cooking @ home

Archive for the ‘Healthy’ Category

©2008 Harry Kenney

Well, I’m back after my “hiatus”. My initial thought was to put up one of the maybe dozen new dishes I’ve made over the past several months. Instead, I’m starting back up with my most very recent meal. I got a bit more adventurous the other night, making something competely new for me and it turned out so well I’m going to share that one first.

But before doing that I want to talk about taste or maybe it would be more accurate to call this the “conveyance of taste”. Now I consider myself as having a pretty good palate. Mind you, I haven’t yet taken any blind food tests — although to sate my own curiosity I have a friend who promises when she gets a chance that we’ll do one. I always watch Hell’s Kitchen and each season it’s amazing to see how trained chefs can’t tell the difference between an apple and a piece of potato when blindfolded. Ok, I’m on a bit of a tangent; let me get back to the heart of the matter here, which is, in this case arugula.

Now, believe it or not, until recently I’d never tasted it. How can that be? I don’t know. There’s too many things in the world. What’s normal for one isn’t for another. For me there’s still what seems like hundreds of cheeses and dozens of greens and other delicious food items still awaiting my taste buds. I see that as a great adventure awaiting me. Anyhow, arugula is one of those favs of television cooks it seems. (By the way, if you have ever heard a British cook talk about a green known as “rocket” … yes, apparently that is their name for arugula.) And I’ve always heard those cooks say it tastes peppery. Just as I keep hearing Mexican orgeano has a minty flavor, Thai basil has a licorice or anise taste, and olive oil is often described as “fruity” and brown butter as “nutty”.

Not sure about you but, while I do know what they’re getting at, I don’t taste olive oil and go “ah, fruit!” Do you? I don’t taste browned butter and yell out “Wow, it’s nuts!” So I was surprised when finally I tasted arugula and thought “ok, where’s the pepper at?” All these years and I start to wonder if the cooks we rely on are a little bit whacky, and a shared whackiness at that. Again, I think — and I’m starting to question slightly — if my palette is as good as I’ve always thought. It must be as I can usually go to a restaurant and divine various ingredients in a new sauce. But I’m not tasting the fruitness, nuttiness or pepperiness in any of these items. Or am I?

So what makes me wonder is, when cookbook authors and television chefs describe something a certain way, maybe they’re just trying to talk about a slight delicate thing? Or maybe someone came up with the idea and they all copy each other. I think if I had never heard those adjectives described about these foods, that I would not necessarily come up with the same descriptions. To put it another way, I would be very hard pressed having never heard of the peppery arugula description or the fruity olive oil description to convey to someone exactly what they actually tasted like. That is an exceptionally difficult task. How do you describe a color to a blind person? Or a musical note to a deaf person? So how does one describe food with it’s delicate nuances to someone who has never had that particular food?

I will tell you this, whatever description one gives to arugula, I definitely like the taste. It’s similiar and yet different from lettuce. It’s definitely not like fresh spinich, although it similiarly can be used in a salad instead of lettuce, which gave me the idea for this meal in the first place. I thought to myself, if arugula has a slight peppery taste what’s a nice offset from that? Lemon vinaigrette came to mind. So did using either capers or olives; I ended up choosing olives, and my favorites, the dark Kamala ones not the green ones. After that everything was just keeping things simple but doing that little balance, red onion for kick, olive for bite, lemon for acidity and freshness plus while it might counterpoint the arugula it would also compliment the chicken.

The grilled portobello caps is something I’ve been dying to do for a long time. To be candid, I have no idea if the balsamic vinegar and grated Parmesan was all my idea or if I had seen it on a television show before. It would not surprise me if I’d seen it on TV as the simpler you make a meal, the more easily it can either be copied or a that a ton of people can have the same idea. In a lot of ways, this is a very simple meal, but I think still rather elegant. Yes, I love bold, complex flavors as you’ve seen from my barbecue dishes; at the same time I like the “other side” too, when something simple and basic and few ingredients can be so tasty. The salad is five ingredients plus the dressing. As said the portobello mushroom is pretty much the star and the very slight cheese and very slight balsamic are barely supporting players. To be candid, while I find the balsamic defintiely adds an interesting dimension and it’s good that way, I found I actually liked the porotbellos caps better without — just the seasoned mushroom and the light dusting of cheese on top.

In my case I used the indoor cast iron two-burner grill. This would have been an excellent one, both the chicken and the bello caps, to put on the outside grill, but since it was a 99 degree day I passed on that. I’m sure the charcoal would have served as an incredible “seasoning” of it’s own and brought something else special to the meal. Btw, I used vegetable oil not olive oil on the caps as, firstly, I wanted to better taste the mushroom and secondly, when it comes to grilling you might recall vegetable oil has a higher smoke point that olive oil does.

Before I forget to mention this, for myself, for the salad, I had it the first night with the olives, arugula and red onions just a tad chilled from the refrigerator and the mushrooms and chicken warm. It made for a wonderful combination having that little chill and that little warmth together as counterparts. It also meant the warm ingredients gave ever the slighest delectable wilting to the arugula too. Since I was cooking for two and it’s one of those meals that serves four or five I naturally had leftovers. If you also end up having leftovers my servng suggestion for the second day is, well, two ways you can have it. chilled from the fridge or you can let it sit out for 30-60 minutes beforehand and serve it at room temperature. I preferred the latter, but either way it’s still going to be delicious.

