Sautéed Swiss Chard

The first time I tried Swiss chard, I wasn't a big fan. I used it in a pasta dish with roasted garlic and the whole meal was just ok, nothing I wanted to make again. Then I started cooking Swiss chard the way I like to cook spinach and removed the stems, and I realized it was delicious. It is a slightly heartier green then spinach (but a little more tender than kale) and it has a more interesting, complex flavor, plus it is super nutritious. (I'm trying to make up for all those weeks of cookie and candy posts!) The stems can be sautéed as well, but I don't really like the flavor of them. If you do add them to the pan, make sure to sauté them slightly before adding the leaves because they take slightly longer to cook. You could also put the stems into a bag in the freezer with other vegetable scraps to make vegetable broth.

This side dish is fast enough for a weeknight dinner, but fancy enough for a holiday feast. I served it with the Christmas dinner, and people who don't even usually like spinach or other greens thought it was tasty.

Sautéed Swiss Chard
Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients:
2 bunches green Swiss chard (about 8 leaves)
glug of olive oil
4-5 cloves garlic
juice from 1/2 lemon
salt/pepper
1/4 cup pine nuts

Directions:
-Remove the leaves of the Swiss chard from the stems, rinse with water, and dry. Mince the garlic.
-In a small frying pan on moderate-low heat, toast the pine nuts, just until they are slightly golden brown and fragrant.
-Heat the olive oil in a deep pot on moderate heat, when it is hot, add the Swiss chard. Use tongs to toss the greens so they cook evenly. When they start to wilt, about four to five minutes, add the garlic. Cook for another minute, then remove from the heat. Don't let the Swiss chard over cook, it should be just wilted but still bright green.
-Season with salt and pepper and squeeze half a lemon on the greens. Toss in a serving bowl with pine nuts.

Beef Tenderloin w/ Balsamic Reduction and Braised Onions

This was the main dish for Christmas dinner. The beef tenderloin was delicious and simple, in fact the whole meal for 9 people came together in about two hours. Of course beef tenderloin is a bit pricey to be an everyday meal, but these braised onions are so melt-in-your-mouth amazing they would make any cut of beef or pork or even chicken taste special. The braising gives the onions a deep, sweet, carmelized flavor. They were a big favorite at the Christmas dinner. The onions take a long time in the oven, but the preparation couldn't be easier. The balsamic reduction is also a slow, but easy process that yields a delicious, and very different, "steak sauce." Even if you aren't a big fan of vinegar, the reduction process takes it from its normal, tart taste to a sweet, syrupy sauce.

Beef Tenderloin w/ Braised Onions
Serves 8-10 people

Ingredients:
Braised Onions
4 onions
2 shallots, optional
4 cups of chicken broth
4 tbs. butter
pinch of salt
1 airline-size bottle cognac (50 ml, about 3.5 tbs.), optional

Beef and balsamic reductions
4-5 lb. beef tenderloin
3 tbs. butter
coarsely ground black pepper
2 cups good quality balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
salt/pepper

Directions:
Braised Onions
-Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
-In a dutch oven* on the stove top on moderate heat, bring the chicken broth, butter, and pinch of salt to a simmer.
-In the meantime, cut the onions and shallots in half and remove the skin.
-When the chicken broth is simmering, remove the dutch oven from the heat and carefully place the onions cut-side down into the pot. Put the lid on the dutch oven and place it in the preheated oven. Braise for 1 hour.
-Remove the lid from the dutch oven, add the cognac, and return the onions to the oven. Braise for another 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the tops are golden brown and most of the liquid is reduced to a glaze.**

Beef and balsamic reduction
-One hour before serving time, put the balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce in a small sauce pan on moderate heat to reduce. The vinegar will reduce by more than half. It is done when it is a syrupy consistency that sticks to the back of a metal spoon. If you run your finger across the back of the spoon after it is dipped in the vinegar, your finger should form a clear line in the sauce. Season with salt and fresh ground pepper.
-Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
-Rub the beef tenderloin with the butter and sprinkle with the black pepper. Insert a meat thermometer into the heart of the meat.
-Place the tenderloin in the preheated oven. For medium doneness, cook until 140 degrees, for medium rare cook to 130-135 degrees. (Medium is actually reached at 145 degrees, but when the meat is removed from the oven, residual heat continues to cook the meat while it is resting.) Remember, the ends will be more done than the center.
-Place the tenderloin on a platter and tent with aluminum foil and let it rest for 10-15 minutes before cutting so the juices redistribute. Don't remove the meat thermometer probe until the meat is done resting or the juices will spurt out.
-While the meat rests, take the pan juices from the roasting pan and incorporate them into the balsamic reduction over low heat.
-Slice the tenderloin and serve with braised onions and warm balsamic reduction.

