A Good Appetite: May 2011

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Eating First Class

Matt surprised me on this trip to Europe with first class tickets. Now, I've flown first class domestically for quick flights (because of an upgrade) but, never internationally. I was excited for the extra legroom and for what I hoped would be better food. I have to say for food pre-cooked and heated on the plane Delta did a pretty good job.

We started with champagne and warm nuts.

For the first course there was an Asian noodle salad and seared tuna with a sweet garlic chili sauce. The tuna and sauce were quite wonderful together. Matt also got a bowl of tomato basil soup with this but, I passed.

Next was the most boring of the courses, a green salad with cranberries and pinenuts.

We had a couple choices for our main course, herb shrimp with rice pilaf and asparagus, cheese ravioli or a cold deli plate. Both Matt and I though went with the steak in bearnaise sauce with red skin potatoes, onions and haricort vert. It was quite tasty though the steak was more well-done than I would have ordered it in a restaurant though, I can't see how an airplane could ever cook steak to order. I really loved the tarragon in the bearnaise. We had the steak with a really nice Malbec.

Next came the dessert cart.

Our choices here were made to order sundaes, a made to order cheese and fruit tray or caramel tiramisu. Matt went for the sundae and I had the cheese tray. The cheeses were nothing special but, those strawberries were amazing!

The next morning came our breakfast choices. Both Matt and I had the granola with yogurt and fruit (more of those great strawberries). Add a pastry and it was way more than we could eat. I'm glad we turned down the other option of vanilla french toast, scrambled eggs and chicken apple sausage. I can't wait to see what we get on the way home as the menu changes each month.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2011 Kathy Lewinski

Monday, May 30, 2011

Up, Up and Away

A Good Appetite is flying off on vacation...

We're heading off for a little time in Stockholm, Sweden. We're hoping to have time for a few posts while we are there. So, look forward to finding out how many different ways we eat herring and seeing what we eat at Taste of Stockholm.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Lemon Thyme Chicken and Potatoes

As I mentioned in Monday, this week's meals are all about cleaning out the fridge before we leave on vacation. I made up last night's dinner because I wanted to use up two chicken breasts, a lemon and three potatoes. At first I thought of doing an Asian style lemon chicken (and leaving the potatoes for another night) but, then I went a whole different direction.

What I ended up with was a stove top, one pot meal of chicken and potatoes cooked in a gravy seasoned with lemon, thyme and a little rosemary. I love that bit of tang the lemon adds. The flavors are very reminiscent of a classic way to roast a chicken. This is comfort food at its best and easiest.

Lemon Thyme Chicken and Potatoes
Next time I make this I'll add some frozen peas in during the last 5 - 10 minutes of simmering. I think they will add good flavor and color plus, then it'll really be a one pot meal.

1 lemon
1 T olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
salt and pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t dried thyme
1/2 t dried rosemary
3 medium yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 1/2 c chicken stock
2 T all-purpose flour

Zest the lemon until you have 1/2 teaspoon. Then peel or cut the skin off the lemon. Cut the lemon into slices, cut the slices in half.

Season the chicken with a little salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, garlic and lemon slices. Sauté until the chicken is cooked on the outside. Stir in the lemon zest, thyme and rosemary. Add the potato slices and chicken stock. Sprinkle the flour over the top and stir in. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and let simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the cover and let simmer another 10 minutes until the sauce has reduced to a thick gravy and the potatoes are soft.

Makes 2 servings

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Teriyaki Brat and Pineapple Kabobs

Looking for a simple dish to throw on the barbecue this holiday weekend but, you want something other than your typical burgers or dogs? Well, here's a little something that fits the bill.

Matt and I were wandering around the grocery store the other day trying to think of what we wanted to grill for dinner that night. He was leaning towards sausages of some kind but, I wanted something a little different then just a sausage on a bun. Then it hit me, pineapple gets nice and caramelized on the grill and is so tasty with pork. Teriyaki goes will with pork and pineapple so why not with a pork brat?! The results was an easy Asian-inspired kabob that surprised both of us with how good it was.

