Archives for posts with tag: seafood

Last time I was 8 months pregnant the average temperature outside was 32 degrees. I felt pretty good, and my biggest complaint was that I didn’t always get a seat on the subway because I had to wear a big, winter coat which made it hard to tell that I was pregnant. Now, it’s a different story. It is hot and humid and I feel HUGE. I pretty much always get a seat on the subway, but I am exhausted!

Meanwhile, the markets are packed with produce and I am dying to cook. This week alone, I’ve picked up blueberries, cherries, nectarines, cucumbers, summer squash, tomatoes and even the first corn. It is awesome, but some nights after work I am just too tired to make anything. Fortunately, fruits and vegetables this time of the year are so delicious and fresh that you don’t have to do too much to enjoy them. Hopefully easy summer recipes will get me through the next few weeks!

Endless Bounty

The kitchen counter will look like this for the next few months.

Meal #1: Soy Lemon Skirt Steak with Arugula + Salted Potatoes
Meal #2: Swordfish Parmesan and Roasted Broccoli
Meal #3: Chicken Francese with Noodles + Roasted Asparagus
Meal #4: Pork Chops with Cherry Sauce + Sugar Snap Peas

Your grocery list, excluding the usual pantry items: 

broccoli – 1 large head
shallot – 2
garlic – 1 head
lemons – 5
sugar snap peas – 1 lb.
cherries – 1 cup
arugula – 1 bunch
asparagus – 1 large bunch
potatoes – 1 1/2 pounds
rosemary – 1 bunch
eggs – 1 dozen
white wine
red wine
low-salt chicken broth – 1 cup
butter (if you don’t already have it)
brown sugar (if you don’t already have it)
soy sauce (if you don’t already have it)
garlic powder (if you don’t already have it)
capers (if you don’t already have it)
flour (if you don’t already have it)
Parmesan cheese (if you don’t already have it)
butter (if you don’t already have it)
swordfish steaks (6-8 ounces per person), skin removed
skirt steak – 1 1/2 pounds
skinless, boneless, thin chicken breasts – 1 1/2 pounds
pork chops, bone-in – 1 per person, approx. 6-8 oz each

One year and 30 meal plans later (including this one) Everyday Banquet is celebrating its first anniversary! I had no idea when I started this blog whether there would be any readers, let alone whether the idea of presenting recipes in the form of a weekly meal plan would strike a chord. It has been fun to read your comments and follow your interest on Facebook. By far the most gratifying comments have come from those of you who don’t cook a lot or didn’t think you liked to cook but have been trying new meals and liking them. That was always the goal – to get more people into the kitchen, cooking relatively simple and quick meals seasonally. So, on what I hope is the first of many anniversaries, I thank you, my readers for sticking with me and supporting me through the year!

Bon Appetit!
Elizas 1st bday cake_web

Meal #1:Beer-Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Red Cabbage
Meal #2: Penne in a Cream Sauce with Pancetta, Roasted Red Peppers and Peas
Meal #3: Sausages with Lentils and Green Salad
Meal #4: Roasted Wild Striped Bass with Lemon, Olives, and Rosemary + Roasted Fennel with Artichoke Hearts

Your grocery list, excluding the usual pantry items: 

fennel – 1
rosemary bunch – 1
bay leaves – 2
lemon – 2
red cabbage – 1 medium
red peppers – 2
apple – 1
onion – 1
carrot – 1
greens for a salad
artichoke hearts – 1 can in water
frozen peas
heavy cream – 1 small container
Kalamata olives – 1/2 cup
penne – 1 box
red lentils – 1 bag
dried thyme (if you don’t already have it)
Parmesan (if you don’t already have it)
ground chili pepper (if you don’t already have it)
reduced-sodium soy sauce (if you don’t already have it)
brown sugar (if you don’t already have it)
apple cider vinegar (if you don’t already have it)
pancetta – 4-6 ounces
sausage – 1 lb.
pork tenderloin – 2 (1 1/2-1 3/4 pounds total)
wild stripped bass – 1 6-8 ounce filet per person
lager – 1/4 cup

 

This time of the year it is hard not to get Christmas songs stuck in your head. As I type I can hear Andy Williams singing “It’s the holiday season, and Santa Claus is coming around…” It goes on and on…. I don’t know whether it is because Patrick and I snuck away to Charleston last weekend, but the Christmas season feels short again this year and I feel like I’m far behind. I have to catch up, because for the first year ever Eliza fully understands that it is Christmas. It is adorable to watch – she loves the tree, the caroles and Frosty, but it also means that we better step it up and plan some fun activities and get her (or ahem, ask Santa) for some good presents!

