Pasta Caprese (or, Is Anybody Out There?)

 

It's been forever and a year! (Mostly a year...In fact, truly, nearly a for-real year, since my last post was last June...Yipes!)

Let's pretend that never happened, shall we? I can't make any "will post twice a week" promises (as you'd know if you read my personal blog, which MAYBE gets updated once a month these days), but we can ACT like that will happen. Right? Right.

So. It's Memorial Day. And around here, that means one thing: Pasta Caprese. Well, actually, it means Music in the Park. Every Sunday (or Memorial Day Monday), our gang of four families, plus the occasional extra, heads to a local park, where we drink, eat, eat, drink, talk, laugh, eat, drink, and maybe listen to some music. Oh, and we bring the kids along so they can climb hills and play on the equipment, and sometimes we look up from our drinking and eating and talking and laughing to shoo them away again. (Don't look at me like that. I never said I'd win any parenting awards.)

But Music in the Park has come to mean, for me, Pasta Caprese. I try to make it, if not every Sunday, more Sundays than not. It's adapted from a Cook's Illustrated recipe, which suggests you eat it warm. But I like to make it mid-afternoon, then refrigerate it for the evening. Which means we eat it cold. I've yet to hear a single complaint. (Except from Baroy, who doesn't eat pasta. Don't. I know.)

Pasta Caprese (adapted from Cook's Illustrated's The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook, 2010)

For the marinade:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon crushed or minced fresh garlic
1/2 small onion, minced (the original recipe calls for a minced small shallot, which is totally yummy, too, but I grow onions in my backyard, so most of the summer I just pull one up and use that, rather than going out to buy shallots; your mileage may vary)
Salt, to taste
Ground black pepper, to taste
1 to 1-1/2 pounds ripe cherry tomatoes, cut in half (they suggest three large tomatoes, which you should then core, seed, and cut into 1/2-inch dice, but I like to do this the easy way; again, you can go your own way)

Then you'll need:
12 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into small cubes
1 pound penne, fusilli, or campanelle
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

1. Make the marinade by whisking the oil, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, garlic, onion, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl. (By large, I mean the one you'll eventually dump a pound of cooked pasta into. THAT kind of large.) Add the tomatoes; toss to combine; set aside. (Cook's Illustrated says not to marinate for longer than 45 minutes, and I usually don't, but...I have no idea why. Anyone? What would happen in 45 minutes?)

2. While the tomatoes marinate, cook the pasta in 4 quarts salted water until al dente, then drain.

3. While the pasta is cooking, cut up the mozzarella, place it on a plate, and put it in the freezer until the cheese is slightly firm, about 10 minutes. (The point of doing this is so that when you add it to the still-hot or at least fairly-warm pasta, the cheese doesn't get too melty and stringy and clumpy and congeal on the bottom of the bowl. And it works really, REALLY well.)

4. Add the pasta and mozzarella to the tomato mixture and stir to combine. Let stand five minutes, then stir in basil and season with more salt and pepper as needed. (They also suggest that, if you want, you can add more lemon juice and/or a little sugar at this point if you want to make things interesting. I never do.)

5. They say to serve immediately, but as I said above, I then stick it in the fridge for a couple of hours before dragging it to the park, where it generally gets devoured. Which makes me happy. Very happy.

Creamed spinach in the crockpot

Truth be told, I'm usually more fond of the Thanksgiving side dishes than the actual bird itself.  I am all about the stuffing, the mashed potatoes, the vegetables. 

Yesterday, my mom made an incredible creamed spinach dish that I just had to share, especially since I've been woefully delinquent on posting any recipes here.   (I don't have a photo of it, unfortunately.  It disappeared too fast, and my family doesn't understand the rationale or importance of photographing one's food.)

Even better, this creamed spinach is a side dish that can be made in the crockpot, making it an easy addition to your holiday table.  And even though Thanksgiving has come and gone, there's still post-Thanksgiving meals and Christmas for those who celebrate such, and New Years festivities.  This side dish would be a great addition to any of these holidays or your regular everyday meals.

Mom says she got it from one of her friends in the active-adult community in which she lives, so I apologize for not being able to give any more attribution than that.

