Fig and Kalamata Olive Tapenade

My family is a foodie family, my dad loves to talk about how my grandfather was before his time with regards to food.  He made quiche before it was trendy, he cooked with jicama decades ago and I was in college before I even heard of it, and he is just one in a long chain of food loving family members, so needless to say we like Thanksgiving, a holiday all about the food.  And giving thanks of course.  This year my sister and I were assigned to bring the appetizers, and on a day all about the main course, and with a gluten free requirement, it can be a bit tricky to hit on the right recipe to kick the meal off.  We settled on baked brie with cranberries, which my sister was in charge of, and this fig and kalamata olive tapenade.  Both dishes are just as tasty spread on nut thins or rice crackers as they are on rounds of bread, and both have a delicious salty and sweet combination.  Sweet and salty has been a bit of a fad at my house lately; it all started with a batch of brownies that had a pretzel crust and now there is ice cream with pretzel chunks in it in the freezer, who knows where this will end.  Originally I was going to make the walnut crackers featured with the tapenade recipe, but as my aunt said, no need to go crazy, and quite honestly, for once I am glad I didn't go crazy.  This recipe has the added bonus of being insanely easy, all you need is a food processor and it practically makes itself and can be made ahead of time.      

Start by tossing a cup of dried figs in the food processor.  I honestly don't know anything about figs and have never cooked with them before (if this can be called cooking...) but there are several types of dried figs, I used mission figs and apparently that was good choice as wikipedia tells me that they are "considered one of the highest quality figs that can be grown in USDA zones 9 and up in the United States." 

Whiz the figs up until they are chopped then add the water to make it a paste.

Add the olives, vinegar (I used a splash more vinegar than called for, it needed a bit more acidity), olive oil and a bit of thyme (I used dry instead of fresh) and whiz again.

Serve with crackers or bread.  The full recipe can be found here. 

Tzatziki

I love Greek food, it is one of my dreams to go to Greece, and while I am sure I would be baffled much of the time (I feel like the expression "It's all Greek to me," and all that it connotes contains more than a grain of truth) the food might make up for it.  Anyways, there is a Greek Festival every June in Annapolis that my father and I LOVE.  Between the two of us, we manage to go at least once all three days it is open, and last year in a stroke of genius I got a gyro to go on Sunday and managed to prolong the yumminess for another day.  They really are the best gyros I have ever had, not that I actually know how to pronounce it when I order one.  Last year I noticed that there was a cookbook for sale, published by the Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society (if you want your own write to the Agia Anna Philoptochos Society, Ss. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church, 2747 Riva Rd. Annapolis, MD 21401, or go to the Greek Festival, in case you were wondering).  Of course I snagged one, I love all cookbooks and this one happens to have an amazing tzatziki recipe.  I like to imagine it is the recipe a Greek grandmother would have passed down to me, if I had a Greek grandmother.

Start with some nice thick plain yogurt.

Then grab half a cucumber, split it down the middle and scoop out the seeds and chop finely. 

Add the cucumber to the yogurt and a teaspoon of white vinegar, a teaspoon of olive oil, a small clove of minced garlic ad 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Mix it all together and chill until you are ready to serve.

Tzatziki (from Odyssey of Greek Cooking)

1 cup yogurt, thick

1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeds scooped out and chopped fine

1 tsp. white vinegar

1 tsp. olive oil

1 small clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. salt

Mix all the ingredients together until thoroughly combined.

           

Tortellini in Cream Sauce

This is one of my absolute favorite pasta dishes, the creamy sauce, the salty prosciutto, the fresh green of the peas, and it is easy enough to make during the week after work.  It is from Food Network Magazine (speaking of which, I need to renew my subscription, possible christmas present?) and I pretty much follow the recipe, except I never use meat filled tortellini and I make more sauce than they do because I love it so much.  I just add more cream and more pasta water, eyeballing it, and I usually end up tossing in some more tomato paste so that it still has that nice tomato flavor.  The recipe can be found here, and you should probably make it as soon as possible, it is that good.  You should probably eat it from a bowl with a spoon so that you can scoop up every last drop.  

Start out by crisping up the prosciutto, you want it nice and crisp and I always find it takes longer than they say it should.  Then you add the garlic and tomato paste. 

After you have the lovely salty, tomatoey base you add the pasta water and then the cream and simmer it until your tortellini is done (you should put the tortellini water on to boil when you start cooking the prosciutto).  This is the point where I start dumping in more cream and tomato paste and pasta water until it looks like enough sauce, tasting as I go.

When the tortellini is almost done boiling, toss in the peas.  I never mess with the amount of peas.  One cup is perfect, no more, no less.  Drain the pasta and peas and dump straight into the sauce. 

Stir it all together so that every tortellini is bathed in luscious sauce.  You can also stir in some grated parmesan cheese to make it even more luscious now. 

Serve, topping with more grated cheese.

I'm Back!

So sorry for my long hiatus dear readers (all four of you).  I got a full time job and all my blogging motivation went out the window, but now that we are in the season of eating I figured it was about time to get back to the keyboard.   Also, I have abandoned the Aldi Challenge, let's just say that it is possible to do your shopping there, and to make some tasty dishes, but I may have to shoot myself if I tried to shop there every week.  So stay tuned, not for an Aldi update, but for tortellini in cream sauce, and my adventures in holiday baking, and an Emma's Eats guide to the Napa Valley, and whatever culinary messes and successes I have these days.

