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Emily Favorite, Quick and Delicious, Seafood, Soup, Uncategorized

My Favorite Mussels Recipe (So Far)

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I recall the time, waaaay back in the days of this past June, that I first tried to make mussels at home. Gosh, it seems just like yesterday doesn’t it? 

  

While I loved that first recipe, this delicious Mussels with Chorizo and Spicy Charmoula Broth concoction from Bon Appetit is light years (pun intended) ahead of all of the mussel recipes I’ve tried in the past (this one doesn’t count as one of my mussel recipes because it’s not just mussels, gosh I loved this recipe). According to the magazine, “Charmoula is a North African mixture of herbs, oil, lemon and cumin. The spicy charmoula broth needs to chill overnight so be sure to begin one day ahead.” I’ve seen charmoula-inspired sauces, broths and what have you used a lot recently and have tried it a few times, however it was most delicious on the mussels and once you mixed with the chorizo, whoa, it was perfect. If you do decide to try this, do yourself a favor and go ahead and cut yourself plenty of crusty bread. If you think you are going to eat two slices, make four. I’ll be the first to admit that I ate five pretty good-size slices of crusty bread with the broth and there may have been some slurpage even after that.
  
They don’t have the recipe online so here you go. If you are a mussels fan give this a try, it’s your density :). On one note, if you can’t find harissa paste which I luckily did at Central Market, in ten minutes you can make your own and let me tell you this would be good on LOTS of other food items (sandwiches, olives, roasted meats) so give her a try!
 

   

  

 Mussels with Chorizo and Spicy Charmoula Broth
Bon Appetit, December 2009 

1 cup of fresh cilantro sprigs 

1/4 cup paprika 

3 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 

4 garlic cloves, chopped 

1 tablespoon tomato paste 

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 

2 teaspoons harissa paste 

1 teaspoon ground cumin 

3 cups of vegetable broth 

3 ounces fresh Spanish chorizo. casing reomved, broken into pieces

3 pounds of mussels, scrubbed, debearded

Chopped fresh Italian parsley

Crusty bread

Puree first 8 ingredients in processor until smooth paste forms. Transfer to a large saucepan. Whisk in vegetable broth. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer about 20 minutes to blend flavors. Season charmoula broth to taste with salt and pepper. Cool broth slightly; cover and chill overnight to develop flavor.

Heat large pot over medium heat. Add chorizo and cook until browned, breaking up meat with back of spoon, about 3 minutes. Add mussels; stir to coat. Add 1 1/2 cups of charmoula broth. Cover pot; cook until mussels open, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes (discard any mussels that do not open).

Transfer cooked mussels to large bowl. Season charmoula broth to taste with salt and pepper. Pour broth over mussels. Sprinkle with parsley and serve dish with crusty bread.

Asian, Dose of Veggies, Fruit, Global Flavor, Lengthy recipe but worth all the whisking, sweat and tears, Seafood, Soup, This may contain fish sauce or anchovies

My Super Slow-Roasted Sunday

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Austin’s weather today was soupy, cold and gray or the perfect weather to slow-roast the heck out of my entire dinner! Cooking Light did a whole slow-roasting recipe smorgasbord and you can just tell the test kitchen staff had fun with these recipes. It makes me wonder if they slow-roasted a lot of things and if so what didn’t make it to the magazine pages? I have to say whatever fun they were having translated into some amazingly delicious recipes. Let’s go through this slowly shall we lambs?

Now it has been written on Cooking Inside the Lines before that I hate salmon. Not dislike or despise, hate, so what compelled me to try this Slow-Roasted Brown Sugar and Dill Cured Salmon recipe? Well, it is in an instant favorite amongst Cooking Light staff, which I always trust, and the flavors of dill and brown sugar made me think it would cover up the salmony flavor that I’m not a fan of. Also, it mentioned that slow-roasting the fish gives it a velvety texture which is definitely what I need if I’m going to try salmon. The result? We have a winner! Now I’m not going to join the salmon cha-cha line but I might be intrigued to shake my hips with this recipe. The brown sugar and dill lended a beautiful flavor to the salmon and they were right, the texture was velvety and made it so much more enjoyable.

To accompany the salmon, I also made the Aromatic Slow-Roasted Tomatoes which, as they mention, brings out the natural sweetness of the plum tomatoes. As I was eating these on top of fresh watercress I thought these would be amazing on top of a pizza or food processed and used for a tomato sauce on top of pasta with Parmesan. I ate them on top of salad and they were delicious, delicious, delicous.

