Dim Sum for Dinner

On some of my trips to the Asian market, I get a little carried away in the frozen aisle. The frozen aisle, you ask? I know...I'm all about fresh veggies and just-cut meats, freshly caught fish and locally-made condiments. However, sometimes, it's nice to steam up some dumplings and enjoy a little Asian fare in the comfort of our own home! I've made dumplings from scratch, and they are delicious...but it takes quite a bit of time. Tonight, I got creative with what I found in my freezer, fridge and pantry - tomorrow, I will be grocery shopping.

I've talked about dim sum before, but for those of you who missed that post, dim sum (usually served as brunch/lunch) is the definition of instant gratification. When you enter a dim sum establishment, you are escorted to a table, and left with a blank check. Carts come around the room, toting their many different flavors and textures, and you take what you want. As you gather dumplings, sticky rice, and spring rolls, your blank check gets filled with stamps equivalent to the price of each plate you take for your table!

Once in awhile, I like to plan a little dim sum of my own. I don't have a cart, and I'm sure not going to roll it around, but I love to pile a plate high with different dumplings, shumai, sticky rice, and bao...all steamed straight from my freezer! Tonight, I also used up some broth from the fridge to make a little egg drop soup. I added some scallions to the broth, swirled in some beaten eggs and served that up with all the delicious dim sum delicacies. I also made a few dipping sauces: one with soy, ginger and scallions; the other with hoisin and Sriacha sauce.

My eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach this time around ... but everything was delicious - and dim sum is all about sampling a little bit of a lot of different things. Mission accomplished!

A Busy Weekend

This was a busy holiday weekend! I didn't get to the grocery story like I said I was going to, but I did get a new current menu uploaded to the site, and I have a list in place! I finished up a lot of the leftovers from the shower...it was the last days for those things, so I enjoyed a lot of gazpacho on this lovely, hot weekend in the Boston area.

from Flickr - by Dorian Susan

I spent a lot of time outside this weekend, and not a lot of time in the kitchen, so I don't have much to report. However, I went out for a few good meals...and dining al fresco is now IN SEASON! Good company, good food, and an outdoor patio are my definition of a good time! Tomorrow, it's back to work, and back to the everyday grind. My laundry hamper is calling my name and I will get to the grocery store, I promise! Stay tuned for a whole new list of recipes, with a strong focus on crisp veggies, fresh herbs, and spring inflections.

from Flickr - by Wild Wend

Gone are the turnips, parsnips and celery root...and good day to the spring ramps, crispy cucumbers, fresh mixed greens...and some fried clams thrown in for good measure...because it's not Boston in the summer time without some fried clams!

P.S. I think the Farmer's Market by my office has started up again! I will report back after tomorrow - I can't wait to see what they have to offer!

Pasha

One cuisine that I haven't explored nearly enough is Turkish food. Thankfully, a Turkish restaurant has moved into a nearby town, and we've tried it twice now. The first time we had it, we ordered take-out, but when I walked into Pasha's space to pick up our order, I was immediately transported to a small cafe in the center of Istanbul. I had to try eating there, and tonight, we did!

First, let me say that the presentation on every dish that was brought to us was absolutely gorgeous. The colors, the music and the decor in the restaurant are so authentic, and I think it will quickly become one of my new local favorites. We decided to order a bunch of things to share, and I got some great pictures too! I'm also going to include the Turkish name for each dish, in parentheses, for fun. I love learning new languages.

For appetizers (mezeler), we chose to order Mujvair (mucver), which is baby zucchini fried with fresh vegetables, topped with garlic yogurt sauce. We also ordered Beet Tarator (kirmizi pancar), which is boiled and shredded beet with homemade yogurt and mayonnaise. The zucchini was crispy and well seasoned, tasting fresh and light. The beets were REALLY good! It was a chilled dish that would make for a great summer side dish...I think I'm going to try making it sometime soon!

