Yearly Archives: 2010
Salami and Chili Pepper Pizzas
| December 26, 2010 | Posted by Lauren Keating under Italian, Quick Weeknight Meals, Shawn's Favorites |
Salami and Red Pepper Pizzas
Serves 4
1 pound beer bread dough (or other pizza dough)
1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
1 Tbs dried oregano
6 ounces fresh mozzarella, shredded
1 red chili pepper, thinly sliced
12 slices hard salami
Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with a towel. Allow to rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400. Divide dough into 4 pieces. Gently work each piece of dough into a round, flat disk, approximately 6-inches in diameter. Mix together the crushed tomatoes and oregano and spread onto each piece of dough, leaving a half-inch border around the edge. Divide the cheese among the pizzas and sprinkle with the red peppers. Top with salami.
Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted, salami is crisp and crust is cooked through.
Bruléed Orange Butter Cookies
| December 20, 2010 | Posted by Lauren Keating under Cake and Pastry, Desserts, Indulge, Shawn's Favorites |
I knew that I needed to bring a knockout recipe to the food blogger cookie exchange that I attended last week, so I turned to these citrusy butter cookies. With a delicate crumb, a texture similar to soft shortbread, and a creme brulée-like smattering of burnt sugar that lightly shatters when you bite into it, Bruléed Orange Butter Cookies are a welcome contrast to the denser oatmeal and peanut butter cookies that are so prevalent this time of year. Although these cookies are a festive treat for the holidays, they make a delightful accompaniment to a cappuccino any time of the year.
Bruléed Orange Butter Cookies
Yields 3 dozen
For the Cookies:
For the Icing:
2-1/3 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. orange extract
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbs. heavy cream
8 oz. unsalted butter softened
1 Tbs. water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. orange zest
2 Tbs. orange zest
1 pinch salt
3 large egg yolks
1/8 cup turbinado sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
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To make the cookies: In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a second bowl, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and zest on medium speed until well blended. Add the egg yolks and vanilla. Mix until blended. Add the flour and mix on until moist clumps form. Wrap in plastic and chill 40 minutes. Roll between two sheets of parchment to ¼-inch thick. Cut with 2-inch cutters. Bake at 350 for 13 minutes or until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool completely.
To make the icing: Combine remaining ingredients (except turbinado sugar) to form a thin glaze. Spread each cookie with 1/4 teaspoon of the glaze, then sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Pass a kitchen torch over to melt the sugar.
Approx. 110 calories, 6 grams fat, 13 grams carbs, 0 grams fiber, 1 gram protein per cookie
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I’m linking this post to Wanderfood Wednesday.
Ropa Vieja with Olives and Capers
| December 6, 2010 | Posted by Lauren Keating under Indulge, Mexican and Southwestern, Sandwiches, Shawn's Favorites, Soups and Stews, Weekend Meals, Winter |
Ropa Veija is a traditional Cuban dish featuring beef that is slowly stewed in a sauce of tomatoes, garlic, and bell peppers until it falls apart into shreds. With the texture of pulled pork and the comforting flavor of pot-roast, Ropa Veija is a real crowd pleaser!
Although it does take a while to make (about 3-1/2 hours), the recipe couldn’t be simpler and it doesn’t require a lot of hands-on time. It’s also the kind of dish that tastes even better the next day, after the flavors have had more time to meld. I like to make a big batch on a lazy Saturday afternoon, then make Ropa and Swiss Sandwiches – a dish I fell in love with at New World Bistro Bar – to eat while we watch football (go Bills!) on Sunday.
1. Heat 1 Tbs olive oil in a heavy stock pot or dutch oven set over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for five minutes, or until it beings to soften. Add the garlic, green pepper and jalapeno, and tomatoes. Stir to combine, breaking down the tomatoes with a spoon. Add the bay leaf, cumin, and oregano and cook until all of the vegetables have softened. Add the red wine and simmer for 20 minutes.
2. Heat remaining 2 Tbs oil in a skillet. Add the beef brisket and cook for about 3 minutes on each side, or until it is nicely browned. Remove from skillet and add to the pot along with your vegetables.
3. Add water. Cover and cook over medium heat for one hour. Add the capers and olives and cook uncovered for another two hours, or until beef is tender and can be easily shredded into thin ropes.
Serving Suggestion: Since Ropa Vieja is pretty substantial on its own, I like to balance it out with lighter side dishes. Black beans and plantains make the perfect dinner platter. I also like to serve Ropa and Swiss sandwiches on crusty rolls with a side a braised greens.
