Pan Sauteed Fluke

We are really fortunate to have terrific access to the wholesale fruit and food markets as well as plenty of farmer's markets here in Chicago.

One such place is Isaacson and Stein Fish Company - located on the corner of Fulton and Halsted.  They supply fish to many restaurants in the city and have a retail store open to the public.  The prices are terrific - the fish is beautiful - and for me, at least, it is on the way from my office to my car - so I pass by it every day!

So yesterday I went in, got my plastic gloves and a bag, and started looking to see what they had for dinner that evening.  And what did I find?  Fluke. Fresh.  Wild Caught in the Atlantic.  Whole and/or Filleted (their staff does an amazing job cleaning the fish - so for me, it is worth the extra money).  I bought 3 lovely fillets (a little over 1 lb.) for $8.00.  Enough to feed the family, plus maybe a little left over depending if the kids and Jay liked it.

Fluke (aka Flounder) is something we used to eat a lot when we lived in New York - it is mostly found in the Northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and is a "flat" fish - so the fillets are relatively thin, but still meaty enough to not fall apart when cooking.

Fish like this just needs to be simply prepared, so I just sprinkled it on both sides with salt and pepper, then took about 1 tablespoon of butter, melted that in a saute pan and quickly browned the fish on either side (about 2 minutes on the first then 1 minute on the other side).  So easy to do.  You know the fish is done when it is just opaque and flakes a bit.

Just wonderful!  Buttery, flakey - even Jay (husband) loved it - and he doesn't like fish!

I served this with a crisp salad of bok choy, napa cabbage, sliced carrots, sliced scallions, watercress, sliced cucumbers and fresh parsley, mint and basil.  The dressing was asian inspired (see previous posts) but you could do anything.

Here is the link to Isaacson and Stein Fish Company - check it out if you haven't gone!

http://www.isaacsonandsteinfishcompany.com/

Enjoy!

Roasted Mustard Salmon

Despite being really crazy at work, I have had time to cook for the family. What I have been relying on are old standbys that the husband and kids love - they come out great every time and are quick and easy.

As I have written about before, my husband does not love fish (his love for tuna from the can boggles my mind). However, he does love salmon and this way in particular.

Some things to note.

1. When I buy fish, I buy fresh not frozen, and I usually buy on the same day I am making the fish. I usually go to Whole Foods (or some other store that is very clean - I am a bit obsessive about this point) and look for what is on sale, then talk to the fish guy about when it came in, quality, etc. This way, I get the freshest, best fish I can.

2. Fish should not smell fishy. Really. This is how you know it is fresh. It should have a slightly oceany smell but not very strong (like tuna from a can for instance).

3. I usually ask for a center cut and ask that the pieces be of the same size and thickness. This way, they all cook about the same time. Also, I ask them to remove any pin bones and depending on the fish, the skin. Some people like the skin - so up to you.

Roasted Mustard Salmon

1 side salmon
1 tsp olive oil
2-3 tsp dijon mustard - enough to put a thin layer on top of the salmon
salt and pepper
1 tsp herbs de provence or thyme

1. Preheat oven to 425. Or preheat broiler.
2. Place salmon in roasting pan or on tray rubbed with olive oil. Smear mustard on top of salmon so it is all over the top. Sprinkle with herbs and salt and pepper.
3. Put in oven for 10-12 minutes or until it is pink through and flakes. (Fish will continue cooking after you remove it from the oven - so best way to check is simply to stick a knife in and see if it is almost evenly pink throughout. If it is, pull it out. If you like it more rare, cook for less time.)

That's it!!! There are lots of variations on this. Sometimes I mix some breadcrumbs or panko with the mustard and put that on top. Sometimes I stick some slices of lemon underneath. Sometimes I put parmesan cheese on top of the mustard. They all work.

Spring Peas, Asparagus and Pasta

It's almost Spring. I can taste it. Last week we had a couple of warmer days - even though it rained. And, you can just begin to see the buds coming out on the trees. Oh, it's there. Believe me! Personally, I cannot wait! Chicago has had a terribly long and snowy winter and the thought of walking around a farmer's market and starting to plan out our veggie garden makes me giddy (and thank you Target for putting out your garden stuff early... SO tempting!!)

Anyway, I digress.

Question, as always - what's for dinner? As we look toward spring, I want green. Lots of it. And I want peas. The best days are when early in the spring season you go to the farmer's market and there are FRESH peas - in the pod - so sweet. Unadorned, they are a great snack. Slightly steamed works too. In addition to peas, Spring makes me think of tender asparagus. Thin stemmed. Slightly steamed - delicious.

However, there are certain (ahem) wonderful significant others who really don't like asparagus. However, if you saute it (or roast it) - it loses a lot of the bitter taste and sweetens up. Pair asparagus with some fresh (or frozen) petite green peas - mix with pasta and you have a winner! If the kids don't go do sauteed veggies in their pasta, make everything separate (I always have a bowl of plain steamed carrots or peas just in case) and they can put it together as they like.

Spring Pasta with Asparagus and Peas
(serves 4)

1/2 box favorite pasta (rotini, etc... something that will hold up to the veggies)
1 bunch asparagus
2 cups fresh peas (or frozen)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp fresh minced sage
kosher salt
pepper

1. Start making pasta (boil water, add salt, add pasta, etc...)

2. As pasta is cooking, prepare vegetables. For asparagus, snap off the ends (there will be a natural break where the stem is tough), and cut into 2 inch pieces (thirds).

3. Heat oil in pan. Toss in garlic and swirl gently so it doesn't burn. After about 30-45 seconds (before garlic turns brown), throw in asparagus. Cook for about 5 minutes, tossing gently so it is coated with olive oil and garlic.

4. When the asparagus turns bright green, sprinkle with a small amount of salt and pepper (layer the flavors people!!)

5. Toss in rest of ingredients (peas, sage) and saute gently until the peas are just bright green and warmed through.

6. By this time, the pasta should be done.

7. Drain the pasta, toss with the veggie mixture and serve with grated parmesan.

By the way, if you like a bit more of a "sauce," you can always add a bit of vegetable stock to the veggie mixture as it is cooking - about 1/2 cup should do - a tbsp or two of cream at the end (my family doesn't really do "cream sauce")

That's all folks! Enjoy!!

Homemade Pasta with the Kids

Well, after nearly 17 years, I finally did it. I took out our Atlas Pasta Maker and the kids and I made pasta together. I've made pasta lots of times with my dad when I was a kid and since then have hand rolled pasta before the kids were born. But, I had forgotten how much fun it is!

The pasta we made (cappellini) was delicate and delicious. And it really is worth it to try and make. Even if you don't have the Atlas Pasta roller, you can use a rolling pin to roll out the dough as thin as possible and "hand cut" it into strips. Or, cut it into squares and make raviolis or dumplings.

Here is the recipe....

2 cups of flour (I used plain old white flour)
2 eggs
2 egg yolks

1. Mound the flour in a pile on the counter.
2. Make a well in the center.
3. Gently beat the eggs and yolks together and put in the center of the "well" of flour.
4. Using a fork, stir the eggs, bringing down little bits of flour from the sides into the eggs. Keep mixing until you can't really stir with the fork anymore, then use your hands to bring the dough together and gently knead the dough. It will not be smooth, so don't worry about that. It will also be a bit sticky. Add a bit more flour if it is too wet, or a couple of drops of water if you can't get it to come together too well.
5. Once it has come together, pat it into a round disk, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for about 1 hour.

Rolling out the pasta.

Since we have the rolling machine, it makes this a bit easier. But basically what you are doing is thinning out the dough enough to make pasta. So, the first thing we did was to cut off a small piece and run it through the pasta maker a couple of times to finish kneading the dough, folding in thirds each time to really smooth it out. Next we ran it through the largest setting (1). Then we decreased the setting to 2 and ran the pasta through. We continued doing this until we reached setting 7. (I think I may stop at 6 in the future, but we were having so much fun!!!)

You can see from the pictures that the dough gets longer and thinner each time. Once you reach desired thinness, put the pasta through the "cutting" part of the machine. Or, you can cut it by hand into thin strips using a pizza cutter or roll it into a long "log" and cut the noodles. There are a bunch of websites that show you how to do this.

Once the pasta is cut, toss it with a bit of flour to separate the noodles. Cook in lots of boiling, salted water for 1-2 minutes.

Toss with some olive oil, freshly grated parmesan and YUMMY!!!!!

Funny Named Food - Or, How to Get Kids to Eat Eggs

Well, we are now well into our first month of kindergarten and between dropping kids off, work, homework, dinner, etc. I am EXHAUSTED!!

However, I still have managed to cook most every night for the kids - and include veggies/fruit now and again. A couple of things I have learned over the past few weeks.


1. Kids will eat salad if you put salad dressing in a squirt/spray bottle and allow them to "spray" dressing on their salad. The problem is they spend lots of time squirting and less time eating - but if you limit the number of squirts to say "10" - it works well.

2. Kids still want to eat pizza every night. They will insist that they never have it. Even if they had it at 3 birthday parties the day before.

3. If you give something a silly name, kids will most likely eat it. Especially if you let them help make it. Say, like....

Rocky Mountain Toast (aka toast with an egg in the middle)

This recipe is for 1 piece of Rocky Mountain Toast. Obviously you do the same thing multiple times to make more than one piece. Also, I like mine with some roasted red peppers on top - but here is the basic recipe. Easy, quick, fun and the kids love it.

1 tsp butter
1 slice whole wheat/multi grain bread
1 egg

1. Prepare the toast. Using a circle cookie cutter (one that leaves about 1 inch around so the egg doesn't leak through), have the kids cut a circle in the middle of the bread. While they are doing this, heat a small frying pan (larger if you are doing a few at a time) with the tsp butter.

