The Fumbling Foodie

Trout Filet, Wild Mushroom Ravioli, and Basil Pesto

Easy, inexpensive, and one of my wife's favorites.

This is one of those 'Eat like a king but pay like a pauper' meals.

The Wild Mushroom Ravioli is made by Pasta Prima. It is 100% natural, with no artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, or ingredients. I found it in the deli section at A.J.'s Fine Foods.

Costco has these steelhead trout filets in the frozen food department under their KIrkland brand.  Each filet is 6-8 ounces. They are individually wrapped and come bulk-packed in a 3-pound resealable bag. If you're thinking that it looks more like salmon than trout, you're right. Trout is a close relative of salmon.  These filets look and taste like salmon.

I pan-seared the trout and boiled the ravioli until al dente (about 4 minutes). Arrtange them on a plate and drizzle some pesto on top and you are done.

The Ravioli was $3.99 and served two. The trout filets are about $3 each, making this meal $5 per serving. You could easily pay $20 a plate for this same meal in a restaurant.

 

Catfish on a Bed of Sautéed Yam Slices With Pesto

I have a confession to make: SInce I started cooking about six years ago, I have yearned for the day when I stopped being just a 'recipe follower' and could actually start creating dishes on my own.  Well, this is one.  Not only did this come completely from y own head, my Sweet Lady Wife pronounced it a 'Keeper'. The combination of the sweetness of the yams, earthiness of the catfish, and the pesto is awesome.

Not only that, it is inexpensive.  I bought fresh catfish (or at least as fresh as you can get in Phoenix, Arizona) and so that bumped the price up a little. All in all, about $8 per serving for the two of us.

Catfish on a Bed of Sautéed Yam Slices With Pesto

2 yams
2 catfish filets
2 tablespoons pesto
2 tablespoons butter
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Peel the yams and then slice then crosswise into 1/8-inch thick slices. Pour the olive oil into a saute pan ovr medium heat. When the oil is hot add the yam slices.  Cook the yam slices just exactly the same way you would fray sliced potatoes.

In a second suate pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Salt and pepper the catfish.  When the butter foam has subsided add the catfish. Saute the catfish until done, turning once or twice.

To serve, arrange a layer of yam slices lightly larger than the catfish.  Place the catfish filet in the ceter of the yam slices.  Spoon a tablespoon of pesto onto the catfish. Serve. 

Roasted Shrimp with Rosemary & Thyme; Sauteed Vegetables

This is really part 2 of 'So many recipes, so little time".  Part I, the salad is here. 

So where were we.  Oh yes: Fine Cooking, April/May 2011 issue. i'm flipping the pages and see a photo of shrimp amongst rosemary and thyme sprigs. "Sweet Lady wife loves shrimp.  I will make this tonight", I said to myself.

The problem with preparing a spectacular main course is to come up with something to serve with it. Something sufficiently spectacular that it doesn't look like Oliver Twist at the queen's coronation (but not so spectacular that it visually overpowers the main course). 

I had resigned myself to hunting for a suitable side dish when I got to page 36: Vegetable Saute with Orange and Balsamic. "This is it!", said I.

Fine Cooking has taken a cue from Cooks Illustrated and begun articles deconstructing dishes and I like it.  This one is "The RIght Way to Cook Vegetables" and is worth thr peice of a year's subscription all by itself.

These two dishes were prepared verbatim per the recipes in April/May 2011 Fine Cooking so I'll not repeat them here.

 

 

Vigo Paella

I normally don't write about 'meal-in-a-box' stuff here but this one was good enough to make an exception.  I was wandering the isles of Cost Plus Word Market today and noticed this on the shelf.  

The first thing I must tell you is that these guys have a sense of humor. It shows in step 2 of the instructions: "Open the can of seafood..." I'm sure the small bits found in the can included seafood but there was nothing readily identifiable in there as actual seafood.  In vigo's defense, the ingredients do say "squid, mussels".  They're probably in there but what's in the can looks nothing like the picture on the box.

