Archives for June 2016

The above photo may very well be the best food shot I’ve ever taken. I have a few others that I think are really good, but this one takes the cake. And to think, it was totally unplanned.

I think I shared this in a previous post, but if I didn’t, I’ll share it again. The way these recipe posts work is like this: I usually begin cooking around 5pm and continue on until I’m finished. If things go well, the entire ordeal usually takes about an hour. Now, I know I’ve shared this part – by the time I’m done with the cooking, I’m usually so hungry that I’m not really focused on taking any photos. The photos I take during the process aren’t the challenge, it’s the ones at the end. Unfortunately, those “end” shots are the ones I need to choose the lead photo for the entire post from, so they’re important.

Anyway, last night’s recipe took a bit longer than many of the others I’ve taken part in. It required that I make some sauce and then do some baking. It took time. Since I had only eaten breakfast so far for the day (I do that a lot), I was practically starving. By the time I was finished cooking, which took me about 2 hours, the last thing I wanted to engage in was a photo shoot. But, me being me, I took a few photos and then went to hide at my computer to review them. This is the best one I got and it was the one I was going to use for this post:

Don’t get me wrong – I like the picture. It’s just that once I heard Laura snapping away in the other room, I headed back to see what was going on. She had taken the initiative to place a piece of the lasagna on the spatula for more of an “action” shot, which I liked a lot. I pretty much copied her and was able to walk away with the photo you see at the top of this post. Not bad, even if it was an afterthought.

The Recipe

This is the last recipe I’ll be posting for this round. When I go grocery shopping, I usually pick up enough food for three to four meals. I already posted the earlier ones, so this will be it for a few more days. That is, until I head back to the store. That’s fine, because this one is somewhat involved, but totally worth it. There’s no way you’ll be able to eat the entire lasagna in one night, so you’ll have plenty of leftovers. We probably have about two more night’s worth in the refrigerator.

What I really love about this vegetable lasagna is the garlic and red pepper flakes in the sauce. I also enjoy the texture and how substantial the veggies are. In the entire lasagna, I use one eggplant, two red peppers and three zucchini. That’s pretty good and quite filling.

I’ve been wanting to get back into larger dinners for some time. While I do love my sandwiches, I also truly enjoy many things that cook in a casserole dish. I think it’s the weight of them and the fact that I won’t be cooking for a few nights. I say that far too much – that I’m a lover of the leftover. I know.

Lastly, I’d like to thank Curtis Stone and his book What’s For Dinner? for the inspiration for this recipe. I did change things up quite a bit, but his original recipe was just as awesome. I’m a huge fan.

Ingredients

Serves: 6

For the Sauce

2 Tablespoons Regular Olive Oil
1 Large Sweet Onion, Chopped
5 Teaspoons Garlic, Minced
1 Teaspoon Dried Thyme
1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
1/2 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
2 Cups Dry White Wine
2 Large Cans (28 Ounce) Diced Tomatoes
Salt
1 Cup Ricotta Cheese
1 Tablespoon Dried Basil
Ground Black Pepper

For the Vegetables

1 Medium Sized Eggplant, Trimmed and Sliced into 1/4 Inch Slices, Lengthwise
Salt
3 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
3 Tablespoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Ground Black Pepper
3 Zucchinis, Trimmed and Sliced into 1/4 Inch Slices, Lengthwise
2 Red Bell Peppers, Trimmed, Cleaned and Cut into 16 Pieces Total, Lengthwise

For the Lasagna

12 Dried Oven-Ready Lasagna Noodles
1 Pound Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded

Step-by-Step Instructions

Make the Sauce

Warm a large pot over medium heat. When it’s to temperature, add the 2 tablespoons of regular olive oil. Then, add the chopped onion and minced garlic. Cook, while stirring, for about 5 minutes to soften both ingredients. After that, add in the 1 teaspoon of dried thyme, the 1 teaspoon of dried oregano and the 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Cook and stir for another 2 minutes. Finally, add in the 2 cups of dry white wine and raise the heat to high. Let boil for about 10 minutes or until the wine has reduced by half.

