Saturday, November 03, 2007

Dinner Parties on a Shoestring

Alexis has, at long last, published (via Lulu.com) a cookbook she wrote after college. It's called Dinner Parties on a Shoestring and is packed full of recipes and tips for fabulous dinner parties on the cheap. Interestingly, the book does not include many of the recipes Alexis has written in this blog primarily because she ate a lot more carbs at the time she wrote it than she has since the inception of SeeUsEat. If you are interested in the book, please check it out here.

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Mustard Lamb Chops with Braised Fennel and Leeks


These thin, tasty lamb chops are cut from a rack and grill up in the George Foreman in no time. The braised fennel and leeks were less successful, but were basically a fennel bulbs and a few leeks, rough-cut and braised in about 1/2 cup of chicken broth until tender. We ended up pureeing the veggies with more chicken broth to make a soup that tasted better than the braised veggies alone.

Mustard Lamb Chops
-8 small lamb chops
-3 tb mustard
-2 tb apple cider vinegar
-2 tb olive oil
-salt and pepper to taste

Marinate the lambchops in the rest of the ingredients, which you mix until thoroughly combined. Grill on a George Foreman for about 4 or 5 minutes for medium rare.


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Ask a Chef: Nate Appleman

This is a first in a series of features we're calling "Ask A Chef". For our very first SeeUsEat interview, Nate Appleman, of the ever-popular and truly delicious, A16, was kind enough to answer some questions for us via email. We can't wait to try out his new restaurant, SPQR.

Enjoy the interview!:


What's your favorite kitchen tool?

A calculator and 10 inch cleaver.

What's your favorite cookbook?

The river cottage meat cookbook.

What chef do you most admire?

Alice Waters

What's your favorite dish that your mom makes/made?

Stewed green beans with salt pork and potatoes.

What's your food philosophy (in a sentence or two)?

Local, whole animal, sustainable, simple.

What's your favorite dish to cook at home?

Fried chicken.

What do you think is the best food city?

San Francisco

What's your favorite kitchen trick/tip?

Pre-salting everything.

What's your favorite (non-cook) book?

Don’t have one.

If you were not a chef, what would you be?

Butcher

What do you view as the most challenging ingredient to work with?

Cardoons

Do you have any new projects in the works?

I just opened a new restaurant called SPQR and a third restaurant is in the works.

Ninja or Pirate?

Pirate: rough, tough and down and dirty.

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Thursday, November 01, 2007

Sauage, Peppers and Onions with Cheesy Cauliflower Puree


This meal is a bit like a low carb, deconstructed shephard's pie. Hearty and delicious. It also reheats really well for lunch the next day.

Sausages with Peppers and Onions
-6 Italian sausages, casings removed
-1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
-1 bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
-1 hot pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
-3 tb homemade pesto

Brown the sausage, cutting into small pieces with a wooden spoon as you go. Drain and set aside. In the same pan, sautee the onions and peppers until onions are carmelized. Add the sausage back into the pan and cook a few more minutes, until cooked through. Add the pesto and stir. Serve over cheesy pureed cauliflower (recipe below).


Cheesy Pureed Cauliflower
-1 head cauliflower, chopped
-1 cup shredded cheese
-1/4 cup cream or milk
-1 tb butter
-salt and pepper to taste

Boil the cauliflower until tender. Drain and puree with an immersion blender. Add all other ingredients and stir to combine.

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Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Baked Trout with Mashed Butternut Squash


This meal does not look very pretty, but it was tasty and healthy. I used roasted squash that I had previously frozen.

Baked Trout
-1 whole trout per person
-lemon slices
-salt and pepper to taste

Season the interior of the cleaned fish with salt and pepper and lay lemon slices inside. Bake on 350 until the flesh flakes, about 20-35 minutes. Serve with tartar sauce or pesto.

Mashed Butternut Squash
-1 butternut squash
-1/2 cup cream
-2 tb butter
-1/2 ts nutmeg
-salt and pepper to taste

Halve the squash and scrape out the seeds. Season with salt, pepper and a bit of olive oil. Roast, covered until the fork slides easily into the flesh, about 45 mins to an hour. Remove flesh from skin and put in a a saucepan with the rest of the ingredients. Puree with an immersion blender for a smooth mash, or mash with a masher for a chunkier texture.

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Monday, October 29, 2007

Rosemary Roasted Pork Loin with Fresh Green Salad


A roasted pork loin and a salad is a very quick weeknight meal that takes almost no time to prepare. Simply marinate the pork for anywhere from an hour to overnight, then roast on 375 until the internal temperature is about 115. Then let rest for about 20 minutes, until the internal temperature is about 135.

Marinade:
-2 tb dijon
-3 tb balsamic vinegar
-2 tb olive oil
-salt and pepper to taste
-1 handful fresh, minced rosemary leaves

Mix thoroughly.


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Rustic Carrot Soup Recipe


This soup, made from organic carrots from our CSA, was very simple to make and tasty to eat. Giao found it a tad sweet, but carrots are sweet. It was nice to have a non-pureed vegetable soup and the hands-on time is about 5 minutes.

-6 carrots, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
-1/2 onion, minced
-3 cans chicken broth
-pepper to taste

Sautee the onions in a bit of olive oil until soft. Add the carrots and broth and bring to a boil. reduce to a simmer and simmer, covered, until carrots are tender. Break up the carrots slightly with a wooden spoon and serve.


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Sunday, October 28, 2007

Cauliflower Salad with Garlic Shrimp


This tangy cauliflower salad can be eaten cold, warm, or at room temperature. Aside from the cauliflower and something pickled, you can throw in any veggies you like. If you allow the salad to marinate in the dressing for an hour or so, it's even better.

Salad:
-1 small head cauliflower, cut into flowerettes
-1 watermelon radish, peeled and julienned
-10 spears pickled asparagus, cut in 1 inch lengths
-1 cup marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
-1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and sliced

Boil the cauliflower flowerettes in salted water until fork tender. Drain and toss with other ingredients. Dress with the following dressing.

Dressing:
-1 tb whole grain mustard
-2 tb olive oil
-2 tb balsamic vinegar

Combine thoroughly.


Garlic Shrimp are literally a 5 minute dish. Simply mince about 10 cloves of garlic and chop some cilantro. Sautee the garlic in a bit of butter until just beginning to brown. Add in about a lb of shelled and cleaned shrimp and sautee for just a couple of minutes. Add a squeeze of lemon and the chopped cilantro and you are ready to go.

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