Fell off the Horse

To my 4 loyal readers, I'm sorry for my lack of posting these past several months. I wanted to write, but was just too lazy or didn't have my camera handy to shoot the food. I've also been in a poor cooking rotation. Nothing too excited has come out, and I promise the few adventurous things I did try, were not fit for human consumption. I will say this, I plan on jumping back in with both feet this week. Well, not tonight. Got Yankee tix tonight. But soon, I plan to conquer kholrabi, overcome okra, dominate duck, and cook the hell out of a live lobster!
Stay tuned, I will get back out there.

My Hiatus is Over and I Bring You The Spicy Sauced Salmon!!!

I can't believe that I haven't cooked creatively for a month!! I mean, I've cooked and some things have made mouths happy (though no skittles have been used in my gastronomic adventures), but nothing blog-worthy. There was a week on vacation in sunny Palm Springs, California where we had many wonderful meals and lots of drinking. Vineyards are fun and we drank a lot.  I can recommend if anyone is planning a trip to Temecula. It wasn't Napa, but it was damn good. Plus I had a first in my life. I went to an olive oil tasting. It was like doing shots, but no booze. And none of that infused stuff, it was real cold pressed olive oil. Brought some home, can't wait to use it.
Ok, so back to our recent culinary exploit, I found a great cut of salmon and found a sauce recipe from Ellie Krieger on FoodNetwork that I appropriated and altered a bit due to a lack of ingredients in the house. I have always wanted to learn to make my own pasta sauce and I plan on doing it, hopefully sometime soon, but this recipe was a shortcut with a great result.  It's got a nice kick for those who enjoy some heat.

Spicy Sauced Salmon
(borrowed from Ellie Krieger)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil


• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, juice included

• 1 (12-ounce) can tomato sauce

• ½ tablespoon of red pepper paste

• 2 dried whole red chile peppers

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

• Salmon fillets

• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Rub olive oil into salmon fillet and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 25 minutes (This is the easy part)

Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-low heat. Add garlic and cook until soft and golden, about 1 minute.

Add diced tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce, red pepper paste, chili peppers, cumin, celery salt and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes until sauce thickens slightly. Remove from heat, and remove chile peppers.

Serve and enjoy.

I made it with a basic steamed string beans, which I then sauteed quickly with diced garlic.

The aroma of garlic fills the air

My wife is a huge mashed potatoes fan. I mean big time. I've tried to make many variations for her. Some successful, some not so much. I've learned that while my broccoli & cheddar mashed rules, my lobster mashed failed miserably. Once, I found a list of 50 top mashed potatoes. It took one basic mashed recipe and had a whole bunch of add-ons/variations to make the spuds turn to studs. Now there are 51.
Today I got motivated to create my own variation. Lately, fresh garlic has found its way into most of my recipes. Don't know why, but  it has. This particular recipe was actually inspired by my mom.  She's a great cook and someone who showed me the joy of roasted vegetables. She also makes great roasted garlic. Just make sure you're using real fresh garlic.

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
-6 or 7 large Yukon Gold potatoes. (Don't use Idaho)
-1 cup milk
-1/2 stick of butter
-salt
-pepper
-2 cloves of fresh garlic
-handful of chives
-olive oil

Put a pot of water up to boil. Wash and peel potatoes.

Once the water boils, submerge potatoes for about 30-35 minutes until you can easily stick a fork in them.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Take 2 cloves of garlic and cut off the top so each head has the top removed.

Drizzle olive oil onto garlic cloves, then wrap each in tin foil and roast in the oven for about 30-40 minutes.

Drain potatoes

Put potatoes back in pot and mash half way. Add butter and milk.

Take out garlic from oven and once it's slightly cooled, squeeze garlic out of its skin.

Mix garlic into mashed potatoes, making sure you don't leave big chunks.

Chop your chives and add them to your finished product and salt and pepper to taste.

