Today, in theory, I was cooking for myself.  Chris was away, but with my Sunday free, I still wanted to make a Sunday Dinner.  The past couple of weeks have been really hectic, so I turned to The Joy of Cooking to give me some of that joy back.  I selected Becker Quick Miso Soup (p.125), Johnny Marzetti Spaghetti Pie (p.95), and Baked Figs with Ricotta (p.227).  Of course, my camera chose today to conk out so I only had pics of the miso soup (I start a photography class next month.  Then when these things happen, I’ll give a throaty laugh and magically fix said camera to take the most beautiful pictures ever).  However, two friends decided to pop by, so not only did I have lovely company, but one of them contributed an additional two pictures using his phone.

The meal was a success, as any with the word “joy” should be, although I preferred the soup and pasta pie to the ricotta recipe.  The Johnny Marzetti pie was “made famous at Marzetti’s restaurant in Columbus, Ohio,” Joy explains.  I added mushrooms and adjusted timings, but otherwise stuck pretty close to the original.

The miso soup was incredibly salty, probably because they used a broth base instead of water, so I added an additional cup of water to balance.  I’ve written the recipe as per my experiment, but I recommend you recreate it using 2 cups of water instead of 2 cups broth plus 1 cup water.  The soup paired perfectly with my creamy glass of milk, and would be tasty with some small shrimp thrown in.

With fig season just past, I used delicious, plump Medjool dates instead of the specified figs.  I’m not a huge fan of either the ricotta mixture or the marsala sauce, although they did pair nicely together.  The cheese blend called for equal parts cheese and cream, and I scooped in additional ricotta to thicken the soupiness.

All recipes adapted from The Joy of Cooking.

Becker Quick Miso Soup

2 cups chicken broth

1.5 tbsps miso/ soybean paste (I used white miso)

1 cup water (or to taste)

3- 5 sliced mushrooms, optional

1 green onion, chopped

1 thin slice of lemon, to garnish

(the Beckers also suggest a dash of hot pepper sauce to garnish, as desired)

miso/ soybean paste

Bring the broth to boil.  Stir in miso paste, and add water to taste.  Add sliced mushrooms and green onions.  Continue boiling 1 minute.  Garnish with lemon.

soup boiling away

finished miso soup

Johnny Marzetti Spaghetti Pie

1 pound ground beef

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

salt and pepper

1 green pepper, chopped

1 small container mushrooms, chopped

1 28-oz can tomatoes, with juice

1 15-oz tomato-based spaghetti sauce

1 tsp oregano or pizza spice

1 bay leaf

1- 2 handfuls whole wheat spaghetti (or other pasta as desired), cooked and drained

2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded, separated

1 cup breadcrumbs

Place ground beef, onion and garlic in large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook, breaking up beef with a spoon, until beef is mostly browned.  Add green pepper and mushrooms, cook 3- 5 minutes, until vegetables have softened.

Add tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce, oregano and bay leaf.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium-low and simmer 25 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.  While simmering, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Remove bay leaf.  Stir in spaghetti and 1 cup cheddar cheese, letting cheese melt into beef mixture.  Transfer to 9 x 13″ baking dish.  Sprinkle remaining cheese over top, followed by bread crumbs.  Bake until top is lightly browned, about 30 minutes.

spaghetti pie

Dates with Ricotta and Marsala Sauce

1/3 cup sugar plus 3 tsps sugar, separated

3 tbsps water

1/2 cup Marsala wine

20 Medjool dates

2/3 cup ricotta

1/3 cup heavy (35%) or table (18%) cream

Cut slit lengthwise in each date and remove pit.

In small saucepan, bring to boil 1/3 cup sugar and water, stirring to dissolve sugar.  Remove from heat and add Marsala.

Mix together ricotta, cream, and 3 tsps sugar.  Spoon cheese mixture into center of each date, and drizzle with marsala sauce.

dates with ricotta and marsala sauce

I love Jamie’s Food Revolution.  Not only is there a whole movement behind it, but in and of itself it’s a great index for home cooks who need a little help creating flavourful, easy meals for their family.  Not sure what to make when you get home?  There are entire chapters dedicated to such pantry, freezer and fridge staples as ground beef, pasta, stir-fries and salads.  The Twenty-Minute Meals chapter actually delivers twenty-minute meals; it’s a pet peeve of mine when chefs promise quick recipes but don’t count the prep time so the ingredient list is full of items already chopped, minced, cooked, etc.

