Some like muscles - others like mussels

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Image from Penn Cove Shellfish

One of the greatest pleasures of living in the Pacific Northwest

is having delicious and fresh fish and seafood right at hand.

I wasn't much of a mussel eater until I moved here and had a bowl of

PENN COVE MUSSELS.

Penn Cove Mussels are those to which all others are compared when it comes to taste!  Harvested by Penn Cove Shellfish in Coupeville, Washington on Whidbey Island.  So very yummy - there are no other words to describe this delicacy.

Being a Northwest girl now, I have an arsenal of recipes featuring these little devils.  One of my husband's favorites is Mussels in a Spicy Tomato Sauce simply served with crusty bread to sop up the juice and a glass of red wine.  Add to it a beautiful pink & purple sunset over the water and past the mountains and you have heaven on earth.

Simple ingredients mostly available in your pantry.

Cook and serve in a paella pan - very festive.

The recipe I use is from one of Lidia's cookbooks. 

If you don't know Lidia, you haven't had real Italian cooking

(unless of course you happen to be lucky to have

dined in my mother's kitchen).

I recommend any of Lidia's cookbooks if you want to learn

authentic Italian cooking.  She also has cooking

shows on the PBS channel.

Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen

This is my dear dad eating his second bowl of spicy mussels.
He had three bowls in total (over 4 pounds)!
He's an eating machine!  The greatest complement you can
give the cook is to ask for seconds and especially thirds!!

Mussels in Spicy Tomato Sauce
(Source: Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Bastianich)

2 pounds mussels, preferrable cultivated from Penn Cove Farms in Washington State
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
8 cloves garlic, sliced
1 pint cherry tomatoes (halved) or 2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon crushed hot red pepper
1 cup dry white wine
10 large fresh basil leaves, shredded
salt to taste

1.  Clean and debeard mussels as needed.  Remember to discard any mussels that are not closed shut or do not close when tapped.
2.  Heat olive oil in a large skillet - a paella pan is perfect for this dish and presents nicely on the table.  Add garlic and cook, shaking the pan until golden (about 3 minutes).  Slide the tomatoes into the skillet and stir in the oregano and red pepper.  Cook, stirring, until the tomatoes have cooked down (about 5 minutes).
3.  Stir the mussels into the skillet, then pour in the wine.  Bring to a boil, cover the pot, and cook just until the mussels are opened (about 3-5 minutes).  Do not overcook or the mussels will be tough.
4. Stir in the basil.  Add salt to taste.
5.  Discard any mussels with unopened shells.  Serve with crusty bread to sop up the juice.


I can hear my grandmother's voice still ringing in my ears. "Tutti a tavola a mangiare!  Mangia!  Mangia!"

Cheap Eats: Chicken and Lentil Salad

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Looking for more ways to put legumes in your diet.  I try to have at least one meal per week that includes legumes.

Here is a great, simple but tasty salad using lentils.  It's great as a side dish or served as a tapa.  I used the bits and pieces left over from a rotisserie chicken served earlier in the week.

Chicken and Lentil Salad
(Source: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-lentil-salad-50400000116284/)

Ingredient

1 cup brown lentils, sorted of debris and rinsed

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/3 cup lemon juice 

1 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed

1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon

1/2 cup slivered red onion

1 cup shredded rotisserie chicken

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves

 

Preparation

1. Simmer lentils in 1 qt. lightly salted water in a covered saucepan just until tender to the bite, 15 minutes. Drain.
2. Mix remaining ingredients in a bowl, then gently stir in warm lentils.

Cheap Eats: Rice and 'Peas'

Pin It So, I'm in my kitchen yesterday wondering what to cook for dinner.
I see that I have a package of organic chicken breast (steal of a deal in my local supermarket this week) and rice in the pantry.  I'm not in the mood for my normal Arroz con Pollo, so I pull up MYRECIPES.COM (see previous post) and type in chicken tenders and rice.  Up pops two recipes  - Oatmeal-Crusted Chicken Tenders and Classic Jamaican Rice and Peas ...Add a salad and we have a delicious and healthy dinner in less than 30 minutes!

Classic Jamaican Rice and Peas
(Source: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/classic-jamaican-rice-peas-10000000523888/)

Ingredients

• 1 (14-ounce) can light coconut milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• 3 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 cup long-grain white rice (such as jasmine)
• 1 (15-ounce) can dark kidney beans, rinsed and drained (I used black beans in my version.)

Preparation

• Combine the first 7 ingredients (through garlic) in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil. Stir in rice; reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook 20 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed. Remove pan from heat; remove the thyme sprigs and garlic, and discard. Gently stir in the beans. Cover and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Oatmeal-Crusted Chicken Tenders
(Source: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/oatmeal-crusted-chicken-tenders-10000001227912/)

Ingredients

• 1 cup regular oats
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound chicken breast tenders
• Cooking spray

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 450°.
• Place oats in a food processor, and process for 20 seconds or until coarsely ground. Add cheese, thyme, salt, and pepper. Pulse to combine, and place in a shallow bowl.
• Place each chicken breast tender between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Coat both sides of tenders with cooking spray; dredge tenders in oat mixture. Place tenders on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 450° for 15 minutes or until browned.

Have you tried MYRECIPES.COM yet? 

"I Gar-an-tee" you'll love this e-cookbook

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You may remember, back in April  I set a goal to widdle down my cookbook collection (See Post).  I'm making progress, but still have a ways to go.  One of the challenges I came across was the best means to keep the recipes I love while still leting go of the paper.

