Product Love: Meyer Lemon-Infused Olive Oil

I am a sucker for "specialty" items. Sigona's, our farmers' market here in Redwood City has recently installed an olive oil bar where you can sample all kinds of specialty olive oils. On a whim (and without trying it), I decided to buy a bottle of their EVOO (apologies to Rachael Ray) with meyer lemon infused. Oh my! It makes everything taste yummier. I looove anything lemony, so okay, the deck was stacked in my favor. But really, it adds just a slightly different dimension to everything.

Last week as a side dish with dinner, I had some orzo that I wanted to use up. So, I just mixed it with some pitted kalamata olives, some pitted green olives (I forget which variety -- it was something I picked up a the olive bar), some halved grape tomatoes, and drizzled it all with the meyer lemon olive oil.* What a fabulous little dish -- the little lemon kick turned it from just tasty to something that I want to remember to make again. Tonight, I used it with the arugula pesto I made.

The only problem is that it comes in a little bottle. I am going to have to stock up if I want to continue using it all the time.

*Note: I have made this dish again since I posted this, and I've added a finely diced large shallot to the ingredients. The shallot makes the flavor just a little more savory.

Clean Out the Fridge, Add Eggs, and Call it Frittata

Yesterday morning I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner. Wednesdays are busy with S's late afternoon swim class, so I knew it had to be quick and easy to make. I was too lazy this week to plan ahead, so when I came across a recipe for a frittata I knew I had my solution.

In addition to its speedy prep, the beauty of the frittata is that you can toss in just about anything in your refrigerator that you need to get rid of. So I went to the fridge and pulled out Italian sausage, blue potatoes, a leek, 1/2 a yellow onion, and some cheddar cheese. Oh, and of course eggs. 10 of them.

It came out really tasty. And pretty too. With the yellow from the eggs, the blue potatoes, the light green leeks, and the red from the sausage, it was definitely colorful. And my husband, to whom I've been married 8 years, and for whom I've made countless meals informed me last night that he loooves frittata. How is it that I am just learning this now? In fact, he claimed that his middle name is "frittata" (I thought it was James).

Anyway, you can make your own frittata with just about anything sitting in your fridge. Here's the recipe for mine.

Multi-colored Frittata
serves 4

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
2 hot Italian sausage links, casings removed and sliced into disks
1 leek, chopped (white and light green parts)
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
3 blue potatoes, skin removed, diced
Pepper and Kosher salt to taste
10 eggs, beaten
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

-- Preheat oven to 400
-- In a large ovenproof skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat
-- Saute leeks and onions until soft, about five minutes
-- Add potatoes, sausage, salt and pepper. Cook until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes
-- Add eggs to skillet, and mix around to distribute evenly
-- Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top of eggs
-- Bake in oven until eggs are puffed, edges start to brown, and eggs come clean on knife, about 15 minutes
-- Cut into wedges and serve

Sauteed Carrots with Mint and Shallots

Like most local newspapers, each week ours (The San Jose Mercury News) publishes a food and wine section. If I am not too bleary-eyed that morning to read the paper (it takes me a while for all my juices to get flowing in the morning), I like to scan the recipes. They generally include ideas for in-season produce or menus for approaching holidays. This week The Merc highlighted the Passover meal, and some of the dietary requirements and procedural rules of the seder. One of the recipes caught my eye: sauteed carrots with mint and shallots. Carrots are among the few vegetables that everyone in my family will eat willingly without me having to beg, wheedle or bribe. And, I've been looking for ways to cook them that don't involve brown sugar, syrup, or molasses. So, I tried it last night. The family's universal response: yum!


I followed the recipe as published by The Merc almost to a tee. The one addition I made was to toss a little fleur de sel on the carrots at the very end. I love the way this salt brightens up the flavors of vegetables and added a nice counterpoint to the sweet of the mint and the carrots.

Sauteed Carrots with Mint and Shallots
courtesy of The San Jose Mercury News, April 16, 2008
from Ronnie Fein's Hip Kosher, Da Capo Lifelong Books
serves 4

8 medium carrots, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices on the diagonal
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large shallots, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh mint
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

-- In medium saucepan, bring several inches of lightly salted water to simmer
-- Add the carrots, return to simmer and cook until carrots are tender but firm, about 5 minutes
-- Drain carrots under cold water and set aside
-- Place olive oil in large skillet over medium heat
-- Add shallots and saute 1 to 2 minutes, or until slightly softened
-- Add garlic and saute briefly
-- Add carrots, mint, salt and pepper. Saute about 2 minutes, or until carrots are hot and slightly crispy on surface.

A Perfect Dish for Delivery: Turkey and White Bean Chili

A common thing in mom communities is to bring dinner for families with new babies. So, when someone has a new baby, one friend makes a list of dates and circulates it among all the other friends. Each person signs up for a date and delivers dinner for the family. It's a really helpful thing for the new mom -- when my youngest was born, I had so many meals from my friends and the other moms at my daughter's preschool that didn't have to cook for more than a month! And if you're the one delivering the meal, you want it to be tasty, you want to appeal to all the members of the family (which generally includes toddlers or preschoolers who can be notoriously picky), and let's face it: you want it to be easy. Well, I've found one such recipe: Turkey and White Bean Chili.

I've made this a few times for other moms, and will probably be making it again this week for a meal that I am delivering on Friday. One of the great things about this recipe is that it's really quick and easy to make. It also lends itself to doubling quite well. What I have been doing is making a double batch the night before I need to deliver it. I use one half of it for my family on the night that I make it. Then, I use the other half for delivery the next day. And since chili actually tastes better the longer it sits, delivering it the next day means that my friend's family gets an even tastier version. I save it in the refrigerator in the Dutch oven in which I cooked it (with the lid on) so that the next day I can just pop it on the stove and warm it up before I deliver it. That way, I can bring it to my friend nice and warm and ready to eat.

I can't remember where I found the original recipe. But over time I've made a bunch of my own alterations to it, so by now it has really become my own. I don't have any pictures right now, but perhaps when I make it tomorrow night, I'll take some and add them to this post.*

Courtney's Turkey and White Bean Chili
makes 5-6 servings
1 red onion chopped
1/3 cup chopped pasilla pepper
1 clove minced garlic
1 1/4 pounds ground turkey
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 14oz can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
1 14oz can chicken broth
1 tablespoon of cilantro paste or 1/2 cup chopped, fresh cilantro

-- Heat large saucepan over medium heat
-- Add the first 4 ingredients (through turkey) and cook for about 6 minutes or until the turkey is done, stirring frequently to crumble
-- Stir in chili powder and the next 8 ingredients (through broth)
-- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer at least 10 minutes
-- Stir in cilantro

And a few notes...
-- I generally serve this with shredded jack cheese, sour cream, nacho chips, and lime wedges. Not only do these things add to the flavor, but it also makes it more fun and enticing for little kids.

-- I tend to use pasilla peppers because they're not too hot. But, you can substitute any green pepper. In fact, if you are cooking for anyone who doesn't love spicy food, you can use just a small portion of the pepper in the chili, and keep the remainder aside for folks to add on their own. This is how I do it when I am delivering it.

-- I also use cilantro paste instead of fresh cilantro only because I don't use fresh cilantro often enough to warrant buying an entire bunch. Inevitably, I use what I need for a recipe, and then end up wasting the rest of it. So, I always keep a tube of cilantro paste in the refrigerator so that I have some on hand when I need it. But you can use the fresh stuff, if you like.

This dish is perfect on its own as a meal, but you can also add a salad to make sure you get your green veggies. Enjoy!

*I made it tonight and remembered to take a picture as it simmered on the stove. (4/3/08)