RSS

Category Archives: Rice

Cinco de Mayo Feast

I wanted to make something for Cinco de Mayo today that was different for me at least without it taking me hours in the kitchen or having something that is smothered in cheese (I am not a fan of all things cheesy). I looked around this past week and saw some great recipes in a few places and decided to give them a try. The bulk of them came from America’s Test Kitchen, including this one for Mexican Pulled Pork, or Carnitas.

Mexican Pulled Pork (Carnitas)

1 (3 1/2 to 4-pound) boneless pork butt, fat cap trimmed to 1/8 inch thick, cut into 2-inch chunks

Salt and ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 small onion, peeled and halved

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 tablespoons juice from 1 lime

2 cups water

1 medium orange, halved

Tortillas

Lime wedges

Minced red onion

Fresh cilantro leaves

Thinly sliced radishes

Sour cream

Guacamole (recipe to follow)

Salsa

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 300 degrees. Combine the pork, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, cumin, onion, bay leaves, oregano, lime juice and water in a large Dutch oven. The liquid should just barely cover the meat. Juice the orange into a medium bowl and remove any seeds. You should have about 1/3 a cup of juice. Add the juice and the spent orange halves to the pot. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Cover the pot and transfer it to the oven; cook until the meat is soft and falls apart when prodded with a fork, about 2 hours, flipping pieces of meat once during the cooking process.

Remove the pot from the oven and turn the oven to broil. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pork to a bowl; remove the orange halves, onion, and bay leaves from the cooking liquid and discard. Do not skim the fat from the liquid. Place the pot over high heat and simmer the liquid, stirring frequently, until thick and syrupy. A heat-safe spatula should leave a wide trail when dragged through the glaze. The process should take 8 to 12 minutes. You should have about 1 cup of reduced liquid when done.

Using two forks, pull each piece of pork in half. Fold in the reduced liquid; season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread the pork in an even layer on a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet or on a broiler pan. The meat should cover almost the entire surface of the pan. Place the baking sheet on the lower-middle rack and broil until the top of the meat is well browned but not charred and the edges are slightly crisp, about 5 to 8 minutes. Using a wide metal spatula, flip the pieces of meat and continue to broil until the top is well browned and edges are slightly crisp, about 5 to 8 minutes longer. Serve immediately with warm tortillas and any garnishes that you like.

All 3 of us loved this pork. These tacos were easily some of the best I had made. The pork just melted in your mouth and was cooked perfectly. You could easily use this pork in other ways for other Mexican meals if you wanted, such as burritos, enchiladas or tamales, but I think they worked great as a taco myself. We did have some good leftovers which I am looking forward to having for lunch this week.

As a good side dish to go along with this, I decided to make a Cuban-Style Black Beans and Rice (Moros y Cristianos). I thought it would make a nice accompaniment to the pork and I got the recipe from America’s Test Kitchen as well.

Cuban-Style Black Beans and Rice (Moros y Cristianos)

Salt

1 cup dried black beans, rinsed and picked over

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

2 large green peppers, halved and seeded

1 large onion, halved at the equator and peeled, root end left intact

1 head garlic, 5 medium cloves removed and minced, remaining head halved at the equator with skin left intact

2 bay leaves

1 1/2 cups long grain white rice

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 ounces lean salt pork, cut into 1/4 inch dice

1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano leaves

4 teaspoons ground cumin

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 medium scallions, sliced thin

1 lime, cut into 8 wedges

Dissolve 1 1/2 tablespoons salt in 2 quarts of cold water in a large bowl. Add the beans and soak at room temperature for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours. Drain and rinse well.

In a large Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid, stir together the drained beans, broth, water, 1 pepper half, 1 onion half (with root end), halved garlic head, bay leaves and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, cover, and reduce the heat to low. Cook until the beans are just soft, about 30 to 40 minutes. Using tongs, remove discard the pepper, onion, garlic and bay leaves. Drain the beans in a colander set over a large bowl, reserving 2 1/2 cups of the bean cooking liquid. If you don’t have enough bean cooking liquid left, add some water to equal 2 1/2 cups. Do not wash out the Dutch oven.

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the rice in a large fine-mesh strainer and rinse under cold running water until the water runs clear, about 1 1/2 minutes. Shake the strainer vigorously to remove all excess water; set the rice aside. Cut the remaining peppers and onion into 2-inch pieces and process them in a food processor until broken into rough 1/4-inch pieces, about eight 1-second pulses, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary; set the vegetables aside.

In the now-empty Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and the salt pork over medium-low heat; cook, stirring frequently until lightly browned and rendered, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add the remaining oil, chopped peppers and onion, oregano, and cumin. Increase the heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are softened and beginning to brown, about 10 to 15 minutes longer. Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the rice and stir to coat, about 30 seconds.

