A Gibson Girl

I have The Hunger Games Cookbook on my Nook—and yes, I find it somewhat ironic that something called the HUNGER GAMES has a cookbook—and have just made my first recipe from it. It was DIVINELY easy and really yummy—think Red Lobster cheese rolls (except probably healthier). 

The recipe is called “Katniss’s Craved Cheese Biscuits” and is described thus: 

Katniss loves Peeta’s family’s cheese buns, and throughout The Hunger Games trilogy the buns become a symbol of home and of Katniss and Peeta’s lives before they became tributes. This symbolism is so pervasive that Katniss’s preference for cheese buns becomes part of Peeta and Katniss’s “Real of Not Real” game to help Peeta find himself after the Capitol violated and changed his memories.

The yield is about 12 buns. You can probably get about 14 if you’re using a regular spoon. 

NOTE: For the non-cooks out there: Old Bay seasoning is usually used with seafood dishes, and can be found near the seafood section (fresh or frozen). It’s amazing! And you use the garlic powder twice—once for the biscuits themselves and once for the topping.

So, here we go: 

2 c. Bisquick

1/3 tsp. garlic powder (NOT GARLIC SALT!)

1/4 c. sugar

2/3 c. milk

3/4 c. sharp Cheddar cheese, grated/shredded (either works)

1 stick butter

1/2 tsp. garlic powder (NOT GARLIC SALT!) 

1/2 tsp. Old Bay seasoning

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees and grease a large cookie sheet. 
• Mix Bisquick, garlic powder (1/3 tsp.), sugar, milk and cheese until well-blended.
• Drop by spoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheet.
• Bake 8-10 minutes. 
• In a small saucepan, melt butter. When melted, stir in 1/2 tsp. garlic salt, Old Bay and kosher salt. Generously brush mixture over the tops of the cheese buns. 
• EAT! 

The book notes that in Brazil and parts of Northern Argentina, buns like this are eaten for breakfast, as well as snacks. I say they are yummy anytime!

(I adapted the recipe slightly: in the cookbook it says to combine all topping ingredients (from butter onward) in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds, until butter is melted. But I don’t have a microwave, so I went the old-school route.) 

SO MUCH weekend cooking happening here!

Today: Making Gwyneth Paltrow’s tomato sauce. It really is a great basic tomato sauce—which is the title of the recipe, “basic tomato sauce”. It’s great plain, but also as the base for her fantastic pasta puttanesca. 

Also starting The Barefoot Contessa’s brioche. If you know me, you know this is something I make just about every three day weekend I get. It doesn’t require a lot of kneading (and the bit it does require…helllloooo stand mixer!), makes two great loaves, and keeps forever in the freezer. It’s a perfect bread. With this, I’ll be making Croque Monsieurs, which I’ve never tried. (These are both from her Barefoot in Paris cookbook). 

Sunday: Also from BIP, Lemon Chicken with Croutons. There was a sale on whole chickens at Whole Foods this week, so I grabbed one (should’ve grabbed two, in retrospect, but I don’t make whole chicken that often). I have a TON of roast chicken recipes, but since Ina Garten is a Roast Chicken Fanatic, I decided to try this one. The croutons are french bread, so very appropriate. Also serving a big salad with it, and possibly some veggies. Not sure about that part. 

Outside my window…getting dark—the porch lights are on (I do love my porch light!) 

I am thinking…iPHONE!!! (I just got one.) Huzzah!

I am thankful for…improvements that make it easier for me to communicate w/ the CI. (Although I still have to figure out mic placement…)

From the kitchen…lots of options! Probably a carbonara this week, but also Williamsburg Peanut Soup!!! Yum!

I am reading…Outlander (again), Introduction to the Devout Life

In the CD player…The Best of Simon and Garfunkle

Around the house…yet more unpacking. But it’s mostly “finishing” stuff now. Day off tomorrow so some vacuuming, tub cleaning, etc. And flu shot!

One of my favorite things…free apps. :) And Hockey season started!

Plans for the rest of the week…flu shot tomorrow and Catholicism movie class at church; Dominican novitiate class on Thursday, and then 20s group. 

Continuing my summer tomato adventures...

This is from A Couple Cooks, a really fun cooking blog, that I just recently discovered. The recipe calls for mint, but I goofed and bought basil. It was very good that way, though, so if you can’t find the mint, try basil.

