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Posts Tagged ‘onion’

Salmon with Horseradish/Tomato Sauce

Posted in Home Cooking, seafood, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 4, 2011| 1 Comment »

This was about as simple as cooking can get while using up items that were lying around our fridge. I had about 1/4 cup left of the tomato sauce that accompanies the cabbage rolls from Kasia’s that I didn’t want to waste, so I turned it into a tasty sauce for some salmon. I grabbed the veggies I had and put together a well-rounded dinner.

I picked up 1 pound of salmon and cut it into four equal portions, I chopped up some watercress, 1/2 onion, 1 carrot, 2 small yukon gold potatoes, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 yellow bell pepper, and mixed together 1/4 cup of Kasia’s tomato sauce with 1 heaping tablespoon of ground horseradish.

In a small saucepan I heated the sauce gently, not to cook anything, just to have a warm sauce. When I tasted it I decided to add 1 tablespoon soy sauce. That really did the trick, it almost made the sauce taste Japanese. I mean, horseradish is basically wasabi.

For the vegetables I heated up a saute pan and added a tablespoon of vegetable oil and 1/2 tablespoon of butter. Once the butter had melted I tossed in the potatoes and let them start to crisp up for about 10 minutes while occasionally shaking them around. Then, I added the garlic and onion and let them sweat down for about 4 minutes before adding the bell pepper and carrot. I let everything saute for another 5 or 6 minutes and then added the watercress along with salt and pepper.

While that was going on I had drizzled some olive oil on the salmon and then seasoned it with salt and cracked white pepper. I put it in the oven at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes.

To serve, I put some white rice on the plate next to the veggies and salmon. I spooned some of the sauce on top of the salmon. Perfect for a cold beer to wash down. Simple, healthy, fast, and tasty.

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Scallop Spaghetti

Posted in Home Cooking, seafood, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 21, 2011| 2 Comments »

The other night I knew I wanted to make some spaghetti of some sort, but I wasnt sure what to do with it until I came across these beautiful little scallops. We haven’t had scallops in a while so I figured I’d just make a very simple tomato sauce with them and some vegetables.

Besides about 2/3 pound of scallops I chopped up 8 asparagus, 3 shiitake, 1/2 onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 yellow bell pepper, opened up 1 14oz can of diced tomatoes, and got out 1 tablespoon each of soy sauce and sake just to add a little umami.

This is about is simple as cooking gets. While I was boiling some salt water for the noodles, I used half angel hair and half wheat noodles, I heated up my pan and poured in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. I sautéed the onion for about 5 minutes before adding the garlic, I let that go for another minute. After that I added the shiitake, pepper, and asparagus and let them go for another 5 minutes. I added the soy sauce and sake, let them boil off for about 1 minute, and then dumped in the tomatoes. Once the tomatoes were at a low boil I turned the heat down to medium and added the scallops. Scallops can be a little tricky here because if you overcook them they’ll become a bit rubbery. On the other hand, they do give off a lot of liquid so you need to boil some of that excess off. I let them go at a very low simmer for about 10 minutes and it worked out perfectly, but each stove top is different so you have to keep a close eye on it. At the very end of cooking I decided to add a little dried basil along with some salt and pepper.

Once I drained the noodles I just ladled the sauce on top. I had some wheat dinner rolls to eat with it.

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Yuki’s Sukiyaki

Posted in beef, Home Cooking, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 18, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Just saying Yuki’s Sukiyaki is almost as much fun as eating it. Sukiyaki is a traditional family style one-pot meal in Japan. Vegetables are simmered in a sweet soy-based broth.

Then the pot is brought to the table and, over a table-top burner, thin slices of beef are swished around (similar to shabu-shabu) and cooked in the pot. Each individual has their own dish to put the beef and veggies in. It usually is mixed with a raw egg, but raw eggs aren’t good for prego so we omitted that.

Ingredients for Yakiniku aren’t set in stone, what we used are pretty typical for the most part. I chopped up a carrot, quartered 1/2 onion, cleaned up 1 packet of enoki mushrooms, rinsed and cut up 1 packaged of konnyaku shirataki noodles, 2 large shiitake halved, 1/4 head of napa cabbage chopped, a little more than 1/2 pound of thinly sliced beef, almost 1 block of silken tofu large diced (I had previously used about 1/8th of it for miso soup, use as much as you like), about 5 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons mirin, 3 tablespoons sake, and 1-2 tablespoons of sugar.

