Chef Patti Anastasia
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Serving Southern New Hampshire since 2003
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Chef Patti Anastasia Serving Southern New Hampshire since 2003 |
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Table Talk » January 2010 Archives« December 2009 | Table Talk Home | July 2010 » January 29, 2010Pizza and Pudding - Cook With What You Have Challenge Day 13Tonight was the second Friday in my Cook With What You Have Challenge. Friday is pizza night so of course I made pizza with the help of my friend Pat. She did all the dirty work tonight, including washing all of the dishes. Thanks Pat! I made two small pizzas. One pizza was topped with hot Italian chicken sausage from the freezer. For the other, I roasted two red peppers from the fridge and an onion from the pantry. I use Pastene Ground Peeled Tomatoes for the sauce and tonight I opened my last can of them. I used half of the can, the rest will go into the freezer for next week's pizza, then I'll be out of the tomatoes needed for pizza. Oh no. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I've been craving something creamy and chocolately, so this afternoon I started looking for recipes for homemade chocolate pudding. I found this recipe for Best Chocolate Pudding on the Smitten Kitchen blog. I had everything needed but milk. But that problem was easily solved by the cans of coconut milk in the pantry. The pudding was smooth, rich, and creamy; the coconut milk flavor was there, under the chocolate, it was subtle, not overpowering. We both gobbled it up.
Pat and I had pizza, played BananaGrams, then savored our chocolate pudding. A lovely evening. January 28, 2010Shrimp Tikka Masala - Cook with What You Have Challenge Day 12My goal tonight was to use a partial bag of frozen shrimp. As I was thinking about the frozen shrimp, I remembered this recipe for Shrimp Tikka Masala that I had bookmarked earlier this month. Perfect. It would also allow me to use some yogurt I had in the fridge. And the ever-present onions, garlic, and ginger. My pantry, fridge, and freezer also provided everything I needed for jasmine rice and for an Indian-Spiced Spinach Madeleine. I made one substitution in the Shrimp Tikka Masala recipe. I used ketchup instead of tomato paste because there is no tomato paste in my pantry. Spinach Madeleine is my go-to recipe for creamed spinach, but I change it up to complement whatever cuisine I am cooking. For this Indian version, I used about 4 ounces of light cream cheese instead of the jalapeno cheese. I also start this recipe by sauteing a chopped onion or a few shallots. Tonight I used onion. You don't need 1/4 cup of butter for this recipe. I use 2 tablespoons of oil or butter. I seasoned the spinach with garam masala and a pinch of crushed red pepper instead of Worcestershire sauce and celery seed. Another great meal from the pantry. I'll definitely make the Shrimp Tikka Masala again.
January 27, 2010Cook With What You Have Challenge - Day 11 Taco NightWhen I sorted through the refrigerator and pantry last week, I found an open box of taco shells, an open jar of tomato salsa, an open jar of salsa verde, a can of black olives, some cheddar cheese, onions, red bell peppers, an avocado, and scallions. If I added some ground beef from the freezer and bought lettuce and tomatoes, I had everything I needed for Taco Night. I don't follow a recipe for tacos. Along with the meat, I saute chopped onion and red bell pepper. I added in an 8 ounce can of tomato sauce, the salsa verde, chili powder, and oregano. I usually add cumin too, but I'm out of it right now. We opted for taco salads, so after heating up the taco shells, I broke them up into bite size pieces and we built our taco salads with the taco meat, cheese, lettuce, olives, scallions, tomatoes, avocado, and salsa. Tacos are a simple, but very satisfying meal. Sorry about the lack of pictures. It's too hard to steady the camera and take a picture with only one good hand. January 26, 2010Cook with What You Have Challenge - Days 9 & 10 Chicken Parmesan & Rioja ChickenMonday was Day 9 of my Cook with What You Have Challenge. Dinner went into the crockpot first thing Monday morning. Rioja Chicken, based on this recipe from Cooking Light. I use boneless, skinless chicken thighs and I don't dredge them in flour. I also use orange zest instead of lemon zest. On Monday, I used dried apricots instead of prunes, because I had apricots. My plan was to cook rice and broccoli at dinner time. Dinner got a bit discombobulated Monday night because I cut my thumb badly while I was working and ended my day at the local urgent care facility with four stitches in my thumb. Dinner was the last thing on my mind when I got home. I pulled a bag of Steamfresh rice out of the freezer instead of cooking rice and Tom cooked the broccoli. We both liked this dish with the apricots instead of prunes and I wouldn't hesitate to make that substitution again. Gone from the larder are a package of frozen chicken thighs. a package of Steamfresh rice, an open jar of olives, and an open bottle of Rioja wine. Sorry no pictures. Quinoa-Stuffed Poblano PeppersI'm posting this recipe because my friend Jaime requested it. Every time I make these stuffed peppers, they are a big hit. Poblano peppers are a relatively mild chile pepper that originated in the State of Puebla, Mexico. When poblano peppers are dried, they are called ancho chiles. Poblanos tend to be mild, but they can be hot. I like to roast them before stuffing. I usually roast and peel them when I use them in recipes, but when I peeled them to use in this recipe, they lost their structure and were hard to stuff. Roasting without peeling works well in this recipe. If you can't find poblano peppers, you can use bell peppers and then add more jalapeno to the stuffing mixture for a bit more heat.
