Stuffed acorn squash with barley; skillet cherry cobbler

I made a couple of new recipes from my new but well-used Cooking for Two books last weekend that I want to review. First, from CF2 2011, the stuffed squash. Here is a vegetarian entree to try on the most protein-demanding male (or female) you cook for. I was enthralled with this recipe, enough to want to type it out (in my own words, of course) and post here. For one thing it has gotten me hooked on fennel, which I thought I did not like. These were very filling portion sizes to me, and there is enough texture variation between the barley, pine nuts, and fennel that it's not just a mushy blend of squash with cheese on top. I would call this a restaurant-quality meal. The next time we have temperatures, say, below 80, I am making it again. I don't know when that will be. :(

Stuffed Acorn Squash with Barley

Cooking for Two 2011

1 (1 1/2 lb) acorn squash, halved and seeded

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1/4 c. pearl barley (not hulled)

1/2 fennel bulb, trimmed of stalks, cored, and chopped fine

1 shallot, minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp. ground coriander

1/4 tsp. minced fresh thyme 

1 1/2 oz (3/4 c.) grated Parmesan cheese (I used grana padano)

2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley 

2 Tbsp. pine nuts, toasted and chopped

1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Balsamic vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray with Pam. Brush the cut sides of the squash with about 1 Tbsp of the oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and place cut side down on the baking sheet. Roast in lower-middle section of oven for 45-55 mins., or until a knife can slip into the flesh with no resistance. Remove from oven and increase oven temp to 450.

2. Meanwhile, bring 2 cups water to boil in a saucepan. Stir in the barley and 1/4 tsp. salt and cook over medium heat until the barley is just tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.

3. In the now-empty saucepan, heat the remaining Tbsp. olive oil over medium heat til shimmering. Stir in the fennel and shallot and cook about 5 minutes, til softened and lightly brown. Stir in the garlic, thyme, and coriander and cook just til fragrant. Off heat, stir in the barley, 1/2 c. of the Parmesan, parsley, pine nuts, and butter. Taste and season with more salt or pepper if needed.

4. Scoop out the roasted squash flesh, leaving 1/8" thickness in each shell so it can support the filling. Fold squash into the barley mixture, then mound the filing into the squash shells. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 c. Parmesan and bake on the upper-middle oven rack til cheese is melted, about 5-10 minutes. (You could probably also try the broiler for 5 mins, so you get some browning--I would do that next time.) Drizzle balsamic vinegar over each portion and serve.

For dessert that night I made the skillet cherry cobbler (CF2 2010) with David Lebovitz's Philly-style vanilla ice cream (still my favorite), and while it was good and typically ingenious in its technique (the number of interesting dishes that CI has you use ovenproof skillets for has me committed to buying only ovenproof skillets for the rest of my life), I'm not that motivated to type it out. It is a great use for those huge jars of Morello cherries in syrup that I always buy at Trader Joe's without having a specific purpose for them. This jar had been languishing in my pantry since last fall...

Southern-Spanish fusion

So I'm pretty sure Spaniards don't eat grits in any form, but I didn't care when I cooked these---much less when I ate them. I took the method and liquid to grits ratio from Cooking for Two 2010 but subbed and added ingredients to make them answer a craving for Spanish flavors, or what I know of them. These came out light and fluffy, and while M still isn't gung-ho about grits, he at least ate them without grumbling about how over-rated they are. Good enough.

Creamy baked grits "al estilo español"
Adapted from Cooking for Two 2010
(serves 2)

1 Tbsp. butter
1/4 c. minced onion
3/4 c. water
1/4 c. half-and-half (low fat or whole milk will work too)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. quick-cooking grits (not instant, not old-fashioned)
1/2 c. grated Manchego cheese
1/3 c. jarred roasted red peppers, rinsed, dried, and chopped
1 lg. egg, lightly beaten
1 scallion, sliced thin on the bias
generous pinch piment d'espelette, or hot paprika (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375. Melt butter in a 7" or 8" ovensafe nonstick skillet over medium heat; add minced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, til softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the water, half-and-half, and salt. Once at a boil, slowly whisk in the grits. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, til grits are thick and creamy, about 5 minutes.

