Greek Yogurt Extravaganza

 

This week I gave in to my deep love for greek yogurt.  If you haven’t used it in recipes, you’re missing out.  Besides the obvious parfait and breakfast uses, it’s a great, healthy substitute in many recipes that use mayo or sour cream.  I decided to search for a recipe that involved both salmon and greek yogurt.  My main gal, Martha Stewart, came through for me with a recipe for Roasted Salmon and Herbed Yogurt.  With that recipe in mind, I thought asparagus would be a good side dish, and heck why not use greek yogurt with the asparagus as well.  A quick google search, and I decided to go with an asparagus soup.  I modified a recipe from whole foods for Creamy Spring Asparagus Soup substituting greek yogurt for sour cream.

The two dishes were relatively simple, but for timing I enlisted my favorite sous-chef.

Chris as given the task of snipping parsley and dill from our potted patio herbs, and then chopping them into tiny bits.

He then mixed the herbs in with our greek yogurt of choice, Fage.

Meanwhile, I chopped the light green and white parts of our gigantic leek, and then browned the pieces in a bit of butter.

While the leek browned, I peeled and chopped a yukon gold potato into one inch strips.

After about ten minutes, I added the potatoes and chicken broth to the leeks, and brought the liquid to a boil.

I then reduced the heat, added the chopped asparagus, and let the mixture simmer until everything was nice and tender.

While the soup simmered, Chris mixed together the herbs, greek yogurt, dijon, salt and pepper.

Everything for the salmon was ready long before the soup, so Chris stuck the yogurt mixture in the fridge and relaxed while I prepped the blender.  I had some time to spare, so I improvised and chopped a bit of garlic for the salmon.

With approximately 10-15 minutes to go on the soup, Chris placed the salmon in a baking pan, covered in the herbed yogurt sauce, and topped it off with chopped garlic.  He couldn’t resist giving our three cats a taste of raw salmon.  They are definitely sushi lovers like their mama and papa.

Once the potatoes and asparagus were tender, I poured the mixture into a big blender and set it to purée.  Chris finished off the purée and then complained about how tightly I put on the top to the cat rubbing up against his legs looking for more delicious, raw fish.

Once pureed to our satisfaction, I poured the soup back into the pot and brought it to a boil.  The timer sounded for the salmon just as I finished the soup.  Could we have actually timed everything perfectly tonight?  Unfortunately, no.  Chris cut into the salmon and found it still a bit raw in the center after 15 minutes at 450.  We had to stick the salmon back in the oven for another 10 minutes, and that was even a bit too much.  It amazes me how quickly fish goes from undercooked to overcooked.

Before realizing the salmon needed more time, I had spooned the soup into bowls, and topped it with croutons, parmesan, and freshly ground black peppercorn.  Not wanting our soup to get cold, we finished it off while the salmon baked.  It was absolutely delicious!  I loved the flavor and texture, and the topping I improvised was perfect.  It tasted like spring in my mouth.

When the salmon finished, we cut a small portion for us each, added a bit of lemon, and sat down to finish the latest Game of Thrones episode.  The salmon was delicious.  I always worry about salmon tasting fishy, but it didn’t at all.  The garlic roasted perfectly on top, and was a great addition.  The herbed yogurt was fresh and moist.  Overall a fantastic dish, and I’m sure it would have gone great with the asparagus soup.

My Favorite Cold Weather Soup

  Back in college, I worked at Mimi’s Cafe and became addicted to their corn chowder.  When I lived in Long Beach, I decided that I wanted to make my own and see how it turned out.  I found a recipe on Allrecipes.com for Gramma Brown’s Corn Chowder.  It is a fabulous, rich soup that beats Mimi’s chowder any day.  Since then, I have made this soup several times and tweaked it to include my favorite spices.  I also usually make the soup without bacon, but I decided to add it as a special treat for a few wonderful people this time around!

To start, I cooked the bacon until almost done, and then sautéed it with onions and celery.  I usually add a bit more celery than the recipe recommends.  I also add more carrots.  The result is more of a hearty stew, than a soup.

This being the first time in well forever I made bacon, I did not have the foresight to first chop it and then cook it.  I ended up cutting it into pieces in the pan while it simmered.  The pan I used is well-loved, so I didn’t worry too much about adding a few more scratches.

I then transferred everything to a big pot with 4 cups of low sodium chicken broth and cooked it with the carrots and potatoes.

