01 Mar 2011
by Emilyin Dose of Veggies, Quick and Delicious, Seafood Tags: Bon Appetit, Cabana Restaurant, Cooking Light
Right after David finished eating this dish from Bon Appétit, he exclaimed “totally and absolutely blog worthy.” I couldn’t agree more. Hailing from Cabana restaurant in West Palm Beach this simple dish packs a lot of flavor and it was incredibly easy to assemble.
What we liked most about this was the sauce – bell peppers, onions, capers, green olives, oregano, cilantro, and tomatoes all under juicy Mahi-Mahi. I took it a step further and served the whole thing (sauce and fish) over Cooking Light’s Creamy Polenta. I highly recommend doing the same if you are going to make this. It really added another layer of flavor and texture to the whole dish. The recipe is not online so I’ve inlcuded it here, heart you!
Mahi-Mahi with Tomato, Pepper, and Caper Sauce – Bon Appétit, March 2011
- 16 garlic cloves, divided
- ½ cup plus ¼ cup olive oil
- 6 8-ounce mahi-mahi or black cod filets
- 1 large white onion, halved, thinly sliced
- 1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 large green bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 large yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 cup sliced large pimiento-stuffed green olives (about 24)
- 4 bay leaves
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 1 ½ cups crushed tomatoes with puree
- 1 ½ tablespoons drained capers from jar
Puree 10 garlic cloves in mini processor; transfer to 11x7x2-inch glass baking dish. Ad ½ cup of oil, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, and 1 ½ teaspoons pepper to garlic; whisk marinade to blend. Add fish to marinade, cover and chill 2 hours, turning fish occasionally.
Chop 6 garlic cloves. Heat ¼ cup of oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped garlic, onion, and next 7 ingredients. Cook until vegetables are soft, stirring often, about 15 minutes. Add wine; stir 1 minute. Add tomatoes with puree and capers; simmer 2 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper.
Heat large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish to skillet with marinade still clinging. Cook until golden and just opaque in the center, about 5 minutes per side.
Discard bay leaves from sauce. Divide sauce among plates. Top with fish. (I also spread a little bit of the sauce on top of the fish and garnished with fresh cilantro)
20 Feb 2011
by Emilyin Dose of Veggies, Global Flavor, Lamb Lambs!, Menu Plan, Uncategorized Tags: Cooking Light, In-N-Out
Wish me luck, my blog has reached the terrible twos. My how time goes by in a blink. It’s hard to believe that two years ago I started CITL with this gentle Ina Garten recipe and now 200 posts later here I am, still testing and tasting recipes so you don’t have to. Through this little blog experiment I’ve found that I have much more confidence in cooking now than when I started – I’ll show you Mr. Cheese Souffle! It also has continued to fuel my true passion for food and cooking each and every day. Most importantly, I appreciate even more what food does best - bringing friends and family together. Thank you for reading Cooking Inside the Lines and I hope for many more years to come it continues to keep you cooking in the kitchen too.
Moving on to what we are having for the week. I just picked up the new Cooking Light so it is all recipes from the new issue:
Sunday: Brazillain Feijoda on Rice with Oranges (this is sitting in the slow cooker right now and the aroma is starting to permeate the house…yum so far!)
Monday: French Onion and Apple Soup and Crispy Topped Brussel Sprouts and Cauliflower Gratin
Tuesday: Asian-Glazed Chicken Thighs with Radish-Squash Slaw
Wednesday: Chicken Souvlaki Pitas with Tahini Sauce and Greek Salad
Thursday: Out-N-In California Burger. My favorite burger on the planet is In-N-Out and this is supposedly a take on their famous burger. Nothing beats a Double Double with Cheese Animal Style but I’m really looking forward to seeing how close they get to a traditional In-N-Out Cheeseburger. Great, now I have their jingle stuck in my head, “”In-N-Out, In-N-Out, That’s what a hamburger’s all about!”
If you are scratching your head over what’s for dinner tonight, might I suggest this Morrocan Shepard’s Pie from Cooking Light? We had this the other night and it was AMAZING. It’s very simple to assemble and is a stunner when served at the table. We loved all the spicy lamb mix and the sweet potato mash brings the whole dish together. Love!
