Penne Pasta with Spinach and Bacon

Penne Pasta with Spinach and Bacon

Ingredients

1 (12 ounce) package penne pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
6 slices bacon, chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 bunch fresh spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces
Directions

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the penne pasta, and cook until tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place bacon in the skillet, and cook until browned and crisp. Add garlic, and cook for about 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes, and cook until heated through.
Place the spinach into a colander, and drain the hot pasta over it so it is wilted. Transfer to a large serving bowl, and toss with the remaining olive oil, and the bacon and tomato mixture.

Chorizo Breakfast Burritos

With the second Chorizo link left over from making paella I went in search for a good recipe from some of my favorite blogs. SimpleRecipes, to their namesake they had a wonderful simple recipe. So I made breakfast burritos on Sunday.





Chorizo and Eggs Recipe

INGREDIENTS
Olive oil or bacon fat
1/3 cup chopped onions (green, red, or yellow onions) optional
1/4 lb of Mexican chorizo sausage, removed from sausage casing
3 Tbsp raisins - soaked in hot water for 15 minutes and drained
5 to 6 eggs
Salt
Tortillas - optional
Cilantro - optional

Chorizo sausage from Whole Foods. Whole Foods has a standard recipe and spices for making chorizo sausage and may make some up for you upon request if you don't see it displayed.
METHOD

1 Heat a large skillet on medium high heat. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil or bacon fat in the pan. Add the chopped onions (optional) and cook until softened. Once softened, move to the side of the pan and add break up bits of chorizo into the pan. Use a wooden spatula to break up the pieces of sausage. Add the raisins. Stir until the sausage is cooked through, though not necessarily browned. If you are not using lean chorizo, drain the excess fat from the pan before proceeding. If you are not using lean chorizo, you may want to cook the chorizo first, draining the excess fat, then remove to a plate while you cook the onions in the remaining fat. We usually cook with lean chorizo, so excess fat isn't an issue.

2 Crack the eggs one at a time, into the pan. Break the yolks and stir the eggs into the sausage. Add a light sprinkling of salt. Stir constantly until the eggs begin to set, but are still moist. Remove from heat.
Serve immediately with a side of warmed corn tortillas and cilantro as a garnish.
Serves 2-3.

Roasted Salsa

This is my absolute favorite salsa recipe. It's from my friend Tomi. I love it so much that years after touching base with each other I reached out to him because I was craving his salsa.



Roasted Salsa
1 - 28oz can of whole tomatoes
1 – medium sweet onion (1/2 inch slices)
1 – jalapeno (the more tan lines on it the hotter it will be:
3 – cloves of garlic
1 – teaspoon salt
1- teaspoon pepper
1 – teaspoon garlic powder
Small bunch flat leaf parsley (optional)

Directions
Take the sliced onion, garlic (leave husk), and Jalapeno and place under the broiler in the oven. Turn them frequently until all the skin is charred. Next place the whole canned tomatoes in the blender along with the onion, garlic (husk removed), and jalapeno (if using parsley, add that as well.) Pulse on high until you get your desired consistency. Try not to blend it too long. Add the salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste. If it’s too thick than add a little water.

A note from Tomi - It’s a pretty easy recipe, you just need to change it up until your happy with the results. This recipe has changed a little over the years. Things I do now that I didn’t do way way way back in the day: roast the onion, garlic, and jalapeno, use canned tomatoes (this helps with consistency, for extra spice I add canned chipotles, and sometimes I add cilantro instead of parsley.

A note from me - I like to add red onions, when roasted they are so yummy. I also like to add cilantro to the mix (as you probrably noticed in the photo).

Leek Potato Soup

In our organics box this week we were delivered among other things a huge beautiful Leek. I'd never actually made leek soup so this was a great opportunity.



Delish!! It's also a great idea to serve cold. I'm going to add this as an amuse bouche for my next dinner party. Served cold in a shot-glass. It's perfect to make the night before.


Alton Brown's Leek Potato Soup

Ingredients
1 pound leeks, cleaned and dark green sections removed, approximately 4 to 5 medium
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Heavy pinch kosher salt, plus additional for seasoning
14 ounces, approximately 3 small, Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced small
1 quart vegetable broth
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 tablespoon snipped chives
Directions
Chop the leeks into small pieces.

