What Did You Eat?

Nigella's Liptauer Cheese

As I was eating slices of the Poilane-Style Miche, it occurred to me that liptauer cheese might taste pretty good slathered on it.  Liptauer is a rich, creamy concoction, spiked with chopped cornichons, caraway seeds, and paprika.  It really comes to life eaten along with a good bottle of cold beer.   I've wanted to try Nigella Lawson's version for some time, so I whipped up a batch from Nigella Cooks.  It was very tasty, although I might add just a smidge more sweet pickles to the mix the next time I make it.

Cinco De Mayo: Enchilada Stack

Happy Cinco De Mayo!  It doesn't take any urging to get me to eat Mexican recipes.  It's one of my favorite cuisines.  And on the fifth of May in California, we have marvelous parades and festivals, with delicious food, to celebrate the defeat of the French by Mexican troops in 1862. For the whole story, read this account.  I decided to make this simple recipe, which has all the same ingredients as enchiladas.  But instead of rolling the tortillas, you stack them.  I used the smaller sized 6 inch tortillas, but the larger ones work fine too. The store had beautiful blue corn and regular corn tortillas, perfect for a colorful stack. 

This is a recipe that you can fix to suit your own taste. Use chicken, beef, pork or make it vegetarian by substituting beans or sauteed vegetables for the meat. 

PPN: Italian Tomato Basil Pasta With Irish Butter

I thought there was a container of homemade ragu sauce in the freezer, but a relentless search with frozen fingers proved me wrong.  I looked at the lovely tomato and basil pasta from Italy, and decided to have it with delicious Irish butter and pine nuts.  Oh yes, there was shaved parmesan on it too. And lots of freshly ground pepper.  I won't have this dish often, but it was marvelous.  I notice a lot of people are serving pasta tossed with butter or pesto lately. And there's a good reason for that.  Simple is better.

PPN: Vermicelli With Butter, Parmesan, And Asparagus Tips

Sometimes, life throws so many custard pies in your face, eating and cooking becomes a chore.  Or it's forgotten entirely.  I found myself in that situation two days ago. I couldn't remember when I had eaten my last meal, which certainly isn't typical behavior for me.  I needed some comfort food. Not Cheetos, or cookies.  I needed something that would lay down a nice buffer of carbs, and cheese, to comfort my ailing spirit. Mashed potatoes would have been perfect, but I didn't want to go to that much trouble. So, I turned to one of my favorite ways to fix pasta:  Tossed with lots of butter, garlic, parmesan, and freshly ground tellicherry pepper.  And I added some asparagus tips, which made the whole thing very healthy. Antioxidants and all that good stuff.  And I did feel comforted as I ate it all down.  For me, tossed with butter and parmesan cheese is still the best way to serve pasta. 

This simple meal is my submission to Presto Pasta Night, which was started by the wonderful Ruth at Once Upon A Feast. Each Friday Ruth has a recap of wonderful pasta recipes from bloggers from all over the world.  So, do stop by and check it out.

PPN: Tortellini Soup

One day I'll make Mario Batali's marvelous tortellini in brodo. But, that requires making the tortellini from scratch, plus cooking an intense all-day broth.  That will be an experience, I'm sure.  But, I'm not up to that right now.  Instead, I used ready made tortellinis and stock.  This is a good tasting meal, that most people enjoy eating.  And the fact that it's incredibly quick and easy certainly recommends it for those moments when preparing a meal seems downright demoralizing.  It's also a recipe that lets you improvise and add the ingredients that you like. I added some leftover chicken, but Italian sausage would be good too. Or leave meat out and enjoy a perfect vegetarian meal.

This is my submission to Presto Pasta Night, which was started by the wonderful Ruth at Once Upon A Feast. Each Friday Ruth has a recap of wonderful pasta recipes from bloggers from all over the world.  So, do stop by and check it out.

Presto Pasta Night: Orecchiette With Radicchio, Feta Cheese, and Walnuts

My family moved to Illinois when I was 12 years old.  We lived in a sub-division called Buffalo Grove, a tiny place which gradually expanded into a huge entity.  We quickly became friends with a second generation Italian-American family across the street.  I loved spaghetti and meatballs, along with lasagna and ravioli, the only Italian food I recognized, so it was a treat to eat at their house.  One day my mother told me our new friends ate spaghetti in many different ways, even serving it mixed with peas.  I was flabbergasted.  Peas?  I couldn't imagine such a thing.  Of course, in time I came to love pasta combined with vegetables.  I still love tomato sauce, but I'm more likely to cook pasta with vegetables, a bit of cheese, herbs, and olive oil.  And I discovered that freshly shelled peas are marvelous tossed with good pasta and parmesan cheese.

