We were going to the home of our son and daughter-in-law for dinner and my assignment was a rice dish to go with grilled salmon. I scrounged around my to-try recipes and found this one that appealed to me – a kind of Indian inspired dish from Padma Lakshmi, an Indian-born model, actress, and a cookbook author. Apparently she used to have a food network show (10 years or so ago). And occasionally I’ve read articles she’s penned in one or more of the foodie magazines. This recipe came from one of them – Food and Wine in June of 2007.

This could be a vegetarian entrée (Padma is a vegetarian), although the recipe below is prepared as a side dish (serves 8). You might think there’s a typo with the quantity of toasted sesame oil (1/2 cup) but no, that’s right. Generally in the cooking I do, a tablespoon might be sufficient in a dish, but the sesame oil is the only fat in this rice dish and it’s (surprisingly) not overwhelming at all. The rice is cooked up in a traditional manner with bay leaves. Meanwhile you toast the cumin seeds in the heated sesame oil, and have ready some chopped shallots and grated or minced fresh ginger. Plus turmeric, pepper, prunes and pistachios. The recipe also calls for star anise pods. I thought I had some, but scrounging in my spices I sure couldn’t find them, so obviously I didn’t use them (if using, they’re discarded – as well as the bay leaf – after they give off their scent and flavor). Once the rice is cooked, it goes out onto a platter or bowl. The topping (it’s not really a sauce) is poured on top and lastly add the pistachios.

This was good enough that I may have to make it again soon (especially since I have an opened bag of prunes to use up) because there weren’t any leftovers. One of the best parts is that it can be made a few hours ahead and left to sit out at room temp. I re-heated it in the microwave, but you can serve it either way – warm or cool. I liked the salty (salt on the pistachios), the sweet (the chopped up prunes), the savory (the shallots) and the texture altogether.  This doesn’t have a curry flavor (just because it’s Indian doesn’t mean a dish is a curry one) at all. But the mixture does ring a Indian bell somehow.

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A year ago: Chicken, Sausage and Mushroom Pot Pie
Three years ago: Marinated Grilled Provolone

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Yes, I know. This looks like a vegetable, doesn’t it? And it can be served as one, but I’ve always served it as an appetizer. An unorthodox one, to be certain. Who serves green beans as an appetizer? Well, I do. Especially if you have a meal that is more carb-centric. I always like finding a recipe for a veggie-oriented appetizer – more healthy for us, I think. And this one certainly is – especially if you use egg whites (like Eggbeaters) instead of whole eggs. The original recipe I started with called for canned green beans. Yuck. I never used anything but fresh ones, left whole.

So, exactly what is this? Well, it’s a veggie dish with some onion, bell pepper, bread crumbs, Parmesan, sherry, garlic (lots) and seasonings. If you really want to make it look pretty, layer the green beans (pre-cooked to al dente) in one direction. That’s not hard to do because you leave the green beans whole. Once it’s baked, you can more easily cut the little rectangular shapes as servings. I did do that. I cut smallish cubes of the beans (barely holding together because of the eggs and bread crumbs) and served them on a large platter with a little spatula for people to help themselves. Actually the spatula is a cookie spatula, but it was the perfect size for serving this dish. Then I suggested people take a serving on an appetizer plate. With forks.

Be sure to layer the green beans in a casserole dish (or even an edged cookie sheet would work) so the beans are about 1/2 inch thick. Higher than that and the beans will fall apart when served – because the egg part kind of sinks to the bottom. My dish above was too small (so they were thicker than they should have been), so the beans did kind of fall apart when served. But it still tasted good. Nobody seemed to mind. And I served the leftover beans as a side veggie reheated in the microwave.

Where we live we have a small town in north central California called Gilroy, near Monterey. It’s the garlic capital of the world. Once a year they hold a Garlic Festival – always in mid-summer. When it’s way too hot to go to Gilroy, in my opinion. But they have ample booths and cooking contests. Everything possible is served with garlic, including garlic ice cream, in case you’re interested. We’ve never been to the festival. But we’ve stopped in the town and one time I purchased a cookbook of compiled recipes from local restaurants, festival contributors, farmers and growers. This recipe came from “The Garlic Cookbook,” one I must have given away awhile back. If you’re interested in garlic recipes, they have a section on their website with dozens of them (this one not included – probably too old).

