Thai Style Red Curry with Chicken

Monday.  Back to work, back to reality.  It was particularly hard to get going at work this morning since I had such a nice weekend.  The hubby and I took the dog to the dog park, had dinner with some friends Saturday night and Sunday we went to Teatro ZinZanni in San Francisco.  It's a cabaret/vaudeville/improve/circus acrobatics dinner show.  SO much fun!  We laughed our asses off for 3 hours straight.  If you live in the SF Bay Area and haven't been yet, you should go.  It's a guaranteed fun time.  I was a little nervous about what to expect, since it had some rough reviews on Yelp, but we loved it.  The biggest complaint on Yelp was about the food.  We thought it was good.  Definitely not great, but not bad either.  It was standard banquet type fare, along the lines of what you get at a wedding, or any nice hotel catered affair, but don't go for the food, go for the entertainment, which makes up for it in spades.  If you want an incredible meal, go to Michael Mina, if you want to be thoroughly entertained for 3 hours while eating a good dinner, then ZinZanni is the ticket.  Our tickets to the show were a Christmas gift from my brother & his fiancé, so since we were off the hook for dinner, we splurged on a really good bottle of wine at the show.  A Stag's Leap Petite Syrah which was incredibly delicious and went amazingly well with the the fillet of beef we had for dinner.  Good food, Great Wine, Great Show- it was a night to remember!

The other thing that made the weekend so nice was that I skipped the normal weekend chores- no laundry, no house cleaning, no grocery store shopping, just spending time with the hubby & the dog.  That was all well & good during the weekend, but now that Monday has rolled around, it meant nothing to make for lunch this morning, limited wardrobe options for work this morning, and worst of all- a house that looked pretty darn disheveled when I got home from work tonight.  Luckily, I get off work at 3:30 in the afternoon most days, so after closing up shop I dropped the dog off at home (she gets to go to work with me), went to the grocery store, came home, started some laundry and started cleaning up the house.  This did not leave a lot of time for making dinner though.  Something quick was needed.    

I was tempted to pick up the phone & call for take-out, but even without having to purchase the dinner tickets to ZinZanni, we still ended up dropping a pretty penny at the show last night (Stag's Leap is never the cheapest wine on the menu, by any means).  Once I got take-out in my head though, my desire for Thai food was too much to ignore.  I had all the ingredients I needed to whip up some red curry, and, it's something I can get on the table in 30 minutes.  Well 30 minutes, if you don't count making the brown jasmine rice, which, despite what it says on the package needs at least an hour & 15 minutes to cook.  That's not a big deal though, once the water boils and you add the rice, just turn it down to low and leave it alone for an hour or so.  I started the rice when I started cleaning up the house and then by the time I got to making dinner, it was all ready to go.

Thai Style Red Curry with Chicken

Olive Oil

1 shallot, sliced

2 tbsp fresh grated ginger

1 red bell pepper, cut into strips

1 small zucchini, cut into strips

salt & pepper

1 cup chicken broth

1 13.5 oz can light coconut milk

1 tbsp Thai red curry paste

1 tsp garlic chili sauce

2 tbsp Thai fish sauce

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 to 2 cups leftover roast chicken breast, skin removed & diced or 1 pkg boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders

fresh basil, finely chopped

1 cup brown jasmine rice, prepared according to package directions.
1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts, crushed

1. Cook the Veggies.  Sauté the shallots with some olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes.  Add in the ginger and sauté for another minute or two.  Add the bell peppers and zucchini, season with salt & pepper, and continue to cook over medium heat for another few minutes, until the veggies have softened.
2. Build the Sauce.  Add the cup of chicken broth to the skillet, along with the can of light coconut milk.  Add in the tbsp of Red Curry paste and stir well.  Add the garlic chili sauce, the fish sauce & the brown sugar.  Stir until the curry paste & sugar have completely dissolved.  Let the curry simmer over medium low heat for about 10 minutes.
3. Add in the chicken.  Add the leftover chicken to the curry and continue simmering for another 10 minutes.  If you don't have leftover roast chicken you can use boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders that have been cut into pieces.  Add the chicken pieces to the curry sauce once the curry paste & brown sugar have completely dissolved and let it simmer in the sauce for the full 20 minutes.
4. Serve!  Once the chicken is heated through and the curry has simmered for a good 20 minutes, remove the curry from the heat, garnish with some fresh basil & the crushed peanuts and serve over steamed brown jasmine rice.

