Half-Baked Cod with Lemon Rice

This.is.great.food.

Half-Baked Cod

1 Onion minced
4 cloves Garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh Rosemary, minced
1 1/2 tsp Paprika
3 Cod Fillets
12 oz. can of whole Tomatoes (cut tomatoes in half)
1 Lemon
Oil for Sauteing
1 Large Cast Iron (or other oven safe) Pan
Something to Cover the pan

• Preheat oven to 375
• Heat pan over medium heat
• Pour a generous amount of oil onto the pan, add minced onions and garlic. Saute till just barely softened.
• Add rosemary and paprika, mix thoroughly. Push all ingredients which are in the pan to the side, and add cod fillets skin side down on the pan. Spread the preceding ingredients on top of the cod.
• Add tomatoes and juice to the pan, bring to a boil.
• Put pan in preheated oven with a lid covering the majority of it, leaving just enough room to let a little of the steam out.
• Bake 15 minutes
• Take lid off the pan, squeeze the lemon juice over the cod
• Bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until the cod is done.
• Serve over Lemon Rice with fresh ground pepper.
  

Lemon Rice
Brown rice is a staple in our house, and therefore is what I used for this meal. All the lemon rice is, is adding the juice from half a lemon when the rice has less than 7 minutes left till done

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Honey-Mustard Pork Chops

The pork we've been fortunate enough to eat this year was raised by some of our friends in Morgan, allowed to roam free and all that jazz. A big difference when compared with the majority of pigs raised in commercial agriculture, which is all the more sad when one hears that pigs are smarter than dogs. Anyhoo, I would hope most people know about this by now.
Growing up, a constant saying in our house on pork chop night was, "Pork chops and apple sauce." Knowing this wonderful combination, I utilized it in this recipe. A picture of these pork chops are in the Stuffed Cabbage recipe.

4 tbsp Honey
4 tbsp Dijon Mustard
1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 cup Unsweetened Apple Sauce

4 Pork Chops with excess fat trimmed

• Combine four non-pig related ingredients in a small sauce pan, bring to a boil and lightly simmer till reduced by half
• Preheat oven to a broil, place rack on uppermost position.
• Bush both sides of pork chops with glaze, and place on under broiler for 6 minutes each side.
• Bush glaze on pork each time you flip it.
• Cook till juices run clear or meat reaches 150 degrees.
• Serve hot.
  

Balsamic Fiddleheads

This time of the year in the northeast brings the first of the wild edibles, fiddleheads. These incredibly symmetrical delicious vegetables are found on moist river banks with a brown paper-like covering encasing the individual frond. Since moving to Holland I’ve gone out every year attempting to find a large enough patch of fiddleheads to pick for the family. However I have yet to find such a patch. Luckily the Mountain View Farm Stand in Derby carries these harbingers of fresh produce.

1 lbs Fiddleheads

1 small Onion sliced thinly

4 cloves Garlic, minced

3 tbsp Butter

2 tbsp died Tarragon

1 tbsp freshly ground Pepper

2 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

Salt to taste

• Melt butter in large pan over medium high heat
• Sautee onions and garlic in butter till lightly browned
• Add fiddleheads, tarragon and pepper
• Sautee 5-7 minutes stirring occasionally
• Add balsamic vinegar and cook another 2 minutes stirring occasionally
• Serve hot

Stuffed Cabbage with Onion-Sage Butter

I’m not a huge fan of cabbage, I’ll maybe enjoy it with corned beef or some stir fry. So having little in the fridge besides cabbage I came up with this.

