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Archive for the ‘Tasty Tidbits Tuesday’ Category

Heart Healthy! Lemon-Tarragon Salmon over Asparagus

Posted in Marthaspeak, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, tagged , , , , , , on March 9, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Red onions, lemon, and tarragon come together as a tangy topping for salmon and asparagus.

20 asparagus spears, trimmed to 6″ and halved lengthwise

2 large radishes, very thinly sliced

4 boneless, skinless salmon fillets 5 oz each, 1″ thick

coarse salt and pepper

1 small red onion thinly sliced

1/4 cup plus 1 TBS thinly sliced lemon zest strips, plus 1 TBS  plus 1 tsp fresh lemon juice

3 TBS fresh tarragon

1 TBS plus 1 tsp olive oil

Preheat oven 400 degrees.  Cut out four 12″ by 17″ sheets of parchment paper, fold each in half crosswise to form a crease

Divide asparagus and radishes evenly among parchment pieces, arranging mixture on 1 side of each crease.  Lay 1 salmon fillet on top of each pile. Season with salt and pepper.

Toss together onion, zest and juice, tarragon, 2 tsp oil, and 1/2 tsp salt; divide among salmon, spooning over tops.  Fold parchment over ingredients; make overlapping pleats to seal.

Bake on 2 baking sheets for 11-12 minutes for medium-rare, or 13 minutes for medium.  Unwrap; drizzle with remaining 2 tsp oil.

I’ve often avoided cooking fish because I think it’s either going to smell in the house or it will come out dry.  WELL, neither happens with this delicious dish.  Heart Healthy!

heart healthy fish, salmon, tarragon, lemon zest, red onion

Salmon is Heart Healthy

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Chicken Cutlets with Caper Sauce

Posted in Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, tagged , , , , , , on March 1, 2011| 1 Comment »

TASTY TIDBITS TUESDAY

Today’s recipe is tomorrow night’s dinner.

2 TBS olive oil, divided

2 chicken breast halves, pounded very thin, and then cut in half so you have 4 thin cutlets

1 lg shallot, minced, about 2 TBS

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup white wine or chicken stock

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 TBS capers, drained

2-3 cups arugula, torn into bite size pieces

1/2 fennel bulb, shaved thin

16-24 paper thin shavings of Parmesan cheese

Heat 1 TBS olive oil in a non-stick saute pan over medium-high heat until almost smoking, about 1-2 minutes.  Sprinkle salt over the pounded chicken breasts and sear them for 2-3 minutes per side in the hot pan, working in batches so that you do not crowd the pan.  Remove the chicken breasts and cover with foil to keep them warm.

Add the other tablespoon of olive oil to the pan.  Add the shallots and cook 1 minute, stirring often.  Do not let them burn, and if they begin to brown rapidly, turn the heat down.  Add the garlic and cook another 45 seconds to 1 minute, stirring often.

Add the white wine and scrape an browned bits off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.  Ad the capers and red pepper flakes and oil until the wine is almost gone, about 2-4 minutes.

To serve, mix the arugula and shaved fennel and put some on each plate . Arrange some shaved parmesan over them.  Lay a piece of chicken on each salad, then top with a little of the sauce. Serve hot.

Recipe from Simply Recipes courtesy of Gail

capers, chicken cutlets, Simply Recipes, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday

Chicken Cutlets with Caper Sauce

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Cold February Means HOT CHOCOLATE

Posted in Everyday Food, Marthaspeak, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 23, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The word "chocolate" originates in M...

Hot Cocoa

If you’ve been faithfully reading this blog, then you know that I’ve been all about February being the month of RED, as in American Heart Month and Valentine’s Day.  Ahhhh but of course February is also all about  CHOCOLATE.

Here in New York City, Maury Rubin’s City Bakery celebrates HOT CHOCOLATE like nobody else. They hold an Annual Hot Chocolate Festival every February;  each day City Bakery offers a special Hot Chocolate such as Bourbon Hot Chocolate,  Banana Hot Chocolate, Malted Milk Hot Chocolate and on and on and on.  I used to try to get there at least once during February to experience the world’s greatest hot chocolate.  Unfortunately, most of February is usually spent bemoaning my weight which has been enhanced over the holidays OR it’s Lent and I, in the spirit of sacrifice (read dieting lol) decide to give up chocolate!  This year with only a handful of days left in the month, I’m committed to a 17 day diet and even if I fasted for two days, I think the caloric intake of one cup of Maury’s hot chocolate would put me over the calorie count edge 😦 THEY MAKE IT OUT OF MELTED CHOCOLATE !!!!  Below is a link to City Bakery’s web site – http://www.thecitybakery.com/hot-chocolate.html

But if you don’t live in New York City, try these two delicious make-at-home Hot Cocoa treats.