Moroccan Shepard's Pie (Photo by John Autry)
15 Feb 2011
by Emilyin Asian, Dose of Veggies, Italian, Pasta, Spicy, Turkey (Gobble!) Tags: Everyday Food, Huy Fong
Ah Sriracha sauce, what a fiery little condiment you are. I don’t know how you came to be so popular these days, but I’m certainly happy you did. I’ve enjoyed you mixed in with mayonnaise to make a spicy dip, on Bahn Mi sandwiches and as an added kick in some of my favorite Asian soups. But in meatballs and marinara sauce? Me thinks not. For those of you who enjoy Sriarcha you know this packs a spicy punch that hits your palette and fades away so you are not writhing in pain. Everyday Food has a whole section dedicated to Sriracha in their January/February 2011 issue including recipes such as meatballs and marinara, potstickers and chicken wings. According to the magazine: The sweet and spicy blend of red chiles, garlic, sugar, salt and vinegar is named after the seaside town of Sriracha (SIR-rotch-ah) in Thailand…The California-based company Huy Fong Foods makes most of the Sriracha sauce sold in the U.S. It’s rooster logo earned it the nickname “rooster sauce.”
It was a tough choice, but I decided to make the Sriracha Marinara and Meatballs dish. The only thing I had to substitute was very lean ground beef for pork, otherwise I followed this exactly and it was killer. Killer because it tasted good and because it was SPICY. I think as a young child growing up in Texas I gravitated towards anything spicy and now my tolerance level is starting to fade rapidly. There might have been some perspiration, mouthbreathing and sinus clearing during and after eating this but I still loved it, and yes it faded away as quickly as it came. What a unique take on pasta and marinara sauce! We really loved the flavor of the meatballs and how they held their shape beautifully. I think broiling in the oven really helped. I can’t find the recipe online so here you go. If you like spice you will LOVE this!
Sriracha Marinara and Meatballs, Everyday Food, January/February 2011
For the meatballs:
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1 pound ground white-meat turkey
- 2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
- 1/3 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
- 2 large egg whites
- Coarse salt and ground pepper
- Nonstick cooking spray
For the sauce:
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced small
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 cans (28 ounces each) crushed tomatoes
- ¼ cup Sriracha sauce
- 1 pound spaghetti or other long pasta
- ½ cup fresh parsley leaves, roughly chopped, for serving
- Heat broiler, with rack in top position. Place pork, turkey, spinach, breadcrumbs, egg whites, oregano, 1 ½ teaspoons salt and ½ teaspoon pepper in a large bowl. With your hands, mix to combine; roll into forty 1-inch meatballs. Arrange meatballs on a rimmed baking sheet. Lightly coat with cooking spray. Broil until golden brown, 10 minutes, rotating halfway through.
- In a large heavy pot, heat oil over medium. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, 6 minutes. Add tomatoes and Sriracha and bring to a simmer. Add meatballs and simmer 10 minutes.
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain pasta, add to pot with sauce and meatball, and toss to coat. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
13 Feb 2011
by Emilyin Bread, Breakfast, Dose of Veggies, Eggs, Uber Healthy Tags: Everyday with Rachael Ray, Green Giant
Yesterday morning I was starving and needed sustenance ASAP. For anyone who knows me, I AM the Snickers commercial where I turn into a grouchy mcgroucherstein if I don’t eat. Since I needed to eat pretty quickly, I improvised and created a fun breakfast sandwich that I call the Sanity Saver so I could get food in my belly and David didn’t have to tolerate a hungry diva.
Sanity Saver Breakfast Sandwich (Photo by Emily Ingle)
To ensure I get a few more vegetables in my diet, I’ve been grabbing these Green Giant Health Blends in the freezer section. I decided to serve their antioxidant blend (red peppers, carrots, broccoli) and a poached egg on top of toasted whole wheat bread all smothered with Everyday with Rachael Ray’s Good-For-You Hollandaise Sauce. A little salt and pepper on top and you’ve got breakfast in a flash. We both really, really liked this and more importantly the diva crisis was averted. There’s only room for one diva in this house and I think we all know who that is…
Gabriel! Our Diva-licous Cat!
