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Basil Stuffed Baked Potato

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Best Baked Potato Ever!!

This is one of my all time favorites. I wait in anticipation each summer until the basil I planted really starts to take off and it’s loaded with buds. You have to pinch these buds off because if you don’t the plant will completely go to seed and stop growing and die.  Most people just pinch them off and throw them away….. DON’T, they’re the best part of the basil. These little buds are absolute flavor bombs.

So you ask, what do I do with them? Well, you can put them on a sheet pan and pop them into a 250 degree oven for 30 minutes or so and dry them out and save them for this winter or you can use them fresh. These little buds are hardier than the basil leaves so you can add them to sauces or soups during the cooking process. Unlike the leaves they will stand up to the heat and not just fade away to nothingness.

One of my favorite summer “Meatless Monday” meals is a baked potato and crisp green salad loaded with lots of fresh veggies. Of course it’s a Basil Stuffed Baked Potato. In the recipe below I tell you how I bake a potato. After years of trial and error I finally got it down so it comes out with a beautifully seasoned crispy skin that you will want to eat it’s so good and a wonderfully fluffy inside that is perfect stuffed with a bunch of fresh basil buds. These little beauties literally burst in your mouth and make for the best baked potato ever. The secret to the baked potato is Jane’s Crazy Mixed-up Salt. This is a wonderful blend of salt, pepper, garlic and other species that gives the potato a wonderful tasty crunchy skin. You can find it at most grocery stores or on Amazon.

Watch the video below to see how I take the buds off the stalks.

 

 

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Basil Stuffed Baked Potato

Prep

Cook

Total

Yield 2 Servings

Ingredients

2 russet baking potatoes

2 t olive oil

1 T Jane's Crazy Mixed up Salt

Instructions

Wash the potatoes well and pat dry. Peirce each potato 3-4 times with a fork. Rub olive oil all over the potato and generously sprinkle on the Mixed up Salt. Bake for 1 hour in a preheated 450 degree oven. Don't wrap in foil, just place the potato right on the oven rack and let it go.

Courses Side Dish

Cuisine American

Eggplant Caponata

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Okay Farmer Tony, you gave me Eggplant, now all I have to do is figure out what to do with it. I’m always up for a challenge and this is no exception. I have never cooked eggplant before, in fact I’ve only eaten it once or twice and I must admit I was not much of a fan. So, what am I going to do with this thing?

I have this wonderful app on my phone “New York Times Cooking” I have a regular subscription to the paper so for me it’s free, if you don’t there is a monthly charge but it’s minimal and worth it. They have recipes from great chefs for food from all over the world. I just love it. When I’m looking for inspiration this is my first go to. So, I jumped in to see what they had for eggplant. Out of the 15 or so recipes I decided on Eggplant Caponata by David Tanis. It looked good and had a lot of good stuff in it. Eggplant doesn’t really have much flavor so you need some good stuff to go with it.

The original recipe called for you to cut the eggplant in cubes and then fry it, but that’s messy and a hassle, not to mention the added calories, so I chose the alternative and baked it in the oven. I also added a few things I happened to have on hand like, sun dried tomatoes, fresh oregano and fresh basil.

This is really pretty easy to put together, cut up your eggplant and get it in the oven. While it’s baking get the rest of it going on the stove and by the time the eggplant is ready to come out of the oven all you have to do is stir it together simmer it for 5 more minutes or so and your done.

I did this for an appetizer to serve with crostini but it would also be great as a sauce for pasta as a main entree’.

So Tony, how’s that for something different to do with eggplant? For my next adventure I’d like to try squash blossoms, got any?