Milk Chocolate and Peanut Butter Hot Cocoa

2 cups whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

5 oz milk chocolate chopped (1 cup)

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Warm milk and cream in a medium saucepan overa medium-low hear.  Add chocolate, and whisk until melted and combined.  Continue to warm mixture until thick, about 5 minutes.  Whisk in peanut butter until smooth.

Dark Chocolate Hot Cocoa

2 cups whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

5 oz bittersweet chocolate chopped (1 cup)

2 TBS light-brown sugar

1/4 tsp grated fresh nutmeg (probably use ground)

Warm milk and cream in a medium saucepan over a medium-low heat.  Add chocolate.  Whisk until melted and combined.  Add sugar and whisk until dissolved.  Continue to warm mixture until thick, about 5 minutes.  Whisk in nutmeg.

Recipes from Martha Stewart Living

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Roasted Red Onion and Squash Pasta

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes) on February 15, 2011| 6 Comments »

Cover of "The Top One Hundred Pasta Sauce...

Cover of The Top One Hundred Pasta Sauces

TASTY TIDBITS TUESDAY

I love pasta! Hands down, other than ice cream I love pasta best.  Growing up, I never ate pasta; No-we ate macaroni and gravy, spaghetti and meatballs.  Macaroni was/is pasta or rather pasta is macaroni.  Some people think other than spaghetti and linguine all those other shapes are not pasta – what would they be?  My own husband thinks the only pasta is linguine and I keep telling him, it’s not the correct macaroni for every sauce.  When you are reading a recipe in an Italian cookbook or at an Italian restaurant and the dish description specifies a pasta such as shells, or rigatoni or mezzani – there’s a good reason why so.  Some sauce require a thicker, chewier pasta or one with lines so the sauce can cling to pieces.  Ahhhh once again I have digressed a bit.

What I really wanted to say was how much I enjoy preparing vegetarian pasta dishes.  There are so many possibilities and as you can probably deduce from previous posts, most of the pasta recipes I post are vegetarian.

I remember once asking my Grandfather about whether or not when he was young and still living in Italy, how did his mother prepare macaroni.  I wanted to know about meatballs, Bolognese sauce, sausages and spare ribs…well he quickly set me straight and told me that “IF” they were lucky there was meat in the pasta once a week, most likely on Sunday.  You know about Sunday Sauce don’t you?  Well another post at another time.  Growing up in my Italian-American household, I don’t remember ever eating pasta with anything other than meat or seafood EXCEPT on Fridays when we would have Linguine Aglio e Olio, which is linguine prepared with olive oil and garlic.  So as an adult I decided to explore the world of pasta without meat and a whole new world opened up for me.  I highly recommend the cookbook, The Top One Hundred PASTA SAUCES by Diane Seed.  It is replete with great pasta recipes with vegetables as well as a few meat and fish sauces.

Roasted Red Onion and Squash Pasta

2 medium red onions, cut into 6 wedges, layers separated

1 medium butternut squash, peeled, cut into 3/4″ pieces (I buy already prepped)

1 TBS coarsely chopped fresh sage leaves ( I used 2-3)

1TBS olive oil

coarse salt and pepper

1/2 # short ribbed pasta such as rigatoni

1/4 cup grated Fontina cheese (2 oz)

Preheat oven 450 degrees

On rimmed baking sheet, toss onions, squash, sage leaves with oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Arrange in single layer and roast until tender, about 25 minutes, rotating sheet and tossing  vegetables, halfway through.

Meanwhile, in large pot, cook pasta till tender to preference.  Reserve 1 cup of pasta water;  drain pasta and return to pot.  Add vegetables and cheese and toss to combine, adding enough pasta water to create a thin sauce that coats pasta.

