Chunky Crab Cakes

Back in the day when Matthew was stationed on the USNS Arctic in New Jersey, I would make frequent trips from San Diego to visit him. The flight I took always had a layover in Atlanta before going onto Newark. I looked forward to arriving into the Atlanta airport because that was the only place that I was able to go to a pretty good restaurant with pretty good crab cakes: Phillips Seafood. And I always ordered the same order of crab cakes with the hush puppies and an iced tea. I know that there are probably better places in Maryland or Baltimore with incredible crab cakes, but the Phillips Seafood restaurant in ATL is the closes I've gotten to authentic style crab cakes. 

I have tried making crab cakes before but either there was too much of a mayonnaise flavor or too much of a fishy flavor because I wasn't using fresh crab meat. So after doing some experiments I've found that this recipe (which came by way of kevinsbrady.net) is probably my favorite. I did slightly alter it and I like to fry my crab cakes in ghee. I also I really like to serve them over a simple salad a little bit of a chipotle aioli on the side with them (I have to have a little bit of mayo somewhere, right?)

INGREDIENTS (makes 6 cakes)

• 1 lb. fresh lump crab meat, drained
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. Worcestershire
• 1/2 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. dill weed
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs

DIRECTIONS
 
In a large bowl, combine the egg, onion powder, garlic powder, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, Old Bay seasoning, dill weed, salt and black pepper and mix well. Mix in 1/4 cup of the panko breadcrumbs, saving the remainder of the crumbs on a plate for coating the crab cakes. Add in the crab meat, and gently mix it in using a fork or spatula -- or better yet, your hands, coating the lumps with the mixture. Be careful not to pulverize the lumps when mixing - the idea is to keep the mixture chunky.

Place the mixing bowl with crab cake mixture in the refrigerator for about 15-20 minutes to firm it up. After refrigeration, drain off any excess liquid.

Gently press mixture into thick patties (slightly smaller than hamburgers) and lightly coat them using the remaining panko breadcrumbs. Don't compact the cakes; keep them a bit loose. Use just enough pressure to make the mixture hold together. Fry the cakes in butter or ghee at low to medium-low heat in an uncovered fry pan or griddle, turning when the first side is brown, about 5 minutes per side.

Serve immediately with slices of lemon, chipotle aioli or good tartar sauce. Mmmm..

Scampi Bake

I truly, truly love shrimp. Next to Ahi tuna, I think it's my favorite seafood, but I wanted to find a recipe that was a bit different and flavorful. I love making scampi, but for some reason it never comes out garlicky enough or buttery enough. So I found this recipe in Allrecipes.com, and I just modified it a little, but I have to say it was da bomb! Perhaps a tablespoon of garlic may have been a bit much, but we all love garlic in our family. You can cut it down to 1/2 tablespoon if you prefer. I served it with a side gremolata egg noodles, but a salad will be just a nice.

INGREDIENTS (serves 3 to 4)

• 1/2 cup butter (that's one stick, people)
• 1 tablespoons prepared Dijon-style mustard
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, divided
• 1 pounds medium raw shrimp, shelled, deveined, with tails attached

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, mustard, lemon juice, garlic, and half of parsley. When the butter melts completely, remove from heat.

Arrange shrimp in a shallow baking dish. Pour the butter mixture over the shrimp. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes or until the shrimp are pink and opaque. After you remove shrimp from the oven, sprinkle the remaining parsley and let sit a couple of minutes before serving.

Tuna and White Bean Pasta with Gremolata Bread Crumbs

We have had crappy weather all this week and worse is yet to come. It's been raining (yes, raining in San Diego), it's cold and we've had very high winds. And since I have a little baby I was a bit scared to go out driving in this rainy weather to go food shopping. Instead, I found this recipe (and yes, it's from Rachael Ray) and believe it or not, I had most of the ingredients in my pantry. A few modifications are: I halved the recipe and used 1 can of tuna; instead of breadcrumbs I used Panko breadcrumbs; I omitted the rosemary but used a little oregano instead; I didn't have any chicken broth so I used the starchy water of the pasta and lastly I used canned tomato sauce because I didn't have any fresh tomatoes. All in all, it was quite hearty, very filling and I finally found a reason to use my can of anchovies!!!!

