Roasted Cod

When I was at Central Market yesterday I picked up a pound of fresh cod, the special fish on sale for the week.  I enjoy roasted fish, a simple way to prepare fresh fish.  I turn my convection oven on "convect roast", 375 degrees, and spray a baking sheet with olive oil spray.  I dry the fish, sprinkle a little sea salt and freshly ground pepper on it.  At this point you can add a seasoning mix, spice blend, fresh herbs or a sauce, then put it in the oven for 15 minutes, a little longer for thicker fish.  This is a good recipe for salmon, halibut, snapper, cod, or just about any fish.  Tonight I sauteed some sliced garlic, capers, and kalamata olives in extra virgin olive oil and drizzled it on top of the fish before I roasted it.  I served it with a little freshly prepared brown rice and salad with balsamic vinaigrette, a little feta cheese, dried cranberries, and pecans.  I ended up putting my salad on the plate with the fish and rice because the flavors went together so well.

Roasted Cod

1 pound fresh cod fillets
Olive oil spray
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
3 T Kalamata olive, cut in half
1 T capers
1 large garlic clove, sliced
herb blend (Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute) or any herb blend you like

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a sheet pan with olive oil spray.  Dry fish and place on sheet pan.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and herb seasoning.  Heat 2 T olive oil in skillet on medium high heat.
Add sliced garlic, capers, and olives.  Cook 2-3 minutes on medium heat.  Drizzle over the fish.
Roast fish for 15 minutes or until cooked through.  Don't overcook.  You may have to remove thinner pieces sooner and let the thicker pieces cook longer.

Salad

Mixed Greens with Balsamic Vinaigrette, dried fruit, and cheese
A good salad has crispy greens, somethings sweet, something savory, something crunchy, and some acid. (I learned that in culinary school and it's so true.)

Ingredients

Lettuce: I always have organic red leaf lettuce, my personal favorite. Wash the lettuce and spin it dry.
If you don't have a salad spinner, it's a great gadget to have. You dry the lettuce in it and it you store your torn and dried lettuce in the container with the lid it will keep crispy and fresh for days. This is where I keep my week's worth of lettuce for lunches and dinners.
Cheese: I use feta or goat cheese, sometimes Parmesan. Feta and goat have less fat than regular cheese and a sharper taste that stands up to the dressing. When I have time I mix some fresh herbs into the goat cheese and make a log. This is also great in omelets or just on crackers. A few crumbles of cheese is all you need.
Nuts: I make spiced pecans a lot since I have a freezer full of fresh pecans from San Saba, Texas. Just take a handful of pecans and place in a baking pan. Add a tablespoon of olive oil, sprinkle some sugar, cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and salt and bake for 5-7 minutes at 350 degrees.

Just a few pecan halves is all you need. You could also use plain toasted walnuts or almonds.
Sweets: I usually have a bag of dried cranberries or raisins. I

Dressing:

Balsamic Vinaigrette

1 clove garlic, minced and mashed into a paste
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 T honey
2 T red wine vinegar
2 T Modena balsamic vinegar
1 T lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 extra virgin olive oil

Mix the garlic, mustard, honey, vinegars, lemon juice and salt together in a bowl or food processor. If doing this my hand, add a few drops of oil and whisk briskly to combine the oil and vinegar. Keep adding a small amount of oil until the dressing appears emulisfied, otherwise it will separate quickly. You can also just do this in the food processor or shake it in a jar.

It will keep for 3 or 4 days.

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Treasure in my freezer

I found a bowl of Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup in my freezer tonight.  It was like finding buried treasure because I thought I had eaten all of it already.  You see,  I made the soup several weeks ago with some real Minnesota wild rice someone had given me.  It was a great soup and I was happy to freeze the leftovers.  I enjoyed a few bowls of it, even took it to work for lunch.
Frozen soup really tastes great re-heated, believe it or not.  Everyone in my house is sick right now and no one wanted dinner so my bowl of soup was just perfect.  Earlier in the day, my daugher re-heated Albondigas Locas soup and my husband re-heated a bowl of beef chili.  I still have piles of soup in there so there's never "nothing to eat" at home.  So if you want "treasure" in your freezer, make lots of soup and freeze it.

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

1 T olive oil
1 cup lean ham, nitrate free, diced
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/4 cup carrot, diced
1/4 cup celery, diced
2 T all purpose flour (optional)
3 T dry sherry
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups cooked wild rice*
2 cups cooked chicken, chopped**
2 tsp minced fresh thyme
salt and pepper to tast
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup scallions, chopped
toasted sliced almonds for garnish (optional)

Saute ham in olive oil for 3-4 minutes.  Add onion, carrot, and celery.  Cook until vegetables are softened.  Stir in flour and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Deglaze with sherry, scraping up bits from the bottom of the pan.  Add broth, cooked rice, chicken, and seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook 10 minutes.  Add milk and scallions.  Garnish with almonds.
Makes 8 cups, approximately 250 calories per cup.


*To cook wild rice:  Bring 2 cups chicken broth, 1 cup water, and 1 1/2 cups wild rice to a boil.  Cover and simmer for 50 minutes, until just tender.  Do not overcook.

