FFwD: Beggar's Linguine

This week's French Fridays with Dorie, Beggar's Linguine, was...interesting.  I loved the story behind it - it's named after the four mendicant (begging) monastic orders, with each order being represented by a different fruit or nut.  Dried figs, raisins, pistachios, and almonds are sauteed in browned butter and then tossed with linguine, Parmesan cheese, and a little orange zest.  In principle, I had high hopes for this dish - I do really love sweet and savory dishes, and I often like dishes with unusual flavor combinations.  In this case, however, the combination just didn't work for me, mostly because the pasta was just too rich.  I'm all for butter, but along with nuts and cheese it was a little overwhelming.  I think this dish could be saved (for me, at least) by adding some sort of acid - maybe balsamic vinegar or lemon juice - and omitting the orange zest.  Some veggies would also likely help cut through the richness of the dish.  Overall, though, I'm definitely glad I tried this dish - it was inexpensive (yay bulk bins at the grocery!) and made for a quick lunch, and it was interesting to try out new flavors.

Here's the original recipe on Dorie's website.

Lamb and Sweet Onion Pitas with Orange-Cucumber Salad

Tim and I made these tasty pitas a couple of weekends ago and really loved them.  They have lots of great flavors, combining ground lamb, caramelized onions (yum!), a crunchy orange-cucumber salad, and cooling Greek yogurt (not pictured - I forgot about it until we got to the table!).  We had a little trouble finding ground lamb, and ended up buying lamb lula from an Armenian market, which is ground lamb mixed with onions, parsley, and possibly some other tasty things (the butcher wasn't totally clear on this).  This actually worked out perfectly since the lamb was pre-seasoned, but I'm sure regular ground lamb would be very tasty as well - you can always throw in some extra onions and parsley if you like. 

You can make this recipe with two people - one to man the skillet and the other to prepare the salad - and both tasks will take approximately the same time.  If you're making this by yourself, I definitely recommend fixing the salad (or at least prepping the oranges) before starting the onions.  Supreme-ing citrus, at least for a non-expert like me, is always a messy task that takes some concentration, so I wouldn't have wanted to switch back and forth between a hot pan while doing it.  Certainly the salad wouldn't suffer from a few extra minutes of marinating, and you're less like to end up with burned onions.

Lamb and Sweet Onion Pitas with Orange-Cucumber Salad (adapted from Fine Cooking)
Serves 2

Olive oil
1/2 medium sweet onion, halved and thinly sliced
Salt and pepper
1/2 pound ground lamb (or lamb lula)
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 large orange
1 small Persian cucumber (or 1/2 small English cucumber), halved and thinly sliced
1 T red wine vinegar
1-1/2 tsp chopped fresh mint (about 1 sprig)
2 pitas, halved and toasted if desired
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (more to taste)

1. Heat a thin layer of oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add most of the onion (reserving a few slices), and a pinch each of salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 8-10 minutes.  Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
2. Add the lamb to the skillet with more oil if needed, and season with salt and pepper.  Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally and breaking up the meat, until cooked through, 5-7 minutes.  Drain well.
3. Meanwhile, finely chop the remaining raw onion and transfer to a large bowl.  Supreme the orange over a bowl to collect the juices and cut the segments into chunks.  Add the oranges, orange juice, cucumber, vinegar, mint, and 1/2 T oil to the raw onion and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and add more vinegar or oil as needed.
4. Fill the pitas with the lamb, cooked onions, and orange-cucumber salad.  Add a dollop of Greek yogurt to each pita and serve.

I'm sending this recipe off to this month's Kitchen Bootcamp Challenge: World Cuisines.

Grilled Nectarine and Fresh Mozzarella Salad

I love recipes like this one that can save out-of-season fruit.  Of course, it would be better to wait and have my nectarines in summer, but sometimes it's chilly outside and I need something to tide me over!  Grilled nectarines come to the rescue, and they're especially nice because you can make them with a grill pan (perfect for cold weather).  And really, you wouldn't want to heat up a whole grill for two nectarines, so if you don't have a grill pan I think a plain old skillet would work just fine.

Along with the grilled nectarines is an absolutely fantastic balsamic syrup.  Feel free to use whatever herb you like here, or none at all - the original recipe called for thyme, but we had rosemary in the garden so I went with that with great results.  Since this salad doesn't have too many ingredients, be sure to use a good fresh mozzarella cheese - I got mine at Cowgirl Creamery and loved it.  When everything was tossed together, this salad really did taste like summer in a bowl, which was just what I needed with the weather we've been having lately!

