Tomatoes and Garlic and Capers, Oh My!

Hi friends! I have been gone from the cooking and blogging realm for far too long (a fact I am painfully aware of!), but I am very excited to be jumping back in. For those that don’t already know, I have been hard at work on a new sort of baking project for the past few months- and it’s not a Sourdough starter... Yes, that’s right, I’m working on a baby!

Oh, hey baby!

Kyle and I were over the moon when we found out that we would be expecting our first child in July of this year, and had kept the news on the hush until we made it home to visit family and friends over the holiday season. Now that I am settling comfortably into my second trimester stride, my energy and appetite have both shot back up, and I am looking forward to getting back into the kitchen and working on some tasty ideas that have been bouncing around in my head!

With that news out of the way, let’s get down to the food. You'll have to be kind to me as I get back into the culinary groove, since I have been away for some time, and it usually takes me a little bit to get the creativity flowing again, so bear with me! After a couple of busy months of traveling, visiting friends and family, holidays and intermittent nausea battles, I was very excited to have a little quiet time at home last weekend. With all the traveling and being out of the apartment that we’ve done recently, the fresh produce was pretty much non-existent, so it took a few shopping trips/lists to get the kitchen up and running. For those that don’t live in the area, the weather has been terrible as of late, with weekly snow & ice storms that leave much to be desired, and have me craving warm & comforting food.

While out on one of my re-stocking adventures at the market, I spied veal cutlets on sale and quickly began throwing together ideas in my head. Roasted tomatoes and garlic scream comfort to me (see my opus to their awesomeness here), so I quickly put together a dish in my head that would be simple to make, and had leftovers that could be used again. I was super satisfied with the results, and found it to be equally comforting when used over the veal as well as when tossed with pasta. It’s not a wildly imaginative recipe, but it was a good first step back into cooking for me, and has already left me mulling over more new ideas in my head that should make their way here very soon.

My portions for the tomato “sauce” are for two servings, so if you’re like me and eating solo, you can save the 2nd half to be used for pasta later in the week. If you’re looking to have more leftover tomatoes or looking to feed a slightly larger crowd, you can easily double the amount called for.

Roasted Tomatoes, Garlic and Capers for Meat & Pasta

For Roasted Tomatoes:

- ½ pint organic grape tomatoes
- 5-6 cloves of garlic, skins intact
- ½ Spanish red onion, sliced thick
- 8 Large oil cured black olives
- 1 Tblspn of capers
- ¼ cup(ish) Good olive oil
- Sea salt & cracked pepper to taste
- 1 Tspn crushed red pepper (optional)
- 6 Fresh basil leaves, sliced thinly lengthwise

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In an oven-proof pan or Dutch oven just large enough to hold ingredients, combine tomatoes, garlic, onion, olives and capers, and toss with olive oil until well coated. Season with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Place pan in oven for 53-50 minutes, or until tomatoes begin to pop, garlic has taken on rich caramel color, and onions have browned.

For Breaded Veal Cutlets (works well for chicken too!):

- Veal cutlets of medium thickness, pounded lightly (1 for each person, depending on size)
- ½ Cup all purpose flour, seasoned with salt & pepper
- 1 Large egg, beaten
- ½ Cup panko bread crumbs seasoned with salt, pepper & a little dried oregano
- 2-4 slices of fresh mozzarella
-Olive oil

Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat with a little olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Using the breading “assembly line” technique discussed here, dredge veal cutlets through flour, egg and panko, and place breaded cutlets directly into pre-heated pan (if cooking for more than 2 servings, do this in batches, as over-crowding your pan will cause an uneven distribution of heat, and cutlets will not brown as well). Cook cutlets 4-5 minutes per side, or a bit more depending on thickness, until cooked through and golden brown on the exterior. Remove fully cooked cutlets and place in an oven proof baking dish.

