Just Another Baked Cod Recipe.

The other day I tried to fry up two one inch thick pieces of cod in a skillet.  A little olive oil over medium heat, seasoned with salt, black pepper and dill; lemon juice splashed over them at the last minute of cooking.  Sounds yummy, right?  Well, I don't know what went wrong, or maybe I do; while the fish did brown slightly on both sides and turn opaque, the middle did not cook through.  I don't think it was the cooking technique, it was because I used defrosted fish; unfortuately, frozen is all that is available for purchase around these parts.  Utah is a landlocked state, so if fish comes in, it was fresh at one time, but now is totally frozen.  Freezing fish changes its texture; even carefully defrosting and cooking, the outside may be flaky, but the deep inside tends to be rubbery.

That doesn't mean that I have given up entirely on fish; I still buy the frozen and still attempt to find ways to get it done right.  This post is another of those attempts; I needed to bake it a little longer than fresh fish, but the rubbery texture was almost...almost nonexistent.  So, while my recipe says to bake 25 - 30 minutes, that is based on defrosted fish; fresh fish should be about 10 minutes less in baking time.

Baked Cod with Squash

 Ingredients:

1 small zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch slices

1 small yellow squash, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1/2 cup olive oil, divided in half
2 Tbsp Italian herbal mix, divided in half
2 tsp coarse sea salt, divided in half
1 tsp garlic powder
2 (6 oz) cod fillets, one inch thick, bones and skin removed
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Preparation:
 

Preheat oven to 400F.  In a 1 and 1/2 quart glass baking dish, spread the squash slices over the bottom.  Drizzle 1/4 cup of olive oil over the slices; sprinkle one tablespoon of the herbal mix, one teaspoon of sea salt and the one teaspoon of garlic powder over them.

 

Lay the cod fillets (skin side up) on top of the squash; drizzle with remaining olive oil; sprinkle remaining herbal mix and sea salt; drizzle lemon juice over all.  Bake for 25 - 30 minutes; until cod is opaque and flakes easily.  Remove one fillet and portion of squash to plate; spoon liquid from baking dish over all.

 

Makes 2 servings.

 

Mary Cokenour

I Beat My Own Balls.

Meatballs that is.  Now my softball sized meatballs have always been yummy, but I wanted something different; I needed a change of pace.  Instead of that huge one meatball on top of my spaghetti or pasta, how about two to three smaller ones; same amount of meat, just a different look for the eye.  Another change is mostly due to supply and demand; finding a simply ground pork that hasn't been preseasoned for use as a breakfast sausage is almost next to impossible around here.  Oh, and one more minor change, the onions; instead of dicing them up and putting them into the meat mixture raw, I added a can of diced tomatoes with sweet onions.  The onions are steam processed with the tomatoes, so are softened; sometimes the raw onions don't soften up when added raw and not everyone likes to bite into raw onion.  In our tiny store which acts as the local "supermarket", the Western Family brand is sold and they carry diced tomatoes with sweet onions.  I've looked in supermarkets and Walmart, but haven't found anything to its equal as yet; so if you can find some, stock up!



Of course the meatballs are parbaked in the oven before adding them to a pot of homemade sauce to finish off cooking.  Taking out all that excess grease from the meat makes a big difference on how your sauce will turn out.

 

Meatballs - 2014 Version

 

Ingredients:
 

3 lbs lean ground beef

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with sweet onions

2 eggs, beaten

1 and 1/2 cups Italian flavored bread crumbs

3 Tbsp grated Romano cheese

1 Tbsp garlic powder

 

Preparation:
 

Preheat oven to 350F; spray a large jelly roll pan (aluminum sheet with edge) with nonstick cooking spray.

 
 

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients thoroughly; use a 1/3 cup to help measure out the mixture portions.  Roll between palms of hands; place on pan about a half inch apart.

 

 

 

 

 

Bake for a half hour; dab each meatball onto a paper towel to remove any excess oil.  The meatballs are only partially cooked, so do not eat yet; place into pot of sauce to finish off cooking.  If stovetop cooking, two hours; if slow cooker (crock pot), four hours.

 

Makes 20 meatballs.

 

Mary Cokenour



Alpaca, the Next Other Meat?