For our shared entrees, we chose to order the Shepherd Salad (coban salatasi) and Baytea (beyti). The salad included diced tomatoes, cucumbers, red and green peppers, mint, dill, parsley and was lightly dressed with a house dressing. It was so fresh and crispy and cool...really the perfect dish for a warm spring day like today. Very refreshing! As for the Baytea, it is sauteed ground lamb gently rolled in fillo dough, topped with yogurt and tomato sauce. There must be some lemon juice in the sauce as well because it had this wonderful hint of acidity in every bite. That acidity is something I never would expect, looking at the dish, but it just adds a brilliant touch.

Everything we've ordered at Pasha has been delicious, refreshing, and satisfying. It makes me want to visit Turkey so badly, to experience everything for real. Until that day, I will live vicariously through my visits to Pasha, which is located at 669A Massachusetts Avenue, in Arlington, MA. Right now, they aren't delivering, but it's worth it to drive there to pick up your order if you are looking for take-out. Their number is 781-648-5888. Check out their menu here!

Cold Soup?

So, we're working our way through the leftovers from the bridal shower, attempting to yet again clean the fridge out before going grocery shopping. I was so busy on Saturday that I didn't get to enjoy half of the things I worked so hard to make! Tonight, I had a nice big bowl of the Chunky Gazpacho with Piquillo-Scallion Relish, and oh boy, I was inspired to write!

Gazpacho is one of my favorite things about summer. According to Wikipedia, gazpacho is a cold Spanish tomato-based raw vegetable soup. That's right, you heard correctly - raw. There is no cooking necessary here, and that's why it's a great summertime meal. No added heat, fresh, crunchy veggies in a cool tomato base...sounds refreshing, doesn't it?

There are many gazpacho recipes out there, and I urge you to try many of them before settling on your favorite...but this one, from the Stonewall Kitchen Favorites cookbook, well, it's pretty darn good! Lots of tomatoes, crunchy peppers in all colors, cool cucumbers and the bite of red onion make for a burst of flavor with each spoonful!

from Flickr - by Melissa Prado Little
(I don't think I could've found a better picture to depict the process)

The way I describe it, I guess it sounds like more of a salad then a soup, but let me explain. Once you've cut up all of your fresh veggies, and they are all combined with some lime juice and whatever else your specific recipe calls for, you blend about half the mixture in a food processor, until it's a juicy puree. This is what turns it from a salad, to a chunky soup. Don't get me wrong, you'll still be chewing each bite, and experiencing that nice crunch of cool cucumber and peppers! Who'd have thought you'd want to eat soup during the summer!

Be on the lookout for gazpacho on menus in your area! If you find an exceptionally good one, be sure to share it with all of us here on Mise En Place (A good place to start). I don't want to speak for all of us, but I love hearing about restaurants, and menu items that hold a special place in one's heart! Can't wait to hear your stories!

There's a new menu in the works as well - coming very soon! If you have requests, get them in ASAP!

The Shower

Well, the shower came off without a hitch yesterday! The weather was beautiful, the company was enjoyable and the food...well, if I don't say so myself, the food was fantastic! I spent about 8 hours on Friday prepping and cooking in anticipation of the big event, and then another 5 hours on Saturday morning, pulling everything together. A friend came over in the morning to help as well...much needed help, I must say. Even when the guests of honor showed up, I was still putting the finishing touches on the items I decieded to include in the menu! The theme of the shower was Hawaiian Luau, and for that reason I chose many things using tropical fruits, such as pineapple and mango, as well as pork, which is a great meat for luaus - it's very versatile and goes well with lots of fruits, and tropical sauces.

The Menu

Signature Drinks:

Pomegranate Spritzer (Dinner at My Place by Tyler Florence)

Mango Fizz (Williams-Sonoma Entertaining: Cocktail Parties)

Pineapple Mojito (Dinner at My Place by Tyler Florence)

Citrus Caipirinhas (Williams-Sonoma Entertaining: Cocktail Parties)

Strawberry Sandwiches (as pictured above) (Stonewall Kitchen Harvest)

Lamb and Sweet Pepper Skewers (Williams-Sonoma Entertaining: Cocktail Parties)

Char-Siu Glazed Pork and Pineapple Buns (as pictured below) (can be found here)

Fruit Spring Rolls (as pictured below) (can be found here)

Simple Salad with Mixed Fruits and Tropical Dressing (a la Sarah)

Chunky Gazpacho with Piquillo-Scallion Relish (Stonewall Kitchen Favorites)

Citrus-Glazed Pork Tenderloin (recipe a la Heidi) 

to be served with Caribbean Fruity Salsa (can be found here)

Pineapple Truffles (can be found here)

Lemon Vanilla Cupcakes (a la Sarah)

When hosting an event like this one, you really need to go into your prep work with a plan. For me, it helps to lay things out on a piece of paper. Think about what parts can be prepared the furthest in advance, and get those out of the way. Think about the things that need to marinate, and get those set in the fridge. What needs to be completed immediately before guests come? That's the most important list you'll make...since those are the things you'll be scrambling to complete as the doorbell is ringing!

When all was said and done, and the pork had all been cooked, the pineapple had all been eaten, and the presents had all been opened, I think I had a houseful of happy, full guests who thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon of good company, good laughs, and celebrating the start of Rachel's and Jon's new lives together. And me? Well, I was entirely satisfied with the spread that I turned out, and the course that the day took. It makes me happy when others enjoy the things I work so hard to create, so to me...and hopefully to everyone else...SUCCESS!

The time for artichokes is here!

The other day, I walked into my local Whole Foods with the intent of buying some paninis for a late Saturday lunch. Along my way, I came across a mountain stacked high with artichokes. Beautiful, tight-leaved and rotund, I couldn't look away! And the best part was, they were on sale - 2/$4.99. I couldn't leave without grabbing a few, and tonight, I made them to go with our dinner!

from Flickr - by wundoroo

Artichokes are so simple to make! You need to have a pot with a steamer basket for the technique I used, along with a slice of lemon, a bay leaf, a clove of garlic and some water...and of course, your artichokes!

Prepare your artichokes by cutting the stem close to the body of the artichoke and removing any small leaves at the very bottom. Also slice about an inch off the top, giving it a little bit of a flat-top "haircut."

from Flickr - by flaurella

Boil the water with the bay leaf, lemon slice and garlic clove thrown in. Try throwing different spices and herbs in the water to create different aromatics for steaming. Once boiling, place your steamer basket on top and add your prepared artichokes. Steam for 30-45 minutes, or until the outer leaves pull away easily.

To Eat: As you peel the leaves away, bite the meat off the ends of the leaves after dipping them in your favorite salad dressing or sauce. Tonight, I tried them with a yummy miso dressing, but growing up, we always ate them with Newman's Own dressing...and that's how artichokes were done! :)

Once you get down far enough with the leaves, you can easily pull the top away from the bottom, scrape the fuzzy yellow hairs away and what you'll have is a full artichoke heart! They are so meaty and flavorful...and DELICIOUS!

from Flickr - by The Daily Rant

Run to the store and get some today! Now's the time! :)

The Great Purge of 2011

Today, we begin the Great Refrigerator Clean-Out of 2011. On Saturday, I am throwing a bridal shower for my good friend Rachel, and I am going to need every inch of space in my fridge for all the goodies I'm going to make for the big event. Once it's happened, I'll reveal my menu and some pictures, but right now, it's a secret, and Rachel reads this every day!

from Flickr - by plushoff

Everyone needs a good refrigerator clean-out once in awhile. Inevitably, you'll find a 2-year old bottle of pickles, a jar of green olives with no liquid (because it was all used up in dirty martinis), you get the idea. In my case, I've got half-empty jars of mustards, and jams, and olive tapenades...most of which are probably not as appetizing as they might have once been. So, throughout the week, we'll be eating our way through leftovers, extras and piecemeal dinners in order to make way for trays of hors d'oeuvres, marinated meats, fresh salads and signature cocktails.

from Flickr - by ♥kels

I'll promise you now that there will be an extra long post on Sunday, recounting the festivities, referencing recipes, and showcasing photographs of the goodies. Until then, I'll try and write a few posts on entertaining, planning menus, and cooking for a crowd! Until next time... :)

Spicy Braised Korean Pork

Tonight's recipe comes from the Top Chef Cookbook, from a group challenge to create a dish using the flavors of either Korea or Vietnam. I opted to make brown rice, instead of the sticky rice ... I used up the rest of my sticky rice stash the other day! Instead of the Kim Chee, which takes 4 days to make, I purchased some marinated bok choy from H-Mart, our local Asian market. I'm pretty busy these days, and the idea of a 4-day process just wasn't striking my fancy. I found that you can view this specific recipe from the Amazon preview, so check it out here.