Finally, for dessert, I made the Slow-Roasted Grape and Yogurt Parfaits. Through roasting, the grapes still retained their burst-y (yes that’s a word) texture and it does sweeten them overall. With this recipe they had me at Greek yogurt and honey which is one of my favorite combinations. With the crunchy, toasted walnuts in the layers of parfait you’ve got a perfect, crunchy, creamy, sweet, good-for-you dessert.

On a cooking note if you should desire to recreate this entire meal, I started curing the salmon this morning and then cooked the grapes and tomatoes at the same time and then simply removed when they were complete. Once the salmon was ready I cooked per the time instructed and placed the tomatoes and grapes in around 20 minutes or so at the end with the salmon to warm them up.
As a final side note (sorry for the long post but hey at least it’s about food and not calculus right?), I made a delicious Thai Coconut Lime-Soup with Chicken from Bon Appetit. Now I didn’t have kaffir lime leaves (who does?) or sake (gosh, but I should have that on standby always – tee hee hee) but I made this soup anyway to enjoy for lunch today and tomorrow and it was still awesome. I couldn’t find the recipe online so here you go. Enjoy!
Thai Coconut-Lime Soup with Chicken
Bon Appetit, December 2009
8 First-Course Servings
2 stalks fresh lemongrass
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups chopped onion (about 1 large)
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
4 red Thai chilis or 2 red jalapeno chiles, thinly sliced into rings, seeded (I used jalapenos)
3 cups low-salt chicken broth
1/2 cup sake
4 cups canned unsweetened coconut milk (I used the low-fat version)
8 kaffir lime leaves
3 tablespoons fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves plus sprigs for garnish
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons sugar
8 ounces skinless boneless chicken breast halves cut crosswise into thin strips (y’all I used a store-bought rotisserie chicken)
Chopped green onions
Discard all but bottom 4 inches of lemongrass stalks. Peel off tough outer layers. Mince lemongrass. Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and ginger; cook until onion beings to soften, about 3 minutes. Add chilis and lemongrass; stir 1 minute. Add broth and sake; simmer 5 minutes. Add coconut milk, lime leaves, fish sauce, cilantro leaves, lime juice and sugar; simmer 30 minutes. Add chicken and simmer just until cooked through about 4 minutes.

Divide soup among bowls. Garnish with green onions and cilantro sprigs.

Bacon is always awesome, Cheesy Cheese, Fruit, Global Flavor, Sandwich

The Duke of Windsor Sandwich and Other Tales

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Cooking magazines during the holiday season are a double-edged sword for me. While I love all of the holiday recipes, it’s also two months of issues so focused on holiday meals that the everyday meal recipes – aka the ones I use most – get pushed to the back burner. This light everyday meal coverage does give me time to turn to a few of my beloved cookbooks. One is my
Neiman Marcus cookbook and probably the one that I turn to the most. Given to me as a Christmas gift from my best friend since college The Boo, this cookbook is surprisingly filled with easy-to-make salads, soups, sandwiches, entrees and the store’s ever-famous Popovers. Thanks Boo! :)


One recipe that I love from this cookbook is the Duke of Windsor Sandwich. Originally created for a visit to Neiman Marcus by Edward, the Duke of Windsor, this sandwich is one of the strangest combinations for a sandwich I have encountered and one of the most delicious. Get this, it’s turkey, mango chutney, cheddar cheese spread and pineapple on bread. Isn’t that an odd sounding combination but oddly delicious sounding at the same time?

For the Big 12 Championship game last night I wanted something decadent, delicious and comforting that I could enjoy during what I thought was going to be a nice competitive football game, you know we would for sure win but still Nebraska would show up and give us a good game. However, I was not expecting to be questioning my faith and fanhood in the Longhorns or hurling pillows at my TV or offering the football gods my left big toe if we could just win. WHAT WAS THAT LONGHORNS? Sorry, I digress, thank goodness I had this sandwich to help me during what was one of the most stressful Longhorn football games ever. EVER. EVER.

I followed this recipe just like it calls for except, and I know you won’t be surprised, I added two strips of crispy Center Cut Bacon to this sandwich and it was an awesome addition. How could it not be? Seriously, try this sandwich, it is so unique and delicious I really think you are going to like it. And my recommendation to the Longhorns – pull yourself together!

