An Old Favorite

Tonight, we're having an old favorite of mine - Koru Ragu or Swedish Sausage Stew. It's from a book I got from my former mother-in-law many, many years ago called "Complete Meals in One Dish". This meal is so easy and delicious - perfect for a weeknight meal.

Koru Ragu

1 pound sausages (I've made this with sliced up smoked sausages and smoked kielbasa)
3 tablespoons butter
½ cup diced onions
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup beef broth
1 pound potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 cups sliced carrots
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 bay leaf

Brown the sausages in a heavy skillet. Drain and reserve sausages. Melt butter in the same skillet and saute onions for about 5 minutes, until soft. Blend in the flour and then add the beef broth. Bring to a boil. Return sausages to pan. Add carrots, potatoes, salt, pepper and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes (add more beef broth, if necessary).

That's it. Easy as pie and quite delicious! Make it with your favorite kind of sausages and I'm sure it will be a hit. It's a great cold night meal. Yum!

Our Own Julie/Julia Project - Redefined

She Said:

Well, we worked on our own Julie/Julia Project for several months and what we discovered is that all of the food started tasting the same, as will sometimes happen even when you eat at the same restaurant repeatedly for a long time. We're not ones to continue something just for the sake of continuing it. If it's not working, we move on. And that's what we're doing now.

We completed 41 recipes (including the one below) from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman and we will still cook from that book but not exclusively. And we will count the other things we make as part of our Julie/Julia Project and just see how many new recipes we can do in this year.

This recipe we made as accompaniment to a grilling dinner. We had some great grilled salmon and these potatoes, which were fabulous!

Spicy Skillet Potatoes

1½ pounds potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces (we used Yukon gold)
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 onion, diced (from our garden)
1 red or green bell pepper, diced (from our garden)
1 jalapeño or other chile, seeded and diced

1. Put the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat. As soon as the water begins to boil, drain the potatoes.

2. Preheat the oven to 300℉.

3. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the potatoes to fit in a single layer in the skillet. Season with ½ teaspoon of the cumin, ½ teaspoon of the paprika, a generous pinch or two of salt, and several grinds of pepper. Cook until the bottom sides of the potatoes are brown, 3 to 5 minutes, the turn the potatoes and brown on another side, without stirring, 3 to 5 minutes. Repeat until all sides are browned. New potatoes will brown more quickly than mature potatoes. Remove the potatoes from the skillet with a slotted spoon and spread out in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Keep warm in the oven.

4. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the skillet and cook the second half of the potatoes as you did the first half. Remove from the skillet and add to the potatoes in the oven.

5. Add the onion, bell pepper, and jalapeño to the skillet and sauté until softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and mix gently. Season with more salt and pepper, if desired, and serve immediately.

The jalapeño really added a kick to this dish but it was so tasty! And I even overcooked both the potatoes and the onion/pepper mixture! This is a good side dish to have in your back pocket for those times when you are tired of mashed potatoes or rice.

Day 115/365:Recipe 41/175

Day Eighty-Three

She Said:

This was a wonderful addition to our own Julie/Julia project. Absolutely delicious - but one word of caution - make sure those threads are removed from your snow peas, no matter how fine they seem!

This is from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman.

Stir-Fried Shrimp and Snow Peas in Black Bean Sauce

Shrimp and Marinade
1½ pounds medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 tablespoon rice wine or dry sherry (we used sherry)
2 thin slices fresh ginger
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon salt

Sauce
½ cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine or dry sherry
1 teaspoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon sugar

Stir-Fry
4½ tablespoons peanut or canola oil
1 pound snow peas, tails and strings removed
2 teaspoons Chinese fermented black beans, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1 scallion, minced
Hot cooked rice

1. Rinse the shrimp and pat dry. Place in a medium bowl. To prepare the marinade, add the wine, ginger, sesame oil, and salt to the bowl. Toss several times. Set aside for 20 minutes to marinate.

2. To prepare the sauce, combine the broth, soy sauce, wine, cornstarch, and sugar. Mix well. Set aside.

3. When you are ready to cook, heat a large wok over high heat. Add 1½ tablespoons of the oil and heat for a few minutes. Add half the shrimp to the wok and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes, until the shrimp change color. Remove from the wok and set aside in a bowl to keep warm. Add another 1½ tablespoons oil, heat, and repeat. Add the shrimp to the bowl with the other shrimp and wipe out the wok.

4. Add the remaining 1½ tablespoons oil to the wok and heat until very hot. Add the snow peas and stir-fry until almost tender, about 1 minute. Make a well in the center of the peas and add the black beans, garlic, ginger, and scallion. Stir-fry until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Stir into the peas. Add the shrimp and stir-fry for 1 minute until heated through. Add the sauce and stir-fry until the sauce thickens and clears, about 2 minutes longer.

5. Serve hot over rice.

This was really, really good, but somewhat tainted by my snow-pea-thread ordeal (read about it here). I would love to try it again. And, given the fact that we couldn't find the fermented black beans in the store and I ordered a life-time supply from Amazon, we should make it again. But I will be sure to clean my snow peas better! (Let me know if you need any fermented black beans - I'd be happy to share!)

