Mind in the Butter

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Dinner

Tofino Time: Steamed Shrimp and Crab Shumai

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Crab and Shrimp Shumai

This next week is the Tofino edition! The family and I are nestled in the balmy Pacific Northwest for a week of action-packed fun: fishing, prawning, crabbing, hiking, camping, and best of all – dinner roulette: where dinner is entirely dependent on whatever Dad catches on his 16-foot boat. Given that I’m with the fam damily this week, I’ll have some guest contributors!

Guest Contributor//Emily: There are about 1 trillion things that I adore about my sister – one of the biggest ones being that she has a true adoration and admiration for all things food. Of course,  it’s always a pleasure to dine on whatever Eva “whips up”, but, since she always makes it look so fun, I thought I’d jump in. We cranked the Reggae, poured two glasses of wine and let the fun flow! Sissy and I are very similar and very different – in this case, our differences in the kitchen really do keep things smooth sailing. As her honorary sous-chef for the evening, I was keen on ensuring that she had a clean workshop to let her creativity flow. It’s really something to watch her work – a certain smell or color or texture will inspire a whole new direction, only more delicious than the previous one. I enjoy  following her direction – in a life of constant unknowns, she is precise with her guidance and is mindful of being kind to a novice (like me). One of the greatest parts of this experience was capturing her creativity,  documenting the magic that she really does create, and being able to celebrate it time and time again.  – EJSF – 

Last night, Emily and I decided to make shrimp and crab shumai because, you know, we just happened to have them fresh from Dad’s boat. For our shumai, we used my knight in shining armor – wonton papers – to make these delicious seafood dumplings, perfect as an appetizer. This is definitely an activity meal, so enlist a sous-chef before you get started and prepare these little pinwheels of delight in advance. Conversely, if this is part of the “performance” make sure guests have something to nosh on while watching the action.

Ingredients:

Fresh crab, shrimp, scallions, ginger

Shumai Filling

  • 12 small shrimp, (can be raw or boiled)
  • 1 cup fresh boiled crab
  • 2 scallion, white and green chopped
  • 1 T Fresh ginger finely chopped
  • Egg wash: ramekin of 1 scrambled raw egg and 1 T water

 

Asian-style goodness

Dipping Sauce

  • 2 splashes Soy sauce
  • 1 dash Rice wine vinegar
  • 1 splash Sesame oil
  • Sesame seeds
  • 1 t. Dijon mustard
  • 1 pinch sugar
  • 1 T fresh ginger, finely chopped
  •  2 scallion, white and green chopped

The Gist:

The idea of the shumai filling is to have multiple textures, achieved by staging the mixing process. I was without my trusty Cuisinart for this recipe and used an old blender making it difficult to control this.  We ended up simply rough chopping several ingredients by hand and mixing them in a bowl after we got the pasty base.

Shumai Filling

  •  Make the dipping sauce first. This mixture will season the filling.
  • Add half the crab and shrimp and 2 T of dipping sauce to the food processor and mix until paste like.
  •  Add the rest of the shrimp and crab and scallions and pulse.

 

 

Fake it ’til you make it…

To wrap the shumai:

Let’s be honest here – Emily and I had no idea what we were doing and had a blast taking creative license making our little dumplings. The nice thing about shumai too is that it’s actually opened on the top, so it made it easier to hide our neophyte skills. I’ve had shumai before and really like the pleating of the dumpling wrap so I attempted to replicate it. Regardless of your style, it’s important use the egg wash before pressing any two corners of the wonton paper together so they stick together.

Finally, steam the shumai, 3-5 minutes ideally in a bamboo steamer lined with cheesecloth (to keep the shumai from sticking). We didn’t have this luxury, so I poured enough water to cover 2 inches of the bottom of a large pot and fashioned a pedestal in the bottom  using a trivet (so the bowl was not in direct contact with the burner) and an overturned bowl, then placed the plates of shumai directly on the raised surface one at a time. Worked out pretty well, thanks Sissy for all your help!

My oh my, shumai!