Recently I received a roast from the owner, Dorothy, of Peter Springs Alpaca Ranch to try my culinary hand at.  Alpaca is a very lean meat, so figuring out how to cook it best would be an experiment, but experimentation was the key reasoning behind it anyway.  Dorothy is considering selling meat from her alpaca, as well as their soft wool, but what recipes would work well?  What I should have done before cooking the roast was some in depth research; my big mistake was thinking that this lean meat would cook up the same as another lean meat, Elk.  I was very wrong, but she and I both learned from the mistake, and as I said before, this is an experimentation process.

First off, I'm going to post some information I found which I should have looked up before.
 
Nutritional Information

Nutrient-100g	Beef	Pork	Lamb	Alpaca
Calories	210	191	156	150
Protein	20.0	29	20	23.1
Fat	15	7.5	7.7	5.7
Cholesterol	12.1	9.1		6.0
Iron	15%	9%		20%
Vitamin A				2%

Approximately 50% of a carcass is used as prime cuts, such as loin cutlets and steaks, which are sold in either the fresh or frozen meat market. Secondary cuts are processed into sausages, hot dogs, ground meat and processed alpaca hams. Alpaca meat should be cooked quickly on a high heat, to retain its natural tenderness.  For the best results, alpaca meat should be served rare or medium and allowed to rest before serving.

Now the last two lines of the above paragraph is definitely where I went very wrong; I ended up slow cooking the meat to the point that it was tough to cut and too chewy to eat.  The roast I received happened to have rib bones and a thin plate of cartilage going through it.   I thought the alpaca meat would separate from the bones and cartilage, but it did the exact opposite.  I also cooked a sirloin tip roast with the alpaca meat to see how the both compared.  

Alpaca Roast in front, Sirloin Tip Roast in back.

I'm going to give you the original recipe which is "Beef and Mushrooms in Wine Sauce"; then I'll tell you what I really should have done in the first place.  Live and learn!

Beef and Mushrooms in Wine Sauce

Ingredients:

6 small white onions, peeled and quartered
3 and 1/2 to 4 lb. sirloin tip roast
1/3 cup flour
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 lb. portabella mushrooms, sliced
1/4 inch thick 1 cup beef stock
1 and 1/2 cups cabernet sauvignon






Preparation:

Spray inside of a 6 quart crock pot with nonstick cooking spray. Place onions inside crock pot and place roast on top of onions; the onions will act as a "rack" for the meat.

Mix the black pepper and flour together; sprinkle over the top and sides of the meat. Cover the meat with the mushrooms; mix the stock and wine together and pour over all.





















Set the crock pot on low and cook for 8 hours. Remove roast; with a slotted spoon remove as much of the mushrooms as possible, but leave the onions. To make the sauce, use a hand blender in the crock pot, or pour the onions and liquid into a stand blender; puree till smooth.

Makes 6-8 servings








Now here are photos of how the alpaca meat looked; the meat did absorb the flavorings of the wine sauce, but alas, was too tough and chewy to truly enjoy.  Again, live and learn.

So, here is what I should have done from the get-go: If the Alpaca roast contains bones and connective tissue, it would be best to roast it like a Prime Rib.

Mushrooms

In a large skillet, medium-high heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter; add the mushrooms, toss to coat, reduce heat to low, cover and let mushrooms cook down till softened.  Remove mushrooms from skillet, wipe skillet clean.

 

Wine Sauce

In a large skillet, medium-high heat, melt 3 tablespoons butter; add 3 tablespoons flour and one teaspoon ground black pepper; continue to whisk until all flour is incorporated and turns to a golden color.  Whisk in one cup beef stock plus one and one half cups cabernet sauvignon wine.  Bring to a boil and let cook for 5 minutes; whisk occasionally to make sure it is not becoming too thick.

Options

Serve mushrooms as a side to the meat, or add to the gravy and ladle both over meat.

 

Mary Cokenour

Simply Bake the Fish Your Own Way.

I was down in Moab doing a bit of shopping at City Market and decided I'd like to get more of those Gorton's Simply Bake Fish. Much to my dismay, they don't carry that product; going over to the meat department which has a tiny selection of "fresh" fish, and frozen, I saw that large bags of cod were on sale. They were cut to six ounce portions and 10 pieces for $12.99 wasn't a bad deal; they're great for making English fish and chips, but I had other plans.