Stir in the beans, reserved bean cooking liquid, vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer. Cover and transfer to the oven. Bake until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender, about 30 minutes. Fluff with a fork and let rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Serve, passing the scallions and lime wedges separately.

A few things about this recipe. First, I did not use salt pork. I had bacon on hand, so that is what I used. If you are using bacon, you only need to cook it for about 4 to 8 minutes instead of the 15 to 20 for the salt pork. If you want a more vegetarian version of the recipe, eliminate the pork altogether and use water instead of the chicken broth. You could also add a little tomato paste when cooking the vegetables for some more body and flavor. Lastly, although a traditional sofrito calls for green peppers, green peppers upset my stomach and Michelle’s, so I went for red pepper instead. I actual like the flavor better and the color of the final product. This recipe makes a lot of rice and could easily feed 8 people, so you may want to cut it down to half if you have a smaller table to feed. Overall, I thought it was a very nice side dish and I could use the leftovers with a wide variety of other dishes.

I also made the fresh salsa that I usually make, which is America’s Test Kitchen as well if you want to check it out. I also made the guacamole I had made in the past as well if you want to see that recipe. The entire meal turned out great and we had a very relaxing late lunch/early dinner for the day.

I do have several other recipes to share for this week, including the dessert I made for tonight of a Mango-Pineapple Fruit Salad. I also have recipes this week for chicken, crab cakes, griddle cakes and a few others since I didn’t get to share any this past week. Check back and see if you like anything you see. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

1 Comment

Posted by MikeG on May 5, 2013 in Cooking, Cooking Websites, Dinner, Holidays, Pork, Rice, Side Dishes

Tags: americas test kitchen, black beans and rice, carnitas, Cinco de Mayo, Cinco de Mayo recipes, Cuban-Style Black Beans and Rice, guacamole, Mexican pulled pork, moros y cristianos, pork carnitas, salsa

Grilled New York Strip Steaks and Sweet Pea Risotto

16 Apr

As promised, I did try a couple of new recipes last night for dinner. The first was from Williams – Sonoma and covered the main entrée for the evening, which was grilled steaks with cherry tomatoes and basil. It was pretty easy to make, although using the indoor grill pan always causes a problem around here with the smoke detector. After a few minutes of wrangling with this smoke detector, everything else was just fine.

Grilled Steaks with Cherry Tomatoes and Basil

1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, plus more, to taste
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more, to taste
2 New York strip steaks, each about 1 1/4 pound and 1 1/2 inches thick
8 ounces grape or cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Brush a cast-iron grill pan with the oil and heat over medium high heat until hot. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, oregano, the 1/4 teaspoon pepper and the 2 teaspoons of salt. Rub the spice mixture evenly onto both sides of the steaks. In another bowl, combine that tomatoes, olive oil, vinegar and basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Place the steaks on the grill pan and cook, turning once, until nicely grill marked, approximately 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium rare, or a grill in till they are done to your specific liking. Add the tomato mixture to the pan during the last two minutes of cooking. Transfer the steaks to a carving board and let rest for five minutes. Transfer of the tomatoes to what warmed platter. Cut the steak crosswise into 1/4 inch strips and arrange on the platter with that tomatoes.

This would be a good meal for you to cook on your outdoor grill as well. If you have the proper tools to cook that tomatoes right on the grill you can do them outside as well. I cooked the steaks to him about medium, which is the way we prefer to have it. These spice rub that is applied to the steaks adds great flavor and seems to go very well with the tomatoes and basil.

As a side dish, I decided I wanted to make some risotto. I looked around for a few different recipes, and I wanted to try to find one that would make good use of some of the spring vegetables that are around right now. The best one I found came from Marcus Samuelsson on his website at Food Republic. It was for a spring peak risotto and sounded really good.

Spring Pea Risotto

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
5 to 6 cups chicken stock
1 large shallot, minced
1/2 bunch asparagus stalks, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup fresh peas, shelled
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste

In a small sauce pan, heat the chicken stock to a warmed simmer. In a large stock pot, or any heavy bottomed pot, melt the butter and olive oil over medium low heat. Add the minced shallots and a pinch of salt, and sauté until the shallots are translucent. Add the rice, stir for about one minute until the grains begin to become translucent around the edges.

Pour in the wine and stir until the liquid is absorbed. Add one ladle of stock at a time, stirring frequently until all the liquid is absorbed. Add another ladle of stock, and stir frequently until liquid is absorbed again. Repeat this process until almost all the stock has been used in the rice is cooked but still al–dente. The entire process should take about twenty minutes.

