We had a nice stretch of cool, 60’s to 70’s weather recently. That appears to be over. Hello, gazpacho! I recently got the new La Cucina Italiana magazine and found quite a few recipes in there that I wanted to try out. This is the first one. I think the second one will be fig and cocoa smoothie.

Anyway, back to the gazpacho — I really liked it. So did jwa. I have another recipe for a peach and tomato gazpacho and also a lima bean gazpacho. So there hot weather, I am ready for you.

Zucchini Gazpacho
1 big zucchini
2 yellow tomatoes
1/2 green bell pepper
1 small sweet onion, chopped into quarters
2 cloves garlic
2 slices white bread, crusts removed
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Tabasco
salt
pepper
3 tbsp parsley, chopped
juice of 1/2 an orange
extra olive oil for drizzling

Blend the zucchini, tomatoes, onion quarters, bell pepper, olive oil and garlic in a food processor. Get it a bit combined and then add the bread, a bit of Tabasco, parsley and orange juice. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

Serve into individual bowls and drizzle with the olive oil. You’re done. Go eat. Or, you know, just go out to eat…

Carlyle Restaurant
1632 NW Thurman Street
Portland, Oregon 97209

The other night (the night after the tasty gazpacho) we went to Carlyle Restaurant in NW Portland. So awesome. And, since I didn’t have many gazpacho images for my post, I will taunt you with Carlyle pictures. Ha!

My French Lemonade (Aviation gin, Cointreau, fresh lemon juice, tonic water and a float of Chartreuse liqueur, served tall) and jwa’s Caneberry cooler (House infused Raspberry and Blackberry vodka, simple syrup, lemon juice and club soda, served in a tall glass ).

Duck Cannaloni (Slow cooked duck confit, crepes, morel mushrooms, leek fondue and truffle oil). I love duck, jwa is so-so on duck. jwa loved this duck.

I had the Spring Chinook Salmon — grilled salmon, baby fava bean risotto, ramps, preserved lemon and cantal cheese with sweet pea coulis. Mmmmmm.

And jwa seemed completely delighted and bedazzled by his Filet Mignon — grilled Cascade Beef tenderloin, Pleasant Ridge Reserve potato gratin, ramp butter, foie gras bordelaise and Tempura Tiger prawn.

How to end all of this? Tiramisu, of course!

Needless to say, it was a wonderful dinner. We even got a quick tour of the big barnwood kitchen table and the private garden seating area before we left. It was all so good, I didn’t even mind the napkin-refolding. Bring me more duck, salmon and sweet pea coulis and you may do whatever you wish to my napkin if I get up to use the restroom.

Carlyle definitely gets four swanky cocktails out of four swanky cocktails.

Waiter, There’s Something in My…is a new event hosted each month, alternatively by Spittoon Extra, Cook Sister! and Passionate Cook. The first theme is stew and is being rounded up here.

The timing for this food blogging event was perfect as jwa and I had been planing a Life Aquatic film festival. And what goes well with The Life Aquatic? Stew! Seafood Stew!

Steve Zissou: Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go on an overnight drunk, and in 10 days I’m going to set out to find the shark that ate my friend and destroy it. Anyone who wants to tag along is more than welcome. But first — some fish stew.

Also, I’m really happy to see a new general cooking event now that IMBB seems to have died out and I’m even happier to be participating in this one. We started the festivities with an episode of Jacques Cousteau’s Odyssey, while munching on fried calamari (recipe tomorrow) and then, a Spanish fish stew while watching The Life Aquatic. It was a very nice way to spend a chilly Saturday afternoon.

This recipe is based on one that I found at the Whole Foods Market for a Spanish Fish Stew with saffron, smoked paprika and ground almonds. The original recipe however, just said to use about three fish fillets, which was um, pretty unspecific. So, I chose some salmon and shrimp, both of which we had in the freezer. I used a pound of seafood total — one half pound of each. The salmon worked pretty well but I think halibut would be really good in this also. Or cod. Or uh, whatever looks good that day at the store. Or whatever you have in your freezer. It’s all good.

Cue the storming the beaches of the Hotel Citroen music, grab your red hat, your campari and soda and let’s go…

Life Aquatic Fish Stew
There’s a lot of ingredients but don’t let that scare you off…
1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 large garlic cloves, minced
2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and diced (or a combination of red, orange or yellow bell peppers)
2 oz prosciutto, diced
3 lb ripe tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted and finely ground
1/2 tsp saffron threads
1 tsp dried thyme
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 tsp sea salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 smoked paprika
1 cup dry white wine
3 cups vegetable stock, a light chicken stock or fish stock (if you use fish stock, omit the clam juice and use 3 1/2 cups of stock — I used no-chicken chicken broth, as neither jwa nor I wanted an overly fishy fish stew — I know, weird, it being a fish stew and all…)
1/2 cup tiny shell pasta
1/2 cup clam juice
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 pound halibut, salmon, cod or whatever, diced into bite-sized pieces
1/2 pound shrimp, cleaned and de-tailed if you like
6 lemon wedges, for garnish
parsley, chopped, for garnish
wedges of grilled country bread for serving

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Sauté the onions until translucent. Add the garlic and red bell peppers and cook 5 minutes more, until softened. Stir in the prosciutto and cook 3 minutes longer, stirring occasionally.

