TOO LAZY TO COOK? NO PROBLEM...

It's normal to feel lazy every now and then and not be willing to slave over dinner in the kitchen. For these days I have the best solutions: easy meals that almost don't need any cooking. You can prepare them with whatever you have at hand, use elements that you have cooked in advance, leftovers, ingredients from the pantry and to give them a fresh spin and flavor some fresh herbs from your garden. I got the idea for the first dish when mom asked to have stuffed vegetables. I was really feeling lazy, so, trying to get out of it I asked if she could settle for the stuffing, which would be easier, without all the work preparing and stuffing the veggies. She was not convinced, but said OK anyway, trying to be cooperative. She knew that it was going to be OK, since I always cook some stuffing separately when I make any stuffed vegetables. But she's in for a nice surprise.

TURKEY AND VEGETABLES RICE

                                            

I usually buy and cook ground turkey and keep it frozen for whenever I need it. So, I defrosted a bag of cooked ground turkey and got ready to work. Usually the stuffing for vegetables is made of ground meat, rice, parsley, dill, onions and tomatoes. Then you have the vegetables that you are going to stuff. So, what if I make the same thing, put the outside veggies inside and use some fresh herbs from the garden? I think it will work. But I didn't have any parsley or dill, and my husband said, no tomatoes. OK. Still we'll make it work with substitutions. And it actually did. The best part is that I used the ground turkey that I had cooked and frozen, some Chinese rice, vegetables from the fridge and fresh herbs for additional zing. You'll need:

1 lb cooked ground turkey

1 1/2 cups cooked white rice (or brown if you prefer)

1/2 green bell pepper and 1/2 large carrot

1 small onion or 1/2 medium

3 sprigs rosemary, finely chopped

3 to 4 sprigs of mint, leaves finely chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

1 cup chicken stock (you may not use it all)

1 tbsp oil

I cook the ground turkey with my usual onion/garlic mixture, add salt and pepper, stirring frequently until browned and all its liquid absorbed. Finely chop the onion and let it cook until translucent  in a non stick skillet with the tbsp of oil. Pulverize the carrot in a food processor and add it to the onion. Finely chop the bell pepper and add it to the skillet. Add some liquid, a tbsp at a time, to the skillet until the veggies are tender. Add the ground turkey, the rosemary and the cumin and mix well. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, then add the rice and some liquid (not too much, just enough to wet it). Stir, making sure that there are no lumps of rice or turkey. Add the mint leaves, mix and remove from heat. Serve. You may serve it on a leaf of butter lettuce. Bell peppers and lettuce are all veggies that we can stuff.

PASTA WITH TURKEY SAUCE

This may be the easiest dish you can ever make. It's as easy as boiling pasta. How easy is that? On my lazy days, this is my go to dish: I use the ground meat I keep in the freezer (today it's turkey), add it to any sauce I have at hand, today it's a leftover sauce from chicken ragout I made a couple of days before (recipe May, 2011), that I also froze, and use it to top any pasta I like, in this case elbows. (The sauce had carrots and celery in it). I was so lazy that I didn't even go out to the yard to cut some fresh basil leaves to sprinkle over my dish. Still it worked out perfectly, I opted for a sprinkle of Parmigiano on top. Delicious and easy.

                                                                                             

                                                   

MY GRANDMA'S DINNER

I don't know what exactly came over me on Sunday, but I woke up determined to have an old fashion dinner, a dinner like my grandma used to make. Can I really do that? Cook a whole meal the old, traditional way, without any tweaking? I think I can. I had a rabbit defrosting in the refrigerator, so I decided to make a whole meal around it, a classic, traditional rabbit with molokheya and rice, just like the one we used to have growing up. I usually cook my rabbit the Italian way, or my way, but this time I decided to give in to my nostalgic feelings and cook exactly like my grandma. I have to tell you that I announced this decision at 1 o'clock after having a late breakfast and reading the Sunday papers, so everybody tried to convince me that I should make something else, "you don't have enough time", my mom said. So I said, "we'll see, if things get difficult, I'll whip up something else for today and continue with the rabbit tomorrow". Well, it turned out I was right: it's not that difficult and it doesn't take the time people want you to think it does. Maybe this was a trick from our mothers and grandmothers to convince us that they were doing a very difficult job? Or maybe they simply didn't want us to ask for it so often; or, and this is my theory, grandma didn't have the tools that we have today and this is why it took so long for her to prepare this meal.

For the molokheya, I couldn't resist, I had to make it my way, the easy way (November,8,2011 blog).

