recipe: fish meuniere

A viewing of “Julie & Julia” had me salivating for butter and, well . . . butter. I doubt that I will ever master the art of French cooking (I’ve never even had authentic French food, for crying out loud), but holy cow! I was inspired.

The other week, I made a trip to Central Market and picked up some goodies that I can’t usually get at the local grocery store. One of my “splurges” was fresh tilapia. When I got home, I didn’t really think about how else I would cook the fish because I usually would just bake them. However, I was reminded of “Julie & Julia” and the inspiration came back to me. My dilemma? I know nothing about French cooking. I would have to think of something else.

Thankfully, I’ve accumulated quite an arsenal of cookbooks to guide me in my culinary adventures (such as the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, Martha Stewart’s Cooking School, Cooking Light’s 2009 Annual Recipes) so I pulled one out. Specifically, The New Best Recipe by Cook’s Illustrated. I scoured the pages for a fish recipe, and lo and behold! I found one for Fish Meuniere (Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking has “sole meuniere”) and I was way excited.

My husband and I ate the buttery results and we were amazed at how fantastic the tilapia tasted. Probably the best fish I’ve ever cooked (a claim my husband sincerely made). Now, seeing as how much butter there was in it, we won’t eat it too often but it’ll make an appearance here and there as a nice treat.

Fish Meuniere with Browned Butter and Lemon (from Cook’s Illustrated, serves 4)
see note at the bottom*

Ingredients (for the FISH)

• 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 4 sole or flounder fillets (5 to 6 ounces each and 3/8 inch thick), patted dry with paper towels
• salt and ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 2 pieces

Ingredients (for the BROWNED BUTTER)

• 4 tbsp (1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1 1/2 tbsp juice from 1 lemon
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges, for serving

1. FOR THE FISH: Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position, set 4 heatproof dinner plates on the rack, and heat the oven to 200 degrees. PLace the flour in a large baking dish. Season both sides of each fillet generously with salt and pepper; let stand until the fillets are glistening with moisture, about 5 minutes. Coat both sides of the fillets with flour, shake off the excess, and place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until shimmering; add 1 tbsp of the butter and swirl to coat the pan bottom. When the foaming subsides, carefully place 2 fillets skin-side up in the skillet. Immediately reduce the heat to medium-high and cook, without moving the fish, until the edges of the fillets are opaque and the bottom is golden brown, about 3 minutes. Using 2 spatulas, gently flip the fillets and cook on the second side until the thickest part of the fillet easily separates into flakes when a toothpick is inserted, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer the fillets, one to each heated dinner plate, keeping them bone-side up, and return the plates to the oven. Wipe out the skillet and repeat with the remaining 1 tbsp each oil and butter and the remaining fish fillets.

2. FOR THE BROWNED BUTTER: Heat the butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until the butter melts, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Continue to cook, swirling the pan constantly, until the butter is golden brown and has a nutty aroma, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes; remove the skillet from the heat. Remove the plates from the oven and sprinkle the fillets with the parsley. Add the lemon juice to the browned butter and season to taste with salt; spoon the sauce over the fish and serve immediately with the lemon wedges.

*(Since I only had 3 fillets – and I used tilapia, not sole or flounder – I changed the ingredients slightly but followed the recipe closely. Also, I used extra-virgin olive oil and dried parsley.)

recipe: apple tahini cake

Courtesy of my friend Sara at nomadwithcookies.com, here is a recipe that is just mouth-watering. Now, around here, we love to eat Mediterranean food. When Sara posted this recipe on her blog, I could not resist. After all, the ingredient that took center stage was tahini, which is a paste made up of ground sesame seeds. Tahini is often used in hummus and halva. And if you love hummus and halva like I do, well, you have to love tahini.

I adapted this recipe because I made it for a friend who is allergic to gluten. Plus, I didn’t have any cognac or brandy in the pantry so I made do with a substitute. AND, I used large, glass pie pan and an 8×8 inch glass pan instead of a springform pan (yes, I made two batches of this). Once again, thanks Sara! This cake will make a regular appearance in our household.

