New England Clam Chowder

...or, as my fiance describes it, "the only thing that New England does better than Manhattan!" I'm inclined to agree.

Nice little break I've taken here. I had one week of no cooking and I did a little side job so I made extra income. Which means I'm going food shopping soon! Also, I think I've finally found a career path that I'm psyched about and currently actively persuing. But I don't want to talk too much about it lest I jinx it. But in any case, cross your fingers for me!

Okay. Let's get down to business. The business of soups. Soups are the easiest type of meal to make - they can include several food groups in one bowl, they don't take much time or effort and there are countless amalgamations. This particular recipe delivers creamy New England clam chowder in only THREE easy steps! And, if you use low-sodium bacon and fat-free evaporated milk, you can really cut your calorie count, making this a healthy option!

A quick tip from the cookbook, "The Crock Pot Recipe Collection": Shellfish and mollusks are delicate. They should be aded to the crock pot during the last 15 to 30 minutes of cooking time if you're on the high heat setting, and during the last 30 to 45 minutes if you're on the low heat setting. This type of seafood overcooks easily, becoming tough and rubbery, so watch your cooking times and cook only long enough for foods be done.

Wise words for us noobs! Now, unfortunately, during picture uploading, some of the files were corrupted and I have some snapshots missing. But I think the ideas will still get across.

NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER, courtesy of the Crock Pot Recipe Collection

makes 6-8 servings

YOU WILL NEED:

6 slices of bacon, diced

2 onions, chopped

5 cans (6.5oz each) clams, drained and liquid reserved

6 medium red potatoes, cubed

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 cans (12oz each) evaporated milk

Salt, to taste

mise-en-place

You will also need a crock pot, at least 4.5 quarts, and a medium skillet. If you can't find whole clams in the can, you can get them chopped or minced. They aren't too small or too large, easier to eat. I used a combination of both. 

1. Cook and stir bacon and onion in medium skillet until onions are tender. Place in crock pot.

2. Add enough water to reserved clam liquid to make 3 cups (put the clams in a plastic bowl with a cover and refrigerate until ready to use). Pour into crock pot, add potatoes, garlic and black pepper. Cover; cook on LOW 5 to 8 hours or HIGH 1 to 3 hours.

3. Stir in reserved clams and milk. Cover; cook on LOW 1 hour. Adjust seasoning, if necessary.

YUM. This soup had such a great flavor to it, but I was slightly disappointed. I think the usage of fat-free as opposed to whole evaporated milk made the soup come out thinner rather than the thick, creamy New England clam chowder we know and love. Also, instead of white, the soup had a beige tint to it. I think that was also a result of the fat-free milk. Next time around, I'll use whole milk and see if there's a difference.

The worst part of this recipe was trying to dice the raw bacon. Ew. Slimy. I love bacon, but only after it's been cooked. Otherwise, I don't like handling it, especially since I was out of my trusty rubber food-handling gloves. I found it was easiest to dice when I piled the 6 slices on top of one another, cut them in half and then diced. It's not easy to do this, so please be careful and take your time.

Well, that was a nice long break I took from cooking! I also decided that I will only be posting three times a week. That way I can strech out my recipe collection and I don't make myself nuts with trying to post nearly every night. Also, I will be featuring only one (if any) crock pot recipe a week. I just have so many of those recipes and I know not everyone who reads this has a crock pot.

So, on that note: what's coming up this week? Chicken cordon bleu (in the crock pot), huevos rancheros (a delicious healthy egg dish - I love breakfast for dinner!), tomato & white bean pasta and my second ever dessert post: chocolate pecan pie! I was craving some chocolate pecan pie a few weeks ago and, of course, instead of buying one, I sought out a recipe (it's always healthier and sometimes cheaper to make it yourself).

Keep your eyes peeled. By the way, have I mentioned I love getting comments? ;-)

Eat, drink and be merry!

Shrimp Scampi

Happy Valentine's Day! My gift to myself? I'm not cooking! Instead, my man is buying me a pizza!

But that doesn't mean you can't create a special meal for that special someone! 

