EASTER DINNER: STEAK, CLASSIC CAESAR SALAD, SPICY CHEESE GRITS, ROSEMARY DINNER ROLLS

Easter Dinner, usually pork tenderloin on the grill.  But we've had a lot of pork this year so filet mignon took its place.  First a dousing of salt on both sides of meat until brought to room temperature.  Then a little more salt and lots of pepper.  Pan fry in olive oil and a little butter--8-10 minutes each side.  Then remove, add a tiny bit of butter to each steak, let rest for 5 minutes to reabsorb the juices.  Perfect.

I had forgotten about the bag of freshly ground grits sitting in my pantry.  My friend, Darcey, and I each bought a bag while traveling from Savannah, Georgia to Charleston, South Carolina in a little town called Round O.  Grits are great sweet or savory. Sweet for breakfast with a little butter, sugar, and cream (always cream). And at night, with butter, cream, and salt and pepper. This recipe fancied them up a bit.  I loved them, as did the adults in my family.  But the kids scrunched up their noses not quite loving the texture.

Spicy Grits - Pioneer Woman Cooks

• 1/2 Onion, Diced
• 1/2 Red Bell Pepper
• 2 whole Chilies (any Variety, Hot Or Mild)
• 2 cups Stone Ground Grits
• 3 cups Low Sodium Chicken (or Beef) Broth
• 1 1/2 cups Water
• 1 cup Half-and-half
• 1 cup Grated Cheddar Cheese

Picture taken before the cheese was added

Heat 1 tablespoon of both oil and butter. Add diced onion, bell pepper, and chilies and cook for five minutes or so. Pour in grits, then add broth and water. Stir, then bring to a boil . Reduce the heat to low, then cover and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 30 minutes, add half-and-half. Cook for another 20 to 30 minutes, or until grits are tender. Remove from heat and stir in grated cheese.

Classic Caesar Salad

I won't bother with the recipe.  I made the dressing with anchovies and everything was going along swimmingly when my niece noticed the tin of anchovies was missing from my pantry.  Really?  I have a million items in my pantry.  She noticed they were sitting on the shelf one minute and then they were gone.  A brouhaha erupted and my classic Caesar salad became your run of the mill Caesar salad.  Oh, well.  The good news is they all can say they've had anchovies....cue the sinister laugh soundtrack.

This is super simple.  One bag of frozen pre-cooked dinner rolls, butter, fresh rosemary, and sea salt.  That's it.  Follow instructions for whatever frozen rolls you bought. Everyone thought they were homemade.  Wish I had one right now.

CHICKEN WITH YOGURT AND INDIAN SPICES & BASMATI RICE - Mark Bittman

My cute nephew and his girlfriend gave me Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything app for my iPad (which also transferred to my iPhone) and I love it.  So, as I sat in the parking lot after spin class scrolling through recipes, I quickly came across this one and lo and behold I had every single ingredient on hand (yes, every one of those spices, thank you Penzey's) and did not have to go to the grocery store--hooray!

I am a fan of Bittman's app--it is super easy and I think I'm going to love trying his recipes. I also made his Rice Pilaf, Seven Ways which was delicious.

Back to the chicken, I subbed chicken thighs for a whole chicken and used more chicken than the recipe called for, so it wasn't quite as saucy as I would have liked.  But the flavor was still excellent.  It is spicy but the adventurous eight year old twins who live next door gobbled it down, so if you have kids give it a try.  Perfect meal for a cold night in front of the fireplace (below 50 degrees here in AZ!) waiting for Downton Abbey.

Makes: 4 servings

Time: About 45 minutes

1/4 cup peanut or neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn

1 whole chicken, 3 to 4 pounds, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 8 pieces, or any combination of parts

1 large or 2 medium onions, sliced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1 tablespoon chopped or grated fresh ginger or

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups yogurt

Chopped fresh cilantro leaves for garnish

1. Put the oil in a deep skillet with a lid or a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When hot, add the chicken, skin side down, and brown it well, rotating and turning the pieces as necessary; the process will take 10 to 15 minutes. (You can skip this step if you like; heat a tablespoon of oil and go directly to cooking the onions.)

2. When the chicken is nicely browned, remove it from the skillet and turn the heat down to medium. Pour or spoon off all but a tablespoon of the oil. Stir in the onions, along with some salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until the onions soften, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, and spices, along with 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Cook with the onions, stirring, until very aromatic, 2 or 3 minutes. Stir in the yogurt, then return the chicken pieces to the pan.

