Penney’s Palate

This dinner was made possible through the joined efforts of both Tommy and myself. We knew we wanted to eat some fish, but we wanted to eat something more than just fish and rice, so Tommy started searching for a recipe that would be more fulfilling. It took him a few hours, but he finally settled on this one. We modified it a little based on what was available to us at the local fish market.

Overall, the fish was fresh, moist, meaty and flavorful. The fish, kale, and lentil mixture all complemented each other very well. This was the first time that I had eaten lentils too. If you haven’t eaten lentils before, you’re missing out! I LOVED them. Tommy would have preferred a little less mustard taste to the lentils, but I felt that there was just enough mustard. This was also the first time that we steamed fish. I think that it came out perfectly. This dish didn’t take very long to make either. Tommy made the fish and Kale, while I made the lentil mixture, set the table, and poured the wine.

Steamed Grouper with Lentils and Kale

Ingredients
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 small yellow onion, diced
1 small carrot, peeled and diced
1 small stalk celery, diced
1/2 cup Beluga lentils, rinsed and picked over (green lentils will work just as well)
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs parsley
1 sprig thyme
1 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoons fresh ground white pepper
1/8 cup Dijon mustard
1/8 cup plus 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
1/8 cup diced red onion
1 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves
1 tablespoons chopped green onions
2 (6-8 ounce) grouper fillets
1 bunch Kale

Preparation
In a saucepan, heat 1 tablespoons of the olive oil and add the onion, carrot and celery. Saute the vegetables until just tender about, 4 minutes. Add the lentils, broth and herbs. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the white pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes, or until lentils are just tender.

In a small bowl, combine the Dijon mustard with 1/8 cup of the balsamic vinegar, and 1/4 cup of the olive oil. Whisk until emulsified. Add the bell pepper, red onion, parsley, and green onions, and toss to combine. Add the dressing to the lentils, toss to combine. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Combine the remaining olive oil and balsamic vinegar in a small bowl. Brush the fish with the oil and vinegar mixture and season with the remaining teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of white pepper. Steam the fish until just cooked through.

Steam the Kale in a steamer, lightly season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Tommy and I had a double steamer, in which we steamed both the Kale and the fish. We started the fish on the top level of steamer. Half way through cooking, we added the Kale to the bottom level of the steamer. We steamed the fish for about 15 minutes, but the fish could have been cooked for probably 10 minutes, ours was a little overcooked.

The steamed fish, Kale, and lentil mixture should be done at about the same time. If this is not possible, make sure that the lentil mixture finishes first and can be kept warm while the fish and greens steam in the steamer.

We served the fish beside a bed of Kale with the lentils on top of the Kale. You could also put the fish on top of the lentils.

Tommy stumbled upon this recipe while he was in Italy for a summer. He made it in his cooking class, and carried the recipe all the way back with him over the Atlantic. It is a very simple recipe that doesn’t require much time or many ingredients. And it is full of flavor. We’ve had it a few times over the past few years. It sits a little heavy on the stomach, so if you’re looking for a lighter meal, this is not the one for you.

Walnut-Gorgonzola Penne

Ingredients
1 lb Penne Pasta
2 tbsp olive oil
4 thick slices of onion, chopped
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1.5 oz Gorgonzola cheese
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup vegetable stock
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
Salt
Pepper
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Preparation
Boil some water and cook Penne according to directions on box.

Meanwhile, saute the oil and onion in a pan on medium-low heat until translucent (about 10 minutes). Add walnuts and saute for another 4 minutes. Add the Gorgonzola and let melt, about 2 minutes. Add the heavy cream and Vegetable Stock and increase heat to medium, cooking until creamy. Add the parsley, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. Add the drained pasta to the mixture and serve.

Tommy and I are subscribers to Food & Wine Magazine. Occasionally we run across some recipes that get our attention, so I bookmark them and then file the magazine away on the shelf. One thing that I do when I’m looking for ideas of what to make for dinner is go through this stack of magazines to see if there is anything that once again sparks my interest. This was one such recipe. It didn’t take more than an hour to make, if you look at the prep time vs. the active time, it would lead you to believe that it takes an hour and a half to make. Not true. One thing that did surprise me was that the cauliflower takes a long time to cook down (25 minutes). I monitored this process very closely because I was afraid that 25 minutes would turn the cauliflower into mush, and I don’t like mush. But 25 minutes it took,and the cauliflower came out cooked but not mushy.