**My favorite way to cook chicken for use in other recipes is to spray non stick spray on a baking sheet.  Place chicken breasts which have been dried off and seasoned with a little sea salt and freshly ground pepper on the baking sheet.  Place in a 375 degree oven and cook for 10 minutes, turn over and cook for 10 more minutes or until chicken is cooked through.  Don't overcook it!  Use a meat thermometer and check the internal temperature to be sure.  Poultry should be 170 degrees, but remember it will continue to cook more after removed from the oven, so take it out at 165 or a little less.

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Will's Hobo Breakfast

Visting my daughter in Houston and having her make my breakfast is a real treat.  She's a busy mom, working as Senior Manager of Communication, Houston ISD.  Her boyfriend, Will, is a pescatarian, so they eat a lot of vegetarian meals.
Helen made me Will's creation, we named the "hobo breakfast".  It was a delicious mixture of potatoes, Boca crumbles, egg whites and spices.  The Boca crumbles tasted like sausage and have none of the fat or cholesterol.  We had some bagels and Greek yogurt on the side.  My cup of Starbucks Via, the food cooked by my daughter, and sharing a meal with my granddaughter, Grace,  made it feel like a special occasion.
I loved the "hobo breakfast" and plan to make it when I get back to Fort Worth. 




Will's Hobo Breakfast

2 cups Ore Ida Crispy Crowns, defrosted by cooking 2 minutes in the microwave
1 T olive oil or vegetable oil
1/2 cup Boca crumbles
1 cup egg whites (in carton or from fresh eggs)
1/2 tsp Herbs de Provence
1/2 tsp Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning
1 tsp Mrs. Dash table blend
freshly ground black pepper to taste
salt to taste

Heat large skillet and add oil.  Add potatoes and fry, breaking into small pieces.  Add Boca crumbles and spices.  Cook for a couple minutes until everything is browned and hot.  Add egg whites and mix.  Cook until eggs are set.  Serve with Frank's red hot sauce.

Variation:  I will probably use real potatoes since I usually have Yukon gold or russet potatoes in my pantry.  Cook the potatoes in the microwave for 6-8 minutes, depending on size and power of your microwave.  Let cool, then cut into small pieces.

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PB 2 or Peanut Butter?

I recently read about a product hailed as a great way to get the taste of peanut butter without all the fat, called PB2.  I was shopping for groceries and saw it sitting next to the regular peanut butter and out of curiousity picked up a jar.  PB2 is mixed with equal parts water and 2 tablespoons has 45 calories compared to 200 calories for 2 tablespoons of my usual organic chunky peanut butter.  Sadly, I am not a fan.  The PB2 tastes flat and unpleasant to me.  I would rather have 1 tablespoon of the real stuff.  Now I have a jar of PB2 to give away.
Now, for a good way to use peanut butter, regular of PB2 if you like it, is for breakfast.  A quick breakfast is a slice of multigrain toast (I use Artisan Baking Company multigrain bread, my favorite bread and if you are fortunate enough to get some you'll see why.  Artisan Baking Company is on White Settlement Road, Fort Worth and at the Cowtown Farmers Market Saturday mornings.)
Spread the peanut butter on the toast and top with 1/2 of a banana, sliced.  I have several quick, standard breakfasts for workday mornings that I can make quickly and either eat at the counter or on the way to work. I will write about my top 5 breakfasts and lunches soon.

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Veggie Chili

 

Everyone in my family loves my beef chili so I make it from time to time and freeze bowls of it.  That way when I'm eating some weird dinner, maybe a strange fish, my husband can just grab a bowl of chili.  I made beef chile and decided to make an additional pot of chili last night, with half the calories of the beef chili and filled with fresh vegetables.  There are many ways to make veggie chili so don't feel locked into my recipe.  Basically you can take any fresh vegetables, stock, a few seasonings and beans and you have veggie chili.  I added a cup of cooked farro which has a meaty qualtiy.  Farro is a grain product available in the bulk section at Central Market.  You could also add "meat" crumbles. 

Vegetable Chili

1 onion

2 bell peppers, 1 red, 1 yellow, chopped

2 carrots, diced

1 zucchini, diced

1 jalapeno pepper, diced

3 cloves roasted garlic

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups pinto beans, cooked  (I used canned, rinsed)

1 16 ounce can diced tomatoes

1 1/2 quarts chicken stock (or vegetable stock)

1 T New Mexico red chile powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp cumin

freshly ground pepper and sea salt

1 cup farro, cooked

2 T cilantro, chopped

Saute onions and peppers in dutch oven sprayed with non stick spray until softened.  Add the other vegetables, beans, spices, and stock, and tomatoes.  Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer.  Simmer for 30 minutes.  Add farro at the end.

Serve with cilantro and shredded Cabot 75% reduced fat cheese.

