Summer Vacation Grilling and Chilling

Between now and mid August, I am committed to only four teacher related days in late June and early July. Those days are for training in aspects of teaching, professional development to improve my craft. Other than those days I am free to do as I want - sorta, kinda. After all, I am married.

This morning I drove into town to visit the farmers market. I picked up local made feta cheese, peas, radishes, new potatoes, asparagus, spring onions, and arugula.  On the way home, I stopped at the grocery and bought a tri-tip roast.

I blanched the asparagus and chilled it to use in a salad later this week. The peas will go in tomorrow's bacon, peas, and penne meal.

For the potatoes, I used the Ina Garten No Eggs No Pickles Potatoes Salad recipe to make a potato salad sauce. Some of the Spring onions are mixed into it.

I steamed the new potatoes after I cleaned them up and quartered them. The salad now sits in the refrigerator chilling.

After the potato salad went in the refrigerator, I tackled the roast. The first step was to clean it up.

No one wants to eat something with that much fat and silver skin. I spent about 15 minutes and wound up with a much more attractive chunk of meat.

Next I mixed Greek seasoning, Northwoods seasoning, tandoori seasoning, and chili powder with salt and made a dry rub for the roast.

The roast now sits in a plastic bag in the refrigerator to become flavorful.

Where is this all headed? Why to the grill, of course!

I will build the fire on one side of the grill and place the roast on the other. I will cover and cook until the meat registers 115 degrees. Then I will move it over the coals and char the exterior while pushing the temperature to 125 degrees. After I rest the meat, I will slice the roast thinly across the grain as if it were flank steak.

When it all comes together the plate looks like this:

Flavorful Healthy Chicken Breast

One of the more difficult things to accomplish is to prepare chicken breast that remains tasty and moist yet is fully cooked. If the breast is skinless, the chore becomes even more challenging. This recipe evolved from several sources, and I promise you will enjoy the tender chicken that results.

INGREDIENTS

2 skinless chicken breasts

1 pint of cherry tomatoes, each halved

1/4 cup capers with 2 Tablespoons of brine

Juice from one juicy lemon

4 cloves garlic sliced thin

1/2 cup green onion tops

1 Tbsp. Penzy's Sunny Paris seasoning (optional)

3 Tbsp. butter

salt and pepper

flour for dredging

1 Tbsp. olive oil

METHOD

Prepare the ingredients for cooking.

Pat the chicken breasts dry. Using a sharp knife, slice each breast in half horizontally. Salt and pepper the breast fillets generously and then dredge in flour, shaking off the excess.

The flour will help brown the chicken without overcooking it. The thinner pieces of chicken will cook through to the middle before the outside becomes overcooked.

Heat the oil in a large non stick skillet until it shimmers but does not smoke. Saute the chicken over medium heat until lightly browned and cooked through. Remove the chicken from the skillet and cover with foil to keep warm.

Add the butter to the skillet and the onions. When the onions are limp, add the garlic and cook for two minutes. Add the tomatoes and capers and continue cooking until the tomatoes begin to melt. Add the lemon juice, and spices if using, and mix well.

Serve the chicken covered in the pan sauce. The first picture shows a wild mushroom ravioli beside the chicken. Any pasta will love this sauce. For those avoiding carbs, my sister in law would suggest spaghetti squash or cauliflower as a side.

Enjoy.

Sunday Dinner Roast

I regularly correspond on a message board that targets Ozark fishermen, Ozark Anglers. One thread has 3,631 posts as of today. Oddly, the thread title is "What's Cooking?" A recent post in that thread has inspired me to create this post in my blog. The post discussed a slow cooker pot roast and stated, in part, "Come morning before I leave for Grampa duty I will add the sirloin roast. Granted one of my least favorite cuts of beef but it came with the rest of the beef."

I was surprised to see his comment as I have been using that cut for Sunday roast beef for some time. Much less expensive than rib roast or tenderloin. Maybe I can help spread the word about this alternative.

Normally I have the butcher cut the normal top sirloin in half to yield a four to five pound roast.

The shape of the cut determines how you tie it for roasting.

While I prepare the meat I begin by making a garlic paste. I cut the top off a bulb of garli, put it on a sheet of tin foil and soak the bulb in olive oil. I wrap the foil over the bulb and put it in aa 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.

When the bulb is done, I remove it from the oven and turn the oven heat down to 220 degrees. When the bulb cools, I picked the roasted garlic from the cloves and mash it with a fork. I add 2 Tbls. of olive oil and a teaspoon of Greek seasoning. I recommend either Cavendars or Penzy's.

In the meantime, I salt and pepper the roast liberally and then sear it in a very hot skillet with only a small amount of oil. Once the meat is seared, I use my fingers to slather the Greek garlic paste over the roast surfaces. The roast then goes in the 220 degree oven.

At 200 to 220 degrees, the roast normally requires about 30 to 35 minutes per pound. The shape and starting temperature of the roast will affect the actual time. 

When the internal temperature reaches 125 degrees, I pull the roast and cover it with foil to rest for 20 minutes. If It is way too early, I wrap it in foil and put it in the warming drawer on low.

As a teaser about a future post, here's a picture of tonight's side dish for the roast, Slow Cooker Cheesy Ranch Bacon Cauliflower.

I recommend you thinly slice the roast against the grain.

This roast finished early by almost an hour. I held it in the warming drawer. As a result it ws more medium rare than rare. Despite that, it was juicy and tender.

An Ozark Spring Day - Mediterranean Style

One of the marvels of our modern world is how trade has changed. What used to be unavailable one place has become available. For example, only ten years ago, if you went to the seafood section of the freezer case of a grocery in the Ozarks, you found a frozen shrimp ring and your choice of several brands of catfish nuggets or hushpuppies. Not so today.

Today I found small trays of frozen fishes from the Mediterranean. The trays contained chopped squid, baby clams, mussels, and Langostino pieces. I was inspired to try a one pot meal based on this find.

Ingredients

8 ounces of mixed seafood varieties (mussels, clams, shrimp, squid, or octopus)
16 ounces of linguini or interesting pasta such as flowers
1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
4 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
a double handful of baby spinach leaves
4 large shallots, halved and thinly sliced
2 ounces of dry white wine
oregano, basil, thyme, chives, crushed red pepper, and salt to taste
good virgin olive oil

Method

Bring 5 quarts of well salted water to a boil in a pasta pot. Cover it and let it sit for future use.

Heat 2 to 3 Tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in the bottom of a dutch oven to the shimmer stage. 

Add the shallots and spices and stir well as the oil cools and the onions begin to cook. 

When the shallots are translucent, add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Then add the white wine and the tomatoes.

Turn the water back to high and bring to a boil. Add the pasta.

Cook the tomatoes as the water reheats, about five minutes.

Add the seafood and the spinach and turn the heat to low. Simmer while the pasta cooks.

When the pasta reaches very al dente, remove it from the water and reserve a half cup of the pasta water.

Add the pasta to the seafood mixture and stir well. Add the pasta water. Turn off the heat and cover the pot. Allow the pasta to finish cooking in the juices for five minutes

Plate the pasta and garnish with fresh grated Parmesan or Romano and minced chives or parsley.

School Night Shrimp Curry

Sometimes a bit of spicy food is exactly what you need to end a school day. This dish will provide that without burning your system down.

Ingredients

8 ounces peeled, deveined raw shrimp

2 small zucchinis, quartered and sliced in quarter inch pieces

2 small carrots, peeled and sliced in quarter inch rings

1 large  or 2 small jalapenos, seeded and pith removed, diced fine

1 bunch green onions, white and pale green sliced in thin rings, green tops reserved

1/2 cup frozen green peas

1 large clove garlic

3 Tablespoons Penzy's Curry Powder

1 Tablespoon butter

1 10 ounce can coconut milk

1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth

2 Tablespoons fish sauce

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1/4 cup mint, chopped

cooked rice (preferably basmati)

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

Method

Mix the fish sauce and chicken broth with the brown sugar until it dissolves and set aside.
Saute the onion, zucchini, jalapeno, and carrots in the butter over low medium heat until the onions
are translucent and the zucchini is done. Add the garlic and curry powder and continue to cook until the spice is quite fragrant.
Add the coconut milk and the broth mix and cook until the liquid begins to boil. Add the peas and shrimp and cook until the shrimp is pink and plump. Remove from the heat and add the mint and cilantro.

Serve with rice and garnished with minced green onion tops.

Week Night Pasta with Punch

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

Those who have read previous posts have figured out by now that I enjoy Mediterranean flavors and dishes that are far from shy and retiring. This dish meets both criteria and qualifies as relatively easy to prepare on a weeknight.

The dish is not ancient. Sources trace it to the 1950's or 60's. The name means something, but this is a PG blog so let's translate it loosely as street spaghetti. Quick, easy, and a bit garishly dressed.

Ingredients

16 ounces dry spaghetti
1/2 red onion diced small

4 to 5 garlic cloves rough minced

1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and cut in half

28 ounce can peeled plum tomatoes

Rounded Tbs. capers

Rounded Tbs. Italian seasoning or oregano

large pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

3 baby bella mushroom tops, diced (optional)

3 anchovy fillets, minced

2 to 3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 to 1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan

Notes on Ingredients

1. I find it difficult to open a tin of anchovies to use only 1 or 2 or 3 of them. I do not enjoy eating the rest - even on crackers. Instead, I buy tubes of anchovy paste and squirt lines equal to the number of anchovy fillets the recipe wants. When I am out of anchovy paste, I use splashes of fish sauce to acquire the same flavor.
2. You owe it to yourself to buy the San Marzano tomatoes packed in puree with a basil leaf.
3. Capers are good, but don't let their absence stop you from making the dish. Between the olives and the anchovy, you won't really miss them.
4. The traditional recipe contained no mushroom. I find them to be a good texture difference and mushrooms soak up the flavors. Put them in, leave them out. Whatever works for you.
5. This sauce tends to be chunky. I find a penne to be equally good for the pasta.

Method

Bring a large pasta pot of salty water to the boil, cover it, turn the heat off, and hold it ready to cook the pasta.

Heat the olive oil to shimmering in a large skillet and add the onion.  Include the mushroom, if desired. While stirring to avoid browning, cook the onion to translucent and the mushroom to soft. Add the garlic and herbs and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Turn the pasta water back on to boil.

Add the tomato, the the anchovy paste, the olives, the capers, and the red pepper flakes to the onion and mushrooms. Use a wooden spoon or your hands to break up the whole tomatoes. Bring the mixture to the boil as the pasta water reheats.

When the sauce boils, reduce the heat to simmer. Allow the sauce to thicken a bit. When the pasta water boils, add the pasta and cook until al dente.

Drain and place the pasta in a large platter and pour the sauce over the pasta. Serve to individual bowls and liberally garnish with the fresh grated cheese.

Left Overs - What Are You Going To Do

My beautiful wife has incredible talents.

One of them is a talent with doughs and baking. Last Sunday, she made us biscuits from scratch for breakfast. If you want the recipe, look up Mile High Biscuits on the Cooks Illustrated site.

Unfortunately, a pan of biscuits is way more than we can have for breakfast. The end result? We had leftovers. What are you going to do?

Sunday afternoon, I bought a turkey thigh to solve the problem. Yes, a turkey thigh.

This morning I put it in the slow cooker with an onion, a large chunk of leek, a carrot, a stalk of celery, and a clove of garlic. I added enough water to cover all. While we were gone, the slow cooker chugged along on low.

When we came home, I discarded the veg as well as the turkey skin and bone. I was left with a rich turkey stock and this.

I diced some leeks, sliced some mushroom, and diced some sweet bell peppers. I also prepped a spice addition of bay leaf plus some Sunny Paris blend from Penzy's.

From this point I will saute the veg in 3 Tablespoons of unsalted butter. When the vegetables soften, I will add around a quarter cup of flour and the herbs and cook the paste for a minute or two. I will then add a quarter cup of dry white wine, 2 cups of the turkey stock, a half cup of plain Greek yoghurt, and a half cup of cream. As the sauce thickens I will season it well with salt and pepper.

At that point I will add the diced turkey back to the sauce and make sure all heats. Before serving I will add a half cup of frozen peas and cook until those heat. The sauce then goes over the biscuits.