Ham Broccoli Cheese Bake: Easy, But Needs Work

As I said before, I had a lot of smoked ham left over from making the tourte Milanese. I figured I would make a casserole. I couldn't get it to mesh well, but at least I stepped out of my comfort zone, right?
Combine about two cups of cubed smoked ham, a pound of frozen broccoli and cauliflower, about two and a half cups cooked rice, tarragon and seasoned salt to taste, and about a quarter cup cheddar cheese. Mix all this together, top with cheddar and colby jack cheeses, and bake in a 350 degree oven until it's hot, the cheese is melting, and the casserole is bubbly.
Will and I liked it, but because it didn't have something to make it glue together, it was really hard to cut into and get a serving. The next time I do this, I will have to remember to get some cream of mushroom soup to add to the casserole and help it gel better.

Finadene Chicken: Easy Chamorro Food

I learned how to make Chamorro food a while back, and one of our favorite meals from what I learned was finadene. This sauce is one of my favorites and I guarantee it'll be one of yours, too.
First, make your sauce by combining a half cup of soy sauce, one sliced onion, two sliced jalapenos (traditionally you use boonie, or Thai hot, peppers, but they are super hot), and a Tablespoon of rice vinegar or lemon juice. Add the chicken breasts and add enough water to ensure they are covered. Let this marinate for at least two hours; the longer you marinate it, the better it's going to taste.
Preheat your oven to 350. Add your chicken, marinade and all, in a casserole dish. Bake until the chicken is cooked through. Serve over rice.
As I say, this is one of the best recipes in my repertoire. Will loved it, especially the finadene sauce. This doesn't just work with chicken; it would also work great with tofu or vegetables.

Ham and Cheddar Panini: Delicious and Easy

As I mentioned, I have a lot of smoked ham left over from when I made tourte Milanese. I decided that, in order to use both it and the squash soup I had left over, I would make panini.
As always, butter one side of each slice of your bread. To make sure the panini sticks together, put one slice of cheddar cheese on each half of your bread. Put your meat in between the cheese slices. Grill your panini, pressing down to ensure it sticks together. Once the cheese is melted and the bread's  a nice golden brown, it's ready.
This was a nice, easy dish, especially since I had something of a rousing day at school yesterday. The soup lost some of its flavor because it had frozen and my husband added too much milk in order to reconstitute it, but other than that, we had a good meal for a busy day.

Splurge Night: French Onion Filet Mignon

My auntie and uncle sent Will and me some food from Omaha Steaks, among which were four beautiful filet mignons. I decided to attempt the recipe that earned me an A in culinary school as my signature dish, but was so brown that the chef teaching the class thought it was raw despite it being medium rare because it was so browned.
First, caramelize one sliced onion. Once the onion is caramelized, remove them from the pan and set it aside. Add your steaks and cook until they're browned; it's okay if they get a little burned. Remove them from the pan and set it aside.
Deglaze your pan with marsala; once it starts to reduce, add your filet mignons back to the pan and let them infuse with the flavor as well as get a bit browner. Meanwhile, toast some white or sourdough bread and butter it. Once the marsala is reduced to the point of being glossy, remove the steaks from the pan, arrange the onions on the toast points, put the steak on top of the onions, place a slice of Swiss or gruyere cheese on the steak, and pour the marsala reduction on top of the stack. I served this with the twice baked potatoes that were sent with the steaks and broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots; but mashed potatoes and any vegetable would go with this.
Will loved it; he said it's by far my best dish. I got the reduction done a little better than that fateful final. I think the chef would be proud of what I did, but he would also likely give me feedback to further perfect it. I am quite proud of it, and will continue to work with it.

