Fish with Prosciutto - Part 2 - Fish Chowder

Hi,

If you haven't eaten all the Fish with Prosciutto, you can turn the left overs into this delicious fish chowder.

3 tablespoons butter
1 onion chopped

In a medium sized pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Cook the onions until tender.

Leftover sliced potatoes roughly chopped
2 cups fish or chicken broth or water (if I use water, I'll add a bouillon cube)
1 cup half and half 

Add the potatoes, broth, and cream. Bring just to a boil.

~3 pieces cooked fish and prosciutto, chopped into chunks
Parsley and green onions
salt and fresh ground pepper

Add the fish and parley/green onions. You can add more parsley and green onion, if you think there needs to be more green stuff. Taste, you'll probably need some pepper and maybe some salt. Heat until steaming. The chowder is a great bonus! It makes for a quick second meal.

Hugs,
Mameekosan

Jazzy Tahini Sauce

Hi,

This is a wonderful sauce that can jazz up a simple salad or cut veggies. Today for lunch, I had a bit of left over tahini sauce alongside a sliced fresh tomato. You can also serve it with cucumbers or grilled chicken. Just put a dollop on the side and you can dip your veggies in it as you go. You probably will have to purchase the tahini (sesame seed paste), but it's amazing stuff because it keeps forever in your fridge. Look for tahini in a metal can with a removable plastic lid.

1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
3 gloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice

Mixed the above ingredients together. If the sauce is thicker than you would like, thin it with a bit more oil or a teaspoon or two of water. Refrigerate the leftovers and have fun putting a dollop on your plate. It'll really jazz up your dinner.

Hugs,
Mameekosan  :  )

Garlicy Broccoli Rabe

Hi,

I'm a huge fan of broccoli rabe. For some reason it's impossibly expensive at my usual grocery store. But at Produce World in Chicago, it is decidedly affordable. So whenever I'm in Chicago visiting my mom one of my first stops is Produce World for a huge bunch of broccoli rabe.

Bunch of broccoli rabe (bc)

I usually clean the bc in a huge pot of water. Just unbundle the bc and fill the pot, swish the bc around and lift it out. Usually that's enough to clean it. Place the bc in a large heavy frying pan. I usually rearrange the stems and tops to face the same way. Add, an inch or so of water, cover and turn the heat on high. When the water starts to simmer, using tongs rotate the bc around so all cooks at the same time. When the bc is just starting to turn bright green, remove it from the water and place on a cutting board, be careful of the hot water and pan. Drain the water and cut the bc up into 2-3 inch lengths.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced

Add the olive oil garlic, and red pepper to pan, heat until oil is hot. Add the bc back into the pan and heat until the bc is cooked with a bit of firmness to it. Salt and pepper to taste.

The broccoli rabe is a bit bitter and goes along with the sweet maple salmon. It's also good to add into an omelet, so if you have some left you'll be able to eat it because if keeps well.

Hope you enjoy these! You can also prepare kale, brocolli, and green beans like this as well.

Hugs,
Mameekosan

My Favorite Baked Chicken

Hi,

I'm always trying new recipes. Many recipes I end up just making once. This baked chicken recipe is a "go to" recipe. I've made it bunches of times. It's very straight forward. Depending on the sides you make with the chicken, you can totally change the character of the dinner.

I usually make the bread crumbs with leftover bits of bread that I turn into fresh bread crumbs in my food processor. If you can't make the bread crumbs fresh, you can use prepared breadcrumbs. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

1 cup bread crumbs (fresh or dried)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (try to get something better than the stuff in a can)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt (if you don't have garlic salt, just use regular salt)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Mixed the above ingredients together on waxed paper or in a shallow baking dish.

Chicken (Choose what you like, 4 or 5 pieces or white meat, thighs, or if you're ambitious and want to save money, cut up a 3 pound frying chicken.)

Remove excess fat from chicken. You can also remove the skin, I usually do on the thigh and breast pieces.

3 tablespoons olive oil

In a pie pan or other shallow dish drizzle the olive oil over the chicken. Toss the chicken with the oil to coat. Then roll the chicken in the bread crumb coating. Place coated chicken on a parchment or aluminum foil covered rimmed baking sheet. The parchment paper or aluminum foil will make clean-up easier. Bake in preheated oven until thighs when cut are no longer pink. Baking time is about 45 minutes to an hour.