Jamie urges the reader sign a contract with him to learn at least one recipe from each chapter and then pass it on to friends and family, spreading the healthier, fresher, cook-at-home movement.  I love the unflappable British style, with chapters on curries, family roast dinners, and desserts including scones with clotted cream.

Chef Oliver breaks down his recipes into three parts- prep, cook and serve- making each part seem less daunting and easily attainable no matter the cook’s experience level.  Coupled with helpful photos, this is a cookbook I will keep going back to.

On this particular Sunday, I opted for Chicken Korma (p.74), Light and Fluffy Rice (perfect, basic recipe, p. 95) and Pineapple and Chile with Chocolate Ice Cream (p.326).  This meal is DELISH.

Chicken Korma on Rice with Ice Cream

For the chicken korma, my supermarket was out of cilantro, so I substituted fresh parsley from my herb garden (I do recommend using cilantro though, if you have it).  I used half a jalapeno pepper instead of the optional full green chile and canola oil instead of peanut or veg oil.  For the korma paste, I used Patak’s, which is the one Jamie recommends and was indeed delicious, but next time I’ll try another for comparison’s sake.  You can also make Jamie’s homemade korma (p.99).  Jamie adds an additional half can of water to the curry as it’s cooking, but for future I’ll omit that step, as it made the mixture watery and thin and I had to simmer it, uncovered, for an additional 20 minutes (over the recipe’s suggested 30) to get the thicker consistency I like in a curry.  I’ve adapted the recipe below to omit the additional liquid.

I didn’t rinse the rice but otherwise stuck fairly close to the recipe.  In future I’ll likely just follow the package directions and omit the extra headache of draining and steaming, but it certainly did produce light and fluffy grains.

I also couldn’t find a red chile at the market, so I used the other half of the jalapeno pepper in the chocolate ice cream.  I briefly thought about adding a little chili powder to get closer to the red chile taste, but the heat from the jalapeno was enough.

Dinner was amazing.  I bought extra yogurt thinking I would make the Leftover Curry Biriani (p.78) with the meal’s remnants, but I strongly suspect they won’t last long enough.

All recipes below adapted from Jamie’s Food Revolution.

Chicken Korma

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 medium onions

1/2 jalapeno pepper

1-inch piece fresh ginger

small bunch fresh cilantro

1 15-oz can chickpeas

1- 2 tbsps canola oil

1 tbsp butter

1/2 cup korma paste, plus more to taste

1 14-oz can coconut milk

small handful sliced almonds

2 tbsps unsweetened shredded coconut

salt and pepper to taste

a few spoonfuls natural yogurt, for serving

lemon wedges, for serving

Peel and finely chop the onions (tip:  freeze the onions for a few minutes before cutting to prevent tears).  Seed and finely chop the jalapeno pepper.  Chop the cilantro, reserving some to serve.  Drain and rinse the chickpeas (this step gets rid of much of the sodium, which is in the preserving brine).  Cut the chicken into 1- inch pieces.  Peel the ginger.

Heat a wok on medium- high heat, add oil, let it heat up.  Add onions, chile and butter.  Grate the ginger directly into the wok.  Stir frequently until everything is nice and golden, about 6 minutes. 

Cook until golden

Add the 1/2 cup curry paste and let fry for about 30 seconds to release its oils.  Add the coconut milk, and stir until well blended with the curry paste.  Bring to a boil.  Add chickpeas, coconut, chicken pieces and half the sliced almonds; mix in. 

Add chickpeas, almonds and coconut

Turn down the heat, cover, and let simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring periodically and checking to get desired consistency.  If the curry becomes too thick, add a little water.  If it’s too thin, remove the cover and simmer uncovered for the last ten minutes.  Taste periodically and stir in additional curry paste to taste. 

Curry cooking

When chicken is cooked, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over cooked rice (see next recipe).  Dollop a couple of spoonfuls of yogurt on top, sprinkle remaining sliced almonds, and garnish with reserved cilantro.  Serve with lemon wedges.

