Tuna with black bean sauce

This recipe is adapted from Mark Bittman's Roasted Thick Fish Fillets. 

This dish smells marvelous when it's cooking. It's rich and filling for a Monday night dinner. Although it appears to take much longer to prepare, I made the fish, a brown rice pilaf, some flash-fried potatoes, and some steamed cabbage - in under an hour. Honestly, I did. I even put a bottle of wine into the freezer. 

I used frozen thick cut tuna steaks, and lots of freezer items. The premise of this dish is to pan-sear the tuna over medium-high heat for a few minutes on each side, and then finish the cooking in the oven. You add a liquid and some herbs and it creates a rich sauce. I chose a white-wine base with lots of Asian herbs (Thai basil, cilantro), ginger, fermented black bean sauce, and sun-dried tomatoes. My freezer is stocked with frozen herbs, and my pantry is stocked with useful ingredients. The freezer items included frozen fresh ginger, frozen cabbage from my fall CSA-box, Thai basil, and frozen cilantro. Frozen herbs aren't as good as fresh, but they seem more flavorful than dried. I store them whole in zip top bags, or I store them in ice cube trays. Place freshly chopped herbs and water in an ice-cube tray and freeze until frozen. Ginger root stores well in the freezer. When you want to use it just grate it frozen over a microplane, or run under water until just softened and chop. Jalapeños store well in the freezer.

The tuna was served with the sauce alongside a brown rice pilaf and steamed cabbage. Top the tuna with the fried potatoes and serve immediately. I paired this meal with a Sauvignon blanc. 

Tuna with a white wine fermented black bean sauce and Thai-basil

This recipe is adapted from Mark Bittman's Roasted Thick Fish Fillets

Yield: Serves 2 to 4

Ingredients:

3 tbsp olive oil 

1 medium potato, peeled and cut into a small dice (1/2" by 1/2")

1 or 2, 6 oz tuna steaks

salt and pepper

3/4 cup white wine plus 1/4 cup water (can also use vegetable broth instead of wine)

1 tbsp fermented black bean sauce (such as Lee Kum Kee)

1/2 cup mixed Thai basil and cilantro 

1 tbsp sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

Fresh ginger, shredded 

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 450º F (230º C).

2. In an oven-proof skillet, heat up 3 tbsp of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add in the small diced potatoes and cook until golden brown (6 minutes). Once golden, spoon off the potatoes with some of the remaining olive oil and place on a non-stick baking pan in the oven to finish cooking. Set a timer for 8 minutes to avoid overcooking. You should have about 2 tbsp of olive oil leftover. 

3. Dredge the tuna in a bit of salt and pepper. I used Trader Joe's chili sea salt. Place the tuna in the skillet, and sear on each side for about 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile, combine wine, water, and the fermented black bean sauce and pour into the skillet. The skillet will make an impressive sizzling sound. Lift the pan and swirl around the liquid, and then place in the oven. Set the timer for 10 minutes. 

4. Combine the herbs, sun dried tomatoes, and slivered, or shredded, ginger in a small bowl and set aside. 

5. Once the 10-minute timer goes off, flip the tuna over, add the bowl of herbs from step 4, and set the timer for another 5-6 minutes. If the tuna is thicker, it may require additional cooking time. Alternatively, if you like your tuna on the medium side, cook for less time. The fish is done when it flakes easily. Serve immediately and garnish with potatoes. 

Autumn quiche

This quiche, baked up from seasonal CSA kale and escarole, was among some of the better things I baked up this past fall, hence the name autumn quiche. If you don't bake the quiche, at least tuck the French tart dough recipe into your web archives. It is that good.















