dinner | COTTAGE GROVE HOUSE

asparagus lasagne

June 28, 2013 § 43 Comments

We have been cooking up bundles of asparagus this season. I am feeling as though we have come to the end of our season and this lasagne was my last act. I delighted in preparing this baked dish of luscious pasta layered with béchamel sauce, steamed asparagus, cheese and potatoes. The process was very satisfying and somewhat a test of my kitchen organizational skills. Preparing the layer ingredients prior to making the béchamel sauce helps to keep order in the kitchen. This is the first time I made a garlic, onion and thyme infused béchamel sauce and it is an especially nice flavor for the potatoes.

This is one of those posts. The dinner turned out perfect and the photographs didn’t. I almost scratched the whole idea of posting it and then something occurred to me. This lasagne is so delicious… I have to share the recipe!

I always have a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment when I place a lasagne in the oven. I just wish I had the same feeling about my photographs…

L a s a g n e

1 pound asparagus, trimmed
3 medium yukon gold potatoes, sliced into 1/8 inch thick rounds
12 ounces lasagne noodles
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cup shredded aged white cheddar
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
chopped fresh parsley

Bring two large pots of salted water to a boil. In one pot add the asparagus and the other add the potatoes. Cook the asparagus 3-5 minutes until crisp tender. Remove using a skimmer and transfer to a bowl of ice cold water. Drain and pat dry. Keep the asparagus water boiling. Cook the potatoes until almost tender, 10 minutes. Drain and set aside. Place 1 tablespoon of olive oil into the boiling asparagus water and add the lasagne noodles a few sheets at a time stirring to keep separate. Cook until barely tender. Drain and set aside.

B é c h a m e l S a u c e

3 cups milk
1 small onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/4 cup grated parmesan

Bring the milk, onion, garlic and thyme to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove from the heat and allow it to sit and infuse of 10 minutes. Strain, discarding the solids. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. Whisk in the flour and let it bubble without browning for 2 minutes. Whisk in the warm milk and bring to a simmer. Continue cooking whisking often until the sauce is smooth about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the parmesan and season with salt and pepper. You may press a sheet of plastic wrap on top to keep a skin from forming.

A s s e m b l e

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly butter a 13×9 inch baking dish. Spread a thin film of the béchamel sauce in the bottom of the dish. Arrange 3 or 4 pasta sheets in the dish, slightly overlapping as needed. Spread with one third of the sauce, half each of the potatoes, asparagus and aged white cheddar. Top with another layer of pasta, half of the remaining sauce and the remaining potatoes, asparagus and cheddar. Finish with a layer of pasta and spread with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and dot with the butter.

Bake until the sauce is bubbling and the top is golden, about 30 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 6

buon appetite.

polenta

June 26, 2013 § 57 Comments

Polenta is one of my best loved dinners and I enjoy it served creamy and cheesy, delicate and sweet, as well as complex and hearty. This polenta recipe is a bit hearty and crowned with a fresh parsley pesto and cherry tomato sauté. I particularly enjoy Bramata polenta. It is a rustic stone-milled corn which is moderately coarse for a thicker consistency.

My first polenta dinner was quite an experience. I had a friend over who wanted to prepare a classic dish he had as a child growing up in Italy. In my friend’s opinion the only way polenta should be eaten is with a rich meat sauce. His plan was to prepare Polenta with Chicken Livers. Once the polenta was cooked it was poured directly onto my dining table and topped with the chicken liver sauce. Although I was very impressed by the presentation, I do not have the palate for chicken livers so I kept trying to scrape the edges where the sauce didn’t touch. Even without the sauce, I was captivated by the creamy texture and tiny bits of corn meal similar to the grits my mom would prepare.

Throughout the years I have formed my own opinions about preparing and serving polenta. When cooking polenta, for added flavor I like using broth rather than water. Sometimes I add a few tablespoons of rosemary. I always include butter and when I am preparing a savory polenta a nice grated parmesan. To top it off…tomato sauce, pesto, honey and butter, or simply a handful of parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil.

polenta with cherry tomatoes and parsley pesto

p o l e n t a

1 cup good quality polenta
6 cups of vegetable or chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

p e s t o

large handful of parsley
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup grated grana padano or parmesan cheese
salt to taste

t o m a t o s a u t e’

1 pint of cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt to taste

In a large pot heat 6 cups of broth. When the broth is about to boil, sprinkle in the polenta. Stir continuously over a low heat until it is a thick smooth mass. Continue cooking on low heat for about 40 minutes, stirring slowly and evenly. If polenta starts to spatter turn your heat lower and stir continuously until it settles. I usually stir once every 3-5 minutes until done.

