White....White....Christmas....

Welcome back, everyone! I had myself a nice, LONG, holiday break. That's not to say I didn't cook while I was gone, I just stayed off the computer. Meanwhile, in the Land of Lincoln, we had a gorgeous WHITE Christmas, and it was the perfect kind, too. You know. The kind that comes down all day Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and then is completely melted off less than a week later? Yeah, that's MY kind of White Christmas.

Everyone has Christmas traditions. These traditions vary so widely that I am rarely surprised when someone tells me about their own family’s special occasion madness. In our little home in the middleofnowhere, we have our own traditions as well. For the vast majority of the holiday season, we find ourselves tromping back and forth to various family events, but Christmas Day is ours. Especially since we had Little Man, Christmas Morning has become sacred. Our habit of saying home on the morning of the 25th has morphed into a tradition of...avoiding traditions.

That’s right. On Christmas Day, we don’t do family. The three of us stay home, relishing the quiet of a white Christmas, and simply refused to do anything with other family members. Instead, we have an anti-family holiday. (No offense to our families, we love them all, but by Christmas, well, we’re done. You all know how it is.) The house is off limits to everyone until after 10:00am, while Ty opens presents and we lounge about in our pajamas.

After 10:00am, all hell breaks loose. In the kitchen, that is. Christmas Day is my one day of the year where I cook whatever the heck I want and everyone else can just deal with the fallout. And so I cook. Whatever I want. And we invite all of our friends over to feast. There is always plenty to eat and drink. Sometimes we have a house full. Sometimes its just us, trying to put away a 24 pound turkey and eleven side dishes. It greatly depends on the weather. And since we had several inches of snow this Christmas, you might say attendance was light.

As in....one.

Who went away one very satisfied guy.

(Get your minds out of the gutter! I mean, he ate a lot! Of FOOD!)

And when I say “food”...I mean....PRIME RIB.

Yes, I know prime rib is hardly a novelty on Christmas, but at my house it is. And you can bet there wasn’t a single person complaining when I declared the menu for this year to include a very large, very rare hunk of beef. Since I have never made a prime rib before, naturally, I turned to Mark Bittman. I did my homework, sure, but in the end, my copy of How To Cook Everything was what was propped open on my countertop to the recipe entitled Prime Rib Roast for a Small Crowd (ironic, eh?). I cut back on the side dishes since we were short on company, but ended up making Yukon Gold Havarti Mashed Potatoes, and a Zucchini and Vidalia Onion Gratin. All of which were consumed with holiday zeal.

I did, of course, have to adapt the recipe a touch, since the roast I got from my butcher was in the neighborhood of eleven pounds (yes, we had a LOT of leftovers. Again, no one was complaining.)

So, for our roast, I used some aptly named Prime Rib Rub from Penzey’s to season the outside of the roast. I plugged my probe thermometer into the center of the roast and popped it into a 450 degree oven for about 15 minutes, then lowered the temperature to 350 and roasted the meat until the internal temperature reached 120 degrees. After letting the roast rest about 15 minutes, we sliced into the meat to find a gorgeous rare/medium rare center. The end pieces were more well done, of course, but all of it was flavorful and juicy.

The total cooking time was almost 2 ½ hours for a roast that size, which gave me plenty of time to put together the side dishes.

All I can say is....Merry Christmas to me!

Oh, and those leftovers? What we didn’t eat the very next day, I turned into Prime Rib hash (which I also used a Bittman recipe for!) for breakfast and a lovely pot of Prime Rib soup! Yes....yes, I did.

Check out that gorgeous Prime Rib Hash!

This Prime Rib is my submission to Tackling Bittman, which is being hosted by Girlichef this month!

Easy "Breezy"

It was a long weekend. Short, but yet, looooong....

As in, I didn’t get nearly enough accomplished, but we had our fair share of stress and frustration. My son is tentative by nature and its hard to get him to try new things. So, whenever something comes up that is on his list of “things Ty likes to do” we try and make sure we do them.

