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Basil (Ocimum basilicum)

September 2nd, 2009

BasilWith Labor Day around the corner my basil garden is almost finished. It lasted through the summer and actually seemed to thrive in the heat as long as I remembered to water it. To me biting into basil is summer. It’s fresh and green and kind of spicy and so versitile. There is pesto and fresh basil torn and tossed in a salad. Basil added to tomato sauce or basil on grilled fish or chicken and on and on…It’s also good for you with a lot of nutrients, especially  Vitamin K! And it is an anti-inflammatory, too. Hooray for basil!!  This is my favorite pesto recipe.

Pesto

  • 2 cups of basil
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/3 cup pine nuts
  • 2 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
    • Combine the basil and pine nuts in a food processor, pulse and then add the garlic. When combined slowly add the olive oil. Add the cheese and combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Makes 1 cup.

    4 comments »

    Posted in Appetizers and Sides, Vegetarian

    Rib Eyes & Mac and Cheese

    August 26th, 2009

    Rib Eyes & Mac and CheeseMy favorite grocery store Central Market had Choice Rib Eye steaks on sale for half price! That’s like two for the price of one. These are really big one pounders, some even bigger.  Each steak can easily be split with someone or you could eat the whole steak as Dashiell does.  I bought them and then contemplated going out in the heat to grill them and decided that the only civilized way to “grill” steaks was in the house. It’s been triple digit temperatures for 60 days straight here in Austin and going outside at 6 PM is really dumb. I also made some stove top mac & cheese because I didn’t want to bake it in the oven and heat the house up even more.

    Grilled Rib Eye Steaks

    • Heat an indoor grill pan or an  outdoor grill
    • Season the steaks with garlic powder, salt and pepper–use as much as you like
    • When the grill is hot put the steaks on and grill for about 6 minutes on each side for medium

    Stove top Mac & Cheese

    • 1/4 lb of elbow macaroni
    • 1/2 stick of butter
    • 1/2 cup of grated cheddar cheese
    • salt
    • pepper
    • Boil water for the macaroni
    • Cook the macaroni in the boiling water until al dente
    • Add the butter and cheese and mix
    • Season with salt & pepper to taste
    • Serves 2 generously
    • Serve warm

    6 comments »

    Posted in Chicken, Beef, Pork, Recipes, Vegetarian

    Arugula Pizza

    August 18th, 2009

    DSCN0853

    This is a delicious easy recipe that is gourmet but very easy because we are using store bought pizza dough. I do enjoy making my own dough when I have time but let’s get real when I come home from work I don’t have time. Period!  Giada even uses store bought dough for some of her recipes. So let’s get started.

    • I package pizza dough (in the section of your market that has biscuits in a tube)
    • 1/4 cup of olive oil
    • 6 ounces of goat cheese
    • 6 ounces of mozzerella or fontina
    • 1 (8 oz)  package of arugula-washed and ready to go
    • 1/2 teaspoon of fennel seed
    • 1 teaspoon of ground pepper
    • corn meal

    Roll out the dough according to instructions on the package and place on a cookie sheet sprinkled with corn meal. Add the olive oil all over the dough, then season the dough with fennel seed and pepper. Add the cheeses and bake.

    11 comments »

    Posted in Recipes, Vegetarian

    Grilled Chicken

    August 18th, 2009

    grilled chicken

    I love this recipe because it’s a different way to cook a whole chicken and it’s easy and quick. Nigella calls it spatchcocked chicken and Ina calls it flattened chicken and I’m just going to name it Grilled Chicken! You should marinate it for a few hours or overnight and always buy a good chicken, preferrably organic. About the marinade you can use whatever you want. For Italian chicken use an olive oil with garlic and rosemary and for a Greek version marinate the chicken in yogurt and spices. For a Southern version how about buttermilk? You could also use some Indian curry and spices or a chili paste. The chicken can be seasoned almost any way you want and come out to be a delicious meal so here are the basics and use your imagination.

    • 1 butterflied chicken about 3 or 3 1/2 pounds
    • salt
    • pepper
    • 1/4 cup of olive oil
    • 2 lemons
    • 2 sprigs of rosemary
    • 1 clove of garlic minced

    To butterfly you have to cut the backbone out or ask the butcher to do it. Really simple to do–just lie the chicken on it breast side and cut the backbone out with scissors. Don’t cut all the way through but flatten it.

