Avocado Caesar

Although I've never posted a salad recipe, I consider myself an expert salad maker :). One of the main reasons we call Dolce an omnivore is he likes lettuce and even ARUGULA! I've never heard of another dog that will eat arugula :). I'll try to start putting up all of my salad creations. I made this up on the fly to go with chicken enchiladas at a dinner party last week and it was a big hit. It was a nice light substitute for rice and beans in an already heavy meal of enchiladas.

With avocado, cheddar and homemade breadcrumbs, how could you go wrong? The avocado is a great way to create a thick creamy dressing without adding any buttermilk or mayo. We've been using the avocado dressing all week as a sandwich spread with turkey pastrami... YUM!

Avocado Caesar
Serves 4

2 heads of romaine lettuce, cut in half and then into 1 inch strips
1 cup cheddar cheese
Homemade croutons:

• 1 baguette or loaf of french bread
• 3 tbs olive oil
• salt

Avocado dressing:

• juice of 2 limes
  
• Avocado
  
• 1/3 cup olive oil
  
• 1 or 2 cloves garlic
  
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 to 3/4 cup water to thin
  

Preheat the oven to 375F. For the croutons: Cut the baguette into bite sized pieces (I like big 1 inch cubes, but smaller works too :). You want about 2 cups of croutons. Toss with enough olive oil to coat - this may be more or less than 3tbs - and about a teaspoon of salt. Bake on a cookie sheet for 15 minutes or until golden. Check and turn over every 5 minutes until done. WARNING: Set a timer!! I am notorious toasting things and assuming I'll remember to keep an eye on it because I'm doing something else in the kitchen.

Meanwhile, combine the ingredients for the dressing and a 1/4 cup of the water in a blender and puree. Slowly add up to 1/2 cup more of water to thin the dressing to your desired consistency (adding more olive oil would make it thicker and way too oily). I left it pretty thick to coat the croutons and greens since this is dressing is the star of the salad.

Just before serving toss together the romaine, cheese, and croutons. Then sprinkle with black pepper and enough dressing to coat and toss again.

Enjoy and let me know how it turns out if you try it!

Chicken enchiladas

As a true Texan, I love Tex-Mex, Mexican, New Mexican and, well, pretty much any cuisine that revolves around peppers. DC isn't the best place to satisfy my Mexican food cravings, and certainly not as cheaply as I am used to from Texas. I think these enchiladas are just about the best to be found in DC - if I may say so myself. Dolce certainly agrees :), as did Leland and our friends Jenn and Brett that we had over to pig out on them!

I won't pretend this is a quick meal, but it will pay off in the end. I started with a whole chicken, roasted it and shredded it myself. I do think this is the most flavorful way to go, but you could also buy a rotisserie from the grocery store and shred it or just roast breasts or thighs (skin on), boil the meat or whatever you want. You'll want 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 lbs of meat in the end. Without further ado:




Chicken Enchiladas

12 to 16 corn tortillas

Enchilada Sauce (from Bobby Flay - I left out the honey)

1 3 to 4lb Roast Chicken (yields about 1.5 lbs of meat) or 1.5lb of breast or thigh meat cooked

2 cups of shredded cheese (this could be a mild cheddar, or other mild cheese like colby, monterey jack or a mixture)

1 can green chiles

1 tsp cumin

salt and pepper





Preheat the oven to 375F. If you are buying canned enchilada sauce and a rotisserie chicken, you can skip straight to the enchilada assembly as soon as you have your chicken shredded. The homemade enchilada sauce makes a HUGE difference and I like this recipe from Bobby flay because it is simple. I'm sure I will play around with using different dried peppers in the future, but the ancho chiles give a great flavor.

If you want tips on roasting the chicken, I would be happy to share, but I'd ask America's Test Kitchen! I rubbed my chicken with garlic paste, cumin and cayenne between the skin and the meat to give a little more flavor in the roasting process.

