Wednesday, January 12, 2022
Potato Leek Soup Is a Winter Comfort
Tuesday, February 2, 2021
Coconut Cod Chowder
Every once in a long while, the blue moon variety, I will
tackle an unfamiliar recipe that sounds like an interesting mix of unusual
flavors and follow it – untypically – to the letter. Even if the recipe said an
item was “optional” I was going to include it. No substitutions. No cheating.
No shortcuts.
That’s exactly what I did with this Coconut Cod Chowder.
My sister gave me the recipe. “I just loved it,” she said.
And her bridge club loved it. Another sister and her husband
loved it. Okay, that’s enough recommendations for me. I’ll try it. Lent is
coming and I want new fish dishes.
After scanning the ingredient list, I had to check the
pantry and the fridge for anything I might need. Turmeric? Check. Cardamom?
Check. Coriander? Check. Coconut milk? Check. Cod? Check.
I needed to get leeks, fresh ginger, baby potatoes, a
serrano chile pepper and oyster crackers. Although I did have some ginger in the freezer, I thought getting new ginger a better idea.
I have to admit, it was really, really good. What my sister
didn’t tell me was that it tasted even better the next day. Now, you know.
What makes this thick soup so good is the mix of the spices
with the coconut milk and the surprise spritz of citrus. It has enough zip,
balanced by the creaminess of the milk.
I, too, loved it.
There are just a couple things I’d adjust the next time I
make it. I will cut the potatoes into at least quarters and the fish into
smaller pieces. And I think I would add just a little more heat, either with
another chile pepper or hot pepper flakes. Maybe even another seafood. Clams? Shrimp?
I’m sharing this recipe, originally from Bon Appetit, just as my
sister gave it to me. I have to admit, though, that I didn’t use ghee. The Bon Appetit experts allowed that good ol’ butter was just fine.
(Ghee is the foundation of Indian cooking. It is cow's
butter that has been heated low and slow, then strained, to remove all the milk
solids; essentially, it’s clarified butter.)
I hope you give it a try. It’s worth it. And don’t be
tempted to delete the toasted oyster crackers or the lime. Both additions are
perfect. If you try it, let me know.
Did Mr. Rosemary like it? He said so. And the man doesn’t lie.
Coconut Cod Chowder
From Bon Appetit
Makes about 4 servings
1½ lb. skinless, boneless cod or halibut fillets
2½ tsp. kosher salt, divided, plus more
5 Tbsp. ghee or unsalted butter, divided
2 medium leeks, white and pale green parts only, halved
lengthwise, thinly sliced crosswise
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 (3") piece ginger, peeled, cut into matchsticks
¾ tsp. ground turmeric
¾ tsp. ground coriander
½ tsp. ground cardamom
1 serrano chile, thinly sliced
12 oz. baby Yukon Gold or red potatoes, halved
2 (13.5-oz.) cans unsweetened coconut milk
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced, plus leaves for serving
(optional)
1½ cups oyster crackers
1 tsp. paprika
2 limes, divided
Season cod all over with 1½ tsp. salt; set aside. Heat 3 Tbsp. ghee in a medium Dutch oven over medium. Cook leeks, garlic, and ginger, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned, about 3 minutes. Add turmeric, coriander, and cardamom and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add chile, potatoes, coconut milk, 1 tsp. salt, and ¾ cup water; bring to a boil (still over medium). Immediately reduce heat so soup is at a bare simmer. Cover, leaving lid slightly askew, and cook until potatoes are barely fork-tender, 10–12 minutes.
Carefully nestle reserved fish into pot, spoon some broth
over, and cover, leaving lid slightly askew. Cook at a bare simmer 4 minutes,
then stir in celery. Cook until fish is opaque and flakes easily, about 5 minutes.
Taste chowder and season with more salt if needed.
Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 Tbsp. ghee in a small skillet
over medium-low. Add crackers and stir well to coat. Cook, stirring often,
until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add paprika; toss to
evenly coat.
Slice 1 lime in half and squeeze juice into chowder. Taste
and season with more salt if needed. Ladle into bowls, breaking fish into large
pieces. Scatter celery leaves over chowder if using and top with crackers.
Slice remaining lime into wedges and serve alongside.
Friday, January 22, 2021
Brunch is Served! Spinach and Goat Cheese Frittata
Sunday, January 3, 2021
Ham and Pinto Bean Soup ~ And Happy New Year!
Saturday, November 14, 2020
A New Stuffing for a COVID Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is looking a lot different this year, so why not cook something different? This dish -- called "Savory Bread Pudding with Mushrooms and Parmesan Cheese" when it was first published in Bon Appetit several years ago -- is not really a stuffing in the traditional sense, but it has all the essential credentials -- mushrooms, seasoned bread, onions and celery. It's just baked with more eggs.
