Baked fish with potatoes and onions

Super easy is one way to describe this. Delicious is another. I have very strong and fond memories of my mum making this when we lived in Puerto Rico when I was a child.  I heard a friend of mine who does not like fish, utter a soft "mmmmmm" when she ate this.

1-2 Potatoes (any at hand, I used Yukon) cut into rounds
Fish: white fish is best such as cod or sea bass, but use what is fresh and what you like. Cut the fish into the serving sizes. This is a great way to make a clean, de-boned side of fish go further too by cutting across and then in half.
1-2 yellow onions (red would work too) sliced into rounds
Bay leaf for each piece of fish being prepared
Optional: Tomato, sliced. Make sure at least one slice per serving

Pre-heat oven to 375. Butter a pyrex or ceramic baking dish. Line the bottom with potato rounds. Loosely scatter the onion rounds over the potatoes. If using tomato slices, layer them next. Place a bay leaf per fish piece on top. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Place each piece of fish on top. Salt again lightly. Drizzle with olive oil. Whack in oven for 20-25 minutes until fish is cooked or even starting to brown on top.  Potatoes should be cooked through from the moisture of the onion, tomato and fish juices being absorbed in.  Serve with salad or other veggies such as beans or peas.

You can be inventive with this dish: sprinkle fresh herbs such as oregano, chives, sage in the layers of potato and onion. You can add a dash of stock or milk to add flavour into the potatoes that will absorb the liquid. Or you can go balls out and make a bechamel sauce enough to just cover the potato layer.

Mushroom ragu with kick

I am actually not a fan of mushrooms, unless someone else prepares them. I just don't seem to have the knack to cook them well it seems, unless on a BBQ grill.  That is, until I turned my imagination to create this recipe which goes well with fresh pasta, I prefer tagliatelle, but knock yourself out with your preferred pasta shape.

4-5 tomatoes (I vary depending on what is fresh, Roma's are good)
olive oil
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
2-3 onions chopped coursely (red or yellow)
2 bay leaves
1 large sweet red pepper
2 red chili peppers
1 lb mushrooms  chopped ( I use a variety of them, but one variety works too, though try to avoid boring buttom mushrooms. I find them lacking in flavour.)
1-2 Tblps chipotle pepper (the sauce of the can) or smoked pepper flakes (optional)
1 cup red wine (any kind)
Feta cheese (optional)
salt to taste

Boil water i a sauc epan. When boiled, drop the tomatoes in and let blanch for 2 minutes (until you see the skins pucker). Drain and let cool down a bit to handle. Slip off the skins and with a potato masher in a bowl, roughly mash them into a course sauce.

In a sauce pan, heat olive oil and when hot add the onions. Lower heat and let the onions sweat until they are almost caramelized. Add the sweet red pepper, garlic and chile peppers.  Cook through stirring and until they start to reduce and thicken. Add the mushrooms and bay leaves, cooking through until starting to reduce and thicken.Add the tomatoes and chipotle pepper sauce, cook to reduce. Add the red wine and continue cooking over  a low heat until well thickened.  Optional: add broken bits of feta to add texture, colour and flavour. If using feta, taste first before adding more salt.

I find sauces, soups and stews taste better the next day or two, so this is good to prepare in advance. Re-heat and toss in cooked pasta to coat

Variation: at the point when you have the onion and red pepper base, you can add chopped bacon to add flavour.

Chupe-my take on it

Freshly back from my trip to Peru and the cold snap here in the Bay Area prompted my making this soup.  It takes great just made, but for optimal flavour, make it one or two days before serving to let the flavours get to know each other and harmonize.

Fish stock:
I keep fish heads and shrimp shells from cooking other dishes in my freezer until it is time to make a stock.  In a large soup pot submerge the fish bones, shells etc with water. Toss in celery, pepeprcorns, onion, bay leaf and simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes.  Drain and set aside.  Hopefully there are 4-5 cups of stock. If not don;t worry-we will use water to top up the liquid.



3 yellow potatoes diced or cut into rounds if on the smaller side (i.e if using fingerling potatoes)  I leave the skins on but you can peel them.
1 onion diced
1/2 cup rice
3 yellow peppers finely chopped 
3 tblspns of tomato paste or freshly blanched tomatoes, skinned
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon orégano
1 rocoto pepper, seeded and finely chopped or 2-3 red chili peppers
2-3 juiced lemons and a few strips of their zest
2-3 cloves garlic. if you like garlic, pile it on!
Seafood: clams, mussels, bay scallops, jumbo shrimp-any kind and size and combination that floats your boat


In a soup pot slowly sweat the chopped onion and then add the yellow pepper. Cook over a low heat to allow the pepper to soften and almost melt turning the mix yellow. Add the tomato paste and paprika giving it a good stir and a minute or two to blend.  Toss in oregano, chili pepper, lemon zest and garlic, cook until garlic glistens. Add the fish stock and potatoes, let simmer for 30 minutes or longer.  It should be a bright yellow soup base.   If yo are cooking a few days ahead, leave it at this stage and resume the rest on the day.  Resume by adding the lemon juice & shellfish and simmer until cooked.  It;s ready to serve but also note that in Peru they add whole egg yolks and milk at this stage, which yo can too if you want to be more authentic.


