Eggplant, caramelized onion, pesto, feta pizza

Oh dinner blog, how I have missed you. I haven't posted lately because I haven't been cooking anything of interest for you and really, let's be honest, not even for the people eating it. But inspiration eventually strikes, and strike it did. The other day at the park, my friend Mary brought some awesome leftover pizza for lunch, which she let me try. It was so good that I ordered some from Zpizza the next week. It was really great, although they forgot the caramelized onions, but it was so expensive that I wanted to see if I could get close. I think I did a pretty good job!

I made the crust from a favorite online recipe. I double this to make 2 thin crust pizzas around 14" in diameter. This pesto recipe is delicious, and since we have basil growning in the garden and a giant bag of pinenuts from Costco I'd rather make my own. (I keep the pinenuts in the freezer so they don't get rancid. The bag lasts a good long time. I throw them into salads and make pesto periodically.) Making pesto makes me really wish I had a food processor, because making it in the blender is a pain and a half, but I perservered. I froze the rest in an old ice cube tray. After following all of the crust directions, I spread a thin layer of pesto on the uncooked crust, followed by a light sprinkling of grated mozzarella. The original pizza is not super cheesy, and I wanted to stay true to it. I then added thinly sliced japanese eggplants from the garden, some feta, pinenuts, and the most important ingredient of all...caramelized onions. I have never made them before, but they are delicious and add a nice sweetness to the pizza. Emma ate a bowl of them hot off the stove. She's weird like that, but that's why I love her! I baked it for a little over 10 minutes in a 500 degree oven and voila! It was so tasty. It's even good cold, if it lasts that long.

Fast Avocado Soup

This recipe from Mark Bittman looks like a fantastic summer supper. He suggests topping it with shrimp or crabmeat, but I'm guessing leftover grilled chicken would be good, too.

Gremolata

I made braised short ribs for dinner tonight, something I've been meaning to try at home since I noticed that Trader Joe's offers boneless short ribs. The up side of boneless is that they cook relatively fast - these got about three hours in a slow oven, and were very tasty even without the overnight treatment the recipe calls for. The down side is that, without bones, the braising liquid doesn't get that glossy sheen and doesn't really thicken up without help.

I served the short ribs over egg noodles, topped with gremolata, that fantastic (and practically effortless) combo of parsley, lemon zest and garlic. Gremolata is a standard accessory for osso bucco, but, as Michael Ruhlman points out, it's equally at home on beef. It's also ridiculously simple to make: mix three parts minced parsley, two parts minced lemon zest, one part minced garlic. Done! Sprinkle it over each serving of short ribs or steak or chicken or shrimp or grilled fish. A tip: make twice as much as you think you need. Ruhlman's basic recipe (three tsp parsley, two tsp lemon zest, one tsp garlic) says it'll cover four servings, but it was gone in a heartbeat.

The short ribs were good, and I'll make them again - but almost anything braised in wine all afternoon will be worth eating. The real treat was the gremolata, and I'll be making more of that very soon.

The Cous Cous Variations

[I know I've written about cous cous before, but I thought I'd expound a bit on the preparation and possibilities....]

Cous cous is an exceptionally quick (less than ten minutes!) and versatile alternative to rice or traditional (Italian) pasta. Plain cous cous is a simple side to chicken, beef or vegetables, especially stews and sauce-y preparations, but you can easily dress it up to become an elegant salad or a substantial entree. It's a great way to use up leftovers, and a perfect opportunity to sneak new flavors and ingredients past your kids (if you can get them to try it).

Although cous cous is a variety of pasta (typically made from semolina, the same wheat flour used for most Italian pastas), it is prepared more like rice - steamed in a lidded pot until tender.

Near as I can tell, all cous cous is precooked, even if it isn't marked "instant." Whether you buy it in a box or in bulk (Whole Paycheck Foods has a decent price on bulk - much cheaper than boxes of Near East), preparation is the same: add boiling water to cous cous, cover and wait five minutes. (Note that "Israeli Cous Cous" is much larger - about the size of BBs - and takes longer to cook.) This method produces a fine plain side dish, but you can do much better with just a little effort.

Think of it as a two-part preparation, the sauce (the stuff that goes into the pot while the cous cous is steaming) and the toss (the things you stir in just before serving).

The Sauce

As with rice, cous cous needs to be hydrated to become tender. You really only need two things, in addition to the cous cous itself:

Liquid: about 1.5 cups water or stock to each cup of cous cous.

Salt: a healthy pinch per cup of liquid. Keep in mind that other ingredients may also be salty, e.g., stock, butter.

If you want to take it up a notch, consider adding:

Fat: butter or olive oil, a scant Tablespoon per cup of liquid. Optional, but highly desirable both for flavor and for mouthfeel. Go easy on the fat if you plan to toss meat or marinated vegetables with the cooked cous cous.

