Rice and Peas

As far as Jamaicans are concerned, rice and peas actually means rice and beans. I did some research today on rice and peas and finally settled on a recipe from the eatjamaican.com site. A lot of the recipes started with dried beans, soaked overnight and cooked before using in a recipe. A lot of them had coconut milk, rice, onion, garlic and a scotch bonnet pepper. I found a recipe that seemed to be somewhat traditional but actually used canned beans and that was the winner for me.

The other part of dinner tonight was the rainbow chard that I first steamed and then sauteed in some olive oil, with garlic, ground cumin, and grated fresh ginger. The greens were finished with a sprinkle of fresh lemon juice and salt.

Both of these dishes turned out fine, but they were nothing special. The rice and peas definitely needed salt and pepper (those simple seasonings would have greatly helped the dish). The greens were good, but you knew you were eating something good for you. Don't get me wrong; I have nothing against eating foods that are good for you, but I don't like to feel like that is the only reason I'm eating them. I'll try another recipe next time.



Simple Rice and Peas (serves 4-5)
Adapted from eatjamaican.com

1 16 ounce can red kidney beans
1 15 ounce can coconut milk (I used lite)
2 cups rice
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon oil
1 habanero pepper, (whole, do not chop up)
water

Drain the liquid from the can of beans into a measuring cup and add the can of coconut milk and enough water to make four cups of liquid. Place liquids in a pot with beans, onions, garlic, thyme and oil, bring to a boil. Add rice and stir for a minute. Reduce heat to medium-low. Place habanero on top of liquid and cover tightly for 30 minutes or until rice is cooked. Remove habanero before serving.


My rating:

Chocolate Cake and Chocolate Frosting

We turned to lamb tonight for dinner because it has been quite a while since we have made it. We bought a rack of lamb, which happens to be my favorite cut and Gerry grilled it perfectly. It was drizzled with olive oil and rubbed with salt, pepper, and chopped fresh rosemary. When you start with an excellent cut of meat, all it needs are simple flavorings and an excellent grill master. Gerry grilled this to perfection.

Our side dishes were garlic mashed potatoes and carrots and all was wonderful.



I have been making a sweet treat each week and Sunday seems to be the perfect day to bake. I turned to an Ina Garten recipe in her Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook and it was like eating the best Devil's Food cake with a lightly whipped chocolate frosting. Gerry enjoyed it so much, he said it may be his birthday dessert choice (of course his birthday is in June so who knows how many times he might change his mind).

If you are a chocolate fan, you seriously need to try to make this cake.



Beatty's Chocolate Cake (Serves 8-10)
Adapted from Barefoot Contessa at Home

Butter for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup good cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
Chocolate Frosting (recipe follows)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 8 x 2-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With the mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Place one layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with the frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

Chocolate Frosting

6 oz. good semisweet chocolate such as Callebaut (which is what I used)
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don't whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake.


Our rating:

Portuguese Style Scallops

Today was an errand day, as Saturdays sometimes are. After our workouts (and showers) this morning, our first errand was to pick up our bin of fresh produce which I was really excited to get. Here is a picture of it loaded up.




Since I split this full share with Val, we met up with them at Target where they were wandering with the kids. It's actually a great place to let the kids burn off some energy and for Val and Jason to pick up some random things. We joined them for about an hour and then went out to the parking lot to divide up the produce. I recently joined this produce co-op and I was a little concerned after the first bin which contained dandelion greens, red swiss chard and Tuscan kale. That's a whole lot of greens. I was greatly relieved to see this week's bin much more balanced. We did have some rainbow chard, beets with the greens, green leaf and red leaf lettuce, a variety of hot peppers, from jalapenos to long hot green chile peppers, onions, butternut squash, acorn squash, broccoli, carrots, Japanese sweet potatoes, apples, pears and Persimmon. Both the Japanese sweet potato and Persimmon will be something new for us.


Once we got home, I cleaned all the produce and made lunch which was a vegetable soup using some of the onion, carrots, a couple of the long, hot, green chile peppers, and some Japanese sweet potatoes along with some pantry items such as garlic, diced tomatoes and chicken broth. I did add some of the beet greens to the soup in the last few minutes. To go with the soup I roasted the beets with garlic pieces drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with a little orange juice and salt and pepper. I served the roasted beets as a salad with crumbled goat cheese and dressed with an orange vinaigrette. What an impromptu and delicious lunch.