Roasted Salmon and Squid Ink Pasta

I got backlogged again, so I'm playing catch up. As you can probably guess, I love seafood. Sundays at the fish counter are always a favorite time of mine. Is it weird that I'm excited to see what new an interesting types and flavors could be waiting? I'd like to think not, but who knows?
Anyway, I saw a beautiful piece of salmon in the case. Bright and not overly thick. Perfect for a quick roast.
Now, we're big pasta fans as well. Usually we do whole wheat to keep healthy, but often we try to find fresh pasta with a good flavor. We once took a fresh pasta cooking class and it made it very hard to go back to the box. There's nothing like making your own and hanging it to dry. Makes for a great dinner. We found a great middle ground while shopping  at Garden of Eden, a gourmet market with sensational produce, pasta and fish/meat selection. Not to mention the bakery. But I digress.  We found an al dente squid ink pasta that hits the right spot and consider it a treat every once in a while.  And it's black. How cool is that??!?! Looks great on the plate too.

Roasted Salmon and Squid Ink Pasta-
-1 salmon fillet
-2 tablespoons olive oil (I used a roasted garlic infused one)
-Salt
-Pepper
-1 tablespoon chopped chives
-1 tablespoon chopped  tarragon
- al dente squid ink pasta.
-jar of marinara sauce

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and put on a pot of water to boil for the pasta

Spray a tin foil coated baking sheet for the salmon. Rub olive oil into salmon fillet, but not too heavily. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Rub that in as well.

Bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, sprinkle chives and tarragon on the salmon and put back in the oven for 5 more minutes.

Once water is boiled, empty contents of the bag of pasta into the water. Cook pasta for a total of 7-10 minutes depending on how soft you want it. Let it go any further and it will start to break down. For the first minute, let the pasta sit and then stir.

Strain into a colender and serve.

Add marinara to pasta and enjoy. I also sometimes grate a little fresh parmesan cheese to the pasta.

Roasted Shrimp, Hot or Cold

It is an amazing day out in Jersey. 70-plus degrees, sunny, slight breeze. Everyone is out and about, restaurants have great smells wafting out off propped open doors and it just feels good to be here.  It's also time to switch from keep you warm inside recipes, to ones that can pull double duty. Good cold and good warm. I've got a favorite that fits that bill and it just happens to be reasonably healthy, as well as simple to whip up.
Today we are having Roasted Shrimp and Orzo. It's got both an italian and greek feel to it and to be honest, I have no idea where it came from. But it doesn't matter, just enjoy it.

Roasted Shrimp & Orzo
-Kosher Salt
-1/2 cup good olive oil
-2 tsp salt
-1 tsp ground black pepper
-3/4 lb Orzo
-1/2 cup lemon juice, approximately 3 lemons
-1.5 lb raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
-1 cup minced scallions, white and green parts
-1 cup chopped fresh dill
-1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
-1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded and medium diced
-3/4 cup red onion, diced small
-1/4 lb good feta cheese, large diced

Chop scallion, onion, parsley, dill and cucumber to prep.

Peel shrimp and set aside while preheating oven to 400 degrees F.

Fill a large pot with water, add 1 tablespoon of salt and a splash of oil, and bring the water to a boil. Add the orzo and simmer for 9 to 11 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it's cooked al dente. Drain and pour into a large bowl. Whisk together the lemon juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Pour over the hot pasta and stir well.

Place the shrimp on a baking sheet that is sprayed with PAM or some other cooking spray. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast for 5-7 minutes.

And after 7 minutes......

Add shrimp to the orzo, followed by the cucumbers, onion, scallions, parsley and dill, stirring constantly. Add 2 teaspoons of salt and one teaspoon of pepper and toss well.

Now hears the part where you can go your own way.You can put it aside for about 30 minutes to let it settle or you can toss it in the fridge and have it later or tomorrow. The other choose-your-own-adventure part of this story is the feta cheese. I keep it on the side as Dayna doesn't like it while I do. You can add it in the bowl, crumbled and it tops off the dish just right.

Spring is Coming Risotto

And we are back!!! After days without internet, the DirecTV gods have seen fit to grace me with the service that I pay so much for every month. So now that I can return to writing, I'm sure that my 3 readers can release that breath they've been holding in.