©2008 Harry Kenney

Warm Grilled Chicken & Arugula Salad

2 medium to large skinless, boneless chicken breasts
5 oz fresh baby arugula, washed and dried
1 medium red onion, sliced very thin
2 oz Kamala olives, halved
10-14 medium button mushrooms, sliced

salt, pepper, garlic powder (optional) to taste
vegetable oil

Lemon Vinaigrette

4-5 tbsps lemon juice
tsp fresh lemon zest
tsp dried oregano
tsp dried basil
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Prepare the salad, in a large bowl place the argula, onion and olives and place in refrigerator to chill slightly. Take sliced mushrooms and into a small pan, brown well, adding vegetable oil as needed, salt and pepper half way through, then set aside.

On a plate oil salt and pepper the chicken then place on oiled grill top (indoor or outdoor.) Flip only once (or as little as possible) Roughly 5-7 minutes per side. Cook until you get a reading of 170-180°F inside. Let site for at least five minutes then cut into bite-sized pieces. Make the dressing by, either in a blender or a small bowl placing lemon zest, lemon juice, orgeano and basil and then slowly whisk in (or in blender, pour in) olive oil until you get an emulsion.

Take salad bowl out of refrigerator. Add warm chicken pieces and warm mushrooms. Add to salad salt, pepper, and (optional) garlic powder and toss. Pour half vinagrette, toss, then remainder toss again and serve. Makes 4-5 servings.

Grilled Portobello Caps (optional side)

5 large portobellos caps, cleaned
balsamic vinegar (optional)
grated Parmesan
vegetable oil
salt, pepper to taste

Clean five large portobello caps. Taking out gills is optional. (You would need to take them out if you were filling the caps, but we’re not.) On place oil on top, salt and pepper, then place on grill cap side down. Season and oil the inside of the mushrooms if you haven’t already. Add oil as needed. Roughly 5-6 minutes for the cap side to grill. Then another 4-5 minutes for the underside. Just before serving, (optional) lightly drizzle balsamic vinegar and sprinkle of grated Parmesan. Serve warm.

©2008 Harry Kenney

One thing you know about the way I do things, for those who follow me, is that besides pointing out tips I point out the rough spots, the mistakes that I’ve made on a previous version or how to correct mistakes if they’re made. What you don’t see (though I sometimes talk about) are the once in a while big flops.

Yes, I have them too. We all do. (You might find some comfort in that.) Maybe I made a silly mistake that flopped the whole thing. Once in a while the technique I used was the downfall — as when I tried too tough a cut of beef for shish kabobs. Sometimes I misjudge as with a recent braised Swiss chard recipe where by (having not used it before) I totally miscalculated the amount of shrinkage and so the other ingredients in the dish came out in too much proportions.

Then there’s this dish. Over half a year ago I tried something like this. I was going to call it a California salad. It has pineapple and avocado and other ingredients. I also attempted to make some kind of yogurt dressing, though I forget now what was in it besides the yogurt. It was a miserable flop. The dressing and salad didn’t work individually and they worked worse together. I’m still not sure what I did wrong.

Point is, many months later I made a Greek yogurt dressing and it came out nice. And then I made a tropical salsa and it came out excellent. With more time and experience behind my belt, I once again decided to make this salad. But I didn’t take what I did before in to account on purpose. I didn’t try, that is, to go to the same blueprint and make corrections. I just went at it anew with whatever my gut told me to do. You see my gut, my experience had grown more since then, I just let it guide me.

In short, it worked. (If it hadn’t the recipe wouldn’t be up and it you wouldn’t know about it.) So, if you think I cook a lot now judging be the recipes you see on this site. Well sometimes things go wrong behind the scenes and I end up wasting food and my time and taking photos. (Fortunately my flops are few and far between, but they happen.) I don’t feel bad, that is, we all make mistakes. Look at Top Chef, look at other shows … did the winner of the competition ever have a bad dish or were they perfect from day one? They all, even the best of chefs, have a bad day, a bad dish. In fact, if you experiment — and you should — this will always happen; it’s part of the game. So I don’t let it get to me. Again, we often learn from our mistakes.

One thing I do want to mention briefly is that while I’m not sure what happened to that first attempt of a salad similiar to this, my best guess is it was just the wrong mixture and/or proportion of flavors to each other. I like making complex dishes at times. I like the harmony, the interplay of tastes. You know this from other dishes like BBQ sauce. You’ve heard Bobby Flay talk about this. Ming Tsai has made a career out of these balances. The yin and yang. The sweet to offset the sharp; the sharp to liven it up; the hot to give it bite; the oil to clam it down; the tang against … You get the idea.

You might recall one of my very first articles here, Secret to Great Cooking: A Harmony of Contrasts, where I talked about “combining to create a unity of opposites”. That’s what this particular dish — both the salad and the dressing, and more so the two together — really is about. Last time out, my “grasp” of this was off a bit, and that was just enough that it didn’t work. This time my understanding of combining these disparate elements was better and I was successful. Point is, try things. Fail, get up, learn, try it again. Maybe you can figure it out and get it right the next day, maybe eight months has to pass by. Either way, don’t force it, but don’t give up.

One final thing. Not only is this one delicious salad, but the dressing is one of the best I’ve ever made. You will be very surprised how absolutely fantastic it tastes. I’ve made this with both extra-virgin olive oil and at another time with vegetable oil and both work fine, though the olive oil is preferred as it adds an extra fruity dimension to it. Enjoy!

Avocado Salad
©2008 Harry Kenney

2 avocados, peeled and chunked
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
1 pint (16 oz.) cherry tomatoes, leave whole
1 corn cob (roughly 1-1/2 cups), cooked, kernels seperated
1/2 cup fresh pineapple, chunked
1/2 cup fresh papaya, chunked
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely minced

Simply mix above together well and serve with dressing.

Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette
©2008 Harry Kenney

1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp honey
extra-virgin olive oil (vegetable oil also works)

Place first three ingredients in a blender (can be an old ordinary bar blender, doesn’t have to be a new super powered one). Take off blender top and while mixing, pour in olive oil from top to emulsify. Use approximately 3 parts olive oil to rest of ingredients or until looks right consistency. Taste. Add more if needed until happy with result.

Add by tablespoons over avacado salad (or other salad of your choosing) and mix in well. Serve.

Note: Keep this in refrigerator in a conventional wide-mouthed leftover container; do not bottle. Refrigeration will combine mixture into a thick gelatin-like consistency. To reuse simply mix well with fork for 15 seconds. If needed you could add 1/2 teaspoon of both water and oil.

©2008 Harry Kenney

Several different types of fish have gotten somewhat popular in the last few years and can now easily be found at your local fish monger or at the fresh seafood section of your local supermarket. Among these is one with the very cool sounding name of mahi-mahi. So what is mahi mahi? (The name by the way can be two words or a single hyphenated one from what I’ve found.)

Obviously the name conjures up the tropical Pacific, specifically Hawaii. And indeed the name is Hawaiian, meaning “strong-strong” as this fish can really put up a fight when on the end of a fishing line. Despite the name however, this fish can be found and caught in many places besides the deep South Pacific, also in the Caribbean, the west coast of South America and Southeast Asia; and it is in these areas the commercial fisherman go for. That said, in less abundance more recreational fisherman have caught them in the Arabian Sea and even in the Atlantic from New Jersey down to Florida.

So where did this fish come from so all of a sudden? It didn’t actually. You recall the dolphin fish of the 90s? This is the same puppy, er, uh, fish. I always thought calling a fish a dolphin (which we know is a mammal) was very stupid and needlessly confusing. Evidently so did everyone else. Especially when this fish when alive or freshly caught is a spectacular bright green and yellow. The color fades, so you won’t see green on the skin of the fish you’ve purchased at the store, more silver and black, though if you look closely at the one photo here, you will see the specks of yellow. You’ll notice on the fleshy side the pink with little specks of red. That’s a good indicator you have mahi-mahi.

Why is it so popular? Taste it and you’ll find out. It is one very delicious fish. Very firm, large flakes, a nice subtle sweet taste. Because of this I suspect it could take a nice marinade or glaze. That said though, my favorite way to cook fish is the most simple way, grilled and with few spices or flavorings. So, this is a very super simple recipe. In keeping with it’s most famous of origins I paired it with a nice tropical fruit salsa and laid it on a bed of yellow rice with a side of grilled fresh asparagus. Ah, the simple things in life.

Let me be a tad erudite and a tad hokey then and wish you the Hawaiian form of “bon appetit” — it actaully means literally (in plural form) “Let’s eat!” — E ‘ai ka-kou!

Grilled Mahi-Mahi with Lime
©2008 Harry Kenney

2 fillets mahi-mahi, about one pound
juice of half a lime
salt
pepper
vegetable oil

Get your outside grill or inside cast-iron grill hot and ready.

Score the skin side with a sharp knife in a diamond pattern to make crispy. Liberally apply and rub both sides with cooking oil. Season both sides, though predominantly the flesh side, with salt, pepper and lime juice.

Place on hot grill skin side down first for about three minutes. Turn, grill fleshy side for two to three minutes. One more turn and one more minute of grilling the skin side again.

Done. Serve with or without skin. Note this works great with the skin, but there are two long thick membranes about a quarter inch thick and roughly as long as the fish that will need removing.

Makes two to three servings.

©2008 Harry Kenney

Cooks are generally pretty imaginative. That said, when something gets popular, everyone jumps on the bandwagon. In the last few years we’ve seen the big bulsamic vinegar craze, and then there was the Parmesano Reggiano fad, and of course romaine has long replaced the boring iceberg lettuce as the salad staple. The first one is still going, though I see some chefs lately such as Bobby Flay starting to use sherry vinegar instead; and as for grated cheese, it seems of late Pecorino Romano is the food world’s “new black”.

What brings this up? Especially in terms of this particular dish? Well while there’s not too much wrong with everyone jumping on a bandwagon (well, there is to some degree), the thing is few people seem to know when to jump off that wagon, not even when it’s been run into the ground. And that brings me to the mango. Like most people I enjoy it, and yes, I’m sure I will use mango in future recipes just as I have in the past. But, please folks, there is a world beyond. In short, the wide-spread massive over-use of the mango to the exclusion of everything else stops here.

Now I am in no way insisting on an embargo of any kind. I just have to say, hey, there are other fruits in this world. There’s other delicious tropical fruits. You actually can make a salsa — believe it or not — without having to use mango in it every single time! (Ok, are you getting the idea that I’ve been “mango-ed out”? I’m even getting sick of using the word.) Amazingly, the, um … “M” craze has been going on for way far longer than the Parmesan Reggiano or bulsamic crazes. Unlike them there seems to be no stopping it. Again, except for right here, right now.

I say venture forth and discover the other delicious delicacies out there: guava, passion fruit, kiwi, papaya …. Even something more exotic like the pomegranate, or more commonplace such as the lately-unappreciated pineapple. And so, I present to you a dish I’m actually tempted to label “NOT Another Mango Salsa”. This is pretty much a “nouveau” salsa (not that traditional). Though having said that it is somewhat reminiscent of pico de gallo, and I’m referring to the Mexican version not the Spanish version. Note this salsa is also refreshingly devoid of tomato too. No mango and no tomato in a salsa? Stop me, I’m a madman! LOL!

