Shrimp and Grits

Shrimp, Grits, and Peppers

It's the first day of Autumn and the hot peppers are still growing like mad. We pretty much gave up on them earlier in the season - they were looking pretty sad. The tomatoes, on the other hand, are history. We did not have our usual stellar harvest.

But peppers... we got.

I went out and snagged a few to fry. We've been putting these on everything - and they are smokin' hot! Another strange thing. They're much hotter than they have been in the past, as well. I'm not arguing - I like them hot. I'm just a tad surprised.

Hot Peppers

I split them into two batches and sautéed them in a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic - and whisky. We usually do salt, pepper, garlic, and a bit of anchovy, but I saw the whisky bottle and said what the hell.

Hot Peppers

They have a pretty good shelf life in the 'fridge - and we tend to eat them on everything - but I'm going to seal and freeze half of them for the dark days of winter when some really hot peppers will come in handy.

I minced half of one tonight for the Shrimp and Grits we had for dinner. It really added a lot of flavor - and heat - without overpowering the dish. Just the way I like it.

Shrimp and Grits

This isn't exactly a low-country recipe, but it came out really good!

Shrimp and Grits

for the grits:

  • 2 cups water
  • 1/2 cup grits
  • pinch salt
  • 1/4 cup shredded cheese.

Cook grits according to package instructions. Stir in 1/4 cup shredded cheese right before serving.

for the shrimp:

  • 8 oz raw shrimp
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 1 celery stalk, diced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 6 oz asparagus, cut into 1 1/2" pieces
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • pinch thyme
  • pinch salt & pepper
  • 1 tsp minced hot pepper
  • 4 scallions, minced

Lightly sauté carrot and celery in skillet. Add garlic and cook about 30 seconds. Add wine and reduce by half. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add asparagus, thyme, salt, pepper, and minced pepper. Simmer until asparagus is almost done.

Stir in shrimp and cook until done - just a couple of minutes.

Stir in minced scallions and serve over grits.

Really simple and really tasty. That little bit of pepper definitely set the tone - each bite was successively hotter than the previous - but not enough to detract for the rest of the dish.

Not bad, at all...


Fish and Corn Chowder

Corn and Fish Chowder

Wow. It's cold enough to make a pot of soup! How did that happen? It's been raining all day - flood watch until Tuesday - with that wet, penetrating cold. Granted, I'm sill in shorts, t-shirt and thongs - flip-flops for those of you west of California - but it's a bit nippy outside. I'm inside. Warm, comfortable, and full of hot soup. It's moments like this where I could not care less about what the weather is - I'm content.

Tonight's dinner was brought to you by the 2 ears of corn I didn't use when I wrote about corn on Tuesday. And then it snowballed into a clean-out-the-fridge-and-freezer meal. Amazing how that happens, isn't it?!?

My first thought was to simply make a corn chowder, and then I espied the white fish - cod and haddock - in the freezer. Next thing I knew, I was making a fish and corn chowder with the remnants of the vegetable bin, a partial bag of frozen mixed vegetables, clam juice, pancetta - also from the freezer - and assorted herbs and spices from the cupboard.

It's how soup is supposed to be made - no recipe - just throw it in a pot and make it hot!

Now... In theory, chowder is a soup thickened with cream or a roux. I didn't use either - I cooked a russet potato in the broth and let it break down. But chowder sounds better when paired with corn and fish, so chowder, it is!

For those who like a bit of clarification, here's what I did:

Fish and Corn Chowder

  • 2 oz pancetta
  • 1/2 red onion, chopped
  • 2 celery stalks, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 cup prosecco
  • 1 qt clam juice
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1 russet potato, chopped
  • 6 oz baby potatoes, quartered
  • corn kernels cut from 2 ears of corn
  • 1 1/2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
  • 3 tomatoes, diced
  • 5 scallions, chopped
  • 1 lb white fish cut into pieces
  • S&P, as desired
  • assorted herbs and spices - try herbes d'provence or Old Bay, or Italian Seasoning...

Brown pancetta in a stock pot. Add celery and onion and cook until wilted. Add garlic and cook just for a second or two.

Add prosecco - or white wine - stir up any bits from the pot, and reduce down slightly. Add clam juice and broth and bring to a boil. Add potato, cover, reduce heat, and cook until potato is falling apart. Mash into broth.

Stir in corn, baby potatoes, mixed vegetables, tomatoes, and scallions, along with S&P and herbs. Cover and continue simmering until vegetables are cooked though.

