Recipe Recommendation: Three Bean Pasta and Fagioli

Honey Bear and I--well, mostly Honey Bear--made this soup for the first time last night, and it was delicious. It reminded us of Julia Child’s soupe au pistou (page 45 in the teal-and-orange edition of MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING), but it didn’t take quite as long.

Here’s Rachael Ray’s recipe, and here’s our version. The only difference between them is the first ingredient--bacon:)

Three Bean Pasta and Fagioli

1/2 pound bacon, roughly chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
3 to 4 celery ribs, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 stems fresh rosemary
1 bay leaf, dried or fresh
Salt and black pepper, preferably freshly ground
1 15-ounce can white beans
1 15-ounce can chickpeas
3 tablespoons tomato paste
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
1 cup dry ditalini
1/2 pound fresh or frozen green beans, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/2 tablespoon dried parsley
Grated Romano or parmesan cheese

Fry the bacon in a soup pot over medium to medium-high heat for 3 to 4 minutes. (If you like crispier bacon, you could let the bacon fry longer. But keep in mind, this bacon is going to cook longer, anyway--and it’s going to be swimming in a soup, so, you know, it’s probably not going to stay crispy.) Add the carrot, celery, onion, garlic, rosemary, and bay leaf, then salt and pepper to taste. Saute until the vegetables are tender, about 7 to 8 minutes.

Stir in the canned beans and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the broth and water and bring to a boil. If you’re using fresh green beans, add the pasta and let everything simmer for 5 minutes, then add the green beans and let all that simmer for another 4 to 5 minutes. If you’re using frozen green beans, add the pasta and green beans at the same time and let the soup simmer for 9 to 10 minutes.

Turn off the heat. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and parsley. Taste and correct seasoning, if necessary. Discard the rosemary stems and bay leaf, then serve in shallow bowls and garnish with the grated cheese.

This really is a lovely fall soup. (Not that it feels like fall in Mesquite yet...) If you decide to try it, let me know what you think!

Recipe Recommendation: Lemon Pepper Pasta and Asparagus

So we do eat vegetarian meals occasionally (hard to believe, I know, based on the other recipes I’ve recommended), and I wanted to share one of those with you today. This one is light and summery (hey, it still feels like summer here in Mesquite), and the flavor profile is a surefire winner.

You can find the original recipe in Betty Crocker’s big red cookbook or on their website, but here’s my slightly altered version:

Lemon Pepper Pasta with Asparagus

2 cups uncooked farfalle pasta (if you’re looking for a variety that commonly comes in whole grain, penne would work just as well)
2 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 pound asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons lemon juice (or as much lemon juice as you can squeeze out of one lemon)
1 15-ounce can white beans, drained and rinsed (or the equivalent amount of prepared dry beans, of course)
Freshly ground black pepper (optional)
Grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Cook and drain the pasta as directed on the package. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Saute the bell pepper, asparagus, lemon peel, salt, and pepper in the oil, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are crisp-tender, about 4 to 6 minutes.

Stir the lemon juice and white beans into the vegetable mixture. Cook until the beans are hot, about 2 minutes. Add the pasta to the skillet and toss everything together. Top with more freshly ground black pepper and/or grated parmesan cheese, if you like.

The original recipe calls for cannellini or navy beans, but we’ve found white beans to be the perfect combination of texture and flavor for this dish. (Actually, I have a sneaking suspicion navy beans are white beans, since I can’t find canned navy beans at our grocery story, but that suspicion is unconfirmed.) Also, we once substituted grated lime peel and lime juice for the lemon peel and lemon juice, but I didn’t like it as much.

Hope you give this one a try sometime. Feel free to wait until next spring, though, as asparagus will be in season then.

Recipe Recommendation: My Family's Adobo

Well, it’s Culinary Week here on the blog, I’ve decided. Something Julia Child said about her boeuf a la bourguignonne made me think of this dish, and then, since I’ve been feeling bad about not supporting my vegetarian readers, I hunted down one of my favorite vegetarian recipes online, which I plan to share with you tomorrow. Even this week’s agent interview fits, because the agent whose interview I already had scheduled represents cookbooks. Totally. Awesome. Coincidence.

Anyway, here’s that thing Julia Child said about her boeuf a la bourguignonne: “Carefully done, and perfectly flavored, it is certainly one of the most delicious beef dishes concocted by man.” That may be the case, Julia, but it in no way rivals the best-tasting meat I’ve ever eaten. That honor, I’m happy to say, belongs to a little Filipino dish called adobo.

My grandfather was born in Manila in 1922, immigrated to the US in the late 1930s, and married my Danish-stock grandmother in 1950. (Yeah, don’t even get me started on the awesomeness that is my grandpa’s life story. I could probably write a whole book about it, especially since, you know, I like to write.) Luckily for us, he brought adobo with him.

