Weekend Lunch

Zucchini,  Asparagus and Goat Cheese Frittata

Because of our modern day Brady Bunch style family, our three remaining children (the fourth is in college!), alternate between our home and the homes of our exes every other weekend.  On weekends they are with us, we stay very busy making sure everyone is where they are supposed to be at the right time.  This includes, basketball practice, soccer practice, lacrosse practice, Sat courses, part –time jobs and of course the games that they spend most of their time practicing for.  Monitoring their whereabouts at night is a completely different subject.  It’s hectic but I love having them and their energy in the house.

When the kids aren’t with us, one of the ways in which we take advantage of our down time is by sitting down to a quiet, relatively civilized brunch.  Our favorite thing to make, as of late is a frittata.  It is so easy and it’s a great way to get rid of any of those leftover veggies hiding in the vegetable crisper.  Yesterday I made a frittata with zucchini, asparagus, cherry tomatoes and goat cheese.  While Adam set the table and built a fire, I dressed some arugula with some balsamic vinegar and olive oil and toasted up some multi-grain bread.  Since we weren’t going anywhere because of the snow, we even poured ourselves a glass of Michel Schlumberger Pinot Blanc.   Be sure to save any leftover frittata, it’s so good when warmed up as a snack!

Zucchini, Asparagus and Goat Cheese Frittata

1 Tbs. olive oil

1 small onion, diced

1 small to medium zucchini, diced

5 stalks asparagus, cut crosswise in ½ inch pieces, touch ends discarded

A handful of cherry tomatoes

7 eggs

½ cup of milk (I used skim and it worked perfectly)

2-3 ounces of goat cheese, crumbled

Salt & pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk, season lightly with salt & pepper.

In a 10 inch skillet, sauté the onion, zucchini, and asparagus in the olive oil over low to medium heat.  After 2-3 minutes, add the cherry tomatoes and cook until the onion is translucent and the vegetables are tender but still a bit crisp, for another 2-3 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.

Add the egg mixture to the pan followed by the crumbled goat cheese. Let cook (do not stir) for 2-3 minutes.  Transfer the pan to the oven and bake until the frittata is cooked through and slightly browned on top for 6-7 minutes.  Remove from the oven and cut like a pie into quarters.  Serve on a warmed plate with toast made out of great bread and a simple arugula salad on the side.  Pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy the weekend!

Spicy Ginger Pork Lettuce Wraps

My son is on school break and is home for a month.  I’ve been focusing on making heartier fare (as you know Molli and I are quite content with soup and salad) along with some of his favorites.  The other night I asked him what he wanted to have for dinner the following day.  I knew the answer before he actually answered me.  My son has loved Asian inspired food since he was a toddler.  Alex was one of those little boys who had no time to eat.  He was far too busy for such a mundane activity.  We soon discovered that he had a soft spot for chicken and broccoli, lo mein and dumplings.  Oh how he loved his pork dumplings!  The odd thing is that pork dumplings were my lunch of choice while I was pregnant with him.  Coincidental or not, his love of Asian food has evolved over the years and his recent favorite is Spicy Ginger Pork Lettuce Wraps.  What’s not to love?  These are delicious, healthy and a nice departure from the usual dinner choices.  I started with a Food And Wine recipe from 2006 and have made my own little tweaks with the addition of shitake mushrooms, fresh mint and a yummy sauce to drizzle on top.  Warning, these are highly addictive!

Spicy Ginger Pork Lettuce Wraps

1-tablespoon canola oil

¾ pound of shitake mushroom caps, sliced

1-½ lbs ground pork

1 ½ red bell peppers, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons peeled ginger, finely chopped (you can grate the ginger as well but I prefer mine a bit chunky)

3 tablespoons Thai sweet chile sauce

2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce

2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil

1 tablespoon olive oil

One 8-ounce can whole water chestnuts, drained and sliced

5 scallions, white and pale green parts only, thinly sliced

4 tablespoons oyster sauce

3 tablespoons chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons chopped mint

12-15 Boston lettuce leaves

In a large bowl, combine the ground pork with the bell pepper, garlic, ginger, chile sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil and 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

In a large skillet, heat the canola oil until shimmering.  Add the shitake mushrooms and cook until they are browned a bit around 3-4 minutes.  Add the pork mixture and stir-fry over medium-high heat, breaking it up, until it is cooked through and starting to brown, about 8 minutes.  Stir in the water chestnuts, scallions, oyster sauce, cilantro and mint and remove from the heat.