Day 83/365:Recipe 38/175

Casserole Time

She Said:

I was looking for something to take to work for lunches last weekend. Casseroles are always wonderful and easy to prep for the week - make them on the weekend and dole them out to individual containers to stick in the fridge. Then each morning, grab 'n' go.

The problem is that we always default to tomato-based casseroles when we think of them, and I can't really eat tomatoes, so I was on the hunt for something that had nothing tomatoey about it and stumbled upon something on Allrecipes.com. It has seen us through this week and there are STILL more leftovers that now need to be frozen or tossed.

The best part of this casserole was the portion size. There is no nutritional information on it and I'm sure it's pretty hefty in the fat and calories, but I stuck to doling out the portions as the recipe stated. It was not a lot of food and I actually lost a few pounds this week. I was hungry, too, but the end result is better. A happy little side-effect!

You can't beat how easy this was to make and we'll be claiming this as one of our own and modifying it to our liking in the years ahead.

Mom's Ground Beef Casserole

2 pounds ground beef (I used one pound 80/20 and one pound 90/10)
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
9 cups cooked wide-egg noodles (I had to do some calculating at the store - the end result is that this is one regular large bag of noodles)
1 pound processed American cheese, cubed (well, we used about 4 ounces of Velveeta, a couple of slices of Muenster cheese, and a couple of slices of Swiss - it's what we had in the house)
1 (15.25 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed chicken and rice soup
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
½ cup milk (we used skim)
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

(They never remind you to cook the noodles or pasta, so I'm adding it here.) Cook noodles according to package directions. Set aside but do not drain until you're ready to use them. (They'll become one big noodle clump if you drain them ahead of time.)

In a Dutch oven, cook beef, green pepper, and onion until meat is no longer pink and vegetables are tender; drain. Remove from heat, stir in remaining ingredients. Transfer to two greased 2-½ qt. baking dishes. (We used one 3-qt. and one 2-qt. and did not grease them.) Cover and bake at 350℉ for 45-50 minutes or until bubbly. (It took 45 minutes for us.)

Simple, simple, simple and really delicious. It gets better the longer it sits in the fridge. In my mind, this casserole could benefit nicely by adding some sauteéd mushrooms, some garlic, maybe some peas or some chopped up asparagus, and maybe throw some Parmesan cheese in there somewhere, too. I think it can stand up to mostly any additions. It's a casserole, after all, and isn't that where you should be using up all of your leftovers?

Day Eighty

She Said:

Again, we are forcing ourselves to cook. Energy levels are at an all-time low. But we press on. Mostly 'cause I went shopping and we have fresh veggies we need to use up. Certainly not because we feel like cooking!

This one counts toward our own Julie/Julia Project and it's from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman.

Pasta With Green Clam Sauce

1½-2 pounds fresh spinach, tough stems removed (we used baby spinach)
⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 bottle (8 ounces) clam juice
1 cup chicken broth (or substitute another 8-ounce bottle of clam juice)
2 cans (6 ounces each) chopped clams in clam juice
½ cup dried bread crumbs
1 pound vermicelli
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spinach and cook until wilted, about 30 seconds. Remove from the water with tongs or a slotted spoon and let drain in a colander. Let the water return to a boil.

2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant but not browned, about 1 minute. Add the clam juice and broth. Strain the clam juice from the cans of clams into the saucepan. Add the bread crumbs and let simmer. (At this point, we said "What?? Add the bread crumbs to that much liquid?" But we did. We think it's just for thickening but I've never used bread crumbs to thicken a sauce before.)

3. Squeeze the excess water from the spinach. Transfer to a cutting board and coarsely chop.

4. When the water returns to a boil, cook the pasta until just al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the pasta-cooking water.

5. Return the pasta to the pot. Add the clams, spinach, and simmering sauce. Toss to mix. Add enough of the reserved pasta cooking water to make the pasta very moist. Season lightly with salt and very generously with black pepper. Serve at once.

We didn't need the reserved pasta water for the initial meal but I saved it and when we were packing up the leftovers, I threw it in then. After having the leftovers last night, I should have only thrown in about half of it. I think there was a lot of clam juice in the canned clams we used.

This meal was really good. I thought the first bite was odd but I think I was expecting linguine with white clam sauce and this definitely has spinach in it. After my first bite, I ended up shoveling this into my mouth. We all loved it. Oh, and we topped it with some fresh grated Parmesan, 'cause you hafta, right?

Easy, easy meal - quick and delicious. I recommend it!

Day 80/365:Recipe 37/175

Day Seventy-One

She Said:

Another tired day but we need to stop eating the fast food and get back to some healthy eating. So, we cooked last night. It was another dish that counts toward our own Julie/Julia Project and it was from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman.

This meal was dynamite! A one-dish affair that made me ask He to go make it again as soon as I was done eating it the first time. Absolutely delicious!