The final step involves adding the milk and a paste of flour and water.  This thickens it up and makes it creamy.  You can add more flour if you like your soup thicker, but I think the flour plus the starch from the potatoes are plenty.

Once everything is nice and soft and hot, you can top it off with some salt, pepper, and any other spices you’d like.

   I typically add a bit of cayenne, onion powder, and basil.  This gives it just the right amount of kick.  This soup is fairly easy and it always gets rave reviews.  This time around I added a side garnish of chopped tomatoes, avocado, and lime juice.  Some chose to add it to the soup, others just ate the avocado, but all in all I think it went over well.  I also like to buy or make a round loaf of sourdough and serve it warm with the soup.  Let me know if you think of any more exciting spice combos or interesting ways to serve it!

 

When Pigs Fly: Apples and Pork Loin

Orange and Herb Turkey Cutlets Pork Loin with Maple-Sautéed Apples

I never thought the day would come.  I cooked and ate pork for dinner!  Over the past five years, Chris has encouraged me to taste and eat foods I never thought I’d try.  While pork is common, I have generally stayed away from it since re-entering the meat-eating world after 9 years of vegetarianism.   When shopping this past week, we couldn’t find the turkey cutlets that I wanted for this dish.  I browsed the meat section, and instead found these beautiful rather lean looking pork loins.  With my heart set on the recipe, I caved to Chris’ delight and bought them.

  The recipe is from my Flat Belly Diet cookbook, and honestly it looks like a pork recipe that uses turkey to make it healthier.  We rubbed the pork with spices and browned it in a skillet.  It was browning too fast, so Chris had to turn down the heat and cook it for a bit longer to get it right.  The apples were pan-fried with maple syrup, cinnamon and pepper.  The flavors were bold and the pork lean enough for my palette.  We served it with a bit broccoli, which I severely over-salted (sorry Chris!).  Not a bad first go with pork loin.  I just might have to try it again.

 

My Very First Thanksgiving Dinner

This past year Chris and I offered to give my mom a break and make Thanksgiving dinner for the family.  Thanksgiving with my family is usually small (just the immediate family).  We spend the day snacking on appetizers and playing games.  My mom pops in and out of the game while cooking dinner.  Mom’s dinner varied slightly over the years, but it was always delicious.  The staples of the dinner were turkey, potatoes, stuffing, gravy, green bean casserole, and pie.  This year I kept the spread the same, but changed the recipes to add my own twist on the evening.

My sister, Heather, and my boyfriend, Chris, were the perfect helpers for the day.  Heather chopped like a pro and Chris took charge of the turkey and dessert.  They both chipped in and helped out when needed, and delegation was super easy with my 5 page plan right in front of me.  The plan included guidelines for timing, ingredients, materials, and step by step instructions.

As you can see, the type A side of my personality was in full force.

The menu consisted of a herb butter turkey and gravy, creamy cheesy potatoes, crispy shallot and green bean casserole, herb bread vegetarian stuffing, and pumpkin pie.  It was hard work, but the day went flawlessly and everyone really enjoyed the meal.  Here’s to many more years of good food and good times with family!  Scott and James – We missed you this year.  Hopefully you’ll be chipping in and enjoying the dinner with us again soon!

Getting Fresh With Pasta

After a long day of plugging away at my thesis, I decided it was time for a break.  My brain was mush from flipping back and forth between French and English, counting correct and incorrect responses, and graphing it all.  As a runner now, my head immediately went to carbs for an energy boost.

I opened the cabinet in search of some dry pasta, but we were fresh out.  Instead I found this:

Chris’ mother had given me an amazing, wonderful variety of pasta tools for Christmas the past year.  Chris had tried to make his own egg pasta using the food processor a while back, but it didn’t go so well.  He over mixed it, it formed too much gluten, and it was a big sticky mess.  Apprehensive, I decided to try my hand at it using the egg pasta flour.  Maybe it’s cheating, but I’ve gotta start somewhere.

It worked!  I mixed the ingredients in a medium-sized bowl with a hand mixer, and then gently kneaded the dough, adding a bit of water as needed, until I had this magnificent ball.  Thrilled I called Chris over to help me set up the pasta roller.  He put everything together, while I rolled out the dough.

Next step, flattening and cutting the dough.  I did my best to shape the dough into more of a rectangle than oval shape, but I wouldn’t say that I succeeded.  Chris rolled the machine while I fed the dough through and caught it at the other end.