When the above part of the sauce is ready, go ahead and add in the 2 cans of diced tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and let cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for about 50 minutes.

After the sauce has cooked, season with a pinch of salt and ground black pepper and add in the 1 tablespoon of dried basil. Also add the 1 cup of ricotta cheese. Stir and remove from heat. The sauce is finished.

Prepare the Vegetables

First, pre-heat your oven to 300 degrees. Then, in a small bowl, add the 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, the 3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt and a pinch of ground black pepper. Whisk together well.

Place the eggplant, the zucchini and the red bell peppers on two large baking sheets. Then, brush both sides of all vegetables with the vinaigrette. When finished, place both baking sheets into the oven and let cook for 15-20 minutes or until the veggies are somewhat soft. The goal here is to infuse the vegetables with flavor while softening and dehydrating them a bit. When finished, remove the trays from the oven and store for later use.

Here is a photo of the eggplant slices after I removed them from the oven:

Assemble the Lasagna

First, pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Then, in a 13x9x2 casserole dish, add about 1 cup of tomato sauce. Spread it around.

After that, add 4 dry lasagna noodles. Break and arrange if necessary.

Next, add a layer that consists of 1/3 of the vegetables, another 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce and then a layer that consists of 1/3 of the shredded mozzarella cheese.

Once those layers are down, add another 4 dry noodles, another 1/3 of the vegetables, another 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce and another 1/3 of shredded mozzarella cheese. After that, add the final 4 noodles and another 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce. Top things off with the remainder of the vegetables and the last of the tomato sauce over that. Keep the remaining mozzarella cheese for later.

After all the layering is finished, cover the casserole with aluminum foil and place it in the oven. Let cook for 45 minutes. Then, remove the foil and sprinkle the remaining shredded mozzarella cheese across the surface and place the casserole back in the oven. Let cook for another 30 minutes. Remove from oven, turn off heat and you’re done. Cut into appropriate sized pieces and serve.

The Final Dish

I don’t think I need to state how much I enjoy dishes like this. Lasagna is very high on my list and is only topped by eggplant parmesan. Both are really great and this recipe stands up to my expectations and experience. If you decide to give this a try, please let me know what you think. Also, please feel free to give suggestions and alternative ingredients and methods in the comment area below. I’m all ears.

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The gardening season is upon us. From here on out, as much as I can, I’ll be incorporating what I grow in the back yard in my recipes. This is an extremely exciting time of the year for me because every morning, I get to walk outside to see how much our crop has grown overnight and even more importantly, I spend less at the grocery store. You’d be surprised at how much produce Laura and I purchase every week – our shopping cart is probably more than half full of items just from that one aisle.

Two ingredients are featured in today’s recipe. One is kale, which I grew in a raised bed over the past few weeks, and the other is lemon, which, unfortunately, I didn’t grow. I live in Maine and even though it’s possible to keep lemon trees alive indoors, it’s not a very popular one for outdoors. Since we arrived in this state, we’ve experienced -23 degree temperatures. Not good for lemons at all.

The Recipe

I’d have to describe this recipe as one best suited for summer. It’s fresh, light and airy. It uses relatively few ingredients and it’s simple to prepare. All in all, I think I like it.

The amount of kale used in this recipe depends on you. You certainly could get away with half of what’s recommended, or you could double up, if you’re like me – someone who loves kale. Since it’s cooked in boiling water, it reduces in volume. The huge pile of kale you start off with becomes manageable very quickly.

I’d also advise cooking the pasta on the al dente side. I got lucky last night and pulled the pasta out of the water at just the right moment and I have to say, it was wonderful. Even if I stopped it from cooking a minute sooner, I still think it would have been fine because of all the olive oil in this recipe. Pasta continues to cook after it’s out of the pot, so absorbing some oil wouldn’t have been a bad thing.

If you’re a lover of the lemon, feel free to apply it liberally in this recipe. The instructions call for two tablespoons of juice, but I see no issue with adding three. Also, if you have the lemons, zest away. There’s enough pasta and kale to compensate for any additional flavor.