Okay, so I know I said I would give a tutorial on how to peel and de-vein shrimp, but I totally forgot. I was going to wait for my fiance to come home so that he could take pictures while I went through the steps, but I got home kind of late. I just kind of sat down, started cleaning the shrimp and before I knew it, they were all done and I hadn't saved any for him to take pictures of. Crap. 

I can write out the steps easily, but I feel like they're missing something without pictures.

Anyway, this recipe comes from "Cook This, Not That" again. I'm going to quote the book since they do a much better job of describing this dish than I ever could: 

"In restaurant-speak, 'scampi' is code for 'buckets of butter'', a distressing translation for the discerning diner. The rich flavors in this version don't derive from fat; they come from garlic, chiles and fresh chopped herbs."

Be forewarned - it's also quite a spicy dish, thanks to the crushed red pepper! Of course, depending on your tastes, you could add anywhere from one-eighth of a teaspoon to half a teaspoon to a whole tablespoon for all I care! It's all about what you like. Recipes aren't written in stone, remember?

SHRIMP SCAMPI, courtesy of Cook This, Not That
YOU WILL NEED:
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
Red pepper flakes
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 lb medium-sized shrimp, peeled and de-veined
Salt and black pepper to taste
Chopped flat-leaf parsley
Zest and juice from 1 lemon
Pasta, couscous or quinoa, for serving

mise-en-place

You will need a medium/large skillet. It may look like a very small mise-en-place, but the shrimp is missing from the photo. They were in the sink, soaking in a bowl of cold water. Also missing was the pasta. The recipe calls for a small onion, but the only onion I had on hand was ginormous, like, softball ginormous, so I simply cut it in half. It was more than enough!

Okay, before we get into the recipe, here's a quick step-by-step (minus pictures, sorry!) on peeling and de-veining shrimp.

Now, you can easily buy frozen shrimp that are already peeled and de-veined, but guess what? You're probably going to pay up to TWO TIMES more than if you bought fresh shrimp from your supermarket's seafood department. I paid a little less than $8 for a pound of fresh shrimp, while the package would have cost me about $14. This may vary depending on where you live, but why waste money on frozen shrimp when you can buy the good fresh stuff and just clean it yourself?

What's important about removing the dark vein in the back of the shrimp is, it's is actually the shrimp's digestive tract. Gross, right?

1. Peel off the shell and remove the tail.
2. Using a sharp knife, make a shallow incision along the back of the shrimp.
3. Remove the vein using the tip of the knife. Discard.

That's it! Seriously, that's it. It's a slow and tedious process, but it's got to be done. After I remove the veins of the shrimp, I toss them in a bowl of water for an extra rinse-off.

Now that your shrimp are cleaned, let's cook!

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet or saute pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and pepper flakes until the garlic is light brown (about 30 seconds). Add the onion and continue cooking until it is translucent.

2.Season the shrimp with a pinch of salt and add to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp are pink and lightly caramelized (if making pasta, start this now).

tri-color fettuccine!

3. Remove from heat, stir in the parsley, lemon juice and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper. Serve as is, or on top a portion of buttered pasta, quinoa or couscous!

Thanks to our friend Ben for modeling this bowl =)

Now, I have to admit this dish was not perfect the first time around. The first time I went to cook the garlic and pepper in the oil, I left it on the stove too long and the fumes from the burning chilies nearly choked all of us to death. Then, the second time around, I added waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much red pepper into the pan. That was just my stupidity. However, my fiance and our friends that partook of the meal insisted that the intense spice was perfectly fine.

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you "celebrating" out there. Just remember: Love is all about whistles.

 

Love Is... - Bo Burnham

Stuffed Tomatoes & Asparagus Risotto

I am so excited to post Wednesdays recipes that I barely have enough words to describe how excited I am.

