pieces

The salad that was pictured with the salmon sandwiches form my last post was this cannelloni (white kidney) bean salad. I got the basic ingredients from this post. It is really good. Jack’s claim that he doesn’t like cannelloni beans was quickly silenced after he helped himself to three servings.

2 cans beans, rinsed and drained
1 roma tomato, diced
1 small red pepper, diced
1 small green pepper, diced
1 small red onion, diced
1 jalapeno (or serrano), deseeded (unless you want the extra spice) & diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
Italian flatleaf parsley, chopped, to taste
Basil, chopped, to taste
Juice of 1 lemon
Olive oil

Combine, and let sit in refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving. If you make it more than a few hours in advance, don’t add the tomatoes until right before you serve it, or they will get mushy.

I made this without the jalapenos for my mother in law, who does not care for spicy foods. It was big hit with Jack, who says he doesn’t like canneloni beans, but finished off two bowls of the salad.

Adapted from this recipe.

This was so easy and yummy - definitely a keeper!

Makes 4 sandwiches

1 avocado, pitted and peeled
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/8 tsp salt
8-ounce salmon fillet, sliced into ¾-inch pieces
8 slices bread, toasted
1 cup arugula & spinach leaves

Place the avocado, lemon juice, butter, and salt in a food processor. Pulse until nearly smooth, about 30 seconds. Set aside.

Place a medium skillet over medium heat. Coat with vegetable cooking spray. Add salmon and cook about 3 minutes per side.

Spread avocado butter on each pice of bread. Add arugula/spinach to one piece, top with salmon, and top with other piece of bread.

(Next time, I would at least triple the arugula/spinach mixture.)

Jack just got a new drum set:

Guess who won’t be playing much?

(If you don’t see the video in your reader, go to my blog. It’s worth it, Jack promises.)

This challenge did not go as well as the last one. I do plan on trying again; however, my first try wasn’t pretty.

I think this is the first baking project I have ever actually failed to the point that I couldn’t eat the result.

The first step was to make a genoise - a fluffy cake made with eggs. The directions called for adding hazelnuts (filberts) to the cake a few tablespoons at a time, folding it gently between additions, totaling about 40 folds. I thought this might be a bad idea, and indeed, about halfway through adding hazelnuts, the batter had sunk. Being ever the optimist, I baked it anyway.

It didn’t look so bad in the pan:

Upon removing it, however, Jack began referring to it as “the pancake.”

Sigh.

And yes, that is a regular dinner fork.

Again, being an optimist, I decided to go ahead and top the cake with ganache, hoping it would have a sort of Nutella flavor.
It was prettier.

That was the worst cake I’ve ever had.

I do plan to attempt this again. The actual recipe (including praline buttercream and other steps I didn’t get to) is posted here. With pretty pictures of an edible cake.

I urge you to check out the blogroll to see how the dessert was supposed to turn out. I hear that it’s actually really tasty.

* This would also be good with chicken, although the flavors are amazing with pork chops.

This is one of my new favorite recipes. We’ve already made it twice this summer, and the corn is really good right now, so I foresee it being a weekend staple for the next couple of months at least.

I adapted it from a blog that no longer seems to exist.

4 Boneless Pork Chops
Garlic
Salt
Pepper

For the salsa:
2 ears corn
2 green onions
1/2 yellow bell pepper
1 small avocado
Juice of 1/2 lime
lime zest
Sea salt
Olive oil

Roast the corn on the grill. While corn is cooling, slice green onions, dice the yellow bell pepper, and dice the avocado. When the corn is cool enough, cut the kernels off the cob and combine them with the veggies. Add the lime juice, lime zest, salt, and olive oil. Mix and let sit so flavors come together.

Grill pork chops with garlic, salt, and pepper.

When pork chops are done, top with salsa and serve.

I don’t have a picture of this, but a couple of my friends have requested the recipe.

(Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis’ Tuscan White Bean Soup)

2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 shallots, diced
1/4 tsp ground sage
2 (15-ounce) cans cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups chicken broth
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 cup cream
Freshly ground black pepper

Heat a soup pot over medium heat. Add olive oil, butte,r and shallots. Cook five minutes, until shallots are softened, stirring occasionally. Add the sage and beans and stir. Add the stock and bring to a simmer. Add garlic and simmer 10 minutes, or until garlic is softened. Pour the soup into a large bowl, and ladle half the soup at a time into a blender. Holding the lid tightly, puree until smooth. Return puree to pan, add cream. Add pepper to taste and keep warm until ready to serve (do not let it return to simmer).

Here is my no-fail beef fajitas recipe:

(Adapted from the recipe at La Margarita)

Marinade:
1/2 yellow onion, diced
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
1 bay leaf
freshly ground pepper
salt

1 2lb skirt steak

Veggies:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 yellow onions chopped into large pieces
1 green bell pepper, stemmed, cored, sliced into large pieces
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, cored, sliced into small pieces
2-5 serrano peppers (optional), cored and sliced, with the seeds removed if you don’t like it too spicy

1. Put the diced onions into a large glass pan (big enough to hold the steak - I usually use a 9×13 glass cake pan). Add the vegetable oil and the next three ingredients. Mix well, salt and pepper to taste. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and marinate overnight.

2. After meat has marinated, heat grill until coals are hot. Remove meat from dish and grill over the coals, turning once, 4-6 minutes total fro medium rare, about 8 minutes for medium. Transfer meat to cutting board and let it rest.

3. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and peppers and cook, stirring often, until vegetables are cooked but still crunchy, 3-4 minutes.

4. Thinly slice meat against the grain (this is key for skirt steak; otherwise, it will be too tough to bite through), and add to skillet with the veggies. Stir until heated through, 1-2 minutes.

Enjoy!

I was in New Orleans a few weeks ago, and unfortunately wasn’t able to eat any Cajun food. I came back craving a little spice, and this crawfish boil really hit the spot.
It was easy too!

Here’s my (completely not precise) recipe. I started by boiling water in my two biggest pots. I added cayenne pepper and Old Bay seasoning and let that boil for about five minutes before adding red potatoes, onions, and andouille sausage. I let that boil for ten or fifteen minutes, then added the corn. I added the crawfish about five minutes later (after rinsing them in the sink and making sure to get rid of the dead ones). The crawfish were done in about five minutes. I drained the whole pot and dumped it on the table. Yum!

I definitely prefer both shrimp and lobster to crawfish, but these were really yummy. Old Bay is one of the few things I miss about Maryland, and the sausage added a great kick as well. Next time, I would definitely add more cayenne and Old Bay - but hey, I like things spicy.