Tomato & Basil

I am the proud mother of twenty basil plants (grown from seed) and two red ripe tomatoes (grown from a purchased plant.)
Happy Mothers' Week to me!

Excuse me sir, there's a beer in my soup!

I like cheese. A lot. When I worked at the Mill (in Birmingham), there was a soup that was made every day called Cheddar Ale. I loved this soup so much, I really could not get enough of it. Unfortunately, I didn't ever see the cooks make the soup, so I couldn't tell you what was in it except beer and cheese. I found an Emeril recipe, and I replicated it (mostly), but I'll tell you now it was not that great.

My first mistake was the type of beer. I used Sierra Nevada Pale Ale because they sell individual bottles of this at Target. If I had been thinking harder, I would have remembered that, at the Mill, they used a much darker beer. I think it was either a bock or a porter, though I think a porter would make more sense with Cheddar cheese. Anyway, here's the recipe I used:

4 ounces bacon, diced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup celery, chopped
1/4 cup flour
12 ounces of beer, pale ale
1 quart chicken stock
8 ounces Cheddar cheese, grated
Salt & pepper to taste

Brown the bacon in the soup pot. Remove excess grease. Add the butter, onions, and celery to the pot with the bacon and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat. Dust the flour over vegetables and bacon, cook, stirring for 3 minutes. Stir in the beer, and then the stock.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the cheese and season with salt and pepper.

Notes: So I already told you you probably don't want to use a pale ale. The Sierra Nevada made mine taste saltier than it actually was. And though this soup had a good consistency, the kind at the Mill was much thicker. Also, I suggest using an immersion blender to process the vegetable bits so you get a creamier soup.

I will do some more experimenting. If I get it right, I'll post the recipe.

Chicken Tetrazzini

I've been slacking on just about everything that doesn't have to do with work this week. I was too lazy to go to the grocery store last Sunday, and I decided it wouldn't hurt to get rid of some of the food we already have in the pantry and in the freezer. That usually translates into casseroles. I had plenty of frozen chicken breast and peas in the freezer, and there's always pasta in the pantry. I figured a chicken tetrazzini would be the perfect lazy shopper recipe:

3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 lemon
1/3 cup AP flour
1 cup half-and-half (or heavy cream)
4 cups milk (either 2% or whole)
1 cup chicken broth
12 oz linguine or spaghetti
1 cup frozen peas
¼ bunch flat-leaf parsley – coarsely chopped
¼ cup breadcrumbs (either fresh or store-bought)
¼ cup parmesan
ground nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Cook pasta to al dente.
Cut chicken into cubes and cook over med-high heat till cooked through.
Set pasta and chicken aside while you prepare the sauce.
In a large pan or pot, melt the butter over medium heat.
Once melted, add flour and whisk for 2 minutes.
Whisk in milk, cream, chicken broth, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.
Turn heat to high and bring to a boil.
Simmer until sauce is slightly thickened (10 minutes) and whisk often. You will be rewarded with a thick, creamy sauce if you cook the full ten minutes
Combine pasta, chicken, sauce, frozen peas, parsley, and lemon juice.
Move the mixture into an oven-proof dish.
Top casserole with breadcrums and parmesan.
Bake uncovered for 25-35 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

This serves 4-6 people.

Gruyere and Mushroom Pizza

Sometimes simplicity is the best policy.


Gruyere and Mushroom Pizza

1 lb pizza dough, thawed
¾ cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
¼ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
10-12 button mushrooms, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste



Allow the pizza dough to almost reach room temperature. This will allow you to roll out a large thin crust.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
Roll the pizza dough into a long rectangle, about the size of legal paper (about 9”x 14”).
Place the dough on your baking sheet and lightly prick the crust with a fork.
Bake for about 6-8 minutes, or until the dough begins to get slightly golden.
Remove from the oven and poke out any air bubbles and flatten the pizza.
Spread the mushroom slices over the pizza.
Sprinkle garlic over the mushrooms.
Top with cheese and a sprinkle of pepper and kosher salt.
Drizzle olive oil over the top.
Bake another 6-8 minutes, or until the cheese begins to bubble and brown lightly.
Serves 4.

Grilled Shrimp Tacos

I love tacos. Maybe it's because I don't like being told what to do that tacos agree with me. With a taco, there are no set rules about what you can and can't use as filling. If you only have beans and cheese, have a bean taco. If you want to make a fish taco, there is no cookbook out there telling you that you can't (well, if there is, don't read it.) The point is that you can put nearly anything you want in a taco shell and call it a taco. And no one is going to tell you that you must have a crispy shell, or that it must be a corn tortilla.

I've never had a shrimp taco before, but it sounded good, so I set out to have a grilled shrimp taco and no one was going to stop me. Here's my recipe:

Grilled Shrimp and Black Bean Tacos

1 lb (31-40ct) shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tbsp chili powder
1 ½ tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
½ tsp olive oil
¼ tsp salt
6 Skewers, soaked for at least 30 minutes.


1 can black beans (seasoned with cumin and salt to tasted), warmed
Pico de Gallo
12 corn tortillas

Preheat your grill.
Mix the chili powder, lime, and salt to form a paste. Set aside while you prepare the shrimp skewers.
Place the shrimp on the skewers sideways so that each shrimp is pierced through the middle of its tail and the middle of the top, forming a “c” shape on the skewer.
Once all the shrimp have been skewered, brush the chili paste over the shrimp.
Grill for about 4 minutes on each side. (If using an indoor grill pan, grill for 2 minutes on each side.)
Build your taco and eat!

Pico de Gallo

"Pico de gallo" means "rooster's beak."
???
Anyway, I love pico de gallo especially around this time when the weather is warming up, the avocados are in season, and it's too hot to cook inside. Here's my recipe:
Pico de Gallo

2 large ripe tomatoes, diced
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
¼ cup chopped red onion
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh jalapeno
2 ripe avocados, diced
Juice of one lime
salt

Combine all ingredients, taking care not to mash up the avocado. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour while the flavors combine.

Serve with chips or on top of tacos.

(I will be serving mine on top of my grilled shrimp tacos)
Notes: Tweak the recipe according to your taste. If you like yours a little hotter, add more jalapeno. If you want more citrus flavor, add more lime. You can even add corn and black beans to make a black bean salsa dip.

Chocolate Mousse

A craving for chocolate can only be remedied by chocolate. If that isn't already a scientific fact, it should be. Far be it from me to defy my new law of science to resist chocolate when only chocolate will do. This is my first attempt at chocolate mousse, and what I learned is that you must have everything close by and ready, and you must have patience.


Chocolate Mousse

3 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used chocolate chips because that's what I had on hand)
8 oz cold heavy cream
2 large egg whites
1 oz sugar


Place chocolate in a large bowl and melt over boiling water. Stir the chocolate until melted.
Turn off the heat and let stand.

Beat the cold heavy cream until it begins to form soft peaks.
Whip eggs until they reach the same consistency as the cream.
Gradually add sugar while continuing to whip the egg whites.


Remove the chocolate bowl from the pot and, using a whisk, fold in all the egg whites.
When the whites have almost disappeared, fold in the whipped cream.
Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour, but overnight is best.


Note: Seriously, overnight is best. One hour hardly did anything to the consistency of my mousse. I gave up looking at it for the whole day, and I was pleasantly surprised the next day with a creamy but well-set mousse.