Skillet Pasta

This recipe is another skillet dish from The Best 30-Minute Recipe from Cook's Illustrated. I really love that they concentrate no only on dishes that are easy to prepare, but also on meals that are easy to clean up. Who cares if it only takes you 30 minutes to prepare if it takes you another 30 minutes to clean up? Main dishes that are prepared entirely in one dish certainly help to keep the overall time spent in the kitchen way down.

This dish is creamy and cheesy and delicious, but obviously rather high in fat and calories compared to what we normally cook here. Still, you can enjoy a dish like this as part of a healthful lifestyle if you keep the portion sizes down and pair it with a low-fat side dish like a nice tossed salad. This recipe claims 4 servings, but it made closer to 6 smallish servings for us - and a small serving is all you need as it is quite rich.

Skillet Pasta Quattro Formaggi

The major change I made to this recipe was to cut back the water by 3/4 cup. It was actually an accident - I discovered the mistake in time to correct it, but I decided that it looked like there was plenty of liquid already. Sure enough, there ended up being plenty of sauce - any more liquid and I think it would have been too runny. The blend of cheeses is quite nice - the g
Gorgonzola adds a nice sharpness and tang without overpowering the other cheeses.

This isn't something I would make all the time, but a rich, cheesy dish like this sure hits the spot once in a while.

5 Things… (meme)

I was tagged for this meme by Margot from Coffee and Vanilla

Here are the questions and my answers….
What were you cooking/baking 10 years ago?
On my own? Nothing. But I was helping my grandfather to bake cakes for Christmas, Easter & other occasions. That’s how my adventure with cooking/baking begins in a first place.

What were you cooking/baking one year ago?
What was on the top of my list? Iced buns (I think it’s called a Swiss Iced Finger). It looks like this:

I was also baking/cooking traditional polish Poppy Seed Cake & yeast-cake, Monkey bread and great casserole with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots & sunflower seeds under béchamel. There were more, but those above were my best.

Five snacks you enjoy:
1. Cini Minis;
2. Bacon prunes;
3. Chicken, rise and pineapple salad;
4. cashew with raisins
5. And most of crunchy snacks

Five recipes you know by heart:
Grilled porkneck or spare ribs
Prunes in bacon
Poppy seed cake
Summer apple pie
Polish white borscht

Five culinary luxuries you would indulge in if you were a millionaire:
1. large kitchen with traditional bread stove
2. more expensive ingredients, like sea food
3. sushi at least once a week
4. really expensive (best quality) kitchen appliances like food-processor
5. my very own wine-cellar (full of course)

Five foods you would love to cook/bake:
1. crème brûlée
2. Obelix’s style, whole wild boar
3. few medieval (and older) traditional dishes
4. to brew my own beer
5. Mazurek Kajmakowy - basically it's a shortcake with fudge on top and looks like this
or this:

or however you want :} Generaly its traditional Easter cake, but ornamentation depends mostly on your ability and imagination.

Five foods you cannot/will not eat:
1. milk – I have allergy
2. raw meat
3. anything cooked/baked with eyes
4. tomato soup
5. sweet meat (like made with raisins)

Five favorite culinary toys:
1. meat rolling-pin (yup, that’s right – newest polish invention. It looks like normal rolling-pin, but has spikes like meat hammer/tenderizer). It may spin, or you can tide up this screw
2. silicon baking mold
3. whisk
4. silicon brush
5. special pannikin with flour sieve on the bottom

Five dishes on your "last meal" menu:
1. Sushi
2. Grilled porkneck or spare ribs

3. Some sea food

4.Botle of Porto

5. Polish doughnuts (I fry them myself with self made rose petals preserve). Should look like this:

Five happy food memories:

1. baking with my grandfather.

2. Many moments, when I baked/cooked for my friends

3. cooking for 120 people on boy scout camp in a middle of tank range (challenging, but also very happy moment)

4. visiting with my friends the Capio D’oro - best restaurant on Mazury (polish Land of Thousand Lakes)

5. dinner on kayak in a middle of a lake or on the river bank.

