Giada's Baked Orzo with Fontina & Peas **Lite**

I love Food Network chef Giada De Laurentiis. Her recipes are so delicious and to me combine tradition with a new twist. I watched one of her latest episodes of Everyday Italian last week and saw her make a Baked Orzo with Fontina and Peas. Yesterday, I visited the Green Market in Piedmont Park and I discovered Pappardelle's Pasta. They've been around since 1984 selling artisanal pasta to restaurants. They only sell their pasta in select places around the country (mostly farmer's markets). They had a whole wheat orzo so I bought some of that and decided I would give a whirl with Giada's recipe. As I've mentioned before, I'm trying to watch what I eat so I needed to lighten up her recipe a bit. The results were amazing, perhaps I say that because I haven't tried the original recipe. But, if I keep telling myself that, I'll resist the urge to make it with heavy cream and butter. I used a mixture of mushrooms; morels, porcini, brazilian caps, ivory portabellas, shitake, and oyster. Any mushroom will do but this mix added a nice complexity to the dish. Here's my lightened up version. If you want to go all the way, click on the link above to see her original recipe. If you are counting points on Weight Watchers 1/8 of the pan is 9 points.

Baked Orzo with Fontina and Peas **Lite**
(Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis' Everyday Italian, Episode EI1112)
8 Servings

4 cups vegetable broth
1 pound orzo pasta
1 tablespoon of olive oil and some non-stick cooking spray
1 onion, chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 cup Marsala wine
1/2 cup evaporated skim milk
4 ounces shredded fontina cheese(about 1 cup)
4 ounces diced fresh mozzarella cheese (about 1 cup)
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 teaspoon dried thyme

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 9 by 13-inch baking dish with canola or olive oil cooking spray.

Bring the broth to a boil over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. Add the orzo and cook until almost tender, about 7 minutes. Pour the orzo and the broth into a large bowl. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a medium skillet. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and continue to saute until the mushrooms are beginning to turn golden around the edges, about 7 minutes. Add the Marsala. Scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan and cook until the Marsala has reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add the mushroom mixture to the orzo in the large bowl. Add the evaporated skim milk, fontina, mozzarella, peas, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.

In a small bowl combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan, and dried thyme. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture on top of the pasta. Bake until golden, about 25 minutes.

String Bean Heaven

I've always loved fresh string beans and tonight we grilled some steaks and had some delicious String Beans in Honey-Lemon-Mustard Vinaigrette. The recipe comes from Peter Berley's The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen. Berley was the former executive chef at the Angelica Kitchen in NYC, one of my favorite restaurants. His cookbook is amazing and really shows how much fun you can have in the kitchen without meat. This dish is a standout amongst the things I've made from his book. Give it a try!

String Beans in Honey-Lemon-Mustard Vinaigrette
(from Peter Berley's The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen)
Yield: 4-6 Servings

For the String Beans:

• 3 1/2 teaspoons of coarse sea salt
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced (I used a shallot)
• 1 1/2 pounds of string beans, trimmed
• 1 tablespoon of cider vinegar (I substituted rice vinegar)
  
• Pinch freshly milled black pepper

For the vinaigrette:

• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon of Dijon-style mustard
• 1 small garlic clove, crushed
• 1 teaspoon of mild honey
• 1/2 teaspoon of coarse sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• 3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil

1. Spread a clean kitchen towel on a baking sheet and set aside.
2. In a large pot, bring 3 quarts of water to a boil. Add 3 tablespoons of salt.
3. Place the sliced onion in a bowl and cover with 2 cups of the boiling water. Cover the bowl with a plate and set aside for 10 to 15 minutes.
4. Drop the beans into the remaining boiling water and cook, uncovered, for 4 to 6 minutes, until crisp-tender. Drain the beans and spread them on the cloth-lined pan.
5. Drain the onions and toss them with the vinegar, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Set aside.
6. To make the vinaigrette, combine the lemon juice, mustard, garlic, honey, salt, and cayenne in a large mixing bowl. Whisk until smooth. Slowly whisk in the oil until creamy.
7. Drain the onions once again and squeeze dry. Add the onions and the string beans to the vinaigrette and toss well.
8. Let marinate for 15 minutes at room temperature before serving.

