1700 Miles of Cooking

Blue Crab Macaroni and Cheese

1diane — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 01:34:46 +0000

I went to Baltimore for New Years and on New Years Eve enjoyed Gruyere mac and cheese with Blue Crab at the Pratt Street Ale House. It was a wonderfully sinful bit of deliciousness to ring out 2012. I didn’t think much about it after that, but then I got some cheeses for Christmas and among the cheeses was a gruyere. I thought about the mac and cheese from New Years Eve and set about to recreate it.

8 oz of pasta (I used a garden penne)

2 cups of milk (or cream)

2 cups of shredded cheese (I used a combination of gruyere, creamy gouda, blue cheese, and parmesean)

3 tbls of butter

1 medium sweet onion

3 tbls of flour

1 tsp of salt

1 tsp of pepper

1/2 tsp of shaved nutmeg

1 pound of lump crab meat

Cook pasta as per box instructions. Preheat oven to 325. In a saucepan melt butter add salt, pepper and diced onion – simmer until onion is translucent, add flour and whisk until smooth. Slowly add in milk and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and gradually add in the gruyere, gouda and blue cheese. In a greased casserole dish, add pasta, stir in cheese mixture and blue crab – sprinkle the top with parmesean cheese. Bake for about 25 minutes – until bubbling. Serve immediately.

Vegan dinner of Quinoa and Beans and Vegetables

1diane — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 00:53:36 +0000

This was my dinner tonight – so yummy and very filling. It is also super easy.

Start with chopping a couple of peppers (I had red and yellow peppers) about a 1/2 a large onion and a carrot (shredded). Saute in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and a dash of salt and red pepper and about 2 cloves of chopped garlic. Saute for a few minutes. Add a cup of quinoa (not cooked) and a can of black beans (rinsed and drained). Stir and add 2 cups of water. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until all water is absorbed (stirring frequently). Quinoa will bloom when it is cooked. When quinoa is done – remove from heat and stir in about four cups of fresh spinach – stir until wilted. Serve with shredded cheese (for non vegan) and some hot sauce.

Smoked Salmon Salad

1diane — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 00:17:36 +0000

This is a my version of a salad I had for dinner in Aspen. This is such a yummy salad and it is so pretty. Build on a bed of mixed greens. This salad had shaved carrots, fresh tomatoes and peppers from the garden, and cucumber. Layer the salad with smoked salmon and sprinkle with goat cheese, capers and pine nuts. I served it with a light champagne vinegarette. It is definitely a salad I will make again!

Basil Salt

1diane — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 00:09:27 +0000

What do you do when you grow more basil than you can use? Well I dried some; I have a freezer full of pesto so I decided to try a recipe I saw in a magazine – basil salt. Hmm – makes sense to me. It couldn’t be easier. Combine equal portions of kosher salt (I used sea salt) and basil. Pulse together in food processor; spread on a pan and heat at 225 degrees for about 30 minutes or until dry…toss salt about 1/2 way through cooking. Let the mixture cool – then put back in the food processor and pulse until the mixture is fine. Use to season tomatos and other summer veggies – I also figure I can use it in pretty much anything that calls for salt – I haven’t tried it on anything yet, but I am excited about it…it smells deliciously basily.

Asparagus Pesto

1diane — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 22:58:00 +0000

I had some asparagus in the fridge I really needed to use but it was way more than I could eat in a traditional way. Having been up to my ears in basil lately, I have been making a lot of pesto so I thought I could use asparagus in the same way. I cut about 2 cups of asparagus stalks in to two-inch pieces (discard the very bottom of the asparagus). Boil asparagus until tender (time will vary depending on the thickness of the asparagus); Drain asparagus and put stalks into the food processor; add a heaping tablespoon of minced garlic, and start to pulse food processor; slowly add olive oil until you get the consistency you want; add about a 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese and blend together. You can add pine nuts to the recipe, but I left them out as I am planning to share the pesto with a friend who can not eat nuts. I served this over some linguini – very tasty and the asparagus is a nice vibrant summer green!

