Blog Shift and Artichokes

Tags

Favorite Things, Food, Good Things, Links, Recipe

 

Veggie Dip

It became apparent to me earlier last summer that I was losing interest in the general subject matter on my blog. I no longer had a dog and my life had become smaller and smaller as walking became harder and harder, so I felt I had nothing to write about. Sorry for my prior extended absences.

What has been consuming my life is aging and everything involved in it. In case you missed the post with my age (I finally admitted it), I’m 66 and will be 67 in May. What I’ve been finding is that there’s very little written for those of us who are aging and the “challenges” we will face. No one seems to have any kind of major info….

So I decided to write about the things I run into as I hit them. “Hit them” is the operative phrase here, because pretty often it’s a shock. The other thing I’m going to write about are the interesting recipes I’ve come across that don’t require a lot of physical work or effort to make. You can stop laughing now…I was referring to carrying big pots of water, food etc. across the kitchen to the stove and back.

As you may or may not know/realize, since the emergency surgery and three or four weeks time I spent in the I.C.U. almost 2.5 years ago, my balance has really deteriorated. I’m now “chained” to my walker as it were.  The whole idea of filling my 5 quart Dutch oven up with water to cook one or three artichokes (looovve them to pieces) or anything else, only to have to move the big (5 qt.) pot of water (cold or hot) between the sink and stove is just really unsafe at this point.

A while back, I had a very nice homecare person, named Antonia in to help me for a few hours. Got a lot done but sadly the artichoke (on sale over Thanksgiving) I’d been lusting after all summer only got halfway cooked before she had to leave. I tried leaving the it in the hot water hoping it’d finish cooking but no such luck. They’re tough little buggers.

So, using my 2 cup measure, I drained it (again, no moving big pots of water around the kitchen) and wrapped it in plastic resolving to figure it out in the days that followed. They last quite well when bagged and refrigerated.

(Oh, and did you know the way to check if your artichoke is ready? You take a tongs and grab hold of one of the leaves in the middle. If the leaf releases from the veg easily, voila, done. If not, cook some more. Usually takes about 40 or more minutes and you really can’t overcook them. Well, maybe 2+ hours would….)

So, I googled “can artichokes be microwaved?” and got all kinds of info that will now make my life and hopefully yours easier (and safer). What follows are just a few sites addressing this! Here are just a few:
Ten Minute Microwave Steamed Artichokes
https://thismodernwife.com/2013/04/25/10-minute-microwave-steamed
-artichokes/
(This article is really interesting because it talks about how to eat the stems! Some of the stores in my area actually advertise in very early summer having chokes with long stems because they are very similar to the heart of the artichoke. Who knew?)
How to Microwave Artichokes
http://www.oceanmist.com/artichokes/microwave-artichokes/
Ways to Cook Artichokes
http://artichokes.org/cooking-artichokes

So getting older may be an evil none of us can avoid, but hopefully you, like me, will realize there are a number of ways around some of the problems. Oh, and for sitting through this long post, here’s my recipe (yes, I finally measured the ingredients vs. eyeballing them!) for a dip that’s fantastic with almost any form of raw veg as well as a great dip for the artichoke leaves and other cooked veggies. I’ve used this recipe for the last 35 years with virtually no alterations. It keeps (in my experience) for over a week in the fridge or until the whey in the sour cream has separated into a watery layer on top (just stir back in or pour off if you’re so inclined).

Dip for Artichokes

1 c. or more of Knudson’s sour cream (16 ounces or 2 cups shown below)
1-1.5 t. Lemon Pepper (not an expensive one)
1+/- t. Beau Monde by Spice Islands
1+/-t. Bon Appetit

Alternate measurements or to taste:

2 c. of Knudson’s sour cream (16 ounces or 2 cups shown below)
2+ t. Lemon Pepper
2+ t. Beau Monde by Spice Islands
2+ t. Bon Appetit also by Spice Islands

Sprinkle on the surface of the sour cream in a fairly solid track. First one direction vertically (or horizontally, doesn’t matter) and same with the other in the opposite direction. See photos.

