Muir Glen Tomatoes: Product Review and a Giveaway!

December 2, 2009 at 1:22 am (Chicken, Contest, Corporate whore, Eat Healthy!, Eat your fruit & Veggies, Entree, Healthy Habits, Italian food, Recipes, What's for dinner)

A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by the nice folks at Muir Glen tomatoes. They offered me a free sample of their 2009 Reserve Tomatoes to review on my blog. The nice folks at Muir Glen, are really nice folks: they also offered to let me give away the same nice box of goodies to one of my lucky readers. (I’ll give you more details at the end of this post).

When I was corresponding with the representative from Muir Glen, I tried to appear really casual. You know, really savvy and cool. I let her know that by sending me and my readers freebies, she was not guaranteed a good review! Little did she know  the reality of the situation:  I use their tomatoes every time I cook (so she was almost guaranteed a good review, in fact, I was trembling with anticipation about receiving this kit!). I came across their products years ago and in my opinion, the canned tomatoes are the best on the market. They taste good. They don’t taste like the can they come in. Not only do they have tomatoes of exceptional flavor, but the tomatoes are organic which is important to me. Why? Because not only am I concerned about the pesticide residues in my food and in the environment, but tomatoes have been one of those foods that have been genetically modified quite often in the past. Although there is no proof (yet) that GMO foods are harmful to us, I have a gut feeling that I should avoid them. Certified organic foods cannot contain GMOs. After the box arrived, I started pouring through the materials included in the shipment. I learned that the high quality of the tomatoes has to do with careful handling from the farm to the can. I also learned that these tomatoes are grown in California which for me, makes them a local food (yeah!).

Now, let’s talk about the box I received in the mail. It is gorgeous! You get a wooden crate filled with goodies.

Inside the box is a packet talking about the two cans of Reserve tomatoes included within. There are also two recipe cards. Now… I was promised recipe cards and at first I was a little disappointed because I saw only two recipe cards and I didn’t yet realize what the book underneath these materials was.

It turns out that the book is a gorgeous cookbook, with all of the information about how they grow and package the tomatoes, but…it includes 50 pages of delicious sounding recipes with full color photos of the food. This is a gorgeous book, and in my opinion. it is  worth as much as the tomatoes themselves if not more. After perusing this book, I decided I would use the four cans of tomatoes to make two of the recipes from the book so that you can get an idea of what the recipes are like.

Below the books, nestled away, were the four cans of tomatoes. There were the two cans of reserve tomatoes: Yolo Red diced tomatoes and Brigade whole tomatoes. Also included were Fire Roasted tomatoes and Adobo Seasoned tomatoes.

I used the reserve tomatoes to make Braised Tuscan Chicken with Fennel and White Beans. Upon opening the cans of tomatoes, I took a taste of each. I was disappointed with my choice in recipes for a minute, because the Yolo Red tomatoes where so sweet and delicious, they would have been wonderful used in something fresher such as a bruschetta or in a salsa. (If you win my contest, take note of that). The Brigade tomatoes had good acidity and tasted like they would be perfect for this slow braise. The only surprise I had, happened when I poured the Brigade tomatoes out of the can. If memory serves me right, a 15 oz can of tomatoes usually includes about 5 or 6 tomatoes. When I poured, three perfectly gorgeous round tomatoes popped out of the can. I had to laugh, I guess they didn’t want to smash them, so they only include enough tomatoes to not get smashed in transit. Luckily, the can of diced Yolo Reds where packed full, making it so that I had plenty of tomatoes for the recipe. The braised chicken came out delicious. The sauce begged for bread to sop it up and was loaded with chunks of vegetables and beans and a hint of herbs, the tomato flavor was outstanding. The chicken was falling off the bone tender. I’ll be making this chicken dish again!

