Coco has been home and not feeling so well. Today he took out some fresh Chorizo I had bought, and the recipes I was saving it for needed ingredients I didn't have, so I made up my own recipe as follows:
Plain White Spanish Rice - Cooked according to package directions.
2 tablespoons Olive oil
1 clove of garlic
1 Onion finely chopped
3 links Fresh Chorizo
1/2 bottle or can of beer
1 can Red Beans drained and rinsed
1 can Black beans drained and rinsed
1 Can Diced Fired Roasted tomatoes, drained
Salt, Pepper, Smoked Paprika, Chili Powder, and Cayenne Pepper to taste
Heat the olive oil and saute the onions and garlic until soft and onion has sweetened. Cut off sausage casing and crumble chorizo into the pan and cook until browned. When well cooked, Pour 1/2 bottle of beer over and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. ( Be sure to unwind and drink the other half while you cook) Add the beans and tomatoes, use seasonings to taste and heat until very hot. Serve in pasta bowls over the Cooked white rice.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Waffle Sunday
Saturday morning, Spud asked if he could make waffles, and I was eager to answer yes, and then promptly realized that we had so little in the house we were lacking milk and eggs, thus no waffles. ( we sadly didn't even have bread for toast) Spud ended up eating soup, and I made pasta with garlic oil and cheese for breakfast. A trip to the store on Saturday, yielded the proper ingredients, so after oversleeping Sunday following 2 nights of partying, I gave the Spud the recipe to make the waffles.
We actually did have buttermilk, so we were able to make Buttermilk Waffles, page 653. Spud actually made these himself, I just had to guide him through the recipe though as we decided to half it as this recipe as is yields 24 waffles! They were completely yummy. I whipped up some fresh heavy cream flavored with my newly acquired Dominican Vanilla ( very strong!) courtesy of my colleague, Papo, and it made for the perfect topping for these waffles.
We actually did have buttermilk, so we were able to make Buttermilk Waffles, page 653. Spud actually made these himself, I just had to guide him through the recipe though as we decided to half it as this recipe as is yields 24 waffles! They were completely yummy. I whipped up some fresh heavy cream flavored with my newly acquired Dominican Vanilla ( very strong!) courtesy of my colleague, Papo, and it made for the perfect topping for these waffles.
Light Cooking Week
I only managed to cook one meal home last week (10/7), and it was a very simple dinner. Pork Chops with Mustard Crumbs, page 482, brought me back to the Gourmet Cookbook. These are basic breaded pork chops, but with the added twist of rye crumbs over a mustard coating. It was quite tasty. I admit I cheated my side dishes this evening with frozen Cauliflower, and (GASP) instant mashed potatoes. I invented my own pan pork gravy though from the pan juices form the pork, so this helped to disguise the use of powdered potatoes.
Backing up to 10/3/09 - Classic Hoboken food!
Wow, I have been behind on cooking and definately on blogging. I need to back up and talk about one of my favortie meals I make, and the success and disaster that went with it.
Last Saturday 10/3, I had a group of friends travel to NJ to attend the Springsteen concert, and as I was initially invited to go with them, I definitely owed them dinner. I figured what better way to repay a friend and enteratin old friends then by cooking them an awesome meal? ( I hope they though it was awesome) This meal although one of may very favorites has not one recipe from the Gourmet Cookbook.
I started by going to my favorite bread Bakery - the Antique Bakery also here in Hoboken. ( In case I haven't mentioned it - we have some of the best food resources anywhere!) My personal favorite from Antique is their stuffed breads - They make Sausage and Pepper, Pepperoni and Cheese and Prosiutto and cheese. I bought a loaf each of the Sausage and Pepper and the Prosiutto and Cheese. These make wonderful appetizers/table snacks. Also to give the ultimate Hoboken dining experience, I served the bread with some of our finest Fresh Mozzerella from Lisa's Deli. (or Mutz as we call it here)
As a first course I served a basic Italian salad of mixed greens with oil and vinegar. This salad is so simple, chopped or torn lettuce of your choice ( I prefer a mix of red leaf and iceberg) I generously salt and pepper the lettuce and let it sit for a few minutes. I also like lettuce sligtly chilled so I serve it not too long after I take it from the refrigerator. After the salt has had time to dissolve on the lettuce, I add extra virgin olive oil and toss with my hands until fully coated and enoucgh to make the lettuice shiny. Then I add just a drizzle of red wine vinegar, but of course you can add this to taste. I happen to like it as plain lettuce, but you could add any normal salad additions here. ( Onions, olives, tomatoes and parmesan are good Italian additions).
