Category Archives: Main Dish

Sole-Wrapped Scallops with Tomato Vinaigrette

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Whenever I walk down Costco’s book table, esp. the cookbook section, I always seem to pick up a new book or four.  I now have a dedicated shelf to cookbooks, where before there were none, so thought I should open them and use them besides just reading them for enjoyment and ideas.  One book I’ve had for a while is The Williams-Sonoma Cookbook, published in 2008, and that’s where I found this recipe.  I wanted something light but impressive for my birthday dinner and this filled the bill.

When the house was full of children, we had balloons on the banister, cards and presents and chaos denoting it a different–and special–day.  Now that there’s just the two of us, I always serve birthday dinners on china.

This recipe makes four servings, but you can adjust it easily.  Make the same amount of vinaigrette, and adjust the fish portions.  I served it with a butter lettuce salad with lemon vinaigrette and quinoa, with sauteed shallot (do first, then add the quinoa and chicken broth).

Vinaigrette:
2 tomatoes, peeled and seeded and chopped
2 Tbs. fresh minced tarragon or flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
1 Tbs. minced shallot
6 Tbs. olive oil (of good quality)
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice (none of that stuff in the container–ICK)
Course salt and freshly ground pepper

In a blender or food processor, combine the tomatoes, tarragon, shallot, oil and lemon juice and season to taste with S&P.  Blend or process to make a smooth sauce.  Set aside.

Main Dish
4 sole, flounder or fluke fillets (I used sole), skinned
20 young spinach leaves, stemmed and halved lengthwise (you can see from my picture that I’d forgotten this step)
12 medium to large sea scallops, small muscles removed
2 cups fish stock (or equal parts of clam juice and chicken broth–which is what I used)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Cut each fillet lenthwise into thirds.  Place thd strips on a work surface (I use a double thickness of wax paper), and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover the strips with the spinach leaves.  Place a scallop near the slender end of the each strip, and starting from that end, roll up the fillet, enclosing the spinach leaves and scallop.  Use your two extra hands if you need to (just kidding, but I did feel like I needed a pair), then secure the roll with a toothpick.  Places the rolls in a baking dish and pour the stock over the fish.

Into the oven it goes, for about 20 minutes–just enough time to make the quinoa and assemble the butter lettuce salad.

Bake the rolls, basting occasionally (I just turned them over once), until the scallops are firm and opaque throughout (like I mentioned–for about 20 minutes).  Just before serving, heat the vinaigrette to warm, then spoon onto the plate.  Place fish rolls in the center of the viaigrette, twisting the toothpick carefully to remove it.  Garnish with more tarragon or parsley, if you want to.

It was so good, we had seconds, and didn’t feel the least bit guilty doing so.  This is an EASY dish to make, but it looks and tastes really fancy-schmancy.

Bratten’s (New England-style) Clam Chowder

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Bratten’s was the name of a seafood restaurant that began in Salt Lake City, but also had a satellite restaurant in Ogden Utah, where my parents used to go.

My father and mother lived for a time in Boston, New England as it was known and fell in love with their clam chowder; Bratten’s came close to what they remembered.

So, somehow I got the recipe (this was before the internet, so maybe from my mother?) and have made it and loved it for many years as it makes a thick chunky soup.  A niece, Lisa, asked if I had a good recipe, for she wanted to serve it on Christmas Eve.  So that’s what prompted this post.  When I get an original picture, I’ll post it, but for now, this one will have to do.

New England clam chowders are white, creamy soups.  If you want the red, tomato-based soup, that’s known as Manhattan-style clam chowder.

Bratten’s New England-style Clam Chowder

2 (6 1/2 ounce cans ) clams, or 1 pound minced clams with juice
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup finely diced celery
2 cups diced raw potatoes
1 quart milk
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2-3 teaspoons red wine vinegar

Drain juice from clams and pour over vegetables (sometimes I have to add another can of clam juice to cover, or just use a little chicken broth or water).  Cook until tender, about 20 minutes.  Make a white sauce with the butter, flour and milk.*  Add undrained vegetables, clams (chopped, if desired) and vinegar and heat thoroughly.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook’s Note: Don’t let it stand half warm on the stove.  After serving (immediately), stir it often to let it cool down and refrigerate.

