French Dip Sandwiches

Perfeclty rare meat + buttered crusty bread dunked in jus = comfort and joy.

My brother introduced me to the french dip au jus (with juice) sandwich in LA around 10 years ago. I thought it was ridiculous he'd pay nearly $20 for a meat sandwich. But oh my, was it so worth it! Every GOOD french dip I've had has been that pricey, presumably because of the pile of thin slices of quality roasted beef, so that became my goal for making my own. While I saw different seasoning recipes all over the webs, it was on an episode of Diners, Drive Ins and Dives that I saw someone use Montreal steak seasoning before roasting. That's one of the few spice blends I use regularly because it's well balanced. That plus some extra thyme, garlic, and salt made for an exceptionally crusted and flavored meat that I roasted rare - we could eat the meat all by itself...and we did!

But it is a sandwich after all, so it was better on a fresh, buttered, toasted crisp french roll. Want to kick up the flavor and some extra texture? Add a slice of provolone, too, and broil until melted. Soak each bite in that jus and try not to dribble all over yourself while eating it!

Slow Roasted Beef
adapted from Teri's Kitchen

2.5 to 3 lb sirloin roast, brought to room temperature
Montreal steak seasoning
dried thyme
garlic powder
salt
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp butter
Special equipment: probe thermometer, dutch oven

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Heat a dutch oven (large enough to fit roast) over medium high heat.

Season all sides of roast with an even layer of steak seasoning, thyme, and an extra dusting of garlic powder and salt. Pat down so the herbs stick.

Make sure the oil is really hot and add the roast. Sear - about 2 minutes each side - until browned. Insert a probe thermometer about halfway into roast. Put roast, uncovered, into oven and cook until it reaches 130 degrees for rare (around 2 hours).

Take off the heat and allow to rest. When ready to eat, slice into thin slices -- thinner than these in this pic. Mmm look how perfectly rare and juicy!

Au Jus
pan drippings from the roast beef
1/2 carton of reduced sodium beef broth
1 to 1-1/2 C water
1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1-2 Tbsp butter


Put the dutch oven with all the beef drippings on the stove over medium heat. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer about 15 minutes, or until it reaches the flavor you like. Pour through a fine mesh strainer to remove the chunky parts. Serve hot with the sandwiches.

And now I can knock off the first item on my 2012 Hit List, hooray!

Happy 2012: It's Hit List Time again!

My 31st birthday was the day before NYE, and I celebrated with ridiculous food, a movie, and later drinks and dancing surrounded by lots of friends. And if that wasn't Yay enough, the next night I ended 2011 and begin 2012 on an Unexpectedly high note... I really couldn't have asked for a better transition of time.

So of course, it being the new year, it's resolution time. For me, 2012 is devoted to moving forward with optimism and strength. Changes are coming, and commitments will be kept.

First commitment involves my family... both of my brothers are flying in to run a half marathon with me (plus two more of my friends) in March. I don't care how long it takes me (but no more than the 5.5 hr limit, haha), but I will cross that finish line. That means I should probably head to the gym today to restart training ;-) That's actually tied in pretty well with my next resolution to strengthen relationships. More phone calls and emails, more making time to see people, more being involved in their lives. So... to my friends out of state, get your couches ready!

And of course, as food is one of the great loves of my life, here are my food resolutions. My 2012 Hit List involves finishing the unconquered foods from Hit Lists past (2010 and 2011):

1) chicken stock from scratch
2) chicharon de cerdo
3) patatas bravas
4) pain au chocolate
5) french dip completed 1/5/12
6) tamales
7) baked char siu bao
8) cheese souffle a la Panera
9) garlic knots a la C&Os Trattoria
10) thai rice pudding with mango
11) *successful* matzo ball soup
12) my mom's mocha cake

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Can I tell you a secret? Before this week, I don't recall ever eating zucchini in my life. The squash family in general isn't one that often makes an appearance at my table, but I'm trying to expand my horizons. And oh look at that, zucchini bread is on my Hit List this year.

I had no idea what to expect when I added zucchini bread to the Hit List. Would it be sweet? Would it be plain tasting? Would it be zucchini-y? Oh, right, I didn't know what zucchini tasted like. Lol turns out that it's a lot like pumpkin bread (oh right, they're related!) in regards to the zucchini adding moisture and healthy goodness, and generally doesn't add much of its own flavor. So I guess the trick is in what you put into it. I had blueberries in the fridge, found an a recipe using both, and it's viola! Sweet, juicy berries bursting inside a nicely spiced bread. Great use of summer produce.  