Yes, that’s my foot in the corner, and yes I am hiding from the camera.  You really don’t want to see me after a day of thesis stress.  Through the machine one more time, and voilà!

I set the pasta aside for a bit, while we prepared a protein and vegetable for our meal.  Before starting the pasta, I decided that I would lightly bread and pan fry boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  I put them in a mixture of vinegar and spices to marinate in the fridge earlier in the evening, so they were ready to go by the time I finished cutting the pasta.  I also sliced the breasts in half to thin them out.  They’re so thick that when Chris tries to cook them during the week they always come out raw in the center.  I used my favorite three bowl method: Egg, Flour, Bread Crumbs.

You can see our California EVOO in the background there.  I recently listened to a story on NPR about olive oil.  The regulations on imported oils aren’t very strict, so you don’t really know what you’re getting.  California, however, has very precise tests that oil must go through to verify that it is as advertised.  We save it for dressings, dips, and drizzles, so that we can really appreciate the flavor.  These breasts were pan-fried in just a bit of canola oil.  I made sure that the oil was hot before cooking the chicken, and I used our skillet so that it would brown nicely on the outside.  Unfortunately, I was not skilled enough (and the chicken was not flat enough) to get an even all-over brown.

In the meantime, Chris made his new favorite oil and vinegar salad dressing (based on yet another story we listened to on NPR), tossed it with some red leaf lettuce, and we tossed the past in the now boiling pot of water.

I tossed the cooked pasta with a bit of EVOO, salt, and some of my favorite spices, plated it, and placed the chicken on top.  The final product looked fresh and smelled amazing.

Chris absolutely loved the pasta.  He exclaimed, “Oh my gosh love, this is so good,” more times than I can count throughout the meal.  I really enjoyed the fresh pasta too, but I’d love to get it even a little thinner next time.  Judy and Fred Guidotti, thank you so much for the wonderful gifts!  Chris and I loved the pasta and can’t wait to make more!

The Quest for The Crispy Breakfast Potato

Looking at our past posts, I realized that we’ve neglected a very important meal – BREAKFAST!  With our busy lives, breakfast usually consists of a cup of coffee (or two) and maybe a Greek yogurt with jam or granola or nuts or a banana.  However, the weekends sometimes afford us the time to cook up something delicious.  Chris and I trade-off more than collaborate when it comes to breakfast.  Chris has perfected his hollandaise sauce, and he boiled the perfect 6 minute soft-boiled eggs.  I make the best, from scratch fluffy buttermilk pancakes ever, I like to experiment and elevate other dishes like huevos rancheros, and I have a love and obsession for baking muffins.

Starving and looking to fuel up for a big training run (I’m running a half marathon in May eek), I went to our kitchen and gathered what was left from the week.  Recently we decided to switch from our usual microwave meals from Trader Joes to more fresh vegetables, fruits and lean meats from Whole Foods.  I had pushed Chris to do this for a while, and I think my fitness/running goals finally convinced him.  The sticker shock was a bit much at first, but we discovered that the quantities were larger and that the food we bought lasted us longer.  My first find in an adorable, tiny Whole Foods paper bag: 3 russet potatoes.

My other finds: eggs, ciabatta bread, low-fat cheese, a red onion, and a fresh tomato.  Are you thinking what I’m thinking?  That’s right! The perfect ingredients for Ciabatta Egg Sandwiches and Crispy Breakfast Potatoes!  I’ve tried to perfect my breakfast potato crisping skills for a while now, and this time would be no different.  I crossed my fingers, closed my eyes, and…oh shoot I should probably look before I start peeling and dicing.  In my usual fashion, I tried to only cut off the parts of the potato that were going bad and ended up nearly peeling everything (yea I’m kinda picky when it comes to brown spots).  I also rinsed the potatoes until they water ran clear and dried them off as best I could on some paper towels.  I read somewhere that if they’re too wet they’ll boil or steam and not crisp when you cook them.  I then diced the onion, tossed it in with the potatoes, and added oil, paprika, and Italian spices (too bad we don’t grow our own herbs – we want to, but we haven’t started this yet).

