Dover Sole
Bastille Day. I can hear a flippant Marie Antoinette stating "qu'ils mangent de la brioche".
I suppose I could have found a fabulous French recipe for sole tonight. Sole Meunière would have been a great choice - it was Julia Child's first meal in France, after all - but I wanted a bit more tonight. I've already had my culinary revelation and wasn't looking for another...
I found a recipe for a Sole Picatta with Capers and Grapes and thought it held promise. I didn't care for the fact that it called for white grape juice in the sauce. That stuff is just waaaaaaay too sweet for me - but I did like the combination of grapes and capers. A new recipe was born!
Dover Sole Picatta
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Dover sole fillets
- flour
- 1 cup seedless grapes, cut in half
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp capers
Heat oil in large skillet. Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper and dredge in flour. Add to skillet; cook until browned and just opaque in center, about 2 minutes per side.
Transfer fish to plates. Add wine and whisk up any browned bits. Add butter and capers. Bring to boil and add grapes. Simmer sauce until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.
Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over fish.
It was served with a mixture of black japonica rice, mahogany rice, and wild rice cooked with a shallot sauteed in a bit of butter, garlic, S&P, and chicken broth.
Vegetable was zucchini with tomatoes and fresh basil.
And... besides the chocolate cake, we have G Carl Tripician Macaroons from Atlantic City! Their website states: Tripicians is now in the ninety-nineth year of the Jersey Shore Macaroon tradition. Our Macaroons are made from the finest of ingredients, using a complex baking process and a time-honored recipe that hasn't changed since 1910. Our chewy flavorful Almond Macaroons and Coconut Macaroons are truly unlike any others. They're delicious, they're sinful, they're addictive. Try some today!
And by jove, I think we might!
Baked Alaskan Cod
For the first time in months I've actually written the word "Alaska" and not first referenced their soon-to-be-former-governor. I love the seafood up there but can't say the same for their politicians. Then again, there really aren't too many politicians I do like. They're all politicians.
But politics aside for a moment, Victor cooked up a great Alaskan Cod tonight. Really good!
He made up some fresh breadcrumbs, added a bit of garlic and a pinch of Italian seasoning and a drizzle of olive oil to moisten it a bit. He patted it onto the cod and into the oven it went.
And as a treat, he made a really good tartar sauce - mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish and worcestershire sauce.
Israeli couscous medley and broccoli finished the plate. It was just the perfect mix of flavors - and even more perfect because I didn't cook!
Sofrito Stuffed Peppers
Sofrito sauce is my friend. It's amazing just how many things I have been able to make with it.
For those just tuning in, sofrito sauce is a basic Spanish sauce of onions, tomatoes, garlic, and a variety of seasonings. It has many variations and is widely used in Central America, Cuba, and throughout the various Hispanic communities. It's good. And I can buy it jarred.
Tonight's variation on a theme is a simple stuffed pepper. The concept came from an item I saw in a grocery store freezer.
I used red peppers and black japonica rice, but any peppers and any rice will work. I also had a goodly amount of filling left over. This would easily stuff four peppers (eight halves).
Sofrito Stuffed Peppers
- 1 cup rice
- 1 jar sofrito sauce
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth
- 1 lb langostinos (or shrimp)
- 1 tomato, diced
- 5 green onions, diced
- 2 cups shredded cheese
- 1 small can sliced black olives, drained
- 4 bell peppers, halved
Cook rice with 1/2 cup sofrito sauce and 1 1/2 cups beef broth until tender.
When cooked, add remaining sofrito sauce, langostinos, tomato, cheese, green onions, and olives. Reserve a bit of onion and olives for garnish.
Mix everything well and stuff into pepper halves.
Place on sheet pan and bake at 350° for about 30 minutes.
This is one of those things that is only limited by ones imagination... Switch out the peppers, any type of rice will work, but so would so many other things - barley, lentils, couscous, beans... The filling could become vegetarian really easily by substituting some diced vegetables for the langostinos. Different cheeses...
Play with it. Have fun.
It's pretty much guaranteed to be good no matter how you do it!
Snapper
After the excesses of the holiday weekend, it's time to lighten the dinner plate a bit.
Scarlet Snapper, zucchini, green onions, and a bit of red pepper and onion spread. Covered and baked at 350° for 15 minutes.
Can we say easy, boys and girls?!?
I added nothing to the dish - no oil, butter, anything. Didn't need it. The zucchini gave of enough liquid to steam everything quite nicely. The spread was slightly spicy...
It worked well.
