oven-baked fish

First, a thousand apologies for letting this lag for so long. I blame Picasa, the program I have a love/hate relationship with that lets me upload pictures on to this blog all at once, not one by one. Anyway, it was not working, and hence the delay (plus life, baby, etc.) and yadah yadah, no recipes. You probably don't care about that, however, so here's a recipe for oven-baked fish instead! This one is for my friend Sean, who was lamenting the absence of fish filets here in Tunisia, and did not know how to cook a whole fish. This recipe below is for grouper (you can make a grouper face if you like), which is plentiful here.

Ingredients
4 whole fish (gutted and scaled)
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Bread crumbs
(optional) sliced fresh pepper and onion

Preparation
Oil up a roasting pan (use olive oil to coat it). Preheat your oven to 325. Put the fish in, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and bread crumbs. Roast for 30-40 minutes, or until done (the eye will be not glassy, but opaque). If you want, you can put the pepper and onion slices (both sliced in circles) as a bed under the fish, put a swing of olive oil, salt, and pepper, and then put the fish on top. Serve.

gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp)

Gambas al ajillo! Garlic is a quintessential part of Spanish cuisine, as is seafood (after all, Spain is flanked by water on three sides) so it should be no surprise to you that this recipe is one of my favorites. It goes without saying, but shrimp have heads and they must remain ON for this recipe to work. I am flabbergasted when people (who shall remain nameless) get grossed out by shrimp heads. The brain juice is the tastiest part! Anyway, here is the recipe:

Ingredients

1-2 lbs of whole large shrimp

6 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced

vinegar (preferably sherry, but whatever)

olive oil

Preparation

Heat up a large pan with a little bit of olive oil. If you have a grill pan, that is best. Any old frying pan will do. Heat it up until it's really hot, and then toss in your shrimp (which hopefully you have washed first in a colander, just to get any seaweed or other weird stuff off of them). Saute over high heat until just beginning to get pink, turning them with tongs or just tossing them around in the pan. Add the garlic (the reason you don't add the garlic at the beginning is because it will brown too soon). Keep tossing and sauteing until the shrimp are just beginning to slightly brown and are cooked all the way through. Toss with a light swig of vinegar.

Serve immediately on a platter, and drizzle with the oil/vinegar left in the pan. You can serve with mayonnaise or just eat them as-is. If you need assistance on how to peel a shrimp watch this video (it's for raw shrimp but it's basically the same process, except you should SUCK on the head to get the good juices out - enjoy the person's british accent too, it's kind of hilarious). Ahhh.... the wonders of YouTube.

mussels vinaigrette

Mussels are so easy to make! The key is finding them fresh and clean (no barnacles or hair) or, if you must clean them, do it yourself. This recipe is an original from one of the Rioja family tapas route stops - called La Ria, it's a great restaurant near Puerta del Sol in Madrid - and they serve only mussels with various sauces, one of them being this vinaigrette!

Ingredients
2 lb mussels, in shell, outside cleaned of barnacles, hair
1/2 red pepper
1/2 green pepper
1 large tomato
1 small onion
wine vinegar
olive oil
salt

Preparation
In a large pot, toss the mussels and fill up with water until mussels are only halfway covered. Turn heat to high and cover, steam for about 5-10 minutes, or until mussels open. Discard any mussels that didn't open. Drain and let cool.

Chop up tomato, pepper, and onion very finely. In a bowl, toss in chopped vegetables and a large swig of olive oil, a small swig of vinegar, and a generous pinch of salt. Taste and adjust flavors.

To serve, discard the mussel shells that do not have mussels attached, and present the other shell (with the mussel attached) in a decorative way. Spoon vinaigrette over the mussels. Enjoy!

lentil soup

When I was young, my father used threaten to serve "lentejudis," a mythical hybrid of lentils and beans. I think I actually cried at the thought of such a vile legume. Lentils, my brother, and I go way back in our mutual hatred (my brother and I against the lentils), even going so far as to splatter them on the wall in one particularly heated protest. Now, in a twisted spell of fate, I actually love lentils! Here's a recipe for a nice hearty soup.

