Sunday, July 31, 2022

Rosie Makes A Green Pea Salad.

 If you're looking for a light, summery, cool side dish, I've got the perfect one for you - green pea salad with radishes and cucumber tossed in a yogurt dressing with a bright herbal accent.

 

I'm using thawed frozen peas for this.  Of course, you could use cooked fresh peas.  But NEVER canned peas!  And this is best the day it's made.  Thawed peas have a tendency to go from vibrant green to drab olive overnight. 

Pea Salad
2 cups frozen peas, thawed
1 medium cucumber, thinly sliced
4 radishes, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped dill
3 TB chopped basil
2 TB chopped parsley
1 TB chopped mint
Toss all ingredients.

Dressing:
3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 TB sherry vinegar
1 TB olive oil (I used a neutral oil - Bertolli Extra Light Olive Oil.)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Whisk together yogurt, vinegar, oil, and red pepper until smooth.  Season to taste.

Pour over pea salad and toss to coat.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First, I picked a bunch of fresh herbs.
 Parsley.  Basil.  Mint.  Dill.

Mince away.

Next I sliced cucumber, radishes, and green onions.


Toss with peas.




Make the dressing.
Pour.
Toss to coat.



And serve.





Enjoy.


Tuesday, July 26, 2022

Rosie Makes Brownies!

 
 

 I love a good brownie and I've gone through a slew of brownie recipes.  Never been disappointed
and I've never had a "bad" brownie.  Here's another brownie recipe to add to the list.  And it's a one-pan brownie recipe - the batter all comes together in one pan, so there's less clean up, which is a plus in itself.  This brownie called for semi-sweet chocolate chips and, alas, I was out!  So I subbed bittersweet chocolate chips.  Then I found the hidden semi-sweet chocolate after I'd made the first batch, so I just had to make another batch with the semi-sweet and compare to the bittersweet brownies.  And I couldn't tell much difference.  So, use what you have here - semi-sweet chips or bittersweet.  After they cooled, I sliced them into little squares, spooned some caramel sauce over, and made brownie/caramel sandwiches. The were fudgilicious!  

 

Rosie Note:  Speaking of fudge, you'll have a fudgier browner when the recipe calls for more butter and less flour.  You'll have a cakier brownie when the recipe has more flour in it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the recipe:

1 stick unsalted butter 
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate 
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips OR bittersweet chocolate chips  (Or be like me and make two batches - one with semi-sweet chips and one with bittersweet chips and see if you can tell the difference.)
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
 
Heat oven to 325°.
Line 8 x 8-inch pan with parchment paper.
In a medium sauce pan, melt butter with unsweetened chocolate over low heat, stirring and swirling occasionally.  Remove from heat and stir in sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla, stirring until smooth.  Add chocolate chips, flour, and salt and stir until well-blended.
Pour into pan.
Bake for about 35-40 minutes.
Let cool, then slice into 16 squares.

Next I made caramel and squished the brownies together.

For the step-by-steps:

Melt butter and unsweetened chocolate in medium saucepan.


Swirl and stir.

Completely melt.


Add sugar.



Add eggs.





Add flour.

Stir to combine.


Stir in chocolate chips.

Pour into pan.

Ready for oven.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then I made a second batch, with semi-sweet chips, instead of bittersweet.



Baked and cooling.
 
Brownies are cut and ready for caramel and stacking. 

 For the caramel:
1 cup sugar
6 TB unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp kosher salt 
Heat sugar in medium heavy-duty saucepan over medium heat, swirling the pan occasionally, until sugar melts.  Be careful not to burn.  Once sugar is melted and amber-colored, stir in the butter.  When butter is melted and well-combined with melted sugar, cook for one minute without stirring.  Very slowly stir in the cream.  Mixture will bubble, spit, and steam.  All normal.  Allow to boil for one minute. Watch the pot so it doesn't boil over.  Remove from heat and stir in salt.  Allow to cool before using.  Caramel will thicken as it cools.

Heat sugar over mediumish heat, shaking the pan every now and then, letting it melt.
 
Give it a swirl or two to get the sugar all melty.







 





Add butter.




Let it melt.

Slowly pour in cream.

Bubble, spurt, steam!




Remove from heat and let cool.













Tuesday, July 19, 2022

Tuna!

