Leah's Steamed Fish

1 Small Whole Fish (such as trout) that measures 6-8 inches, or part of a whole fish (skin on!)
3 cloves garlic
1 Tbs sesame oil
2 inches Ginger
3 Tbs Soy Sauce

Take a cook pot that has a fitted lit, place a steamer inside, fill with water to the level of the steamer, place a plate on top of the steamer. Wash the fish, put it on top of the plate. Chop the garlic and put it on top of the fish. Julienne the ginger and put it on top of the fish. Pour oil and soy sauce on top as well. (remove skin from ginger) Steam the fish for 15 minutes or so until it smells done. You can check doneness by slicing into with a sharp knife. Serve with rice and pour the sauce on top. Remove bones before serving.

Broiled Salmon

I am always looking for new fish recipes. This one is very simple, and my mom always cooks salmon this way (in fact I think it's the only way she cooked it when I was living at home...)

Take a salmon fillet (fillets are easy to find in the grocery store, however, as I hear from my friends who grew up outside America, fish is much more flavorful if you get it with the skin still on.)

Anyways, take a salmon fillet. Wash it off, and place it on a prepared broiling pan.

A broiling pan is a very useful piece of equipment, consisting of a top piece which has holes in it, and a lower part as well, which catches the juices while the meat is cooking. You will want to cover the top part with aluminum foil, and cut through so the holes are still there. Then spray the foil with pam or olive oil.

Then put the fillet on, skin down. You can put some olive oil or butter on top of the fish, although it's not really necessary, because it's such an oily fish.

Turn the oven up as high as it will go (to the "broil" setting") and leave the door open a little bit. your oven may not need the door open to broil, but for some ovens you need to do this. once it is really hot, put the fish in. Cook it for about 10 minutes or until it starts to smell cooked. Then take it out and check the inside with a sharp knife to see if it is cooked. Allow 10 min for each inch of thickness. The smell test is key though... Do not overcook!!! Once it is almost done only allow another minute or so as it cooks quickly.

Take it out and squirt some lemon on and salt and pepper. This is good with a salad or with bread or anything else. You can even eat it all on it's own. Salmon is so good. If there are leftovers you can break them apart and scramble them with eggs, or put them with lettuce in a salad. You can also mix with mayonnaise to make a salmon salad sandwich.

Maria's Bulgarian Open Faced Sandwiches

Delicious!! [measurements are guesstimations... cut enough to cover the bread without overwhelming, slice thinly, and arrange artfully, placing the olive in the center, as is traditional in bulgarian cooking]

1 piece of break
2 Tbs goat cheese
5 slices salami
6 slices cucumber
1 olive

Toast the bread, and smear with goat cheese. Cover with salami slices, then cucumber. Place olive in center. Serve. Yum!! :)

Tomatoes can be substituted for salami.

Marinara Pasta with Veggies

2 cloves garlic
olive oil
1/2 onion
1 carrot
1 bell pepper
2 zucchini
1 box cherry tomatoes
thyme
basil
rosemary
1 bottle marinara sauce
3-4 cups dried pasta

Saute the garlic in the olive oil, then add the onion, bell pepper, carrot, and zucchini, waiting a little time in between, allowing the more tuberous veggies a chance to soften before cooking the softer veggies. Once they are all cooked but not soft, add the cherry tomatoes so they have a chance to deflate a little. Add the spices. Meanwhile, cook the pasta. Add the pasta, veggies, and marinara sauce to a big bowl and mix together. The veggies and pasta should warm the sauce sufficiently. Err on the side of extravagance for veggie and spice amount.