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A year ago: Cranberry Pudding Cake
Three years ago: Almond Crusted Orange Roughy

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At the dinner party we did recently I wanted to serve something other than a green salad. Even though they’re good and generally reliable, I wanted to do something different. This certainly fits that requirement.

The recipe comes from an old Gourmet issue (from 2006). It’s available online if you want to go there. I bought the multi-colored Belgian endives (at Trader Joe’s), 2 greens and 1 red in each package of 3. Navel oranges are in season at the moment, and they’re so juicy and sweet. And then there’s the vinaigrette. The headnotes to this recipe said:

It’s impossible to overstate just how well the ingredients come together in this beautiful salad. The textural contrast of juicy ripe orange and crisp endives is enhanced by a surprisingly complex vinaigrette containing sweet, spicy and smoky flavors.

It was that information that made me clip out the recipe 5 years ago. I’d just never gotten around to making it. And it definitely is the dressing that makes this salad. The sweet comes from the orange juice and maple syrup, the spicy and smoky both from the chipotle chile in adobo. You won’t use all the dressing (at least I didn’t – I have about a third leftover). The dressing does have a few other additions (sherry vinegar, red onion, lemon juice) and it’s just full of flavor.  I served this with a pork roast, so the fruit addition to the salad blended well with the meat. I think pork marries well with fruity sides. We had leftovers, and unfortunately this salad doesn’t keep very well – the Belgian endive leaves begin to wilt. So make just as much as you think you’ll eat. I served it on a large, flat platter – so you could see all the fruit and colorful endive.

I’ve talked about chipotle chiles in adobo sauce before on my blog. They’re jalapeno chiles that have been smoked and cooked in a sauce. I hope you can find it at your market – they’re usually in small, 8-ounce cans (see photo above of one of the many brands available). One of the cooking classes I went to years ago provided a really helpful hint about this stuff – once you open the can, mash up the ingredients in a bowl. Do be extra careful touching it – it’s spicy hot – don’t get it in a cut or abrasion – ouch! Spread it out flat (about 1/8 inch thick or so) on a piece of aluminum foil (see photo  – that is the frozen goop resting on a piece of aluminum foil), cover with plastic wrap and seal in foil, then freeze in a Ziploc plastic bag. When you need some of it, pull it out and chop off a little chunk of it – use a sharp, heavy knife to cut it. Then return the rest to the freezer for another time. The chunk I have in my freezer has been there for nearly a year and it’s just fine. If you’ve never had chipotle chile, you’re in for a treat. Just beware – use it in moderation until you know what your heat-comfort level is. Generally I reduce the amount of chipotle in things until I know how hot it’s going to be. You can always add more, right?

One of the best parts of this recipe is that I made up everything ahead of time – the separated endive leaves in a bag, the orange slices in another, and the dressing in another. Took but a minute to put the finished salad on the platter and dress it.

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A year ago: Broccoli Casserole
Two years ago: Slow-Cooker Tamale Pie
Three years ago: Warm Bean Brie Dip

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The picture above doesn’t show how nice the square/slice looked.  This was a recipe I’d photocopied from a Bobby Flay cookbook – although it is available at the Food Network also. The only thing I changed was the amount of chipotle chile (I used less).

