Nick Stellino's Pasta Alla Russa

The kids and I like to watch Create TV on PBS and my son, after catching a 13 pound lake trout that we smoked, thought that this dish looked good.  We tried this dish tonight and while my son really liked it the rest of us just kind of tolerated it because the flavor was so strong.  I like my smoked fish on cracker, but this was worth a try and if you are a person who likes a lot of the smoked fish flavor this is a good recipe to try.

Bow tie pasta in boiling water to el dente. 

 I the mean time...

Saute together

Butter

Add finely chopped shallots

Minced garlic

Smoked fish

Vodka

Clam juice or chicken stock & Tomato sauce

Salt & Pepper

Cream

Cook sauce down a little

Add el dente pasta & a few peas.

cook to done

Top with Parmesan cheese 

Serve

Our home smoked Lake Trout

Summer Shrimp Pasta

This pasta dish turned out to be one of the best pasta dishes that I have made is a long time.  the balance of flavors was just  right and I was proud to use many items from my back yard...WOOT! (I know, woot is so dated)

Put a large pot of heavily salted water on to boil for the pasta.  The pasta I used was Barilla Plus curly Q pastas, about half a box.

In a large saute pan I added

1 medium light green zucchini, rough chopped into 1/2" to 1" chunks (from my garden)
1 medium yellow summer squash, rough chopped into 1/2" to 1" chunks (from my garden)
2 medium to large tomatoes, rough chopped into 1/2" to 1" chunks (from my garden)
4 large cloves of garlic, sliced thin or roughly chopped  (from my garden)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
a dash of salt

I sauteed this on low covered for about 5 minutes, until the water boiled.

I dumped the pasta into the boiling water and then quickly cleaned about 1 pound of raw shrimp (took about 3 minutes)

In the saute pan I pushed the softened squash tomato mix to one side and place the cleared side over the burner and added about 1/2 cup white wine and let it cook down a little.  Dump the shrimp into the saucy area, and by now the pasta should be just barely al dente.  Scoop the pasta over the shrimp.  once all the pasta is added stir all together, if more liquid is needed add some pasta water.

season with salt and pepper to taste and add fresh oregano  (from my garden), about 1.5 tablespoons.

Cover pot until done, pasta just the way you like it...for me about 2 minutes.

Dish up into a serving bowl and drizzle with a little olive oil and a squeeze of some fresh lemon.

Shrimp Tacos

While looking trough food blogs I came across this post of Shrimp Tacos. The tacos looks like a great idea and the fact that is was a quick make made the draw of the recipe even greater.

1 pound cleaned shrimp, well dried

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

salt and pepper

1/3 cup corn starch

2 tablespoons oil

2 mangos, cut into little chunks

1 avocado, cut into little chunks

onion, chopped

tomato, cut into little chunks

flour or corn tortillas

1 lime cut into wedges

place the dry shrimp in a bowl and sprinkle with the spices then cover with the corn starch, stirring to get a good thin coat on the shrimp then put in a colander and shack off extra corn starch.

Heat a cast iron pan, add the oil and then fry the shrimp for about 3 minutes on each side until browned on each side and done trough. remove the shrimp and place on a paper towel lined place to absorb any grease.

Heat tortilla shells (we like corn) and then place some shrimp and toppings on the tortilla, a squeeze of lime and enjoy.

Swordfish Quesadillas

I while back I talked about making some really great grilled swordfish. When I make the swordfish we had some left over so I thought that I would make some fish quesadillas with it and they were oh so tasty.

I has blue tortillas because they are every where in Mexico city and, well, we like them best
oaxaca cheese but I think you could use mozzarella
pieces of leftover grilled swordfish
salsa verde
chopped onion
chopped tomato
canned jalapenos
lime
butter

Lightly butter one side of a tortilla and place it in a fry pan then put the cheese and fish on one half of tortilla and fold in half. Cook quesadilla on both sides, serve with salsa and veggies and a squeeze of lime if you like.

my hubby said he thought it was the best "taco" he had ever had with his new favorite fish.

shrimp stir-fry

while this dish tasted good I would do things a little different next time. instead of Julian the vegetables I think that they would be better matched with shrimp if I cut them into chunks and maybe add some red pepper flacks for some heat.

cut veggies into chunks such as

• onion
• celery
• red bell peppers
• carrots
• minced garlic
• minced ginger

dust cleaned and dried shrimp with corn starch.