Autumn Quiche
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:
1 recipe French Tart Dough
olive oil
6 large eggs
splash milk
3 cups chopped raw kale and raw escarole
1-2 cloves chopped garlic
3 tbsp kalamata olives, chopped
1/2 cup shredded cheese (cheddar, or a goat cheese would be very good)
1/4 cup chopped basil
2-3 spring onions, chopped fine
salt and pepper to taste
pinch nutmeg

Directions:
1. Prep the tart dough. Allow it to cool before using. This tart dough is one of the best out there. I have used it to make lemon tarts, chocolate tarts, almond-pear tarts, and now quiches. It never fails. It's simple, it's easy, it's my favorite.
2. Once your quiche (tart dough) is cooling, heat up about 1 tsp of olive oil in a large skillet. Once it's hot sauté the kale, escarole, and garlic in the olive oil. Add a few tbsp of water to the pan if the greens start to stick.
3. Turn the eat to low and let it wilt down. Turn the heat off and set aside.
4. Prep the oven to 350º F or 180º C.
5. In a small bowl, combine the chopped olives, shredded cheese, and herbs.
6. In a large bowl, mix together the eggs and milk with a whisk. Add the remaining ingredients to the egg mixture and season with salt and pepper, and nutmeg.
7. Add the egg mixture to the quiche dough, and bake in the oven for 35 minutes, or until done. Let stand about 1 hour before serving. Stores well and makes excellent leftover lunch where you can brag to coworkers about how the escarole melts into the quiche.

Simple small batch pesto

This pesto is easy enough to make with some basic kitchen tools, such as a cutting board, knife, and mortar and pestle. A mortar and pestle will make pounding the nuts and garlic easier, but you could chop them fine with a cutting board and knife.

Simple small batch pesto

Yield: ~ 5 tablespoons

Ingredients

2 cups loosely packed fresh basil

1/4 cup whole almonds, or pine nuts

2 cloves garlic (use 3 if you love garlic)

2-3 tbsp olive oil, more if needed

salt to taste

1/4 cup fresh parmesan shredded fine

Directions:

1. Begin by pounding half the nuts in a mortar and pestle. Using gentle force, gradually break the almonds into smaller pieces. Increase pressure as you smash the nuts to make a fine ground. You could use a cutting board, or coffee grinder (cleaned out first!), or place nuts in a ziplock bag and roll them with a rolling pin. Remove the nuts to a small bowl.

2. Pound the garlic with 1/8 tsp salt in the mortar and pestle. Pour the olive oil on top - do not pound again after pouring olive oil in. Set aside the mortar and finely chop the basil on a cutting board.

3. Remove basil leaves from stems and finely chop. Move the chopped basil to the bowl with the nuts. Pour the olive oil infused garlic on top. Add in parmesan cheese and stir together.

4. Add more salt if needed, and pour in a little bit of oil if too dry.

The pesto can be tossed with some cooked pasta, or warm potatoes. I prepared store-bought gnocchi and topped with 1 tbsp or more of the pesto. Divine.  

Week of Meals

I started off last week with food on the mind.  On Sunday, I put together a week of meals (five meals). 

It didn't take too much time, maybe an hour or so, and I was able to reward myself for the effort with a nice home brew. I tend to get sick of planning, but I was motivated this week, and so I'd like to share. First here's the list of meals, and I'll post recipes below. 

Day 1: Mixed beans with tomato bruschetta

Day 2: Spaghetti with zucchini and basil

Day 3: Taco salad

Day 4: Mushroom and wild rice soup with peach-bibb lettuce salad

Day 5: Quinoa stuffed tomatoes with Cajun oven potatoes

On Sunday evening, Allison and Nico, came over for some dinner. We had gone on a bike ride to Mechelen along the canal or Vaartkom just north of the city. It was warm and sunny and was a break from how cold it has been in August.  During dinner, Nico and Allison talked about their 25 favorite meals. It was pretty hilarious because I think they have a shared Google Doc to plan meals. Nico is a fabulous cook (see here).  I loved their idea of a fondue-TV-movie dinner night and was inspired by their list of favorites, especially fried brie.

Here are the recipes:

Meal 1: Mixed beans with tomato bruschetta on homemade bread (Karl baked the bread).  

The beans are a simple recipe from my Deborah Madison cookbook.  It's a good way to use the small quantities of leftover dried beans. 

For the beans:

1 cup mixed beans, soaked and drained (any variety of beans will do, I used adzuki, chickpeas, white beans, and kidney beans)
6 cups water
1 bay leaf
few sprigs parsley and thyme
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp olive oil

Directions
1. Bring the beans, water, oil and aromatics to a simmer. Cover the beans slightly and simmer for 1 hour or until tender.
2. Season with salt, and serve with shredded parmesan, black pepper and fresh chopped parsley or other herbs.

