Archive | April, 2010

Smashed Lemon Potatoes

29 Apr

It is hard to argue with the rule that everything is better with butter. I wouldn’t dare get into an argument about butter (or bacon for that matter) but I will present a claim that everything is better with lemon. Now, it may be because I’m a Floridian and grew up with an unlimited supply of lemons growing in the yard – but even now without any lemon trees on Mendenhall I spend 50 cents a pop for them and always have them on hand in the house. Either savory or sweet – lemon adds an extra twist to any flavor – even water! Lately I’ve been trying to come up with new ideas for potatoes and thought that smashed lemon potatoes might be worth experimenting with. They were delicious! And, proved my point – Everything IS better with lemon! You just try to prove me wrong!

 Lemon Smashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

  • small new potatoes
  • butter
  • lemons, zested and juiced
  • garlic, minced (optional)
  • salt and pepper

Assembly: Wash potatoes. To speed the process up, microwave the potatoes in a covered dish for about 5 minutes or until tender. Add them to a large pot with some butter. Smash them with the back of a fork or potato smasher. Add the zest and juice of one lemon, garlic, salt and pepper. Taste! Cook the potatoes until crispy. Taste!

Single-Life Salt and Pepper Salmon

28 Apr

Don’t you just love the scene in Must Love Dogs when Diane Lane gets in an argument with her butcher over a single chicken breast?  As depressing as Diane Lane can make single-life look, dinner for one on Mendenhall is never half bad. I’ll be the first to admit that cooking for one is never the most appealing excercise but it should certainly never feel like punishment. Single folks deserve well-cooked homemade meals too!  

I proved this point on Monday night when I put together a great meal of Salt and Pepper Salmon, Lemon Smashed Potatoes and sautéed sugar snap peas. I bought just enough for one – and had a completely civilized and quiet evening alone (aside from Winston barking under the dining room table).

Salt and Pepper Salmon (adapted from a Tyler Florence recipe)

Ingredients:

  • 1 small piece of salmon
  • salt & pepper
  • olive oil
  • butter
  • lemon, juiced

Assembly: Lightly salt the salmon and let it sit for a couple of minutes. Heat a splash of olive oil in a pan on medium high until almost smoking. Add a sprinkle of pepper on the salmon. Smear a small amount of butter on the skin side of the salmon (not the healthiest but it will help the skin get super crispy). Add the salmon to the pan skin side down. Sear until crispy – about 5 minutes. Flip and cook for one or two additional minutes. Plate and sprinkle with lemon juice!

Mexican Stewed Zucchini

27 Apr

This weekend I traveled to Raleigh to see my friend Beth for brunch and to attend the opening of the new NC Museum of Art. Like any good foodie, I did my restaurant research on the front end so we could have the best brunch available in Raleigh. With the help of my new email friend – and food blogger Hayley (check her out here: http://hayleygolightly.wordpress.com) we set our minds and tummies on Poole’s Diner in Downtown Raleigh. With  nothing the least bit healthy on the menu we dove in head first.  Now hold your Lipitor! We ordered fried chicken, mac and cheese and pimento cheese scrambled eggs to share. We barely made a dent but still felt lethargic for the rest of the day. When I arrived home I scavenged for the closest vegetable and was lucky to find leftover zucchini in the fridge.

Inspired by the seasonal vegetable I was served a couple of weekends ago at Dos Perros in Downtown Durham (you would think I don’t live in Greensboro anymore!), I put together a spicy Mexican zucchini stew. I loved the unexpected heat of this side dish (served along side grouper) and the fact that they didn’t over cook the zucchini. With a dairy detox on my mind (really? pimento cheese eggs and mac and cheese in one meal?), I set out to replicate this dish. I used both fresh jalapeno and Savory Spice Shop (check out their new Food Network Show) Mild Green New Mexican Chili Powder to layer the heat. This was the perfect fix. I served the stew over a simple couscous cooked in chicken broth with toasted pine nuts.

Mexican Stewed Zucchini 

Ingredients:

  • 1 half Spanish onion, chopped
  • 1 half jalapeno, seeded and minced (add more for extra heat)
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 zucchini, chopped in 1 inch cubes
  • 1 can diced tomatoes with onion and chili
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon Green Chili Powder (more or less)
  • salt & pepper
  • olive oil

Assembly: Heat a splash or two of olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add onion, garlic and jalapeno. Cook until garlic is cooked and onion is translucent. Add zucchini and cook about 5 minutes or until starting to brown. Sprinkle with cumin and chili powder. Add the tomatoes and stew until the zucchini is cooked to your liking (I personally can’t stand it overcooked!). Season with salt and pepper. Adjust seasoning to your liking! Serve as a side dish or on top of rice or cous cous.