My fiance's parents love to go to garage sales and when we were in the process of moving in to our new apartment, they always thought of us and what sort of little knickknacks  - cute and silly things that we never thought of, like a spoon rest or salt-and-pepper shakers. One time they brought us a gigantic bag of hangers. Another time, they brought us this cookbook:

Fiance's mom sheepishly admitted she tried one of the recipes before handing it over - but who can blame her? (The recipe she tried, by the way, was saffron risotto and it kicked butt)

I have a deep reverence for the Italians and their food. I think I might have been Italian in another life. But then again, the Jews and the Italians are practically the same culture: massive amounts of  unbelievably delicious food, overbearing mothers, emphatic gesturing, grandparents who feed first and ask questions later.  I also realized once I befriended someone who is Greek that the Greeks also fall under this category (the category being AWESOMENESS).

Anyway. Italian cuisine is probably my favorite (or have you forgotten my obsession with pasta?). So of course a cookbook titled "Basic Italian" (by Cornelia Schinharl, Sebastian Dickhaut & Kelsey Lane) would be right up my alley. I've tried two recipes from this book so far (which I promise to revisit sometime in the future for review on this blog) and I'm about to embark on two more. 

I was totally intrigued by this recipe for Pomodori ripieni (stuffed tomatoes), but I had no idea what to serve them with. Would they be too filling if I served them on the side with an actual entree? Or are they hearty enough to stand on their own? Thankfully, this is one of those cookbooks that gives you suggestions. At the bottom of each recipe, it offers ideas as to what will go with what. It turns out that these stuffed tomatoes are "delicious with grilled fish or meat; or, as a main dish with bread or risotto".

Risotto! A staple side in Italian cuisine. The book calls it "the best dish rice could ever aspire to" and I'm inclined to agree.

Did anyone ever watch the reality show "Hell's Kitchen"? This is one of those shows that fall into the category of "it seemed like a good idea at the time". For those who missed it, it was a cooking competition show hosted by Gordon Ramsey and was the American version of his similar UK show "Boiling Points". 

My parents, chefs both, used to love this show, and would often scoff when the so-called "professional" contestants failed to produce a simple risotto. "Risotto is like culinary one-oh-one!" they would laugh. "How can they be a professional and not be able to make a risotto?!"

I may be a n00b when it comes to cooking, but I'm 99% sure even I can whip up a risotto better than the contestants on "Hell's Kitchen". Hopefully, you'll be able to too!

Because it takes less attention, I'm going to start with the tomatoes. Here we go!

POMODORI RIPIENI (Stuffed Tomatoes), courtesy of "Basic Italian"

Feeds 4

YOU WILL NEED:

4 large or 8 medium tomatoes

1 (3.5oz) can oil-packed sardines

2 tablespoons black black olives (kalamata or Nicoise)

1/2 cup fresh parsley sprigs

1 onion

2 cloves garlic 

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

mise-en-place!

As for equipment, you will be needing a large baking dish (9x13 is suitable), a medium skillet and, if you're trying to save time, a food processor. A quick note about the tomatoes - because I went food shopping on Saturday, so far in advance for this recipe, I purposefully picked tomatoes that were slightly under ripe. By the time I was ready to use them on Wednesday night, they were perfect.

1. Rinse tomatoes and cut top off each one - scoop out the contents (reserve). Discard the seeds and chop the rest of the contents finely. Drain the outer shell of tomatoes upside down on paper towels (to be stuffed later).

 

2. Drain sardines and chop. Dice pitted olives finely. Rinse parsley, pull off leaves and chop finely. Peel onion and garlic; chop both finely (here's where the food processor is useful).

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add and saute the onion and garlic. Stir in chopped tomato and parsley and cook uncovered over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

4. Stir in olives and sardines. Remove pan from heat and let cool slightly, then add bread crumbs, Parmesan, lemon juice and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper. 

5. Stuff the whole tomato shells by filling generously with the tomato-Parmesan--bread crumb mixture (overflowing is desirable). Arrange tomatoes side-by-side in a greased baking dish and sprinkle with remaining oil.

6. Bake tomatoes on the middle rack for about 30 minutes until the tops are nicely browned. 

Delicious! And, might I add, they smelled fantastic!

Now onto the risotto...