My wine choice for this dinner?  A 2009 Hill Family Estates Sauvignon Blanc.  The crisp fruity flavors go great with the spicy curry.  

Bon Apetit!

Steak Tacos with Onion-Tomato Jam

Mmmmm, Tacos

I am a sucker for tacos.  I love them, in all kinds of varieties.  I love the traditional beef or chicken tacos I get from our local taqueria.  I love the fancy tacos from the gourmet food trucks that pop up all over the Bay Area.  Crispy tacos, soft tacos, corn tortilla, flour tortilla, vegetarian tacos, meat tacos, fish tacos, it doesn't matter, there is just something about food wrapped up in a handy shell that appeals to me.  This weekend we were on a taco spree.  Fish tacos for dinner Friday night and on Saturday we had lunch at the Oxbow Market in Napa- home of C-Casa Taqueria and their ridiculously delicious tacos.  Pancho had a steak taco with caramelized onions & blue cheese crumbles.  I had a Duck taco with Serrano Chilies.  They were both amazing.  One would think come Sunday we would be taco'd out, but no, tacos were exactly what we were  craving.

With apologies to anyone who is in a cold climate right now, the weather here in the Bay Area has been fantastic (It's been in the mid to upper 60's for days, and sunny, really really sunny), which has made me want to pull the cover off the grill & fire it up.    Pancho and I rarely eat red meat, so steak tacos are a treat- perfect for Sunday dinner.  I had some tomatoes from the farmers market and a ton of onions, so ended up making these delicious steak tacos with onion-tomato jam.

I didn't get a chance to post the recipe Sunday night, but since it's Taco Tuesday, this recipe seems apropos!  


Steak Tacos with Onion-Tomato Jam
For the Chipotle sauce
1/4 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
1 1/2 tsp Chipotle powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 1/2 tsp lime zest
1 tbsp lime juice
1 1/2 tsp cilantro
pinch of salt
For the Jam
1 large onion, sliced thin
1 cup small grape tomatoes (or any kind of small sweet tomato)
1/2 tbsp Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
For the Steak
8 to 10 oz lean steak, (flank steak or tri-tip work great)
1 tsp garlic powder
Salt & Pepper
Olive Oil
For the Tacos
Soft Flour Tortillas
Fresh Arugula
1 avocado, diced
Cotija Cheese

1. Season the Steak.  Season both sides of the steak with some garlic powder, salt & pepper.  Brush with a little olive oil and set aside. 
2. Create the Onion Jam.  I use the term Jam loosely here, it's not really a jam, but because the onions & tomatoes cook down so much, they end up with a jam-like texture.  Heat up some olive oil in a medium sized sauté pan over medium heat.  Add in the sliced onions and cook over medium heat for at least 20 minutes or so, until the onions are very soft and starting to turn a deep golden color.  Add in the whole grape tomatoes, season with some salt, and continue to cook over medium heat for another 10 to 15 minutes.  The tomatoes will eventually burst open releasing their juices.  When this happens, mash down the tomatoes and stir well with the caramelized onions and remove the heat
3. Create the Chipotle Sauce.  While the onions are cooking make the chipotle cream sauce.  In a small dish combine the Greek yogurt, the lime zest, the cilantro, the juice from 1/2 a large lime, the cumin, the chipotle powder & some salt.  Mix well.  Feel free to add as much chipotle powder as you like.  Pancho doesn't like things too spicy so I only add about a 1 tsp.
4. Grill the steak.  Get the grill super hot (about 400 F) and then grill the steak until it is medium rare, flipping once while grilling.  How long you grill it depends on how thick the steak is and how well you like it done.  We like ours fairly rare, and I had a 1 1/2" piece of meat, so I cooked it about 4 minutes a side.  Once the steak is grilled to your liking, remove it from the heat and let it sit for at least 5 minutes.  If the weather is not right for grilling you can cook the steak just as well using a cast-iron grill pan on your stove top.  Once the steak has rested for a few minutes.  Slice it into thin strips.
5. Assemble the Tacos.  Heat up the tortillas ( I like to throw mine on the grill for a minute after I remove the steak).  Spread some of the onion-tomato mixture down the middle of the warmed tortilla.  Add a layer of the sliced steak, top with the chipotle cream sauce and then crumble some cotija cheese over the top.  Finally, add a couple pieces of diced avocado and a squirt of fresh lime juice.  If you want to add some green to the tacos, a layer of arugula works well on top of the steak.
6. Serve!  I served my tacos with some simmered black beans on the side (recipe below).  

