Squid Ink Couscous

Nothing says adult spooky like cooking with squid ink! This dish will impress all of your fancy grown up friends out there, and is great for Halloween dinner parties. We have made for you squid ink couscous, topped with Andouille sausage, oven roasted acorn squash, and dehydrated kale! Enjoy!

Ingredients: serves 4

3 cups pearl couscous
4 teaspoons squid ink
½ yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
1 acorn squash
4 pre-cooked Andouille sausages
2 large leaves kale
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon garlic salt
kosher salt

I always like starting by preparing the items that top the dish, so that I can have that out of the way and cooked.

Preheat oven to 400. Cut acorn squash in half, then into 1 inch thick slices. Using a knife, remove skin, cube, toss in oil, place on baking sheet, then sprinkle with garlic salt. Cook squash for about 30 minutes, rotating half way through.

Reduce heat to 275. Tear kale up into small pieces, discarding the stem, and placing on a baking sheet.   Cook kale for 15 minutes.

Since the sausage is already cooked, simply cut on a diagonal and cook at medium high until you get a slight sear. This will also bring out the spiciness of the meat.

Set all of this aside so we can now make our couscous. Melt butter in a large non stick sauce pan on medium high heat. While that is melting mince up garlic and onion. Cook onion and garlic in butter until onion softens and becomes semi translucent. Add 4 ½ cups of water to onion and garlic and bring to a boil. Add squid ink and make sure that it completely dissolves before adding the couscous. Bring the water back to a boil, lower to a simmer, cover and let simmer for 10 minutes.

Once the couscous is done, fluff it with a fork. Serve in a dish, pinch salt to your taste, top with squash, then sausage, then add the kale at the very end.

Boo!!!

 

Late Night Ramen!

Happy Fall !!!! We have created a wonderful and easy weeknight recipe that any busy student/mom/dad/babysitter/tired person can make. Remember that good ‘old instant ramen that we all loved because it is so easy and fast to make. Well we have appropriated that with a home made broth and fresh ingredients to make a superb vegetarian weeknight ramen.

The reason we are using instant ramen is because Momofuku Ando invented cup of noodle in 1971 by creating a noodle which has already been cooked and can just be re-cooked! The noodles are so fabulously starchy and absorb so much flavor!!  

Enjoy!

Ingredients:  serves 2-4
2 packs instant ramen (doesn’t matter which flavor!)
2 eggs
6 cups vegetable broth
1 cup water
½ cup bean sprouts
4 cloves garlic
4 Tablespoons soy sauce
4 dehydrated shitake mushrooms
1 cup button mushrooms
¼ cup enoki mushrooms
1 bunch green onions
1 serrano pepper
1 oz can chestnuts (only need ½ of the can)
1 oz canned bamboo shoots

This wonderful dish is mostly just creating your prep work, letting a broth cook for about 30 minutes, and soft boiling two eggs.  

Start by rehydrating your shitake mushrooms in a small bowl of warm water for about 15 minutes.

Next create your mise en place by mincing your garlic, and by slicing your button mushrooms, shitake mushrooms, Serrano pepper, chestnuts, and on a bias slicing your green onion only up until the green turns white. Set aside half of the onions, and half of the Serrano pepper.

Start making your broth by combining your vegetable broth, water, and soy sauce and bring to a hard boil. Once you boil, lower the heat to a simmer, and add half the onions, half the Serrano pepper, half the bean sprouts, all the mushrooms, bamboo shoots, garlic, and water chestnuts. Let simmer for 30 minutes.

At about 20 minutes in, boil water in a small pot. Once the water starts to boil, add to eggs. Put heat to low, cover the pot with a lid, and let cook for 6 minutes.

This is about the time when you can add the noodles to the broth. It doesn’t matter which instant ramen you get, because we won’t be using the flavor packet that comes with it. Add the noodles in and let absorb the broth.

Once the timer for the eggs goes off, take eggs from water, and run under cool water.

