Scrounge Dinner - Roasted Broccoli, Beans, Bacon and an Over-Easy Egg

Sometimes my scrounge dinners come from "I don't have anything to make for dinner." And sometimes I realize I have something in my fridge or pantry that is fast approaching its expiration date and needs to be used. This dinner began as the later. 

I had a bunch of broccoli that I'd nearly forgotten about. It wasn't exactly at its peak of freshness and the only answer was to roast the heck out of it. So I cut it up,  tossed it with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted at 375°F for about 30 minutes until crispy. 

Now... what to do with it? Bacon! (Bacon is always an answer). I pulled out one of my pre-portioned packages of bacon from my freezer (another post for another day), sliced them up browned them. 

Drained and rinsed a can of Cannellini Beans and tossed them with the bacon and roasted broccoli. 

It seemed like it was missing something so I topped it with an over-easy egg, some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and some black pepper. The yolk from the egg coated the beans/broccoli/bacon mixture and made it silky and delicious. 

This could be great for any meal!

Enjoy! 

Scrounge Dinner - Stuffed Hash Browns

On a recent Friday night, I found myself just home from traveling all week and in the midst of a strict Gluten-Free trial run and had "no food" in the house.  As we know, that's when I tend to shine...

I knew I couldn't fall back on any of my quick pasta creations thanks to the GF trial so it was time to scrounge.

I cooked up a few slices of bacon in a non-stick pan. When thoroughly crispy, I pulled the bacon out of the pan and drained it on a few paper towels.

Added about 2 cups of frozen shredded potatoes (Gluten-free!) to the pan with the bacon drippings and started cooking over medium-high heat.  (A number of companies make prepared frozen shredded potatoes now. Mine happened to be from Trader Joe's.)

While those were starting to cook, I beat one whole egg and mixed in some Parmesan cheese (about 3 Tbs), very similar to what I'd do for Spaghetti Carbonara. I wasn't looking to scramble the eggs but make them act as a binder for the potatoes. I poured the egg over the potatoes and continued to cook.

I'd pushed the potatoes all towards the middle so it was looking like one big panake.

After a few minutes, I was able to flip the whole thing but in about 3 sections.

I squirted a healthy amount of Sriracha sauce on top of the potato/egg mixture (Sriracha is a type of hot sauce made from a paste of chili peppers, distilled vinegar, garlic, sugar, and salt. You could use Tobasco or any other favorite hot sauce)

I flipped the potato "pancake" one more time, crumbled the bacon on top and covered the top with shredded cheese (I used a mixture of cheddar, monterey jack and mozzarella) I found a cover from a pot large enough to over the "pancake" and continued to cook covered until the cheese melted.

Slid the entire thing on a plate and ate it too fast to remember to take a picture. If I'd had some sour cream or Greek yogurt and a few scallions, it would have been a perfect version of a stuffed potato skin. That's certainly what it tasted like! So they became Stuffed Hash Browns. YUM!

Arroz con Pollo

Years ago while in culinary school, I had a chef-instructor who would always whip up a batch of her "Mexican Rice" while we worked in the kitchen. To me, it was a little bit of heaven after a challenging day slaving over a hot stove. Never having seen her make it, the memory of its flavors and textures stayed with me. I know she used a lot of whatever was laying around so some nights there would be chicken or various forms of pork in it so while different every time, somehow it remained constant in my memory. Still unable to replicate it, I'd almost given up. Until last night...

While this isn't a perfect replica, this version conjured the same comfort and deliciousness that Chef's dish provided. Which also proves that recipes are mere suggestions. If the overall dish is successful, who cares if you used only had a red pepper but no green? Trust me, noone will care.

Note: This recipe can easily be doubled and was created with what I had on hand - just make sure you use 1 part rice to 2 parts water.

Yield: 3-4 portions

Arroz con Pollo

½ lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
1 garlic clove, minced
½ small yellow onion, diced
½ red bell pepper, diced
½ green bell pepper, diced
½ cup dry white wine
¾ tsp. paprika
½ tsp. ground chipotle
½ cup long-grain rice
1 cup water
1/3 cup canned diced or chopped tomatoes
½ cup frozen corn
½ cup frozen peas
2 Tbs capers, drained and rinsed
¼ cup green olives, chopped
2 Tbs fresh parsley, chopped

Season chicken with salt and pepper.

Heat 1 Tbs olive oil in a large, heavy pot (with a lid) and brown chicken on both sides, 2 min per side. Using tongs, remove chicken and set aside.

Add an additional 1 Tbs olive oil and add onion, garlic and both peppers and cook over medium-high heat until onion begins to soften, about 3 minutes.

Add wine, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Let the wine bubble until reduced.

Add rice and stir to coat with the olive oil and vegetables. Add in water, tomatoes, paprika, chipotles and reserve chicken and any accumulated juices.

Reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.

Add in frozen corn and peas, cover and let cook an additional 5 minutes.

Stir in olives, capers and parsley and serve.

Scrounge Dinner: Spain Was In My Pantry

Recently, after being away for 5 days, I came home to a horrifying site. My freezer door was open just a crack. A frenzied inspection revealed that everything needed to go. Everything had been defrosted and was VERY soft.

All of my prepared meals, sauces and emergency frozen pizzas (yes, even I indulge in the Trader Joe's frozen Pizza Olympiad) were destined for the trash heap.

I hadn't yet had time to go to the grocery store which means I didn't even have onions, garlic or any of my staples. It was suggested to me to order in some food but I saw this as a challenge to continue with my Scrounge meals since those appear to be my specialty.

After some digging through the pantry, I realized I could take a quick trip to Spain right in my own kitchen.

here's what I found:


* 1 link Spanish Chorizo, diced
* 1 container Trader Joe's Starter Sauce
* 1 can Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained
* Italian Seasoned Panko breadcrumbs
* Dried Pasta (I skipped this ingredient - it wasn't needed)
* Dried oregano
* Fresh thyme (from my herb garden), leaves stripped from the stems
* Fresh Parsley (also from the herb garden), coarsely chopped
* Salt/pepper

What it became:

- Toasted the breadcrumbs in a little olive oil. Set aside.
- Wiped out the pan and sauteed the chorizo in olive oil for 2-3 minutes
- Added the Starter Sauce, dried oregano and fresh thyme
- Let cook for about 2 minutes over medium heat
- Added beans, salt and pepper and cooked for an additional 4-5 minutes, letting sauce cook down a bit.
- Spooned into dish and garnished with toasted bread crumbs and parsley.

Topped it off with a glass of a Malbec rose wine (ok, so that's not from Spain but trust me, it worked. I felt like I was at a little bar in Spain eating Tapas.

Delicious!

Another Scrounge Dinner - Tuna Tonnato-ish

It was another night to scrounge. Nothing sounded good and I was out of my normal weeknight dinner options. My pantry is getting pretty bare so I needed to a little more digging than usual. The result wound up based on an Italian dish called Tuna Tonnato

Tuna Tonnato-ish over Linguini

1 tsp anchovy paste
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1 can tuna in olive oil, undrained
1/4 cup white wine
Trader Joe's Starter Sauce ~ 17 oz
(contains tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, salt and olive oil)
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp dried basil
¼ tsp ground Black pepper
3 heaping Tbs drained capers
~ 15 cured black olives, pitted and chopped (Kalamata)
Romano Cheese
1/3 lb thin linguini


Cook linguini according to package directions in a generous amount of salted boiling water.

Meanwhile, add anchovy paste to 1 Tbs olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add shallot and cook until shallot begins to soften, stirring frequently so it doesn’t burn. Add garlic and cook until fragrant and shallot is softened.

Add tuna (along with olive oil) to pan and stir. Pour white wine and cook for ~ 30 seconds, stirring and breaking up big pieces of tuna with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Add Starter Sauce* to the pan then stir in red pepper, basil and black pepper. Mix in capers and black olives. Lower heat to medium and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Taste and add salt as necessary but the capers and black olives should add enough salt.

Add cooked linguini to pan with the sauce and stir together using tongs.

Serve with cheese.

Yields: 2 servings

Substitutions and other Suggestions:
• If you're not lucky enough to have Trader Joe’s Starter Sauce in your pantry, use 14-16 oz canned tomatoes. Whatever you have in your pantry is fine: chopped, diced, whole or even crushed.
• If I’d had artichoke hearts, I would have added them.
• I happened to have Romano cheese for a previous dish. Parmesan cheese works great as well but no cheese is necessary. Just a personal preference.
• I didn’t have red pepper flake or I would have used that instead of the cayenne. ~ 1 tsp+ depending on your heat tolerance
• Toss with Fussily or Rotini pasta and serve chilled or at room temperature.

Come On Baby, Give Me a Quiche

Growing up, I had a mixed relationship with quiche. The egg flavor was always so heavy that it overpowered any filling that was used. Even when I made it, I still had to choke it down knowing that I'd have a reward at the end (the crust, of course! Isn't that the best reason to eat any sort of pie?)

Then I learned how to properly whisk an egg. When most people make eggs, they barely mix the yolk and albumin (white) together and add it to the pan. Generally this results in dense, incredibly "eggy" eggs.

When 'scrambling' eggs, use a bowl big enough where you're not going to be afraid of overspill. Use a wire whisk and actually use the whisk to get air into the eggs. One tip is to tilt the bowl with one hand which will pool, or concentrate, the eggs into one 'corner' of the bowl. As you mix, gently lift the eggs. You know the cliche, "it's all in the wrist?" Well, it's wrong. It's actually all in the elbow.

That said, I just made a Kitchen Sink quiche chock full of leftover ingredients from my refrigerator. Here's how it went down.

I do take a little help with my quiche from Whole Foods - I buy an organic, frozen, deep dish pie crust. It's buttery, browns nicely and has a touch of sweetness that balances any savory ingredient I find to put into the pie.

I started with 4 slices of high quality, center cut bacon. To move things along, I cut it into 1/2" lardons before adding to a dry, cold pan. Over medium-high heat, the bacon cooked until brown. Removing the bacon with metal tongs, I let it cool while draining on paper towels.

Letting the bacon grease cool for about 10 minutes, I poured the grease into a glass jar to save for a later recipe.

In the same pan, I sauteed about 6 oz of sliced button mushrooms in the remainder of the bacon grease. I'd also dug up some fresh rosemary that was at the end of its life, which was chopped finely and added to the mushrooms (seasoned with salt and pepper.) Once the mushrooms were removed from the pan, the 10oz of baby spinach was added to the same pan in about 1 Tbs of olive oil. Once the spinach was sufficiently wilted and seasoned with salt and pepper, it was added to the mushrooms to let cool.

Once it was cool enough to touch, I gently squeezed the excess liquid from the mushrooms and spinach.

To the dry empty pie shell, the browned, cooled bacon was added. Then I sprinkled the mushroom, rosemary and spinach mixture over the bacon.

Earlier today I bought an intriguing cheese - a smoked, baked sheep's milk ricotta cheese. Delicious to nibble on but I thought it would enhance the smokiness of the bacon. About 1 oz was added to the pie shell (notice no egg has been added yet.)

Next I added a few handfuls of some shredded cheese that was in the refrigerator cheese drawer - an Italian mixture that includes Parmesan, mozzarella and Asiago.

Over the top of the mixture, I added 5 well beaten eggs, seasoned with salt and pepper. Do not mix. My secret? Once the egg is added, I gently pour about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of skim milk into the egg. Still do not mix.

Add another scant handful of cheese.

Place the pie on a large baking sheet in case there's any overspill.

Bake ~30 minutes at 350 degrees or until it puffs up (think souffle) and the center doesn't jiggle when the pan is gently shaken.

I must say, I wanted to quiche this supper.

Look What a Snow Day Cooked Up

Buried under 10” of snow and piles of work, that trip to the grocery store never happened. “I have nothing in the house.” Sound familiar?

Digging through the pantry, the cogs in my brain start shaking off the dust. Dried mushrooms, chicken stock, hey! Is that some Arborio rice behind the Great Northern Beans? It is! Suddenly, dinner takes shape in my mind.

Wild Mushroom Risotto

~1 oz. dried wild mushrooms (Chanterelle, Shitake, Trumpet, etc.)
4-5 cups chicken stock
1 medium shallot, chopped finely
1 large garlic clove, minced
¾ cup Arborio Rice
½ cup dry white wine
1 Tbs unsalted butter
1/3 cup shredded or grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Place chicken stock in a small pot. Add dried mushrooms and bring stock just to a boil. Turn off heat, cover and let stand for 20 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon, remove mushrooms. Let mushrooms cool and chop.
Turn heat back on under chicken stock to low and keep warm.

In a large, high sided skillet, heat 2 Tbs olive oil over medium to medium high heat.
Add shallot and cook until softened. Add garlic and stir, cooking until fragrant and soft, about 30 seconds.
Add Arborio rice, stirring until all grains are coated with the olive oil.
Add wine and stir constantly until wine is absorbed.
Add stock, ¼- ½ cup at a time, stirring constantly between each addition until absorbed. (Tip: If using a wooden spoon or Silicone spatula to stir, as you’re stirring, pull the spoon or spatula down the center of the rice. If the liquid immediately pools back to the center of the pan, keep stirring. If the liquid does not ooze back immediately, it’s time to add more)
Continue this process until the rice is opaque and creamy (you may want to taste for texture) ~ 18 minutes total.
Add in reserved reconstituted mushrooms, stir to combine.
Stir in butter. Once melted, stir in parmesan cheese.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 2.

A wonderful, cozy meal when you’re snowed in. Or any day! Bon Appetite.