Because the pork shoulder needed to brown by itself for about 20 minutes on the stove, I prepped that before gathering the rest of my mise en place. I used a 4-pound pork shoulder, as opposed to a 6-pound one. There's only two of us, and we like leftovers, but eating pork for the next two weeks isn't very appealing. I rubbed the pork with 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes, 2 tablespoons paprika, 2 tablespoons curry powder, 2 tablespoons minced garlic, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 teaspoon black pepper. In the process, I ran out of paprika and curry powder! Looks like a spice shopping spree is in order!

I placed this in a large, ovenproof pot with some heated vegetable oil, and allowed it to brown on all sides, for about 20 minutes total. Meanwhile, I gathered everything else!

2 Bosc pears, peeled, cored and diced

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup diced celery

1 cup diced yellow onions

10 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

1 quart apple juice

2 teaspoons rice vinegar

By the time I'd prepped all of my ingredients, my pork was nice and browned on all sides!

That looks good, huh!? It smelled delicious! I removed the pork from the pot and added the pears, carrots, celery, yellow onions, garlic cloves and ginger. I sauteed the mixture until softened, about 10 minutes.

After those 10 minutes, I added the apple juice and brought it to a boil over a medium-high heat.

I added the pork to the pot, turned it over a few times to coat and transferred it to a 350-degree oven, to cook for about 3 hours, turning every half hour or so.

Cut to three hours later, a few loads of laundry, and some good ol' puppy playtime, and the pork is ready! Remove the pot from the oven, and transfer the pork to a plate to rest, tented with aluminum foil.

Meanwhile, put the potted veggies and apple juice mixture back to the stove, and bring it to a boil. Allow it to boil until thickened, for 15 minutes, while the pork rests. After the time has passed, season the mixture with rice vinegar, salt and pepper.

To plate, I put some seasoned bok choy on each plate, and a nice mound of brown rice. I placed a thick slice of pork on each mound of rice and then topped it with some of the sauce. The pork was done PERFECTLY, and the spices were fantastic. This was a really hearty Sunday dinner...one for the books, people. One for the books!

My 100th Post!

At first, I thought I needed to wait until something spectacularly culinary happened to me before writing this post. After some more pondering, I decided that each of my posts was inspired by something special, and so why should this one be any different. But Blogger was under construction...thus my 2-day absence from the blogosphere. For that, dear readers, I am sorry! I want to thank each and every one of you for your continued support, your comments and your readership. Everytime I check my stats, I'm astounded at the collection of countries that are showing up there. I've spread across the world, and that is so cool! When I started this blog, I wasn't sure where it would go, or what I would find, but I now know that I truly enjoy writing, I love cooking more every day, and I want to keep doing this for a long time. So, I'm here to stay, guys and dolls, so get comfy, and read on for yet another culinary adventure.

I decided to dedicate my 100th post to the readers by cooking a reader's suggestion from my current menu. Laurie had requested a Portuguese dish, but wasn't sure of the name of it. She mentioned that it had shrimp, pasta and lots of tomatoes...and so I did a little research, and came up with what I think is a good representation of her request. I ended up with Emeril's Portuguese Shrimp and Pasta. This recipe called for quite the process so I set to work in the kitchen, gathering my mise en place.