I decided to bake the potatoes in a jelly roll pan for 45 minutes at 475 degrees, stirring it every 15 minutes or so.  In the meantime, I started a fresh pot of water in our kettle to make our new favorite french press coffee and set the other ingredients aside.  About 10 minutes before the potatoes finished, I took out my silver dollar pancake pan and used it to make scrambled eggs fit for a sandwich.  I always beat my eggs with a bit of cream or milk and season them with basil, salt, and pepper.

Just as I finished the eggs, the timer went off for the potatoes (super proud of my timing this go in the kitchen).  When I pulled the potatoes out, they look golden and slightly crispy but certainly not crispy enough.  I stabbed one with a fork, cooled it, and took a bit.  Bleh totally bland too!  Rescue time.  I heated and seasoned a frying pan and then added the potatoes and some low-fat cheese.  Sure enough they started to crisp up perfectly and evening and the extra flavoring did the trick.

Last but not least, I toasted the ciabatta bread in the oven with the tomatoes and cheese on top, layered the egg sandwiches, and plated the potatoes.

I called Chris over, apologizing for the kitchen that looked more like a disaster zone, and we sat down to feast.  Oh wow, the potatoes were amazing.  This will go down as the day that I perfected the breakfast potato.  Chris couldn’t stop raving about the potatoes.  I think he would have been happy with just a whole plate of them.  The sandwiches were decent.  The eggs definitely could have been better, and the bread was a bit dry, but the tomatoes were a nice fruity touch.  Afterward, I had a few eggs and tomatoes left.

I put these suckers on top of a small plate of potatoes and heated them up for breakfast for us the next morning.  The flavors were great together.  Chris ate around his egg, devoured his potatoes and asked for more.  Big surprise :).

*All photos in this post are courtesy of Chris’ new IPad 3

Delicious Seared Leg of Lamb, with a Promise Never to Make Colleen Squeeze Blood Oranges Again…

After a 10 mile hike in Irvine on a Sunday we were positively famished.  Valentine’s day had passed earlier in the week and we had agreed to cook during the weekend to celebrate the passing of another wonderful year.  The problem with hikes, is that after you finish them, you (or at least I) merely want to go home, take a shower and pass out.  We agreed to head over to Whole Foods to shop, under the assumption that if we had fresh ingredients on hand we would actually cook (versus resorting to Jack in the Box appetizers when we got hungry).  We were thinking that rabbit might be a good choice (we saw a couple cotton-tails on our hike), but didn’t really know what we were going to cook.  We decided to let Whole Foods inspire us.

We arrived and strolled through the produce section (which is magnificent if you’ve never been).  We decided to first choose a protein and then base the rest of the dish around it.  Colleen had found a recipe for pork tenderloin, but found that they didn’t have it in stock! No pork tenderloin? Whole Foods…you fail.  Regardless we chose a delicious (and slightly gigantic leg of lamb).  We found a recipe on Food52.com for Mint and Feta Stuffed Leg of Lamb and decided to run with it.  For veggies, we grabbed rainbow chard, carrots, sweet potato, and regular potato.  I had a crazy idea for a starch/carbohydrate side dish that I wanted to just kind of go with and figure out as we went along.

I butterflied the leg to start the process.  If you’ve never done this before, it’s actually pretty hard to screw up.  Sharp knife? Check.  Leg of lamb? Check. Basically you just split it open and then hammer it down to thin it out.  The idea is that you want to try to make the leg as uniformly thin and flat as possible so that it is easily “rollable” and will thus cook evenly.  While I did the butchering, Colleen mixed together feta cheese and fresh organic mint leaves – accidentally leaving out the blood orange rind. We then collaboratively spread the mixture evenly over the top of the lamb.

I grabbed some cooking twine and after rolling the lamb up nicely proceeded to secure the roll with a number of strands.  Some of the Feta tried to escape, but a length-wise tie kept most of it in.  If you’re doing this, make sure your twine is nice and tight (when I seared the leg a bit later, some of the filling did melt out because I hadn’t really cinched it down).  After cinching the lamb, I seared it on all four sides, six minutes per side.

Meanwhile… Colleen was working on the reduction sauce.  Step one? Juice the blood oranges.  If you’ve never squeezed blood oranges, you’re in for a treat.  I didn’t know exactly how many we needed – just that we needed a cup of juice.  Since I’d never had the pleasure of juicing them before, I didn’t know how many we would actually needed.  I got lucky, because we bought about 12 of them and ended up with slightly more than 1/2 a cup.  I recommend that you buy lots of them.  More than you think you need.  You can always end up just eating them.

