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Fish Cakes in Tomato Sauce

This popular Sephardic recipe from Syria comes from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem cookbook. I would have never thought of serving fish cakes in a tomato sauce, but it works really well, especially over rice. And it’s excellent for leftovers.

I used tilapia instead of cod, and it was delicious. The first time I made it I had a hard time keeping the cakes together while they were searing, but I think the trick is leaving them to cook on one side without touching them until that side has browned well. Once I did that I had no problem. You could make the tomato sauce ahead of time to make preparation simpler.

What you need for the tomato sauce:

2 & 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 & 1/2 teaspoons cumin

1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon coriander

1 medium sweet onion, chopped

1/2 cup dry white wine

1-400 gram/14 oz can chopped tomatoes (I used canned cherry tomatoes)

1 red chili, seeded and finely chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 teaspoons sugar

2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, chopped coarsely

salt and pepper to taste

What you need for the fish cakes:

3 slices white bread with crusts removed (about 60 grams)

1 & 1/2 lbs cod, tilapia, halibut, hake or pollock

1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed

30 grams flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

30 grams cilantro, finely chopped

1 tablespoon cumin

1 & 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 extra-large eggs, beaten

4 tablespoons olive oil (for frying)

What you do:

1. To make the tomato sauce, begin by heating the olive oil in a very large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and spices and cook until the onion is soft, about 8-10 minutes. Add the wine and simmer for a few minutes, then add the tomatoes, chile, garlic, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt. Simmer for about 15 minutes, then add freshly ground pepper and more salt if you need it. Keep this simmering so it is hot when you add the fish to it. (If you’re making rice, you could start it now)

2. To make the fish cakes, begin by putting the bread in a food processor and making bread crumbs, then place in a bowl. Chop the fish up very finely and add to the bowl along with all of the other ingredients except the olive oil. Mix it all together with your hands. Form the mixture into cakes about 8 cm in diameter and 2 cm thick. You may need to refrigerate them for about 1/2 an hour to firm up a little.

3. To begin cooking the fish cakes, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-high heat in a frying pan, then add half of the fish cakes, searing for a few minutes, until quite browned. Carefully flip the cakes and brown the other side. Place the seared fish cakes in the hot tomato sauce and then sear the other half of the fish cakes.

4. Once all the fish cakes have been placed in the tomato sauce, add about a cup of water (or white wine) to cover the cakes partially. Cover the pan and simmer over very low heat for 15-20 minutes. Remove the lid and turn off the heat about ten minutes before serving to let the cakes settle.

I liked them when they were served hot, but the cookbook says they are good at room temperature too. Serve over rice or with bread to soak up the sauce, and garnish with a little mint or cilantro.

Rustic No-Knead Bread

This recipe is relatively simple, but you do need about 24 hours to complete the process, so you’ll have to plan ahead for this one. You really don’t do any kneading, so this is unlike any other bread making method. You just throw the ingredients together, let it do its thing, pull it out of the bowl, let it reset, then bake it. So if you can plan ahead 24 hours, you can make this bread. And the best part is that is tastes amazing. It has a nice thick, chewy crust, and a good density to the bread.

You will need a baking dish with a lid; I used a Romertopf clay baker, which I soaked in water before using. I have also used a le Creuset baker.

What you need:

3 cups white flour

1 & 1/4 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoons yeast (I used Fleischmann’s active dry yeast, which I store in my fridge)

1 & 1/2 cups water

1/4 cup wheat bran

What you do:

1. Combine the flour, salt and yeast in a bowl. Add the water and mix; add more water until you have a wet, sticky dough.

2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a plate and let sit at room temperature and out of direct sunlight for 12-18 hours. The dough should be about double in size and dotted with bubbles. I put mine on top of the fridge because it was warm there. When I lived in a place that was cold it always took the full 18 hours or even more. This slow fermentation is what gives the bread its flavour.

3. Lay a cotton or linen tea towel (not terry cloth unless you want cotton in your bread) on a cutting board or on your counter and sprinkle it with some wheat bran, then scrape the dough onto the towel. Tuck the edges of the dough under to make it round. Sprinkle it with wheat bran, then lightly pull the edges of the towel over the dough. If your towel isn’t big enough just spread another towel over the top and tuck it in lightly. Let this sit for 1-2 hours, or until it has doubled in volume.

4. Preheat the oven to 475 F and place your baking pot on a rack in the lower third of the oven. Let the pot heat up, and when the oven has reached 475 F, remove the pot from the oven and carefully tip the dough into the pot. Put the cover on the pot and bake for 30 minutes. The bread is forming a nice thick crust.

5. Remove the lid from the pot and continue to bake for 15-30 minutes. The bread should be a deep brown when it is done. Remove it from the oven, and lift the bread out of the pot carefully and place it on a rack to cool. Let the loaf cool before cutting.