I made this with the fish I had a few nights ago (that recipe will be up shortly), and what I had left over a couple days later I had along side my steak (another recipe you’ll see very soon) and it went great with both. Note, neither of these dishes were Mexican, so to say salsa must accompany only a Mexican or Southwestern dish is, well, like saying you have to use mango all time. It’s a rut that needs to be overcome.

So, you want something nice and a bit different as a side? It’s cool respite from the rest of warm and hot food on the plate. It’s fresh, it’s tangy, and it’s got a little touch of heat counterbalanced with that touch of sweetness. You’ll definitely enjoy this tropical fruit salsa with a variety of different dishes. Which ones? Well, I gave you a few pointers already, but — as with trying out different tropical fruit flavors — I leave whatever other dishes this goes with up to your own exploration. Enjoy the ride. That’s the fun part of eating and cooking.

Chunky Tropical Fruit Salsa
©2008 Harry Kenney

1/4 cup fresh papaya, chunked (or use canned)
1/4 cup fresh pineapple, chunked (or use canned)
1/2 large jalapeño, devaned, deseeded, chopped
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chooped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped fine (cannot use dried!)
2 tbsps grated fresh ginger (or ginger powder)
2 tbsps fresh lime juice
olive oil

Mix everything together. Put enough olive oil in have a nice coat, but this is not a dressing, not a vinaigrette, so err on the conservative side. Put in refrigerator at least half hour before serving so all the ingredients blend together well. Stir mix before poritioning out on plates. This side dish can be served cold, chilled or even (see note at end) at room temperature. Makes four portions.

Note: for health issues, don’t let at room temperature for an extended amount of time. This doesn’t just pertain to this dish. The assumption that food in an acidic (lime juice in this case) solution means it’s impervious to bacteria is not correct. Short period of time, again, as with any food, is fine. This isn’t to scare you, just educate. Use your head and you’ll be fine.

©2008 Harry Kenney

This recipe is so cut and dry that for once I’m not sure what even to write about. Of course, that’s not usually the case and this blog is set up to show the first two paragraphs and then “divide” so I have to write something here. I guess I’ll just say how nice it is to wander the earth from my desktop computer and from my kitchen and to see — and to taste — how different people’s do the same thing — like a salad — but do it their own way.

Californians, parts of Mexico and Spain all have salads that contain avacado, for instance. In Greece, it’s olives and feta that helps make it uniquely theirs, their “stamp” on things, or their contribution. You’ll notice two ingredients I say are option, I myself didn’t put into this salad, anchovies and hard-boiled eggs. Again two ingredients that make it more distinctly Mediterranean in nature. So, try it with one of the two Greek salad dressings I posted here yesterday if you want to keep it authentically Greek — or feel free to use your own favorite salad dressing. Your choice. Enjoy.

  

Greek Salad
©2008 Harry Kenney

1 medium green pepper, devaned, deseeded, small dice
Two dozen Kamala olives, halved
2 cucumbers, peeled and deseeded, diced
1 large red onion, diced
12-16 Roma (plum) tomatoes diced
10 oz romaine lettuce
2 oz radicchio
2 oz endive
anchovies, sliced (optional)

to taste:
organo
parsley
salt
pepper
garlic powder

toppings:

crumbled feta cheese
hard-boiled egg, sliced or diced (optional)

Greek salad dressing of your choice

Mix the above ingredients together in a bowl. Toss the seasonings thoroughly. I then like to put the salad bowl into refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes, both to give it all a chill and to let all the ingredients and seasonings marry together. Remember to never put feta or egg into the actual salad in terms of storage. Store them seperately. Only add toppings and dressing to a salad immediately before serving. Salad makes 6-8 servings.

©2008 Harry Kenney

Have you ever gone to the market, brought something home and said now what am going to do with this? I’m sure we’ve all done that. I certainly have. I’d love to say I always shop with a plan. I would have to say I partly do. I often buy food with some recipe or some idea at least vaguely in my mind. But not for the entire shopping experience; the rest of the shopping goes by what I see, what’s on sale, what looks fresh, what looks not so fresh, and what just generally grabs my attention. And this time it was the on-sale bag of frozen bay scallops.

And then I got home and thought “now what?” You see, I know what to do with the larger scallops. You know the one’s I mean that are the size and shape of big marshmellows. Pretty much you sear them on one side, then the other, bang, they’re done. Well, you’re certainly not going to do the same with what amounts to 60 or 70 miniature marshmellow-sized scallops. We’re talking just slightly larger than pencil erasers after all. So, what to do?

Eventually I recalled a dish I had served in a restaurant awhile back. Funny thing, can’t recall where I was. Could have been here in Center City Philly, but my recollection is that it was somewhere while traveling, either on business or a vacation. But I can’t put my finger on where. In any case, it was scallops in pasta with a fresh pesto sauce and some veggies. Which I began to reconstruct here and eventually got so far and did my usual, namely used that as the basis or the spring board and then went on my own from there. And what I ended up with was very delicious. (Or you wouldn’t be reading it now.)