Chinese Beef and Broccoli

1 pound beef, preferably flank steak or top sirloin roast, cut into matchsticks (we used buffalo flank steak from the farmer's market and the strips were a bit larger than matchsticks - see prior mention of being tired)
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
3 tablespoons soy sauce, divided
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry, divided (we used sherry)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large heads broccoli (2 pounds), stems sliced and florets roughly chopped (12 cups)
⅓ cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3 tablespoons peanut or canola oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
Hot cooked white rice

1. Combine the beef, oyster sauce, 2 tablespoons of the soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of the wine, sugar, sesame oil, and pepper in a medium bowl and set aside to marinate.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the broccoli and blanch for 3 minutes, until the broccoli is barely tender and bright green. Drain, plunge into cold water to stop the cooking, and set aside to drain. (This last step seems to be important because we skipped it and we got broccoli mush.)

3. To make the sauce, combine the broth, remaining 1 tablespoon soy sauce, remaining 1 tablespoon wine, and cornstarch. Whisk until thoroughly combined.

4. Heat a large wok or skillet over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and heat until very hot. Add half the beef and marinade and stir-fry, stirring constantly, until well browned, about 4 minutes. Use a heatproof rubber spatula to scrape the beef into a medium bowl and keep warm. Return the wok to high heat. Repeat with another 1 tablespoon of the oil and the remaining beef and marinade. Transfer the beef and marinade to the bowl and wipe out the wok. (We found this to be impossible because the marinade contains sugar and the wok could not simply be wiped out. For one thing, it was REALLY hot. For another, the sugar had begun to burn, so we let it cool down for a little while and then washed and dried it.)

5. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil over high heat until very hot. Add the broccoli and stir-fry, stirring constantly, until heated through, about 3 minutes. Push the broccoli to the sides of the pan and add the ginger and garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 45 seconds. Toss with the broccoli.

6. Return the beef to the wok. Whisk the sauce and pour into the wok. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce is thickened and evenly coats the beef and broccoli, about 1 minute.

7. Serve immediately with the hot rice.

Seriously delicious meal!

Day 71/375:Recipe 36/175

Day Sixty-Six

She Said:

Boy, I'm tired. Too tired to cook right now, that's for sure. So I'll tell you about the one dish that we made last week that I neglected to post about. This counts toward our own Julie/Julia Project and it's from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman.
This dish used up the rest of the peas from our garden and so the rest of the pea dishes in this section will have to be made with frozen or possibly farmer's market peas. It was really good and I'm happy to have made it. But, the recipe was oddly written, so I'm going to interpret for you.

Shells with Peas and Prosciutto

8 oz. small-cut pasta (like medium shells, elbows, etc. - we used Orecchiette which was absolutely perfect)
2 cups peas (about 2 pounds in pods)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces prosciutto, diced
1 small onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus extra for serving
Salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta according to package directions, until just al dente. Bring a second medium pot of salted water to boil and add the peas. Boil just until tender, 3 to 5 minutes, depending on their age. Drain well.

2. In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the prosciutto and onion and sauté until the onion is softened, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Reduce the heat to very low and stir in the peas.

3. Reserve a cup of the pasta liquid and drain the pasta. Add the pasta to the pea mixture and toss to coat. Add the cheese and toss well. Add the reserved pasta water as needed to moisten the pasta (we ended up using all of it). Season generously with salt and pepper.

4. Serve at once, passing additional cheese on the side.

This was quite tasty, as I said, and I think we will make it again. It can really be a standalone meal but we paired it with some sauteéd scallops and chorizo, which ended up being a bad combination. I ate both of my meal components separately. They were both delicious but they were not a good couple!

Day 66/375:Recipe 35/175

Catching Up!

She Said:

I have some serious catching up to do. I have three recipes that we made that count toward our own Julie/Julia Project. They are all from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman.

Day 61 - Arroz Con Pollo with Peas

2 cups long-grain white rice
2½ cups chicken broth
½ cup dry sherry
¼ teaspoon crushed saffron threads
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups fresh peas (about 2 pounds in the shell)
1 roasted red pepper, diced
20 pimiento stuffed green olives, sliced
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Place the rice in a sieve and set in a bowl. Run cold tap water over the rice until the rinse water runs clear. Drain well. Set aside. (This step is optional. It does wash away vitamins that have been sprayed onto the rice, but it greatly improves the texture of the final dish.)

2. Combine the broth, sherry, and saffron in a small saucepan and warm gently over low heat.

3. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and sauté for 2 minutes, until the chicken is partially cooked. Add the onion and garlic and continue to sauté until the chicken is white and firm, 2 to 4 minutes. Add the rice and sauté until the rice appears toasted, about 3 minutes.

4. Stir the chicken broth mixture into the rice. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce the heat to maintain a gentle boil. Cook for 3 minutes. Add the peas to the skillet (do not stir) and continue to cook until the liquid is absorbed and the peas are tender, about 10 minutes. (if your peas are "mature", they may take a few minutes longer.)

5. Fluff the rice with a fork. Stir in the red pepper, olives, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Serve at once.

This was just OK. I even thought it might get better having sat overnight in the fridge and reheated. But it wasn't. It was just OK.

