Orange Juice Small Grain

Let me preface this by first saying that while this turned out delicious, there are many things I would have done differently. So, I wasn't sure what the title for this post should be.

I stole this idea from my friend, Cinzia, who brought this to a dinner party last night. She used Israeli couscous, but since I didn't have any on hand and had some orzo pasta, I thought, why not?

Things I Would Have Done Differently #1: Use a grain not a pasta. I think the difference is that there was A LOT of starch in the pasta and since you aren't draining it, the starch stays in the dish and makes it gummier than if you stick to a grain. Cinzia said she made hers in her rice cooker, too. Much easier I would think. The trick she taught me is to cook the grain/pasta in orange juice instead of water or stock. She used half orange juice half carrot juice.

Things I Would Have Done Differently #2: Do not use all orange juice. Orange juice is made up of a lot of sugar, right? When you boil it (and combined with all the starch in the pasta) it gets very thick. Cinzia's dish was more creamy than thick OR gummy. Actually, I think depending on your taste and price range (because carrot juice is pricey, man) you could just use a combo of water and OJ. I think 2/3 OJ to 1/3 water would work. I ended up adding water in the end to finish cooking the pasta.

Next are the shallots. Cinzia just said she fried some shallots. I sauteed them in butter.

Things I (maybe) Would Have Done Differently#3: I might use olive oil next time. It occurred to me that since I plan on serving this cold for my lunch tomorrow and olive oil is a liquid at room temp, using olive oil instead of butter might also have helped the texture of the dish. It's only a LITTLE bit compared the rest of the dish, but it couldn't hurt. The shallots, I think, are the key to this dish. The garlicky/onion taste combined with the sweetness of the juice make the dish. So, whatever else you do, don't forget the shallots.

Cinzia's dish was: Israeli couscous cooked in half OJ, half carrot juice, shelled edamame, sauteed shallots and sliced almonds. It was absolutely delicious!

My pantry's substitutions: Orzo cooked in OJ (eventually slightly diluted with water), shelled edamame, sauteed shallots, chopped peanuts and diced cilantro. Still pretty darn good.

I wish I could give you exact measurements, but I eyeballed everything. Here's a guess:

1 1/2 cups orzo

2 cups orange juice (I would suggest 1 1/2 cups oj and 1/2 cup water or stock)

Extra water to add while stirring the cooking orzo (I ended up cooking it like a risotto, stirring often)

1 cup edamame

2 large shallots sauteed in 3 tsp butter

1/4 cup chopped peanuts

1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro

salt and pepper to taste

Can be served hot or cold.

Re-tooling and Re-using Leftovers

RE-TOOLING

Last week when I made the cornmeal crusted pork I had quite a bit leftover so I decided to re-use it two nights later but with different side dishes. Originally, I used the quinoa with peas and oven roasted cauliflower. Today I decided for something lighter and more summery to accompany the pork.

Since I had only used 3/4 cup of ricotta cheese for the dinner crepes I still had more than half a container to use up. I decided to make the ricotta sauce pasta to complement the cornmeal crusted pork and serve a tomato and red pepper salad with it. The pasta will take about 20 minutes and you will merely heat up the pork briefly in the microwave right before you are ready to serve. Unfortunately, re-heating the pork in the microwave will soften the cornmeal crust but it is an efficient way to get it warm. Alternately a toaster oven might be a good option - I don't happen to own one but if anyone tries it please let me know.

For the pepper and tomato salad, I simply cut one medium tomato in quarters and gently de-seeded it. I repeated the process with a red pepper and then I cut the tomato and pepper into bite-size portions. I tossed them with a bit of olive oil (1 tablespoon) and balsamic vinegar (half a tablespoon). This salad adds a light, crisp complement to the thyme and lemon flavoring of the pork and the cheese sauce of the pasta and is purposely simplistic.

