Hot Dish Review

I’ve been wanting an indoor grill/panini maker for a while, having watched Food Network chefs like Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis grilling seafood and making delicate little paninis oozing with cheese that look so yummy. So LC gave me a George Foreman Grill for Christmas. I was excited to cook something in it…..but what?

Just like I am known for my guacamole, LC’s Mom is known for her amazing grilled flatiron steak, flavored by her secret marinade (I managed to get the recipe!). So the first use of my grill was an ambitious one. I may show you the results later, but suffice it to say, my flatiron fell flat.

Prior to the steak dinner, I had prepared some cheeses and accompaniments to start us off. There was plenty of cheese leftover, plus half a loaf of ciabatta giving me the perfect opportunity to make panini!

I cut four thin slices of the bread, topping one with smoked gouda and arugula, the other with taleggio and ham. A little butter on the grill and in they went. With no real guideline on how long to cook panini, I checked on them frequently until they were a light golden brown and the cheese was melted.

With over ten years in the electric indoor grill business, George Foreman Grills now dominate the market. I really that he promotes healthy cooking, calling the product the Lean, Mean, Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine. Silly but effective marketing.

The final product was simple and delicious….and a perfect snack while we were snowed in!

Now making a weekly appearance in my lunchtime repetoire:
This is one of the best salads ever! The original recipe comes from the February 2009 issue of Food & Wine Magazine. I still have it bookmarked, the pages filthy from making the dressing dozens of times, although by now, I’ve committed it to memory, and made a few changes. Here is my version:

BITTER GREENS WITH FIGS AND FOG

1/2 small head radicchio, finely shredded
1 Belgian endive, thinly sliced crosswise
1 C. baby arugula
1 1/2 oz. cooked organic chicken, cut up
7-10 whole unsalted almonds
1 dried calmyrna fig, chopped
1 oz. Humboldt Fog goat cheese, cubed

DRESSING (this is a double recipe, you’ll want extra!)

3 tblsp. extra-virgin olive oil
3 tblsp. fig vinegar (or raspberry)
3 tblsp. sugar free apricot preserves
1 shallot, very thinly sliced
1 tsp. dried rosemary leaves
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
freshly ground pepper and salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Toast the raw almonds on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes, and let cool, then coarsely chop. (I make a big batch to save time, also great served with cheeses).

Let the sliced shallots marinate in the vinegar for 10 minutes. Meanwhile add the oil, rosemary, and thyme to a small saucepan. Heat over moderate heat for 2 minutes until it sizzles. Stir in the apricot preserves and heat until melted, about 1 minute. Add the shallots and vinegar and cook an additional minute. Season with salt and pepper.

Toss the lettuces, warm chicken, figs, and almonds in a large bowl and drizzle the warm dressing, to taste. Top with chunks of the cheese. (Note: the original recipe calls for regular goat cheese, see photo in magazine below)

This recipe makes one huge salad or 2-4 servings as a side, in which case I add more almonds, figs, and cheese but omit the chicken. The sweetness of the preserves and figs are the perfect match to the bitterness of the greens.

Several weeks ago when I was trying to cut back on sugar in my diet, I made an effort to eat more vegetables in lieu of fruit. My usual berries with breakfast went on hiatus. Instead, I devised this healthy and delicious omelette using veggies.

SOUTHWESTERN OMELETTE

3 egg whites (or 1 Omega, 1 white)
1/2 small tomato, diced
1/4 ripe avocado, diced
handful of cilantro
thin sliced onion
thin sliced mushrooms
lite pepper jack cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Saute onions and mushrooms until caramelized and set aside (Note: I usually prepare enough for several servings). Whisk eggs (whichever kind you use) with a dash of milk, if desired, and heat non-stick skillet to medium. Pour eggs into skillet, seasoning with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add some of the tomato, avocado, cilantro, and cooked onion mixture to one half of the eggs, allowing to cook a while longer until mostly set.