In a hot hot pan add in peanut oil with a touch of sesame oil and saute the shrimp in a single layer. when the shrimp is just pink on both sides remove a set aside. Clean the pan and get it hot hot again, add a little peanut (or avocado) oil with a touch of sesame oil add in the garlic, ginger and veggies. toss the veggies a few times, add the shrimp to reheat and serve over steamed rice.

Grilled Swordfish

I love swordfish but I have only had it a few times do to the issues with over fishing. Recently I read that swordfish has made a come back and now can be eaten sparingly so I treated the family when I came across a few steaks

I marinated the fish of a few hours in lime juice (limes and lime juice being very Mexico City) a good Mexican olive oil I got from a friend for Christmas, chopped garlic and salt and pepper.

When I was ready to cook the swordfish I heated my cast iron frill pan on the stove for a good 5 minutes. Then patted the fish dry so that it would sear well on the hot grill pan and grilled each side for about 4 to 5 minutes each. I personally so not like my tuna or swordfish rare (unless in sushi) and I do cook it medium to medium well (just a little pink inside for Tuna)

I also made a nice dijon dill sauce with plain yogurt, sour cream, dijon mustard and chopped dill. and served with whole wheat couscous with chopped tomatoes and cucumbers

This dish was really really good but what I did with the leftovers was out of this world...stay tuned for that dish coming up soon.

How to Make Parihuela - Peruvian Seafood Soup

Last week I talked about my attempt to make a wonderful Peruvian seafood soup that we discovered at a restaurant near by called La Mar. While the soup that I attempted was delicious it was nothing like the parihuela that we at La Mar.

The night of my post my husband and I returned to taste that soup again, I was determined to figure out how to make it. As before the soup was WONDERFUL, delivered to our table in a sizzling hot ceramic bowl, the broth bubbling and boiling right in front of us. That first taste, mmmmmmm flavorful and spicy...well that and I burned my mouth and had to grab a quick sip of beer.

I ate that wonderful soup and was not any closer to knowing how to make it then I was before. Stumped and puzzled I ate my meal pondering the possible ingredients of the soup. To tell the truth the second trip to La Mar was a far better experience then the first, this time we knew what to order. We got the soup but we also got a Plancha, the marinara plancha to be precise. it is cooked on a hot cast iron pan with seafood and a garlic butter sauce, so great.

The meal was heaven but I still had no idea how to make that soup so I asked and guess what neither do they. The restaurant makes a tomato based seafood broth and adds a chili sauce that they buy from Peru and I was informed that I would not find the Peruvian chili needed to make the soup. I think maybe next time go I will ask if I can buy the chili sauce they use.

* A Delicious Failure *

For the first time since we moved to Mexico my husband and I were able to go out on a date. We hired a baby setter and simply went out for dinner but I was still the first time the two of us got to do something together in months, without the kids.

We went to a Peruvian restaurant near where we live called La Mar that was highly recommended by some friends and the food was good (not great) and the staff were very helpful and even found and old menu in English for us and a staff member that spoke a little English. After pouring over the menu and asking for suggestions we ordered the clasico seviche and the Parmesan scallops for our starters.

The seviche was ok, it was covered in cilantro and that was all I could really taste and being a person who apparently has the anti cilantro gene the whole dish tasted like soap to me.

The scallops we cooked perfectly but the thick layer of cheese over them over powered the dish, I pulled the cheese off and very much enjoyed the scallop underneath.

For our main courses I had the atun (tuna). This was a tuna steak grilled, placed over a bed of mashed potatoes with a sauce/gravy. As I ate the tuna the center was raw, not rare but raw, I could tell that the tuna was still frozen in the center when they put it on the grill. I think that if that spot in the center had not been frozen when they put the fish on the grill it would have been done perfectly with the right amount of seasoning, the mashed potatoes were nice but the sauce was a little overpowering for the dish.

My husband got the parihuela which is a seafood soup with a tomato chili base and it was WONDERFUL the highlight of the evening. This soup was so good that I now have to figure out how to make it and this post is my first attempt at the soup and it was not even close; however, it was delicious.

After doing a little Internet research on Peruvian cooking I learned that there are a few ingredients that are very common such as chillies, potatoes, onion and seafood. With that information I attempted the following.

I made a fish stock with some great mackerel I found at the market along with some carrots onions and celery.

