Sesame Grilled Asparagus

You've probably noticed we eat a lot of asparagus at our house. Besides the warmer weather, it's one of my favorite things about Spring. My go to recipe for asparagus is either grilled or roasted in the oven. Either way it's so simple to prepare, just olive oil, salt and pepper. This Sesame Grilled Asparagus takes my go to recipe to the next level. The sesame oil and soy sauce are a wonderful compliment to an already delicious vegetable.

Sesame Grilled Asparagus
Recipe Courtesy of Steven Raichlen

Wooden toothpicks or bamboo skewers
1 pound asparagus
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
Salt and black pepper
Directions
In a shallow pan, soak skewers in cold water for 1 hour, then drain and set aside.

Preheat grill to high. Snap off the woody bases of the asparagus and discard. Skewer 4 or 5 asparagus spears together, using the toothpicks or 2 bamboo skewers, forming a raft shape.

In a small bowl, combine the sesame oil, soy sauce, and garlic and stir with a fork to mix. Brush this mixture on the asparagus rafts on both sides. Season the asparagus with a little salt and lots of pepper.

When ready to cook, place the asparagus rafts on the hot grate and grill until nicely browned on both sides, 2 to 4 minutes. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds as they grill. You can serve the asparagus as rafts or unskewered.

I am linking this to I am linking this to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace, Tuesday's at the Table at All the Small Stuff and Tasty Tuesday's at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

My good friend, Larry loves bread pudding. Whenever we get together, I don't need to ask what dessert he would like. I know his answer will be bread pudding. He's pretty much a bread pudding purist. I think it goes back to his childhood. His mom always made bread pudding with the leftover homemade bread. One time years ago, when I first decided to make bread pudding I asked Larry's mom for her recipe. She was such an old fashioned cook, no recipes for her. She said I just take some bread, eggs, milk and cinnamon and mix it all up and bake it. Maybe she said raisins, too. There's a few things I can make without a recipe but baking, I always have to follow a recipe.

I don't know if Larry would like the Pumpkin Bread pudding but we sure did. I made quite a few changes to the recipe. Mostly because of what I did or didn't have on hand. I cut the recipe in half and it worked nicely to fill three ramekins. I had leftover sweetened condensed and evaporated milk from this month's Martha Stewart recipe, Tres Leches Cupcakes. I was wondering what I was going to do with it when I had one of those aha moments. I can use it in the Pumpkin Bread Pudding. When we made the Pumpkin No vanilla beans for me, they're just too expensive. I do want to try vanilla bean paste. I didn't have any whole cloves or fresh ginger. My spice mixture consisted of vanilla extract, a pinch of ground cloves, a pinch of ground ginger and two cinnamon sticks. I felt like the pudding was plenty moist by itself, so I decided to forgo the sauce. We certainly don't need anything else made with cream.




This is a delicious dessert. Kind of fun to have a pumpkin dessert in Springtime. I am going to file this one in my holiday file. This would make a great addition to the Thanksgiving Day table.

Thanks to Carmen of Baking Is My Zen for choosing a great recipe. You can find the links to check out the other SMS bakers here.

Tres Leches Cupcackes - Martha Stewart Cupcakes Club

Never having made or eaten tres leches cake, I wasn't sure what to expect. Tres leches means three milks and is a Latin American dessert.

These cupcakes were easy to put together. The only thing that takes any time is brushing on the milk mixture after they're done baking. I made 1/4 of the recipe and ended up with 6 cupcakes. The instructions call for using foil cupcake liners. I didn't have foil liners. I decided to take my chances and use two regular liners. It worked fine!

Tres Leches is on My 50 list. Cross another one off the list, 6 down 44 to go. I loved the texture and moistness of these cupcakes. The recipe says to let these sit at least 30 minutes before eating. We ate one the first night and I found the flavor to kind of blah. I ate one the next day and LOVED it. Waiting 24 hours is the key to these cupcakes. I will be making these again. I am already trying to decide how to tweak the recipe with other flavors.



Thanks to Lisa of Smiley's Sweets and Creations for choosing such a great recipe. You can find links to all other other MSC bakers here!

Honey Rhubarb Betty - Pink Saturday

Happy Pink Saturday!!!

Did you know rhubarb is really a vegetable? I always thought it was a fruit!! Rhubarb is one of those foods I've always said I don't love. Maybe it's because of how I ate it as a kid. My mom always stewed it for my dad. She just cut it up, added a little water and sugar and cooked it until it was mushy. YUCK! As an adult, I've discovered lots of the other delicious ways to use rhubarb. Last Spring I made this Rhubarb Crisp. I talked about the yucky stewed rhubarb in that post, too. I've always heard talk of a betty but I hadn't ever made one. I wasn't even sure I knew what it was. A betty is similar to a cobbler but reminded me more of a bread pudding.




Honey Rhubarb Betty
Adapted from Southern Food
1 pound rhubarb, cut in 1/2-inch slices (about 4 to 4 1/2 cups)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
dash salt
2 tablespoons water
6 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup honey
4 cups bread cubes (about 5 slices)
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375° F.
Combine sliced rhubarb, sugar, nutmeg, salt, and water. In a small bowl, blend butter and honey; stir in bread cubes. Spoon bread cubes in the bottom of a 8 x 8 baking dish. Pour rhubarb mixture evenly over the top of the bread crumbs. Spoon the remaining bread crumbs over the top of the rhubarb. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the bread topping is lightly browned. Cover with foil and bake an additional 10minutes. Makes 6 servings.

I am linking this to Pink Saturday at How Sweet The Sound.

Penne With Vodka Sauce - Foodie Friday

Vodka Sauce is on My 50. When I saw this recipe at There's Always Thyme to Cook, I couldn't wait to give it a try. Even better this recipe is from Lidia Bastianich, one of my favorite chefs.

I've mentioned before, I sometimes open a jar before I make homemade sauce. No reason to do that when you can make this sauce. It's easy to put together and well worth the time. Next time I want to try adding shrimp and maybe some asparagus?

Penne With Vodka Sauce
Recipe courtesty of Lidia's Italian American Kitchen via There's Always Thyme to Cook

salt
One 35-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes (preferably San Marzano) with their liquid
1 pound penne
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
10 cloves garlic, peeled
crushed hot red pepper (to taste)
1/4 cup vodka
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil for finishing the sauce (optional)
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Bring 6 quarts of salted water to a boil in an 8-quart pot over high heat.

Pour the tomatoes and their liquid into the work bowl of a food processor. Using quick on/off pulses, process the tomatoes just until they are finely chopped. (Longer processing will aerate the tomatoes, turning them pink.)

Stir the penne into the boiling water. Bring the water back to a boil, stirring frequently. Cook the pasta, semi-covered, stirring occasionally, until done, 8 to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Whack the garlic cloves with the side of a knife and add them to the hot oil. Cook, shaking the skillet, until the garlic is lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Lower the work bowl with the tomatoes close to the skillet and carefully (they'll splatter) slide the tomatoes into the pan. Bring to a boil, season with salt and with crushed red pepper to taste (you can always add more it needed!) and boil about 2 minutes. Pour in the vodka, lower the heat so the sauce is at a lively simmer, and simmer until the pasta is ready.

Just before the pasta is done, take the garlic cloves out of the sauce and pour in the cream. Add the 2 tablespoons butter or oil, if using, and carefully swirl the skillet to incorporate into the sauce. If the skillet is large enough to accommodate the sauce and pasta, take the pasta out of the boiling water with a large wire skimmer or a small strainer and drop it carefully into the sauce in the skillet. If not, drain the pasta, return it to the pot, and pour in the sauce. Bring the sauce and pasta to a boil, stirring to coat the pasta with sauce. Check the seasoning, adding salt and red pepper if necessary. Sprinkle the parsley over the pasta and boil until the sauce is reduced enough to cling to the pasta.

Remove the pot from the heat, sprinkle the cheese over the pasta, and toss to mix. Serve immediately, serve with additional cheese if you like.

In My Garden

Despite our cool temperatures and lack of sunshine, the flowers in my yard a blooming beautifully. This is the first year my iris have bloomed. I love their vibrant purple color.

Roasted Pepper Pasta Sauce

I wanted to make something different with a couple of peppers that were getting close to being past their prime. Normally we would slice these peppers, toss with a little olive oil, kosher salt, pepper and toss them in the grilling pan to grill. I wanted to do something different with these peppers. I hate to admit this but I don't make a lot of my pasta sauces from scratch. After working all day, it's just too easy to open a jar. I love roasted pepper pasta sauces, so I decided to give it a try.

No photos of the finished dish, didn't like the way they turned out. . The recipe that was my inspiration used cream. I made a lighter version of the recipe, using milk and cornstarch. We loved the taste and creamy texture of this sauce. Looking forward to summertime peppers and more roasted pepper sauce.

Roasted Pepper Sauce
2 large peppers
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup fresh basil
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup grated Parmesean cheese
salt and pepper to taste

1.Preheat grill. Lightly coat the peppers with olive oil. Grill peppers over a medium flame broiler until the skin is blackened, and the flesh has softened slightly. Place peppers in a paper bag to cool for approximately 45 minutes.
2.Remove the seeds and skin from the peppers (the skin should come off the peppers easily now). Cut peppers into small pieces.
3.In a skillet, cook and stir the garlic, basil, and peppers in 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Cook for 10 minutes.
4.Place mixture in blender (careful it is hot), and puree to desired consistency. Return puree to skillet, and reheat to a boil. Mix 1/4 cup water and 1 tablespoon cornstach with a whisk. Pout milk, cornstarch mixture into the skillet. Whisk until smooth. Add the Parmesean cheese; cook and stir until the cheese melts. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes.

One Year Ago Beer Marinated Pork Chops.

I am linking this to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace, Tuesday's at the Table at All the Small Stuff and Tasty Tuesday's at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.