Crunchy Japanese Fish with Crunchy Noodle Toss November 4, 2008
Posted by Teresa in : Dinner , add a commentAnother great recipe! 
Rachel Ray calls it “make your own take-out.” I used snapper (or was it perch), so I think it would work with any fish you have (thawed). Preheat oven to 400 °F.
- coarse salt
- 2 pounds haddock fillets (or other fish)
- 2 pinches of cayenne pepper
- zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 3 cups rice crispie cereal (half crushed, half left whole… I did more like 2 cups crushed, 1 cup whole and that worked fine)
- 3 Tbsp. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 3 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
FOR THE LO MEIN (NOODLE TOSS)
- 1/2 pound thin spaghetti (spaghettini or angel hair), about one small box.
- 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil (recommend grapeseed if you have it)
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- fresh ginger, a piece about 2 inches long, chopped
- 1 cup shredded carrots (or 1 carrot peeled and cut into matchsticks)
- 2 cups bean sprouts (which I didn’t have, but made the recipe anyway)
- 1 can of sliced water chestnuts, drained and chopped (8 oz or 237 ml)
- 1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and thinly sliced
- 6 scallions, sliced on an angle
- 1/3 cup dark aged soy sauce (tamari), or the best soya sauce you’ve got
Bring a pot of water to boil, add the pasta and salt the water. Cook the pasta until slightly undercooked, and drain.
While the pasta is cooking, prepare the fish. Season the haddock with salt, pepper, lemon zest, and the juice of 1/2 the lemon. Cut the remaining lemon into wedges and reserve. Crush half (or so) of the rice crispies in a plastic bag, then combine with the whole cereal, parsley, and chives. Dip the fish in the melted butter, then coat evenly in the cereal coating and place on a cookie sheet. Bake for 17 or 18 minutes, until evenly golden and crisp.
After the fish goes into the oven, heat a large skillet over high heat. Add the vegetable oil, garlic, ginger, and carrots. Cook for 1 minute, stir-frying the mixture, then add the bean sprouts, water chestnuts, red bell peppers, and scallions. Stir-fry for another 2 minutes then add the drained, hot pasta. Add the tamari (soy sauce) and remove from heat. Toss for a minute for the pasta to absorb the tamari (soy sauce) and vegetable juices, and divide the Lo Mein among 4 plates. I admit I left off a few of the veggies, simply because I didn’t have them, but the noodles still turned out very yummy! Serve with the crispy oven-fried fish and pass the lemon wedges at the table. Enjoy!
Eggs-traordinary Toasty Baskets November 3, 2008
Posted by Teresa in : Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch , add a commentThis recipe is another gem from Rachel Ray’s 365: No Repeats cookbook! Great for any meal (not just breakfast). Preheat the oven to 400 °F.
Get out your muffin tins!
- 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 4 slices bacon, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 1/2 small onion, chopped
- 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 slices soft white bread (but I used multigrain and it was delicious as well)!
- 3 Tbsp. melted butter (unsalted)
- 1 tomato (vine-ripened, if you have), chopped
- 4 eggs
- grated parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, or other cheese
Preheat a small skillet over medium heat, add 1 Tbsp olive oil (once round the pan) and the chopped bacon, and cook for 3 minutes, or until the bacon is crisp. Add the garlic, onions, crushed red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Cook until the onions start to turn translucent, about 3 minutes.
With a serrated knife, cut the crusts from the bread. With a rolling pin (or a large jar or glass), flatten each slice or bread as thins as you can get it. Nestle each thin slice of bread into the cup of a non-stick standard 1/2 cup muffin tin, pushing the bread down on the bottom of the tin and pushing it up the sides. It should be all the way up the sides, or slightly above. If the bread rips, don’t worry about it, just smoosh it together a little. If your muffin tins aren’t non-stick, put some melted butter in first, then the bread. Either way, once the bread is in, brush it lightly with melted butter.
Add the tomatoes to the bacon and onions. Turn the heat up a little to evaporate some of the liquid of the tomato, about 1 minute. Also, one time when I made these, I cheated and used bacon bits (gasp!) instead of real bacon, and it worked okay! I just don’t buy bacon very often! So I added the bacon bits now, after the tomatoes, and stirred it all together.
Working one at a time, crack the eggs into a small bowl and the carefully transfer to the bread-lined muffin tins. The goal is not to break the yolk. Alternately, you can scramble the egg and pour it in that way. I found that I had to pick the smallest eggs I had – the large ones would flow over the side. So, I was also thinking that if your eggs are big, you could scramble 3 and pour them into 4 muffin tins (I’m going to try this next time I make them). Anyways, you get the idea. Sprinkle the egg with salt and pepper. Top each egg with some of the tomato-bacon mixture (1/4 each) and then a little cheese. Place in the hot oven and bake for 15 minutes! How easy was that?!? You could also change up the ingredients a little – like using feta cheese (my idea), adding green olives or sausage instead of bacon (Rachel Ray’s idea). Experiment (but don’t go crazy)!
Warm Black Bean Salad October 28, 2008
Posted by Teresa in : Dinner, Lunch , add a commentThis is great with the Lime and Honey Glazed Salmon! It’s also from the Rachel Ray 365:No Repeats cookbook.
- 2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- 1 medium red onion (chopped)
- 1/2 to 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (medium heat to extra spicy)
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
- 10 oz. frozen corn kernels, defrosted (or you could used canned)
- 1/2 cup chicken stock or broth
- 15 oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed
- a lime, to be juiced (or used the bottled kind)
- 2-3 tsp. fresh cilantro leaves chopped
- 6 cups baby spinach (I used frozen and it was okay too)
Preheat a medium skillet over medium heat with 2 tbsp EVOO (twice around the pan). Add the onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, cumin, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes.
