Chilled Cucumber Avocado Soup

Soooo, you know those days where you are either A) too hot to cook, or B) too lazy to cook?  I have those days.  All the time.  And sometimes, you just want to throw a bunch of s#!t in a blender and call it dinner.

So I did.

And it was amazing.  And easy.  No heat required.

Ingredients (serves 2 larger portions): 

2 cucumbers (from my CSA), peeled and seeded

2 avocados, peeled

1 C lite cocount milk

1 tbsp thai green curry paste

2 scallions, diced for garnish

I know.  Its so easy.  You're welcome.

First, prep all the ingredients.  

The cucumber:

Then the avocados:

I love avocados.... hello gorgeous....  yeah, you know who you are.... stop playing coy....

 Mmmmmm....

Moving on.

Throw these beauties in a food processor and whiz around until pureed.

Move the puree to a bowl, add the coconut milk and green curry paste and mix.  Top with scallions and serve.

 Try it.  It was fresh, light, healthy, refreshing, surprisingly filling, AND EASY.  So, so easy.  Seriously, if this takes you longer than 10 minutes, I think we need to have a talk.

Boyfriend made me sushi

I am continually amazed by Boyfriend.  As I'm sure you could have guessed, I am usually the cook in our house.  However, a few months ago we took a sushi-making class together.  I assumed that I would rock the class, and end up adding sushi-making to my culinary repertoire.  

It feels good to be wrong.  It tastes good to be wrong.

Boyfriend was a natural.  I was terrible.  I blame my tiny hands.  I have miserably tiny hands.  Like a 4 year old's hands.  I wish I was kidding.

I call him, "Big Hands"

 I'm telling you what, I'm really looking forward to years of sushi.  Actually, I think that what I'm really looking forward to is the occasional night off from cooking!

Philadelphia Roll - Smoked salmon, cream cheese & cucumber

We had quite the meal.  He was on a roll... get it?  On A Roll!  Get it?  

Seven rolls in total

Smoked salmon (right) and a jumbo roll (left)

Spicy salmon with carrot and cucumber

Another shot of the Philly roll

As you can imagine, we could not possibly eat seven rolls between the two of us.  Boyfriend had sushi for lunch the next day.  Happy problem.

Seared Ahi Tuna with Vegetable Glass Noodles

You know how most of the time when you go to grab Chinese take-out or sushi, you walk into the restaurant and it just SMELLS AMAZING?  You think to yourself, "Dammit, why can't I ever seem to reproduce that taste/smell at home?"

I have 2 answers to that quandary:

1) You don't use MSG at home,
2) Vegetable oil + a splash of sesame oil + high heat

I'm one of those people that primarily uses only 2 fats on a regular basis - butter and olive oil.  I usually only use vegetable oil for deep-frying.  MISTAKE!  Holy cow did my apartment smell fantastic last night.  In fact, this was so good I'm storing this gem in my "repeat recipe file", a rare honor.

In honor of full disclosure, this is NOT my recipe.  In fact, the glass noodle recipe is almost entirely Hosea Rosenberg's, which you can find here.  Some of the vegetables I used might be a little different, but other than that, its all his.  I purchased the tuna from Trader Joe's Freezer section, so yeah, that's not really "mine" either.  Basically, I was looking for a quick weeknight dinner that wasn't boring.  Wow, I was blown away by this.  So easy.  So delicious.  Especially the noodles.  I beg you to try them. 

For the Tuna:

I just pan seared it for a minute or so on each side for a nice rare middle.

For the Glass Noodles:

Follow Hosea Rosenberg's recipe to a T, it'll make your apartment smell like [insert your local greasy chinese take-out here].

And the creme de la creme, if you like spicy condiments, I highly recommend this little number:

Sriracha Ginger Yogurt Sauce 

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 grated ginger (fresh)
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 C rice vinegar
1/4 C orange juice
2 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp white wine
1 tbsp Sriracha
2 tbsp greek yogurt

In a saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the ginger, onion and garlic and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 5 min. Add the vinegar, orange juice, mirin, wine and Sriracha and simmer until the liquid is almost evaporated and the sauce is thickened, 10-15 min. Turn off the heat and add the yogurt. Season with salt and pepper if needed.

