Nastassja Catski

Be still, my beating heart!

We have a new baby!  It took me a few months to reach the point where I felt ready, but I think we chose the exact right time and place.  I had decided I wanted a gray female, since the Nefarious P.I.G. was a black male, and I didn’t want to be constantly comparing the new kitty to my companion of 18 years.  We went to the Hamilton County Humane Society, which had been highly recommended to me by a dear friend who is a serious animal lover.  We had planned to go the previous weekend, but Derek was intent on cleaning out the garage and the basement, and I certainly didn’t want to disrupt that!  When we walked through the doors, the first thing I saw was a beautiful little gray cat.  As soon as I walked toward her, she started sticking her paw through the cage, and when I got close, she stuck her tongue out at me.  That, as we say, was that.  She is a gorgeous Russian Blue, and if we had been two minutes later, another man there told us he would have adopted her.  Since she is somewhat of a Russian aristocat (!), we decided to give her a Russian name, and since she turned out to be a bit of a nut, her name has evolved into Her Royal Craziness, the Princess Nastassja Catski. 

As it turned out, it was a gorgeous day and we stopped on the way to have lunch in Carmel, at a Cajun place called Mudbugs.  I’m always skeptical of places that call themselves Cajun or claim to have New Orleans food, and I’ve been seriously disappointed 95 % of the time.  This time, however, I was very pleasantly surprised.  We talked to the owner while we were in line, and I mentioned that I would know it was an authentic Cajun restaurant if they put the potato salad in the gumbo, which is a habit I’ve never seen anywhere but New Orleans.  He laughed and said he and his wife are from Abbeville, La, and that they grew up eating potato salad in their gumbo.  I can’t tell you how much that tickled me!  We talked about another local place that claims to serve New Orleans food, but puts cumin in their red beans!  He was as horrified by that as I, and said, “Cumin?!  What is he smoking?”  He said he had tried numerous distributors before he found French bread that he considered worthy, and Derek is a fiend for oysters, so we had to try the highly touted oyster poboy.  I’m happy to say it was a very close approximation to what we expect in New Orleans.  I was in the mood for some chicken and sausage gumbo, and Derek decided to try the red beans and rice as well.  I’m delighted to say that all of the above were excellent, and as close to New Orleans food as any I’ve encountered outside of Louisiana.  Thanks, Roy Leblanc!

Speaking of Cajun/Creole food, Derek is making Crawfish Etouffee tonight, and red beans and rice with tasso and andouille for tomorrow night.  The smells coming out of our kitchen are making me really homesick – and hungry!

 

Perfect Friday Night at home

Grilled oysters and Pinot Grigio

As you may know, Derek and I are huge fans of the Sons of Anarchy series, which we get on DVD after the season is over.  I prefer watching it that way because we can gorge ourselves on it rather than having to wait a week between episodes.  I’ve been working outrageous hours and what gets me through the week is knowing that on Friday night I can stay up until midnight watching Jax Teller!  I can usually keep my eyes open long enough to get in two episodes.

Derek went to our neighborhood Kroger yesterday evening and got some oysters on the half shell and some beautiful swordfish steaks – wild caught – so much better than farm-raised.  I got home from work around 7:30, took a hot bath, had a nice cold glass of Charles Shaw Sauvignon Blanc (my everyday favorite) and put on my second favorite pair of flannel pajamas.  Derek grilled the oysters with my Drago’s-style recipe ( see the post from 08-29-11 for the recipe) and they were really plump and delicious.  He said they put up a good fight!  I had some black olive tapenade left over from earlier in the week when I used it on grilled pork chops, and we put that on the grilled swordfish, had some grilled ciabatta and some grill-roasted Brussels Sprouts and watched our boys on bikes.  Delightful.

Here’s the recipe for the black olive tapenade; as always the measurements are approximate:

A good handful of various pitted black olives – this time I used some tiny briny Nicoise olives, some oil cured olives and some regular black olives out of a can.  That’s what I had, but you could use any combination of black olives you like, as long as you have some of the more flavorful ones.  Kalamata olives would be a good choice, but I didn’t have any

¼ - ½ C extra virgin olive oil

Zest of one lemon

1 T each, fresh oregano, thyme and parsley, minced

1 anchovy

1 T each fresh lemon juice and red wine vinegar

1 t capers

A pinch of red pepper flakes

Fresh ground black pepper

Grilled Swordfish with Black Olive Tapenade

Throw it all in the food processor until it’s a smooth paste.  It will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge, and I’m beginning to think it’s going to be a great condiment to have around for almost any kind of grilled, pan sautéed, baked or broiled meat, fish or fowl.  It would be good on pasta or bruschetta, too. The lemon zest and parsley give it a nice fresh flavor, so I tend to use a heavy hand with those two.  You can modify the ingredients to taste, and some sun-dried tomatoes would probably be delicious, as well.

