Garlic Roast Cod with Rosemary and Lemon, and Dijon Potatoes, with Whole Wheat Garlic Bread

Tonight I decided that I would make a few favorites in our house.  Garlic Roast Cod with Rosemary and Lemon, and Dijon Potatoes, with Whole Wheat Garlic Bread.   These recipes are some of the most commented on, on both my Facebook page, and in person.  

A quick story about the cod, I found the recipe on Rachel Ray’s website.  I originally was planning on making the recipe as is, but at the last minute changed it to use cod, a white fish I love.  The next day I had a person at my new job comment on how she found this great recipe online, and could not wait to try it.  I then asked what it was, she said Garlic Roasted Cod with rosemary.  I was taken a bit back, and asked what the website was, she said That’s What Bob’s Cooking….I laughed, and she wanted to why I was laughing.  I asked if she knew who Bob was, and then she started laughing, saying she had no idea I had a site, and that she would try the recipe and let me know what she thought of it, but it sounded GREAT.

As for the potatoes, I always make a menu on Thursdays and post them on the refrigerator.  I got a call from our neighbor, who was coming over for dinner and had left work early and asked if he could help with dinner.  So he started the potatoes, they turned out amazing.  They are my go-to side dish.

As for the Whole Wheat Garlic Bread, I bought a baguette, sliced it into diagonal slices and layed them out on a sheet pan.  For the garlic butter, I smashed and diced 4 cloves of garlic, and melted 1 stick of butter, then added 2 tablespoons of dried thyme.  Then drizzled the butter onto each piece of bread.  Broil until golden.

Here’s the recipes:

Garlic Roast Cod with Rosemary and Lemon

Ingredients
2 1/2 pounds cod, cut into large chunks
6 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves stripped from stems
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball it
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 tablespoon grill seasoning blend (recommended: Montreal Seasoning) or, coarse salt and black pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken broth

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Arrange cod in a baking dish, 9 by 13-inch. Add garlic, rosemary, extra-virgin olive oil, lemon zest and grill seasoning or salt and pepper to the dish. Toss and coat the fish with all ingredients, then place in oven. Roast 10-15 minutes. Add wine and lemon juice to the dish and combine with pan juices. Return to oven and turn oven off. Let stand 5 minutes longer then remove cod from the oven. Place baking dish on trivet and serve, spooning pan juices over the cod pieces.

Dijon-Roasted New Potatoes

Coating the potatoes in Dijon mustard and a small amount of olive oil helps make them crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

1 spray cooking spray

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

3/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 1/2 pounds uncooked new potatoes, quartered

Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Coat a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Whisk together oil, mustard, paprika, thyme, salt and pepper in a large bowl; add potatoes and stir to coat.

Transfer potatoes to baking dish and roast 15 minutes; stir and roast until tender on inside, about 15 minutes more.

Yields about 1 1/4 cups per serving.

Quick appetizers.....

Have you even been invited to a friends place for dinner, and need to put together a quick appetizer, or invited guests over and wanted to put together something simple?  Here's a quick guide.

You'll need:

• cutting board
• 2-3 different types of cheese, I usually select a hard (Parmesan style), soft (Brie or goat style) and semi-hard (cheddar style).  I also try to select varying colors of cheese as well.
• a great type of cracker.  This is my absolute favorite. La Panzanella Rosemary croccani crackers.
• Sprig of herb, for garnish
• Almonds, pecans or nut that will go great with cheese.  I avoid peanuts of cashews.  While I do like them, I don't find they mix well with cheese.  Almonds are truely the best with cheese.  They type without the brown skin is even better.  Planters now make a small package of "skinned" almods with olive oil and sea salt.
• If you wish, a piece of seasonal fruit.  Pears or apple go VERY well.  If you can get figs, they are a personal favorite.  When using pears of apples, use the juice of a lemon or lime and about a cup of cold water, slice the fruit thinly, and submerge the slices into the juice water mixture.  If these are too complicated for you, grapes seem to be a natural pairing with cheese. For grapes, cut the stems into small clusters.  you can de-stem them, but they make a better presentation as small clusters.

Select cheeses the vary in shapes and are distinctive. Hard are typically in a wedge, semi hard can  be in bricks, and soft I find usually in a log shape, although brie is a wedge.  When setting up the cutting board, I take into account how many people and the format of the party.  I will usually slice about 1/2 of each cheese, so that if someone is interested in buying the cheese afterward, they will know what to find.  If it a bigger party, I will slice all of the cheese, so that no one has to "work" during the party.  In addition, if there is leftovers the cheese keeps better as a whole.  Slice the amount of cheese you'd like to present. Arrange the cheeses to complement the other cheeses, incorporating the fruit and the crackers.

As you can see from the picture, I did not use fruit, but opted for salami.

Clockwise from the left hand side, Crackers, Havarti with Caraway, Mozzarella rolled with sun-dried tomato and basil, Tillamook Smoked White Cheddar with Black Pepper and Hard Dry Salami.

Chocolate Truffle Tart

Chocolate Truffle Tart,
do I really need to say anything more?  This recipe is really easy to make, your guests will be impressed.  Or if your just making it for yourself, it'll impress you.

Ingredients

For crust:
28 chocolate wafers such as Nabisco Famous, finely ground in a food processor (1 1/2 cups) (If these are not available, use Oreos)
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled completely. 