Simmered Black Beans

Olive Oil

1 can black beans, rinsed & drained

1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 small onion, diced

1 tbsp cumin powder

1 small jalapeño, diced (optional)

Salt & Pepper

1. Sauté the onions & garlic.  In a small pot sauté the onions in a little olive oil over medium heat until they begin to soften, about 4 or 5 minutes.  Add in the garlic and continue to cook for another minute or so. Add in the cumin powder, some salt & some pepper & stir well.   If you are adding jalapeno, toss it in now.
2. Add in the Beans & Tomatoes.  Add the drained beans and the can of the fire-roasted tomatoes (juice & all).  Stir everything together well.
3. Cover & Simmer.  Cover the pot & simmer over medium low heat for 15 to 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, remove the lid & let simmer with the lid off for an additional 5 minutes.  
4. Serve!  These make a great side dish for the tacos above, and are also good over rice as a main dish.  When I make them as a main dish I like to add 1 green bell pepper, diced, as well.  I just add the diced peppers in when I add the garlic.

No wine with these babies!.  Taco's must be eaten alongside cold Mexican Beer.  Negra Modelo or Dos Equis Ambar are always a good choice.

Bon Apetit!

Split Pea Soup with Kale & Andouille Sausage

If you've been following this blog since it's start, a mere month or two ago, you are probably starting to notice that we like soup in this house, a lot.  When the weather turns cold and the winter rain starts here in the Bay Area, soup becomes a weekly staple in our house.  Actually, we eat quite a bit of it in the spring, summer and fall too.  There is just something about a bowl of delicious soup that makes you feel good.  Cold soup, hot soup, it doesn't matter, soup is just plain good for the soul.  Pancho and I are avid Top Chef fans, and we've noticed that anytime someone makes a soup, they almost always end up winning that challenge.  So it's not just us, it appears that every one goes nuts for a good soup.

Tomato soup has always been my favorite.  Throw a grilled cheese sandwich on the side and I am instantly transported back to the winter weekends of my childhood, when after a morning spent playing in the snow my mom would make us grilled cheese & tomato soup before sending us back out to enjoy the winter wonderland that is New Jersey in winter.  It was awesome then, and still one of my favorite weekend lunches, even though there is no snow to be found where I now live in California.  I make a killer roasted tomato & red pepper soup that has reigned supreme at the top of my favorite soup list for quite a while, that is until this past fall, when I came across a little split pea soup recipe in Bon Appetit.

I've always liked split pea soup, and this recipe seemed simple enough, so I figured I would try it out.  There weren't many ingredients, it took like 30 minutes to make, and the recipe was so straight-forward I didn't really tweak it at all.  When it was done, it smelled pretty darn good, and looked delicious.  My husband and I sat down with a bowl of it for dinner and... it was fantastic.  So, so good.  My roasted tomato soup was dethroned, I had a new favorite.  Since discovering it in early fall I've probably made it a half dozen times and Pancho and I are still in love with it.  It's got kale & andouille sausage in it, 2 twists on the traditional recipe which give this soup great flavor and texture.  I've started keeping dried split peas in the house at all times, along with Aidell's Andouille Sausage in the freezer, so that I can make this soup at a moments notice.  Luckily we eat a lot of greens around here too, so I always seem to have some kale or mustard greens in the fridge.  That's basically it for ingredients- split peas, andouille sausage, kale & chicken broth.  So simple to make, really inexpensive, and crazy delicious.  The judges on Top Chef are right, a delicious soup is a winner!

