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I really really love this recipe. I am a vinegar fiend, for one thing, so I love the vinaigrette, and it’s healthy – couscous, veggies and herbs – it uses grilled veggies, which are heavenly, and it makes use of lots of fresh herbs from my garden. Later in the summer, when I have my own peppers, I’ll be using those, too. This goes great with any grilled meal, and can be served warm or at room temp.

Couscous with Grilled Vegetables and Champagne Vinaigrette

Couscous
1/2 cup couscous
1 cup chicken broth
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, peeled and sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch thick slices
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and quartered
1 yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded and quartered
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and quartered

Vinaigrette
1/4 cup champagne vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 tbsp. fresh thyme, minced
2 tbsp. fresh parsley, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Chop one onion slice. Heat 1 tbsp. EVOO in a saucepan and saute the chopped onion and minced garlic for a few minutes. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add couscous, stir, and turn off heat. Let sit till broth is absorbed and couscous is tender.

Insert toothpicks sideways into remaining onion slices, to hold them together on the grill. Toss onions and peppers with 2 tbsp. EVOO, salt and pepper. Grill 8-10 minutes or until tender. Dice into 1/4-inch pieces.

In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, thyme, half the parsley, salt and pepper. Whisking constantly, drizzle olive oil slowly into the bowl. Combine grilled vegetables with couscous, drizzle with dressing and toss to mix thoroughly. Sprinkle with remaining parsley.

I love all kinds of Italian food, and I’ve been wanting to try osso buco, aka Italian Braised Veal Shanks, for ages, so this blog event, hosted by Marie of Proud Italian Cook and Maryann of Finding la Dolce Vita, seemed like the perfect time to make it.

This is one of those long, slow-cooking dishes that I like to make on Sunday afternoons, when I have a lot of time for cooking dinner, and especially when it’s cold outside. Braised dishes are so satisfying on days like that, and this one was no exception.

Dan gave me a copy of “The Best International Recipe,” a cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen, for Christmas in 2007, so I made their recipe. OMG, it was so good – absolutely delicious. I made the classic saffron risotto to go alongside it and served it with a green salad and some crusty bread to sop up the juices. I hope everyone at the Festa Italiana enjoys it as much as we did!

Osso Buco

Veal Shanks
6 1-1/2-inch thick veal shanks (8-10 oz. each), tied around teh middle with butcher’s twine (so they don’t fall apart during cooking)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 tbsp. vegetable oil
2-1/2 cups dry white wine
2 medium onions, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 medium celery ribs, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
6 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
2 bay leaves

Gremolata (topping)
3 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 tsp. minced lemon zest
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

Place an oven rack in the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees.

Season the shanks with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Brown half of the shanks on both sides, about 5 minutes per side, reducing the heat if the pan begins to scorch; transfer to a bowl and set aside. Off the heat, add 1/2 cup of the wine to the Dutch oven, scraping up the browned bits, then pour into the bowl with the browned shanks. Return the pot to medium-high heat and repeat with 2 more tbsp. oil and the remaining shanks. Add another 1/2 cup wine and transfer to the bowl.

Add the remaining 2 tbsp. oil to the pot and return to medium heat until shimmering. Add the onions, carrots and celery and cook, stirring occasionally until soft and lightly browned, about 9 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the remaining 1-1/2 cups wine, broth, tomatoes and bay leaves. Add the browned shanks with any accumulated juices, increase the heat to high, and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot, transfer to the oven and cook until the meat is easily pierced with a fork, but not falling off the bone, about 2 hours.

To make the gremolata, stir together the garlic, lemon zest and parsley in a small bowl.

When the shanks are cooked, remove the pot from the oven and the bay leaves from the pot; stir in half of the gremolata. Season with salt and pepper to taste and let stand, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Remove the shanks from the pot, cut off the twine and place the shanks in six individual serving bowls. Ladle some braising liquid over each shank and sprinkle with the remaining gremolata. Serve.

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.

We have lots and lots of bok choy in the garden right now. It doesn’t really seem like that much – we have four more plants out there – but when there are only two of us to feed, a little goes a really long way. See here for a picture from a while back.

In case you’re not familiar with it, bok choy is also known as Chinese cabbage, although it doesn’t really look like cabbage. It has stems that look like celery and broad, dark-green leaves that can be treated like spinach. I use it in stir-fries, but I also use it to replace celery, as in this recipe.

This chicken fricassee recipe is based on one from Cook’s Country magazine, a sister magazine to Cook’s Illustrated. You can use any kind of sausage in it that you like. I had some chipotle chicken sausage I had picked up the last time I cruised up to Trader Joe’s in Newport New, so I used that, but kielbasa, andouille or something similar would work just as well.

