Hanukkah Recap



Yesterday was our family's fourth annual Hanukkah celebration, a tradition I instituted when my husband and I got engaged.

Usually, the celebration takes place on a Sunday night, but I like Sunday nights to myself and thought I'd do an elegant holiday lunch this year. We live about an hour from the rest of the family, so I figured it would be easier on them too to have it earlier in the day.

I was very happy with this year's lunch menu, though it's not exactly traditional.  We have a couple of different kinds of eating habits (aka some people are easygoing and some are pains in the asses!) so I served two main course options.

We started, of course, with matzo ball soup. No picture, but here's last year's post with the recipe. Delicious and make ahead.

For my non-meat eaters, we had Ina Garten's Roasted Salmon Nicoise salad:

I loved this. It's a mix of room temperature salmon, served with blanched green beans, spring mix, roasted red peppers, steamed fingerlings, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, and olives, all topped with a tangy Dijon vinaigrette. The salmon, eggs, and green beans can be done a day ahead, the potatoes need a quick boil before serving, and then you can assemble it in the morning and refrigerate until serving time. Easy, healthy, delicious, and customizable- key for my crew.

Find the recipe here.

Our other main course was a roast beef tenderloin, an expensive option, but well worth it for ease of prep and crowd pleasing factor (and the sandwiches with leftovers!). All I did was salt and pepper the living hell out of it, and roast it for about 30 minutes at 425. I took mine out when it was 130 degrees and let it rest about a half hour before serving. You may want yours done a little more rare, so give it a shorter rest time or take it out at 125.

I served this with a horseradish mayo. No real recipe there either, I used about half a cup of mayo, a few tablespoons of sour cream, a tablespoon of Dijon, and a teaspoon horseradish.

We had latkes, pictured above. These I always cater, they are too much work and too smelly to cook at home.  Wegman's charges me $25 bucks for 40 or so latkes and applesauce. I'd say that's worth it!

My sister in law made a nice mixed greens salad, and we also had Food52's ridiculously good spinach gratin, and roasted asparagus. A loaf of challah made an appearance too.

 

And, as always, we had piles of gifts and a cramped apartment:

Happy Hanukkah!

Steakhouse Dinner

My husband is, quite literally, the pickiest eater I have ever known. He will not eat anything that swims, he’s not huge on most vegetables, eats very little "healthy" food, and usually acts as if trying something new will kill him. 

But his favorite thing is when I make him a classic steakhouse meal:

Seared filet mignon,

with crispy matchstick potatoes,

and of course, the classic wedge salad.   

 

It's a delicious and fairly simple meal, although things can get a little smoky while cooking the steak!

Seared Filet Mignon

2 5-6 oz filet mignon steaks (about 1 inch thick)

Salt

Cracked black pepper

Oil

Two slivers of butter

Heat a cast iron pan over high heat until screaming hot. I usually do this for somewhere between 3-5 minutes.

While pan preheats, coat your steaks very generously on both sides with salt and cracked black pepper.

When ready to cook, brush the pan with a small amount of oil. Place the steaks in the pan, and allow to sear for 3 minutes.  Flip to the other side and sear until desired doneness. I do ours to 130°, which is medium rare.

Just before serving, top each steak with a sliver of butter.  Sometimes I also use a drizzle of Trader Joe's balsamic syrup.

Serves 2.

Matchstick Potatoes, adapted from Ina Garten

4 baking potatoes, peeled

Corn oil (I used almost a full quart)

Salt

Preheat oven to 350°. Fill a large pot or Dutch oven with 1 inch of oil and heat it to 350°.

Slice potatoes into thin matchsticks, using a mandolin or the shredding disc of your food processor. Drop potatoes into a bowl of cold water as you work.

When ready to fry, drain potatoes very well. In batches, drop them in the hot oil and cook 3-5 minutes, until golden brown.  Remove to a paper towel lined plate, and sprinkle generously with salt. Repeat.

Keep warm on a baking sheet in the 350 degree oven for up to a half hour.

Serves 2-4.

Wedge Salad

½ head iceberg lettuce

½  pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1 rib celery, diced

4 slices bacon, cooked until crisp and chopped

Chives

Ranch or blue cheese dressing

Slice the half head of lettuce into four wedges and arrange on a plate.  Top with tomatoes, celery, bacon, chives, and dressing.

Serves 2.

(I think this would be much better if you made your own dressing, using a recipe like the one here, but I told you, I have a picky husband, and a blue cheese is on the no-fly list).