The next day, anxious to taste the Adobo seasoned tomatoes, I decided to make the vegetarian chili recipe. I tasted the tomatoes upon opening the cans. The fire roasted tomatoes are familiar to me. They have a good roasted tomato flavor with a hint of smoke from the charred tomato skins you see floating among the diced tomatoes. I tasted the Adobo Seasoned tomatoes. The flavor was strange and familiar at the same time. I had to taste again before I realized that it is a light version of the super hot adobo sauce you find in a can of chipotle with adobo sauce. It is like they added just a hint of chipotle to their tomatoes. I had a really good feeling about cooking with these!! The chili turned out to be a smash hit. I followed the recipe exactly, using the prescribed amount of jalapeno and chili powder even though I knew that half my tomatoes had a good kick already. The chili came out spicy with a hint of that good chipotle flavor. It was wonderful. I’ll be looking for the Adobo Spiced tomatoes at my grocery store, I can think of many recipes that would be improved by using them.

So… you are probably wondering how you can get a box of these tomatoes and recipes for yourself.  Please leave a comment on my blog between now and Monday December 7th. I’ll hold a random drawing and one lucky Delectable Tidbits reader will receive a Reserve kit from Muir Glen.  Unfortunately, Muir Glen can only ship the reserve kit to people in the U.S., Sorry.

If you are not the winner, you can still get a Reserve kit. Muir Glen has these Reserve kits available for $7.00 at this link. By my calculation, that price barely covers the cost of the tomatoes much less the shipping and you get a crate to recycle for storing CDs and the cookbook and… Muir Glen will donate money to the charity Chefs Collaborative each time we buy a reserve kit. They are donating $2 for every Reserve kit they sell and $1 for each person who becomes a fan on their Facebook page (My friend Kevin is laughing at me right now because I am anti-Facebook, but hey, it’s for a good cause! So stop laughing Kevin!)

So, all of my friends and lurkers, leave me a comment.  Good luck everyone!!

33 Comments

I almost forgot…

August 7, 2009 at 9:09 pm (Eat Healthy!, Eat your fruit & Veggies, Recipes, Side Dish)

 Garlic Spinach 

…to make spinach.

 
I already have a head of chard in the crisper that has seen better days and I almost forgot to cook my spinach too. A few days ago, I made some lovely New York steaks. I was going to have baked potatoes with sour cream with minced green onions and my favorite recipe of garlic spinach. I bought a large head of spinach and somewhere between fighting with the charcoal and baking the potatoes for what felt like hours, I had a sudden case of amnesia which resulted in my grabbing a bag of frozen peas after the steaks were done. Don’t get me wrong. I love frozen green peas, I’ll eat them with anything and my choice of an Asian inspired spinach dish might seem odd with steak and potatoes but oh… the garlic… oh… the residual sake…oh…the rich tamari. It would have been so very right.

I did a save today while scouring the fridge for a potluck lunch. My honey was going to have some leftover soba with slices of the leftover steak. I was going to have some leftover meatloaf. To round out this potluck lunch, I still needed to eat up the focaccia from last week before it goes the way of the melting chard in the crisper. So, yes, it was an even a stranger assortment of food than what I intended but the spinach, as always, (was not enough spinach but it) was the star.

Note: I am going to give the recipe for one head of spinach which will make two small servings of cooked spinach. So just enough for two people to fight over. If you need to feed more people or you think you will go out of control and want more of something so incredible, use two heads of spinach and your largest skillet.

On another side note: There is nothing worse than getting sand in a bite of food. I used a salad spinner with a removable colander as a bowl to wash the spinach. I fill up the bowl with cool water. Swish the spinach around and then remove the colander. At this point, inspect the water left in the bowl. There will be sand. Pour out the water, rinse the bowl and repeat the previous steps. I usually do this process about three times before I am satisfied that the sand is gone. For this recipe, do not spin dry the spinach, you want the spinach to have residual moisture.

Garlic spinach

  

1 large head of spinach, leaves removed from stems, washed well but not dried

½ cup sake

3-5 cloves garlic

2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce

1 tbsp brown rice vinegar

1 ½ tsp toasted sesame oil

Optional: Tatami Nogarishi or cayenne to taste

Special equipment: garlic press, large skillet or wok

Heat the skillet on medium high. Add spinach and cook until it begins to wilt a little. Press the garlic cloves directly into the spinach. Give it a stir. Add sake. Cook another minute or two, stirring, until spinach starts to shrink and the sake begins to evaporate. Add tamari, brown rice vinegar and sesame oil. If you want a little kick add tatami nogarishi or cayenne to taste. Continue to cook until the spinach is tender and the sauce thickens a little. Be careful not to overcook. The spinach should still look green, overcooked spinach looks brownish. Serve immediately.

