Ah, that Italian-American mainstay: chicken piccata! Who isn’t fond of chicken breast pounded thin, coated in flour, then cooked down with garlic, white wine and bright squeezes of lemon juice?

Those (sad, sad, sad) folk are few and far between, let me tell you. After making it recently, I fired up my trusty laptop to hopefully sway a few souls.

And then I saw it. Apparently, the last time I posted a chicken piccata recipe, I got so caught up in the moment that it managed to bypass my recipe index.

Just because I posted once doesn’t mean I’m afraid to do so again- this time, with veal standing in for the chicky. Let’s quickly re-visit this easy, delicious weeknight staple.

Dredge pounded-down veal in a spiced flour coating, then cook until just crusty:

Remove the veal,  add in lemon juice, wine and stock to scrap up all those lovely, crusty bits.

When the pasta is about a minute shy of being done, drain, then add it into the pan. Mix well, and let the flavor go all rock ‘n’ roll.

Throw on a decent dusting of Parmesan, mix again, and you’re ready to go.

Oh, yes! Check out the recipe here.

The Vineyards Trattoria (formerly Fresco Trattoria), has a mouthwatering pasta dish topped with a spicy, creamy sausage sauce known as pasta ala buttera: penne topped with spicy sausage and peas in a light, flavourful cream sauce.

As the new trattoria doesn’t serve this dish, it was time to re-create it at home.

Dave sauteed the usual garlic and onion, then added in some crumbled spicy Italian sausage. A splash of red wine helped to un-stick all of those lovely crispy browned bits, while tomato paste provided an additional level of body and flavour.

As the pasta boiled, the sauce simmered quietly, thickening up just a touch.

When all was ready, Dave added in a splash of half & half, along with a generous handful of peas.

With that, it was time to eat.

Spicy Sausage Cream Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 red onion, minced
1 pound hot Italian sausage, casing removed
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 can tomato paste
1 cup half & half
3/4 cup frozen peas
salt and pepper
grated Parmesan cheese

In a large skillet over medium high heat, pour in the oil, then add the garlic and onion. Saute until onion begins to turn translucent.
Add the sausage, breaking up with wooden spoon, until browned. If necessary, drain off excess grease.
Raise heat slightly, add wine and stir, scraping up any crusty bits.
Add tomato paste, mix well, then add in half & half. Reduce heat and let gently simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes. Add the peas, stir well, cooking until warmed through.
Taste and adjust seasoning. Add to pasta of choice, finish with parmesan.

Notes: this recipe, like most sauces, is extremely versatile. Feel free to add in dried or fresh herbs and fresh or canned tomatoes.

It was Poker Night… again.

If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you’ll know that’s code for

“Shelley-gets-to-eat-stuff-
that-Dave-won’t-Night”!

As Dave commenced with set-up (with Evie helping, natch), I retired to the kitchen to finish a quickie blog posting.

Dunzo!

With that finished, I pulled out what would become dinner, rinsed and allowed to air dry while considering how to cook ‘em up.

Fresh and clean-smelling, they’d been culled from the morning’s catch.

Now, it’s no secret that I love scallops:

• spicy
• Provencale
• grilled
• wrapped
• citrusy
• just plain sauteed, in all their fat, beautiful glory

While all of these are great preparations, I wanted to try something different. A little voice whispered something to me, but all I could hear was “delicious.”

No, wait! It was actually more like “del.icio.us“! I hopped on over, and there it was, Mark Bittman’s Triple Sesame Salad with Scallops!

The recipe calls for grilling, but I just threw them in a pan and went to town. The most difficult part of this recipe was putting together the marinade, which, if you’re using a blender, is quicker than it’s been to type out this posting.

Oh, yes! The dressing was a little sweet, a little spicy, and the perfect complement to salad and scallop alike.

