Twenty-Second Post: Scallops in White Wine Sauce with a Zip

I typically make scallops in a creamy cheese sauce, but tonight I wanted to go for something lighter.

.

Here's what you'll need for tonight's dinner:

.

~ Scallops

~ White wine (I used some of the leftover Bordeaux from Chateau Briot of last week)

~ Garlic

~ Onion

~ Lemon juice

~ Salt/pepper

~ Bay leaf

.

Get the onion minced and the garlic prepped. Start the garlic, onion, white wine, lemon juice and bay leaf simmering gently. Get your side going at the same time. Tonight I cooked fresh green beans with some salt and pepper and a tiny bit of garlic. Once your sauce for the scallops is starting to look ready (a little bubbly, melded nicely) place the scallops in the sauce.

.

As they're cooking, flip them over occasionally, peppering them on each side. Add a little garlic to the beans as they're cooking. Make sure they don't get overcooked...

/

After the scallops are done - and this is optional - put a tiny bit of blue cheese on top. I mean, just a crumble, because you could easily overwhelm the mild flavor of the scallops. I just thought it added a nice zip!

.

I paired this meal with an Italian pinot grigio by the Cavit Collection. It was light and crisp, with a hint of grassiness that gave it a wonderfully refreshing quality - perfect for a summery dinner of seafood!

.

Yours in the love of good food and wine,

AL

.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.

Twenty-first Post ~ Herbed Lamb Tenderloins with Garlic Parmesan Green Beans

Tonight I was really tired and wanted something quick and foolproof. Unfortunately, that's exactly when things go wrong. So part of this meal required a bit of a do-over, but when all was said and done, it turned out just fine!
/
Here's what you'll need:
/
~ Lamb tenderloins
~ Dried herb and spice blend (I recommend oregano, rosemary, thyme and paprika)
~ Lemon juice
~ Olive oil
.
And for the side:
~ Green beans (frozen, French cut)
~ Garlic
~ Parmesan
~ A little bit of oil
.
Put a bit of olive oil in a stick-free pan. Put the dried herbs in a mortar and pestal and grind them up. Pour a bit of lemon juice into the oil, start it heating, and then scatter in the ground herbs. Traditionally this herb blend is used as a rub for meat, but I thought I'd create a cheater's quick marinade by putting it in the oil and letting it all meld. After the oil cools, set the lamb tenderloins into the oil and herb mixture and turn them around so they get covered in herbs. Don't start it heating right away: let them sit for a bit - long enough for you to do the dishes, perhaps?
.
::PAUSE::
.
Now, before you do anything else, get your garlic ready. I started the beans before I got the garlic ready, and then stupidly decided to mince the garlic, which is a really time-consuming process. I got the garlic done and my beans had smoldered away in the pan into sad shriveled nothingness. I tossed that batch out and started over. The moral of the story is, always get everything ready BEFORE you turn the heat on.
.
::UNPAUSE::
.
So get your garlic chopped, minced, whatever. Start the heat on the lamb and turn it a few times. Prepare the beans with a little olive oil. In the interest of time, I crushed the garlic for the last batch in my garlic press. Either method would work well. Just as the beans are getting done, add the crushed garlic and stir them around a bit. Turn off the heat and sprinkle parm over the top of them. The remaining heat from the pan should start the parm melting a bit.
.
I paired tonight's dinner with an Italian pinot noir by Cadonini. It is just the right level of earthy to compliment the lamb and the right level of fruity to offset the herbs. It went wonderfully with tonight's dinner and gave it a perfect finish.
.
Yours in the love of good food and wine,
AL
.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.

Twentieth Post (Huzzah!) ~ Cordon Bleu Medallions: A Comfortable Take on a Classy Favorite

Mmm... chicken stuffed with savory ham and flavorful cheese... Cordon Bleu has been one of my favorite ways to eat chicken since I was a child. It also provided me with my first experience in learning that food could have different names depending on what region you were in. When I was five years old, I felt quite puzzled when I was presented with "Chicken Charleston" in a Baltimore restaurant after having asked Mommy if we could share Cordon Bleu... How confusing... How yummy!

.