About five minutes before the rice is done cooking, stir in the asparagus and the peas. Add more chicken stock as necessary to continue cooking the rice. Once the rice has achieved the desired texture, stir in the Parmesan cheese, lemon zest, and fresh mint. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Admittedly, making risotto is a lot of work. It requires constant attention and stirring on the stove. While it can be taxing, it is certainly worth the work that you put into it. I especially liked this recipe because of the fresh peas and asparagus that are used. It is the perfect time of year to try to incorporate some of the your spring vegetables into a dish like this and they tasted great. I would certainly make this dish again.

Those of the recipes for today. Tonight, I do plan to make some type of chicken and I have a couple of different recipes to choose from. Check back tomorrow and see which one I have decided to go with and see if you like the recipe yourself. I do have a couple of recipes for later on in the week that I plan to make. One is for another chicken dish, the other is for a strawberry rhubarb pie. I think both will be pretty good. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

2 Comments

Posted by MikeG on April 16, 2013 in Beef, Cooking, Cooking Websites, Dinner, Grilling, Rice, Vegetables

Tags: Food Republic, Marcus Samuelsson, risotto

A Couple of Recipes of Old Favorites

10 Mar

While I have been cooking regularly and keeping up with trying new things, I have been bad about blogging and putting them online. There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in a day to do everything I need to do anymore, which really only gives me the weekends to blog. Hopefully I can get around to more than just that, but we’ll see how it goes.

We did make a couple of things this week that are old stand by recipes that I am sure many people have made before. They are both very simple recipes that are not only easy to make but easy to clean up afterwards and they taste awesome. The first of these I made early on in the week and it was just a simple Shrimp Fried Rice. I love this recipe because it is a great one pot meal to make. If you have leftover rice already, most of the work is already done for you and you can get it done even faster.

Shrimp Fried Rice

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

1 pound peeled and deveined small shrimp, thawed if frozen

8 scallions, whites chopped, greens thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled ginger

3 cups cold cooked white rice

2 large eggs, beaten to blend

1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a large, nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Season the shrimp with salt and cook, turning once, until just opaque in the center, about 3 minutes. Transfer the shrimp to a plate.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in the same skillet; add the scallion whites, garlic, and ginger. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the rice and stir to coat. Cook until the rice is crisp, about two minutes. Push the rice to one side of the skillet; add the eggs to the other side and cook, stirring and working them into the rice mixture, about 1 to minutes. Add the peas, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil and the cooked shrimp. Cook, tossing constantly until the shrimp and the vegetables are heated through, about 1 minute. Top with the scallion greens and serve.

I actually added some mushrooms and water chestnuts to this to make it a more filling meal. The original recipe I got from Bon Appetit calls for edamame, which I did not have, but feel free to add it if you like. The great thing about a dish like this is you can really add whatever you want to it to make it a meal. If you don’t like shrimp, add some boneless chicken or pork. You could go all vegetarian and just add some vegetables to it like snow peas, corn, zucchini or whatever you like. Since it is all one dish, clean up is a breeze.

The other recipe for today is one we make once in a while. It is for a simple, quick batch of Banana Muffins. We used Bisquick to make these and we had some overripe bananas on hand already, so it makes baking these quite simple.

Quick Banana Muffins

2 cups Bisquick baking mix

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 1/3 cups bananas, mashed (about 3 bananas)

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

3 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the baking mix in a medium bowl and break up any lumps. Combine the egg, bananas, brown sugar, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract with the mix and stir thoroughly until well blended. Fill paper lined muffin cups of a muffin tray until about 2/3 full. Bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes before serving.

Of course, these are great for breakfast with your morning coffee or just to have as an afternoon snack. We left the chocolate chips out for ours, but you can use them, or some walnuts or pecans if you like. You can really use other fruit too if you wanted blueberry or some other berry muffin.

That’s it for today. I promise to have some other recipes this week. I have made a bunch of things and have recipes for them, I just haven’t had time to post anything, so I will get to some of them this week for sure. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your Sunday and enjoy your meal!

1 Comment

Posted by MikeG on March 10, 2013 in Breakfast, Cooking, One Pot Meals, Rice, Seafood

Tags: banana muffins, Bisquick, Bisquick banana muffins, bon appetit, shrimp fried rice

Back in the Swing With Baked Pork Chops

12 Sep

Wow, it’s been a while since I have had the time to put up an actual recipe that I made for dinner! I hope to have some more to play around the blogs again, it’s just been kind of brutal the way life has a way of intruding upon things sometimes. Anyway, I do have quite a backlog of things that I have cooked recently that I hope to get up here on the blog. I am also on a diet now, so that means trying to cut back on frying and fatty things while still trying to make dinners that appeal to all of us. Tonight was a simple baked pork chops recipe from America’s Test Kitchen. I wanted to bake the pork chops instead of sauteing them tonight, and this recipe looked pretty good and better for us than the usual method.

