EdHart.me
Making the transition from recipe to creation is both liberating and a bit intimidating. I’ve always considered myself a “creative cook,” but what that practically means is that I like to fuse together different recipes and tweak the ingredients if something else sounds better or if the ingredients are so obscure or expensive that it’s jut not worth going to the trouble.
Continuing with my recent obsession with bruschetta and bistro dinner experiences, our Date Night Dinner this weekend was a couple appetizer recipes that are standby faithfuls and that together comprised a meal. I was feeling a little under the weather and didn’t want anything too complicated to make and Laree wanted lighter fare so we decided to go with a Sun Dried Tomato, Basil and Feta bruschetta, and another with Shrimp, Tarragon and Arugula. Then, because I wanted something sweet to compliment the flavors and because peaches are in season in Alabama, we tagged on Roasted Peaches with a Balsamic Vinegar Reduction.
For Laree & my Date Night Dinner this week, we basically combined a series of appetizers into a meal. I got inspired for this by a couple of things. First of all, how often have you fixed a killer appetizer that was so good you weren’t hungry for the main course after eating it all up? Happens to us all the time. And with all the spring time fruits and vegetables hitting their peak, I wanted a smorgasbord of fresh and healthy flavors that would satisfy and celebrate the beginning of summer and kind of balance each other out and create a full meal.
One of my favorite breakfasts is pancakes, especially after an early long run on Saturday morning. Even then though, I’m not fired up about all the processed and refined flour, so I’ve been experimenting with other options for my pancake fix. Here’s my latest creation using spelt flour (made to server me and 3 hungry children, you can decrease or increase proportionately).
Seems that I’ve tumbled across more articles lately about how bad sugar is for you. I’m not sure if it’s just what I happen to be reading or if there’s a sudden surge of publicity about the negative effects of sugar, but it’s gotten me to really think about how much sugar, particularly refined sugar, I’m ingesting every day.
I love a good café latte, but I’ve been going broke paying $3 and $4 a pop every time I go to the local coffee shop, and that’s just for a tall! So I decided to try and figure out how to make the perfect café latte at home. I’ve tried in the past to make my own (since I’m a die hard do-it-yourselfer), but I could never seem to get the system down to make a really smooth latte at home. They were ok, but tended to be a little bitter and just didn’t have the same verve as the ones from the local coffee shop. There had to be more to it than money!
One of my favorite post run meals is pancakes. There’s just nothing like coming in from a long run after getting up at an insanely early hour (on a weekend of all days!) and whipping up a big stack of pancakes with blueberries, raspberries or whatever fresh berries we happen to have on hand.
So in my continual quest to improve my nutrition, I thought it might be a good idea to make my pancakes out of something other than Bisquick. So after perusing Whole Foods for different flour options, I decided to give it a go with organic brown rice flour with interesting results!
First lesson in this project is that brown rice flour is not all purpose flour. I tried to make pancake mix similar to what I’d do with wheat flour:
The results were less than spectacular. The brown rice flour had a grainier texture and totally stuck to the (well greased) pan. The consistency was notably more runny than my regular flour recipe and that’s probably because of the lack of gluten, but I need to figure that one out.
So I opted for plan B, waffles. Again working from the recipe that I know (off the back of the Bisquick box), I added some Canola Oil (2 Tbs) and an extra egg, thinking that might help the consistency a little more when cooking.
The mixture was still pretty soupy, but did cook up pretty well in the waffle iron. After topping my waffles with some Greek Yogurt and local honey, I have to say that they were really good. I’ll probably try and refine this recipe a bit, but it’s one that I’m definitely going to try again!
I’ve started complimenting my morning smoothie with a couple of eggs, particularly as my marathon training has intensified and I’ve been trying to intake more protein.
But eggs by themselves can be rather bland in both taste and appearance, and so I like to kick my eggs up a notch with some sea salt, crushed red pepper, cracked black pepper, parsley flakes and (if I have any on hand, some percorino romano cheese) so that I can feel like I’m in a quaint bed & breakfast somewhere cool rather than in a hurry to get out the door to work.
