Dan's Cooking

So this week was a little nutty both at work and at home and I won't lie I was pretty stressed out. I had a job interview today as well to top it all off.
Well when I got home from work today Dan was busy busy in the kitchen and had barricaded himself in. The second I walked in the door I was told I was forbidden. :)
After a few hours of yummy smells and a few crashes and bangs in the kitchen, dinner was served, and BOY OH BOY was it good!!
Let me paint you a picture of how good I have it (okay lets call it bragging) Not only does he cook, but he is quite the looker too!

(The man of the hour! The ONE AND ONLY.... DAN)

Dinner was so good I had to post some pictures!
Now I do not have the recipes to post as he was kinda winging it, but he may write it up and post it here later on.

Okay now keep in mind (this makes everything so much more impressive) Dan is a full on carnivore, he will eat any weird meat you can find for him.

 

(OH and did I mention... there was flowers)

The appetizer were these delicious spicy baked eggplant fries, with a fantastic dill and lime yogurt dip

 

If you are not drooling by now... you are nuts!

 Okay now for dinner! This was incredible and so impressive.
He made some roasted carrots with a red wine shiitake sauce, over a little bed of chopped purple cabbage(which he said was just to look pretty but I ate it up anyways with the sauce)

He also grilled these adorible little baby peppers.

Now the pièce de résistance!

Dan made cashew crusted tofu with a delicious "cream" sauce.
The best part about the sauce (aside from the incredible taste) Is the unexpected main ingredient, which also makes this sauce healthy.
Though it tastes creamy and fattening it is made with SILKENED TOFU, some milk, herbs spices, and a tiny bit of butter, so it is not nearly as bad for you as it tastes.

 (You have to admit... He did well)

And now for dessert (that's right, he even made dessert)

Dan served up three little scoops of ice cream, each with a different home made fruit sauce.

They were, strawberry, blackberry, and pineapple

So needless to say. Tonight was a rough night full of eating, and I doubt I will ever recover. I have told Dan he has got himself into trouble setting the bar this high.

If you have any comments Dan and I would be thrilled to hear them. Oh and maybe a little praise for Dan for being such a wonderful boyfriend!

Quinoa Salad

If you have never tried quinoa, well first of all you are nuts :) and second add it to your grocery list and give it a shot. Quinoa is so delicious and its good for you too.
This salad is meant to be a very simple and fresh summer side. The tofu I made to go with it had very dominant flavors so I wanted this to be more mellow.

 Ingredients

• 1 cup dry quinoa
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2/3 cup diced zucchini
• 1 onion
• 1 plum tomato
• a handful of fresh spinach chopped
• 2/3 cup chopped broccoli florets
• 1 clove garlic
• 4-5 tbs balsamic vinaigrette (Italian dressing works really well too for a different taste)
• Feta in oil and herbs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp dried parsley

First things your soak your quinoa in some water for about 5 minutes,

then drain with a sieve and put in a pot with 1 1/2 cup of water and 1 tsp of oregano. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn the temp down to about 1 and let simmer covered for 15 minutes.
When the quinoa has finished cooking, fluff it with a fork and let cool

Chop up all your vegetables. For the onion I chose to put them in a frying pan and cook them just long enough so they start to soften and taste less strong I also added the garlic to the pan right at the end.

(The onion should look like this)

Toss all of your vegetables in a bowl and mix in the quinoa. 

Add your seasonings. Adjust the amount of vinaigrette or dressing to how you like it. I added chunks of feta in oil with herbs and also added a few spoonfuls of the oil it was marinated in. I really find the feta adds a lot, so if you like feta do not skip out on this ingredient.

 

(this stuff is delicious)

and here is my complete dinner

The recipie for the tofu is in my last post.

Enjoy!!!

and as always I would love to hear comments or anything you did differently 

Chipotle Lime Grilled Tofu

So this post goes along with my next one. Well they don't have to go together but they were all part of the same dinner. I had the chipotle lime tofu, quinoa salad and grilled asparagus for dinner, and let me tell you it was tasty :)

 Now I have not made a whole lot of marinades from scratch so this one involved a bit of experimenting but I really think it turned out well. That being said if you would change anything or have any comments, I would be happy to hear them

Ingredients 

• 1 Tbs lime juice
• 2 tsp chipotle powder
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tbs maple syrupy
• 3 tbs water
• 1 brick extra firm tofu

***TIP***

(To give your tofu a firmer meatier texture store it in the freezer and thaw when ready to use)

Press as much water out of your tofu as possible, this will enable to tofu to absorb more flavor. Slice the brick down the middle to make two thin tofu steaks.

Mix the ingredients for the marinade together. Place the tofu in a shallow flat dish and poor the marinade over top. Place it in the fridge and let it soak up the flavors for at least 2 hours. 

Toss your tofu on the grill on medium to medium high heat. Flip once it is starting the brown on the bottom. Brush some of the left over marinade on top.

And of course some asparagus on the side!!

All I did for this was drizzle garlic olive oil, lemon juice and seasoned with kosher salt and pepper, then put it on the BBQ

Roasted Tomato's, Carmelized Onions and Goat Cheese on Puff Pastry

I had my sister and her boyfriend over to some hor d'oeuvres on Sunday and these are one of the things we made.
Now I will be honest right off the bat. I cheated and bought my puff pastry because this was a sort of last minute thing.