Cabbage

5-10 large cabbage leaves, intact

½ head of Green Cabbage, roughly cut

2 cups Spinach, roughly cut

Oil for sautéing

Potato Mixture

2 Potatoes, peeled and cut into ¼-1/2 inch cubes

Oil for sautéing

Onion-Sage Butter

2 medium Onions, minced

3 cloves Garlic, minced

4 tbsp Butter

1 tbsp Bacon Fat

3 tbsp Sage

1 tbsp Marjoram

1 tbsp freshly ground pepper

· Potato Mixture

o Preheat oven to 400

o In a medium cast iron pan heat oil over medium high heat

o Add cubed potatoes

o Sautee over medium high heat for 5-7 minutes, till slightly browned

o When browned put into preheated oven and bake 20-30 minutes

o Put aside

· Onion-Sage Butter

o Sautee onions and sage in butter over medium heat

o Cook till lightly browned

o Add pepper and bacon fat

o Pulse in food processor

· Cabbage Mixture

o Sautee rough cut cabbage over medium heat for 5-10 minutes depending on how cooked you want it (it will be cooked a little longer after)

o About 2 minutes before you’re doing cooking cabbage, incorporate spinach thoroughly

o Shut off heat

· Stuffed Cabbage

o Preheat oven to 425 and put a rack toward the top of the oven

o In a large bowl combine potato mixture, cabbage mixture and 5 tbsp of onion-sage butter

o Pulse half of the mixture in a food processor, then mix into the whole shebang

o Spoon around 5-9 tbsp of mixture onto the inside of a cabbage leaf and roll up placing seam side down on lightly oiled baking dish

o Repeat till out of leaves or mixture

o Lightly spray oil over the top of the cabbage

o Bake on top rake 5-10 minutes, or till cabbage leaves are browned

o Serve hot.

(Pork was wicked good with the stuffed cabbage)

Breaded Haddock over Roasted Garlic Linguine

We've been wanting more fish in our diet lately and came up with this dinner idea while at the store today.

Serves 6

Breaded Haddock

• 7 Haddock Fillets (around 2 lbs total)
• 1/2 cup Bread Crumbs
• 4 Cloves garlic, minced
  
• 4 tbs Ground Pepper
• Salt
• Oil for Frying

• Mix garlic, salt, pepper and bread crumbs together.
• Coat haddock fillets thoroughly in mixture.
• Heat enough oil to thickly coat a large heavy pan over medium heat.
• When a flick of water bubbles on the pan add enough fillets to fill the pan (but don't crowd them).
• Fry the haddocks till they start to brown at the edges (around five minutes) then flip and fry again.
• Transfer haddock to a paper towel or something that will catch that grease.
• After a couple minutes of draining, transfer fillets to a preheated 250 degree oven to keep warm.
• Repeat till done.

Roasted Garlic Linguini

• 5 tbs salted butter
• 3 Cloves Garlic
• 3 tbs Ground pepper
• 1 lbs Linguine

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  
• Put cloves of garlic, butter and pepper in a small oven safe bowl.
• Bake till cloves of garlic slightly brown, around 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• When done, mash cloves of garlic into a paste like substance in the butter.
  
• Cook linguine as package dictates.
• When drained, put the pasta back in the pot.
  
• Mix roasted garlic butter throughout cooked linguine.

Serve haddock over linguine, with a splash of fresh squeezed lemon juice, then to really do it up sprinkle some minced basil.

Hannah came up with a simple lacinato kale salad with a maple balsamic dressing for a side, which really did well with the haddock.

Salty+Sweet Granola

Granola has been such a staple in our home through the years. It makes a great breakfast mixed with milk or yogurt and I LOVE mixing fruit in as well. It also makes a great little snack on the go. I had a recipe that I used for quite some time but I just found this recipe and I like it the best. :) I think the kosher salt is important in this recipe.

Ingredients

4 cups of old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup of chopped or sliced nuts (almonds, walnuts or whatever you wish)
1/2 cup of dry shredded coconut
1/4 cup of either shelled sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup of maple syrup
2 tablespoons of canola oil
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
1 cup of dried fruit (raisins, dried cranberries, mashed up dates or apricots)

• Heat oven to 350
• On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the oats, nuts, coconut and seeds with the maple syrup, oil and salt.
• Bake. Mix it once. It will be golden and crisp, about 30 minutes.
• Add the dried fruit and combine. Let cool.