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

adapted from Allrecipes.com

3 C flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3 eggs

1/2 C canola oil

1/2 C applesauce

1/2 C white sugar
1/2 C brown sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla

2 1/2 C zucchini, shredded (about 2 7" zucchini)

1 pint blueberries 

Preheat oven to 350. Spray muffin tins or small loaf pans with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with about 1 tbsp of the dry ingredients. Set both aside.

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and sugars until well combined. Fold in the zucchini. Mix in the dry ingredients until mostly combined. Gently fold in the blueberries. 

Fill loaf pans 3/4 of the way and/or muffin tins almost to the top. If using an 8"x4" loaf pan, bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. If using jumbo muffin pans, bake for 45 minutes. If using a regular muffin pan, bake for 30 minutes. 

REEdiculous: shrimp caprese pasta

I spent Valentine's day with my bestest friend and we each decided to make something off our 2011 Hit List. It was my turn to do the main course, thus I recreated my favorite Olive Garden meal: Shrimp Caprese Pasta. Think cheesy cream sauce, tomatoes, basil, garlic, cheese, spaghetti, shrimp, and more cheese. It was absurd! Like you should probably only eat salad and fruit on the day you consume this to average it out :-)

Definitely calling this one a success. Unlike Olive Garden, my pasta wasn't overcooked, hehe. Salad would have gone nicely with this, but didn't want to distract from the cheese, lol. Mmmm cheeeeese.... That's a whole lot of melted mozz on top. Yep, I put the before picture after. Deal. :)

Shrimp Caprese Pasta

adapted from whatscookingamerica

1 lb roma tomatoes, cored and cut into 1" pieces
15 basil leaves, torn into 1" pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp italian seasoning
1 large pinch salt
2/3 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 box thin spaghetti
2 tbsp butter
1/2 C white wine
1 C heavy cream
1/2 C milk (I used 1%)
1 C freshly grated parmesan
1 C freshly grated mozzarella

Combine tomatoes, basil, garlic, olive oil, italian seasoning, and salt and mix well. Cover and allow to marinate for 1 hour.

Cook pasta according to the directions. Drain and put back in pot and cover while you make the sauce.

Preheat oven to 450. Melt butter over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet. Add wine and simmer for 1 minute. Add cream, milk, and cheese. Bring to a simmer, and cook, stirring reguarly, until it reduces to the thickness you want. (I should now note that while I made half the pasta from the original recipe, I made the regular amount of sauce and reduced it down about 1/3-1/2 so it was a thick cheesy sauce.) Remove from heat. Add spaghetti and tomato mix. Combine well so pasta is evenly coated. Transfer to an oven safe dish (I used a pie plate).

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and drizzle with a little olive oil. Spread the shrimp in an even layer. Roast about 3-5 minutes or until shrimp are pink and just slightly curled.

Turn oven to broil. Sprinkle mozzarella over the pasta. Broil until cheese is melted. Take out of oven and top with shrimp.

say it with cupcakes

Valentines Day is upon us, and I can't be happier. Nope, no love of my life to shower me with flowers and shiny things, lol. BUT, I am surrounded by love in my family and friends (and hell, even some kind strangers, lol) and I count myself quite blessed for it. And, since sweets are my way of showing love, I decided to make some cupcakes for my family. I LOVE vanilla chai and was looking for a chance to make them into something edible, so here we are.
Vanilla Chai Latte Cupcakes
adapted from princesscarissa on Bake Space

1 1/4 C Silk vanilla soy milk
3 bags of your favorite vanilla chai tea
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 3/4 C sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 C cake flour
1 C all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 375. Line 24 cupcake cups.

Heat soy milk in a small sauce pan or in the microwave until hot, but not scalded. Steep the tea bags in there for 10-15 minutes. In the mean time, sift together the flours.

When the tea is done steeping, take out the bags and squeeze the milk out of them. Make sure it still makes 1 1/4 C soymilk. If you're short, add a bit more milk to make 1 1/4 C.