Continue reading "Quinoa-Stuffed Poblano Peppers" » January 24, 2010Cook with What You Have Challenge - Days 7 & 8 Veggie Broth, Potato Soup, Black Rice Curried MeatloafSaturday was day 7 of my Cook with What You Have Challenge. I started the day making Baked Oatmeal, then shopped for vegetables and dairy. Potatoes seem to be multiplying in my pantry, so I decided to use some of them by making Irish Potato Soup, a creamy, but cream-free, potato soup. I wanted to make it with vegetable broth rather than chicken broth, and had added vegetable broth to my shopping list, but before I left for the store, I was thumbing through Mark Bittman's Food Matters, and saw a vegetable broth recipe. I had everything I needed to make Bittman's vegetable broth, so I took the broth off my list and made it Saturday afternoon. My first ever vegetable broth. I took Bittman's advice and sauted the vegetables. I also left the skins on the onions to add more color to the broth. The resultant broth was delicious, and I used up two onions, a few cloves of garlic, 2 potatoes, a few stalks of celery, and some sad looking carrots. I had dinner out: Thai food. Before going out, we made Thai mango pudding, using some unflavored gelatin and coconut milk from the pantry. On Sunday, Day 8, I used some of the potatoes, an onion, a bunch of shallots (because I didn't have any leeks), a few stalks of celery, and about half of the veggie broth to make the Irish Potato Soup. The recipe calls for 1/4 of butter, I used 1 tablepoon of olive oil. Sunday's dinner was Black Rice Curried Meatloaf with roasted potatoes and cauliflower. The meatloaf recipe allowed me to use up the open jar of mango chutney in the fridge and to use some black rice in the pantry. Other than the zucchini in the meatloaf I had everything I needed to make this meal. This time I made mini meatloaves. I tossed the potatoes with some garam masala. This time around, Tom gave the meatloaf two thumbs up. The recipe made six mini meatloaves, three of them will go in the freezer. January 22, 2010Cook with What You Have Challenge - Day 6 Pizza NightIt's Friday and those who know me know that Friday is homemade pizza night. Tonight was no exception. I made two pizzas tonight, a spinach, roasted onion, feta, and kalamata olive pizza for me. And a gluten-free mushroom and onion pizza for a friend who joined me for dinner. For the gluten-free pizza, I used a bag of Bob's Red Mill Pizza mix that I've been wanted to test using flax eggs. My friend brought salad fixings, to which I contributed a cucumber, and we had pizza and salad. I had some gluten-free chocolate chip cookie dough left over from Tuesday's cook date, so I made her some cookies to take home. She also took home the rest of her pizza and the salad that we didn't finish. I should have made two thinner pizzas from the gluten-free mix. The pizza was a little thicker than I wanted it to be, but otherwise, my friend liked it. (I didn't tell her that I was experimenting with making it egg-free.) I didn't take any pictures tonight. I also went through my pantry today and discarded expired items: four cans of evaporated milk that were hiding way in the back, a bottle of salad dressing, and a jar of spreadable fruit. I consolidated my open rice, grain, and pasta packages. I set aside a few items that I know I won't use to take to the food pantry: a jar of yellow mustard (I hate yellow mustard, how did that get in my pantry?), two boxes of elbow macaroni, a box of couscous, apple juice, a box of gingersnaps that I bought for a holiday recipe that I never made, and a few other things. Then I planned pantry meals for next week. Other than beef, which I don't want to eat more than once a week, I don't have a lot of meat in the freezer, but I have enough for next week's dinners. After that, there are some frozen meals to use up. I'm going out to dinner tomorrow night, and but will be eating from the pantry for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. My next pantry dinner will be Sunday night. Continue reading "Cook with What You Have Challenge - Day 6 Pizza Night" » January 21, 2010Cook with What You Have Challenge - Day 5 Rice Salad & Fennel-Pepper Lamb ChopsTonight's Cook with What You Have Challenge dinner is something I'm calling Mediterranean Rice Salad and Fennel-Pepper Lamb Rib Chops. I love lamb rib chops, but they are pricey, so whenever I see them reduced for quick sale, I grab them and either cook them that day or vacuum seal and freeze them. I had one package in the freezer and since I'm dining alone this week, it's the perfect time to use them. One of my favorite rubs for lamb is Fennel-Black Pepper Rub that I make by grinding 2 tablespoons fennel seeds, 1 tablespoon black pepper, and 1 1/2 tablespoons coriander seeds in a spice grinder, then adding 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon garlic powder. I sprinkled the lamb chops with the rub, let them sit for 30 minutes, then broiled them for 2 minutes on each side. For the rice salad, I cooked some brown rice using this method from Saveur. Then it was time to find Mediterranean ingredients in the fridge and panty. A partial jar of pesto, a jar of marinated artichoke hearts, a jar of roasted red peppers, more(!) pine nuts, some picholine olives, and a splash of sherry vinegar. I didn't add any olive oil because even when drained, the artichoke hearts brought enough oil to the salad. Another delicious pantry dinner. My only regret is that I forgot that I have fresh parsley in the fridge. The salad would have benefited from some chopped fresh parsley, both in presentation and taste. I'll add some parsley when I have the rice salad for lunch tomorrow.