This sweet potato casserole is just off-the-charts delicious. But then, why wouldn’t it be when it’s bathed in full cream? I doubled the recipe (supposedly would serve 8 people – I served 14 small portions). You don’t need huge servings of this as it’s extremely rich. But oh my goodness, is it good! The mixture of the cream with some chipotle chile in it adds such a fantastic deep character to each bite. The only trick to this is slicing the sweet potatoes 1/8 inch thick. I have an Oxo Good Grips Mandoline Slicer which has a 1/8 inch setting. That part worked fine (although time consuming), but the really tedious part was layering the sweet potatoes. Each layer (the recipe said 9-10 and I think I made about 11) is one sweet potato slice thick. No overlapping at all. So it’s important to fill in all the little odd-ball corners. That took a little doing. Each layer is drizzled with the cream/chile mixture until the dish is nearly filled up. Then the remaining cream was poured in around the edges. There is nothing else in this except salt and pepper. No cheese. No cream sauce. Do use a casserole that’s higher-sided as the cream mixture bubbles up (and possibly over) the edges.

When I make this next time I’m going to try half and half instead of cream. Just because I would think it’s be just as good. To make a double batch, you realize, I used 4 cups of heavy cream. That’s just sinful. Even though I only ate about 4 bites of it. And I’m going to overlap the slices too – that part was just too much work! But the result is so good, it’s worth trying this again.

I used the pale sweet potato in mine. The recipe calls for yams (the orange ones). But then, they’re all sweet potatoes; we just call the orange fleshed ones yams, which they’re not, but the sweet potato type was what was available at the market this time. The dish looked like scalloped potatoes, even when it was cut and served, so I did have to tell everyone about that. The casserole is baked for 30 minutes topped with foil, then another 30+ minutes with the foil off. When I removed it from the oven it still had some cream mixture (in other words, the potatoes hadn’t absorbed all the cream) but as it sat, nearly all the liquid disappeared. Do allow the casserole to cool a few minutes as it could easily burn your mouth otherwise. This would make a great barbecue addition. Or a Thanksgiving side dish. We had it with a grilled pork roast. Absolutely decadent and perfect.

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A year ago: Cornmeal Biscuits with Ham and Goat Cheese
Two years ago: Steak and Mushroom Soup
Three years ago: White Lady (a cocktail)

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We went to a really nice gourmet dinner the other night. It was not our gourmet group, but a different one and the hostess can, if she chooses, invite an extra couple. That was us. It was my best friend, Cherrie, and her group. Cherrie made osso bucco as an entrée, so it was my job to bring a side (a carb) and a green veggie to go along with it. This dish can be served warm or at room temp. Since we had to drive half an hour to get there, I chose the room temp version, which was just great.

The original recipe came from a 5-year old issue of Bon Appetit. I went online to read reviews of it before I selected this, so I did make a couple of changes to the recipe based on the comments written there. I added freshly squeezed lemon juice and a little bit of butter. And I changed the cooking around just a little bit too – the peas were stirred in at the very last so they wouldn’t lose their pretty bright green color. They weren’t cooked at all, just stirred in.

The dish was easy enough to make – some pancetta and shallots were cooked up together, then some chicken broth added in and cooked down some, then the dill added and the sherry wine vinegar. Lastly I added the cooked orzo, lemon juice, butter and the peas. A dusting of salt and pepper and it was finished. Done. Yes, I’d make this again. I liked that I could make it ahead (several hours) and that it was okay sitting out at room temp for those hours.

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With oodles of Meyer lemons around my house these days (from our trees), I needed to use up some juice and zest. I’d read a recipe for a lemon and chocolate loaf cake – oh, did that sound good to me. I’d recently purchased a new pan – an elongated loaf pan – narrower and longer than a traditional bread pan. It’s a ceramic dish, pan shaped, but not metal, and it’s 12” x 4” x 2 1/2”. A lovely, bright glazed finish. And it holds the equivalent of a regular loaf pan quantity. So this gave me a perfect opportunity to try it out.

The recipe came from Marie, over at A Year From Oak Cottage. She writes two blogs – that one, and another one that’s just recipes (where this one came from), called The English Kitchen. Marie said that you might not think lemon and chocolate go all that well together. Oh, but she’s right, they do!

So I dug out the new pan – see the photo at right. It’s from King Arthur Flour. I love the shape of this pan – they call it a tea loaf pan. Makes for really pretty slices.

