Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

You can gather, from my previous post, that we have been eating well lately. . . . almost too well.   That is why, that on occasion, I have to step away from those dishes redolent with fat, calories and sugar.  It is my cleanse so to speak.  I was reading one of my DIL’s Nutrition Newsletters recently and it was recommended that people in my age group (he-hem) should strive for 11 servings of fruits and vegetables a day.  Eleven, really?  That is 3 servings per meal, plus 2 snacks.  I am not sure that I can reach that goal, but it has made me think more seriously about the choices that I make.

One of the soups that makes me feel virtuous, is this recipe from Cooking Light.  It is full of vegies like carrots, celery, onions and spinach.  It is easy to prepare, especially when you use a rotisserie chicken and it is tasty and good for you.  The orzo pasta adds just the right amount of noodle feel to the mix.  What more could you want for an easy fix to the “I’ve overdone it blues”?  To your health.  Enjoy.
CHICKEN AND ORZO SOUP

• 1 (32-ounce) container fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth, divided
• 1/2 cup uncooked orzo
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2/3 cup coarsely chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped celery
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 3/4 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes ( Or meat from a rotisserie chicken) 
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 3 fresh parsley sprigs
• 1 fresh thyme sprig
• 4 cups fresh baby spinach
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation

1. 1. Bring 1 3/4 cups broth to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add orzo; cook 10 minutes or until done.
2. 2. While orzo cooks, heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add carrot, celery, onion, and chicken; cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in remaining 2 1/4 cups broth, 1 1/4 cups water, parsley, and thyme; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Discard herb sprigs. Add orzo, spinach, juice, salt, and pepper; simmer 1 minute.

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We recently spent a wonderful afternoon and evening with one of my favorite bloggers.  Sam of My Carolina Kitchen, her husband Meakin, and his brother Stuart and his wife Sandy journeyed from Murphy, NC to Asheville for an evening of dining at one of their favorite restaurants, Rezaz.  They asked us to join them at The Chef’s Table for a 5 course Provencal dinner.  There will be more about our evening in my next post.  Since they had not been to Lake Lure before, David and I invited them over for hors d’oeuvres and an afternoon on the lake.

I attempted to keep the appetizers light in anticipation of our full dinner.  We served a French Rose wine to keep the French theme going.  I served a simple platter of peppered dry-aged salami with hot house cucumbers, this red pepper cheesecake with crackers and grapes, and these mini quiches.  I had been wanting to make these mini-quiches for a long time.  They proved to be very easy to assemble.  Many of the steps can be done ahead of time.  Both the crust and filling have aged white cheddar cheese.  The leek and sweet pepper filling was a perfect choice.

The recipe was adapted from Williams-Sonoma’s Hors D’Oeuvre Cookbook.  I think my mini-muffin pan had larger circumference holes than what the recipe called for.  Mine measured 2-inches and I used a 2 1/2-inch biscuits cutter to cut out the pastry rounds.  Just measure what you have and cut the rounds 1/2-inch larger.  Also I had leftover pastry and filling because I made only 24 quiches.  I plan to make these again and plan to get creative with the filling.

We enjoyed spending time with the Hoffers and I can hardly wait to tell you about our dinner.  I know Sam will be posting about it also.

Here is a preview of the ambiance for the 5 course French dinner at the Chef’s Table at Rezaz.

LEEK AND SWEET PEPPER MINI-QUICHES

Cheddar Pastry:
1/4 pound white Cheddar cheese, cut into small chunks
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg
2 tablespoons cold water

In a food processor, pulse the cheddar cheese chunks until crumbly.  Add the flour and salt.  Pulse until cheese is finely crumbled.  Add the cold butter pieces and pulse until it resembles fluffy bread crumbs.  Drizzle 1 lightly beaten egg over mixture and pulse twice.  Scrape down bowl sides.  Sprinkle 2 tablespoons cold water over the mixture and pulse until a rough mass forms.  If the mixture doesn’t come together, add another tablespoon of water.

