Summer Salads

It gets so humid and hot during the Kansas summer that I am always looking for ways to avoid turning the oven on in the evening. Last weekend, I made a couple of salads for Saturday lunch and they both turned out great. With a few substitutions, neither required any actual cooking on my part! Served with a little baguette or some French bread and they are great for lunch or dinner. My father-in-law even admitted during lunch that he was pretty skeptical when I said I was serving a shrimp salad (apparently he's not a big fan--I didn't know that beforehand), but he liked this.

For the chicken salad, I used a whole already-roasted chicken from the grocery store. I love using those chickens in dishes like this. The chicken is typically tender and has a decent flavor and all I have to do is take it off the bone. In addition, I cut the dressing for the salad in half. I think it makes the salad a little soggy if you use the entire recipe.

For the shrimp salad, I bought cooked, peeled, deveined shrimp. It saved me some time and effort. I imagine this takes a little something away from the dish, but it was still pretty good this way!

Greek Orzo and Grilled Shrimp Salad with Mustard-Dill Viniagrette

3/4 pound orzo, cooked al dente
1 large cucumber, seeded, quartered lengthwise, and sliced
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill, plus extra for garnish
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 cup olive oil, plus additional for brushing shrimp
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3/4 pound feta cheese, crumbled
16 medium shrimp, peeled and de-veined

Combine orzo, cucumber, green onions, and tomatoes in a large bowl. Place dill, vinegar, and mustard in a blender and blend until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil and blend until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour the vinaigrette over the orzo mixture and stir well to combine. Gently fold in the feta cheese.

Heat grill to high. Brush shrimp with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill for approximately 2 minutes per side or until just cooked through. Divide orzo salad among 4 take-out containers or plates and top with 4 shrimp. Garnish with additional dill.

From Bobby Flay, Boy Meets Grill, Food Network


Chinese Chicken Salad

8 split chicken breasts (bone in, skin on)
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound asparagus, ends removed, cut into thirds diagonally
2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded
4 scallions (white and green parts), sliced diagonally
2 tablespoons white sesame seeds, toasted

For the dressing
1 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup good apple cider vinegbar
1/3 cup good soy sauce
3 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon peeled, grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds, toasted
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub the skin with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and apper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until chicken is just cooled. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove meat from the bones, discard the skin and shred the chicken in large, bite-sized pieces.

Blanch the asparagus in a pot of boiling salted water for 3 to 5 minutes until crisp-tender. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain. Cut the peppers into strips about the size of the asparagus pieces. Combine the chicken, asparagus, and pappers in a large bowl.

Whisk together all ingredients for the dressing and pour over the chicken and vegetables. Add scallions and sesame seeds and season to taste. Serve cold or at room temperature.

From Barefoot Contessa Parties!, Ina Garten, (Clarkson Potter, 2001)

Peach Pie

Dessert is my favorite part of the meal -- things just don't seem complete without dessert. I have always loved pie: apple pie, coconut cream pie, pumpkin pie. You name a pie, I probably like it. I enjoy this time of year because peaches are plentiful at the grocery store and I took the opportunity to make a delicious peach pie from a Bon Appetit magazine recipe.

I thought this pie was very pretty when it finished, so I would definitely recommend it for taking to a friend or shareing with others. The pie itself was a little runny, so I'd recommend cutting the liquid back by one-quarter to half. The crust recipe that follows is one that I use for all my pie crusts. It's actually based on a classic French pastry recipe and several cookbooks I used recommend it. It always comes out tender and flaky when I make it.

Peach Lattice Pie

2 pie crust dough disks (recipe follows)
1 egg white, beaten to blend

Filling
1 cup sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
3 1/2 pounds firm but ripe peaches, peeled, halved, pitted, each half cut into three wedges
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons whipping cream
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 egg yolk, beaten to blend with 2 teaspoons water
1 tablespoons sugar mixed with 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375 degrees. Place foil-lined baking sheet in bottom of oven to catch any spills. Roll out one pie crust disk on lightly floured surface to 13 1/2-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch diamater glass pie dish. Trim overhang to 1 inch. Fold edges under and crimp decoratively, forming high rim (about 1/2 inch above sides of dish). Chill crust 30 minutes. Line crust with foil and fill with dried beans. Bake crust until sides are set and pale golden, about 35 minutes. Transfer to rack; remove foil and beans. Brush warm crust with egg white. Cool completely,

Meanwhile, line another baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out second pie crust disk on floured surface to 13 1/2-inch round. Cut into 3/4-inch wide strips. Place strips on prepared baking dish. Chill while preparing filling.

