The easiest way to stretch 3 ounces of pasta into a really satisfying meal is to add a lot of vegetables. Ahead of the pasta getting cooked I sautéed 8 ounces of mushrooms and a big handful of asparagus spears cut into bite-sized pieces. When the pasta was cooked I added it to the veg along with some pasta water, a little butter, and olive oil. It was a tasty and enjoyable dinner for two.
When we were first married John and I lived in Massachusetts. Since we never ate any sort of seafood in my house growing up (New Jersey) the first clam chowder I ever had was New England clam chowder. I wasn’t much of a cook then so the chowder usually came out of a can, gloppy and thick. But I knew there must be a better recipe.
In 2017 I ran across a recipe by Giselle Hamilton in an article about her in The NY Times.
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018768-chowder-soaked-toast?smid=ck-recipe-iOS-share
It was too fussy and there was too much cream but I figured I could use it as a basis for my clam chowder. You can keep adding cream until it is as creamy as you would like.
Light clam chowder
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
2 ribs of celery, diced
2 leeks, dark, woody green parts removed, ¼” coins
10 ounces russet and new potatoes, medium dice
2 sprigs thyme, picked
2 sprigs tarragon
6 ounces dry white wine
2 bottles/16 ounces clam juice
Juice from 2 cans chopped clams (~8 oz.)
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons to 1/2 cup heavy cream (your choice)
12 ounces chopped clams (2 cans, reserved liquid, see above)
3-4 slices of toasted hearty bread or oyster crackers (optional)
In a Dutch oven, heat the olive oil, and add onion, celery, leeks, potatoes, tarragon, and thyme, stirring to coat. Season with salt, and cook over low heat until the vegetables have just started to soften, taking care not to brown, about 5 minutes. Deglaze with white wine and then add the clam juice and reserved clam liquid. Simmer until potatoes and vegetables are cooked through.
Stir in the cream taking care not to boil. Add the chopped clams, and season to taste with salt and ground black pepper. Remove from heat.
Serve with toasted bread, saltines, or oyster crackers (optional)
Last week we made leche de tigre not as a marinade for ceviche but as a sauce to put over our fish. We had a bunch of it left and I thought I could improve on it and use it with our fish dinner this week. The lime juice I put in it really took over the sauce last week. I added additional sugar, some fresh orange juice, and fish sauce. It really helped out! Fish sauce is like a magic ingredient.
John cooked the fish in a 400F oven for 12 minutes and it came out perfectly. He also made the rice. I cooked the carrots in some brown sugar, butter, salt and pepper. The whole dinner was a success.
This is such an easy dinner! Sarah took the chicken apart. One breast was sliced up and heated in chicken gravy. The other breast was shredded and frozen. The legs and thighs are for soups and lunches. The bones are for stock. We make a $4.99 chicken from Costco go a long way. I used a packet of dehydrated mashed potatoes that you add butter, milk, and water to. It’s not as good as real mashed potatoes but with the gravy it tasted pretty good. The broccoli I cut into florets and steamed.
Prepping the vegetables is the most time-consuming part of this dinner. I made two traysful. On one tray was a head of cabbage divided into eighths, an onion also sliced into eighths, and a small piece of fennel divided in two. Before putting the vegetables on the tray I put them in a plastic bag with olive oil and salt and shook them around. The other tray held carrots and Brussels sprouts. I started the Brussels sprouts 10 minutes after the carrots.
The vegetables cooked in a 425F oven for about 35 minutes (and 25 minutes for the sprouts.) they had some nice browning.
We opted not to cook the sausage on the sheet pan. I was afraid they would exude too much grease. John cooked them in a little water and then when the water evaporated they browned in a little olive oil.
We are back from our vacation and it is time to return to our regular dining fare. We made some great dishes last week but we need to be eating less butter, sauces, and red meat!
This is a dinner that Jonathan and I kind of cobbled together from various cooking sites. The coconut rice was a cup of rice, 3/4 cup coconut milk, 3/4 cup water, and some salt. We sprinkle some lime zest and toasted coconut on just before serving. Since it was a little bland next time I would use the whole can of coconut milk, no water, and Jon suggested a pinch of sugar.
John cooked the Chilean sea bass and it turned out perfectly.
Jonathan and I also tried to make leche de tigre as a sauce rather than a marinating liquid for ceviche. We started out with 1/2-3/4 cup fresh lime juice, the rest of the can of coconut milk (6oz), a celery stick, a shallot, some cilantro, garlic, 2 tablespoons of ginger, some salt, and a whole Fresno chile. After processing it in the blender it was way too citric. So we tried some oil, more salt, some sugar, and ultimately a handful of shredded coconut. I think it needed some fish sauce for umami but we did not have any.
The dinner was pretty fun and tasty. It was something you would expect on a tropical isle and not in the desert of Utah! We will work on the sauce to make it repeatable.
Our last night here we are just going to get a pizza before we start the long drive home on Sunday. It makes me so happy to spend a vacation with Jonathan and one separately with Sarah. Each of our adult children still want to spend time with us which is a really special gift.
John and I bought this steak on Wednesday and planned to have it with the leftovers from Jonathan’s fancy scallop dinner. We needed something quick and easy to do since the guys were gone most of the day Thursday playing golf and I did not have a car for any additional shopping.
The dinner turned out great! The steak was cooked perfectly and went well with the reheated leftovers. We left the beurre blanc in its solid form and let it melt like a compound butter over everything else. I was afraid that if I tried to reheat it, the sauce might break.
On Friday Jonathan and I are going to dream up a recipe. The plan is to make coconut rice, bake pieces of white fish, and serve the whole thing with a leche de tigre sauce. We will garnish it with mango, cilantro, and toasted coconut. Fingers crossed that it will all work out!
I mostly prepared and cooked this dinner. It all came out pretty well except I overcooked the shrimp a bit. I am not used to cooking the proteins. But the sauce was yummy even though we forgot to bring along the Pernod which adds a more licorice flavor. I used extra fennel to try to overcome this lack. Everyone used a finger to get up the last bits of sauce.
There is a lot of vegetable chopping into small dice to make this dish. Once you have the rice cooked and the vegetables (onion, celery, garlic, tomato, red bell pepper, and fennel) chopped up, the cooking goes quickly.
Most of what we make for our vacation with our son is a set piece. We look forward to it every year.
The hits keep coming this week with a pasta dinner with Jonathan’s sausage and mushroom tomato sauce. I chopped up onions, garlic, and mushrooms while he got the sauce going. He used some spicy Italian pork sausage links which he took out of their casings and browned before adding the vegetables and tomato sauce plus diced tomatoes. It was delicious. He is such a good cook. I am going to have to diet for the next 3 weeks!
Omnivore 