In our large pan Yuki poured in the soy, mirin, and sake along with about 1/4 cup of water. She added the sugar and brought it up to a simmer. The onion and carrot had the longest cooking time so they went in for about 5 minutes, covered.

Then she added the rest of the ingredients minus the beef and let them cook for another 5 minutes or so. After that we moved the pan to our table-top burner and swished the beef in the boiling liquid. White rice on the side and cold beer in hand.

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Salmon – Japanese Flavor

Posted in Home Cooking, seafood, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 11, 2011| 5 Comments »

We journeyed up to Arlington Heights this weekend to stock up on Japanese ingredients, something we do at least once a month. At the Tensuke Market we saw this absolutely gorgeous salmon. They have the best seafood in town, hands down. This salmon was marbled like a real Kobe Ribeye, just made our mouths water. So, that was dinner last night.

We picked up a package of 3 quarter pound slices of filet (Yuki got lunch today, I didn’t get to enjoy that beautiful fish again). I made a quick marinade consisting of 1/2 tablespoon mirin, 1 tablespoon sake, and 1.5 tablespoons soy sauce. In a glass baking dish I let the salmon sit in the marinade while I got everything else ready.

For my veggies I used 1/2 onion sliced, 3 garlic cloves minced, 7 cherry tomatoes halved, 2/3 carton of shiitake sliced, 2 small yellow bell peppers sliced, and about 1/8 of a medium napa cabbage cut into chunks.

In a heated pan I melted about 1/2 tablespoon of butter and poured in 1 tablespoon of sesame oil. Once the butter was melted I added the onion and let it saute for about 5 minutes. Then, I added the garlic, shiitake, and bell pepper. About 5 more minutes and I poured in about 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and let that coat all of the veggies. Just before the soy was completely boiled off, about a minute or so, I added the napa cabbage. I let that wilt down a little for about 5 minutes, seasoned with a little black pepper, turned the heat to low just to keep everything warm, covered it, and let it sit while I cooked the salmon.

Oh, and during this time I had the tomatoes in the oven roasting at about 375 degrees, I did that for about 25 minutes. I also decided, at the last minute, to make a simple miso soup with some wakame and tofu. I just boiled some water with a little dashi seasoned soy, stirred in some miso, and added the tofu and wakame. That only takes a few minutes.

For the salmon I heated up my large skillet and melted a little dab of butter, just enough to lightly coat the surface of the pan. The salmon had enough fat that I didn’t want to add to much more, but I also didn’t want it to stick. So, a tiny amount of butter. I seasoned the salmon with some crushed white pepper and then seared one side for about 3 minutes. Then I flipped it all over and poured the marinade all over it. I let it cook for about 3 more minutes and then pur the salmon on a plate and served everything up, with white rice of course. I garnished with a piece of parsley (only because I have some in my fridge).

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Baccala con Ceci

Posted in Home Cooking, seafood, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »

You can’t tell from the pic, but believe me, there’s a 1/4 lb cod filet under all of that chickpea and tomato sauce. This dish was based on a recipe from the old Jewish Ghetto of Rome called Tonne con Piselli. The original is tuna and peas.

For this dish I used a handful of chopped parsley, 1 tablespoon of coriander seeds ground, 1.5 cups of strained tomatoes, 1/2 onion diced, 5 garlic cloves minced, 14oz can of chickpeas, a bunch of haricots vert, 1 teaspoon of dashi-no-moto, and a 1 lb filet of cod.

I cut the cod into 4 portions and laid it in a glass baking dish. I sprinkled it with salt and pepper then let it sit while I prepared the rest.

In a hot pot I poured about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and then dumped the onion, garlic, coriander, and parsley in. I let that all saute for about 5 minutes before pouring in the strained tomato. I added the dashi-no-moto to 1/4 cup of hot water, let it dissolve, and then added it as well. You can use fish stock, but I didn’t have any, that’s why I used instant dashi. I let that come to a low boil, turned the heat down, and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. I drained the chickpeas, rinsed them off, stirred them into the sauce, and turned off the heat. I seasoned it with salt and pepper and then covered the fish with it.

I put it in a 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes. During that time I steamed the haricots vert. I served everything with white rice.