INGREDIENTS (serves 6)

• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 flat filet anchovies, optional
• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 cup breadcrumbs, toast and grind stale bread or store bought
• 2 lemons
• 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
• 1 pound penne or ziti rigate
• 4 ribs celery, finely chopped
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 1 (15-ounce) can white beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup white wine, white vermouth or chicken broth
• 1 large tomato, seeded and chopped or 1 can 15 ounces can diced tomatoes, drained, optional

DIRECTIONS

Heat 4 tablespoons olive oil in small pan over medium-low heat with anchovies, if using. Melt anchovies into oil until they dissolve then add garlic and stir 2 minutes then add breadcrumbs and stir and cook until deeply golden in color. Stir in zest of 2 lemons and parsley and crushed red pepper flakes. Turn off heat and transfer to a bowl.

Heat a large pot of water to a boil for pasta.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add celery, onions and 2 cloves garlic to the pan and cook until just tender, 5 minutes. Add white beans and rosemary and heat through 2 to 3 minutes more. Add wine, vermouth or broth, flakes tuna and tomato, if using. Stir 2 minutes then turn off heat.

Just before draining the pasta, add a ladle of starchy cooking water to pan along with the drained pasta, toss to combine. Serve in shallow bowls with lots of breadcrumbs and a drizzle of oil on top.

Wood-Grilled Salmon

This past weekend Matt and I watched an episode of Cooks Country on PBS. I usually don't watch cooking shows on PBS because they are on at weird times here in San Diego, but at the moment all we do is stay in the house and take care of the baby, so we stumbled upon it. In this particular episode they grilled salmon over cedar wood chips. Both of us thought that the recipe deserved to be made by us. I have to say that we were not disappointed at all. The salmon was perfectly cooked and it had just the right amount of cedar smoke. You *must* use the cedar chips for this recipe; don't even think about using hickory or mesquite. I paired the salmon with Jasmine rice and braised collard greens with pancetta. The meal was just divine! We will definitely be making the salmon again.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4)

• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 4 skin-on salmon fillets (each 6 to 8 ounces and 1 1/4 inches thick)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups wood chips , soaked for 15 minutes to 30 minutes

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine sugar, salt, pepper, and granulated garlic in small bowl. Pat salmon dry with paper towels. Brush flesh side of salmon with oil and sprinkle with sugar mixture.
2. Make four 7- by 5-inch trays using heavy-duty aluminum foil. Using tip of knife, perforate bottom of each tray. Divide wood chips among trays and place salmon skin-side down on top of wood chips.
3. Place trays with salmon over hot fire and grill, covered, until center of each fillet is still just translucent, about 10 minutes. Remove trays from grill.
4. Slide metal spatula between skin and flesh of fish and transfer to platter. Serve with Jasmine rice or your favorite side dish.

Braised Red Snapper with Black Olives and Lupini Beans

When Matt was in Rota, Spain, he not only picked up an arsenal of wine and port, but also some quite interesting foods such as Spanish blood sausage, a type of sheeps milk cheese, cans of olives and "tomate frito" and an interesting package of "saladitos" which I found out they were acutally brined lupini beans. I have never heard of or seen lupini beans. They look like flat butterbeans and taste somewhat between garbanzo and lima beans. The odd thing about these legumes is that no matter how long you cook them for, they will always be slightly al dente. I guess they are highly toxic when dried and you have to cook them for hours and hours and change the water, etc. So the Spanish (and I think Italians, too) found a way to brine these beans and they are simply served as snack food at most bars in Spain. They have an outer shell you have to peel before you pop them in your mouth. The brined lupinis we had were rather salty but they go great with beer--so I was told. Anyway, long story short, Matt and I couldn't possibly eat all of the beans so I came up with this dish using the beans (this recipe is very similar to my Tilapia with Tomato and Chickpeas but without all the spices).

INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

• About a 1.5 pounds of red snapper
• Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon Spanish olive oil
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 8oz. "tomate frito" or El Pato tomato sauce
• Handful of black olives, sliced
• 1/4 cup of brined lupini beans, outer shells removed and soaked in warm water for a few minutes to remove excess salt

DIRECTIONS

Wash the red snapper in cold water and pat dry. Sprinkle some salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a large skillet with 2" sides, heat the butter and olive oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add the snapper and quickly sear until you're able to flip the fish over (about 90 seconds). Add the wine and raise the heat and bring to a boil. Add the tomato sauce, olives and lupini beans. Lower heat and simmer for 7 to 10 minutes more. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if needed. Serve with steamed white rice and a good, dry Spanish wine.