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Linguine with Asparagus and Pine Nuts

Posted in Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , , , , , on February 8, 2011| 1 Comment »

Tasty Tidbits Tuesday

Tonight I’m making a delicious, light and heart-healthy vegetarian meal.  We both love pasta and I especially am happy when I can make a pasta dish with veggies and is easy to toss together – it makes me feel so much more Italian 🙂  My grandfather who was born in Italy always used to say that having meat in your macaroni or spaghetti (there is a redundancy here but that’s how Americans speak) was a special occasion or a Sunday dinner.

So here’s my Tasty Tidbits Tuesday recipe:

12 oz (3/4 box) linguine

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4  cup pignoli (pine nuts)

4 cloves of garlic sliced

2 lb. asparagus trimmed and cut into 1″ pieces

1 cup (3 oz) shaved Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta, reserve a 1/2 cup pasta water, drain and return to pot.

Meanwhile, heat oil in medium skillet over MEDIUM HIGH heat.  Add pine nuts and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until golden, 1-2 minutes.  Add the asparagus and cook, tossing occasionally, until just tender, 2-3 minutes.

Add the asparagus mixture to the pasta along with a 1 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp pepper and toss to combine. *if pasta seems too dry, add a little pasta water to form thin sauce). Sprinkle with shaved Parmesan before serving.

Recipe from Real Simple magazine

Real Simple recipe, heart healthy, pasta with veggies, asparagus, Parmensan, linguine

Heart Healthy Linguine with Asparagus

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David Guas – Bayou Bakery – Bananas Foster Cheesecake

Posted in Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 25, 2011| 5 Comments »

Tasty Tidbits Tuesday

Today I received an email from my friend Ginny, who had come across a tasty dessert recipe which she in turn sent to me.  I was surprised; this isn’t something she normally does so I was eager to read it.  It happens to be a very tasty tidbit from a famous pastry chef, David Guos.  He wrote a best-selling New Orleansinspired cookbook and now has brought a touch of The Big Easy to Virginia where he has opened The Bayou Bakery. Here is his recipe for  Bananas Foster Cheesecake

CHEESECAKES:

3 8oz pkg  cream cheese

1  1/4 cups banana puree (made from 5 very ripe bananas)

1 tsp. powered gelatin

2 TBS cold water

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 vanilla bean, cut and scraped

1/4 tsp kosher salt

crumbled peanut brittle for serving

SAUCE:

1  1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

1 cup heavy whipping cream

3 TBS unsalted butter

2 TBS dark rum

David Guos, cheesecake, peanut brittle, cream cheese, Bananas Foster, rum

Bananas Foster Cheesecake

Make the cheesecakes.  In a large,  heat proof bowl, combine the cream cheese with the banana puree and place the bowl above a saucepan of simmering water.  Heat the mixture until the cheese melts, about 6 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let it bloom for 1 minute.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with  a whisk attachment, combine the cream with the sour cream, sugar and vanilla seeds.  Whip at a high-speed until medium peaks form, about 3 minutes.

Whisk the gelatin into the banana mixture until dissolved and smooth.  Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the salt. Whisk in half of the cream mixture, then using a rubber spatula, fold in the remaining cream mixture.

Divide the batter between 6 six-ounce glass cups or highball glasses.  Gently tap the glasses to settle the filling. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Make the sauce: In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar with the water and cook over medium-high heat, without stirring, until dark amber about 8 minutes.  Turn off the heat and carefully whisk in the cream. Whisk in the butter and then the rum. Transfer the caramel to a heat proof container, cover and let cool to room temperature, about 3 hours.  (Alternatively refrigerate the caramel for 30 minutes before serving).

To serve, drizzle the cheesecakes with the caramel sauce (save the excess caramel for another use) and sprinkle with crumbled peanut brittle.

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Dinner Under $10 – La Famiglia Tonight

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, tagged , , , , , , , on January 19, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The new The Food Emporium logo

This evening the kids were here and had dinner.  To define kids: I’m referring to my daughter and her husband Tom, my son Joel who is visiting from San Diego and my nephew Justin, who is home from Japan for a visit and his mother, Juanita.  With Peter and me, that makes 7 and besides not being sure how to stretch my pre-planned dinner, I wasn’t sure we could actually get 7 people around the table – this IS a New York City apartment you know!

