Tag: parmesan cheese
Summer Grilled Sides Recipes: Grilled Potatoes with Tarragon & Grilled Asparagus and Corn
I cooked these two sides with the boneless rib eyes I served with the tomatillo and mango sauce. I wanted to make something I can put together in advance so when it’s time to eat, there isn’t much for me to do.
In terms of the potatoes, I boiled them first; sliced them thick and placed them on the grill. I recently bought a grill pan to place on my outside grill- which is quite handy with vegetables. On the side I whipped up a sauce with tarragon, mustard and creme fraiche. I love making chicken salad with a tarragon dressing- I wanted to replicate that flavor in the potatoes. The creme fraiche softens the mustard tang and adds a nice creaminess to the dish- it was very yummy. The potatoes were crispy yet soft on the inside.
I wanted to serve some green vegetables with the meal and decided on asparagus and corn I already had in the fridge from the farmers market. I struggle to come up with different recipes for these vegetables since I cook them so often- so I decided to keep it really simple. I grilled the corn and the asparagus simply with olive oil, salt and pepper. I took the corn off the cob and added a good amount of freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese and mixed it with the grilled corn and asparagus. That’s all it really needed- it was delicious. I also didn’t want to introduce any new flavors to the meal. The steak with the tomatillo sauce and the potatoes with tarragon already had very strong flavors going on… the grilled corn and asparagus dish complimented both the dishes very well. My daughter happily ate the corn and asparagus but stayed away from the potatoes. She of course love the steak and wanted more. She had a big glass of milk with her meal and we had a big glass of wine!
A Homemade Pizza Recipe with Store Bought Dough- Plain and White with Spinach
Pizza is a staple in our house. I remember when my daughter, Sia was about two years and change- she was quite picky. She had no problem eating mushy food and didn’t want any texture at all. I slowly got her into the habit of eating adult food- pizza played a big roll in the process. We ran into our neighbors with their daughters around that time at a local pizzeria. Sia saw them eating pizza with olives- and that is what started her love of pizza- with olives! She must have eaten cups and cups of olives in the last four years. The people working at the place knew as soon as we walked in- a slice of olive pizza for Sia with a cup of olives on the side. I even looked up the nutritional value for olives- not too much. Since then, she has graduated to mushroom pizza. She loves it! She is very particular about the mushrooms though- turns out some places use canned mushrooms and they taste very different than the fresh ones. Well, she only likes the fresh ones- so we stick to our favorite pizzeria, Arturos.
I am always trying to make things she likes at home healthier so I don’t feel guilty about giving them to her more often. We have tried many different ways of making pizza at home over the years but nothing has been very delicious and authentic. What I like about making pizza at home is that I can control all the ingredients. I use my basic marinara sauce for the pizza sauce. I usually buy low-fat mozzarella cheese- although in this case I couldn’t find any so I used full fat- but I didn’t use too much of it.
I was making two pizzas that day- a plain one for the kids and a white one with spinach for the adults. I made the marinara sauce the morning of and kept it aside. I bought shredded low moisture mozzarella cheese to make my life easier. The plain one was quite simple to put together. I did add some olive oil to the crust before cooking it on the grill. The oil gives the dough a nice sheen and a crusty top. For the white one I mixed ricotta cheese with Parmesan and mozzarella cheese. I added garlic powder and salt to season the cheese sauce. I sautéed frozen, chopped spinach with fresh garlic for extra flavor. Both adults and kids enjoyed the pizzas. I made a nectarine salad for the adults- the recipe will be up tomorrow. I served the apricot kuchen as dessert and of course some wine- we ended up opening two bottles!
To read more about pizza making at home, please read my post in New York Times blog, The Local. It will be out Wednesday, June 24th.