Shrimp Risotto

Once you've mastered a basic risotto recipe, you can start making up your kind of risotto flavors, which is what I did with this shrimp risotto. I was craving shrimp and I had 5 jumbo shrimps in the fridge so I came up with this recipe. I also used tomatoes from my garden and all the herbs were from the garden, too. If you have a garden and have a lot of herbs or veggies, risotto is a great way to use them up and flavor your stocks, too!

INGREDIENTS (serves 1 pregnant lady or 2 non-pregos)

• 1/2 cup arborio rice
• 1 shallot, peeled and diced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 Roma tomato, diced (I used tomatoes from my garden)
• 1/4 cup white wine such as Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc
• 3 1/2 cups chicken broth, warmed
• 2 fresh sage leaves, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped and divided
• 1 small sprig of fresh thyme
• Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
• 5 Jumbo shrimp, with shell on and deveined
• 1/4 tsp. lemon zest
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for passing
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Coarse salt and black pepper

DIRECTIONS

In a sauce pan heat the olive oil on medium-high heat. Add the shallots and saute for 4 minutes. Add the rice and keep sauteing 2 more minutes, until all granules are coated and lightly toasted. Add a small pinch of coarse salt and some fresh ground black pepper.

Add the wine and stir from time to time, with a wooden spoon, until almost all of wine is absorbed. Next lower heat to medium and add one ladle full of the warmed chicken stock (you want enough stock to just barely cover the rice). Then add the chopped tomatoes, sage, 1 tablespoon of parsley, the thyme sprig and the red pepper flakes, if using. Keep stirring from time to time until stock gets absorbed. Repeat the process of adding a ladle full of stock and keep stirring (I find that after 3 ladle fulls, your rice is al dente and pretty much done--this may take 20 to 30 minutes). Taste the rice for seasoning and add salt, if needed.

While your rice is cooking, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the shrimp and cook for 2 minutes. Remove immediately and shock in cold water. Peel off the shells and remove tails and roughly chop the shrimp. Set aside. In a small sauce pan melt the 2 tablespoons of butter on low heat. Add the shrimp to the butter once it's melted and remove from heat.

By now you should have added that third ladle of stock and your rice should be al dente and quite creamy. Add 1/4 teaspoon zest of lemon and the cheese and stir in. Lastly add the shrimp with the melted butter and the remaining tablespoon of parsley. Remove risotto from heat and let stand for a couple of minutes before serving.

Serve in a large bowl with more grated Parmesan and parsley. Dont' forget to serve along with the white wine you used.

Tilapia with Tomato and Chickpeas

I have a suspicion that this baby I'm carrying is a vegetarian. Meats and some poultry makes me gag, and if I could, I would probably live off fruit or veggie salads. The only other foods I can handle are non-fishy smelling seafood, and fresh Tilapia is a good example of this. I bought a pound and brought it home and had no idea what to do with it. So I came up with this somewhat Mediterranean inspired recipe. It was pretty good and the chickpeas gave it a very nice texture to the dish...and the baby like it, too!

INGREDIENTS (serves 2 to 3)

• 1 lb. Fresh Tilapia fillets
• Flour
• Olive oil and butter
• 1 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 Tbs. pitted olives, preferably Greek, chopped
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• 1 sprig fresh oregano
• 4 leaves fresh mint
• 1/8 tsp. cumin
• 1/8 tsp. coriander
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 2/3 cup garbanzo bean (chickpeas)
• 2/3 cup water
• Coarse salt and pepper
• Lemon wedges, for serving

DIRECTIONS

Run fillets over cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle a little salt only on one side of each fillet then lightly dredge in flour.

Heat about 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high. Working in batches, fry the fillets one minute per side and set aside on a plate. You may need to add more olive oil on the second batch. Fish will not be complete cooked through yet.

In the same skillet (don't clean it), add 1 tablespoon butter. When melted add the halved tomatoes, chopped shallots, olives, mint leaves, sprig of oregano, all the spices, garbanzo beans and 2/3 cup water. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer.

