dinner – Page 11 – Cooking the Books

March 31, 2018

First time for everything

The cookbook we got for Christmas, British chef Jamie Oliver’s “5 Ingredients,” has some interesting ingredients and in the case of sheet pan-like recipes, an interesting choice of preparation dishes.

It’s kind of like that Eddie Izzard joke about the difference between American English and British English, only less funny. But it is fun to suss out the differences in British cuisine and American, and sometimes challenging.

Saffron rice ingredients. Thankfully, easy to find.

Mostly in the US it’s getting easier to find the ingredients (yay rogan josh curry!) or find substitutes (no double cream, no problem, just mix sour cream with cream). But I’ll admit I’ve been kind of stumped by his use of a “roasting tray.”

It seems quite a bit like a rimmed sheet pan, but as with this week’s recipe, it calls for cooking ingredients on the stove in the tray before baking. As far as I know my sheet pan shouldn’t be used the same and I wasn’t willing to risk ruining my main shtick to test it out.

Given this difference between British cooking and American cooking, I’m not sure it made a ton of sense to prepare this week’s meal on a sheet pan, but part of me just wanted to prove that it was possible to do it.

See, it was baked saffron rice, and I’ve never baked rice and wanted to see if it worked.

It maybe wasn’t practical but it did work and made a nice side dish for some lamb kofta. And because it wasn’t made like normal rice, it had a little more texture.

All in all, I think it was pretty worth it. And since it was only 5 ingredients (plus some pantry items), it was pretty easy. And tasty!

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

2 medium red onions, or 1 large
2 pinches of saffron
1 (5.3 oz.) container plain yogurt
1 (2.8 oz.) tube of sun-dried tomato paste
1 ⅓ to 1 ½ c. white basmati rice (it actually calls for 300 grams, and I have a scale so I measured 300 grams, but for those that don’t, the Internet gave me a cup equivalent)
1 to 2 T. olive oil
2 ½ c. boiling water (again, this is 600 milliliters, which should be on a measuring cup, but just in case, this is the conversion)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Chop the onions, and fry with olive oil in a large pan for about 4 minutes. Meanwhile, place half the saffron in the boiling water. In a small bowl, cover the remaining saffron with 1 T. boiling water, steep for a short while (he recommends 10 seconds, I did mine for minutes) and then mix it with the yogurt. Set aside the yogurt mix.

Once the onions are ready, stir in the tomato paste, rice, salt and pepper, and then pour on the saffron water. Bring to a boil, and then transfer to a large rimmed sheet pan (about 15 inches by 12 inches). Bake rice in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the rice has absorbed the water and fluffed up.

Spoon the yogurt mixture onto the rice, and enjoy!

March 23, 2018

More sheet pan pasta goodness

I got a hankering again for one of my earlier recipes — the spicy broccoli pasta — but knew I couldn’t just make the same recipe again, so I scoured for a second sheet pan pasta recipe.

Thankfully, those aren’t hard to find. I’m not the only one who loves cheesy carbs.

The recipe was a bit more involved than the last one, and a bit heartier, but it was worth it.

Having shared this one with friends, I can say that it was well liked by a variety of people, and half the reason to make a good dish is to get the compliment. The other half is getting to eat in 10 minutes what took 1 hour or more to prepare. And this one didn’t take nearly that long to prepare.

But at least there’s plenty of leftovers; even if you share with a half-dozen friends, you may have more to take home. So, the extra work isn’t as bothersome since it fills so many bellies or a couple bellies so many times.

It’s nothing fancy but who doesn’t love a hearty pasta dish?

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

1 box (16 oz.) penne pasta or similar, prepared according to package instructions (and reserving ½ c. pasta water)
1 c. panko breadcrumbs
1 c. grated Parmesan, divided
4 T. olive oil, divided
1 bunch chard, stems removed and roughly chopped
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 c. sour cream
1 T. Dijon mustard
4 c. shredded cooked chicken (I used 4 chicken breasts I pre-cooked but you can buy a pre-made rotisserie if that’s your thing)
2 c. shredded mozzarella, divided
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Heat oven to 450 degrees.

In a medium bowl, mix together the panko, ¼ c. Parmesan, 2 T. oil, salt and pepper.

On a large rimmed sheet pan (15 inches by 12 inches or so), toss together the chard and tomatoes with the remaining olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper.

When the pasta’s ready, drain it but reserve about ½ c. pasta water, and return the pasta to the pot. Mix in sour cream, mustard, the remaining ¾ c. Parmesan, salt and pepper, and about ¼ c. of the pasta cooking liquid, and stir to blend. Stir in the chicken and half the mozzarella. Add more pasta water if necessary to get to desired creaminess.

Once mixed, spread on the prepared sheet pan and stir carefully to mix with vegetables.

Top the mixture with the panko/Parmesan mix and the remaining mozzarella.

