QUICK, EASY AND TASTY

 

                                    Quick, Easy and Tasty

           Its’ mid-March and we seem to have survived the ‘Ides of March’ and St. Patrick’s day has been duly celebrated with appropriate food and libations. As I write, daylight saving time has lengthened our days and the Vernal or Spring equinox is arriving this Sunday March 20^th .  As it’s Latin name ‘Vernal’ implies we need to think ‘fresh and new’.

At the same time spring comes with more outdoor activities even if you are not a farmer. So, often the time for evening meal preparation seems to have shrunk and requires deft handling to come up with something tasty in minimal time. Stir fries provide an infinite variety for new combinations using beef, chicken or pork and a multitude of ingredients from your refrigerator and pantry. This combination of beef with kimchee was recently successful at our house but could taste as well using pork and kimchee, which gives it a slightly tart and spicy flavor.

                                       Beef and kimchee stir fry

Prepare the ingredients: ½ large onion and ½ carrot cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced, 1 cup coarsely sliced mushrooms, 1 large chopped garlic clove, ¾ -1 cup shredded kimchee and 2/3 lb. sirloin sliced in ¼ inch or less.

1)    In a heavy pan heat 2 tblsp. peanut oil and when hot stir fry the beef 2-3 minutes with a sprinkle of salt until seared on both sides. Set aside.

2)    Turn heat to medium and sauté the onion, mushrooms, carrots and garlic for 2 minutes. Stir in 1 tsp. toasted sesame oil, 1 tblsp. soy sauce and the kimchee. Cook for 4 minutes, occasionally stirring the mixtures.

3)    Stir in the beef and 2 sliced scallions to heat and serve with rice.

Before stir-fries became so popular, cream sauces provided the vehicle for quick meals with either processed meat or leftover meat or even seafood.

                       Creamed dried beef or ham

Melt 3 tbslp. butter in a large pan and sauté 1 finely chopped stalk of celery on medium heat for 5 minutes. On low heat stir in 3 scant tblsp. flour and then slowly blend in 2 cups milk. Cook with constant stirring until thickened and smooth. Stir in seasonings: ½ tsp. salt, ¼ tsp. pepper, ½ tsp. dry mustard, 1 tsp. onion powder, 1 tsp. mushroom powder (optional). Stir in 4 oz. dried beef cut in strips, heat and serve on a baked potato, toast, pasta or rice. With the coming spring, this would be equally good made with strips of ham and asparagus spears that have been pre-cooked for 3 minutes.

          One of my favorite quick meals as a graduate student many years ago was a slightly different creamed tuna on an English muffin. It still appears at our house sometimes as a luncheon dish.

                                 Creamed tuna with dill

          Heat 1 tblsp. olive oil in a medium pan and sauté ½ medium onion and 1 stalk celery finely chopped for 5 minutes on low heat. Stir in 4 oz. canned mushrooms drained, 1tsp. dill seed, 1 tblsp. lemon juice and 6 oz. canned tuna, packed in water and drained. Break up the tuna with a fork and stir in enough sour cream to moisten and make it slightly saucy. Heat, but do not allow to boil or the cream will curdle. Serve on a toasted English muffin.

          Here is looking forward to the coming asparagus and strawberry seasons!

 (I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)

 

 

 

SEAFOOD WITH MEDITERRANEAN FLAVORS

 

Seafood with Mediterranean Flavors

           Last week March brought us more snow and cold after teasing us with a few warm days.  The barely open white tips of pussywillow catkins, opposite our kitchen window, in their confusion were trying to crawl back in their casings. So, it was tempting to escape in memories of past travels around the Mediterranean, where the sun is warm, and the air is fragrant with mimosa and other blossoms arriving this time of the year.

          Mental escapes for the cook are easy to translate in colorful and fragrant recipes in the kitchen. All that is needed are a well-stocked pantry and refrigerator and you are ready for a flavorful journey starting with olive oil on to tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, olives, basil, thyme, oregano and a touch of rosemary. 

                                                  Shrimp Siciliano

          This recipe for 2 uses ½-2/3 lb. large shrimp, either fresh or pre-cooked. For raw shrimp, peel and devein shrimp and sauté in a large pan in 2 tblsp. olive oil with a clove of chopped garlic, just until they turn pink. Set shrimp aside.

1)    In the same pan melt 1 tblsp. butter with 1 tblsp. olive oil and sauté 2 sliced shallots with 4 large, sliced mushrooms for 5 minutes.

2)    Stir in 1 tblsp. lemon juice, 1 and ½ tsp. Sicilian seasoning and 1/3 each red and green peppers, seeded and julienned. Cook for 3 additional minutes.

3)    Stir in ½ cup chicken broth, 1and ½ cups broccoli florets. Cook for 2 minutes, stir in the shrimp and cook for an additional minute. Serve with rice in shallow bowls.

Favorite fish from the Mediterranean are grouper, flounder, Sea Bream, tuna and swordfish. Sea Bream is a meaty textured fish and cod, and snapper are fine substitutes for it in New England. The shrimp and cod recipes described here purposely use commercially available seasoning mixes, since they require a complex mix of herbs. And some of these may not be in our everyday pantry like lavender, one of 10 ingredients in Provençal seasoning.

                                                              Cod Provençal

          Assemble the topping ingredients and cut the vegetables for the fish topping.

1)    Cut 1 lb. cod fillet in 4 oz. portion sized pieces, season with salt and pepper and dredge them in flour. Shake off excess flour and fry the cod in 2 tblsp. light olive oil until barely cooked through, about 2 minutes to a side. Set aside and keep warm.

2)    In the same pan, heat 1 tblsp. olive oil and sauté 1 thin sliced onion for 3 minutes with ¼ red pepper, seeded and cut in ¼ inch julienne strips. Stir in 2 chopped garlic cloves, 1 heaping tsp. Herbes de Provençe seasoning, 1 cup chopped fresh or drained canned tomatoes, 2 tsp. white wine vinegar, 1/3 cup sliced Kalamata olives and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the green parts of 2 scallions.

3)    Serve cod topped with the vegetable topping aside of rice or parsley boiled potatoes.

Aside from fish and shrimp, Mediterranean cooking also features such delicacies as squid, octopus, whelks, cockles, crab and bivalves - clams and mussels. The following recipe works well with either clams or mussels and originated as an improvisation during a family camping trip in Nova Scotia many years ago. The boys discovered a secluded cove near where we had pitched our tent, good for poking around at low tide and found mussels.  One evening Mark arrived with a sopping shirt as a bag full of mussels. The recipe has since evolved to contain wine and additional spices, but the original was tasty with just onions, garlic and tomatoes cooked in salted water.

                   Mediterranean mussels

Scrub and soak mussels in salted water to remove as much sand as possible.

In a large pot heat 1 tblsp. olive oil and sauté 1 thinly sliced onion, 2 chopped garlic cloves, 2 chopped fresh tomatoes, ½ green pepper seeded and julienned for 3 minutes. Add 1 tsp. oregano, 2 tsp. basil, ¼ tsp. red pepper flakes, 2 cups dry white wine and the mussels. Bring to boil and cook until mussels are open. Remove from heat and serve sprinkled with chopped parsley and crusty bread.

Colorful and tasty escapes are bound to brighten any day!

         

(I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)