You know I like to know about what I’m eating. And since I’m thinking you’re thinking the same way, here’s some things you should know about scallops when it comes to cooking. It’s a shellfish. Technically a marine bivalve mollusc. It’s found in cuisine everywhere, that is in Eastern and in Western cooking. You’ll find it on plates in Nagasaki to New York, from Dover to Buenos Aries, you name it. In the United States only the adductor muscles is used; elsewhere the entire scallop is often used. As to size, those large ones mentioned before, the one’s I know I’m most used to are called sea scallops and you can often get those as 20-40 per pound and are often an inch-and-a-half in diameter. Sea scallops are available fresh year-round, peaking from late spring to early fall.

Then there’s the one’s used in this particular dish, the bay scallop, which as the name implies they reside in bays. Historically these tended to come from New England. Nowadays much of the bay scallops consumed in the US are farmed in China. Bay scallops are often in the 50-90 of them in a single pound; these are usually half-an-inch in diameter. The one’s I got at the market (bad me for not looking) said on the bag, 150-200 per pound and were slightly less than a half inch in diameter, so I definitely got the super minis. In terms of season, bay scallops are available frozen purchased year-round.

Nutrition info: Scallops contain a variety of nutrients that can promote your cardiovascular health, plus provide protection against colon cancer. Scallops are actually a very good source of a very important nutrient for cardiovascular health, vitamin B12. Four ounces of scallops contains 33.3% of the daily value for vitamin B12. As with fish, scallops are a rich source of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. A four-ounce of serving of scallops alone contains roughly 24 grams of protein and about 152 calories.

Healthy and delicious. What more do you want? Use the recipe I put up just the other day for Classic Basil Pesto Sauce. Enjoy.

Bay Scallops in Linguine with Pesto
©2008 Harry Kenney

8 oz bay scallops
1/2 red bell pepper, julliene then cut in half
3 oz portobellos (or other mushrooms), cut into chunks
1/2 zucchini, diced
1/2 box linguine
1 clove garlic, slightly crushed and sliced
olive oil
homemade pesto sauce

Put linguine in pot of boiling water and cook until al dente. Reserve.

Olive oil into large, deep pan at medium heat. Add garlic. After a minute add red pepper, zucchini, mushrooms. Sweat well, do not brown. After several minutes, take out of pan into bowl and hold.

Place well-drained bay scallops into pan. Add little oil, turn up heat as needed. These will start extruding water. You want the water out but you don’t want to burn or even brown much the scallops at all. Toss constantly. Empty water out in sink as necessary. Add oil as necessary.

Toss veggies back from bowl into pan and mix. Remove from heat. Toss pasta into pan and mix. Add pesto sauce and mix well. Serve. Makes about 4 servings.

©2008 Harry Kenney

Sometimes food is delicious to the tastebuds, but not so delcious to the eyes. Meat loaf comes to mind. So does split pea soup, among others. Veal piccata must unfortunately be counted among these. The photos here this time, do not do it justice. (And a quick look around the Net showed me for good or bad, none of the other images I saw taken by others did it that much justice either.) And the fact this recipe falls right after the brilliant colors of salmon no doubt makes it seem duller still, image-wise.

But enough. Not every meal can spark all the senses. What this one lacks in being picturesque it more than makes up for in taste as well as in aroma. Picatta means “sharp” in Italian and it has come to mean a variety of dishes that use thin cuts of meat, cut thinly and/or pounded thinly, cooked in a pan and served with a sharp sauce, provided by the lemon and capers.

And in this dish also added to by the dry sherry. Some dishes say use dry white wine. Fan that I am of that, three reasons for doing with the dry sherry this time. The first time I made this dish was a couple decades ago from The Frug’s recipes (Jeff Smith). Next, how often outside of Asian cooking do you get to use a nice sherry? And most importantly, third, it adds more of that piccata “bite” that we’re looking for here, where as the wine might soften that too much, take some of that away. And that’s not desired.

Before I go into the nutritional and health elements of eating veal, let’s quickly get past the talk of eating veal at all. In other words, the whole “veal bad” animal rights thing. Suffice to say conditions in veal farming and the veal industry have improved dramatically in the past two decades thanks to the activists. Some say it’s enough, some say it isn’t. You wouldn’t be reading this — nor I writing it — if this issue was of great concern. As for myself, I take a practical Native American perspective when it comes to animals and food. Hunting to put an animal on a wall or make a fur coat is (among other things) a horrible waste and soley for ego. Whereas food raised to be food is to be eaten. And as humans we eat food. And this is the natural way of life. Period.

Now on to the postive assessment of veal as food. In terms of nutrition, low-fat and cost … Veal is lean; it has very little fat. This also means there is little waste when compared to other animal meat. Because of this a pound of veal can often vield three or four servings. Some have suggested when comparision shopping to evaluate the cost per serving instead of the cost per pound when thinking about veal.

Veal is an excellent source of protein with “balanced amino acid profile containing proteins of a high quality”. Also it is a superior source of B-complex vitamins, especially niacin, zinc B12 and B6. It is also a good source of iron, calcium, sodium, potassium, and phosphorus. A trimmed, cooked three oz. serving of veal contains on average 166 calories and only 5.6 grams of fat.

Back to this specific dish, surprisingly one does not find too many veal piccata recipes around. And those that I’ve stumbled across, not sure, they seem to have lost something in translation. Beside the advice of using wine instead of the sherry, many advocate using chicken broth. Are they crazy? That even further deadens the sharp taste that is the entire reason for this dish in the first place. Why even make this dish — I want to ask these other cooks and their recipes — if you want to deaden the inherent sharpness and pleasant bite that what makes this dish?

