Fancy Chop Suey

Also known as empty pantry, broken hand pasta. 

It’s been a long week and I finally got into the kitchen last night feeling pretty confident in my ability to make something happen. The problem was at the moment, my pantry is empty, and my refrigerator lame. With my husband to my right we decided to whip up a “whatever we’ve got” pasta dish, and it came out great!

As I was growing up, I remember my mom cooked something called American Chop Suey. It consisted of pasta, tomato sauce, and ground hamburger. It was one of those dishes that was cooked when she couldn’t make it to the grocery store, we got home late from a sporting event, or no one felt like cooking —  but inevitable. She would stand at the stove stirring it all together singing, ” Chop sueyyyy, chop sueyyyy, everyyyy thing is coming up chop sueyyyy.” I am not sure why I remember that — strange I know, probably over sharing. Enjoy my version. 

Ingredients:

1/2 a box of bow tie pasta 

1/2 a box of rigatoni

1/2 pound grass-fed beef

3 cloves of garlic, smashed

1/2 a large onion

 1/2 tsp peperoncino flakes

1 zucchini sliced in half and then diced

a fistful of asparagus chopped into 1 inch pieces

2 Tablespoons of tomato paste

2 Tablespoon of red wine vinegar

1 tomato diced

(mushrooms would have been so good!)

Directions: Start a pot of boiling water for the pasta. In one pan quickly brown the meat and set aside. In a separate skillet, over medium high heat, add three tablespoons of olive oil and add garlic. Let garlic bubble but not burn and then add the onion. Stir for about 5 minutes until the onion is wilted. Add the asparagus and the zucchini stirring until vegetables become soft, about 6 minutes. Now add the browned meat and the diced tomato. At this time start cooking your pasta — you are about 10 minutes to eating.

Push all of the ingredients to the edges of the pan to create a circle, or as Lidia calls it, a hot spot.Turn the heat up a bit and add the tomato paste to the hot spot stirring it around a bit to caramelize it. Stir and coat the meat and vegetable mixture coating it with the tomato paste — things should be bubbling a bit in the pan. 

Now add the red wine vinegar, this will deglaze the pan and create a bold flavor with the tomato paste. Add 2-3 ladles of hot water to the mixture and turn the heat up, so it is bubbling — allowing the sauce to reduce by half. If you think there is not enough sauce to coat the pasta, ladle in a bit more pasta water and let it reduce.

 Add salt to taste and bit more peperoncino to  your liking. Remove the pasta from the pot and put it directly into the mixture stirring to coat. Generously grate some parmasean cheese on the top and serve. 

*Remember you can use whatever vegetables and half boxes of pasta you have, just check the cook times so the pastas are finished together. 

(Photo by Roslyn Street)

On the injured list…

Ok friends, family, and followers, I fell off a mo-ped, wait for it…on our homeymoon and broke my, wait for it again… RIGHT hand. No more chopping, rolling, beating, dredging, whisking, grilling, tossing, and every other kitchen “ing” you can think of.

I will be having surgery on my hand today and therefore on kitchen hiatus for a couple of weeks. Bear with me and stay tuned as I blog (type with one hand) about some things I LOVE: people, places, recipes, and gadgets. So to kick it off, after surgery tonight and fasting all day, I will be  heading (well my hubby will be) off to Jeni’s for a three scooper of my favorite, Strawberry Buttermilk. You may think you can have a taste but it is irresistible. 

Ice cream photos by the Ely Brothers

www.elybrothers.comThis ice cream menu consists of the most out of this world flavors and thoughtful ingredients — one of the many reasons  I LOVE Jeni’s ice cream. And to boot you can ship this ice cream to anyone, almost anywhere. I have shipped these Splendid ice creams a number of times, to friends and family, and it is always one of the greatest surprises ever. Come on. It’s ice cream.

Jeni in the Kitchen

Photo by George Lange

www.langestudios.com

  Click here to read about Jeni Britton Bauer’s amazing story and all of her fine confections —  she is an ice cream genius. 

And if you are also feeling genius, pick up her book, she is making it easy for us.

French Onion Soup

My husband and I have returned from our honeymoon in Bermuda. One of our favorite starters on the menu was the Bermuda Onion soup. There were a few different versions going around the restaurants at The Reefs, and we were in heaven every time. Our second night home I decided to whip up some French Onion soup and pretend that we were still beachside.  

This is a delicious onion soup from Tyler Florence. French onion soup is sweet, savory and not cooked often enough. In this recipe I substituted some of the ingredients for items I had on hand: the recipe calls for fresh thyme but I added a bit less dry thyme (3/4 of a tsp) because fresh thyme can be expensive, and I do not use it often — effort to effect it works just as well. I used some frozen ciabatta bread that I had left in the freezer and swiss cheese that was in the refrigerator. I also used about half the butter he calls for but added a couple tablespoons olive oil to make up for it– I will leave that up to the chef! 

