Mediterranean Baked Cod

We were looking for a lighter seafood/fish dinner tonight, and a quick flip through Paul Johnson's Fish Forever (Wiley and Sons, 2007) turned up a meal that looked both good and easy to make. It was true on both counts.

The recipe, page 97, was Mediterranean Baked Cod, which was a simple baked fish in mediterranean ingredients (leeks, fennel, tomatoes and white wine).

Baked Cod Ingredients (with cauliflower)

Step 1 was to bake some sliced fennel and leeks in olive oil and salt and pepper (for 10-15 minutes). When this was done, white wine, saffron and lemon juice was added to the pan, and then the cod was placed on top of the veggies, which were then topped with tomatoes, more olive oil, salt and pepper. This was baked for a good 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees (not the 10 minutes at 350 degrees as stated in the recipe).

Leeks and Fennel

The result was a lovely tender white fish in a saffron tomato broth. We served it with a mashed garlic cauliflower and some crusty bread for mopping up the broth. The ultimate arbiters of success, the children, pronounced it good. Me and Amp loved it.

Mediterranean Baked Cod

Although it was deemed good, Grace's final words on the subject were: "it would be better with halibut". Brat. :-)

Chili - Basic Texas Red

A good dish for a cold winter Eagles-game-day Sunday is a nice bowl of chili - a basic Texas Red, with just beef (and no beans).

I was looking back through my postings here, and I can't believe I haven't posted this recipe yet... This is our version of a basic easy chili, adapted from several different recipes. So here's how an east coast Yankee makes a bowl of Texas Red.

Ingredients:

• 4 pounds of cubed "stew" beef (chuck is good)
• 1 large onion, chopped into small pieces
• 1-2 cups of green and red chilis (today I used three Anaheim mild green chilis, 1 red bell pepper and 1 jalapeno), chopped into small pieces
• 5-6 cloves of garlic, minced (or 1 tablespoon minced jar garlic)
• 1 teaspoon ground chipotle chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground ancho chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon generic "chili powder"
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• A 28 oz can of diced tomatoes in juice
• 1 square semi-sweet baker's chocolate
• 2-3 cups beef stock
• 1 bottle of beer

Steps:

1) Cut the beef into small (1/2 - 3/4 inch cubes or small pieces). In a large dutch oven, brown the beef pieces in a little bit of oil, in batches.

2)  Put all the beef back into the pot, add the onions and garlic, and stir for a few minutes.

Beef and onions and garlic

3) Add the dried spices, fresh chilis and diced tomatoes with their juices. Stir for a few minutes to get the spices mixed in.

Add the spices, fresh chilis and diced tomatoes

Add 2-3 cups of beef stock and one bottle of a good beer (I used a bottle of Sam Adams this time). Also add the one square of baker's chocolate. Mix well. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer, and cook for an hour.

Add beef stock and a beer

At the end of an hour, remove the cover, and simmer it for another 1-1.5 hours, adjusting the temperature as needed to make sure you maintain a low simmer.

Two to two and a half hours later - Chili

Serve with jalapeno corn bread and a salad. We garnish with sour cream, green onions, shredded cheddar (and more sliced fresh jalapeno for me).

Thanksgiving 2014

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone, and another terrific meal was had in the company of family.

As much as I love to try different things, Thanksgiving is the one holiday that I don't want to mess with too much; everyone has an expectation of what should be served, and to not meet those expectations seems like a sacrilege I am not willing to undertake. So turkey and all the trimmings it is...

The meal, of tried and true standards, along with a new recipe of two, was as follows:

• A 24 pound fresh Butterball turkey, simply prepped and roasted in a Reynolds oven bag. I have gone to a lot more trouble with turkeys over the years, brining and basting and trying all sorts of different things, but you really can't beat the combination of ease and great moist turkey that you get doing it this way. Turkey. Bag. A little butter and oil. Salt and pepper. Sage and rosemary. Throw it in the oven at 350 degrees and forget it for 3 hours. With gravy of course.
• A spiral carved ham. Adding a little pork to the festivities never hurts. A good store bought one requiring no effort other than to pull off slices and put it on the platter.
• Stuffing - a new recipe this year; an Anne Burrell online recipe for cornbread and sausage stuffing. This was better than other cornbread stuffings I have tried. It had the usual homemade and dried out cornbread and sausage meat, but these with a combination of walnuts and dried cranberries made for an excellent dish. Between this and the Bobby Flay mushroom stuffing we did last year, there are now two stuffing recipes I would gladly make again.
• Mashed potatoes - The classic. Five pounds of yukon golds, milk, butter, salt and pepper. Grace would eat a huge bowl of this and nothing else for dinner if we would let her.
• Sweet potatoes and apples - Much like I need to try a new stuffing recipe every year, Amparo needs to tinker with with the obligatory sweet potato dish. This year was a great one; boiled and sliced sweet potatoes (like a gratin prep) and sliced apples in a sweet sauce, layered and baked. Yum. Better than mashed potatoes, whipped sweet potatoes and everything mashed...
• Cranberry sauce - Homemade from Jasper White's Cooking from New England. A simple cranberry, caramel, orange and ginger recipe that I have been making for close to 20 years now I guess. Grace loves this too.
• Corn.
• Green beans.
• Chardonnays, Rieslings and a Cotes du Rhone
• A bunch of different desserts courtesy of Brother Dave and his Darling Wife.

Thanksgiving, as intended, is a time to be thankful for the gifts we have, and I am luckier than most, and far more blessed than I deserve. It is a joy to be surrounded by family, eat some good food, watch a little football, and reflect on things. Thanksgiving no longer comes without a twinge of sadness, however, as it is the reminder that it has been 4 years since Dad passed. Four years ago today we laid him to rest. I remember, and I am thankful.

Spaghetti with Brussels Sprouts and Mushrooms

I have a few days off around the Thanksgiving holiday, and had the Food Channel on in the background while doing some things around the house. Something that caught my attention was Giada de Laurentiis making Spaghetti with Brussels Sprouts and Mushrooms. It looked interesting, easy and quick to make, and used an ingredient I am not all that familiar with. Brussels sprouts have a bad reputation with many people, but as I believe is often the case, that is because people are used to certain things being badly prepared. If you boiled these little guys and stuck them on a plate, they wouldn't be very good. In my limited past experience with them, I have found them to be similar in taste and texture to cabbage. Cabbage, to my mind, also isn't something inherently delicious, but can be if prepared properly.

With all that being said, and with the turkey, ham and starchy-side-dish fest on tap for tomorrow (and days after), a light pasta dish with veggies seemed like a good idea. I had no idea whether any of us (me included) would like it.

Brussels Sprouts, Mushrooms, Onions and Garlic

The recipe itself couldn't be much simpler. First, thinly sliced brussels sprouts, mushrooms, onions and garlic are sauteed for 6-8 minutes in olive oil (seasoned with salt and pepper).

Wilting the veggies

When the veggies have wilted down, the juice and zest of a lemon are added along with a cup of creme fraiche and some vegetable stock. With the local Whole Foods being picked over because of the holiday and no creme fraiche being available, I substituted a little sour cream and some heavy cream. This is simmered for just a few minutes to bring everything to temperature.

Add cream, lemon juice and veggie stock

Spaghetti is mixed into the sauce, and then plated with a healthy dose of grated/shredded parmesan or romano cheese. The recipe called for whole grain pasta. I hate whole grain pasta. Can't stand the stuff. I used regular old spaghetti.

Spaghetti with Brussels Sprouts and Mushrooms

As I expected, Grace wouldn't eat it (we had marinara waiting in the wings), but everyone else thought it was terrific. Julia claimed the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. So I guess that says something.

The sauce was light, the veggies were delicious, and the lemon particularly brought out the flavors. A whim of a recipe turns out to be a keeper. High marks for flavor, ease of making, and simple inexpensive ingredients.

But now...turkey and a plethora of starches.

Giada's Chicken Piccata

Grace and I made a Chicken Piccata in June of last year without a recipe after watching an episode of Diners, Drive Ins and Dives on the Food Network. It was good.

Last weekend, we wanted to make it again, but figured we'd find a real recipe. For anything that is an Italian staple like this, we go to our Giada de Laurentiis cookbooks as a first choice. This time we used the Chicken Piccata recipe on page 153 of her first book, Everyday Italian (Clarkson Potter, 2005).

The recipe couldn't be easier, and the result couldn't be better. The ingredient list is ridiculously short, and almost everything is a pantry staple. Chicken cutlets, salted and peppered, dredged in flour and sauteed in olive oil and butter. Sauce made from pan drippings, butter, chicken stock, capers and lemon juice. Flat leaf parsley to garnish.