There is really no recipe here at all since it's just putting brat slices and pineapple chunks on skewers, coating them in teriyaki sauce and barbecuing until everything is heated through. Here's a few tips though...
* Choose a smoked pork brat that is cooked through already. A fresh brat will be hard to cut into sliced and skewer.
* Look for a teriyaki barbecue sauce instead of the normal teriyaki sauce in the Asian section, it will be thicker and stick to everything better.
* We bought fresh pineapple chunks in the produce section of the grocery store which made putting this dinner together quicker than cutting up our own pineapple.
* Skewer your brat slices through the edges so the cut sides will be sitting on the grill. This puts more of the meat in contact with the heat.
* Barbecue until the pineapple chunks start to get some good dark grill marks on them.
* We served our kabobs with jasmine rice and some frozen vegetables that I stir-fried up with a little of the teriyaki sauce.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Weekly Menu 5/23 - 5/28/11

What a crazy weekend here in Minnesota, rain, hail, tornados. Thanks to everyone who check-in on Matt and I. We were very lucky and the tornados did not touch down in our neighborhood. Unfortunately, the area of Minneapolis that was hit is one that can ill afford it. Many people have lost their homes and cars. That area of town is currently under a curfew and only residents are allowed to enter. If you'd like to help people affected by the tornados here & in Joplin, MO please donate to the Red Cross here.

Personally, we were really only inconvenienced by the rain. It was the first weekend for the Kingfield and the new Fulton Farmers Markets. We decided to check out the Fulton market on Saturday in between showers.

Looks like this new market is going to be hopping. We were a little disappointed that there was no produce to buy yet (we had been hoping for some asparagus) but there were lots of plants for the garden, cheese, bread and prepared foods to eat there. We picked up an oregano plant (as the squirrels destroyed mine) and some sheep's milk cheese.
This morning I went for my usual walk along the Minnehaha creek only to find the pedestrian path under a couple of inches of water making it only fit for ducks.

On to Menu Planning Monday...
We are headed out on vacation Saturday so, a lot of this week's menu is about cleaning out the fridge.

Pea and Ricotta Tart - From Stacey Snacks

Red Pepper Lasagna

Something using chicken thighs & sheep's milk cheese

Thursday night we hope to go to Corner Table to check out the new beer garden

Hamburgers

Saturday's dinner will be on a plane to Amsterdam.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Favorite Recipes Using Beer

It's Craft Beer Week here in Minnesota so while Matt and I are enjoying some of our favorites, Fulton, Harriet, Lift Bridge, Surly, oh we could go on and on... I thought I'd share some of our favorite recipes that have beer as an ingredient. Chose your favorite local brew and make it beer week at your house too.

The classic - Cheddar and Beer Cheese Soup

Kriek Caramel Sauce and Caramel Rolls

Crock Pot Ribs or Beef - Both slow cooked in beer and bbq sauce.

Oatmeal Stout and Heath Bar Ice Cream

Three B's Soup - Beans, Beer and Bacon!

Ahh Beer!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Sahlab - Egyptian Hot Vanilla Drink

Have you ever been reading a book where a food or drink is mentioned that you've never heard of but, sounds so interesting you end up investigating it? Recently, I was reading Rick Riordan's The Red Pyramidand it mentioned a drink called Sahlab. It is described as a hot, sweet vanilla drink with hints of cinnamon and coconut. It sounded so good I had to see it if was real. What do you know it was. The next step, of course, was to make some.

Traditionally, sahlab is made with salep flour or powder which is made by grinding the roots of a particular orchid. Ok, I didn't have that on hand but, a lot of recipes used cornstarch as a thickener instead. It seems there are a lot of ways to flavor it, rose or orange water, pistachios or walnuts but I wanted the flavors mentioned in the book, vanilla, cinnamon and coconut. The end result was surprisingly good with a flavor that reminded both Matt and I of vanilla pudding. The coconut flakes were a little odd in it, a drink you can chew, but, added good flavor.

Sahlab
(I used this recipe and made the measurements more specific)

2 c milk
1/2 c water
2 T cornstarch
1 t vanilla
2 T sugar
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of coconut flakes (I used sweetened but you could use unsweetened too)

Put the milk in a heavy sauce pan over medium heat. Whisk the water and cornstarch together and add to the milk. Add the vanilla and sugar. Turn the heat up to medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring the whole time. Let boil while stirring for 2 minutes, it should thicken slightly.