 

I was given some lovely tuna loins and I've come up with three different preparations for this fish.  My first tuna offering (the next two are forthcoming) is my take on tuna "salad."  No way is it your traditional and conventional tuna salad.

My version of a tuna salad has all the salad  fixin’s with fried wontons for “croutons” and it explodes with colors, textures, and flavors.  I served this on a bed of cilantro-lime rice along with a sriracha dressing and a soy sauce-based drizzle. .  Follow along here.

I started out with a nice tuna loin, which I sliced into steaks a good inch thick.  I'm going to marinate these steaks

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuna is a fairly mild-flavored fish, so it’s an ideal candidate for taking on the flavors of a marinade.  I’ll marinate the fish while I get my prep work done.  For an acidic marinade, 30 minutes should suffice.  You don’t want to marinate for an excessive amount of time because the acidity of the marinade will negatively affect the texture of the tuna, in effect, “cooking” the tuna. 

 
Marinade: 
¼ cup soy sauce
2 tsp gochujang sauce (Korean chili sauce)  You can substitute Sriracha or sambal oelek (Asian chili paste).
1 TB sesame oil
Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
Mix all ingredients and add tuna steaks. Let marinate while you prepare the rest of the salad ingredients.

 

 For the rice: 
1 cup basmati or jasmine rice, cooked according to package directions
2 TB chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp lime zest
Add cilantro and lime zest to cooked rice.  Fluff with fork.  Taste test and season with salt as needed.
 
 Make the dressings.
 
Sriracha dressing: 
¼ cup mayonnaise
2 TB sriracha
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp honey
Combine ingredients.
 
 Soy sauce dressing: 
2 TB soy sauce or Tamari sauce
2 TB mirin
4 TB sugar
4 TB rice vinegar
Stir well until sugar is dissolved. 




 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
         
 
 
 
 
 
 
Salad ingredients: 
Amounts are up to you.
Avocado, diced
Sliced cucumber
Sliced radishes
Sliced green cabbage
Sliced radicchio
Diced red onion
Chopped sweet peppers ( I used yellow, orange, and green for the pretty.)
Chopped red Fresno chili (I like a little heat.)
Sliced scallions
Sliced and fried wonton strips
Toasted pistachios
Toasted sesame seeds
Extra cilantro  
 
 
 
   

 

 

 

 

 Dice the avocado and toss in lime juice to prevent discoloration. I seasoned with a little kosher salt and togarashi seasoning.

  Togarashi is a blend of red chile, black and white sesame seeds, nori (seaweed), poppy seed, and lemon and orange zest.  It's quite a versatile seasoning.  Try it on scrambled eggs.

    

 

 

 

 

 

 Slice wonton sheets into strips and fry in 350° oil until golden brown.  Drain on paper towels.

 To enhance the flavor of the pistachios and sesame seeds, place them in a single layer on baking sheet and toast at 325° for 8-10 minutes.  Give the pan a shake or two throughout baking.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 Next, heat your pan to HOT.  
Give it a film of peanut oil and heat to about 475°.
Throw in a pat of butter and let it sizzle and melt. 
Place in the steak.  I have a small pan here, so I'm cooking one steak at a time
so as not to lower the temperature of the oil.  You want a nice sear on that tuna.

 

  

   To cook the tuna steaks, I like the outside seared and the interior rare.  For this I use a hothothot cast iron skillet.  I heat my cast iron skillet over high heat, add in a swirl of peanut oil, and wait for the temperature to reach  475°.  (Oil will be shimmering.) Then drop in a tablespoon or more of butter.  Place the steaks in the pan and cook for 1- 1½  minutes on the first side. Do not crowd the pan.  Crowding reduces the temperature and you won’t get that nice sear. Turn over and cook 1 minute on the other side.   Remove from pan and let rest for 2-3 minutes before slicing and plating.

To assemble:

Mound rice on dish and spoon on some of the soy sauce dressing. 

Arrange seared tuna slices and salad ingredients on plate.  Drizzle sriracha dressing over top.  I like to add fresh, raw green cilantro seeds to the mix also.  Don’t look for them in stores.  You have to grow your own cilantro for that and the raw seeds are a treat.  A burst of potent cilantro and citrus flavors!

 








Tuna salad deconstructed.
 

Enjoy.