Don't be a Couch CousCous

I came home from work, picked up the kids, and took said kids to swim lessons - with a dinner plan in mind. The plan was to dine one a yummy salad, some grilled chicken, and some sushi rice. It was a Monday. Things can never go as planned. I opened the fridge and saw that the chicken was still frozen, popsicle frozen. It was already 7pm. I had about five minutes before my six-year-old would self-combust with screams of “I’m Hungry!” I had to do something. I offered tuna or salmon salad. She would have none of it. I found some baby hot dogs. I grilled them up with some onions and served them to her with some ketchup, sliced cucumbers and tomato, and some baby dill pickles.

Now what was I going to eat? Eyeing the fridge and the pantry, I came up with a concoction that was tasty and met the task at hand.

Monday Rushed Dinner – Served over some whole wheat couscous

3 shallots, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
½ large zucchini, diced
1 yellow squash, diced
5 Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced
1 Veggie Italian Sausage by Lightlife, diced
½ cup of cooked or canned cannellini beans
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
½ cup of vegetable broth
Chopped Fresh Basil
Chopped Fresh Thyme
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

Sautee the shallots and garlic in olive oil. Add in the Zuchini and squash. Add the “sausage.” Add the rest of ingredients. Cook it on medium heat for 15 minutes. It mushes up a bit. The broth gives it some sauciness.


I served it over couscous, but it would be just as good over rice or pasta even. Enjoy! Have a good week!

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Following a Fad

Maybe I am a sheeple...but it works.

The latest trend in bread baking was brought on by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois in their book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I just ordered the book. While I wait for the book to arrive, I decided to try out the master recipe that has been posted all across blogs and newspapers. The duo have a website, click here.

Master Recipe by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois
Makes four 1-pound loaves

3 cups lukewarm water (about 100º F)
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher or other coarse salt
6 1/2 cups all-purpose white flour (no need to sift)
Cornmeal for the pizza peel

In a 5-quart bowl, mix the yeast, water and salt. Add all the flour, then use a wooden spoon to mix until all ingredients are uniformly moist. It is not necessary to knead or continue mixing once the ingredients are uniformly moist. This will produce a loose and very wet dough.

Cover with a lid (not airtight). Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse, about 2 hours, but no more than 5 hours.

After rising, the dough can be baked immediately, or covered (non completely airtight) and refrigerated up to 14 days. The dough will be easier to work with after at least 3 hours refrigeration.

On baking day, prepare a pizza peel by sprinkling it liberally with cornmeal to prevent the bread from sticking when you transfer it to the oven. Uncover the dough and sprinkle the surface with flour. Pull up and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece of dough (serrated knives are best). Store the remaining dough in the bowl and refrigerate for baking at another time.

Hold the mass of dough in your hands and add a little more flour as needed so it won't stick. Create a smooth ball of dough by gently pulling the sides down around to the bottom, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. While shaping, most of the dusting flour will fall off. The bottom of the loaf may appear to be a collection of bunched ends, but it will flatten out during resting and baking. Shaping the loaf this way should take no more than 1 minute.
Place the dough on the pizza peel. Allow the loaf to rest for about 40 minutes. It does not need to be covered. The bread may not rise much during this time.

Twenty minutes before baking, place a pizza stone on the center rack of the oven. If you don't have a baking stone, use another baking sheet. Remove any upper racks. Place a broiler pan on a rack below the pizza stone or on the floor of the oven. Preheat oven to 450 F.

When the dough has rested for 40 minutes, dust the top liberally with flour, then use a serrated knife to slash a 1/4-inch-deep cross or tic-tac-toe pattern into the top.

Slide the loaf off the peel and onto the baking stone. Quickly but carefully pour 1 cup of hot water into the broiler tray and close the oven door.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is nicely browned and firm to the touch. Allow the bread to cool completely, preferably on a wire cooling rack.Here is a picture of my first try. I was definitely impressed and surprised that it worked.

It isn't so pretty, but it tastes good dipped in olive oil. Would be good with a good hearty soup. I hope for prettier bread with the remaining dough. I will add some rosemary and garlic with the next batch.

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I'm not really a balabuste...but I have some recipes for you

It's hot here in the Northeast. It's so hot that every night I am tempted to order takeout. I have been good. I have cooked, every night even. I apologize for neglecting to show you my goodies.

I will share with you some winners from this past weekend. I had an old roomie over for Shabbat, who declared me a balabuste. If she only knew. I can't be a balabuste if I can't cook a kugel. I can make some awesome rice dishes though.

Friday night is always rough on these long summer Shabbats. By the time Shabbat starts, you are super hungry, but too tired to eat. Still, I cooked, and I cooked some more. Guests are fun. On the Friday night menu was chicken soup, roasted maple glazed chicken with roasted root vegetables, a pilaf, steamed broccoli, and yummy garlicky green beans with shallots. I forgot to serve the sauteed zucchini. Sorry for the lack of pictures.

I don't have a name for my rice creation. I never use recipes for rice. I will admit that I have become overly confident in my knack for a good rice dish.

July 4th, 2008 Rice Dish

2 cups basmati rice
1 onion, diced
2 shallots, chopped
1 Tbsp. ginger, minced
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
handful of pinenuts
7 mushrooms, sliced
3 cups water or vegetable broth
coriander
olive oil
salt
pepper

In a large saute pan that you have a lid for, on medium-high heat, saute onions, garlic, shallots, and ginger. Throw in the rice. Let it toast a minute or two. Add in the sliced mushrooms. Saute one more minute. Add 1 Tbsp. of coriander, salt and pepper. Add in the pinenuts. Add the water or broth, and cover with a lid. Turn the heat down to medium-low. Walk away a bit until done.

For Shabbat Lunch, I made a pot roast in the crockpot, accompanied by a tasty assortment of salads. There was a large green salad, an imitation crabmeat salad, a couscous salad, a tomato basil salad, and hummus.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast - adapated from Allrecipes.com

4 pounds roast - I used chuck...just look for a nice hunk of meat, after a dozen plus hours in the crockpot - it's all good

salt and pepper to taste
1 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup of good red wine - reminder to always use wine you like to drink
3 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, chopped
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 stalk celery, chopped -

Take the chuck roast and season with salt and pepper to taste. Brown on all sides in a large skillet over high heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute a bit more.
Place in the slow cooker and add the broth, wine, carrots, onions, potatoes and celery.
Cover and cook on low. It is done after 10 hours, but I left it cooking overnight until lunchtime. The smell was heavenly at 6am.



"Crab" Salad - dedicated to my Aunt who introduced us to the yummy salad

1 Package of imitation crab meat, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped fine
Half of a small seedless cucumber, chopped
1 plum tomato, seeded and chopped
Juice of one lemon
chopped parsley
Pepper
1 Tbsp. Old Bay
1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard
1 1/2 Tbsp. Mayonaisse

Mix everything together and serve.




Tomato Basil Salad

5 Sliced Plum Tomatoes
Chopped Red Onion, about a quarter
Chopped Fresh Basil
Salt
Pepper
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

Mix all together. Enjoy! Good with some nice crusty challah to sop up the juices


CousCous Vegetable Salad - from www.fantasticfoods.com

2 cups cooked whole wheat couscous
6 green onions, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and cut into small pieces
1 cup cucumber, chopped
½ cup cooked (or canned) garbanzo beans
1 cup parsley, chopped

Mix all ingredients together and toss with the following salad dressing:

Dressing
¾ cup olive oil
½ cup fresh lemon juice
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste

All of these dishes were a hit. I had little to no leftovers...which in my book is always a good sign. I get ooked out by leftovers.

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