Apple Tahini Cake (or Tahinopita Nistisimi, adapted from Nomad With Cookies)

Ingredients

• 1 cup tahini
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp peach juice
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup peeled and diced granny smith apple (from 1 small apple)
• 1 cup orange juice
• powdered sugar

(for the first batch, using a large, glass pie plate)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the pie plate with parchment paper and grease with cooking spray.
2. Pour the tahini and a large bowl, beat with a mixer and slowly add sugar. Continue mixing together.
3. In a small bowl, stir together the peach juice and baking soda to dissolve. Add this to the tahini and use a wooden spoon to mix everything.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, walnuts and diced apple. Toss together to mix.
5. Add 1/3 cup of the flour/nut mixture to the tahini and mix. Add 1/2 cup of orange juice and mix. Add another 1/3 cup of flour, then the other 1/2 cup of orange juice. Finish with the remaining flour and mix just until combined. The batter will be thick.
6. Pour the batter into the pie plate and even out. Bake for 45 minutes until the cake is a dark, chestnut color. (I tested the cake to make sure it was done by inserting a clean knife in the center and saw if any of the batter pulled out)
7. Take the cake out of the oven, dust with powdered sugar, and cool completely in pan.

recipe: penne with goat cheese and asparagus

I am all about easy-to-make dinners. No fuss, just simple and quick. This dish, aptly named penne with goat cheese and asparagus, is just that. Simple. Quick. Delicious!

I first tasted said dish at my friend Sara’s Boxing Day party. Let me tell you something about Sara: I’ve known her for about 20 years, she is an amazing person and a fantastic chef! She has a food blog that I follow and so should you – nomadwithcookies.com. At her party, she served penne tossed with melted goat cheese and asparagus (with a hint of lemon), among other things. (A plea to Sara – can you please post your spaghetti and meatballs recipe??) I quickly fell in love with the flavor of goat cheese and knew that I had to make this for my husband.

Below is my version of Sara’s cooking. Give it a try and feel free to add your own twist to it!

Penne with goat cheese and asparagus

Ingredients

• a small tub of goat cheese (room temperature)
• penne pasta
• asparagus
• olive oil
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• salt and pepper

1. Put the oven setting to broil. Brush a metal pan with olive oil and place the asparagus on it, sprinkling some kosher salt and black pepper on the asparagus. Cook asparagus for a few minutes, then set aside 6-8 stalks (depending on how much asparagus you have). Cut the rest into 1-inch long pieces. Set these aside in a big bowl.
2. Cook penne according to box directions. When the penne is done, immediately put it into the bowl (with the asparagus).
3. Mix the goat cheese with the penne and asparagus, add salt and pepper to taste (if you so prefer), then add the lemon juice and mix well.
4. Serve with remaining asparagus stalks.

recipe: buffalo wings (from Simply Recipes)

Buffalo wings, what can I say? Though I know plenty of people who don’t like chicken wings due to the lack of meat (I admit, you work quite a bit to eat only a small amount of chicken), I enjoy them! My husband and I will venture to Wing Stop every so often to enjoy their wings – the original, buffalo recipe, lemon pepper and our favorite, Cajun, with lots and lots of kick. Unfortunately, a lof of the good things in life are often deep-fried (as is the case of said chicken wing). I wanted to find a “healthier” alternative so I could enjoy chicken wings more often. Thank you, Simply Recipes and thank you, Anchor Bar for such a recipe!

Buffalo Wings (from Simply Recipes)

Ingredients

• 2 lbs wings (about 12 pieces, already separated into drummettes and the wings)
• 3 tbsp butter, melted
• 4 tbsp bottled hot pepper sauce (like Crystal or Frank’s Original)
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

1. Clean wings and drummettes, then place all the pieces in a bag.
2. To make the marinade, mix the melted butter with the hot pepper sauce, paprika, salt, cayenne pepper and black pepper. Set aside 2 tbsp of the marinade in a small bowl. Pour the rest of the marinade over the chicken in the bag, seal the bag and “slosh” the bag around so the chicken is well-coated. (the original recipe has marinading the chicken in room temperature for 30 minutes, but I was too impatient!) Once the chicken is well-coated, drain the marinade and discard the bag.
3. Cover a pan with foil and place the chicken pieces on it. Broil 4 to 5 inches from the heat for about 10 minutes on each side, until chicken is tender and no longer pink. Remove the cooked chicken from the oven and baste it with the marinade you set aside.

