Quick and Easy Bulgur Salad

 

I came across a version of this recipe some time ago somewhere on the Real Simple website. It makes a huge batch and can be a great side dish for a group get-together with some grilled chicken or a fatty fish like salmon. It can also be used as a tasty vegetarian main course- the bulgur is filling and the tangy notes of the olives make for a great balance of flavor. 

Here's what you will need:

1 cup uncooked bulgur

1 contained of grape tomatoes- chop in half if they are larger than bite-size

1/2 c kalamata olives, chopped

About 1/3 cup chopped scallions

Chopped fresh parsley & oregano. 

S&P to taste

A splash of  EVOO (1-2 tablespoons to taste)

A splash of red wine vinegar (to taste)

Cook the bulgur as directed- try not to overcook it, it will become too mushy for this recipe. Toss in the solid ingredients and add EVOO as needed to loosen up the wheat and lightly coat the ingredients. If you have a tasty olive oil, this is the type of recipe you would want to use it for. Taste and season as you go along. I like the splash of red wine vinegar at the end to balance out the dense flavor of the wheat. Again, this is where personal tastes really come in to play. 

This recipe can be served warm, cold, or at room temp. I actually preferred it cold after it had had a few hours for all of the flavors to really marinate...which makes it great for a late-night snack or lunch leftovers :)

Lamb Patstitsio

 

Food 52 hosts weekly contests to see who can make the best dish in a given category.  A while back, they hosted a best baked pasta contest. This recipe won, and has become one of my favorite comfort food dishes. It takes some time, but is actually quite simple and totally worth it. 

Pasta & Meat:

• 1 lb penne pasta (I have also made this with my new fave pasta, gemelli, and it was great)
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2lb ground lamb
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 1/2 c red wine
• 6 oz tomato paste
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• zest of one lemon 
• The recipe actually calls for 1/2 tsp ground sumac. I can never find this spice where I live, but the google machine told me I could sub in lemon zest. I have never had it with sumac, but the lemon zest really makes this dish awesome, so I don't think I'm missing anything.
• 1 tsp dried mint
• 2 cups water
• 6 oz crumbled feta

Cheese sauce:

• 6 tbsp butter
• 1/2 c flour
• 3 c milk
• 1/8 tsp cayenne 
• 1/4 c grated parm

- Cook the pasta, leaving it with a slight bite. Drain the pasta and mix it with the tbsp of butter.
- Cook the lamb and the onions- I like to do this separately so that the onions can take a little more time and get slightly caramelized on their own.

- Drain the fat from the lamb and combine the meat with the onions. Add wine and cook the mixture until most of the liquid evaporates.
-Stir in the tomato paste. This step is important- all the mixture to cook for a couple of minutes. This lets the tomato paste kind of "toast" a bit and adds another layer of flavor.
- Add cinnamon, oregano, half of lemon zest (or all of the sumac), mint, and 2 c of water.

-Simmer until this mixture thickens (about 15-20 minutes.) Season liberally with salt and pepper.

-Preheat the oven to 350 while you make the cheese sauce:
-Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed pan, whisk in the flour.
-Add the milk to the mixture slowly, whisking continuously.

-Cook until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon:

 

- Stir in the cayene and parmesan cheese. 

- In a large bowl, mix the pasta with the lamb mixture. Add in the feta and the rest of the lemon zest.

-**Taste it and make sure there is enough salt. It may just be me, but I have a tendency to undersalt this dish. There are no salty ingredients except that bit of parm in the sauce, so you should make sure there is enough to really highlight all of the flavors. 

- Pour the lamb and noodles into a 9x13 baking dish, cover with the cheese sauce.

- Bake at 350 until the sauce is bubbly and browned in spots- about 35-40 minutes.

- Grab a bowlful, get comfy, and enjoy.....

Stuffed Squash Blossoms

 

I saw a segment on Mario Batali's old show a while back with stuffed squash blossoms and they just looked so delicious that I decided I had to make them. The problem I encountered was actually *finding* squash blossoms.... 

Last year I actually found them in my mom's mini squash patch. She didn't even know what little treasures she had cultivated. Since then, I have managed to find them at my local farmer's market, and I have tried out a few different filling combinations. The recipe I have posted here is with ricotta cheese. I have also tried this with goat cheese, cream cheese, and a combination thereof. 

