Weekly Menu 1/31 - 2/5/11

Matt came home from Austin last week with a nice case of stomach flu. Being the loving husband that he is, he shared it with me. So, there wasn't much cooking going on at our house last week other than toast & clear broth soups. That means this week's menu includes a few things that never got made last week. Then this weekend we are off to Vegas for a little warmer weather & some fancy dinners!

We did get to our first home brew to bottling stage so, we'll be sharing that with you guys this week too.

Menu Planning Monday

Bean Soup - Using all the bits & bobs of leftover beans in the house

Fish Pie

Chicken & Banana Curry

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches & Homemade Tomato Soup

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

Muir Glen Tomato Dinner At Corner Table

Last night Matt & I were invited to a dinner at Corner Table featuring Muir Glen Tomatoes. If you are a reader of this blog you know we are big fans of Corner Table & Chef Scott Pampuch's cooking but, we were surprised he was doing a dinner featuring canned tomatoes. Scott is known for cooking with as much local & seasonal food as possible. (He even bragged that they had to search out a can opener for this dinner since they don't use canned goods.) So, how did canned tomatoes fit into his ethic?

Scott talked about how he only trusts ingredients where he can go visit the farm where they are grown & raised so, he visited the Central Valley California fields where Muir Glen Tomatoes are grown & met the farmers. The tomatoes are all grown organically & hand-harvested which impressed him. Plus let's face it unless you are canning your own tomatoes, your only other local option in MN in  winter is hot house tomatoes which probably leave as much of a carbon footprint as those trucked from CA. As for us, we've been fans of Muir Glen Tomatoes, especially the fire roasted, since we lived in California. We do can our own tomatoes but, when we need to buy some Muir Glen is our go to brand for their superior taste (really there is a difference).

Now let's talk about the food, which was of course amazing...

The evening started with passed appetizers including a tomato tart & tomato soup with grilled cheese sliders.

Then we were served a pasta dish with an Amatriciana sauce that really highlighted the tomatoes. We loved the sofrito stuffing in the pasta.

The second course was a take on a burger with the protein actually lamb terrine. What really made this dish was the combination of homemade pickle relish, tomato gastrique & mustard. It was also served with a tomato salt which seems to be basically oven dried tomatoes ground fine with salt. It had a pretty red color but we didn't notice a strong tomato flavor to it even when tasted along.

The night ended with an olive oil cake topped with tomato sorbet, strawberry basil ice cream & a fennel seed tuille. We didn't care for the tomato sorbet on its own but mixed with the strawberry basil ice cream the flavors became much more mellow. Love, love, loved that fennel tuille.

All & all a very fun night. It was quite interesting to see what a chef of Scott's caliber can do with a can of tomatoes.

Disclaimer: Muir Glen/General Mills paid for our dinner but all opinions in this post are our own & we were not required to write about it.

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

Sweet Potato Biscuits

A couple weeks ago we were at Blackbird for breakfast & the special was sweet potato biscuits & gravy. It was so good I knew I had to try sweet potato biscuits at home.

My original plan was to use them as a sandwich with pulled pork as the filling but Matt said he wanted the pork in the middle to be bacon, just bacon, nothing but bacon. Ok, I can go with that though, I added a little fig & jalapeno jam to mine which gave a nice sweetness against the salty bacon.

The biscuits themselves were really easy to make especially if like me you just microwave the sweet potato. They come out really light & fluffy which surprised me, you'd think potato would make them heavy. I used a Jersey Sweet potato because those tend to be our favorite. They are really light yellow and have a mild flavor. Next time I think I'll use an oranger, stronger flavored sweet potato as we would have liked a little more of a sweet potato flavor. We will be making these again though to serve with sausage gravy, fried chicken or just some warm butter & a little honey.

Sweet Potato Biscuits
Adapted from All Recipes

1 sweet potato
3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1 1/2 t sugar
3/4 t salt
2 T unsalted butter, cold
3 T heavy cream + extra for brushing on biscuits

Poke the sweet potato a few times with a fork. Microwave until soft. (On my microwave it's about 4 minutes on high.) Let cool until touchable. Peel off skin. Mash. Let cool to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar & salt together. Cut in the cold butter until about pea size. Mix in the sweet potato. Add the cream 1 tablespoon at a time until you get a soft dough.

Turn out on to a lightly floured surface. Roll out until 1/2 inch thick. Cut with a biscuit or other circular cutter. Place 1 inch apart on a baking sheet that has either been greased or lined with a silicon mat. Brush the top of each biscuit with a little cream.

Bake for 13 - 16 minutes until golden brown.

I got four 2 1/2 inch biscuits plus 1 smaller one. This would probably make six 2 inch biscuits.

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

Weekly Menu 1/24 - 1/29/11

We survived what is typically the coldest week of winter here in MN. Windchills got down to about -30 F at the end of last week, brrr.

Well, I should say I survived as Matt was down in Texas complaining that it was a little chilly. Yeah, I wasn't feeling too bad for him. Now, that he's back it has inspired me to get back in the kitchen & try a bunch of new things.

Menu Planning Monday...

Pasta with Meatballs

Fish Pie - based on Jamie Oliver's recipe

Curried Chicken & Bananas - Just an idea I have, hope it works out.

Muir Glen Tomato tasting at Corner Table

Sweet Potato Biscuit & Bacon Sandwiches

Friday is still up in the air

This week we'll also be moving our beer into the second fermentor so, look for that update too.

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

Curried Vegetable Pot Pie

So, have you heard the new dessert sweetheart is pie? Now I love a good sweet pie as much as the next person but why leave it for dessert? I want that flaky crust for dinner too.

I told Matt I was going to make another pot pie this week & he asked me to make a curry filling. Believe me when I'm making our weekly dinner menu I'm always happy for suggestions. I decided to keep this pie vegetarian because we've been eating a lot of beef lately & I though a vegetable break was called for. You won't miss the meat at all though as this pie is full of curry flavors & the vegetables are only cooked to crisp tender giving the filling a nice bite.

I made this in two ramekins for individual pies but they were so filling that neither Matt nor I could finish ours. They made a great lunch for me the next day though reheated in the oven.

Curried Vegetable Pot Pie
The filling for this pie would also be great just over rice.

Pie Crust for a double crust pie
1 T olive oil
1 onion, large chop
1 clove garlic, minced
1 carrot, sliced
1 small head cauliflower, cut into florets
2 T korma curry paste
1/2 t cumin
1 14.5 oz can whole or diced tomatoes
1/2 c frozen peas
1/4 c plain yogurt
salt to taste
1 egg, beaten

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, carrot & cauliflower. Sauté until the onion is translucent. Stir in the curry paste & cumin coating everything. Add the tomatoes, if you are using whole tomatoes break them up a bit. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat & simmer until most of the tomato liquid is gone & the vegetables are crisp tender. Stir in the peas & yogurt. Heat through but do not let boil. Taste & season with salt as needed.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Roll half the pie dough out into 2 circle big enough to line the inside of two 1 1/2 cup ramekins & just hang over the sides. Divide the curry between the two ramekins.

Roll the remaining pie dough out into two circles just big enough to top the ramekins & hang over the sides a little. Brush the dough with the beaten egg. Poke a few holes in the crust with a sharp knife or fork.

Put in oven & reduce heat to 350 F. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes. The crust should be golden brown.

Makes 2 individual pot pies.

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