Salmon and Mango
I can tell it's time to go shopping - the plates are getting a bit disjointed. But that's okay - everything tasted pretty good!
Tonight was salmon on the barbie. Marinated with a bit of garlic and soy sauce, grilled to perfection over hot coals, and served atop a mango and sambal oelek coulis. Grilled lemons and limes topped the salmon, while grill-basket potatoes and frozen corn rounded out the plate.
Tomorrow is going to be a bit of a busy shopping day... I need to head down to Gentile's for lots of produce - plus a nice long shopping list for Victor's mom - and then trek out to Wegman's for all of our July 4th party needs. Plus we're going to have house guests, so we need 10 times more stuff in the house than we normally have. (I'm neurotic, remember?!?) Busy shopping day, indeed.
We're going for a modified Hawai'ian theme for the party. That means we can have pork tenderloins with pineapple and still have hot dogs and potato salad.
We make the rules!
Time to start creating menus and writing out shopping lists.....
Friday Fish
As a kid growing up in the '50s and '60s, fish on Friday was an automatic. But... since my mom wasn't really crazy about most fish - and she did the cooking - our Friday Fish was usually relegated to her iceberg lettuce tuna salad in the summer, or tuna casserole in the winter. Fish sticks never entered our home.
I've always liked fish, but, not having had it regularly as a kid, I just don't think about it that much as a dinner item. And if I do, it's usually a nice, classic recipe such as a Sole Meuniére - sole dredged in flour and fried in half a pound of butter. Or a nice, meaty fish steak with a Beurre Blanc - more heavy cream and butter.
Adding a few hundred grams of saturated fat to a product that is supposed to be lean and reasonably healthy is pretty much defeating the purpose of eating it in the first place. Of course, I have never been accused of being logical or rational, either.
I've made a few strides in trying to lighten the classic French-style cooking I learned so many years ago... I make lots of salsas and other sweet/savory combinations and make broth sauces and gravies where I once would have made a bordelaise. But my first instinct is always to go with a classic. And did you know that a hollandaise sauce can go on just about anything?!? It's frightening.
So... the challenge is always how to get the flavor and texture I want without resorting to "lite" versions of what was once real food. (I do have my standards - low as they may be!)
I have to say that I hit a homer with this one, tonight! It had all the necessary ingredients: quick and easy to do, tons of flavor, and reasonably healthy, to boot!
Morue Sur un Croûton
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
- 5 anchovy fillets, minced
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cod fillets
- olive oil
- 2 thick slices good bread
- a dozen or so fresh basil leaves
- salt and pepper, to taste
Preheat oven to 475°F.
Mix first 4 ingredients and set aside.
Place fish on baking sheet. Brush both sides with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until just done, about 6-7 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat a splash of olive oil in a skillet. Add tomato mixture. Cook until tomatoes soften and sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Season with S&P to taste.
Lightly toast bread. Place on plate and top with tomato sauce, basil leaves, fish, and then a final spoon of sauce. A bit of fresh basil on top, and dinner is served!
I did some mixed squash on the side - olive oil, garlic, and oregano.
This was so easy to do and got rave reviews from Victor.
And there's still angel food cake with fresh strawberries for dessert.
Scallops and Black Rice
Our friend Dorrie was down visiting from Boston and we've been eating well since she arrived! Dinner last night was no exception!
Dorrie had never had Black Japonica Rice before, so I decided we needed to showcase it. Into the freezer and out came New England Scallops. (How apros po!)
I started the rice and while it was cooking, made the scallops... I just kinda threw this together so amounts are approximate...
- 1 lb scallops, trimmed and sliced in half
- 1/4 lb pancetta, diced
- 1/2 onion, minced
- 1/4 cup brandy
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds
- 2 cups peas
- 2 tbsp butter
- Fresh basil
Saute the onions and pancetta in the butter. Add the brandy and reduce a bit. Add the cream and reduce a bit. Add the peas and heat through. Add the scallops and simmer a few minutes until cooked. Stir in the almonds and some fresh chopped basil. Taste for seasoning and serve over black rice.
It was yum!
Niçoise Salad
Elizabeth brought a recipe into work the other day for a simple Niçoise salad as a possible demo. We looked at it, studied it, thought about it, and decided, It doesn't have potatoes in it - it's not a real Niçoise... We decided against it.
But since then, it's been on my mind...
So... today was the day to take care of it! It's a fairly basic salad. And really good. I had a couple of swordfish steaks in the freezer and used them in place of the more traditional tuna. And the olives were a combination of stuffed olives we already had in the fridge, as well.
