Published by mel on January 28, 2009 in entree and recipe.
I know most people associate prunes with rather unfortunate circumstances, but that’s not really fair to the poor prune. When used in savory recipes, they add a juicy sweetness that’s particularly good with roasted meats. My grandmother used to make the most succulent roast chicken with prunes that was beloved by the entire family. (In fact, I think I’ll post that recipe soon. Mmm…)
While your meat roasts, the prunes caramelize and dissolve, making a deliciously sticky sauce for whatever else is sharing the pot. This recipe is best for its simplicity. Just sear a seasoned pork loin, add prunes, rosemary, red wine and smoked paprika, cover and let simmer for about 45 minutes. The result is sweet and smoky with a little rosemary flavor. Perfect for slathering on top of your pork roast.
As a bonus this dish makes your house smell absolutely delicious. So delicious, your neighbors will be jealous (and hungry). Make sure you’ve got enough for leftover sandwiches — crazy delicious!
Related: Guava & Prune Stuffed Pork Shoulder
Continue reading ‘Pork Roast with Prunes, Rosemary & Wine’
Published by mel on January 26, 2009 in breakfast, entree and recipe.
I’ve always loved a good brunch. But a good brunch isn’t as ubiquitous in Miami as it was in NYC, so instead of getting all dressed up, fighting traffic and paying for cold, buffet-style Eggs Benedict, I’ve resorted to making my own. It’s not as easy, but I can wear my PJ’s and glasses, and there’s no sign stating that shoes are required. In fact, shoes are strongly discouraged at our place. It’s much more fashionable to wear no shoes at all. (Hey, it’s warm here. We can do that!)
Anyway, back to brunch. Is there anything better than a poached egg over polenta? I think not. Southerners have it right with their eggs and grits. This is just a fancy pants version with sauteed onions and fresh breadcrumbs toasted in truffle oil. Yes, you read correctly. Truffled breadcrumbs. My new favorite food.
And this dish is my new favorite brunch. Creamy polenta and drippy yolk contrast perfectly with the slightly sweet sauteed onions, and truffly toasted breadcrumbs. If i had all the money in the world, I would have topped it off with shaved truffles. Sadly, there were no truffles lying around my apartment.
If you’ve never had poached eggs and polenta, you haven’t lived. Make them for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Bonus points for truffled breadcrumbs, but delicious either way.
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Published by mel on January 22, 2009 in entree, recipe and sides & bites.
Broccoli, black olives and goat cheese. Do these things go together? Why, yes they do. I’ve always found that fancy, oil-cured black olives lend a nice salty brininess to broccoli. Goat cheese and olive oil give this sauce a sumptuous creaminess to balance out the saltiness.
I was tempted to call this a pesto, but I thought that wouldn’t go over too well with pesto purists. That said, the method is very similar. Steam the broccoli, then blend it with olive oil, black olives, goat cheese and a pinch of salt. What you get looks more like a dip than a sauce, but mixed with some pasta water, you get a velvety, creamy sauce flecked with bright green broccoli that’s a little tangy and really delicious.
I tossed the sauce with whole wheat pasta and some browned Italian Sausage for a wholesome and filling lunch. Serve this with a big, green side salad and you’ve got a delicious weeknight meal. Just make sure your dishwasher’s empty — this bad boy makes loads of dishes. Thank God I’ve got a wonderful hub to take care of those pots and pans for me!
Continue reading ‘Broccoli, Black Olive & Goat Cheese Pasta Sauce’
Published by mel on January 19, 2009 in entree and recipe.
If you’re looking for a serious Sunday Supper, the kind of meal that takes all day to make, but isn’t very much work, then this dish is for you. The pork and apples and thyme simmer all day until meltingly tender to make the perfect base to a pot pie.
This pie is the ultimate comfort food, but the puff pastry adds that extra bit of fancy which makes it perfect for guests. You can also make it a day or two in advance, then add the puff pastry and pop it in the oven just before your guests arrive and the smell of apples, thyme, savory pork and puff pastry will make your house smell mouth-watering.
Winter is the perfect time for a pot pie. Though this may be a departure from the traditional chicken version, it’s a delicious dish that will warm you right up. How can you really go wrong with something covered in puff pastry?
Continue reading ‘Sunday Supper: Pork & Apple Pot Pie’
Published by mel on January 16, 2009 in entree and recipe.
Vaca Frita is one of my absolute favorite Cuban meals. It’s simple, but super flavorful and everyone usually loves it. Especially my college roommate. She really loved it. Vaca Frita literally translates to “Fried Cow”. Sounds appetizing, no? Well, no. But I promise you, it is mouth-watering, addictive and delicious.
So, what exactly is this fried cow? It’s flank steak, chopped into squares and boiled with an onion and a bay leaf until tender, then shredded and sauteed with onions, lime juice and orange juice. Traditionally, the beef is sauteed in a skillet with lots of oil until crisp and brown. This method is a little greasy for me, so I saute everything in a pan, then spread it onto a cookie sheet and pop it under the broiler to get the same browned and crispy results.
It’s a tangy, beefy meal that’s great on rice, with salads and definitely in sandwiches! As a bonus, you get some deeply flavorful stock for soups. If you’re looking for a unique and tropical way to prepare flank steak, this dish is for you.
