Dinner

Copy Machine Food Muses…and Salmon

July 12, 2013 by myfriendsinfood 4 Comments

I love my co-workers. No but actually… I’m obsessed with them. We have this unnaturally close bond because we are frequently required to travel internationally together, sometimes making work feel more like camp or high school (except awesomer because I’m not going through puberty and I’m now cool). We bond over champagne at 40,000 feet, over horrific food poisoning, severe colds and broken limbs, in strange and foreign countries. We bond over lost baggage, language barriers, Swiss fondue and too many bottles of wine. I really love this level of familiarity and comfort because it allows me to do things to my colleagues I’d never do anywhere else, you know, like break into their desk late at night on a regular basis to eat that salted chocolate they keep at the back of their bottom desk drawer, or ask to borrow their socks on my way to the gym.

Travel disasters and desk break-ins aside, I love my coworkers because of their support of my blog. Mind in the Butter has gained incredible traction in my office and some of my biggest fans and food muses are right here scanning documents at the copy machine. They “like“, comment, and drool over every blog post or food photo immediately once I click “Publish.” Conversely, they tap their watches, scowl and shun me when I’ve gone too long between postings. They are a huge motivating factor and source of inspiration for my food blogging and deserve to be celebrated. THANK YOU!

Yesterday in the spirit of home-cooking and coworker love, we hosted a “Coworker Potluck” to give us an excuse to swap recipes and enjoy each other’s company. With the help of one of my coworkers, I did Roasted Salmon with Lemon, Tarragon, Shallot Butter with Tomatoes Provençal and others brought incredible salads, sides, dips, and desserts. What a treat!

Roasted Salmon with Lemon, Tarragon, Shallot Butter

Filet of Salmon
1 lemon
2 sprigs tarragon (about 3 T), torn up
3 T chives, rough chopped
2-3 pads of butter
2 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, rough chopped
1/2 medium shallot or one whole, small shallot diced
S and P to taste

Pre-heat oven to 350

In food processor mix tarragon, chives, butter, garlic, shallot, olive oil, S/P and the juice of ½ the lemon until smooth. No food processor? No problem. Just finely chop everything and blend with olive oil and softened butter.

Rinse and pat dry the salmon and place in a foil-lined baking dish. Spoon the luscious herby mixture generously over the salmon making sure to cover all the sides. Slice the remaining 1/2 lemon into 3-4 thin slices and place on top of salmon. If possible, leave in the refrigerator for at least an hour before baking.

Pull the corners of the foil up around the filet into a loose tent, careful not to smush the herb mixture. Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes, depending on the size. White specks should form around the salmon indicating it’s done. Use a fork and pull at the corner of filet to ensure it’s ready.

Tomatoes Provençal

Small, ripe tomatoes on the vine (campari and cherry tomatoes are ideal)
Olive oil
Herbs de Provence
Italian seasoning

On a plate, drizzle olive oil on whole tomatoes. Shake or pinch herbs and Italian seasoning on around the tomatoes to fully coat. Sprinkle on salt and pepper for good measure. To avoid cleaning another dish later, tuck the vined tomatoes into the corner of the same pan as the salmon (not inside the foil tent). Roast at 350 with the salmon. They should be soft and blistered when done, so they might need a few more minutes than the salmon depending on their size.

Rosemary Skewered Halibut

April 21, 2013 by Eva Louise 2 Comments

Recently, my mom gave me about a dozen rosemary branches from her garden. It was a lot of herb and I didn’t want it to go to waste, so I made this Rosemary Skewered Halibut. Rosemary is an intensely woody and lemony herb that I normally associate with meats, but Halibut is a pretty bland and trim fish, so the intensity of the rosemary actually worked quite nicely. The halibut can easily be substituted for chicken, red meat, lamb or tuna, and since it’s almost summer, these skewers would be happiest when cooked on the grill.

The secret to this dish is marinating the halibut for at least 1 hour beforehand in a really intense herb blend. I tossed some fresh thyme, seasoned salt, paprika, garlic, Italian seasoning, herbs de provence, an herb mix containing dried chervil, parsley and coriander (pretty much the entire spice rack) and olive oil in a medium sized glass bowl and let it hang on the counter for about 10 minutes. If you try this recipe, the marinade should be almost pasty and super intense in flavor.

While the marinade rested, I rinsed and pat dry a beautiful filet of halibut and cubed it into 1 inch chunks, added it to the marinade bowl and chilled it for 1 hour.