Everything was local! The tomatoes, the peaches, the basil. OK, the balsamic vinegar wasn’t. But the main ingredients—yes.

Find the recipe here.

This is also happening tonight—5 pounds of tomatoes from the market!

More of my summer tomato recipes:

Sun-dried tomato pasta

Shore-roasted tomatoes w/ blueberries and Old Bay

(and there are more coming…I’ve got to put up a roman tomato salad recipe tonight, too)

from Everyday Italian

I don’t, in general, like pesto. But I love sun-dried tomatoes. So when I saw this recipe in my copy of Everyday Italian, I thought, why not?

It was a good call. Oh my, friends. This is a good meal. DEFINITELY heed this note: While the pasta cooks, scoop out a good 3/4 c.-1 c. of pasta water, and use it to dilute the pesto. This will make it much more “spreadable” and will coat the pasta more evenly, so you get pasta avec sauce, not pasta avec sauce clumps. 

The addition of fresh basil makes this a perfect recipe to try in summer and fall, when the basil plants are blooming!

 1 (8.5 oz) jar sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil

1 c. (packed) fresh basil leaves

2 garlic cloves

1/2 c. freshly grated parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

In the bowl of a food processor, blend the sun-dried tomatoes and their oil with the basil and garlic just until the tomatoes are finely chopped. Transfer the pesto to a medium bowl and stir in the cheese and 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper. Season the pesto with more salt and pepper to taste. Add water until it is the desired consistency.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: (with farfalle pasta, per serving)

Cal: 518

18.5 g fat/ 2.4 g saturated fat

69.4 carbs

4.5 fiber

19.0 protein

Vitamin A 8%, C 3%, Calcium 17%, Iron 35%

Serves four

I’m using this recipe. Once they’re done, they’ll go in the freezer for an hour to chill and then into baggies.

I only did six this time. Pics once they’re out.

from Giada de Laurentiis’ Everyday Italian

I love cooking with shrimp. It’s fast and easy and always good! Today’s edition to my shrimp repertoire: Shrimp fra Diavolo (essentially, “Devil shrimp.”) It’s hot, spicy, and fast! Try it soon!

1 lb. large (jumbo) shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tsp. salt, plus more to taste

1 tsp. dried crushed red pepper flakes

3 tbsp. EVOO

1 medium onion, finely chopped (I used red onion. Red onion—more heat!)

1 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes, with their juice

1 c. dry white wine (I used a Portuguese wine from Trader Joe’s. Oh yum.)

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1/4 tsp. dried oregano flakes

OPTIONAL: 3 tbsp. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, and 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil.

IN A medium bowl, toss the shrimp with 1 tsp. of the salt and the red pepper flakes. In a large, heavy skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the shrimp and saute until just cooked through, 2-3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the shrimp to a plate and set aside. Add the onion to the same skillet and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juices, wine, garlic, and oregano, and simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 10 minutes. Add the shrimp back to the skillet and stir in fresh herbs (if using). Add more salt, if it needs it. Spoon the shrimp and sauce into bowls and serve.

NUTRITION INFO:

per serving (this makes 4 servings)

232 calories

10.5 grams fat/1.4 g. saturated fat

9.5 g carbs

2 g fiber

17.8 g protein

Vitamin A 20%     Vitamin c 34%     Calcium 9%     Iron 8%

Stay with me here.

Tomatoes? And blueberries? Are you kidding me?

No. These are so, so good.

They are especially good if, like me, you have access to local tomatoes. The SMELL of the tomatoes alone made me want to eat them like apples, roasting be damned. But I am also pretty sure that the fresh wonderfulness of them added to the luscious end result.

Here is the recipe. Really, the Old Bay is what hooked me. I love that stuff, and I have a friend who likes it as well—he’s actually the one who convinced me to try it, and he was right—it’s good.

So here’s the recipe.Feel free to halve it like I did—although I stuck with two tsp. Old Bay and 2 tsp. sugar. (And I used “regular” sugar, not raw.)

And that, my friends, is what they look like with some basil chiffonade over them. (The basil was also local!)

from Rachael Ray’s first 30 Minute Meals cookbook, which, really, is one of my desert island cookbooks. I love almost everything in it.

Ingredients

 
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

4 chicken breasts

2 tbsp. EVOO (twice around the pan)

1 large fennel bulb, ferns removed, halved and sliced thin

1 large yellow onion, halved and sliced lengthwise

14 oz. chicken broth

1/4 c. golden raisins

parsley

salt and pepper

Rub the balsamic vinegar into the chicken breasts to tenderize.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the olive oil. Add chicken and cook 5 minutes on each side. When finished, remove to plate.

