Basilicious

Mmm... summer. One of the best things about summer is the availability of all the fantastic fresh herbs everyone seems to grow! Amanda's parents have mint in their yard, Annie's parents have jalapenos (ok not really an herb but delicious all the same) and someone happened to bring in some freshly picked basil to Annie the other day. Thankfully she was willing to share!

Inspired by this awesome surprise and the tofu gnocchi I had already tried from Peas and Thank You, I decided to whip up a batch of what I like to call Black Bean and Basil Dumplings. I was much too lazy to wait for the dough to get cold enough to roll into snakesand cut into tiny pieces. I was just patient enough to let the dough cool its heels in the freezer for about 20 minutes. They were just hard enough to stand up to boiling by then, so I just kinda rolled them into rustic balls and squashed them a bit.





I boiled them in a pot of slightly salted water and covered them with a Cucumber Basil Pesto-type sauce. They came out pretty damn tasty! And they were mega satisfying! I will definitely be making these again and trying out different types of beans.

Kyle just brought me Cranberry Beans. He also restocked my adzuki beans supply. Maybe I can do an adzuki bean gnocci with a Japanese flavored pesto... we'll see where the summer winds blow me!

Black Bean and Basil Dumplings
1/2 cup black beans
1/3 cup cannellini beans
1 large clove garlic
1/2 large jalapeno, seeded
1/3 cup fresh basil
1 egg
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour (you could use a different flour here)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon water
Salt and Pepper, to taste

In a food processor, combine beans, garlic, jalapeno, basil and egg until well combined. Add in flours and give it a whirl again. Add vinegar, water, salt and pepper and process until a dough begins to form. Transfer into a container and place in the freezer for at least 20 minutes or until firm enough to handle.

Break apart pieces of dough, rolling them lightly in flour until you form a bunch of tiny dumplings, or large dumplings if you prefer. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add salt, then place about 1/3 of the dumplings in at a time, boiling until they float for 2 minutes. Serve plain, with a sauce or even just melted butter!

I opted to serve these with a delicious "pesto" I made. In it was:
- a whole cucumber
- half a jalapeno, seeded
- 2 ounces asiago cheese
- 1/4 cup toasted walnuts
- a dash of lemon pepper
- a palm full of basil leaves
- 2 tablespoons olive oil

Mmm... YUM!

Avocado Corn Chowder

The other day I got the craving to eat something green. I don't know why, I just did. I had an avocado that needed to be eaten before it went bad. Since I had no flour in the house I couldn't make those delicious Mayan Brownies. I decided to indulge my healthier, savory side and make a green soup.



To add some protein to that, I seared up some eye of round. Of course, you don't have to do this. Mmmm eye of round! STEAK!

Avocado Corn Chowder
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen lima beans
1 cup milk
1 avocado
2 cloves fresh garlic
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a food processor, puree milk, avocado, garlic and water until liquidy. Pour avocado mixture, peas, corn and lima beans into a crock pot on high. Stir in pepper flakes and salt. Cook about an hour or until heated through. Serve with a dollop of plain greek yogurt.

Chicken "Non" Marsala

I'm back from my relaxing South Carolina vacation. Sad. It was so nice and sunny and beautiful there. The creepy crawlies definitely enjoyed my stay. *scratch* I don't miss them, though.



Even though I was on vacation, I still managed to do some inventing in the kitchen!

I know what you're thinking... what did I do on a Sunday evening when I got the itch to make Chicken Marsala, but was in a state where they don't sell liquor on Sundays? I substituted like crazy, that's what!



Now this was a challenge to me. To start with, I'd never made chicken marsala before, plus I was trying to substitute the ingredient the dish is named for. Using my "foodie senses" (those are similar to spidey senses, by the way), I picked out a few ingredients that would make the dish my own, but still keep the main components of the original.

I added in roasted plum tomatoes with some olive oil, salt and pepper... those were pretty yummy. They were dangerously close to not even making it into the pan..



Kyle thought the dish was a hit! Perhaps it could have used a bit more salt.. hehe!


Chicken "Non" Marsala
8 baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1/2 sweet onion, sliced
2 large cloves garlic, diced
1/2 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 skinless chicken breasts, patted dry and seasoned with salt and pepper
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 cup white grape juice
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
3 plum tomatoes, roasted and diced
1/3 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped


Mix lemon juice, grape juice, water and vinegar in a bowl and set aside. Over medium heat, melt the butter in a large skillet. Add mushrooms and onion and saute until the onion just starts to turn clear. Add garlic and sautee another 30 seconds. Remove veggies and set aside. Add olive oil to the pan and turn the heat up to medium high. When oil is hot, add chicken breasts and sear about 3-5 minutes on each side or until a nice crust forms. Add juice mixture to pan, followed by the veggies. Cover and simmer about 10-15 minutes over medium heat. Add parsley and tomatoes, return the lid and simmer another 5 minutes. If you need to, you can thicken with cornstarch. Serve over pasta and topped with grated asiago cheese!

