well i made dinner again

june 30th

Published June 30, 2011 fish Leave a Comment
Tags: couscous, eggplant, garlic scapes, whole fish

I can’t believe it’s July tomorrow.

Well, I didn’t cook dinner tonight. I met my aunt for dinner instead, so in consolation I will recount what happened when I made *whole* fish. I used Bronzino, making sure that their eyes were clear and fresh, and the man at the counter blessedly cleaned their insides and de-scaled them for me. I took them home and cleaned them, and cut more deeply into their bellies to split them as much as possible down the middle.

Then, I stuffed them… to the gills (sorry)! Lemons, e.v.o.o., whole cloves of garlic (in the future I’ll half-roast the garlic first so that they’re still fragrant, but they didn’t cook through from the inside of the fish), slices of lemon – I peeled the lemons with a knife so that there was no rind (and saved the peels for another use when I’d need lemon zest) – and whatever fresh herbs I had growing, including thyme, basil and rosemary. Don’t forget the kosher salt.

My chef friend suggested that I bake them in the oven, but it’s summer. I was worried about their stuffings falling off and into the grill, so I wrapped the fish up whole in aluminum foil and tossed them onto a pre-heated grill. I have a gas grill, so I was able to put the meaty part of the fish in direct flame, while leaving the tail-sections with only indirect heat, so that the fish were able to cook through with respect to the thicker and thinner parts of them.

At the same time, I roasted a head of garlic and grilled slices of eggplant. I also made Israeli couscous, which I’d never made before, with sautéed garlic scapes and peas from the farm. I toasted 1 cup of couscous in a pot with a tbsp of oil until the couscous was brown, then I added 2 cups of chicken broth. I added the scapes and the peas, which I shelled directly into the pot, just as the couscous was getting done.

By the time I finished the couscous, the fish was ready – don’t ask me how long it was on the grill for… I forget! In the future, I would have sprayed the inside of the aluminum foil with Pam or some other lubricant, because bits of the fish stuck to the foil when I unwrapped them. I turned them out onto the plates with all their fillings still inside, flanked them with couscous, and covered it all with the eggplant. The fish was juicy, and fell off the bone. Make sure to put an empty bowl on the table for the bones – there are lots of them, but they’re part of why the fish is so rich-tasting.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Jam

Published June 30, 2011 sweet things Leave a Comment
Tags: jam, preserves, strawberries

I’ve been talking a big game about making preserves this year, and last weekend was my first of the year. It involved getting up to pick my own strawberries at the farm on Sunday morning. My body still hurts – I don’t know how those farmers crouch and reach like that all day! Not to mention my fingers are still pink in some spots.

batch #3 - preserves

I made:

1. Easy strawberry jam – this is the basic berry/lemon juice/sugar/pectin mix, boiling the three, jarring it all in sanitized jars, processing in boiling water for 5 minutes, and putting aside to set.

2. Easy strawberry jam + balsamic + thyme – when you add the lemon juice to the berry/sugar boiling mix, also add balsamic. At the end, once you’ve skimmed the foam, add some thyme – I just cut it from our porch pots and tossed it in.

3. Preserves – no pectin in these, and the berries stay whole, unlike the recipes above, where they need to be quartered and mashed. Once the berries and sugar have boiled, the berries come out and the liquid stays in, and gets reduced to very little. The berries get tossed (gently) back in. This takes more berries and has a smaller yield, but mushing some whole berries onto scones in the winter will be such a treat.

here’s my final product:

final products!

I have a great many plans for jams, preserves, pickles, etc. coming up in the future – I will deliver.

it’s like falafel patties

Published June 30, 2011 veggie Leave a Comment
Tags: chickpeas, summer, veggie

They’re from A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen, which was a gift from my chef friend, and which I love. I made this dish for a vegetarian friend and she liked it so much she asked me for the recipe.

Chickpea patties with arugula salad:

2 15-oz cans of chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup packed parsley leaves (I used thyme)

2 garlic cloves

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp hot red pepper flakes

1/4 c flour

Salt

4 tbsp e.v.o.o.