This dish was surprisingly flavorful. I don’t remember which white we used, but I remember being able to taste the wine flavors in the dish. It is very important to use a wine that you would drink and enjoy when using wine for cooking. Tommy and I follow that rule. I think that it is necessary in this dish. If I had kept up with my food blog this month, I would have been able to blog about the wine as well… The only variation that I did to this recipe is that I only used 1/2 lb pasta instead of 3/4 lb. I liked the cauliflower/leek mixture to pasta ratio that we ended up with.

Cauliflower and Leek Penne

This pork chop recipe is adapted from another one of Rachel Ray’s 30-minute meals. It is fairly quick to make and tasty as well. I didn’t measure anything, and as a result, I think that I put in a little too much lemon juice and not enough maple syrup. This made a very lemony sauce that didn’t thicken. The pork chops were also a little on the tougher side, so I might have been able to cook them for a few less minutes. I have kept the cooking time at the recommended times in the recipe, so feel free to adjust based on your stove. I served the pork chops with my favorite Swiss Chard dish.

Maple Glazed Pork Chops

Ingredients
2 boneless pork loin chops
Salt + pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup chicken stock
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1/8 cup maple syrup
Zest of 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp lemon juice

Preparation
Heavily salt and pepper the pork chops on both sides. Preheat a pan with the olive oil on medium-high heat and add the pork chops. Sear for 2 minutes on each side, then turn the heat down to medium and cook for another 5 minutes. Transfer the pork chops to plate and cover with foil. Add the chicken stock, thyme, maple syrup. lemon zest and juice to the hot pan. Bring up to a bubble and simmer until thickened (recipe says that this should take about 3-5 minutes, mine never thickened). Return the pork chops to the pan and glaze each side with the sauce. Place chops on plates and drizzle remaining glaze from the pan on top of the pork chops.

I feel like Tommy and I are getting really good at making dinner. Most of the time, I would rather eat here than go out to eat, knowing that what we make here will far surpass the restaurant quality that we are willing to afford. The only time that I prefer to go out to dinner is when I’m too tired to cook. Even when the preparations seem simple, the tastes explode in my mouth and I want to keep eating past the point of being full. I usually stop before I get to the uncomfortable full-ness, but I always want to eat more… Tonight we had Melanie’s polenta (with a cheese substitution) and a simple chicken salad. The only regret to the dinner was that I didn’t have anything made for dessert.

I won’t elaborate on the recipes, only to say that I substituted a combination of 2/3 mozzarella and 1/3 unknown semi-soft cheese in our fridge for the 1 cup of fontina for the polenta. Oh yeah, and I also used normal spinach instead of baby spinach, and I added the spinach to the polenta after about 10 minutes of cooking the polenta, instead of sauteing the spinach separately. The salad consisted of mixed greens, an heirloom tomato, and a marinated chicken breast. So delicious. I’m not sure that anyone would ever serve a bowl of polenta beside a plate of chicken salad, but we did and loved it.

I feel like Tommy and I are getting really good at making dinner. Most of the time, I would rather eat here than go out to eat, knowing that what we make here will far surpass the restaurant quality that we are willing to afford. The only time that I prefer to go out to dinner is when I’m too tired to cook. Even when the preparations seem simple, the tastes explode in my mouth and I want to keep eating past the point of being full. I usually stop before I get to the uncomfortable full-ness, but I always want to eat more… Tonight we had Melanie’s polenta (with a cheese substitution) and a simple chicken salad. The only regret to the dinner was that I didn’t have anything made for dessert.

I won’t elaborate on the recipes, only to say that I substituted a combination of 2/3 mozzarella and 1/3 unknown semi-soft cheese in our fridge for the 1 cup of fontina for the polenta. Oh yeah, and I also used normal spinach instead of baby spinach, and I added the spinach to the polenta after about 10 minutes of cooking the polenta, instead of sauteing the spinach separately. The salad consisted of mixed greens, an heirloom tomato, and a marinated chicken breast. So delicious. I’m not sure that anyone would ever serve a bowl of polenta beside a plate of chicken salad, but we did and loved it.

