Category Archives: Seafood

Asian, David Did It!, Global Flavor, Seafood

David Did It!

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scallops-with-cream-ck-l

Welcome to a new series of posts that feature recipes I’ve tried in the past but this time, we retest for accuracy and awesomeness but my adorable hubs, David. David likes to claim he doesn’t know his way around the kitchen as well as I do, but let me tell you, he most certainly does. I call him the egg, seafood and sandwich whisperer. He makes absolutely hands-down perfect over-easy eggs, knows exactly when to pull fish off the heat just by looking at it and always makes the most perfectly balanced ratio of meat/lettuce/bread/sauce on a sandwich. He’s definitely got the chops in the kitchen and I  know he follows these recipes to letter just like I do. So, let’s see how he did!

Usually while I cook, David and Lila are off climbing Mount Pillow in our bedroom or conquering the downstairs toy chest, but last night, David made this Scallops with Green Tea Cream from Cooking Light while I fed the munchkin. P.S. we just got her a highchair, and the OXO Sprout is an incredible product – we highly recommend it.

David followed this recipe to the letter and once again it turned out perfect (yes, we did the same measurements but just treated it as an entree). That sauce seriously I could smother on anything and it would taste good. Yum, yum, yum. Seeking out  green tea powder is worth it for this dish alone. If you haven’t tried this yet, what are you waiting for?

Hmmmm, what other recipes is David going to try?

Dose of Veggies, Global Flavor, No-Cook Meal, Seafood, Side Dish, Uber Healthy, Vegetarian

Vegetable “Ceviche”

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Guys I have been digging the heck out of vegetables recently. Don’t get me wrong, I love veggies of all kinds, and even tried to make them the center of the plate at least a few times a week. But, I’ve really concentrated the past month on making them more of mainstay in our diet than red meat and even chicken or pork, and I’m loving it.

This bad boy from Food & Wine magazine was PERFECT. I love the ceviche style preparation and the colors and flavors were out of this world. Seriously, look at this…

Ceviche

This is great for end-of-summer/back-to-school parties as I think kids and adults will dig it, plus the vegetarians will love you! David, who is from the East Coast/Canada is our in-house fish expert, had been wanting to make me his “fish fry” for some time. It’s basically fish (we used Tilapia) coated in Saltine cracker crumbs, salt and pepper, dredged in egg and fried in olive oil. It was light, delicious and a nice balance to the intense flavors of the Vegetable “Ceviche.” I’m definitely making this again before the summer runs out. I can’t believe summer is almost over but you know what that means? COLLEGE FOOTBALL. Squee!

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Emily Favorite, Global Flavor, Quick and Delicious, Seafood

Spice-Rubbed Salmon with Herb-and-Pomegranate Raita

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original

If you can believe it, we also had fellow couple in our group of friends who were due one month after we were. Cue December 3 (five days after Lila was born) and their baby was here and 28 days early! I will always be so thankful for the group of friends we have and our friend Kari, brought her A+ game. She did a lot for us those first few weeks, including organizing a friend cooking group to bring us meals each night that first week. Not only is this a fantastic way for your friends to see your new little bundle of joy, but it is so helpful to be around friends and family those first few weeks and you get to enjoy  delicious homemade food! So, I volunteered to cook for our fellow new parent couple and wanted to pick something simple, delicious and healthy. Enter this salmon dish from Food & Wine magazine – YUM!

I will admit that while I was pregnant, carbs and sweets were my BFFs. Normally, I don’t indulge in either very often, but I was snarfing breads and pastas and had to have a dessert almost every night (good thing I co-own a pie company eh?). Carbs and pastas and chocolates are a hard habit to break, but I’m trying to get back to my old self and this dish was definitely a step in the right direction. I loved it because I made enough for our friends and for us and it was still quick to make – bonus when you are recovering from a C-section. David and I thought it was perfectly balanced and definitely a keeper, but I knew it was good when I received a text from our friends saying it was delicious! Hooray!

David Favorite, Dose of Veggies, Emily Favorite, Seafood, Southern

Friends, Foodies and Corn Lovers, Lend Me Your Ears

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Every food magazine I thumbed through this month has featured golden, delicious, fresh corn. I have always loved me some corn so I didn’t mind some outside-the-box ideas with this crunchy, sweet vegetable and two recipes that piqued my interest were in Cooking Light magazine including Corn Pancakes with Salmon and Lemon-Chive Cream (http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/corn-pancakes-50400000122463/) and Saucy Crawfish with Whole Corn Grits (http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/saucy-crawfish-50400000122462/).