No idea. Maybe, because many folks are more used to seeing chicken piccata something got mixed in along the way (like adding chicken broth, yuck) which was never supposed to be in the dish in the first place. Obviously chicken piccata — which I love too of course — is more prevelent as the poultry is more widely found and is viewed as a less costly an alternative. That said though, piccata was foremost and originally made as a veal dish; it’s the others that have become variants off the master.

If you have never had veal (other than as part of your meatloaf or meatball dishes), this recipe is an excellent one to introduce yourself to this lean, nutritious and delicious meat.

Veal Piccata
©2008 Harry Kenney

1 lb veal scallops (or veal cutlets pounded to 1/4-1/8 inch thickness)
flour for dredging
salt
pepper
3 tbsps lemon juice
2 tbsps capers, diced
1 1/3 cups dry sherry
olive oil
butter
parsley (fresh or dried flakes)

Take the precut veal scallops or the pounded veal slices and dredge in a mixture of salt, pepper and flour. Place into medium heat frying pan with hot olive oil. Roughly two minutes per side. Take out and reserve.

Pour in dry sherry and scrape up all the bits left in the pan and mix well. Add lemon juice and capers. Mix and reduce to half. (If not thick enough, sprinkle one teaspoon of extra flour in and mix well.) After reduction add some butter to make richer.

About 30 seconds later reintroduce the veal into the pan. One minute on each side. Add parsley in now or on plate before serving, your choice. Take out of pan. Pour sauce on top. Serve. Makes four servings.

©2008 Harry Kenney

I love salmon. I try to have it at least once every month. What can you say about something that is healthy and fresh and yet something about it’s texture, it’s thickness reminds one of a steak in so many ways. Yes, silly as it sounds, in many ways I think of it as a “steak of the seas”.

Often I prepare it in the most simple and pure of ways: salt, pepper, little oil to help it cook, and maybe a twist of fresh lemon. Period. Sometimes, like now, I like to vary it with a sweet and tangy glaze. No matter what ingredients I add though, there’s only one way to cook salmon, in my opinion: Grilled.

I know, Oven isn’t bad, broiler with a fish this oily is a fire hazard, alas. And poaching? Well, poaching is probably fine but — truely, I’m more of a crunchy crust person I have to admit and not a big poaching fan at all. In the end, there’s nothing like grilled. Outdoor especially over hot charcoal; that’s the best. But when that’s not to be had, especially here in the Northeast part of the US in January, there’s always the trusty stand-by. The two-burner cast iron grill.

If you don’t have one. Get one. Now seriously how often have you heard me say that about anything? Correct. I don’t think I ever have. There’s just some things that are indispensible and not substituable. Wait you say, what about those frying pans that have the raised grill bar thingys in them? Nope. They don’t go high enough. There is no where for the fat to drain, so you are still going to be frying things in their own oils, not true grilling at all.

What about those electric grills? How about those George Forman grills? Although I haven’t actually tried them, from what I can see they probably work alright. I guess if I had a choice between the frying pan and an electric grill I would go with the latter. But a choice between a grill over the fire and a grill running alternating electrical current, gimme the stove and the cast iron anyday. Call me caveman. Call me purist. But it I can’t have my outdoor brikets, it’s indoor stove grill.

Now I have to give a big doff of the hat here to master grillsman and Iron Chef, Bobby Flay. First, this glaze definitely originates from his delicious brown sugar and mustard glaze. Hey, if I borrow or heavily base something on some else’s I tell you! Natch, I had to mess with it some and made significant changes and additions that while you could compare and no doubt tell his glaze was the “parent”, this is related yet different enough to be it’s “child”.

Another thing I about this recipe is I followed something else Bobby said on one of his shows about his personal preference when grilling salmon, that sometimes he eats the skin, and sometimes he takes it off. It depends on if he is able to get it to a certain level of crispiness. When he does, he eats it, when it’s for whatever reason not happening for him, he takes it off.

Now, I’ve always taken it off. Or to be more precise, when I’ve bought it before it was (not sure which one, but) a different type of salmon, cut into thick rectangular “steaks” and without skin. This time, I ended up getting CoHo Salmon, and instead of a steak it was the long filet. And it came with skin. Thick black and silver skin. My first thought was, ugg, take the skin off. But then I thought of what Chef Flay said, and thought, hell, I will definitely give that a try and proceed similarily, if it worked, awesome, if it didn’t work, I’ll take the skin off.

And as someone who’s been doing his best to perfect crispy skin on poultry, I managed to my delight to pull this one off as well. Yummy, crispy skin attached to a light, delicate, moist fish. You’re definitely going to enjoy this one.

Usually my photos speak for themselves, so other than the mouse-over little notes that pop up, I don’t have captions, and I rarely ever any special “notes”, but this time is an exception, so …

Important notes about the photos. The first photo of the raw fish, skin side up shows (at least it shows on the one on the right) the cross-hatched scoring I did to both. This is necessary to help achieve the crunch and crispness. Also, in the second photo of the cooking fish with the skin side up there are two notes. First, the black you see is not burn; it is the color of the skin of the coho which is silver in places and black in others. The second important note is this is the first turn of the fish, not the second, so this is only stage one of the crispy skin. And look how good it looks already.

Grilled Salmon Fillets with Crispy Skin and Asian-Fusion Glaze
©2008 Harry Kenney

2 coho salmon filets, 6-8 ounces each
olive oil
salt
pepper

glaze:

4 tbsps dijon
3 tbsps soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp finely ground ginger or ginger powder
1/4 tsp sesame seed oil
2 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
1 tsp garlic powder
3 tbsps light brown sugar
2 tbsps honey
salt
pepper

First, put all the ingredients together mentioned and create your glaze. Next, get your grill (outdoor preferably, or indoor preferably a cast-iron double burner grill or an electric one) ready and turn on to high heat.

