Diana the Huntress Serves Dinner

Photo courtesy Henrik Wann Jensen

People.  I am on a culinary roll.  Since the hottest day in L.A. in recorded history, your everyday domestic goddess has improved the venison meatloaf menu.  Here it is for you to enjoy.

Serves 4.

Sweet & Tangy Venison Meatloaf
Ingredients:

• 12 oz. venison breakfast sausage/ground venison (or ground beef, for all you mortals)
• 3/4 cup onions , finely chopped
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/3 cup BBQ sauce
• 1/8 cup peach preserves
• 2 eggs , lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper Ingredients

Position baking stone on a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350ºF for 20 minutes (or just 5, if not using a baking stone). Lightly grease a 9x5-inch (or smaller) loaf pan.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and knead mixture with your hands until everything is well blended but not overmixed.

Pour meat mixture into loaf pan and bake on baking stone until the meat is firm to the touch and has shrunk away from the sides of the pan or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the loaf reads 160ºF, 30-40 minutes.

Pour off excess fat and let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

Note: This makes a mini or short loaf. Recipe can be doubled; every ingredient is doubled except eggs--use three large.  Increase baking time.


Meatloaf "Gravy" for the Table
My three-year-old loves this!  Mix equal parts

• BBQ sauce
• ketchup, and 
• peach preserves.

Ginger Mashed Twice-Cooked Potatoes
With a rack placed in the middle of the oven, preheat to 400º F.

Steam until soft when pierced with a fork, approximately 5 minutes:

•  4 lbs. potatoes, chopped into chunks for quick cooking

(Leave the skin on! The skin has most of the nutrients and it adds a wonderful texture and flavor.) 

Mash potatoes together with

• 1-2 T fresh ginger, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 T butter or Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread (vegan)
• salt and pepper to taste

Lightly grease a casserole pan with

• vegetable oil

Pour potato mixture into pan and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.



Zingy Peach Rocket Salad

Flash fry on a dry skillet over high heat until beginning to wilt and brown:

• 1/2 cup red onion , sliced into rings

Let cool.

To make the dressing, combine and wisk or shake in a tightly sealed container:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/8 cup lemon juice
• 1/8 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon  salt (or to taste)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cayanne pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 

Toss

• 6 cups rocket lettuce (a.k.a., arugla)
• 2-3 organic peaches, ripe and chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 3/4 cup pecan pieces

with onions and enough dressing to moisten. Distribute to serving plates and serve as the starter. . . . Zing!

From Jean M. Zimmermann | New York private art dealer & fine arts appraiser on artregister.com

Frittata!

Until a few months ago, I had never made a frittata. In fact, I think I had only eaten it once, maybe twice, before in my life. But, now. Now it is a household staple, a weekly menu item. And one of my almost-four-year-old's favorites. It's also pretty easy and quick to make.

Spinach Frittata*
Heat in large skillet over medium heat:

• 2 T olive oil

Add and cook, stirring, until lightly browned:

• 1 C chopped onion

Add and cook until heated through and wilted:

• 2 C frozen chopped spinach

Season with

• 1/4 t salt
• 1/8 t freshly ground black pepper
• 2 t lemon juice
• 1 T fresh snipped basil (or 1 t dried)
• 1 T fresh dill (or 1 t dried)

Stir to combine. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Preheat the broiler.
Meanwhile, beat together until smooth:

• 5 eggs
• 1/2 t salt
• pinch of ground black pepper

Add the onion-spinach mixture.
Heat in a large, ovenproof skillet over medium heat:

• 2 T olive oil or butter or Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread (vegan)

When just hot (before butter begins to bubble or brown) pour in egg mixture. Reduce heat and cook until bottom is set (about 3 to 5 minutes).  Place skillet under the broiler for 30 to 60 seconds to finish cooking; do not brown. Loosen with a spatula and slide onto a plate.

Serve in wedges with organic red grapes and french country potatoes. (I use Trader Joe's "Country Potatoes with Haricots Verts & Wild Mushrooms" from the frozen section.)

Serves 4.


*This recipe is inspired by/adapted from the Zucchini Frittata recipe in The Joy of Cooking, 1997 edition.  Also delicious!

Tomatillo Chicken: Entrée Evolution

When mothering small children it is hard to balance the all responsibilities of maid, nanny, and cook.  One way I stay sane is by cooking double (or triple) for leftovers.  I don't have the time or patience for cooking from scratch every day of the week. 

Here's a recent success building multiple menus using leftovers:


Day 1: Chicken Verde Tacos
Sprinkle

• 2.5 lbs. boneless chicken breasts (thawed if using from freezer)

with

• Salt and 
• Freshly ground black pepper.

