Labor Day Lazy

Sometimes there's nothing better than a lazy holiday spent watching TV, reading magazines and partaking in some truly glutenous, greasy-spoon grub.  After a weekend filled with activity, Labor Day became that lazy holiday for us. Turns out, Dave had a serious craving for chili dogs with deep-fried green bell pepper rings.  Decadent, cheesy, spicy and greasy.  How could I not agree?  Feeling appropriately lazy and quite hungry, we decided to try to find some delicious local ingredients as a quicker alternative than making our own. First, we headed to the famous, local gem Kramarczuk's to purchase some of their deliciously spiced, freshly-made "Chicago-style" hotdogs.  Then we made our way to The Loon Cafe, ordered some of their award winning chili to go, and enjoyed a beer while we waited.  A few more ingredients at our local market and we were all set.  Rib-sticking diner-style fare.  Quick and labor-free.  A lazy Labor Day on the couch never tasted so good.

Smokey-sweet hot dogs, ready for the grill.

Rich, meaty and spicy.  Just how chili should taste.

Buttered and toasted hot dog rolls.  Warm and soft in the middle with a crisp crust.

Freshly grilled dogs, piled high with beefy chili, sharp white cheddar and fresh green jalepenos.  

Hot, crunchy-battered green bell pepper rings with seasoned sour cream for dipping.  One of Dave's childhood favorites.  

Messy, meaty and oh so good.

Roast with Love

                      

One of Dave's Grandma's favorite dinners is pot roast.  With mashed potatoes and gravy.  Lots of gravy.  Grandma was in town over the weekend and to make her feel more comfortable, I decided to try my hand at preparing a pot roast.  I was pleasantly surprised by how easy this one-pot supper was to assemble.  A large, moist beef roast with tender root vegetables and a pan sauce gravy.  Filling, rich and satisfying.  We added a batch of piping hot, whipped mashed potatoes to complete the meal. As a welcome bonus, our house was filled with the most delicious and warming smells all afternoon. On a cool, early-September evening, this seemed to be the perfect comfort food. And comforting Grandma should always be a priority.

Pot Roast with Vegetables and Gravy
(adapted from The New Best Recipe: All-New Edition, from the editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine)

Serves 6-8

1 3 1/2 lb boneless chuck roast (tied by the butcher)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1 large carrot, coarsely chopped + 1 lb carrots peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick on the bias
1 stalk of celery (with leaves), coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp granulated sugar
1 cup chicken stock (low sodium)
1 cup beef broth (low sodium)

Handful of fresh thyme sprigs
1 lb parsnips, peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick on the bias
1/2 cup dry red wine
cornstarch
Chopped fresh Italian parsely

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Pat the roast dry with paper towels and season it liberally with the salt and freshly ground pepper. In a large dutch oven, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil over high heat.  When the oil is shimmering, sear the roast on all sides until darkly crusty and caramelized.  This may take 10-12 minutes.  Decrease the heat to medium-high heat if the roast begins to smoke.  Once all sides of the roast are seared, remove it to a plate and set it aside.

Reduce the heat a bit and add the coarsely chopped onion, single coarsely chopped carrot and celery stalk to the pot.  Stir occasionally for about 8 minutes or until the vegetables just begin to brown.  Add the garlic and sugar and stir for about 1 minute or until the garlic is fragrant.  Add the chicken stock, beef broth and thyme sprigs.  With a wooden spoon, scrape all of the brown bits from the bottom of the pot (added flavor).  Return the roast to the pot, along with any juices left on the plate. If the liquid in the pot does not come halfway up the sides of the roast, add water until it does. Bring the dish to a simmer.  Once simmering, cover and put the pot in the oven. Cook for 4 hours, flipping the roast over once halfway through cooking.

After 4 hours, when the meat is fork tender, remove the pot from the oven.  Transfer roast to a plate. Pour the remaining liquid through a sieve and discard the vegetable and herb solids. Return liquid to the pot and after allowing it to rest for a few minutes, skim off any fat that accumulates on the surface (optional). Return roast to the pot with the liquid and add the bias-cut carrots and parsnips, ensuring that the vegetables are submerged in the liquid. Return the pot to the oven and cook for 25 minutes or until the vegetables are close to tender.

Remove pot from the oven and place it on the stove. Remove roast from the pot and place it on your serving platter. Remove string and tent the roast with foil. Add the red wine to the sauce and vegetables and season with salt and pepper to taste. (The sauce may be sufficiently salty from the seasoning of the meat earlier in the process). Boil the sauce over high heat until the vegetables are sufficiently tender, approximately 10 minutes. Transfer vegetables to the platter with the meat, also covering them with the foil.

Bring remaining sauce to a simmer.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk about a tablespoon of cornstarch with a few tablespoons of warm water until smooth. Whisk this mixture into the pan sauce. Bring sauce up to a boil and whisk until thickened and smooth.

Remove foil from the platter and sprinkle chopped parsley over the meat and vegetables. Serve gravy on the side.

Searing the roast gives this dish incredible flavor and ensures that the beef keeps a caramelized, browned crust through the cooking process.  

Saute vegetables in the rendered beef fat to absorb the rich, crusted flavor at the bottom of the pot.

Ready to go to into the oven.  Mouth-watering smells to follow.

Sweet, earthy carrots and parsnips serve as the vegetable component and give the pot roast added flavor and texture. 

Mashed potatoes prepared with cream, butter and sour cream.  The perfect way to soak up that delicious gravy and to make this one-pot wonder a complete meal.  {These delicious and creamy potatoes were made by Jane, my lovely Mother-in-law}

Red wine and a set table.  Time for a warm, comforting dinner

Slice of Love

Mastering the art of homemade pizza is definitely a labor of love.  Sure, if you have a fancy, outdoor wood-burning pizza oven, it's easy to make that perfectly blistered, charred, crispy-chewy crust every time.  But for those of us mortals who can't cook their pizza at 1000 degrees, it's inevitably a work in progress.   In our house, we use a pizza stone to get that crisp-bottomed loveliness we all strive for.  On the grill in the summer or in a hot oven in the winter, that round preheated stone does the trick.  Pizza dough is a virtual blank canvas for toppings and such an easy way to experiment with flavors.  Just throw a flattened piece of dough on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel, top with your favorite stuff, and sling that beauty into the screaming hot contraption of your choosing. Pizza at home, easy as pie.

Risen dough, spread on a cornmeal-dusted peel and covered in a base of fruity olive oil.   A tasty blank canvas.
{Try this pizza dough recipe, we love it}

Be sure to have plenty of Italian-inspired munchies to snack on while your pizzas cook.

A white pizza gets smothered in burrata,  fontina and goat cheese.  After cooking, it is topped with a lemony-dressed arugula salad for a cool bite of fresh, green flavor.

A potato, bacon, shallot and white cheddar pizza.  Finished with a drizzle of truffle oil, of course.

A classic margherita pizza topped with a simple roma tomato sauce, torn basil and milky burrata.  After cooking, finish with a light swirl of olive oil and some freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano.  Simple flavors that combine to create an utterly delectible pizza. 

Garbage Day

I made my first batch of garbage cookies in college.  Always the avid baker, I tended to accumulate a variety of nuts, chocolate chips, flavorings and add-ins, which cluttered up my limited cupboard space.  On one particular afternoon, I decided to clean out my pantry by throwing a bunch of ingredients into my basic chocolate chip cookie dough recipe (see below). Well, the results were some pretty decadent and flavorful blobs of sweetness.  Dubbed "garbage cookies" by my Mom years ago, the name has stuck. What is great about this recipe, or lack-there-of, is that you can use anything you have lurking in your baking cupboard.  Macadamia nuts, marshmallows, chocolate chips, instant coffee granules, coconut, peanuts, rolled oats, raisins, chopped pretzels or toffee bits, anything goes. The other day, I decided to make garbage bars and the results were equally sweet.  There are countless ways to create your own version of these sinful treats.  And don't be afraid to add a lot of stuff to your garbage dough, I often add 8 to 10 different ingredients when making mine. Just think of it as engaging in a little pantry cleaning.  No trash bags required.

Basic Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (or starter dough for garbage bars or cookies)

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 bag bittersweet chocolate chips
garbage-style (optional):  add any other ingredients lurking in your pantry

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, whisk baking soda, salt and flour.  Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer (or in a large bowl with a hand mixer) beat butter and sugars until smooth and well-combined.  Add eggs, one at a time, and mix until incorporated.  Add vanilla and mix until incorporated.  Add dry ingredients, in two parts, and mix until dough forms.  Add chocolate chips, and any other ingredients of your choosing, and gently mix until incorporated.

If making cookies:
Drop rounded spoonfuls onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.  Be sure to leave enough space in between each cookie, depending on the ingredients incorporated into the dough.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until tops of cookies just start to brown.  Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for approximately 15 minutes and then carefully transfer cookies to a baking rack with a spatula to finish cooling.

If making bars:
Evenly spread dough into a 9x13 inch greased and parchment-lined baking pan. Bake for approximately 35 minutes or until the bars have browned on top to your liking.  Be sure not to over-bake.  Let bars cool completely before cutting.

The start of something sweet.

You can stop at the chocolate chips...

Or you can add in whatever you have in your baking stash.

Warm, melty, crunchy, chewy.

Packed with ingredients, decadent and delicious.

Impromptu Alfresco

Isn't it always the best dinners that come together in the last minute?  Calling up a few friends and grilling some juicy seafood tacos.  A simple, fresh dinner that takes mere minutes to assemble and cook. But, man, they taste so good.  Crack open a few cold beers, invite some friends over and heat up the grill. This dinner is the perfect way to add a little spur-of-the-moment excitement to your midweek lull.

Marinated Shrimp and Scallop Tacos
Serves 4

4-5 long wooden skewers
6-8 large sea scallops
12-14 large raw shrimp (peeled and deveined)
1 Tbsp olive oil
juice of 1 lime
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp dried chipotle pepper powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
pinch of salt

Soak skewers in water.  While skewers are soaking, combine the shrimp and scallops with the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl.  Let seafood marinate for approximately 10 minutes in the refrigerator.

Skewer the seafood.   Grill the skewers over high heat for 1-2 minutes per side.  Remove seafood from skewers and serve with corn tortillas, various sides, black beans and coleslaw (see recipe below).

Cilantro Lime Coleslaw
Serves 4-6
(adapted from a recipe in the July 2010 issue of Bon Appétit)

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
juice of 1 lime
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 small head savoy cabbage (or one half of a larger head)
salt and pepper

Whisk mayonnaise, sour cream, lime juice and garlic in a small bowl until combined.  Set aside.  Slice the head of cabbage in half, through the core. Remove the core from each half and thinly slice cabbage into long shreds. Transfer cabbage to a large bowl and add the cilantro and green onion. Pour creamy dressing over the slaw mixture and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to your taste. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Plain, canned black beans get heated on the stove with a sprinkle of warming cumin.

Wrap your corn tortillas loosely in tin foil and warm on the grill.

Topping options:
creamy avocado • salty, crumbly cheese (we used feta) •
sweet cherry tomatoes • tart, juicy lime wedges • minced serrano chile • fresh, bright cilantro • homemade "crema" sauce {plain yogurt + sour cream + fresh lime juice}

Spicy, cool, fresh and satisfying.  Not bad for a quick, midweek meal.

Cheese for a Friend

One of my entertaining mainstays is the classic cheese plate.  Really, what could be more versatile,  as delicious or easier to assemble than a beautifully arranged plate of cheese?  I, for one, tend to devour cheese when it is placed in front of me.  I also get positively giddy at the prospect of visiting a cheese counter to taste-test various cheeses for my plate.  When making my plates, I try to incorporate one hard cheese, one soft cheese and one blue cheese into my arrangement.  The types of cheese I choose vary, but a few of my favorites include a white, sharp English farmhouse cheddar, a pungent and salty roquefort, a thick and velvety triple cream brie and a grassy, rich goat cheese. Add toasted baguette slices, a small bowl of olives, some sweet fruit preserves or a bunch of fresh green grapes, whatever you have on hand. Arrange cheeses on a cake stand, wooden cutting board or a simple white platter.  It is really too easy!  So, when my best friend Heather asked me to make a cheese plate for her to bring to a wedding shower brunch, I was up for the challenge.  For her brunch platter, I chose a sharp New York state cheddar, a luxurious French triple cream brie and a pungent blue cheese.  As accompaniments, I included a small bowl of crunchy almonds, some sweet fig jam (jam recipe here) and a stack of slightly sweet oat crackers.  To finish, I poured some truffled honey over the blue cheese and used flat, green hydrangea leaves as a garnish. (Note: be sure to use non-poisonous leaves on your cheese plate.  Hydrangea leaves aren't poisonous). I wasn't there to witness it myself, but I hope the cheese platter was enjoyed, and devoured, by all.

