Tagine Alert

We decided to make a fish tangine. We purchased halibut at McCall’s Meat and Fish. We used a recipe for Moroccan Fish Tagine with Tomatoes, Olives, and Preserved Lemons from Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking by Paula Wolfert.

Everyone contributed to the meal. We started with a great bubbly wine that we purchased from Palate. It is called: Ca Va Bien. Unfortunately, they don’t have any more; we really liked it. I checked on the internet and can’t find it anywhere. Guess we have to wait till next year to buy more.

Billy and Kevin made Shrimp as an appetizer. Yummy!

Darryl and Robert brought Fresh Tomato Soup. It was basically a delivery system for their Garlic Aioli! Tomatoes are finally at their near peak and the soup was wonderful.

Cathy made Couscous to eat with the tagine. It was delicious! This is a good recipe if you want to make a tagine.

Fig season is almost over. We made our fig upside down cake. It is very easy to make. We make it every year, serve it first for desert and then eat the remaining cake for breakfast. If you don’t bake and want to give it a shot, it is a good place to start. You can find the recipe in our blog of: Aug. 4, 2007. Click the date to get the recipe.

Moroccan Fish Tagine with Tomatoes, Olives, and Preserved Lemons

Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking by Paula Wolfert

SERVES 6

Fish baked in a clay pot takes beautifully to long, slow simmering in the famous complex Moroccan herb-and- spice sauce called charmoula. Ingredients that include garlic, cumin, cilantro, hot pepper, and preserved lemon permeate the flesh of most any type offish. Add time to the equation and you have a dish that is bright, savory, and exciting to eat. Serve the fish at table directly from the clay baking dish.

Preferred Clay Pot:

An 11- or 12-inch Moroccan tagine, or tagra or Spanish cazuela, or 3-quart flameware or La Chamba shallow baking dish

3 teaspoons cumin seeds

3 garlic cloves

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

¼ - ½ teaspoons crushed hot red pepper

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

4 wedges preserved lemon, rinsed, pulp and
peel separated

3 tablespoons fruity extra virgin olive oil

1 pound monkfish fillet or thick slabs of halibut

1 large carrot, very thinly sliced

2 celery ribs, stringed and very thinly sliced

1 pound red ripe tomatoes, peeled with a swivel serrated peeler and sliced into thin rounds

1 small green bell pepper, sliced into very thin rounds

2 dozen Moroccan red (see Note) or picholine olives, rinsed and pitted

2 imported bay leaves

Fresh cilantro sprigs for garnish

1.     Early in the day, or a day in advance, toast the cumin seeds by tossing them in a hot, dry conventional skillet over medium heat for about 1 minute. Grind to a powder and set aside. Make the charmoula: In a mortar or blender, combine the garlic, cumin, salt, paprika, parsley, cilantro, the pulp of the preserved lemon, and the olive oil. Puree to a smooth sauce.

2.     Rinse the fish and pat dry with paper towels. If using monkfish, cut away the gray membrane and divide the fish into 4 even chunks. Rub half of the charmoula all over the fish, and let stand for 1 hour at room temperature, or up to 24 hours in the refrigerator. Add ½ cup water to the remaining charmoula, cover, and refrigerate separately.

3.     About 1 1/2 hours before serving, preheat the oven to 300°F. Spread 2 tablespoons of the reserved charmoula sauce over the bottom of the tagine. Scatter the carrot and celery on top. Add half of the tomatoes land bell peppers; sprinkle with a little sauce. Lay the fish over the vegetables and cover with the remaining-tomatoes and peppers. Spread the remaining charmoula on top. scatter the diced preserved lemon peel and the bay leaves around the fish. Cover the dish tightly with a sheet of foil and bake for 1 hour.

4.     Pour off the liquid from the dish into a small nonreactive saucepan. Bring it to a boil over moderately high heat and boil until it is thickened and reduced to 1/2 cup. Pour back over the fish.

5.     Meanwhile, raise the oven temperature to 500°F. Baste the fish with the pan juices and bake, uncovered, in the top third of the oven for 10 minutes, or until a nice crust has formed over the vegetables. Transfer the tagine to a wooden surface or folded kitchen towel to prevent cracking. Garnish with cilantro sprigs. Serve warm or hot.

Note to the Cook: "Moroccan red" olives aren't really red; they can be russet, tan, violet, or even purple in color. Picked when ripe but not black, they are preserved in an acidic marinade and are particularly delicious when marinated in bitter orange juice. You can find them at www.chefshop.com. Another good choice is Lindsay-canned "Green Ripe Olives," which are produced in California and available at most supermarkets.