Begin by topping with Lemon Pepper (as above). I used McCormick’s. You use the most of this “spice”. In other words a bit more than what’s seen here. And yes, this is a 16 ounce container of Knudson sour cream.

Lemon Pepper with Bon Appetite over it

Now with Beau Monde over that.

Mix well and chill to blend for about 1 hour. If you don’t let the spice “crystals” bloom, the dip will be crunchy if used immediately.

Notes:

-Buy a cheap brand of lemon pepper vs. one by Spice Islands or any of the high end pricy ones. Easier to find and they taste better. My opinion. (This note applies to the spice mix Celery Salt also. I’ve tried the higher priced ones and the flavor doesn’t blend into itself well. Each element in the mix fights the other rather than becoming a homogenous flavoring. Again, my opinion.)

-You can always add more spice to the dip if it doesn’t suit you. Just let the spices meld again.

Dip and enjoy!

 

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Smoked Salmon Accompaniment

Tags

Dip for Smoked Salmon, Favorite Things, Food, Herbs, Recipe, Smoked Salmon, Smoked Salmon Accompaniment

This is what I serve with smoked salmon looks like. Usually I also have a dish of capers on the side.

Photo Source.

Use whatever measurements you like.
1/2 mayo (the real stuff like Hellmans’s/Best Foods)
(Hellman’s is East coast and BF is West, who knows why?)
1/2 sour cream (I like Knudson’s)
About 3- 5 T. (+ or -) chopped fresh dill
About 1/4 – 1/3 c. (+ or -) finely minced red onion
1-5 T. capers (rinsed and drained of course) Amount depends on how many people you’re serving.

Mix everything except the capers together. You can alter proportions to taste as you like. Haven’t tried it with yogurt since I just love it this way.

Let sit in a covered container in the fridge for a few hours or overnight to meld. Serve with the salmon and capers on the side, so people can help themselves.

This is a versatile all around dip but is really good with smoked salmon. You could probably sub shallots for the red onion. It’s just I really like the taste of red onion and how it balances out the richness of the smoked salmon. It’s a very flexible recipe that the person who first introduced me to home smoking ages ago gave to me. Gosh, it must be over 20 years ago!

Entering Trout Season

Tags

Dip for Smoked Salmon, Favorite Things, Food, Links, Memories, Recipe, Smoked Fish, TJ's Smoked Trout

Lake Superior Trout

Why is it that thinking and talking about food can often make you feel better mentally? It’s the strangest thing. Believe it or not, this post stems from putting my grocery delivery order together on Sunday.

As you may or may not know, I use Von’s Delivery vs. going grocery shopping myself. My knees are just so bad that it’s a much better option for me. The food is delivered to my back door, brought in and placed on the counter for me. So very much better! The nice thing is that if you order $150 the delivery fee is only $3.95. Since I order two to three weeks worthat a time that’s easy to reach. Not bad heh? Someone does the shopping and lugging for me, plus every week they offer a free item. One week it was Magnum ice cream bars. Yum! Another week it was a big container of one of their deli soups. Other times boxes of cereal and so on!

Anyhow, I was on the Von’s website and decided to look at what was available in fish. Well, the first thing listed under fish was Chilean Sea Bass fillet at…are you ready?$32.99/pound! A pound! I called Customer Service and asked if it was a mistake. They couldn’t tell and so called the store that serves my area.

Sure enough it was correct! Can you believe it? Two funny things…I had called about a week ago and was told that often when a product isn’t ordered it’s because it doesn’t “move” (aka:  sell fast enough) and then has to be tossed. [But I order it…. :(]

Obviously the store’s fish monger must have wanted a special meal. He could be pretty sure no one would be buying the bass anytime soon. Second funny thing was that the customer service rep had no reference as far as the cost because she doesn’t like fish and doesn’t eat it. Can you imagine not eating fish? I’d die without salmon, trout, tuna, anchovies and so on! I don’t get it that often but not to ever eat it? Can’t even envision that at all.

In fact, on my next Trader Joe’s order, I’m going to get about 10 to 12 little tins of their delicious Smoked Trout.