I’d like to thank Curtis Stone and his cookbook What’s For Dinner? for this recipe. It’s another one of his awesome creations (with a twist or two of my own). I recently discovered that Curtis offers a few additional cookbooks, so I’ll be on the lookout for those. When it comes to cooking and having an imagination about food, that man rocks.

Ingredients

Serves: 4

1 Pound Kale, Sliced Thin
1 Pound Spaghetti
3/4 Cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
5 Teaspoons Garlic, Minced
Zest From 2 Lemons
Sea Salt
Ground Black Pepper
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
3 Ounces Romano Cheese, Grated

Step-by-Step Instructions

Don’t limit yourself to Romano cheese. If you prefer Parmesan, go for that. Whatever strikes your fancy.

Cook the Kale

In a large pot, add 4 quarts of water and 1 tablespoon of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat.

When the water is boiling, add the sliced fresh kale to it.

Let the kale cook for about 5 minutes and then remove it with a slotted spoon or a sieve. The goal here is to remove the kale, but leave the water in the pot. Place the cooked kale in a bowl for later use.

Cook the Pasta

If the water in the pot isn’t still boiling, bring it back to a boil and add the pasta. Let the pasta cook between 7-10 minutes, stirring and tasting it often. The minute it becomes tender and doesn’t stick to your teeth, remove it from the heat and strain it in a colander. Before you do that though, reserve about a cup of the flavored pasta water. You may need it later on, depending on the consistency of the final dish.

Heat Skillet & Combine Ingredients

Warm a large skillet over medium heat. When it’s to temperature, add about 1/2 cup of the extra-virgin olive oil. Then, add the 5 teaspoons of minced garlic and let cook for about one minute. Don’t cook so much as to allow the garlic to change color. All you want to do is open it up so it begins to smell good.

After that, add the kale to the pan and stir all the ingredients together well.

When mixed, add in the lemon zest.

Stir in the lemon zest as well. This is what things should look like at this point:

When those ingredients are well coated with the olive oil, go ahead and add the spaghetti to the skillet. Also add in the remaining oil, the lemon juice and the Romano cheese. Again, mix well so all the ingredients are thoroughly combined.

At this point, you can season to taste with salt and pepper. The reason I waited until the very end for this step is because you need to know what the combined ingredients taste like first. Even though it would have been simpler to season earlier on, you wouldn’t really know what you were seasoning. So, season, stir and taste. Then repeat.

Plate & Serve

It’s time to plate and serve. Divide the spaghetti and kale mixture between 4 large bowls, add some more grated Romano cheese to the top of the pasta and serve.

The Final Dish

Here is a photo of the final dish in a bowl. The olive oil really adds some color to the pasta. If you’ve got good oil, this should be a treat. Enjoy!

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If you’ve followed this website for any amount of time, you know that I’ve enjoyed my fair share of cod. I’ve also cooked asparagus in a variety of ways. One thing I’ve yet to taste is what’s called melted leeks. This was new to me. When I saw a recipe for them in a cookbook and read the ingredients involved, I quickly new I had to give them a try.

The Recipe

In this recipe, the asparagus is delicious. It’s coated with olive oil, shallots and paprika. Honestly, I’m not sure how it can be better. The cod is wonderful as well. I pan roasted it in the oven with some olive oil. I lightly seasoned it with salt and pepper and it came out flaky and tender – just the way it should. It was great. While those two elements were as I expected them to be, I wasn’t ready for the slow cooked leeks and onion. Wow. Curtis Stone wasn’t lying when he said, “The leeks become so tender they virtually melt into the creamy sauce.” It’s true. They do. And when they’re cooked slowly like it’s called for in the recipe I found in Curtis’ book What’s For Dinner, they become sweeter. To top things off, the texture is to die for. If there’s one area I would focus most of my attention on in this recipe, it would be the melted leeks. Hands down.