Next project, fancy sauces for the steak. Anyone have any good recipes?

Sunday Dinner: Prosciutto Wrapped Pork Roast

A large part of cooking success depends upon choosing a good recipe.  People will often complain a recipe came out badly, and then I’ll find out they typed something into Google and used any old recipe that came up.

If I’m trying a new recipe, I prefer to use bloggers I trust (Stacey Snacks always, and Smitten Kitchen) or Ina Garten. I trust Ina enough to make her recipes without test driving them first.

I also trust highly reviewed recipes from well-regarded sites, such as Epicurious or the Food Network. I usually find that for the most part, a large number of reviews can be trusted.  Three five-star reviews are not very compelling, but 300 4 and a half star reviews are usually a good indicator of a quality recipe. There’s enough people who tried it and reviewed to account for mistakes, different tastes, etc. 

One other thing to keep in mind is the site’s audience- AllRecipes tends to attract more “middle America” tastes and home cooks (think chicken marinated in Italian dressing), whereas something like Food and Wine's website will bring in cooks and recipes that are a little more gourmet (think chicken banh mis with homemade kimchi).  Use sources that fall where you do in the homestyle to gourmet spectrum.

This past Sunday dinner was an example of a recipe well chosen.  My family was over and I wanted to make a pork roast, so I selected an old recipe of Giada’s de Laurentiis’ with 228 great reviews. 

The recipe called for a boneless pork loin, wrapped in pancetta (I used prosciutto), and then roasted in a mix of chicken stock and wine for an hour. It was quite delicious, and definitely an elegant and easy main course. 

I made a few changes to alter it to my family’s taste, so the recipe below is my version, with the link to the original provided as always.

Prosciutto wrapped Pork Roast, adapted from Giada de Laurentiis
Serves 6
3.5-4 lb boneless pork loin roast, tied
¼ lb prosciutto or pancetta
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, very finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 ½ tsp garlic salt
Generous amount salt and pepper
1 ½ cups white wine
1 ½ cups chicken stock

Place your pork roast in a roasting pan or large baking dish. Drizzle over with oil, then rub generously all over with salt, pepper, rosemary, and garlic salt. Drape prosciutto or pancetta over the roast. Let sit for at least one hour, or overnight.

When ready to cook, preheat oven to 400 degrees.  

Add ½ cup of wine and ½ cup of stock to the pan with the pork. Place in oven and bake for 1 hour, adding an additional ½ cup each wine and stock every 20 minutes. Cook for an hour, or longer until desired temperature. Giada advises 145, my parents prefer their pork done to 160, so that’s what I did. It took about 1 hr and 10 minutes. 

I served this with roasted potatoes. Recipe, if you can call it that, is below.

Roasted Potatoes
1 ½ lbs baby red potatoes
Generous amount olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 400. While oven preheats, line a large aluminum baking sheet with foil and quarter the red potatoes (or cut into sixths if bigger).  

Place potatoes on baking sheet and drizzle with lots of olive oil (I probably use three tablespoons or so), and sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

Roast for about an hour, until browned and crispy, turning once or twice during baking.

Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and serve alongside roast.

No Boys Allowed: Pasta with Goat Cheese and Asparagus

I hear one day it will be spring. I'm seeing only evidence to the contrary, as it's been the longest winter ever, but I'm still holding out for some sunshine. And when it's here, the farmer's markets will be packed with the best spring goodies, especially my favorite, skinny green asparagus.

Which are important for this dish that I've dubbed "No Boys Allowed Pasta." It's definitely "girl" food: strands of thin spaghetti, tossed with tangy goat cheese, asparagus, and chopped kalamatas. It's light yet flavorful. I threw it together one night after work and my husband politely declined and actually ordered himself wings.

His loss. This was a delicious, refreshing meal, perfect for a springtime lunch or light dinner with your best girl friends. It comes together in the time it takes to boil water for pasta, making it perfect for an after-work get together.

Pasta with Goat Cheese and Asparagus (adapted from Bon Appetit)
Serves 4

1 box angel hair pasta
1 5 oz log of goat cheese, crumbled
1 lb skinny asparagus, sliced into 1 inch lengths 
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp chopped fresh tarragon
2 tsp chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup kalamata olives, chopped
Zest of 1 lemon

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  While water boils, assemble all your ingredients in a large bowl, big enough to hold all the pasta.  Add pasta and asparagus to the pot, and cook until both are al dente, about 3 minutes.