In a stand mixer, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in the vanilla, salt, and baking powder. On low speed, add in 1/3 of the milk, then 1/3 of the flours and mix until incorporated. Repeat 2 more times. Mix on low until everything's incorporated and smooth.

Dish out the batter evenly among the 24 cups. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Hit List 2011: Caramel Corn!

It's not even a full week into 2011 and I can check off my Hit List item #1: caramel corn! I've been craving it, dreaming about it, drooling for caramel corn for weeks. Must've been those tins of popcorn we kept getting at work for the holidays, haha. Then it popped up on Tastespotting, and I had to make it. Plus I love popcorn - it's probably in my top 5 favorite foods I could eat every day. And I was at my mom's the other day and broke open a can of poppycock and couldn't put it down. It was time to make it for myself!

So, I've made toffee before, so you'd think I'd be confident in the making the candy part of this... except I've also attempted soft caramels before and ended up with a solid, entirely NOT soft piece of sugar candy. It's one of the few things I've ever had to toss out. So I was nervous, but luckily it was surprisingly easy! I read a couple recipes and just went with them versus pulling out my candy thermometer. Thankfully it worked! This is freaking awesome. Vanilla-y (we all know I'm a vanilla girl) because I "accidentally" spilled a little extra, crunchy, light, sweet... and addictive! When I first started making it I thought 20 cups was a lot of popcorn.,, Now I'm not sure if it'll make it to my family dinner on Thursday :-D If you like caramel corn - make it at home and enjoy :)

Caramel Corn
adapted from Dunkin Cookin the Semihomemade Way

20 cups popcorn (approx 1 cup popcorn kernels - I popped them according to the package directions)
1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 C light corn syrup
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 C almonds* or other nuts if desired
 
Pop the popcorn. Allow to cool. Place in a large roasting pan.

Preheat oven to 275. In a medium heavy bottom pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, then stirring, cook for about 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and add the vanilla (it'll sputter a bit) and baking soda. Stir until it gets fluffy and the color becomes lighter. Pour over the popcorn and stir until evenly coated.

Bake for 1 hour, taking out every 15 minutes to stir. Pour out onto parchment or wax paper lined baking sheets to cool. Once it's cool, break up into pieces and try not to eat it all :)

* Note - I made 3/4 regular caramel corn and 1/4 caramel corn with almonds... so if you want to add enough nuts for all of it, probably increase it to 1 1/2 C.

Happy 2011: Hit List Time!

Warmest wishes for a healthy, prosperous, and delicious 2011! I spent New Years Eve quietly - at home watching Don't Mess With the Zohan, taking 10 minutes to watch the ball drop with Dick Clark, Ryan Seacrest, and <3 NKOTBSB <3. I was in recovery from a very spectacular, fun, and long Thursday night. Thursday was my golden birhtday = I turned 30 on the 30th! So you can see, the end of the year is a great time for me :-)

I have some recipes to post, but no pics yet. So instead, I'll do the same thing I did for last year, which is post a hit list of foods I want to conquer. No I didn't actually finish my Hit List 2010, but I got most, lol. They'll be an addendum to this new list, haha.

Hit List 2011:
1) caramel corn (completed 4-Jan-11)
2) pain au chocolat
3) zucchini bread (completed 3-July-11)
4) shrimp caprese a la Olive Garden
5) french dip sandwich au jus
6) tamales
7) baked char siu bao
8) cheese souffle thing a la Panera
9) some kind of from scratch cupcake or cake
10) shrimp and grits
11) garlic knots a la C&Os Tratorria (if you've been to Marina Del Ray, you know!)
12) thai rice pudding with mango

Bring it on!

Christmas Eve dinner recipes

Merry Christmas! Maligayang Pasko! My gift to you: recipes from last night's killer meal :)

Since I wouldn't get to spend Christmas dinner with my dad and little brother, I made dinner for us for Christmas Eve.I went with something not so traditional and knocked off another Hit List item at the same time: pastitsio. Almost didn't happen, though -- I may have almost burned down my kitchen, haha. That's an exaggeration, sorta... Instead of turning on the burner to boil water, I ended up charring the bottom of the box of pasta sitting on the other burner, lol. By the time it stopped smoking and, um, glowing, half of the bottom was gone, lol. Don't worry, I saved the pasta and was able to make this!