As a main course I made homemade ravioli. I used the Basic Pasta recipe I always use from the Joy of Pasta, but for my filling I used Adalgiza and Tessie's Ravoli Filling from where else, but The Lost Ravoli Recipes of Hoboken. This is a meat filling that is fairly rich made from cream cheese, spinach, parmesan, veal and pork. It is a very easy filling as well as it is not actually precooked prior to be put inside the ravoli. this recipe is the basis for an entire memoir on one woman's search for the orgins of this recipe. With this dish, I served my mother's classic Bresciole recipe. This dish is like little Italian pot roasts and cooks down into very tender and tasty meat, and the sauce with it compliments the ravoli well. As usual Joe the butcher, didn't let me down when I ordered my meat. I don't even know what cut of beef this is - I call Joe and say I need 14 pieces of bresciole meat. Please feel free to post comments and I can further post the recipe if anyone is interested. As my side dish from the same book, I also made Spinach Torta alla Hoboken. This is a delicious Spinach, egg and cheese dish - sort of like an Italian crustless quiche. This meal is best served with a good Italian Chianti, which I bought but my dinner guest was kind enough to also bring a bottle that was perfect with the meal.
My dessert wasn't as good an effort. I was attempting an Epicurioius recipe I found for Chocolate Ravoli http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Ravioli-in-Bittersweet-Chocolate-Sauce-231566 The filling was a great success and I ended up serving it like a custard in a dish. The pasta for this I didn't not have luck getting the dough to a workable consistency. It was tasty, but I just couldn't make its work. I also adjusted the sauce and made it with white chocolate instead of dark to offer the contrast to the custard.
I hope my guests enjoyed the meal as much as I did cooking it ( and eating it) I will have to keep practicing with that chocolate pasta dough.
Last Saturday 10/3, I had a group of friends travel to NJ to attend the Springsteen concert, and as I was initially invited to go with them, I definitely owed them dinner. I figured what better way to repay a friend and enteratin old friends then by cooking them an awesome meal? ( I hope they though it was awesome) This meal although one of may very favorites has not one recipe from the Gourmet Cookbook.
I started by going to my favorite bread Bakery - the Antique Bakery also here in Hoboken. ( In case I haven't mentioned it - we have some of the best food resources anywhere!) My personal favorite from Antique is their stuffed breads - They make Sausage and Pepper, Pepperoni and Cheese and Prosiutto and cheese. I bought a loaf each of the Sausage and Pepper and the Prosiutto and Cheese. These make wonderful appetizers/table snacks. Also to give the ultimate Hoboken dining experience, I served the bread with some of our finest Fresh Mozzerella from Lisa's Deli. (or Mutz as we call it here)
As a first course I served a basic Italian salad of mixed greens with oil and vinegar. This salad is so simple, chopped or torn lettuce of your choice ( I prefer a mix of red leaf and iceberg) I generously salt and pepper the lettuce and let it sit for a few minutes. I also like lettuce sligtly chilled so I serve it not too long after I take it from the refrigerator. After the salt has had time to dissolve on the lettuce, I add extra virgin olive oil and toss with my hands until fully coated and enoucgh to make the lettuice shiny. Then I add just a drizzle of red wine vinegar, but of course you can add this to taste. I happen to like it as plain lettuce, but you could add any normal salad additions here. ( Onions, olives, tomatoes and parmesan are good Italian additions).