Cooking my fav ethnic food

This week I prepared Vietnamese Style Rice with With Vegetables and Shrimp. The key ingredient is nuoc cham sauce, a staple of Vietnamese culture (sorta like ketchup in the US). The vietnamese table always has a bowl of the nuoc cham dipping sauce. The recipe for the nuoc cham comes from a fab London cookbook (love the London cookbooks!)-Lemongrass and Lime, New Vietnamese Cooking from Bam-Bou. Lets consider the nuoc cham the apex of this recipe:

Nuoc Cham

5 garlic cloves
2 large red chilies
2 fl oz fish sauce
3 1/2 fl oz water
2 fl oz rice vinegar
2 oz sugar
2 fl oz freshly squeezed lemon juice

1-Peel and finely chop the garlic. Slice the chilies in half, deseed (impt) and finely chop
2-In a heavy based saucepan, warm (do not boil) the fish sauce, water, vinegar, sugar, garlic and chilies. When the sauce becomes moderately hot, remove the saucepan from the heat and allow to cool
3-When the sauce is cooled (about 45 minutes), stir in lemon juice

Most of the rest of the recipe is a matter of lots of prepping and assembling:

1-Cook rice (I recommend a rice cooker-dependable rice every time and you can keep it gently warming)
2-Prepare your selected ingredients. In our case we chopped slivers of cucumbers, torn lettuce and chopped garlic onions.
3-"Semi-crush" 1/4 cup of peanuts
4-Steam 1/3 lb of shrimp

Time the cooking of the shrimp for when everything else is prepped and ready to be assembled. Layer a bowl with lettuce and top with 1 cup of rice. Top the rice with shrimp, peanuts, cucumbers and garlic onions. Then top with fried onion and top with 3-6 tbsp of nuoc cham sauce. Use Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce (the other Vietnamese ketchup) to spice up if you like.

The beauty of this recipe is that it doesn't need to be followed exactly. You don't have to have garlic onions. You may choose to use scallions. For veggies, you could add carrots or bean sprouts. You could use another meat, such as thinly sliced beef, pork or chicken. You can add cilantro, regular basil or Thai basil. You may also substitute rice vermicelli for plain rice.

Tip: Buy your ingredients at the asian store, you can expect to spend about 50% less on ingredients as compared to your local supermarket. Fried red onion and thai basil are available at your Asian grocery.

Porkja-vu: Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin & Roasted Pork & Black Bean Chili

OK, I know, I've been a little obsessed with pork lately. But, it's so easy to make (especially the boneless tenderloin) and it's quick (only about 45 minutes at a high temperature roast). I made a Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin this week and had a lot leftover. Instead of eating the pork the same way for the whole week I found a great recipe for Roasted Pork and Black Bean Chili from Rachael Ray's Just in Time. The concept was hers, she has a recipe for a Roasted Pork Loin with gravy and roasted potatoes and veggies in her book. She then gives recipes for the leftovers for the 2nd night and third night. I didn't make the roast pork from her book, but rather did a balsamic glaze from a Google search. I came up with the following recipe, courtesy of Carla's Kitchen and adapted from a FoodTV recipe. It was fantastic. I ended up marinating it for 48 hours because I didn't have time to cook it when I thought I would. I threw in some fingerling potatoes for the last 20 or 25 minutes of roasting. I also cooked it at 500 degrees for about 45 minutes or to 140 on a meat thermometer. Here's the way I made it:

Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin

(adapted from foodtv.com and Carla's Kitchen)

3-4 lb whole pork loin

For marinade:

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce (I used low sodium soy)

3 sprigs of rosemary

5 garlic cloves, halved

• Whisk together balsamic, honey, brown sugar, soy sauce, rosemary sprigs, and garlic.
• Put pork loin in a gallon sized freezer bag and pour marinade into the bag.
• Seal the bag with as little air as possible.
• Marinate for 2 hours (or 2 days in my case - LOL).
• Remove roast from marinade, do not discard the marinade.
• Roast in a 500 degree oven for 45 minutes, or until roast reaches 140 degrees.
• Pour marinade into a small saucepan.
• Bring the marinade to a boil (in order to kill bacteria).
• Reduce the heat to simmer and cook over low heat until thick, about 15 minutes. Reserve.
• In the last 10 or 15 minutes of roasting, brush reduced marinade onto pork loin.
• When you remove it from the oven, brush on one last coat of the glaze.

Here's what we did with the leftovers. I have to say this was AMAZING -- I've loved every recipe that I've made from this book. It was amazingly flavorful. I was a bit worried about the way that I cooked the pork blending with the flavors below but it was incredible. I'll definitely be making this again! The picture is lousy and doesn't do it justice, it looks like a bowl of tortilla chips!



Roasted Pork & Black Bean Chili
(from Rachael Ray's Just in Time)

2 TBSP of EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil), twice around the pan
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
Salt and black pepper
2 tablespoons of chili powder
1 tablespoon of ground cumin
1 bay leaf
1/2 bottle of beer, about 1 cup
3 cups of leftover gravy (see below for instructions to make the gravy)
2 (15-ounce) cans of black beans, drained
5-6 cups of cooked pork chopped into bite-size pieces
Zest and juice of 1 lime
2 cups crushed yellow or white corn tortilla chips
Sour cream, for garnish (optional)

For the gravy, place 3 TBSP of butter into a medium-sized saucepot over medium-high heat and melt it. Once it is melted add 2 garlic cloves grating them into the pot, and cook for 1 minute. Add 3 TBSP of flour and whisk together cooking for 1 minute. Whisk in a quart (4 cups) of chicken or vegetable stock, bring up to a bubble, and cook until thickened, 7-8 minutes. Reserve covered until ready to add to the chili.

