Wednesday, August 10, 2011

A Chicken Dish for Summer

Make use of fresh summer tomatoes and corn in this chicken and pasta dish.

Linguini with Chicken, Corn and Summer Tomatoes

Makes 8 servings.

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts sliced crosswise into ½-inch slices
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 pound linguini
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 slices pancetta, cut into small dice
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 ½ cups fresh corn kernels, cooked and removed from cob (or frozen corn)
2 cups diced fresh tomatoes
½ cup fresh thinly sliced basil, tightly packed, plus a few sprigs for garnish

1. Cook linguini according to package directions.  Drain but do not rinse.

2. While linguini cooks, season chicken slices with salt and pepper.  Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add chicken slices and sauté until golden brown, about 5-6 minutes.  Remove chicken from skillet to a bowl and reserve.

3. To same pan, add pancetta and sauté 2 to 3 minutes, or until browned.  Remove from pan and reserve.  Add broth to pan, raise heat to high and bring to a boil.  Reduce for 2-3 minutes.  Add corn, tomato, and chicken to pan, reduce heat to low and heat through for one minute.  Cover and remove from heat until pasta is finished cooking.

4. Pour cooked pasta into chicken mixture.  Toss until well combined.  Place in serving bowl, sprinkle with reserved pancetta, and serve garnished with basil sprigs.

Nutritional Information for one serving: 450 calories; 13 g fat; 3 g saturated fat; 50 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 4 g sugars; 34 g protein.

Recipe and photo courtesy of National Chicken Council

Monday, August 01, 2011

Tax-Free Dining, Sort Of

Chipotle Mexican Grill, including its Winston-Salem location, is offering a deal this week. Eat there on Tues., Aug. 2 or Wed., Aug 3and save the receipt. Then bring the receipt back during tax “free” weekend, Aug. 5–7, and get a free burrito, bowl, order of tacos or salad. (The hitch is you have to like the restaurant enough to eat there twice in the same week.)

Friday, July 29, 2011

Just Say Cheesecake

Saturday, July 30, is National Cheesecake Day, or so I’m told.

Don’t ask me whose idea that was, but do we need an excuse to eat cheesecake?

Here’s a little trivia, as well as a recipe, courtesy or Driscoll’s.

The writer Athenaeus is credited with writing the first-ever Greek cheesecake recipe in 230 A.D.  Cream cheese, though, wasn’t added til much later, in the good old USA.

We all know New York cheesecake, but other cities have their own styles, too. Chicago adds sour cream to the filling. Philadelphia makes a lighter, creamer cake than New York, often serving it with fruit or chocolate topppings. And St. Louis incorporates a gooey butter cake, which has an additional layer of cake topping on the cheesecake filling.

Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

Slightly adapted from Driscoll’s.

Makes 16 servings

20 chocolate wafer cookies
2 tablespoons butter
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
2 packages (8 ounces each) 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
2 packages (6 oounces each) raspberries
2 ounce bar of semisweet chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.. 

2. Place cookie wafers in a zip-top freezer bag or double bag. Crush with fingers or roll with a rolling pin or food can to make about 1 cup fine crumbs.

3. Melt butter in a saucepan or medium bowl in the microwave. Stir in crumbs until evenly blended with butter.

4. Press crumbs firmly on bottom of 9-inch spring-form pan. Bake 5 minutes. Cool.

5. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.

6. Beat cream cheeses in a large bowl of electric mixer until smooth. Beat in sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla, starting on low speed then increasing to high, until thoroughly mixed.

7. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping bowl well after each addition. Gently stir in 1 cup raspberries. Pour mixture into pan.

8. Bake 60 to 70 minutes or until just barely set in center. Edges may crack slightly. Turn oven off and leave in oven 1 hour with door ajar. Remove from oven and cool completely.  Cover and chill at least 8 hours. Run a knife around edge and remove rim.

9. Top cheesecake with remaining raspberries. Hold chocolate bar over cheesecake; firmly slide a sharp vegetable peeler along edge of chocolate allowing shavings to fall on cake.

(Lighten the recipe by using use four 1/3 less fat packages of cream cheese, or two 1/3 less fat and two fat-free packages. Cheesecake will be denser. Omit crust and coat pan with cooking spray.)

Nutrition Per Serving: Calories 342, Total Fat 21.41, Saturated 12.18g, Protein 6.92g, 32.51g carbohydrate, Cholesterol 108.04mg, Fiber 3.19g, Sodium 274mg

(Recipe and photo courtesy of Driscoll’s)

Monday, July 25, 2011

Even Peachier

After reading my column last week about Peach Cake, reader Ella Rhodes of Wilkesboro sent me her own recipe.

You can read my column, and get two recipes by clicking here.

Below is Ella’s recipe.

