donna's daily dish

lots of vegetables

11/4/2023

With the cooler weather, I’ve been preparing vegetables in a variety of ways. I pulled from “Charleston Magazine,” issue of February 2023, a recipe for Cauliflower & Goat Cheese Soup from Chez Nous Restaurant. From Melissa Clark of The New York Times, a meatless meal, One-Pot Braised Chard with Gnocchi, Peas and Leeks. My husband loves stuffed peppers; this time I tried a recipe from Lidia Bastianich for Meat-Stuffed Peppers. To use up some of the apples I received in my CSA share, I made a “vintage” recipe for Apple Coffee Ring.

The soup recipe is easy to prepare, but I was a little concerned with the amount of cauliflower in conjunction with the amount of liquid. The recipe calls for 2 heads cauliflower (about 2 pounds), 1/2 cup yellow onion, 4 quarts water or chicken stock, 2 tablespoons of kosher salt, a bay leaf, 1-1/2 cups of heavy cream, 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 cup crumbled goat cheese and white pepper. The subtitle of this recipe called this an “ultra-creamy bowlful,” but with four quarts of liquid, I thought this was a misprint. I have another cream of cauliflower soup on my website, so I assumed this was an error. I used 1 quart (32 ounces) of boxed chicken stock and started with a teaspoon of salt. I found a head of cauliflower that was just over two pounds which was perfect for the recipe.

easy brunch

10/22/2023

Last week was a slow cooking week for me. My husband was on a short vacation visiting his college friends so I took the opportunity to have some friends over for brunch. I made Sweet and Spicy Bacon and Three-Cheese Baked Eggs with Roasted Peppers from “Gourmet Magazine,” November 2001. To balance the richness of the breakfast, I made a Grand Fruit Salad, a recipe from “Bon Appétit Magazine.” I had some British-Style Currant Scones and Pumpkin Ginger Scones in the freezer.

The egg dish and bacon are both baked in the oven, which makes it perfect for entertaining. For the baked eggs you’ll need three medium bell peppers, all-purpose flour, kosher salt, baking powder, 9 eggs, unsalted butter, 6 ounces grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese, 1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese, 1 cup grated Parmigiana-Reggiano cheese and 3 scallions.

While you can roast the peppers on the gas burners of your stove, I prefer to cut out the stem end, remove the seeds and white ribs and roast outside on my gas grill. To me, this seems a faster way to roast peppers. You also need a 10-inch (6-cup pie plate). I didn’t think my Pyrex dishes were large enough, so I used a 2-quart Corningware dish.

The eggs are beaten until doubled in volume. This is followed by adding a mixture of flour, salt and baking powder and melted butter. Once those ingredients are mixed in, the diced roasted peppers and finely chopped scallions are stirred in. The mixture goes into a buttered dish and bakes for 30 to 35 minutes. At the same time, you can bake the Sweet and Spicy Bacon. The egg dish bakes for approximately 30-35 minutes and the bacon, roughly the same amount of time.

What a delicious breakfast. The eggs were light and fluffy. You can taste the cheddar and Parmesan cheeses and the richness from the whole milk ricotta. The smoky, sweetness from the roasted peppers added another layer of flavor. The seasonings on the bacon was fantastic, taking the bacon to a different flavor level. The bacon was seasoned with brown sugar, cayenne, and black pepper. By the way, it made for a fabulous BLT the other day.

For the fruit salad I used green grapes, strawberries, plums, peach and fresh orange segments. I would have used a kiwi, however, the selection at the food store was less than desirable looking. To keep the fruit from turning brown, I tossed the cut fruit with granulated sugar and orange juice. The recipe called for Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur, however, not knowing if my guests were on any medication, I left the liquor out. The fruit salad was a nice sweet addition.

Overall, my guests and I enjoyed the meal. If you’re having company this holiday season, I recommend these recipes for your guests.

is it sweater weather yet?

10/7/2023

What a crazy start to October. Between the rain and unusually warm weather, I’m not sure if I should be making fall meals or summer?

I’m still catching up from my extra days of babysitting and houseguests that we had recently. The yellow squash I had from my CSA box was starting to see better days and I knew I had to find a recipe soon. My internet search brought me to the website Allrecipes and a side dish called Yellow Squash Patties. For the recipe you’ll need shredded yellow squash, an onion, salt, cheddar cheese, all-purpose flour, cornmeal, an egg, freshly ground black pepper and vegetable oil.

just a little rain

9/27/2023

What a miserable four days we’ve had with all this wind and rain. There’s not much you can do other than read or cook; I went for cooking. I have company coming this weekend and I wanted to stock up on some breakfast treats for my guests. One of the things I made is British-style Currant Scones from America’s Test Kitchen. They are similar to the tea biscuits that were available years ago at a local bakery. I’m not sure they still offer them. I also made Pumpkin-Ginger Oat Scones from Genevieve Ko from The New York Times.