Crunchy Baked Pork Chops

Salt

4 center-cut boneless pork chops

4 slices of white bread, torn into pieces

1 minced shallot

3 medium garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Pepper

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

1/4 cup all-purpose flour plus 6 tablespoons

3 large egg whites

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Dissolve 1/4 cup of salt in 1 quart of water in a medium container or gallon-sized zip-lock bag. Submerge the pork chops, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Rinse the chops under cold water and dry thoroughly with paper towels.

Pulse the bread in a food processor until coarsely ground. Transfer the crumbs to a rimmed baking sheet and add shallot, garlic, oil, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Toss until crumbs are evenly coated with the oil. Bake until deep golden brown and dry, about 15 minutes, stirring twice during baking time. (Don’t turn off the oven).

Cool to room temperature. Toss the crumbs with the Parmesan, thyme and parsley.

Place 1/4 cup of flour in a pie plate. In a second pie plate, whisk the egg whites and mustard until combined; add the remaining 6 tablespoons of flour and whisk until almost smooth, with pea-sized lumps remaining.

Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees. Spray a wire rack with nonstick cooking spray and place in a rimmed baking sheet. Season the pork chops with pepper. Dredge 1 pork chop in the flour; shake off the excess. Using tongs, coat with the egg mixture; let excess drip off. Coat all sides of the pork chop with the bread crumb mixture, pressing gently so the a thick layer of bread crumbs adheres to the chop. Transfer the breaded chop to the wire rack. Repeat with the remaining 3 chops.

Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the chops registers 150 degrees, about 17 to 25 minutes. Let rest on the rack for 5 minutes before serving.

I made some brown rice, using the recipe I linked to from the Our Best Bites blog, and some steamed spinach. The pork chops were great. Nice and moist inside and the coating was really crunchy and stayed adhered to the chops.It was much better than using Shake n’ Bake or even my own coating with an egg wash on the meat. The mixture of the flour, mustard and egg whites really made a big difference.

I have lots of recipes that have been accumulating for a few weeks with the dinners I have made, so I’ll be posting them when I get a chance. Some of them include Coq au Vin in the slow cooker, Alton Brown’s meatloaf recipe, corn and tomato salsa, a roasted corn and tomato soup, mu shu pork and even a recipe from Sean for sausage bread. I hope to start getting some of them up in the next day or two. Until then, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

Leave a comment

Posted by MikeG on September 12, 2012 in Cooking, Dinner, Pork, Rice

Tags: americas test kitchen, baked pork chops, brown rice, crunchy pork chops, pork chops, spinach

How To: Make Perfect Brown Rice | Our Best Bites

08 Aug

How To: Make Perfect Brown Rice | Our Best Bites.

I have been trying to introduce more brown rice into my own meals, but no one ever seems too excited about it because it just doesn’t turn out right. This blog, using a method set out by America’s Test Kitchen, sounds easy and foolproof. I am going to give it a try and you should too. Check it out!

3 Comments

Posted by MikeG on August 8, 2012 in Cooking, Cooking Websites, Rice

Tags: americas test kitchen, how to make perfect brown rice, our best bites

Tilapia For a Tuesday

10 Jul

I got some tilapia on sale at the market the other day and was looking for a new way to cook it without frying. I came across this recipe on the Food Network and it fit perfectly. I already have everything in the house, which made it even easier. It’s a very quick recipe and goes perfectly at this time year when tomatoes are ripe and tasting great.

Baked Tilapia with Tomato and Basil

Non-stick cooking spray

2 (8 ounce) tilapia fillets

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon minced fresh basil leaves

1 teaspoon minced fresh oregano leaves

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon minced garlic

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large tomato, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a shallow baking dish with the nonstick cooking spray.

Sprinkle the fish evenly with salt and pepper. Arrange the tilapia in a baking dish and sprinkle evenly with basil, oregano, onion powder and garlic. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Arrange the tomato slices evenly over the fish and drizzle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Bake until the fish flakes easily with a fork, about 20 to 25 minutes. Squeeze the lemon juice over the fish and serve immediately.

The fish turned out perfectly and the flavor from the tomatoes mixed very well with the fish and the spices on the fish. As side dishes, I made corn on the cob and I decided to make some black beans and rice. The black beans and rice could easily be a meal on its own if you wanted it to be. It’s not a tough recipe and takes a little longer, but you can make it ahead and re-heat it if necessary.

