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By mlb, on August 5th, 2010
The other day, I checked the freezer and discovered a bag of frozen, shelled edamame. Then, I searched online for something interesting to do with it. I found something that was both interesting and delicious, for this is a very tasty and refreshing salad. The ginger works well, as does the garlic I added to the original recipe, which sadly, had none. So sad. Everything needs garlic.
Anyway, we had this salad on the side with some Japanese grilled fish (salmon). That recipe is here and was also quite good. Together, the pair made a great, light Summer dinner.
Oh! And big discovery — I pulled the husks and silks away from the cobs, rubbed the corn with olive oil and grilled it on my grill pan! About 15 minutes total time and it was done and ready to use in the recipe. That’s a nice alternative to going outside to grill for just a couple of ears of corn (especially here, as it was just in a salad and not to be eaten on the cob). I was quite proud of myself for coming up with this method of cooking corn inside, because I certainly didn’t want to turn on the oven or boil it.
Roasted Corn and Edamame Salad
Recipe adapted from one published in Self Magazine
2 ears fresh corn, unhusked, or 1 1/4 cups cooked corn kernels
1/2 cup shelled edamame (frozen is fine, just cook according to package)
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup small-diced red bell pepper
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 tbsp light mayonnaise
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp finely chopped or grated ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Soak fresh corn in cold water about 30 minutes. Heat grill on high. Grill corn in husk, 10 to 15 minutes, turning once. Let cool. Remove husks. Cut corn from cob into a bowl; combine with remaining ingredients.
Cover and chill in refrigerator until ready to serve. Give it a stir and you’re good to go!
Coming up sometime in the future: something Greek, from the new $5.99 clearance Greek cookbook I scored at Borders, Miso-glazed fish, and a tasty halibut recipe!
By mlb, on August 1st, 2010
So first of all, I redesigned my blog a bit. I had been meaning to for awhile, but I kept putting it off and only thought about it when I was at work, or at the store, or driving, or some other time when it was impossible to actually redesign it. That said, it is a work in progress, as I’ve already managed to break all my links. So, if I linked to you in the past, I probably will again. Just not right now.
Okay, this is a great peach tart! It can also be as easy as you’d like it to be. Instead of using the crust recipe below, I defrosted a ball of pie dough in my freezer (Dorie Greenspan’s awesome pie crust recipe from Baking: From My Home to Yours), rolled that out and used that. You could also use store-bought dough, make the recipe below, or substitute your favorite pie/tart crust recipe.
The original recipe did not mention peeling the peaches. I decided to peel 2 of my peaches (I used 4), so that some of the slices would have the peel and some would not. I thought that would look nice (it does)! The rosemary is my doing — I will add rosemary to almost anything. I was also able to find peach preserves which was made locally (well, in Oregon at least), so I didn’t feel that guilty about taking that shortcut. If you can’t find peach preserves, I’m sure you could use apricot.
This smelled amazing while baking.
Peach and Rosemary Tart
Adapted from a Food and Wine Magazine recipe by Marco Canora
Tart Crust:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
Peach and Rosemary Filling
1/4 cup peach preserves
1 5-inch sprig rosemary
3 to 4 firm white peaches, cut into 1/2-inch wedges (peeled or not, your call)
1 tbsp Turbinado sugar
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and position a rack in the lower third of the oven. In a food processor, combine the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, lemon zest and butter and pulse to blend. Add the whole egg and egg yolk and process until a soft dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead just until it comes together. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the side of a 10 1/2-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
I chose to par-bake my crust. If you do this, line with foil and pie beads (or dry beans) and bake for 15 minutes.
Chop the rosemary leaves and combine with the preserves. Spread all but one tablespoon of the preserves on the bottom of the tart shell and arrange the peach wedges in concentric circles on top.
Bake for 20 minutes, until the peaches are barely tender and the crust is still a bit pale. Brush the remaining tablespoon of preserves over the peaches and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar. Ohhhhhh, sparkles!
Bake for about 30 minutes longer, until the peaches are tender and the crust is golden. Cover areas of the crust with foil, if needed, to keep from getting too brown.
Let cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.
By mlb, on July 21st, 2010
I think I went on a little unplanned hiatus there. Blame it on the Summer, I guess. Anyway, I’m back! And here’s a wonderful tuna salad from the Ad Hoc at Home cookbook.
Now I changed a few things from the original recipe, not because I know better than Thomas Keller, or anything, but rather based on what I had at home, what I like, what I could find, and my level of laziness while preparing the meal. Actually, these are usually the components that affect any recipe that I make at home.
So here we go:
1. Tuna: I used an 8 oz steak
2. Lettuce: I used romaine
3. Oil: Olive oil all the way (for the tuna and dressing)
4. no chervil leaves
Also for the dressing, I used some blood orange vinegar that I had recently gotten and was dying to try, as well as stone ground, country Dijon mustard. The recipe is in original form below, but keep in mind my substitutions, if you’d like.