Split Pea Soup with Kale & Andouille Sausage
1 16-ounce bag dried green split peas
1 package Aidell's Andouille Sausage
8 cups (or more) chicken broth
5 bay leaves
4 to 5 cups chopped kale (chopped into thin strips)
Salt & Pepper

1. Cook the Split Peas with the Sausage.  Combine the split peas, the whole sausage links, 8 cups of chicken broth, and the bay leaves in a large heavy pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring often. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until the peas are tender, 30 to 35 minutes.
2. Take out the Sausage & Cut Up.  Once the peas are done, remove the sausage links from the soup and place on a cutting board.  Careful, they will be very hot.  Cut the links lengthwise in half, then crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick half-rounds.
3. Puree the Soup.  Remove the Bay Leaves from the soup and puree using an immersion blender.  If you don't have an immersion blender you can use a regular blender.  Puree the soup one cup at a time in your blender, and then return the pureed soup to the original pot.
4. Add the Sausage and Greens.   Add the sliced sausage half-rounds back in to the soup pot and then add in the thinly sliced greens.  If the soup is really thick you can add more broth to thin it out to the consistency you like.  Simmer the soup until the greens soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with a little salt and pepper.
5. Serve!  Serve pipping hot with some thick crusty bread or with some croutons sprinkled on top.  Prepare for people to want seconds, it's crazy delicious.

Epicurious.com is home to the Original Recipe.  it is recopied here, almost exactly.  There are only two things I do differently- I take out the Bay Leaves before I puree the soup and rather than using a traditional blender to puree it, I just use my immersion blender right in the soup pot.  Much faster & easier than transferring to a blender and then returning the soup to the original pot, and less clean-up afterwards.  I've mentioned it before, but if you don't have an immersion blender, put one on your list for Santa this year.  It's one of the kitchen tools I just couldn't live without.

Bon Appetit!

Grilled Pork Chops with Burst Tomatoes

It turns out keeping up with a blog is no easy task, especially during the holiday season.  My original goal was to update the site about twice a week, and I was doing an OK job up until Thanksgiving, but since then I haven't had a chance to add anything.  But, Thanksgiving is over, the house is decorated for Christmas and Hanukkah (We are an interfaith household), my holiday shopping is mostly done and work has slowed down to a manageable pace.  Time to get back to writing & cooking!

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.  We had a fantastic 4 days.  Spent Turkey day with our family and spent the day after Thanksgiving with our good friends, creating what I hope is a new, long standing tradition- the Leftover Feast.  We all packed up the leftovers from our respective Thanksgiving dinners, carted them over to our friend Julie's house and heated everything up for a repeat of the big meal- this time with the family that gets made from your group of close friends.  It was an awesome night, lots of laughs & wine, a few games of some friendly poker and delicious food.  Plus, it was a great way to use up a good portion of the Thanksgiving leftovers.  I ended up with just enough leftover turkey to make nachos one night for a quick dinner.  The weekend after Thanksgiving we headed down to Paso Robles to see some more friends and explore the wine country down there.  It was 4 days of good friends, good food & good wine.  It doesn't get much better than that.  

This was our first visit to the Paso Robles wine country and we didn't know quite what to expect.  Turns out they make some absolutely delicious wine down there.  Mostly all reds, and mostly of the Rhone varietals.  No big California Cabernets, not a Pinot Noir to be found, but some of the best Syrahs and GSM's (Grenache, Syrah & Mourvédre) we have had in a while.  We ended up picking up quite a few bottles to add to our collection.

Tonight seemed like a good night to open one of those new bottles, so I needed to make something that would go well with a Syrah, and was quick to make.  I had some thin cut pork chops in the fridge and some cherry tomatoes, add in some broccoli for a veggie side and dinner was set.  I've been making this pork dish for quite a while and it's always a favorite, plus, it's pretty cheap to make & takes literally no time to make.  You just throw the pork chops on the grill and while they are cooking you sauté some shallots & cherry tomatoes until the tomatoes burst & release their juices.  Then add a dash of balsamic vinegar to the tomatoes and onions and you've got a delicious topping for the pork chops. You can use whatever type of Pork Chop you like- bone in, boneless, thin cut or thick cut it really doesn't matter.  The tomatoes work well with any variety of chop.

