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Posts Tagged ‘Cook’

Announcing AMUSE-BOUCHE du Jour

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, tagged , , , , , , on September 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »

And you are wondering…what’s this all about??  Well let’s start with the definition of the term amuse-bouche.  It translates as mouth amuser.  And is used to describe a tiny tidbit of an hors d’oeuvre,  served as  a free extra to keep you happy as you wait for your first course and to give you an idea of the chef’s approach to cooking and the restaurant’s attention to your appetite.

pureed pear with smoked paprika

Amuse-bouche

So I’m introducing a new category and in keeping with my blog’s title, pbenjay and my byline, I think amuse-bouche says it all.  You can expect a morsel, a tidbit, a hint of something more to come or just an itsy-bitsy piece of information or a small piece of news, or even a quick peek at some new, hot thing, place or person.

I hope you find it interesting and of course amusing!  The first offering, the amuse-bouche du jour comes to you from me by way of Gail, who encouraged me to add a kind of mini-bite blog post to my repertoire.  So thank you  Gail for the idea and the video (which I’ve watched 3 times already).

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Zucchini Soup -Sooooo Good!!!

Posted in Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on June 21, 2011| 2 Comments »

TASTY TIDBITS TUESDAY

Don’t want to eat your veggies? That’s just so…what? 50’s? Nowadays everybody knows you just gotta eat a lot of vegetables and this one easy and delicious way to ingest a bunch of vitamins and anti-oxidents and it is absolutely delicious.

1 TBS Olive oil

1 pkg (8 oz) chopped onion

1 TBS peeled garlic

4 small (2 lbs) zucchini, 1/2 inch dice (about 6 cups), divided

1 carton (32 oz) Chicken stock

1/2  bunch of cilantro, stemmed, chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)

1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced (about 1 cup) divided

Salt and pepper to taste

You’ll need: Handheld blender/Immersion blender

Heat olive oil in stock pot on MEDIUM-LOW. Add onion and garlic; reduce heat to LOW.  Cook, stirring often, about 10 minutes, until onion is soft and translucent, but not browned.

Add about 4 cups zucchini to pot.  Cook 5 minutes.  Add stock; bring to a simmer on HIGH.

Add half the green onions. Reduce heat to MEDIUM; simmer 2 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Add cilantro.

Puree soup carefully with handheld blender until smooth.  Return to MEDIUM heat. Add remaining 2 cups zucchini.  Simmer 8-10 minutes until zucchini is tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper; ladle into warm bowls.  Garnish with remaining green onions.

Option:  Garnish with Creamery Goat Cheese and thinly sliced radishes.

Recipe from Wegman’s

Wegman's cilantro, zucchini, green onions,

Zucchini Soup


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Tasty Tidbits Tuesday – Summer Tortellini Salad

Posted in Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 15, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Tortellini

Tortellini

This seemed like the perfect Sunday night supper, however that never happened! It turns out that this very night, this Tuesday was the perfect night for this meal.  I made the components of the dish during the day and put it together when we got home from the movies.  The time spent is all in the prep so it is a good dish to serve if you are going to be busy at night but have some free time during the day or night before.

TORTELLINI SUMMER SALAD

1 pkg  (20 oz) of cheese tortellini

1 red sweet pepper, cored, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)

1 red onion, peeled, thinly  cut ( about 3/4 cup)

1 small bunch of asparagus, trimmed, cut in 1  1/2″ pieces

Sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste

2 TBS Wegman’s basting oil*, divided

1 zucchini, trimmed, 1/4″ dice (2 cups)

3 TBS pine nuts

1 pint of grape tomatoes, halved

1 pkg (7 oz) Italian Basil Pesto Sauce

1/2 tsp Tobasco Sauce

15 basil leaves finely sliced

Preheat oven 450 degrees

Cook pasta according to directions, drain, rinse with cold water and set aside,

Season pepper, onions, and asparagus with salt and pepper;  toss with 1 TBS basting oil.  Transfer to baking sheet; arrange in single layer.  Roast 10-12 minutes, turn halfway thru cooking time. Remove from baking sheet and set aside.

Season zucchini with salt and pepper; toss with remaining 1 TBS oil. Transfer to baking sheet arranged in single layer.  Roast 5-7 minutes until tender but not browned.  Remove from oven.  Add to pepper mix. Chill 1 hour.

Toast pine nuts in small pan on MEDIUM, 3 minutes, stirring till slightly toasted.  ( I used a toaster oven). Remove, set aside.

Add tomatoes, pesto, Tobasco sauce, basil, pine nuts, and veggie mix.  Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve chilled

* Basting Oil is basically Olive Oil and chopped basil and parsley.

Chef Tips – Prepare 1 day in advance for the flavors to meld.  You can substitute  Tomato Pesto sauce .









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Little Neck (Littleneck) Clams with Asparagus

Posted in Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, tagged , , , , , , on June 7, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Littleneck clams, small hard clams, species Me...

Little Neck Clams

You know I LOVE shopping at Wegman’s and one the best features of the store is that fact that often when you walk in, you see Gus over to the left and you know to make a bee line directly to him to see what he is cooking up!  Well the other day it was clams!  Gus was grilling some Little Neck clams and preparing them in a way that never occurred to me.  He handed me a warm little half clam shell with the clam and a tiny piece of steamed asparagus in it and it was drizzled with Wegman’s  Garlic Cheese Finishing Butter.

