Recipes

Ingredients
For the polenta
4 cups milk (I used skim lactose free, you can use whichever type you like.)
1 cup instant polenta
¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₃ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

For the tilapia
1 ¹⁄₂ tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (Regular paprika will work in a pinch.)
¹⁄₂ teaspoon garlic powder
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₄ teaspoon black pepper
4 (6 ounces each) tilapia fillets
Cooking spray

Instructions
1. To prepare polenta, bring milk to a boil in a medium saucepan; gradually add polenta, stirring constantly with a whisk. Reduce heat, and cook 5 minutes or until thick, stirring frequently; stir in ¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt. Remove from heat. Stir in cheese; cover and keep warm.

2. To prepare fish, heat a large nonstick grill pan over medium-high heat. Combine oil and next 4 ingredients in a bowl, stirring well. Rub fish evenly with oil mixture. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add fish to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness.  

Comments
This recipe is from the 2009 Cooking Light Annual.  

Normally when I try out a new recipe I’m pretty careful to follow it to the letter, at least the first time.  There are a few substitutions I’ll make often, like half and half for heavy cream if the cream doesn’t need to be whipped, but I try to stay true.  For this recipe, the grocery store just conspired against me.  

1) The only frozen tilapia I could find was marinated.  Since I’m not very knowledgeable when it comes to fish I opted to get the least offensive of the marinated tilapia and hope that it would be fine.  I came home with Toasted Black Pepper Tilapia.  I thawed the fish, which comes in individually wrapped portions, under running water.  Then I opened each pouch and rinsed each fillet.  Thankfully the finished product was excellent and I couldn’t taste anything that I could identify as “toasted black pepper” with all of the other flavors going on.  

2) Then there was the issue of instant polenta.  Apparently this is something I can only find at the grocery store that is at the opposite end of town from the one I was shopping at.  I try not to go that far out of my way for a single ingredient and I knew I had some instant polenta at home from my last foray into polenta cooking.  I thought to myself, “Self, grits are very similar to polenta, so how about just getting some instant grits to top off the polenta you have at home?”  And that’s what I did.  I used about ²⁄₃ cup of instant polenta and ¹⁄₃ cup quick grits.  This seemed to work out quite well and I was pretty happy with the finished product.  

And then there was the issue of my “nonstick grill pan” not being very nonstick anymore… but despite all of these setbacks Lance and I were both thrilled with the results!  

The moral of this story is “don’t be afraid to tweak things!”  

Shown here with Oven Roasted Broccoli.

Cooking Light 2009

Ingredients
8 cups chicken broth
¹⁄₄ cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups onions, finely chopped
8 ounces white mushrooms, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ¹⁄₂ cups Arborio rice
²⁄₃ cup white wine
³⁄₄ cup frozen peas, thawed
²⁄₃ cup Parmesan cheese, grated or shredded
Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions
1.  Bring the broth to a simmer in a heavy medium saucepan.  Keep broth warm over low heat.  (Or you can cheat, like I do, and just nuke it for a while in the microwave.)

2.  Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add olive oil. Add the onions and sauté until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the white mushrooms and garlic. Sauté until the mushrooms are tender and the juices evaporate, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice and let it toast for a few minutes.

3. Add the wine; cook until the liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of hot broth; simmer over medium-low heat until the liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Continue to cook until the rice is just tender and the mixture is creamy, adding more broth by the cupful and stirring often, about 28-30 minutes (the rice will absorb 6 to 8 cups of broth). Stir in the peas. Mix in the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and serve.  

Comments
This is a risotto recipe from Giada De Laurentiis.  As I’ve mentioned before, we’re all fans of risotto so I’m always on the lookout for new and hopefully tasty recipes.  This one is fairly basic and makes enough to generate leftovers for the upcoming Arancini di Riso!

Shown here with Lemon Chicken with Ginger and Pine Nuts.

Internet - Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients
2 tablespoons pine nuts
2 tablespoosn fresh parsley
¹⁄₈ teaspoon saffron threads
1 clove garlic
³⁄₄ teaspoon kosher salt, divided
6 (6 ounces each) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 ¹⁄₂ cup onion, finely chopped
1-3 ounces prosciutto, finely chopped
¹⁄₈ teaspoon crushed red pepper
¹⁄₃ cup chicken broth
¹⁄₃ cup white wine
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped, or ¹⁄₂ teaspoon dried
¹⁄₂ teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
¹⁄₈ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 bay leaf

Instructions
1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a mini food chopper; add ¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt. Process until mixture forms a paste. Sprinkle remaining ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt evenly over chicken.  (I used the chopper attachment for my immersion blender.)

2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Add onion, prosciutto, and red pepper to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in broth and remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes. Return chicken to pan. Stir in pine nut mixture; cover and cook 10 minutes or until chicken is done. Discard bay leaf.  

