Does this corn pudding make me look old?
I have to say that I have been cooking up a storm. Really! I cook dinner every night and most weekend nights. Cooking is my zen moment. It is where my brain turns off and the music plays and a glass of wine is drank...drunk...drinked? I just have not felt like writing about it all. This isn't a job and I do it for fun so when I am not in the mood I am not in the mood. Then again I do feel weird when I don't post. I mean it really doesn't matter but then my high school brain kicks in and it is like I am not doing my homework or somethin. What is with that? Ok, lets see what I have been making.
So yeah... there is a coop worth of chicken being cooked around here. I don't even remember what this one was. Oy.
If you don't like cabbage or sauerkraut this dish isn't for you. It is one of Dr. Foods favs. I love it too (hey, I just sounded like the Irish Spring commercial from when I was a kid! Uh oh, I am old.)
More tshiken!
Really easy dish but there is ONE problem. I forgot to take a picture of the finished dish. Oh well, lets move on.
Um, ew. This looks really disgusting but it was really good too. It is chicken breast dredged in Oatmeal and spices. Lets move on.
oooooh BACON! I bet you are jumping up and down now! I don't get the whole bacon thing. I wish it would fade away. Anyhow, this is Ventreche and not really bacon. Take THAT!
You know there is always an onion involved.
This time there was Mr. Margarita as well as me listening to music and peeling and dicing onions. Dr. Food gave me my birthday present early and it is a radio that plays Pandora, Regular radio, and internet radio as well as my ipod. So, sippin a margarita and chopping onions and listening to music is my happy place.
(Look away faint of heart) these are Goat shanks.
I am on a cabbage kick. I can't get enough of the stuff. So, when Dr. Food saw this recipe in Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough's book Goat: Meat, Milk, Cheese we had to make it. I love these guys a lot. This recipe is genius. Shanks with Cabbage, Port, and Vanilla. Sooooo good.
Time is involved but these are not hard to make.
Another recipe in the book was Corn Pudding with Goat Cheese. I was all over THAT.
I loved this recipe. We didn't have goat milk so I used regular milk and it was still heavenly.
So that was our "There is no place to eat around here so we will have our own stuff at home" dinner.
But WAIT there is more.
The weather was really nice so we wanted to grill. We decided to grill some fish and to make fish tacos. We found a really good recipe for grilled fish from "Rick Bayless" called Fish Zarandeado and we made that.
I made some mexican inspired slaw to go in fish tacos. That picture is a little out of focus there. Sorry about that.
Bulgarian Chicken
Emily's Table
Prepare a grill for high-heat cooking, or heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Set the corn ears on the grill grate directly over the heat source — or in the grill pan. Grill until charred a bit on all sides, turning with tongs once in a while, perhaps 2 to 3 minutes.
Set the corn on a cutting board.
Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 F. Butter the inside of a 9-inch square baking dish or a 2-quart soufflé dish or gratin pan.
Cut one end off the corncobs so they’ll stand up straight on the cutting board, and then run a paring knife down the ears, slicing off the kernels. Put the kernels in a large bowl.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan set over medium-low heat. Add the shallots and jalapeños; cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots soften and begin to turn golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cumin seeds; cook for 15 seconds or so. Scrape the contents of the pan into the bowl with the corn kernels.
Stir in the eggs, milk, cornmeal, fresh chèvre and basil until fairly smooth. Pour this mixture into the prepared baking dish; sprinkle the grated hard cheese over the top.
Bake the pudding until set and browning evenly a little across the top, about 40 to 45 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes before serving. Makes 8 servings.
Fish Zarandeado
Rick Bayless
4 ancho chiles or 8 guajillo chiles, stemmed, seeded and torn into flat pieces
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
2 garlic cloves, peeled
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons Worcestershire
Salt
1 3-pound fish (round fish like snapper, grouper or striped bass work really well)—ask to have it filleted, but keep the bones
Oil for brushing or spraying the basket and fish
12 warm corn tortillas
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced, for serving
2 limes, cut into wedges, for serving
Chinese toasted chiles in oil (or your favorite salsa or hot sauce), for serving (optional)
1. Make the marinade. In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast the chile pieces a few at a time, pressing them firmly against the hot surface with a metal spatula until they are aromatic, about 10 seconds per side. In a bowl, rehydrate the chiles for 20 minutes in hot tap water to cover; place a plate on top to keep them submerged.
Use a pair of tongs to transfer the rehydrated chiles to a food processor or blender. Add 1⁄2 cup of the soaking liquid, along with the tomato sauce, garlic, soy and Worcestershire. Blend to a smooth puree. Press through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl. Taste and season highly with salt, usually about 2 teaspoons.
2. Prepare the fish. Cut 1⁄2-inch-deep diagonal slashes along the flesh side of the fish (to promote even cooking and aide in marinade penetration). Sprinkle with both sides with salt. Spread or brush about 3 tablespoons of the marinade over both sides of the fish—spread some on the bones as well. You’ll probably have marinade leftover for another round of fish. (It’ll keep for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator.)
3. Grill and serve. Turn on a gas grill to medium or light a charcoal fire and let it burn to until the coals are covered with white ash. Lay a grill basket over the fire. When quite hot, brush or spray the basket generously with oil. Spray or lightly brush the fish with oil, then lay the oiled-side down on the basket; spray or brush the other side. Close the basket and cook lay over the fire. Cook, turning every 3 or 4 minutes, until the fish is cooked through but still juicy—a 3-pound snapper typically takes 10 to 15 minutes.
Gently and carefully open the basket and remove the fish to a platter. Serve with warm tortillas, red onion, lime and toasted chiles for making very tasty soft tacos.