Rice, you know by now how to cook it; just make sure that you use the rabbit stock instead of water.

                                                

CLASSIC RABBIT RECIPE

To have this meal, you have to start with the rabbit. You should cook it first, and then cook the rice and the molokheya, because the rabbit stock will be the base of the other two dishes. You may have read in previous blogs that I cook the rabbit in a very simplified way, and never go through the whole process like grandma. But today is different, simply because I wanted to know if it really makes a difference. To be sure I asked my friend Batta, who usually follows all old instructions to the letter, and I consider her the keeper of traditional recipes. She confirmed what I remembered being the old recipe. So here we go. You'll need:

1 whole rabbit cut into six pieces 

2 to 3 mastic crystals (found at Middle Eastern grocery stores)

1 tsp ground cardamom

1 small onion

1 tbsp oil

1 tbsp flour

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp butter

Rinse the rabbit pieces and pat dry. Put the rabbit pieces in a large bowl, sprinkle them with the flour, cardamom, salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Transfer the rabbit to a pot, preferable large enough to have the pieces in one layer. Add the mastic crystals and the oil and start cooking on medium high heat. Turn the pieces once and cook them until their flesh becomes white, don't overcook them or brown them. Add water to the pot and bring to a boil. Remove the white foam that might appear on the surface of the boiling pot whit a large spoon, once or twice. Add the onion, reduce the heat and continue cooking keeping the lid ajar on the pot. When the onion is almost cooked and tender, you may start taking some of the stock to make the molokheya and the rice. Continue cooking the rabbit, adding more water to compensate for the stock you used in the other dishes, and until the rabbit is fork tender. Remove the rabbit pieces and let them stand until ready to serve. Melt the butter in a non stick skillet, add the rabbit pieces and cover. Cook undisturbed for 3 or 4 minutes on one side, then turn the pieces on the other side and cover. When the rabbit pieces are golden brown, transfer to a serving dish and repeat with the remaining pieces. Serve with rice and molokheya. 

                                            

MORE SALADS

Still hot and steamy in New York, so, we'll have more salads. This is the only thing one can have in this heat, salads, salads, salads. The main idea is to make sure that you have enough variety so you don't get fed up of salads. Be creative: use leftover meats or chicken, try different kinds of beans and beans combinations, add new veggies or even fruits, or better yet dried fruits, raisins, figs or dates. Add cheese, spices, olives,nuts, actually anything you like to your salad, just make it delicious!

ARTICHOKE SALAD

                                                    

We love artichoke, but with this heat it's better to have it in a salad. I usually buy frozen artichoke hearts, and I keep a couple of bags of it in my freezer. I made this salad as a simplified version of the artichoke casserole that I make in winter: it has artichoke, peas, ground meat in white sauce. But since this is a salad, I'll only use artichoke and peas. I looked around to see what else can I use, and found 3 potatoes. That's enough, I'll use them in 2 salads. You'll need:

1 bag (14 oz) of frozen artichoke hearts

1/2 bag (15 oz) of frozen peas

1 1/2 cup boiled potatoes cubed

2 tbsp green olives stuffed with pimento, sliced

2 hard boiled eggs

Dressing:

2 to 3 scallions, white parts and some green

1 tbsp capers, chopped

2 tsp mustard

1 tsp vinegar

2 tbsp oil

Salt and pepper

Cook the artichoke hearts in salted boiling water for about 4 to 5 minutes. Just before they are tender, add the peas to the pot. Drain and let cool. Cook the potatoes in salted water. I actually had 3 potatoes only and decided to make 2 salads with them. When all the veggies are cool enough to handle, cut the artichoke hearts in bite size pieces, and add them to a large bowl. Add the potatoes. Thinly slice the scallions, add them to a small bowl to make the dressing. Add all the other ingredients, except the oil, salt and pepper. Mix well then drizzle the oil while mixing. You may add salt and pepper, but make sure that you don't add too much: your veggies are already salted and mustard is salted too. Slice the eggs and add them to the salad. Sprinkle some freshly ground pepper and serve.

