Pickled Radishes

I had some radishes that I wanted to use up before we left for vacation, so I thought I would give pickling a try.  I followed a Pickled Radish recipe that I found in the July 2011 issue of Bon Appétit magazine. In lieu of a mason jar I am using a glass dish with a plastic top, I hope this doesn't impact the pickling process.  I guess we will see how they turn out when I get back in town!

** Note: the recipe on the Bon Appétit website should read 10 garlic cloves!

Crazy Week

We had an incredibly busy weekend and now have a crazy week ahead of us...errands, cleaning, catching up with college friends, a wedding reception, a going away party, training session, dinner with different college friends and packing for vacation.  All of this on top of getting everything caught up at work so that we can go on vacation for a week.  The more I think about the to-do list, the frequency of my heart palpitations begin to increase. That being said it is going to be a slow week in the kitchen.

As far as our vacation goes we are going on our first family road trip with the baby!  She will be turning 11 months old while we are on vacation which is hard to believe.  You might be wondering where we are going...the destination is our nation's capitol!  It should prove to be an interesting drive considering our daughter is going through phase where she doesn't want to go into her car seat!

Since I won't be able to share any menu ideas with you while I am gone, I thought it might be fun to see if we can try out some of the restaurants featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives along our journey.  Stay tuned for our restaurant updates along the way.

Basil and Oregano

I had quite a bit of basil and oregano left from our first bushel; the only thing that came to mind to use it up was homemade pizza night! This of course is not a very original menu idea, especially for a Friday night but it's quick and easy!

Menu
Chicken Pesto Pizza
Italian Sausage and Fire Roasted Tomato Pizza

Chicken Pesto Pizza

To make the pesto sauce I followed the Barefoot Contessa's Pesto Recipe found on foodnetwork.com. This recipe yields 4 cups which is way more than you need for this so I cut the recipe in half.

Toppings

I used 1 large boneless chicken breast and seasoned it with sea salt, fresh ground pepper and some Montreal Steak seasoning.  I also chopped about a tablespoon of fresh oregano.  To prepare the chicken, heat about 1 tablespoon of olive oil along with 1/4 of diced red onion in a saute pan. (I would suggest increasing the red onion to 1/3 cup as I wasn't completely happy with the chicken to onion ratio).  Add the chicken to the same pan and brown on either side.  Remove onion and reserve once the they have softened. Continue to cook chicken until it is cooked thoroughly.  Once the chicken is done, dice into small bite size pieces and let cool.  I also sliced 3 roma tomatoes and had about 4oz of goat cheese and 2 tablespoons shredded of Parmigiano Reggiano on hand.

Preparing the Pizza
For the crust I used 365 Everyday Value Organic Pizza Crust from Whole Foods.  Cover the crust liberally with the prepared pesto sauce.  I used about half of the pesto sauce on this pizza (approximately 1 cup). Season with a dash of salt and fresh ground pepper.  Add the diced chicken and the cooked red onion.  The next layer is the slices of roma tomatoes. Crumble the goat cheese and sprinkle the shredded Parmigiano Reggiano.  Chop some fresh parsley and fresh oregano and sprinkle to the top of the pizza for color.  Cook at 400 degrees for approximately 12 minutes.

Italian Sausage and Fire-Roasted Tomato Pizza

The Italian sausage I used was something we purchased from Lemon Tree Grocer in Downers Grove. It's their Italian sausage with giardiniera and mozzarella. I removed the sausage from the casing and browned it.