Blood oranges look like red-speckled mini oranges on the outside – but it’s the inside that is really unique.  When cutting them open, it’ll seem like the orange is alive.  Don’t worry, the ruby-red “blood” that comes out tastes tart and delicious – like any other fresh squeezed juice you’ve had.  Side note: if you squeeze them by hand, people may accuse you of murder.  Check out Colleen’s hands:

We then moved on to the side dish and sauce.  I washed and peeled the carrots, sweet potato and regular potato.  I had thought that a mash might go great with the lamb.  Especially one that was semi-sweet, but not sickly so.  Colleen found a great addition to grow the “seed” of my concept.  It was a delicious combination of cream, milk and butter infused with threads of scarlet colored saffron.  It perfectly complimented the sweetness of the mash while adding a savory complexity.

I deglazed the pan that we had used to sear the lamb with a cup of Westberg Cellar’s Turtle Rock 2008 “Willow’s Cuvet” Pinot Noir and started reducing it.  Westberg Cellar’s is a tiny, tiny, TINY winery that is open once a month in Paso Robles, CA.  We lucked upon it after a friend’s wedding in 2011.  When we stopped there it was an “off weekend” when they shouldn’t have been open.  The gentleman pouring informed us that they were waiting for a limo that had arranged for a private tasting.  The lightweights in the limo never showed, but we surely enjoyed the afternoon – and discovered the amazing varietals they create.  I’m not generally a fan of sweeter reds – but this Pinot is an absolute exception.  When you drink it delicious flavors of raspberry, strawberry, blackberry…and well…berries – lots and lots of berries dance on your tongue.  Divine!

Back to the sauce!  When it had simmered down by about half, Colleen added the blood orange juice, balsamic vinegar, and brown sugar, and the she let it simmer on low heat, stirring it often.  It started to thicken up to a nice consistency about 20 minutes later.

The leg of lamb finished up its 40 minute stint in the oven.  When I removed it, I discovered that we need a new oven mitt, because for the first time the Pyrex burned me through the mitt and I grabbed the other end of the pan with my bare hand in reflex.  This was painful.  Regardless, the lamb was perfectly cooked, and it sliced down nicely.  The mash ended up a fantastic orange color with a light, semi-sweet flavor that was the prefect background to the more intense flavor of the lamb (although the potatoes were slightly undercooked).  Colleen sautéed the rainbow chard with garlic, sherry, and sea salt.  We plated the chard as a bed for the mash and lamb.  Colleen drizzled the blood orange pinot reduction over the top as a final touch and voilà – gourmet cookin’ on a Sunday night.  As we plated the meal, Colleen exclaimed, “the gremolata!”  In all of the attention to detail that this dish required, it was forgotten along with the blood orange zest.

We sat down at our table and enjoyed our meal with the rest of the pinot.  Colleen really enjoyed the lamb, but was slightly dissatisfied with the veggies (both the mash and the chard) being slightly undercooked (which is mostly due to the timing aspect of cooking that we are still perfecting).  I raved about my meal most of the night.  “Love, this is the best lamb dish I’ve had a in a very long time.  It’s like restaurant quality!”  All in all, this meal was a success.  Future notes – don’t forget the rind, invest in a juicer, tie up the lamb a bit better, and start the veggies sooner, and remember the gremolata!

Making A Lover Out of A Brussels Sprouts Hater

I think we all have a brussels sprouts horror story from when we were kids.  I know I do.  I was in first grade.  My parents went out-of-town for the weekend, so I was left in the care of my best friend/neighbor’s family.  My midwestern parents never ate brussels sprouts, but my best friend’s Californian family did so regularly.  I recall her parents placing a plate of steamed, bitter, flavorless brussels sprouts in front of me and requiring me to eat them despite my protests.  Chris has a similar story of trying the bitter vegetable and vowing never to taste them again.  Over a decade later, a good friend of mine turned me on to them again as an adult.  Chris, however, continued to hold on to his vendetta against brussels sprouts into adulthood.

