Singapore Noodles

East meets West in this Asian curried noodle.  Recipe following soon.

Baked Swai with Lemon Balm Gremolata

Infused with lemon, this light, fast fish dish is kicked up a notch with red pepper.  Serve with your favorite hot sauce on the side.
2 swai or other white fish fillets, about 1 lb

Gremolata:
palmful fresh lemon balm leaves, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp black sesame seeds
2 tsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 425F. A small food processor makes mincing the lemon balm and garlic quick work.  Mix together the gremolata ingredients in a small bowl.

Place fillets on an oiled baking sheet and lightly oil the top surface. 

Scatter gremolata about the surface of the fillets.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, just until the fish is cooked through.

Serves 3-4.  Serve with lemon and your favorite hot sauce.

Cook’s note: You could use many other white fish fillets such as flounder, catfish or tilapia, for example.

Lemon balm grows profusely in my garden in the mid-atlantic, and is popping up bright and green this early spring. It is wonderfully lemony and makes a great gremolata - an Italian herb condiment comprised of lemon, parsley and garlic. It is served on meat and fish dishes. Here I substitute the lemon zest and parsley with the lemon balm.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Throw together your favorite spices and sauces with some pork into a crock pot, cook it up while you're at work, pull it apart and lay some on your favorite buns, with your favorite slaw.  Epic.  And Easy.
3-5 lb pork Boston Butt (shoulder), the higher, depending on amount of fat and bone
8 hard roll or favorite buns

1 8-oz jar favorite BBQ sauce
favorite hot sauce, to taste
1 cup cider vinegar
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, minced

Spice rub:
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 cup brown sugar

The night before, bone the pork and remove the skin and major visible fat from the meat. Cut the meat into three pieces. Rub the spice mix all over the pieces of pork. Salt and pepper the pork and place in crock of slow cooker. Cover and refrigerate. Mix together the BBQ sauce, hot sauce, vinegar, onion, garlic and jalapeño in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate.

The next morning, pour the BBQ sauce over the pork and cover the crock.

Place crock in slow cooker and cook on low for 10 hours. If you are around, turn the pork over once or twice. Otherwise, don't worry - I'm never around, and it turns out fine! When you return from work, turn the pieces over in the sauce. Then remove them onto a cutting board and pull pork apart with two forks.

Split buns and spread 1-2 tablespoons sauce on the base of each bun. top with pork. Serve pork sandwiches with your favorite cole slaw. Serves 8.

Cook's Note: reserve the remaining sauce; it's packed with flavor. You can use it to bake BBQ chicken. Place about 2-3 cups sauce into a 13x9-inch casserole. Lay pieces of a whole cut-up chicken (about 8-10) on top of sauce. Spray chicken with oil, salt and pepper, and bake at 375 for about 30 minutes. Done.

Shellfish and White Beans over Asian Greens

1 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 inch fresh ginger, minced
1 lb mixed shellfish, shelled (I used shrimp, scallops and calamari)

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 fresh tomato, diced and drained
1 can Navy or cannellini beans, drained

8 cups spring green mixed salad greens
2 green onions, sliced

Wasabe Sesame Dressing:
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp wasabe powder or paste
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp olive oil

Melt the butter in the olive oil in a skillet. Toss in the garlic and ginger and cook about 2-3 minutes, until fragrant. Tip in the shellfish and sauté, with stirring, until the shrimp turn pink, about 2-3 minutes.

Remove shellfish mix to a bowl.

Turn heat to high and add second portion of olive oil to pan. Add the tomato and cook, stirring regularly for about 6-8 minutes.

Allow the tomatoes to sizzle and begin to caramelize just a bit. Then add the beans, and fold in gently to heat through. Return the shellfish to the pan and heat through.

Whisk together the dressing and toss with the greens. Distribute the greens among four plates. Distribute the shellfish mixture evenly on top of the greens and scatter the green onions on top. Serve with Zucchini quinoa fritters, or toasted bread on the side.

