Monkfish, peppers and an onion

A friend of ours, Lonnie, told me about a seafood market that I had to check out. Sure enough, they had monkfish! Thanks, Lonnie!

What you will need:

A bunch of mixed peppers (I don’t use green)

1 onion

Some oil or clarified butter or both

1 tsp of so of mixed herbs

4 or so cloves of garlic, pureed

Salt

Fresh pepper

A monkfish tail

More salt and pepper

Flour for dredging

More oil or clarified butter or both

1 cup of dry white wine

1 cup of chicken stock

Wash, remove the seeds, etc. the peppers and cut into very fine long thin slices.

Peel the onion, cut it in half and cut into thin slices.

Strip the skin off the monkfish.

 

Take the long bone out by cutting closely against each side of it.

Remove any grey membrane from the monkfish. Want nice, white, firm flesh.

Cut the fish into good size chunks.

Heat up the frying pan over medium high heat, add some oil/clarified butter to coat the pan, when ready add the veggies and cook for 4 minutes. Add the mixed herbs, add the garlic. Total cook time should be about 5 minutes with the garlic getting about 30 seconds. Then, empty the veggies into a bowl.

Now it is time to do a preliminary sautéing of the fish!

Add some more oil/clarified butter to the hot pan. While that is warming, season all the chunks of fish on all sides with salt and pepper then dredge them in the flour and shake off the excess.

When the oil/butter is very hot but not smoking, add the fish in one layer. Sauté for 2 minutes, turn and sauté for 2 minutes on the other side. Want to stiffen the fish, not necessarily brown it.

Spread the cooked vegetables over the fish.

 

Pour in the wine and broth. Should be enough to come halfway up the fish.

Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Fish is done when it has turned from springy to gently soft. If it overcooks it will fall apart.

Arrange fish and veggies on a hot platter and cover. Then boil down the liquid in the pan until syrupy or there abouts and pour this over the fish.

Steaks

Dry-Aging at Home
Yes, it can be done! 

Wrap steaks in cheesecloth and store them on a rack on a tray in the back of the fridge for four days to give them a meatier flavor and a tender texture.

Home refrigerators are less humid than the commercial units used for dry-aging. Wrapping the steaks in cheesecloth allow air to pass through while also preventing excessive dehydration.


How to Warm Steaks Before Cooking
Warm steaks in a 275 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes (until internal temperature is 95 degrees) before searing. Place steak(s) on rack on baking sheet and place in oven. Time will depend on thickness. Excess moisture will evaporate and the steaks will brown in half the time.

Season steaks(s) after warming.

When a 40 degree steak is placed in a 400 degree skillet, the temperature of the pan drops significantly. Not good.

When They are Done!
Steaks are going to continue to cook after pulled from the oven. Take them out when the internal temperature is:

Rare: 110 degrees
Medium rare: 115 degrees

Let the steaks rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.


For Very Thick Steaks
If the steak is 2" thick or greater, place the seasoned steak on a rack on a rimmed sheet pan in a 275 degree oven until desired temperature. Let steak rest. Then sear for one minute on each side. Also sear the edge.

Carrot Ginger Soup

1/2 lb (about 4 medium) carrots cut in chunks

1 shallot, peeled and cut in chunks

4 cloves garlic, peeled and pressed

2 Tablespoons oil

½ teaspoon salt

Pepper

1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

2 cups chicken broth

Place carrots, onion in Vitamix, secure lid.

 

Turn Vitamix on, slowly increase to 4/5. Blend 10 seconds until chopped.

Heat oil, sauté chopped veggies until onion is translucent and carrot is tender. Add salt and minced garlic and pepper – cook for 30 seconds.

Place all in Vitamix, with ginger and broth.

Turn it on, go from 1 to 10, then on high, for 3 -4 minutes

Mom Haut's Christmas Cake

The Sister (whom I love to antagonize) hunted down this recipe for me. Lots of memories came flooding back making these. Now, realize that Mom Haut was a baker, a real baker having grown up over the bakery that her dad had. So, this makes a lot.

Here's the original recipe. I have listed out what I did at the end of this post.

Here's what the final product looks like.

Here's the amount of fruit that is used. Soaking in 1 pint of rum! I actually transferred this to a marinating container so that all the fruit was in contact with rum all the time it sat overnight.

Here's the eggs, sugar, shortening and baking soda after mixing.

Here's the mixture after adding to flour and spices.

Here's the completed mixture.

Following are several pictures of various size tins ready for the oven as well as the product cooling.

So, here is what I did!

Mix in order given

1/2 lb. pitted dates

1 small bottle cherries, drained

1/2 lb. candied fruit

1/4 lb. nuts

1 piece citron (I used 1 tsp dried orange peel)

1/2 lb. light raisins

1 lb. dark raisins

Mix all together and add 1 pint rum. Let stand overnight.

