recipe: green rice with mahi mahi

There is actually a reason I did not name this arroz verde… it is because, if I were going to do this as a true verde sauce, in my mind, should probably include some tomitillios, of which this recipe does not include (see my chili verde recipe). It is closer to perhaps a riz vert insomuch as it is built on a base of the color green and is rice based in a Delta cooking style. This version includes steaming the mahi mahi over the top of the cooking the rice. The fish (as well as some of the other ingreds) are interchangeable, as usual, but this was truly inspired by the fact that there were all these pretty colors of green in my fridge to draw from along with the fresh fish I picked up. I have fresh made veggie stock at home that has this great deep green brown color that came from some really nice veggies I had and has a brilliant flavor to help set the base flavors (being it was born out of them), but a fish stock or broth might work well too. I am not a huge okra fan, but it adds to the green, and it helps give the rice a nice, thick, sticky consistency. These are always the best reasons to invent new dishes and always my faves in the way they come out.

Poblano pepper
green bell pepper
yellow onion
garlic
jalapeno pepper
celery
okra
chicory
collard greens
brown rice
cilantro
mahi mahi
fresh cracked pepper (black and white corns if possible) and / or house seasoning
stock pot
veggie stock
butter

Chop all three pepper types, garlic, celery, onion and okra
Combine the veggies in the stock pot over low heat and sweat to combine flavors
While the flavors meld, coarsly chop the cilantro, collard, chicory (and/or other dark leafy greens)
Add a bit of butter to the pot and add the rice. All the rice to become translucent
Add stock to the rice, typically about a 2:1 ration, bring to a boil and back down to a low simmer.
Season with pepper, house seasonings.
Season both sides of the fish filets with house seasoning
Allow the rice to cook 15-20 minutes then add the chopped greens to the pot and mix.
Once the greens are integrated with the rice place the fish filets on top of the rice.
Add any additional liquid necessary at this point, cover and allow the filets to cook through and the rice to finish cooking until it is completely tender.
Remember, the rice should have a sticky and thick consistency around it, it should not be dry and separated.

I serve with a leaf or two of the greens on the play, with the rice then piled partly over and the fillet of fish offset on the rice, maybe a leaf or two of cilantro for good measure.

recipe: Tuna ai linguine

I recently returned from Firenze, Tuscana, Italia. As you may know, I am very partial to Delta (Cajun, Creole), Iberian (Portuguese, Spanish) and Southwestern (Texas, Arizona, New Mexico) styles of cooking, but I must admit, my culinary heart is still with the true heirs in France and Italy. I do carry a bit of disdain for Italian-American cooking and as flawed as it may be loving other recreations of recipes in the Americas to dislike the bastardization that occurred with Italy’s beautiful simplicity upon being rendered to the American palette. It is a shame because the recipes were, just, so clean and fresh and even when there were spices the natural flavors of the root ingredients takes hold.

I came home to a somewhat empty fridge so a quick trip to the store and a few lucky finds later and I had a meal in mind, inspired by the food I am surely going to miss for the next several weeks until I re-adjust my tongue. I’ve actually done variants of this recipe using sun dried tomatoes and other fish and different herbal combination but this was the softest and simplest way I could prepare it with what I could find quick including fresh pasta (always nice to get and not have to make!).

tuna steak
olive oil
cherry tomato
shallot
basil
garlic
celery leaves
red pepper flakes
house seasoning

Split the garlic cloves and place them in the oil with the red pepper flakes and allow to set (for a few minutes to a few days depending on what you have)
Add the tuna steak to the oil in a holding pan so it covers no more than 1/3 of the tuna and allow to set (no less that a few minutes no more than 20 minutes) and be sure to flip it at least once at your half way mark
Roast the tomato in the broiler (or in a cast iron skillet) until the outsides begin to char evenly all the way around. Do the same with the shallot and garlic if you so choose as well.
Slice the tomato into halves or quarters, finely dice the shallot and garlic.
Combine the roasted tomato, shallot and garlic with olive oil to create a base with some red pepper flakes and allow to meld

Timing is key from here on out as the fish will take the same amount of time to sear rare to medium rare as the fresh linguine will take to boil. The fish will need the same time to set as the pasta will to drain and cool.