FARMERS' MARKET SALAD WITH SPICED GOAT CHEESE ROUNDS

This is funny... I cooked a farmers market salad for my friend neola, and then I ordered a farmers market salad when we went out for dinner a few days later. The one I got at the restaurant was different though (we went to malabar and they made it with frisee, strawberries, pistachios... it was good. the berries were a little bitter though, and they would need to be sweet to offset the frisee.) pistachios in salad are amazing.

here's the recipe for the salad i made, courtesy of epicurious:

[again, i didn't have dijon mustard (it's on the list! don't make that face at me!), and the goat cheese is hard to cut... i tried freezing it a little bit, but i don't know that that helped much. i didn't have fresh thyme so i used dried. i think fresh would have been much better, but dried was ok in a pinch. i am going to try to get a thyme plant to grow in the garden.

i didn't have a shallot so i just used garlic, and regular salt, and balsamic vinegar, and plain mustard. the salad dressing came out fine. i love potatoes in a salad.. and olives make a yummy addition as well :) i used the rest of the tomatoes in the next recipe.

Why you'll make it: Because it's everything that's good at the market right now in one good-for-you salad.

Goat cheese rounds
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 teaspoons ground cumin
11/2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
16 (1/3-inch-thick) rounds chilled soft fresh goat cheese (from one 11-ounce log)

Vinaigrette
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 shallot, minced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse kosher salt

Salad
1 pound baby new potatoes (such as Dutch yellow baby potatoes), halved
1 pound green beans (or mix of green and yellow), trimmed
8 cups (loosely packed) mixed salad greens
1/3 cup (packed) small fresh basil leaves
12 ounces assorted small tomatoes (such as cherry, grape, and teardrop; preferably mix of red and yellow)
1/2 cup black olives (such as Niçoise)

For goat cheese rounds:
Line baking sheet with waxed paper or parchment paper. Mix first 6 ingredients in shallow bowl. Dip cut sides of goat cheese rounds into spice mixture to coat. Place on prepared baking sheet. Chill until ready to serve. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before serving.

For vinaigrette:
Whisk first 4 ingredients in small bowl. Gradually whisk in olive oil. Season with coarse salt and pepper. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewhisk before using.

For salad:
Steam potatoes until just tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer to plate; cool. Steam green beans until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Rinse under cold water; drain. Pat dry with paper towels. DO AHEAD Potatoes and green beans can be made 6 hours ahead. Wrap separately in paper towels. Place in resealable plastic bag; chill.

Combine greens and basil in large bowl. Add enough vinaigrette to coat lightly; toss. Arrange on large platter. Add potatoes and green beans to same large bowl; add remaining dressing and toss. Arrange potatoes and beans atop greens. Scatter tomatoes and olives over. Surround with goat cheese rounds.

Chicken Tacos

This is my version of a taco sauce based on what I read off the back of a taco sauce label in... guess where?



Tortillas
1/2 White onion, chopped
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
2 chicken breasts, chopped
1 cup rice
2 roma tomatoes, chopped
1 avocado
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup cilantro
1 lime
tapatio to taste
half hablespoon of butter
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tsp honey
2 tbs vinegar
cayenne pepper
salt

First, put the butter and 1 tbs oil (you don't have to measure, just pour some liberally in the pan with the butter) and wait till the butter melts. Next, add the rice and 2 cups water to a pan (or follow the directions on the rice container). Add the garlic to the oil, and saute, with the onion and bell pepper. While they are cooking, season with 3/4 of a tsp each of cumin and turmeric (to taste), and salt and cayenne pepper to taste. After they are done, remove from pan, add some more oil, and add the chicken, turn to med low. Splash some tapatio on, and add the vinegar. Add 1/2 tsp of cumin and turmeric (to taste), and 1 tsp honey. Add a tsp of garlic powder. Add the tomato paste. cook until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, then turn off heat.

Guacamole:
Combine the chopped tomatoes with the avocado, and smush the avocado. Squeeze in half of the lime juice. Add the cilantro.

Serve in tortillas (you may warm in the microwave or on burners) with the rice and guacamole.