RISOTTO AGLI ASPARAGLI (Asparagus Risotto), courtesy of "Basic Italian"

Feeds 4-6

YOU WILL NEED:

1 lb green asparagus

1 small onion

2 cloves garlic

3 tablespoons butter

2 cups risotto rice (arborio or vialone)

3 1/4 cups stock (veal is preferable, but beef will also work or even vegetable, if making vegetarian)

1 cup dry white wine

1/2 to 1 lemon

A few sprigs basil

3 1/2 oz fontina cheese (Parmesan or fontinella will also work)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

All you will need for this recipe is at least a 5-qt pot. Also, I want to add that you can find risotto in the pasta aisle of your grocery store. I almost had a little panic attack when I couldn't find it. Another thing: the recipe calls for fontina cheese, but in a pinch, fontinella cheese will do the trick. In my case, it was almost $1 cheaper to buy fontinella instead.

1. Rinse asparagus and trim off tough ends. Cut off the tips as well (about 1"), because you won't add them to the pot until later. Cut the rest into 1/2" pieces. Peel the onion and garlic; chop both finely.

2. Melt half the butter but don't brown. Briefly saute onion, garlic and asparagus in it while stirring constantly. Add rice and stir until the grains are shiny. Heat stock to a gentle boil.

3. Add wine and let evaporate over high heat while stirring. Then add 1 ladle stock and switch risotto pot to medium heat. Keep stirring diligently while gradually adding the hot stock. After 10 minutes, add the asparagus tips and after another 10 minutes, do a taste test. The grains should be easy to chew but not entirely soft.

4. Rinse lemon, pat dry and grate off a thin layer of zest - without the white part, which would impart a bitter taste to the risotto. Lemon zest should be in fine strips: if not, chop. Remove basil leaves and cut into narrow strips. Dice fontina cheese.

5. Add cheese, lemon zest, basil and remaining butter to the pot and stir only until the cheese has melted in the hot rice mixture. Season with salt and pepper and enjoy the delicious finale!

And the final plate!!! 

Whew!! What an arduous recipe this was. Definitely do not attempt if you have weak arm muscles. You literally are stirring the risotto dish for about twenty solid minutes.

I cooked this for friends who came over for our weekly viewing of "Face Off" and all I had to do was blink and the plates were clean! I was given a round of thumbs up and Fiance asked me to cook this again.

 

You might have noticed that on the right hand side of the blog I have added tags! YAY! What are tags? Well, say you want a chicken recipe. You can click on the "chicken" tag and it will show you all my entries that have chicken in them! 

I'm labeling this recipe as both Fish and Vegetarian. The tomatoes have sardines in them, so that's the fish. However, to make both recipes vegetarian, simply omit the sardines from the tomato recipe and use vegetable stock in the risotto instead of beef or veal. Simple, yes? Also, it's tagged as Side Dish because separately, they are two side dishes coming together to make one entree.

Keep your eyes peeled for a shrimp scampi recipe! Also, surprise - I have a great weeknight recipe for spicy chicken wings that is sure to set your mouth on fire with its deliciousness!

Until next time - eat, drink and be merry!

Pesto Salmon with Black Bean & Corn Salsa

Wow, I'm late in posting this. My laptop was misbehaving last night and I got so frustrated I decided to postpone posting Wednesday night's recipe until this morning and watch "American Idol" instead. After last season's disappointing finale and the departure of my favorite cranky Brit, I'm not watching for any other reason than Steven Tyler.

Meanwhile, J. Lo can jump off a cliff.

Anyway ... I think this is the week for some good home cooking! Nothing fancy, but every bit delicious. Tuesday night was Mom's turkey meatloaf. Last night, a very excellent recipe courtesy of a lovely lady named Cate Doyle.

Cate and I know each other from a message board that we both frequent, on which members often share recipes. When Cate posted this, I could not wait to try it. It incorporated so many of my favorite foods - salmon, pesto, black beans - into one easy dish.

Cate, who got the recipe from her mother, who got it from a friend, calls it "quick gourmet":

"...It seems so fancy to serve to people, sounds impressive, but is incredibly easy and 'beginner cook' friendly."

I tried this "quick gourmet" recipe and immediately told her how much we had enjoyed it. Two more girls then sampled it and also sang its praises! Now, with Cate's permission, I am bringing it to Cogito Ergo Nom.