Day 62 - German Potato Salad

2 pounds waxy potatoes, scrubbed, halved, and sliced ¼ inch thick
4 ounces bacon, diced
1 shallot, minced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
5 tablespoons white wine or red wine vinegar (we only used 3½ tablespoons of white wine vinegar)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 celery stalks, diced
¼ cup minced fresh parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Combine the potatoes with 6 cups salted water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Reserve ¼ cup of the cooking liquid and drain. Transfer the potatoes to a large mixing bowl and keep warm.

2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until brown and crisp, about 4 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and transfer to the bowl with the potatoes. Drain off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease.

3. Add the shallot to the skillet and cook until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the reserved cooking liquid, oil, vinegar, and sugar. Bring to a boil. Pour the mixture over the potatoes and toss to coat. Add the celery, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Serve immediately.

This was not what we were expecting from potato salad but it was quite good. The real test was taking it to work the next day when it was cold. It held up even then. Good recipe!

Day 63 - Carrot Muffins

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1½ cups firmly packed grated carrots
¼ cup pure maple syrup
¼ cup sour cream or yogurt (we used sour cream)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Topping
½ cup sugar
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
5 tablespoons butter, melted

1. Preheat the oven to 350℉. Grease 16 regular-size muffin cups.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg.

3. Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the carrots, maple syrup, sour cream, and vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture until smooth.

4. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. The batter will be stiff; an ice-cream scoop does a great job of distributing int.

5. Bake the muffins for 25 to 30 minutes, until they have risen and a knife inserted in the center of one comes out clean.

6. Let the muffins cool in the pan on a wire rack for a few minutes.

7. To make the topping, mix together the sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl. When the muffins are just cool enough to handle, one at a time dip the tops into the melted butter, then into the sugar and cinnamon mixture, covering the tops completely. Let cool before serving.

I was worried about the cinnamon and sugar topping for these. I thought that they would need a cream cheese frosting or something like that. Admittedly, they were a little dry but really tasty and just right to have with your morning coffee or tea. I really enjoyed these!

Days 61, 62 & 63/365:Recipes 32, 33 & 34/175

Day Fifty-Nine

She Said:

Another successful entry to our own Julie/Julia Project. This is from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman.

Corn Risotto

1 cup water
Kernels from 3 ears corn
3½ cups vegetable or chicken broth
½ cup dry white wine
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups Arborio rice
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 shallots, minced
¼ pound smoked turkey breast, diced (we went without this)
¼ cup chopped fresh basil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the kernels from two ears of the corn, cover, and cook until quite tender, 2 to 3 minutes. (We went about 5 or 6 minutes.) Let cool slightly. Pour into a blender and purée.

2. Return the corn purée to the saucepan and add the chicken broth, wine, sugar, and turmeric. Heat to boiling, then reduce the heat and let the mixture simmer.

3. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the rice, bell pepper, and shallots and sauté until the rice looks dry, 4 to 5 minutes.

4. Add 1 cup of the corn-broth mixture and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the liquid is absorbed. Continue adding more of the mixture, 1 cup at a time, cooking and stirring after each addition. The liquid should be mostly absorbed before you add the next cup. (We ended up adding some more chicken broth and cooking longer to soften the rice.)

5. When all the broth has been added, remove from the heat. Stir in the turkey, the remaining corn, and the basil. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and let heat through for about 1 minute. Serve immediately.

I'm learning all about spices! I had no idea that turmeric was so much the flavor of your standard curry powder. This tasted very much like a curry dish to me and it was really good!

Tedious to make, but it was really good.

Day 59/365:Recipe 31/175

Day Fifty-Seven

She Said:

I have been waiting for this day since March 31st. That was the day we started our own Julie/Julia project and also 10 days after we had planted a boatload of sweet pea plants.

When I was going through Serving Up the Harvest (by Andrea Chesman) and saw this recipe, I knew that spring couldn't get here soon enough. Well, it finally arrived.

Last night after work, we trudged down to the garden and picked a bowlful of pea pods. Then spent the next 10 minutes or so shelling the peas. When all was said and done, we didn't have quite enough for the recipe so we filled in with some frozen peas but the experience was great. And there are so many more pods on the vines that I know we will have plenty for our other "pea" recipes.

Risi e Bisi

4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 shallot, diced
¾ cup uncooked medium-grain or arborio rice (I used long-grain rice but should have used arborio)
Salt (optional)
2 cups fresh shelled peas (we had 1¼ cups and used ¾ cup frozen)
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the broth to simmering in a saucepan on top of the stove or in a heatproof container in the microwave.

2. In a large saucepan, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallot and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the hot broth and rice, stir well, cover, reduce the heat, and simmer until the rice is just tender, 15 minutes. (We actually let this go for about 20 minutes.)

3. Taste and add salt if desired. (We didn't.) Stir in the peas and cook gently until the peas are done enough to suit you, about 5 minutes for fresh peas (less for frozen peas). Stir in the Parmesan and season with pepper. Serve at once.

This was so good! But, really, we should have used arborio rice - and will next time. This was our main dish (we had some cheese and wine prior to dinner) but it would make an excellent side dish for some nice grilled salmon or other fish. The flavor was just delicious. We will make this again!