Lidia Bastianich has a wonderful, tomato based, italian onion soup that is to die for. There are a lot less ingredients than a french onion soup and something that you can certainly whip up without running to the store. Click here for Lidia’s Recipe — you will not be disappointed! 

Onion soup is a testament to how flavors are created and layered in a recipe quite simply. The onions really hold all of the flavor created for this soup. When the broth is added the onions release the layers of flavor to and create a bold flavor throughout. You can use the technique of sautéing onions with herbs and other flavors and then deglazing a pan with wine or water, in order to create delicious sauces used with chicken, beef, or my favorite, fish. Onions are magical — start exploring. 

Adapted from Tyler Florance’s French Onion Soup

Ingredients 

1/2 cup unsalted butter (one stick) 

4 large vidalia onions sliced

2 garlic cloves

2 bay leaves

3/4 tsp dry thyme

Kosher salt and fresh black pepper

1 cup red wine

3 tablespoons of flour

2 quarts of beef broth

slice bred (ciabatta is the best) 

Cheese slices

Directions: Melt the stick of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 30 minutes. Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated and the onions are very limp, about 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Dust the onions with the flour reduce the heat so the flour can cook of f– they should be bubbling a little, about 10 minutes. Add the beef broth and stir. Bring to a boil and reduce heat so it stays at a gentle roll for about 20 minutes. 

When you are ready to eat, preheat the broiler. Arrange the bread slices on a sheet pan. Cover with cheese and cook until bubbly and brown, 3-4 minutes. Ladle the soup into the bowls on top of the bread and serve!  

(Photo by Roslyn Street)

Balsamic Dressing

Growing up, we had a salad on our plate every night with dinner — even if there was already a green veggie. Now cooking dinner  for me and my husband, we also have a salad on our plates every night. Keeping a salad healthy is determined by the dressing, and let’s be honest,  most salad dressings are terrible for you — high in fat and calories,  (unless you are purchasing low fat no fat — which to me is another way  of saying FAKE), expensive, full of preservatives, colors, and corn by-products. Check the ingredients list on the back of a bottle in your refrigerator. If there are more than 5-6 throw it out. 

Salad dressing is made with oil, vinegar, and a few other spices and ingredients, to add flavor and pizzaz.  So, this summer empty your fridge of those store bought dressings, get yourself some pretty glass jars, and make your very own. You will feel good about this thoughtful ingredient.

Here is one of my three go-to dressings. More to come later! 

Balsamic dressing from my sister’s kitchen.

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1 tablespoon of good honey (my favorite)

Directions: Put all of your ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. Seriously. It is that easy.

(Photo by Roslyn Street)

Mom’s Potato Salad

This potato salad recipe comes from my mother’s kitchen, as do the majority of the recipes I post. In addition to taking her recipes, I have also taken many of her nuances. 

As I was cutting the potatoes for this salad I recalled watching my mother cut up the potatoes for this recipe, right in her hand. The potatoes were very soft. She would cup one in her palm, carefully not to press to hard and squish the potato. Then very gently create the potato cubes letting each one, once finished, fall into the bowl — I was doing the same thing. While making the rice krispie cookies the other day I noticed my left hand leaning on the edge of the mixing bowl grabbing the teaspoon of cookie mixture, making sure just the right amount was on there,  as I pushed it, with a spoon, up and out of the bowl. I laughed to myself and added it to the list of the many things I do like my mother.

This is the only potato salad I will eat and often find people who do not like potato salad enjoy this recipe — my husband being one of them. My mother created this recipe because she did not like the classic potato salad served at cookouts and in delis. It’s the onions. The onions ruin potato salad and we both stand firm on this. The  onion flavor becomes overwhelming and make the dressing watery. This recipe is flavorful — salty, tangy, creamy and delicious. Enjoy! 

Ingredients:

4 cups yukon gold potatoes, boiled and cut into 1 inch cubes

(remember use whatever you have if you don’t have yukon gold)

1 cup of good mayonnaise

1-2 hard boiled eggs (cooled) 

1 Tablespoon yellow mustard

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/2 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

freshly cracked pepper to taste

Directions: In a pot of water boil the potatoes until you can pierce smoothly with a fork. You do not want them to mushy. Let them cool in the refrigerator and then cut the potatoes into 1 inch cubes when you are ready to make the salad. Chop up your hard boiled egg and add it to the potatoes.

In a separate bowl make the dressing.  Combine the mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, sugar and salt and whisk together. Pour over the potatoes and fold with a spatula until the dressing is coating all of the potatoes. Sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley (if you have it) to make it look really pretty! Enjoy!