I made an herb butter to go with mine. I just softened some butter, then added a little salt, some dried garlic, and some chopped chives.

Portobello-Poached Egg

I had a spare portobello mushroom from a dinner I made last night, and I wanted to find way to eat it on salad, so I made this up. It is not a poached egg on top of a mushroom, but instead I cooked the egg right inside the mushroom cap. I made it soft-cooked so the egg yolk would ooze all over the salad. And it was good. Really good. I was even patting myself on the back as I was eating this one.

I served this one on top of this salad with Glory dressing, and it made my salad into a meal.

What you need:

1 large portobello mushroom

1 small egg

olive oil for the pan

salt and pepper

What you do:

1. Remove the stem from the mushroom.

2. Heat a frying pan to medium, then add a little olive oil. Put the mushroom into the pan, hollow side down.

3. Flip the mushroom over after a few minutes, then let the mushroom cook for a few more minutes. If the pan is getting dry, just splash in a little water and put a lid on it.

4. When the mushroom seems done, crack the egg into the hollow of the mushroom. Put a little water in the pan, then put a lid on it and let it sit for a minute. Check it to see if the egg looks cooked, making sure the egg yolk stays runny, but the white is cooked.

5. Serve it right away on top of a green salad and grate on a little fresh salt and pepper.

You could serve it with a piece of bread to soak up some of the yolk and dressing.

Scrumptiously Stuffed Mushroom Caps

I can’t remember ever making stuffed mushroom caps before, but the other day someone in the grocery store-bought all these fabulous mushrooms to make an appetizer, and that got me thinking. I love mushrooms, and there are so many fabulous things I could combine them with. So, for a party I was planning, I made up this recipe. I used faux cream cheese, but you could use the real thing if you prefer. Likewise, feel free to substitute faux cheese for the parmesan.

I baked and served mine in this antique mini-muffin pan, but you can use any kind of oven-proof dish that you have.

What you need:

about 32 button mushrooms; try to choose larger ones

1- 255 gram bag of spinach

5 cloves garlic, finely chopped

8 slices bacon

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/3 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

1/3 cup cream cheese/soy cream cheese

3 scallions

juice of 1/4 lemon

What you do:

1. Heat a frying pan, add a little water and let the spinach wilt, using tongs to move it around. When the spinach has wilted, put it in a colander to drain. Squeeze the liquid out once it has cooled, then chop it finely.

2. Fry the bacon until it is a little crispy and drain on paper towels. Chop it finely when it has cooled.

3. Clean the mushrooms with a damp cloth and remove the stems, then cut a little of the mushroom away to make room for the filling. Finely chop the mushroom bits and stems.

3. Remove the bacon fat from the frying pan and throw in a little olive oil, then the mushroom bits. Fry until the mushroom shrinks, then add the garlic and cook for a few minutes.

4. Remove the mushrooms from the heat and put them in a bowl where you will add the spinach, bacon, grated cheese and bread crumbs and mix it all together. Add some salt and pepper

5. Chop the scallions finely, then mix them with the cream cheese, lemon and a little salt. Scoop a little of this into each mushroom cap. Add about a tablespoonful of the spinach mixture, mounding it on top of the mushroom and pressing down.

6. You can make these an hour or two ahead of time, then pop them in a 350F oven for about 20 minutes, watching them for the last few minutes to make sure they don’t brown too much.

Serve them after they’ve rested for a few minutes; the mushroom is really hot when it first comes out of the oven. Enjoy!

How to Regrow Scallions Indoors

In the middle of winter it’s nice to be able to grow something. These photos show some scallions I bought and cut to cook with and then let them grow back. The brown part at the very base of the scallions in the bottom photo shows where I cut them; all of the green in new growth. This is about 10 days growth, but I’m going to let them grow a little more before I cut them again.

All you do is:

1. Put the cut scallions in a bowl, glass or vase with some water.

2. Rinse the bulbs and roots daily and add fresh water.

Wait for them to grow so you have more fresh scallions to cook with.

Sometimes I add a little sugar to the water. I’m not sure if this speeds up or helps the growing process in any way, but it doesn’t hurt. I’ll have to do a side by side test sometime to see if it makes a difference. Let me know what works for you!

Noodle Monsters!

I made these noodles monsters for my niece and nephew, and they liked them so much that they helped make a second round of them. The kinds’ noodle placement is way more creative than mine was, as is usually the way with kid’s art.

What you need:

wieners – veggie if you like them!

spaghetti noodles

ketchup and mustard for decorating

What you do:

1. Boil a big pot of water.

2. Poke the spaghetti through the wieners – be creative!

3. Throw the spaghetti/wieners into the boiling water and cook until the noodles are soft.

4. Drain the spaghetti/wieners, then use ketchup and mustard to make faces on the wieners.

Jimtini – cranberry lychee martini

For a Thanksgiving beverage I was treated to this tasty creation of my friends Jim’s.