I then heated the oven to 475 and lined a cookie sheet with tin foil and olive oil. With an entire stalk of rosemary, I laced 3-4 cubes of halibut down the rosemary from the bottom up and laid them on the cookie sheet so no halibut cubes were touching, then baked them for about 8-10 minutes until they were golden brown (they go fast, so keep on eye on them so they don’t over cook). Note: the rosemary edges will burn at this high heat. This is fine, but just have someone ready to do the “dish towel helicopter” under the smoke detector just in case.

I served the skewers with a kale salad and mushroom polenta and I can’t wait to get my hands on more fresh rosemary so I can do this again….

Halibut Top Ramen

February 27, 2013 by Eva Louise Leave a Comment

Last week I did a post featuring a fried halibut sandwich with one of two halibut fillets we had. The fate of the second fillet is featured above– an Asian-style halibut soup with tender ramen noodles, shiitake mushrooms, leeks, baby bok choy…and about 100 herbs and spices. I really got into it and made the soup using my wok and a wooden sushi spoon as a ladle. (I’ll admit, I was even a whisker away from wearing a Hello Kitty apron…)

Like many of my recipes, the ingredients are interchangeable but the trick here is to layer them properly to get the right depth of flavor and the right consistency (ie not mushy, not too salty or bland). So below I’ve outlined, not a recipe, but conceptual steps to take to make a tasty Asian-style soup.

aromatics/sturdy vegetables and proteins + seasonings and oils + broth + noodles + delicate vegetables and fish + serve+ garnish = so awesome.

Step 1: Saute mushrooms and aromatics (onions, garlic, shallots etc.). If you’re using beef, tofu, shrimp or chicken as your protein, cook them here to get maximum flavor and color. They are sturdy enough to withstand the boiling broth.

Step 2: Season liberally with all your “Asian-style” pantry goods: soy sauce, dash of rice wine vinegar, green onion, ginger, mirin, seasame oil, lemongrass.

Step 3: Add broth: I mix 1 carton of chicken broth and 1 carton of vegetable broth. Combinations of beef, mushroom or fish stock would be equally as delicious.

Step 4: In separate pot, boil noodles only until tender. Drain and set aside. Ramen – the jerry curl of noodles – is my noodle of choice since they are easier to grip with chopsticks.

Step 5: while the noodles cook, add delicate vegetables: bok choi, spinach, leeks, zucchini and fish: haddock, cod, salmon, halibut etc. and stir gently for about 2 minutes.

Step 6: Add a generous scoop of ramen noodles into the bottom of a pretty bowl then ladle soup making sure to get all the good bits; the vegetables and protein.

Step 7: Garnish with sesame seeds, green onion, hot chili oil, whatever your heart desires.

Just for the Halibut: Lager-battered Fish Sandwich with Garlic Truffle Fries

February 13, 2013 by Eva Louise 4 Comments

This week, Stingray and I made use of two snow-white halibut fillets we had in the freezer (fate of the second fillet to be revealed tomorrow). I was lucky enough to have him make me this outrageous fried fish sandwich for Sunday supper. Despite having a reputation for being the ultimate convenience food, sandwiches are actually a luxury dinner item at our house. They often require ingredients that we don’t keep on file (bread and sliced cheeses), and require a keen attention to detail to make them extra tasty (hence why he cooked and I didn’t). Stingray did a basic beer batter for the fish, with classic accompaniments: lettuce, tomato, sliced cheese. He hit it out of the park by buttering and toasting both sides of the bun before serving. I was feeling kind of useless in the kitchen, so my contribution was a dill aioli and some garlic truffle fries.

For the batter:

1 bottle lager
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
Dash cayenne pepper
1 tsp seasoned salt
1 tsp fish seasoning
¾ cup all-purpose flour, plus ½ cup
Canola or vegetable oil

1. In a large bowl, mix together the beer, baking powder, pepper, cayenne pepper, seasoning and salt. Whisk in the flour until the mixture resembles thin pancake batter, add more flour if needed.
2. Fill a medium-sized pan with about a ½ inch of oil and heat over medium-high until it begins to shimmer. Season the halibut, dredge lightly in the ½ cup of flour (helps the batter to stick), dip it into the batter, and cook the fish until crispy and flaky, 4 to 6 minutes, flipping halfway through. Remove the fillets and rest on paper towel lined plate, pat gently to coax away excess oil.