Black Beans with Rice

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 red or yellow pepper, cored, seeded and chopped

1 tablespoon minced garlic

3/4 cup dried black beans, washed, picked over and soaked if you have the time

1 1/2 cups long grain rice

1 cup chopped tomato

Salt and pepper

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

Put th oil in a large ovenproof pot over medium heat. When hot, add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add the beans and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to low so that the mixture bubbles gently. Cover loosely and cook, stirring occasionally and adding water if necessary, until the beans are about half-done, softening but still tough in the middle, about 40 minutes (if you didn’t soak the beans, it will take about an hour or more) Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Use an immersion blender or a potato masher to semi-puree the beans in the pot. Leave at least half unpureed.

Stir in the rice, tomato and a good amount of salt and pepper. If you don’t want a crust to develop, cover the pot. Bake in the oven until the rice and beans are tender, about an hour, adding a little water if needed. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Sprinkle with parsley and serve or store, covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. If storing, when you re-heat, stir in a little water and olive oil just before serving.

As I said, the black beans and rice could easily be a meal as themselves. You could eat it this way as a vegetarian meal or you could add in things like chorizo, some diced cooked chicken or some shrimp.

All in all, it was a very nice meal for the two of us.For tomorrow, I do have some chicken that I am not sure what to do with yet. Check back and see what I can find. Until then, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

1 Comment

Posted by MikeG on July 10, 2012 in Cooking, Dinner, Rice, Seafood

Tags: baked tilapia, black beans and rice

Killer Kabobs and Rice Pilaf

04 Jun

We weren’t home all weekend for me to do any cooking, so I needed to make my lamb kabobs tonight. Of course, the weather has not cooperated here in New York and it has been raining here all day, so I had to improvise and cook the kabobs in the broiler. Either way, this is a very easy recipe from Williams-Sonoma that only takes about 30 minutes total to cook, and that includes making the yogurt sauce and the rice pilaf.

Greek Lamb Kabobs

2 large lemons

2 tablespoons minced fresh oregano

5 green onions, white and pale green portions, thinly sliced

5 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 pounds boneless leg of lamb, cut into 2-inch cubes

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 cup plain yogurt

1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 onion, cut into chunks

1 small yellow pepper, seeded and cored, cut into chunks

1 small yellow squash, cut into chunks

Place 8 bamboo skewers in cold water to soak until ready to use.

Grate 3 teaspoons of zest from the lemons and squeeze 5 tablespoons of juice. In a shallow glass dish just large enough to hold the lamb in a single layer, combine 2 teaspoons of the lemons zest, 3 tablespoons of the lemon juice, the oregano, half each of the green onions and garlic, and the olive oil. Season the lamb generously with salt and pepper. Add the lamb to the marinade and turn to coat. Let it stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the yogurt, cucumber, the remaining 1 teaspoon of lemon zest and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, and the remaining green onions and garlic. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Prepare a gas or charcoal grill for direct-heat grilling over high heat and oil the grill rack, or preheat a broiler. Remove the lamb from the marinade. Thread the lamb, pepper, onion and squash onto the skewers. Brush the remaining marinade on the vegetables and lamb on the skewers. Place the skewers on the grill rack, or put them on a baking sheet and place it under the broiler. Cook, turning once, 6 to 7 minutes for medium-rare, or until done to your liking. Divide the skewers among 4 plates and serve with the yogurt sauce.

I have to say, I thought the lamb turned out very tender and cooked perfectly and the marinade added a great flavor. Michelle and I both loved the yogurt sauce. The coolness of the cucumber and the little bite of lemon from the zest and the juice was fantastic. I would make the yogurt sauce again to use as a dip for other things.

I also served the dish with a very, very simple version of rice pilaf that I got from America’s Test Kitchen. It only takes about 30 minutes and came out perfectly.

Easy Rice Pilaf

3 tablespoons butter

1/2 onion, minced

Salt

1 1/2 cups white rice, rinsed and drained

2 1/4 cups water

Pepper

Rinse the rice under cold water until the water runs clear. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and 1 teaspoon of salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the drained rice. Saute until the edges of the rice begin to turn translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in the water and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed, about 17 minutes.

Transfer the pot to a cold burner or trivet and let the rice stand for 10 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Rinsing the rice helps remove some of the excess starch, making it so the rice does not clump together. Toasting the grains with the onion and butter helps to bring out some of the nuttiness in the rice, which is great for a rice pilaf. This recipe also moves away from the standard 1 part rice, 2 parts water by using less water in the recipe and it does seem to make a difference, producing very tender and fluffy rice.

