Le Menu Aug. 24-30

Monday: Maltagliati with Quick Tomato Sauce, with Green Salad

Tuesday: Pork Kebabs, Rice and Tomato-Onion Salad

Wednesday: Salmon Tikka with Cucumber Yogurt and Naan Bread

Thursday: Cauliflower Mac and Cheese 

Friday: Oh-Omelettes with Simple Salad

Saturday: Roast Chicken with Veg, Gravy and Yorkshire puddings

Sunday: Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

Am I a Foodie?

Nowadays calling yourself a foodie is almost like including yourself  in the most popular crowd at school.  The word foodie implies that somehow you’re palate is more refined, that you’ll only eat the finest and poshest food, and will only deign to eat a hamburger if it costs $20+ at a five star restaurant (or $5000, as in Hubert Keller’s restaurant). In other words, you’re better than the rest of us. Well, aren’t we all really foodies? I mean, some of us will only eat mac and cheese from the box, and swear its better than the homemade stuff. Is that so bad? Every food has its place, and its time. I don’t recommend eating McDonalds every day, but yesterday, that’s all I wanted. I got my fix, and now I’m looking forward to the Chicken and Leek Stroganoff I’ll be making tonight for hubby and me. I know I’m rambling, but the point I’m trying to make is: FoodNetwork or not, hamburger from drive-through window, or hamburger made with Zinfandel, we like it all, so, we’re all foodies!

What are Pierogi?

Pierogi  are the Slavic equivalent to ravioli, and in fact, are made using a very simmilar dough. In Poland, where my family hails from, its one of the quintessential peasant foods. They can eaten filled with meat, sourkraut, lentils, potatoes,mushrooms, but also sweet, filled with fruit or chocolate. Today pierogi are one of the most popular foods in Poland. They even have their own festival, the Krakow Pierogi Festival. Try this delicious dish. You’ll definitely be a convert!

Fruit Pierogi with Sour Cream

Pierogi Dough:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 egg

1 tbl. vegetable oil

1/2 tsp. salt

5 tbl. lukewarm water

Flour your worksurface, then pour your flour and form a well in its center. Empty the egg into the well, and gently, with your fingers, start incorporating the flour into the egg, as much as possible. Once most of the flour is incorporated, at the water, one tablespoon at a time, adding the oil last. I list 5 tablespoons of water, but you might need more or less depending on how dry your flour is. Your dough should not be sticky, but not dry either.

After all the water is incorporated, start kneading. You will have to knead the dough for at least 10 minutes. Don’t try to cut corners! This is what makes the dough. You know to stop when the dough in uniform, soft and velvetty to the touch. Form into a ball, and let rest for 15 minutes under a bowl.

Filling:

Frozen berries

Take the frozen berries out while your dough is resting. Once dough is ready, flour your work surface and cut your dough in half. Put one half under a damp towel to prevent drying. At this point its easiest if you have a pasta maker, since it will roll out your dough nice and thin, like pasta dough. However, if you don’t, just use a rolling pin and prepare to put some elbow grease into rolling out your dough to about 3 mm thickness.

Using a 2-3 in. biscuit cutter, cut out rounds. Fill each round with about 1/2 tbl of berries, and fold over to form a little half-moon. Pinch the sides thouroughly, no filling should be oozing out, though its not the end of the world if it does. Just do the best you can. The taste won’t be affected.

Repeat the process with the other half of the dough, keeping the filled pierogi under a damp towel.

Bring a large pot of water to boil, and gently cook the pierogi, in 2-3 batches to prevent sticking, for circa 8 minutes.

Serve immediately with sugar and sour cream to top.

Spicy Shrimp with Coconut Rice and Tomato-Onion Salad

SPICY SHRIMP:

1/2-1 lb Raw shrimp Depending on how many people you’re feeding. This recipe is very flexible. For my husband and I 1/2 lb was sufficient, which translates to about 15 shrimp.