Dinner with Basil: Homemade Pesto + Caprese Salad

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Green Gold

Red, White and Green

Earlier this week, Ray and I had a special guest for dinner, basil! This beautiful broad-leafed herb is definitely in season with the bundles  so big, I could barely tell it apart from heads of lettuce in the produce section. When I get a bouquet of basil this large, there’s really only two things I want to make, homemade pesto and a caprese salad. And that’s what I did: Seared Scallops with Pesto Rigatoni with a Caprese Salad drizzled with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette. I think I’d like to have basil over dinner more often!

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For the Pesto: I never follow recipes, so in my Cuisinart I just blended pine nuts (they have pre-packaged 1/4 cup bags in the baking aisle at the store), whatever Parmesan I had in my fridge and garlic. I then added the basil leaves and the juice of one lemon.  Word on the street is to keep the Cuisinart running while you add the olive oil through the top feeder until the mixture is smooth. At the last minute I added zest of 1/2 lemon and I’m pretty sure that took the pesto to a whole other level of amazing both in flavor and color.  For perfect single-servings down the road,  scoop any extra pesto into an ice cube tray and cover with plastic wrap making sure it’s flush with the pesto and place in freezer.  For the rule followers,  Ina Garten has a great recipe for pesto.

Buenos Aires Cannellonis: Jamon y Queso + Verdura

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Baked Cannelloni

My Buenos Aires Cannellonis are inspired by my time living in the “Paris of Latin America.”   Each morning I would pass Mas Pastas,  fogging up the  glass window as three old men buzzed around the checker-floored pasta shop. One man would delicately drop dollops of ricotta onto rugs of ravioli pasta, another kneaded pizza dough and the other formed pillows of potato dough for fresh gnocchi. When I finally mustered up enough courage and enough Spanish, I  became a regular at Mas Pastas, frequently stopping in for a  dozen cannellonis (cheese-filled tubes of fresh pasta) to cook for friends and my host family.

While no cannellonis can really do Mas Pastas justice, here is my take on the most popular variations: cannellonis con jamon y queso (ham and cheese) and cannellonis con verduras (vegetables) topped with tomato sauce.  On my next try, I might go for crab filled cannelloni with a bechamel sauce (yow!).

For this recipe, I use my secret weapon-wonton papers!  You can find them in the produce section next to the vegan chorizo (why, why does that exist?) and the tofu shaped like chicken nuggets.  Wonton papers are extremely versatile and really fun to work with.  In addition to using them for cannellonis, I use them to make homemade raviolis; I even used them to make a quick lasagna once.

Filling: I make a very simple base filling of ricotta, cream cheese, mozzarella, 1 medium sauteed onion, seasoned with fresh garlic, salt and pepper. I then split the filling between two bowls and add vegetables to one and meat to the other:

For Jamon y Queso: I sautee cubes of pancetta (sturdy and salty, ideal for this dish) in a pan to make them nice and crispy before adding them to the filling.  Cooked bacon, prosciutto, chicken or shrimp would be great alternatives.

For Verduras y Queso: I sautee frozen spinach (drain before adding to pan) with a zucchini cut into thin half-moons and seasoned  with chili flakes. Mushrooms are a slammin’ addition.

Once the variations are added to each bowl of filling, I prepare a clean, flat surface and small dish of water (to seal the seam of the wonton paper) and then make the cannellonis:

Step 1: Scoop 2 heaping tablespoons of filling along one side of the wonton paper, careful not to let any get too close to the edge.

Step 2: Pull the wonton over the filling.  Pressing your fingers flat on the cutting board, tug the wonton paper back (think how the guys at Chipotle wrap burritos).  This will ensure that filling is tightly packed into the wonton paper.

Step 3: Once the filling is snug,  roll the wonton paper once and wet the top edge with water.

Step 4: Finish rolling the wonton paper by sealing the wet edge to rest of the cannelloni.

Step 5: Line the bottom of a large glass dish with pasta sauce, place the cannelloni seam-side down.

Step 6: Cover with the remaining pasta sauce and mozzarella cheese, bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, until the top is bubbling.

Summer Dinner Party

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Last week after realizing it’s been way too long since we’ve had a dinner party, Ray and I had some friends and their +1s over for a Monday night cocktail/dinner party.  Of course, fitting ten people into any New York apartment is challenge so I kept it really casual and served dinner in the living room around our retro coffee table.