NOTES
*If you don't have a dutch oven, you can heat the broth in a sauce pan, then place the onions in a deep baking dish, pour the broth over them, and cover the dish tightly with foil.
**When making the braised onions with the beef tenderloin, the oven temperature will have to be raised to 500 degrees for part of the time top cook the beef. The onions might cook slightly faster, but they will still be fine.

Squashed Squash: Or How My Blog FAILED My Friend

My dear friend Claire told me today that she tried to make the mashed butternut squash I made for a little dinner party a few weekends ago. (Awesome, someone likes what I made them enough to want to eat it again!) She knew that I blogged about the dinner, so she figured the recipe would be here. But it wasn't. Just the roasted chicken and vegetables, no mashed squash. So she tried to remember what I did, and long story short, it didn't turn out so great. AND IT'S ALL MY FAULT.

I think I've mentioned before that one of my big incentives for starting this blog was to write down some recipes that I make a lot, but never measure, time, or in any other way make replicable. My mother has the same problem, as did pretty much every other cook in my lineage. And I've been doing pretty good about the whole measuring thing, but during the preparations for the dinner in question, I got rushed at the end and threw together the mashed squash without measuring, based entirely on the "taste, add, taste, repeat" process. Plus I forgot when I put it in the oven, so I only knew it was done because it felt done.

So there was no recipe here. But I promised Claire I would remedy that immediately. I made another batch of mashed butternut squash tonight. I timed the cooking process. I wrote down all the ingredients and actually measured their quantities. I have a whole new respect for people who write cookbooks. It is way harder to figure out how you make something than to just make it. Now I have a few pounds of mashed squash to eat for lunch for the rest of the week....o, the tragedy.

Seriously, this stuff is way too tasty to be healthy. But my Google search tells me that winter squash, especially butternut, is really good for you, packed with fiber, vitamins A, B and C, beta carotene, and even some iron! (The article didn't mention the health benefits added by the butter and brown sugar, but clearly that was an oversight.) I actually try to add the minimum amount of sugar and butter, but if you find that you like it even less sweet and buttery, feel free to cut back (or hey, if you like more sugar and butter, live it up, there's vitamins in this stuff!). I suggest adding a little at a time so you can stop when you're happy.

Mashed Butternut Squash

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 tbs. brown sugar
1/4 or 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (depending on taste and size of squash)
pinch salt

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
-Cut the stem off the top, then cut the squash in half. Remove the seeds with a spoon. You can stop cutting here, but it cooks faster if you cut it in long quarters.
-Put 1/2 inch of water in the bottom of a baking dish. Sprinkle a little salt on the bottom (this way you won't need to salt it at all or as much later). Lay the squash in the pan with the flesh of the squash (not the skin) in contact with the bottom of the pan. (See picture above.)
-Bake for 30 minutes, then flip so the other side of flesh (again not skin) is in the water.
-Bake for an additional 30 minutes. Squash is done when it easily pulls apart with a fork.
-Remove squash from pan. Peel the skin off. (This is the hardest part. I have no technique for this other than using some paper towels to protect my finger tips and moving quickly.)
-Put the squash in a large bowl. Add butter and mix until combined. Add milk slowly until the squash is the consistency of mashed potatoes. Add brown sugar and cinnamon.

It looks like baby food, that's why this picture is last, but it tastes like pie filling crossed with mashed potatoes. (Think about it.)

A Fall Feast

I had some friends over for dinner tonight, and I wanted to put together something simple but seasonal. Fall is my absolute favorite season, the weather is beautiful and the air just smells cleaner.

I made one of my favorite looks-more-impressive-than-it-is meals: Roasted chicken and vegetables. Then I threw in a side of smashed butternut squash and a mixed green salad with toasted pecans and craisins. The table was a riot of fall colors. And the best part is while the meal cooked, I had plenty of time to clean up before my friends got here.


I am also proud to say I made my first bread, garlic knots! I kneaded the dough and everything (Thursday night, well in advance). I was inspired by the yummy recipe Katie posted on her food blog last week. I pretty much followed her instructions, but I substituted half of the all purpose flour with whole wheat, trying to be healthy. They were pretty good, but I think the wheat flour sacrificed some of the fluffiness. But my conscience felt better.