Several months ago, I needed crystallized ginger for a recipe. It just so happens that this is the same ingredient needed for these scones and I had just the right amount left. You’ll also need all-purpose flour, old-fashioned oats, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, pumpkin pie spice, cold unsalted butter, canned pumpkin and eggs. My luck ran out as I only had one teaspoon of pumpkin spice left and I needed 2. Fortunately, one of the comments contained a recipe to make your own mixture. It consists of cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves and nutmeg. I’ll include the proportions below. The recipe takes 45 minutes from start to finish. The dry ingredients are whisked separately in a bowl and then butter is cut into the flour with your fingers or pastry cutter. This is followed by adding finely chopped crystallized ginger. The eggs and pumpkin purée are mixed separately in a bowl then added to the dry ingredients. Make sure not to over mix; mix until there is no dry flour left.

move over Green Giant

8/13/2023

Today lunch was a delightful platter of roasted vegetables. I had a Spanish onion, cubanelle pepper, eggplant, grape heirloom tomatoes and a small beefsteak tomato that were cooked outside on the grill. I placed the cooked vegetables on a platter, seasoned with sea salt and drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil. I added a ball of burrata for my husband and I. We enjoyed it on our porch where there was a light breeze and peaks of sun from behind the clouds.

hello foodies, remember me?

7/14/2023

The summer is off and running at my house. My granddaughters are taking swimming lessons at a local health club, so they’re at my home every Thursday. Depending on my daughter’s calendar, it could be for the day or a few days, hence my delay in posting.

It’s very rare that I prepare the same recipe twice for my husband, especially since I’ve started this blog. During CSA season, where there’s an occasional bumper supply of radishes, carrots or zucchini coming in, I need to come up with a new preparation.

Such was the case recently when another bunch of radishes came in my share. Although I have some recipes, this time my search led to the Food Network’s recipe for Chili-Lime Roasted Radishes. This was so easy to prepare as I already was in possession of Chili-Lime Seasoning from Williams-Sonoma. Besides fresh radishes and chili-lime seasoning you’ll need kosher salt and olive oil.

the calendar say it's summer

6/21/2023

The calendar says that June 21st is the start of summer, but here at the Jersey shore, it’s been very breezy today, overcast and the temperature is in the mid 60’s. I decided that with the yellow squash that came in last week’s Dreyer Farms’ CSA, I would make a Summer Squash Soup with Parsley Mint Pistou that I found on the Smitten Kitchen website. For the soup you’ll need unsalted butter, an onion, salt, 2 pounds yellow summer squash, 2 carrots, 1 yellow fleshed potato (1/2 lb.) and four cups of chicken stock or reduced sodium chicken broth.

The soup is quite simple to prepare. You’re sautéing the onion in the butter until softened, adding the vegetables and stock and cooking until they’re soft. When done, you can either use a blender or immersion blender to purée the soup.

quick and easy

6/18/2023

My local ShopRite had some beautiful Chairman’s Reserve tomahawk pork chops on sale last week. I couldn’t resist picking them up as I knew I could find a recipe. Fortunately, my favorite go to NYT Cooking source, Melissa Clark, had a sheet-pan, yes another sheet-pan recipe, for Sheet-Pan Cumin Pork Chops with Brussels Sprouts. For the recipe you’ll need dark brown sugar, kosher salt, whole cumin seeds, ground cumin, freshly ground black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, fresh garlic, large bone-in pork chops, Brussels sprouts, fresh sage leaves, extra-virgin olive and lemon wedges for serving.

Brown sugar, salt, cumin seeds, ground cumin, black pepper, red pepper flakes and grated garlic are combined to make a moist rub. The rub needs to be placed on the pork chops 20 minutes before cooking or up to 24 hours. I opted for the longer marination to allow the meat to be infused with the peppery and smoky notes of the cumin. You can roast this meal either on two small or one large sheet pan. I used two pans as the tomahawk chops were large.

csa week 4

6/17/2023

Our week 4 box of seasonal produce from Dreyer’s contained bok choy, green squash, lettuce, red beets, Dinosaur (Tuscan) kale, peas and pickling cucumbers.

My husband and I have a salad just about every night of the week, so we enjoy receiving green leaf lettuce in our share. The peas were shelled and steamed cooked. I dressed them with butter, salt and pepper for a tasty side dish. I am looking for a bread and butter pickle recipe for my pickling cucumbers.

A sheet pan meal from Sarah Copeland which appeared on May 27th in The New York Times column “What to Make Next Week was the perfect choice for the kale. Her recipe, Sheet-Pan Roast Chicken with Tangy Greens, was a slightly spicy.

CSA week 3

6/3/2023

My participation in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program sometimes means I carryover produce from one week to the next. I don’t always have time to use everything up in one week and occasionally items such red leaf lettuce and some greens can manage to stay fresh longer than a week.

Last week I used the golden beets I received and roasted them to concentrate their flavor. From there I found a recipe on The New York Times Cooking website for Golden Beet Salad with Cider Vinegar Dressing. In addition to the beets you’ll need extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, sea salt, mâche or other tender greens, walnut oil, freshly ground black pepper, toasted walnuts, ricotta salata or fresh goat cheese.