Iranian Lamb Pilaf

This was easy, made a lot, and is VERY savory and good.  Would be nicer in the winter.

Here's the recipe:

And here's a hastily taken picture of the result!

Roasted Cherry Tomato Tart

Such a light and delicious tart!  We chose it because we had a lot of cherry tomatoes from our garden (!!)

Recipe is here:  https://www.fromachefskitchen.com/herbed-ricotta-roasted-cherry-tomato-tart/

We didn't have parsley or green onion so we just left them out but it was still delicious!  The lemon zest is really key.

Next time we'd figure out a way to halve the cherry tomatoes for greater coverage, and also chop the basil which goes in the ricotta.

Three Cup Chicken

This was easy and delicious!  A perfect weeknight Chinese dinner.

We used the NYT recipe:   https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017456-three-cup-chicken unaltered except that we added some cubed zucchini because we have a zillion and we like vegetables in our food.

(it made a lot more than this)

Chinese-style stir fried zucchini

Our quest to use our zucchini continues!  This was quite good, though.

I minced 3 cloves garlic and made ~ 6 ginger disks.

In 1 Tbsp oil I added the aromatics, and then sauteed about 1/4 lb ground beef.  When close to done, I added roughly 2 Cups zuchhini in quarter disks 3/4" thick.

After stir frying for awhile I added the sauce and cornstarch slurry to thicken.

Sauce was:

1/4 C fresh-made chinese-style chicken stock
1 Tbsp chili garlic sauce (we use lee kum kee)
1 heaping Tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp soy sauce

It was really great!

Chinese fish in wine sauce (attempt #1)

This was one of those learning experiences.  The result:

Flavor - good
Texture - not good

Also, not enough sauce for what we were trying to achieve.  I used a kind of hybrid recipe between a Martin Yan recipe in a book I have and this one:  https://hoohla.cooking/fish-in-wine-sauce

I had ~1 lb TJ frozen cod.  I dethawed, cut in half lengthwise so pieces were ~1/2" thick, and cut into roughly 1" by 2" pieces.

I marinated for 10 min with a sprinkle of salt, 1/8 tsp white pepper, 1 Tbsp corn starch and 1 whisked egg white.

Then I tried to pan fry in 2 Tbsp oil, but it stuck to the pan and everything went to hell.

SO, one option is cut the fillets larger, use a smaller non-stick pan with more oil.  A different option would be to flash deep fry them as many youtube recipes show (which is probably more restaurant style, but is a pain).

Anyway, I removed them from the pan, and then added ~ 8 ginger disks to more oil, and stir fried the 6 wood ear mushrooms cut into strips.  Then I added the sauce (see below) and the thickener and the fish, let it thicken and that was it.

For the sauce I used:
1/2 fresh made chinese-style chicken stock
2 Tbsp rice wine
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil

Zucchini Boat part 2 (tex mex style)

Here was our first zucchini boat attempt:  https://dobiekitchenlog.blogspot.com/2020/07/zuccini-boats-take-1-caprese-with.html

This time we:

Brushed boats with olive oil and sprinkled with salt.  Cooked ~10 min @ 400.

While that's happening:
In 1 Tbsp oil, saute:

1/2 C minced white onion
1/3 lb ground beef
... added 1/2 the zucchini innards (chopped), 1 jar "cowboy caviar" from TJ, and simmered for a few minutes.  I stirred in 1/3 C panko at the end.

After removing shells fill with inside mixture.  Top with cheddar cheese and broil until cheese browns.

It was very delicious!  Next time we might try it with minced mushrooms instead of ground beef, and only do 1/2 jar of cowboy caviar.  Might add more black beans as well.  (there's only a few in the cowboy caviar).

A good, solid chicken

5

Prepared according to Dave and Maria’s cookbook, with accompanying,lemon and caper sauce per their recipe.  On brown basmati rice. With salad on the side.  And a glass of wine, just like the book says. This is the second Day for this and chicken is still tender. Amazing! It is skinless breast and didn’t give it a brine bath or anything. 

Spanish Tumbet (Ridiculous layered vegetable casserole)

From:  "The New Spanish Table" by  Anya von Bremzen

So, this took A LONG TIME but was also very delicious!

The idea is that you slice a bunch of vegetables very thin, and then fry them in small batches.
Each layer alternates with a tomato/red/yellow-pepper compote.

Recipe for the compote:  In 1 T olive oil, saute 2/3 white chopped onion on med-low for 5 minutes until soft (not brown at all).  Add 1 clove chopped garlic for 30 seconds.  Add 2 lb very ripe tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped (I used a 28 oz can chopped tomato, drained).  Cook med-high for 3-4 minutes until liquid is released.  Add a pinch of sugar and 1/4 C white wine.  Cook 5 min more.  If too liquid, heat on high 1-2 minutes to reduce.

Chop 2 red bell pepper and 1 yellow.  In 2 Tbsp olive oil, heat on med-high until soft.  Then cover and simmer on low for 20 minutes.  Season with salt.  Uncovered on high reduce liquid for 1-2 minutes if necessary.

Combine with the tomato.

----

For the vegetables:  Cut the following into thin slices

3 yukon gold potato into 1/8" slices
2 medium sized zucchini, cut in half crosswise, then lengthwise into 1/4"
2 med firm purple eggplant, cut into 1/3" inch slices.

Generously salt the eggplant slices and let sit in colander for 30 minutes.  Rinse and pat very dry with paper towel.  The reason is because when you fry it you want all the moisture out.

In small batches in a large pan, fry the following in 6 Tbsp olive oil (adding more as necessary):
- potato for 4-min per side
- eggplant for 3-min per side
- zucchini for 2-3 min per side

Pat each batch dry on paper towels.

Layer into 9-12" dish in the following order:  Potato, a little salt, dabs of compote, zucchini, a little salt, dabs of compote, eggplant, a little salt, the rest of the compote.  We added some Parmesan on top.

***************

I would do this for a special occasion, but if I was going to do it again for just us I would:
- figure out how to roast in the oven instead of small-batch frying
- Add a layer of mushrooms =)

Author recommends:  parboil the potatoes.  Eggplant and zucchini can be brushed with oil and broiled.  Peppers can be roasted at 425 brushed with olive oil for 35 min.  Let them stand 15 min, peel and then chop.  OR broiler about 3" from heat for 15-20 min.

Raw potato

Chopped onion

Frying the potato in batches

Frying eggplant

Fried potato slices

Starting to do the layers

Zucchini layer...

More layers!

Ta da!

And here we are eating it!

Zuccini Boats (take 1) - Caprese with sausage

So we've got all these zucchini, and zucchini boats seem like a good solution.

I seem to have lost the recipe we sort-of followed, but more or less here it is:

- 2 zucchini, cut in halves with ends cut off and hollowed out with a spoon.

Brush with oil, lightly season with salt and cook @ 400F for 10 min.

Meanwhile combine half the zucchini inside (roughly chopped) with ~1/4 C shallot or red onion, ~1/2 C bread crumbs, bulk Italian sausage (we used 1 sausage with casing removed and sauteed in a pan).  1-2 chopped tomato, 1/2 ball mozzarella chopped into bits with some reserved for adding on the top, and ~1/2 C loosely packed basil leaves.

I sauteed the foregoing except cheese and basil in 1 T oil for a bit.  Then combined it with the cheese and basil, spooned it into the shells, put it back in, sprinkling additional cheese on top. and baked for ~15 min.  If you want, give it an extra blast at the end to brown the cheese.  Might be nice with some Parmesan in addition to mozzarella.