What you need for 2 martinis:

juice of 1 lime

2 capfulls Soho Lychee liqueur

3 oz vodka (he used Grey Goose)

cranberry juice

ice

What you do:

Put all the ingredient in a martini shaker and top up with the cranberry juice. Shake and pour!

Turkey and Hot Italian Sausage Meatballs

Looking for an appetizer and wanting to make something for the meat-lovers coming to visit, I decided meatballs were the perfect thing. I thought about what I would love in a meatball, and decided to improve on what I’ve done in the past. I combined some favourites that I thought would work well together – the spice of the hot Italian sausages, the lightness of the turkey, a punch of flavour from the sun-dried tomatoes, and then some pistachios for a twist. I put it all into a homemade tomato sauce, which is so easy, and I cooked them for a long time to make the sauce really thick and to give the flavours time to mingle.

I served them on skewers for appetizers, and the leftovers made a great topping for spaghetti squash. Of course you could always go with the standby comfort food, spaghetti and meatballs.

What you need for the meatballs:

400 grams ground turkey thigh

400 grams hot Italian sausage, removed from casings (or chorizo)

1 egg

1/3 cup fine breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes (or oven-roasted)

1 tablespoon fresh basil, finely chopped

2 teaspoons fresh oregano, finely chopped

2 tablespoons unsalted pistachios, finely chopped

1/3 cup finely grated parmesan

1/4 cup onion, finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

What you need for the sauce:

1 small onion

1 large can pureed tomatoes

3 tablespoons butter

a little red wine (optional)

a rind from parmesan cheese (optional but amazing! save your rinds for this purpose!)

salt and pepper to taste

fresh basil, optional

What you do:

The sauce can be made ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen until you need it. The whole recipe can be made ahead of time and reheated. I think it`s even better the second time around.

1. Start the sauce first by simply emptying the can of tomatoes into a pot, then adding the butter and the cheese rind. Put the whole onion into the pot – it will simmer to add flavour, and you will remove it at the end.

2. Bring the sauce to a low boil, and simmer for 40 minutes to an hour. Add a little red wine or water if it`s getting too thick.

3. Remove the rind and the onion, and add salt, pepper, and the optional basil to taste. If you think it needs it, you can add a little brown sugar to the tomato sauce.

4. If you made the sauce ahead of time, heat it up in a large pot.

5. Combine all the meatball ingredients together in a bowl. I mix it with my hands because I’m going to use my hands to make the meatballs anyways. Don’t mix the meatball mixture too much, just until it is combined.

6. Drop the meatballs directly into the sauce, on a low simmer. Try not to stir them until they’ve had some cooking time, so they solidify and won’t break as easily. Spoon some sauce over the tops of the meatballs, so they are all covered. Cook for at least half an hour, but preferably longer, until the sauce is nice and thick.

Serve on pasta, spaghetti squash, or on toothpicks as an appetizer.

Lychee Mojito

This summer I went to Nana Restaurant and Bar in Brooklyn, New York and had the most amazing lychee mojito. Along with some fabulous appetizers like homemade ravioli and seared tuna… yum! This is my attempt to recreate the mojito, and it’s pretty good! A nice drink to sip and escape the heat on the patio.

What you need:

limes

canned lychees

white rum

fresh mint

club soda

What you do:

For each drink, squeeze half a lime and put it in a short glass with about 3 tablespoons of the lychee syrup. Add a shot of white rum. Take a spring of mint and squish it up a bit, then put it in the glass. Add some ice, then top it up with club soda. Give it a little stir and enjoy!

Watermelon Gazpacho

This brilliant, fresh soup is the perfect thing for a hot summer’s day. I made it up ahead of time, stuck it in the fridge, and just ladled it up for an appetizer. I topped it with a little feta and cilantro, but you could also chop up a little watermelon, tomato or cucumber to sprinkle on top.

I found the recipe on One Perfect Bite. I just used less olive oil.

What you need:

4 cups watermelon

2 cups tomatoes

1 small jalapeno pepper with the seeds removed, diced

2 tablespoons minced red onion

1 small cucumber, peeled and seeded

2 tablespoons cilantro (plus a little more for garnishing)

a tablespoon or two of olive oil

1 tablespoon wine vinegar

salt and pepper

feta for garnishing

What you do:

1. Puree everything (except the garnish!) until it is smooth. I used an immersion blender, but a regular blender would do a great job.

2. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

3. Serve with your choice of toppings: feta, cilantro, chopped tomato, cucumber or watermelon.

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