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Eggplant Caponata

Prep

Cook

Inactive

Total

Yield 6-8 Servings

Ingredients

1 large eggplant peeled and cut in 1" cubes

2 T olive oil

1 red onion chopped

3 stalks celery chopped

1 T tomato paste

1/4 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes

2 T capers

1 cup good quality olives sliced (green or black)

Pinch of red pepper flakes

1 bay leaf

3 T sugar

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 T chopped fresh parsley

2 T chopped fresh basil

2 T chopped fresh oregano

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, lay out eggplant cubes on a baking sheet and salt with about 1 teaspoon salt. Place in the oven to roast until golden brown, about 25- 30 minutes. While the eggplant is roasting, chop up the onion and celery and saute in 1 tablespoon olive oil with a pinch of salt until the onion starts to get soft, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, sun dried tomatoes, capers and olives. Add crushed red pepper, bay leaf, sugar vinegar, wine and fresh oregano and simmer for 5-10 minutes. When the eggplant comes out of the oven add it to the mixture in the pan along with the parsley and basil and stir well to incorporate. Continue to simmer for another 5-10 minutes until the eggplant breaks down and the flavors marry. Give it a taste and add salt as needed. Take it off the heat, remove the bay leaves, and let it sit for at least 30 minutes so that it all comes together and serve at room temperature with costini.

Courses Appetizer

Cuisine Italian

Pasta Amatrice

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I ran into my friend Tony White on Friday. We worked together at the last corporate job either of us had. He was always bringing in good stuff from his garden, tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach etc. Well, he gave up corporate life and became a full time farmer and now he supplies fresh produce to the restaurants around town. He is the Farm in “Farm to Table”.

I had been saying I need to reach out because I was seeing so much good stuff on his Facebook page but just hadn’t gotten around to it. So, imagine my surprise when I was sitting at lunch on Friday and the hostess came up with a big paper bag and asked if we were the Cook’s, Tony had seen us come in and put together a care package for me.

Needless to say I was thrilled. Tony stopped by on his way out and said he threw in the eggplant because he wanted to see what I would do with it. I’ve never cooked eggplant before so I’ve been doing some research and I think I  have come up with a good recipe. Yikes, that’s a post for another day.

Today we are talking Pasta Amatrice, Friday evening I looked at my husband and said what am I going to do with all those cherry tomatoes? That’s a lot of salad….when he suggested Pasta Amatrice.

Pasta Amatrice is super easy and so good especially if you have fresh tomatoes. So Saturday I set off for the store for provisions. I really didn’t need much, all it takes to make this sauce is some panchetta, onion, garlic and basil and of course tomatoes. The salty pancetta with the sweetness of the tomatoes is just wonderful and it is so easy to make. Bacon and Tomato pasta, give it a try.

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Pasta Amatrice

Prep

Cook

Total

Yield 2 Servings

Ingredients

1/2 pound pancetta cut in 1/4" slices (you can use bacon if you can't find pancetta)

2 pints cherry tomatoes quartered

1/2 onion chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

1/4 t red chili flakes

1 cup loosely packed chopped fresh basil

Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Cut the pancetta in 1/4" cubes and add to a large skillet over medium heat. Cook until brown and crispy. This will take 15-20 minutes if you are using pancetta, 8-10 minutes for bacon. Remove from the pan and drain off all but about 2 tablespoons of the fat.  Add pancetta back to the pan with the onion and saute until the onion starts to get soft, about 8 minutes, add the quartered tomatoes,red chili flakes and garlic and simmer for another 15 minutes or so until the tomatoes break down and become saucy. Add the basil and serve over pasta with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

Courses Dinner

Cuisine Italian

 

The Veritas Burger

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Several of our friends had recommended a new restaurant in west county, Veritas. Both of them claimed that they had the best burger in St Louis, so my husband and I decided to give it a try. We weren’t disappointed, the burger was fabulous. They give a unique twist to your regular ol’ burger toppings. On the bottom bun they put a layer of Red Onion Garlic Jam, followed by the burger, with a generous slather of Pimiento Cheese and topped it off with some micro greens. The sweetness of the Red Onion Jam combined with the saltiness of the Pimiento Cheese was just wonderful. I found myself once again thinking, I can do this. I’ve made Red Onion Garlic Jam for years, it’s supper easy and goes well with steak or pork chops. I had just never thought of using it on a burger, until now. And then there was the Pimiento Cheese, I have no doubt that they made theirs from scratch and it was wonderful, but knowing that you can buy it at the store I decided to take the easy way out and not try to make my own.

