Where Have I Been???

Missing in action? Traveling the world? On sabbatical? Sort of, but what matters most is I haven't posted an entry since July! Now the leaves are turning and I'm turning my attention back to Fine & Easy Cooking.

With a busy fall ahead I've decided to trim my ambitions for Fine & Easy Cooking. For the next few months I will be posting menus for easy weeknight dinners, accompanied by a few of the recipes. My goal will be to get the reader thinking about riffs and extensions on those few menus and dishes.

Bison - the other red meat

Bison, aka American Buffalo, is being touted as a healthier alternative to beef. Leaner, lower in fat, cholesterol, and calories, Bison is truly the "other" red meat.

I've now had Bison three times. The first, this past winter on a trip to Deer Valley. A lightly seared filet, served rare was moist, tender and very flavorful. The second time I made a rib-eye bison steak at home. The results were equally as delicious. The steak was generously seasoned with Kosher salt, than seared over a very hot grill, just 2 or 3 minutes per side. My son and I were wowed by the flavor and tenderness of the steak.

Last night I made a bison sirloin steak. This steak was incredibly lean, and on the advice of my butcher, I marinated the steak for four hours. A thicker cut then the rib eye I previously grilled, this steak cooked for four minutes per side. Even after sitting for five minutes, the steak was still medium rare. The meat, which I served thinly sliced, was delicious, but as it cooled it became increasingly tough.

My verdict on Bison? It is definitely worth trying. I would not think twice about purchasing a rib eye steak, and am keeping my eyes open for strip steaks or tenderloins. The sirloin, well, it was tasty, and less expensive then the other cuts, but next time I will definitely try marinating the meat longer, at least overnight.

Menu I - Greek Feast

It's only natural to look to Mediterranean cultures for a summer menu: grilling and fresh vegetables are part of those cultures' DNA. For this menu, once I decided on a main course of lamb kebabs, the rest of the menu easily fell into place.

Greek Feast Menu

Appetizers:

Grilled flat bread

Olive tapenade

Grilled Halloumi Cheese

Stuffed grape leaves

Marinated Olives

Main Course:

Lamb kebabs

Rice Pilaf

Grilled zucchini and eggplant

Dessert:

Ice Box cake contributed by a guest.

How To

The appetizers rely heavily on prepared food. Purchase:

marinated olives

stuffed grape leaves

halloumi cheese

pizza dough

marinated olives

olive tapenade

To learn how to grill the cheese see my earlier post of September 23, 2008.

To make grilled flat bread:

Make sure your purchased pizza dough is at room temperature. On a piece of parchment paper cut large enough to hold the rolled pizza dough, sprinkle 1 tbsp. cornmeal. Cover dough lightly in cornmeal then shake-off excess. Roll and stretch dough to the desired thickness (no more than 1/4"). Spray lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp. kosher salt. Preheat gas grill to high. Place dough on grill, oiled side down. Remove parchment paper. Spray side of dough facing-up with oil. Close grill lid and leave dough undisturbed for 1 minute. Using a metal spatula and tongs check to see if underside of dough is cooked. If not cook for 30 seconds longer. Flip dough and cook second side for an additional 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from grill and cut into small squares.

For the main course:

Lamb Kebabs - I'm not an expert at kebabs. The recipe I used called for equal proportions of olive oil and fresh lemon juice, salt, pepper, lots of chopped garlic and greek oregano. I marinated 3 pounds of boneless leg of lamb, cut into 1 inch square for approximately 6 hours. The lamb was tender but not flavorful enough for my taste, even though the marinade smelled heavenly. Skewer the lamb pieces along with large pieces of red pepper and mushrooms. The kebabs will cook quickly on a hot grill, 6 to 8 minutes in total.

Grilled Eggplant and Zucchini - I used small italian eggplants, sliced into 1 inch rounds. The zucchini was also sliced into 1" rounds. Both vegetables were placed on skewers so the surface area on the grill was maximized. Brush or spray on olive oil and season with kosher salt. Place on grill set to medium heat. Check frequently so the vegetables do not burn, approximately 2 minutes per side.

Chocolate Chip Cookies - the verdict

Cutting the flour by half in the Nestle's recipe gives a very moist, chewy chocolate chip cookie. I otherwise followed the package's recipe to a "T." Next time ( and there will be a next time) I am going to try to bake the cookies at a lower temperature for a longer period of time. The Nestle's recipe recommends 375º for 9 to 11 minutes. My cookies were too brown for my taste. Next time I will try backing them at 325º and see if I can end up with a lighter colored cookie.

In case you were wondering, cooking them at 375º for a shorter time period left them raw in the middle.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie - revisited

Last fall I wrote about my discovery of the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. I now have another nominee for this title, which I tasted at a picnic this past weekend: Nestle's Original Toll House Cookie recipe with the amount of flour cut in half!

The proportions of these two recipes are different enough that I believe they are different recipes.

I'm getting ready to whip-up my first batch of these cookies. I'll let you know if they are as delicious as those I tasted this weekend, and my original October posting. I'm not writing the recipe in this post, it is printed on the back of every Nestle's semi-sweet morsel.

Stay tuned!

Summer Entertaining

I know I've been remiss in my postings these past few weeks. I've decided its time to re-set my expectations and priorities now that nice weather has finally arrived. My goal for this summer: to post once each week with the topic a complete outdoor entertaining menu.

I wouldn't call myself a grill master, but I take pride in creating an entire meal on my gas grill. Entire meaning appetizers through dessert. I don't like needing to run inside to the kitchen while my guests are sitting on the patio.

So stay tuned, hold onto your seats, and be ready to try some easy summer entertaining menus. In the event of rain I promise there will still be a post - just no pictures ( which aren't my strong point anyways)!

Braised Escarole with onions and white beans

Easy, economical, nutritious . . . sounds like a trifecta to me. I had never considered escarole until about two weeks ago, when an Italian friend mentioned she was making some for dinner. As I've mentioned in earlier posts, I'm working hard at expanding the number of vegetables in my diet. Escarole was a perfect candidate for addition.

This recipe includes a sweet onion, to balance the bite of the escarole, and white beans, a great source of protein. Though I originally served this as a side dish, it works great over pasta. Many traditional Italian recipes include sausage in this mix. I hope to try that the next time I make this recipe.

Braised Escarole with White Beans & Onions

1 large sweet onion, sliced thin approximately 1.5 cups

1 head of Escarole, rinsed and coarsely chopped

2 tbsps. oil

1 package baby crimini or white mushrooms, sliced

1 cup vegetable or chicken stock

1 15 ounce can great white northern or other small white beans, rinsed and drained

grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Heat oil in large skillet with a lid. Add sliced/chopped onion and cook until beginning to soften. Add Escarole, sliced mushrooms and stock. Lower heat to simmer, cover skillet, and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Vegetables should all be very soft at the end of this time. If necessary add additional stock and continue to braise. Add beans, mix to incorporate, and cook for an additional 5 minutes, until beans are heated through. There should be some broth remaining in the skillet at the end of the cooking time.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve as a side or over pasta, sprinkled with parmesan.

Enjoy!