Browned Sausages With Napa Cabbage Braise

October 18, 2007 at 2:22 pm · Filed under Recipes ·Tagged , ,

Another quick weeknight meal from today’s SFGate newsletter.

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This dish, which can be prepared in less than 25 minutes, is great with roasted or boiled potatoes.

INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 chicken-apple sausages, cut in half lengthwise
1/2 onion, sliced
1 large head napa cabbage, sliced widthwise
1/2 tart green apple, cored and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/2 teaspoon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 to 3/4 cup chicken stock

INSTRUCTIONS: Heat 1 or 2 teaspoons of the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the sausage halves and brown for a few minutes on both sides. Remove from the pan and cover with foil. Add the remaining oil to the pan and, when hot, add the onion and saute for a few minutes. Add the cabbage to the pan, stir to wilt slightly, then add the apple, garlic, wine, mustard, salt and pepper. Add enough stock so that the cabbage will be able to simmer without getting too juicy (it releases liquid while cooking). Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the cabbage and apples are tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. If the sausages have cooled down too much, add them to the pan and simmer gently, uncovered, for a few minutes until reheated.

Serves 4

Source: SFGate newsletter 10/18/07

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Kimchi Soup

October 18, 2007 at 2:19 pm · Filed under Recipes ·Tagged , , ,

I was just talking to my mom yesterday about kimchi and how it’s so great. I guess we’re a little biased since we’re Korean, but really, you can do so many things with it. You can eat it plain as a side dish, of course, but once it starts to get too sour, it’s wonderful in cooked dishes like soups or fried rice. Last night was a little chilly so I decided to make a kimchi soup. I didn’t feel like eating meat so I just added some korean squash and tofu, but I’ve made it with dumplings and/or meat in the past. Normally, I cook rice and dump it in my soup to eat together, but you can eat it separately or even add noodles.

ingredients
6 c chicken broth
1 c kimchi plus juices, sliced into small pieces
1 korean squash (I think these are also known as white squash), quartered lengthwise and then sliced
8 oz firm tofu, cut into cubes
red pepper flakes to taste

directions
Bring broth to a boil. Add kimchi, juices and red pepper flakes and cook until the kimchi begins to wilt. Add squash and tofu and cook until squash is done.

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SFGate Food & Wine Newsletter

October 11, 2007 at 5:29 pm · Filed under Random ·Tagged

I lived in the Bay Area for most of my life and grew up with the SF Chronicle. Their food and wine sections are great and have won some awards so even though I don’t live there anymore, I still read it frequently. One of the things I love about it is their newsletter. It’s emailed to me every Thursday and highlights a produce item that is in season each week. Along with that comes recipes as well as tips on how to select and store the produce. Other features contained in the newsletter include:

  • Taster’s choice: A panel of food professionals rate different brands of supermarket items.
  • Pairings: A recipe with a suggested wine pairing.
  • Quick weeknight meals: An obvious favorite of mine. :)   (The Lemongrass-Steamed Fish and Braised Shortribs recipes came from here.)
  • Wine of the week
  • Question of the week: Readers submit questions.

Try out the newsletter and let me know what you think!

Comments (1)

fresh basil

October 9, 2007 at 10:00 pm · Filed under Random ·Tagged ,

i use a lot of fresh basil. i think it adds great flavor to a lot of dishes, whether it is pasta or an asian stir fry. it can be expensive to buy packaged basil every time you need it for a recipe, not to mention wasteful if you don’t use the whole pack. so about a month and a half ago, i was at trader joe’s and saw that they sold basil plants for $2.99 each. i immediately bought one and have been using it ever since.  everytime i need it, i just break off a few sprigs and shred the leaves into whatever i’m cooking that night.

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shrimp and corn with basil

October 9, 2007 at 9:34 pm · Filed under Recipes ·Tagged , , ,

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this is the simplest recipe ever but it was actually quite tasty. we used frozen shrimp and frozen corn from trader joe’s (which is really sweet, by the way). i also didn’t have scallions, so i just seasoned it with some garlic salt. we ate this over rice, but i think it would be good tossed with some pasta too.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
Kernels from 2 ears corn
1/2 lb. shelled large shrimp
4 scallions, chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced

Directions
Melt butter with olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over moderately high heat, then sauté corn and shrimp, stirring, until shrimp are cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in scallions and basil and season with salt and pepper.

Source: Epicurious

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Linguine with White Clam Sauce

October 1, 2007 at 3:17 pm · Filed under Recipes ·Tagged , ,

Linguine with clams is B’s favorite Italian dish. He orders it almost every time he sees it on the menu. This is a pantry version that I tried that is a combination of a 30-Minute Meals recipe A sent me and one I saw on MyRecipes.  We made this dish and thought it was pretty decent, although nothing can beat fresh clams.  I think next time I would add some lemon juice or zest since it seemed like it was missing some acid.

Prep: 12 minutes; Cook: 7 minutes.

Ingredients
4 ounces uncooked linguine
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves chopped garlic
2 fillets flat anchovies, chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup white wine
2 (6 1/2-ounce) cans chopped clams, drained, reserving 2 tablespoons juice

salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Cook the linguine about one minute less than package directions.

2. While the pasta cooks, make the clam sauce: In a skillet over medium heat, add oil, garlic, anchovies and red pepper. Stir until anchovies melt. Add wine; continue to sauté another minute, or until garlic is fragrant but not browned. Add the drained chopped clams, wine and reserved 2 tablespoons clam juice; stir gently to combine, and simmer.

3. Add pasta to the skillet with the sauce. Stir and continue to simmer 3 minutes or until slightly thickened.

4. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Sources: MyRecipes, 30-Minute Meals

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italian sausage and mushroom pasta

September 28, 2007 at 9:55 am · Filed under Recipes ·Tagged , , ,

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there is this pasta dish i love at a restaurant in long beach which has sausage and mushrooms in a creamy sauce. unfortunately, b is lactose intolerant, so i had to make some modifications for him. you can use sweet or spicy sausages for this, but i prefer the sweet version since it seems less oily.

ingredients
2 fresh italian sausages
10 mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 c white wine
4 sprigs of basil
pasta (i used about 4 handfuls of penne)

directions
start boiling water for the pasta.
remove the casing from the sausage and brown it in a nonstick pan, breaking it up as you go. when the outside has cooked, add the garlic and the mushrooms.
add the wine.
just before the pasta is done, remove it from the pot and mix it in to the sausage/mushroom mix.
add basil and stir until slightly wilted.

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Lemongrass-Steamed Fish

September 27, 2007 at 5:38 pm · Filed under Recipes ·Tagged ,

I subscribe to SFGate’s Food & Wine newsletter. Here is a recipe from their quick weeknight meals section. They said this takes less than 30 minutes to prepare.

INGREDIENTS:
2 stalks of lemongrass
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
3 tablespoons dry white wine
Vegetable oil
2 pounds mild white fish, cut into 4 fillets
Salt and pepper to taste
2 small shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
12 small dried red chiles, tops cut off
Lime wedges for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Pull off and discard the tough outer layers of the lemongrass, and cut off the skinny end, about two thirds of the entire stalk. Finely mince the bulbous end and place it in a small bowl with the lime juice, fish sauce and wine. Stir to combine.

Place 4 large sheets of aluminum foil, about 12 x 16 inches each, on the counter. Rub half of each sheet with vegetable oil, leaving a 1-inch border. Place a fish fillet on the oiled side of each piece of foil. Season the fish lightly with salt and pepper, then top each with shallots and 3 chiles.

Drizzle each fillet with about 2 tablespoons of the lime juice mixture — enough to completely coat the fish. For each packet, bring the unoiled half of the foil over the fish, then starting at one corner, fold and crimp the edges to seal tightly. Place the packages on a large baking sheet (or 2 smaller ones) and bake until the fish flakes, about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the size of the fillets. The fish is done when it’s flaky.

To serve, carefully unwrap, or cut open the foil packages with a pair of scissors, being careful of the steam. Transfer the fish and vegetables to serving bowls and top with the juices.

Garnish each serving with lime wedges.

Serves 4

Per serving: 285 calories, 50 g protein, 5 g carbohydrate, 6 g fat (1 g saturated), 92 mg cholesterol, 1,168 mg sodium, 0 fiber.

Source: SFGate newsletter 3/8/07

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Braised Shortribs

September 27, 2007 at 5:36 pm · Filed under Recipes ·Tagged ,

From Laurent Manrique, executive chef of Aqua in San Francisco.

INGREDIENTS:
The Short Ribs:
1 tablespoon olive oil or duck fat
3 to 4 pounds short ribs
Salt and pepper to taste
1 head of garlic, cut in half crosswise
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
4 cups chicken or veal stock
2 cups dry red wine
1 bunch fresh thyme, or 2 teaspoons dried thyme

INSTRUCTIONS: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over high heat. Season the short ribs with salt and pepper on all sides. Add to the pot and brown well on all sides. Transfer the short ribs to a plate. Reduce the heat to medium-high. Add the garlic and onion and brown well. Return the meat to the pan. Add the stock, wine and thyme. Bring to a boil. Cover and transfer the pot to the oven. Cook for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until the meat is falling from the bones. Transfer the ribs to a platter.

Strain the cooking liquid into a heavy saucepan. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, until reduced and thickened.

To serve: Divide the ribs among serving plates. Spoon the sauce over the ribs.

Serves 4

Source: SFGate newsletter 3/8/07

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kimchi fried rice

September 27, 2007 at 4:05 pm · Filed under Recipes ·Tagged , ,

ingredients
1 c chopped kimchi and 1/4 c kimchi juice
2 c rice
1 tbsp butter
dried seaweed
meat
1 tbsp sesame oil

directions
Cook rice.
Add oil to large frying pan over medium heat.
Cook meat until the outside is cooked.
Add kimchee and cook until wilted.
Mix rice in.
Mix in the kimchi juice and butter.
Crumble dried seaweed over on top.
Mix and eat!

Comments (1)

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