Ninety-second Post ~ Easy Peasy Veggie Pizza!

I had one of those nights that just got away from me - and before I knew it, it was 9:00 and I still hadn't stopped for dinner.  I needed something fulfilling, quick, and not too rich.  Here's what I came up with.

You'll need:

~ Flatbread (or pita - I've become a huge fan of Kontos Multigrain Flatbread - it's a great afternoon snack cut into triangles, toasted, and served with hummus)
~ Pesto of any sort (I used Wegman's sundried tomato pesto)
~ Veggies (mushrooms and zucchini for me!)
~ Grated parm
~ Drizzle of black truffle oil
~ Fresh parsley

Preheat your toaster oven on 400/broil.  Spread about a tablespoon of pesto over the flatbread.  With a mandoline, thinly slice some zucchini.  Place the slices around over the pesto-spread bread.  Slice up some mushrooms, and lay them on top.  Drizzle on a little truffle oil, sprinkle on some parm, and spread fresh parsley over all.  Broil in your toaster oven until the veggies are beautifully cooked and sizzling!

While the veggies themselves were a delectable roasted sweetness, the best part of this pizza to me was the crust!  The flatbread toasted to a perfectly crispy finish, and the parm was just golden - savory, flavorful, wonderful!

I served this easy-peasy meal with a crisp, peachy pinot grigio by Vetter Vineyards.  A perfect compliment!

Yours in the love of good food and wine,
AL

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The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Ninetieth Post ~ Maple Garlic Rosemary Marinated Salmon with Parmesan and Parsley Yellow Squash

I can't say enough good things about marinades.  They provide a quick way to make a flavor-packed meal without a lot of fuss.

Here's what you'll need to make this easy dish:

For the salmon:
~ Salmon fillet
~ Maple syrup (the real stuff, preferably)
~ One clove garlic, crushed
~ Rosemary
~ Coarse-ground sea salt

For the veggie:
~ One small yellow squash
~ EVOO
~ Parsley
~ Coarse-ground sea salt
~ Grated parmesan

Several hours before dinner, pour some maple syrup into a bowl.  I got a little souvenir bottle of maple syrup from a friend who traveled to Nova Scotia.  I used that, and shook a little water around in the bottle to catch any remaining sugary awesomeness.  Into the bowl I crushed a clove of garlic and stirred it around.  I added the salmon fillet, spooning some of the mixture over it.  I topped the salmon with some salt and a sprig of rosemary, covered the bowl, and left it alone in the refrigerator until I was ready for dinner.

At that time, I took it out to let it get closer to room temp while I preheated the toaster oven (broil, 400) and prepped the veggies.  In a bowl, I placed the sliced squash and drizzled EVOO over all.  I sprinkled on ample parm and snipped on some parsley.  After adding some salt, I tossed it around by hand, making sure that the squash was well-covered in the mixture.

On a pan, I made a tin-foil divider.  Into one side I set the salmon, pouring the remaining marinade over the top.  In the other side I placed the veggies.

I popped the pan into the toaster oven and walked away for 12 minutes or so.

: : PAUSE : :

WARNING.  This recipe will cause your house to fill with amazing aromas.  If you are immune to the scent of parmesan slowly browning, crushed garlic adding sizzling warmth to cloyingly sweet, sugary maple syrup and rosemary singeing and releasing its spicy earthiness into the air, then you might be able to walk away for the12 minutes.  If you're like me, you'll try walking away, but will then end up back in front of the toaster oven, watching it like a cartoon cat watching a mouse-hole.

: : UNPAUSE : :

So presumably, you're right there when the timer dings.  I served this meal with a dry reisling by Vetter Vineyard.  While the wine was outstanding (and paired perfectly with the lemon rosemary salmon I'm planning to blog about soon), I think a warmer, oakier wine would have matched the maple better, as this riesling is marvelously crisp (think biting into a green apple).  On the other hand, it did add a nice refreshing bite to the meal, which kept it from being too sweet.

'Cause we wouldn't want that...

Yours in the love of good food and wine,
AL

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The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Fifty-ninth Post ~ Breaded Pork Tenderloins with Herb Pasta

Tonight's dinner was a snap to prepare and filled my apartment with the wonderful aroma of fresh herbs - perfect for a stormy spring night!

Here's what you'll need for this quick and easy meal:

~ Pork tenderloin cut into 1" thick medallions

~ Italian breadcrumbs

~ Grated Parmesan cheese

~ Fresh herbs of your choice (I chose parsley, rosemary, thyme and basil)

~ Olive oil

~ Pasta of your choice

~ Ground sea salt

~ Tomato

Get your water boiling (with salt and olive oil, if you wish).

Chop up some fresh herbs. I am becoming incredibly attached to the fresh herb section in Wegmans. You can buy the prettily packaged ones for $1.99 or a massive rubber-banded bunch for $1.29. I usually go the route of the massive bunch, because if you wrap them in plastic and store them in the veggie keeper of your fridge, they last for weeks. I have far better success with that route than I do with potted plants. I am a plant serial killer. But that's another story for another time...