For filling:
1/2 lb fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (no more than 60% cacao if marked), coarsely chopped
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Make crust:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Wrap a sheet of foil over bottom of pan (in case of leaks). Lightly butter side of pan.
Stir together ground wafers and butter in a bowl until combined, then pat mixture evenly onto bottom of pan and 1 1/2 inches up side. Bake until crust is slightly puffed, about 10 minutes, then cool completely in pan on a rack, about 15 minutes. Leave oven on.

Make filling while crust cools:
Melt chocolate and butter in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth, then remove from heat and cool 5 minutes.
Whisk together eggs, cream, sugar, salt, and vanilla in a bowl. Whisk chocolate mixture into egg mixture until combined well.

Assemble and bake tart:
Pour filling into cooled crust and rap pan once on counter to eliminate any air bubbles. Bake until filling 1 inch from edge is set and slightly puffed but center trembles slightly when pan is gently shaken, 20 to 25 minutes. (Center will continue to set as it cools.)
Cool tart completely in pan on a rack, about 2 hours.

Chill, uncovered, until center is firm, about 4 hours. Remove side of pan and sprinkle with cocoa to serve.

So for a lark, ok I was out of whipping cream, so I used sour cream.  It added a spark of life to this dessert that made it amazing.

Tomato Pie

In 2001 Craig and I celebrated our first anniversary by going to San Francisco for a week of sightseeing.  On our way back to Seattle, our plane was delayed.  We ended up sitting in the airport for about 4 hours talking with a lady that was from SF but now living in the Seattle area.  The conversation varied from one subject to another, and somewhere in the hours we exchanged emails so she could send us a recipe for tomato pie.  We received the email and made the pie, and it was incredible.  Unfortunately, we lost touch with her, as well as the recipe.  I tried from memory to recreate the recipe, so here is the closest I can come to her recipe.  I’ve made it again, and again and everyone just loves it!  If you love tomatoes, you will want to make this, you will LOVE it!

Having said that, please understand I don't follow recipes (my own too!)  so bear with me on this.  I adjust it EVERY time I make it.

Tomato Pie Recipe

INGREDIENTS
1 9-inch pie shell
1/2 red onion, diced
5 tomatoes, sliced. Lay on paper towels and lightly salt to get as much moisture out. You can also use a salad spinner.
1/4 cup sliced basil (about 8 leaves) or so
2 cups grated cheese (combination of sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack, Swiss, Gruyere or Mozarella)
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

METHOD
Preheat oven to 350°F. Place pie shell in oven and cook for 8-10 minutes or longer until lightly golden. If you are starting with a frozen crust, you'll need to cook it a little longer. If you are using a homemade crust, freeze the crust first, then line the crust with aluminum foil and pre-bake it for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.

 

To get as much moisture as you can out of the sliced tomatoes, using either paper towels or a clean dish towel, lay the tomatoes out and lightly salt. Cover with another paper towel.
 

In a medium bowl, mix together the grated cheese, mayonnaise, onion, basil and a sprinkling of salt and freshly ground black pepper. The mixture should be the consistency of a gooey snow ball. 

Spread 1/2 of the cheese mixture over the tomatoes. Repeat the layer.
 

Place in oven and bake until browned and bubbly, anywhere from 25 to 45 minutes.
Serves 6.

A little treat for the people I work with....Cinnamon Streusel Coffeecake...yum.

Back in the mid 90's, I worked at the downtown Fred Meyer store (Stadium) , we had a coffee shop in the middle of our store, called Coffee People.  They had the best coffee and this great Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake.  We loved it so much, we started carrying it in the deli.  It was amazing.  

I have never attempted to make it, until today.  I have to say, the house smells so good, and I know that my peeps at work are really going to enjoy this one.  (it's a little messy though!)

Cinnamon-Streusel Coffeecake

Streusel topping

    1 ¼ cups granulated sugar

    ¼ teaspoon salt (if you use unsalted butter)

    1 ½ cups Flour

    1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

    6 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling

    1 cup brown sugar, light or dark

    1 ½ tablespoons ground cinnamon

    1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Cake

    ¾ cup butter

    1 teaspoon salt (1 ¼ teaspoons if you use unsalted butter)

    1 ½ cups granulated sugar

    1/3 cup brown sugar

    2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

    2 teaspoons vanilla extract

    3 large eggs

    ¾ cup sour cream or plain yogurt

    1 ¼ cups milk (anything from skim to whole)

    3 ¾ cups Flour

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan.

2) Make the topping by whisking together the sugar, salt, flour, and cinnamon. Add the melted butter, stirring till well combined. Set the topping aside.

3) Make the filling by mixing together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder. Note that the cocoa powder is used strictly for color, not flavor; leave it out if you like. Set it aside.

4) To make the cake: In a large bowl, beat together the butter, salt, sugars, baking powder, and vanilla until well combined and smooth.

5) Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

6) In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream or yogurt and milk till well combined. You don't need to whisk out all the lumps.

7) Add the flour to the butter mixture alternately with the milk/sour cream mixture, beating gently to combine.

8) Pour/spread half the batter (a scant 3 cups) into the prepared pan(s), spreading all the way to the edges.

9) Sprinkle the filling evenly atop the batter.

10) Spread the remaining batter atop the filling. Use a table knife to gently swirl the filling into the batter, as though you were making a marble cake. Don't combine filling and batter thoroughly; just swirl the filling through the batter.

11) Sprinkle the topping over the batter in the pan.

12) Bake the cake until it's a dark golden brown around the edges; medium-golden with no light patches showing on top, and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes for the 9" x 13" pan. When pressed gently in the middle, the cake should spring back.

13) Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 20 minutes before cutting and serving. Serve cake right from the pan.