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound large shrimp, peeled, deveined

2 teaspoons Essence

1/4 chorizo, thinly sliced (I used turkey pepperoni because I was out of chorizo)

1/4 cup minced shallots

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 1/2 cups peeled, seeded, and finely chopped tomatoes (I didn't peel them)

1 cup dry white wine

3 cups Fennel Tomato Broth (ingredients to follow)

1/2 pound kale, blanced and roughly chopped

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1 pound homemade, or dry pasta, cooked al dente

1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves

1/4 cup piri piri (ingredients to follow

Fennel Tomato Broth:

1 quart shrimp or seafood stock

2 cups roughly chopped tomatoes

1/2 bulb fennel, thinly sliced

2 teaspoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

Piri Piri:

1 cup olive oil

2 fresh poblano peppers, stemmed and seeded

3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon thinly sliced garlic

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup fresh kale

Yes, that was a lot of prep, I agree! Now, the first thing you've all probably noticed and questioned is that there's boxed pasta on my counter. I know, and you know, that I usually shun boxed pasta in exchange for fresh. However, I had to buy and open a box of thick spaghetti to put noodles in the Spring Minestrone that I made a few weeks ago. Rather than wasting the almost full box of spaghetti, I decided to save myself a little bit of time and use it for this recipe. I'm very happy that I did because the rest of this meal was quite labor intensive, and if I had made pasta on top of it, I'd still be in the kitchen!

First things first, get your Tomato Fennel Broth on the stove since it needs to simmer for about an hour. I'm not sure I actually let mine simmer that long, because I was pretty hungry and impatient tonight, but I just left it to cook the whole time I was preparing everything else. Place the seafood stock, chopped tomatoes, sliced fennel, tomato paste and fennel seeds in a saucepan and bring it all to a boil...and then reduce it to a simmer for about an hour. Once it's done, you'll need to strain it through a fine mesh sieve...according to the instructions. However, I didn't do this. Originally, it was an accident, but it was a good one, because I've always preferred a chunky sauce!

Next, I made my piri piri, since it was able to be set aside once completed. I gathered the olive oil, poblano peppers, red bell pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic, salt and kale. I put everything but the kale into a smaller saucepan and brought it to a boil, and allowed it to cook for the next 15 minutes.

At this point, I poured the mixture into a small food processor and blended it with the fresh kale. The Piri Piri was then set aside to wait for plating.

Okay, and now, on to the main event! In a large pot, I added a few tablespoons of olive oil and my jumbo shrimp, which I had dusted in the Emeril's essence.

Look how big those shrimp are! Gorgeous! After about a minute of tossing those around, I removed them from the pot and added the chorizo (I used turkey pepperoni - not the same, at all, but still a little bite, and...it was in my fridge!)

Once the chorizo (or turkey pepperoni) had cooked and heated through for about 5 minutes, I added the garlic and shallots and allowed those to cook for another minute.

After the minute or so is up, add the diced tomatoes to the mix and turn the heat to high.

Once the sizzle has died down a bit, pour in your white wine and deglaze the pan, allowing the wine to almost completely evaporate.

Next, pour in your Tomato Fennel Broth. I, by accident, poured it in without first straining it, but that was actually a nice mistake to have made. I enjoyed the large chunks of fennel and tomato in my sauce. If you prefer a soupier consistency, remember to strain the broth before adding it to the main pot. At this point, also throw in that blanched, chopped kale. Leave this to cook for about 7 or 8 minutes, allowing it to reduce by half.

Add the salt and the butter and kind of swirl it around until it all melts into the liquid.

Once the butter has been incorporated, add the shrimp, pasta and chopped parsley, and allow to cook for another minute or two. Be sure that the shrimp are cooked through.

It's finally time to plate. Get some nice shallow pasta bowls and scoop some pasta into each one. Top with a few of the jumbo shrimp and a few ladlefuls of sauce, chorizo and tomatoes. Drizzle the piri piri on top for a little kick!

Bom Apetite! (Portuguese for Bon appetit!)

Another call for requests: The current menu only has one more thing to make, so I'm getting ready to make a new list. If anyone has requests, comment on the post, or send me an email and I'll be sure to incorporate it into an upcoming menu!

Thanks again, readers - I'm really enjoying this, and I hope you are too! Happy 100th post to all of us!