For a super simple dinner, serve the chicken with a simple green salad on the side. Or add some boiled beets or cut up melon. The chop chop salads go along well too. Or you can add lentils, see my lentil recipes. I hope this chicken recipe becomes one of your "go to" favorites, also.

Hugs,
Mameekosan

ps. Don't despair, sometimes cooking disasters happen. 

Pork Meatballs with Peanut Sauce

Hi all,

Well I'm so sorry that I haven't had any new recipes in a long long time. But, having received great encouragement to post again, here I am. Last night I tried (and of course while making it I adapted) this new recipe. If you have a food processor, it makes it easier to do the fine chopping, but if you don't have one that's okay too.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a bowl mix together with your hands:
 1 pound ground pork 1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
(I threw some old whole wheat bread in the food processor to turn into crumbs)
1/2 cup finely chopped sweet onion (I had a vidalia, but probably a regular onion would be fine)
1/2 cup finely chopped red, orange, or yellow pepper
1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger

Form the meatballs into golf ball sized balls. Place them on a rimmed baking sheet. If you use parchment paper in the baking sheet, clean-up will be a snap. Bake until brown, in the meantime prepare the sauce.

I cup coconut milk
1/3 cup peanut butter (I used smooth, chunky would be okay too)
1/2 cup chicken broth (I used water with a bit of a bouillon cube)
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger

Place the above ingredients in a large pan or pot that will hold the sauce and the meatballs. Stir to combine and heat while stirring over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn heat off.

When meatballs are browned, add the meatballs to the sauce. Cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through. If the sauce becomes too thick, add additional water a bit at a time.

For garnish you can sprinkle the dish with finely chopped green onions and cilantro. You can serve this dish with rice or we ate it with sauteed green beans.  Hope you think it's a keeper too!

Hugs, Mameekosan

2 Lentil Recipes

Hi all,
This week I wanted to share with you two delicious lentil recipes. Lentils are cheap and quick to cook. You can find brown lentils at the grocery store next to the other bags of dried beans. You can also buy fancy French green lentils at specialty store, they are pretty expensive and when cooked have more "bite" than the brown lentils. The first recipe was adapted from the Boston Globe and the second recipe comes from a Sunset article about Ethiopian cooking.

This lentil salad is one of K’s favorite recipes. Both lentils make a good side dish to a protein dush such as chicken. They can also be served as a vegetarian main course with rice and a vegetable.

Lentil Salad

2 cups lentils (brown or green)
Put the lentils in a large pot, rinse several times and check for debris. Drain. Add enough water to cover the lentil by about an inch. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmering. Cook 20 minutes of so, checking until the lentils still have some bite. You don’t want the lentils to be mushy. Drain the lentils in a colander.

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
generous amount of fresh ground pepper
1/2 red onion cut in very thin slices
6 green onions, cut into slivers
1/2 chopped fresh parsley

While the lentils cook mix the olive oil, vinegar, Dijon mustard together with the salt and pepper in a serving bowl. Add the onions and parsley and cooked lentils. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper, adding more if needed. Great warm and also very good the next day. And the first lentils are done!

Lemony Lentils

2 Tablespoons butter
3 Cloves garlic, minced

Melt butter in a pot over medium high heat. Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute, stirring frequently.

2 cups lentils

Rinse lentils in a bowl. Drain and add lentils to pot with butter and garlic. Stir to coat with butter.

4 cups chicken broth (if you don’t have you can substitute with bouillon cubes)

Add broth and simmer, covered until the lentils are cooked about 20 to 30 minutes. You can let them get a bit softer than in the lentil salad, but you don’t want them to turn totally to mush.

1 Tablespoon minced fresh ginger
Grated lemon peel from one lemon
Juice from one lemon
Salt and pepper
Chopped cilantro (optional)

Stir into the lentils the above ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Enjoy!

I hope you'll try these new recipes. J was always skeptical about lentil recipes, but now I think she is a convert. Write and tell me what you think!

Hugs,
Mameekosan : )