Aromatics: carrots (sliced, shredded or whole baby carrots), onions (red, white, yellow or green, chopped or minced), raisins, craisins, garlic, peppers (red, green, yellow, hot or mild), leeks - anything that you'd like to cook a little and flavor the liquid. Saute the aromatics in butter or olive oil before adding the water or stock to the pan.

Spices: curry powder, cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper, allspice, bay leaf - start with a few pinches, and you'll notice a big difference in flavor. Add the spices to the fat and aromatics.

The Toss

Here's where your cous cous really takes off, in both flavor and texture:

Fresh herbs: chopped parsley, mint, cilantro, oregano, marjoram - whatever is fresh and sounds or smells good. I'm a big fan of parsley.

Nuts & Beans: cashews are king in our house, but pine nuts are also nice. A can of garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed) adds significant heft to the dish, as well as protein. Better yet, start with dried garbanzos and use their cooking liquid to make the cous cous.

Veggies: sliced green onions, minced red onions, chopped artichoke hearts, grilled squash or asparagus, steamed green beans. My rule is: if it goes with lemon, it'll work. I almost forgot to mention tomatoes, fresh or grilled or sundried, chopped or sliced.

Meat: chicken, beef, pork or lamb, grilled or stewed or stir-fried, freshly made or leftover. Fish works, too, though I'm having trouble seeing canned tuna as a good match. Balance strong flavors (say, garlicy chicken) by under-seasoning the cous cous a little.

Citrus: lemons, limes, grapefruits - but mostly lemons. A good squeeze will add freshness and pucker; you might also grate a little zest last thing. Grilled lemon slices look nice as a garnish and offer a hint of sweetness, too.

Step-by-step: cous cous in 20 minutes

All the possibilities make cous cous look much harder (and more time-consuming) than it really is. Here's the walk-through for preparing a delicious cous cous in about 20 minutes:

Ingredients (amounts are approximate - feel free to improvise):

1 1/2 C Water
1 TBL Butter
1/3 C Shredded carrots (you can buy them pre-shredded from TJ's)
Pinch Salt
1/4 C Raisins
1 tsp Curry powder
1 C Cous cous
1/2 C Cashews
1/2 C Green onions
1/2 Lemon

Instructions:

1. Heat the water in a tea kettle or microwave.
2. Place a saucepan with a lid over med-low heat. Melt butter, then add carrots and salt. Stir for a minute, then add raisins and stir until combined. Put the lid on the pan and let the carrots and raisins soften for a couple of minutes.
   
3. Add the curry powder to the carrots and raisins and stir for a minute, until it becomes fragrant - the kitchen should smell really good by now! Add the hot water and bring it to a boil, stirring to bring everything together.
4. Add the cous cous, stir, cover the pot and turn off the heat. Set a timer for five minutes.
5. Slice the green onions, and prep anything else you want for the Toss - leftover grilled chicken, parsley, etc. Pour yourself a glass of wine, and tell the kids to wash their hands
   
6. After five minutes, fluff the cous cous with a fork. Just before you're ready to serve, toss in the green onions and cashews and stir to mix, then squeeze the lemon over the top.
   

The Backyardigans Challenge

Kristin's post asking for ideas to help her manage her soon-to-be-even-crazier life got me thinking: we all have days (and weeks!) when everything runs off the rails. It'd be handy to have a cache of recipes or meal plans for those times when we're too tired, busy or disgusted to put together a "real" dinner.

Ideally, we're talking about meals that are:

1. Simple - and quick - to prepare
   
2. Appealing to both kids and adults
3. Reasonably nutritious

Many nights, I'm happy just to meet the first criterion. And, when I have less than half an hour to get dinner on the table, I often call on Austin, Pablo, Tasha, Tyrone and Uniqua to keep the kids occupied while I cook.

So, here's the challenge: meals that hit the table within about 25 minutes (a single episode of the Backyardigans). Award yourself extra points if you hit all three goals: fast, good and good-for-you. Feel free to use leftovers and please share any cheats you discover (e.g., I start the water for rice before I turn on the TV).

I'll start the ball rolling with instructions for Lavash Pizza, a go-to dish in our household.

London Broil: Cheap, Fast and Good

I don't know why I hadn't tried cooking London Broil before. I don't suffer from a fear of unfamiliar meat cuts, and I can usually figure out something to do with a steak. It's probably that the steaks are usually huge and have a reputation for being fussy - typical instructions call for marinating them overnight, during a full moon, and cooking them over volcanic rocks in direct sunshine while blaring polka music. Or something equally complicated.

But when Ralph's put them on sale for less than $2 per pound, I just had to take a shot. After all, it's easy to justify failure when the downside is so low. I was determined to keep it quick, though.