You could also serve some thick sliced tomatoes with this dish, covered in a little olive oil and maybe some Kalamata olives and feta cheese to really make it a Greek meal. Either way, it’s a fast, easy meal that comes out tasting great.

I have a rack of ribs to make tomorrow for dinner, so hopefully the weather cooperates a little better so I can cook them outside. If not, I’ll be doing my oven grilled ribs recipe. So it will be a rib recipe one way or the other tomorrow! Until then, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

Leave a comment

Posted by MikeG on June 4, 2012 in Cooking, Dinner, Grilling, Lamb, Rice, Sauce

Tags: cucumber yogurt sauce, easy rice pilaf, grilled lamb kabobs

Feeling Ducky This Weekend

22 Apr

Every once in a while, I like to go overboard and cook a really elaborate meal. While this meal wasn’t really elaborate, it was very tasty. I wish I had taken pictures of it, because everything turned out perfectly and tasted great. I had decided early in the week that I wanted to make a roast duck for dinner this weekend and began gathering recipes early in the week and reading them over. When I finally settled on one, then I needed to add some side dishes. Through the world of Twitter, I asked some renowned chefs what they would recommend to make with the duck. Geoffrey Zakarian replied back with what they make at his restaurant, The Lamb’s Club, in NYC:

RT @IguanaFlats: “@gzchef Roast duck this weekend. Suggestions for side dishes?” Served at @thelambsclub w/French Prune, Pistachio, Madeira

Well I looked up his menu online and it was little more work than I wanted to get into, so I waited to see if anyone else would reply. Christopher Kimball, founder of America’s Test Kitchen, came back with this answer:

@IguanaFlats The French love lentils with duck — we have a few very good lentil salads at Cook’s.

So I looked up the recipes at Cook’s Illustrated and found one that I really liked and went with it. I was glad I even got a few responses as I wasn’t sure I would hear back from anyone at all. I then found a roast duck recipe I liked through the New York Times and I had my meal. First, I had to make some appetizers and I had been promising Sean I would make homemade mozzarella sticks for a while, so I knew I had to make them. I am not a cheese eater, but these actually turned out pretty good and they weren’t hard to make. This recipe, from Giada De Laurentiis, makes a lot of mozzarella sticks, so I cut it in half.

Mozzarella Sticks

1 1/2 cups dried breadcrumbs ( I used homemade and added a little bit of Italian seasoning; I think homemade makes a big difference here.)

1 1/3 cups freshly grated Parmesan

1 teaspoon salt

2 (16-ounce) blocks of pasteurized mozzarella cut into 4 by 1/2-inch sticks

4 large eggs, beaten to blend

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

Stir the bread crumbs, 1 cup of Parmesan and 1 teaspoon of salt in a medium bowl to blend. Dip the cheese in the eggs to coat them completely and allow the excess egg to drip back into the bowl. Coat the cheese in the breadcrumb mixture, patting to adhere and coat completely. Repeat dipping the cheese sticks in the egg and breadcrumb mixture to coat a second time. Place the cheese sticks on a baking sheet. Cover the baking sheet and freeze until frozen, about 2 hours and up to 2 days. (I did it for about 4 hours and they were well frozen)

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, fry the cheese until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Transfer the fried cheese to plates. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan and serve with marinara sauce.

I served the mozzarella sticks and some calamari as appetizers (I have made the calamari before, and you can get the recipe here). Then it was on to making the main course. I can tell you, I was cooking most of the day, so it was some work, but it was worth it for the dinner.

Roast Duck With Blueberry Sauce

1 Granny Smith apple

1/2 onion, peeled

2 cups blueberries

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

2 whole star anise or 1/2 teaspoon ground star anise

Grated zest of 1 lime

Grated zest of 1 orange

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

2 whole ducks, trimmed of excess fat, giblets removed

Prepare the blueberry sauce: Peel, quarter and core the apple. Place the apple in a food processor with the onion and finely chop. Place in a saucepan with the blueberries, sugars, star anise, zests and vinegar. Place the mixture over high heat to bring it to a boil, then simmer until pulpy and beginning to thicken, about 30 minutes. (The mixture will be quite liquid after about 20 minutes, but begins to thicken up by 30 minutes, and will thicken even more once cold.) If whole star anise was used, remove and discard them. Transfer the sauce to a container, cover and allow to cool. For the best flavor, allow it to rest one day before serving (I just served it and it tasted fine to me).