Take your filets, score the skin on back both horizontally and vertically to make squares or a cross-hatch pattern. Rub olive oil on both sides. Season the front flesh part as you normally would with salt and pepper. When seasoning the skin side, use two to three times more salt than normally.

Put oil over your hot grill and immediately slap down your fillets skin side down. Leave about a minute more than you normally would, checking the underside occasionally to ensure cooking and browning but not burning. After about four or five minutes and right before you are ready to turn, liberally brush on the glaze all over the flesh side, then turn that over so it faces the grill.

You should see some very nice crispness on the now skin top side. Leave the flesh part down for another two-to-three minutes. Do not over cook this. Give a light brush of the glaze on the skin and turn over again. Now with the topside up, again liberally brush the glaze all over the flesh. After a minute or so more, take off of grill and serve.

Depending on how hungry your guests are this can serve two. But I found the pieces rather large and was able to feed four and still considered these nice sized servings. Myself I served this with steamed Italian flat green beans with minced onions and a helping of wild rice on the side.

Fennel is one of those “strange vegetables” Americans just don’t know much about. Fortunately, as with many vegetables and many foods nowadays, there is a greater embracing of the culinary unknown — in short, where before folks would see something in a supermarket and pass it by, slowly more and more people are now not only avoiding them, but also seeking these items out.

So I was delighted to find in a single week the sudden appearance of fennel bulbs at both my supermarket’s produce section as well as my favorite produce speciality store. Interesting, in each place it showed up as, in turn, first “anise” and then “anise root” because of it’s taste.

To me, it has a consistency most like celery and somewhat like apple or potato, and a taste that is again somewhat like celery mixed with a bit of licorice. We’re talking mildly-flavored, of course. I don’t think something tasting robustly like licorace would be anything other than pungent. This versatile initially Mediterranean grown vegetable — and it’s more famous herb, fennel seed — is used from Spain to Greece, Morocco to the Middle East, to India and China (afterall fennel seed is often one of those mentioned in Five Spice Powder).

Because of it’s licorice like taste you would expect to see this in many a sweet dish and possibly a few savory ones. Turns out to be the absolute opposite about 20 to 1 in favor it being used in something savory, often in a sauce or soup.

I decided in this case to take advantage of both it’s celery-like consistency and it’s fruity (anise, anyhow) taste and make a light salad with it. It was a good choice. Definitely highlighted the taste of the fennel and showed me how it can stand up well against other flavors without overpowering them. No wonder it’s used in soups and sauces so much. Trust me, this salad — which is oh-so amazingly simple — will surprise you. My one “taste tester” who can never take anything too far out there — aka, different from the norm — loved this. So did I. So I’m betting will you.

Fennel Tangerine Salad
©2007 Harry Kenney

One medium fennel bulb, cut off top, take out inner core, slice into chunks
Three tangerines, peel, deseed, make into half slices
Half one-red onion, chunks (or a quarter one yellow onion, minced)
Half bag of assorted spring mix lettuces

salt
pepper
orgeano
basil
garlic powder

Mix together veggies in bowl. Add lettuce, season, place in refrigerator for 10-15 minutes so flavors mix and to add slight chill. (Do this with all salads) Preferrably top with bottled or fresh Italian dressing. Serves four.

Just the other day I was talking to a neighbor who I had given this recipe to a couple months back, and she told me hers didn’t taste at all as good as mine, and then detailed the problems she had. So, while (for once) I didn’t make any mistakes, I’ll share hers with you so you don’t get the chance to make them yourself.

First, she took everything out of the can, including that gunky “reminants” that’s left in the bottom of cans of beans. Also she didn’t know to wash them well first. So that took something away from the taste. It was apparently much worse the next day when she decided to take some to work for lunch: she had put the dressing, feta and salad altogether.

Nope, can’t do that. Not only must you keep them in separate containers in the refrigerator. But even for a lunch even for just a few hours, you’ll need to take them into work as three separate items and always “assemble” them fresh.

Just wanted to add, I’ve had this once or twice as a “three beaner” (when my very annoying supermarket was out of the Italian beans), and while it’s not bad, I just love the Italian green beans; they really make the difference in this dish. Make it “come alive” in your mouth. Sure, you can substitute regular green beans if you want, but while they are close, they are still just not the same, not as much taste. Btw, in case you never heard of them, they are also known as Romano beans, Italian string beans, flat Italian green beans, and flat beans. And officially they are described as “flat, wide snap beans”.

I am definitely an ominvore (meat and veggie eater), leaning more towards the carnivore rather than the herbivore side, Even so, I really do love this salad. There is something, somehow “meaty” in eating beans that really surprises me. Dunno, maybe something in me recognizes the high-levels of protein. Needlesstosay this is one very healthy, and yet somehow hearty meal, that’s as delicious to look at as it is to taste.

Mediterranean Four Bean Salad
©2007 Harry Kenney

ingredients:

19 oz can garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas)
19 oz can red kidney beans
19 oz can black beans
10 oz. italian green beans, frozen, steamed crisp
1 large red onion, large chop
4-6 scallions, green and white parts, chopped
2 cucumbers (peeled, deseeded, chunks)
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, julianned (optional)
olives, green or black, to your taste (optional)
three roma (plum) totmatos, chunks (optional)

seasonings, to taste:

basil
oregano
mint (optional)
garlic powder
salt
pepper

1 cup italian dressing
2 tbsps fresh lime juice
feta cheese (optional)

Take a little more than half of a one-pound bag of frozen Italian green beans, steam about three minutes, put into cold ice bath to stop cooking (also known as blanching). With each can of beans, empty into large strainer and wash under cold water for about half a minute, then add to large bowl. Add Italian beans, oniones, cucumbers. Add tomatoes and olives. (optional) Season once with listed seasonings. Toss using clean hands. Add more, toss again. To the cup of Italian dressing add 2 tbsps of fresh lime juice and mix. Serve with crumbled feta cheese on top. Makes about six portions.