I scored the steak with shallow cuts about 1/2" apart, then made a quick marinade: roughly equal parts of lemon juice, soy and Worcestershire, about as much canola oil as the other liquid ingredients, and a healthy sprinkle of my Tri-Wizard rub (rosemary salt, pepper, garlic and cayenne). I admit that I cheated just a little - I used one of those vacuum tubs to help the steaks absorb the marinade.

Then I let the steak sit on the counter for an hour to come up to room temp before grilling it hot and fast - about 4 minutes per side at 500F, then another 4 minutes on indirect heat, around 350F, until internal temps hit 135F. I let the steak rest for 5 minutes in a loosely covered dish on the counter, then sliced it very thinly across the grain and served.

I was pleasantly surprised - the meat was tender, juicy and flavorful. It's not going to make me forget about a ribeye or a tri-tip but, at $2 per pound, it's a heckuva bargain.

Cheeseburger Potstickers?

I've GOT to try these: cheeseburger potstickers. I think they'd be even better with a chipotle-mayo dipping sauce. And bacon.

I don't know about making the dough from scratch, though.... Has anyone made dumplings at home?

Help and Ideas please

My life is about to take a turn for the crazy and meal prep will be a bit more complicated. As many of you know I am an organizer. I love an organized life but am becoming very afraid my life is about to be turned upside down with the addition of a full time job. The kind where they want me to show up each and every day for work no matter if I have a plan for dinner or need to go grocery shopping. Needless to say, the whole family is going to be shell shocked.

With this change comes the question of how do I keep making fairly good quality meals in a timely fashion? I know the standards of doing prep like cutting of veggies the night before as well as having a menu and sticking to it but I only have so many ideas that can fall into these categories.

Please aid me with quick dinner ideas. Any and all will be greatly appreciated!

Oven-Baked Chicken Noodle Soup

OK, so it's not really baked - but I did finally try making stock in the oven, and I was very pleased with the results.

I had half a chicken left over from the weekend, and was craving homemade soup, but didn't want to be chained to the house all afternoon while the stock simmered. I'd been meaning to try making stock (or broth, really) in the oven, and I had plenty of other leftovers on hand, just in case it didn't turn out well.

So, I pulled the meat off the bird and threw the carcass into a saucepan, along with half an onion and half a dozen cloves of garlic (haphazardly chopped), a couple of turns of pepper and a little salt. Added water to cover, brought it to a boil, then popped it into the oven at 210F, uncovered. The meat went back into the fridge, and I went to the park, with the kids.

Two hours later, with a hungry crowd waiting, I strained the stock into another pot, threw in a handful each of celery and carrots and brought the stock back to boil. I added a little more salt, some white pepper, a dash of cayenne, and a smidge of dried thyme and marjoram, then dumped in two hands full of dried egg noodles. When the noodles were almost soft (about 7 minutes), the chopped chicken meat went in, along with a handful of minced parsley, for another two minutes. Done.

The result had very nice chicken flavor from the stock, fresh veggie flavors and textures, and just enough herbal taste to round out the palate. Nice - and easy; prepping the stock took less than five minutes, and finishing the soup couldn't have taken more than twenty minutes, most of it simmering time.

I'm told that the stock can go all day (or overnight) without any ill effects. As long as the oven temps stay below 212F or so, the stock will never boil - I'm guessing that you could probably go to 225F without any problem. If you decide to try a long oven simmer, do be sure to provide ample water to cover the bones, and go easy on the salt until you're ready to prepare the soup.

I'd remembered to put a baguette in the oven when I removed the stock, so we had nice crusty bread as an accompaniment. Hard to beat the combination, and you'll get a Norman Rockwell glow from the wholesome factor: homemade soup!

First Corn of the Summer

I'll admit to a healthy skepticism - bordering on superstition - of early corn; in the Midwest, you just don't eat corn on the cob before August, and only heretics and madmen would be seen wiping butter off their chins in May.

So, when sweet corn began to show up in our farmers market in April, I ignored it. My regular corn guy - the surly one with the straw hat and machete, in the southeast corner of the market - didn't have it and was somewhat incredulous when I asked if he expected it soon. This past weekend, though, my curiosity finally got the better of me, and I took home three ears of not-very-large and somewhat pale corn. In May.

And it was good! Not great - not the sublime stuff we can't get enough of in the late days of summer - but worlds better than anything coming out of the freezer case at Ralph's.

I usually soak fresh corn in cold water, sometimes in their husks, and sometimes shucked. These just got a shuck and a rinse and a light coating of olive oil and salt before hitting a hot grill. I turned them a few times, allowing them to get just a little scorched in a couple of places, then brushed on a little cumin-lime butter, our house dressing for corn. (It doesn't take more than 60 seconds - really! Microwave a couple of tablespoons of butter for 30 seconds, toss in a teaspoon or so of ground cumin, squeeze in half a lime, taste for salt, and slather it on the corn.)

Served with steaks and grilled asparagus - fat ones - drizzled with a little sherry vinegar. Not bad at all, for May.