But in any case, now you can buy wonderful pre-made chicken Cordon Bleu (or whatever you choose to call it) in most grocery stores. I had one in my freezer for some time, but after thawing it tonight, I just didn't feel like waiting for the whole chicken breast to cook. So I took this short cut and my dinner went from fridge to table in under 15 minutes.

.

Here's what you'll need:

~ Chicken Cordon Bleu (available pre-made in most grocery stores)

~ Seasoned bread crumbs

~ Olive oil

~ A side (I enjoyed last night's cauliflower so much I decided to go for a reprise tonight)

.

Start some olive oil heating in a stick-free pan. Slice the Cordon Bleu into strips so that you've got nice round pieces of chicken with the cheese and ham in the center. Roll them around in some bread crumbs so that all sides are coated generously. Place them in your pan and let them turn golden on each side. Watch that the cheese doesn't burn!

.

Prepare your side and arrange the whole thing on a plate with some optional shredded parm and oregano for a tasty garnish. I served tonight's meal with the Bordeaux from Chateau Briot that I discussed in last night's post. In contrast to the gamey, sweet duck from last night, this meal was zesty and salty. Therefore, the citrussy tones of the Bordeaux were wonderfully refreshing. A far better pairing!

.

Voila! Dinner is served!

.

Yours in the love of good food and wine,

AL

.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.

Nineteenth Post: Duck with Spiced Apricot and Wine Glaze

Duck is my favorite fowl. Hands down. Many people don't care for its gamey taste, but to me, it's heaven.

I've never made duck before, and was unsure how to even go about purchasing it (or does one simply wait patiently by a lake with a bag of Wonder Bread?) so I was pleasantly surprised when I found prepackaged duck breast filets by Maple Leaf Farms in the meat case at (wait for it) Wegmans. I wasn't sure how good it would be... I had been planning to surprise my mom by cooking dinner for her this weekend (Surprise!) and I thought this might be a nice treat... if it was good. But what if it was terrible? Only one way to find out.

I was also unsure about sauce. I was out of time this week for a special shopping trip, so I decided to see what I could put together with what I had on hand. My mom makes a fabulous orange glaze for pork tenderloins (recipe to come in a future post) and I decided to adapt that to my needs and available food supply.

Here's what you'll need for tonight's (successful) experimental dinner:

~ boneless duck breast

~ apricot jam

~ terragon

~ cinnamon

~ ginger

~ onion

~ red or white (or both) wine

~ vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)

I made cauliflower for the side (frozen, pre-cut, easy) and added a little fresh cut basil and chive for extra flavor.

Start the wine simmering in a sauce pan. I had some leftover Norton Cabernet that was, at this point, practically vinegar itself, so I used that. (As I was cooking the sauce, I added some Vesuvio white.) Spoon in a generous couple tablespoons of apricot jam. Break the jam apart a bit. Add some vinegar, terragon, cinnamon and ginger. Finely mince some onion and add it. Let simmer some as you prep the duck.

::PAUSE::

As I said, I've never cooked duck. I used to wonder how they can stick around as the weather grows colder, but now I know. Ducks are no slim birds. There was a rather unpleasant layer of fat under the meat itself. It was thicker than I'm accustomed to seeing, but it didn't matter to me because this was DUCK and I wanted to cook and eat it. I set aside my squeamishness and sliced it away with a knife. This was not an easy proposition, and I had to turn the sauce off part way through as it took longer than I expected. Finally, it was trimmed, and I sliced it into strips in placed it into a Corningware dish. Foolishly, I had thought the duck might stick while baking, so I had added some olive oil to the dish. This is probably an unneccessary step.

::UNPAUSE::

So now that you've encouraged the duck to part company with all that ... er ... padding ... Pour the sauce over the duck in the dish. Pop it into the toaster oven and bake on 350 until the duck is done to the level you like it.

In the mean time, cook your veggies. When it's all done, put it on a plate. I chose to use a separate dish for the juice so it wouldn't run into the veggies and I could dip the meat into it.

Now... what wine to serve?

This posed a bit of a quandary. On the one hand, I had a 2007 Bordeaux from Chateau Briot. It smelled like slicing into a fresh grapefruit - very citrusy and light. I had, on the other hand, the wonderfully earthy Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio. I couldn't decide, so I poured a part of a glass of each. I honestly couldn't decide which was better even as I ate the meal, but in the end, the Bordeaux was a little too tart for the sweet glaze, and the Lacryma Christi provided enough roundness of body to compliment the duck.