So pastitsio... Never heard of it? It's a Greek casserole, kinda like lasagna: you layer pasta (in this case, tubular noodles), meat sauce, and bechamel, then bake.  It's not the same in flavor, given you use cinnamon and nutmeg in the meat sauce. The only change is that next time I'll double the bechamel (and go to the gym for twice as long, lol) cuz I LOVE that stuff.  I wish I could explain it better, but you'll just have to try it: it's definitely delicious!

Pastitsio
Adapted from food.com

For the pasta:
1 box ziti (since I couldn't find bucatini or the traditional No. 2 pasta)
4 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 C parmesan cheese, grated
1/3 C milk
1 egg, lightly beaten

For the meat sauce:
1 lb ground lamb (or ground beef*)
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 8-oz can of tomato sauce
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
freshly ground black pepper

For the bechamel:
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
3/4 tsp salt
2 C milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 C parmesan cheese

Make the pasta according to the box al dente instructions. Drain, then return to the pot. Mix in the milk, butter, cheese and egg then set aside. Preheat oven to 350.

Make the meat sauce: In a large sautee pan, heat the oil over medium and add onions. Cook for 2 minutes, then add the lamb. Cook until the lamb is no longer pink and the onions are translucent. Drain off the fat. Add the tomato sauce, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Set aside.
(*Note: if using ground beef, the 2 tsp salt should be good... If using lamb, make sure to taste it and add salt as necessary.)

Make the bechamel: In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Mix in the flour and salt. Slowly stir in the milk, whisking constantly so there are no lumps. Cook, stirring, on medium high heat until sauce thickens (thicker than gravy, not as thick as sour cream) then take off heat. Mix in the egg, stirring well. Mix in the cheese.

Spread half the noodles into an 11x7 or a 9x9 baking dish. Spoon on all the meat sauce and spread so it's even. Top with the remaining pasta. Pour the bechamel over so everything's covered. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes or until top browns. (I shoulda baked mine a bit longer to have it brown all over but we were impatient, lol.) Allow to stand for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Delish!

Okay and for those green beans:
These are SUPER simple and absolutely awesome. I think I actually ate MORE of them than of the pastitsio, lol. (I heard a radio commercial say that the average american gains 10 lbs during Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays... not for me, thank you very much.) So. I got 2 bags of the prewashed, steam in the bag green beans (from Wegmans, though I'm sure most grocery stores have something similar). I microwaved it for 30 seconds shorter than the instructions said. Drained them, then put into a bowl. Drizzled some olive oil and lemon juice from half a lemon, sprinkled with salt, ground some red pepper flakes and viola! Absolutely perfect green beans! I will make those over and over again!

hit list challenge item: Risotto

You'd think I'd be blowing up the blog with Christmas cookie recipes. Well, I wish I had been, but not so much, lol. Wll, since I'm not playing any sports (shocker) and I dropped choir, I had a lot of free time so I picked up a seasonal job. So, there goes my free time to bake, lol.

BUT, I did make time for Friendsmas* at Ang.'s. It was a perfect time to try out a new recipe and to knock out one of my Hit List items. There are only a few things left, so I went with the risotto. Since she was making the pot roast, I opted for a side dish version. It was yummy! The addition of meyer lemon zest really made the flavor sing. Or as Danielle said, "what is that extra something... it tastes... zesty..." Lol.

I was actually quite surprised at how easy risotto is. It's not HARD to make per se, since it's mostly just stirring. It is just time consuming. Patience is definitely your friend here... Like the original recipe said it'd take some 18 minutes for it to cook, mine probably took closer to 25-30. Be patient, taste it along the way, and enjoy.

*Friendsmas = the Christmas version of Friendsgiving, of course!

Asparagus Risotto
adapted from Gourmet

4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
1 lb asparagus
3/4 sweet onion, chopped small
4 tbsp butter, divided
1 1/4 C arborio rice
1/4 C white wine
lemon zest from 1/2 lemon
1/2 C parmesan, (freshly grated, may want to use less if using the plastic jar kind)

Snap the ends of the asparagus then cut into 1" pieces. Bring the broth and water to a boil. Add the asparagus, reduce the heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes until tender. Use a slotted spoon to remove the asparagus and put in an ice bath to stop the cooking, then drain. Keep the broth/water mix on the stove.

