Sauteed Red Cabbage

My daughter fell in love with this recipe when she visited Prague a few years ago. 

Ingredients

1 red cabbage chopped thinly

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion chopped

2/3 apple cider vinegar ( ran out of apple cider vinegar and added white balsamic vinegar)

4 tablespoons sugar

Salt and pepper

Directions

Heat a skillet over medium high heat

Add the oil and onion and sauté for 3 minutes. 

Add cabbage and turn in pan, sautéing until it wilts.

Add vinegar to the pan and turn the cabbage in it.

Season with salt and pepper and reduce the heat

Let cabbage continue to cook 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

I would recommend making this a day ahead, it seems to be even better a day later.

Tuna Fish - Pan Seared

This Saturday, we bought fresh tuna fish steaks at the Farmer’s Market. I found a video by Jamie Oliver and decided to try his recipe for tuna.

He makes a crust using coriander seeds, fennel seeds, pepper corns and salt which he pounds in a pestle. The fish is seared in a hot non stick pan for no more than two minutes on each side.

We ate it with asparagus and new potatoes. Really delicious.

Ingredients

1 lb tuna fish (for two people)

Olive oil

1 teasp coriander seeds

1 teasp. Fennel seeds

1 teasp. Salt

1/2 teasp. Pepper corns

Directions

Grind all the herbs till they are like coarse bread crumbs.

Wash the fish and pat dry with a paper towel

Sprinkle the crushed seeds on a board and place the fish over the seeds, flipping the fish so you get both sides.

Take a little olive oil and pat on both sides of fish, massaging just a little.

Heat up the frying pan so it is very hot

Place the fish in the pan, should sizzle loudly and flip the fish after two minutes, continue to sear for 1 1/2 minutes, you want the fish to remain raw in the center.

Remove fish and serve with lemon juice.

Halibut Pan-Seared Marinated Fillets

This recipe is adapted from New York Times Cooking/ James Beard’s Theory and Practice of Good Cooking and Alex Witchel who also adapted James Beard’s recipe.

I had tried to make garlic paste (toom) but it failed and ended up like an oily lemony juice. So I marinated the halibut in the failed toom mixture in a plastic bag and then sautéed the fish. It was fantastic. 

Ingredients

6 tablespoons olive oil

3 garlic cloves peeled and minced

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 halibut filets

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Directions

In a large sealable plastic bag, combine 6 tablespoons olive oil, garlic, salt pepper and lemon juice. Add fish and seal the bag. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.

In a large skillet, pour vegetable oil ,tilting pan to evenly spread. Warm over high heat until smoking, then add fish fillets. Brush top and sides with marinade. Cook until seared, about 3 minutes, turn and sear other side about 3 more minutes. Brush top and sides with marinade again.

Depending on the thickness, this should be done, cook until centers are just opaque. If not done, reduce heat, cover pan and cook for another 2 -4 minutes.

Garnish with parsley

Strawberry/Rhubarb/Blackberry Crisp with Pecan and Rolled Oats Topping

Strawberry/Rhubarb/Blackberry Crisp 

Ingredients

8 stalks rhubarb

12 Strawberries

12 Blackberries

1 Apple

4 tablespoons white sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Topping

6 tablespoons chilled butter sliced

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup pecans

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit

Wash the rhubarb, strawberries halved and blackberries in a bowl.

Chop the rhubarb and place in a pan with 4 tablespoons white sugar and 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger. Simmer covered till the rhubarb is really tender. There will be quite a bit of juice.

Spray a pyrex dish with Pam.

Place the strawberries and blackberries in the pyrex dish, halve, quarter, core and chop an apple, add to the dish. 

Pour the stewed rhubarb over the top of the fruit.

To make the topping, place 6 tablespoons sliced chilled butter in a food processor, add 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour, pinch of salt and pulse for about 30 seconds till the mixture looks like small peas and is just beginning to clump together. Add 1/2 cup rolled oats and 1/2 cup pecans and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, pulse just a few times to combine.

Sprinkle topping over fruit and bake until golden and beginning to brown for 45-50 minutes.

Baked Beans (quick)

 Baked Beans 

Ingredients

1 can baked beans

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon yellow mustard

2 tablespoons ketchup

Directions

Mix all together

Bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit

Cabbage Salad Superior (Coleslaw)

 Coleslaw Superior

This coleslaw salad is made with green and red cabbage, 

plus a few carrots to add color. 

Better to mix the dressing closer to serving.

Ingredients

1/2 green cabbage.                                                                                           

1/2 red cabbage

2 carrots

1 apple

6 tablespoons poppy seed coleslaw dressing (Marie’s)

Directions

Chop the green and red cabbage into very thin strips, slice the carrots l

engthwise very thin, 

slice and chop an apple. Do not remove the skin.

Mix in 6 tablespoon coleslaw dressing. Cover and serve chilled. 

Three Bean Salad Magnificent

 Three Bean Salad Magnificent

When my daughter was in college, (Potsdam) she used to go to Montreal with her room mate to visit her uncle who gave her this recipe, the secret of its success is drying the beans and using vegetable oil. 

Ingredients

2 cans pink kidney beans

1 can chick peas

1 can dark red kidney white onion finely chopped

1/4 cup parsley finely chopped

3 tomatoes chopped

1 white onion finely chopped

Lemon juice of one lemon

2 tablespoons Vegetable oil

1 teasp. Salt

1/2 teasp. Pepper

1/4 teasp. Citric acid

Directions

The key to this dish is to drain the beans completely and put in a colander  lined with paper towels to dry as much as possible.

Place the beans in a bowl once drained, add the onion, parsley, lemon juice, tomatoes, vegetable oil, salt, pepper, citric acid and mix together. Taste and adjust the seasonings according to your taste.

Cover and put in fridge for at least an hour. Tastes better that way.