I need to make this sauce again, and put it on EVERYTHING. On burgers? Oh, I bet it's amazing.

Final plating: Thinly slice the tuna and fan out on the plate around a pile of glass noodles.  Dollop some Sriracha Ginger Yogurt Sauce on the side and sprinkle toasted sesame seeds and chopped scallions over the whole plate.

Moroccan Lentil Salad

Sorry I haven't been posting much.  I've been cooking plenty, but most of the time the meals are tasty but not extraordinary, and therefore I haven't felt like you'd be interested in them.  Maybe I'm wrong, but I felt like if I wasn't all that into them, you wouldn't be either.

With that said, I've had a mini-creative streak and have whipped up some serious deliciousness lately.  I'll try to post more often, and if you see something you like, please comment on it (everyone needs a little positive feedback now and again).  I've started to learn that this "being a blogger" thing is a bit of a mind-fuck.  I create these little tidbits about me and my food, send it off to cyberspace, and am left wondering if it ever reaches or inspires anyone.  Its a lot like talking to yourself.... you wonder if someone might be just around the corner listening, unbeknown to you.... or if you're just plain ol' crazy.

Ok, blathering on about myself... on to the cooking!

Always in search of a vegetarian meal that Boyfriend will enjoy, I decided to make a lentil salad using stuff I know he likes - grapes (check!), feta (check!), pistachios (check!), and arugula (check!).

The result: I loved it (had it again for lunch today actually).  Boyfriend thought the ratio of lentil:arugula was a little heavy on the arugula side, but he liked the spice it provided.  Boyfriend also decided to throw in a small (and predictable) comment, "You know what would make this better?... MEAT!"

Gotta love the guy.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb dry lentils
2 leeks, white and light green parts thinly sliced and washed
2 tbsp sherry
2 tsp spicy brown mustard
1 1/2 C red grapes, halved
1/4 C chopped roasted pistachios
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 dried fig, diced into small pieces
1/4 C mint, chopped
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
2 oz reduced-fat feta, crumbled
3 C reduced sodium chicken stock (or use vegetable broth for totally vegetarian)
1 tsp olive oil

1) Cook the lentils in the chicken stock until tender (~15-20min). 
2) Drain lentils, keeping any remaining cooking liquid. 
3) Heat olive oil in a medium skillet, add the leeks and brown for about 5min.  Add the leftover lentil-cooking liquid (no more than a 1/2 C) to the leeks and allow them to braise until soft, approximately 10min.
4) When the leeks are tender, remove from heat and stir in the sherry and mustard.
5) Combine the lentils, leek mixture, grapes, fig, pistachios, sesame seeds, mint, and parsley in a large bowl.
6) Season with salt and pepper if needed.  Top with crumbled feta.

I served this warm on a bed of arugula.  Boyfriend and I opened a Malbec and enjoyed our light dinner in front of the TV.  He watched the Celtics destroy the Sixers, I graded papers.  So romantic, right? 

Ceviche with Spanish-inspired Papas Rellenas

Talk about "just in time"... This recipe from The Daring Cooks hit my apartment right when I needed it the most.

"Kathlyn of Bake Like a Ninja was our Daring Cooks’ March 2011 hostess. Kathlyn challenges us to make two classic Peruvian dishes: Ceviche de Pescado from “Peruvian Cooking – Basic Recipes” by Annik Franco Barreau. And Papas Rellenas adapted from a home recipe by Kathlyn’s Spanish teacher, Mayra."

Boyfriend and I just got home from a BEAUTIFUL wedding in Miami. Get ready to become very jealous (if you live in New England anyway):

Yes, you're seeing that right, I got a wee bit o' sun before the nuptials

Oh how I miss the sun, warmth, sand, and pimped out cars.  Now, to be completely honest, and most of my friends know this about me, but Florida is very high on my list of hated states.  "America's Wang" I used to call it (snerk!).  Don't ask why, just trust me, I have my reasons.

