dinner « DinnerCakes

Asparagus In Wine, Balsamic and Soy Reduction

March 15th, 2010

by Chef Edwin

In my quest to appreciate the fungus known as mushrooms, I’ve been perusing some of the cookbooks at the local library. On amazing dish I came across was for roasted Portabello mushrooms from the book Veganomicon. By far the best mushroom dish I’ve had.

I decided to try a variant of this with asparagus, as this vegetable is showing up in markets quite heavily as spring begins to roll in. While not as tasty as the original recipe, I like how the reduction works with this vegetable. There is plenty of liquid, which I sopped with couscous, but consider this as optional.

Asparagus In Wine, Balsamic and Soy Reduction

1/2 cup cooking wine (red)
2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic; minced
1 pound asparagus; woody ends removed and chopped into 1-2 inch pieces.

Preheat the oven to 400. Combine and mix everything but the asparagus. Place the asparagus in a large baking pan and pour in your “sauce”. Roast for 20 minutes, serve and enjoy.

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Saying Goodbye To Winter – Oven Baked Yukon Golds

March 10th, 2010

by Chef Edwin

The first signs of Spring came out in style this past weekend with some excellent sun, a light breeze and warm temperatures that helped you forgot the horror that snowpacolypse. On Sunday a group of of us went on our first outdoor climb of the new year at Great Falls. Despite rather high water levels we had a blast and got some excellent climbs in.

Inspired by the weather, I ventured out to the Falls Church Farmers Market on Saturday, which has actually been open since January. Props to that. There’s something calming about Farmers Markets; centering. Scores of people walking about just talking, sampling food; no rush, no place they have to be. It’s just a contrast from the usual everyday life in DC where actually forget about how much stress and urgency we’re practically swimming in.

With us being on the tale end of winter, I honed in on the root vegetables; beets, leeks, potatoes… and a few apples of course (huuuuge Fuji’s. yum!) The leeks ended up in a nice simple, but delicious potato leek soup and I have visions of a small batch of borscht for the beets. The potatoes, yukon golds to be exact, had their own destiny.

A very smart person once said that the secret to good food is to use fresh ingredients and do very little to them. While it’s easy to to consider the potato as nothing more than bland, there is an essence of flavor somewhere and simplicity is the best way to draw that out. Local fresh is key here. Potatoes start with a rather thin skin when just yanked out of the ground and this thing tends to get thicker as the months roll by (which I can promise you is happening with spuds at your local megamart). When looking for potatoes at your local market, look for paper thin and you won’t be disappointed. Then, toss with a bit of oil, some salt and pepper and then whatever herbs you may like (fresh if you got em but dried if you don’t).

Oven Baked Yukon Golds
Consider this a guideline. Throw out the cookbook (or, put it back on the shelf).

Yukon Gold potatoes
herbs (rosemary, thyme…)
salt
pepper

Preheat your oven to 400°. Cut your potatoes into 1.5 piece cubes, most likely just in half unless there notably large; in which case quarter them. Toss with a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Start with one and add more if necessary for a light coating. Throw in a tablespoon of fresh herbs or a teaspoon of dried and set on a sheet pan. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper and bake for 30 minutes until the pieces are easily pierced but still firm. Let cool briefly, serve and enjoy.

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Simple – Split Pea Soup

March 1st, 2010

by Chef Edwin

I like simple. Simple pleasures, simple life, simple food. Simple is flexible. Go with the flow. Simple is something you can make when it’s 2am and you just got home from a late night at the bars and, suddenly, have this weird craving for soup. Yes sir, simple is my friend.

Take this recipe as a gentle suggestion on the path towards deliciousness; with many side trails to take and trees to climb. Don’t like the green color? Go with yellow, or half and half (I tossed in some leftover yellow). Tarragon not your thing? Go with thyme, or rosemary, or whatever fresh leftover herbs you have sitting in your fridge, otherwise destined for the trash. Go nuts. Hooray simple.

Simple Split Pea Soup

1 onion; chopped
1 large carrot; chopped
1 celery stalk; chopped
1 russet potato; chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 1/2 cups split peas; rinsed and drained
4 or more cups of stock (or water)
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
salt to taste

Heat your pot medium and sweat the onion, carrot and celery until the onion is transclucent. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20-30 minutes, until everything is soft and smells (tastes!) delicious. Remove from heat and let cool a bit and either blend with an immersion blender or in a standard drink blender a few cups at a time. Enjoy.