WHB: Spinach And Feta Cheese Yeast Bread (With Nutmeg)

I thought of calling this Popeye's Bread.  I'm assuming that most people watched some Popeye cartoons when they were younger, rejoicing when he gained spectacular strength to defeat his enemies after eating canned spinach.  I ate canned spinach once, dreadful slimy stuff, so it's clear that Popeye was no foodie.  This bread is loaded with lots of spinach and feta cheese, so if you like those flavors, this is the bread for you.  Dense and filling, a little goes a long way.  I enjoyed it immensely, and used it to make a sandwich with the dwindling tomatoes from my garden.

There's a small amount of nutmeg in the bread, so I think it qualifies for Weekend Herb Blogging, which was created by the amazing Kalyn at Kalyn's Kitchen.  Nutmeg is actually a spice, but Kalyn is flexible on these matters.  You may have noticed that mace and nutmeg have similar flavors, with good reason.  Mace is a lacey web covering the nutmeg seed, which grows into an evergreen tree found in Asia and Australia.

By the way, next week is the start of the two year anniversary for WHB. So, don't be left out of the big event.  Go to Kalyn's site and learn how to take part. But, this week the lovely Haalo at Cook (almost) Anything At Least Once is hosting WHB. She always has gorgeous pictures on her site, so check them out.

WHB: Meatless Tamale Pie

I like tamale pie.  I generally make it with ground meat, but decided to make a meatless version that received high marks on Epicurious.   I thought tamale pie was pretty well known, but the check-out clerk at the grocery store was puzzled when told I was making it for dinner.  "How do you do that?"  She asked me, looking confused.  So, I explained it and she looked relieved. "I couldn't figure out why you would put tamales in a pie," she told me.  She's right, tamale pie is really a casserole, with a cornmeal layer on the bottom and the top.  Instead of meat, this recipe uses a mixture of corn, tomatoes, cheese, black beans, and poblanos.  It has oregano, cumin, and cilantro, which is my favorite herb.  So, I decided to feature it for Weekend Herb Blogging, the fabulous event created by the lovely Kalyn at Kalyn's Kitchen. This week WHB is being hosted by the talented Scott at Real Epicurean.  Make sure to check his site this weekend, when he may have the Roundup of herby recipes from bloggers around the world. 

WHB: Lima Bean, Artichoke, And Rosemary Gratin

I love beans. Growing up, we ate them on a regular basis, particularly when we were poor.  The beans that appeared on our table the most often were large dried lima beans, cooked in water and salt pork and served with corn bread. It was our main meal, not a side dish.  We ate them nearly every week, because my mother would pine for them if they were absent from our table too long. My father wasn't very fond of them, because they reminded him of the Depression meals of his youth.  We also ate fresh limas, and speckled butter beans whenever we could get them. 

Even though I love limas, they lack the sex appeal of other beans.  This recipe from Deborah Madison calls for flageolets, a bean I've never seen for sale. It sounds like a glamorous sort of bean, and I'd love to have them someday.  But, I used my old friend limas instead. And they were frozen too!  This was very simple to make, and the smell and taste of the dish was wonderful.  The beans, leeks and artichokes are topped with tangy goat cheese and bread crumbs, then baked. The result is a dish with a mixture of sweet, savory, tangy, creamy, and crunchy tastes.  Fabulous!  It also contains rosemary, so it seemed perfect for Weekend Herb Blogging which was created by the fabulous Kalyn at Kalyn's Kitchen.  This week WHB is being hosted by the lovely Zorra at Kochtopf.  Stop by her site this weekend, when she should have the Roundup of herb bloggers from around the world.

WHB: Steal Your Heart Cheese And Nut Loaf

My cousin Debbie is a great cook, but being hampered by a tiny kitchen, she doesn't cook that often.  So, I was intrigued when she called me last year, asking if I had Deborah Madison's recipe for Cheese and Nut Loaf.  There was a note of desperation in her voice, which is unusual.  She had just returned from the Tassajara Zen Mountain Retreat and one of the meals featured the loaf, (actually a terrine).   As I listened to her rave about how delicious it was, and how she HAD TO HAVE IT AGAIN, I started to crave it myself.  I knew it must be a fabulous dish, if she was going cook it in her postage stamp sized kitchen. So, I promised myself that I would prepare the loaf someday.  But I never did, until now. Yesterday I made it, even though it meant I had to turn on the oven and bake something, which breaks my summertime rule to never cook anything for longer than 20 minutes.  Sometimes you have to turn on the oven.