Gnocchi Sorta Saffi

Friday March 30

All of our reader must be sick of our perennial pasta choice, penne alla Saffi.  So due to the acquisition of some fontina cheese and gnocchi at Trader Joe's, we made a few changes: warmed some butter and cream, melted the fontina in it while boiling some cut-up asparagus in the pasta water, fished the asparagus out and added it and some slivered ham to the cheese sauce while the gnocchi boiled in the water, and when the gnocchi were done and drained, mixed them all up.  A nice variation, though not earth-shatteringly different.

Sausages and Zucchini

Thursday March 29

Trader Joe's sells mild Italian sausages, and most of them are too mild, i.e. light pink with fat.  But we found a set that was dark and contained meat, so brought them home and fried them up with lots of onions, mushrooms, and some finely-slivered sundried tomato.  We had to use another pan to fry up some batons of zucchini with garlic, but it was worth it.

Spring Salmon and Asparagus

Wednesday March 28

We've been ragging on our local Kroger this week, but they do have a nice fish department, which was offering a (Lenten) sale on salmon.  The whole side we bought was even properly scaled - which we don't normally expect from them.  We carved up and froze most of it, but used the best portions tonight.

We sprinkled the tranches with salt and chervil and sautéed, then removed them; deglazed the spattering pan with wine, lemon juice, and capers; and monté-d au beurre, scattering more chervil around.  Our accompaniment was roasted asparagus.

Frabjous.

Porco com Cominho Renewed

Tuesday March 27

In yesterday's garden photo, most of the green stuff sprouting in the foreground is cilantro, which is Barbara's favorite edible weed.  It is also a reason to make porco com cominho. 

We had a package of slightly scrappy meat from the pork loin mentioned on Saturday, which got cut into the requisite chunks.  But we made one vital change: it was a slightly chilly night, so we added a minced chilpotle chile and a couple of spoons of adobo to the sauce.

Whooeee!  This made it far spicier and tastier than the original, but we had to dice and steamed a big Yukon Gold potato and mix it in to calm the whole thing down.  

Chicken with Collards

Monday March 26

All our collard plants overwintered, and now like their brassica cousins the turnips, they are beginning to put out flowery sprouts.  You can see them here, in the back of the garden under the redbud tree.

There are nice young leaves on them too, so today we gathered a basketful, pulled off the stems, rough-chopped and parboiled them for 5 minutes, and at dinner time heated them with a sprinkle of dried red pepper flakes and cider vinegar.  When they were hot, we reheated the leftover chicken legs and thighs from the day before yesterday on top.

Fish Tacos sans Tacos

Sunday March 25

We still had a fair amount of cole slaw left over.  Holt mentioned using it to make fish tacoes, but we don't have the requisite white fish in the freezer since Trader Joe's stopped carrying sole.  Also, no tortillas, and who wants to go to the store every day to get such things?

Solution: treat albacore tuna steaks (which TJ's still carries) in a slightly Mexican fashion.  We oiled them and patted on a mix of 1 tsp. ground cumin, 1 tsp. coriander, and 1/2 Tbsp. medium chimayo red chile.  This gave it a nice crust when we threw them on the grill (about 3 minutes on one side, 2 on the other). 

It went very well with the cole slaw, which was the original point.

Chicken and Artichoke Fricassée

Saturday March 24

I don't know why the Kroger in Hyde Park carries attractive, affordable packages of baby artichokes when our local one doesn't.  It's probably racial profiling.  But when we have to go to Hyde Park, we do make a point of getting those artichokes. 

Usually we roast them, but we had also gotten a package of four chicken legs and thighs (plus a whole pork loin) at Biggs in Hyde Park - Kroger's chicken and pork is shot full of "broth" and chemicals, which was our reason to avoid them and go to Hyde Park in the first place.  We are full of contradictions, but luckily our food is not.

Anyway, this recipe for both chicken and artichokes hit the spot.

We heeded the reviews, and made some changes: we added no flour anywhere, as it seemed to be the reason why everyone complained that there wasn't enough sauce.  We used plain button mushrooms, which we removed from the pan after frying, and just added at the end to rewarm; and used plain cream plus the juice of half a lemon instead of crème fraiche.