For this meal, I used a package of lamb chops from the freezer, finished an open jar of pesto, used a jar of marinated artichokes and a jar of roasted red peppers from the pantry, finished an open package of pine nuts from the fridge, and made a good dent in an open jar of picholine olives Continue reading "Cook with What You Have Challenge - Day 5 Rice Salad & Fennel-Pepper Lamb Chops" » January 20, 2010Cook With What You Have Challenge - Day 4 Israeli Couscous w/Butternut Squash & Steak KabobsWednesday's Cook With What You Have Challenge dinner was whole wheat Israeli couscous and roasted butternut squash and a beef kabob. The squash was from my weekend produce run, everything else was from the pantry. I had planned on cooking some lamb rib chops from the freezer, but I had a handful of beef cubes left over from yesterday's cook date, so I decided to use those tonight and will use the lamb chops tomorrow. The butternut squash is cut up small and roasted, I used leeks and parsley that were cook date leftovers in the Israeli couscous. Also some pine nuts that have been hanging out in the fridge for a while. The couscous is also seasoned with a cinnamon stick from my spice pantry. I've made this dish before, but not with leeks. They made it extra delicious. The beef was not the best cut for kabobs, so when I got home yesterday, I tossed it in a marinade of sherry vinegar, olive oil, and Garlic Saltburst (a delicious seasoning made from garlic, salt, lemon, and sumac, a gift from my friend Sandy) to tenderize and season them. Cooked to medium-rare, the beef was tasty. I'll be having the Israeli couscous and butternut squash for lunch tomorrow.
January 19, 2010Cook With What You Have Challenge - Day 3 Salmon & Lemon-Dijon LentilsI started the day with more baked oatmeal and fruit. Lunch was yesterday's Spicy Cellantini, Beans, and Spinach. The crushed red pepper provided a nice bite to this dish. After snowblowing the driveway for an hour or so, I had an afternoon snack of So Delicious Coconut Milk Minis (yup, I had two, maybe they are too good). For dinner tonight, I cooked up some lentils to make lemon-dijon lentils to go with my salmon and roasted asparagus. I normally take the easy route and use canned lentils for this meal, but I've had a package of French green lentils in my pantry forever. It was time to use them! I cooked 1 cup of the lentils, the package said that would give me 2 cups of cooked lentils, which was perfect, but they cooked up to more like 3 cups, so after dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow, I still have more dried lentils and I have another serving of lemon-dijon lentils (another lunch). Maybe some lentil soup next week? For the lemon-dijon lentils, I chopped up a few carrots that were hanging around in the fridge, the rest of the red pepper from Sunday's cake cakes, and some scallions. I usually use some red onion in the lentils, but I don't have a cut red onion, and I have a bag of scallions. These veggies get sauteed in olive oil, then tossed with the lentils. The dressing is dijon mustard (yay, I finished an open jar), lemon zest and juice, olive oil, dill, and black pepper. I added all the dressing ingredients to the mustard jar, put the cover on the jar, and shook it to combine everything. The asparagus and salmon went on a baking sheet and I drizzled a bit of the dressing on the salmon and roasted them at 400F for 8 minutes. Even with cooking the lentils, dinner took only 30 minutes to make start to finish. And it was delicious.
