Mom Takes Back the Kitchen

In case you haven't read my posts from the past few weeks, I love my job.  However, after two months of being a full-timer, I have found one thing that I dislike - the lack of time for cooking.  When I was unemployed, I balanced my time between laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, and Lifetime movies (my only downfall).  I had way too much time on my hands to think about food, and browse the internet for new recipes, and shop, and prep, and execute the dinner I had so carefully planned.  Now, after eight hours serving other people, all I want to do is flop down on the couch and have some sort of food placed in front of me.  There's something semi-mind-numbing about asking the same questions all day every day ("Here or to go? Coleslaw or potato salad?  Small or large?  Napkins and silverware in the bag?"), that by the time I'm done my brain can't even formulate a full thought, let alone plan a dinner menu.  And, if by chance, I do find enough mental and physical strength to cook, I rush the process (mainly so we don't end up eating at nine at night) and I don't really get to enjoy it.  

Now I don't want to seem all woe-is-me.  I take full advantage of my days off, which actually makes those nights that I do get to cook even more enjoyable - and delicious.  And it also gives my parents a chance to put their aprons on and get back in the kitchen.  A few weeks ago, I served as my dad's sous chef when he made Panko Crusted Cod and Two Toned Potatoes.  This week, my mom was chef, however, she didn't let me step foot inside the kitchen.  Actually, she wouldn't let me know what she was doing, or even look inside the grocery bags.  My only job was setting the table and pouring the wine, which allowed for a quick nap before dinner.

The smells wafting down the hall to my room from the kitchen were absolutely lovely, but I was unsure what was being made.  Even after the plate was set down in front of me, I wasn't quite sure what all the components were.  I anxiously waited for my mom to finish plating so she could spill the beans (baked beans, that is).  

Mom made a whole golden trout stuffed with apples and caramelized onions, baked potatoes which she then served with some of the apple-onions stuffing and a small dollop of chipotle mustard on top, and roasted asparagus with raspberries.  The meal was the epitome of balance between sweet and savory (which you know I love), with a subtle smokey undertone.  When I asked her how she came up with the ideas, she said that at a work conference, they had served a chilled asparagus and raspberry salad, but wanted to know if it would work as a hot dish - it did.  Begin a warm spring night, she went to the store with the image of a whole fish with barbeque sauce in her head.  She found a whole golden trout, but when she went to find a good barbeque sauce, she realized that every single one had high fructose corn syrup as the first ingredient.  Not being a fan of artificial ingredients, she decided to do her own spin on barbeque.  She also noticed that a large amount of sauces were Applewood-Smoked Bacon flavored, a flavor which she tried to create by using the apples, caramelized onions, and cherry juice - and I have to say, using the combination of sweet, savory, and tart, she pulled it off.

Apple-Onion Stuffed Golden Trout with Baked Potatoes and Roasted Asparagus with Raspberries

2 medium sized whole trouts

4 small butter potatoes

1 bunch of asparagus, ends trimmed

¼ cup raspberries

1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 large green apple

½ tsp chipotle mustard per serving

¾ cup tart cherry juice

¼ tsp cinnamon

1 tbs butter

sugar

olive oil

salt and white pepper

+ Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  

+ Wrap each potato in foil and bake for 45-60 minutes, depending on size.

+ Place asparagus in a shallow baking dish.  Drizzle with olive oil and a pinch of salt.  Bake in oven for 20 minutes.  Add the raspberries, bake for 10 minutes, or until asparagus is cooked through.

+ While potatoes and asparagus are roasting, caramelize onions in a splash of oil in a medium sauce pan.  Once the onions are done, add the cherry juice to deglaze the pan.  Set onions aside.

+ Once the vegetables are done roasting, reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees.  

+ Rinse the fish thoroughly, then place in a large baking dish.  Salt and pepper the inside of the fish. 

+ Slice ¼ of the apple very thinly.  Place apples inside the fish, then top with half of the caramelized onions.  Pour the cherry juice from the onions over the fish.  Bake for 30-40 minutes, basting the fish or adding more juice if the fish begins to dry out.

+ Dice the remaining apple, place in a medium sauce pan.  Add cinnamon, a dash of sugar, and butter.  Cook the apples - adding water if needed to keep a little moisture in the pan - for about 10 minutes, or until caramelized.  Combine cooked apples with remaining onions.