Zucchini Carpaccio

26 Apr

Someone said to me the other day “Cecelia, we know you’re all about curb appeal,” and I’m not sure whether it was a compliment or an insult. To her point, I made zucchini carpaccio this weekend for a dinner party not because I thought the recipe sounded very tasty – but because I knew it would present itself well. To my surprise, the dish not only looked beautiful but it was a uniquely refreshing and delicious dish!

There are recipes for zucchini carpaccio just about everywhere right now but I noticed two very appealing on Chow.com and Epicurious.com. Each site presented their own variations. I was nervous about the zucchini tasting too raw and thought it was a better idea to dress the salad in lemon juice and olive oil first (Epicurious recipe). And I thought that feta cheese would add a salty bite in contract to ricotta (Chow). This salad is a cinch to put together – especially with mint growing in the backyard and leftover feta and pine nuts in the fridge. And, I picked up the zucchini at the new Downtown Farm Market just around the corner. With summer zucchini season around the corner – I advise you put this on file!

Zucchini Carpaccio

  • 3 zucchini, sliced thin
  • 1 lemon, juiced and zested
  • olive oil
  • salt & pepper
  • feta cheese
  • half cup pine nuts, toasted
  • 1 teaspoon fresh mint, chopped

Assembly: Slice the zucchini using a mandolin. Dress with lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, salt and pepper. Taste for seasoning (remembering that the feta is very salty). Scatter on a platter and top with crumbled feta cheese, pine nuts and mint.

Ina’s Corn Pudding

23 Apr

I made Ina Garten’s recipe for Corn Pudding on Saturday night to take to my neighbor’s house. I had made everything else on her Tex Mex episode menu and was confident that it would be delicious. Like all Ina recipes, it had probably three times as much dairy needed – but it was as sinful as expected. In a rush, I forgot to add the basil which was disappointing. And it was hard to find a dish large enough to fit everything and fit into a larger water bath. But all in all, the dish rounded out the menu perfectly. I recommend this recipe during a time period in which you don’t have to get your cholesterol checked.

Guacamole / No Photos in GayTown

22 Apr

I heard the phrase “he’s the king of gaytown” on Glee yesterday and couldn’t help but adopt it. Most of the time, I live in GayTown. Last night I spent more than half of dinner with three of my best gay friends talking, over analyzing and agonizing over bathroom tile specs – only to come to no conclusion. Apparently, there are no photos taken in GayTown either (similar to Pleasentville…the only Jim Carey movie I ever liked).

On Saturday night, I went to my friends Chris and Ryan’s house for dinner. Chris made my recipe for Pulled Pork Tacos and I brought a homemade guacamole and corn pudding. I took several pictures at the party but when I came home to download them – they were nowhere to be found!  I blame this on the King of GayTown – my friend Andrew. In light of his deviance, I’ve posted a photo of him with this recipe! Hope the lesson is learned, Andy.

Easy Homemade Guacamole

  • 2 ripe Haas avocados, chopped
  • 2 roma tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 half of a small red onion, chopped
  • 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 4 or so splashes of Tabasco sauce
  • 1 small handful cilantro, minced
  • salt and pepper

Assembly: Combine avocado, tomato, red onion and jalepeno together. Mash with the back of a fork. Dress with lemon (or lime) juice and Tabasco. Stir enough so all the avocado is covered in lemon juice (this will prevent it from browning). Add cilantro, salt and pepper. Taste!!! Make sure it is seasoned correctly!

Pub Burgers

21 Apr

It is rare that you will find me making a burger at home or ordering it out. But, you can’t avoid a good hamburger when  the weather is right. Last year, I made Giada’s recipe for Italian Pub Burgers and they were a huge hit! I even remember my friend Phil saying “this is the best burger I’ve ever had.” – that always makes a host feel good. You really can’t go wrong with topping a burger with taleggio cheese and fresh basil.