All in all, it was a successful meal, and now I have a fool-proof recipe to prepare on Friday night!

Yours in the love of good food and wine,
AL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.

Eighteenth Post ~ Mediterranean Veggie Pizza

Since 33.3% of my loyal readers are vegetarians (Hi Chris!) I thought I'd post this quick and easy vegetarian meal. Made a little bigger, it could serve well as a dinner.

.

Here's what you'll need:

~Pita bread (I chose pocket-less)

~Hummus (my favorite is babaganoush, but I have a hard time finding it. I got 40 Spices)

~Veggies

~Olive oil

~Salt/pepper

~Crumbled feta or other goat variety

~Chive

.

Sautee the veggies in a skillet with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. I used pre-sliced baby bella mushrooms and some green peppers. As you're letting them sizzle, spread some hummus onto the pita. Eat a little while you're at it - you know you want to.

.

Now, snip one chive into the veggies. Stir it around. Then, scatter the veggies on top of the pita and hummus and sprinkle generously with cheese. Pop it into your toaster oven until the cheese is nice and melty.

.

Easy, peasy, one-two-threesey! If I were serving this for a dinner, I'd pair it with a Shiraz or Syrah. It would give a nice balance to the spiciness.

.

Yours in the love of good food and wine,

AL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.

Seventeenth Post ~ Herbed Pork with Green Beans: Faster than a Lousy Microwave Dinner!

Tonight's dinner was incredibly fast and very tasty. Here's what you'll need:

~Pork tenderloins (I chose Wegmans - they were sliced so thin it was practically like pork sushi... I would have liked them a little thicker)
~ Spices (more on that later)
~ Salt/Pepper to taste

~Green beans

I used a spice combination that I'm quite fond of for using as a herb-crusting on any meat. I combined:

~Oregano
~Rosemary
~Paprika
~Salt
~Pepper
~Thyme

I crushed them all together in a small bowl then sprinkled it and patted it into the meat. This pork was so thin that it was cooked literally in minutes; in fact, I think I overcooked it a bit. I didn't add any oil to the pan as I didn't want this meal to be too heavy.

I sauteed the green beans in a pan with a little oil and a tiny amount of water to create some steam.

I served tonight's dinner with a wonderful Italian wine: Lacryma Christi Mastroberardino. It's from the vineyards of Mount Vesuvius, which, being a geek of all things Roman, made me positively shiver with excitement. It is dry but with a grassy, earthy taste. Its pairs wonderfully with the spices in the pork, giving the whole meal a well-balanced, light feeling.

Ahh - a perfect meal! Quick to prepare, wonderfully savory, and nicely paired with a wine positively steeped in history!

Yours in the love of good food and wine (especially when you don't have to fuss after lecturing for over three hours)

AL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.

Sixteenth Post: Breaded Chicken with Tortelleni

Perhaps it was because I heard my parents were going to Olive Garden for dinner. Perhaps it's because I've got an open bottle of Merlot screaming for an appropriate dish. Perhaps it's just because I like it. Whatever the reason, I wanted Italian tonight.

.

This is a meal that I've altered a bit from my childhood original. My mother learned it from an elderly Italian woman who brought this recipe with her from the Old Country - the original calls for turkey or pork cutlets. However, I had a chicken breast available to me. So I made it work.

.

What you'll need for tonight's dinner:

.

~ Meat (preferably turkey or pork cutlets) I used one chicken breast cut into strips while it was still partially frozen.

~ Ready-made pasta sauce (of course, the original recipe calls for a home-made pasta sauce learned from this woman from Italy, and let me tell you, if heaven could be created in a pot, it would taste like this sauce. Due to time, I used a ready-made.)

~ Grated cheese (I used Romano)

~ Pasta (I used tortellini)

~ Butter (or margerine)

~ Seasoned bread crumbs

~ Egg

.

:: PAUSE ::

.