After running more errands, we settled on a very simple, yet superb dinner to prepare. Scallops that were perfectly seared, served with a Madeira wine reduction over white rice. As simple as that sounds, it cannot convey how truly delicious this meal is. It's all in how well the scallops are seared and they were seared perfectly tonight. Our side dish was oven roasted broccoli which was in my co-op bin today.



Portuguese-Style Scallops (serves 2)
Adapted from Cooking Light

3/4 lb. sea scallops
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 ounces Madeira wine
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, divided
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup hot cooked long-grain rice

Sprinkle scallops with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a 10-inch cast-iron or heavy skillet over high heat until very hot (about 3 minutes). Add the scallops; cook 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove scallops from pan.

Stir in port and lemon juice, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add reserved scallops, 1 1/2 tablespoons parsley, and garlic; saute 30 seconds over high heat. Serve scallops over rice. Sprinkle with remaining parsley.

Our rating:

Steakhouse Steaks at Home

I guess steak ended up on the menu tonight because I have been feeling so run down with this sinus/congestion thing I have had going on all week. I am not 100% yet, but feel like I have rounded the curve on the way to wellness (at least I hope so). I was craving a steak tonight and so I turned to an Ina Garten menu: Steakhouse Steaks with a Roquefort Chive Sauce, Sauteed Wild Mushrooms, and Cornmeal Fried Onion Rings. It was an absolute feast of a dinner.

Here is the slate of ingredients before I started any part of dinner.



Once I got ready to start cooking, I started with the onions, by slicing an onion into thick slices, separating them and soaking them in seasoned buttermilk for about 30 minutes.

I then moved on to prepping the mushrooms, chopping the shallots, and peeling the garlic. I took the steaks out of the refrigerator to let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes while I worked on the Roquefort sauce by cooking down the heavy cream.

I moved on to frying the onion rings after dredging them in the seasoned flour and cornmeal mixture.


I did recruit Gerry to cook the steaks in the screaming hot cast iron skillet and to finish up the Roquefort sauce while I finished the onion rings and cooked the mushrooms. His help was invaluable in getting all components of the dinner to the plate at the same time.

We really enjoyed all parts of this dinner.



Steakhouse Steaks (serves 2)
Adapted from Ina Garten

2 filet mignons, 1 1/2 inches thick each
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 tablespoon Kosher salt
3/4 tablespoon coarsely cracked black peppercorns
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, optional
Roquefort Chive Sauce, recipe follows

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat a large, well-seasoned cast iron skillet over high heat until very hot, 5 to 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, pat the steaks dry with a paper towel and brush them lightly with vegetable oil. Combine the kosher salt and cracked pepper on a plate and roll the steaks in the mixture, pressing lightly to evenly coat all sides.

When the skillet is ready, add the steaks and sear them evenly on all sides for about 2 minutes per side, for a total of 10 minutes.

Top each steak with a tablespoon of butter, if using, and place the skillet in the oven. Cook the steaks until they reach 120 degrees F for rare or 125 degrees F for medium-rare on an instant-read thermometer. (To test the steaks, insert the thermometer sideways to be sure you're actually testing the middle of the steak.)

Remove the steaks to a serving platter, cover tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest at room temperature for 10 minutes. Serve hot with Roquefort Chive Sauce on the side.

Roquefort chive sauce:

3/4 cups heavy cream
1 ounce French Roquefort cheese, crumbled (2 ounces with rind)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

Bring the heavy cream to a boil in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook at a low boil, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has become thick and creamy, about 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, add the cheese, salt, pepper and chives and whisk rapidly until the cheese melts.

Yield: 2 servings


Our rating for the entire dinner:

Pumpkin Coconut Chowder with Shrimp

November makes me want to play around with certain fall ingredients like canned pumpkin puree. I know I could make my own puree, but sometimes it really just seems to make sense to buy canned pumpkin puree. I used part of a can last week to make Pumpkin Snickerdoodles (very yummy cookies) which I will blog about soon. I used most of the rest of the can for tonight's dinner which inspired me to choose this recipe. The other part of the choice for tonight's dinner is that I am still not quite feeling up to par and a soup sounded perfect. This soup is really a play on a Thai inspired dish with the addition of canned pumpkin thrown in the mix.