Tommy and I got a 30-minute meal cookbook for Christmas, so I have been browsing through the pages looking for some new ideas for dinner. The recipe that caught my eye was for a beef tenderloin as well as some penne with a quick tomato sauce to serve alongside the beef. The cookbook instructions were well laid and took advantage of every second of the process. I followed the directions and had the meal from grocery bags to plates on the table in 40 minutes. I didn’t think that was too bad. However, the kitchen was a mess when the meal was done. I like to clean stuff as I go along, but there was no time for that. The Gorgonzola mixture was a little too much and had to be scraped off of the beef when we ate it. I thought that there was a perfect amount of Gorgonzola taste once all of it was scraped off, because some of it made its way down into the beef. It was a nice alternative way to serve a piece of meat. I liked the pasta because it was a simple pasta with a simple sauce, but with a few greens added to it. The original recipe called for arugula but we had baby spinach so that is what we used. I liked it just fine with the spinach, but I can see how peppery arugula would give the pasta a bit more flavor and also be delicious.

Gorgonzola Beef Tenderloin with Pasta
Serves 2 (with a little bit of left over)

Ingredients
1/2 lb penne pasta
1 pint grape tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
Olive Oil
Salt + Pepper
1/4 cup crumbled Gorgonzola
Parsley (small handful), chopped
6 Sage Leaves, finely chopped
1 green onion, chopped
2 beef tenderloins, about 1-inch thick
1 cup baby spinach
10 basil leaves, pulled apart into pieces
1/2 cup grated parm. regianno cheese
3/4 cup reserved pasta water

Preparation
1. Set oven to 425 degrees.
2. Boil water and cook pasta 2 minutes shy of being al dente (pasta will cook more later)
3. Meanwhile, put tomatoes and garlic in oven for 20 minutes.
4. Salt and pepper both sides of beef.
5. Combine Gorgonzola, parsley, sage and green onion in a small bowl and set aside.
6. When tomatoes/garlic are about 4 minutes from being done, heat an oven-proof skillet on high heat. Sear the beef for 90 seconds on each side. Keep beef in pan and put Gorgonzola mixture on top.
7. Take tomatoes out of oven, turn oven off, and transfer pan of beef to the oven for 4 minutes.
8. Put the roasted garlic in a bowl large enough for the pasta and mash to make a paste. Add the reserved pasta water and the tomatoes and mash until a sauce forms. Add the pasta, spinach, basil, and cheese and let sit for a few minutes.
9. Serve!

Tommy’s family is spending Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with us. We decided to have a nice Christmas Eve Dinner, which turned out to be FABULOUS! The dinner was actually fairly simple and only required a little bit of preparation here and there throughout the afternoon. Harris Teeter had standing rib roasts on mega-sale, so we picked up an 8-pounder and experienced an immediate $40 savings by using our VIC card on one item. We had a roasted red pepper leek and potato soup for an appetizer, then served the rib roast with asparagus and bakery rolls. Desert was spectacular, a Nutella tart that I stole from someone else’s food blog.

Tommy and I have had the soup before but we thought that it would be a nice way to start the dinner. Elena was sick, so we thought that she could at least partake in this part of the meal if she wasn’t up to the rest. It was a nice, creamy incorporation of leeks, red peppers and potatoes. It was just as good as the first time that we made it.

The rib roast was insanely easy to make and way more delicious than expected given the minimal time that it took to prepare. The rib-eye portion of meat was okay (Tommy thought that this part was great). Then there was the portion on top of the rib-eye that was closest to the herb mixture. It was this portion that I wanted to eat forever and ever. It was marbly and full of seasoned goodness. We served this with asparagus, which I’m sure was good and I know I ate, but I do not remember the asparagus. The taste of the meat is still lingering in my head.

The nutella tart was the first tart that I have made. The crust came out absolutely perfect. The filling wasn’t as rich as I was expecting it to be, which was nice because it turned out to be a nice light-to-medium desert after a very filling carnivorous meal. I served it with whipped cream spiked with what else but frangelico.

Herb and Horseradish Crusted Standing Rib Roast

Ingredients
8 lb standing rib roast, with bones
1/4 cup salt
2 tbsp pepper
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup horseradish sauce
2 tbsp fresh thyme
1.5 tbsp rosemary, roughly chopped
1.5 tbsp sage leaves, roughly chopped
7 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

Preparation
Heave oven to 325 degrees. Put rib roast in a roasting pan fat side up. Apply a very generous amount of salt and pepper. Combine butter, horseradish, thyme, rosemary, sage and garlic in a food processor. Pulse until mixture is blended into a paste. Spread paste on top of rib roast, and on sides (we tried spreading on the sides and it didn’t stay very well). Put in oven and bake until the middle of the meat reaches 125 degrees (about 3 hours). Let sit for at least 20 minutes before carving. Serve and enjoy.