Flip and cook for 30 seconds, then flip back and add one slice of lowfat pepper jack cheese to the side of the omelette with the veggies. Top with remainder of filling and fold in half, allowing cheese to melt. Season with salt and pepper.

I serve my Southwestern omelette with two slices of pre-cooked bacon and a piece of whole wheat for a satisfying and tasty breakfast.

While doing cardio, I often watch the Food Network. Nothing like watching sticks of butter melting as I melt away the weekend’s indulgences! Sunny Anderson is one of my favorites. She is always making something I like, from sweet potatoes to curries….creative comfort food with a Southern flair.

On a recent episode she roasted acorn squash. Since I’ve been experimenting with roasting veggies lately, I was excited to try it.

It’s hard to tell if the dark green squash is ripe so I just grabbed a pretty one. Once home with it, I determined that it made more sense to cut it in half lengthwise, along one of the creases, so the halves would sit flat in the dish.

If you plan on attempting this recipe, be warned. You will need a machete to cut the damn thing. After that, it’s easy! Here’s my method I adapted from Sunny’s original recipe:

ROASTED ACORN SQUASH (for 2)

1 acorn squash, cut in half
2 pats sweet butter
2 tblsp. dark brown sugar
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
dash freshly ground black pepper
dash cayenne
dash cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the acorn squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Place halves in lightly oiled glass baking dish. Add 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar and 1 pat of butter inside each half, then sprinkle with the remaining spices.

Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, basting with the melted sugar and butter a couple of times. Let cool for 5 minutes and serve. Awesome!

Can you believe it actually snowed on Christmas Day? I was in Tennessee visiting my folks and we got 5″ of the fluffy white stuff.

Recently LC has been telling me about these popsicles his Mom buys that taste just like snowcream. Sounds delicious, but what is snowcream? Having grown up in the South, we were lucky to get one good snow each Winter. There aren’t many snowmen or snowball fights in my childhood memory bank. And I had never even heard of snowcream until LC told me about it.

Simply put, it is ice cream made with snow. A beaten egg, sugar, vanilla, milk, and snow. LC made it when he was a kid, and apparently so did my Dad. His version was without egg. When it started snowing I knew I had to try it!

My Mom only had powdered sugar and fake sugar (xylitol) so I thought I would experiment with a few variations. First, I sifted some powdered sugar in two bowls and put a packet of xylitol in the third. Next, I poured in some milk and a little vanilla (not much in the third bowl).

Then it was time to gather the freshly fallen snow! LC had warned me not to scoop up any that was yellow….LOL. It was still falling, fresh and white, when I put it in a big bowl and ran inside to make my first batch of snowcream. My Mom was standing by to assist.

I tried the basic vanilla first, adding snow to the bowl and stirring it until the liquid was incorporated. The taste and texture were just like vanilla ice milk that my Grandma used to buy. Success! I asked my Dad to sample it and he agreed, it was tasty.

The second flavor was my Mom’s idea. She added some pomegranite juice to the mixture (the one with less vanilla and sweetened with xylitol) to create a trendy-healthy version of snowcream. It was a pretty shade of lilac and was yummy as well, although I could taste the fakeness of the sweetener.

My least successful flavor was cinnamon. Not terrible, just not as good as plain vanilla which was our unanimous favorite.

Back in Atlanta, I could easily make more snowcream now from the layer of snow on my balcony. But it is anything but pristine. Smog flavored snowcream anyone?

Now I’ve gotta try one of those darn popsicles!

I’m trying to kick my sugar habit. For the time being, no caramel corn, mocha popsicles, Clif Bars, or even fruit. Instead of berries with breakfast I add in veggies, making a delicious Southwest omelette this morning, with avocado, tomato, cilantro, and pepperjack cheese.

As with any change in diet, ya gotta keep it interesting or you’ll quickly slip back into old habits. I went nuts in the produce department on my last visit to Whole Foods, buying organic squash, zucchini, a poblano pepper, cippolinis, the avocado, hericot vert, tomatoes, and a bag of Brussels sprouts.