Lentil Pasta

We had one of our favorite summer meals. We wait patiently all summer for tomatoes to finally arrive at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market. When they do arrive, we eat them in as many ways as possible.

We started with the salad we call: The Hungry Cat Salad. We first tasted it at The Hungry Cat in Hollywood. Be sure to use Pecorino Cheese it is the secret for this easy to make salad. You can get the recipe in our blog of: Nov. 21, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.

The Italian Lentil Pasta from the restaurant Locanda Veneta in Los Angeles is one of the best. It is so rich, you would swear it was made with meat. We use Oven Candied Summer Tomatoes from: The Italian Country Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper.to make the sauce. The tomatoes once made can be frozen and used for up to 6 months. You can get the recipe from our blog of: July 22, 2008. Click the date to get the recipe.

Smoked Salmon and Persian Mulberries

At the Hollywood Farmer's Market we found the rarest of fruit: Persian Mulberries. They only have these berries for 1 or 2 weeks. We love them.

We started with a Summer Salad of: Feta, Cherry Tomatoes, Diced Cucumber, Diced Red Onion, Oregano and broken up pieces of La Panzanella Crackers.

We decided to smoke a salmon in our egg. The trick of course is: Low and Slow. We used Apple Wood for the smoke. We purchased a beautiful salmon filet at McCall’s Meat and Fish. The resultant smoked fish was extremely moist and smoky. We loved it! We used the recipe for Honey-Cured, Smoked Salmon from Cooking with Fire and Smoke by Phillip Stephen Schulz.

We made Saffron Rice from The Food of Morocco. It is very easy to make.

For dessert we had Vanilla Ice Cream and the Persian Mulberries.

Saffron Rice

From The Food of Morocco

==========

1 lb 2 oz of Short Grain Rice

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

¼ teaspoon ground saffron threads

¾ oz butter

Wash the rice in a sieve until the water runs clear.

Over medium heat, heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan and add the rice, stirring so that all the rice is covered with oil. Add 31 oz. of water, the saffron and ¼ teaspoon salt and stir well. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil for 1 minute.

Reduce heat to low, over and cook for 10-12 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed. Steam tunnels will form holes on the surface of the rice. Turn off heat, then leave the pan, covered, for 10 minutes. Add the butter and fluff lightly with a fork. Transfer to serving bowl. Saffron Rice is used to accompany fish dishes, but can be used as a substitute for couscous.

Gad Zukes!

Now that we had warm nights to eat on the deck, we struck gold at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market. We have a recipe that we absolutely love for Zucchini Pasta Carbonara, from a recipe by Mark Bittman in the New York Times.

Two years ago we bought some heirloom zucchini at a stand at the market. Last year we tried to buy some, but they said they didn’t plant any. We were very disappointed because the heirloom zucchini had exceptional flavor. Well this year they planted them and we were excited to make the pasta again. This is a riff on traditional spaghetti carbonara but with lots of sautéed browned zucchini. It is a keeper try it! You can get the recipe from our blog of: June 19, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.

We started with Fresh Melon that I drizzled Fresh Lime Juice over then topped with Prosciutto. Add wine, a warm night on the deck and good music and it was a great night!

Recipe: Grilled corn with tequila-lime butter – LA Times

 Grilled corn with tequila-lime butter

Total time: 1 hour, plus chilling time for the butter  Servings: 8

Note: This butter can be made a day ahead and stored tightly wrapped in the refrigerator.

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened to room temperature

3/4 teaspoon minced, seeded jalapeño

1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest (about 4 Mexican limes)

1 teaspoon lime juice (about 1 Mexican lime)

1 teaspoon tequila

1 tablespoon minced cilantro

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 unshucked ears corn

1. Make the tequila-lime butter. Beat the butter, jalapeño and lime zest in a bowl until creamy. Beat in the lime juice and tequila. The mixture should be very soft, but there should be no liquid showing; if you want, add a little more tequila. Beat in the cilantro and salt. Taste and adjust the seasoning. The mixture should be very forceful (it will be much milder when spread over the corn), but it should be evenly balanced between lime, butter and salt. Add more salt, lime or tequila as needed.