2 tomatoes
1 large potato, diced
1 large onion
a few dried chilies (guajillo chilies is what I used)
8 cups fish stock
10 shrimp
1 mackerel cut into pieces
fresh parsley or cilantro
salt and pepper
lime

On a hot cast iron pan blacken the tomato, onion and chillies on all sides. Place the blackened vegetables in a food processor or blender with a cup of stock and blend until smooth

In a large soup pot add fish stock, blended vegetable and potatoes. bring to a simmer and cook until potatoes are almost tender, about 8 minutes. Add in the fish and cook for about 3 minutes then add the shrimp, cilantro and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until shrimp is just done. Serve and top with a squeeze of lime and fresh green cilantro or parsley.

While this soup was good it was nothing like the Peruvian soup at La Mar. The base was flat in comparison to the real thing and the chili used was not a good choice. This chili had a rich almost cocoa flavor to it and not the hot crisp chili that this dish needs.

We are going back to La Mar tonight just for some more Peruvian Seafood soup.

I'm a Guest Blogger

I am so excited to announce that I have been asked to be a guest blogger for the first time in my blogging career. Stop over at Rookie Cookie to see what I cooked up for her to serve for dinner.

Thank you Whitney for giving me a place at your table.

White Fish in Orange Butter Sauce.

This is my take on a Recipe that is in Martha Stewart's cookbook Everyday Food called Sole with Lemon-Butter Sauce. I like this cookbook, as I do the PBS show, because they are straight forward recipes without 50 ingredients.

This kids love fish in general, but this one was a big hit with the orange flavored sauce. Meat that tastes like orange sauce, what not to like.

1/4 cup white wine

juice of 1 orange

4 tilapia fillets

Salt and pepper

8 thin orange slices

2 tablespoons butter

Place the wine in a large non reactive pan with a lid. Roll the fish and hold together with a toothpick season with salt and pepper. Place the fish into the pan with 2 slices of orange on each fillets.

Bring the Wine to a boil; reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and gently simmer until the fish is cooked, about 5 minutes. Carefully transfer the fish to a platter and remove the toothpicks and cover to keep warm.

Reduce the liquid by about half (1 to 2 minutes). Remove from heat and add the orange juice and butter to the sauce and stir until butter is melted and mixed into the sauce. spoon sauce over fish and garnish with fresh dill.

"Manhattan" Fish Chowder

Sometimes I am so envious of people being able to tell wonderful stories on their blogs. i struggle with that because I have a hard time putting down what I think into words and I try not to reveal too much about the kids on the WWW and that makes it hard because they are a very big part of my life. I am a stay at home mother so almost everything about my life would include the kids....hummmmm how do I include my readers while still maintaining a distance with the children it is a hard balance and really who wants to hear about the big mess they need to clean up or my woes in potty training my son. At the end of the day that leaves very little to discuss.
Some bloggers have a way of coming up with the most entertaining stories, I hope to learn from them and someday I hope to be able to look at life and tell an entertaining story...until then, here is some food.

This is a flavorful and low calorie fish soup or chowder that my family loves.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 large carrot, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 14 oz. can stewed tomatoes

1 large Idaho potato, diced

2 fillets tilapia, cut in large cubes

1 large bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon oregano

a few threads saffron

pepper

1 tablespoon soup spice (if you don't have then just add some salt)

3 cups chicken or vegetable stock

2 to 3 cups water

In a large pot over medium-high heat add olive oil, onion celery, carrot and peppers sweat for about 5 minutes and add the potatoes, garlic, tomato, stock, water, seasoning cook for 15 minutes or until potatoes are nearly done. add in the fish, cook for another 5 to 7 minutes or until the fish is done and serve.

Sesame Seed Crusted Tuna Steak

1/4 cup olive oil
Zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon ginger, minced or grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon lemongrass

course sea salt
pepper

1/2 cup sesame seeds

Olive Oil for frying (yes, I fry with olive oil)
Tuna Steak

I cut my Tuna Steak into about 4 oz pieces so I would not have to think about at serving at the table, but you may keep your steak whole if you like.

Combine the first 5 items in a shallow bowl and let set for about 15 minutes.

pour the sesame seeds into another shallow bowl and set aside

Wash Tuna under cold water and dry with a towel and season with salt and pepper.

Heat a large skillet (I use Cast Iron)

brush the Tuna with the flavored oil and sprinkle with seeds until covered on bother sides (I laid the tune in the bowl of sesame seed and I think too many seeds stuck to it and they all came off int he pan and became a burnt mess to deal with).