While polenta is cooking prepare pesto. Place all pesto ingredients in a food processor and whizz until well combined. Set aside.

Place a non stick skillet on the stove with 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium high heat. Saute’ tomatoes for 2 minutes until soft. Season with a pinch of salt.

Once polenta is cooked add butter and parmesan, mix well and pour onto a large serving platter (or directly onto your table!). Top with pesto, tomatoes, grated cheese of choice and serve right away.

Serves 4

buon appetite.

walla walla sweet onion soup and herb farmers five cheddar biscuits

June 24, 2013 § 42 Comments

I am always delighted when mid June rolls around and I stumble upon the first harvest of Walla Walla Sweet Onions. Walla Walla is a county in southeastern Washington and is known for it’s sweet onions. These are a very pleasant mild onion which easily can be eaten raw on salads and sandwiches.

A cool rainy day always triggers my soup craving so I set out to make a light soup. I was toying with the idea of french onion soup when I spotted the Walla Walla Sweet Onions. I purchased four sweet onions, the most ripe juicy strawberries I have ever tasted and headed home.

I have a little cook book titled “Fresh” by John Bishop which features wonderful seasonal recipes made with local foods (Pacific Northwest). I found today’s soup recipe along with an herbed cheddar cheese biscuits. I struggle as a baker. I can usually bake a good simple quick bread, but if I have to knead or rise the dough, I fail. The recipe specifically said to “turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead 10 times”. I figured, “how can I fail?”.

biscuits served with butter and sun dried tomato pesto

The biscuits would have made my mom proud. The soup was naturally sweet, creamy and keeping the spices at a minimum allowed the flavor of the onions to come through. While the soup is simmering, prepare the biscuits.

h e r b e d c h e d d a r c h e e s e b i s c u i t s

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 375° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add butter and work into the flour mixture with your fingers until the dough has the consistency of cornmeal. Stir in thyme and rosemary. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.

Place cheese, yogurt and milk in a small bowl and stir to combine. Pour the yogurt mixture into the well and combine lightly until the dough forms a ball. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead 10 times.

Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1 inch. Using a 2 inch round cookie cutter, cut out 12 biscuits. Arrange biscuits 2 inches apart on the baking sheet and bake in the top third of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly golden. Transfer to a cooling rack.

s w e e t o n i o n s o u p

3 tablespoons butter
6 cups sweet onions, thinly sliced and quartered
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup dry white wine
6 cups stock, vegetable or chicken
salt and pepper
1/2 cup whipping cream (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh spring onions, sliced

Melt butter in a stockpot on medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the lid, stir in flour and cook for 5 minutes. Deglaze the pot with wine.

Add stock, salt, pepper and increase heat to medium high. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Stir in cream and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Ladle soup into warm bowls and sprinkle with freshly sliced spring onions.

Serves 4

buon appetite.

spaghetti carbonara

June 17, 2013 § 36 Comments

And yet, another pasta recipe. You see I have a thing about pasta. I would eat it everyday if I wasn’t thinking too hard about all the carbs I don’t need. After an extra long commute home the other day, I arrived, said my hello’s and headed to the kitchen. I didn’t have a dinner plan whatsoever. Looking through the refrigerator I found a little log of chavrie goat cheese, a little pancetta, a handful of parsley, a shallot and by this time a pasta sauce was formulating in my mind. I thought if I had Parmesan instead of goat cheese I could make Carbonara. Then I remembered I do have some Grana Padano! Realizing I have never made carbonara I took my copy of Marcella Hazen’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking off the shelf.

Now let just say when I was “with child” spaghetti carbonara was “my dish”. I craved it everyday and dined on it at least once a week for a good six months! And to imagine I have never made carbonara is quite nonsensical. I left it up to the chef at my favorite trattoria. I didn’t even want to try to prepare it because I knew I could never match the quality of La Trattoria’s carbonara. Well…Eureka! Success in the kitchen. Here it is, in my humble opinion, a most delicious carbonara. Of course in the spirit of improv I made a few very minor adjustments to Marcella’s recipe due to not having all of her listed ingredients. In place of the Grana Padana you could use a good quality Parmesan.