Add the tomatoes and increase the heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring frequently to prevent scorching, until the liquid has evaporated. Stir in the ground almonds, saffron, thyme, rosemary, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and white wine. Boil until the wine has nearly evaporated.

Pour in the stock, clam juice, lemon juice and pasta. Bring to a boil and cook 5-6 minutes until the pasta is almost done. Add fish and simmer, 3 to 5 minutes longer, until fish is done and pasta is tender. Adjust seasonings and remove rosemary sprigs. Serve with lemon wedges and toasted bread.

It’s funny — I really made the fish stew to go with the movie, rather than really, really wanting a fish stew. jwa was, in fact, wary of the fish stew. But — this was so good! A bit spicy and saffrony, it had a great flavor and was very filling. I really can’t wait to make it again. Now, I just need to decide what will make a good meal with the Rushmore/Royal Tenenbaums Festival that’s in the works…

Thanks to Spittoon Extra for hosting this month’s event. I’m already looking forward to next month’s theme!

Last weekend, when I was in my, “Let’s do a Spanish food night!” mood, I searched high and low for a recipe that we could have with the Tuna Empanaditas. I came across numerous mentions of Spanish Garlic & Bread Soup and loving garlic like I do, I just knew I had to give it a try. Plus, it was an opportunity to use the Smoked Spanish Paprika from my latest Penzey’s excursion!

I ended up melding numerous recipes together based on what I had on hand, how much chicken stock my favorite soup pot could hold and what sounded good. Below, is what I came up with when all was said and done. I must admit, it was with both intrigue and trepidation that I decided to go ahead and poach eggs in the soup but I’m glad I did it. The soup (eggs and all) was very good and jwa liked it as well!

Also, don’t be scared by all the garlic. It really didn’t taste super garlicky. Honest! In fact, I am tempted to add more garlic next time because that is my way.

Bread & Garlic Soup with Poached Eggs (Sopa de Ajo)
4 cups chicken stock
1/3 cup good olive oil
2 cups breadcrumbs, make your own if possible (I started with cubed sourdough, then processed those into crumbs)
1 head of garlic, cloves separated, peeled and minced
1 tsp smoked paprika
A dash of cumin just for fun
Salt and pepper to taste
4 eggs (optional)
Chopped parsley for garnish

Heat the stock in a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot and bring to a simmer. In a smaller pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, toss in the bread crumbs and stir until golden. Add paprika and garlic, and sauté 1-2 more minutes. Combine into the hot stock and continue simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When ready to serve, salt to taste, bring back up to a medium simmer and break the eggs into the soup. Let poach until done — 5 minutes or so for a slightly runny yolk. Ladle into soup bowls, (each bowl getting a poached egg) and serve. Garnish with a little chopped fresh parsley.

***
Hey, speaking of soup — the new Jonathan Carrol novel, Glass Soup is supposedly on its way to me. Yay!

Well, Mulder, I have a special place in my heart (and stomach) for snacks. Every so often, the urge will hit me to try some new alien form of snackable treat. This was the case the other day — I was bored at work and perusing Epicurious and came across this recipe for Tuna Empanaditas. Puff pastry. Onions. Tuna. Capers. Olives. How could I not be intrigued? Right, there really was no way because I was, in fact, completely intrigued.

So, this last weekend, I decided on a whole Spanish theme, making not only these but some garlic & bread soup and an artichoke and olive dip with flat bread (that, I have decided to rework and serve hot — I will post on that later this month after I alter it a bit). The soup, however, expect this week.

But right now we are discussing the tuna puffs.

Tuna Empanaditas:
1 (6-oz) can light tuna in olive oil (not drained)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped pimiento-stuffed green olives (3 oz, drained)
2 tablespoons drained capers, rinsed and chopped
1 package frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed
1 round cookie or biscuit cutter

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Pour oil from tuna into a medium skillet. Add onion to skillet and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 4 minutes.

Mash tuna in a bowl with a fork, then stir in onion, olives, and capers. Season generously with pepper and very lightly with salt.

Roll out 1 pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 13-inch square. Cut out rounds with floured cookie cutter and discard trimmings. I ended up getting 12 empanaditas per rolled out pastry sheet.

Put about 1/2 teaspoon tuna mixture in center of each round. Moisten the edge with a finger dipped in water, then fold dough over to form a half-moon, pinching edges to seal.

Form more empanaditas with remaining rounds, then bake on sheet in middle of oven until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Meanwhile, make more with remaining pastry sheet and filling. Bake in same manner. Cool empanaditas on baking sheet on a rack about 10 minutes. Serve warm. Mmm!

The snacks are out there. Dork! I am! Whee!