Day 57/365:Recipe 30/175

Day Fifty-One

She Said:

I'm going to file this one under "Think of a Better Name for This Recipe!" It's a bad name, but a delicious dish. This counts toward our own Julie/Julia Project and it's from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman.

Spinach Cheese Custard

1½-2 pounds fresh spinach, tough stems removed (we got ours from the farmer's market)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 eggs
1½ cups milk
1 cup grated Gruyère
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Stir in the spinach and cook until wilted, about 30 seconds. Drain well. Press out the excess moisture. Transfer to a cutting board and finely chop.

2. Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until fragrant and softened, about 2 minutes. (I actually let this go longer until they were sweet and carmelized.)

3. Preheat the oven to 350℉. Lightly grease a 7- by 11-inch baking dish with oil.

4. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk until smooth. Add the spinach, onions, milk, and Gruyère. Season with the salt and pepper to taste. Pour into the baking dish. Top with the Parmesan.

5. Bake until the custard is set and a knife inserted comes out clean, about 30 minutes. (Ours took closer to an hour.)

6. Let sit for at least 5 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

We had this as our entire dinner. It wasn't a lot of food but it was really, really good.

Day 51/365:Recipe 29/175

Day Fifty

She Said:

We have sort of been out of synch with our own Julie/Julia Project. Things have gotten in the way of our cooking but we did do a tiny bit last night. After all, we had gone to the farmer's market on Saturday and had fresh things we needed to use. So we did.

We had a couple of buffalo hot dogs, just cut up on the plate. We got them from the farmer's market, of course. They did not taste like hot dogs. They tasted more like summer sausage, and that's not bad. I made up a side dish of Rice-a-Roni Rice Pilaf, which is always good. And then came the scary part.

This is from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman.

Warm Mushroom Salad

8 cups arugula leaves (we got this from the farmer's market)
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound mixed mushrooms, quartered or cut into wedges (we had a half pound each of crimini and dried morel mushrooms from the farmer's market - we reconstituted the morels before cooking, naturally!)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried (it was raining and I was tired so I didn't go out to pick fresh thyme - I used dried)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Freshly shaved Parmesan

1. Put the arugula in a large salad bowl. Drizzle in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the lemon juice. Toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide among four salad plates or arrange on a large platter.

2. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and let cook undisturbed until golden on the bottoms, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme, stir, and continue to cook until the mushrooms are tender throughout, about 4 minutes longer.

3. Stir in the vinegar and let cook until the vinegar is mostly absorbed. Season to taste with more salt and pepper.

4. Spoon the mushroom mixture over the arugula. Top with a few curls of shaved Parmesan. Serve at once.

I knew that this was going to be awful for me. I am iffy on mushrooms and they really can't be the star of the show for me to eat them. But I gave it the old college try. And you know what? It was pretty damn good. This was my first taste of morel mushrooms and, oh yes, I will be back! They are fantastic!

(But I learned that you mustn't eat them raw - be sure to cook your morels!)

I doubt that I would ever suggest that we make this again but He might want it again some day and I will be happy to partake.

Oh, and this was also our first taste of arugula. (I know, where have we been living? Under a rock??) Wow - what a flavor! I wouldn't have thought you could get that much distance between a plain lettuce like iceberg and a powerful green like arugula, but there you have it. Distance with a capital D! It was quite tasty.

Day 50/365:Recipe 28/175

Days Forty-Three and Forty-Six, Or, I Will Never Eat Canned Spinach Again!

She Said:

It's been a busy week but we managed to get some cooking in and we did make two more recipes that count toward our own Julie/Julia Project.

On Tuesday night, we realized that we hadn't marinated the swordfish like we meant to, so we went with Plan B. Sort of. Plan B involved grilling outside but there ended up being a hella storm at dinner time so we kept it inside. Plus, we were supposed to grill asparagus and only at dinner time remembered that they were out of asparagus at the store so we didn't have any. Once we got it all together, we had a delicious and healthy meal.

We marinated a pork tenderloin (from the farmer's market) in a teriyaki marinade and ended up roasting it. It was delicious! I made some organic Yukon gold mashed potatoes, nothing special but we are loving the Yukon gold for the mashed potatoes! That was my choice because I love mashed potatoes with pork tenderloin, regardless of the marinade or rub.

Then instead of that grilled asparagus we were supposed to have, we peeked in the fridge and saw a bag of spinach from the farmer's market and decided on this recipe from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman.

Creamed Spinach

2 tablespoons butter
1 large shallot, minced
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1½ pounds spinach, tough stems removed

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

2. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallot and sauté until soft, about 3 minutes. Whisk in the flour until you have a paste. Increase the heat, pour in the milk, and whisk to combine. Continue whisking until the sauce thickens, about 3 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper to taste. Reduce the heat to low.

3. Add the spinach to the boiling water and cook long enough to wilt, about 30 seconds. Drain well. Place the spinach on a cutting board and roughly chop.

4. Add the spinach to the cream sauce and stir to thoroughly combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve hot.