For the aioli:

3/4 cup mayonnaise
1-2 crushed cloves garlic
1 lemon (juice and zest)
1/2 cup dill, finely chopped
s/p to taste
2 T olive oil

Add all ingredients to food processor, blend until smooth. Taste, and adjust flavors as you like. Smear on toasted buttered buns before stacking fish fillet, cheese, tomato, lettuce.

Garlic Truffle Fries

2 blemish-free Russet potatoes
4 cloves garlic
olive oil
4 T finely chopped parseley
truffle salt
truffle oil
s/p to taste

1. Place cookie sheet in oven and crank to 400. Slice potatoes into long wedges. In a large bowl, coat potato wedges liberally with olive oil. Mix in 2 cloves crushed garlic, 2T parsley, salt and pepper.
2. Distribute potatoes onto hot cookie sheet and bake undisturbed for at least 15 mins before flipping. Bake for another 15 minutes or until tender and crispy.
3. Before serving, gently toss with remaining 2 cloves of crushed garlic and 2 T parsley, a drizzle of truffle oil and several pinches of truffle salt. Serve and enjoy.

On the (Herb-crusted) Lamb with Mushroom and Leek Bread Pudding

January 2, 2013 by Eva Louise Leave a Comment

Herb-crusted lamb with mushroom and leek bread pudding – fast friends that seemed so natural together after just one encounter. The herb-crusted lamb isn’t anything revolutionary (just luscious) but a savory bread pudding?! Totally revolutionary. Inspired by Ina Garten, I actually followed the recipe (!) and it turned out beautifully.

Herb-crusted rack of lamb

adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine

2 racks of lamb, about 1-1/4 lb. each, chine bones removed, rib bones frenched, and meat trimmed of all but a thin layer of fat
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbs. chopped fresh thyme
1 cup soft fresh breadcrumbs
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard

Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 475°F. Season the lamb with salt and pepper. Combine the garlic, parsley, thyme, and breadcrumbs in a shallow bowl. Moisten the mixture with enough olive oil to make the mixture hold together.

Heat a large dry skillet over high heat. Put the lamb, meat side down, in the skillet. With tongs, hold the lamb against the skillet for a minute to give it a nice brown crust. Turn the meat to sear it on all sides for a total of 4 minutes. Remove the meat from the skillet and paint the meaty side of the rack with the mustard. Roll the meat in the herb mixture to coat it. Sear and coat the second rack in the same way.

Transfer the racks to a roasting pan just large enough to hold them. Cover the rib bones with strips of foil so they don’t burn and roast until medium rare, 20 to 25 minutes (120-140°F internal temperature). (I forgot cover the bones and smoked out the whole kitchen). If you want a crispier crust, finish cooking under the broiler for 2 minutes. Let the racks rest for 5 minutes before carving.

Use a carving knife to cut between the rib bones. Arrange the chops on warm serving plates. Serve hot. (The chops will cool quickly, so the best strategy is to carve the racks at the table.)

Ina Garten’s Mushroom and Leek Bread pudding

6 cups (1/2-inch-diced) bread cubes from a rustic country loaf, crusts removed
2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 ounces pancetta, small-diced (optional)
4 cups sliced leeks, white and light green parts (4 leeks)
1 1/2 pounds cremini mushrooms, stems trimmed and 1/4-inch-sliced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon leaves
1/4 cup medium or dry sherry
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
4 extra-large eggs
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 1/2 cups grated Gruyere cheese (6 ounces), divided

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the bread cubes on a sheet pan and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the oil and butter in a large (12-inch) saute pan over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook for 5 minutes, until starting to brown. Stir in the leeks and cook over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until the leeks are tender. Stir in the mushrooms, tarragon, sherry, 1 tablespoon salt and 11/2 teaspoons pepper and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, until most of the liquid evaporates, stirring occasionally. Off the heat, stir in the parsley.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, chicken stock and 1 cup of the Gruyere. Add the bread cubes and mushroom mixture, stirring well to combine. Set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes to allow the bread to absorb the liquid. Stir well and pour into a 2 1/2-to-3-quart gratin dish (13 x 9 x 2 inches). Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup Gruyere and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the top is browned and the custard is set. Serve hot.

A serious bouche-amuser: Crispy Polenta and Garlic Shrimp

December 26, 2012 by Eva Louise 2 Comments

…because everyone has a food model handy.

In order to understand the above picture, you need to understand my family around Christmas time. We’re Jewish, with a Catholic dad. This means– thankfully–we are not subjected to the Chinese Food + TBS movie on Christmas Eve cliché, but we’re not exactly celebrating Jesus’ birthday either. So, naturally, we do as any other family in a similar situation does… put on a series of elaborate Christmas dinners, where the five of us take an imaginary adventure to some other time/place in bizarre costumes and toast to each other with bad accents, acting in line with offensive and/or inaccurate stereotypes. (Some gems from years past are below).