To Assemble:

When tomatoes have fully roasted, remove from oven, switch oven off and turn on broiler to high. Transfer tomato mixture to the same pan used for sautéing veal and lightly sauté tomatoes over medium heat (this will help break up the roasted tomatoes a bit, creating a more saucy texture). While sauce heats, top each cutlet with a few slices of fresh mozzarella, place under broiler and broil until cheese is brown and bubbly. Remove from oven and transfer to serving plate. Spoon tomato mixture over cutlets, and top with fresh basil. Serve with a simple green salad and a loaf of rustic bread for a hearty meal.

Using Leftover Sauce for Pasta:

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Drop in pasta & cook, following package directions. While pasta cooks, heat up leftover sauce in a small skillet, adding a little water, wine or chicken stock to loosen it up a bit. Once pasta has cooked, drop into skillet with sauce and toss to coat. Finish with a little grated or shredded parmesan and fresh basil. If you’ve got some leftover cooked off chicken breast, sausage, or really any protein, dice up and heat in with the sauce- it’s a great addition!

Fresh From the Sill

I want to start off by acknowledging that I have been massively behind in my updating and posting, apologies all around! It has been an extremely busy season around our little home in the past month or so (details of the adventures over on The Humble Home soon!), but I am now starting to feel a bit caught up, and ready to kick into summer into full swing!

One responsibility that most certainly went unattended would be my container garden. While I kept up with watering and daily maintenance, it really wasn’t not getting the care it deserved, and I began to feel the guilties. As a result, I spent all afternoon this past Sunday giving my containers so much needed TLC- trimming, cutting back, re-potting, feeding, the whole rigamaroll! One look at my lovely basil plant, and I knew it was time to use up a good amount to make way for fresh growth, and the easiest way to accomplish this is making pesto.

I have been making pesto for at least the past 10 years, when my friend from college began requesting it as often as possible. My mother-in-law makes a fabulous pesto with a couple different variations, and I remember her handing us a cooler stocked to the brim with fresh sauce before our move to Annapolis a few years back, it was much appreciated! It is such a simple and beautiful sauce that not only uses up a large surplus of fresh basil, but is also quite economical if you grow your own. It can be applied to just about and scenario (pasta, dressings, pizza, over grilled meat or fish, sandwich spread, etc.) and freezes well- a trait I greatly appreciate! It abides by one of my favorite cooking rules of taking simple, fresh ingredients and working them together so that each element is still acknowledged and highlighted by the other components.

Much like a red tomato sauce, pesto sauces come in a wide range of variations, and each chef touts theirs as the best. Another parallel to red sauce would be the execution- for me it’s predominantly eyeballing the ingredients and adjusting as I go each time, so stick with your instincts. For this latest evolution, I was practicing the “use what you have” mantra, and set out to only incorporate what I had on hand. Absentmindedly, I had tossed the last of my pine nuts into my lunch salad, and only after finishing my lunch did I realize that maybe I should have had a little forethought. So I turned to plan “B”. I had a big bag of raw almonds in my pantry, toasted them up, and threw them in- what a fabulous addition! Almonds have less calories and a lower fat content per serving, which gives you a slight nutritional edge as well.

I’ve been eating my Almond Pesto for two days now (currently as I type, mixed with mashed cauliflower and a little lemon zest for lunch!), and it still is just as bright and fresh. If anything, I find it best after it has been refrigerated overnight- it gives the flavor more time to come together.

There is a certain sense of pride one feels when you are able to not only make something completely from scratch, but also be able to create a dish or element out of something you have personally cultivated from the ground up. Homegrown always tastes the sweetest!

Toasted Almond Pesto Sauce

-2 Good sized bunches (handfuls) of fresh basil leaves, stemmed
-4 Cloves of garlic, peeled & smashed (easier to blend)
-1/2 to 2/3 Cup of fresh grated Parmesan cheese
-2/3 Cup raw almonds
-1/2 to 3/4 Cup good olive oil
-Sea salt & fresh cracked pepper, to taste

Heat a dry sauté pan over medium heat and add in almonds. Occasionally shake pan to toss almonds to toast uniformly, about 7-10 minutes. Remove almonds from heat & cool. In a blender/food processor, pulse almonds until roughly chopped. Scrape down sides, add in garlic, basil, parmesan and a little oil and pulse. Scrape down sides, and continue adding oil until proper consistency is reached (I like my pesto to be a bit chunky, so I try not to over process). Season with salt & pepper to taste, transfer to a dish and cover tightly with plastic wrap if storing in the refrigerator, or use immediately.