So why do I even bother writing?  I grabbed about a dozen shrimp from the freezer and threw them into the mix.  The result was actually pretty darn good.  My wife loved it. 

I'm going back to buy several more boxes this week.

Sear-Roasted Beef Filet, Béarnaise Sauce, Mussels au Vert, Risotto Primavera

I have a confession to make: I've never made Hollandaise or Béarnaise sauce the conventional old-fashioned way.  With the Vita-Mix blender here, it's just too fast, easy, and fool-proof not to make it in the blender.

Tomorrow begins a 2-3 week stretch in which I'm going to be very busy - so busy that meals will probably consist of pizza slid under the office door by my Sweet Lady Wife.  Today would be my last chance to sooth the inner chef in me for a while.

Mussels au Vert

It's been a long time since I've prepared Mussels au Vert - so long that my wife doesn't even remember it. My son - who is away for another week - would hate this dish, so this was my chance.

1.5 lb Prince Edward Island Mussels
3 tblsp butter
olive oil
1 tblsp finely chopped shallots
1 tblsp finely chopped garlic
1 cup white wine
 1 teasp chopped fresh thyme
1 teasp chopped fresh oregano
1 teasp chopped fresh parsley

Clean and de-beard the mussels.  Remove barnacles by scraping with the back of an old table knife.  The shells should be tightly closed.  When you find one open, tap it with a spoon or rap in against the counter.  If it does not close discard it. 

Sautee the garlic and shallots in olive oil until tender and translucent but not yet starting to brown.  Add the white wine and the mussels. Cover and let steam for about 5 minutes.  Take the mussels out and place them into a serving bowl. Discard any that are not open.

Add butter and the herbs to the liquid in the pan, let simmer for a minute or two.  Pour liquid over mussels.

Sear-Roasted Beef Tenderloin Filet

Sear-roasting is my favorite way to prepare almost any thick cut of meat.  Basically all you do is to brown the outside in a pan on the stovetop. Then put them in the oven - pan and all -  at 350F until the desired level of done-ness is reached.

Béarnaise Sauce

I was talking to another local (more famous than I) foodie blogger yesterday and I mentioned my fondness for the French cuisine and the sauces.  She made the usual noises about the sauces being so difficult.  I didn't tell her the dirty little secret that there is a method for making Hollandaise and Béarnaise that is fast, easy, and foolproof: in your blender.

3-4 egg yolks
1 tblsp hot water
1 cup melted salted butter
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
1 shallot, finely chopped

Put the blender's container under the kitchen faucet and let it fill with hot water.  Let the hot water run for 2-3 minutes.  Your objective is to warm the container and the blades.  Turn off the water and immediately dry the container. Reassemble the blender.  Add the egg yolks and turn the bender on low (1-2 on my Vita-Mix).  Let it run for a few seconds. Drizzle in the hot water and increase the blender's speed a bit (3-4 on my VitaMix).  Let it run for about 10 seconds until the liquid begins to froth.

Reduce to the original speed and SLOWLY drizzle in the melted butter. Add the vinegar, tarragon, and shallot. Let it run for 3-5 seconds. You're done.

Risotto Primavera

6-8 cups vegetable broth
3 tablesp butter
olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 leek (white part only)
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups Arborio rice
1 cup white wine
tips from 1 lb asparagus
1 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup Italian parsley, chopped
1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Heat the broth in a saucepan, set it aside but keep it warm. Cut the leek in half lengthwise, then cut it again crosswise  into 1/4-inch wide pieces.

Heat a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion, leek, and garlic. Sauté until wilted and almost tender, about 6 minutes.

Add rice. Stir until rice is translucent at the edges but still opaque in the center, about 3 minutes.  Add the wine. (If you've made risotto before you know that you are now at T-18 minutes and counting) Stir often.  When almost all the wine has been absorbed, add a cup of the hot broth.

