Meals

Here are a number of recipes/photos for meals we've had in the last few weeks.

Basic Broiled Tofu from Veganomicon. This turned out pretty well, although I think the lemon juice made it taste a bit too sour.
1 pound extra-firm tofu
1/4 cup water
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 T lemon juice
2 T soy sauce

Cut the tofu into sixteen slices - slice through the block both width and lengthwise.
Mix all ingredients other than tofu.
Dip each piece of tofu in the liquid and then place on a broiler-safe pan. Broil for 10 minutes. Brush with liquid. Broil 3 more minutes. Repeat this step twice. Remove tofu from oven. It should be golden brown.

Zucchini Ricotta Cheesecake from www.101cookbooks.com
2 cups zucchini, unpeeled & grated
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
2 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1/2 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
2 shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped
zest of one lemon
2 large eggs, well beaten
1/3 cup goat cheese, crumbled
drizzle of olive oil

Preheat oven to 325F degrees, racks the middle. Butter/oil a 7-inch springform pan. (I used a 9 inch cake pan and slightly decreased the cooking time.
In a strainer, toss the shredded zucchini with the salt and let sit for ten minutes. Now aggressively squeeze and press out as much moisture as you can. Set aside.
In the meantime, combine the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, shallots, garlic, dill and lemon zest in a medium bowl. Stir in the eggs and continue mixing until well combined. Now stir in the shredded zucchini. Fill the springform pan with the ricotta mixture and place on a baking sheet. Place in the oven and bake for sixty minutes. If there is any moisture left on top of the cake at this point, carefully use a bit of paper towel to dab it off. Now sprinkle with the goat cheese and return to the oven for another 20 -30 minutes or until the goat cheese is melted and the cake barely jiggles in the center (it will set up more as it cools).
At this point, if the cake is baked and set, but the top isn't quite golden, I'll zap it with the broiler (just about a minute) to get a bit more color on top. Remove from the oven and let cool five minutes, then release the cake from its pan. Cool completely, serve at room temperature drizzled with a bit of olive oil and a few sprigs of dill.

Panzanella (Bread and Tomato Salad) from www.recipezaar.com

SERVES 4
1/2 red onion, diced
8 ounces sourdough bread or ciabatta (toasted or day old)
4 medium tomatoes, ripe, chopped
4 ounces low fat mozzarella, cubed (I used white cheddar)
12 kalamata olives, pitted and halved (I omitted)
1/4 cup basil, shredded
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper, freshly ground

Put diced red onion in a small bowl and cover with water. (This removes some of the oniony taste.) The longer you soak it the milder it will become.If bread is not day old, slice and place on cookie sheet in preheated 400 degree oven for about 10-12 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly.
Meanwhile, prepare and place all ingredients other than the bread and onion in a large bowl and mix. Tear bread into bite size pieces, drain onions and add to tomato mix. Combine well. Adjust the seasonings to taste and serve.

Red Curry Chicken and Eggplant (Aubergine) from www.recipezaar.com

1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk or
3 tablespoons red curry paste (I only used 2T)
1 lb boneless skinless chicken thigh, cubed
2-3 Japanese eggplants or Japanese eggplants, cut into 1 inch chunks
2 tablespoons fish sauce
4 kaffir lime leaves, torn into pieces or juice of 1/2 lime (I used 1-2 T lime juice)
2 fresh red chilies, cut into very thin strips (I omitted)
1/2 cup Thai basil or sweet basil, chopped

Heat a heavy saute pan over medium high heat.
Add 1/4 can of the thicker coconut milk. When it bubbles, add curry paste and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add additional 1/4 can of the thicker coconut milk and cook for 5- 8 minutes, until the oil begins to separate.
Add chicken and stir to coat well. Cook for about 4 minutes until the chicken has changed color and firmed up. Add remaining coconut milk, bring to a boil, add eggplant and cook at a simmer, covered until chicken and eggplant are completely cooked. Stir in fish sauce and lime leaves. Cook at a low simmer for 5 minutes.Just before serving, stir in chiles and basil.

Finally A New Post!

