EASIEST FISH IN SHERRY AND MARINARA SAUCE

 Originally, in The Easiest Cookbook, the recipe was titled  “Swordfish in Marinara Sauce” but I noted that it worked with any thick fish and was really good the next day, cold, especially with swordfish.

Marinara means “of the sea.” This recipe is Spanish, thus the olives and sherry, Andalusia’s pale amber gift to the world, or in my present time-- Fairbanks cellars in Modesto, California.

 Pictured here is defrosted mahi-mahi from Trader Joe's.

 You will need a skillet with a lid (10- should do it) to accommodate the fish)

1-pound  thick fish filets or steaks

 olive oil

salt   (I use kosher salt)

½ cup tomato sauce

1 large (2 small) garlic cloves, pressed

8 small pitted green olives

    I wrote these were optional, but in retrospect they do add a positive flavor.

    I also wrote to drain and rinse off the brine, but now I buy these amazing

    Early California green ripe medium pitted olives without brine. olives.com is the  Musco family company’s site.

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ cup sherry

1.      Rinse the fish quickly under cold running water.  Pat dry.  Rub surface of fish with olive oil. Lightly salt both sides.

2.      Put the tomato sauce, garlic, cayenne (I like a little heat) and olives into the skillet. Cover and simmer over the lowest heat for 10 minutes.  Stir once or twice.

3.      Stir in the sherry.  Carefully lay in fish, spooning sauce over. Cover skillet and “poach-steam” over the lowest heat for 10 minutes. Taste to test for hotness throughout.

Cg notes: The recipe may be doubled.  Good with rice or boiled potatoes.

Photo by Carol Guilford 

 

EASIEST MINTED CARROTS AND A TURKISH DELIGHT

 

Mae West, American actress (1893-1980) cheekily remarked, “The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond.”

She might, though, have liked these simple minted carrots and this dish of carrots, stewed with rice.  

 CARROTS WITH MINT

   

     ½ pound carrots (I used simple truth organic cut & peeled baby carrots)

      2 tablespoons unsalted butter

      1 tablespoon sugar

      fresh mint (3 tablespoons, washed, dried, chopped, no stems)

      salt and pepper, to taste

1.      Add the carrots to an 8-inch skillet in which enough water to cover them is boiling, about 1 cup. Blanch (boil) for 5 minutes. Drain.

2.      Add 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon sugar, then cook as gently as possible until tender, about 15 minutes.  The carrots should not be mushy.

3.      Stir in the mint.  Season with salt and pepper.

 CARROTS STEWED WITH RICE (a TURKISH dish, good hot or cold)

This recipe is inspired by the late Elizabeth David, the Julia of the UK or perhaps Julia was the Elizabeth of the US.

   

     ½ pound carrots, about 3-4, about 1 cup. (For this, I found some slim organic carrots that looked really  fresh)

      olive oil

       4 tablespoons raw rice

       1 cup water      

       salt

      ½ cup fresh chopped mint, no stems

       ½ fresh curly parsley, no stems

      juice of lemon or lime

1.      Peel the carrots and cut them in half, lengthwise.

2.      Use low heat to warm enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a 10-inch skillet

3.      Add the carrots and (David’s words) “let them get thoroughly impregnated with the oil.” She means, turn them gently until they are coated.

4.      Add 4 tablespoons rice  and stir it around with the carrots. Add 1 cup water and   salt.

5.      Cover. Simmer over lowest heat for 20-25 minutes or until rice and carrots are tender and most of the liquid evaporated. 

6.      Stir in the washed, dried, chopped cup of mint and parsley. Squeeze on lemon or lime juice.

      

     Cg note:  Vegetarian and vegan proof.     

Photos by Carol Guilford

EASIEST STEAK TARTARE

 This is a yuck or yum deal—raw beef with garnishes mixed in, including a raw egg yolk.

 Richard Wottrich who wrote an essay, “The History of Steak Tartare” on the yum side, says he has been eating it for 50 years and clearly lived to tell. He opines, eating raw meat is atavistically ‘hard wired into the very reptilian depths of our brain’.

