Sirloin Skewers with Grilled Vegetable Couscous and Fiery Red Pepper Sauce

Another great one courtesy of Cooking Light. Pat and I made this last Tuesday, and we both loved it (i.e., Pat loved the steak and I loved the couscous)!

Pepper Sauce:

4 red bell peppers

1/2 c. fresh cilantro leaves (I omitted this and it was still excellent)

1/4 c. olive oil

3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp. coriander

1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. caraway seeds

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper

Couscous:

1 c. water

1 c. chicken broth

2 c. uncooked couscous

8 oz. eggplant, cut lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick slices

8 oz. squash, cut lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick slices

8 oz. zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick slices

4 green onions, trimmed

cooking spray

Skewers:

1 1/2 lb. top sirloin steak, cut into 1 inch cubes

3/4 tsp. ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1. Preheat broiler.

2. To prepare the pepper sauce, cut the bell peppers in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membranes. Place bell pepper halves, skin sides up, on a foil-lined backing sheet; flatten with hand. Broil for 12 minutes or until blackened. Place in a paper bag, and fold to close tightly. Let stand for 20 minutes. Peel. Place pepper and the next 8 ingredients (through red pepper) in a blender, and process until smooth.

3. Preheat grill to medium-high heat.

4. To prepare couscous, combine 1 c. water, broth, and bay leaf in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Stir in couscous; cover. Remove from heat; let stand 10 minutes. Fluff with fork; discard bay leaf.

5. Arrange eggplant and next 3 ingredients (through green onions) on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 3 minutes on each side or until vegetables are tender and well marked. Remove from heat; coarsely chop vegetables. Combine 1/2 c. pepper sauce, couscous, and chopped vegetables in a large bowl; toss gently. Keep warm.

6. To prepare skewers, thread beef onto 12 (7 inch) skewers. Lightly coat beef with cooking spray, and sprinkle with black pepper and 1/2 tsp. of salt. Place skewers on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 8 minutes or until desired degree of doneness, turning once. Serve with couscous mixture and remaining sauce.

Yield: 6 servings

Grilled Stuffed Jalapenos

Hands on time: 30 min. Total time: 30 min.

The rich creamy combination of bacon, cream cheese, and cheddar is a nice foil for the muted spice of grilled jalapeno peppers. This recipe is a healthy, fresh alternative to the popular breaded and fried version. If making these poppers for a party, you can stuff the peppers, cover, and chill. Then grill just before your guests arrive.

Ingredients:

• 2 slices center-cut bacon
• 1/2 cup (4 oz) fat-free cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup (4 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup (1 oz) shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup minced green onions
• 1 tsp fresh lime juice
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 14 jalapeno peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded
• Cooking spray
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tbsp chopped seeded tomato

Preparation:

1. Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
2. Cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, drain on paper towels. Crumble bacon. Combine crumbled bacon, cheese, and next ingredients (through garlic) in a bowl, stirring to combine. Divide cheese evenly and fill the pepper halves. Place peppers, cheese side up, on grill rack or grill grate coated with cooking spray. Cover and grill peppers 8 minutes or until bottoms of peppers are charred and cheese mixture is lightly browned. Place the peppers on a serving platter. Sprinkle with cilantro and tomato. Yield: 14 servings (serving size: 2 pepper halves).

Courtesy: Cooking Light, July 2011.

Egg pasta, used for ravioli

We used this for the zucchini raviolis, but could also be manipulated otherwise. 

Ingredients

3 eggs

10.5 ozs flour

Directions

Pour flour on working surface and make a fountain with a hole in the middle of the flour. Break the eggs into the middle of the fountain. Gently beat the eggs inside to absorb the flour. While beating the eggs, add a little flour at a time with the tip of the fork. When all the flour is mixed and you have a dough consistency, knead the dough by pressing and folding gently with your hands. Now, work the dough with palm of your hands – holding with the left hand and pressing with the right, then fold the dough over and turn. Repeat this process for 5 minutes. Let the ball of dough sit for 30 minutes in the fridge. Roll the dough out with a rolling pin into a long rectangular shape, careful not to roll to wide for the pasta machine. If you do not have a pasta machine, continue to roll with the rolling pin until you reach the desired thickness. Don’t rush the process in the pasta machine – start on the thicker pasta setting and put the dough through the machine numerous times (changing the setting each pass), patiently reaching the desired thickness. Each time you will need to sprinkle flour on the pasta to keep it from sticking to the machine. Cut the dough into long rectangular pieces. Fold the dough in half to find your starting point. Prepare the filling by mixing egg, cooked eggplant and parmesan. Place the filling in leaving one finger between each filling and one finger along the edges. Brush the pasta with egg white to hold the dough together. Fold the dough over to make edges meet. Begin on one end pressing firmly with fingers in the middle then work to the edges in order to assure there is no air left inside the pasta. Use a pasta cutter to cut the ravioli. Sprinkle some flour on the surface and remove the ravioli using a spatula so they don’t stick.

