Other variations on a theme

I finally stopped asking my family what they want to eat. When I ask, I always get the same answer: "Anything". And if they want to be nice, they just add "anything you make is always delicious"!! So I decided to take matters into my hands and make my own decisions. Yesterday I woke up and announced: " We are having fish today". My husband was thrilled, mom too, but as usual she found a way to add a difficult item to the menu. She wanted baba gannough, which requires eggplant, and we didn't have eggplant. So tahini sauce it is. The menu is very simple: fried tilapia fillets, fish rice, tahini sauce and sauteed vegetables. The most important thing is that this time I am cooking the fish the same usual way, but with a twist.

FRIED FILLET OF FISH

                                                        

                                                   

I had some gorgeous tilapia fillets in the freezer. I decided to tweak my usual recipe a little bit and see how it will turn out. It's an easy dish to prepare for a Sunday family dinner. If the fish is fresh it won't take minutes, if you need to defrost it, just add the time you'll need to defrost the fillets, and still it will be easy and quick. I don't know why many people think that cooking fish is messy and difficult, so they tend to eat it exclusively in restaurants, where they are never sure of what ingredients are used in their meal. If you cook fish at home, even if you fry it, you are in control. You'll need:

4 tilapia fillets

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp each: garlic powder, ground coriander and celery salt

1  or 2 tbsp lemon juice

1 egg (never used it before with fish)

Salt and pepper to taste (I use Adobo seasoning)

1 cup flour

2 cups bread crumbs

Vegetable oil for frying

If you need to defrost the fish fillets, put them in a shallow dish with cold water for 10 minutes or so. Change the water a couple of times more until they become tender. You may have some parts still frozen, don't worry, they will be completely defrosted before you cook them. Transfer the fish fillets to a cutting board and cut them lenghtwise. They are already almost split in two, all you have to do is to separate the two pieces, and you'll have 8 strips. They will be easier to handle. Put the fish fillets in a bowl, add the spices, the lemon juice and mix to coat. Beat the egg, add it to the fish and mix again to coat all the pieces. Let stand for 30 minutes or so until you cook the rice and prepare the tahini. I a shallow dish mix the flour and the bread crumbs. Take one fillet and put it in the mixture to coat it. Lightly press on the fish pieces to make sure that the bread crumbs are sticking to it. Heat the oil when you have coated 4 pieces of fish and start frying. I usually put about an inch of oil in the pan. This way I sometimes don't have to turn the pieces I am cooking because they cook on both sides simultaneously. Cook the fish fillets until golden brown. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels. Serve with fish rice and tahini sauce with a side of sauteed vegetables.

FISH RICE

I think I already gave you this recipe before. It's very easy and we traditionally have this rice with fish, hence the name "fish rice". You almost don't need a recipe for it. You just have to caramelize some thinly sliced onions (1/2 medium for 1 and 1/2 cup rice) in oil (about 1 tbsp). when it becomes dark brown, add some ground cumin (about 1 tsp, or more to taste) stir once or twice then add the rice. (I usually rinse the rice beforehand) Stir then add liquid according to rice package. Add salt. Cover, let boil, then reduce the heat until done. How easy was that?

You can find the tahini sauce or salad in a previous blog.

GRILLED CHICKEN

                                                  

Again, today I decided to grill some chicken. It was sunny outside, so I thought we should enjoy the weather. The menu couldn't be simpler: grilled chicken and salad. But again today it's a new way to cook the chicken, a tweaked recipe. I used chicken thighs because they give better results when grilled, especially if the person manning the grill is like my husband who either overcooks the meat or under cooks it. With thighs you cannot go wrong. You'll need:

8 chicken thighs, skin on

2 tbsp frozen onion/garlic mixture

2 tbsp lemon juice

4 sprigs of rosemary, finely chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Rinse the chicken pieces and remove the large pieces of visible fat, making sure that you keep the skin on. Put the chicken pieces in a bowl, add all the other ingredients, mix well to coat, cover with plastic wrap and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Heat the grill, arrange the chicken pieces skin down first and close the grill cover. Let the chicken cook undisturbed for 10 to 12 minutes, then turn them. You'll know they are done when the liquid from beside the bone runs clear.