Grilled Nectarine and Fresh Mozzarella Salad (adapted from Fine Cooking magazine)
Serves 4

3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 firm nectarines, each sliced into about 10 slices
Olive oil
Salad greens
Salt and pepper
6-8 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into cubes

1. Bring the vinegar and rosemary to a boil in a small, non-stick saucepan, stirring occasionally.  Reduce heat to a simmer, and simmer until the vinegar is thickened and reduced to about 1/4 cup, about 8 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, place a grill pan over medium-high heat and brush with olive oil.  [You could also easily use a regular grill or even just a skillet for this step.]  Arrange the nectarine slices on the grill in one layer, working in batches if you need to, and grill until browned and tender, flipping once.  Allow to cool slightly.
3. Toss the salad greens with olive oil, salt, and pepper, to taste.  Add the mozzarella and grilled nectarines.  Drizzle with the reduced balsamic syrup.

FFwD: Cheesy Quick Bread with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Walnuts

This week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe was Savory Cheese and Chive Bread.  I love savory quick breads, although I made some changes to the add-ins so I wouldn't have to run to the store.  For the cheese portion, I used a variety of cheeses that were hanging out in my cheese drawer (Parmesan, Gruyere, and "Mexican Blend" - way to mix up the classy and un-classy, Sara!).  To that, I added walnuts, scallions, and sun-dried tomatoes - yum!

I made a half recipe to take advantage of an adorable mini lavender Le Creuset from my mom.  Really, it was probably a bit too much batter for the pan, but I didn't want to break out the muffin tins so I made it work!  The result was like a giant, gorgeous muffin - and said giant muffin smelled heavenly coming out of the oven!  It didn't look so gorgeous coming out of the pan, since I somehow forgot to grease it, but it was very tasty - housemate approved! I especially liked the sun-dried tomatoes, which added great flavor. 

On a side note, I made a variation on this quick bread, Bacon Cheddar Quick Bread with Dried Pears, a couple of years ago, which was also delicious.  The recipe was from Dorie's column in Bon Appetit, and is essentially the same as this version, but with different mix-ins. 

Orange-Mint-Blueberry Compote over French Toast

Tim and I made an awesome brunch on Sunday morning...I love lazy weekend mornings, especially when they include large amounts of carbs!  :)  Well, this one definitely fit that bill.  Tim made his home fries, which are seriously the best home fries I've ever had - the trick is par-boiling them a bit first so they get perfectly crispy on the outside but are still cooked through.  I contributed French toast with orange-mint-blueberry compote.  The French toast recipe I used was from Cook's Illustrated's The New Best Recipe.  As with so many of their recipes, it had three times as many ingredients/steps as my usual French toast, but really didn't taste any different from my go-to recipe of eggs, milk, and vanilla (about 4 eggs to 1 cup milk and 1 tsp vanilla).  So, I'd say save yourself some trouble and make your favorite simple French toast, and then spend the extra time making this delicious blueberry compote and frying up some bacon so you have bacon fat to cook your French toast in!  (Yum.)

The compote is actually super easy, and lends itself to lots of variations - you could really use any citrus and herb here with the berries - lemon peel and lemon thyme, for example, would be fantastic.  I like to combine cooked-down berries with whole berries stirred into at the very end so that you get a nice mix of textures.  Other berries, like strawberries or raspberries, would also be great, so just go with what looks good at the supermarket.

Orange-Mint-Blueberry Compote

1 pint blueberries
3-4 strips orange peel, with as little white pith as possible
1 sprig fresh mint
1 tsp sugar, more to taste

1. Place about half the berries along with the orange peel, mint, and sugar in a saucepan.  Add about 1/3 cup water (just enough to cover the berries about halfway).  Place the pot over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring often.
2. Reduce heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and simmer until the berries have popped and become saucy.  Continue to simmer until the sauce is somewhat reduced (to whatever thickness you like - time will depend on the amount of water used in step 1).
3. Remove from the heat and remove the orange peels and mint.  Taste, and add more sugar if desired.  Stir in most of the remaining berries, and return pot to the heat until the sauce is just heated through.
4. Serve over french toast (or pancakes, or ice cream!), along with the reserved berries.