I also used the 365 Everyday Value Organic Pizza Crust for this pizza.  Lightly coat the crust with a little olive oil and sprinkle with minced garlic (approximately 2 large cloves).  I also added a bit of the pesto sauce from prior recipe and spread it out on the crust.  I would say I only used about a tablespoon on this pizza.  Add a 14.5 oz can of Muir Glen Organic Diced Fire Roasted Tomatoes. Be cautious with how much tomato juice gets on the crust as you don't want the crust to get soggy. The next layer should be the Italian Sausage.  Let it cool some before adding it so that you can crumble it into some smaller pieces as you are layering it onto the crust.  Sprinkle with some chopped oregano leaves and thyme leaves.  Add 1 1/4 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese and a few small dollops of the pesto sauce to the top.  Finish the pizza with a couple leaves of chopped fresh basil and oregano.  This pizza also cooks at 400 degrees for approximately 12 minutes or until the cheese is browned.

My food critic rated the pizzas individually.

The Chicken Pesto Pizza was rated 3.5 asparagus spears

The Italian Sausage and Fire Roasted Tomato Pizza was rated 4 asparagus spears

I may have pushed my luck...

My husband is forever teasing me about how I put mushrooms in everything and the frequency in which I make asparagus.  As I was deciding what I was going to make for dinner tonight I realized we haven't had mushrooms in quite a while (a little over a week).  So I decided that tonight's menu would not only include mushrooms but I would also throw in the leftover broccoli as a side. As you recall from last night's meal we are just introducing broccoli to my husband again since he has disliked it for so long. When he walked into the kitchen and saw me plating the dish he said "Broccoli again, really?"



Menu
Chicken Marsala
Broccoli
Arugula and Red Leaf Lettuce Salad

I used Tyler Florence's Chicken Marsala Recipe which can be found on foodnetwork.com. Since I was just cooking for two I basically reduced the ingredients by half with the exception of the mushrooms.  My favorite part of chicken marsala is the mushrooms so I used 10 oz of sliced cremini mushrooms in my dish tonight.  I also used dry marsala wine versus the sweet Marsala wine he recommends.  This recipe is really easy to follow and its delicious. 

I served the chicken marsala with a mixed green salad and the dreaded side of broccoli.  As far as the salad goes I used a little arugula and some red leaf lettuce.  I added sliced radishes, cucumbers, grape tomatoes,  some pitted kalamata olives and a few crumbles of goat cheese.   I used Brianna's Blush Wine Vinaigrette , which I highly recommend.   It's also delicious with just romaine lettuce or fresh greens accompanied by some sliced strawberries and red onion.

This meal also pairs well with the same wine from last night, Wente 2008 Riva Ranch Chardonnay.
After it is all said and done I think my husband may have a new appreciation for both mushrooms and broccoli because he really enjoyed dinner tonight.  Either that or he was just really hungry!

This meal was rated 4 asparagus spears

Success!!

Tonight was a success on so many levels.  It started off with our electricity coming back on (just as I was packing up the last of our freezer items) after being off for the prior 22 hours.  I was so happy we didn't have to relocate for the evening. Later as I was blanching the broccoli for tonight's meal I was thinking how much food we were going to be wasting since my husband despises broccoli.  But to my surprise (and even more to his surprise) he REALLY liked tonight's dish which featured broccoli as the main ingredient.  I was floored when he said how much he liked it.

Menu
Lemon Pepper Pappardelle Pasta with Shrimp and Broccoli
Arugula Salad with Scallions and Radishes

The goal of tonight was to make a quick meal and it was a success.  Here is a quick rundown of how to make tonight's meal. First I cut the broccoli into florets and then blanched them.  We had to go buy a bag of ice for the ice bath since all of our ice melted when the electricity went out. The ice bath is key to keeping the broccoli the nice bright green color.

In a saute pan I heated approximately a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter then added about 4 large cloves of garlic, minced.  Add the broccoli to the pan (I used about 2.5 cups) and stir regularly to make sure the garlic doesn't burn.  I used the pre-cooked frozen shrimp with tails on.  So I thawed the shrimp and removed the tails. Then added them to the pan (I added approximately a dozen shrimp I probably could have added some more). Meanwhile I cooked the pasta according to the package. I used the Trader Joes Lemon Pepper Pappardelle Pasta.  I remove it when it's al dente since  I add the noodles to the pan with the other ingredients and it cooks a little more at that point.  Once the pasta is ready, drain and add about 3/4 of the noodles to the mixture.  Stir regularly.  Add about another 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil and butter. Season with salt and pepper.  Right before serving add a small amount of shredded Parmesan cheese.

