Meat, Veg, Salad, Salad

Menu: Grilled ribeye with cowboy rub * roasted beet salad * lemon cucumber and tomato salad * eggplant relish

M fired up our grill for the first time since we moved to Austin, and we grilled four ribeyes so we could have leftovers. The “Cowboy Rub” is from Robb Walsh’s Texas Cowboy Cookbook: fresh-ground sea salt, fresh-ground garlic, fresh-ground black pepper, dried thyme, pasilla chile powder. M grilled them to rare.

The lemon cucumber salad was lovely. The farmers market yesterday yielded two lemon cucumbers and four green zebra tomatoes; I sliced them all into crescents and tossed it with lemon basil, olive oil, salt, and a splash of white wine vinegar. It was all yellow and pale green, very pretty.

The roasted beet salad is the usual, but it may be one of the last time it appears for a little while; Tecolote Farms’ last week of beets was yesterday. And the eggplant relish is leftover from our pasta/leftovers/fridge clean-out repast last night.

Pasta, Veg, Veg, Veg, Dairy, Fruit

Menu: Mini ravioli with squash, shells, and parmesan shavings * chopped roasted eggplant with red and yellow bell peppers and basil * sauteed spinach * ricotta-yogurt blend with blueberries

Really more of a Thursday kind of supper, where I’m cleaning things out and/or trying not to have to go to the store, but there it was a Saturday and we had no meat or fish thawed or ready in the fridge and it was time for dinner and we are trying not to call Mangia Pizza in these circumstances.

I’d been to the farmers market, so once again I had lovely small Italian heirloom eggplants. I roasted them in a 400-degree oven for 40 minutes, along with a red and two yellow bell peppers. I found half a box of dry-pasta mini-ravioli stuffed with squash next to a quarter-box of shells (why I kept a quarter-box of shells instead of cooking it, I have no idea), and cooked them together (same cooking times). The vegs finished roasting and I peeled and chopped them together in a bowl with olive oil, a splash of balsamic, and a handful of basil from the patio, intending to use them to dress the pasta. Then I remembered the parmesan shavings, so decided to toss those with the pasta instead and serve the eggplant and peppers beside for mix-as-you-go-if-you-like. And so I did.

Finished the meal out with another batch of sauteed spinach (same as the last seven times you’ve seen it here); quick, easy, nutritious, delicious.

For dessert, I came across the end of a small tub of part-skim ricotta, and mixed it with the end of a big container of Brown Cow vanilla yogurt. Served it with blueberries and it was also interesting, though next time I might drain the yogurt a bit first as the dairy mixture separated out just a little towards the end.

About to head to the grocery store to replace all of the used-up-the-tail-ends ingredients above, plus purchase marinade ingredients for either lamb chops or steaks for Sunday dinner…

Poultry, Starch, Veg

Menu: Chipotle-stuffed turkey burgers * sweet potato oven fries with chipotle ketchup * sauteed spinach

Burgers
Ground turkey
Sea salt
Garlic
Chipotle peppers in adobo

Mix pack of ground turkey with sea salt and garlic. Shape into patties; cut in half horizontally and place a small chipotle in the center. Grill until done. During last few minutes. add reduced-fat Mexican cheese on top to melt.

Fries:
Cook sweet potato oven fries according to package (I used Alexia frozen ones; 425 for 20 minutes).

Chipotle ketchup:
Chop two chipotle peppers in small bowl; add some of adobe sauce. Mix with tomato ketchup to taste; add 2 tsp balsamic vinegar.

Spinach:
Heat 2 T olive oil in large non-stick skillet/wok, on high. Add baby spinach; saute until wilted. Grind sea salt and garlic over.

Would I make it again?
Not quite the same way. The chipotle was too hot, though M liked it a lot. I might stuff cheese with the chipotle. I might just use the chipotle ketchup and leave out the pepper entirely. I’d also wanted to make a jicama-Granny Smith slaw or other salad, but ran out of time and energy. Big afternoon at work, pretty tired. So glad to sleep in in the morning.

Fish, Legumes, Veg, Veg

Menu: Roasted salmon with green chile salsa, cherry tomatoes, and pepitas * Pink-eyed pea salad * Sauteed spinach with sea salt and garlic

(All the pieces of this supper have appeared before.)

