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Category Archives: Cooking

Chicken, Beets and Magic Ice Cream

06 Aug

We had family over for dinner yesterday so we did our typical Sunday dinner with way too much food. We started off with appetizers of buffalo chicken pizza and some homemade guacamole and tomato salsa with some chips. Then for dinner, I tried to do everything in one roasting pan to help cut down on the clean up. We made a couple of roast chickens with roasted root vegetables that we had picked up at the farmer’s market on Saturday. This also included some fresh beets that I roasted and they turned out wonderful. The whole dinner was very easy to prepare, although it took about 2 hours in total to cook. I used recipes from Mark Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything” for the meal yesterday.

Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 whole chickens, 3 to 4 pounds each, trimmed of excess fat

2-3 russet potatoes, scrubbed and chopped

1/2 pound parsnips, peeled and chopped

1/2 pound carrots, peeled and chopped

1 sweet potato, scrubbed and chopped

1 onion, peeled and quartered

6 whole cloves of garlic

Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Mix together the olive oil and thyme and some salt and pepper. Put the chickens, breast side up, on a rack in a roasting pan. Toss all the vegetables together in a large bowl with 3/4 of the herb and oil mixture and scatter in the bottom of the roasting pan beneath the chickens. Roast the chickens in the oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, spoon some of the herb mixture over the chicken and the vegetables. Shake the pan gently so the vegetables turn and cook evenly.

After roasting for another 10 minutes, the chicken breasts should begin to brown (if they don’t, wait a few more minutes until they are brown). Turn the heat in the oven down to 325 degrees, baste again with the remaining herb mixture, and roast until an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 155-165 degrees.

Remove the chickens from the oven and raise the oven temperature to 425 degrees. Continue roasting the vegetables while the chickens rest before carving, about 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Serve the carved chickens with the vegetables scattered around them.

We served the chickens and vegetables with a fresh tomato and cucumber salad dressed with extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and a little diced shallot. You could just as easily only make one of the vegetables for this meal instead of the mix, but the mix turned out quite nice and gave us a good variety. I also made some fresh beets that I roasted with this meal. Now, not everyone is a fan of beets in general. I think some people were scarred in childhood by being forced into eating them, but fresh roasted beets taste unbelievably delicious. They have a very sweet flavor from their natural sugars, and once you have roasted them they are great hot or cold. Roasting them really is the best method for cooking them.

Roasted Beets

4 large beets, scrubbed, greens cut off (leave a bit of the greens on the end to help stop them from bleeding all over while they cook)

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash the beets well. Wrap them individually in foil and put them on a cookie sheet or in a roasting pan. Bake, undisturbed for 45 to 90 minutes, until the thin blade of knife pierces one with a little resistance. Remove the beets from the foil and carefully and gently rub the surface of the beet to remove the peel. Dress lightly with extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper.

If you bake them in foil, you don’t really have to worry about them staining anything (unless of course you drop a piece on your shirt while you’re eating. Thankfully, none of us did). You could also take the roasted beets, cut them and saute them gently with some butter or olive oil after roasting for some added flavor, but I think they are great just this way. Everyone seemed to really enjoy them, and I had leftovers tonight with dinner.

I decided to try something completely different for dessert last night. I had seen a recipe from Cook’s Country for something called Magic Strawberry Ice Cream. The name intrigued me so I read up on it and it claimed to make ice cream with the need of an ice cream machine or maker. I figured why not, let’s give it a try.

Magic Strawberry Ice Cream

8 ounces strawberries, hulled

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 ounce white chocolate chips

1 tablespoon vodka

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1 1/4 cups heavy creamed, chilled

Process the strawberries in a food processor until smooth, about 30 seconds (puree should measure about 3/4 cup). Microwave the sweetened condensed milk, white chocolate chips and vodka in a large bowl until the chocolate melts, about 1 minute, whisking halfway through cooking. Whisk in the strawberry puree, vanilla and salt.

Using a stand mixer fitted with a whisk, whip the heavy cream on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to high and whip until soft peaks form, 1 to 3 minutes. Whisk one-third of the whipped cream into the strawberry mixture, then gently fold in the remaining whipped cream, 1 scoop at a time, until combined. Freeze in an airtight container until firm, 6 hours or up to 2 weeks. Serve.