I make two changes to her recipe:

  • I make them normal burger size. Sliders are fun but they require more work and I can never guess how many to make per person.
  • I’m not sure why – in the world – she thinks it is a good idea to pulse the meat in the food processor. This will only make the burgers tough. Process the garlic and parsley in the food processor and then mix the meat, tomato paste and garlic/parsley mix by hand. Don’t over work the meat.

This is my favorite burger recipe – it is not only tasty but an unexpected combination of flavors. I highly recommend it for your next cook out!

Pimm’s Cup

20 Apr

The North Carolina ABC likes to stay about a year behind the trends. For the past couple of years I’ve had to run all over town looking for the latest trend in liquors. Last year it was St.Germain, this year it is Pimm’s. When I mentioned this to the ABC store on Friday afternoon while they were searching the county for one bottle of Pimm’s (that happened to be on special order and never picked up), they said “but, we have St. Germain!” and I said “and I’m sure you’ll have Pimm’s in stock this time next year.”

I had a Pimm’s Cup for the first time last spring while visiting my friends in Chicago (maybe we are two years behind?). Since then, it has been featured in several magazines. We made these on Friday night to go along side our Pub Burgers and Tater Tots. I’d say they are more fitting for a Saturday afternoon drink – as they have a very low alcohol content – rather than when you are trying to take the edge off a long week. But, either way, a tasty and refreshing beverage. Hopefully next year you’ll be able to find it easily in the great state of NC.

Pimm’s Cup

  • 2 ounces Pimm’s
  • 1 slice lemon
  • 1 slice orange
  • 1 segment cucumber
  • 1 sprig mint
  • lemon lime soda or ginger ale

Weekends: What a Dream!

19 Apr

One of my favorite things to do is come up with “parrot phrases” for people. Everyone typically has a phrase they use frequently – and if they were a parrot - they would squawk it over and over again. In all honesty, these phrases can be positive or negative reflections of personalities - so watch out! My friend Stephanie, who is the Collaborative Director at Elsewhere Artist Collaborative, functions in a world where dreams are always big. I think that is the secret to her success – and thus Elsewhere’s recent successes. Her parrot phrase is “What a Dream!” In conversation, we typically brainstorm ideas for Elsewhere or Downtown Greensboro and when a particularly good idea is thrown out, Steph always reacts with “What a Dream!”

This weekend when reading the “sad” and “pitiful”messages via social media from friends “stuck” in Europe – I thought – to only be stuck on the European continent with no airline travel – “What a Dream!” But, I have no room for complaints these days. Weekends with the least plans always turn out to be the most fun. Sunny days, evening al fresco meals, life in slow motion – What a Dream.

On Friday evening, I bailed on all my plans and made Pimm’s Cups and Pub Burgers for my friends Larry and Andrew. As delicious as the meal was – the hit was, of course, the frozen tatertots I served alongside. Saturday morning Greensboro Curb Market (a side note: why do Greensborians dress up for the market at 7:30 am?), Saturday night outdoor fiesta across Mendenhall and Sunday morning pots of coffee and fresh egg and goat cheese omelets in the sunshine. Don’t worry folks, we moved a lot in between meals! I’ll post the recipes this week.

PS: My sneaky friends deleted the photos I took of them eating my homemade guacamole Saturday night so I’ll be posting photo adaptations this week – and I’m hoping it will be a successful revenge.

Spring Cleaning Never Tasted So Good: Quick Cuban Sunday Supper

15 Apr

In honor of the spring cleaning season, this weekend I opened my freezer and fished out some odds and ends I stashed away this winter. I was surprised that I was able to put together a quick and delicious Cuban dinner from just a few key ingredients! I found a tub of  Black Beans left over from Michael and Tommy’s October visit and a container of sour orange juice I salvaged from my mom’s yard in Florida (I picked them up over Christmas). With just those two ingredients, I was able to put together a menu of Black Beans and Rice, Grapefruit and Avocado Salad and Cuban Sour Orange Marinated Pork Chops.  All I needed at the store was 2 pork chops, lettuce, an avocado, a grapefruit and an onion to make a quick, festive Cuban Sunday supper!  Spring Cleaning never looked – or tasted – so good!

Cuban Sour Orange Marinade:

  • 1 cup sour orange juice
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon cummin
  • 5 garlic cloves, chopped
  • salt & pepper

Assembly: Combine all the marinade ingredients in a ziplock bag. Add two bone-in thick cut pork chops. Marinate for about 6 hours or over night. Grill and enjoy!

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