Second Breakfast

Like the rest of the world, cold weather makes me yearn for comfort foods. I had some leftover Meatballs in Red Wine Gravy (which my husband really likes) and wanted to serve those with mashed potatoes, but felt the yearning for a vegetable accompaniment. Cabbage seemed appropriate, and I wanted something that was buttery and savory without being too heavy. I found this recipe in Madhur Jaffrey’s “World Vegetarian” (a wedding present that I don’t use often enough), and modified it to my own liking. Jaffrey’s recipe called for a hot chile pepper or two to be added with the shallots, and no paprika. You could vary this quite a bit to fit with whatever cuisine type you were working with.

Items

• 1 small head cabbage, cored and thinly sliced.
• 4-5 shallots, peeled and cut into slivers
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and cut into slivers
• 4 scallions, green part only, cut into 2 inch lengths and then into slivers
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp paprika, or to taste
• 1 Tbsp butter

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a wide pan over medium-high heat.
2. Add the shallots and saute until softened, 5-6 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and scallions and sautee for another minute.
4. Add the cabbage, and saute 6-8 minutes until the cabbage is softened a bit.
5. Add the stock and cover, turning the heat down a bit, and cook until the cabbage is tender but not mushy.
6. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, add the paprika, and finish with the butter.

Serves 4 as a side dish.

This is my version of something I had at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, where I was last week for a technical conference related to my paid work. I was surprised throughout the three days that the conference offered meals how good the food was, despite the fact they were cooking for 1000+ people. Usually such fare consists of overcooked pasta and inedible chicken. But everything at CP was well-prepared and tasty, and this pasta was particularly memorable.

I haven’t seen a lot of recipes for something like this, which is surprising given that capers and lemon are a good match. I may be mis-remembering the lemon, but the combination of cream, capers, and small tomatoes was fabulous, and I’ve made some additional small modifications based on my own preferences. We had this alongside some brussel sprouts sauteed in olive oil and shallots, and then braised with some chicken stock.

My husband liked this enough to say “I’d pay for this.” Oh you do, honey. Every day.

Items

• 1 lb dried linguine (I prefer Barilla)
• 1 Tbsp butter plus 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup capers, roughly chopped. Salt-packed are best (rinse them), but the ones in brine are okay, just not as strongly-flavored.
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• rind of 1 lemon
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 shallots, minced
• 1/4 cup orange bell pepper, fine dice
• 2 cups grape tomatoes
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• Freshly grated pecorino romano cheese

Method

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente. Prepare the sauce while the pasta is cooking, finishing the sauce after draining the pasta and reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water.
2. Melt the butter and olive oil together over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until they are quite soft, stirring regularly so they don’t brown.
3. Add the garlic, capers, bell pepper, and lemon zest, and cook for another minute or two, stirring often.
4. Add the milk and cream, turn the heat down to low, and simmer for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Don’t let it boil very heavily, since the milk will curdle and too much heat will kill a lot of the nice oils in the lemon.
5. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper. My tendency is to make the sauce a bit saltier than you’d expect, since the sauce on the pasta will be diluted and you won’t need to salt at table.
6. Add the tomatoes and turn the heat down as low as it will go and sweat the tomatoes in the sauce for a couple of minutes.
7. Toss the sauce with the pasta, along with a bit of the reserved pasta water.
8. Serve with the pecorino romano.

Serves 4-6.   

I like to cook, and my husband likes to eat, and we like to share, so we often have a friend or two over to share a weeknight meal. Our friend Kevin, who practices family medicine and obstetrics near Detroit, has been our regular diner for some time now, and we recently introduced him to a delicacy Alan’s side of the family, and he’s been bugging me for the recipe ever since. So here it is.

Tater Tot Casserole is essentially a prepared foods version of Shepherd’s Pie: cooked meat, vegetables, and a sauce, topped with potatoes and baked, and finished with cheese. In this case the potatoes are tater tots, those nuggets of shredded, baked potato goodness that one associates with pizza rolls and other artery-clogging inhabitants of the freezer aisle at the grocery store. I tend to be one of those who shops around the edges of the store and eschews most prepared foods, but this is tasty and easy and sometimes I don’t want to mess with a lot of prep.

This can be made with meat or as a vegetarian version. We usually leave the meat out and don’t notice the lack. This can be varied and fussed with endlessly. Since this is Alan’s mother’s recipe, he believes that any modifications are heresy.