2 tsp. minced garlic, feel free to use less if you don’t like garlic

1/2 tsp chili pepper flakes

salt

1 tbl olive oil

Heat the olive oil is a skillet under medium-high heat, until hot but not smoking. Add garlic and pepper flakes and cook for about 30 seconds, until fragrant, but not burning. At this point at the shrimp and let them sizzle until you see the underside has turned pink. Then flip them over until pink on the other side. Once pink the shrimp are done. You don’t want to overcook shrimp, they’ll taste all rubbery. Take off the heat and serve.

COCONUT RICE

Guy Fieri Recipe

1 cup basmati or like rice

1 tbl. garlic, minced

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 cup coconut milk

1 tbl. olive oil

In a sauce pan heat the oil and add the garlic. Let is get fragrant, then add the rice and stir it around in the oil until coated. Then add the white wine and keep stirring until wine has completely absorbed. Add the chicken stock and coconut milk, bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer, cover pot and let cook, circa 20 minutes. Fluff and serve.

TOMATO-ONION SALAD

2 tomatoes

1/2 onion, any kind you like

Slice tomatoes into wedges, and onion into thin rounds. Toss with salt, pepper, olive oil and some lemon juice to taste. Voila!

Steak Tacos with Rice and Beans

Steak Tacos

Cook’s Illustrated Recipe

Herb Paste:

1/2 cup cilantro leaves

3 medium garlic cloves, roughly chopped

3 medium scallions, roughly chopped (1/3 cup)

1 medium jalapeno, stemmed and roughly chopped

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tbl juice of 1 lime

STEAK:

1 flank steak, (1 1/2 to 1 3/4 lbs), trimmed of excess fat and cut lengthwise (with grain) into 4 equal parts(I replaced it with sirloin since that’s on sale this week)

1/2 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp ground pepper

2 tbl. vegetable oil

TACOS:

12 (6 inch) corn tortillas, warmed

fresh cilantro leaves

minced onion

lime wedges

1. FOR THE HERB PASTE: Pulse cilantro, garlic, scallions, jalapeno and cumin in food processor until finely chopped. Add oil and process until mixture is smooth. Transfer 2 tbl. of paste to medium bowl, and whisk in lime juice and set aside.

2. FOR THE STEAK: Using dinner fork, poke each steak piece 10-12 times on each side. Place in a large baking dish and rub all sides of steak evenly with salt and coat remaining herb paste. Cover with plastic wrap and refridgerate at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.

3. Scrape herb paste off the teak pieces and sprinkle all sides of pieces evenly with sugar and pepper. Heat oil in 12 inch heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat until smoking. Place steak in skillet and cook until evenly browned, 2-3 minutes. Using tongs, stand each piece on a cut side and cook, turning as necessary, until all sides are evenly browned, and internal temperature registers 125-130 degrees, 2-7 minutes. Transfer steak to cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes.

4. FOR THE TACOS: Using a sharp knife, slice steack pieces across grain into 1/8 inch pieces. Transfer steak to bowl with herb-lime mixture and toss to coat. Season with salt. Spoon small amount of sliced steack into center of warmed tortilla and serve immediately. Pass toppings seperately.

RICE

1 cup white rice, like Jasmine or Basmati

2 cups water

salt

Put rice, water and salt into pot. Bring to boil, then cover and lower heat to minimum for circa 20 minutes.

BEANS

You can either make your own refried beans, or just used the canned version to save you time. To make your own:

1 lb pinto beans

3 cloves garlic

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

salt

1 bouillon cube

1. The night before let beans soak in water over night.

2. In the morning, rinse the beans, then place in  crockpot with cayenne pepper, bouillon cube, and whole garlic cloves. Cover with water, and set to cook on low for 8-10 hours.

3. When you get home, drain the beans of most liquid, reserving 1/2 cup. Using either butter, bacon fat or other fat, transfer beans to a skillet and as you refry, mash with a potato masher. Season to taste.

What are Palatschinken?

Palatschinken is simply the word used for crepes in Austria, Hungary, Northern Italy and other adjoining countries, originating from the Latin placenta, or flat cake. (I know, not such an appetizing term). Check out a recipe for Budapest’s Gundel Palacsinta at http://www.smh.com.au/news/recipes/gundels-walnut-and-chocolate-pancakes/2006/04/24/1145730851928.html

This recipe calls for walnuts, although I much prefer the chestnut filling! Yum!