+ To serve, cut cooked potatoes in half, top with a table spoon of the apple-onion mixture and chipotle mustard.  Finish fish with a good-sized spoon-full of cherry juice from baking dish.  Add a few fresh uncooked raspberries on top of the asparagus.  A scoop of baked beans on the side rounds out the whole barbeque feel.

Tilapia with Asparagus and Spicy Polenta

I spend most of my days discovering new recipes.  Whether it’s researching my favorite chefs’ sites, stumbling around the internet finding intriguing looking dishes, or leaving the Food Network on all day while I mill around the house, I am constantly making a point to remember really interesting recipes I hear about.  “Ooooh!  Guinness chocolate pudding?”  or “Lavender-lemon marmalade.  I’m making that.” But let’s be real.  I bookmark them or promise myself I’ll look them up later and then never do.  There are times when I feel the need to over-plan  menus to the obsessive-compulsive level.  Most of the time, these meals come out good but don’t always live up to the ridiculous preparation I put into them.  The best meals are always throw-togethers; the ones where I see what’s in the house, figure out how I can use them all together, and take a leap.  Maybe it’s because the experimentation and lack of expectations, but I enjoy cooking and eating these dishes the most. 

Since I was stuck home without a car today, dinner tonight ended up being one such throw-together meals.  I came up with a package of frozen tilapia, some rosemary springs, and a quarter of a bag of polenta – my all-time favorite grain – shoved in the back of the cupboard.  It did take a bit of research on my part (mainly looking up the ratio of liquid to grain, I really need to start memorizing those), but this is the easiest and most delicious dinner’s I’ve made in a while: Tilapia with Asparagus and Spicy Polenta.

Okay, one quick rant before I get to the recipe.  When most people – no, let me rephrase that – when most Americans think about a fast, easy dinner they think fast food or something packaged that takes less than 10 minutes to re-heat in your microwave.  And they’re all wrong.  If you just have some basic elements in your kitchen, you can make something that’s quick but healthy as well. 

My Always-Have-In-Kitchen List:

+ variety of spices (salt, pepper, curry, chili powder, cinnamon, etc.)
+ grains (rice, quinoa, polenta, etc.)
+ onions
+ garlic
+ olive oil
+ wild-caught fish in the freezer (Trader Joes has great stuff)
+ salad greens
+ a dozen eggs
+ always, always at least three fruits and vegetables (never, ever canned, sometimes-if-you-really-have-  to frozen).  

Tilapia with Asparagus
3 fillets wild-caught tilapia
3 tbs olive oil
coarse sea-salt
lemon-pepper (regular black pepper works too)
chili powder
smoked paprika
½ yellow onion, sliced
1 small bunch of skinny asparagus, cutinto three inch pieces
3 rosemary sprigs

+ Preheat the oven at 350 degrees.
+ Place each fillet in the middle of a square of tin foil.
+ Season both sides of each fillet with salt, pepper, chili powder, and paprika to your taste.  
+ Drizzle a good helping (about 1 tbs) of olive oil on top of each fillet.
+ Fold the sides of the foil up, creating a little packet.  Fill each with one third of the onion and asparagus, and finish with one sprig of rosemary.
+ Crimp the edges of the foil, sealing the packets.  Then place in a baking dish or on a baking sheet.
+ Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily (test by pulling the fish apart gently with a fork:  if the fish flakes, it’s done; if it resists or is slightly bouncy, it needs a few more minutes.)

Spicy Polenta

2 tbs olive oil
1 ½ tbs garlic, minced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp rosemary, chopped finely
½ tsp coarse sea-salt
½ tsp pepper
3 cups vegetable broth
1 cup polenta
2 tbs salted butter

+ In a medium sauce pan, sauté the garlic, red pepper, rosemary, salt, and pepper in the olive oil for about one minute.
+ Add the vegetable broth and then bring the liquid to a boil.
+ Once the broth is boiling, slowly pour in the polenta, while whisking constantly.  
+ Turn the heat down, bringing the mix to a simmer, whisking occasionally.  
+ When the polenta has thickened, and the liquid is almost completely gone, whisk in the butter.
+ Remove from heat and cover, allowing the polenta to continue to thicken and the flavor of the broth to settle into the grain.