I found that when I used only goat cheese, the cheese overpowered everything else both in terms of flavor and texture. I liked the cream cheese, it was nice and creamy and ended up being all gooey and warm when fried. The combination of the two also worked, just watch your goat:cream cheese ratio... I used the same herbs (basil and parsley) with those cheeses, but you can really do whatever you want. These blossoms are pretty much a blank canvas.

Here are the lovely flowers pre-prep. You want to make sure you open the blossoms and rinse them out- also remove the stamen (as gently as possible.) Lay them out on a paper towel and let them dry for a few minutes.

In a small bowl, mix chosen cheese (In this case, for 4 blossoms, I used 3 heaping tablespoons of ricotta) with chopped basil and parsley. Toss in S&P to taste, and a bit of fresh parm for good measure.

Gently open the blossoms as much as possible and stuff  with the mixture. Depending on the consistency, you may want to place the mixture in a pastry bag and pipe it in. You could also us a plastic sandwich bag- just snip off the tip and you have a handy piping tool. My ricotta was actually relatively firm, so I just plopped it in using a spoon.

Once you have shoved a sufficient amount of cheesy goodness into the blossom, pull the ends together and gently twist them closed:

 

Once filled, you can batter them however you decide. I find that I prefer  a light, tempura-style batter. It is remarkably easy to make: Take 1/4 cup of flour and add 2 tbsp of cold soda water. The bubbles do a little something special to the batter:

You can add a bit more soda or flour as needed to achieve the right batter consistency. Take each blossom and coat completely in the batter. Keeping the stems intact can help during this step.

 Heat your oil to 375 degrees. Fry the blossoms until they are a light golden brown (with this batter, they won't get super dark, so don't keep cooking them hoping for a big color change.) They should end up looking a little like this:

However, because the blossoms are so delicate, keep in mind they can also end up looking like this: :)

So at this point, take the remaining, non-exploded blossoms and enjoy. I served them with Red lettuce salad with figs, goat cheese, prosciutto and  a balsamic vinaigrette. With the fattiness of the cheese and fry, the acidity of the balsamic provided a nice contrast... I'll post the recipe for the salad shortly, it's one of my new favorites. These would also go nicely with a really simple marinara sauce.
Buon Appetito!

Lidia Bastianich's Monkfish in Lemon Brodetto

 Last week I was craving scallops and my friend Lenny at North Shore Seafoods had some fantastic fresh U8s on hand (post on those to follow.) While I was there, I noticed he also had some fresh monkfish on sale for a very reasonable price. I figured what the heck- I've never actually cooked monkfish before and I've heard it's quite tasty. First, I should mention that the monkfish is a pretty ugly fish in life....

 

....and it doesn't get any prettier as a filet:

So I hopped on the old Google machine looking for a cooking method/plan of attack and I happened on a recipe from Lidia Bastianich that looked light and tasty and included one of my favorite combos: white wine, lemon juice, and capers. Brodetto typically means something is served in a broth- this one thickens nicely so I served it as a fish with a nice sauce over pasta. You could also use rice or just serve in a bowl with some good bread to sop up the yummy sauce. So here's how the (I think successful) experiment went:

Monkfish in Lemon Brodetto

8 whole cloves of garlic

3 cups and 3/4 cup water

Approx 1 to 1 1/2 lbs monkfish

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup flour
3/4-1 1/2 cups canola oil (or enough to fill your deep fryer, if you have one on hand)
2 tablespoons butter, cubed
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup white wine
1/8 cup pine nuts, toasted  (optional)

1 tbsp +/- capers (based on personal preference)

1/8 cup basil leaves, shredded

Pasta, rice, bread, etc....

Fresh grated parm (optional) 

-  Before you start working on the fish, you want to get the garlic prepped for a puree. Put the cloves in a small saucepan with 1 1/2 cups of water and boil for 15 minutes. Drain the water, add another 1 1/2 cups of water and boil for 30 minutes. This draws out the sulfur compounds in the garlic, leaving it mild enough but still retaining flavor.

- When this is done, put the garlic cloves along with about half of the water in which it was boiled into a food processor and puree until smooth. Depending on how garlicky you want the dish, you may choose to add more or less water to the puree. 

- Cut the monkfish into uniform chunks, approximately 1 1/2", sprinkle with salt.