I know you are probably asking, why is there vodka in this recipe? Well the berries have a lot of moisture all on their own and the ice cream would crystallize and ice over. The vodka prevents this from happening and lets the berries do their thing. I have to say, I was very skeptical this would work but I could tell before I even combined the puree with the whipped cream that this was going to taste good. The puree itself smelled exactly like a good strawberry ice cream. Once everything was combined and had set, it was perfect and tasted awesome. What made it even better for us was that Michelle’s grandmother had unknowingly made a strawberry shortcake to bring for dessert, so it was absolute perfect with a little ice cream on the side.

Of course, if I was smart I would have taken pictures of everything, but Sean reminded me about after most of the ice cream was gone, so I didn’t get a picture of it (he’s actually finishing the ice cream right now). Oh well, maybe next time. Now that we know how easy it is to make, I’ll certainly make it again.

That’s it for tonight. I have 2 chicken carcasses to make stock with tomorrow and I never did get to make chicken salad sandwiches the other night, but maybe I will do that tomorrow and post the recipe with some potato salad and cole slaw. We’ll have to see what else comes along this week. Work has kept me very busy lately, so I haven’t had time to blog, but I will try to fit some in this week. Until then, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

 
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Posted by on August 6, 2012 in Cooking, Dessert, Poultry, Vegetables

 

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Butterfly, Butterfly, Butterflied Barbecued Chicken

02 Aug

It was too hot to use the stove tonight here, so I decided to go for the grill instead. As you know if you follow my blog, we live in a condo and New York State law says no charcoal or gas grills can be stored if you live in this type of dwelling, so I use an electric grill instead. You don’t always get the greatest results, but it works pretty well if you combine it with using a smoker box. I wanted to do something very simple tonight, so I found this recipe from America’s Test Kitchen for a grilled butterflied chicken. I did jazz it up a little bit by adding a dry rub and the smoker box, but you can easily just do this with just some salt and pepper.

Grilled Butterflied Chicken

2 cups of wood chips, soaked and drained

Vegetable oil

1 (3 1/2 to 4 pound) whole chicken

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced

Place the wood chips in a disposable aluminum tray or a smoker box. Rest the box on top of the primary burner. Turn all the burners on to high, close the lid and heat the grill until it is very hot, about 15 minutes. Clean and oil the grill and turn all the burners to medium-low.

Mix the garlic, salt, pepper and parsley together in a small bowl. Remove and discard the gizzard packet from inside the chicken. Butterfly the chicken using poultry shears. Lay the chicken on its breast and use the poultry shears to cut out the backbone. Flip the chicken to breast side up and cover it with plastic wrap. Using a meat pounder, flatten the chicken by pounding lightly. Season both sides of the chicken with the dry rub.

Grill the chicken skin-side down, covered, until the skin is crisp and an instant-read thermometer inserted deep into the thigh registers 165 degrees, about 30 to 45 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a carving board, tent with foil and allow it to rest for 10 minutes before carving into pieces.

It is all super easy, very fast and tastes great. We just made some sliced carrots and diced potatoes to go along with the meal and it was perfect.

For tomorrow, we’ll be using a lot of the leftovers. I am planning some chicken salad sandwiches, potato salad and cole slaw, so you can check back to see how I decide to make them. Until then, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

 

 

 
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Posted by on August 2, 2012 in Cooking, Dinner, Grilling, Poultry

 

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Sizzling Steak Fajitas

01 Aug

I had picked up a skirt steak this week and wanted an easy dinner for tonight, and you can’t get much easier than this fajita recipe. We love fajitas in our house and make them with all kinds of filling, like chicken (most often) shrimp, an occasionally beef. This recipe, from America’s Test Kitchen, is perfect for a weeknight meal since it only takes about 30 minutes to prepare and cook everything and you can use ingredients that a lot of people already have in the house.

Steak Fajitas

1 1 1/2 pound flank steak

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 peppers (red, yellow or green, your choice) stemmed, seeded and sliced very thin

1 onion, sliced very thin

2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon hot sauce

1/2 teaspoon cumin

Flour tortillas

Pat the steak dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown the steak on the first side, about 5 minutes.