For the filling: Mix together the chicken, 1 cup (or more) cheese, cumin, salt, pepper and green chiles Add more cheese, cumin, or salt and pepper to taste.

Heat the tortillas 5 at a time in the microwave with a damp paper towel for 20 to 30 seconds or on a skillet as you assemble. This is to prevent them from cracking as you roll them up.

Ladle about a cup of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish. Fill each tortilla with about 1 1/2 tbs of filling (not too full), roll up and place seam down in the dish. This should make 12 to 16 enchiladas. Pour 1 1/2 cups or more of the sauce over the tortillas and put in the oven for 15 minutes. Sprinkle the top of the enchiladas with up to a cup of shredded cheese and return to the oven for 5 minutes or until melted. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes and serve with rice and beans or the Avocado Caesar salad!

fried rock shrimp tacos... OMG

Sooo, I got home after work to put some pork chops in a brine before going to the gym, so we could make grilled pork chops smothered in tomatillo salsa. (Just in case you didn't know, if your pork chops smell like they are rotting and have a white film on them, you should throw them out.) This emergency prompted me to skip the gym and go straight to Whole Foods to find an appropriate substitute. I went in thinking shrimp tacos with tomatillo salsa. The rock shrimp looked pretty and pink, were pealed and deveined without tails, and wild caught, never frozen and from the US (all of my seafood criteria combined!). I loved them in the dish, because they were easily piled in and rolled into a taco, but feel free to substitute with larger shrimp, scallops or white fish.

These tacos were phenomenal, if I may say so, and Leland claimed them best dinner this summer. Dolce, in general, gets excited anytime we fry something, so he stayed under foot pretty much the whole time.

We topped them with a chipotle mayo, avocado and a "whatever was in the crisper" slaw and wrapped them up in warm homemade flour tortillas. This probably took an hour start to finish, and is something I will definitely make again.




Fried Rock Shrimp Tacos with Chipotle Mayonnaise and Crisp Cucumber Slaw

Serves 4
Prep Time: 1 hour (less with store bought tortillas)


Make the dough first, then all the toppings, fry the shrimp and last cook up the tortillas. If you have store bought tortillas you will still want to heat them up on a griddle or in the microwave.

Assemble each taco however you like! We piled on the shrimp, spread the avocado on the tortilla and topped with the slaw and chipotle sauce.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

I used this recipe from the foodnetwork.com, and they turned out perfectly. The full recipe would be the right about for 4 people. If you do not have or do not like shortening (or lard) you can find tortilla recipes that call for vegetable oil instead. I prefer the silky consistency that shortening gives.



Fried rock shrimp

1 lb rock shrimp cleaned, peeled and deveined
1 cup flour
salt pepper
frying oil (I prefer peanut, but you could use any veg oil)
deep pan

When you start the shrimp, put the pan on the stove with the oil about an inch thick and turn the heat on medium high.

Very simply, combine the flour salt and pepper in a shallow dish. You'll want to have to other plates or dishes standing by, one clean and one with a paper towel. Pick through the shrimp to make sure they are clean. Gently toss the shrimp in the flour mixture and transfer to the clean plate. Fry about a quarter of the shrimp at a time, until a deep golden brown (less than 3 minutes). If the oil doesn't cover the shrimp completely flip after they look golden on the bottom. Remove from the fryer and place on the paper towel. As the shrimp cool you'll cook or heat up your tortillas.

TOPPINGS

Chipotle Mayo

1 or 2 chipotle peppers in adobo, seeded and chopped fine
2 tsp adobo sauce
1 cup mayo
juice of one lime

I took advantage of the chipotle peppers left over from the corn chowder. Combine chipotles, adobo and mayo in a small bowl and whisk until combined. Whisk in the lime juice until the sauce is thinner, but not at all runny. Taste and adjust with more chipotle if desired.