I loved, loved, loved this recipe. I am a huge creamed spinach fan anyway but this tasted NOTHING like the creamed spinach I've had in my life. I'm convinced that none of the places I've ever had it made it with fresh spinach. It was like a whole different dish. Wonderful! So wonderful, in fact, that we made it again the next night, but we added some chopped garlic to the cream sauce, making it even better!

Last night, we were using up some of those things we've had around that are not recipe ingredients. We had two frozen salmon pieces in lemon butter so we cooked them up. Then He made roasted baby potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper, garlic powder and fresh rosemary. Fabulous!!

But, once again, the side dish stole the show. I was afraid of this one for some reason but, oh ho, this will become a staple in our house. It was stellar! This is also from Serving Up the Harvest.

Wilted Spinach Salad with Chickpeas

1½-2 pounds spinach, tough stems removed
1½ cups cooked chickpeas or 1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 small red onion, halved and sliced
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Stir in the spinach and cook until wilted, 30 to 60 seconds. Drain well. Press out the excess moisture. Transfer to a cutting board and chop.

2. Combine the spinach, chickpeas, and onion in a large bowl. Toss to mix.

3. Whisk together the oil, vinegar, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl. Pour over the spinach mixture and toss to mix well. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve at once.

I can't begin to describe how well the flavors of the red wine vinegar, red onion, chickpeas and spinach went together. This could be the best salad I have ever had. (So far.) It was truly fabulous and I can't wait to make it again!

Days 43 and 46/365:Recipes 26 and 27/175

Day Forty-Two

She Said:

And we're back! It's been a while since we did any cooking that counts toward our own Julie/Julia Project, but we did a little last night. We were supposed to have this dinner on Sunday for Mother's Day but we ran around alllllll day long and we were exhausted by the time we got home so we had wine for dinner on Sunday instead! :)

We had a little more energy last night and He pan-grilled some organic grass-fed filet mignon steaks, we baked up some pre-made crab cakes from Wegmans, and made this side dish from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1-1½ pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved (6 cups)
Coarse sea salt or kosher salt

1. Preheat the oven to 425℉. Lightly grease a baking pan with oil.

2. Drizzle the oil over the Brussels sprouts in a large bowl and toss gently to coat. Arrange the sprouts in a single, uncrowded layer on the prepared pan.

3. Roast for about 15 minutes, or until the sprouts are tender and lightly browned, shaking the pan occasionally for even cooking.

4. Transfer the sprouts to a serving bowl and sprinkle with salt. Serve immediately.

In our normal fashion, we overcooked the vegetables. But they were still delicious. And we added some freshly ground black pepper to them as well as a little dollop of butter.

Day 42/365:Recipe 25/175

Day Thirty-Five

She Said:

We had a nice dinner last night but it wasn't knock-your-socks-off, like I'd hoped. We had filet mignon, which is always great, but we made a shallot-anchovy-butter sauce for it and that was sort of meh. We also had roasted potatoes (a little olive oil, salt and pepper) and they were also just meh. The star of the show was the vegetable. And it also counts toward our own Julie/Julia Project, which is sweet!

This is from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman.

Sauteéd Broccoli

3 head broccoli (2-3½ pounds), trimmed and cut into long spears
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the broccoli and boil until just tender, about 4 minutes. Drain and plunge into cold water to stop the cooking process. (I didn't plunge.)

2. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant and pale gold, about 1 minute. Add the broccoli and parsley and sauté just until the broccoli is heated through, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve at once.

Simple and really delicious! I will make this again and again. (Plus, I really love broccoli so it's special to find yet another way to prepare it.)

Day 35/365:Recipe 24/175

Sing a song of mustard.

She Said:

I have been making my own mustard for a few years now. Ever since I joined the One Local Summer Challenge (sponsored by Farm to Philly) in 2008 and I needed some mustard for a meal I was making. I couldn't find locally prepared mustard, so I made my own Dijon with local wine. That one wasn't my favorite, but at least it was locally prepared - in my own kitchen!

Since then, I have experimented with different acids and spices. I believe I made my two best so far last week. Here are my recipes.

Yellow Mustard

2 tbsp. yellow mustard seeds
1 tsp. organic spicy brown mustard seeds
1½ tbsp. water

Grind mustard seeds in a coffee grinder as fine as you want them. Mix with water to make a paste. Let sit for 10 minutes.

2 tbsp. citrus champagne vinegar
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. allspice
¼ tsp. turmeric

Mix together. Let sit, covered, on the counter for as long as it takes to mellow to your liking.

Spicy Brown Mustard

2 tbsp. yellow mustard seeds
2 tbsp. organic spicy brown mustard seeds
2 tbsp. water

Grind mustard seeds in a coffee grinder as fine as you want them. Mix with water to make a paste. Let sit for 10 minutes.

2 tbsp. red raspberry vinegar
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ginger
¼ tsp. black pepper

Mix together. Let sit, covered, on the counter for as long as it takes to mellow to your liking.