In a large pan, melt 2 tbsp butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender - about 5-6 minutes. Add the rice, stir constantly, and cook for about a minute.

This is where the patience begins :-)

Add 1/2 C of the broth mix to the risotto and mix until absorbed. When it's absorbed, add another 1/2 C of the broth and mix until absorbed. Keep repeating - adding 1/2 C at a time and allowing to absorbe before adding more - until the rice is al dente. (Note: it should be simmering, and mine wasn't, which is probably why mine took so long to cook,)

Stir in the asparagus, remaining 2 tbsp butter, parmesan, and lemon zest. Serve hot.

This can easily be made into a main course by adding shrimp, but otherwise this works as a lovely vegetarian side.

shrunken chicken pot pies

I've been craving chicken pot pie lately, but here's one of the moderately annoying things about being single -- making a regular 9" pie recipe for something like this would be very, very wasteful since I can't eat a whole pie by myself, I generally don't like leftovers, and even when I force myself to eat them, most of it still goes bad before I get a chance to finish it. I also rarely have enough people over to eat a whole thing before all that stuff happens. One day, when I have a family all my own, I'll be able to make a whole pie. But until then... Solution for a single gal? Mini pies!

I got this cute little lattice pocket pie mold from Williams Sonoma a while back and it made for perfectly portioned pies. Here's a little trick about this sucker, by the way -- it's a dough cutter and mold in one, but when you cut the dough it's not quite big enough for the mold (dumb, I know) so I just cut them then rolled them a little to give it the extra width. Just make sure to wet the edges before crimping or else they're going to come apart. Worked brilliantly. You can freeze them and take one out at a time for a simple meal for one.

Chicken Pocket Pies
adapted from allrecipes.com

1 lb chicken breast or thigh (boneless), cubed into bite size pieces
2 cans chicken broth
1 1/4 C carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3/4 C green peas, frozen
1/2 sweet onion
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
rounded 1/2 tsp salt
pepper, to taste
ground red pepper flakes, to taste
2/3 C milk
2 C chicken broth (from the boiled chicken)
2 9" pie crusts (see below)

Place chicken, celery, and carrots in a medium pot and cover with chicken broth (about 2 cans). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes. Drain, saving the liquid.

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and sautee until translucent. Stir in flour, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and peppers. Continuously stir to allow flour to mix in and cook a little - about 2 minutes. Slowly add in milk and chicken broth. Simmer over medium low heat, stirring regularly, until thick.

Cut out, fill, and form the pocket pies -- makes 10 using the pocket pie cutter.  If baking right away, set oven to 425, place on parchment lined baking sheet, brush with egg wash, and bake for 16-20 minutes, or  until golden. Otherwise you can freeze them -- when ready to use, take right out of the freezer then follow the same directions above except bake for about 25 minutes or until golden.

Oh. About that crust... That flaky, buttery, lovely crust... It's really just a variation of the crust I used for the galette and peach pies.

Pie Crust for something savory -- you'll need to double this recipe to make the chicken pocket pies

1 stick butter, cut into small pieces and frozen
1 1/4 C flour
1/2 tsp salt
4-6 tbsp ice water

Combine flour and salt. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or food processor until it forms a coarse meal. Stir in ice water a tablespoon at a time until dough starts to come together into a dough ball. You may need fold/roll it around to get most of the pieces. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight before using.

Definitely keep pie crust cold -- Since I was cutting out shapes, I'd cut each disc into two, then roll/cut only a half at a time to make sure the rest of the dough stayed chilled.

And yay, I get to check another item off my 2010 Hit List!

spanakopita (or, greek spinach triangles)

'm a Top Chef fan, especially this season because it's set in my home town. DC, despite being a small city, has a plethora of really great restaurants. That is partially thanks to renowned chef Jose Andres, who's the mastermind behind Jaleo (supposedly the place that brought tapas to DC), Cafe Atlantico, Minibar, Oyamel, and Zaytinya. (I've been to all except Minibar, which is the one Bourdain went to in his DC ep, and is definitely in the top 5 of my To Eat At list). The Chef at Zaytinya is Top Chef contestant from last season, Mike Isabella. (See how I brought that right back around :-)) One of the most memorable things I ever ate there was a crab (or was it lobster?) spanakopita which was a special during the Easter season a few years back. It was AWESOME.

