The Joy Shuck Club.

 The Hawthornes want more oysters.

In our last few batches,

I used different spinach combinations.

I'm switching gears today.

 Today, I'm making Rosie's Fiesta Oysters.

 Quick Salsa
Scallions and cilantro from the garden,
(Yes, I'm still growing scallions and cilantro.)
chopped tomatoes, a little rice vinegar, pinch of sugar,
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
Spoon the salsa over top.

All to taste.

 Then I spooned a little queso sauce over top
and crumbled Tostitoes over everything.

Queso Sauce
Diced queso cheese, with a little milk or cream,
 nuked and stirred until smooth.

Some red pepper.
Spoon over salsa on oysters.

Add some crumbled last-of-the-bag tortilla chips on top.

Quick trip under the broiler.

Slightly brown the queso.

And enjoy!

Rosie's Lunch. And A Delicious One At That.

Whoot and Yay!
My long-awaited rain finally gets here.
It poured the most part of the day.

Beautiful rain.
And guess what.
Yesterday, I just cut my newly sodded lawn.
Talk about perfect timing.

I love the rain.
Doncha just love the rain?
You're at the ocean or at the lake.
You're in your swimsuit or a sundress.
You're relaxed,
I just CAN'T WAIT for that WATERMELON FIZZ!

Whew, I just had to get that out of my system.
Thanks, Sandy.

Here's my new orchid.
It's a moth orchid, but orchidgirl can tell you more about that.

Here's the first orchid.
I bought it for me for my birthday back in January and now it's blooming again.

OK, enough of orchids.
Let's get on to my lunch today.

I decided to start with oven-roasted potatoes.
Here are 3 russet potatoes.

I sliced them into wedges and let them soak in hot water for 10 minutes.

Drain on paper towels.

Toss the dried wedges in a tablespoon or two of oil.
I used Canola.

I poured about 4 tablespoons of oil on a heavy baking pan.
Then added salt, pepper, granulated garlic, onion powder, and hot paprika.
Arranged the taters in single file.
I covered with foil, and baked on the bottom rack in a 475 degree oven for 5 minutes.

Then, I removed the foil and baked about 20-25 minutes, rotating the baking sheet after maybe 10 minutes.

I turned the wedgies over and baked for 10 or so more minutes until nicely browned.

Drain on paper towels.

I offered one to Mr. Hawthorne.
He tried it, proclaimed it "OK," and suggested adding some grated parmesan.

"Excellent idea, Mr. H."
"Well, you just be sure you tell everybody in your blog that was my idea."
He's such a credit whore.

Here's what I have to work around whenever I cook.

Besides Dixie, I also have to work around Mr. Hawthorne.
I'm preparing a lovely lunch which apparently will not be good enough for him.
He must prepare hamburgers for himself.
"I got a hankering for a hamburger and Imonna fix me a damn hamburger."
So, he starts pattying up burgers and cooking them up.

After he finished his burgers, with grease splattered everywhere, I deglazed the pan.

And poured the resulting au jus into Dixie's bowl.

Bon appetit, Dixie.

Now, on to the rest of my meal.

I had 2 chicken bosoms which I brined in
2 quarts of cold water and 1 cup of Kosher salt for 30 minutes.
Rinsed, patted dry, and seasoned with pepper.

I heated oil in my pan and browned skin-side down first for about 10 minutes.
Turned over and cooked the underside for about 5-7 minutes.

Next, I inserted my thermometer probe and set the pan on the bottom level of a preheated 450-degree oven for about 12-15 minutes.

Or until my Weber thermometer registered 160 degrees,
even though Weber recommends 180 for chicken.
180 is overkill.

When the temp gets to 160, remove from oven
and let set while you make the rest of the meal.

I'm making a citrus herb sauce for my chicken.
I've squeezed the juice of one orange and one lemon, sliced 2 shallots,
and minced some fresh sage.

I added in about 2 tablespoons of butter and some capers.

Next, I decided to make a queso sauce for my steamed vegetables.

My mise en place:
Velveeta
milk
Monteray Jack cheese
cream cheese
chili powder
cumin
cayenne
Texas Pete Hot Sauce

I'm just winging it here on the amounts.
The big chunk at top left is the Velveeta.
At the forefront is maybe half as much cream cheese.
Then, you can see about a 1 inch of a chunk of Monterey Jack cheese cut up.
Milk is added to come half way up.

I added the chili powder, cumin, and cayenne
and decided it needed some minced jalapeno.

I nuked this combination for about 2 minutes, deemed it too liquidy, so I sprinkled in some shredded Mexican cheese mix.
(Yes, I Sandra-Lee'd it.)
(Although Sandy would call it PRE-shredded cheese, which to me means something entirely different than it does to her, apparently. PRE-shredded cheese to me would be a block of cheese, but I digress.)
Anyway, I heated it back up and this was just what the queso called for.

Here are my veggies:
broccoli, squash, and carrots.

Chop into equal sized pieces.

And steam until just barely done.

And here's my lunch.
Chicken breast with citrus/sage/caper/butter sauce, steamed vegetables with queso sauce, and parmesan potato wedgies.

This was the best chicken breast I've ever had.
Really.
The chicken was cooked perfectly.
It was juicy and extremely moist which I attribute to the brining.
The potatoes were crunchy on the outside and nicely potatoey on the inside, plus I could taste all the spices and the parmesan was a very good idea. Delicious.
The broccoli, carrots, and squash were perfectly steamed - still crisp.
The queso was an inspired accompaniment to the veggies.
It was spicy, but just right. The jalapenoes added just the right flavor and not too much heat, even though, Lord knows, I like the spice and heat.

I loved my lunch.