As far as the salad goes I was trying to use as many of the fresh vegetables that I have on hand.  To the arugula I added some thinly sliced radishes, scallions, halved grape tomatoes and sliced cucumber. I used Brianna's Real French Vinaigrette Dressing on the salad.

I would highly recommend pairing this meal with Wente 2008 Riva Ranch Chardonnay. My husband on the other hand paired it with a Miller High Life. 

My food critic and foodographer rated the meal 4 asparagus spears and that's coming from the guy who hates broccoli.

On another note, I gave S some of the lemon pepper pasta noodles that I didn't add to the dish.  She LOVED them! Yet another success for the evening. 

Lamb Chops with a Cherry Balsamic Glaze

Prior to the severe storm last night, which actually appears to have been a tornado, I did manage to cook the lamb chop dinner I had set out to make.

Menu
Lamb Chops with a Cherry Balsamic Glaze
Sautéed Spinach
Rosemary Potatoes




Lamb Chops
I had just over 1 lb of lamb chops and they were very easy to cook. I used my electric frying pan.  I just browned them on both sides at a high temp and then let them cook at a lower temperature for maybe 10 minutes.  I simply used some salt and pepper for seasoning.

Cherry Balsamic Glaze

On a low heat simmer the following ingredients:
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup of diced bing cherries
1/4 teaspoon fresh oregano, diced
a dash of sugar (maybe a tablespoon)
some sea salt and fresh cracked ground pepper
I let this come to a boil and then lowered the heat. Stirring on a regular basis.  The cherries didn't break down as much as I had hoped so I used small strainer and smashed the cherries up leaving the chunks in the strainer and put the liquid back in the pan.  I let it simmer and cool a bit to get it to the consistency I was looking for.

Rosemary Potatoes 

about 5 baby red and 5 small yukon gold potatoes (halved or quartered depending on size)
3 garlic cloves, diced
approximately 1 tablespoon olive oil
Fresh rosemary leaves, approximately 1 tablespoon
a dash of sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1 tablespoon Montreal Steak Seasoning
1/4 of a small white onion, diced
Combine all ingredients in an oven safe dish. Stir well before placing in the oven to make sure potatoes are coated evenly with olive oil and spices. Cook on 375 degrees for approximately 40 minutes.

Sautéed Spinach
In a sauté pan heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 3 minced garlic cloves. Be sure not to let the garlic burn.  Slowly add about 5 heaping handfuls of fresh spinach. It will cook down pretty quickly. Stir occassionally. Season with a little salt and lemon pepper.

I cannot give you my opinion of dinner since I didn't actually get a chance to eat, however, my husband said it turned out well. He rated is 3.5 asparagus stalks.

Well that was fun....

It looks like I will be posting about tonight's dinner sometime tomorrow. I did make the meal I planned and was able to make a plate for my husband. I didn't get to eat myself since the baby was ready for bed. As soon as I walked into the kitchen to eat after putting her to sleep the weather got really bad! We ended up in the basement during the storm. I attempted to bring the baby downstairs without her waking but no such luck! I might have had a chance if it wasn't for our dog barking like crazy at the excessive wind, lightning and thunder. Thankfully the storms have passed and the baby is back to sleep. It will be interesting to see what the yard looks like in the morning. We can tell part of a tree is down and hanging over our neighbor's fence. Another tree has an interesting lean going on. My husband walked down the block and said there were some trees blocking the road. So my guess is we will not be getting our power back any time in the near future. Thank goodness it cooled down a bit after the storm. I hope everyone else in the area stayed safe. Good night!