Bacalao (codfish) mainly refers to salted cod; there’s no other way it could have gotten all the way down into Mediterranean cuisine from Scandinavian waters than by drying and salting it to preserve (pre-refrigeration). The codfish I used in this recipe was bought at Otolith and is fresh versus salted, and although salted cod is much tastier, I must say fresh is much healthier. The preferred method in preparing salted cod is to soak it overnight in several water baths to rinse the salt away, then batter it and fry it up. MmmMmmm, heart attack. Fried bacalao is also really great with boiled greens and skordalia (for another day…)
Βακαλάο με Ντομάτες και Πατάτες (Codfish with tomatoes & potatoes)
2 filets of codfish
3-4 potatoes, peeled and sliced
3-4 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped (or 1 15oz can of chopped tomatoes)
1-2 onions, sliced
5-6 garlic cloves, minced
3-4 bay leaves
parsely
salt and pepper
olive oil
Preheat oven to 350º. Saute the garlic and onions in some olive oil for a few minutes, add the tomatoes and bay leaves and simmer until flavors meld, salt and pepper. While sauce is simmering, prepare sliced potatoes and fish in pan. Coat potatoes and fish with about a 1/4 cup of olive oil, salt and pepper. Cover them with the tomato sauce and chopped parsley. Cover with foil and bake until potatoes are tender, uncover and let dish brown.
Yesterday was our one year anniversary! And though I spent it daydreaming I was back in Greece, we did have a decadent dinner at Tinto to celebrate. I can’t believe it’s been a year! I’m having a harder and harder time dealing with “time” and how fast it slips by. As far as a first year wrap-up: it was great! Not saying it wasn’t hard, it’s tough work, but definitely worth the fight(s), hehehe. So to congratulate us on making it our first year, I made some sweet treats: peach + honey ice cream via Straight from the Farm blog and apple muffins from the King Arthur Flour website.
…AND Rick got me flowers from the shop in our neighborhood I’ve been obsessing over, it’s been there forever and it looks like its main business is funeral wreaths. Maybe it’s run by vampires! or crackheadz?
AND!!! We got a package in the mail yesterday from our friend Sue in LA and it was full of goodies! I especially love my new owl buddy (from her trip to Japan!) and the fig jam (homemade! from figs in their backyard!) yay! Can’t wait to have some with vanilla ice cream! Thank you Sue, hugs!
Just the other day I was telling my friend, Anne Marie, that I am not a big soup person…and then what do I go and do? I make soup, chowder actually. Though I’m not a fan of warm, liquid dinners (especially in the summer), this is a perfect way to showcase some of summer’s yummy bounty: tomatoes and sweet corn! If I actually used forethought, I might freeze this soup…but I actually don’t know how soups with dairy hold up in the freezer. So I better just enjoy it now!
I paired the chowder with a simple green salad and some Portelet cheese from the share this week. YUM!
2 tbsp butter or margarine (30 ml)
¼ cup chopped onion (50 ml) (I would have liked a little more onion in there)
¼ cup chopped celery (50 ml)
1 garlic clove, minced (I would have used another clove or two)
2 tbsp flour (30 ml)
2 cups peeled, chopped fresh tomatoes (500 ml)
2 potatoes, diced
1 cup chicken broth (250 ml)
2 cups milk (500 ml) (Less milk I think. It was too soupy, less chowdery.)
2 cups kernel corn (500 ml)
½ tsp thyme (2 ml)
½ tsp salt (2 ml)
¼ tsp pepper (1 ml)
Saute onions, celery and garlic in butter in a large pan. Add flour & mix.
Add tomatoes, potatoes and broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender.
In a separate pan heat, but do not boil, milk (or you can heat it in a microwave). Add heated milk and corn to the tomato mix. Mix well. Add seasonings. Heat but do not boil.
First, I’d like to say that I’m pretty proud of myself for making this, considering that the task was wrought with “dealbreakers”. You will probably read the recipe and think, “This girl’s lame, she can’t even handle a lil ol’ tart!” BUT, said recipe was easy enough until I decided to make the crust myself and that’s when all my troubles started (on a work night! does that get me any sympathy?).
I know, my fault, should have kept this one in the Sunday Dinner Attempt pile. Oh well, but I would also like to share blame with the college student in Asheville, NC whose review of the recipe encouraged me to make Mark Bittman’s Flaky Pie Crust with whole wheat flour, since in her words, “it turned out perfectly!”. (Just kidding! I don’t blame you…I blame Mark Bittman! hahaha, jk, jk.)