Despite the busy season full of shopping, decorating, baking and general merriment I am still trying to slip a home-cooked meal in when I can. It isn’t as often as I’d like (there’s a pizza on its way while I type this), but I am hoping to get a few dinners made without the help of a microwave. Here are a couple of repeats, and two new meals that are delicious and perfect for the season. Enjoy!

The first snowman of the season (I know, he is a little scary)

The first snowman of the season (I know, he is a little scary)

Meal #1: Pork Chops with Apples and Onions + Braised Red Cabbage
Meal #2: Chicken Saltimbocca with Cheese + Sautéed Spinach
Meal #3: Brussels Sprouts and Pork (or Beef) Stir Fry + Rice
Meal #4: Lemon Pasta with Roasted Shrimp + Green Salad

Your grocery list, excluding the usual pantry items:

fresh sage – 1 bunch (or 1 tsp. dried sage)
white onion – 2
scallions – 1 bunch (approx. 4)
red cabbage – 1 head (2 1/4 pounds)
lemons – 3
spinach – 2 bags or bundles
apples – 5
brussels sprouts – 1 lb.
carrots – 2
jalapeno – 1
ginger – 1 small piece
fontina (provolone or gruyere work too) cheese – 6 slices (approx. 4 ounces)
pine nuts (optional)
apple cider – 1 cup
linguine – 1 box
dry red wine – 1/2 cup
rice (if you don’t already have it)
apple cider vinegar (if you don’t already have it)
oyster sauce (if you don’t already have it)
reduced-sodium soy sauce (if you don’t already have it)
unseasoned rice vinegar (if you don’t already have it)
dark-brown sugar (if you don’t already have it)
bone-in pork chops – 4 (3/4-1-inch thick)
flank or skirt steak – 1/2 lb.
bacon – 4 ounces (approx. 4 slices)
proscuitto – 6 thin slices
chicken cutlets – 1 1/2 lb.
shrimp – 1 1/2 lb.

 

A couple of weeks ago The New York Times’ Magazine was devoted to food, specifically kids and food. For many of us this is a touchy subject. There are a thousand opinions out there on what kids should eat and how to get them to eat more. One of the magazine’s articles that caught my attention was Virginia Heffernan’s public confession “What if You Just Hate Making Dinner?” In it, she admits that not only does she hate to cook, but she hates cooking for her kids. Frankly, I thought it was pretty brave, but some others thought otherwise.

Since my primary goal in starting this meal planning blog was to help readers cook more frequently for their families her article struck a nerve. I get it. Not everyone likes to cook. I don’t like to knit or really make any crafts at all. If crafting was required for survival my family wouldn’t make it. But, cooking is different. We all need to eat and the more healthy it is the better.

I hope that rather than making you feel guilty about not cooking for yourself or your family that this blog has at the most inspired you and at the very least helped you. Even for me, cooking and especially meal planning, can be a chore. With this in mind, this week’s meal plan is super quick and easy. The maple dijon chicken take about 5 minutes of active time and uses ingredients you probably already have, while the butternut squash polenta is a bit more challenging, but still easy enough to make on a weeknight. Hang in there and remember it is 100% okay to order pizza sometimes!

Something spooky to get you into the Halloween spirit!

Something spooky to get you into the Halloween spirit!

Meal #1: Maple Dijon Chicken Thighs + Roasted Green Beans and Potatoes
Meal #2: Skirt Steak with Arugula + Roasted Cauliflower
Meal #3: Butternut Squash Polenta with Sausage and Onion
Meal #4: Fennel and Garlic Shrimp + French Bread

Your grocery list, excluding the usual pantry items: 

red or yukon gold potatoes – 6 medium
green beans – 1 lb.
arugula – 1 bunch
cauliflower – 1 head
onions – 2
garlic – 1 head
fennel bulbs – 2
butternut squash – 1 small
rosemary – 1 bunch
fennel seeds (optional)
French bread
fine polenta (not quick cooking) – 1 cup
Parmesan cheese (if you don’t already have it)
maple syrup (if you don’t already have it)
dijon mustard (if you don’t already have it)
rice wine vinegar (if you don’t already have it)
boneless, skinless chicken thighs – 2 lb. (approx. 2 per person)
skirt steak – 1 1/2 lb.
sweet Italian sausage – 1 1/2 lb.
shrimp – 2 lb.
Pernod (optional)

Every Wednesday morning I eagerly await my subway ride so I can read The New York Times’ Dining Section. First I check the restaurant review, hoping for either a 4-star or 0-star review – the two ends of the spectrum yield the most entertaining writing – and then the latest recipes from Melissa Clark and David Tanis. Rarely am I disappointed and this week was no exception. In fact, I was thrilled to see that the entire section was devoted to homecooking. They pulled out all of the stops, with all of their writers devoting an article and recipe to either a simple cooking technique or style – from vinaigrette to scallops to tarts.