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Second Time’s a Charm – Tempeh Curry Salad

February 23rd, 2010

by Chef Edwin

It’s funny, with there being so many different dishes out there, more than one could ever hope to cook or eat in one lifetime, it’s easy to forget about the ones you’ve tried before. You find an interesting recipe, maybe you make some improvisations, maybe you don’t. Maybe it comes out great, maybe it comes out decent and you have some thoughts for “next time” Then you forget about it, lost forever in the past.

This is one of those dishes. I made a curry dish from Totally Vegetarian and, well, I was not knocked over by it’s awesomeness. It wasn’t bad, but if I was a restaurant, I would not come back to me and order this (if that makes any sense). SO, back to the drawing board. Whole Foods has this awesome curry tempeh dish they have sometimes at their hot bar and apparently if you add mayonnaise it becomes a salad, which blows my mind. I shall be calling club sandwiches salads from now on. I gotta say, I was quite happy with how this came out. It was delicious and the whole wheat couscous I paired it with worked quite well. I encourage you to try this and next time someone tells you to eat healthier, whip this sucker out.

Tempeh Curry Salad
For the curry, I used one teaspoon hot, two teaspoons sweet and for me it was perfect. However, I am quite the spice-wuss.

2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 white onion; chopped
2 garlic cloves; minced
1 teaspoon ginger; minced
1 tablespoon curry; any kind
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1/8 cup tamari (soy sauce in a pinch)
1 cup fresh peas (or thawed and drained)
8oz tempeh; chopped into small quarter inch pieces
1/2 cup mayo (I used vegan, but any should work)
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
salt and pepper to taste

Under medium high heat, saute your onion in a large pan with the olive oil until translucent and slightly browned. Reduce the heat to medium and add your garlic, ginger, curry and mustard; stirring to mix well and prevent burning. Once fragrant (1-2 minutes), add your tempeh and tamari. Stir and cook for a few minutes until the tempeh has been heated up and the liquid has either mostly been absorbed or cooked away.

Add your remaining ingredients and stir to mix well. Cook for a few minutes and remove from heat. Serve immediately or cold; both ways are delicious. Enjoy.

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Broiled Zucchini, Yellow Squash and Potatoes, Lightly Herbed & Sprinkled with Cheese

February 22nd, 2010

by Heather (Ghost Baker)

I do, on occasion, try to eat a meatless dinner. Flipping through Giada De Laurentiis’s Giada’s Kitchen: New Italian Favorites always helps to make me feel good about veggies again. Italian cooking has a lot of great vegetables and healthy things about it, but in restaurants the food just seems to get so bogged down with cheeses and oil. Giada unearths the good food under all the excess.

I was drawn to her Broiled Zucchini and Potatoes with Pamesan Crust recipe… but with a few changes, of course!

I traded in the new potatoes for two small to medium sized Russet potatoes. I also added in two yellow squash in addition to the zucchini, and I used a bit of shredded Vermont White Cheddar cheese instead of Parmesan. Instead of buying fresh herbs (which are wonderful, but just not that accessible for a quick weeknight dinner) I used dried. I thought the result was pretty awesome.

Since I had more vegetables than the original recipe, I added in a little more unsalted butter to cook them in. So that I didn’t turn a relatively healthy meal into a butter fiesta, I used 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter + 2 tablespoons of Smart Balance butter. I would also recommend that you cook the veggies in batches in your skillet; I had a giant skillet to use and even with that things were just a little too crowded. The vegetables taste great, with a tiny bit of salt, cheese and butter giving it just enough zip to turn a veggiephobe into a new friend for life.

Broiled Zucchini, Yellow Squash and Potatoes, Lightly Herbed & Sprinkled with Cheese
adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

2 small/medium size Russet potatoes, cleaned and quartered
2 tablespoons unsalted butter + 2 tablespoons Smart Balance butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons rosemary
2 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and then cut into 1 inch pieces
2 small yellow squash, halved lengthwise and then cut into 1 inch pieces
Pinch of kosher salt and black pepper
1/3 cup freshly grated Vermont white cheddar

Boil a medium pot of water on high heat. Add quartered potatoes and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and let cool. Cut into 2 inch pieces when cooled.