It’s so good and it reminds me of summer days as a kid vacationing up in Door County, Wisconsin where there are all kinds of varieties of smoked fish available and they all taste so good!

Just like in Door County…yum!

I often will use a tin of smoked trout from Trader Joe’s (they’re small by the way – see image below) to make a dinner of lettuces, tomatoes, potatoes and whatever other fresh veggies are around. Maybe even a hard-boiled egg. If I have any special olives on hand, those are included. Actually even something as pedestrian as pimento stuffed greenies. Of course I do toss those in a small pot of water and simmer gently for about 20 minutes or so, to remove some of the salt. Then drain, rinse, drain and cool.

I’ve even been known to use the oil I drain from the trout tin to make an nice, easy vinaigrette. Sometimes I’ll throw everything together like a big ole’ tossed salad.And other times separate it kind of like a Salad Nicoise as in the image below (though not a real salad Nicoise).

Photo Source.

This is often the perfect dinner in the dregs of summer when I refuse to turn the oven on and even the idea of throwing something on the stovetop is completely undesirable. Plus I get some Omega-3’s this way.

From Stacey’s blog

In researching smoked fish for this post, I came upon a number of interesting sites. First is Stacey’s post on her take of April Bloomfield’s recipe in “A Girl and Her Pig”. She has a good recipe modeled after April’s but using TJ’s Smoked Trout.

I called several well known delis in LA. “Fish? No, we don’t carry any fish.” In the Midwest no self-respecting deli would ever say that! You could always get some form of un-canned smoked fish, especially in spring, trout season. Heck, one of the first things I bought (after a gas grill) when I moved out at the start of the divorce was a smoker. Love smoked salmon. Used to get a slab of salmon (skinned both sides – important) from Costco and smoke it. Ooohhh, to die for. And I had the best “dip” to accompany it. Sadly my insane knees now limit me and I haven’t smoked anything in several years.  😦

Another site yielded a number of ways to get your hands on some smoked fish if you don’t live on the East Coast or near a Great Lake. (Apparently being 30 minutes from the Pacific ocean doesn’t count for anything so I was happy to get this list.) Even if I only ordered once every two years from one of them it’d be worth it:

Smoked Fish: How to Get It

If properly packaged and handled, smoked fish will last 5 to 7 days, depending on the fish.

Abe’s & Son, Philadelphia, PA, 215-742-3800 ($50 minimum)

Barney Greengrass, New York, NY, 212-724-4707

Browne Trading Company, Portland, ME, 800-944-7848; www.brownetrading.com 

Murray’s Sturgeon, New York, NY, 212-724-2650

Russ & Daughters, New York, NY, 800-787-7229

Zabar’s, New York, NY 212-496-1234 (inside New York), 800-697-6301(outside New York), www.zabars.com

Why is everything on the East coast? We have fish here! Heck, we’ve got a whole ocean sitting next to us!

P.S. Just FYI: not affiliated with anyone in any way.

P.P.S. Recipe for “dip” for salmon coming next.

 

A Brief Respite and a Bit of Rain

Tags

Blogging, Good Things, Life, Links, Random Thoughts, Recipe, Weather

Here I had just been thinking that we may have escaped the late super heat of summer that we often get at the end of September, going into October. But no. Food in the fridge was spoiling even quicker than normal! Well, that was about eight days ago. Since then it’s cooled into the low 90’s and high 80’s.

By Friday we’ll be back in the mid 80’s. We did however have a lovely 20 minutes of rain before the sun came up one morning. And now, at about 3:15 p.m. we had another spurt of showers for about ten minutes. Just long enough to interrupt the kids’ soccer game across the street.

It’s funny how we take rain for granted, even resenting it for interrupting our activities. Yet when it’s been gone a while, how much the smallest of sprinkles are marveled at.

Luckily, the landlord got the gutters cleaned out and covered with a mesh to keep out the leaves and other debris from the two beautiful but very, very messy trees.

This seems to be turning into a diary-post and is going on day two. Serious sun this morning and then as the afternoon wore on, it clouded over (so lovely) and we had another spurt of light rain. It smells so good!