Hosting dinner parties is one of my favorite things in this whole world to do, and I’m finally establishing some good entertaining rules and formulas to keep myself un-stressed, out of the kitchen and in the mix with my guests.  While I don’t follow them all the time, here they are:

1) Make absolutely everything you can the night before, including the cocktail.  (I didn’t follow my own rule and did not have drinks immediately available for my guests upon their arrival, which leads to #2)

2) Have something to eat and drink on the table 30 minutes before your guests are supposed to arrive, even if it’s just some radishes and a bottle of wine or a pitcher of water. Someone is always likely to show up exactly on time.

3) Make sure the night of the dinner party works for the rest of your week. I chose Monday night so I had all of Sunday to shop and cook. It allowed me start off the week with my friends when the rest of the week was filled with business dinners. Friday nights are impossible because you’re tired and there’s no way to shop, cook and clean in time for guests to arrive at a reasonable hour.  Saturday and Sundays night are of course great too.

4) Get the 411 on food allergies and check the menu over with them beforehand.  Ray doesn’t eat meat and I have another friend who’s, well, allergic to everything so instead of getting really creative, I kept it simple.  I made sure my one-pot dish could be easily adapted to serve (almost) everyone. For my friend, I made a “hypoallergenic” pork chop- seasoned with sesame oil, Dijon mustard, rice wine vinegar served with white rice.

5) You must have a co-pilot/extra Indian/Sous-chef.  I don’t care if you’re Martha Stewart, you need an extra host. Ray always does an amazing job setting the mood with music, candles and lighting. For this party he had the genius idea to pull a Charlie Chaplin film off of Netflix to play in the background while we ate. Thanks, babe!

6) Candles and music are a must.  Films noir and cats to entertain your guests are a plus.

7) When you’re friends ask if you need help…say yes! I am very verbal and eager to have my friends help me in the kitchen when I am in the weeds, even if they just stand there and give me the latest gossip on their lives while they completely assault a tomato.

8) Eva’s (generally fool-proof) Food Formula: 2 appetizers (at least 1 vegetarian option) + 1 signature cocktail + 1 one-pot dish (that can be made the night before) + vegetable + 1 dessert = dinner party success.

Here are some highlights after implementing the formula for last week’s dinner party:

The Coconut Crusher

The Coconut Crusher

As my signature cocktail, I served a drink I completely made up: Coconut Rum, Vodka, pomegranate and blueberry juice with a mint garnish. It’s possible that I subliminally  stole this idea from a photo my brother’s girlfriend posted on my sister’s Facebook wall, but I think it’s safe to say, I made it completely my own. My original recipe called for white grape juice, but the pomegranate was an awesome substitute.

To make this divine cocktail: tear 6 mint leaves and put at the bottom of a glass, fill to the brim with ice, then add 1 oz vodka, 1 oz coconut rum then top it off with some slammin’ juice–pomegranate, raspberry lemonade, peach, white grape juice, surprise me. Stir. Sip. Smile. Ah.

White Bean, Prosciutto and Arugula Crostini

Smashed White Bean Crostinis with Arugula and Prosciutto. This is a riff on a crostini served at our local Italian restaurant. My interpretation involves 1 can of rinsed, smashed white beans with 2 cloves of garlic, a squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper. I spread a little salted butter on the sliced baguette before  spreading the white beans.  Top it with prosciutto and/or arugula and then the party is in order!

Arugula, Radish and Pecorino Salad.

Arugula Salad

My formula calls for a vegetable, this salad is by far the easiest most delicious solution to a large group: washed arugula, shaved Pecorino, sliced radishes. Add tomato and/or hearts of palm if you have them handy.  For the vinaigrette I simply squeezed the juice of one lemon over the lettuce with a hefty splash of good olive oil, salt, pepper. I could eat this salad everyday.

Chocolate Flourless Cake, Black Cherries and Fresh Whipped Cream

Chocolate flourless cake with black cherry coulis and fresh whipped cream. Normally I use this recipe for the cake and jazz it up with a berry sauce.  Last week I chose black cherries, so I heated them on the stove with 2Ts of sugar, 1t of vanilla extract and reduced it until it was a syrupy sauce.  Served with homemade whipped cream, it’s divine!

