This variation of gravlax is adapted from a recipe at Epicurious.com. The promise of the recipe was that you could set up the salmon and its cure and then forget about it until it was done 3 days later. I actually let it cure for 4 days due to scheduling issues, and it worked fine Read More …
The centerpiece for Christmas Eve dinner this year was a cold poached salmon, based on a recipe in Culinaria: The United States. This is a good “make ahead” dish. I served it with Sweet Mustard Dill Sauce and Two-Minute Aioli. 1 salmon filet (3-4 lbs.) Court bouillon 2 quarts water 1 leek, trimmed, chopped, and Read More …
A few weeks ago I spotted a recipe on America’s Test Kitchen for “Best Crab Cakes”. The key idea of this recipe was to use a shrimp mousse (ground shrimp and cream) to bind together the crab cakes instead of bread crumbs, mayonnaise or eggs. I thought this worked very well, but Carol objected to Read More …
This version of spaghetti is a good mid-week choice since it can be made quickly and almost entirely with pantry ingredients. It calls for fresh basil, but if that is unavailable, dried basil could be used. This version makes two servings and is adapted from a spaghetti con tonno recipe at parade.com 4.5 oz. spaghetti Read More …
This method of cooking tuna was inspired by the Spanish classic Gambas al Ajillo (Shrimp in Garlic Sauce), with tuna replacing the shrimp. I have now made this a couple of times, and it makes an excellent dish with some good crusty bread, salad and a nice white wine. Quantities are for 2 people. It Read More …
Carol and I recently took a food tour of Reykjavik. This was the dish that our guide was most enthusiastic about. It is classic Icelandic comfort food and he thought his grandmother made the best of all possible versions. Cod and potatoes are two staples of the Icelandic diet, so there would frequently be some Read More …
This is an adaptation of a recipe in Bon Appetit magazine which had a good way of cooking shrimp for a cold salad or cocktail. Shrimp needs to be cooked just enough (not overcooked!) and this method works very well to avoid overcooking. This made a very nice dinner for 2 persons with a piece Read More …
(I used oil-packed tuna, but the original recipe calls for water-packed tuna) In 1986, Carol gave me Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain by Penelope Casas for Christmas, and we have been cooking out of it ever since. Most recently we made a tuna ball tapas for Carol’s sister and her pescaterian husband and they Read More …
This Cantonese dish is adapted from a recipe in Martin Yan’s Chinatown Cooking. He includes 1 tsp. of cracked Sichuan peppercorns which I have omitted since I do not like them. We have made this twice with asparagus, as he suggests, but I think it would be better with other, quicker cooking, vegetables, such as Read More …
A traditional way to preserve fish and chicken for short periods is to cook it and store it in a mixture of oil and vinegar in a cool spot. I consulted a number of Italian and Spanish cookbooks to make this simple version. Carol thought it reminded her a lot of pickled herring, although this Read More …