The goal of this blog, since its inception, has always been to provide my readers with unintimidating recipes, organized into meal plans with grocery lists so everyone could see that they can squeeze 30 minutes into their evenings to cook. It’s nice to see that my blog is in the good company of some of my favorite writers and cooks!

Fall's here!

Fall’s here!

Meal #1: Mediterranean Chicken Thighs with Polenta
Meal #2: Lemon Pasta with Roasted Shrimp + Green Salad
Meal #3:Pork Tenderloin with Plums and Red Onion + Corn on the Cob
Meal #4: Salmon with Potatoes in Tomato Sauce

Your grocery list, excluding the usual pantry items:

lettuce – 1 large head
lemons – 2
orange – 1
plums – 4
red onion – 1
white onion – 1
corn – 1 per person
white potatoes – 3/4 lb.
parsley – 1 bunch
linguine – 1 box
polenta – 1 tube
reduced-sodium chicken broth – 1 1/4 cup
diced tomatoes – 2 cans (28 ounces each)
tomato paste – 1 small can
Kalamata olives – 1 cup
red wine vinegar (if you don’t already have it)
bone-in, chicken thighs – 8
pork tenderloin – 1 1/2 lb.
shrimp – 1 1/2 lb.
salmon – 4 (6 ounces each)

Lemon Pasta with Roasted Shrimp

This is a perfect weeknight dish. You can pull the entire dinner together in the time it takes to boil water and cook pasta. I used Ina Garten’s recipe but I don’t really like Angel Hair pasta that much because it can quickly become mushy, so I used linguine instead.

1 1/2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined
Good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 pound linguine
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Zest and juice of 2 lemons
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the shrimp on a sheet pan with 1 TB. olive oil, 1/2 ts. salt and 1/2 ts. pepper. Toss well and spread shrimp in one layer and roast for 6 to 8 minutes, just until they’re pink and cooked through.

Follow the directions for cooking the linguine. Drain the pasta, reserving some of the cooking liquid. Quickly toss the pasta with the melted butter, 1/4 cup olive oil, the lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, pepper and about reserved cooking liquid (start with just 1/4 cup and add more as necessary). Add the shrimp and serve hot.

Green Salad

Striped Bass with Summer Beans and Heirloom Tomatoes
Fish w Green Beans and Tomatoes_Web

This recipe is from The New Greenmarket Cookbook, which is near and dear to my heart. This labor of love was written by my former manager and mentor Gabrielle Langholtz, who is also the editor of Edible Manhattan and former editor of Edible Brooklyn. It is a compilation of seasonal recipes from New York’s best chefs and even some of the farmers who grow our produce, needless to say, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it! Fortunately, as someone with close ties to Greenmarket, even eight years after my departure, I was able to purchase one of the first copies at the book release party. Very exciting! It was spring when I first thumbed through the cookbook, but I, of course, longingly turned to summer’s recipes. So, the minute I saw the season’s first green beans and tomatoes at the market I made this dish.

I couldn’t find stripped bass that day so I substituted it with halibut. Just make sure to use a thick(ish) white fish.

2 TB. olive oil
4 5-ounce fillets striped bass
1/2 lb. green beans, trimmed and halved
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 medium shallot, peeled and sliced
1 TB. thyme leaves
2 large heirloom tomatoes, diced, juices reserved
salt and pepper to taste
half a lemon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Heat a 12-inch oven-safe saute pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to coat the bottom. Season the fish with salt and pepper and place in the pan, skin side down. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until the skin is crispy. Transfer to the oven until just cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat another 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and the green beans, season with salt and pepper, and cook until slightly charred, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic, shallot and thyme. Add the tomato and its juices and cook until the tomato stews down, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the stewed tomatoes and green beans in a shallow bowl and top with the stripped bass. Finish with a squeeze of lemon.

Corn on the cob

Boil water in a pot, put shucked corn in the water, turn off the heat and put a lid on your pot. Wait 10 minutes or so. Eat with lots of butter, salt and pepper.

Isn’t summer funny? My memories of summer as a kid are of endless days playing in the yard, swimming in backyard pools, riding waves at the beach and catching fireflies. It was the ultimate season of slack and it felt like it went on forever. But as an adult, summer flies by and is packed with planned events and activities. Most everything is fun, but there’s no slacking anymore….