Fiesta in a Casserole Dish

"Can you help me search for a recipe? I want to make a vegetarian dish to bring to the lock-in," Kyle says to me Friday afternoon.

Not one to turn down a recipe search, I accepted the challenge.

My first, and as it turned out, final, stop was the vegetarian section of Simply Recipes. I've followed Elise's blog for years. Everything I've ever made from her website has turned out beautifully. Whenever someone asks me for a recipe reference, I point them in the direction of her site. So when Kyle asked me for a vegetarian recipe, I linked him her Polenta Casserole recipe. Little did I know that this would spark my own creative juices flowing.

Once I started digging through my pantry and fridge, I realized I didn't have half of her listed ingredients. Never fear! Its in my DNA to substitute everything and anything in a recipe. Really, my mom does it, my Grandma does it... we've been trying for years upon years to recreate Grandma's spaghetti sauce recipe. We still haven't figured it out.

Mom says she spits in her sauce... I'll bet that's the secret...



Anyway, I pinched here, tweaked there, added some sauteed pork and came out with a Mexican inspired casserole recipe. Deliciouso!

Mexican Grits Casserole
1 pork chop, seared in a hot pan with celery salt and pepper and chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 vidalia onion, chopped
1 large pablano pepper, chopped
1/2 cup kale, chopped
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms (I used dried shitake, since that's all I had on hand)
4 garlic cloves, minced and divided in half
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
3 cups water
1 cup grits
1 cup grated cheese (just use your favorite, I used Mexican melting cheese)
Celery salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan on medium heat and saute onion, kale, pablano and mushrooms, seasoned with celery salt and pepper, until onion starts to turn clear and kale starts to shrink down. Add in tomatoes, pork and 2 garlic cloves. Simmer for about 5 minutes, remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, brush an 8x8 glass baking dish with canola oil and set aside.

In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add in garlic and a pinch of celery salt. Reduce heat to low, whisk in grits and cook until thick and cooked through. Be sure to wear socks during this step of the recipe... I burnt my foot from the spluttering grits!!

In prepared baking dish, spread 1/3 of the tomato mixture. Pour half the grits mixture on top of the tomato mixture, smoothing into corners. Sprinkle the grits layer with cheese. Repeat this process again, then top with the last bit of tomato sauce. I had a little cheese leftover, so I just piled it on top of the last layer.

Bake about 25 to 30 minutes and let cool about 15 minutes before serving. Like real live lasagna, this dish tastes delicious after sitting for a few days in the fridge.

The Unbearable Lightness of Bean

On Prudence Pennywise, a blog I follow, I was struck by her post about a recipe for "unrefried beans". I am a huge fan of refried beans but the whole lard factor is pretty off-putting if you're watching your girlish figure. Seeming to read my mind, my mom produced a bag of dried pinto beans from her magical pantry and my dream of reproducing this recipe became a reality! I followed the recipe mostly, adding a bit more water since I did not use a can of taco sauce. I diced up a few jalapenos and some garlic amongst a few other choice ingredients and my concoction has been simmering in the crockpot for a few hours. I look forward to tomorrow morning when I can mash the beans up and see how the recipe turned out. Beans, beans, beans!!

Update: This morning I padded out of the bedroom at 2:30 toward the heavenly aroma the crockpot was emitting. I removed the lid and peered inside.. Now for all the good smells in the world, pinto beans are just not pretty. You won't find a photo of them here but I will tell you that they tasted just delicious. But I'm getting ahead of myself here. I turned that crockpot off (it had been simmering for 7 hours at that point) and went back to sleep. After waking up for real this morning, the beans mostly cooled, I followed a suggestion posted on Prudence Pennywise's site. A clever blogger stated that he or she used a slotted spoon to ladel the beans into their kitchen aid and mash them up using the paddle on the second setting. This worked like a dream and saved me from having to use those arm muscles to mash em up. I saved the "stock" the beans created and used it to cook my fish for lunch. Protein OVERLOAD! =)

Hummus! I got the hummus!

There's a birthday celebration at the bank tomorrow and I wanted to make a healthy treat to balance out the chocolate I know will be present! I found a delicious recipe for hummus to eat with the homemade bread I made. I am a huge fan of garlic (there's no way any vampire would come within ten feet of me) but thought that the raw garlic might knock our customers over. I decided the solution would be to quick-roast the garlic in a pan over the stove. This was simpler than I expected: just leave the skins on the garlic and let them take a spin around a hot, dry pan until they smell all yummy and buttery, then slip the skins off. The best part of this recipe is how incredibly simple it is to prepare.. once again I bow to my food processor!

Lemon Garlic Hummus
1 16 oz can garbanzo beans, well rinsed
1/3 cup tahini paste
4-5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, roasted
Juice of one lemon
Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Add beans, tahini paste, and garlic to food processor and blend well. Add remaining ingredients and continue to process until a nice paste is formed. Serve with chopped veggies, bread, crackers; whatever you crave! You could serve this right away but I'm allowing mine to sit overnight so the flavors can mingle.