Cuban picadillo tacos with quinoa black bean avocado salad

Cuban picadillo

From “Saveur: The New Classics Cookbook”

Ingredients

1½ pounds ground beef

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 green pepper, seeded and chopped

2 green onions, chopped

14 pitted green olives, chopped

¼ cup raisins

1½ tablespoons capers, drained

1 bay leaf

¾ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon dried oregano

1 cup tomato sauce

¼ cup dry sherry

1½ tablespoon olive oil

10 tacos or 3 cups cooked hot rice

Method

Mix all ingredients except olive oil in a bowl. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes at room temperature. Heat oil in large pan over medium heat. Add beef mixture and cook for 40 minutes. Season with salt and remove bay leaf.

Serve over rice or in a taco. Makes enough for about 10 generous tacos. I suppose you can add toppings, but it really doesn't need any gilding.

Rating: Quite tasty. And the dish can be made several days ahead and reheated, which makes it an ideal weeknight supper candidate.

Red quinoa salad with black beans and avocado

From the Merc Co-Op in Lawrence, Kan., via Lily Siebert in the Star Tribune

Ingredients

1 cup red quinoa

2 cups water

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons light oil (I used a light-tasting olive oil)

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ cup finely chopped red onion

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 avocado, chopped

¼ cup minced cilantro

Method

Bring quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan. Simmer, covered, until cooked, about 15 minutes. Let cool.

Whisk together lime juice, oil, salt and cumin. Toss quinoa with onion, beans, avocado and cilantro. Add dressing and toss to coat.

Rating: This was really tasty, and paired really well with the tacos, although it could certainly serve as a meatless main dish. I prepared most of this salad in advance and brought it to room temperature while I reheated the taco filling, then mixed in the avocado at the last minute to avoid browning.  

Italian meatloaf and basil potato puree

It's basil season in spades outside right now. I've even got volunteers crowding the usual planter. So even after Dave put a vat into the hefeweizen he made this weekend, we've got plenty left for pesto. Since I've still got pesto in the freezer from last fall, I decided to start looking for ways to use it up beyond the usual suspects and ran across this recipe for pesto meatloaf. I paired it with a basil-laced potato recipe to use up some of the fresh stuff.

Italian meatloaf

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Food Made Fast Series, “Simple Suppers,” by Melanie Barnard

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground pork

½ cup pesto, plus more for garnish

1 cup fine bread crumbs

2/3 cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

Method

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, mixing with your hands. Transfer to a shallow baking dish and form into a 9-by-5-inch loaf shape. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for about 60 minutes, or until the interior temperature is about 160 degrees. Let stand at least 5 minutes before slicing.

Rating: Not a wower as far as meatloaf goes; there are better recipes. But it got a lot tastier once I thought to put a dollop of additional pesto on top.

Potato basil puree

Adapted from “How Easy Is That?” by Ina Garten

Ingredients

2 cups fresh basil leaves

2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered

1 cup half and half

¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons kosher salt

Method

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil basil for 15 seconds and then plunge it into a cold water bath to set the bright green color. Add potatoes to the pot and cook until tender, about 20-25 minutes. Drain and put into a large bowl. Add butter and beat with an electric mixer to mash.

Drain basil and puree in a food processor. Heat half and half and Parmesan cheese to a simmer in a small pot. Add to basil and process until smooth. Add to potatoes and blend. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Rating: Tasty. I had to add the butter to get these to be the right consistency, but that seemed to do the trick. Definitely the better part of the meal.

Note: I should add a rating based on number of dishes generated. This meal blew away the counter, which was not ideal for a weeknight, so make it when you have the energy to cope with dishes after a kind of heavy meal.

Blueberry pecan galette

It starts in the corner of the farmers market where the nice lady sells cantaloupe and oh, look, blueberries, too. Better grab them while I see them. Then I come across the Bayfield berry booth, and I know those are great so I get some more along with some strawberries. But then across the way I see the guy from Hazelwood Creek and I know those are the best blueberries ever.

Do this routine even one week and you end up with a bumper crop of berries. Repeat this folly for a couple of weeks and you've got a serious berry glut that needs using up.

So step one was this galette, which had the appeal of both using up blueberries and being called rustic, code words for not having to take time to finesse anything. This beckoned from the cover of the second-most recent issue of Bon Appetit.

Which is a far better thing than the current issue that just arrived. At first I didn't even think it had an actual cover, just a Samsung refrigerator ad with the Bon Appetit logo over the top. I realize I work for an institution that can't throw stones about cover ads, but this one trampled all over some sort of line. I'm sure they need all the revenue they can get, since subscriptions are a drop in the revenue bucket, but yikes. I find the magazine increasingly less relevant and the recipes less appealing, but I do feel some loyalty to a magazine I've looked forward to each month since the early 1990s. Plus, really, how did we live before the epicurious search function? So I'll cut them some slack For now. And eat their galette.

