Recipes

Pan-Seared Cod with Herb Butter Sauce

Ingredients
¹⁄₂ cup all purpose flour
4 (6 ounces each) boneless, skinless cod fillets
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot, minced
¹⁄₂ cup white wine
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped

Instructions
1. Place flour in shallow dish. Pat fish dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.  Coat fish lightly with flour.

2. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until just smoking. Cook fillets until golden and thickest part of fillets flake easily, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to platter and tent with foil.

3. Add remaining oil and shallot to empty pan and cook until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, and thyme and simmer until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Off heat, whisk in butter and parsley. Season sauce with salt and pepper and pour over cod. Serve. 

Comments
This recipe is from the 2008 Cook’s Country Annual.  The flavors were simple and the recipe was easy to bring together.  This is a quick recipe, perfect for a busy evening. 

Shown here with Garlicky Oven Fries.

Cook’s Country 2008

Pork Sausage Pasta

Ingredients
1 pound fusilli or other short pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound Italian sausage, casings removed
¹⁄₂-1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon oregano
1 cup white wine
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoon butter
¹⁄₄ cup Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions
1. Bring large pot of water to boil and cook pasta as instructed by packaging.  Drain well. 

2. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat and add sausage.  Cook, breaking sausage into small pieces, for 2 to 3 minutes.  Add red pepper flakes and continue cooking until meat is cooked through.  Add oregano and white wine.  Cook until wine is reduced by half.  Reduce heat to low and add lemon zest and juice. 

3. Toss pasta with sausage mixture.  Add Parmesan, butter, and stir until butter has melted and everything is well distributed.  Garnish with additional Parmesan and parsley. 

Comments
This recipe is from Let’s Start Simple.  It not only looked delicious, the recipe was nice and simple.  It proved to be both!  And, much to my surprise, Lance loved it.  He’s not normally a sausage lover but he said I could make this often and he’d be happy. 

While the dish has great flavor as it is, I could see adding some oil packed sundried tomatoes for a little extra kick if desired in the future.

Internet - Let’s Start Simple

Falafel

Ingredients
2 cups dried chickpeas, soaked in water for 12 hours
2 slices white bread
5 cloves garlic
¹⁄₃ cup fresh parsley
¹⁄₂ cup fresh cilantro
¹⁄₂ small onion
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
Salt and pepper, to taste
Vegetable or peanut oil for deep frying
2 teaspoons baking soda

Instructions
1. Rinse soaked chickpeas and place them in food processor.  Add bread, garlic, parsley, cilantro, onion, cumin, paprika, and salt and pepper.  (Work in batches if necessary.)  Pulse until texture resembles coarse cornmeal.  (Add a little water if necessary.)

2. Transfer mixture to large bowl and stir well if you pulsed ingredients in batches.  Cover and allow to rest for 30 to 60 minutes. 

3. Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add baking soda to falafel mixture and knead 5 to 10 minutes.  Wet hands and shape falafel into golf ball sized balls.  Add to oil, a few at a time, until golden brown.  Drain on paper towels and serve warm. 

Comments
I have only recently become a falafel addict and I decided, after having them a few time in restaurants, that it was time to try my hand at making my own.  I found this recipe from The Hummus Blog.   These are delicious falafel however, they’re quite a bit different than what I’ve had before.  The texture, due to the ground soaked chickpeas, resembles chopped nuts more than the smoother falafel balls I’ve had before.  I would definitely make this recipe again in the future, but I’ll also be on the lookout for other (recipes that might be closer to what I’ve had in restaurants. 

Shown here with Lamb Burgers and the most amazing Cucumber Yogurt Sauce.  A delicious meal all around.

Internet - Hummus Blog

Salmon with Pearl Couscous, Tomatoes, and Lemon Oregano Oil

Ingredients
For tomatoes and lemon oregano oil
1 quart grape tomatoes
1 ¹⁄₄ teaspoons sugar
³⁄₄ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₂ teaspoon black pepper
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
10 fresh basil leaves
30 fresh oregano leaves
¹⁄₃ cup olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

For couscous
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 ¹⁄₄ cups pearl (Israeli) couscous (I used an 11.5 ounce container.)
1 ³⁄₄ cups chicken broth
1 cup water
¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt

For salmon
6 (6 ounces each) salmon fillet pieces with skin
1 teaspoon olive oil
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 500*F. 

