Menu a la Week: 2/15/09 - 2/20/09

I'll make this as brief as possible. At the end of a long weekend I still have laundry, work, writing, and cleaning to do.

Menu 2/15/09 to 2/10/09
Sunday February 15, 2009
Pork loin with mustard rub, smashed potatoes, and tossed salad with balsamic vinaigrette

Monday February 16, 2009
Red lentil soup with parsley and shallots

Tuesday February 17, 2009
Pork loin with mustard rub and smashed potato pancakes (see fri-ta-toe recipe)

Wednesday February 18, 2008
Evening out...no dinner at home

Thursday December 11, 2008
Red lentil soup and tossed salad

Friday December 12, 2008
Soup and salad: red lentil soup and pork loin panini with goat cheese and fig spread

Presidents Day: Meals Fit for a King

After some recent travel to France, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, and California, we're back on our menu-making schedule. And that always includes soup...yay! Yesterday, "Bob" made a favorite entree: pork loin with a mustard-rub, which was discussed before here. That was accompanied by smashed potatoes (recipe here) and a tossed salad with balsamic vinaigrette (finally recorded in this post). And today, we had a beautiful new soup.

"Bob" started with our basic vegetable stock recipe (which, after a quick search of this blog, I just realized that I never recorded here before). He then turned that into a gorgeous red lentil soup; amazingly enough, we had the red lentils on hand because I bought them--impulsively--at the supermarket a few months ago.

Vegetable Stock

1 unpeeled onion, roughly chopped

2 carrots, roughly chopped

2 stalks of celery (again, roughly chopped)

2 parsnips (yup, you guessed it, roughly chopped)

1 handful of fresh parsley (leaves and stems)

1 or 2 sprigs of fresh dill

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 piece of fresh ginger chopped into very large pieces

Directions

1. Add above ingredients to 2 gallons of water.

2. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.

3. Simmer partially covered until reduced by one third (approximately 1 hour).

4. Strain and cool.

Red Lentil Soup with Parsley and Shallots

Serves 10 to 12

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspooon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

5 cups vegetable stock

1.25 cups red lentils

1 can (14 oz) chopped tomatoes

3 shallots, thinly sliced

3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

2/3 cup plain yogurt (approx. 1 tablespoon per serving)

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Put cumin and coriander in a saute pan and cook over high heat until the spices just start to smoke. Remove from heat and add turmeric. Set aside.

2. In a large stock pot, heat olive oil and saute garlic and onion until tender (approximately 5 minutes). Add spice mixture and cook for 2 more minutes.

3. Add 5 cups of stock to pot. Bring to boil and simmer.

4. Meanwhile, rinse lentils and add to stock pot. Bring all to a boil, then simmer over medium to low heat.

5. Cook for approximately 20 minutes, add tomatoes and cook for 5 more minutes. Then remove from heat and puree (with an immersion blender is ideal).

6. Spoon into bowls and top with dollop of yogurt seasoned with minced parsley and salt and pepper. Garnish with pan fried sliced shallots.

Aside from our globe-trotting, I've also been working with homemade yogurt and packaging (for friends and family) our spices from Morocco: curry, cumin, and ground saffron. Honestly, the spices are a bit on the bland side..the souks probably blended them with sawdust for we gullible tourists.

Before I Forget

I keep meaning to write down my balsamic dressing recipe and I always forget to do it, mainly because I'm a bit unsure of all the proportions. I do a lot of "eyeballing" with this dressing.

Tonight I tried to pay attention and measure out the amounts. Basically it's 1 part vinegar to 2 parts olive oil. The rest is a bit dicier. Case in point: After adding too much mustard, I had to double the recipe to compensate for overdoing it with that particular ingredient.

Of note: One of "Bob's" Christmas gifts was an immersion blender. What ever did we do before they were invented?

Balsamic Vinaigrette
Serves: Quite a lot

1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic minced
1 -1.5 tsp dijon mustard (Maille preferably)
4 Tbsp. honey (approximately)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions
1. Combine and blend all ingredients except for olive oil.
2. Stream in olive oil while blending.

A Tale of Two Mueslis

Okay, that first batch? Awesome, if a bit overcooked. I followed the instructions and baked it for nearly 30 minutes. If I had taken it out around 20 minutes, it would've been perfect.

On to the next batch: a "Bob"-friendly nut-free muesli (or granola, I still have no idea what the difference is. I'll research that later).

