Clams and Linguini

18-24 cherrystone clams

1 cup white wine

2 cups water

1 lb. linguini

3 cloves garlic

1 onion, finely diced

1 large tomato, chopped

2 Tbsp olive oil

4 Tbsp butter

several dashes Pete’s hot sauce

chopped chives

Steam the clams in the wine and water for about 10 minutes, until clams open. Meanwhile sauté the onion in the butter and oil. Then add the garlic. Set aside. Add a bit of olive oil to the pan and heat to high. Add the tomatoes and hot sauce and sear until caramelized a bit for about 3-5 minutes. Return onion and garlic to pan.

Remove opened clams from broth. Remove clams from shells and dice. Reserve about 1 cup clam broth (salty!) for sauce. Add remaining to pot with enough water to make about 2 quarts. Bring to a boil and cook linguini al dente. Drain linguini and toss in serving bowl with clams, tomato mixture and reserved broth. Top with chopped chives and parmesan cheese.

Poolside Dips

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And now for Some Real 4th of July Holiday Grilling...

Asian BBQ Pork Spareribs1 rack (about 4 lbs. ) pork spare ribs, cut into 2-rib sections
1 large onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-inch fresh ginger, minced
1 apple, peeled, cored and finely diced

BBQ Sauce:
½ cup BBQ sauce
½ cup pale dry sherry
½ cup Triple Sec orange liquor
¼ cup water
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp chili paste with Garlic or other hot chili sauce (we like Texas Pete’s)

This dish was cooked using a gas grill for grilling. Start grill heating to high. Mix together sauce ingredients. Heat a Dutch oven on the stove and sauté the onion in a bit of canola oil until just softened about 5 minutes. Then add the apple and garlic and simmer on low for another few minutes. Meanwhile oil and salt the rib portions generously and grill on high for 5-7 minutes per side, until well browned – flames and blackening allowed! Tip ribs into Dutch oven, add the BBQ sauce, cover and braise on low for 45 minutes, turning once or twice.

Reheat grill to low. Remove ribs from oven and grill very slowly on low as you reduce the BBQ sauce in the Dutch oven to a thick consistency. Then start basting the ribs, turning often to finish the grilling and form a nice glossy sheen to the ribs.

Healthy 4th of July Grilling

Grilling is the default cooking method on the 4th of July in America. If you’ve already met your beef and brat quota – try some fish – it grills up great.

Grilled Red Snapper with Mango Mint Salsa

Salsa:
1 mango cubed
2 Tbsp. fresh mint
2 Tbsp. minced cilantro
2 Tbsp. minced red onion
2 Tbsp. olive oil
juice of ½ lime
zest of ½ lime
½ tsp salt
fresh ground black pepper

dash red pepper flakes (or minced jalapeno)

4 Red Snapper fillets
Salt and pepper and paprika to taste

Mix together salsa ingredients and let stand at least half an hour. Score fish skin in several places to keep skin from curling and bowing the fillets too much when grilled. Place fillets, skin-side down on a platter and brush with canola oil. Season generously with salt and freshly-ground pepper, or your favorite Fish, Cajun or Caribbean spice mix. Heat grill and oil grate well.

Place fillets skin side up on grill and cook for 5 minutes without moving fillets (step away – if you move them before they have seared a bit, they will tear apart!). Gently flip fillets and cook another 3 to 4 minutes just until done. Gently remove fillets to a serving platter and top with a bit of salsa. You can also use a grill pan for very good results if it’s not grilling weather, and other fish also works with this salsa equally well.

Molé Lentil, Barley and Pink Bean Stew with Swiss Chard

1 leek, cleaned and diced
1 large carrot, finely diced
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 bay leaf
1 cup green lentils
¼ cup pearled barley
1 quart chicken broth
1 can pink beans, drained
4 cups sliced/shredded Swiss Chard
2 Tbsp prepared Molé paste (such as Trader Joe’s)
¼ cup Chili Sauce (such as Heinz) or catsup
1 Tbsp soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
2-4 cups water – enough to thin to desired consistency

Sauté leek and carrot in a bit of olive oil in a soup pot. After about 6-8 minutes add the cumin and mustard seeds and sauté until fragrant, another 3-5 minutes. Add the bay leaf, lentils, barley and broth and bring to a boil. Stir, reduce heat to a simmer and cook covered for about half an hour, stirring every so often. Add the remaining ingredients, with just enough water to thin to the desired consistency as you cook stew for another 20-30 minutes, covered. Remove bay leaf.

Definitely serve with corn bread!

Father's Day Summer Solstice

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Barbque Rib Eye Steaks


Mac and Cheese

Farfalle with Tofu Eggplant and Mint

1 eggplant, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 package extra firm tofu, drained and diced
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. Farfalle pasta
1 Tbsp chives, minced
1 Tbsp fresh mint leaves (or 1 tsp dried), minced

Sauté eggplant in a non-stick skillet for about 2 minutes without any oil. Once sizzling hot, hit the eggplant with a bit of olive oil and continue sautéing until the eggplant is nicely browned on all sides. Heating up the eggplant before adding oil seems to keep the eggplant from absorbing too much oil and getting soggy and oily. Set eggplant aside.