Ingredients

Serves: 4

For the Leeks

1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter
1 Tablespoon Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 Large Yellow Onion, Coarsely Chopped
Sea Salt
Ground Black Pepper
2 Teaspoons Garlic, Minced
2 Large Leeks (white and light green parts), Cut into 1/2 Inch Pieces
1 Cup Heavy Cream

For the Asparagus

1 1/2 Pounds Asparagus, Trimmed
3 Tablespoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Shallots, Finely Chopped
1 Teaspoon Paprika

For the Cod

4 6-Ounce Skinless Cod Fillets, Cut Evenly
2 Teaspoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Ground Black Pepper

Step-by-Step Instructions

I would suggest taking your time with cooking the leeks. The whole endeavor will take a hair over 30 minutes, so enjoy. They cook over low heat, so there will be plenty of time to prep the fish and asparagus.

Prep & Cook the Melted Leeks

Warm a large skillet over medium-low heat. When it’s to temperature, add the butter and olive oil and let the butter melt completely. When ready, add the chopped onions to the pan.

Let the onions cook for about 5 minutes. Stir often. When the onions begin to soften, add the minced garlic to the skillet and continue cooking, while stirring, for another 2 minutes.

When that’s finished, add the cut leeks to the pan, along with a pinch of sea salt, and let cook for about 15 minutes. You’ll need to stir during this time as well because it’s important for the leeks to soften like the onions did.

After the leeks appear visually soft, go ahead and add the 1 cup of heavy cream, along with another pinch of salt, to the skillet.

Cook and stir for about 10 minutes. If you’d like, you can season to taste with some ground black pepper at this point as well. While continuing on with the rest of the recipe, you’ll want to keep the skillet warm over very low heat.

Prep the Asparagus

Add the 1 1/2 pounds of trimmed asparagus to a medium sized bowl. Also add in the 3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil, the 2 tablespoons of shallots, the 1 teaspoons of paprika and a pinch of sea salt. Mix well and set aside for later use.

Cook the Cod & Asparagus

Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees. Add the 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil to another large skillet. Also, add the 4 cod fillets to the skillet and add a pinch or two of sea salt to the tops of the cod. When the oven is warm, add the skillet with the cod in it to the center rack of the oven and let cook for about 10 minutes or until you see the sides of the cod begin to separate and become flaky. When that happens, remove the cod from the oven and turn off the heat.

While the cod is cooking, warm another large skillet over medium heat. When the pan is to temperature, add in all the ingredients that are in the bowl with the asparagus.

Cook the asparagus over the medium heat for 10 minutes or so or until you see that it’s tender, but still bright green. If you go too far here, the asparagus will begin to brown and will be overcooked.

Plate & Serve

At this point, all the parts of this recipe should still be warm. Line up 4 plates and divide the melted leeks among them. Then, add 1 piece of cod per plate and top with an even amount of asparagus. Serve.

The Final Dish

This dish beat my expectations. At first glance, it looked like it would be challenging to prepare, but it wasn’t tough at all. It simply took some time and patience. Said and done, it was well worth the wait.

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Curry, by far, is one of the most dynamic and tasty things you can put in your mouth. Every single time I eat curry, I’m astonished at what I’ve been missing when I’m not eating it. And to think, it’s not a terribly challenging area of cuisine to undertake. Actually, it’s very simple.

For the past few days, I’ve been craving something that would fill my belly up. Even though I’ve been preparing many dishes that have been wonderful to enjoy, I’ve missed those “stick to my ribs” types of meals. And oddly enough, I’ve also been desiring some butternut squash. Ask me why. I have no idea. So when I stumbled across one of Curtis Stone‘s recipes called Thai Red Curry with Butternut Squash and Chickpeas, I thought it was a sign from above. As I said, I love curry and I happen to know that anything butternut squash really fills me up. This recipe was perfect.

The Recipe

As I was eating this dish last night, I turned to Laura and said, “This is really good. It’s filing too.” And then I continued eating. I only got half way through my bowl because I had just finished a huge salad and we added some Jasmine rice under the curry, but seriously, the butternut quash hit the spot. Since I doubled up on the ingredients when preparing this recipe, we’ve got lots of leftovers, which is perfect because I already want some more.