Excellent additions include: fresh lemon zest, sun dried or oven dried tomatoes, black olives, flat leaf parsely (if you are stretching your basil a bit), marinated mushrooms, balsamic reduction, etc.

Almonds

Satisfying & Light Weeknight

Once again, menu planning from The Book (as it will now be referred to) strikes with great success! My husband and I are heading to Philadelphia to see a dear friend from college get married this weekend, so I didn’t want to do a lot of grocery shopping this week since we would be on the road, and were some items that I wanted to use up before we headed out of town. I had flagged Mario Batali’s Spaghetti with Artichokes and Pancetta the second it graced the cover of Food & Wine’s April 2010 issue, and knew it was a flavor combination I wanted to work with. I have a lot of respect for Batali as a chef- he seems to really know who he is, both as a person and a chef, and he has a wonderful backstory to his rise to fame.
I love a simple pasta dish, especially something that can be thrown together easily on a week night without feeling like an afterthought. Following Batali’s flavor profile, I amended the components for what I had on hand, and the result was a perfect after workout spring supper that was wholly satisfying. By switching to an unrefined whole grain pasta, I upped the fiber and grain intake, and I thought he pairing of the light artichokes with the hearty fettuccini made for a great balance. I also switched out the pancetta for leaner prosciutto, helping to lighten up the dish further. The dish was only further confirmed a success when my husband not only cleaned his own bowl, but happily devoured my leftovers when I offered them up for sacrifice. Paired with a bright salad, Whole Wheat Pasta with Artichokes & Pancetta is a perfect spring meal.

Whole Wheat Pasta with Artichokes & Prosciutto
(inspired by Mario Batali’s Spaghetti with Artichokes & Pancetta)

- 6-8oz. jar marinated & quartered artichokes
- ½ Red Onion, sliced thinly
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 4oz. Good quality lean prosciutto, sliced into ribbons (freeze the prosciutto for 10-15 minutes to make slicing easy)
- Juice of ½ a lemon
- Zest of ¼- ½ a lemon
- Scant ¼ cup dry white wine
- ½ Package of whole wheat fettuccini or spaghetti
- Olive oil
- Sea salt
- Fresh cracked black pepper
- Grated parmesan cheese
- Chopped flat leaf parsley or fresh basil (optional)

Place a large pot of salted water over high heat and bring to a rolling boil, and build sauce while water is coming to temp. Heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a high sided pan or wok (big enough to hold pasta when cooked) and add in prosciutto. Keep prosciutto moving & cook until well crisped, but not burned. Transfer to paper or kitchen towel to drain. Add in a little more olive oil and sauté artichoke hearts until warmed through, breaking up if pieces are large. Add in onion and cook for another 2-3 minutes, until onion begins to soften. Introduce garlic, and cook for another 1-2 minutes until fragrant and softened. Pour in wine and lemon juice, stirring to combine and cook until slightly reduced. Drop heat to low, add in lemon zest, stir to fully incorporate and adjust flavor with salt and pepper to taste. Sauce can be set aside while pasta is cooked. Follow recommended cooking instructions for pasta, reserve about ¾ cup of cooking liquid and drain well. Add cooked pasta to sauce with cooked prosciutto and toss well, adding some of pasta cooking liquid to loosen sauce to a light consistency and have even coating on pasta. Sprinkle liberally with fresh parmesan cheese and herbs (if using) and serve immediately.