Tourte Milanese: Labor Intensive, But Delicious

As you've probably heard from my previous blog posts, it's been really cold in my area. Needless to say, I've been looking for recipes that use my oven to help Will and me stay warm. Unfortunately, I did not pay attention to the recipe and failed to notice the labor intensity that this requires; it takes two to three hours to complete, so don't do it if you're in a rush.
First, let a pound of frozen puff paste come up to room temperature for fifteen minutes. Cut off a quarter of the puff paste and set it aside.
Thoroughly butter or oil an eight inch springform pan. Roll out the remaining three quarters of a pound of puff paste to about a quarter inch thickness and place into prepared pan, making sure that it's distributed evenly and has about an inch of overhang. Roll out the remaining one quarter of puff paste to about a quarter inch thickness and cut out to fit the top of the springform pan. Freeze any leftover puff paste. Cover the puff paste round and the prepared crust and refrigerate until it's ready to fill.
Roast six bell peppers on a baking sheet under a broiler, peel off the blistered and blackened peels, cut them so it lays flat, and core and seed them. Meanwhile, combine ten eggs, salt, pepper, and dried tarragon in a large bowl. Melt three Tablespoons of butter in a large skillet on low; once it's no longer bubbly, add the eggs. Scramble very lightly and softly; remember that you are going to bake them and do not wish them to become rubbery. Set these on a plate large enough to leave the eggs flat without piling them, cover, and refrigerate until ready to fill the tourte.
Bring a saucepan of salted water to boil. Add ten ounces of spinach and blanch for one minute. Drain and wring all the moisture out of it.
In a skillet, melt one Tablespoon each butter and safflower oil. Add your spinach; if it is in a tight ball, pull it apart, two minced garlic cloves, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Cook for two minutes.
Now it's time to assemble the tourte. Remove the shell, round, and eggs from the refrigerator. To assemble, spread half of the eggs evenly in the shell, followed by half the spinach, three ounces of sliced Jarlsburg cheese, four ounces sliced smoked ham, the bell peppers, another three ounces of Jarlsburg, another four ounces smoked ham, the other half of the spinach, and the other half of the eggs. Make an egg wash using one egg, a Tablespoon of water, and a pinch of salt; brush this over the rim of the crust of the tourte. Place the top onto the tourte and press in to cement the top to the tourte. Brush the entire egg wash thoroughly and refrigerate half an hour.
Preheat oven to 350 and place a cookie sheet in the bottom third of the oven. Brush the top of the tourte with more egg wash and bake for an hour and ten minutes on the heated baking sheet or until the crust is crisp and golden brown. Let it sit on a cooling rack to cool at least fifteen minutes before cutting and eating.
Will loved this; the flavor was excellent, and it's good either hot or cold. I would strongly suggest making this the night before you need it because it is so labor intensive. I have a lot of ham left over, so you can guarantee a few dishes like my ham broccoli and rice bake and ham and cheese sandwiches in the coming week.

Butternut Squash Soup: Tasty and Warming

As I mentioned before, I had a lot of leftover squash, so I decided to make a butternut squash and apple soup. This was really quick and easy, but super tasty and warming.
First, cube about five cups of butternut squash and three cubed apples; put them in a pan with just enough water to cover them. Boil these until tender and then blend it until smooth.
Add a quarter cup each of stock and cream, a teaspoon of thyme, a quarter teaspoon of sage, a quarter teaspoon of cumin, and salt and pepper to taste.
Will loved this; he said it ranks up there with my cream of tomato soup. I loved this, and it was a perfect way to deal with the cold snap we've been experiencing.

Tricolor Pulao: Easy Vegan Meal

As I've said before, I'm always looking for good vegetarian or vegan options. I was looking through recipes and found this one; after a bit of tweaking, I got it to where it would be palatable for Will and me. He said it's one of his new favorites and, better yet, I should make this often because it's one of the best meals I've ever cooked.
First, lightly fry half a cup of cashews in grapeseed oil. Once they're golden brown and aromatic, remove them from your skillet or wok and set them aside. In the same pan, toast about a teaspoon and a half of cumin seeds until they spark and then add four green cardamom pods, two bay leaves and a half teaspoon of ground cloves. Once that's aromatic, add one diced onion and cook it until browned.
Next, add twelve diced baby carrots to the pan and cook for four minutes. Add a cup of basmati rice, the fried cashews, and a half cup each of frozen peas and corn; mix this until combined and the rice is a bit toasted. Add two cups of water, two teaspoons of ground cumin, and salt to taste. Let this simmer until the rice is cooked through, take it off the heat, and let it sit ten minutes before serving.
As I mentioned, Will and I loved it. I also made a discovery about myself when I made this: I don't like cashews raw, but I love them fried. I accidentally bought too many, so I'm thinking of frying what's left and using them as a snack or a component of a snack mix. This is another dish where I generally always have the ingredients, so I will be making this again.