Creole Chicken Fricassee

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
3 tsp. Creole seasoning
8 oz. andouille sausage, cut into 1/2-inch rounds (I used chipotle chicken sausage)
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
3 celery ribs, sliced thin (I used six bok choy ribs, with leaves)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Hot cooked rice

Sprinkle chicken with 2 tsp. Creole seasoning and toss to coat. Cook sausage in large pan over medium-high heat till browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer sausage to paper towel-lined plate, leaving fat in skillet. Cook chicken in sausage fat until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to plate with sausage.

Add oil, onion, celery and pepper to skillet and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in flour and remaining tsp. Creole seasoning and cook until flour begins to brown, about 1 minute.

Slowly stir in broth until sauce is smooth. Return chicken and sausage to skillet. Cover and simmer until chicken registers 160 degrees, about 10 minutes. Serve over hot cooked rice.

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

Thanksgiving is absolutely my favorite holiday, so I had a great time yesterday and Tuesday getting ready for the big feast. Not so big, actually, since it was just Dan and me this year. But it was great

I’ve had this fear of making turkey gravy for several years, but now – yay! – I’m over it. I think one year, I didn’t cook the flour-fat (roux) mixture enough, because the gravy tasted floury, and after that, I convinced myself I was no good at sauces. So my mom came for Thanksgiving several years in a row and I told her the gravy was her job But she and Leo have gone south on the Intracoastal Waterway already this year, so I had to do it myself.

Luckily, earlier this week, I got an email from America’s Test Kitchen for make-ahead gravy, from a Cook’s Country magazine recipe. It called for roasting turkey wings (I couldn’t find them, so I used necks) with chopped carrots, celery, onions and garlic and using the roasted veggies to make stock for the gravy.

Oh. My. God. It was so good, I went back today and bought more necks so I can make more stock. It was so good, I’m going to make soup tomorrow with the next batch. Yum.

Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy

Makes about 2 quarts

6 turkey drumsticks, thighs, or wings
reserved turkey giblets
reserved turkey neck
2 carrots, chopped coarse
1 head garlic, halved
2 ribs celery, chopped coarse
2 onions, chopped coarse
Vegetable oil spray
10 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups dry white wine
12 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Table salt and ground black pepper

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Place giblets, neck, drumsticks, carrots, celery, onions, and garlic in roasting pan, spray with vegetable oil, and toss well. Roast, stirring occasionally, until well browned, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. (I set my oven to 400 and checked after 1 hour; I think 1 hour and 20 minutes would be enough).

Transfer contents of roasting pan to Dutch oven. Add broth, wine, and thyme and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until reduced by half, about 1 1/2 hours. Pour through fine-mesh strainer into large container (discard solids), cover stock with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until fat congeals, at least 2 hours.

Using soup spoon, skim fat and reserve. Heat 1/2 cup fat in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until bubbling. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking constantly, until honey colored, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in stock, bring to boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (Gravy can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.) Reheat gravy in saucepan over medium heat until bubbling.

This is my contribution to Tasty Tools: Roasting/Braising Pans, hosted by Joelen of Joelen’s Culinary Adventures.

A couple of weeks ago, we had a potluck lunch at work, the annual Fall Fling. Amy in HR had begged me to bring the pesto pasta I took last year – she had never had pesto before, and loved it. But I like to bring something different each time, so this time, I ended up making up my own recipe.

That was because the recipe I started out with turned out rather dry and bland. So I bumped it up a few notches and came up with something really good. It’s perfect for a potluck, too. It’s a casserole, so after making it the night before, I put it in my Crock-Pot crock in the fridge overnight. I took the Crock-Pot to work and set it on high, and by lunchtime, it was nicely heated up. So I took the heated Crock-Pot to the lunch and it stayed good and hot during the entire hour and a half or so. And it got rave reviews – several people asked how it was made.

Next time I bring something that’s a bit ambiguous, though, I’ll put a little sign next to it. I heard from a few people that they didn’t try it because they didn’t know what it was. To me, that’s a reason *to* try it, but some people aren’t so adventurous.

Mexican Casserole

2 lbs. ground beef
2 medium onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped green chiles (I used Anaheims from the garden)
3 tbsp. ground red chile pepper (I used ancho chile powder)
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. chili powder
8 corn tortillas, torn into pieces
2 14-oz. cans white or yellow hominy
1 14-oz. can diced tomatoes
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes with chiles
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
1/2 lb. grated sharp cheddar cheese
salt and ground black pepper

Brown the beef and pour off all but 1 tbsp. fat. Add onions and garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add green chiles, spices, hominy, tomatoes and tomato sauce and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add half of cheese and stir well.

Place the mixture in a 5-quart slow cooker and put on low to keep warm for serving. Or, chill and serve within 2-3 days. Place mixture in slow cooker and put on high for 3 hours to warm up, then put on low to keep warm for serving.

You can also divide the mixture and freeze half for later. Put half the mixture in a 2-quart dish and freeze up to four months. Bake the other half in a 350*F oven for 45 minutes. Top with the remaining cheese and serve.

This is my entry in the food blogging event Original Recipe, hosted by Culinarty. The roundup of all the recipes is here.