Apparently my browser doesn't believe that "polenta" is a real word, but it's a really delicious word. On Sunday we had "Creamy Polenta with Sausage" from Mark Bittman's column in "The Minimalist" in the NY Times last month. I really like both his column and his blog (Bitten blog, there's a link to it on the right), and I used to be able to get the video versions of the Minimalist recipes podcasted, but that stopped working in November.
In general, I thought this was really yummy. I was able to cook some sausage and polenta at the same time pretty easily. I got a little hectic at points when the sausage wasn't browning on all sides so I had to hold it against the pan with my tongs in different angles, and stir the polenta, and check on my pie all at the same time. After the first 5-10 minutes the polenta stopped sucking up as much moisture and it let me just cook it.
Not too surprisingly, I wasn't able to find actual polenta at the store, so I substituted normal yellow cornmeal and halved the time. At 15 minutes I tasted it, and it was the right texture.
Overall, it worked, but it was a little light for a dinner on it's own. in hindsight, I should have prepped a salad beforehand. Instead, we just ate some pie and ice cream. I'm not sure everyone in our house is a fan of the texture of polenta, so I might make it again in a smaller batch for lunches.
In fact, I did save some leftovers and managed to microwave the polenta pretty successfully for lunch on Monday. I'm saving the rest of the sausage in the freezer for "Crazy Pasta" sometime in the future (when I'll define that as well).
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Pi Day
Today I made Old-Fashioned Pecan Pie from the finale issue of Gourmet in celebration of Pi Day (March 14 = 3.14, get it?). For the most part it went well, with some unexpected issues and bonuses.
Brown sugar, rather than white sugar, is used in this recipe, which gives it a nice deep taste, and the sugar is cooked a little bit once the butter is melted, so it really draws in the flavor. I accidentally originally melted 1/4 stick butter and then added the sugar, and then realized that it was supposed to be 3/4 of a stick, so the sugar may have gotten cooked longer than it needed to be, but overall it tasted carmel-y, which was a nice addition.
This recipe also uses orange zest, which i honestly could not taste, so I might save the effort/orange next time.
I also realized that I ran out of vanilla (could have SWORN I had another bottle in there somewhere) and tried to substitute with almond extract (2 nuts, right?). It went OK, but i really should have measured. My almond extract bottle has a pour spout and I probably tossed in more than a tablespoon, rather than the teaspoon of extract I was short. I fished some out (luckily it didn't mix into the sugar mixture immediately).
Overall, a little almond-y, but the brown sugar is a winner.
Brown sugar, rather than white sugar, is used in this recipe, which gives it a nice deep taste, and the sugar is cooked a little bit once the butter is melted, so it really draws in the flavor. I accidentally originally melted 1/4 stick butter and then added the sugar, and then realized that it was supposed to be 3/4 of a stick, so the sugar may have gotten cooked longer than it needed to be, but overall it tasted carmel-y, which was a nice addition.
This recipe also uses orange zest, which i honestly could not taste, so I might save the effort/orange next time.
I also realized that I ran out of vanilla (could have SWORN I had another bottle in there somewhere) and tried to substitute with almond extract (2 nuts, right?). It went OK, but i really should have measured. My almond extract bottle has a pour spout and I probably tossed in more than a tablespoon, rather than the teaspoon of extract I was short. I fished some out (luckily it didn't mix into the sugar mixture immediately).
Overall, a little almond-y, but the brown sugar is a winner.
Yet another picture of a pecan pie. I really need to do better photoing things.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Apparently, I'm very foolish.
So, I have to continue my "going back in time" posts for a couple days. In the next couple of days I'll talk Tuna Buna, bad homemade vinaigrette, and Creamy Polenta with Sausage.
To preface, I love the magazine "Cook's Country." It's by the same people who do "America's Test Kitchen" on PBS and they publish bi-monthly with "Cook's Illustrated" coming on the alternate moths. I feel like generally there are more recipes in "Cook's Country" and they are usually more doable. Every issue has a similar feel.
