Fondue 2008

It’s time for our yearly installment of melted cheese - our Valentine's Day tradition. Last year, we said we were going to try smoked gouda for this year's cheese selection, but we got sidetracked. Michael was in Milton trying to find some Kirsch - we had run out last year and our local package stores didn’t carry the firewater.

Across the street from a liquor store, he spied a cute little wine and cheese shop called Esprit du Vin, so he thought he’d check it out. After explaining to the cheese purveyor what our plan was, she said no no no, you must try Comté along with your Gruyere. Comté is a French Gruyere that is very mild in flavor, very reminiscent of a baby swiss, it’s light and fairly neutral thereby balancing out the stronger Swiss Gruyere.

So that’s what we went with this year folks – you can find exact recipes in some of our old posts. And as per usual, we dunked steamed broccoli, grilled kielbasa, Fuji apples, French bread and some raw red peppers. Happy St. Valentine's Day!

Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash

I have to make this dish at least once a year, not only because it's yummy, but the presentation is really cool. Acorn squash are very easy to find even in your local market. They are a "winter squash" that has an orange flesh, and is aptly named since they do resemble acorns. You can simply cut them in half, scoop out the seeds, sprinkle with brown sugar and some butter and then bake them!



I had made marinara sauce a day before since I had the time to simmer it for a long time -- I froze half and set aside the rest in the fridge for the squash the next night. The first thing to do is pre-heat your oven to 375. Wash the squash (2 of them), and then cut it in half lengthwise (not around the equator) and scoop out the seeds. Place the squash in a 9 x 13 glass baking dish flesh side up. Put a little bit of water in the dish and cover with foil. Bake for 40-55 minutes or until the squash is just fork tender (not mushy!)



While the squash was baking, I sauteed up some spicy turkey sausage (a little over a pound), and then added my sauce to the pan to reheat. While that was simmering away, I cooked up some whole wheat rigatoni just al dente. When the squash were done, I removed them from the dish, dumped out the water and then returned them to the dish. In went some rigatoni (extra pasta went around the squash). Then came the sausage/sauce mixture, and to top it all off, some mozzarella cheese. Back into the oven at 400 for 20 minutes or until the cheese is starting to brown on top.



The spicy sausage pairs well with the sweetness of the acorn squash -- another fall delight! Oh, and this would serve 4 if served with a side salad!

Chicken Enchiladas with Cuke and Corn Salsa

Same delicious Enchilada with Mole Sauce and Cuke and Corn Salsa recipe that we made last month - with the same delicious results - but this time we ended up playing around with our new camera with video and our video editing software!

So, without further ado... our premiere Boston Chef video!

Mixed Grill Mole Enchiladas with Cucumber Salsa

We craved authentic Mexican food - the kind we'd get at La Paloma in Quincy or Salsa's in Southie... smooth textures, a little spiciness, cheesiness, and a hint of chocolate lingering in the background, mole-style. We thought we'd try a new one (for us) to satisfy this craving and make Baked Enchiladas.

We had to construct this one from the outside in - so here's what we knew: we wanted the filling to be comprised solely of beans and meat, we wanted some fresh green salsa-type topping to offset the meat and beans, we wanted to make our own enchilada sauce, and we wanted that sauce to be mole-style - with a little chocolate flavor mixed in with just a hint of spicy chipotle.

That left us with questions - firstly, what kind of meat? We knew we'd be making dinner with leftovers in mind (as usual) so we came to the conclusion - we got the room, why not TWO kinds of meat? Why not, indeed. So we picked up an inexpensive steak (top round, about 1lb) and a package of boneless/skinless chicken thighs that were on sale (also about a lb).

Second question - beans. We wanted to make our own refried beans because we know what texture and flavor we like in our beans. Refried beans aren't actually RE-fried - they are only "fried" once. So, what kind of beans? Ummmm.... how 'bout RED!

What kind of fresh salsa? Cuke-and-corn. How do you make enchilada sauce? With a roux, raw tomato sauce, and mucho gusto. What to drink with this enormous meal? Margaritas, of course! Plus we can use some tequila in our mixed grill marinade.

So we did just that - we allowed the chicken thighs and the steak to marinate in separate freezer bags consisting of some healthy splashes of tequila, some good-old American lager (these were some drunk meats), olive oil, cumin, chili powder, and salt. They stewed in their liquor for an hour or so before they were ready to meet the grill.