Divide between 2 mugs. Sprinkle cinnamon & coconut on top.

2 Servings.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Moroccan Chicken and Olives

Oh, I wish the picture of this dish looked as good as it tasted but, you know, brown sauce just doesn't have that beauty factor.

Trust me though, this is an easy, flavorful dish. There is just something I really love about cinnamon in savory applications. Then add the briny olives and sweet raisins and you've got a winning blend of tastes.

We served it over a blend of Israeli couscous, yellow split peas, quinoa and a few other things I can't remember. It was a blend I picked up in the bulk section on a whim as an alternative to rice. It had such great variety of texture. This dish though, would be good over rice or regular couscous too.

Moroccan Chicken and Olives

1/2 T olive oil
10 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
salt and pepper
1 t coriander
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t cumin
pinch cayenne
1 heaping T all-purpose flour
1/2 T tomato paste
2 c chicken stock
12 green olives, cut in half
1/2 T olive brine
2 T golden raisins

Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pan over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the hot oil and sauté until cooked on the outside, about 3 - 5 minutes. Add the coriander, cinnamon, cumin and cayenne. Sauté for one more minutes. Sprinkle with the flour and sauté for 1 more minute. Add the tomato paste, chicken stock, olives, olive brine and raisins. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer until reduced by at least half and thickened, about 20 minutes. Check for seasoning and add salt if needed.

Serve over hot rice or couscous.

2 servings.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Weekly Menu 5/16 - 5/21/11

Oh my gosh, last week was just a total blur but, it was all good things. Our "nephew" Lucas got a hit at his first baseball game, the first day of our garage sale was really successful (thought day two got rained out) and the MN Food Bloggers Bake Sale for Share Our Strength surpassed its goal.

Now, to make things even better we actually have five days of sun in the forecast! It's been six months since that happened, six months people! At least all the spring rain we've had up until now has sent our perennial garden high gear.

We've turned most of our gardens (that aren't vegetables) into perennials gardens in the last two years. One is filled with a lot of natives and wildflowers and it's such fun to see them come back this year.

Yesterday, we got to take a break from everything going on and head out to the MN Landscape Arboretum to see the yearly tulip display and walk through their wildflower garden.

The Arboretum is such an amazing place. If you live in the Twin Cities area and have never visited, get out there!

On to Menu Planning Monday...

Grilled Teriyaki Brats and Pineapple

Chicken Fajitas

Indian Salmon Wraps - Yes, again. They were that good.

Thursday night out

Perogies

Burgers (rain cancelled our BBQ last weekend)

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Quick Sausage and Olive Pasta

I love the idea of cooking up a big Sunday roast dinner but, Sunday seems to be the day we end up running all our errands and by the time we get home we just aren't up to making the big meal. This Sunday was no different. We are in the midst of having the front of our house re-stuccoed which means we can finally replace the ugly brass house numbers glued on right now and the porch light. I can't believe how hard it is to find nice numbers! We drove from one end of town to the other and found nothing. Luckily we did find a nice light on clearance. Anyway, back to the food. By the time we did that and the grocery shopped, cooking was not high on our list, making it a perfect night for a simple pasta like this one.

The olives, and the way their brininess infuses the sauce, are what really make this dish something more than pasta with meat sauce. You'll want to serve it with some crusty bread to get all the sauce you can.

Quick Sausage and Olive Pasta

(I don't like my pasta to be overly saucy, if you prefer more double the amount of tomato sauce in this recipe.)

4 oz dried pasta
1/2 T olive oil
1/2 lb Italian Sausage (mild or spicy, your choice)
1/2 a red onion, sliced thin
1 c tomato sauce
1 T tomato paste
1/2 - 3/4 c green olives (halved)
pinch crushed red pepper flakes
kosher salt
grated Parmesan

Cook the past according to the directions. When done drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and red onion. Cook until the sausage is cooked through breaking the sausage up as you go. Add in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, olives and red pepper flakes. Heat through. Taste and add salt is needed (you might not need any with the olives already adding salt). Stir in the drained pasta. Serve with grated Parmesan on top.

2 servings.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Reminder-Food Blogger Bake Sale for Share Our Strength.