09 Feb 2011
by Emilyin Dose of Veggies, Fruit, Global Flavor, Seafood Tags: Bon Appetit, Sunkist, Top Chef
So we got all sorts of fancy over here at Casa Kealey – I made a gastrique! This Scallops with Blood Orange Gastrique from Bon Appetit just sounds fancy but honestly, it really wasn’t. This turned out to be a beautifully balanced scallop dish that was super elegant to serve but not hard to make. Totally a Top Scallop in my book.
Back in my food PR days I use to work with Sunkist, and as you can imagine I really got to know my citrus. I’ve always loved citrus, but through this experience I was introduced to new and delicious varieties that I had never encountered such as a pummelo and the lovely moro (aka blood) orange. Check out their citrus flavor wheel to learn about the different varieties available.
So what drew me to the moro orange? First, the color. You eat with your eyes and the interior color and juice of a moro is so eye appealing. Second, the flavor of course. It has a tart but slightly sweet taste so it’s versatile in sweet and savory dishes. I love making a simple moro orange salsa and serving it over roasted pork tenderloin. Drool.
Moro (Blood) Oranges From Our Kitchen!
The gastrique for this scallops dish was the most intimidating part. I’ve never made one and was a little nervous I would totally muck it up. Poodles, follow the directions on this and you will nail it! I followed every time and visual cue to ensure success and it totally worked! The rest of the meal came together in a flash and I followed their instructions to ensure you get a beautiful caramelized scallop: “Rinse it, pat it dry with a paper towel—and then get your pan really hot.”.
I found my blood oranges at Whole Foods Market and they are in season until about mid-April. I dare y’all to give this a try. Ooooooh, this would be beautiful to serve for Valentine’s Day! No onions or garlic. A beautiful deep red sauce on the sweet scallops and it’s filling without being too overbearing so you can keep on with your evening. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. 
06 Feb 2011
by Emilyin Bread, David Favorite, Dose of Veggies, Eggs, Emily Favorite
Love. So much love poodles. WOW. First because it was super easy and lickity-split quick in assembly. Second, the flavors were beautiful together on the plate. However when I tasted the breadcrumbs on their own and the spinach, cream, thyme mixture on it’s own, they were OK but I was a little concerned that this wasn’t going to taste as good as it looked. Wrong.
On the plate it’s a one-two punch of flavor from the crumbs/spinach and the lovely olive oil fried egg brings it all together. What I also liked was that the servings were just enough for each of us – although secretly I could have run back to the kitchen and made one more batch for us to inhale. I typically have a lot of these ingredients on standby which makes me a happy panda because I may have just found my new favorite egg dish.
I’m slightly begging you to try this recipe. It is so simple, fresh and absolutely delicious.
Sunny-Side-Up Eggs on Mustard-Creamed Spinach with Crispy Crumbs
02 Feb 2011
by Emilyin Cheesy Cheese, Dose of Veggies, Quick and Delicious, Sandwich, Soup Tags: Everyday with Rachael Ray, Luna Park (Los Angeles)
I think Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup might be one of my favorite comfort food combos of all time. My reigning favorite still has to be Luna Park’s in Los Angeles Cheeselitz and Tomato Soup, but a homemade version with Kale? Sign me up! I chose this Grilled Cheese-and-Kale Sandwiches with Tomato Soup from Everyday with Rachael Rayfor a fun kid’s night at Casa Kealey. To be honest, I don’t have too much to say except this was simple, fast and easy to make, and absolutely delicious. The havarti cheese was super melty. You know the kind of grilled cheese that you pull away from the sandwich and strings of gooey cheese come out? Yeah, that kind and here’s your drool cup. Also, the soup was creamy and a perfect complement to the sandwich. I actually kept dunking my sandwich into the soup. Finally, there was kale. I’ve professed my undying love for kale again and again so I won’t bore you with the love poems or sonnets I have for it. This was a fun, delicious and quick meal that’s perfect for all ages.
Now about this artic chill. There are icicles on our porch. Icicles…ACK! I do hope it snows though so I can go outside and make snow angels!