I let these both sit for about 5 days, but it can take up to 10 days or so to mellow. I also added more vinegar to the yellow mustard on day 4 because it was too thick and pasty. Once the mustard is to your taste, you put them in the refrigerator to stop the process. They keep for a long, long time (as mustards do) but we find it difficult to not run out of them quickly. We usually find recipes that call for mustard just so we can keep enjoying them in different ways.

Next time, I think I'll experiment with mixing different kinds of vinegar. Should be fun!

I believe I have died and gone to heaven.

She Said:

I just can't wait to post about this. He chose another recipe from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics cookbook for breakfast (which turned out to be an early lunch) and I believe I have now eaten the greatest food on earth.

Creamy Cheddar Grits

2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 cup fine quick-cooking grits (not instant)
1¼ cups half-and-half
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1½ cups aged sharp Cheddar cheese, grated (4 ounces)
½ cup chopped scallions, white and green parts (4 scallions)
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Grated Cheddar and chopped scallions, for garnish

Bring 4 cups of water to boil in a heavy 4-quart saucepan. Add the salt, then slowly add the grits in a thin, steady stream, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the grits thicken, about 5 to 7 minutes.
Add the half-and-half and butter to the grits and stir. The mixture will seem thin but it will thicken as it cooks. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to low, and cook, stirring occasionally for 45 minutes, until very smooth and creamy. Off the heat, stir in the Cheddar, scallions, and pepper. Season to taste and serve hot with a sprinkle of grated cheese and scallions.

He made some very delicious fried eggs to go with this and I just kept saying how unbelievable the meal was. Truly unbelievable. I haven't had a whole lot of grits in my life but these are hands-down the best I have ever had!

Day Thirty-Three

She Said:

We're both on vacation for a few days, so dinner was a little fancier last night. We did manage to include another recipe from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman that counts toward our own Julie/Julia Project, but there was more!

We started out with a very yummy cocktail (or two!). This recipe (and the next) come from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics cookbook.

Pomegranate Cosmopolitans

2 cups good vodka, such as Grey Goose or Finlandia (we had Absolut on hand and that's good enough, I think)
1 cup Cointreau (we only had a ½ cup so we also used a ½ cup of Grand Marnier - poor us!)
1 cup cranberry juice cocktail, such as Ocean Spray (interestingly, we only had pure cranberry juice, so that's what we used)
½ cup Pom Wonderful bottled pomegranate juice (yes, we had this and that's what we used)
½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice (4 limes)
Thinly sliced limes, for garnish

Combine the vodka, Cointreau, cranberry juice, pomegranate juice, and lime juice in a large pitcher. Fill a cocktail shaker half full with ice, pour the cocktail mixture in, and shake for a full 30 seconds. Pour into martini glasses, garnish with a slice of lime, and serve immediately.

These were so good. I love the addition of pomegranate juice to the cosmo. Nice sweet difference! The fresh lime juice is key, too. We sat down and relaxed with our first one and then, feeling it a little already, we decided to make dinner. However, we needed room temperature butter, which we didn't have, so I took out a stick and, since it was almost 90℉ outside (and, logically then inside as well since the air conditioner wasn't on), figured it would soften up soon enough. So we had another cocktail! And we were still fine to cook later on.

Here's what we cooked.

Bay Scallop Gratins

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 medium shallot, minced
1 ounce thinly sliced prosciutto di Parma, minced (we actually found this - I was very pleased)
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, plus extra for garnish
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon Pernod (we didn't have Pernod, so we used a ½ tablespoon of Sambuca and a ½ tablespoon of water)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons good olive oil
¼ cup panko (Japanese dried bread flakes)
3 tablespoons dry white wine
1 pound fresh bay scallops
Lemon, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 425℉. Place 3 (6-inch round) gratin dishes on a sheet pan. (We had JUST bought four gratin dishes at Crate and Barrel that same day - yay!)
To make the topping, place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (you can also use a hand mixer). With the mixer on low speed, add the garlic, shallot, prosciutto, parsley, lemon juice, Pernod, salt, and pepper and mix until combined. With the mixer still on low, add the olive oil slowly as though making mayonnaise, until combined. Fold the panko in with a rubber spatula and set aside.
Preheat the broiler, if it's separate from your oven.
Place 1 tablespoon of the wine in the bottom of each gratin dish. With a small sharp knife, remove the white muscle and membrane from the side of each scallop and discard. Pat the scallops dry with paper towels and distribute them among the 3 dishes. Spoon the garlic butter evenly over the top of the scallops. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the topping is golden and sizzling and the scallops are barely done. If you want the top crustier, place the dishes under the broiler for 2 minutes, until browned. Finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a sprinkling of chopped parsley and serve immediately with crusty French bread.

We actually found small French rolls and had two each with this meal. I think you have to have the bread to soak up the sauce. It's quite a sophisticated flavor, in my opinion. Quite delicious, but not something I would want every day. I think my palate is simpler than that. But this was really delicious!

And to give us our veggies, here's what we made on the side from Serving Up the Harvest.