RE-USING

The next night dinner was again made with leftovers. I had enough of the dinner crepes leftover to re-heat for the two of us as well as the last of the vegetable soup. I set to oven to 350 degrees, placed the remaining crepes in a pie plate, and set into the oven to re-heat for 10-15 minutes. I set the soup in a small pan on very low heat on the stove top and set the table for dinner. I rounded it out with some wheat crackers and iberico cheese to go with the soup.

Warming the crepes in the oven is perfect - the bottom side that lays on the pie plate is lightly crisped, the filling is warm all the way through and the top part is soft. The crepes go well with a nice bowl of steaming vegetable soup.

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So with a bit more effort in making dinner sometimes you are rewarded with multiple meals: the pork made dinner one night for four people; three lunches and dinner another night for the two of us. The package of sukiyaki pork wasn't more than 1.5 pounds either. The crepe recipe was good for dinner on two separate nights and two lunches. For flexibility and convenience, I sometimes just freeze leftovers of larger recipes on the same night so we can have them for the future rather than being obligated to eat them the same week. Most of my meals typically serve dinner for two and there is enough for two lunches the next day.

Lasagna - It isn't as hard as you think

The beauty of lasagna is that you cannot mess it up - it doesn't matter how you layer it or if each layer is fully coated. It doesn't need to look pretty or neat it just has to taste great. The most important thing is to have enough sauce and I personally prefer to make it with fresh pasta but no-boil lasagna noodles are a good alternative.

Fresh pasta can be purchased but you rely on the source not running out which sadly has occurred for me. So most of the time I just make my own pasta rather than wasting my time hunting it up. Fresh pasta is surprising easy to make and the biggest benefit is that your cooking time reduces to only 10 minutes! No-boil pasta is much more convenient but you have to cook the lasagna for about 45 minutes. Typically it takes me a bit over an hour to put a lasagna together (including making fresh pasta and marinara sauce). Therefore using no-boil lasagna noodles and canned pasta sauce should take you about 90 minutes to get the meal to the table.

My favorite lasagna uses a package of chicken silician sausage (about a pound), half a bag of fresh spinach, half a container of crimini mushrooms (about 4 oz), half a bag of shredded mozzarella cheese, 15 ounces of ricotta cheese, approximately 30 ounces of marinara pasta sauce and 1/4 cup parmesan/reggiano grated cheese. You can vary this recipe to make it vegetarian; if you hate vegetables keep it purely meat; and if you hate everything but cheese than you can simply remove everything but the cheese. (Another nice vegetarian option is to use basil leaves and a marinara sauce - simple but very flavorful. An alternative to using sausage is to simply use a meat sauce rather than a marinara.)

(Note if you are using no-boil noodles and already prepared pasta sauce skip the next two paragraphs.)

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If I am making my own marinara sauce, I set that up to cook first since it has to simmer for 45 minutes. I use two 15 oz cans of chopped tomatoes and briefly puree in a blender. I pour this into a pan with deep sides and add a stick of butter (1/4 pound) - you could probably substitute olive oil for this; 1/2 medium onion peeled and halved keeping the root end intact; and a 1/4 teaspoon of sugar. I set is on a back burner with the flame very low and set the timer for 45 minutes.

If I am making my own pasta, I next make my dough using my food processor. Using a regular blade, I put 2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour in the bowl and crack three whole eggs on top of the flour. I then place the lid on there and pulse until the mixture is very grainy - similar to couscous. Briefly, with the lid on and a few quick pulses to the processor, I drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil just to give it a bit more "sticking" power. Remove the pasta from the processor bowl and carefully shape it a ball. It is like bringing hundreds of little pieces of clay together but you want it to be a solid piece. Slightly flatten the ball of pasta and cover with barely damp paper or cloth towels - you don't want the pasta to dry out but you also don't want to get the outer layer sticky.

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I cut away the casings surrounding the chicken silician sausage so that I have a pile of raw seasoned meat. Under a small skillet, I set the burner to medium or just a bit warmer and add the sausage meat. I slowly brown this while I prep my other ingredients. I place the 15 oz of ricotta cheese into a medium-sized bowl and crack one egg over it, add 1/4 cup parmegan/reggiano grated cheese and a dash of hot sauce (alternatively I sometimes add a pinch of nutmeg). I whisk all these ingredients together and set aside.