For example, we heard that at the county fair last week, there was going to be a fireworks display after the country concert Friday night. Well, Ty loves fireworks, so we left the house late and got there in time to walk around a bit and have a little fun before the fireworks started.

We took him to the creepy guy making balloon animals (badly, I might add), we let him take a couple of runs at the RC race track game on the midway, and then we spotted the pony rides. Ty does enjoy a pony ride, so I considered it well worth the $5 to watch him clinging to the saddle horn on that itty bitty pony for dear life. (Seriously, those were some of the tiniest ponies I have ever seen. The one Ty was on looked like he was WEARING him. But, I digress....)

The little equestrians were about a minute or so into their ride, when suddenly, and completely without warning, the fireworks started.

At which point, the ponies positively WIGGED OUT.

Which proceeded to make the kids FREAK OUT.

And we very nearly had a bad accident. I’m amazed none of the kids got thrown. The guy running the ride did his best to calm the ponies down, I’m assuming his theory was “keep them walking and they’ll be fine”, but he was wrong.

The parents were out there in a heartbeat, walking next to their kiddos, but when Ty started trying to climb me like a baby ‘coon, I told the guy, “Hey, I’ve got to get him off this NOW” he yanked the ponies to a stop and looked visibly relieved when the rest of the parents followed suit and removed their panicked children as well. He said to me, “Wow, they really didn’t give us much warning, did they?” He was clearly less than thrilled with the situation, himself, and considering that we were practically beneath the fireworks, I don’t blame him. There could have been a very serious accident.

So, skittish little boy clinging to his momma, we walked over and tried to turn the fireworks into the fun display they were meant to be.

Instead, we now have two LESS activities that we can do with Ty, since he has now decided he no longer likes ponies OR fireworks. *sigh* I need a drink.

I remembered seeing this in Mark Bittman’s How To Cook Everything when I was reading his Tequila Sunrise recipe a few weeks ago. I’ve never tried a Seabreeze, but have wanted to since the first time (of many, many times) that I watched the movie French Kiss. "Seabreeze? Does that translate?"

This seemed like a pretty good time to give it a shot. The recipe makes enough for several drinks, but I cut it back to one. Okay, so I did it twice, so, technically, two. But hey, I deserved it. Switch the “cup” measurements to ounces instead and you should be a-okay.Seabreeze (a la Mark Bittman)
¾ cup vodka
1 ½ cups grapefruit juice
1 ½ cups cranberry juice
Lime wedges for garnish

I poured mine over ice and then squeezed the garnish into my drink for some extra punch. Two of these and I was feeling MUCH better about the ponies. And the fireworks. Now I just have to deal with my boy going off to Kindergarten in a few weeks. *sigh* Its always something. Good thing I still have some vodka....

A Girls Night In with Mark Bittman for I Heart Cooking Clubs

When I think of a Girls Night Out, I think of ditching the men, getting Barbie’d out and dancing our butts off in some too-loud bar that I am too old to be seen in.

On the other hand, a Girls Night In is just as fun, without all the sweat, stress, and body contouring foundation garments.

So, when I saw the I Heart Cooking Clubs theme for this week, I knew just the ticket. Cocktails and finger food. And since Ginny was about to come for a visit (yes, I did this recipe weeks ago, knowing about the theme, and just waited to post about it), it was the perfect setting for a Girls Night at the house. I even managed to get the hubs to locate himself elsewhere for the evening, so as not to disrupt our girliness.

So what was on the menu? Well, God bless Mark Bittman, cuz he knows his shrimp. We fired up the grill and skewered some of his Spicy Grilled Shrimp, which we served with grilled tequila pineapple skewers and Mofongo. Mofongo is not a Bittman recipe, but a carryover from Ginny’s recent trip to Puerto Rico that she was itching to try back here in the landlocked Midwest. It is a dish that takes roasted, mashed plantains to a new level.