Cucumber "Slaw"

1 cucumber
half a head of lettuce or cabbage, shredded (We had romaine, so I threw that in)
1/4 of a red onion, cut into thin strips
handful cilantro, chopped fine
2 tsp lime juice
1 tsp salt

For the slaw you want each piece of cucumber, lettuce or onion to be about the same size. So for the cucumber in half and then cut in half again lengthwise, scoop out the seeds with a spoon and very thinly slice the cuke lengthwise into strips. The cucumber adds a really nice crunch and tangy flavor brought out by the salt and lime.

Toss everything together and set aside while you start the shrimp.

Avocado I also made an avocado puree with one avocado and juice from half a lime (to keep the bright green color) to spread on the tacos

Back to Blogging? Corn Chowder and Fried Squash Blossoms

So, I haven't posted in a long time, but I am going to give it another go. :) Part of the initial reason for my silence is that I thought my posts were boring without pictures, and we are usually so excited to eat that I forget to take a picture!

Well, on Sunday Leland was so excited about how good dinner looked that he took a picture! We went to the farmers market for the first time in almost a month, and oh my goodness, we were quickly inspired to make all kinds of things with fresh sweet corn, squash blossoms, tomatillos, tomatoes, basil, etc. (Also, stay tuned next week for peaches... you could smell the peaches as soon as you turned the corner. We forced ourselves to pass them up this time, but next week I might blow my paycheck on peaches).

I basically spent the entire afternoon in the kitchen making various things from tomatillo salsa to sugar cookies :). The main event however was my mom's corn chowder recipe and fried stuffed zucchini blossoms! I have been thinking about making this corn chowder all summer and have just been waiting for the delicious sweet corn to come in season. My mom used to make this a couple of times a year and everyone always went back for seconds. This might sound heavy for summer because it is a chowder, but using fresh corn and a garnish of fresh tomato and avocado gives it a nice summery flavor. [If you have extra corn, roast it with salt, pepper and a bit of olive oil at 375, and use it as a garnish!]

Both of these dishes are very easy with most of the effort in the preparation. This corn chowder is worth any potential inconvenience, we visited SIX different groceries to find chipotles in adobo sauce!! (I obviously stocked up once I found it.) The chipotle is what really makes this dish. It adds a little heat and a rich smokey flavor that really brings out the flavor of the corn. I add a little bit more chipotle pepper than my mom to give a bit more rich smokey flavor, but add less at first if you are unsure about the flavor. We had fried squash blossoms stuffed with goat cheese on the side and I think this was a wonderful accompaniment.



This is my mom's recipe with a few additional tips from me. I should say that I just approximated the ingredients and "cut the recipe in half" and it turned out beautifully.

Corn Chowder:

1 Tbs butter

1 Shallot, finely chopped (yellow onion is fine

1 medium potato peeled, and chopped into ½ to ¾ in pieces

1/8 tsp thyme (fresh or dried)

1 C water

6 ears of corn with the kernels cut off and the cobs scraped of any juice about 4 C

4 C milk (whole milk gives a thicker chowder, but 2% would also be fine)

½ to 1 tsp finely minced chipotle chiles in adobo sauce

½ tsp salt

Pepper to taste

For garnish:

Blue corn chips or strips (the blue is really just for more color, yellow corn chips are okay, too!)

chopped tomato

chopped avocado

First scrape the corn off the cob, after you cut off the kernels, go back over the cob with a knife and scrape out all of the milky juice. Depending on the size of the corn cobs you may need a lot more to make 4 cups.

Saute shallot in butter for two minutes, add potato and thyme and water. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes or until a fork easily goes into the potato. If the water doesn't cover the potato that is okay, but then I would put a lid on to help cook the potato through.

Add corn, milk, chiles and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 10 to 15 min stirring occasionally until corn is cooked through. I usually use a hand blender to emulsify the potatoes and some of the corn.

Serve with about 1 Tbs tomatoes, avocado and corn tostados.