It may not have been as intended, but the flavors were rich and genuine.

Hamburgers and Fixin's

Friday March 23

This simple meal was planned by Howard M. Burgers, the food taster at Car Talk. 

The obligatory fixin's are onions sautéed with paprika, and lashings of ketchup; the burgers are served on toasted English muffins, which hold together better than standard burger buns.  And of course this was an opportunity to eat up some leftover cole slaw, potato salad, and pico de gallo with tortilla chips.

Thai Express

Thursday March 22

Tonight we were going to an evening concert at CCM: l'Ile de Delos by Élisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre, as performed by the group Cecilia's Circle.

It was a beautiful summery evening, so we decided to go to the local hole-in-the-wall, Thai Express, for some take-out we could eat outdoors.  Got their beef holy basil stirfry, and pork with green curry, featuring lots of lovely coconut sauce to drench the rice. 

Just perfect for a night of French baroque harpsichord music.

Corned Beef Hash

Wednesday March 21

We love to make a hash of things...almost any leftover meat, like Saturday's corned beef, and some things that are not, like brussels sprouts and potatoes.

We've already expounded our theory of hash; tonight's dinner hewed to the robot-coupe whizz-it-up school of hashery. 

But Barbara, who is the hash-mistress, has added a new fillip to her procedure: her first step is to trim all the obvious fat from the meat to be hashed, whizz the fat up first, then melt it in the pan to sauté the chopped onions and potatoes.  This adds some extra flavor and intensity to the pan.  Then she went on to sauté one chopped onion and five little chopped Yukon golds, and added a little chicken broth to moisten them as they simmered under cover until tender.  When they were, she whizzed up and added the little slab of corned beef, along with a shower of chopped fresh parsley and thyme from the garden.  Mixed and patted the whole thing down and browned the entire pan under the broiler until, well, brown.

And verily, a hash was made of it.

Cilantro-Stuffed Chicken Breasts and Pico de Gallo

Tuesday March 20

As usual, a green mist of cilantro is coming up in our garden as a useful spring weed.  We garnered a bunch and ground it up with salt and garlic, then stuffed it under the skin of a couple of chicken breasts.  Sautéed them quickly, then doused with a little wine and broth and let simmer under cover until done.

Holt's been craving pico de gallo, so we bought some late-winter tomatoes, brought them to ripeness as carefully as we could, and chopped them up with onion, more cilantro, and a squeeze of lime.  It gave the meal a spice of New Mexico.

Cold Corned Beef Platter

Monday March 19

Everything we had for dinner today had been made in previous days, not because they were "leftovers" per se, but because they take some time to come to their best.  And yes, that goes for the St. Patrick's Day corned beef as well.

Cole slaw especially needs to sit for a while to be properly limp. We’ve never been explicit about the recipe we use, but here's what we did this time.

Cole slaw

3/4 head of green cabbage, cored, shredded (ca. 6-7 cups)

kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon celery seeds

3/4 cup mayonnaise (or so - adjust on subsequent days)

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard (wholegrain is nice)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

sprinkle of paprika

1 large carrot, peeled and grated

1/2 green or red bell pepper, diced (optional)

Toss the cabbage with 1 teaspoon kosher salt and let it sit in a colander for at least 1 hour, up to 4 hours.  Press dry with a clean dishtowel.

Whisk the celery seeds, mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, and sugar together in a large bowl.  Add the cabbage, carrot, and pepper if any and toss.  Add extra mayonnaise if needed.  Chill for at least 1 hour or preferably 1 day before serving.

On that day, toss, taste, season with a driblet more vinegar and paprika to taste.

We also got some very cute fingerling potatoes at Findlay Market, so we prepped some roast potato salad.  We left the tiny fingerlings whole, as they were half the size of the ones in the recipe.  They roasted in about 25 minutes total.  We also changed the recipe and used sherry vinegar, and no eggs.  The tarragon gave it a unique flavor.

This made for a substantial platter, which we bolstered with some sliced cornichons and horseradish mustard.

Potage au Cresson and Omelette

Sunday March 18

Spring is definitely springing, so we want green things and fresh flavors.  We were attracted by crisp little bundles of watercress at the Nice People's stand at Findlay Market yesterday, so while we waited for the corned beef to boil, we made a potage au cresson.