I n g r e d i e n t s

4 ounces of diced pancetta
1 shallot, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 large eggs
3/4 cup freshly grated Grana Padano cheese
Black pepper
1/4 cup chopped parsley
3/4 pound spaghetti

M e t h o d

Place a large pot of water on the stove over high heat. Once your water is at a roaring boil add a tablespoon of coarse grain salt and drop your pasta in. Cook until al dente, spaghetti cooking time is approximately 9 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of pasta water.

Meanwhile…

Put the garlic and olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté until the garlic is golden. Remove and discard garlic. Add the pancetta to the pan and cook until crispy, then add the shallot. Continue to cook until shallots are soft and turn off the heat.

Using a fork lightly beat two eggs in a medium size bowl. Add 1/2 cup grated Grana Padano, a grinding of black pepper and the chopped parsley. Once the spaghetti is cooked, slowly drizzle in reserved pasta water until smooth. Mix thoroughly, using something like these!

Briefly reheat the pancetta over medium high heat, turn off the pan and add spaghetti, toss to combine well. Add the egg mixture and continue to toss to combine and allow the egg to set without scrambling. Serve right away with freshly grated Grana Padano cheese.

Serves 4.

buon appetite.

baked zucchini and caramelized onion dip

June 14, 2013 § 38 Comments

Recently I saw a post on Reclaiming your Castle for baked zucchini. Her post struck a cord with me because when I was 18 years old living in my first apartment and not knowing much about cooking, I would go to the market and bring home random vegetables not knowing what in the world I was going to do with them. I knew I couldn’t go wrong with zucchini. As a little girl I loved zucchini. I remember walking through my dad’s garden and selecting one zucchini and asking my mom to cook it for me. Kindly and patiently she sliced it into rounds, boiled and put a pat of butter on it. I sat at the dining room table all alone enjoying my little bowl of comfort. There was a time when boiling vegetables (a little too much) was the default recipe for getting them on the table for a houseful of hungry folks. Therefore, at 18 years old when I discovered a breaded and baked zucchini recipe I was intrigued and knew it was going to be the first vegetable I wanted to learn to cook, rather than boil. And I remember cooking it over and over again. I used an egg dip, seasoned italian bread crumbs and dotted each one of them with butter before baking in a preheated 425° oven for approximately 25 minutes until nice and crispy. Revisiting this recipe after two decades (or so!) was like walking back into that little apartment kitchen.

This is a great side dish for the little ones around your table. Please visit Sara’s site for a more detailed recipe!

What really made these delicious was the caramelized onion dip. I followed Sara’s recipe with one minor change. I used greek yogurt rather than mayonnaise. Don’t get me wrong, I love mayonnaise. I didn’t have enough in house and I happened to have a full tub of yogurt. Honestly, this is the same recipe I make for our potato chips while we are watching games during football season.

c a r a m e l i z e d o n i o n d i p

1 medium sweet onion, sliced
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 cup greek yogurt

Melt the butter in a non stick pan over moderate heat. Add the sweet onion slices and cook stirring occasionally until the onion softens and caramelizes. This should take between 20 and 25 minutes, on medium-low heat. When the onions are a nice brown hue and caramelized remove from heat and cool.

Place the onions, vinegar, honey and mustard in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Place in a serving bowl and stir in the yogurt.

Serves 4.

buon appetite.

chicken and parsley

June 8, 2013 § 25 Comments

A new look for COTTAGE GROVE HOUSE! I have been wanting to make a theme change and spring seems like the perfect time to do it. I do prefer this theme…

Finally, a complete herb garden is growing out back! When we moved into the Cottage Grove House I was delighted a small herb garden was established with mature thyme, rosemary, mint and chives. Then it occurred to me one day while at the market purchasing basil, cilantro and parsley, I needed to expand my garden! Here we are four years later and I have succeeded. We have nine herbs living happily ever after in my garden. I chose herbs we use regularly and I am learning how to take cuttings from the plants to help promote growth. So far they are producing and thriving. We built these little boxes and strategically placed them here and there in close proximity to the kitchen door.

thyme, sage and chives

Chicken and parsley

Originally I was going to make this chicken with chives. I chopped parsley for the boiled baby potatoes and chives for the chicken. Then I accidentally tossed all of the parsley into the chicken pan! I stood there a minute looking at it wondering how I could so quickly change the outcome of my plan by one simple movement. In the end it didn’t matter. The chicken was delicious and you really can not mess up simple boiled potatoes, right? So if you would like to try this chicken with chives instead of parsley let me know how it turned out!

