Mediterranean Baked Cod with Olives and Tomatoes

One pan meals have caught my attention of late. Coming across this simple pan of vegetables, lemon tang, salty olive bite, and mellow baked cod seemed a winner to me. I leave it to you to judge. Make this meal on an evening when you don't particularly want to cook, but know you should eat something healthy.

Staten Island Style Cod

This is a beautiful and spicy platter of cod fillet ! Years ago, I picked up the South Beach Diet Cookbook and went through most of the recipes. This recipe, while written for Chilean Sea Bass, adapts really well to Atlantic Cod.  Silent Bob and I have been going meatless increasingly, as we age and as we read more and more how the agriculture of the meat industry is wrecking the environment and the quality of lives of  'the crop'. To boot, sea stocks are increasingly overfished and harmed by the increase in fish farming ... aargh! It seems we humans need to sit back on our heels and really think about what we eat, how we produce it, and how much we consume. That's a whole book of ranting, though.

I haven't bought fish in weeks and it is my birthday week. This platter of fish was my gift to myself. Easy, very spicy, but freshened up by the addition of chopped fresh herbs and lemon. This is how I did it.

Seared Tuna with Anise Scented Tomatoes and Spinach

Sometimes I come upon a recipe that just feels right ... and this is one of them. How does one describe this dish? Subtle and lovely. This is a meal to make when you really don't want to fuss around too long, but really want to have something good on the plate in timely fashion.

Summer on the Terrace ... Virtual Supper Club's August BBQ

Come sit on the terrace, won't you? I've got a couple Paradise Cocktails poured and the grill pan is getting hot. SB and I are getting ready for a fast and furious weekend of activity, but this evening is meant to be an easy affair. I've got some Hendrick's gin, some peach brandy, some stellar Mineola oranges and plenty of ice. Let's have a cool cocktail and enjoy the greenery while the scallops soak up the peppery spices. I've got a beautiful start to the latest Virtual Supper Club's BBQ themed dinner, so get ready because this month's menu is a perfect late summer treat!

IHCC - Pan Seared Scallops with Spinach and Lemon Zested Risotto

... dinner in about 30 minutes ... no kidding! ...

An Aside... Getting Back on the Horse

Know your fishmonger ... I thought I did. Friday night was a hellish experience after cooking these little beauties ... I was so excited. Washed them well, debearded them, rapped each to check for them for vitality. Steamed them in a lovely dry cider and cream sauce ... knoshed them. And in the middle of the night ... felt like Hell.

Know your fishmonger. It will take a while before I brave mussels again, but I will cook them again. 

Pan-Seared Lemon Pepper Swordfish With Orecchiette and Peas

The dog days of summer are here and it seems they're here to stay for a good while.  All the cool smoothies, iced tea, cold salads, popsicles, chilled pies, and cold cocktails certainly help keep us comfortable, but one still needs a hot meal now and then. Standing over a hot stove, though, holds little appeal!  I have fallen to the strategy of doing some prep work on dinner early in the morning while the house is cool and then lounging through the heat of the day. Once the sun goes down and the house cools off a bit, I am ready to tackle dinners. They still need to be fast and easy, though.

Yesterday, we shucked peas and marinated swordfish early in the day. Then, in the time it took to boil pasta water and cook orecchiette, we seared the fish, sauteed onions and mushrooms, steamed green beans for a side and put together a nice platter of warm sustenance ... all the while sipping on chilled Sauvignon blanc. My kitchen timer allows me to put things in the pan, crank up the heat and walk away from the hot stove ...when the little dinger dings,  I dash in and away after tossing things, flipping fish, and only stand in the steam for the final plating ... one gets cagey when it's this hot!

Straight from the Sea - Virtual Supper Club

Coconut Crab and Shrimp Salad coming right up! 

Miso Salmon and Soba Noodles

You know how sometimes you just need to make yourself a plate of something that will stick to your ribs? You know how often times that something turns out to be a pasta dish that not only sticks to your ribs, but goes directly to the pit of your stomach and then, miraculously to your hips and thighs? Yeah ... me too. I know alllll about it ... but wait! There has to be a way to have your pasta and not feel guilty.

Moroccan Crab Cakes ???? Yup, Apparently!

