Mustard and Creme Fraiche-Roasted Fish

This is a quick, easy, and tasty Ina Garten recipe. The whole thing takes about 20 minutes. The sauce is so flavorful.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 filets of fish (I used striped bass - wonder why?)

1/2 cup creme fraiche 

1.5 tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tbsp grainy mustard

1 small shallot, finely chopped

1 tsp capers, drained

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425. Mix the creme fraiche, mustards, shallot, and capers and season with salt and pepper. 

Coq a la Biere (Chicken Cooked in Beer)

I made this years ago when I was abroad in Paris but hadn't thought of it again until today. It's basically the same as coq au vin but with beer instead of red wine. It has such a great flavor and it a perfect fall or winter hearty dinner served over some buttered egg noodles. It also makes your house smell wonderful.

Champagne to go

I picked up a few of these as a hostess present. The champagne is pretty good. It's from Francis Ford Coppola's winery. The concesus was that it's weird to drink champagne out of a can with a straw, so we poured them into champagne glasses. I do think it would be perfect for a picnic as it's a bit inconspicuous. 

Stracciatella Soup (Quick and Cheap)

I needed a quick, cheap lunch and decided on stracciatella with arugula. It took about 5 minutes start to finish and was practically free. It's perfect for lunch or a light dinner with some bread and salad. 

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 cups worth of chicken bouillon (or homemade or store bought if you have it)

1 big handful arugula or spinach, cut into ribbons

A few tbsp freshly grated pecorino

1 egg

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Bring the stock to a boil. Season with salt. Add arugula and cook until tender. Meanwhile, mix the egg, cheese, and a good grind of fresh pepper. Whisk the egg mix into the water so it forms ribbons. 

Serve immediately. 

Apple Pie

Jamie loves apple pie and I had a free Sunday, so I whipped this one up. Yum! The maple syrup is a nice touch. I like to use a mix of different apples, this time I did Granny Smith, Gala, Fuji, Honeycrisp, and McIntosh. I used the recipe from Four and Twenty Blackbirds for Salt Pork Apple Pie but ditched the salt pork.

Candied Bacon (or crack)

If you need a new make-ahead salty cocktail snack, this is it. It's salty and sweet and crunchy and bursting with flavor. It's completely addictive and totally delicious.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup nuts (I like spicy smokehouse almonds)

1/4 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp chipotle powder

1/2 tsp oregano

1 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 lb bacon

Directions:

Blend first six ingredients in a food processor. Add maple syrup until it's almost in a sandy paste. Season to taste with more sugar or chipotle as you like.

Habanero Cauliflower Puree and Adobo-Marinated Flank Steak

I bought some pretty orange cauliflower at the Union Square market and still had some adobo sauce leftover so thought I'd make something Mexican. I bought a habenero and some flank steak, too, and decided to make a spicy cauliflower puree to go with it. It was delicious and all the flavors really go well together, especially with some good spicy salsa. 

Adobo Fish Tacos

I already teased the picture here in my tortilla post, but these tacos were fabulous. (And gave me a chance to use my lovely bass.) The adobo sauce is pretty simple - you just need the peppers - but it gives the fish a really nice flavor. It's healthy and tasty, especially served with some chopped jalapenos, pineapple salsa, radishes, and chipotle salsa. 

Ingredients:

2 dried ancho chilis

3/4 cup water, for blending

2 tbsp white vinegar

1 garlic clove, peeled

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp oregano

pinch cumin

1 tbsp oil

2 pieces of firm fish such as striped bass

juice of 1/2 a lime

Homemade Tortillas

As promised, now for the homemade tortilla recipe. It's really easy and pretty quick. It would be really quick if I had a griddle and could fit more tortillas on at once (my cast iron skillet only fits two at a time and even then they overlap). They taste great and fresh and are nice and pliable. 

Makes about 8-10 tacos

Ingredients:

1 cup masa harina corn flour (it should say good for tamales and tortillas on the bag)

3/4-1 cup warm water

big pinch salt

Chipotle and Roasted Garlic Salsa

This is an easy salsa that's so spicy and smokey and great on tacos. 

Ingredients:

2 dried chipotle peppers

3 garlic cloves, peeled

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar 

1/4 cup water

1/2 tsp kosher salt

Directions:

Heat a cast iron skillet to medium-low heat. Toast the chipotles and garlic. The chipotles for about 5 minutes and the garlic until it's soft and has some charred spots, 8-10 minutes. 

Puree the peppers, garlic, and remaining ingredients for at least 2 minutes until smooth. Season with salt and vinegar.