Grilled Herbed Pork Chops With Polenta and Mushrooms

Well, after the tuna night, I had a lot of leftover fresh thyme and rosemary, along with some "Used Meat" pork chops in the freezer, a ton of assorted dried mushrooms (and 1 pound of fresh oyster mushrooms from the funky Asiana market....which by the way didn't have star anise. Weird). When I stumbled across the recent pomegranate rice recipe, it was in a Food Network magazine in a small booklet titled "50 Great Grains". Said booklet has a lot of treasures, including a recipe for slow cooker polenta that is decadently rich with Parmesan and Mascarpone cheeses, seasoned with rosemary and bay leaves, and topped with sauteed mushrooms and Gorgonzola. YES!!!!

I didn't go the slow cooker route because polenta is so easy to make on the stove top and doesn't need 2 hours to cook like the slow cooker version. The pork marinade was inspired in part by Suzanne Goin's Deviled Chicken Thighs, which marinate in a mix of onions, bay leaf, crushed red pepper and dry vermouth. My marinade contained thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, dried oregano, garlic, olive oil and vermouth.

We had a marvelous burst of rain late Friday afternoon, along with a bit of thunder, so why not grill????

Mangia!

Grilled Herbed Pork Chops With Polenta and Mushrooms

Polenta adapted from Food Network

For the polenta and mushrooms:

4 cups water, plus more as needed

2 1/2 cups milk, plus more as needed

1 1/2 cups polenta

1 sprig rosemary

2 bay leaves

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano

½ cup mascarpone cheese

2 tablespoons butter

1 pound fresh oyster mushrooms, roughly chopped

1 cup mixed dried mushrooms, or your choice of variety

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup dry sherry

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/4 cup Gorgonzola crumbles

Directions

In a large saucepan, bring the water and milk to a boil. Add 2 teaspoons of salt to the water and whisk in the polenta. Whisk constantly for 3 to 4 minutes to prevent lumps. Add rosemary and bay leaves. Simmer for 45 minutes, partially covered and stirring every 10 minutes, until the polenta is thick, smooth, and creamy. Add the mascarpone and Parmesan cheeses and butter. Check for seasoning and adjust consistency by adding milk or water to the polenta. Polenta may be made up to 20 minutes ahead of time and kept covered until ready to serve.

While polenta is cooking, soak dried mushrooms in two cups of very hot water for about 20 to 25 minutes to soften. Drain and chop. Heat olive oil in saute pan over medium high heat. Saute the two mushrooms about 7 minutes. Add sherry and turn up heat, sauteing until sherry is reduced. Stir in parsley. Serve over the polenta topped with Gorgonzola.

For the pork chops:

4 pork chops, bone in, about 1/2 to 3/4 thick each

3 tablespoons chopped thyme leaves
2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary
2 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 bay leaves, crumbled
1/4 cup each olive oil and dry Vermouth

Toss all ingredients together except pork. Coat the pork chops in the mixture and let marinade for a few hours. Prepare a charcoal fire and grill over medium high heat for about 4 to 5 minutes a side for 1/2 inch thick chops and about 1 to 2 minutes longer for 3/4 inch cuts. Don;t overcook or they will be tough. It's perfectly fine to leave pork a bit on the pink side.

Grilled Herbed Ahi Steaks With Saffron Pomegranate Rice And Grilled Asparagus

It's pomegranate season! Hip hip hurray!!!

This annual event happened to coincide with a peek I got at a Food Network recipe for rice with saffron, shallots, cardamom pods, star anise, cilantro and pistachios. Sounds like a yummy meal unto itself, but we do like our protein here, so the other happy coincidence was that Sprouts had ahi tuna and swordfish steaks on sale for $5.99 a pound. I picked up both, but tuna was up first.

The tuna is marinated in a simple mixture of a little garlic, rosemary, thyme, dried oregano, crushed red pepper and olive oil. It is grilled until still rosy pink in the middle.

I also grilled some asparagus, tossed with olive oil and salt and pepper before grilling, and a little good balsamic vinegar afterward.

Man, was that rice delish!

Mangia!