I would love to find out about some other bloggers as well so I’m tagging for this meme:

Clotilde of Chocolate and Zucchini
Scott of RealEpicurean
Sean of Hedonia
Simon of Plate of the Day

Spiced Lentils with Spinach

.
India.

I've never been.

Have you?

I was supposed to go once, but at the time things just didn't work out. (And thank goodness for that. My father took my brother instead and they bonded and went hiking. For weeks. Shudder. Wow is that ever not my idea of a party.)

Actually, my father goes all the time it seems. World traveler type and all. The Ombudsman went for a few months after college. My sweet aunts even went last year, and took such pretty pictures too. And my darling cousin (I only have three cousins all told, by the way. We are a small family. Close knit and tres international.) e is there as I type. But not as a tourist...he went because he needed to talk to a man about a girl.

See, he asked that girl to marry him, and needed to check in with her father.

And guess what that means peaches? It means I'm going to India! For a wedding! Yea for me.

I am beyond psyched. Oh baby oh baby oh baby. I'm thinking I will wear an orange sari, with my hair down and sort of wavy, and loads of bangles and gold eyeshadow. Am I allowed to wear a sari? Gosh, I hope so. I've always wanted to!

Okay, so, outfit aside, I am extremely over the moon happy for TM and VN and cannot wait to touch down and start eating. Talk about my kinda food. Ooh-eee.

In the mean time, (the wedding isn't until late summer or early fall...they are consulting with an astrologer for an exact date...) I made this the other night...it's warm and hearty and filling and divine.

Try it my peaches, and taste the joy.

1 1/2 cups dried brown lentils
5 garlic cloves, peeled
1 cup fresh cilantro
3 tbsp vegetable oil
3 tbsp ground coriander
6 cups vegetable broth
1/2 tbsp salt
6 cups fresh spinach leaves, finely chopped
1/2 cup small shapes of dried pasta (I used orzo)
Plain yogurt for garnish (optional)

Put the lentils in a bowl, cover with cold water and leave to soak for 30 minutes.

While they are soaking, put the garlic, cilantro leaves and stems in a food processor and process to a paste.


Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the garlic and cilantro paste and gently fry until it is browned all over. Stir in the ground coriander. Add the stock to the pan. Drain the soaked lentils and add them to the pan. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat, cover the pan and simmer for about 25 minutes, until the lentils are tender.


Season the broth and add the spinach and pasta. Bring back to the boil. Cover the pan, reduce the heat and simmer for a further 10 minutes, or until the pasta is tender. Ladle the soup into warmed bowls to serve.

Garnish with optional yogurt

Makes 8 - 1o hearty servings



____________________________________

This isn't actually an Indian recipe...it's a variation on a Lebanese Rishta (lentils with pasta).

Coriander is mentioned as an aphrodisiac in The Tales of the Arabian Nights.

"Every good wine is someone's passion, which makes each bottle a work of art." - WSJ.com

Weekly Recap 1/6/08

This is what went on in my kitchen last week:

Sunday
*Polenta with Sausage Ragu
(made up on the fly - based on this recipe)
*tomato-cucumber salad

Monday
Our traditional New Year's Eve Appetizer Night!
*Sausage Stuffed French Bread (new)
*Pancette Crisps with Goat Cheese and Pear (new)
*Sea Scallops with Minted Pea Puree on Potato Chips (new)
*Crispy Cheese Rounds (t&t)
*Mushroom Crescents (t&t)

Tuesday
*Red Lentil and Basmati Rice Croquettes with Romaine-Mango Salad and Cucumber Raita (new)
*salad

Wednesday
Leftovers - time to clean out that fridge!

Thursday
*Wegmans cheese pierogies
*Wegmans tomato soup
*sliced pear

Friday
*Pasta Quatro Fromaggio (new)
*salad

Saturday
*Lime-and-Honey-Glazed Salmon with Warm Black Bean and Corn Salad (new)
*jasmine rice

Sunday
Work gave us a free turkey for Christmas, so we had a little mini-Thanksgiving...
*Turkey
*mashed potatoes
*stuffing
*green beans with roasted shallots and balsamic

Potato Soup with Fire Roasted Vegetables

.
I suppose, that somewhere in my mind, people visit this site for the recipes, and not for my witty banter.