Flip the steak over and continue to cook to the desired doneness, 3 to 6 minutes. Transfer the steak to a large plate and drizzle with the lime juice. Tent the steak with foil and let it rest for about 10 minutes.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the skillet and return it to medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the peppers, onion, water, chili powder, hot sauce, cumin, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cook, scraping up any browned bits, until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Transfer everything to a serving bowl.

Stack the tortillas on a plate and cover with plastic wrap. Heat the tortillas in a microwave until soft and hot, about 2 minutes (You can also heat the tortillas individually in a hot skillet, flipping each one after about 20 seconds to heat the second side).

Slice the steak very thinly across the grain. Arrange the beef on a platter and serve with the warm tortillas, vegetables and any sides you like and let everyone make their own fajitas as they like.

I usually serve fajitas with some diced tomato or homemade salsa, guacamole, sour cream, shredded cheese and shredded lettuce. This way, everyone can add what they like best onto their own fajitas. Sometimes I also serve this with Mexican rice or rice and beans.

That’s dinner for tonight. I have a whole chicken to make tomorrow but I am not quite sure what recipe I want to use yet. I think it really depends on the weather and if it’s too humid to use the oven. I may opt to use the grill tomorrow night instead. We’ll have to see how it goes. Until then, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

 
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Posted by on August 1, 2012 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner

 

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5 Ways to Improve Your Life in 30 Days: BA Daily: bonappetit.com

01 Aug

5 Ways to Improve Your Life in 30 Days: BA Daily: bonappetit.com.

I came across this great blog entry from Bon Appetit today and just had to share it. It talks about just committing to certain things for a month how this can lead to bigger changes overall in your habits. I think it’s worth a try. One of the more important ones I already follow is eating more at home. We cut back and only go out about once a month now and I think we are better for it. I am going to give their other tips a try as well. You should check it out!

 
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Posted by on August 1, 2012 in Cooking, Cooking Websites

 

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Our Easiest Grilled Seafood Recipes | Food Republic

30 Jul

Our Easiest Grilled Seafood Recipes | Food Republic.

Grilled seafood can be either an awesome experience or a lesson in frustration. Follow these very simple recipes from Food Republic on their site and you can show off your grilling expertise the grilled clams and chorizo sounds really good). Check them out and give them a try!

 
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Posted by on July 30, 2012 in Cooking, Cooking Websites, Grilling, Seafood

 

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Preparing Pulled Pork Indoors

29 Jul

I love pulled pork. There’s nothing quite like the taste of  pork slow cooked and then covered in a barbecue sauce. I have made pulled pork before and posted the recipe here, but that recipe is for outdoor cooking. The weather here has been so hit and miss this week with rain that I decided to make one completely indoors and without the slow cooker being involved. This recipe, from America’s Test Kitchen, makes a great rub for the pork so you get great barks and the sauce is perfect.

Indoor Pulled Pork with Sweet and Tangy Barbecue Sauce

Pork

1 cup plus 2 teaspoons table salt

1/2 cup plus two tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

1 boneless pork butt (about 5 pounds), cut in half horizontally

1/4 cup yellow mustard

2 tablespoons ground black pepper

2 tablespoons smoked paprika

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Barbecue Sauce

1 1/2 cups ketchup

1/4 cup light or mild molasses

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon hot sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

For the pork: Dissolve 1 cup of salt, 1/2 cup of sugar, and 3 tablespoons of liquid smoke in 4 quarts of cold water in a large container. Submerge the pork in the brine, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

While the pork brines, combine mustard and the remaining 2 teaspoons of liquid smoke in a small bowl; set aside. Combine the black pepper, paprika, the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, remaining two teaspoons of salt and cayenne pepper in a second small bowl; set aside. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees.

Remove the pork from the brine and dry thoroughly with paper towels. Rub the mustard mixture over the entire surface of each piece of pork. Sprinkle the entire surface of each piece with the spice mixture. Place the pork on a wire rack set inside a foil lined rimmed baking sheet. Place a piece of parchment paper over the pork, then cover with a sheet of aluminum foil, sealing the edges to prevent moisture from escaping. Roast the pork for 3 hours.