I've been lazy the last few weeks and haven't posted anything. During the week, I usually don't get on the computer at home since I use the computer all day at work. So, the weekend is the best opportunity to post. The past few weeks have been busy, although nothing extraordinary. Work is going well. It's finally slowed down since the summer associates are gone. Who would've thought that a job could be busiest in the summertime...

Scott and I have been spending a lot of time staining our deck. It's taking far too much time to do this. Especially since we only work on it Saturdays. Snowbird is doing well. He had his first vet appointment yesterday. The vet thought he was in perfect health and complimented me on getting such a fabulous dog. He's become quite attached to me. He whines when I leave - even if Scott is still with him. Yesterday he saw me in the backyward while he was inside with Scott and got quite upset that he couldn't be out there with me. I find it very flattering.

I've been doing lots of reading in the past few weeks. I finished re-reading the Harry Potter series. I loved the books even more this time than I have before...probably since I read them all at once. I also read a cute book about the history of American Chinese food called the Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Jennifer 8. Lee (really, an 8!), All the Way Home by David Giffels (about a family who bought and remodeled a condemned house), My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger (a well-written coming-of-age story). I'm currently reading a fabulous book called the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. It's an epistolary novel - written entirely in letters - about a group of people from Guernsey, one of the Channel islands between England and France which was the only part of Britain occupied during WWII.

And of course, I've been cooking too. I will work on getting my recent recipes and photos up later today.

Birthday Meal

Sunday was Scott's designated birthday dinner, since we didn't have time to make a fancy meal on his birthday. Scott often likes to get ribs when we go out to eat. I've never made ribs on my own before, but I thought it would be a nice birthday treat for him. My parents frequently make ribs, but they usually bake then barbecue them. I slow-roasted these ribs for about 2.5 hours. They were fabulous! The recipe was great. I really liked the sauce (of course, since it's almost entirely made of sugar, the sauce is difficult not to like).

I served the ribs with some instant mashed potatoes. I've always love these boxed, flavored potatoes. Perhaps I'm getting snobbish after eating so much homemade food, but these instant potatoes just didn't taste that good to me. I also diced up several pattypan squash that I bought at the farmer's market and cooked it with some garlic. At the end I added a little lemon juice and chopped dill. Turned out pretty well.

For dessert I made a chocolate cream pie. I decided to cover it with a meringue. Despite the fact that it was pretty humid out, the egg whites did whip properly, although they took longer than they would have otherwise. When I broiled the meringue, I left it in the oven a tinge too long which resulted in a nice, burnt meringue. Luckily, I was able to remove the burnt portions and the rest of the pie didn't suffer. (I ended up eating the burnt meringue. I've always liked the taste of char - even burnt toast).

Here are the recipes and pictures.

Should Be Illegal Oven BBQ Ribs

SERVES 4 -6

3 lbs pork back ribs (I only bought 2.5 lbs)
1 (8 ounce) jar honey
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon celery salt (I substituted some celery seed)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 medium onion, grated or finely chopped (I omitted)
12 ounces barbecue sauce
1/4 cup white sugar (next time, I might leave this out to decrease some sweetness)

Place all ingredients together in large roasting pan (I used the bottom of a turkey roaster).
Cut ribs apart for easier serving.
Mix together making sure to coat all ribs with the sauce.
Spread ribs out evenly on bottom of pan.
cover lightly with foil.
Bake at 325 degrees for 2-3 hours, turning and stirring occasionally.

Chocolate Cream Pie

Oops...

After removing the meringue...not as pretty, but the taste made up for it...

1 2/3 cups water
3 tablespoons cornstarch
5 tablespoons cocoa
1 (14 ounce) can eagle brand sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (9 inch) baked pastry shell (I used a chocolate graham crust)

Meringue:
3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons sugar

Mix water and cornstarch and cocoa until smooth.
Sir in Eagle Brand milk and egg yolks.
Cook on medium-low until mixture reaches a boil and becomes thick in saucepan. This often takes longer than you would expect or want.
Stir in 2 tablespoons butter.
Add vanilla.
Cool slightly (stirring occasionally).
Pour into baked pie shell.
For meringue: Mix eggwhites, cream of tarter, and vanilla in electric mixer until reaches soft peaks. Add sugar 1 T at a time until egg whites reach stiff peaks.
Top pie with meringue and brown in broiler (but don't burn!)
Alternatively, top the pie with whipped cream after chilling.
Refrigerate pie until cool and fully set.

