A quick and cool meal for a hot summer night

July 13, 2018 in food, recipe

Openers:
Tortilla chips and homemade guacamole
a bowl of chilled gazpacho soup

Main dish:
Tarragon chicken salad (deli) on slightly warmed pita bread
diced nectarine with squeeze of lime over the top.

Recipes:
Basic and Simple Guacamole, [i]:

1. Grind into a paste (5 minutes) using a mortar and pistil:

a. A heavy pinch or two of kosher salt;
b. 1 to 1-½ teaspoons of chopped cilantro;
c. 1 tablespoon of finely diced onions (usually white, but red works fine); and
d. 1 finely diced Serrano pepper*

2. Prepare the avocado (1 minute):

a. Slice one small-medium firm but ripe avocado in half lengthwise;
b. remove the pit; and
c. slice the guacamole flesh in each half in a crisscross argyle pattern.

3. Mix the cilantro paste and avocado flesh. Add a squeeze of lime juice (1 minute)

a. Scoop the flesh out of the skins and mix with the paste in a bowl;
b. leave the guacamole slightly chunky after mixing; and
c. squeeze ¼ of a lime over the guacamole.

Guacamole Click to enlarge — Guacamole
*Click to enlarge*

****

Gazpacho Soup (prepared two days ago; about 1 hour to prepare) [ii]

1. Add 1 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes to a large bowl including the liquid.

2. Reserve 2-3 of the whole tomatoes, chop into ¾ inch chunks, and store temporariy in a small bowl.

3. Add the following to the tomatoes and liquid in the bowl:

1 cup of tomato juice;
1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar;
1 toothpaste-sized or smaller squirt of Amore garlic paste;
3 tablespoons of olive oil;
1 teaspoon of Kosher salt;
½ teaspoon of sugar (raw); and
½ teaspoon of dried oregano (prefer Mexican oregano, but it's not important)

4. Puree these ingredients in large food processor. Set aside in a large bowl.

5. Add to the pureed liquid:

the previously reserved and chopped tomatoes;
1 stalk of finely chopped celery:
1 small green chile, seeded and finely chopped. Serrano or jalapeno peppers work fine:
½ cup (72 gr) of peeled, seeded and chopped cucumber:
¼ cup (37 gr) of finely chopped red onion;
¼ cup (37 gr)of seeded and finely chopped green bell pepper; and
⅓ cup (55 gr) of sliced pimento-stuffed olives.

6. Cover and chill for 8 hours to 3 days.

Add garnishments of sliced avocado or chopped cilantro sprigs, as desired.

Gazpacho Soup Click to enlarge — Gazpacho Soup
*Click to enlarge*

Notes and acknowledgements

[i] As found in the New York Times and several other publications, most recently on July 1, 2018.
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1008-guacamole. I follow this recipe – sans tomato – and have for several years, having lost my original source for the recipe.

[ii] Basic recipe reference: Cooking A to Z, The Complete Culinary Reference Tool; California Culinary Academy; Horn, Jane, editor; The Cole Group; 1992.

*Grilled halibut with salsa verde and grilled asparagus.*

revisiting some roots (a fishing expedition)

May 31, 2018 in food

I grew up as a typical Midwestern Catholic kid in the 1960s and 70s. My parents were devout, but not too strict on things related to the Church. We did follow certain practices such as Mass on Sundays, though after about age 9 or 10, we most often went at different times rather than as a family. I had to go to confession at least once a year, though that may have been handled in the parochial schools I attended rather than the at the parent level. A little later I got drafted into the altar boy ranks along with most of my classmates. If I complained about any of this, a common saying around the house was "You live in our house; you live by our rules. When you live in your own house, you can live by your own rules." One rule my parents kept more out of tradition than for any other reason was to not eat meat on Fridays (or at least non-fish meat).

In my house this typically meant frozen fish sticks or patties; tuna salad sandwiches with cold cucumber salad on hot summer nights – a favorite; tuna casserole in the winter (the fish version of beef stroganoff); macaroni & cheese; or – when my parents went out on Friday nights with friends which they often did – a cheese pizza and salad sometimes made it to the table.