Over medium heat, place a medium saute pan with butter, garlic, thyme and rosemary – heat until the butter melts. Meanwhile, lightly salt the cut surfaces of the zucchini, squash and potatoes. Place the cut side down in the melted butter and cook for about 15 minutes when golden brown.

Preheat the broiler and line a baking sheet with foil. Place the browned zucchini and potatoes on the sheet with the cut side facing up. Sprinkle with Vermont cheddar. Broil until cheese melts (about 4 minutes). Serve while hot!

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Not Quite Rice Noodles – Spaghetti Squash Stir Fry

February 15th, 2010

by Chef Edwin

The massive snow storm of 2010 appears to have abetted, finally. Forecast predicts a wee bit more snow (argh) but we should returning to normal soon. Have I mentioned that I hate winter? I hate winter. At least there’s squash.

Another adventure with spaghetti squash! At 89 cents a pound it’s rather hard to pass up. I didn’t feel like going pasta style and had a hankering for stir fry. I think broccoli is my favorite vegetable. I kinda just ran with this one not knowing where it’d end up. Overall, pretty happy; though I’d leave out the bean sprouts next time. They just didn’t add anything, and took away a bit. Still, quite proud and I shall do it again!

Spaghetti Squash Stir Fry With Broccoli

1 small spaghetti squash
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 large onion; quartered and sliced
1 green bell pepper; cut into slices
4 cloves garlic; minced
2 teaspoons minced ginger
1 jalapeno pepper; diced
8 ounces broccoli; cut into small florets

Sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon chinese cooking wine
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar

Pierce the squash several times and cook at 350° for an hour. Once done, let cool and cut in half lengthwise. Mix together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

Cook the onion and green pepper with the peanut oil in a large wok under high heat for several minutes until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic, ginger and jalapeno pepper and cook, constantly stirring until fragrant. Transfer to a bowl, add 1/3 cup of water and the broccoli. Bring to a boil, cover and cook until all the water boils away. Add the remaining ingredients and toss, mixing well, and serve.

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Working With What I Got – Baked Eggplant With Tomato And Onion

February 11th, 2010

by Chef Edwin

I am so over this whole snow thing. DC got blasted with another round and rumor is we’ve hit a new record in snowfall. Whoopie. Things got pretty clear by this afternoon, fortunately, and with any luck we’ll begin the slow, gradual return to normalcy around here. Fingers crossed.

Didn’t have a whole lot of ingredients in the kitchen yesterday during this apocalypse, but I did have more eggplant. This another recipe that calls for roasting, which is nice to take away the eggplant’s natural bitterness. I’ve always liked tomatoes with onions, and this is no exception.

Baked Eggplant with Tomato and Onion

1 eggplant
1 onion; cut into quarters and sliced
2 tomatoes; chopped
3 garlic cloves; minced
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar

Preheat your oven to 350°. Cut your eggplant in half, lengthwise, sprinkle with salt and set aside to weep for five minutes. Rinse well, dry and set in a baking dish; flesh side up. Combine the onion, tomato, garlic, herbs and salt in a small bowl. Make a small slice down the middle of each eggplant half and heap your topping on. Bake for 30-40 minutes, pressing the topping down 2-3 times with the back of a spoon. Serve and enjoy.

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Remembering [Food From] College

February 2nd, 2010

by Heather (Ghost Baker)

So back in college I was heavily involved in a co-ed community service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega (APO). The mission and the people really blew my mind and made my college experience what it was. There are a lot of awesome things I could talk about with APO but, you know me, I’m going to talk about food.

I don’t remember the reason, but one evening during our normal meeting time we had a pot luck. One person made the most delicious shrimp and pasta dish that I’ve ever had. That’s right, I’m still thinking about it to this day.

It wasn’t a cream sauce or fettuccine type dish, it had angel hair pasta, lightly spiced shrimp and a nice amount of kick. I’d ask for the recipe, but last I heard this person was on a fishing boat in Alaska?

So I did some searching and found Emeril’s Shrimp and Pasta with Chilis, Garlic, Lemon and Green Onions. Unfortunately I was pretty underwhelmed.

Changes I made to it include leaving out the green onions and fresh parsley, adding spinach, replacing linguini with angel hair and steaming the shrimp rather than cooking them in a skillet. I thought steaming the shrimp would cut down on a little fat and also hold in the flavor more – maybe I was way off base?