Grilled Pork Chops with Burst Tomatoes

2 to 4 Pork Chops

Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

1 pint size container small sweet tomatoes, washed clean but left whole

1 large shallot, halved & then sliced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

1. Prepare and Grill the Pork Chops.  Season the pork chops on both sides with Salt & Pepper and brush with a little olive oil. Heat your grill, or grill pan, up to medium high and grill the chops until cooked through.  We like ours medium, about 6 minutes a side.
2. Sauté the Onions & Tomatoes.  While the pork chops are on the grill, cook the shallots in a little bit of olive oil, in a medium sized sauté pan over medium heat, until just starting to soften, about 5 minutes.  Add in the garlic and cook for another minute.  Add in the tomatoes, season with salt & pepper and cook over medium high heat until the tomatoes start to burst.  Add in the balsamic vinegar and stir for a minute or so then remove from heat.
3. Serve!  Place a grilled pork chop on a plate and put a couple spoonfuls of the tomato & shallot mixture over the chop.  Tonight I served some roasted broccoli on the side.  And the wine?  We opened a 2006 Linne Calodo Sandbagger, it was delicious!

Bon Appetit!

Honey Dijon Chicken fillets with Maple Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Ah the Brussel Sprout, so misunderstood. I used to think they were just horrible. Bitter, sometimes even slimy, pale yellowish green heads. Yuck. Then, one day my brother the chef sliced them up into thin strips, sauteed them with bacon & shallots and added some aged balsamic vinegar. They were ridiculously delicious and I became a brussel sprout convert. Now, when they are in season and the giant stalks fill up the produce stands I actually pick some up instead of running past them in horror. My brother showed me that it's all about how they are cooked. Brussel Sprouts just need some extra attention to transform into something yummy.

This past month, in one of the food magazines I subscribe to I swear I saw a recipe for roasted brussel sprouts with maple syrup. Mmm, sounds delicious! Only problem is that now I can't remember where I saw it. It might have been Martha's mag, but I recycled the November issue already and can't find it online at her website. I can't seem to find the recipe in the other foodie magazines I still have laying around the house either. So I was on my own to come up with some roasted brussel sprouts with a maple syrup kicker. I have to say, they came out awesome.

I served them along side my version of chicken schnitzel. I use mustard instead of dredging the cutlets in flour & egg to hold the breadcrumbs on and instead of pan frying them I bake them in the oven. The mustard gives the chicken great flavor and I like to think makes them just a wee bit healthier, as does the baking instead of frying. One thing's for sure though, It is a really quick dinner to prepare, and gives me a chance to whack at something with my meat mallet, which is exactly what is needed after a long day at work.

Maple Roasted Brussel Sprouts
8 to 10 fresh brussel sprouts, ends trimmed off & outer leaves removed, cut into quarters
Salt & pepper
Olive oil
1 Tbsp fresh thyme, stems discarded (leaves from about 4 or 5 sprigs)
1 to 2 tsps Maple Syrup

1. Prep the Brussel Sprouts.  Pre-heat the oven to 350 F. Trim off the stalk end of the brussel sprouts and remove any of the outer leaves that are discolored.  Cut the bulbs into quarters through the root end of each one, so that you have little wedges.  In a small bowl toss the brussel sprout wedges with some olive oil, salt, pepper and the leaves from about 4 or 5 thyme sprigs.
2. Roast the Brussel Sprouts.  Spread the brussel sprouts out in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Roast the Brussel Sprouts for about 30 minutes, until they have caramelized slightly.
3. Add the Maple Syrup.  Remove the baking sheet from the over, drizzle the maple syrup over the brussel sprouts and give them a stir.  Place the baking sheet back in the oven and continue to roast for another 5 minutes.  A little maple syrup goes a long way, and it has a pretty strong flavor.  You may not need to use all 2 tsp of the the syrup, it just depends on how many brussel sprouts you chopped up.
4. Serve!  Tonight I served them along side my honey dijon chicken schnitzel, recipe below.