5 Comments

An old favorite with a new twist

July 23, 2009 at 11:00 pm (Baking, Bread, Eat Healthy!, Eat your fruit & Veggies, Entree, Recipes, Sourdough, Uncategorized)

Sourdough Quiche

If someone were to ask me what my signature dish was, I would probably have to say tomato zucchini quiche. I have been making this dish for years. It has a flaky whole grain butter crust. Sweet tomatoes cooked just until the juices flow. Zucchini sautéed in the pan juices of the tomatoes with herbs. Sharp cheese; it’s a gorgeous creation that I am always happy to serve.
 
Years ago, I wanted to bake a tart out of the Greens cookbook. It was an unusual tart with a yeasted crust. I made it once and soon forgot about it. I didn’t enjoy the crust and longed for my butter pastry. The tart itself was strangely not delicious. I went back to standard quiche and forgot about this little dalliance.
 
I planned to bake with my sourdough this week and nervously realized that it was getting late if I wanted to participate in a fun little weekly blogging event that I have become so hooked on. I knew I would need lunch the next day and started to think about that ill fated yeasted crust of the past. I am a much better cook now than I was years ago and I am now the proud owner of a tasty sourdough starter.
 
Armed the next day with my active starter, Deborah Madison’s updated olive oil yeasted tart dough recipe as my guide and my imagination, I set out to remake my favorite quiche. I wanted a flavorful crust so I added lemon zest and herbs to the dough. After my problems last week with the flaky sourdough rolls, I added the starter on top of the amount of liquid called for in the original recipe. The result was a beautiful silky soft dough flecked with goodies.

I added caramelized onions and fresh herbs to my filling. I have never been able to make my quiche in the 35 minutes called for in most recipes. The tomatoes may be the culprit so I baked the quiche for 55 minutes using a pie crust shield during the last 20 minutes of baking to protect that lovely crust.

The result? Delicious! The crust was moist and herbal under the filling and crunchy at the edges, reminiscent of the sourdough pizza crust I make which has a toothsome quality and a grainy, malted flavor.

The filling was a mélange of different flavors due to the layers of cheese, herbed veggies and custard.

I would like to submit this delicious concoction to this week’s YeastSpotting event on Wild Yeast. Susan usually posts the new submissions by Friday so click here to see what the other talented bakers decided to make this week.

 

Sourdough Quiche Slice

Tomato Zucchini Quiche with a Sourdough Crust
 
Dough:
 
½ cup active sourdough starter
 
½ cup room temperature water

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 egg, beaten

½ tsp salt

1 cup unbleached white flour

¾ cup stone ground whole wheat flour

1 tbsp minced chives

¾ tbsp minced fresh rosemary

½ tsp lemon zest

Filling:

½ cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

¼ cup grated parmesano reggiano

1 – 2 tbsp olive oil

5 -6 chives roughly chopped

1 sprig fresh rosemary, leaves minced

3-4 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves removed from stems and chopped

Dried basil, to taste

Fresh ground black pepper

¼ red onion, sliced thin

2 small heirloom tomatoes, sliced

1 medium zucchini, julienned

3 eggs beaten

1 cup milk

Paprika for garnishing

Prepare the crust:

In a large bowl, mix together the starter, water, olive oil, egg and salt. Stir in the white and whole wheat flours until combined well. When the dough feels stiff, turn it out onto a lightly floured board. Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Use a bench scraper to keep the dough from sticking to the board as you knead. The dough is a little sticky. Form the dough into a smooth round and place it into a greased bowl. Cover with a clean towel and let the dough rise between an hour and an hour and fifteen minutes. Press the dough into an oiled 9 “ pie pan, making sure the sides of the dough are thicker than the bottom and that the dough fills to the top of the pan. Let the dough sit, covered until you are done making the filling.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Filling:

Heat one tbsp olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. Add the onions and a pinch of rosemary and cook until limp and beginning to caramelize (about 5 -6 minutes). Transfer the onions to a bowl. If the skillet seems dry, add a little more of the olive oil. Add the tomato slices and all the oregano, a pinch of the chives and the remaining rosemary. Cook without stirring until juicy but still firm (about 3 -4 minutes). Stir the tomatoes gently so they don’t break up, but the herbs mix in. Transfer the tomatoes to the bowl of onions, being careful not to transfer much tomato juice. The pan should be full of juices and you may not need to add more oil, add the zucchini, the remaining chives, a sprinkling of dried basil to taste and a few grinds of black pepper. Cook the zucchini until just tender but before it browns. Remove the zucchini from the pan and let it cool a little bit.

Mix the beaten eggs and milk to make your custard.

Assemble quiche:

Put the pie pan on a cookie sheet. This will keep the quiche from dripping all over the oven if it overflows and give you a tray to carry the quiche to the oven. Sprinkle cheddar and then parmesan onto the surface of the crust. Add the veggies on top of the cheese. Pour the custard over the filling. Sprinkle the surface of the custard with sweet paprika. Put the quiche still on the cookie sheet, into the oven where it will bake for 50 -55 minutes. At about 35 minutes, check the quiche. If the crust is looking nice and browned, use a pie crust shield to keep the crust from burning. Ovens vary, so keep checking the quiche every few minutes up to 55 minutes. When the quiche is firm all the way to the middle, it does not jiggle, it is time to remove it from the oven. Let the quiche cool considerably before you dig in. I was too anxious (the quiche was still pretty hot) and if you look closely at my pictures, you can tell the middle of the quiche did not set as well as I would liked it to have. So…. patience, patience!!

 

8 Comments

Everything smells like Peaches

July 16, 2009 at 10:53 pm (Baking, Breakfast Goodies, Eat Healthy!, Eat your fruit & Veggies, Recipes)

PeachStrawberryMuffin1

The stars are in some sort of an alignment today. I know they are. The house smells of freshly baked peaches and we just ate something so incredibly good that I heard an exclamation of “that is the best muffin I’ve ever had!” I am very smugly pleased with myself.
 
We’ve been going seriously strawberry crazy for the past few weeks. You don’t even want to know how much friendly fire there has been. Strawberries are low in calories and loaded with vitamins and minerals. They are delicious on their own, sun kissed and juicy. But lately, these wonderful gems have been attracting all sorts of fat and calories from the most incredible shortcakes ever with rum scented whipped cream (which didn’t stay in the house long enough for pictures or blog entries, even though we went through five rounds of them), to all manner of breakfast goodies (we’re talking waffles, french toast and any number of variations on pancakes). The strawberries somehow got ahead of the cooking this week. We already had two baskets of them in the fridge when I thought it was a good idea to buy another three pack on Sunday. When I got to the seriously ripe berries today, I saw casualties and it wasn’t going to get any prettier.
 
Most people’s first instinct in this situation is to make jam or some sort of sauce. I kept thinking about the outrageous scones I ate at a long closed down seaside café years ago. The scones were baked with a layer of fresh bananas, strawberries and peaches. An odd baked good, the scones were a bit mushy from the fruit, but the flavor and freshness of the just baked fruit was outstanding. I was so sad when the café closed down. I have been thinking about those scones for years. It got me thinking that the berries would be good baked into something.
 
I started looking online for a scone or muffin or quick bread recipe. I found a recipe for strawberry muffins that looked pretty basic. The comments from readers of this website agreed that the muffins had potential but were bland until the person did this, or that, or this other thing or yet another thing. Armed with a dozen suggestions the basic recipe and my usual idea of what ingredients a muffin should contain, I set to work. I realized that I had a peach sitting in a bowl on the counter that was now soft but needing to be used. Once I was done, my recipe had nothing to do with the original recipe.
 
The house, where ever you go, in any room now smells like freshly baked peaches. The muffins are amazing. The texture is moist for a whole grain muffin, the flavor is almost erotic with the heady scent of spices and the sweetness of the fruit and orange zest. The tops baked high and became crispy when they browned. Yes, I agree. These are the best muffins I have ever had too.
 
