Sword Fish Teriyaki and Date Bars

I grilled Swordfish as we were making Swordfish Teriyaki. This is a recipe that I really like. This summer we have expanded our cooking to grill fruit while we are grilling the main course. This time I grilled Peaches. It works out great and makes a wonderful accompaniment to a dish. Just half the fruit and remove the pit! You can get the recipe for the Salmon Teriyaki on our blog of: August 8, 2016. Click the date to get the recipe.

We started with a Tomato Salad make with Tomatoes from our garden. It is special when you can eat food you actually grew. We topped the Tomatoes with Burrata and Pesto.

For dessert we baked Date Bars from the City Cuisine Cookbook. They easy to made and delicious. You must bake them!

Chewy Date Bars

City Café Cookbook

These great old-fashioned sandwich bars are crunchy on the top and bottom, and chewy insideUse them to stuff lunch boxes, serve with a bowl of vanilla ice cream for dessert, or cut into small squares for afternoon tea.

1          pound pitted dried dates, chopped

1          cup water

1          cup granulated sugar

½         cup fresh lemon juice

3          cups rolled oats

2-1/2   cups all-purpose flour

1-3/4   cups packed brown sugar

¾         teaspoon baking soda

¾         teaspoon salt

1-3/4   cups (3-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 35o0F. Generously butter a 9 x12-inch pan.

Combine dates and water in a saucepan. Cook at a low boil for 5 minutes, until mixture is as thick as mashed potatoes. Stir in sugar and remove from heat. Add lemon juice and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, mix together oats, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add melted butter to dry mixture. Stir to evenly moisten.

Spread half oat mixture in baking pan to form an even layer. Cover evenly with all date mixture. Spread remaining oat mixture over top.

Bake about 40 minutes, until top is golden brown and pebbly. The edges should start caramelizing. Set aside to cool, in pan on rack, about 1 hour. Run a sharp knife along inside edges to loosen. invert, trim edges, and cut into squares.

Makes 12 Large Squares

Spicy Grilled Pork With Fennel, Cumin and Red Onion

 We saw a recipe for Spicy Grilled Pork With Fennel, Cumin and Red Onion in the New York Times. I liked the idea of cooking on the grill with skewers. The idea of grilling Peaches also intrigued me. We enjoyed the dinner and would make it again.

Spicy Grilled Pork With Fennel, Cumin and Red Onion

New York Times

 

Imbued with spices that char at high heat, this aromatic pork recipe is a snap to throw together — exactly what you want for a night of summer grilling. If you’re got wooden skewers, don’t forget to soak them in water for an hour before grilling, so they don’t flare up. And if you’re broiling and you don’t want to bother with skewers at all, just spread the pork cubes out on a rimmed sheet pan, turning them halfway through cooking with tongs or a spatula. The pork is excellent served with pita or crusty bread or a rice pilaf, or simple grilled corn on the cob.

 

Ingredients

 

1-¾  pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks

Kosher salt

1       lime, plus some wedges for serving

¼      cup cilantro or basil, leaves and tender stems, plus more for serving

2       tablespoons fish sauce

2       garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

1       jalapeño or other green chile, seeded if desired

1       teaspoon honey

1-½  tablespoons fennel seeds

1       tablespoon cumin seeds

1       tablespoon coriander seeds

1       small red onion, sliced, for serving

 

Preparation

 

1.            Season pork lightly with kosher salt and put it in a bowl or resealable bag.

2.            Juice the lime into a blender or food processor and add cilantro, fish sauce, garlic, jalapeño and honey. Blend until the jalapeño and garlic are puréed, then add fennel, cumin, coriander seeds and pulse four or five times to bruise the spices and mix them in.

3.            Pour mixture over the pork, tossing to coat the pieces. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes while you heat the grill, or up to 24 hours.

4.            When ready to cook, heat the grill or broiler with a rack positioned 4 inches from the heat source.

5.            Thread the pork onto skewers, leaving a little space between cubes. Grill over the highest heat possible, or broil on high, for 2 to 5 minutes, then flip the skewers and continue cooking until the meat is browned all over and charred in spots. It should be just cooked through: A little pink is OK, but there shouldn’t be any red spots.

6.            Serve the pork with cilantro sprigs and onion slices on top, and lime wedges on the side for squeezing.

Risotto with Asparagus and Morell Mushrooms

We love Risotto and you can make it with so many different additions. We had Morell Mushrooms and Asparagus this was a natural. You can get the Risotto recipe from our blog of: April 21, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe. Obviously leave out the Sausage and add Mushrooms and Asparagus for this superb version.