Spoon the pork into lettuce leaves, drizzle with some sauce and eat!

Sauce for Lettuce Wraps

 3 Tablespoons soy sauce

3 Tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar

1-teaspoon sesame oil

¼ teaspoon Siracha sauce (we like the heat so we use more)

Whisk all ingredients together and serve with lettuce wraps.

Delicious Duck for the holidays!

Hello All!  I have been crazy busy and had to take a break from my blogging.  Now that I have some new found hours in the week, I can start sharing some yummy recipes and ideas again.  I am very proud of this dish and have made it many times in order to perfect the recipe.  It is super easy.  I made it for a dinner party a few weeks ago and I am actually making it for my husband and myself for our christmas dinner(the kids are with the exes this year).  It's great for a crowd and perfect for two people because then you just cook one duck breast.  I like to serve it with butternut squash puree and haricot vert sauteed with thyme. My favorite wine to serve with this is a spicy zinfandel.  Try the Seghesio Old Vines zinfandel from Napa and you will be VERY happy!

DUCK BREASTS IN A PORT SAUCE WITH CHERRIES

Serves 4

2 duck breasts (I use the D’artignan brand that I buy at A&P!)

2 shallots chopped

1 cup ruby port

1/3 cup orange juice

2 teaspoons grated orange peel

4 teaspoons sugar

4-5 thyme sprigs

½ teaspoon Chinese 5-spice powder

1 cup frozen cherries (use fresh only if they are in season.  I buy the big bags of frozen cherries at Costco)

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Score the skin of the duck breasts with a knife in two directions, crossing over each other.  Season both sides of the duck breasts with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet, over medium high heat, place the duck breasts skin side down.  Turn the heat down to medium and sear the breasts until the skin is golden brown, about 10 minutes.  Flip and sear the other side for three minutes.  Place the seared duck breasts on a baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes for medium rare.  Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, pour out almost all of the excess fat, from the skillet, leaving behind one or two tablespoons.  Add the chopped shallots and cook until translucent, a couple of minutes.  Add the port, orange juice, zest, sugar, thyme sprigs, 5 spice powder, vinegar and cherries and simmer for 8-10 minutes to reduce and thicken.

Slice the duck breasts into ¼ inch slices and drizzle the Cherry Port Sauce over it.  There will be enough sauce leftover to serve on the side as well.

**Refrigerate the duck fat for future use.  Potatoes sautéed in duck fat are delish!

YUMMY BANANA PECAN MUFFINS

Today I was inspired by a bowl of quickly ripening bananas.  I have been making banana muffins for as long as my children can remember.  There was a time when I made them 2-3 times a month, no longer needing the recipe because it was forever imprinted in my memory banks.  In my never-ending quest to serve my family nourishing yet DELICIOUS food, I decided to experiment with my already pretty healthy recipe.  The recipe I have been using for the past 16 years is from Food & Wine magazine.  I actually came up with a better tasting (and healthier) muffin by using mostly whole wheat flour instead of all white, substituting agave for half of the sugar, and by adding a couple of tablespoons of ground flax seeds.

The muffins were very moist and flavorful because of the addition of the agave.  Agave tastes a tiny bit like molasses so it adds its own flavor character to the recipe.   Sometimes when whole-wheat flour is substituted in recipes, the end product can end up being a bit dry.  Because agave is a liquid(slightly less viscous than honey), the additional moisture ends up balancing out the addition of the whole-wheat flour.

