Sacra-mom-ato

Smoked Chicken Mozzarella Raviolis

Tonight's Menu:

• Smoked Chicken Mozzarella Raviolis (Costco)
• Salad of Organic Arugula, Celery, Avocado, and Slivered Almonds

Thank goodness for prepared pastas and sweet husbands!  I was in Los Angeles all weekend visiting my bestie Ngoc, with my return flight arriving in Sacramento at 5pm.  My darling Mr. picked me up at the airport and announced that he was cooking dinner upon our return home.  Honestly, this news was better than receiving flowers at the airport!  So he was in charge of dinner tonight and it was a very satisfying meal for the bone-weary traveler.  He cooked up a package of raviolis that I bought at Costco (and immediately froze for such an occasion) and he made a delicious salad of organic arugula, sliced celery, creamy avocado, and slivered almonds.  Perfect.

Although I am usually not a fan of buying prepared foods, I do think that prepared raviolis and tortellinis are a wise investment.  They are quick to cook, hearty and satisfying, and flexible.  They can be transformed with the addition of the sauce of your choice (marinara, alfredo, pesto, etc.) or you can simply dress them with a little olive oil, cracked pepper, and parmesan-reggiano.  I also love to cook them with seasonal vegetables such as broccoli or green beans for an extra vegetal freshness.  And to be honest, making them from scratch - though delicious - can be a pain.  I rarely have the time to make raviolis from scratch! 

So I mostly buy our prepared stuffed pastas during my monthly shopping trip to Costco, in their twin-pack packages.  They have a great selection at very reasonable prices.  I usually buy two twin-pack packages and place them in our garage freezer.  They hold up well and are a great convenience food for our family. 

My Top Ten Desserts of All Time

I'm here in LA with my best friend Ngoc and we are salivating over our favorite desserts - Ngoc, Timo, and I are coming up with our top ten favorite desserts of all time. 

My list (not in any particular order):

1. banana split 

2. chocolate eclair

3. creme brulee

4. my mom's huckleberry pie with vanilla ice cream

5.  my grandma's apple pie

6. lemon tart with huckleberry topping and whipped cream

7. crispy and soft oatmeal raisin cookie

8. Haagen-Dazs coffee ice cream bar with toasted almonds

9. key lime pie

10. chocolate pot de creme

Ngoc's list is (in no particular order):

1. brownie sundae

2. Sarkis macaroons

3. crispy and soft oatmeal raisin cookie

4. lemon tart

5. apple tart

6. apple strudel

7. peanut butter chocolate cupcake

8. Fosselman's strawberry ice cream cake

9. Haribo gummy bears

10. Portos Italian cheesecake♠

Timo's list (again, no order):

1. brownie sundae

2. tart tatin

3. Mexican hot chocolate with pan dulce

4. lavender creme brulee with pineapple relish

5. chocolate eclair

6. Beard Papa cream puff

7. Mexican wedding cookie

8. Auntie's apple pie

9. lemon bar / lemon tart

10. beignet

What's in your top ten?

Friday Night is Pizza Night

Tonight's Menu:

• Homemade Pizza with Various Toppings

Despite my best intentions to cook yesterday, I caved into my demons and had the Mr. pick up dinner on the way home.  Knowing that his wife was a bit cranky, Jeff picked up some delicious Hawaiian plate dinners (chicken katsu, beef teriyaki, sticky white rice, and macaroni salad)... and oh yum!  These Hawaiian plates always remind me of dinners at my Japanese grandparents' home - lots of starch and salt but BIG flavors! 

So tonight, even though I'm flying off to LA in a few  hours, I am determined to make a healthy and fun family dinner,to try to compensate for last night's debauchery!  We try to make pizza on our non-Shabbat dinner Friday nights so I'm not going to deviate.  Pizza it is, with help from the bread machine. 

Bread Machine Pizza Dough

This makes enough for three large thin-crust pizzas, or 6 personal pizzas.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups water

2 Tbs. olive oil

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. sugar

4 cups all-purpose flour

4 tsp. bread machine or quick yeast

Place the ingredients in the bread machine, in the order listed so that the yeast is the last ingredient added.  Set machine on the dough function (#9 on my machine) and let her rip! 

