Twice-Cooked Tilapia

Katy is in town and is serving as my co-chef for this week's dishes. We took on the Pinenut-crusted fish last night. We picked up our tilapia fillets at TJs as well as our Broccoli Slaw. I love meals where you can get all of the ingredients at one store, especially if its TJs. It was the first time that either of the Doctor ladies have breaded fish and there was definitely some trial and error involved. After the first piece got quickly cooked (ie almost blackened) on the outside and was till raw on the inside, we learned that we might not want to follow the cookbook's directions to cook it on medium-high. We put it in the oven to let it finish cooking. After the second piece also got fairly crispy, we decided to blame TJs for making fillets that were too thick. The third piece came out nice and golden brown, but still required a little time in the oven. Despite the travails, it was surprisingly tasty and something all of us (Anshul included) would definitely like to eat again. The combination of flavors - the pine nuts, lemon and oregano - was really nice. And it was really easy. The Broccoli Slaw was a little bland, didn't live up to the other side dishes that I've made from this cook book. The authors say that it's better if you let it sit for a day so that the flavors combine and maybe that would help. I added basil, green onions, and red peppers but it still didn't have much taste to it. The crunch was a good combo with the fish but it needed more flavor.

Emily's Pick

I forgot to post this last night. I pick the Curried Cauliflower and Chickpea Soup for this week.

Week Three Picks

I pick Pine-Nut Crusted Fish (can't find the recipe online). I'm going to make the Broccoli Slaw with it.

I Need a Wok

I can't believe I don't have one. . .we stir fry at least once a week, probably two to three times a week when the CSA is up and going. I used to have a couple non-stick wok shaped pans, but I gave those away when we moved. I could never get them hot enough, and that non-stick coating gives of cancerous fumes when you heat it too high. I want a nice, thin, authentic wok. Perhaps if I had had one I could have salvaged this dish. A few things went awry when we made our "Lost" fried rice. (I like your theme, so I decided if we ate this while watching the Lost premier, which is filmed in Hawaii, where then grow pineapples, then I can have a theme as well. . .not as good as yours though.) First off, my rice was not old enough. It was brown rice so even though I started it right when I got home from work, it took longer to cook and didn't have much cooling time (maybe 30 mins in the fridge, at most. . .). To make good fried rice the rice needs to be hard and cold so it doesn't turn all mushy. So, that was strike one. Strike two was my pan. Usually when I do a stir fry with tofu I do the tofu first to get a nice crust on the tofu, take it out, do the veggies, and add the tofu back in with the liquids at the end. I was dubious of the instructions to add the tofu with the marinade right after the veggies, but I wanted to follow the recipe. Since I had a flat pan, this basically resulted in the veggies and tofu simmering in the liquid, rather than stir frying to a nice crisp-tender, resulting in mushy tofu and veggies. Add that to my mushy rice and the result was rather unappetizing. The flavors were pretty good, but the yucky textures overwhelmed the positive points. I had the leftovers for lunch the next day and the mushy tofu had completely disintegrated to a icky goo. I've eaten a lot of leftover tofu stir fries, and I've never had that happen before. I may make this again, but I think I'll wait until I get a wok, use old rice and switch around the cooking sequence a bit.

Inauguration Fried Rice

In honor of Barack Obama's inauguration, I made Pineapple (i.e. Hawaiian) Fried Rice. I was excited because I had leftover rice already made and I'm always looking for good, easy recipes for my wok. We LOVED it. In addition to being tasty, it was also festive full with different colors and textures and flavors. This is my favorite of all of the dishes we've made so far and I will definitely be adding it to the cooking rotation. Anshul subtely told me that I could also make it "non-veg." But he loved it. I liked the tofu, and I really liked the addition of the cashews - gave it the necessary crunch. The only thing I would change is to add more scallions, they kind of disappeared into the rice. I took the suggestion of the authors and made the Sesame Broccoli to go with it. A very nice addition. Super easy and would go well with many things. The sides in this book are great! I loved the Carrots with Raspberry vinegar and I eat the Lemony Green Beans at least once a week. Hoorah for good food and triple hoorah for OBAMA!! (We should have paired it with champagne but didn't have any so instead drank Hansen's Diet Tangerine Orange which was a nice pairing).

I made the Tunisian Potato Omelet last night. I was initially thinking of making it for brunch over the weekend, but that didn't happen. I liked the texture of the omelet, I've never let eggs cook like that over the stove and I liked the way it came out. Anshul really liked the sauce (which was so easy!), and that made all the difference in the dish, otherwise I think it would have been a little bland. It might be nice to throw in some other veggies into the omelet, both for color and nutrition. Maybe spinach or arugula? Some fresh herbs might be nice. We ate it sans salad since I was lazy but I thought it was quite filling on its own. I would definitely make it again, and think it would be a nice brunch centerpiece.

My trusty sous chef (Dan) and I made the Tunisian Potato Omelet for dinner on Monday night. Again, I couldn't manage to follow the recipe exactly. . .I couldn't find ground caraway in the store so I used cumin instead. Dan was a little overzealous in cubing the potatoes so we had quite a bit extra. Probably more like 3 cups than 2. They were lovely organic Yukon Gold potatoes though, so I don't think the extra potatoes made the omelet too dry or anything. I also broiled the omelet for a couple minutes at the end to get the Parmesan nice and brown and crusty. I think that was all I changed. All in all, I thought it was pretty good. Dan really liked it. I think that for the time it took to make this I could have make something better, though. If I make it again I may just serve it with salsa. Oh, I just remembered another change, I buzzed the sauce a bit with my immersion blender b/c the oil was sitting on top unappetizingly and Dan doesn't really like chunky tomato things. Have I told you how much I love my immersion blender? It is the handiest thing. I use it a lot and it is so much more versatile and easy to use than a regular blender. We had it with a simple salad of greens, dried cranberries and toasted almonds and pine nuts with some balsamic vinaigrette.

