Continuing on my Risotto kick, I made this mostly for Lana for when Joel and I were out of town. this is also from Emeril and since I knew Lana likes all the ingredients, I thought it was a safe bet. Plus since my dad doesn't like anything too exotic, i thought this would satisfy him too.
Ingredients:
3 T Olive oil
1/3 C minced red onion
1 T minced garlic
2 C orzo
4 cups stock heated (I used chicken, but veggie would work too.)
1 t salf
1/2 t pepper
2 C diced fresh tomatoes (I actually just poured in a can of diced tomatoes including the juice.)
1/2 C diced fresh mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 T thinly sliced basil
Directions:
1. cook onion and garlic in hot oil until fragrant ~ 30 seconds. Add Orzo and stir to coat.
2. gradually add the stock in 1/2 cup increments, stirring until all the liquid has been adsorbed before adding more.
3. if using can tomatoes, add in about half way through, if using fresh wait until end and just heat through 1 to 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
4. add mozzarella and cook until just incorporated 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Garnish with basil and serve.
Showing posts with label Tomato. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tomato. Show all posts
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Tabouleh
Tabouleh is one of my favorite salads. I had it for the very first time on one of our family road trip vacations to California back in the 80s. We had this at a stop in--Oklahoma City--who knew? Tabouleh is perfect for when you want something filling, but you don't want to make a big production in the kitchen. All you need is a bowl, a knife, and a cutting board. (Also a spoon would be handy.)
One of the best things about this salad is you get a healthy dose of your greenery, plus the added bonus of a whole grain. It also keeps for a while in the fridge, so it makes for a great lunch the next day. You can also transform this as a filler for endive leaves for a party appetizer, or wrap it up in a butter lettuce leaf as a low-carb burrito, or even use it as a topping on a veggie patty.
Like pretty much anything I make, you can mix and match the ingredients to go with what you've got on hand or what you're feeling like for the day. For example, some other herbs you could use are marjoram, tarragon, basil, or arugula. One thing that is a must, the greenery must outweigh the bulgur wheat. The salad should be more green than tan.
Tabouleh
Ingredients:
1/2 c. bulgur wheat
1 c. boiling water
2 lemons
1 bunch of parsley
1 c. mint leaves
1 English cucumber
grape tomatoes, halved
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Method:
- In a heatproof bowl, mix bulgur wheat and boiling water. Cover and let sit.
- Meanwhile, chop the cucumber into a small, bite-sized dice. And finely chop the parsley and mint.
- Once the bulgur has absorbed all of the the water, zest one of the lemons into the bulgur.
- Halve both lemons and squeeze the juice over the bulgur. Add a healthy pinch of salt, several grinds of pepper, and a tablespoon or so of olive oil. Toss well to combine.
- Add in herbs, cucumber, and tomatoes. Gently toss and taste for seasoning. You may need to add more salt.
You can either serve this as is, or it will hold for a while at room temp.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Roasted Vegetable Soup
My neighbor Mary gave me a copy of a magazine page with a recipe for a Thai-style pumpkin soup that she loves. This recipe is on the same page, and while I haven't yet made the pumpkin soup, I've made this one a number of times (including for dinner club when I made the butternut squash lasagna). I made it again today for my dear friend Doris who is having her wisdom teeth taken out tomorrow. I'm not sure what the magazine this is from, but it credits Anne Graziano of Buffalo, NY, for this recipe - so thanks Anne!
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups coarsely chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrots (I use baby carrots and cut them in half)
1 T olive oil
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
5 plum tomatoes (about 1 pound), halved
3 garlic cloves, chopped
4 cups veggie broth (a 32 ounce box)
1 cup cubed baking potato
1 t dried oregano
1 t dried basil
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Combine onion, carrots, olive oil, salt, pepper, plum tomatoes, and garlic in a jelly roll pan; toss to coat. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes or until veggies are tender.
3. Combine broth and remaining ingredients in a large dutch oven; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 15 minutes or until potato is tender.
4. Add the roasted veggies to the potato mixture. Use immersion blender to blend until smooth.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups coarsely chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrots (I use baby carrots and cut them in half)
1 T olive oil
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
5 plum tomatoes (about 1 pound), halved
3 garlic cloves, chopped
4 cups veggie broth (a 32 ounce box)
1 cup cubed baking potato
1 t dried oregano
1 t dried basil
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Combine onion, carrots, olive oil, salt, pepper, plum tomatoes, and garlic in a jelly roll pan; toss to coat. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes or until veggies are tender.
3. Combine broth and remaining ingredients in a large dutch oven; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 15 minutes or until potato is tender.
4. Add the roasted veggies to the potato mixture. Use immersion blender to blend until smooth.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Tomato Bake
If you're wondering what to do with your bounty of tomatoes, this is a super-easy recipe. It doesn't take a lot of ingredients and really lets the tomato shine. To make this recipe vegan, just substitute olive oil for the butter.