Serves 4.

Asian Savoy Slaw

Slaw goes with so many dishes.  I love cabbage and love this dish.

1/2 head savoy cabbage, shredded
1 carrot, grated
2 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup alfalfa sprouts
2 Tbsp shelled sunflower seeds

Sauce:
1/3 cup good real mayonnaise
1 rounded Tbsp Greek yogurt
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp black pepper

Toasted sesame seeds

Whisk together the sauce ingredients and toss together with the veggies in a large bowl. Allow to marinate for at least half an hour in the refrigerator. Garnish with sesame seeds.

Serves 6 as a side dish.

Mediterranean Macaroni Primavera

Here is a Mediterranean inspired primavera loaded with veggies. The more you read about the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet, or cuisine - as the Italian foodies would rather have you say - the more you want more of this.
2 medium zucchini
4 plum tomatoes
2 cups cauliflower
1/3 lb ribbed macaroni
6 fresh sage leaves coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken stock
black toasted sesame seeds

Slice the tomatoes about 1/2 inch. Slice the zucchini in coarse chances, rotating the zucchini 45 degrees after each slice.

Break the cauliflower into bit-sized pieces.

Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil and salt generously for the macaroni. Stir in the macaroni and return to a gentle boil. After about 6 minutes, as the macaroni approaches al-dente, add the cauliflower and cook a final 2 minutes. The cauliflower should be just crisp tender and the macaroni al dente.

Meanwhile, sauté the zucchini in large skillet with a dash of olive oil, allowing the cut sides to brown nicely. Season with black pepper. Watch carefully and cook only until the zucchini browns a bit but remains crisp-tender.

Remove zucchini to a bowl. Add the garlic to the skillet and cook about 2-3 minutes. Then add the stock to skillet and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce volume in half.

Heat another skillet to high and add a dash of olive oil. Add the tomatoes and the sage allow them to sizzle a few minutes per side. The tomatoes should just soften and caramelize a bit, but don’t cook them to a pulp - they should maintain their individual integrity.

When the pasta is cooked, reserve 1 cup cooking water, drain and pour into a large mixing bowl.

Add the stock and the zucchini and gently fold together. Adjust sauce consistency with pasta cooking water if necessary. Tip out onto a serving platter and scatter the tomatoes, along with all their cooking juices, on top. Garnish with sesame seeds.

Serves 4 as a side dish.

Nut Mix

At some point in the day you might need something to just pick you up a bit - make it healthy and delicious.  Make it this.
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup hazelnuts
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup salted pecans
1/2 cup salted pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup coconut flakes
1/4 cup salted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup Trader Joe’s cocoa nibs
1/4 cup slivered almonds

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Store in a tightly sealed container. Makes 3-14 cups nut mix.

Creamy White Bean Sausage and Escarole Soup

Escarole is a great way to get your greens.  It's been used in soup in France for ages, and is a great accompaniment cooked with fresh peas and spring onions - a favorite dish of my Mother's.  But with the heyday of baby spinach and all the other great baby greens you can get at the market these days, it seems we might have forgotten this great leafy green.  I cook it up here with a big pot of Great Northern beans, from the dried bean.  This makes a nice creamy soup, cooked up very quickly in a pressure cooker.

I used a flavorful Italian sausage prepared by Zingo's, a very nice small local market I especially like.  But you could use whatever your favorite sausage, kielbasa or ham.
1 lb dried Great Norther Beans
1 tsp salt
1 lb Italian sausage, uncased
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes or to taste
1 heat escarole, chopped, cleaned and drained

Soak beans overnight. Drain them and place in a pressure cooker. Cover with cold water to 1/2-inch above the beans. Add salt and a dash of canola oil. Cover and bring to high pressure. Time cooking at 6 minutes. Remove from heat and allow cooker to depressurize naturally.