Toss the tofu with the garlic and onion powders and some salt and pepper to taste. Sauté the tofu in the non-stick skillet in a bit of olive oil over very high heat. Brown all sides nicely, about 8-10 minutes. Set aside. In the same skillet, sauté the onion and pepper just until softened. Add the garlic and cook another minute or two. Return eggplant and tofu to the pan, mix gently, and keep warm.

Meanwhile bring a pot of salted water to boil and cook the pasta until al-dente. Drain pasta, reserving about ½ cup pasta cooking water, and tip pasta into a large serving bowl. Toss with vegetable mixture. Add a bit of cooking water to moisten if needed. Top with chives and mint.

Really Cool Dinner Salads

Grilled Salmon on Spinach & Avocado Salad with Buttermilk Dressing
Dressing:
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ tsp. salt
freshly ground pepper

Salad:
4 cups baby spinach leaves (about one 7-oz. bag)
1 ripe avocado, sliced
¼ cup grated carrots
½ cup diced cucumber

4 salmon fillets, about 1-inch thick

Whisk together dressing. Spray salmon with oil and salt and pepper to taste. Heat a non-stick grill pan on high heat and cook salmon, skin-side up, for 5 minutes. Flip salmon and continue cooking another 3-4 minutes (depending on thickness). Meanwhile, toss spinach, cucumbers and carrots with dressing and lay out on a large platter. Arrange salmon and avocados on top of spinach and garnish with lemon wedges.


Lemon Grilled Chicken on Balsamic Blue Cheese Salad


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Eat Fish

No explanation necessary. Here are more simple great ways to eat fish.


Crabmeat-stuffed Sole with Shrimp
4 fillets of sole
1 can crabmeat, drained and checked for bones
12 whole shrimp, peeled
2 cups prepared herbed stuffing

Heat oven to 400F. Meanwhile, prepare stuffing according to package directions. Gently fold crabmeat into stuffing mix. Place ½ cup stuffing on top of each filet and roll and tuck filet to make a nice package. Butterfly each shrimp and sauté in an oven-going pan in a bit of butter and olive oil. Remove shrimp and place stuffed fillets in pan. Arrange shrimp on top of fillets and spoon butter/oil mix over fillets. Bake 15 minutes.

Cod and Pesto Wrapped in Prosciutto
This is based on Mark Bittman’s recipe which I think cannot be improved upon – it is Minimalist and pure down to its elements - as simple and pure as can be.

4 thick (‘Captain’s Cut’) fillets of Cod, about 1½ to 2 lbs. total
8 thin slices prosciutto ham
4 Tbsp. pesto

Slightly overlay two slices of prosciutto and spread 1 Tbsp. pesto on top. Lay 1 cod fillet on one end and roll up to wrap fillet. Sauté in a bit of butter and olive oil just until fish is cooked through, 8-10 minutes, turning as needed.

Cod with a Light Asian Vegetable Base
1 red pepper, finely diced
1 zucchini, finely diced
1 leek, washed and finely diced
2 cups cauliflower, broken into very small pieces
dash red pepper flakes
dash dill
dash basil
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp rice wine vinegar
1½ lb Cod, filleted and skinned, 4 portions
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil

Sauté pepper, zucchini and leek in a bit of olive oil until beginning to soften. Add cauliflower, red pepper, dill, basil and garlic and continue cooking for another five minutes. Mix together the soy sauce, sesame oil and vinegar, and toss with the vegetables in the pan. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the butter and oil in a non-stick skillet until almost smoking, and lay in the fish fillets. Cook about 3-4 minutes. Carefully turn the fish and finish cooking another 3-5 minutes on the other side.

Serve the fish on a bed of the vegetables.

Lentils that go a long way

I always make a big batch of this delicious recipe for lentils, because they can be used for 2 more dinners afterwards. They are themselves creamy and delicious – serve them with rice, couscous, polenta or with cornbread. Then, when combined with rice and ground hazelnuts, they become a fantastic loaf when baked. Finally, the loaf can be sliced the next day and sautéed to achieve a crispy surface, and can be eaten as-is or as a burger. Lots of return for not much work!

Creamy French Lentils
1 cup Puy (small olive/black) lentils
2 medium carrots, finely diced
2 stalks celery, finely diced
½ onion, finely diced
1 tsp. cumin seeds (or ½ tsp. ground dried cumin)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
3 cups chicken stock or water

Sauté carrot, celery and onion in a bit of olive oil for about 10 minutes, until they soften and melt down a bit. Add the garlic, cumin and basil and cook another 2 minutes, with stirring.

Add the lentils, curry powder and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 30-45 minutes, until lentils are just soft. Stir occasionally. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over whole grain, with cornbread or beside grilled meat or fish.


Lentil Hazelnut Loaf
2 cups cooked lentils (see Creamy French Lentils, above)
2 cups cooked rice
½ cup hazelnuts, ground to a coarse meal
2 eggs, beaten
¼ cup Romano (or Parmesan) cheese, grated
¼ tsp. ground coriander
5 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 Tbsp sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 375F. Mix together all ingredients, reserving about an ounce of the cheese and ½ tablespoon of sesame seeds. Pour into an oiled loaf pan. Top with the remaining cheese and sesame seeds. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes. Slice and serve with your favorite sauce.

Can be sliced the next day and reheated with a bit of olive oil in a non-stick skillet until a bit browned. Eat as is or as a burger in a bun.