2. Spoon the butter onto a sheet of plastic wrap in the shape of a log and roll it into a cylinder. Twist the ends of the plastic wrap in opposite directions to firm the cylinder and roll it gently on the counter to eliminate any air pockets in the center. Refrigerate until ready to use. (Recipe can be prepared to this point a couple of days in advance).

3.. Soak the ears of corn in water to cover for at least 30 minutes before grilling.

4. Grill the corn over a medium-hot fire until the kernels inside are golden and tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the husks and most of the silk will come with them; rub off what little might remain. Slice the butter into discs and pass alongside the hot corn.

The Return of the Jar-B-Que

Summer arrived with a vengeance. Los Angeles had been a cool dreary place, then all of a sudden it got hot, real hot. That means it is time for eating outside at night on the deck and lots of grilling.

We had Billy and Kevin over for a Char Shu Pork (Chinese style pork chops). We purchased the pork at McCall's Meat and Fish, it was beautiful meat! We made our absolutely favorite recipe for pork chops: We call it Jar-B-Queue, because the recipe is from Jar Restaurant. It has great Asian flavors and reminds us of the pork we used to get in Chinese Restaurants. You can find the recipe in our blog of Aug. 22, 2006. Click the date to get the recipe. It is delicious!

Corn had finally arrived in the market. It is very sweet. I saw a recipe in the Los Angeles Times for a Butter made blended with Tequila and Jalapeno Pepper and Lime that is spread on the corn. I decided to make it to serve with the grilled corn.

Finally we made Shrimp, Leek, and Pine Nut Fried Rice from The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking. from Barbara Tropp’s cookbook. The secret is to scramble the eggs separately from the rice and then just blend in the egg to the rice. It makes for a very light rice. You can get the recipe from our blog of April 20, 2010. Click the date to get the recipe.

We ended the dinner with fresh Cherries from the Hollwood Farmer’s Market.

Recipe: Grilled corn with tequila-lime butter – LA Times

 Grilled corn with tequila-lime butter

Total time: 1 hour, plus chilling time for the butter  Servings: 8

Note: This butter can be made a day ahead and stored tightly wrapped in the refrigerator.

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened to room temperature

3/4 teaspoon minced, seeded jalapeño

1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest (about 4 Mexican limes)

1 teaspoon lime juice (about 1 Mexican lime)

1 teaspoon tequila

1 tablespoon minced cilantro

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 unshucked ears corn

1. Make the tequila-lime butter. Beat the butter, jalapeño and lime zest in a bowl until creamy. Beat in the lime juice and tequila. The mixture should be very soft, but there should be no liquid showing; if you want, add a little more tequila. Beat in the cilantro and salt. Taste and adjust the seasoning. The mixture should be very forceful (it will be much milder when spread over the corn), but it should be evenly balanced between lime, butter and salt. Add more salt, lime or tequila as needed.

2. Spoon the butter onto a sheet of plastic wrap in the shape of a log and roll it into a cylinder. Twist the ends of the plastic wrap in opposite directions to firm the cylinder and roll it gently on the counter to eliminate any air pockets in the center. Refrigerate until ready to use. (Recipe can be prepared to this point a couple of days in advance).

3.. Soak the ears of corn in water to cover for at least 30 minutes before grilling.

4. Grill the corn over a medium-hot fire until the kernels inside are golden and tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the husks and most of the silk will come with them; rub off what little might remain. Slice the butter into discs and pass along

Manchurian Chicken

Life on the deck is good! After relaxing drinking wine and watching the sunset we started with a Greek Salad: Cucumbers, Red Onion, Feta, Black Olives, Cracked Bread, Cherry Tomatoes, Oregano. The salad is a delicious taste of summer.

Cathy also made a fantastic Succotash from Fresh Grilled Corn, Summer Shelling Beans and Bacon. It was a winner!

For the main course we made an interesting chicken recipe: Manchurian Chicken. It was from a recipe in the New York Times. It doesn’t come easier than this. The key ingredient is: Ketchup! You can get the recipe from our blog of: Sep. 23, 2008. Click the date to get the recipe. 

Corn Pasta

In the morning I had taken Bea to the doctor to analyze the abnormal results of some tests that she had taken. The doctor had a great response to the test. He explained that in her case the test was meaningless and the proper course of action was to never take the test again. I loved it!

We invited Bea over to celebrate her good medical news. She brought us an exceptional white wine. We started with another Tomato Salad just like the one we made for July 4^th. We then planned to serve Corn Pasta. This would be the first corn pasta of the year. Corn is late this year in the market. The recipe is excellent and is available on our blog of: August 12, 2008. Click the date to get the recipe.