Salt the pasta water (if you are using dry, the pasta may be salted enough to not need this, and, they will require longer cooking) and bring to a boil.
Add the pasta
Set the tuna steak in the hot skillet and sear the first side
Dredge the pasta to ensure equal cooking and separate the strands
Flip the tuna as the sear moves up the side of the steak showing the level of cooked
Pull the pasta from the heat and drain
Add the chopped celery leaves and parsley leaves to the sauce of olive oil, garlic, shallot and cherry tomato
Add the drained pasta and toss with sauce described above.
Pull the tuna from the heat and allow to set

Serve one of two ways… either with the pasta on the plate and a tuna steak offset with it, or family style with the pasta in a deep large dish that is inset with the oil sauce soaking the pasta and a softly fork flaked version of a or several steaks over the dish.

recipe: the inexpensive one skillet dish

So, in this crappy economy, I am as conscience as ever as to how much things cost. I’ve been cooking on a sublimely tight budget for many years on some tight time lines. I am a strong believer you can cook inexpensively and healthy and quickly given the right understanding. This meal as noted costs about $12 and for a single person would feed them about 3-4 meals or a small family for a night, it cooks in about 30-40 minutes total (prep to table) and is a balance of flavors with healthy elements. The origins of this meal were actually to prove a point to two friends, one who claimed to hate spinach (and other dark leafy greens, where I used collards this time) and another who had a disdain for seafood. Both adored the final version (and both also helped inspire previously variants of a previously noted Mac & Cheese variant also using these elements)

There are plenty of ways to recreate this base dish, including substituting the tuna with ground meat (or I’ve used flounder, cod, catfish and tilapia at different times or even veggie crumble), the collard with other veggies (often, I do a version with mixed frozen veggies, other dark leafy greens also work too), the rice with pasta, etc. The base veggies (onion, celery, peppers as the trinity can be done as the miraquiox replacing the peppers with carrots, shredded work best) should be done slow to let them get soft and sweet as a nice base flavor. The okra will help thicken this into a nice consistency. Personally, I’m not an okra fan, but a friend got me into using it more often, and though other thickeners can be substituted as well, I do prefer the okra in dishes like this because of how they meld into the dish flavor wise. I’ve also done versions of this with cheese and baked it after the initial cook to give it a nice crusty top too. This dish, or variants of it can also be used as a side dish rather than a main casserole type dish, but that’s for you to figure out!

onion
pepper
celery
garlic
chipotle pepper
diced tomato
canned tuna
brown rice
black beans
collard greens
okra
small amount of olive oil
water (or veggie stock)
house seasoning
large skillet

Mix the rice and olive oil in the skillet and begin to saute
Dice the onion, celery, peppers and garlic
As the rice begins to become translucent add the onion, celery, peppers and garlic and over low heat and sweat the veggies until the onions become translucent, the rice begins to lightly toast and the flavors meld
Drain the tomato and tuna and reserve the liquids
Add the tomato, chopped chipolte and chopped okra, seasoning and allow to continue to sweat to combine flavors
Add the water (or stock), re-season as necessary, combine thoroughly cover and simmer over medium heat 3/4 of the recommended cooking time for the rice
As the rice begins to soften almost to the point of serving, add the black beans, collard greens and re-season as necessary, cover and continue to simmer
Combine again and allow to rest for the remaining liquid to thicken and serve