Ingredients
3 c dried lentils, rinsed
2 carrots, finely chopped
1 c frozen peas
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 slices bacon, chopped
1 tsp cumin
salt
pepper
seasoned salt
2 bay leaves
8 c vegetable or chicken broth
chopped fresh parsley (optional)
sour cream or plain yogurt (optional)

Preparation
Make sure you've picked any dirt or stones out of the lentils. In a heavy saucepan, melt a bit of butter and toss in the bacon. Reserve 1/4 of the carrots and peas. When it's starting to get translucent, add the onion, garlic, and the rest of the carrots and peas. Cook over low-medium heat until onion is translucent. Add seasoned salt, cumin, pepper, and regular salt (only add the salts if your broth is bland! If it's not, then omit the salt and add to taste at the end). Add bay leaves. Add lentils and add broth. Cook for about 40 minutes, until lentils are soft. Add water if you need to cook longer and it's getting too thick. About 10 minutes before they are done, add the peas and carrots. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve with a dollop of sour cream, if you are so inclined.

beet and mussel salad

Most of you don't eat beets or mussels on a regular basis, so this probably seems strange to you. I don't care - it's good! You can make it with canned mussels and prepared beets, or make both from scratch. The combination is interesting - sweetness of beets, and brininess of mussels go well together.

Ingredients
1 can mussels or 1 lb fresh mussels
2 large beets
1/2 onion or shallot, sliced thin
wine vinegar
olive oil
salt

Preparation
If you are using fresh mussels, clean the outsides well and steam in a large pot of water for a few minutes or until mussels open. Remove from shells and set aside. If using canned, just open the can.

For the beets, you have some choices. You can either peel them, wrap in tin foil, and bake at 350 for 45 minutes until soft, or you can slice them and cook them in butter in a large frying pan, adding water until they are completely soft. Either way, you should end up with a cooked beet than you can slice into matchsticks (julienne).

To finalize the salad, add mussels, onions, and beets into a bowl. Sprinkle with salt, add a large swig of olive oil and a small swig of vinegar. Taste and fix salt if needed. Serve!

picnic chicken

Behold picnic chicken! This is the recipe that I most often recommend to friends who "can't" cook (as you guessed, the quotes are to denote my sarcasm - everyone can cook!). It's so damn delicious and even a fool can make it, it's so easy.

Line up your ingredients: melted butter, bread crumbs with onion soup

Dip your chicken in butter


then in crumb mixture

stick it in the oven

and a delicious chicken is born

serve with salad (cucumber works well)

Ingredients
8 chicken drumsticks
1/2 stick of butter, melted
1/2 pack of onion soup mix
1-2 cups bread crumbs

Preparation
Preheat oven to 325. Get two shallow bowls ready. Put the putter in one and melt in the microwave (stick it in for 30 seconds max). In the other bowl, combine breadcrumbs and onion soup mixture. Grease your baking pan.

Coat the drumstick in butter, then in breadcrumb mixture, making sure it's coated on all sides. Put into the baking pan. Do this for all the drumsticks. If you have leftover crumbs, you can toss them on top of the chicken.

Bake for 45 minutes - 1 hour, until chicken is done. How do you know it's done? poke it with a knife - if the juices run clear (not pinkish), it is done. If you can't tell, just sacrifice one of the drumsticks and cut it open. Serve hot or cold (that's why it's called picnic chicken - it's just as good cold!)

tomato sauce for bread

If you ever find yourself in Madrid on any given weekday, do yourself a favor and go walk around and try a "Menu del dia" - for 11 euros you can basically eat a three-course meal (first course, second course, and dessert, plus wine) at some of the best restaurants around. One of the ones I tried while I was on maternity leave offered tomato sauce instead of butter for bread. In Spain, a typical breakfast can include french bread toasts with tomato and olive oil. Making your own version is really easy.