Adobo is the name Spanish conquerors gave to the uniquely Filipino dish that involves marinating meat in vinegar, lots of vinegar, for lots and lots of hours. Every family has a slightly different take on this classic recipe, but I once served our family’s version to a Philippine native who had recently moved to the States, and she said it was the best adobo she’d ever had:)

And so, without further ado (although there's been a lot of ado so far), the recipe:

My Family’s Adobo

4 pounds boneless pork spareribs or rolled pork roast
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup Sprite
1 cup frozen pineapple juice concentrate, thawed but NOT reconstituted
2 teaspoons garlic powder
4 teaspoons black pepper

Cut the pork into 2-inch chunks. Combine the other ingredients in a large pot. Add the pork chunks to the pot, cover, and marinate in the fridge overnight. The next day, uncover the pot and bring it to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, for 3 to 5 hours. Serve over rice.

Now I'm not sure how much of this is my grandpa's original recipe and how much we Americanized (because as rich as my great-grandparents were by Filipino standards (my great-grandfather actually received a law degree from the University of Michigan), I'm not sure how much access they would have had to things like Sprite and frozen pineapple juice concentrate:) ), but frankly, I don't care. The meat is beyond fork-tender by the time it’s done cooking, and it’s got that nice kick of Asian spice.

If you do try this one, I’d love to hear about it. Feel free to drop me an e-mail or leave a belated comment. (I’ve enabled comment moderation on all posts older than a week, so I’ll be sure to see it!)

In the meantime, what are some of your favorite around-the-world dishes, and how did you discover them?

Recipe Recommendation: Sloppy Dawgs by Rachael Ray

Liesl’s Pasta Fagioli and Peasant Bread recipe reminded me that I haven’t posted a recipe recommendation in a while. Honey Bear and I made this one again just last week, and I remembered how full-flavored it is. If you’re looking for a way to reinvent your hot dogs, this is it.

The sloppy dawg takes the idea of a sloppy joe and trades the ground beef in for cut-up hot dogs. Here’s Rachael Ray’s recipe, if you’d rather click through to her site, and here it is again, with a little extra commentary:)

Sloppy Dawgs

1 tablespoon olive oil (extra virgin, if you’re Rachael Ray, although Curtis Stone says extra virgin is a waste of cold-pressed oil if you’re just going to heat it up)
1 pound hot dogs, chopped or thinly sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small bell pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (Rachael Ray reminds you that you can eyeball this amount, but heck, it’s cooking--you can eyeball everything:) )
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
Salt and pepper
4 hot dog rolls, toasted and buttered (if you want to give yourself more work)

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the hot dogs to the pan, and cook until golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes.

Add the onion and bell pepper to the pan. Continue cooking until the veggies are nice and tender, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomato paste to the pan, and cook until aromatic, about a minute. (Rachael Ray is fond of saying, “Your nose will know when it’s done,” and that’s really the case with this tomato paste. As soon as you can smell it, you’re good to go.)

In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, red wine vinegar, and Worcestershire and tomato sauces. Add that mixture to the pan, season with salt and pepper, and simmer until thick and saucy, about 5 more minutes.

Pile the meat sauce onto the buns. Top with tomatoes, pickles, and mustard, if you like.

When we made this last week, Honey Bear and I were a little short on hot dog, so we added some fresh eggplant from our garden (Honey Bear’s idea). It turned out great, so feel free to improvise.

What have you been cooking lately?

Recipe Recommendation: Garlic and Citrus Chicken by Giada De Laurentiis

Dead or alive, whole chickens scare me. There’s something about the mob mentality of a pack of live chickens that is positively terrifying. Dead chickens, on the other hand, are exactly the opposite--they look so sad and vulnerable that I’m afraid I’ll ruin them. Which is why I’ve always shied away from roasting whole chickens.

But then I saw Giada roast one on the Food Network (I’ve tried so many of her recipes that we’re on a first-name basis now), and I thought, “That doesn’t look so hard.” So we tried it, and let me tell you, that whole chicken was delicious:)

Here’s the original recipe from Giada (De Laurentiis). And here’s my version, which is virtually identical:

Garlic and Citrus Chicken

1 (5- to 6-pound) whole chicken, neck and giblets discarded
Salt and pepper
1 orange, quartered
1 lemon, quartered
1 head of garlic, halved crosswise, plus 3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 or 2 (14-ounce) cans of chicken broth
1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed (no water added)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano (or 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano)
Kitchen string or butcher twine

Sprinkle salt and pepper into the cavity of the bird, then stuff it with the orange and lemon quarters and the halved head of garlic. Tie up the legs, just to make sure everything stays put, then salt and pepper the bird’s exterior. Place the chicken in a roasting pan and roast in the center of a 400-degree Fahrenheit oven for one hour, basting occasionally with chicken broth.