2 packages of 10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry
2 cups of cream style cottage cheese (Mom used small curd)
1/2 cup of butter, cut up
1 1/2 cup of American cheese, cubed (Mom used only approximately a cup)
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup flour (Mom used slightly less)
1 tsp. salt

Grease crock pot and combine all ingredients.  Cook on low 4-5 hrs. Stir occasionally, put in attractive bowl and serve warn.

Mom says she added a little whole milk and a little piece (about a quarter) of onion, and removed the onion before serving.

There were 6 adults and 3 children at our table and this was enough for all.

Cheese enchiladas

I've made this twice in the last two weeks, both times to rave reviews. Believe it or not, my nine year old even asked to try it and declared that it was delicious. "Maybe I can order this in a Mexican restaurant," he said. And while it's great to find something new that everyone in the family can enjoy, it's even better when it's a make-ahead sort of meal that requires less than 30 minutes to put together.

Here's what you need:

 

24 Corn tortillas
2-3 packages of shredded cheese (I used the Mexican mix, but any combination of Monterey Jack, cheddar, and/or Colby will work)
2 cans of enchilada sauce (I used mild green chili, but there are many varieties)
Diced green onions and diced black olives

In a large bowl, mix the cheese, olives and green onions together and set aside. Then coat the bottom of a baking dish with some enchilada sauce (I used two 9 x 13—give or take an inch or two—pans for two dozen enchiladas). Make sure to spread the sauce around, generously covering the bottom.

Next, heat about a tablespoon of corn oil in a nonstick skillet, and quickly fry the tortillas. I did this in batches of three, a fast in-and-out of the hot oil, then drain on a paper towel. I wasn't convinced this step was necessary, but trust me, if you don't fry the tortillas, they split and break apart when you try to roll them. This is the way my grandmother and mother made enchiladas, but not all recipes include this step. I tried to make a couple without it, but it was a mess.

Place a small handful of the cheese mixture in the center of each tortilla, roll, then place seam side down in the baking dish. You want to make sure the enchiladas are packed tight, sides touching, in the pan.

 

When the pan is filled, drizzle more sauce on top, and...

then cover with more cheese—a lot, a little, it's up to you. At this point, you can cover the pan with foil and refrigerate for up to 24 hours, or freeze. Or you can put it right into a hot oven.

Bake covered with foil at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbling. I removed the foil during the last five minutes of baking. Garnish with chopped green onions and sliced olives.

This same basic recipe can be adapted to make meat or chicken enchiladas. I would simple add shredded beef or chicken to the filling, and cut back on the amount of cheese. I served this with a side salad and yellow rice. And seriously? Yum.

Southwestern baked dip

Fall doesn't officially start until tomorrow, but let's kick off autumn a day early, shall we?

This is my favorite season of the year, for so many reasons.  I love how the temperature outside becomes cooler, I love the colors that I often take for granted as a lifelong resident of the Mid-Atlantic states, and I love the soups and casseroles and pot pies (and the baked goods) that this season has in abundance.

When I think of fall recipes, I almost always think of this warm southwestern baked dip.  It has been a favorite of ours since one of my husband's co-workers gave me the recipe in 1991. "For Melissa's Recipe Collection" the co-worker had written. It's a great warm dip to indulge in while watching football or getting together with friends.  I've served this as an appetizer for parties I've hosted and it always gets rave reviews.

The only downside? It's not exactly low-fat. I suppose you could tweak it to be such, just as you could alter the heat of it.

Southwestern Baked Dip

1/4 cup hot or mild salsa
1/2 cup sour cream
1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 pkg. 8 oz. softened cream cheese

Mix salsa, sour cream, and cream cheese with beater and fold in cheddar cheese. Pour in casserole with top or foil and bake covered for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Serve warm with white corn chips. Serves 4-6. (I've doubled and tripled this, with lovely results).

Enjoy ... and happy fall!

Farewell to summer dinner (with grilled veggie kebobs and garlic bread with fresh tomato and mozzarella)

My in-laws visited us this weekend and I wanted to make a "farewell to summer" dinner using some local produce.  So on Saturday, Betty and I took my mother-in-law to a nearby farm where I bought corn on the cob, zucchini, yellow squash, an onion, mushrooms, red potatoes, tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella.  All would find their way into that evening's dinner.