Summer ‘s bounty also provides us with all of the ingredients we need to eat right and get healthy. Almost every fresh vegetable and fruit are ready for harvest and many of them can be enjoyed raw or with minimal preparation. Everything tastes great. Is there anything better than eating a peach so ripe that you have to stand over the sink or risk ruining your shirt? Summer even makes exercising seem like a great idea. I like to run, and my favorite time  to run is on a summer morning when the sun is up early and the temperature is still a bit cool. At the same time there are so many excuses and temptations in the summer. There’s ice cream, fruit crisps and crumbles, hamburgers, beer, rose and gin and tonics. How can you resist? You can’t….

So, the best you can do is embrace the season. Eat as well as you can during the week and indulge on the weekends and during vacation. Hopefully, these summer recipes are just the right amount of healthy, while still being delicious and fast enough to prepare that you have time to go out and catch some fireflies…

Luscious peaches you can indulge in guiltlessly

Luscious peaches you can indulge in guilt-free

Meal #1: Striped Bass with Green Beans and Tomatoes + Corn on the Cob
Meal #2: Citrus Asian Marinated Chicken Thighs + Sesame Broccoli
Meal #3: Salmon with Peach and Tomato Salsa + Corn on the Cob
Meal #4: Gnocchi with Chicken Sausage and Tomato + Kale Caesar Salad

Your grocery list, excluding the usual pantry items:

cilantro – 1 bunch
basil – 1 bunch
thyme – 1 bunch
limes – 2-3
lemons – 2
orange – 1
green beans – 1/2 lb.
scallions – 1 bunch
shallot – 1
red onion – 1
heirloom tomatoes – 3 large
cherry or grape tomatoes – 1 pint
peach (or nectarine) – 1
corn – 1 per person for 2 meals
Tuscan kale – 1 bunch
broccoli – 1 lb.
gnocchi – 1 to 2 packages, depending on size
sesame seeds (if you don’t already have them)
Parmesan cheese (if you don’t already have it)
reduced sodium soy sauce (if you don’t already have it)
skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs – 2 lb.
chicken sausage – 9 oz. (about 3 links)
striped bass fillets – 4 5-ounces each
salmon – 1 1/2 lb.

Tomorrow we celebrate the longest day of the year. With days full of sand and sun and evenings full of fireflies and fireworks. My favorite time of the year… This morning Eliza and I enjoyed the gorgeous weather at Brooklyn Bridge Park. We rode Jane’s Carousel twice, walked along the water, played on a giant jungle gym shaped like a pirate ship and took our sandals off and ran through the grass. It was lovely.

Although we are just hours away from the official start of summer we still have a few more weeks to wait for tomatoes, corn on the cob and fresh green beans. Until then, we can still relish in spring’s bounty of asparagus, spring onions and peas. Hope you enjoy this week’s meals. And, I hope that all of you are enjoying the beginning of summer wherever you are.

Laying in the grass

Selfie in the grass

Meal #1: Fettuccine with Peas, Asparagus and Pancetta
Meal #2: Roasted Salmon with White Wine Sauce and Sautéed Summer Squash and Spring Onions
Meal #3: Steak with Parmesan Butter, Balsamic Glaze, and Arugula
Meal #4: Roasted Wild Stripped Bass with Lemon, Olives and Rosemary and Roasted Fennel and Artichoke Hearts

Your grocery list, excluding the usual pantry items:

zucchini – 2
summer squash – 2
spring onions – 1 bunch (or 1 red onion)
arugula – 2 large bunches or 1 large bag
asparagus – 1 bunch
peas – 2 cups
scallions – 1 bunch
fennel – 2 bulbs
chives – 1 bunch
rosemary – 1 bunch
parsley – 1 bunch
basil – 1 bunch
shallots – 2
lemon – 3
artichoke hearts – 2 cans
fettuccine – 1 box
heavy whipping cream – 1 small container
flour (if you don’t already have it)
brown sugar (if you don’t already have it)
parmesan cheese (if you don’t already have it)
balsamic vinegar (if you don’t already have it)
ground chili pepper, preferably Turkish or Aleppo (if you don’t already have it)
pitted calamata or other good-quality black olives – 1/4 cup (if you don’t already have it)
white wine
pancetta – 3 ounces
rib eye steak – 2, 1 1/2 inches thick each
salmon fillet, skinless – 1 1/2 pounds
wild stripped bass fillet, skinless – 1 1/2 pounds

Grilled Tuna Steaks

I love tuna steaks so much – the rarer the better! I made this Ina Garten recipe for Patrick’s birthday and it was deliciously simple.

Dipping Sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce
2 TB. lemon juice
1 ts. Sriracha
pinch of sugar

Mix all ingredients and let sit while you prepare the tuna steaks. Pour into individual small bowls for dipping.

Sesame Broccoli

Basically roasted broccoli, but with an Asian twist!