roasted radish & bacon tartine

not so long ago

i roasted radish

for a delicious

albeit a matter of taste

salad

(recipe here)

i loved

hubster did not

i wondered

how a veggie lovin' girl

and a

meat & meat lovin' guy

could

agree on radish

a radish referendum, if you will

here it is

radish

mellowed by roasting

spiced with a sauce of its greens

open face

layered on

a toasted whole-grain raft

joined by

bacon and soft goat cheese

roasted radish and bacon tartine

 

Tuesday Night Supper Club--BLTs with a bit of sophistication

my larder is nearly empty

but my garden is nearing full

and the heat is starting the wear on me

which is why

we are having bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches

for dinner

but an adult version

with crispy bread, and thick bacon

freshly picked heirloom tomatoes

garden arugula

fresh mozzarella

and homemade basil, roasted garlic aioli

this is definitely,

not your mama's b.l.t.

and if it is...

then 

i really want to meet your mama!

Basil Garlic Aioli

2 large egg yolks--room temperature

1/4 cup coarsely chopped basil leaves

3 cloves of roasted garlic--roughly chopped

salt and pepper

2 cups (approx) lightly flavored olive oil

squeeze of lemon juice

put yolks, basil, garlic, pinch of salt and pinch of pepper in food processor or blender. whirl until smooth.  slowly drizzle olive oil until mixture comes together and becomes thick and creamy.  add the lemon squeeze and adjust seasonings.

--if you are worried about serving raw eggs to your friends and family, you can take the basil leaves and garlic and whirl in a blender or food processor until they form a paste.  add a bit of lemon zest for freshness, then stir into prepared mayonnaise. you should not need the salt and pepper.

pulled pork sliders

i love the movies

as a matter of fact

hubster and i have a standing date on tuesdays

a matinee and bucket of popcorn

but on saturday past

we changed it up a bit

and went to an evening show

outside

in a cemetery

with a 

picnic

blanket and picnic baskets in hand

we settled in to watch

arsenic and old lace

(cary grant, ooh la la)

there really isn't a recipe for these...

i used leftover pork ribs that i tossed in a bit of

really yummy vinegar based bbq sauce

that i got at central bbq

and i put it all on some dinner rolls

so simple, but so delicious

and great for a picnic

Tuesday Night Supper Club--Chicken Gyros

it is times like these that i am a little bit glad

that
 i can't find my old photos

don't hate me
because

 i spent a year in italy
i know how fortunate i am
it was

my junior year of college

and when that year of education was over

i packed my duffle and headed south

first to sicily

(which is a whole different story)

then to greece

the plan was to spend 1 week in mykonos

and then meet up with some other friends 

on santorini

mind you...

there were no cell phones

there was only

meet us on this day at this place at this time

very sleepless in seattle, no?

except we were all girls

i was traveling with two other girls to mykonos
and the three of us settled in nicely

and enjoyed ourselves more than anyone should

and
gorged ourselves on chicken gyros
every day for lunch

partly because they were so yummy

and partly because they cost next to nothing

to make a long story short

because i know you are dying to know

we never made it to santorini

the biggest storm ever to hit the islands

arrived
 the day before our scheduled departure

and didn't leave for 2 weeks

no boats in or out

at least i think that is how the story went

grin with me

here is my version of the chicken gyros

we ate

day after day

much to my delight

Chicken Gyros

(printable recipe)

4 large chicken breasts-cut in half crosswise

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

finely grated zest from a med to lg lemon

olive oil

tomatoes-sliced

lettuce leaves

pita bread

(i like to buy the fresh thick pita from a specialty store, but this works with the grocery store kind too!)

In a bowl, mix the salt, pepper, oregano and lemon zest.  Rub the chicken with olive oil and the spice mixture, then begin stacking on the skewer. You may need to cut the top of the skewer off to make it fit in your oven.  Place in a 400 oven and let it cook until it is done use a meat thermometer.  Let the chicken cool a bit and then begin slicing on the vertical, just like you see them do at your local donner kebab place.  Fill each pita with chicken, lettuce, tomato, roasted potato and tzatziki sauce. Fold and enjoy!