Birthday Week

Scott's birthday was on Thursday. He spent his birthday afternoon taking the Anesthesia Knowledge Test. Since we both worked that day we didn't do anything special for his birthday. We did go out to eat at a new restaurant down the street from our house called Ronin Sushi Cafe. We were quite surprised at the quality of the food. Little restaurant in the suburbs (or the city) often are pretty bad. This was delicious. We shared a penang chicken curry and the drunken noodles with tofu.

We spent Saturday working outside. Scott was sanding the deck. We're planning on staining it next week. I mowed the front lawn, which takes an hour alone. The backyard is up next. Mowing the lawn is a new chore for me, but I actually enjoy it. I just listen to my I-Pod and mow away. I had to work from 4 to midnight. I made us french toast for a late lunch before leaving for work. Luckily, work was very light...thankfully not many attorneys were working on a Saturday. I read 300 pages of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (I decided last week to re-read the first book in the series and can't stop reading them).

Here are our meals for the week:

Grilled Zucchini

I made these on the George Forman grill, my new favorite appliance.

Peanut Butter Krispy Treats
This tasty recipe was adapted from a great cookbook, Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson. I decided to add some chocolate.

3/4 cup unsalted creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt (or about 1/2-3/4 t kosher salt)
2 1/4 teaspoons agar-agar flakes (available at a health foods store)
4 cups unsweetened crisp brown crispy rice cereal
6-7 ounces chocolate chips, melted.

Combine the peanut butter, maple syrup, salt, and agar flakes in a large saucepan over low heat and stir constantly until smooth, hot, melted, and bubbling just a bit. Add the cereal and stir until well coated. Transfer to an 8 by 8 inch baking dish and press into place with a wooden spoon or a piece of waxed paper.
Pour melted chocolate over rice krispy treats.
Refrigerate until completely cool, then cut into 2 by 1.5 inch rectangles with a sharp knife.

Monday night:
I made a chicken curry using a Trade Joe's red curry simmer sauce and mixed in half a bunch of spinach. I made a fabulous okra curry as a side dish.

Quick Okra Curry from http://www.recipezaar.com/

SERVES 4
250 g frozen okra, tops taken off and the rest cut into one inch pieces
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon cayenne (I omitted)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ginger powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 cup water
Saute onions in oil until golden brown.
Add spices and half cup water.
Saute for two minutes on medium heat.
Add okra, salt, and rest of water.
Cook covered for 5 minutes.
Add tomatoes. Cover and cook until okra is cooked (15-20 min) on medium heat.

Wednesday Night:
Another cooking blog that I really enjoy is Simply Recipes: www.elise.com/recipes. She had an interesting recipe for a salmon stew that I decided to try. I've been trying to add more fish to our diet. This stew was tasty...not my favorite dish, but good enough to remake. I didn't like the pictures much, but this gives you some kind of idea.

Salmon Fish Stew, Brazilian Style

Marinade:
The cloves from 1/2 head of garlic, peeled, crushed, minced
2 Tablespoons of fresh lime juice
3/4 teaspoon of coarse salt
1 Tablespoon of sweet paprika
2 1/2 teaspoons of dry cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper

Other:
1 1/2 to 2 pounds of salmon, cut into 2-inch pieces (largish-bite sized pieces)
Olive oil
2 medium onions, sliced
1 large bell pepper, seeded, de-stemmed, and sliced
2 medium tomatoes, sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 14-ounce can thick coconut milk
1 large bunch fresh cilantro, chopped, 1-2 cups

1 Mix together the marinade ingredients. Let the salmon marinate in this paste for at least 2 hours. The longer, the better.
2 In a large pan (large covered skillet or Dutch oven), coat the bottom of the pan with a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Add a layer of sliced onions, and then a layer of sliced bell peppers, and a layer of sliced tomatoes. Place the fish pieces, with the marinade, on top of everything, and start layering again - onions, bell peppers, and tomatoes. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Add about half of your fresh cilantro to the top. Pour coconut milk over the top. Drizzle generously with olive oil over the top (several tablespoons).
3 Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for 30 minutes to an hour, until the vegetables are cooked through.