Now cooking up food with aluminum foil, especially in foil pouches is nothing new, I've been doing it since the early 1980s.  It's easy cleanup and if cooking for just one and two, simply convenient.  After I got home, I left a couple of portions in the refrigerator to defrost and stored the remainder in the freezer for future uses.

The next day, all I needed to do was decide what type of sauce I wanted to create with my fish, and which herbs my tongue was craving for.  As a side dish, I wanted a small baked potato, so a simple olive oil and lemon juice sauce would be the best for both.  While dill is the typical herb used with lemon on fish, I decided my greenery would be parsley married with garlic, paprika, black pepper and salt.  This was not going to be over simplified, nor overly complicated.

Lets eat some fish baked in an aluminum foil pouch.

Baked Cod in Foil

 

Ingredients:

2 tsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp dried parsley
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1 (6 oz) cod fillet, 1 inch thick, skin removed


Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F. 

 

In a small bowl, mix together all ingredients except the fish.  Brush skin side of fish liberally with the mixture; place skin side down in center of large square of aluminum foil.  Pour remaining mixture over fish; fold long sides of foil together several times before folding up ends to make a packet.  Make sure foil is not folded too tightly around fish or steam from baking may cause it to burst open.

Place foil packet onto small aluminum baking tray; bake for 15 to 20 minutes; fish will be opaque.  Remove to plate; spoon liquid over fish and over a portion of steamed vegetables or small baked potato.

 

 

Serves one.

Mary Cokenour

 

Not Authentic, Definitely Inspired, Thai Cuisine.

Often I do not follow recipes to the letter; I want it to be mine and I love to play with my food. Then there are those times when I just don't want to make the full effort. Yeppers, this is one of those times when I like the whole idea, but I'm not going the full route. Being a rogue, it also helps when you don't have all the listed ingredients, so need to make due with what you have.

Thai Glazed Chicken Thighs was the original recipe, but I didn't have any coconut milk nor chicken thighs; instead it was orange juice concentrate and chicken breasts. It didn't exactly come out as a "sweet and sour" dish, more like a "sweet and savory" because of the soy sauce I added as an after thought. I also was going to make a vegetable stir fry as the side dish; there was so much sauce created in the chicken cooking process, that simply cooking the vegetables in the sauce was the sensible thing to do.

...and away we go.

Thai Inspired Chicken

Ingredients:

4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (8 at 1/2 lb. each)
1 (12 oz) container orange juice concentrate, defrosted
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp. ground ginger
4 Thai chiles, stem removed, minced
1 Tbsp. dried, crushed Thai basil
1/4 cup soy sauce

Preparation:

 

Place chicken into a 4 quart crock pot. 














In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together orange juice, honey, ginger and chiles; pour over chicken. 




























Sprinkle basil and soy sauce over contents in crock pot; cover, set on low and cook for four hours.

 

Remove chicken from crock pot and keep warm.  Place four cups of cut up vegetables into crock pot, set on high and cook for 15 minutes.  Serve as side dish with the chicken.

 

 

 Makes 8 servings.

Mary Cokenour

Stir Fry Instead of Butter or Cheese.

I'm not a huge fan of broccoli or asparagus, but my hubby is and I will make these vegetables for him.  Usually it's, "Hunny, how do you want your broccoli?" and he will either answer "butter" or "cheese".  For the asparagus, I use it to make two quiches, one for him and one for his mother.  Yep, it's a "rut" thing.

Well I'm tired of being in a rut, so this time I decided not to ask him how he'd like his broccoli; nor even ask his opinion when I worked out how I was going to cook it.  Let him be surprised!

For the stir fry, I chopped up one medium sized head of broccoli; removing the woody ends off a half pound of asparagus, I cut that up into one inch pieces.  Now a medium sized stockpot, filled halfway with water and three tablespoons of salt, was coming to a boil on medium-high heat.  I put the cut up vegetables into the boiling water to cook for only three minutes; I had ready a large plastic mixing bowl filled halfway with cold water.  After three minutes, I used a slotted spoon to transfer the vegetables from the stockpot to the mixing bowl; the cold water would stop the cooking process and keep them bright green.  I strained the vegetables, spread them out on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels and let any excess water be absorbed.

