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Archive for November, 2010

Main Dishes,Seafood

November 10, 2010

Baked Fish with Chorizo & White Beans
Posted by Chammer

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Mmmm…fish. Okay, so not my favorite food. However, I went to a fish market where I could literally see the ocean from their back window (though it was night when I was there, so not really). This was a fantastic fish recipe! And of course, I’m sure the fresh fish did not hurt at all (pretty sure it was caught the same day I bought it…yesterday!). Mmmm…

(recipe courtesy EatingWell.com)
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 ounces Spanish chorizo or turkey kielbasa, diced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup dry white wine, divided
1 15-ounce can great northern beans, rinsed
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1 1/4 pounds white fish, cut into 4 pieces
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Preparation
Preheat oven to 425°F. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add shallot, chorizo (or kielbasa) and thyme and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes and 1/4 cup wine. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are broken down and the wine is almost evaporated, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in beans and 1/4 teaspoon salt and remove from the heat.
Sprinkle fish with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper; place in the prepared baking dish. Top each piece of fish with equal amounts of the tomato mixture (about 1/2 cup per fillet). Pour the remaining 1/4 cup wine into the pan and cover the pan with foil. Bake until the fish is just cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve the fish with the sauce spooned over the top.

Appetizers

November 2, 2010

Carmelized Onion and Apple Tartlets
Posted by Chammer

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I made this as an appetizer for Bunco, but I wanted to make it my own.  Lots of recipes called for Puff Pastry dough, and if they called for tart dough, they didn’t have apples or something.  So, I read a bunch of recipes and came up with this one.  It is tasty!

For the dough:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. sugar
  • 12 Tbs. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 7 Tbs. ice water

For the topping:

  • 1 1/2 TBSP Olive Oil
  • 1 TBSP Butter
  • 2 small onions
  • 2 Granny Smith apples
  • 1 TBSP Balsamic vinegar
  • Kosher salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
  • 1 egg yolk
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and sugar. Using a pastry blender or in a food processor, cut in the butter until pea-size crumbs form.  Add the water 1 Tbs. at a time and mix with your hands, adding more water as needed until the dough comes together. It should be moist but not sticky.Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, divide into 2 balls and shape each into a 5-inch disk. Cover separately with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

While tart dough is chilling, cut onions into thin strips.  Peel and dice apples into 1/4 inch cubes.  In a heavy skillet with a lid, heat olive oil and butter  over medium-low heat.  Cook onion, covered but stirring occasionaly, for 10 minutes, until it begins to have a golden hue.  Remove lid and add apples.  Cook another 10 minutes, or until apples are softened but still have some bite, and onions are a deep golden color.  Stir in balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper.  Remove from heat.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out each dough disk to 1/8 inch thick.  Using a cookie cutter, cut dough into rounds. Transfer rounds to parchment-lined baking sheets and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Remove rounds from refrigerator and par-bake rounds for six minutes.
While rounds are baking, combine ricotta and egg yolk in a small bowl.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for 3-4 minutes.  Then, top with 1 tsp ricotta mixture and 1 to 1 1/2 TBSP onion mixture.  Return to oven and bake for another 8-10 minutes, or until rounds are golden brown along the edges and filling is heated through.
Makes 24 tartlet rounds.  Enjoy!