Remove the pork from the oven; remove and discard the foil and parchment paper. Carefully pour off the liquid in the bottom of the baking sheet into a fat separator and reserve it for the sauce. Return the pork to the oven and cook, uncovered, until well browned, tender and the internal temperature registers 200 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 1 1/2 hours. Transfer the pork to a serving dish, tent loosely with foil, and allow it to rest for 20 minutes.

While the pork rests, pour 1/2 cup of the defatted cooking liquid from the fat separator into a medium bowl. Whisk in all the sauce ingredients.

Using 2 forks, shred the pork into bite size pieces. Toss with 1 cup of the sauce and season with salt and pepper. Serve, passing the remaining sauce separately.

If you can’t find smoked paprika, sweet paprika will work just fine here. Using the parchment paper will help prevent the mustard from eating holes in the foil (it is acidic). I served the pork on plain hamburger buns with some pickle chips and sliced red onion. You could always use any store-bought barbecue sauce for the sauce if you prefer or don’t want to go through the work of making your own. The leftovers, of course are great for sandwiches the next day or even for pulled pork nachos (which are very tasty, by the way).

There are several side dishes you could do with this meal. Cole slaw, of course, is a great addition. You could also add some baked beans to the side as well. I came across a recipe this morning by Guy Fieri for mashed root vegetables that Michelle and I both liked, so I went with that one.

Creamy Mashed Root Vegetables

5 cups milk

2 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 tablespoons salt, plus more for seasoning

4 sprigs fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

2 pounds turnips

2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes

3 tablespoons butter, cut into cubes

Freshly ground black pepper

Set a large pot over high heat and add the milk, cream, salt, thyme and bay leaves. Peel and cut the turnips into 1-inch chunks. Add the turnips to the pot and cover partially with a lid. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook the turnips for 30 minutes.

Cut the potatoes into 1-inch chunks. After the turnips have cooked for 30 minutes (turnips take a lot longer to cook than potatoes), add the potatoes and continue to simmer until all the vegetables are very tender, about 20 more minutes. Discard the bay leaves and thyme. Drain the potatoes and turnips, reserving 2 cups of cooking liquid, and then mash. Add the cooking liquid and the butter. Mix well and season with salt and pepper.

You can play with this recipe a bit and add or subtract things as you wish. You could use other root vegetables, like carrots, parsnips or sweet potatoes, instead of or with the turnips or potatoes. I like the idea of cooking with the milk and cream to add some texture to the vegetables and they mix really well when you are mashing.

Some good eating for today, and I did get a few things to make for this week, like some chicken (a whole one and some boneless breasts), a skirt steak (it was a really good sale on these this week) and some ground beef, so we’ll see what I make this week. Sean starts his cooking class this week so I think he’ll be helping in the kitchen with some things, so we’ll see what we can come up with. Check back to see what we cook. Enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

 
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Posted by on July 29, 2012 in Cooking, Dinner, Pork, Potatoes, Sauce, Vegetables

 

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Sock It To Me With Sockeye Salmon!

28 Jul

I have been eyeing up the salmon at Adams Farms for a couple of weeks now. It has looked great and this week, the price was finally low enough where I decided to get some to have for dinner this weekend. Now, Michelle is not a big fan of salmon, but what she doesn’t really care for is the Atlantic salmon. This salmon is typically farm raised and can have a distinct, fishy flavor. Wild Pacific salmon, like sockeye salmon, has a completely different flavor to it, It’s a deeper red, more delicate and doesn’t taste fishy at all. The catch, of course, is that wild salmon tends to be very expensive. It’s most abundant in the spring and summer, when the price might be lower. I got mine for $11.99 a pound. Off season, it typically approached $20.00 a pound. The great thing about wild salmon is that you practically have to do nothing to it. This recipe is fast and simple, with next to nothing included but the salmon.

Pan-Seared Wild Salmon

1-2 pounds of wild salmon, cut into fillets (about 6 ounces each is good)

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Lemon or lime wedges, for serving

Pat the salmon dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Gently lay the salmon skin side up in the skillet and cook until well browned, about 5 minutes.

Gently flip the fish skin-side down and continue to cook until all but the very center of the fish has turned from translucent to opaque, about 3 minutes. Serve with lemon or lime wedges.