The Duke of Windsor Sandwich
Neiman Marcus Cookbook (2003)
Serves 4

2 cans (8 ounces each) pineapple rings (8 rings), drained
8 slices of egg bread, brioche, sourdough, or your favorite bread (I used whole wheat but I can see this being really good on sourdough too)
½ cup of processed Cheddar cheese spread (such as Wispride brand), softened
4 tablespoons store-bought mango chutney (such as Major Grey’s brand)
1 pound smoked turkey breast, thinly sliced
4 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray (or lightly oil it) and place the pineapple rings on the sheet. Transfer to the oven and roast for about 20 minutes or until the rings are well dried and beginning to brown slightly. Remove from the oven and set aside to let cool; keep the oven turned on.

Place the slices of bread on a clean work surface. Spread about two tablespoons of the cheese spread on four of the slices and one tablespoon of the chutney on the other four slices. Top the slices with the cheese spread and about 2 ounces of the sliced turkey, and then two roasted pineapple rings, and then another two ounces of turkey (and two slices of cooked bacon if you desire). Take the slices spread with the chutney and “close” the sandwiches, pressing gently to “seal” them.

Using a griddle, large sauté pan, or skillet, heat two tablespoons of the melted butter. Carefully place two of the sandwiches onto the griddle or into the pan and cook over medium heat for about three minutes per side or until golden brown. Transfer the sandwiches to an ungreased baking sheet and repeat for the remaining sandwiches. Bake in the oven for about four minutes, until the cheese is melted and the turkey and pineapple are warmed through. Cut the sandwiches and transfer to serving plates.

Beefy McBeefy, Emily Favorite, Uncategorized

You Say Root Beer, I Say Short Ribs?

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Yes my little lambies….Root Beer Short Ribs. You can pinch yourself as hard as I did when I came across this recipe and then maybe smack yourself for not thinking of this combo sooner. I mean really right?

This is from Everyday Food reader Shawn Darling (congrats!) and I have to say I wish she would have shared this much sooner because this will be a staple for the fall months for many, many years to come. I actually made this last night up until step three and then completed it tonight. I served the short ribs with their perfect sweet, but not too much, glaze/sauce on top of mashed sweet potatoes as the magazine suggests. For once, and this is rare, I am speechless. I have one last question, “do you have any good sarsaparilla?” Well give me some short ribs their stranger and I’ll show you in about four hours.

Everyday Food, December 2009
Root Beer Short Ribs
Serves 6
Prep time: 25 minutes
Total time: 4 hours4-inch pieces
coarse salt and ground pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more as needed
2 medium yellow onions, cut into 1-inch wedges
3 large celery stalks, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 small carrots, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 head garlic, sliced half crosswise
10 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
1 sprig rosemary
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 whole star anise
3 1/2 cups low-sodium beef broth
2 cups good-quality root beer

4 1/2 pounds short ribs, cut into

1. Preheat over to 275 degrees. Season ribs generously with salt and pepper. In an 8-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil on high. In batches, brown ribs on all sides, about 20 minutes total. If oil gets too dark during browning, pour off and add more oil (do not wipe pot clean). Transfer ribs to a plate and pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from pot.

2. Add onions, celery, carrots, garlic, thyme, bay leaves, rosemary, cumin, and star anise. Cook , scraping up any browned bits, until onions soften, 5 minutes. Return ribs to a rapid simmer, cover, and place pot in oven.

3. Cook until meat can be easily pierced with the tip of a pairing knife, about 3 hours. (To store, refrigerate, up to 4 days.) With a slotted spoon, transfer ribs to a large straight-sided skillet. Skim off and discard any fat from cooking liquid. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into skillet; discard solids. Boil over medium-high until liquid is reduced by half, about 20 minutes. Continue to cook, spooning liquid over meat occasionally, until ribs are glazed and sauce is thickened, 5 to 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Emily Favorite, Fruit, Mexican, Pork-a-licious, Sandwich

Cuban Sandwiches with Tomato Jam

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So after a HUGE and DELICIOUS Thanksgiving meal courtesy of Mama Ingle (thanks Mom!) I really wanted to do something light and healthy, therefore I chose a sandwich jam-packed with Gruyere cheese, grilled onions, jalapenos, prosciutto, pickles, shredded pork and a homemade tomato jam. Yeah, light and healthy just like I said. this Cuban Sandwiches with Tomato Jam recipe from Food and Wine magazine after eating everything in sight the past few days, but alas I did and I’m quite happy about my choice thank you very much.