Butternut Squash Risotto: Easy, Meatless Meal

I think I've said this before, but Will and I love risottos. The only problem we have with them is, they can be really fatty. This dish solves the problem and, better yet, it can easily be made vegetarian and vegan with one simple change.
First, take two cups of cubed butternut squash and combine it with two and a half cups of water. Bring this mixture to a boil, lower the temperature and let it simmer for five minutes, then take it off the heat and let it stand for five minutes. Using an immersion blender or food processor, blend this mixture until smooth.
Add three and a half cups of chicken or vegetable stock to your squash mixture; bring it to a simmer, then lower the heat to low. Set aside a quarter cup of the mixture. Heat a pan and add a Tablespoon of vegetable oil.
Add two cups arborio rice to the pan with the heated oil and toss, stirring constantly until the rice is coated. Add one cup of butternut squash, two and a half cups of the squash mixture, and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt. Once the rice has just about soaked up all the stock, stirring constantly, add the remainder of the squash mixture, one cup at a time, until the rice has soaked it all up, stirring constantly. Once all the squash mixture is gone, stir in the final quarter cup of the squash mixture and sprinkle ground time and adjust the seasoning as needed.
Will and I loved this very much. We did end up with a lot of leftover squash, though, since butternut squash are huge, so I will be making a butternut squash and apple soup later this week. As I said before, this can easily be made vegetarian and vegan by simply using vegetable stock instead of chicken.

Stir Fried Beef With Broccoli and Sweet Potatoes: Delicious and Nutritious

I haven't made any Asian food lately, so I decided to make this dish. It turned out way more successfully than I expected and was pretty tasty. Will and I were talking it over, and we came to the conclusion that this could be an incredible vegan meal if you replaced the beef with tofu and added bell peppers for an extra bit of flavor.
First, make your sauce by combining a quarter cup of water, two Tablespoons of brown sugar, three Tablespoons of oyster sauce (it's really hard to find actual oyster sauce, so just use the oyster flavored sauce that doesn't actually contain oysters in it), and a dash of crushed red peppers. Combine this until the sugar is dissolved.
Cut about a pound of flank steak into one inch sized chunks, sprinkle it with salt and pepper and add about a tablespoon and a half of arrowroot; toss to coat. Cook this in a pan with heated sesame oil until no longer pink on the surface. Put the beef in a bowl and set it aside.
Heat a bit more oil in the same pan. Add a pound of broccoli, a large chopped sweet potato and two Tablespoons of powdered ginger; toss to coat. Add the sauce, toss the mixture to coat, and  simmer for at least five minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add the beef and cook until it's heated through. Serve over hot cooked rice.
Will loved it. He asked me what I did to get the beef to cook up so tenderly, and when I explained that it's all about size and timing, he asked me to make more dishes cooked in this style because the meat comes out much more tender.

Mushroom Rollatini: Easy and Tasty

I can never find cannelloni tubes, so I use the recipes to make rollatini using lasagne noodles. This time I ended up making my own red sauce, and it worked out pretty well. This recipe does contain bread crumbs, but you could always try making it gluten free by using rice or rice flour.
First, make a variation on duxelles by combining finely chopped crimini mushrooms with a finely chopped onion and adding thyme and a quarter cup of dry white wine. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer ten minutes. Mix in the breadcrumbs until just combined and it binds the duxelles together. Take it off the heat and set it aside.
Make the sauce by combining three quarters of a cup of dry white wine, a can of whole tomatoes with basil, a small can of tomato paste, salt, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Bring it to a boil and simmer it for ten minutes.
To assemble them, spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. Take a cooked lasagne noodle and scoop some of the mushroom mixture into it and roll it up. Repeat with the remaining noodles, top with the remaining sauce and bake in a 400 degree oven for 35 minutes. Serve piping hot.
Will loved this recipe. I can see this becoming a winter staple. If you want some added flavor, add some Parmesan or Romano cheese to the top.

Aloo Gobi: A Mistake Worked Out Okay

I decided to make aloo Gobi this week. Unfortunately, the culinary gods didn't seem to want to cooperate. My cauliflower wound up freezing and my turmeric mysteriously disappeared. Despite these setbacks, the dish came out quite successful.
Prepare the aloo Gobi like in my previous post, except omit the turmeric and you basically have what I made. The cauliflower greens were too badly damaged from the freeze to do anything but throw away, but that's not much of a loss because Will doesn't like cauliflower greens anyway.
Will and I both enjoyed it. While the dish was more of a russet than the golden yellow that aloo Gobi usually is, the loss of turmeric didn't take away from the flavor. Needless to say, though, turmeric is on my shopping list for the next time I go out.