Our New Best Pal: The Smoker

Our special little buddy

Who knew that another appliance would add so much variety into our life? Just two short weeks ago, this little guy came into our life. We've used it twice since, with amazing results. We smoked ribs on the 4th of July, and then a pork shoulder yesterday. 


It has two grates, so you can cook more than one thing at once. Paul was able to smoke the 7 lb. pork shoulder yesterday, as well as a 4 lb. chicken. I was impressed. I think Paul is getting a kick out of trying new recipes for rubs and sauces to accompany the meat. Our neighbors don't seem to mind the smoke or smells, and we have lots of leftovers for the week. 

Paul also doesn't seem too upset at having to sit outside with a cold beer on a hot day, manning the grill.

Veal Scaloppine with Mushrooms, Marsala and Thyme

I have something to admit. I love veal. But I have never been brave enough to make it myself. I'll usually just stare lovingly at it on a menu. 

We saw it available, and decided to be brave. We used this easy veal scaloppine recipe. I would make it again, no question. We used regular button mushrooms instead of oyster mushrooms, and veal cutlets instead of medallions. We had Marsala cooking wine in the house, so we used that over sherry (which is our usual go-to). 

Easy, fast and tasty. Made for a yummy dinner (plus a couple lunches) alongside a big salad. You could easily pair potatoes or roasted vegetables with this as well.

Mushroom Risotto

It's an oldie, but a goodie in our household. Now that I'm back "on" with mushrooms, Paul gets really excited about making this mushroom risotto.

We usually use a bag of mixed dried mushrooms or dried porcinis. For the fresh mushrooms, we used shiitakes, which were looking lovely.  I also had absolutely no idea that Mario suggests using red onion instead of a white or yellow onion. We have never used a red -- I guess my brain just glossed over the part while we read the ingredients. We also use sherry instead of vin santo, but I think that works just as well.

Paul is perfecting (he's pretty close) his risotto-making, and has it down from start (oil in the pan, cooking the mushrooms) to finish (mixing in the butter and cheese) in about 30 minutes. Top with a little freshly grated Parmesan cheese, alongside a leafy green salad and you're good to go!


*Also makes for good lunchtime leftovers.

Shiitakes!

Serving 1 (there may have been a second helping).

Sweet Potato Hash Quiche

I'm playing catch-up this week, so thought I'd post a long-forgotten quiche recipe. I use the same basic ingredients for making the egg/milk mixture, but change up the vegetables and cheese choices. This one included (already-cooked) grated sweet potato, softened spinach and Gruyere. 

P.S. Having some frozen pastry shells around helps a ton! While the quiche can take 45 minutes (or more) to bake, depending on how watery the vegetables are, having the pre-made crust at least makes that part simple. 

Korean BBQ Short Ribs

We had one previous failed attempt at Korean BBQ ribs, but I think we redeemed ourselves with this version. We had ordered some beef short ribs from Artizone, and found an easy, delicious marinade. We marinated the ribs overnight, flipping them once in the morning before leaving for work.

We made two sides -- sauteed plantains, sprinkled with a little sea salt, and softened swiss chard, topped with a dash of sesame oil. The flavors of the sides echoed the marinade, which included soy sauce and sesame oil. 


I'm still a little tentative with my grilling skills, but for something like this -- I think it would be relatively fool-proof to make on my own. However, I'm not sure I'd be forgiven for cooking and eating them without sharing.

Trout Schnitzel with Lemon-Chile Butter

Schnitzel!

We made this dinner a while back, just wanting to try something new. Instead of brioche crumbs, we used panko (which may be why the breading looks much heavier in our photo versus the one accompanying the recipe). While it was different, the flavors didn't knock my socks off. I was also sort of unwilling to go bananas coating the fish the chile butter to try and jazz things up.

However, I did find that I like trout. We've been cooking it (usually steelhead) regularly, especially since it has been the best-looking (while still reasonably priced) fish at the grocery store. The steelhead is similar to salmon in color, and is more flavorful than rainbow trout. 

Grilled Seafood and Vegetables al Cartoccio

It's summer, therefore it's grilling time. I saw this in Food & Wine magazine, and was super excited about cooking up a bunch of seafood. 

The recipe took a good amount of preparation time. You're getting all the seafood prepped (and with oysters, clams and mussels -- it takes a while!) and then all vegetables ready to grill. The recipe says it takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes total -- I think that's pretty close (so about 45 minutes of prep, and 25 minutes cooking).

Grilled broccolini, tomatoes, radishes, onions, carrots and asparagus. Whew!

Getting the "packets" ready

Filled and ready to go!

Finished product!

I thought it turned out delicious. However, it's probably a "once in a while" type dish, since the seafood can be kind of expensive when you purchase it all together. Especially if you have to toss a few of the items ahead of time (i.e. if you can't get the mussels to close up before cooking) or after cooking (i.e. if some of the oysters didn't open up. I couldn't pry some of them open, thought most of them did open on their own). I usually end up buying a few more mussels than they suggest in case I pick up a couple duds (and they are cheaper than clams or oysters, so grabbing a few more can help supplement your dish).

You definitely want some bread to sop up all the awesome liquid that is in the steamed packet. There isn't a ton of "meat" out of the seafood included, but you make it up with a ton of yummy vegetables so you aren't starving within 10 minutes of finishing dinner.