I often listen to NPR in my car, and one of my favorite shows is the Splendid Table.  If you haven’t yet listened to Lynne Rossetto Kasper talk about the many delights of food, you’re missing out.  She absolutely dazzles me with her knowledge and passion.  Anyway, back to brussels sprouts, I remember listening to this fabulous brussels sprouts with autumn fruits recipe in 2007.  Lynne, as usual, made the dish sound absolutely divine!  Since that day, I couldn’t see brussels sprouts without thinking of the recipe.  For years, I’d mention the forbidden vegetable to Chris, but he’d always quickly turn me down.  This weekend, I had a stroke of genius (sadly it took me 4 years to think of this)!  I made a deal with a Chris.  If he let me cook brussels sprouts for dinner, I’d include bacon in the recipe.  A former vegetarian, I’m generally not a fan of bacon and other fatty meats, but Chris practically lived off of bacon and cheese before we partook in cohabitation.  Longing for his beloved, long-forgotten bacon, Chris quickly agreed.

I searched for the recipe and found it on the website here: Oven-Caramelized Brussels Sprouts with Autumn Fruits.  Okay, okay, so it’s winter not autumn, but it’s all the same in California, right?  We washed the Anjou pear, honeycrisp apple, and brussels sprouts, and started chopping.

Much to our pleasure, this recipe calls for everything to be chopped and then tossed in one big bowl.  Easy! We once again used kosher salt instead of sea salt, and we substituted cayenne pepper for the red pepper flakes.  I loved adding fresh herbs into the mix.  Hopefully one day soon we’ll have our own homegrown fresh herbs for cooking.

We then spread the mixture out into a single layer on a cookie sheet, and baked it at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes in 10-minute increments, mixing everything a bit at each 10 minute mark to prevent burning.

Et Voila!  We had a delicious, fruity, bacon-spiked brussels sprouts dish.  The steamed version from my childhood pales in comparison.

We made the brussels sprouts the highlight of our dinner, pairing it with an artisan pasta in a walnut cream sauce.  I begged Chris for some good olive oil for the sprouts and sauce, so we saved some money by using Moscato as both cook’s juice and and an ingredient in the pasta sauce.

After making and tasting the sauce, we were a bit worried about the texture and flavor.  It’s an emulsification and we forgot to roast the walnuts before processing them.  Fears aside, we sat down to a colorful plate full of vitamins and good ingredients.  We both loved the sauce and pasta, but the true test of tonight came down to Chris’ response to the brussels sprouts.  I thought that his clean plate said it all, but he stated, “I guess I like brussels sprout DISHES, but I still hate brussels sprouts.”  Ah well, maybe I didn’t turn him in to a lover, but it’ll sure be easier to convince him to buy the vegetable the next time I have a craving.  I, however, plan to reinstate the ban on bacon.  Who knows when I’ll need it again for a worthwhile negotiation (shhh don’t tell Chris).

Sounded Like Ceviche, Ended Up Like Deconstructed Thai Clam Chowder

Colleen had to travel up to LA this morning to check in with her thesis advisor. So I promised that I would sift through the interwebs and find a delicious meal to prepare when she returned (or that I could have ready for her upon her return should she arrive late). I went straight to Epicurious. If you haven’t tried it before, I highly recommend it if you like one thing: flavor. Epicurious started as a website, but they have excellent iPad and iPhone apps that are actually free. If you want to sync your curated lists between devices you can – you just have to donate $1.99 to their culinary cause.

I found a great recipe there that was exactly what I was looking for: Lime Spiked Seafood Stew with Roasted Sweet Potatoes

I love seafood. I love spices. Colleen eats seafood. It was the perfect match. I swung by the store, nabbed all the ingredients including: a Serrano Pepper, Cilantro, Heavy Cream and Red Onions. But to start were the sweet potatoes.

**Edit/Disclaimer** I’m attempting to write this blog using only my iPhone to take and edit images with Camera+ and to write the posts using WordPress’ app on my iPad. Still getting “the ropes”, so the first publish was a mistake… carrying on now….

Colleen played sous-chef this evening and peeled the sweet potatoes. Then I sliced them down to about 1/2″ pieces. The ease of the peeling process due to the size of the sweet potato amazed her. She usually struggles to hold on to their smaller, brown cousins.  During this time a baking tray had heated in the oven. When the temperature hit 400 degrees, I spread all the slices out on the tray and popped it into the oven. The recipe didn’t specify that you should coat the pan with oil, or toss the potatoes in oil – but I can tell you (spoiler) do it! Otherwise they stick horribly when you actually try to remove them…you know…to eat them. I set the timer for 25 minutes and then went about prepping the rest of the ingredients.