So I chopped up some rosemary, thyme, parsley and basil. Mmmm, the aroma! Positively intoxicating. Dice up a bit of tomato and set that to the side. Next, slice the pork into medallions. By now, your water should be well on its way to boiling, so dump in your pasta and set the timer for 10 minutes.

Start a good dash of olive oil heating in a skillet. Mix one part Italian breadcrumbs and one part grated parm in a prep bowl. Coat the pork medallions in this heavenly mixture and set them into the hot oil. Turn the burner on low and let them cook until they are done halfway up. Carefully turn them.

Drain the pasta and mix in the herbs and tomato. You may wish to heat it again for just a moment to let all the flavors meld. The tenderloin medallions should be done by now; serve it on a plate garnished with some extra parm (and extra sea salt, if you want!).

I enjoyed tonight's meal with the rest of my Negroamaro Rosato. It paired beautifully with the meal, complimenting the fresh herbs and turning fruity in the face of the salt and parmesan. A delightful pairing made even more delightful by the fact that I drank it out of one of my new Riedel glasses - a splurge from a recent cruise on the Celebrity Millennium. My wine appreciation has reached new heights!

Yours in the love of food and wine,
AL

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The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Forty-fourth Post ~ Chicken in Bleu Cheese Cream Sauce Topped with Sauteed Mushrooms

This meal might sound gourmet, but in all honesty, it was born from determination to use (and use and use and use) leftovers that I might already have in my fridge. You all remember the chicken from last night - well, here was a good way to use part of it up. This is a pretty easy meal to make with substitutions - any meat would do, really.

Here's what you'll need:

~ Pasta (I used zitti)

For the mushroom topping

~ Mushrooms (I sliced up some baby pearls using my Chef's Knife - that's right - I've got one now, as part of a gloriously beautiful set in a wooden block, courtesy of my absolutely wonderful dad - or Santa... not quite sure, but I know they were given to me by a jolly man who loves me!)

~ One scallion, chopped

~ Bit of garlic (jarred or pressed, your choice)

~ White wine (Vetter Vineyards Brig Niagara was a perfect cooking and drinking companion)

~ Salt

~ Olive oil

For the cream sauce:

~ Chicken (preferably cooked leftovers, for ease)

~ Cream

~ Blue cheese

~ Any other cheese you might want to add (I had some grated parm on hand, so in it went)

~ White wine

~ Paprika

~ Thyme

~ Salt

~ Butter

Start your water boiling for your pasta, and cook and drain as you make the rest of the food:

In one pan (the only pan you'll need, if you work the sequencing right) start some olive oil heating. Add your chopped mushrooms and scallions, then some white wine. I'm starting to learn that I really like New York whites to use for sauteeing mushrooms. Other less-sweet wines can give the mushrooms a tart taste, but New York whites make them sweet and savory, all at the same time. Add salt and garlic to taste. Once they've sautéed, put them into a prep bowl to wait patiently.

In the same pan (now empty) add some butter and your chopped chicken. Add salt, thyme and paprika to taste. Once it's nicely golden, add the blue cheese crumbles (I used a crumbled Danish bleu from Wegmans) and some heavy cream and wine. Stir the mixture 'til it melds, adding more liquid as needed.

Top the pasta with the chicken in blue cheese cream sauce and top THAT with the mushrooms. I paired tonight's meal with Vetter Vineyard's Brig Niagara. It was sweet enough to par down the sharpness of the blue cheese, yet smooth enough to cleanse the palate, as this meal is a rich one. It had a soft finish, which made it a nice match, rather than contrasting pair, to the meal.

All in all, a nice dinner, and a nice re-use of leftovers!

Yours in the love of good food and wine,

AL

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The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Thirty-sixth Post ~ Sirloin with Mushrooms in Sweet Wine Reduction Over Parmesan Risotto

Ever have one of those days? Not a day where anything bad happens, just a hectic, harried, frenzied day during which your brain is active 110% of the time, and you could really use it an additional 15% or so, if it could just kick it up a notch.

That was today. I came home, changed, played with Ginny, sent emails, worked on a paper, figured out my next day's plans... and then decided that I needed a break. A mental break. So I got out some basic ingredients (steak, risotto, mushrooms, olive oil) and then just let my mind go blank. Absolutely, self-hypnotic, deep, relaxed breathing, trance-like blank.

And I experienced what I can only describe as a culinary black-out.

In the end, sitting down to eat this meal, I thought it was pretty darn good. But the trouble was, I had to think really hard about what I had actually put in it. How did I get from Point A to Point B? So I listed out the ingredients I had used, and marveled at the fact that for probably the first time since I started this blog, my ingredient list made it from one end of my magnetic refrigerator pad to the other.

So basically, tonight's blog entry serves to document this dinner, but it probably fits less into the category of "quick, easy dinners" and better into the category of "what happens when you let your mind empty of thought completely."

