Teriyaki Table

Tonight's dinner was a stir-fry of the last of my CSA ingredients for this week. As with all my stir-fries, I first complete my mise en place to ensure I'm ready to go. I chopped garlic scapes, washed pac choi, sliced tomatoes and sliced a Hungarian wax pepper that a coworker was kind enough to give me!

I also stirred up a little teriyaki-like sauce, made from equal parts sake and soy sauce, with about 2/3 as much brown sugar (give or take).

I started the stir-fry with some store-bought chicken sausage, sliced thin and sauteed.

When it was almost done after about six minutes, I added the tomatoes, scapes and pepper. I also added some of the sauce and let it all simmer away.

The juices from the tomatoes mix in the sauce to thin it a little, which is fine. I tend to let the sauce cook down to a little more than a glaze, about 8-9 minutes.

At the very end, I added the pac choi, large leaves first, to simmer in the glaze quickly and wilt a little. As the bigger leaves cook down, I add the smaller ones, and add in a few fresh herbs as well.

By now the kitchen smells fantastic, and the sauce has reduced down to a lovely glaze on all the vegetables.

I quickly added a couple turns of the pepper grinder, gave it all a stir, and dumped it onto a plate. It was a lovely plate of vegetables, with a little Asian flair. Yum! I am also particularly proud that, for the second week, I've eaten all of my vegetables! This is proving to be a good exercise in both cooking for one and in eating all my vegetables. Waste not!

Saturday Lunch

It was a hot Saturday here, so a simple, veggie-laden lunch sounded lovely. I still had my lettuce from the CSA, and it was fresh, though not as crisp as it had been. I decided to wilt it fully over some heat, so washed the lettuce and put it in a saute pan over medium heat.

Wilting lettuce.

After about 30 seconds of stirring, I added some sliced tomatoes to the pan as well. These released so much juice that the lettuce was able to cook a little slower! I adore tomatoes (these are campari tomatoes, commonly available in grocery stores - we don't have local tomatoes yet!) and put them in a lot of my food.

After cooking down the tomatoes for a few minutes, I added some pesto and a few slices of prosciutto, torn up. I sauteed this together for about two minutes.

While this did involve the stove top on a hot day, the entire cooking time was less than 10 minutes, and the flavors and colors were beautiful. It was such a lovely lunch!

More Devils...Still Mayonnaise Free!!!

I was asked about a recipe for deviled eggs. I am not the best with recipes...I tend to change them, or simply look at them and then not refer to them while cooking. That said, here's my best attempt. Let me know how they turn out!

Anti-Mayo Devils

4 eggs

mustard powder

country-style dijon mustard

chives

prosciutto

skim milk

sea salt

fresh ground pepper

Hard-boil the eggs. Let cool in chilled water, until they are cool. Peel the eggs (it's easiest when they're cooled!). Slice in half lengthwise, and scoop yolks into a small bowl. Put whites on a plate.

Crush yolks a little with a fork in the bowl. Chop chives, and add about a tablespoon of chives to the yolks. Chop prosciutto and add about one and a half tablespoons. You can add more chives and prosciutto if you want! Add a scant tablespoon of mustard powder, and a heaping tablespoon of dijon mustard. [Warning: I like the mustard flavor, so you may want to start with less.]

Crush and mix with a fork. Add about a tablespoon of milk, stir into yolk mixture, and repeat until the mixture achieves a nice, creamy consistency. I added about five or six tablespoons, I think. Taste and add salt and pepper as appropriate. Depending upon how salty the prosciutto is, you may not need any salt.

Carefully spoon the yolk mixture into the egg white shells. Top with a small slice of prosciutto, and enjoy!

Presto Pesto!

This week in my CSA goodies, I got a large handful of basil! I adore fresh pesto, and was excited to make some pesto with the fresh basil!

In my kitchen, I always make the pesto with basil, and perhaps a little parsley if I have it on hand. Often pesto recipes call for a mix of basil and parsley, as the basil has a sharper flavor...but I like it!

I began by toasting some nuts. Normally I use pine nuts, but I only had hazelnuts at home this time. I put them in a pan over medium-high heat, and let them start to get fragrant. Then I tossed them in the pan for a minute or so, until the skins began to darken.

Toasted hazelnuts, with their skins.

After they were toasted, I rubbed them in a paper towel to help remove the skins, and put about a handful of the toasted hazelnuts in my food processor. I added the leaves from my large handful of basil, about a two-inch chunk of fresh parmigiano-reggiano cheese, and some olive oil. I blitzed it for a minute or so.

Blitz de pesto!

At this point, I also put two garlic scapes in the oven at 350 to roast a bit. After about 15 minutes, they were soft and fragrant. I cut off the tender, curled ends, and tossed those soft, garlicky stems into the processor as well, with some additional basil leaves from the potted basil plant from the first week. [Side note: I am VERY proud of myself for keeping all three potted plants alive!]

Garlic scapes, basil and goodness.

I continued to pour a slow stream of oil into the processor until the pesto reached the right consistency, almost creamy and smooth, with small chunks of basil. It looked beautiful! At this point, I put on some water to boil for some store-bought cheese ravioli. When it was done cooking and drained, I put a few dollops of pesto into the pan and swirled it around. I put the leftover pesto in a little pyrex dish I have with a lid, and poured a little extra oil over it to keep it from drying out or oxidizing too much and turning black (it still tastes the same, but it is not very pretty!). I plated my ravioli and pesto and put a few shavings of parm on top...yum!

Mmm...ravioli, parm and pesto!

Funny Little Devils

I love my new fresh eggs, but I have not been eating as many eggs these days - it's hotter, so scrambled eggs for breakfast just don't have the same appeal for me! I had a lot of eggs left over, and needed to use them - I just got another half-dozen. So, in pondering what sounded good, it hit me. I love deviled eggs, and so rarely get to eat them. They're high protein, low carb and generally delicious! With these beautiful eggs, what better way to utilize and showcase their goodness for some light summer dinner?

Hard-boiling my eggs.

I started with four eggs, because I invariably have a hard time peeling the eggs; while I knew I'd have four yolks to work with, I wasn't sure I'd have eight white "shells" to fill! Sure enough, the first egg I peeled came apart. I rescued the yolk, intact, and managed to have about half of a white left. I had better luck with the others, but was only able to peel one perfectly (25% was satisfying in this particular challenge!).

My yolks and whites...or pieces of whites.

After my adventure in peeling eggs, I moved on to the filling. I chopped some chives, added some Colman's mustard powder, fresh ground pepper, salt, and some country style dijon mustard. I also pan-friend, for about 30 seconds, two slices of prosciutto, chopped, and added. I mashed it all together with a fork, and it tasted good, but wasn't creamy enough. I know that most people achieve that lovely creamy texture with mayonnaise, but not I. I have "issues" with mayonnaise (YUCK!) so I added a little milk at a time, slowly stirring to incorporate, until I achieved that lovely creaminess. My brother would approve - mayonnaise-free deviled eggs! I filled the egg white shells with the filling, and then I topped each egg with a slice of the prosciutto. I will definitely do this again, and will experiment with other flavor profiles as well! I tried one, and then shamelessly ate only deviled eggs for dinner.

Deviled Eggs for dinner...mmm...