This past weekend I found myself compulsively watching the Food Network. I was happy as I got to watch about 7 different shows hosted by none other than my cooking idol, Guy Fieri. It made for a very happy Josh and a very hungry yet bored Dayna. Anyway, I caught an episode of Barefoot Contessa where she made a Risotto Primavera with things she had in the kitchen. Knowing that I had the same things in my fridge/freezer, as well as just enough leftover uncooked risotto, I got motivated. Now, I learned to make risotto once in a cooking class I took, (I highly recommend Urban Kitchen in Hoboken, NJ) but that was a while ago and I was excited to try my hand in it. So I enlisted my wonderful sous chef and wife and undertook my first and far from last risotto primavera.

Risotto Primavera
(Borrowed from Barefoot Contessa)
-1.5 tbs good olive oil
-1.5 tbs unsalted butter
-3 cups chopped leeks, white and green parts (2 leeks) Washed thoroughly
-1.5 cups Arborio rice
-2/3 cup dry white wine. I used charonnay
-5 cups simmering chiceken stock
-1 pound thin asparagus
-10 ounces frozen peas, defrosted
-3/4 tbs freshly grated lemon zest
-2 tbs lemon juice
-1/3 cup mascarpone cheese
-1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan chees
-3 tbs minced fresh chives, plus extra for serving/garnish

Heat the olive oil and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Chop leeks and saute for 5-7 minutes, until tender. Add rice and stiir for a minute to coat with the vegetables, oil and butter. Add the white wine and simmer over low heat, stirring constantly, until most of the wine has been absorbed.

Add the chicken stock, 2 ladles at a time stirring almost constantly and waiting for the stock to be absorbed before adding more. This process should take 25-30 minutes. (Can you get carpal tunnal from stirring? I think Dayna may have)

Meanwhile, cut the asparagus diagonally in 1.5 inch lengths and discard the tough ends.

Blanch in boiling salted water for 4-5 minutes, until al dente. Drain and cool immediately in ice water.

When the risotto has been cooking  for 15 minutes, drain the asparagus  and add it to the risotto with the peas, lemon zest , 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper. Continue cooking and adding stock, stirring almost constantly, until the rice is tender but still firm.

Whisk lemon juice and mascarpone together in a small bowl.

When the risotto is done, turn off the heat and stir in the mascarpone mixture plus the Parmesan cheese and chives. Set aside off the heat for a few minutes, sprinke with salt and pepper, and serve hot with a sprinkling of chives and Parmesan cheese.

Shrimp Fried Rice, as Healthy as I can get it.

I meant to post this several days ago, but life ran away with me and I didn't get the chance.  In Hoboken and Jersey City, half the restaurants are Asian, and some are good and some are bad.  The one thing all of them have in common is that none of them do fried rice with brown rice. As we try to be as healthy as we can, I like to substitute brown rice into recipes whenever possible. This is one of those times.

In our house, shrimp fried rice is a whole meal. Lots of veggies, lots of rice, lots of shrimp. You can make this meal as is and have it as a whole meal, or cut it down to have as a side. So get out your wok, and let's go.

Shrimp Fried Rice w/ Brown Rice
(Partially adapted from the Food Network)
-4 tablespoons of Peanut Oil
-1lb of medium/large size shrimp, peeled
-2 eggs beaten, with one teaspoon of toasted sesame oil
-1 bunch of green onions (scallions), finely chopped
-2 teaspoons of minced garlic
-2 teaspoons of minced ginger
-1/2 cup thawed frozen peas. Cooked is ok as well
-1 can sliced water chestnuts
-1 can baby corn pieces
-1 small can sliced mushrooms (optional, as we don't use it, but it's good if you do)
-Low sodium soy sauce
-Brown rice. 1.5 cups cooked regularly, or 2 bags of frozen microwaved brown rice. ( it's a cop out, but a time saver. ) Cool after cooked

Heat wok at medium high heat, add 2 tablespoons of peanut oil and swirl to coat. Add shrimp and cook until pink, approximately 3 minutes, flipping throughout. Once pink, remove shrimp and reserve.
Add eggs to heated wok and scramble till solid, but still a little soft. Remove and reserve, wiping down the wok.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons of peanut oil to wok and swirl till heated at medium high. Add onions, garlic, ginger, water chestnuts, scallions, and half cook.

Add cooled brown rice and spread throughout wok. Toss to heat through and fry rice for about 8 minutes. Add a glug of soy sauce to flavor. Toss and add peas, shrimp and eggs. Toss again to make sure heatedd throughout.