Tomato Bake
(from Gourmet magazine)
Ingredients:
2 c. coarse fresh bread crumbs
3 lbs tomatoes (preferably beefsteak)
1 1/2 Tbsp chopped thyme
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 c. hazelnuts, toasted any loose skins rubbed off and coarsely chopped
1. Preheat oven to 450 F and butter a 2 qt shallow baking dish
2. Thickly slice tomatoes and arrange overlapping in the baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and thyme.
3. In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat and cook the hazelnuts and crumbs, stirring frequently until golden brown. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Spread crumb & hazelnut mixture evenly over the tomatoes.
5. Bake until tomatoes are bubbling and crumbs are browned (15 to 25 minutes).
6. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Tomato Bake
(from Gourmet magazine)
Ingredients:
2 c. coarse fresh bread crumbs
3 lbs tomatoes (preferably beefsteak)
1 1/2 Tbsp chopped thyme
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 c. hazelnuts, toasted any loose skins rubbed off and coarsely chopped
1. Preheat oven to 450 F and butter a 2 qt shallow baking dish
2. Thickly slice tomatoes and arrange overlapping in the baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and thyme.
3. In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat and cook the hazelnuts and crumbs, stirring frequently until golden brown. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Spread crumb & hazelnut mixture evenly over the tomatoes.
5. Bake until tomatoes are bubbling and crumbs are browned (15 to 25 minutes).
6. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
La Notte del cucchiaio d'argento (Silver Spoon night)
I was the host of the most recent dinner with the girls, and Emily's foray into Indian inspired me to crack open a cookbook of my own that had been collecting dust for years: The Silver Spoon, Italy's answer to The Betty Crocker Cookbook. At nearly 1300 pages, this ponderous book intimidates with both its size and the sheer volume of recipes and information. Not only that, but many of the recipes contain ingredients that are a mystery to even a foodie like me. Cardoons? Porgy? Woodcock? The Silver Spoon was clearly out of my league.
But if Emily could brave her Indian cookbook, filled with even more difficult recipes and exotic ingredients, surely I could rise to the challenge of authentic Italian. I ended up choosing four recipes from The Silver Spoon for my meal: potato gnocchi; tomato sauce; fennel, orange, and walnut salad; and cream and chocolate semifreddo.
The translations of the recipes from the original Italian to English are largely pretty decent, though the occasional idea gets lost sometimes. For example, the gnocchi recipe called to mash the potatoes with a potato masher -- which in my world is one of those bent- or perforated steel tools with which you bash the life out of potatoes in the pot till they are (mostly) smooth -- when what you really need is a potato ricer to give the potatoes an even consistency. I didn't realize this till it was too late, but I managed to work most of the remaining lumps out of the dough with my hands.
That aside, I was happy with how the recipes turned out... and more importantly, my dining partners seemed to enjoy the meal, too. I am no longer afraid of The Silver Spoon, and I look forward to exploring more of its treasures. But I'll pass on the woodcock and cardoons.
Julie and Rebecca, enjoying a Peroni before dinner
Potato gnocchi (basic recipe)
2-1/4 pounds potatoes
1-3/4 c. all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1 egg, lightly beaten
salt
choice of sauce, to serve
Steam the potatoes for 25 minutes until tender, (MG - I don't have anything big enough to steam that many potatoes, so I boiled 'em and that worked fine.) then mash with a potato masher (MG - a.k.a. "ricer") while they are still hot.
Stir in the flour, egg, and a pinch of salt and knead to a soft, elastic dough. Be careful with the ratio of potato to flour: if there is too much flour, the gnocchi will be hard; if there is too much potato, the gnocchi will disintegrate while cooking.
Shape the dough into long rolls just over 2/3 inch in diameter and cut into 3/4-inch lengths. Press them gently against a grater and arrange on a dish towel dusted with flour.
Bring a large pan of lightly salted water to a boil, add the gnocchi a few at a time, and remove with a slotted spoon as they rise to the surface. Drain, put on a warm serving dish, and pour your chosen sauce over them.
Allegedly, makes 4 servings. Unless this is your only dish, this will feed 4 NFL linebackers. That said, the resulting gnocchi are feather-light and practically dissolve on the tongue; they would make any Italian nonna proud.
Fresh gnocchi before they were cooked
My choice of sauce to go with was:
Tomato sauce
Even with canned tomatoes, the resulting flavor of this sauce is fresh and lovely, thanks to the fresh garlic and basil. Sometimes the simplest recipes are the nicest.
9 ounces canned tomatoes or fresh tomatoes, peeled
Pinch of sugar
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil
10 fresh basil leaves, torn
Salt
(MG - Canned tomatoes come in 14-oz. sizes in the U.S., so that is what I used. I increased the rest of the ingredients by half, accordingly.)
Put the tomatoes, with their can juice if using canned tomatoes, into a pan and add the sugar, garlic, and a pinch of salt. Cover and cook over a very low heat for about 30 minutes without stirring. Mash the tomatoes with a wooden spoon and, if using canned tomatoes, cook for a further 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool. Stir in the olive oil and basil.
