This is pseudo Mexican at its best.
You won’t find many recipes on RootsLiving that use processed food. But today we’re making an exception because this one is tasty, easy to make and has been pleasing crowds for decades.
I made it yesterday, Super Bowl Sunday, because if there’s one day of the year that calls out for processed food, this is it.
Ingredients:
What I did:
Make the rice pilaf according to package directions. Saute onion in olive oil and cook until translucent. Add chicken and brown on both sides. Sprinkle taco seasoning and salsa over chicken. Add water. Stir and cook until some of the water evaporates and chicken is done or just about done. Do not overcook. Heat up the refried beans in a small pot. Spread rice evenly in the bottom of a baking dish. Spread a line of the refried beans down the middle. Put cooked chicken on both sides of the refried bean line. Sprinkle cheese all over. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 30 minutes.
Make the rice pilaf according to package directions.
Saute onion in olive oil and cook until translucent.
Add chicken and brown on both sides.
Sprinkle taco seasoning and salsa over chicken. Add water. Stir and cook until some of the water evaporates and chicken is done or just about done. Do not overcook.
Heat up the refried beans in a small pot.
Spread rice evenly in the bottom of a baking dish.
Spread a line of the refried beans down the middle.
Put cooked chicken on both sides of the refried bean line.
Sprinkle cheese all over.
Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 30 minutes.
This is a good recipe to keep in your repertoire now that colder days approach.
Here’s a quicker and easier recipe than Julia Child’s boeuf bourguignon.
With temperatures in the 40s yesterday I was looking to make something in my dutch oven. So I looked on the Staub website and found this recipe. It’s time consuming (needs two hours in the oven) but pretty simple to make and dirties only one pan: your dutch oven.
Once you crisp the bacon, brown the beef, and saute the mushrooms, you throw everything back into the dutch oven and wait 2 hours for it to be done. I don’t have the steamer insert so I didn’t make the potatoes as described in this recipe on the Staub website. Instead I opted for mashed potatoes and some crusty bread.
Beef Bourguignon (From the Staub Website)
Heat a 5 qt. cocotte over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until crispy, stirring often, 5 to 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a plate. Add the mushrooms to the cocotte and cook until golden and just tender, stirring occasionally, 3 to 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the mushrooms to the plate with the bacon. Season the beef generously with the salt and pepper. Over medium-high heat, warm the cocotte. Working in 3 batches, brown the beef on all sides until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes per batch. Transfer the beef to a plate. After the last batch of beef is browned, deglaze the cocotte with 1/2 cup beef broth, scraping up the browned bits with a wooden spoon. Return all the beef, bacon, and mushrooms to the cocotte. Add the flour, stir to coat evenly, and cook for 1 minute. Add the carrots, pearl onions, garlic, and tomato paste to the cocotte. Add the brandy and simmer for 30 seconds. Add the wine, remaining beef broth, and bouquet garni to the cocotte and increase the heat to medium-high, bringing the liquid to a boil. Transfer to the oven and cook for 1 hour. Check the stew and give it a stir. Continue cooking the stew, covered, until the beef is fork-tender, 30 to 45 minutes more. Taste the liquid and season with salt and pepper, if desired, and discard the bouqet garni. Spoon the beef bourguignon into a shallow bowl. Serve with potatoes and garnish with parsley.
Find more recipes in the Food section.
A small plate of gnocchi can be served as an appetizer or as a main course.
In most anything in life, you have to work with what you have. And in cooking, the seasons dictate what ingredients are best or available. On a recent trip to Calareso’s Farm Stand in Reading, Mass. I was intrigued by one pound packages of pumpkin gnocchi.
Now I’ve cooked gnocchi before, usually in a tomato sauce, but the savory pumpkin flavor needed something else. So I brainstormed. Pumpkin pie is good with whipped cream so I opted to go with a cream sauce and a little hint of nutmeg.
But this wasn’t going to be dessert. I had to keep it (dinner) real. Cheese would help keep the dish on the savory side and I decided the nutty taste of fontina, combined with some freshly grated imported parmesan cheese would do the trick.
I then imagined all of this gooey, sweet, savoriness melting in my mouth, but it was missing something: a healthy clean foil to the heavy richness. I decided it needed some greens. I had some broccoli rabe on hand and decided to give it a go.
The result was a sweet, savory, gooey piece of heaven, offset by the bitterness of a good healthy green vegetable. The icing on this savory cake? Thinly sliced almonds.
Here’s the recipe:
Steam broccoli rabe until done, but not soggy. Don’t overcook. It should have some bite. (I used a large pasta pot with a colander insert and steaming basket. It’s one of my favorite and most used cooking tools. ) Cook gnocchi in a large pot of boiling water for about three minutes (just until they float). Don’t overcook. In a saute pan cook the scallions until translucent and then add the cream, heating it up, but don’t let it boil. Add a small dash of nutmeg: we’re talking a few specks here. Nutmeg is very strong and can easily overpower a dish. Taste it. You just want a hint of nutmeg flavor. You can always add more if you like, but once you put it in, you can’t take it out. Be careful! Add cream sauce, fontina cheese, parmesan cheese, sliced almonds, and broccoli rabe to the cooked gnocchi and stir until cheese melts and everything is well blended. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with a side salad.