God Bless Dan Wheldon

RIP Dan

I’m not a huge race fan, although the idea of auto racing is very exciting to me.  Yesterday was a very sad day for Indy car racing: British IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon, the winner of the 2011 Indianapolis 500, was killed in a 15-car collision.  It was heartbreaking to see the reactions of his fellow racers and his team.  RIP, Dan.  You will be missed.

London Broil with Creamed Spinach

Although we weren’t thinking about Dan Wheldon when we planned it, we had a sort of traditional English supper last night.  Consider it to be in your honor, Dan.  It consisted of London Broil, cooked medium rare (maybe not so typical of the Brits) with creamed spinach, broiled tomatoes and boiled new potatoes with butter, parsley and lemon juice.  It has been said of my creamed spinach that it doesn’t taste even like a vegetable.  I suppose that’s a good thing for those who are not fond of eating herbaceous plants.  I am not one of those, but I do love good creamed spinach.  My recipe was originally from the Silver Palate Cookbook, I think, although I doubt it’s exact.  It’s been years since I laid eyes on the actual cookbook, which is probably in a box somewhere in someone’s garage – maybe ours!  Anyway, here’s the recipe for Creamed Spinach:

1 box frozen chopped spinach

1 small onion, minced

4 strips bacon

1 T unsalted butter

Pinch of fresh-grated nutmeg

1 T all-purpose flour (I use the white whole wheat)

¾ C Half and Half, room temperature or warmed but not boiling

¼ - ½ of a brick of cream cheese or Neufchatel.  I would not recommend fat-free for this.

Salt and fresh ground white pepper to taste

Cook the spinach using just the water that’s frozen in the package.  Don’t overcook it; it should only take a few minutes.  Drain the spinach well and set aside in a strainer.  Cut the bacon into 1 inch pieces and fry in a small saucepan.  Remove with a slotted spoon and put on a paper towel to absorb the grease. Set aside.  Remove all but 1 T of bacon grease from the saucepan and add the tablespoon of butter to it.  Heat until sizzling.  Saute the onion in the bacon grease/butter combination until soft and translucent.  Sprinkle with flour and cook for 2 – 3 minutes.  Add the Half and Half and stir or whisk until it’s smooth and creamy and slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.  Add the nutmeg and stir gently.  Squeeze all of the remaining water out of the spinach and add to the flour/Half and Half/onion mixture.  Mix well.  Add the cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese a little piece at a time, until it’s thoroughly blended into the spinach mixture.  Add the bacon pieces and salt and pepper to taste.  This can be made ahead and re-heated in the microwave, or in a covered saucepan with a little Half and Half added.  Sometimes if I’m feeling particularly decadent, I add a little pat of butter to it just before serving.  This is also really good inside of a tomato that’s been stripped of its insides.  The combination of creamy spinach and tangy tomato is very yummy, and makes a colorful and festive side dish.

Saturday night at home: Roast chicken with fall vegetables

Meg thinks this is naughty

Yesterday was a gorgeous October day: clear skies and a cool crisp breeze that carried a hint of smoke and decay.  It was a good day to cook something in the oven and we had a whole chicken that needed attention, so I decided to roast a chicken with some fall vegetables full of beta carotene.  I got a huge sweet potato, a lovely golden acorn squash, some carrots and some gorgeous Brussels sprouts.  The carrots were roasted with the chicken so that they absorbed some of that lovely chicken flavor.  I got a late start, so I poked holes in the sweet potato and microwaved it for 4 minute, then cut it into 16 pieces.  I cut the squash in half lengthwise, scooped out the seeds and stringy parts, then cut it into chunks and microwaved them for 3 minutes.  I tossed the slightly cooked squash and sweet potato with some olive oil, salt and pepper and laid out the pieces in a single layer on a cookie sheet.  Those went into the oven for the last half hour of cooking, along with the Brussels sprouts, which I cut in half, tossed with olive oil, garlic, fresh thyme and salt and pepper, then placed face down on a smaller cookie sheet.  Simple, easy and full of autumnal flavors that created an irresistible smell in my kitchen.  We watched a couple of episodes of Sons of Anarchy while we ate our dinner and that was our relaxing Saturday night at home.  After dinner, Derek stripped the meat from the bones of the chicken and threw the carcass in the crock pot with some carrots, onion and celery and this morning we woke up to the aroma of rich chicken stock. I’m sure I’ll think of something to do with it before the week is over.  Buon Apetit!     