And since I did say “cocktails” I looked to our buddy Mark again. We sampled a variety of libations, including his Tequila Sunrise (from How to Cook Everything), an old standby from my bartending days.We also had Cherry Margaritas and Lemon Basil Mojitos (a recipe Ginny brought with her that is a lovely blend of Bacardi Limon, our fresh sour mix, club soda, fresh mint, basil and lime).TEQUILA SUNRISE
From Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything

1 cup tequila
Orange juice as needed
Grenadine

Divide the tequila evenly between 4 glasses.
Add orange juice and a few drops of grenadine, as desired.
Mark Bittman's Spicy Grilled Shrimp
From Fish, The Complete Guide to Buying and Cooking, by Mark Bittman
Makes 4 servingsTime: 20 minutes

2 pounds large shrimp
1 large clove garlic
1 tablespoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Lemon wedges
Peel the shrimp (you can butterfly them if you like; just cut along the line of the vein, a little deeper than usual). Mince the garlic with the salt; mix it with the cayenne and paprika, then make it into a paste with the olive oil and lemon juice. Smear the paste all over the shrimp. Start a charcoal or gas grill or preheat the broiler; the fire can be as hot as you like. Grill or broil the shrimp, 2 to 3 minutes per side.Serve immediately or at room temperature, with lemon wedges.Now, clearly, as a former bartender, I didn’t need a recipe for the tequila sunrise, but since there was a rendition of it in Bittman’s HTCE, I thought I’d go ahead and include it here for your reference. What we REALLY did was pour a shot (or so) of good tequila in each glass, then topped that with a orange-pineapple juice blend (since we had a “pineapple” theme going already). Just as a rule of thumb, the proportions should be about 2 to 1. Two parts juice to one part alcohol. Then, very carefully, drizzle a little bit of grenadine around the edges of the drink. As the syrup falls into the glass, it makes the famous “sunrise” effect, as you can see in the picture.

For the shrimp, we actually followed Bittman’s recipe. Although I usually find that I have to supplement the seasonings in his dishes, I was pleasantly surprised to find that these little babies had plenty of oomph just as they were. I couldn’t keep myself from nibbling on the last of these at the end of the evening, even though I was much too full to be eating any more. This would be a fabulous appetizer for any cocktail party!

I have to say, the traditional mojito is not my favorite drink. Apparently, even though I like mint, I don’t care for it in my beverages. However, the Lemon Basil Mojito was a revelation that I look forward to having again and again! Tart and sweet at the same time, it had just the right amount of bite with an herby undertone.

All in all, we had a fabulous Girls Night In! A few cocktails, some tasty treats and a movie or two rounded out the evening perfectly.

I smell BACON!!! Better with Bacon for I Heart Cooking Clubs

It is true what they say... everything IS better with bacon... but what I want to know is...

WHY THE HELL DIDN’T I THINK OF THIS???

Mark Bittman continues to make me smack my head in a “Coulda had a V8” kind of motion.

I mean, come on....

Bacon.... waffles....

bacon. waffles.

BACON WAFFLES!!!

Seriously, people. I love bacon and I love waffles. I love bacon WITH my waffles... why wouldn’t I have thought of having bacon IN my waffles?? The version of this that I ran across on the internet used a belgian waffle maker, pouring the batter onto the grates, and laying a couple of slices of cooked bacon across the batter before closing the lid.

The recipe originates from Bittman’s How to Cook Everything as a variation on his Quick and Easy Waffles. He offers a basic waffle recipe with eleven, count ‘em, ELEVEN options for variations. I decided to employ two of those variations in the same waffle.

The first of which was to add cheese. I know what you’re thinking, cheese in a waffle? Well, really, when you go through the McDonald’s drive through (and I know you do, you don’t even have to admit it here, I’ll keep your greasy little secret) don’t you ask for your McGriddle with cheese? Or your McMuffin? I know I do. So the combination didn’t seem at all strange to me. Although the hubs did look at me a little funny. I chose to let him stew with it instead of trying to explain my logic to him.

SO, I added about a half a cup of shredded sharp cheddar directly in the batter.

In his suggestion for a bacon waffle, he says (as in the internet version I found) to lay a couple of slices of bacon across the uncooked batter before closing the lid on the waffle iron. He also says the bacon cooks along with the batter, implying that it would be raw bacon I am putting on the waffle batter. Not that I have a problem with raw bacon, I don’t, but in the other version I saw, the writer specifically stated that it was cooked bacon she added. Hmmm...confused.

