Beach memories
my “About” page. A little about me, my business, USPCA and my interests.
Archive for February, 2009
Roasted Potatoes with Onion and Parsley
Ready to go into the oven.
Here’s a super quick side dish to make to go alongside tonight’s dinner. It takes literally minutes to put together and once it’s in the oven you’re free to finish up your main dish, get little hands washed for dinner or even set the table.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs red-skinned potatoes (try to purchase potatoes that are the same size so you’ll get uniform roasting)
1 medium red onion, cut into large chunks
2tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp chopped, flat leaf parsley
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method:
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
Quarter potatoes and place into medium-sized mixing bowl. Add onions into bowl and toss with extra-virgin olive oil. Add parsley, salt and pepper and mix again. Spread potato-onion mixture onto a baking sheet. Roast in 400 degree oven for 30-40 minutes until the edges turn golden . You can use the tines of a fork to test for doneness on the inside.
Top 5 Ways to a Juicy Roast Loin of Pork
- A pork loin.
When I first started cooking, I read through every cookbook I could get my hands on trying various recipes that caught my eye and making tons of mistakes along the way. I also had subscriptions to Gourmet and Bon Appetit. I read all of the articles and would attempt recipes that had more than 12 ingredients. No problem on the number of ingredients just lots of mistakes in terms of timing.
See if this sounds familiar: you’ve purchased a new cookbook and found a recipe for a main dish, a salad, vinaigrette, additional side dish and and maybe even a dessert. You’ve invited family over (they’ll usually be less critical if anything goes wrong) for a nice dinner. You begin cooking only to realize that you’ve not worked out the timing on the wild rice (takes much longer than you’ve planned) and you’re just not quite sure where to insert the thermometer to get an accurate reading on the roast. And you’ve decided that the dessert you plan to make sounds fantastic, but you probably should’ve made it last night.
This is how I stumbled through my first few years of cooking at home.
I’m sharing this little antecdote because a roast loin of pork (studded with fresh rosemary and slivered garlic) was one of those early attempted recipes to be eaten at a birthday celebration for my Mom. Not only was the timing wrong, but I kept waiting for the internal temperature to reach 185 degrees, which resulted in a totally overcooked and tough, dried out pork loin.
Top 5 Tips for Roast Loin of Pork:
- Marinating overnight will enhance the flavor of your finished roast. There are literally thousands of recipes on the web.
- Select a roasting pan that fits the size of your roast. Allow for 1-2 inches all the way around the pan, between the roast and the edge of the pan itself.
- Internal temperature of the roast (inserted into the thickest part) should reach 150-155 degrees.
- Let the roast rest for 10-15 minutes after removing from the oven (cover with foil and leave in the roasting pan). The roast will continue to cook and the juices won’t escape when you cut into the roast to serve.
- Don’t cut into the meat to test for “doneness” this will cause the juices to run out.
There’s a 100 Ways to Plan a Weekly Menu
- Simple, homemade pizza.
And, here’s mine. No, I’m not talking about pizza every night. Although that does remind me of my college years (along with ramen noodles & three rolled tacos with guacamole)…talk about the “freshman 15!”
There are some amazing ways to plan your menus each week including free services, those through magazines, paid services which can help with calorie counting or even utilizing Google Calendar. Since even working on this blog can be complicated for me, I use the paper and pen method and plan my menus using a bound, blank book or journal. I confess that someday I’d like to switch to menu planning for the 2000’s but for now this works just fine.
Here’s how I do it:
Pantry
I primarily rely on what’s in my pantry or freezer. I keep a well-stocked pantry with dried and canned beans, canned tomatoes, various oils and vinegars, a multitude of dried pasta including angel hair, penne, orichiette and couscous. Don’t forget about brown and long grain rice and arborio. I also like to have on hand tuna packed in water and olive oil, sundried tomatoes, capers, artichoke hearts, different types of olives and anchovies.
Freezer
My freezer operates much the same way my pantry does in that not only do I store meat, poultry and fish there but also fresh pasta that I’ve made and then frozen, fresh tomato sauce and various herbs and pestos.
Previous Menus
Let’s face it, when you have young children you may try something that you and your spouse love, but doesn’t fare so well with the pre-school set. I put an asterisk (obviously this can be done on your computer too) by those newer recipes that I introduce (with a thumbs up from the family) and then toss those into rotation. I do take requests though, such as baked macaroni and cheese, build-your-own panini, and spagetti and meaballs. Usually I put one request into that week’s menu. Although I am a personal chef, I don’t operate my kitchen like a restaurant. What I make for dinner everyone eats.
Grocer’s Weekly Specials
I confess that I am less driven by coupons and online specials than what I really want to make in the kitchen. My nearest grocery stores are Lowes and Harris Teeter. Before I head to the market on Monday morning (shopping day for me), I’ll check their store websites for specials on items like boneless, skinless chicken breast, pork chops, steak, fish and fresh produce. I may alter my menu for that week based on what I see at those two stores. I’ve found that waiting until I get to the actual store and then making a change is more or less made confusing especially with young children in tow.