YUM

Light, Fluffy Rice

salt

1 1/2 cups basmati rice

Put a large pot of salted water on high heat and bring to a boil.  Add the rice and boil for five minutes, stirring periodically.  Drain the rice in a colander. 

Drained rice

Pour one inch of water into the pot, put it back on high heat and bring to a boil.  Turn down to a simmer, place the colander on top of the pot and cover with tinfoil. 

My attempt at covering the colander with tinfoil

Let the rice steam for 10- 12 minutes.  When ready, fluff with a fork and serve.

Pineapple with Jalapeno Pepper on Chocolate Ice Cream

handful of fresh pineapple

1/2 jalapeno pepper

Chocolate ice cream

Cut the pineapple into chunks.  Seed and chop the jalapeno.  Put the pineapple at the bottom of the bowl, scoop 1- 2 balls of ice cream on top, and sprinkle on the jalapeno.

YUM

Dinner is served.

Sunday Dinner

Martha Stewart’s Dinner at Home is a beautiful cookbook.  Full disclosure- I’m a huge Martha fan.  I’d been itching to try something from this cookbook since I got it, and have spent many an hour admiring the menus she’s put together.  In this latest cookbook, Martha has put together 52 dinners, including a main, sides and dessert, using the freshest seasonal ingredients.  It’s organized by season, with an appendix listing the various recipes by type (starters, mains, sides, desserts).  There’s a handy addition of “basics” at the back, listing some key building blocks (how to make chicken stock, crostini, etc) and a few techniques.  In the introduction, Martha encourages us to choose meals or individual recipes that fit our needs.

I chose my menu based partly on taste and partly with an aim to use up a few ingredients still sitting in my fridge, and made a few changes to suit both of those needs.  I started with the first menu consisting of Baby Lamb Chops with Lemon Strips, Asparagus with Aioli, and Quinoa, Pea and Mint Salad, but replaced the dessert with the Lemon Mousse from menu three, as I thought that would marry well with the lemon in the lamb.

I decided to make the mousse first, as I could make that early in the day and leave it sitting in the fridge until dinnertime.  The super- simple recipe begins by making a lemon custard base from eggs, lemon juice and sugar, into which whipped cream is folded to make the mousse.  I used the juice of three lemons instead of measuring the exact 2/3 cup called for (don’t worry about the pits as you strain it through a fine sieve later).  I found the custard needed a slightly longer cooking time on my stovetop, but beware!- as soon as it was ready it started spitting which made it rather difficult to monitor it and take the requisite pictures at the same time.  When it came time to whip the heavy cream, I froze the beaters and bowl first, a step not mentioned in the recipe but one that helps the cream whip better.  Since I’m rather fond of cream (who isn’t?) I added an additional half cup of it.  When the mousse was ready, it was tart and yummy!!  I folded in a tablespoon of icing sugar, also not called for in the recipe, to make it a bit sweeter, but that’s purely to suit my taste; the mousse was deliciously refreshing without it.  Lastly, I topped the mousse with fresh blueberries.

The next piece I attempted was the aioli (a type of garlic infused mayonnaise), which definitely did not go as planned.  I followed the recipe fairly closely, which calls for the cook to mix an egg with a clove of garlic in a food processor, then pour in 1/2 cup of a neutral tasting oil (Martha recommends safflower; I used canola) followed by 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil.  With the exception of adding two garlic cloves instead of one (I like my garlic), I did exactly as the recipe instructed.  But it never set.  Instead of the creamy garlicky dip I anticipated, I got a liquid mess of raw egg and oil.  I checked several reference books of kitchen tips I have, but wouldn’t you know it, they’re great to read, but when you need something specific, it’s almost impossible to find, so I didn’t find any help there.  I tried adding another egg, and when that didn’t work, another egg yolk, but eventually I had to throw the whole thing out.  I haven’t included the recipe here due to the sorry outcome, but if anyone wants to make a liquid concoction of egg and oil, I’ll be happy to forward it along.  I’m still not sure why it didn’t emulsify, so if anyone has an idea, please let me know through leaving a comment below!

For dining purposes, I just chopped up a clove of garlic, mixed it with some mayonnaise, and voila! instant aioli.  The asparagus blanched beautifully as per Martha’s instructions (cut off the woody ends of the asparagus, and put in a pot of boiling water for about 2- 4 minutes.  When bright green and crisp tender, pull out and drain on paper towels) and I added some mushrooms to complement the dip.  The asparagus would also have done well with a spritz of lemon (in keeping with the theme).