GREEN BEANS SALAD

                                              

Two days ago I asked my husband to get us some fresh fava beans. It's the season, and I like to eat them raw with some feta cheese. But he got us the huge kind, each bean was almost one inch big. So we ate a couple, and found them too hard to eat raw. Would I throw them away? No way, they were fresh and tender on the inside, so I must find a way to use them somehow. When I tried to eat them raw, I had to peel the skin off each bean, so why not boil them for a couple of minutes, peel them and use them? That's exactly what I did. I made a salad, and it turned out to be real good, the fava beans melted in my mouth and were delicious. You'll need:

1 lb fresh fava beans, shelled

1 box of frozen green beans

1 1/2 cup cooked potatoes, cubed

Dressing from the previous salad

Cook the fava beans in salted boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and let cool. Cook the green beans in salted boiling water, drain and add to a bowl. When the fava beans are cooled enough to handle, peel them and add them to the bowl. Add the potatoes, drizzle the dressing and mix to coat. How easy is that?

                                                   

SALAD DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN

New York is burning. For the last couple of week we've been baking in an unprecedented heat weave with no end in sight. In such extreme conditions it becomes totally impossible to cook anything substantial: meats, chicken or fish, need heat to be cooked, and we don't need more heat around us. So what can we do? There are other options, better options: we can eat fruits and salads. And this is what we did for the last couple of weeks: we had salads, lots of salads. Actually we did enjoy it, mainly because I made sure that these salads were a complete meal, so you wouldn't miss any nutrition your body needs. A happy side effect for me is that I can take the leftovers with me at work for a good lunch the next day. The salads I'm making today can be made in advance, you can use a simple vinaigrette with them, or whip up a more elaborate dressing. I made one that I used on several salads, and it can be kept refrigerated for a week. Use my recipes as a blue print for your salads, use whatever you like and whatever you have at hand at home, you don't need to follow the recipe to the letter, tweak it to your liking, as I always do.

LIGHT POTATO SALAD

                                                 

I usually buy a big sack of potatoes at a time, I cook them in sauce, I stuff them, I use them in many ways. One way I know my family loves is to make them in a salad. Today I'm not talking about your typical potato salad, drenched in mayo, or not. I'm mainly talking about a dish that you can have as a complete meal, but light enough to eat in this horrible weather. I first got the idea from my usual salade nicoise, which I sometime like to serve "deconstructed" (that will be for another blog) meaning not tossed all together. I usually make it with a powerful vinaigrette, with mashed garlic and anchovies, but today, in this heat, I opted for a lighter dressing. I use yellow fleshed potatoes, I feel they have the right texture for the salad and are creamier than other kinds. For this salad, I got some fresh green beans, so try to get the best kind, the one that doesn't need peeling, just cut the stem, cut them in half, and you're good to go. You'll need:


2 lb potatoes (try to get them all the same size, they'll cook at the same time)
1 lb green beans
2 bay leaves
3 sprigs thyme
4 eggs
3 tbsp mustard
1 tsp mayo (optional)
1 tsp vinegar
2 tbsp chopped capers
2 tbsp finely chopped red onion
1 to 2 tbsp chopped dill
2 to 3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper


Bring a big pot of water to the boil. Add salt, the bay leaves and the thyme, then add the potatoes. I like to season them while cooking. Adding seasoning at the end will not have the same effect, so season every element as you go. While the potatoes cook, bring another pot of salted water to the boil, then add the beans, and bring again to the boil for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and cool under cold running water, drain and set aside. Also cook the eggs in boiling water. To make the vinaigrette, put the chopped onions and capers in a small bowl. Add the mustard and the vinegar, and the mayo if you're using it. Actually we are more of mustard kind of people than mayo, but sometimes I like to add a little bit of it to the vinaigrette to make it creamier. Slowly whisk in the oil, then add the chopped dill. Taste it to check if it really needs salt or not. Remember that the potatoes are already salted and that the mustard is salted too. When the potatoes are ready and cool enough to handle, peel them and slice them in 1/4 inch thick slices or a little thicker. Put the potatoes in a large low bowl, add half the vinaigrette and toss them being careful not to break the slices (you can even do it by hand). Add some vinaigrette to the beans and toss to coat. Line a large serving platter with mixed greens, lettuce or arugula. Add the green beans to the potatoes and toss, then transfer to the serving dish. Peel the eggs and slice them or cut each one in 4, and add to the salad. Drizzle the remaining vinaigrette on top before serving, with a sprinkle of fresh ground black pepper. You can serve it at room temperature.


