Lemony Zest :: Kim Lewandowski

Posts Tagged ‘recipe’

These are really simple to make and really delicious to eat Really. Just take a few tablespoons of Dijon mustard and mix with a half teaspoon of fresh thyme. Sprinkle pork chops (these are Saratoga chops) with salt and pepper and spread one side with mustard mixture. Grill 5 minutes, turn, spread with more mustard mixture, top chops with a sprig of rosemary, and grill another 5 minutes or till done.

And another week whizzes by! I think it must be the cold we had last week – I was in no mood to do anything but come home from work, make and eat dinner, and curl up on the couch wrapped in a blanket. I need a laptop.

Anyway, today, it’s 69 degrees already in southeastern Virginia, so I have a lot more energy to do more than just conserve heat on the couch. So here’s my contribution to Thursday Night Smackdown: The Valentine’s Day Cliche Edition – Chocolate Fondue.

I need to practice taking pix more, dang it. Too many of these came out blurry.

Dan and I typically don’t celebrate (St.) Valentine’s Day – I mean, I’m not Catholic and I love Dan every day, not just one day a year. But I guess I’m feeling lovey-dovey this year since we will celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in June. Awwwwww!!!

I don’t know why I don’t make fondue more often – it seems like such a pain, but it’s really easy once you get going. No more difficult than anything else I make regularly. Dan brought home this book for me some years ago – “The Book of Fondues,” by Lorna Rhodes. I’ve made a few recipes from it, but we definitely need to get into it more.

Dan actually made the fondue (see why it’s so easy?), but I told him how, so that counts, right? It was really good. We ate it with strawberries and bananas; other good dippers would be brownies, pound cake, and other fruits like pineapple. Definitely give it a try.

Mocha Chocolate Fondue

8 oz. semisweet chocolate (we used 4 oz. semisweet and 4 oz. dark chocolate chips)
1 tbsp. instant coffee granules (we don’t drink instant, so we left this out)
2/3 cup whipping cream
3 tbsp. Tia Maria (we used Kahlua to get that coffee flavor)

Break up chocolate (or use chips) and place in fondue pot. Add coffee granules, if using, and whipping cream, and heat slowly until melted, stirring constantly. Stir in liqueur and beat until smooth. Place over burner at the table and serve. Makes 6 servings.

It’s shaped like a heart! Awwwww!!!

This month’s topic for the food blogging event Tasty Tools, hosted by Joelen of Joelen’s Culinary Adventures, is measuring tools. I’ve had this push-up-style measuring cup for years now. It’s very handy for measuring semi-solid, sticky ingredients like peanut butter, jams and jellies, mayonnaise and sour cream.

You set the cup to the measurement you need, use a spatula to put the ingredient in the cup, then push up the plunger and use the spatula to scrape the ingredient into your bowl, saucepan, whatever. No muss, no fuss, and you get all of the ingredient easily into your dish.

Thai food is one of my favorite cuisines. I especially love Thai spring rolls – I could eat them every day for lunch, particularly if I had this delicious dipping sauce to go with them. The push-up measuring cup makes it really easy to measure the peanut butter for this sauce.

Thai Peanut Dipping Sauce

1 tbsp. brown sugar
3 tbsp. peanut or vegetable oil
1/4 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup cream of coconut
2 tbsp. Thai sweet chili sauce
1/2 tsp. sriracha Thai hot sauce
1 tsp. lemongrass powder

In a small saucepan, over medium heat, cook and stir all ingredients till smooth. Serve with spring rolls or chicken satay.

Geeze, how did another week go by already? I guess that’s what happens when you’re working long hours. It’s all good, though.

So, last weekend we had Bill and Barbara over for dinner before we all went to see “The House of Blue Leaves” at the Little Theater of Norfolk. I made roasted duck breast with cherry chutney (from the new President’s Inaugural Luncheon menu) and roasted vegetables, along with twice-baked potatoes. For an appetizer before dinner, I made Warm Artichoke Dip with Scallions and Jalapeño, from the “Great Party Dips” cookbook I won a couple of weeks ago, from Andrea’s Recipes. Thanks again, Andrea

We all enjoyed the dip, although I must say, I think combining this recipe with the Ya Ya Sisterhood artichoke dip recipe I made last year would yield even more tasty results. The jalapeño added a nice kick we really liked.