The Other Bob's Muesli

6 cups rolled oats
1 cup raw sunflower kernels
1 cup natural pumpkin seeds
3/4 cup honey
4 Tbsps vegetable oil
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup chopped dates
1/3 cup chopped dried apricots
1/3 cup chopped dried cherries

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F and line two baking sheets (with rim) with parchment paper.
2. Combine oats, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds in a large bowl.
3. Warm the honey and vegetable oil in a saucepan over low heat.
4. Pour the honey-oil mixture into the oat mixture, and mix until the oats and seeds are evenly coated (be sure to fold and get to the bottom of the mixture to distribute the moisture evenly).
5. Spread the coated muesli evenly in the lined baking pan.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes until toasty golden brown and let cool.
7. Transfer muesli to a large bowl and mix in the chopped dried fruits.
8. Store in air-tight containers.

Hint: To prevent stickiness: Chop the dried fruit on a cutting board "floured" with corn starch and a knife prepared the same way.

Slow Start to a New Year

Still no new menus. That's becuase we've been working through some soups and stuff in the freezer. Those meals have mostly been augmented with salad. New menus and recipes will be forthcoming.

I'm a bit pudgier from the start of the year. I attribute that to some extra work at work and a lack of structure to our meals (namely, no menus). Add to those reasons: leftover candy and pastries, homemade chocolates (including pomegranate cordials), and a Chick-Fil-A sandwich last night. It's been probably a year since I've been to the mall. I had no choice but to go last night, and since "Bob" hates the mall, a tempting trip to the food court was enough to allay his bearishness and make the trip worth his while. So, naturally, I had a Chick-Fil-A.

Today, I've resolved to make an even cleaner start of it. I'm going to put that yogurt maker to work today and I've decided to do something with that "raw" muesli that's been taunting me in the cupboard. Truth be told, one of my favorite breakfasts is plain yogurt with fresh fruit, muesli (or granola or Grapenuts) and creamed honey.

Some backstory: A few weeks ago I bought Bob's Red Mill Old Country Style Muesli. It did not make me happy. There's a Swiss brand that I love. It's crunchy and yummy and is awesome straight from the bag (beat that Grapenuts!). Bob's Red Mill Muesli is not that kind of muesli. It's not baked, so that's probably the problem. In an effort not to waste it, I went it search of a baked muesli recipe. And found this:

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/000173.html

I had to modify it though since it starts from scratch. I had fewer dry ingredients and the fruit has already been added (not sure how that'll turn out). So my recipe is this:

From Raw to Rowwrrr Muesli

3 cups Bob's Red Mill Old Country Style Muesli
1/4 cup honey
1 1/3 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F and line a baking sheet (with rim) with parchment paper.
2. Pour "raw" muesli into a large bowl.
3. Warm the honey and vegetable oil in a saucepan over low heat.
4. Pour the honey-oil mixture into the muesli. Mix until the muesli is well and evenly coated.
5. Spread the coated muesli evenly in the lined baking pan.
6. Bake for 30 minutes.

NOTE: In the future, bake for 20 minutes.

For the honey I used the tried and true Golden Blossom honey. But, I was at the end of the jar so I added creamed honey (from two different jars: one from Tremblay Apiaries in Van Etten, N.Y. and the other from Andrew's Local Honey; both jars were bought at the Union Square Greenmarket). It's baking in the oven as we speak.

Happy New Year!

You'll notice no menus have been posted for most of December. That's because we've been bad and have been eating out a lot or just subsisting on, well, junk. I attribute this to the lack of structure and discipline that the CSA gave us. "Bob" says it's mainly because of the holidays and I should just learn to relax. Well, good thing. The holidays are over and it's Resolution time! So I don't have to relax. Instead, it's time to buckle down, make menus, cook more veg, and lose some weight (and exercise, let's not forget exercise).

In the spirit of the New Year and home-cooked frugality, here's a link to a New York Times blog post on what to do with leftover champers. I think I'll be making the vinaigrette (yes, for salad).

Parmesean Peppercorn and Pix

As promised: a picture (Tomato Pasta soup) and a recipe (for Parmesean Peppercorn Dressing).


Parmesean Peppercorn Dressing

1 cup mayo (lowfat) OR 3/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tsp white vinegar (or more to taste)
1/4 tsp dried basil (or Italian seasoning)
1/8 tsp garlic powder OR 1/2 to 1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup grated parmesean 1/2 tsp (or more to taste)
ground peppercorn (cracked or ground)
1 to 2 Tablespoon milk (lowfat; or more to taste)
Kosher salt to taste

Directions
1. Mix all ingredients (but milk) together.
2. Whisk in milk last (add additional milk depending on desired consistency).