But this trip to Miami was just in time as well.  It felt so nice to pull on my shorts and have them actually fit. We are just barely starting to thaw out here in the Northeast, but all that means is that temperatures are hovering between 30 and 45F.  "Thaw" and "warm" (or "Spring" for that matter) are definitely not the same thing up here as they are in other parts of the US.

Ceviche de Pescado (serves 2)

1 large tilapia fillet, cut into 1/2" cubes
1/2 lb shrimp, shelled and deveined, cut into 1/2" dice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalepeno pepper, minced
juice from 7 limes, freshly squeezed (squoze?)
juice from 1 orange, freshly squoze
4 cubes of Trader Joe's fresh frozen cilantro (or used ~1 tbsp fresh if you have it), finely chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

For Garnish: lettuce and Salsa Criolla (recipe below)

First, make the marinade/cooking liquid for the fish. 

1) Force Ask Boyfriend to juice the limes and oranges for you.  He has bigger, stronger hands and hey, its the least he can do while you're prepping dinner and he's watching ESPN SportCenter.

2) Add the jalepeno, garlic, cilantro, salt and pepper to the citrus juice and add you seafood to the mixture.  Try to pick a container that will allow the seafood to be completely covered by the juice.  The directions say to give it 10 minutes.  My fish was still pretty raw at that point so I just let it go until dinner was ready.  All in all, about 1.5 hours.  And even after that, I still wasn't 100% sold on the half-cooked half-raw mixture, so I zapped it in the microwave for a minute.  Sue me, but I'm too busy to take any food poisoning risks.  I'm sure if it was sushi-grade fish I would have been less nervous.

3) Make the Salsa Criolla.  Let it macerate for at least 30 minutes or as long as you need before dinner is ready.  It will last in the fridge for a day or two if you want to make it early.

Salsa Criolla

1/2 medium red onion, sliced very thinly in half-moon shapes
1 small jalepeno, diced
1 tbsp vinegar (I used rice vinegar because its all I had, but white would work fine)
juice from 1 lime
salt and pepper, to taste

1) Soak the onions in cold water for about 10min to remove some of the bitterness.  Drain.
2) In a small bowl, combine the onions with the rest of the ingredients, season, and let sit at least 30min or until you're ready to use them.

To plate: 

The next part of this wonderful dinner was to make Papas Rellenas. 

Boyfriend's first words were, "Sooo, what does that mean?"

L: "Well," I reminded him, "remember when I made Chiles Rellenos?"
B: "Yeah, yum."
L and here goes me being a teacher: "Ok, so what were those made of?"
B: "Stuffed, battered chiles... get to the point!"
L: "Right, so if 'papas' means 'potatoes', what would you guess 'papas rellenas' means?"
B obviously annoyed with me for being so patronizing: "GOT. IT. (grumble)"

So the point of that little exchange was to say that yeah, Papas Rellenas means basically, stuffed potatoes.

This part of dinner took me a lot longer than it should have, and I'm not even sure why.  None of it is particularly difficult.  I made quite a few changes to the original recipe, which made my papas rellenas more "Spanish" than "Peruvian".

First, I decided to use a mixture of sweet and russet potatoes for the dough.  I thought that the sweet potato would lend a little sweetness (and nutrients) to the final dish and contrast nicely with the sour notes in the ceviche.  Instead of the typical ground beef, raisin, and olive filling, I used chorizo (soy-rizo since we're honest on this blog), kalamata olives, and marcona almonds as the base flavors.

Papas Rellenas
For the dough:
1 large sweet potato
1 medium russet potato

For the filling:
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 C Trader Joe's Soy-rizo (use the soft-style chorizo if you can't get the soy version)
6 kalamata olives, roughly chopped
2 hard-boiled eggs, roughly chopped (from my CSA farm.... soooo yummy!!)
3 tbsp crushed marcona almonds (toasted)
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalepeno, minced
2 tsp cumin
pinch cinnamon
2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 C dry white wine
salt and pepper

For the final prep:
1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp water
1 C flour
1 C bread crumbs (I used panko, but any unseasoned ones would work)
oil, for frying

1) I decided to roast my potatoes for 30min in a 400F oven to try and get rid of as much moisture as possible.  I think boiling them would have been easier and I'm not sure we would have noticed a huge difference in texture.  Do whatever floats your boat, you are basically making "mashed" potatoes when then are done, just don't add any butter or milk.  Let the mashed potatoes cool in a bowl while you prep the filling.

