Mussels in Coconut Milk and Lime - Simple Saturday

I know some folks are saying, "Mussels for Simple Saturday, have you gone off the deep end?" Although, they may sound exotic to some, there is no simpler food to prepare than fresh Mussels.

Green Lipped Mussels in Coconut Milk & Lime

So, upgrade your idea of dinner for yourself and family, or treat your guests to a great starter by fixing Mussels in Coconut Milk and Lime.These are Green Lipped Mussels and are sustainably raised off the shores in New Zealand. You can actually order these and they come to you live and "smiling" from a company called, I Love Blue Sea. I've ordered seafood from them and like their concerned practices.Here are 5 things to know about Mussels:

1) You always want to cook Mussels that are living, which you can test by tapping on the shell. If it's good, it should close up.
2) They cook fast and easy in very little liquid for steaming, and they open up when done. After a few minutes, any that never open should be thrown away.
3) Green Lipped Mussels are known for guarding against inflammation in the body.
4) When steamed they give off their own salty taste, so they need very little added salt.
5) After they're cooked, they can also be chopped and served in soup, salads and grilled appetizers.The Green Lipped Mussels are some of the largest ones, and have a meaty and solid taste.This broth is great for sipping or pouring over some rice. Buy, steam and enjoy - it's very simple~

Recipe: Green Lipped Mussels in Coconut Milk and Lime
(serves 2 bowls, or 4 starters)

15-20 Mussels
2 Tbls. Butter
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1 cup Coconut Milk
1 Lime
pinch salt/pepper

1) Wash Mussels and pull off any beard (scruffy strings around the shell edges.)
2) In a large pot on Med. heat, melt the butter with the scallions and a pinch of salt and pepper.
3) Pour in about 1/4 cup of the Coconut Milk and add the Mussels. Put a lid on the pot and allow the Mussels to steam for about 3 minutes. Shake the pot a few times to distribute the Mussels.
4) Pour in the rest of the Coconut Milk, close the lid and heat for about 3 more minutes.
5) Remove the lid and make sure all the Mussels have opened up. If any are still closed, remove the open ones to a bowl and close the lid and heat for another couple minutes to give them a chance to open up. After that, remove any closed Mussels and discard.
6) Put the Mussels in bowls, squeeze Lime juice over them. Strain the Coconut Milk broth over the Mussels and serve with a garnish of green onion.

Now, you are simply fancy. Get slurping.

StoveTop Smoked Fish - A Crowd Pleaser

Stovetop Tea Smoked Fish done at home is like camping with a little style and... less dirt in your food. When I serve this at a party or bring it to a friend's house it's always accompanied by "wows and woos". There's always at least one guy who can't believe I smoked it myself, at home, with tea.

Tea Smoked Black Cod

I've written about Tea Smoked Salmon and in that post I gave a picture-filled HOW-TO using just foil and a casserole pot. This time I used a cast iron stove-top smoker (by Emerilware) that I've had for awhile. If you're interested (and there are a lot of uses for one), I found a different style at Chef's Catalog "StoveTop Smoker" right here.

(tea/rice/brown sugar/seasonings)

The other day I was thrilled to be a part of a video shoot for I Love Blue Sea - an online site for ordering fresh sustainable seafood. Along with Rachel at Fuji Mama, Allison at Sushi Day, and Greg at Sippity Sup, we prepared several recipes for I Love Blue Sea and they'll be running on that site soon (stay tuned.) When the shoot was over there were several seafood items left for us to take home with us. I did not have to be asked twice and I scored a gorgeous Black Cod and a dozen Green Lipped Mussels (post to come soon.) One of the handy facts about Tea Smoked Fish is that you can keep it in the refrigerator for a couple days and it still has a deep smokey flavor and since Black Cod is a moist, fatty fish with tons of good things going on for you-- - the thick flaky fish holds in the moisture and the earthy tea seasonings the whole time. I pretty well stayed to the same recipe as for the Tea Smoked Salmon, so check out that post HERE for details, along with the pics posted.