By my calculation, last month’s costs at average for the three different stores in walking distance from my apt in N. NJ the costs are below… It is not necessary to use the entire amount of some of these, but I didn’t prorate the costs for the post based on the amount used and total shopping trip for this recipe was under 38.00. For example, I only used a couple of stalks of the head of celery, 2 chipolte pepper from the can, 1/2 cup brown rice from the bag, 2 tbsp of oil, a few tbsp of the house seasoning, 1/2 bag of the other veggies at most, etc…

onion 1 lb chopped frozen bag 1.50 or 1 yellow fresh for 1.29
pepper 1lb chopped frozen bag 1.50 or 1 bell pepper fresh for 1.29
celery 1.79/head
garlic 1.29 fresh or a 32 oz minced container for 8.99
diced tomato 14.5 oz can 1.20
canned tuna 10 oz can 2.00
brown rice 1.5 lb bag 2.50
black beans 0.50 14.5 oz can
collard greens 1 lb chopped frozen bag 1.50
okra 1 lb chopped frozen bag 1.50
olive oil 750 ml bottle 7.99
chipolte peppers 4.5 oz canned in adobe 2.99
water (free – if you make your own stock, that’s pretty close to free too)
house seasoning 3 oz shouldn’t cost more than 3-4.00 to make

recipe: tomato veggie chili

Ok, so there is a very Suburban Traditional version of the chili recipe that’s probably been floating around since the 50s. It is tomato based and I’m sure it probably came out of McCall’s or some similar magazine for aspiring non-regional cooks to spice up Friday night so it wasn’t always about meatloaf. Now, despite not being a native, I’ve read up on it enough to know that tomato chili is not authentic, plus I’ve been enough times to the Southwest to tasted the difference between the tomato, beef and bean version from a chili pepper flesh version.

However, that’s not to say, you cannot marry the old school of chili based in chili peppers and chili that is steep in the tomato regime, which is what this very vegetarian version seeks to do. Funny enough, the original Mexican chili recipes from what I understand were veggie stews anyhow, so the concept itself isn’t that far off. However, one could very easily make this using ground meat like my mom always did… perhaps another recipe for another time. This uses the pre-packaged veggie crumble available in most freezer sections, but hand chopped veggie burgers can work as a substitute. The tomatoes are the canned, diced kind, fresh can work too, if you have them available (I didn’t, sorry not Jersey Tomato season yet), either way, you have to get the liquids out, but for some reason canned actually works better because the skins are less prominent I think.

onion
bell pepper
celery
garlic
chipolte peppers
tomato (pressed, but hold the liquids too)
tomato paste
veggie crumble
dark red kidney beans
stock (mostly veggie, but beef, or perhaps pork can work too)
house seasoning
cumin
chili powder
dried rosemary
bay leaf
dried cilantro
stock pot

Finely dice the onion, garlic, bell pepper and celery and place in a stock pot over low heat
Sweat the veggies over low heat allowing their flavors to meld, season with the house season (it should contain some salt, if not add sea salt to aid in the sweating) keep stirring so nothing burns
Once the veggies are thoroughly sweat and just beginning to brown add the pressed chopped tomato and the diced chipolte, re-season with the house seasoning
Continue to work the mixture over low heat to continue melding the flavors, and keep stirring so nothing burns and add the dried rosemary and the bay leaf
Add the tomato juices and stock in equal parts (do not make over wet) and season with the chili power, cumin and house seasoning
Allow to simmer over low heat to let the flavors meld
Add the tomato paste (and adobo from the chipolte as necessary) After 20-30 minutes (minimum) or as the existing liquid has reduced by half add the kidney beans and cilantro after the mixture
Continue to simmer adding stock as necessary through the rest of the cooking process, re-season with house seasoning and/or chilli power as necessary

After it is fully simmered serve, the longer the better, short version could be as little as 30-40 minutes, long version 3-6 hours. For me today, I served it over huge dollop of grits with some chopped collards. Grits, you say! Yes, grits. Ok, a little irregular, or so seemingly, but trust me, it’s a great experience on this type of chili, I love chili’s served on unique tables, my rojo is over a corn bread, so since this is a veg dish this seemed like a tasty idea.

recipe: cephalopod & mollusk stew

So, yes, no meat recipes for the next so many days as I undergo a self cleansing and hold true to the Lenten traditions of a bygone era, not that anyone would question my cooking in that, apart from the lack of pork based on the recipes. When I went grocery shopping there were a bunch of specials that I took advantage of. Scary enough, there is one inclusion here that had been bought at full price would actually encompass the cost of the entire meal I think.