Add fennel and onion to pan. Cook until onion starts to caramelize, about 2-4 minutes. Add chicken back to pan. Add broth, raisins, parsley, salt and pepper. Heat through. Serve.

Here’s the first recipe I shall be attempting, probably on Sunday, from Med Summer.

Serenity Marinara
From Mediterranean Summer, by David Shalleck
(all recipes are his, unless other wise attributed)

Makes about 4 cups

¼ c. pure olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, peeled, cut into 6 wedges, and the layers separated
3 garlic gloves, peeled and lightly crushed
1 tbsp. roughly chopped anchovy fillet
2 tbsp. finely chopped Italian parsley
2 28-oz. cans whole peeled tomatoes, pureed with their liquid
½ tsp. dried oregano
½ tsp. hot red pepper flakes
1 ½ tsp. fine sea salt
1 tsp. sugar

Heat the olive oil, onion, and garlic together in a nonreactive saucepan large enough to hold the tomato puree over medium-low heat. (A pot lined with stainless steel works best because it will not affect the flavor of the sauce.) Cook, stirring from time to time,until the onion and the garlic are soft but not browned, 8 to 10 minutes from when the onion starts to sizzle. Remove the onion and add the anchovy. Using a wooden spoon, mash the anchovy with the garlic so that they combine into a paste. Add the parsley, stir, and continue to cook for 30 seconds, then add the tomato puree, oregano, hot pepper, salt and sugar. Adjust the heat to keep the sauce at a low, steady boil, and cook, stirring from time to time to keep the sauce from burning on the bottom, until the sauce starts to thicken, 30-40 minutes. The sauce will have lightened in color, and the bubbles will pop on the surface rather than coming from within. Check the seasoning and add oregano, hot pepper, or salt to taste as needed.

And for everyone’s favorite…dolci. :)

Dolci

Fresh Fruit Macedonia with Mock Limoncello Syrup (Macedonia di Frutte Fresche con Sciroppo di Limoncello)

Baked stone fruit with sweetened ricotta and crushed Amaretti cookies (Frutte al Forno con Ricotta Dolce e Biscotti Rotti)

Chocolate Capri Cake (Torta di Cioccolato Caprese)

Whipped Mascarpone cream (crema di Mascarpone)

Panna Cotta

Primi is usually pasta, while secondi is usually a meat dish. In formal dining, contorni (vegetables) would follow the secondi, but those recipes aren’t included in Shalleck’s Mediterranean Summer recipes.

Primi

Linguini with clams and zucchini (Linguine con Vongole e Zucchini)

Spaghettini with San Marzano Red Claim Sauce (Spaghettini con Vongole in Sugo Rosso)

Dried Pasta with Tuna Sauce (Pasta Asciutta con Sugo di Tonno)

Secondi

Baked snapper (or any tender,flaky fish) with Tomatoes and Olives (Pesce al Forno con Pomodori e Olive Neri)

Halibut in crazy water(Pesce in Acqua Pazza)

Leghorn style fish stew (Cacciucco Livornese), which uses the Serenity Marinara

These are all taken from the book Mediterranean Summer, by David Shalleck. I’m not including all the recipes he gives, just the ones I’m interested in trying.

Sauces and Condiments

Fresh Tomato Sauce (Sugo di Pomodoro)

Serenity Marinara (La Nostra Marinara)

Dijon Mustard Vinagrette

Madame Quillier’s Rouille

*

I always think it’s a good idea to try making your own sauces and condiments. It saves you money in the long run, and it’s a lot better for you. A salad dressing can just be basic ingredients that you mix up fresh.

Obviously in addition to the ingredients needed for the sauces, vinagrettes, and rouille, you’ll ned to have an idea of what to use them with. So be sure you have some nice pasta (linguine or spaghetti), some salad greens you like, etc.

Appetizers, Salads, Sandwiches

Marinated Chickpea and Arugula Salad (Insalata di Ceci e Ruchette)

Shrimp, Summer Vegetables, and Rice Salad (Insalata di Riso con Gamberetti e Verdure)

Panzanella (which can also be a main course)

Grilled Tuna panini (Panini di Tonno alla Griglia)

Mozzarella in Carrozza (Italian grilled cheese!)