Havarti on Ciabatta with Mushrooms

Real cooking is out the window this week with the temperatures in the high 90's. I wanted something quick, delicious and easy enough to make that I didn't have to dirty up half the kitchen or turn on a bunch of burners.

This was super easy and fast. I took a pound of mushrooms (use what you like) and sliced them up and sauteed them in a hot pan with a little butter and olive oil until done. Set them aside until cooled. I then took a store bought Ciabatta bread and sliced it open to make two slabs of bread. I place the bread in the oven (on a cookie sheet) on broil with the cut side up and toasted it. Pull the bread out of the oven. Then take a couple of peeled cloves of garlic and rub all over the top of the toasted bread. Next is my favorite part. Pile about a 1/2 -1 cup of shredded cheese onto each slice of bread ( I used Havarti) then pile on the mushrooms. Slide both sections back into the oven and broil until nice and melty (should be a word by now). I served this all up with a nice green salad and some ice cold water.

My Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday and it was like most typical weekend days for me. I cooked, cleaned and spent time with my bf. I enjoy the simplicity. For my birthday we did take Katsu to the dog park...his second visit ever. Now that he is neutered, chipped and feeling tons better, I feel only slightly better about his off leash play...you see Katsu doesn't have the greatest recall skill. We are working on it. I look at it this way at least at the dog park he can run and play in relative safety.

So last nights dinner was a new recipe that I spied online a few weeks back and I have wanted to try. I love meals that cook up in the crock pot. I consider it a form of torture to have the aroma of fantastic food wafting through the house all day long. Not to mention the simplicity of not having a ton of pots and pans to clean up before, during and after the dinner.

You start with a crock pot...then after you take the photo you wash the crock pot again because someone didn't get it clean the last time they used it...me.

Into the crockpot you add one 14oz can of diced tomatoes with the juice.

Then you add some fresh Thyme (about 1 or 2 teaspoons), one medium diced onion, two cloves minced garlic and roughly one small can of tomato paste (if you use the whole can of tomato paste I would add a little red wine). Give it a good stir to combine with the tomatoes.

You can used a chuck roast, but I happened to have an arm roast on hand. I cut the bone out (fed the marrow to the chupacabra who was watching me intently) placed the roast on the top of the tomato mixture in the crock pot. Liberally salt and pepper the meat

Put on the lid and set it to cook for 8 hours on low. That's it. Done. When the dish is done cooking go in with a couple of forks and pull apart any large chunks of meat that remain.

Doesn't that look amazing? To finish this dish you take a 1/2 cup of fresh chopped basil, zest from one small lemon and a drizzle one or two tablespoons of olive oil and toss together in a small bowl.

Place the meat and sauce on top of hot pasta and the basil topping on top of the meat followed with some fresh grated cheese. See doesn't that look amazing? Don't forget the crusty bread...Yum. Perfect dinner. I used trottolle pasta. It is fun and interesting.

What's a birthday without a birthday cake? So I did not make my own birthday cake...everyone was surprised about that, but I did get a really nice tiramisu cake from a local bakery...It was really quite good...seriously who bakes there own birthday cake?

My kids were here for dinner last night which was nice...thanks D.H. and D.C. for washing the dishes and tidying up the kitchen for me. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. We are off to a family gathering today, and I was smart enough to take a day off tomorrow to spend some time with me.

Clams with New Potatoes and Spring Onions.

We had another spectacular weather day here in my hometown so I decided to keep it simple once again with some steamed clams in a rich white wine broth perfect for dipping some of my homemade bread in to.

I wanted to try this delicious recipe from Epicurious so I went out to our less than local seafood market (where the prices are great and the people are lively) and purchased 3 lbs. of Manila clams. I followed the recipe to the letter and while the bf and I sat around shelling clams like sea otters we had discussion about what I would do differently next time around.

The ingredients. Potatoes, green onions, garlic and smoked chorizo (tough to find).

3 lbs. of Manila clams.

You render the chorizo in 4 Tlb. of olive oil until it starts to get crispy. This is something I would change the chorizo to possibly a nice smoked pancetta, or even a nice smoked bacon. The recipe calls for you leaving the chorizo in the pan while you cook the potatoes I think I would remove it and set it to the side and add back in later in the cooking.

Addition of the potatoes, white part of the green onions and garlic. I would watch your cooking time and adjust accordingly. You don't want mushy potatoes in the pot. Here is where I would add some seasoning if you want it spicy or smokey (cayenne and or some smoked paprika would be nice). The suggested cooking time was 10-12 minutes I reduced that to 8-10 minutes. Stir often so your potatoes don't stick. Add some salt and pepper.

Deglaze with white wine. Cook the wine til reduced by half then add water and cook until the potatoes are a little cooked but not done by any means. Remember they still have to cook another 8-10 min when you add the clams and lid it to steam. This is where I would add the chorizo back into the pot along with the rest of the green onions.

The finished product.

It was really good, but I did think the chorizo was overcooked and if I hadn't reduced cooking time the potatoes would have been mush in the bottom of the pot.

In the end there were no leftovers. All in all another great dinner. I did include the link to the full Epicurious recipe.

Sticky Sesame Chicken Wings

We spent, and when I say we I mean the bf, an entire Saturday working on the front yard. It looks amazing, thank you sweetie. I however spent most of the day working inside cleaning, doing laundry, and watching my son's Chihuahua mix puppy run roughshod over my black tortie kitten Willow. But at some point yesterday I knew the bf and I both had to come up for air and have dinner. Lunch consisted of a half bag of potato chips and a cold one.

This recipe was super simple and went together in minutes.

In a bowl you blend together 1 clove garlic mashed with 3/4 tsp. of salt, 2 Tlb honey, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, 1 tsp. sesame oil, pinch or two of cayene ( I suggest 2 pinches ). Next time I think I would bump up the honey to 3 Tlb. and I think the addition of some red pepper flakes would go a long way to give a little more heat.

Trim up 3 lbs. of chicken wings (remove the tips and separate the little drum from the little arm ).

Put them into the sauce and coat them real well. ( I let the chicken sit in the sauce for a about 20 min. ) Then place the chicken onto a foil lined, sprayed with cooking spray, heavy duty cookie sheet. Place into an oven that has been preheated to 425 degrees and bake for about 35 min. ( giver or take depending on your oven ). Turn the chicken over half way through the cooking time.

When done pull them from the oven and place in a bowl. Sprinkle chicken with sliced scallions and toasted sesame seed.

For a side I washed and cut the ends off about a pound of green beans and tossed them into a hot skillet with a 50/50 blend of olive oil and butter. I sauteed the green beans until about halfway done ( when I say halfway done I mean still pretty crunchy ) I tossed in 3 cloves of minced garlic some salt and fresh cracked black pepper and let the garlic get a little color ( don't let that garlic burn ).

Then I add just a couple of Tlb. of water, lid the beans and let them steam just a minute or two....Delicious!.

Perfect dinner to end a perfectly busy Saturday.

Thanks K.B. for sharing the 1980's, perfect condition, pint canning jars. What a find! I can see lots of good things ahead.

Happy Sunday to one and all. I have a bike ride penciled in for my morning. I hope everyone does something good today!