2) In a medium skillet, heat 1 tbsp olive oil and add the onion garlic and jalepeno.  Cook over medium heat for about 5min or until the onions start to turn translucent.

3) Add the chorizo and brown for a couple minutes.
4) Add the cumin, cinnamon, and paprika, stir to combine.  Let this cook for about 2-3 minutes more.
5) Add the white wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up all the bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.

6) Add the olives, cook for another minute or so, then remove from the heat and fold in the hard boiled eggs and marcona almonds.

7) Let the filling cool while you get everything ready to make the "papas".  Add an egg to the potato dough and mix well.  Here's the line-up for preparing the final dish:

8) Make a flat, round "patty" in your hand using the potato dough, then put some of the filling in the middle and carefully fold the potato around the filling, making a ball where the inside is all filling and the outside is all potato.  This was not as easy as I thought it would be, but not impossible.  I'm sure with more practice it wouldn't be nearly as challenging.
9) Once you've made the papas ball, drop it in the flour and coat, then into the egg mixture, then into the breadcrumbs.

Papas ready to go into the fryer

10) Heat an inch of vegetable oil in a skillet to 350-375F. 
11) Fry the papas (in batches if necessary), rotating, until the entire outside is golden brown and delicious.  Drain on paper towels.

To serve, I put down a bed of lettuce and topped it with the Ceviche and some Salsa Criolla.  Place a Papas Rellenas and a wedge of manchego on the side (because originally it was supposed to go in the filling but OOPS... I forgot).

This was so refreshing and a nice throw-back to our weekend in Miami, especially since it was gray and gloomy back here in Boston.  If I wasn't in the middle of detoxing from said vacation I think a Mojito or dry Rose' or crisp beer would have complemented this very nicely.  Next time.  And yes, there will definitely be a "next" time for the ceviche since it was SO EASY and SO DELICIOUS.

Pear and Squash Soup = 2 Dinner Ideas

Sooooo, I've had these winter squash hiding since the end of the CSA season, theoretically "in storage" until needed at some point during the winter.

Yeah.

It was randomly like 60 degrees the other day.

Also, I've already signed up for my CSA season that starts June 2011.

So, the moral of the story is: If I plan to use these squash I better do it soon because the next thing I know I'll be overloaded with beets and greens again.  Already.  

Wow.  Where did my year go?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Moving on.  So we're makin' some soup, yes?

First, roast an acorn squash (or squash of your choosing) with some salt, pepper, and butter in the oven at 400F until soft and delicious smelling, 30-45min.

While the squash is in the oven, cut 3 pears in half and core them.  Place the cut/cored pears flesh-side down in a baking dish and cover with a slighly sweet and floral white wine (I chose a lovely Gewurztraminer that my boss made me for Christmas).  Bake for 30-45min until the pears are soft.  Check on it now and then to check to make sure all the liquid hasn't evaporated.

While the pears and squash are roasting, start sweating some diced onions, carrots and celery (mirepoix) in a tablespoon (or so) of olive oil.  I failed to take any photos of the next step, which would be to put all the flesh from the baked squash and pears into the pot with the mirepoix.  Season with salt, pepper and a little cream and anything else you think it might need.  Blend it smooth with an immersion blender and prepare for the eats.

DINNER #1: SQUASH AND PEAR SOUP WITH A GORGONZOLA-HONEY CROUTON

The night I made this soup I wanted to taste-test it in the simplest form possible.  I topped it off with a crouton made by melting some gorgonzola cheese onto a slice of french bread and drizzling it with honey and parsley.

LOVED the addition of salty/sweet to the soup.  I admit, however, if you put gorgonzola on anything I'll be a  happy girl.