***Note: there can be a membrane that covers the fish. Sometimes your fish guy/gal may not have removed the entire membrane or blood line. Make sure both have been removed before proceeding. 

-Monkfish can tend to be a moist fish, and the salt will draw out some of the water- it would be best to let the fish sit for 5-10 minutes after salting. Pat the fish dry with paper towels. 

-Lightly coat the fish chunks with flour, shaking off any excess.

-Heat the oil and fry the fish in batches for approx 4-6 minutes, depending on size. After removing each batch, drain them on paper towels and sprinkle with salt immediately. 

-Melt the chunks of butter in a sauce pan, and toss the monkfish pieces in the butter until coated and you hear a nice sizzle. 

-Pour in the garlic puree and coat fish.

-Add the lemon juice, 3/4 cups water, and the wine. I actually used a slightly diluted chicken broth- using the Better than Bullion, I used about 1/2 tsp of base with 3/4 c water.

-Bring the sauce to a boil, stirring as the flour from the fish works its magic and thickens the sauce.

- The recipe called for pine nuts to be added here. I didn't have any on hand, so I skipped them and substituted capers. Also, I wanted a thicker sauce so I removed the fish to a plate with a slotted spoon.

I kept the sauce over medium heat, added the capers and chopped basil. 

 

- I cooked it down until the bubbles thickened and had a kind of syrupy sound as it cooked. I took the pasta directly from the water with a slotted spoon and tossed it with the sauce in the pan. If your sauce is too thick, you can add a little bit of the pasta water. 

- Serve up the pasta with the fish and spoon some of the sauce over  the fish. Top with freshly grated parmesan. I got a little overexcited and didn't remember to take a picture until I had eaten half of my bowl, but this is what it should look like about halfway through :)

I would suggest a pasta with ridges so that it properly holds on to the sauce. I found this pasta that I have never come across before and forgot to write down the name of :( but I will find it again... it was almost like an open figure 8, with openings on each side that captured all of the saucy goodness. The monkfish itself had a great firm yet flaky texture and held up like a champ to the frying and sauce. I certainly plan on spending more time with this unfortunate-looking fish in the future.

The best simple tomato sauce- three ingredients

That's right- 3 ingredients!!!!!

I initially read about this recipe on the Smitten Kitchen blog. It turns out the food blogging community has been abuzz about this sauce for at least 5 years. Its simplicity and richness have been likened to the sauces served in Rome. So I kinda had to give it a try.

We are talking about a sauce made with tomatoes, onion, and butter. That's right- butter. All of the best chefs admit that the secret to their best recipes is fat. On an episode of Top Chef Masters, the chefs were flummoxed when they had to cook without adding pats of butter to finish their sauces. Just recently, Anthony Bourdain said that a secret of many of the top steakhouses is that they brush their steaks and sliced meats with melted butter before sending them out.... So if ya can't beat 'em..... Make this sauce. Although I will say, the original recipe called for 5 Tbsp, and I've brought it down to 2, so it's practically health food.

Let's get started.


Simple tomato sauce

3 ingredients:
28 ounces canned whole peeled tomatoes
     - I try to get San Marzano, but if unavailable, at least splurge a little on higher quality rather than the store brand. This is one of those times that it is worth it.
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium or 1 large yellow onion, peeled and quartered

The original recipe called for just these three items (plus salt and pepper to taste). In the number of times that I have made this since, I have made a few alterations. Some optional add-ins are fresh parmesan cheese and fresh basil-I'll note these additions as we go through the steps.


Pop the tomatoes, onion, and butter in a heavy saucepan. I only had smallish onions, so I used two. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, and then reduce down to keep it at a slow simmer for about 45 minutes. While it cooks, gently squish the tomatoes against the side of the pan with your spoon. Fair warning- watch out for the tomato seeds and juices, they can attack you...

Now for the important part: KEEP THE ONION IN IT. The original recipe called for them to be removed. But why?? These are perfectly cooked, soft, flavorful onions. Use an immersion blender and attack. The cooked down onion makes the sauce rich and creamy- you would swear that cream has actually been added to the sauce. It's so good.