PeachStrawberryMuffin2
 
 Peach strawberry muffins 
 
 2 ¾ cups whole grain pastry flour
 
½ cup brown sugar
 
¼ cup evaporated cane juice or granulated sugar
 
2 tsp baking powder
 
¾ tsp salt
 
1 tsp cinnamon
 
½ tsp powdered ginger
 
¼ tsp allspice
 
Zest of one orange
 
2 eggs, beaten
 
¼ cup orange juice
 
1/3 cup olive oil
 
½ cup milk
 
1 tsp vanilla extract
 
¾ cup peeled, diced fresh peach
 
¾ cup diced strawberries
 
Olive oil spray
 
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray two six up muffin tins liberally with olive oil spray.
 
In a large bowl, mix flour, both kinds of sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and orange zest until combined.
 
In another bowl, mix beaten eggs, orange juice, olive oil, milk, and vanilla extract until well combined.
 
Toss the fruit into the flour mixture, taking care to make sure the fruit is covered in the flour mixture. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir carefully with a rubber spatula until the ingredients are just combined being careful not to over mix or damage the fruit. Divide the batter evenly between the twelve muffin cups, filling to the top. Bake 25 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle of the muffins comes out clean.
 
Let the muffins cool for just a minute and then carefully (don’t burn yourself) remove the muffins from the tins and transfer to a wire rack. (Taking them out of the tins will keep them dry and crunchy). Let them cool a bit. Enjoy warm or completely cooled.

6 Comments

A public service announcement

June 29, 2009 at 2:29 am (Eat Healthy!, Eat your fruit & Veggies, Healthy Habits, Salad)

MyKindaSaladBar

We interrupt this blog for a public service announcement.  It is summer!  Stop buying bagged salad!! Heads of fresh lettuce are available for half of the price of that sickly possibly dangerous stuff (remember that little E Coli problem a couple of years back?).

Grab a giant bowl.  Fill it with fresh salad greens.  Cut up broccoli, carrots, radishes, avocado, celery and anything else that is fresh crispy and tastes delicious.  The picture above is an example of what you could have.  (I forgot the can of chickpeas).  Buy a good quality salad dressing or make your own.  These goodies will keep in the fridge for a couple of days giving you salad at a moment’s notice.  You now have no excuse not to eat your veggies and this is far cheaper than going out to buy a salad at a restaurant.

This has been a public service announcement sponsored by Delectable Tidbits.

3 Comments

So many recipes, so little time

June 26, 2009 at 9:24 pm (Chicken, Eat Healthy!, Eat your fruit & Veggies, Entree, Recipes, What's for dinner)

CurryChickenAndEggplant

As I travel though the blogosphere, I have a tendency to bookmark recipes for future use.  Most of these bookmarks never get revisited and “my favorites” in my browser are littered with good intentions.  I also have a real world example of this horrible pack rat tendency of mine.  I am a magazine junkie and I tear up my magazines, saving recipes that look good.  I currently have two file folders bursting with clippings from years of reading and hoarding.  I don’t often weed through these folders either.

One day, as I was admiring other bloggers that are hosted on WordPress, I stumbled upon a gorgeous blog called See Beautiful.  Beth Ann is a talented photographer who moved to Japan and was chronicling her life there through her photos and her blog.  As I looked at her photos, I stumbled onto some delicious looking recipes and I bookmarked them for later.  A few months later, I actually remembered the recipes and made them.  They were so delicious that I have made them again and again.  Beth Ann has reworked her blog and it is now called Beth Ann Blog.  Click on the link to enjoy her amazing photos of Singapore!

About those recipes?  I highly recommend you make this food for dinner soon, so click on the links for Curry and Dijon Baked Chicken and Roasted vegetables with soy sauce and ginger.   Don’t be put off by the idea that an Asian style chicken recipe has Dijon mustard in it.  It is pure genius.  The sauce has a lovely sweet and spicy flavor.  I add twice the ginger and garlic to the veggies for a spicy and sweet but mellow flavor.  Round out this meal with a hot serving of plain brown rice to soak up the sauce from the chicken.  You’ll be happy you are cooking with other bloggers, just as I am.