At the same time, we prepared our Cuke-and-Corn salsa in advance so it would be given time to settle in the fridge: into a bowl went an English cucumber partially peeled and chopped into quarters, two vine-ripe tomatoes cut into chunks, one 8oz can of corn (drained), the juice of 2 limes, 1 tbps olive oil, 2 tbsp chopped cilantro and a few pinches of salt. The salsa needed some heat, so we took out a jar of sliced jalapenos and added four minced little rings. After adding a couple of splashes of cider vinegar, it was ready to go in the fridge for a couple of hours.



Back to the meat - since we'll be shredding these and cooking them again in the oven, cooking times seemed less important - so all the meat went on a hot grill and got flipped and smoked and grilled for a while, we lost track of how long. When they appeared ready (and were tasting deliciously tangy and spicy), they came out for a rest - later to be chopped up into little pieces - and we soldiered on...

We were ready to start the final two componants - the sauce and the beans. We started a roux in one pan with a couple tbls of canola oil with a couple tbls of flour. When that was a nice tan, we added a bunch of chili powder and slowly mixed in one 8oz can of tomato sauce, then about a cup-and-a-half of water. That got to a great consistancy right away, so we added some cumin and a little salt and let that come up to a simmer.



In the other pan, we started sauteing some garlic and onion, and then we added two cans of drained red beans. Then Stacey got out her masher and went to work. After the mashing was complete, we added some liquid that we mixed from some of that enchilada sauce combined with water. When that liquid combined with the mashed beans achieved the texture we were looking for, we added some of those same old Mexican spices until the beans were the exact flavor we were looking for.



The final touch on the sauce - some semi-sweet chocolate chips (only about a dozen or so of them, a little goes a long way) and a few shakes of ground chipotle to LIVEN things up.

Oven to 400-degrees, we were ready to assemble. First, we spread a little enchilada sauce across the bottom of a glass baking dish. Then, wheat tortilla in hand, we spread some beans on the bottom and topped with the now-shredded meat, rolled the tortilla up, and placed seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat for a total of four times with chicken and four times with steak.


(we need a new camera)

Over that? All that mole enchilada sauce... poured over it and spread out so everything gets moist. And over that? What do you think - cheese! A good amount of shredded "Mexican" cheese.

Into the oven for ~25 minutes, the cheese on the top browned up nicely (we actually finished it by firing up the broiler for 5 minutes) and the bubbly concoction came out. We plated one steak and one chicken for each of us and topped with some healthy scoops the cool cuke salsa (cool? spicy!)...

Absolutely delicious - such a great texture and the tortilla edges had crisped up a little... just a hint of chocolate (you can smell it more than taste it) and a touch of spicy chipotle, all cooled down with the cuke and cilantro. Wonderfully authentic-tasting - and with two kinds of meat! We enjoyed these with a margarita and the Red Sox night game and thought about warmer summer temperatures to come.

Shrimp Alfredo Pizza

We have pretty much perfected our homemade whole wheat pizza dough - one packet of yeast in 1 cup of very warm (110-degree) water and a drop of honey allowed to "wake up" for about 15 minutes, then into a bowl with 3 cups whole wheat flour, lots of garlic powder, salt, and some basil and oregano, combined and kneaded until doughy and then allowed to rise near the warm oven (covered) for an hour. This recipe makes enough for 2 pizzas, and it freezes well too.

The champion of this particular pizza creation is the bag of frozen shrimp we always have on hand. Whether in fajitas, pasta, or grilled cajun-style over a salad, these frozen wonders are great for easy and quick weeknight cooking.

As usual, we pre-cooked our dough on our stone in a very hot 500-degree oven for 4 minutes. In the meantime, we cooked up the shrimp 2/3 of the way in some olive oil and seasoned them with some garlic powder, oregano, and basil. We removed the dough and topped it with some store-bought alfredo sauce, some big slices of tomato, fresh basil leaves, the shrimpies and topped it with some shredded mozzarella and fresh-grated parmesan. We popped that back in the oven for 7 more minutes, and then we had ourselves a nice creamy shrimp pizza with a divinely thin crispy crust!