Place fish fillets on top of garbanzo-tomato sauce and cover. Simmer on very low for 10 minutes.

Before serving, remove the oregano sprig and mint leaves. Serve fillets over some rice and pour some the garbanzo-tomato over that.

Pan Fried Chilean Sea Bass with Seared Tomatoes

I picked up a nice fresh fillet of Chilean sea bass at the farmer's market on Sunday and I wanted to cook it simply...and also use up some of the tomatoes from our garden. I came up with this recipe and the best part is you only need a few ingredients! I served up the sea bass with some leftover gnocchi I had in the freezer and a simple salad. If I was drinking vino, I would have paired this with a non-oaky Chardonnay or a floral, dry Riesling.

INGREDIENTS (serves 1)

• .5 to .75 lb. Chilean sea bass fillet, skinless, bones removed and about 1/4" thick
• Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
• 2 Tablespoon flour
• Olive oil and butter
• 6 to 8 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved (preferably from your garden)
• 1 teaspoon finely minced green onion (white and light green part)
• Lemon wedge, for serving

DIRECTIONS

Lightly salt and pepper both sides of fillet. Sprinkle flour on both sides of fish to dredge and remove any excess flour. Meanwhile, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil and a pat of butter in a skillet on medium-high heat. When pan is hot, add the fillet. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Turn fish over and cook another 3 to 5 minutes or until the fish feels firm to the touch. Remove from pan set aside; cover with foil.

To the same pan add the halved tomatoes and the minced green onion and a pinch of salt. And quickly sear for a minute or two over medium-high heat. Some juices from the tomatoes will release and it will make a sauce. To serve, place sea bass on plate and pour the seared tomatoes and the sauce in the pan all over the fish. Serve with a wedge of lemon and enjoy!

Pan-Seared Salmon with Yam-Red Bell Pepper Curry Sauce

I learned from cooking classes that I've taken, and from professional chefs, that good, beautiful food takes time. Lots of time. The reason why food we eat at our favorite restaurants is consistently good and beautiful is because they've already prepared most of the major components, such as sauces or gastriques or spice mixtures, ahead of time. The recipe below is something you can start the night before. You can make the curry sauce and refrigerate and just slowly reheat the next day. Make the gastrique that morning and keep it a room temperature. And about half and hour before you eat, make the mashed turnips and sauteed greens and salmon. Of course, you can save lots of time by using a jarred curry sauce and blending it with some cooked yams and roasted red bell peppers.

INGREDIENTS (4 servings)

Salmon

• 4 skin-on salmon fillets, about 6 ounces and 1 to 1-1/4" thick
• Salt & pepper
• 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon fresh chopped dill
• Mashed turnips (for side dish)
• Sauteed greens, such as spinach or Swiss chard (for side dish)

DIRECTIONS

Run some cold water over fillets to clean; pat dry. Remove any bones. Salt and pepper both sides of fillet. Sprinkle the fresh dill over flesh of each fillet (no need on the skin side).

Heat a 12-inch heavy-bottomed skillet (cast iron) for 3 minutes over high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. When oil shimmers (but does not smoke) add fillets skin side down and cook, without moving fillets, until pan regains lost heat, about 30 seconds. Reduce heat to medium-high; continue to cook until skin side is well browned and bottom half of fillets turns opaque, 4-1/2 minutes.

Turn fillets and cook, without moving them, until they are no longer translucent on the exterior and are firm, but not hard, when gently squeezed: 3 minutes for medium-rare and 3-1/2 minutes for medium. You can easily remove the skin from the salmon at this point with a knife, gently pulling until all skin is removed. Turn the salmon over and sear briefly, or until desired doneness is reached.

Remove fillets from pan; let stand 1 minute. Serve immediately.

Gastrique

• 1/2 cup champagne vinegar
• 1/2 cup blood orange juice
• 4 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 cup petite diced roma tomato
• 1/2 tsp. fresh thyme, chopped

DIRECTIONS

Combine vinegar and orange juice in small saucepan. Bring to boil and reduce by 1/3. Add sugar and cook until mixture begins to lightly coat a spoon. Remove from heat and add tomato segments and fresh thyme. Let cool to room temperature.