Fennel-Turkey Meatloaf

Fine Cooking has a great feature most months called "Cooking Without Recipes."  Each features a different food like ice cream, potato salad, or fruit cobbler, and offers up a base recipe plus lots and lots of variations.  You can go crazy and create your own combination, or use one of the suggested ingredient combos.  Tim and I were inspired by the recent article on meatloaf, and thought the fennel-turkey meatloaf suggestion sounded terrific - and it was!

This is definitely one of the best meatloafs I've ever had.  The combination of fresh fennel and fennel seeds adds a complex and delicious - but not overpowering - fennel flavor to the meatloaf, and the method of soaking and then chopping bread cubes holds everything together really well.  The idea of wrapping the meatloaf in bacon is genius - it keeps the meat moist despite using ground turkey, and adds fantastic flavor.  This does make a large meatloaf, but the leftovers are just as good heated up in the microwave for a minute or so.  You could also easily make a half recipe (mini-meatloaf!) since the loaf is formed by hand rather than being baked in a loaf pan. 

Fennel-Turkey Meatloaf (adapted from Fine Cooking)
Serves 6

Canola or olive oil
1 medium white onion, chopped
1 cup small-diced fennel
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3/4 cup dry white wine
4 oz. crusty white bread (such as French or Italian bread), cut into 2-inch pieces
1 cup whole milk
2 pounds ground turkey (not 100% breast meat)
2 large eggs
1/3 cup sliced scallions
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp coarsely chopped fennel seeds
1 T Worcestershire sauce
Kosher Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
10 oz. thinly sliced bacon (about 9 strips)

1. Heat 1-2 T oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-low heat.  Add the onion, fennel, and garlic, and saute, stirring frequently, until softened and just beginning to brown, about 8 minutes.
2. Add the white wine, and simmer briskly, until almost dry, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool while preparing the remaining ingredients.
3. In a shallow dish that holds it in a single layer, soak the bread in the milk, flipping once, until soggy but not falling apart, 5-10 minutes. Lightly squeeze a handful of bread at a time to remove some of the milk (it should be wet but not drenched). Finely chop and add to the bowl with the onion mixture.4. Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 375 degrees F.
5. Add the turkey and eggs to the onion mixture. Scatter the scallions, red pepper flakes, and fennel seeds over the meat, and then sprinkle with the Worcestershire, 2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper. Use your hands to gently mix all the ingredients until just combined, being careful not to compact the mixture too much.
6. Set a non-stick pan over medium low heat, and form 1 T of the meatloaf mixture into a small patty (or use a bit of oil in a regular pan).  Cook the patty on both sides until cooked through, about 5 minutes total.  Taste and adjust for salt, pepper, and any other seasonings.
7. Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Transfer the meatloaf mixture to the baking pan and form into a 10x4-inch rectangular block (it becomes loaf-shaped as it cooks). Finish the meatloaf by draping it with strips of bacon on the diagonal.  Trim the bacon with kitchen scissors to fit, and use extra trimmings to cover the ends.
8. Bake until an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees F in the center of the meatloaf, 40 to 55 minutes.  Then broil the meatloaf about 6 inches from the broiler (or turn the oven up to 500 degrees and return the meatloaf to the oven on the top shelf), until the bacon is brown and crisped, about 3 minutes. 
Let rest for 10 minutes. Carefully transfer to a cutting board or serving platter with two large spatulas and cut into 3/4 - to 1-inch-thick slices.  (It helps to have two people for this - one to transfer the meatloaf, and the other to hold the pan steady.)

Action shot!

BSI: Green Beans Round-Up

I'm a big fan of Blogger Secret Ingredient, which features a different surprise ingredient every week.  So, it was lots of fun to host this week, with the secret ingredient of green beans!  Check out all the awesome green bean recipes below.  I also selected my favorite recipe of the week to receive a small prize...congrats to Janet of the taste space!  Your salad has such a great combination of color, flavor and crunch that I couldn't resist it!  Send your contact info my way and a little surprise will be arriving in your mailbox very soon!

French Barley Salad with Carrots, Green Beans, Red Peppers and Almonds from the taste space!

Sweet and Sour Chicken with Green Beans from Recipe Rhapsody

Szechuan Green Beans from My Bizzy Kitchen

Asian Style Fresh Green Beans from Debbi Does Dinner...Healthy and Low Calorie

Pancetta Green Beans from Cupcake Muffin

Check out next week's BSI at the Balanced Broad!