Friday, August 24, 2012
Dahlias, Peppers and Tomatoes
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Summer Corn Fettuccine
Recipe from Rachel Ray's Look + Cook. Planned Sunday dinner. Serves 4 to 6 (I will halve).
One thing I love about Rachel Ray is that she is so laid back in her recipe delivery. Instead of specifying a specific type of cream, she tells me to use whatever I put in my coffee. Instead of making me measure my parsley, she tells me to throw in a few handfuls. Hooray for stress-free cooking! She also adds that for year-round local veggies, you can grab a bunch of corn at the end of the summer, cook the ears and then scrape and freeze the kernels. Brilliant!
Ingredients:
Salt
1 lb fettuccine
EVOO
6 slices smoky bacon, chopped
6 ears corn (I will be using frozen)
3 shallots, finely chopped
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
black pepper
1 cup cream (whatever you put in your coffee)
2 TBS thyme
1/2 cup chicken stock or dry white wine
A few dashes of hot sauce or a pinch of cayenne pepper
A couple handfuls of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/2 cup chopped basil or 1/4 cup chopped tarragon leaves
Heat a large pot ofwater to boil for the pasta. Salt and cook to al dente.
Meanwhile, heat a large skillet with a drizzle of EVOO over medium heat. Cook the bacon a few minutes until crisp.
Scrape the corn off the cob. Add 3/4 of the corn to the bacon with the shallots and bell pepper, season liberally with s+p. Cook 5-6 minutes, until tender.
Puree the remaining corn with the cream.
Stir in the thyme and stock or wine to the corn mixture, reduce for a minute. Then stir in the corn-cream mixbure. Reduce heat to a simmer, cook 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the hot sauce/cayenne pepper.
Drain the pasta, toss with the sauce, parsely, and about 1/2 cup cheese. Top with basil or tarragon and pass the remaining cheese at the table.
One thing I love about Rachel Ray is that she is so laid back in her recipe delivery. Instead of specifying a specific type of cream, she tells me to use whatever I put in my coffee. Instead of making me measure my parsley, she tells me to throw in a few handfuls. Hooray for stress-free cooking! She also adds that for year-round local veggies, you can grab a bunch of corn at the end of the summer, cook the ears and then scrape and freeze the kernels. Brilliant!
Ingredients:
Salt
1 lb fettuccine
EVOO
6 slices smoky bacon, chopped
6 ears corn (I will be using frozen)
3 shallots, finely chopped
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
black pepper
1 cup cream (whatever you put in your coffee)
2 TBS thyme
1/2 cup chicken stock or dry white wine
A few dashes of hot sauce or a pinch of cayenne pepper
A couple handfuls of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/2 cup chopped basil or 1/4 cup chopped tarragon leaves
Heat a large pot ofwater to boil for the pasta. Salt and cook to al dente.
Meanwhile, heat a large skillet with a drizzle of EVOO over medium heat. Cook the bacon a few minutes until crisp.
Scrape the corn off the cob. Add 3/4 of the corn to the bacon with the shallots and bell pepper, season liberally with s+p. Cook 5-6 minutes, until tender.
Puree the remaining corn with the cream.
Stir in the thyme and stock or wine to the corn mixture, reduce for a minute. Then stir in the corn-cream mixbure. Reduce heat to a simmer, cook 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the hot sauce/cayenne pepper.
Drain the pasta, toss with the sauce, parsely, and about 1/2 cup cheese. Top with basil or tarragon and pass the remaining cheese at the table.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Key Lime Pie
I've been making this recipe for years and can't remember the origin. It serves 8 and is a crowd-pleaser! The lime packs a punch so feel free to serve sparingly. You can also add a dash of rum to the filling.
Crust:
1/3 cup melted margarine
1.5 cups crushed graham crackers (1 sleeve)
1/4 cup sugar
Preheat oven to 350. Coat 9" pie dish w/ margarine. Combine ingredients and press into the bottom and sides of the dish. Bake 10 minutes, let cool.
Filling:
Two 14-oz cans sweetened condensed milk
5 egg yolks
Grated zest of 1 lime
1 cup lime juice
Whisk ingredients together then pour into crust. Bake 10 min. Cool to room temp.
In a very unlike-me move, I also seem to have written down the nutrition information for this recipe. If you cut your key lime pie into 8 servings, each serving includes:
540 calories
167mg cholesterol
1g fiber
22g fat
338mg sodium
78g carbs
11g protein
37% cal from fat
58% cal from carbs
Friday, August 10, 2012
Mexican Pot Pies
I found this recipe in Southern Living's "Almost Homemade 2012" magazine. They call it Chicken-and-Corn Pies with Cornbread Crust. I call it Mexican Pot Pie. Makes 5 servings. Prep time is about 25 minutes and total time is closer to an hour. I have cooked these twice now, and small ramekins are perfect, although we find 1 ramekin is enough for 2 people to split. It's also easy to make the filling in advance and put it in the fridge or freezer.
Ingredients:
1 (10 oz.) can enchilada sauce (or make your own)
1 (10 oz.) can Mexican diced tomatoes with lime juice and cilantro (i.e. Rotel), drained
2 cups corn (frozen does the job)
1 tsp. chili powder
3 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 (6 oz.) package cornbread mix (I used Jiffy)
2/3 cup milk
1 egg
2 tbs. vegetable oil
1 cup shredded Mexican 4-cheese blend
Toppings: sour cream, sliced hot peppers
Preheat the oven to 375. Stir together the sauce, tomatoes, corn and chili powder in a large saucepan over medium heat until combined. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes and then stir in the chicken. If the chicken wasn't pre-cooked, you can stir-fry it while the sauce is simmering.