Matthew Kenney has sucked me in  ... again! Perhaps it's the gorgeously photographed food in his cookbook or maybe it's just the interesting combinations of ingredients. Whatever, I saw this recipe for Moroccan Spiced Crab Cakes and knew that I had to make them. I have found myself daydreaming about placing them on a nice bed of greens and serving them with a super chilled crisp white wine ... it's supposed to be a warm sunny day here. The back porch will warm right up with the sun hitting it ... it may even feel like a warm summer afternoon out there ... these crab cakes should be a great way to celebrate the return of the sunshine and warmth!

Roasted Swordfish with Ina's Caesar Dressing Sauce

I have been really enjoying Ina Garten's cookbook, how easy is that?, since I checked it out of our little public library here in the backwater. Last evening, I made her recipe for Caesar Roasted Swordfish. Other than going a little heavy on the sauce, this dish was a real hit! The dressing is delicious and would be worthy drizzled on traditional Caesar salad makings. In fact, that would be my recommendation. Make the full amount of sauce, cut the amounts for marinating the swordfish and drizzling over the finished fillets in half, and save it for a 'next day salad' lunch. The recipe calls for frizzled capers as a tangy garnish, but we passed, as we're not fans of capers, but they sure would pack an extra flavour punch!

Mussels Stuffed with Union Square Café's Recipe

Heard my hard luck story on mussels? I had grand plans to post Melissa Hamilton's recipe for broiled mussels last Thursday, had all the ingredients except the freshest of mussels. Went to get them at the market and horrors! there were none to be had ... well, THAT post went by the boards! Yesterday, I was researching other shellfish recipes and found this delectable stuffing for littleneck clams, but I thought ... my! that would be terrific over the top of  mussels! Off to the market again and score! The freshest of mussels, a bit of white wine, orange zest and juice, vegetables and just a dusting of bread crumbs. Voila! A platter of mussels, a salad, and white wine for dinner!

Bisque and a Book - 'The Lobster Chronicles' by Linda Greenlaw

Back in the day, lobsters were poor folk food. Don't laugh! There were actual laws prohibiting prisons from feeding their prisoners lobster more than once a week! Just imagine! Well, there's no problem in this grey cottage with eating lobster frequently - that is , if the budget would just allow!

Summertime is the time for me to splurge a few times and buy lobsters from a guy down the road. His son has a lobsterman's license over on the coast of New Hampshire, so he sells his catch inland, where he has a sure market. I go into his little shop and pick a few out of the tank, but I rarely consider all the hard work that goes into harvesting these bottom feeders. It's constant work, maintaining lobster traps and lines, hauling, baiting , resetting them. The tourists always love seeing the little lobster boats chugging in and out of harbor, but they don't consider the work either when they are tying on their lobster bibs and bellying up to a table of boiled lobster with drawn butter.

Linda Greenlaw addresses that issue for anyone curious enough to wonder just what does go into being a lobsterman (er ... woman). She has written a chronicle of a year in the life of a lobsterman and I must say, she doesn't romanticize things. It's a hard life that one has to love in order to keep to ... the sea can be a cold, dangerous, unforgiving environment. Currents can play havoc with equipment, weather conditions can be life-threatening, political intricacies can make for bad blood between fellow lobstermen, and the lobsters can come and go (often at the worst possible times). Still, Greenlaw keeps at it ... and writes of her life with honesty, poignancy, and humor. This was a fun summertime read, but on this first day of Fall ... and in honor of Homarus americanus, I am making a Lobster Bisque this evening to have with fresh bread and a green salad.

'Tatters and Rags' - Lobster Pie a la Hannah Glasse

This post is inspired by Hannah Glasse and her cookbook called The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy. Hannah Glasse was one of two women featured as Game-Changers # 10 a couple weeks ago, but life was too busy for me at the time. The idea of her lobster pies stuck with me, though.

Mangoes, Salmon, and Madhur ...

