Bacalhau Stew (Salt Cod Stew)

February 23, 2009 | Filed Under Bacalhau/Salt Cod, Seafood | 16 Comments

"What’s that supposed to be?" asked my sister when she spied the above photo as I posted it.

Ummm… Well, I know that it’s not the world’s best photo but it’s supposed to be Bacalhau stew (salt cod stew). Thankyouverymuch.

I made this stew after talking to a lady at work who is very popular for cooking Latin dishes for offices parties. Her food is so good that it one of the first dishes to finish when served. I don’t remember how we got on the topic of Bacalhau but she mentioned how easy it was to prepare. The more she spoke about it, the more intrigured and hungrier I became.

"Just soak the bacalhau. Then when you get home from work, fry some onions in olive oil, add tomatoes, red bell pepper, chopped cilantro, half a can of tomato sauce, and the bacalhau. Add a little bit of water. Cook the fish and you have your stew. You can serve it with veggies or rice." She didn’t give me any measurements or amounts.

Enticed, still, at the end of the day, before I headed home, I stopped at the supermarket and bought some bacalhau and soaked it. The next day, after work, I prepared it according to my loose instructions. Since she hadn’t given me any amounts, I guessed. I got stuck when it was time for me to add the water. I had no idea how much to add. Turned out that I’d added too much (Turns out that I was supposed add a little water — about two or three tablespoons and no more. Also turns out that I should have used half a small can of tomato sauce.).

I’m pleased to write that the outcome wasn’t bad at all. Served with white rice, my bacalhau stew tasted pretty good. You can see from the photo that I garnished my stew with what else? My favorite — cilantro. Yes!

Paz

Spinach, Tuna, Tomato and Radish Salad for Paz

September 1, 2008 | Filed Under Fellow Bloggers, Fruits, Guest Bloggers, Kalyn's Kitchen blog, Radishes, Salad, Seafood, Spinach, Tomatoes, Tuna, Vegetables | 32 Comments

Please help me welcome this week’s guest blogger, Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen. Thanks, Kalyn!

Paz

When Paz first asked me to be a guest blogger for her while she was recovering from surgery, I planned a surprise and photographed a bunch of food bloggers at the BlogHer conference in San Francisco, all holding signs with get well wishes for Paz. Then I was impatient and shared a couple of photos in my post about the conference, and Paz refused to stay in bed like a good patient, so she saw the surprise!

I believe things happen the way they’re supposed to, so maybe the get-well wishes were better when Paz was first recovering anyway. Now I’m thinking she might be feeling quite a bit better and maybe now she’s well enough to make this simple salad. This recipe is loaded with nutritious ingredients to get Paz back in good shape in no time!

Spinach, Tuna, Tomato, and Radish Salad for Paz
(Makes one salad, can be doubled, Recipe created by Kalyn from Kalyn’s Kitchen.)

2 cups washed and dried baby spinach leaves (or arugula)
1/2 can tuna, drained (Italian tuna packed in olive oil is best for this.)
5-6 radishes, sliced
2-3 vine-ripened tomatoes, cut in quarters
extra virgin olive oil, about a tablespoon
juice of half a lemon (or more if you like a lot of lemon)

Arrange washed spinach or arugula on salad plate. Put tuna in the middle of the spinach, arrange tomatoes around the edge, and sprinkle radishes over. Drizzle salad with a bit of extra-virgin olive oil, the squeeze lemon juice over. You can serve with extra lemon slices to squeeze on when you’re eating the salad if desired.

This is one of those salads where all the individual parts combine to make a lot of flavor. Bon Appetit Paz! Thanks for letting me be a guest blogger. I hope you are feeling a lot better by now and will soon be back to some serious cooking and taking photos around New York!

Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa

July 14, 2008 | Filed Under Avocado, Avocado Salsa, Fellow Bloggers, Fruits, Laylita's Recipes blog, Salmon, Seafood, South American Cuisine, Vinaigrettes/Salsas/Sauces | 16 Comments

I love fish, especially salmon. Funny thing: I pronounce salmon, SAL-MON. I notice Americans pronounce it SA-MON. They leave the "L" out. So, when I say SAL-MON, they look at me funny. LOL! I’m not sure where or how I learned to prounonce it that way but that’s the way I do. Anyway, whichever way it’s pronounced, I love this fish and when I saw the recipe for Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa (and a photo of the meal — please, please check out Laylita’s enticing photo.), I couldn’t resist making it. Actually, the Avocado Salsa is what got me. I’d never before heard of anything like that to eat with salmon.