Honey Dijon Chicken Schnitzel
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin to about 1/3" thickness
2 Tbsps Honey Dijon Mustard
1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
olive oil (if you go the pan frying method)

1. Prepare the chicken cutlets.  Place the chicken cutlets between 2 sheets of wax paper and using a meat mallet pound the chicken breasts until they are uniformly flat, about 1/3 to 1/4" thick.  Using a silicon pastry brush (or something similar) spread both sides of the flattened chicken breasts with the mustard and then dredge them in the breadcrumbs.  Make sure the breadcrumbs completely coat the chicken.
2. To Fry or Not to Fry, that is the question.  Once the cutlets are ready to be cooked you have 2 options.  You can either pan fry them in a little olive oil or put them on a baking sheet and cook them in the oven.  They will get a little crispier if you go the pan frying route, but are almost just as good baked in the oven.  If you decide to bake them, put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil and bake for about 30 minutes at 350 F.  If you are making the brussel sprouts above everything can just go in the oven together.  If you decide to pan fry them, heat up a little olive oil in a large skillet over high heat.  When the oil starts to shimmer add in the cutlets and pan fry, about 3 or 4 minutes a side.
3. Serve! Serve with the maple roasted brussel sprouts.  For tonight's dinner I also threw some quartered yukon gold potatoes, tossed with some olive oil, salt, pepper & garlic powder, onto the corner of the baking sheet that had the brussel sprouts and served those as well.  We drank a MacMurray Ranch Sonoma Coat Pinot Noir with dinner.  Yum Yum!

Seafood Fettuccine

I haven't had a chance to post to the blog this past week.  It was the busiest week of the year at my job.  Our Year-End Awards Dinner was held which takes months of preparation, plus, I had to get the house ready for a house guest this weekend.  Between those 2 things, and just regular day to day stuff, there was just no time to write, or even cook anything remotely worth blogging about. Thankfully, last night I finally had a chance to get into the kitchen and get my knife a' choppin.

My good friend's daughter, Brooke, is staying with Pancho and I for a few days. She's 19 and on a fall break from College.  I've known Brooke since she was in kindergarten, and watching her grow up into an amazing young woman has been a gift.  She lives in Colorado, where I lived for over 15 years- up until 2005.  I miss her, and her family terribly, so having her come out and visit is always a special occasion.  Last night for dinner I wanted to make something special, that was easy to make, didn't require a lot of kitchen clean-up and would incorporate one of Brooke's favorite food groups- seafood.  Seafood Fettuccine was the perfect answer.  I've been making this pasta dish for years.  It's easy to make and everyone that has had it loves it.  I often joke that this is the dish that made my husband want to marry me.  You can use almost any type of seafood, my usual combo is jumbo shrimp, scallops, and clams.  Crab goes great as well, as do mussels or any type of firm white fish.

Seafood Fettuccine
Olive Oil
2 large shallots, sliced
4 to 6 big cloves of garlic, minced
6 crimini mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp dried oregano
2 tsp red hot pepper flakes
1 bay leave
salt & pepper
1 cup dry white wine
1 can minced clams, with juice
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 lb jumbo or colossal shrimp, peeled & deveined
1/2 lb scallops, patted dry
fresh basil, finely chopped
shaved Parmesan cheese
1 box fettuccine pasta