    Mix the olive oil and squeezed lemons together and pour on the chicken. Season with salt and pepper on both sides. Pull the rosemary off of the stem and put that on the chicken. Put the chicken in a zip lock bag and put in the fridge for at least an hour. Let the chicken come to room temperture and either grill it or put it into the oven.

    To grill: Heat the gas grill and cook on low about 15 minutes on each side. Or heat an oven to 425 degrees and cook the chicken about 45 minutes. Either way after the chicken is done let it rest and then cut into halfs or quarters.

    1 comment »

    Posted in Chicken, Beef, Pork, Recipes

    La Panzanella

    June 14th, 2009

    tomatoesIt’s been above 100 degrees here in Austin the past week. Who wants to cook? Not me. However I do enjoy fresh and delicious food and I love to create something in the kitchen. So I went to Central Market and bought some heirloom tomatoes, a cucumber and a red onion. Central Market is my favorite grocery store. The produce is fresh and exotic, the meat is prime, the wine selection is excellent and everything always looks so good that I want to buy it all. I also get great ideas while shopping there. I like Whole Foods Market as well. Whole Foods originated in Austin in the 1970′s as a small store on Lamar Boulevard that flooded anytime it rained hard. They sold delicious coffee beans, and they were the place to get vitamins and special health tonics that you couldn’t buy anywhere else. Now of course they are not only a health source but one of the greatest gourmet markets in the world. Several more organic grocery stores and lots of Asian and Indian stores call Austin home. This city has become a foodie paradise and there is really nothing that you can’t get. I just bought some truffle butter. I can’t wait to use that. But for now back to Panzanella.

    Panzanella originated as peasant food. Leftover, day old, stale bread was brought back to life with some fresh tomatoes, basil, olive oil and garlic. That’s the basic recipe. You can also add red or yellow bell peppers, lettuce, capers, olives and chicken, shrimp or cheese. I made mine with chicken, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, lettuce, basil, capers, olives and romano cheese. Wow! Fiendish large salad, lots of flavor and a one bowl meal. Make it your own and put whatever you like in it or keep it simple just like the original as I did two nights later with the last tomato. Delicious!

    panzanella

    Panzanella

    • 1/2 loaf of ciabatta, diced into bites
    • 1 large tomato
    • 1 cucumber
    • 1/4 cup of red onion-diced
    • 2 cups of romaine lettuce
    • 10 black olives
    • 1 tablespoon of capers
    • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

    Heat the grill. I used my inside grill pan because I wasn’t going out into the heat….
    Toss the ciabatta bread with olive oil, salt & pepper and throw on the grill. While that is toasting wash and dry the chicken breasts and dice into 1 inch cubes. Toss with olive oil, salt & pepper. The bread should have nice grill marks by now, turn it and take off when crispy.
    Add the chicken to the grill for about 10 minutes.

    Make the dressing …

    • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
    • 1/2 cup of olive oil
    • 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
    • Mix the above and whisk. Set aside.

    Dice the tomato, cucumber and romaine into bite sizes. Add the olives, capers and bread. Toss the chicken in and mix. Add the dressing then grate the cheese to top it.

    winesEnjoy with a good bottle of wine. I recommend two; one is a French Chardonnay and the other is a nice red. The red was introduced to me by my inimitable and delightful friend Ed Ward who lives in Montpellier, France. He is an writer, and a radio personality and an expert on food and wine. He has a terrific blog called “City On A Hill” written from Montpellier. I took my first cooking class from him way back when and it was how to make jambalaya. Or was it etouffee? Who knows? All I know is that cooking is fun!

    Oh and don’t forget something sweet…perhaps some Nestle’s Tollhouse Cookies!
    cookies

    1 comment »

    Posted in Recipes, Soups and Salads

    Paella

    May 31st, 2009

    I had eaten paella only twice, last time around Christmas at Janice & Sydney’s house and about 10 years ago on New Year’s Eve at Tad & Karen’s place. Both versions were delicious but different and I’ve been haunted by them every since.  I kept thinking about it so I decided to try making it. One reason I waited this long to make it is because I like simple recipes and paella is a lot of different ingredients and steps. We had a Saturday night ahead of us so my husband Jesse and I got started. We made the traditional version with seafood, chicken and pork. It turned out delicious. Rich, smokey and salty. All flavors that I love. We made it with shrimp, clams, sausage and chicken. I can see this easily as a seafood only paella or even a vegetarian version. The chicken and sausage make it very moist and fatty. You’ve got to use Spanish paprika and saffron as both have incredible flavor and color. It took about 2 hours from start to finish so if you have the time I highly recommend this dish. It’s really fun to make and perfect for a dinner party of four. Oh, I don’t own a paella pan so I used my large skillet (pictured).

