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One Day Café

~ good eats from a small kitchen

One Day Café

Tag Archives: easy dinner

Recipe: Polenta & Spinach Soup

11 Friday Jan 2013

Posted by Anonymous in appetizers and sides, entrees, recipes

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

comfort food, dinner, easy dinner, food, polenta, soup, spinach, vegetarian

Spinach & Polenta Soup

I admit, it may be a bit odd to make thick, hot soup when it’s pushing 90 degrees outside. But I’m on a mission to use up all of our food stuffs in the next week, including a half kilo of polenta. So, sorry husband! Sit in front of the fan and eat it.

Polenta is a ground cornmeal that has a smooth, creamy texture when cooked. It originated in Italy, so I suppose it’s no surprise that it’s so popular in Buenos Aires. According to Wikipedia it’s known as a “peasant food”, which seems kind of rude, right? But considering I’ve made at least five meals out of this one-kilo bag with no end in sight, I suppose I can see the correlation.

I actually purchased the polenta just to try this recipe out in the first place. It was so good that rather than expanding my polenta-cooking repertoire I just made it again…and again, and again. It’s cheap, super flavorful, and takes about 30 minutes to whip together. Well, 45 if you have to carefully clean each leaf of spinach, like I do.

The original recipe was from Bon Appétit. I’ve altered it to suit my preferences.

POLENTA & SPINACH SOUP

  • 6 cups (or more) of chicken broth
  • 3/4 cup polenta
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • Coarse kosher salt
  • 8 ounces baby spinach leaves
  • Fresh shredded parmesan or sharp cheddar cheese

Bring 6 cups of broth to a simmer in a sauce pan; cover to keep warm. Whisk polenta and flour in heavy large pot. Add 1 cup hot broth; whisk over medium-high heat until smooth. Stir in butter and garlic; sprinkle lightly with coarse salt. Gradually add 5 cups hot broth by cupfuls. Boil gently over medium heat until polenta is tender and soup is creamy and thickened, whisking frequently and adding more broth to thin, if desired, about 15 to 25 minutes depending on the strength of your stovetop. Stir in spinach by handfuls; simmer until wilted, stirring often, 5 minutes longer. Season with more coarse salt and black pepper. Spoon into bowls and top with shredded cheese.

Recipe: Carnitas

05 Wednesday Dec 2012

Posted by Anonymous in entrees, recipes

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

carnitas, david lebovitz, dinner party, easy dinner, feeding a crowd, mexican food, pork, slow roasted pork

Carnitas

I was introduced to the glory of carnitas years ago, when friends in Chicago invited us over for “Carnitas Night” and we stuffed ourselves with guacamole, black bean dip, tres leches, margaritas and the star of the show:  tender, flavorful slow-roasted pork. I was hooked. (Thanks, Amy and Matt!)

But with so many recipes and preparation recommendations floating around, it took me a while to perfect my favorite version of the dish. After lots of searching and taste testing, David Lebovitz’s carnitas recipe stood head and shoulders above the rest. This version is adapted from his, with the spice factor kicked up a notch and as always, heavier on the garlic.

Carnitas2

What I love about carnitas is its simplicity. The intensity of the flavor belies the fact that it’s so easy to prepare. And it feeds a crowd, just add some plantain chips and guacamole to round out the party. I like to serve the meat with corn tortillas and a simple avocado pico de gallo, but feel free to add whatever toppings you like: shredded cheese or queso fresco, sour cream, hot sauce, etc.

Carnitas3

CARNITAS (adapted from recipe by David Lebovitz)

4-5-pounds boneless pork shoulder (bondiola) or pork butt, cut into 5-inch chunks and trimmed of excess fat
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
1 tablespoon canola or neutral vegetable oil
water
1 cinnamon stick
1 Tablespoon chile powder
dried hot peppers, to taste
2 bay leaves
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly-sliced

Rub the pieces of pork shoulder all over with salt. Refrigerate overnight. (You can skip this step if you want. Just be sure to salt the pork before searing the meat.) Heat the oil in a roasting pan or oven-safe pot set on the stovetop. I use my Le Creuset French oven. Cook the pieces of pork in a single layer until very well-browned, turning them as little as possible so they get nice and dark before flipping them around.