In a 6-quart saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the leeks and a heavy pinch of salt and sweat for 5 minutes. Decrease the heat to medium-low and cook until the leeks are tender, approximately 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the potatoes and the vegetable broth, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and gently simmer until the potatoes are soft, approximately 45 minutes.

Turn off the heat and puree the mixture with an immersion blender until smooth. Stir in the heavy cream, buttermilk, and white pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning if desired. Sprinkle with chives and serve immediately, or chill and serve cold.

PAN SEARED, THICK CUT STEAK

PAN SEARED, THICK CUT STEAK
From: Cook’s Illustrated – May ’07



Note:

Rib-eye or filet mignon of similar thickness can be substituted for strip steaks. If using filet mignon, buying a 2-pound center-cut tenderloin roast and portioning it into four 8-ounce steaks yourself will produce more consistent results. If using filet mignon, increase the oven time by about 5 minutes. When cooking lean strip steaks (without an external fat cap) or filet mignon, add an extra tablespoon of oil to the pan.

Ingredients:

2 boneless strip steaks (1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches thick (about 1 pound each) (see note above)
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Directions:

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 275 degrees. Pat steaks dry with paper towel. Cut each steak in half vertically to create four 8-ounce steaks. Season entire surface of steaks liberally with salt and pepper; gently press sides of steaks until uniform 1 1/2 inches thick. Place steaks on wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet; transfer baking sheet to oven. Cook until instant-read thermometer inserted in center of steak registers 90 to 95 degrees for rare to medium-rare, 20 to 25 minutes, or 100 to 105 degrees for medium, 25 to 30 minutes.

Heat oil in 12-inch heavy-bottomed skillet over high heat until smoking. Place steaks in skillet and sear steaks until well-browned and crusty, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, lifting once halfway through to redistribute fat underneath each steak. (Reduce heat if fond begins to burn.) Using tongs, turn steaks and cook until well browned on second side, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Transfer all steaks to wire cooling rack and reduce heat under pan to medium. Use tongs to stand 2 steaks on their sides. Holding steaks together, return to skillet and sear on all sides until browned, about 1 1/2 minutes. Repeat with remaining 2 steaks.

Transfer steaks to wire cooling rack and let rest, loosely tented with foil, for 10 minutes while preparing pan sauce. Arrange steaks on individual plates; serve immediately.

Terbiyeli Tavuk Corbasi

Otherwise known as Avgolemono Soup Turkish style.

I learned this recipe from a Turkish friend of mine and it has become a regular in my household and I'm not one for regulars.

2 Quarts chicken stock (8 cups)
1 cup orzo (or 1 c vermicelli broken up, add 1t cornstarch)
1 medium onion finely diced or grated
1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breast diced
2 TB unsalted butter
1/4 c lemon juice
4 egg yokes
salt and peper
flat leaf parsley

Preparation

1. In a medium size pot melt the butter and ad the grated onion and stir until softened but not browned.

2. And the chicken and orzo stirring for 5 minutes

3. And the stock and bring to boil and simmer for about 20 minutes until the orzo gets very soft. Turn the heat to low.

4. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the lemon juice. Stir in some hot soup, whisking continuously to balance the temperature.

5. Pour it all into the soup while stirring. Do not boil the soup after adding the sauce, it may curdle.

6. Serve immediately, sprinkled with parsley.

On the List: Lobster Mac and Cheese

Lobster Mac and Cheese



2009, Ina Garten,
Cook Time:1 hr 10 minLevel: EasyYield: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients
Kosher salt
Vegetable oil
1 pound cavatappi or elbow macaroni
1 quart milk
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
12 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated (4 cups)
8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (2 cups)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 pounds cooked lobster meat
1 1/2 cups fresh white bread crumbs (5 slices, crusts removed)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the pasta and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it. In a large pot, melt 6 tablespoons of butter and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. Still whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, 1 tablespoon salt, the pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and lobster and stir well. Place the mixture in 6 to 8 individual gratin dishes.

Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, combine them with the fresh bread crumbs, and sprinkle on the top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.