Yam & Red Bell Pepper Curry

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil or ghee
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and diced
• 1 or 2 green chiles, seeded and diced
• 1 tbsp cumin powder
• 1 tbsp corriander powder
• 1/2 tsp chile powder or cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 can of petite-diced or crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup cooked yams, roughly chopped
• 1 roasted red bell pepper, skin removed and seeded and roughly chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the oil or ghee in a sauce pan, wok or pot on medium high.
2. Add the cumin seeds and fry until they start to brown, about 30 seconds.
3. Add the onion and stir well. You want onion to lightly brown and soft (about 5 minutes).
4. Add the garlic, ginger and chiles. When the garlic turns light brown, move to next step.
5. Lower heat a little then add in the rest of the spices and stir well, and cook for another minute or two.
6. Pour in the tomatoes and stir occasionally. Aim for something roughly as thick as tomato sauce; not too watery and not too thick and pasty--this could take up to 15 minutes.
7. Add the salt, cooked yam and roasted red bell peppers. Stir well, to let it absorb the ingredients.
8. Take off the heat and let it cool a little.
9. Add the contents into a blender and puree until very smooth. If too thick, add a little water, a tablespoon at a time.
10. Put the puréed mixture back into the pan and cook for 15 to 20 minutes over very low heat stirring occasionally.
11. To serve, place a dollop of mashed turnips, followed by some sauteed greens in center of 4 plates. Top with pan-seared salmon fillet, and slowly pour a little curry sauce around each plate. Top each fillet with a teaspoon of gastrique.

Grilled Salmon Sandwiches

The Contessa never fails! I got this recipe from Ina Garten's cookbook and I just had to make it because it seemed like such a simple yet healthy meal and, as I mentioned before, my family and I are trying to eat more fish. I am very lucky that there is a fishmonger I can go to and get the freshest catch of the day, and I think that's a big key in this recipe: super fresh salmon fillets. I cut the recipe below in half since it's just me, Matt and Mike, and the portions came out perfectly!

INGREDIENTS (serves 6)

• 2 pounds fresh salmon fillets
• Olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper

For the sauce:

• 1 cup Hellman's mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 3/4 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• 12 fresh basil leaves
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh dill
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped scallions, (white and green parts)
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 teaspoons capers, drained

To assemble:

• 6 fresh white or brioche rolls (4-inch round)
• 1/4 pound mesclun mix or fresh basil leaves

DIRECTIONS

For the salmon, heat your (coals or propane) outdoor grill and brush the top of the grill with oil. Rub the outside of the salmon with olive oil, salt, and pepper, to taste. Grill for 5 minutes on each side, or until the salmon is almost cooked through. Remove to a plate and allow it to rest for 15 minutes.

For the sauce, place the mayonnaise, sour cream, vinegar, basil, dill, scallions, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process until combined. Add the capers and pulse 2 or 3 times.

To assemble the sandwiches, slice the rolls in 1/2 crosswise. Spread a tablespoon of sauce on each cut side. On the bottom 1/2, place some mesclun salad and then a piece of salmon. Place the top of the roll on the salmon and serve immediately.

Marinated Swordfish with Corn Succotash and Mashed Sweet Potatoes

About a year or so ago, my brother-in-law, Michael, came to visit us and we took him to The Prado restaurant, which is our favorite restaurant here in San Diego. The meal was memorable, to say the least. I think both Michael and my husband had the osso bucco and I had a fish plate. I don't remember what it was called, but it was one of my favorite dishes from the restaurant. I tried to recreate the dish, but I was always off on some seasoning or spices. Finally, I decided to just go simple and classic, and guess what? My dish came out superb, and almost JUST almost as good as the entree at The Prado. So, to go with my theme of the feast of the seven fishes, this is an incredible dish, however it does have many steps and it will take you several hours...but if you have time, give it a try. This is also a great dish to impress your friends or impress your special someone.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4)

• 4 Swordfish steaks, about 3/4" thick each and 6 to 8 ounces each
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 3 Tablespoon dry white vermouth or white wine
• 1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 1 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 8 ounces (about 2 cups) frozen corn, thawed
• 8 ounces (about 2 cups) frozen green beans, thawed (you can substitute with lima beans, if you prefer)
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 medium red onion, finely chopped
• 2 plum tomatoes, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tablespoon finely minced chives

DIRECTIONS

Swordfish Steaks:

Rinse swordfish steaks and pat them dry. Lightly brush steaks with olive oil. Generously season steaks with salt and pepper and sprinkle rosemary over them. Meanwhile, add 3 tablespoons olive oil, 3 tablespoons vermouth and 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a large Ziploc bag, and then add the steaks. Close bag, making sure to squeeze out all the air and let the swordfish marinate for 30 minutes to 1 hour in the refrigerator, turning once or twice so that it marinates evenly. Cook your sweet potatoes while fish marinates. You can also start prepping for the succotash.