Comments
This recipe is from Cooking Light’s 2009 Annual.  I’m always on the lookout for new and delicious chicken recipes and this seemed like it would fit the bill.  It’s relatively easy to bring together, especially if you take a few minutes to bring everything together before you start cooking.  This is a lesson I often forget when Art is out of town!  

The recipe has a nice amount of unattended time, which is great for preparing a side dish!

Shown here with Mushroom Risotto with Peas.

Cooking Light 2009

Ingredients
1 pound pasta (I prefer short shapes.)
10 fresh basil leaves
1 pound broccoli, cut into florets and cooked until just tender (I do this in the microwave.)
6 tablespoons butter
1 ¹⁄₂ cups half and half
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups Parmesan cheese, grated or shredded

Instructions
1. Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat.  Cook pasta as directed on packaging.  Drain and return to pot.  

2. In food processor with steel blade, combine broccoli, basil, butter and cream. Pulse until puréed. Add Parmesan cheese and pulse to blend. Mix broccoli mixture with drained pasta; stir. Cook, stirring, over medium-low heat until heated through.  Add salt and pepper to taste before serving.

Comments
I’m pretty sure that this recipe must have been created to hide broccoli from people who don’t like it.  However, I love broccoli, and I think this dish is a tasty way to have it, if a bit bizarre.  The first time I made it, I was unsure of the amount of broccoli to use and used twice as much as the recipe now calls for… according to Lance this made it taste “green.”  I recommend sticking to the pound listed above!  

Shown here with Seared Salmon with Balsamic Glaze.

Unknown

Ingredients
¹⁄₄ cup balsamic vinegar
¹⁄₄ cup orange juice
2 tablespoons honey
¹⁄₈ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons olive oil
4 (6 ounces each) salmon fillets, skin on
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Instructions
1. Whisk the vinegar, juice, honey, and pepper flakes together in a small bowl or measuring cup. Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until smoking. Season the salmon with salt and pepper and cook, skin-side up, without moving, until well browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip the fish skin-side down and cook until all but the very center of the fish is opaque, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a platter and tent with foil. (If using frozen, ready to cook, pieces of fish, you will need to approximately double all of the cooking times.)

2. Wipe out the pan with paper towels and lower the heat to medium. Carefully pour the balsamic mixture into the pan (it will splatter). Simmer until thick and syrupy, about 2-5 minutes. Whisk in the butter, season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste, and pour over the salmon. Serve.  

Comments
I love fish but it’s something I was never able to cook until Art started traveling for work.  Sure, I could have made two different meals, but that would have been a giant hassle and I’ve always been content to sate my fish craving at restaurants.  However, now that Art does travel for work, and Lance is also a lover of fish, I try to get in at least one fish night a week.  

I’ve never been too pleased with the “fresh” fish offerings at my grocery store, so I opt for individually flash frozen pieces instead.  They’re pretty much perfect and already in the correct portions which makes them even better.  

This recipe comes from The Best of America’s Test Kitchen 2007 and I was super pleased with the results.  The skin got nice and crispy and the balsamic glaze worked perfectly with the flavor of the fish.  

Shown here with Creamy Broccoli Pasta.

America’s Test Kitchen 2007

Ingredients
3 pounds ground lamb
2 medium onions, minced
Salt
4 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 tablespoons tomato paste
¹⁄₃ cup all purpose flour
3 cups chicken broth
³⁄₄ cup red wine
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced, or ¹⁄₂ teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced, or ¹⁄₄ teaspoon dried
1 (1-pound) bag frozen pea and carrot medley, do not thaw
Ground black pepper
3 pounds russet potatoes, sliced ³⁄₄ inch thick
1 ¹⁄₂ cups half and half, warmed
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Instructions
1. Cook the lamb in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, breaking the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until the meat is no longer pink and the fat has rendered, about 5 minutes. Drain the lamb through a fine-mesh strainer, reserving the drippings.

2. Return 2 tablespoons of the reserved lamb drippings to the pot and heat over medium-low heat until shimmering. Add the onions and 1 teaspoon salt and cook until softened and lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the flour and cook, whisking constantly, until incorporated, about 1 minute. Whisk in the broth and wine, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in the drained lamb, thyme, Worcestershire sauce, and rosemary and cook until the mixture begins to thicken, about 2 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the peas and carrots and season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the mixture into a 13 by 9 inch casserole dish; set aside.

3. Meanwhile, place the potatoes in a large pot and cover by 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Drain the potatoes, return them to the pot set over low heat, and mash to a smooth consistency. Stir in the cream, followed by the butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. With a large spoon, dollop the mashed potatoes over the lamb filling. Using a rubber spatula, smooth the potatoes out into an even layer and push to the edges of the baking dish.

5. TO STORE Wrap the dish tightly with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with cooking spray and then foil and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 1 month. (If frozen, the casserole must be thawed completely in the refrigerator, about 24 hours, before baking.)

6. TO SERVE Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 400*F. Unwrap the dish and place the casserole on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Bake until the sauce is bubbling and the top is browned, about 1 hour.