Stir frequently, each time the liquid has been almost completely absorbed, ad another cup. Repeat. Don't forget to stir frequently.

When the rice is about half done (8-10 minutes to go) stir in the asparagus and parsley

When you think you are maybe one cup of broth away from the rice being tender, add the peas.

When the rice is tender, remove form the heat and add the parmesan and 2 tablespoons of butter.

How to Make Fish Tasty

Face it: most white fish is pretty blaa.  It can be Cod, Haddock, or $30/lb Chilean Sea Bass, it doesn't matter.

We're supposed to eat more fish; it's good for us, right?  What we need then is some sort of sauce that adds a lot of flavor but doesn't reduce the healthiness too much.  This sauce recipe is it.

I found it in Patsy's Cookbook, the cookbook written by Patsy's the famous New York Italian restaurant.  It's part of the Sal's Chilean Sea Bass recipe:

1 medium eggplant, peeled at cut into 1/2 inch cubes (about 1/4 pound per serving)

1/2 cup olive oil

2 garlic cloves per serving, minced

Red Bell Pepper (1/2 bell pepper per serving), thinly sliced

1 tablespoon xhoped fresh basil per serving

Anchovy fillets (1-2 per serving), drained and finely chopped

1 tablespoon capers per serving

4 pitted kalamata olives per serving, sliced

1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley per serving, chopped

14 oz can diced tomatoes (1 can per two servings)

Preheat the oven to 450F

Toss the cubed eggplant with 1/4 cup olive oil, place in a baking pan in a single layer and roast in the oven for about 15 minutes.

Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a sautee pan over medium heat.  Add the garlic and sautee for 2 minutes or until golden. Ad the bell peppers, basil, anchovys, capers, olives, parsley, and eggplant.  Stir to combine and let cook for about 2 minutes.  Add the diced tomatoes and 3/4 cup of water. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to low and let simmer until the liquid as reduced to a nice 'saucy' consistency.

Put a little of the sauce on a plate to make a bed for the fish, place the fish on top, then spoon a little more on top of the fish.

Gourmet Meal for Two: $14.01

I don't often talk about the cost of the meals I prepare but with today's economy I wanted to point out that you can eat very well and cheaply at the same time.

A well-known local French Bistro charges $29 for Dover Sole Meuniere. I created double-portions for two (my wife and I each had TWO filets) for $6.54. It takes about 10 minutes to prepare Sole Meuniere. Granted, there's comes with three vegetables. We're eating a little lighter these days and so my version was served with one veg: Braised Leeks.

Never had braised Leeks, you say? Oh you are in for a melt-in-your-mouth treat. Factoring in the price of the leeks, I spent $14.01 on the ingredients for this exquisite meal.

Sole Meuniere

1-2 boneless, skinless Dover Sole filets per person
3-4 Tablespoon clarified butter or ghee
1/2 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley per filet
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter per filet

Pat the filets dry, lightly salt and pepper them.

Set the saute pan over high heat and add the clarified butter. Let the butter get hot but not to the point where it starts to brown. Quickly dust each filet with flour and lay them in the pan. Don't crowd them. My 12-inch sautee pan holds four filets comfortably.

Let them saute for a minute or two and then turn them over. Be careful: sole filets are thin and fragile. It helps to have a spatula designed specifically for turning fish. When the filets have cooked a minute or so on the second side remove them from the pan to a warm plate, sprinkle with parsley, and cover with foil.

Drain the butter from the pan and use a couple of paper towels to wipe the pan clean. Put the pan over high heat and add the unsalted butter. When the butter has melted and is bubbling, pour it over the filets.

The leeks, you say?

Shuna Fish Lydon's exquisite leek recipe can be found here.

Roasted Salmon on Braised Spinach

"Meat and Potatoes", said my Sweet Lady Wife, meaning what she wanted for dinner. As I was pondering that, she added, "Fish is a meat." Well, not to me but what the heck.

