Skillet Roasted White Gulf Shrimp

After several failed shrimp dishes (mostly due to the poor quality of shrimp) finally something great! Large gulf shrimps (20-30 per lb) in their shells marinated with mexican flavors – fresh bay leave/oregano/hot green chile powder/lime zest, and olive oil. Cooked on a very hot skillet for about 5mins total turning once.
Nice side fashioned from [...]

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Albondigas en Salsa Verde, with Some Vegetables

Nice recipe for meatballs in tomatillo (with some chipotle) sauce. Couple problems – the color of cooked sauce – on the pic it was pretty and clear. In reality it came out grayish, apparently from the juice leaking from meat. Possible remedy? Cook meatballs in stock and add the sauce at the end. Or even [...]

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Haddock Charmoula

This is one of those dishes you would enjoy making, every single step of it. First roast sliced potatoes topped with a layer of olive-oiled tomatoes/spring onions/italian peppers mess – the dish within its own right. In the meantime make charmoula – tiny red bird chiles, preserved lemon (bergamot), parsley, mint, scallions, garlic, cumin – [...]

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Miso Glazed Potatoes and Shiitakes – There Is No Such Thing as Too Much Umami

Nice vegetarian dinner – quick but full of flavor. Steamed and peeled fingerlings, small whole shiitake mushrooms caps and scallion whites tossed with melted butter, white miso and mirin (Eden brand that doesn’t have any sugar in it).
Roasted for 10 mins in 425F convection. Sprinkled with scallion greens and cilantro before serving.
Very nice, and of [...]

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Borscht, Vaguely

Still cold and just plain nasty outside. Craving some hearty soup. I think a spicy mussels and tomatoes. But there are plenty of cooked chickpeas in the fridge, and a bunch of beet stems and leaves. Let’s do some borscht, well sort of…
The shopping list – bag of mussels, can of plum tomatoes, poblano and [...]

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Mexican Ratatouille

I love smart dishes with eggplant – it’s not that easy to cook it right. Tonight i concocted some sort of ratatouille: wish i had tomatillos for even more regional flavors but tomatoes were good enough. Charred and skinned poblanos, halved and broiled globe eggplant. Cumin, scallions, zucchini, garlic, cherry toms, cilantro and mint.

For [...]

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Squid Artichoke Soup

This soup from Marcella Hazan sounded very nice and simple – a lot of olive oil, garlic, parsley and white wine. I love squid from Wegmans, and they had good baby artichokes.
Marcella suggested to cut tubes into thin rings – 1/4″ which sounded not a typical 1/2″ treatment but i trusted her and was curious. [...]

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Fagioli al Fiasco – Best Way with Beans

I cook a lot of dired beans, and always look for best cooking method so they stay intact and evenly done.
One of the best and easiest way that also produces a very flavorful pot liquor is the old italian techique called fagioli al fiasco. Reinterpreted to the modern kitchen this method boils down to the [...]

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Russian Bruschetta

Being russian puts one on a permanent hunt for recipes that could miraculously make cultivated mushrooms taste like those excellent wild mushrooms foraged back in childhood. You hope to discover some technique that tightens the flabbiness of button mushrooms to approximate the texture of porcini, and with a little help from dried cepes to trick [...]

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Hash Purple

Found a nice idea for peruvian potatoes – to use them in a simple hash brown. Wegmans carry pretty baby purples from Melissa’s. Just grate them scrubbed (don’t peel to preserve the nutrition) in food processor. Warm the butter and olive oil in some saute pan, press potato into it, cook for 10mins a med [...]

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