1. Sauté the shallots, garlic & mushrooms.  Run some olive oil around a large sauté pan and heat up over medium heat.  Add in the shallots & cook for 3 or 4 minutes.  Add the minced garlic and  continue to cook for another minute, then add the mushrooms to the pan.  Season with 1 Tbsp of the oregano, 1 tsp hot pepper flakes, some salt & pepper and the bay leaf.  Continue to cook for about 3 or 4 minutes, until the mushrooms just start to release their juices.
2. Add in the wine & clams.  Once the mushrooms have started to release their juices, turn the heat up to high and add in the wine and the can of minced clams, along with the juice.  Cook over high heat until the liquid has been reduced by about two-thirds. 
3. Add in the tomato.  Reduce the heat down to medium low and add in the entire can of crushed tomatoes.  Add in the remaining oregano, and, if you like your sauce spicy, another tsp of hot pepper flakes.  Stir well, and let the sauce simmer over low heat while the pasta water comes to a boil.
4. Add the seafood to the sauce while the pasta cooks.  Once the pasta water has come to a boil, add in lots of salt and the pasta, and cook according to the package directions.  When you add the pasta to the boiling water, turn the heat under the sauce up to medium and add the shrimp and scallops to the simmering sauce.  The shrimp and scallops will cook while the pasta is boiling.
5. Drain the pasta and mix with the sauce.  Once the pasta is done, drain it and transfer to a large serving bowl.  Pour the sauce with the seafood over the pasta and toss to coat the pasta.
6. Serve!  Garnish with some chopped fresh basil and some shaved Parmesan cheese.  We drank another Wente Riva Ranch Chardonnay with dinner last night.  It was delicious!

Bon Appetit!

Grilled Salmon with Balsamic Glaze over Swiss Chard & Israeli Couscous

Pancho and I had a  free Sunday today.  Sure, there was a long list of things I should have done, like get some work done ahead of the insanely busy week coming at my job, do laundry, clean the kitchen floors, clean the bathrooms, etc. But, it was almost 75 degrees out today, not a cloud in the sky and not a wisp of that cold pacific wind blowing in from the west.  It was just too nice to stay inside doing anything that was remotely like work.  It was a late night last night too, a good friend turned 40 and to celebrate we spent Saturday night playing Beer Pong and Flip Cup, doing shots of Jägermeister, and belting out some righteous karaoke. Basically pretending that we will still in our 20's and not facing the big 4-0.  Getting up and actually being productive this morning was just not in the cards.  We ended up having a late breakfast and then taking the dog on a 3.1 mile lap around Lake Merritt in downtown Oakland.  It was a great way to spend a couple of hours on an absolutely beautiful Sunday Afternoon.

On the way home we stopped at the store and wild Sockeye Salmon was on sale for $8.99/lb.  Since the weather was so nice turning on the grill seemed like a great idea and instantly I knew what was for dinner- Grilled Salmon with a Balsamic glaze over some Swiss Chard & Israeli Couscous.  I can't take any credit for this salmon recipe, it's from the July 2001 issue of Bon Appetit and the original recipe can be found on the Epicurious website here.  It's probably my favorite salmon recipe.  The glaze is so good, and so easy to make.  There isn't a thing that needs to be tweaked with the recipe, it's perfect as is.  The Israeli Couscous recipe is my own and goes great with the salmon.

Grilled salmon with balsamic glaze 
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons (packed) brown sugar
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
2 Salmon Fillets

1. Make the Glaze.  Combine the balsamic vinegar, wine, lemon juice & brown sugar in a medium saucepan. Boil the sauce until it's reduced to about 1/3 cup and coats the back of a spoon when you stir it.  It will take about 17 to 20 minutes. Season the glaze to taste with salt and pepper.  You can make this glaze up to a week ahead of time, just keep it covered in the fridge.  When you are ready to use it just rewarm over low heat.
2. Prepare the Salmon.  Lightly coat both sides of the salmon fillets with olive oil, salt & pepper.  Heat your grill to medium high heat and then grill the salmon until it's opaque in the center, about 10 to 12 minutes.
3. Serve.  Drizzle the salmon glaze over the salmon and serve over some Israeli Couscous with Swiss Shard.  You will most likely have a ton of the balsamic glaze left over.  It will keep in the fridge for a few days.