Two Coudies Archive: Fine Investment Father’s Day Rockfish

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Daddy-Happy Father’s Day!  Along with great hair, thank you for gifting me with a discerning and rather expensive palette. You’ve programmed me to thrive best when consuming fine wines and champagne, imported cheeses, charcuterie, caviar and fresh seafood.  While my wallet doesn’t appreciate it, my belly definitely does.

Since it is Father’s Day I’ve pulled from the Two Coudies Archive this Father’s Day fish post.  It reminds me of such a great Father-Daughters trip we took a couple of years ago, I’m happy to have a place in cyber space to remember it forever. Love you, Dad!

*************************************************************************

For Father’s Day, my sister and I took Dad to St. Michael’s, Maryland (GO THERE!) for a nautically-inclined weekend.  Amidst sunset sailing, an antique boat show and a private plane ride over the Chesapeake Bay (!), we set him up with a fishing guide. Luckily for me he caught three HUGE Rockfish (called Striped Bass, where I’m from). He couldn’t take them back on the plane with him so when I returned to DC, I invited some of my girlfriends over and made a super simple Parmesan Rockfish.  To celebrate summer I added a feta and watermelon salad. While we ate the meal with rice, I’ve added a recipe for some insanely rich mashed potatoes…because that’s what the rockfish would have wanted. Thanks to my girl Nicole GoodHat Aguirre of Worn Magazine for the photos.

 

Parmesan & Parsley Fish:

Preheat oven to 350 and begin marinating fish.

Marinade:

  • 2 large garlic cloves crushed
  • 2  1lb filets of rockfish (or any other white fish)
  • the juice of 1 lemon
  • splash of white wine
  • 2 tsp salt and pepper
  • 3 tsp olive oil
  • 2 shakes of chili flake if you want to get KrAZy

Topping:

  • 1/2 cup Parmesan
  • 2 tsp finely chopped parsley

Mix fish and marinade ingredients together in gallon-size Ziploc and stick in fridge. After it’s chilled again, place in buttered glass dish large enough for filets to lay flat.  Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and fresh chopped parsley.

Depending on thickness, bake for approx 13-15 minutes.  The fish should flake when you pull a fork through it.

**WiLd SiDe:turn on the broiler at the end of cook time for 2 minutes to brown the top.

They will love you Forever Boursin Mashed Potatoes:

  • Russet, Yukon Gold or bliss potatoes
  • 1-3 garlic cloves
  • 3/4 small package of Boursin or Alouette herbed cheese
  • 2 T butter
  • 2 T sour cream
  • splash of milk or cream
  • 1 egg
  • salt/pepper

Quarter and boil potatoes in large pot for about 30 mins. Potatoes will be ready when you can pass a fork or knife straight through with little pressure.  When cooked and tender, drain and return to large pot and turn heat to low.  Mash slightly with with masher or hand mixer. Incorporate all other ingredients except for egg. Continue to taste to adjust flavors and consistency to your liking. Add raw egg and blend.*

*If you have a Jewish family member in the kitchen, do this discreetly. If you get caught, deny everything.

 I-Am-A-Sex-MaH-Cheen Watermelon and Feta Salad:

Vinaigrette:

  • 1 part lemon juice
  • 2 parts Extra Virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt/pepper
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • the leaves of 4 thyme sprigs, finely chopped
  • 5 raspberries, optional
  • splash of any good quality fruit juice in the frig (lemonade, limeade, raspberry juice)
  • 1 T dijon mustard

Mix all together in blender until smooth. If it’s too sweet, add one more lemon and/or pepper. Too tart, more olive oil, then more sugar.

Place a handful of washed spring mix, arugula or spinach on a salad plate. Serve with a slice of watermelon and a feta cube, drizzle with vinaigrette.

Birthday Fish Tacos

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This past weekend marked Mom’s __th birthday, celebrated just the way she likes, with all her chicks back in the nest on Cape Cod. Since Mom is rather difficult to shop for, I kept to what I know and made her dinner – Birthday Fish Tacos with a Carrot and Cabbage slaw, Black Bean and Hominy salad and a homemade “crema lima.”  This dish is easy, inexpensive, and loaded with vibrant and flavorful raw vegetables. It’s hot and cold, crunchy and soft, spicy and mild and has ingredients that can be easily swapped out for picky or sensitive palettes. Long story short…crowd pleaser.