Triple Sesame Salad with Scallops

Yield 4 servings

Time 20 minutes

Mark Bittman: Grilled scallops are almost ludicrously fast and easy, and their texture and flavor complement the greens and the dressing. But you could also use shrimp, steak or boneless chicken — preferably thighs, which have better flavor than breasts and are less likely to dry out over the grill’s heat. Whichever you choose, you could also cook it on top of the stove in a grill pan or a regular skillet.
Ingredients

* 1/4 cup soy sauce
* 1/4 cup rice wine or other vinegar
* 2 tablespoons sesame tahini or smooth peanut butter
* 1 tablespoon sesame oil
* 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, cayenne or ground chilies, or to taste
* 1 tablespoon honey
* 1/2 teaspoon peeled and chopped garlic
* 1 teaspoon peeled and chopped ginger
* 1 1/2 to 2 pounds sea scallops
* Salt
* 6 to 8 cups mesclun or other salad greens, washed and dried
* 1/4 cup torn Thai or other basil, washed and dried, optional
* 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

Method

* 1. Prepare a gas or charcoal grill. Place soy, vinegar, tahini, sesame oil, red pepper, honey, garlic and ginger in a blender, and blend until smooth. When grill is hot, sprinkle scallops with salt and grill about 2 minutes a side; they should remain tender and undercooked in the middle.
* 2. Combine greens and basil, and divide among 4 plates. When scallops are done, place them on top of the greens. Drizzle with dressing, sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

Source:

The New York Times

Saturday morning. Always a good day, right? The sun was shining, the sky was clear, and Dave and I were speeding across the James River Bridge.

Our future looked bright, flush with the promise of lovely fresh crabs.

Johnson & Sons Seafood, located in a little nub of Carrollton known as Eclipse, proved to be a lively shopping experience; equal parts colourful characters, briny, bobbing jellyfish, and shiny, snappy, pissed off blue crabs.

After poking our heads into the retail portion of the biz, we discovered “the boys” were still out on the water, pulling the day’s catch.

“You can hang on the dock ’till they get back in,” a kindly faced woman said. “It shouldn’t be long.”

Red (our guide, and resident Eclipsean), Dave and I made our way over to the dock. An aged seafood enthusiast had already set up camp.

While I snapped a few photos, he regaled us with some highly colourful, mostly un-repeatable stories; suffice to say, it kept us occupied until the boats began to roll in.

As the crabs buckets came out, he leapt into action.

As money and handshakes were exchanged, one little fella almost got away:

He didn’t, and we were shortly on our way home with half a bushel of extremely feisty crabs. Luckily, Dave knew just how to deal properly with this lively batch.

Crabs bobbled in the rippling waves as the boil got under way.

Sure, it looks brutal. But the lovely spices (including garlic, bay leaf, old bay and beer) began to spiral up into the air, and suddenly, the only things on my mind were two: sweet butter, and freshly squeezed, tart lemon juice.

From then on, it was grabby-grabby, clacky-clacky, and steam-softened crabby love.

(Sorry, Lia.) :)

With a proper coating of Old Bay, and a touch more steaming, it was crab-pickin’ time.

Towels in hand, wine glasses at the ready, it was a glorious, pickly, crab-stained bliss.

Two hours passed quickly, truly the antithesis of fast food: fresh brine, snapping claws, spiced steam, sweet flesh and fantastic company made for an unforgettable experience.

One I certainly hope to repeat soon.

(No recipe for this one, just get the freshest crabs possible; boil with water, beer, old bay and any other spices deemed appropriate. When the crabs have turned from lively blue to potent red, remove, drain and eat immediately, with generous squirts of lemon. Round out with icy cold beer or wine, and spend at least two hours slowly picking, talking and laughing the evening away. Napkins are not optional.)

… well, at least if you’ve got fresh herbs and goat cheese floating around, and I typically do!

• Take one log, or round, of delicious chevre.
• Take two or three variety of herbs, and chop/mince: basil, parsley and thyme are my go-to’s, but have fun exploring other combos.
• Roll the cheese in the herbs, slap it down on a platter, and garnish with pretty, fresh things. (In the winter, forgo that last bit.)
• Kick back with your friends, and enjoy!

…and just gets away from you sometimes! Since Evie Kai-Tan has joined our clan, life has turned into trip after trip to the vet’s office. She came not only cute and sweet, but as a Typhoid Evie, afflicted with an upper respiratory illness and conjunctivitis.

(After thinking she was cleared up, we left to go to our beach vacation. It was promptly cut short: our cat sitters called with the news that flu and festering eyes seemed to be spreading.

Returning to a house full of sick cats, we were quickly engulfed in the twice-daily ritual of shoving pills down throats, dispensing eye drops, and applying ointment- directly to the eyes.

