Entries tagged as ‘oregano’
J’s been a fan of Cuban food since childhood, and has been jonesing for some since a new, but uninviting, Cuban restaurant opened near us, and took it on to prepare some properly at home tonight. We’ve been using saffron regularly since we bought some a couple of years ago to try and make yellow rice ourselves, but only recently did we figure out that the secret ingredient we were lacking was turmeric (yes, that r is supposed to be there, look it up). So J ground up both with some salt and black pepper in the mortar and pestle to create a base for both the chicken and the rice and then simmered the chicken with some onion, garlic, olive oil, Sriracha chili sauce and tomato sauce, and then combined them into one dish and baked for a while in the oven. Very nice, very soothing, and not entirely unlike Miss Neddy’s Congee!
I made some green and yellow split peas with some garlic in them to go with, which are always hearty and filling, as well as a light salad of tomatoes with green onions and fresh oregano from the garden, with a really simple vinaigrette dressing of just olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and black pepper.
Categories: I Cooked · J Cooked
Tagged: salad, green onions, garlic, tomatoes, oregano, tomato sauce, olive oil, chicken, onion, vinaigrette, rice, Sriracha, black pepper, basmati, saffron, turmeric, split peas
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- Start with a clean bottle (or bowl, or ramekin, or glass, or whatever you prefer to use) and add your base oil. I usually use either olive oil or grape seed oil, but if you want to get fancy, walnut oil is nice too…
- Add your preferred vinegar (I’m using balsamic here, but some people like red wine vinegar or cider vinegar, or even white vinegar), about 1/6 as much as there is oil, and a spoonful or so of good Dijon mustard.
- Then add the basic flavors to taste, like salt, pepper and garlic.
- Of course, you can add other flavors and herbs and spices, for this particular dressing I’m using a hybrid lemon/orange from the garden as well as some fresh basil, oregano and marjoram. You can also add something to sweeten it like honey or maple syrup, which goes nicely with bitter greens.
- Chop up/juice all the additional ingredients, and add them in. Use a little more oil to wash out the funnel, if needed.
- Finally, shake or stir it up well and serve over the salad of your choice. Refrigerate any left over, and bring it back to room temperature before serving.
Categories: You Cook It
Tagged: balsamic vinegar, basil, dijon mustard, garlic, lemon, marjoram, olive oil, oregano, pepper, salt, vinaigrette
The sauce started with some I made in January and froze that was made from patty pan squash and tomatoes from the garden (possibly those in the header!) as well as some home-made spicy meatballs. To freshen it, I fried some ground beef and crimini mushrooms in onions and garlic and olive oil, and added a little fresh asparagus left over from last week, as well a small can of tomato sauce and a healthy handful of fresh cherry tomatoes, topped it off with some fresh basil, and oregano, marjoram and thyme from the garden, and let it all simmer together for awhile to really develop some flavor. The penne’s a healthy flax/multi-grain sort, also from TJ’s. We’ve decided that the whole grain pasta tastes better, despite being healthier. Served with shaved Parmesan over the top, of course, in a big bowl.
Categories: I Cooked
Tagged: asparagus, basil, beef, cherry tomatoes, crimini, flax, garlic, marjoram, mushrooms, olive oil, onions, oregano, Parmesan, pasta, patty pan, penne, spicy meatballs, squash, thyme, tomato sauce, whole-grain