The cephalopods were all frozen and on-sale uncleaned (so I had to de-beak and clean then, fun for me! It isn’t difficult, but time consuming, and considering how much fun I have doing it the almost 3x price even on sale between the two was worth the fun… note, if you can, save the ink sacs, they really do under a good boil add great flavor to the dishes.

The mollusks were also on sale frozen, uncooked. I rarely do this, but in dragging myself through the store I saw them and they were labeled “local caught” Mississippi, NOLA, OBNC and I couldn’t help myself because so much sea food is now labeled “farm raised” and/or “product of China” (btw, I don’t care origin on some products, farm raise it anywhere to provide me with non-regional fair, that’s fine, but with China, I get scarred because they don’t have formal farming rules, then again, I’m getting skeptical of the US after the peanut problem… argh) Canned could and would absolutely work too, just reduced the cooking time for them. A huge note on working with cephalopods is to remember they cook one minute or one hour (if you don’t they will be rubbery!).

Anyway, the premise of the dish is fish casserole or stew or soup, it is truly determined by how “wet” you choose to make it and what you serve it over. Doing it like tonight, I went with brown rice, which I went for more a stew consistency in order to work with the rice, but over a pasta, I would do this much thicker and more like a sauce, and, if I did this with potatoes or other heavy root starches, I can envision it being much richer but using the starch in the base probably a thinner soupy base. There are three ways to adjust the thickness. The first is the darkness of the roux. The darker the roux, the more it will be rustic and smokey, but the less thick it will be so, if you go for a dark roux you’ll need twice as much for a stew. The second way is to go for a medium roux (peanut butter to brick) and use another thickener, such as corn meal or okra in the cooking depending on your serving method. The final way is to do it near table side and go for file and related thickeners known as “at dish”

This meal, for me, is a hybrid, it incorporates some of the delta cuisine I adore and my own Iberian heritage. It should be noted that there are a lot of sub in, sub out in the recipe, and I’ve been messing around with variants for years and am just writing this one down now because I can. Should it be done with a sausage or hamhock or other meat product, absolutely, but the stock is a fruit stock I worked on saving for ’tilll this spring and am glad I truly had. You can add the sausage (charise, andoulie, pork chopped, etc) in your own recipe.

Base
onion
celery
bell pepper
cubano pepper
garlic
flour
olive oil

rice
stock (fruit or veggie or fish, but pork works well)

Top
cleaned calamares (fresh or frozen squid)
cleaned octopus (frsh or frozen)
cleaned cuttlefish (fresh or frozen, or canned or not used)
clams (canned, but fresh or frozen would steam over the dish)
oysters (canned, but fresh or frozen would steam over the dish)
muscles (canned, but fresh or frozen would steam over the dish)
stock (fruit or veggie or fish, but pork works well)
Collard or other dark leafy green (Kale is my other top choice, fresh or frozen of each would work