I just adored both of these for their creativity and combination of flavors in each dish. With the corn pancakes, I definitely have a new entertaining dish I can serve when we have friends over. This is an impressive looking and well, more importantly, tasting dish. It’s elegant and refined and heck, y’all, it’s a corn pancake! We loved the fresh salmon and the absolutely perfect pancake. Put a dollop of the lemon-chive cream on top and it was mouth-wateringingly good. I served with a fresh side salad of arugula, feta and lemon-oregano dressing.

Mmmm, moving on to the grits recipe. I’m such a Southerner when it comes to food and this reminded me of my childhood in a big way. When I was little we would go to this super fancy place called Johnny Cace’s in Longview – still one of my Mom’s favorites. This place is an institution in East Texas and and they can serve up some serious Creole y’all: http://www.johnnycaces.com. At first glance it can seem like there’s a lot going on but this dish came together quite quickly. Those grits are to DIE FOR with the fresh corn, as is that sauce…yum, yum, yum. I substituted shrimp instead of crawfish but could see this being killa with some mudbugs. I urge you to make both of these before the summer fresh corn is gone.

Oooh the new Bon Appetit and Cooking Light have uploaded to my Kindle – must go read!

Dose of Veggies, No-Cook Meal, Seafood, Side Dish, Uber Healthy

Here Fishy, Fishy

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It must be all of this cursed indulgence the holidays provide, but as I was menu planning last week I wanted something light, healthy and delicious. So, I laser-focused on salmon and lots and lots of vegetables. Food & Wine, I love you. I tried three amazing dishes this week and as I’m sitting here typing this we are eating the last of this AMAZING Crunchy Cabbage Icebox Salad.

 

Crunchy Cabbage Icebox Salad (Photo by Jenn Louis)

Let’s start with the beginning of the week. I made this delectable Slow-Roasted Salmon with Tarragon and Citrus and Cumin-Braised Swiss Chard for dinner. Ooooh, this was SO GOOD. I love slow roasting salmon since it tends to bring out its sweeter side and the blend of tarragon and citrus juices on top were perfect. To be honest, I chose the swiss chard dish because I really wanted a nice healthy green but hadn’t given it too much thought. Umm yeah, yowza. This was so amazing. For a side dish? Really? I could eat this every day!

Slow-Roasted Salmon with Tarragon and Citrus (Photo by Floyd Cardoz)

So I saved some salmon for the next night’s meal which was the infamous icebox salad. Poodles, you need to make this for your next dinner party. First of all, it’s stunning in the bowl, second it’s so satisfying with its crunch and mixture of textures, three it’s quite healthy, and four, if you do like I did and add salmon you will be sending me thank you cards. 😉 Definitely give all three of these a try as soon as you can or in the New Year, when those resolutions kick in…cue dry heave.

Beefy McBeefy, Chicken, David Favorite, Dose of Veggies, Emily Favorite, Includes Alcohol, Italian, Seafood, Side Dish, Southern, Spicy, This may contain fish sauce or anchovies

Girl Power!

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You might be saying to yourself, “self, doth my eyes deceive me or is this really a new Cooking Inside the Lines post?” Yes it is, and I also made you sound like a Shakespearean actor, ha! I know, I know. I’ve been really bad about posting but I have managed to try some fantastic recipes recently, even in the midst of planning a wedding and running my own pie business. I still can’t believe I get to marry the man of my dreams next month. I am just dripping with happiness that I get to be Mrs. Emily Kealey!  Sorry, I digress.

Food and Wine magazine has this excellent little slideshow featuring recipes from top female chefs, and I have the pleasure of telling you that the three I tried were all rock stars. Go ladies, do your thang! I liked these so much, that I’m trying three more from this round-up this week to see how they turn out. Scout’s honor, I will keep you posted. In the meantime, give these three beauties a try. Here they are with my thoughts:

Spicy Chicken Cacciatore – Deep , rich, spicy flavors. A beautiful dish from Chef Barbara Lynch. We loved this “deconstructed” version of a chicken cacciatore, and I love me some chicken cacciatore so I’ve tried many at home. See, you don’t have to pick from the litter, just make this one!

Spicy Chicken Cacciatore (Photo by Marcus Nilsson)

Seared Scallops with Basil, Anchovy and Sweet Corn Pudding – When I saw the pairing of these two dishes I thought, “hmm not sure if they fit together, but they both sound so delicious, let’s just see.” Well, they don’t pair really. I would like to serve the Sweet Corn Pudding with some kind of ham smothered in some kind of gravy. The scallops were just delicious with the basil and anchovies, and I think I would have liked it better if they were nestled on top of a turnip or parsnip puree. They are just so elegant that the pudding kind of threw us off. Either way, both were delicious, and quick to boot.

