Pancakes

By in uncategorized

Around 2pm today I called my husband at work with a serious dilemma: “Shane, I don’t know what to make for dinner.”
Shane: “I don’t know either, Nina”
Me: “Pancakes?”
Shane: “No”
Me: “But we had past and chicken yesterday”
Shane: “Okay, pancakes, yes. Yes! I’ll pick up some sausages”

And so it was. We also had a variation on this Raw Kale Salad, in which I used curly kale instead of Tuscan, and added one anchovy fillet and some Dijon mustard to the dressing. Instead of minced garlic, I used only a smooshed clove of garlic which sat in the dressing for a while.

• Basic Pancakes •
from the New York Times Cookbook, edited on 01/31/16

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1- 2 cups milk (1 cup makes thick pancakes, 2 makes thin)
3 tablespoons melted butter (or a neutral flavored oil like canola)
1 tsp vanilla 

Mix together flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl with a whisk. Combine egg & milk, add melted butter. Pour milk mixture into dry ingredients and stir only enough to moisten the dry ingredients. Melt a pat of butter on griddle or in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Pour batter into the pan using a ladle or pitcher. When bubbles come to the surface of the pancakes and then pop, the underside should be perfectly brown, check then flip. Cook second side, peeking to see when it looks just golden enough. Keep on a platter in a warm oven until all pancakes are done. Serve with maple syrup and butter.

Auto pilot

By in quick

Tonight was one of those nights. All I know is that I got everyone fed, and not too much later than I wanted to.

We had weekday chicken, easy. Spinach ravioli with tasty but totally ad-hoc light tomato cream sauce (which I will never be able to replicate). And radicchio & raw sweet potato salad with parmesan cheese (and a dressing that I will also never be able to replicate).

Lazy Wednesday: rice pancakes

By in quick

I’ve posted the recipe for Risotto Cakes before, and now here’s the original recipe for (regular) Rice Pancakes, which are back in favor among the 5 and under set in our house. Hooray!

The Braised Escarole was also notably good: Wash and chop the escarole into strips, sautee in olive oil until it starts to wilt, add a splash of broth and cook for a bit longer. Top with parmesan or pecorino cheese.

• Rice Pancakes •
(makes 3, can easily be multiplied)
1 to 1 1/2 cups leftover rice
1 egg
1/4 cup grated pecorino cheese
a pinch of salt (optional)
butter for pan 

Combine all ingredients except butter in a bowl, or you can save a dish and add everything to the container your leftover rice was in. Melt butter in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. When butter is melted and pan is hot, add scoopfuls of egg & rice mixture, flatten slightly if needed. Cook until browned on one side. Flip carefully, they can fall apart easily. Cook second side unti browned. Serve. Note: kids like ’em with ketchup.

Broccoli soup & pork tenderloin

By in dishes by shane, quick

Since I made a dent in the carrots earlier this week, I felt it was time to tackle the broccoli. Same problem, tons of delicious, fresh, local, organic broccoli taking up space in my fridge with another CSA box just around the corner.

I made this Broccoli Soup with a few substitutions and an addition. Instead of shallots, I used one large yellow onion, instead of mascarpone, I used heavy cream. The soup came out thinner than I was hoping. To make it a bit heartier I added croutons. (If you’ve been following my posts over the past few days, you might think I’m crouton crazed, but really I’m just trying to make my way through that extremely long slab of Barbari bread from last week.)

Shane made a pork tenderloin which I really can’t tell you much about except that he and Rose polished it off in no time. And we had rice.

Hers & hers

By in uncategorized

Tonight: Hers & Hers dinners with the same general color scheme but entirely different ingredients.

Bread & cheese

By in quick

We had one of my favorite meals tonight, bread, cheese and salad. For the salad, I made a variation on this escarole salad. The original recipe is wonderful, but tonight I simplified it a lot by using only escarole, Dubiner cheese (instead of Gruyere), croutons and the wonderful, creamy, Mustard Vinaigrette, that the recipe calls for. We also had grilled cheese sandwiches.

Carrot ginger soup

By in Vegetarian

What do you do when you have about four dozen gorgeous, local, organic carrots taking up too much room in the fridge? Make Carrot Ginger Soup, of course!

• Carrot Ginger Soup •
Note: this soup is pretty forgiving, you don’t need to count or measure.
Melt a few tablespoons of butter (I used 4) in a heavy bottomed pot. Add chopped onion and peeled, chopped, ginger (I used 1 large onion and a 3 inch piece of ginger). Cook until onion is soft and translucent and and add peeled, chopped carrots (I used about 20 medium carrots). Cook for a few more minutes and pour in enough broth to cover everything plus a little more. Simmer until carrots are soft. Blend with a stick blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Ta da!

Because soup isn’t substantial enough for Shane, he picked up some Tandoori Chicken at a local place. We also had a very long Barbari bread from our corner store.

Turkey burgers & cauliflower gratin

By in uncategorized 2 Comments

My cousin Kirst, sent me this recipe for Cauliflower Gratin recently. Kirst didn’t have enough potato and substituted turnip, she also added extra cheese and I did the same. The recipe is a keeper, for sure.

I made turkey burgers with bread crumbs and butter and topped them with mozzarella and prosciutto for Rose and Shane. I should have also made something for myself, but I’m overwhelmed and that makes me flaky.

Lazy Wednesday: pasta with beet greens, anchovies and onions.

By in quick

Rose wanted pasta with butter and cheese and I decided to cook beet greens with anchovies and onions for myself. The greens were a bit much on their own so I mixed them with pasta. Voila! Delicious.

The recipe below is for just half a pound of pasta, you could easily double. I think this would work beautifully with whole wheat pasta as well.

• Pasta with Beet Greens, Anchovies and Onions •
1 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 lb penne
1/4 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped
6 anchovy filets*, chopped
1 small bunch beet greens washed and chopped into 1-2″ strips
a pinch of red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon butter 

Put water on to boil and salt it well. Sautee onion in olive oil until soft and translucent. Chop anchovy fillets and add to onion, cook for a few minutes until anchovy is disolved. Turn off heat until pasta water is boiled. When you put the pasta on to cook, add greens and red pepper to onions and anchovies and cook over medium heat until wilted but still bright green. Add butter stirring until it melts and remove from heat. Toss greens mixture with drained pasta and serve.

*The better quality (more expensive) anchovies that come in a jar have a notably better flavor. Use them when you can.

«< 68 69 70 71 72 >»