Heat a large pot over medium-high heat with the EVOO. Add the onions, garlic, and bell pepper and season with salt and pepper, the chili powder, cumin, and bay leaf. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes or until the veggies start to get tender, then add the beer and cook for a minute more. Stir in the leftover gravy and the black beans and bring it up to a simmer. Add the cooked pork and cook to heat it through, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the lime zest and juice and stir to combine. Discard the bay leaf. Serve up the chili and top with some of the crushed tortillas and a dollop of sour cream.

Food Bank Farm Opening Day!

Today was the grand opening of the Food Bank Farm CSA in Hadley. As a member, I begin craving the "real" lettuce by Christmas. The weather has been cooperating so fully with the growing season, so the share was quite abundant. My haul included tot soi, mezzuna, baby arugala, bok choy, the most amazing head of lettuce, garlic onions, radish and turnip. Tonight we had a caesar salad prepared with the lettuce along with the El Jardin Rosemary and Olive Bread from Holyoke.

You can also purchase local and regional food products in the share room. Today I got a lovely almond peach yogurt from Vermont, organic eggs from New Hampshire and Maine Sea Salt.

I can't wait for the U-pick season to start, from strawberries to sugar snap peas, then green beans and flowers on to the tomato season.

Not only is the Food Bank Farm a bountiful CSA, but 50% of what they grow goes to benefit the recipients at The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. You can't beat that!

Asparagus Lemon Pasta And Radish and Pine Nut Salad

Yes, I'm still on the asparagus kick. While my lady was on line buying ingredients, two locals passed on their email to her asking for the recipe.
I made this dish on Saturday and the book club folks thoroughly enjoyed both the Asparagus and Lemon Pasta from Gourmet and the Radish and Pine Nut Salad. They also enjoyed the book: You Must Remember This by Joyce Carol Oates.

Asparagus Lemon Pasta

1 1/2 pounds asparagus, trimmed and cut diagonally in 1/2 inch pieces (preferably thin asparagus
1 lb. angel hair pasta
3 tbsp unsalted butter
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp freshly grated lemon zest (from about 3 lemons)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup finely chopped freshly chopped parsley
Accompaniment: freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Steam asparagus until crisp tender (approximately 3 minutes). Transfer asparagus to a colander and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Drain asparagus well.

In a deep 6 quart kettle bring 5 quarts salted water to boil for pasta

In a deep 12-inch skillet heat butter and cream over moderately low heat until butter is melted and stir in zest, lemon juice and salt. Remove skillet from heat and keep sauce warm, covered

Add pasta to boiling water and boil, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Ladle 1/2 cup past water into the sauce and drain the pasta in a colander.

Immediately add pasta and asparagus to sauce and cook over moderate heat, tossing, 1 minute, or until heated through. Add parsley and salt and pepper to taste and toss well.

Sprinkle pasta with a little Parmesan and serve more Parmesan on the side.

Radish and Pine Nut Salad

5 tsp red-wine vinegar
6 tlb olive oil
8 cups lettuce (this called for red leaf-I used water cress and red leaf)
1 cup julienne strips of radish
1/3 cup pine nuts lightly toasted

-In large bowl whisk vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, add oil whisking, whisk until emulsified
-add shredded lettuce, radish, pine nuts and toss well
-line each plate with whole lettuce leaves and divide up salad

I Need a New Butcher!

Last night's dinner was a success! But my pork loin roast was impossible to cut due to that pesky bone along the base of it (see my previous entry for the saga). I was unable to cut through the bone to cut the whole chop off so I had to carve the meat off the rack and leave the bones intact. Rats! Anyway, other than that small catastrophe, the pork tasted great.

Roasted Rack of Pork Loin

• Rack of pork loin
• Chopped fresh rosemary
• Fresh Sage
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic

1. Place a rack on the second level from the bottom of oven and preheat to 500 degrees
2. Place the pork in a roasting pan, curved bones facing down.
3. Cover the roast in chopped rosemary, salt, and pepper. Make small incisions all over the pork and slip in slivers of garlic. Do the same with sage leaves.
4. Put the pork in the oven to roast for approximately 45 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers 160 degrees. When done let it rest for 10 minutes before cutting.

I'll be posting a couple more recipes from what I made last night. More to come later....