Taco Fiesta starring...Fish!

Fish Tacos with quick pickle radishes and sweet and salty plaintains



Quick Pickle Radish:
2 radishes sliced thinly
1 cup white vinegar
1 tbl salt
1 tbl sugar

Put sliced radishes in medium bowl
Whisk vinegar, salt and sugar together
Pour mixture over radishes
Let mixture sit for 30 minutes
Drain

Sweet and Salty plaintains
2 crazy ripe yellow plaintains sliced thickly on an angle
Fine sea salt

Pour enough oil (canola or veg) into a skillet so that it will come approx half way up the plaintains
Heat oil in pan
Fry plaintains in oil until golden brown on each side
Drain on cooling rack (you know those things you put cookies on)
Sprinkle liberally with sea salt

Not your mama's chicken soup

Chicken soup is a delicious comfort food that evokes memories from all of us. For me, chicken soup reminds me of my grandmother. She would always use the carcass of a roasted chicken or turkey and turn it into soup. We had a game we would play in which my grandmother would swear that she had removed all the bones from the soup and then I would always find one and I would tease her about it and she would say "how did you find that? I thought I got all those damn bones!" and then we would giggle. It's silly I know but one of my fondest memories.

And so, this past Sunday I found myself with a chicken carcass and the desire for soup. I made some revisions and additions to this soup but was extremely happy with the results. I added shitake mushrooms for an immune boost and kale to pack it with good for you vitamins like A and C and calcium. For the past week there has been much enjoyment of the soup.

This soup takes several hours because the chicken needs to break down, so be sure to start it earlier. Or you could cheat and just buy chicken stock

Not Your Mama's Chicken Soup:
1 onion
2 carrot
2 celery stalks
Carcass of 1 chicken 4-5 pound chicken
1 bay leaf
3 garlic cloves
1/4 package soba noodles
1/2lb mushrooms- preferable shitake
3 cups chopped kale

Chop onion, carrot and celery into 1/2 inch dice (approx.)
Put big soup pot/pasta pot on stove on medium heat
melt 1 tablespoon of butter or olive oil
add onion, carrot, celery mixture to pot
let vegetable sweat until onion are translucent - 5-7 minutes
Place chicken carcass on top of veg
Fill pot with water to half way up chicken(or stock if you're cheating)
add bay leaf and garlic cloves
Allow to simmer for 4-6 hours
Add soba noodles(they will cook right in the soup) and mushrooms
Add kale 5 minutes before serving
season with salt and pepper to taste

Thanksgiving Bakestravaganza

Baking is my first love, so I got really excited when I was asked to make Thanksgiving dessert for three family events. For me, baking is a labor of love. Baking can seem daunting to some, given it's rigid precision. I love it though, every single 1/4 of a teaspoon. This Thanksgiving I made two different desserts that were extremely easy, delicious and look great too - Creme Caramel Bread Pudding and Pumpkin Cheesecake. Both Recipes are from Epicurious.com.

Fear not friends! Even those overwhelmed by names like "creme" will be receiving praises from their loved ones too! The only addition I would make to the bread pudding would be to add either Grand Marnier or Bourbon, to the tune of 2 teaspoons or even a whole tablespoon if you're holiday spirit is at full tilt.

Flavor Fest!

I spent all 8 hours of my day today chopping 60 pounds of vegetables. You know those movies where they show a bad soldier up close chopping an onion and then pan out to an entire room full of onions? Yea, not so far from my reality. During that time I asked myself popular existential questions such as, "what am I doing here?" and "How did I wind up in this mess?" In between the cold whistling of no answer to these questions I dreamed up this menu...

Black Sea Bass baked with Thyme, Salt and Pepper

Brown Rice with carrot confetti and cilantro

Baby Bok Choy sauteed with crispy shallots, garlic and sesame oil


It was quite delish.

Tonight I am going to step my game up a bit, and adding the recipe as best as my mind will remember (see below photo). If you have questions about what follows let me know and I will be happy to respond!






For the Fish:
Preheat your oven to 350
Get your fish in a pan or on a cookie sheet or foil (whatever you got lying around)
Sprinkle with some salt, pepper and dried thyme, if you have fresh then rock out with that.
Bake for 15 minutes

For the Rice:
Wash it really good in a fine mesh strainer
Throw it in the pot you are cooking it in
Turn on the heat to medium high
and cook out the water till its dry and smells slightly nutty
add hot water 1:1.75
Be sure to salt your water well (should be tear drop salty, this will make your rice extra yummy)
Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, cover
cook for 40 minutes-- or until water is completely absorbed

While rice is cooking chop up carrot finely
Chop cilantro finely. No need to pick the leave, just chop the stems up with it!
Once rice is done, throw in carrots and cilantro and toss to combine

For the Bok Choy:
Put 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a pan at med-high heat
get that oil nice and hot
add 1 chopped shallot
saute until crispy and brown (careful not to burn it)
add bok choy stems first
saute 3-5 minutes
add 2 cloves garlic chopped
Add bok choy leaves, cook until wilted
add sesame oil at the very end

Voila! you now are eating the intermission of my existential questioning

What is Romanesco?

A very good friend asked me in a comment what Romanesco is. Well friends, Romanesco is a broccoli/cauliflower hybrid. It is lighter than broccoli, tastes a little milder than cauliflower and in a bunch looks like a beautiful little forest! It's in season right now along with all cabbages and greens. You can find it flourishing all over your farmers market. You can roast romanesco with a little extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. You could also steam it, or saute it. I would recommend roasting it since roasting gives it some nice browning and crisping on the outside.


An up close picture of Romaesco roasted. It's like a little Alpine forest on your plate!

Mushrooms and Leeks Two Ways Part 2

Well, it took me longer than I wanted to get this post up. I made the dish on Thursday and I write it on Sunday. My, my how time flies...

Thursday night was a perfect night for this dish. It was cold and windy and the Mushroom Barley stew with leeks and greens was hearty and nutritious. It had very little fat but tons of flavor, especially with the greens. I used a purple kale. This was a Bon Appetite recipe, so I cant claim any genius on this one.

Mushrooms and Leeks Two Ways Part 1

Because we all have stuff squatting in our fridge that become less inspiring the longer they linger, I wanted to do a post about ingredients that are fairly common in many peoples fridge; mushrooms and leeks (or onions).

Tonights Part 1: Age Tofu with Mushroom Leek Ragu with a side of roasted Romanesco

Stay tuned for Part 2 on Thursday night!

Dinner For Two

Dinner For Two!

Lamb chops roasted with rosemary, olives and lemon

Kale sauteed with shallots and garlic

Roasted sweet potato wedges

Dessert: Homemade cinnamon buns

Inside the lamb chop cooked to medium.

Homemade cinnamon buns

Lets Do Launch

Blogging is new for me. I am one of very few people I know that does not have a blog. I have friends that have blogs that are funny, poignant and instructive. I don't have grand expectations that this blog will be any of those. Instead it will be about food. About the food I cook for myself and others, trying to eek out a living in the food world. There are also lots of blogs about food. About food that is better and more creative than mine.

My food is not ostentatious or has a lot of ingredients. It is simple food, that I want to eat and makes those eating with me say yum. I use butter, it's organic. I use meat, pasture fed and humanely raised. I want the food you eat to make your body work better. Most of all I want the food I cook to be memorable and to keep you coming back for more.

So away we go!