At this point, I like to add that parm. Specifically, a liberal dose of freshly grated parm, approx 1/4 cup. It mellows out some of the acidity and adds a little bit of a nutty-salty flavor. And it's just darn tasty. Once fully cooked, chop up some fresh basil, stir it in the sauce, and find the best way to get it into your mouth. Below, I have tossed it with my favorite pasta, gemelli. The unique figure-8 shape just grabs the sauce, making it the perfect vehicle to get the sauce into your face. I pounded some chicken breasts to about 1/2 ", did a quick egg dip and breaded with panko, pan-fried them with a little splash of EVOO, topped them with some sauce and fresh mozz and popped them under the broiler.



Finished product:

 I have made this sauce many, many times and it has never failed to impress.  It is fresh and tangy, clean and light, and totally full of flavor.

If you miraculously end up with any leftover sauce, you can even make baked eggs using the same method I did with leftover tomatoes and onions at the end of this recipe. Yum.

Gourmet's Easy Chocolate Nemesis

I've mentioned Gourmet's Special Edition of 80+ classic Italian recipes before on the blog, most recently in the Chicken ragu with cheesy polenta recipe. I love love love this magazine. I have only made a few of the recipes so far, but I am slowly working my way through. Today I will be talking about the super decadent, ridiculously rich chocolate nemesis. When done, you end up with a cross between a budino and some type of magical fluffy fudge. As I alluded to above, it is very, very rich, so this small cake can serve at least 8-12 people.

Fun Fact:
For anyone who may be unaware, here is  the definition of "nemesis:"

n. pl. nem·e·ses (-sz)

1. A source of harm or ruin

2. Retributive justice in its execution or outcome

3. An opponent that cannot be beaten or overcome.

4. One that inflicts retribution or vengeance.

5. Nemesis Greek Mythology The goddess of retributive justice or vengeance.

For this cake, I would focus on definitions 1 and 3. This cake has become my downfall. If there is one in the house, it will be eaten- slowly, bite by bite... until you and anyone else in the house (also stealing forkfuls) suddenly look up and say, "Why is all of the cake gone?!"

Meet the source of my food angst:
















Let's get started- This recipe really has very few ingredients:

Easy Chocolate Nemesis
1 cup unsalted butter, cubed (plus extra for greasing pan)
12 oz fine quality bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (70% cacao is ideal- get the good stuff)
5 large eggs
1 cup sugar, divided
7 tbsp water
raspberries, whipped cream, or mascarpone (for garnish)

- Put the rack in the oven in the middle position and preheat to 300 F. Prep your pan- butter the bottom and edges, cut a parchment circle to fit in the bottom, place it in, and then butter the top of the parchment. I used butter when I did this, but I am about 85% confident it would also work with PAM for baking...

****IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not use a springform pan! This also includes pans that have a bottom that you can lift through the top of the pan for easy removal. This recipe involves a water bath. If you use the latter pan I mentioned, you will end up having a mess and having to remove the batter into a new pan. Like this:

Let's just say it wasn't pretty and move on.
- You will need to set up a double boiler to melt the butter and chocolate together. If you do not have an actual double boiler, just set a metal bowl above a pan of slowly boiling water. The water should not actually touch the pan. The water should also not be at a full rolling boil, more like this:

-Set the bowl on top and toss in the chocolate and the butter.

-Stir as the butter and chocolate start to melt. Mix it until it becomes creamy, making sure to scrape the sides and keep the bottom from burning or overcooking.

It should end up looking like this:

Set it aside to cool while you do  the next step.
**NOTE- Don't throw away the boiling water. Add about 1 cup of water to the water pan and keep it at a low boil until you get to the part where you put the cake into the roasting pan.

- Beat together  the 5 eggs and 1/3 cup of the sugar at high speed until tripled in volume. I have a stand mixer and this took about 8 minutes. You want it to be thick enough so that if you lift the beater, it takes a second or two for the ribbon to dissolve- the fluffier, the better.

 - While this is beating, heat the remaining 2/3 cup of sugar and 7 tbsp of water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir it until the sugar dissolves and the syrup becomes clear. This should be pretty quick, depending on your pan- maybe 2 minutes.

-Pour this hot syrup into the melted chocolate. Stir to combine, then set aside to cool for about 10 minutes.

-If your eggs go a little flat while the syrup cools, give them a quick beat before the next step: Slowly add the chocolate syrup, a little bit at a time to the egg mixture, while beating at medium speed. Continue until everything is fully incorporated- but just enough- overbeating will take too much air out of your batter.