I planned on making Chicken Paprikash and Spaetzle and needed a vegetable and a salad.   Chiara was assigned the dessert, Juanita would bring some wine.  So during the rainy afternoon I ventured out and walked up to the German market, Shaller and Weber, one of the few remaining vestiges in this neighborhood which used to be known as Germantown.  I bought some spaetzle there and headed to the Food Emporium for broccoli.  It’s been weeks since the vegetable vendors have been out on the street with all this bad weather and I forgot what great deals you can get from them.  I love buying 5 bananas for $1. but the thought of buying broccoli for for close to $3 per lb in the store was ugh!  I settled for a pretty good size cauliflower which cost $4.50 and two heads of iceberg lettuce for $2.49 each.  Why am I telling you how much these items cost?  Well first of all the title of the blog is Dinner Under $10 and by the way, that only refers to the main dish.  And I’m used to shopping in New Jersey and certainly not paying those prices for fresh produce – hey it IS the Garden State.

The menu: Chicken Paprikash, Spaetzle, Roasted Cauliflower(see prior blog) BAKED WHOLE CAULIFLOWER and Iceberg Lettuce wedges with a Blue Cheese Vinaigrette (see prior blog) Tasty Tidbits Tuesday- A Light Summer Supper.

Chicken Paprikash

4 chicken leg quarters, cut in half at joint (about 3lbs)

coarse salt and ground pepper

2 tsp. vegetable oil

1 large yellow onion, cut in half and thinly sliced lengthwise

3 garlic cloves roughly chopped

2 Tbs sweet paprika

3 Tbs flour

1  3/4 cups chicken broth

1 can (14oz) diced tomatoes

1/2 lb egg noodles or spaetzle

1/2 cup sour cream or yogurt

Season chicken with salt and pepper in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over high.  Cook chicken skin side down until golden brown, about 6 minutes.  Flip chicken and cook another 6 minutes. Transfer to plate.

Discard all but 1 tsp of fat from pot and reduce heat to medium.  Add onion and cook stirring frequently and scraping bits from bottom of pan with wooden spoon, until beginning to soften, 2 minutes.  Add garlic and cook stirring frequently, 3 minutes.  Add paprika and flour, season with salt and pepper, and stir constantly until mixture begins to stick, 1 minute. Add broth and whisk till smooth.  Add tomatoes and bring to boil over high. Return chicken to pan in single layer, skin side up, and reduce heat to medium.  Cover and cook until chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook noodles according to package instructions.  Drain noodles, divide among four bowls; Top with chicken.  Stir sour cream into sauce, then ladle sauce over chicken and noodles.

Recipe from Every Day Food

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Harvest Whole Wheat Pasta with Escarole and Butternut Squash

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 11, 2011| 3 Comments »

What was going to be our Sunday night supper turned into a tasty side dish when we were invited to dine at Susan and Jim’s house.  Susan made what I thought was salmon but in fact it was Ironhead Trout! Very interesting since it looks like salmon, smells like salmon and tastes like salmon and I understand it is not as expensive as salmon. The salmon aka Ironhead Trout was delicious.  My contribution is the Tasty Tidbits Tuesday recipe.

2 TBS Pine Nuts toasted

1/2 box of whole wheat Fusilli prepared per directions, keep warm

1 pkg of cleaned, peeled butternut squash (20 oz) cut into 3/4″ dice

1/2 red onion, peeled, 1/2″ dice (about 1+ 1/2 cups)

1 TBS basting oil (olive oil with herbs in it)

Salt and pepper

1 pkg chopped escarole (15 oz)

1 pkg or 4 oz of mini-cubes of pancetta

3 cloves of garlic minced

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 container or 13 oz of Alfredo sauce

2 TBS of shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Toss squash with onions in basting oil in large bowl, season to taste with salt and pepper.  Spread in a single layer on baking sheet.  Roast about 20 min, or until vegetables are well-caramelized and tender.

Blanch escarole 2-3 min in large pot of boiling salted water. Drain, and set aside.

Add pancetta to skillet on MEDIUM.  Cook, stirring, 3-5 min, until crisp and brown.  Remove from pan;drain on paper towels.  Return to pan. Add garlic. Cook, stirring 1-2 min, until tender

Add wine. Cook, stirring to loosen browned bits on bottom of pan.  Simmer about 4 min, until liquids are reduced by half.  Stir in alfredo sauce.

Bring to simmer; add escarole and black pepper to taste. Stir to blend.  Add pasta; toss until well-combined. Stir in squash and onions, then pine nuts.  Top with cheese.