The next day after work, I bought the ingredients and set out to prepare it for dinner. Regular readers know by now that I love simple and easy-to-make meals. This is definitely one. Oh, and another enticing factor about this recipe is that it has cilantro. Hello!? Cilantro! Again, regular readers know that cilantro is my all-time favorite fresh herb. Yes!

Laylita’s recipe calls for the cilantro to be finely chopped. Umm… I didn’t really do that and I clearly added more than the 2 Tbs of cilantro. Next time, I’ll try to follow the recipe better.

The salsa was very easy to put together. No problem.

I got out my grill pan and prepared the salmon. My dogs LOVE fish and started getting excited about the aroma wafting from the kitchen.

Layla suggests the side dish of Ecuadorian rice and or Patacones (thick fried green plantains) to go with the Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa. A third thing regular readers know about me, by now, is that I HEART plantain. I didn’t have any plantain at home, so I ate my salmon and avocado salsa with rice. That was good enough. It was mouthwatering delicious. I loved my meal. I loved the Avocado salsa, which was new and different to me. It sort of had a tangy taste, which enhanced the grilled salmon that had been marinated in salt, coriander, cumin, paprika, onions and black pepper. Let me tell you, it tasted so good. I normally only use salt and black pepper when preparing my salmon, so these spices were an added treat to use on the salmon.

The next day, I had some leftover salmon and salsa, so I had it again for dinner. This time I’d bought some yellow (ripe) plantain (kelewele — see photo here), which I fried and ate with the fish. Oh, how I enjoyed my dinner even more. I can’t wait to make this dish again. Thank you, Laylita!

In the meantime, I’m scheduled to have surgery this week –Tuesday. The recovery time is a bit long, so I won’t be able to post any food posts for a while. Some awesome food bloggers have agreed to guest blog for me while I’m recuperating. I’m really excited to see what they have planned for us. I thank my guest bloggers in advance for their kindness. You won’t see me on your blogs for a while but I plan on stopping by as soon as I can.

So see you soon on the blogs and don’t forget to come back here next Tuesday to find out about our first guest blogger.

Best,

Paz

GRILLED SALMON WITH AVOCADO SALSA

Laylita’s Recipes

Ingredients (for 4 people):

2lbs salmon, cut into 4 pieces

1 tbs olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp paprika powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp black pepper

Avocado Salsa

1 avocado, peeled, seeded and sliced

1 small red onion, sliced

3 mild hot peppers, seeded and deveined, diced or sliced

Juice from 2 limes

3 tbs olive oil

2 tbs finely chopped cilantro

Salt to taste

Suggested sides — Rice (rice Ecuadorian style)and patacones (thick fried green plantains)

Preparation:

1. Mix the salt, coriander, cumin, paprika, onion and black pepper together, rub the salmon fillets with olive oil and this seasoning mix, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

2. Pre-heat the grill.

3. Combine the avocado, onion, hot peppers, cilantro, lime juice, olive oil and salt in a bowl and mix well, chill until ready to use.

4. Grill the salmon to desired donesness.

5. Serve the salmon topped with the avocado salsa, and with rice and patacones or thick green plantain chips on the side.

(Elise’s) Dad’s Fish Stew Recipe

March 31, 2008 | Filed Under Salmon, Seafood, Simply Recipes blog, Soups/Chowders/Gumbos | 7 Comments

I found this super easy and delicious fish stew recipe on Simply Recipes. A recipe by Elise’s dad, called out to me, "Make me! Make me!" And make it, I did.

Elise suggests different types of fish to use like halibut, cod, sole, red snapper, sea bass, and white fish like cod, tilapia or sole. However, I had a craving for salmon, so that’s what I used instead. I loved my fish stew. As Elise points out, the clam juice is the key ingredient that makes the dish extra tasty. For those allergic to shellfish, Elise suggests using white wine, fish stock or water instead of the clam juice.