It's a supposition that calms me. Since I kinda-sorta dig my recipes (fancy that!) and am pretty sure my girly life is hardly fodder for an interesting read. (Debatable, sure, but still my contention.) A redundant read, yes, but compelling...not so much.

I am toying (as I write) with the idea of writing a template post and just changing the adjectives with each passing post, to fill this space, without having to drive you to utter and complete boredom.

It would go something like this:

Hi (Peaches, Darlings, My Dears, Cats and Kittens)!

Today I (headed out, ventured, traipsed, found my self at, was abducted and taken) to (a party, bbq, a sailing excursion, random event, the farmers market, on vacation, and/or got lost in the dreaded Valley) with (The Ombudsman, The Rock Goddess, The Hostess, The Pastry Chef, Charlie, my abductor, a Steve McQueen impersonator...)

On the way there, I (got lost, got inspired, was trapped in a paparazzi-induced traffic jam, detoured through the dreaded Valley) and was (uncharacteristically late, perpetually early, caught in the rain, dazzled by the amazing weather, distracted by a fleeting glimpse of an Olsen twin).

When I arrived, I was (surrounded by striking writers, overdressed for the occasion, under-dressed for the weather, ladened with food, giddy with delight, balancing three platters, four platters, six platters and a pitcher of pre-mixed cocktails) but still managed to find my way in and (got tipsy too quickly, ate myself silly, bowled over by the winter theme - replete with snow - in this heat, un-impressed with the star turn out, blase about the star turn out, bemused by the star turn out, pleased in general, ready to get the party started)

We all (ate, drank, debauched, were demure, giggled, chatted, enjoyed, reveled, huddled for warmth under the heat lamps, melted into chaise lounges) and (lazed the day away, partied the night away, stood on deck - mesmerized by the sea, drowned in a pool of cliches). Overall it was a (rockin' good time, delightful soiree, mind-bending experience, beyond words, chic and fab, too wanton to print, utterly fantabulous.) and I (wish you were there, wish I could remember more details, wish I had enlisted a driver, wish I could figure out my on-board navigation system and hadn't ended up in the Valley, wish you all a day as fun, wish I had taken the weather in to account when I threw on that sheer sheath.)

And since (I made such a tasty dish, ate such a tasty dish, was given the recipe for such a tasty dish) I simply must share.

So try this my (peaches, loves, angels, dears) and taste the joy.


2 large baking/Idaho Potatoes
6 cups vegetable stock
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 jalapeno peppers
2 green bell peppers
2 red bell peppers
1 cup corn (in LA, there is (oddly) still/already corn available at the Farmers Market, so I just went for it. )
1 large zucchini
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
Salt

Heat a dry (cast iron) pan over medium high heat. Add the whole jalapeno peppers and let blacken. This may make your kitchen smoke, so make sure the fan is on, or a window is open. When charred, remove and place in a bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let steam that way for at least 5 minutes.

Toast the corn in the same dry skillet until slightly charred. Remove and set aside. Repeat with diced squash.

Roast the red and green bell peppers over an open flame, or under the broiler. When blackened, repeat the process you did for the jalapenos.

Dice your bell peppers and jalapenos.

Peel and quarter the potatoes. Simmer in the vegetable stock with the tomato paste, until soft, about 15 minutes. When the are soft, turn off the heat and let cool slightly then puree with an immersion blender,or in a large blender (keeping in mind not to fill the blender up more than half way, or else it will explode. Kaboom. Soup on the ceiling.) Add salt to taste, and the smoked paprika.

_________________________________________

Looking for somewhere to eat in the San Fernando Valley? And I do hope that my darling Valley readers, should there be any, know I'm just teasing...it's a lovely place. I'm sure.