Alternatively Cook beans in water just to cover in a Dutch oven for about an hour and a half, until beans are cooked through.

Sauté onion in a Dutch oven or large pot. Cook for about 8-10 minutes until softened and beginning to sweeten. Remove to a bowl. Add sausage and brown well, about 10 minutes.

Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook another 2-3 minutes.

Return onion to pot with sausage and add the cooked beans and their cooking liquid. Bring to a gentle boil and stir in the escarole.

Simmer for about 30 minutes, until the escarole has cooked down and the flavors in the soup have blended well.

I like it served with plenty of red pepper flakes.

Serve 6-8.

Baked Macaroni Shrimp and Salmon

More than just your average tuna noodle casserole.  But equally comforting, and fast.
1/2 lb large ribbed macaroni
1 dozen medium shrimp, peeled and cut in half
1/4 lb salmon fillet, skinned
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/4 lb Jalapeno Jack cheese, cubed 1/4-inch

Béchamel sauce:
1 Tbsp butter plus 1 Tbsp canola oil
1/4 cup flour
2+ cups milk
1/2 tsp dried dill weed

1/2 cup panko crumbs
palmful fresh parsley, minced
dash garlic powder, about 1/4 tsp
1 Tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 375. Bring 2 quarts of water in a medium pot to a boil for the pasta. Season generously with a tablespoon of coarse kosher salt. Stir in the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile prepare the Béchamel sauce. Melt the butter in the oil in a small sauce pan. Add the flour and cook for about 3-5 minutes until smelling a bit nutty but not darkening much. Add the 2 cups milk and turn heat to high. Whisking every once in a while, allow the mixture to come to a gentle boil and thicken. Add the dill and season to taste with salt and pepper. Adjust thickness with a bit more milk if necessary. The pasta will absorb a lot of the moisture, so the sauce should not be too thick - it should just coat the back of a spoon well. A slightly thinner sauce will keep the dish moist and creamy.

Toss the shrimp, salmon, peas and cheese into a large mixing bowl.

Add the pasta and the sauce and mix well. Turn into an oiled casserole.

Mix together the panko crumbs with the parsley, garlic powder and oil.

The crumbs should just be moist. Scatter the crumbs on top of the macaroni and bake for about 30 minutes, until nicely browned and bubbly.

Serves 4.

Cook’s Note: I used leftover previously poached salmon in this case, but you could just as well use fresh uncooked fish. You could also substitute many other varieties of fish such as grouper or cod. I also tossed in a few leftover sautéed zucchini I had hanging around. This is the perfect dish to rescue lonely leftovers. Waste not, want not.

Grilled Mediterranean Perch Packets

I love cooking fish on the grill in aluminum foil packets - similar to how our Dad used to cook chicken.  Individual servings with veggies and herbs, they keep any fish odor outside and the flavor baked into the fish.  Fantastic.
1-1/2 lb perch fillets, prepared into four serving portions
2 small zucchini, thinly sliced
1 large fresh ripe tomato, thinly sliced
3 green onions, sliced
4 Tbsp butter
dash red pepper flakes

Heat grill to high. Tear off 4 18-inch sections of aluminum foil and lay on a flat surface. Distribute 1 tablespoon buttering pieces, 3-5 inches apart in the center of each sheet. Then distribute the zucchini slices evenly about all four sheets atop the butter.

Lay the perch fillets on top of the zucchini. Then top them with tomato slices and green onion, distributed evenly among the four servings.

Salt and pepper to taste and accent with a dash of red pepper flakes to taste.

Wrap the fish in well-sealed packets. Lay on grill and cook about 10-12 minutes. 

Open one packet carefully and assure the fish is cooked through.

If not, reseal and cook another 2-3 minutes. If so, either serve the packets, halfway opened (you do not want your family or guests to find a burst of hot steam…) on large plates (informal), or transfer to plates for each packet.

Either way works for me depending on the situation. Serve with lemon wedges.

Serves 4.