What is it with the mass mind-meld? Five of the 20 or so food blogs I read had recipes with peanuts. Satays, noodle dishes and so on. Sorry but I hate those things. I blame it on the person I used to be married to…the cook. Sadly he did not always excel at interpreting some foreign dishes. His satays and noodle recipes came out very dry and overly spicy. As a result, he drowned them in an assortment of peanut sauces which didn’t help anything.

Sadly, he was not open to any suggestions or the remotest of criticisms even from friends that he foisted these meals upon. It got so that if they sensed any peanut-y entrees coming their way, they made hasty excuses to bug out, leaving me holding the peanut bag so to speak. Thus my strong dislike since I was expected to eat inhale his “cuisine” and “love” it.

So, yeah, it’s bad enough that pumpkin season is upon us but apparently peanut driven recipes have gripped the collective conscious. No offense to the pumpkin and peanut lovers out there. Enjoy. Just know I’ll be waiting for a different recipe.

Just a side note, I do like several pumpkin things but they are all sweets:  like my pumpkin pie and Libby’s pumpkin roll with cream cheese filling (OMG). I could easily consume an entire one all by myself! (Consider yourself warned….)

Photo Source.

Well, it looks like we got another drizzling of rain just in time for dinner. How nice, the air just really smells so good!

Delivery and More…

Tags

Diary-type Entry, Food, Good Things, Links, Recipe, Something New, Video, Weather

After my stint in the Intensive Care Unit back in September/October for three weeks, I began using Von’s Delivery to get groceries. It’s so easy. It’s $12.95 for a 1 hour delivery window, but if you pick the 4 hour delivery window, it only costs $6.95. If you order $150 worth of groceries (since I order about two to three weeks of food this isn’t a problem), it drops to $3.95. How sweet is that? The guy delivering brings them around the back and puts them on the counters in the kitchen for me. So Win and Win.

It’s very easy to maneuver about their site.

No more dragging bag after bag through the garage, up the cement stairs and into the house and then collapsing in exhaustion! That part was actually harder than shopping when your knees have zero cartilage. Oh, and if you enroll in the Just 4 U thingy, it tracks what you buy and you get some really amazing discounts (like half price on stuff)! The only negative is that you don’t get what’s on sale in the weekly flyer but of late I don’t eat that much meat so it’s not that big of a deal. (No affiliation to Von’s BTW).

As a result, I’ve finally given up my 2+ year long stint of Caesar salads from TJ’s for dinner and am actually planning 2-3 meals (w/ leftovers) per week which is a real accomplishment. I do have to break the steps up and sit between chopping onions and the other ingredients due to my knees, but I’ve enjoyed having hot food. For some reason even though this is a mild winter, I’m colder than normal and that’s with the heat on (gas bill last month was $60, the highest its ever been).

I wrote this less than a month ago. Oh how my circumstances have changed. We’ve had temps in the low to mid 90’s for at least half of the days last week and they continued  over the weekend and today. Ugh. Ugly. Just Ugly.

After finding the pasta salad listed on last Friday’s post, this weekend I decided to start collecting summer salads and cold pasta combos in a bookmark folder entitled “Hot Weather Meals”. I still have a few hot meals to make (like Cheesy Broccoli Soup, Chicken Pot Pie Soup, Morracan Chicken with Olives and Lemon and Chicken Pot Pie) and then it’s back to the land of salads till November. I thought I’d have more time to enjoy hot meals. Sadly it doesn’t look that way. I actually did eat a bowl of cold Caldo Verde last Friday. It was still quite tasty even though I didn’t heat it. It was just too bloody hot.

Watch the video below and tell me this salad doesn’t look scrumptious.

So I spent this afternoon going through Pinterest, other websites and blogs hunting for salads to share with you. Now if you’re still up to your eyeballs in snow, my apologies. But I really need to start preparing to delete the heat in the kitchen before So Cal is behind the royal 8-ball of heat.

P.S. This week I get to enjoy 1.5 quarts of Von’s Select black cherry and vanilla ice cream FREE with my order. Perfect when you’re overly roasty-toasty.