Salmon:
Preheat oven to 450. Place remainder of Saturday’s farmers market cherry tomatoes (red and gold) in bottom of a small glass baking dish with drizzle of olive oil. Toss to coat. Place 2 salmon filets atop; spread Austin Slow Burn Salsa Verde over; sprinkle with roasted pumpkin seeds. Bake 17 minutes.

Pink-eyed peas
Reheat last of leftovers for M; have last of leftover at room temperature fr me.

Sauteed spinach
Heat 1 T olive oil in bottom of deep non-stick skillet or wok. Add 1/2 large tub baby spinach; stir. Grind garlic and sea salt over; stir-fry/saute.

Leftovers At Last

Headache, and M is working late. I just heated up one little leftover lamb chop and had it with leftover pink-eyed peas, cucumber tomato artichoke salad, and the last eggplant relish from several days ago. There are three chops left for M and plenty of peas.

Lamb, Beans, Salad

Menu: Lemon-Garlic Lamb Chops with Yogurt Sauce * Marinated Pink-Eyed Peas and Fresh Herbs * Cucumber Tomato Artichoke Salad

Lemon-Garlic Lamb Chops with Yogurt Sauce (from The Gourmet Cookbook)
I didn’t change this much if at all, so I’ll type it in as it is in the cookbook.

In Turkey, lamb – the meat of choice – is very often served with this simple yogurt sauce, a Mediterranean classic (the key is fragrant mint). To give the yogurt a thicker texture, we drain it before mixing in the garlic and mint.

Yogurt Sauce:
1 c plain yogurt
1 garlic clove, minced
2 T chopped fresh mint
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chops:
1/4 c fresh lemon juice
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp dried oregano, crumbled
3 T olive oil
4 1/2-inch thick shoulder lamb chops
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 T water

Yogurt sauce: Set a sieve lined with a double thickness of cheesecloth over a bowl, add yogurt to sieve, and let drain at room temperature for 20 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and stir in remaining ingredients. (Note: I don’t keep cheesecloth around, so I used a #4 unbleached basket coffee filter and it worked just fine.)

Chops: Stir together lemon juice, garlic, oregano, and 2 T oil in a shallow baking dish. Add chops, turn to coat, and marinate 20 minutes. (I have an Italian herb blend grinder; I used that.)

Remove lamb from marinade (reserve marinade) and season with salt and pepper. Heat remaining 1 T oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Cook chops in 2 batches, turning once, about 4 minutes per batch for medium rare. Transfer to plates and cover loosely with foil.

Add reserved marinade to skillet with 1 T water, and deglaze skillet by boiling, stirring and scraping up any brown bits, for 1 minute. Pour pan sauce over chops and serve with yogurt sauce.

Marinated Pink-Eyed Peas and Fresh Herbs (from Frank Stitt’s Southern Table)
Again, I didn’t change this much, so here it is as Frank Stitts of Highlands in Birmingham wrote it.

This Southern take on a French lentil salad has become a regular staple in summertime, when peas are at their prime. It is a great barbecue side dish, easy to make, and holds up well for several hours. I like to serve it with creamed corn and fried okra as part of a vegetable plate.

2 pounds pink-eyes, black-eyes, crowders, or butter peas, or a combination, shelled
2 onions, quartered
1 ham hock or a small chunk of slab bacon
2 dried hot chile peppers
2 bay leaves
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 bunch sage, leaves removed and torn into small pieces
1 bunch thyme, leaves removed
fresh ground black pepper
hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco or Cholula (my note: since living in New Orleans, Crystal is the hot sauce of choice)

In a large pot, combine peas, onions, ham hock, hot peppers, bay leaves, and salt; add cold water to cover by three inches. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low and simmer til tender, 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the freshness of the peas. Set aside to cool in cooking liquid, then drain, reserving about 1/2 cup of the liquid. Discard onions, peppers, and bay leaves; if desired, remove meat from ham hock and reserve for another use (discard the bacon if that’s what you used).

In a large pan, heat olive oil with garlic, sage, and thyme until fragrant. Add peas along with reserved cooking liquid and toss to mix. Season with salt and pepper and serve with hot pepper sauce.

(I spaced out and accidentally drained all of the liquid; I tried to make up for it with a few shakes of Pickapeppa sauce and soy sauce, plus some cane vinegar. The flavors were good, but the peas were slightly dry, only slightly, but next time I would pay more attention.)

