Vegetable Tian

It has been a long time since I've blogged about any of Ina Garten's recipes.  I used to belong to a group called the Barefoot Bloggers and we all chose particular recipes from The Barefoot Contessa and blogged about them twice a month.  The group has disbanded, but I still like to rely on her recipes from time to time.

One of her cookbooks that I never purchased was Barefoot in Paris.  Can you believe it?   I checked it out of the library last week.  Saturday night dinner is usually special in our house.  I was in the mood to cook again and wanted to try something new.  This vegetable tian is so pretty.  It is easy to assemble and cooks simply in the oven.  The only thing you need to be aware of is choosing vegetables that have the same diameter.  The zucchini, potatoes and tomatoes should be about the same size.

Also I am looking for recipes that can be made ahead of time.  Bike week in Daytona is coming up in March and our biker friends will be here for the event.  I always like to have a few dishes stashed in the refrigerator to be easily rewarmed and served.  This tian fits that category beautifully.

VEGETABLE TIAN ( Barefoot in Paris Ina Garten )

Serves 4 to 6 ( I will make a larger one next time to serve 6 )

Good olive oil
2 large yellow onions, cut in half and sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, unpeeled
3/4 pound zucchini
1 1/4 pounds medium tomatoes (I used plum tomatoes)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, plus extra sprigs
2 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated
3 tablespoons Panko crumbs (my addition)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Brush a 9x13x 2-inch baking dish with olive oil.  In a medium saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and cook the onions over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until translucent.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute.  Spread the onion mixture on the bottom of the baking dish.

Slice the potatoes, zucchini, and tomatoes in 1/4-inch-thick slices.  Layer them alternately in the dish on top of the onions, fitting them tightly, making only one layer.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper thyme leaves, and thyme sprigs and drizzle with 1 more tablespoon of olive oil.  Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.  Uncover the dish, remove the thyme sprigs, sprinkle with cheese on top, and bake for another 30 minutes, or until browned.  Serve warm.

Can be made ahead of time, refrigerated and reheated at serving time.

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The Long Road Back

Food beautiful food.  What is not to love about this colorful plate of Chicken Paillards with Orange Salsa as shown above.  For me, that love would not have been possible last week.  I was sure that I was doomed to live on saltine crackers and gatorade for the rest of my life.

The background:  We traveled to Cary, NC to spend time with our Son, DIL and two Grandkids before driving to Emerald Isle for Grandson Camerons's 1st birthday party with the extended family.  All four of them had had the flu before we arrived, but were over it.  We arrived on Wednesday.  Thursday we dropped GD Rachel off at her art class and killed time at a local brewery just down the street from her studio.  Son Michael ordered onion rings and "fried pickles" to go with a glass of the local brew.  I said " I don't think I can eat all of that greasy food".  "Not to worry Mom", he said.   "OK" I said.  I ate it.

Later that night:  Heartburn, or so I thought.  Wrong!  Full blown flu gripped me and stayed with me all night.  David and I decided that we could not leave with them to go to the beach.  I was too weak and did not want to expose the rest of the family to the bug.  Michael, Kristen and the kids headed for the beach on Friday.  That night David got the flu too.

As I lay in bed feeling the worst misery I had felt in a long time, these were the thoughts running through my mind:

I will never, ever, eat fried pickles again.  Don't even think about them!

How can I continue to blog about food?  I hate food.  Maybe I could blog about bread, but only if it's toasted.

We are going to Paris in June.  I can't even think about fromage, charcuterie, or wine.  No picnics for me.  What a waste.  Too late to cancel.

My life of loving food is over.  Just give my some thin gruel and I will survive.  Maybe.


As David and I nursed our stomachs with crackers and gatorade at the kids house, word started filtering back from the beach. The cousins were starting to get sick.  Then Kristen's Mom got sick.  Then her brother-in-law was laid low.  Before the weekend was over, everyone at the beach was stricken with the flu.  It turned out that we were all exposed to the Norovirus ( Cruise ship virus ).  This flu is virulent and highly contagious.  There is no vaccine for it and those exposed are contagious long after the symptoms subside.