2. Off heat, stir in all but 2 Tbsp. of the cheese, the chopped peppers, and the egg. Smooth grits into an even layer and sprinkle with remaining 2 Tbsp. cheese. Transfer to the oven and bake til cheese is melted and golden, about 15 minutes.

3. Remove skillet from oven and let stand on a trivet or rack for 10 minutes. (Be sure to keep a potholder over the handle as it will be extremely hot for quite some time.) Sprinkle grits with the scallions and piment or paprika if desired, and serve.

As usual, bacon is a fine accompaniment. And it can cook in the oven for about the same amount of time as the grits, on a lower rack.

Skillet pasta primavera

Dishes like these are why I love Cook's Illustrated. Creative (at least I wouldn't think of cooking pasta in a skillet), carefully thought out, balanced, delicious. I made this for lunch out of Cooking for Two 2010; M's only complaint was, "where's the meat?," which was a) expected and b) irrelevant. Protein is overrated. :) I think this dish was conceived as a vegetarian one, judging by the rare appearance of vegetable broth instead of CI's much-beloved low-sodium chicken broth (which I used instead). Some prosciutto or diced deli ham thrown in at the end would certainly work, but needless to say I loved this dish just as it was. I recently read that if I put a recipe's instructions in my own words, there aren't copyright problems, so I think it's safe to post it here. I did make some practical modifications as well (e.g. the original recipe has asparagus; I just upped the quantities of mushrooms and zucchini).

Skillet Pasta Primavera
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen's Cooking for Two 2010
Serves 2 generously

2 Tbsp. butter
1 zucchini (8-9 oz.), quartered lengthwise and cut into 1/2" dice
2 1/4 cups water
4 oz. white mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/3 lb. bowtie or campanelle pasta (shape doesn't matter so much, just make sure it has a cooking time not much less than 14-15 minutes)
2 Tbsp. heavy cream
1/2 cup frozen peas (do not thaw)
1/4 cup fresh grated Parmiggiano
2 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice

1. Melt 1 Tbsp of the butter over medium heat in a 12" nonstick skillet. Add the zucchini and 1/4 cup of the water with a pinch of salt, cover, and cook til zucchini is crisp-tender, 3-4 minutes. Uncover and cook just til tender and liquid is almost evaporated, 1-2 minutes more. Transfer zucchini to a medium bowl and cover with foil to keep warm.
2. Melt remaining Tbsp. butter in the empty skillet and add mushrooms with a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, til they've released their moisture and are golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer the mushrooms to the bowl with the zucchini and cover again.
3. Add the garlic to the empty pan and stir til just fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in the 2 cups water, broth, and 1/4 tsp. salt, then add the pasta. Increase heat to high and cook, stirring frequently, til pasta is tender and sauce has thickened, about 15-18 minutes. (You may need to decrease the heat toward the end if the liquid is evaporating too fast for the pasta to cook, but it needs to be at a rolling boil.)
4. Stir in the mushrooms and zucchini, cream, and frozen peas, and cook til veggies are heated through, about 1 minute. Off heat, add the Parmesan, basil, and lemon juice, and check seasonings. Serve immediately.

Spanish pork roast and brown rice

Tonight I tried another method for pork roast, which I've come to regard with wariness and low expectations. With the exception of CI's maple-glazed pork loin, I have never been too impressed with the oven-roasted pork recipes I've found. This time I mixed two Epicurious recipes---the ingredients for one and the method for a another---and the results were fantastic. The recipe is below. I wasn't entirely sure about the raisins, but I knew dried fruit and pork was a traditional combination, and I'm here to tell you it works.