Pour enough oil in hot pan to over and let heat for a few seconds, if pan is hot this will be fast. Lay crusted tuna in pan to sear on both sides, cook tuna to desired doneness, I like mine medium.


I served with Brown Basmati Rice and Zucchini sauteed with onion and garlic.

And with the left overs I made Thai Fried Rice.

mmmmmmmm Haddock

I tried haddock for the first time just a few weeks ago and I loved it. the fillets were nice and thick and I decided to cook some with a cornmeal crust and some battered a fried and both ways were just WONDERFUL. I liked the haddock so much that we had it again the next week and I baked it and yes again it was sweet and flaky.

*Cornmeal crusted haddock*

I cut the fillets into manageable "serving" size pieces and then I seasoned with salt and pepper, dredged in flour, then in beaten egg and lastly cornmeal and pan fried in hot oil.

*Batter fried haddock*

made a batter with 1 cup flour, 1 cup liquid (milk, water, beer, ext.) salt, pepper and an egg. mix ingredients and let batter set for about 15 minutes. dip the fish fillets in the batter and fry in hot oil until golden and crisp.

*Baked haddock*

brush a small about of olive oil (or butter) on the bottom of a baking dish. Season the haddock with salt, pepper and paprika drizzle a little olive oil and bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes.

Serve with homemade tarter sauce.

Seafood Pesto Pasta

This dish is so easy and Delicious. I first made it from Ingredients only purchased from Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's has a seafood medley with shrimp, scallops and calamari in their frozen food section (about $6.00 for the bag) that is so easy to use and I also purchase a bag of Trottole, zucchini, garlic and olive oil and this time I added some home made pesto and WOW was it great.

Start a pot of water to boil. season with salt. Once boiling add pasta

Mince garlic and place in a large cold pan with 2 or 3 T of Olive oil

Slice zucchini and add to garlic and saute for about 3 -4 minutes. Add the seafood and cook until it is opaque.

drain pasta (follow package directions for cookign time)

Mix cooked pasta, seafood and about 1/3 of a cup of pesto, squeeze of lemon (lemon is a must) and serve.

Jambalaya

I have set a food budget for myself for the first time. My budget is not a strict one, I am giving myself $100 every week to spend on food. Even with such a liberal budget I am having a very difficult time staying within it. I have only been doing this for 2 weeks and I have gone over each week by about $25. Maybe I will do it next week. In trying to stay within my budget I wanted to stretch the 2 chicken Andouille Sausage in the freezer that I had to use, so I decided to make Jambalaya. 

 1 Tbsp olive oil 

2 links Chicken Andouille Sausage, Diced

 1 medium Onion, Diced

 1 red Hungarian sweet pepper 

1 green Hungarian sweet pepper 

2 stalks Celery, Diced 

4-5 cloves Garlic, Minced

1 14 oz can whole tomatoes, with juice

 1 1/4 Cup Chicken Stock 

1/4 cup White Wine 

3/4 Cup  Long grain Rice 

5 large (16 per pound) shrimp

 2 T Cajun seasoning - I used my spice mixture for grilling

 1 Bay Leaf

1 Lemon, quartered 

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add trinity (onion/peppers/celery) in a large saute pan with the olive oil. saute until tender, add in the sausage and cook for a few minutes. Add tomato cook about a minute, Add the garlic, wine and rice, cook 1 minute. Add the stock, seasoning mix, bay leaves, Stir well and bake uncovered for about 25 minutes, add the shrimp and bake for another 10 minutes or until the rice is cooked, but still has a little bite. Top with chopped parsley.

Salmon in Parchment Pouch

Cooking in a parchment pouch is so easy yet I didn't try it until recently. I am not sure why I never tried it sooner, maybe the idea of trying to fold up all that stuff in paper and then putting it in a hot oven just sounded wrong. I finally tried it and it is a wonderful way to make fish that is moist and full of flavor with little work and easy cleanup.

2 skinless salmon fillets (4 to 6 ounces each)

2 oz pea pods

2 oz carrots, cut into matchsticks

1 lemon, sliced

salt and pepper

1/2 cup orzo

4 T. White wine

2 T. fresh parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut 2 pieces parchment paper into 12-inch squares; fold squares in half diagonally and cut into half heart shapes. Open parchment; place the orzo on one side of each heart, place fish fillet on top of orzo, season fish with salt and pepper, lay lemon slices out on fish along with the rest of the ingredients.