Tzatziki Sauce

1 small container plain non-fat yogurt

1/2 cucumber--halved, peeled, seeded and sliced paper thin

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 small onion--sliced paper thin

salt and pepper to taste

mix all ingredients together and let sit in the refrigerator at least an hour, but ideally overnight.

Roasted Potato Wedges

1 large russet potato--cleaned and cut into wedges

olive oil

salt

toss the potatoes in the olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  place in a 400 oven to bake until nicely browned.  check for doneness at 30 minutes

Wait...don't go!!!

i want to show you the most fun part of this whole thing

it is my homemade

meat stacker

you know

like you see in the kebab places

i have this beer can chicken thing

and where you are supposed to put the beer

i put foil

and a skewer

apologies for the poor photo quality

and then i stacked the chicken breasts

like so

and just popped it in the oven

easy, right?

Eat Up!

Tuesday Night Supper Club--Saltimnitos

i lived in london for a time

and discovered

you never know how many friends you have

until

 you have a flat

in a city 

everyone has been dying to visit

i rarely cooked when i had company

as it was

a great excuse to try the local fare

when my mom and my sister arrived for an extended stay

they had done their homework 

and knew of a place

that was just beginning to make its mark

on the london food scene

called Moro

and it didn't disappoint

the food was moorish and lovely without being overtly heavy

five years later

i was wandering the aisles of a book store in firenze

and came across Moro's cookbook

in english no less

and i have been inspired by it ever since

tonight's meal is a combination 

of 

what the spanish call serranitos 

and the italian saltimboca

i call the dish

Saltimnitos
(printable recipe)

but it could easily be called

delicioso!

8 chicken tenders (or breast meat sliced to resemble tenders)

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

2 garlic cloves--smashed to a paste

a few glugs olive oil

salt and pepper

2 pasilla chiles

4-5 slices prosciutto

rolls of choice or ciabatta or even a baguette

put the olive oil, garlic and paprika in a ziploc bag.  drop in the chicken tenders rub them with the marinade and let sit for about 15-20 minutes. you can leave for longer, but i wouldn't go more than 4 hours. 

Meanwhile prepare your bread and pasilla

toast the bread under the broiler or in a grill pan. set aside. on the stovetop, put enough olive oil in a frying pan to cover the bottom.  drop the pasilla chiles (whole) into the pan and cook until they become soft and browned.  remove from heat and when you can handle them, remove the stem and seeds and slice in large pieces. place on the bread slices.

remove the chicken from the marinade and pat to remove excess oil.  wrap each piece in prosciutto and place in same pan you cooked the chiles--fry using medium heat. add olive oil as necessary...but don't over-do it.

once cooked, place chicken on top of pasilla

I use the same pan to make a warm romaine salad

take romaine hearts and slice in half or quarters--taking care to leave the base so the leaves don't come apart

place cut side down in pan and heat gently.  remove from the pan and add a thinly sliced shallot. once the shallot begins to brown, pour in red wine or sherry wine vinegar to deglaze the pan.  pour in a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and a bit of mustard if you prefer to make a vinegary dressing.  lightly pour over the lettuce.

I also served shoestring yams

slice purple, white and orange yams into matchsticks

deep fry and serve with good amount of salt

EAT UP!

Tuesday Night Supper Club

When  I was a kid, on Halloween my mom would serve meatball sub sandwiches.  I don't remember exactly, but I think the tradition started  because the kitchen was under construction and rather than cooking another meal on the hot plate, she picked up meatball subs from Shakeys.  Each year, I think about that tradition, and wish that I was carrying it on.

But we spend Halloween away from home, and I am not so bold as to suggest to our host, what to serve  for halloween dinner. 

At least not yet. I'm still young.

Rewind to this past Halloween. I was in half-costume and hungry.  I ran to a local sandwich shop to pick up a couple of italian subs and what do I see?  A meatball  sub and it looked so delicious.  I thought, next time, that is what I am getting.

And a couple of days later I did.

And it was terrible.  

Not like anything I remember or want to eat again. I am not even sure the balls were meat.

And right then I decided meatball subs were going in the rotation...and soon.

So, tonight, Tuesday night, I made them, with homemade bread, and they were pretty darn good.