Whisk together the cornbread mix, milk, egg, oil and 3/4 of the cheese.
Pour the chicken mixture into 5 lightly greased (10-oz.) ramekins. Spoon the cornbread mixture over the hot chicken mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
Here the recipe says to divide the ramekins onto 2 jelly-roll pans. I'm not sure what a jelly-roll pan is so I put my 2 ramekins on a cookie sheet.
Bake at 375 for half an hour or until golden and bubbly. Serve with desired toppings. If you don't have ramekins, you can do the whole thing in a big casserole dish.
Ingredients:
1 (10 oz.) can enchilada sauce (or make your own)
1 (10 oz.) can Mexican diced tomatoes with lime juice and cilantro (i.e. Rotel), drained
2 cups corn (frozen does the job)
1 tsp. chili powder
3 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 (6 oz.) package cornbread mix (I used Jiffy)
2/3 cup milk
1 egg
2 tbs. vegetable oil
1 cup shredded Mexican 4-cheese blend
Toppings: sour cream, sliced hot peppers
Preheat the oven to 375. Stir together the sauce, tomatoes, corn and chili powder in a large saucepan over medium heat until combined. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes and then stir in the chicken. If the chicken wasn't pre-cooked, you can stir-fry it while the sauce is simmering.
Whisk together the cornbread mix, milk, egg, oil and 3/4 of the cheese.
Pour the chicken mixture into 5 lightly greased (10-oz.) ramekins. Spoon the cornbread mixture over the hot chicken mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
Here the recipe says to divide the ramekins onto 2 jelly-roll pans. I'm not sure what a jelly-roll pan is so I put my 2 ramekins on a cookie sheet.
Bake at 375 for half an hour or until golden and bubbly. Serve with desired toppings. If you don't have ramekins, you can do the whole thing in a big casserole dish.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Eggplant Ragoût
Lisa gave me two eggplants and a whole bunch of other vegetables a few days ago. I've never loved eggplant but wanted to try cooking it so I whipped out The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook and let me tell you: Martha is a genius. Her eggplant ragoût recipe totally rocked! It's all about the fennel seeds. We served it over pasta with a side of breaded chicken. Serves 6. I cut this roughly in half and we had serious leftovers.
Ingredients:
2 tsp whole fennel seeds, toasted (in a dry skillet, heat until aromatic)
2 tbs EVOO
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp thyme
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 lbs mixed eggplant, cut into 1-inch dice
1 zucchini, cut into 1.5-inch-long matchsticks
5 medium plum tomatoes, quartered lengthwise
s+p
Place the fennel seeds in a spice grinder, process until finely ground. Set aside.
Caramelize the onion with the EVOO in a large skillet on low, 15-25 min. Stri often.
Add the garlic, fennel, and thyme. Stir well, cook about a minute. Increase heat to med/high adn add the white wine. Stir with a wooden spoon to loosen the browned bits from the bottom. Cook 1-2 minutes until about half reduced.
Add the eggplant and zucchini. Cover and cook 8-12 minutes until soft but still retaining their shapes and colors.
Add the tomatoes and 1/4 cup water. Cook on medium-high heat, covered, about 5 minutes until tomatoes release their juices but still retain their shape.
Season with s+p. Garnish with thyme.
Martha's nutrition facts per serving:
124 calories
5g fat
0mg cholesterol
17g carbs
364mg sodium
3g protein
3g dietary fiber
Ingredients:
2 tsp whole fennel seeds, toasted (in a dry skillet, heat until aromatic)
2 tbs EVOO
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp thyme
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 lbs mixed eggplant, cut into 1-inch dice
1 zucchini, cut into 1.5-inch-long matchsticks
5 medium plum tomatoes, quartered lengthwise
s+p
Place the fennel seeds in a spice grinder, process until finely ground. Set aside.
Caramelize the onion with the EVOO in a large skillet on low, 15-25 min. Stri often.
Add the garlic, fennel, and thyme. Stir well, cook about a minute. Increase heat to med/high adn add the white wine. Stir with a wooden spoon to loosen the browned bits from the bottom. Cook 1-2 minutes until about half reduced.
Add the eggplant and zucchini. Cover and cook 8-12 minutes until soft but still retaining their shapes and colors.
Add the tomatoes and 1/4 cup water. Cook on medium-high heat, covered, about 5 minutes until tomatoes release their juices but still retain their shape.
Season with s+p. Garnish with thyme.
Martha's nutrition facts per serving:
124 calories
5g fat
0mg cholesterol
17g carbs
364mg sodium
3g protein
3g dietary fiber
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
First Sunflower!
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| The darn bugs are still after my dahlias |
 |
| First sunflower bloom of the summer! |
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| Echinacea |
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| Butternut Squash |
 |
| Bachelor's Button |
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| Sweet Tangerine Dream Peppers |
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| Patio Princess Tomatoes |
Monday, August 6, 2012
Thursday, August 2, 2012
First Ripe Tomato! (And Japanese Beetles.)
Today I came home to the first red tomatoes! Just two so far, and I'm going to leave them until tomorrow so I have something to look forward to. I also got a picture of the first echinacea bloom, which is not at all the color I expected it to be. I think I had more of a pink or red in mind. The Japanese beetles are everywhere and they are NOT WELCOME! The strawflowers are very cheery and the dahlias make me excited every time there's a new bloom (which is now one every few days).
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