Sauteéd Spinach with Garlic and Pine Nuts

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ cup pine nuts
1½-2 pounds spinach, tough stems removed and large leaves chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large wok or Dutch oven. Add the garlic and pine nuts and sauté until the garlic begins to smell fragrant and color, about 1 minute.

2. Add the spinach, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the spinach is wilted, about 3 minutes. Uncover, season with the salt and pepper to taste, stir well, and continue to cook until the liquid evaporates, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve hot.

OK, we purchased our spinach and it's already prewashed so we didn't have to wash it. One of the things that is mentioned in the notes of this recipe is that "the water clinging to the leaves of the freshly washed spinach is all the liquid necessary." That's crucial. We didn't see that note right away and didn't know how this spinach was going to wilt. So once we saw the note, we threw in a little water and all was right with the world.

I really like the spinach prepared this way, but I am a really big fan of garlic and pine nuts, so it really couldn't lose!

Day 33/365:Recipe 23/175

Day Thirty-Two

She Said:

Continuing on with our own Julie/Julia Project, here's what we made from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman.

Chicken Curry with Green Beans

1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch lengths
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into ½-inch strips
1½ cups fresh or canned diced tomatoes (we used fresh)
1 can (14 ounces) unsweetened coconut milk
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro (we used flat-leaf parsley - my life will be much better if I just skip cilantro for the most part)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cayenne
Hot cooked basmati rice, to serve

1. Blanch the green beans in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, about 3 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven. Add the onion and sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic, jalapeño, ginger, and curry powder. Sauté until the onion is tender and the spices are fragrant, stirring frequently, 2 to 3 minutes longer.

3. Add the chicken and sauté, stirring frequently, until the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, coconut milk, and green beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the cilantro and basil. Season to taste with the salt and pepper. Add the cayenne to taste, starting with just a pinch and adding more, depending on how hot you enjoy your curries. Simmer for 10 minutes.

4. Serve hot over a bed of rice.

I don't know what it is about the flavor of curry powder and we've only made four or five curry dishes in our lives but the flavor just gets into my head to where I start to crave it. I was so happy to have this last night. It was really delicious, healthy, and had a really nice heat. We do like things hot so we went a little heavy on the cayenne and I think it was just right.

Normally, I like this kind of spicy food with a good dry Riesling. So we opened a good dry Riesling. Before taking a bite of dinner, the wine was just wonderful - fruity, slightly sweet, perfect for a warm day. But then it just did not pair well with the food. It wasn't horrible but we did it no favors by pairing it with this dish. Maybe we needed a Riesling that wasn't quite so dry, who knows. But after dinner, we finished the bottle and it was quite good again. Weird.

Day 32/365:Recipe 22/175

Day Thirty

She Said:

Well, we have been at our own Julie/Julia Project for one month. How exciting! We are totally loving this project, even though sometimes we just don't feel like cooking. Thank goodness we have our traditional Thursday pizza-and-a-movie night (see prior post) to break things up a little. And we don't cook every single day, obviously, but we're in the kitchen a whole lot more than we used to be!

Anyway, another recipe from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman and this one was a TOTAL winner! I could eat this every night, I think. Actually, since I'm supposed to stay away from tomatoes, I wouldn't but it is just that good! We made some regular old mashed potatoes to accompany this meal and it was perfect. (Actually, the potatoes were tremendous - Yukon gold potatoes with just a tiny splash of whole milk, some butter, salt and lots of pepper. Delicious!)

Chicken Breast Niçoise

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 large boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large onion, sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups seeded and diced tomatoes
1 cup cured pitted black olives, such as niçoise or Kalamata (we used your standard Black Pearls, sliced in half)
½ cup chicken broth
½ cup dry white wine (we were actually having red wine with dinner and didn't open a bottle of white just for this, so I just doubled the chicken broth)
1 tablespoon dried herbes de Provence (this is critical to this dish!)

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken breasts, season with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper, and cook until well browned on the bottom, about 4 minutes. Turn the breasts over, season the second side, and cook until well browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside to keep warm.

2. Sauté the onion in the skillet until soft, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, olives, broth, wine and herbs. Cook until the tomatoes are broken down and the sauce is somewhat thickened, about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

3. Return the chicken to the skillet (we sliced it up before doing this), reduce the heat, and continue cooking until the chicken is heated through and no longer pink in the middle, about 5 minutes. Serve hot.

I can't say enough about how good this meal was. He chose this recipe because it's in the tomato section and we have to spread those out through the year because I don't particularly care for uncooked tomatoes and I'm not supposed to be eating them anyway. But the way these were cooked was fantastic! And I have to say that I was never a black olive fan. I'm OK with kalamata olives but never your standard black olives. If they were in something highly seasoned (like nachos), I could eat them.

But the olives absolutely made this dish. It made such an impression on me that the pizza we ordered last night had black olives on it and I loved it. I guess it's something about the combination of the tomatoes and the black olives. Delicious!!

Oh and do not skip the herbes de Provence. When you get to the point in the recipe where it says to taste and adjust the seasoning, the herbs will be right there at the front and it's quite an experience.

I guess I really liked this one!

Day 30/365:Recipe 21/175