CHEESE AND BROWN RICE SALAD

                                                   
One of the easiest meals you can ever make is this salad. You don't need a recipe, you don't need to shop for ingredients, or even cook to make this salad. I used some brown rice from Chinese take out, and all the other ingredients came from the pantry and the fridge. I even used the vinaigrette I had from the other day (the potato salad), it keeps well in the fridge. You'll need:


1 container of cooked brown rice
1 and 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
3 cucumbers
2 slices of Cheddar cheese, 1/4 inch thick
1 can (15 oz) chick peas, drained
Fresh basil leaves


In a bowl, put the brown rice, and separate it, making sure that there are no big lumps. Cut the tomatoes in half and add them to the rice. Peel and cut the cucumbers in small cubes (cut in 4 lengthwise, then in slices), add them to the bowl. Cut the cheese slices in 4 lengthwise, then in small dice, and add to the bowl. Add the chick peas. Add the vinaigrette and toss. Put the basil leaves over each other and thinly slice them, then sprinkle them over the salad. 

CLEANING DAY MEALS

It's settled: Saturday is officially cleaning day. Working or not, I always end up doing all the chores leftover from the whole week on Saturdays. So, this is the best day to have the easiest meals possible. You may say "Why don't you order something in?". In this case you obviously don't know us. Saturday is part of the week-end, and we must have fresh home made meals. But I also have a plan: I figured out many ways to have home cooked meals the easy way. The obvious way is that if the weather allows it, you can grill something, whip up a salad and you're good to go. But what if it's raining, or, as it's happening lately in New York, it's too horribly hot to even open a window, let alone go outside and fire up the grill? Your only chance is to think of easy meals, that will please your family, and still don't leave you drained after a day spent cleaning and cooking. Hey, it's still the week-end, and you are also supposed to relax and enjoy yourself!

I thought of the first two dishes at my last visit to the butcher, during the week: that's pretty much what I do. I let myself go with the flow, whatever I find at the market that looks good on that particular day, I buy, then I think of what can I do with it. All the other dishes are from my "strategic reserve": the pantry and the refrigerator.

GRILLED CALF LIVER

                                         

Liver looked delicious at the butcher's. As my husband says "You can eat it raw". So I got some and asked the butcher to slice it. Since I was thinking of grilling it, I asked him not to slice it too thin: 1/2 inch, or a little thicker is fine. As soon as I got home, I prepared it. Today I am adding to my usual recipe something new, some fresh herbs from the garden. You don't need much to have a delicious meal in minutes. Depending on the size of the liver available, buy a slice per person, plus two extra. (The average slice is about 8 x 4 inches). You'll need:

Liver slices (I made 4 and 2 smaller ones)

2 tbsp frozen onion/garlic mixture

3 fresh sprigs rosemary + 4 thyme

2 or 3 tbsp fresh lime juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Rinse the liver slices, making sure that there is no blood clots in the veins. Transfer to a bowl. Chop the herbs as finely as you can. You have first to remove the leaves from the stems by holding it at the top, then pulling the leaves back. Add them with all the other ingredients to the liver. Mix to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from the fridge, let stand for some 10 minutes while the grill is heating up. Grill undisturbed for 5 to 6 minutes, turn until it reaches the desired donness. I served it with some mashed potatoes, from a dried package. Don't look at me like that, some of them are really really good!!

VEAL STEW

                                                    

Another item that looked really good at the butcher's was a clean cut of veal. I asked him to cube it for me. About 2 x 1 inches cubes. The night before you need to cook the veal, marinate it and keep it refrigerated overnight. The next day, while you are cleaning or doing your chores in the kitchen, you can cook the veal cubes. Just make sure that you are around while it cooks, because you still have to keep an eye on it. You'll need:

2 lbs veal cubes

2 to 3 tbsp frozen onion/garlic mixture

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp butter

1/2 bag frozen pearl onions

To marinate the veal cubes: add the onion/garlic mixture, salt and pepper to it, mix well to coat, cover and refrigerate. If you don't have time to do it the night before, you start the day by doing just that and keep it refrigerated until you need to prepare dinner.

Put the veal cubes in a nonstick covered pan, and start cooking them on medium high heat. Don't worry about it, let it cook until all its liquid is absorbed, and you get a lot of browning in the pan. Add some water and stir to release all the browned bits and you get a brown sauce. Cover, reduce heat and let cook. Waiting for the liquid to be absorbed again, you can prepare a side dish or continue with your chores. I prepared a pasta dish: just boil some pasta, when it's almost done, add to it some veggies. Today I had only some carrots, so I sliced them the size of the rotini pasta I was making and added them to the boiling pasta pot. Drain the pasta, transfer it to the serving dish, toss it with a drop of olive oil and a sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper, and some chopped basil. 