Serves 3-4

Cookies

I made cookies this week to bring in to work (unfortunately a large percentage of them ended up in my belly... on my thighs... etc) Ah, well, the sacrifices we make for a delicious cookie! I used the Tollhouse recipe as seen below, but instead of using the Tollhouse chips I used ghiradelli bittersweet. I love using ghiradelli chips in cookies. I think they taste the best, plus I love the shiny gold bags (all right, I'm a sucker for a pretty bag!) I noticed there's a new chip on the market, I think it was nestle, but it's a dark chocolate chip. Dark chocolate has become really popular since scientists have found out its health benefits. I thought about using it, but I thought I would prefer something sweeter. Next time I might try the dark chocolate though, to balance out the sweetness from the coconut.

Substitutions: I used about 3/4 cup less flour, and added 1 cup oats (I had the instant oats, which are cut into smaller pieces, which I think worked well for this recipe)

I added about 3/4 cup coconut
I added about 1 cup chopped almonds

The cookies came out tasty, although they were definitely cooked at 9 minutes, and I ended up turning the oven down and cooking them a little less for the later batches. I'm not sure if my oven heats up more than it says it's at or what... I need to get a thermometer for it.

They also tasted a little buttery and kinda salty, so I might use a little less salt next time, and maybe substitute something else for some of the butter, I'm not sure what... maybe oil. Or just use a little less butter. I accidentally melted the butter before I creamed it, maybe this affected the flavor. I'll post some photos soon, as well as some photos of the wonton soup that I made.

Wonton Soup

I used the following recipe, with modifications: used canned chicken broth (combined with bottled condensed &water) instead of making my own, and used the remaining cabbage instead of bok choy. added some ginger to the soup. I didn't use shrimp. I used a 1 1/4 lb of pork. The onion and cabbage tasted really good in the soup, you can't go wrong w/ swanson's broth. I think i could have added even more spices to the wontons... i added garlic as well... maybe more onion would have been good, or more soy sauce... still they taste great, and so pretty! the pieces of green onion in the soup add a great touch. yum.


Wonton Soup Wonton Soup

by the Editors of Easy Home Cooking Magazine

Wonton Soup

Yield: Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

1/2

cup finely chopped cabbage

8

ounces lean ground pork

4

ounces deveined shelled shrimp, finely chopped

3

green onions with tops, finely chopped

1

egg, lightly beaten

1-1/2

tablespoons cornstarch

2

teaspoons soy sauce

1

teaspoon oyster sauce

2

teaspoons sesame oil, divided

48

wonton wrappers (about 1 pound)

1

egg white, lightly beaten

3/4

pound bok choy or napa cabbage

6

cups chicken broth

1

cup thinly sliced Barbecued Pork (recipe follows)

3

green onions with tops, thinly sliced

Edible flowers for garnish

Preparation:

1.

For filling, squeeze cabbage to remove as much moisture as possible. Place cabbage in large bowl. Add pork, shrimp, chopped onions, whole egg, cornstarch, soy sauce, oyster sauce and 1-1/2 teaspoons sesame oil; mix well.

2.

For wontons, work with about twelve wrappers at a time, keeping remaining wrappers covered with plastic wrap. Place one wonton wrapper on work surface with one point facing you. Place 1 teaspoon filling in bottom corner; fold bottom corner over filling.

3.

Moisten side corners of wonton wrapper with egg white. Bring side corners together, overlapping slightly; pinch together firmly to seal. Cover finished wontons with plastic wrap while filling remaining wontons. (Cook immediately, refrigerate up to 8 hours or freeze in resealable bag.)

4.

Cut bok choy stems into 1-inch slices; cut leaves in half crosswise. Set aside.

5.

Add wontons to large pot of boiling water; cook until filling is no longer pink, about 4 minutes (6 minutes if frozen); drain. Place in bowl of cold water to prevent wontons from sticking together.

6.

