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By mlb, on May 13th, 2013%
This is a great spring or summer meal. First of all, it has an easy one pot type set up (always a plus) and it’s Spanish in influence, which always makes me think of sunny weather. You could easily skip the chorizo if you can’t find any (this requires the real, cured Spanish variety) but if you can track some down it’s highly recommended.
In the oven, the broth, spices, and chorizo kind of work this magic and transform into a thick, flavorful broth. The potatoes are well, potatoey and get all infused with that awesome broth and the fish makes it healthy for you. If you added some bread and a hunk of manchego cheese on the side, you would be even happier. Trust me on that.
As a side note: I often wonder how I got along in the world before I discovered smoked paprika.
Baked Fish, Potatoes and Spanish Chorizo
Adapted from Real Simple magazine; serves two, easily doubled.
1 tbsp . . . → Read More: Baked Fish, Potatoes and Spanish Chorizo
By mlb, on April 15th, 2013%
Recently, Freekehlicious offered to send me some Freekeh from to try, which was very exciting, as I had heard of the grain before and had wanted to experiment with it for awhile.
So, what is freekeh, you ask? Well, freekeh is a grain that I think looks a little like spelt. “Young roasted green wheat is harvested while still young and green, then parched, roasted and dried. The process captures and retains the grains at the state of peak taste and nutrition.” And besides that, it’s just a really tasty whole grain and a healthier replacement for rice (or even pasta).
The cooking time is about what you would expect — 20-30 minutes. For the sake of experiment, I tried soaking it for 8 hours, while I was as work, before cooking and was able to then cook it in about 10 minutes (this was the cracked freekeh, but I’m sure that would work with the whole grain freekeh as well).
When looking for inspiration for freekeh, I turned to one of the cookbooks that I usually look to first when I need some ideas on what to do with . . . → Read More: Freekeh with Green Onion Sauce, Toasted Walnuts, Asparagus and Tuna + a Giveaway
By mlb, on March 15th, 2013%
Hello French Fridays with Dorie and this week’s Orange Scented Lentil Soup recipe. How are you? Well, I thought you were delicious!
I tend to have the opinion that, although lentil soups are in standard rotation at our house, they can be kind of boring. But not this bowl — the orange and spices are definitely different flavors than I normally go with and I think that really made this recipe a huge stand out.
Of course, I did a few things differently. I had about a cup of lamb braising sauce (sorry, Morrissey!*) leftover from the lamb shank adventure last weekend and I substituted that for about one cup of the broth (the miracle of lamb fat).
Other changes: I let my vegetables get a little brown in the beginning for more flavor. I also added some chopped kale at the end and I used red lentils instead of French green lentils. Because of that, I was able to shorten my simmering time by about 15 minutes. For garnishes I used the suggested crumbled bacon (oops!) and Greek yogurt. So good.
Here’s a link to everyone’s Orange Scented Lentil Soup this . . . → Read More: FFwD: Orange Scented Lentil Soup
By mlb, on March 10th, 2013%
Over the next couple of days I’m going to be posting two ideas for St. Patrick’s Day meals and this first one uses two very Irish ingredients — Guinness stout and lamb. It does take awhile to cook but the reward is worth it.
Of course, there’s also the challenge of finding a pot big enough to fit the lamb shanks in (usually my downfall), which is definitely tricky, but again, very much worth it in the end. If you have leftover braising sauce (and you probably will), it’s great used in lentil soup. Just thin with a little more chicken broth and cook your lentils in it. Mmmmm….lamb-y.
On the side — Polenta & Cabbage: This is sort of a colcannon-type dish but with polenta instead of potatoes. Just cook up a batch of polenta like usual (one part polenta whisked into four parts boiling liquid), and when it’s almost done, saute some sliced cabbage in separate pan, using about a tablespoon of butter. Add salt and pepper and let it get a little golden in places. Add the cooked cabbage and butter to the polenta and stir in . . . → Read More: Guinness Braised Lamb Shanks for St. Patrick’s Day
By mlb, on March 6th, 2013%
This is a hearty bowl of soup. Spelt replaces the pasta for a healthy, toothsome addition. Sometimes referred to as spelt berries, they aren’t berries at all, but rather Spelt is an ancient whole grain related to modern day wheat. It’s high in magnesium, fiber, phosphorus and vitamin B3 and provides a pleasingly chewey texturehsome chew. Use it in salads, soups, and baked good. It can also be ground and used as flour. In fact, my new bread obsession is the Spelt Bread from Dave’s Killer Bread.
This is also the bowl of soup you want whether you are house-bound right now in the snowy Midwest, DC or even watching the rain fall in the gray winter of Portland. So comforting and filling. You probably even have a lot of the items you need to make it right now. Just go get some spelt. It’s okay, I’ll wait.
Note: for a summer version, replace butternut squash with zucchini and the kale with trimmed green beans and/or baby spinach and add in the last 15 minutes of cooking time.
![]() . . . → Read More: A Soup for Cold Weather: Winter Spelt Minestrone
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