Drain pasta and asparagus, reserving 1/4 cup of cooking liquid.  Add pasta, asparagus, and reserved liquid to bowl, and toss to coat. Add more cooking liquid if needed. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Fennel and Orange Salad

 

I love this wintery, refreshing salad as a change of pace from typical mixed greens. It’s my take on the classic Italian combo of fennel and orange- I added arugula to make it a little more “salady. This can be prepared in advance, and dressed just before dinner, plus it’s elegant, making it perfect for a dinner party. 

 

Fennel and Orange Salad

Serves 4

4 cups arugula

2 blood oranges, peel and membrane removed, sliced horizontally

1 small bulb fennel, very thinly sliced

¼ cup kalamata olives, sliced

Olive oil

Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

 

Pile arugula on a serving platter or in a bowl.  Arrange fennel on top, then orange slices. Scatter kalamata olives on the top.  Can be refrigerated for an hour or so at this point. (Too much longer and the acid in the orange may break down the arugula). 

 

Just before serving, dress with a drizzle of olive oil, sea salt, and pepper to taste.

Cape Cod Chopped Salad

This salad is ridiculous. It’s so good, and my photos are not doing it justice.  I expected to hate it, since I hate sweet/savory combos and this salad has both maple syrup and dried fruit, but I was genuinely surprised at how great it was. The dressing flavors blend together and have a wonderful depth, and the combo of arugula, nuts, blue cheese, and bacon is absolutely delicious. 

How silly of me to doubt the Queen (Ina Garten).

Try this classy salad out, it’s perfect for Thanksgiving!

Cape Cod Chopped Salad, from Ina Garten  

For salad:
8 oz bacon, cooked (to make life easier, I use the pre-cooked kind)
8 oz baby arugula
1 large Granny Smith apple, thinly sliced
½ cup toasted walnut  halves (I used hazelnuts)
½ cup dried unsweetened cranberries
6 oz blue cheese, crumbled

For the dressing:
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp grated orange zest
2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
2 ½ tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp maple syrup
Kosher salt
½ tsp freshly ground pepper
2/3 cup olive oil

Toss all salad ingredients together in serving bowl.  In a separate bowl, whisk together all dressing ingredients. You can prepare these a few hours ahead of time and keep them separate.

When ready to serve, toss the salad with enough dressing to moisten (you may not need to use all of it). Serve immediately.

The Easiest Impressive Appetizer: Fig and Goat Cheese Tarts

Recently, my best friend and her husband came over, and I raided my pantry to come up with a quick appetizer I could serve them before going off to dinner. I came up with a fig and goat cheese tart, made with store-bought phyllo dough shells and prepared fig butter. It was delicious, easy, and elegant, making it a perfect recipe to keep on hand for unexpected company, fancy parties, or just an addition to a holiday buffet.

Fig and Goat Cheese Tarts

1 box store bought phyllo dough tart shells (I use Wegman’s brand)

1 jar fig butter (Found this at Trader Joe’s, they currently have seasonal pumpkin and cranberry versions as well)

1 5oz log goat cheese

Defrost your phyllo shells as necessary according to the package directions. I simply let mine sit out for ten minutes as the oven preheated.

Using a quarter to a half teaspoon measure, drop a small amount of fig butter into each shell. This stuff has a very strong, sweet flavor, so I found that a little goes a long way. Of course, you can adjust this to your taste as necessary.  You will have plenty of fig butter and goat cheese left over.

Crumble off large pieces of goat cheese and place in shell. Again, no exact measurements here- the amount you use will depend on the size of your shell. I use enough to fill the shell, but not to come spilling out over it.

Bake in a 425 degree oven for 10 minutes, until the goat cheese is slightly melting and the phyllo shells have turned golden.  Garnish with fresh basil.

You could prepare these up until the baking step and leave in the fridge for a few hours to get them ready before a party. When needed, bake as directed for 10 minutes and serve.

Makes 12 tarts.

This appetizer lends itself to so many variations, beyond just fig and goat cheese. Some ideas:
 

·         Tomatoes and feta

·         Goat cheese and olives

·         Manchego and quince

·         Spinach and artichoke- Whir up some thawed frozen spinach and artichokes with cream cheese in a food processer. Thin with a little cream and bake until golden.

·         Smoked mozzarella and soppresata

·         Mixed sautéed mushrooms

·         Pastry cream and fresh berries, for a dessert variation