I’m not exactly sure where this recipe originated otherwise I’d give credit to the genius that concocted it! We had this salsa last weekend and it is totally awesome. This recipe is the most recent addition to my list of healthy snacks to keep on hand along with hummus and good old regular salsa.
Combine the first 7 ingredients in a bowl. Season to taste with salt & white pepper.
This salsa gets better the longer it sits as the flavors blend together. The hardest part of this recipe is cutting up the mango. If you’ve never cut one up before, the seed is shaped more or less like a disc and runs up and down, so the best strategy is to peel it first and then slice it lengthwise down the side trying to get as much of the flesh as possible. It’s kind of like filleting a fish, so get the two sides off then try as best you can to slice the rest of the flesh around the seed.
The other thing that really makes this salsa visually appealing (that’s every bit as important as the taste of the dish itself!) is to wash the black beans after draining them. Otherwise you’ll end up with a kind of gray residue that takes a little of the vibrancy out of the dish.
The recipe calls for white pepper, but you can use whatever you have on hand. But the white pepper does have a different taste and compliments this dish perfectly, so if you’ve got it, I recommend using it over black or telicherry.
Enjoy and let me know what you think if you try it!
With spring upon us, I’ve been turning my date night meal thoughts to seafood. For me, the lighter fare seems to fit with the growing southern heat, instead of the heavy dishes I tend to gravitate towards in the fall and winter. Also, I’m really trying to adjust my diet so that it’s more heavily weighted toward something healthier. And when I find something that’s both tasty & reasonably healthy, I’m totally stoked since I get that gourmet meal feeling without the guilt of loading up on calories.
I also recently acquired an old counter-top electric grill and I’ve been wanting a good excuse to try it out. So tonight, fish is back on the menu, specifically tilapia. Easy to find, versatile, not fishy & relatively inexpensive is a combination that’s hard to beat. We’re pairing the tilapia with asparagus and for dessert a bistro style dish of roasted pears and blackberries served with Greek yogurt. Part of this meal is a slight variation of a Bobby Flay recipe and the other I ran across in Bon Appétit, served with my own twist.
Entreé: Grilled Tilapia with Lemon Butter and Capers, served over a bed of Orzo
Side Dish: Grilled Asparagus with Caper Vinaigrette
Beverage: with Savignon Blanc and, of course, La Croix sparkling water
Dessert: Roasted Pears & Berries, served with Greek Yogurt
There are a couple “make in advance” parts to this recipe (my make in advance means before diner while Laree’s getting the kids to bed): the lemon butter and the vinaigrette. You’ll probably want to start with the lemon butter since it will need to spend some time on the stove.
You’ll also need a dessert strategy for this meal. Since this is something you’re going to want to serve hot, you’ll need to decide if you want dessert cooking while you’re eating or if you want to wait and cook this after dinner. It takes about an hour, mostly cooking time in the oven, so plan accordingly.
This is one of those meals in which there’s a lot going on even though it goes pretty fast, so it really helps to do some ingredient prep up front. In preparation for cooking, take a stick of unsalted butter and cut it up and leave it out to warm to room temperature. Go ahead and wash 4 tilapia fillets and pat dry and lay them out in a casserole dish or on a plate big enough to hold them. Put that out of the way or in the fridge. Chop up 1/4 cup of fresh parsley leaves as fine as you like & set aside. This will get mixed in with the orzo for a nice contrast. Drain 1/2 cup capers and set aside in a ramekin. Drain another 2 tablespoons of them for the vinaigrette. Trim enough asparagus for the meal and lay it out on a plate or something that you can pour oil over. It’s really good so err on the generous side. Organize your other ingredients.
Zest 1 lemon (I managed about a tablespoon and a half), juice it and one other and chop up a small shallot and combine, along with 1/2 cup white wine (I used the same Savignon we were drinking) in a saucepan cook over high heat until it’s reduced to about half. Bring it to a medium boil since the highest heat will cause the liquid to froth up and you’ll have lemon zest all over the sides of your saucepan.
