Cooking ahead

In preparation for the coming work week (three 16-hour days in a row, followed by the two busiest nights of the week), I've made a whole bunch of food. Complicating matters were a slightly empty refrigerator: I didn't want to go grocery shopping on a holiday weekend.

So I leaned on the contents of my freezer instead, and made:

White bean soup with spinach and sausage
Roast chicken with carrots and potatoes
Baked shells with spinach and sausage

Along with bread and a batch of tomato sauce. I made scallop ceviche, which we'll eat with a big thing of salad greens, and fudge to finish things off.

Frozen spinach and a few versatile meat items (sausages, bacon, whole chickens) in your freezer can be a lifesaver, especially when supplemented by pantry items like dried beans and pasta.

Baked shells with spinach and sausage

Baked pasta combinations are a great way to make a filling, delicious dinner out of pantry/freezer ingredients (box of pasta, box of frozen spinach, some sausage, some cheese). I used shells here, but really any shape will do.

3/4 lb mild Italian sausage
1 medium onion, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup pesto sauce
10 ounces pasta, cooked
1 box frozen spinach
6 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add sausage, onion, and garlic, and saute until sausage cooked through, about 10 minutes, breaking up meat with back of spoon. Add tomatoes with juice to pan. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Stir in pesto sauce. Season with salt and pepper.

Lightly oil 13 x 9 glass baking dish. Combine pasta, spinach, mozzarella, and 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese in large bowl. Stir in hot tomato sauce. Mix gently until spinach is wilted. Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish. Sprinkle remaining 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese over top. Bake until sauce bubbles and cheese melt, about 30 minutes.

Scallop ceviche

My restaurant got in some beautiful dayboat Cape Cod sea scallops last week, so as a treat to myself, I brought a pound home yesterday. (Wholesale price: $22.95 a pound. Not bad, considering they had to be flown in from Cape Cod.)

So I made scallop ceviche with them. Ceviche is essentially cured seafood, cured in citrus juices, which give the seafood a cooked texture but raw flavor. There are many different way to make ceviche, often involving jalapenos, avocados, and cilantro. This particular one uses grapefruit and mint, because that's what I had on hand. (I REALLY didn't want to go grocery shopping on a holiday weekend.)

Note: this recipe calls for bay scallops, which are the little ones. I used sea scallops (the big ones) and cut them into smaller pieces.

From Martha Stewart:

1 red grapefruit
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (from 5 limes)
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion, cut into 1/2-inch lengths (I used a shallot)
1 tablespoon minced seeded jalapeno
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 pound small bay scallops, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

Cut off top and bottom of grapefruit to make level; cut down along sides to remove peel and pith. Working over a nonreactive bowl to catch juices, cut along membranes to remove segments. Cut segments into 1/2-inch pieces; refrigerate. Measure 1/4 cup juice.

In the bowl, combine the 1/4 cup grapefruit juice, the lime juice, red onion, jalapeno, salt, and pepper. Add scallops, stir, and refrigerate, covered, 3 hours. Before serving, stir in mint and 1 cup reserved grapefruit segments. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to plates.

Coffee with an orange peel

This is shockingly good.

Sounds weird, I know. A friend of mine at work turned me onto this trick. Take any ordinary cup of coffee (with or without milk, sugar, whatever, cappuccino, espresso, etc.) and carve off a slice of orange rind above it. Wipe the orange peel around the lip of the coffee mug, squeeze it over, then drop it in.

What you have is a cup of coffee redolent of citrus and dark chocolate, with substantially reduced coffee bitterness.

Now I have to start keeping oranges around the house.

Beet greens and rice gratin

This is another one of those dishes that's good either hot or cold.

Notes: I used mozzarella instead of Gruyere (and added more Parmesan), and I skipped the blanching/steaming set. I just threw the raw beet greens directly into the pan with the onion and garlic and let them cook until wilted.

From the New York Times:

1 generous bunch beet greens, stemmed and washed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
3 eggs
1/2 cup low-fat milk (2 percent)
Freshly ground pepper
1 cup cooked brown rice, arborio rice or Calrose rice
2 ounces Gruyère cheese, grated (1/2 cup, tightly packed)
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 cup bread crumbs (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Oil a 2-quart gratin dish with olive oil. Either blanch the beet greens for 1 minute in a large pot of generously salted boiling water, or steam over an inch of boiling water for 2 to 5 minutes, until wilted and tender. Rinse with cold water, squeeze out water and chop medium-fine. Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy skillet and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes, and add the garlic and a generous pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the cooked greens and the thyme and toss together. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat.

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs and milk. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Stir in the greens mixture, the rice and the cheeses and mix together well. Scrape into the oiled baking dish. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top. Drizzle on the remaining tablespoon of oil.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes, until sizzling and lightly browned on the top and sides. Remove from the heat and allow to sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Duck fat and grapefruit salad

Awwww yeah. Hot duck fat poured over napa cabbage. Just what you always wanted, right?

It's actually a much more balanced salad than it sounds. The crispy raw cabbage is cut by the acidity of the grapefruit but then there's the richness of the duck fat. Delicious hot or cold, but best hot.

2 grapefruit
6 cups shredded napa cabbage
1/4 cup duck fat
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

Grate the zest off the grapefruit and set aside. Cut out the segments (without the pith or membrane) and juice the remainder. Save the grapefruit segments and juice. Shred the cabbage and place in a large bowl.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the duck fat over medium heat and add the shallot. Cook til softened, add the remaining duck fat and the grapefruit segments and juice. Stir until hot. Add the vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Pour the dressing over the cabbage and toss to mix. Serve immediately.

Roasted golden beets, potatoes and apples

Just that: roasted chunks of golden beets, new potatoes, and two apples. Mix with some olive oil to coat, salt liberally, and roast at 425 until the potatoes are done. The apples add a nice sweetness, different from the sweetness of the beets.