I wanted to make veggie kebobs on the grill and submitting this recipe seems like cheating here because my friend and fellow cook Kristen already posted a similar dish back in May.  (See her post Grilled chicken shish kebob.)

Grilled Vegetable Kebobs

I didn't really measure anything with this one.  Basically, I used two zucchini and two yellow squash, approximately a pound of small red potatoes, half of an Empire sweet onion, and approximately a dozen (maybe less) white mushrooms. 

I boiled the potatoes for 10 minutes while cutting the onion, squash, zucchini and mushrooms into chunks and marinating it for about 20 minutes with Italian dressing.  (I threw the potatoes - some of which I kept whole, others which I halved or quartered - in during the last 10 minutes of marination.)

I didn't measure the amount of dressing either, but if I had to do this again, which is very possible, I would cut down the amount of dressing I used. (Nobody said anything, but I thought the kebobs were slighty too tangy.)

Then I threaded the vegetables onto metal skewers.  (Even when I soak the bamboo skewers, they tend to catch on fire.  I spent most of my summer looking for metal skewers and finally found them at a different farm, also nearby.)

The Husband grilled the kebobs for about 10 minutes, turning once.  This made 8 kebobs.

Along with this, we grilled hot dogs (for the kids and in-laws) and veggie burgers for us. I also boiled corn on the cob. Finally, I changed my mind from preparing a caprese salad and instead enhanced some store-bought garlic bread by adding slices of fresh mozzarella and fresh tomato.

I left one side of the garlic bread plain because several folks at our table aren't fans of tomatoes.  Cooked it in the oven for 7 minutes and then let it cool, cutting each of the sides into smaller pieces and arranging on a serving platter.  (No pictures of that ... they disappeared too quickly.)

Dessert was a selection of homemade ice creams from another nearby farm - vanilla, chocolate, peach, and coffee. 

All in all, a delicious ending to a wonderful summer.

Bubbly cheddar tomatoes/Roasted vegetable and cheese canapes

A couple weeks ago, I went to a demonstration class at the local Viking Culinary Center. On the menu: five great appetizers. I don't make a lot of appetizers when I entertain—I might throw together a cheese platter and some fresh vegies, hummus and pita, maybe a selection of olives, but I've never really considered myself an "appetizer" sort of gal. I'm really more about the main course—and dessert.

But it was a fun night and the recipes were fairly simple and easy to prepare. So, when my friend—who also attended the class—suggested we make two of the appetizers for a recent family party, I grabbed my camera and my wooden spoon and got to work.

Bubbly Cheddar Tomatoes

40 large cherry tomatoes
3 oz of aged cheddar cheese, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1/4 cup prepared pesto
1/4 cup crushed herb croutons
1 tablespoon melted butter
40 small shrimp: peeled, deveined, tail off

(Yes, I'm still allergic to shellfish, and can only say that it is perfectly fine to completely omit the shrimp from this recipe.)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. With a sharp knife, slice the tops off of each tomato and using a small spoon, remove the membrane and seeds from inside. Then slice a small piece off the bottom so that the tomatoes will sit flat without rolling.

Place the tomatoes on a baking sheet and then spoon in some pesto and top with a cube of cheese.

Combine the crushed croutons with the melted butter and sprinkle over the top of the tomatoes. Bake for 5 minutes or until bubbly.

While the tomatoes are baking, saute the shrimp in a bit of butter and garlic until pink. Top each tomato with a piece of shrimp. Serve warm.

******

Roasted vegetable and Boursin canapes

1/2 of a small red bell pepper, finely diced
1/2 of a small red onion, finely diced
1/2 of a small eggplant, finely diced
1/2 of a medium zucchini, finely diced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
15 frozen miniature phyllo tart shells
a small container of Boursin cheese
chopped fresh basil (for garnish)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine the bell pepper, onion, eggplant and zucchini in a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and mix well.

Spread the vegies out in a shallow roasting pan and roast for about 20 minutes or until tender and golden brown.

Place the frozen pyhllo shells on a baking sheet and fill each cup with about a teaspoon of the Boursin cheese.

Top with the vegetables and bake for about 8 to 10 minutes, or until the shells are a light golden brown. Garnish with fresh basil and serve either warm or at room temperature.