Meal 2:  Spaghetti with Zucchini and Basil

This also came out of my Deborah Madison cookbook. I've made it a few times because the zucchini just melts in your mouth and the fresh basil is very tasty.

Spaghetti with Zucchini and Basil 

2 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise, then in bits across

1/3 cup olive oil (use much less on a non-stick skillet, 3 T is fine)

2 garlic cloves, sliced

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup milk or half and half (I used milk)

1 lb of spaghetti (or enough for 4-6 persons)

fresh parmesan

1/2 cup of basil, torn into chunks

1. Heat up olive oil  in a wide skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Start heating up the water for the pasta

3. When olive oil is hot, add in garlic. When garlic is fragrant add in zucchini. Cook over medium heat until the squash is soft and brown (about 20 minutes)

4. When pasta water is boiling, cook pasta.

5. When squash is done cooking, stir in milk, salt and pepper. Adjust for seasoning. 

6. Combine the spaghetti with the squash and top with basil and parmesan

Meal 3: Taco salad with chips

I substituted lentils for the smart grounds featured in the recipe.

Meal 4: Mushroom and wild rice soup with peach butter lettuce salad

The soup comes out of my Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast Weeknight Meals. It's a pretty good collection, although I found many recipes to be very meat heavy. 

Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

1 T olive oil

2 cups mushrooms, sliced (any mix of mushrooms will do)

1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped fine

1/2 cup red onion, chopped fine

1 package boil-in-the-bag wild rice blend

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

2 T basil

2 T parsley

1 tsp dried garlic

salt and pepper to taste

2 cups milk (I used 1 cup soymilk, 1/2 cup water, and 1/2 cup milk)

1. In a soup stockpot heat olive oil and add bell pepper and onion.

2. In a separate sauce pan heat up 2 cups water. 

3. Mix together ricotta, dried garlic, herbs, and salt and pepper in a bowl and set aside. 

4. Add mushrooms to soup stockpot and cook 7 minutes. 

5. When the saucepan full of water boils, add in a boil-in-the-bag wild rice blend, and cook according to package directions. 

6. When mushrooms have cooked down, stir in cheese and milk. Add more salt if needed. Bring to a boil until the soup thickens a bit. 

7. Stir in wild rice and heat through. 

For the salad (serves 2)

1-2 cups washed Bibb lettuce

1 peach, sliced

2 T pumpkin seeds

Dressing:

1.5 T fig or other flavored vinegar

1 T olive oil

1 T water

salt and pepper to taste

Mix together dressing and toss with the salad. 

Meal 5: Quinoa stuffed tomatoes and Cajun oven potatoes

I made this when Nico and Allison came over. It looks like a lot of work, but if you prep things in order everything comes together in about an hour.

For the potatoes:

8 small-medium waxy potatoes, washed and scrubbed

3 T olive oil

For the tomatoes:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained

2 and 1/2 cups water

1 T olive oil

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 red onion, chopped

1-2 cups chard, chopped

6 ripe medium-large Roma tomatoes, halved lengthwise and pulp removed in a bowl

1/2 cup ricotta

1/4 cup basil

1/4 cup parsley

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 tsp red chili powder

1/2 (or more) mixed beans (leftovers from earlier this week), omit if you don't have

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.

2. Quarter the potatoes in wedges and toss with 3 T olive oil. Set in a casserole dish and place in oven once hot. Ignore the potatoes while you prep everything else. These will take the longest to cook so get to them first. 

3. In a small sauce pan combine 1 cup quinoa and 2 and 1/2 cups water over medium-high heat.  Stir every 10 minutes. Quinoa will take 15-20 minutes to cook.  The quinoa is done when the water is evaporated and the quinoa looks light and fluffy. While the quinoa cooks you can prep the tomatoes and stuffing. 

4. In a wide skillet, heat up olive oil over medium heat. When oil is shimmering, add in garlic and onion and saute for 3 minutes, or until onion is soft. Add in chard and continue to cook until chard is wilted. Turn off heat and set aside. 