*”Make a white sauce?”  Can you tell this is an old recipe?

To make a white sauce, melt the butter in a heavy pan, and add the flour all at once.  Cook, stirring, until this mixture–a roux–seems to become well-blended and cooked.  Add  the milk*, a little at a time, until it’s a creamy mix, then add the rest of the milk.  If the milk is cold, it will stop the cooking–that’s why I like to do it a little at a time.  Besides the Joy of Cooking Cookbook says to do it that way as well.

I always like soups better the next day.  This one is no exception.

When we were in Italy, their traditional Christmas Eve meal is a feast of many different kinds of fish.  This soup would be perfect to add that kind of celebration.  One more tidbit: we always serve this with Oyster Crackers, small round crackers found in the grocery store.  Trader Joe’s has the best ones.

*Note: Now we make our “white sauce” with chicken broth, and add a little cream at the end.

Elizabeth’s Chili (via my mother)

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My mother used to cook up great huge vats of chili on cold winter nights.  In hindsight, as an adult, I’m sure it was a regular-sized pot, but to a child, it seemed bottomless.  This was a good thing, because my mother’s chili was delicious and I loved plopping in oyster crackers, lifting up the spoonful to my mouth in a perfect combination of crunch, heat, and rich meaty-tomato taste.  I hadn’t made it for a while, then our church had a chili cook-off. I brushed off her recipe, modified it, added a few things and cooked it up for the Halloween celebration.

I made it again this past week for my husband’s holiday department party, along with a series of toppings.  It was very popular, surprising me.  The weather that night was cold and rainy–was that it?  Or is it because I’m noticing a huge trend towards all things Retro–and maybe this recipe qualifies.

I do think chili is best the next day.  After you stir the beans in, cool it down, stirring often to release the heat and steam (I always pour half off into another dish to quicken the process).  Store in the refrigerator in a sealed container until the next day; reheat either in crockpot or in microwave.

Ingredients:

2 Tbls. olive oil
1 pound stew meat, trimmed of most (not all) fat, and cut into half-inch (approx.) cubes
1/2 pound Jimmy Dean’s Sage sausage
1 yellow or red bell pepper, seeded and chopped into small dice
1 onion, peeled and chopped coarsely
1 large can Contadina Whole Italian Tomatoes (29 oz.)
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 cup water (if needed)
1 Tablespoon chili powder
3 whole cloves
salt and pepper
3 small cans red kidney beans

Heat olive oil in large stewpot and brown the stew meat.  Be careful not to crowd it; do in two batches if you need to.  Remove to the side, then brown the sausage, with the onion and pepper.  Add back the stew meat (and any juice).  Chop the canned tomatoes (this is messy–keep scraping it all into the pan as you go, esp. the juices), and plop those in.  Add the tomato sauce, the spices and stir well.  Simmer for 2 hours, adding water if necessary.  Skim the fat as it rises, if desired, or stir back in (don’t tell the Cholesterol Police!) for more flavor.  Add in the drained cans of red kidney beans, add more salt and pepper if needed.  Serve.

Toppings (listed in order of what was most popular):

Shredded cheese

Diced avocado, tossed with some lime juice to preserve the color

Sour Cream

Chopped green onion

Cilantro, chopped

Oyster crackers (hardly touched at all, but this was a West Coast crowd)

Note: Contadina tomatoes really do make a difference.  For an experiment, I bought Hunt’s, the Contadina, and a store brand.  Contadina won out by a mile in terms of color, ripeness and flavor.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Black Beans and Chili Dressing

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This has to be the most beautiful fall dish I have ever made.  The combination of red onions, black beans, bits of yellow and red sweet peppers and that golden roasted sweet potato is just about the most amazing looking thing you’ll ever cook.  And it can also make your tummy rumble.  You’ve been warned. Even my husband with the cast iron stomach refused to eat it for the third time for that reason.

But boy, is it beautiful and it retains its color, even when you make too much and have to eat it for a third time (or not).