I keep a folder in my browser full of bookmarks for interesting recipes and I started thru it for fish. I found this recipe that I bookmarked over three years ago: Roasted Salmon on Braised Spinach. Simple; Uses spinach which the garden is producing in abundance; Most of the ingredients were on hand. Sold.

Not only did it taste good, it was one of the prettiest meals I have made in a long time.

Roasted Salmon on Braised Spinach

2 Salmon fillets, skin on
1 teaspoon chopped fresh dil
1/4 teaspon paprika
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Enough spinach to loosely fill a 4-qt mixing bowl
2 large shallots, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 500F

Lay the salmon down on a foil-lines rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with dill, paprika, pepper, and a spritz of lemon juice. Set aside for the moment.

Heat a large non-stick saute pan over medium-high heat. Saute the shallots in the olive oil for 3-4 minutes, until they begin to brown. Add the spinach a handful at a time, toss. When the spinach wilts, add a spritz of lemon juice. Salt and peper to taste.

About half-way through the process of cooking the spinach, put the salmon into the oven. I used a thermometer to check doneness (135F, 18-10 minutes). When the salmon is done, remove from the oven.

Place the spinach on individual plates. Pull a bit of the salmon skin away form the filet, grab the skin with some tongs, and slide a thick spatula between the filet and the skin to neatly remove it. Place the fillet on top of the bed of spinach and serve

Salmon Burgers

OK, I wanted something to try out the new grill on but I just was not feeling like beef. 

So I pulled Sizzle with America's Top Chefs off the shelf and started thumbing through it. Now remember: Brand New Grill. I am the Fumbling Foodie. There were more ways to screw this up than I had time to count. 

So I kept it simple. I settled on Ray's Cafe Salmon Burger with a few variations. My Sweet Lady Wife declared them excellent. 

1 onion, finely chopped 

2 ponds salmon filets 

1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning 

1 teaspoon minced garlic 

1/2 teaspon kosher salt 

2 teaspoons brown sugar 

Sautee the onions over medium heat on the stove until golden brown, set aside 

Remove the pin bones and skin from the salmon, cut it into hunks, and throw it into the food processor. Grind it up until it is pretty much mush. 

Put the salmon into a large bowl. Add the onions, lemon-pepper seasoning, garlic, salt, and brown sugar. Mix thoroughly. Put the bowl in the refrigerator to chill for about an hour. 

Npw would be a good time to make the Basil Mayonnaise, below. 

Preheat the grill. Remove the salmon mixture from the refrigerator and make 4-6 patties. Put the grill on high and grill for 3-4 minutes per side. Lightly toast the buns on the grill at the same time. 

Basil Mayonnaise 

1/2 cup mayonnaise 

4 basil leaves, finely chopped 

1 teaspoon lemon juice pinch kosher salt. 

Combine the ingredients

Sauteed Shrimp with Corn

This is an interesting medley, but it works.

The inspiration for this recipe came from a recent issue of Cooking Light but I've changed it enough to call it my own.

This is such an amazingly easy recipe.  after thawing and peeling the shrimp, it took about 15 minutes to make the whole thing.

Sauce Ingredients

1 1/2 Tblsp LIme Juice

1 Tblsp Fish Sauce

1/2 Teasp sugar

The Rest

1/2 cup chopped shallots

1 Tblsp minced garlic

1-2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

1-2 cups frozen corn

1 head butter lettuce

Combine the sauce ingredients and set aside.  Remove the lettuce leaves from the head, wash, and dry.  Arrange 3-4 leave on each plate with the stem of each leaf pointing toward the center of the plate.

Heat a wok or saute pan over high heat.  When the oil is hot add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil or tea oil.   Add the Shallots and garlic.  Saute until the shallots have browned.  Add the shrimp.  Saute until the shrimp are about half cooked then add the corn.

When the corn is hot add the sauce, stir to combine.  Spoon a helping over the lettuce on each plate.