-Pour the batter into your non-springform pan and place it into a roasting pan lined with a kitchen towel (to keep it from sliding.) Pour boiling hot water that you originally used in the double boiler step into the roasting pan until it reaches about 3/4 of the way up the side of the cake pan.

-Pop it in the oven and bake until just set, about 50 minutes to 1 hour. It should feel just slightly firm to the touch- depending on personal taste, you can keep it in longer or even less. The less baked it is, the gooier it will be....

-Take the cake out and resist the urge to bite into it immediately. Let it cool in the water bath for a couple of hours. Run a knife around the edges to loose and invert onto a serving platter. It should pop right out. Carefully peel off the parchment.

- Room temp is best for this cake. Refrigeration can make it a bit crumbly, but still very, very tasty. I like it served with a handful of berries (blackberries and raspberries have both been fantastic.)

Final step: make sure you invite people over. Otherwise, the nemesis may attack when you least expect/need it... :p

Pork Tonkatsu Katsudon

I lived in Japan with my family for 6 years when I was younger. I helped my mom cook, but didn't pay enough attention to learn anything. Fortunately, by the time I got old enough to start paying attention, she had developed a collection of recipes for me to steal. This is one of my all-time favorites and one of my top comfort food dishes.

Pork Tonkatsu all by itself is the basic breaded and fried pork. It becomes Katsudon when you add the fish broth- based sauce, egg and some other good bits and put it all in a rice bowl. Yum.

Pork Tonkatsu Katsudon

Boneless pork- pounded thin (about 1/4- 1/2 inch)

1-2 eggs, scrambled for breading plus 1-2 eggs/person for the katsudon

Panko bread crumbs (important- all breadcrumbs are not created equal...)

Oil for frying

S&P

Either 1+ cups dashi soup stock or 3 tbsp dashi powder (see pic below) + 1 c water. I prefer the hon-dashi powder, it's easier to make as you go along and you can control the strength of the flavor.

5 tbsp soy sauce (I use low-sodium)

2 tbsp mirin (this is a type of seasoned rice wine, not to be confused with rice wine vinegar...)

1 tbsp sugar

1 onion, sliced thinly

A couple of handfuls of frozen green peas

Cooked Rice- I prefer the sticky rice, such as Calrose, for this dish.

For the pork:

Set up a standard breading station and dip each piece in egg and then coat in panko. I usually season both the eggs and panko with S&P or whatever seasonings you might like to get the most flavor out of the meat. 

Heat the oil and fry the pork until golden brown. I am lucky to have a FryDaddy deep fryer, I fry the pork at 375 F, usually about 3-4 minutes per batch.

 

Something about this crispy pork screams out to be stolen and eaten during prep. I would make sure you have a few extra chunks if there are going to be any wandering hands/mouths in the kitchen. Or if you are hungry while you are cooking....

While the pork is cooking, mix the dashi (and water if using powder), soy sauce, mirin, and sugar in a bowl and whisk until incorporated. It will have a pretty strong fishy odor, which can be a little scary, but once you taste it, you will know it's all ok. Some people like this sauce to be stronger in flavor, some less so. If you are in the latter group, just add a little more water until you are happy with the sauce. You may want to make a small serving using the sauce as-is first so you can see how everything tastes when it's all put together, then adjust for the next batch based on your personal tastes.

Once the pork is all cooked, slice it into strips and place strips into an omelet-sized frying pan. For this recipe, I prefer using a non-stick pan and I give it a quick shot of PAM just to be safe...

Scramble 1 egg per serving and pour directly on top of the pork. Scatter a handful of sliced onions over the mixture, add a ladle full of sauce, and toss a small handful of frozen peas over the top

Cover the pan and cook over medium heat until the egg is fluffy and cooked through. Spoon cooked rice into a bowl and slide the katsudon on top. Serve warm, top with chopped green onions if desired. 

A lot of this recipe is based on personal taste. Feel free to play around with ratios- sauce, egg, onions, etc. I prefer mine with about 1 1/2 eggs and a lot of sauce... You can also add other veggies, such as thinly sliced carrots or squash. The pork pounding/frying can take some time, but once that is done, this is a pretty quick dish to prepare and totally worth  the time.