It has been a week and we are back in Florida, still weak but on the mend.  This was the first real meal I have made in a long time.

The love for food is coming back.  I was drawn to the produce aisle of the supermarket for some reason.  They had a box of little cutie mandarin oranges that looked health giving in their vitamin C rich orange skins.  I made a salsa with them to go with pounded chicken breasts.  With cherry tomatoes, celery, red onion and jalapeno peppers it made a vibrant topping.  With the dish I served healthy quinoa and fresh sauteed kale.

I think I will survive to cook again and make the trip to Paris.  But I will never have another fried pickle again, even if it had nothing to do with what happened.


CHICKEN PAILLARDS WITH ORANGE SALSA ( Bon Appetit )

4 chicken breast halves
4 clementines, mandarin oranges or oranges, peeled and diced (about 1 cup)
1 cup cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup finely diced red onion
1/2 cup finely diced celery
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and cut into thin rings
1/2 to 2/3 cup juice from clementines or oranges (about 6 clementines)

2 tablespoons oil for sauteing chicken

Place chicken breast halves between 2 sheets of plastic wrap or waxed paper and pound to about 1/4 inch thickness.

Mix oranges and next 8 ingredients in medium bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.  Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add chicken and cook until slightly browned and cooked through, about 3 minutes per side.  Transfer chicken to platter.  Add clementine juice to skillet, boil until reduced to about 1/4 cup, stirring often, about 2 minutes.  Drizzle sauce over chicken.  Spoon salsa over and serve.

Printable recipe
 

A Little Help From My Friends

Sometimes it is hard to figure out what to have for dinner.  On those occasions you can either check out your cookbooks or food magazines, or go to your internet friends.  I feel like I know lots of creative cooks in my circle of internet friends.  We may have never met, but I know what you are like, how you think, what you find funny and what you like to eat.  We reveal much about ourselves through our blogs.  So far, I have not been wrong.  I have met several bloggers after following them for a while and they were just as I surmised.

Katie of Thyme for Cooking is one of my friends.  Hopefully I am not being presumptuous.  Katie lives in the South of France and she and her husband are restoring their farmhouse.  Katie is funny, straightforward, hard working and an accomplished cook.  She recently made this potato gratin for dinner and it sounded just right to me.  I had just purchased a hunk of Gruyere cheese and knew this would be the perfect use for it.   I was right.  The potato gratin has sauteed shallots to which a bit of brown sugar is added to help caramelize them.  They add a hint of sweetness to the casserole.  So thank you Katie for a great, easy recipe.  You can view it on her website.

So what to have with the potatoes?  I had pork chops.  I found the perfect recipe on The Pioneer Woman's website.  Now, I probably will never have the opportunity to meet Ree Drummond, but that doesn't stop me from feeling like I know her.  She is funny too and she has shared so much of her life with all of us on her blog that I'm sure she understands why every one of us wants to meet Marlboro Man.  My picture does not look half as good as hers (Have you seen the size of her camera?).  But the chops were outstanding.  They were browned briefly and then a pan sauce was made with red wine, beef broth, whole garlic cloves and balsamic vinegar.  They were succulent and rich.

So thank you friends for a great dinner.

I am not retiring my cookbooks, but a little help from friends sometimes comes in handy at dinner time.

Our Valentine's Celebration

We decided to have everyone over to our house for dessert Sunday night because we were not only celebrating Valentine's Day, but a birthday and an anniversary.  The guys took us out for a wonderful dinner at Creekside in St. Augustine and then promised to serenade us with a special Valentine's song.  They did pretty well singing accapella, or is that acapella, or a capella.  They gave it their all however you spell it.  We had a good laugh, so I thought I would share it with you.  Tonight we will have a simple meal for two; Steak au Poivre, roasted potatoes and asparagus.    Maybe a little Rod Stewart . . . unless I can convince the guys to come back.  Enjoy your Valentine's Day.

Magic Bars

This was a hit with the Hubs.  "What have you made ?"  he said, tasting.  "Holy sh#*t  Moly, these are good."   What about the diet?"  " Not to worry", I said.  "These are for friends, not us".  Weeping sounds.  "OK, maybe you can have just one more", I replied.