Steak Tartare is making a big comeback in restaurants, especially in New York City, Chicago and New Orleans. The Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills offers 4-ounces for $28.00.

Legend has it that the ‘tarter’ is reference to the Genghis Khan gang of Mongols who
supposedly put horse meat under the saddles of their horses to tenderize it before they ate it raw—a definite yuck and doubtful.  More likely, it was named because ‘a la tartare’ meant it was served with the mayo-based tar (called steak a l’Americaine) with the mayo-based tartar sauce  we know was  first served in French restaurants, in the early 20^th century.  The dish was called ‘steak a l’Americaine’.

In tartar steak’s renaissance, Chefs have added new twists to the garnishes—from dried tomatoes to quail eggs to pickled Asian pear.

I first ate Beef Steak Tartar at the now defunct German restaurant,
Lüchows, in lower Manhattan, not counting the times, hanging around my mother’s kitchen, I snitched the hamburger meat before it was cooked. This recipe is traditional. I used it in The New Cook’s Cookbook, hence the explanation of  how to separate an egg.

Cg note: Serves 2 generously; any leftovers make tasty hamburger patties, fried in butter.

1-pound ground sirloin

The meat must be of the finest quality.  If you have a butcher, now is the time to use him. Don’t ever buy prepackaged. The meat should be bright red and free of fat.

Eat the meat the day you buy it.

2 raw egg yolks

1 tin flat anchovies

½ cup sweet onion, finely chopped

capers

salt; freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Worcestershire sauce

1.  Shape 2 large, attractive patties from the meat. Put the patties on individual plates, then make an indentation in the center of each patty, deep enough to hold the egg yolk.

      2.      Carefully separate the egg (see below) and slip the yolks into the indentations.  Lay 4 strips of anchovies (in tic-tac-toe fashion) on the outer rim of each patty.  Surround the steak with chopped onions and capers.  Have salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce available.  Each person mixes his own meat at the table.

Serve with black bread and butter. Red wine or beer is the beverage.

           

 How to separate an egg

1.      Break the egg shell in the center by rapping it sharply with a knife.  Do this over a bowl.

2.      Pull the egg apart with your fingers.  The yolk will stay put while the white  falls into the bowl.  Transfer the egg yolk from one half of the shell to the other half until only the yolk is left. Twice should do it.

 

  What to do with those egg whites?

EASIEST EGG WHITE OMELET

My omelet tale.  I was not an omelet fan.  The eggs always seemed too dense;  there was never enough filling to suit me.  And then... when I was doing the tartar steak recipe with the egg yolks, I began thinking about egg whites—how once I tried to make meringue and they didn’t ‘meringue’.

Some years back there was an egg ‘scare’-- cholesterol driven, leading to the popularity of the egg white omelet, as it is the yolk that has the dreaded cholesterol.

I just didn’t  want to throw the egg whites away...so I made a cheese omelet—behold it was light and held a nice amount of the cheese filling and I liked it!  I am crushing on these omelets, maybe it won’t last... but I am thinking about a caponata (an eggplant mixture) filling with a tabouli salad, as a side.

  Now I have a problem of what to do with egg yolks.  I am making fresh mayonnaise more... see the recipe —and I substitute 2 egg yolks for one egg.

 Not a diet thing as you can see. I cooked this cheese omelet in butter and served it with bacon, and banana bread... (recipe to come next month). 

And this guy I served with ham fried in butter, 5 minutes on each side. The fruit is mango.

one serving

       

        

2 egg whites (about ¼ cup

          1 tablespoon water or dry sherry

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

          3 tablespoons sharp or extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated or crumbled

 salt; pepper  

1.      Separate the eggs.  Add the water or sherry to the egg whites. Whisk together until frothy.

2.      Melt the butter in an 8-inch skillet over medium heat.

3.      Add the eggs. It should take less than minute for the whites to set on the bottom —the middle will still be loose—at which time, add the cheese, evenly in the middle of the egg.

4.      Use a spatula or a fork and spoon to fold the omelet in half and slide it onto a plate. Salt and pepper, to taste.