Serve with rice; garnish with remaining cilantro.

Serves 6-8, very generously.

Friday night:
I made a fabulous dish tonight. It was super-easy, pretty healthy, and will definitely become a regular dish at our house.

Italian Turkey Sausage and Peppers with Bowtie Pasta from www.recipezaar.com.

SERVES 4 -6

1/2 large onion, chopped
1 red pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional or to taste)
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
4 fresh basil leaves, torn
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 teaspoon fresh oregano
1 lb Italian turkey sausage link (about 6 links)
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
8 ounces bow tie pasta, cooked (I used rigatoni)

Saute onion, peppers and pepper flakes in olive oil until onions start to brown.
Add garlic, salt, pepper, basil and oregano.
Set aside.
Prick sausage links with a fork.
Saute in skillet with a little olive oil over medium heat until brown.
Add wine vinegar and canned tomatoes (with liquid).
Add the sauteed vegetable mixture.
Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile cook pasta al dente.
Add cooked pasta to sausage and pepper mixture.
Stir and serve.

Recent Meals

Here is another update of my cooking. On Wednesday, I made an easy slow-cooker meal, Orange Chicken. I have a jar of orange marmalade in the refrigerator left over from another recipe that I keep trying to use up. I figured this recipe would be a good way to work on that. I thought it tasted pretty good. I forgot to add the flour, so I added a cornstarch/water slurry at the end to thicken it up a bit. Next time, I would decrease the marmalade. The orange taste was a bit strong. I served the chicken with roasted sugar snap peas and rice.

Slow Cooker Orange Chicken Recipe from www.recipezaar.com

SERVES 4
8 boneless skinless chicken thighs
3 tablespoons flour
1/3 cup orange marmalade
1/3 cup barbecue sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon grated fresh gingerroot

Toss chicken with flour in slow cooker.
Stir in all remaining ingredients; cover with lid.
Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours.

Thursday night Scott did the cooking for me. My visiting teaching companion arrived to pick me up to go visiting teaching right as I was starting the recipe. Scott was kind enough to finish up for me. He even added his own secret: corn and extra cheese.

Stove Top Tamale Pie Recipe from www.recipezaar.com

SERVES 4

1 lb ground beef
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (14 ounce) can kidney beans, undrained
1/2 cup water
1 (1 1/4 ounce) package taco seasoning
1 (8 ounce) package corn muffin mix (I used Jiffy)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used white cheddar)
1/4 cup sliced green onions (I didn't have any of these)

In a large skillet, brown ground beef over medium-high heat; drain.
Stir in tomato sauce, beans, water and taco seasoning mix.
Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer 5 minutes.
Prepare corn muffin mix according to package directions.
Drop small spoonfuls of muffin batter over meat mixture in a skillet.
Cover and cook over medium-low heat 15-17 minutes or until corn bread is done.
Top with cheese and green onion.
Cover and cook over low heat until cheese melts.

Friday night was a very tasty meal of eggs and rice from my favorite blog, www.101cookbooks.com. I used Bhutanese red rice, which I had bought at a co-op in San Francisco. It had a nice taste to it and the color was wonderful. It was a nice, simple meal. Heidi, the recipe creator, has a really interesting method to poach eggs. I tried it out and it worked better than any other method I've tried (admittedly few).

I served the dish with grilled eggplant. I brushed olive oil and eggplant slices and grilled them on my George Foreman grills. Very easy and delicious.