On the List: Chorizo and Eggs

Chorizo and Eggs

Posted by Elise on Apr 18, 2008
Filed under Breakfast and Brunch, Egg, Low Carb, Mexican and Tex Mex, Quick

Growing up, we had some of the standard American foods for breakfast - cream o' wheat, oatmeal, waffles, fried eggs, pancakes (no sugar coated cereals in this household!) - and a couple things I never saw in any of my friends' homes - huevos, and my favorite chorizo with eggs. My mother is hispanic by ancestry and looks, and even though she doesn't speak a drop of Spanish she still cooks what she was taught by her mother, grandmother and relatives, growing up in Tucson, Arizona. Thus we alone on our block had chorizo, or Mexican sausage scrambled up with eggs. I didn't even know that chorizo was the name of the sausage and not the dish until I was in my twenties. What is chorizo? A spicy pork sausage. While the Spanish version is usually spiced with paprika and garlic, Mexican chorizo is spiced with chile peppers. I've seen chorizo served in Mexican restaurants most often as a side sausage, like bacon. We cook ours up with the eggs and add some raisins as well, the sweetness of which provides some balance to the spicy chile in the chorizo.


Chorizo and Eggs Recipe
INGREDIENTS
Olive oil or bacon fat
1/3 cup chopped onions (green, red, or yellow onions) optional
1/4 lb of Mexican chorizo sausage, removed from sausage casing
3 Tbsp raisins - soaked in hot water for 15 minutes and drained
5 to 6 eggs
Salt
Tortillas - optional
Cilantro - optional

Chorizo sausage from Whole Foods. Whole Foods has a standard recipe and spices for making chorizo sausage and may make some up for you upon request if you don't see it displayed.
METHOD
1 Heat a large skillet on medium high heat. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil or bacon fat in the pan. Add the chopped onions (optional) and cook until softened. Once softened, move to the side of the pan and add break up bits of chorizo into the pan. Use a wooden spatula to break up the pieces of sausage. Add the raisins. Stir until the sausage is cooked through, though not necessarily browned. If you are not using lean chorizo, drain the excess fat from the pan before proceeding. If you are not using lean chorizo, you may want to cook the chorizo first, draining the excess fat, then remove to a plate while you cook the onions in the remaining fat. We usually cook with lean chorizo, so excess fat isn't an issue.


2 Crack the eggs one at a time, into the pan. Break the yolks and stir the eggs into the sausage. Add a light sprinkling of salt. Stir constantly until the eggs begin to set, but are still moist. Remove from heat.
Serve immediately with a side of warmed corn tortillas and cilantro as a garnish.
Serves 2-3.

The Ultimate Paella

This is a variation from Tyler Florence's recipe in "Eat This Book"



Prep 30 min
Inactive Prep 1 hr 0 min
Cook1 hr 0 min
Total:2 hr 30 min

Ingredients

Spice Mix for chicken, recipe follows
1 (3-pound) frying chicken, cut into 10 pieces
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 Spanish chorizo sausages, thickly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 Spanish onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
Bunch flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped, reserve some for garnish
1 (15-ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained and hand-crushed
4 cups short grain Spanish rice
6 cups water, warm
Generous pinch saffron threads
1 dozen littleneck clams, scrubbed
1 pound jumbo shrimp, peeled and de-veined
2 lobster tails
1/2 cup sweet peas, frozen and thawed
Lemon wedges, for serving
Special equipment:
Large paella pan or wide shallow skillet

Directions

Rub the spice mix all over the chicken and marinate chicken for 1 hour in the refrigerator.

Heat 1/4 c oil in a paella pan over medium-high heat. Brown the chorizo until browned, remove and reserve. Add chicken skin-side down and brown on all sides, turning with tongs. Add salt and freshly ground pepper. Remove from pan and reserve.



In the same pan, make a sofrito by sauteing the onions, garlic, and parsley. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes on a medium heat. Then, add tomatoes and cook until the mixture caramelizes a bit and the flavors meld. Fold in the rice and stir-fry to coat the grains. Pour in water and simmer for 10 minutes, gently moving the pan around so the rice cooks evenly and absorbs the liquid. Add chicken, chorizo, and saffron. Add the clams and shrimp, tucking them into the rice. The shrimp will take about 8 minutes to cook. Give the paella a good shake and let it simmer, without stirring, until the rice is al dente, for about 15 minutes. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, when the rice is filling the pan, add the lobster tails. When the paella is cooked and the rice looks fluffy and moist, turn the heat up for 40 seconds until you can smell the rice toast at the bottom, then it's perfect.

Cook's note: The ideal paella has a toasted rice bottom called socarrat.

Remove from heat and rest for 5 minutes. Garnish with peas, parsley and lemon wedges.