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Black Beans and Chili Dressing

by Mark Bittman, published in the New York Times

Time: 45 minutes

4 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds–that’s two large potatoes), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 large onion, preferably red, chopped
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons minced fresh jalapeño chili
1 clove garlic, peeled
Juice of 2 limes
2 cups cooked black beans, drained (canned are fine)
1 red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro (opt)

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Put sweet potatoes and onions on a large baking sheet, drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil, toss to coat and spread out in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast, turning occasionally, until potatoes begin to brown on corners and are just tender inside, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven; keep on pan until ready to mix with dressing.

2. Put chilies in a blender or mini food processor along with garlic, lime juice, remaining olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Process until blended.

3. Put warm vegetables in a large bowl with beans and bell pepper; toss with dressing and cilantro. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve warm or at room temperature, or refrigerate for up to a day.

Yield: 4 servings.

Scallops & Sauteed Spinach with Hoisin Sauce

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When I bought the Gourmet Cookbooks at Costco last year (moment of silence, please,  for the closing of Gourmet Magazine) a free one-year’s subscription came to Bon Appétit, the sister publication to Gourmet.  I don’t know if I’ll re-up, but I have to say it’s been a year’s adventure of recipes and cooking.  One issue in particular, the April 2009 issue, I used most of the recipes.  And this recipe, by Molly Stevens,  was one of them.  I remembered it again, because while looking for something to cook up for the Anniversary of Our First Date (some 21  years ago, which my husband refers to as our “semi-anniversary,” since he feels its not a one of the biggies) I found some scallops in the deep freeze, remembered the box of spinach in the fridge and the hoisin sauce in the cupboard.  Score!

I always cut the scallops through the middle to make them thinner, and to make us believe we have more (you can never have too many scallops in your life). They also cook in a flash that way. I use about 1 and 1/2 bags of spinach (approx 5 oz. each), but the same amount of scallions, etc for that step.  Since we don’t drink, I substitute apple juice for the mirin and the last substitution I make is for the chili sesame oil: sesame oil plus a couple of drops of tobasco (one can have too many jars in the fridge of specialized ingredients, I think).

Yield: Makes 6 servings

1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon hot chili sesame oil
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, divided
1/4 cup chopped shallot (about 1 large)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
4 garlic cloves, minced, divided
1 serrano chile, seeded, minced, divided (I used jalapeno–a little more mild)
4 5-ounce bags baby spinach
Coarse kosher salt (sea salt works fine)
2 pounds sea scallops, side muscles removed
1 tablespoon peanut oil or vegetable oil
3/4 cup finely chopped spring onions or green onions (white and pale green parts only)
1/4 cup mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine)*

Whisk first 3 ingredients in small bowl to blend and reserve.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add shallot, 1 tablespoon ginger (I grate frozen peeled ginger instead of chopping it), 2 minced garlic cloves, and half of minced chile. Sauté until shallot is soft, about 2 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high and add 1 bag spinach. Stir until beginning to wilt. Add remaining spinach, 1 bag at a time, stirring between additions until just wilted. Season with coarse salt and pepper. Keep warm.

Sprinkle scallops with coarse salt and pepper. Melt 1 tablespoon butter with peanut oil in heavy large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook scallops until brown on both sides and just opaque in center, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer scallops to plate; tent with foil.

Add 1 tablespoon butter, spring onions, remaining 1 teaspoon minced ginger, 2 minced garlic cloves, and remaining half of minced chile to skillet. Sauté until onions begin to soften, 1 to 2 minutes. Add mirin and simmer until reduced to glaze, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in hoisin mixture. Reduce heat to medium-low. Whisk in 2 tablespoons butter. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Divide spinach among plates. Top with scallops, dividing equally. Spoon sauce over and serve.

Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower, Take Two

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I had originally cooked up this recipe (from Simply Recipes) with bacon, so had written it up the way I cooked it.  I have to admit we were underwhelmed by this recipe, but did like it.  Just before I left on my trip to Florence, Italy I was cleaning out the fridge and saw a head of cauliflower.  Now that I knew I could, I did–I roasted it and threw it in the freezer.

Fast forward to last night, when I was tired, the fridge is too full of stuff and I need a meal.  I had picked up some prosciutto (which I didn’t have before) and decided to give this another go.  Wow.  What a difference.  The only changes I made were to roast the defrosted (already roasted) cauliflower for only 10 minutes, along with the tomatoes (using the sweet sugar cherry toms that I had) and to change out the pasta for a similar shaped type.  I chopped the prosciutto with the garlic and fresh sage from my garden (the only thing that seems to have survived this heat!), mixed it in when the recipe said.  My husband loved it, and so did I.