As If Pinterest Wasn’t Enough…

Tags

Basmati Rice, Black Beans, Food, Good Things, Herbs, Links, Low Sodium, McD's, Pinterest, Recipe, Shitakes, Something New, Spices, Tomatoes

I was going along, minding my own business and sorting through emails today when I fell into a rabbit-hole called zergnet.com. Billed as having “movies, gaming, entertainment, sports, food & drink, men’s lifestyle”. The real trap is “food and drink”. Been here in the past and I think it’s even worse than Pinterest. At first even I couldn’t remember how I got there, because as I said, it takes you on a ride down quite a rabbit-hole where one thing leads to another and yet another. But I finally traced my way back a Tasting Table email I received. They have some goodrecipes and food info. Like one on mushroom broth made with dried shiitakes but without salt.

Photo Source.

Some of the links hook you up to websites like bettycrocker.com where you’ll find things like slow cooker recipes with the inevitable (gag) one to two cans “cream of ?” added. But overall, it’s a nice ride with a lot of recipes and other food info from many sources. For example, you can find recipes with more fake ingredients than real ones in them like the “Mock Wendy’s Frosty” with 66 calories. Well, yes, it has very few calories because it’s nutritionally devoid of any real food. The majority of ingredients that go into it, I wouldn’t consume alone much less in concert with each other. Then there are informative links like finding out just what’s in McDonald’s fries. Personally I’m taking these videos with a grain of salt since they’re made by McDs. You could also view how McRibs are made.

Photo Source.

Something that insures a McRib sandwich will never cross these lips. Seriously. Watch the video link above the photo, “how McRibs are made” and you’ll think twice. On a much healthier note, along with eating less and less meat (beef, lamb, etc.) over the past two plus years, I’ve managed to incorporate some beans (aka little fiber bombs) into my diet, as in the main ingredient. I’m much more of a green bean fan than a “bean” fan. Don’t care for refried beans, kidney beans or pintos, so this was a challenge for me. As a kid my only exposure was via my mom’s chili. But even back then, I slid any kidney beans I got back into the pot whenever Mom and Dad weren’t looking or spit them into my napkin. To this day I buy the smallest half can of kidney beans when I make chili. It’s what you would call a token concession to an old family recipe. Even then I’ve been known to slide a few to a dog or two back in the day. Oddly enough, I really like black beans. How that happened I don’t know. Love black bean soup too. About a week and a half ago I concocted a combo (one couldn’t really call it a recipe) with those as the main ingredient. Black beans. I loved it. “Black Bean Slop Mashup” 🙂 2 cans of black beans (.73) 1 can no/low-sodium, diced tomatoes (.84) 1 chopped red onion (1.29) 3 peeled, sliced cloves garlic (.15?) 1 bunch fresh cilantro, rough chopped (.60) Wash the beans off really well in a fine sieve to get rid of the gas-causing element then dump all into the pot. Heat. Smash some of the beans and cook over low heat for one hour. I actually let it go longer so the beans would start breaking down.  It cost $4.19 and yielded 3 big servings. Would have cost less if I used a red onion from a bag vs. a single one. That’s one of the concessions one makes when ordering from Von’s delivery service. Once dished up, I did add a bit of salt. The second night I had it, the flavors had really melted together. Yum. I made it again today only I added two fresh tomatoes that needed to be used up. Chopped up, skin, seeds and all went in the pot. (See note below about the tomatoes.) For the first serving, I left out the can of tomatoes. But I’m itching to change it up a bit. So tomorrow I’ll include the can of tomatoes and maybe some BBQ sauce. A can of flavored tomatoes may be appearing a future version. Plus I may succumb to dry beans to save even more money. Was also thinking rice, like Basmati (which I love and buy in twenty pound sacks at Costco though I just read that the classic Royal Basmati has been replaced by Kirkland’s own brand. Fail Costco.).

Photo Source.