As a main course I made homemade ravioli. I used the Basic Pasta recipe I always use from the Joy of Pasta, but for my filling I used Adalgiza and Tessie's Ravoli Filling from where else, but The Lost Ravoli Recipes of Hoboken. This is a meat filling that is fairly rich made from cream cheese, spinach, parmesan, veal and pork. It is a very easy filling as well as it is not actually precooked prior to be put inside the ravoli. this recipe is the basis for an entire memoir on one woman's search for the orgins of this recipe. With this dish, I served my mother's classic Bresciole recipe. This dish is like little Italian pot roasts and cooks down into very tender and tasty meat, and the sauce with it compliments the ravoli well. As usual Joe the butcher, didn't let me down when I ordered my meat. I don't even know what cut of beef this is - I call Joe and say I need 14 pieces of bresciole meat. Please feel free to post comments and I can further post the recipe if anyone is interested. As my side dish from the same book, I also made Spinach Torta alla Hoboken. This is a delicious Spinach, egg and cheese dish - sort of like an Italian crustless quiche. This meal is best served with a good Italian Chianti, which I bought but my dinner guest was kind enough to also bring a bottle that was perfect with the meal.
My dessert wasn't as good an effort. I was attempting an Epicurioius recipe I found for Chocolate Ravoli http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Ravioli-in-Bittersweet-Chocolate-Sauce-231566 The filling was a great success and I ended up serving it like a custard in a dish. The pasta for this I didn't not have luck getting the dough to a workable consistency. It was tasty, but I just couldn't make its work. I also adjusted the sauce and made it with white chocolate instead of dark to offer the contrast to the custard.
I hope my guests enjoyed the meal as much as I did cooking it ( and eating it) I will have to keep practicing with that chocolate pasta dough.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Pasta Dinner
Last night Spud was begging for pasta to go with the re-directed turkey, so I figured I would accomodate tonight. I admit I am exhausted after not sleeping to well last night, so this blog will probably not do this dish justice, but it was delicious. The Pasta with Bolognese Sauce, page 221 did not dissappoint. Bolognese is one of my favorite dishes, and somehow I have never made this one, and it is the best I have had. It contains every element that any other bologneses usually only use part of. This one has the carrots, celery and onion, the milk and white wine to go with the tomatoes. It uses ground meatloaf mix instead of whole pieces of meat. It is a nice easy recipe and will definately be a regular in my food repetoire.
Re-directed Dinner
Last night I set out to make Chicken Divan, I asked Coco to take the chicken out of the freezer. When I got home, the recipe was more involved than I felt like making, so I decided to do a change over to an easier Rachel Ray Recipe from Everyday magazine. I decided to use her Chicken Fried Steak recipe and changed it to Chicken Fried Chicken. The only problem was that when I opened the package Coco took out, I realized he took out the Turkey cutlets, so dinner became Chicken Fried Turkey. This recipe makes a really nice pan gravy to go with it. I further cheated this meal with frozen green beans and instant mashed potatoes, but it was like eating a homemade tv dinner. The dish turned out pretty well with the turkey substitution.
Sunday Night Supper
After overeating yesterday and travelling today with a late lunch ( dare I admit fastfood at a rest area!) we decided to eat a little later this evening and a little lighter. Spud requested brussel sprouts for dinner, probably one of the few 10 year olds in America who's favorite vegetable is brussel sprouts. I ran to the store for a mini-shopping trip, and the local grocery just didn't have them. I am not sure what the season of a brussel sprout is. So as a second choice I bought Swiss Chard to make Swiss Chard Gratin, page 543. Spud didn't like it, said it reminded him of Spinach Souffle, and he has declared that eggs should never be with spinach. This dish has no eggs in it though, and was quite good. It actually calls to make it with spinach too, but I just made it with all Swiss Chard. It was really more like a more complex version of creamed spinach. I liked the touch of chicken stock in with the cream, it adds a more intersted flavor. I think I will try this with creamed spinach in the future as well. Of course the best part is the cheesy, breadcrumb topping that bakes and get crispy. I made this side with Veal Scallops with Lemon and Capers, page 456. I love this dish as it is so light and easy and full of flavor. I admit that I hate capers though, and I leave them out when I make this dish.
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