Israeli Couscous with Swiss Shard

1 cup Israeli Couscous (also called pearled couscous)

1 1/2 cup chicken broth/stock

Olive Oil

1 shallot, thinly sliced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 bunch Swiss Chard, stems removed and chopped into strips

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

1/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese

Salt & Pepper

1. Cook the Couscous.  In a small pot bring the chicken stock to a boil.  Add in the couscous and cook over medium high heat for about 6 or 7 minutes until the liquid has been absorbed.  Remove the pot from the heat, cover and let sit for 10 minutes.
2. Prepare the Swiss Chard.  Whlile the couscous is cooking heat a little olive oil over medium heat in a large sauté pan.  Add in the shallots and sauté over medium heat for a few minutes.  Add in the garlic and continue to sauté for another minute.  Add in the Swiss Chard and continue cooking until the greens cook all the way down.
3. Add the Pine Nuts & Parmesan.  Once the greens have cooked all the way down toss in the pine nuts and stir well.  Add the Parmesan cheese, stir the mixture and remove the pan from the heat.
4. Add in the Couscous.  Once the couscous is done, stir it into the swiss chard, season with salt & pepper.
5. Serve!  place a few spoonfuls of the couscous/swiss chard mixture on a plate and top with a grilled salmon fillet.  Drizzle the balsamic glaze over the salmon.

We drank a Wente Vineyards Riva Ranch Chardonnay with dinner tonight.  We're big fans of big oakey chardonnays and this one fits the bill perfectly.  It's also a bargain at only $14 a bottle!

Bon Appetit!

Broccoli Stir Fry

Pancho and I love broccoli.  We eat it several times a week.  We like it roasted, steamed, grilled, cooked in a pan, loaded into a casserole, it really doesn't matter.  I don't think there is a way to prepare broccoli where we wouldn't like it.  We also love Asian food, and living in the San Francisco Bay area means that there are many many many places to get truly great Asian food.  Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Burmese, Korean, it's all here, and all within walking distance or delivery distance of our house.  Naturally, one of our favorite dishes is stir-fry broccoli, with beef, pork, chicken or tofu.  Only catch is that if we ate our beloved stir-fry broccoli out at these amazing Asian restaurants all the time, or even had it delivered- we'd be unable to pay the rent.  So, I've spent some time trying to come up with a Broccoli Stir-Fry recipe that's just as good as what I can get from China Gourmet or Dragon Village- our favorite Chinese restaurants down the street.

This recipe is sort of an amalgamation of several different recipes I've tried over the years, and you can use pretty much any vegetables or protein source.  It works great with tofu, chicken or beef, but we like it best with thin strips of pork, and of course, with broccoli.  The other great thing about this recipe?  It's super cheap to make.  The thin cut Pork Chops are really inexpensive and so are the veggies.  And, it takes literally no time to prepare (especially if you have the pre-cut bag of broccoli, & pre-sliced mushrooms)-

Cheap, Quick & Delicious... Winner, Winner, Pork Dinner!

Broccoli Pork Stir Fry

Thin cut pork chops (2 or 3), cut into small strips, seasoned with salt & pepper and tossed with some Cornstarch
1 small onion, diced into large pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated
6 to 8 mushrooms, sliced
1 large head of Broccoli, cut into small florets
3 Tbsp Oyster Sauce or Fish Sauce (both available in the Asian section of Safeway)
3 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 to 2 tsp Garlic Chili Sauce, more/less depending on how spicy you like it.  (I use the Vietnamese kind, with the green lid & the rooster on the jar, also available at Safeway)
1/3 cup chicken broth
Salt
Pepper
Sesame Oil
Steamed Brown Rice

1. Make the Stir-Fry Sauce.  Mix the chicken broth, brown sugar, oyster or fish sauce & garlic chili sauce together in a small bowl.  Set aside.  
2. Cook the Pork & Onions.  Run about 1 1/2 Tbsps sesame oil around a large skillet or wok over high heat.  Add the onions, garlic, ginger and the pork strips, which have been seasoned with salt & pepper and lightly tossed with cornstarch (it helps make a thicker sauce for the stir fry).  Sauté for a few minutes until the pork strips are browned and the onions have softened.  
3. Add in the Veggies.  Add another Tbsp of sesame oil to the pan and throw in the mushrooms, cook for another minute and then toss in the broccoli.  
4. Add the sauce.  After a minute or two, pour the stir-fry sauce over the mixture and turn the heat down to medium.  Continue to cook over medium heat for another few minutes, until the veggies are cooked through and the sauce has thickened.  
5. Serve!  Serve over steamed rice.  We like brown rice, but white rice works just as well.

Bon Appetit,

Laura