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Inspiration for wholesome weeknight & weekend cooking.

Posts tagged ‘weekend’

Orecchiette with Veal, Capers & White Wine

I know this dish might sound a little strange, but we LOVE it.  It has the most delicious taste and it’s not hard to make.  I could eat this once every two weeks!  Two quick notes: 1) I add a bit more capers than the recipe calls for below and 2) If I ever have leftover white wine that would go to waste, I freeze it in little baggies for cooking.  This way, if a recipe calls for just 1/2 cup of white wine, I don’t need to open a new bottle just for this (although, that would be a good excuse!)  Hope you like this dish as much as we do!

Orecchiette with Veal, Capers and White Wine

Recipe from Food and Wine (contributed by Grace Parisi).

Orecchiette with Veal, Capers and White Wine

TOTAL TIME: 40 MIN
SERVINGS: 4
“The sauce fits the pasta,” said judge Marc Vetri in praise of this tender veal ragù flavored with white wine, capers, thyme and rosemary, then tossed with the little ear-shaped orecchiette. “The meat, the capers—they hang on to the pasta when you lift up your fork.”
  1. In a large, deep skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the chopped onion and minced garlic and cook over moderately high heat, stirring frequently, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the veal, season with salt and pepper and raise the heat to high. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the veal is no longer pink and any liquid has evaporated, about 8 minutes.
  2. Add the white wine to the skillet and boil over high heat until nearly evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock, thyme, rosemary and capers and simmer over moderate heat until the liquid is reduced by half, about 10 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, cook the orecchiette in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain the pasta well and add it to the skillet along with the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, chopped parsley and butter. Cook over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until the sauce is thick and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to bowls and serve right away.
MAKE AHEAD The veal sauce can be covered and refrigerated overnight. Rewarm the veal sauce before serving.
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Tate’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tate’s chocolate chip cookies have always been my favorite store bought cookies (and they’re now pretty widely distributed – you can find them at Whole Foods and major grocery stores).  They have nicely shared their wonderful recipe so we can make them at home!  I think it’s the perfect chocolate chip cookie – thin, chewy yet crispy, salty and buttery…  You can cook them anywhere from 8-12 minutes (8 minutes make chewy cookies, 12 minutes make crispy cookies).  I like to cook them for 10 minutes.  Try them with dark chocolate chips too sometime.  Enjoy!

Tate's Choc Chip Cookie

Recipe adapted from Tate’s Bake Shop and posted on Gwyneth Paltrow’s blog Goop.

Tate’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 40 cookies.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) lightly salted butter, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 1 teaspoon water
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (Nestlé can’t really be beat)

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 350º.

2. Whisk the flour, soda and salt together in a bowl.

3. In another large bowl, mix the butter with a wooden spoon to lighten it a bit and then mix in the sugars.

4. Add the water, vanilla and eggs to the butter mixture.

5. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined and then fold in the chocolate chips.

6. Using two soup spoons, drop the cookies 2″ apart onto two nonstick or greased cookie sheets.

7. Bake for 8 minutes, rotating the sheets after 4 minutes.

8. Remove the cookies to a wire rack to cool, and repeat the process with the rest of the batter.

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Katharine Hepburn’s Brownies

When I came across Katharine Hepburn’s family recipe for brownies in Gourmet Magazine, my curiosity was piqued.  Katharine Hepburn — wouldn’t you think she would hold something to the highest standards and be associated with something very classic, old-fashioned, and American as a delicious homemade brownie?  I did…  Indeed, this is the best brownie recipe I’ve tried. You can really taste the butter, salt, chocolate and nuts in each bite and they are nice and moist in the middle yet crispy on the top.  Delicious!  The recipe only makes 9 brownies, and that’s just not going to be enough (trust me), so you might want to double the recipe.  Note:  I thought 1/2 cup chopped walnuts was plenty.

Brownie

Recipe from Gourmet Magazine.

Katharine Hepburn’s Brownies

Makes 9 brownies.

Ingredients

  • 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter
  • 2 squares unsweetened chocolate (2 ounces)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preparation

1. Melt together 1 stick butter and 2 squares unsweetened chocolate and take the saucepan off the heat.

2. Stir in 1 cup sugar, add 2 eggs and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and beat the mixture well.

3. Stir in 1/4 cup all-purpose flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt. (In the original recipe, 1 cup chopped walnuts is added here as well.)

4. Bake the brownies in a buttered and floured 8-inch-square pan at 325°F for about 40 minutes.

You can cut these brownies into squares, once they have cooled, and eat them out of the pan, but it is so much nicer to pile them on a fancy plate, from which people are going to eat them with their hands anyway. If you want to smarten up your act you can put a square of brownie on a plate with a little blob of créme fraîche and a scattering of shaved chocolate.