For the Filling:
1 1/2 tablespoon butter
1 leek, white part only, or 2 large shallots, finely chopped
1/2 small red or green bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/4 pound dry-aged white cheddar cheese, grated
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
3/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Place the Cheddar pastry on a lightly floured work surface and shape into a smooth ball.  Divide in half.  Roll out half into a large round 1/8-inch thick, pushing the dough outward from the center and rotating it about a quarter turn each time you roll, sprinkling more flour underneath as needed.  Using a 2 to 2 1/2-inch cookie cutter, cut out as many pastry rounds as possible and ease them very gently into the cups of a mini-muffin pan.  Gather up the scraps, reroll, cut out additional rounds, and line additional cups.  Repeat with the remaining dough half, working in batches if necessary.  You should have 48 lined cups in all.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  In a small saute pan over medium-low heat, melt the butter.  Add the leek and saute gently, stirring occasionally, until it is tender but not browned, about 5 minutes.  In a bowl, combine the leek, bell pepper and cheese.  In another bowl or large measuring cup, whisk the eggs until they are blended, then whisk in the cream, mustard, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and cayenne.  Add the egg mixture to the cheese mixture and whisk to combine.  Pour 1 tablespoon of the filling into each of the pastry shells, evenly distributing the solids and liquid.

Bake the quiches until they are puffy and golden brown, about 20 minutes.  Transfer to a rack to cool for 5-10 minutes (they will sink a little as they cool).  To loosen them from the muffin cups, run a then-bladed knife around the sides, then carefully lift out of the cups.  (At this point, you can allow them to cool for an hour o two, and then reheat them in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.  They will not be as as crisp, however.)  Arrange on a platter and serve.

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I am fighting deadlines right now.  As much as I love having company, I still have lots to do to get ready for everyone.  We have our dear high school friends coming for a visit this weekend; three guys and their wives who were David’s classmates.  I have been baking, shopping and cleaning; the usual preparation for visitors.  Yesterday was a particularly long day.  I was trying to clean out the refrigerator to make room for my latest purchases and found a large plastic box of baby arugula that I bought last week and promptly forgot about.  Raiding the pantry and fridge, I came up with this delightful salad.

This salad was so easy to pull together and was a refreshing dish to have on a warm evening.  I served it with simple sauteed chicken cutlets.  It was one of those nights when I just needed to be alone in the kitchen to make some order out of the chaos that I had created from my cooking and shopping frenzy.

Having such a lovely dish helped to calm my jangled nerves.  Cooking really is therapy for me.  We are looking forward to seeing everyone again.  We were all together last in Nantucket which I blogged about here.  Moses and Maryanne took such good care of us that we are hoping to do the same for them in Lake Lure.

ISRAELI COUSCOUS AND ARUGULA SALAD (Adapted from Guy Fieri)

1 1/2 cups Israeli (pearl) couscous
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
Kosher salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 red or green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 red onion, diced
2 cups baby arugula

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add couscous and cook 8 to 10 minutes, until couscous has puffed up and is cooked through to the center. Drain and allow to cool. Transfer to a large bowl.

Prepare dressing by whisking together the lemon juice and mustard while drizzling in the olive oil. Once slightly emulsified, stir in pepper flakes and season with salt and cracked black pepper.

Toss the tomatoes, cranberries, red bell pepper, onion and arugula with the couscous. Pour the dressing over top. Season with salt and pepper to taste and toss to the combine.

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We had a wonderful evening on the lake with our dear friends Penny of The Comforts of Home and her hubby.  The weather was near perfect and I had an easy meal planned.  David had made smoked shrimp on the grill as an appetizer before we hit the water.  Unfortunately I did not get a picture of them or any part of the meal that followed the boat ride.

The lake is magical in the evening. It is true what they say about clouds having a silver lining.  When the sun is going down, sometimes this awesome phenomenon occurs.  Lake pictures courtesy of Penny.

We headed back to the cottage before it got dark and had dinner on the porch with lively conversations and good cheer.  It was a lovely evening.