Sure, you can eat these buffalo wings with some kind of a dip (like blue cheese dressing) to keep the heat at bay, but I like them as they are so you can feel the kick. Enjoy!

recipe: salted chocolate ganache cake (from Cooking Light)

I simply have a sweet tooth. Brownies, cookies, candy, cake. CAKE! I can eat cake any day. However, I’m no baker. I blame it on my lack of patience – sometimes, baked goods take way too long to create! I’ve never made a cake before, not from scratch. I usually would just buy a cake mix, throw an egg or two in there, some oil and butter, and bam – a cake is born.

Now, I’m all about challenges so I decided to make a small, single-layer cake for some friends. It was a lot of work, but maybe it’s because I’m not an experienced baker. It was a mighty fine cake . . . maybe I’ll tackle on more challenges in the world of cake-making!

Salted Chocolate Ganache Cake (from Cooking Light)

Ingredients

• cooking spray
• 2 tsp cake flour
• 5.3 ounces sifted cake flour (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup evaporated fat-free milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large egg whites
• 3 tbsp dark brown sugar
• 2 1/2 ounces dark chocolate, divided
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/4 tsp sea salt or fleur de sel

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Coat 1 (9-inch) round cake pan with cooking spray; dust with 2 tsp flour.
3. Weigh or lightly spoon 5.3 oz flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and baking powder in a bowl; stir with a whisk. Place 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add egg; mix well. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Stir in vanilla.
4. Beat egg whites with a mixer at high speed until foamy using clean, dry beaters. Gradually add 3 tbsp sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Gently fold half of egg white mixture into flour mixture; fold in remaining egg white mixture. Grate 1/2 oz chocolate; fold grated chocolate into batter. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 23 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on a wire rack.
5. Chop the remaining 2 oz chocolate. Combine chopped chocolate and 1 tbsp butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at medium power for 1 minute or until chocolate melts, stirring every 15 seconds. Spread chocolate mixture over top of cake; sprinkle evenly with sea salt. Cut into 8 wedges. Yield – 8 servings.

Calories – 263!

champorado

One of my favorite childhood treats was champorado. It’s pretty much a sweet, chocolate rice porridge that you can actually eat hot or cold. I remember drizzling condensed milk straight from the can onto the porridge.

During the holidays, my husband and I got to talking about treats we had as children, wonderful, not-so-good-for-your-health things that our parents would make us. For him, it was cinnamon rice (hopefully we’ll make this sometime). For me, it was champorado.

Whenever my mother would make this porridge, she wouldn’t just use any kind of rice – she would use sweet rice. Tthough my town has plenty of Asian restaurants, there are no Asian grocery stores, where you can find this particular kind of rice. So, I made do with what I had in my pantry . . . leftover arborio rice from when I made risotto.

I enjoyed my treat immensely, so much so that I lost my recipe. I guess I will just have to make this another time!

recipe: chicken & wild rice soup

With the winter season in full bloom, I figured it was time to break out some soup recipes to keep our bellies warm and satisfied. Thanks to my Better Homes and Gardens cook book, I found a recipe for chicken and wild rice soup that reminds me of a good, creamy chowder. I will definitely make this again, next time with either clams or fish. Serves 4.

(Note: for my version of this soup, I used mushrooms instead of celery since I would have had to buy a whole bag of celery and would only use one stalk – the mushrooms were much more cost-effective for me and less wasteful. The recipe below is with my modification.)

