Spanish Cod

I recently received a gift of saffron and decided to jazz up my frozen fish from Costco! Delish!

Ingredients

• 2½ pound cod fillet, cut into 6 pieces
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• Juice of 1 lemon, divided
• Pinch of saffron threads 
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin 
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed and sliced
• 3 ounce piece of chorizo, diced 
• 1 large Spanish onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 3 red peppers, deseeded and thinly sliced
• 2 bay leaves 
• 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (14 ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1. Pat fish dry and rub with ground cumin. Place in a large bowl with ½ of the lemon juice. Mix well and marinate for 30 minutes.

2. Dissolve the saffron threads in ¼ cup boiling water, set aside

3. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat and add the garlic and cook until it starts to color. Add the chorizo, onions, peppers and bay leaves. Sauté until they start to soften. Sprinkle with salt, cover and lower the heat to medium-low.  Sweat for 10 minutes until the vegetables are soft, and the onions are a pale gold.

4. Turn up the heat to medium-high. Add the tomatoes and diluted saffron.  Cook until the tomatoes have lost most of their liquid. Add the chickpeas and cook until heated through, about 5-8 minutes.

5. Lay the fish on top of the vegetables. Cover. Bring to a boil then cook at a simmer for 5 minutes.

6. Add the remaining lemon juice. Cook 2 minutes more, turn off the heat and leave fish to steam for 5-10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Feasting at Home

There are a few blogs that I follow and one is Feasting at Home http://www.feastingathome.com/
A week or so ago I saw this eggplant dish and I was smitten. I have had some zataar among my spices and was anxious to use again. This dish turned out great.  I served it with meatballs, yogurt tahini sauce, fresh yellow pepper and cucmber and pita bread. Delicious!

ingredients

• 1 globe eggplant ( about 1- 1 ⅛  lb)
• 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon zataar spice mix-or see notes
• ¼ teaspoon salt, more to taste
• 1 fat garlic clove

Served with:

• 2 cups cooked rice or grains ( freekeh, farro, quinoa)
• 1-2 cups fresh chopped veggies- tomato, cucumber, radish, grated carrot or beets
• your choice of tahini sauce, plain yogurt, or tzatziki
• other options- Italian parsley, kalamata olives, aleppo chili flakes, feta or goat cheese crumbles

instructions

Preheat oven to 400F

Slice Eggplant in half, then slice deeply at a diagonal at one inch intervals -“crosshatching” careful not to cut through skin.

Season each side with ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt, sprinkling it into the slices if possible.

Mix oil, spices, garlic together in a bowl to make a paste. Brush or spoon the entire contents over the eggplant and place on a sheet pan in the oven and bake for 1 hour rotating halfway through. After an hour, pierce with a fork and if they are very tender and juicy, they are are done. Bigger eggplants may take longer.

When the eggplant is done, assemble the plates, topping the warm rice or grain with the roasted eggplant, then surround with fresh veggies and drizzle with tahini sauce, yogurt or tzatziki- or you could simply season the fresh veggies and rice with salt, lemon and olive oil. Add olives or cheese if you wish. Sprinkle with fresh Italian parsley. Enjoy!

notes

Notes- If you don’t have Zaatar- then use a substitution of:  ½  teaspoon cumin, ½ teaspoon coriander,  1 teaspoon sumac  (and if you don’t have sumac, sub 1 teaspoon lemon zest -or finely chopped preserved lemon),  ½ teaspoon dried oregano or thyme , ½ teaspoon sesame seeds and a pinch salt.

If using smaller eggplant, cross hatching may not be necessary, and roasting time will shorten significantly – check after 30 minutes, and cook until very fork tender. If using extra large globe eggplant, cooking time may increase.

Skillet Chicken

I always love Melissa Clark's (from the NYT) recipes and this is another winner. Don't be put off by the fact that there are anchovies in the sauce. They add a depth of flavor and even if you don't think you like them you'll be glad you added them in this diish.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 ½ pounds bone-in chicken pieces (or use a 31/2 pound chicken cut into 8 pieces)
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 5 ounces thick bacon, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 anchovy fillets
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 (28-ounce) can whole plum tomatoes
• 1 large basil sprig, plus more chopped basil for serving
• 8 ounces bocconcini, halved (or use mozzarella cut into 3/4-inch pieces)

• PREPARATION

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper.
2. In a large oven-proof skillet, warm oil over medium-high heat. Add pancetta and cook, stirring frequently, until browned. Use a slotted spoon to transfer bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate.
3. Add chicken to skillet. Sear, turning only occasionally, until well browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large plate. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon oil.
4. Add garlic, anchovy and red pepper flakes to skillet; fry 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and basil. Cook, breaking up tomatoes with a spatula, until sauce thickens somewhat, about 10 minutes.
5. Return chicken to skillet. Transfer skillet to oven and cook, uncovered, until chicken is no longer pink, about 30 minutes.
6. Scatter bocconcini or mozzarella pieces over skillet. Adjust oven temperature to broil. Return skillet to oven and broil until cheese is melted and bubbling, 2 to 3 minutes (watch carefully to see that it does not burn). Garnish with bacon and chopped basil before serving.

Potato Power!

Sometimes I feel darn right sorry for the poor white baking potato. It often gets lumped with things white and evil: flour and sugar! Yet, the potato is actually chock full of good stuff like Vitamin C and has more potassium than a banana. I like to make the potato the star, not a side. Tonight I heated a can of Amy's Lentil soup to which I added a half bag of frozen chopped spinach. I baked the potatoes an hour and 15 minutes, split them up and fluffed and added the lentil mixture, some shredded cheddar, a bit of hot sauce, some greek yogurt and chopped scallions. Total yum.