Something's fishy with Jamie Oliver

I Heart Cooking Clubs is cooking with Jamie Oliver and this time something's fishy! Not the easiest theme for my family. Fish doesn't always go over well with them. So I didn't even try. This time I made something I knew I would like, and the big kid might like it, too.

SQUID!  

Before you say ewwww, I was also in that camp, the one where I thought squid and calamari was disgusting. Disgusting until one day I developed a shellfish allergy. And no more linguine with clam sauce, no more oysters, scallops, crab or shrimp. Nothing alarming at first, a few hives. Didn't think twice. But by the third and fourth time I was covered. Squid became a necessity for someone who absolutely loves most shellfish. Raw, cooked, it's the one thing I miss. Linguine with white clam sauce and a side of Benadryl? Not a chance. So for now I am stuck with squid, and it turns out, I really like it. Which surprised me. And I loved this recipe. Chargrilled squid with the guacamole! Great recipe, me and the big kid really enjoyed it. I used the grill pan, talk about smoke. Smoking hot. And smoke alarms! But then the smoke cleared, the calamari was done, and all in all, it was a very good dish. I put in on top if some baby arugula. Topped with some chopped tomatoes, pickled jalapeno's and a squeeze of lime.

So thanks, Jamie Oliver, maybe one day I will outgrow this allergy and I can try one of your delicious shrimp dishes next. In the meantime, I will be making this one again.

Chargrilled Squid with Rustic Guacamole
Source: Jamie Oliver, original recipe found @ JamieOliver.com
adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipe

4 squid tubes, cleaned and kept whole, and tentacles
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1/2 a lime

Guacamole:
2 very ripe avocados
1-2 fresh red chillies, chopped fine
a few sprigs fresh cilantro, chopped fine
1/2 a red onion, peeled and chopped fine
1 tomato, chopped
juice of 2 limes

Guacamole: Squeeze the avocados out of their skins into a bowl, removing the pits. Add most of the chilli and cilantro, the onion, tomato and lime juice. Mix everything up with a spoon, breaking up any bigger bits of avocado as you go. Taste for seasoning; and season with salt and pepper if needed.

Put a griddle pan on a high heat to get nice and hot. There are two ways to prepare squid – choose whichever you prefer, or do both to get a feel for it. For both methods put the tentacles aside. The first way is to place a knife inside the tube and lay it on your chopping board, then score across the squid at 1/2 inch intervals with a small sharp knife. The knife inside will prevent you from cutting all the way through so you’ll be left with ‘concertina’ squid. This method lets heat and flavors in and looks good. The second way is to put the knife in the tube and cut through the side, open it out then lightly score every 1/2 inch in a criss-cross fashion with a blunt knife. This means the squid will curl up and absorb extra flavor.  (I did the second method)

Season the squid with a pinch of salt and pepper and drizzle with a little olive oil then toss to coat. Add it to the screaming hot griddle, scored-side down, for 1 to 2 minutes (you may need to do this in batches). Use tongs to turn the squid over once it has nice char marks. Give it a minute on the other side until it curls up then immediately transfer to a bowl and hit it with a bit of extra virgin olive oil, the lime juice and another small pinch of salt and pepper. The legs can stay on the griddle for a bit longer to get crispy.

Spoon the guacamole onto a platter. Cut the legs up a bit and add to the bowl of dressed squid. Cut the concertina and scored squid into bite-sized chunks. Pile the squid over the guacamole and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil. Scatter over the reserved cilantro and chilli then tuck in.

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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!"

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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.

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Grilled Salt and Pepper Chicken

This was so simple. Two ingredients. Three if you count the chicken.

 and it was so good! It was so simple I thought it would be just fine, but it was better than just fine, it was outstanding. It really surprised us just how good it was.

Grilled Salt and Pepper Chicken
Source: original recipe can be found at Martha Stewart online
adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipe

1 tablespoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 whole chicken (3 to 4 pounds), quartered, rinsed, and patted dry (or use parts - I used legs and thighs, and removed the skin!)

Preheat grill to medium-high.

Combine salt and pepper. Rub chicken with mixture, covering all sides and shaking off excess. (You may not need all of the mixture.) Or put the mixture in a ziploc with the chicken and shake it all up. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.
 
Place chicken on grill, skin side down. Close cover, and grill 8 minutes. Flip chicken, and close cover. Grill until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes more.

Transfer chicken to a plate, and let rest 15 minutes.

Notes: I pre-cooked the chicken in the oven, 350 degrees F in the oven for about 45 minutes, then we finished on the grill.

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An Arby's clone?