Some folks don't like anyone messing around with their traditional Thanksgiving favorites. (I know; I live with one.) But when I first tried this recipe, I was pleasantly surprised that Mr. Rosemary liked it.
It's a little complicated, something I often find with recipes from Bon Appetit. And I have been known to -- often -- just use a recipe as a guide and then put my own twists on it. But I followed this recipe to the letter, and I'm glad I did. The only thing I had trouble with was gauging the amount of bread? How do you measure 10 cups of bread?!?
My sister shared this recipe with me. She made it for her card group and got raves about it. A woman asked for the recipe was awed, however, when she read the recipe. It does have quite a few steps.
This Thanksgiving is definitely going to be different. But as a sister-in-law pointed out when the family was discussing how to spend the holiday, "Some of my most memorable Thanksgivings were the different ones."
Her comment reminded me of a couple very memorable Thanksgivings:
When I was a freshman in college, I couldn't afford to fly home, so a small group of my newly made (and also homeless) friends and I made a Thanksgiving dinner in the dorm's kitchen. None of the dishes we made were exactly like "home" but we did our best and I can still picture the candle wax dripping down the wine bottle.
Several years later, when I was the ripe old age of 23, I decided I was going to host Thanksgiving for the whole family. What was I thinking?!? But it was wonderful. Best of all, they all came! My sister brought a blank apron, and fabric pens for every one to sign. I wish I still had that.
And my nephew and I will never tell anyone that we dropped the candied sweet potatoes on the kitchen floor, scooped them all up, and ate them anyway.
I'm not sure yet what I'll be making for Thanksgiving. Still working on it, and Mr. Rosemary isn't too picky. He did say that we had to have turkey, though. He must want to be sure and have the tryptophan for a healthy nap.
Enjoy your COVID Thanksgiving, whatever you do. Whatever you do, you're sure to remember it.
Savory Bread Pudding with Mushrooms and Parmesan Cheese
Makes 10 to 12 servings
from Bon Appetit
1 1-pound loaf crusty country-style white bread
1/4 cup olive oil
4 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1 large garlic clove, minced
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
1 pound assorted fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion (about 1 large onion)
1 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery (about 3 stalks)
1 cup finely chopped green bell pepper (about 1 large pepper)
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
8 large eggs
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Cut the bread into 1-inch cubes (about 10 cups loosely packed). Place cubes in a very large bowl. Add oil, thyme, and garlic; toss to coat. Spread cubes out on a large rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until golden and slightly crunchy, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Return toasted bread cubes to the same very large bowl.
Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, onion, celery, and bell pepper. Sauté until soft and juices have evaporated, about 15 minutes. Add sautéed vegetables and parsley to bread cubes.
Whisk heavy cream, eggs, salt, and ground pepper in large bowl. Mix custard into bread and vegetables. Transfer stuffing to prepared dish. Sprinkle cheese over. (If you want to do ahead, cover and refrigerate at this point. Just bring the dish to room temperature before baking.)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake stuffing uncovered until set and top is golden, about 1 hour. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.
Thursday, August 13, 2020
Let's Have Lasagna for Breakfast!
I must confess that I have eaten pizza for breakfast, but not lasagna. At least not until my sister-in-law told me about having a special breakfast lasagna.
“Lasagna for breakfast!?!” I asked.
“Yeah,” she answered. “It was really good.”
Although she didn’t have the recipe, she described it well. I peppered her with questions, wondering if it had lasagna noodles, a tomato sauce, what kind of cheese.
Armed with all her answers, I went in search of a recipe. First, I went to my pretty substantial cookbook library and came up dry. None of my favorites had anything like what she described.
So I resorted to the internet and was surprised at how many different versions of “breakfast lasagna” I found. There were recipes with lasagna noodles, crepes, pancakes, and tortillas. Some had red sauce; but most didn’t. Some had bacon, ham, sausage, even seafood.
I found one that pretty closely resembled what my sister-in-law had described on a website called “Just a Pinch.” Using that as a starting point, I went from there and added my own twists.
I really don’t make lasagna very often. First of all, it’s a lot of work, and it’s far too much for two people.
Making lasagna is an act of love. It is its own art form. It is my husband’s family’s traditional Christmas Eve dinner. It’s what my daughter requests when she comes home.
Like pizza, I don’t think I’ve ever met a lasagna I
didn’t like. You can make a good lasagna with store bought sauce and noodles,
and plenty of mozzarella, and ricotta or cottage cheese. You can make a great
lasagna with homemade crepes and ragu, a rich bechamel sauce, and a variety of
meats and cheeses. And there are all kinds of levels in between.