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Phyllo Wrapped Salmon with Spicy Tomato Sauce

Posted in Home Cooking, seafood, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 30, 2010| Leave a Comment »

This recipe is based on an old Yiddish-a-bachur dish. I made a similar dish years ago at my old man’s house and thought it’d be good again. It was, but I might have made it a tad spicy for preggo’s taste buds. It’s that cayenne pepper I love so much. It didn’t turn out quite as pretty as I had wanted because the phyllo dough I had was pretty old and not as easy to work with as a fresh bought pack. I had to work faster than normal and didn’t get as many photos as I would have liked. Oh well, what can you do? It still tasted pretty damn good and that’s all that really matters.

My ingredient list included 12 oz of skinned salmon that I cut into three portions (we only needed one lunch the next day instead of 2), 1/2 cup of strained tomato, 1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes, 5 garlic cloves minced, 2 ribs of celery chopped, the juice from half a lemon, 1 green bell pepper diced, 1/2 onion diced, 1 broccoli head broken down with stem skinned and chopped, a handful of cilantro chopped, and some phyllo dough (they spell it Fillo, take your pick).

Before I made the sauce I salted and peppered the salmon and then squeezed the lemon juice all over. I let it sit and rest while making the sauce. I heated up my sauce pan and added about 1 tablespoon of olive oil. I sweated down the onion, celery, and green pepper for about 7 minutes before adding the garlic and letting it saute for another 1 minute or so. Then I poured in the strained tomato and the canned tomatoes and let them boil down for about another 7 minutes. I grabbed my cayenne and ground cloves out of the spice rack and threw a few dashes of each in. Cut back on the cayenne if you want it less spicy. I seasoned with salt and pepper, turned of the heat, and stirred in the cilantro.

Working as fast as possible and using a moist dish towel to keep the phyllo from drying out I wrapped up the salmon. I layered 3-4 sheets on top of each other, topped it with a piece of salmon, spooned some of the sauce on top of the salmon, wrapped it all up, place it on an olive oiled baking sheet, and brushed more olive oil all over the phyllo to give it a nice golden color in the oven. I did this for all three pieces of salmon. Then, I put the sheet into a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

I steamed the broccoli during the last 5 minutes of baking time and re-heated the rest of the sauce. To serve, I threw it all on a plate and slapped a bowl of white rice next to it.

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Beef and Barley Stew

Posted in beef, Home Cooking, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 28, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Last night I made a classic Beef and Barley stew. I didn’t quite make it using the classic ingredients though. Instead of potatoes I used sweet potatoes. Instead of the popular pearl barley I used hulled barley. Instead of stew meat, usually beef from the round or chuck roast, I used brisket. Oh brisket, how I love thee! I did this for health reasons as sweet potatoes have more nutrients than regular ones and hulled barley is a whole grain that still has the germ, it has 8 essential amino acids. While brisket isn’t any healtheir than typical stew meat it’s all about flavor and texture.

My ingredient list included 3 medium sized sweet potatoes skinned and chopped, 1 tablespoon of dried oregano, 2 medium sized carrots chopped, 3 stalks of celery chopped, 1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce, 1 onion chopped, 2 cups of beef stock, 2 medium sized parsnips chopped, 5 cloves of garlic diced, 1 14oz can of peeled whole tomatoes, 1/2 cup of rinsed hulled barley, 2/3 cup of edamame, and 1 pound of brisket cubed. Not in the picture are 1 tablespoon of flour, 2 bay leaves, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

I started by heating up my stock pot. Once hot I poured in the olive oil, added the brisket, and sprinkled the flour on top. I stirred it all around just until the surface of the beef turned brown and no longer pink. Then I added the onion, celery, and garlic and sweated them down for about 5 minutes. After that I poured in the stock, added the bay leaves, brought it up to a boil, covered, turned the heat down, and let it simmer for about an hour.

Once the hour passed by I tossed in the barley, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, worcestershire, and oregano. I let that come back to a boil and let it simmer for another 45 minutes.

Finally, I added the edamame and tomatoes with their juice. I took each tomato out one at a time and broke them up with my hands as they dropped into the stew. Once everything was mixed in I seasoned with salt and pepper and let it stew for about 15 more minutes to bring it all together.

A couple slices of toast, a bowl of hot beef and barley stew, and a nice cold beer and that’s all she wrote.

