Striped Bass with Lemon Olive Sauce

My wonderful friend Chelsea had me over for dinner on Wednesday. I supplied the bass and she whipped up this tasty recipe. The firm, steaky bass holds up perfectly to the briny and citrusy sauce. So good! Thanks, Chels! (She served it with cabbage slaw and sweet potato latkes which I forgot to snap.)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 striped bass filets (or any firm white fish)

Olive oil 

2 lemons, peeled and thinly sliced, segments halved

Juice of 2 lemons

2 tbsp fresh oregano

2 tbsp capers

3/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, roughly chopped

Get Better Soup

I had a bad cold and started to feel a little flu-ish on Monday and went home from work. I made myself a soup that I thought might cure my cold and nausea. I think it worked as I soon felt better. It's cheap and easy and tasty. Maybe don't have it before a date...

Porchetta Pork Chops

 

I was away for a wedding this weekend - congratulations, Chip and Siobhan! - and wasn't doing any cooking, so yesterday I was anxious to make dinner. I saw this recipe on the Times for pork chops and thought it sounded great. I also picked up some avocado squash at the Union Square Market. I'd never had avocado squash it before but the sign said it was like zucchini only smoother and more buttery and holds up better on the grill. Yum! Both were great. The pork chops have a wonderful flavor with the rosemary, fennel, lemon, and garlic. Jamie loved them. The squash was perfect just tossed with olive oil, salt, garlic, and pepper and thrown under the broiler.

I also grabbed some shishito peppers for an hors d'oeuvre.

Roasted chicken with potatoes, asparagus, and lemon

Yum! This is so, so tasty! And easy! One pot, too. Pretty perfect meal. I found this great recipe on MarthaStewart.com. The potatoes are super crispy on the outside and soft inside and sweetened from the lemon, and the roasted lemon is very mellow and sweet instead of tart and acidic. The asparagus is cooked perfectly and still has a little crunch and the pan juices are flavorful and great drizzled on top. She recommended a roasting pan which I think would work fine. I only had a pyrex one, so I opted for a cast iron skillet instead so the potatoes would be crispier. It worked perfectly. Also, I got 4 chicken legs instead of a whole chicken cut up because it was way cheaper. I recommend that, as long as you like dark meat. The whole dinner cost $12 and would serve 4 (or 2 and then lunch the next day). Jamie was so psyched about it he asked, "Do I get to live like this forever?" with a big grin on his face.

Ingredients:
4 chicken legs
1 1/2 pound little red potatoes, halved
3 tbsp butter cut into little pieces
salt and pepper
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2" pieces
1 lemon, cut into 8 wedges
1 tsp dried thyme (she says fresh, but I didn't have any)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 475. Put the potatoes and 1 1/2 tbsp butter in the skillet and season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 20 minutes until golden brown.

Squid with Watermelon and Basil

After a long weekend of lots of food, Jamie and I wanted something fresh and healthy for dinner. I saw this recipe in Simple, Fresh, Southern and immediately started drooling. Watermelon just sounded so refreshing and nice, and I love fresh calamari. It's pretty simple - you just need to have an hour or two so it can marinate. It's pretty with bright pink and green from the watermelon and basil and it tastes great. Put in more jalapeno to give it a bigger kick.

Serves 2, double it for 4
Ingredients:
kosher salt
1 lemon, halved
1/2 lb cleaned squid, cut into 1/3" rings and tentacles cut in half
4 oz seedless watermelon cut into 1x1x1/4" tiles (about 1 cup)
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
1/2 a jalapeno, finely chopped
a little less than 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
leaves from 2 sprigs basil, roughly chopped

Saganaki (Greek Fried Cheese)

Just back from an amazing trip to Greece! I have a house in the Cyclades (my family does) and I went for a week with a few friends. Even though the kitchen is rustic - no electricity, the fridge runs on gas, etc - it is my favorite place to cook. I love to cook up a simple lunch of tzatziki, pita, and saganaki which is always a huge hit after sitting on the beach and swimming in the beautiful, salty, Aegean Sea. Saganaki is essentially the Greek version of mozzarella sticks. Usually at a restaurant, they serve it as one big square, but I prefer cutting it into little squares to make it easier to snack on and share and it's great for groups. After lightly flowering the cheese, you quickly fry it up and cover the cooked cheese with a generous dose of fresh lemon juice. The big, red, ripe tomatoes and the acid of the lemon juice cut through the heaviness of the cheese and make the most delicious lunch! Served with a cold bowl of tzatziki and some toasted pitas (and a nice, icy Mythos) it's the perfect meal for a hot, sunny summer day.

Ingredients:

1 package of Kolios cheese (a Greek semi-hard cows milk cheese)

Salt Crusted Snapper

I went to the fish market in Hampton Bays this weekend and picked up a couple of things for a seafood fish. Mussels, calamari, and a beautiful red snapper. (Cor J fish market in Hampton Bays has an amazing selection of seafood and prices are great.) I'd been wanting to make a salt crusted fish since I saw someone do it on the Today show a while back. I love snapper, and their fresh snapper looked beautiful, so that was my fish. It doesn't take too much time, but it looks very impressive and is amazingly juicy and flavorful.

(This is for 4 people, but along with a few other things.)

Ingredients:
1 whole red snapper (cleaned, scaled and gutted)
2 lemons (1 quartered and one sliced thinly)
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 1/2 cups kosher salt
6 egg whites
olive oil

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350. Dry off the fish. Rub olive oil all over it. In a metal bowl, beat the eggwhites until the form soft peaks. Then gently fold in the salt. Spread a thin layer of the salt mixture onto a baking sheet (lined w/ foil or parchment for easier clean up). This should be just a little bigger than the fish. Put the fish on top of the salt spread. Put the herbs and as many lemon slices that fit comfortably in the cavity of the fish with a little olive oil. Now cover the entire fish so that it is encased in the salt mixture. Put the whole thing in the oven.
Let it cook for about 35 minutes, then take it out and let it rest for 15. The salt crust should be hard. Crack the crust off the top of the fish and peel back the skin. Chop of the head of the fish (so you can remove the spine to serve pieces from the bottom.) Serve the fish in pieces. There should be about 2 servings on top of the spine and 2 below. Serve it with a quarter of a lemon and some olive oil.