Salad Days

Yes it is summer. I do not seem to be posting as much. Guess I am just taking it easy. 

I would like to send a shout out to all the deer in our neighborhood. 

"Thank you for not eating the flowers in front of our house this summer!!!"

 

 It is so nice to wake up and see flowers and not the chomped off stems.

 Ah summer! Just hot enough to reduce the time spent in  the kitchen.

Tonight's post features not one, but two salads. One is a summer favorite, Shaved Zucchini Salad with Parmesan and Pine Nuts. I added snow peas, Burrata cheese and bread crumbs. The Burrata and bread crumbs were left over from the salad I made last night.

And that brings us to the other salad ...

Eggplant, Tomato and Burrata with Anchovy Breadcrumbs. I found this on The Italian Dish blog.
I went to a party last night and brought this salad. It was a hit. I saved a little so we could have it with dinner tonight. The oven had to be turned on for the roasting of the Eggplant but I did that early in the day, before it got too hot! I loved the breadcrumbs. I used leftover olive bread that I had in the freezer. Just a perfect summer salad. Click here for the salad recipe.

This morning I made some Very Blueberry Scones. The recipe is from Smitten Kitchen. I liked combining the whole wheat and white flour. Makes it seemed "healthier"!

One Large Butternut Squash and Some Tomatoes

It was not hot out today. It was autumn like. Wow, I got so much cooking done today. But let's just focus on dinner for right now. Meatloaf. Yes the grill is perhaps getting ready for hibernation. So the oven is back on. The Meatloaf was delicious. I sauteed chopped onions and shredded carrots. They were added to the ground beef along with some horseradish dressing, ketchup, Worcestershire Sauce. I was going to add some breadcrumbs or chopped Italian bread but did not. I brushed the top of the meatloaf with ketchup and put crushed fried onions on top. It was in the oven for over an hour, until the internal temperature was 160 degrees. Did I mention it was delicious?

 

Now about the Butternut Squash and the tomatoes. I saw my sister yesterday and she presented me with 2 Butternut Squash from their garden. Earlier in the week she sent a photo of the harvest and I said yes.

I had a couple of things planned for the squash. I was not expecting them to be quite so large. One was over 4 pounds and the other was over 5 pounds. I used the larger one today to make a large pan, 8 servings, of Butternut Squash Soup. I also made a Butternut Squash and Pasta Casserole. So we got 5 meals from one squash, and probably a couple of lunches too! And the other squash will be taken care of next weekend.

The tomatoes were perfect. I have wanted to make the Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter recipe for a while. Oh, it came out so good. The recipe said to remove the onion, but I was reading some comments and a few people kept it in and so I blended it with an immersion blender. That went into the freezer for another night. Can't wait.

Homemade Popsicles

Today Anna and Andrew paid us a visit. Actually, I think they came to see Archie and Lucy.

I make a Stromboli filled with zucchini, onion, Prosciutto and Hot Capicola as an appetizer. Nice flavors. The Spicy Capicola was a nice addition. We had something super easy for lunch. Hot Dogs. It was something I knew they would both like. Andrew even had 2! I made the Friselle con pomodoro as a side dish. Yeah, I do love that recipe.

For dessert I tried something different.

Homemade Popsicles with Fruit, Cream Cheese, Greek Yogurt which I had pinned from The Italian Dish blog. These were simple to make. They were very good, but I did pick up a couple of cupcakes from Meriano's Bakery for the kids just in case. I think they were happy with the option.

Homemade Popsicles with Fruit, Cream Cheese, Greek Yogurt recipe from The Italian Dish blog.

I made 8 popsicles, I happened to have just enough fruit in the house for  the 8. This recipe makes 24.

You will need 24 3-ounce Dixie cups and 24 popsicle sticks

For the fruit purees:

16 ounces fresh strawberries, leafy tops removed
8 tablespoons confectioners sugar, divided
20 ounces fresh blueberries

For the cream cheese/yogurt layer:

12 ounces cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup confectioners sugar
1 cup plain Greek yogurt

Place strawberries and 4 tablespoons sugar in a food processor and process until pureed.  Scrape out the puree and pour into a bowl - don't bother to clean the processor.  Place the blueberries and 4 tablespoons sugar in the processor and puree.  Empty into another bowl.

Place the softened cream cheese, 2/3 cup sugar and yogurt into a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Blend well.

Make the popsicles:  Place the Dixie cups on a sheet that will fit into your freezer. Pour a scant tablespoon of the blueberry puree into each of the cups.  For the second layer, place a level tablespoon of yogurt filling into the cups.  I like to do this with two spoons - it makes it easier, scraping the filling off from one spoon into the cup. With the back of a spoon, smooth down the yogurt layer so it's level.  For the third layer, place a level tablespoon of strawberry puree on top of the yogurt filling.  For the final layer, place a rounded teaspoon of blueberry puree on top.  Place a popsicle stick in each cup and place in the freezer at least 3 hours or until firm.

To serve, remove from freezer and let sit about 10 minutes. You can gently squeeze out the popsicles or just tear off the paper with care.

Pasta Pie

  A what? And what is the crust? Ground Beef!

 I wish I had a photo of Chris's face when he saw this. Pure joy.

 I had seen this recipe on the The Italian Dish site. It was described as a meal good for a wintery night. Well today it was maybe 45 degrees out. It was rainy and damp so this was a perfect meal.

  It was crazy to cut into it like a pie. It was like a mile high pasta pie!

Tuscan Roast Pork in A Baguette & Quiona Tabbouleh Salad

Tuscan Roast Pork in a Baguette is from The Italian Dish blog. I am sure I have mentioned this blog before. If you have not visited there do so now. Now really click on the link in the first line and check it out. Don't worry if you click on that link, it will open in a new window so you can get back here. I am not even putting the recipe on my blog. You will find it here.

