Weekly Dish

When the tomatoes are nice and fresh and summery, I like to serve the first version of the oven-roasted sauce right over pasta with no accoutrements at all. But now that the summer tomatoes are on their way out (even though summer appears to still be going strong–it hit 100 degrees here in Baton Rouge last week!!), I am trying different methods to make the sauce go further without sacrificing freshness or variety. I have an old, old Italian cookbook that my husband gave me eons ago when we were dating that recommends adding carrots to tomato-based sauces. So, I thought, I roast the tomatoes to enhance their flavor, why not give the carrots the same treatment? The result is a sweet, chunky, delightfully bright orangey sauce that retains traditional Italian flavors without being boring. As a bonus, the velvety texture that the carrots take on when roasted makes the sauce adhere nicely to the linguine. If you have the base sauce leftover, dinner can be on the table in about 30 minutes…and it’s good for you too!

Linguine Marinara with Roasted Carrots

6-8 whole carrots, peeled and cut into thick chunks

Olive oil

Kosher salt

Cracked pepper

1 - 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce (see recipe below)

1/2 pound linguine

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss the carrots with enough olive oil to coat, and season liberally with salt and pepper. Roast for about 15-20 minutes, until beginning to shrivel. Meanwhile, cook the pasta, and heat the tomato sauce over low. When the carrots are done, place them in the bowl of a food processor and process until paste-like (think baby food texture). Add the carrot puree to the tomato sauce and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary (it may be too sweet and need salt). Serve over linguine, and top with fresh Parmesan.

For the bread:

Hollow out a half-loaf of French bread and fill it with a mixture of chopped Roma tomatoes, garlic, basil leaves, and olive oil, all salted nicely. Wrap in foil and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. The bread will soak up the juices from the tomatoes–yum! The filling is even better if you make it a few hours early and let it sit for a bit. Slice into rounds and serve with the pasta. This is a terrific meal to serve to your vegetarian friends!

My parents might say that I cook this way because I’ve always been one who delights in not following the rules. I attribute it to my adventurous and imaginative spirit (which they would probably say is a nice way of saying I am a non-conformist, a bad word here in the South). Of course, now I’m a grown-up who gets to say, “Rules? What rules?” At least in my kitchen, anyway.

One of the things I love most about experimental cooking is to take flavors and preparation methods from different regions. Quesadillas are a perfect format for experimenting; they are so quick to make, and the crispy tortilla shell can hold just about anything well. For this variety, I chose the classic French flavor combination, pears and blue cheese, and served it with a tangy mango salsa (which didn’t quite make it into the picture).

Before I give you the recipe though, I have to announce the birth of Ren William Partridge, son of Jessie and Jerrod, our good friends from Jackson (Jessie is the one who inspired the idea for this site). Ren was born yesterday around 1:15 (I think that time is close), and he weighed 9 pounds, 12 ounces (!!). Jessie and baby are doing well; I hope to have pictures to post soon.

Here’s how to make the quesadillas (blue for boy!):

Blue Cheese-Pear Quesadillas

2 T. butter

3-4 cloves garlic

1/2 cup green onions, sliced

3 ripe pears (I used Asian ones), sliced thinly

1 T. red wine vinegar

1/4 t. cayenne pepper

1 T. brown sugar

4 large tortillas

8 ounces crumbled blue cheese

2 T. butter

In a large skillet, heat the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic, and sauté until softened. Add the green onions and pears, and cook for about 10 minutes, until the pears are very soft. Add the vinegar, cayenne, and brown sugar, and cook while stirring for another 3-4 minutes. Remove the filling from the skillet, and heat another 2 T. butter over medium-high heat. Arrange one-fourth of the filling and cheese in half of each tortilla, and fold over. Cook until brown and bubbly, about 5-7 minutes per side. Serve with mango salsa.

Mango Salsa

1 ripe mango

1/2 red onion, chopped very finely

1 cup cilantro leaves, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped

Juice of 1 lime

1 t. Kosher salt

Mix all in a bowl. Can be made ahead and refrigerated. If you have any leftover, it is delicious with lime-flavored tortilla chips.