I n g r e d i e n t s

4 large boneless chicken cutlets
salt and pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup parsley

M e t h o d

I have been purchasing cutlets form the market. They are thin sliced breasts without skin. If you are using whole chicken breasts, place them one at a time between two sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap and lightly pound with a mallet until 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat the oil and butter in a large sauté pan. Add the chicken breasts arranging them in one layer. Cook over medium high heat, turning once until the centers are cooked, but still moist, no more than 8 minutes. Transfer the breasts to a serving platter and keep warm.

Add the remaining ingredients to the pan and stir to mix. Cook over medium heat for 1 minute, until the mixture starts to bubble and thicken a little. Pour over the breasts and serve right away.

Serves 4.

buon appetite.

linguine with chicken sausage (linguine con salsiccia di pollo)

June 4, 2013 § 40 Comments

Pasta with a parsley pesto is sufficient for a midweek dinner. However, with a strapping young lad at the dinner table I decided to add chicken sausage to give it a little substance. Dinner does not get any easier than this. Dinner is ready in the time it takes to boil the water and cook the pasta. For us, a one dish meal.

I n g r e d i e n t s

1 pound of good quality linguine
1 pound of italian chicken sausage
1 large bunch of parsley
4 scallions
5 cloves of garlic
3/4 cup of freshly grated pecorino romano
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
a shake or two of red pepper flakes

Place a large pot of water on the stove over high heat. Cook the sausage and prepare the pesto while you are waiting for the water to boil.

If the sausage is in casings, remove the casing and break up the ground chicken in a skillet over medium high heat. Add 3 smashed garlic cloves to the skillet. Continue to cook until nice and brown. Lower heat to keep warm.

For the parsley pesto, place all ingredients in a food processor and whirl until blended. If you are not using a food processor, finely chop the parsley, scallions and garlic, place in a bowl with pecorino, olive oil and pepper flakes and stir well.

Once your water is at a roaring boil add a tablespoon of coarse grain salt and drop your pasta in. Cook until al dente, linguine cooking time is approximately 9 minutes.

Drain pasta, return it to the pan (off the heat) and toss with pesto and sausage.

Divide into serving bowls and serve with freshly grated pecorino.

Serves 4

buon appetite.

clean out the fridge challenge “stew” !

June 1, 2013 § 46 Comments

My blog friend Dolly Rubiano has challenged me and mumandleahcook to a little clean out the fridge recipe posting. How fun! Well, this did present a challenge for me because, you see, it is a bit rare for me to over purchase at the market. I am very precise when it come to shopping and using everything I bring home. I always have the regular items such as, milk, eggs, cheeses, a little lettuce of some sort, and usually a few beers and maybe some chilled wine. What do you do with all that? I could make a salad and put an egg on it! I already posted that here. I stood at the refrigerator looking at some carrots and two large parsnips. Then I knew I had to raid the freezer too. Again, I do not usually have too much stored in our freezer, typically buy fresh and use right away. I did have some stewing beef. I decided then I would make a beef stew, smashed potatoes and caramelized parsnips. I had brought the carrots and parsnips home a few weeks ago thinking I would use them in a soup. I have to admit I did have to peel them, they were looking a little “over ripe”. This caramelized parsnip recipe is like eating a delicious coconut!

Not much in the fridge!

I n g r e d i e n t s

1 pound stew beef
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large red onion, diced into very fine bits
4 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter
4 fresh thyme sprigs
1/2 cup rose’ wine
1/2 cup canned tomato sauce
3 cup hot water
6 carrot, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces

Heat the oil in a large heavy pot. Add the beef and brown it over high heat until it is nice and brown on all sides. Salt the beef as you go. Add the onions and fry until it has softened. Add the butter, garlic and thyme and cook until butter is melted and the garlic is aromatic. Add the wine, cook until it has evaporated and add the tomato sauce. Stir well. Add 3 cups of boiling water, cover, turn the heat to low and simmer for 2 -3 hours stirring occasionally. The meat should be very soft and tender after 2 – 3 hours. Thirty minutes before you are ready to serve add the carrots, cook uncovered until tender. Sauce should be fairly thickened when done. Turn off heat and allow to sit 10 minutes before serving.

c a r a m e l i z e d p a r s n i p s

I n g r e d i e n t s

2 large parsnips, peeled and cut
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons turbinado raw cane sugar
snipped chives
salt

Preheat oven to 350°.

