01.16.06

Manic cooking

Posted in Cooking at 8:49 pm by Beau

I’ve cooked my hands down to a bloody pulp this weekend. Encouraged by the 30-minute Meal books I’ve purchased over the last few weeks, I swung out, planned my grocery lists, and had at it:

Chili Sweet Potato Hash with Fried Eggs and Fresh Tomato Salsa
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
1/2 pound bulk breakfast sausage, such as maple sausage
1 medium sweet potato, scrubbed clean, cut in 1/2 lengthwise, thinly sliced into 1/2 moons
1 large red onion thinly sliced, divided
2 teaspoons chili powder, 2/3 palm full
1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/3 palm full
2 teaspoons ground coriander, 2/3 palm full
Salt and pepper
3 yellow vine ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, a palm full
1 lime, juiced
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, a few handfuls
1 cup grated manchego or extra-sharp Cheddar
1 tablespoon butter
4 large eggs

Preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat with 2 turns of the pan of olive oil, about 2 tablespoons. Add the breakfast sausage and break it up with the back of a wooden spoon into little chunks, brown sausage for 3 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes and 3/4 of the chopped red onion to the sausage, season with chili powder, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper, stir frequently and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the potatoes are nice and tender.

While the hash is cooking, in a small bowl combine the tomatoes, jalapeno, and the remaining chopped red onion, cilantro, lime juice and a little salt and pepper.

Once the hash is cooked, add the chopped parsley, stir to combine and transfer hash to a serving platter. Sprinkle with the cheese and cover with aluminum foil, the cheese will melt while you make the fried eggs.

Wipe clean the skillet you made the hash in, return it to the cook top over medium-high heat and add the butter. Once the butter has melted, crack each of the eggs into the skillet, season with a little salt and pepper and fry to desired doneness. Eggs may, of course, be scrambled as well. As you like!

Transfer the fried eggs to the top of the hash, sprinkle with the fresh tomato salsa and serve.

My take: This was AWESOME!! My favorite of the whole weekend. I could make this over and over again. Seriously, the surprise is the great salsa flavor over top of the dish.

Sausage, Mushroom, and Pesto Polenta Lasanga
recipe in Rachel Ray’s No Repeats cook book which I left at home. I’ll post the recipe next weekend for anyone interested. This was ok. I need to tweak the amount of the ricotta filling but Jeff ate it and liked it so it’s a keeper.

Turkey Cacciatore Burgers on Portobello “Buns”
1 1/3 pounds ground turkey breast, the average weight of 1 package
Salt and pepper
6 crimini mushrooms (baby portobellos) stems removed and finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed away from skin and finely chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Romano, a couple of handfuls
Handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
4 large portobello mushroom caps, stems removed
Coarse salt and black pepper2 cups arugula leaves, coarsely chopped
1/2 pound fresh mozzarella or fresh smoked mozzarella, thinly sliced
Sliced red onion and sliced yellow and plum tomatoes

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

Combine meat with salt and pepper, chopped crimini mushrooms, chopped bell pepper, chopped onion, garlic, tomato paste, Worcestershire, crushed red pepper flakes, cheese and parsley. Score and form meat into 4 large patties, 1 inch thick. Drizzle extra-virgin olive oil on top the patties then fry 5 or 6 minutes on each side in a hot skillet.

Place portobello caps on a small baking sheet gill side up and drizzle extra-virgin olive oil on them. Roast the caps 12 minutes. Remove them from the oven and season them with salt and pepper. Turn oven off. Top each cap with about 1/2 cup arugula and a burger. Cap burger with mozzarella and place back in still-warm oven. Melt the cheese 1 minute. Transfer burgers on “bun” bottoms to plates. Top with onions and tomatoes and serve.

My take: These didn’t work at all. I ate a half and threw the rest away. I was really disappointed because all the ingredients looked and smelled so great but the end result was like bland, woody cardboard that would need SO much mayonaise just to eat, it wouldn’t be worth it.

Grilled Chicken Cutlet Parmigiana
2 pounds thin cut chicken breast, cutlets
Salt and pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling, plus 2 tablespoons
3 to 4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 small yellow skinned onion, finely chopped
1 (28-ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes, such as Muir Glenn brand
1 cup, 20 leaves, fresh basil leaves, shredded or torn
1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/2 pound smoked mozzarella, thinly sliced

Heat outdoor grill or indoor grill pan to high. Season chicken with salt and pepper and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil to keep it from sticking to the grill. Cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side and transfer to a foil covered platter to hold. If you are using a grill pan, cook the chicken in 2 batches if necessary. While chicken cooks, make sauce.
Place a medium pot on the stove over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan. Add garlic, crushed red pepper flakes and chopped onions. Cook 10 minutes, stirring often. Add tomatoes and heat through, 2 minutes. Wilt in the basil and season the sauce with salt and pepper.

Preheat the broiler to high.

Layer the chicken with fire roasted sauce in a casserole dish. Top the casserole with Parmigiano and mozzarella. Brown the casserole under the broiler 3 minutes.

My take: This turned out pretty well which surprised me. I thought for sure it would flop and be tasteless but it was surprisingly flavorful and moist AND I was actually able to put it together and have it on the table in under 30-minutes.

And my non-Rachel Ray attempt:

Almond Danish Swirls
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup slivered almonds, chopped fine
2 (8-ounce) cans refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1 egg white
1 teaspoon water

Glaze:
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
4 teaspoons milk
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, almond extract, and sugar until fluffy. Fold half of the chopped almonds into the cream cheese mixture. Separate 1 can of dough and assemble into 4 rectangles. Firmly press the perforations to seal. Press or roll each piece of dough to form a 7 by 4-inch rectangle, and spread each with about 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese filling to within 1/4-inch of the edges. Starting at the short end, roll each rectangle tightly into a cylinder. Repeat with the other can of dough and remaining filling.

Place on a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and chill until firm, about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F while the rolls are chilling.

Remove from the refrigerator and cut each roll into 4 slices. Place 1/2-inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. In a small bowl, combine the egg white with 1 teaspoon water. Brush over the swirls. Sprinkle with the remaining chopped almonds. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until light brown.

While the swirls are baking, combine the glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Cool the swirls for 3 minutes on wire racks placed over a sheet of waxed paper. Drizzle the icing over the warm swirls.

And so that was it. I did manage to squeek out a paper on private versus public insurance reimbursements and finish a team presentation on core performance measurments in healthcare so I’m feeling rather…productive, strangely enough.

My take: I LOVED THESE and they were so simple! It’s unfortunate that I wanted to lose 15lbs because these pieces of evil are going to fuck that plan to hell…but I DONT CARE! Seriously, they’re amazing.

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