This is my favorite summer pasta dish. Another Brick-Oven knock-off, this pasta turns up in my kitchen many times over the course of the summer. A couple of weeks ago, the vendor at the Market who sold me these tomatoes told me that would be his last crop until the fall ones came in. In honor of the last summer tomatoes, I decided to fix them in the way I feel best captures their pure flavor. If you can still get your hands on some summer tomatoes, please make this pasta before the season leaves for good. I do wish it would take some of this dreadful humid heat with it when it goes…a breath of fall air would do me some good.

FRESH TOMATOES AND BASIL

1/2 pound angel hair pasta

1 T. butter

2 T. olive oil

6-8 cloves of fresh garlic, sliced thinly

2 pounds fresh, ripe tomatoes chopped

1 cup fresh basil leaves, torn

Kosher salt

Cracked pepper

Parmesan cheese

Cook the pasta until tender and drain. Toss with the butter and set aside. In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat, until it shimmers. Add the garlic, and cook until it just begins to turn golden, but be careful not to let it burn. Add the tomatoes all at once and coat with the garlicky oil. Salt and pepper well. Lower the heat to medium-low, and cook until the tomatoes’ skins are beginning to shrivel (they should be soft but not mushy). Add half of the basil until just wilted. Pile each plate with a mound of the pasta. Pour the tomatoes on top, making sure to get plenty of the liquid. Top with extra basil leaves and grated Parmesan cheese. Serve with crusty bread (I cook mine right in the skillet after the tomatoes are done; it soaks up the leftover juices and absorbs that garlicky flavor). And, if you are one of those must-have-meat people (or if you cook for one), grilled shrimp or chicken works well in this dish. A quick, easy, and so delicious meal!

Tuesdays are my busiest nights. I have class all day, until 7:30, and when I get home, I’m both exhausted and starving. Tossing ingredients onto a plate is a great way for me to fix the hunger part without adding to the exhaustion. With grilled chicken from the night before, some strawberries, goat cheese, red and green onion, bacon, and a simple dressing, this salad comes together in no time flat. AND, it tastes good. (Which when I’m really, really tired is sometimes beside the point. But not often). Here’s how this one comes together, for 2 servings:

Cook 6 slices bacon in the microwave. While the bacon’s cooking, slice about 8 strawberries, small-dice about a quarter of a red onion, slice 2 or 3 green onions, chop the leftover chicken, and chop some nuts (I used walnuts; pecans would have been better.) Lay out some greens on 2 plates, top with your prepared ingredients, sprinkle with a good handful of goat cheese, and top with the cooked bacon, crumbled. Drizzle each salad with about 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and 1 teaspoon honey. Sprinkle with Kosher salt and cracked pepper. If you have some crusty French bread (as you can see I did not), it would be a great accompaniment. The key to the dressing is to make sure you toss the salad together on your plate really well before you eat it, mixing it so that all the salad ingredients are coated with some of each component of the dressing.

CHIMI, CHIMI

Friday, September 9 (but not really)

I’m not sure what happened, but somehow my days got mixed up this week. Labor Day? The hurricane week? I don’t know; I’m sure it’s a combination of all manner of things. Baton Rouge has turned into a different city this week (my local grocery store only had one bag of angel hair pasta in the whole store when I went Wednesday afternoon), new students from New Orleans have transferred to LSU for a semester, and traffic is, well, a nightmare. I try not to stray too far from home, fearing I may never return. I, for one, was glad to return to class, see my students’ faces, and know that they and their families are okay (many of them are from the Slidell area). Several of my students lamented not their families’ loss of property, but simply said, “We are thankful to be alive and have food and a place to stay.” These times do indeed put things into perspective, possibly one positive out of this surreal disaster.