Kitchen Shortcuts - Dusting flour with a tea strainer
a lightened version of a classic - Strawberry Shortcake
some resurrected classics - Marzetti
eight 30-minute meals in rip out cards - Skillet Pork Tenderloin Stroganoff
A getting to know ingredients page - Spring Vegetables
"Great American Cake" - Daffodil Cake
This month, I failed. The issue promised "Foolproof Chicken Cordon Bleu," which is one of the husband's favorites. Part of what makes it "Foolproof" is that you get the biggest chicken breasts you can (mine were huge, had to go to the kosher section to get non-tiny ones) and to make little ham & swiss rolls and pop 2 inside each breast.
Nope. On the first breast, I could only fit one roll in, and just barely. On the second, my knife sliced right through the back of the breast so it was more like a breast loop than pocket. Luckily, one of the suggestions was to make most of this the day ahead, and I was actually doing this late on Sunday for Monday. This leads to one of my favorite rules about cooking: Always have a backup plan.
So, I had chicken breasts, ham slices, and about 2 cups of grated swiss cheese. I have a great recipe also from the same people in the book Best 30 Minute Recipes for "Unstuffed Chicken, Ham and Gruyere." I've done it a couple of times before, and it is actually fairly foolproof and delicious. I switched the swiss in for the gruyere (not a big-time substitute), stopped by the grocery store to get some cream, and had a new delicious dinner! Due to fears of copyright, I'm not planning on giving away the recipe, but you basically brown one side of the chicken, turn it, cover it with dijon, ham, swiss (in my case), and crackers, and then cook it on the range and in the oven with a cream-wine sauce. It's great, and after you make it once or twice, it's pretty easy to do without looking at the recipe once. Also, it's very forgiving about any amounts of ingredients and the timing, as long as the cream doesn't curdle and the chicken cooks through. Plus - it makes leftovers!! Yummy!
To preface, I love the magazine "Cook's Country." It's by the same people who do "America's Test Kitchen" on PBS and they publish bi-monthly with "Cook's Illustrated" coming on the alternate moths. I feel like generally there are more recipes in "Cook's Country" and they are usually more doable. Every issue has a similar feel.
Kitchen Shortcuts - Dusting flour with a tea strainer
a lightened version of a classic - Strawberry Shortcake
some resurrected classics - Marzetti
eight 30-minute meals in rip out cards - Skillet Pork Tenderloin Stroganoff
A getting to know ingredients page - Spring Vegetables
"Great American Cake" - Daffodil Cake
This month, I failed. The issue promised "Foolproof Chicken Cordon Bleu," which is one of the husband's favorites. Part of what makes it "Foolproof" is that you get the biggest chicken breasts you can (mine were huge, had to go to the kosher section to get non-tiny ones) and to make little ham & swiss rolls and pop 2 inside each breast.
Nope. On the first breast, I could only fit one roll in, and just barely. On the second, my knife sliced right through the back of the breast so it was more like a breast loop than pocket. Luckily, one of the suggestions was to make most of this the day ahead, and I was actually doing this late on Sunday for Monday. This leads to one of my favorite rules about cooking: Always have a backup plan.
So, I had chicken breasts, ham slices, and about 2 cups of grated swiss cheese. I have a great recipe also from the same people in the book Best 30 Minute Recipes for "Unstuffed Chicken, Ham and Gruyere." I've done it a couple of times before, and it is actually fairly foolproof and delicious. I switched the swiss in for the gruyere (not a big-time substitute), stopped by the grocery store to get some cream, and had a new delicious dinner! Due to fears of copyright, I'm not planning on giving away the recipe, but you basically brown one side of the chicken, turn it, cover it with dijon, ham, swiss (in my case), and crackers, and then cook it on the range and in the oven with a cream-wine sauce. It's great, and after you make it once or twice, it's pretty easy to do without looking at the recipe once. Also, it's very forgiving about any amounts of ingredients and the timing, as long as the cream doesn't curdle and the chicken cooks through. Plus - it makes leftovers!! Yummy!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Onion Bread and Veggie Melts
Ok, I know. I'm way behind. Today's post is actually about Sunday's dinner (and the weekend's baking). I'll get to the Sunday night prep for Monday that went awfully tomorrow -- ooh! a teaser! --
I follow Jorge Garcia's (Hurley from Lost) blog pretty avidly. Mostly because he's a fairly normal dude, and he's into gardening and cooking more than one would expect. Both Jorge and I got the book My Bread this past December, and he also got Artisan Breads Every Day. After checking it out at Amazon and hearing about his success, I had to get that as well. This weekend I made Onion and Wild rice bread. It was/is DELICIOUS! The recipe makes a ton, and while I could have divided the batch, I just made a bakers dozen rolls for my parents and a huge loaf for us. It's softer than I was expecting (no really crunchy crust like the ones from My Bread) but it would be a great thing for us to have more often. I'm already expecting I'll just make hamburger rolls out of it in the future. I couldn't get a pure wild rice blend from my Target, but I bought a mix of various grains, and it seems to have worked out just fine.