I also made Honey Yeast Rolls to go along with the soup so that I can start testing roll recipes before Thanksgiving. These rolls didn't quite bake up the way I hoped according to the recipe and I thought they were a little too sweet. I could bake them in a different way which would solve one problem but I still think they were a little too sweet. I have several more recipes to try out before the big day, so I'm not too worried.


Here are all the colorful ingredients lined up for tonight's dinner.




Pumpkin Coconut Chowder with Shrimp
Adapted from Perry's Plate blog



1 tablespoon Canola oil
1 shallot, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 cup chicken, vegetable, or seafood broth
1 cup shredded carrot (about 1 large)
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 cup 1/2-inch diced potato (any kind will do, including sweet potatoes)
1 Roma tomato, diced
1 14 or 15 ounce can of coconut milk (the real stuff, not light)
2 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon fish sauce (optional)
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (canned is fine)
1/2 teaspoon salt
6-8 ounces uncooked shrimp, thawed, tails removed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
Creme Fraiche (optional for garnish)

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and ginger. Stir and cook for 3-4 minutes until the shallots are tender. Add the remaining ingredients (except for the shrimp and cilantro). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes until potatoes are tender. Add the shrimp and cilantro during the last 5 minutes of cooking time. Cook until shrimp are pink and opaque.

Serve hot and garnish with more fresh cilantro, roasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas), Thai sweet chili sauce or Creme Fraiche.

Chicken with Goat Cheese and Sun Dried Tomato Sauce

Tonight was the first time since Saturday night that I made dinner for the both of us. I wasn't up for something too heavy and yet I wanted something warm and soothing. I had bookmarked this recipe earlier and decided it would be just right for tonight. It is really quick and easy to make which was an added benefit. I served this with mashed potatoes and green beans as our sides. It fit the bill perfectly!



Chicken with Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce (serves 4)
Adapted from Annie's Eats blog

4 chicken breasts halves, pounded thin
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (and drained, if packed in oil)
2 oz. herbed goat cheese
salt and pepper

Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Heat skillet over medium-high heat and add oil. When oil is hot, add chicken breasts. Cook through, about 6-8 minutes per side, depending on the thickness. Set aside and keep warm.

In the same skillet, add the wine. Cook over medium-high heat until reduced by half, being sure to scrape up the browned bits from the chicken. Add the chicken broth and reduce that by about half too. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and heat through.

Remove skillet from heat and stir in the goat cheese. Add more chicken broth if sauce seems too thick. Adjust seasonings. Top the chicken breasts with sauce and serve.


Our rating:

Apple Cream Streusel Pie

I know I haven't posted anything for a few days but it has been a little crazy around here. I watched my precious 16 month old grandson Ethan for the weekend since Emma was sick and we wanted to keep them apart. Ethan did have a bit of a cold already and we didn't want him to get worse. Since I was already a little under the weather with a sinus thing going on, I think I may have caught whatever he was struggling with. On top of all this, Gerry was attending a user conference and was gone Sunday through this morning basically. With this unique set of circumstances, cooking did not rate high on my priority list like it usually does.

I did make this pie last week and have not yet posted the recipe, so here it is. I used the 4 Fuji apples that were in my CSA bin and the pie was really good, but I should have baked it a little longer since the apples still had a little bite to them. I personally like my apples really tender so I would bake this longer next time.



Apple Cream Streusel Pie
Adapted from Sass and Veracity's blog

1 prebaked pie crust

Filling:
4 peeled, cored, & sliced Fuji apples (about 2 lbs.)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2-3/4 cup sour cream
1/4-1/2 cup mascarpone (the combination of the sour cream & the mascarpone should equal 1 cup)
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Streusel Topping:
6 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) chilled unsalted butter cut into small cubes
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Prepare the pie crust using desired recipe. While the crust is blind baked, slice the apples and toss in a large bowl with the lemon juice to prevent the fruit from discoloring.

In another bowl, combine the sour cream, mascarpone, egg, sugar, flour, vanilla, and salt until well combined. Add the apples and stir to coat evenly. Pour into cooled pie shell. Bake for 30 minutes until filling is set. You may want to place strips of foil on the crusts to prevent excessive browning.

While the pie is baking, prepare the streusel. Using a fork, mix flour and cold butter in a medium bowl. Add chopped pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon and mix well. When the pie is set, sprinkle streusel over the top and bake until it browns lightly about 10-15 minutes. Watch it to keep it from browning too much. Cool to room temperature before serving and store covered in the refrigerator.

My rating: