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I have a new cookbook.  It is called Tuesday Night and it is from Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street group.  This is perfect for my age and situation.  Instead of the usual topics, dinner or fish, we have Fast, Faster, Fastest, Easy sides, Supper salads, Pizza Night, One pot, Roast and Simmer, Sweets.  My first one is from Pizza Night.  I chose this one as it had fresh figs for NYE.  Well, there were no figs to be had in the whole area.  So I looked up substitutes and found Prunes, Grapes, and Figs.  Prunes and Grapes are out for Jim.  I love figs so we had figs.  It was delicious.  We started the evening with guacamole and chips.  Then on to pizza.  The recipe called for 2-10” pizzas.  I made my usual dough in the bread machine and made one, 16” diameter like usual.  It was delicious.  I will print it as written.

Ingredients: 

Semolina flour, for dusting the pizza peel (I have a pizza peel but have never mastered the art of getting the pizza in the over in one piece.)

2 pizza dough rounds

2 T EVOO

6 oz. fresh figs, stemmed and sliced in 1/4” rounds

3 oz, blue cheese crumbled (3/4 C)

2 oz. prosciutto (about 4

2 oz. (about 4 slices), cut into 2” ribbons

1 t aged balsamic vinegar

2 scallions, thinly sliced on diagonal

Black pepper

Directions:

1. At least 1 hour before baking, heat oven to 550 degrees F. with a baking steel or stone on the upper meddle rack.
2. Dust a baking peel, inverted baking sheet or rimless cookie sheet with semolina .  Transfer the first dough round to the peel and , if needed, reshape it into a 10” circle.   Brush the round with 1 T of oil.  Arrange half the fig slices on the dough, then sprinkle with half the blue cheese.
3. Arrange half the prosciutto between the figs.  
4. Bake until the crust is browned and the prosciutto is crisp, 7-10 minutes.
5. Using the peel transfer the pizza to a wire rack.  Let cool for a couple of minutes, then sprinkle with 1/2 t of the vinegar, half the scallion and black pepper.
6. Repeat with the second dough round, using the remaining ingredients.  

The heating of the pizza stone in the oven for an hour made a big difference in my pizza crust.  It was more delicious than ever.  We had a few pizza pieces leftover as I could only eat one as I had too much guacamole.  We watched a good movie on Netflix, Death to 2021.  It is a comedy.  Happy New Year.

Jim has started a new tradition at every meal; “Is there meat in this he asks?”  No was his answer.  Again there is no quantity listed with the recipe.  In Nashville we have a free magazine called Edible Nashville.  They talk about chefs, restaurants, farmers, dessert specialists and deli specialities.  This recipe is by Teresa Blackburn.  Her blog is foodonfifth.com so I am assuming she is in the restaurant business somewhere on Fifth Avenue downtown.  We have 1/2 leftover for another day, probably Monday as Monday and Tuesday I have promised to help with getting the LBN invites out.  

Ingredients:

8 oz. baby cauliflower, chopped, stems separated

8 oz. broccolini, chopped, stems separated

EVOO

1 pie crust

1 T grainy mustard

1 1/2 C shredded Comte or Gruyere cheese, divided

2 oz. goat cheese

4 large eggs

1 C heavy cream

oregano, to taste preferably Mexican

1/4 t freshly grated nutmeg

Sea salt

Black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Spread cauliflower and broccolini on a sheet pan.  Drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast 12-15 minutes until browned.  Set aside and lower oven 350 degrees F.
3. Line a 9” springform pan with pie crust.  Spread mustard over bottom of crust and sprinkle with 1/2 C cheese over the top.
4. In a small pan bring some water to a boil and add salt.  Add stems/trimmings from cauliflower and broccolini and cook until for tender.  Drain.
5. In food processor or blender, add cooked trimmings, goat cheese, eggs heavy cream, oregano, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste.  Blend until smooth and well mixed.
6. Sprinkle roasted cauliflower and broccolini over bottom crust.  Sprinkle with another 1/2 C cheese.  Gently pour blended egg mixture over all.  Top with remaining 1/2 C cheese.
7. Bake 40-50 minutes or until pie is set in middle and golden brown.  Test center with toothpick or skewer.  Cool on wire rack 1-15 minutes or until ready to serve.