Niçoise Salad
Dressing:
- large clove of garlic
- 2 tbsp red-wine vinegar
- 1/4 olive oil
- bit of anchovy paste
- salt and pepper, to taste
Mince garlic, add vinegar and then oil and anchovy paste. Season with S&P to taste.
Salad:
- small red potatoes cookes, sliced and cooled
- green beans, blanched
- diced red pepper
- 1/2 small red onion, slivered lengthwise
- Niçoise olives
- capers
- slivered fresh basil leaves
The Fish
- fresh lemon juice
- swordfish steaks
The Toppings:
- chopped hard-cooked eggs
- tomatoes
Marinate fish in a bit of lemon juice and olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill to desired doneness.
Cook potatoes, blanch beans and cool to room temperature. Place in bowl and add remaining ingredients - except chopped eggs. Add swordfish (or tuna) and dressing and mix lightly. Top with chopped eggs and enjoy!
We had enough left over for lunch tomorrow!
Iron Chef - Peach
What a day! What a challenge. What FUN FOOD! Every couple of months, the folks at work get together and decide to do an Iron Chef-like competition. An ingredient is chosen and we get to come up with fun foods. My favorite ingrediet upo to this point was when we did pumpkin back in October.
Today was Peach.
Not as many entries as in the past, but what we lacked in quantity, we gained in quality. This was a really unique and rather ingenious crowd!
I made an Asian Peach Salsa, served over a Pork Tenderloin. I have to admit i did a pretty good job on this one!
Asian Peach Salsa
- 12 Peaches, diced
- 1/2 Red Onion, diced
- 2 tsp Sambal Oleck (Chili Paste)
- 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
- 2 Tbsp Rice Wine
- 1 tsp Sesame Oil
- Cilantro, chopped
- Basil, chopped
- Lenon Verbena, chopped
Dice peaches and onions and place in bowl. Add remaining ingredients and lightly mix. Chill until ready to serve.
The salsa is great with chips, but is really really good with pork, chicken, or fish. It's pretty spicy, but you can adjust the heat by the amount of chili paste you use.
The next recipe was just plain outstanding. Joe Poston made a Peach Salmon Chili. You read that right. Peach Salmon Chili. Definitely one of the more unique dishes I have had. And it really worked!
Peach Salmon Chili
- 2 jars Peach salsa
- 2 cans White Kidney Beans, drained
- 1 1/2 pkgs pre-cooked Salmon
- 1 Mango, sliced ito small pieces
- Chili powder until it is as hot as u like it
Combine ingrediets in a crock pot set on low. Wait. (About 6-7 hours.) Not my recipe, but I'm sue you could let it simmer on a stovetop, too.
I was impressed.
There was also Chicken in a Peach BBQ Sauce, Peach Chipotle Ciabatta Bread, Peach Soda, a salad with a Peach Vinaigrette, and a Peach and soymilk just-like-ice-cream yummy dessert.
More info as I get recipes!
Definitely a good time was had by all!
I Love It When...
...Victor cooks dinner!
Tonight was a simple Alaskan Ciod he broiled with lemon and butter. Simple and classic! Corn from the freezer and fresh avocado and tomatoes with a great cucumber and yogurt dressing.
Everything was light, refreshing, and filling. Perfect almost summer food! :)
Crab Fritters
Mike's done it, again! He has the uncanny knack of knowing just when I'm brain-dead but need to update the blog! And he takes great pictures, too! His Crab Fritters sound fantastic! Methinks I'll be making them really soon!
Crab Fritters
Mike Amason
The rural South of the early 20th century was never known for haute cuisine. Money was limited most of the year, and cooks were constrained to find new and creative ways to use the few ingredients that were available to them. There was always flour and corn meal, and breads of all types really were the “staff of life”. Most women baked a couple of times a week, but every meal saw a quick bread of some type – cornbread, biscuits, hoecakes, hushpuppies, and, when the garden was producing, corn fritters.
A fritter is as simple to make as it is delicious. It’s essence is nothing more than a pancake with onion, corn and black pepper added (canned corn will work, but fresh kernels scraped from the cob turns this into food for the gods), and the result is a far greater delight than the sum of its parts.
These have been updated, “citified” if you will, by the addition of a few ingredients, and the product is suitable for entertaining the pickiest company. Serve with a good fish chowder, seafood gumbo, or vegetable soup.
I use a cast iron skillet for these and wipe it with oil between batches, but a nonstick frying pan will work just fine. These are fried, but they are not greasy.
Serves: 6-8 Can be made ahead and reheated, but do not freeze well.