Next I wash my mushrooms and slice thinly slice them. I typically don't cook my mushrooms but you can add them to the cooking sausage. When the sausage is mostly brown, I turn off the burner and set it aside with my other ingredients. Next I turn my oven onto 375 degrees to bake the lasagna when it is finally set up. I then take a 13 x 9 inch baking dish and carefully spray it with olive oil to prevent sticking.

ASSEMBLY

I coat the bottom of the pan with a scant ladle of pasta sauce, add a layer of lasagna noodles (if I am using the pasta I made I roll out about three strips for each layer - details below); on top of the pasta I spread half my sausage and mushroom mix, cover with grated mozzarella cheese, and add another ladle of pasta sauce; I add another layer of lasagna noodles and on top of that I spread half of my ricotta mixture, cover with some fresh spinach and add another ladle of pasta sauce. I continue to alternate these layers until I run out of pasta. On top of my last layer of pasta, I will pour the remainder of my marinara sauce and sprinkle the whole thing with grated mozzarella cheese. Typically, I have a total of 8-10 layers - four or five of those being pasta.

My oven is pre-heated now. If using fresh pasta, just pop your creation in the oven and cook for 10 minutes or until the top layer of cheese is melted and browning. If using no-boil pasta, add a cup of water along the sides of your pan, tightly cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven for about 45 minutes. Check at 35 minutes and remove the foil for the last few moments to brown the cheese at the top.

My preference it to serve this for dinner parties because there isn't too much left over. If I am cooking it for just the two of us I tend to freeze half of it for another night. Even freezing half of it leaves enough for lunches for the next two days. If serving it for a dinner party you can either prep beforehand or have your guests help you with the assembly. It is always more fun to cook together and it leaves you more time to set up appetizers so they can nibble while working.

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Rolling out fresh pasta dough isn't an exact science and takes practice but it is worth the effort. I have found this site that has the step-by-step process for rolling with an Imperia Pasta Machine, which is the type I have; http://www.fantes.com/imperia.html.

My mother swears by her electric attachment for her Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. I believe she has the Pasta Excellence attachment set.

Tamale Follow-up

The tamale-making event was exhausting so all meals last week were either left overs, quick meals and even a few nights out. Monday night we had a 20-minute meal; frozen, meatballs (store bought - not my own); spaghetti; a can of pasta sauce; and warm bread.

Tuesday night I decided to steam a bag of tamales. When we packed up the tamales, we put about 20-25 tamales in Ziploc Freezer bags. I feel it is most efficient to steam a batch versus just a few at a time so I set up a large steamer pan. Ideally, you would set up a bed of wet corn husks on top of the steamer pan to protect the tamales from direct steam contact and enhance flavor. However, I have none left from our Sunday event so it is okay to just steam them directly in a pinch. I prefer a pan large enough to stand the tamales upright so that they cook more evenly. However, some people cook them by stacking them.

If you defrost the tamales, it should take about an hour to steam them. (Frozen tamales can take 60 to 90 minutes to cook.) The masa becomes light and fluffy - similar to a muffin. When I believe the tamales might be done, I take one out and unwrap it to confirm that the masa is cooked all around. If it isn't, I just return it to the pan and let it cook some more. Having 20-25 tamales is a bit much for two people to eat in a week so after we eat a few for dinner I return the rest of the cooked ones to the freezer. Now when I want to have some more we will only have to heat them for about 10-20 minutes (depending on whether the tamales are defrosted or frozen) in a steamer.

Additionally, I discovered that the sweet tamales were really good drizzled with honey just after they were taken out of the steamer. The honey enhanced the flavor just a enough. However, I still feel the need to perfect this recipe.

Also, we have one injury confirmation - a sprained finger from kneading masa dough. Marnie joked that she might have hurt herself but she said later her finger was swollen and she purchased a splint to minimize movement. So far she says she is impressing everyone who asks how she injured herself that it was due to making tamales.