Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Bake Asparagus

I love asparagus and Amanda made the most amazing asparagus last Thursday. It was perfectly done so of course I had to steal the recipe!

Ingredients:
1 lb asparagus
1/4 cup virgin olive oil
1/2 cup Kalmata olives roughly chopped
1 Tbs lemon pepper (or more or less to taste)
Pinch of Kosher salt

Directions:
Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Lay the asparagus flat on baking sheet (I put foil over the sheet) and drizzle the olive oil over the asparagus.
Drizzle the olive oil over the spears and sprinkle the lemon pepper and salt. Next place the olives over and around the asparagus and bake for about 10-12 minutes (until tender).
That's it! How easy is that? The taste is really amazing so enjoy.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Latke

I made latkes last night for dinner and damn were they good. All latkes are potato pancakes but of course I had to add stuff to them.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 lbs potatoes peeled and grated
2 small yellow onions diced
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1/4 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Directions:
Combine everything in a bowl and mix well. I used four small frying pans with about 3 Tbs of oil in each pan on medium heat to cook up all four latkes at the same time. You can also use a nonstick griddle. They need to be cooked on each side for about 15 minutes until the outsides are almost black (I like them nice and crispy on the outside). To flip them slide the latke onto a large plate, cover with another plate then slide it back onto the pan carefully and cook another 15 minutes. A little time consuming but oh so yummy and oh so worth the wait.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Basil Vinaigrette

I have been into making my salad dressings lately. D. was right, home made stuff really does taste a lot better even when it comes to salad dressings. A friend of mine gave me this great recipe for a Basil Vinaigrette that is just out of this world!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup olive oil
2 cups fresh basil, chopped
1 peeled shallot
1 garlic clove, peeled
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
dash of salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp Dijon mustard

Gently heat 1/4 cup oil and 1 cup basil for 2-3 minutes (the basil should turn bright green and the oil should have small bubbles). Remove from heat and steep for five minutes.

Put the garlic, shallot, vinegar, remaining water, salt, pepper and mustard into the blender and pulse til garlic and shallots are chopped fine. Run the blender and slowly add basil/ oil combo and blend until dressing is smooth. Add remaining basil and blend til smooth.

You can keep this in the fridge in an airtight jar for about three days.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Variety

C-Fresh asked me the other day why I am so into trying new recipes and cooking different things for dinner every night. The answer is pretty basic. First of all, pepper was considered an exotic spice in our house growing up let alone trying to get my parents to use basil or curry powder. Second my parents had a repertoire of about 10 dinner items. Those 10 items would be rotated so that any given week we would be eating 7 of the 10 items (think High School Cafeteria menu rotation). The sides for the dinners did not even vary. . .ever. Even going out to eat they would always go to the same restaurants and order the same dishes from each restaurant.
On that note, though, I am not afraid to use canned vegetables or bottled sauces now because I know you can take those ingredients and give them some oomph. Not every meal needs to be created entirely from scratch. Hell, the frozen green beans I can get at the grocery store are a lot better than the "fresh" ones they are hawking at exorbitant prices. So while there was not much adventure from my dining habits as a child it has at least given me the sense to know that I can use pre made ingredients or canned vegetables or processed something or other and still take that and turn it into something good. After all, there is no law saying you can't add more garlic and basil to a can of Ragu.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Easy Curried Rice

This is a simple recipe for curried rice that is not involved and has good flavor.

Ingredients

3/4 cup V8 or tomato juice
3/4 cup water of vegetable stock
1 cup long grain brown rice
1/2 yellow onion chopped

optional:
2 bay leaves

Directions:
Either throw it all in a rice cooker and turn it on or add everything but the rice to an uncovered pot and bring to a boil. Add the rice and turn the heat down to a bubbling simmer. Cook covered for about 25 minutes (or until all the liquid gets absorbed) fluff with a fork and serve.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Baby Potatoes With Garlic and Dill Vinaigrette

C-Fresh and I both love potatoes. We'll eat them anyway you can think of to cook them. Lately I have been experimenting with warm potato salads that have a vinaigrette dressing. The combo has, so far, been a very delicious experience.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 pounds new, or baby potatoes (I used baby Yukon golds this time)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic minced
2 sun dried tomatoes chopped
2 Tbs Balsamic Vinaigrette
1 Tbs dried dill (or 2 Tbs fresh)
1/4 cup capers
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Pre heat the oven to 425 and oil and salt the potatoes. Cook for about 20-25 minutes (or until you can easily pop a fork through the potato).

Mix the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl and let stand at room temperature while potatoes cook

When potatoes are done cooking lightly press each potato with a fork until they pop open. Toss the potatoes with dressing and serve warm.