DINNER #2: BLACK FOREST HAM AND GRUYERE SAMMIE WITH PEAR SOUP

I wanted to keep playing with this idea of pairing the sweet soup with something salty and perhaps somewhat savory.  While I was at the store, black forest ham was on sale and it occurred to me that the lovely thing about black forest ham is that it is both sweet and savory/salty.  Hmmmm... this could be the winning match, no?

The magic of this soup and sandwich combo wasn't JUST the perfect pairing of salty ham, creamy gruyere and sweet pear soup.  OH NO NO.  I toasted the ham n' cheese sandwiches in something AMAZING.  And yes, butter was involved.  But not just butter.  OH NO NO.  Curried butter.  Yeah.  I said it.  I mixed curry powder with the butter, then melted it in the skillet, then toasted (fried) the sandwiches.  OH NO SHE DIDN'T.  Oh yes, I did.  And. It. Was. Breathtaking.  A perfect combination of flavors and textures.

I was pretty damn proud of myself for this one.  I'd serve this to company.  I'd serve this at a dinner party.  Yeah, crazy right?  Soup and sandwich?  Yeah.  And you should too.  Trust me on this one.

Steak and Potato Salad

Boyfriend and I had a pretty exciting weekend.  A couple birthday parties, a friend in town, etc etc.  Needless to say, we ate terribly and drank far too much.  I usually love to cook, even when I'm hungover.  I find it to be very therapeutic and relaxing.  But this weekend... no.  No energy to even think about cooking.  So what did we do?  The despicable.  Oh yeah.  You know what it is.  We ordered take-out for lunch both Saturday AND Sunday.  Was it Indian and Thai?  Chinese and Pizza?  Nope!  Sushi.  Both times.  FROM THE SAME SUSHI RESTAURANT.  Yeah.  We are officially celebrities at this place.

So by the time Sunday night rolled around I knew I needed to change things up.  Try to force-feed some nutrition back into our bodies.  Not that sushi is bad for you!  Not by any means.... its just that a diet of rice, fish, and salt for 2 days starts to have a significant affect on a person.

I've had a beautiful piece of beef tenderloin hanging out for a month in the freezer.  It is from my meat CSA, and the only reason its lasted as long as it has is because it is rare that I ever cook steak just for one person... and 5-6oz of steak isn't easily separated into 2 servings.

But I finally figured out a way to do it.  Salad.


For the Salad:
6oz beef tenderloin (from my meat CSA)
3-4 C arugula, washed
2oz Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
2 medium sized Yukon gold potatoes, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1/2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter

For the Salad Dressing:

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp strawberry jelly
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

1) Preheat oven to 425F.
2) Toss potato wedges with olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika.  Roast in oven for 25-30min or until crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.
3) Heat olive oil and butter in a skillet over med-high heat.
4) Add tenderloin to the skillet, and cook for 3min each side for med-rare (** this is assuming your steak is roughly 1 inch thick... cook your steak to your liking, please!)
5) Let the steak rest for at least 5min, then slice it thinly on the bias.

5) Mix the arugula with the dressing (literally, throw all the dressing ingredients in a tupperware and shake vigorously) and plate.
6) Top the arugula with the potatoes and steak slices.
7) Sprinkle the salad with gorgonzola (1oz per person).

Enjoy!

We drank a couple Harpoon IPA's with this dinner.  A perfect pairing?  No.  Available and fresh out of the "new" kegerator?  Yes indeedy-do!  This dinner was perfect.  It was all the flavors and textures of a "steak and potatoes" dinner, yet significantly more healthy.  I mean, the way it worked out, we each only ate 3oz of steak and a half of a potato... yet both felt as if we'd enjoyed an entire, high-class, steak meal.

I now have a new appreciation for the concept of Salad-for-Dinner.  Learn something new every day :)

Sole with Seafood Stuffing in a Lime-Cilantro Broth

I don't even know how to write about this because it was so good.  Literally, we ate slowly, savoring every bite, and were still left wanting more!!  We were full, sated, and wanting, begging, for more.

Too bad.

My Mom (being the awesome person she is) has sent me a case of meat from Omaha Steaks for the past 2 Christmas'. Say what you will about online meat purveyors, but Boyfriend and I can use all the free food you can throw at us.  I try very, very hard to purchase sustainable, local food with my own money (yeah CSA!!), but I'm not going to deny a gift, especially not a gift of meat.