I don’t know what the heck compelled me to try

This recipe looks more labor-intensive than it really is. It’s actually more “set it and forget it” than lots of steps that make you want to pull your hair out. You let the pork roast for four hours and make the homemade tomato jam that sits for about an hour at a low temperature. After the jam and pork were done, everything else assembled pretty quickly and then you simply grill the foil-wrapped sandwich which made the cheese melty and the bread nice and crispy. This sucker throws a flavor uppercut so prepare to be floored by how yummy everything is once it is grilled. I loved all of these flavors together and honestly was a little surprised that it all worked out as amazingly as it did.

 

Try making this on a lazy, football Sunday (ha I just came across this video when looking for fitting “Lazy Sunday” images) and you will have a tasty and unique sandwich for the Sunday night game. I served baked chips and fresh mango on the side. Also, I reserved the leftover tomato jam (since it’s just me) for a later use and the remaining pork I will use for lunch to place inside some corn tortillas with some light sour cream and fresh avocado. Love it!
Everything is better fried, Global Flavor, Includes Alcohol, Seafood

Cooking Light’s Beer-Battered Fish and Chips

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Well, Cooking Light and I are having a blessed day of cooking aren’t we? Let’s see, we’ve gone to Miami, now let’s go across the pond to the U.K. shall we? This was sort of a random lunch as I had some leftover cod from a recipe I tested last night and decided on the spot to make their Beer-Battered Fish and Chips.

YUM! I am most certainly not a fish and chips expert nor do I normally seek them out, so you can imagine how surprised I was that I loved these so much. The breading was perfect and with a bit of lemon juice (they didn’t recommend it but I wanted it anyway), salt and malt vinegar, these were delicious and the small batch of perfectly baked fries really rounded out this traditional meal.

This felt way more indulgent than it really is and I’m sure it is way healthier than the real version. I can see this being a good alternative to fish sticks because it really doesn’t have a fishy taste and gives a satisfying salty, crunch.
Now I managed to get through this post without doing anything stereotypically British, although I must admit that in my head I was using my British voice – you know you have one – while typing this. I did want to share one of my favorite commercials that has a funny British twist.
Here is the recipe, enjoy!
1 pound cod fillets, cut into 3-inch pieces (they recommend Alaskan Cod and I used it too)

 

1 cup dark beer (such as Negro Modelo), divided
1 pound baking potatoes, cut into (1/4-inch) strips
1/4 cup canola oil, divided
3.38 ounces all-purpose flour (about 3/4 cup)
Preheat over to 450 degrees. Combine fish and 1/4 cup beer in a medium bowl. Cover and chill for 1 hour. Place potatoes on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon oi, and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt; toss well. Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes or until browned and crisp, stirring after 10 minutes. Drain fish; discard liquid. Sprinkle fish with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine remaining 3/4 cup beer, flour, and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper in a medium bowl.
Add fish to beer mixture, tossing gently to coat. Heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Remove fish from bowl, shaking off excess batter. Add fish to pan; cook 3 minutes or until browned. Turn fish over; cook 3 minutes or until done. Sprinkle fish with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Serve immediately with chips.
Cheesy Cheese, Eggs, Fruit, Potato

Cooking Light’s Breakfast Tortilla

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Here in Austin the go-to for breakfast is typically the breakfast taco filled with eggs and cheese and then your choice of sausage/chorizo, bacon, potatoes, jalapenos and so on and so forth. Now in Miami, according to Cooking Light, this Breakfast Tortilla – an open-faced omelet with potatoes inside (instead of on the side) – is their go-to breakfast dish. After giving this a try for breakfast this morning I’m saying move over breakfast tacos! Kidding, kidding but seriously this was super easy to assemble and such a great alternative for breakfast than the usual eggs, bacon, toast…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

The creamy Yukon gold potatoes with the delicious Manchego and spicy chives really made this dish sing. One switch up, I roasted the tomatoes in a little bit of olive oil instead of just serving them fresh. The nutrition analysis on this is none too shabby either, one wedge (from four servings) with two tablespoons of tomatoes is 190 calories, 10.7 grams of fat with 2.7 in saturated fat. What I also like about this dish is that I have enough for breakfast tomorrow which gives me a little more time in the morning…bonus!
Emily Favorite, Potato, Quick and Delicious, Spicy, Uber Healthy

Eating Rainbow…Eating Rainbow!

