Crockpot White Fish and Artichoke

Would you believe this meal came completely out of the crockpot with recipes that involve absolutely no measuring? Well wrap your mind around it because its true.

The night before I threw some pesto and cheese on the fish, wrapped it in foil and put the fish packets in the fridge over night. I washed and trimmed the artichoke and got out the crockpots so that in my pre coffee haze I could manage to get this cooking quickly before going to work.

The fish went into the crockpot with a timed setting. This way the fish could cook for 3 hours and then be kept warm until I got home. It was perfect and flaky and not at all over done or fishy. Sometimes I love technology.

The artichoke went in the smaller old school crockpot with some water and lemon juice. When I got home the house smelled green and welcoming. There are few things I love to eat more than artichokes so coming home between jobs to pull the leaves off a perfectly cooked artichoke was a dream come true.

None of this is the fellas favorite thing in the world so I made it while we was in Boston a couple weeks ago and was a very happy girl. Sometimes cooking for one can be thrilling. I can do something as crazy as dual crockpot cooking without getting any funny looks. It was thrilling.

I highly recommend crockpotted artichokes. Not that it takes long to boil them regularly but there is something really nice about coming home to ready to eat food especially something as esoteric as an artichoke.

Crockpot Fillet of Sole with Pesto


1 to 2 pounds of white fish (I used sole)
bottled pesto
shredded Parmesan cheese
foil

Spread out a layer of foil on the counter top. Put a piece of fish in it. Cover it with a spoonful of pesto. Sprinkle on some shredded Parmesan.

Fold over the foil to create a little packet. Put the packet in the crockpot.

Continue to layer in foil packets until you run out of fish.

Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours. You really should check it after 3 hours. The fish is done when it is fully white and flakes nicely with a fork. The stuff on the bottom will cook the same as the stuff on the top.

Original recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking.

***

Crockpot Artichokes


artichokes
crockpot
water

Clean and prep the artichokes however you like to do so.

Put the artichokes in the slow cooker with liquid. I put the artichokes stem-side down in my big slow cooker and sprinkled them with a little salt, pepper, and fresh-squeezed lemon. Then I poured over about 2 cups of water (adjust to the size of your slow cooker; you may need a little less) and a drizzle of olive oil.

Cook on low for 6 hours or until the leaves can be easily pulled away. The final cooking time will depend on the actual heat of your slow cooker and the size of the artichokes.

Idea from the kitchen section of Apartment Therapy.

Read More..

Isolation

Lets just say... cold and flu season isnt the greatest time to be working in a nursing home...

Several of our residents have come down with the stomach flu or an upper respiratory infection and had to be placed on isolation so it doesnt infect any of the other residents. This is easier said than done of course as the viruses continue to move through our building.

I ended up with a horrible cold that I have been battling for the past week. Its been even worse because I needed to be really careful what medicines I actually took. Dan ended up calling the doctor and they said that Sudafed and Robintussin would be okay and not hurt the baby. It made me uneasy, but I was so miserable I took it. Luckily I started feeling better less than a week later and got off the meds fast! Now if I can just make it through this pregnancy without getting the flu!

Read More..

Fish Steamed Over Vegetables

While pouring a very interesting albeit not very enjoyable tasting of red wines from the Languedoc (they have a tendency to smell like a barnyard in the summer, not my idea of delicious) I got into a conversation about wine pairings with one of the tasters on a subject that Ive never much thought about.  She was talking about  having just gotten into wine and how shes working on cellaring some wine.  However she is both a pescetarian (a vegetarian that also eats fish) and a lover of big red wines who was trying to come to terms with the fact she would never be able to pair all these great reds with an equally great meal.

I guess the whole "red wine with red meat, white wine with white meat" rule of thumb has become a bit too entrenched in the minds of starter winos.  And I say, rules?  Who needs them.  Do what you like.  If youre in the mood for fish and a red wine dont let the guy at the wine store who insists pinot gris is the only good wine to drink with white fish get in your way.  Of course a Cabernet and tilapia in a lemony sauce is going to be a little weird.  However pinot noir with a hefty fish like salmon is amazing.