A couple of notes about the fish. First, with salmon, you need to check for pin bones in the fish before you cook it. Typically, in most stores, the pin bones have already been removed for you, but it never hurts to check again to make sure they are all gone. Just run your fingers gently over the surface of the flesh. If you feel any bumps, there is a bone there that you should pull out. A pair of pliers will do the trick nicely. Second, a nonstick skillet when cooking salmon is a godsend. It will help you cook the fish all the way through without drying the fish out and leaving half the fish stuck to the pan.

I made a simple, quick sauce to put over the fish. This sauce will work for anything really –  fish, chicken, rice, pasta, vegetables – you name it. It’s really just a simple vinaigrette with some herbs added to it.

Simple Sauce

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or butter

1 tablespoon minced onion

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Salt and pepper

Put the oil or butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When the oil is warm or the butter is melted, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it softens (turn the heat down if the onion starts to color), 1 to 2 minutes.

Stir in two tablespoons of water and the lemon juice and sprinkle with some salt and pepper; maintain the heat so it bubbles gently for a minute or two. Taste, adjust the seasoning, and serve.

There are a lot of different ways you can go with this. Instead of using onion, try garlic, shallot or scallion. Add a couple of tablespoons of fresh herbs like basil, cilantro, oregano or mint. Add some jalapeno or a dried chile for some heat. You can pretty much do whatever you want with this. it also makes a great dipping sauce for some crunchy bread. I served the whole meal with some sweet potato, a tomato cucumber salad and some crunchy bread I got at the farmer’s market today.

That’s it for today. Tomorrow I plan to make some pulled pork indoors, so I’ll be posting the recipe for that one. It looks pretty good. Check back and see if you like it. Until then, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

 
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Posted by on July 28, 2012 in Cooking, Dinner, Sauce, Seafood

 

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Recipe Roundup: British Favorites

27 Jul

Recipe Roundup: British Favorites.

For everyone who will be watching the Olympics in London starting tonight, Williams-Sonoma offers up some classic British recipes. I’ve tried several of them and they taste pretty good so they are worth a look (especially the Black & Tan!). Check them out and try a few.

I’ve had a number of doctor appointments lately so I haven’t had much time for blogging, but I hope to add a few of my own recipes this weekend. Stay tuned!

 
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Posted by on July 27, 2012 in Cooking, Cooking Websites

 

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Pass the Stove Top Roast Chicken

23 Jul

There’s nothing quite like some roast chicken. Crispy skin, juicy meat, it just plain tastes good. However, there are some days (today  being one of them) where it is just too hot to turn on the stove. Sometimes you feel like using the stove for something else, like a cake or a pie. Today, it was just too hot for the oven but I had some chicken pieces that I wanted to cook. This recipe, from America’s Test Kitchen, gave a good solution of roasting the chicken on the stove top. I still got the dark brown crispy skin and the moist meat, and got a really good pan sauce to go along with it.

Stovetop Roast Chicken with Lemon-Herb Sauce

Chicken

3 1/2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces, trimmed

Salt and fresh ground black pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3/4 cup chicken broth

Lemon-Herb Sauce

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 medium shallot, minced

1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

1 tablespoon juice from 1 lemon

1 tablespoon butter, chilled

Salt and ground black pepper

For the chicken: Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add the chicken pieces skin side down and cook without moving until golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes.

Using tongs, flip the chicken pieces skin side up. Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the chicken broth to the skillet, cover and cook until the thickest part of the breast registers 155 degrees and the thickest part of the thigh/drumstick registers 170 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 10 to 16 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate, skin side up.

Pour off the liquid from the skillet into a measuring cup and reserve. Wipe out the skillet with paper towels. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon of oil to the skillet and heat over medium-high heat until shimmering. Return the chicken pieces to the skillet skin side down and cook undisturbed until the skin is deep golden brown and crisp, the thickest part of the breast registers 160 to 165 degrees, and the thickest part of the thigh/drumstick registers 175 degrees, 4 to 7 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and tent loosely with foil. Using a spoon, skim any fat from the reserved cooking liquid and add more broth if needed to measure 3/4 cup.

For the sauce: Heat the oil in the now-empty skillet over low heat. Add the shallot and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the reserved cooking liquid, and bring to a simmer, scraping the skillet bottom with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits. Simmer rapidly until reduced to a 1/2 cup, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in any accumulated juices from the resting chicken; return to a simmer and cook for 30 seconds. Off the heat, whisk in the parsley, chives, lemon juice and butter; season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour the sauce around the chicken and serve immediately.