I frequently use honey to cut the sharpness of a strong blue cheese.  Mix in a little white truffle oil for a bit more decadence.  

Salty, crunchy, sweet, creamy - your cheese platter can have it all.

Summer Dinner

Over the weekend, we hosted Dave's sister Lisa and her boyfriend Paul for dinner.  In order to appropriately enjoy one of the last few weekends of summer, we decided to heat up the charcoal grill and prepare some of the beautiful root vegetables we have available to us this time of the year. Dave grilled his delectable butterflied chicken, we corked a few bottles of wine and everyone enjoyed a simple dinner on a late-summer evening.

Menu:
Oysters on the half shell
Truffled steak tartare
Lemon and thyme grilled chicken
Roasted summer vegetables
Pommes frites
Honey and pine nut tart with rosemary cream

Briny, fresh oysters with traditional accompaniments.  

A classic French brasserie dish gets updated with Italian white truffle oil.

An organic chicken, butterflied, marinated in thyme and lemon and perfectly grilled over charcoal until crispy.

Carrots, beets, eggplant and celery root, roasted with cumin and topped with feta and fresh parsley.

Traditional pommes frites fried twice in peanut oil and generously sprinkled with flaked sea salt.

Honey and pine nut tart with rosemary infused whipped cream, unexpected but so delicious.
Find tart recipe here and whipped cream recipe here.

Who can resist a salty oyster and a cold glass of rosé on a hot summer evening?  I certainly can't.

Curry Noodles

One of my ultimate comfort foods is Thai-style curry noodles.  Ideally, the dish is spicy, brothy and loaded with rice noodles.  I find something so satisfying in slurping up those warm, wet and messy noodles with my chopsticks.  Add mounds of green cilantro and a heavy squirt of fresh lime. Heaven in a bowl.

Thai Curry Noodles
Serves 4 (or 2 very hungry people)

(adapted from a recipe by Mai Pham in the January 2008 issue of Bon Appétit)

Olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 large shallot, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3 lemongrass stalks
1 inch knob of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2 Tbsp red curry paste
2 Tbsp curry powder
2-4 tsp hot chili sauce (such as sriracha)
2 cans unsweetened, lowfat coconut milk
5 cups chicken stock
2 Tbsp fish sauce
3 tsp granulated sugar
2 large handfuls of sugar snap peas (snow peas can be substituted)
1 lb package rice stick noodles
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced into strips
1 red Thai chile, thinly sliced
Chopped cilantro
1 lime, cut into wedges

Brush chicken breasts with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Grill until just done, approximately 5 minutes per side over high heat. Cover with foil and set aside.

Heat a generous glug of olive oil in a large sauce pan or dutch oven over medium heat.  Add shallot, garlic, lemongrass stalks and ginger.  Cook until shallots are soft, about 2 minutes.  Be careful not to burn the garlic.  Add curry paste, curry powder and chili sauce.  Stir until cooked and fragrant, about 2 minutes.  Add coconut milk, chicken broth, fish sauce and sugar.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and let mixture simmer while you make the rest of the dish.

Prepare a large bowl of ice water.  In a pot of boiling water, blanch sugar snap peas for 30 seconds using a slotted spoon or chinese strainer, transfer them to the bowl of ice water. (This is called "shocking" and will stop the peas from cooking so that they retain their crunch and vibrant green color).  Once peas are completely cool, remove from ice water and set aside.  In the same pot of boiling water, cook the rice noodles until al dente, according to the package directions or for approximately 6 minutes.  Drain noodles into a colander and rinse with cold water until completely cooled.

Slice the chicken breasts and add to the simmering curry mixture.  In the mean time, divide cooled noodles and sugar snap peas between bowls.  Divide the hot curry broth among the bowls with a ladle, discarding the lemongrass stalks.  Top generously with sliced chile, green onion, red bell pepper and cilantro.  Squeeze curry with fresh lime wedges and enjoy.

BTW:  This dish gets better the longer it sits. Make the curry broth up to a day ahead of time, let it sit in the refrigerator and just reheat and prepare other components when you're ready to eat.

Lime and lemongrass bring sharp, citrusy flavors to this dish.

I always keep a stocked pantry so that I can whip up my favorite Asian-inspired dishes anytime.  

Sugar snaps, sweet as candy.

Rinse glass noodles with cold tap water.

Toasting your spices in the pot before adding the liquid ingredients creates a deeper flavor.

A spritz of lime...

Time to slurp.