While eating our salad we discussed that Barbrix was making appetizer sandwiches with soft-shelled crab. We couldn’t resist. We called the restaurant and asked if they had them on the menu. They did. So, we got up in the middle of our meal and drove to Barbrix and had Soft-Shell Crab Sandwiches and champagne. The sandwiches were great!

We then drove back to the house to continue our meal. The corn pasta was made but we realized we weren’t hungry for a pasta any more. So we went directly to dessert. Luckily we had some left over desserts from July 4^th that Daryl and Robert had left with us.

The next night Cathy and I had a Salad with Fresh Apricots and Prosciutto, followed by the Corn Pasta we had cooked but never eaten. One has to be flexable.

July 4th

Every July 4^th we have a party and watch fireworks from from our deck. This year was no exception. It is always touch and go as to the weather. Sometimes it can be foggy and you can’t really see much. This year it was clear and we watched the fireworks, both legal and illegal, from Silverlake to the Ocean.

Everyone contributed to the meal. We started on the deck with Cheeses and Rivera Cup Cocktails. Fran and Tom brought Guacamole and Chips and a great Hot Crab Spread. They also introduced us to a new olive: Graber's that I had never tried before. They were very meaty.

I grilled steaks from McCall’s Meat and Fish. Once again we used the Babo recipe for Dry Rubbed Rib-Eye Steak from the Babbo Cookbook by Mario Batali. It is the best rub! You can get the recipe from our blog of April 10, 2010: Just click the date to get the recipe. Nate at McCall's couldn’t believe how many steaks we bought for 8 people (4 very large ones) and promised us there would be leftovers. Unfortunately there wasn’t. At least we saved the bones for Daryl and Robert’s dogs!

We started with one of my favorite tomato salad recipes from Campanile: Green and Red Tomato Salad with Russian Dressing from New Classic Family Dinners by Mark Peel.  The Russian Dressing is exceptional. We did cheat however and use Best Foods mayo rather than make our own. We crushed garlic into it. This is a fabulous salad when tomatoes are at their peak.

Billy / Kevin brought a Potato Gratin. It was yummy crispy with lots of onions. I don’t know the recipe, but on the other hand, if I can always convince Billy to make it, I don’t need to know the recipe!

For dessert Daryl and Robert brought not one but two tarts that they made: a delicious Sour Cherry Pie and a Tarte Tatin.

We finished with Ginja Cherry Liquor. We had it in Lisbon (it is their national drink) and finally found it here in the US.

It sure makes the dinner easier when everyone contributes a dish (especially if they are ALL good cooks!).

green and red tomato salad with russian dressing

[makes 4 to 6 servings]

New Classic Family Dinners

Mark Peel

I made this dish after seeing the movie Fried Green Tomatoes. It's a perfect salad to make at the end of summer or the middle of fall (depending on where you live), that time of year when the last of the tomatoes have come in and the green ones that are still growing on your vines will never fully ripen. Tomatoes with Russian dressing is one of my favorite steak house combos. This rendition with green and red tomatoes is a great study in contrasts—creamy and chunky (dressing and tomatoes), sweet (red),and sharp (green), crisp (green) and juicy (red). I use beefsteak tomatoes for this; they're perfect for any all-tomato salad. They slice well and have a great firm texture.

[RUSSIAN DRESSING]

1     large egg, hard-boiled (below)

½    recipe Garlic Mayonnaise (below)

½    teaspoon white wine vinegar or champagne vinegar

1     teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

3     tablespoons Heinz ketchup

¼    teaspoon Lee & Perrins Worcestershire sauce

¼    teaspoon Tabasco sauce (more to taste)

2    tablespoons finely chopped red onion, soaked in cold water for 5 minutes, drained, rinsed, and dried on paper towels

1    teaspoons (packed) grated fresh or prepared horseradish

1    tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Salt

1/8  teaspoon ground black pepper

[SALAD]

I ¾     pounds mixed green and red tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1    hard-boiled egg, finely chopped

1    teaspoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

½    red onion, sliced very thin in half-moons, soaked in cold water for 5 minutes, drained, rinsed, and dried on paper towels

[HARD-BOILED EGGS]

Place the eggs in a medium saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Cover the pot tightly and turn off the heat. Meanwhile, fill a bowl with ice and water Let sit for 10 minutes for a dark, very slightly soft yolk, 12 minutes for a lighter; thoroughly hard-boiled but still very tender yolk. Drain and chill in the ice bath for several minutes, then peel.

