snow day, part 1 of 3

It seems I'm still playing catch-up here, since I still have to add recipes I made before the computer meltdown I mentioned in my last post. And while, lately, I have been busy in the kitchen--baking up my Christmas gifts (and keeping them temporarily off the blog, so as not to spoil the surprise for those receiving them)--during the past couple of months I have been cooking not much, and when I have cooked, I just haven't been tinkering with new recipes. I'm fuzzy on the reasons why this is the case; perhaps the darkening days, exhaustion during the peak of my marathon training (and after the race, too--I'm still sleeping more than ever), and approach of the holidays have taken my attention elsewhere.

Nevertheless, here I am today, snowbound and restless, with the perfect opportunity to make some progress on the blog. And to be perfectly illogical, I'm going to start with what I made last night and work my way backwards in time.

Stewed chickpeas with chicken
Adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman
Yield: 4+ servings
Time: About 45 minutes with precooked chickpeas

With the snow piling up outside all day yesterday, my dad and I wanted to make something warm and comforting. This recipe seemed to fit the bill, while also helping us satisfy our clashing meat-eating agendas (side note: At some point in the last few months, I started noticing that my tolerance for meat went waaaay down. I'm not sure whether it was mental, physical, or something about ramping up my mileage for the marathon that had this effect, but whatever the reason, I still find that it's rare that I want to, or can comfortably, consume any significant quantity of animal protein.), since the chicken is more like a garnish, or just one ingredient, than the main event.

4 c. drained canned chickpeas
2 c. chicken stock, bean cooking liquid, vegetable stock or water
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. peeled and minced fresh ginger
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 c. canned tomatoes, with liquid
1-2 c. shredded cooked chicken (we were lazy and bought a precooked bird that Wegmans roasted for us)

1. Combine chickpeas and stock in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Season to taste with salt (if necessary; I didn't find it to be) and black pepper. Let simmer gently, to warm chickpeas, while you work on everything else.

2. In a large saucepan or deep skillet, heat oil over medium heat, then add onion, celery and carrot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin and tomatoes, and cook 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally.

3. Add chickpeas and stock to vegetable-tomato mixture, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, to let flavors combine and to let liquid reduce. *Note: How long you simmer is up to you. If you want it very soupy, you can serve it immediately. If you want it more stew-like, with less liquid, continue to simmer for 5-10 minutes or more.

4. When there's just about (or slightly more than) the amount of liquid you want, add chicken and stir thoroughly. Lower heat and cover for just a minute or two, to warm chicken through. Serve over cooked grains or with a hunk of warm, crusty bread.

greek salad

I am obsessed with Greek salad. This summer, I spent several weekends at a friend's parents' house in Long Branch, and their extraordinarily well stocked refrigerator nearly always had some of the stuff from the local outpost of this joint. The salad itself is wonderful, but my newfound love for it I suspect has just as much to do with the food as with the positive associations linked to it: relaxation, great company, fantastic weather.

When a food or dish is on my mind as much as this has been, it only makes sense for me to make it at home. And though I hardly followed a recipe to make it--rather, I referred to a couple selections in Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything and then promptly ignored most of both recipes--it was a new culinary foray for me and, therefore, deserving of a blog post. It was really, really satisfying and really, really easy. (I say that about everything I post here, don't I?) The measurements below are guesses of what I used, because I am a half-assed recipe writer and didn't measure most things. I used English cucumber and two gorgeous heirloom tomatoes I found at the grocery store, but you could use bell pepper, cherry or grape tomatoes, regular cucumber, radishes, anything else you wanted. Although any Greek salad I've ever eaten had onions in it, I have recently discovered--to my very great dismay--that they give me heartburn, so I omitted them.

One handy note: The dressing should sit for a bit, so the flavors can develop. Therefore, it's a good idea to make the dressing completely and set aside before prepping the salad ingredients. The time it takes you to wash, mince, chop and toss things is enough for the dressing to hang out and do its thing.

Greek salad with lemon vinaigrette
Adapted from Mark Bittman
Serves 5

Ingredients
{dressing}
1 tsp. minced or grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste (I halved this, since the salad would be salty from the feta and olives)
1/4 c. fresh squeezed lemon juice
Ground black pepper, to taste or none at all, if you prefer
1/2 c. extra-virgin olive oil, plus a little more if needed


{salad}
4-6 c. mixed greens, such as romaine lettuce, spinach, arugula and/or whatever else you have/like, washed and chopped or torn into bite-size pieces
1/4 c. minced fresh mint, or a mix of mint and parsley
1 c. cucumber, sliced and then halved to make half-moon shapes
2 medium tomatoes, cored and cut into large chunks, or 1-2 c. grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 c. pitted whole kalamata olives
1/4-1/2 c. feta, chopped or crumbled

1. In a small bowl, mix zest, salt and juice briefly with an immersion blender, wire whisk or fork. (You could also do this in a food processor or blender.) Slowly add oil in a stream, or drop by drop if whisking, until an emulsion forms or your arm starts to get tired. For me, they take the same amount of time.

2. Add remaining oil faster, but still somewhat slowly and steadily. Taste to adjust salt, and if too lemony, add a bit more oil. Set aside while you prepare the rest of the salad, to allow the flavors to develop.

3. In a large serving bowl (a large soup pot also works if, like me, you recently broke your only very large serving bowl), combine greens, herbs and about 1/4 c. of dressing; toss, and if you think it needs more dressing, go ahead and add more.

4. Add cucumber, tomatoes, olives and feta. Gently toss again, and serve.



I topped the salad with grilled chicken that had marinated for an hour in this bottled salad dressing, and to round things out, I served everything with store-bought pita, hummus and stuffed grape leaves.

Miraculously, there are leftovers. Thankfully, I don't have to think too hard about what to eat for dinner tonight.

grilled, grilled and chilled

Yesterday brought refreshingly cool weather and with it, I think, a reminder that summer isn't sticking around forever. I don't know how else to explain why Sunday night dinner was so grill-centric. I also think that the impending change of season explains why my dad and I impulsively went ingredient-shopping at our town's farmers' market--for the first time ever. Among our purchases: two pristine white eggplants, one gorgeous heirloom bell pepper (very regrettably not pictured), and a pint of the suh-weetest cherry tomatoes.

The grillfest began with an eggplant salad recipe that I clipped from the NYT probably a year or two ago. Because we bought them before deciding how to use them, and because it never occurred to me that I might not have the proper amount for the recipe, the eggplant-to-everything-else ratio may have been a little off. (In other words, the salad ended up being very oniony and very yogurty. Neither was such a bad thing, but the eggplant was a little lost.)

Next up: grilled chicken with honey and cumin, aka yet more proof that Mark Bittman is a master of simple, delicious and creative food.

And with all that time spent before the grill, we wanted something cool and easy to balance things out. Tabbouleh out of a box fit the bill--and I know, homemade wouldn't have been very difficult, but there was a baseball game keeping me from spending my whole afternoon and evening in the kitchen.

Below, the recipes!

eggplant, post-grilling but pre-everything else

Grilled eggplant salad with yogurt
From Mark Bittman
Time: About 40 minutes
Serves 4

1 lb. eggplants, preferably small light purple ones
1 medium onion, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 c. plain whole milk yogurt
Salt and pepper, to taste
Pinch cayenne or Aleppo pepper or other mild ground chili powder
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley or mint

1. Start a charcoal grill or wood fire or preheat a gas grill or broiler; rack should be no more than 4 inches from heat source. Cut eggplants in half lengthwise up to stem, but do not cut through. Spread about 2/3 of onion and garlic between eggplant halves, and press two sides back together.

2. Grill eggplants, turning once or twice, until they are blackened and collapsed, 10 to 15 minutes. Do not worry if skin burns a bit. Meanwhile, mix remaining onion and garlic with yogurt; season to taste with salt, pepper and cayenne.

3. When cooked, let eggplants cool a bit, then peel off skins and let cool further. Roughly chop eggplants, then mix with yogurt dressing. Serve at room temperature or chill if you like; in either case, garnish with parsley or mint.




Grilled chicken cutlets with honey and cumin
Adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman
Time: 20 minutes, plus time to preheat grill
Serves 4

4 boneless, skinless chicken cutlets (2 whole breasts, split), 1 to 1 1/2 lbs., rinsed and patted dry with paper towels
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Start a charcoal grill or wood fire or preheat a gas grill or broiler; rack should be no more than 4 inches from heat source. If necessary, you can pound chicken pieces lightly between two sheets of waxed paper so that they are of uniform thickness.

2. Rub chicken with oil. Combine honey, orange juice, cumin, garlic, salt and pepper.

3. Grill or broil the chicken very quickly (it should take no more than 3 or 4 minutes per side), brushing once or twice through cooking with the honey-cumin mixture. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Note: MB includes this as a variation to another recipe, and in the variation it's unclear whether the chicken should be brushed with honey-cumin mixture prior to hitting the grill. I decided not to brush it until it was already cooking, worrying that the honey might burn. It was absolutely delicious done this way, but I'm still not sure if this was how Mark had intended it.

woo wee, what a weekend

It wasn't particularly fabulous or interesting (or, at least, according to people whose lives aren't so mundane as mine), but it was full of good things: a dinner date and mall trip with Mom, my return to running after three days of nursing a very painfully strained/pulled glute, a hailstorm (!) last night, and watching "Vicky Christina Barcelona" with a friend last night. Best of all, I had enough time, energy and inspiration to cook at home on both Saturday and Sunday. Both were new recipes, so both get a shout-out here.

[saturday]
Fish is what I was craving, and so fish is what we had. Lately, I've had swordfish on the brain; when I was younger, it was a summertime supper staple, but it fell off our family's map for reasons not totally clear. (I think, and my dad agrees, that we made it too much and just got sick of it.) I hadn't had it in forever, but given that I enjoy so many kinds of seafood, I suspected that I would still enjoy it. With Mark as our guide, we marinated a 1 lb. swordfish steak (hello, huge hunka fish!) in 2 Tbsp. soy sauce and the juice of 1 lime for 30 minutes, then grilled it and served it with lemon slices. Our veg was asparagus--drizzled in olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, grilled until charred and delicious looking--and we had some of that huge batch of couscous salad I made earlier in the week.