Here’s what’s planned for this week:
Thin Crust Pizza Two ways: recipe #1- zucchini, prosciutto, & red onions and recipe #2- the classic margherita style along with an arugula salad with lemon vinaigrette and shaved Parmesan
Marinated Roast Loin of Pork with Rice Pilaf
Marinated Flank Steak with Roasted Red Potatoes
Soy-Ginger Chicken Thighs with Steamed Broccoli and Lo Mein Noodles
And, my personal favorite: leftover night!
Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips and Toasted Pecans
- Right out of the oven (just need a cold glass of milk).
Despite the fuzzy photograph (I feel like an new camera is in my future), who doesn’t love banana bread? In our household, we make a weekly visit to Starbucks: green tea latte for me, a slice of banana bread to split between the kids. I have to admit when I saw the over-ripe bananas sitting in the fruit bowl I almost tossed them. I hadn’t done any baking since moving into our new home and there’s no better smell then that of a homemade cake, cookies or bread baking in your oven.
And, just in case you didn’t know (or if it come up in conversation tomorrow), February 23rd is National Banana Bread Day. Who knew?
That being said, here is a recipe I’ve been working on for banana bread. You’ll notice the addition of chocolate chips (my husband’s strong suggestion) and pecans (I love pecans!).
Ingredients
1/2 Cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 Cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 Cup chopped pecans, toasted
1 stick (1/2 Cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 Cup sugar
1/4 Cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp best quality vanilla
Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9×5x3 inch glass loaf pan. Add pecans in a single layer to a heavy-bottomed pan and stir constantly for 2-3 minutes over medium heat until toasted, being careful not to burn. In a medium mixing bowl whisk together first four ingredients. Set aside.
Beat butter with hand mixer (or in the bowl of a stand mixer) until fluffy. With mixer running, add both sugars. Add eggs one at a time to sugar-butter mixture. Add vanilla and mashed bananas. Slowly add flour mixture until incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips and toasted pecans .
Add batter to prepared loaf pan and place on middle rack in pre-heated oven. Bake for 60 minutes or until wooden tester inserted into center of loaf comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool in pan on wire rack. Wait for bread to cool before slicing with serrated knife and serving.
One more thing, if you do have some of those ripe and often-times black bananas sitting on your counter, but don’t have the time to make banana bread, consider placing them (no need to peel) in a freezer bag and into your freezer for later use in banana bread or even a smoothie. Leaving the skin on gives another layer of protection to the fruit.
Homemade Chicken Soup with Tortellini
Friday afternoon I put a whole, roasting chicken into the oven for our dinner that evening. The finished roast chicken is always greeted by hungry tummies (even the pre-schooler enjoys it) and rave reviews by my husband. After waking up to a 26 degree morning (we’re not in San Diego anymore, folks) I decided to use the remaining chicken carcass to make stock and then chicken soup for tonight’s dinner.
You can refer to an earlier post on making homemade chicken stock for the method I used today.
Ingredients
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 carrots, peeled, cut in half length wise & then cut into 1/4-inch slices
3 ribs of celery, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 bay leaf
2 quarts homemade chicken stock or best stock from your grocer
1 9-ounce package, fresh tortellini (I used www.buitoni.com)
1 1/2-2 Cups shredded chicken
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to tasted
2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped
The finished chicken soup - ready for tonight's dinner.
Method
Place a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add two tablespoons oil to heated stockpot and then add onions, carrots and celery. Stirrng for 6 minutes or until veggies are translucent (careful not to brown) and then add garlic. Stirring for two minutes longer, again being careful not to brown garlic.
Add stock and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, adding tortellini and cooking for 7 minutes. Carefully add in chicken and stir. Cook for 2 additional minutes. Add parsley and stir. Season to taste with salt and ground pepper .
A New Adventure
A gracious front porch.
Be careful what you wish for! Have you heard this old saying? I think it is one my favorites; right up there with: “when it rains, it pours.” Let me explain. For more than a dozen years I’ve been fascinated with the south – the cuisine, the history, the architecture and the general something special that I’ve found when meeting folks that hail from the south eastern part of our country or when watching a film or reading a book that takes place in the south ( a few of my perennial favorites include the films Something to Talk About, Steel Magnolias, and The Big Chill and of course, books by Pat Conroy, Rebecca Wells, Cormac McCarthy and the celebrated cookbook author Natalie Dupree.)
In December my husband sat me down to explain that there were some job opportunities in North Carolina and he was considering stepping away from his business in San Diego and relocating us there. Hmmm….I know I’ve always been interested in living in the South, but were we really going to move there?
Fast forward to present day and we’ve been here not quite two weeks and so far so good. I love the cooler weather (not mid-west cold mind you), the rain and its accompanying thunderstorms, and the snow flurries we had last week. We’ve met some lovely neighbors and are enjoying a large, rambling backyard – great for kids and Abby, the dog.
I am looking forward to disovering my surroundings, especially learning street names, getting to know the people, visiting local attractions in Raleigh and exploring the regional cuisine. Even now while I write this post, I’m planning next weeks dinner menu and hoping to include a couple of specialties of the region. I look forward to exploring the cuisine of the south which is so steeped in history and tradition. You can be sure that I will share my experiences with you through photos and methods.