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A very healthy side salad indeed

January 4, 2009 at 11:21 pm (Eat Healthy!, Eat your fruit & Veggies, Recipes, Salad, Side Dish, Snacks)

carrotraisonsalad

After a year and half or so of blogging, I am beginning to feel like I am getting recipe amnesia.  There are some things I cook that are such a part of my repertoire that I am certain I have shared the recipe with you.  I make the most delicious, the healthiest, thebest ever carrot raisin salad…. and I was sure it was on this blog until I did a search of the recipes here and found out that I had omitted it.  What a terrible omission!

 

I make carrot raisin salad whenever I need something quick and tasty to eat during a barbecue.  I make this salad for people I love because I know it makes them healthy and happy and I used to make it a lot when I took my lunch to work ages ago. (Which is a habit that I should go back to, but can’t seem to do.  I am a bit of a hermit and eating at home suits the hermit habit better).  This salad is so clean and healthy tasting that it never occurred to me that some people cannot even stand the sight of carrot raisin salad.  Carrot raisin salad is absolutely scorned by some people!  Back when I used to bring lunches, I brought a big container of carrot raisin salad.  I had been looking forward to eating it all day.  When I opened the container and one of my coworkers saw the bright orange glare of my salad he exclaimed “Ewwwwww!   Carrot Raisin salad!  Gross!!”  Hmmm… now that I think about it, maybe that’s why I don’t take my lunch to work anymore. Anyway, please don’t listen to my coworker.  This is no ordinary carrot raisin salad.  Please try it even if you aren’t a big fan.  I think you may be surprised by how much you like this version.

 

A note:  Use fewer carrots if you like a sweeter moister salad.  More if you want a milder carrot raisin salad.  The last time I made this, I realized that I no longer measure the carrots.  I shredded three enormous farmers market carrots and I’d estimate that they yielded at least seven cups of carrots.  The salad was very mellow and delicious with less dressing and raisins to carrots.  Also, I cannot remember where this recipe came from but I acquired it years ago during the low fat craze.  I prefer to stick with the original intention of this salad to be low fat and make it with reduced fat mayo. It is not very rich this way.  You can certainly make it with full fat mayo (I have before) but you may want to adjust the mayo to your taste, using real mayo will make the flavor richer.

 

Carrot Raisin Salad

4 cups (or more) shredded carrots

 

½ cup raisins

 

3 tbsp reduced fat mayonnaise

 

1 apple, shredded

 

½ cup natural apple juice

 

Shred the carrots and the apple in a food processor (you’ll be happy you didn’t have to do this by hand).  Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl, mixing the salad well.  Cover and chill for at least one hour before serving to allow the flavors to blend.  Mix again before serving to make sure the dressing is distributed throughout the salad.

 

 

2 Comments

Sweet and Savory

November 3, 2008 at 6:06 am (Eat Healthy!, Eat your fruit & Veggies, Entree, Recipes, Seafood, Side Dish, What's for dinner)

I have to admit to debauchery this week.  It was my boyfriend’s birthday and we planned to travel and with travel for us comes eating.  We started out by driving to the Pasadena area to visit the Huntington Gardens.  The gardens were gorgeous and we made sure to see the lovely new Chinese garden as well as the Greene and Greene exhibit of craftsman furniture. But… we also stopped for tea at the rose garden tea room where tea is not the dainty thing a Victorian party would leisurely sit and pick at but an all you can eat extravaganza of tea sandwiches, scones, caviar, spreads and cheese, oh and really good tea.  The next day, we drove to Cambria and visited Hearst Castle for the evening tour but we spent two nights there and ate and drank to our hearts content.  It was a lovely time but I was very, very bad.

 

I would like to say that once we got home, I got back onto the healthy eating program, but I didn’t.  Not right away anyway.  Today we finally went grocery shopping where I found a wonderful fillet of Steelhead Salmon to go with some rainbow chard that I already had in my crisper.  I went to the Epicurious site to see if I could find something delicious but healthy and I found just the right things. 

The Salmon recipe called for making a glaze of honey, coarse grain Dijon mustard and crushed caraway seeds.  The glaze is broiled onto the salmon.  As the salmon cooks, the broiler heat caramelizes the glaze into a chewy, sweet and savory but flowery glaze that is just heavenly.  Here is a link to the recipe.  You must try this yourself!