                                                                                                                         Photo credit: Clara Molden

Madhur Jaffrey has made a name for herself as a distinguished actress and as an enthusiastic advocate for Indian cuisine. Her favorite dishes use simple ingredients, but have interesting spice combinations that add tang, heat, zest, and color! Her interview on NPR back in 2006 was such a delight that I'm including a link here. Just listen to this delightful lady tell of her early life in colonial India and her wonderful memories of growing up and into the spiciness of her beloved Indian cuisine! Her memoir, Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India is on my bedside table and is enthralling. In her 80's, Ms. Jaffrey has lived the change from colonial India to independent India and has negotiated the paths between traditional Indian culture and Western culture. She has become an established film actress and has lived in New York for many years, but her love of her Indian roots is evident in her discussion of her favorite recipes. She is number seven on our list of 50 Women Game-Changers and well deserves the spot ... join the other bloggers that are paying her tribute this week by linking to Mary's post at One Perfect Bite ... then choose a recipe and make your own Indian feast! I chose to work with fresh salmon that is given a lovely spice rub and is then finished in a hot spicy smooth tomato curry.

Marcella Hazan's Spaghetti with White Clam Sauce

To look at her, she seems the quintessential Italian Nonna ... round, distinguished, and somewhat formidable, yet with a sparkle in the eye and a strong capable presence. She has distinguished herself as one of the most knowledgable resources for classic Italian cuisine, has published top-notch cookbooks on Italian food, contributed commentary and recipes to The New York Times over the years, taught cooking classes, and has been credited with being one of the driving forces behind introducing balsamic vinegar and all its possibilities to the foodie world - all this a 'happy accident', a result of her need to feed her husband, her wonder of and frustration with 'the American supermarket experience', and a cooking class on Chinese food.
You can hear/read her own words here at NPR. What I find so powerful is the fact that her knowledge is so based in the bedrock of food memories of how her mother and grandmother cooked. Her destiny has been to bring those simple and basic 'food memories' to the public, convincing many foodies that Italian food is not fussy and convoluted. It is basic fare that uses the simplest of ingredients to create soul-satisfying meals.

Spicy Wok Shrimp with Coconut Rice ...

Week five of the 50 Women gamechangers is here again and this week, there are sure to be more folks joining in ... look over on Mary's website -

M F K Fisher was a complete unknown to me before this last week. I have been having a time doing some research on her and her body of work. So what do I think?  I think she was a smart lady who never wanted to be stuck in the kitchen, but who wanted to know her way around it and a world of different cuisines. I also think she loved her travel, her circle of intelligent friends, and her ability to write about her passions and get away with making it earn her living. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm seeing her as the Dorothy Parker of the culinary world - smart, witty, talented, attractive, and somewhat of a bon vivant. I mean look at this woman ... doesn't she just ooze style and charisma? No shrinking violet, that's for sure!

What Would Martha Do?

good old Martha ... smiling all the way to the bank

We have an on-going joke in our house. Whenever there is a domestic quandry from cooking to cleaning to organizing to decorating to entertaining , the question gets asked, "What would Martha do?"  Sometimes it is clearly tongue-in-cheek, but sometimes it is muttered with dead seriousness.

How omnipresent Martha Stewart has become in our media-driven culture. Her magazines, homegoods, books, television programs, and website posts have saturated everyday life with tips, recipes, and crafty projects. And that was her goal when she formed her media enterprise. She is quite clearly a business phenom and deserves being included on the list of 50 Women Game-Changers . This week Mary of One Perfect Bite has challenged us to deal with Martha Stewart ... business phenom, domestic goddess, established 'brand', media diva.

Coquilles St. Jacques ... It's All About the Story...

I bought sea scallops this week ... the price was 'up there', but it will continue to rise. As the summer approaches, the availability of North Atlantic sea scallops will fall off as seaside restaurants buy up the catch and fishermen go for other fish. So ... I took one last opportunity to make us a beautiful scallop dish... a dish with memories for me.

I discovered Coquilles St Jacques years ago ... long before I was married with children. During the summer of my junior year in college, I took a flying trip to Cape Cod  with a group of rowdy friends. We camped and drank too much and partied on the beach until all hours and caroused with other like-minded college kids. I met a guy ... a local guy. One thing lead to another and before I knew it he was inviting me out to dinner ... what was a girl to do? I accepted, made sure I got a good shower to wash off the salt water the afternoon before our date , and donned my only sundress packed in the back pack. We went (in his pick-up truck) to one of the prettiest restaurants I'd ever been to  ... Chillingsworth in Brewster.

Summertime ... and the Livin' is Easy!

After all the soups and stews and roasts and casseroles of wintertime, I was feelin' kinda rebellious today.  I have some blogging friends from the southern hemisphere and they have been all about the grilled fish and salsas and fresh fruit salads and coconut cakes and all that summertime stuff ... darn it!