Roasted fall vegetables with sage







Hello again and Southwest Chicken Salad

Southwest Chicken Salad with Chipotle Lime Dressing

Hi, fellow food lovers.  I’ve missed you!  My new job has had me working such long hours I haven’t had time to do anything but work, eat, bathe, sleep and the most basic/ essential tasks to keep a household running.  At any rate, we’ve had some good meals lately, some of which, unfortunately,  I forgot to even photograph.  One of those was a big pot of Italian Wedding Soup, which happens to be my very favorite soup in the world.  It’s a bit labor intensive because you have to make over a hundred little tiny meatballs, but the end result is delicious - and well, cute!  I promise I’ll take pictures next time I make it, which will surely be sometime during the long cold winter that’s waiting to pounce on us.  I’ve been chewed out by a friend for neglecting the blog, which actually made me very happy.  I also had a request to post the recipe for the Southwest Chicken Salad I made the other night.  It turned out very well, if I do say so myself.

 In this case, I started with a store-bought rotisserie chicken that was not overcooked for a change!  Typically, I would grill a whole chicken myself using southwest flavors, but I’m beginning to think that’s an unnecessary use of time.  The store-bought one with BBQ flavors was perfectly fine.  I use Romaine lettuce for this, as well as some of our few remaining Juliet tomatoes L, canned black beans, grill roasted fresh corn, orange bell peppers, roasted poblanos from our garden, and red onion.  Derek roasts the poblanos himself over the burner, but you could do it on the grill or even the broiler.  If you’re not familiar with the process of roasting fresh chiles, you just roast them using your preferred method, turning them frequently until they’re spotted with black all over.  Then let them cool and peel the burned skin off of them.  Delicious!  I’m going to post the actual recipe, by request.  I make a chipotle lime cilantro dressing that Derek is really crazy about.  It’s very easy and can also be used as a sandwich spread.  This is a very colorful and pretty salad; I think it’s pretty healthy, too.  Here’s the recipe, as promised:

Southwest Chicken Salad

For the salad:

Leftover roasted or grilled chicken, shredded into bite-sized pieces

1 orange bell pepper, cut into ½ inch strips

1 or 2 roasted chiles, such as Poblano, or Hatch; peeled and cut into ½ inch strips

½ a small red onion, sliced thin

1 small can of black beans, rinsed and drained

3 ears of fresh corn, roasted and cut off the cob

8 Grape tomatoes, cut in half

1 avocado, cut in bite-sized pieces

1 head of Romaine lettuce, washed and cut into bite-sized pieces

Broken tortilla chips to garnish

For the dressing:

1 C mayonnaise; I use Hellman’s Olive Oil, but you could make your own homemade mayonnaise, if you’re so inclined.

Remaining half of the small red onion, minced

2 – 3 toes fresh garlic, minced

Juice from fresh limes to equal about 3 T

1 T lime zest! (it’s easier to juice the lime if you zest! it first)

1 small can chipotle chiles in adobo; use as much as you like, but take it slowly.   These babies are hotter than you might think.  I use about 2 T of the liquid and 1 or 2 of the chiles, depending on how hot I want it.  Start with 1 and go from there.

1 handful of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed until smooth; it usually ends up being the color of Thousand Island dressing.  I sometimes add a little more lime or cilantro, but those quantities are a fairly good start.

Assemble the salad ingredients on top of the lettuce and toss with a small amount of the dressing, adding more a little at a time until it’s coated and the degree of heat you like.  You don’t need too much, so start with a little and add it as you go.  You shouldn’t need any salt or pepper.  Top with some broken corn tortilla chips and a little sprig of fresh cilantro.  ¡Disfrute!

Saturday night Spanish Supper (eaten at 10:00 p.m.!)

Paella

Hi, y’all.  Whew!  I’ve been working really long hours at the new job and last week I was sick with a super vicious cold, so I haven’t been writing much.  Truth be told, I haven’t been cooking much, either.  I was working on doing a series of posts about salads and salad dressings, but I got bored and frustrated with it.  I may get back to it one of these days, but in the meantime, I’m back to writing about life in Naptown, our garden and what’s on the table. The garden is winding down, although we still have the herb garden and some tomatoes and there’s a new batch of mixed greens, as well as the wild arugula and parsley that are popping up all over. It is definitely fall here.  The leaves are well into their transition from cool greens to fiery yellows and reds.  Having grown up in New Orleans, the changing seasons are thrilling to me, even knowing that a long cold winter is ahead. 



