French Twist

We've been working on a good steak condiment for a while, and I think that last night we nailed it.

Three medium onions
1/3 cup Marsala cooking wine
2/3 cup chicken stock
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt

Slice the onions into thin ribbons and sauté them in the oil. As they start to become translucent add the salt and stir. Continue to sauté the until they are thoroughly carmelized. Grab a spoonful of onions and throw them into a reducing pan. When the pan gets hot add the wine and stock and reduce completely. Stir the reduction into the onions and keep the mixture warm to serve over the steak when done.

Roasted Garlic Potatoes and Rosemary Green Beans
To round out our steak dinner we chose two classically French sides for steak, but gave them a bit of a twist. First we minced garlic and rosemary and separately warmed them in olive oil to infuse it with their respective flavors. We cut the potatoes into small pieces and tossed them in the oil, added salt and then roasted them in the oven at 400 degrees for about forty minutes. The green beans we kept whole and steamed until tender, then tossed them in the oil and added salt to taste.

Yum!

Onion as Vegetable and a Tasty Vegetable Medley (with Onions)

I can't remember where I had it first or what it's called, but I'm under the impression that there are some Indian dishes where onions are one of the main ingredients. I used this as the inspiration for what I'll call "Curried Fish."

Curried Fish
1/2 - 3/4 lb. tilapia filets
3 yellow onions
1/2 cup chicken stock
3 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp Morton & Bassett curry powder
1 tsp salt

Slice the onions into thin ribbons and cut the tilapia into cubes about a 1/2 inch on each side. Saute the onions in the oil until they begin to turn translucent. Salt them to draw the water out and saute a minute or two more. Add the curry powder and continue to saute until most of the onions are thoroughly translucent. Add the chicken stock and fish. Simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally until the fish just begins to break apart. Serve over rice or quinoa.

Vegetable Medley

In the past couple of months Nina and I have tried simmering every imaginable vegetable in cooking wine and stock (depending on how much water the vegetables themselves contain). We've created some seriously delicious combinations this way and I'm only blogging about this one because I made it with the fish and wanted to blog about that. That said, one of the really great features of this method is that the flavor of the veg itself really gets to shine, and this particular mix of veg goes great together.

2 medium zucchinis
2 yellow or orange bell peppers
1 yellow onion
6 - 8 button mushrooms
4 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/8 cup white cooking wine
Salt to taste

Cut the veggies into pieces of approximately the same size (I used 1/4 inch slices of the zucchini as a guide). Mince the garlic and saute it in the oil until it starts to mellow. Before the garlic starts to brown, add all the veg except the mushrooms. Continue to saute until the onions start to turn translucent. Add the mushrooms and shortly thereafter the wine and then the chicken stock. Cover and simmer until zucchini starts to get soft (but be sure not to let it get mushy). Add salt to taste while it is simmering.

Voila!

Garlic and Parsley Trout

My brother prefers his protein in non-mammalian forms. That's fine with me, because I love to grill fish. When he came to visit yesterday he and I selected four whole trout. I stuffed them with a stuffing seasoned with garlic, parsley, and lemon. To prepare them for grilling I seasoned the skins with salt and pepper and coated them with oil. The grilling was indirect medium for about 20 minutes. The result was a soft, moist, aromatic meat and a crisp, flavorful skin.

4 whole trout
2 Tbsp minced garlic
4 Tbsp minced parsley
1/3 cup rice
8 thin slices of lemon
salt
pepper
oil

A Second Try

Since the stuffed chicken breast and endive salad that I made last weekend didn't quite come off as well as I liked, I decided to give it another shot last night.

For the stuffed chicken breast I went with basically the same composition of the stuffing, but toned down the basil bit. That's because rather than serve sun-dried tomato stuffing with tomato sauce I made fresh pesto for the pasta instead. I also added grated aged parmesan cheese to the stuffing, which succeeded in adding an additional earthy dimension to the flavor.

In the endive salad I dispensed with the radishes, substituted raisins for dates, and added parsley. The addition of the parsley was a mistake as combined with the endive the resulting flavor was too bitter. Still, it was a tasty fresh salad and worth continuing to refine.

Chicken Stuffing (Revised)
2 cups sundried tomato halves
1 jar seedless olives
3 cups white mushrooms
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
2 cups finely grated parmesan
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt
black pepper

Homemade Pesto
2 cups finely minced basil
1/3 cup finely minced garlic
3 Tbsp finely minced parsley
3 Tbsp finely chopped almonds
1/3 cup olive oil
salt
pepper

When I was making the pesto I minced too much garlic, parsley and almonds, so to avoid wasting them I invented what with a little work could become a great appetizer: garlic-almond-parsley balls! (GAP Balls?) Obviously need to work on the name...

Garlic Almond Parsley Balls
3 Tbsp finely minced garlic
3 Tbsp finely chopped almonds
3 Tbsp finely minced parsley
2 tsp xantham gum
1 tsp olive oil
water
1/2 tsp salt

Mix together the garlic, almonds, parsley, xantham gum, salt and oil. Slowly add water at a trickle until the mixture starts to thicken into a paste. Form the mixture into golf ball-sized balls. Fry in hot olive oil until evenly browned.

Over the Top Endive Salad

1 1/2 cups quartered cherry tomatoes
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced scallions
1 cup thinly sliced radishes
6 large seedless olives, minced
6 dried dates, minced
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 endive, cut in strips
parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Toss the tomatoes, scallions, radishes, olives and dates in the olive oil and vinegar. Place the sliced endives in the serving bowls, spray lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Poor the vegetable mixture over the endives and grate parmesan on top.

Just OK Cornbread

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup amaranth flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp xantham gum
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup oil
1 egg, beaten
1 - 1 1/2 cups milk


Combine dry ingredients. Mix the wet ingredients and then mix into the dry in as few strokes as possible. Spread the batter in a greased 9 x 9 pan and bake at 425 degrees for 20 - 30 minutes.

Stuffed Chicken Dinner

Stuffed Chicken

6 chicken filets
12 slices prosciutto
2 cups sundried tomato halves
1 jar seedless olives
3 cups white mushrooms
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt
black pepper
shredded mozzarella cheese

Use a food processor to blend together the tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, parsley and basil. Add the olive oil to form a thick paste. Season with salt and pepper. Pound filets thin. Lay down two strips of prosciutto, then a breast, spread the breast with a thick layer of paste, then roll like a blanket. Place in a greased pan. Repeat for all six filets. Cover with foil and bake at 400 for 30 - 40 minutes. Remove foil and broil for 1 - 3 minutes (until prosciutto begins to brown). Sprinkle cheese over rolls and broil for 1 - 2 minutes more. Serve over pasta with tomato sauce.

Pretty Good Chile

1 1/4 lb. lean ground beef
2 medium bell peppers
2 medium onions
4-5 cloves garlic
3 habanero peppers
1 can kidney beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 (small) can tomato paste
2 - 3 Tbsp olive oil
1 quart chicken stock
ground cumin
ground chipotle pepper
oregano
a little sage
a little rosemary
shredded jack/cheddar/queso blanco (optional)

Mince the garlic. Dice the peppers and onions. Remove the seeds and membranes from the habaneros and mince the rest. Sautee all of the above until onions begin to turn translucent. Add ground beef, cumin and chipotle pepper and continue on high heat until the beef is mostly cooked. Add chicken stock, beans and diced tomatoes (including the liquid with both) and bring to a simmer. Add remaining seasoning and continue simmering for 1 - 2 hours. Serve in bowls. To help control the heat sprinkle shredded cheese on top and broil for 1 - 2 minutes before serving.