lemon calamari salad

November 23, 2012 by flavorsmack

This was the first year that my kids both took interest in helping me in the kitchen for Thanksgiving. I loved it. There has been a tendency for me to write off any help because of my control issues. My husband loves asking the rhetorical question – often asked during my 96 hour push to put out a Thanksgiving spread – “Honey, what do you need me to do?”, to which the usual answer is, “Nothing dear”, and so he gets to go about his business. But when my kids each asked individually at various times during my 4 day meal prep if they could help, I paused and realized that this is what the joy of cooking is all about. Ok, so my son needs a little work using the bench scraper and that there is an art to stirring while keeping the food in the bowl, but I’m sure that will improve with time. I got yelled at when he caught me adding more olives to the dish, because scooping them up was apparently his job now. I would love for my kids to be able to say when they are older that they loved to help their mother and father in the kitchen ever since they were seven. And now they can. I hope they keep loving it because I need to relinquish some control, or else I think that my husband will have me committed. To sit at the Thanksgiving dinner table and in the middle of the 12 conversations going on at once, hear your son say “I made that salad….and (laughing slyly) I put too much salt in it too!”, was one of the proudest moments in my life. Proud to know that we created a memory together. Proud that he thought enough of the memory to share it. Proud that the salad wasn’t too salty but letting him believe that it was and that it was ok.

lemon calamari salad (inspired by Gourmet Magazine)

2 lbs cleaned calamari tubes (if you like the tentacles go for it)
1/2 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced
3/4 cup kalamata olives, sliced
4 stalks celery, thinly sliced (leaves too)
1/2 large red pepper, diced
2 small tomatoes, halved, seeded, diced
1/2 fennel bulb, thinly sliced (fronds too)
1/3 cup parsley, chopped
3 lemons, juiced
salt and pepper
pinch of crushed red pepper
extra virgin olive oil

get started on the calamari salad:

Get a bowl and fill with cold water and ice and set aside. Start a pot of salted boiling water. Slice the calamari in 1/4″ slices. Add calamari to the boiling water and don’t go anywhere. In 45 seconds to 1 minute they will be opaque and done. They should be tender, not rubber. Taste a larger calamari at 45 seconds and determine if you should keep them on the heat for a few more seconds. You will be inclined to let them keep cooking because you might think 1 minute isn’t enough time, but it is. Drain in a colander and transfer to the ice bath immediately. Let cool. Drain cooked calamari on some paper towels. Add the next 8 ingredients and mix together. Add in the calamari and stir to combine. Drizzle about 1/4 cup olive oil and stir to coat. Taste salad to see if additional lemon or seasoning is needed. Keep chilled until served.

note: I don’t stress too much about seeding tomatoes, but the easiest way I know is to slice them through the middle – not through the stem end – and with one hand, fit my fingers right into the chambers while slightly squeezing the tomato with the other hand and shaking the seeds out. Also, this is enough for an army. You can easily halve this and you will have plenty for 6-8 servings.

roasted onions with gruyere

November 17, 2012 by flavorsmack

It’s football day again. We decided on flank steak sandwiches, but I needed something different from the usual coleslaw or potato salad to go with them. In meal planning for football, it isn’t allowed to be fussy. Fussy food is banned on football day which is understandable, but I was tired of the same old sides. Maybe others didn’t care, but I was on the hunt to cook up something else. Well, the ooh la la’s came out when I made this, because it looks fussy, but is actually super simple, and the FLAVOR is huge. Duh – what goes on steak sandwiches? Onions? Check. Cheese? check. Why didn’t I think to make this before? Plus, you can easily use this as a component in a day-two dish. This one is a keeper. Oh, and our team won. Win-win.

roasted onions with Gruyère cheese (believed to have been adapted from Food & Wine)

non-stick cooking spray
12 small boiling onions, peeled
8 large shallots, peeled, halved through the root end
6 large green onions, dark green tops trimmed
2 medium Vidalia onions, peeled, cut into 1″ wedges through the root end
1 large red onion, peeled, cut into 1″ wedges through the root end
1 large yellow onion, peeled, cut into 1″ wedges through the root end
3 TB extra virgin olive oil
1 TB fresh thyme leaves
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
crushed red pepper
1 cup low-salt chicken broth
6 oz Gruyère cheese, grated

get started on the onions:

Preheat oven to 450. Combine all onions in a large rimmed baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with the thyme, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Toss gently to coat. Shake pan to spread out onions into one layer. Roast onions until tender and beginning to brown in spots, 25-30 minutes. Spoon broth over onions to moisten. Loosen any onions from the pan with a spatula. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake until heated through about 5 minutes.

note:

This recipe called for croutons in the mixture but I just wanted the cheesy onions this time. If you want this to be a more substantial side dish, bake about 3 cups of 1/2 inch pieces of a crusty bread until golden brown, 7-8 minutes and add to the roasted onion mixture and top with the cheese.

shiitake pot stickers

November 17, 2012 by flavorsmack

I’m very blonde. I am not talking about L’Oreal Preference shade 92 natural blonde (much to the dismay of my hairdresser, that box does get purchased from time to time – and used – usually when I am bored). I am speaking about the fact that I will oftentimes neglect to purchase the main ingredient of a meal or something that is at the least, integral, to a dish. These were supposed to be pork pot stickers, but I came home with everything but the pork. I can’t tell you the amount of times I pay at the cashier and as I’m wheeling out of the store, realize I didn’t buy the fish for the tacos, or for that matter the tacos. So I am THAT woman, with a cart full of bagged groceries, heading back to get what I forgot, worrying that people think I’m shoplifting tilapia. My husband just shakes his head when I tell him. I could even have the list with me, and if I don’t write it in the way I shop the aisles, you can kiss something on the list good-bye. We have just learned to live with the occasional menu change or the task of going through the cashier line twice. I was really looking forward to making these because it is something the kids like too, so I had to improvise – no going back to the store. Not too hard to do with a dumpling actually, so I was in the clear….this time.
I have made a variety of dumplings and if you are sitting there, folding up 30+ little guys, the last thing you want to see is them coming unsealed in the pan. Make sure you don’t skimp on the water and that you seal the edges well. I decided to try the gyoza skins because they are round, and found that they were easier to fold up and crimp than the square wonton wrappers. These came out perfectly, and tasted great even without the fatty pork. I did make the mistake of storing extra pot stickers in a glass container without considering the fact that they would stick to one another and make one giant dumpling. So with the mini victories come the defeats. I dealt with it and moved on.

shiitake pot stickers (sans the pork)

Peanut oil
8 oz shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
8 oz white button mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
4 TB low-sodium soy sauce, divided
2 tsp sesame oil, divided
1/3 cup green onions
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 2 inch piece of ginger, minced
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
1 10 oz pkg. cabbage slaw mix
30 gyoza skins
water

dipping sauce:

4 TB water
4 TB soy sauce
4 TB rice vinegar
1 tsp dark sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, minced

get started on the pot stickers:

Heat a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add a tablespoon of peanut oil. Add in the two kinds of mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are softened, about 4 minutes. Add 2 TB of the soy sauce and 1 tsp of the sesame oil, cook for 30 seconds. Add onions, garlic, ginger and jalapeño and cook for another 2 minutes until flavors combine. Stir in coleslaw and cook for 2 minutes until cabbage wilts, stirring frequently. Taste mixture and add in remaining soy sauce and sesame oil if needed. Remove from heat and cool slightly. While mixture cools, combine ingredients for the dipping sauce, stirring well with a whisk.

Working with one gyoza skin at a time (cover remaining with a damp towel to prevent drying), lay out 8-10 skins on your board. Spoon 1 TB mushroom mixture in the center of each skin. Moisten edges of the skins with water. Fold in half, pinching and edges to seal. Heat peanut oil in the same large non-stick pan over medium heat. Arrange pot stickers in the pan in a single layer. Cook 2 minutes or until browned on the bottom (or a side). Add one cup of water to the pan and cover. Continue to cook the pot stickers another 4 minutes. Uncover and cook until liquid evaporates, about 2 minutes. Place dumplings on a plate and cover to keep moist and warm. Continue making the remaining dumplings. Serve these immediately with dipping sauce…..and hot chili sauce of course!