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Lobster Puttanesca

February 16, 2011 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 21 comments

Also known as a meal I magically threw together using only ingredients we already had in the house. While I spent last weekend out of town visiting my family, my husband spent the weekend working 15 hour days until he finally got to come home at 1:15 am on Monday. Needless to say, neither of us got to the grocery store this weekend, and coming up with a delicious meal became a daunting task.

Trader Joe's cappellini

Luckily, we always have some sort of random items in the cabinets and freezer. I started with a half package of Trader Joe’s cappellini. I love super thin pasta, and this one is a bargain. It really does cook in three minutes, as the package promises.

I busted out a can of black olives, also from Trader Joe’s. Canned black olives might not be the most highbrow menu item, but I really like them. I used half the can in my sauce and the other half as my snack while I patiently waited for the husband to get home Smile

black olives

I had some jarred capers left over from many months ago. They were still good!

capers

And I had the last of my gift from the Muir Glen tomato dinner, their super fancy Meridian Ruby Reserve tomatoes. I can’t wait to order some more Muir Glen products. Their tomatoes are truly superior.

Muir Glen Meridien Ruby Tomatoes

To make a nice puttanesca-style sauce, I added five chopped cloves or garlic to some olive oil and started the garlic cooking until it sizzled. I then added the chopped olives, capers, more olive oil, and the tomatoes, liquid and all.

puttanesca

I let the mixture simmer, added some garlic powder and crushed red pepper flakes, then got started steaming some lobster tails I have had in the freezer for awhile. My mom really spoils me with all sorts of food items when I go home! Smile

lobster tails

Steaming the lobsters was quick and easy, as was cutting the shells, removing the meat, and cleaning out the vein. I was left with sweet lobster meat which tasted freshly caught.

lobster meat

I boiled the pasta and at the very last minute, I added the hot pasta and the chopped lobster to the sauce. I didn’t want the lobster to cook any more as I did not want it to get tough. Mixing it with hot pasta and hot sauce made it the perfect temperature while leaving it nice and tender.

lobster puttanesca

Not too bad for someone who had NO clue what dinner was going to be at 5:00 last night!

Canned tomatoes and pasta are must-haves in my pantry. What do you always have on hand?

Tags: canned tomatoes, capers, easy recipes, Food, garlic, lobster, Meridian Ruby tomatoes, Muir Glen, olives, pasta, puttanesca, quick meals, recipe, spaghetti, tomatoes

Maple Yogurt Pound Cake

February 16, 2011 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 14 comments

Thank you for all of the comments on my new blog design! Have you entered the blog redesign giveaway? I am really excited about it, so please do check it out!

I have been trying to bake once a week, and with an abundance of fresh maple syrup from Trader Joe’s and some from my aunt in Vermont, I decided on a Maple Yogurt Pound Cake from the site Not Derby Pie.

Maple Yogurt Pound Cake

The pound cake consists of only a few ingredients with yogurt and maple syrup being front and center. I absolutely positively love using Fage 2% Greek yogurt for everything from breakfast to dips, as a substitute for sour cream, and in baking. It is amazing, and every time I eat it again, I remember that no other Greek yogurt measures up for me.

maple syrup

Mixing up this cake was kind of fun. All of the wet ingredients, except for the oil, went together at once. And when I added the dry ingredients, the batter got REALLY thick.

whisk the eggs

maple syrup

I tried to get a good photo of the maple syrup without my hand, but I couldn’t. I just love the amber color of maple syrup.

maple syrup

Stirring the oil in last was part of the recipe instructions, and because the batter was so thick, it gave me quite the workout!

maple pound cake batter

My one and only loaf pan was occupied with green meatloaf leftovers, so I had to use a pie plate instead for the cake. The batter fit perfectly.

maple yogurt pound cake

In the end, this cake smelled SO good cooking, and it turned out of the pan so easily, thanks to the generous amount of butter I used to grease the pan. Considering most of my baking adventures end with something stuck in a pan, I am happy with this.