We had a some of friends over for the 4th and I decided it was time to try out The Veritas Burger. Off to the store I went in search of all the fixings. Ground chuck, good bakery buns, and pimento cheese, I had everything I needed for the Red Onion Jam at home, so I was good to go. I got home and put the jam on the stove so it could cook down and realized I had forgotten the micro greens. Shoot, I didn’t want to go back to the store so I thought, hey, I have a bunch of fresh basil and parsley in the yard and some lettuce in the fridge, I can use that instead. So I gave the basil a quick chiffonade,(sliced it up really thin) chopped up the parsley and threw in a little chopped lettuce to make my mock micro green mixture. What a great way to use fresh basil. You know they say necessity is the mother of invention and it certainly was true in this case. I had never thought to use fresh basil on a burger before, but it was wonderful, even better than the micro greens. This is one I will do again.

After a few beers, it was finally time to sit down with our burgers, I waited with anticipation as our friends dug in and then agreed that this was the best burger in St Louis. I hope you’ll give The Veritas Burger a try the next time your in the mood for a really good gourmet burger, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

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The Veritas Burger

Prep

Cook

Total

Yield 4 Servings

Ingredients

For the Red Onion Garlic Jam:

1 large red onion

2 cloves garlic

1T olive oil

3T honey

1t salt

1/2 cup red wine

For the Burgers:

2 lbs ground chuck

Salt and pepper to taste.

1 8oz carton Pimento Cheese

1 1/2 cups Red Onion Garlic Jam

4 bakery buns

1 cup micro greens

Instructions

For the Red Onion Garlic Jam:

Cut the onion in half and slice it 1/4" strips so you have a bunch of half moons. Mince the garlic. In a small saute pan add the olive oil, onion and salt breaking up the onion slices into individual half moons and saute for 3-4 minutes until they just start to get soft. Add honey, garlic and red wine to the pan (if you don't have red wine or don't want to use it, use water with a tablespoon of red wine vinegar instead, it won't be quite the same but it will be close enough) and slowly simmer for 20-25 minutes until the onion is really soft and the wine has all but cooked out, it should have an almost goopy consistency like jam.

For the Burgers:

Divide the meat into four patties and season to taste with salt and pepper. Grill to your preferred doneness and don't forget to toast the buns. Assemble by spreading the Red Onion Jam on the bottom bun followed by the burger with a good slather of Pimento cheese on top, then top the whole thing off with a good portion of micro greens.

Notes

The Red Onion Garlic Jam is wonderful on steaks or pork chops and can be made a day or two in advance.

Courses Dinner

Cuisine American

Cochinita with Mango Salsa

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The best pulled pork Taco on the planet!

The first time I had this we were in the Yucatan. My Mom had friends who had retired to Progreso and they would line up houses for their friends during the winter months so they would have company.  The locals don’t go to the beach in the winter, so Mom was able to get a wonderful house right on the beach for a month and all the kids would pick a week and bring the grand kids down to visit. Those were some wonderful trips. We were off the beaten path and away from all the tourist spots so we got to experience the “Real Mexico”.

We arrived on a Sunday afternoon just in time to go to the town square to get Cohinita for dinner. This is the traditional Yucatan Sunday dinner. They roast a whole pig covered in Achiote and wrapped in banana leaves, then serve it up to who ever comes along to buy it for their dinner.  You take your own container with you and they load it up with however much you want, they weigh it, you pay and and your off to the tortilla factory for fresh tortillas. Serve this up with some black beans and you have everything you need for the best pulled pork tacos you’ve ever had.

It was love at first bite. I knew I had to recreate this. So I got with our hosts, who connected me to some locals to find out how they did it. There was no way I was ever going to be able to roast a whole pig in banana leaves but I figured that I could do this with a pork butt, and sure enough it worked. I have made this a lot of times over the years and friends and family alike just love it. You need to make sure that you buy the right Achiote or it won’t come out right, I know this because I have used different brands over the years and none of them have the same flavor as the El Yucateco. It can be found in most Mexican markets or on Amazon.