To cook the fish, (start cooking it when potatoes are done and you're almost done with the succotash) preheat the broiler. Place fish on broiler pan. Broil until fish is opaque is center, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to platter.

Sweet potatoes:

Fill a large pot with cold water and add the cut sweet potatoes and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for 15 to 20 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked through and are fork tender. Drain, but add back to same pot (for less mess). Add 2 tablespoons butter, 1/4 cup cream, salt and pepper, a pinch of nutmeg and 1 tablespoon brown sugar. Mash the potatoes until you get a creamy consistency. Add more butter or cream, if needed.

Succotash:

In a large skillet over medium-high heat add 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter. Add the onion and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the red bell pepper and garlic and sauté 4 more minutes. Next add corn, tomatoes, and green beans (or lima beans) and season with salt and go heavy on the ground black pepper. Keep sautéing until green beans are cooked through and all veggies are softened, about 8 more minutes.

To Assemble:

Get your 4 nicest plates out, and first place a heaping dollop of mashed sweet potatoes in the middle of each plate. Gently place one swordfish steak on top of each, and then place some of the succotash around the mashed sweet potatoes. Top each steak with a little of remaining succotash and sprinkle minced chives over each plate. Serve immediately and let the compliments flow!

Braised Swordfish, Puerto Rican Style

I'm calling this recipe "Puerto Rican Style" because it seems that every time my mom makes Puerto Rican food (my step-dad is Boriqua), she uses the same sauce components: onions, bell pepper, tomatoes and green olives...and Puerto Ricans love their green olives! This is a very simple, yet quite flavorful tomato-base sauce for the fish and steamed rice goes superb as a side. Make sure the skillet you use has a tight fitting lid for it. And since I'm going with the feast of the seven fishes theme for Christmas, this is another good and easy recipe in case you're contemplating eating seafood for the holiday.

INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

• Olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Fresh ground black pepper
• 2 Swordfish steaks, skin and bones removed, about 3/4" thick and 4 to 5 ounces each
• 1 white onion, sliced into half moons
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 Plum tomatoes, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 (8oz) can tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup water
• Juice of half of a lime
• Handful of Goya green olives, pitted and cut into rounds
• A few tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS

Salt and pepper your swordfish steaks and set aside.

Heat a large skillet on medium heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil and sweat the onion and garlic for 5 to 8 minutes.

Raise heat to medium-high and add chopped tomatoes, diced green bell pepper, bay leaf and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt and a few grinds of black pepper, wine, water, tomato sauce, lime juice and olives and bring to a simmer. Simmer gently for another 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if needed.

Add your swordfish steaks to the sauce, slightly submerging them into the sauce and cover and simmer until fish is opaque throughout, about 8 to 10 minutes. (I gently turned my swordfish steaks over after 5 minutes--but you don't have to).

Before serving, remove bay leaf. Serve fish with some of the tomato sauce and sprinkle some chopped parsley over it.

PS: You can also use this braising sauce to braise shrimp, or flounder or cod, or even lobster tails!

Salmon Croquettes with Remoulade

I had such a fabulous time in San Francisco because I hung out with my girlfriends who are also foodies like me! We visited the farmer's market by the marina, ate at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, and ate a great lunch in Sonoma. I can not remember the name of the restaurant, but I had a very good salmon croquette there. The panko breadcrumbs are a must for this recipe. Yum.... Don't forget to pair with a nice, crips white Sonoma wine or even a rose!

INGREDIENTS (makes 8)

For the remoulade:

• 1/3 cup plain fat-free yogurt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
• 2 teaspoons whole-grain Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon capers
• 1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Dash of hot pepper sauce

For the croquettes:

• 1/3 cup plain fat-free yogurt
• 1 tablespoon whole-grain Dijon mustard
• 2 large egg whites
• Cooking spray
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup panko breadcrubms, divided
• 2 6-ounce cans pink salmon, skinless, boneless and drained
• 4 teaspoons butter

DIRECTIONS

To prepare remoulade, combine first 9 ingredients in a bowl; cover and chill.