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As I was eating my meal tonight, I had the theme song to Reading Rainbow in my mind the entire time. How much is this a flashback for some of you? This was one of my favorite TV shows growing up and I can still remember how excited I would get when the show started with this catchy tune. Ha, I love the dog that turns into a little star.

So why did I have this song in my head? Well, you guessed it, I was eating the colors of the rainbow for my dinner. If you’ve read food and nutrition literature over the past few years, you know that this is a very good thing. My delicious, nutritious and colorful meal was this Halibut with Spicy-Mint Chutney over a bed of fresh spinach and a baked sweet potato with a little bit of butter, maple syrup, cinnamon and a few chopped walnuts. For dessert, I had a mix of fresh pomegranate seeds and raspberries. Let’s see, I definitely got my green, orange, red and yellow from the little bit of lemon juice. Awesome.

I loved every aspect of this meal and that chutney is spicy, creamy and perfect. Gosh I just love sauces, chutney and relishes. To me, anything you can drizzle, dip, glop, gloop or pour over something else is ideal , and Cooking Light has a thing for nailing delicious, low fat/low-cal sauces. Love, love this dish!
Emily Favorite

Yer Favourites

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I’ll give someone a digital high five if you can tell me, without Googling it, where that title comes from. Not only is it from one of my favorite bands, but the it reminded me that I actually made it to my 100th post. Now I could say something like “you know anyone can make it to 100 but it takes true intestinal fortitude to get to 103.” Yeah right, it actually just slipped my mind that I made it to this not very important milestone, however it is one that I would like to celebrate anyway!

Seriously though lambs, to all one to two of you who do happen to read my cooking “memoirs” I have just loved updating this blog with my memories, thoughts and cooking tales these past 100ish posts and I’m raising a glass to you for what I hope will be 100ish more.

For this special occasion I wanted to look back over Cooking Inside the Lines and do a best of/worst of just for fun. If you want to listen to Barbara Streisand’s The Way We Were while reading please be my guest.

My top 10 favorites recipes tested so far and in no particular order
  1. Strawberry, Pistachio and Goat Cheese Pizza
  2. Milk-Braised Pork Shoulder
  3. Open-Face Pork Tacos
  4. Doughnut Holes with Raspberry Jam
  5. Open-Face Crab Burgers
  6. Cod with Mussels, Chorizo, Fried Croutons and Saffron Mayonnaise
  7. Asparagus Salad with Soft Poached Eggs
  8. Grilled Pork with Blackberry Sage Sauce
  9. Coffee Rubbed Cheeseburgers with Texas BBQ Sauce
  10. Cheddar BLT Burger with Tarragon Dressing
The recipe that I thought was going to be delicious but um, just wasn’t

Recipe that looked delicious but didn’t think it was going to knock my socks off the way it did
Dumbest Post By Yours Truly
Winner: All of Cooking Inside the Lines :) Kidding kind of, but I think this one might be one of the dumbest.
Month with the most posts and why
September. I’ll admit it, I learned to clone myself. That or I went through that cleansing process and posted my thoughts for seven straight days. Let’s go with cloning, I like that reason better.
Month with the least posts (besides November since I’m just getting started) and why
February. Well it was my blog’s birth month so I’ve got to stretch my legs a little bit right?
My Favorite Post
I would love to hear from the two of you any favorites (or stupid moments) that might have inspired you.

Thanks,
Me

Dessert, Quick and Delicious, Sandwich

Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana Split Sandwiches

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This simple twist on a traditional peanut butter, banana and honey sandwich from Cooking Light makes it “ice cream split” style by adding chocolate chips, strawberries and pineapple jam. Please go back and read that sentence again. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

How delicious does that sound!?

I can happily report that this scrumptious and easy to assemble sandwich lives up to its yummy sounding name. I mean how can you go wrong with this combo? It is very sweet so if you don’t have a sweet tooth then this may not be for you, however since I’m like a five-year old kid I loved it. Is it bad that I was wondering how this would taste with bacon on it?
I loved how everything melted together once you grilled the sandwich so it got all gooey and melty. Two switch outs were I used whole wheat bread and instead of butter I used Smart Balance spread to cut it down a smidge. This was a little messy when you tried to assemble but who cares it’s cooking!
Now this is a wee bit of an indulgence but hey I was watching the Horns beat the Baylor Bears so that’s better than traditional football fare eh? Please for the love of sandwiches make this one right away.