While the chicken’s roasting, prepare the juice mixture by combining the orange juice, lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, and the remaining (chopped) garlic. At the one-hour mark, baste the bird with about one-third of the juice mixture, then continue roasting for approximately another 45 minutes, basting occasionally with the remaining juice mixture.

Once the bird’s temperature reaches 170 degrees Fahrenheit at the seam between the thigh and the torso (which will happen in about another 45 minutes), remove the chicken from the roasting pan and cover it with foil to hold in its heat. Then prepare the sauce by simmering the remaining juices over medium heat until they have reduced to about one cup’s worth of sauce. Strain into a two-cup measuring cup, discard any chunks, and spoon off the fat before serving.

The only real difference between my version and Giada’s is that she seems to think you only need to add chicken broth if the drippings start to burn, whereas we found there was nothing to baste with if we didn’t add broth. Or maybe our chickens were just not as oozy as hers.

I realize it’s getting too warm to be roasting whole chickens, so maybe you’ll have to wait until fall to give this one a try. But this recipe’s a keeper for sure. I could slather that sauce on just about anything:)

Recipe Recommendation: NASCAR Chicken Casserole by Carol Gordon Bickford

This recipe comes courtesy of Carol Gordon Bickford via Rachael Ray. Before my two-year-old discovered PBS, I watched a lot of THE RACHAEL RAY SHOW in the mornings, and when she had NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon on as a guest, she invited his mother on as well to share a recipe or two. Which is why I call this dish NASCAR Chicken Casserole.

Here is the original recipe from Rachael Ray’s online hub, and here is my slightly less labor-intensive version:

NASCAR Chicken Casserole

4 to 6 chicken breasts (or up to 1-1/2 pounds)
1 package tortillas (8 to 12)
1 large onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped (your choice of color)
1 4-ounce can diced green chile peppers
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 6-ounce can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups of cheddar cheese, grated (or 8 ounces)

Cook the chicken breasts however you prefer. Boiling works well, roasting even better, and either one will take you about an hour. If you decide to roast, try seasoning liberally with salt, black pepper, and any other spices you like, wrapping in aluminum foil, and baking at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for an hour.

Saute onion and bell pepper over medium to medium-low heat until the onion turns translucent and the bell pepper starts to soften. Add diced green chile peppers. Mix soups and tomato sauce in a small bowl; add to the vegetable mixture.

While those flavors combine, mix chili and garlic powders with the 2 cups grated cheese. Then layer all ingredients (chicken, tortillas, vegetable-soup mixture, and cheese mixture) in a 9x13-inch baking dish and bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.

Obviously, if you’re in a time crunch--or if you live in southern Nevada in the summertime, like me--you can shorten the bake time or change the baking temperature. That’s the nice thing about cooking over baking: Everything’s negotiable:)

Definitely try this recipe. It’s a kid--and parent--pleaser.

Recipe Recommendation: ABC Sandwiches by Tyler Florence

All right, so Tyler Florence doesn't call them ABC sandwiches. He just calls them grilled cheese, but that doesn't do these sandwiches justice. I guess calling them ABC doesn't really do them justice, either, but I think it's kind of snappy. The ABC stands for apple, bacon, and cheddar, which means that these aren't your three-year-old's grilled cheese.

Here is Tyler Florence's original recipe from the Food Network, and here's my (slightly altered) version:

ABC Sandwiches

8-12 slices of bacon
2 apples (nice baking apples, like golden delicious or granny smith), sliced
8 ounces of cheddar cheese, sliced
8 slices of sourdough bread
Butter...for buttering

Cook the bacon however you like (I recommend laying it out on a baking sheet and sticking it in a 425-degree oven for 12-15 minutes; you won't have to tend it and it won't go all crinkly). Then assemble the sandwiches, each with two to three slices of bacon and enough apple and cheddar slices to cover the bread.

Butter the outer sides of the bread and grill for four to five minutes over medium to medium-high heat, until the cheese starts to melt and the bread gets toasty. Flip the sandwich over and grill on the other side for about the same amount of time.

You'll notice that Tyler Florence slathers the bread with dijon mustard during the assembly phase. I'm sure that tastes fantastic, but my husband doesn't like mustard, so we never have any in the house. Normally I'd say a sandwich needs some kind of sauce to keep it moist, but the apples work nicely in that regard, so I don't miss the mustard--too much:)

I've been looking for a great recipe to share for a while, and this one's a keeper. I'd never have thought to put apple on a grilled sandwich, but it's the ingredient that makes this recipe sing. The bacon's not so bad, either. Has anyone ever gone wrong throwing a little bacon into the mix?