Peach Cake

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups brown sugar (packed)

1 egg

2 cups sifted flour

1 teaspoon soda

1 cup buttermilk

4 peaches, pealed and diced

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Cream softened butter and brown sugar; mix in egg; Mix flour and soda and add

alternating with buttermilk. Stir in peaches. Bake in a large sheet cake pan. Mix

sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350 for 30-35 mins.

(The photo above is my mother’s peach cake, not Ella’s.)

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Quick Fish Dinner for Summer

The name of the recipe below is deceiving. It doesn’t have Mexican flavors, but Mediterranean ones—garlic, olives and capers.

Still, this makes for a nice summery supper. It’s quick, easy and healthy.

Making the salsa a day head is totally optional.

Tilapia with Warm Tomato Salsa
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
1 1/2 lbs. beefsteak-style tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (see note)
4 oil-cured or Greek olives, pitted and cut in thin strips
1 Tbsp. small capers, rinsed and drained
Salt and ground pepper, to taste
1 1/4 lbs. tilapia filets
Olive oil cooking spray

In medium skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook for 1 minute. Add garlic and cook until onions are translucent, 4 minutes, stirring often. Add tomatoes and cook until they release liquid and are slightly soft but still holding their shape, about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix in olives and capers. Season salsa to taste with pepper. Set salsa aside, or transfer to container, cool, seal and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. To warm, heat salsa in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until lukewarm, 4-5 minutes.

Lightly season fish with salt and pepper on both sides. Coat medium skillet liberally with cooking spray and set over medium-high heat. Arrange tilapia in the pan, topside down, and cook until crusty on bottom, about 4 minutes. Using large pancake turner, turn filets and cook until white in center at thickest part, 2 to 4 minutes. Place each filet on dinner plate. Spoon one-fourth of warm salsa over fish and serve.

Makes 4 servings.

Per serving: 220 calories, 7 g total fat (1.5 g saturated fat), 10 g carbohydrate,
30 g protein, 3 g dietary fiber, 210 mg sodium.

Recipe and photo courtesy of American Institute for Cancer Resarch.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Let’s Call It a Wrap

Say you like the idea of a wrap, but want something lighter for summer, maybe even gluten-free.

Do what Asians do: Instead of bread to hold that meat, cheese or other sandwich filling, use a piece of lettuce.

The recipe below is a neat way to use up leftover chicken to create a sweet-and-sour Asian-style wrap.

Ginger-Curry Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Makes 4 servings.

2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup Asian ginger dressing, usually found in the produce section
1½ teaspoons curry powder
1 cup rainbow coleslaw mix
1 Granny Smith apple or other tart apple, sliced thinly
3 scallions, sliced thinly
1/3 cup sweetened, flaked coconut, toasted
12 large leaves soft lettuce, such as Bibb or Boston lettuce

1. In a large bowl, combine salt, pepper, ginger dressing and curry powder and mix well.

2. Add all remaining ingredients, except lettuce leaves, to bowl and toss gently to combine.

3. Place two lettuce leaves on each plate, fill each leaf with a small amount of the chicken mixture and serve.

Nutritional information for one serving: 220 calories; 8 g fat; 3.5 g saturated fat; 18 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 13 g sugars; 20 g protein.

Recipe and photo courtesy of National Chicken Council.

Friday, July 01, 2011

Hot Dog!

July is National Hot Dog Month, and Americans are expected to eat 150 million hot dogs on July Fourth alone—according to the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council.

If you had to pick just one condiment or topping for your dog, what would it be?

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Zucchini Cakes

I love packing some shredded zucchini into a patty and frying it up. And now’s the time for it, when local zucchini is plentiful.

Zucchini can blended with lots of other ingredients in cakes—feta cheese is a favorite. In the following recipe, it’s combined with potato and onion, and served with savory tomato jam.

This is yet another tasty garden recipe from Sheri Castle’s new book, “The New Southern Garden Cookbook.” (University of North Carolina Press)