*shudder*

All seem to have made full recovery, with the exception of our eldest, Princess Melange of the Anadrazzi. She’s still quite sick, but Mel has always been a fighter. We’re hoping she gets better (very) soon.

/end kitty health rant)

At any rate, Dave had a birthday recently, and requested paella for dinner. I was more than happy to comply.

I came across Paella al’Americaine in Julia & Company, and was instantly besotted with the description:

A whole rice dinner in one pot, Spanish style, that’s the paella, and a hearty, savory family or party dish it is, too. You can put anything into a paella you want, as long as you have rice, saffron, garlic, and paprika for your base; the trimmings can be chicken or rabbit or fish, lobster, snails, mussels, sausage, or even squid. But the key to its success is the rice, which must be perfectly cooked, with the grains separate and slightly al dente–and for success you need either the fat Italian rice, the short-grained Spanish rice, or “converted” rice.

Further research revealed that the ideal texture of the rice should be slightly crusty and golden. Known as socarrat, it’s the delicious prize hidden at the bottom of the pan. I use Arborio: a quick blast of heat at the end of cooking allows the perfect meeting of crunch and creaminess.

As long as there’s rice, you can pretty much mix up the remaining ingredients. Sofrito, sausage, chicken and shrimp showed up in this one, along with chickpeas, black beans, halved grape tomatoes and a sprinkling of green peas.

It was a filling meal, but since we were celebrating, dessert was close at hand.

Now, this was no simple chocolate sheet cake. Rather, it contained a couple of Dave’s favourite things, all wrapped up in one lovely package.

Hello,

peanut butter and fudge brownies with salted peanuts!

Imagine biting into the most perfect, dense, decadent chocolate brownie, studded with chunks of peanut.

Are you there? Good. Now top that with a layer of creamy peanut butter frosting… then top that with a rich dark chocolate ganache. In an act of self preservation, I served it with vanilla bean ice cream, to counter the rich loveliness that emerged.

Happy birthday, my one true love!

Paella ‘a l’Americaine Recipe

SERVES 8 -10

• 1 lb fresh chorizo sausage or Italian sausage or fresh pork sausage
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup sliced onion
• 1 cup sliced green bell pepper
• 1 cup sliced red bell pepper
• 8 chicken thighs or chicken drumsticks (I use bone-in, or more)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine or vermouth
• 3 cloves minced garlic (I tend to use more)
• 4 1/2 cups good-quality chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron strand
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• salt and pepper

Finishing the Paella

• 2 cups imported Spanish rice or italian rice or converted rice (Julia suggests Uncle Ben’s; I use arborio)
• 16-24 raw shrimp, in the shell
• 3 medium tomatoes, peeled,seeded,juiced,and roughly chopped
• 2 cups fresh green peas or diced fresh green beans, blanched 5 minutes
• 1 cup chickpeas, fresh cooked or canned (I use black beans)
• 1/2 cup black olive, pitted
• 2 lemons, quartered
• parsley sprig

After a long hiatus, the Bistro cats have returned for another glorious go at weekend cat blogging. This time, there’s a new addition to the household, and her name is Evie.

She was a Father’s Day present for Dave, rescued from the Isle of Wight County Humane Society. At just over 7 weeks old, she’s full of kitten cuteness, big purrs, and lots of snuggling.

Luckily, she loves to do many of those things right on Dave’s shoulder.

Evie has been doing her best to make friends with the other kitties in the house, and Sirius has (thankfully) decided to mentor her.

I’m thinking she’s going to have a great life here.

Welcome, Evie, and a big hollah to all my fellow WCB folk- it’s been way too long! :)

Head on over to the ultra-fab Stellaluna, hosting their first weekend cat blogging event.

I considered the dull knife in front of me, which had just barely managed to saw raggedly through a lemon.

Long a lemon bar lover, I wanted to make my own, and without relying on that nasty, Pledge-like artificial stuff.

The recipe required lemon juice, natch, and something called lemon zest. Zest? In a kitchen without proper equipment, my mind reluctantly toyed with the idea of peeling the lemon- with that same, fear-inducing knife- then attempting to mince it into smaller particles.

