Archive for June, 2009
Recipe of the Week – Pine Nut Baklava
(From The Dessert Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Pine Nut Baklava
I know this is weird for those of you who look upon cooking as a chore but every once in a while I get the urge to put together a full dinner party. This differs from most of the meals I prepare in that I make several different complete courses. My wife thinks I usually overdo it but then again she likes the food I serve so the complaints are muted.
A group of the neighbors have been getting together to let our dogs run and enjoy some wine and conversation. As we did or rather Debbie did the picnic thing for Memorial Day (see Best Ribs Ever) I thought it was time to do the full blown dinner party thing. Here is the menu for those who want to know what I will be serving along with the Baklava recipe. It may not seem like it, but I picked these recipes as they are both easy, can be made before the guests arrive and won’t destroy the budget. Here is the recipe for the Baklava which will be part of one of the desserts. Yes I did say part ; so if you are like my wife… right about now you too are thinking I may be a little over the top with this dinner.
A quick note on Meal Planning. Notice that I have the menu pretty much set, the recipes printed and the shopping list printed a full two weeks out from the event. This will allow me to find what I need and also watch for sales on the ingredients; saving money and relieving stress.
Neighborhood Saturday Night Dinner
Drinks
Martinis and Wine
Appetizers
Baked Garlic
TJ’s Special Dipping Sauce
Salad
Warmed goat cheese medallion served on Mixed Greens with French Vinaigrette
Main Course
Bistro Chicken
Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes
Haricot Vert
Bread
French Rolls
Dessert
Deconstructed Hazelnut Cheesecake
Roasted Pears with Blue Cheese Fondant and Pine Nut Baklava
Pine Nut Baklava
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 10 |
| Category: | Dessert |
| Meal: | Other (General) |
| 2 | cup | pine nuts, toasted |
| 0.5 | cup | butter, unsalted |
| 1 | cup | honey |
| 0.25 | tsp | cinnamon. ground |
| 9 | sheets | filo |
| 1 | tsp | sugar, powdered |
| 0.5 | cup | pine nuts, toasted |
| 0.5 | cup | simple syrup |
Chop the toasted pine nuts and combine with half the butter, honey, and cinnamon in a bowl. Lay 2 pieces of the filo dough on a flat surface, melt remaining butter and brush the filo with the butter, dust with powdered sugar and 2 Tb of the nut mixture. Repeat with the remaining filo, capping with the last piece of filo. Cut the filled filo to fit an oven-proof pan. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the simple syrup in a pan and reduce by half. Pour half of this on top of filo and spread evenly. Bake for 30 -40 minutes , until lightly browned. Pour remaining simply syrup over the top and allow to cool. Cut into serving pieces.
The recipes for this meal and much more can be found at emealsforyou.com
2 comments June 29, 2009
Neighborhood – Going the Way of the Porch? – A Rant
Growing up we always had someone stopping by to say hi. My parents’ friends would stop by without notice on their way home or just because they were driving by. After dinner my parents would sit out on their front porch, either in the old metal glider or the rocking chairs and talk about their workday while waving to the many people who would honk their horn going by. It was a different time and place, people weren’t as rushed and had time for each other.
After returning from 4 years in the USAF we settled down in the same general area that our parents lived in. Seeing old friends and making new were an everyday occasion. As we grew up stop-by visits with friends and relatives was a regular thing. Friends would stop by for a drink or dinner or we would stop at their houses for the same. It was a more relaxed time.
So now let’s jump to today’s world. Garage doors go up, cars pull in, garage doors shut. Our world becomes defined by work, meetings and planning for more work and more meetings. We lock ourselves in our tight houses communicating via cell phone. I guess if we put a photo of someone on our phones, so that when we receive a call from them we actually see their picture, we feel closer. Front yards are for showing off, backyards are fenced for privacy. A select group of friends make “appointments” weeks in advance to come by for a drink or maybe a meal.
So maybe we were a little less savvy back then, a little less sophisticated. Times were easier and less intense… but it seemed special as I look back on it now.
Dogs may be the answer, yes dogs. In our neighborhood most people have dogs, maybe they have transferred the need for freindship to those furry creatures mindlessly chasing a ball. The good news is that walking dogs get all of us outside… somtimes at the same time. Conversations start up, parties are planned; people are even wandering into the backyards to share a drink and a meal. Maybe we don’t need a porch glider, maybe a dog is just the right thing.
