Monday, May 30, 2011

Greek Salad Sandwich

Saw this sandwich over at Debbie's blog, Mountain Breaths, and I knew this was for me. I used store bought hummus, but would love to try it next time with the homemade. I was making some variation of this sandwich no matter because it just sounded so good to me. So I used fresh zucchini instead of cucumbers, It was really good. Too bad the picky people I live with would never try feta. Their loss. They do eat hummus though, so maybe I will be nice and make one of these for them, minus the feta. If I decide to be nice :)




Greek Salad Sandwich
Martha Stewart Everyday Food, March 2011
Source: Debbie @ Mountain Breaths
Adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook

hummus:
1 cup canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
extra-virgin olive oil
small clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
or you can use store bought hummus

1/2 of a small red onion
Greek salad dressing, or use red wine vinegar, oil, and any herbs you like
coarse salt
ground pepper
3 oz. crumbled feta
8 slices rustic bread or pita's
1/2 medium cucumber, thinly sliced
1 tomato, thinly sliced
chopped kalamata olives

In a food processor pulse the chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice and 1 tablespoon olive oil until finely chopped.  Season with salt and pepper. Or cheat and use store bought hummus!

In a small bowl, toss the red onion with enough dressing until it's all coated. Set aside.

In another small bowl, mash the feta with 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Brush all slices of bread with the dressing. On 4 of the slices, spread chickpea mixture. Top with the cucumber, tomato and onion.  Season with salt and pepper. Spread the feta mixture on the remaining 4 slices of bread and place on top of the sandwiches.

Be sure to check out Gnoe at Graasland  for the June edition of "Whip Up Something New!"




Sunday, May 29, 2011

Wildflower Cards!

Someone gave my daughter these cards to plant the other day! They'll turn into lovely wildflowers. Hopefully. My thumb isn't the greenest but it seemed like a cool thing. The seeds are embedded in the cards. You tear the cards, I had to cut, I couldn't tear it, and then you plant them in the ground, and water well. And maybe, just maybe, in a few weeks we'll have a mosaic of beautiful wild flowers.





For more mosaics, stop by the Little Red House for Mosaic Monday
 

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Best Breakfast Eggs!

Jamie Oliver said "forget coffee, a little gnaw of chili in the morning will wake you up!" and boy, was he right. I'm up! I'm wide awake! But I still needed my coffee. Jamie called these Beautiful Breakfast Tortilla's, I'd call them Best Breakfast Eggs. These were really the best! Not to mention quick and very easy. Nice way to start the day. Now if I could get someone else to do the dishes and wash the pans I'd be all set.




Beautiful Breakfast Tortillas
Source: Jamie's America by Jamie Oliver, you can find the original recipe here and watch him make it!
adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipe

1 ripe avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and diced
2 limes
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 medium-sized tomato halved and diced
1 fresh green chile, seeded and minced (I used pickled jalapeno rings, chopped)
a small bunch of fresh cilantro, leaves picked and chopped
a handful of freshly grated Manchego or Cheddar cheese
4 corn or flour tortillas (I used flour)
6 large eggs
3 scallions, trimmed and sliced very thin
a good pat of butter
chile sauce (as hot as you want!), to serve (I used Sriracha)

Mix the avocado with the juice of 1 lime and a good pinch of salt and pepper, and put aside. Arrange the tomato, chile, cilantro leaves, and grated cheese on a plate, to top eggs after they cook.

Reheat the tortillas in a hot dry pan for about 20 seconds on each side until warmed through. Wrap them in aluminum foil to keep them warm while you start the eggs.

Beat the eggs in a bowl with the minced scallions and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Melt the butter in a large frying pan on a medium heat and pour in the eggs. Lightly tip the pan as the eggs cook, and when you see a layer forming on the bottom of the pan, sweep a rubber spatula around so you large pieces of cooked egg surrounded by the custardy egg. Stir gently, keep an eye on it for a minute or so until the eggs are starting to scramble but are still loose, remove from heat and gently stir again. The eggs should be loose, do not overcook!

Get 2 plates and lay a warm tortilla on each one. Divide the scrambled egg between them, top with the chopped tomato, avocado, and chile. Sprinkle the cilantro and grated cheese on top. Lay another tortilla on top, and drizzle over some chile sauce. Cut your remaining lime into wedges to squeeze over the dish and serve.


There's a Jamie Oliver party going on at I Heart Cooking Clubs. This time it's Mad about Herbs! Stop by and see what's cooking!

IHCCJamieOliver


And see what's cooking this weekend over at Beth at Beth Fish Reads for her Weekend Cooking Party. Every weekend. It's open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share!






