Merry Christmas…and Fave Recipe Friday

Posted on December 26, 2009

Merry Christmas! Hope the holidays have been full of fun, love, good food, laughter, and overall joy for everyone. Since my family all live overseas, I don’t get to spend every Christmas with them. For the ones that we’re apart, I get together with my best friend and her mom for a little celebration. The day usually revolves around good food, lots of wine, a variety of movies/board games, and of course gifts.

So Santa was very generous this year and got me all kinds of great foodie gifts from Crate & Barrel, Oil & Vinegar, Penzeys Spices, and….drum roll please…tickets to the Savor Seattle Food Tours! I’ve been wanting to go on this tour for years, but just never got around to it — I’m so stoked!

All the wonderful foodie gifts from Santa

Ok, now onto the Fave Recipe Friday portion of this post. This week’s recipe: my version of deviled eggs. My friend’s mom loves these and made a special request for them today, so I thought I’d share the recipe with you all as well.

Those who know me well know that I despise mayonnaise. It totally grosses me out and I can detect it in a dish even if it’s only a small dollop. So I like to swap out recipes that call for mayo and use plain Greek-style yogurt (it’s strained and therefore thicker than regular yogurt) instead. No yucky mayo taste + healthier substitute = a winner in my book!

Deviled Eggs w/ Greek-Style Yogurt

Makes 24 appetizers

12 large eggs
1/2 cup plan Greek-style yogurt
3 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp white vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Paprika and chives to garnish

Place eggs into a large saucepan and fill with cold water. Cover pan with lid and bring water to a boil; boil eggs for approx 10-12 minutes.

Place eggs into an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Once cooked, peel the eggs and slice in half length-wise.

In a medium bowl, mix together the cooked egg yolks, yogurt, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper until well incorporated and smooth.

Fill a piping bag (or just use a plastic food storage bag and cut a hole in the corner) with the yolk mixture and pipe into each egg half. Garnish with some paprika and chopped scallions. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Fave Recipe Friday: Chicken with Lemon-Caper Sauce

Posted on December 18, 2009

Happy Friday, everyone! All week long, I was looking forward to a low-key, relaxing weekend since this would be the first one in a while where I didn’t have a bunch of things going on. THEN mid-day today, a huge wrench was thrown into the mix…in the form of a very exciting opportunity, which I wish to keep hush-hush for the time being so I don’t jinx myself . So anyhoo, now I’ll be spending my weekend trying to get all the bits and pieces together for this “project” (I promise to fill you all in on the details at a later time) since I’ve got a very short turn around time.

Needless to say, I didn’t have the energy or mindset to make an elaborate dinner tonight. So I took inventory of the items in my fridge and pantry and decided to make a favorite quick go-to recipe: Chicken with Lemon-Caper Sauce from Allrecipes.com. This recipe is beyond simple, yet full of so much great flavor. Note: if the sauce is too sour or tangy for your liking, try swapping the white wine out for chicken broth to mellow out the flavor. This dish goes really well with some whole wheat pasta or — my personal preference — some couscous (I like to chop up some mint and mix it in as well).

Chicken with Lemon-Caper Sauce

Serves 4

2 pinches salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 (6 oz) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine (or chicken broth)
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup capers, drained
4 lemon wedges

Mix together salt and flour in a small dish or plastic bag, then coat chicken and shake off excess. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Shake excess flour from chicken, then brown in hot oil until both sides are golden-brown, and the inside has turned white and firm, 3 to 4 minutes per side.

Remove the chicken, and set aside in a warm place. Pour white wine into the skillet, and allow to boil as you dissolve the cooked bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the lemon juice, and allow to come to a boil, cook for a few minutes until reduced by half.

Sprinkle the cubed butter into the boiling sauce. Swirl and shake the pan vigorously to dissolve the butter, thus thickening the sauce. The butter must never come to rest, or the sauce will separate and become oily. Once the butter has completely incorporated, remove from heat and stir in capers.

To serve, pour lemon-caper sauce over the chicken, and serve with a wedge of lemon.

11 days til Christmas?!?!

