Duck and Italian Sausage

Storkbite’s Papa and I got into an argument one night when we were at the park entertaining Storkbite.  He just couldn’t wait for me to make lentils and churn out some quasi-Indian food.  He stomped his feet all the way home, past all the grocery stores and restaurants that we could have ducked into and gotten prepared food.  I was determined to EAT at home that night and not let all my vegetables go to waste.  I came up with a delicious sausage dish.  On a day that I was more prepared, Storkbite and I found our self hanging out at the butcher sample cured meats, so bought our self my favorite - duck breast!  That was a splurge and well worth the investment because I whacked it in half and saved the other breast in the freezer for another day.

Sausage over Zucchini and Pappardelle

In the case I had a container of my very own homemade basic sauce and nice pappardelle noodles which are big and fat.  I just started up my grill pan and layered on the zucchini and sausage.  Once the noodles were done I put it all together - the layer of defrosted sauce, grilled zucchini strips, and the grilled sausage.  Mozzarella chunks over the top that got nice and melted really topped it off with some delicious richness.  This was completed in as long as it took to boil water and make pasta which translates to as long as it took Papa to give Storkbite a bath.  Once she was all cleaned up she sat at the table and enjoyed heaping spoonfuls to Mama’s basic sauce.

Duck, Duck, Goose

Wow, duck is my favorite and it’s so easy!  You get the breast and slice the fat side so it lays flat when you are searing it and give it a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  Simply put it in a really hot cast iron pan on the stove top. I like my Le Creuset red fryer.  Put it on the pan and leave it alone.  After it’s good and ready, flip it over.  Don’t over cook it because it’s good when it’s still bleeding.

On the side were some green beans almandine and buttered noodles.  Very simple and delicious - just saute your green beans with almonds, olive oil, salt and pepper.  With a nice glass of wine it was a great dinner.  Unfortunately I sent Papa out for the wine last minute and he brought back a very unsatisfactory bottle.  I guess I will have to remember to get totally prepared the next time.

Copious Amonts of Zucchini

It’s a bumper crop for zucchini this year - at least from our CSA.   I’m almost running out of ideas on how to process it.  Storkbite is consuming her fair share, it was her first “real” food after all.  I’m not sick of it yet, but it’s getting real hard to be creative.  There has been an overload of eggplant as well.  I’m doing better with it than last year, the last one is going into a baba ganouge today.  I don’t think we will see the end of it though now tomatos are abundant.  My new breakfast is toast, grilled tomato and a friend egg.  Here are a few highlights from the past few days:

Eggplant Rollatini

This was a really easy dish that was prepped over the course of a few days.  One thing I’m learning is take time to prep when you can get it. Storkbite doesn’t allow me time to actually enjoy what I’m doing in the kitchen now that she slithers.  On the day I got seven eggplants, I sliced them all the long way and grilled them with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper.  When they cooled, I neatly piled them into a plastic container and stashed them in the refrigerator.  A few days later (not sure how many) I pulled out my eggplant and made the rollatini.

Simply use a small container of ricotta cheese, mix in an egg, salt, pepper and chopped parsly. Combine it in a mixing bowl and set aside.  Add a ladle full of some sauce (in this case my very own Basic Sauce) to the bottom of your olive oiled baking dish and begin to roll your eggplant.  It doesn’t have to be pretty and sometimes it’s easier to put two eggplant peices together laid flat.  Add a dollop of cheese and roll.  Once you have all your rollatini in the dish, cover it them with sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes until the cheese is golden brown.  This was a Papa pleaser - he loves cheesy baked goodness and it’s a great way to use up your eggplants.

Salmon Loaf

I have no idea what to call this except “Salmon Loaf” which sounds horrible because it was so delicious!  I realized that I had nice grilled salmon left over from the onigiri which was just sitting in the refrigerator calling my name.  Storkbite’s Papa was so taken with this that he wants it worked into our regular menu.  It was very easy so that is fine with me.  The filling consists of chopped grilled salmon, chopped scallions, chives, black sesame seeds and a dash of sesame oil to combine it.  Then I wrapped the filling in sheets of puffed pastry dough available in the freezer section of any super market.  Once it was nicely rolled up I put slits on the top to let the steam out, brushed them with a little oil and sprinkled with black sesame seeds.  I baked these at 425 (as indicated on the dough package) for 30 minutes until golden brown and puffy.  I served by slicing these through the pre-sliced slits which helps to keep the pretty puff pastry in tact.  With a simple salad these were a huge hit, and made great room-temp leftovers for lunch.

Mini Burgers

One of my favorite things is a mini burger. It satisfies my itch for a burger and doesn’t weigh me down after eating 1 lb. of beef.  I like to buy mini dinner rolls at the bakery and make them at home.  In this case I used ground turkey, doctered it up with an egg, salt, pepper, chopped scallions and diced green peppers which I combined in a mixing bowl.  I grilled zucchini chips for toppings and cut up tomatos.  Once I formed my mini burgers into balls, I grilled them on my trusty grill pan.

These got assembled on a toasted bun with olive oil mayo, grilled zuccs, cheddar cheese and fresh tomatos.  They knocked my socks off and were probably on the healthier side of things too.