Steam broccoli rabe until done, but not soggy. Don’t overcook. It should have some bite. (I used a large pasta pot with a colander insert and steaming basket. It’s one of my favorite and most used cooking tools. )
Cook gnocchi in a large pot of boiling water for about three minutes (just until they float). Don’t overcook.
In a saute pan cook the scallions until translucent and then add the cream, heating it up, but don’t let it boil. Add a small dash of nutmeg: we’re talking a few specks here. Nutmeg is very strong and can easily overpower a dish. Taste it. You just want a hint of nutmeg flavor. You can always add more if you like, but once you put it in, you can’t take it out. Be careful!
Add cream sauce, fontina cheese, parmesan cheese, sliced almonds, and broccoli rabe to the cooked gnocchi and stir until cheese melts and everything is well blended.
Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with a side salad.
Serves three to four people as a main course. Gnocchi is very filling. You don’t need much for each serving.
This is a perfect dish to welcome fall in New England.
You can add many things to risotto but mushrooms (especially porcini) are my favorite. I made this dish up last night with vegetables I had on hand: crimini mushrooms and eggplant. Feel free to omit the eggplant, it’s just as good.
Making risotto is not hard, but it is an art. The key is adding small amounts of liquid to the rice, only enough for it to be absorbed a minute or two at a time. This ensures the dish will be not only flavorful but will have the correct texture: think al dente (with a little bite); never soggy or water-logged.
And of course, the main thing you do, is stir, baby, stir. (Tip: Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan while stirring and lower the heat if you think the liquid is evaporating too fast or if there is a danger of the rice burning.)
Heat olive oil in a medium-sized pot over low heat. Add diced onion and cook until translucent. Add rice and stir. Add more olive oil if needed, just enough to coat the rice. Cook for a minute or two, stirring occasionally. Ladle in the liquid, just enough to cover the rice and stir. When liquid is absorbed, add more liquid, just enough to cover and stir. Continue doing this until risotto is done (about 45 minutes). In between stirring the risotto, coat a cookie sheet with olive oil and salt (kosher is best). Put down a layer of eggplant and brush tops of eggplant slices with oil and salt. Bake in a 400-degree oven, turning over when bottom is brown. Do the same with the mushrooms. Add nepitella to the cooked mushrooms and set aside. When risotto is done. Stir in eggplant and mushrooms. Stir in butter and parmesan cheese. Add pepper to taste.
Heat olive oil in a medium-sized pot over low heat. Add diced onion and cook until translucent.
Add rice and stir. Add more olive oil if needed, just enough to coat the rice. Cook for a minute or two, stirring occasionally.
Ladle in the liquid, just enough to cover the rice and stir. When liquid is absorbed, add more liquid, just enough to cover and stir. Continue doing this until risotto is done (about 45 minutes).
In between stirring the risotto, coat a cookie sheet with olive oil and salt (kosher is best). Put down a layer of eggplant and brush tops of eggplant slices with oil and salt. Bake in a 400-degree oven, turning over when bottom is brown. Do the same with the mushrooms. Add nepitella to the cooked mushrooms and set aside.
When risotto is done. Stir in eggplant and mushrooms. Stir in butter and parmesan cheese. Add pepper to taste.
This dish takes about 45 minutes to make if you work fast. Add another 15-minutes to 30 minutes if you work at a leisurely pace.
You can serve this as a main meal (serves four) with a side salad; or as a side dish. And if you’re out to impress, try serving it as a side-dish inside a parmesan basket.
This view of the old port in Nice isn't too far from La Zucca Magica.
The recipe only calls for a quarter pound of spaghetti but still yields an abundance of stuffing.
Here’s another recipe from La Zucca Magica, an Italian vegetarian restaurant in Nice. We had another version of this stuffed tomato when we ate there last month that was equally as delicious and had curry in it. I couldn’t find that recipe online and don’t think I’d do a good job of recreating it either.
I found this recipe from the restaurant on the New York Times site. I used four very large tomatoes but still had too much stuffing left over, which wasn’t a bad thing. It was great to eat all by itself outside the tomato too.
This was a great second course in a three course dinner I recently served that included a first course of cantaloupe gazpacho with crispy prosciutto and a third course of chard stuffed with risotto and mozzarella.
Mangia! Or should I say Bon Appetit!
Nice is a fun city that does a great job of blending the old and the new.
Guests at my house said this was one of their favorites.
Here’s a recipe from one of my favorite restaurants: La Zucca Magica, in Nice. It’s an Italian vegetarian restaurant that has gotten much acclaim from guide books and the New York Times.
We didn’t have this dish at the restaurant but I made it when we got home using a recipe posted on the New York Times site. You can either take a look at that written recipe or watch the YouTube video of NYTimes writer Mark Bittman.
There are multiple flavors and textures that work well together in this tasty delicacy. The fresh healthy green of the soft swiss chard leaves; the savory taste of saffron; the bite of the lemon zest; and the sweetness of the Parmesan and fresh mozzarella cheese all make your taste buds dance.
I served this as the third course in a three course meal. Although none of the courses contained meat, the three courses were very filling. The first course was a cantaloupe gazpacho with crispy prosciutto. The second course was a tomato stuffed with pasta salad (I’ll post the recipe for that course next).
Until then, mangia!