Tomorrow's lunch will be Lemon-Dijon Lentils and Asparagus. (You'll start to notice a pattern, my dinner side dishes are vegan and become the next day's lunch.) Continue reading "Cook With What You Have Challenge - Day 3 Salmon & Lemon-Dijon Lentils" » January 18, 2010Cook With What You Have Challenge - Day 2 Pasta, Beans & GreensFor Day 2 of the Cook with What You Have Challenge, my goal was to create a dinner that would work as a vegan lunch for tomorrow. I decided on Spicy Cellantini, Beans, and Spinach. Breakfast this morning was baked oatmeal that I made last night from pantry ingredients: rolled oats, apples, raisins, walnuts, cinnamon, ginger, and hemp milk. The oatmeal makes 6 servings and will be my breakfasts for the week. This morning when I had it, I spread a little bit of peanut butter on it because after breakfast I had a lot of wet heavy snow waiting for me to shovel. Lunch was a veggie burger with some avocado slices. (I need to find a vegan veggie burger that doesn't contain soy! Any suggestions? I know, I can make them, but I haven't had time to do that yet.) The inspiration for tonight's recipe is a recipe I have for Spicy Rigatoni with Beans and Greens. It has sauteed onion and garlic, canned diced tomatoes, spinach, white beans, sage, and crushed red pepper. A simple but delicious sounding dish. And an opportunity to finish the end of a box of cellantini pasta, a bag of baby spinach, a can of tomatoes, and a can of small red beans. No formal recipe here. The cellantini box had 5 ounces of pasta in it. Perfect for two servings, so I cooked that up and drained it. Sauteed a chopped onion and minced garlic (3 cloves) and some crushed red pepper. Can you believe that I have only one 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes in the house? Well, I didn't want all that liquid in this dish, so I spooned about of the tomatoes and juice into the pan, then drained the rest of the juice before adding the rest of the tomatoes to the can. In went the baby spinach, on went the cover and the spinach cooked until wilted. Added the beans, seasoned with salt and pepper, some dried basil, and a bit more crushed red pepper. The whole thing took about 20 minutes to cook, including cooking the pasta. Not the prettiest dish, but it was quite tasty. For dinner, I sprinkled some parmesan cheese on it. But it is so flavorful that I know I won't miss that sprinkle of parmesan cheese tomorrow when I have it for lunch.
Continue reading "Cook With What You Have Challenge - Day 2 Pasta, Beans & Greens" » January 17, 2010Cook With What You Have Challenge - Day 1 Cajun Crab CakesMy friend and fellow personal chef Tami over at Garden, Grocery, and Gadget Girl issued a Cook with What You've Got challenge for the week of January 18. The purpose of the challenge is that rather than buying more food for the week, you cook with the food that is already in your fridge, freezer, and pantry. The challenge has some leeway and you can buy fresh produce, milk, etc. But the goal is buy as few groceries. Tami also challenged us to donate the difference between to what we normally spend on a week's groceries and what we spent on produce for this week to an organization providing relief to Haiti. The challenge officially starts on Monday, but I started today. On Friday, I poked around in my fridge, pantry, and freezer and saw what I had on hand and thought about what I wanted to use up this week. I made some basic plans for meals and decided on the vegetables that I wanted to go with those meals. Grocery shopping on Friday took less than 15 minutes. I bought 15 items, 14 of them from the produce department, the 15th item was was hemp milk. Yesterday we made a donation to Doctors Without Borders. The challenge starts with taking pictures of your food supplies. Here are mine.
As you can see, I have a lot to work with. But, for me, there is a twist. I'm eating vegan before 6pm as an experiment to reduce my meat and dairy consumption. So, I'm not going to be making a dent in that freezer full of organic beef (we bought 1/4 of a organically raised cow in October). Continue reading "Cook With What You Have Challenge - Day 1 Cajun Crab Cakes" » Something different for Valentine's Day: Love, Lust, and DesireI'm taking a break from the usual food-related posts to tell you about an upcoming art exhibit that features three pieces made by one of my clients. Claire Larrabee makes jewelry unlike anything that I've ever seen. It's beautiful and it makes you think. Three of Claire's pieces are featured in McGowan Fine Arts upcoming exhibit called Love, Lust, and Desire. McGowan calls it a low fat alternative for your sweetheart just in time for Valentine's Day. The exhibit features over 50 artists showing works that are 11 x 8 or smaller! These are Claire's pieces featured in this exhibit
You can see more of Claire's designs at Seafire Design. I get to see her newest pieces every few weeks. January 10, 2010Gluten-free Goodness: Sloppy Joes in a Hash Brown CrustMost kids like Sloppy Joes, and Jayne is no exception, except Jayne can't eat gluten or eggs, so the bun part of Sloppy Joes is a challenge for her. Most of the tasty gluten-free buns we've found have eggs. I was on a mission to come up with a way to make Sloppy Joes for Jayne. I had two inspirations for what I came up with: Sloppy Joe Spaghetti Cups from Joe at Culinary in the Country and Hash Brown Quiche from Amy Casey at Dinners for a Year and Beyond. I could have made Joe's spaghetti cup with gluten-free spaghetti, but Jayne loves potatoes and a solution that doesn't use dairy except for butter was more appropriate for her family.
Continue reading "Gluten-free Goodness: Sloppy Joes in a Hash Brown Crust" » |
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