Rachel, Author at De Ma Cuisine - Page 43 of 165De Ma Cuisine

Monday

14

April 2014

1

COMMENTS

Roasted Asparagus with Almonds and Crispy Bacon

Written by Rachel, Posted in Dairy-Free, Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, Meat, Pork, Quick and Easy, Roasting, Sides, Vegetables

What a treat spring’s veggies are. Light and flavorful, they seem to bring a breath of fresh air to the table. I love hearty winter veggies, don’t get me wrong. But, there’s just something about those first crisp, slender, bright green asparagus that makes my heart happy.

Especially when they’re topped with bacon and almonds.

What a simply delightful side for your first spring barbecue.

I read in last week’s Abundant Harvest Organics newsletter that asparagus stalks can grow up to ten inches in a day! What!? Imagine if we grew that much in a day… that would be weird. (Now I’m giggling to myself picturing really tall tall tall skiiiiiiiinny people who don’t fit in their houses… oh dear…)

This recipe is an easy one. You ready? Asparagus is tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

I love to roast veggies any time of the year, so that’s what I did with the asparagus.

Favorite.

Things get a little bit crispy and nutty in the oven. This is the best part about roasting veggies. I could probably eat a whole pan by myself.

Thick and delicious bacon compliments the asparagus nicely. It goes into a cold pan, which keeps it from curling too much. I’m not sure about the splattering though… sometimes I cover the pan… baking the bacon also works well.

You could be fancy and wrap the bacon around a few stalks of asparagus to roast it. I thought about it, but then I thought that I’m too ~~lazy~~ practical. Chopping distributes the bacon a little better and takes way less time. But, if you’re in need of some serious bacon, or if you want something a little bit fancier, feel free to experiment.

The bacon and the almonds are chopped up in my version.

This was my Oma’s cutting board. I love having things that were once hers. It makes the fact that she’s gone a little more bearable. I have little pieces of her in the kitchen… that sounds weird… you know what I mean.

Oma means Grandma.

Mine was a fabulous cook.

I think she would enjoy the bacon and asparagus combination. Who wouldn’t?! I wonder, if there are any non-asparagus lovers out there, if they might enjoy it all roasted and topped with bacon and almonds.

Worth a try.

Unless you live with me, a hungry food blogger, who might just devour it all and not save you any… Might.

I want to make this again and again, it’s so good, and so easy. At the end, half a lemon is squeezed over the deliciousness. Make it for a spring brunch, an Easter dinner, or just to eat by yourself as you play Words with Friends with your brother.

Happy Eating!

Roasted Asparagus with Almonds and Crispy Bacon

Recipe Type: Side, Dinner, Vegetables, Pork, Bacon, Roasting, Quick and Easy

Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 2-4

Ingredients

1 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed
4 slices bacon
1 T olive oil
salt
pepper
1/4 almonds (I used roasted and salted), chopped
1/2 lemon, juiced

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 425F.
Place bacon strips into a cold skillet. Turn on heat and cook until crispy. Remove from pan and drain on a paper towel lined plate.
Toss asparagus with oil, salt, and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and roast for 5 minutes. Turn and roast 5-8 minutes more, or until they are as crispy as you would like.
Top asparagus with bacon and almonds. Pour lemon juice over.
Serve immediately.

Wednesday

9

April 2014

0

COMMENTS

How To: Take the Bite Out of Radishes

Written by Rachel, Posted in Dairy-Free, Dinner, Fruit, Gluten Free, Herbs, How To, Lunch, Quick and Easy, Roasting, Sides, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Radishes they have a bit of a bite.

They’re peppery.

I get it.

They can be great raw, when mixed with the right flavors (ahem, two recent posts: Radish and Feta Toasts, and Radish Slaw).

They’re super in soups (yep, did that on purpose), tasty in frittatas, impossibly good (and impossible to detect) in Shepherd’s Pie.

Buuuut, let’s try one more way. Let’s roast them.

Let’s tame the heck out of them.

Oh, and this is gonna be really simple.

You ready?!

When I was working on this recipe I tried a few different things. I was going to make a sauce for the radishes, or maybe add a little more to them when roasting. But I realized that they didn’t need it.

They have a fun and interesting flavor. Why mask it?