Tortellini is quite possibly the greatest food in existance. You have your noodles, which are pretty great, and cheese, which is quite incredible, and then some genius decided to put the cheese inside the noodle. I'm fairly certain that on that day, the sun shone a little brighter and the world seemed a little happier. Tortellini is perfect by itself, in butter, with herbs, and with pasta sauce. You gotta have a special spot in your heart for these little noodles of cheesey goodness.

.

:: UNPAUSE ::

.

Start your water boiling. Get out all your ingredients. This is not a meal you want to scramble for. Melt some butter in a stick-free pan. At the same time, have your sauce heating on the stove or in the microwave. To spice up this jarred sauce, I added some cheese, fresh basil, and a little sugar.

.

Now, dip your meat in egg and coat in seasoned breadcrumbs. Coat all the pieces, then set them into the sizzling butter on your pan. They will cook pretty quickly.

.

Drain and serve your pasta, place some meat with it, and make sure you have ample sauce to dip it in!

.

I served tonight's dinner with a Merlot from Mendoza, Argentina. It is fruit-forward and paired beautifully with the salty pasta sauce and the rich, cheesey pasta.

.

It's not quite the same as the turkey or pork cutlets, but it certainly fulfilled my desire for Italian! It also shows how versatile this recipe is - try this meal with spaghetti instead of tortellini for a "twist!"

.

Yours in the love of good food and wine,
AL

.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.

Fifteenth Post ~ Fresh, simple fare: Green beans with sauteed chicken and mushrooms

Summer has come to Buffalo. Today's highs were in the upper 80s, and boy, did it feel every bit of 90. When it's this hot out, I crave simple foods. Perhaps it's because I know my body just doesn't have the energy to sluggishly pilfer its way through heavily sauced and flavored foods for the needed nutrients. Perhaps it is because I just can't string together too many ingredients at once when my brain feels steamed. In any case, I crave simplicity.

.

Tonight's dinner fit the bill. I quite literally pulled from the refrigerator foods that sounded good to me, and then combined them. In the end, I thought it created a sort of Provincal meal. Here's what I grabbed:

.

~ Chilled white wine

~ Chicken tenderloins that should be used up

~ Mushrooms (pre-washed and sliced - as I said: simple)

~ Green beans

~ Onion

,

For the seasoning:

~ Chilled white wine (noticing a pattern?)

~ Olive oil

~ Chives

~ Basil

~ Salt/pepper

.

Cut the chicken up into fork-managable pieces. Place in stick-free pan with chopped onion. Pour on some olive oil, ample white wine, and season with salt and pepper. Toss in some mushrooms and start it sizzling.

.

Now that your brain has tackled that, snip up some chives and basil into the mixture. Stir around a bit. It should cook in next to no time.

.

:: PAUSE ::

.

I'm all for using the proper cooking methods and tools. But some nights (like tonight) call for laziness.

.

:: UNPAUSE ::

.

Scootch your cooked chicken, onions, mushrooms and herbs over to one end of your pan. Place some frozen green beans in the other end. Tilt the pan so the hot sauce infiltrates the mini bean-fortress you've built. Stir them around a bit 'til they look done. The end result is that the beans will be cooked al dente and sweetened by the flavors of the wine, herbs, and earthiness of the mushrooms.

.
Tilt the whole thing onto a plate and enjoy with a glass of chilled white wine. I served this with a French table wine called Vieux Papes. It paired wonderfully, tasting a little grassy (in a refreshing way) and citrussy, making it a perfect companion to this summer meal.

.

Bon apetit!

.

Yours in the love of food, wine, and occasional laziness,

AL

.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.

Fourteenth Post: Hamburger and Mac & Cheese ~ All Grown Up!

Here's a classic comfort favorite that's given a new spin with some cheese that you might have on hand (if you're a fan of Wegman's cheese flights, which I am) and some marinade.

.

This was also a good dinner for tonight because it was minutes in prep time, which was good, as I have a pitiful puppy on the sofa demanding attention - Ginny was spayed today, and it has taken some wind out of her normally full sails...

.

So, here's what you'll need for tonights quick, easy and tasty meal:
.

For the hamburger:

~ 1 ground beef patty

~ herb marinade

~ basil (optional)

.

For the mac & cheese:

~ pasta (I use the term "mac" loosely: penne worked just as well
~ cheese you have on hand (I used Beemster classic, sage derby and Yancy's XXX sharp and a little parm)

~ butter

~ white wine

.