In either case, I decided that I wasn’t sure if I liked the idea of whole slices of bacon seared to the side of a waffle. I’m envisioning a whole strip breaking loose and hitting me in the chin with a maple syrup coated “thwack!” and frankly, that doesn’t strike me as an appealing scenario. Plus, how do you guarantee that you get bacon in every bite? Or waffle? I was thinking the bacon should complement the waffle, instead of either playing second fiddle, or overshadowing it.

You know what I did? I cooked my bacon up all nice and crispy. Then I crushed it up into yummy little bacon bits. Then I sprinkled the bits over the batter so they would end up in every little crevice of the waffle. The result? Well, you’re just going to have to try it yourself and find out, because you can’t have mine... don’t even try... I WILL stab you with my fork... Its friggin’ genius, is what it is. I’m tempted not to even show you these pictures. But, because I’m a sick, sadistic kind of bitch... I’m going to anyway. Go ahead.... drool.....

Quick and Easy Waffles

from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

canola or other neutral oil for brushing the iron

2 cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

2 TB sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1 ½ cups milk

2 eggs

4 TB butter, melted and cooled

1 tsp vanilla extract, optional

Brush the waffle iron lightly with oil and preheat it.

Combine the dry ingredients. Mix together the milk and eggs. Stir in the butter (and vanilla, if using).

Stir the wet into the dry ingredients. If the mixture seems a little too thick to pour, add a little more milk.

Spread a ladleful or so of batter onto the waffle iron and bake until the waffle is done, usually 3 to 5 minutes, depending on your iron.Variations:Add grated mild cheese, such as Cheddar or Jack, about one cup per batch of batter.

Lay 2 or 3 strips of bacon across the batter after spreading onto the waffle iron and before closing the lid. Bacon will cook along with the waffles; cooking time may be a minute or two longer.

This is my submission for this week's "Better with Bacon" theme for I Heart Cooking Clubs.

In My Picnic Basket - Tomato Jam for I Heart Cooking Clubs

When I think of picnics, obviously I think of the basket with the checkerboard blanket and the deli sandwiches and fruit. What I also think of is summer produce like jams and jellies to spread on biscuits and crusty bread. When I came across this recipe, it was a magnetic force that I couldn’t resist. I believe this recipe may have originated from Bittman’s Minimalist column, as I wasn’t able to find a reference to it anywhere else.

This is my submission for the I Heart Cooking Clubs theme this week - Picnic Basket!

Tomato Jam
Recipe courtesy of Mark Bittman

1 ½ lb good ripe tomatoes (roma are best), cored and coarsely chopped
1 cup sugar
2 TB freshly squeezed lime juice
1 TB freshly grated ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp salt
1 jalapeño, stemmed seeded and minced

1. Combine all ingredients in a heavy medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often.
2. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture has the consistency of thick jam, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
3. Taste and adjust seasoning, then cool and refrigerate until ready to use; this will keep at least a week.

Yield about 1 pint.NOTES: This took WAY longer than the recommended 1 hour and 15 minutes to simmer down for me. I actually let it go nearly 2 and a half hours....the first night. We were going to bed, so I poured it into a container and left it in the fridge. When I got home from work the next day, I put it back on the stove and continued to simmer it another hour or so until it came to the right consistency. Not sure if it was user error or a mistake in the recipe, but it did take awhile. That being said, I’m really glad I didn’t give up on it. This is one of those foods that when you first take a bite, it gives you that feeling that you’ve tasted it somewhere before, but it’s a very strange taste combination that you can’t quite place. Then you take another bite...and it grows on you. And another bite...and you’re in love. It’s a very unusual flavor that you will either love or hate. I, personally, will be making it again, but with more heat. I used two jalapeños, compared to Bittman’s one, but I think I would almost double that or add some red pepper to amp up the heat a bit. I think this would be absolutely fabulous on a juicy burger or pureed a bit more and used as a dipping sauce.

