Dinner for Sultans

Ever since I experienced Ali Baba's Mediterranean restaurant in Dallas, I have been trying to recreate meals from there as simply as I could. Last night's dinner was quite a fair because I finally have it down! Most people are turned off by curry because of the smell but I love it. I don't use a lot of it in this dish and despite popular belief, it doesn't make your whole house smell like curry. There is too much of the other ingredients to let that happen. I served it with some whole wheat flat bread that I heated in the oven for a bit and some store bought hummus. I love Sabra plain hummus and then I drizzle a bit of olive oil over it before I serve it. I also made a light and crisp "salad" to go with it. Eat your heart out Aladdin!

Chickpea Salad

• 1 can of chickpeas
• 1/2 of a cucumber diced
• 2 sm tomatoes diced
• 1/4 c of chopped red onion
• 3 tbsp of fresh chopped parsley

Dressing:

• 1/2 tbsp of Singapore seasoning (turmeric, coriander, fennel & cumin)
• the zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Whisk all dressing ingredients together and pour over the salad. Toss together and chill for at least 30 min.

Curried Chicken

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves chopped
• 1/2 an onion chopped
• 1/2 flour for dredging
• 1 tsp of yellow curry
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 c chicken stock
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 c plain yogurt (I used Greek yogurt because I like the texture)

Saute garlic and onion in oil until tender. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add the curry and the cinnamon to the onion mixture. If you think you need more curry flavor add it here. Dredge chicken in flour and add to pan. Cook until no longer pink. Sprinkle with more salt and pepper. As the chicken cooks, slowly add the chicken broth to add moisture and deglaze the pan. You don't want to create too much of a sauce here so let the chicken absorb the stock. Once the chicken is cooked through, take the pan off the heat and add the yogurt. I always serve it over Basmati rice. You can find it in the rice section ready to be steamed in the bag. It's very legit that way! :) Sprinkle with some parsley or cilantro and enjoy!

Skinny Sunday Scones

There are so many wonderful things to enjoy on Sunday. Breakfast sometimes gets overlooked at my house when we have to get ready for church, so my solution was to make scones the night before. These are super low cal and I made a delicious glaze to go over them. If you want the glaze done after they are cooked you can do that as well. The glaze will be thicker the cooler the scones are. These scones combine the sweetness of dried cranberries with the tang of lemon zest. I also used half whole wheat, half regular flour to make myself feel better! :)

Ingredients

Glaze
* 2 tbsp Splenda
* 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice, divided

Whisk together and set aside.

Scones
* 1/2 cup low fat buttermilk
* 1/4 cup Splenda
* 1 tsp lemon zest
* 2 tsp vanilla extract
* 1 large egg
* 1 cup white flour and 1 cup whole wheat
* 1 tbsp baking powder
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 3 tbsp chilled butter (must be cold) cut into small pieces
* 1/2 cup dried sweet cranberries


Position rack in top third of oven; Preheat oven to 375°. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Make glaze by combining 2 tbsp Splenda and 1 tbsp lemon juice.

Mix buttermilk, remaining lemon juice, Splenda, lemon zest, vanilla, and egg in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Cut in chilled butter with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Gently fold in cranberries. Add buttermilk mixture, stirring just until moist. (dough should be sticky)

Place dough onto a floured surface and knead lightly four times with floured hands. Form dough into an 8-inch circle onto baking sheet, about 3/4" thick. Using a knife, cut dough into 10 wedges (do not cut all the way through). Brush lemon glaze over dough. Bake until golden, about 18-20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Serve warm or room temperature.

Lighter than air...almost

Here's what's happening this week. After pigging out all weekend on gumbo, yes...I made a gumbo that will rival yours...I decided to lighten up on things a bit. I am on YET ANOTHER quest to lose weight. But, it is just too dang hard to not cook whatever I feel like trying out. My culinary skills have blossomed and I REFUSE to let my butt size hinder that! With that being said, I have decided to move into a Summer meal session (along with the workout plan that has to counteract said sessions). I am fully aware of the fact the Florida is light years closer to the sun right now than you are but I think these could fall within your Spring time taste buds as well. For today, I stopped by the Fresh Market and bought some salmon. I had the butcher trim off the skin for this recipe. Now don't grimace, but I bought some freshly made pesto from the deli because frankly, this is a big week at work and I want to make it a bit easier! Then I grabbed a giant red heirloom tomato...here's what became of it all:

Ingredients (serves 2)
* 2 pieces of purchased puff pastry, each cut to be just larger than a piece of salmon (poke a few holes in it with a fork)
* 2 (4 to 6-ounce) pieces salmon
* 1 palm full of sliced almonds
* 1/4 cup purchased pesto
* 1 tomato sliced

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
On a foil-lined baking sheet, place the 2 pieces of puff pastry. Also place the 2 pieces of salmon, being careful to make sure they are not touching. YES, it all cooks on one pan!! Sprinkle each piece of salmon with 1 tablespoon of the sliced almonds. Bake for 10 minutes.

To serve, place each piece of puff pastry on a plate. Top each puff pastry with 1 tablespoon of pesto. Top the pesto with 2 slices of tomatoes each. Top the tomatoes with the salmon and serve.

Are we there yet?

I can smell Cinco de Mayo from here. It's only three days away! It's actually sort of funny that Americans even celebrate it, however, I will not argue with a holiday that gives me an excuse to gorge myself on Mexican food and margaritas. Fish tacos are a great way to celebrate the Independence of Mexico. Fish tacos come from the influence of Baja California, Texas and Mexico. With their powers combined, we have a light, simple recipe to share with friends. I also made my very special black bean soup to wash it down with!

Fish Tacos

Ingredients:

• Corn tortillas

***Before stuffing the corn tortillas, place in a damp paper towel and microwave for about 30 seconds.

Fish-

• 2 fillets of tilapia
• 2 tbs of ancho powder
• 1 tbs olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Toppings- Just go nuts and do whatever you want here. Here is what I did:

• Frozen corn, thawed and sauteed in oil until charred.
• 3 tbs Queso Fresco
• 1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tbs fresh lime juice
• 1/4 c chopped purple onion
• Pepitas (roasted pumpkin seeds. VERY Mexican! :))



Heat oil in a saute pan until hot. Season fish with ancho poweder, salt and pepper. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and saute for 4-5 min on each side. Watch for fish to turn white and the sides will crisps. Remove from heat and place on a plate lined with paper towel.

Break fish into small pieces and add to warm corn tortillas. Add toppings to your liking and enjoy!



Black Bean Soup

• 1 tbl olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves quartered
• 1/2 c onion chopped
• 1/2 tbs cumin
• 1 8oz can black beans. Do not drain
• 1 8oz can diced tomatoes. Do not drain.
• 3 c chicken stock
• 1/4 c cilantro

Heat oil in large soup pot. Add garlic and onion until onion is transparent. Season with cumin. Add the chicken stock, beans and tomatoes. Simmer for about 20 min until flavors have combined. Add the cilantro and remove the soup from the heat. Let it cool down for about 5 min. In batches, blend or process the soup and return to pan and let simmer until ready to serve.

You can decide what sort of texture you want. You don't have to puree the soup if you like it chunky. If you want the best of both worlds, only puree about half of the soup. If you are anything like me, you can puree the whole dang pot! It's totally up to you! Just make sure that the less you puree it, the finer you have to chop your ingredients. If you puree the whole thing, it's a lot less chopping! :)

Sprinkle with Queso Fresco and cilantro.

Tortellini Soup and Parmesan Popovers

You might just popover when you eat this meal! However, I swear I will stop posting so much Italian, but just this last one. I don't know what came over me this last week, but never fret, my kitchen's passport is already on its way to Mexico in light of Cinco de Mayo. I have a few Mexican dishes coming your way so that you can get some ideas brewing for Thursday.

Back to the soup at hand...

If my soup placed an ad in the dating section of the paper it would read: S/W/F. I'm easy and must be paired up with someone rich. Contenders must love garlic!

I think you get the idea. Since the soup is so easy, I just had to add more to it so that my time in the kitchen lasted a bit longer. Does that make me crazy?

So then came the idea for Parmesan Popovers. They are so cute and "filthy rich"! The perfect pairing for a desperate housewife...I mean...the soup.

Tortellini Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 5 garlic cloves chopped
• 1/2 c chopped onion
• Dash of Italian seasoning
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 8oz can diced tomato
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 package of tortellini
• Handful of fresh spinach


Heat a large soup pot with olive oil. Add the garlic and onion until the onion is transparent. Add the Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste.

Add the can of tomatoes with their juice. Add chicken broth and bring the soup to a boil. Once the soup is boiling add the tortellini and reduce heat to a gentle boil. Once the tortellini puffs up and almost doubles in size, the pasta is done. Turn the heat to a low simmer and add the spinach. Once the spinach wilts, the soup is done.

Serve with a sprinkle of parmesan and fresh chopped basil.


Parmesan Popovers

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon herbs de Provence or Italian seasoning
• 4 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves
• 1 cups whole milk
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan (about 5 ounces)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a Kitchen Aid mixer or blender, combine eggs, flour, salt, pepper, and herbs, milk, and cheese. Blend on medium speed.

Spray a mini-muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. Pour the batter into the muffin cups, filling each cup 3/4 full. Bake until puffed and golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.

They will literally pop out of the pan on their own. :)

Pesto Lasagna with a Bechamel Sauce

This lasagna is by far, the MOST decadent thing you will ever taste. The bechamel sauce makes it so rich and moist and the pesto adds the flavor kick. After about five minutes of moaning and groaning through the first bite, I just knew this was worth cooking for guests when they come into town. It's that special!! I made it lighter than the traditional versions and used canned pesto. I would make my own, but I cringe every time I see the cost of pine nuts, which is the best part of a pesto...

A word from the wise-ish about bechamel sauce...I would not call myself a pro at it yet but the first time I made the sauce was last week for a Mac and Cheese gone wrong, I was not patient enough and didn't toast my flour correctly. Needless to say, the whole meal was gross! So, I had to be careful this time and was determined not to ruin it. I am pretty sure I nailed it on the head this time, judging from the symphony in my mouth with each bite of this lasagna. Just stay near the sauce and stir constantly and taste as you go along. Once it loses it's floury taste, it's ready.

Bechamel:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups whole milk/ 2 1/2 cups skim milk (this keeps it flavorful but will cut back on the richness and the fat content.)
• Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Other Ingredients:
• 1 jar of pesto
• 1 cup of mozzarella or parmesan ( I used mozzarella because Trevor loves it so much)
• 1/4 cup of parmesan to sprinkle on top before and after cooking
• 1 box of no cook lasagna noodles. I found a box of sheet-like lasagna noodles. They are much easier to layer.


Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter a 13 by 9 by 4 baking dish and add a thin layer of the bechamel sauce. Cover with a layer of lasagna noodles, and then another thin layer of bechamel. Gently spread about 4 tablespoons pesto across the surface, and then top with about 2 tablespoons of your cheese choice. Repeat until you finish layering the lasagna. Top with a final layer of noodles and spread a final very thin layer bechamel, pesto, Parmesan cheese and a little butter to help the cheese crisp-up when cooked in the oven.

Cook the lasagna for about 30 minutes. Serve dressed with some Parmesan and a drop of extra-virgin olive oil.

Beshamel:
Melt the 1/2 cup butter in a pan over medium heat. Stir in the flour with a wooden spoon. This is an important moment, as you have to slowly toast the flour without burning it. This will help you lose the flowery taste! It takes about 10 min. It should look like a dark ivory color and bubbly.

Gradually ladle warmed milk into the pot with the butter-flour mixture, whisking constantly while bringing the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer for about 15 minutes. STIR CONSTANTLY. Season the sauce with freshly grated nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

This meal is WORTH the labor. I made it a little lighter than traditional versions but the decadence and elegance of this recipe with make everyone around you happy!