Asparagus Pesto Lasagna for Two

Have you ever watched that show called "Kitchen Nightmares?"  Neither have I...but I felt as if I was experiencing my own little kitchen nightmare when I made this dish last week. In theory, it's a great idea, and one I plan to repeat...with different ingredients. Who doesn't love a great lasagna. But it's rare that you have enough people over to warrant making a large batch of it. This recipe calls for making the lasagna in a loaf pan. I think this is a great concept, you just have to break the lasagna noodles in half to fit the pan, and layer just like you would for a regular lasagna.

So at which point did this become a kitchen nightmare? The moment I removed the lasagna from the oven. It was sitting in a bed of oil and even after training a bit and putting back in the oven, hoping it just needed a little more time, it remained an oily, slippery mess. The kicker is it tasted great, but it was not something I would ever serve to others.

So why post it? I'm convinced that the pesto is to blame (I used a jarred variety which may have been a bit too oily), and perhaps simply making this with tomato sauce and meat would have worked out just fine. Again, it's a great concept and something that I will try in a different form in the near future. This is proof that not everything I post is perfect, but I keep experimenting anyway, and come away smarter than I went in.

Asparagus Pesto Lasagna for 2

Ingredients:

1 cup whole basil leaves

1 small clove garlic

1 tablespoon pine nuts

2 TB extra-virgin olive oil

1 TB grated parmesan cheese

Pinch of salt

1/2 pound asparagus

1 TB extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp minced garlic

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 1/2 cups mascarpone cheese

1 sheet fresh pasta or 4 lasagna noodles , cooked, rinsed, and coated with olive oil

1 cup grated fontina cheese

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Combine first 5 ingredients in a food processor and blend. (If too thick, add water or more olive oil.) Season with salt and set aside.

Sauté asparagus in olive oil over high heat for 4 minutes. Add garlic, cook 1 minute, and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 375°. Grease a small loaf pan (about 4" x 8") with butter. Combine mascarpone and pesto. Cut pasta to fit dish and place enough noodles in pan to cover bottom; top with 1/3 cup fontina cheese, 1/3 of the asparagus, and 1/3 of the pesto mixture; then sprinkle with Parmesan. Repeat layering two more times with remaining ingredients. Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes. Discard foil and continue baking 10 additional minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.

Food Porn: DGS Deli



Food Porn: DGS Deli

This past weekend, I was all over the place. I ate some awesome Korean food in Virginia, went to a Dayton Flyers basketball game at GW's arena (alas, we lost in overtime), and on my way back from the game, just happened to be on the 42 bus passing by this deli as my friend Sam mentioned he was checking it out. I quickly got off the bus and backtracked to DGS Deli.

DGS, located in Dupont Circle, opened a few months ago and had boasted that it's an authentic, Jewish deli with all the fixins'. I'd learn from my friend, as well as others who have visited, that while Jewish deli-inspired, not quite what one would call a TRADITIONAL Jewish deli.

But...the food was great. We tried the Reuben, a pickle platter, some knish, spicy brisket balls, and other delightful dishes, washed down with a cocktail, or in my case, a dark cherry soda. All in all a good place to check out, a little bit pricey, but that's what you get when you graze and keep ordering more and more nibbles. Oy vey.

Sweet Corn and Zucchini Quesadilla

As I mentioned last week, I held an Oscars fiesta in order to go through some of the Mexican staple ingredients by uncle gifted me in December. Because every good fiesta has to have a quesadilla, I opted to try one of my friend Nick's creations from his blog www.Macheesmo.com.

Quesadillas are very easy to make, even without a quesadilla maker. The hardest part of this was finding one of the ingredients: Cotija cheese. This shouldn't be such a difficult task in my neighborhood which boasts a large Latino population, but it was buried in the back of the cheese section at my local Giant. And it wasn't cheap. But dang it's good.

Sweet Corn and Zucchini Quesadilla (makes 2)

 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sweet corn, fresh or frozen     
• 1/2 small zucchini, chopped thin  
• 1/2 poblano pepper, seeded and diced  
• Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes  
• Pinch of fresh thyme (or dried)  
• Pinch of salt and pepper  
• 1 TB oil or butter  
• 3-4 oz. pepper jack cheese  
• 2 oz. Cotija Cheese, grated  
• Flour tortillas  
• Optional toppings: Guacamole, salsa, sour cream, etc. 