While that’s cooking whisk up the vinaigrette by taking 3 Tbs of white wine vinegar, 2 Tsp of Dijon mustard, 1/2 Tsp salt, 1/4 Tsp of (preferrably fresh ground) black pepper in a small bowl, then add 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of olive oil until it’s well mixed and stir in 2 tablespoons of drained capers. Mix it up real good 🙂 and put the bowl in the fridge to chill.
If the lemon juice & wine mixture hasn’t reduced yet, go ahead and get a larger pot ready to boil the orzo. If it has, take the saucepan off of the burner to let it cool. 10-15 minutes is fine. Then whisk together a couple tablespoons of heavy cream, the stick of butter and the wine mixture in a small bowl and season with salt & pepper. Be careful, it splashes if you’re stirring it with a whisk. Then stick it in the freezer to chill quickly. Make sure the pot for the orzo is on and heating up and cook the orzo as soon as the water is ready.
Heat the grill to high heat. I’m assuming you’re using a non-stick grill, but if not or if you’re grilling outside on a BBQ, you’ll want a fish basket for this so your fillets don’t tear up. Brush the fish on both sides with olive oil and season with salt & pepper. Toss the asparagus with the canola oil and season with salt & pepper. Get the vinaigrette out of the fridge, make sure the colander is close at hand for the orzo, get the lemon butter out of the freezer so it can start to warm back up & get plates ready…
We’re going to go quickly from grill to plate. When the orzo is cooked al dente (about 8 minutes), drain and toss with 3-4 tablespoons of the lemon butter, the parsley and some salt & pepper. Grill the tilapia fillets 3-4 minutes on each side until they have a nice char pattern or are lightly golden. Also, grill the asparagus until tender. It will probably take about as long as the fish. Plate the meal by making a bed of the orzo and placing the fillets on top. Top each fillet with some of the lemon butter and some capers. Serve the asparagus drizzled with the vinaigrette and scoop some capers over as well (they tend to sink to the bottom). Serve with the beverage of your choice. I suggest a sparkling water & glass of savignon blanc.
The original recipe for this is from the March 2011 Bon Appétit, but I modified it a bit since I liked the concept, but not the actual recipe in the magazine.
Mix the sugar and the vanilla extract until well combined. You can do this with a bowl and a fork. Pre-heat the oven to 425°F. Generously butter a baking sheet or cake pan. Toss the pears, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of the vanilla butter in a bowl or ziploc bag until well coated. Place pears, 1 cut side down, in the baking dish & roast for 20 minutes. Turn pears to the other side down, sprinkle with 2 more tablespoons and roast another 20 minutes. Turn pears skin side down, sprinkle with another tablespoon of sugar and broil until they begin to caramelize. Toss berries with 2 tablespoons sugar, arrange around pears and broil until berries begin to release their juice.
Server pears and berries, with juices, and top with dollop of Greek yogurt.
Tilapia – 4 fillets, usually about 1-2 lbs
Lemons – 2, zest one of them and juice both of them
Parsley leaves – 1/4 cup
shallot – 1, small, finely chopped
White wine – 1/2 cup
Splash of heavy cream or Half & Half
Butter – 1 stick, unsalted
Olive oil – 3 tablespoons
Capers – 1/4 cup, drained
Orzo – 1/2 lb
Salt & Pepper (preferably freshly ground)
Asparagus – enough to eat, try 1 lb
Olive Oil – 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons
Canola Oil – enough to toss asparagus, try 2 tablespoons
Capers – 2 tablespoons, drained
White Wine Vinegar – 3 tablespoons
Dijon mustard – 2 teaspoons
Salt & Pepper (preferably freshly ground)
1 cup sugar
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
2 Bosc pears, quartered and cored
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
A handful of frozen berries (Blackberries, Blueberries & Raspberries is common)
Plain Greek Yogurt