Mix

4 eggs, well beaten

1/2 lb. shortening

2 cups sugar

2 tsp. baking soda

Measure out

4 cups flour

1/2 tsp. ginger, ground

1/2 tsp. cloves, ground

1 tsp. mace, ground

2 tsp. cinnamon, ground

Add spices to flour and sift.

Add to mixture. Stir well.

Add mixed fruits/rum to mixture. Stir well.

Pour into greased/floured tins and bake in moderate (325) oven for 1 – 1-1/2 hours.

I found that at 325, muffins took about 20 minutes, the 4 x 4 loaf pan took 75 minutes (had to cover with aluminum foil after 40 minutes), the large loaf pan took the full 90 minutes (covered with aluminum foil after 50 minutes)

Mushroom and Olive Dressing

Seems like everyone really likes a good dressing at Thanksgiving. That is it in the middle at the top of the plate. Here's how it is made.

1 lb fresh sausage meat

2 cups minced onions

Turkey liver, minced (if available)

1 lb fresh mushrooms – trimmed, washed and diced

1 cup pitted black olives – diced

2 anchovies – diced

2 Tablespoons capers, squeezed dry and minced

2 large eggs – slightly beaten

3 cloves garlic – puréed through a press

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1 bay leaf, crushed/pulverized

4 cups croutons

Salt and pepper

1.      Break up the sausage meat and sauté until lightly browned. Remove to a big (the biggest ya got!) mixing bowl.

2.      Sauté onions about eight minutes in the pan with the sausage fat. Add oil if needed. They should be tender and lightly browned.

3.      Add the turkey liver to the onions in the pan and continue to sauté for another minute or two to stiffen the liver.

4.      Scrape the onions and liver into the big mixing bowl.

5.      A handful at a time, twist mushrooms in the corner of a linen towel. Add any collected juices to the turkey stock.

6.      Sauté the mushrooms in 2 Tablespoons of oil until pieces begin to separate from each other. Then, scrape into the big mixing bowl.

7.      Mix in the olives, anchovies, capers, eggs, garlic and herbs.

8.      Fold in the croutons, add salt and pepper to taste.

9.      Scrape mixture into a large, buttered, casserole dish.

10.   Bake in 350 F oven for an hour or more. Every 20 minutes or so, pour 1/4 cup of turkey stock (or chicken stock) over the dressing. If it browns, cover it with foil until you are ready to serve.

Fresh Green Bean Casserole

10 cups sliced green beans

8-1/2 cups chicken broth

2 cup panko breadcrumbs

2 cup grated Parmesan

3 tablespoons canola oil

3 cups diced onions

4 cups sliced baby bella mushrooms

4 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup sour cream

3 cloves garlic - minced

1 teaspoon salt

pepper

1.     Preheat the oven to 350 F.

2.     Butter a large baking dish.

3.     Boil the green beans in the chicken broth for about 10 minutes so that they are tender to the way you like them, and then drain, reserving 3 cups of the chicken broth.

4.     Meanwhile, mix together the breadcrumbs, Parmesan and 1 Tablespoon of the oil in a small bowl. Set aside.

5.     Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

6.     Sauté the onions until translucent, 2 to 3 minutes, and then add the mushrooms and continue to cook for 3 to 4 minutes longer. Remove from the heat.

7.     Add the green beans to the skillet with the mushrooms and onions.

8.     Pour the reserved 3 cups chicken broth back into the pot the green beans boiled in and bring to a boil.

9.     While that is coming to a boil, combine the cornstarch and 1/4 cup water in a small bowl to make a slurry.

10.  Slowly pour the slurry into the boiling broth, whisking constantly as it thickens, about 2 minutes.  

11.  Pour the thickened mixture over the green beans and add the sour cream, garlic, salt and pepper. Stir well.

12.  Pour into the baking dish and sprinkle with the panko and cheese mixture.

13.  Bake until the casserole is hot, about 10 minutes, and then broil until the breadcrumb topping is slightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes.

Can be made in advanced and refrigerated. Be sure to increase bake time to about 30 minutes or longer then.

Sweet Potato Casserole

 This is how I made the sweet potato casserole for the Thanksgiving dinner. That is them in the middle of the plate.

4 cups sweet potato, cubed

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup packed smoked brown sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1.     Preheat oven to 325 F.

2.     Put sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan with water to cover. Cook over medium high heat until tender; drain and mash.

3.     In a large bowl, mix together the sweet potatoes, white sugar, eggs, salt, butter, milk and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth.

4.     Transfer to a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

5.     In medium bowl, mix the brown sugars and flour. Cut in the butter until the mixture is coarse. Stir in the pecans.

6.     Sprinkle the mixture over the sweet potato mixture.

7.     Bake in the preheated oven 30 minutes, or until the topping is lightly brown.