You always want what you can't have and when the last Arby's closed here years ago, I really missed  those beefy cheddar sandwiches on the squishy onion rolls. Never mind that it's the usual fast food and that I really love junk food on occasion. Whenever we went out of state and saw an Arby's we stopped for me to get just one Beef n Cheddar, just one. One stop can fill a two year craving. A friend was once so nice to schlep them all the way from Arizona, except she forgot to put the ice packs in the bag, needless to say, I never did eat those. Then my friend Cindy mentioned she found an Arby's clone sauce. So I had to try. I even had the cheese that would liquefy in the micro from the last attempt at mac n cheese. And it was good. A nice, gooey, squishy sandwich. Very close. Good bye craving! Now I'm good for another few years :)

Y

Beef n Cheddar Arby's Clone
Source: from Cindy5_NY and the Internet under Arby Clones
adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipe

Arby's Horsey Sauce
1 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons bottled horseradish cream sauce
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Mix all well. Keep refrigerated, tightly covered. Will keep up to 2 weeks.

Arby's BBQ Sauce
1 cup ketchup
2 teaspoons water
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco (or other hot sauce)

Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat,
stirring constantly, until the sauce begins to boil. About 5-8 minutes.

Remove the sauce from the heat. Cover and allow to cool.

Pour into a covered container for refrigerator storage (keeps 4-6 weeks).

To make the sandwich you need:
soft onion rolls
roast beef, sliced thin
Velveeta cheese product
Arby's sauces

Spread whichever sauces you like on the onion roll, top with some roast beef slice, add the cheese, I like mine with just BBQ sauce and a lot of cheese. Put some BBQ sauce on the other slice of the roll and nuke in the microwave for about a minute, until the cheese is all melted.

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Tuscan Chicken

Nice change from the Chicken Marsala we usually have for dinner. This one originally didn't have mushrooms, but we like them so I add them to just about every dish I can. The sauce went really well with the mashed potatoes and the string beans. This one's a keeper!

Tuscan Chicken
Source: Rachael Ray, 30-minute Meals
adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipe

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 1/2 pounds chicken breast tenderloins
salt and pepper
extra-virgin olive oil, for the pan
4 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons butter
2 shallots, chopped
8-oz sliced, cremini or white mushrooms
6 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup beef broth, 1 cup chicken broth

Heat a large, deep skillet over medium high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, half the chicken pieces, and a couple of crushed cloves of garlic.

Brown chicken a few minutes on each side and remove from pan. Add more oil, then add the remaining chicken pieces and garlic. Brown chicken a few minutes on each side and remove. Add vinegar to the pan. Let it cook off.

Add butter, mushrooms, shallots, and rosemary to the pan and cook a few minutes, add flour and cook for another minute. Whisk in wine, reduce for another minute or two. Whisk in broth and bring liquids up to a bubble. Return chicken to the pan and simmer over moderate heat, about 10 minutes more, or until the chicken is cooked through. Serve.

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Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti with Lemon Garlic Sauce

We're on a spaghetti squash kick! We like it a lot, so I've been trying to find new recipes instead of the same old with it.  So when Joanne @ Eats Well With Others posted a Spaghetti Squash with Spaghetti recipe, I knew it would be on our table!  Not to mention it had fresh lemon, garlic and ricotta. We're in!

Thanks, Joanne, this one's a keeper. Check out Joanne's blog, Eats Well with Others, so many fantastic recipes and her writing will bring a smile to your face, she's very funny! So thanks Joanne, we loved this one!

Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti with Lemon Garlic Sauce and Ricotta
Source: Joanne @ Eats Well with Others
Adapted by There's Always Thyme to CookPrintable Recipe

1 spaghetti squash, about 4 lb
half box of spaghetti, whole wheat, enriched or whatever you like
4 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese (more or less to taste)
1 cup ricotta (I used part-skim)
Parmesan, for serving

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Slice the squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Place cut side down on a baking sheet.  Fill halfway with water.  Roast for 45 minutes to an hour or until squash is fork tender.  Set aside and let cool for 5-10 minutes. Or you can also microwave it. Just cut squash in half lengthwise; remove seeds. Place squash cut sides up in a microwave dish with 1/4 cup water. Cover and cook on high for about 15 minutes, more or less, depending on size of squash. Add more cooking time if necessary. Let stand covered, for 5 minutes. It will be very hot, be careful!  Let cool a bit. With a fork pull out and separate the strands.

Set a pot of water to boil for the spaghetti.

Saute the garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil over low heat until tender and fragrant.  Add the lemon peel and saute for a minute or two.  Add olive oil, lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Whisk and bring to a simmer for 2-3 minutes.  Add butter and bring back up to a simmer.  Remove from heat.  Whisk in basil.  Season to taste.

When the squash is done, turn it cut side up on a cutting board and run a fork through its flesh to create spaghetti strands.  Use a spoon to scoop out the strands into a large bowl.  Cook the spaghetti.  Toss with the spaghetti squash.  Pour the lemon sauce over the spaghetti/squash mixture and toss to coat.  Mix in about 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese.  Check seasoning and add, if necessary.

Scoop into four plates and top each with 1/4 cup dollop of ricotta.

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