Squash Blossoms:

This was really simple, and really delicious. You could modify and put anything or any kind of cheese inside that you think sounds tasty. 2 or 3 squash blossoms per person is probably the way to go. We used goat cheese and basil inside this time, but I want to try again with mozz, parm and parsley or cheddar and green chiles! YUM. Let me know if you have other ideas for what to put inside!!

6 squash blossoms

oil (I used peanut, but anything would work for this)

For the stuffing:

1/2 cup goat cheese

salt and pepper

1 tbs basil or other herbs, chopped

For the batter:

1/2 cup flour

salt and pepper

1 egg

Leland took the lead on this, but we discussed for a while which part of the blossom we did or did not want to eat, read a few recipes online, etc and what we came up with worked. Handle them carefully, because they can rip easily. For each blossom, remove the spiky part of the stem and carefully reach inside to remove the stamen. Then rinse each blossom carefully, pat dry or use a salad spinner.

In a small bowl, microwave the goat cheese for about 15 seconds to soften it. Add basil, salt and pepper and combine.

In another small bowl or shallow dish add the flour and salt and pepper and give it a stir, and in a second dish whisk the egg.

At this point, put a saute pan on the stove over medium high heat with about a half inch of oil, and set out a plate or dish lined with a paper towel.

Fill the squash blossoms with the goat cheese mixture and twist the top to close it off. Dredge in the egg and then the flour. Fry 3 or 4 at a time until golden brown on each side, about 2 minutes on the first side and one minute on the second, and transfer to the paper towel. [Gross tip: to test the oil first drop in some of the batter that has stuck to your fingers :), if it sizzles and pops the oil is probably ready... you could also use a high temp thermometer to confirm it is about350 to 375 F]

As soon as they look dry they are ready to eat!

If you make one or both let me know how it goes!!

Tartufo da Roma

I recently went to Rome for a meeting for a few days. I had never been to Italy before and have long had a love affair with the thought of Rome, so I was pretty excited. I knew I wouldn't have much time to see sights until the end of the trip, because I was working non stop. I was, of course, most looking forward to stuffing my face and gaining at least 5 pounds from eating pasta every meal, every day. Unfortunately, I had a terrible stomach ache most of the time that I was there (I'll spare you the details), and barely had an appetite, and the jet lag didn't help. Finally on the last night, I wasn't exactly feeling better, but I was determined to enjoy myself a little bit. I think my boss felt bad for me, so she took me around to some of the sights and we did extremely touristy things, like eat pasta in front of the Pantheon, which I could barely stomach, but it was delicious... just spaghetti, pecorino romano and a lot of black pepper.

Then she took me to get this:


Tartufo... Suddenly I had an appetite. This was apparently a very chocolately version, but it was essentially, a frozen cherry covered in rich chocolate gelato, covered in some sort of pure chocolate ganache rolled in crushed pieces of dark chocolate, then frozen and topped with whipped cream and a little cookie straw.

It sounds like too much, because it was too much, but I ate basically all of it. I can't wait to go back to Italy and eat everything else!

Bacon and Blue Cheese Mac n' Cheese

So, I promise I'm going to start taking pictures of the finished products, but when they are ready we're just too excited to dig in to stop for a Kodak moment!

Anyway, Dolce loves bacon above all other things. One time I scraped bacon fat into the trash can and he stood at the trashcan crying and stamping his feet for half an hour hoping I'd give him access to the wonderful bacon fat. This recipe was incredible, and definitely Dolce approved. Bacon goes great with everything, and especially well with blue cheese. This is really just a regular mac n cheese with a hint of tangy blue cheese and smokey bacon in every bite.

Pasta:
1 lb macaroni or shells
1 lb of extra sharp cheddar cheese (I like Cabot).
2 cups whole milk
2 tbs butter
2 tbs flour
salt and pepper to taste
4 or more slices of bacon
half cup or more crumbled gorgonzola or other blue cheese

bread crumb topping:
1/3 cup of parmesan
2/3 cup of bread crumbs
2 tsp cracked black pepper
2 tsp salt


Preheat oven to 400*F. Grate all of the cheddar and set aside (use a food processor to save your biceps :). Pour milk and let come to room temperature (or microwave for 30 seconds). Cook the bacon, crumble when cool and set aside. While making cheese sauce. boil a large pot of water with a tablespoon of salt and cook pasta until just slightly tender.