Blueberry pecan galette
Adapted from Bon Appetit, July 2015

Ingredients
Dough
1/2 cup pecans
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, chilled, cut into pieces
3 to 4 tablespoons water

Filling
2 cups blueberries
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
2 tablepoons milk or cream

Method
In a preheated 350-degree oven, toast pecans for about 10 minutes, tossing once. Let cool.

In food processor, whir pecans until they look like coarse meal. Add 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour, 2 teaspoons sugar, salt and cinnamon and combine. Add butter and pulse until the coarse meal stage. With motor running, add water a tablespoon at a time until dough comes together. Knead together lightly and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 2 hours until firm.

Mix blueberries, cornstarch, lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar in a bowl.

On a lightly floured board, roll out dough to a 12-inch circle. (If your dough is really sticky, rolling it between two sheets of plastic wrap helps. Transfer dough to a cookie sheet topped with parchment paper. Top dough with blueberry mixture, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold edges over topping. Brush edges with milk or cream. Sprinkle with more sugar.

Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 45-50 minutes until filling is bubbly. Let cool slightly before slicing. Serves 6-ish. (The original recipe said 10, but we're talking slivers, and how do you expect it to support ice cream, for pity sake?)

Since the recipe said it could be made a day ahead and stored tightly wrapped at room temperature, much like a pie, I stored the leftovers that way and it worked fine.

Rating: A fine enough use for blueberries and a great excuse to serve a dollop of homemade ice cream. The toasted pecans give the dough an almost whole wheat appearance and a nutty flavor. Might try with some lemon peel next time. And maybe sprinkle with demerara sugar.

Puffed pastry stuffed with soppressata and Gruyere

I'm sure someone somewhere thinks premade puff pastry is an abomination. This is not that blog. I think puff pastry packages are these godsends in frozen form that go from pale logs to impromptu hostess' savior in not much more than an hour. It's like the magic of television only in real time. Anything in puff pastry looks impressive, but the most impressive part is the ease-to-looks ratio. Really, the only guidelines to keep in mind with puff pastry is to not overthaw it, and to be very careful about leaving a border so the edges can seal. (Oozing puffs are somehow less impressive.) I'm sure if I made my own, it would no doubt be fab, but it wouldn't be as magic.

Soppressata and cheese in puff pastry
From "How Easy Is That?" by Ina Garten

Ingredients
1 package (2 sheets) frozen puff pastry
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Thinly sliced soppressata salami (about 12 of the 3 1/2-inch rounds, or 18 of the smaller rounds)
6 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated
1 egg beaten, with 1 tablespoon water

Method
Thaw puff pastry sheets. Depending on the weather, this is going to take anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes. Check closer to the 30-minute mark. You want to start working with the pastry the minute it becomes vaguely pliable, because otherwise it quickly gets too stretchy. On a floured sheet, roll pastry out to a 10-inch square. (The longer side is already 10 inches out of the box, so you're just evening out the shape on the other side.) Transfer to a parchment covered baking sheet.

Spread the mustard over the sheet, leaving a 1-inch border around the outside. Top with salami, overlapping edges slightly. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Brush the outside border with the egg wash.

Roll out the remaining sheet into a square slightly larger than 10 inches (that way it will accommodate the mound of stuff on top of the other sheet). Press to seal the edges. (Don't worry if they don't line up perfectly now; you're going to fix that in a bit.) Brush top with egg wash. Cut three long slashes on the top to vent. Place baking sheet in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to chill.

Preheat oven to 450. Remove your stuffed puff from the refrigerator. Using a sharp knife or a pastry cutter, trim the edges so they're even. (This is much easier when the dough is chilled.) Bake for 18 to 25 minutes, rotating the pan once if your oven isn't evenly heated. (The original recipe called for 20 to 25, but I wish I'd checked just a bit sooner.) Let sit for a few minutes to settle and then cut into squares.

Rating: How easy is that? Pretty dang easy. Honestly, the hardest part was finagling the large baking sheet into the refrigerator at the height of fresh produce season. How tasty is that? Dave's response: So this is like the world's fanciest ham and cheese sandwich. Pretty much so, and pretty tasty. And you can easily imagine how you can vary the meat/cheese/flavorants to your liking and what's in the frig and what you're in the mood for. Thank you puff pastry gods.

Pizza with leeks, proscuitto and goat cheese (and maybe an egg)

Cornmeal, cornmeal and more cornmeal. Or maybe semolina. Or parchment paper. Or all three.