My mom used to always say that there was no longer any requirement to abstain from eating meat on Fridays in the Church, but that our family chose to do so out of tradition. And she would add fish was more healthy and it was good to sacrifice occasionally. Looking back, as a middle-aged adult, I’m not sure how healthy frozen, battered fish logs slathered in tarter sauce were but in principle, even at that age, I agreed with what she meant.

I'm not much of anything these days. Religionwise, that is – though some would say why limit that statement to religion? And I’m not a huge fish eater as an adult, though I’ve lived in Seafoodlandia for nearly 35 years now. But I’ve recently decided to revisit some of those roots and try to eat fish at least once a week – for some of the same reasons my mom listed back in the 70s. It is probably a little healthier fare and doing something different (if not really sacrificing) is good for the soul (if not the sole).

Tonight I winged it. This morning I picked up a fresh halibut fillet at the small grocery in Phinney Ridge that has become one of my favorites for meat and fish. I learned just the other day that fish is best eaten very fresh and to not let it sit in the reefer for five days or longer – trust me, there's two lessons there that I'll never forget.

It was a nice early evening, so I elected to grill it outdoors. That has the added benefit of not stinking up the house with cooked fish. I grilled some asparagus along with the halibut and topped the fish off with a homemade salsa verde of capers, home-grown curly parsley, a mashed garlic clove, some olive oil and a pinch of salt. I also had a side of first-time-from-scratch homemade Tabuleh salad.

*Tabouleh salad made with homegrown ingredients.*

All-in-all, it came out pretty tasty. I'll probably switch to a slightly different salsa verde next time, to one I've made recently for salisbury steak. It is basically the same ingredients as tonight's except it uses finely diced white onion soaked in balsamic vinegar and kosher salt for 30 minutes rather than garlic. I'm not a huge garlic fan.

Tonight's dinner felt a little healthier than my conventional homemade meals. And it wasn’t much of a sacrifice.

Recipes

Salsa Verde + Grilled Fish:

Basically, the recipe I followed for the salsa verde sauce to use with the grilled fish follows this one from Martha Rose Shulman from the New York Times with two exceptions:

I did not use anchovies in the salsa; and
I used halibut rather than cod.

Tabouleh Salad

The recipe for came from the package on a bag of Bob's Red Mill Red Wheat Bulgar. It also closely follows this recipe from Melissa Clark, again of the Times.

Gazpacho for a hot summer day (re-posted)

August 27, 2017 in food

Gazpacho Soup

Cold, spicy gazpacho soup is the right ticket on hot summer days. It pays to make a day or two ahead to let the ingredients blend and chill in the reefer. Temperaturewise, today was almost perfect. High 70's crystal blue skies and dry. With a westcoast foggy morning to suck in with fans and cool the house (very Berkeleylike, though about 850 miles north).

I read this morning it is suppose to get hot again by the weekend. If true, might as well be prepared. Here is my version of gazpacho soup in nine easy pieces. First the ingredients. Then the assembly.

The Ingredients

The solids:
1 medium cucumber, peeled and cubed (or diced)
1/2 or more of one small red onion
1 medium-sized jalipeno chopped fine
1 green bell pepper seeded and diced
2 stalks of celery, sliced somewhat thin
1/3 cup of stuffed olives, sliced

The herbs:
a couple of sprigs of noregano* from the backyard
a leafy stem of tarragon also from the backyard
a few sprigs of cilantro - yep, from the backyard

The granulars:
1 tspn of Kosher salt
1/2 (heaping) tspn of raw sugar
1 clove of garlic or the equivalent garlic paste

The canned:
1 28 oz can of whole tomatoes (save a few for chopping)

The liquids
3 tbsp of oil
1 tbsp of sherry wine vinegar
1 cup of tomato juice of Spicy V8. I use the latter.

The Assembly

Combine the solids and the herbs into a large, sealable jar. I stacked them in layers this time then added the chopped herbs on top. [photos 1-3]

Step 3. Chop the herbs and toss 'em in the jar.

Combine the canned, the liquids and the granulars into a bowl. Strain the tomatoes over the liquids. And let the juice from the can mix in. Save three or four of the tomatoes. Place the remaining tomatoes into the bowl. [photos 4-6]

Step 4. One large 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes (..or two 14 oz. cans of the same..)

Step 5.  Mix the oil and vinegar.  Add the sugar and salt here too. — Step 5. Mix the oil and vinegar. Add the sugar and salt here too.