2. Toss tomatoes with sugar, ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt, ¹⁄₄ teaspoon pepper, garlic, basil and oregano.  Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat.  Add tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes have wrinkled and burst, 1 to 1 ¹⁄₂ hours.  Stir in zest, juice, and remaining salt and pepper.  Remove from heat. 

3. Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add couscous and toast, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and golden, 3 to 5 minutes.  Add broth, water, and salt and simmer, covered, until liquid is absorbed and couscous is al dente, 10 to 12 minutes.  Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 10 minutes, then stir in tomato and oil mixture. 

4. While couscous stands, line a baking pan with foil or parchment paper.  Arrange salmon, skin sides down, in baking pan.  Drizzle 1 teaspoon oil over fillets then sprinkle with salt.  Roast salmon until just cooked through, 12 to 14 minutes.  Serve salmon over couscous. 

Comments
This recipe is from epicurious.com.  I’m a lover of salmon and always on the lookout for new ways to prepare it.  However, this recipe was chosen not for the salmon but for the pearl couscous which has finally made an appearance at my local grocery store. 

After years of wanting to try pearl couscous, it’s really just little pieces of pasta.  I certainly like it better than regular couscous, which I’m not a huge fan of, but I think that any small pasta, like orzo for example, would have worked equally well here.

Internet - Epicurious

Stir-Fried Green Beans with Soy and Pine Nuts

Ingredients
1 tablespoon pine nuts
3 tablespoons peanut oil
1 ¹⁄₄ pounds green beans, ends trimmed
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Instructions
1. Toast pine nuts in dry skillet over medium heat, shaking the pan often to keep nuts from getting too brown, until evenly golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove nuts to small bowl.

2. Heat oil in skillet over high heat. When the oil is hot, add green beans and cook, stirring to 3 to 4 minutes, until almost tender. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds, or until fragrant. Add soy sauce and pine nuts and stir for another minute, until the green beans are cooked and soy sauce has thickened. Toss with balsamic vinegar and serve.

Note: Broccoli can be used instead of green beans, cook for an extra minute or two. 

Comments
This recipe is from The Food You Want to Eat.  It was extremely quick and simple, and also full of flavor.  The balsamic and soy sauce came together to create a delicious vegetable dish and the green beans were perfectly cooked and crisp.  I might leave out the pine nuts in the future since they didn’t add much to the beans. 

Shown here with Brie-Topped Chicken Breasts.

The Food You Want to Eat

Rich Chewy Brownies

Ingredients
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate chips or bars
1 ¹⁄₂ cups sugar
¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350*F.  Line bottom of 8 by 8-inch baking pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. 

2. Place butter and chocolate chips in microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between each increment, until melted and smooth.  Cool for 5 minutes and transfer to mixing bowl. 

3. On low speed, mix in sugar, salt, and vanilla.  Beat the eggs into the batter one at a time until fully blended.  Add flour and cocoa powder and beat until batter is just smooth. 

4. Pour batter into the pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean, about 35 to 45 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool completely on cooling rack.  Remove brownies from pan, cut into squares, and serve. 

Comments
This recipe is from the blog Use Real Butter and I made them for Thanksgiving 2010. These are probably the richest brownies I’ve ever eaten, so I recommend serving them with vanilla ice cream.   If you like rich, fudgy brownies, this is the recipe for you.

Internet - Use Real Butter

Pineapple Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients
2 cups pineapple juice
2 inches fresh ginger, minced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 -2 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed and minced (I just used one.)
¹⁄₄ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
3 tablespoons vinegar (I used pineapple balsamic but apple cider or even white would well.)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions
1. Bring pineapple juice, ginger, garlic, jalapeno and cilantro to boil in medium saucepan. Boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sauce is reduced. Add ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, vinegar, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low and cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Comments
This recipe is pulled directly from the recipe for Slow Cooker Hawaiian Pulled Pork Sandwiches.  I made the sauce by itself to go along with a smoked pork shoulder.  Delicious!

Shown here with Smoked Pork Shoulder.

Internet - Simple Comfort Food

Chicken Salad

Ingredients
For the dressing
1 cup mayonnaise
4 teaspoons cider vinegar (or any other vinegar, I use red apple balsamic.)
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons poppy seeds
Salt and pepper, to taste
_
For assembly_
³⁄₄ cups walnuts, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
6-8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 pounds)
1 cup dried cranberries
3 stalks celery, thinly sliced

Instructions
1. Mix together all dressing ingredients and refrigerate until ready to assemble salad. 