When the liquid is absorbed again in the veal pan, fold in the pearl onions and the butter. Stir for a couple of minutes, add a little more liquid, cover and let cook until the veal is tender to the fork. Serve with the pasta or even over the pasta if you wish. 

                                              

EASY ENTERTAINING

When you have to play host to a number of people, the best thing to do is to think of a menu that can be prepared ahead of time, you have to chose items that don't need a lot of work to prepare and dishes that you can have ready when your guests arrive, so that you don't spend your time in the kitchen and you can enjoy yourself with your guests. So my first rule is: no fried items. Beside the fact that fried foods are heavy and, as everybody says, not good for you, any fried food is better served immediately, because if you let it hang around it will become soggy, and lose all its appeal. One basic rule is to have fried foods only when you are going to eat them immediately, and in limited quantities. It's OK, every now and then to have a fried fish or chicken, but not every day. It's not good for you and it's a hassle you don't need to go through.

Today I was hosting a dinner for 15 people, so I thought of making a meat dish, a chicken dish and some easy side dishes. I had to make sure also that my menu takes care of the allergies of some of my guests, two of them are lactose intolerant, so no milk or cheese in the food. I thought we can crank up the grill in the back yard and have the dinner there, but I also have to make sure the the weather will allow us to do that. It's been terribly hot lately in New York, and going outside might not be the best idea. So, I had to revert to plan B.

I chose a chicken dish that can be prepared a day ahead, chicken ragout (in a May 2011 blog, to which I added some fresh rosemary and thyme from my garden) and for the meat I opted for a whole beef tenderloin. As side dishes I'll prepare a pasta dish, very basic and simple, and some salads. For dessert an ice cream cake, it's very hot outside!!

BEEF TENDERLOIN WITH MY SPECIAL SAUCE

                                   

                                          

This is the easiest dish you can prepare for company. It's big, it can serve a lot of people, it doesn't need a lot of work and it's delicious. Of course it is: it's one of the best cuts of beef you can get. You can buy it whole, or  peeled. Today I got a peeled tenderloin. If you cannot get it peeled, don't worry it won't take you minutes to peel the whole tenderloin yourself: You won't even need a knife, just "peel off" the excess fat around it. You'll be amazed at how easy it is to remove it. I also chose this cut for another reason: if we were going to use the grill, I would cut it in thick slices to get filet mignon and grilled them. But since I went for plan B and stayed inside, I am going to cook it whole in the oven and then slice it before my guests arrive. 

As a sauce to be served on the side, I first thought of serving a brown sauce with mushrooms, but finally opted for a light mustard based sauce. You'll need:

1 whole beef tenderloin (I got a 4.50 lb tenderloin)

3 tbsp frozen onion/garlic mixture

Salt and pepper to taste (I used Adobo seasoning)

Rinse and pat dry the beef, mix the seasoning with the onion mixture and rub it all over the meat. Put the meat in a baking dish, cover it with foil and refrigerate it to marinate 2 hours to overnight. I left it over night. The next day, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Remove the tenderloin from its dish, place it on a baking sheet and cover it loosely with foil. cook it in the oven, covered first for 15 minutes to make sure that it will be cooked from the inside. We prefer our meat well done. Remove the foil and continue cooking. It should take 12 minutes for the first pound and 10 minutes for each additional pound. Remove the tenderloin from the oven, cover it with foil to allow it to rest, about 10 or 15 minutes, before slicing it. Serve with the sauce on the side.

SAUCE

                                                     

This is a very simple sauce that you can serve with steak, with grilled meat or chicken. You can even use it as salad dressing, just by whisking some oil into it and you're good to go. You don't really need a recipe for it, but here are some guidelines. You can change or tweak the ingredients according to your taste and to the quantity you need to make. You'll need:

1 small red onion

3 to 4 tbsp capers

1 cup good mustard

1 tsp mayo

chopped dill

In the small chopper process the onion until very fine, almost pulverized. Remove to a bowl. Give the capers a couple of pulses to chop them. Add the capers to the bowl. Add the mustard, and the mayo and mix thoroughly. Add the chopped dill and mix to incorporate.

You can also add some chopped dill pickles or different herbs.

I also served a very simple pasta dish: Farfalle with peas and carrots. Simply cook the pasta according to package directions in salted water (remember this is the only chance you have to season the pasta), and just before it's done, add some frozen peas and carrots.

I usually make one handful of dry pasta per person, so depending on how many people you are serving, add the peas accordingly. Drain the pasta, transfer it to a serving dish and toss it with some olive oil and freshly ground pepper. You can serve the grated cheese on the side.