I thought they’d be good quartered. They could be halved, or left whole. Just adjust the roasting time.

Then they’re tossed with just a few things: thyme, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

On to a baking sheet and they’re ready for the oven.

I told you it was going to be easy.

Just like their flavor, the colors become muted.

The remind me a bit of Easter eggs.

They’re served with a squeeze of lemon.

Simple as that. They’ve been tamed.

In my experience, cooking is generally a good way to tame a bold food. Whether it’s braised, roasted, sautéed, grilled… the heat usually mellows things out. However, if you’d like to try keeping things raw, mixing with complimentary flavors will also do the trick.

For radishes, think things like:

Lemon + dill + crab + cucumber + cream cheese.

Lemon juice + olive oil + parsley + onions.

Shrimp + soy sauce + scallions.

I like to chop or grate loud veggies when they’re going to be eaten raw (hello garlic, red onion, and radish!). It lets them continue to sing, just a little bit quieter, in harmony with the other ingredients.

There’s no need shy away from radishes any more. Whether they’re raw or cooked, I’ve got you covered.

Happy Eating!

Roasted Radishes

Recipe Type: Side, Roasting, Vegetarian, Vegan, Vegetables, Radishes

Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 2

Taming radish’s peppery bite by roasting them.

Ingredients

1 bunch (about 8) radishes, tips and tails removed, quartered
1 t olive oil
to taste salt
to taste pepper
1/4 t dried thyme, crushed
lemon wedges, for serving

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 375F.
Toss radishes with olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme. Place cut side down on a baking sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes. Flip and roast for 5 minutes more.
Serve with a squeeze of lemon.

3.2.1269

Thursday

3

April 2014

13

COMMENTS

Classic Meat and Cheese Lasagna… With Veggies

Written by Rachel, Posted in Baking, Beef, Cheese, Dinner, Herbs, Main Dishes, Meat, Pasta, Vegetables

Tim informed me the other day that he would like more lasagna, meatloaf, and tacos in his life. Cool. I can do that. I had lasagna on the menu before he even asked.

Winner. (Um, both of us.)

I woke up really early this morning to get started, since I had two meals to cook and photograph. Boy was it fun. No really, it was. I’m totally not being sarcastic. I enjoyed a full day of cooking and picture making.

It’s a lot of fun to cook and photograph for you guys to see on here. But, let’s be honest, when I know that Tim is going to love something as much as he loves lasagna, well, not much can beat that.

We just moved and have some friends coming to visit from Germany next week (yippee!). So I made two, and put one in the freezer. That means that if my kitchen isn’t completely unpacked, or if I don’t have the energy after unpacking and working all day, I can pop a lasagna in the oven, and dinner is taken care of… except for the caesar salad and garlic bread that will definitely need to accompany the meal. Other than that, all I have to do is open the wine.

This is my version of a classic meat and cheese lasagna, with lots of veggies. I threw in some radish, kale, celery, and carrot. I’m not really afraid of veggie-ing up a dish. If you don’t heart vegetables, you are not alone (sorrynotsorry). Yesterday, Tim told me that something we had for dinner was “really good, for vegetables”. We may not share the same opinion about the deliciousness of greens. 😉

Thankfully, we do both really enjoy cheese. I know you can use ricotta for lasagna, but I couldn’t find it at the store, so I used cottage cheese. It’s mixed together with Greek yogurt, mozzarella, and parmesan. I’m not sure that you could have too much of this cheesy mixture.

The sauce is simple, it’s almost just tomato sauce and herbs. Like the cheese mixture, too much is a good thing.

The anatomy of the lasagna and the way it all comes together.

Also, the sunlight changes more than I’d noticed in real life.

It bakes up and bubbles and melts and mmmm tastes so good. You should’a seen the huge helping Tim got. And then I looked over and it was gone. So I gave him a bite of mine. He can’t get enough lasagna.

I served this lasagna with some crazy good garlic bread. Done and done.

Happy Eating!

Classic Meat and Cheese Lasagna

Recipe Type: Main Dishes, Dinners, Meat, Beef, Vegetables, Cheese, Hearty, Oven, Baking, Greens

Cuisine: Italian

Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 90 mins

Total time: 1 hour 45 mins

Serves: 8

A classic lasagna with lots of veggies.