Basic Sauce - Part II

In the previous post I mentioned that it took at least a month to use the delicious freezer sauce, but alas it took three days.  Some of the incarnations include: eggplant pizza, ravioli and the guest submission sauce over shells.  I would like to thank Mr. Short for his exceptional photograph and note that Mr. Short Jr. ate a walloping five shells with this magic sauce which was an unprecedented amount!  This sauce wins toddler seal of approval and Storkbite even liked it off a pizza bone (i.e. crust).

Eggplant Pizza

There was a serious abundance of eggplant in Thursday’s farm box so I roasted at least four eggplants and stored them in the refrigerator.  For this pizza I got crust a my local parlor, loaded on the sauce, added a layer of roasted eggplant, and smothered it with shredded mozzarella.   The pizza went into a 450 degree oven for at least 45 minutes and turned out to be Sicilian style.  As mentioned, Storkbite polished off a pizza bone and loved it.

Ravioli and Sauce

Nothing special about this meal because it was on a night that Papa worked late and Mama had to do all the bedtime routine soup to nuts. For those nights we have out secret stock of ravioli from the ravioli maker in the Bronx near Arthur Ave.  The shop only sells ravioli and there is a darling little old man that puts a lot of love into each little square. We buy it by the box and freeze it in smaller portions.  The special homemade sauce really kicks it up and notch and the whole thing is plated and served in the time it takes to boil water.

Shells and Sauce

Mrs. Short kindly looked after Storkbite the other day while I went to get a little work done on my face (not really, but I like the way that sounds), so she got some magic sauce to review.  Mr. Short and his fancy camera took this photo which blows all the other photos on Storkbite Stew out of the water.  The best part of this dinner was that it’s toddler approved!  The young Short and friend of Storkbite kept asking for more.  That means that he got several vegetables at once including: zucchini, eggplant, tomato, garlic, basil, and green pepper.  That’s reassuring.

Braised Chicken and Basic Sauce

Every now and again I try out a recipe from a magazine. Generally I look at all the pictures, scan the ingredients and make my own variation. I prefer that method because I do not have a suitable stand to hold a recipe book on my small kitchen counter. However, this time I “tested” out the recipe for braised chicken with dried plums from the September 2008 issue of Martha’s Everyday FOOD. There are a lot of great things about this magazine especially the small format and excellent photographs of mouth watering food. The one problem I always encounter with the dishes that I try is that richness is somehow missing. Either there is not enough butter, cream or cheese. I’m sure it’s more healthy, but I’m often left wanting more…

Braised Chicken with Dried Plums

You can get the precise recipe from Martha. My problem with the dish is that the wine (2 cups of dry white) was very overwhelming. The polenta on the side was too dense and the chicken seemed undercooked since it was browned on either side for 6 - 8 minutes total and then braised in the liquid for another 8 - 10 minutes. I was a little bit squeamish since my chicken was glassy and had colored juices running forth. Hmmm… Back to making up my own stuff, I guess.

Basic Sauce

Every summer when I have loads of vegetables to process I make this sauce. It’s easy, delicious, requires no canning equipment and was my mother’s idea. My mom is an expert canner. In this case I do not use the term lightly as the lady wins blue ribbons and this year Best in Show at our local county fair. No fear of botulism with her goods. I don’t have nearly the amount of vegetables that need to be processed so I make this simple freezer sauce and it’s just as delicious in my opinion because everything is roasted first. In this batch I roasted zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, garlic and green peppers at 425 for about an hour. Everything got a good dousing of olive oil and salt and pepper sprinkle before their roast. Once the vegetables are roasted, remove the skins on the tomatoes and let them cool in their juices on the pan. After it’s all cool, simply process the sauce in a food processor (in batches if you have a lot) adding olive oil to emulsify and freeze in small portions. I generally use it up within the first month because it’s so amazing. It’s great on pasta, pizza, ice cream.

An Old Standby

When we need a pick me up that is creamy and delicious, this family almost always wants two things: Chicken and Dumplings or Fettuccine Alfredo. It’s really as easy a boiling water for pasta - the secret is knowing how to make the white sauce (bechamel).  Just remember - equal parts fat and flour.

3 Tbs. Butter, melted in a sauce pan, add 3 Tbs. Flour, mix and cook down until it forms a paste.  This is called a roux.  Add approx. 2 1/4 cups of milk and whisk together.  Bring this up to a boil and then reduce.  As it thickens, use your whisk!  I added a 1/2 of grated parmesan to this sauce which caused it to thicken faster, but gave it the Alfredo taste.  I have no idea how the real Italians do it, but that’s my quick easy short cut way of making Alfredo sauce and not buying that strange tub of white sauce from the store.

I grilled some chicken tenders, sliced them up and layered everything on top of my fat noodles from Trader Joe’s.

Brand New Baby Greens

The thrilling part of getting your very first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share of the year is the brand spanking new baby greens.  Last week we got baby arugula and it was to die for.  After several soakings in cold water I finally got the sand off of the leaves.  Our farm is called Golden Earthworm Farm and it’s located in Jamesport, NY on Long Island.  Since it’s only about a mile from the sea, the soil is sandy and perfect for growing arugula and spinach.

Our dinner on Thursday night paid homage to the tasty aromatic green.  I didn’t have anything in the refrigerator except some Parmesan cheese and prosciutto.  I used a half box of Barilla thin spaghetti, boiled it then chilled it with cool water.  I added thin slivers of prosciutto, fresh arugula, olive oil, Parmesan, salt and pepper.

It was quick delicious, and best of all it didn’t heat my little kitchen up too much on a hot summer night.