Spaghetti with Fresh Basil and Tomatoes

Scarpetta's Spaghetti With Tomato and Basil is a favorite pasta of ours. One of the things that makes it so special, is that you half-cook the pasta. When it is half-cooked, you add it to the simmering sauce where it finishes cooking absorbing the sauce directly into the noodle. And it is Vegetarian! You can get the recipe on our blog of: August 6, 2015. Click the date to get the recipe.

Stir-Fried Beans with Pork and Chiles

Cathy spotted this recipe for Stir-Fried Beans with Pork and Chiles in the New York Times. It is a great recipe. I highly recommend it. I was dubious of the green beans but it worked out splendidly. The peanuts gave it the dish crunch and the chiles gave it a kick. We have made this delicious dish many times. You can find the recipe in our blog of: November 9, 2018. Click the date to get the recipe.

Tuna with Avocado Wasabi

 

We really liked Tuna. Tuna with Avocado-Wasabi Puree is a great preparation for Tuna. We started with White Asparagus. There is a short window when White Asparagus from France is available. We found a vendor: Four Star Seafood and Provisions, in San Francisco that ships the White Asparagus. It has a very different texture than Green Asparagus. The exterior is very thick and stringy and must be aggressively trimmed. The interior is very tender. Since we had to have Avocado for the Tuna, we decided to make Guacamole and Margaritas to start, perfect on hot summer night. We recommend the recipe. One fun culinary thing is since both Avocado and Wasabi are green in color, they blend in together perfectly, surprising you as scoop up the avocado with a delightful taste.

Tuna with Avocado-Wasabi Puree

The Japanese Grill

 

Here’s another popular preparation from Matsuri, Tadashi’s restaurant—rich, creamy avocado meets dense, intense tuna, with the wasabi and lime juice adding heat and bite. Use only sushi grade tuna for this recipe (yellowfin or bigeye [ahi] tuna are great choices) and perfectly ripe avocados. Allow the fish to come to room temperature before grilling, and grill quickly-—we like our tuna cooked rare, as we explain in the method. If you prefer, grill the fish for 3 minutes for medium-rare or 4 minutes for medium, but not more than that; if you over-cook tuna, it turns tough and rubbery

 

2       avocados, pitted, peeled, and cut into small chunks

1       tablespoon wasabi

1       tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

1       teaspoon salt

2       tablespoons chopped fresh chives (you can substitute finely chopped scallions)

½      cup Garlic-Soy Sauce
Marinade (page 103)

4       tuna steaks (about

2       pounds), about *3/4 inch thick

 

Add the avocados, wasabi, lime juice, salt, and chives to a bowl: mash the ingredients together with a fork; set aside.

 

Pour the garlic-spy sauce marinade into a baking dish or rimmed sheet pan. Lay the tuna steaks in the marinade and gently flip them 4 times until the fish is coated all over.

 

Preheat a grill to medium-hot. Brush the cooking grate clean and oil it well. Grill the tuna quickly, about 2 minutes, turning once. You want to just sear the surface and quickly caramelize the marinade. The tuna should be rare to almost raw inside. Remove from the grill, spoon the avocado puree ontop of the tuna, and serve Immediately.

Garlic-Soy Sauce Marinade

The Japanese Grill

 

When Tadashi arrived in America twenty-five years ago (to surf in Southern California, but that’s another story), he discovered American-style grilling with its charred, thick, juicy steaks in all their glory, something he never saw in Japan. He quickly fell in love with this fiery cooking and from that moment on, became, well, a grilling fanatic. But Tadashi also knew how much Japanese seasonings enhance the taste of grilled meat and fish. So he came up with this indispensable marinade to lavish an irresistible dose of savory, garlicky flavor to any red meat and dense-fleshed fish like tuna, salmon, mahi mahi, swordfish, and shark. Keep this go-to marinade handy in the fridge throughout the grilling season, just like Tadashi does.

 

½      cup soy sauce

8       cloves garlic, grated

¼      cup olive oil

2       teaspoons freshly
ground black pepper

 

Whisk together the soy sauce, garlic, olive oil, and black pepper in a small bowl.This marinade can keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Just mix again before using it.

 

Steak

 

Not much to add other than we love Steak! Dry Aged is Steak is the best. We season it first with Garlic, Salt, Pepper and Rosemary. Be sure to scrape the Rosemary and Garlic off the Steak before Grilling, for they would otherwise burn. We purchased it, of course, at McCall's Meat and Fish.

Braised Chicken with Lemon and Olives

 

We made a wonderful dish, Braised Chicken with Lemon and Olives. It is a recipe we repeatedly make. We often add Fingerling Potatoes to the dish. You can get the recipe on our blog of: May 6, 2015. Click the date to get the recipe. We started with Pasta with Porcini Mushrooms.