Ingredients
3 very ripe tomatoes
olive oil
salt

Preparation
De-seed your tomatoes. How? Cut them lengthwise, then again (so into quarters), and then run the tip of the knife from the top to the bottom, cutting out the seeds. If you feel anal, you can also peel the tomatoes, but I find this takes a long time since you have to parboil and then cool them down. Instead, we will cheat using a strainer! In a food processor or blender, toss in your tomatoes and puree. Strain through a wire-mesh strainer and add a swig of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Serve!

seafood-arugula salad

File this salad under recipes I made up when I found I had ingredients in the fridge that needed to be eaten. Yes, that's you fake crab meat! Oh smack -I almost typed fake crap meat. It kind of is crap. If you can get canned crab meat all the better, but I must say this didn't taste all that bad. The dressing is a pretty much a homemade thousand island.

Ingredients
4-6 servings salad greens (arugula or any salad green, even lettuce)
1/2 small onion or shallot, sliced very thin
4 crab meat sticks, sliced
1 tbsp capers, chopped
2 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tsp lemon juice

Preparation
To make the dressing, combine ketchup, mayo, and lemon juice. Toss all other salad ingredients in a large bowl and pour some dressing into the bowl (don't pour it all - it may be too much), and toss all ingredients to coat. If the salad looks thinly dressed, add more dressing. I urge you to not use all the dressing up front because who knows if you are using few greens and then you end up with a goopy salad. Serve.

steamed clams

Do not be afraid of seafood -it is not complicated! In fact, clams are the easiest thing in the world to make, and only take about 10 minutes from start to finish. You can use them in pasta, or just eat them as an appetizer.

Ingredients
1 lb any type of clams, with shell on
Fresh lemon slices
(optional) white wine
(optional) fresh parsley

Preparation
Clean your clams well, removing any barnacles, hair, or dirt. Clams should be completely shut - if there are open ones, toss them. In a large heavy pot, toss in clams and about 1 c water (the idea is to steam them). If you want, toss in a large swig of white wine. Cover pot and bring to a boil. As soon as it is boiling, remove from heat and let sit with lid on for 5 minutes. Your clams should have steamed open. If they did not (most of them are closed), then boil for a bit longer.

To serve, sprinkle with lemon juice and parsley if you want.

broiled leeks with vinaigrette

This recipe was part of an earlier combo recipe I posted about back in the day (Ostrich Filets with Braised Leeks), but I realize that the leek recipe was probably lost in the fray. Since I'm trying to eat more vegetables, here's the more fleshed-out recipe. Broiling is easy, all ovens have a broil setting and usually it's that weird drawer under your oven that you never knew you could use. The key is to use a metal tray and watch your food often - broiling means a flame comes only from above and it gets very very hot.

Ingredients
7-8 medium-sized leeks, trimmed and cleaned
chopped fresh parsley or oregano
olive oil
sherry vinegar
salt

Preparation
To clean the leeks, cut off the hairy ends, the very top of the green fronds, and cut down lengthwise almost all the way down to the root (the leek should open up like a bouquet of flowers or the letter Y). Run under water in the sink and make sure to get into all the folds - there is lots of dirt in there!

Turn your oven to broil. Toss leeks in pot of boiling water for about 4-5 minutes, until they are a really bright green color. Immediately take them out and put in a strainer under cold water to stop the cooking process (this keeps them green). In a cookie sheet or broiler pan, arrange the leeks in one layer. Mix the vinaigrette together: 4 parts olive oil, 1 part vinegar, salt, pepper, and fresh herbs (you will probably need about 1/2 cup total for the number of leeks in this recipe, but you can use extra for later if you want).

Pour vinaigrette over the leeks, and stick in broiler for about 2-3 minutes on each side, turning with tongs. Make sure they do not burn.