Photos by Carol Guilford

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EASIEST MANGO AND AVOCADO SALAD

  

  Adapted from a recipe in “Memories of a Cuban Kitchen”,  by Mary Urrutia Randelman,1992, from my first publisher, Macmillan.  Aside from the authentic family recipes, Urrutia gives us a glimpse of upper-class Cuban society in  Havana before Castro and the revolution—a world of yacht clubs, fine restaurants, elegant department stores, a Woodworth’s where she ate chicken salad on “American bread,” afternoon teas, formal dinner dances, Xmas eves with roast suckling pig, summers at seaside resorts on the Caribbean. 

The family immigrated to Miami, Florida in 1958, merely a year before Castro took power. Mary was 10 years old.

The thing to remember about this salad is that the mango and avocado must be perfectly ripe.  The mango will be slightly soft to the touch... the flavor is peach-like; if overripe it gets fibrous. The avocado should also be slightly soft when gently squeezed.

  

  1 mango

  1 large or 2 small avocados

  sweet or red onion slices

  baby spinach, lettuce or arugula

  olive oil and lemon juice

  salt, pepper, to taste.

1.      Peel, pit and thinly slice the mango

2.      Peel, pit and thinly slice the avocado

3.      Line the greens on a plate or platter. Arrange over them, the mango and avocado and onion.

4.      Whisk together the olive oil and lemon juice, (about 2 tablespoons each, or to taste); season with salt and pepper. Drizzle over the melange.

All photos by Carol Guilford

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EASIEST GAZPACHO (SPANISH SALAD SOUP)

With  Scallions Green Peppers and Cucumbers

“Good gazpacho should make you cry” said a friend of mine. He meant he liked it hot and sour.  So do I, but every cook adjusts this unusual cold soup to his/her own taste.

Paula Wolfert, the maven of Moroccan cooking says ‘gazpacho’ is an Arabian word, meaning “soaked bread.”  Brought to Spain by the Moors who conquered, as one historian puts it, for “loot and land.” Other reports cite that the Roman road builders or soldiers ate a combination of bread, vinegar and olive oil.

The main ingredient of gazpacho is tomatoes, but that is a fairly recent ingredient, since Columbus did not introduce tomatoes and peppers to Spain until after his first voyage, circa 1492. 

 A recipe for gazpacho appeared in my first book, “The New Cook’s Cookbook”  (available at Amazon on Kindle or as a used, rare book, from dealers) I have up-dated this version a tad.  Makes about 6-8 servings.

You will need a blender.  Gazpacho should be creamy, not watery.

   I  28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes.

  I use Contadina tomatoes in tomato puree because the can is marked

 non GMO and non BPA and they use sea salt.

  ½ cup sweet onion, coarsely chopped

  ½ cup green pepper, coarsely chopped

 For an extra kick, use an Anaheim pepper

  2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped  or 1 tablespoon garlic powder

  ½ cup vinegar

  10 drops Tabasco sauce

  ½ cup medium dry or dry sherry

1. Put all the ingredients into the blender container.  Blend for at least one minute until the ingredients are well combined.

2. Refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight.  The flavors will intensify.

3. Correct the seasonings, to your taste. More vinegar or more Tabasco sauce, or both.

 Before serving, an idea is to add a small ice cube to each bowl, to keep the soup icy.  James Beard, bless his heart used to add a frozen cube of tomato juice.

 Pictured are garnish or garnishes which are very important to the dish.  Choose from--

With croutons

With  avocados and olives

Persian cucumbers, peeled and sliced

Green pepper, cubed small

Black olives, sliced

Green onions (scallions)

Croutons made from sliced cubed bread, drizzled with olive oil and fried in a

skillet. Keep turning. Don’t leave the stove; they will burn as soon as look at you.

Avocado

Small cooked shrimp

  Cgnote:  You may put the garnish in separate dishes and let guests help themselves.

Makes a brilliant first course, or main course on a hot day. If you want a heftier meal, cheese and crusty bread will do it.