The next day, it was so easy (for Holt, that is) to ladle it into bowls, marble it with cream, and enjoy it as a first course.

For protein, just a simple omelette, filled with cubes of ham and manchego cheese.  It's a spring tonic.

Corned beef and cabbage

Saturday March 17

We got a four-pound corned beef ($2.99/lb. on sale at Kroger) and simmered it low and slow for 3 hours.  About a half hour before we wanted to eat, threw in two-eighths of a small cabbage (the rest was prepared for cole slaw, see above), six little 'taties (St. Patrick's for "potatoes") and a sliced carrot.

After a little rest, sliced the beef thin, adorned with the vegetables, and served with grainy mustard, Warsteiner beer, and a little later, Jameson's whiskey.  Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Real Rapini on Rotini

Friday March 16

Back in 2009, we couldn't figure out why rapini were coming up in the space where some turnips had overwintered.  Today as Barbara was out in the garden planting peas and enjoying the 70º weather, she found out why.  Our turnip patch was producing rapini shoots, and it was definitely the turnips doing it.  Turns out there's a reason that it's called "rapini" - Italian for "little turnips." But as we said then, it's all brassica.

We picked fifteen stalks, and cooked them more or less the way we did in 2009, but using just a dribble of white wine rather than broth, and with the addition of some red pepper flakes.  It didn't take more than 10 minutes for the rapini to be tender, though like all such greens, a giant panful of leaves and buds cooks down to just enough to make a decent topping for the pasta.

Moroccan Tuna and Cumin Beets

Thursday March 15

Until we can get to the market, we have to make do with the contents of fridge and freezer.  From the freezer, we got a couple of Trader Joe's Albacore tuna steaks, patted them with thyme, salt, and pepper, and seared them in a pan.  Then they rested in the warming oven while we made the topping out of fridge finds: Moroccan black olives and Holt's preserved lemon, chopped, warmed in the same pan, and deglazed with wine.

The beets we made last Friday were also in the fridge.  With their cumin and the preserved lemons and olives, the whole thing seemed Moroccan, though a lemony Philippe Portier Quincy 2010 Loire white went perfectly with it.  Oh well, Morocco is francophone too.

Ravioli in Sage Cream

Wednesday March 14

After a long drive home and the exertion of unloading the fully-stuffed car, we needed something that was absolutely no trouble.  For occasions like this, the frozen ravioli we bought at the Sacred Heart Italian festival in October is a lifesaver. 

All you have to do is break up half the flat of 50 and throw the ravioli in salted boiling water until they rise to the top.  Then simmer them gently, covered, for 30-32 minutes until an edge tastes done.  In the meantime, we picked a small handful of fresh sage leaves, chopped them, warmed them in butter, and sloshed in some cream to thicken.  The spinach and cheese filling of the ravioli goes perfectly with this herbaceous sauce.

Farewell Wine and Cheese, and Zest in Fonthill

Tuesday March 13

Just to prove once again that our Brock friends are the nicest people on earth (and possibly even in Canada), Ally and Dave threw their elegant home open for a farewell party for us, and the department turned out in force. 

The wines were mainly local VQAs, the cheeses mainly Ontario, including Devil's rock pyramidal blue cheese, various soft brie types, and sharp aged cheddar, to be eaten with bread, crackers, or sliced apples and pears.  There were also olives and strawberries to refresh the palate.

Then a group of us headed out to Zest, a restaurant we'd last visited in 2009, and it's still providing creative and excellent farm-to-table food. 

They started us off with an amuse-geule of a savory risotto cake while we drank a pinot noir and contemplated the menu. 

Our appetizers were curried lamb "Naanza" - naan topped with said lamb, pickled onion, arugula and goat cheese - and a dozen briny little P.E.I. oysters, Malpeques and Lamèques.

We then went on to roasted Quebec duck breast, its crisp skin redolent of five-spice, drizzled with raspberry vinaigrette, served with crispy parsnip chips, haricots verts, and one tiny braised turnip; and some slices of grilled Cumbrae Farms beef tenderloin, with more haricots, a soft, spicy pancetta and aged cheddar potato cake, grilled portabello, and foie gras butter.