Chicken Scaloppine

1diane — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 01:49:04 +0000

I saw this recipe in Clean Eating magazine and it sounded yummy.
Ingredients:

1/2 lb whole wheat pasta (I used multi-grain, I haven’t been able to make that whole wheat leap)

2 tsp olive oil

1 lb boneless, chicken breast

1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

1 large lemon, zested and thinly sliced (about 8 rounds)

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

2 cups baby arugula (I used spinach)

1/4 cup grate parmesan

Directions:

Cook pasta according to directions

Brush Chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. - add to heated saute pan and sear on each side for 1 minute. Top chicken with lemon slices and cover with chicken broth and cover – simmer for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes (or until chicken is done) remove chicken and lemon slices and cover. Add to the pan spinach and lemon zest. Spoon pasta into bowl and add chicken and lemon and sprinkle with parmesan.

The picture on the left is from the magazine – the picture on the right is mine = I think I got pretty close. (Oh – I also topped mine with feta – it needed just a bit more flavor)

Black Rice?? Yes – my new favorite thing!

1diane — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:21:02 +0000

I have recently discovered black rice. I saw it in a magazine and then found it in a local spice store. It is so tasty and made for a wonderful stir fry meal. I cooked the black rice like I would any rice – in my steamer. For the stir fry I made a new sauce:

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

juice of 2 limes

3 tbsp of soy sauce

3 tbsp of honey

2 tsp of sesame seeds

3 tbsp of Sriracha sauce

2 tbsp of peanut butter (you can omit this, but I was cooking for some sensitive pallets and the peanut butter cooled off the sauce a bit)

In a pan – stir fry broccoli until almost done – add shrimp and sauce when shrimp is done, toss in cooked black rice and heat - serve immediately – it is WAY yummy.

Chocolate Bread Pudding

1diane — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 19:13:31 +0000

Still testing the recipes that came with my new crock pot. Did I mention I got a new crock pot? I got Fagor 3-1 cooker. It is a rice cooker, slow cooker, and pressure cooker. I have not braved the pressure cooker yet. I tried the Chocolate Bread Pudding recipe that came with the booklet. It turned out great and would work in any slow cooker and it was delicious and made for a good breakfast the next day.

1 cup butter

1/4 sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 eggs

1 1/2 cup chocolate milk

1/4 cup strong coffee

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate chunks)

4 cups stale bread – ripped into bite sized pieces (the recipes says cut into cubes, but I could not see the logic in that)

In a bowl, beat the butter, sugar & cinnamon with a mixer. Add the eggs and beat until fluffy. Mix in the chocolate milk, coffee, raisins and chocolate chips. Fold in the bread. Pour into slow cooker and set the heat to low. Cook for 5 hours. (The recipe also calls for 1 cup of pecans, but I didn’t have them and don’t really like nuts in my food so I left them out.)

Tuna Steaks seared Himalayan Salt Block

1diane — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 21:17:35 +0000

I got a Himalayan salt block for my birthday so I decided to break it in on the person who gave it me by cooking their birthday dinner on the salt block.

This is not one of those things you can do on the spur of the moment. The block has to be heated up slowly starting at low heat and gradually increasing heat until it is hot enough to cook on – this took about 40 minutes for me. Once the block was hot it was just like cooking on anything else.

I marinated the tuna in honey, soy sauce, garlic and dijon mustard. Then I seared the tuna for about 4 minutes a side. The tuna tasted lightly salty, a nice accompaniment to the meatiness of the steaks. Everyone was satisfied with the taste of the fish. I would do a couple of things differently next time, mainly adding a layer of aluminum foil under the stone. As you can see from the picture, the juices are just dripping off the side of the block. It made a pretty big mess on my stove, but I didn’t care – it was yummy!

Pasta with roasted vegetables and shrimp

1diane — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 21:47:32 +0000

This is such an easy recipe and a real crowd-pleaser. Chop vegetables into bite sized pieces. I used zucchini, tomatoes, and onion. Preheat oven to 375 – and start a pot of water to boil for pasta. Put vegetables on a cookie sheet with garlic and olive oil. Roast vegetables for about twenty minutes. Add shrimp and feta or blue cheese and return to oven until the shrimp are done. Toss over pasta. I also added pesto to this and it was delicious.