The Thai red curry paste this recipe calls for will make you say “Wow.” It packs a punch. I picked up a small jar of it at my local grocery store for a few dollars and used the entire amount in this dish. That, combined with the coconut milk is to die for. If you’re not familiar with Indian or Thai cooking, I highly encourage you to give a simple recipe like the one I’m about to share with you below a shot. It’s difficult to mess up and the outcome will certainly be surprising. I’m a huge fan.

Ingredients

Remember, I doubled up on these ingredients, so the photos below will show twice as much food. You may want to consider doing the same since this dish is so good and easily refrigerated for later enjoyment. The ingredient list I’m including below will cover the normal recipe quantities.

Serves: 4

1 Butternut Squash (about 2 pounds)
2 Tablespoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1/3 Cup Thai Red Curry Paste
1 Can Chickpeas, Drained & Rinsed (15.5 ounces)
Sea or Kosher Salt
1 Can Coconut Milk (13 ounces)
1/2 Cup Fresh Cilantro, Chopped

Step-by-Step Instructions

There really ins’t much prep time for this recipe. You should be able to finish everything necessary in about 10 minutes. And the cooking time will take about 30 minutes, so you should plan accordingly for that.

Prep the Squash

Trim both ends off the butternut squash and then peel it in its entirety. After that, slice it lengthwise, clean out the seeds and then cut both halves in half inch pieces. Place everything in a bowl for later use.

Heat Pot & Add Ingredients

I used my Lodge cast iron Dutch oven for this recipe because I had a lot of material to deal with. If you’re preparing the recipe with the ingredient list above, you can use a regular pasta pot. I had to go larger because I doubled up.

Warm the pot over medium heat. Add the 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil and the 1/3 cup of Thai red curry paste. Stir both ingredients for about a minute or so until things begin to smell wonderfully.

After that, toss in the sliced butternut squash and mix well until each piece is coated with the curry paste and the oil.

Add in the 1 can of chickpeas and stir well again.

Finally, add the 1 can of coconut milk, 3/4 cup of water, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Simmer & Reduce

After about 10 minutes of covered simmering, remove the lid and add in the chopped cilantro. Stir well.

Keep the cover off and simmer for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, to soften the butternut squash and to reduce the liquid a bit. The squash should be tender after the 20 minutes.

Season & Serve

After about 20 minutes of simmering, stick a fork into the pieces of squash to make sure they’re soft. Also, season with some salt to taste. If everything is good, plate and serve. You can also add some more cilantro as a garnish at this point.

The Final Dish

I loved this recipe. It’s definitely on my “repeat” list. I can’t get over how good that curry paste and coconut milk is when they are combined. Also, I’d consider this a hearty meal because of the squash and the chickpeas.

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Up until a few days ago, I had no idea what orecchiette was. Come to find out, it’s merely another shape of pasta. It sort of looks like small shells, but it’s a bit thicker with more firmness. It’s made up of the same exact ingredients as most other pastas, so I could have easily substituted the orecchiette for something else. Since this was a new experience for me, I decided to go with what the recipe called for.

The Recipe

I’ve been making so many sandwiches lately that I almost forgot there were other types of dishes to enjoy. I had to switch tracks to get back to something I could put in a bowl. When I found a recipe titled Orecchiette with Brown Butter, Broccoli, Pine Nuts and Basil from Curtis Stone‘s cookbook, What’s For Dinner?, I get excited. I thought about how much something like this was right up my alley.

I’m glad I went ahead with this one because I really liked it. Any time I get to toast pine nuts, or in this case, pecans, I know I’m in for a good time. There’s such a distinct difference in flavor when you toast these things. Also, browning butter and using it as a highlight in a recipe is to die for. When butter is browned, it gives off a nutty flavor, which can really add to the flavor profile of a dish. In the case of this recipe, an entire stick is used and the nutty butter flavor truly shines through.

I made a few substitutions for this recipe. First, I switched out the pine nuts and used pecans. While both of these ingredients are quite expensive, I already had a bag of pecans in the refrigerator from a previous recipe. In my opinion, using pecans is better than using pine nuts anyway. Also, I switched out the basil for parsley. The grocery store I shop at didn’t have the large bag of basil that I usually purchase and I wasn’t about to spend $5.99 for only four ounces of the stuff. I’ve got 18 basil plants growing in the garden right now, so I’ll have to save up all the recipes that call for it and put them together in a few weeks. I think it’s smart to use what’s in season.