Unfortunately, we didn’t like the play quite so much. It was really strange; at intermission, I said I wouldn’t be unhappy if we left, but the others wanted to stay and see if it got better. It didn’t, and it had a really weird ending. It was billed as a farce, but according to Wikipedia, it’s a black comedy. Well, that makes more sense. Not recommended.

OTOH, if you like artichoke dip, try this one. As I said, it’s not my favorite rendition of this classic, but it might suit your taste buds better.

Warm Artichoke Dip with Scallions and Jalapeño

2 scallions, coarsely chopped (I used green onions from the garden)
1 1/2 tsp. pickled jalapeño, coarsely chopped
1 garlic clove, cut into 2-3 pieces
Dash of salt
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature, cut into several pieces
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
Dash of cayenne pepper
1 14-oz. can artichoke hearts, drained

Preheat the oven to 400*. In a food processor, combine the scallions, jalapeno, garlic and salt. Pulse until the scallions are finely chopped.

Add the cream cheese, all but 1 tbsp. Parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, lemon juice and cayenne. Puree until smooth. Add the artichokes and pulse until coarsely chopped.

Scrape the mixture into a 2-cup gratin or other shallow ovenproof baking dish. Sprinkle the reserved Parmesan cheese over the top. (At this point, thd dip can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 24 hours before baking.)

Shortly before serving, bake for about 20 minutes, until the dip is slightly browned on top and bubbly hot. Let cool slightly before serving.

I served this with toasted baguette slices. Crisp raw veggies, baked pita chips or crackers would also make good dippers.

This is my entry in “Grow Your Own,” the twice-monthly food blogging event that celebrates growing our own food. It was started by Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes.

A couple of weeks ago, some friends had a sushi party, where they made several types of sushi for a wonderful dinner. Thanks again, Bill and Barbara, for a fun, delicious dinner!

I brought a Japanese shrimp-noodle-cucumber salad I discovered last year and really enjoyed. It went over well I used green onions from our garden in this dish.

Japanese Noodle, Shrimp and Cucumber Salad

Dressing
2/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used peanut oil)
3 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 pinch cayenne pepper

Salad
1 lb. fresh bean sprouts
14 oz. dried chuka soba noodles (I used spaghetti, broken in half)
1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
2 lb. cooked bay shrimp
3 large cucumbers, peeled, halved, seeded and thinly sliced
6 green onions, sliced
1 tbsp. black sesame seeds, for garnish

Dressing: Whisk together vinegar, soy sauce, oil, sugar and mustard in small bowl. Season with cayenne pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and leave at room temperature).

Salad: Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Add noodles and boil until tender, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Blanch bean sprouts in boiling water 30 seconds. Drain and refresh in cold water. Drain well.

Place noodles and sprouts in a large bowl. Add sesame oil and toss to coat. (Can be prepared up to 6 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate bean sprouts and noodles separately.) Add bean sprouts, shrimp, cucumbers and onions to noodles. Drizzle with dressing. Toss gently to combine. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

This is my contribution to Grow Your Own, the twice-monthly food blogging event that celebrates home-grown food. It’s hosted this month by the founder, Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes.

As I’ve said before, I’m not much of a baker, but I’ve been stretching into trying new things this year, so for a Christmas gift to my co-workers, I decided to make a holiday bread. I wanted to do something other than the seemingly ubiquitous apple or cranberry flavor, so I Googled around for a while, and eventually found a Ginger-Orange Quick Bread recipe on About.com – perfect The recipe makes three mini-loaves, so I bought enough ingredients for three recipes and spent a few hours on a recent Sunday filling the kitchen with yummy baking aromas. The bread is delicious.

I was afraid the amount of crystallized ginger required would make it too spicy, but the baking seems to mellow the flavor. You can still taste it really well, but it’s not overwhelming at all.

If you decide to make it, here’s a tip: The crystallized ginger at the grocery store cost almost $10 for 2 ounces, and I needed 18 ounces total for three recipes. No way I’m spending $90 on ingredients for co-worker holiday gifts – sorry guys But I checked at my local gourmet kitchen store, the Kitchen Koop, and they had crystallized ginger for $1.25 per ounce. Not sure why it’s such a deal there, but there you are. And here it is.