Ingredients

meat and veggie filling: 1 lb. ground beef
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 C carrot, diced
1/4 C radish, diced
3/4 C celery, diced
3 C kale, chopped
to taste salt
to taste pepper
pinch nutmeg
cheese filling: 16 oz. cottage cheese
1/2 C Greek yogurt
2 1/2 C mozzarella cheese, grated (1 C reserved)
1/2 C parmesan cheese
to taste salt
to taste pepper
tomato sauce: 4-6 C tomato sauce
to taste salt
to taste pepper
1 t dried oregano, crushed
1 t dried thyme, crushed
1 t dried parsley, crushed
1 t dried basil, crushed
1/2 t dried rosemary, crushed
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 – 9 oz. box (about 12 noodles) lasagna noodles (the kind that don’t need to be cooked first*)

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
Cook beef until partially done, then add garlic through celery, and cook for 5-10 minutes. Add kale and wilt down, about 5 minutes. Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Taste and adjust seasoning. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.
Mix together cheese filling ingredients. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Mix together tomato sauce ingredients. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Grease two 8×8 pans (or one 9×13). Spoon a bit of sauce into the bottom of the pan and top with two noodles. Top noodles with meat and vegetable filling, then with cheese mixture, and more sauce. Repeat three more times, topping last set of noodles with lots of sauce and reserved mozzarella.
Bake covered for 30 minutes, then uncovered for 30-40 more.
Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Monday

31

March 2014

0

COMMENTS

Crostini with Sausage and Braised Greens

Written by Rachel, Posted in Appetizers, Braising, Bread, Dairy-Free, Dinner, Lunch, Meat, Pork, Sandwiches, Sausage, Sides, Snacks, Toasting, Vegetables

I may have a new favorite way to eat greens.

For a second, forget about what I know you must be anticipating as amazingness in the crostini. Ok. Done? Just for a moment… Because we need to talk about greens.

Not too long ago I talked about bitter greens and offered a few suggestions for their unbittering. I mentioned, but didn’t go into detail about braising. But, now that I’ve tried it, I may never go back to any other way of cooking greens. (Ok, that maaaaay be a bit dramatic…)

Braised greens are simply amazing.

Seriously.

Llano Seco sent me a ham hock. I just had to try braising the greens with it. Oooooh boy! What a fun treat. If you can find one, I’d totally recommend it. It will be worth it. If you can’t, vegetarian is wonderful as well. I’ve made braised greens both ways. I’ve enjoyed them all immensely.

The greens braised for about two hours. I’ve tried them after shorter amounts of time and they’re great too. So if you don’t have a lot of time, don’t worry about it. But, if you’ve got a few hours to spare, try it. (And by a few hours I mean a tiny bit of time to get the ingredients into a pot, then just one eyeball on the pot every so often.) The result is tender, flavorful, AWESOME greens.

They’re not only perfect to top our little crostini, but this big batch can be frozen and later added to soups, rice dishes, or used to top some Paris Potatoes.

Now we can talk about the crostini.

Sorry. Wait. I need to interrupt myself again to tell you that I made these, then I stood beside the photography table and devoured them. I just couldn’t stop.

Interruption over.

So there was a ham hock in the greens. Then there’s some Llano Seco Italian Sausage that’s chopped up and heated in a few tablespoons of the braising liquid. You could really just end there with the greens and sausage. Pile it all on some rice or potatoes and call it dinner.

But, I didn’t do that.

I wanted some little toasts. So I sliced up a baguette, drizzled it with olive oil, and sprinkled with salt and pepper. They toasted up in the oven for a few minutes.

They were topped with some of the greens, and a few pieces of sausage. And then… a squeeze of lemon. One of my favorite ways to finish a dish.

If you can, share with friends. They will be glad you did.

Happy Eating!