So the other night when the fella and I were making this outstanding fish steamed over vegetables I tested out the red wine with white meat with good results.  The smooth, light bodied Castle Rock Pinot Noir from Geyserville, California had the right balance of gentle tannins and berry and stone fruit flavors to compliment the halibut steaks.  The steamed eggplant with the rich thyme and stewed tomatoes gave the fish enough heft that it could stand up to the Pinot.

Tada a red wine to pair with white fish.  It can be done.  And the recipe itself has the makings of a new favorite.  It was as easy as chopping up some vegetables and stirring it every once in a while.  And I cant believe I never thought of simply steaming fish over top of the veggies at the end, so much easier and waistline friendly than pan frying the fish.  Not to mention this is an excellent recipe to use, subbing in whatever random produce you have in the fridge.

Fish Steamed Over Vegetables

3 tablespoons oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 large onion, chopped

salt and pepper, to taste

2 medium zucchini, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 medium eggplant, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 medium pepper (any color), cut into inch pieces

2 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon fresh thyme

1/2 cup black olives

1 1/2 pounds white fish steaks (we used halibut)

1/2 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped

Put 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large deep skillet with a lid, over medium high heat.  Add the garlic and onion, sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are soft.

Add the zucchini, eggplant, pepper and a but more salt and pepper to the pan,  Lower the hear to keep veggies from burning and cook, stirring occasionally for about 10 to 15 minutes or until eggplant is soft. 

Add the tomatoes, thyme and olives, cook stirring occasionally until the tomatoes begin to break up and create a sauce, or about 5 minutes.

Sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper then place flesh side down over the pile of vegetables.  Adjust the heat so that the sauce simmers then cover pan and cook from anywhere between 5 to 12 minutes or until a knife inserted to the thickest part of the fish meets little resistance.  Thin fish will be done in 5 minutes, my medium thick fish took 8 minutes.

Spoon a portion of the veggies to a plate then top with fillet of fish.  Sprinkle with a bit of fresh basil.

Original recipe from Mark Bittmans How to Cook Everything. 

Read More..

Lemongrass Steamed Fish

Over on the other blog I write for Ive been blathering about how much I love Asian markets and all the crazy ingredients that are to be found there.  Last week I wrote about all the crazy things I bought on my last trip through the Asian groceries of Madison and today I posted a delicious and easy soup recipe that I used to combine all the things I bought.   Now Tom Yum Kung soup is one of my favorite things to make. It seems complicated but it comes together super easily.

The only problem with a recipe like that and all the specialty ingredients is you are inevitably stuck with left over bits of things you have no idea what to do with.  Like lemongrass tends to come in big bunches but each recipe only calls for one stalk, so what to do with the rest?  Or you managed to track down lime leaves and galangal and they were kind of expensive so you dont want the rest to just rot, now what?

Steamed fish is the perfect solution.  Gather all the left over bits of Asian oddities and pile them on fish, wrap them up in parchment and you have an easy but creative dish that will save those stalks of lemongrass from going to waste.  It isnt pretty but its very tasty and with just enough spice to be exciting.

Lemon Grass Steamed Fish

2 fillets of swordfish or other meaty fish

2 dried red chili peppers, chopped

2 limes, zested

4 thin slices of galangal (or ginger)

2 stalked lemon grass, bashed up with the edge of a knife and cut into 2 inch lengths

1/2 cup sake or white wine

2 dashes of fish sauce

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cut two pieces of parchment paper a bit larger than your pieces of fish.  Pat dry each fish fillet and season with salt and pepper on both sides before putting each piece of fish on a square of parchment.  