Grilled Herbed Ahi Steaks with Saffron Pomegranate Rice and Grilled Asparagus
Rice adapted from Food Network

For the rice:

4 shallots, minced
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups basmati rice
3 cups water (I substituted chicken broth for one of the cups)
3 each cardamom pods and star anise
1 teaspoon saffron
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup each chopped cilantro, pomegranate seeds and roasted pistachios

Saute the shallots in the butter over medium high heat, 1 minute. Add water, rice, cardamom, star anise, saffron, red pepper and salt. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer. Cover and cook over low heat until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Toss with remaining ingredients.

For the asparagus:

1 pound thin asparagus spears
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon good balsamic vinegar

Wash spears and break off bottoms where the spear breaks easily. Toss with olive oil and seasoning. Grill on a hot BBQ for 3 to 4 minutes, turning every minute or so, until blackened in some areas. You can start them on the grill at a higher temperature than you'll want for the tuna, and after they are cooked, the coals can continue to burn down to a medium high heat for the tuna. Remove from grill and toss with balsamic vinegar.

For the ahi:

1/2 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons chopped thyme leaves
2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary
2 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 1/2 pounds fresh ahi tuna steaks, 1 1/2 inches thick

Toss all ingredients together along with salt and pepper and marinate for several hours. Grill on medium high heat for a minute or two, then rotate each steak 90 to 180 degrees to get cross grill marks. After about one to two minutes, turn the fish over and repeat with timing and turning. Fish should still be pink in the middle. Remove from heat and serve with rice and asparagus.

Sam's Club Has Great Big Bags Of Food - Hurray! - Slow Cooker Mixed Seafood Cioppino

We do enjoy hitting Sam's Club and gazing at the ginormous things to buy. On a prior trip, I had made note of a huge bag (3 1/2 pounds) of frozen mixed seafood, and had decided that when we went back there, I'd buy it and make cioppino. Even better, I'd make slow cooker Cioppino.

The mixed seafood contained white fish, shrimp, mussels, squid, octopus and surimi (fake crab). I elected to remove the octopus and squid for another time since I was unsure that the cooking time specified by the slow cooker recipe for crab (for which I was substituting mixed seafood) would be enough to make them tender and not chewy. They will feature in a spicy Korean stir fry dish later called Nakji Bokum. Think I'll do a Red Cabbage and Kimchi salad with it. Yum!

Cioppino is basically a Fisherman's catch of the day leftovers dish. It was invented in San Francisco by fishermen who would cook up a bit of crab, clams, shrimp, scallops and white-fleshed fish separated from the more sale-able versions in the catch. They are cooked in a base of tomato soup flavored with onions, garlic and basil. This recipe comes out a bit thick, so you can save some of it for pasta sauce and thin the rest with some vegetable broth or wine.

Serve with crusty bread or garlic the bread up like we did with herb garlic bread. This is not a delicate dish to eat. Use your hands, have plenty of napkins, wear bibs if you have to. There will be mess.

Mangia!

Slow Cooker Mixed Seafood Cioppino
Adapted from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook

1/4 cup olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
2 28 ounce cans whole tomatoes, preferably San Marzano, drained a bit
1 cup dry white wine
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (Next time I make this, it will be with The Colonel's homegrown basil....what a man!)
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
3.5 pound bag frozen mixed seafood, thawed; or 1 pound 19 to 20 count shrimp with their tails on, peeled and deveined; 1/2 to 1 pound sea scallops; 1 pound white-fleshed fish fillets and 1/2 pound mussels.

Heat oil over medium heat in a skillet, and cook the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker and add the tomato sauce and tomatoes, wine, bay leaf, basil, crush red pepper and oregano. Break up tomatoes with your hands as you add them. Cover and cook on Low for 4 to 6 hours.

Season with salt and pepper and add seafood. Cook on High for 30 to 40 minutes, or until shrimp are opaque.

Sunday Brunch - Bagel and Lox Platter With Caprese Salad

This past Sunday was a relaxing day. I am now back in the routine of getting the New York times on Sunday, and the local delivery person has the decency to deliver it prior to 6 AM, and the additional decency not to fling it against a security screen, and therefore awakening half the neighbors.

I had a craving for bagels and lox. Good old smoked salmon and a bagel platter with all the works. And we had a chilled bottle of Freixenet for Mimosas.

This one doesn't require a recipe at all. I laid out Everything Bagels, sliced smoked salmon, whipped cream cheese, sliced tomatoes and red onion, chopped dill and lots of capers.

For the salad, just slice tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, intersperse with big basil leaves on a platter, drizzle with good balsamic and olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Mangia!