While the eggs are cooling, we may now plate our noodles. In two (or four) bowls, place noodles and broth in bowl. Top with raw bean sprouts, green onions, and Serrano pepper. Lightly crack the egg shell, peel it off, and slice in half. Put your gorgeous egg on your ramen, serve with chopsticks and enjoy!

Mother's Asian-ish Meatloaf

The summer is disappearing, the fog is rolling in more steadily by the beach, the nights are getting cold, and school is back in session.  This is a good time for some simple recipes that warm your bones, and are easy to pop in the oven after a long day of work or school.

We have taken a classic mom dish of meatloaf and added a bit of a fun twist on it. Instead of the good ol’ ketchup and brown sugar, we have added an Asian twist by using Hoisin instead, and by adding Panko. We also added a delicious crunch by using unsalted pistachios.

So make this meatloaf, enjoy, and curl up on the couch!

*Don’t over mix ingredients, this will cause the meatloaf to be a bit drier than you would like!

Ingredients: serves 4 Make in a 9”x5”x5” loaf tray

1 lb. ground beef
½ lb. ground turkey
½ yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
2 green onions
½ cup pistachios
¼ cup Hoisin
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 Tbsp. Dijon
4 splashes Worcestershire Sauce
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch pepper

 

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl place all your beef, turkey, Dijon, Worcestershire Sauce, salt and pepper together. Using a grater, grate the three garlic cloves and half an onion into this mix. Using your hands mix together all these ingredients until they are just mixed.

Chop the pistachios (they don’t have to be even sizes) and dump into the mix, along with panko, and all but about 2 tablespoons of the Hoisin. Mix until just combined.

To make removing the meatloaf easier you can line the tray with tinfoil so that the foil sticks out. Fill the tray with the meat mix and form a slightly rounded top.

Bake for 45 minutes.

Spread remainder of Hoisin on the top of loaf, and bring temperature to 380 degrees and bake another 15 minutes. All ovens are different so using a meat thermometer you want the loaf to be at 160 degrees inside.

Remove from oven, let cool. Slice the stems of your green onion on a bias, and sprinkle over the meatloaf.

Serve and enjoy!

Kumquat Walnut Pasta

We love this pasta, not to mention it is delicious even cold the next day! We have made pasta as healthy as it can be. We have taken a mix of fresh and light flavors which are so refreshing, with some classic flavors of a simple Italian pasta. We have taken a whole wheat pasta and done it up right!

So enjoy our walnut kumquat pasta tonight!

Ingredients: serves 4

1 box whole wheat pasta
½ cup raw walnuts
4 large cloves garlic
3 Tablespoons olive oil
6 kumquats
4 tangerines
4 leaves of arugula
1/4 cup plus more salt
Pepper

Happy St. Patrick's Day: Corn Beef Hash and Chocolate Covered Marzipan!!

 



St. Patrick’s Day is not just a day for people to behave like they are in college all over again, drink Irish car bombs (though delish), and to wear green and find a pot of gold. It is full of beautiful tradition and history….now go have an Irish car bomb!!!

St. Patrick’s Day celebrates Ireland’s patron saint, and is technically a Christian feast day. Originally the color of St. Patrick was blue, but over the years, the color has changed with the use of wearing green ribbons and the shamrock. The shamrock, with its three leaves, was used to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish. So to all you pagans out there, here is some knowledge and some delicious food.

This post is broken in to two parts, first our wonderful corn beef hash which is a traditional Irish pub dish, and second some chocolate covered marzipan delightful enough to catch a leprechaun!

Go ahead and enjoy!

*You will not need salt, because the corn beef is already pretty salty.

Corn Beef Hash:
Ingredients: serves 4

2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 medium Yukon Gold Potatoes
2 medium russet potatoes
12 oz corn beef
1 yellow onion
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 Tablespoon prepared horseradish
½ teaspoon ground pepper
¼ cup heavy cream
4 eggs

Chocolate covered marzipan:
*You can make your own marzipan, but to keep it simple, we are using already made, and we will save that recipe for another time.

1 tube marzipan
4 oz white chocolate
Green food coloring
3 tablespoons green rock candy

Start by boiling your potatoes and by making your mise en place. Dice the onion small and cube the beef small in about ½” pieces. Boil the potatoes until they are just about fully cooked. Once ready, take them out and cube them as well.

