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…

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.