All you do it slather the Achiote mixture all over the pork roast, put it in the crock pot and leave it alone for 5-6 hours. Then shred it and serve. How easy is that for Taco Tuesday. Traditionally it is served with black beans, chopped white onions, and minced radishes. I like mine a little fancier, Cohinita with Mango Salsa is a great combination.

 

Left overs make great quesadillas or an amazing omelet. You could even use the shredded meat for a taco salad.

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Cohinita with Mango Salsa

Prep

Cook

Total

Yield 12-15 Servings

Ingredients

For the Pork

1 3-4lb pork roast, de-boned and rolled works best but you can use a pork butt.

3/4 of a 100g package of Achiote seasoning

2T vinegar

6 T orange juice divided

For the Mango Salsa

2 mango's cut in to 1/4' cubes

1 small Jalapeno minced

1/2 cup diced red onion

Juice from 1 lime

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 t salt

Instructions

For the Pork

Place 3/4 of the brick of Achiote in a small bowl and mix well with the vinegar and 3 T orange juice until it forms a goopy paste.  Use a fork, you have to break up the brick into the liquid. Season the pork well with salt and place in a crock pot, then spread the Achiote paste all over it, add the additional 3T of orange juice to the bottom of the crock and cook on Medium to High heat until the meat is falling apart, about 5-6 hours. Don't worry that it seems dry when you put it in the crock pot, there is a lot of juice in the meat and it will come out as it cooks. Take the roast out of the crock pot and shred the meat then return it to the crock pot with the juices in the pan.

For the Mango Salsa

Diced the onion first and add the lime juice and salt and let it sit while you cut up everything else. This will allow the onion to mellow out a bit. Then add the rest of the ingredients, mix well and serve.

Notes

You need to make sure that you buy the right Achiote or it won't come out right, I know this because I have used different brands over the years and none of them have the same flavor as the El Yucateco. It can be found in most Mexican markets or on Amazon.

A word of warning..... this stuff stains, so be careful when working with it or you will ruin whatever your wearing, not to mention your white tea towels. A good soak in Oxyclean will remove it but you have to use it before the stain sets.

Courses Dinner

Cuisine Mexican

Watermelon Salad with Feta and Fresh Mint

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Woo Hoo, it’s watermelon season again! I swear we must go through at least one a week through the summer, my husband loves it, but I must admit that as much as we love it after a while it does start to get a bit boring. I’m always trying to come up with a new twist to make it a bit more interesting and this is an easy one. Watermelon Salad with Feta and Fresh Mint is a great combination. The saltiness of the feta adds a touch of savory to the sweetness of the melon and the mint gives it such a bright freshness. They are a perfect compliment to the melon.

This recipe calls for Balsamic Syrup and being the cooking show obsessed person that I am I have watched many a TV cook pour a whole bottle of balsamic vinegar into a sauce pan and spend 30-45 minutes waiting for it to reduce into a thick syrup. Now, I don’t know about you but that is just way too much effort for me to go through when you can buy the stuff at the grocery store. I know it seems expensive, but a little bit of this syrup goes a long way. You can use it for all kinds of things and it will last for up to a year in the cabinet.  I use it on my Caprese Salad. I put it on grilled corn on the cob with some fresh herbs. I have even used it as a glaze on grilled chicken. So, if you don’t have any I recommend that you pick some up the next time your at the store.

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Watermelon Salad with Feta and Fresh Mint

Prep

Total

Yield 8 Servings

Ingredients

1/2 medium watermelon (about 10 cups)

1/2 cup chopped fresh mint

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

2T balsamic syrup

Instructions

Cut the watermelon into 1" square pieces, or as close to it as you can get. Add feta, mint and drizzle on the balsamic syrup and stir to mix well and coat the watermelon with the syrup. Serve.

Notes

I had my watermelon all cut and in the fridge, then just before serving I added the feta, mint and syrup. It's easy to do it this way when you are entertaining.

