. To serve, ladle a good amount of soup into soup plates and drizzle with
    olive oil and garnish with the grated cheese and a handful of basil leaves
    chiffonade.

* Loren, S., Sophia Loren's Recipes and Memories, GT Publishing, New York: 1998.

Pasta, Pesto, and Peas

I have made this pasta dish a number of time before and as with the pasta sauce, I tend to go back and forth using the recipes of either Ina Garten or Dave Lieberman. Depending on whether I'm in the mood for tomatoes on my pasta or peas with a spinach mayonnaise dressing, I usually don't have a problem choosing one over the other. This time though, I decided to go with Ina Garten's recipe since I'm serving roasted tomatoes on the side and it will be overkill if I went with tomatoes on my pasta dish as well. Mind you, Dave's recipe is really good so if you want a bit of variety, go and try his recipe as well.

The first consideration is the pesto sauce. It is the main flavor of the dressing and so a good recipe is essential. Once again, I've turned to Dave and Ina but in this case, I married their two recipes to come up with a really good pesto sauce. One word of caution when making pesto, do not overprocess. You need it to have some gritty texture and once you've made it, protect it with a thick layer of good extra virgin olive oil. This will keep the pesto from becoming oxidized to a ruddy gray color. And now, on to the recipe.

Pasta, Pesto, and Peas - Adapted*

3/4 lb bow tie pasta
3/4 lb rotinni
olive oil
1 1/2 cup pesto
10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup almond slivers, chopped
salt and pepper

1. Cook the pasta according to packet directions. Drain and dress with about
    1/4 cup olive oil. Set aside and let cool.

2. In a blender, combine the mayonnaise, lemon juice and spinach leaves.
    Blitz until you form a fine paste.

3. Add the mayonnaise mix to the pasta and mix well to dress. Add the pesto
    and the cheese and mix well.

4. Add the peas and season with salt and pepper.Garnish with the almonds.

*Barefoot Contessa, Food Network Channels: Pasta Bella episode.

Pesto Sauce

Pesto Sauce is not something I make regularly not because of its taste but rather because of its cost and the availability of its primary component, the basil leaves. When I was living in Atlanta, a bunch of basil costs 99c but here in Bozeman, they average $2.99. Hence, unless absolutely, positively necessary, I try to forgo making pesto sauce. However, the pork dish I am preparing for friends coming over this weekend requires a pairing with pasta dressed in pesto sauce so I have no choice but to make it.

I have two standby recipes from two of my favorite television chefs: Ina Garten and Dave Lieberman. This recipe is more Ina Garten but is combined with Dave Lieberman's so either way, there is no point to decide on which recipe to choose. I have made both and they are equally good but I have been making the combo recipe for the last few times I made pesto. Just remember, do not skimp on the olive oil. You need it to ensure that your pesto stays a vivid green.

Pesto Sauce

5 cups basil leaves

1/4 cup pine nuts

3/4 cup walnuts

9 cloves garlic

1 lemon, juiced

salt and pepper

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1 1/2 cup olive oil

1. In a blender or food processor, combine the garlic and nuts with the lemon

juice and 1/2 cup olive oil. Blitz until you form a coarse paste.

2. Add the basil leaves and continue to process by adding the remaining olive

oil. Do not overprocess.

3. Add the cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste. Store in a glass

jar and drizzle a good amount of extra virgin olive oil to protect the pesto

from turning grayish green.