So... here's what you'll need for tonight's dinner:

~ Olive oil
~ Sirloin steak cut into cubes
~ Mushrooms (I use triple-washed baby bellas. Always have, probably always will.)
~ Green onion (the stalks of mine went bad a few days ago, but I discovered that the bulb is actually quite nice - same mild onion taste with a bit of sweetness)
~ Fresh (or dried) thyme
~ Red wine
~ Slice of Brie (it's for the sauce, so cut off the rind, and, if you're a hard-core brie-fiend like I am, you'll eat the rind as you cook.)
~ Salt/Pepper to taste
~ Apricot jam
~ Balsamic vinegar
~ Lemon juice
~ Crushed garlic (I've decided to give my garlic crusher a rest for a while - it's just so darn messy and during my 12-day recuperation this past month, I observed that lots of the chefs on the Food Network use the bottled crushed garlic. A little milder taste, which, in my opinion, is fine and dandy, and waaaaay less work.)

~ Risotto
~ Parmesan
~ Thyme

Make your risotto ahead of time. I stirred in a bit of thyme and in the end, some parmesan. I've never made risotto before and was shocked (almost offended!) to read in the directions that I was expected to stand at the stove and gradually stir simmering water into it for 15 minutes. I decided to cut my losses and slapped a lid onto it after it had actively boiled for about 5 minutes and let it sit while I cooked the main attraction. Guess what? It turned out fine. Sometimes starches just need a little tough love.

Into my stick-free pan I tossed my cubed steak, mushrooms, sliced green onion bulb, thyme, red wine, brie, apricot jam, and small bit of crushed garlic. Over the top of the whole thing I sprinkled salt, pepper and sesame seeds. I then splashed it liberally with red wine, then sparingly with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice.

I put the whole thing on the stove for a few minutes until the steak was browned. I removed it and cooked the rest of it down until it was delightfully caramelized. I tossed the parmesan into the risotto and the steak back into the pan for a few minutes. I then found myself sitting at the table in front of this meal. I told you it was a whirl-wind.

I served tonight's dinner with a soft, relaxed Caménère by Aresti vineyards of Chile. I've been a long-time fan of Chilean reds, and this one offered exactly what I love about them - they're full-bodied, but soft as velvet; earthy, fruity, beautifully balanced. It went wonderfully with tonight's meal.

And now, my friends, I shall wash some dishes, review my work for tomorrow, watch a show, perhaps, and go to bed sooooo much more relaxed!

Yours in the love of good food and wine, and the great escapes they offer,
AL

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The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Fourth Post - Egg: Perfectly Poached, Paired with Parmesan and Parsley (and Premier of Pictoral Posts!)

First of all, give me a big gold star for alliteration.

Second of all, I'm slaving away at my midterm paper (if you're reading this, J. P. Guilford - CALL ME!) and my stomach is distracting me. I've miles to go before I can even think of dinner or of sleeping, for that matter, but I need a snack. I need brain food. I need - wait for it - AN EGG!

I love eating poached eggs because it gives you all the joy of an egg without the added guilt of butter and oil.

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They're pretty easy to make once you get the hang of it - but as I've learned with eggs: you MUST LISTEN TO THEM. This is one of those cases. Everything will be alright if you just do EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT.

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What you'll need:

1 egg

toast (you can figure that out)

shredded cheese

parsley

vinegar

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Start water boiling in a larger-than-you-would-think-necessary pot. Put a little salt in.

While water is heating, get out an egg and crack it into a prep bowl. Do this unless you're some kind of expert at cracking eggs and never pierce the yolk. You cannot poach an egg if the yolk's been pierced.

Pay the egg a compliment to make it cooperate later. Try "My, you look sunny today!"

While the water's heating, brew a pot of coffee. This is brain food, after all. No wine - wait for dinner to celebrate having written your paper.

Get out some shredded cheese. I like shredded parmesan.

Get out some parsley flakes, 'cause parsley pairs prettily with parmesan for pictures.

Once your water's boiling, put a piece of toast down. I like potato bread.

This is key: add a splash of vinegar to the water, then turn it down so it's lightly bubbling.

Next, start stirring the water around so that it forms a vortex.

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PAUSE

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The vortex is key. It's how the egg is going to cook evenly, effectively and prettily. Make a nice, solid vortex. No reason to hurry, here. Pretend you're in Potions class and Professor Snape is peering over your shoulder.

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UNPAUSE

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Softly dump the egg into the vortex.

Time it for EXACTLY 90 SECONDS.

That should be time for you to pour your coffee and put your piece of toast on a plate.

Remove the egg carefully with a slotted spoon. Rest the egg against the pot side for a moment to get the excess water off.

Set it on the toast and garnish with a sprinkle of parm and parsley.

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10 points for Gryffindor! Bon appetite! Back to the books!

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Yours in the love of food, and for this meal, organic Guatemalan coffee with sugar and a touch of heavy cream,

AL

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The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.