One of the solutions I found was MYRECIPES.COM (link here).  In addition, to the many cookbooks in my pantry were stacks of torn out pages from magazines, mostly Sunset or Coastal Living or Cooking Light.  At MYRECIPES.COM, you can find all recipes printed in these magazines and many more!  The coolest part of MYRECIPES.COM is that you can create your own recipe file - you simply type in your recipe and there it resides in digital cyberland, ready for you to access it at any time from any where in the world.  I've started several personalized recipe files on MYRECIPES.COM - one for all of my treasured family recipes, another for Christmas favorites, and others for various themes.  This will come in so handy when I'm on vacation or visiting family and want to cook one of my favorite specialties.  You can also create menus and shopping lists! But wait, there's more ... you can even access MYRECIPE.COM if you have a smartphone or an iPad / tablet (you lucky duck).  How handy is this when you're at the grocery store, see a sweet deal and wonder what you might make with the item and what other ingredients you need to go along with that sweet deal?!

The other great tool I'm using to keep those favorite recipes until I can populate my e-recipe file, is my Neatreceipts Scanner and the Neatworks data management tool.  This little device is the best organizing tool in my arsonal (see previous post here).  I simply scan that recipe and capture it in my computer on a pdf file.  Upload it to Google documents or Dropbox or whatever database on the Cloud that you like, and there it is - available to you 24/7 from any computer, smartphone or iPad/tablet (again, you lucky duck).  Imagine the possibilities ...  you are visiting with your grandkids and they plead for your special Monkey Bread.  Alas you don't have your recipe box with you - but you do have access to the internet :)  Sweet, tasty monkey bread is only a few keystrokes away and the kids think you are the best and coolest Grandma in the whole world!



I still am keeping a binder with all of the handwritten recipes given to me by my grandmothers, my mom and mother-in-law.  This keepsake binder is stored away with all of my other treasured memories so that the next generation will have them.

How do you store your favorite recipes?  Have you integrated the digital world into your kitchen?

Operation Write Home - BLOG HOP

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OPERATION WRITE HOME is hosting a

Christmas Card Blog Hop today!

Here is a showcase of some of my creations from
the Otter Hill Design Studio.

All images were found at The Graphics Fairy.
She has such a wonderful collection that provides
free downloads of any of her vintage images.  I often grab
old postcard images, like those above, to incorporate
into my handmade cards.

Making cards for our heroes overseas is such a small thing but has a big impact on our brave soldiers and their families.  Have you done something to bring a little 'surprise and delight' to a military hero? Leave me a comment and share your story?

Zucchini Treats - Bundt Cake

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Photo courtesy of MarthaStewart.com



The August 2011 edition of Martha Stewart Living (my all time favorite magazine) featured this bundt cake.  With a dozen zucchini sitting in the harvesting basket, I baked up this scrumptious treat for some very special guests.  It was the perfect sweet ending to a sunset dinner featuring everything harvested from our garden and beach!

My version

Zucchini Bundt Cake
(from Martha Stewart Living.  Recipe can also be found here.)


1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon anise seeds
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)
Coarse salt
2 medium zucchini (about 8 ounces each)
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest, plus 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice

Orange Glaze Orange Glaze (recipe below)

Candied Zucchini Strips (optional) Candied Zucchini Strips (Instructions below)

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Brush a 6-cup Bundt pan (surlatable.com) with butter, and dust with flour, tapping out excess. Whisk together flour, baking powder, spices, and 1 teaspoon salt.
2.Grate zucchini on the large holes of a box grater, then squeeze dry in a clean kitchen towel or press in a ricer. (You will need 2 1/2 cups.)
3.Stir together eggs and sugar, then stir in melted butter, zucchini, and orange zest and juice. Stir in flour mixture. Transfer batter to pan.
4.Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour (cake will rise quite a bit over the top of the pan but should not run over). Transfer pan to a wire rack, and let cake cool for 10 minutes. Run a paring knife around edges of cake to loosen, and turn out onto wire rack. Let cool for at least 30 minutes.
5.Brush several layers of orange glaze evenly over cake, and garnish with candied zucchini before serving.

Cook's Note:
Unglazed cake can be stored at room temperature, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 1 day, or frozen for up to 1 month.


Orange Glaze


1 ¼ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 pinches of ground cardamom (optional)
¼ teaspoon finely grated orange zest, plus 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice

Whisk together sugar and cardamom. Whisk in orange zest and juice, and whisk until mixture has the consistency of thick honey. If mixture is too thick, whisk in milk 1 teaspoon at a time.



Candied Zucchini Strips

2 ½ cups sugar
2 cups water
2 medium zucchini very thinly sliced lengthwise (preferably on a mandolin)

Bring sugar and water to a boil in a saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add zucchini. Reduce heat to medium. Simmer, with a round of parchment placed directly on the surface, until zucchini are translucent, 15 to 20 minutes. Let zucchini cool in syrup.

Arrange zucchini in a single layer on a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Let dry for 1 hour. Use immediately.

More Papertrey Fun

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This week's Make It Monday challenge from Papertrey Ink

was to use the Frosted Image technique.

This is the little lovely that I created for my

Send Love Today assignment.

Papertrey Ink also has a Blog Hop contest going on today.

The challenge is to create something with inspiration from

this photo.

This is my creation for the Operation Write Home basket.

Have a great week!