Posted on December 14, 2009

I’ve been MIA this past week because I was scrambling to get all my presents and Christmas cards in the mail. My family all live out of state/country so I generally like to get their gifts out in early December to avoid all the craziness at retail stores and the post office. When I looked at the calendar last week and realized it was already the second week of December, I totally freaked out because I had NOTHING ready to go. On top of that, I was hosting some gal pals for an “Ugly Christmas Sweater/White Elephant” party and had yet to start getting things together for that. So there you have it, my long-winded excuse for neglecting my poor lil’ blog. But, I sweet-talked it and begged for forgiveness, so I think we’re on good terms again

Anyway, I still need to get photos uploaded onto the computer from the little holiday party, but I figured I’d go ahead and share one of the recipes since I missed this week’s “Fave Recipe Friday.” Since this was a festive gathering, I definitely wanted to include eggnog, but wanted a version with less calories without sacrificing flavor. Lucky for me, the latest issue of the Food Network Magazine had a lovely low-fat recipe (btw: thanks to my dear friend Jen in San Diego for the 1 year subscription as a b-day gift ). The vanilla and citrus add a nice subtle flavor. However, if you’re not a big fan of really thick (almost borderline chunky) eggnog, I recommend adding an additional 1/2 cup or so of milk at the end before you chill it. For those watching their waistline: this recipe has about 95 fewer calories and 6g less fat compared to your regular eggnog.

Low-Fat Eggnog

Serves 6

2 cups nonfat milk

2 large strips orange and/or lemon zest

1 vanilla bean

2 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp cornstarch

White rum or bourbon (optional)

Freshly grated nutmeg, for garnish

Combine 1.5 cups milk and the citrus zest in a medium saucepan. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds; add the seeds and pod to the saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, egg yolk, sugar and cornstarch in a medium bowl until light yellow. Gradually pour the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly, then pour back into the pan. Place over medium heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon in a figure-eight motion until the eggnog begins to thicken, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and immediately stir in the remaining 1/2 cup milk to stop the cooking. Transfer the eggnog to a large bowl and place over a larger bowl of ice to cool, then chill until ready to serve. Remove the zest and vanilla pod. Spike the eggnog with liquor, if desired, and garnish with nutmeg.

Happy 1st Tuesday of the month…

Posted on December 1, 2009

Update: While we’re on the topic, check out David Lebovitz’s blog post about his CSA experience in France.

…A.K.A. Jenn’s pick-up day for her CSA box (I promise not to write this entire post in 3rd person ). This month’s box couldn’t have come at a better time as I neglected to do any grocery shopping this past weekend in midst of all the Thanksgiving madness. Oh yeah, happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone!

Anyway, for those of you still on the fence about whether to join a CSA program, let me entice you a bit with a snapshot of what you, too, could receive on a weekly, bi-weekly or even monthly basis. Here’s what I came home to today (remember, it’s all locally-grown organic produce):

Colorado rose potatoes
Savoy cabbage
Red onions
Cameo apples
Cucumbers
Broccolette
Ruby grapefruit
Mangoes
Pomegranates
Hass avocados
Zucchini
Roma tomatoes
Red romaine lettuce

And from the “field-to-table” recipe list included in the box, I definitely plan to try the Avocado & Grapefruit Salad with Pomegranate Seeds (adapted from a Food Network recipe).

Ingredients

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
1 bunch red romaine lettuce
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp salt
2 ruby grapefruits
2 ripe avocados

Directions

Place the mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
Slowly whisk in the olive oil until the vinaigrette is emulsified. Set aside until needed.
Before serving, cut the avocados in half, remove the pit and carefully peel off the skin.
Cut each half into 4 thick slices.
Toss the avocado slices in the vinaigrette to prevent them from turning brown.
Use a large, sharp knife to slice the peel off the grapefruits (be sure to remove all the white pith), then cut between the membranes to release the grapefuit segments.
Remove avocado slices from vinaigrette.
Ross the lettuce with just enough of the remaining vinaigrette to lightly coat the leaves (you may have some left over), and place it on a large serving platter.
Top with the avocado and grapefruit, add a few grinds of fresh ground pepper, then sprinkle the pomegranate seeds over the salad.
Serve immediately and enjoy!

OK now everyone go to Local Harvest’s website to find a CSA program nearest you and sign up. Trust me, once you go CSA, you’ll never go back

Formerly Amateur Gourmand

Monthly Archives: December 2009