Add to slow cooker along with

• 1.5 C tomatillo salsa verde (I use Trader Joe's)
• 1-3 t chopped or crushed garlic.

Cook for 2 to 3 hours on low or until chicken is cooked through but still moist.

Shred chicken using two forks and serve in warmed corn tortillas with shredded lettuce, salsa, pico de gallo, and lime wedges.  (Store remaining chicken in the cooking sauce to prevent dry out, and retain all the sauce for day 3 recipe.)

In our house two to 2.5 shredded chicken breasts serves two adults and one preschooler.


Day 2: Chicken Taco Salad
For each adult, toss the following together in a serving bowl: (measurements are approximate)

• 2-3 handfuls lettuce
• 1-2 handfuls tortilla chips, crushed
• 1/2 C leftover shredded chicken verde
• 1/4 C red kidney beans
• 1/4 C grated raw zucchini
• 2 T sliced black olives
• Corn salsa to taste (optional)
• Pico de gallo (optional)
• Shredded cheese (optional)
• Salsa verde (or other salsa of your choice)
• Ranch dressing or homemade dressing (see below).

Simple Homemade Taco Salad Dressing
Shake together in a tightly sealed jar

• 1/2 C Mayonnaise
• 1/4 C lime juice
• 1 T finely chopped cilantro
• 1 t crushed garlic (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

Day 3: Tomatillo Chicken-Potato Casserole & Corn Bread
Combine in slow-cooker

• all remaining leftover shredded chicken verde and sauce
• 1/2 lb fingerling potatoes, cut in half or smaller for bite-size pieces

Cook on high for two to three hours or until potatoes are tender.
For the last hour, add to the crock

• 1 zucchini, grated
• 2-3 oz. sliced black olives 

If the sauce is too runny, put a towel across the top of the crock pot, under the lid, and replace the lid slightly ajar.  This will allow steam to be released/absorbed making the sauce thicker.
For the last 20 minutes of cooking, sprinkle on top

• .5 to 1 C shredded Monterrey Jack cheese.

When all the vegetables are cooked and the cheese is melted, serve with hot sauce and molasses corn bread muffins (see below).

Serves three.  (If you want to serve more or have eaters with heartier appetites, add more potatoes, zucchini, olives, and cheese.)


Molasses Corn Bread Muffins
Follow the recipe on the back of your corn meal box making the following substitutions:

• Use white whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose.
• Replace 2 T of the sugar with 2 T molasses.
• In our house, we also replace the milk with almond milk.

The artistry does not compare, but I like to think of this kind of menu planning as similar to a classical musician's "variations."  When I do have the energy and/or a creative streak, it is joy to make beautiful, healthy, innovative meals.

Thirty-Minute Vegan Pasta Challenge

Along with millions of liturgically minded Christians the world over, we don't eat meat on Fridays.  Dairy is also off my diet since it doesn't agree with my breastfeeding son.  Plus, my family is currently rather broke.

So, on Fridays, I like to give myself the following challenge: Make a new delicious vegan pasta sauce, from whatever happens to be in the pantry, in the time it takes to boil the water and cook the pasta.  I do not usually plan ahead.  The challenge starts when I enter the kitchen and put the pasta pot on the burner.

Tonight's recipe was a great success, so I thought I'd share.

Spinach and Walnut Pesto Penne
Set salted water to boil for pasta.
Heat in a sauce pot over medium-high heat

• 1 or 2 T olive oil

Dice and add to pot

• 1/2 onion

Cook, stirring, until soft.
Add

• 1 C frozen spinach
• 1/2 C frozen peas

Cook stirring until thawed.
Add to pot

• 1/4 C (leftover) Chardonnay or other white wine

Blend in a blender

• 1 14 oz can fire-roasted tomatoes

and add to pot.  Stir to combine.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer.
Cook

• 16 oz pasta (I prefer whole wheat penne)

Meanwhile, without rinsing blender, add to blender and blend

• 2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 C fresh, snipped basil, or 6 cubes/teaspoons frozen basil
• 3/4 C walnut pieces
• 1 t salt or to taste
• 1/2 t freshly ground pepper or to taste
• 1/4 t hot pepper sauce (optional)

Blending may require more liquid, so use water from the pasta pot and/or olive oil. 
Pour walnut pesto into spinach-tomato sauce.  Mix and cook until heated through.
Serve over pasta.

Serves 6 to 8.


Anyone else want to take the challenge and share your recipe?