Not sure. Any thoughts on the BBQ sauce or any other ingredients? Chili powder and chili flakes are not an option per my stomach. Anyways, no pic, sorry. But really? Photos of black bean slop? 🙂

Who Turned Out the Lights?

Tags

Craziness, Holidays, Recipe, Something New, Standard Time, Weather

I was sitting here typing yesterday at about six p.m. and suddenly thought how oddly dark it seemed outside. But figured it was just heavy clouds coming in so didn’t pay any more attention to it, then I noticed the time on my computer vs. the clock on the stove. Hmmm? What’s with that?

Then looked at the time on my phone. Hmmm? Suddenly it dawned on me, Pacific Standard Time must have gone into effect sometime over the weekend. Surprised the heck out of me. Usually I see and hear all kinds of notices and “don’t forgets” about “falling back”. This year? Nothing, not a peep!

via Pinterest.   This is kind of what I felt like. (This pic cracks me up!)

I didn’t even get to enjoy the extra hour of sleep! Not to mention the fact that it’s now much brighter, much earlier in the morning. Have I mentioned I’m not a morning person? I’m not, in case you wondered. So I woke up way too early today.

I really wish the powers that be would just leave us on Daylight Savings Time. It’s so much more practical. Who wants to leave work when it’s already dark? Fine, you get a bit of sun in the morning then spend all day indoors only to walk out the office door into darkness.

On top of that it gets colder earlier and requires turning on the heat. Luckily I have gas heating which isn’t as expensive as electricity. My friend’s apartment has electric wall units and she dreads the bills winter brings. She says they’re as bad as summer when she runs the window air conditioners.

So now it’s six p.m. and the mailman has just delivered the mail. Bet he’s not too thrilled with the darkness. Anyhow, that’s just my two cents for the day.

Please note, I am thankful it’s not in the high 90’s like last year. We’ve actually had a decent fall. I may just be in the mood for Thanksgiving for once. Having grown up in the Midwest, there’s got to be a chill in the air to feel the spirit of the holidays.

Photo Source.  There’s an interesting recipe at that link.

Hmm, I must be getting in a holiday mood because I can’t stop thinking about turkey now that I mentioned Thanksgiving. Can’t decide if I should make a whole turkey or just a breast. Only made a breast once which involved a crock pot. That was the Thanksgiving fiasco of 2009. Not going there again. I’m hoping Pinterest will have some ideas for me.

Since I found out just a few years ago that I could make a pretty decent dressing in a casserole dish I may just do the latter (turkey breast and casserole of stuffing). I should qualify this a bit, when I was married, the person I was married to, always did the holiday cooking. So holiday cooking is fairly new to me.

Actually he did 75% of the cooking…his hobby. Anyhow, he always made extra dressing and cooked it in a separate dish alongside the turkey. Every year it came out dry and pretty much inedible for humans but made for three very happy dogs. It never dawned on me to question his cooking. Turns out, you only need to cook the dressing for 30 minutes! I love Pepperidge Farm Cubed Stuffing. Just add diced onion and celery then follow the directions.

Photo Source.

For the stuffing in the casserole, just dot with butter, cover and cook at 325F (163C) for 30 minutes. Comes out almost as good as if cooked in the bird. Well, I’ve gone on long enough. Have a lovely day tomorrow!

Summer Salad Thoughts and Recipe

Tags

Fish, Food, Links, Low Sodium, Memories, Recipe, Salads, Something New, Vegetables

As mentioned in several previous posts, I’m getting burned out on Trader Joe’s boxed salads as well as my own caesar salads made with romaine. A girl can only take so.much.lettuce. Had a desire for pasta salad with ham, peas and possibly cubed cheddar cloaked in a not too fattening white cream sauce. Also wanted it low in salt. Try finding that when ham is involved.

This is a actually a childhood memory type of dish. Oddly though, I don’t recall my mom ever making it, so it must have been served at assorted pot lucks for school or church. Or maybe it was a cafeteria lunch meal…I don’t know. Where do these memories come from? Regardless, I really had a taste for it.