Meatball subs are easy.  Especially if you do a bit of planning and use store bought rolls (which I suggest doing unless you are obsessed like me). 

I made Sunday Sauce, on Monday and I loaded it with meatballs in preparation for tonight's dinner. 

Sunday Sauce

1/2 large onion--finely chopped

1 medium carrot--finely chopped

1 celery stalk--finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic--finely chopped

olive oil

1 1/2 lbs beef short ribs-bone in

1 lb country style pork ribs--boneless

3 links italian sausage cut in half

as many meatballs as you please

2 sprigs rosemary

2 sprigs thyme

1 heaping tsp dried oregano

2-14oz cans crushed tomatoes

2-14 oz cans tomato puree

1 cup white wine

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in large pot.  Toss in onion, carrot, and celery.  Do not let them brown, but cook until they begin to soften. Add garlic.  Add meat in batches to brown (not the meatballs).  Pour in wine and let it sizzle a bit and scrape up browned bits from the bottom of the pan.  Dump in the tomato puree and crushed tomatoes.  Add herbs.  Put burner on low, cover and let simmer.

Meanwhile, prepare the meatballs.

Meatballs

I usually add raisins and pignoli nuts to my meatballs, but since I knew I was using them for the sandwiches, I omitted this step.

ground beef

ground pork

eggs

milk

grated parmesan cheese

bread crumbs (if you use store bought go for the seasoned one)

salt

pepper

I mix the beef and pork together half and half.  Use 1 egg per pound of meat.  Put the meat in the bowl and break the eggs on top.  Shake the breadcrumbs over the top of the meat so it covers the expanse of the meat, but only a dusting.  Do the same with the parmesan, but a bit more than a dusting..but don't dump. Pour enough milk on top so that it can moisten the bread crumbs, but you don't want mush.  I would say about 1/4 cup per pound of meat.  Add salt and pepper...add a bit and then fry up just a smidge to test the seasoning.  Bottom line, you can always add salt to your meatballs when you are eating them...it's not like you are cooking in a restaurant and people are judging you...or people who are paying that are judging you.

Have a gentle hand and mix all together. Form into balls--the size is your choice.  

Heat a frying pan over medium heat.  Put a bit of olive oil on the bottom and fry the meatballs until the outside is browned evenly. The meat will not be fully cooked, which is the point.  As you take the meatballs out of the frying pan, place them in the sauce to finish cooking.  Both the sauce and the meatballs benefit from this process...trust me.

Continue cooking the sauce under simmer until all the meat is cooked well. The rib meat should be falling off the bone and the meatballs should be firm.

When you make the sandwiches--toast the bread and then be generous with the meatballs and sauce.  Top with provolone cheese and pop in the oven or broiler to make the cheese nice and melty.

On Sunday I made a tart and I had a bit of  the custard in the fridge.  I had been promising the hubster that I would make ice cream for him, so I had to make good. My word is my bond you know.

Ice Cream in a Pinch

I took about 1 cup of custard and added to it  1 cup of milk chocolate chips melted in about 1/4 cup of cream making it a bit of a ganache. I threw in a shot of very strong espresso and whisked it all up.  The mixture was cool, so I didn't have to chill it in the fridge and I dumped it right into the ice cream machine.  30 minutes later I had a mildly chocolate, minimally coffee flavored, very smooth ice cream.  As I packed it into the tub for future eating, I swirled in nutella...for nutella ripple ice cream. 

While the ice cream was freezing, I made a quick hazelnut brittle

Hazelnut Brittle

1 cup sugar

water

1 Tbs honey

hazelnuts

Put sugar in a saucepan.  Add enough water so the sugar has the consistency of wet sand.  Add honey and put over low heat.  Let cook away until the sugar and honey is melted and the mixture starts to turn color.  Once you see the color beginning to amber, swirl the pan....to even out the color.  I like mine a soft amber, so a few minutes into coloration, I throw in the hazelnuts and swirl a couple of times. Don't be vigorous...just do it a bit to move the contents around.  Pour the hot sugar on a silpat or parchment lined cookie sheet.  Let cool. Be very careful..hot sugar is like molten lava...it will burn, and burn bad.  Let the brittle cool and then break into pieces

Eat Up!