It's Almost Downright Chilly - Pork and Squash Stew With Chiles And Marinated Onion And Spicy Pepitas

The summer weather has finally broken....we think...we hope....

Time to bring out the arsenal of soups, stews and slow cooker comfort dishes. The Colonel has made a request for French Onion Soup. I will get to that soon.

Dias de los Muertos is also coming up and I have been mulling menu ideas for November 1.

But for now, there is 3 pounds of pork shoulder in the freezer unused in the Slow Cooker Italian Pork Stew recently, and I have found the perfect vehicle: Pork and Squash Stew With Chiles.

I have made a few changes, adding cumin along with the coriander, spicing up the pepitas and intending to also use the Kabocha squash seeds, roasted, like you'd do with pumpkin seeds.

I have never worked with Kabocha or Delicata squashes before. I even failed to look up images before I went to the store. I figured, accurately as it turns out, that all the supermarkets have their seasonal squash displays out, along with ornamental corn, and I was sure to find the right varieties. Or find Helpful Produce Guy (or Gal).

It wasn't too difficult. I was surprised to find that there are several varieties of Acorn squash, a kind I was familiar with in its green form. I couldn't believe how many types there were. Yellow, white, orange, and the familiar green, as far as the eye could see. I found the Kabocha fairly quickly, aided by stickers on the squashes. After that, I kept pushing mountains of Butternut and Acorn aside, but I
failed to find a squash that had a chance of being a Delicata.

Finally, I spied a candidate possessing a different shape from the others: small, but enlongated, with ridges. The size was about the length of a good-sized zucchini and about twice as wide. The first one I saw had no sticker and there was no produce department person nearby, so I kept hunting for one with a sticker.

After pushing another mountain of Acorns, Butternuts and Kabochas aside, I had my identified specimen. Success!

It's a very pretty squash. I read up on both when I returned, having never attempted to break down the two varieties. In both cases, the literature stated you could eat the peel, but the consensus was less confident about the Kabocha's peel. At that point, I checked the recipe.



The recipe called for peeling the Kabocha but not the Delicata. I had my strategy.

The Kabocha was no more difficult than a Butternut. It's a hard squash and you have to get the point of a knife in, and rock it down the mid section to split it. Then you have the usual scraping out of the innards and seeds. But when you get it all scraped out, you have the bounty: SEEDS!

I decided to go ahead and roast the seeds and since there were not that many, rather than a snack, they could be another topping for the stew along with the pepitas. The problem became that although many recipes I consulted spoke to a temperature of some 400 to 450 degrees, and a cooking time of 20 to 30 minutes, I completely fried the poor things and smelled up the place for hours. The bright side: smoke alarms didn't fire off. Yes, alarms. We have two in the living room alone, for some inexplicable reason.

Oh well. We had plenty of pepitas, and my trick was to roast them with oil and Tajin seasoning. Yum!

The Delicata was a pleasure to work with. You can cut it much like a zucchini, although the scraping is a little more difficult. The seeds are too small to be usable for roasting. The thinly sliced cross section where beautiful before cooking and in the finished stew.

The stew has a great depth of flavor, owing to the the dried chiles, the other spices and the lovely toppings. I served this with flour tortillas.

Mangia!

Pork and Squash Stew with Chiles
Adapted from Bon Appetit

INGREDIENTS

3 pound boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt), cut into 2" pieces

1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon cumin

10 garlic cloves, finely chopped, divided

1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup raw pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds)
1 tablespoon Tajin, or Chile Lime seasoning

8 dried New Mexico or guajillo chiles

2 chiles de árbol or 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

2 large yellow onions, cut into 1/8"-thick wedges, divided

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus 2 teaspoons for the pepitas

4 sprigs oregano

1/2 kabocha squash (about 1 pound), peeled, seeds removed, cut into 1" pieces

1 delicata squash, seeds removed, cut into 1/2"-thick slices

1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

Cilantro sprigs (for serving)

PREPARATION

Combine pork, coriander, half of garlic, and 1 tablespoon salt in a large bowl; season with pepper and toss. Cover; chill at least 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Toss the seeds with 2 teaspoons oil and the Tajin seasoning. Toast pumpkin seeds on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing occasionally, until golden, about 5 minutes; set aside.