*This sill keep in an airtight container in a dry place for up to 3 weeks.

Random Thought

Warmed english muffin+ham+american cheese≠breakfast

A simple equation schools should evaluate.

Mixed Cracked Grains

We have an abundance of mixed cracked grains from our CSA share. They are wonderful cooked up with fruit for breakfast but I am wondering if anyone has other ideas or recipes? I want to eat them all up.

Cookies and Muffins

I have been experimenting lots lately with recipes that call for alternative sweeteners and I have two recipes to share. First one, an amazing peanut butter cookie that has no sugar, no butter and no eggs! They are sweetened only with maple syrup. Be sure to try the dough out before baking it all. It is almost better than the actual cookies.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

2 cups of flour (spelt, white or whole wheat pastry)
1 tsp of baking soda
3/4 tsp sea salt
1 cup of natural peanut butter (recipe called for chunky but I used smooth)
1 cup of maple syrup
1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease two cookie sheets.

Mix dry and wet separately until combined. Mix them together and stir until all of the ingredients are well combined and it looks like dough. Eat some. Form into balls on greased cookie sheets and press down with a fork.

Bake about 10 minutes. I found this on here.

I highly recommend making these. They are yummy without sin.



Banana-Molasses Muffins (from The Vegetarian Mothers Cookbook-Cathe Olson)

I made these on the weekend to go with coffee and to keep the little ones happy. They are sweetened only with bananas and 3 tablespoons of molasses and they have some other healthy ingredients processed and mixed in. They taste a little different from your average cafe muffin but I love them.

Ingredients

1 cup of rolled oats
1/4 cup of almonds
1 cup of flour (whole wheat, spelt or barley flour)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 cup of raisins
2-3 banana's mashed up (A perfect job for a 3 year old)
1 egg
1/3 cup oil
3 tablespoons of blackstrap molasses
1/4 cup of yogurt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly oil the muffin tins.

In a food processor, blend the oats and almonds until they are a coarse meal. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the flour and other dry ingredients. Stir in the raisins.

Beat remaining ingredients together until smooth. Add to oat mixture and stir until just mixed.

Pour batter into prepared tins. Bake about 20 minutes or until tops are firm to the touch.

P.S. Cathe Olson is the best! I recommend her books and her recipes.

Brownies

Andy's ramblings on brownies

Brownies are the unsung hero of desserts. When done right a brownie will silence a crowd of people, while when done wrong will fill a trashcan.
Hannah made some excellent brownies last night and happened to have several left over, she put them in the freezer in hopes of them being defrosted another day when a chocolate craving must be satisfied.
That chocolate craving happened to come after lunch today. I did not want to wait for the brownie to defrost so instead took a bite of it before the freezer was closed. A frozen brownie is good, a frozen brownie is very good.
It will be used many times this coming summer after a day outside under the heat of the sun to cool us down.

Last night's brownie recipe came from Melanie Rousseau-Hannahs sister.

2 Sticks Butter
2 Cups Sugar
4 Eggs
1 Cup Flour
3/4 cup Cocoa
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt

• Heat oven to 350
  
• Mix dry ingredients together
• Mix wet ingredients in a seperate bowl
• Combine the two
• Pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish
• Bake 25-35 minutes depending on how chewy you want.
  

Our favorite brownie recipe was inspired by Equal Exchange Spicy Hot Chocolate. It is important to use sweet cinnamon in this recipe.

3/4 cup Cocoa
2/3 cup + 1/4 cup Oil
2 cups Sugar
4 Eggs lightly beaten
1 tsp Vanilla
1 1/4 cup Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
4 tsp Sweet Cinnamon
1/2 - 1 tsp Cayenne (depending on how spicy you want)

• Preheat oven to 350
• Grease a 13 inch pan
• Mix dry ingredients, add in oil, eggs and vanilla
• Pour into pan and bake about 30 minutes.