Cucumber Tomato Artichoke Salad
Sunday evening’s recipe again, replicated successfully.

Headache, Grain, Dairy, Egg, Comfort

Menu: Polenta with parmesan, mozzarella, fresh basil, and egg

Over the course of the afternoon, my head felt variously like it was being impaled on a spike, caught in a bear trap, and caught in an industrial vise. Needless to say, I was not up for giving the lamb chops I bought yesterday the attention they deserve. M, meanwhile, had set up come-buy-our-old-stuff-off-Craigslist appointments starting at 6:30.

The stone-ground coarse yellow cornmeal I use takes 5 minutes to polentaize. Three cups of water, 1 cup of corn. Boil water, dump in cornmeal, turn heat down to medium low, stir, set timer, stir, turn attention to eggs (below), stir. When the polenta has thickened, stir in a handful of parmesan shavings and 2 handfuls of reduced-fat mozzarella. Be sure to turn heat to lowest or off.

Meanwhile, in a non-stick pan sprayed with cooking spray, cook two eggs. Crack one egg at a time into pan; turn heat down to medium, medium-high. Turn attention to polenta. After whites have set, very gently roll eggs over and take off heat. Let eggs sit in hot pan while serving polenta.

Spoon hot polenta into bowls. Gently lay an egg on top. Sprinkle with fresh basil and grind sea salt over.

At table, break yolk; spoon a little polenta over. Let hot polenta cook the egg just a little as you eat. Try not to think about your headache. Look forward to bed with a full comfy tummy.

Pork, Beans, Veg, Pasta, Veg

Menu: Sauteed Pork with Broad Bean Ratatouille * Lemon-Pepper Fettucine * Cucumber Tomato Artichoke Salad

We’re trying to watch our wallets and our weight here, so I buy a lot of produce at the farmers market so we have good healthy vegetables, and today I was shopping at Sam’s and came across a huge batch of boneless pork back ribs and thought, “hm, I bet I can do something with that.” I’d been planning some marinating and some braising, but by the time I got home, it was time to find something quick to do for dinner. It wound up taking an hour, but it was worth it.

Sauteed Pork (serves 3; we provide leftovers for an injured friend on Mondays, and I always want them to be good leftovers) (original recipe from Mark Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything”… it was for pork chops)

8 boneless back pork ribs
fresh ground sea salt and mixed peppercorns
2 T olive oil
1/2 c vermouth (original recipe called for dry white wine; this was as close as I could get)
1 tsp minced garlic (original says “or 2 T minced shallot, onion, or scallion)
1/2 c water (original says “or chicken, beef, or vegetable stock)
1 T wine vinegar (original says “or freshly squeezed lemon juice, which I might try next time)
a handful of fresh sage leaves, chopped

1 small eggplant
1 red bell pepper
1/4 corno di toro pepper
1 15-oz can broad beans (butter beans or limas)
1 15-oz can cannelini beans

Sprinkle the ribs with salt and pepper. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat for 2 or 3 minute.s Add 2 T olive oil; as soon as the first wisps of smoke rise from the oil, add the chops and turn the heat to high. Brown the ribs on all sides, moving them around to develop good color all over. The entire browning process should take no longer than 4 minutes, and preferably less.

Reduce heat to medium. Add vermouth and garlic and cook, turning meat once or twice until wine is all but evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 c water, turn to low, and cover. Cook 10 to 15 minutes, turning meat once or twice, until meat is tender but not dry. When done, they will be firm to the touch, juices will run just slightly pink, and when you cut into them (which you should do if you’re at all unsure of their doneness), the color will be rosy at first glance but quickly turn pale.

(this is where I switch to one of the Eight Ways provided by Mark Bittman, Sauteed With Onions and Peppers, which I change quite a bit)

Leaving everything else in the pan, remove the meat to a preheated oven to warm. Sprinkle chopped sage over before closing oven.

To pan juices, add 1 small eggplant, diced; 1 red bell pepper, diced, and 1/4 corno di toro pepper, minced. Stir, re-cover pan, and cook 5 minutes over medium heat. Remove cover and cook, stirring, until vegs are softened and beginning to brown, about 5 more minutes. Add 1 can broad beans and 1 can cannelini beans, both drained. Moisten with 1/2 c water (or stock), then cook til most liquid is absorbed. Splash wine vinegar over; taste and correct for salt if need be. Keep warm over lowest heat, stirring occasionally.