The chard recipe calls for both the stems and leaves of the chard, which somehow makes me feel virtuous, like I am not wasting a bit of this delectable vegetable.  Redolent with garlic, the fruity sweetness of the currants and the tangy saltiness of a fine goat feta that I used, this was a remarkable side dish to go along with my salmon.  Go here for the chard recipe.

 

All in all, this meal was a winner.  I rounded it out with hot chewy short grain brown rice.  It was the kind of meal that feels decadent but really is virtuous and when you know you are taking care of yourself while pampering yourself, it is fine indeed.

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A most excellent soup

October 19, 2008 at 11:14 pm (Eat Healthy!, Eat your fruit & Veggies, Entree, Italian food, Pasta, Recipes, soup)

I love fall.  Where I live, it is still clear and warm during the day but the air gets a definite bite at night.  When the evenings get cool, my thoughts turn from salads to warm food.  I want things that cook on the stove top for extended periods of time, food that roasts in the oven, perfuming the air with the scent of good flavors.

 

I have been intending to make Lentil Minestrone for weeks.  I got a dutch oven for my birthday last month and I have wanted to try it out but soup just wasn’t meant to be until today.  I stumbled onto the recipe while looking up something entirely different.  The soup makes good use of pantry items and staple veggies.  The only problem I had is that the dutch oven I got turned out to be a bit small for this particular soup recipe.  I have a three and a half quart dutch oven.  This recipe makes more like four or five quarts of soup.  The soup should have been brothier than it turned out, but I was determined to use my new pot so I used much less vegetable stock than called for.  I enjoy a thick lentil soup anyway.  I also traded out some of the herbs and flavorings called for in the original recipe with items I already had.  The herbs seemed a little more French inspired so I went with Italian herbs instead.  It was a good choice.  Redolent with parsley, rosemary and fresh bay leaves, this soup was delicious!

 

Lentil Minestrone

Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

 

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 tbsp tomato paste

¼ cup chopped parsley

4 large garlic cloves

3 carrots, diced

1 cup celery, diced

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup French lentils, rinsed

3 fresh bay leaves (or 2 dried)

8 branches parsley

2 branches fresh rosemary

6 cups vegetable broth

Soy sauce to taste

1 bunch chard, washed thoroughly and chopped

1 cup dry pennete (or any small pasta of your choice)

Optional toppings:  drizzle of olive oil, shredded parmesan

 

Heat the oil over medium heat in a dutch oven.  Add onions and saute for ten minutes until lightly caramelized.  Add tomato paste, chopped parsley, garlic, carrots, celery, salt and pepper.  Cook for another three minutes.  Add lentils, bay leaves, parsley branches, rosemary branches and vegetable broth.  Bring to a simmer and cook thirty minutes.  Meanwhile, boil water for pasta in a small pot.  Boil water for chard in a large pot.  Boil pasta according to package directions until al dente, drain and set aside.  Cook chard for three to five minutes, drain and set aside.  When the soup has cooked for thirty minutes, season the soup with soy sauce to taste.  Remove the parsley branches, rosemary branches and bay leaves.  Stir in the cooked pasta and chard right before serving.  If you would like, serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of Parmesan.  The soup is wonderful without these condiments.

 

4 Comments

Something wholesome becomes dangerously sublime

August 12, 2008 at 1:45 am (Baking, Eat your fruit & Veggies, Recipes)

As I fell asleep in front of the television on Friday evening I thought I would safely wake up before any truly ruinous food would be displayed before my eyes.  It was silly of me.  I put on Tyler’s Ultimate on the food network because I knew it would put me to sleep.  He was making pulled pork sandwiches but I knew that although I love pulled pork I would never ever in a million years want to make a seven pound pork shoulder.  But when I woke up, there was something being made in an iron skillet that I really didn’t need to know existed. 

 

I love my cast iron skillets.  They are sturdy.  They add iron to the food I cook in them.  They have a non-stick surface from years of cooking and careful seasoning.  Whenever I see a recipe that takes great advantage of my cast iron cookware, I perk up and take notice.