So I've had a hankering to make spanakopita lately, plus it's on my Hit List. Lo and behold, Mike Isabella has a little instructional series on just this dish. Here's the first vid. He says "uh" a LOT, but once you get past that, it's a really informative set of videos. I watched it a few times to get an idea of how to do it, and viola - here's my spanakopita!

The first time I tried to make this, I was fresh out of college. I knew I was supposed to defrost the phyllo... so I left it on the table for, like, an hour. When I started to unroll it, it cracked almost immediately! I promptly quit trying to make it, and haven't bothered since, lol. But this time, it phyllo was not as tough to work with, simply because I actually prepared well - fully thawed (won't forget that one), damp towel to keep it covered, everything organized so I could move quickly. That being said, I still tore a few sheets. And the towel can't be that wet because the phyllo turns gooey.

Please enjoy the pretty process pics. I <3 my new camera!

Spanakopita

adapted from Mike Isabella's videos

1/2 large vidalia onion, diced
1 leek, white part only (mine was pretty small), diced
4-5 stalks green onion, diced

olive oil

10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

8 oz package feta

1 egg

2 tsp dried dill

1 tsp dried parsley

freshly ground red pepper flakes, to taste

fresh ground black pepper, to taste

kosher salt, to taste

phyllo dough, defrosted overnight in the fridge

clarified butter

Heat olive oil over medium high heat and sautee onions until half translucent. Add the leeks and sautee another 2-3 minutes. Add the green onion and sautee until everything is soft.

Turn off heat, then add spinach and mix until everything's combined. Add about 1/2 tsp salt and peppers to taste. Put into a large bowl and allow to cool while you prepare the phyllo.

For the phyllo - cut into 11"x3" strips. The package of phyllo I got was 18 sheets, so I only had to cut one 3" strip -- this recipe makes 18. (Please see my note at the end of this post.) Cover with damp towel so it doesn't try out.

Add the feta to the spinach mixture and season to taste. Mix in the egg.

To form the spanakopita: Lay out a strip of phyllo. Brush with clarified butter. Put a heaping tablespoon of spinach mix in the bottom corner. Fold over to form a triangle, press down the filling a bit, then keep folding (like making a paper football). Brush top with more butter. Place on parchment lined paper.  When you have enough for one tray, put in fridge for at least 30 min (and then repeat until you're done with filling).

Make sure the oven rack is in the top 3rd, and then preheat oven to 350. Bake spanakopita for 8 minutes, then flip them over, and bake for another 3-4, or until the whole thing is toasty brown.

Enjoy hot! Mmm flaky.

When I do this again (and I'll be making this again soon because I have leftover phyllo), I'm going to play with the size and shape. For one thing, the one I had at Zaytinya was shaped more like a cigar, so I'll try rolls. Also, I don't think that I got enough flaky layers, so I'll double up the sheets of phyllo.

I'm back, with stuffed mushrooms

Yeah, I'm still alive :-) What have I done in this past month? Hmm... got pretty sick, got better, went to the beach, watched a bunch of movies, played some softball. Notice that baking/cooking isn't listed. Yep, I've been bad about that. But here I am now, with food!

So the other weekend was crab and beer fest at National Harbor. Because we planned in advance (was that sarcasm?) we did not get the general admission tickets. Not to be defeated by that, though, we had our own Crab Fest at Chez Smurf (aka Ang.'s place). That led to the best of sayings...

"We went to Angela's house and all we got were these stinking crabs!"

"By the end of the night you WILL have crabs!"

"Who knew having crabs could be so good."

What was on the menu? Maryland crab soup. Crab bites. Crab cakes eggs benedict. Steamed snow crab legs. And these not so photogenic but very tasty crab-stuffed mushrooms. The mushroom caps came out a bit... black. But they were tender. I think using white mushroom caps would make much prettier stuffed shrooms, but guess I'll just have to make them again to find out, heh. Oh, and coincidentally, stuffed mushrooms were part of my Hit List, so yay I can cross another item off!

Oh, and by the way, these were yummy. Not overwhelmingly crabby, not too mushroomy, just the right amount of cheese. Maybe next time I'll add some panko breadcrumbs to the top for some crunch, but they're delightful as is.