I photographed the chocolate cassis cake this morning.  Chocolate Cassis Cake is an Ina Garten recipe.  It is a decadent flourless cake that incorporates creme de cassis, a black current liqueur.  Sam of My Carolina Kitchen has also made this cake.  Her pictures are heavenly.

Penny brought me a jar of fresh herbs from her garden.  I will make good use of them.  This cake is worthy of a celebration amongst friends.

CHOCOLATE CASSIS CAKE  (The Barefoot Contessa)

For the cake:
Baking spray with flour, such as Baker’s Joy
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
6 tablespoons crème de cassis liqueur
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
5 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

For the glaze:
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 to 3 tablespoons crème de cassis liqueur
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

To serve:
2 (1/2 pint) boxes fresh raspberries
1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and thickly sliced
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons crème de cassis liqueur

For the cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch round spring form pan with baking spray. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and spray it again with baking spray.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes. Whisk in the cocoa powder, flour, cassis, and vanilla and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (you can also use a hand mixer), beat the eggs, sugar, and salt on high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until pale yellow and triple in volume. Pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and carefully but thoroughly fold them together with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until just barely set in the center. Allow to cool in the pan for 30 minutes and then release the sides of the pan. Invert the cake carefully onto a flat serving plate, remove the parchment paper, and cool completely.

For the glaze, melt the chocolate and cream together in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until smooth. Off the heat, whisk in the cassis and vanilla. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and spread over just the top of the cake.

Fifteen minutes before serving, toss the berries gently with the sugar and cassis. Cut the cake in wedges and serve with the berries on the side.

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After spending a few days in a kitchen that left a lot to be desired, it is good to be home in my own efficient kitchen.  I was in the mood for a quiet afternoon of slow cooking.  I love breaking a recipe down and doing all of the prep work, so that I have my mise en place; little bowls of chopped vegetables, meat and herbs.  It is relaxing to chop meat, carrots, onions, garlic and herbs.  At least that is my take on cooking.  Some would find it a chore, but the precision of getting everything ready to cook is therapeutic to me.  It must have something to do with my need to be in control.  Once the grunt work is done, the cooking is a breeze.  Because the weather had been dreary (better now), I felt like a hearty,but not too heavy, stew.

This chicken and andouille sausage stew is not difficult.  The cooking time is not long, so it is an easy week night meal if you do a little prep ahead of time.  The original recipe came from Bon Appetit Magazine but I have adapted it to my own taste.  It was suggested that it be served with pasta, but I liked it better with a bed of rice.  Using boneless chicken thighs and flavorful andouille sausage assures a succulent kick to the chunky carrots and diced tomatoes. The Ragu even improves with a rest in the refrigerator overnight.  I will be adding this to my go-to recipes.

Enjoy with a Rioja, Syrah or any medium-bodied red wine.

CHICKEN AND ANDOUILLE SAUSAGE RAGU’

6 Boneless, skinless chicken thighs, each cut into 3 pieces longwise
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 andouille sausages or fully cooked spicy smoked sausage, cut into 1/2-inch rounds
2 large carrots, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 large onion, chopped
1/4 cup mixed herbs, chopped (I used rosemary, sage, parsley and thyme naturally, it was what I had.)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel, from one whole lemon
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 (14 1/2 oz can)  fire-roasted diced tomatoes in juice
1 cup low-salt chicken broth

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat.  Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.  Working in batches, saute in pot until brown, about 6 minutes per batch.  Transfer to bowl.  Add sausage to pot and saute until brown, about 5 minutes.  Using slotted spoon, transfer to bowl with chicken.  Add carrots and onions to pot and saute until onions are tender and golden, about 10 minutes.  Stir in herbs, garlic, lemon peel, and crushed red pepper; saute 2 minutes.  Add wine and boil until reduced by half, about 3 minutes.  Stir in tomatoes with juices and broth; bring to boil.  Add chicken and sausage and any accumulated juices from bowl.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes.

Using slotted spoon, transfer chicken and sausage to bowl.  Boil liquid in pot until reduce, about 20 minutes.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Return chicken and sausage to pot.  Spoon ragu over rice or pasta.

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