Step 6.  Strain the tomatoes adding the canned juice to the other liquids.  Keep 3-4 of the tomatoes whole and put the rest into the bowl with the liquids.  Add a cup of tomato juice to the bowl.  Puree into a thick juice. — Step 6. Strain the tomatoes adding the canned juice to the other liquids. Keep 3-4 of the tomatoes whole and put the rest into the bowl with the liquids. Add a cup of tomato juice to the bowl. Puree into a thick juice.

Chop up the rescued tomatoes and add to the solids in the jar. [photo 7]

Step 7. Chop up your saved tomatoes and add them to the top of the other diced goods and herbs.

Puree the mix in the bowl in a food processor until it is a thick juice. Five or ten seconds, tops. Make it five. Then more if it looks like it could use it. You be the judge. Pour over the solids in the jar. [photo 8]

Step 8.  Pour the pureed mix over the chopped solids and leaves in the jar. — Step 8. Pour the pureed mix over the chopped solids and leaves in the jar.

Take a tall wooden spoon and mix the liquids with the solids. [photo 9]

Step 9.  Mix & chill.... — Step 9. Mix & chill....

Seal the jar and stick in the reefer overnight. Enjoy, with a squeeze of lime and slice or two of avocado if you're inclined. And a cold tuna or turkey sandwich. Maybe a cold, sliced nectarine as well.

* noregano - organic oregano through inattention, laziness, or the lack of care or feeding. Produced from an organic farming method of benign neglect.

An experiment with mint (and red peppers)...

July 10, 2017 in food

I planted a small herb garden on the back deck this summer. The deck is on the south side of my house and is in one of the few sunny spots back there. The herb containers included basil, mint, oregano and tarragon. All are doing quite well with the sunny and warm summer we've enjoyed so far. Especially the mint.

I'm unsure why I planted the mint other than the smell of it on hot days. I have ready recipes and situations for the other herbs, but not mint — aside from a farro grain salad I only occasionally make. After a search on the web, I found a recipe for a mint-sweet red pepper marinade¹ for using with chicken kebabs prior to grilling.

I decided to adopt and modify this recipe to suit the whole chicken breasts I already had in the refrigerator.

Step 1. Creating the sweet pepper paste (photos 1-3)

The marinade called for Turkish sweet red pepper paste. Unable to find jarred paste in the grocery store, I looked online for a recipe. I found a few online and followed one² from food.com. I modified this recipe slightly to account for my available ingredients.

The sweet pepper paste recipe called for blending two types of peppers: red capsicum peppers with red sweet peppers. I used five fresh Fresno red peppers for the heat (capsicum). These peppers are similar in size to jalapeno peppers but have less heat. After trimming off the ends, splitting in half, and removing the seeds (photo 1), I sliced the pepper halves crosswise into ¼-inch strips.

I chose jarred Peppadew piquante peppers for the sweet red peppers (photo 2). A local pizza chain uses these peppers on one of their pies and the results are terrific. These were ready to eat and were rather small. The online recipe calls for an equal number of capsicums to sweet peppers, but I selected about nine of the piquante peppers due to their size to balance the Fresno red peppers. I sliced these in ¼-inch strips as well.

I then combined the pepper strips with 40 ml of olive oil, 20 ml of water, and 1 teaspoon each of sugar and salt in a food processor and pulsed these ingredients to a oily, wet paste. The final step in making the paste was to simmer the mix until it thickened a bit. This took about 15-20 minutes on very low heat (photo 3).

Step 2. Creating the marinade (photos 4 & 5)

The modified ingredient list for the marinade included:

fresh mint (rather that dried mint), 2 tablespoons;
italian seasoning, dried (in place of dried thyme which I did not have), 1 tbsp;
red pepper flakes, 1 tbsp;
1 tbsp of the sweet red pepper paste made in Step 1;
sun-dried tomato paste (in place of standard tomato paste which I was out of), 1 tbsp;
Aleppo pepper, 1 tbsp;
fresh ground black pepper, 1 tsp;
olive oil, 1 cup.

Simply mix and blend these ingredients with a whisk in a large bowl. Then pour over the chicken breasts and let them sit for 2-3 hours in the refrigerator.