Once all the pork is browned, remove it from the pot and blot away any excess fat with a paper towel, then pour in about a cup of water, scraping the bottom of the pan with a flat-edged utensil to release all the tasty brown bits.

Heat the oven to 350F (180C) degrees. Add the pork back to the pan and add enough water so the pork pieces are 2/3rd’s submerged in liquid. Add the cinnamon stick and stir in the chile powder, dried chilies, bay leaves, cumin and garlic.

Braise in the oven uncovered for 3½ hours, turning the pork a few times during cooking, until much of the liquid is evaporated and the pork is falling apart. Remove the pan from the oven and lift the pork pieces out of the liquid and set them on a platter. Once the pork pieces are cool enough to handle, shred them into bite-sized pieces, about 2-inches (7 cm), discarding any obvious big chunks of fat if you wish (but I love them, mmmm). Return the pork pieces back to the roasting pan and cook in the oven, turning occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the pork is crispy and caramelized. It will depend on how much liquid the pork gave off, and how crackly you want them.

Cheeseburger Pie a.k.a. Chewed Up Cheeseburger

15 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by Anonymous in entrees, recipes

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

casserole, cheeseburger pie, chewed up cheeseburger, easy dinner, hurricane preparedness

As we prepared to hunker down in New Jersey in anticipation of Hurricane Sandy, we made a quick Target run for all the necessities before the stores closed indefinitely. I’m pretty sure our idea of “necessities” didn’t really jive with everyone else at Target, but hey, we didn’t know if this would be our last chance to stock up before heading back to Argentina! As we were filling our cart with things like basic tees, Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, and beauty products, it occurred to us that getting some food might be a good idea as well. What would make good hurricane comfort food? At Gaspar’s request, Chewed Up Cheeseburger it was.

The first time I made this I was in grade school. The recipe, called Quick Cheeseburger Pie, was from a cookbook that we’d gotten from Gold Medal Flour that was geared towards kids and had a different recipe for each letter of the alphabet. I’d already successfully tried my hand at a few other recipes in that little book, and my cousins were coming over for dinner so I wanted to pick a winner. I did, although it was my first lesson in portion planning as it wasn’t nearly enough to feed the crowd. Still, it went over like gangbusters and has been a go-to ever since, as many of our friends can attest. It was Gaspar who dubbed it Chewed Up Cheeseburger, which I initially found horrifying but have come to embrace. Perhaps it doesn’t sound all that appetizing, but think about all the delicious flavors of a cheeseburger in a flaky pie crust, and you may change your mind.

Like all casseroles, the photos may not be all that pretty, but just trust me.

CHEWED UP CHEESEBURGER

For pastry:

1 1/3 cup flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup shortening

4 T. cold water

For filling:

1 pound lean ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup flour

1/3 cup dill pickle juice

1/3 cup milk

1/2 cup chopped dill pickles

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 425° F. For the pastry crust, in a medium bowl, mix 1 1/3 cups flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles tiny peas. Add cold water 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring with a fork after each addition. Mix lightly, just until pastry almost cleans sides of bowl. Press into bottom and sides of an 8 inch pie pan. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.

To make the filling, crumble ground beef into a large skillet and saute over medium heat for 1 minute. Add onion and garlic. Continue to saute until onion is browned, about 10 minutes. Drain grease from mixture. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 cup flour. Stir in pickle liquid, milk, pickles, and 1 cup shredded cheese. Spoon mixture into pastry shell. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Sprinkle top with remaining 1 cup cheese and bake an additional 5 minutes, until pastry is golden brown and cheese is bubbly.

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