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Divas' Dinner Party

Divas’ Dinner Party

January 21, 2012

Back in October I, along with a group of women who worked on the Azle Taste Tour, volunteered to help with a special dinner party that raised money for the Azle Community Caring Center. The Divas' Dinner Party, in which a group of women would decorate the table, drive guests to the dinner, cook, serve, and clean up after, was the brainchild of Dawn Zuilhof.  Dawn is the treasurer, Board of Directors, Community Caring Center.  She envisioned this event, described it in the live auction in October, and in the end two "Divas'" parties were sold.  The cook volunteers, Dawn, Jackie Barnes, Susie Bunch, and I got together to plan the menu.  We decided on a very special five course meal and divided up the various dishes.  The guests were picked up by the driver volunteers and arrived at 6:00 at the lovely home of Rebecca Freer on Eagle Mountain Lake.  The table had been beautifully set by the group in charge of decorating.  The volunteers who served the food would tell the cooks how guests responded to each of the courses.  Based on their reports I'd say the dinner was a big success!

Menu

First course

Canapes

Greek Salad Skewers by Susie Bunch

 

Smoked Salmon in Puff Pastry by Julia Dunaway

Gancia, Prosecco

Second Course

Spicy Butternut Squash Soup with Chile Cheddar Croutons by Jackie Barnes

 Mini Muffins and Rosemary Bread Sticks by Susie Bunch (not pictured)

Primarius, Pinot Noir

Third Course

Crab Cakes with Frisee, Mango Salsa, and Jalapeno Remoulade by Julia Dunaway

Intermezzo

Lavender sorbet by Susie Bunch

Fourth Course

Roasted Stuffed Tenderloin of Beef with Cherry Wood Smoked Bacon, Mushroom Ragout, and Cabernet Reduction (by Julia Dunaway)

(for one guest, Stuffed Chicken Breast with Cabernet Reduction)

Creamy Mashed Potatoes (by Dawn Zuilhof and Jackie Barnes)

Sauteed Haricots Verts with Roasted Red Bell Pepper, and Pine Nuts (by Jackie Barnes)

 

Silver Palm, Cabernet Sauvignon



Lovely table setting done by the decorators!

Fifth Course

Dessert Trio

Bailey's Irish Cream Mini Cheesecake (by Susie Bunch)

Key Lime Parfait with Raspberry Coulis (by Dawn Zuilhof)

Banana Cream Pie Parfait with Chocolate and Caramel Sauces (by Susie Bunch)

Robert Mondavi, Moscato D’Oro

Susie Bunch, Rebecca Freer, (hostess), Chef Julia

 

Chef Julia and Jackie Barnes

Susie putting the finishing touches on the sorbet

almost all the guests about to sit down to dinner

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Albondigas Locas Soup (Mexican Meatball)

I stopped for a quick lunch last week at Sweet Tomatoes on W 7th St. in Fort Worth.  I like the fact that I can choose from a variety of fresh vegetables.  I skip all the heavy stuff and enjoy my salad with some light dressing.  I also selected a cup of soup from their big selection, called Albondigas Locas, and was pleasantly surprised.  It was spicy and had a mixture of vegetables and rice along with some little meatballs, but although it tasted good it was waaaay oversalted.  I decided right then and there that I would make my own version of that soup soon, which I did last night.  My soup, pictured, was absolutely delicious, however in my first recipe I used a lot more tomato.  I have changed my recipe to decrease the tomato because I will like it better, but you can't go wrong if you change this recipe to suit your own taste.  Roasting the meatballs on a rack allows the grease to drain before you put them in your soup.  This soup was not oily or oversalted like so many restaurant soups.  I hope you try it.  My husband ate 2 huge bowls and my picky daughter who says she doesn't like soup enjoyed it too.

Albondigas Locas Soup

For the meatballs:
1 pound ground sirloin (or turkey)
1/4 cup fat free milk
1 slice whole wheat bread  (or sub 1/2 cup cornmeal for gluten free)
1 egg
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp dried Mexican oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to Convect Roast 375, or bake 400
Place the bread in a large bowl.  Pour the milk on top and let it soak for a minute or tow.  Add the rest of the meatball ingredients, except the beef and mix well.  Add the beef and mix gently.  Form into 1 inch or smaller meatballs and place on rack on top baking sheet sprayed with non stick spray.
Bake until browned, 20-25 minutes.  Set aside to cool. 

Soup

2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 cups chicken stock or a combination of chicken and beef stock ( I use Swanson reduced sodium)
1/2 cup long grain rice (or sub brown rice)
2-3 tomatoes, diced or 1 cup tomato puree or canned tomatoes
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce with 1 T sauce
1/2 tsp cumin
2 bay leaves
1 zucchini, peeled, diced large
1 red bell pepper, diced
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper
fresh limes
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

In a large stockpot, heat the oil.  Add the onion, carrots, celery, and saute until onion is tender.  Add the garlic and stir about 30 seconds.  Add 8 cups of stock, rice, tomatoes, chile, cumin, and bay leaves.  Boil, stirring frequently so rice doesn't stick.  Lower to simmer and add the zucchini and red pepper.
Add the meatballs to the soup.  Simmer until the rice and vegetables are tender, 20-30 minutes.
Serve with a squeeze of fresh lime and chopped cilantro.
My husband wanted it to be like tortilla soup so he put crushed tortilla chips and grated cheese on top of his.

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