Black-Eyed Pea Salad

Yes, I've been on hiatus. A week of vacation turned into full weekends booked or trying to get back on track.  But I have been cooking...

I asked facebook a few days ago what in the WORLD to cook in this seemingly endless heat. A suggestion from my illustrious and fabulous cousin turned into a great idea.

Black-Eyed Pea Summer Salad

2 cans of black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 corn on the cob, lightly grilled and cut off the cob
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1/4 red onion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 - 1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Combine all ingredients. Chill at least 2 hours before serving.

Harissa Fettuchini with Caramelized Red Onions, Fresh Peas and Corn

Does your farmer's market have a pasta booth? Pappardelle's makes their rounds... I've seen them at farmer's markets in several states now, but if yours doesn't, you can always order on-line.  They have some amazingly creative pastas.  I've seen the Tunisian Harissa Fettuchini twice now and finally gave in to my need to try it. Harissa is this hot chili paste that I haven't played around with much but new enough to know that it would make a spicy background for some fresh summer veggies.  As usual, I use what I've got; this week that happened to be sweet corn and more English peas. (I learned at the farmer's market that English peas are the one's you shell and eat the sweet peas inside, as opposed to sugar snaps where you eat the pod and all.)

Harissa Fettuchini with Caramelized Red Onions, Fresh Peas and Corn

1/4 red onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
1/2 cup peas, preferably fresh, frozen is fine
1 small ear of sweet corn, kernels cut off
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 cup cream or half and half
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 lb Tunisian Harissa Fettuchini (or anything you like!)

Heat a splash of olive oil over medium low heat and add onions. Caramelizing onions is like BBQ; low and slow.  Toss or stir the onions every 2-3 minutes for 10-15 minutes.  Add garlic and leave for another minute or two.  Start pasta in salted water.  Add corn and peas to the onions and turn up the heat to medium.  Toss / stir every few minutes to give the veggies some color.  Add 1/2 the cream, stir to combine.  When the pasta is done, drain and put the pasta back in the pot. Add veggies and cream mixture to the pasta with the parsley, and half the cheese. Toss. If it looks too dry to you, add another splash of the cream and add until the consistency is to your liking.  Plate and top with the remaining cheese.

The pasta really did have a spice to it, but not painful heat, just a good background spice.  I'll get more!

Apple Wood Smoked Chevre and Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken

There's a local goat cheese company, Haystack. They make a wonderful variety of fresh chevre.  The Chief Mess Cleaner Upper and I picked up some of their apple wood smoked chevre at the farmer's market last week and I had some prosciutto around... the perfect combination to disguise a few chicken breasts.  Chevre is the most wonderful, tangy, creamy goat cheese.

Apple wood Smoked Chevre and Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken

1/2 small log of apple wood smoked (or any other) chevre
1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
pinch of salt
4 slices prosciutto
2 boneless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/4 inch thickness

Combine first 4 ingredients, set aside. Preheat oven to 350. Lay out each chicken breast and add 2 slices of prosciutto and half of the chevre mixture. Roll up and toothpick each chicken breast.  Sear in a pan with a little bit of olive oil. After the first turn, place pan in oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, de-toothpick and slice chicken. Serve with a green salad.

Greek Kebabs with Tzatziki and Zucchini Cakes

It's been hot. Summer hot. Summer hot makes me want to eat cool.  Tzatziki may be the perfect Greek definition of 'cool'. 

And remember a few recipes ago I said I would talk about fresh herbs? Fresh herbs are expensive, so I grow 'em!  I have a great back-yard garden, one whole row of which is always dedicated to herbs- basil (always more than one), oregano, dill, savory, rosemary, thyme, chives, parsley and sage.  Don't have a yard? Do you have a patio? Or counter space? I've had a thyme plant growing in a pot that I move in and out-doors with the seasons for going on 3 years now and chives are perennial; they'll come back every year!  Heck, you could put ALL those herbs in one pot to save space!  And most garden centers or even grocery stores sell pre-planted herb pots now.  Do yourself this one favor, get one. You'll save money and just those few fresh herbs make ALL the difference in any recipe. They make an otherwise boring salad zing, an otherwise boring spaghetti dinner special and you start to learn your own tastes... I'm not a big fan of rosemary but lamb and potatoes seem, to me, to require it.  I'm equally complacent about sage but fall squash soups without sage just lack that 'something' they need to be elevated from just some soup to everything that tastes so essentially fall.

But we're not in fall, we're in the dead heat of summer which brings me back to that tzatziki and the herbs.  I usually have bad luck with dill but so far this year, it's hanging in there.  So I knew I wanted tzatziki and had the dill and a whole bunch of oregano so Greek was an easy palate to work with.

Tzatziki

1 7 oz tub of Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons chopped dill
1/2 teaspoon chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon chopped chives
2-3 tablespoons finely chopped cucumber
2 cloves of garlic, grated or crushed
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients, cover and chill until dinner's ready

Greek Pork Kebabs

2 boneless pork chops, cubed
1/2 lemon, juiced
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon chopped chives
1/2 teaspoon chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon chopped thyme (I have lemon thyme... it's amazing)
2 tablespoons chopped oregano

Combine all ingredients and marinade for at least half an hour, 1 or more hours preferred.