Combine 1/2 cup sugar, cinnamon and salt in large bowl. Add peaches and lemon juic and toss gnetly to coat. Let stand 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir remaining 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water in medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat, boil without stirring until syrup is a deep amber, occassionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with wet pastry brush, about 11 minutes. Remove from heat. Add butter and cream (mixture will bubble vigorously). Stir caramel until smooth. Strain juices from peaches into caramel; cool to lukewarm.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Add caramel and flour to peaches in bowl; toss gently. Transfer filling to crust, mounding in center.

Arrange six dough strips in one direction across the top of the pie, spacing apart. Working with one strip at a time, arrange six more strips in opposite direction atop first, lifting strips and weaving over and under to form lattice. Gently press ends of strips to edge of baked bottom crust to adhere. Trim overhang. Brush lattice strips (but not crust edge) with egg yolk glaze. Sprinkle strips with cinnamon sugar.

Bake pie 35 minutes. Tent pie loosely with foil to prevent overbrowning. Continue to bake pie until filling bubbles thickly and lattice is golden brown, about 25 minutes longer. Cool pie on rack.

Pie Crust
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 tablespoons salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unslated butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
8 tablespoons (or more) ice water
1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Blend flour, sugar and salt in food processor. Add butter; using on/off turns, process until coarse meal forms. Add eight tablespoons ice water and cider vinegar; blend until moist clumps form, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough together. Turn out onto work surface; divide dough in half. Form each half into ball and flatten into disk. Wrap disks separately in plastic; refrigerate at least one hour.

From July 2005 Bon Appetit Magazine

Summer!

Summer is by far my favorite time of year. I like warm weather, I love breaking out all the summer clothes, I love all the different flowers that bloom throughout the summer. Cookouts, fireworks, farmers markets, fresh fruit.....I enjoy just about everything about summer.

For as long as I can remember I have loved strawberries. One of my favorite things to eat in the summer (and really just about any time of year) the past few years, is a Strawberry Pretzel Salad. This is my mother-in-law's recipe and she is very diligent about making it all throughout the year so that we can enjoy it. I'm making it this weekend for a cookout with friends. It always gets rave reviews --- just about everyone loves pretzels, cream cheese and strawberries.

Strawberry Pretzel Salad
2 cups crushed pretzels
3/4 cup butter, softened
4 teaspoons sugar

Mix above ingredients and pour into a 9 x 13-inch pan. Bake for six minutes at 400 degrees. Cool.

8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup sugar
8 ounces Cool Whip

Mix above ingredients and spread on cooled crust.

6 ounces strawberry Jello
2 cups boiling water
16 ounces frozen strawberries

Combine jello and water. Add frozen strawberries. Pour this mixture on top of the cream cheese layer. Refrigerate overnight.

Filets and Mashed Potatoes

This weekend we were feeling hungry for steak, but with a little different twist. I attempted to make a recipe I saw on Boy Meets Grill, one of my new favorite shows on Food Network. The basic idea is to slather the already-cooked steak in chile sauce, top with a piece of goat cheese and toast it. The steak was good (we get them at a local shop and they are always terrific), but I didn't really love the goat cheese and chile sauce. I did substitute some slightly different chiles in the sauce because I couldn't find exactly what the recipe called for. In the end, I could take it or leave it from a taste point of view, but making the chile sauce was fun. I haven't cooked with dried chiles before, so it was fun to try something new and simple.

For accompaniments, we had steamed asparagus and mashed potatoes. I added a little bit of sauteed onion, queso fresco and whipping cream to the potatoes and they were delicious! We'll definitely have that again.

Black Pepper Crusted Filet Mignon with Toasted Goat Cheese
and Twice Cooked Red Chile Sauce

4 filet mignon steaks, each 1 1/2-inches thick
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
4 (3/4-inch thick) slices goat cheese
Red Chile Sauce, recipe follows
Chopped cilantro, for garnish

Preheat the grill to high. Remove the steaks from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes before grilling.

Meanwhile, combine the cumin, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Liberally season both sides of each filet with the spice mixture. Grill the filets for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side for medium doneness.

Meanwhile, preheat the broiler. Remove the steaks from the grill onto a baking sheet, and top each with a slice of the cheese. Place under the broiler until cheese is golden brown and soft. Alternatively, use a blow torch or kitchen torch to brown the cheese.

Ladle the sauce onto each plate, place the steak in the center, and garnish with chopped cilantro.
Red Chile Sauce

2 tablespoons canola oil
1 large red onion, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
2 New Mexican red chiles, lightly toasted
2 quajillo chiles, lightly toasted
1 ancho chile, lightly toasted
6 to 8 cups homemade chicken stock
1/4 cup creme fraiche
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic, and cook until soft. Add the chiles and stock, and bring to a simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the chiles are soft.

Transfer the mixture to a food processor and process until smooth. Strain the mixture into a saute pan that has been set on high heat for a few minutes, and cook the sauce until slightly thick.

Remove from the heat and stir in the creme fraiche and maple syrup. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

From Bobby Flay, Boy Meets Grill, Food Network

Ice Cream for the Pregnant Lady

While some people claim to crave strange combinations of food when pregnant, I have not experienced this phenomenon. I do, however, crave lots of unhealthy sweet desserts. In an attempt to go somewhat healthy, last night I prepared a Blueberry Crisp and paired it with some of the new Edy's Slow Churned Light Vanilla Ice Cream.

I am always skeptical of "light" ice cream --- it never tastes as good as the real thing. But this was terrific. Creamy, flavorful and as close to full-fat ice cream as I've tasted recently. I definitely recommend it.

If you're interested, here is my recipe for Blueberry Crisp.

Blueberry Crisp

5-6 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place blueberries in 9x12-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with sugar. Mix oatmeal, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cut small pieces of butter into oatmeal mixture and mix. Sprinkle oatmeal mixture over blueberries.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until blueberries are bubbling and topping is browned.

Eating Healthy

I've been trying to eat a little healthier when possible (to balance out all the sugary sweet foods I've been craving lately) and last night, that resulted in a menu of turkey burgers --an old standby--and zucchini succotash.

I've made the turkey burgers many times and they are always good. I simply mix some ground turkey breast with garlic powder, onion powder, some salt and ground pepper and a few tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce. The burgers are tasty and they aren't dry, which is always a risk with turkey.

The zucchini succotash was a new venture, from a recipe by Bobby Flay. Being six months pregnant at the moment, I try to avoid spicy foods, so I modified the recipe some and omitted the jalapenos and the poblano chiles. I also cut the recipe in half since I was cooking for two. The succotash wasn't spicy at all...in fact it was a little bland. I probably should have tossed in at least one jalapeno and maybe a dash of red pepper to add a little flavor. Either way, it was definitely a keeper.

Grilled Zucchini Succotash

2 zucchini, halved lengthwise
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 ears fresh corn, kernels cut off
2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 poblano chile, grilled, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 jalapeno pepper, grilled, peeled, seeded, and diced
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup crumbled queso fresco cheese
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves

Heat grill to high. Brush cut side of zucchini with 2 tablespoons of the oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill, cut-side down, until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Turn over and continue cooking until just cooked through. Remove from heat and cut into small dice.

Heat remaining oil in a medium saucepan on the grates of the grill. Add the onion and cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the corn kernels and cook for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, chile peppers, diced zucchini, and heavy cream and cook until the cream is reduced by half and begins to thicken. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Remove from the heat and add the cheese and cilantro.

From Bobby Flay, Boy Meets Grill, Food Network

Crockpot Cooking

I visited my parents this weekend and told my mom about a great recipe I have for peanut chicken. It's for the crockpot, one of my trusty standby kitchen tools in the winter. I decided maybe it's time to break out the crockpot in the summer too. Here's the chicken recipe.

Note: I often skip browning the chicken if I'm just cooking for my husband and I. It's primarily for presentation purposes, so I cut that step out if I need to save time when getting this ready. I usually typically use three cans of tomatoes with green chilies instead of mixing in some crushed since (we don't really care for the extra chunky tomatoes).

Spicy Braised Peanut Chicken

1 T. olive or vegetable oil
3 lbs chicken thighs, skin removed
1 onion, chopped
2 cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
1 can crushed tomatoes, undrained
2 T. honey
1 ½ t. cumin
1 t. cinnamon
1/3 C. creamy peanut butter
2 C. rice, couscous, or some other starch for serving

Heat oil in skillet. Cook chicken in oil about 4 minutes, until brown.

Mix onion, tomatoes, honey, cumin, and cinnamon in slow cooker. Place chicken in slow cooker. Spoon tomato mixture over chicken. Cover and cook on low heat 7 to 8 hours until juice of chicken is no longer pink when cut. Stir in peanut butter until melted and well blended. Serve chicken and sauce over couscous, rice or other. Makes about 4 servings.

From Betty Crocker Slow Cooker Meals, October 2002

Cuban pork sandwiches

Dinner last night was a simplified Cuban style pork tenderloin sandwich and fried sweet potatoes. The pork sandwich got off to a rough start when I realized I didn't have the exact ingredients needed, but I just made my own rub for the pork and roasted it in the oven as directed. It came out great!

The sweet potatoes are another story entirely. I decided to try sweet potatoes instead of plantains. I'm not sure if I cooked them too long or not quite long enough. Either way, they were not all that great. A little mushy or something.

Pork tenderloins, Cuban style

1 2/3 to 2 pounds pork tenderloin, 2 pieces, the average weight of 1 package, trimmed
Extra virgin olive oil or vegetable oil, for drizzling
1 small onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 limes, zested
1 large orange, zested
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano

Cuban sweet rolls
8 crusty rolls, such as Portuguese rolls, torpedo loaves or muffuletta style round rolls
4 teaspoons sugar

Relish for sandwiches
6 dill pickles, chopped
1/2 cup sweet red pepper relish
2 scallions, chopped

Sandwich fixins
1 pound shaved ham, from the deli counter
1 pound shaved Swiss cheese, from the deli counter
4 tablespoons butter, for toasting sandwiches


Plantains
1/4 cup corn oil, 4 turns of the pan
4 black (ripe) plantains
1 teaspoon fine salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Coat tenderloins with oil. Combine onion, garlic, citrus zest, salt, pepper and dried oregano in a pile on your cutting board. Pack this coating equally and evenly onto the tenderloins. Heat a large skillet. Add a drizzle of oil and sear tenderloin on all sides. Then place in hot oven to roast 20 to 25 minutes. Wash hands.

Brush rolls with a little warm water and sprinkle the tops of the rolls with 1/2 teaspoon sugar each. Pile rolls on a baking sheet and place in oven with meat for 5 minutes to crust rolls and set sugar. Authentic Cuban rolls used for this sandwich are sweet. This sugar wash process gives a similar effect to store bought rolls. When rolls come out of oven, split and pile on serving plate.
Preheat a stovetop griddle over medium high heat.

Heat 1/4 cup corn oil in a heavy skillet over medium high heat. Peel plantains and cut in 1/2 lengthwise, then slice each 1/2 into thirds on an angle. Arrange plantains in pan in a single layer and cook until crisp, continuously flipping for even browning. Remove from skillet to paper towel lined plate and season with fine salt.

To assemble sandwiches: Thinly slice meat on an angle. Place ham and Swiss cheese on a serving plate, separating and fluffing up the shaved meat and cheese. Assemble sandwiches with desired fillings and place on a hot, buttered griddle. Use a heavy pan to press the sandwiches together. Toast until golden brown, then flip and toast the other side.

Combine chopped pickles, sweet red pepper relish and scallions in a small bowl.

Spread the relish on the tops of the rolls and pork slices, ham, and swiss cheese on the bottoms. Press the sandwiches together. Put about 1 tablespoon of butter on the hot griddle and spread to coat. Put 2 sandwiches at a time on the griddle, and top with a heavy cast-iron skillet. Toast sandwiches on the griddle, turning once, until golden, hot, and cheese is melted, 2 or 3 minutes per side.

Serve with a few slices of plantains per person as a side dish.

From Get Togethers: Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals, Rachael Ray (Lake Isle Press, 2003)

How it all began

When I left home for college, I could barely boil a pot of water. Fast forward to today: I'm married, have a baby on the way and I've had visions of working on some kind of compilation of my favorite recipes, maybe even my own cookbook! In a fairly short time, I've progressed from making simple macaroni and cheese (after learning that you will never boil the water with the pasta in it) to some more complex dishes and cuisines.

In general, on weeknights, I prefer to cook things that require less time. I like to take more complex recipes and make the simpler and quicker. I rely quite a bit on things like 30-Minute Meals from Rachael Ray and other shortcut cooking. I like to try more difficult or time consuming recipes on the weekends or other occasions when I have more time.

I decided to start this site to feature recipes that I've tried (the successes and failures) and to point others to the many great resources that have helped me learn to cook. Some recipes are from my favorite cookbooks, some are from friends and family and a few are those that I've pieced together myself.