Original source: “A Harried Cook’s Guide to Some Fast Food” by Laurie Colwin

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Zucchini Bread

I have a weakness for zucchini bread and banana bread.  It’s great to snack on and great toasted with butter for breakfast.  This is my favorite zucchini bread recipe – I don’t think it gets any better than this!

Zucchini Bread

Recipe slightly adapted from The Silver Palate Cookbook.

Zucchini Bread

Makes 2 loaves.

“For best flavor, wrap the breads when cool and let stand overnight before serving.  With its sugar, spice and nuts, this is a tea bread, almost cake-like.”

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons sweet butter, melted or at room temperature (plus an extra 2 teaspoons for greasing loaf pans)

3 eggs

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups grated unpeeled raw zucchini

2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup shelled walnuts, chopped

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Generously butter two 9×5 inch loaf pans.  Line bottoms of pans with parchment paper and brush with butter.

2. In a large bowl, beat the butter, eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla until light and thick.  Fold the grated zucchini into the oil mixture.

3. Sift the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.  Stir into zucchini mixture until just blended.  Fold in the walnuts.

4. Pour the batter into the buttered loaf pans.  Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

5. Cool slightly, remove from pans, and cool completely on a rack.

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Turkey Sausage Patties

My friend Sarah told me about this healthy breakfast sausage recipe that she makes for her family.  It’s great!  Next time I think I will make it with “dark” ground turkey (available at the meat counter at Whole Foods) since it is a bit more flavorful and less dry.  Mix this up the night before and it will brighten your Saturday or Sunday morning!  Note: I did use a pinch of Herbs de Provence, plus a little extra fennel seed, plus a bit of fresh rosemary.  Also, you can grind the spices in a mini prep processor or I have an extra coffee grinder that I dedicate to grinding nuts and spices only, and that worked well for this.

Turkey Sausage Patties

Recipe from Gwyneth Paltrow’s blog Goop.

Homemade Turkey Sausage Patties

“Sausage patties are one of the easiest things to make and are so much healthier and tastier than the scary processed options. Here I use a salt that I get at Borough Market in London that’s mixed with herbs de Provençe. If you can’t find it, simply use a pinch of herbs de Provençe, a little extra fennel seed and maybe a bit of rosemary.”

Serves: 4
Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • pinch of hot chili flakes
  • pinch of cayenne pepper
  • pinch of herbs de Provençe salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage
  • 1/2 pound ground turkey
  • 2 teaspoons real Vermont maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

1. Using a mortar and pestle, Flavor Shaker (gotta love Jamie Oliver) or mini food processor, bash the fennel seeds, chili, cayenne, salts and black pepper together. Combine this spice mixture with the sage, turkey and maple syrup in a bowl until thoroughly combined.

2. Form the mixture into 12 small, thin patties. Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Cook the sausages for about a minute and a half on each side, pressing down with your spatula to really brown them and keep them thin. Serve warm.

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Caramelized Onion Ricotta Tart

This is my “go to” hors d’oeuvre to serve with cocktails.  It’s light and fresh tasting and I think it’s nice to serve people something warm out of the oven.  When thawing my puff pastry, I do set a kitchen timer for the thawing time (40 minutes) on the counter (if you let it sit much longer than that, it can get sticky and really hard to handle and mess up your whole recipe).  I’ve heard you can also thaw it in the fridge, but I haven’t tried that yet.

Caramelized Onion Tart

Recipe from blog Annie’s Eats.

Caramelized Onion Ricotta Tart
Serves: 8-12

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. butter

1 medium-large yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp. sugar
¼ tsp. salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tbsp. white wine (optional)
½ cup ricotta cheese
1 egg yolk
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Minced fresh parsley, for garnish

Directions:

  • Preheat the oven to 350° F.  In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, melt the butter.  Add the sliced onion, thyme, sugar, salt, pepper and white wine to the pan.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions have fully caramelized and are golden brown in color, about 20-25 minutes.  Remove from the heat and set aside.  In a small bowl whisk together the ricotta and egg yolk until smooth.
  • To assemble the tart, lay the puff pastry sheet on a baking sheet and fold in each edge about 1 inch.  Spread the ricotta mixture over the puff pastry (you may not use it all).  Sprinkle about half of the Parmesan cheese over the ricotta mixture.  Layer the caramelized onions evenly over the ricotta mixture.  Top with the remaining Parmesan.  Bake 25-30 minutes, until the puff pastry is golden and baked through.  Garnish with fresh parsley, if desired.  Slice into squares or rectangles and serve warm.
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