Black Cod Fish Tacos with Fried Radish

Thanks for stopping by, and smoke on! :D

DINNER? It's a SNAP-PER ~

One of the one million reasons I love Italian and generally Mediterranean cooking is the simplicity. A familiar attitude of the Italian Chefs is; Use fresh, simple, whole ingredients and try not to screw it up. In other words, let the food speak for itself and don't get in the way. When my local seafood market had a special on this gorgeous Red Snapper - I knew Dinner was a cinch.Red Snapper is a hardy white fish that can take hot or sweet spices and fresh or dry herbs and make them sing. The thicker skin on the Snapper keeps the fish well intact and makes it great for grilling, barbecue, roasting and frying in a whole form. The taste is nutty, filling and oh so healthy. And nothing could be easier than placing the fish inside a parchment envelope, throwing in a few aromatics, olives, lemons and a dash of white wine, closing it up and within minutes - Dinner is served! This is a perfect dish for working folks on a time budget, and it has enough WOW-factor for a dinner party. Ask your butcher/fish monger to gut and scale, but leave the rest to you. Choose a specimen that has bright eyes, tight skin and a fresh smell (good advice for a date, too, right? ) Stuff the fish with lemon slices, dash of salt, pepper, a few olives and a couple wedges of tomatoes or a squash vegetable is good. Preheat the oven to 375 F. On a large baking sheet, place an equally large sheet of parchment paper down and drizzle a little olive oil in the center. Then place the fish in the middle. Add, to your tasting, a few sliced onions, olives, capers, tomatoes, chopped parsley or dill and/or large chopped squash veggies on top of the fish. Season all over with salt and pepper (add a few red chili flakes too, if you like.) Then loosely drape another sheet of parchment paper over the fish and begin to fold three of the four sides up twice into an envelope. Before closing up the last side, add a couple tablespoons of dry white wine (or use lemon juice) to the inside. Fold up the last side twice. At all four corners, fold the corners over toward the middle creating a security lock for the side folds. Place the whole pan with the enveloped fish into the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the pan and let the fish and steam settle unopened for about 5 minutes. Carefully tear the parchment open from the middle. The fish can be served table-side and the au jus spooned over rice, or pasta - OR remove the fish from the bones and serve presented with the roasted olives and veggies. You may also want to pour the pan juice off into a sauce pan and reduce by a third, then whisk in a tablespoon of butter for a nice sauce. One last idea: save the bones for making fish stock - you'll love yourself later. You go! Snap, snap, snapper!

Daring to Cook: Spanish Rice with Squid

I took the dare! Now, here's the truth. I had SO much fun! This was my first time cooking with the DARING KITCHEN folks-- a group of bloggers, started by Lisa and Ivonne in 2006 and still going, growing and cooking! Once a month a host chooses a recipe for the challenge and this month's host is Olga from Las Cosas de Olga and Olga's Recipes. The recipe is from Jose Andres and his original recipe uses Cuttlefish, but no luck finding that - so mine is SQUID with RICE.

One of the many reasons I had a great time with this challenge is because Jose Andres is one of the most important Spanish Chefs of today and is one of my favorites, along with the chef he trained under at El Bulli - Ferran Adria. I met Ferran at a book signing once in LA, and spoke my broken Spanish to him, and he politely nodded- (probably thinking - I hope she cooks better than she speaks.) This recipe is from the television show of Jose Andres, MADE IN SPAIN and in a video he graciously helps by showing the preparations. Jose has several restaurants, and I've been lucky enough to eat in the Los Angeles one called, Bazaar; unbelievably and oddly fabulous!

I created my meal of Rice, Squid, Mushrooms and Artichokes for a large gathering at my house, so served it family style.
There was not one piece of rice left on that platter. I highly recommend trying this recipe - don't be shy with the steps - they build the complex flavors and are so worth it. The sofregit (stewed tomatoes, onions, artichokes and mushrooms, etc..) as made in the recipe is more than enough which is wonderful so you can freeze for later and/or use as a base for other soups, egg dishes, meat sauces, bruschetta and your imagination.

Another aspect to this recipe is the Allioli (not Aioli which is a delicious garlicy mayonaise made with egg). The Catalan mixture (classically done in a pestal & mortar) is composed of simply fresh garlic, salt, a touch of lemon juice and slow drizzles of good olive oil. (I used an organic award winning Olive Oil from the beautiful family run Agriturismo Fiorano in Le Marche, Italy) This was a labor of love and again, well worth it. Not only does this creamy fragrant dollop make the Rice and Squid talk to you, it also can be used in other dishes (ie. the Ribbon Squash and Olives that I sauteed and added the Allioli as an earthy flavor booster.)


Would I make this again? Oh, AND again. When you have people, with their mouths still full, asking you to please cook more of this - you know you have a double dare!