Whenever I make bread, I try to make sure I have something that will go well with it to make the effort worthwhile. This time, it was a recipe from the Martha Stewart "Dinner Tonight" emails that I get sent, and boy was it delicious! We cut thick slices from the middle of the round loaf of onion bread to make Portobello, Broccoli, and Red-Pepper Melts. These could possibly be my new favorite sandwich, plus, they're vegetarian! If you try to make them, some notes:
- You'll want to have 2 broiler-safe(ish) baking sheets covered in aluminum foil at the ready. One for cooking the veggies and the other for melting the cheese on the sandwiches. You can do it with one, but you'll run out of room and patience when you try to transfer bread onto the chock-full vegetable sheet that is scalding hot.
- Broil the veggies as long or short as you like. That all depends on your personal cooked taste. This would be fine with raw veggies (the broccoli might be too crunchy)
- Cut down the veggies if you like. We decreased the broccoli a little, and still had mounds of vegetables loose next to the sandwiches.
- I'd also experiment with other vegetables based on what's in season and sounds good to you. Other peppers and mushrooms would be a start, but in the summer zucchini, squash, and eggplant would be good options.
I follow Jorge Garcia's (Hurley from Lost) blog pretty avidly. Mostly because he's a fairly normal dude, and he's into gardening and cooking more than one would expect. Both Jorge and I got the book My Bread this past December, and he also got Artisan Breads Every Day. After checking it out at Amazon and hearing about his success, I had to get that as well. This weekend I made Onion and Wild rice bread. It was/is DELICIOUS! The recipe makes a ton, and while I could have divided the batch, I just made a bakers dozen rolls for my parents and a huge loaf for us. It's softer than I was expecting (no really crunchy crust like the ones from My Bread) but it would be a great thing for us to have more often. I'm already expecting I'll just make hamburger rolls out of it in the future. I couldn't get a pure wild rice blend from my Target, but I bought a mix of various grains, and it seems to have worked out just fine.
Whenever I make bread, I try to make sure I have something that will go well with it to make the effort worthwhile. This time, it was a recipe from the Martha Stewart "Dinner Tonight" emails that I get sent, and boy was it delicious! We cut thick slices from the middle of the round loaf of onion bread to make Portobello, Broccoli, and Red-Pepper Melts. These could possibly be my new favorite sandwich, plus, they're vegetarian! If you try to make them, some notes:
- You'll want to have 2 broiler-safe(ish) baking sheets covered in aluminum foil at the ready. One for cooking the veggies and the other for melting the cheese on the sandwiches. You can do it with one, but you'll run out of room and patience when you try to transfer bread onto the chock-full vegetable sheet that is scalding hot.
- Broil the veggies as long or short as you like. That all depends on your personal cooked taste. This would be fine with raw veggies (the broccoli might be too crunchy)
- Cut down the veggies if you like. We decreased the broccoli a little, and still had mounds of vegetables loose next to the sandwiches.
- I'd also experiment with other vegetables based on what's in season and sounds good to you. Other peppers and mushrooms would be a start, but in the summer zucchini, squash, and eggplant would be good options.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Sidney's Pasta
The other night we had a pasta dish inspired by a dish from Sidney's Pizza which may or may not still be around in Minneapolis. It's a favorite here because everything involved is extra delicious.
This recipe is very much up to your individual taste, and involves absolutely no measuring, but I'm including rough estimates of what I included when I made it this time as a guide. Use more or less of anything depending on what you like.