The cake was a cinch to make – the usual kind of cake-baking ingredients (butter, flour, eggs, leavening, yogurt). Then you veer off course and add lemon zest and chocolate chunks or chips and some walnuts. And after it bakes you pour some sweetened lemon syrup on top. A drizzle, if you will.

This recipe is not a bread-type texture. It’s more a cake-type-texture. But baked in a loaf pan. The cake/bread is very, very tender. Like a sponge cake, even. So once I removed the bread from the pan (using greased parchment as a sling and moved very carefully, I’ll add) and it cooled off, I did discover that you can’t cut narrow slices as you would for a banana bread, for instance – it was just so soft – too soft for that. But gosh, it’s delicious. Very tasty. So I cut wider slices – about 3/4 of an inch each. And did I tell you it was delicious? Oh yes. If you happen to have a lemon tree and need an excuse to use up some juice and zest, try this recipe. Thanks, Marie, for a great addition to my recipe box.

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A year ago: Salmon Steaks with Soy Maple Glaze (a favorite)
Two years ago: A write-up about my (then new) Kindle
Three years ago: Coriander Lime Shrimp (a great appetizer)

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A couple of weeks ago my DH and I threw a dinner party for a large group of friends. On February 14th to be exact. There were 14 of us (7 couples), a larger group than we would normally invite to dinner, but it needed to be so. We asked each couple to bring a bottle of wine and I/we did the rest. My DH set the table (with some coaching about which mats, which dishes, etc.). We stretched out our dining table as much as possible and squeezed in all 14. Dave washed dishes off and on all day long. We had houseguests (not part of the 14) and Sue helped me in the kitchen – oh, did she ever help! She made both desserts and one of the vegetables. Sue and her husband Lynn have moved to Colorado, but were here in Southern California on vacation, visiting friends and attending one of the choir concerts we did that weekend.

We also asked each couple to bring pictures of their wedding and to tell some kind of fun or interesting story about their romance or nuptials. We laughed and laughed at some of the antics. It was very fun to see wedding pictures of each couple.

I created a very ambitious menu. Probably more ambitious than I should have. I’d intended to make a couple of the items a day or two ahead, but because of our choir concerts and rehearsals, I simply ran out of time. I ended up doing just one a few days ahead, so on the day, I was slammed with work. I managed to rest a couple of times with my feet up, but otherwise I was standing, prepping and fixing food all day long. In case you’d like to know what I served – I’m giving you the entire menu. All the items are on my blog, so you can click on over to each recipe if you’re interested. Those of you who are regular readers of my blog will recognize all of these recipes – they’ve all appeared on the blog within the last year, and most within the last 3 months.

Muhummara, the red bell pepper and walnut dip that goes so well with pita chips, kalamata olives, marinated artichoke hearts and some cubes of Feta.

Green Bean and Garlic Frittata, what looks like a veggie, is served as an appetizer, cut into serving-sized squares on plates with a fork. It’s topped with Parmesan and paprika.

Tuscan Sangria – an extra-flavorful version made with red wine, Tuaca, Limoncello, red vermouth and some 7-up.

Grilled Rack of Pork with Rosemary, Garlic and Sage – oh, so delicious with fresh rosemary, dried sage and garlic patted all over it. It was grilled on the barbecue for about an hour before cutting into ample servings with a bone to chew on.

Chunky Cider Applesauce (with walnuts) – a really tasty side to go with pork. It has a smidgen of heavy cream in it which adds some lovely rich undertones, and toasted walnuts are sprinkled in at the last minute. This was the dish I made several days ahead.

Corn, Sugar Snap Peas and Bacon Sauté – I’ve served this 3-4 times in recent weeks, it’s so darned good. Frozen corn, fresh sugar snaps, bacon. What’s there not to like about that?

Sweet Potato Gratin – an unbelievably delicious (and rich) side dish. The flavor is beyond good, and next time I make it I’ll use half and half instead of cream. Because I’d like to enjoy this more than once every 5 years!