REMINDER!!! There is only one week left to enter my giveaway! If you look closely (okay, not that closely.... there is a hint in this post as to what the prize will be!)

Mixing it Up - Bittman Style!

Even as much as I adore grilling in the summer, I still manage to get in a rut for ideas on what to make. I mean, really, how many different ways can you grill a chicken breast, right? I do love the larger cuts like brisket and ribs, and so forth, but those time-consuming items are reserved for Sundays when time is generally not a concern.

So, when I was making my grocery list last week, as usual, I asked the hubs if he had any suggestions. And, as usual, I got bupkus for a response. So, I fell into my usual routine of browsing the local grocer’s meat case, appealing to it to produce something new and attractive. On this occasion, I did actually find a small bit of inspiration. Nothing dramatic, but for some reason there was a glut of various sausages available during my weekly visit.

I grabbed up a package of Garlic Italian, one of Andouille, and a third of a local Bockwurst. Can you say “mixed grill”? I knew you could. I froze half of it for another day, and we grilled the three sausages, plus some sweet corn and farmers market asparagus for a nice, easy weeknight meal.
Pretty, no?

So here’s the twist. I was searching for a dish to make for I Heart Cooking Clubs this week (this being our monthly ‘Pot Luck’ theme) and was inspired yet again when I ran across Mark Bittman’s recipe for Asparagus Pesto.

Asparagus. Pesto. Yum! I love pesto. I love asparagus. I never would have dreamed to put the two together even though I have made a number of variations on pesto in the past.

Bittman’s recipe calls for boiling a pound of asparagus until tender but not mushy. Well, I had used up all my nice asparagus on the grill (and, in a skillet, when the propane bottle ran out halfway through the cooking process) the night before (and anyway, I’m not a fan of boiling vegetables) so I ran to the Wednesday night farmer’s market hoping to purchase another bundle.

Um, no. Its gone. Apparently the season is really over. So sad. But, undeterred, I had a brainstorm. I had the leftover asparagus in the fridge....and I had made quite a bit of it, so there was plenty for a half batch of Bittman’s pesto. Which is more than enough for me for dinner.

Excited, I ran home (ok, yes, I drove) got the food processor out (lucky me, it was still out from being used for something yet to be posted, and had been washed) and started chucking ingredients in the bowl.

Pestos are so easy, people. Really. I mean, its an herb or vegetable, oil, nuts, cheese, and maybe some acid. No recipe required (although I will post Bittman’s below, just for reference) just keep adding until it looks right.

Start with something green, in this case, about a half pound of leftover grilled/sautéed asparagus.
Toss in a handful of pine nuts (or almonds, hazelnuts, etc. Preferably toasted, but I was lazy last night and just tossed them right in).
Add a handful of grated parmesan.
(Normally I add garlic, but I was afraid in this case it would overwhelm the flavor of the asparagus, so I skipped it.)
Salt and pepper.
A good squeeze of lemon juice (about a half a lemon).
Put the top on the mixer, press ‘ON’, and drizzle olive oil through the top until the mixture forms a nice smooth paste.
My one tip is start small on the other ingredients, as you want your asparagus to be the center of attention. If you add too much cheese, and you are out of asparagus, you’re also out of luck, so add a little at a time if you’re a novice pesto maker.

And....PESTO!Lovely, lovely....now. What to do with it? I thought smearing it on crusty bread would be nice...if I had some. Which I didn’t. Crackers? Yeah, the saltines in my pantry weren’t exactly worthy of such a topping. A layer on a nice Panini with mozzarella and ham would be delish. I had the ham and cheese...again, no bread.

PASTA! I am usually hesitant to make a pesto pasta because it seems like the pesto just disappears on the noodles and becomes too subtle. This asparagus pesto was springy and pungent and I didn’t want to give up the lovely chunkiness of it. So what do I do? Make orzo.

Yep, I boiled up about a cup of orzo, and just mixed enough of it into the pesto to get the consistency I wanted, and VOILA! Fabulous. A lovely summertime dinner I couldn’t wait to dig my spoon into. This turned out so creamy and luscious, it wasn’t much different than a risotto in texture.The whole thing went together in about 15 minutes since I used leftover asparagus and I scarfed it down just as fast.