In a large non-stick pan heat the oil, add the potatoes and cook about 10-12 minutes, until golden, constantly stirring. Add onions and cook until completely softened. Add the Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, then stir. Next add the heavy cream and stir until fully mixed, then add the beef and cook about 10 minutes until meat is cooked through and tender.

Remove pan from heat to stop cooking  so you can make the poached eggs. Fill a sauce pan with about 2 inches of water, and heat until it simmers. To place the eggs in, crack and egg into a bowl, and then plop in, one at a time about 3 inches apart in clockwise order so you know to remove them in that order as well. Once all eggs are in, remove from heat and cover, and cook for 5 minutes, NO LIFTING THE COVER!

While the eggs cook, plate the corn beef hash, and on the 5 minute mark remove the eggs in order, and place on top of hash! Voila!! Eat it!

The dessert is so simple. Make whatever shape you want with the marzipan, we made balls and 4 leaf clovers! Next heat the chocolate in a double boiler constantly stirring. Once melted you can either dip the chocolate in, or roll it in, whatever you so please. Lay on a wax covered baking sheet to cool, and sprinkle with rock candy. Cool, and eat!

This will certainly be a St. Patrick’s Day you will never forget!!!

Basil Lime Flank Steak with Creamy Chipotle Polenta

This dish is beautiful. It is a perfect way to get that beginning of summer grill feel. You get the kick of the chipotle in the polenta, mixed with the savory qualities with the meat, smothered in a bright marinade, topped with the perfect saltiness and chill factor of the queso fresco. There are so many ways to serve this dish, we opted for the individual plating, but it is equally as beautiful as a family style dish. Not only is it beautiful in your mouth, but also exquisite to look at.

Ingredients: Serving 4 people
Flank Steak (enough to serve 4 people) about 2-5 lbs. The steak greatly shrinks.

Marinade:
5 cloves of garlic
2 large bunches of basil
½ cup olive oil
2 limes
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper

Chipotle Polenta mix: ( you will have leftovers, it all depends on how it is served)
3 Tlbs. Olive oil
2-4 chipotle peppers (depending on heat you want)
2 cups Half & Half
½ cup water
2 cups polenta
3 Tlbs parmesan cheese

To make the marinade, tear leavse from two large bunches of basil and place in a blender with garlic, salt, pepper, and squeeze the juice from two limes. While blending pour in olive oil until mix becomes a smooth pesto like texture. Taste, and add more acidity of salt depending on your preference. Take your meat and place on a large plate and pour the marinade over it making sure that you fully soak both sides. Stick meat in the refrigerator and let sit and soak up flavor for at least 30 minutes.

For the polenta, start by boiling on cup Half & Half with ½ cup water, then add the chipotle mix. When the mix comes to a simmer, slowly add cornmeal or polenta mix while constantly whisking. You want to constantly whisk the polenta while adding ingredients, because it quickly thickens and hardens, so you want to play with the consistency. Throughout the process add the rest of the cream and the parmesan cheese. Whisk until the polenta has a smooth and creamy texture. This should take about 15-20 minutes.

You can start cooking your meat anytime throughout the polenta process, or wait to the end, because you can take the polenta off the heat, and add it back on to heat it back up. So, place your skillet or grill pan on a medium high heat. Once the pan is hot enough, place your meat in the middle, keeping the flame medium high. Let cook for about 7 minutes on side, or until you start to see it brown, and then flip. Once the other side browns, about another 7, you can turn the flame down a bit and constantly flip the steak to let the juices flow back and forth within the meat. We wanted to get a nice crust on the meat before we start cooking the inside to the temperature you want. Flip meat back and forth for about another 10 minutes. You can insert a knife into the thickest part of the steak to see if you have the proper temperature you want.

Remove the steak, and let sit for 10 minutes at room temperature, and then slice to serve! Slice meat over a little polenta, sprinkle some queso freso on top and serve with slices of lime and a little green salad. Anyone will be impressed by this dish!