Ingredients 

• 1 package puff pastry dough
• 1 small package of goat cheese (i used a bruschetta flavored one)
• 1 cherry tomato's slightly larger ones work best
• 1 onion
• Garlic infused olive oil
• kosher salt and pepper

preheat the over to 400 degrees
 Cut all of your cherry tomato's in half and place them on a baking sheet and drizzle the garlic infused olive oil over top and season with kosher salt and pepper

***TIP***

(if you don't have any garlic olive oil simple smash a few cloves with the side of a knife and pop them in a bottle of olive oil and let sit for a few hours or preferably overnight)

Bake the tomato's in the oven for about 15 min or until they are starting to caramelize a little. Roasting the tomato's brings out so much flavor and also helps prevent soggy puff pastry.

Chop up one onion and in a bit of garlic olive oil put them in a frying pan on medium heat. You do not want to turn the heat up too high. Once the onions clear, soften and start to turn golden brown remove them from the heat.

I cut the puff pastry dough into triangles but any shape will work. Cut up some small pieced of goat cheese (about the size of the your thumb nail, and place them in the center of each puff pastry piece

OH and I forgot to mention a very important part... Watch for scavengers looking to steel your goat cheese.

 

(caught red handed) 

Place a few pieces of caramelized onions over the goat cheese and top it with a roast tomato.

Bake in the oven for about 15min or until golden and puffy

Enjoy!! By the looks of it, I think my sister did.

(my big sister Amanda and her boyfriend Kevin)

Roasted Vegetable and Goat Cheese Ravioli with Parm Butter Sauce

Okay I have been excited all day to make this.
I have not used my pasta roller in far to long, so i figured today was a great day for some home made ravioli.
If you have never made home made ravioli, I have some good news for you.
First thing is that it is very easy and you don't need a pasta roller, second home made ravioli is totally worth the little extra effort, it is so much better then the store bought stuff :)

Ravioli is so much fun, you can be so creative with the filling and sauces and even the pasta dough. So go aheah and experiment.

 (I was having a lot of problems with lighting for this pictures sorry)

Ingredients

Filling

• 1 med zucchini
• 1 small/med eggplant
• 1 large portabello mushroom
• 1 large red pepper
• 1/2 cup fresh spinach
• 2 cloves garlic
• olive oil (enough to brush on vegetables before grilling)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup ricotta
• 1/2 cup goat cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh parmesan 
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Pasta Dough

• 3 cups all purpose unbleached flour
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp salt
• water 

Sauce

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
• 6 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 2/3 cup grated Parmesan
•  2 cups oyster mushrooms chopped

Filling-
For the veggies I cut them into nice big chunks and lightly brushed them in olive oil and since its summer and the BBQ is my new best friend I thew them on there. I let them brown nicely then flipped.

The only veggie you want to seriously char is the red pepper. This will make your roasted red pepper, you want to blacken it.

 

(it should look like this)

After all your veggies are cooked set them aside and let them cool.

With the red pepper, place it in a heavy duty zip lock bag or a bowl with plastic wrap over it for about 5 min, the steam will help lift the skin. You will then be able to gently peel the skin back.

you want to get off as much of the skin as possible, but don't worry too much if there are little bits of black left on the pepper.

I only used half of the roasted red pepper, I stored the rest in a jar in olive oil

Now that your veggies have cooled, put them in the food processor, I did this in small batches because you want them chopped but not pureed so I found it easier to do this one vegetable at a time.

 

Mix all of your vegetables together in a bowl

After all the vegetables are chopped nicely add the rest of your ingredients for your filling to the bowl and mix it well.

That is it for the filling. Set it in the fridge while you make the pasta dough.

Okay now for the dough

put the flower on a surface or in a bowl and make a well in the middle, sprinkle the salt in and add  your eggs to the well. 

Now whisk the eggs right in the well and then slowly incorporate the flower into the eggs. If the dough is too dry feel free to add a bit of warm water (only add a tablespoon or two at a time)

 

Now knead your dough until it is nice and smooth, then place it in a plastic baggie and put it in the fridge for 15-30 min.

When you take it out, divide it into 6 even pieces and one at a time roll them out into a long thin sheet. While you are rolling keep the remaining pieced of dough in the bag so they do not dry out.

I like to scoop little spoonfuls of filling onto the dough half way down then fold the other half over. When you are placing the filling, make sure to leave enough room in between to seal the dough and cut around it.

fold the dough over and press the dough together around the filling. Be careful and try to get all the air out before you seal each one.

Now cut them out with a cookie cutter and place aside. No matter how much flower is on them I wouldn't recommend stacking them on top of each other, I have made that mistake too many times and later had the pasta stick together then tear.

 

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil 

gently place your ravioli in the pot and let cook for about 5 min or until the pasta is tender

While your pasta is cooking start on the butter.

add your butter to a pan and melt it. Let it cook until it turns a nice golden brown. Once you butter has started to brown add your oyster mushrooms and basil. Let them cook for about 4-5 min. Once your ravioli is done place it on a serving dish so it is spread out and drizzle the brown butter over top and sprinkle the nutmeg and parmesan over top and let the cheese melt.

Place the pine nuts on a baking sheet and pop them in the toaster over on 350-400 for only a few minutes. keep your eyes on them because they will burn fast.

top your pasta with pine nuts and serve.