Directions:

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Chop zucchini and peppers. If you're using corn on the cob, (which I did not), cut the corn of the cob.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add corn, zucchini, and peppers to pan and cook for a few minutes until veggies are hot and slightly tender.

Add in thyme, red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt and pepper.

On a baking sheet, lay out a flour tortilla. Add a small handful of pepper jack cheese to half of the tortilla.

Add half of the filling and top with more pepper jack cheese. Sprinkle on some Cotija cheese if you want as well.

Fold tortilla over and press it down well. Bake for about 8 minutes per side. It's actually pretty easy to flip these with a nice sized spatula.

Cut up and serve with salsa, sour cream, and guacamole.

Chicken Enchiladas

Over the holidays, I had the pleasure of spending some quality time with my uncle from Texas. It wasn't the best of circumstances that brought him up to Pennsylvania in December, but seeing as it had been years since I'd seen him, it was great to catch up. We bonded immensely over our love of food, every conversation seemed to find its way to how awesome bacon is, our favorite ethnic dishes, and where to get great tamales in Texas.

When he initially traveled up by car, he had brought a ton of his favorite Texan Mexican ingredients, because he was concerned he'd miss some of his favorites while in rural Pennsylvania. He ended up flying home several weeks later, and since he couldn't take it with him, he gifted me what he hadn't used. This included salsa from New Mexico, sliced canned jalapenos, jars of his favorite enchilada sauce, and much more. To use some of this up, I'd need a fiesta.  So that's just what I did earlier this week for the Oscars when I invited a few friends over for Mexican food. One of the dishes I made were chicken enchiladas, from a "easy-to-make" recipe by Tyler Florence. It's not that this recipe was difficult, I just found that some of instructions weren't helpful, such as coating the corn tortillas with enchilada sauce to make them stick when you roll them up. This just made them crumble. So I adjusted the instructions accordingly, and while these didn't look as pretty as restaurant-made enchiladas, they still tasted pretty damn good. And that's what counts, right?

Chicken Enchiladas (serves 8)

Ingredients:

• 3 TB vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 lbs skinless boneless chicken breast
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp Mexican Spice Blend
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
• 5 canned whole green chiles, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 4 canned chipotle chiles, seeded and minced
• 1 (28-ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp all-purpose flour
• 16 corn tortillas
• 1 1/2 cups enchilada sauce, canned
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar and Jack cheeses
• Garnish: chopped cilantro leaves, chopped scallions, sour cream, chopped tomatoes

 

Directions:

 

Coat large saute pan with oil. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown chicken over medium heat, allow 7 minutes each side or until no longer pink. Sprinkle chicken with cumin, garlic powder and Mexican spices before turning. Remove chicken to a platter, allow to cool.

 

Saute onion and garlic in chicken drippings until tender. Add corn and chiles. Stir well to combine. Add canned tomatoes, saute 1 minute.

Pull chicken breasts apart by hand into shredded strips. Add shredded chicken to saute pan, combine with vegetables. Dust the mixture with flour to help set.

Microwave tortillas on high for 30 seconds. This softens them and makes them easier to use. Coat the bottom of 2 (13 by 9-inch) pans with a ladle of enchilada sauce.  Spoon 1/4 cup chicken mixture in each tortilla. Fold over filling, place 8 enchiladas in each pan with seam side down. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 350 degree F oven until cheese melts. Garnish with cilantro, scallion, sour cream and chopped tomatoes before serving. Serve with Spanish rice and beans.

Mini Veggie-Frittata Cups

I tend to eat my breakfast at my desk around 9:30/10 a.m. I just can't get it together enough to eat before work and I'm usually not that hungry when I first get up.

Two weeks ago, I was looking for an eas and healthy breakfast that was protein-heavy, low-carb, full of veggies, and portable to take to work. I have made very-mini fritattas before that included bacon and potato, which are awesome, but these contain no meat and are equally awesome. I know that's hard to believe, but it's true. This recipe makes a ton of them, so I froze a bunch and hope to eat the rest once my stomach is back up to eating things other than simple carbs.