Variations on a theme

I've always said that you never cook the same dish the same way twice. It's true. You have a recipe, you cooked it many times and you probably know it by heart. But you'll be amazed to know that in reality you never cook it the same way every time. Why? There are many reasons: you may not have all the ingredients, so you substitute, you try to improvise or give it a new twist, or even you get lazy and use what you have at hand. This is what happened this week-end when I was preparing the leg of lamb. You may remember that I gave you my secret recipe for lamb a couple of month ago; and now that I had to cook it again, I didn't quite follow my own recipe to the letter. It still came out perfect. So here it is:

MY TWEAKED SECRET RECIPE FOR LAMB

                                                

                                          

When I was preparing my menu for the family dinner I opened my spice rack to get some inspiration, and I found it. I came up with a new way to flavor the chicken cubes, and thought of a new way to spice up the leg of lamb. Instead of the usual spices, I found out that I had a container of Montreal Steak seasoning that had a couple of spoonfuls left, so I decided to try it in my recipe. It worked. You'll need:

1 (6 lb) boneless leg of lamb

4 tbsp frozen onion/garlic mixture

3 tbsp Montreal Steak Seasoning

1/4 tsp each: nutmeg, cinnamon, ground clove

3 bay leaves

6 to 8 whole cloves

2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 to 3 tbsp plain yogurt

Remove all the visible fat from the meat. This will help you later on when you use the drippings to make the gravy. You may separate some of the pieces of the leg, since sometimes they are held together by the fat, it's no problem, you'll slice the meat any way when it's done. Put the meat in a baking dish, preferably a non-stick metal pan (you'll use it for the sauce). Rub the onion/garlic mixture and all the spices on the meat, add the bay leaves, and put a slice of garlic and one clove in between the chunks of the lamb. Add the yogurt and rub it all over the meat to coat. Cover the pan with foil and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to overnight. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, put the leg of lamb, still covered, in the oven, and let cook for at least 30 minutes before you remove the cover. This way you are sure that the meat will be fully cooked on the inside. You'll notice that there is a lot of liquid in the pan. Continue cooking until the surface is well browned, then turn the meat on the other side. When this side is browned, your meat is done. Remove it from the pan, and keep it covered until you're ready to slice it.

I made a delicious mushroom sauce to go with it. You'll need:

MUSHROOM SAUCE

                                              

1 (24 Oz) package each: white mushrooms and brown mushrooms, cleaned, stem removed 

4 to 5 scallions, thinly sliced, white parts and a little green

1 tbsp canola oil

2 heaping tbsp flour

Salt and pepper to taste

Slice the mushrooms. In a non-stick skillet cook the sliced scallions in the oil until translucent. Add the mushrooms and let cook turning once in a while until they wilt. Add salt and pepper and cook until all the liquid rendered from the mushrooms is absorbed. Sprinkle the flour and stir to combine. Fish out the garlic slices, the cloves and the bay leaves from the lamb pan and add the liquid to the mushrooms stirring frequently to avoid any lumps. If you feel that the sauce is too thick, add some boiling water to the original lamb pan and add some of it to the sauce. Keep stirring until you get the right consistency. I serve it on the side, but you can drizzle some of it over the sliced meat if you prefer.