Be sure to check out Kristi loves Books for the May edition of "Whip Up Something New!"


*** I think Blogger is still having some issues, so if you can't comment, you can always email and let me know. It's been intermittent on some blogs the past few days. You may want to occasionally check this link...
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THANKS!

also joining 


 

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Grilled Steak with Mushroom Ragoût

Steak and mushrooms. Perfect together.


My ragout came out looking a lot like soup! But it was great with the steaks. Would also be nice over rice or egg noodles. My kids thought it would be good served as soup, too! Maybe next time I'd just dice up the steak and call it Steak and Mushroom Soup. I think I will.

Being as brilliant as I am, I forgot I had ordered a nice size bag of dried porcini mushrooms from the Spice House a while back. So I ordered a big bag of porcini bits and pieces from Amazon. So wouldn't you know I found the first bag when I was looking in the pantry for the second. We'll be eating a lot of mushroom dishes in the coming months. Maybe even years, these are pretty big bags.




Grilled Shell Steaks with Mushroom Ragoût
Source: Gourmet, December 1997 (highly recommended by my friend, San)
Adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipe

1 1/2 pounds fresh white mushrooms and cremini (baby bella's)
1 pound fresh exotic mushrooms such as porcini, chanterelles, or Portobellos (I used a mix of dried chanterelles and porcini, soaked in warm water to cover, for 30 minutes and used some of the mushroom broth in the ragoût)
1/2 pound shallots
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons Cognac or brandy
1/2 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon paprika (preferably mild Hungarian)
1/2 cup packed fresh flat-leafed parsley leaves
2/3 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

Cut white mushrooms lengthwise into 1/2-inch wedges and chop the exotic mushrooms. Finely chop shallots.

In a deep 12-inch heavy skillet cook shallots in butter over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Add Cognac and cook over moderate heat, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, 2 minutes. Add the mushroom broth,chicken broth, heavy cream, paprika, and salt and pepper and simmer, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced to about 1 1/2 cups, 12 to 15 minutes. (Ragoût may be made up to this point 1 day ahead and cooled completely before being chilled, covered. Reheat ragoût before proceeding.) Mince parsley. Remove skillet from heat and stir in parsley and sour cream. Heat ragout over moderate heat, stirring, until hot, do not let it boil.



Sunday, May 22, 2011

Mosaic Monday: Thyme!

There's Always Thyme...


Common Thyme and Silver Thyme




For more mosaics, stop by the Little Red House for Mosaic Monday


Friday, May 20, 2011

Lamb Chops with Lemon Sauce

This was fantastic, it really was. If you like lemon. and if you like lamb. Couldn't decide which recipe of two to make, so I combined them to make one fantastic dinner.
This was outstanding, it really was. And armed with his new and trusty instant thermometer, the Griller grilled to perfection. Medium-rare, he doesn't grill without it now. Before thermometer we had partly charred and completely charred. Now we have perfection. Most of the time.




Lamb Chops with Lemon Sauce (Ladolemono)
Source: Michael Psilakis - Food and Wine, August 2010 AND Michael Symon - Epicurious
adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipe

24 baby lamb chops or 12 larger lamb chops

For Sauce:
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 tablespoon dried Greek oregano
about 3 or 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For Marinade:
3 large shallots, minced
6 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
6 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
6 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon sugar
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel
salt and pepper, to taste

For Sauce: In a bowl, whisk the lemon juice with the mustard, oregano and the olive oil. Season the sauce with salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.

For Marinade: In a food processor or blender, whiz the shallots, mint, oregano, garlic, sugar, oil, lemon juice, zest, salt and pepper together.

Pour the marinade into a large ziploc bag, or in a baking dish. Put the lamb chops in the bag, zip it closed and shake to cover the chops with the marinade. Refrigerate for at least an hour or more, shaking the bag occasionally. If using a dish, turn the chops over after about 30 minutes.

Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, and lemon peel in small bowl until slightly thickened and well blended. Season lightly with salt and generously with freshly ground black pepper. Spoon oil mixture lightly over chops. Turn chops over and spoon remaining oil mixture over. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour.

Grill over medium-high heat until nicely done on the outside and medium-rare inside. Transfer the chops to a platter and drizzle with the ladolemono. Sprinkle with the parsley and mint and serve.

Grill lamb chops over medium-high heat to desired doneness, about 3 - 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer lamb chops to a platter and drizzle with the lemon sauce. Garnish with fresh oregano sprigs (parsley or mint) and serve.


Joining Beth at Beth Fish Reads for her fun Weekend Cooking Party. Every weekend. It's open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share! Go on over and see some fun posts.







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