Place cut parsnips in a baking dish, drizzle melted butter and sugar on top. Toss to mix well. Add snipped chives and a little sprinkling of salt, cover with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes until tender.

My “clean out the fridge” dinner was fantastic! It helped that it was 50° and raining all day so when the stew was simmering the aroma was as good as a warm blanket. I was very happy to top the dish off with fresh herbs from my garden. Basil on the smashed potatoes, chives on the the parsnips and thyme on the stew.

Thank you Dolly and Sandra for a fun little blogging experience!

Serves 4.

buon appetite!

simple midweek baked cod

May 30, 2013 § 45 Comments

An easy baked cod recipe. I made this fish on a evening after a long day at work and it was perfect. I realize how important a simple midweek dinner recipe is when I get home ready to drop. These cod filets went together easily. I served them with dill mashed potatoes and an arugula salad.

I n g r e d i e n t s

4 cod fish filets
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
salt
1 lemon, sliced thinly into rounds
1/2 cup olive oil
12 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
several sprigs of thyme

M e t h o d

Preheat oven to 400°F. Lay out 4 large pieces of parchment paper on your counter. Coat both sides of your fish with panko bread crumbs, sprinkle with salt and place one filet on each piece of parchment paper. Place a few lemon slices onto fish, a sprig or two of thyme, 3 smashed garlic cloves and drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil on each. Close up the parchment by meeting the tops together and rolling them down. Fold the end underneath to seal. Place the fish in a baking dish and bake for approximately 20 minutes. You may check one by carefully unfolding to make sure it is done and seal it up again.

Serve right away, allowing your dinner companions to open their own parchments!

dill mashed potatoes

I n g r e d i e n t s

3 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
handful of fresh dill, stems removed
3 tablespoons butter
salt / pepper to taste

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add diced potatoes and fresh dill. Boil until potatoes are fork tender, approximately 10 minutes. Drain and return to the pot over a medium low heat and allow the additional water to steam out. Turn off the heat, add butter and smash with a fork. Season with salt and pepper according to your liking.

Serves 4.

buon appetite.

lamb chops with minted pea mash

May 28, 2013 § 36 Comments

It is still cool and rainy here in Seattle. Memorial Day usually inspires outdoor grilling, however, the rain never stopped yesterday. Turned out to be a perfect day to grill indoors and perhaps make a fennel and gruyére gratin. This was the first time I cooked lamb and it was delicious. I always thought in order to have succulent lamb it needed to be braised for hours in a stew. We used the most simplest stove top grilling technique and we were pleasantly surprised how well it turned out. I wonder how many other cooking misconceptions I have! The fennel gratin was a perfect accompaniment to this dinner. Unlike a potato gratin the fennel is light and the gruyére gave it a comforting element needed for a cool rainy day.

Served with a minted pea mash and a fennel gruyère gratin.

Ingredients

2-3 lamb cutlets
olive oil
salt and pepper
a few wedges of lemon and/or fresh mint to serve

Method

Heat a ridged grill pan and brush both sides of lamb with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook the cutlets over high heat until browned on both sides. I cooked for 4 minutes each side and they were medium rare.

This was suppose to be a mint puree. It turned out a little thicker than I expected and instead of thinning it out I decided to keep the consistency as a mash. Very enjoyable. I seem to have been a little stuck on peas and mint lately in my posting. I just love using what is in season and freshly harvested.

Ingredients

8 oz. of fresh peas
1/4 cup butter
1 tablespoon heavy cream
sprinkling of salt and pepper
about 8 mint leaves
1 squeeze of lemon

Method

Cook the peas in boiling water until tender, then drain. Stir in the butter until it melts. Transfer peas to a blender or food processor. Add the cream, salt and pepper, mint leaves and lemon juice and blend until smooth. Serve warm.

f e n n e l a n d g r u y è r e g r a t i n

Ingredients

3 fennel bulb, trimmed of outer leaves
salt and pepper
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup grated gruyère cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Method

Preheat the oven to 400°. Trim the fennel tops and save any feathery fronds for later. Quarter the bulbs and cook in lightly salted boiling water for 5 minutes until tender. Drain well and place the fennel in a buttered gratin dish. Sprinkle the reserved fronds on top. Season with salt and pepper, pour on the cream and sprinkle with cheeses. Bake for 20 minutes. I sprinkled a few uncooked fronds on top after baking.

Serves 4

buon appetite.

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