Only problem for me as I said, is the amount of salt in ham. I did read once that ham could be soaked it in water for 20 minutes or so to draw out some of the salt. Then drain and dry it off really well. Haven’t tried this, so don’t know if it really works. But maybe I’ll give it a whirl. If I do, I’ll let you know the results.

Photo Source.

Photo Source.

The pasta can be a small type like macaroni or longer like fettuccine, it doesn’t matter. Actually I found many versions by googling “pea, ham, pasta salad images”. Up came the photos, linked to the source. I took a moment to check out a recipe on a blog titled “Mel’s Kitchen Cafe” and discovered it’s made with 1% milk and has light or regular cream cheese added. So if you added 8 oz. of cream cheese, you’d add 800 calories. Heavy cream weighs in at 1,500+ calories, so despite seeming equally decadent, it isn’t quite as bad. Sodium factor, still unknown.

Nigella Lawson’s sounds pretty reasonable containing only 5 oz. of heavy cream, 5 oz. of ham plus 2 T. parmesan (and of course peas and pasta). One catch, serves 2-3 children. Even though we’re talking about cooking for one here (namely moi), I really wanted leftovers. By the way, you can find her recipe (shown in top photo) here.

Well, while I contemplate my choices, I’ll leave you with a totally different recipe. (Nothing like a jarring little segue mid-post is there?) This is a really nice topping for almost any white fish, particularly ones that can be a bit on the dense and dry side especially if they get a bit overcooked. Actually, I’ll give you the complete original recipe, fish and all, so you’ll have a complete dinner not just the topping. You’ll note it calls the dressing a vinaigrette but it reminds me more of a salsa of sorts.

Sauteed Tuna with Warm Olive Vinaigrette (serves 2)

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

4 T. extra virgin olive oil
Two 1 inch thick tuna steaks*
5-6 Kalamata or other brine cured black olives, pitted and chopped
2 t. drained bottled capers, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t. Dijon-style mustard
2 T. balsamic vinegar
1 plum tomato, peeled, seeded, chopped
1 T. water
2 T. finely chopped drained, bottled roasted red peppers
1 T. finely chopped scallion
Lemon wedges

Rinse, pat dry tuna. In a heavy skillet, preferably nonstick, heat 1 T. of oil over moderately high heat until it is hot but not smoking. In it saute the tuna steaks for approximately 4-5 minutes on each side. NOTE:  Internal temperature with an instant read thermometer should be 125F (51C). You want it to be medium rare otherwise it will be dry and lose flavor.

While tuna is cooking, in a blender or small food processor blend together the olives, capers, mustard, vinegar, tomato and water. With the motor running, add the 3 remaining T. of oil, blending the dressing until it is emulsified. Transfer the tuna to plates and wipe the skillet out with paper towels. Pour dressing into pan, add chopped peppers and scallions. Heat over moderate heat, stirring, until it’s hot. Spoon the dressing across the tuna. Garnish with lemon wedges. Yum!   

*Trader Joe’s has such fish, frozen.

This really adds a lot of dimension to your dish and is really helpful if your fish is a bit dry. I imagine this could top thick grilled eggplant slices or a medley of grilled veggies for a vegetarian option. Upon further thought, once my grill is back up and running, I may try this with the fish in foil, topped with the mixture. Could lead to a lovely moist, flavor infused fish dish. As is it’s still very, very good! Enjoy

Summer Salsa

Tags

Food, Good Things, Herbs, Recipe, Vegetables

Did you ever do this? I had a post almost finished and clicked on something over on the right column of the composition page. I thought it was “save” but it may have been “trash”. Whatever I hit the post has vanished into the ethers of the web. 😦 Zip, zilch, nada. I hate when I do something like that. I’ll try to recreate it but really wonder at my sanity.

I spent yesterday afternoon hunting through my recipe file on the computer. Having bought TJ’s Bruschetta in a tub on my last visit (which is quite tasty BTW), I was really craving my own version which is chunkier. It’s based on a ceviche recipe from long ago, minus the fish. It’s so fresh, just love it.