Bring chicken broth to a boil in large saucepan. Add bok choy and remaining 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil; simmer 2 minutes. Drain wontons; add to hot broth. Add slices of Barbecued Pork and sliced onions. Ladle into soup bowls. Serve immediately. Garnish, if desired.

GREEN BEAN AND RED ONION SALAD WITH WARM CIDER VINAIGRETTE

I didn't have dijon mustard or mustard seeds or apple cider vinegar... I used some extra apple juice concentrate and cooked it longer... and I used a combo of white and balsamic vinegar. it came out ok, a good side salad. you get a lot of extra salad dressing. I want to go buy some mustard seeds and try it again with mustard seeds... I think this would be a good accompaniment to a piece of quiche or fish and rice... it could go with pretty much anything, or you could add some tempeh to it and then it could stand on its own.

1/2 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon mustard seeds

6 ounces green beans, trimmed, cut in half on deep diagonal
4 cups (packed) baby greens (about half of 4.5-ounce package)
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
2 large radishes, trimmed, halved, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon finely chopped bread-and-butter pickles

Boil apple concentrate in small saucepan over medium heat until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk in vinegar, oil, mustard, and mustard seeds. Season vinaigrette with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Rewarm before using.)

Cook beans in medium pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes; drain well. Transfer beans to large bowl; cool slightly. Add greens, onion, radishes, and pickles. Toss with enough vinaigrette to coat.

Makes 2 servings.

Bon Appétit
February 2001

Epicurious.com © CondéNet, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ginger Fruit Salad

FRUIT SALAD WITH GINGER SYRUP

This didn't come out as gingery as I would have hoped. I made it with 3 nectarines, 3 peaches, a mango, and half a small cantelope. It still tastes great and I think the mint is a great addition. I've noticed that it is just as cheap to buy an herb growing in a pot than to buy a packet of fresh herbs at the grocery store. I think it makes a really big difference to have fresh herbs. My basil is still alive (not quite thriving) but I bought some copper tape to protect it from the snails. The copper creates an electrolytic effect: when the slimy, wet slug comes into contact with the copper it creates a circuit and the slug is shocked.

Anyways, back to the fruit salad: next time I might include some little pieces of candied ginger as well, I think that would taste good. Also, some of the juice from the cantelope went into the sauce and diluted it, so I would try to avoid that in the future. The mint was definitely very tasty though... Mmmm...

*******************

This recipe yields more ginger syrup than you'll need for the fruit salad. Add a spoonful to a glass of club soda, sparkling water, or iced tea for a refreshing summer drink.

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 2 1/2 hr (includes chilling)

For ginger syrup
3 cups water
2 cups sugar
2 cups thinly sliced fresh ginger (1/2 lb; from a 10-inch piece), left unpeeled

For fruit salad
4 cups (1-inch pieces) summer fruit (such as mixed berries, melons, peaches, and/or nectarines)
3 tablespoons small mint leaves

Make syrup:
Bring water, sugar, and ginger to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan, then stir until sugar is dissolved. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, then remove from heat and let steep 15 minutes. Pour ginger syrup through a sieve into a bowl, discarding ginger. Chill, covered, at least 2 hours.

Make fruit salad:
Toss fruit and mint with 1/4 cup syrup, or to taste.

Cooks' note:
Syrup keeps, covered and chilled, 2 weeks.

Makes 4 servings.

Gourmet
June 2004

Epicurious.com © CondéNet, Inc. All rights reserved.

Back from Vacation Pasta salad

using only what's in your cupboards:

whole wheat pasta
canned black beans
fresh cherry tomatoes (they were still good!)
frozen peas & corn
sundried tomatoes
spike! seasoning
fresh basil (from the yard)
salted roasted sunflower seeds
raisins
vinegar
olive oil
honey
pepper (black)
dried basil

boil the pasta, then mix everything up in a bowl... quinn had a really good bean salad recipe that called for mango and avocado that i will try and remember. this one is pretty tasty though, and goes well with the orange juice that was in my freezer. yum!