RECIPE

½ cup chopped pecans

1 cup whole-wheat flour

¼ cup unbleached all-purpose flour

2 Tbs. ground flax seeds

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup sugar

1/3 cup agave syrup(nectar)

2 large eggs

½ cup canola oil

3 medium overripe bananas (mashed)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

·      Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat two 6 cup muffin tins with cooking spray.

·      In a medium bowl, whisk the flours with the ground flax seeds, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  In another bowl, combine the sugar, agave, eggs and oil and beat at high speed until lighter in color around 2 minutes.  Add the mashed bananas and vanilla and beat until smooth.  Stir in the dry ingredients until thoroughly blended.  Fold in the nuts

·      Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins filling almost to the top.  Bake in the middle of the oven for 22 minutes.  Let the muffins cool in the tins for 5 minutes before turning them out onto a rack to cool completely.

CELERIAC AND CAULIFLOWER SOUP WITH WHITE TRUFFLE OIL

Compared to the bounty of August, it’s slim pickings at the Farmers market lately.  Celeriac, more commonly known as Celery Root,  is one of the vegetables that are still available.  Since today was an absolutely perfect day to make a pot of soup, I did just that.  I wanted a creamy, flavorful soup without having to actually use cream.  I thought that by combining cauliflower with the celeriac, the texture of the soup would be silkier and more substantial.  I envisioned finishing the soup with white truffle oil so as I cooked, I chose seasonings that would complement that.

This is a great soup!  It's hardy and filling and at the same time healthy.  The white truffle oil not only looks elegant drizzled on top, but really adds another layer of flavor that makes the soup taste much more complex than it’s simple ingredients would lead us to believe.

CELERIAC AND CAULIFLOWER SOUP WITH WHITE TRUFFLE OIL

2 TBS  butter

1 TBS olive oil

1 large onion, diced

2 large leeks, white and pale green parts only, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, sliced thin

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

11/2 bulbs celeriac, medium dice(4 cups diced)

1 head cauliflower broken into florets

5 cups chicken stock

3 sprigs fresh thyme

salt & pepper

good quality white truffle oil

Place the butter and olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.  Add the onion, leeks, garlic and crushed red pepper and cook until tender approximately 10 minutes.  Add the celeriac, cauliflower, chicken stock and thyme to the pan.  Bring the stock to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes or until the celeriac is tender.  Remove the thyme sprigs and puree the soup with an immersion blender or by transferring it into a blender.  Season generously with salt and a bit of black pepper.  Ladle soup in bowls and drizzle some white truffle oil on top.

TARRY MARKET

I have discovered a new gem of a place not far from my home.  It is called Tarry Market.  It’s part of an interesting new retail concept created by the amazing duo of Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich.  These two wunderkind have opened an upscale Italian restaurant, a wine store specializing in Italian wines and the market where I sit now, all on the same block in Port Chester, New York.  All three venues are preceded by “Tarry”, so there's Tarry Lodge, Tarry Wine and Tarry Market. 

When you walk into Tarry Market, you instantly feel like you’ve been transported to a small village in Tuscany.  The only difference is that the café, butcher, cheese maker, fishmonger, salumeria and bakery are all located under one roof.  Upon entering Tarry market, you are greeted with an expansive coffee bar.   You can make yourself comfortable at one of the several café tables or at a seat at the white marble topped bar that runs along the parameter of the front windows.   The space is warm and cozy, a perfect spot for lunch or an afternoon coffee.

A menu consisting of salads, panini sandwiches and calzones is offered all day.  You can also take the DIY approach by heading back to the market, which is located right behind the coffee bar. On a recent visit for lunch, I picked out a square of butternut focaccia; a wedge of cheese and some marinated roman artichokes.  On a more recent visit, I ordered the prime rib sandwich from the butcher counter.  The prime rib is seasoned with their special porcini rub and then put on the rotisserie.  It is sliced very thin and then piled on a freshly baked roll with a drizzle of olive oil as the finishing touch. I eat beef approximately once a month but this sandwich could easily change that.  It is absolutely amazing!  If you’re in the mood for something sweet, they offer an interesting selection of gelatos with flavors like olive oil, Guinness, lemon basil and caramel.   If baked goods are what you are craving, then opt for a Madeleine, scone, chocolate roll or their version of French toast, which is a slice of brioche baked with almond paste and dusted with powdered sugar, yum! 