 All photos by Carol Guilford

EASIEST ANTIPASTI

   Here we have some packaged together Gallo brand provolone cheese and Italian dry salame, some green olives (these are Picholine olives from Trader Joe's, selling for a great price of $1.99)  and some marinated mushrooms.      

MARINATED MUSHROOMS

        You can, of course, used canned button mushroom, drained and drizzled with olive oil and vinegar, mixed and chilled for ½ hour, or you can make them yourself.

          These are Crimini. Rinse the mushrooms, pat them dry, cut off the tough end of the  stems.

          Put 3 tablespoons olive oil in an 8-inch skillet, cover and steam mushrooms over low heat for 5  minutes or until they are just tender.  Drizzle over vinegar, mix and chill for at  least ½ hour.   

  

       I call this ‘Laziest Day Appetizers.’

            

         Teeny pearl tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, rinsed—if you leave a little water on them, you can lightly salt them and the salt will adhere.

          A can of artichoke hearts, rinsed quickly and marinated with olive oil and vinegar.

          And a can of drained smoked oysters.

All photos by Carol Guilford.    

EASIEST SALISBURY STEAK

I wrote in The Easiest Cookbook--

Below, a multiple-choice question:

Salisbury steak was named for

a)      Salisbury, England

b)      J.H. Salisbury, a New York City socialite doctor specializing in obesity

c)      the Duke of Salisbury, who first served it at his table.

The correct answer is b.  At the turn of the 20^th century Dr.J. H. Salisbury’s Steak

appeared on the ornate menu at Delmonico’s Restaurant.

What this is, is a glorified, seasoned, baked hamburger — once you start putting in stuff, such as an egg or breadcrumbs, it’s meatloaf.  The recipe will serve 2-3. I do it in my shallow Pyrex, oven-proof deal.

      1-pound lean ground beef

    I like 15 percent fat. The beef should be at room temperature

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon salt

Worcestershire sauce

1.      Mix the beef, garlic powder, onion powder and salt.

              2.  Shape into a steak-like oval.                  

3.  Put the steak into the pan and brush the top with Worcestershire.

4.      Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. The inside will be

slightly pink. If you want medium, cook for 5 minutes more.

Cg note: To serve with baked potatoes, put the potatoes in the oven before preheating and bake 30 minutes.  Then put in the steak and cook for the recommended 20 minutes.

A small green salad  goes well with the dinner.

EASIEST KAMBUCHA

I am delighted to see Kambucha is once again getting notice and gaining popularity. An ancient elixir, the seminal book by Gunther W. Frank, Kombucha (Healthy beverage and natural remedy from the Far East) explains this apple cider tasting fermentation detoxifies and is an immune booster.

While very pricey in stores for small bottles, with a small amount of start-up money, one can make the folk remedy cure inexpensively. My first kombucha “mushroom” lasted 20 years because the amazing thing is that with each brew, a new culture forms.

Frank relates the true story about cancer researchers in the Soviet Union after WW11, when the disease had increased dramatically. In the midst of these dire statistics, two districts stood out because they had hardly any cases reported, although there was plenty of industrial pollution there and, in fact, trees and fish in the area were dying. Teams of investigators were set up to study this anomaly.

It happened that one of the scientists visited the home of a family selected to be studied. Only the elderly grandmother, ”babushka” was at home. The elderly woman offered the doctor a drink she called “tea kvass.”

All the people in the region drank it. Very interesting, yes?

I’m on the band-wagon.

        2 gallon glass jar

             Target sells them for under $15

         1 mushroom culture

               amazon.com has a list of sellers from which to choose. Some come as ‘starter’ kits

               which means they enclose the culture with a little fermented tea. But you don’t

               really need it, just means the first time you make your tea, it will take a

               few more days to be ready to pour off and drink. For following batches, you’ll add

               a cup of the made tea to the pot.

         3 ½ quarts water

                If you don’t have a water filter attached to your sink faucet, such

                as Brita, use bottled water

         5 black tea bags (Twinings, Lipton, Trader Joe’s Breakfast Tea or black tea of your choice)

         1 cup sugar

                I use organic cane sugar

         cheesecloth/rubber band

                The culture must breathe.