Orange and Belgian Endive Salad with Maple Chipotle Vinaigrette – a really attractive salad with a bit of sweet (orange slices), spice and smoke (from the chipotle chiles in the vinaigrette) and made so pretty with the Belgian endive leaves.

DESSERT – Very few of my dessert recipes make enough to serve 14 or more people. So I made two – a chocolate one to satisfy the chocoholic and Valentine-traditional in our group, and one without. Both delicious. As it turned out, everyone wanted to taste a little bit of both, so I served mini-slices of each one with some whipped cream on top.

Countess Toulouse-Lautrec’s French Chocolate Cake – an ultra-rich chocolate cake that almost tastes more like cheesecake. Yet it isn’t one, so it’s hard to describe the texture. Very delicious.

Ginger Apple Cake Torte – my favorite, new go-to dessert. I make this every opportunity I can because it’s so darned tasty. It’s reminiscent of gingerbread, and has an apple layer in the middle, walnuts on top, and a crispy turbinado sugar topping.

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The walnut and red bell pepper spread is front and left center in the photo above. I made this a few days after the class I took when I learned about this dip. Mine turned out a little different color – because the red bell I used was more on the orange side than the bright red side. Tarla’s version was prettier. Here’s a photo of the plate she made.

If you’ve never had muhummara (the red bell pepper and walnut stuff) you’re missing out. It’s very easy to make, can be made ahead, and the leftovers can easily go into something else to get used up if you have run out of the pita bread. It’d be great in chili, or a hearty stew. Or just dip your spoon into it and eat it straight away.

Do toast the walnuts – it gives them so much more flavor. And you really must seek out the pomegranate molasses. We have several Middle Eastern markets in our area, and it’s even stocked in some of our local grocery stores. It’s a pungent fruity molasses, just like it sounds, and it adds so much flavor to a variety of Middle Eastern dishes. This recipe uses just 2 tablespoons of it, but it packs a punch. It looks just like ordinary molasses, but it has a lovely ruby color. Use it in lieu of regular molasses (like in cookies or gingerbread).

The muhummara mixture is whizzed up in a food processor and do allow it to mellow for a few hours in the refrigerator if time permits. Toast some pita bread wedges and serve. Traditionally this is also served with feta cheese, and other nibbles like kalamata olives and artichoke hearts, but it doesn’t have to be. You can just serve it with the pita. This recipe came from a cooking class with Tarla Fallgatter a week or two ago.

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A year ago: Crispy Potato Roast (a most unique potato casserole)
Two years ago: Chocolate Sponge Roll
Three years ago: Almond Bar Cookies

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Regularly I buy chicken breasts and chicken thighs at Costco. They just make it so easy to buy them in those sealed pouches. Two boneless, skinless chicken breasts per pouch, or about 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs per pouch. Easy to defrost (I just submerge the bags in a big bowl of cold water for an hour or so). Also easy to freeze in the separated pouches – they slip into small spaces easily enough.

So anyway, with a package defrosted, I decided to use other things I had on hand to make dinner. First was a nice big shallot. Some garlic. Some lemon juice, and a little bit of sour cream. This came together so easily.
I have a can of Szeged Chicken Rub which is probably over the hill, since I’ve had it for more than a year. Mixed spices do tend to lose their flavor and pungency after awhile. But I’ve only used about 1/3 of the can, so I’ll hold onto it a little longer. This mixture has a variety of stuff in it like basil, paprika, salt, etc. I also add some more paprika to it. The last time we were in Budapest I bought a couple of foil pouches of good paprika (there is SUCH a difference between that and what we buy here marketed as paprika). This time I used some of the spicy paprika (it has some heat and is called “half sharp”), which gave the finished chicken dish a little zip. My DH loved it. But, if you don’t have this chicken rub available, just make up your own – be sure to use some paprika, though to give the chicken and sauce some lovely color.