8 c arugula

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Put first five ingredients in food processor, pulse until smooth.
Scrape the mixture into a medium bowl and stir in flour and salt. I added an egg or some oil to help bind them; I find that otherwise the patties come out really flaky.
Shape into patties
Heat 1 1/2 tbsp of oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering
Add patties and cook for 4 minutes. Flip carefully, and drizzle 1 1/2 tbsp of oil around the edges of the pan
Continue cooking until the patties are golden brown on the second side—roughly 3-4 minutes per side.

Meanwhile, drizzle 1 tbsp olive oil and lemon juice over the arugula, and add salt/pepper/herbs to taste – not to mention spring onions and any other fresh veggies that might be lying around. Toss gently.

Once the patties are done, serve them over the arugula.

the magical two-day pie

Published June 30, 2011 sweet things Leave a Comment
Tags: blueberries, dessert, pie, strawberries

a farmer who shall remain nameless has helped in polishing this entire pie off over the course of two days:

This is the Strawberry Pie Recipe I used as my jumping-off point.

1. I added some blueberries in with the strawberries on the bottom of the pie
2. I added lemon juice when i was stewing the strawberries. it brings out the flavor. I’d say about 2 tablespoons
3. I put a second pie crust on top and baked it for about 10 minutes to get the top crust crisp, and the inside bubbly.

june 27th, 28th and 29th

Published June 30, 2011 fish , meat Leave a Comment
Tags: avocado, coconut milk, eggplant, one-bowl-dinner, pea shoots, summer, swordfish

tonight, the 29th:

I used the Kao Soi recipe from NPR.

tweaks:

1. I halved the recipe

2. I used ground turkey instead of chicken, which meant that i didn’t have to use as much water (the broth i have is so salty i didn’t want to use it).

3. I didn’t do the fried noodles thing.

4. I added the Thai basil that I’m growing

5. I blanched carrots from the farm that were in the fridge and mixed them in at the same time as the fish sauce / soy sauce / sugar (I used brown sugar)

6. I used spring onions from the farm instead of shallots. I put about 1/2 of them in with the meat at the beginning and the other half raw over the noodles

7. I did not use pickled mustard greens

dinner in a bowl is wonderful, and when it makes you sweat on a hot summer night, it’s even nicer.

last night, the 28th:

1. mashed Yukon gold potatoes with tons of feta (though not enough) – i put them back into the pot i boiled them in with the feta so that it would melt the cheese into the potatoes. i didn’t add any salt because feta is so salty.

2. i fried eggplant. i cut off the top and bottom and sliced thin, long strips, which i put into about 1/4 inch of hot oil. i boiled them until they were golden brown, and made sure to keep the temp up so that they didn’t get too soggy.

3. swordfish. i marinated it for 30 mins or so with an entire lemon – juice and zest – and a good couple of tbsps of our blood-orange-flavored olive oil. and a little bit of garlic. then i baked it.

4. GARLIC SCAPES = heaven. I sautéed them with a tiny bit of oil and lemon juice

5. a head of roasted garlic.

the farmer didn’t get home until late, so it was luke-warm when we ate it, which was just right for a crisp citrus-y/garlic-y summer dinner.

two nights ago, the 27th:

1. Before I went to work in the morning, while I was watching the Daily Show, I dumped the following things into a large ziplock bag:

– soy sauce

– mirin

– brown sugar

– rice vinegar

– chopped up spring onions – white and green parts

– beef ribs, cut into thin strips.

So they marinated all day, and when I got home I had a savory Korean-style marinated dinner all set.

I served it with what Epicurious calls “Asian Avocado Salsa,” though of course I tweaked it to my desires:

1. I substituted watercress, which I didn’t have, for pea shoots from the farm, which I did have – eating flowers is delightful

2. I substituted jicama, which I didn’t have, for cucumbers from the farm, which I did have.

3. I’m sorry to say that I don’t like wasabi.

4. Are green onions and spring onions the same thing? Because I used spring onions.