Thanks again, Mark Bittman, for a fabulous idea! I usually only cook as much asparagus as I intend to eat for that meal, but I’ll be grilling extra from now on, just so I can make pesto with the leftovers! This is my submission for I Heart Cooking Clubs and Presto Pasta Nights (check for the roundup later this week at http://www.kirstenlindquist.blogspot.com/) this week!

Now, here’s the original recipe:
Asparagus Pesto
Kosher salt
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch segments
4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts
1/4 cup olive oil, or more as desired
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
Juice of 1/2 lemon, or to taste.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the asparagus and cook until tender but not mushy, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain well and shock with ice water to stop the cooking. Reserve some of the cooking liquid.
Transfer the cooled asparagus pieces to a food processor and add the garlic, hazelnuts, 2 tablespoons of the oil, Parmesan, a pinch of salt and a couple of tablespoons of the cooking liquid.
Process the mixture, stopping to scrape down the sides of the container if necessary, and gradually add the remaining oil and a bit more of the reserved cooking liquid to moisten if necessary. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste, pulse one last time to finish mixing.
Serve over pasta, fish or chicken. Top with chopped hazelnuts and additional Parmesan cheese, if desired.
Makes about 1 1/2 cups of pesto. Keeps, covered and refrigerated for a day or two.

I Heart Cooking Clubs – Roast Pork Tenderloin

For the past several years, I have complained every spring that we don’t really seem to get “Spring” any more. Generally, we go from freezing cold temps to blazing summer heat in a matter of weeks. Not this year. This year Spring seems to be dragging on eternally, punishing me for my whiny nature. This is not, however, what I remember Spring being like. Has it really been so long since we’ve had a “real” Spring that I’ve forgotten what it is like? Or is it just that the season is completely out of whack this year? I mean, isn’t it supposed to be APRIL showers?? It’s the middle of May and Mother Nature seems to be having a bad case of PMS, because we’ve been getting nothing but rain for weeks. And, to be quite frank, its pissing this girl off.

For one thing, the lawn looks like it belongs in a remote sector of the Amazon right now. Between the hubs long work hours lately, and the incessant showers pummeling our area, it hasn’t been mowed in weeks.

Second, my basil is SUCKING. Yep, It’s been too wet and too cold and where I usually have a veritable BUSH of basil by now, I am still barely ahead of where I started with several small plants that are beginning to take on a yellowish cast and I’m afraid to trim any off for fear that I won’t have any more to use. Basil is, by far, the herb I utilize most in the summer months and I am usually well into my summer cooking bliss at this point.

Third, I really, REALLY wanted to start grilling as soon as Mother Freakin’ Nature gave us that one good week of nice weather...about a month ago. (she’s such a tease) The weather has not exactly been conducive to grilling, and I didn’t get my own gas grill until Mother’s Day (The whole prep time on the charcoal grill takes too darn long when you’re fighting the weather, in my opinion).

So, that brings me to my I Heart Cooking Clubs selection for this week’s theme, “potluck”. I wanted to grill....I purchased meat specifically with the intention of grilling....and then, naturally, it rained. What a pain in the ass. Not that the dish didn’t still turn out well, but it would have been much more successful on the grill, I have no doubt.

I was in the mood for pork tenderloin. Browsing through Mark Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything”, I found two recipes that sounded wonderful to me (ironic that pork tenderloins come in those handy, vacuum-sealed 2-packs). Pissed off at the world (and, more specifically, Mother Nature) I made them anyway. Both ended up being quite succulent and flavorful, but the mustard base for the Pork Tenderloin with Mustard Curry burned right off in the pan, leaving the crust in the dust, so to speak. I will definitely have to try this one again on the grill when I get a chance, as the hubs and I enjoyed both recipes. Unfortunately, the Man of the House took ALL the leftovers with him to work the next day and I didn’t get to enjoy it again, though I think the leftovers would have made a very yummy pork sandwich for my lunch (just a good excuse to try it again, right?).