Fried Zucchini Flowers

Ingredients

5 zucchini flowers

flour as needed

1 c ice cold sparkling water

¼ c parmesan

1 pinch of salt

1/3 c olive oil

smoked mozzarella optional

Directions

Combine the salt, ice cold sparkling water and parmesan in a bowl and mix well. Add some flour and mix well, keep adding until you feel you’ve reached the right consistency for the batter mixture. Clean and slice the zucchini flowers.  Add a piece of smoked mozarella in the middle of the flour.  Dip each slice into the batter and place in a pan with a few table spoons of olive oil over medium heat and fry for a couple of minutes on each side until the batter turns a golden brown color. Remove from the heat and place on a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb the excess oil.

CHICKEN THIGHS MARINATED IN BALSAMIC VINEGAR

We had pork instead, but the marinade is where its at!

Ingredients

3 CHICKEN THIGHS

1/8 CUP BROWN SUGAR

1/8 CUP BALSAMIC VINEGAR

1/8 CUP APPLE VINEGAR

ROSEMARY

SALT

Directions

In a large bowl wisk the sugar into the 2 vinegars adding the Rosemary and 2 pinches of salt

Place into the bowl the chicken and marinade for at least 2 hours

Pour the chicken and marinade into a skillet over a low fire.  Cook until the marinade reduces and has carmelized.

Zucchini Ravioli

Raviolis were super delicious, and Fabio's home was gorgeous. A roman princess who lives upstairs (the apartment is a block away from the top of the Spanish steps) used to own his apartment too, and his bedroom and dining room used to be hers. She left a couple busts and the chandelier for him-- How nice! The trellis just behind me in this picture to the right opens up from the dining room and has an incredible view. We were too distracted with eating the food we just cooked to even notice, but we made great friends with our fellow cooking mates. Good company, good food, good wine and lovely surroundings just made it a FABIOLOUS day.

Made with egg and flour dough, will have to find recipe later.

Chef Fabio made a video on how to make the perfect Zucchini ravioli.  

Pici with Aparagus, Cherry Tomatoes and Bread Crumbs

Ingredients

A BUNDLE OF ASPARGUS

1 CUP CHERRY TOMATOES

6 TBS EXTRAVERGIN OLIVE OIL

1 GARLIC GLOVE

½ CUP PARMAESAN

3 SLICES OF LEFT OVER BREAD

3 SUN DRIED TOMATOES

SALT

Directions

WASH YOUR ASPARGUS,CUT OFF THE BOTTOM AND KEEP THE TIPS AND THE MIDDLE PART OF THE STEMS.

BOIL IN SALTED WATER THE MIDDLE PART FOR 20 MINUTES THEN MAKE A PUREE IN THE BLENDER.

BOIL THE TIPS SEPARATELY FOR 10 MIN

MAKE BREADCRUMBS - PUT IN A FOOD PROCESSOR YOUR LEFT OVER BREAD( IF YOU DON’T HAVE BAKE IT)WITH A GARLIC GLOVE,3 SUN DRIED TOMATOES AND A PINCH OF SALT.

IN A SKILLET WITH EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL AND GARLIC PLACE YOUR CHERRY TOMATOES AND COOK THEM UNTIL THEY ARE NEARLY CARMELIZED (15 MIN )

BOIL YOUR PICI UNTIL THEY FLOAT. PLACE THEM IN THE SKILLET WITH THE TOMATOES, ADD THE ASPARGUS PUREE , A LADEL OF BOILING WATER, PARMAESAN AND REMOVE ONTHE HEAT UNTIL THE LADEL OF BOILING WATER MELTS THE PARMAESAN AND MAKES A NICE CREAMY SAUCE

SERVE IN YOUR PLATE SPRINKLING THE BREAD CRUMBS ON THE TOP, A DIZZLE OF EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

AND FLAKES OF PECORINO CHEESE