3. Cover and cook over medium-low heat so that the mixture doesn’t boil, turning the pieces every 5 minutes or so, until the chicken is cooked through,10 to 20 minutes (longer if you skipped the browning step); it’s okay if the mixture curdles a bit. The bird is done when an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 155–165°F. Taste and adjust the seasoning, garnish with cilantro, and serve.

Rice Pilaf, Seven Ways

Makes 4 servings

Time: About 30 minutes, plus a little time to rest

Easy, fast, and reliable, pilaf has another bonus: Cooking it in advance (slightly) is not just possible but desirable.

2 to 4 tablespoons butter or extra virgin olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 cups rice, preferably basmati

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 1/2 cups stock

Chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish

  

1. Put 2 tablespoons of the butter or oil in a large, deep skillet with a lid over medium-high heat. When the butter is melted or the oil is hot, add the onion. Cook, stirring, until the onion softens, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the rice all at once, turn the heat down to medium, and stir until the rice is glossy, completely coated with butter or oil, and starting to color lightly, about 5 minutes. Season well with salt and pepper, then turn the heat down to low and add the stock all at once. Stir once or twice, then cover the pan.

3. Cook until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Turn the heat to the absolute minimum (if you have an electric stove, turn the heat off and let the pan sit on the burner) and let rest for another 15 to 30 minutes. Add the remaining butter or oil if you like and fluff with a fork. Taste and adjust the seasoning, fluff again, garnish, and serve.

BAREFOOT CONTESSA GARLIC MASHED POTATOES and BELINDA'S HOMEMADE ROLLS

Aren't real, genuine mashed potatoes the best! It's been so long since I had the real thing that I almost forgot what they tasted like. Of course, the Barefoot Contessa had a twist on the classic mashed--substituting olive oil for butter. I will tell you that I couldn't bring myself to add the full cup the recipe calls for but we couldn't tell the difference (I used 2/3rds cup of olive oil). And instead of 3 pounds of the naturally creamy Yukon Gold I added 4 pounds. So more potatoes and less olive oil--but, boy were these babies delish. And they were a nice fit with the Cascabel Chile Honey Glazed Pork on Easter Sunday.


Directions:

1/2 cup garlic cloves, peeled (about 1 head)

Ingredients
•1 cup extra-virgin olive oil (I used 2/3rds cup)
•3 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered (I added 4 pounds)
•Kosher salt
•1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
•1/4 cup heavy cream, half-and-half, or creme fraiche
In a small saucepan, bring the garlic and oil to a boil, then turn the heat to low and cook uncovered for 5 minutes, or until the garlic is lightly browned. Turn off the heat and set aside. The garlic will continue to cook in the oil.

Meanwhile, place the potatoes in a large pot of salted water, bring to a boil, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the potatoes are very tender. With a slotted spoon, remove the potatoes from the water, reserving the cooking water, and remove the garlic from the oil, reserving the oil.

Process the potatoes and garlic through a food mill fitted with the medium disk. (I do not have a food mill, so I just used an old-fashioned masher--we also like our potatoes with a bit of texture to them). Add the reserved olive oil, 2 teaspoons of salt, the pepper, cream, and 3/4 cup of the cooking water to the potatoes and mix with a wooden spoon. Add more cooking water, if necessary, until the potatoes are creamy but still firm. Season, to taste,and serve hot.


Also sharing the stage with the pork and potatoes were Belinda's homemade Rosemary dinner rolls. If you live in Mesa, do yourself a favor and order these little darlings from Belinda Smith of Belinda's Kitchen (4301 E. McKellips, Mesa, AZ, 480-203-4626).

LEMON PEPPER SALMON & ACORN SQUASH

Have I told you about my family's favorite salmon recipe? We all love salmon. And I have cooked it a lot of different ways. But at the end of the meal when I ask how everyone likes the new salmon recipe the response is, "it was good, but the lemon pepper salmon is the best." So, finally I stopped making new salmon recipes.

This recipe comes from a little restaurant in Lillehammer, Norway. Years ago, my cute Dad and I were traveling through Norway and we stayed two nights in Lillehammer. Both nights we ate at the same tiny restaurant filled with locals. The special of the night was lemon pepper salmon--you really can't go wrong ordering fresh Norwegian salmon so we knew it would be good. But it was amazingly good. We returned the second night and ordered the same meal, this time asking the chef to come to our table. He happily gave me the recipe and I couldn't believe it was so simple.