Once all is fried to your liking, serve and enjoy. Keep soy sauce on the side for flavoring.

Quick Herb Seared Flounder and Stringbeans

I've been in a seafood rut lately. Tilapia, salmon, shrimp, scallops, rinse and repeat. So yesterday we hit the fish counter for something different. Luckily for us, there were 4 good pieces of flounder left and they were all mine.  I was very happy to have something new to play with. Now, normally when I think of  flounder, I think crab stuffed or broiled. I couldn't find good lump crab meat, so that was nixxed, and I HATE broiled thin fish. It just gets wet and sorta goey. I'll have none of that at my dinner table.

So I set out to find a recipe easy enough to throw together after a long day of work, but with complex enough flavor to make me feel like I wasn't copping out on dinner. This recipe is adapted from a recipe for sanddabs, which I'm told are similar thin white fish. It's light and not too filling. We searched the fridge for a healthy side. (Our vacation in California is rapidly approaching and it's time to get in swimsuit shape). Dayna spotted a bag of crisp stringbeans (I promised her credit for the veggie portion of our meal) and we were off to the races.

Herb Seared Flounder with Steamed/Sautee'd Stringbeans

• 4 fillets of flounder
• 1/2 cup of white wine
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup of flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon fresh cracked pepper
• 1/2 cup assorted herbs (I used parsley, oregano, tarragon and basil. Thyme or dill can be used. I didn't have any.)
• 3 tablespoons butter, divided in half (as always, I opt for smart balance with olive oil)

In shallow bowl, mix wine, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. Submerge/coat flounder fillets cover. Marinate in refridgerator for 30 minutes.

In a shallow bowl, mix flour, herbs, salt and pepper.

Remove fish from marinade and reserve. Coat fillets in mix and set aside while you melt the divided butter in 2 non-stick skillets. I recommend using 2 pans as it's easier to cook the fillets 2 to a pan.

Once butter is browned, add fish to pans. 2 fillets per pan. Sear for two and a half minutes per side.

Flip and repeat.

For stringbeans, trim and steam in microwave, then deglaze flounder pan with leftover marinade. Toss/saute stringbeans in marinade pan for 2-3 minutes.

Serve!!

DIY Ratatouille

I feel like I'm on a roll this week. 3 posts, 3 days in a row.  So today I'm writing about an easy dish that I thought I created once upon a time from veggies in the crisper, but it turns out I was making my own version of ratatouille. For those who don't know what it is, ratatouille is a mix of vegetable, slowly sauteed. I guess that's the best way I can describe it. But it's typically the same veggies without variation. Sometimes we make it as a side dish, but sometimes Dayna (for all 3 readers I have, Dayna is my much better half) asks for it as the main dish. The great thing about it is that it can be easily reheated as leftovers, as long as we don't devour it all at once.

DIY Ratatoutille
-1 medium sized eggplant, peeled and diced
-1 medium yellow onion, diced
-3 cloves garlic, diced
-3 medium zucchinis, peeled and sliced
-2 medium yellow squash, peeled and sliced
-1.5 tablespoons of basil (I know it's a cop out but lacking fresh I used it from a tube)
-1 can diced tomatoes, drained of liquid
-1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
-1.5 tablespoons of tomato paste
-salt
-pepper

Peel eggplant, zucchini and squash. Rough chop that along with onion and garlic. I put in a storage bag as it's easier to keep fresh while I make whatever else I'm cooking.

Take large frying pan and pour in a turn and a half of olive oil. Heat over medium flame. When pan is well heated, add veggie mix.  Saute for about 5 minutes on medium flame, turning constantly. Add diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes. Continue to cook on medium low flame for approximately 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Now at this point there will be a bit of juice built up. Since I don't like my ratatouille watery, I drain 3/4 of it with a spoon.

Add tomato past and basil, move heat to simmer and mix. Continue to cook for another 10 minutes, checking every few minutes for consistency. You don't want to let the veggies get too soft or else the whole thing goes to mush.

Below is the finished product. I traditionally serve it with chicken or fish. I have learned that shrimp DOES NOT go with ratatouille. Just trust me on this. Enjoy!!!

FYI, tonight I went with an easy lemon pepper salmon. Let me know if you want that recipe. There isn't much to it. Really, like zero.