This picture is from try Take Three, this time with the spinach added in.  Manna.

Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower and Prosciutto

Ingredients

1/2 medium cauliflower, cored and broken up into 3/4-inch florets (4+ cups)
1 pint cherry tomatoes
Olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 and 1/2 teaspoons dried sage
4 large cloves garlic
4 ounces of prosciutto
8 ounces orecchiette pasta
5 ounces baby arugula or spinach, cleaned and coarsely chopped
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Method

1 Preheat oven to 425°F. Lay out cauliflower and tomatoes in a roasting pan, coat with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until just lightly browned and cooked through, about 15 minutes.

2 Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (1 teaspoon salt for every quart of water).

3 While water is heating, pulse garlic, sage, and prosciutto together in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Once cauliflower has browned lightly, remove from oven, toss cauliflower with garlic prosciutto mixture, and return to oven to cook for 5-7 minutes more.

4 Boil pasta uncovered (rolling boil) for 9-10 minutes until firm, but done (al dente). Reserve one cup of pasta liquid. Drain water from pot. Add cauliflower, arugula (or spinach), and Parmesan to the pasta. Stir in enough cooking water to moisten (I added about 1/2 cup). Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4.

White Fish with Green Gazpacho Sauce

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The other night Dave said he’d take me out, but as it got closer to dinnertime, I thought about how tired he was (we both are–this jetlag is tough this time!) and maybe it would be better if we’d just eat in.  So, like most of my recipes, I hopped onto the web to find something to cook.  My favorite site is Epicurious.com, an aggregation of the recipes from Bon Appetit and Gourmet magazines.  I like that Foodie People comment on the recipes, warning me or helping me to cook my own version of the dish, although I must admit little patience with those who substitute nearly every ingredient then say they can’t stand the recipe.  I try for a certain amount of fidelity, especially if the rating is high.

The category I browsed that night was Quick Meals, but it wasn’t until the next night that I cooked this up.  I’d give it a very high rating in these categories: low-fat, easy, quick, not-so-pricey and delicious.  Choose a mild white fish (we used Orange Roughy) that is firm and won’t fall apart. I served it with quinoa (see recipe elsewhere on this site) and some sliced al dente carrots, drizzled with the teensiest amount of honey.  We probably didn’t need the carrots, but they were good.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped English hothouse cucumber (about 3/4 of a large cake). Don’t peel, just scrub clean
  • 3/4 cup coarsely chopped green onions
  • 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
  • 5 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons (or more) white balsamic vinegar (I used rice wine vinegar, but had to add more to bump up the taste–used almost 3 Tbls.)
  • 1 medium chopped seeded jalepeno chile–remove seeds and inner membrane (and wash hands thoroughly!)
  • 2     7-to 8-ounce fillets of a mild white fish
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 6 ounces small red and yellow cherry, pear, or grape tomatoes, halved (about two handfuls, but we like tomatoes)

Preparation

Gazpacho Sauce: Combine cucumber, onions, cilantro, 4 1/2 tablespoons oil, 1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar, and chile in processor. Using on/off turns, blend mixture until finely chopped. Transfer to bowl. Season with more vinegar, if desired, and salt and black pepper. (Note: I’m thinking this could be done a couple hours ahead if needed.  It does separate a little, but just stir it back together.)

Sprinkle fish fillets on both sides with salt, pepper, and cumin. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish and cook 5 minutes. Turn over, cover, and cook until fish is just opaque in center, 4 to 5 minutes.  (This photo is the fillets, before cooking.)

Ladle some gazpacho sauce on each of 2 plates. Top each with 1 fish fillet. Scatter tomatoes atop and around fish and serve.

Per serving (without quinoa or carrots): Calories 361, Total fat 20g, Saturated Fat 3g, Cholesterol 151mg, Sodium 188mg, Carbohydrate 5g, Fiber 1g, Protein 39g

White Beans

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Last week in Italy, for our 20th Anniversary Dinner, we had two appetizers, healthy servings of pica (homemade spaghetti) with meat sauce, and to chase all that, these white beans.  Theirs were made from scratch, not canned, with bits of green onion, red onion, Italian Elixir of Life (that would be olive oil), a little salt and that’s it.

