Appetizer: Pistachio-Covered Cheese Log

Mr. Fritz and I had the pleasure of having dinner with some of our good friends tonight, and I volunteered to bring an appetizer. I was motivated, in part, because I had seen this recipe for a Pistachio-Covered Cheese Log in the December issue of Everyday Food when it first arrived back in November and had been thinking ever since that it looked like something I'd want to try.

This will probably sound strange, but I've never made a cheese log before. In fact, I can't even recall ever digging into one at a party. They never seem to appeal to me, probably because I had no idea what they were made of and they're usually bright orange which I guess I find off putting. Who knows? But when I saw this one and noted that it's made out of cream cheese, white cheddar, a little bit of Worchester sauce and some Dijon mustard (all ingredients I can abide by) and then covered in roasted pistachios (my favorite nuts), I thought it might be the cheese ball (or in this case cheese log) for me.


It really is simple to make. You grate 4 ounces of white cheddar, then mix the cheddar, 8 ounces of room-temperature cream cheese, a tablespoon of Dijon mustard and a teaspoon of Worchester sauce and salt and pepper together in a stand mixer until well combined. Transfer the mixture to waxed paper and roll it into a log shape. Then roll the log in chopped pistachio nuts that you've roasted on the stove for about seven minutes over medium heat. I cheated on the chopping -- I put the nuts in a Ziploc bag and pounded them with a meat tenderizer. Wrap the finished log in fresh waxed paper and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to a day. I'm pleased to say that it was a hit among our friends. I served it with sesame cracker rounds that I'd picked up at the Teeter, which I think enhanced the whole thing.

Dinner tonight... Chicken with Prosciutto and Sage; Sauteed Spinach with Golden Raisins

Although tonight was not really intended to be a "date night," I made a "date night"-worthy dinner for Mr. Fritz: Chicken with Prosciutto and Sage. A riff on saltimbocca, it's made by pounding out chicken breasts until they are nice and thin, then placing a few sage leaves on each one and wrapping the chicken in prosciutto (which I described to Mr. Fritz as "fancy bacon").

From there, you dip the chicken into a mixture of flour, salt and pepper, dust off the excess flour, and pan fry in olive oil for 3-5 minutes per side. Once the chicken is cooked, you remove it from the pan and deglaze the browned bits that remain with chicken broth and white wine. Then, after that mixture has reduced by half, you take it off the heat and finish it with butter and sage. To plate, you put some of the sauce down first, then place the chicken on top. Beautiful!


I served it with Sauteed Spinach with Golden Raisins, which is wilted spinach sauteed in a little bit of olive oil, tossed with salt and pepper and a handful of golden raisins. It takes about three minutes to make, literally, and could not be easier. Simple but good. The only change I made to the recipe is that instead of cooking it in a saute pan, I used a stock pot and tossed all the spinach in at once.

I'll definitely keep this entire meal in mind for the next time we have a real date night. It is dinner party worthy as well, come to think of it. Definitely a "must make again" dish!

Dinner tonight... Tandoori Chicken with Yogurt Sauce and Jasmine Rice

Who knew you could cook tandoori chicken in a regular oven? Not me. (Or is it not I? I can't remember. Eek.) In any case, it turns out that you can make a pretty close approximation with very little effort. Yay! The recipe I used was from the Everyday Food: Good Food Fast cookbook. It was crazy simple: mix up some plain yogurt (I used Greek yogurt), tumeric, ginger and garlic and coat the chicken with it, then roast the chicken in on a foil-lined baking sheet at a very high temperature (475 degrees) until it's cooked through. While it's roasting, you mix up a dipping sauce that consists of grated Granny Smith apples, chopped cilantro and more yogurt. Again, simple. Serve it over some basmati or jasmine rice and you have an excellent Indian-inspired meal. I loved it and Mr. Fritz liked it (although it was a little spicy for his tastes), so I will definitely make this again!

Dinner tonight... Beef Stew

One of my favorite meals when I was growing up was my mom's beef stew. Stew seemed like good comfort food for a January Sunday, so I gave this recipe a try. Unfortunately, I forgot to get a potato at the grocery store (possibly because I was so overwhelmed by what a zoo the store was -- I had to actually stake out a cart to shop with, and while I was in there, heard the store manager repeatedly come over the loud speaker begging people to move their cars from in front of the loading dock. Apparently there wasn't anywhere else to park, so people were getting creative. Eek.). Anyway, despite being potato-free, this stew was really quite tasty and incredibly simple to make -- just put everything in a pot, bring to a boil, cover and put it in the oven for 2-2.5 hours. Easy peasy. I'm not going to post a photo because honestly, it doesn't look as appetizing in the photo as it did in person. But rest assured that if you're looking for a good beef stew recipe, this one will do the trick. It was almost as good as my mom's!

Lunch today... Tortilla Soup with Black Beans

I love white corn tortilla chips. I pretty much never buy them so my only interaction with them is typically at Mexican restaurants. When I come upon them, however, I could probably consume an endless supply. Today's ready-in-15-minutes lunch of Tortilla Soup with Black Beans uses white corn tortilla chips and so I was forced (okay, so not exactly forced) to buy a bag. I used a handful for the recipe, now the trick will be to not eat the rest of the enormous bag in one sitting!


In any case, this recipe is ridiculously simple and relies on pantry staples: garlic, chili powder, frozen corn kernels, canned diced tomatoes, canned black beans, chicken broth and the aforementioned tortilla chips. Oh and a fresh lime, but I consider that to be a pantry staple in my kitchen because a squeeze of fresh lime juice is such a great finisher on so many dishes.