With the onions sliced, celery diced (not too finely), and limes juiced, I turned to the fish. I took the Salmon and Scallops out of the fridge and slices them into 3/4″ pieces. I tossed the seafood with black pepper and some of the lime juice and started to saute the rest of the ingredients.

Things started to speed up now. By this time there was about 7 minutes left on the Sweet Potatoes (which were starting to smell delicious). I added the cream to the pan, and cranked up the heat until it was boiling. I folded the seafood into the mixture and then watched the timer for 5 minutes. When the timer rang, I poured the last of the lime juice into the stew and removed the potatoes from the oven.

Colleen plated the sweet potatoes into a grid of 6 slices each. I served up a steaming mound of stew on the potatoes and added extra sauce (because in reality, food is just an excuse for sauces anyhow, right?). I finished the dish by adding a sprinkling of fresh cilantro to the plates. Next time we’ll add the cilantro into the stew and let it mix up a bit (it was a bit too fresh, and the texture stuck out too much from the rest of the dish). The end result was delicious. The sweetness of the potatoes combined almost perfectly with the spiciness of the Serrano peppers, and the cilantro was reminiscent of Thai curries I’ve had in the past. Next time we may try adding coconut to the mix.

Oh! No meal is complete without adding a complimentary beverage of some sort. Based on some of the comments on Epicurious I bought a Prosecco called Lunetta from the store. It was a tart, effervescent white wine that exploded in your mouth when you drank it. It was the perfect companion to this meal. You’d take a sip and then take a bite of the stew. The tartness of the Prosecco (which was almost painful at first) led right into the spiciness of the stew, but then mellowed to include the sweetness of the underlying potatoes.

Final note to self: Serve this in a bowl in the future and grab a spoon. The broth is delicious, but doesn’t thicken. You have two choices: overcook the seafood or thicken the broth. I’ll stick with a soup-like sauce and not overcooked fish (which were cooked to perfection).

Breaking in Our Creuset Casserole

So my wonderful, fabulous brother Scott bought us a caribbean blue Le Creuset casserole for the holidays.  Up until now we’ve been too busy to break it in, but tonight was the night.  I looked around online for some inspiration, ideas, and recipes, and happened upon a post for Moroccan chicken with lemon and olives. I pondered how to edit the recipe, omitting the whole chicken or chicken thighs, while Chris begged me to give him some dark meat.  In the end, I had to admit that slow cooking breasts just wouldn’t have the same result.  I ran to the store for some missing ingredients, ran back for my credit card (doh!), ran back to the store to buy the items, and returned home with roughly 2 lbs of chicken thighs (secretly hoping that slow cooking would fix the texture/bone issue that I have with such meat).

At about 5 pm, I mixed together the spices (paprika, cumin, tumeric, ginger, and pepper), rubbed them into the thighs and let them sit for an hour while I baked banana cupcakes for dessert.  While I dealt with the chicken and cupcakes, my amazing sous-chef did all the prep work – shaking garlic between two bowls to peel it (Shake Garlic To Peel – such a man!), dicing the garlic, chopping the onion (and crying), chopping the parsley and cilantro, and slicing the lemons.

After an hour of sitting in the spices, I warmed a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in the casserole and browned the chicken (skin side down).  After browning the chicken, Chris insisted that we use our new pasta tongs to flip the chicken before adding the garlic and onions.  We then covered the casserole and let it cook on medium low for about 15 minutes.  Chris claimed that the heavy lid wouldn’t let anything get out, but a fast column of steam blew through one side of the pot.  Chris jumped to the rescue, adjusting the lid and minimizing the escaping air.

While the chicken sat cooking, I took the lemons (artfully sliced by Chris) and cooked them slowly in olive oil, salt and sugar.  This would serve as a substitute for the otherwise seven-day endeavor of preserving the lemon for the dish.

We finally added the remaining ingredients, pitted green olives, raisin, and our substitute for preserved lemons,  to the casserole, covered the pot, lowered the heat, and let it slow cook for another 30 minutes.

We placed the chicken over some pine nut couscous and added cilantro and parsley as a final touch – a forgotten afterthought in actuality.  We sat down with our plates and the remaining cook’s juice (an unlabeled bottle of red wine made by none other than Chris’ dad).  The meal was tender and flavorful (and the meat was easy to cut away from the bone without any globs of fat left to ruin the texture!).  This one will definitely be filed away for a repeat performance :).