This year, I was passed the baton and was charged with taking my family on a culinary journey on Christmas Eve. Equipped with a sous-chef (my little brother), I, Frau Lulu, countess of a small Swiss village, served my esteemed guests an elaborate four-course meal in my modest country home. First on the menu, presented above ever so elegantly by one of my guests, the internationally recognized singer-model Ze Frau Emilie, was the amuse-bouche: polenta discs with garlic shrimp, marinara sauce and goat cheese.

Serves about 14 discs, 2-3 per person

1 tube pre-cooked polenta (in the pasta aisle)
12 shrimp, raw, de-shelled and de-veined
garlic
marinara sauce, preferably homemade
goat cheese
S/P
Italian seasoning

1) slice the polenta into about 12-14 even slices. Season them each with S/P and Italian seasoning

2) heat a large skillet with olive oil to medium-high heat and saute the polenta. About 10 mins

3) While polenta cooks, heat another skillet. Mix shrimp with 2 T olive oil and 3 crushed garlic cloves in a small bowl. Season with S/P and place gently into skillet. Once the shrimp hit the pan, do not flip them for 2 minutes to ensure they get good color. Turn off heat once they are pink and seared.

4) Once the polenta are crispy, place them on a large ungreased cookie sheet. Place 1 shrimp on each polenta disc, then add 1 teaspoon of marinara. Crumble an ample amount of goat cheese on top of each disk.

5) place in the oven and broil for about 5 minutes. Watch constantly to make sure nothing burns.

6) wait about 5 minutes before transferring to a pretty plate. Serve and enjoy!

Here are some of those gems mentioned above:

Disco Christmas 2010

“Arabian Nights”…yea, this happened too. Christmas 2011

Homemade Butternut Squash Ravioli

December 23, 2012 by Eva Louise 3 Comments

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage-Infused Olive Oil

Christmas is coming and one of the nice things about this time of year is, of course, gathering with family. There are several of my recipes that I reserve especially for these times, so I can take advantage of the extra man-power. Homemade butternut squash raviolis definitely fall into this category. A simple but labor-intensive dish, these raviolis are a great way to incorporate the whole family so everyone feels like they are part of the meal.

I adapted my recipe from Emril Lagasse’s and used wonton papers instead of fresh pasta dough. For my sauce, I used olive oil simmered with rosemary and sage, instead of the butter that Emril’s recipe calls for. One trick I use to finish this dish is to purposely allow the starchy pasta water to drip into the serving dish when I transfer the raviolis. This makes the sauce sauce-ier and more delicious.

Butternut squash and Parmigiano-Reggiano are the stars of this dish, but they could be easily substituted with different combos like crispy prosciutto and ricotta, goat cheese and mushrooms, salmon and chives (with a cream sauce instead). You could even do sweet raviolis with cinnamon-apples and mascarpone with a caramel sauce…mmm.

Cubes of squash are simmered with chicken broth and herbs while onions are softened. Their powers combine in the Cuisinart to make the filling.

A little Ecuadorian princess delicately folds the wonton papers filled with sweet and savory squash into perfect raviolis

Superwoman’s Salmon, Fennel and Mushroom Pot Pie

November 26, 2012 by Eva Louise Leave a Comment

Coho Salmon, Fennel, and Mushroom Pot Pie with Truffle Cream

Ray and I woke up early, had a delicious breakfast and headed to the Metropolitan Museum to see the Warhol and Protoshop exhibits, amongst a thousand other amazing works of art. After three lovely hours of photographs, paintings, vases and tombs, I managed to do three loads of laundry at the laundromat (with Ray’s help), mend our ripped duvet, go to the grocery store, workout for an hour and then bake what I’ve been craving for weeks–a salmon pot pie, just in time for half time of the Giants game. Flaky and rich, this pot pie blew the traditional chicken-carrot-pea-celery combo straight out of the water. I call it “Superwoman’s pot pie” because I’m having one of those Sunday evenings where I can’t stop high-fiving myself because I was so awesome and productive all day.

High-fives aside, I juiced this dish up by tucking a teaspoon of truffle butter under the hood of puff pastry before serving. Since I’m amazing at following recipes (not), I used the Food Network’s here.