3 comments June 25, 2009
Recipe of the Week – Tilapia with Golden Raisins
(From The Fish Entrée Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Tilapia with Golden Raisins
My wife likes fish and I don’t. I try to make fish for her about once or twice a week , so I am always looking for a quick and easy recipe that is both good and easy. Something that won’t make me feel as though I just slapped it together. Tilapia is a light and fairly inexpensive fish that is getting more and more common in the grocery stores. Ideally suited for a summer dinner, served with rice and a small salad this is both satisfying and great for those who are watching their weight.
For those of you who are regular readers of this blog you know I like to add raisins to almost any dish. Golden raisins add a surprising sweet and moist touch to the dish. The sweetness offsets the acidity of the wine and the pine nuts add some crunch. Start to finish in less than 10 minutes; you would be hard pressed to come up with a better meal, good and good for you.
Tilapia with Golden Raisins
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 2 |
| Category: | Fish Entrée |
| Meal: | other (General) |
| 3 | Tb | rice flour |
| 1 | pinch | salt and pepper to taste |
| 8 | oz | tilapia |
| 2 | Tb | oil, olive |
| 2 | Tb | pine nuts, toasted |
| 2 | Tb | raisins, golden |
| 2 | oz | wine, dry white |
| 1 | Tb | butter, salted |
Mix salt and pepper with rice flour. Dredge Tilapia filets in flour, shaking off excess. Heat oil in pan and sauté filets for 3 minutes per side. Remove filets from the pan, keep warm. Add raisins, pine nuts and wine, simmer for 2 minutes, add butter, remove from heat and swirl until melted. Pour over filets and serve.
1 comment June 23, 2009
Watch Out Coupon Queen! – A Warning Rant
Caution!
As the economy continues to struggle the use of coupons grows. People who never or seldom used coupons are now clipping and saving at a furious rate. My concern here is that coupon usage is, as Martha Stewart would say, “a good thing” on the other hand overuse quickly becomes an obsession. Saving money on those items you need for daily life is a good thing; making coupon usage a competitive sport is not so good.
I believe somewhere in the middle is the right touch. We should plan our needs (read meals), then pick those coupons that assist us in feeding our families good and balanced meals. Just because the manufacturer of peanut butter puts out a coupon doesn’t necessarily mean that it is the right time to purchase a case. This is not say that buying a few extra isn’t a good idea it is just that most of us will get into a buying frenzy and spend more than we should on peanut butter and not have money left for more important items like meat, fish and vegetables. I see way too many shopping carts in the checkout line with large quantities of coupon items, mac and cheese boxes, taco “kits” but no meat to go with them. My fear is that their families are getting the same meals over and over and not more balanced meals that would come from a more planned approach. There is absolutely everything right with saving money where you can, but one should balance the savings with a smidgen of common sense. Sorry, no coupon available for that.
For added insight see our posts Grocery Shopping – Inattention Can Cost You Big and Are You Tough Enough to Win the Coupon Wars?.
1 comment June 18, 2009
Recipe of the Week – Artichoke Potato Salad
(From Salad Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Artichoke Potato Salad
In a recent post I told you that my NY City son, make that Tony Award winning son (apologies for the bragging but you gotta do what you gotta do), asked me to come up with a cookie recipe for a cookie he had in NY City. So it was not a total shock when my mother-in-law was speaking to my wife about a delicious potato salad she had just had at a luncheon and wanted to know if I could re-create it. Here is what was given to me to help in coming up with the recipe, ” it was a potato salad with artichokes but mainly the dressing was the oil that the artichokes came in.”
I look at these requests as challenges; although it does make it easier if I have actually tasted the food. Not having that advantage I try to think about what would taste good using those particular ingredients. I think I got pretty close but won’t know for sure until my mother-in-law makes this herself. What I can tell you is that the recipe below is really good, different and easy to make. Give it a try and let me know what you think.