Chili that I have made in the past has lacked flavor. In my search for a chili recipe tonight (I was craving chili since the weather here has turned cold, windy, and rainy), I wanted a recipe that included a lot of spices so that I could make sure that my chili didn’t turn out plain. I found a recipe with a little too many spices, so I reduced it down to my best judgment. The results were a spicy chili (spicy for me probably means mild to most) full of chili-flavor. Pinto beans instead of kidney beans were a first for me, but I thought that the pinto beans was a nice way of adding beans without making it seem quite so beany. Kidney beans are larger and a little rougher in texture, so you know that you’re eating a bean. I didn’t really notice the pinto beans in the chili. It made about 5 normal-sized servings, probably only 3 servings if you are eating chili by itself for a meal. Also, I like a nice meat-to-chili-to-bean ratio, but if you like your chili more meaty than saucy, the original recipe called for 3 lbs of ground beef. I felt that was a little bit too excessive for Tommy and I, who are perfectly happy to eat vegetarian meals.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pounds ground beef chuck
1 large onion, roughly chopped
1 green bell pepper, roughly chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
4 tablespoons chile powder
1 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoons chopped thyme
1 teaspoons chopped oregano
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 cups low-sodium beef broth
One 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained
One 14-ounce can diced tomatoes with the juices
5 chipotle chiles in adobo, seeded and finely chopped
1 cup tomato sauce
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon cider vinegar

Preparation
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add ground beef and cook just until brown, about 5 minutes. Add the onions and green pepper to the pot and cook until onions are translucent, about 8 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, chile powder, cumin, coriander, sugar, thyme, oregano, black pepper and cayenne pepper and cook for 10 more minutes stirring occasionally.

Stir in the beef broth, pinto beans, diced tomatoes, chipotle chiles, tomato paste and vinegar. Bring to a simmer and cook for 90 minutes stirring occasionally.

Serve by itself or with additional chili necessities such as white rice, crackers, cheddar cheese, sour cream, fritos, etc. I plan on eating it a few ways since we have about 3 servings left over. YUM!

Chili that I have made in the past has lacked flavor. In my search for a chili recipe tonight (I was craving chili since the weather here has turned cold, windy, and rainy), I wanted a recipe that included a lot of spices so that I could make sure that my chili didn’t turn out plain. I found a recipe with a little too many spices, so I reduced it down to my best judgment. The results were a spicy chili (spicy for me probably means mild to most) full of chili-flavor. Pinto beans instead of kidney beans were a first for me, but I thought that the pinto beans was a nice way of adding beans without making it seem quite so beany. Kidney beans are larger and a little rougher in texture, so you know that you’re eating a bean. I didn’t really notice the pinto beans in the chili. It made about 5 normal-sized servings, probably only 3 servings if you are eating chili by itself for a meal. Also, I like a nice meat-to-chili-to-bean ratio, but if you like your chili more meaty than saucy, the original recipe called for 3 lbs of ground beef. I felt that was a little bit too excessive for Tommy and I, who are perfectly happy to eat vegetarian meals.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pounds ground beef chuck
1 large onion, roughly chopped
1 green bell pepper, roughly chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
4 tablespoons chile powder
1 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoons chopped thyme
1 teaspoons chopped oregano
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 cups low-sodium beef broth
One 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained
One 14-ounce can diced tomatoes with the juices
5 chipotle chiles in adobo, seeded and finely chopped
1 cup tomato sauce
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon cider vinegar

Preparation
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add ground beef and cook just until brown, about 5 minutes. Add the onions and green pepper to the pot and cook until onions are translucent, about 8 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, chile powder, cumin, coriander, sugar, thyme, oregano, black pepper and cayenne pepper and cook for 10 more minutes stirring occasionally.

Stir in the beef broth, pinto beans, diced tomatoes, chipotle chiles, tomato paste and vinegar. Bring to a simmer and cook for 90 minutes stirring occasionally.

Serve by itself or with additional chili necessities such as white rice, crackers, cheddar cheese, sour cream, fritos, etc. I plan on eating it a few ways since we have about 3 servings left over. YUM!