November 2006
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Month November 2006

Entries 5 Total

Swordfish with Braised Endives

Nov 30, ’06

The Dr. was on call so I knew I had time to make dinner before he comes back from the hospital. I stopped by the Blue Moon fish stand at the farmers’ market on my way to work and bought a couple of swordfish steaks. I’ve been buying fish from them because they also give me fish heads for free to make stock. Lately, I go up and check what’s on their blackboard and buy the kind I’ve never cooked before. We caught a swordfish when we were vacationing in Panama but we let the bugger go because he was so small. Notorious for being elusive, it’s a good fish to catch for sport. The FDA warns about high amounts of methylmercury in them so it’s been adviced not to eat them more than one serving a week. But oh, they make an excellent dinner with a bottle of white wine and they can make a very tired doctor happy.

Ingredients:
2 swordfish steaks, sliced about 1/2-inch thick
2 bulbs of endive, leaves separated
6 slices of bacon
a handful of cherry tomatoes, cut in half
2 garlic cloves, minced
juice of half a lemon
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp sugar
parsley, finely chopped
salt, pepper, olive oil

1. Marinade swordfish in a shallow dish with the garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper and olive oil. Make sure the fish is well-coated. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.
2. Braise endives in the meantime. In a deep skillet, bring 1 cup of water, butter, sugar, a pinch of salt and pepper to a simmer. Add endive in one layer and braise them, covered, turning wedges over once in a 10-minute period. Remove lid and increase heat to medium-high, then cook until all of liquid is evaporated and endive is caramelized, about another 6 minutes. Transfer to a serving plate.
3. Place swordfish on a baking sheet with the tomatoes and broil in the oven for about 20 minutes or until fish is tender and cooked through, turning over once. Place on top of the endives.
4. Cook bacon in a skillet until golden brown and crispy while the fish is in the oven. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel and drain. Chop roughly and sprinkle all over fish with the parsley. Serve with lemon wedges.

Related post/s:
What the FDA says about swordfish
Buy fish from the Greenmarket

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Steamer Clams in Wine-Basil Broth

Nov 30, ’06

I cooked these steamer clams the way I cook mussels, but I added some fresh basil to give the dish a different taste. It was a nice appetizer with crusty ciabatta bread.

Ingredients:
half a dozen steamer clams, rinsed
2 tbsps butter
1 cup of dry white wine
a small bunch of basil leaves
1 bay leaf
parsley, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced

1. Put the shallots and white wine into a large stainless steel pot. Add the clams and cover. Steam them over high heat until the clams have opened, about 5 minutes.
2. Drain the clams into a large bowl, saving the liquid. Discard unopened clams. Return the liquid to the pot and bring to a boil. Add the butter, basil and chopped parsley. Pour this broth over the clams and serve immediately.

Related post/s:
Mussels with white wine

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Frankie’s 457

Nov 29, ’06

457 Court Street off 4th Place, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
718/403.0033
about $150 for four, with a bottle of wine, without tip, cash only
♥ ♥

Update, February 2009: I had a lovely weekday lunch here with gnocchi and meatballs. Both were in tomato sauce that had their own tastes. (It wold have sucked if they used the same sauce for two different dishes, no?) The salads–fennel, celery root and arugula with mozarella–were brightened by a squeeze of lemon juice and good olive oil. They were simple and just made me very happy.

We walked in Sunday night for an early dinner and Frankie’s was already packed. We were seated in the restaurant in the back, a separate space mainly used for private parties. The main dining room seemed homey with guests eating sandwiches and crostinis, but the back felt more comfortable with only five tables. After they turned down the music volume in the back, we felt like we were having our own small dinner party at home.

Frankie’s menu showcases the same comfort food I’ve gotten used when dining in Brooklyn. There were no seafood selections, which disappointed me a bit, because I was in the mood for fish after celebrating Thanksgiving. The home-made cavatelli with hot sausage and browned sage butter was excellent. The roast loin of pork with broccoli rabe and pine nut polenta was hearty and filling. The desserts could use a little excitement though, because sometimes tiramisu, creme brulée and cheessecake just don’t quite cut it.

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Turkey Tacodillas

Nov 26, ’06

For Thanksgiving this year, we had two roasted turkeys, one ham, five black sea bass, lumpia, or Filipino spring rolls, and three different kinds of salads to serve to eighteen people who celebrated with us in the apartment. We thought there would be a lot of leftovers but we were wrong. Our guests were good eaters and they cleaned everything off their plates. With the small amount of turkey meat left, I made some tacos and I made some quesadillas for lunch the next day. After eating a couple of them, I thought, why not mix them together? I call them tacodillas.

Ingredients:
leftover Thanksgiving turkey meat, off the bone, shredded
soft flour tortillas
Monterey Jack cheese, grated
1 tomato, chopped
1 small red onion, finely chopped
cilantro, finely chopped
lime juice
flaming cock hot sauce

1. Cut a tortilla in half. Prepare on a skillet. Lay one half of the tortilla and add some cheese and turkey meat, then follow with the rest of the filling. Cover with the other half of the tortilla.
2. Turn the heat on to medium. Using a heavy but smaller pot lid, press the tortilla to flatten. The heat will melt the cheese inside and make the two tortillas stick to each other. Turn and brown the other side using a wooden spatula or a flat spoon.

Related post/s:
Where to get Sriracha, or what I call the flaming cock hot sauce

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Pomegranate Meatballs with Tomato Mint Salad

Nov 25, ’06

Tyler asked me where he could buy pomegranate molasses. I’ve had Pom juice before but I’ve never heard of pomegranate in molasses form. I Googled and found out that it’s typically used in Mediterranean dishes. He found it for $8 at Dean and Deluca and used it to make some sort of appetizing tapenade. A few days later, I found a $4 bottle in Chinatown sans the pretty burlap packaging. I slathered the molasses in meatballs to give them that sweet and sour taste and served them with tomato mint salad.

Ingredients:
pork and beef ground meatballs
cumin seeds, grounded
coriander seeds, grounded
turmeric powder
red chilis, crushed
3 tbsps pomegranate molasses
tomatoes, chopped
mint leaves, finely chopped
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
salt, pepper, olive oil

1. Make meatballs. Dip in pomegranate molasses and then gently roll each ball on cumin, coriander, turmeric and red chilis.
2. In a deep skillet, heat some oil and fry meatballs until golden brown in medium to low fire. The molasses will burn faster than the meat so keep them bouncing in the hot oil using a strainer ladle.
3. Make tomato mint salad by combining tomatoes and mint in a bowl, dressed with red wine vinegar, olive oil and some salt and pepper. Top with meatballs.

Related post/s:
How to make your own meatballs
Meatballs the Swedish way

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