I’m going to make this fish stew AGAIN and next time, I think I’ll use red snapper. I’m craving red snapper, now. Elise’s thanks for sharing your dad‘s recipe and please thank him for me.

Paz

(Elise’s) Dad’s Fish Stew Recipe

Simply Recipes

Preparation time: 25 minutes

Serves 4

6 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup of chopped onions
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
2/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 cup of fresh chopped tomato (about 1 medium sized tomato)
2 tsp of tomato paste.
8 oz of clam juice (or shellfish stock)
2/3 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 lb fish fillets (use halibut, cod, sole, red snapper, sea bass), cut into 2-inch pieces
Touch of dry oregano, Tabasco, thyme, pepper
Salt

1 Heat olive oil in heavy large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion and garlic and sauté 4 minutes. Add parsley and stir 2 minutes. Add tomato, tomato paste and cook 2 minutes longer.

2 Add clam juice, dry white wine, and fish and simmer until fish is cooked through, less than 10 minutes. Add seasoning. Salt to taste. Ladle into bowls and serve.

Spiced Shrimp and Peas Pullao

May 15, 2007 | Filed Under Indian Recipes, Rice, Seafood, Shrimps | 21 Comments

In the mood for shrimp (and always in the mood for rice), I found the above-titled recipe that satisfied my mood. So, I went out to buy some shrimp. There was a time when I felt intimidated to buy seafood (I’ve never really cared for food shopping in general). I never knew which fish to pick or what size shrimps to choose, etc… But since I started cooking, that discomfort has now passed. Now, I’m more confident food shopping. Strangers actually ask me food questions while I’m picking my groceries and I actually know what to tell them. Wow! It’s a miracle!

So, I pointed to the shrimps I wanted and the fish guy (what do you call him? Fishmonger? Way too formal for me.)? picked them out and weighed them for me. I bought my rice and green peas and I was on my way to cooking.

After knowing how to cook, only, with salt and black pepper, I’ve been having fun learning to cook with other spices. The spice of the week for me is garam masala. Until this recipe, I’d never used it before. Oh, how I love the smell of this spice. Put it on the list of ingredients that will make me doing my kitchen dance as soon as I get a whiff of it. I only used a tiny bit of the garam masala, as the recipe called for. Yet, it was sufficient to make the rice fragrant and special. It blended well with the other spices.

My rice turned out really well. Delicious. The only thing I didn’t care for, while preparing this meal, was peeling and deveining those damned shrimps. It took forever. Grrr! Perhaps next time, I should buy them already deveined and peeled. Of course, that’s at an extra cost… Hmmm… I’ll have to think about it. I guess, at least, I have the option.

Once the shrimps were deveined and peeled, there were no problems cooking. Putting the cooked shrimps and rice together, I was able to enjoy my meal. Not bad at all.

Paz

Spiced Shrimp

rachaelraymag.com

4 Servings

Prep Time 15 min (plus marinating)

Cook Time 5 min

3 scallions, thinly sliced crosswise

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon turmeric

1½ pounds large large shrimp, peeled and deveined (tails left on)

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1. In a large bowl, mix together half the scallions, the garlic, coriander, cumin, cayenne and turmeric. Add the shrimp and stir to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

2. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and cook, stirring constantly and seasoning with the salt, until nearly opaque, about 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice and continue frying until the shrimp are cooked through, about 1 minute more. Top with the remaining scallions.

Peas Pullao

rachaelraymag.com

4 Servings

Prep Time 5 min

Cook Time 30 min

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

¼ teaspoon garam masala

1/8 teaspoon turmeric

1½ cups long-grain rice

1½ teaspoons salt

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

1. In a large, heavy saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until browned, about 10 minutes. Add the garam masala and tumeric and stir to combine. Stir in 3 cups water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the rice and salt and return to a boil, stirring briefly to break up any clumps. Lower the heat, cover the pan and simmer, without disturbing, until all the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked through, about 18 minutes.

2. Uncover the pan and mix in the peas while fluffing the rice with a fork; cover and set aside for 5 minutes, until the peas are heated through.