1.             Make the Russian Dressing: Peel the hard-boiled eggs, cut in half (or break the eggs in half and scoop out the yolks and whites), and remove the yolks from the whites. Chop the whites very fine. Separately, chop the yolks very fine and mix with a tablespoon of the mayonnaise. They should almost be a puree (and indeed, you can puree them through a sieve instead of chopping them). Set aside.

2.             Place the rest of the garlic mayonnaise in a bowl. Stir in the vinegar, lemon juice, ketchup, Worcestershire,Tabasco, onion, horseradish, and parsley. Season to taste with about 1/4 teaspoon salt and the pepper Stir in the minced hard-cooked egg whites and the yolks. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Transfer to a covered container and refrigerate. It will keep for about 5 days in the refrigerator

3.             Make the salad: Line an oval or round platter with the tomato slices, overlapping them slightly and alternating red and green. Season with salt and pepper and let sit for 10 minutes.

4.             Spoon the dressing over the tomatoes. Sprinkle on the chopped egg and the parsley and if you wish, top with the onion slices. Serve.

VARIATION /THOUSAND ISLAND DRESSING

Substitute 1/4 cup finely chopped cornichons for the horseradish.

[GARLIC MAYONNAISE, makes  1 1/4 cups]

This isn't as garlicky as Provencal aoli but it's garlicky nonetheless. The bread, blended as it is with the egg yolk, makes for a tighter mayo.

1/4   cup diced baguette, without crusts

2   teaspoons white wine vinegar

1       to 2 fat garlic cloves (to taste), halved, green shoot removed, quartered

1/2   teaspoon kosher salt (more to taste)

1/2   cup plus 1 teaspoon canola oil, at room temperature

1       large egg yolk

1   tablespoon warm water

1       level teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2   cup extra virgin olive oil, at room temperature

1       teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1.    Place the diced bread in a small bowl and toss with the vinegar until saturated. Squeeze the bread over the bowl, extracting as much vinegar as you can (you may not be able to squeeze out any at all), and set the bread aside.

2.    Place the garlic, salt, and I teaspoon of canola oil in a mortar and mash to a paste; don't pound the garlic, but grind it against the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the bread and continue to mash until the mixture is smooth. Add the egg yolk, water; 1 teaspoon of the vinegar squeezed from the bread, and the mustard and mix together thoroughly. Slowly begin to drizzle in the remaining canola oil, stirring constantly with the pestle. When you've added about a third of the canola oil and the mixture has begun

3.    to emulsify, scrape the mixture into a medium bowl. Wet a dish towel and wrap it around the base of the bowl so the bowl doesn't move around while you whisk. Switch to a wire whisk.

4.    Very slowly drizzle in the remaining canola oil while whisking constantly. When all of the canola oil has been added, drizzle in the olive oil, whisking all the while. Once the mixture has emulsified you can add the oil a little more quickly. Add the remaining vinegar and the lemon juice. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more vinegar or lemon juice ,or salt if desired. Scrape into a jar or small bowl, cover tightly, and refrigerate until ready to use.

[MASHING GARLIC AND OTHER INGREDIENTS IN A MORTAR AND PESTLE]

When a recipe instructs you to mash garlic to a paste, it means to mash by grinding, not by pounding.The movement of the pestle should not be up and down but circular If you pound the garlic, you'll release too many volatile oils and your puree will be too pungent. Also, you risk breaking your mortar It's just as easy to get a smooth puree by slowly but firmly grinding the garlic against the sides and bottom of the mortar

HEINZ KETCHUP, LEE & PERRIN’s

WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE, AND TABASCO

Some commercial brands of food have their place in gastronomy, and the above-named are three of them. You can rely on their quality and consistency when you use them to season dishes.This point was brought home to me when I was a young chef, training at the 3-star French chef Roger Verge's restaurant Moulin de Mougins in the south of France. One afternoon between the lunch and dinner service, Chef Verge came into the kitchen to prepare a late lunch of steak tartare for his friends. He grabbed a superb piece of sirloin and I watched as he hand-chopped it with impressive skill. He seasoned the meat, then reached into a cabinet and pulled out some Heinz Ketchup to mix into the tartare. I couldn't believe my eyes, but it was at that moment I realized that a good product is a good product, worthy of even a 3-star kitchen.