When the grill is ready, assemble kebabs with

Marinaded pork cubes
red onion
tomatoes
green bell pepper

Grill kebabs, serve with Tzatziki and zucchini cakes. Zucchini recipe for another time... I usually don't get it QUITE right the first time I make it each summer and this was the first. Maybe if I start writing these things down I'll remember what works...

Monday Night Spaghetti

Most Mondays are rough around the edges, and not generally the day I want to go way outside the box and cook something new or exceedingly creative.  Once a month or so, I pull out the easiest meal ever; Spaghetti.  I'm not a big fan of meatballs but the Chief Mess Cleaner-Upper made it clear to me years ago that "It's not dinner if there's not meat in it." So I spruce up a jar of spaghetti sauce...

Spaghetti Sauce

1/2 onion, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 lb ground meat (I generally use beef or turkey)
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 splash (about 1 tablespoon) olive oil
1 pinch of red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of your favorite chopped fresh herbs
Freshly shaved Parmesan

Warm olive oil over medium heat while you chop the onion. Add onion and chili flakes to warmed pan and saute until they just begin to take on color. Add garlic, stir and let the garlic cook for about two minutes.  Add ground meat and stir regularly to combine ingredients and thoroughly brown meat.  Turn down heat and add the spaghetti sauce. Stir to combine, put a lid on the sauce, turn off heat and let sit to combine flavors while you cook the spaghetti.

When the spaghetti is done to your taste, spoon sauce over the noodles, sprinkle with herbs and shave or grate Parmesan over.  Serve with salad and garlic bread.

Fresh herbs make an easy and not so special dinner something really special... and pretty! More on herbs later...

Flatiron Steak Salad

We have a lot of salads, but this one's my favorite. There are a bazillion variations of salads, each little change mades a big difference; dressing, roasted nuts, different cheeses, fruits... Just because we have a lot of salads doesn't mean any two are ever the same. Lightly toast a handful of nuts; slice or chop veggies differently to create some textural difference; make a homemade dressing; add a little fruit... Salads are nothing but a creative canvas to play with.

A little shopping tip - my grocery store has a great cheese bar/department. They always have a basket of little bits and pieces that are $5 or less which lets me get great cheese and try new ones without breaking the bank.  Check out your grocery store and see if they don't have something similar.

This one I started with a marinaded flatiron steak.  It was basically the same marinade as the 'Three Gorges Steak'.  Then I went to the garden to see what I had to play with... a few gorgeous radishes, fresh herbs and nasturtiums.  Have you ever grown, or eaten, nasturtiums? They're not only beautiful but they're edible! And taste like spicy pepper.  Who doesn't want flower petals in their salad?

Salads are also a great way for me to clear out any bits and pieces of veggies before my next veggie box arrives.  So use what you've got... here's what I had:

1/2 head of red leaf lettuce, washed, dried and cut into salad-sized pieces
2 tablespoons chopped sugar-snap peas
2 tablespoons chopped bell pepper
2 radishes, thinly sliced.
1 teaspoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon chopped dill
2-3 nasturtium flowers and 2-3 leaves, chopped
2-3 tablespoons shredded cheese (I had Reypenaer)

Assemble salad, layer thinly sliced steak over, sprinkle with cheese and salad dressing (I used Caesar).

Smoked Tuna Melt

I was too tired to deal with dinner... but managed to pull off a pretty good tuna melt.  In keeping with the premise of 'using what I've got', my dad gave us this bizarre food package a while back with a bunch of smoked salmon, pre-made seafood soups and a can or two of smoked tuna.  I'm not a big fish person... that's what made the gift a little bizarre.  But last night, that can of smoked tuna came in handy.  If you can find it, I would recommend using it with this recipe. I thought it was a good flavor 'foil' for the sweetness of the grapes I had left over from a party we had this weekend. If you can't find it, regular tuna would be just as good.

The grapes were handy and reminded me of my momma's tuna salad.  She always put chopped apples in ours and the sweetness was such a great little 'zing'.  I put a good bit of celery in my tuna 'cuz I love it and the extra crunch it lends to an otherwise bland texture.

If nothing else, the pictures came out better than anything else so far...

Smoked Tuna Salad

1 can smoked tuna
2-4 tablespoons mayo (depends on your personal mayo preference)
1 teaspoon Coleman's English Mustard
1/4 cup chopped red grapes
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 tablespoon pecans, chopped
1 teaspoon chives, chopped

Combine all ingredents.

Smoked Tuna Melt

@ 2 tablespoons butter, softened
4 slices of bread, preferably good grainy wheat bread
4 slices munster cheese
Smoked tuna salad
2 tablespoons mayo
4 pieces of lettuce, preferably red leaf

Preheat an iron skillet on medium, low. Lightly butter both sides of each slice of bread. Griddle bread in iron skillet lightly on each side.  Set 2 slices aside. Turn off skillet.  Place two slices each of munster cheese on 2 slices of bread, put back in skillet, lid on. The residual heat will melt the cheese.
Meanwhile, mayo the other two slices of bread and arrange the lettuce then top with your preferred helping of tuna salad.  When those halfs are assembled, lay on the cheesy side.  Slice diagonally (as required by certain sandwiches) and enjoy!