One sick puppy (optional)

.

Get your water boiling and put some marinade directly on your hamburger patty in the pan. Don't start it heating just yet. While your water is boiling, sit with optional puppy. Once water starts boiling, toss in pasta. Sit with puppy. Smell scorching pasta and race in to actually stir it once or twice. In between, sit with puppy.

.

Once you've got a few minutes to go on your pasta, start the cheese and butter melding. Pour in a bit of white wine. Check on puppy. Stir sauce and drain pasta into collander. Check on puppy. Start the heat under your hamburger and marinade. Check on puppy. At this time, pour your pasta into the pan with the (by now) creamy, cheesey sauce. Let it simmer. Flip burger. Check on puppy. Flip burger again, toss pasta around and put it all on a plate. Top burger with fresh basil, if you like. I am getting to enjoy basil on pretty much everything. Watch, I'll be on Medical Mysteries with some strange basil-induced overdose.

.

This meal came together nicely. The burger was nice and juicy (the trick, I've learned, is a very low flame). I think the pasta would have been better with a little bit of cream, as it wasn't quite as "saucy" as I had hoped. It still tasted very good, though.
.

Check on puppy.

.

Pour self a glass of Norton Cab to hopefully chill out a bit.

.

Check on puppy.

.

Enjoy meal and wine while sitting next to puppy.

.

Yours in the love of good food and wine and the stressful moments in life that they help us through,

AL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.

Thirteenth Post: Breathing New Life into Tough Steak

It happens. Sometimes you get a steak that just doesn't turn out the way you'd hoped. And as you're sitting there chewing on this darned piece of meat until your jaws ache because you're sure not going to throw it out, you come to the decision that there's nothing to be done with tough meat. Right?.

.

Wrong!

.

I prepared some steaks the other night when my mother came over for dinner, and of course, because I was preparing food for someone other than myself, bad luck was on my side. The fire alarm was relentless, the broiler inconsistant, and in the end, the steaks were tough. My mom told me that when she had bad luck with steaks, this was always her fallback plan (I always thought it was just a yummy way to cook steak, little did I know...)

.

What you'll need to save your steaks:

.

~ Steak that has caused you personal, emotional harm, cut up into smallish pieces (use the aforementioned Crocodile Dundee knife from post #12 to maximize feelings of proper revenge)

~ Leftover juices from cooking said steak

~ Soy sauce

~ A baggie and a bowl

~ Time

.

After eating and apologizing to your guest(s), smile to yourself with the secret satisfaction of knowing that later on in the week, you shall reincarnate your steak into a delectable dinner for you and you alone. Place the chopped pieces of steak in a baggie in a bowl (It will leak. Trust me). Pour in the remaining juices (I had broiled it in the herbed marinade from post #8, and had added some fresh rosemary). Add some soy sauce. Soy sauce is one of nature's marvels. Not only is it awesome on sushi, but it also acts as a tenderizer for tough meat. Let your steak marinate in your fridge for a few days.

.

When you do decide to eat it, heat it in the baggie in the bowl in the microwave for about 2 minutes or under. Serve it over buttered toast.

.

::PAUSE::

.

It's a very common practice in our family to eat steak on top of buttered toast. It was not until quite recently that I learned that buttering one's steak is a very English thing to do. Perhaps this was my family's way of, over time, adhering to their cultural culinary habits without actually having to admit to putting butter on their steak ("It's not on the steak! It's on the bread which is under the steak, see, I've not buttered my steak at all...")

.

::UNPAUSE::

.

So you'll need:

~ Bread

~ Butter

~ A toaster

.

Just in case you needed help with that one. Extra snark in this post is courtesy of my English ancestry.

.

I served tonight's dinner with some baby bella mushrooms sauteed in white wine and olive oil with some fresh basil and a bit of grated parmesan. I uncorked my last bottle of Norton Cabernet Sauvignon (ultimately, a good decision - the cork was crumbly!), which became fruity in the face of the salty marinade, but full-bodied enough to stand up to the ::ahem:: butter.

.

And the steak was delightfully tender!

.\

Yours in the love of giving food a second chance,

AL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.