Prepare the ducks: Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Score the duck skin all over to help fat drain off while cooking. Place the ducks on a rack in a roasting pan. Cook, uncovered, for 3 hours, periodically draining off the fat. Raise the heat to 400 degrees and roast an additional 30 minutes to crisp the skin. Remove the ducks from the oven and place on a carving board. Cut each duck into 4 pieces. Cut away the meat from the rib cage, discarding the rib bones. Arrange on a serving platter, crispy skin side up. Serve with the blueberry sauce.

I made three side dishes with the meal: some jasmine rice, the lentil salad and sautéed carrots and parsnips. Here’s the recipe for the lentil salad recommended by Christopher Kimball.

Lentil Salad with Olives and Mint

1 cup lentils, rinsed

8 cups water

5 cloves of garlic, lightly crushed and peeled

1 bay leaf

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1/2 cup (roughly 10) coarsely chopped, pitted Kalamata olives

1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped 1 ounce feta cheese, crumbled (optional)

In a bowl, place the lentils and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cover with 4 cups of warm water and soak for 1 hour. Drain.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Place the lentils in a heavy pan with water to cover by about 2 inches, garlic, bay leaf and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cover and bake for 40 to 60 minutes, until the lentils are tender. Drain the lentils. Whisk the oil and vinegar together in a large bowl. Add the drained lentils, olives, mint and feta (if using) and toss. Serve, topping with salt and pepper to taste.

These lentils turned out delicious. They were tender and had great flavor, and complimented the duck very nicely. Now for the carrots and parsnips.

Sautéed Parsnips and Carrots with Honey

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 pound carrots (about 4 large), peeled and cut into sticks

1 pound parsnips, peeled, halved lengthwise, cored and cut into sticks

Salt

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary (optional)

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and parsnips. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Saute until the vegetables are beginning to brown at the edges, about 12 minutes. Add the butter, honey and rosemary, if using. Toss over medium heat until heated through and the vegetables are glazed, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with more salt and pepper, if desired.

It was a lot of cooking but it was very good. Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal and we were all full afterwards. However, I did make dessert too! I know, I am not a baker, and not a dessert person, but I did make a couple of things yesterday. I promise to post the desserts I made a little later on today since this post already is quite long. I will say they are both quick and easy desserts and only one of them involved actually baking. I will be back later to tell you about them, so until then, enjoy your day!

Leave a comment

Posted by MikeG on April 22, 2012 in Appetizers, Cooking, Dinner, Poultry, Rice, Vegetables

Tags: lentil salad, mozzarella sticks, roast duck, roast duck recipe, roast duck with blueberry sauce, sauteed carrots and parsnips

Pork With Apple and Prune Stuffing (Yes, I Said Prunes. Trust Me, It’s Good!)

13 Apr

People have a strong reaction when they hear a recipe that has prunes in it. A lot of people won’t even try it, being that the prune reputation has lent itself to be ignored. However, I came across this recipe on the Food Network a while back and Michelle, Sean and I have had it several times and we all really like it, even the prunes. Just be willing to give it a try and you won’t be disappointed. A word about this recipe: you need to prepare the stuffing hours in advance, so make sure you remember to do that the day you decide to make it.

Apple and Prune Stuffed Pork Loin

Extra virgin olive oil

4 slices of bacon, diced

1 small red onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice

Salt

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into a 1/2-inch dice

1/2 cup prunes, quartered

2 springs fresh rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped, divided

1/2 cup brandy

1 (3 to 4 pound) boneless pork loin

1 cup chicken stock

Coat a large saute pan lightly with olive oil. Add the bacon and bring the pan to medium heat. When the bacon is crispy and has released a lot of fat, add the onions and season with salt. Cook the onions until they are soft, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the apples, prunes, and half of the chopped rosemary. Cook the apples, stirring occasionally, until they start to soften, about 5 minutes. Pull the pan off the heat and add the brandy. Return to the fire and flambe, or let the alcohol burn off (I didn’t flambe, and don’t recommend doing it unless you’ve done it before and have a big enough kitchen to do it). Remove from the heat and let cool thoroughly.

Lay out a length of plastic wrap about 2 feet in length. Spoon the apple mixture onto the plastic and make a log down the center that is about the same length as the pork loin. Roll the plastic tightly around the apple mixture and twist at the ends to secure. The log should be about 1 inch in diameter. Place the log in the freezer and let it freeze solid. This should be done ahead of time. (Ideally, do it overnight if you can. I did it for 6 hours today and it was frozen, but not solid).

To stuff the pork, insert a long, thin knife into the center of one end of the pork loin; repeat the process at the other end. Wiggle the knife back and forth to create a place big enough to accommodate the frozen stuffing. After cutting with the knife, you can use the handle of a long, wooden spoon to make sure the incision goes all the way through the pork loin. (I actually butterflied the pork loin,placed the log in the center, and then tied the pork loin with twine. To me this was easier and more efficient, especially since the log wasn’t frozen solid).

