Strictly speaking, it is not yet summer, but it is after Memorial Day and it did get up to 87 today, so I think it counts.
After playing tennis in the heat for an hour or so after work, neither of us were in the mood for hot food. We did not have much in the way of ingredients, but upon Jen's suggestion of a cold pasta salad, I did the best that I could with what we had on hand and ended up with a winner.
Ingredients:
12 oz. of some sort of macaroni product (I scavenged some pasta shells from a box of Mac and Cheez)
1 Anjou pear (largish)
~0.25 cups each of raisins, golden raisins, dried cherries, and dried currants
0.76 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Dressing:
olive oil
apple cider vinegar
cinnamon
allspice
nutmeg
red pepper
salt
I cooked the pasta first and, after draining, put it in a bowl in the fridge to cool. Then I cut the pear into salad-appropriate sized pieces and combined with the dried fruit and dressing.
To make the dressing, I combined equal amounts olive oil and vinegar, added a splash of water to cut it a bit, and then added the spices, which are listed in order of descending amount (i.e. - more cinnamon than allspice). Sorry, I did not measure the amounts, but I was quite generous.
After the pasta cooled down to slightly lower than room temperature (I mixed the pasta in the fridge several times to help it cool faster), I took it out of the fridge and tossed in the fruit, dressing, and cheese.
It turned out quite good ... the dressing was not strong enough to overpower the subtle pear flavor and added just a little bit of tang. The only change I would make would be to perhaps use apple instead of pear (for the texture difference), but Jen disagrees.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Kielbasa and Stir Fried Veggies
Nothing terribly inspiring or fancy when I cooked last night.
I was in need of some sort of meat and had a hankering for kielbasa, so I picked some up from the grocery to accompany the fresh asparagus that Jen brought home from her folk's this weekend.
The sausage was just cooked in a frying pan.
The asparagus I stir fried in some olive oil with soy sauce, worchestershire sauce, and lime juice (3 parts, 1 part, 1 part, respectively). It turned out quite good. The lime juice caramelized a bit in the hot wok, so the sauce had a bit of sweet undertones to the salty/savory of the soy and worchestershire.
We're going to be out of the apartment this weekend, so no cooking for me until Sunday at the earliest.
I was in need of some sort of meat and had a hankering for kielbasa, so I picked some up from the grocery to accompany the fresh asparagus that Jen brought home from her folk's this weekend.
The sausage was just cooked in a frying pan.
The asparagus I stir fried in some olive oil with soy sauce, worchestershire sauce, and lime juice (3 parts, 1 part, 1 part, respectively). It turned out quite good. The lime juice caramelized a bit in the hot wok, so the sauce had a bit of sweet undertones to the salty/savory of the soy and worchestershire.
We're going to be out of the apartment this weekend, so no cooking for me until Sunday at the earliest.
Monday, May 7, 2007
Honey Beer Sauce, Take 2
Tonight I had much better success with the sauce. Still not perfect, but I did not burn it and the pork chops turned out fine.
This time the recipe was thus:
2 oz. Bell's Oberon Beer
2 oz. Dutch Gold Orange Blossom Honey
Combined in a medium sauce pan and brought to a boil over medium heat (this did not take long given the reduced volume of liquid and the increased surface area of using a larger pan). Reduced heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes.
The pork chops I cooked to medium in a some olive oil with a little cracked pepper and kosher salt. I also fried up some thin slices of Granny Smith apple in butter to put on top of the chops.
On the side was some plain white rice and some sugar snap peas that I briefly stir-fried with olive oil and soy sauce (to add a salty/savory counter to the sweet sauce).
The sauce was a little runny, and too sweet. I think I needed to reduce it a little more (to solve the runny problem) and next time I will try a different beer. Oberon is a relatively sweet wheat beer. Next time I think I will try a lager such as Sam Adams.
The apples were soggy, but nice and tart. I will use Granny Smith again next time, but will try deep frying them instead of pan frying. I am not sure how the chef got his fried apples crispy, as apples naturally go mushy when cooked. Perhaps I will ask my brother, who is a professional chef, and knows his way around a kitchen.
Jen quite liked it, though, so the meal was a success.
This time the recipe was thus:
2 oz. Bell's Oberon Beer
2 oz. Dutch Gold Orange Blossom Honey
Combined in a medium sauce pan and brought to a boil over medium heat (this did not take long given the reduced volume of liquid and the increased surface area of using a larger pan). Reduced heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes.
The pork chops I cooked to medium in a some olive oil with a little cracked pepper and kosher salt. I also fried up some thin slices of Granny Smith apple in butter to put on top of the chops.
On the side was some plain white rice and some sugar snap peas that I briefly stir-fried with olive oil and soy sauce (to add a salty/savory counter to the sweet sauce).
The sauce was a little runny, and too sweet. I think I needed to reduce it a little more (to solve the runny problem) and next time I will try a different beer. Oberon is a relatively sweet wheat beer. Next time I think I will try a lager such as Sam Adams.
The apples were soggy, but nice and tart. I will use Granny Smith again next time, but will try deep frying them instead of pan frying. I am not sure how the chef got his fried apples crispy, as apples naturally go mushy when cooked. Perhaps I will ask my brother, who is a professional chef, and knows his way around a kitchen.
Jen quite liked it, though, so the meal was a success.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Honey Beer Sauce, Take 1
Today I made my first attempt at recreating the amazing Honey Beer Sauce that I had while in New Zealand (see the blog). It was not terribly successful.
The chef at the Blue Duck said the sauce was 50% beer and 50% honey, mixed and reduced for several of hours.
Here is what I did:
1 c. Bell's Oberron beer
1 c. Dutch Gold Orange Blossom Honey
I combined them in a small sauce pan and brought to a boil over medium heat while stirring. Once it was a boil, I reduced the heat to medium-low and let it simmer, stirring occasionally for 1.25 hours. At that point it the sauce was starting to look a little dark, so I reduced the heat to low. After another 0.25 hours, I took it off the heat, but it was too late ... the sauce had a distinct burnt sugar flavor to it. Bah.
Due to circumstances beyond my control, we did not end up eating the pork chops tonight anyway, so I will try again tomorrow, this time with much less time on the heat. I suspect that when the chef said "reduce it for a four hours or so" it was for a much larger volume of sauce than I was making.
The chef at the Blue Duck said the sauce was 50% beer and 50% honey, mixed and reduced for several of hours.
Here is what I did:
1 c. Bell's Oberron beer
1 c. Dutch Gold Orange Blossom Honey
I combined them in a small sauce pan and brought to a boil over medium heat while stirring. Once it was a boil, I reduced the heat to medium-low and let it simmer, stirring occasionally for 1.25 hours. At that point it the sauce was starting to look a little dark, so I reduced the heat to low. After another 0.25 hours, I took it off the heat, but it was too late ... the sauce had a distinct burnt sugar flavor to it. Bah.
Due to circumstances beyond my control, we did not end up eating the pork chops tonight anyway, so I will try again tomorrow, this time with much less time on the heat. I suspect that when the chef said "reduce it for a four hours or so" it was for a much larger volume of sauce than I was making.
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