Items

• 1 lb ground beef, or 1 pkg Morningstar “Grillers” Recipe Crumbles/TVP (yes, you can do that to the English language).
• 1 medium onion, fine chop
• 1 can cream of celery soup
• 2 cups frozen or 1 can corn
• 1 pkg Ore-Ida Tater Tots (I like the Onion-flavored kind myself) — you won’t use them all.
• 1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
• 10 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Brown the beef or TVP and onion in a skillet. You’ll want to add a couple of Tbsp olive oil if you’re using the crumbles. Drain the excess fat from the beef. Season liberally with salt and pepper.
3. In a 2 1/2 quart round casserole, layer 1/2 of the beef, 1/2 of the corn, and 1/2 of the soup, spreading with a spatula. Repeat with the remainder of the beef, corn, and soup.
4. Arrange the tater tots in a single layer on top of the soup, in whatever arrangement or pattern pleases you best. I arrange them like little barrels standing up in circles for optimal packing.
5. Cook in a microwave on high for 10-15 minutes, until the inside is hot and bubbling. Alternatively, cook in the oven for 45 minutes at least.
6. Top with the cheese, and finish under the broiler for 5-10mins until the cheese is melted and slightly browned.

Serves 4-6.

As usual, this is my variation of something I found elsewhere, this time on Epicurious.

My idea for this pasta was to create a sauce that would capitalize on the inherent creaminess of fresh corn, and to use the vegetables in both their uncooked and cooked forms. Fresh, good local corn is the key to this being fabulous I think.

The resulting dish can be made with our without dairy, and is quite rich and satisfying either way.

Items

• 4 ears fresh sweet corn on the cob, husked and washed
• 1 large zucchini, skin on, cut into 1/2 inch dice
• 1 1/2 cups shelled baby peas, fresh or frozen
• 1 large shallot, minced
• 2 Tb olive oil or butter (your preference)
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
• 1 lb linguine
• 1/4 cup cream (optional)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Over the sink (its messy), cut the kernels from the corn, reserving the cobs.
2. Cook the linguine according to the package directions in well-salted boiling water. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water before draining.
3. In a blender, process half of the corn kernels, plus half of the zucchini and peas, until smooth. Scrape the cobs with a knife to release the juice into the blender, along with 1/3 of the basil, and process for a few seconds more.
4. Heat a chef’s pan over medium heat. Melt the butter (or heat the oil) and saute the shallot until translucent, 3-4 mins.
5. Add the reserved corn, peas, and zucchini, and saute over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the zucchini is softened.
6. Turn the heat down to low, and add the sauce from the blender, plus the optional cream, and cook very gently just heated through. The idea here is to not lose the raw taste from the blender portion of the sauce.
7. Add at least 1 tsp salt and some black pepper to your taste.
8. When the pasta is finished cooking, toss it with the sauce and remaining basil leaves, adding a bit of the reserved pasta water and adjusting the seasoning as needed. It will be a saucy dish, but the sauce is light enough that it is pleasant and not overwhelming.
9. Serve with the grated cheese as desired.

Serves 4-6.

I wanted to make my Torte di Pasta, but didn’t feel like spending a lot of money on fresh basil when it is out of season.

My grocery store carries dried red bell peppers for $1.99 for a 3oz package. I thought this would make a nice pesto, and was right. I’ve seen them in the produce sections of a lot of grocery stores lately so I don’t think they’re that hard to find. This is kind of a play on muhammara.

Items

• 3oz dried red bell peppers, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup shelled walnuts
• 2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1-2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 cup grated Parmiggiano-Reggiano cheese (I *gasp* used the stuff in the green can this time, and it was good)
• Freshly-ground black pepper to taste

Method

1. Process the peppers and walnuts in the food processor until finely chopped.
2. Add the garlic and process some more.
3. With the machine running, drizzle in the olive oil until the mixture comes together in a ball and then loosens up into a smooth paste. The peppers themselves are fairly sticky, so you’ll want a moderate amount of oil.
4. Add the red pepper flakes, paprika, salt, cheese, and pepper. Process a bit more.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups of pesto. Doubles easily. The flavor deepens and improves in the fridge over time. This is also easily varied. Smoked Spanish-style paprika would give a great extra note. Pine nuts could substitute for the walnuts, or be skipped altogether, although I’d wonder about the texture. You could also adjust this considerably and skip the nuts and cheese, add considerably more oil, strain the results after a day or so, and give yourself a fabulous, ruby-red flavored olive oil that would be great in and on just about anything.

If you want to serve this on pasta, I’d recommend thinning the pesto with a bit of the salted cooking water before applying it, or it tends to clump up.