 So, what have I been cooking lately?  Derek worked all day yesterday, so I lounged around the house most of the day, took a nap and did a little internet shopping.  I made Brown Rice Paella for dinner – one of my favorite dishes.  I use Cook’s Illustrated’s recipe as a guideline for technique and quantities, since cooking brown rice can be a little tricky if you’re not used to it.  I like to believe that using brown rice makes the dish a little healthier!  I start off with four bone-in chicken thighs that I brown in one frying pan while prepping everything else and browning the chorizo.  You’ll also need chicken broth (low sodium store-bought is fine for this, since the dish has so many flavors), dry white wine, red and green bell peppers, fresh onion and garlic, a small can of diced tomatoes, some saffron (has to be the real thing), bay leaf, fresh parsley, frozen green peas, shrimp, a dozen fresh mussels in their shells, and of course, Spanish dry cured chorizo.  You don’t want to use the Mexican fresh chorizo in this dish if you can possibly avoid it.  Much of the flavor of the dish comes from the dry cured chorizo and the better the quality, the better the paella will turn out.  I use 1/3 cup of wine to de-glaze the pan I use to brown the chicken thighs, and add that to the rest of the mixture; it adds some lovely color and depth of flavor.  I’ll add the complete recipe at the bottom of this post.





Ensalada de Espana with Orange Sherry Vinaigrette

 I like to make my salads a real prelude to the meal, so in this case, I wanted to use ingredients typically found in Spanish cuisine.  I had some lovely Artisan lettuces (I still don’t really know what "artisan" means in regards to lettuce, but whatever).  I added a perfectly ripe avocado, segments of fresh orange, red onion, black and green olives, and then garnished the salad with toasted almond slivers.  I dressed my Ensalada de España with a vinaigrette made of Sherry vinegar, a little fresh-squeezed orange juice, Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil, fresh-ground black pepper and salt/garlic paste.  I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s my favorite way of getting the taste of fresh garlic into your salad dressing without any unpleasant overpowering bites of garlic.  Take a small toe of fresh garlic and mince it.  Add a couple of pinches of sea salt, and with the flat of your knife, mash the two together until they form a smooth paste, which you whisk into the vinegar/citrus before you add the oil. It may seem like a lot of trouble, but it will take less than five minutes and it will improve your salad dressing 300%, I promise!

Here's the recipe, as promised:

Ingredients

• 1pound extra-large shrimp (21/25), peeled and deveined
• Olive oil 
• 8-9medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 tablespoons)
• 4 chicken thighs , each thigh trimmed of excess fat
• 1 red bell pepper and 1 green bell pepper , seeded and cut pole to pole into 1/2-inch-wide strips, so that you have about 14 strips; chop the rest and add to the onions
• 6 ounces Spanish chorizo , sliced 1/2 inch thick on the bias; remove the casing so that the sausage won't curl up
• 1 medium onion , chopped fine (about 1 cup)
• 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes , drained, minced, and drained again
• 2 cups long-grain brown rice
• 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads , crumbled
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 dozen mussels , scrubbed and debearded
• 1/2 cup frozen green peas, slightly thawed
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1 lemon , cut into wedges, for serving (optional)

Instructions

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Toss shrimp, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 1 tablespoon oil, and 1 teaspoon garlic in medium bowl; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper and brown on both sides in a large skillet while working on the peppers.  When the chicken thighs are evenly browned, remove from the pan and set aside on a plate to cool.  When cool, remove the skin and eat it as a tasty treat - it gets soggy and unappealing if left on anyway!
2. While the chicken is browning, heat 2 teaspoons oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering but not smoking. Add peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until skin begins to blister and turn spotty black, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer peppers to small plate and set aside.
3. Reduce heat to medium and add chorizo to Dutch oven; cook, stirring frequently, until deeply browned and fat begins to render, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer chorizo to bowl with chicken and set aside.
4. Drain the oil in the Dutch oven, leaving about 2 tablespoons; heat over medium heat until shimmering but not smoking. Add onion and chopped peppers and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 3 minutes; stir in remaining garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes; cook until mixture begins to darken and thicken slightly, about 3 minutes. Stir in rice and cook until grains are well coated with tomato mixture, 1 to 2 minutes.  De-glaze the pan from the chicken with white wine, scraping up all the brown tasty bits at the bottom of the pan.  Add to the Dutch oven along with chicken broth, saffron and bay leaf; increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil, uncovered, stirring occasionally.
5. Cover pot and transfer to oven; cook until rice absorbs most of liquid, about 20 minutes. Remove pot from oven; add chicken and chorizo, cover pot, and transfer to oven; cook for 25 minutes. Remove pot from oven; scatter shrimp over meat and rice, insert mussels hinged side down into rice (so they stand upright), arrange bell pepper strips in pinwheel pattern, and scatter peas over top. Cover and return to oven; cook until shrimp are opaque and mussels have opened, about 12 minutes.
6. Let paella stand, covered, about 5 minutes. Discard any mussels that have not opened and bay leaf, if it can be easily removed. Sprinkle with parsley and serve, passing lemon wedges separately, if desired.  Serve with a green salad and a nice dry red or white wine.  I like a Spanish Tempranillo with this.