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Crab Spaghetti

Posted in Home Cooking, seafood, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 27, 2010| 2 Comments »

This is a dish I made last week when I noticed that blue crab meat was on sale. The meat came in little sealed containers and was much fresher than canned crab meat. I thought making a spaghetti with it would be a good way to go. I also made a simple soup to go with it, along with some wheat bread. I made this Friday night so the recipe is only portioned for 2 servings.

I made the soup first since I could just re-heat it when the spaghetti was ready. I used 1/2 an onion sliced, 2 garlic cloves chopped, 1 carrot chopped, 1 can of cannellini beans rinsed and drained, 1 cup of chicken stock, and a large handful of baby spinach.

Real simple, I poured the stock in a soup pan and added the onion, carrot, and garlic. I brought it to a boil, turned the heat down, and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Then I added the beans and spinach and turned off the heat. The beans and spinach don’t need to be cooked so I could just let them heat up when I re-heated the soup. Before serving I seasoned with salt and pepper.

The spaghetti was real simple as well. I used 1 red bell pepper chopped, 1/2 onion chopped, 1 14oz can of Italian peeled tomatoes, 1 8oz container of blue crab meat, 3 cloves of garlic chopped, and 3/4 oz of basil.

I threw the onion, tomatoes, and garlic and into my blender. I filled the tomato can about half-way with water and added that as well along with a few red pepper flakes. I let it go until I had a smooth tomato sauce.

In a pan I heated up about 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sautéed the red pepper for 5 minutes. Then I poured in the tomato sauce and let that come up to a boil. Once it started bubbling I turned the heat down and let the raw onion and garlic in it cook out for about 10 minutes. While that was going on I picked through the crab meat to make sure all of the shells had been removed and then added it to the sauce with all of its juice. I cooked some spaghetti noodles according to package instructions, heated up the soup, seasoned the crab-tomato sauce with salt and pepper and added the basil, and then served it all up.

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Sausage Meatball and Cabbage Soup

Posted in Home Cooking, swine, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on December 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Yuki made this soup the other night. We came across uncased sausage at the store and that made her want to make this soup. It’s a very simple, very healthy, very tasty, and very quick light dinner. While she made the soup, I did all of the prep for her. I love using my santoku!

We picked up 1 pound of the sausage, I sliced 1/2 onion, chopped up 1 head of broccoli, 7 fingering potatoes, 1 carrot, 1/2 head of cabbage, sliced 2 blocks of fried tofu, and diced 3 garlic cloves. She used 1 cup of chicken stock for added broth flavor.

In a soup pot she boiled 2 cups of water with the chicken stock and added everything. She let it slowly simmer for about 15 minutes and then seasoned with salt and pepper. That’s all it took. A simple boil lets the ingredients to the talking. She had some white rice with hers while I just grabbed some bread to go along with my bowl.

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Honey 1 Rib Stew

Posted in Home Cooking, swine, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 14, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Armed with a full slab of ribs left from Honey 1 BBQ I threw together a chili-like stew. After sitting in the fridge for a day they did get a little dry. That deep smoky meat was perfect to use.

I chopped up 1 red, 1 yellow, and 1 orange bell pepper, 1 carrot, 1 onion, I minced 3 cloves of garlic, soaked 1 cup of black beans for 1 hour after boiling for 2 minutes, 1 can of white kidney beans, 4 ounces of baby spinach, shredded the meat off 1/2 slab of ribs, the bbq sauce that came with the ribs, and used 2 cups of chicken stock.

In my large stock pot I heated up some olive oil and then sweated the peppers, onion, carrot, and garlic for about 8 minutes or so.

While that was going on I realized that I had 3 yukon gold potatoes sitting around. So, I skinned them, chopped them up, and added them to the pot. I let them cook for about 3 or 4 minutes before adding the chicken stock.

While the chicken stock was being brought up to a boil I noticed I had a couple of tomatoes. So, I chopped them up.

When the stock came to a slow boil I added the tomatoes along with the meat and let that simmer for about 8 minutes before adding all of the bean and the bbq sauce. I turned the heat to med-low, covered the pot, and let it go for about 15 minutes. Right before serving I added the spinach and stirred it in until it had all slightly wilted. Then I turned off the heat and served it.

I placed some toast in the bowl before scooping the stew in. Then I topped with some habanero-jack cheese and some sour cream. It tasted fantastic! I got 4 servings out of this and still have 1/2 slab of Honey 1 BBQ ribs left.

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