And for dessert: hot apple cider=fall.

And a special thanks to Taylor, who took pictures for me while I scrambled to get everything on the table.

Roasted Chicken and Vegetables
The chicken was amazingly moist because I let it brine in the refrigerator for over 24 hours. Osmosis works wonders! And the fresh herbs and citrus were great, simple, fall flavors.

Ingredients:
For the chicken and pan sauce
3-5 lb. whole chicken
brine (4 tbs. salt+water, enough to cover chicken)
butter
salt/pepper
handful fresh thyme
handful fresh rosemary
1 orange, cut in quarters
1 cup red wine
1 cup chicken stock

For vegetables
12 small "confetti" (colorful) potatoes
3 carrots
4 scallions
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 tbs. fresh rosemary, roughly chopped
1 tbs. fresh thyme
olive oil
salt/pepper

Directions:
-Brine chicken in a covered bowl or pot in the refrigerator for 4-24 hours.
-Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
-Rinse chicken, pat dry. Place in roasting pan. Brush skin with melted butter, put some under the skin as well. Season inside and outside of the bird with salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity with thyme and rosemary then with the orange pieces.
-Place on the middle rack of the oven and cook for 15 minutes. Lower the temperature to 375 and cook for another 45-60 minutes. The chicken is done when the internal temperature of the bird is 170 degrees.
-Remove from oven. Let the chicken rest for 10-15 minutes on a platter under foil before serving. That keeps all the juices in.
-Put the roasting pan on the stove top and skim off most of the fat. Add cup of wine. (This is a rough measurement, it depends on how much juice from the chicken is already in the pan. The sauce should look somewhat purple.) Simmer until the sauce is reduced by half. Add cup of stock. Simmer until reduced by half again.
-Once the chicken is in the oven, cut potatoes and carrots into big chunks. Keep them all relatively similar in size so they cook evenly. Remove the root end and the skin from the shallots. Toss potatoes, carrots and shallots in a bowl with enough olive oil to lightly coat them. Add salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme and toss. (Use a generous amount of salt.)
-Put the vegetables in a baking dish in the oven about 45 minutes before you think the chicken will be done.

Creamy Mac n' Cheese & String Bean Salad

I originally tried to put all three parts of last night's dinner into one post, and after many battles with html, I decided it might just be better to go with shorter posts, i.e. one recipe at a time. (And now I am about to break that rule and put two in this post, but this is the last time! Maybe...)

Mac n' Cheese:

I perfected this recipe during the three years I babysat for a family in NW D.C. The little boy always wanted me to make pasta, and I got tired of whipping up meat sauce every week, so I started playing around with cheese and milk, and I ended up with this creamy, mac n' cheese. Much more impressive than cracking open a box of kraft.

Ingredients:
1 lb. pasta (medium shells or any small-ish pasta)
2 tbs. butter
2 tbs. flour
2 cups milk (I used whole, but I make it w/skim usually)
4 oz. cream cheese (approximately, better to go full-fat here)
grated parmigiano-reggiano (you can sub romano, asiago, or any other hard cheese)
grated mozzarella
nutmeg
salt/pepper
breadcrumbs
olive oil

Directions:
Cook the pasta, draining it while it is still al dente. Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan, add flour and mix together into a paste (roux). Let the roux turn a dark yellow (about 1 min.) then add milk. Wisk together and let cook on medium for about 5 min. or until it starts to thicken. Wisk in cream cheese, salt, pepper, a small dash of nutmeg, and a generous amount of grated cheese. I always grate into the pan so I have no idea how much, but basically until it tastes cheesey. When the sauce is nice and thick, mix it with the pasta and stir in about a handful or two of grated mozzarella. Pour mixture into baking dish.

For crumbly topping: Mix together breadcrumbs, a little grated cheese, and olive oil until it is moist (about the consistency of crumb crust if you have ever baked a pie with that). Sprinkle on top of the pasta. Place the baking dish under the broiler just until the top browns.

I use the same basic cream sauce (minus the mozzarella at the end) over pasta with vegetables, shrimp, or chicken. It also tastes great on steamed vegetables or pork tenderloin.

String bean salad:
I remember my mommom making this during the summer when I was a little girl. It is so simple, but it really dresses up plain ole' green beans.

Ingredients:
string beans
garlic
salt/pepper
fresh chopped parsley
olive oil
vinegar

Directions:
Cook the string beans, then run them under cold water or let them cool. Toss with garlic, salt, pepper, parsley, oil, and vinegar. Again, just add all the seasoning to your taste.