Poached Eggs over Rice

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 pinches of salt
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (optional) (I omitted)
3/4 cup organic extra-firm tofu (optional), 1/4 inch dice (I omitted)
1 small clove garlic, chopped
2 - 3 cups dark leafy green, deveined and finely chopped (I used kale)
2 - 3 cups pre-cooked whole grain rice (brown is fine) (I used Bhutanese red rice)
4 good quality eggs
Soy sauce to taste

Fill a wide-mouthed saucepan with 3-4 inches of water and bring to a simmer.
Separately, warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the onion, salt, and crusher red pepper flakes. Let the onions soften up a bit - a couple minutes. Stir in the tofu if you are using it - let that heat up and brown a tad. Now stir in the garlic and greens. Cook the greens for a couple minutes, until they collapse and soften up. Stir in the pre-cooked rice and saute until hot. Remove from heat, and set aside. Taste for seasoning as well. Add a few splashes of soy sauce to taste.
Now back to the simmering water. You are going to use this to poach the eggs one at a time. Gently crack egg into a ramekin, carefully slip it into a mesh strainer over your sink - some of the whites will run through and strain off (if the mesh is too fine, you won't get the desired effect). This minimizes the fly-away whites you normally get. Now, carefully slide the egg back into the ramekin. Lower the ramekin down into the simmering water and let the egg slip out. Let it simmer there for a few minutes, past the point when the whites have become opaque. If you like a loose yolk, cook for less time. Remove the egg with a strainer or slotted spoon and either serve it atop some rice or set aside while you repeat the process with the remaining eggs.
Divide the rice between four bowls and serve each topped with one of the poached eggs.
Makes four servings.

Snowbird at the Dog Park

Today I took Snowbird to the dog park for the first time. He loved it! The dog park (in Burnsville) had a special event called Dog Days, essentially a number of vendors advertising their services, as well as a silent auction to benefit the dog park. We went into the dog park after going around the venders. The dog park has a large pond that all the dogs, including Snowbird, seem to love. There were lots of dogs there for him to play with. After we got home, he was so muddy that I had to give him a thorough bath before I would let him back in the house.

The coolest part of the Dog Days event was Bobbing for Hot Dogs - 3 hot dogs for $1. Money well-spent.

Snowbird at the dog park.

Snowbird after the dog park.

Various Dinners

Things have been a bit crazy adjusting to life with a dog. Snowbird is going great. My routine for the last few days has been to get up at 5:30, take him out to the bathroom, stick him back in the crate (for which he thinks I'm a monster), and go to the gym for 30 minutes. Then I come back and we go on a 30 minute walk before I stick him back in the crate while I'm at work. After work, I take him outside to the bathroom, work out on the bike downstairs for 30 minutes while he plays, and then go on another 30 minute walk. Then I cook dinner. Things are slowly developing into normalcy. I need to get back into my cleaning routines too. The extra dog hair is requiring a lot more vacuuming and swiffering.

Here are a few of my recent dinners.
On Sunday night, I decided that I wanted to make blueberry sauce with a bunch of leftover blueberries. To go with it, I made gingerbread pancakes - breakfast for dinner. The pancakes tasted good, but did not look very good, so no pictures. The blueberry sauce was also excellent - I've been eating it for breakfast with oatmeal or yogurt.

GingerBread Pancakes from http://www.recipezaar.com/

1 1/3 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (optional)
1 egg
1 1/4 cups milk
1/4 cup molasses
3 tablespoons canola oil

Sift together the dry ingredients.
Beat egg well.
Add milk, beat in molasses, then canola oil. Mix in dry ingredients until smooth.
Using a quarter cup measure, spread pancake on preheated griddle and cook until golden brown.

Blueberry Sauce from http://www.recipezaar.com/

2 1/4 cups

1 lb fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon rind

Combine all ingredients in medium saucepan.
Stir over medium heat until cornstarch dissolves.
Boil until thickened, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes.
Cover and refrigerate.

On Monday night, I made a pesto crusted salmon. I put leftover pesto on two pieces of wild salmon, seared it, and baked it at 400 degrees until it was done - about 15-20 minutes.

On Tuesday night, I made a roasted beet salad. I roasted a bunch of small beets I'd bought at the farmer's market for about an hour at 375 degrees and some asparagus at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. To that I added a bag of baby spinach, half of a green pepper, and about 4 oz of feta cheese. I used the creamy garlic dressing (recipe and picture posted below). It was quite tasty. I don't love beets, but I like them well enough to try them once or twice a year. I think roasting brings out a nice flavor. See the photo: