Posted by: Thursday on: June 29, 2009
The main recipe was from Cooking Light, as usual. The chicken I got was about 4.7 lbs, and we had to double the spice rub. The time on the grill is about right, and definitely follow the directions on coal setup.
The second recipe is a salad with avacado, cucumber and cherry tomatoes. It’s also from Cooking Light, however there is one big modification. I used a cup of couscous instead of farro. Mostly due to the fact that the store I was at didn’t have farro. But it was great with the couscous, and would probably do that again.
Had a 2006 Chard-on-yeah Chardonnay from California. It went really well, with refreshing citrus notes and no oak.
Posted by: Thursday on: June 20, 2009
From Cooking Light. I ended up using thick, boneless chops as that was all I could find. Brined them for about four hours, and they were very juicy, but the texture was a bit dry. Fixed that by spreading some chutney over the top once they were done.
Had Easy Mushroom Orzo on the side and Snap Dragon Red (CA, 2007) to drink. The latter was an awesome red blend with luscious spicy notes that would probably go with a plethora of bbq items.
Posted by: Thursday on: June 15, 2009
From Cooking Light. Ended up sort of doubling/tripling this, and I can’t imagine how 1/2 lb chicken would make very many kebabs. Used more like 1 1/2 lbs chicken, and two zucchinis and it made five kebabs.
Served it with mostly plain couscous. That is, only flavored with some chicken broth and Cavender’s Greek Seasoning.
A Goats Do Roam white finished it off.
Posted by: Thursday on: June 11, 2009
Heat about a tbsp or so of sesame oil in a wok, then stir-fry some minced garlic and either fresh ginger or some powdered, until brown and fragrant. Add broccoli and stir-fry until tender. Add a bunch of chopped green onions and then two bands of soba.
Toss with soy sauce, rice vinegar and some more sesame oil. Just to taste, but it should have a bit of a tang, so don’t skimp on the vinegar.
Posted by: Thursday on: December 18, 2008
A Scandinavian dinner.
INGREDIENTS
| 2 tablespoons butter |
| 2 tablespoons flour |
| 1 1/4 cups milk |
| Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste |
| Nutmeg to taste |
| 1/4 cup grated Jarlsberg cheese |
| 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese |
| 2 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless cod fillets |
DIRECTIONS
| TO MAKE THE JARLSBERG SAUCE: In a 1-quart saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. When the foaming subsides, add the flour and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat and gradually pour in the milk. |
| Place the saucepan over medium heat and bring the milk slowly to a simmer, whisking as it comes to a simmer, and cook for a minute. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste and remove from the heat. Add the cheeses and stir until they melt into the sauce; reserve for later. |
| Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Set the cod filets in a 9-x-13-inch baking pan and bake for 10 minutes or until just cooked through. Turn the broiler on to high, pour the sauce over the fish and broil for 1 to 2 minutes or until the sauce is golden brown and bubbling. Serve immediately. |
Spinach Pancakes
Source: Best Recipes in the World
Makes 6 to 8 servings
Another good pancake starter or side dish. At their best hot, but still good warm. You can use frozen spinach for this if that’s all you have.
INGREDIENTS
10 ounces fresh spinach, large stems removed, or one 10-ounce frozen package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained.
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 to 2 cups buttermilk as needed
2 tablespoons melted and cooled butter
Butter or neutral oil, like corn or grapeseed, for frying
1 cup sour cream, optional
1 tablespoon minced lemon zest, optional
DIRECTIONS
Put the fresh spinach in a covered saucepan over medium heat with just the water clinging to its leaves after washing or plunge it into a pot of salted boiling water. Either way, cook it until it wilts, just a couple of minutes. Drain, cool, squeeze dry, and chop.
Preheat a large skillet, preferably nonstick, over a medium-low heat while you make the batter. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Mix together the dry ingredients. Beat the eggs into 1 1/2 cups of the buttermilk, then stir in the melted butter. Stir this into the dry ingredients, adding a little more buttermilk if the batter seems thick; stir in the spinach.