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Season the outside of the pork loin generously with salt and pepper and sprinkle with the remaining rosemary. Coat a roasting pan with olive oil and bring the pan to a high heat. Add the pork to the pan and sear it on all sides until it is brown, about 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the pork from the roasting pan and pour off the fat in the pan. Add the pork back into the pan and pour in the chicken stock. Place the pork in the oven and roast for 40 to 50 minutes, depending on how you like your pork.

I served the pork with the leftover rice from last night, some steamed green beans, and a little bit of the extra stuffing I had left from the stuffing log. It was all very delicious! Since tomorrow night is Saturday, we are going to have a Snack Night for dinner. This is one of Sean’s favorite meals (well it’s not really a meal I guess, but we’ll call it that), so check back tomorrow to see what we’re making. It promises to be some interesting choices! Until then, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

2 Comments

Posted by MikeG on April 13, 2012 in Cooking, Dinner, Pork, Rice

Tags: apple and prune stuffed pork loin, apple prune stuffing, pork loin, stuffed pork loin

It’s a Baked Fish Friday!

23 Mar

It’s Friday, so that means it’s time for our seafood meal for the week. it doesn’t get much easier than this one. i am making a very simple Baked Tilapia, with Brown Rice and a nice veggie dish of Sautéed Snap Peas, Asparagus and Peas with Herbs. First, the fish dish. There’s very little to do with this one, so it can be done quickly.

Baked Tilapia

7 tablespoons butter

4 (6 to 8 ounce) tilapia filets

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 lime, finely grated zest and juice

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large cast iron pan, Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Remove the pan from the heat. Rinse the fish and pat it dry; season the fish with salt, pepper, lime zest and lime juice. Add the fish to the cast iron pan and place 1 tablespoon of butter on each filet. Cook the fish in the oven until tender, about 8 to 12 minutes.

For the side dishes, they are both pretty easy to make. The first is Brown Rice. You can substitute brown rice for white rice in just about any recipe, just keep in mind that brown rice takes longer to cook the white rice. To me, tastewise, it isn’t any better or worse than white rice, just a little different, and it has much more nutrition than white rice, so I am trying to introduce it more into our diet. This is just a simple recipe on the stove top for the brown rice.

Brown Rice

1 1/2 cups brown rice

Large pinch of salt

Put the rice in a small saucepan with water to cover by about 1 inch. Add the salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then adjust the heat so the mixture simmers gently. Cover and cook for 30 to 40 minutes, checking occasionally to make the sure the water is not evaporating too quickly. When the liquid has been absorbed, taste and see if the rice is tender or nearly so. If not, add about 1/2 cup more of liquid and continue to cook covered.

When the rice is tender, you can serve it or turn the heat off, or keep it at an absolute minimum, and let it sit for 15-30 minutes, during which time it will become a bit drier. There are a lot of things you can add to the rice at this point, like a little butter or extra virgin olive oil, some fresh herbs, grated cheese, some shrimp, or instead of cooking in water, cook in some kind of stock. Once the brown rice is cooked, you can use it as a substitute for white rice in recipes like pilaf.

Now on to the vegetables. This is a recipe that I literally picked up at Willams Sonoma. They had a recipe card on the counter for it and it looked really good, so I thought I would try it. It is Sautéed Snap Peas, Asparagus, and Peas with Spring Herbs and Salt. It’s a great showcase for some spring vegetables.

Sautéed Snap Peas, Asparagus and Peas with Spring Herbs and Salt

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1 small leek, white and light green portions, thinly sliced

3/4 pound sugar snap peas, cut in half

1 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed, spears thinly sliced

1 1/2 cups fresh shelled peas (you can use frozen if you can’t find fresh)

1/4 cup water

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

3 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs, such as chives or parsley, or a combination

In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, warm the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the leek and cook, stirring, until tender, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar snap peas, asparagus and shelled peas and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are evenly coated with the oil, about 1 minute. Add the water and cook, stirring the vegetables occasionally, until the water has evaporated, 2 to 3 minutes. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper and remove the pan from the heat. Add the lemon zest and herbs and stir until evenly distributed. Transfer the vegetables to a serving bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Serve immediately.

Yummy, yummy! It’s a pretty easy meal to put together. If you’re looking to save some time, you can always use white rice instead of the brown, but I think it goes nicely with the fish.

I have no plans for dinner tomorrow since we have plans for the evening, but I do hope to have our menu plan for next week set for tomorrow, so I will be posting that. Until then, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!