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms
from allrecipes.com

24-30 baby portabella or white mushrooms
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 stalk green onions, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp lemon juice
1 C crab meat
1/4 C breadcrumbs
1/4 C crushed buttery round crackers (since I had them leftover from the crabcakes, otherwise just make it more breadcrumbs)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp dried dill
1 C monterey jack cheese, divided
1/4 C dry white wine

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with baking spray. Preheat oven to 375.

Remove stems from mushrooms and dice finely. Heat butter and oil over medium heat in a medium pan. Add mushroom stems and green onions and sautee about 3 minutes. Add garlic and sautee an additional 1 minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool 5-10 minutes.

Arrange the mushroom caps out in the baking dish and spray one more time with the spray. Bake for 10 minutes.

Mix in the lemon juice, crab meat, breadcrumbs, crushed crackers, egg, dill, and 1/2 C of the cheese to the mushroom stem/onion mix.

Fill with the crab mixture, and top with the rest of the cheese. Pour wine into the bottom of the baking dish. Bake 20-30 minutes or until mushrooms are soft. (Note: I wonder if I'd used white mushrooms that I'd have to bake them for a shorter amount of time, because at 20 minutes the baby bellas were still on the raw side. Just something to keep in mind.)

fish en papillote

Sounds fancy. Looks fancy. Tastes fancy. So obviously it must be... super easy to make! If you google "fish en papillote recipe," you'll find tons of recipes, some more complex than others. I opted for something less complicated: halibut seasoned with lemon, garlic and thyme, over asparagus. It took me all of 5 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to bake. Simplicity at its finest.

Fish en papillote (in parchment) was on my Hit List of foods to make in 2010, and I can call this one a success. It's a really light meal, a quick weeknight meal. Added bonuses: asparagus is in season, fish is good for you, and this used hardly any oil. The moisture from the fish, which is sealed in the parchment while baking, will steam and cook everything else which is why you don't need much oil. Healthy too! Heart.

Fish en Papillote

1 6oz fillet of halibut

1 clove garlic, minced

1 lemon

asparagus, cut down to the same size as the halibut

olive oil

fresh thyme (I used dried, fresh will be better)

salt and pepper to taste

Special equipment: parchment paper

Preheat oven to 400. Cut 1 large piece of parchment -- enough where you can fold it in half and there's plenty of room that the fish would fit. Cut out a big heart. (I actually cut mine a little small - another 2" would have been just right.)

Slice 1/2 of the lemon into thin slices and set aside. Zest the other half. Arrange the asparagus in the middle of one half of the parchment heart. Squeeze some of the lemon juice over it, sprinkle the zest, and salt it. Lay the fish on top of the asparagus, then generously season with salt, pepper, thyme, a half the garlic clove. Or a whole one if you love garlic. Drizzle a little olive oil over it. Arrange the lemon slices on top of the fish.

Fold the other half of the parchment heart over. Fold the edges of the heart over so it seals it in. (The beginning of this video shows you.) Place on a baking sheet, and bake for about 10 minutes.
Open. Eat. (Or if you want to be fancy, transfer to a plate and eat!)

Hit List 2010

It's nearly a full week into the new year and I'm still on the resolution kick, but this one right here is more of an inspired challenge. After another discussion with Ang. about what to make for dinner, it kind of blew up into something bigger and better. The conversation kind of went like this: Hmm what should I make tonight? Hmm what foods do we really want to learn to make this year? Let's come up with 12 things to make... let's make it a challenge! Let's make a Hit List of 12 things to rock successfully this year!

And what does "successfully" mean, exactly? Basically it'll result in this kind of situation:
Eater of food: Whatcha making?
Me: ~~ insert hit list item here ~~
Eater of food takes a bite.
Me: How do you like th--
Eater of food: ~puts a finger up to interrupt~ Nuh nuh no no no... Shh shh shhh shh shhh. No talking. Must. Eat.

Or something like that :)

So since writing down goals is important, I present to you my Hit List for 2010:

1. matzo ball soup (I made this once, but it was an utter failure, so I can't cross it off quite yet!)
2. fish en papillote

3. pie, chicken pot (most likely chicken pot... definitely some kind of pie, though)
4. chicken stock/broth from scratch
5. chicharron de cerdo
6. stuffed mushrooms

7. a killer risotto
8. french onion soup
9. spanakopita


10. pastitsio
11. patatas bravas
12. my mom's mocha cake

Bring it on.