Toast chiles on clean baking sheet until slightly darkened, about 5 minutes. Let cool slightly, then remove stems, and seeds, if you prefer less heat. Place chiles, half of yellow onion, remaining garlic, crushed red pepper and 1 cup hot water in a blender; let sit 10 minutes to soften chiles. Blend until smooth; set chile purée aside.

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook pork, turning occasionally, until browned, 8–10 minutes; transfer to a plate.

Pour off fat from pot. Cook chile purée in pot over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half, 8–10 minutes. Add pork, oregano, remaining yellow onion, and 10 cups water to pot; season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, skimming occasionally, until pork is very tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

If stew seems runny, make a slurry of 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid and stir into stew.

Toss red onion and lime juice in a small bowl; let sit, tossing occasionally, 30 minutes.

Add squash to stew and cook, uncovered, until pork is falling apart and squash is soft, 20 minutes. Check for tenderness. You want them tender but not falling-apart-mushy. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve stew with red onion, cilantro, and reserved pumpkin seeds.

DO AHEAD: Pork can be marinated 2 days ahead; keep chilled. Stew can be made 3 days ahead; let cool, then cover and chill.

Prosciutto and Radicchio Stuffed Shells With Tomato Basil Sauce

The Colonel informs me that today is a state holiday: the first day wherein the temperature is less than 70 in the morning. I suspect this is total bunk, but we'll go with it.

Cooler weather means cookie baking and oven dishes, not just because we have air conditioning to compensate, but because it just seems so right. A trip to the grocery store this past week led to an impulse buy of a new Kroger brand of pasta: HemisFares. Cute. The impulse buy was a large bag of Lumaconi, large shells suitable for stuffing. And stuff them I did!

I found a Martha Stewart recipe with proscuitto and radicchio, to go along with the ricotta and fresh mozzarella. If I were to make this again in about six weeks, I could use The Colonel's homegrown basil for the sauce, but they're not ready yet. Very soon.

Stuffed and ready for sauce-dabbing and
oven duty, Sir!

I had a little left over fresh oregano, so I added some to the pasta sauce. Instead of dotting the shells with butter, I dabbed on some of the sauce, reserving enough to pour on top after their bake.

I served this with a green salad and Chianti.

Mangia!

Prosciutto and Radicchio Stuffed Shells

Adapted from Martha Stewart (although the sauce is my recipe)

INGREDIENTS

1 box (12 ounces) jumbo pasta shells

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

4 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 red onion, chopped
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper

1 head radicchio, cored and shredded (4 cups)

1 teaspoon red-wine vinegar

12 ounces fresh ricotta cheese (1 1/4 cups)

8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, chilled and cut into small cubes (1 cup)

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

5 cups Tomato Basil sauce (recipe follows)

Unsalted butter, for dotting

Garnish: finely grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta shells for 10 minutes. Drain, and rinse. Transfer to a bowl. Drizzle with oil. Let cool.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large high-sided skillet over medium heat. Cook prosciutto, garlic, onion, and crushed red pepper, stirring, until prosciutto starts to caramelize, 6 to 8 minutes. Add radicchio; cook until tender but not mushy, about 4 minutes. Stir in vinegar; cook until evaporated. Let cool slightly. Stir in ricotta and mozzarella; season with salt and pepper.

Pour 2 cups tomato sauce into the bottom of each of two 8-by-12-inch baking dishes. Stuff 32 shells with 1 heaping tablespoon filling each. Pack 16 shells into each dish. Cover with foil. Freeze if desired.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Dot shells with butter. Bake, covered, for 40 minutes. Uncover, and raise oven temperature to 450 degrees. Bake until golden and bubbly, about 15 minutes more. Heat remaining cup tomato sauce; serve with shells. Garnish with Parmesan cheese.

Tomato Basil Sauce

1 28 oz. can crushed San Marzano tomatoes

1 28 oz. can pureed San Marzano tomatoes

1 small onion chopped finely

3 cloves garlic, minced

16 basil leaves, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons crushed red pepper

Heat the oil in a sauce pan large enough for the tomatoes. add the onion and saute for 4 minutes or so, until softened. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper and saute for a minute. Add the tomatoes and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the basil and salt and pepper to taste and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Cookie Day! Snickerdoodles and Peanut Butter Cookies

The Colonel LOVES LOVES LOVES warm cookies, and I have discovered a desire to bake some for him despite the fact that I've never been all that keen on baking. Plus, I came across a nice big bowl for use in making sourdough starter, and bought two because as The Colonel says, I love my containers. Now that the sourdough starter has been started and used, I transferred it to a different container (container!) and it lives in the fridge for now. But the two plastic bowls with lids make great cookie containers (containers!).