Tonight's Toppings:

shredded mozzarella cheese, organic canned tomato & basil sauce, sliced pre-cooked chicken sausage, lower fat salami, fresh basil leaves, sliced zucchini, sliced red onion, sliced red peppers 

To construct the pizza:

I stretch out the dough by hand to personal pizza sizes and place on floured cookie sheets.  I find this to be a lot easier than rolling out the dough.  I preheat the oven to 425 degrees while the kids help me layer the pizza with the different toppings.  I've found it to be most successful (and wonderfully crispy!) if we put a VERY thin layer of tomato sauce on the dough followed by a decent sprinkling of cheese.  Then, we put on our other toppings and finish with a final sprinkling of cheese.  (The melting cheese will sandwich the other toppings and keep them on the pizza.)  We put the pizzas in the oven and let them cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cheese is golden brown and the crust is browned and crispy looking.  Let the pizza rest for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.  Then, let the gooey goodness begin! 

Simple Grilled Lemon-Garlic Chicken

Tonight's Dinner:

• Simple Grilled Lemon-Garlic Chicken
• Tomato Bruschetta
• Garlicky Green Beans
• Applesauce and Vanilla Ice Cream

I just called the Mr. to ask him to stop by the store on the way home to pick up a baguette and a bunch of basil.  Alas, our garden basil has called it quits and I'm  hankering for some tomato bruschetta!  Although I was tempted to go out to dinner tonight (there's a great deal this Wednesday for a family dinner out), we had such a busy day - too exhausted to leave the house again.  Both E and V had preschool this morning, and while they were occupied with school, I ran some errands and then embarked on an apple adventure:  making apple chips via the dehydrator and making and canning applesauce. Using a nifty apple corer/peeler, I prepared 10 lbs. of organic apples from Smart's Mountain (thank you Dennis and Peggy!).  Now, the dehydrator is still whirring away, the applesauce is simmering on the stovetop, and the canning supplies are all laid out, as I wait for it to cool down a bit outside before I start filling the kitchen with steam from the canning process. After picking up the kids at school, we had a quick lunch and then played with friends at the park for several hours.  While the kids have their "quiet time", it's time for me to start thinking about dinner.  Of course, it will be flavorful but it has to be simple!  I'm in no mood for complicated cooking tonight!

Simple Grilled Lemon-Garlic Chicken

This is an old standby.  Easy to prep and grill.  The flavors are amazing.

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 lemon

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbs. olive oil

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

Pat the chicken breasts dry.  Into a small glass mixing bowl, zest the lemon using a zester or microplane.  The add the juice of the same lemon.  Add the remaining ingredients and whisk to combine.  Pour this mixture over the chicken breasts and let marinate for 1 hour.  Remove chicken from marinade and grill over medium high heat until the chicken is lightly charred and cooked through, but still juicy - about 15 minutes (flipping after the first 7 minutes).  

Tomato Bruschetta

I learned this recipe from the Slavianskii Dom cook, Maryanne.  I was the kitchen manager (back in my college days) and Maryanne would make fantastic meals for us college kids.  I miss her.  Just be careful when broiling the bread - I have a bad habit of burning mine! 

Ingredients:

2 large ripe tomatoes (I use heirlooms from Terra Firma Farm in Winters), finely chopped

12 large basil leaves, sliced into a chiffonade

1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced (I love garlic so I use 2 cloves)

2 1/2 Tbs. capers

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

salt to taste

1 baguette, sliced into rounds about 1/2-inch thick

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the tomatoes, basil, garlic, capers, oil, pepper, and salt.  Let sit for at least 15 minutes so that the flavors marry.  In the meantime, place the baguette slices on a baking sheet and toast each side under a broiler.  Before toasting the last side of the bread slices, sprinkle with the grated parmesan cheese and broil until bread is toasted and the cheese has melted.  (Alternatively, you can omit the cheese and just rub a clove of garlic all over the toasted slices of bread - yum!)  Each diner can then pile some of the tomato mixture over their slices of bread and enjoy!

