Our household could survive on bread and cheese, with some fruit thrown in for nutritional purposes. This past week is a case in point.
On Monday I bought a baguette as part of our favorite Valentine's Day dinner: cheese fondue. Several years ago we decided that, instead of participating in the consumerist side of this Hallmark holiday, we would stay at home and enjoy each other's company at our own dining table. I received a fondue pot as a birthday gift from my sister and our menu has been set since then: a rich fondue of Emmenthaler cheese accompanied by blanched vegetables, apple chunks, and two kinds of bread. We drank a dry white wine (that also went into the fondue) and had salad on the side and lemon mousse for dessert.
Sorry, there aren't any pictures -- when the fondue is ready, you just dive in!
The problem with a baguette is that there's too much bread for two people. We never finish one before it gets hard and dry. This week I have been determined not to let that happen. So we had a nice light dinner on Wednesday evening: our favorite tomato soup along with a cheese plate featuring brie and pepper cheese (from Costco) and leftover Swiss from the fondue piled onto baguette slices.
No pictures of that, either, although J is a veritable master of the cheese plate.
Of course there was still some bread left over on Thursday, including about two cups of cubed baguette that hadn't made it into the fondue. I also had leftover veggies and cheese from earlier in the week. After a little web surfing I decided to combine them all into a savory bread pudding, cobbling a recipe together from a number of sources.
For the two of us, I put about four cups of bread cubes into a 1.5 quart casserole. I steamed the broccoli and cauliflower and put them on top of the bread. I made a custard of four beaten eggs, half a cup of milk, and half a cup of plain yogurt, seasoned with salt, pepper, and a little Dijon mustard. I stirred about half a cup of shredded Swiss cheese into the egg mixture, then poured it over the bread and veggies. Then, since I had a little time, I covered the casserole with a small plate, weighted it down (with the peanut butter jar, if you must know) and let the ingredients get to know each other for about 20 minutes. I baked the dish, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. The key was to let it sit for a few minutes after it came out of the oven to give the custard a chance to firm up. I think it could have used more time in the oven, but it was very tasty as it was, and we had a lecture to get to.
If one didn't happen to have a refrigerator full of leftover fondue ingredients, I imagine this recipe would be just as tasty with any leftover vegetable and any type of cheese. It might even be better if one had some bacon to go in there. Next time we have a baguette...
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Friday, February 18, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Cooking: Smitten Kitchen's Crazy Delicious Baked Potato Soup
So we're wrapping up this vegetarian month experiment, and I was looking for a recipe to use up the leeks that I had left over from another meal. Lo and behold, this recipe for baked potato soup -- with two leeks! -- showed up on Smitten Kitchen last week.
I don't often make savory recipes from Smitten, because they tend to be too fussy for me. Needless to say, I don't mind the fuss if the result is a great dessert! But I already had the leeks and potatoes, and I thought this soup would be a good way to start the week. I whipped it up this past Monday, following the directions exactly as written, for once.
Oh. My. Goodness. The ingredients for the soup are pretty basic, but the final result is more than the sum of its parts. I'm guessing it's because of the head of garlic that gets simmered in vegetable broth with the leeks long before the potatoes are introduced.
I love that this recipe uses ingredients I almost always have on hand -- I'd guess one could sub onions for leeks in an emergency. I love that the recipe is finished with a modest amount of (light) sour cream rather than a load of half and half. And while there are no actual baked potatoes in the soup, it's fun to pile on toppings like shredded cheese and chopped scallions. You can bet there will be bacon there too, after next week.
I don't often make savory recipes from Smitten, because they tend to be too fussy for me. Needless to say, I don't mind the fuss if the result is a great dessert! But I already had the leeks and potatoes, and I thought this soup would be a good way to start the week. I whipped it up this past Monday, following the directions exactly as written, for once.
Oh. My. Goodness. The ingredients for the soup are pretty basic, but the final result is more than the sum of its parts. I'm guessing it's because of the head of garlic that gets simmered in vegetable broth with the leeks long before the potatoes are introduced.