I have to admit that these Magic Bars are something special.  The recipe has been around for a long time, but I had never heard about them before.  Last Christmas David bought me a cookbook at the suggestion of one of my OBFFC (Oldest Best Friend From Childhood).  Thanks Lyla!  She suggested the Neiman Marcus Cookbook and it has some terrific recipes in it.

The Magic Bars are nothing more than a layer of buttered graham cracker crumbs, chocolate chips, shredded coconut and nuts.  A can of sweetened condensed milk is drizzled over the top and they are baked until the chocolate is oozy and the crust is browned.

We are going out to dinner with a group of friends Sunday night to celebrate and they will each get a box of goodies.  Happy Valentine's Day.

MAGIC BARS (Adapted from The Neiman Marcus Cookbook)

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups coconut
1 cup chopped pecans, walnuts or peanuts

Preheat oven to 350 F (325 F if using glass pan)

Melt butter and mix with graham cracker crumbs.  Pat mixture into a greased 13x9-inch baking dish.

Sprinkle chocolate chips over crust, then coconut, then nuts.  Pour the condensed milk evenly over pan.

Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.  Let cool before cutting.

Store in fridge, or cut into pieces and freeze.

Printable recipe

Spiced Cabernet Boneless Beef Ribs

I have blogged about this recipe before, but since it is one of my favorites and because I am always changing recipes to improve them, I thought it would be a good idea to update it.  Lots of people make short ribs on the bone.  Although I love the flavor that the bones impart to a slow roasted dish it does make it harder to cut and eat.  When you are feeding a crowd I prefer boneless, succulent, fall apart beef short ribs.

Variations of this beef casserole have become popular at our large family celebrations.  But it occurred to me that it would also make a great alternative to steak for that Valentine dinner for two.  Just cut the recipe in half.

The ingredients combine to produce a very unique flavor.  Along with the wine and beef broth the sauce is flavored with orange zest strips, dried ancho chile for heat, cinnamon for a hit of spice and chocolate for a smooth lusciousness.  The vegetables are added, not only for their flavor, but for their thickening quality when the sauce is pureed.  Best of all,  the short ribs can be prepared and assembled in advance, giving you more time to make that decadent chocolate mousse for your special Valentine.

SPICED CABERNET BONELESS SHORT RIBS

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 pounds Boneless Beef Short Ribs (about 14)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 onions, chopped
3 carrots, cut into small chunks
2 cups Cabernet Sauvignon or Zinfindal
1 cinnamon stick
1 dried Ancho Chile, stemmed and halved
2 cups beef broth
The zest of one orange, cut into thick strips
1 ounce good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Season short ribs with salt and pepper.  Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven.  Saute short ribs in batches.  Remove them to a plate when they are browned.  Add additional olive oil to Dutch oven if necessary.  Add chopped vegetables and saute until onion is softened.

Deglaze the pan with the wine.  Add the cinnamon stick, Ancho chile, and orange zest strips.  Bring to a boil and simmer until the wine is reduced by half.  Add the chocolate.  Stir to incorporate.  Return the ribs to the pan and add enough beef broth to just cover.  Bring to a simmer.  Cover and place in the oven.  Bake for 3 hours.

Remove meat from pot and place in serving casserole.  Strain the sauce, discard the cinnamon stick and puree the strained vegetables, chili and orange zest.  Bring the liquid to a boil and cook for 5 minutes to reduce it slightly.  Add the pureed vegetables and stir to combine and thicken the sauce.  Pour sauce over short ribs and serve.

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"Retro" Peas Francais

Back in the early years of our marriage, we often had dinner parties.  It was the late 70's and everyone was doing it.  At the time there were so many "exotic" foods to try;  Coq au vin, paella with that strange and expensive spice saffron, and Beef Wellington.

We had fun in the kitchen.  One of my favorite cookbooks of that time was The Pleasure of your Company by  Diana and Paul von Welanetz.  They were world travelers and cooking instructors from California.  Diana had studied at the Cordon Bleu and the couple loved food of all ethnic origins.  The Pleasure of your Company had recipes for, among many,  A Spanish Paella Party, An Italian Dinner for a Couple or a Crowd, A German Party for Eight or More and An Elegant Dinner Party in the New Orleans Manner.