Courses Salad

Tomato Jam

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I tried out a new restaurant a couple of weeks ago, Veritas, in west county. Several friends had raved about it. They have the best cheese burger in St Louis one of them said. The other said that they had a lot of new and innovative items on their menu that I would love, so my husband and I decided to give it a shot. They had a lot of interesting “bowls” on the menu with combinations of items I couldn’t quite wrap my head around and several appetizers that looked really  interesting. The one that stood out was Corn Bread with Tomato Jam. Okay, this is one I have to try, and I wasn’t disappointed.  The corn bread was baked in a pan that had small triangular sections so it came out thin and crispy. Then there was the Tomato Jam, and it was to die for. Such an unusual and yet simple concept I couldn’t help but wonder “Why hadn’t I thought of that.” Never one to pass on someone else’s great idea, I thought, “I bet I can make this.”

Friday night we had several neighbors over for dinner; I had my guinea pigs, time to see if I can do this. Tomatoes, bacon, onion, brown sugar and a little red wine was all it took to make this incredible spread that is great on corn bread and would be oh so good on lots of other things.  I can imagine it as a topping for a hamburger. You could also use it to dress up a plain ol’ chicken breast. You could even use it as a topping for bruschetta. I promise that if you make it to serve with corm bread you will never do it any other way again.

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Tomato Jam

Prep

Cook

Total

Yield 1/2 cup

Ingredients

2 slices bacon

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup red wine

1/2 t salt

1 14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes

Instructions

Slice bacon in 1/4" strips and brown in a small sauce pan. When the bacon starts to get brown add the onion and continue to saute until the onion is soft and the bacon is crispy, about 8-10 minutes. Drain most of the liquid off the tomatoes and add them to the pan with the sugar, wine and salt (If you don't have red wine or don't want to use it, don't drain the liquid from the tomatoes before you add them to the pan.) Simmer on medium heat for 20-25 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated and the tomatoes are soft. It should be about the consistency of jam.

Serve warm.

Notes

This will keep in the fridge for about a week.   Tomato Jam is great on burgers, as a topping for chicken breasts, or bruschetta.

Loaded Tabouli Salad

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The first time I had Tabouli Salad I was about 20 years old and my late Mother-in-law made it for me. She was a simple meat and potatoes lady. There was nothing fancy or exotic in her repertoire of dishes, in fact she rarely used any seasoning other than salt and pepper, so imagine my surprise when I came by for lunch one day and she fixed Tabouli Salad. I had never heard of it. A friend of hers had fixed it for her and given her the recipe and she decided I needed to try it. She was right, I loved it. The lemon, the parsley, and that wonderful brownish chewy stuff (Bulgar Wheat) that soaked up all the flavors. I was in heaven. It was so fresh and light and crisp, I couldn’t get enough of the stuff.

The original recipe called for tomatoes, green onion, parsley, bulgar wheat, oil and lemon juice and it’s great just as it is. I however, can’t seem to leave a good thing alone.  There had to be a way to make it even better. So I added more veggies. It gives it more crunch, more flavors, and more substance.

Loaded Tabouli Salad makes a great light lunch, or the perfect side dish for a piece of grilled chicken or fish. The great thing about it is that this recipe makes a big batch and it gets better with age. It will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days and just keeps getting better.

Tabouli Salad, the reason I plant two parsley plants each year, I cant get enough of the stuff.

Time for lunch.

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Loaded Tabouli Salad

Prep

Total

Yield 10 Servings

Ingredients

1/2 cup bulgar wheat

1 cup boiling water

1 small zucchini diced

1/2 english cucumber diced

1/2 orange bell pepper diced

3/4 pint grape tomatoes quartered (about 2 cups)

5-6 green onions sliced thin

2 cups loosely packed chopped flat leaf parsley (about one bunch)

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1t garlic powder

2t salt

1t pepper

Instructions

Place dry bulgar wheat in a large bowl and cover with the boiling water, cover and let stand for 30-45 minutes until the wheat has soaked up the liquid and become soft. I usually put it in the fridge so that it will cool down as well. I don't want to put my fresh veggies in anything hot or they will get mushy. Chop your veggies and add them to the bulgar wheat with the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic powder salt and pepper. Mix well and refrigerate for a couple of hours so that the flavors all come together.