I had a couple of very small bell peppers (one orange, one red), cut them open, seeded, and cut into half inch pieces.  A large skillet went onto the stove top, three tablespoons of olive oil inside and the heat turned up to medium-high.  I put the broccoli, asparagus, bell pepper in plus a heaping tablespoon of minced garlic and a tablespoon of Italian herb mixture.  It only took five minutes for the entire mix to heat up nicely; I didn't want any of the vegetables to wilt or get any browned edges.  Hubby's opinion?  Oh yeah, he liked it big time!  He thought it tasted fresh and savory; especially when paired with the protein cooked up with it...New York Strip Steak.



The steak was prepared via a lazy woman's grilling; seasoning the steaks with sea salt and ground black pepper (both sides); they were laid on an aluminum jellyroll pan brushed lightly with olive oil.  A large onion was cut into rings and laid along side the steaks; into a preheated to 450F they went for twenty minutes (turn the steak and onions over after the first ten minutes).

Now this kind of rut we can both live with for awhile.  Enjoy!

Mary Cokenour

Subtle Changes Make Comfort More Comforting.

I enjoy trying out new foods; many I end up adding to my list of recipes or staples in the pantry; others, not so much.  The most important feature though is the degree of comfort I receive; how good does this food item make me feel?  Oh yes, taste, texture, smell and the "eye candy" factor are important features too, but then again, I am a "comfort cook". 

I have recipes that I often do not change as they seem to be as good as they'll ever be.  Then I get that little voice in my head nagging me, "..but what if you add or change this...?"  That's what happened when I began prepping to make one of my hubby's favorite meals, "Little Smokies and Bean Casserole".  Usually I add in diced raw onion; but what if I rough chop the onion, saute' in olive oil till softened and just browning on the edges?  While this dish is usually sweet, salty and savory; what if I add in some green chiles for a kick start?

Just a couple of subtle changes made this comfort food recipe into a "hugging your favorite stuffed toy while licking the bowl clean" comfort food.  Absolute Yum!!!

First I'll give you the original recipe; then the newest version.

Little Smokies and Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

1 (15.5 oz) can each pinto, white kidney (Great Northern) and butter beans, drained and rinsed
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp each molasses and spicy brown mustard
1 small onion, diced
1 (13 oz) package beef Little Smokies
1 (8 oz) package shredded sharp Cheddar Cheese

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F; spray a 2 quart casserole dish with nonstick spray.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except 1/4 cup of cheese.  Pour mixture into the casserole dish; sprinkle remaining cheese over top.  Bake for one hour.

Makes 6 servings.

Now I've been making this casserole this way since 1994 without any changes; talk about being in a rut!

Here's the new version which I believe is so much better in so many ways.

Subtle Little Smokies and Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp each salt and ground black pepper
1 (53 oz) can pork and beans in tomato sauce; drain off top layer of clear liquid
1 (4 oz) can green chiles (mild gives a soft savory taste, medium gives some heat)
1 (13 oz) package beef little smokies
1/3 cup dark corn syrup
1 (8 oz) package sharp Cheddar cheese, divided in half

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F; spray a 2 quart casserole dish with nonstick spray.

In a small skillet, medium-high heat, saute' onions in olive oil until softened and just browning on the edges; about 5 minutes.  The onions will begin to "hop" in the skillet, add the salt and pepper; remove from heat.





In a large mixing bowl, combine the onions with the beans, chiles, little smokies, corn syrup and half the cheese.  Pour into the casserole dish; bake for 30 minutes.

Remove dish from oven, sprinkle remaining cheese over top and bake an additional 20 minutes.  Let casserole rest for 10 minutes before serving.






Makes 6 servings.

Well, I did make more than the two initial changes, but sauteing the onions and adding the chiles increased the savory flavor.  Using corn syrup, instead of the molasses plus brown sugar, lessened the sweetness, but caused all the ingredients to be a perfect flavor harmony.  The overall mouth feel was just yum - yum - yum and the desire to lick the bowl clean was strong!

Try out both recipes and see which one comforts you the most.  Enjoy!

Mary Cokenour