Sprinkle the top of each piece of fish with chili pepper, lime zest, galangal and lemongrass.  Now comes the interesting part.  Using string or staples gather together the parchment so that the fish is wrapped up like a present with just a small opening at the top of the packet.  When the fish is secured in the parchment, carefully pour 1/4 cup of sake into each wrapped up piece of fish.  Then drizzle in just a little bit of fish sauce to each fish packet.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until a knife stuck into the fish meets little resistance.  Be careful unwrapping the fish so that you dont get burnt by the steam.  

Modified from an idea in Suzanne Pirrets The Pleasure is All Mine.

Read More..

Crockpot Beef Tagine

 

You know how you make Moroccan food even simpler?  Cook it in the crockpot.  Its basically the more technologically advanced version of a tagine anyway and you can cook while you sleep. 

I love my crockpot especially for cooking something in large portions like this before a party.  It is done the day before and all I have to do is warm it up before the guests arrive.  This planning ahead made this the least stressful party Ive ever had.  All I did was warm everything up and throw it on plates for my guests.  I could get used to that.

There maybe a long list of ingredients but believe me there is no work involved and in the end you are rewarded with tender, sweet and slightly savory beef covered in a gooey decadent sauce.  On a plate with those salty stuffed tomatoes and some red quinoa with roasted vegetables that my friend Jess contributed to dinner, and this was an excellent meal.  It was almost as good as actually going to Morocco...okay maybe not but it was fun pretending.

We had some Cakebread Pinot Noir with the beef and it was stunning.  Pinot was the right choice for sweet, spicy beef because it had enough fruit to compliment the red meat but was light enough to not over power the spices.  I was really pleased with dinner and even more so that everyone invited loved dinner and had managed to somehow all bring the right wines to go with dinner even though none of us knew what wines to pair with Moroccan food. 

Then for dessert I went a step farther and knocked every one into an ecstatic food coma with warm fresh rice crepes and some almond and argan oil paste called, amlou.  With an ice wine we were all insanely happy and yes just tipsy enough to really start having a good time.  

Also included in this meal:

Sundried Tomato Tapenade

Orange, Olive and Argan Oil Salad

Salty Stuffed Tomatoes

Red Quinoa with Roasted Vegetables

Rice Crepes and Amlou

Crockpot Beef Tagine

2 tablespoon oil, divided use
4 large onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 pounds beef, trimmed of fat and cubed

1 cup stock (beef preferably)
2 teaspoons cumin powder
2 teaspoons coriander powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 inch piece ginger, grated
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 cinnamon stick

5 carrots, peeled and cut into chucks
1 9-ounce can tomatoes (or 5 large tomatoes, diced)
4 ounces dates, pitted
6 ounces prunes, pitted

1/ 4 cup toasted almonds, sliced
1/ 4 cup cilantro, chopped


In a large frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium high heat and brown the onion and garlic until well caramelized.  Place into crockpot.

Heat the remaining oil in the same pan over medium heat  Pat dry the cubes of beef (youll get a better sear on the meat if it isnt wet), then in small batches brown the beef on all sides.  Dont cook the meat all the way through!  Youre just searing the outside of the meat so it will stay tender while cooking on low heat for a long time in the crockpot.  As you brown the meat place it in the crockpot.

Place beef broth in measuring cup or small mixing bowl and whisk the spices and agave nectar into it.  Put spiced broth and whole cinnamon stick into crockpot.

Toss the carrots, tomatoes, dates and prunes into the crockpot.  Mix all the ingredients in the crockpot up so it is well combined and coated in spices.

You may need to add more stock or some water to the crockpot at this point.  You want the meat mostly covered in moisture so it wont dry out.

Cook on high in crockpot for 6 to 8 hours or until beef is tender and falling apart.

Serve over quinoa(if youre gluten free) or couscous(if wheat isnt an issue).  Top with the almonds and cilantro.

Modified from a recipe by the French Tart at Recipezaar.com

Read More..