Mini Veggie-Frittata Cups (Makes 16 mini-cups)

Ingredients:

• cooking spray
• 6 large eggs
• 4 large egg whites
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 cups baby spinach, chopped
• 1 cup canned artichoke hearts, not in oil or marinate, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 roasted red peppers (packed in water), chopped
• 1/2 cup scallions, chopped
• 1/4 cup low-fat cream cheese, room temperature

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat two 8-hole muffin pans with cooking spray (or use one 12-hole pan and four holes from another muffin pan).

In a medium bowl, beat eggs, egg whites, water, salt and pepper until blended. Stir in spinach, artichoke hearts, feta, roasted peppers, scallions and cream cheese; mix well.

Spoon about 1/4-cup egg mixture into each prepared muffin hole. Bake until just set, about 18 to 22 minutes. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Loosen edges of frittatas with a rubber spatula, sliding spatula underneath frittatas to loosen bottoms and lift frittatas out of pans.

Minor Setback and Slight Schedule Change

I haven't cooked in a week. My culinary pursuits this past week have consisted of how to make plain saltines more interesting (impossible task) and the important question: fruit punch or orange gatorade?

In case it isn't obvious, I've been sick. With the Nuro-virus. And after a visit to an urgent care center and getting a liter of fluid via an IV, I was urged to eat plainly for a few days and to get a lot of rest. So that's what I've been doing. I went a little crazy and made a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch today. Living on the edge, I know. But you have to start somewhere. And I'll be heading back to the office tomorrow.

Obviously this isn't my usual food shot.
But I love this photo of my nephew and he's
with something that could be someone's dinner.
Close enough. :)

This means I'm a bit behind on preparing for what was going to be a quiet next few weeks on the blog. Not completely silent, mind you, becase I can't JUST SHUT UP. But, not my usual two posts a week, more like one if I'm lucky.

The reasons for this are two-fold. 1) Work is insanely nutty and will be until the first week of March while I work on a special project. This is not the cool reason. 2) The cool reason is that I will be recipe testing for my friend Nick's first cookbook, which will be released in 2014. I often call out recipes from Nick's blog, www.macheesmo.com, because they're awesome and I often feature them in my own cooking. Nick is truly talented and a great food photographer/writer and so I jumped at the opportunity to help him out. So I'll be testing some of his recipes over the next month, but because the book isn't coming out until next year, I can't share them. So...I'll be cooking in secret a bit.

But I vow to try and stick with at least 1 post a week for the next several weeks, as to not let this quietly die.

Mustard Salmon with Oven Tomatoes

This post is proof that I don't always succeed in the kitchen. Last weekend, I tried out a bunch of new, light recipes as part of my post-birthday carb detox and to prepare me for a busy week at work where I'd be unlikely to do much cooking after work. As I posted earlier in the week, I made an amazing PB stew. That was the highlight. This was the lowlight. Perhaps I overcooked the tomatoes, or didn't really get a good piece of salmon, but I threw out the leftovers. I just couldn't see eating this again.

Mustard Salmon with Oven Tomatoes (serves 4)

Ingredients:

For Salmon

• 3 TB rosemary leaves, chopped
• 3 TB fresh thyme
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 1/4 pound salmon fillets without the skin
• 4 TB dijon mustard, grainy variety

For Tomatoes

• 3 cups cherry tomatoes
• 1 TB olive oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/3 panko breadcrumbs
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400°F.

In a 9-inch glass pie plate, combine tomatoes, 1/2 teaspoon oil, salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper; toss to coat and then spread into a single layer.

In a small bowl, combine breadcrumbs, oregano, thyme, garlic, remaining 2 1/2 teaspoons oil and remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper; rub oil into breadcrumbs with your fingers. Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture evenly over tomatoes. Bake until breadcrumbs are golden and tomato juices are bubbling around edges, about 30 to 35 minutes.

For the salmon, prepare the grill for direct, medium-heat cooking. Mix the rosemary, thyme and pepper in a small bowl.

Spray the bottom of the fish fillets with cooking spray. Spread 1 tablespoon mustard on the top of each fillet. Sprinkle about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the herb mixture on top of each.

Place fish herb-side up on the grate directly over the heat. Cover the grill and cook until the fish flakes when gently scraped with a fork, about 12 minutes.