Bake for about 5 to 7 minutes until the cheese is melted and the mixture on top is lightly browned. Let cool slightly, and enjoy!

March 17, 2018

Beware the Ides of March

Mid-March offers so many awesome opportunities for food, what with Pi(e) Day, the Ides of March, and St. Patty’s Day. I’ve made a key lime pie (green!) with a Pi symbol topping, and I’ve made Irish soda bread. Last year, I had it super easy, making salads and soups. Sure, the classic Caesar salad isn’t named for *that* Caesar but it’s a good excuse for an even better meal.

I didn’t have any good ideas this year, and then I happened on the perfect sheet pan recipe for the Ides. I scoured and found that Epicurious had a sheet pan Caesar salad that I could make just in time (well, almost) for March 15. It obviously wasn’t the traditional dish, but it did have about all the same ingredients — chicken, anchovies, lettuce, Parmesan, lemon juice, and croutons, or something very like them.

I know those flavors aren’t for everyone, and the anchovies are likely to scare some people off, but believe me, there’s a reason this is a classic dish. The flavors meld into something truly unique and delicious. And that was no less true when it was deconstructed and put together on a sheet pan.

Even better, it took a little more than 30 minutes to bring together, which is great because I found this recipe with little time to spare for getting it together this week.

Wait, there’s still leftovers of this one. BRB.

Here’s what I did, following the recipe pretty closely:

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
½ c. grated Parmesan
½ c. panko breadcrumbs
4 T. olive oil, divided
2 T. chopped parsley
2 garlic cloves, chopped, divided (I used the jarred stuff and didn’t measure exactly because I like garlic)
2 hearts of romaine, halved lengthwise
4 anchovy fillets, packed in oil, and chopped
1 lemon, quartered
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed sheet pan with foil. Season chicken with salt and pepper on prepared sheet, set aside. In a medium bowl, combine Parmesan, panko, 2 T. olive oil, parsley, half the garlic, and salt and pepper. Pat the mixture on top of the chicken breasts until used up. Place the chicken in the oven for about 10 minutes until the panko mixture starts to brown, and meanwhile, prepare the remaining ingredients.

Drizzle romaine with remaining olive oil; sprinkle on the chopped garlic; and season with salt and pepper (I did this when the chicken came out of the oven but it does make for a less even mix, but it meant one less dish to do). Place lettuce on the sheet pan after 10 minutes and cook another 5 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the lettuce is brown at the edges.

Divide the chicken and lettuce among 4 plates (or 2 and 2 tupperware for leftovers). Top the lettuce with the anchovies, garnish with lemon slices for squeezing over the dish, and enjoy!

March 10, 2018

Thank god for a family of foodies

This year for Christmas we got a cooking utensil and a cookbook from my brother and his wife. They know us so well.

At first I wasn’t sure why a Jamie Oliver cookbook was the one my brother chose. But, of course, he is the type to read through a cookbook like a book, and therefore, understand cooking better. And this book is perfect for that.

It’s the British chef’s “5 Ingredients,” and as its name implies is cooking with just 5 ingredients (and OK, also 5 pantry items that you likely have lying around if you have this book, and full disclosure, we do). And because of that, it’s perfect for both its simplicity but also understanding how flavors interact and how to build from just 5 ingredients.

So far, we have only made a handful of things out of it, but every single one of them has been my new favorite dish.

This week’s recipe here is no exception.

It’s got 5 ingredients, plus two I added (one that’s optional and one that amends a hard-to-find item), and one pantry item (pepper, which I hope most people have in their pantry), and a bit of water. It took time only because it roasted potatoes, fennel and artichokes for a long time, and then had a cheesy cream sauce.

Vegetables covered in cream and oil, so you know it’s delicious

It’s pretty healthy, though I did add more of the unhealthy bits than Oliver’s original calls for. And other than the time, it takes just cutting potatoes and fennel for prep.

So, yeah, this is a good one. Here’s what I did to amend the original:

Ingredients

2 lbs. yellow potatoes, quartered or eighthed depending on size (His recipe was in grams)
2 bulbs fennel, sliced thinly, and including the clean stalks
1 jar (14 oz) marinated artichoke hearts, quartered (including the oil!)
1 sprig rosemary (optional)
1 c. heavy cream (the recipe called for double cream, which I think is thicker so I mixed in sour cream too)
½ c. sour cream
⅔ c. grated Parmesan, divided
Pepper
1 c. water

Directions

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Spread the potatoes and fennel on a large, sided sheet pan (about 15 ½ x 12 inches). Add the quartered artichoke hearts and their oil. Season with rosemary and pepper. Pour over the water.

Cover the vegetable mix with olive oil and bake for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the heavy cream, sour cream and ½ the Parmesan cheese. When the vegetables have baked for an hour, remove the foil and dot the vegetables with the cream mixture, and sprinkle on the remaining Parmesan cheese.

