Pescado en Escabeche

Pescado en escabeche 

My nephew from Trinidad, Nigel, and his brother, Leon, from Spring Hills, Florida, paid me a visit on Saturday. I was ready to make the tried and true chicken, rice and beans. Then, Nigel requested food with a fancy name but a Caribbean touch. Thinking of that request, the next day I made Escabeche, a first cousin to ceviche. It's bathed in lime juice, sautéed in olive oil and refrigerated in onions and olive oil. I used a base recipe from Carmen Aboy Valldejuli's classic book "Puerto Rican Cookery."  Here's my version.

                Pescado en Escabeche
2 cups olive oil
1 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons mixed peppercorn
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 bay leaves
2 large onions
6 King fish slices, 1 inch thick 
2 limes, zest and juiced. Save zest for other uses.
1/2 cup flour seasoned with salt and pepper 
Olive oil for frying
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1. In a large pot, add 2 cups of olive oil, vinegar, peppercorn, bay leaves and onions, cook over low heat 45 minutes. Let cool and reserve. 
2. Clean and rinse fish. Throughly dry steaks
with paper towels. Sprinkle with lime juice.  
3. Heat 1 cup olive oil in large sauce pan and add the garlic. Remove garlic when brown.
4. Dust fish in seasoned flour. Add slices and brown on both sides, about 15 minutes.
5. In a deep glass dish, lay slices of fish in the bottom.
Pour oil/onion mixture over fish, cover and place in refrigerator for at least four hours. 
Serve cold.

Closet Vegetarian Is Two For Two

In 1985, I remembered a Cordon Bleu chef in London saying, "... and don't chop your herbs as if you are going to feed cows like Mr. Constantine." Little did she know, I used herbs to cover up the bland tasting British culinary plate I was preparing.
Today, the Brits have come a long way. A variety of cookbooks stressing healthy eating, and appealing to the millennium generation is on the front burner.
The WSJ reported on some of the chefs leading the way. Two, Jamie Oliver in his book "Everyday Super Food" offers recipes that promotes healthier indulgences, and Nigel Slater, "A Year of Good Eating" that tells us to pause, smell the roses, and use ingredients that improves our quality of life.
I have tried two of these recipes and they are winners.
                                               Lentils with Couscous 
            ( I used millet, peanuts and mango instead of couscous, pine nuts and apricots)

2/3 cup Lentils, green or brown
1 cup millet, cooked in two cups of stock or water
2/3 cup peanuts, roasted until golden brown, chopped
1/2 cup mango, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup raisins, plumped in 1/4 cup brandy
1 bunch dill, fronds only, chopped
2 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoon olive oil
A few dashes of hot sauce
Salt to taste
Grind, mixed peppercorn to taste

Bring 2 quarts water to a boil. Add lentils, bring back to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Put two cups water in a sauce pan. Add millet and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until water has almost evaporated. Stir and cover until water has been absorbed.
In a large bowl, mix mango, dill and peanuts.
For dressing, mix lemon juice, oil, salt and peppercorn in a small bowl. Set aside.
Toss lentils with dressing and add to mango, herb and oil mixture. Stir in millet and hot sauce with a fork. Serve on a bed of spinach.

Tortilla de Patatas... Potato Omelet

Carbs are on the move, but who is counting! Problem is,
I purchase a 10 pound bag of potatoes for a Christmas dish.
Today, I have concluded, it was a wise buy. I am unto a third dish and enjoying it.
The ingredients to this Spanish potato omelet are similar to the Kugel.
Nowadays, one can add a variety ingredients to eggs: asparagus, mushrooms, spinach, or ham,  and call it an omelet.
This simple, Madrid-style version, I tried in Spain last year and was please.  My daughter  reminded me, "you didn't add onions!" I could have used some garlic and more olive oil.
                       
                                                Potato Omelet
1/2 cup olive oil
3  russet potatoes, peeled and sliced
2 t sea salt
1 t mixed peppercorns, grinned
3 eggs

1. Heat oil in a heavy cast-iron skillet. Add the potatoes,
    season with salt and 1 t peppercorns and stir to combine
Reduce heat and fry for 15 minutes turning often. Not necessary to brown. Drain and set aside.
Beat eggs with 1 t salt until they are frothy. Fold in drained potatoes.
Heat 2 T oil in 6-8 inch cast-iron skillet.
Add egg mixture to skillet on a medium low heat for 3-4 minutes,
should be golden brown in color.
Using an eight inch pot cover or plate, slide omelet onto it.
Then flip omelet and brown the other side
Serve hot or at room temperature



Left Potato Kugel. right Spanish omelet.

Open Your World To Something Jewish

One of my favorite places to tryout recipes is in the Sunday's NYT magazine.
Today, I struck gold with their version of a Potato Kugel, more like an oversize pancake.
The dish is adapted from Illa Wendger Roth, author of "Spice and Spirit."
When it comes to American cooking, it is really an adaptation that leaves its imprints on all cuisines, especially ones as global and hard to define as Jewish.
If you have a "Yiddish bubbe", she will proud of you for trying this savory dish: crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside.

                                           Potato Kugel

6 russet potatoes
3 eggs
1 t sea salt
1/4 t mixed peppercorn, grinded
1 onion
6 T olive oil
1/2 c flour
1/4 t baking powder

 1. Preheat the oven to 350. Place a 10 inch cast-iron skillet inside

2. Peel potatoes and place in a bowl with water to cover
    In a large bowl, beat eggs with salt and peppercorn to combine well.

3. Grating by hand, ( i.e. the old fashion way) grate onion and potatoes into the egg mixture, stirring frequently

4. Remove skillet (hot) from oven and brush with oil. Add the potato mixture to skillet.
    Bake for 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours. Center should be moist with a crunchy brown look on the outside.