    paella

    Paella

    • 2 chicken legs
    • 2 chicken thighs
    • 1 pound of clams – we used littleneck
    • 6 large shrimp – peeled & deviened
    • 1 pound of sausage – we used Andouille
    • 1 onion
    • 5 cloves of garlic
    • 1/2 can of diced tomatoes
    • 1/8 cup of olive oil
    • 1 cup of rice
    • 1 teaspoon of oregano
    • 1 teaspoon of fennel
    • 2 tablespoons of sweet paprika
    • a pinch of saffron
    Wash and dry the chicken, clean the shrimp & clams and set aside.
    Saute the chicken in the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, oregano and paprika. Let it cook for about 10 minutes. Add the sausage to the chicken and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes. This is where it gets a bit greasy so I think I will eliminate the chicken and sausage next time for my taste although they do make a very rich & tasty paella. Take the meat out of the skillet and set on a plate. Add the onions and garlic both chopped and minced to the skillet and cook them down a bit and add the tomatoes. Cook on high until you loose some of the water from the tomatoes. Add the rice and about 3 cups of water, salt, pepper & saffron. Simmer all for about 10 minutes. Add the shrimp, clams, chicken & sausage back into the pan and cook all for about 15 minutes or until the rice is tender. A lot of this timing in the end will depend on what kind of rice that you use. Don’t use a brown rice but instead a basmati or Spanish rice that cooks quickly.
    The paella should be ready. Put some chopped parsley on top and enjoy. Enjoy with  some a bottle of red Spanish wine.

    3 comments »

    Posted in Chicken, Beef, Pork, Recipes, Seafood

    Memorial Day

    May 25th, 2009

    spareribsToday is Memorial Day and the Grovers are coming over for a late lunch. My mom’s coming too. She is a fantastic Italian cook that doesn’t cook anymore due to her age. She asked me to make German Potato Salad and I did. More on that in a minute. Memorial Day means barbecuing, at least the food part of the day signifies that. The day itself should make us remember all of the soldiers that fought for our freedom. My wonderful dad fought in World War 2 and I’m thankful to him for risking his life and to all of the others that did so as well. Otherwise we may not be blogging, Facebooking, emailing, etc. This is a food blog so on with our menu for today.

    • Watermelon Daiquiris
    • Chips with Green Salsa
    • BBQ Pork Ribs
    • German Potato Salad
    • Baked Beans
    • Cole Slaw
    The Grovers are bringing the dessert and I think it will be a cobbler but I’ll let you know for sure later.
    coleslaw

    I prepared all of the recipes in advance which is awesome when you are having guests over and you want to start with a daiquiri when they arrive. I mean one or two of those and no telling how the food would turn out.

    That morning prepare the babyback ribs.

    Season well, I use coarse black pepper, kosher salt & garlic powder. Sprinkle all of the seasonings all over the ribs. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 1 hour & 15 minutes. Cover with foil and when you are ready to eat heat a grill, sauce one side and grill for 3 minutes, turn over do the same. Oh, I love Hoover’s BBQ sauce, buy some. At this point the only place to buy it is his restaurant.

    German Potato Salad

    • potatoes
    • bacon
    • onions
    • celery seed
    Boil the potatoes, cool, slice. To make the sauce, saute onions in olive oil, the recipe calls for bacon dripping but I don’t go there. It’s olive oil for me. Add the celery seed, salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of sugar to the onions. Then add 1/4 cup of vinegar. I think Japanese rice vinegar is best, and 1 cup of water and 2 tablespoons of flour. Cook until thick and add the potatoes and bacon. You now have German Potato salad! Serve at room temperture.

    potatosalad

    Baked Beans

    Open a can and saute 1/4 cup of onion, add some dijon mustard to cut the sweetness and add 2 slices of bacon; cooked and chopped. Heat & Serve.
    This is not really the kind of food that I usually cook and this is my first post so I’m a little nervous so keep checking me out because it’s going to get better. I will cook a lot of Italian recipes from my Mom and food with a French twist.

    8 comments »

    Posted in Appetizers and Sides, Chicken, Beef, Pork, Cocktails and Wine, Holidays, Recipes, Soups and Salads