Hard Boiled Eggs How To… at Simply Recipes.
Fresh Tuna Salad
1 lb trimmed, center-cut ahi tuna loin
3 heads Bibb lettuce
Kosher Salt & Freshly Ground Pepper
Canola Oil
6 oz thin green beans, stem ends trimmed, and blanched
4 oz cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup pitted olives
4 Medium-cooked eggs
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Haaas Avocado
Tarragon leaves
Chervil leaves
Simple Vinaigrette (below)
Cut the tuna loin into two rectangular blocks, about 4 inches long and 2 inches thick. Set aside.
Twist off the core of each head of lettuce and discard any bruised outer leaves. Submerge the lettuce in a large bowl of cold water. The leaves will separate naturally. Remove and dry in a salad spinner.
Season the tuna on all sides with salt and pepper. Heat some canola oil in a large pan over high heat until hot. Add the tuna and lightly brown on all four sides (20-30 seconds on each side). When you turn the tuna, move it to another section of the pan, which will be hotter. You can gauge the cooking process if you look at the end pieces – allow only about 1/4 inch of the tuna to cook on each side. The tuna will be rare. Drain on paper towels and let rest for 5 minutes.
Slice each piece of tuna crosswise into multiple pieces.
Put the lettuce in a large bowl of platter. Drizzle a light coating of the dressing around the sides of the bowl and toss lightly to coat. Season with salt and pepper and toss again.
Cut the beans in half diagonally. Put the beans, tomatoes, and olives in a second bowl. Season with salt and pepper and toss with a light coating of dressing.
Cut the eggs lengthwise into quarters. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Peel and pit avocado and cut into eight wedges. Season with salt and pepper.
Scatter some of the beans and tomatoes over the lettuce. Arrange the eggs and tuna on top and continue to build the salad. Garnish the salad with tarragon and chervil and serve remaining dressing on the side.
Simple Vinaigrette
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil (originally was canola oil)
Whisk together the mustard and vinegar in a bowl. While whisking, pour in the oil in a thin stream until the dressing is emulsified and smooth. Refrigerate in a covered container for up to 2 weeks.
By mlb, on July 8th, 2010
So, finally, here is post number two from the cookbook, Nuts in the Kitchen by Susan Herrmann Loomis. Also, reminder: she is coming to Portland next month at In Good Taste, August 12-15, 2010.
In Good Taste is located at 231 NW 11th Ave, Portland, Oregon, 97209. It’s a 3-day class (with a welcome dinner the night before) and you can enroll by e-mailing cookingclassesATonruetatinDOTcom. You can also call In Good Taste at 503-248-2015 with questions. More info here.
I was a little lazy and didn’t create the ginger flowers. I simply placed a ball of macadamia nut butter atop each fillet for serving. Next time, I think I will do the flowers because they sound like they would look very pretty.
I also didn’t take pictures of the fish cooking…I’m sure you can imagine it. I just used my grill pan and gave it a few minutes per side.
The macadamia nut butter is so good! You will want to slather it on all sorts of grilled things this Summer, I’m already thinking more fish, grilled veggies and maybe even chicken. Crackers and bread would also work. Oh, and a spoon. A spoon would be good too.
Gingered Fish on Spiced Macadamia Nut Butter
Recipe from Nuts in the Kitchen, by Susan Herrmann Loomis
Six 5-7 oz white fish fillets (ling cod, flounder, etc…) I used Ling Cod
3/4 cup Macadamia nuts, toasted
1/4 inch coin fresh ginger, peeled & coarsely chopped
1-inch piece chile, seeds removed if desired
Zest of 1 lime
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2-inch piece of fresh ginger, unpeeled, cut into 18 paper thin slices
sea salt & freshly ground pepper
18 fresh cilantro leaves
Rinse fillets and pat them dry. Check them for bones and remove any that you find. Refrigerate until just before cooking.
Macadamia Nut Butter
Place the nuts in a food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped.
Add ginger, chile and lime zest and continue to process until a paste begins to form. Add the lime juice and salt process until you have a buttery paste. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
To Cook the Fish
Heat olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add the fillets (skin-side down, if your fish has skin). Place three rounds of ginger on each fillet. Lightly season each piece of fish with salt and pepper. Cover and cook about 6-8 minutes until opaque. Remove pan from heat and uncover.
While the fish is cooking, form the butter into a pyramid or ball. Repeat 5 more times. Spread about 2 tablespoons of butter on each plate.
To serve, remove ginger slices from fish. Lay a fillet atop the macadamia nut butter spread on the plate.
Place a pyramid/ball of nut butter next to the fillet and spread three cooked ginger slices around, so that it looks like a flower. Arrange cilantro leaves on top of each plate.
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About Me I like to cook. I like to eat. I like to take photos. I also like my cats, mostly. I live in SE Portland with my husband jwa and the two unruly cats mentioned above. That is all.
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