I served the chicken with some noodles and peas. the sauce was spectacular and went perfectly with the chicken. I would make this one again for sure.

I’m not sure what tomorrow will bring for dinner. I’ve been bad about planning things out lately; we’ve just had so much going on that I haven’t really had a chance to plan. Now that Sean is home from his trip south (Yeah!) maybe we can plan things a little better. Check back and see what the next meal will be. Enjoy the rest of your evening and enjoy your meal!

 

 
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Posted by on July 23, 2012 in Cooking, Gravy, Poultry

 

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A Wonderful Weekend Meal of Spaghetti and Mussels

22 Jul

I had been looking at the fresh mussels in the market the last several weeks I have gone there but I didn’t buy any because it would have been too many for just Michelle and myself. I decided to break down and bought some yesterday to have for dinner and bot am I glad I did. There were so good, and this recipe is just a perfect way to make them. Make sure you have some good, crunchy bread around to help soak up some of the delicious broth that you get from the meal.

Spaghetti and Mussels with Tomato and Basil

Salt, to taste

6 ounces spaghetti (I used fettuccine, that’s what we had on hand, but anything you like will do)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large shallot, minced

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 pound mussels

1/3 cup dry white wine

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

3/4 pound cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup slivered fresh basil

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Bring a large pot three-fourths full of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta, stir well and cook until al dente, about 11 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large, heavy fry pan over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Add the shallot and red pepper flakes and saute until the shallot is almost tender, about 2 minutes. Add the mussels, wine and lemon zest. Cover the pan and cook until the mussel shells begin to open, about 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring frequently, until they start to soften, about 2 minutes. Discard any mussels that do not open.

Drain the pasta and transfer it to a warmed large, shallow bowl. Pour the mussels and sauce over the pasta. Add the basil and the extra-virgin olive oil and toss to coat the pasta. Season with salt and black pepper and serve immediately.

Just a couple of quick tips regarding the mussels. If you have never purchased mussels before, you want to look shells that are tightly closed or close when they are tapped. Avoid any cracked or broken shells or any that are just sitting in a puddle of water. Make sure they smell clean. If they don’t, you don’t want them at all. You so need to scrub them before cooking, and you may even need to de-beard them. All that is is a little weedy piece sticking out between the shells. You can give them a quick tug out or use a paring knife and cut it off. Very few of those I bought had a beard. Expect a few not to open when you cook them. It’s perfectly okay, it happens in every batch, but if they don’t open, don’t eat them. You don’t need the stomach problems you’ll have later on if you do eat them. I served the meal with a small, simple salad with some balsamic vinaigrette.

I also had a small batch of ground beef so I decided to make a few meatballs to have around since Sean is coming home and loves them with his pasta. I use a very simple recipe from America’s Test Kitchen and they come out great.

Meatballs

2 slices of white bread (use good white bread for this)

1/3 cup buttermilk

3/4 pound ground beef

1/4 pound ground  pork

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

1 large egg yolk

1 garlic clove, minced

Salt and pepper

Remove and discard the crusts from the bread, then tear the bread into small pieces. Mash the bread pieces and buttermilk to a smooth paste in a large bowl, using a fork.

Add the beef, pork, Parmesan, parsley, yolk, garlic, 3/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper to the mashed bread. Stir the mixture gently until combined and uniform. Gently form the mixture into 1-inch round meatballs ( I got about 20 out of the mix)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the meatballs on a wire rack in a cookie sheet or roasting pan. Cook for approximately 10 to 12 minutes or until well browned. Remove them from the oven and either place in tomato sauce or brown gravy and serve.

It’s very easy and simple and tastes quite good. The recipe calls for a mix of beef and pork, but I only used beef this time and they came out fine. Baking them on the wire rack helps keep them from sitting in any fat and they brown nicely all over.

That’s it for today. I got a number of things at the market last week, a lot of chicken, so we’ll see what I can come up with for the week. Until then, enjoy this beautiful day and enjoy your meal!

 

 
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Posted by on July 22, 2012 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner, Pasta, Seafood

 

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