Cut to today, when it’s in the low hundreds, fires raging outside, and I’ve been grading and those beans sound like a good thing to pull together.  But I’m doing it SoCal style.

First mix up a batch of Lemon Vinaigrette, Casually.  Then get out your can opener.

Open two cans of Great Northern White Beans; Ralph’s has  good kind.  Drain, then rinse well, then drain again, then dump into your serving bowl.

Cut three 1/4″ slices off a large red onion; chop into small dice.  I guess that’s about 1/3 cup.   Scrape onto beans.

Go out into your garden and get a couple of springs of basil and a sprig of tarragon (optional), wash then cut the leaves into ribbons, adding to the bean mixture.

Having visited Costco recently, of course you have some deboned rotisserie chicken in bags in your freezer (about 2 cups each) and you actually remembered to thaw one out today.  Chop that coarsely, and add to the melange.  Pour the Lemon Vinaigrette over everything and gently stir with a spatula. Let sit until you are finished with your grading, or your project or until your spouse comes home, about 1 hour.

Chop some fresh tomatoes (about 1 large, or 3 Romas) into 1/2″ dice, and place into a separate serving dish.

When you were at Costco, you also remembered the Bake-Your-Own-Tortillas so cook some of those up, keeping them warm either in your cheezy styrofoam tortilla container, or a (clean) folded dish towel.

Serve the beans in a shallow bowl, accompanied by the tomatoes and the tortillas.  An easy supper on a hot day, but I think this would even be good on a cold day, if you heated everything up.

Angel-hair Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce

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Angel-Hair Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce
Gourmet  | July 2006
by Ian Knauer

This is my new favorite summer recipe.  I can never figure out how much 3 pounds of tomatoes is.  Here’s my guesstimate: 4 huge tomatoes, or 6 large tomatoes, or 8 regular tomatoes, or 12 Romas.  I guess I could weigh them, but these aren’t the kind of tomatoes you buy in the grocery store.  They’re the kind you get from your, or your neighbor’s, garden.  Really Fresh tomatoes.

Ingredients
1 small garlic clove
3 lb tomatoes
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 lb dried capellini (angel-hair pasta)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

Accompaniments: finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling

Preparation
Mince garlic and mash to a paste with a pinch of salt using a large heavy knife.  This is kind of a cool mixture.  Mash and mash until you can’t tell one from the other–really moosh them together.  You’ll feel like a real chef.

Core and coarsely chop two thirds of tomatoes. Halve remaining tomatoes crosswise, then rub cut sides of tomatoes against large holes of a box grater set in a large bowl, reserving pulp and discarding skin. Toss pulp with chopped tomatoes, garlic paste, lemon juice, salt, sugar (if using), and pepper. Let stand until ready to use, at least 10 minutes. Note: Tomato mixture can stand at room temperature up to 2 hours.

While tomatoes stand, cook pasta in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water, uncovered, until al dente, about 2 minutes. Drain in a colander and immediately add to tomato mixture, tossing to combine. Sprinkle with basil.

Quinoa Basic Directions

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Follow the direction on the box or bag.  Really.

I usually use 1 cup dry quinoa (and I don’t rinse it) to 1 1/2-3 cups liquid.  I like using water, then I can mix it with other things, but I’ve also used chicken broth.

If this makes too much, dump the cooked quinoa into a ziploc bag and freeze it.  To use, put it in your microwave on a defrost setting, just until you can mush it between your fingers.

If you want to get fancy, you can go this way:
Wash 2 cups dry quinoa (about 10 ounces) in 3 changes of cold water in a bowl, draining in a large sieve each time. Cook quinoa in a 4- to 5-quart pot of boiling salted water, uncovered, until almost tender, about 10 minutes. Drain in sieve, then set sieve over same pot with 1 inch of simmering water (water should not touch bottom of sieve). Cover quinoa with a folded kitchen towel, then cover sieve with a lid (don’t worry if lid doesn’t fit tightly) and steam until quinoa is tender, fluffy, and dry, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand (still covered) 5 minutes.