Don't forget tomorrow is the Food Blogger Bake Sale for Share Our Strength!

Twin Cities food bloggers have been cooking all week so they can tempt you with treats this Saturday, May 14th at Midtown Global Market, 920 East Lake St. Mpls, MN 55407 from 11am to 4pm. I'll be baking up some of my All The Good Stuff Cookies and some homemade Fig Jam.

Don't live in the Twin Cities area? Visit Share Our Strength to find a bake sale near you.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Sam Adams Pairing Dinner

Last night Matt and I went to a Sam Adams Pairing dinner at The Local here in Minneapolis. I know some of you local, micro-brew purists are turning your noses up at Sam Adams. We have a lot of respect for them as brewery that build up from being super small to being the biggest craft brewer there is plus, they are the biggest domestic brewer since everyone else has been sold to a foreign company. We have also heard that they have mentored other small brewer just getting started and how great is that. To top it off we were served some really interesting beers last night. Let's go through the meals, shall we?
The first course was a Green Ox charcuterie platter served with the original Sam Adams. I didn't get a photo of this course but, if you've ever had Mike Phillips cured meat you know it was good and the beer stood up to it well.

The second course had us really intrigued, Shrimp Salami with Grilled Ramps. The shrimp salami was so interesting. It has such a light flavor and a soft texture. It took me two bites to decide that I liked the texture. The beer we were served with this was the Summer Ale. I didn't find it very different than the original Sam Adams & it was perhaps a little strong for the light food.

Course three was an arugula salad with mushrooms, blackberries and cheddar cheese. It was supposed to be morel mushrooms but Minnesota weather has not cooperated. To me this was the weakest course as I felt like something about the salad ingredients didn't blend well. Also it was served with the Cherry Wheat Beer which was the least favorite beer of the evening, the consensus seemed to be cough syrup.

But that is ok because course four was a huge winner, both the food and the beer. The dish was perfectly white halibut served over a fava bean pureé with micro-greens and a lemon reduction. Fantastic! The halibut was cooked perfectly but, the true star was that fava bean pureé especially with a little of the lemon. This course was served with the Imperial White Ale which might have been both Matt and my favorite of the evening. It had that slight sour flavor we so love in beer. As an imperial it packs quite a kick though. It really worked with the dish as well.

Yes, that is an empty spoon. We were given a little palate cleanser of a granita made from Rustic Saison. That little scoop was eaten before I could get my camera out. I'm not a fan of saisons and their slight grassy flavor but Matt enjoyed it.

Course five was another success, lamb chops wrapped in Green Ox coppa served with a celeriac mash and spring peas. That lamb wrapped with the salty coppa was so tasty (and oddly smelled of popcorn, not a bad thing). Matt is not a fan of lamb yet, he cleaned these to the bone. This dish was served with the Imperial Double Bock, yummy. It's a big dark beer with lots of coffee flavor and went well with the big flavors of the dish.

Then on to dessert, a dark chocolate cake (that I can't remember the exact name of) with a 2 Gingers Whiskey sauce. The boys at the table absolutely loved that whiskey sauce (I prefer that whiskey mixed with a little ginger ale over ice). This was served with the Imperial Stout, a wonderful strong cream stout that is almost dessert on its own.

Then came the real treat of the evening, we got to try some of the Infinium, a champagne style beer that you can't get anywhere in the states anymore (apparently it came out around Christmas and sold out right away). What a lovely beer again it had the slight sour taste we love. It's almost a tease to get to taste it and not be able to buy anymore!

This was the third event we've gone to at The Local and they really do a great job with it. Their chef always creates interesting meals and we appreciate his efforts to use more local and seasonal products (so unexpected for an Irish pub). Plus everyone there is always welcoming and works hard to make for a fun evening. To top it off you can't beat the price, I'll just say this dinner was a steal! I understand their Summer beer dinner is going to be something really special so keep an eye out for it!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Reviewing the Recipes - Quick Salmon Tikka

We cook a lot of recipes from around the internet and various cookbooks that I don't write about because we don't change the recipe much or at all. I decided to start a series reviewing some of those recipes...

This Jamie Oliver recipe caught may attention when Jamie twittered that people were really liking it. As I'm always looking for new ways for us to eat fish this went on the weekly menu.