 

What was Tyler Florence cooking that made me so suddenly awake and yelling for my boyfriend to drop what he was doing and “come look at this”?   Bourbon Peach Cobbler!  There was real butter.  Juicy peaches.  Bourbon!  There was cream and more butter and cinnamon and sugar.  We both sat there transfixed.  I exclaimed, “I’m going to make bourbon peach cobbler!”

 

The peaches have been just gorgeous at the Farmers Market all summer. I had wanted to buy some but hadn’t gotten around to it.  I have now been on WeightWatchers for seven weeks and I am doing quite well on it.  I have lost eleven pounds already. But…I should be eating peaches, not peach cobbler.  After putting the ingredients into the W.W. software to find out how bad the recipe really is I find out that I can have ten giant peaches for one piece of peach cobbler.  I am not deterred.  My boyfriend loves all things baked fruit and crust.  He is the kind of man whose appetite allows him to eat an entire peach cobbler and his metabolism allows him to not gain a pound.  I know he will save me from this foolishness. Even if he can’t, I read the words of a wise woman the other day and I have taken them to heart.  This wise soul said that she orders a dessert and shares it with a friend.  She eats the first bite, has her friend keep eating and then she eats the last bite.  How many peaches are two bites?  It seems to be two and a half giant peaches.  It’s amazing how something so wholesome can become Frankenstein’s dietary monster with just a little alchemical slight of hand.  I can live with two bites a day until the monster is defeated.

 

Oh, and by the way.  The recipe on the food network site has errors.  There was no measurement for the cream needed in the crust!  I had to watch the show over again to get the right measurement.  I was sitting there looking at the sandy stuff in the food processor and realized I had no liquid.  Thank goodness for cable on demand so that I could replay the show.  I also made some adjustments:  I decided to change the heavy cream for half and half.  I also decided not to dust the cobbler with extra sugar.  I used Jack Daniels, which seems to be considered whisky, not bourbon. Also, the baking time needed to be reduced to 35 minutes.  The cobbler came out amazing.  The biscuit crust has the tenderest crumb I have ever tasted.  You really need to make this cobbler before the summer ends!

 

 

Bourbon Peach Cobbler

Adapted from Tyler Florence’s recipe on the Food Network

 

6 large or 8 medium peaches, peeled and sliced

¼ cup Jack Daniels or bourbon

¾ cup evaporated cane juice or granulated sugar

2 tbsp cornstarch

1 tsp cinnamon

1 ½ cups unbleached white flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp kosher salt

12 tbsp (1 ½ cups) cold unsalted butter plus two more tbsp for the skillet

2/3 cup of half and half or heavy cream, plus a couple tbsp extra

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

To peel peaches:  Cut an “X” on the bottom of each peach with a paring knife.  Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil.  Drop in peaches and boil for 30 seconds.  Transfer the peaches to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.  The peels should easily peel off the peaches.  Slice the peaches and put them in a large bowl.

 

Mix the peaches with the whiskey or bourbon, ¼ cup of the sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon.  Mix well and then let sit so that the fruit macerates in the syrup while you make the crust.

 

The crust is made in a food processor.  Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the bowl of the processor.  Cut the 1 ½ cups of cold butter into pieces and add it to the dry ingredients.  Process this mixture until it resembles wet sand.  Add the half and half or cream and process until the dough just comes together (being careful not to over mix).  The dough will be sticky.

 

Melt the remaining two tbsp butter in a large cast iron skillet. Add the peach mixture and cook over medium heat for five minutes until the fruit begins to soften and the juices thicken a little.  Drop the biscuit dough by the tablespoon onto the top of the fruit.  There will be gaps but the dough will spread and puff as it bakes.  Sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of half and half over the top of the dough (To moisten, this gives the dough a bit of a custardy consistency when it bakes.  Tyler Florence sprinkled the cream instead of brushing it like the web instructions said to when he presented the recipe on his show).  Place a cookie sheet on the second rack of the oven to catch drips and place the skillet on the top rack.  Bake for 35 minutes or so, until the biscuits are evenly browned and a toothpick poked into the crust comes out clean.  Serve warm or cooled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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