I also had another Cooking for Two (2011) success: I used the Spanish-style skillet brown rice recipe with chickpeas and saffron, except for the saffron, because vanilla beans are about the most expensive I'll go for spices. Oh, and the pimentón de la vera that I used for the pork was a real splurge. Like, $6 for a palm-sized tin. So you see how I think. Since I remember Daisy Martinez saying that the flavors are similar, I used a pinch of whole achiote seeds steeped in the broth (and then strained out) instead. I'm not really sure if it made a difference, but whatever. I forgot we were eating brown rice because the texture was very much like white, which means this will definitely be my go-to brown rice method from now on.

I forgot to take pictures and already sliced up the leftover pork for salad...oh well. It was a nice brick red color with all the paprika, but otherwise not much to look at. 

Spanish Pork Roast with Sherry-Raisin Vinaigrette
Pork:
1 (2 1/2) lb. boneless pork loin roast, tied if unevenly sized
2 tsp. sea salt
2 Tbsp. sweet smoked Spanish paprika (La Chinata brand is available at Alon's. It comes in sweet, bittersweet, and hot; either of the first two would work here.)
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. fresh coarse ground black pepper

Vinaigrette:
2 Tbsp. golden raisins
2 Tbsp. dry sherry
2 1/2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1/2 small shallot, minced
salt and pepper
1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley

1. Pat the pork dry with paper towels and tie down its length with butcher's twine if necessary. Stir together salt, smoked paprika, cumin, coriander, and pepper and rub generously over surface of the pork. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 6-12 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 350. Bring the pork to room temperature, about 30 minutes if your kitchen is warm. Set pork on a wire rack set inside a baking sheet and roast until the center registers 140 degrees, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest, loosely covered with foil, til temperature rises to 150 degrees, about 10 minutes.

3. While pork cooks, make vinaigrette: soak raisins in the sherry for 30 minutes. Add vinegar, shallots, and salt and pepper to taste. Slowly whisk in oil. Add parsley just before serving.

4. Slice rested pork thinly and plate with a generous drizzle of the vinaigrette. Serves about 6.

Various successes

Since it's generally no fun telling about mediocre or bad outcomes in the kitchen, I guess I'll be the kind of blogger that only publishes favorable accounts of daily life. Oh wait, that's every blogger.

Last night I was given permission to try making the skillet pizza from the Cooking for Two 2010 book. You might be wondering under what bizarre marital dynamic it is normal to seek permission from one's spouse to cook something. The thing is, M is a die-hard Yankee pizza snob. I will never make pizza up to his standards at home. And I'm okay with that, since I don't love making pizza or eating it all that often. But every now and then I'll ask to try, because I'm in the mood or I have all the ingredients on hand. Both were the case yesterday. I used CI's pizza dough recipe and their method but Marcella Hazan's instructions for making a margherita topping. If your tomatoes aren't essentially perfect, she has you cook them down a bit, and to spruce up "commercial supermarket mozzarella" (as she calls it in distinction from her precious mozzarella di bufala) you shred it and toss it with a little EVOO, letting it sit ideally for an hour. Mine only got about 15 minutes of that treatment, but then I think supermarket (at least Sorrento block) mozzarella is already good enough.

The pizza is started over high heat on the stovetop in a 12" skillet just until it begins to set and finished for 7-10 minutes in a 500 degree oven. I brushed the garlic oil I keep in the fridge for focaccia on the dough first, then topped it with tomatoes and mozzarella. After it came out of the oven I put whole fresh basil leaves on top. The verdict from M's side of the table was, "Not bad at all." I too judged it my best attempt yet at homemade pizza. It was plenty crispy, and the dough flavor was okay, though we've come to prefer the sourdough flavor of the crust at Varasano's. Of course you couldn't go wrong with the toppings; the deciding factor is always the crust: whether it got soggy at all, or whether it's nearly charred on the bottom (M's preference---this one wasn't, but it was well-browned). So I'd make this recipe any time for non-pizza snobs. It was quick and easy and perfectly passable pizza for most of us.