1.      Use a 6-quart pot to bring the water and sugar to a boil. Boil 5 minutes.

2.      Turn off fire. Add 5 black tea bags. Steep tea for 15 minutes.  Remove tea bags and cool to room temperature.

It’s important to cool as hot tea will hurt the mushroom

       

3.      Pour the tea into the 2-gallon glass container and add the mushroom.

4.      Cover the jar with with cheesecloth and secure with a rubber band.

5.      Store in a warm, dark place for 10 days.  Frank says the antibiotic properties develop  on the

7^th or 8^th day. You will know the tea is done when you see the new culture on top of the jar.

Most of the sweetness should be gone.

6.      Line a colander with the cheesecloth and pour the liquid into a glass container. I use a 4-quart pyrex measuring cup, then transfer the liquid into glass bottles. Refrigerate.

During storage if  “rat’s tails” appear, you may strain again through cheesecloth.

The amount to drink daily will be determined by how you feel. Start with 4-ounces daily. Some people drink 6-ounces, some 8.

Frank recommends 12--4 ounces three times a day, but it’s too much for me. You should find out for yourself what is the best dosage for you.

COSMETIC TIP

After I cold-cream my face, I use a cotton ball dipped in Kambucha as a skin-freshener.

Hope you enjoy this elixir of life as much as I do!

 

 

These are the cultures. One is older, the darker one, and I will probably use it a few more times before I switch to the young one. As the cultures multiply you can give them to friends who are interested.

 

The brew in the two gallon jar is ready to ferment.

 

Straining the tea.

In the bottle, ready to drink.

All photos by Carol Guilford.

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EASIEST HOMEMADE MAYONNAISE/CHICKEN SALAD

“ Easiest” because you make it in a blender.  Homemade mayo raises the gourmet factor, for sure.

          1 cup olive oil

          1 egg

          2 tablespoons lemon juice

          ½ teaspoon salt

          1/8 teaspoon dry mustard 

          1.      Put ¼ cup olive oil, egg lemon juice, salt and mustard into the blender container.  Blend for 10 seconds. 

          2.      Remove the center part on the top of the blender and slowly pour in the remaining ¾ cup of olive oil. The mixture will thicken. 

  

The mayo is good on everything, from a ham and cheese sandwich to this chicken salad that is one of my favorite things.                                    

                                     

  CHICKEN SALAD SANDWICH WITH HOMEMADE MAYO

Absolutely you may use the breast of a cooked deli chicken.  Or poach fresh chicken breasts.  

     1.      Rinse ¾  pound thin chicken breasts quickly in cold water.  Pat dry. 

     2.   Add a bay leaf, salt and a lemon slice to water to cover the breasts.  Keep the heat low;  when the water starts to bubble, add the chicken and poach for about 5 minutes, turning at least once.

                              

     3.   Cut the breasts into small cubes.  Add ½ cup water chestnuts (dry them with a paper towel), 2 tablespoons canned, chopped olives and 2 ½  tablespoons mayo or moisten to your own liking.  Salt and pepper to taste.          

ALWAYS GOOD IN AN AVOCADO

Photos by Guilford

EASIEST BLENDER CORN FRITTERS

 Photo by Carol Guilford

Always a sumptuous breakfast with maybe some crisp bacon strips and fruit

or a deluxe side for dinner with roast chicken.

1 cup organic corn

I have tried with both canned and frozen corn and I think frozen, defrosted works best, because frozen stays a little chunky and canned doesn't.

 

Whole Foods house brand is a choice.

1 egg

¼ cup flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ cup milk

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon oil

1. Put all the ingredients into the blender.  Cover and blend for about 5 seconds.

2. Use medium heat to melt the butter (the oil keeps the butter 

from burning) until the butter bubbles.

3. Drop batter in by the tablespoon and fry until well browned on both

sides, about 2 minutes per side. Turn with a spatula (pancake turner, as these really are pancakes.)

Makes about 1 dozen small fritters.