Sidney's Pasta:
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 white onion, thinly sliced (2 or more would be good too)
8 ounces mushrooms (we used baby bellas), sliced
8 ounces pasta (usually we use a short pasta like penne)
5 ounces chevre
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
Directions:
1. Caramelize Onions:
-This is to be done by taste, but I normally do as listed below. Feel free to add time as you like (up to 1 hr cooking time total for onions)-
Cook onions on medium in a skillet with a cover (preferably non-stick) for 20-25 minutes, stirring infrequently (every 3-5 minutes-ish). When the onions start getting brown and start to stick on the bottom, add 1 T olive oil. Continue to cook on medium-low, stirring occasionally for 10-40 minutes more.
2. Cook Pasta:
I usually put the water on to boil when when I add the oil to the onions
3. Saute Mushrooms:
When there's about 10 minutes left to cook the pasta, drop the mushrooms into the onions. Spread them out and turn the heat back to medium. Do NOT stir them for at least 2 minutes, to get them started cooking. Once they begin to soften, start stirring them again.
4. Finish:
When pasta is just about done, add in goat cheese to mushroom mixture and let it melt. Stir mushroom and cheese mixture in with cooked pasta and add balsamic vinegar to taste.
Dig in!
This recipe is very much up to your individual taste, and involves absolutely no measuring, but I'm including rough estimates of what I included when I made it this time as a guide. Use more or less of anything depending on what you like.
Sidney's Pasta:
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 white onion, thinly sliced (2 or more would be good too)
8 ounces mushrooms (we used baby bellas), sliced
8 ounces pasta (usually we use a short pasta like penne)
5 ounces chevre
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
Directions:
1. Caramelize Onions:
-This is to be done by taste, but I normally do as listed below. Feel free to add time as you like (up to 1 hr cooking time total for onions)-
Cook onions on medium in a skillet with a cover (preferably non-stick) for 20-25 minutes, stirring infrequently (every 3-5 minutes-ish). When the onions start getting brown and start to stick on the bottom, add 1 T olive oil. Continue to cook on medium-low, stirring occasionally for 10-40 minutes more.
2. Cook Pasta:
I usually put the water on to boil when when I add the oil to the onions
3. Saute Mushrooms:
When there's about 10 minutes left to cook the pasta, drop the mushrooms into the onions. Spread them out and turn the heat back to medium. Do NOT stir them for at least 2 minutes, to get them started cooking. Once they begin to soften, start stirring them again.
4. Finish:
When pasta is just about done, add in goat cheese to mushroom mixture and let it melt. Stir mushroom and cheese mixture in with cooked pasta and add balsamic vinegar to taste.
Dig in!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Blast from my Past week
Hi All (or none)!
Ever had one of those weeks where you just want comfort food? Its easy because you know what to pick up, and you barely have to look at the recipes. That's this week for me. The first meal of the week was Sunday night where we had Lincoln Life Burgers.
I grew up loving these "burgers" which are more like meatloaf patties with lots of onions and sauce. My mom thinks it's because it was one of a couple of things that she ate a ton of when she was pregnant. I think it's due to ketchups "natural mellowing agents" and that everything involved is delicious.
The recipe originally came from a potluck dinner that my grandfather went to when he worked at Lincoln Life Insurance (hence the name). I don't have the name of the cook, so if anyone ever wants to take credit, feel free.
It's really hard to grow up as a kid when someone asks you your favorite foods and you say Lincoln Life Burgers, Tuna Buna and Easy Beefy. We'll get to those others later. (Tuna Buna is slated for later this week!)
Recipe for Lincoln Life burgers follows after the jump.
Ever had one of those weeks where you just want comfort food? Its easy because you know what to pick up, and you barely have to look at the recipes. That's this week for me. The first meal of the week was Sunday night where we had Lincoln Life Burgers.
I grew up loving these "burgers" which are more like meatloaf patties with lots of onions and sauce. My mom thinks it's because it was one of a couple of things that she ate a ton of when she was pregnant. I think it's due to ketchups "natural mellowing agents" and that everything involved is delicious.
The recipe originally came from a potluck dinner that my grandfather went to when he worked at Lincoln Life Insurance (hence the name). I don't have the name of the cook, so if anyone ever wants to take credit, feel free.
It's really hard to grow up as a kid when someone asks you your favorite foods and you say Lincoln Life Burgers, Tuna Buna and Easy Beefy. We'll get to those others later. (Tuna Buna is slated for later this week!)
Recipe for Lincoln Life burgers follows after the jump.
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