In a large sauce pan melt butter and whisk in flour to make a roux, let bubble until golden, don't brown. Whisk in milk until half a cup at a time, letting the mixture smooth and thicken with each addition. The final addition may not get thick, so whisk until bubbly and add in cheese a handful or two at a time melting before each new addition. Stir in salt and pepper to taste (I like a lot of black pepper). Pour mixture over cooked noodles and combine, add bacon and blue cheese until just combined and pour into a 9x9 casserole or a deep casserole bowl. You may sprinkle more blue cheese on top at this point. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture on top and bake at 400F for 20 to 30 minutes or until bubbling and golden brown on top. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

Variation:
For regular mac and cheese, I would omit the bacon and blue cheese and add two tsp of cayenne to the cheese sauce.

Fall is upon us! Butternut Squash Soup

In the last month, I have been traveling a lot so trips to the farmer's market have been centered around a couple of items to cook on Sunday or to snack on, but this past weekend we were finally able to think about meals! We've seen the gradual transition to fall produce and finally the weather is going along with it.

I set out with corn chowder on the brain, but sadly corn season is gone! The winter squash were so tempting I decided to make a hearty soup (a soup I make in in many variations all fall and winter). You can really go two ways with this particular variation, add nutmeg for something more earthy or leave out the nutmeg and serve with sour cream and chives. Leave out the butter and the cream and it is vegan and just as delicious.

Leland was very skeptical that we could eat "all that soup", so we bought containers for freezing the remainder (after we had set aside some extra for a weekday lunch). I came home last night to him defrosting the bit we had frozen so he could eat it again for dinner two days later. It is so good and so simple. Next time, I'll have to make a double batch so we can keep some frozen!

The nutmeg version is below:

Serves 6 main courses or 8 to 10 appetizers

1 butternut squash
1 acorn squash
(Any two squash would work, but I love this combination)
1 medium onion
1 big carrot, or a couple of thin ones
2 celery stalks
1 sweet potato
2 tbs butter
2 tbs olive oil
1 quart vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs thyme
salt, pepper to taste
nutmeg to taste
1/2 to 1 cup of heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400*F. Cut squash in half, scoop out seeds and place the squash cut side down on a baking sheet (lined with tin foil to save a big mess later), cut a few slits through the skin of the squash. Bake for about 45 min at 400F or until a knife inserts easily and squash is tender. Let cool completely and then scoop out the roasted squash and set aside. You can do this step a day or few hours ahead of time. If you do this ahead of time, the actual soup takes less than half an hour to put together in the evening.

In a large pot or dutch oven, saute the onion, carrots and celery in the butter and oil until soft and starting to brown (at least 10 min), the browner the more the flavor! In the meantime, wash, peel and cube the sweet potato.

Deglaze the onion mixture with all of the stock; add the bay leaves and thyme and some of the salt, pepper and nutmeg; add the sweet potato and the roasted squash,and add enough water to just cover the potatoes and bring to a boil. Boil until sweet potatoes are tender but not mushy (fork inserts easily) 10 to 15 minutes, adding more water along the way if necessary to cover the veggies. When the sweet potatoes are done, turn off the heat, remove bay leaves and thyme.

Use an immersion blender or ladle the soup into a blender, add 1/2 to 1 cup of cream and blend to a fine puree. I generally add more water at this point to thin the soup to the desired consistency. Butternut squash soup can be thin, but the addition of the sweet potato makes it thick and hearty, so thinning a little helps at this point because you're breaking up all that sweet potato.

Return to the heat and bring back to a bubbly simmer, and serve. Garnish with coarse salt, black pepper and nutmeg.