My Favorite Salsa Recipe

• juice of 1/2 freshly squeezed lime
• 4 tomatoes peeled, seeded and diced
• 1 onion diced finely
• 1/3 c. olive oil
• 1/2 c. freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 c. tomato juice
• 1/3 c. fresh oregano leaves, chopped slightly
• 1 bay leaf (remove before serving)
• 1/4 – 1/3 c. chopped cilantro
• Salt & pepper to taste

Place all the  ingredients in a bowl and toss them together.  Cover and refrigerate for 5 hours or overnight. Remove bay leaf. Serve in large bowl or small individual ones with soda crackers or tortilla chips.

I know, you’re wondering about the soda crackers. Well when I lived next to a couple from Costa Rica and was often invited to their huge family gatherings where ceviche was always served. The vehicle for getting it in your mouth was not tortilla chips but rather soda crackers and it just kind of stuck. But do whatever you feel like and enjoy the salsa!

You can use it with scrambled eggs, in an omelet, as a topping for fish, well just about anything needing a little perking up. I once made cod on the grill and it got a bit too done so it was dry. Topping it with salsa, really made a difference.

Coming soon I share my olive and caper based salsa/vinaigrette for fish. It’s particularly delicious with sauteed tuna which is a fairly dense fish and can be dry if one isn’t careful especially if it’s been frozen like the tuna steaks at Trader Joe’s. Well, enjoy! I’m off to get the few ingredients I’m missing for the salsa.

More on Vinaigrettes and Salt

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Food, Herbs, Links, Recipe, Spices

Yesterday I made a salad very similar to the previous day’s but used black beans vs. garbanzos. These where rinsed of their salty liquid and drained before adding to the salad. In retrospect, I would say that fresh herbs shouldn’t be added to the vinaigrette if you’re going to store it in the fridge for a day or so. The tarragon really withered and I wound up fishing it out with a small strainer. Better to add fresh herbs to the assembled salad for visual appeal.

In my hunt to root out salt that’s hidden in plain sight, I looked at one of my go-to seasonings Lemon Pepper. I have the Lawry’s brand and love it. OMG, it’s loaded with salt! So I found several “recipes” for making my own with zero salt. That was this afternoon’s project. You will find a “recipe” for homemade lemon pepper without salt at the bottom of this post.

In the past when I’ve made fresh artichokes, I’ve made a dipping sauce that goes like this…add the following to one tub (16 oz.) of sour cream (I like Knudsen’s more than Daisy brand for some unknown reason). 1 to 1.5 t each of Beau Monde mix, Bon Appetit mix, Lemon Pepper mix. Stir, let sit for at least an hour so the flavors can bloom.

Actually it makes a delicious accompaniment to almost any cooked or raw veggie. Well, it should…it’s all salt! Amazing how we can miss what’s in plain sight. Here I thought I was being so good making my own dip all these years using herb and spice mixtures. Wrongo.

Even 2 T. Knudsen’s sour cream has 10 mg. of sodium. So the moral of the story is that sodium pervades the typical American diet. One can’t escape it. Yes, I know I sound like a person who just quit smoking or drinking or turning tricks and can’t stop evangelizing about it, but that’s sort of how it feels. Weird huh?

So here’s what I found in the category of salt free lemon pepper sources:  The Spice House, Fiesta Spices and Mrs. Dash’s all carry some form of it.

As far as a recipe I found several which are all pretty much the same. You start by preheating your oven to 225F  or toaster oven on its lowest setting. Zest three lemons (about 1 to 2 T). Can I presume you know to avoid the white pith? Mix the zest with 2 to 3 T. cracked black pepper. I put the pepper corns in a heavy plastic bag and using a hammer, cracked them on a bread board.

By drying the two together the oils from the zest will commingle more fully with the pepper. Spread in one layer on a foil covered cookie sheet or toaster oven tray (you may have to do two batches using a toaster oven). Bake, stirring once till the zest is completely dry, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Once the mix is dry to the touch, put it in a mortar and grind to desired consistency with the pestle (or use a sturdy bowl and back of a spoon). Note, you can adjust the amounts for a more lemony or peppery result. If desired, sea salt may be added to the grinding process.  Store in an air-tight container.