Incredibly, after all that and the cheese too, we were able to wrestle down a dessert that Holt knew Barbara would adore: lemon tart, plus a taste of ginger-chocolate crème brulée.

We will sorely miss Ally, Dave, and all our Brock colleagues, but we want them to visit us frequently.  And we promise to try and feed them this well when they come.

Asparagus Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Borscht

Monday March 12

After an active day, Ally and Dave prepared us all a comfy dinner of soup and sandwiches, along with Flat Rock Cellars 2009 Pinot Noir and then a nice Naoussa red.  The soup was borscht made with red cabbage, beet, and porcini, a recipe from the Rebar Modern Food Cookbook; and asparagus grilled cheese sandwiches from Lynn Ogryzlo's The Ontario Table.  A rather special cheese, though: succulent Gouda from St. Maartens, a memento of their trip to the nearby island of Anguilla a couple of weeks ago.  The moral is, when in the Caribbean, bring home as much Dutch cheese as you can.

International Feast at Ally and Dave's

Sunday March 11

Today we drove up to Brock one last time, as the department was having an external review of its grad program, and Barbara wanted to participate.  It was beautiful driving weather, but a long wait at the border made it a full eight hours, so we were a mite tired by the end.

Our friends Ally and Dave welcomed us, and we were happy to perch in their beautiful kitchen and relax with a glass of wine (Clos du Bois Napa Valley Zinfandel 2009) and sweet emerald-green "Bella di Cerignola" olives.

Ally and Dave are adept vegetarian chefs, so dinner was as extraordinary as usual (if you can say that): a Moroccan style tagine of tilapia, layered with red and green bell peppers, olives, and Meyer lemons, served on couscous.  And to top it all, Dave made a batch of amazing chocolate-chili ice cream for dessert. 

So first we ate like Moroccans, then like Aztecs, and we ended up like Scotsmen, with nice glasses of Laphroig.  

Linguiça with Red Peppers and Onions

Saturday March 10

Holt baked a pair of his trademark Italian bran breads today.  The photo shows them cooling, but it's also a good summary of how we like to spend our Saturday evenings once the baking's done: with a glass of wine and a "Hellenic letter" (i.e. from our friend Helene) to read as we prepare dinner.

Oh yes, dinner.  We had two big red bell peppers that needed to be used, and that called up visions of sausage and peppers.  Luckily we had a couple of Kroger Brothers' linguiça sausages nestled in the back of the freezer, so it was a snap to brown them, sauté some sliced onions and then the sliced pepper in the same pan, douse with some white wine and then steam until tender and done.

Porterhouse with Gorgonzola Cream, Shallots, and Beets

Friday March 9

We got a big (but not thick, maybe 3/4 inch) porterhouse steak on sale at Bigg's, just to try.  Since it was thin, we pan-seared it and did our frequent-flippage method.  Results were okay but not great; we really miss our local IGA, where we could call the butcher ahead of time and get him to save us a couple of thick-cut Angus steaks, even when they were on sale.

While it rested, we jazzed the plate up with some sliced shallots fried in the pan drippings, put them aside, and used the same pan to melt some gorgonzola in butter and "deglaze" with heavy cream.  That went on the steak, and helped a lot.

Oh, and the beets?  We'd wrapped four of them in tinfoil and roasted them in the toaster oven for about 2 hours the day before.  Then we pushed the skins off, chopped them up, tossed them in oil, and dusted them with cumin.  Tonight, all we had to do was toss them in a little white balsamic, and their bright flavor cut the steak sauce's nicely.

Penne with Zucchini, Salami, and Cream

Thursday March 8

The old standby.

Pork alla Modena with Asparagus

Wednesday March 7

Two thick pork medallions (cut from a whole tenderloin and frozen for just such a use) made a succulent center for Marcella Hazan's classic recipe.

As it's still basically winter, the tomatoes were canned crushed, though the sage leaves came off the bush beside the back steps. 

Kroger's been selling decent asparagus at 99 cents a pound, and as long as they do, we'll be buying it and roasting it and eating it. 

Chilaquiles, final

Tuesday March 6

The second half of the chilaquiles we made last Wednesday, nuked and baked until piping hot.  And finally there are ABSOLUTELY NO BEANS left over in the fridge.