Crispy Zucchini and Potato Skillet Cakes with Tomato Jam
Makes about 1 dozen.
2 small zucchini (about 8 oz.)
1 medium russet potato or other starchy potato, peeled (about 8 oz.)
1/2 small red onion (about 2 oz.)
1/4 cup finely crushed saltine cracker crumbs
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Vegetable oil, for pan-frying
These little cakes are as crisp as chips on the edges with slightly creamy centers, just like good latkes. They make a great side dish, but they also make a lovely little appetizer when topped with sour cream and caviar or smoked fish, or with something zesty like Tomato Jam.
1) Grate the zucchini, potato, and onion into long, thin strands on the large holes of a box grater or with the shredding disc of a food processor. Transfer into a colander and let drain for 3 minutes. Press the vegetables to extract as much liquid as possible and let drain for another 2 minutes. Pick up the vegetables in small handfuls, squeeze out as much liquid as possible and then transfer into a large bowl. Stir in the crackers, egg, salt, and pepper.
2) Pour oil to a depth of 1/4 inch into a large, heavy skillet (preferably cast-iron) and heat over medium-high heat until shimmering hot. Cover a wire rack with several layers of paper towels and keep near the stove to drain the cakes. (See page 106 for tips on pan-frying.)
3) Working in batches of 4 or 5 cakes at a time, spoon rounded tablespoons of the vegetable mixture into the skillet and gently flatten the mound into a cake that is about 1/2-inch thick in the center. Cook the cakes until the edges are golden brown and they are set in the center, about 2 minutes, then flip them over. (If they bend in the center when you try to turn them, they’re not ready.) Brown the other side, about 2 minutes more. Transfer the cakes to the paper towels to drain. Add a little more oil to the skillet between batches if needed.
4) Sprinkle the hot cakes with a little more salt and serve hot.
What else works? You can replace the zucchini with summer squash or more potato. Do not omit the potato because its starch helps keep the cakes intact.
Recipe from “The New Southern Garden Cookbook” by Sheri Castle
Tomato Jam.
Makes about 3 cups.
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup peeled and grated fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
6 cups peeled, seeded, and chopped tomatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice
This is a little sweet, so it’s jam in my book. It’s also spicy, so it perks up foods that could use a little zip. Think of it as a sophisticated combination of ketchup, chile sauce, and chutney. It’s good on sandwiches, on vegetables (especially field peas), on crispy fried things, on meatloaf, and with cheese. This small batch will keep in the refrigerator for a few months without sealing the jars.
1) Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the ginger and garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in the cinnamon, coriander, cumin, cloves, allspice, and cayenne and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Stir in the vinegar, brown sugar, and tomatoes.
2) Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break down and almost all of the liquid cooks away, about 1½ hours. Stir in the salt, pepper, and honey, increase the heat and boil until the jam is shiny and thick, about 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Let the jam cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
3) Transfer the jam into a clean glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Store covered and refrigerated for up to 3 months.
Recipe from “The New Southern Garden Cookbook” by Sheri Castle

Photo courtesy of University of North Carolina Press.

Friday, June 24, 2011

The Beauty of Beets

OK, so not everyone likes beets.
But if you do - or even if you think there’s a small chance you might—try this smoked salmon and beet salad while fresh beets are in season.
(And don’t even think about using canned beets here.)

This recipe is from “The New Southern Garden Cookbook” by Sheri Castle.
For more recipes and info about the book, see my story that was in the paper June 22.

Salmon and Roasted Beet Salad with Creamy Herb Dressing
Makes 4 to 6 servings
1 pound small beets, all but ¼ inch of their greens trimmed away
1/2 small red onion, halved lengthwise and cut into thin strips (about 1/2 cup)
8 ounces snow peas or sugar snaps, tough strings removed (about 1 1/2 cups)
6 cups bite-sized pieces of romaine lettuce
Creamy Herb Dressing (recipe below)
1 crisp apple, cored and thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
1 pound cooked salmon, skinned and broken into large pieces
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Place the beets in a single layer on a double thickness of aluminum foil. Fold the foil around the beets to make a snug pouch. Roast the beets until they are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Open the foil pouch and let the beets cool enough to handle. Trim off the greens and rootlets and slip off the skins. Cut the beets into thin slices or wedges.
3. Fill a medium bowl with ice water. Add the onion and let sit until needed. The ice water will leach out some of the strong, eye-watering aroma, leaving milder, pure onion flavor.
4. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Add 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt per cup of water. Add the peas. Cook until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to immediately transfer into the bowl of ice water (with the onions) to stop the cooking and set the color. Drain the peas and onions and pat them dry with paper towels.
5. Place the romaine in a large bowl, drizzle with enough dressing to moisten, and toss well to coat. Divide the romaine among serving plates or arrange on a serving platter. Top with the beets, apple, peas, onion, and salmon. Drizzle with a little more dressing and serve at once with any remaining dressing on the side. What else works? You can replace the peas with cubes of roasted sweet potato.
Recipe from “The New Southern Garden Cookbook” by Sheri Castle
Creamy Herb Dressing
Makes about 2 cups
This is similar to Green Goddess dressing.
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon wholegrain Dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons drained and finely chopped anchovies or anchovy paste
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
1. Place, in order listed, the yogurt, sour cream, lemon juice, parsley, dill, chives, basil, garlic, mustard, and anchovy in a blender. Blend until the herbs are very finely chopped. With the blender running, add the oil in a slow, steady stream. Season with the salt and pepper.
2. Use soon or cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days. Return to room temperature, stir well, and check the seasoning before serving.

(Photo courtesy of UNC Press)

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Singing for His Supper

Here’s a dual career for you: singer and chef. That’s the career Cooper Boone is carving out for himself.

Boone will be at Grassy Creek Vineyard near Elkin on the evening of June 25. He’ll start out with a cooking demonstration and follow up with an outdoor concert.

The cost, which includes tastings and wine pairings, is $25 a person in advance, or $30 the day of the event.

For more information, visit http://www.grassycreekvineyard.com.