This year we got a couple Stuffed Sole Filets along with some pork chops, beef tenderloins, and hamburgers.  I was in the mood for something healthy and crisp, so I decided to bake the Sole in the oven and serve it in a lime-cilantro broth with roasted cauliflower.

Ingredients:
Stuffed Sole
1 tbsp butter
1 onion, diced
1 celery rib, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp ginger, fresh grated with juice
5-7 cilantro sprigs
2 tsps red pepper flakes
2 tsps chinese 5-spice powder
zest of 1 lime and juice
1/2 C white wine (I used Gewurztraminer)
1/4 C Asian fish sauce
2 C water
salt and pepper, to taste

To make the broth:
1. In a large saucepan, heat the butter and add the onion, celery, garlic and ginger.  Cook until softened (5-7min).

2. Add the cilantro, red pepper, chinese 5-spice powder and lime zest and cook for 1-2min.
3. Add the wine and cook over medium heat until reduced by half.
4. Add the fish sauce, lime juice and water and bring to a boil.
5. Turn down the heat to a simmer, and let the flavors develop for about 15min.

6. Strain the broth into a small saucepan and taste for seasonings.  Add salt and pepper if needed.

To make the fish and cauliflower:
1. Set the oven to 375F and place the frozen stuffed sole onto a foil-lined baking sheet when the oven is ready.  Bake for 40min.
2. Toss cauliflower florets with olive oil, salt and pepper and put into the oven (on a baking sheet) for 20-30min, depending on how crispy you like them.  Boyfriend likes his roasted veggies to have burnt edges so we err on the longer cooking times.

To serve:
Place the cooked sole in the middle of a bowl and pour the lime-cilantro broth all around it.  Serve with roasted cauliflower on the side.

If you want to make this a little more hearty, I think it would be great over rice as well.

Watermelon-Lemongrass Glazed Shrimp

Earlier this summer, during the height of my summer produce from my Stillman's Farm CSA, I had more watermelon that I could eat.  Which is saying a lot.  Because I LOVE watermelon, especially in the record-high heat we experienced this past summer.  But needless-to-say, I couldn't eat another watermelon, so I decided to try out my new canning equipment and store it away for the winter.  So, that's the long-ish story of how I ended up with Watermelon Jelly.  Sounds grossly sweet doesn't it?  I'm sure you're imagining it on a PB&J and holding back the vomit too, huh?  I had this under control though, because there wasn't just watermelon in my jelly.  I don't think you're read-y for this jell-y (ha! song-poisoned you, didn't I?)  I also added some ginger and lemongrass, thinking that someday I might use it in an asian-inspired dish.

Et Voila!  That's how my BoyfriendApprovedTM Watermelon-Lemongrass Glazed Shrimp and Veggies was born.  Boyfriend told me it was the best dinner I had made in awhile (which I would never take as an insult... or would I? Nah!).  Of course, he's a little biased because anything containing shrimp is a certified winner in his book.

First, I started heating a pan over medium heat, then added some olive oil and butter.  I added a diced small onion, some minced garlic, and grated fresh ginger, letting that cook down until the onions were soft and the ginger fragrant, about 5min.  Added my watermelon jelly and some homemade seafood stock to the onions and let it cook down for about 5-10min.  Once the "sauce" had started to thicken in the pan, I added 1/2 lb medium shrimp that I had peeled earlier and let those cook until just pink throughout. 

On the side I sauteed some quartered porcini mushrooms and sugar snap peas in some oil and butter until browned, but still with a little crunch to them.  I hate it when veggies get cooked to the "mushy" stage.  Blech!  Until I am 500 years old with dentures, I can at least have the pleasure of chewing my food.

I made some coconut jasmine rice on the side (add 1/2 can of lite coconut milk to the water you plan to cook your rice in), and sprinkled some chopped cashews and scallions over the top in the final plating.

Boyfriend was my sous chef.  Here, he adds the finishing touches with artistic flare (>ha!<)