5 minutes before serving, stir in fish.

Ladle into bowls and serve with crusty bread if you're lucky enough to have some!

This really the ultimate in clean-out-the-pantry soup. And, surprisingly, the bowls were too big! We both made it through half and were full - this eating less stuff is having it's desired effect! I also ate one slice of crusty bread when once upon a time, I would have eaten half a loaf - with butter.

The times they are a changing...


Spaghetti and Littleneck Clams

Spaghetti and Littleneck Clams

My impulse buy of the day, today, was a bag of littleneck clams. I saw them at the store and the next thing I knew, I was planning spaghetti and littlenecks for dinner. Why not, eh?!?

There's pretty much one recipe for spaghetti and littlenecks - with minor variations here and there - but it's pretty much a single simple recipe. I switched things up just a bit by adding a very thinly-sliced fennel bulb to add a bit of vegetable and cut down on the spaghetti. You know... eating healthier, and all. Otherwise, it's fairly classic.

Spaghetti and Littleneck Clams

  • olive oil
  • fennel, thinly sliced
  • garlic, minced
  • crushed red pepper
  • white wine
  • littleneck clams
  • parsley
  • lemon

Saute fennel until wilted. Add garlic and crushed red pepper. Add white wine and simmer until it begins to reduce and fennel is cooked. Add clams, cover, and steam until clams open.

Meanwhile, cook spaghetti. The goal is to have the spaghetti cooked and the clams cooked at the same time.

Add drained spaghetti to the clams, stir in the parsley and add a squeeze of lemon.

This is by far one of the quickest and easiest meals on the planet. I cooked a half-pound of pasta - it was the rest of the open package - and still made enough for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow. It's rather amazing - we actually are eating less.

 


Cod with Braised Leeks and Fennel

Braised Leeks and Cod

The August issue of Cooking Light arrived and it was replete with seafood recipes - perfect, since we rarely eat enough seafood. We both love seafood - just about any type - but we just don't cook it that often. With a new diet regime, that is changing...

It is The Seafood Issue - 56 ways to eat more seafood - and there are a couple of good ideas in there. One was for  Stovetop Braised Cod over Couscous with fennel and leeks - two of my most favorite vegetables. We had a pound of cod in the freezer, leeks and fennel in the 'fridge, tomatoes in the garden, olives... We were set.

First thing I did was look at that pound of cod - 4 4oz portions - and put 2 of them back. I'm trying like hell to learn portion control at my advanced age.

Then it was out to the garden to get fresh tomatoes, basil, oregano, and mint.

Cod with Braised Leeks and Fennel

  • 1 leek, sliced
  • 1 medium fennel bulb, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup green beans, sliced into 3" pieces
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 2 tomatoes, chopped
  • 1/2 cup Seville olives, halved
  • fresh basil, oregano, and mint, chopped, to taste
  • crushed red pepper, to taste
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 2 cod fillets

Saute leeks and fennel in a bit of olive oil until wilted. Add green beans and garlic. Cook another minute or two.

Add wine, tomatoes, and olives, and cook until tomatoes break down and all is saucy. Stir in fresh herbs, crushed pepper, and S&P, to taste. Simmer for about 5 minutes.

Nestle cod pieces into the simmering braise and cover pan. Cook for about 4-5 minutes, until cod is cooked.

The original recipe called for serving this over couscous, but it would have been overkill - this was definitely enough food for the two of us without adding anything more.

As much as I love to eat - and I do love to eat - I'm finding that less really is more. I'm starting to feel better not gorging myself like I sometimes could. And I think this past weekend was the revelation point. We were surrounded by acres of fabulous food all weekend and I ate some of everything - but only some of everything. I did not deny myself anything - I merely had one instead of three. Well... except for Linda's cookies. I did eat a lot of those - but still less than I would have last month.

I know the zealotry of the new convert, but I'm hoping that we can maintain the zeal in the weeks and months ahead. Going to the gym a minimum of three days a week is the cornerstone for this and is what will keep eating properly in the forefront.

It's now week three...

 


shrimp, artichokes, and pasta

Shrimp and Artichokes and Pasta

When I was taking the shrimp and artichoke hearts out of the freezer at 3:15 this morning, I was thinking risotto for dinner. 3 ayem was a bit chilly outside - not cold, just a bit of chill in the air - and it seemed like the perfect warmer-upper dinner.

14 hours later, it wasn't chilly, anymore. Dinner was reworked.