Aldi Challenge: Bits and Bobs

We did all of our grocery shopping at Aldi, and that includes more than the dinners I have been featuring here, so here is my evaluation of a couple of the other products we tried out.  Overall, my sister felt that every one of the Aldi products was too salty, but I didn't think so.  I was pretty satisfied with everything except the granola and the turkey tenderloin when eaten by itself.

These were actually quite good, the Savoritz crackers, I would get them again.

They were quite good with the havarti cheese we got, they made a lovely little appetizer to have during our nightly wine time.  I don't know that I have had havarti from a different store, but I feel that the cheeses at Aldi are more mild than their full price counterparts.

Last but not least, the worlds worst granola.  This had such a strange flavor that I was never able to conclusively identify.  My sister said it tasted stale.  I would not buy it again.

 Ok, so this is not exactly a bit or a bob, but a meal we had; it is just not super interesting.  Meals like these are why I don't blog about every single thing I cook, it was decent just nothing spectacular, just a pre-marinated, grilled pork tenderloin.  It tasted just like the ones we get at Safeway.  Boring, but tasty.  

Aldi Challenge: Chorizo Scramble

I have wanted to cook with chorizo for a long time, and so when I saw the chorizo at Aldi I snapped it up and concocted a grand dish around it.  Ok, ok, so it's just fancy scrambled eggs but still.... I'm warning you now that this is not a very photogenic meal, but it makes up for its lack of looks with an incredible flavor.  Next time I make it I would tweak this recipe a bit, instead of mixing the chorizo and peppers in with the eggs, which managed to make them entirely invisible (you could barely tell there were eggs in there) I would make the scrambled eggs separately and top them with the chorizo mixture, or it would be delicious to top the chorizo with poached or fried eggs (love those runny yolks...).  This is a simple weekday dinner to throw together, and everything came from Aldi, including the eggs.

Begin by taking the chorizo out of its casing and sauteing it until it is cooked through.  Add half a chopped red pepper and half a chopped yellow pepper and a bit of chopped red onion and cook until tender.  Crack about 6 eggs into a bowl, and whisk together with a splash of milk and some salt and pepper.  Pour the eggs into the chorizo pan and cook, stirring gently until almost set.  Just before the eggs are done to your liking add a generous handful of shredded pepper jack cheese (if you are sensitive to spicy foods, you can substitute plain jack cheese if you wish).

 

See, told you, it is not very attractive, but it is quite tasty.

Chorizo Scramble

1 package chorizo, mild or hot depending on your spice preference

1/2 red pepper, chopped

1/2 yellow pepper, chopped

1/4 red onion, chopped

6 eggs

splash of milk

salt and pepper

3/4 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

Remove chorizo from casing and brown in a skillet over medium high heat.  When cooked through, add the peppers and onion and cook until tender.  Meanwhile, whisk eggs, milk, salt and pepper in a bowl to have ready to pour into the skillet once the veggies are almost done.  Once you add the eggs, stir gently until they are set to your liking.  Stir in the cheese in the last minute of cooking so that it melts.  Serves 2 generously.

Aldi Challenge: Turkey Tenderloin Salad with Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing

Before I tell you about the salad I made with the leftover turkey, I have to share something I learned about Aldi last night that surprised me greatly.  Aldi is owned by the same people who own Trader Joe's.  Actually, it is a bit more complicated than that, as wikipedia told me, there were two brothers who owned Aldi in Germany and one had the north and one had the south and they split the international business, the brother who doesn't own all the Aldi's in America owns Trader Joe's.  Probably more information than you really wanted, but there it is, and in my Lifetime addled mind, it's all very dramatic with corporate espionage and affairs and sinister plots for world domination.  Anyways, back to the salad.  I was a bit nervous about it due to the fact that I didn't like the turkey and it is a key component to the salad.  BUT, when you combine it with homemade blue cheese dressing and tons of fresh veggies, it was so so much better, the strange flavor of the marinade and the dressing worked together somehow.  Also, the Aldi blue cheese crumbles are not very strongly flavored, just a heads up, they are a more mild blue cheese than I am used to.

Star by making your blue cheese dressing.  My dad made this and didn't measure anything, so the recipe is approximate, just taste as you go and adjust as needed.  Combine mayo, blue cheese crumbles, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper in varying proportions until it tastes good.  

As for the salad just chop up whatever veggies you have on hand, the more the better.  We had a mix of lettuces, peppers, and cucumbers, all from Aldi.  Since this was all we ate for dinner, we made the salad nice and big.

Top the salad with the leftover turkey that has been shredded, the blue cheese dressing and some blue cheese crumbles.  In my family we all dress our salads ourselves as some people claim that others are chronic overdressers, but you could dress it and toss it before serving if that floats your boat.  And if you forget that the dressing is mayo based, it feels like an incredibly healthy yet satisfying meal.

Turkey Tenderloin Salad with Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing

So I am not actually going to give you a recipe for this, make the salad with whatever veggies float your boat, top with the leftover turkey or any turkey or chicken you may have on hand.  Add your favorite blue cheese dressing, or make one, this, this or this are all good looking recipes.  Enjoy.