Grilled or Broiled Pork Tenderloin with Mustard Curry (How to Cook Everything, page 463)
2 TB Dijon mustard
2 TB curry powder
Salt & pepper
1 ¼ pork tenderloin, in one piece

Make a paste out of the mustard and curry powder, then slather it all over the pork. Heat a little oil in a large skillet and sear the meat on all sides (make sure you have your kitchen windows open, or you’re liable to set off the smoke alarm). Transfer the pan to a 350 degree oven and roast until the tenderloin reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees. (I know it says “grilled or broiled”, but I already explained why I didn’t grill it, and I recently discovered that the broiler on my new stove kinda sucks, so there you go...)(I did the same thing with the other tenderloin and made a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and red pepper flake. I thought I found it in HTCE, but now that I look back, I don’t see it there, so maybe it was the beer talking...)

Next time, I will definitely be grilling....

Movie Night! For I Heart Cooking Clubs

The first thing I think of when I hear the words “Movie Night” usually have to do with popcorn, but I just couldn’t find a Bittman recipe involving popcorn that interested me. However, on the same page as “Buttered Popcorn” in How to Cook Everything, I found a recipe for spiced nuts. Roasted. Sautéed. Spiced. Buttered..... I did a little combination of a couple suggestions there and made a Sautéed Spiced Buttered nuts recipe.

When it comes to movie night, as long as I have something to munch on, and as long as it is salty, I’m good to go! These nuts really fit the bill, and I have a feeling one of my coworkers is going to be addicted before the day is out.
Sautéed Buttered Nuts
4 TB butter
1 TB steak seasoning (Bittman suggests using any spice mixture, such as chili or curry, but I spotted my can of Montreal Steak seasoning and decided to give it a whirl!)
2 cups mixed nuts

Melt the butter in a skillet and add the spice mixture.
Sautee the nuts in the seasoned butter about 5 minutes, or until nice and toasty.I had a bit of a glut of butter left at the end, so I drained the nuts and let them dry on parchment paper.This is my entry for this week’s I Heart Cooking Clubs theme – Movie Night!

I Heart Cooking Clubs - Pantry Raid!!!

Ok, I have to honestly say that when I was talking about this week's theme for I Heart Cooking Clubs, my husband really thought I said something entirely different. He was a tad bit confused when I started breaking out fish filets and large quantities of butter.

For this week's theme, the idea is to make something using your pantry staples. Well, my idea of what constitutes a "pantry staple" may differ from others, but one thing that there is never any lack of in my house is butter. Hellooooo.... we live in the country, its a staple. While I was trying to decide what to make for this particular theme, Ginny texted me from her local co-op where she had just found fresh rainbow trout, a new favorite of ours since attending a cooking class last year. Once we knew we had the fish, the whole plan came together.

And no, I am not trying to claim that rainbow trout is a staple, but it IS the vehicle for my selection for this week's IHCC theme!

In my neck of the woods, it is commonly understood that "everything is better with butter" (and bacon, but that's another post entirely). In my house, in particular, it only gets better when you make it a "compound" butter, meaning you add lovely flavors to it. Most commonly you see this in some variation of a garlic butter.

In Bittman's "How To Cook Everything", he has a number of compound butters listed, and we decided to try three of them, and have a throwdown to decide which was our favorite by gently pan frying the rainbow trout filets and dressing them up with the finished butters. For each of the butters, we just brought the butter to room temperature so it was nice and soft, mixed in the ingredients, and then chilled to solidify. I know you may be thinking that some of the ingredients below may be a stretch when referring to pantry staples, but if you've ever been to my kitchen or are aware of my love affair with Penzey's spices.....well, you'd understand.
(clockwise from the top - Mustard Butter, Wasabi Butter, Ginger-Lime Butter)
Wasabi Butter
4 ounces butter
1 tsp wasabi powder (we used 2 teaspoons, because one just wasn't enough.)