If you recall my very long Memorial Day blog, you know that I served these clams as an appetizer.  They were different, delicious and fairly easy to make.  Of course it is easier to do when you have the ingredients available the way Wegman’s does;  The clams were in a net bag, the asparagus were a gorgeous green, uniform in size and packaged in a micro-wavable pouch and Wegman’s carries a line of finishing butters which come in small round containers, slightly bigger than a disk of cream cheese you might get at a restaurant.

Steam or grill the clams till they open.

Steam your asparagus for a couple of minutes in the microwave.

Melt a container of Wegman’s Garlic Cheese Finishing Butter.

I put the clams on the stove to steam open.   I put the asparagus in the microwave and then put the finishing butter in the microwave to melt.

With slotted spoon, I removed the clams to a colander in the sink and proceed to remove one half of the shells.   I quickly sliced a few asparagus into tiny pieces and put one piece on each clam and then just drizzled the melted butter on each.  It was a great presentation to bring a platter of these to the table

Here’s what I learned – I should have used just the tips of the asparagus because it would have looked nicer and you can always serve the rest of the asparagus minus the tips as a side dish later.  The clams didn’t stay hot while I went through the process of opening and discarding one shell and then topping with asparagus and butter.  A good chef has every component prepped so he or she can just add the ingredients as needed.  I thought I had but I found myself cutting up asparagus or trimming pieces to make them smaller because the clams are tiny.  Next time I will put the finished clams on a baking sheet and warm them up a bit before putting them on the platter.  I was using my Melmac so that wasn’t going in the oven and was too large for the microwave.    To improvise if you can’t find finishing butter, for this dish, I believe melted butter with some garlic powder or garlic salt in it and maybe some finely chopped Italian parsley would be fine.

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Tasty Tidbits Tuesday- A Day Late BUT then again…

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on May 18, 2011| 1 Comment »

A very dear and old friend of mine poked me and cheered me on and up about my blog.  So this one’s for her, Susan Celtic Lady!

This side dish is perfect for  a quick meal.  Well in NYC, you know it’s pretty easy to order in and also very easy to buy a Roasted Chicken;   Seems like all the grocery markets have them as well as little chicken shops.  I know the phrase little chicken shops sounds funny to anybody outside of the City, but we really do have little storefront shops that cook and serve chicken, mainly grilled or whole roasted AND they deliver.   So a couple of Sunday nights ago, I had the roasted chicken and needed a quick and healthy (always)  side dish to go with it.

Sauteed Spinach and Tomatoes

1/4 cup olive oil

4  small shallots, thinly sliced

1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes

2 bunches (1  1/2 lb)  spinach (trimmed and washed) – I used two bags

coarse salt and ground pepper

grated Pecorino Romano cheese

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high.  Add 4 shallots and cook stirring often until soft and starting to brown, about 4 minutes.

Add  cherry or grape  tomatoes and cook until tomato skins are split and shallots are golden brown, from 2-4 minutes.

Gradually add the spinach, season with coarse salt and ground pepper, and cook until tender, 3 minutes or until all is in skillet and wilted. 

To serve, sprinkle with the grated or shredded cheese.

Recipe from Martha Stewart, Every Day Food

spinach

"I eats me spinach"

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A Very Simple Weekday Dinner

Posted in Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, tagged , , , , , on April 6, 2011| 5 Comments »

Tasty Tidbits Tuesday

zucchini, carrots, snap peas, wax beans, string beans, celery, asparagus

Fresh Vegetable Medley

So many of  my Tuesday recipes are actual tried and true recipes and most often not original.  However, tonight I worked until 7:40 pm and needed to make a quick and healthy meal.  I have to admit that I had planned ahead for a couple of late evenings by purchasing an assortment of washed and trimmed and bagged fresh vegetables (Wegman’s) and a good size package of grilled chicken strips (Costco).

All you need is a boneless skin-less chicken breast or you can cheat and short cut your prepping the way I did.  And a variety of fresh veggies.

I put some olive oil in a large skillet, added a couple of garlic cloves (chopped) and turned up the heat to medium high.  Then I tossed in my chicken strips and a small bowl full of  cut up vegetables.  Tonight I used wax beans, string beans, asparagus, red onion, carrots and celery, baby zucchini squash, and snap peas.

I seasoned the mixture with sea salt and ground pepper, threw in some fresh tarragon, Italian parsley and fresh thyme.  Then, I squeezed a quarter of a lemon over all.

I stirred it occasionally for about 6 minutes and then covered the pan so everything could pan steam till vegetables were tender.

A glass of red wine and a tossed salad rounded out the meal.

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Tasty Tidbits Tuesday-Dijonnaise-Crusted Cod

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on March 15, 2011| Leave a Comment »

DIJONNAISE-CRUSTED COD

4 Cod fillets

2 TBS olive oil – divided

Coarse salt and ground pepper

2 crushed garlic cloves

a few sprigs of thyme

3 TBS Dijon mustard

1 cup fresh bread crumbs

2 TBS minced chives

Heat 1 TBS olive oil in saute pan over MEDIUM-HIGH heat. Season fillets with salt and pepper.  Sear the fillets with garlic and thyme about 3 minutes. Turn over cook 3 minutes.  Reduce heat to medium and cook 3-4 minutes.

Preheat broiler. Spread mustard over fish. Mix breadcrumbs, chives, 1 TBS olive oil-pat evenly on fillets.  Broil till crumbs are golden.

SERVING SUGGESTION

Serve with garlic wilted spinach and basmati rice

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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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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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