Ingredients

- 1/2 cup finely chopped carrot (1 medium)
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion (1 medium)
- 1 cup finely chopped brown mushrooms
- 1 tbsp butter or margarine
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 3/4 cup wild rice, rinsed and drained
- 12 oz skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp butter or margarine, softened
- 2 cups half-and-half or light cream

1. In a Dutch oven cook and stir carrot, onion and mushrooms in hot butter about 5 minutes or until tender. Add broth and wild rice. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Add chicken. Simmer, covered, for 20 to 25 minutes more or until rice is tender.
2. In a small bowl combine flour and softened butter to make a smooth paste. Stir flour mixture into the rice mixture. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Add half-and-half. Cook and stir over medium heat until heated through. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

recipe: bran muffins

I’m a huge fan of bran muffins and on some Saturdays, I love making a big batch of them. Here’s a tried and true recipe from Hodgson Mill, a company that produces all natural unprocessed wheat bran (the recipe can be found on the back of the wheat bran box):

Ingredients

• 3 cups wheat bran
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups buttermilk

(I usually add about 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ and several tablespoons of ground flaxseed.)

1. Mix 1 cup wheat bran with 1 cup boiling water; stir and let water absorb into bran.
2. In a separate bowl blend sugar and butter.
3. Measure and combine flour, baking soda and salt. Combine the moist bran with beaten eggs, the remaining 2 cups of bran, buttermilk, blended sugar-butter mixture and flour, soda and salt mixture. Stir well until blended.
4. Place in the refrigerator for future use, or bake at once. When preparing to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Stir batter well and spoon into prepared muffin tins. Bake 15 minutes. Keep remaining mixture in airtight container for 2 to 4 weeks.

recipe: Christmas candy (peppermint bark, truffles, toffee)

The best way to spread Christmas cheer, is singing loud for all to hear . . .”

That’s what Buddy the Elf says. However, I’m not the best singer – sure, I can carry a tune but I work in a music college so my singing would not hold a candle to our vocalists’ talent. Therefore, I figured out another way to spread Christmas cheer and do a little something for my co-workers, faculty and teaching fellows/assistants. For two days straight, I made batches of candy – truffles, toffee and peppermint bark. My kitchen was a mess, my hands smelled sugary for quite a while, but it was worth it to play “Santa” at work and give a little Christmas blessing.

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Easy Peppermint Bark

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Ingredients

• one regular-sized package of white chocolate/almond bark
• one bag of peppermint candy (the red & white round ones that come individually wrapped); I used 3/4 of a 5.25 oz bag
• 2 cups of crisp rice cereal (I used Rice Krispies), divided

1.  Crush up the peppermint candy and set aside. (I unwrapped the candy pieces and double-bagged in a ziploc bag. Then, I used a hammer to crush the candy.)
2.  Break the white chocolate bark into pieces (the kind I used came in blocks attached to each other) and put in a saucepan.
3.  Turn the heat on low and “cook” the pieces until melted, about 8 minutes long. Stir every so often, to make sure the chocolate does not burn.
4.  Once the chocolate has melted all the way, pour 1 cup of the crisp rice into the saucepan and mix well. Then add the other cup of crisp rice and mix again.
5.  On a baking sheet lined with wax paper, spread the chocolate mixture evenly with a spatula, then sprinkle the peppermint candy on the mixture. Use your fingers to press the candy onto the chocolate, so the candy won’t come off when you break the chocolate up.
6.  Put the chocolate in the fridge for 30 minutes, then break apart into various-sized pieces. Store in an air-tight container.

Chocolate Truffles (adapted from the Joy of Baking)

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Ingredients

• 8 oz semisweet chocolate, cut into pieces
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• for the coating: dutch-processed cocoa powder, unsweetened coconut and pecan bits
• extras (espresso powder and almond extract)

1.  Chop the chocolate into small pieces, place in a bowl and set aside.
2.  In a saucepan, heat the cream and the butter over medium heat. (For one batch, I put 1 tbsp espresso powder during this step). Bring the mixture to a boil and immediately pour into the bowl with the chocolate pieces. Let this stand for 5 minutes.
3.  Stir the mixture with a whisk until smooth. (I also added 1 tsp almond extract.) Cover the bowl and place in the fridge for several hours, or overnight until firm.
4.  When ready, set up several plates with your coatings. Then take out the chocolate and using a melon baller, spoon or your fingers, take a small piece and roll it into a ball. Coat the ball in either cocoa powder, pecan bits or shredded coconut. Place each truffle onto a plate lined with wax paper. Cover and refrigerate again until firm.
5.  Bring the truffles to room temperature before serving.