I love that this recipe uses ingredients I almost always have on hand -- I'd guess one could sub onions for leeks in an emergency. I love that the recipe is finished with a modest amount of (light) sour cream rather than a load of half and half. And while there are no actual baked potatoes in the soup, it's fun to pile on toppings like shredded cheese and chopped scallions. You can bet there will be bacon there too, after next week.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Cooking: Peanut Sauce
We are experimenting with vegetarian cuisine for the month of January, an idea we hatched while we were in SoCal during the holidays. In part, it's a response to the (delightful) excesses of the season, and in part it's a challenge to approach food from a different perspective. We sat down and made a long list of vegetarian recipes that could carry us through the month. So far we have enjoyed the experiment, though I would be lying if I said we weren't missing bacon.
It is always difficult for me to think about making dinner on Friday nights, when I find myself out of creative energy. Last night we were low on supplies and I didn't want to go to the grocery store, and thinking in terms of no meat was especially challenging. We had already eaten a roasted vegetable soup and a cheese-based pasta dish during the week. Looking over our list of recipes, I was reminded of this amazing peanut sauce. It was introduced to us as part of a delicious chicken-broccoli stir fry recipe that J's housemate Jim made while I was still a college student. Over the years we have recreated the original dish many times, but we have also used the peanut sauce in different applications.
Here's the recipe for the sauce:
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
Blend these ingredients together in a small glass bowl. (I always find it easier to blend them if I warm them up in the microwave first).
So last night I cut up half an onion and two celery ribs into good-sized chunks, and I shredded 3/4 of a head of green cabbage. I heated some canola oil and sesame oil with crushed red pepper flakes in my big skillet, then stir-fried the veggies in the flavored oil. When everything was still a bit crisp, I poured a half-recipe of the peanut sauce into the center of the pan, warmed it up, and mixed it into the vegetables. We ate this over white rice and it was excellent. It also took less than 20 minutes from start to finish.
The beauty of the sauce is that it's so versatile. You can use it with any type of vegetable that you would stir-fry, alone or in combination. In addition to cabbage and broccoli, carrots and bell peppers are especially nice in there. And you can eat it over rice or noodles. One of our favorite variations combines the peanut sauce with steamed broccoli florets and whole wheat spaghetti or vermicelli. You can mix in tofu, shrimp, or chicken for added protein.
Two notes: First, I find the recipe as it is written makes a very thick sauce. I like to mix up half of the peanut butter, soy sauce, and brown sugar with the full amount of water. Or you can always make the full recipe and add water in the pan to thin it out. Second, I think the sauce testes best when there is some heat in it. I used crushed red pepper flakes last night, but you could also add hot pepper sauce directly to the mix, to suit your own taste.
Enjoy!
It is always difficult for me to think about making dinner on Friday nights, when I find myself out of creative energy. Last night we were low on supplies and I didn't want to go to the grocery store, and thinking in terms of no meat was especially challenging. We had already eaten a roasted vegetable soup and a cheese-based pasta dish during the week. Looking over our list of recipes, I was reminded of this amazing peanut sauce. It was introduced to us as part of a delicious chicken-broccoli stir fry recipe that J's housemate Jim made while I was still a college student. Over the years we have recreated the original dish many times, but we have also used the peanut sauce in different applications.
Here's the recipe for the sauce:
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
Blend these ingredients together in a small glass bowl. (I always find it easier to blend them if I warm them up in the microwave first).
So last night I cut up half an onion and two celery ribs into good-sized chunks, and I shredded 3/4 of a head of green cabbage. I heated some canola oil and sesame oil with crushed red pepper flakes in my big skillet, then stir-fried the veggies in the flavored oil. When everything was still a bit crisp, I poured a half-recipe of the peanut sauce into the center of the pan, warmed it up, and mixed it into the vegetables. We ate this over white rice and it was excellent. It also took less than 20 minutes from start to finish.
The beauty of the sauce is that it's so versatile. You can use it with any type of vegetable that you would stir-fry, alone or in combination. In addition to cabbage and broccoli, carrots and bell peppers are especially nice in there. And you can eat it over rice or noodles. One of our favorite variations combines the peanut sauce with steamed broccoli florets and whole wheat spaghetti or vermicelli. You can mix in tofu, shrimp, or chicken for added protein.
Two notes: First, I find the recipe as it is written makes a very thick sauce. I like to mix up half of the peanut butter, soy sauce, and brown sugar with the full amount of water. Or you can always make the full recipe and add water in the pan to thin it out. Second, I think the sauce testes best when there is some heat in it. I used crushed red pepper flakes last night, but you could also add hot pepper sauce directly to the mix, to suit your own taste.
Enjoy!
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