 How about a glass of wine while you grocery shop?  No problem!  All you have to do is insert your credit card into the Enomatic Elite Wine Dispenser, choose one of the eight wines offered and then choose the portion amount.  There are three portion choices ranging from a taste to a full glass.  I used the dispenser last week to try a wine that I have read about and have been dying to try but haven’t because of its prohibitive price tag.  I felt much more comfortable splurging on a bottle after discovering that I loved the wine.  Tarry wine is attached to the market so you don’t have to make an additional stop at the wine store after procuring your groceries.

I like to go to Tarry Market when I am having guests for dinner because just walking past the various food counters inspire many menu ideas.    I usually start at the butcher or seafood section to choose my main course then I move on from there, adding items as I go to round out the meal.  

I love veal chops and these looked amazing.  After asking the butcher to french the bones, I marinated them for 8 hours in olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, bruised rosemary, crushed garlic and red pepper flakes.  Adam grilled them until they were medium rare, then we let them sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Next I moved on to the fresh pasta counter where I chose the butternut squash ravioli.  I usually toss them in browned butter and fresh sage but I wanted to serve them in a cream sauce this time.  I sautéed a chopped shallot in three tablespoons of butter until soft.  I added1½ cups of cream and 3 Tablespoons of maple syrup.  I let the sauce thicken a bit over low heat and then added a dash of nutmeg and seasoned with salt and pepper.  I added the cooked ravioli to the simmering cream sauce and cooked for an additional minute while stirring gently.

I didn’t have time to make a fussy appetizer, so I picked out an assortment of foods that I could put on a platter and serve.  I chose the Cremont cheese because it looked perfectly ripened and ready to be served that night.  The Roman artichokes are delicious and I knew our dinner guests would love them.

The focaccia is excellent!  My favorite is the Butternut squash and goat cheese but there was butternut squash in the ravioli so I went with the broccoli rabe and sausage. Thanks to Tarry Market, shopping for groceries has actually become an adventure. Imagine that!  Additionally, I have a new hangout where I can grab a coffee and check my e-mails (Starbucks was starting to get a bit dull if you know what I mean).  Check it out if you live in the area and if you don’t, then try the veal and pasta recipes.  They were quite tasty if I do say so myself!

More Rain..........

Even Lucy is tired of the rain!

Another rainy day in Connecticut and the schools were closed today in honor of the Rosh Hashanah Holiday. Since all of us were in the house at lunchtime, I decided to make a nice sit-down lunch.  “Pantry Soup” is one of my all time favorite recipes because I always have the ingredients on hand and more importantly it’s delicious.  I tend to make it on unexpected snow days or when I need a quick, easy dinner and don’t have time to get to the grocery store.

Our Rainy Day Lunch

For the salad, I used frisée and romaine and then tossed in 1 chopped apple, a couple tablespoons of pine nuts and some crumbled goat cheese.  I had made a double batch of dressing for my “Sunday Supper with Molli” so I used that.

Mixed Greens with Apples, Goat Cheese and Pine Nuts

Do not worry about perfect measurements with this soup.  I never measure anything when making it and the soup always ends up tasting great!  I sauté 2-3 onions and 2 cloves of garlic in 5-6 Tablespoons of butter.  When the onions are translucent and soft, I add two cans of whole tomatoes, 3-4 cups of chicken stock and salt & pepper.  I let that simmer for 15-20 minutes and then remove from heat.  I use an immersion blender to puree the soup and Voilá, Pantry Soup!  

Pantry Tomato Soup

To round out the meal, I heated up a loaf of whole grain bread which I served with some butter sprinkled with a bit of Maldon salt. It was a lovely, cozy lunch and we made the best of the bad weather but I really can't wait for the cool, crisp sunny days of Fall.