To prepare croquettes, combine 1/3 cup yogurt, 1 tablespoon mustard and egg whites in a bowl. Set aside.

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onions and celery; cook 4 minutes or until tender. Cool slightly.

Combine onion mixture, yogurt mixture, 1/2 cup panko, tarragon, pepper and salmon in a bowl; toss gently. Cover and chill 10 minutes.

Divide salmon mixture into 8 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty. Coat patties evenly with 1/2 cup remaining panko. Cover and chill 20 minutes.

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heats. Add patties; reduce heat to medium. Cook 4 minutes on each side or until lightly browned.

To serve,place some remoulade sauce on a plate, place a croquette (or two) over it, then top croquette with a mix of baby-greens salad.

Seared Scallops with Sweet Potato Gnocchi

A few weeks ago I made a sweet potato pie and I had some leftover mashed sweet potatoes. So, instead of throwing the leftover potatoes away, I made these lovely sweet potato gnocchi. They are so delish, and billowy and sweet, but not too sweet, and I thought "what can I pair them with?" And the first thing that came to mind were sweet, fresh scallops. Try to get the larger scallops, if possible, and try to get each about the same size. I added dried cranberries at the last minute to the brown butter-sage sauce (recipe follows), but this is entirely optional. I just wanted to give it some nice color and contrast of flavor...and it was SO GOOD!

INGREDIENTS (makes about 24 gnocchi)

• 1 1/2 cups of mashed sweet potatoes
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 egg
• 1 to 2 cups flour

DIRECTIONS

Place the mashed sweet potatoes in a bowl and blend in the salt, nutmeg, and egg. Mix in the flour a little at a time until you have soft dough. Use more or less flour as needed.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. While you wait for the water, make the gnocchi. On a floured surface, roll the dough out in several long snakes, and cut into 1-inch sections. Pass through a gnocchi press or roll over a fork.

Drop the pieces into the boiling water, and allow them to cook until they float to the surface. Remove the floating pieces with a slotted spoon, and keep warm in a serving dish. Serve with seared scallops and sage butter sauce.

Note: you can freeze the uncooked gnocchi, if you have any left. Cook them for 5 to 6 minutes in boiling water.

Seared Scallops

INGREDIENTS (serves 4)

• 8 large sea scallops
• Clarified butter or ghee
• Vegetable oil
• Kosher salt
• Fresh ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

Most scallops you buy at the store have been soaked in a liquid solution that keeps them looking white. So you'll need to drain and rinse them thoroughly, then pat them dry with paper towels before seasoning them. Make sure they are as dry as you can get them. Season scallops with salt and pepper.

Heat a nonstick sauté pan over high heat and add a tablespoon of clarified butter or ghee and 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil. The butter/oil needs to be very hot before you add the scallops. You want to see just a little bit of smoke.

Place 4 scallops in the pan (you need to cook in batches so pan does not get overcrowded) and don't touch them! I know you'll be tempted to move them, but believe me it'll be worth it if you don’t. Be strong!

Wait two minutes, and then check the bottom of scallop to see that they have a nice caramel-colored crust, and then flip them over. Depending on how thick your scallops are, you want to cook for another minute to two minutes, but no more than 3. Remove scallops and tent with foil and finish cooking the rest. Serve immediately with the gnocchi and brown butter-sage sauce.

Brown Butter-Sage Sauce

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 6 fresh sage leaves, chiffonade
• 2 heaping tablespoons of pine nuts
• Pinch of brown sugar

DIRECTIONS

With a paper towel, wipe the same pan you cooked your scallops in add the butter and melt on medium heat, bordering on medium-high. Add the sage leaves and pine nuts. Keep turning the pan so that everything gets coated. Keep cooking until butter begins to foam a little and it starts to turn slightly brown. At this point, add the brown sugar and keep cooking and stirring until sugar melts. Remove from heat immediately and drizzle some of this sauce over gnocchi and scallops.

You can also serve the gnocchi with the brown butter sauce sans the scallops and it makes a great lunch!