The flavors of the cake are great, but when we ate it last night, it was a bit dry. I had a glass of milk with it, but I am wondering if some sort of glaze or frosting might help make it less dry? I wouldn’t want anything too sweet because I do love the maple and vanilla flavors in this cake.

Any thoughts on how to jazz up a dry cake? Have you ever gone to Vermont during maple syrup season to harvest syrup and eat pancakes and do all sorts of fun outdoor things? I have always wanted to do this, but our schedule never seems to match up with the harvest.

Recipe from Not Derby Pie

Maple Yogurt Cake
inspired by Bon Appetit

1/2 cup maple syrup, preferably grade B
3/4 cup yogurt
1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup oil

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Generously butter 8 1/2×4 1/2×2 1/2-inch metal loaf pan.

Combine syrup, yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest. Stir or whisk to combine. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to wet ingredients and stir to incorporate. Add oil, and fold gradually until oil absorbs into the batter.

Place cake on baking sheet in oven and bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on rack 5 minutes. Cut around pan sides to loosen cake. Turn cake out onto rack. Turn cake upright on rack and cool completely. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap and store at room temperature.)

Tags: baking, cake, Food, maple syrup, maple syrup pound cake, recipe, yogurt

Green Meatloaf

February 14, 2011 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 11 comments

Happy Valentine’s Day! Do you have any fun plans for the day/evening? Due to my being away and my husband’s gazillion hours of work this weekend, our plans are still up in the air, but I am sure we will think of something!

Last night’s dinner, inspired by recent recipes on Alicia’s and Emily’s websites, looked a little more like something you would serve on St. Patrick’s Day, and with Valentine’s Day on its way out, green is where it is at.

I usually make meatloaf several times over the course of the winter; during the last Presidential primaries, meatloaf became a good luck charm when we ate it on the evening our candidate won several states. Following that, I made meatloaf on the evening of all big primaries.

I returned from visiting my family in NJ craving some comfort food as I was missing them and had a harrowing drive back that included a warning from a state trooper. I was also intensely craving greens, and thus green meatloaf was born.

spinach meatloaf ingredients

The ingredients were few: 1/4 onion, chopped, three cups of spinach chopped, a container of ground turkey, one egg, a drop of ketchup, some ground pepper, and salt.

I started with my favorite kitchen tool, these salad shears from the Foodbuzz Festival swag bag. With these my spinach was chopped into tiny pieces in no time, ready to be quickly sautéed with the onion in a bit of oil.

salad shears

chopped spinach

I cooked the spinach down just a bit, then cooled it while I mixed the ground turkey with the egg, pepper, and salt. I then folded in the spinach.

spinach meatloaf

When everything was well blended, I placed it in a loaf pan to cook at 375 until the meat was cooked through. I pondered using a muffin tin to make mini meatloafs, but I envisioned meatloaf sandwiches and went with the loaf pan instead.

spinach meatloaf

About 20 minutes in to cooking, I drained off some liquid from the meatloaf to make sure it cooked up nice and brown. Then I started on the sauce.

Muir Glen was so incredibly generous last month, and I am still reaping the rewards of attending their dinner at Garden at the Cellar.

image

I added a can of the Muir Glen organic tomato sauce to the pan that the spinach was cooked in, then added a pinch of red pepper flakes and some garlic powder.

Muir Glen tomato sauce

When the meatloaf was done, I cut it into slices, topped with tomato sauce, and served with my incredibly easy and delicious mashed potatoes.

spinach meatloaf

Just a bunch of potatoes, boiled until soft, drained and mixed with Kerrygold and skim milk, mashed until creamy.

mashed potatoes

Does it get any more comforting than meatloaf and mashed potatoes?

meatloaf and mashed potatoes

I’ll be tucking this recipe away and making it again in the very near future, maybe as part of our St. Patrick’s Day feast. Speaking of St. Patrick’s Day, my birthday falls on the same day as the Boston parade this year, what should I do?!

Tags: comfort food, dinner, Food, health, healthy healthy recipes, mashed potatoes, meatloaf, Muir Glen, recipe, recipes, spinach, tomato sauce, turkey

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