It has been a while since I cooked as we had so many leftovers from Christmas and Christmas Eve.  Sunday we had the left over steak, orzo and I made a salad with the same dressing that I took to friends on the Thursday before Christmas Eve.  Monday we finished the oyster stew and finally I made more lobster rolls with the leftover lobster.  

So starting out slowly I made a one sheet pan dish.  It was pretty good.  You had to eat the skin with the chicken or you had really tasteless chicken.  Because it was cooked all skin side up the skin was not fatty at all.  I added 2 potatoes we had left over from a bag.  Jim loved the potatoes.  

This recipe is from Jeff Mauro of The Kitchen.  

Ingredients:

1/2 C orange marmalade 

2 t orange zest plus 2 T orange juice

2 t orange liqueur

2 t white wine vinegar

Kosher salt and black pepper

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

4 B broccoli florets (about 2#)

4 shallots, peeled and quartered lengthwise

2 T EVOO

Directions:

1. Garnish:  2 oranges, grated and white pith cut away and segments out free from their membranes.  (When you squeeze both membranes into a cup you will get your 2 T of OJ.)
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with nonstick foil.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the marmalade, orange zest and nice, orange liqueur, vinegar, a pinch of salt and 1 t black pepper.  Set aside.
4. Pull the side flaps of over hanging skin taut underneath the chicken on each  side to make the thighs into nice, tight packages.  Sprinkle with chicken generously with salt and pepper and arrange skin-side up in a single layer in the center of the lined baking sheet.
5. Spoon 1 T of the orange sauce over each piece of chicken.  Roast for 20 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, toss the broccoli and shallots together in a medium bowl, withe the oil and season with salt and pepper.  (I added potatoes cut in small chunks.)
7. Spoon another T of the sauce over the top of each thigh.  Arrange the broccoli and shallots around the chicken on the baking sheet.  Continue to bake until the chicken is cooked through and the broccoli and shallots are soft and caramelized, an additional 15-20 minutes.  (My vegetables, both the broccoli and the potatoes took 10 minutes more.)
8. Garnish with the orange segments and remaining zest.  

I have been wanting to make these biscuits for a long time.  The recipe comes from November 2021 Fine Cooking.  I finally attempted it today.  Cat (Jim’s cousin’s daughter) and family are visiting Thursday and Friday.  For one meal I was going to send Jim to Costco for Rotisserie chicken, serve these biscuits, and a big salad.  Well we had biscuits with our turkey burgers that night and they were dry and tasteless.  Aside from that every inch of my kitchen was covered with flour.   Jim was pissed as he spent the day cleaning.  Mainly, as he was in the guest room and guest bathroom with his COVID, disinfecting.  He also had to mop the living room as Lucy tracked in mud as it had rained all night.  New rule, dog only enters the house through the garage as she can be captured and her feet wiped before entering the house.  I told Jim that from now on biscuits served will be Pillsbury.  In the same magazine there is a recipe for biscuit dressing.  I turned them into that.  Going to serve that with the chickens.  Will let you know how that turns out.  When a recipe is 10” long, run!  The sad part is I used my sage from the garden that we nurtured all through this past very hot summer.  I have enough left over to satisfy the biscuit dressing.  I am not recreating the recipe.  If you are a biscuit maker, just add sage if you think you would like them. 

Christmas started with a version of Overnight Blueberry French Toast that I made January 1, 2017.  What I liked about this one is that you do not need more maple syrup as it is in the egg mixture.  As it is Christmas, I made it with Pomegranate Seeds instead of Blueberries.  

I was going to make something different, but Jim discovered last years Pantone bread in the cupboard getting down a tool I need for the oyster stew.  It said best by June of 2021.  Perfect, I did not have to let it go stale overnight.  

I forgot to take a picture Christmas AM, but this is leftovers today with a wonderful find at Costco.  It is an egg white with spinach and red pepper breakfast treat.