Delinquency

It has been a full month since I've posted. That is very bad of me. I don't know what my deal is -- it's not like I haven't been cooking, I've just been too lazy to blog about it. Like, two nights ago I made the Orzo Risotto with Sausage and Artichokes from this month's Food & Wine, and I was so hungry I couldn't even wait to take a picture of the food before I started devouring it. And I hate blogging without photos, so...

Okay, here's one meal that I successfully photographed. Actually, that's a lie. I made this meal, but the only reason it got photographed was because I was in Philly with Joe and he took a picture of it before we ate. It's a recipe from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food mag, and I was going to link to the recipe on the magazine's website, but it's not on there (weird). So I'll try to reconstruct it from my memory.


Balsamic Skirt Steak with Polenta and Roasted Tomatoes
serves 4

• 1-1/2 lb skirt steak
• 2 pints grape tomatoes
• 6 scallions, sliced into 1-inch pieces, white and green parts separated
  
• extra virgin olive oil
• coarse salt, black pepper
• 1 c. yellow cornmeal
• 1/4 c. freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 1 c. balsamic vinegar
  

Preheat oven to 400 F. Toss the tomatoes and white parts of the scallions with about a tablespoon of olive oil, spread on a baking sheet, and sprinkle with coarse salt and black pepper. Roast in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the skins of the tomatoes start to pop open. When they are done, toss them with the scallion greens. While tomatoes are cooking, season both sides of the steak with salt and pepper and pan-sear over medium-high heat with a little olive oil for about 4-5 minutes on each side (for medium rare). Meanwhile, bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan, then gradually whisk in the cornmeal. Continue whisking every couple of minutes until the polenta is thickened, about 10-12 minutes. When it's done, whisk in butter and parmesan and keep warm over very low heat (whisking in more water if it starts to get too thick). When the steak is done cooking, remove it from the pan to rest on a plate. In the pan the steak was in, add the balsamic vinegar and boil until reduced by half. Add any juices that accumulated from the resting steak. Slice the steak and, on the plate, drizzle with the balsamic sauce. Serve with polenta and tomatoes.

A Sustainable Seafood Stew

This week is crazy busy for me for some reason. Tons of reading for class, work for my internship, errands to run and events to attend. Somehow (not sure exactly how) I found time to make a pretty delicious meal tonight. Fortunately I have leftovers, so if I'm too busy to cook tomorrow, I won't have to starve.

This Spanish Fish Stew with Peppers, Almonds and Saffron is really quite healthy. I'm on phase 2 of South Beach, so I served it on top of some brown rice to make a really filling and awesome meal. I try to be really conscious about what seafood I eat; this summer I worked for an environmental non-profit organization called Oceana that does a lot of marine conservation, and I learned a lot about unsustainable fisheries and the damage to the oceans that a lot of fishing practices can do. Fortunately there are some kinds of seafood that aren't so terrible to eat, and those are what I put into my stew. Farmed clams are one of those OK seafoods - they don't have to be dredged off the ocean floor to be eaten. (Dredging kills everything that lives on the sea floor, like coral reefs and turtles.) Pacific halibut is also a fish you can eat with a clean conscience, because that's a fishery that's responsibly managed and not in huge danger of overexploitation. For a complete guide to ocean friendly seafood, Oceana publishes a great list and you can find it here.


Spanish Fish Stew with Peppers, Almonds and Saffron
Serves 4

• 1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 large red bell pepper, cut into strips
• 2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• salt and pepper
• 1 tsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/2 tsp. Spanish smoked paprika
• 1 bay leaf
• 1-1/2 c. dry white wine
• one 14-oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 1-1/2 c. water
• 1/4 tsp. saffron threads, crumbled into 2 Tbsp. hot water
• 1/4 c. salted roasted almonds
• 1 dozen littleneck clams, scrubbed
• 1-1/4 lbs. Pacific halibut, meat cut into 1-inch pieces

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy casserole. Add the onion, bell pepper strips and garlic and season with salt and black pepper. Cover and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add the rosemary, paprika, and bay leaf and cook for 1 minute. Add the white wine and bring to a boil. Simmer until the liquid is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, water and saffron and bring to a boil. Cover the casserole and cook over medium high for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, finely grind the almonds in a food processor. Stir in the almonds into the stew and simmer until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Add the clams, cover and cook until most of them open, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the fish and season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until the fish is cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Discard the bay leaf. Transfer to bowls; serve over brown rice if desired.

Sometimes Diets Aren't So Bad

I've been really frustrated recently because A) dieting sucks because you can't eat anything fun and B) if you're going to bother dieting you should at least be able to lose weight, right? Well, there's nothing I can do about that second thing right now (except bitch to anyone who will listen), but tonight I was determined to at least make something South Beach friendly that I would actually enjoy eating. A piece of wild Alaskan salmon solved all my problems. Behold a meal that is both delicious and healthy.


Seared Mediterranean Salmon
Serves one (because I'm a loser)

• 1 T extra-virgin olive oil
• salmon fillet (5-6 ounces)
• 1/2 cup chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 tomato, coarsely chopped
• 1 T chopped black olives (Nicoise or other)
• 1 T fresh Italian parsley, roughly chopped
• squeeze of juice from half a lemon
• 1 t capers, drained
• roughly torn fresh basil leaves (2-3)

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a heavy skillet until smoking. Sprinkle the salmon with salt and pepper. Cook to desired doneness. I like mine crispy on the outside and a bit rare in the middle, so I cooked mine about 3 minutes per side. Remove from the skillet to a plate. In the same skillet, add the chickpeas and all remaining ingredients except basil. Stir until warm. Season with salt and pepper. Serve the chickpea mixture on top of the salmon and top with the basil.

This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging #101, hosted by Myriam of Once Upon a Tart. WHB is a weekly food blogging event where bloggers post recipes using their favorite herbs, plants, veggies, and flowers. My herb of choice is fresh basil, showcased delightfully in this dish.