Balsamic reduction

A drizzle of balsamic reduction is an easy way to bring flavor to an weeknight meal or add an extra dimension to a red wine-based sauce. Most grocery stores carry pre-made balsamic reduction now, which is great to have on hand to squeeze over a chicken breast for a quick but yummy dinner. Don't have the pre-made stuff in the pantry? Try making your own!

Cover the bottom of an 8-inch pan with balsamic vinegar. Do not leave the pot unattended - the vinegar can burn quickly. Reduce on low heat until thickened. Off heat swirl in 2T butter.

Shrimp and tomato in mustard sauce

This is one of the quickest, easiest meals that we make. It is a light, healthy weeknight dinner that could also work well for a fancier lunch.

Ingredients

Smart Balance, 1/2 T
Garlic, 2 cloves, minced
Shallot, 1 T minced
White wine, 4 fl oz
Dijon Mustard, 2 T
Shrimp, 1 lb
2 Roma tomatoes, diced

In a non-stick skillet, melt the Smart Balance. Add the garlic and shallot, cook until tender. Add the wine, reduce to 1/4 cup. Stir in the mustard. Add the shrimp, reduce heat to medium-low. Cook on both sides until pink throughout. Add the tomatoes and serve.

For a more filling meal, serve over angel-hair pasta. NOTE: Nutritional info below does not include pasta.

Nutritional Info

Servings Per Recipe: 2

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 323.3

Total Fat: 5.0 g

Cholesterol: 442.0 mg

Sodium: 914.3 mg

Total Carbs: 5.5 g

Dietary Fiber: 0.1 g

Protein: 48.7 g

NEW! Nutritional Info

For better or for worse, from now on we will be including nutritional information for all of our recipes! After spending the last 6 years discovering the joy of cooking - and eating - I have found the need to pay much closer attention to calories, fat, etc. I hope that you find this information helpful!

If you want to calculate the nutritional info for your own recipes, check out the SparkPeople recipe calculator.

Beet and goat cheese salad

We are back! The last couple of months have been so busy, between work travel (Michelle) and finishing graduate school (Erich). We are finally past all of that and back to having fun in the kitchen!

This recipe is a variation on an appetizer salad that appears on many menus, most notably Bill's. Most people that we know turn their nose up at beets until they try this salad and discover that beets are a candy superfood.

Ingredients

Beets (2 for a small appetizer salad, 3 if you want something a little more filling)

Brunk Balsamic Vinaigrette*

White wine vinegar

1 T sugar

1 4 0z package goat cheese, frozen

Mixed greens or spinach

Cut the greens off right at the base of each beet. Do not remove the skin from the beets and do not wash them. In a large pot, cover with water. Boil for 45 minutes to one hour, or until tender when poked with a fork.

Carefully remove the beets from the boiling water and rinse under cold water. The water will stain, so watch out! The skin will peel off easily using your hands. Do this under cold water to avoid staining your skin. Cut off each end, then slice into 1/4" to 1/2" discs. 

Cover the bottom of a medium to large saucepan with about 1/4" white wine vinegar and add the sugar. Bring to a simmer and add the beet slices. Simmer for a few minutes and flip the slices. Simmer for a few minutes more and remove from the pan.

To plate:

Place the greens in the center of a plate.

Slice the goat cheese into 1/4" discs. Sandwich the sliced beets and sliced goat cheese alternating to create a stack/tower. Drizzle with the vinaigrette...toss any remaining goat cheese crumbles on top and serve!

* Substitute orange juice for the balsamic vinegar, as noted in the vinaigrette recipe.

Restaurant review: The Cosmopolitan Cafe, San Francisco

I have been spending nearly all of my time lately on business and personal travel, so Erich and I have not had much time together in the kitchen. So in the meantime, I'll share some of my culinary experiences from the road.

Located just off the Embarcadero, in a less touristy area of San Francisco, The Cosmopolitan Cafe was the right choice for good food in a relaxed environment. The menu was somewhat limited and moderately priced. Nothing really jumped out at me, which is surprising...I'm usually a sucker for any fish or seafood preparation. I ended up going with the Ricotta Gnocchi with mushrooms, peas and pancetta, and was pleasantly surprised! The dish was just the right size and combination of ingredients, and the flavor was excellent.