Ingredients:
- 16 oz can whole kernel corn, drained, or two large ears fresh corn, kernels cut and cob scraped
- 1 pound claw crab meat
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- two green onions, chopped with tops
- ½ stalk celery, finely chopped
- 2 to 3 sprigs fresh parsely, chopped
- 1-1/2 tsp Black pepper
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 eggs, beaten
- ½ cup half-and-half or whipping cream
- ¼ cup white wine
- 1-1/2 cups self-rising flour
Put crab meat, chopped vegetables, spices, and liquid ingredients into a large bowl and stir to mix well and coat everything with milk and eggs mixture. Stir in flour just before cooking.
Drop spoonfuls of batter onto a nonstick frying pan or lightly greased skillet or griddle and cook 3-4 minutes until bubbles rise to the top of the batter and bottom is brown. Turn them over to finish cooking. Serve hot or cold.
Scallops with Lentils
Now THIS was a fun dinner! I had some scallops in the freezer just waiting for an interesting recipe, and boy, did I find one. I was perusing my final issue of Bon Appetit (no more magazines - I've had enough of them!) and came across "Pan-Seared Sea Scallops with Lentils, Bacon, and Cider Reduction." The recipe comes from the Blue Heron Restaurant in Massachusetts.
Surprisingly (or, not surprisingly, I guess...) I had everything I needed for the recipe in the house. (It helps to have a well-stocked pantry.) Anyway... Today was Victor's last day at his old job (he starts a new one on Monday) so a bit of a gastronomic celebration was in order. And, I had all of the ingredients...
Lightly seared scallops on a bed of French lentils mixed with bacon, a sauce of apple cider drizzld over, and another sauce of cream and mascarpone cheese drizzled over that. Can we say absolutely fabulous, boys and girls?!?
While the recipe took 4 pots and pans, it was actually really easy to do. Mostly, it's making reductions - and ya can't get much easier than that. Thyme and a couple of bay leaves are the only seasonings, shallots the only thing that needs chopping... Super easy. And super good!
Every flavor stands out on its own, yet compliments everything else. And while the scallops were perfect in the dish, it could easily be made with just about anything, from chicken to pork loin to any fish or seafood imaginable.
This is one I shall definitely be making again.
Here's the recipe direct from Bon Appetit:
PAN-SEARED SEA SCALLOPS WITH LENTILS, BACON, AND CIDER REDUCTION
Lentilles du Puy are lighter than other lentils and hold their shape especially well during cooking.
Mascarpone Cream
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 2 tablespoons chopped shallots
- 1/4 cup whipping cream
- 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
- 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh chives
Cider reduction
- 2 cups apple cider
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup chopped shallots
Lentils
- 6 whole cloves
- 1 medium onion, peeled
- 6 cups water
- 1 1/2 cups French green lentils (lentilles du Puy; about 12 ounces)
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 slices thick-cut applewood-smoked bacon, cut crosswise ÿ inch thick
- 1/4 cup chopped shallots
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
Scallops
- 6 tablespoons butter, divided
- 18 sea scallops, patted dry
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
For mascarpone cream:
Place wine and shallots in heavy small saucepan. Boil until almost dry, about 6 minutes. Add cream. Boil until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Stir in mascarpone, lemon peel, and chives. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Transfer to small bowl; cover and chill. Rewarm before serving.For cider reduction:
Place cider, vinegar, and shallots in heavy medium saucepan. Boil until reduced to 3/4 cup, about 15 minutes. Strain; discard solids in strainer. Return cider mixture to pan. DO AHEAD: Cider reduction can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.For lentils: Press thin end of cloves into peeled onion. Place onion in heavy large saucepan. Add 6 cups water, lentils, and bay leaves. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook bacon in heavy large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels. Pour all but 3 tablespoons fat from skillet. Add shallots to skillet and sauté over medium heat until golden, about 2 minutes.
Drain lentils, discarding onion and bay leaves. Add reserved bacon, lentils, and thyme to shallots. DO AHEAD: Lentils can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Rewarm over medium heat, stirring often.
For scallops:
Bring cider reduction to simmer. Whisk in 5 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Keep warm.Season scallops with salt and pepper. Melt 1 tablespoon butter with oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add scallops and cook until brown, about 2 minutes per side.
Divide lentils among 6 plates. Arrange 3 scallops atop lentils on each plate. Drizzle cider reduction over scallops and around lentils. Drizzle warm mascarpone cream over.
Makes 6 servings.
Bon Appétit
September 2006
Deborah Snow
Blue Heron Restaurant