Bake uncovered for another 20 minutes until the cheese has browned. Let cool slightly and enjoy!

March 3, 2018

Nachos for everyone!

I wasn’t sure about this week’s recipe for a lot of reasons.

First, are they nachos or chilaquiles? Second, I wasn’t following any real recipe, so I had no idea the amounts to use or how long to bake it. And that meant I had no idea if it would turn out well.

So, it was a good thing I decided to try it out on some friends.

As for the name, eh, whatever.

Fortunately, it was too easy to fail, and they turned out great. Frankly, I think part of the reason there’s no recipe for sheet pan nachos — or no need for one anyway — is it’s all about what you like best. I even saved a little side to be onion-free so my onion-hating friend could still enjoy this snack.

That means that while I will lay out below what I did to make this treat for friends, there’s no reason you have to do the same thing. For instance, I used fake beef seasoned with taco seasoning, but you could use shredded chicken or skip the meat altogether.

I’d say the recipe below offers a good guide on how much of each item to add, but again, maybe you don’t like cheese as much as me or you’re another onion-hater. So, you do you, but in case you have the same tastes as me, here’s what I did:

Ingredients

1 (15 oz) party-size bag tortilla chips
1 lb. prepared and seasoned taco meat (1 lb. meat of your choice and 1 package of taco seasoning of your choice)
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 (15 oz) cans black refried beans
1 (16 oz) jar salsa
3 c. shredded Mexican cheese.

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, spread the tortilla chips onto a large sheet pan with sides (about 15 ½ x 12 inches). Full disclosure, I reserved some of the chips so I could use those to scoop up any extra food left behind, but you can spread them all.

Top with the beans, meat, peppers and onions, salsa, and finally top with the cheese.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the other ingredients are warm. Let cool slightly and enjoy with friends!

February 10, 2018

Breakfast for dinner!!!

I was looking for something simple to make this week because I had been feeling under the weather and thus, behind on everything. But what made me select a breakfast recipe was an ulterior motive to test out how long to cook eggs in the oven.

I figured that if every other piece was easy this time — frozen hash browns and bacon — I could focus on the eggs. So, when I do my next egg recipe(s), I’ll be ready for it.

Ingredients for sheet pan hash brown breakfast.

While I managed to overcook the eggs slightly, they were still well within the realm of edible and acceptable. And now I know at 400 degrees, with an already warm dish, eggs cook in less than 10 minutes, probably closer to 8 minutes if you want them a little runny.

Otherwise, using a couple different recipes with very different ideas of how to use the same ingredients and also making my own twists, I made a delightful and pretty easy hash brown breakfast for dinner.

My last note is the recipes called for just laying the slices of bacon straight on the hash browns, and that worked. But next time I make this (and there will be a next time), I’ll take the time to use cooking shears and cut the bacon into bits, both so it ends up crunchier and so it’s easier to eat the final product. Oh and I tested both turkey and pork bacon and both worked well.

So much bacon! (And eggs, and hash browns.)

Without further ado, here’s what I did:

Ingredients

20 oz. frozen hash browns
1 green pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
4 T. butter, melted (plus more or oil for coating the sheet pan)
1 c. shredded cheese (I used more and opted for a Mexican mix, but you do you)
12 slices bacon, cut into bite-size pieces if you like
6 eggs
3 T. Parmesan, shredded (optional)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Use oil or butter to coat a rimmed sheet pan about 15 ½ x 12 inches in size.

Add hash browns in an even layer. Top with onions, pepper, cheese (except the Parmesan) and melted butter. Stir gently to mix. Add salt and pepper.

Place bacon on top. It will seem like a lot if you didn’t cut it, but it’ll shrink some in the oven. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the bacon is nearly done and hash browns are starting to brown around the edges. Remove from oven and make wells (I actually just used bacon as rims to hold the eggs, which is an option if you don’t cut the bacon). Carefully break eggs, keeping them whole. Top with Parmesan if using and add a little more salt and pepper. Return to oven and bake for about 7 to 9 more minutes. Remove from oven, let cool slightly and enjoy!

January 20, 2018

Keepin’ it simple with steak fajitas

In an effort to keep building up my confidence, I found another nearly impossible-to-fail, easy-peasy sheet pan recipe. This week, it’s steak fajitas.

Aside from the ease, it was also a rare treat in this household. I almost never eat beef anymore (I know, blasphemy in Iowa … but fear not, I love pork), so I wasn’t even sure how easy it would be to find flank steak, or even how to cut it if I did find it.

I forgot my fancy compiling of ingredients, but you can see almost all of them here, steak, a variety of peppers, onion, garlic, chili powder. I’ll do better next time.