Artichoke

Girl's Night In

Now that I’ve gotten the ball rolling, it’s time to tackle a couple of other backlogged recipes, and after the previous seafood recipe, I thought something a little meatier would be perfect! Continuing on with the theme of casual entertaining over the past month, the weekend before we hosted Brandon and Ugne, my mom came to visit for a girl’s weekend. We had a fabulous time as it was “just us chickens” (since Kyle was out to sea), and we were able to enjoy all of the girly fun that the lads usually roll their eyes at. She drove down Friday afternoon, relaxed in our apartment until I got out of work, and it wasn’t long before we had a spread of cheeses and wine out while I cooked. It had been a while since I had really cooked for her, and it was a beyond enjoyable evening. We also came to the very wise decision that from here on out, all of our girl’s weekends would be kicked off with champagne- brilliant!

I had wanted to do something special for her, and remembered from years ago that she loved petite lamb chops (commonly referred to as “lamb lollipops” on many menus) and knew it would be the perfect meal. I did a simple preparation, searing them in a hot, heavy pan with olive oil and a little butter (calorie count was not an issue, thank you!), and finished the sauce with garlic while the lamb rested. I served the chops over a mushroom and spinach orzo “risotto”. We enjoyed a perfect meal, amazing company, and plenty of reminiscing to boot- which I’m sure was helped along by the wine!

It was so great to be able to have my mom here for a weekend, and show her around our new town. The weather was better than it had been in months, and we drove all over town, oogling the mansions and taking in as much fresh salt air as we could handle. The weekend was topped off by what I would rate as a near-perfect brunch at Café Zelda’s (http://www.cafezelda.com) before she headed back to Maine. There’s nothing like cooking for family and making new memories to make a new place really feel like home…

Petite Lamb Chops in Garlic Sherry Butter with Mushroom & Spinach Orzo “Risotto”

This menu easily feeds two as a good sized main course, with plenty of orzo leftover for lunch the next day (a personal favorite of mine!), or double the lamb instructions and have a perfect meal for four.

For the Orzo:

- 1 cup orzo pasta (dry measurement), prepared as instructed on packaging

- 1 large shallot, minced

- 6-7 crimini mushrooms, sliced

- 9oz. fresh baby spinach

- 2 tablspns dry white wine (optional)

- ½ to ¾ cup half & half

- ½ cup of fresh grated parmesan

- 2 tblspns fresh grated lemon zest

- Olive oil

- Sea salt & fresh black pepper

Heat 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom of a skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Introduce shallots and sweat in oil, about 2 minutes while stirring. Add in mushrooms and stir to coat (you may need to add a bit more olive oil, your call) and sauté another 2-3 minutes. Stir in cooked orzo and continue cooking over medium to medium-low heat until orzo is heated through (like standard risotto, be sure to keep the orzo moving so it doesn’t clump up or stick to the bottom of the pot). Add in wine (if using) and half & half and stir well. Add in fresh spinach and continue to stir until spinach begins to wilt and incorporate into dish. Stir in fresh parmesan and season with salt and pepper to taste. At this point, the dish can be covered and left in a warm oven while you prepare the lamb. Just before plating and serving, remove orzo from the oven and stir in lemon zest. Depending on how long the orzo has been in the oven, you may want to stir in a bit more half & half so that the consistency is light.

For the Lamb:

-6 petite lamb chops with bone in (3 per person, depending on their size)

-Sea salt & cracked pepper

-2 tblspns good quality salted butter (I’m a fan of Kate’s of Maine)

-2-3 tblspns olive oil

-3 medium garlic cloves, finely minced

-2-3 tablespoons Sherry vinegar

*And now for the great meat preparation debate: The is a long, drawn out, ongoing battle within the food community in regards to allowing meats to come up/close to room temperature before cooking. The argument for is that it produces a more tender final meat, with a better probability of searing juices in. The argument against is, of course, possible bacteria and contamination with a side of food borne illness. I will let you be the judge of how to approach, but will say that I prefer to live on the edge and let my meat come up to temp before firing. I know, I’m a dangerous woman. In addition, my cooking times are for a rare, to med-rare final product. These chops are very small, and cook very quickly. For me, a barely med-rare lamb is the best showcase of its natural flavor. Please adjust cooking times to your desired level of doneness/the thickness of the chops you are working with.

Pat meat dry with a kitchen towel to ensure seasoning will adhere and surface will brown beautifully. Liberally season the upright facing side of the chop. In a large cast iron skillet, heat butter and oil over high heat until very hot. Place chops seasoning side down in the pan, and don’t move around (a note of caution: you are introducing the lamb to a VERY HOT pan, and as such, splatter is more than likely inevitable. Please, be careful!). If they are fussed about in the pan, you won’t get the gorgeously browned final product. Season the now exposed side of the chop with salt and pepper. After about a minute and a half, turn the chops, making sure to follow the same order as when you put them in the pan for a uniform cooking on all chops. After another minute and a half, remove chops from pan and let rest on a cutting board under a little tin foil. Turn off heat under pan, and add in minced garlic, stirring frequently to avoid burning (if you’re working on an electric stovetop, you can pretty much remove the pan from the burner, there will be enough residual heat to cook the garlic in the pan), and add in sherry vinegar. Cook another minute or two more, until slightly reduced.

To Plate:

On a warm plate, place a serving of the risotto, and arrange the lamb chops on top, with exposed bone facing up. Spoon the garlic pan sauce over the chop and garnish with chopped Italian flat leaf parsley. Best enjoyed with great conversation, classic old soul music, and an ample supply of your favorite libations.

Cold Weather Comforts

There is nothing better than getting out early, immediately donning your most comfortable duds, pouring a glass of wine and watching the snow fall. To add to this perfection of a day, we both began tooling around in the kitchen, looking to make something to enhance our snowy afternoon. And I will say this now for all to witness- my husband is the official Chief Baker in our household, hands down. I have made mention before about my complete inability to bake, and discovering his almost natural ability to make beautiful fluffy treats in all shapes and size, I am happy to hand the task

The other day, Kyle and I were gifted with the treat loved by those of all ages- a snow day. While I still reported to work in the morning for a couple of hours, Kyle was able to get out for the whole day, so he trudged our 4 wheel drive beast out to Portsmouth to pick me up and we (cautiously!) raced home to enjoy the rest of the afternoon.

(and the stand mixer) over to him! I will get him at some point to scribble down his lovely bread recipe, but will share now what I ended up making. Soup has always been the perfect accompaniment to a cold day. I had some odds n’ ends rolling around in our fridge that I was looking to use up, and in my family’s tradition (thank you, Old Delicious), soup is usually the best avenue to use said bits up. I ended up with a wonderfully simple and very satisfying tortellini soup that was just as good for lunch the next as it was for supper last night. For mine, I used a combination of baby arugula and spinach, but you can use any greens that you have on hand. The ingredient list was also perfectly easy and relaxed and took very little time to prepare. Simple ingredients, simple preparation, simple pleasures. It was a good night to be snowed in…


Tortellini Soup with Onions and Greens
-1 12-16oz. package o
f fresh tortellini (I used sausage, but any
variety works well)
- 2-2 ½ quarts of chicken stock, homemade preferably
-1/2-3/4 of a sweet onion, sliced thinly
-3 good sized garlic cloves, finely minced
- 5 oz. fresh baby arugula
-5 oz. fresh baby spinach
-6-7 crimini mushrooms, sliced thinly
-1 Bay leaf
-Parmesan or any other hard cheese rind, optional
-Pinch of fresh grated nutmeg
-Fresh grated lemon zest
-Couple of tablespoons of olive oil
-French sea salt & fresh cracked pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in the bottom of a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add in sliced onion & begin to sweat, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper, add in bay leaf and continue to cook until the onion becomes soft, but still holds their shape. Add in garlic, allow to sweat out a bit longer (watch for over browning!), and continue stirring. Once garlic starts to release, add in chicken stock and cheese rind (if using) and allow to come up to a simmer, still over medium heat. About 10-15 minutes prior to serving, add in tortellini, greens and mushrooms and cook until pasta has warmed through, greens have softly wilted and mushrooms have absorbed some of the stock. Grate over a couple of passes of fresh nutmeg and stir. To serve, ladle into soup bowls, grate over a little fresh lemon zest and serve immediately. Pairs beautifully with fresh baked bread…