Asparagus with Shallots

Mom and I made a great dinner tonight. She cooked shrimp scampi, I made asparagus. Usually when I cook with shallots, they act as a minor player in the dish. Here they take top billing alongside the asparagus. Adding the butter at the end gives you maximum flavor with minimum fat – it’s a chef-style trick.

Asparagus with Shallots
Serves 4

1 lb. asparagus, woody ends trimmed, cut on the bias into 2” pieces
4 shallots, sliced thin
1 T. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 T. butter

Warm the oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the asparagus and shallots and sauté until just tender, 8 to 10 minutes (exact timing will depend on thickness of asparagus stalks). Add the salt, freshly ground pepper, and butter and stir until the butter is melted. Remove from heat and serve.

Velvety Pumpkin Soup

I cooked dinner tonight with Lisa and Amanda. We made an amazing three course meal, starting with a hearty bowl of pumpkin soup. To my surprise, the girls had never cooked soup before. This recipe was a perfect introduction into the world of soup-making! I think homemade soup is truly a necessity during these cold New England winters. Making your own soup is much easier if you have an immersion blender (also called a hand blender or a stick blender). You can buy a decent one at Target for $25 or less. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can puree the soup in batches in a regular blender or a food processor. Just be very sure the lid is on tight – hot splattering soup would be a disaster.

Velvety Pumpkin Soup
Serves 4

2 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 c. chopped celery
2 garlic cloves, chopped
4 c. low sodium chicken broth
¾ tsp. salt, or to taste
½ tsp. freshly ground pepper, or to taste
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin puree
¼ c. sour cream
1 T. chopped chives
1/3 c. toasted walnut halves, optional

Warm the olive oil over medium heat in a medium to large saucepan. Add the onion, celery, and garlic and sauté, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes. Add the chicken stock, salt, and pepper, and bring to a boil. Boil for 8 to 10 minutes, then stir in the pumpkin puree. Mix well and bring to a boil again, and cook for another 5 minutes. Use the immersion blender to puree the soup until smooth.

To serve, ladle into soup bowls. Garnish each bowl with a tablespoon of sour cream, a sprinkling of chopped chives, and toasted walnut halves, if you wish.

Note: To toast the walnut halves, sprinkle them with a dash of salt and cayenne pepper and place on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes in a 350° oven. Raw walnuts are too bitter for this recipe, so if you’re not able to toast the walnuts, don’t bother with them at all.

Poached Salmon with Baby Spinach

I had the girls – Sara and Alison – over for Valentine’s Day. Alison brought me flowers – yes, I am a lucky lady. We had a delicious dinner, with a first course of sautéed scallops, then crusty French bread, roasted asparagus, and poached salmon with a white wine reduction sauce. Dessert was macerated sliced strawberries. Pink and red food for Valentine’s Day – cheesy, I know, but it all turned out quite well. This recipe is much more involved than my usual cooking repertoire, but it was after all a very special occasion!

Poached Salmon with Baby Spinach
Serves 4

1 lb. salmon fillet, skinned and cut into 4 pieces
1 small lemon
Freshly ground black pepper
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, 1 chopped and one left whole
2 ½ tbsp. olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, peeled and minced
1 ¼ c. dry white wine, such as pinot grigio
4 scallions, white and light green parts only, sliced into ¼ inch rounds
½ lb. baby spinach
Salt to taste

Cut 4 very thin slices from the center of the lemon; reserve. Squeeze the juice from the remaining lemon over the salmon pieces, and season with pepper to taste. Place a lemon slice on each piece of fish. Sprinkle with the rosemary and set aside.

Warm 1 ½ T. olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and shallot and reduce heat to medium low. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and cook until the garlic and shallot begin to caramelize slightly, about 2 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium low. Push the garlic and shallots to the side, and add another tablespoon of oil to the skillet. Place the salmon fillets in the middle of the pan. Add the wine and the whole sprig of rosemary. Cover the skillet and adjust the heat so that the liquid is simmering. Poach the salmon until it is opaque, 7 to 10 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillets. Remove salmon to a platter.

Increase the heat to medium and add the spinach and scallions to the pan. Cook, covered, until the spinach has wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove the spinach from the poaching liquid.

Increase the heat to high. Stirring constantly, cook the poaching liquid until slightly reduced, 2 to 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, place each fillet on a plate. Top with poaching liquid and lemon slices. Place spinach mixture around each fillet.

Orange Balsamic Chicken

Like so much of what I cook, this meal was born out of a desire to use up what I had in my fridge. Chicken thighs were on sale at the grocery store, I had some beautiful rosemary in the crisper that was crying out to be used, and I had a tiny jar of marmalade that just wasn’t going to be eaten any other way. (Honestly, who really likes marmalade?) The results were delicious. I ate it with the leftover cauliflower from the other day, but I think it would be even better with a side of steamed broccoli florets.

Orange Balsamic Chicken
Serves 4

2 T. extra virgin olive oil
8 boneless, skinless chicken breast thighs (about 2 lbs), quartered
2 sprigs rosemary, finely chopped
¼ c. balsamic vinegar
2 T. orange marmalade
1/3 c. chopped pecans

In a large skillet, warm the olive oil over medium high heat. Season the chicken with salt, freshly ground pepper, and the chopped rosemary. Add to the skillet and saute for 10 minutes, until crispy and brown. Transfer to serving dish.

Whisk together the vinegar and marmalade. Add to the skillet and cook for 1-2 minutes, scraping up the browned bits from the pan, until reduced by about one third. Return the chicken to the skillet and cook until the chicken is warmed and coated with the sauce. Toss with the pecans and serve.

Rosemary Portobello Mushroom Pizza

Dinner tonight was pizza made with a portobello mushroom cap in place of the crust, topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and some fresh rosemary. Delicious and surprisingly filling. I served it with a side of roasted cauliflower (cut the head of cauliflower into florets, toss with olive oil, coarse salt and fresh ground pepper, and roast at 425° for 30 minutes) and a salad of mesclun greens, pomegranate seeds, and goat cheese, tossed with a dijon-red wine vinaigrette. I'll post more on making your own salad dressing another time, but in the meantime, here's the pizza recipe.

Rosemary Portobello Mushroom Pizza
Serves 2

2 portobello mushroom caps, wiped clean with a damp cloth
Olive oil
¼ c. prepared tomato sauce
¼ c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 sprig fresh rosemary, leaves finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 425°.

Spray or lightly brush olive oil onto each side of the mushroom caps. Place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Roast for 30 minutes, turning once halfway through. Remove from oven and preheat the broiler.

Spread the tomato sauce evenly on the concave side of each mushroom. Scatter the cheese evenly over the tomato sauce. Sprinkle the rosemary over the cheese. Place under the broiler for one minute, until the cheese is browned.