I think it started the night before, when I made the dough and following the directions I sprinkled the dough with 3 tbsps ice cold water. The water pooled around the dough and when I picked up the dough ball it was mushy and felt like wet clay. I wrapped it in cling wrap and put it in the fridge overnight, but I was really suspicious about how it would perform today. Tonight, I floured my working surface and brought out the chilled dough to prep it for the tart. At first it was too hard, so I let it sit for a while and then when I started to roll it out it just stuck to everything. Smothered it in flour, nothing. Wrapped it up again and threw it in the freezer for 10 minutes. Rolled it out again and there was just way too much flour and the dough was cracking, too dry. So I just did what I could. I hand stretched it out and patched it together where I could, laid it out in the pie dish and froze it another 10 minutes. Any ideas on what I did wrong? Advice is much appreciated!
Aside from the crust disappointment, the tart was Deeeelicious! Totally Decadent! I also got to use up my leeks and some of my swiss chard from this week’s share (not to mention a whole bunch of eggs too! woo!) And I threw in some Italian Fennel Sausage (I bought a la carte) per college student’s suggestion (wink) and it was great! I would love to make this again if I can figure out this crust dilemma. Help?
I really can’t wait to see this show (even if it means putting up with Gwyneth Paltrow’s perfect lispy Spanish!). I mean I cook by Mark Bittman’s recipes and Mario Batali’s kitchen tools! Seems like a perfect match to me. Next time anyone decides to produce a travel cooking show, please give me a call I would love that kind of work!
We got some Ray’s Seitan (local company!) in our share a couple weeks ago and it has been sitting in the fridge patiently waiting for me to do something with it. I LOVE seitan, when it’s done right. It does not taste like meat to me, or I should say not a meat I have tasted, but it definitely has a more interesting texture than spongy tofu and granola-like tempeh. I was searching and searching for a recipe that would really showcase this stuff and also have been recently missing our local restaurant, Azure, which had the best Seitan Tips (though a bit salty honestly). Unfortunately, Azure closed down this past spring and yet another tapas place has opened in its space, blah. In consideration of what I had laying around, I figured I would make tacos.
I was going to rub the seitan with chili powder and roast it in the oven, but after talking with my friend Nicole (an avid seitan consumer) I decided on pan frying as a quicker, crispier solution. My seitan did not come out as seared as I would have liked, a lot of it just stuck to the bottom of my skillet, but it was flavored well. I tossed it with red onions, garlic, chili powder, cumin, some hot peppers and a green bell pepper (this is based off a favorite recipe for butternut squash tacos that Nicole passed onto me). Next time I think I will use more red onion and not cook it down as much, keep the onion a little bit more raw and fresh tasting.
* The top right photo looks like some retarded seitan flan to me, haha.
Just got back from working (well, stocking shelves really) at Greensgrow for my work share and am ravenously hungry. I bought some pickled daikon/cabbage (a la carte) and have been munching on that with some ricotta I got from Almanac Market earlier this week. YUM!
Tomatoes – NJ
Corn – Linvilla Orchards, Media, PA
Cantaloupe – G & G Stecher, Swedesboro, NJ
Leeks – Flaim Farms, Vineland, NJ
Red Swiss Chard, Flaim Farms, Vineland, NJ
Beets – Flaim Farms, Vineland, NJ
Suntan Peppers – Flaim Farms, Vineland! , NJ
Olive Oil Buns – Abruzzi’s, NJ
Pickles – Greensgrow Farms, Philadelphia, PA
Cheese – Portelet – LeRayesville Cheese Factory, LeRayesville, PA
Dairy Option: 2 Pequea Valley Yogurts
A la carte:
Pickled Daikon and Cabbage, Greensgrow Farms, Philadelphia, PA
Jalapeno Cheddar
2 white onions, Greensgrow Farms, Philadelphia, PA
You may have noticed that I have been gone for a while (all 5 of you, thank you!). I was out of town for many reasons (engagements & nuptials!) but also I finally screened my thesis at American University last week and now officially have another notch on the ol’ education belt (yay!).
Since we were out of town and Greensgrow didn’t have a pick up this past weekend, our fridge was bare. SO, I had an excuse to go try the new sustainable seafood market that just opened down the street, Otolith! Amanda, the owner, helped me pick out some wild keta salmon that she recommended would go well with a pesto crust. (We also chatted about salted cod and she said she would get some in! I’m craving some Greek style bacalao!) The salmon was perfect! Thanks Amanda! Really easy recipe too, just cover your salmon piece with pesto and broil until flaky. I let the fish marinate in some white wine prior to applying the pesto which I think helped counter the richness of the pesto.