SAUTEED ASPARAGUS

                                             

I served Brussels sprouts (recipe in November 25 blog) and sauteed asparagus. This is the easiest way to cook asparagus. Sometimes I roast it, but I feel that roasted veggies is a somehow a "grown up taste" for children. So I opted for sauteing it. You'll need:

2 lb of asparagus, ends trimmed                                                  

3 to 4 scallions, thinly sliced, white parts and some green        

1 tbsp canola oil                                                                           

 Salt and pepper to taste
FOR THE SAUCE:
2 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp sour cream

In a non-stick skillet cook the scallions in the oil until translucent. Add the asparagus and turn once or twice with heat resistant tongs. Sprinkle salt and pepper and turn the asparagus again to make sure that they all cook evenly. If you feel that you need to make them more tender, add 1 or 2 tbsp of boiling water and keep cooking, uncovered on high heat, until all the liquid is absorbed. The whole process will take about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the asparagus to a serving dish with the tongs, to leave any leftover scallions in the skillet.  Add the mustard and stir, then add the sour cream and stir to incorporate. Pour the sauce in a small bowl and serve on the side.

For dessert we had already the birthday cake, so I sliced a delicious Honey dew and serve it with some strawberries for color and flavor.

                                                      

Graduation and birthday dinner

I've been absent for a while. I was working during the whole month, and did not have enough time to cook something special, only repeat performances to get by. I also had some technical problems with the blog, because, as it seems, I needed to install a new program. Now I hope everything will be alright and that the technical difficulties are solved so that I will be able to resume my blog. I have to admit that I am very proud of myself, since I was able to solve these problems on my own, and that to start with, I taught myself how to use a computer.

During my absence we had a couple of graduations and birthdays in the family. We decided to have a nice big family dinner and celebration this week-end for the graduates and the birthday girls. Maha is going to college, Sarah to middle school, Salma is nine and Sophie just turned one. So I needed to think of an easy menu, easy to prepare and easy for the children to accept. In such situations I usually build my menu around a popular dish. In this case it's a leg of lamb. I know that everybody likes it. I will add a chicken dish, preferably something easy for the children to handle, meaning, no skin, no bones, just bites of chicken for them to eat, even with their fingers (in big gatherings I cannot control every one!!). Then I'll introduce some veggies that they usually don't have at home: this is how you set your trap. You give them a sense of security with familiar foods, then you lure them to the Brussels sprouts!! It worked, the veggies were a hit.

                                                  

YELLOW RICE WITH CHICKEN CUBES

When you need to make a dish that should serve a large number of people, you better go with chicken: it's easy to prepare in advance, to have it diced, so that you can serve it on a large platter and at the same time it can be like finger food. Also look for a way to cook it in one single process, no frying, and make sure that you go for a recipe that will please all tastes and ages. This is why I opted for this dish. Yellow rice is the only carb on the table, and the chicken will be well seasoned to give a new twist to the dish and keep it from being boring. Of course it's not that easy: we don't eat spicy or hot foods, so I have to find the right balance between the spices I'm going to use. So I stood in front of the spice rack, and here is what I came up with. 

You'll need (for a crowd of about 10 people):

8 chicken thighs, skinless and boneless

4 half breasts, skinless and boneless

2 to 3 tbsp frozen onion/garlic mixture

1 and 1/2 tbsp garam masala (Indian spices)

1 tsp curry powder

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 to 3 tbsp lemon juice

2 heaping tbsp plain yogurt (I use Greek yogurt, it's creamier)

Salt and pepper to taste (I use Adobo seasoning)

Rinse and pat dry the chicken pieces. Remove all the visible fat from the chicken and cut them  into 1 inch cubes. Put the chicken pieces in a big bowl, add the onion/garlic mixture, all the spices and the lemon juice and mix well. Add the yogurt, mix to coat all the chicken pieces. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours to overnight. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and arrange the chicken pieces on it in one layer. Cook for about 20 minutes, then turn once and return the chicken to the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes. You'll know that the chicken is cooked when you'll notice that the liquid in the baking sheet is almost all gone and the chicken pieces are well browned. Serve over the yellow rice (recipe found in previous blogs).

                                       

NOTE: You can use only thighs, you'll notice that they are juicier and will never dry even if you overcook them.