Also, the salmon was served on cobalt blue glass plates. I loved the combination of the pink salmon and the cobalt blue so when I returned home I bought 12 cobalt blue plates at IKEA, made in France, for $2 each! The salmon is always served on these plates.






Lemon Pepper Salmon
All you do is douse both sides of your salmon fillets with lemon pepper--and I really douse as you can see above. Then you pan fry it on both sides in a little bit of olive oil. That's it. And it is wonderful. It is my niece and nephew's favorite meal to request. If you are lucky enough to have any leftovers the next day it is great served cold on a bed of greens or just eaten straight out of the fridge for breakfast. Yum.

I served this recently with greens from the garden and acorn squash. That was simple, too.

Acorn Squash
acorn squash
butter
brown sugar
maple syrup

Split the acorn squash, scoop out the seeds, put a little bit of butter, a little bit of brown sugar, and a drizzle of maple syrup in each squash. Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour. I bake these in a small glass cooking dish with a little bit of water in the dish so that the squash stays moist. So, so good.

EGGPLANT GRATIN - Barefoot Contessa

So I made myself a promise that if I participated in Bountiful Baskets I would not give away or toss a vegetable I wasn't familiar with.


My first test was the collard greens and I passed that test by making the soup which was great.

Last Saturday was my second test--eggplant. I have never cooked an eggplant. So of course, I had to find something good to do with this pretty purple plant.


The Barefoot Contessa never lets me down. I have all of her cookbooks and her recipes are great. Even cutting back on the rich ingredients I have had great luck with her recipes. I found this recipe in her Barefoot in Paris book. It is excellent. I would definitely make this for my sister's family though I probably would not tell them it was eggplant. And I think it would be great served with grilled chicken.


But pretty much anything hidden below the conncoction of ricotta cheese, parmesan, and marinara sauce, all toasty and bubbly on top, would taste good.

Ingredients
Good olive oil, for frying (this always cracks me up--"good olive oil")
3/4 pound eggplant, unpeeled, sliced 1/2-inch thick
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1 extra-large egg
1/4 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good bottled marinara sauce

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Heat about 1/8-inch of olive oil in a very large frying pan over medium heat. When the oil is almost smoking, add several slices of eggplant and cook, turning once, until they are evenly browned on both sides and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Be careful, it splatters! Transfer the cooked eggplant slices to paper towels to drain. Add more oil, heat, and add more eggplant until all the slices are cooked.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the ricotta, egg, half-and-half, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

In each of 2 individual gratin dishes, place a layer of eggplant slices, then sprinkle with Parmesan, salt and pepper and spoon 1/2 of the marinara sauce. Next, add a second layer of eggplant, more salt and pepper, half the ricotta mixture, and finally 1 tablespoon of grated Parmesan on top.

Place the gratins on a baking sheet and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the custard sets and the top is browned. Serve warm.

Note: I cooked the eggplant in a very seasoned pan and did not need to use much olive oil. I also substituted regular milk for the half and half. And I made one gratin not two.

Thai Cucumber Salad

Last weekend in my produce basket I found two hot house cucumbers. I normally don't buy cucumbers--I think they are just ok. Except that I do love the cold little cucumber salad that is served with chicken satay at Thai restaurants.

I combined two recipes that I found on the Internet and tweaked it a bit to make this salad. My sister, Tammy, really liked it as did friends Sean and Jana who are connoisseurs of Thai cuisine given that Sean served his church mission in Thailand and Jana served hers in the Philippines (which I know has nothing to do with Thai food but she does shop at Lee Lee Asian Market in Chandler).

Thai Cucumber Salad

T rice vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

6-7 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons water

1 cucumber seeded and sliced

1 shallot, sliced

1 red spur chili (I used a red jalapeno)

Mix vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a small bowl. After sugar has disolved, pour over cucumbers, shallots, and chili. Serve cold.

CALABACITAS

I recreated this recipe from my memory of eating Calabacitas years ago in a little Mexican restaurant in downtown Phoenix.

Olive oil
Onion - chopped
Zucchini - roughly chopped
Crookneck squash - roughly chopped
Corn
Shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper

Heat oil in a skillet (I used garlic-infused olive oil). Sautee onions for a 5 minutes, then add squash and salt and pepper, and cook until fairly tender. Add corn. Heat through. Sprinkle on cheese. Serve hot. This is a great way to use up all that zucchini that I am sure you are growing in your garden!