Add the bell peppers and corn kernels and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and continue to cook for another 2 minutes. Add the black beans and cook just until the beans are heated through. Remove the skillet from the heat and add the juice of a lime (or from a bottle), the cilantro and the spinach. Toss to wilt the spinach and then taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve with the lime and honey glazed salmon, or whatever else you like!
Lime and Honey Glazed Salmon October 14, 2008
Posted by Teresa in : Dinner , add a commentMmmm! Very yummy!
- 1 lime (or you can use the bottled lime juice)
- 3 Tbsp. honey (3 gobs)
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- sea salt
- pepper
- olive oil
- 4 6-oz. salmon fillets (but the sauce would cover even more)
Combine the first 5 ingredients in a shallow dish. Pre-heat a non-stick skillet on medium-high heat (say, 7 out of 10). If the salmon was frozen, make sure it’s thoroughly thawed and pat it dry. Add the salmon fillets to the honey-lime mixture and coat thoroughly. Pour a little (about 2 Tbsp.) olive oil into the pan, let it warm up and then fry the salmon in the pan for about 3 minutes per side. Don’t be alarmed if there is all sorts of black or dark brown stuff on it or in the pan – this is the honey. It still tastes great! Make sure not to over-cook it, though.
The recipe book (Rachel Ray 365: No Repeats) suggests serving it with a warm black bean and corn salad. Either way, enjoy!
Corn Chowder October 6, 2008
Posted by Teresa in : Dinner, Lunch , add a commentVery yummy! Makes about 6 cups of delicious soup!
Cook 4 slices bacon (chopped), stirring, in a soup pot over medium-low heat until beginning to crisp, 10-15 minutes. Leaving the bacon in the pan, spoon off all but 2 tablespoons of fat. Add and cook, stirring, until tender and slightly browned, 10-15 minutes:
- one small onion, chopped
- 2 medium celery ribs, diced
Meanwhile, remove the kernels from:
- 6 small ears of corn (I used 4 large ones and that seemed to work well too).
Set the kernels aside and add the cobs to the pot, along with:
- 4+1/2 cups milk (I used half chicken stock and that was good too)
- 2 medium potatoes, diced
Submerge the corn cobs in the milk. Bring the milk almost to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, covered, until the potatoes are tender, 10-15 minutes. Remove the cobs. Stir in the reserved corn kernels, with:
- 1+1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. white or black pepper
Simmer gently until the corn in tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. With a slotted spoon, remove 1+1/2 cups of solids from the soup and puree until smooth (I also needed a little soup to make it move in the blender). Return to the soup and add:
- 1 Tbsp. butter
Let stand until the butter is melted, then stir and serve. Enjoy! This recipe comes from a great resource, the massive cookbook/text book The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker.
Make Your Own Salad Dressing! October 3, 2008
Posted by Teresa in : Dinner, Lunch , add a commentThis post isn’t a recipe as such, just a few hints on making your own salad dressing! It’s very easy – just think of oil and vinegar! You need some oil – olive oil, or sesame, or grapeseed, or sunflower, whatever you have in your kitchen. Olive oil is the most distinct, so it will make a stronger-tasting dressing, which tends to work better with stronger-tasting lettuce like romaine (not iceberg). Then you need some vinegar. In reality, you just need an acid – lemon or lime juice works great, but you can also use orange or grapefruit juice, or any type of vinegar you have – apple cider or balsamic will make a strong-tasting dressing, but balanced with oil, it is great. You want roughly equal amounts of oil and vinegar (for example 1/4 cup), but you can combine two acids (such as 1/8 cup of plain white vinegar and 1/8 cup lemon juice) to make up the amount you need. I usually pour all the oil and vinegar into a small glass jar with a lid, and put the lid on and shake the heck out of it. Once it’s nicely mixed (emulsified), then you just need a few more flavours. You can try any of these (but not all!):
- garlic (cloves if you’ve got ‘em, chopped finely or crushed, or just use garlic powder)
- mustard (a nice dijon or “bold and spicy” mustard works great)
- salt (best is sea salt)
- pepper (black or white)
- oregano, basil, parsley or other dried green leafy spice
- a spice combo, such as Thai (look for these at the grocery store)
- soya sauce (or worchestershire sauce, just a little)
- dried soup mix (like onion soup mix)
- chili powder or cayenne pepper (just a little!)
- whatever else comes to mind. Look at the ingredients of your favourite dressing (the ones that aren’t chemicals) and just copy the recipe, so to speak.
Remember that a little goes a long way, and make sure you taste it as you go! Creamy dressings can be made in the blender… but don’t make too much, ’cause they won’t keep very long in the fridge (a few days would be okay). There’s no preservatives or chemicals!
Have fun experimenting!
African Chow Mein September 29, 2008
Posted by Teresa in : Dinner , add a commentSo easy! So yummy! Not very much like Chow Mein!
- 1 lb hamburger meat (or veggie ground round)
- 2 cups celery, chopped fine
- 1 large onion, chopped
Brown the above ingredients and put in casserole. Add the following ingredients:
- 1 cup raw rice
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/4 cup soya sauce
- 1 can mushroom soup (condensed kind)
- 3 cups hot water
- 1 Tbsp. (or more) molasses, stir
Bake for 1 hour at approximately 350°F (stirring occasionally). You may find it necessary to add a little water. Enjoy!