Grilled Cheese-and-Kale Sandwiches with Tomato Soup (Photo by Dan Roberts)
31 Jan 2011
by Emilyin Bacon is always awesome, David Favorite, Dose of Veggies, Emily Favorite, Global Flavor, Includes Alcohol, Pork-a-licious Tags: Bon Appetit
To me, you can never go wrong when you combine honey with anything. I mean right? Think about it, what’s one thing honey doesn’t go well with? Bon Appetit explores this idea in their At the Market section focused on the lucious, good for you nectar from our gentle bee friends. I have to give mad props to the Bon Appetit staff for the amazing recipes they have in this section. I’ve done two other rock star recipes from the past two issues (see here and here) and this Honey-Marinated Pork with Gremolata was simply awesome as well.
Honey-Marinated Pork with Gremolata (Photo by Jamie Chung)
I marinated the pork in the morning since we would be out all day on Lake Travis. Let’s let that sink in shall we? Go ahead, I”ll wait………..we had our first day on the lake on January 30th! It was so beautiful here yesterday and sitting on a boat chatting and relaxing with friends was a great way to end the weekend. I guess we need to celebrate the warm weather since it’s going to be in the low 20s later on this week, with the possibility of snow. An 80 degree day and then a few days later a chance of snow. Whoa-k. I won’t get into how that’s a tad odd, even for the ever changing Texas weather.
Back to the pork people. After searing the two tenderloins and placing in the oven, I made the gremolata and then moved on to the salad I chose as a side dish: Escarole with Bacon, Dates and Warm Walnut Vinaigrette. OUTSTANDING. There I got that out of my system. This is originally an entree salad but I lowered the amount to keep it as a simple side. We loved, loved this salad. It’s super easy to put together and the dates, walnuts and bacon all played quite nicely together. I didn’t have walnut oil (who does?) and couldn’t find escarole (what gives Austin?) so I just used olive oil and fresh arugula for the greens; still freaking delicious. We loved the pork and you really tasted the full honey flavor in every bite. Plus the reduced sauce and gremolata on top made the pork sing such a pretty song. We have leftovers today and I can’t wait for lunch time to get here so I can inhale the rest of the pork.
Both big winners in our house, I hope they will be in yours too.
Escarole with Bacon, Dates and Warm Walnut Vinaigrette (Photo by Kiyoshi Togashi)
27 Jan 2011
by Emilyin Chicken, Dose of Veggies
I kind of just want to put up the picture of this this dish to show you how delicious it was. There are no words poodles. Well maybe three: make this now.
Cider-Vinegar Braised Chicken Thighs (Photo by Emily Ingle)
We loved, loved, loved this and it’s even better the next day!
26 Jan 2011
by Emilyin Bread, Cheesy Cheese, Dose of Veggies, Southern, Turkey (Gobble!)
Everything I’ve tested and tasted this week has been pretty good but not really C.I.T.L material if you know what I mean – until last night. I spotted this Sausage and Caramalized Onion Bread Pudding when it came out in October 2009 and then it got lost in the recipe shuffle. I revisited last week and decided to put on my menu plan or forever hold my peace. Good things come to those who wait!
Sausage and Caramelized Onion Bread Pudding (Photo by Becky Lugart-Stayner)
This was so yummy and savory and bread puddingy. We gobbled up one piece, both went back for seconds and had it for lunch today too. The only addition I made was a little fresh thyme since I had some handy and I love adding fresh herbs whenever I can. Moving on to the salad I chose to accompany the fantastic bread pudding. The name is quite unique: Hotel Russel Erskine Salad. Turns out, Russel Erskine was a businessman from Huntsville, Alabama and was the president of Studebaker motor cars for several years. The Hotel Russel Erskine building is still in Hunstville, but is now an aparment complex. Sigh, that makes me think of the beautiful Plaza Hotel in New York City. I digress. This dressing, served at Hotel Russel Erskine, is a funky combo of flavors THAT ROCKS. Hoseradish, sweet paprika, dry mustard, cider vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire sauce and olive oil. This reminded me of a typical French dressing but was much thinner and lighter in flavor; perfect for the watercress. I highly recommend both of these!