Tortelloni Fagioli with Fire Roasted Tomatoes
| November 23, 2010 | Posted by Lauren Keating under Italian, One Pan, Quick Weeknight Meals, Soups and Stews |
This spin on classic pasta fagioli was nothing more than an excuse eat tortellini.
Seriously. I’ve been craving it ever since I made Tortelloni Di Ricotta Di Noci Tostate but, since I find tortellini so easy to overeat, I try not to make it too often. Then I had a brilliant idea: stretch out a serving of tortellini by adding it to a soup full of nutritious ingredients. As it turns out, the soup that I created ended up being crave worthy in its own right — and is much healthier than just eating a giant bowl of carbs and cheese for dinner (which is what I would have done otherwise).
I always say that I like to make soup because it’s so simple, and this is one of the easiest yet — other than chopping an onion, all you have to do is open jars and dump them in your pot. Since there are so few ingredients in this recipe and I wanted to be sure that the final dish was full of flavor, I turned to my old favorite: fire roasted tomatoes. I really love the slightly smokey, charred flavor of these tomatoes and they really added a nice dimension to the soup.
Instead of regular cheese tortellini, I grabbed a package of chicken and proscuitto tortelloni from Buitoni. I LOVED the way these tasted in the soup! They were very delicate but they added a ton of flavor (they reminded me a little bit of wontons). I definitely recommend using them, but if you can’t find them — or if you’re a vegetarian — you can easily substitute regular cheese tortellini.
Kitchen Tip: When using store-bought stock, I always look for unsalted versions. Especially in recipe like this one that use a lot of canned ingredients, sodium levels can add up pretty quickly. Using unsalted stock puts you in control — just add as much (or as little!) salt as you need to make it taste the way you like.
Tortelloni Fagioli with Fire Roasted Tomatoes
Serves 6
Approx. 400 calories, 9 grams fat, 12 grams fiber, 22 grams protein
- 2 Tbs olive oil
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 Tbs dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried marjoram
- 1 can (14 ounces) fire roasted tomatoes
- 6 cups unsalted chicken stock
- 1 package (9 ounces) Buitoni Chicken and Proscuitto Tortelloni (or filled pasta of your choice)
- 1 can (14 ounces) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
- 8 ounces baby spinach
1. Heat a large stockpot over medium heat (I used a 5.5 quart dutch oven). Add the olive oil and heat through. Add the onions and garlic. Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden brown. Stir in the oregano and marjoram and cook and additional 5 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the tortelloni and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Stir in the cannellini beans and spinach. Cook 2-4 minutes, or until the spinach is wilted and the beans are heated through.
Let’s Talk Risotto
| November 18, 2010 | Posted by Lauren Keating under Reviews, Risotto |
If you’ve hung out around this blog for a while, you know that risotto is a staple in our house. You might even says it’s my thing. In fact, when I was asked to bring a gift that represented my blog to the Foodbuzz Festival I brought a risotto kit.
So when Marx Foods was looking for people to test and review four different kinds of risotto rice, I jumped on the opportunity. I almost always use arborio rice, both because its easy to find and affordable and because its what I know, but I was super excited to try out the rice that Marx Foods sent me: Vialone Nano, Organic Arborio, Organic Integrale (a brown rice), and Organic Carnaroli. Shawn and I did a blind tasting and ended up ranking the rice the exact same way as each other — and the results surprised us!
First, the ground rules: In order to keep the results as unbiased as possible, I identified each rice only by the pan that I cooked it in; I didn’t know which was which until the end. I prepared them all at the same time (quite the task!) using a simple recipe that would let the flavor of the rice itself shine through — just the rice, some onion, white wine, and chicken stock. I kept detailed notes as I cooked and tasted and rated each rice on appearance, creaminess, smell, and taste. When Shawn came home from work, he tasted each and ranked his favorites (again, he didn’t know which was which. He also didn’t know that I used the same recipe for each version of the risotto.)
Roast Steelhead with Citrus and Olives over Saffron Risotto (psst — there’s still time to make this recipe and blog about it for a chance to win $100! See Kitchen-Play.Com for details.)
Tandoori Rotis (Indian Flat Bread)
| November 17, 2010 | Posted by Lauren Keating under Breads, Indian, Sides, Vegetarian or Vegan |
Tandoori Rotis (Indian Flat Bread)
Yields 6
Approx. 244 calories, 2.5 grams fat, 1.7 grams fiber, 6.5 grams protein
Tandoori Rotis (Indian Flat Bread)
Yields 6
Approx. 244 calories, 2.5 grams fat, 1.7 grams fiber, 6.5 grams protein
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