Use a teaspoon or two of butter or oil each time you add batter (you can use less with a nonstick skillet if you like). When the batter foam subsides or the oil shimmers, ladle batter onto the griddle or skillet, making any size pancakes you like. Adjust the heat as necessary; usually the first batch will require higher heat than subsequent batches. The idea is to brown the bottom in 2 to 4 minutes, without burning it. Flip only when the pancakes are fully cooked the bottom; they won’t hold together well until they are ready.
Cook until the second side is lightly browned; as the pancakes are done, put them on an ovenproof plate in the oven for up to 15 minutes. Mix the sour cream and lemon zest together and place a small dollop on each pancake.
Used frozen spinach and it worked fine. A wine pairing is a little hard, we had a Spanish rose.
Posted by: Thursday on: October 22, 2008
You absolutely must marinate this overnight to get the best flavor.
3 1/2 lb pork shoulder, boneless cut into 8 x 2 1/2 x 1/2 pieces
Marinade:
5 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp minced ginger
2 tsp minced garlic
4 tbs ketchup
4 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp five spice powder
1 tbs sherry
1/2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbs hoisin sauce
Combine in a bowl or ziplock bag and add pork. Marinate overnight.
Preheat oven to 375. Put pork in roasting pan with rack and add a cup of water. Bake for 20 minutes, basting occasionally with remaining marinade. Turn and bake another 20 minutes.
Add honey and red food coloring to marinade if desired. Take pan out of oven, switch to broil. Baste both sides of pork with the modified sauce and bake for 1 minute on each side. Tent with foil and let cool for ten minutes. Slice thinly. Serve hot or cold
Posted by: Thursday on: October 22, 2008
Yukon gold potatoes are the key ingredient to give the soup rich, buttery flavor. Definitely don’t sub them out for something else
Soup:
2 tablespoons butter
3 large leeks, thinly sliced
6 cups cubed peeled Yukon gold potato (about 2 1/4 pounds)
6 cups vegetable broth
2 thyme sprigs or 2 tsp dried
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 lb True Cod, cut into bit-sized chunks
To prepare soup, melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add leek; cook 10 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally (do not brown).
Add potatoes, water, pepper, broth, and 2 thyme sprigs. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes or until potatoes are very tender. Add cod and cook until done.
As this is a French meal, we had French bread and a white 2006 Cotes du Rhone by Cellier du Rhone from France.
Posted by: Thursday on: September 30, 2008
14oz dried udon noodles
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 bunch green onions, roughly chopped
1 head bok choy, sliced
1 8oz box sliced mushrooms
4 teaspoons dried green seaweed, soaked in hot water and drained
1 package bonito dashi
powdered ginger
minced garlic
4 tablespoons Japanese or light soy sauce
freshly ground black pepper to taste
Bring water to the boil, add the noodles and cook for 7 to 15 minutes. Rinse under cold water and drain.
Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan until very hot and stir-fry the veggies for a few minutes. Add the dashi, a few shakes of ginger and a spoonful or so of minced garlic.
Add the noodles and remaining ingredients and seasonings, and stir-fry for 1 minute.
*Some shrimp meat and/or tofu would work really well in this for a main course
Posted by: Thursday on: September 10, 2008
The menu is found on page 230 of the September 2004 Cooking Light and includes the title recipe along with a recipe for Coconut-Almond Couscous, which was fantastic. Did everything in both recipes as it said. I used Indian cumin/cilantro curry paste instead of say, Thai. The whole menu was hard to place ethnically. It was vaguely Indian, vaguely Thai and vaguely Mediterranean.
Had a 2007 Josefina Syrah Rose from California with it and it went perfectly.
Posted by: Thursday on: September 10, 2008
Page 128 of the September 2008 Cooking Light, right next to the last one. Again, used a bit more of everything. And also we didn’t fry stuff in batches. Instead doing pork first and then pretty much everything else. Also, the sauce was a little bland, so soy sauce was added, along with garlic for both the sauce and the stir-fry. The rice we put in the main dish, instead of serving over rice.
Had a Crane Lake Riesling with it.