Spice Mix for chicken:
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
2 teaspoons dried oregano
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Combine ingredients in a small bowl. Rub the spice mixture all over the chicken; marinate for 1 hour, covered

Kiwi Berry Frozen Yoghurt with Red Raspberry Sauce

We were thrilled to get our first box of organic home delivery of fruits and veggies this week. To add to the surprise we were treated with a box of Kiwi Berry's.

I used them to make Kiwi Berry Frozen Yoghurt for desert.



Kiwi Berry Frozen Yoghurt with Red Raspberry Sauce

12 to 14 KiwiBerrys, pureed
1 tablespoon honey
500 ml frozen low-fat or nonfat vanilla yogurt, softened
1 package 250g frozen red raspberries in syrup, thawed
2 tablespoons triple sec or other orange liqueur
2 teaspoons corn flour
3 KiwiBerrys, sliced lengthwise
fresh mint leaves
fresh or frozen whole raspberries (optional)

Combine KiwiBerry puree and honey. Place in freezer and freeze until slushy (about 45 minutes). In a stainless steel bowl, quickly combine softened yogurt and kiwifruit mixture; refreeze in bowl. With a small ice cream scoop form balls and place on a wax paper-lined tray; refreeze...

To make raspberry sauce, in food processor or blender puree thawed raspberries. over saucepan, strain berries, through a fine sieve, pressing with back of a spoon. discard seeds. Stir in orange liqueur and cornstarch. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until slightly thickened. Cool; cover and chill. To assemble; spoon sauce on dessert plates or shallow bowls. Arrange KiwiBerry slices and frozen yogurt balls on sauce and garnish with mint and whole raspberries.
Makes 6 servings

KiwiBerry Dessert Topping Suggestions: Try KiwiBerry puree over: Your favorite cheesecake ( it goes well with chocolate too ) Over ice cream or sorbet ( mandarin oranges are a nice compliment )



The hardest part was forming the individual scoops. =)

Proper Chicken Caesar Salad

One evening Doug and I were watching an episode of Jamie Oliver's cooking show that was dedicated to summer salads. He created his version of a grilled Caesar and we had to immediately replicate it.






Yummy... the chicken and croutons come out crispy from the grill



The dressing is mashed together with a mortar and pestle to bring the anchovies to a paste.



Proper Chicken Caesar Salad

Directions
With my own versions of the classics, like Caesar salad, it's not about changing things entirely; it's about respecting the original while bigging up the flavors and textures where I can. My twists for this salad are to use chicken legs (not dry old breasts!), smoky pancetta and lovely rustic croutons to suck up all the juices. It's a lovely little salad with just a hint of attitude - and it's versatile, as you can serve it hot or cold.

P.S. Use your imagination - if you have any other unusual salad leaves, flowers or herb shoots lying around, chuck some in to make it look a little less predictable.

Ingredients
4 whole free-range or organic chicken legs, skin on
1 loaf ciabatta bread (about 9 ounces), torn into thumb-sized pieces
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves picked and roughly chopped
Olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 thin slices pancetta or bacon
1/4 clove peeled garlic
4 anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained
3 ounces freshly grated Parmesan, plus a few shavings to serve
1 heaped tablespoon creme fraiche
1 lemon, juiced
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 or 3 heads romaine lettuce, outer leaves discarded
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place the chicken legs in a snug-fitting roasting pan with the pieces of torn-up bread. Sprinkle with the chopped rosemary, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Mix with your hands to make sure everything is well coated, then lift the chicken legs up to the top, so they sit above the bread. This way, the bread will soak up all the lovely juices from the chicken, giving you the best croutons! Pop the pan into the preheated oven.

After 45 minutes the chicken should be nicely cooked. Take the pan out of the oven, drape the pancetta or bacon over the chicken and croutons, and put back for another 15 to 20 minutes for everything to crisp up. The chicken legs are ready when you can pinch the meat off the bone easily. When they're cooked, remove the pan from the oven and set it aside for the chicken to cool down slightly.

Pound the garlic and anchovy fillets in a pestle and mortar or a Flavor Shaker until you have a pulp. Scrape into a bowl and whisk in the Parmesan, creme fraiche, lemon juice and 3 times as much extra-virgin olive oil as lemon juice. Season dressing, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Pull the chicken meat off the leg bones - you can use 2 forks to do this, or your hands if you're tough like me - and tear it up roughly with the croutons and the bacon. Wash, spin dry and separate the lettuce leaves, tear them up and toss with the chicken, croutons, bacon and creamy, cheesy dressing. Scatter with some Parmesan shavings.

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