Seared Scallops with Basil, Anchovy and Sweet Corn Pudding (Photo by Anna Williams)

Hanger Steak with Herb-Nut Salsa – Hands down our favorite of the group. They had us at herb-nut salsa and Chef Naomi Pomeroy is one of my favorites. This was quick, delicious, crunchy, savory, herbalicious and packed a super flavor punch. if I’m in a pinch and want something I know is going to be the bomb, this is it.

Hangar Steak with Herb-Nut Salsa (Photo by Petrina Tinslay)

 

 

 

 

 

 

David Favorite, Emily Favorite, Quick and Delicious, Seafood, Uber Healthy

Spicy Sweet Salmon

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Yay! I cooked lambs! Our Tuesdays typically run pretty late in the kitchen assembling our little Crimps, but before I left for the evening I made the glaze and the hominy mixture for this meal from Bon Appétit,. I got home pretty tired but was so happy that I had to simply glaze the salmon and roast for 10 minutes in the oven. I reheated the hominy with a 1/3 cup of milk to give it a little bit more body and bam! dinner was served.

This took exactly 30 minutes to put together and was DELICIOUS. I served a little bit of fresh cilantro on top of the salmon to give the plate a little more pizazz. We loved this for its flavor, freshness and the unique blend of cumin, red wine vinegar, apricot jam, and chipotles on the glaze! Plus, according to the magazine, you get a good dose of Vitamin D through the salmon – winning. And with that, I might have just killing “winning”…good.

Roast Salmon with Sweet Chipotle Glaze and Hominy Puree

  • 2 servings
  • PREP TIME: 20 minutes
  • TOTAL TIME: 30 minutes
  • Recipe by Selma Brown Morrow
  • Bon Appétit, April 2011

Ingredients

  • 3 chipotle chiles (about) from canned chipotle chiles in adobo
  • 2 tablespoons apricot jam or preserves
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • Nonstick vegetable oil spray
  • 2 6- to 7-ounce salmon fillets with skin (scant 1 inch thick)
  • 1 15-ounce can hominy, drained, juice reserved
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation

  • Preheat oven to 450°F. Using back of spoon, press enough chipotles through fine sieve into small bowl to measure 2 teaspoons puree. Mix puree, jam, vinegar, and cumin in bowl; season glaze to taste with salt.
  • Coat small rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray. Arrange salmon on sheet; sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Spread half of glaze over each fillet. Roast until just opaque in center, about 10 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, puree hominy and 3 tablespoons reserved juice in mini processor until almost smooth. Transfer to small skillet. Add butter and cilantro. Stir over medium heat until warmed through, mixing in more reserved juice by teaspoonfuls if too thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  • Divide hominy between 2 plates, top with salmon, and serve.

Read More http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2011/04/roast_salmon_with_sweet_chipotle_glaze_and_hominy_puree#ixzz1I7VOhPjf

Dose of Veggies, Emily Favorite, French, Global Flavor, Seafood, This may contain fish sauce or anchovies, Uber Healthy

That is one hot salad….

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Here’s my pretend conversation with Gwyneth Paltrow about her dish, Hot Niçoise Salad.

Emily: So, let me get this straight. You are smart, funny, a great actress, gorgeous, married to Chris Martin from Coldplay, have two beautiful kids, an Oscar, a blog, travelled Spain with Mario Batali and Mark Bittman and now the most amazing thing you’ve accomplished (I kid, I kid) was the creation of this Hot Niçoise Salad. You’re an alien aren’t you?

Gwyneth: You’ll have to speak to my publicist.

Emily: Well, regardless this was absolutely incredible, something I’m going to add to my weekly diet, full of delicious flavors, simple to make, David and I might have snorted it in five seconds and it turned out to be a staff favorite at Food & Wine. I mean really, only an alien could create this amongst EVERYTHING ELSE you do. Hugs, sparkles and unicorn horns. XOXO.

Hot Niçoise Salad
P.S. I loved you in Sliding Doors.
Dose of Veggies, Quick and Delicious, Seafood

Mahi-Mahi with Tomato, Pepper, and Caper Sauce

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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)

Dose of Veggies, Fruit, Global Flavor, Seafood

Top Scallop

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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. 😉