I ran the grill on high. I cooked the first side for 7-½ minutes; then flipped them on the second side for 6-½ minutes (photo 6).

After starting dinner with a cool green salad on a hot day, I served a main course of the mint-pepper chicken breasts with roasted potatoes and several lemon slices for drizzling over everything.

*Served here with grilled potatoes and lemon slices for drizzling over everything.*

3. Results and thoughts...

This was a pretty good recipe. The chicken was a bit overdone on the exterior, but this was mostly the marinade becoming toasty on the hot grill. The chicken was extremely moist and tender on the inside, with juices running clear.

A few things I'll certainly try different next time:

I'll use boneless and skinless chicken breast. They will hold the marinade better and would be easier to slice and eat. I usually buy chicken in this form. For some reason, I had purchased fryer breasts. I like fried chicken but rarely make it. I'm not sure why I purchased chicken with the skin and bone in place.
I think serving the chicken sliced (after grilling) would work better as well.
I may try the marinade with less olive oil and try to make it more of a pasty rub. The olive oil was fine, but one cup of it left the marinade runny and, more importantly, a whole a lot of oil to clean up after eating. The recipe called for enough marinade to cover kebabs for 6-8 people. I should have adjusted the volume for less. This much oil is not something I wish to wash down the kitchen sink drain. I handled the excess oil by soaking it in paper towels and making a 'compost burrito'. After rolling, I tossed the burrito into the compost bin.
I'll back off the grill time slightly. Rather than a 7.5/6.5 minutes split on each side, I'll set the timer for 6.5/5.5 minutes.
I'll try the sweet red pepper paste tonight as a smear on a grilled sausage sandwich. I'll report later.
I'll try the marinade on a flank steak I plan to grill later this week. I think it would also pair well with grilled pork loin. Again, I'll report later.

Recipe Source Notes

Saveur Magazine; Mint & Aleppo Pepper Marinated Chicken Kebabs (Tavuk Kebabi); http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Tavuk-Kebabi-Mint-and-Aleppo-Pepper-Marinated-Chicken-Kebabs; date: May 20, 2013.
Food.com; Turkish Red Pepper Paste; http://www.food.com/recipe/turkish-red-pepper-paste-294358.

Stuffed & Rolled Flank Steak, Lemon Potatoes and Cole Slaw

August 07, 2016 in food

Stuffed and Rolled Flank Steak, Lemon Potatoes and Cole Slaw

Here is a pretty good idea for a summer meal. Partly grilled. Party roasted. With a cool side salad.

The rolled flank steak idea came to me from a recent Sunset magazine recipe (Ref. May 2016, p.108). My version was slightly modified as noted below due to the ingredients I had on hand. I think the potato idea came to me from a small Greek restaurant on Chestnut Street in San Francisco a few years ago . They simply served me roasted potatoes with some lemon wedges to the side. Probably some yogurt sauce as well. But I only adopted the lemon for some reason. The cole slaw is a classic cole slaw recipe I found in a special edition Bon Appetit summer grilling magazine at the grocery counter this summer. If you can find the magazine still, pick it up. It is simple and as good as any recipe I have found. This cole slaw would go great as a filling for fish tacos too.

So here goes in about nine basic steps or so:

A. Olive Tapenade Stuffing:
1/2 cup of tapenade (green olive)
1/4 cup of Italian parsley, chopped
2 tbsp. of chopped mixed fresh herbs. I used oregano. It is basically a weed in my garden. Basil from the back sun porch. Tarragon from a clay pot on my back porch wall.

[1] Mix the tapenade and herbs in a small bowl and set aside.

B. Flank Steak
[2] Layout the flank steak on a piece of Saran Wrap (large enough to wrap over the cut of meat) on top of a cutting board. Flip the plastic wrap over the meat.
[3] Pound the meat with a mallet until it is tenderized and about 1/4 inch thick. Good luck there. I wasn't too worried about precision and just whacked it thinner.
[4] Spread the olive/herb mix over the flattened steak.
[5] Roll the steak so the grain is parallel to the axis of the roll. Tie it off with butcher string.
Oil a preheated grill with a pair of tongs and a paper towel soaked in some cooking oil. I used peanut oil tonight.
Brush some olive oil over the rolled steak. I forgot this step. It is not necessary with a well oiled grill rack.
I salted the meat using a sea salt / rosemary blend. I added ground black pepper over the top.
[6] Grill the steak for about 6-7 minutes on the first side. Flip the roll over. Grill for about the same amount of time on the opposite side - maybe less. Grill the remaining two quarters about three minutes each. Each time I flipped the steak over, I gave it a wash of Worchestire sauce, then sprinkled some salt and ground pepper over the meat.
[7] When done, slice the meat across the roll.