Note: To serve right away bake as directed in step 6, reducing the baking time to 35 minutes.  

Comments
This recipe is from The Best Make-Ahead Recipe which seems to have become my go to book for planning Game Day meals.  Art was concerned since his experience with shepherd’s pies is that they’re bland.  This recipe was anything but!  It was rich and flavorful!

I did, however, forget to add the peas and carrots.  I realized this when I went to serve it.  Eek.  It was delicious without them.  However, I’m uncertain how it would have fit into the pan with any more ingredients.  Without the peas and carrots, the baking pan was stuffed to the brim and oozed during baking!  So keep an eye on the pan you’re using when you fill it up.

The Best Make-Ahead Recipe

Ingredients
Cooking spray
³⁄₄ cup bittersweet chocolate chips or semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup almonds, slivered
1 cup amaretti cookies (about 2 ounces)
¹⁄₂ cup butter, room temperature
²⁄₃ cup sugar
4 large eggs
Nutella, warmed in microwave

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350*F.

2. Spray a 9-inch springform pan cooking spray and place it in the refrigerator. Microwave the chocolate until melted and smooth, stirring every 20 seconds, for about 1 minute.

3. Combine the almonds and cookies in food processor. Pulse until the almonds and cookies are finely ground. Transfer the nut mixture to a medium bowl. Add the butter and sugar to the processor and blend until creamy and smooth. Add the eggs 1 at a time. Blend until the eggs are incorporated. Clean the sides of the mixing bowl and blend again. Add the nut mixture and melted chocolate. Pulse until blended. Clean the sides of the bowl. Blend again.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the center puffs and a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes.

5. Transfer the cake to a platter. Frost with a thin layer of Nutella.  

Comments
This recipe is from Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis and it’s one of my favorites.  I can only find amaretti cookies at my local butcher which has some specialty Italian ingredients.

Everyday Italian

Ingredients
Streusel
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
¹⁄₄ cup light brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
³⁄₄ cup pecans, toasted (Optional)

Cake
2 ¹⁄₂ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¹⁄₂ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
16 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Glaze
1 ¹⁄₄ cups powdered sugar
1 ¹⁄₂ tablespoon milk (whole, low-fat, half and half, whatever you’ve got)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions
1. Process flour, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans (if using) in food processor until finely ground. Transfer streusel to bowl and wipe out food processor.

2. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325*F. Grease and flour bundt pan. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in bowl. In food processor, blend sugar, eggs, sour cream, and vanilla until smooth, about 1 minute. With machine running, slowly pour in butter until incorporated, and then add flour mixture and pulse until just combined.

3. Pour half of batter into prepared pan and top with streusel mixture. Cover with remaining batter, using rubber spatula to smooth surface. Bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool cake in pan 20 minutes.

4. While cake is cooling, whisk powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla in a bowl until smooth. Turn out cake onto large plate. Pour glaze over warm cake. Cool completely, at least 2 hours. Serve. (Cake can be stored at room temperature, covered in plastic wrap, for 2 days.)

Comments
I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but my family loves coffee cakes so I decided to give this recipe a go when I saw it in the Cook’s Country 2009 Annual.  We were definitely not let down!  My parents, Art, and Lance all enjoyed this cake a great deal.  It was moist, buttery, and flavorful.  I omitted the nuts for Lance but I’m sure it would be just as fantastic with them.  To toast the nuts, just spread them out on a baking sheet in the oven while it’s preheating.  

Making it was pretty fun too!  It seemed like the batter was really an emulsion after adding the butter which was spiffy.

Cook’s Country 2009

Ingredients
1 ¹⁄₂ cups chickpeas, cooked from dry or canned, drained and rinsed
3 tablespoons tahini
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic
¹⁄₄ teaspoon cumin
¹⁄₈ teaspoon salt, or to taste

Instructions
1. Place all ingredients in a food processor container fitter with a steel blade. Cover and process until pureed.

Comments
This recipe is another from 1,000 Vegetarian Recipes, one of my favorite, and most recommended, vegetarian cookbooks.  I believe that this was the first thing I ever made once I got a food processor, it’s one of those dishes that’s sort of difficult to make without one!  

Shown here with Black Bean Hummus.

1,000 Vegetarian Recipes

Ingredients
1 ¹⁄₂ cups black beans, cooked from dry or canned, drained, and rinsed
¹⁄₃ cup tahini
¹⁄₄ cup lime juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic
¹⁄₄ cup green onion
¹⁄₄ teaspoon cumin

Instructions
1. Place all ingredients in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Cover and process until pureed.

Comments
This recipe is from 1,000 Vegetarian Recipes which is a fantastic cookbook that was my mainstay during my years of being vegetarian.  This is Art’s favorite version of hummus, so I tend to make it more frequently than the regular variety.  

Shown here with regular Hummus.

1,000 Vegetarian Recipes