We were both a little skeptical but, it was absolutely fabulous! The recipe called for a particular brand of tandoori curry paste, we had some Fortnum & Mason korma sauce in the fridge so, that is what we used instead. Its flavor was perfect with the salmon (seriously, I'm going to want my salmon in korma sauce from now on). Other than that, the only change we made was to leave the fresh chili out of the yogurt sauce because I wanted the sauce to be cooling not spicy. It didn't look like a ton of yogurt sauce but the recipe ended up making twice what we needed.

I ended up calling this dish Indian Salmon Wraps because you eat the salmon, yogurt sauce and some cilantro wrapped up in naan. We found naan in the deli of our grocery store. It was quite good just heated for a few minutes in the oven. If you can't find naan another thick flat bread should do the trick, even something like Boboli. With the store-bought naan, quick yogurt sauce and small pieces of salmon that cooked up in no time this dish came together in less than half an hour, perfect for lunch or a fast dinner.

For a super easy side dish I made Cumin Roasted Cauliflower. The cauliflower is broken into florets then placed on a baking sheets where is it tossed with olive oil, kosher salt and dried cumin. Roast at 400 F until brown, about 15 - 20 minutes. I could eat cauliflower cooked this way for a snack instead of popcorn or potato chips.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Weekly Menu 5/9 - 5/14/11

Does anyone else feel like May is just a blur of activity? For us it starts with both our birthdays and this year it'll end with us leaving for Sweden. In between, the calendar just seems backed with dinners out, gardening, big home repairs (re-stuccoing the whole front of the house) baseball games, a garage sale and concert tickets. It seems like planning and experimenting with new dishes is falling a little to the wayside. "Hey honey, why don't we eat out," is heard a lot more around the house these days. We have been creative with some of those leftovers from eating out though. Here's what we did with the leftover steak from Matt's birthday dinner last Sunday.

First we made a warm lentil salad with the beef sliced thin and topped the whole thing with an egg. Inspired by the corn beef hash at Blackbird last week we added some pickled cauliflower to the salad, nice bite of brine there!

Then we had an easy beef and cheese sandwich for lunch. Just the beef sliced thin again with onion and cheddar cheese all on a take and bake bun. That was a treat for lunch. Not too shabby a use of that leftover steak if I do say so myself.

On to Menu Planning Monday...

Salmon Tikka - based on Jamie Oliver's. I meant to make this last week but it never happened.

Sam Adams Pairing Dinner at The Local

Sausage and Red Pepper Pizza

Moroccan Chicken

Dinner out after working at a garage sale all day.

Hamburgers

Friday, May 6, 2011

Sausage and Olive Bites

Here's a perfect little snack to have with those Friday night cocktails...

Whenever we eat at Broder's Pasta Bar these days, we start our meal with an order of olive ripiene, olives stuffed with fennel sausage then breaded and deep fried. Oh, they are a crunchy, salty treat. I had some leftover Italian sausage in the fridge so, I thought I'd try to make my own version.

Instead of stuffing the olives with the sausage, I wrapped mine in it, almost like a Scotch egg with an olive in place of the egg. Then I rolled them in a little panko and baked them. The panko toasted up in the fat of the pork makes for a crisp little bite without the hassle of frying. The flavor of the fennel and pork sausage mixes with briny olive to create a bite goes so wonderfully with your favorite libation.

Sausage and Olive Bites

1 lb bulk Italian sausage
48 green olives with the pimento
1/2 c or so panko

Dry off the olives with a paper towel. Make a little patty with a small bit of the sausage, about 2 inches wide. Put an olive in the middle and wrap the sausage around it. Roll in your hands to make a meatball about 1 inch in size. Roll in panko. Continue until all the sausage and olives are used up. Chill for at least an hour. (My mom thinks you could freeze them & then pull them out when guests stop by though, I have not tested this.)

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Put the bites on a baking sheet with sides. Bake for 20 minutes until the panko is turning golden brown and the sausage is cooked through. Serve hot or warm.

I'm not exactly sure of the yield here. I had a little less than 1/4 pound of sausage and got 10 bites out of it so, I think a whole pound will get about 4 dozen.