C. Roasted Potatoes and Lemon
Wash 1-2 small Yukon Gold potatoes per person.
Quarter them lengthwise.
Place them in a large enough Tupperware bowl with a snapfilt lid. Drizzle with olive oil. With the lid on, shake the potatoes gently until coated on all sides. Lay them out on a baking rack over a cooking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
Salt and pepper generously.
Place the racked baking sheet into preheated oven at 425F on the center oven rack. Set the oven timer for 25 minutes. You may want to check in on them at the 15 to 20 minute mark and flip the potato slices with tongs.

[8] Serve with a wedge or two of fresh lemon. Drizzle liberally with lemon juice while the potatoes are still piping hot.

D. Classic Cole Slaw
1/2 head of red cabbage
1/2 head of green cabbage
1 tbsp. of honey
1 cup of mayo
1-1/2 tbsp on apple cider vinegar (alternative 3/4 tbsp of apple cider vinegar + 3/4 tbsp. of white or rose wine).
3/4 tbsp. of celery seed
2 carrot julienned into long strips
salt & pepper to taste

Mix the mayo, honey, vinegar/wine, and celery seed in a bowl with a whisk. Set aside.
Julienne the carrots into long straight-edge strips.
Slice the cabbages into thin slices.

[9] Mix the cabbage, carrots and dressing together. Toss in a large bowl. Refrigerate until dinner. This can be made ahead of time to save time. This took the longest tonight due to the prep work.

All in all, pretty good for a lazy summer Sunday night. If I say so myself.

tuna twist...

May 03, 2016 in food

We've experienced a week of summer this past week in April. It's been hot leaving work in the afternoon - somewhere in the upper 80's or higher. The house has been hot when I get home. In the land of fans, it doesn't really cool off much at night. On the bright side it is like a bonus week of summer when it's often gray and coolish in Seattle. After the incredibly wet winter we just came off of, it was well-deserved.

A cold sandwich sounded good for dinner. Tonight I tried a new take on tuna. A mediterranean take. I suppose it's not such a new take if you live in the Mediterranean, but for someone who grew up with mayo-based tuna salad, it was relatively new for me for home-made.

This is an August update to the earlier post with revised recipe...

I used the basic ingredients I found listed on Eltana's web site, a great Seattle bagel shop who also makes a great tuna salad. They listed the ingredients for the salad - but not the proportions. For that, I searched the web and found a few recipes.

Here's my take. I doubt that the ingredients match up exactly with the others' recipes, but this was good enough:

The Ingredients

- Two cans of solid white albacore tuna in water
- 1/3 cup of good olive oil
- 2-1/2 tbsp of mustard (Dijon or yellow). I used high grade yellow.
- 1 large lemon, zested and juiced.
- 1 stalk of celery diced.
- red onion, about 2-3 table spoons, diced
- sweet roasted red peppers (Mama Lil's) about 4-5 forkfuls, diced
- 1-½ tsp capers
- 1 tbsp Kharcho spice blend
- Fresh ground pepper to taste

The Preparation

1. Mix the oil, mustard, lemon zest and lemon juice together with a whisk.

2. Slice the celery and mix with the capers

3. Select three to five roasted red peppers. I used Mama Lil's sweet hot pepper here.

4. Dice the peppers and toss them in with the celery and capers.

5. Dice one or two slices of red onion. Add to the other solids.

6. I used a tbsp of Kharcho spice blend.

7. Blend the spice with the vinaigrette.

8. Rinse and chop the tuna. I used water-packed tuna.

9. Fold the dressing and the solids in with the tuna.

Stick in the refrigerator overnight. This batch looks a little too oily. I will have to use with a thick roll, probably ciabiatta bread. Next time I'll likely cut back to 1/4 cup of oil.

This will go well with a sliced nectarine, tabulleh salad, and a small bowl of gazpacho soup.