Tonight I decided to pretend like it's not the end of April and 85 degrees outside, and made a decidedly cool-weather meal: braised beef and polenta. On the other side of dinner I don't regret it at all. Several months ago someone on the CI forums was raving about this recipe from Michele Scicolone for an Italian slow-cooker roast, the "secret" ingredient being anchovies. She reassured us that they really do dissolve into the sauce and you don't have bits of fish showing up in the finished product. Another surprise to me was the use of a cup of white wine to deglaze the pan in which you brown the beef. I would have expected red wine, but as with the anchovies and everything else about this recipe, it worked. It cooks for 6 hours on low in the slow cooker, resulting in meltingly tender beef that is perfectly seasoned. The polenta (from CFT 2011) was very tasty and the perfect thing to sop up the juices from the meat. I only took one pathetic picture while cleaning up of the meat and juices leftover, which is not worth posting.

Sadly, it will probably be several months before I make either polenta or braised beef again, as roast doesn't exactly call to me in the sweltering, humid summer months. *sigh* In an effort to overcome my aversion to being in the kitchen when said weather hits, I've made a list of no- or low-cook recipes, mostly ones I've made before and loved, but a few that are high priority to-try. So I'm a little more prepared for summer this year.

Why I know my husband loves me

Because with minimal begging---in fact, none---he bought me the 2010 and 2011 editions of Cooking for Two from Cook's Illustrated. For a couple of weeks they were offering both books for the price of one, and since I haven't been getting the CI magazine for some time, it was unlikely that I would already have seen any the recipes. I spent last night and today leafing through the 2010 book and pasting my little neon sticky notes (thanks Heidi!) on must-try recipes. I even made two things from the book for dinner tonight (which see below). I was doubly happy to see the books arrive yesterday because unfortunately, there is ample reason to be wary when you are dealing with the marketing department of Cook's Illustrated---just google "Cook's Illustrated" and "complaints." Anyway, I'm happy. We aren't anti-leftovers by any means, but with some foods they're not practical, and it's very helpful to have recipes already scaled down and tested to ensure they work for two people. And of course I am devoted to Cook's Illustrated in their meticulously detailed directions and explanations of technique, not to mention the way they head off any "substitution disasters" with notes like "do NOT substitute fat-free milk here" (not that I would be inclined to that particular swap-out).

So tonight I made the "spa chicken" and the bacon-braised green beans from Cooking for Two 2010. The chicken...boring story, but the result was that I overcooked it. Still, it wasn't bad, and I loved the flavor of the mock broth (water, smashed garlic, thyme, soy sauce of all things) used to poach them. I'll definitely be trying this again with one of the lean sauce recipes given (I had too much going on on the stove tonight to attempt that).

The green beans were just fantastic. Best ever. Before, I didn't really have a recipe for slow-cooked green beans, which is how M prefers them (Cracker Barrel is the standard for him); I had tried different ingredients (always chicken broth, usually garlic and onions and bacon) with varying success. This recipe used a small amount of broth, onions, bacon, thyme, brown sugar, and cider vinegar. I was a little wary of the vinegar, but after tasting the finished product I was a believer.

I also made these dumplings from Epicurious, which are essentially pierogis without the work. They were very good with a bit of spicy brown mustard to dip them in, and are certainly easy compared to pierogis, with no dough to roll out and cut. I actually preferred the taste of these to my one attempt at real pierogis.

In other news, today I discovered smoked herring, aka kippers. Trader Joe's sells tinned fillets packed in oil for $1.99, and I adventurously picked some up while I was there yesterday (forgetting, as usual, several TJ's freezer staples I needed). I briefly researched whether I'd need to pick out any bones (no), de-skin the fillets (no), or rinse before using (conflicting reports---I did). Then I experimented rather uncreatively on the tuna salad theme for lunch: to the shredded fish I added a dab of mayo, whole grain mustard, lemon juice, and parsley. I broiled it briefly on buttered toast and it was delicious. Smoked herring will definitely be a new pantry staple.