This breakfast lasagna has layers of noodles and scrambled eggs smothered in a sausage gravy and lots of cheese. The eggs replace the ricotta layer in traditional lasagna. It’s still rich, and if you really need to lighten it up, you can use milk instead of half and half for the sausage gravy. But don’t leave out the nutmeg; it adds just the right touch of spice to the dish.
The acid test was Mr. Rosemary's critique. He looked at me kind of funny when I told him that we were having a breakfast lasagna, but he was game to try it. After the first bite, he simply said, “This is good.” After his plate was clean and he wanted another piece, he said, “That was real good.”
I have to warn you that this does take a little time to prepare and a few pans to clean up. But once the lasagna is prepped and the kitchen is clean, you can put it in the fridge overnight for the next day and sit down leisurely to a feast the next morning. If you do make it ahead, take it out of the fridge about a half hour before baking.
I know this will be a repeat at our house. I wish I would have dreamed it up myself. Maybe I should work on that. Breakfast Chili maybe?
Breakfast Lasagna
adapted from “Just a Pinch.”
Serves 10-12
9 uncooked lasagna noodles
1 pound bulk Italian sausage (sweet or hot,) cooked and
crumbled
12 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup half and half
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
12 slices provolone cheese
1 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 1/2 cup half and half
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 13" x 9" baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.Whisk together eggs and 1/2 cup half and half.
In a large skillet, scramble eggs over low heat until just set, remove from heat.In another frying pan, over medium high heat, cook the sausage until browned.Remove from pan and drain on paper towels.
In the same skillet, add the vegetable oil and cook the peppers and onions until softened.Add flour and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes.
Whisk together the 3 ½ cups of half and half, add salt,
pepper, and nutmeg and add to onions and peppers and continue to cook over
medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until it thickens slightly. Remove
from heat.
Mix together 1 cup mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. (Reserve remaining cheese for top.) Spread ½ cup of the white sauce evenly in pan. Evenly space 3 lasagna noodles over sauce. Pour 1 cup sauce over noodles. Then, evenly spread 1/3 each of sausage, scrambled eggs and cheeses over noodles. Repeat the layers two more times -- noodles, white sauce, sausage, eggs and cheese, ending with cheese.
Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove foil and
sprinkle with remaining ½ cup mozzarella and bake for an additional 15 – 20
minutes. Let rest for at least 15 minutes before serving.
.
Monday, November 25, 2019
THE Best Thanksgiving Dessert: Pumpkin Crunch Cake
It might be too late to plan for it this Thanksgiving, but you could for Christmas. Or New Year's. Any holiday. Any day. Just make it. It's that good.
And worth every dish you'll dirty and every hour in the kitchen.
The first time I made this cake, I was in the kitchen for about 4 hours, including clean up time. And I dirtied a lot! But it was oh-so-worth-it!
You can see that not only is it a FOUR layer cake, but there's a wonderful crunchy layer in between the cake layers, and between those layers is the creamiest of cream cheese frostings. The crunch is a mixture of nuts, crushed vanilla wafers and sugar. That crunch and the cream and the cake dance together for party in your mouth.
Counting calories? Forget it. You don't want to know.
Even if you think you don't like pumpkin, you'll love this cake.The pumpkin and spicy flavors are not overwhelming. Even my Mr. Rosemary -- not a pumpkin fan -- declared this the best cake I ever made.
Here's a little confession: While my husband thinks I'm a good cook, he's not as enthusiastic about my baking. There a handful of things I've learned to bake that he likes. The toughest nut to crack was a chocolate chip cookie: They have to be soft and just the right ratio of nuts and chocolate to cookie.
And he's pretty fond of my cheesecakes. Although it took a little convincing for him to like the pumpkin cheesecake.
(And I'd probably rank this pumpkin cheesecake as the second best Thanksgiving dessert)
I have to thank Dennis Littley (aka Chef Dennis) for introducing me to this cake. It made me a minor rock star in my own little circle of family and friends. For the complete recipe, please visit Chef Dennis's blog.
I first made this cake a couple years ago for my sister-in-law's birthday. Everyone loved it and even I was surprised at how good it was. I've made it a few times since then, always forhappy people. And I've even managed to cut kitchen time down to two hours.
This is the first time I've posted anything on my blog in a couple years, I'm embarrassed to say. I'm not really sure why I stopped. I started writing a bit about my breast cancer treatment and after that, it was hard to jump back into things. Writing about food didn't seem quite as important to me.
I think the biggest reason I stopped was shear laziness. I still cooked, still experimented, but I stopped taking the time to take pictures. Not to just take any old picture, but I lost the energy to make them pretty and appealing. (That's why I asked Dennis Littley if I could use his photo. Thank you!)
But I still love to write, and still love to cook, so I'll be back.
Thank you for visiting.