I'll admit that I was a little worried at first, because the restaurant was next to empty. The service was questionable - I asked the server for a dirty martini and he asked if I would like a lemon twist or an olive. But the drink was excellent, as was the food. I think everyone in our party was pleased.

Website: http://www.thecosmopolitancafe.com/index_cos.cfm

Veal scallopini with mushroom and brandy cream sauce

I (Michelle) have always loved veal, especially thin scallopini. I love substituting veal for chicken to make some of our super-easy everyday chicken recipes a little fancier - piccata especially- and for a special treat I will modify Rochester's (in)famous "Chicken French" preparation.

We experimented with a couple of versions of this dish before adding, subtracting, altering and ending up with this easy, elegant, rich recipe.

Flour

Pepper

Butter

1T olive oil

2 4 oz veal cutlets, pounded to 1/4" thickness OR one package of veal scallopini

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

1c shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and caps sliced

1 c brandy

1T beef base

1 c chicken stock

1/2 c heavy cream

Dry the veal thoroughly, then pepper to taste and coat with flour.

Heat 1T butter and the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the veal and saute until brown on each side and cooked through. Transfer the veal to a plate and cover to keep warm.

In the same pan add the onion and saute until translucent (you may need to add a little more butter here). Add the mushrooms and saute until they begin to brown. Remove the skillet from the heat and add the brandy. Ignite (if that's what you are into!) and carefully let brandy evaporate. If you choose not to flame it, simmer until it is almost completely evaporated. Add the beef stock and chicken stock and boil for about 5 minutes. Add the cream and bring to a boil. If the veal has not stayed warm enough, put back in the pan for 1-2 minutes.

Serve the sauce over the veal. Tonight we paired this dish with steamed asparagus sprinkled with a little sea salt and drizzled with a balsamic vinegar reduction.

Enjoy!

Spicy Pork

This is another easy weeknight dish, albeit a pretty rich one so we have tried to cut back on it. The ease of this recipe and the white-wine cream sauce combined with the spicy chops put this high on my list of comfort foods. We came up with it one night by "experimenting", which pretty much consisted of dumping the contents of the spice drawer on a pork chop. The results were surprisingly yummy!

Here we listed the spices that we used, but definitely try whatever works for you. I recommend a base of cracked black pepper, paprika, and a little bit of seasoning salt.

Ingredients
2 thick-cut pork chops
Cracked black pepper
Paprika
Rosemary
Garlic powder
Seasoning salt
Dash of sage
1T butter
1T olive oil
1/2 of a shallot
1/2 c white wine
1/2 c cream
Chick peas (optional)

Coat the chops on both sides with the cracked pepper and paprika. Add the remaining herbs and spices to taste.
Heat the butter and olive oil in a non-stick saucepan over med-hi heat. When the pan is hot add the pork chops and reduce the heat to medium. Sear until each side is browned and the center has just turned from pink to a juicy white. Remove the chops from the pan and cover to keep warm.
In the same pan, heat the shallots until translucent and then add the wine. Heat the wine until boiling, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Reduce the wine to a glaze and then add the cream. Bring to a rolling boil and back down to medium. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, swirling regularly. Optionally, finish by swirling in a thin pat of butter to smooth and enrich the sauce. Just prior to serving, drain any juices that the pork chops have released on their covered plate into the sauce. Yummmmm.

Serving suggestions:
If you would like a starch with this meal we recommend serving it over chick peas rather than pasta for something different and a bit healthier. Just heat up a can (or don't heat, even!) drain and serve the meat over the garbanzos and the sauce over the meat.
Another alternative is to serve the sauce over the garbanzos and the chop over the sauce, which reduces your "sauce intake" just a little.
We have found that these yummy white-wine cream sauces are well-complemented by a plain green veggie like broccoli.

Tonight we had a special treat of a wine, thanks to Raleigh's Seaboard Wine putting a nice bottle on super-sale! We had a 2006 MacRostie Chardonnay, which was so toasty and oaky that I felt guilty sipping it on a weeknight with a regular ol' meal.

Quote of the night: "ROSEMARY, ROSEMARY ROSEMARY!" - Meesh (P.S. Hi Tina!)