I tried to be cute and put pastry fish on the top, but after being in the 400 degree oven it looks like two of them got a little fresh…

Button Soup

November 21, 2012 by Eva Louise 1 Comment

Piping hot matzoh ball soup, fresh challah with salted Irish butter…Mom would be pleased!

Last weekend my sister came over; we pulled out my big stock pot and spent the whole day (punctuated by cookies breaks and catnaps) leisurely making our mom’s good ol’ Jewish Matzoh Ball Soup. We jokingly call it “button soup” after a short story we used to read: An old woman traveling takes shelter at a poor and grumpy old man’s house. She ends up making the old ~~ungrateful bastard~~ man a scrumptious soup with a button as it’s first and most important ingredient. Like button soup, matzoh ball soup is a peasant soup, simple and modest in it’s composition, making nothing more comforting. It’s a great time to share this recipe especially with the turkey surplus we’re all about to experience.

Mom’s recipe ( adapted from her Grandma and Aunt):

Matzoh Ball Soup

I learned how to make this soup as I have many dishes from my Grandma Ida and my Aunt Josie. Having said this, these recipes are never exact, never measured rather “eye-balled” and approximated. So, this is my way of saying, I too add a little of this and a bit more of that ….and so will you. The most important ingredient is that you make it with love! Here is the best I can do without showing you.

For a Large Pot of Soup:

A whole kosher chicken, rinsed off and patted dry, or alternately pieces of chicken with bones 6 to 9 leg/ thigh combos (boneless breasts would be too dry and stringy)
** Two different ways: I put in 8 cups of Swanson chicken broth and 8 cups of College Inn Chicken Broth into the pot bring to a simmer, add the whole chicken breast side down. Add enough water or more broth, if necessary, to cover chicken and come up to fill ¾ full of your soup pot. ** (Of course Grandma Ida just used water, especially with the kosher chicken as it is already salted, hence the reason I am having you rinse and pat it) but you would then need to add chicken bouillon, probably 2 tablespoons or to taste. I like my way better, I must admit.
Add to pot with the chicken in it:

-2-3 rough chopped medium sized yellow onions
-2 sliced and peeled parsnips
-3-4 stalks peeled and cut up celery
-4-5 peeled and sliced carrots
-3-4 crushed garlic or a couple more if you have a cold

Don’t add yet, Set aside: 4-5 Tablespoons of very well washed parsley (no sand, uh!) well chopped, to add in the last 15 minutes. Pretty much for color.
Cover and simmer for probably 2 to 2 ½ hours. Check on it, stir every once in a while and test along the way. Skim off any creepy stuff that may or may not float to the top and discard….of course.
At the end you can remove the chicken, cool it, disassemble, cut it up and add back into soup.
Serve with either wide egg noodles already prepared separately or Matzo balls…Yum!!

Dinner Party Meal Planning

October 8, 2012 by Eva Louise 2 Comments

I’ve had several friends ask me about determining portion size for dinner parties, an essential part of hosting a successful one. I sketched the drawing above as a simple snapshot of the “trifecta” I use when meal planning for large parties. It’s totally unscientific but I think it’s really helpful. The idea is simple — dinner is made up of 3 parts: starch, veggie, protein. Once you pick your recipes remember these rules before heading to the grocery store:

1 cup of dry starch (risotto, rice, polenta etc.) = 4 servings. If you are using potatoes: 1 russet for 2 people, 2-3 red potatoes for 1 person, 3-4 fingerlings for 1 person.
1 cup of veggie = 1 serving. 1 zucchini= 2 servings, 1 bunch of asparagus = 4 servings. One carton or head of lettuce =4 people for simple salad, 6 people if you drag it through the garden
6 oz/ 1 fist of protein= 1 serving. I think I learned this from Richard Simmons so I can’t take credit, but idea is to serve 6 oz. (size when uncooked) of protein which is about the size of your fist. The butcher or fish guy can easily help with this too since they normally weigh everything for you. I could recommend rounding to the next 1/2 lb for good measure. So, for a 6 person dinner party: 6 people x 6 oz = 36 oz or 2.25lbs —> ask the counter for 2.5lbs. For shrimp and scallops: 4 scallops=1 serving, 4 colossal shrimp= 1 serving, 6 jumbo shrimp= 1 serving
Add an “Elijah” serving e.g. always add 1 more person to the meal planning for leftovers/in case something burns/someone arrives who didn’t RSVP (gasp!).

I’ve kept the post short so you can print and post onto the fridge or add to your recipe book for easy reference. This is how I meal plan but would love to hear other tips and tricks!