This is precisely why this project is fun, I probably never would have made that omelet if you hadn't picked it. It's just not the kind of thing I would normally make. But now I get to try it, and I'll probably like it. (Just like you and the risotto, which I can't believe you've never really had. Risotto is one of my favorite things!) Funny that it is Tunisian flavored, the Moosewood collective seems to like making things Tunisian flavored. I just made Tunisian Cabbage Stew (with the cabbage leftover from our sweet potato soup) for lunches earlier this week from their other cookbook I have - Moosewood Cooks at Home. I read an article a while back that their recipes span so many ethnicities b/c they have "ethnic night" at their restaurant, and they have people from many nationalities in the collective. Anyway, what did I pick for this week??? I've been eying up the Pineapple Fried Rice with Tofu (couldn't find link anywhere) for a while, so let's make that. I was debating changing my pick to something more homey due to the cold snap we're having, but I'm really excited to try this.

Week Two Picks

For January 15 - 22
Jenika's pick: Tunisian Potato Omelet

I also made the Spinach Artichoke Risotto last night. I was a little nervous because I've never made risotto before, and not really ever ordered it at a restaurant, though I've had a bite or two of others. So I was a little unsure of the texture I was going for. But I think it came out pretty alright, or so said my F&B husband. I followed the recipe almost to a tee, though I substituted chives from the garden for green onions because again I forgot something from the grocery store. I liked the flavors and it wasn't too difficult to get it all together. Not sure if I would add it to the rotation, it's hard to do anything in advance and by 7pm I'm ready for dinner to be mostly made, not just starting it (not that it usually is). I really liked the carrots, and agree with the cookbook that they added some nice color to the plate.

Yum!

Tonight I made the Spinach and Artichoke Risotto, with the carrot salad that was recommended by Moosewood as an accompaniment. I veered off the recipe a little - I used chicken stock, rather than veggie, since that is what was in the pantry and I didn't pay close attention to how much spinach was needed for the recipe so I only bought one 5 oz. bag, so I had to use half the spinach. I also used less dill, 1 tablespoon dried dill seemed like way too much. It's not my favorite flavor, I definitely think it has it's place in the background, but I thought 1 tablespoon would dominate the dish. I think I ended up using about half a tablespoon. I used a bit less feta, too, 1 cup seemed excessive. Wow, that's a lot of changes . . . I'm trying really hard to follow the recipes, since I can't really comment on a recipe if I mess with it too much, but I have trouble not tweaking things. Anyway, Dan and I both thought the risotto we ended up with was very good. Dan is a feta fiend, so of course he loved feta standing in for the Parmigiana. He did comment that he could have done with a bit less dill, so I think reducing it was a good idea (I'll reduce it even more next time!). I would definitely make this again, I think I like classic risotto better, but without all the butter and Parmigiana this better for everyday meals.
Even thought the carrot salad was really simple( just grated carrot, raspberry vinaigrette and parsley), it was really tasty. It was nice and fresh, light and a bit sweet; a good counter to the richer risotto. I likely wouldn't have made this salad if it wasn't recommended, it just didn't sound that interesting, but Dan and I were both pleasantly surprised. I think these will both be added to the repertoire.
Oh, and I used a South African chenin blanc (Man, 2008) in the recipe and drank the remainder with dinner. Not a bad wine, especially for $10.

We made the Indonesian Cabbage and Sweet Potato Soup for dinner this evening. I followed the recipe almost exactly, a little extra cabbage and a little extra soy sauce b/c there was just a tiny bit left in the bottle. The seasoning of the recipe was perfect, just enough heat. I garnished it with bean sprouts, green onions and a little bit of mint. It was tasty, nothing earth shattering, but a good satisfying dinner. I did add a squeeze of lime on top, it seemed to be crying out for it. Cut through the heaviness of the peanut butter and added a bit of sour to the salty and sweet.

The soup could handle a bit more cabbage, it cooked down a lot. The tomatoes didn't seem to add much and practically disappeared with cooking.

And we're off!

I'm making the Indonesian Sweet Potato and Cabbage soup for dinner tonight. It's stewing as I write. When I added the peanut butter, it started to look really damn good. Got all of the prepping done while feeding Sahana cheesy toast in her high chair in the kitchen. It took about three times as long because I have to give her a tiny bite size piece every 30 seconds (or else she'll shove them all in her mouth), but at least this way I figure I'm helping an impressionable young mind to develop a love for cooking yummy food. I didn't have tomatoes, even though I did my shopping especially for this recipe. Is that a really inauspicious way to start this thing? By screwing up the first recipe? They didn't seem like a necessity any way.
I read your post just as I settled down to dinner with my computer (Anshul won't be home until 9pm and I'm starving!) and am so glad I did because the lime makes this WAY better. I garnished with bean sprouts, cilantro and basil - I wonder how much it affects the taste to use mint and onions instead. My first bite was really ginger-y, but the tastes blended more with each bite. Overall, I liked it quite a bit and would definitely make it again. It reminds me of the curried peanut butternut squash soup - I think I like that a little better, but this is much easier.
Excellent paired with a hard cider. And some crusty whole wheat bread.

Our First Picks

For January 7 - January14
Jenika's - Indonesian Cabbage and Sweet Potato Soup
Emily's - Spinach Artichoke Risotto

The Rules

We each pick one recipe a week, due on Wednesday. We have one week to make the recipes and post our reviews of the resulting dishes. We stay on one cookbook until we feel we have exhausted all the recipes that interest us. The first cookbook is Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers: Fresh Ideas for the Weeknight Table by Moosewood Collective