I dipped the boneless, skinless thighs in the herb mixture and sautéed them in a tiny bit of grapeseed oil (I’m using grapeseed oil mostly now as it allows for a hotter pan without burning, called a higher “flash point”) on both sides. Then I pushed the chicken onto one side of the pan and added the minced shallot and cooked that briefly, until translucent. Then I added the garlic and just cooked that for about 30 seconds max. Some vermouth went in, some fresh lemon juice, then a bit of light sour cream. Be sure you don’t boil this sauce, though, as the sour cream will separate. I very gently simmered it, added the lemon zest, then covered it for about 5 minutes. Done. Ideally serve some kind of bland carb (rice or potatoes) to soak up the wonderful sauce. If you want more sauce, it’s easy enough to increase the quantity.

You could easily make this with chicken breasts, if you’d prefer – pound the breasts between two pieces of plastic wrap until they’re an even thickness (about 1/4 inch). Cook those a very brief time and make the sauce as indicated.

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A year ago: Filet Mignon with Mushroom Port Sauce
Three years ago: Bobotie (a really delicious South African ground beef casserole – a recipe given to me by my friend Joan H, who was born in South Africa)

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Looking at this photo above, you’d probably think this is just a chocolate cake. Well, it is a chocolate cake, but it’s nothing related to ordinary. One of the descriptions of this cake is that it tastes more like cheesecake than cake. I don’t know that it’s cheesecake-like, only because it doesn’t have that wet-like texture of a cheesecake. It’s more like a cake, but with an almost velvet texture. It sort of defies description. It’s not exactly a cake; it’s not really a cheesecake, either (because it contains no dairy – like cream cheese –  except butter, and doesn’t have a crust – and isn’t wet like a cheesecake – it’s not even like a dry cheesecake, either). It’s not a torte, because it has no crust. I don’t really know what to call it.

The recipe is in Maida Heatter’s chocolate cookbook: Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Chocolate Desserts. It’s an old cookbook, but Maida Heatter is just a jewel of a baker. Nothing I’ve ever made from this book has been less than fabulous. Last year I made her 86-proof Chocolate Bundt Cake. It was sensational.

I can’t say that I’d ever even heard of Countess de Toulouse-Lautrec (1901-1969). And no, she was not married to the famous artist. Her husband was one of Henri’s distant cousins. But, she became a well-known foodie of that era and published a cookbook. This recipe, though, she introduced to American tastes by way of an article in McCall’s magazine way back in 1959.

Whatever this cake is, it’s absolutely rich with chocolate. It’s soft and velvety. And not heavy in the least. It’s a somewhat unorthodox cooking method, I will say. Not hard to make – kind of like a sponge cake – a chocolate one.  But it’s a far cry from a sponge cake in texture – it’s a bit more dense, remember. I was supposed to use an 8-inch springform pan. Would you believe, I don’t have one. So I had to improvise and use an 8 1/2-inch cake pan. It made it a little bit iffy getting the cake out of the pan that way (it could have been a disaster, actually), but it did come out because I greased a piece of parchment paper in the bottom. And the cake pan was nonstick too.

What’s odd is that you bake this little guy for a total of 15 minutes. Yup. That’s correct. And would you believe it only has one tablespoon of flour in it? And one tablespoon of sugar too. Well then, we will talk about the chocolate – it, of course, has sugar in it. And the recipe uses an entire pound of chocolate. The recipe calls for semisweet chocolate. I didn’t have a whole pound of semisweet, so I had to improvise with some bittersweet plus some ordinary chocolate chips. It didn’t seem to matter – the cake came out just fine.

Once we cut into this cake, I had a very hard time keeping my kitchen knife out of the dish to just cut off a thin, tiny little wedge to eat out of hand. Even with no whipped cream on top, it was sensational. The recipe indicates it’s even better made a day ahead. I would agree, although it was delicious the first evening too. You don’t chill it – it stays out at room temp, covered, of course. If you chilled it, I think the chocolate would firm up, and that you wouldn’t want! Do eat it within 2 days, though. Otherwise, freeze it to eat at a later time.

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A year ago: Chocolate Puddle Cookies
Two years ago: A post about planning for a Valentine’s dinner

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