Man food

If you read my blog much, you may remember that, occasionally, Justin surprises me by cooking dinner. If you don't believe such a thing could occur, please refer to this post.
Sunday night, the man did it again! It wasn't so much a surprise this time, since he told me what he wanted to cook; but who cares? I love cooking, but being cooked for by a handsome man is even better!


We went to Borders going-out-of-business sale on Friday night. I scored a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking: Volume 2 (60% off!!) and Justin bought this (very manly)book.

Good Meat: the complete guide to sourcing and cooking sustainable meat.

It is a really cool book, I must say. And the recipes in it are incredible. He chose to make "Involtini" for us.

I've never had involtini, but upon googling, I discovered that they are basically any thin strip of meat or veggie rolled up with cheese, herbs, and other yummies. In this case, thinly sliced beef top round with pesto, parmigiano-reggiano, and pancetta. After you roll them up tightly, they take an hour-long bubbly wine bath. Heavenly.



I made some parmesan polenta to serve them with...delish! He did good, didn't he?!




Here is the recipe:

Involtini
Good Meat: the complete guide to sourcing and cooking sustainable meat
by James Beard and Deborah Krasner

1-2 pounds semifrozen grass-fed beef top round or bottom round
1 cup mixed chopped fresh parsley and basil leaves
1/2 onion
1 clove garlic
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
As many thin slices of parmigiano- reggiano as there are beef strips
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
As many thin slices of pancetta as there are beef strips
1 teaspon unsalted butter
1/2 cup white wine

Slice the semifrozen beef as thinly as possible, lay out on a sheet of waxed paper to thaw. Sandwich defrosted meat between two pieces of plastic wrap and place on a wooden cutting board. Pound out to 1/8 inch thickness.
Make a paste of the basil and parsley, onion, garlic, salt and pepper and 1 tablespooon of olive oil in a food processor.
To assemble: lay out beef strip, spread with 1/4 inch of herb paste, then a slice of pancetta, then cheese. Roll firmly and tie with kitchen twine.
Dredge each roll in flour. Heat butter and remaining olive oil in a large pan with a lid. (big enough to hold all rolls in one layer). Brown the rolls on all sides over medium-high heat (5-8 min). Add the wine, reduce to low heat and cover. Cook 45 min, adding water if necessary until beef is tender. Remove the twine and serve with pan sauce.

Valentine's day menu....I took a different route!

So, yeah, that "healthy" menu plan I had going on....HA! Who am I kidding? It's Valentine's Day for goodness sakes! We needed something a little more special than scallops and cauliflower. :) There's still plenty of time to get "skinny" for my vacation. (again, who am I kidding)

With the memory of last year's Valentine's dinner on my mind, I decided to make rack of lamb our little love day tradition! Maybe I will try a different variation each year and try to mix up the sides and presentation a little.

This year I tried Giada's Rack of Lamb with Mint-basil Pesto. Click the link for the full recipe from foodnetwork.com. Rack of lamb is super easy to prepare (it just looks fancy and complicated). Once it is carved the "lamb lollipops" give the most beautiful presentation...especially with the "pop" of the green pesto. It was so delicious! I pulled the lamb out a little shy of the 20 minutes suggested for medium rare since we like our meat a little more on the pink side...it was absolutely perfect. Be sure to let the rack rest for the full 10 minutes so the juices can redistribute before you carve it!!
As our side, I decided on polenta. I've made plenty of polenta, but I have never tried it "fried" before. I thought the lamb would look perfect perched on top of a little tower of polenta cakes. Here is how I made them:

Creamy Parmesan Polenta Cakes
Katie Daniels

1 tube of basil-garlic prepared polenta, chilled
1 egg, beaten in a shallow dish
2-3 dashes Tabasco
Salt
Pepper
2 tbsp Freshly grated Parmesan
1 tsp finely chopped basil and mint leaves (left over from your pesto!)
1/4 cup flour
Olive oil

Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Slice chilled polenta into 1/2 inch slices (2 per person). Beat egg in a shallow dish with tabasco. In another shallow dish combine flour, salt and pepper to taste, parmesan, and herbs. Coat a polenta cake with egg and then flour mixture and fry in oil until golden brown. Repeat until all cakes are fried adding more oil as needed. Drain cakes on paper towels and season immediately with salt and pepper.

These were beautiful and yummy! Another easy, yet dramatic-looking dish...Check out how it looks plated. Can you believe this whole thing took about 30 minutes total?





Look how pretty my china is!

I put together this cheese plate for us to snack on before, during and after dinner:




Smoked gouda, drunken goat, mini toasts, organic blueberries, bourbon pralines, and local honey. This, in itself, could have been my meal...so, so yummy! My favorite bite: toast dipped in honey with a slice of smoked gouda.

Are you ready for dessert? Always, right?!
In college, our favorite treat was the molten chocolate cake at Chili's. (obviously I wasn't doing much in the kitchen in those days!) This is still my favorite dessert. But when it's made with really good ingredients it is even better!!
I found this recipe for molten chocolate cakes in cupcake form...perfect! Thanks, Martha...I can always count on you!

Molten Chocolate Cupcakes
Martha Stewart

How gorgeous are these?!



Hope you all had a fabulous Valentine's Day!!

Walkin' on Sunshine...

Wow! What a gorgeous day today was! We have had a particularly cold winter down South this year. I mean, It has snowed like three times! In a state where everything shuts down at the mention of "flurries", this is a huge deal. Today brought a welcome 68 degrees and some beautiful sunshine. It was the perfect Saturday: up early, planned meals for the week, went grocery shopping, got a haircut, went to a movie with the hubby, a brisk walk on the treadmill, and spent the evening at Borders reading cooking magazines. As for today's food, I had the last of the leftover butternut squash risotto for my lunch. :( For dinner, ham and cheese panini with bacon and pesto mayo dip. Dessert: chocolate chip angel food cupcakes with fluffy frosting. Yup. It was a pretty awesome day.

For the panini: I cooked a few strips of bacon, spread whole wheat bread with dijon mustard, and piled on ham, bacon and colby jack cheese. I pressed those babies in my panini press, and ta da! Supper's ready! For the pesto mayo dip: just stir 1 Tbsp. pesto into 3 Tbsp. mayo. Done. Serve with a simple salad.


Chocolate Chip Angel Food Cupcakes with Fluffy Frosting

Frosting from Cooking Light

I used an angel food cake mix, for simplicity. Mix according to box directions. Fold in 1/2 cup of semi-sweet mini chips. Bake in paper lined muffin tin according to box directions. Allow to cool on racks.

Fluffy Frosting

1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
Dash of salt
2 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine 1/2 cup sugar and next 4 ingredients (1/2 cup sugar through 2 egg whites) in top of a double boiler; place over barely simmering water. Beat with a mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form and candy thermometer registers 160°. Beat in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon frosting over each cupcake.
Top with mini chips.

TIP: once your frosting reaches 160, remove it from the heat. Do not walk away to take a beautiful picture of your cupcakes. :)

Light, fluffy, chocolatey goodness.