So, here is what I cooked on Friday of whatever week this menu comes from (I really am having a hard time remembering), even though I am perfectly aware that today (the day I’m posting) is Saturday. But, whatever. I always buy ground beef in the 2 or 3 pound quantities, so I had about a pound leftover from our hamburger night. By Friday, I’m always looking for something quick, and these chimichangas really hit the spot. Yes, you have to fry them (gasp!) in about a half-inch of oil, but really, how often do you do that? And, look, I’m serving the fried thing with oranges and avocado! Doesn’t that help to balance out the grease? (This is what I tell myself when I have a diet coke with a medium pizza, anyway). You can make guacamole, of course, but these avocados were so perfectly ripe and pretty that I decided not to. The salsa is leftover from quesadilla night (Wednesday, I think?). Next week will be saner (at least I hope so.)

Beef Chimichangas with Orange-Red Onion Salad and Avocado

For the filling:

1 pound ground beef

2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly

1/2 small yellow onion, ciced

1 t. cumin

1 t. chili powder

1/2 t. seasoning salt

1/4 cup salsa

4 ounces pepper jack cheese

Cook the onion and garlic over medium heat, just until tender, about 4 minutes. Add the meat and seasonings. Cook until the beef is completely brown; drain well (I use a mesh strainer so I don’t lose the garlic or onion). Return the beef to the skillet, add the salsa and cheese and heat until cheese is melted and well-mixed in. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels (they will absorb more of the grease).

To assemble:

4 large tortillas

Enough oil to fill the skillet about 1/2 inch-up (I use canola)

Lay each tortilla flat, and place about 1/2 cup of the filling down the center. Fold in from the sides (like you were making a wrap), and then fold the ends up too (to make a closed packet). Heat the oil over medium and lay the chimis in the skillet, folded side down. Fry until brown, about 4-6 minutes per side. (The first ones will take a little longer, but once the oil gets really hot, they cook pretty quickly). I cook them two at a time; they should not touch in the skillet.

While they are frying, in a medium-sized bowl, toss 2 oranges, peeled and diced (I cut it into rings and then quarter each slice), about a quarter of a red onion, chopped very, very finely, 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season well with salt and pepper.

Let the oranges sit and soak up the dressing while you finish frying. Remove each chimi, as it’s done, to a paper-towel-lined plate. While they are cooling, slice the avocado and sprinkle with salt. Plate up, and enjoy!

I love to make quesadillas. I love the idea of making an interesting filling, placing it in a tortilla, frying it, and voila! — a crispy, melt-in-your-mouth-good combination of flavors. This recipe is inspired partly by the Black Bean Enchiladas in Intercourses, which are also delish, but more labor-intensive and partly by a smoky black bean pizza that the pizza chef at the Brick-Oven used to make. For these, you just need some good salsa, leftover chicken, a can of black beans, some bacon, and some cheese. My husband really likes these, and the filling makes enough to have plenty of leftovers.

For the filling:

6 slices bacon

1/2 yellow onion

1 cup chopped green onion

4 cloves garlic, chopped finely

Chicken (I had 2 breasts leftover from grilling, so I used them, chopped, but shredded cooked chicken would also work)

1 can black beans, drained

1/2 cup salsa

Monterey Jack cheese (with peppers if you like spicy)

Tortillas (burrito-sized work well, but if you have the smaller ones, just use 2, instead of folding them in half)

In a skillet, cook the bacon slices until done. Remove, and drain off all but about a tablespoon of the grease, and sauté the onions and garlic over medium-low (be careful not to let the garlic burn). Add the diced chicken, black beans, and salsa. Cook over low for about 10 minutes, until you can begin to mash up the beans to get a good, thick consistency. Crumble in the reseved bacon. Remove the filling from the skillet. Fill tortillas with the chicken mixture and top liberally with cheese. Fry the tortillas in a little bit of oil (I use the same skillet–mindful always of my sweet husband who cleans up my messes!). Serve with salsa and guacamole (Ina Garten’s recipe in The Barefoot Contessa is my favorite–chunky, with lots of lemon and salt). The citrusy flavor of the guacamole works well with the smoky intensity of the quesadillas. We like to drink a spicy wine with a meal like this also–Zinfandel is our favorite. Or, of course, margaritas if we don’t have school the next day. Tequila and early mornings, in my experience, are not a favorable combination, but hey, if it works for you. . .