The quinoa salad was next, and this is the recipe I adapted most.  The recipe calls for quinoa cooked in chicken stock, green peas, and mint leaves mixed together, although Martha does make a few substitution suggestions at the top of the recipe.  I used whole wheat couscous instead of quinoa, altered the cooking method to adapt, and used a mix of basil and mint instead of mint alone.  The result was a lovely fresh salad that provided an appropriate side.

Couscous salad

Lastly, the lamb chops.  Martha once again creates a delectable dish using simple techniques and barely a handful of ingredients.  The recipe calls for 12 baby lamb chops (three per person- the meals in this book serve four) to be seared and tossed with a mixture of lemon juice and zest.  I used 6 lamb shoulder arm chops instead of baby chops since that’s what my grocery store had, but didn’t alter other amounts as the recipe called for the juice and zest of only one lemon to begin with.  I included basting the chops during the cooking process, and added some fresh parsley at the end.

Lamb chops in pan

The result?  Very happy tummies.  Now all you need is a nice glass of red.

All recipes below adapted from Martha Stewart Dinner at Home:

Lemon Mousse

4 eggs

2/3 cup sugar

juice of three lemons

1 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled

1 tablespoon icing sugar

Mix together and cook the eggs, sugar and lemon juice over medium-low heat, whisking constantly until slightly thickened (Martha calls for a wooden spoon to do the stirring, but I found it worked better with a whisk for the first bit), about 3 minutes. 

Eggs, lemon juice and sugar in the pan

Raise the heat to medium and keep stirring (with either a whisk or a wooden spoon) until the mixture can coat the back of a spoon, about 4 minutes (be careful- towards the end it thickens fast!). 

Stir until the mixture can coat the back of a spoon

Strain through a fine sieve into a metal bowl, cover with plastic wrap pressed down onto the surface, and chill at least 45 minutes.

Strain through a sieve

All strained through

Freeze another (freezer- proof) bowl and beaters until well chilled.  Beat the heavy cream until soft peaks form (Martha calls for the cream to be whisked but I prefer an electric hand mixer to old-fashioned arm strength). 

Soft peaks

Fold in icing sugar.  Fold cream into lemon mixture and chill at least 30 minutes.

To serve, spoon some mousse into a dessert cup, and top with fresh blueberries.

Couscous Salad with Peas, Mint and Basil

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 cup whole wheat couscous

1 cup frozen peas (I eyeballed this, not an exact measurement; you can use fresh peas if preferred)

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup loosely packed mixture of fresh basil and mint leaves (feel free to use other herbs of your choice)

Follow the package instructions to properly cook the couscous you use.  I boiled 1 cup of stock, added the couscous, covered and removed it from the heat, letting it sit for three minutes until all the stock was absorbed and the couscous mostly (but not fully, since it will cook a little more with the peas) cooked.  Add the peas and the remaining 1/2 cup of hot stock.  Put the pot back on medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until the peas are warmed through.  Cover and remove from heat, letting it sit for about three more minutes.

Stir the oil into the couscous and season with salt and pepper as desired.  Let cool slightly so the couscous is warm but not hot, and fold in the herbs before serving.  Even better the next day!

Couscous salad

Lamb Chops with Lemon and Parsley

3 tablespoons olive oil

6 lamb shoulder arm chops

salt and pepper to season chops

juice and zest of 1 lemon (can mix together; don’t worry about the pits- even if there are some they’ll stay in the pan)

2- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley

Heat the oil in a large saute pan over high heat.  Season both sides of the lamb chops, and put in the pan, working in batches if necessary. 

Season both sides and put in pan

Sear both sides and cook 1 1/2- 2 minutes per side, making sure to lift the chops with tongs and brown the edges too. 

Make sure to sear the edges too

If working in batches, once the last batch is done, return all the lamb to the pan, even if it’s slightly crowded.  Pour the lemon juice and zest over top of the lamb, tilting the pan to collect the juices in order to spoon them up and over the lamb, about 30 seconds.

Pour the lemon juice and zest over the lamb

Spoon the juices over the top

 Put the lamb on a serving platter and top with fresh parsley.

La piece de resistance

Dinner is served!