Youngest Hawthorne came in after I had put everything away and cleaned up the entire kitchen and wanted something to eat.

I gave him the other leftover breast which was about twice the size of mine.
He ate all of that, along with the leftover risotto from last night, and the rest of the vegetables.
Then wanted some Tostitos Scoops so he could scoop up a goodly amount of the queso dip.
He gave it a hearty thumbs up.

Rosie Makes Peruvian Pasta For Her Guests.

I was having guests from Lima for lunch and  I do not mean Lima, Ohio.  I mean the other Lima.  As luck would have it, I had just found this recipe for Peruvian Pesto in my fall issue of Cook's Illustrated. So, we're having tallarines verdes (green noodles) for lunch today, a lush spinach- sauce based pasta.  Peruvian Pesto is a creamier, richer, smoother version of  what I usually make - the pesto we all know and love - Pesto Genovese, with basil, pecans instead of pine nuts, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and olive oil.

Not too long ago, I wrote about the quesadilla and its culinary history involving the fusion of different cultures and cuisines.  Tallarines verdes is another dish that involves the merger of the foodscapes from two different cultures.  In the mid-late 19th century, many Italians immigrated to Lima, Peru, bringing with them their culinary traditions, resulting in Italian-Peruvian fusion recipes such as the tallarines verdes.  This green noodle sauce showcases ingredients more readily available in their new Andean home.  Instead of basil, the sauce gets its brilliant green color from spinach (along with a little basil).  The rich and creamy sauce comes from the addition of evaporated milk, which was introduced to the Peruvian pantry in the late 1800s to early 1900s.  The featured cheese is queso fresco and the nut used is the pecan. Extra additions include sautéed garlic and red onion.  Everything is puréed until velvety smooth, then it's all tossed with fettucini, which is cooked in the water used to blanch the spinach.  Blanching the spinach helps ensure a smooth sauce by breaking down compounds in the cell walls of the spinach, thus yielding a finer texture.  The satiny smooth texture of the sauce is characteristic of this dish.

Before I start the food, here are some of my Peruvian Treasures - Gifts from my Guests.

  

This is Tumi.

My guests gave it tumi.  

 

In Peruvian culture, Tumi (from Quechua word for knife)  is a ceremonial artifact used by pre-Columbian cultures to cut the throats of sacrificial victims.  In Modern Peru,  a Tumi hanging on a wall means good luck.

 

This particular Tumi hangs on my wall next to the dining table.

Good luck!

Heh...

This is Wally.  

Yes, Wally Llama.

The Peruvian llama was central to Peru's economy and culture. It was a pack animal, essential for transporting goods and crucial for their fertilizer for use in agriculture.  Also used for their meat and wool and for the occasional sacrifice (by a Tumi) to appease the gods, it was a true multipurpose animal. 

 Now, here's how to make Tallarines Verdes:

Tallarines Verdes

(Peruvian Green Noodles) 

1 TB vegetable oil

1/2 cup chopped red onion

2 garlic cloves, peeled and halved

3/4 tsp salt, plus salt for cooking greens and pasta

6 oz (6 cups) baby spinach

1 oz (1 cup) fresh basil leaves

2 oz (1/2 cup) queso fresco, crumbled

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1/3 cup pecans

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

12 oz fettuccine

 

Bring water to boil in large pot. 

Add 1 tablespoon salt, spinach, and basil. 

Blanch 20 - 30 seconds, until just wilted.

With spider skimmer or slotted spoon,

drain greens and transfer to small bowl.

When cooled, squeeze out excess liquid. 

 

Do not discard water. 

Keep water in pot for the fettuccini. 

 

While you're waiting for the water to boil,

heat oil in medium skillet over medium heat until shimmering.

Add onion and cook until it just softens.

Add garlic and cook about 30 seconds.

Remove from heat and transfer to blender. 

 

Transfer blanched greens to blender with onion and garlic.

Add queso fresco, evaporated milk, pecans, pepper, and salt.

Process until smooth, about 2 minutes,

scraping down sides of blender.

 

Return water to boil.

Add pasta.

Cook, stirring often, until al dente. 

Reserve 1 cup cooking water,

then drain pasta.

 

Add sauce to the empty pot and cook over medium heat,

stirring, until warmed through, 2-3 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in fettuccini

and about 1/3 cup reserved cooking water

and stir until sauce just clings to pasta, about a minute. 

Add more reserved water as needed to adjust consistency.

Season with salt to taste. 

 

Serve immediately. 

 

 

Sauté onions.

 

Add in garlic.

Lightly sauté.  

 

 

 

Measure out 6 ounces of spinach. 

Add spinach and basil to boiling, salted water.

Blanch greens and remove from water.

Sautéed red onion and garlic in blender already.

Squeeze excess water out of spinach and basil.

Measure out pecans, evaporated milk, and queso fresco. 

 

All into processor.

And process away

until it's luscious and lush

and creamy and satiny and velvety.

Yes!  

All those things! 

 

This is intense. 

Cook sauce in pot for a few minutes until nice and warm.

Add cooked fettuccini and stir to coat. 

 

And this is the only picture of the fettuccini and sauce that I have because I was cooking about 1/2 dozen different things to present to my guests and I didn't want to be intrusive with my camera and have them wonder why in the world I was taking pictures of their lunch.

 

Soooo,  I had some of the sauce leftover and I made more green noodles.

Here we have cavatappi pasta.  They're like spiraled elbows, relatively thick with ridges, which make them perfect for carrying a lush sauce like this pesto. 

 Then I cooked a batch of farfalle pasta.  The name comes from the Italian for butterflies.  I added that to the cavatappi.

 

 

And I've been calling them "bow ties" all this time.

"Butterflies" is so much more fun! 

 

   

 

This was a hit.