Crostini with Sausage and Braised Greens

Recipe Type: Side, Snack, Sandwich, Toast, Meat, Sausage, Greens, Vegetables, Pork, Braising

Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients

Braised Greens: 2 T olive oil
2 C celery, chopped
1 radish, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
7 C vegetable stock
1 ham hock
8-9 C greens (mixture of any: chard, kale, collards, spinach…), roughly chopped
salt
pepper
2 T white vinegar
Crostini: 10-20 slices of baguette
olive oil
salt
pepper
1 clove garlic (optional)
3-4 T braising liquid
2-3 Italian sausages, halved and chopped
lemon wedges, for serving

Instructions

Heat a soup pot. Add oil. Add celery, radish, garlic, salt, and pepper, and cook over medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add ham hock and cook for 2 minutes. Add greens and vinegar and cook for 2 minutes more.
Add stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 1-2 hours, stirring every once in a while.
Pre-heat oven to 350F.
Drizzle baguette slices with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 5-10 minutes, or until crispy. Rub with a clove of garlic if desired.
Add 3-4 T of the braising liquid to a skillet and add the sausage. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until heated through.
Top each slice of toasted baguette with some greens (try to avoid too much braising liquid so they don’t get soggy), a few pieces of sausage, and a squeeze of lemon.
Serve immediately.

3.2.1269

Wednesday

26

March 2014

6

COMMENTS

BLT Salad

Written by Rachel, Posted in Condiments, Fruit, Inspired By, Lunch, Main Dishes, Meat, Pork, Salads, Toasting, Vegetables

You’re welcome. I’ll just say it. I mean, if I were you, I’d be thanking me for this post. Because, when it comes to bacon and croutons, I can’t get enough. 😉

For example, today, after I’d finished taking pictures, I ate the salad right out of the bowl. All of it. Didn’t share. After dumping the bowl in the sink (in hopes that the dishes fairy will come while I’m typing this for you), I stood at fridge with the dressing whisk and serving spoon to make sure I got any remaining dressing off of them, while eating the leftover bacon and croutons (that are meant for something else). I continued to stand there eating bacon and croutons even after the dressing was gone.

I did not give up bacon for Lent. Fact. You might not have been wondering.

I have bacon planned for 3 more meals in the next 7 days. It’s been a while since we’ve had bacon.

I’m so distracted by the photos of croutons and bacon that are on the other screen.

And then there’s that dressing. It’s really just a few things that I think you have in your fridge and pantry right now: mayo, yogurt, lemon juice, mustard, olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and garlic. Oh the garlic… Garlic is good for you.

You will want to choose a sturdy lettuce. It will be less likely to get soggy. If you don’t, that’s cool too. Just dress the salad right before serving and make sure there are no leftovers.

You may want to take a moment, after you consume this salad, to give thanks for bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, and bread… seriously. This is good stuff. Also, being thankful is important. Sooooo, yeah.

The dishes fairy has not yet arrived.

Happy Eating!

BLT Salad

Recipe Type: Salad, Main, Meat, Bread

Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Serves: 2

It’s like you chopped up your BLT and poured dressing over it.

Ingredients

2 slices bacon
1 C bread, torn into crouton sized pieces
olive oil
to taste salt
to taste pepper
dressing: 1 T mayo
2 T Greek (or plain) yogurt
1 clove garlic (optional), minced
1/4 t dijon mustard
1/2 T lemon juice
1/2 T balsamic vinegar
to taste salt
to taste pepper
1 T olive oil
salad: 2-4 C lettuce, torn
1 tomato, chopped

Instructions

Cook bacon. Drain and let cool on paper towel lined plate. Crumble.
Toss bread with a splash of olive oil, and some salt and pepper. Bake at 350F for about 10-15 minutes, or until crispy.
Whisk mayo through pepper. Whisk while streaming in olive oil. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Top lettuce with tomato, bacon, croutons, and dressing. Toss to combine. Serve immediately.

Notes

If cooking bacon in the oven, heat to 350F, place bacon on a cooling rack on a baking sheet (so it won’t sit in its grease). Bake for about 25-35 minutes, or until cooked to desired crispiness. Baking in the oven increases cooking time.

Newer Entries →

← Older Entries

Author Archive

14

1

Roasted Asparagus with Almonds and Crispy Bacon

9

0

How To: Take the Bite Out of Radishes

Happy Eating!

3

13

Classic Meat and Cheese Lasagna… With Veggies

Happy Eating!

31

0

Crostini with Sausage and Braised Greens

Happy Eating!

26

6

BLT Salad

Happy Eating!

Looking for Something?

Support My Cookbook!

Favorites

Instagram

Recent Posts