I have never been one of those people who can plan a weeks worth of meals - and then actually stick to it and cook them. I never know on Monday what I want for dinner on Thursday - and even Thursday evening can change from Thursday morning. 99 times out of 100, dinner is planned as I'm opening the 'fridge to start.

It works for me - and Victor isn't fussy. We're both of the opinion that if you're cooking, I'm eating. As I said, it works.

Tonight, the risotto became pasta. I started by sauteing leeks in a pat of butter, adding chopped mushrooms, and some chopped garlic.

Next came the artichokes and a hefty splash of pinot grigio. Freshly-dried oregano from the garden, and dried peperoncini - also from the garden. Juice and zest from a lemon, a splash of clam broth, and peeled and deveined shrimp. A little S&P and pepato cheese grated on top.

Quick, easy, and oh, so good!

 

 


Scallops

Let's see... It's Cinco de Mayo and the Kentucky Derby. The dinner possibilities are pretty much endless... So endless, in fact, that I decided to ignore all of it and cook up some scallops.

I suppose I could have come up with some sort of blending of the two cultures, but while I really love Mexican food, Kentucky food is nothing special. I'm not making Burgoo and Mint Juleps are a waste of good whisky. Or bad whisky. They are just not my cup of tea, so to speak. I have even had them at the Brown Hotel in Louisville. In real silver julep cups. Meh.

Besides... I'm pretty much boycotting anything Kentucky as long as Mitch McConnell is in office. He's a creep.

Which brought me back to Mexico - and Nonna. She won't eat anything with any spice to it and I wasn't in the mood to cook two dinners, so... a simple scallop dish was born. I had picked up the scallops at Reading Terminal Market when I was last down there and I'm working on trying to get the freezer emptied a bit. I acn pack that little bugger out pretty good - but at some point, the goodies need to be rotated out. I can't even imagine what it would be like if we had another freezer downstairs...

Scallops thawed, I went to work...

I heated a skillet with a bit of olive oil and butter and added the scallops I had patted dry. A couple of minutes on each side was enough to brown them and cook them through.

I took them out of the skillet and added a bit of minced shallot, and then a splash of white wine, lemon zest, a squeeze of lemon juice, and some parsley. And a pinch of salt and pepper.

Plated them and spooned the sauce over the top.

Really simple, really basic - and really good. And one step closer to an empty freezer.


The Weekend Food Fest

It doesn't get much better than having dear friends over for the weekend - especially when said friends are as enthusiastic about food as we are about cooking it. Definitely a friendship made in heaven!

Ann and Julie drove down from Rochester, taking a couple of days and meandering through Lancaster and the environs... Bird-in-Hand, Intercourse, Blue Ball... all the places with names that can get junior high school kids - or senior citizens - all in a twitter with double entendres.

Maturity is so overrated...

They arrived for dinner and the food-fest began!

Prosecco, of course, because... Prosecco. And a simple seafood dinner. Haddock with an Italian Salsa Verde, Potatoes and Savoy Cabbage, and Roasted Rainbow Carrots - and homemade bread, of course...

I picked up the haddock at Reading Terminal Market. I set it on lemon slices in a pan, added a bit of white wine, and put it in a 375°F oven for about 10 minutes.

It was topped with a fresh herb sauce:

Salsa Verde

  • 1 cup parsley
  • 6 sprigs thyme
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 8 leaves basil
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 3 anchovy fillets
  • 2 tbsp capers
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • salt and pepper, to taste - if desired
  • 1 cup olive oil

Place everything but olive oil into food processor and process until reasonably smooth. Slowly add olive oil.

Taste for seasoning and add salt and/or pepper, if desired.

It is really refreshing! Lots and lots of flavor going on.

The potatoes were cooked and mashed with savoy cabbage. This was Victor's idea. He generally dislikes cabbage, so when he suggested it, I ran with it! I love cabbage and just don't seem to get it often enough.

It was not unlike a Colcannon, but with an olive oil twist.

Mashed Potatoes with Savoy Cabbage

  • 2 lbs russet potatoes
  • 1/4 head savoy cabbage
  • butter
  • olive oil
  • S&P

Peel and cube the potatoes. Chop the cabbage. Place both in a pot and cover with salted water.

Boil until the potatoes are tender. Drain.

Return to pan and mash with butter and a healthy drizzle of olive oil.

Season with salt and pepper and top with chives, if desired.

Really simple and they played well with the fish.