Recipe from Wegman’s MENU magazine

What I learned: I couldn’t find any Alfredo sauce so I used something called Parmesan Cheese sauce and it was fine.  My first thoughts were that there were too many steps and too many bowls and pots.  There was a large pot to blanch the escarole and a large bowl of ice water to shock it.  Another large bowl for tossing the squash and onions.  A baking sheet to caramalize the veggies and a large skillet to saute the pancetta.  I had meant to “toast” the pine nuts in the same skillet but forgot and if I had had a toaster oven, I might have used that but I didn’t.  The array of utensils and containers made for a large wash-up before the meal.

Other than the prepping, the pasta was DELICIOUS as I had hoped and expected it would.  I don’t think I have ever gotten a bad recipe from the Wegman’s MENU magazine.

Harvest whole wheat pasta with escarole and butternut squash,

Butternut Squash cubed


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Tasty Tidbits Tuesday – Peanut Butter Swirl Bark

Posted in Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 4, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Peanut butter 14juni09 001

Image via Wikipedia

Late, late just like the White Rabbit who sings: “I’m late / I’m late / For a very important date. / No time to say “Hello.” / Goodbye. / I’m late, I’m late, I’m late.” Not late with this recipe BUT this bark is supposed to be a Christmas present for my daughter and I’m making it tomorrow!

PEANUT BUTTER SWIRL BARK

Smooth peanut butter and two types of chocolate make up this version of the beloved peanut butter cup.

Vegetable oil cooking spray

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

4 ounces of milk chocolate, chopped

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Coat a 9-by-12 1/2-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray, and line with parchment, leaving an overhang on ends.  Melt bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler or a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring.  Pour into baking sheet, and spread in an even layer.

Melt milk chocolate with peanut butter in a double-boiler or a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.  Drizzle chocolate-peanut butter mixture over bittersweet chocolate, and swirl with a skewer.  Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.  Break into pieces.

Recipe from Martha Stewart Living magazine

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Tasty Tidbits Tuesday – Reconciliation Soup

Posted in Smooth or Crunchy, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on December 28, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Isabel Allende

Image via Wikipedia

Well Christmas dinner came and went and everything was delicious and we are still eating leftovers.  So there’s no more count-down to Christmas dinner, instead I have an interesting  recipe to share with you today.

Last night I had a pretty big argument with my husband and don’t worry we are all made up – at least on the surface for sure.  Perhaps the underlying issue is something we can’t work out completely.  So in that vein, I offer you the famed recipe for Reconciliation Soup.

RECONCILIATION SOUP

1/2 cup portabellla mushrooms (1/4 cup if dried)

1/2 cup porcini mushrooms (1/4 cup if dried)

1 cup of brown mushrooms

1 clove of garlic, minced

3 TBS olive oil

2 cups of beef, chicken or vegetable stock

1/4 cup Port wine

1 TBS truffled olive oil

Salt + Pepper

2 TBS sour cream

Saute garlic and mushrooms in oil, stirring vigorously for about 5 minutes

Add the stock, truffle oil and Port wine

Season with salt and pepper

Cook over low heat with the cover on until the mushrooms are soft

Process in the blender, soup should be thick

Serve in warm bowls, garnish with sour cream

Recipe made famous by Isabel Allende – who adds the following instructions:

If you can’t find fresh mushrooms and must use dried ones, soak them in 1/2 c. of good red wine until they spring up happily; in the meantime, while they’re soaking, I calmly drink the remainder of the wine.  Then I mince the garlic clove for the pure pleasure of smelling my fingers, because I could just as easily use it whole, and then saute it with all the mushrooms in the olive oil, stirring vigorously for a few minutes — I’ve never counted, but let’s say five.  I add the stock, the port, and the truffled olive oil — not quite all of it.  I leave a couple of drops to dab behind my ears; let’s not forget, it’s aphorodisiac.  I season with salt and pepper, and cook over low heat with the lid on until the mushrooms are soft and the house smells like heaven.  The last step:  process it in the blender; this is the least poetic part of the preparation, but it’s unavoidable.  The soup should end up with a slightly thick texture, like mud, and with a perfume that makes you salivate and awakens other secretions of body and soul.  I put on my best dress, paint my fingernails red, and serve the soup, in warmed bowls, garnished with a dollop of sour cream.

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