As a lot of you know, I link the most recent blog post on Facebook. When I posted my fish and chips recipe, a friend of mine from high school commented on the post, telling me that she had only recently started enjoying fish. I promised her that there would be more fish recipes on the way, and I kept my promise!

Many novice cooks are apprehensive about cooking fish, but I guarantee this is so easy it will help you overcome your fears!

Salmon is my favorite fish ever. Not only is it a great color (it's the new black), but it's high in protein, vitamin D and Omega-3 fatty acids. Don't let the word "fatty" make you backpedal! Omega-3 fatty acids are extracted from the tissues of oily fish and they have tremendous health benefits. It can improve your immune system, lower the risk of breast, prostate and colon cancers and reduce depression and anxiety. Also, regular intake of fish oil may even reduce the risk of heart attacks.

Plus it tastes amazing on a bagel with some shmear.

Yum yum yum.

Paired with hearty black beans, refreshing pesto and tangy salsa and lime, this dish is definitely one to impress your friends with.

This dish is topped with pesto. Pesto is one of my favorite condiments ever. It is an Italian sauce that is traditionally made from ground-up basil, pine nuts, garlic and Parmesan cheese. It tastes amazing on pasta (which is called "pasta alla genovese"). Unfortunately, I did not have any basil on hand. Fortunately, however, I have a fantastic recipe courtesy of Marie Simmons (author of my favorite cookbook, 365 Ways To Cook Pasta) for parsley pesto.

CATE'S PESTO SALMON WITH BLACK BEAN & CORN SALSA
YOU WILL NEED:
Salmon (1 pound is enough for 2 people)
Pesto
1 can of corn
1 can of black beans
1 container of your favorite salsa
Cilantro
1 lime

mise-e-n-place

In terms of equipment, all you will need is a mixing bowl and a 9x13 casserole dish.

If you have a blender, I strongly recommend making your own pesto. You can purchase it ready-made from the grocery store, but it can get a little expensive. Plus there is nothing better than making it fresh. Try making it yourself once and you will never go back.

Simmons' parsley pesto recipe makes one cup (8oz) of pesto, but if you decide to make a bigger batch, it can be frozen for future usage. However, once you defrost pesto, do not attempt to refreeze it. Use it all up once you unfreeze it or else it will oxidize.

PARSLEY PESTO, courtesy of 365 Ways To Cook Pasta
YOU WILL NEED:
2 cups of packed Italian flat-leaf parsley
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1. Chop the parsley and the garlic in the blender or food processor. Add the salt and the pine nuts and process until finely chopped.

2. Add the oil, blend until well mixed.

3. Stir in the Parmesan cheese. Use immediately, or store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze.

Now you know how to make delicious, fresh pesto and you will never have to waste money on it at the supermarket again! YAY!

Onto our main course! If your salmon has skin, it would be imperative to remove it. Don't worry, this is easier than it sounds. Put the salmon meat-side down on a clean cutting board. Take the tip of a very sharp knife and run it under the skin.

You can either use the knife the entire way, or sometimes the knife can aid in peeling off the skin. Try not to take any of the meat with it! But be forewarned, this is a slow process. Take your time.

Once you've got your salmon skinned, you can get on with preparing the actual recipe!

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Drain corn and black beans, mix with salsa and pour over the bottom of a deep baking dish.

2. Lay the piece of salmon over the top, cover it with a a decent layer of pesto. Squeeze lime juice over the whole thing; top with a sprinkling of cilantro.

3. Bake for 45 minutes or until the fish flakes easily.

And there you have it: "quick gourmet"! A great fish recipe for beginners! Tasty, healthy and, most importantly, simple but impressive! Thank you for sharing this recipe, Cate - it is much loved here, and hopefully in homes everywhere else!

I was planning on not being home for most of this week, but that turned out to fall through. So, I think...I THINK...there might be one more recipe to be had. Someone recently shared a recipe for Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken that I am intrigued by, but I'm not entirely sure I have the energy to cook it. I'm not having a great week. I think I'm calling a leftovers night.

Until next time...eat well, friends!