The menu for the Elegant Dinner Party in the New Orleans Manner was very French.  It included Oysters Rockefeller, Coq au Vin, French-Style Baked Peas, Croissants, French Quarter Ice Cream Torte with Fudge Sauce and Cafe Brulot.  I made it often.

The other night I pulled a package of frozen peas out of the freezer, they being the only vegetable I had for dinner and a light bulb went on in my head.  "What about those French peas I used to make?"  "Where is that cookbook?"  Luckily it was on my cookbook shelf here in Florida and I turned to the much used and stained page.

I am calling this vegetable dish "Retro" because it was something I used to do and because of the casserole I cooked it in.

This Pyrex casserole is 46 years old.  It was a wedding present.  It has a lid and I still love using it.  It is perfect for the Peas Francais.  One of the reasons I love this recipe is that you put frozen peas directly in the oven with pats of butter, chopped shallots and lettuce.  Easy peasy, literally.

The finished dish tastes great.  The bit of sugar, butter, shallots and lettuce make a big difference.  David tasted the peas and said "Ah . . . now I remember this".  A trip down memory lane indeed.


FRENCH-STYLE BAKED PEAS

3 ten-ounce packages frozen peas
1 shallot, or the white part of 2 scallions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter or margarine in a chunk ( I cubed it )
1 leaf iceberg lettuce, cut into 1/4 inch strips ( I used romaine )

Place the frozen peas in a 2 to 3 quart casserole with a tight-fitting lid.  Top with all the other ingredients.  Bake covered at 350 degrees F. for 1 hour.  (I cooked it for 45 minutes).  Stir and serve right in the casserole.

To Make Ahead:  Assemble all the ingredients except the lettuce.  Store in the freezer until ready to bake.  Top with lettuce 1 hour before serving and bake as directed.


As an added note:  Diana von Welanetz Wentworth is also the author of  The Chicken Soup for the Soul Cookbook and Send Me Someone, the story of the tragic loss of her husband Paul to cancer and the beginning of her new life with Ted Wentworth.


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Tuscan Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwich Appetizers

My friend Maxine recently attended a symphony guild reception and raved about the appetizers served.   One in particular that she mentioned was a simple tomato soup served in a cordial glass topped with a triangle of  a grilled cheese sandwich.  It was easy to sip the soup and dunk the sandwich if you preferred; no utensils necessary.

I thought, what a great idea for a Super Bowl party.  Just put trays of hot, freshly ladled soup and warm grilled cheese sandwich triangles on the serving table for everyone to grab and eat.  Now, I do have some fancy cordial glasses if you would like to do a more refined presentation.  Afterall, there is a difference between a Super Bowl Party and a Symphony Soiree.   It is your choice.  Here is the more refined version.

The glasses are smaller and I used Pepperidge Farms sandwich bread which is thinner and smaller in size.

I also cut the crusts off of the bread.  Tres Chic.

But whichever way you present them they will be a hit.  The soup is easy to make and is very flavorful with an added punch from basil pesto.  To be honest with you, tomato soup is not my favorite, but I loved this one.  It will be made often in this kitchen.   This idea of mini soups and sandwiches can be used with many different creamed soups and grilled sandwiches.  Just let your imagination run wild.


TUSCAN TOMATO SOUP

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 shallots or 1 onion, chopped finely
3 (14 ounce) cans Italian diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups half and half
1/3 cup basil pesto
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large sauce pan.  Add diced shallots or onions and cook over medium low heat until they are softened.  Add tomatoes and bring them to a simmer.  Add the chicken broth and cook over low heat for 20 minutes.  Add half and half and pesto.  At this point you can either use an immersion blender to puree the soup or blend in a food processor or blender (in batches) until you have a smooth consistency.  Return soup to pan.  Add salt and pepper to taste and keep warm until you are ready to serve it.  Ladle the soup into a two cup measuring cup with a spout and pour into each serving glass.

Top with triangles of grilled cheese sandwiches.  Cut each sandwich into 4 triangles before placing on glasses.

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