Artichoke Potato Salad
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 6 |
| Category: | Salad |
| Meal: | Other (General) |
| 2.5 | lb | potatoes, red |
| 12 | oz | artichoke hearts, marinated |
| 3 | Tb | onion, red |
| 0.33 | cup | vinegar, white |
| 0.25 | cup | oil, olive |
| 1 | tsp | pepper, fresh cracked |
| 1 | Tb | parsley, flakes |
| 1 | Tb | oregano, dried |
| 1 | Tb | sweet basil |
| 2 | tsp | salt, kosher |
Boil potatoes with the skins on for 25 minutes or so, until they are just tender without falling apart. Slice artichokes into bite sized pieces, place in a large bowl along with the oil from the jar. Add vinegar and oil and blend. Add chopped red onion, parsley, sweet basil, cracked black pepper and oregano and stir. While potatoes are still warm cut into bite size pieces with skins on. Pour mixture over potatoes and stir. Let stand on counter for an hour, stirring occasionally to blend. Add salt to taste.( you may want to add some salt just prior to serving as the potatoes will absorb the salt) May be refrigerated at this point; be sure to allow the potato salad to come to room temperature prior to serving.
Add comment June 15, 2009
Dressing Up Old Standards – A Semi-Rant
(From The Starch Collection at emealsforyou.com)
fettichini alfredo +
Back in July of last year we wrote a post about finding your : Cooking Comfort Zone suggesting that you use the ingredients you like and not use the ingredients you don’t like. We would like to take that a bit further. Take one of your favorite recipes and add something to make it better, or at least different. You see this all the time; do you want chicken in that salad?
Take that Spinach Salad and add some Mandarin Oranges. How about adding some chicken to the Caesar Salad? Our choice is to add dried cranberries to Fettuccine Alfredo and put in some toasted pecans as well. Again, this is what we think, what is important is that you add what you like. Just like the restaurants you can add chicken, shrimp, tomatoes, just about anything that appeals to you to make the “same old same old” taste like an entirely different meal. Can’t get your kids to eat vegetables or fruit? Add it to what they like. Chances are if you put broccoli in their mac and cheese, after the initial resistance, they will eat it without further comment. Add some golden raisins or fresh mango and you have an interesting twist on a favorite. You may find that your family will like the newer version and may even thank you.
Fettuccine Alfredo
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 8 |
| Category: | Starch |
| Meal: | Dinner on the Deck (Picnic Meal Plans) |
| 1 | lb | pasta, fettuccine |
| 1 | large | egg |
| 0.66 | cup | cream, light |
| 8 | Tb | butter, salted |
| 0.5 | cup | cheese, Romano, grated |
| 0.75 | cup | cheese, Swiss shredded |
| 1 | pinch | salt and pepper to taste |
Beat egg with cream. Melt butter. Pour both over cooked, drained, hot fettuccine, add grated cheese. Toss and serve.
Add comment June 11, 2009
Congratulations – A Proud Rant
2009 Tony Award - Special Theatrical Event
Congratulations to our son, Matt, the Broadway Sound Designer, for the sound design on the ensemble: Liza’s at the Palace, 2009 Special Theatrical Event Tony award winner. Great going Matt!!!
1 comment June 8, 2009
Recipe of the Week – The Perfectly Cooked Father’s Day Steak
(From The Beef Entrée Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Grilled Steak
I am giving you a few weeks to plan this meal. This will allow you to watch the newspapers for a steak sale and gather any other ingredients you need. There are a few “secrets” when striving for the perfect steak dinner. First buy a nice steak. Choice is better than Select, thicker is better than thin. Don’t be afraid to ask the meat cutter at the store to cut a fresh steak to your required thickness and size. When asked, these guys usually like the chance to show off their skills and you will win as the steak will probably be trimmed a little better than the ones in the meat case.
Growing up my father would give each of us a steak. The first time I went to my then girlfriend’s house for steak they had one large steak cut into strips. I thought, wow how is this going to work, than after the vegetables, salad and rolls followed by dessert I understood. Back then it was all about excess, now that excess is hanging around my middle and I have learned my lesson.
I like my steak med-rare; if you like it cooked more just cook it a few minutes longer. Remember it is easier to put a steak back on if it is too rare then it is to make an overcooked steak good again. The secret is to cut a small slit in the bottom and take a peek. If it is too rare pop it in the microwave when no one is looking for just a minute, really one minute will make all the deference.
Don’t get fancy with all the marinades and steak sauces. Simply put a good amount of salt and pepper on both sides, pour on a little olive oil and make sure the grill is very hot. Cook for 1 minute per 1/4 inch thickness on each side. Now, don’t poke it, don’t prod it, don’t move it and don’t flip it until the time is right. Flip it only once. When it is done put it on a plate and let it sit for a few minutes to finish cooking and drive the juices back into the steak. Now would be the time to take a peek and see how you did.