Salmon Cakes with Spinach Salad

Monday March 5

We had a little sautéed salmon left over from Saturday, so we made four little salmon cakes in our traditional way, though we used red onion and red pepper in the mixture, and panko for both inner and outer breadcrumbs. 

The Nice People at Findlay Market were selling big bags of baby spinach on Saturday, so we got one.  Salad makes a nice bed for salmon cakes, so today we re-washed it and picked it over (because if you don't, you're asking for trouble, in our opinion).  To garnish it, we threw in more red onion and red pepper, and since it wouldn't be a traditional spinach salad without something to contradict its basic healthiness, tossed it with a quarter pound of scrappy bacon, chopped and fried crisp.   Just a simple vinaigrette to dress its emerald prettiness.

Parade Day at Julie's

Sunday, March forth!

We have much to celebrate, so Julie invited us, Kathy, and Russel over to all laugh it up together.  We started with a toast in sparkling wines (Freixenet and Korbel) while snacking on olives, hummus and chips, and grape tomatoes.

When we came to the table, Julie brought out one of the prettiest and tastiest sausage lasagnas we'd ever seen/tasted.  We asked how she did it, and she said the recipe was just the one on the back of the box of Barilla no-boil lasagna noodles.  We need to remember that, so here it is:

Sausage Lasagna

9 ounce box of said no-boil noodles

2 eggs

1 (15 ounce) container ricotta

4 cups shredded mozzarella

½ cup parmesan

1 lb. mild Italian bulk sausage, browned

2 jars (ca. 6 cups) Marinara sauce

Preheat oven to 375.

In bowl, combine beaten eggs, ricotta cheese, half of the mozzarella, and the parmesan.  Set aside.

In a greased 13x9x3" pan, spread 1 cup of sauce on bottom of pan.

Layer 1 then goes in this order: 4 lasagna noodles (overlapping), then 1/3 of the ricotta mixture, half the browned meat, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, and 1 cup of sauce.

Layer 2: 4 lasagna noodles, 1/3 of the ricotta mixture, and 1 1/2 Cups sauce.

Layer 3: 4 lasagna noodles, remaining ricotta mixture, the remaining meat, and 1 cup of sauce.

Top layer: 4 lasagna noodles, remaining cup? of sauce, and remaining 1 cup mozzarella.

Bake covered with foil for 50-60 minutes.  Uncover and continue cooking until all the cheese is melted on the top (5-10 minutes).

Let stand at least 15 minutes before cutting and serving.

Lasagna is so unctuous, you need a salad to supply a bit of bite, so Julie accordingly supplied one (a salad, not a bite).

Then for dessert, she made a lime kiwi tart, which unfortunately was not quite gelled, but nicely tart and sweet enough to make us lick the plates anyway.

Though we had to wrap it up early due to work and school the next day, it was such a fun, delicious, and laugh-filled evening - thanks, Julie!

Salmon with Roast Asparagus

Saturday 3 March

Just sautéed some tranches of a defrosted side of salmon from Trader Joe's, while the asparagus roasted in the oven.

To tie them all together, Holt made a classic hollandaise sauce.  Et voilà!

Poulet à l'Angevine

Friday 2 March

We had bought a pound of mushrooms "on spec" at Findlay Market last Saturday.  Something needed to be done with them, so we defrosted a couple of (giant) chicken breasts to make this.

Our only variation was using tarragon rather than thyme as a seasoning.  Both are naturals with chicken and mushrooms, but the garden tarragon has not yet begun to sprout, and dried tarragon is as flavorless as dust (believe me, I've tried both). 

Luckily last summer Barbara had chopped up some fresh leaves, mixed them with oil, and put them into an ice cube tray, which is the only way to preserve tarragon's flavor.  We pried out a couple of cubes, added more oil, and rubbed the result under and around the chicken's skin.

It worked like a charm: the dish was lush with cream, but the tarragon gave it a herbacious, but not too licorice-y, tang.

Pizza Party at Kathleen's

Thursday 1 March

This is the weekend that prospective grad students gather here, and Kathleen kindly threw an open house so that they, the faculty, and current grad students could all mix and mingle.  Everyone near-sightedly tried to read each other's name tags as we circulated with glasses of wine and cheezy-weezies, but there was a nice fire for us to settle before, and we had some good chat and banter. 