Thankfully, the local co-op had a nice big slab that allowed me to make this meal with another night of leftovers, and I have a wonderful sweetie who researches things so I accidentally learn things like to cut against the grain with flank steak.

And I have to say, it was quite delightful to bring beef back into my world. If I’m honest, it’d have been nice to do a lime-based marinade ahead of time if I’d thought of it (maybe next time!), but for ease, this can’t be beat.

There’s about five ingredients involved in baking, not counting the staples oil and salt. Frankly, the hardest part was cutting the beef, and all those peppers.

While I got the recipe from the unlikely source of Williams Sonoma, a fancy cookware store, I may just have to add it to my list of places to scour when I’m short on recipes.

In the meantime, here’s what I did:

Ingredients

1.5 lb. flank steak, cut into half-inch slices
1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1 orange bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced (or 2 medium)
5 garlic cloves, chopped
3 T. canola oil
1.5 T. chili powder
1-2 t. salt (I don’t measure, just add a couple of pinchfuls)
6 to 8 flour tortillas
Guacamole, for serving(optional)
Sour cream, for serving (optional)
Hot sauce, for serving (optional)

Directions

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together the steak, peppers, onion, garlic, oil, chili powder and salt until coated. Spread the steak and vegetables on a nonstick sheet pan (I used aluminum foil for easier cleanup on an aging pan). Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring halfway through, until the steak is cooked through.

If desired, in the last five minutes, wrap the tortillas in aluminum foil and bake in oven so it’s nice and warm to serve with the fajita mix. Then, assemble the fajitas as you desire, and enjoy!

January 13, 2018January 13, 2018

Impossible to fail pasta dinner

After last week’s miserable failure (twice!), I was looking for something a wee bit easier this week, so I turned to the New York Times Cooking page and found a spicy roasted broccoli pasta recipe.

It was perfect for our little family. My sweetie loves broccoli (which I like fine), and I love carbs and cheese (which he likes fine), and this dinner has plenty of all of that. Plus, it’s hearty for these cold Iowa winter nights, and it’s none too difficult to boot.

But what really helped make this such a gem was that I completely fiddled with the recipe to make things easier on myself, and it turned out just fine. It was impossible to fail!

It was hard to judge the what the recipe meant when it called for “2 ½ lbs. broccoli, cut into bite-size florets.” Did that mean 2 ½ lbs. of broccoli, and then cut the florets from that? Did it mean I should have 2 ½ lbs. of just florets? If I didn’t have enough florets, could I skim the rough edges from the stem and chop that too? It turns out, who knows and who cares? It worked fine.

I bought two bundles of fresh broccoli (about seven pieces in total), because I couldn’t find a scale at the store and figured that *had* to be enough. Well, when I cut the florets, at home I learned with my scale I only had 1 ½ lbs. of florets. I added some pared stems, but didn’t want to overwhelm it with them so I added enough to get to nearly 2 lbs. And, it turned out, I’m sure it would have been fine either way, just depending on how much you like broccoli.

Then, I totally changed the amounts of ricotta and pasta, because I didn’t want to be left with scant-ish amounts of both. So, extra pasta and extra cheese, it all fit on the baking sheet and turned out fine.

It’s one of those great recipes where you can kind of bend it to your tastes. If you want more broccoli to carb ratio, go for it; if you love cheese, toss on a little more.

All in all, it is well worth the (limited effort) to make.

Nom nom noms. I’m hungry just looking at it again.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

2 bunches of broccoli, cut into bite-size florets and some stem if desired (or whatever)
2 T. extra virgin olive oil (I estimated), plus at least as much for drizzle
1 T. cumin seeds, optional (more than it called for but I love cumin)
¾ t. kosher salt (again, I estimated)
½ t. red pepper flakes (I’m sure I used more)
16 oz. tube shaped or shell pasta (more than it called for but I wanted to use the whole box)
⅓ c. grated Parmesan cheese
⅓ c. panko bread crumbs
Zest from one lemon
½ t. ground black pepper (I didn’t measure)
15 oz. whole milk ricotta cheese (more than it called for but I wanted to use the whole tub)
Fresh lemon juice, optional (hey, I already zested the lemon, may as well use the juice)

Directions

Heat oven to 425 degrees. On a 15 ½ x 12 inch sheet pan (or so) toss together the cut broccoli, the oil, the salt, red pepper flakes, and cumin, if using. Roast until tender and browned, 18 to 25 minutes, and tossing while halfway through. Remove from oven, set aside, and turn the oven up to broil.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of (salted) water to boil, and cook the pasta according to package instructions and then drain. Separately, in a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan, panko, lemon zest, and salt and black pepper.

Toss the pasta together with the broccoli, and then dollop with the ricotta. Sprinkle with the Parmesan mix, top with salt and black pepper, and drizzle with (a good amount of) oil. Broil the mixture until golden, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Sprinkle with lemon juice, if desired, and enjoy!