Baked Ziti Thursday, Aug 26 2010

Makes 2 – 4 Servings

What you need:

8 oz ziti (or other short tubular pasta)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 lb. grass fed ground beef
1/4 to 1/2 red onion
1-2 cloves chopped garlic
1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
Salt and Pepper
12 oz good Marinara
2 cups spinach
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup freshly grated good quality mozzarella

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Boil pasta according to directions.

Heat oil over medium heat in an oven proof skillet.  Add onion and garlic and cook until soft.  Add the ground beef breaking into small chunks along with dried oregano, salt and pepper. Cook until meat is browned.

Add marinara and cook until liquid is reduced by 1/2.

When liquid is reduced add spinach, ricotta cheese, 2 tbsp. grated parmesan and additional salt and pepper to taste, mixing well.  Add cooked and drained pasta mixing well.  Spread pasta evenly across skillet, sprinkles with 2 more tbsp. parmesan and the mozzarella.

Transfer skillet to oven and bake for about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

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On the Town… Monday, Aug 23 2010

Friday and Saturday nights were both nights for good food, good wine and hopefully soon to be good friends…Friday I met up with three girls that I have been getting to know though wine tastings and parties to celebrate Boston’s Restaurant week.  Restaurant Week is the best idea ever!  Most restaurants participate and each have a 3-course prix fixe menu all set at a price of $33.10 for dinner.  We tried the Beacon Hill Bistro (one I have been wanting to go to) where as much food as possible is locally sourced and the meats are predominately organic and pastured.  I have to admit that I am becoming more and more vegetarian when I eat out as I’m getting to where I can’t stand the thought of meat if I have no idea where its from or what was done to the animal to produce it.

But as I trust (as much as possible) this restaurant based on what I’ve read and heard I splurged on the meat.

1st Course:

Mussels and tiny clams from Maine in a garlic butter broth with leeks etuve and grilled garlic toast spread with herb aioli
Pinot Blanc from Alsace

2nd Course:

Pastured Tunis Lamb braised and served with sauteed chard and green beans on a sweet onion fondu
Clos la Chance Syrah

3rd Course:

Turbinado sugar cake with roasted plums and praline
Bordeaux Sauternes

Other than a slight mishap with a broken wine glass the service was wonderful and the food delicious!  I will definitely be returning to the Beacon Hill Bistro (quite possibly in November when they have a 4-course/4-glass wine tasting class featuring the  wines of France).

Discussion included dating and men, politics, a potential girls’ trip to New York, wine tastings and football parties!

On Saturday I almost stayed home but decided to join up with a new friend that met at a wine tasting and her two friends that were visiting from out of town. So glad I decided to not be lazy and spend the night on the sofa as we had a great time.  We met up a Via Matta for drinks and appetizers sharing calamari (not fried) served in a wonderful spicy tomato broth with capers, a homemade ricotta on toasted baguette slices and a crispy fried eggplant (really yummy).  I tried red (not Rose) sparkling wine for the first time.  It was quite tasty but I still prefer white.  We then headed out for rounds of drinks at a couple of additional places where I discovered Poema Cava…sooooo goooddd!!! Definitely will be looking for that at my favorite wine store!

Two of the ladies picked up two guys at one place and dragged them to the next…I could have lived without them as one kept showing pictures of his mother’s dogs all night (he had a mild interest in food so the two of us talked about that for a bit and I guess he felt encouraged!).  But we ended up closing down the bar which I haven’t done since I ended things with M and while I wouldn’t want to do it every weekend on occasion it is rather fun to kick it up ’till 3AM! And sleep until 2:30pm the next day!  Oops!

What I Wore:

Another take on the black skirt, top, belt combo (I wore this both evenings as I was with different girls each night):

Halter neck top from Ann Taylor
Black Skirt by NY&Co (via Marshall’s)
Black Waist Belt by Ann Taylor
Black Unisa Heels (Via DSW)
Diamond Stud Earrings
Silver Bangles (not shown)

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Caramelized Onion, Mushroom and Goat Cheese Tart Tuesday, Aug 10 2010

What you need:

One 9″ Pie Crust, thawed for 10 minutes
One Small to Medium Sized Red Onion, Sliced
10 – 12 White Button Mushrooms, Sliced
2 TBSP Olive Oil or Butter
Salt and Pepper
1 TBSP fresh Thyme
8 oz Goat Cheese, softened
3 Eggs

What to do:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Prick pie shell all over with a fork.  Add pie weights and bake until golden brown – 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, heat butter or oil in a skillet or heavy saute pan over medium heat.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cook onions, stirring often until soft and caramelized (this can take up to 30 minutes or so).  Add salt and pepper and transfer to a bowl to cool.

Heat remaining oil in same pan and add mushrooms. Cook, stirring often, until mushrooms release their juices (20 minutes or so).  Add salt and pepper and transfer to the bowl of onions.  Add chopped thyme to the mixture and set aside.

In a blender, combine eggs with 6 oz. of the goat cheese.  Blend until smooth and creamy. Spread the mixture onto the baked pie shell and bake an additional five minutes until the egg/cheese mixture is starting to set.  Remove from oven and spread the onion/mushroom mixture over the top of the tart.  Sprinkle with the remaining goat cheese and bake and additional 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes test center of tart with a fork for doneness and continue baking in 5 minute increments until center is moist but no longer liquid and fork comes out clean.

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Mango Fandango and my little Faux Pas Thursday, Aug 5 2010

A couple of Saturday’s ago a new friend of mine had a party…a Mango Fandango as he calls it in which everyone is required to prepare at least one food or drink item using….well, mangos of course!  The party is basically a foodie’s dream as you get to cook and taste everyone else’s experiments as well. There were various salads, including a wonderful caprice style salad of mango, mozzarella and pesto encased in leaves of arugala, a yummy pulled pork with a mango BBQ sauce, mango gazpacho, mango mint julips and (my personal favorite) a mango cobbler!  And this is just the tip of the iceburg!  I made a mango-white wine sparkler which was good, but not as good as the mint julips.

And then I saw the photos of the party on Facebook and discovered my faux pas…never, I repeat never, wear blue underwear with a narrow-cut sleeveless top!!  I knew when I put the top on that the straps were cut in such a way that my bra might show but was already running late and was too lazy to change…now I see why I should have followed my initial instincts!

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Adapting Recipes – Beef Enchiladas Wednesday, Aug 4 2010

From this:

To this:

Every quarter or so I get a magazine from Kraft which I have to admit that I love. There are great tips and meal ideas as well as great ideas on how to enjoy the seasons.

But of course, being a magazine from Kraft it markets Kraft products which I would never purchase.  But that doesn’t mean that I can’t use my own methods and products to make something as equally delicious as their recipes look!  So from Kraft’s Layered Mexican Bake to Eurochic’s Yummy Enchiladas (using healthier ingredients), here is what I did:

Yields up to four enchiladas:

What I used:

Whole wheat tortillas (365 brand)
1/2 lb 90% Lean Ground Beef (from Grass-Fed cows)
1/4 red onion, chopped
3/4 tsp chili powder (365 brand)
1/2 C frozen corn (365 brand)
Fage Plain Greek Yogurt
Wholefoods Fresh In-Store Made Salsa
Horizon Organic Shredded Cheddar Cheese

What I did:

Preheat oven to 375.

Saute beef and onion in a skillet until meat is browned.  Add chili powder, mix and cook for 1 minute.  Add 1/4 C of the fresh salsa and the frozen corn and mix, simmer for 5 minutes.

Place a few TBSP of meat mixture onto center of each tortilla.  Top meat mixture with 1 TBSP or so of yogurt and a sprinkling of cheese.  Roll tortillas and place in baking dish.  Bake, uncovered for 20 minutes, then top tortillas with a liberal sprinkling of cheese. Bake 5 minutes more or until cheese is melted.

Remove enchiladas to plate, top with additional salsa and serve.

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My new haircut…. Wednesday, Aug 4 2010

I don’t why I felt the need to smile…but I did!  Its hard to get my hair to look the way I want at the moment as it is humid in my apartment with no AC…ever tried blow drying your hair in an apartment with no AC?  Not fun!  Right now my hair is almost always in a ponytail or clip as I can’t stand it on my neck, but I managed to leave it down long enough to snap a photo.

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Weekend to Myself Monday, Aug 2 2010

This weekend was the first weekend I’ve dedicated entirely to myself in six weeks!!  I got my hair cut and colored (I should have taken a photo after it was finished but forgot – hopefully I’ll get one soon but am learning how to fix it myself now and its not coming out quite as lovely as it looked when I left the salon) and went out and purchased some new shampoo and styling products.  I was using an organic shampoo from Wholefoods and ever since I started using it I have been shedding so much hair!  My hair doesn’t seem thinner but it was scary so I went back to what I was using before.  It has those ugly chemicals I wish to avoid but at least the company doesn’t test on animals and I’ll stick with their products until I find something better.  I would also like to get a brush like the stylist used on my hair while he was blow drying it but the ones I saw at CVS cost $40!!! Wow!

I also had the luck of meeting a neighbor who was moving out and giving away a little bistro table and two chairs.  Of course I snagged them as I have desperately been wanting a nice little dining area in my tiny kitchen.  Ultimately I want this table and some complementary chairs but I will have to save up for them and they are not the highest on the apartment decor priority list at the moment (those disorganized closets and cabinets are the first things to tackle) so this will be a great little FREE substitute in the meantime!

I also spent some time at the library (reading “Dreaming in French” by Megan McAndrews) sitting in their beautiful courtyard and drinking pink lemonade as well as treated myself to an early breakfast of croissants and coffee at Panera Sunday morning.   I have to say I much prefer Wholefoods croissants to any that I’ve tried at any bakery..its a further walk than Panera for Sunday morning breakfast but I think its worth it for the yummy croissants and the outdoor patio…but Panera gives free coffee refills when you drink it there…its a conundrum!

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Produce Delivery – Monthly Wrapup Monday, Aug 2 2010

Just a quick accounting of the end of my first month without produce deliveries…I am definitely not rejoining the produce delivery program.  I have spent nearly $100 less than I usually do per month. I went through all of my previous months’ budgets and in the entire year of receiving the produce deliveries there have been only three months that I have spent less on produce/groceries than what I spent this month. Two of those months were when I was aggressively paying off credit card debt and therefore cutting back heavily on other expenses.

I also am quite happy shopping farmers markets and farm stands and choosing my own produce…this month I have feasted on berries, peaches (and homemade peach cobbler), fresh corn, plums and some of the best tasting green beans I’ve had since I was a little girl eating them right out of the garden. I think I’ll treat myself to blackberry cobbler this month.  My favorite dessert ever!!!

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Fish w/Roasted Potatoes and Olives Friday, Jul 30 2010

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Two filets of light white fish of choice (I used  Rainbow Trout w/its skin)
1 Medium Sized potato (sliced)
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
2 TBSP of Olive Oil
1 TSP Dried Rosemary
Salt and Pepper
1/4 C  pitted Kalamata Olives (sliced in half)

Preheat oven to 475.

In a small dish place rinsed and dried filets.  Sprinkle w/salt, pepper and rosemary and drizzle on 1 TBSP of the oil and the lemon juice.  Cover and set aside to marinate.

Place potato slices in oven proof roasting pan or large casserole dish, drizzle with rest of oil and sprinkle w/salt and pepper. Toss to coat and then spread potatoes out as much as possible. Roast approximately 30 minutes until started to brown and become tender.

Stir potatoes and add olives.  Place fish filets (skin side down) on top of potato/olive mixture.  Roast an additional 15-20 minutes until fish is cooked through and flakes with a fork.

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Weekend Recipes Monday, Jul 26 2010

Friday evening a friend hosted a beer tasting at her home. The rule was to bring a beer and a food pairing to go with it.  I brought a barley wine beer from Nantucket and in reading up on it discovered that it pairs well with bleu cheeses.  Not being a bleu cheese fan I don’t have a repertoire of bleu cheese recipes but discovered a great on stiltoncheese.com.  Its super simple and inexpensive (I made 16 for about $8) to make and the mushrooms were long gone before we even got to my beer so I’d call it a crowd pleaser!  The stilton’s strong flavor mellows with cooking so even though I am not a huge lover of bleu cheese I thought they were quite delicious and will definitely be adding them to my list of party appetizers.

Stilton Stuffed Mushrooms with Herb Butter

Garlic mushrooms have been putting in appearances at endless dinner parties up and down the country! These deliciously superior Stilton stuffed mushrooms are definitely for the more discerning gourmet.

Ingredients

• 125g/4oz butter
• 5 shallots finely chopped
• 5oz/150g white bread crumbs
• 125g/4oz blue Stilton cheese 1 tbsp freshly chopped sage
• 2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
• 300g/11oz open cap mushrooms

Method

1 Preheat oven to 170 degrees C / 325 degrees F / Gas Mark 3. Melt butter in a saucepan, add the shallots and soften for 3-4 minutes.

2 Place the bread in a food processor and reduce to crumbs. Add the softened shallots, Stilton and herbs. Process briefly until well combined.

3 Remove the stems from the mushrooms, then press the stuffing lightly into the caps. Place on a baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes.

Serves 4

Recipe by Steven Wheeler for the Stilton Cheese Makers’ Association

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