I love Brussels sprouts, usually cutting them in half and sauteing them with some onion and lots of fresh black pepper. But this time I wanted to try roasting them with the cippolinis and some shallots.

Here is my experimental recipe:

16 oz. baby Brussels sprouts
2 shallots
2 cippolini onions
2 cloves garlic
1 tblsp. olive oil
Nature’s Seasoning, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
Salt, use common sense

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a large casserole dish with oil. Wash the Brussels sprouts, trimming off the ends and cutting the larger ones in half. Peel the shallots and cippolinis, cutting them in half. Mince the garlic with a press and add. Drizzle with olive oil (could easily use 2 tblsp.) and seasonings, and toss to coat the veggies evenly.

Roast for about 35-45 minutes, depending on desired tenderness. I took them out and stirred them around a few times, adding additional seasoning, and continued putting them back in the oven for a total of 45 minutes. Next time I may increase the heat to 425 and see if that shortens the roasting time.

They were delicious! I served them with tilapia for dinner and divided the remainder into two servings, one for lunch the next day and the other didn’t make it past midnight….they were that good.

Three (OK, maybe 5) little words that equal big deliciousness! This recipe comes courtesy of BB, or more precisely his little girl, who spotted the lobster at Costco and suggested making lobster mac ‘n’ cheese. She grabbed the white truffle oil as an afterthought. Oh, and by the way, she is five!

He brought me a casserole dish with a big serving that I reheated in the oven….just didn’t seem right to put lobster in the microwave. Rich, decadent, just plain awesome.

Although he cooks by heart, as trained chefs generally do, I asked him to write down the recipe for me (and you!). Here it is, only slightly edited:

LOBSTER MAC & CHEESE

1 box of medium pasta shells, cooked
1.5 lbs cooked lobster meat (tails and claws)
3 cups of milk
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 stick of butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
12 oz. shredded gruyere
9 oz. shredded extra sharp white cheddar
2 oz. shredded extra sharp yellow cheddar
2 oz. shredded fontina
White truffle oil
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 1/4″ slice of pancetta, diced
1 whole nutmeg
Fresh black pepper
Kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta al dente according to package directions, drain and drizzle with truffle oil to prevent sticking.

In a large saute’ pan, cook the pancetta until brown. Set aside and reserve the fat. Cut the lobster meat into bite-size pieces and squeeze excess water from it.

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and heavy cream, not allowing it to boil. In a large heavy pot, melt butter along with 2 tablespoons of the truffle oil. Whisk in the flour and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. (Chef’s note: “In the past, I’ve made the roux with true truffle butter, but time constraints forced us to improvise with the butter/oil mixture”). Still whisking, add the hot milk and cream and cook for another minute or two until it’s smooth and thickened. Fold in the gruyere and white cheddar, mixing well, until you have a smooth, creamy sauce.

Grate in about 3/4 of the nutmeg and about a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper, mixing well. Add the pasta, stirring well, then fold in the lobster. Lightly coat the inside of a 9 X 13 casserole dish with oil and pour in the mixture. Sprinkle the top with the shredded yellow cheddar and fontina.

In a small bowl mix the panko with the cooked pancetta and its cooking fat. Top the casserole with the bread crumb mixture and bake uncovered for 25 minutes or until brown and bubbly.

Fall is in the air and folks are excited to cook with the season’s crop of root vegetables, leafy greens, butternut squash, and maybe even pumpkin.

Yes, the pumpkin is a daunting fruit, often growing to the size of a small child. My friend BB explained there are two kinds: the carving pumpkins and the cooking pumpkins, as he was headed to find the latter for a batch of pumpkin pudding for his little girl.

I suggested buying canned pumpkin puree, but for a CIA trained chef that would be too easy. No, he would peel and steam a pumpkin, then puree its meat, mixing in sugar, eggs, and spices for the pudding.