(note: I made several batches of these truffles – one plain, one with espresso powder & almond extract, and one with extra espresso powder only.)

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Easy Toffee (adapted from All Recipes)

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Ingredients

• unsalted saltine crackers
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• pecan bits

1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2.  Line a cookie sheet (one with raised sides) with the saltine crackers.
3.  In a saucepan, combine the sugar and the butter. Bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes (I start timing once I saw “foam” bubbles around the edges of the saucepan). Immediately pour the mixture over the crackers and spread carefully to cover the crackers completely.
4.  Put the crackers in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Then, remove from the oven and sprinkle the pecan bits over the crackers. (I also lightly sprinkled the crackers with sea salt flakes – a good complement to the sweetness!)
5.  Cool complete in room temperature and then break the toffee into pieces.

(note: I read some of the suggestions/comments people had on All Recipes and one person suggested crushing up more crackers and covering the cracker squares with it. This helps to soak up some of the butter and it creates an interesting texture for the toffee. I made one batch as directed by the recipe and one with this suggestion – I like the crushed up cracker version better.)

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recipe: tinola (chicken & ginger soup)

I have to admit that I was quite spoiled growing up, eating wonderful dishes made lovingly by my parents, who are both fantastic cooks. I should have paid more attention when I was still in their household – maybe I would have picked up cooking tips and boatloads of recipes that are tried and true.

Alas, I am able to make my parents proud by my small repertoire of Filippino dishes: lumpia, bistek and tinola. Lumpia is an eggroll, and the kind that I make is also called lumpiang prito (fried eggroll). I learned a basic recipe from my mom and it is easy to make and really good to eat! Bistek is one of my favorite Filippino dishes and it’s just a beef dish with onions. However, the topic of interest for this post is tinola, which is probably my favorite Filippino dish. I made it last night for dinner, as it seemed fitting to eat in this dreary weather.

I make this dish simply, with onions, chicken, spinach, gingerroot and fish sauce. Since the weather is now full-blown winter cold, I thought tinola would be perfect for dinner.

Here’s a rough little sketch of how I cooked tinola:

• 8-10 chicken tenderloins (the frozen strip kind), thawed and cut into smaller pieces (bite-size)
• 1 small white onion, sliced into strips
• 1 regular-sized bag of baby spinach (you can use more or less)
• canola oil
• ginger powder
• ginger root, peeled and cut into small chunks
• fish sauce (can be found in any regular grocery store or specialty Asian markets)

1.  Pour about 1-2 tbsp of cooking oil in large soup pot (I think the one I used is either a 4 or 5 quart pot) and heat.
2.  Sautee onion strips in the oil and cook until the strips are softened but not browned. Then add the ginger root and cook for a few minutes.
3.  Cook the chicken pieces along with the onion and ginger; do this until the chicken is done, but not browned (so make sure you stir every so often).
4.  Sprinkle ginger powder over the chicken (about 7 shakes or so).
5.  Pour about 6-7 cups of water into the pot (I just eye-balled it, poured water but stopped about 1 1/2 inch from the top of the pot) and turn up the heat to about medium high.
6.  Put as much spinach leaves in the mixture and stir.
7.  Put fish sauce (about 7 shakes or according to taste, since it has a high salt content) in the mixture, stir and flavor with more ginger powder if necessary.
8.  Bring it to a boil, keep tasting it and flavor with the ginger powder and fish sauce as needed. Let it boil for a few minutes, then simmer in low heat for about 10 minutes.
9.  Remove from the heat and serve over rice.

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(note: I’ve made this before without ginger root – I just compensated for it by adding a lot of ginger powder. Also, tinola, stored in the fridge overnight, tastes better the next day because all the flavors have fused together.)

I’m sure there are various ways to cook tinola but so far, I like my version of it. Of course, my parents’ version of this dish is way better.