Grilled Strip Steak
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 4 |
| Category: | Beef Entrée |
| Meal: | N/A |
| 2 | lb | steak, strip |
| 1 | Tb | salt, kosher |
| 1 | Tb | pepper, fresh cracked |
| 1 | Tb | oil, olive |
The keys here are to have the fire very hot and the steaks at least 1 thick. Have the steaks at room temperature, brush olive oil on both sides of steaks, add pepper and salt. Grill about 5 minutes on one side and 4 on the other. (depending on how you like your steak and the thickness of the steaks) remove steak from grill and let sit for 10 minutes. It will finish cooking on the platter; so take it off just before it is done as you would like.
(See the whole meal plan: Backyard Soiree (Picnic Meal Plans) at emealsforyou.com)
Add comment June 8, 2009
Are We Fooling Ourselves? – A Rant
It is always nice when we see something we have been saying for quite a while published in the New York Times. Amanda Hesser, a contributing writer for The Times magazine, had a post on Sunday, May 31 in the Times (The Commander In Chef) that advocates cooking our meals at home rather than eating out. She goes a little further in that she quotes some statistics about the times per year a typical family goes out to eat, 125 times a year in 2008. Well I think the current economy has put a stop to most of that. The other interesting fact is that we are a society that uses pre-prepared food when cooking; thinking we are saving both time and money.
We really didn’t have a chance… major food manufacturers told us how easy it was to bake cookies; just buy the pre-made, cut into pieces and bake for 8 minutes. Want a cake, no problem, open the box, add water and maybe an egg, stir, bake and decorate with icing that comes out of a container found on the store shelf. Whole meals just waiting for us to select them and pop into the oven, yum, yum! Want to know why the kids are getting a little chubby? Take a look at the ingredients panel on those easy meals your are purchasing.
Look, the main purpose of all my efforts is to get you back at the family table, enjoying a meal with your family. If you think you are saving time or money by using pre-prepared foods you are kidding yourself. So if it costs you more and you really aren’t saving any real time why not go all out occasionally and make something from scratch. You’ll be surprised at the reaction you will get.
1 comment June 3, 2009
Recipe of the Week – Chocolate Macaroon Jam Tarts
Chocolate Macaroon Jam Tarts
Last week I told you my NY City son asked me to come up with a recipe for cookies he said were all the latest and greatest in New York. What he described seemed to me to be some form of meringue cookie with a filling. In NY City they call them Macaroons or Macroons ( both spellings seem to be correct) which I associate with those warm, coconut cookies. Anyway after tasting them I believe I have come up with the recipe.
These cookies only take a few minutes to make the batter but will take most of an afternoon to bake and dry. Not that it requires you to constantly be working on them; just that they bake, low and slow. A forewarning: these babies are very sweet, a few will go a long way towards satisfying that craving. They would be ideal served after a meal. I filled these with a chocolate filling but they would be just as good with raspberry jam. Sprinkle with a little powdered sugar, serve some strong, hot coffee and you should get rave reviews. Not surprisingly, leave these on a plate on the counter and they will disappear after the first wave of kids runs through.
Chocolate Macaroon Jam Tarts
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 10 |
| Category: | Dessert |
| Meal: | N/A |
| 6 | large | egg, whites |
| 0.25 | tsp | cream of tartar |
| 1 | tsp | vanilla |
| 1.33 | cup | sugar, white |
| 2 | Tb | cocoa powder, unsweetened |
| 0.5 | cup | sugar, white |
| 0.5 | cup | corn syrup, light |
| 1 | Tb | vanilla |
| 3 | Tb | butter, unsalted |
| 0.5 | cocoa powder, unsweetened | |
Place the egg whites, cream of tartar and vanilla in a large mixer bowl. whip on low until frothy. Increase speed to high and gradually add the sugar. whip until stiff peaks and glossy. Gently fold in the cocoa until no white shows.
Cover cookie sheets with parchment paper, preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place a spoonful of the mixture onto the cookie sheets, cookies may be placed close together as they do not spread. Bake for 1.5 hour and then turn off oven and leave door slightly ajar. Allow cookies to dry for 2 hours.
For the filling: Heat the sugar,corn syrup, vanilla and butter until blended. Remove from heat and stir in cocoa. Allow the mixture to cool, spread between to cookies.(bottoms in)
Add comment June 1, 2009