If you wind up waiting for salad or pasta to be finished, add pork to pan for final warming on low.

Cucumber Tomato Artichoke Salad:
2 medium to large pickling cucumbers (large relative to other pickling cucumbers)
1 medium to large tomato
1/2 can quartered artichoke hearts packed in water
fresh basil
feta cheese
Steen’s cane vinegar

Chop cucumbers; chop tomato. Halve quartered artichoke hearts to make eighthed hearts. Combine in bowl; sprinkle lightly with fresh ground sea salt and cane vinegar. Chiffonade basil; sprinkle over, them add feta cheese to taste (we always add rather a lot). Mix.

Pasta
How wonderful it would be to use fresh noodles, or almost-fresh noodles, but instead we assayed “al denteTM All-Natural Carba-Nada Lemon Pepper Fettucine Noodles” … which were not that bad. Cook your favorite pasta as you like; serve.

We were going to have fresh blueberries and vanilla yogurt for dessert, but life intervened in the form of someone coming by to buy a bed we’d listed on Craigslist and it got too late.

Chef’s sustenance
Cherry tomatoes out of the bowl… diet tonic water with lime

Chef’s soundtrack
Donovan, “Jersey Thursday” * Doc Watson, “Cotton Eyed Joe” * Joan Osborne, “Make You Feel My Love” * Stevie Ray Vaughan, “Love Struck Baby” * Joe Henry, “Angels” * Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grappelli, “Tiger Rag” * Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Maps” * David Bowie, “Heroes” (Live at The Bridge School Concert) * Jimi Hendrix, “May This Be Love” * The Smiths, “Back to the Old House” * Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd, “Desafinado” * Sparklehorse, “Don’t Take My Sunshine Away” * The Smiths, “You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet Baby” * Sting, “I Burn For You” * Fleetwood Mac, “Oh Well, Part 1” * Royskopp, “Remind Me” * Suzy Bogguss, “Comes Love” * Stereolab, “Percolator”

How did it turn out?
I really liked it. It wound up being more work than I’d anticipated, and I always resist “remove from the pan you just got all dirty by cooking into a whole new pan that will get all dirty, just to sit and keep warm in,” but I’m glad I did. I really really wish I’d been able to have fresh noodles. And I will spend the rest of my cooking life trying to make sure I can replicate that salad. Not a drop of oil, just the slight maceration from salting the cukes and tomatoes, and a few shakes of cane vinegar, mixing with the feta cheese, and it was wonderful.

Would I make it again?
Yes, even with low-carb pasta.

Fish, Veg, Veg, Veg

Menu: baked wrapped tilapia again * eggplant relish again * three-tomato salad * tilapia-influenced coleslaw

I don’t usually re-run recipes quite so quickly, but we enjoyed the baked wrapped tilapia from my first post so much that I went ahead and did it again. This time instead of the chile garlic sauce, I used fresh hot peppers from this morning’s farmers market run, but otherwise it was unchanged.

I used a few of the ingredients … the wasabi oil and chopped garlic … to make a dressing for shredded cabbage for slaw… I added some chile garlic sauce, a little bit of Steen’s cane syrup for sweetness, Steen’s cane vinegar, a splash of mirin, and finally a spoonful of Miracle Whip light to finesse the line between creamy slaw and vinegary slaw.

For the eggplant relish, again, I roasted two small heirloom ivory eggplants from the farmers market in the same 400-degree oven with the fish packets and a red bell pepper. I chopped the peeled pepper and eggplant together and stirred in a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. That was it.

Finally, I sliced three kinds of heirloom tomatoes purchased at the market this morning, ground fresh sea salt over, and sprinkled a chiffonade of basil over.

I would definitely do it again.

Pizza, Salad

This post feels like cheating, but I realize, to take the pressure off myself, that I said I’d keep track of what we ate, not what I cooked, and that’s it’s about the meal, and not the making of the meal.

Rationalizing aside, the menu: California Pizza Kitchen Sicilian pizza * farmers market salad

Prepare pizza according to package directions. When you take it out of the oven, drizzle olive oil over and grind crushed red pepper flakes over. Use farmers market ingredients from crisper for salad: greens, cherry tomatoes, red pepper, salad pepper, cukes. Empty drawers completely for farmers market run the next morning. Drizzle with sun-dried tomato vinaigrette.