What do I mean by “everyday”? Well, “average” is not the right word, as if it were merely “average” I wouldn’t be eating it, let alone making it. “Normal”, maybe more accurate a term, though not so appealing sounding.

Let me start anew. A good friend of mine said to me I should stop pretending to be “Top Chef” and talk about the regular stuff, that, afterall, my site is called “Cooking at Home”. As usual (hehe) my good friend is neither completely right nor completely wrong (and so, same applies to me.) In my opinion, she’s “wrong” in that, average home cooking needn’t be boring or merely comfort food. I definitely say we should explore, try new things, imbibe in different regions and cultures, and take our everyday meals to a new level when possible.

That said though, she has a point too. There are times I can get a little too much out there. Actually that’s not totally true: “out there” is not a bad thing. It’s the sometimes overlooking the “normal”, everyday food that is something that can happen to me. Easily. So, I guess the old adage, keep your eyes on the stars, but your feet planted on the ground applies here.

So, I have to remember that besides doing Hawaiian Shrimp and Morrocan Kabobs, that I need to remember to cover the plain ol’ basics too With this in mind, I present the everyday salad, the salad that I have made the most The four veggies are “must haves”; what makes the salad “zing” is the fresh produce and the combination of spices and herbs. Enjoy.

Everday Tossed Salad
©2007 Harry Kenney

ingredients and spices:

2 stalks of hearts of romaine, cut down to the best parts
3 big tomatoes, Jersey when in season, (6 or 7) plum tomatoes otherwise
1 medium onion, red preferrably, yellow for more “bite”
1 cucumber, cubes over slices, semi-deseeded
salt
pepper
garlic powder
onion powder
basil, dried
oregano, dried
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, from container, but you could use fresh

Check the lettuce for any outer browning, and take those leaves off for the trash. Cut the top very green parts of the romaine else they will wilt in your salad quickly. Cut off the bottom hard core too. Now that we’re down to the prime part of the lettuce, give it a rough cut and place in large bowl.

Tomatoes, with a pairing knife take out the top core, slice into chunks. Red onions, take off skin, dice. Cucumbers, if very seedy, use edge of tablespoon and deseed. Mix the produced in bowl with hands.

Season to taste with salt, pepper, garlic powder, just a little onion powder (optional), basil and organo. Now mix everything together well in the bowl using your clean hands. Now add some more seasonings and mix again. This is to ensure you’ve plenty of “spice” in there.

Finally, add in the grated parm and “toss” or mix one last time. The powedered ingredients and the parm with not only add great taste, but they will also help “mop” up some of the liquid.

Place bowl in refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes; this will do two things, obviously it will chill it up more, but (almost like a marinade) it will give some time for the produce to take in those seasonings and everything to mix together well.

Serve salad in individual bowls and top with your favorite salad dressing. My personal favorites are: Creamy Italian, Ceasar (regular or with Bacon), Ranch Dressing with Peppercorns. For less fatting, non-creamy: Regular ol’ Italian or for something special, Raspberry Vinaigrette.

If you’re looking at the photo: Yes, I know; looks a lot like salmon, but it’s actually trout. Can’t remember what kind it was called at the local supermarket, but it was definitely a rainbow trout (wild or farmed? Unsure.) Turns out trout can have white, pink or orange flesh depending upon a bunch of factors that, well, didn’t really matter. Hey, if it tastes good, that’s what matters. And the color doesn’t mean any kind of change in how to cook it.

Speaking of which? How to cook it? This is one of the simplest of recipes around. But, before getting to that, I thought I’d talk briefly on the health benefits of eating fish.

Fish is high in protein with close to 20%. Yes, they are often fatty (the ocean ones more than the fresh water ones,) but still low in the bad fats. It even has lots of good fats: as in omega-3 essential fatty acids. What are they? Among the list of items they: help reduce inflammation, decrease the likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease, help to control our cholesterol, help people with depression and anxiety disorders, help infants’ brains and eyes to develop and function properly, help to heal dry skin.

… But no, you can’t use them to help win the lottery, find the perfect job or stop your children from using up their long distance cellular minutes.

Fish also is a rich source of long chain n-3 PUFA which is beneficial in fighting and used in treating hypertriglyceridaemia, thrombosis, and inflammatory diseases. Oh yeah, and let me mention again something about eating: They taste good!

One last item. If you’re interested in a breakdown of calories, fat, sodium, protein and the rest, check out the chart over at CNN which is based on information from the USDA.

With that, let’s get to it. The best way to cook fish is the simple way with few ingredients.

Grilled Rainbow Trout with Dill and Lemon
©2007 Harry Kenney

ingredients:

Two large trout filets
Dill
Salt
Pepper
Oil
One lemon

Coat fish with olive or vegetable oil on both sides. Season to liking with salt, pepper, dill, lemon juice. Place on grill (or frying pan) skin side down. Turn over once after about four minutes. Three to four minutes later, turn a second time. Take off grill. Plate with sides. A splash more lemon juice on top right before serving.