Brazilian Fish Stew

Adapted from 

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Brazilian-Fish-Stew-238413#ixzz1LhmDb7eA

• 8 (6-ounce) pieces skinless hake or Pacific cod fillet (1/2 to 1 1/4 inches thick)
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped habanero pepper
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic (3 cloves)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 pound tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 chopped red bell pepper
• 1 chopped yellow bell pepper
• 1 chopped orange bell pepper
• 2 yellow plantains, peeled and each cut diagonally into 8 pieces
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

 

Pat fish fillets dry and put in a bowl. Stir together lime juice, habanero peppers, 1 tablespoon garlic, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, then pour over fish and toss to combine. Marinate, covered and chilled, 1-1.5 hours.

Put tomatoes in bottom of a wide 5- to 6-quart heavy pot. Top with onion and remaining tablespoon garlic, then sprinkle with bell peppers. Place plantains on top of vegetables, then sprinkle with tossed avocado. Sprinkle evenly with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Arrange fish in 1 layer on top of plantain. Sprinkle cilantro and parsley over fish, reserving marinade. Pour oil and marinade evenly over mixture in pot.

Bring to a simmer, then cover pot. Adjust heat to gently simmer until vegetables are softened and have released liquid and fish is just cooked through, about 20 minutes.

Makes 8 servings.

Calories		395.5
Total Fat		15.5 g
	Saturated Fat	2.1 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	2.7 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	8.8 g
Cholesterol		69.7 mg
Sodium		128.5 mg
Potassium		1,468.2 mg
Total Carbohydrate		17.1 g
	Dietary Fiber	3.7 g
	Sugars	4.6 g
Protein		47.3 g

Vitamin A	22.5 %
Vitamin B-12	38.8 %
Vitamin B-6	49.3 %
Vitamin C	87.8 %
Vitamin D	0.0 %
Vitamin E	18.3 %

Spicy Watermelon Gazpacho

Trying to get caught up on some recipes I've made recently... sorry I've been MIA for a while.

Recipe adapted from http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/spicy-tomato-and-watermelon-gazpacho-with-crab    I have made it with the crab salad (delicious!) but for a low-calorie snack, leave that off and just enjoy the soup.

1. 1 habanero chile, preferably red
2. 4 cups seedless watermelon chunks (1 1/2 pounds)
3. 1 large garlic clove, mashed to a paste
4. 2 pounds tomatoes, cored
5. 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
6. Salt  

1. Roast the habanero over a gas flame until lightly charred all over. Using a paper towel, rub off as much skin as possible. Remove the stem and seeds and transfer the chile to a blender. Add the watermelon and garlic and puree; transfer to a bowl and refrigerate.
2. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and fill a bowl with ice water. Score the tomato bottoms with an X. Add the tomatoes to the boiling water and blanch for 10 seconds to loosen their skins. Transfer the tomatoes to the ice water to cool.
3. Peel the tomatoes and halve them crosswise. Working over a sieve set in a bowl, pry out the seeds. Press on the seeds to extract the juice, then discard them. Transfer the tomatoes and their juices to the blender and puree. Stir the tomato puree into the watermelon puree along with the vinegar and season the gazpacho with salt.

 Makes 8 servings.

Amount Per Serving
Calories		40.8
Total Fat		0.6 g
	Saturated Fat	0.1 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.2 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	0.1 g
Cholesterol		0.0 mg
Sodium		8.3 mg
Potassium		258.4 mg
Total Carbohydrate		9.3 g
	Dietary Fiber	1.2 g
	Sugars	5.3 g
Protein		1.1 g

Quinoa with dates, raisins, and pomegranate seeds

This makes a delicious side dish, or a bed on which to serve an entree.

1 cup dry quinoa
6 dates, pitted and chopped coarsely
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup red wine
1 1/2 t Cinnamon
1/2 t Cayenne Pepper
1/4 cup Pomegranate seeds
1 T Olive Oil

1)  Soak quinoa for 15 minutes in warm water.
2)  Strain quinoa, then place in 2 quart sauce pan with 2-2.5 cups water.  Bring to a light boil then simmer 25-30 minutes.  All water should be absorbed, and grains will be plump and tender.
3)  Meanwhile, mix dates, raisins, lemon juice, wine, and spices in small sauce pan over medium-low heat.  Bring to a light boil then simmer until reduced and absorbed by fruit.  Stir frequently, and mash fruits lightly with stirring spoon so that they slowly fall apart into the mixture.  Resulting fruit compote should be thick and chunky.
4)  Fold fruit compote into quinoa, and mix well.  Toss in pomegranate seeds and olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

 Makes 8 servings.

Amount Per Serving
Calories		142.8
Total Fat		3.2 g
	Saturated Fat	0.2 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.1 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	1.2 g
Cholesterol		0.0 mg
Sodium		1.2 mg
Potassium		111.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate		26.4 g
	Dietary Fiber	2.3 g
	Sugars	7.5 g
Protein		3.4 g

Chinese-style Pork Ribs on a bed of Butternut Squash shoestring fries

So much delicious going on in this.  =)  Adapted from a recipe on http://www.souschefseries.com/

Ribs:

4 cups Vegetable Stock
2 T Soy Sauce
3 Garlic Cloves, peeled and chopped coarsely
1 3" piece of ginger, peeled and chopped coarsely
~1/4 cup carrot, diced
~1/2 cup diced onion
1 stalk celery, diced
1 rack pork ribs (~2 lbs)

Preheat oven to 375.  Mix all ingredients except ribs in a dutch oven, bring to a boil.  Remove from heat, and place ribs into braising liquid.  Place dutch oven into oven and bake until meat is tender (60-90 minutes, depends how thick the meat is).