Chicken Eggplant Casserole

I spied some nice shiny aubergines aka beautiful Italian eggplants at the store the other day, so I scooped them up immediately. The poor things sat in the fridge for a couple of days before I remembered them, but they were good to go when M and I came up with a crazy-off-the-cuff-I-hope-this-is-edible-recipe.

We browned some ground chicken with some olive oil, sage, basil and S&P. Once browned, we removed from the pan and sautéed some onion, garlic and diced green pepper for about 10 minutes and then we added the star – half moon slices of our eggplants. We let that go another 5 minutes and added some sliced baby bella mushrooms to the pan. After deglazing with about a cup of chardonnay, we added a 32 oz can of diced tomatoes, some cream and we returned the chicken to the pan.



After reducing the sauce for about 15 minutes, we topped it with some mozzarella cheese and some bread crumbs and set it under the broiler for about 8 minutes. Came out with a great crust on top and tasting delicious! Real comfort food... this tasted like Eggplant Parmesean, but without all the lenghty process that goes into making Egg Parm... made excellent leftovers, too. This recipe is a keeper!

Cheese = Love

Lots of couples dine out on Valentine’s Day, relishing in the dimly lit, romantic atmosphere of that cute little bistro that just opened up. M and I used to partake in this ritual when we were first dating, and we certianly loved it. But everyone does it, and maybe someday we’ll go back to that old standard, but for now we’ve invented our own Valentine’s Day tradition – fondue.

This is our 4th installment of V-Day fondue, and this time we thought we would try something a bit different. In the past, we usually make our fondue with Emmentaler, Gruyere and Kirsch Brandy which is a dry clear (very potent!) liquor distilled from black cherries! Unfortunately, this year we ran out and none of the liquor stores in the area carried it! What to do?? We saw some fondue recipes on the internet that used cognac instead (and a bit of Dijon!), so I brought home some Hennessey as a substitute.

We rub a warm pan with a garlic clove and then added a cup or so of chardonnay to a simmer and then slowly added our chopped up cheese (this year we went with Gruyere and Gouda…next year we’ll try Emmentaler and smoked Gouda) that we had coated with some corn starch. When the cheese is all melted, we add in some cognac and a tbsp of Dijon. Wisk away until you have a good melted consistency – add more wine if it’s too thick. We then transfer the cheese to a mini crockpot that we can set at the table.



For the accoutrements, we had steamed broccoli and asparagus, red bell pepper, apples, bread and some grilled kielbasa. Another traditional heart day down!

Pork & Black Bean Tacos

We made a wonderful braised pork shoulder this past weekend, and we knew this 7lb monster (well, maybe 6lbs after all the skin and fat were trimmed) would create a foundation for many weeknight meals to come!

This is such an easy weeknight meal that involves little preparation, and that’s what I like after commuting an hour on the subway to get home after a long day. I started by bringing 3-4 cups of veggie stock to a boil and adding some Mexican oregano, cumin, chili powder, salt and some ground chipotle to it. I then shredded up maybe just-under a pound of leftover pork and threw that in to simmer with the broth and spices for at least 20 minutes, longer if you want!


When you feel like you’re ready to eat in about 10 minutes, start a sautee pan over medium heat with a couple tbs olive oil, and add half of a smallish onion that has been chopped, along with some green chiles if you want some heat. Let those cook for about 5 minutes and then add a can of rinsed black beans to the pan. Season with some salt and then after a couple minutes, coarsely mash the beans right in the pan, and let that warm through.



We served our tacos up on some multigrain soft tortillas with some lettuce, tomato, sour cream and salsa. These tacos came out great on the plate, as well as all over the front of my shirt, but oh well!

Mexican Lasagna

Welcome to another addition of What Do We Have In The House??? We were out later than we thought doing some Christmas shopping and just wanted to get out of the crowds and get home without going to the grocery store. Once home, we scavanged through our fridge and cupboard and found: a package of ground turkey, a can of black beans, a can of corn, 1/2 package of wheat tortillas, a package of "taco" cheese, a small jar of pimento, a can of stewed tomatoes and a can of tomato sauce, and a big ol' zucchini. No problem, let's assemble some sort of Mexican Lasagna!

Browned the ground turkey and seasoned it at the end with cumin, chili powder, oregano, red pepper flake, and kosher salt... removed to a bowl when brown and already smelling good.