Check out the other DARING COOKS for their versions on this recipe.

Rice and Cuttlefish:

* 4 Artichokes (you can use jarred or freezed if fresh are not available)
* 12 Mushrooms (button or Portobello)
* 1 or 2 Bay leaves (optional but highly recommended)
* 1 glass of white wine
* 2 Cuttlefish (you can use freezed cuttlefish or squid if you don’t find it fresh)
* “Sofregit” (see recipe below)
* 300 gr (2 cups) Short grain rice (Spanish types Calasparra or Montsant are preferred, but you can choose any other short grain. This kind of rice absorbs flavor very well) – about 75 gr per person ( ½ cup per person) Please read this for more info on suitable rices.
* Water or Fish Stock (use 1 ½ cup of liquid per ½ cup of rice)
* Saffron threads (if you can’t find it or afford to buy it, you can substitute it for turmeric or yellow coloring powder)
* Allioli (olive oil and garlic sauce, similar to mayonnaise sauce) - optional
Directions:

1. Cut the cuttlefish in little strips.
2. Add 1 or 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and put the cuttlefish in the pan.
3. If you use fresh artichokes, clean them as shown in the video in tip #7. Cut artichokes in eights.
4. Clean the mushrooms and cut them in fourths.
5. Add a bay leaf to the cuttlefish and add also the artichokes and the mushrooms.
6. Sauté until we get a golden color in the artichokes.
7. Put a touch of white wine so all the solids in the bottom of the get mixed, getting a more flavorful dish.
8. Add a couple or three tablespoons of sofregit and mix to make sure everything gets impregnated with the sofregit.
9. Add all the liquid and bring it to boil.
10. Add all the rice. Let boil for about 5 minutes in heavy heat.
11. Add some saffron thread to enrich the dish with its flavor and color. Stir a little bit so the rice and the other ingredients get the entire flavor. If you’re using turmeric or yellow coloring, use only 1/4 teaspoon.
12. Turn to low heat and boil for another 8 minutes (or until rice is a little softer than “al dente”)
13. Put the pan away from heat and let the rice stand a couple of minutes.
Sofregit (a well cooked and fragrant sauce made of olive oil, tomatoes, garlic and onions, and may at times
different vegetables such as peppers or mushrooms)-

Cooking time: aprox. 1 hour
Ingredients:

* 2 tablespoons of olive oil
* 5 big red ripe tomatoes, chopped
* 2 small onions, chopped
* 1 green pepper, chopped (optional)
* 4 or 5 garlic cloves, chopped
* 1 cup of button or Portobello mushrooms, chopped (optional)
* 1 Bay leaf
* Salt
* Touch of ground cumin
* Touch of dried oregano

Directions:

1. Put all the ingredients together in a frying pan and sauté slowly until all vegetables are soft.
2. Taste and salt if necessary (maybe it’s not!)

Allioli is the optional part of the recipe. You must choose one of the two recipes given, even though I highly recommend you to try traditional one. Allioli is served together with the rice and it gives a very nice taste

Allioli (Traditional recipe)
Cooking time: 20 min aprox.
Ingredients:

* 4 garlic cloves, peeled
* Pinch of salt
* Fresh lemon juice (some drops)
* Extra-virgin olive oil (Spanish preferred but not essential)

Directions:

1. Place the garlic in a mortar along with the salt.
2. Using a pestle, smash the garlic cloves to a smooth paste. (The salt stops the garlic from slipping at the bottom of the mortar as you pound it down.)
3. Add the lemon juice to the garlic.
4. Drop by drop; pour the olive oil into the mortar slowly as you continue to crush the paste with your pestle.
5. Keep turning your pestle in a slow, continuous circular motion in the mortar. The drip needs to be slow and steady. Make sure the paste soaks up the olive oil as you go.
6. Keep adding the oil, drop by drop, until you have the consistency of a very thick mayonnaise. If your allioli gets too dense, add water to thin it out. This takes time—around 20 minutes of slow motion around the mortar—to create a dense, rich sauce.

José's tips for traditional recipe: It's hard to think that, when you start crushing the garlic, it will ever turn into something as dense and smooth as allioli. But don't give up. It's worth the extra time and effort to see the oil and garlic come together before your eyes. Just make sure you're adding the olive oil slowly, drop by drop. Keep moving the pestle around the mortar in a circular motion and keep dreaming of the thick, creamy sauce at the end of it all.