Meanwhile, prepare the glaze:

1 T Olive Oil
2 cloves garlic
2 T minced ginger
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup Hoisin Sauce
1/2 cup Agave Syrup
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1 1/2 t Chinese 5-spice
1 t minced habanero

Heat oil over medium heat with garlic, ginger, and green onion until fragrant.  Add all remaining ingredients.  Stir well.  Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low, and slow cook until glaze thickens, about 20-25 minutes.  Remove from heat, and strain, reserving liquid.

When ribs are tender and meat is just starting to fall off the bones, remove from oven.  Reduce oven heat to 350.  Remove ribs from braising liquid, and place meat-side up on roasting pan (or wire rack on top of foil lined baking pan).  Cover thickly with glaze, and roast for up to 45 minutes, until meat is tender but still moist.  Baste with extra glaze every 10-15 minutes.

Allow ribs to cool at least 5 minutes before carving.

Nutritional Summary:  36g Fat, 36g Protein, 22g Carbs per quarter rack of ribs: total 523 calories.

Butternut Squash fries:

1 Butternut Squash

Peel entire squash with vegetable peeler.  (This takes a while, the skin is very tough to remove).

Cut squash into quarter.  Slice thinly into shoestrings.  Be patient, this takes a long time to do manually.

Heat deep fryer to highest setting, ~375 F.  When oil is heated, place shoestrings into oil and fry until tender and slightly crispy, about 15 minutes.  Remove from heat, allow oil to drip off, then toss lightly with salt and pepper.

The squash itself has about 80 calories per cup.  A small amount of fat is added by deep frying, but when deep fried correctly, most of the oil drips back off.

I also served a side of broccoli (lightly heated with a dab of bacon grease) and drizzled toasted butternut squash seeds over the top.

Mushroom Reduction Sauce

1 T butter
1 clove garlic
1 sprig thyme
Mushrooms (portobello, shiitake -- take your pick!)
2 cubes vegetable bouillion
5 cups water
2 T Crème Fraîche

Melt butter in medium sauce pan.  Add garlic and thyme and mushrooms.  Toos to coat and start cooking.
Add vegetable bouillion and water.  Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer ~20 minutes until mushrooms are very tender.

Spoon a few ladles-ful of liquid into small sauce pan and bring to a boil.  (Make sure to strain out any mushrooms).  You can add some water back to the medium sauce pan, puree the mushrooms, and make a soup out of the rest.  Add a few dollops of Crème Fraîche to complete.

In the small sauce pan, boil sauce until reduced slightly more.  Add a little corn starch to thicken, then the Crème Fraîche.  Remove from heat.

Delicious over steak.

Crème Fraîche -- Easier than you'd think!

Crème Fraîche -- it's fancy, it's gourmet, it's delicious!  But it's expensive.  Unless you are just a little patient and willing to do it yourself.

1 cup heavy cream
5 T skim milk
1 T vinegar

Mix ingredients together in glass or plastic jar.  Mix or shake well. 
Cover loosely and set aside in a warm place, stirring every 12 hours, until cream thickens (24-48 hours, typically)
When cream reaches desired thickness, place in fridge, where it will last about 7-10 days.

__________________
Yep.  That's it.  I'm not going to write a whole big thing here about why to use Crème Fraîche over sour cream or heavy whipping cream -- that's already well documented all over the internet.

I will point out that you want to find pasteurized cream, and not ultra pasteurized.  The only difference is how long it takes to age properly -- ultra pasteurized may well take >3-4 days to fully thicken.

Spinach and Feta Bread Pudding

A healthy breakfast with a creative twist!

4 slices sourdough bread (see previous recipe)
6 small honey whole wheat english muffins (i haven't posted this recipe yet...)
5 oz. spinach, chopped coarsely
1 oz Feta cheese
6 large eggs
2 cups skim milk
2 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 orange, juiced
1 tsp orange zest
salt, pepper

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Chop bread into ~1/2" cubes.  Toast in oven for about 10 minutes.

Allow bread to cool, then mix with chopped spinach and feta.  In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, mustard, orange juice and zest.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer egg mixture into bread mixture and stir until will mixed.  Spray medium casserole dish with cooking spray, then pour pudding mixture into dish.  Set aside for 2 hours, or refrigerate overnight.

Bake on 350 F for 40 minutes (pudding will be set and slightly rise).  Then spray top of pudding with cooking spray, turn on broiler, and broil ~2 minutes until top of pudding is crisp.

Makes 8 servings.

Amount Per Serving
Calories		200.3
Total Fat		4.8 g
	Saturated Fat	1.7 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.8 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	1.7 g
Cholesterol		143.1 mg
Sodium		138.4 mg
Potassium		310.0 mg
Total Carbohydrate		28.9 g
	Dietary Fiber	2.0 g
	Sugars	3.4 g
Protein		11.0 g