Courses Salad

Peas with Pearl Onions

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I love frozen vegetables and always have them in the freezer for those nights when I need something fast and/or haven’t been to the store to buy fresh. Or, as with peas, fresh doesn’t exist where I live. Pearl onions are one of my favorites. They add a touch of class to ordinary dishes and I use them in all kinds of things. They’re great in soups, stews and pasta dishes. They have a very sweet delicate flavor that is not over powering. You can buy pearl onions fresh but they’re expensive and you have to peel them, which is a real pain the the rear. If you don’t keep a bag in your freezer you should.

Peas with Pearl Onions is a great side dish, nothing to chop, mince or dice. Just a little butter and some frozen vegetables. Cooks up in 10 minutes. Couldn’t be easier.

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Peas and Pearl Onions

Cook

Total

Yield 2 Sevings

Ingredients

2 cups frozen peas

1/2 cup frozen pearl onions

1T butter

1t dried tarragon

Instructions

Melt butter in a small sauce pan add the peas, onions and tarragon. Stir to coat everything with the butter, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Notes

You have to cover this while it simmers. The onions need the steam and moisture to warm through. If you don't cover your peas will be over done before the onions are warm.

Courses Side Dish

 

Pork Chops with Dijon Mushroom Cream Sauce

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Wednesday night is “Date Night” in our house. It’s the one night of the week where we turn off the TV, turn on the music, open a bottle of wine and have a nice dinner.  We’ve been doing this for years. It give us a chance to connect and really catch up. You know how it goes, life gets busy and you find yourself passing your spouse coming and going to and from all your various activities. To quote Farris Bueller “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

I always try to make something a bit special for Date Night. Even though I write a food blog there are a lot of nights that we settle for grilled cheese and tomato soup because I’m just too pooped to cook. As it happens, on this particular Wednesday I had been busy all day and really hadn’t thought about what I was going to fix  for dinner, so I scrounged around the fridge and pantry to see what I could come up with. I had pork chops, some mushrooms, a shallot, that I had bought for another recipe and not used, some sour cream and thought, I think I can do something with this. Lets go to France. A little Dijon mustard will give it a french flair and make it “Date Night” worthy. Then I had to figure out what to serve with it. My salad fixings were in pretty sad shape and I didn’t have any fresh vegetables but I did have some frozen peas and pearl onions in the freezer and thought that should work.

This is a really quick and easy but still elegant dinner that cooks up in about 45 minutes. Perfect for Date Night or double it up for company.

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Pork Chops with Dijon Mustard Cream Sauce

Prep

Cook

Total

Yield 2 servings

Ingredients

2 pork chops 1/2" thick

1T olive oil

8 -10 mushrooms sliced

1  shallot halved and thinly sliced

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 cup sour cream

1T Grey Poupon Country Dijon

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. I use my cast iron skillet for this but if you don't have one use any heavy skillet. Put the skillet on high heat and get that thing smokin' hot. Salt and pepper the pork chops. Add the oil to the skillet and turn the heat down just a touch to med high, then add the chops. Cook until nicely browned on both sides, about 10 minutes. Remove the chops from the skillet and place in the oven to keep them warm. Turn the heat down on the skillet to medium and add the mushrooms and shallot and saute for 5-8 minutes until the shallot is soft and the mushrooms are nicely browned. You may need to add a bit more oil to the pan.  Add the wine and Dijon mustard to the skillet and let it reduce scraping up any bits left on the bottom of the pan. When the wine has almost completely evaporated add the sour cream and warm to serving temperature.

Place the chops on a plate and spoon the mushroom mixture over the top to serve.

Notes

The type of mustard really makes a difference to the taste of this dish. I've tried it with a store brand Dijon mustard and it had a horseradish taste to it that was too sharp for my liking. Buy the good stuff it's worth it.

You can substitute Greek yogurt or evaporated milk for the sour cream if that is what you have on hand. Milk doesn't have enough fat in it and it will curdle so I don't recommend it.

Courses Dinner

Cuisine French