Cut up the zucchini twice lengthwise, then into little half-quarters and added it to the saute pan to start them softening. Seasoned the zucchini with the same mixture.



After four minutes, added the pimento which had been sliced up... then the can of black beans... then the corn... then the tomatoes and tomato sauce. Combined and tested the seasoning and started the oven on it's preheat to 400.



Added the turkey back in and made sure everything had a chance to come together and mingle. Got out a big, glass baking dish and started are Lasagna "layers" with a layer of torn wheat tortillas on the bottom, followed by some big scoops of the meat-and-veggie mixture, followed by a layer of the taco cheese. Repeated with a layer of tortillas, layer of good stuff, and a final layer of cheese at the top.





Into the 400-degree oven for about 30 minutes, until everything is bubblin' and the cheese is melted and brown on the top! Enjoy with a seat and a beer - a great, quick meal after a long day shopping... WITH leftovers!

Fish Tacos

Can we please take a break from the grill, she said? Just to mix it up a bit, you know? Well, sure, as long as we use our grill pan to cook the fish on...no one can escape the grill. With that being said, we reinvented our famous fish tacos, and now they are a hundred times better. We used to cut up cod/haddock in chunks, dredge them in flour and fry them up in some canola oil. Good, but not overly-flavorful...it relied heavily on the sauce we mix up to give it zing (taco sauce mixed with some tartar sauce and chopped fresh cilantro, chilled well.)

This time M got a nice piece of haddock which he marinated in white wine, lime juice, cilantro, sliced jarred jalapenos - plus a big splash of the jalapeno juice - for 30 minutes. M put the whole filet on a hot grill pan, only flipping once. While M was busy with the fish, S sauteed up some onion and garlic in some EVOO, then added some rinsed and mashed black beans to the pan with some salt. After about 5 minutes, beans done, fish done.

Using WHEAT tortillas (yes, S is still tormenting M with the no white flour dealie), we built our tacos with the fish, black beans, cheese, lettuce, tomato and sauce. The fish alone was an amazing standout....so flavorful and healthier than our fried version. This definitely gets a thumbs up and we would certainly serve it for guests.

Grilled Pizza

What CAN'T you grill? Maybe pancakes and eggs - but you just need a griddle to make that work!

We did our normal pizza crust, but this time we left it as dry as we could possibly stand. Perhaps over-moistening had been our downfall in the past, the pizza dough sticks to everything and it is hard to get it nice and thin. This time, we added the yeast-and-water mixture and stirred it for a long time. What felt like it would be way to dry finally absorbed all the water evenly and the dough came out great. 3.5 cups whole wheat flour (with some salt and garlic powder for seasoning), 1 cup warm water that had yeast and a little honey added to it. That's IT! It looks like it wants more water... it is BEGGING for more water! DO NOT GIVE IT MORE WATER! Then, into an oiled bowl for at least an hour. This crust was the beginning of a great pizza.

We rolled out our dough into two pizzas to fit more easily on the grill. Grill preheated to a blazing 600-degrees, I wiped on a little olive oil on the grates and then popped the dough right on the grill! It bubbled up at first but those bubbles were taken care of after being flipped over - after about 3 minutes.





After about three more minutes on side #2, these were brought back inside for their dressing. We had sauted green peppers and onions and mushrooms, plus we had some deli ham and turkey pepperoni. Let's put it all on there! First sauce, then layer of cheese, then sauteed veggies, then meat, then cheese!



We put this full-dressed pizza on our pizza stone and put it back on the grill until the cheese was nice and melty and JUST getting a burnt top. We used the stone to heat the pizza at this point so that the crust didn't end up a charred mess... the stone worked perfectly! After the one, we popped the other pizza in, popped a beer, turned on the game, and sat down to enjoy our grilled 'za. Pizza, beer, Red Sox game - all the makings of a great summer evening!

Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's pie with ground turkey and mashed sweet potatoes

• Cut two large sweet potatoes into 2" chunks and boil until tender, about 15 minutes.
• Drain and mash with butter, salt, and a little milk to make mashed potatoes. Set aside.
• Brown 1.3 lbs of ground turkey. Drain and remove and wipe out pan with paper towel.
• Cut up 1 medium yellow onion and begin sauteing. After three minutes, add two garlic cloves, finely chopped.
• Add sliced mushrooms and eason veggie mixture with salt, pepper, and sage.
• After another minute add shredded carrots and frozen mixed veggies (corn, peas, lima beans).
• Add the turkey back in and combine.
• Add 1/2 can of cream of mushroom soup.
• Spoon mixture into a 9x11" baking dish.
• Top evenly with mashed potatoes.
• Spread some shredded cheddar cheese on the top (optional).
• Bake in preheated 375-degree oven for 30 minutes.
• Remove and let cool for a couple minutes.
• Eat.

Pizza

We like to make our own pizza crust out of mostly whole wheat flour augmented with all-purpose flour... and seasoned just like we like it. Tonight, we made a (chicken) sausage, mushroom, and onion pizza!

The Dough: combine a packet of active dry yeast with 1 cup of very warm water and a couple of drops of honey - stir well and let this rest for about 10 minutes to get that yeast alive and kicking. You'll know you've got good yeast action when it starts to foam on the top.

Put close to 3 cups of flour (2.5 wheat, .5 all-purpose) in a bowl with seasonings of your choice - we used garlic powder (tbls), salt (1/2 tbls.), and a few shakes of dried oregano (notice the green flakes in the dough). In goes the water/yeast mixture and stir/fold with a spoon until the dough starts for form. Eventually you gotta put the spoon down and get in there with your hands and start to knead the dough, folding it in half over and over. You'll need to judge how much flour you might have to augment the dough with - it shouldn't be too sticky so just sprinkle all-purpose flour over the sticky parts and continue to fold that in.

When you've got a good doughy - not dry but not TOO sticky - consistency, line another glass bowl with a quick turn of olive oil and get the dough in there and covered with a kitchen towel. Let that dough rise for an hour on stovetop of a warm oven - it'll double in size during that time.


About 45 minutes later, get the oven going at high temp (we had it at 455) with a pizza stone preheating on the bottom rack of the oven - if you have a pizza stone. If you don't... ummm... go get one! Or you could just use a cookie sheet.

When the dough is ready, get your pizza peel (or big wooden cutting board) out and sprinkle with all-purpose flour. This will be key so the dough doesn't stick to the board. Start flattening and stretching out the dough on the board while using more flour to make sure it doesn't stick... keep pushing out from the middle and try to get a uniform depth to the dough. We used about 1/2 the prepared dough for two people - the other 1/2 goes in the freezer to be defrosted on a rainy day.

When you are satisfied with the size and shape of your dough, pop it in that 455-degree oven right on the stone for about 5 minutes to give it a head start on the toppings...


We bought some chicken sausage that we sliced up and sauteed, then added some mushrooms to start the cooking with those, too. In addition, we'll add some raw onions to the top of the pizza.

Take the dough back out of the oven and start with a layer of sauce. We use the Pastene out-of-a-can stuff because it is very subtle and that's what we're looking for. After a thin layer of that is evenly distributed, go for a thin layer of shredded cheese (we had Jack and Cheddar available). Then on goes the sauteed sausage and mushroom mixure. On top of that, rings of onion. Finally, a last layer of cheese.


Back onto the stone for 8 minutes and 8 minutes ONLY! Here are the results:




The results: great! Dough was seasoned well and nicely chewy - perhaps TOO chewy? I guess that's in the jaw of the biter... How to make it less chewy, less kneading? More kneading? Anyone know?

St. Valentine's Day Fondue

Fondue!

Every St. Valentine's Day, we celebrate together by making fondue. Here are some pics from our latest attempt - we used Emmenthaler and Gruyere cheeses. Next year we'll try some Gouda. There is a great cheese store in our old neighborhood called Formaggio... it is a fun food store with ridiculously good cheeses, chocolates, and spices.

Cheese dusted with cornstarch:


Melting cheese! After rubbing the pot with a big garlic clove, we got some chardonnay up to temperature and then added the cheese, little by little...


Our Valentine's Table, complete with Kirsch to dip our loaf of crusty wheat bread in... The cheese is going from the stove top into that little crock pot.


Dipped in our fondue: apples, steamed broccoli, grilled kielbasa, red peppers, and crusty wheat bread... Let's Eat! Happy Valentine's Day!

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Here are a couple of pictures we had from fondue on Valentine's Day '03 - three years, a different house, a marriage, and one much-needed haircut ago!!!