Again, this allegedly serves 4. It was enough for us at the table, but it was not enough sauce for the whole batch of gnocchi (of which there were many leftovers). If I could do it again, I would triple or quadruple the recipe to serve with the gnocchi.
But if Emily could brave her Indian cookbook, filled with even more difficult recipes and exotic ingredients, surely I could rise to the challenge of authentic Italian. I ended up choosing four recipes from The Silver Spoon for my meal: potato gnocchi; tomato sauce; fennel, orange, and walnut salad; and cream and chocolate semifreddo.
The translations of the recipes from the original Italian to English are largely pretty decent, though the occasional idea gets lost sometimes. For example, the gnocchi recipe called to mash the potatoes with a potato masher -- which in my world is one of those bent- or perforated steel tools with which you bash the life out of potatoes in the pot till they are (mostly) smooth -- when what you really need is a potato ricer to give the potatoes an even consistency. I didn't realize this till it was too late, but I managed to work most of the remaining lumps out of the dough with my hands.
That aside, I was happy with how the recipes turned out... and more importantly, my dining partners seemed to enjoy the meal, too. I am no longer afraid of The Silver Spoon, and I look forward to exploring more of its treasures. But I'll pass on the woodcock and cardoons.
Julie and Rebecca, enjoying a Peroni before dinner
Potato gnocchi (basic recipe)
2-1/4 pounds potatoes
1-3/4 c. all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1 egg, lightly beaten
salt
choice of sauce, to serve
Steam the potatoes for 25 minutes until tender, (MG - I don't have anything big enough to steam that many potatoes, so I boiled 'em and that worked fine.) then mash with a potato masher (MG - a.k.a. "ricer") while they are still hot.
Stir in the flour, egg, and a pinch of salt and knead to a soft, elastic dough. Be careful with the ratio of potato to flour: if there is too much flour, the gnocchi will be hard; if there is too much potato, the gnocchi will disintegrate while cooking.
Shape the dough into long rolls just over 2/3 inch in diameter and cut into 3/4-inch lengths. Press them gently against a grater and arrange on a dish towel dusted with flour.
Bring a large pan of lightly salted water to a boil, add the gnocchi a few at a time, and remove with a slotted spoon as they rise to the surface. Drain, put on a warm serving dish, and pour your chosen sauce over them.
Allegedly, makes 4 servings. Unless this is your only dish, this will feed 4 NFL linebackers. That said, the resulting gnocchi are feather-light and practically dissolve on the tongue; they would make any Italian nonna proud.
Fresh gnocchi before they were cooked
My choice of sauce to go with was:
Tomato sauce
Even with canned tomatoes, the resulting flavor of this sauce is fresh and lovely, thanks to the fresh garlic and basil. Sometimes the simplest recipes are the nicest.
9 ounces canned tomatoes or fresh tomatoes, peeled
Pinch of sugar
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil
10 fresh basil leaves, torn
Salt
(MG - Canned tomatoes come in 14-oz. sizes in the U.S., so that is what I used. I increased the rest of the ingredients by half, accordingly.)
Put the tomatoes, with their can juice if using canned tomatoes, into a pan and add the sugar, garlic, and a pinch of salt. Cover and cook over a very low heat for about 30 minutes without stirring. Mash the tomatoes with a wooden spoon and, if using canned tomatoes, cook for a further 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool. Stir in the olive oil and basil.
Again, this allegedly serves 4. It was enough for us at the table, but it was not enough sauce for the whole batch of gnocchi (of which there were many leftovers). If I could do it again, I would triple or quadruple the recipe to serve with the gnocchi.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Beat this Rachael Ray
Ok, I'm not food blog ignorant. I do understand that people want to see pictures of the actual food, not empty plates, but this was so good and let's be honest we were pretty hungry that the idea to actually blog about this recipe didn't strike until after everything had been polished off.
This is quite possibly one of the quickest meals I have ever made, hence the blog title. This dish is not only quick and easy, but it was very tasty. It may even become one of our regular press release week meals.
Basil & Tomato Shrimp
Adapted from an Ellie Krieger episode
Ingredients
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (we used the frozen stuff that had been defrosted)
12 oz. cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 c. basil, chopped
2 T. garlic, chopped
2 T. olive oil
1 c. white wine
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
2. Add the shrimp and saute for 1 minute; turn the shrimp and saute for another minute. You want the shrimp to start to turn pink, but not completely cooked through.
3. Remove the shrimp from the pan to a plate.
4. Using the same pan, add the garlic and saute for about a minute.
5. Add in the tomatoes and saute for another minute.
6. Add the wine and let it come up to a bubble (2-3 minutes).
7. Add the shrimp back into the mixture and let them come up to temperature. (1 minute)
8. Season with salt and pepper and add in the basil.
9. Serve and enjoy.
Mike & I had this over orzo with a salad on the side. It really was a perfect light meal.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)