2. Put bread into the frying pan.

3. Break egg into the "circle." Break the yolk with a knife or fork. Don't worry if some spills over.

4. Once the egg is set and the toast is brown on one side, flip the toast and cook until the toast is browned and the egg is cooked through. Serve.

Now onto the multiple menus for the upcoming holidays.....

Of Kindergarten and Salad

These past few weeks have been a whirlwind of preparing for the oldest's first foray into formalized schooling and just general end of summer craziness! Well, here's the good news - kindergarten is going extraordinarily well! He loves it! Hooray! He even is asking if a particular snack is "healthy." For some reason he seems to be stuck on canteloupe. Not that it is a bad snack - but he keeps asking.

A recent conversation went like this (me at top of stairs, son calling up from downstairs playroom)

"MOMMY!!!! Is canteloupe healthy?"

"What??? (son repeats question). Oh, why yes it is."

"Can I have canteloupe then?"

"We don't have any left. I will get some when I go to Trader Joe's. Do you want something else?"

"Yes. Do we have goldfish?"

Apparently goldfish is an adequate substitute for canteloupe. I did not know this.

Anyhow....

Dinners have been a bit haphazard lately, although I have managed to pull lots of great veggies from our garden and make some great salads and sauces that the kids are loving! Last week we went to our local farmer's market and there was a terrific local farmer who had bunches of wonderful sun dried tomatoes. They were fresh - and so soft, with a bit of an acidity that was balanced by an olive fruitiness from the home pressed olive oil and fresh herbs that dressed them. (They also had wonderful home cured olives they had grown...but Jay doesn't like olives so I passed on the olives but bought 1/2 pint of the sun dried tomatoes). So, of course I wanted to use them in SOMETHING! At the same time, since things have been so crazy, I have been looking for quick and easy meals the kids will like and that are a bit more tasty than plain pasta.

With that in mind - this one is for all you moms out there who are hard pressed to get a quick, but healthy and fresh meal on the table.

Pasta with fresh tomato and basil sauce and Romaine salad with creamy mustard dressing

Pasta with fresh tomato and basil sauce

1 lb. fresh whole wheat pasta (penne, spaghetti, whatever you like)
2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes cut in half
2 big handfuls of fresh basil leaves (about 1 cup total)
1/8 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes (we used the fresh ones - any you have on hand will do. If they are in oil, just reduce some of the cooking olive oil - and replace with a bit of the oil from the sun dried tomatoes)
1 tbsp chopped garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper


1. Bring water to boil. Once it is boiling, salt generously with about 2 tbsp of salt and add pasta. Cook until al dente and when it is done, drain and put on the side.
2. At the same time as pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in saute pan - not too hot, it shouldn't be smoking.
3. Add garlic and push around the pan to flavor oil (about 1 minute - make sure it doesn't brown - lower the heat if you need to.)
4. Add fresh tomatoes, basil, sun dried tomatoes and toss with warm olive oil over low heat about 10 minutes until tomatoes are warm throughout and have let off some of their juices. Basil will be slightly wilted.
5. Add drained pasta to the saute pan (or vice versa if the pan is not big enough to hold the pasta)

Serve with Romaine salad with creamy dressing (below)

Romaine salad with creamy mustard dressing

1-2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped

For dressing:
1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar (or any other white vinegar you like)
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp heavy cream
1 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 pinch salt (about 1/2 tsp to start)
fresh ground pepper

1. Whisk together vinegar and mustard.
2. Whisk in olive oil and heavy cream.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Toss about 1/2 dressing with romaine lettuce. Add more if necessary.

ENJOY!

Teriyaki Salmon and Raves by a Five Year Old

Tonight I made a quick dinner of teriyaki salmon, basmati rice and steamed spinach (I had shredded carrots for the kids). Here was J's reaction - "I LOVE Salmon Mommy! This is delicious! Thank you for making such a wonderful dinner for us! I am only going to eat the salmon, rice and carrots - but I LOVE it!"

Yes, it was a little over the top and dramatic - but what do you want - he is five. And drama tends to run in our family!

So what was this terrific salmon? Try this one - it is easy and terrific. Of course, get the best salmon you can. I always buy fresh fish from Whole Foods or a fish market - just is better.

1 lb of salmon (I used 1 side)
1 cup or so of your favorite teriyaki sauce (I use the San-J organic.)

1. Place salmon on tray with high sides, skin side down. Pour teriyaki sauce over so it is covered. Take a piece of saran wrap and tightly cover the salmon. "Marinate" for 30 minutes.

2. While salmon is marinating, preheat oven to 350.

3. Remove saran wrap (a key step...).

4. Put tray with salmon and marinade in oven. Roast for 8-12 minutes depending on thickness, until salmon is flaky.

Enjoy!


reheat oven to 350.