Another thing that played well was little rainbow carrots. Roasted in the oven with olive oil and thyme sprigs, and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Really simple. Nothing overpowered anything. The flavors all spoke for themselves.

And a loaf of bread. Also simple.

Dessert was Panna Cotta topped with Blackberries in Sweet Marsala.

I didn't get a picture of it because I served it just as Lawrence Welk was starting. Lawrence Welk, you say?!? Yes... Lawrence Welk. We've had a long-standing tradition of watching Lawrence with Ann and Julie - us in Pennsylvania and them in New York. Texts flying back and forth with "My gawd, can you believe what she's wearing?"or "Rose must have been on drugs to come up with that outfit." It is a total hoot to watch a totally campy show with friends long-distance. I highly recommend it.

This is the most basic of recipes - and easier than easy to prepare.

Panna Cotta

  • 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
  • 2 tbsp cold water
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 cup half and half
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Soften gelatin in the 2 tbsp water in a small saucepan. Heat to dissolve. remove from heat.

Bring heavy cream, half & half, and sugar to a boil. Remove from heat, stir in gelatin and vanilla. Mix well.

Pour into 6 6oz ramekins. Chill until completely set.

To unmold:

Dip ramekin in hot water for a few seconds. Run a sharp knofe around the ramekin and unmold onto a small plate.

Top with your favorite topping.

Blackberry Marsala Sauce

  • 8 oz blackberries
  • 1/2 cup sweet Marsala

Rinse berries. Pour Marsala on top, and mash a few of the berries. Let macerate an hour. Spoon over panna cotta.

More fun, laughter, and Pistachio Liqueur, it was time to call it a night.

We started off Sunday with Brunch - a fritatta. It's simple to make. Mushrooms, leeks, eggs, asparagus, herbes d'Provence... It was served with Blackberries in Prosecco - because we had leftover blackberries and leftover prosecco. It's great when things work out like that. We also had roasted potatoes with thyme and fresh squeezed blood orange juice with seltzer. Yum.

Of course, I forgot to photograph all of that when it was being served. Oh well. here's what was left.

We sat around talking and laughing and all the tomfoolery that friends seem to do, when I noticed it was getting into the middle of the afternoon, so I headed off into the kitchen and whipped up a loaf of bread and a torta di mele - an  Italian Apple Torte - while the kids were all occupied.

The bread is straight James Beard. I have been making it for years and years. It is a one-rise-into-a-cold-oven loaf. It never disappoints.

James Beard French-Style Bread

  • 1 pk active dry yeast
  • 1  tbsp  sugar
  • 1 cup  warm water
  • 1 tbsp  salt
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 3 tbsp  Yellow cornmeal
  • 1 egg white mixed with 1 tbsp cold water

Combine the yeast with sugar and warm water in a large bowl and allow to proof. Mix the salt with the flour and add to the yeast mixture, a cup at a time, until you have a stiff dough.

Remove to a lightly floured board and knead until no longer sticky, about 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary.

Place in a buttered bowl and turn to coat the surface with butter.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk..1 1/2-2 hrs.

Punch down the dough. Turn out on a floured board and shape into a long, French bread-style loaf. Place on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with the cornmeal, but NOT buttered.

Slash the tops of the loaf diagonally in two or three places with a single edge razor blade or sharp knife, brush the loaves with the egg white wash.

Place in a COLD oven, set the temperature at 400° and bake 35 minutes, or until well browned and hollow sounding when the tops are tapped.

I use the microwave as my proofing box, nowadays. I boil a 2 cup measure with water, place it in the corner, add the bowl of dough and close the door. It drives Victor crazy because inevitably he wants or needs to nuke something, but the concept works great.

And then dessert... a Torta di Mele.

This is another simple dessert - but it looks impressive as hell.

Torta di Mele

  • 4 apples - I used an assortment
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 7 tbsp butter
  • 2/3 sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/8 cup Calvados
  • 1 lemon - zest
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • salt

Heat the oven to 390°F.

Cream sugar with butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs and egg yolk. Add Lemon zest. Add milk and Calvados.

Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt.

Peel and core apples. Slice half into wedges and chop half.

Stir the chopped apples into the batter.

Spread into a 10" springform pan that has been buttered and floured.

Arrange apple wedges around torta.

Bake about 30 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

I vacated the kitchen and Victor came in to make a baked pasta. Pasta with sausages, ricotta, five cheeses, and homemade sauce... Be still my beating heart. It was delicious. Even Nonna licked her plate clean.