Throw Together Curry

Tonight's dinner:

• Throw Together Curry
• Brown Long-Grain Rice
• Mult-Grain Nan (Trader Joe's)
• Chopped Tomato and Cucumber Salad

This curry is a mixture of whatever veggies you have on hand, plus spices from the cupboard.  I threw in chicken but it can easily remain vegetarian.  I had a bag of long-grain brown rice in the pantry so I used that rather than buy a new bag of brown basmathi rice.  The nan is from Trader Joe's - I brush it with a little melted garlic butter to amp up the flavor.  The salad is simply two garden cucumbers chopped up into bite-sized pieces, along with a few chopped medium tomatoes.  Toss with whatever simple vinaigrette you have on hand.

Throw Together Curry

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant, chopped into bite-size pieces

2 medium peppers (I used 1 yellow and 1 red), seeded and chopped

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

3 Tbs. olive oil

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces 

2 Tbs. curry (mild or hot - whichever spiciness you prefer)

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. ground coriander

1/2 tsp. ground turmeric

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

3 medium tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped

1 14 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained

1/4 cup chicken broth (or water)

In 2 Tbs. olive oil, saute the eggplant, peppers, and onion on medium heat until soft and slightly browned, about 10 minutes.  Season with a sprinkling of salt and pepper.  Add the remaining olive oil, chicken, curry, cumin, coriander, turmeric, salt, and pepper and cook another 5 minutes.  Add the remaining ingredients and reduce to a simmer, cooking for another 10 minutes until thickened.  Makes 8 servings.  

This dinner was a hit with the husband and mild enough for the kids to eat a decent portion of the curry and rice.  They love nan so that was gobbled up.  The salad was dressed in a light vinaigrette so Eli and Vivi picked their salad portion clean.  I particularly liked that I could let the curry simmer away (checking occasionally to make sure the liquid level wasn't too low) so that I could relax and play with the kids until dinnertime.  My favorite part of the dish was the smokiness of the eggplant - I had forgotten how good eggplant is!  

P.S. Once my camera arrives, I can start taking and posting photos of my food again!

Oh Camera, Where Art Thou?

You may not have heard of my camera's demise.  Little Miss Vivian decided to sink to the bottom of the deep end of one of our club's pools and so her mama had to jump in, purse and all, to rescue the careless walker.  Vivi is fine - thank goodness - but the contents of my purse were not:  my cell phone and camera went kaput. 

Flash forward 3 months.  It has taken us that long to buy a new camera.  It was a combination of sheer laziness and cheapness.  With the start to working full-time plus all of our various vacations, I just didn't want to dedicate the time to research a new camera.  And I am such a cheapskate when it comes to techie things.  I can always convince myself that I can live without the latest "it" gadget (iPod, laptop, flat screen TV, gps, etc.) and even somehow convince myself that my life will be BETTER without it.  (Generally, that's pretty true.)  However, I missed my camera and capturing those little moments that will soon be just fleeting memories. 

So hurrah, I just bought a new camera and am awaiting its arrival (free shipping!) so I can start to snap, snap, snap again.  Can't wait to start adding photos to this blog again.

End-of-Summer Dinner

Here in Sacramento it may be the end of Summer, but it's a scorching 100 degrees.  Despite the heat, there are signs of Fall just around the corner: leaves are starting to turn color, there's a slight chill to the morning air, my tummy is starting to crave stews and soups and heartier fare.  I love Fall and I am looking forward to this new season and especially to some cooler weather!

To celebrate, I'm cooking an End-of-Summer Dinner.  We'll talk about our favorite memories of Summer 2009 and what we look forward to this Fall.  And I'm serving some very summer-inspired fare.

End-of-Summer Dinner

• Tomato Tart (inspired by this post in Simply Recipes and by my Auntie Marsha)
• French bread (baked in the bread machine - I've got to take a shortcut somewhere!)
• Salad of Baby Greens with sliced strawberries and grapes, with a vinaigrette out of Cook's Illustrated