Wednesday, June 8, 2011

More Fish--The Mexican Version

Fish Mexican Style

Akiko and I and I made a Mexican version of the baked fish for ourselves and for Masako. We chopped and sauteed a sweet onion and five or six garlic cloves (minced) and about a half of a red pepper(chopped). Then we added chopped tomatoes from a 14 ounce can. ( I suggest that you get your husband to drink the juice.) and sauteed the mixture some more and put in some taco seasoning, cumin and fresh chopped cilantro and a bit of lime juice.

We heated the oven to 450, added Icelandic Cod (about 1 1/2 #) and spooned some of the the onion-tomato mixture over the top. We crowded fresh asparagus from Vicki and Boyd around the edges, sprinkled some olive oil and sea salt on the asparagus. We baked it until it just barely flaked, added a bit more chopped cilantro over the top and it was wonderful.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

CSA week 4 and Spanakopita

This week we made quite a haul again at our CSA. We brought home curly red-tipped kale, basil, dill, rainbow chard, 2 zucchini, a cucumber, and a daikon radish.


The highlight of out cooking this week was a truly amazing chard and spinach spanakopita. P and I loved it so much we gobbled up two fat slices each. Traditionally, this pie is made with all spinach, but I think the chard and onion variation is even better, frankly, and I've had a lot of spinach pies. It's not exactly health food, but feta is much lower fat than most cheeses, and this is the sort of pie that makes you put your fork down, close your eyes, and take a deep, contented sigh about how good life must be that it offers you this pie. P prefers to beat his elbow on the table, while I prefer to simply exclaim "this is good" so often H now does it every night at dinner.
The phyllo is a kid-pleaser even if the filling may not be.


Recipe freely adapted from Diane Kochilas, the Food and Wine of Greece
One recipe phyllo dough
Oil, for pan
1 large bunch swiss chard, stems chopped, leaves split down stem and finely sliced
2 oz frozen shredded spinach
1/4 cup olive oil
1 largish vidalia onion, finely diced
1 large bunch dill, chopped
1 egg, slightly beaten
3/4 lb crumbled feta cheese
1/2 - 3/ 4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 tsp nutmeg, ground
3/4 tsp cumin, ground
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375. Lightly oil a 10 1/2 inch pie plate.
2. Wash and chop chard, and drain very well. Heat 2 T (or more) oil in skillet. Saute onions and chard stems for 5-6 minutes, until beginning to brown, over medium heat. Add chard greens and continue to saute, lowering heat to low-medium, covered, for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 5 minutes, add the frozen spinach. If this mixture is watery once cooked, press the liquid out in a colander. Set aside and cool.
3. In a large bowl, combine cooked greens, dill. Add egg, 1/4 cup olive oil, feta, parmesan, spices, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon.
4. Divide phyllo dough in half. Roll out first half of dough into a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Place in oiled pie plate. Brush with some oil. Spread spinach filling evenly over dough.
5. Roll out remaining phyllo dough into 12 inch circle. Carefully place over filling. Gently press top and bottom pastries together and cut away excess, leaving about 1/2 inch hanging over rim of pie plate. Roll top and bottom together to form your preferred crust. Make some incisions in the center of crust. If you wish, brush crust with beaten egg yolk and 1 T milk for a shiny crust. Bake for about 40 minutes.

Homemade Phyllo Dough (not nearly as hard as you'd imagine, or as layered)
2 to 2 1/2 cups flour, we use a mixture of 1 cup whole wheat, and 1 cup white bread flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 olive oil
3/4 cups water minus 1 T (if making ouzo variation)
1 T ouzo (if desired, it's very good with spanakopita)

Sift together 2 cups of flour, salt, and baking powder. Make a well in the center and add water and olive oil and ouzo (if using). Stir together until all ingredients are combined.
Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and silky to the touch, 5-7 minutes, adding remaining flour as necessary.
Refrigerate covered dough for 1 hour (up to 3 days).
Remove dough from fridge 30 minutes before use. To roll, divine into two equal balls. Keep it covered when you're not rolling it. Roll out onto lightly floured surface into circle. Brush bottom sheet with olive oil.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

CSA Week 3 and Kale Chips



Memorial Day weekend our friends and their two year old daughter were visiting from Silver Spring, so P got sent to the market to pick up veg while I waited for our friends. He brought back: rainbow chard, kale, basil, broccoli, lettuce, and a bunch of beets. So far, we've made:
--braised chard (with oil and garlic) alongside Curry-Cajun Spiced Chicken breasts with orzo
--Thai Stirfried Turkey with Basil, Chiles, Garlic, and Oyster sauce. We forgot to take pictures, but it was quite like this, with ground turkey. We ate this with Broccoli stir-fried in oyster sauce and jasmine rice
--kale chips for snacking
--pesto for freezing
--Openface Tuna Melts with Pesto, Swiss and Mozzarella with beet green horta

I'm thrilled to report that H actually kinda likes Kale chips, and LOVES the stems of beet greens. She chowed a bunch of these with a yogurt dip, and my heart soars whenever she eats vegetables.

H and her friend over Memorial Day weekend.

I'm still contemplating how to deal with the beets. It has been HOT here this week, over 95 but less than 100, with high humidity. So our desire to roast the beets in the oven for 45 minutes is next to none.

Here's my pitch for kale chips. They've been all over the interwebs this past year, and making the rounds of my friends as well. You really should try them. A lot crispy, crunchy, and flaky, a little bit oily, and as salty as you wish. They're also one of the easiest ways to cook those leafy greens that tend to scare people so much.


Kale Chips.
1 bunch kale
1 tsp - 1 T (or more, olive oil is GOOD for you!) Olive oil
salt for AFTER you've baked them

Set oven to 350.
Wash Kale well, and slice leaves from stalks. Tear leaves into sections, and they don't have to be neat. H and P had a good time working together on this. Place the ripped kale leaves on cookie sheets, placing them close together, but in a single flat layer. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until they are deliciously crunchy. We like them so well baked they very nearly flake away as you grab one up to eat it and then they shatter in your mouth. Once they are baked, sprinkle with salt like popcorn and chow down.