There is something so comforting about ooey-gooey-cheesy pasta that is only made better when shared with friends. Then again, I think Italian food, in general, evokes family and friendship. There's just something about it that makes you want to eat, laugh, share, and talk for hours upon hours.

We never left the house. We simply moved from kitchen to living room to kitchen to living room.

So invite friends over for the weekend and just sit around and cook and eat. I highly recommend it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Butternut Squash and Lobster Risotto

Tonight's dinner is brought to you by things falling out of the freezer, this morning.

It was 5:30ayem and I was rummaging around the freezer to see what I wanted to thaw for dinner. A little 2-pack of lobster tails took a nosedive onto the floor. I picked them up to put back and knocked a half of a butternut squash - and it fell to the floor. Did I mention it was 5:30ayem?!?

I looked at the two things and decided they weren't going back in - they were dinner. A recipe was born.

Risotto is seriously one of the easiest dishes to make. I think it got its difficulty reputation from restaurants that want to charge a ton of money for three cents worth of rice. Really. If you have 20 minutes, you have risotto.

And  at it's core, it's just wine, broth, and rice. Everything else is just what you have on hand and want to add. Tonight, we added lobster and butternut squash. I tend to use either Carnaroli or Vialone Nano rice for risotto because they are both very forgiving. They will maintain texture even as they get creamy and are almost impossible to overcook. Arborio is the rice you are going to find in the grocery store, so use it. I have a box of it, as well. In fact, I have about a dozen rices in the cupboard at any given moment.

I like rice.

Butternut Squash and Lobster Risotto

  • 1 cup carnaroli rice (or arborio)
  • butter and olive oil
  • 1/2 cup onion, minced
  • 1/2 bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 4 cups clam broth
  • 2 small lobster tails, chopped
  • 1/2 butternut squash, chopped
  • 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 cup chopped parsley
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Saute the onion and pepper in the olive oil and butter until the onion is translucent. Stir in the rice and cook until the rice is coated with the oil and beginning to look translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a second or two.

Stir in the wine and stir and cook until it is absorbed.

Stir the clam sauce in 1/2 cup at a time, stirring regularly and adding the next 1/2 cup when the previous has been absorbed.

About midway through, add the squash.

Continue adding broth until it has been mostly absorbed and the rice is al dente.

Stir in the lobster and mix it well as it cooks. It will only take a minute or two.

Stir in the cheese, and then the parsley and oregano.

Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper, as desired.

Twenty minutes.

I use a butter and olive oil mixture for flavor. You can use all of one or the other. Your dish. Your call.

You can switch out the clam broth for chicken, beef, or vegetable broth. Switch out the lobster and butternut squash for mushrooms, chicken - or just about anything you have lying about. Risotto is a great clean-out-the-refrigerator dish!

Have fun with it!


Shrimp Scampi Roll-Ups

I pulled a bag of shrimp out of the freezer this morning before heading off to work, told Victor I had 2 ideas - Shrimp and Grits or a Shrimp Scampi Roll-Up. Or... he could make something he wanted... It's always nice to have choices, ya know?!? When I got home, the verdict was the roll-up.

The Shrimp and Grits was something I was just going to do. The Scampi recipe came from Delish. I had bookmarked it a year ago and rediscovered it when I went through and cataloged the scores of recipes I've been bookmarking and ignoring for years. It's amazing how many recipes I had bookmarked from websites that no longer exist. It is so nice to have all of that gone and my "Food Folder" manageable for the first time in forever.

I bought a program called Paprika Recipe Manager that was recommended by our friend, Bonnie. The beauty of it is it downloads the website recipe onto your computer in an easy to read format and links back to the original recipe page with complete attribution. One of my biggest problems in copying recipes on my computer has been not paying attention and putting them in text files without adding where it was I got them from. Now... when I make something I can tell y'all where I got the idea! What a concept, eh?!?

So... armed with my recipe, to work I went...

You'll note when clicking on the recipe link that the original calls for small roll-ups with Lasagne noodles. Their picture looks neat, inviting... I chose to use lasagne sheets I had in the freezer. I was originally going to cut them into strips, but decided I'd go with the cannelloni look, instead. Mine definitely looks more rustic, but dayum, it was good! Really good. As in really, really good!

I did follow their basic recipe pretty much but used different cheeses. I switched out the mozzarella for asiago and fontina and, of course, used lasagne sheets instead of their lasagne noodles. One thing odd about their recipe is they state 10 noodles, six servings, but the video only shows 9 roll-ups in their dish. Not to mention the filling makes a hellava lot more than they show. I could have easily made 8 of these if I had used a 9x13 baking dish.