I made two types of cookies on the same day. The oven can handle two large baking sheets at once, so capacity baking was not an issue, however it took A LOT of paper towels for all the cooling on counters, and wiping off dough-covered hands.

The first step toward solving a problem is
admitting you have one.

Using all those paper towels gave light to a problem we didn't realize we had with our little Kagan: paper towel addiction. She had evidently got a hold of a few and had been busy happily chewing, digesting and using some to decorate her "room".

We knew she likes to pick things up and put them in her mouth, but I guess we have to be a bit more diligent about handling paper towels and napkins around her.


It's been ages since I made peanut butter cookies, so thank heaven the recipe reminded me about the traditional fork prints you make on top of them. Why do peanut butter cookies have those marks?Well, let's turn to the Interwebs, where, of all possible places, ProFlowers enlightens us:

Peanut butter – a household favorite since the early 1900’s. And the history of peanut butter cookiesstarts around the same time, with the first recipe made public around 1916. Since they have been made, there has always been a unique feature about this particular cookie. That feature is the fork hash marks impressed in the top of the cookie. The question is though, why are they there? Several reasons are speculated for these delicious peanut butter cookies to have these hash marks, but the most common reasons known is pure baking tradition, to help the cookies bake more evenly, and as a warning sign for people with peanut allergies.

Tradition

The first time that these fork marks were widely instructed to be placed on the cookie tops was in a recipe from a 1936 Pillsbury cookbook. There was no explanation given in the recipe as to why the fork hash marks were called for, but people made them anyways. Now, most people who bake these cookies put the hash marks on them out of pure tradition without knowing why they are even doing it. Maybe it’s because it’s simply more fun to make old fashioned peanut butter cookies!

Better Baking

Probably the most common reason specified for the marks on the cookies is because it’s supposed to help them cook more evenly. When peanut butter is added to cookie dough it makes it denser, which in turn makes it harder to bake through. Putting the hash marks in the cookie dough balls actually flattens them for more even baking. When the cookies bake, they should come out soft with crispy edges where the hash marks have been formed. Most people agree that the best peanut butter cookies are the ones with a soft center and crispy edge.

Nut Allergies

Although most people love these little desserts, those who are allergic to peanuts cannot eat them. However, because their color, shape, and texture causes them to look like other cookies, they can be easily confused and accidentally eaten by someone with an allergy. Therefore, this cookie was thought to have been given fork marks to warn people who are sensitive to nuts what they are about to eat. Since the marks are such a unique cookie feature, it is a great reminder of the ingredients.

If you’re unsure of what these fork marks look like, try looking up peanut butter cookies online. Or if you simply want to feast on these delicious, traditional treats, try Mrs. Fields peanut butter cookies. If peanut butter just doesn’t suit your taste, then stick with the traditional chocolate chip cookie, brownie or slice of cake!

There you have it. And now here we have loads of tasty cookies resting in plastic containers (containers!) waiting to be devoured.

Mangia!

Yummmmmm

Snickerdoodles

Food.com

1 cup butter

1 1⁄2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

2 3⁄4 cups flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1⁄4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons sugar

3 teaspoons cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar and eggs thoroughly in a large bowl.

Combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.

Blend dry ingredients into butter mixture.

Chill dough, and chill an ungreased cookie sheet for about 10-15 minutes in the fridge.

Meanwhile, mix 3 tablespoons sugar, and 3 teaspoons cinnamon in a small bowl.

Scoop 1 inch globs of dough into the sugar/ cinnamon mixture.

Coat by gently rolling balls of dough in the sugar mixture.

Place on chilled ungreased cookie sheet, and bake 10 minutes.

Remove from pan immediately.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Food.com

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1 cup butter or 1 cup margarine, softened

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1⁄2 cups flour

DIRECTIONS

Cream butter, peanut butter and sugars together. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well. Add baking soda, powder and vanilla. Stir in flour. Roll into balls, roll in sugar. Flatten cookies, using a fork, in a criss-cross pattern.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 6-7 minutes or adjust to suit your oven and size of cookies!