When I was shopping for broccoli, I found that there were two types offered; one was called regular broccoli and the other was called broccoli florets. The regular broccoli had nice long stems and the broccoli florets had short stems that wouldn’t have offered the same distinctiveness after being trimmed from the head. Even though the regular broccoli was a tad more expensive, I decided to purchase it. I wanted a specific look for this dish.

Overall, I enjoyed this bowl of food. There are relatively few ingredients, but what there is offers a lot of flavor. It does need seasoning with salt and pepper, but it’s filling and fun to watch come together.

Ingredients

Makes: 4 Servings

1 Pound Fresh Broccoli
1 Pound Dry Orecchiette
1 Stick Butter, Unsalted
1/2 Cup Parsley, Chopped
1/2 Cup Pecans, Toasted and Coarsely Chopped
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
Regular Table Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

Step-by-Step Instructions

Of course, if you’d rather use basil, by all means, use that. Again, I decided to go with what was available at the time. If I were to prepare this recipe again and if I had an abundance of basil on hand, I’d definitely go with it.

Prep the Ingredients

To start off with, you’ll need to prep all the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe. It’ll be much faster and simpler if you have everything in front of you before you even turn the stove on.

First, trim the broccoli so you’re left with individual pieces. Try to keep the stems as long as possible. You’ll get more food out of the deal and it’ll look better to boot.

I put the orecchiette in a bowl simply to take a photo of it. I wanted you to know what it looks like. I also like to see my ingredients on the counter, ready for use. It brings me comfort.

Next, I washed and coarsely chopped the fresh parsley. I stored the ingredient in a bowl.

Finally, I coarsely chopped the pecans and toasted them in a small skillet over medium heat. I knew they were finished when I could see them changing color and they became fragrant. Also, when I tasted one of the pieces, it had much more of a crunch to it than if it hadn’t been toasted. Hands down, toasted pecans are awesome.

Cook Broccoli

In a large pot, add 4 quarts of water and 1 tablespoon of regular table salt. Bring the water to a boil. When boiling, add the broccoli pieces and let cook between 3 and 5 minutes. The goal here is to cook the broccoli until it turns bright green and becomes somewhat tender. Don’t overdo it because you’ll be cooking it a bit more later on.

When it’s finished, scoop all the broccoli from the boiling water with a slotted spoon, shake off and place in the same bowl you took it from. Keep the water boiling.

Cook the Orecchiette

Pour the pound of dry orecchiette into the same pot the broccoli cooked in. The water is flavored from the broccoli and the salt, so this should offer a nice outcome. Also, don’t worry about the water being slightly green. That only adds to the fun. Cook the pasta, while stirring, between 8 and 11 minutes or until it’s just tender enough to be eaten. Don’t overcook the pasta. It should be right past the point of sticking to your teeth.

When finished, dip a measuring cup into the pasta water and scoop out 1/2 cup. You’ll likely need this flavored water later on. After that, strain the pasta in a colander and set aside.

Brown the Butter & Add Broccoli

Warm a large skillet over medium-high heat. When to temperature, add the entire stick of unsalted butter and cook, while stirring, for about 2 minutes. When you start seeing small droplets of brown in the butter, add the broccoli to the skillet and continue cooking for another 2 minutes.

Add Remaining Ingredients

After the broccoli has cooked in the skillet for a few minutes, go ahead and pour the orecchiette pasta in along with the broccoli. Stir everything together. Then, add in the 1/2 cup of chopped parsley, the 1/2 cup of toasted pecans and the 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Stir those ingredients into the others. Salt and pepper to taste and if the mixture is too dry, add in some of the reserved cooking water, while stirring, until it’s to the desired consistency.

When finished, divide among some plates and serve. Drizzle some extra-virgin olive oil over each dish as well.

The Final Dish

This is a nice dish. It’s fairly quick to prepare, so it would be good for almost any night. Also, it tastes great and is rather filling, so it’ll satisfy even the toughest of customers.

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