Shrimp Scampi Roll-Ups from Delish.

 

Theirs looked pretty. Mine tasted fabulous.

Even Nonna liked it!

 

 

 

 


Venetian Marinated Fish

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 pounds sole or flounder fillets
  • Flour, for dredging
  • 1/2 cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
  • 2 cups thinly sliced white onions
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1/3 cup pine nuts
  • 1/3 cup golden raisins
  • 3 tablespoons chopped candied citron

DIRECTIONS

Dredge the fish pieces in the flour, shake off the excess, and place on a plate.

In a skillet, heat the oil, then fry the fish on both sides until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove the fish to a serving dish.

In the same oil (add more if necessary), slowly brown the onions about 5 to 7 minutes, until almost caramelized or deep brown in color.

Add the vinegar, pine nuts, raisins, and citron. Cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes, then pour the mixture over the fish.

Cover the fish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 day before serving.

To serve, bring to dish to room temperature.


Fish Tacos

  • 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
  • About 1 1/2 cups red wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ancho chile powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped, plus more for
  • garnish
  • 1 jalapeño, stemmed and chopped
  • 1 pound flaky white fish (such as mahi mahi or cod), cut into 4 pieces
  • Salt
  • 8 fresh corn tortillas
  • Mexican crema, homemade or store-bought
  • Fresh Tomato Salsa
  • 2 limes, cut into quarters

preparation

Marinate the Onion
Put the onion in a small bowl and pour in enough red wine vinegar to cover well. Set aside for at least 30 minutes or up to several weeks.

Marinate the Fish
Pour the olive oil into a small bowl and add the ancho chile powder, oregano, cumin, chopped cilantro, and jalapeño. Mix well. Place the fish on a dish and pour the marinade over it, making sure to coat the fish well on both sides. Allow to marinate for 20 minutes.

Cook the Fish
Heat a nonstick sauté pan over medium-high heat. Remove the fish from the marinade and place in the hot pan (there is no need to add more oil). Season the fish with salt. Cook the fish for 4 minutes undisturbed, then turn over, and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and flake the fish into the pan with a fork, making sure to mix in all the marinade that has stuck to the bottom of the pan. Check for seasoning and add more salt if necessary. Set aside.

Heat the Tortillas
Place four of the tortillas on a plate and sandwich them between two slightly dampened sheets of paper towel. Microwave on high for 45 seconds. Place the warm tortillas in a towel-lined basket or plate and cover. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

Assemble and Serve
To assemble the tacos, place a heaping spoonful of the marinated flaked fish onto the center of a tortilla. Top with the marinated onions. Serve accompanied by Mexican crema and salsa.


Tortolloni and Lobster

While I was busy configuring my new computer, Victor was in the kitchen configuring pasta. Homemade pasta. Stuffed and intricately formed pasta. By hand.

One by one by one...

I just love homemade pasta and there's just no way I will ever make it. Victor has it down to a gastronomical science. There are times when you just leave things to the pros. We all know folks who have a signature dish - that one dish that stands out among all others - and we don't try to replicate them. Victor has a score of them - all centered around flour and eggs. I read or heard somewhere that there were over 400 pasta shapes in Italy. I'd have one a week for the next 400 weeks...

When La Cucina Italiana was still being published, we'd get The Pasta Issue every year and Victor would cook his way through that. So, I don't think I'm even remotely unreasonable about 400 pastas in the next 400 weeks. Heck, I'll be retired in about 21 weeks. I can help with the cleanup!

Tonight's pasta was Cheese Tortolloni in a Lobster Sauce. Tortolloni is just a larger tortellini - and lobster is just delicious with it!

The filling was ricotta cheese, quattro formaggio, parmesan, egg, oregano, and a bit of S&P.

The pasta dough was 1 3/4 cups Tipo "00" flour, 1/4 cup semolina, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup olive oil, 3 tablespoons water, and a pinch of salt.

Rolled thin and cut into circles...

Filled and hand-formed... one by one...

The sauce was a throw-together of lobster chunks sauteed in butter and olive oil with white wine, garlic, green onion, oregano, and a pinch of peperoncino. Simplicity. And decadent.

Just one more instance where it just doesn't suck to be me.

21 weeks to retirement. I can get used to this.

Strike that - I am used to this.

And I'm ready for more.