Starbucks ousted CEO Jim Donald yesterday and said that, effective immediately, Mr. Schultz, the chairman, will take on the additional role. Mr. Schultz, 54 years old, came to the Seattle coffee company in 1982 when it had four locations and nurtured it to become the empire it is today. Serving as CEO from 1987 to 2000, he presided over the company's 1992 public offering. Starbucks now has more than 15,000 locations around the globe, products on supermarket shelves and its own record label.

Smoked paprika, hails specifically from La Vera, Spain. It is available as sweet, bittersweet, and hot. - Big Oven.com

Spicy Marinated Peppers & Tomatoes

.
Well my little peaches, how are you today?

All settled in to 2008?

That's good to hear, my dears!

I am geared up for all sorts of happy changes myself. And thinking positive isn't the only plate du jour. Oh, no, I've got recipes too. Scads of them. And I think I shall share them with you. Novel, I know.

So to really kick off this bright and shiny new year, I present a salad that I just cannot get enough of.

It's just fab, and a snap to get mixed on up. And after eating it for two days, I minced it up and added it to some tuna salad, to ward off palate boredom of course...mmm, mmm, mmm.

Do try it my loves, and taste the joy.

3 large red bell peppers
1 cup sun dried tomatoes, in oil
1 large ball, mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh oregano, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Olive oil

Over an open flame, roast the peppers until good and charred. Remove from the flame and put into a bag or a bowl with some plastic wrap over it to capture the steam. When they have steamed for awhile, carefully remove, rinse off the charred skin, and pull off the top and out the seeds.

Slice the peppers into long strips.

Rinse off the cheese, and slice the ball in half, then slice the halves into slices.

Stir everything else together, except the oil, in a container that it just fits in. Taste and add pepper and salt as needed. Now toss with a really good amount of oil. Enough so that it pools at the bottom of your container.

Let marinate 1 day. Then serve.

Serves four.

____________________________________________________

Are you reading celebrity gossip blog Breakfast at Tiffany's?

McDonald’s is selling more burgers than at any time since it arrived in Britain 34 years ago. Despite concerns about obesity, there were more than 88 million visits to the “Golden Arches” around the UK last month alone. The figure is up nearly 10 million on the previous year, or roughly 320,000 more each day — equivalent to the population of Cardiff. Sales in this financial year are growing at close to the fastest rate since the late 1980s. - TimesOnline.co.uk

Most buffalo mozzarella available in the United States is made from a combination of water buffalo milk and cow's milk. - VirtualItalia.com

Simplicity Deconstructed

Okay, Erika, here they are! ;-) Finally......

This recipe is actually from the Spring part of A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen, but what the heck - why not bring a little spring in? This recipe consists of 3 parts, the croquettes, the raita and the salad. As a whole, the recipe looks a little complicated, but each part is actually very simple and comes together quite quickly. It just takes a little planning since the lentil-rice mixture needs to be chill for 2 hours before hitting the pan.

The lentil-rice croquettes are seasoned with ginger and curry, but any combination of Indian-inspired spices would work well here. The croquettes were very good, but I thought they could use just a little more flavor and a little bit of heat (especially as a contrast to the cool raita). The raita is a simple combination of cucumber, garlic and yogurt.

Red Lentil and Basmati Rice Croquettes with Romaine-Mango Salad and Cucumber Raita

What really surprised me though, was the romaine-mango salad. It's simple combination of lettuce, mango, lime juice, EVOO and salt. I could have eaten an entire bowl of this salad alone - there was just something about the fresh, simple flavors that really won me over and reminded me that sometimes less is more.

The only thing that I did not like about this dish is how it's constructed. You pile the salad, croquettes and raita on a pita - it looks pretty, but then what? It's difficult to eat - trying to cut through the toasted pita with a fork and knife while also trying not to turn everything into a big pile of mush. I would serve the toasted pita on the side next time - brush it with a little olive oil and season it a bit - it just didn't work as a base for me. Or - stuff it all inside the pita as one would do with falafel - that might work as well.

I feel indebted to this recipe for showing me you don't have to be afraid to simply let the flavor of fresh ingredients stand on their own and hopefully I will be able to incorporate this principle into my cooking more and more.