Recipe Wednesday

When Maya and I were trying to plan her summer a few months ago, one of the classes she was interested in taking was a cooking class. The only problem was that the class she wanted to take was through a program that would have her going at 9:00am, 5 days a week, which didn't fit in with her plan of relaxing and sleeping in this summer. So, we decided that we would have our own cooking class, and I would teach her how to make some dishes. We bought a great looking kids cookbook, but we haven't tried any of the recipes yet. Thus far, we have had one lesson, in which she wanted to make Caesar Salad and Macaroni and Cheese (Kraft...she wants to try homemade another time, but first she wanted to learn to make it from the box.)

So, here's the recipe for Caesar salad that she made. We had thought about doing the recipe with eggs and anchovies, but she wanted to try a recipe without. This recipe is from the New Basics Cookbook, by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins. We didn't make the anchovy toast that they suggest, just the dressing. We used croutons instead. It was very yummy. :)
I'll include the whole recipe for you, in case you're interested.

Lemony Caesar Salad
1 ½ tb Olive oil
¼ c Chopped walnuts
4 Thin slices whole-grain bread
¼ c Anchovy spread (recipe follows)
½ lg Head romaine lettuce, rinsed and patted dry
1 c Caesar Dressing (recipe follows)
4 oz Parmesan cheese in one piece

Heat the olive oil in a small skillet. Add the walnuts and saute over medium heat until lightly toasted, 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside. Toast the bread; then spread each slice with Anchovy Spread and scatter with the toasted walnuts Tear the lettuce into pieces and toss with the dressing. Place a piece of prepared toast on each plate and top with a portion of the lettuce and dressing. Using a vegetable peeler, shave thin slices of Parmesan over each portion. Serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.

Anchovy Spread
12 anchovy fillets, drained
2 tsp Dijon-style mustard
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
2 tblsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tblsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 clove garlic, finely minced

Using a fork, mash the anchovies in a small bowl. In another small bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients together. Add to the anchovies and mix until a paste has formed. Makes about 1/4 cup.

Caesar Dressing
1 tsp grated lemon zest
3 tblsp fresh lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp white wine vinegar
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1
tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine the lemon zest, juice, garlic and vinegar in a small bowl and whisk well. Slowly add the olive oil, whisking constantly until smooth. Add the pepper and salt and set aside. Makes 1 cup.

While I'm posting recipes, I'll also include, for your dining pleasure, a very tasty meal that Ted made the other night. He got the idea for both of the recipes from watching Barefoot Contessa on Food TV. We didn't have any goat cheese, so he used Parmesan instead. It was very yummy. Seems like it would work equally well with Brie.

Chicken with Goat Cheese
3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
12 ounces Montrachet goat cheese, with garlic and herbs
Fresh basil leaves
Good olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet. Loosen the skin from the meat with your fingers, leaving one side attached.. Cut 12 thick slices of the Montrachet and place 2 slices plus a large basil leaf under the skin of each chicken breast. Rub each piece with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Bake the breasts for 35 to 40 minutes, until just cooked through. Serve hot or at room temperature.

He made this yummy side dish, Zucchini with Parmesan. It was very tasty.

Zucchini with Parmesan
8 medium zucchini
Good olive oil
2 large yellow onions cut in half and sliced 1/2 inch thick
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Remove the ends of the zucchini and, if they are large, cut in half lengthwise. Slice the zucchini diagonally in 1/2-inch slices. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large (12-inch) saute pan and add the onions. Cook for 10 minutes on medium-low heat, until they start to brown. Add half the zucchini, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to the pan and cook, tossing occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes, until just cooked through. Sprinkle with Parmesan and cook for 30 seconds more. Remove to a serving platter and repeat with the rest of the zucchini. Serve immediately. Ina's note: If you cook too much zucchini in one pan, you end up steaming rather than sauteing it. I prefer to cook it in 2 batches. (J's note: I think we only had two zucchini, so this wasn't a problem for us.)

Hope you find these recipes as tasty as we did. Enjoy!