Continue reading ‘Vaca Frita: Flank Steak with Lime & Orange Juice’
Published by mel on January 14, 2009 in entree, recipe and sides & bites.
Since it’s January, food magazine and blogs everywhere are posting their top food trends for 2009. This year’s trends include upscale comfort food, cheap cuts of meat, pork, lots of egg dishes and beans. Beans are trendy? Apparently. Since I love beans of all kinds, sizes and colors, this is a trend I can definitely get into.
This weekend, I was browsing the Rancho Gordo site looking for some bean-cooking ideas, and I came across this recipe for Drunken Beans. Beans with beer? Yes please. I cooked some dried Good Mother Stallard Beans (sub pinto or anasazi beans) with dried chiles de arbol and dried chipotle peppers. Then I sauteed spicy Spanish chorizo and garlic, added some pale ale and stewed the beans in that.
The result? Something like baked beans, but infinitely more flavorful. We ate them with some Guava BBQ Chicken for a seriously hearty, spicy and delicious Sunday supper. So, be trendy this year and make yourself some drunken beans!
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Published by mel on January 12, 2009 in entree, recipe and sides & bites.
I know I’m completely off-season with this post, but as I mentioned last week, I just got a grill for Christmas and am slightly obsessed with it at the moment. So, please pardon my seasonal inappropriateness, but January really is the perfect grilling weather in Miami!
And nothing says Miami or Cuban food like guava, so it’s just natural that when I get a grill, I think to make guava BBQ sauce. Some of you may think it’s weird, but everyone’s heard of peach BBQ sauce. This version has the same sweet flavor with a little tropical twist. Since I use canned guava shells and guava paste, this also makes it an all-season sauce.
Pork chops and pork tenderloin are especially yummy covered in guava BBQ sauce, but chicken and turkey taste pretty darn good, too. Grill, broil or sear for a caramelized, sweet and tangy taste that will make you feel like it’s summer already.
Continue reading ‘Homemade Guava BBQ Sauce’
Published by mel on January 9, 2009 in recipe and sides & bites.
It’s hard to crave salad when it’s so chilly outside. Much easier to crave a big bowl of mac and cheese or mashed potatoes, but those will do nothing for a New Year’s Resolution. We got a new grill for our balcony for Christmas and have been grilling everything we can think of since then. Last night, we grilled our salad.
Since radicchio is slightly bitter, we topped it with nutty Manchego cheese, sweet pear slices and a honey and Dijon vinaigrette. (Photographed without the pears – oops!) The result was a warm and comforting salad that’s right at home next to skirt steak and grilled whole wheat bread.
This is the perfect time of year to experiment with warm salads, even if you don’t have a grill. Use your oven’s broiler, grill pan or large saute pan. However you do it, you definitely should.
Continue reading ‘Warm Radicchio, Pear & Manchego Salad’
Published by mel on January 7, 2009 in entree, recipe and sides & bites.
I heard somewhere that eating lentils on New Year’s Day is supposed to bring you wealth and luck in the upcoming year, so I did a little poking around. Wikipedia confirms that this is in fact a tradition on the island of Malta, and the tradition goes all the way back to Roman times. Does it still count if you eat them just a few days after New Year’s Day? I think so, but if I’m wrong at least lentils are as tasty as they are good for your health and wealth.
For a really healthy mid-week dinner, I simmered French lentils with sauteed carrots and onions and spiced them up with Madras Curry Powder. A little lemon and olive oil and you’ve got a beautiful base for grilled fish. The Mahi fillets were marinated all day in olive oil, soy sauce and mustard seeds, which makes for a super moist fillet with a little bite to it. A perfect way to ring in the New Year and hopefully bring a little luck to your 2009.
Continue reading ‘Grilled Mahi over Curried Lentils’
Published by mel on January 6, 2009 in entree, recipe and sides & bites.
I am a bad, bad blogger. I haven’t posted a thing in two weeks! Apologies, but I was celebrating Christmas with my family by roasting a whole pig in our backyard on Christmas Eve. Then it was up to Michigan for 10 days of snow, cold weather and a whole lot of cookies and libations. It was great to see the snow and snuggle under a pile of blankets, but I was very happy to don my flip flops the second I got home. Now I’m back and I’m ready to cook up a storm!
Since it’s a new year, I’m sure there’s no shortage of new resolutions to eat better. Since I don’t really do diets, this means eating healthier and hitting the gym more often. But healthier doesn’t mean diet food, and it definitely doesn’t mean boring food. For me, it means Spanish-style tuna salad. More veggies, no mayo.
Start with imported Spanish tuna packed in tomato sauce. If you can’t find it at your local grocery store, opt for some sold-pack tuna in olive oil. Saute some onions, add some chopped piquillo peppers (or roasted red peppers if you can’t find piquillo), sherry vinegar and a pinch of salt and you’ve got a tangy and delicious tuna salad. Eat it with whole wheat crackers, on a salad, in a sandwich, or wrapped in some whole wheat flatbread with lots of leafy greens.
Either way, it’s a great alternative to the traditional tuna that will make you feel great about starting the new year right.
Continue reading ‘Spanish-Style Tuna Salad with Piquillos & Onions’
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