15 minutes later, I was at the grocery store, searching through the spice aisle for lemon zest. There was some suspicious-looking dried orange peel, but no lemon zest. Coming home with a bag of chocolate chips in hand, I made cookies instead, excitedly envisioning the day when I could make my own zest, no grocery store necessary.

This was, obviously, quite some time again, and in the intervening years, I became the proud owner of not one, but two capable zesters. My love for lemon bars hasn’t flagged in the least, so just about every time a different recipe catches my eye, out they come to transform smooth citrus skin into a neat pile of mince.

This version, from Cook’s Illustrated, is wonderfully tart, not too eggy, and just what the doctor ordered to take the edge off those dog days of summer.

Crispy and Creamy Lemon Bars

For the crust:

• unsalted butter (for greasing pan)
• 1 3/4 cups ap flour
• 2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 Tablespoons (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, at very cool room temperature, cut into 1-inch pieces

For the Lemon Curd:

• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
• 3 Tablespoons ap flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup lemon juice (from 3-4 large lemons), strained
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

For the crust: Dot the bottom of a 9 X 13-inch baking pan with butter and line with a sheet of parchment large enough to go up and over the edges of the long sides of the pan. Dot the parchment with butter and line the pan with a second piece of parchment, large enough to go up and over the short sides of the pan.

Pulse the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the butter and process to blend 8-10 seconds and then pulse until the mixture is pale yellow and resembles coarse meal, about three 1-second bursts. Sprinkle the mixture into the prepared pan and press firmly with your fingers into an even layer on the bottom of the pan and about 1/2 inch up the sides.

(The mixture will be very light and fluffy, almost like cornmeal, rather than like pie dough. Forming the sides may appear difficult, since the mixture is so light, but it will harden during baking. Don’t worry if the sides are uneven either in height or thickness. It will look much better when baked.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes. While crust is chilling, heat oven to 350-degrees. Bake crust 20-25 minutes, until light golden brown.

For the filling: Whisk the eggs, sugar and zest in a medium bowl. Whisk in the flour and salt and then stir in the lemon juice, milk, and butter to blend well.

Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Stir the filling one more time and pour into the hot crust. Bake until the filling feels firm when touched lightly, about 20 minutes. (Watch carefully, since once the filling starts to set it will firm up quickly- don’t overbake.)

Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and cool until almost at room temperature, about 30 minutes. Pull on the long sides of the parchment paper to remove entire bar from the pan in one piece and place on a cutting board. Cut into bars about 2 inches square, wiping the knife as necessary.

-The Dessert Bible, Cook’s Illustrated, Christopher Kimball

Note:  Take it out just before you think it’s done… it’s done, alright!  See the cracks below?  I took it out too late, but thankfully, it still tasted great.

I remember, quite clearly, my first fish taco.

Dave and I headed over to California wine country for our anniversary, six whole days filled with wine, food and gorgeous scenery.

Two of those days were spent in the Napa environs, home to Taylor’s Automatic Refresher. There, good people, is where I delved between the folds of a fish taco.

Grilled Mahi Mahi, in a spicy marinade, was wrapped in two soft corn tortillas, along with Mexican slaw and a fruity salsa. The flavours were perfection, and I couldn’t wait to taste my next one.

Except, somehow, I never had another while wandering on Western shores. Attempting to find one locally was laughable, so we decided to roll our own. A little research revealed the Baja-style of fish taco, where the fish is fried, as opposed to grilled. A simple slaw and cool, creamy dressing complete this harmonious trifecta.

 Any firm-fleshed, mild white fish is appropriate for this.  I used inexpensive tilapia, but you could also try flounder, sole or catfish- or even mahi mahi!

Whole fillets are dredged in a spicy batter, then fried to golden perfection.

As Dave wrangled the fry-pan, I put together a very simple cilantro cream sauce.

Meanwhile, pre-shredded lettuce was mixed with a dollop of apple cider vinegar, and a pinch of salt.

 Right on time, the fish was finished. Dave turned it out onto a plate, roughly chunking it for easier taco insertion.

Mmmm… such delicious, crunchy fish!  With great restraint, we managed to not gobble away the pile before loading up our tacos.

Yep… Mamma Baja would be proud!  