Seasonings
Rosemary
Bay
Tarragon
House seasoning

In the skillet mix equal parts (by weight) the flour and oil
Begin working the roux
Finely dice the veggies (onion, celery, bell pepper, cubano pepper, garlic) and add them to the pan opposite where you are working the roux)
Once the veggies begin to brown, add some black pepper, house seasoning and rosemary and keep browning
Combine the veggies and the roux in the skillet as the roux gets to the appropriate darkness
Put the veggies and roux to one side of the skillet and add the (fresh) cephalopods diced to the pan and begin to sear them
Once the cephalopods sear off and begin to saute you can decide if you want to take them to browning or now
In a pot place the rice and some oil and begin to brown the rice
Add the stock slowly to the skillet and begin to combine the roux and veggies and cephalopods, add additional rosemary and house seasoning, the bay and tarragon and combine until it becomes skilky
Bring the combination to a boil and then back down to a very low simmer and allow to meld, watching the consistency of stock base during cooking
Once the rice is browned add the liquid and cover to simmer (usually with brown rice it is 1 to 2 rice to liquid) over low heat
Watch the rice for consistency and add liquid as necessary
As the skillet begins to thicken up, re-season with tarragon and house seasoning and add liquid as necessary depending on your preference, add the shredded collard
After everything is cooked out, you want to add the mollusks to the skillet and let them steam into the dish, they cook very quick. If they are fresh, cook till they open, frozen or out of shell (such as canned) just add them and let them warm over the the steam), add additional tarragon as necessary
At the same time you add the mullusk, crank the heat on the rice and let it begin to crisp to the bottom of the pot

Serve
If you are using fresh collard add a leaf to the bottom to the dish
Position the rice over the collard
Spoon the stew over the rice and collard
Serve hot, if the mollusk are in shell, be sure to spoon out the shells equally, if out of shell, give the dish a good slosh or two before serving to mix the mollusks in before serving so they are fully integrated
A quick topping I like to the serving is a bit of ground paprika and some goat cheese with fresh tarragon but you can determine that based on your perference

recipe: catfish and pasta with tomato topping

The origin of this recipe actually comes from a veggie pasta dish I used to make for a friend back in the day. The pasta could be a full meal in-and-of itself if one so chose, but in this case, it’s a nice side using the same basic flavors to marry the two parts of the dish. The conception was to actually serve the fish over the pasta, but the plating can be done several ways. The use of the catfish was because that’s what I had fresh, but the first time I made this it was with tilapia and I’ve used cod, flounder, mahi mahi and even chicken in the past and it’s come out well. The key is to allow the flavors of the “topping” to come together so the longer you can allow them to sit and meld the better. The greens can be substituted easily as well, although I used collard, spinach, kale, mustard or other dark leafy ones will work too. On occasion, I’ve used peas or french cut string beans too, but the other greens seem to lend a much more robust flavor overall. The fish is actually done similar to to a blackening method, so make sure you have proper ventilation as it can get a little smokey.

Topping:
olive oil
tomato
onion
celery
bell pepper
jalapeno pepper
garlic
black pepper
cilantro
mixing bowl
collard greens
frying pan
ice water

Coarsely chop the collard greens
Toss in a very small amount of olive oil
Lightly saute the greens in the frying pan
Remove from heat, immerse in ice water to set color and stop cooking
Finely dice the onion, celery, bell pepper, jalapeno and garlic
Coarsely chop the tomato (or used canned diced tomato)
Combine in a bowl the veggies and greens, crack black pepper, add the cilantro and toss with olive oil
Allow to rest and flavors to combine, toss again before topping

The Fish:
Catfish fillet
Corn meal
House seasoning
Cayenne pepper powder
Skillet

Preheat the skillet over medium high heat
Toss together the corn meal, house seasoning and cayenne pepper
Pat dry the fish, then lightly coat with the seasoning and corn meal mixture
Place the fish on the hot skillet
Sear the one side making sure the thickest part of the fillet is over the hottest part of the pan for 2-3 minutes until coating begins to become crusty
Flip the fish placing it the same way in the pan and finish cooking until cooked through

The Pasta
Dried Spaghetti
Pot of boiling water
Colander

Cook the pasta according to the package instructions until al dente
Drain the pasta
Toss with a very small amount of the topping

Serve:
Place some had torn leaves of the collard on the plate
Place the pasta on top of the collard greens
Place the catfish on top of the pasta
Spoon the topping over the pasta and fish
Add a sprig of fresh cilantro as desired and serve