Midweek meal

During the heat wave that we had in San Diego the last few weeks, it was way too hot my apartment to even think about cooking during the day. One night had a Rigatoni and Riggins night (aka: I made Sausage & Eggplant Rigatoni then watched Friday Night Lights), but that was a 2 night process – one to do pre-cooking another to actually bake – and shooting the food at night made it kind of ugly, so no blog was written.

Now it has finally cooled down a bit and I’ve caught the cooking fever.

I spent about an hour online looking up recipes the other night and practically everything looked good. If only I had the time and budget to make it all.

Today I started with two rather simple recipes for lunch time. One I got from the Trader Joe’s Web site, the other I got from watching Martha Stewart while peeling wrappers for my Primo Peanut Butter Cup Cookies.

I started with the Martha Steward tabbouleh salad. The recipe I found online dates back to a 2004 issue of Everyday, but it was the same one I saw her make on television. This is a really simple recipe that requires hardly any cooking – just the boiling of water for the bulghur wheat. The addition of fresh mint on the salad is delightful and refreshing.

Then it was on to TJ’s BABP (Trader Joe’s Bacon, Apple & Brie Panini). First off brie cheese with apple slices is a snack time favorite of mine that I don’t have very often, but really enjoy when I do. With the addition of bacon, confirming my mission statement that bacon makes any sandwich better, I was sold at hello.

For the sandwich I used my wonderful Cuisinart Gourmet Griddler. I grilled four slices of bacon with the top closed. This kept the bacon from curling and really kept the bacon from shrinking much. The recipe asked to spread butter on the outside of the roll/bread that you use while making the sandwich, but I just didn’t clean the grill plates of the bacon grease and skipped the butter. It worked just fine.

While in the Panini press mode the outside of the sandwich gets nice and toasty, but the inside gets nice and soft. The brie melted around the apple and softened the apple a little, but the bacon managed to keep its crunch. TJ’s BABP was a wonderful sandwich that I will make again very soon.

Kitchen gadget

A great kitchen gadget is something that you can use for any meal, no matter what time of day. I have been looking to get an indoor grill/griddle for quite some time. I nearly purchased one from Crate & Barrel only to find when I got to the cash register that it didn't work on my glass-top stove.

I kind of forgot about the quest for a while until I was flipping through my Costco coupon book and came across the Cuisinart Gourmet Griddler 4-in-1 grill/griddle. At $79.99 with coupon it was a little more than I'd wanted to spend, but after using the new gadget 3 times in one day I was convinced that it will be a good investment in the long run.

Meal: Breakfast
Setting: open griddle


I LOVE banana pancakes and was so excited that all of my pancakes turned out perfectly golden brown on my new griddle. I set the temperature at high, as recommended by the instruction manual.


Meal: lunch
Setting: closed grill/panini press


I didn't have any artisanal bread so I just used some of the whole grain sandwich bread I had in the refrigerator. On my panini I put turkey, Gouda cheese, mushrooms and avocado. I lightly spread some butter on top of the bread before putting it on the grill.



Meal: dinner
Setting: open grill/closed grill


A few weeks ago a friend of mine passed along a bag full of lemons. With those lemons I made a fantastic lemon & asparagus pasta dish. Since it was such a light and delicious meal I decided to add a few ingredients, including grilled chicken and zucchini.

2 small to medium sized chicken breasts

1 medium sized zucchini, cut in rounds then in half again (half-moons)

1 1/2 pounds asparagus, trimmed and cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices

1 pound bow-tie pasta

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3/4 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest (from about 3 lemons)

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

Accompaniment: freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Grill or bake chicken. Season with pepper and lemon juice.

Grill zucchini or add it with asparagus in steamer. In a steamer set over boiling water steam asparagus, covered, until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer asparagus to a colander and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Drain asparagus well.

In a 6-quart kettle bring 5 quarts salted water to a boil for pasta.

In a deep 12-inch skillet heat butter and cream over moderately low heat until butter is melted and stir in zest, lemon juice, and salt. Remove skillet from heat and keep sauce warm, covered.
Add pasta to boiling water and boil, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Ladle 1/4 cup pasta water into sauce and drain pasta in colander.

Immediately add pasta and asparagus to sauce and cook over moderate heat, tossing, 1 minute, or until heated through. Add parsley and salt and pepper to taste and toss well.

Sprinkle pasta with a little Parmesan and serve more Parmesan on the side.