Mere hours later he returned with pumpkin bread, spiced with nutmeg that permeated the ziplock bag. “What happened to the pudding?” I asked. Apparently the texture of the steamed pumpkin wasn’t condusive to making pudding, but was adequate for bread. Maybe it was too coarse, maybe it was stringy. I can’t say for sure. All I can say is I enjoyed the resulting bread for dessert after lunch.

Not one to easily accept defeat, BB continued to devise a workable pumpkin pudding recipe, this time with the aforementioned canned pumpkin and his daughter’s help.

Success! A small pan was delivered for my pumpkin pleasure. With a dense consistency of a custard, I cut a square for dessert after dinner, nuked it briefly and topped it with whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon.

Here is his recipe:

Ingredients
2 cups canned pumpkin
2 cups sugar
1 cup self-rising flour (sifted)
3 extra large eggs
2 1/2 cups undiluted evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
Fresh grated nutmeg, about 3/4 teaspoon
1 stick margarine, melted (not butter)

Method
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Beat the pumpkin until smooth. Fold in the sugar, mix well. Fold in the flour, mix well. Add the eggs and beat (note: if you use large rather than extra large eggs, add 1 extra egg white.) Add the spices (best results with assistance of a five year old), evaporated milk and beat. Stir in the melted margarine and mix well.

Pour mixture into a 9″ X 16″ pan (or 12″ X 12″) and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Serve it at room temperature or slightly warmed. Better than pumpkin pie, try it at your Thanksgiving celebration!

Whenever I do a cheese plate, I pay as much attention to the bread and accompaniments as I do the selection of cheeses. I love bread, especially with good quality sweet butter. Perhaps it’s my German heritage.

The difficulty in the US is finding good bread. You can get an amazing baguette in the airport in Paris for God’s sake but I can’t find a decent one even at most specialty bakeries here in Atlanta. It’s ridiculous.

Jonathan St. Hilaire is one of the best bakers in the city. He really cares about the craft of bread-making. If I have time, I stop by Bakeshop for a crusty loaf of ciabatta. But more often than not, I end up grabbing what’s available at Whole Foods or Kroger. The last time I got a mini boule at Kroger and it was surprisingly good. When they convert their cheese shop to Murray’s I have a feeling they will step it up another notch.

What does all this have to do with eggs al forno? Everything! The leftover bread from my cheese plates invariably end up in the freezer to find new life as a fancy BLT, cheese toast, or bread pudding. I frequently buy a chunk of cave aged gruyere, along with taleggio, Humboldt Fog, and perhaps something a bit more experimental.

There is always leftover cheese as well. Don’t think any of this is a coincidence, it’s all part of my plan. I fully intend to have excess bread and gruyere for eggs al forno. Gooey cheese, the soft yolk, and crusty bread are a combination to die for. I serve it with bacon and berries….simply delicious!

My second batch of barley has sparked new experiments as well as repeating the original ones that were so successful, like the breakfast barley with cinnamon, figs, and honey. I love barley’s toothesome quality and it keeps you full for hours!

This time I divided the one cup dry barley into five half-cup cooked servings (rather than four 3/4 cup servings), about 145 calories.

Whole foods has a curried wheatberry salad on their foodbar that I’ve always loved, so I decided to make my own version for lunch today with barley.

Here’s what I used:

1/2 cup cooked barley
1 carrot, chopped
1 scallion, chopped
1/1/2 tsp. olive oil
curry powder, to taste
cilantro
black pepper, to taste
dash of crushed red pepper

On Thursday I told my nutritionist that whenever I eat barley I pair it with vegetables or dried fruits. I automatically think of it as the main component of a meal to build around, rather than a protein.

Then on Friday, I made a total liar out of myself….I ordered grilled shrimp on a bed of greens to eat with my curried barley salad. Quite yummy! The salad was really very good, but something was missing…..

Over the weekend I was picking up some chana masala to pair with another serving of barley so I had the opportunity to look at the ingredient list on their curried wheatberry salad. Honey. That’s what was missing.

Also, my version had carrots instead of green peppers, but I did that on purpose.

Now that I’m on the barley kick, I will certainly make the curry salad again!