Dewey's supplied the pizzas on this occasion.  It's a chain that began locally, but is still expanding in the Midwest.  Their pizzas are a bit better than most local joints', though we still mourn the closing of our previous favorite, No Anchovies.  

There were eight different pies, among them pepperoni (a bit mingy with the meat), prosciutto with pickled peppers (?!), and a pretty good pizza bianca with artichokes.  That and a big leafy salad with mustard balsamic dressing satisfied everyone.

Chilaquiles

Wednesday 29 February

Leap Day, and here's another thing to do with yet more beany leftovers (that chili's been around since February 11!).

Since it's winter, we used canned crushed tomatoes to make the salsa, though the coriander was fresh from the garden and the onions were, well, onions. 

We used the chili to sauce the bottom layer of chips, while the salsa went on the top layer, and the whole was interspersed and topped with coljack and a few slices of jalapeno jack cheese.

The casserole could have used more tortilla chips to soak up the sauces, and should have cooked a bit longer: it was a mite wobbly and messy at the end.  But there will still be another meal's worth of leftovers, and that should take care of it.

Black Bean Stew Redux

Tuesday 28 February

Ah, beany leftovers.    

Penne alla Saffi

Monday 27 February

Our standard, except that sometimes it's spelled "ala" and sometimes "alla"; the latter appears more frequently in Italian websites.

Otto's in Covington

Sunday 26 February

We had heard good things about Otto's in Covington, so when we needed a nice but informal meal for a group on a Sunday night (when most Cincinnati restaurants seem to be exhausted by brunch service), we were pleased to see that they would be open.

Otto's is one of the first restaurants on "Mainstrasse," decorated student bistro-style with mismatched chairs, original art, and chicken salt and pepper shakers.  The menus come in covers of old sheet music.  These touches verge on jokey, but the food is serious.

We started with a toast of bubbly, as Steven had had some good news, and opened an Aquinas 2009 pinot noir (extra scholastic!) to breathe before the meal.

One starter was a fried green tomato caprese, looking like a little burger, with fresh greens and balsamic dressing; the other was prosciutto and brie flatbread, like a little pizza (is this a theme?), scattered with dried figs and arugula.  Clever and tasty, both of them.

Both of us decided to go with red meat for our mains, though the pinot went well with everyone else's scallops as well.  Holt chose Bourbon-marinated flank steak, with a savory crust, served over a few roasted root vedge (mainly carrots, plus a parsnip or two).  Barbara is a sucker for anything that combines beef and blue cheese, so she went for a tender little filet "Otto's" with fingerling potatoes and asparagus, topped with bacon, scallion and blue cheese cream.  Both were cooked just to our medium-rare preference, and came to the table hot and fresh.  Service was prompt, pleasant, and unobtrusive, just as you want when you are more interested in talking with your companions than you are in waitron monologues.

Holt ordered a dessert (and Barbara a fork): puff pastry with sabayon and fresh berries, which was luckily much lighter than the toothache-sweet apricot white chocolate bread pudding everyone else had.  But on the whole, everything was good at Otto's, and we'd happily go back any time.

Cuban Black Bean Stew

Saturday 25 February

This recipe is based on that in New Joy, adapted for a slow cooker on a slow Saturday.

1 lb dry black beans (2+ cups), soaked overnight and drained

water

olive oil

2 medium onions, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 medium celery stalks, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 cup dry sherry

1 jalapeno in escabeche, minced

a knuckle of Schad's ham, chopped

2 tsp salt (to taste)

The juice of 1 lemon

1/2 cup chopped scallion greens

Add water to the beans in the crockpot to a level that covers them by a half inch.  Start them cooking on low for ca. 4 hours until tender.  When they are, sauté the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and cumin in oil until softened. Add them and the jalapeno (we used a half of a red one, in an escabeche we'd done ourselves, but yours could be fresh) and ham to the beans; deglaze the pan with sherry, and add that to the crockpot too. 

Continue to simmer on low for about 2 hours until you're ready to eat.  Add salt to taste, lemon juice, and garnish with scallions.

This is really a bean stew rather than a soup, as we want it for our main course.