5. In a greased oven casserole dish set tomato halves up.  Break apart the tomato pulp by chopping it up. You can mix it in with the stuffing or stir it with the chard-onion mixture

6. Mix ricotta, herbs, quinoa, salt and pepper and red chili powder together, stir in beans if you have them. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Fill the tomatoes with the mixture and then set them in the oven.  The tomatoes will cook for about 30 minutes.  Turn the potatoes to ensure they are getting nice and roasted. 

You can serve the roasted potatoes in any way, these are my 2 faves:

Rosemary with coarse salt and fresh pepper

Cajun seasoning

Just sprinkle over the potatoes once done and serve. 

Potato Pancakes with Mint Raitu

It's heading into fall in central NC, and the garden is still a growing. Cukes, carrots, and lots of mint and basil got used in this. A food processor makes shredding the potatoes easy, but if you don't have one, just shred them with a wide handle box grater. These cook up nicely on a cast-iron skillet. Serve fresh with some raitu.


Potato Pancakes

Ingredients:
yield: 8 cakes
3-4 medium potatoes (I had yukon on hand)
1 onion, quartered
2 T red opal basil (if you have, makes for nice color), chopped
2 T green basil, chopped
1 t salt
1/2 t lemon pepper
1/2 to 3/4 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs, mixed
1/4 cup oil, divided

(basically any herbs you want to add will probably taste good)

Directions:

1. Shred potatoes and onion together and place in a mixing bowl.
2. 
3. Add in basil through eggs and stir together well. Be liberal with the breadcrumbs.
4. 
5. Heat half of the vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Put a oven-safe plate in the oven, and turn to 200.
   
6. When skillet is hot, form patties with your hand and place in skillet. You should be able to cook 4 on a 12" skillet. Cook until golden, usually 8 minutes per side.
7. 
8. Meanwhile begin assembling raitu.
9. Cook until golden on both sides. Add in additional oil if needed for preparing the rest of the cakes. To keep warm, place on oven-safe dish, and cover until ready to serve.
10. 

Mint Raitu

Ingredients:
1 cup whole-milk yogurt (you can use the low-fat variety if that is your thing)
1/4 cup shredded cucumber
2 T shredded carrot (1/2 carrot)
1/2 t cumin
pinch cayenne
1/2 t salt
1/8 t lemon pepper
2 T mint, chiffoned

Directions

1. Mix together, taste, and adjust seasoning if needed.
2. Thin with water if necessary.
   

An August Caprese Salad

There are few flavors more divine than mozzarella, basil and fresh tomatoes. Mix in a little olive oil and salt and pepper and you have a wonderful late summer dish. Add in a few more items and you can get a super meal. Inspiration for this came from my super friend Sars, who has been talking about Caprese salads for a while now, and the hubby and I just went to Carolina Brewery where they had a Caprese sandwich and a local tomato and cucumber salad. It was magnificent. Summer is magnificent.



Serves 4
August Caprese-style Salad:
1/2 pound cavatappi pasta, or some other large shape, cooked and drained
1 pound mixed tomatoes (cherries, grapes, sun-golds, yellow-pear)
large handful basil (I had green and opal basil), chiffoned.
half a cucumber, quartered
1 cup fresh mozzarella, cut however you think best
2-3 T. Olive oil, a fruity kind
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. While water is boiling, prepare other ingredients.
2. Slice tomatoes into halves, and place in a large mixing bowl. Add basil, cucumber slices, and mozzarella to bowl.
3. Drizzle olive oil on top and season with salt and pepper.
4. Add in cooked pasta, toss, taste, and adjust seasonings if necessary. You may want to add a little more olive oil after adding the pasta in.

Rice Noodle Soup

This is clear soup that is meant to resemble a vegetarian pho Vietnamese-style rice noodle soup. Topped with mint, basil, tomatoes and chives. The broth has been flavored with crushed anise seeds and ginger.