Fold parchment hearts in half. Beginning at top of heart, fold edges together, 2 inches at a time. At tip of heart, fold parchment over to seal.

Bake fish about 10 minutes or until parchment pouch puffs up. To serve, cut an "X" through top layer of parchment and fold back points to display contents.

Salmon with Pesto

Why Salmon is not served with pesto more often I will never know. I have been trying to eat a little healthier these days to shed a few pounds that I gained when I quit smoking last year and fish has been on the menu a lot. I once saw a recipe somewhere that had fish with some kind of pesto (it was not a traditional pesto) so I thought that I would try make my own version.



I had some homemade pesto in the freezer that I had made last fall and froze in ice cube trays, and once frozen I put them in a freezer bag for storage. So I took out two of those cubes of pesto out and defrosted them while I seasoned a 10 ounce salmon steak with course sea salt and fresh ground pepper and put a light coating of olive oil on the salmon. I then heated my cast iron grill pan and seared the salmon on for about 4 minutes per side. I then served the salmon topped with a little pesto and a quinoa salad. It was a big hit with my son and Hubby; however, my daughter was not even in the mood to try the salmon she eat all her quinoa salad.

Salade Nicoise

Vinaigrette

2 Cloves Garlic, minced

1 t. Dijon Mustard
3 T. Red wine Vinegar

juice of one lemon

1/2 cup olive oil

1 t. course salt

1 t. fresh ground pepper

Put minced garlic, Dijon mustard, vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a blender. Turn blender on low and slowly drizzle in olive oil, once all olive oil is added turn off blender and set dressing aside for salad.





~Salade Nicoise~

1 Pound new potatoes

10 ounces fresh green beans, trimmed

1 pound fresh Tuna steak, about 3/4" thick

1 T. olive oil

1/2 pound ripe medium tomatoes, cut into quarters

1/2 cup Nicoise olives, pitted

4 hard boiled eggs, quartered

1/4 cup capers

2 T. fresh parsley. chopped

1 T. fresh chives, snipped

1 can anchovy fillets packed in oil, soaked in cold water for 10 minutes, drained, patted dry and cut in half.

Slices of crusty bread, toasted.

1. Dry the Tuna steak with paper towel, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Heat a cast iron grill pan to hot. Place the tuna on the pan and cook on each side for about 4 minutes. I like my tuna done through so I cook it that way; however, tuna is typically cooked medium rare. If you prefer you can grill your tuna on a charcoal grill.

2. Boil the potatoes on salted water until they are just done. I find that it is best to boil the potatoes whole because when I cut them and then boil them they tend to get a little water logged. the time of this can very but give them about 20 minutes and then check doneness, when potatoes are done remove them from water and place them on cutting board to cook.

3. Add the green beans to the boiling potato water and cook for about 4 minutes. Drain the beans and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking. Cut the potatoes into quarters.

4. Place the potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, olives, and capers in a bowl and toss with 1/4 cup of the vinaigrette. Gently add the remaining ingredients and serve with toasted crusty bread.

Even the kids like this salad, there is something for each of them in it and they have so much fun making it too.

Potato Dill Soup with Salmon

I found a recipe for German Peasant Soup on Lex Culinaria's blog (http://gorgeoustown.typepad.com/lex_culinaria/). However, I had salmon in the fridge, and I really wanted some fish. I cut the salmon into chunks and added to the soup in the last 8 minutes of cooking and it was great, even my 3 year old daughter liked it.

Serves 6-8

1 T. olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic minced
3 largish (or 4 medium) red skinned potatoes, scrubbed
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
12 ounces Salmon, cut into 1 inch chunks
salt and pepper
sour cream to garnish

In the bottom of a soup pot, gently caramelize the onions in olive oil over a medium low heat, stirring occasionally for about 20 or 25 minutes. Meanwhile, quarter and slice the potatoes. Add the garlic to the soup pot and cook and stir for 3 minutes more. Raise the heat to medium high and add the sliced potatoes and pour over chicken stock. Add enough water so that the potatoes are covered by a margin of about one inch. Add in one half of the chopped dill.
Place the lid on the pot and allow the soup to simmer over medium high heat for about 30 minutes. Add the salmon chunks and cook 8 more minutes. Taste the broth and season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat and stir through the remaining dill. Serve with (or without) dollops of sour cream.