White Asparagus / Fresh Porcini Pasta

We had purchased White Asparagus and Porcini Mushrooms from Four Star Seafood in San Francisco. We made a wonderful pasta. It was a great dinner. We used a recipe that a friend had given us for the Mushroom Pasta. The food was so special it was wonderful dinner!

Fresh Porcini Mushroom Pasta
use real butter 

1.5 lbs.   fresh porcini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced 1/4-inch   thick

3              tbsps unsalted butter

2              cloves garlic, smashed and chopped

¼             cup white wine (something bright and unoaked)

1 lb.        fettucine, cooked

½             cup heavy cream

squeeze of lemon juice to taste

salt and pepper to taste

Pecorino Romano cheese, grated (to taste)

parsley, minced

 

1. To clean your porcini mushrooms, don’t use water or a damp cloth. A mushroom brush will do to gently remove any dirt or debris from your porcinis. Try to use the smaller bouchons or slightly larger mushrooms that haven’t become wormed out.

2. Slice the mushrooms into 1/4-inch thick slices. Set them in a wide, shallow pan over high heat to dry them out, flipping after a few minutes. Eventually liquid will begin to bubble forth as they begin to turn slightly golden.

3. Add the butter and garlic to the pan and let the mushrooms cook until they begin to brown. Pour enough wine to cover the bottom of the pan and stir up the browned bits in the pan. Let simmer for a minute or so. Add the cream and the wet, cooked pasta to the pan. Stir to coat and let simmer to a thin sauce. Squeeze a little lemon juice (to your liking) over the pasta and season with good salt and fresh ground pepper.

4. Serve with a sprinkle of grated cheese and minced parsley. 

5. Serves 4.

Austrian White Asparagus with Brown Butter Sauce

Wolfgang Puck

Food Network

 

Ingredients

 

12     white asparagus, peeled

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4       ounces butter

1       cup brioche crumbs

1       teaspoon freshly minced parsley leaves

 

Directions

 

1.   Peel the asparagus. Line the asparagus from the spear end and cut into approximately 6-inch lengths. Discard ends.

2.   In a medium saucepan, bring salted water to a boil. Cook the asparagus for 10 to 12 minutes, until tender being careful not to overcook.

3.   Drain the asparagus. Set aside. In a large saute pan, heat the butter. Add the brioche crumbs and saute until golden. Add the reserved asparagus and saute until well coated with the browned butter and brioche crumbs. Sprinkle with parsley, season with salt and pepper. Serve warm.

 

 

Zucchini Pasta

 Zucchini Pasta is a favorite of ours. It is a vegetable dish that I really like. We have made it many, many times. The zucchini is sautéed until it is almost but not quite burnt. The sauce is as good as any meat sauce. You can find the recipe for this simple and delicious pasta in our blog of: June 19, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.

Cassoulet

 

We had left over Char Siu Pork. We decided to make Cassoulet (our our version of it)! This heavy French dish is a favorite on a cold winter day. We remember in San Francisco a favorite French Bistro wrote on their blackboard how many days the Cassoulet had been cooking. It was in the thousands. They just kept refreshing it with more pork and beans.

This one we basically winged as to the recipe. We soaked Cannellini Beans and cooked till soft. We also had Tomatoes that we had Candied from our garden. Lastly we knew the Cassoulet needed Sausage. We had Sausage from McCall’s Meat and Fish in the freezer that was perfect to add. Finally we topped with lots of Toasted Breadcrumbs.

Cathy reviewed several recipes and combined them to make this wonderful dish.

Here is one that can serve as a starter for you. This dish allows for a lot of flexibility by the chef.

We started with Asparagus topped with sautéed Bread Crumbs.

A fabulous dinner!

Herbed White Bean and Sausage Stew

Time: 2 1/2 hours

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, more for serving

1 pound sweet Italian sausage, sliced 3/4-inch thick

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

2 medium carrots, finely diced

2 celery stalks, finely diced

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 pound dried Great Northern beans, rinsed and picked through

2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste

2 thyme sprigs

1 large rosemary sprig

1 bay leaf

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, more for serving

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, more to taste.

Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and brown until cooked through, about 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel.

Add the tomato paste and cumin to the pot. Cook, stirring, until dark golden, about 2 minutes. Add the carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables have softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the beans, 8 cups water, salt, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf. Turn the heat up to high and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to low and simmer gently until the beans are tender, about 2 hours, adding more water if needed to make sure the beans remain submerged.

When the beans are tender, return the sausage to the pot. Simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the vinegar and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning. Ladle into warm bowls and serve drizzled with additional vinegar and olive oil.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.