Serves 4 to 6

Broth:
1-2 qts water
4-5 anise pods, crushed in a mortar and pestle
2 T ginger, minced fine
juice of 2 medium limes or lemons
1/4 cup Bragg's liquid aminos or soy sauce
1 larch bunch scallions, white parts only, reserve green parts, chop and set aside.
2 carrots, sliced into coins

1. Boil water and add in anise seeds, ginger, lime juice, and Bragg's simmer for 10-12 minutes.
2. Add scallions and carrots, cook 10 minutes longer. Adjust for salt.
3. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. Alternatively place anise seeds and ginger in a tea bag and remove once done. Omit straining step.
4. Return broth, carrots and scallion to pot and keep hot.


Soup:
1 package rice noodles or other pasta noodle, cooked according to directions and set aside
1-2 cups black beans, if by can, drained and rinsed
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup each, basil, mint, bean sprouts
1/4 cup chives
Toasted sesame seed oil, set aside
Soy sauce, set aside
Sriracha sauce, set aside
Lime wedges, quartered, set aside

1. Place 1/2 cup noodles and 1/3 cup black beans in large soup bowl. Pour 2 large ladlefuls of broth over noodles.
2. Top with fresh herbs, tomatoes, 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil, Sriracha, and soy sauce. If serving family-style place herbs, tomatoes, bean sprouts, oils and sauces in a large platter and allow folks to serve themselves.

When life gives you basil, make pesto

Genovese and Red Rubin Basil above

In my garden plantings, I went overboard on basil. I literally planted enough to start my own vending cart at the farmer's market "apartment gardens" shieeeeeet! And I have a tiny garden! Even if you haven't grown basil, it is super cheap this time of the year.

So as "when life gives you lemon, you make lemonade" - when life gives you basil, you make pesto. Costco-sized batches of it. Pesto stores well in the freezer and pretty much goes with anything.

Favorite uses:
Pasta sauce - base
Roasted pesto potatoes or roasted pesto veggies
pizza sauce - base
throw some in a soup for pesto-y soupy
pesto-bread both in baked bread, or as dipping sauce.
Risotto with pesto

I have a 14 cup food processor so I process everything once, and end up with around 3 cups of pesto. In past attempts, and mostly because I didn't have parmesan when I had everything else to make pesto, leaving out the parmesan will reduce your yield. This may seem obvious. I bring this up because it was a useful mistake. Adding the parmesan when ready to use the pesto is amazing. If it has been sitting in your freezer for 3-4 months and it's the middle of winter, you can add back in some extra olive oil - the freezer may dry it out. I've found this happens when you pull it in and out of the freezer. Below I have used less olive oil precisely because of this. You can do what you want. Pesto always tastes good. Once done and processed I put in ice-cube trays, freeze, and transfer to a ziplock or other airtight container. You have individual portions of pesto at the ready.

If using a smaller food processor, just do it in batches. If by hand, again in batches, and give it a whole morning, afternoon and maybe evening (probably around 3 hours). The aromas will be totally worth every second. I guess you could also do it by blender as well although you may have to be creative with the liquid ratio.



Yield - 2-4 cups (around 4 cups if you use parmesan & more olive oil than is here)
1-1/2 cups OR 12 ounces parmesan (any fine parmesan you can afford), cut into inches and at room temperature. You may also choose to omit the parmesan if freezing, and just add it to your food later. Please, whatever you do, don't use the "parmesan" processed food science in the green cans. Avoid. Your whole batch will be ruined.
6-9 cloves garlic, peeled. Use more or less if you like.
3/4 - 1 cup olive oil (use less if you think you'll add back in at a later date)
1 cup pine nuts
1 teaspoon salt (add more if you feel it needs it - I undersalt things)
8 cups basil, washed and dried, loosely packed in measuring cups (if you have around 4 cups of basil just halve everything above, and if you have more than 8 cups, good for you, and adjust as necessary. Conversion is new yield/old yield = conversion factor. Then multiply everything in the original recipe by the conversion factor. Totally nerdy, yet incredibly useful.

1. Put the metal chopping blades in the food processor and place the parmesan and garlic in the mixing bowl. Process until a fine paste is formed (10 seconds).
2. Add in pine nuts and salt and process, scraping down the sides until nice and pasty.
3. Add in basil and replace lid. Through the feed tube, begin pouring olive oil. Wait 2 seconds then begin processing, replacing olive oil as needed and stopping to scrape down sides as needed.
4. Store a small amount in fridge, to use this week. Freeze the rest for later use.