Disfrute!

Black Bean Soup

I made this gobsmacking and satisfying meal from left over black beans I had defrosted (nothing like coming home from holidays to an empty fridge and being forced to raid the freezer!) I usually make soups as soups from the get go, but this approach makes the black beans first and then turns it into a soup, so consider this a two-fer recipe! As always, proportions are loosy-goosy and to your taste

Black Beans
2 cups black beans, soaked in salted water at least a few hours or overnight and drained
2 carrots chopped in 1/4" or smaller pieces
1 onion chopped
2 stalks celery (optional)
2 jalapenos or seranos chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
tomato sauce, paste or 5-6 whole roma tomatoes (blanched and peeled)
1 cup water (or stock)
1 tsp paprika, chili powder and turmeric each
bay leaf
optional: corn

Garnish: chopped cilantro, avocado, chipotle pepper, yoghurt (or sour cream or crema mexicana), lime spritz, toasted tortilla strips, grated jack cheese

 In large pot, heat up olive oil over medium heat. Add onions, carrots and celery. Saute until they are translucent and soft (6-8 minutes). Add chilis pepper, let cook through (2-3 minutes). Toss in drained beans, stir. Add the tomato paste or whole tomatoes and crush them gently.  Add the liquid and spices and bay leaf. Make sure the liquid is enough to cover the beans. Over low heat let it simmer until the beans are cooked through (approx 1 hr). You may need to keep adding liquid.  Taste for salt.


If you don't eat it all with rice and tortillas, try to leave the beans to "sit" for a day for the flavors to settle and meld.  To make the soup, just add desired quantity of stock and bring to a boil.

To serve:
Granish with any combination of above or best-all of them. Serve with heated up tortillas (I like the hand made whole wheat ones from Trader Joes).

Farro, leek and kale soup

The kale in my garden has been doing well.  Too well, such that it inspires my throwing it into my cooking. Today I used it in a soup that was light but warming at the same time: perfect for this rotten cold/flu I have.


Home made chicken stock (carcass of a roast chicken, bay leaves, peppercorns and add other veggies in the fridge such as onion, celery, carrots etc in  a pot with water and cooked for an hour. Drain.)


olive oil
1 cup of farro grain
2 organic carrots, cut lengthwise and chopped into small pieces
1-2 leeks cleaned and chopped
1 onion (any kind) chopped finely
2-3 cloves garlic
3-4 strips of smoked bacon (leave out of vegetarian) chopped
6-8 kale leaves, roughly chopped

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot. Add the onions and leeks until they sweat. Add bacon. When bacon cooked through, toss in carrots and farro. Stir to coat then add stock to cover. Simmer over medium heat until farro cooks through (approx 20-25 minutes.) Add kale and let wilt (2-3 minutes).

Serve with salad or toasted bread. Best the next day when flavours meld.

Turmeric potatoes with sweet chilis and onions

This dish is such a comfort food for any meal. I've had it as a stand alone for dinner with a salad, as a side with fish and it makes a great breakfast with eggs. It reheats well too, so it can be made the night and reheated stove top the morning of a brunch.  As always, servings and quantities vary based on taste and numbers eating, so don;t be afraid to embellish or adjust to your taste.


1-2 lbs Organic fingerling or yukon gold potatoes, washed and cut into 1/2 inch chunks. You can peel them, but I don't.
8-12 sweet chilis (from Asian or Latino markets. They are about 4" long), sliced crudely across the width
1-2 onions (Vidialias, sweet, white, whatever you fancy)
2-3 cloves chopped garlic
1 TBLSP ground turmeric
salt to taste
olive oil

Heat the olive oil in a heavy cast iron (or whatever you have) skillet pan. Add the potatoes, stirring to coat them with the oil. Cook and stir occasionally over a medium heat, keeping the potatoes from sticking to the pan, or of they do, make sure to scrape the browned bits off.  Potatoes should cook through in about 25 minutes.  You can put a lid on to trap the moisture and accelerate the cooking.

Add the onions, peppers and garlic. Incorporate well into the potatoes. When the onions are cooked through, add the turmeric and salt. Ready to serve!

Braised Carrots make for a good final supper

I find it trying when I am about to head off on a trip and the fridge has a melee of vegetables and other scraps that don't seem to quite add up to a nice meal.  I stumbled upon the lovely organic yellow carrots that I'd bought only a few days prior but forgot about because a mound of black radishes that kept them from view.  I immediately savoured the prospect of braising them with orange, cumin and brown sugar, and then I found this recipe which seemed more balanced:

http://christiescorner.com/2010/03/04/honey-and-cumin-braised-carrots/

Thanks Christie.  They were lovely and could have made a meal on their own, but I also paired them with steamed artichokes in a chipotle dipping sauce.  Dee-lish.