Jacques of all Trades

mark bittman’s simple chicken breast recipes

(via canttuchthis)

A simple supper that was great as we sat on our front stoop and welcomed trick-or-treaters on Monday night.  Grilled salmon with lime-butter sauce, steamed asparagus and brown rice. Tasty and, as we New England natives say, “wicked healthy*.”

(*As long as you go easy on the butter).  

Tonight’s dinner — a quinoa and spring vegetable pilaf, recipe from this month’s Bon Appetit. It’s a great use of our farmers market haul from the weekend

It’s also decent for tonight’s TV on tap, though I suppose it’s more appropriate for Top Chef—given that it involves a pea puree (pea puree? pea puree!)— than for Extreme Couponing.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups quinoa, well rinsed
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 2 cups frozen petite peas, thawed, divided
• 5 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves, divided
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 large leek (white and pale green parts only), halved, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
• 3/4 cup sliced shallots
• 8 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, thickly sliced
• 1 14-ounce bunch asparagus, trimmed, cut on diagonal into 1-inch pieces

• ingredient info

  Quinoa is a grain with a texture similar to that of couscous; it’s available at supermarkets and natural foods stores.

Preparation

• Bring 2 1/2 cups water to boil in small saucepan. Add quinoa and 1 teaspoon salt; return to boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until quinoa is tender and water is absorbed, 15 to 17 minutes. Drain if necessary.
• Puree broth, 1 cup peas, 4 tablespoons mint, and garlic in blender until smooth.
• Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add leek and shallots; sauté until soft and light brown, about 4 minutes. Stir in mushrooms, then asparagus; sauté until mushrooms are tender and asparagus is crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Mix in puree and 1 cup peas; stir until heated through, about 2 minutes. Add quinoa; stir to coat.
• Divide pilaf among bowls; sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon mint and serve.

Read More http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/quick-recipes/2011/04/quinoa_and_spring_vegetable_pilaf#ixzz1K4A9gMAb

(And with this — I’ve reached 5,000 posts… yikes!)

Looks like a delicious soup recipe to make, and some fresh ingredients I might be able to get at the season opening day of the Penn Quarter farmer’s market today!

DAILY WANT.

The “well-I-do-love-a-nice-springtime-soup” edition.

• 1 T extra virgin olive oil
• 1 leek, sliced thin
• 1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 bulb fennel, chopped
• 1 cup small pasta (such as alphabet or orzo)
• 1 can cannellini beans, rinsed
• 1 large bunch rainbow chard, roughly chopped
• 1/4 lb sugar snap peas, chopped in half
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1 poblano pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• fresh grated Parmesan for serving
• squeeze of lemon for serving

1. Roast the poblano pepper either over the flame on your stove (if you have a gas stove) or under the broiler until black and charred. Set aside to cool and then remove the seeds and chop.
2. Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a large pot or dutch oven. Add the leek and cook for five minutes, until the leek is bright green and soft.
3. Add the stock and the pasta and bring to a simmer. Let cook for another five minutes and then add the sugar snap peas, chard, beans, salt and pepper. Simmer for only a couple of minutes before adding the roasted poblano pepper, peas and mint. Continue cooking until pasta is just tender.
4. Ladle soup into bowls and serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a squeeze of lemon.

(via girlwearsmascara)

Grilled Avocado and Red Onion Salad - a delicious summer dish.  

Liz made this Michael Chiarello recipe last night, to go with flank steak and chimichurri, roasted asparagus, and a crusty baguette.  It was a big hit, and the quick grilling adds a nice carmelization to the avocados.  She also substituted some chimichurri for the pesto in the recipe (since the sauce was already made), and the parsley-for-basil switch worked out just great.  

Ingredients

• 10 tomatoes, quartered

• 4 avocados, peeled, halved, and pitted

• Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

• 1 red onion, sliced

• 1/2 lemon

• 1 cup pesto sauce

• 1/2 cup pine nuts

• Parmiggiano-Reggiano

Directions

Preheat a grill over medium heat.

Cover a large tray with tomato quarters, and set aside.

Place avocado halves in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Place each half on a hot open grill for about 30 to 45 seconds. Remove and place on top of the tomatoes arranged on tray. Drizzle with olive oil again.

In another bowl, cover the red onion slices with the juice from the lemon half and olive oil. Place onions in the empty avocado pit holes. Cover with the lemon/olive oil mix. Then, top with pesto, distributing generously on all sides. Sprinkle pine nuts and cheese on top, to taste.

Along with the steak and grilled baguettes, and a heap of crabs (of which I unfortunately didn’t get a photo), fresh New Jersey produce gave us the two pictured salads: 

• Tomato, green onions and feta, with some olive oil, salt and black pepper
• Cucumber, watermelon, mint, and a bit of diced red onions.

The crowd was happy.  Until we started playing Mafia, anyway!

Last night’s main course, which beat the heat by involving no indoor cooking:

• Grilled flank steak with a dry rub, and topped with a Steve Raichlen recipe Chimichurri sauce (recipe like the one below from here, but with carrot instead of onion).  
• Grilled zucchini and yellow squash from the farmers market
• Cucumber, yogurt, green onions salad, to cool off the palate.

Chimichurri recipe:

• 1 large bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley, washed, stemmed, and dried
• 8 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 3 tablespoons minced onion
• 5 tablespoons distilled white vinegar or more to taste
• 5 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt (kosher or sea)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Finely chop the parsley and garlic in a food processor. Add the onion, vinegar, water, salt, oregano, pepper flakes, and black pepper and process in brief bursts until the salt crystals are dissolved. Add the oil in a thin stream. Do not over process; the chimichurri should be fairly coarse. Correct the seasoning, adding salt or vinegar to taste.

From last night’s dinner — a simple salad of mixed greens and veggies was dressed up by taking 2-day old leftover ciabatta, cubing it, tossing it with olive oil, garlic powder and herbes de Provence, and then grilling it over medium-high heat for about 4-5 minutes, turning frequently.  

Zesty and crunchy, with just a hint of smoke!

Sunday Date Night Dinner — a trio of fresh and easy delights:

• Grilled top sirloin — quick-marinated in a nice Chilean cabernet and roughly chopped garlic, seasoned on the grill with kosher salt and black pepper
• Caprese salad — pearl fresh mozzarella, vine ripe tomatoes from the Dupont farmers market, and fresh basil from the back porch, with salt and pepper.   (Inspired by Mark Bittman’s 2009 list of 101 salads for the summer).  
• Couscous salad — whole wheat couscous, cooked and tossed with olive oil, clementine zest and chunks, dried cranberries, a drizzle of honey, tarragon and fleur de sel (sea salt).  

Going into it, we were excited about each of the individual elements, but it was a pleasant surprise how nicely all three melded, and washed down nicely with a bottle of Amicus cabernet (of the marinating vintage), from our winter travels in Chile.  

The whole meal took about 45 minutes from start to finish, and with minimal indoor cooking—just boiling a cup of water for the couscous—it was a great summer treat.  All that, and healthy to boot!