This dinner was a team effort, so after we perched Mom on the couch with some tune-age, we all (armed with plenty of wine and SoCo) took off in separate directions like oil and vinegar.  The men congregated around the BBQ (despite heavy rains!) and we ladies set up shop in the kitchen to make the salads. The result was a perfectly balanced family-style meal . Check out the recipes below, which have been adjusted to feed about 4 people.

Seafood:

For my version of these tacos, I was lucky enough to have salmon, halibut and shrimp on hand, and even luckier, had Dad on hand to grill the seafood with smoky Mesquite wood chips for insanely intense flavor.

  • 8 oz filet of fish – Halibut, Salmon preferred.  Local options: Hake, Bluefish, Cod. Cheap option: Tilapia
  • 1 lb shrimp (frozen is fine but de-shell and de-vein before grilling)
  • McCormicks Cajun Seasoning
  • Cayanne Pepper
  • Paprika
  • Juice of 2 limes
  • 3 T Olive Oil
  • Salt/Pepper to taste

Slice fish into 2-3 inch filets against the grain, rinse and pat dry, put into gallon Ziplock with shrimp (fresh or frozen). Put back in frig.

For marinade: In a small bowl, mix juice of 2 limes, olive oil, 2 taps of Cayanne, 2 taps of paprika and 1/4 canister of McCormick’s Cajun (seems like a lot, but just trust me).  It should be pasty but not dry. Add more oil or a splash of whatever you are drinking to thin it out, or dump in more spices if it needs a charge up. Be sure to taste it to see what the salt/pepper situation is, add S & P accordingly.  It should taste really intense since it’s a marinade.

Pour mixture over fish and shrimp and shake bag around so all seafood is coated. Keep in frig and hold off on cooking until salads are done, about 30 mins. (We’re getting there.)

To BBQ: call your Dad to prepare and insanely hot and smokey grill for you.  While he does this, create 2 foil boats (1 for fish, 1 for shrimp) so that the marinade doesn’t escape once you place the seafood down on grill- nothing fancy. Once BBQ is ready, set foil boat on grill rack and place just the fish filets to cook, about 4-7 mins on each side (depends on thickness of fish).  Remove and add the second foil boat with shrimp and cook 2 minutes on each side. Do them separately since shrimp cook wicked fast.

If Dad is not available/Stovetop Instructions: Heat large frying on med-high. The pan is ready if you flick water into it and it spits.  Don’t add oil or butter because marinade already has considerable amount. Add just the fish filets using instructions above.  Once cooked, keep filets under foil or in low heat oven while you cook shrimp.

While the fish marinates…make salads

Carrot and Cabbage Slaw

  • 1 small red cabbage, or 1/2 large cabbage (don’t buy the pre-shredded)
  • 1 bag of pre-shredded carrots
  • 1 box crystallized ginger (in the dried fruit/nut section)
  • 2 T apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 chop cilantro, rough chopped
  • 4 T Olive oil
  • Salt/Pepper

In a small bowl, wisk vingear, olive oil and salt and pepper. Taste. The rule is 1 part acid to 2 parts oil, so adjust this based on your salad size.

Slice cabbage into thin pieces to match carrots.  Be sure to remove white core. Thinly chop about 12 pieces of ginger. In large bowl toss carrots, cabbage, ginger, cilantro and vinaigrette so salad is coated evenly. Place on dinner table.

Black Bean and Hominy salad:

Black Bean and Hominy with Cilantro and Red Onion

  • 1 can black beans
  • 1 can hominy
  • 1/2 medium red onion, diced
  • 1/4 c cilantro, rough chopped
  • 3 T Olive oil
  • Juice of 1 lime

Drain and rinse beans and hominy (can substitute yellow corn). Toss all ingredients together. Place on dinner table.

Crema Lima

Sounds fancy, super simple.

Crema Lima

  •   juice of 1 lime
  •  1 canister creme fraiche or sour cream
  •  salt

In a small bowl mix creme fraiche, lime juice and pinch a salt. Should smooth, runny and  super tangy.

Serve meal buffet-style with warm corn and flour tortillas.