The verdict on swordfish: My, it is meaty! I was really surprised by the meatiness. I don't know how else to explain it, except that it was good.

[sunday]
After Saturday's dinner, my dad announced that he would like to eat something spicier for dinner on Sunday. At first I thought he meant literally something more spicy, and so did he, but after a bit of brainstorming together, he explained that he meant anything more interesting (metaphorically spicy, then) than Saturday night's relatively easy, tasty but unadventurous meal. Much cookbook browsing yielded the following pork recipe, paired with barley pilaf (barley, sauteed red onion, salt, pepper and dried thyme) and grilled radicchio (extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper). We'd planned on baby bok choy, but when we couldn't find any at Whole Foods, Dad suggested we pick up some of the beautiful little heads of radicchio displayed before us. Grilling it added a lot of smokiness to the expected bitterness, which was awesome.

above: beautiful and tasty grilled radicchio
(pork not pictured because meat is ugly)

Note: This breaks the pork rule! I do like pork tenderloin, because it's so lean and, well, tastes like chicken if you ask me.

Grilled pork tenderloin with mustard curry
Adapted from Mark Bittman
Time: about 30 minutes, plus time to preheat grill
Serves 3-4

2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. curry powder
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 1/4 lb. pork tenderloin, in 1 piece
Fruit chutney (Mark suggests recipes for a stone fruit chutney and a corn and tomato relish contained elsewhere in the book, but because stone fruits, corn and tomatoes aren't yet in season, I used storebought Major Grey's chutney, which has mango and ginger and a nice kick of heat)

1. Preheat grill.

2. Combine mustard, curry powder, salt and pepper in a small bowl, and rub all over meat to coat. Grill, turning to brown all sides, abput 10-15 minutes, until meat is nearly cooked through but still pink in the very center. (The internal temperature of the center should not exceed 145 degrees Fahrenheit.)

3. Remove from heat and let rest 10 minutes before slicing into 1/2-inch thick pieces. Serve with chutney.

Warning: If you choose to grill the meat indoors, as we did, it might get smoky! We had to open the kitchen windows, then the back door . . .

. . . and then the front door, too.

The leftover radicchio and pork made their way into my lunchtime salad yesterday along with the rest of the asparagus from Saturday (blanched this time) and the dregs of the couscous salad, plus romaine, thawed frozen corn kernels and alfalfa sprouts. One of the best parts of cooking on the weekend is having lots of wonderful leftovers during the week!

Sausage and Peppers

This is one of my dad’s autopilot recipes; in other words, there is no recipe. I couldn’t tell you the first time I ate it, or how many times I’ve eaten it, or where it comes from, or if he made it up himself. The dish itself is no novelty; you could probably find it in any restaurant or out of food truck serving southern Italian food. But it is one of my favorite cold-weather dishes, especially after a long day spent watching football on the couch. Best of all, when we eat it with my mom, there is always exactly enough left over for me to eat later in the week over a bowl of pasta.

It should be noted that we never follow most of the rules I set forth below. The vegetables should be rough, not thinly sliced, but keep them all the same size so they cook evenly. The peppers can be cooked much longer, but we like them still a bit firm, and the onions can be fully caramelized before you add the peppers. Because of my aversion to all things pork, I use turkey or chicken sausage—if you do the same, please make sure it is still “mild Italian” or “sweet Italian” style. (You don’t want any other styles in this dish.)

Sausage and Peppers
Serves 3-4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: Not very long

1 lb. mild Italian sausage (turkey or chicken sausage both work well)
¾ Tbsp. (or less) extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium-large onion, sliced into 1-inch strips
2 red, orange or yellow (or a mix) bell peppers, sliced into 1-inch strips
2 8-oz. cans tomato sauce
1 clove garlic, minced or crushed
Crusty bread
Grated parmesan cheese

1. In a large saucepan, cook sausage over medium-high heat until browned on both sides and cooked through.

2. While sausage cooks, heat oil in a medium saucepan. Add onions and sauté until they begin to caramelize slightly. Add peppers and cook about 1-3 minutes, depending on taste and how firm you want them to ultimately be.

3. When sausage is browned, remove from pan and return pan to heat. Add tomato sauce and garlic to sausage pan, and cook over medium-low heat 1-2 minutes, scraping bottom of pan to incorporate cooked-on bits into sauce.

4. Add peppers, onions and sausage to sauce, and stir everything so all ingredients are sauced. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, about 10 minutes or until sauce is thickened and flavors have combined.

5. While sauce simmers, warm up some crusty bread in the oven or toaster oven.

6. Serve hot, with crusty bread (my mom likes to make a sandwich out of hers, while my dad and I like to dunk our bread into the sauce) and topped with grated parmesan cheese.