What do you all think – Do you have a great pasta & shrimp recipe? Should I have stuck with the skillet instead of steaming? I’d love to hear your thoughts, and I’d really love to eat a delicious pasta & shrimp dish again

You can find Emeril’s recipe by clicking here.

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From Foe To Friend – Baked Tomatoes With Cilantro

February 1st, 2010

by Chef Edwin

I never really liked tomatoes as a kid. Being a picky child growing up, unless it was in Heinz 57 or Ragu form chances were I would not be a fan. To be fair, the tomato plant started this cold, unamaciable relationship when it decided to give me hives. My mother had a small vegetable (and tomato) garden in our backyard and one day while my sister and I were playing we somehow ended up in the garden and next thing I know I’m breaking out in itchy bumps with absolutely no idea what’s going on. Tomatoes fired the first shot.

Fast forward to present day and the tomato and I are best buds; hanging out, making soups, playing catch (i like to throw ball-shaped food up in the air. i usually catch it), having a good time. I friggin’ love tomatoes now and do not mind saying that I will, on occasion, eat this noble fruit like an apple. Oh, if only the old me could take a gander now.

This is a nice simple recipe that would work well as a no-fuss side dish. You could easily be prepare this, set it aside, and pop it in the oven when the timing works with everything else on the dinner menu. I opted for dried cilantro simply because I had it and I hate buying fresh herbs when I know I’ll only use a small fraction and the rest will slowly whither and die in my fridge (so much anger….). Feel free to go the fresh route if so inclined; just use two tablespoons rather than two teaspoons.

Baked Tomatoes With Cilantro
Be sure to serve this directly from the baking dish, as the tomatoes will be very soft.

4 tomatoes (approximately 2 pounds; maybe a bit less); cut into 1/4 inch slices
5 cloves of garlic; minced
2 teaspoons dried cilantro
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (much less if you’re a spice wuss such as moi)
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 350°.

Lightly oil a glass baking pan and layer your tomato slices as shown in the photograph above. Combine your remaining ingredients and spread/smother/slather atop the tomatoes. I recommend just using one of your (clean! you wash before cooking, right?) hands to mix and distribute. Simple with a bit of salt and pepper, then bake for 25 minutes. Serve in the baking dish and enjoy.

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Some Dumpling Experimentation – African Inspired Rice Dumplings

January 28th, 2010

by Chef Edwin

Growing up with an German mother, Bavarian dumplings were not an uncommon accompaniment to main courses of goulash, beef tips and rouladen. To say I was quite fond of these suckers doesn’t really saw much, since I inhaled just about every dinner mom put before me (I was a…. healthy eater). I never really understood how they were made growing up, existing in this nebulous state of origin; with characteristics from several directions. A little potato, a little noodle, a little cake. It was a delicious mystery. Later I came to find out that mother (and her mother and probably her mother, etc etc) made dumplings from a box mix, killing that unknown with a dull thud.

I have a few of those very box mixes in my cupboard, of course, because there’s just something about the food you grew up eating that takes you to a warm comfortable place, no matter what it is or how it was made. I am amazed sometimes by the culinary geniuses at some restaurants, but it will never replace my mom’s home cooking. Ever.

That being said, I do love stretching my wings, throwing myself into an area of cooking that I have no experience with and very little business trying. I’ve been reading a bit about cooking in the Middle East and Africa (thank you, local library) so I decided to try a dumpling inspired by this reading; not from a box (sorry Mom!).

African Inspired Rice Dumplings

1 onions; chopped
2 garlic cloves; minced
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon allspice
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 cup cooked long grain rice; strained well (press the water out a bit)
2 1/2 cups flour
3 tablespoons milk
salt and pepper

Saute the onions with the butter in a large pan for five minutes then add the garlic and spices and cook for another five minutes. Mix with 1 cup of flour and set aside.

Process the rice in a food processor for 30 seconds and transfer to a mixing bowl along with 1 1/2 cup of flour, milk along with salt and pepper to taste. Mix together, adding additional flour until not too sticky to work with (it will still be a bit sticky). Work into golf size balls and then flatten. Put 1-2 teaspoons of your onion mixture on your rice dough and wrap around to reform a ball. Boil in water for 30-40 minutes until dough is cooked through. Serve and enjoy.

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