Not only does summer mean BBQ's are back, it also means summer salads with roasted corn and crispy radishes. . .don't skip the radishes as they are at their peak right now.
we bulked up the salad from this recipe (adding almonds, dried cranberries, cucumbers, and peppers) and could't stop eating the avocado herb dressing which was creamy, tangy and refreshing. .
add some grilled fish or chicken you'll have a perfect warm summer evening meal.
these roasted peppers are a seriously easy yet impressive appetizer- serve with slices of a crusty baguette or crostini. . . thanks to friends of ours who had us over for dinner (you know who you are) and served us this appetizer (with delicious homemade bread), we are now making these peppers whenever we have people over for dinner. . . our friends also let us know about Costco's bags of baby peppers which are just perfect for roasting- with the small ones you don't have to worry about the seeds getting in the way.
Simply put the peppers in a glass dish, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast away- we roasted ours at 350 degrees for approximately 45 minutes to one hour. . . . i want these in the fridge all of the time.
i've tried my fair share of barley recipes and until now i have just been unable to embrace this little grain- however, this tasty recipe from bon appetit's little booklet of recipes from around the world changed my view. . .the barley (which we ate as a side with sautéed chicken cutlets) was nutty and almost like a very healthy fried rice (this might be a stretch) with lots of green onions and other veggies to add flavor and crunch.
Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit- Tastes of the World (Middle East):
Makes 6 servings
Ingredients:
1 tbls olive oil
1 large red pepper, chopped
2 bunches green onions, chopped, divided
11/2 cups pearl barley
2 141/2 oz. cans vegetable broth or chicken broth
2 cups frozen corn
1/2 cup sliced basil
-Heat oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add chopped bell pepper and half of green onions and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add barley and stir to coat with olive oil. Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until barley is tender stirring occasionally about 40 minutes. Add corn and stir until heated through, about 5 minutes. Mix in sliced basil and remaining green onions. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.
So for all of you trying desperately to eat something other than brown rice all the time . . .here is your chance . . . .
This week was a long anticipated boxing match- Mayweather v. Mosley (Mayweather kicked Mosley's ass if you haven't heard) . . . Steven is a huge boxing fan so naturally we needed to having a BBQ and a fight watching party. . .
That meant potato salad- this recipe, a classic Bobby Flay special, is tangy and spicy- fairly easy to put together except for just a lot of ingredients (but nothing really complicated except getting them all in the bowl). . . it definitely has a kick but what else would you expect from Bobby? and i got a lot of compliments. . . .
BBQ season is back!
If you don't mind, I will indulge myself for a minute to tell you that we have totally gotten calzones down. . and they are delicious made at home. I was never really a huge calzone fan to be honest but these are scrumptious. We added roasted red peppers and onions, roasted garlic, spinach, ricotta and mozzarella to ours but really any vegetables would work.
It is a little bit trial and error but here are the steps we took:
1) pre-heat the oven at 500 degrees- put your pizza stone in the oven so it pre-heats.
2) thinly slice a few red and/or orange bell peppers as well as an onion- add to a bowl- drizzle with olive oil
3) take a garlic bulb, place in tin foil and drizzle olive oil (remove the outer most layer of the bulb)-close the tin foil so it is enclosed
4) roast the peppers and the garlic in the oven at 500 degrees for around 15-20 minutes
5) meanwhile, cut the pizza dough in half (we buy dough from our local pizzeria for 3 bucks- each half makes two calzones and you can freeze whatever you are not using) form the half into a ball and roll out the pizza dough (using plenty of flour) into a circle (or as close as you can make it). Cut the circle in half and each half circle makes one calzone.
6) Place the dough on some type of wood board lightly coated with flour and cornmeal (we use the paddle that came with our pizza stone) and add your fillings to one side (the roasted peppers, onions and garlic as well as ricotta and mozzarella cheese, we also threw in some raw baby spinach which was fully steamed once the calzone was taken out of the oven)- add a bit of salt and pepper to the filling.
7) Fold over with the other half of the dough and pinch all along the outside so the calzone stays together.
8) Brush the outside with olive oil and make a few one inch slits to the top.
9) Place the calzone on the stone and bake at 500 degrees for around 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.
Dreamy isn't it?
i love a quick pasta dish every now and then for during the week . . .especially one which includes pine nuts and a vegetable. This recipe, which was featured in last months real simple magazine as a quick weeknight meal, did fit that bill. . . besides cutting the asparagus and shaving the parmesan there was very little prep work involved and it was very satisfying after a long day at work- fresh and salty and cheesy. . .
April is a peak month for asparagus, artichokes and peas so we are right in season . . lots of artichoke and pea recipes to come. . . .and matzo meal of course since Passover begins Monday night. . .
Enjoy your Saturday.
My computer has been out of my life for a few weeks as my brother worked on it getting it back shape. . (basically by taking everything off that i had put on which messed it all up and starting over from scratch). . . he even added a new keyboard. i am therefore seriously behind on letting you all know what we have been eating here at jerk castle- never even posting about all of our thanksgiving sides. . .
oh well, i must move on as the new holiday season has arrived. . .coming soon i will post about our potato pancake fest that we had last weekend during the snow storm, but that is jumping ahead just a bit. First I need to tell you about Steven's birthday meal we had here at home. . . a grilled porterhouse with sauteed swiss chard and this tasty and easy to make artichoke pasta salad.
Although the steak was the star of the meal, the artichoke salad was a lovely and different side . . .salty and hearty, i would definitely make it again. . . and i don't even really like olives very much.
here is the recipe thanks to sunny anderson and her show cooking for real (from the "speed dating" episode which, besides the salad, didn't seem like the food was all that quick to prepare but thats just me)-i do enjoy her show from time to time however she talks too much for my liking . . .(please just stop telling me personal stories for a few minutes and talk about the food). anyway, props to her salad- here is the recipe and a peek at ours:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sunny-anderson/quick-artichoke-salad-recipe/index.html
Tip-the recipe makes a ton (not sure who she was feeding on date night) so if you are only cooking for two or three people and making this as one of a few sides, halve the measurements and you will still have plenty of leftovers. . .
Now here come the latkes! wooohoo.
Its been a slow month over at jerk castle in the cooking department. . . mostly because we've both had to work on the weekends, we went away for our wedding anniversary and then had my sister's wedding last weekend . all good things (except for the work) so i cannot complain, but i am missing our cooking time and am excited now that thanksgiving recipes are everywhere.
We did have a chance to buy a perfect mason jar for pickling at a great little kitchen supply store, The Chef's Shop, in Great Barrington where we were celebrating our anniversary. I had already bought many kirby cucumbers this summer only to never get around to pickling but last Saturday we finally got the job done.
here is a pic of what it looks like before adding the brine mixture:
And after adding all the liquid and set to go into the fridge- spices settle on the bottom but move around once jar is mixed a bit:
We used a Tyler Florence recipe from his show Tyler's Ultimate-
The pickles are very tangy and sweet. i like a garlic pickle better than a bread and butter, but these were good and fun to make. . . next is the garlic variety so keep posted.
I was in the mood for pizza the other night and then steven had the great idea of making calzones. these were really good- crunchy and cheesy and very satisfying.
we used a recipe i had pulled out a while ago from gourmet magazine. . .
http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2009/04/spinach-and-red-peppers-calzones
tip: add ricotta cheese- we made two calzones using both ricotta and mozzarella and two with just mozzarella and there was no comparison- the ricotta added a creamy cheesy texture that was wonderful.
p.s. i finally found a restaurant that is the new york equivalent of the slanted door, my favorite restaurant in san francisco. we ate at indochine last night and it was just amazing. . . the lemongrass chicken (my favorite dish) was perfect and the beef salad was also delicious. if i could afford to eat every meal there i would. . hoping that we can go back for my birthday (not so subtle hint).
As you may have guessed by now, I am a huge asian food fan. In fact, i think i once after a few glasses of wine, I actually teared up over my love for lemongrass. I've wanted to make summer rolls for a long time but never got it together to get all the ingredients and summon the courage to try. These were delicious. Not that easy only b/c there a lot of things going on at once (and yes, i know you can buy them for like $5.00 but that takes the fun out if it) . . .very satisfying at the end, tasty and super fresh. I encourage you to go for it. . . .
tips: we used shrimp instead of baked tofu- mostly because i went to 5 stores in my neighborhood and couldn't find it and because we had the shrimp. also, i thought the sauce was a little too much hoisin and not enough peanut- when making it again i will change the ratio.
Now for the pad thai. . .check it out- looks like pad thai, doesn't it?
The dish came out pad-thai like, a bit ketchup-y. Steven said I should call it ketchup pad thai. . . suprisingly, the ketchup flavor was much more subdued the next day when i ate the leftovers for lunch. In the end, i liked it and would make it again but will look for a way to just use a little less ketchup.
This recipe is from cooking light so supposed to be a few less calories than most pad thai recipes and it does require fewer ingredients making it easier to manage. . .
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1867549
tips: try and keep the tofu as intact as possible when frying. . . ours was all crumbly and a bit weird. also, and this is a big one, do not use any more corn starch then the recipe calls for- not even a smidge- it gets all goopy when fried and adds a weird consistency to the tofu.
i would make this again, but i am keeping my eye out there for pad thai recipes. Send me any suggestions. . .