So how was this? Really amazing. The house smelled so good. The meat was cooked perfectly. The bread was crunch on the top and soft on the bottom from the meat juices and olive oil. Yum!

Our side dish was also a hit. Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad. The recipe is from TasteFood. This will certainly be made again.

Ingredients -
1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed

Salt

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

3 scallions, white and green parts thinly sliced

1 large carrot, peeled, finely grated

1 medium sweet red pepper, stemmed and seeded, finely diced

1 jalapeno pepper, stemmed and seeded, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh mint

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

Method -
Place quinoa, 2 1/2 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until water is absorbed and the grains release their germ, about 15 minutes. Transfer quinoa to a large bowl. Add oil and stir to coat. Cool to room temperature.
Stir the remaining ingredients except the fresh herbs into the quinoa. Taste for seasoning and add more salt if desired. (Tabbouleh may be prepared in advance to this point. Cover and refrigerate up to 6 hours). Before serving, fold in the fresh herbs. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Bucatini all'Amatriciana

Chris and I love Cacio e Pepe so when I saw the recipe for Bucatini all'Amatriciana on The Italian Dish blog I had to make it. I used spaghetti in place of the bucatini. But I was able to find San Marzano tomatoes. Dinner was delicious.

Where were we last night? We went to the Infinity Music Hall for dinner and to see Chielli Minucci and Special FX with Special Guest Bernie Williams. Yes that Bernie Williams from the Yankees. It was an amazing show.
They opened with Little Wing and this was their last song.

Cacio e Pepe

I had planned on making something completely different for dinner tonight but time flew and this was the next best thing. Cacio e Pepe. I had seen this recipe on The Italian Dish blog this morning. I have made this before and Chris and I love it. I first heard of this dish on the Anthony Bourdain show, No Reservations. The pepper taste is wonderful especially with the bottle of Ruffino, Chianti Superiore 2009 that Chris brought home.
And don't forget to watch the Simpson's tomorrow night. Marge starts a food blog!

Two Tomato Pasta with Mozzarella, Basil & Toasted Almonds

This recipe is a twist on a recipe that I saw online last week. The blog The Italian Dish has a lot of amazing recipes. This one was suppose to be Two Tomato Pasta with Mozzarella, Basil & Pine Nuts. Never mind that on the blog the dish is presented in a beautiful bowl, the pasta looked delicious.
My variation started with not roasting the tomatoes. I sauteed them in a little olive oil and salt to make a quick sauce. I also opted for the orrecchiete because, well I had it in the cabinet!
Oh there was one other change I made... the pine nuts. $9.00 for a small container of pine nuts! Seriously! No way was I going to make that purchase. So I went to Food52 and visited the FoodPickle and typed in substitution for pine nuts... toasted skinless almond, which I had in the cupboard!
We both enjoyed this. The tomatoes were so nice ripe and the basil was from my plant on the deck.

Meatball Pizza

Meatballs, Ricotta and Mozzarella Cheese. Really good...
But first there was breakfast... I saw this recipe on The Italian Dish. Nutella Bread... Just the name puts a smile on my face!

 But no Nutella Bread for kitties!

Baked Ziti with Eggplant

Tonight we all ate at my dad's house to celebrate Father's Day. I made a big pan of Baked Ziti with Eggplant. I was cruising the Internet and found the perfect recipe. Only change I made was not adding  spinach... But I added these amazing meatballs.

Dad enjoyed it and seemed pleased that there was some left over.  Click here for the original recipe.
The ingredients....

My sister-in-law, Ann, made a salad and brought this salad dressing which I had never tried, Super Berry Vinaigrette. New favorite dressing!
For dessert I made a No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake which I had bookmarked on The Italian Dish blog. It was really good. The hardest part was finding a dish to put it in because I had to transport it to my dad's. I put together this crazy cover using a drying rack and plastic food covers. Photos... No! I even forgot to take a photo of the cake before I cut it. Trust me it looked just like the photo on The Italian Dish blog!

We had a nice bottle of my dad's 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon. And he showed me were he stores the "good wine"!

Happy Father's Day!

Stuffed Focaccia Bread with Sausage and Onions

When I saw this recipe knew I had to make it. It is from The Italian Dish blog. If you have time you have to visit this blog. Wonderful recipes. I knew Chris would enjoy this one. Amazing bread and the filling was just perfect. I made a salad to go with this and to have for lunch tomorrow!

Pork, Potatoes, and Vinegar Peppers

 

Guess where this recipe came from... Cooking with Chef Silvio. I know I am in a cookbook rut but this is such a good book! So Pork, Potatoes, and Vinegar Peppers or Maiale Pate e Pupacchie was fantastic. No leftovers. I think that sums up the meal.

I cut up a pork tenderloin into cubes. Cut up 1/2 lb of potatoes into wedges. Heated some olive oil and added the pork, the potatoes and some pickled peppers. Sauteed until the pork and the potatoes were cooked, about 35 minutes, stirring constantly. Seasoned with salt and pepper. Yum!

We had a nice wine with dinner. Lagone Aia Vecchia which was very nice and very cheap. Like $6.99 a bottle. The cherry finish was amazing.

I had found this recipe on The Italian Dish blog a while ago and finally tried it. Next time I need to wait to slice the bread. But other than that why wouldn't anyone make this recipe. A loaf of bread for 40 cents! Come on that is a good deal.

Is that a cat's tail I see in that photo?

 

Yes that is Archie being held by me. I am wearing my New Orleans Saints sweatshirt... sigh, maybe next year...