In any case, to make this soup, you saute the chili powder and garlic in olive for a couple of minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients save for the tortilla chips, bring the soup to a boil, reduce to a simmer and simmer for a couple of minutes before stirring in the crushed chips and the fresh lime juice. And you're done. Easy as can be and super fast. Plus, it tastes great and makes for a hearty lunch on a cold day like today. The only caution: make it just before you want to eat it, because the tortilla chips will absorb the broth and after a little while it thickens quite a bit. I think it also might be nice to top the soup with some cheddar and chopped avocado, but today we ate it as is. Okay, with a couple of extra tortilla chips on top. Couldn't help myself!

Dinner tonight... Parmesan-Carrot Risotto and Peach-Pecan Chicken

When I saw the recipe for Parmesan-Carrot Risotto in the January/February issue of Everyday Food, I was surprised to see that they'd substituted regular rice for arborio rice and thought to myself, well, I'll just make it with arborio rice anyway. I had to laugh, then, when I opened my pantry tonight and realized that I am somehow out of arborio rice altogether and as a result, had to go with plain rice after all. In any case, this recipe was more flavorful than I thought it would be, in the best way possible. The toughest part about making it is grating the carrots (I used a box grater. Next time, I might be tempted to just go all out and grate them in my food processor. There's nothing fun about grating carrots on a box grater. Nothing.). The second toughest part is hanging around the stove long enough to keep stirring and stirring and stirring until the rice absorbs all of the chicken broth. But in the end it was worth it, as it yielded a really hearty, tasty dish. I think I still prefer using real arborio rice for risotto, but it's nice to know that I can approximate it with regular rice if the need arises.


I paired it with roasted chicken breast that I braised in Paula Deen-brand Peach Pecan Dressing that I received in my Christmas stocking at Mr. Fritz's house this year. I put the chicken in a heavy baking dish (which, coincidentally, was given to me by The Original Mrs. Fritz for Christmas last year), spread a few tablespoons of the dressing on top, and put it in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. It came out nice and moist and the dressing made for a great glaze as it cooked down. Super easy! And I still have lots of the dressing left over, so I'll be able to experiment with using it in other ways.

Happy New Year! (And a Recipe Roundup from the Past 24 Hours)

I can't believe that it's 2009! Despite the fact that the economy is imploding and there is doom and gloom everywhere, I was actually a little bit sad to say goodbye to 2008, because I'll always remember it as one of the best years of my life -- mainly because it included marrying Mr. Fritz and lots of merrymaking with friends and family surrounding that event, but also because I am so freakishly happy actually BEING married to Mr. Fritz is just so much fun. Anyway... back to cooking...

In the past 24 hours, I've spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen. For dinner last night, I riffed off of Everyday Food's Asian Beef Lettuce Wraps, swapping boneless chicken for flank steak. The result was a really wonderful, fresh, bright-tasting meal that was anything but heavy. The dish is basically Boston lettuce leaves filled with roasted chicken, green onions and mango, drizzled with a lime-cilantro-garlic-oil vinaigrette. It's served with a side of cellophane noodles tossed with scallions and oil. Delish.


In honor of Mr. Bigger's birthday last night, I made one of my signature appetizers: Phyllo-Wrapped Brie with Apricot and Rosemary Chutney. This is a recipe I've been making since 1996 and it was introduced to me by Mrs. Durham. It was in a current issue of Gourmet back then and her mother actually faxed the recipe to us so we could attempt to make it. We were 22 at the time and Mrs. Durham was already a rock star in the kitchen. The end result was so delicious and elegant that I've been making it ever since, typically for our annual Christmas party. Since this year was the first in many years that we didn't have the party, it seemed fitting to make it especially for Mr. Biggers instead. I won't get into the technique, because the recipe is written very clearly, but I will say this: I'm totally embarrassed about how brown the phyllo rosettes on the top got in last night's version -- I should have covered them in foil and forgot and so they are just way too dark. I'll also note that working with phyllo can be tricky, but it's certainly not impossible. Just move quickly and make sure you have all of the ingredients ready to go so that you can work through the assembly process as fast as possible.


Today, Mr. Fritz and I spent the day just getting caught up on life stuff. But I also squeezed some cooking into the mix. For lunch, I made Light Italian Wedding Soup, which features turkey meatballs and escarole (yes, Mr. Fritz, the "seaweed" made a return appearance to the Fritz Kitchen!). It's a very simple recipe and made for a hearty lunch, despite being low in calories. You start by making the meatballs (the recipe called for ground dark-meat turkey, I used ground white meat), then they cook in a broth that consists of sauteed onion, chicken broth and a can of diced tomatoes (undrained). Once the meatballs are about halfway cooked, you add chopped escarole and cook for another five minutes. Then you're done. Easy! I really liked the flavor profile of the meatballs and the broth. I'll definitely make this again.


And for dinner, I went the comfort food route and made Everyday Food's Lighter Blue Plate Special, which consisted of meatloaf, buttermilk mashed potatoes and steamed green beans. I was a little worried about the consistency of the meatloaf, because when I mixed it together, it seemed a little too wet (it's made of ground beef mixed with pureed carrots, celery, onion, panko and an egg white). But after spending 30 minutes in the oven it seemed to be just fine and it kept its shape. You baste it in barbecue sauce and in my opinion, that was the best part. I love barbecue sauce... Mmm...


And after I post this, I'm off to pop some popcorn on the stove and make some hot chocolate so that we can have one last toast to the new year. But before I do that, I just wanted to say thanks to those of you who have stopped by to visit my blog -- it's been really fun to receive feedback about the recipes I've posted and encouragement as I continue on this cooking odyssey. Here's to many more great meals in the year to come. Cheers!

(Of course, I can't find any of the Everyday Food recipes to link to them. Sigh. I'll keep looking for them and link to them as soon as possible.)