Chicken Piccata (Giada de Laurentiis)

Ten minutes of prep, 20 minutes of cooking. Served with white rice, asparagus, and a nice unoaked California Chardonnay.

A 9.5 out of 10. Very high marks for low cost, minimal prep, ease of cooking, simple clean up, and most of all, great taste. Given that this is so easy as to be a good weeknight dish, and that the kids loved it, I can see this getting high rotation on the family meals menu.

Emeril's Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo

I looooooooove cajun/creole food. Let's be perfectly clear about that. Unfortunately, to do this kind of cooking right, you need a lot of time, as these recipes are often long and slow-cooking endeavors. Fortunately for me, I had some time today around the house (while working on a remodel of daughter Julia's room) to do just that; a long slow-cooked cajun meal the correct way. The recipe used was Emeril Lagasse's Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo. Yum. Since it is readily available on the Internet, I will walk you through it here...

First and foremost, this isn't  quick recipe; it states 30 minutes prep time and 3:30 total time, and it is all of that. First you brown smoked sausages in a dutch oven. Then you brown highly seasoned chicken (boneless thighs of course).

Sausage, Chicken, Onions and Peppers

When the sausage and chicken have both been browned (and removed from the pot), you take the next 20-25 minutes making a chocolate brown roux from the drippings, oil and flour. This is the key flavor step for the whole dish and cannot be skimped on.

Starting a chocolate brown roux

When the chocolate roux is done, you add onions, celery and peppers, and soften them. Then you add seasonings and the sausage back in.

Onions and peppers go into the roux

You add chicken stock, bring this to a boil, and then simmer it for an hour.

Ready for a long simmer

At the end of the first hour of simmering, you add the browned chicken to the pot and then simmer it for another hour and a half.

Chicken and smoked sausage gumbo

At the very end, you add in green onions, chopped parsley and a bunch of file powder (not easy to find, but one of the things that gives the dish its authentic gumbo flavor).

This should be served with, or over, white rice (what else?), but I always want to have a nice crusty bread on hand for sopping up the sauce.

This takes an afternoon of commitment to make, but it is not difficult by any means. I can't recommend it highly enough. I have been to New Orleans several times over the years, and this recipe tastes like New Orleans. Very highly recommended.

Chicken Cacciatore

We needed something relatively easy to put together for dinner last night, and we had chicken, peppers, onions and mushrooms that needed to be used, so that looked like Chicken Cacciatore to me. I'm not the biggest fan in the world of tomato sauce dishes in general, but this is a dish that the whole family likes.

When I have made this in the past, I have tended to wing it, with decent but not spectacular results. This time I thought maybe I should actually use a real recipe. I Googled Chicken Cacciatore, and the first link at the top of the list was a Giada De Laurentiis recipe from Food Network. We have made a few dozen Giada recipes and have never had a bad one yet, so this was an obvious choice.

The recipe was simple and straightforward, and the end result was better that I generally think Cacciatore is. I am sure this is because of the sauce. The sauce here was a combination of tomato, white wine and chicken broth, and was lighter than the intensely tomato sauce that I am more accustomed to.

Total prep time was 10-15 minutes, and cooking time was closer to an hour. This is longer than listed, but we made a larger batch, and most of that extra time was the initial browning of chicken in batches.

Which brings us to step 1 - dredging bone-in chicken pieces in flour and browning them in batches. Salt and pepper. Olive oil. Easy. Remove the browned chicken from the pan.

Dredged and browned chicken

Step 2 - Add chopped peppers, onions and garlic to the drippings in the pan. Add some white wine and reduce it a bit.

Onions, peppers and garlic

Step 3 - Add chopped tomatoes and juice, broth, capers and oregano. Bring to a boil. Return the chicken to the pot. Lower to a simmer.

Tomatoes, white wine and chicken broth

Half-cover and Simmer 20-30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened somewhat.

Chicken Cacciatore

This was another good Giada recipe, and better by far than I have made when going without a recipe. The lighter and yet still richer sauce was the difference. The stock added some lightness and took away the overly tomato taste, and the white wine added some depth of flavor.

Yes, I did forget the mushrooms. I was making the recipe by the book, which doesn't call for them. After dinner, I sauteed the mushrooms that needed using, and added them to the leftovers in the pot. Even better...