Ginger Lime Butter
4 ounces butter
1 TB fresh grated ginger
1 TB lime juice (we also added the zest from the lime, for extra punch)

Mustard Butter
4 ounces butter
1 TB mustard (we used the Guinness mustard that Ginny made recently)

These butters can be kept in the fridge for a week, or indefinitely, depending on the ingredients you use. We doubled each recipe so we would both have leftovers to keep in our respective fridges.

Now, for the results!!!
We lightly seasoned four trout filets with salt and pepper and gently pan fried them, skin side down first, until the fish was opaque and flaky. We topped three of the filets with one of the butters, and then, since the last little filet looked sad and lonely, we slapped a dollop of our favorite butter on it so that it would be happy before we scarfed it down.And our favorite was? The Ginger Lime!It was bright and flavorful (really glad we added the zest) and it had enough staying power to hold up throughout the dish. The other two butters were good, but may have been better suited for different dishes. While both the mustard and wasabi butters were tasty, we felt they fell flat when used on the clean slate of the fish. I may have to try the wasabi butter on some popcorn later this week, and the mustard on a nice steak, hot off the grill, this weekend.

The basic concept here is that you can add anything to butter, so give it a try! I can promise you won't be disappointed.

Bites of Bittman - Warm Salad of Scallops and Tender Greens

Welcome to the new edition of I Heart Cooking Clubs! We spent the last six months cooking up recipes straight from and inspired by Nigella Lawson. For the next six, we'll be discovering the minimalism of Mark Bittman. As soon as I heart who our next subject was going to be, I immediately ran out (okay, hopped online) and picked out a couple of his books to use for reference.

My first selection was Bittman's How To Cook Everything, and let me tell you something....I may never need another cookbook.

Okay, so that's a little unrealistic.

But really, I didn't even make it through the appetizers and salad sections when I had to close the book. Because I wanted to make....EVERYTHING. Practically every single entry sounded good to me. How To Cook Everything is less a cookbook and more an instruction manual. The recipes are so simple that you feel more like you are dressing the plate instead of cooking a meal. The methods are so basic and clear that I would recommend this book to even the most freshman cook. Although the book is intimidating at first glance (ie, its bigger than my family bible), it only takes a few pages for you to realize that it is anything but.

*stepping down off the soapbox*

Okay, so lets get back to the food! Our first week's theme is "Bites of Bittman", meaning any small plate or starter. As Bittman indicates in the introduction to the appetizer section, most of the dishes in the book can be prepared as a starter, and, in fact, pasta is generally served as a first course in Italy (that's a man after my own heart). While I had a difficult time choosing a recipe to start with, I decided to go with this one simply because scallops are quite possibly my all time favorite seafood. Oh, that and I had a bag of sea scallops in the freezer.

Warm Salad of Scallops and Tender Greens
makes 4 servings
Time: about 15 minutes 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons peanut or other oil (I used olive)
1 tablespoons minced shallot
1 tablespoon water (I used white wine...since, you know, I had a glass handy)
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 pound sea scallops, cut in half horizontally
6 cups torn tender greens (I used a nice herb mix of baby greens)

1. Whisk together the lemon juice, 1 1/2 tablespoons of the oil, the shallot and the 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Heat the remaining oil in a large, non-stick skillet over high heat. Add the scallops and sear until golden, 2-3 minutes per side.

3. Toss the greens with half of the dressing in a large bowl. Divide the salad among four plates, arrange the scallops over the salad, and drizzle the remaining dressing over them. Serve immediately.

Notes: For my purposes, I made less than half the recipe, since I would be the only one eating it last night. I do love me some scallops, and even though the recipe doesn't say anything about seasoning the scallops themselves, I couldn't keep myself from adding a little salt and pepper before searing them. I loved that the scallops straight out of the pan had a slight wilting effect on the greens and warmed the dressing somewhat. The flavors were complementary, subtle, and....kinda boring. Yes, I said it. Don't get me wrong, it was a very good salad. All I'm saying is that next time, I'll add some sesame oil or some red pepper, or some fresh herbs, or, well, SOMETHING to the dish to make it pop a little more. Definitely a salad I would eat again, with minor modifications. (and yes, if you were wondering, I did clean my plate.)