That's the advice you get online when you look for guidance on how to get a pizza to successfully slide off a pizza peel. I looked around for tips in an attempt to make better use of a the peel I got awhile back but didn't have the best success with. It got tucked away in a closet, but tonight's recipe made me decide it was time to try again.

Leek, proscuitto and goat cheese pizza
Adapted from Sur la Table

Ingredients
1 recipe pizza dough
Cornmeal, cornmeal and more cornmeal
2 tablespoons butter
2 large leeks
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, plus more sprigs for garnish (if you can find lemon thyme leaves, you'll be ecstatic with the results)
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for oiling hands
4 ounces goat cheese
5 slices proscuitto, torn into thin strips
1 large egg, optional

Method
Put a pizza baking stone into oven. Preheat to 425 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, wash leeks. Using white and light green parts only, slice lengthwise, then crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces. Soften leeks and thyme leaves in butter in a skillet over medium heat, about 5 minutes.

Put a sheet of parchment paper on pizza peel or rimless cookie sheet. Sprinkle profligately with cornmeal. Put a dab of olive oil on your hands and then roll/toss/coax pizza dough into desired shape about 1/4-inch thick and place on prepared parchment paper.

Brush dough with olive oil. Spread with leeks. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with crumbled goat cheese and proscuitto strips.

Slide pizza, with or without parchment, onto preheated baking stone. Bake for 12 minutes. If you want to top it with an egg, break egg into a bowl and then pour onto center of pizza with about 5 minutes left to go in baking time. Remove from oven and let sit for a few minutes before slicing. Garnish with thyme sprigs.

Rating: The cornmeal on parchment is a winning combination to get a pizza peel to be less frustrating. Nice combination of flavors in the pizza topping, especially nice with lemon thyme from the patio herb garden. We opted for the egg on top, which worked just fine, but if that's not your thing, it's perfectly nice without that.

Proscuitto-wrapped asparagus with orange citronette

Proscuitto-wrapped asparagus with citronette
Adapted from “Italian Grill,” by Mario Batali

Ingredients
2 pounds asparagus spears, tough ends snapped off
3 ounces thinly sliced proscuitto
Zest and juice of 1 orange
2 teaspoons mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons thyme leaves

Method
Wrap individual asparagus spears in proscuitto slices. Chill for 1 hour.

Grill 4 to 6 minutes until asparagus is done. (It will start to bend slightly.)

Meanwhile, whisk together orange juice and zest, mustard and olive oil. Season with salt to taste. Drizzle a few tablespoons of the mixture on a platter. Sprinkle with half of the thyme. Place asparagus spears on top, drizzle with remaining mixture and sprinkle on remaining thyme.

Rating: Dave says: This is like cheating, only in a good way. Certainly it worked as a way to get an appetizer made on the grill.

Grilled bread with proscuitto and smoked mozzarella

Our water heater took a dive on Friday, right before the holiday weekend, and until the new one is installed Monday, doing dishes involves heating water for washing and rinsing. So I was happy to do even the appetizers on the grill to cut down on dishes.

Grilled bread with proscuitto
Adapted from "How Easy Is That" by Ina Garten. Another in a series of cookbooks filled with straightforward recipes designed to make entertaining not necessarily effortless, but effort well worth taking that doesn't make you too stressed to enjoy yourself. While her cookbooks are not just entertaining books per se, they certainly let you entertain thoughts of doing so.

Ingredients
6 slices of bread, such as a round Italian loaf or ciabatta type of bread
1 large garlic clove, halved
olive oil for drizzling
2 ounces thinly sliced proscuitto, torn into thin strips
2 ounces smoked fresh mozzarella, grated
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Method
Grill bread slices briefly over medium high heat until golden on one side. Remove from grill. (I find placing all the bread on a grilling pan helps keep the slices from trying to slip through the grate and also enables you to get them all off in one fell swoop so the last pieces don't have time to burn.)

Rub cut side of garlic over toasted side of bread. Drizzle with some olive oil. Top with proscuitto and cheese. Return bread to grill pan and cook briefly until cheese melts.

Drizzle with a bit more olive oil and sprinkle with parsley and pepper to taste.

If you can't find smoked mozzarella, you can substitute smoked gouda, but it will take slightly longer to melt.

Rating: Super simple and really hard to go wrong with that ingredient list, at least providing you don't burn the bread. We toasted the bread first, then cooked veggies and meat for dinner, then returned the appetizers to the grill to melt the cheese. That way we had hot appetizers to enjoy with a glass of wine while we gave the meat a chance to rest. Easy enough for any time you're grilling and you've got bread to use up, and tasty/looky enough for company.

Sadly, the dishes still await.