Braised Fish with Fennel and Tomato

I first discovered the Martha Stewart Living magazine when I was a wee girl. My step-mom used to subscribe to the magazine and remember I loved visiting her house because I couldn't wait to check out what Martha was up to. But as I got older and started discovering other cooking magazines, I began to find Living a bit boring in that most of the recipes didn't have enough chutzpah.

This past week I flew to Virginia and I decided to buy a Living magazine to read on the plane and wow, has the magazine changed! This was the Thanksgiving issue so there were a lot of classic recipes with new twists, and easy recipes that sounded too good to be true. One of those recipes was this braised fish. Now, her recipe only had fresh tomatoes (I sneaked in a can of whole peeled tomatoes) and I used Orange Roughy instead of halibut or grouper. I also used preserved lemom instead of fresh lemon. I made the preserved lemon a few months ago, but you can use fresh lemon if you don't have access to preserved lemon. Lastly, I used a Viognier wine from Martin Vinyards in Knott Island, North Carolina. The fish came out tender and full of flavor and the sauce was terribly good.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup dry white wine (I used a Viognier)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 large fennel bulb, halved, cored, and thinly sliced lenghwise
• 1 medium tomato, cored and corsely chopped
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) of whole, peeled tomatoes and its juice
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
• 4 thin preserved lemon slices (use fresh lemon if preserved lemons are unavailable)
• 1/2 Tsp. Herbs de Provence
• Kosher salt
• Fresh ground pepper
• 2 Tbsp. roughly chopped parsely
• 4 skinless fillets of firm-fleshed fish (each about same thickness size), such as grouper, halibut, seabass or snapper (I used Orange Roughy)

DIRECTIONS

In a large 13-inch skillet, pour the oil, wine, water, fennel, fresh and canned tomatoes and its juice (crush the canned whole tomatoes with your hand or a spatula), garlic, Herbs de Provence, and preserved lemon slices. Add 1-1/4 tsp. kosher salt and several grinds of black pepper. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over moderate heat until the fennel softens, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Sprinkle both sides of fish with salt and pepper and arrange fillets in the pan, partially submerging them in the sauce. Sprinkle chopped parsely all over fish and suce and cover and simmer until fish is opaque throughout, about 6 to 8 minutes. Gently turn fish over and cook one more minute.

Spoon some of the braising sauce onto plates and top with fish. Drizzle with more olive oil (optional) and serve with a side of nutty, steamed rice.

Armida's Pasta with Sassy Clam Sauce

Dear all, Sorry I've been neglecting the blog. I'm in the process of moving to our new house (YAY!) while my hubby is out to sea, so you can imagine all I've been doing is packing and eating out at fast-food restaurants (yuck!). Today, I decided to make something good and carbo-loaded for myself because I needed energy. And all I had were canned clams, pasta and half of a Roma tomato. So, I came up with the easiest spaghetti with clams ever. Give this a try...and any non-oaky white wine goes excellent with this dish. OK, back to packing...

INGREDIENTS (Serves 2)

• Half a pound spaghetti or angel hair pasta
• 1 tsp. Olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 1 Tsp. flour
• 1 small garlic clove, minced (or 1/4 tsp. garlic powder if you're feeling lazy)
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 can of clams, drained but RESERVE THE JUICE
• 1/4 cup good white wine
• Half of a tomato, or a small Roma tomato, seeded and diced
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tsp. fresh parsley (or 1/4 tsp. if you're still lazy)

DIRECTIONS

Cook pasta according to package directions (you want al dente pasta). Don't forget to salt the water.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium-high heat add oil and butter and let butter melt. Then add flour. Keep stirring (or whisking) for about one minute. Add the minced garlic and red pepper flakes and let whisk again for 30 seconds, then add the reserved clam juice and white wine. Bring to a simmer and keep on low for 4 minutes. Add the clams and keep cooking another 2 minutes until clams are heated through. Lastly, add the tomatoes to the sauce. NOTE: if your sauce starts to get too thick, add a little of the pasta water a few tablespoonfuls at a time. Taste sauce for salt and pepper and adjust seasoning.

By now, your pasta should be ready. Drain the pasta and immediately add it to the skillet with the clams sauce. Mix it to combine, turn off the heat and add the parsley. Serve and enjoy!