Classic Baja-Style Fish Tacos

For batter:

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons beer (not dark)
• 1 cup AP flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano

For sauce:

• 2/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup plain yoghurt
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For fish and tacos:

• about 8 cups vegetable oil for deep-frying
• about 1 cup AP flour
• 1 (1-pound) cod fillet, cut into 3 by 1/2-inch wide strips (or other firm white fish, such as tilapia)

12 corn tortillas

accompaniments: finely shredded cabbage, lime wedges, guacamole, and salsa

Make the batter: Combine beer, flour, salt, garlic powder, dry mustard, oregano and pepper in a blender and blend until smooth, about 20 seconds. Transfer to a bowl and let stand, covered, for 1 hour.

Make the sauce: Stir together mayonnaise, yogurt and salt in small bowl. cover and refrigerate.

Fry the Fish: Heat 2 inches oil in a 4-quart deep heavy saucepan until it registers 350-degrees on thermometer. Put flour in shallow dish. Dredge 10 strips of fish in flour, shake off excess, then coat in batter, letting excess drip off, and add to hot oil. Fry, stirring, until pale golden, 2-3 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Repeat with remaining fish, returning oil to proper temp between batches. Set pan of oil aside.

Heat the tortillas and refry the fish: Wrap tortillas in stacks of 6 in foil, and heat in oven until hot, 12- 15 minutes. Unwrap tortillas and transfer to a cloth lined basket, folding cloth over to keep warm.

Meanwhile, reheat oil until it registers 375-degrees. Refry fish strips in batches of 10, stirring, until golden brown, 1-2 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain again.

Top tortillas with fish, cabbage and sauce. Squeeze limes over tacos and serve with guacamole and salsa.

-The Gourmet Cookbook, 2004

Cilantro Cream For Fish Tacos

Shelley’s Notes: 

• I only used the batter from the “classic” recipe. Keep in mind that if you don’t have, or don’t want to use beer, soda water is an acceptable substitute.
• I also forgot to dredge the fillets in flour, and they turned out fine.
• Pre-shredded, bagged coleslaw was doused in cider vinegar and a pinch of salt, then mixed well.
• If you have a good mango salsa on hand, use it!

It’s almost Memorial Day weekend. In the States, we honour the many brave soldiers who have given their lives defending our country.  Oddly enough, most of us seem to celebrate by pulling out the grill, flaming up a stack o’briquettes, and smoking/grilling/barbecuing meat and veg with equal enthusiasm.

That’s all well and good: who doesn’t like a perfectly lovely grilling session at this time of year?

I certainly do, but Dave isn’t going to keep the grill a-goin’ for the next three days straight. For those other times, I like to tuck away something substantial to sate any lost souls who may come wandering ‘cross our threshold.

I make a sandwich. Not just any sandwich, mind you. This is affectionately known as “The Sub… The Almighty Sub of Ultimate Power!”  Or ’sup for short, followed by a quick nod of respect.

A sturdy loaf of French bread is bisected, then slathered generously with an onion-hot pepper relish. Both halves are then plied with Swiss cheese, and four different kinds of luncheon meats.

(sadly, the photos accompanying this post were a quickie lunch time version, utilizing a mere two meats.)

It’s not surprising that this behemoth comes from the teen-raising years of my mother-in-law. After construction, its wrapped tightly in saran wrap, then placed in the fridge. It can live there up to a week, although in a highly teen-trafficked kitchen, two days seems to be the norm.

While it can be eaten cold or hot, I definitely lean towards hot. The cheese goes melty, the sodium-laced luncheon meats give off some of their grease, and the bread turns into a golden sponge, sucking up all of that zesty, delicious flavour.

The Sub: it’s definitely whats for lunch!

The Almighty Sub of Ultimate Power

Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 small onion, minced

1 loaf good quality French bread
1/4 pound each: garlic bologna, salami, olive loaf, summer sausage

swiss cheese
hot pepper spread

Marinate onion in dressing mixture.
Slice French bread into two parts lengthwise.
Add hot peppers, then onion-dressing mixture, then cheese (so it bonds to bread).
Place two meats on one side, other side gets two different meats.

Close sandwich and wrap tightly in aluminium foil or saran wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

To enjoy hot: spread it open, and cook in a hot oven at 375-degrees, until meats begin to curl and cheese has melted.