2. Heat large skillet over medium heat.  Add walnuts and toast, stirring occasionally, until fragrant.  Remove to bowl. 

3. Add oil to skillet.  Once oil is hot, cook chicken for 5-10 minutes a side, or until cooked through.  Remove chicken to cutting board, allow to cool, then cut into small pieces.  Transfer chicken to bowl with walnuts, add cranberries and celery.  Stir in dressing until combined.  Refrigerate salad to meld flavors and chill.  Serve cold. 

Comments
Some years ago, while at the house of a friend, I had some delicious chicken salad that she’d gotten at Costco.  Even Art, who claims to hate anything with mayonnaise, loved it.  After some googling, this was the recipe I found to replicate the Costco salad and I’ve been making it off and on ever since – at least when Lance is out of town!  The sweetness of the honey and cranberries pair very well with the other flavors in the salad.  I tend to serve it on store bought croissants as shown here.

Person - Gwen

Beer-Battered Onion Rings

Ingredients
2 sweet onions, peeled and sliced into ¹⁄₂-inch-thick rounds (or half moons)
3 cups beer
2 teaspoons vinegar (I used red apple balsamic vinegar.  Cider vinegar or malt vinegar would work well.)
Salt and pepper
2 quarts peanut or vegetable oil
³⁄₄ cup all purpose flour
³⁄₄ cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder

Instructions
1. Place onion rounds, 2 cups beer, vinegar, ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt, and ¹⁄₂ teaspoon pepper in zip-top bag; refrigerate 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.

2. Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat to 350*F. While oil is heating, combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt, and ¹⁄₄ teaspoon pepper in large bowl. Slowly whisk in ³⁄₄ cup beer until just combined (some lumps will remain). Whisk in remaining beer as needed, 1 tablespoon at a time, until batter falls from whisk in steady stream and leaves faint trail across surface of batter.

3. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200*F. Remove onions from refrigerator and pour off liquid. Pat onions rounds dry with paper towels and separate into rings. Transfer one third of rings to batter. One at a time, carefully transfer battered rings to oil. (Tongs work well for this.)  Fry until rings are golden brown and crisp, about 5 minutes, flipping halfway through frying. Drain rings on paper towel-lined baking sheet, season with salt and pepper, and transfer to oven. Return oil to 350*F and repeat with remaining onion rings and batter. Serve. 

Comments
This recipe is from the 2009 Cook’s Country Annual and the onions were delicious.  I cut the slices into half moons, because I think they’re easier to deal with.  I also tossed the little onion bits from the center of the onions with the remaining batter at the end and dropped them into the oil in spoon-sized clumps.  The onion batter was nice and crisp, even at the end of all the frying.  The onions were soft and scrumptious.  We ate them with a variety of sauces – my favorite being honey, mustard and mayonnaise all mixed together.

Cook’s Country 2009

Traditional Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients
26 ounces condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 ¹⁄₂ cups milk
1 tablespoon soy sauce
¹⁄₂ teaspoon pepper
48 ounces frozen cut green beans, cooked and drained
6-9 ounces French’s fried onions

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350*F.  

2. Mix all except ¹⁄₂ of the onions in a 3 quart shallow baking dish.  Bake for 25 minutes or until hot throughout.  

3. Remove from oven and stir.  Sprinkle with remaining onions and bake for 5 more minutes.

Comments
This, of course, is the green bean casserole recipe that is on bags/cans of green beans, the fried onion canisters, and cans of cream of mushroom soup.  My family prefers the taste and texture of frozen green beans and I remember, every year, that it’s important to cook the beans first.  I forgot that crucial step during my first Thanksgiving with Art and he couldn’t fathom why I loved the dish so much.  Now that I make it correctly, he is a believer.

I was not able to find french cut green beans for Thanksgiving 2009, so I had to make this with regular cut green beans.  It was a bit soupier than usual, but still delicious.  Perhaps cutting back on the milk would have been wise.

Update ¹¹⁄₂₀₁₀: I tweaked all of the ingredient amounts from the originally posted recipe to the amounts shown above.  These amounts yield a perfect green bean casserole that isn’t runny at all.  Sadly I didn’t take a new picture, but believe me that the resulting casserole will be a much better consistency!

Shown here with Turkey and Sweet Potato Casserole.

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