Dover Sole in Shallot, Butter & White Wine Sauce with Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Gorgonzola

The “I don’t have time” excuse doesn’t work for this thin white fish dish. I’ve been working late these past couple weeks which has been more or less driving me nuts, mostly because I get home too late to make anything exciting. (Piles of spinach with balsamic vinegar and sliced banana on tortilla… really?)

I will admit that I had help with this meal. My old, now new roommate Quin just moved in (!) and has been getting dinner started without me. However, start to finish, the fish took maybe 15 minutes. You, too, can have Dover Sole with shallot, butter and white wine sauce on Monday night.

Bonus – you have to open a bottle of wine. Not that you wouldn’t have that excuse anyway because, well… it’s Monday.

Dover Sole with Shallot, Butter & White Wine Sauce

3-4 Dover Sole filets
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup white wine
1/2 lemon

Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Pat filets dry, sprinkle with salt and pepper then dredge in flour. Place in hot oil and let cook for 2-3 minutes, until golden. Flip and cook other side an additional minute or two. Remove from pan and keep warm.

In same pan, add butter and oil. When butter is melted, add garlic and shallot. Stir for a minute, until garlic is fragrant. Pour in white wine and let reduce for 5 minutes. Squeeze lemon over the sauce and stir another minute. Place fish over bed of greens, spoon sauce over fish and serve with a large glass of wine.

On the side, might I suggest roasted Brussels sprouts with crumbled gorgonzola cheese.

Cheers!

Chef Appearance: Gazpacho with Summer Salad, Grilled Chicken in Tomato & Olive Sauce, Stone Fruit Galette

This past weekend my parents and our family friends were in town visiting San Francisco. Sunday night Marty, the chef of the group, and I cooked dinner for everyone. This was an all day affair involving a delicious trip to the farmer’s market and Whole Foods. The menu was extensive:

Blue Cheese, Fig & Salami Crostini

Gazpacho with Summer Salad

Grilled Chicken in Tomato & Olive Sauce over Creamed Corn and Sautéed Kale

Stone Fruit Galette

He worked as a chef works – from memory and taste – so unfortunately, I do not have recipes for these. However, similar versions can be found via Google. Let these be inspiration to try something you’ve never tried. They were a lot easier than you might think!

Chocolate Chip Cookies topped with Warm Banana

My mom always said “you should always have the ingredients on hand to make chocolate chip cookies.” She actually does say that. And to my credit, I consistently keep the ingredients stocked. You can never predict when the chocolate chip cookie craving will strike, but when it does, you’ll be glad you were prepared. Just this morning when I was reading the news (and when I say the news, I mean HuffPost Taste) and LA’s M Street Kitchen was being recognized for their “Chocolate Banana Cookie” which was essentially a large chocolate chip cookie topped with sliced banana – simple but freaking genius. So yeah, that had to happen today.

Don’t feel like trying to find 20 mouths to finish off 50 chocolate chip cookies that typically come out of one batch? Here’s the halved recipe below. Also, I wrapped the second half of the dough in tin foil and threw it in the freezer to make freshly baked chocolate chip cookies off the cuff at a later date.

Banana atop Chocolate Chip Cookie

1 stick butter, room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup bakers sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 ounces (1 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons flour)
~shallow 1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 banana, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 360. Cream butter and sugars until combined and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda together. Slowly beat in flour mixture until the entire batch is incorporated into sugar mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop 2 tablespoons worth of batter balls onto greased baking sheet. Bake for 9-10 minutes, or until edges are lightly brown but center is doughy. Remove and top cookies with banana slices. Bake for remaining 2-3 minutes, until cookies are desired level of doneness. Eat and smile, you’re in chocolate banana heaven.

Up Your Salad Game: Homemade Croutons

There’s bread, and then there’s good bread. A piece of sandwich bread from the grocery store is night and day from a fresh rustic loaf from a legitimate bakery. This is the bread I’m talking about. In order to make awesome homemade croutons, you need awesome bread. I’m not a big bread consumer in general. But like The Most Interesting Man says: I do not always eat bread, but when I do, it’s good bread. So go out there and get your self a loaf of damn good bread, and let’s make some salad magic.

Homemade Croutons

1/2 loaf amazing bread (rustic sourdough, French, brown country loaf, etc), cubed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic (optional)

Put cubed bread you’re not eating into plastic bag and freeze for future use. In a skillet heat olive oil until rippling. Add garlic if using, and stir briefly before adding in cubed bread. Let bread brown on all sides, 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool briefly on paper towels. Top pre-dressed salad with handful of croutons.

Fresh Mango, Avocado & Tofu Spring Rolls with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce

A fact of life: you’re going to cook what you have around the house. Or at least that’s a fact of my life. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel every time dinner rolls around. The way I’ve been able to branch out – slowly, but surely – is to start accumulating interesting or exotic ingredients. Rome wasn’t built in a day (I became the proud owner of a bottle of soy sauce only earlier this week) but having things like fish sauce and rice noodles around the house encourages stepping-out-of-the-box.

Rice paper sheets are the best because you can stuff them with essentially anything you want. I haven’t yet attempted a dessert version but it is absolutely doable (I’m thinking pan fried banana and peanut butter spring rolls??) This time I had stocked up on vegetables from my neighborhood cheap Asian grocery store – avocados, mangoes, green onions, tofu, etc. Hence: avocado mango spring rolls.

Fresh Mango, Avocado & Tofu Spring Rolls

4 rice paper sheets
4 leaves Romaine lettuce
1/2 block firm tofu, pressed dry and cubed
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 red Thai chili, chopped
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 green onion, sliced
1 avocado, sliced
1 small mango, sliced
bean sprouts/carrots/cucumber

Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce

1/4 cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sriracha
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon lemon/lime juice
1 teaspoon rice vinegar

Heat peanut oil in a pan and add garlic and ginger. After about a minute, stir in tofu and sauté until tofu has lightly browned sides – set aside. Dip rice paper sheets into 1 inch of water and soak for 10 seconds.  Remove, lay on plate or flat surface and blot dry with paper towel. Lay leaf of romaine lettuce on top of rice paper and layer tofu and remaining desired ingredients. Scoot lettuce leaf to edge of rice paper and pick up edge of paper to wrap ingredients with rice paper and lettuce together. At the half way point, fold in sides of paper and continue wrapping until a tight spring roll. Set aside, and repeat.

In a small bowl, whisk together dipping sauce ingredients and serve with spring rolls.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Fresh Mint & Sourdough Croutons

My Sunday cooking extravaganza didn’t stop with strata muffins. I still had a big chunk of the whole wheat sourdough bread left to use, and what is more satisfying than dipping a chunk of crusty bread into soup? If you’ve never roasted your own red peppers, I suggest trying it. 450 for 45 minutes and you’ve got tender, charred veggies that beat the hell out of the soggy jarred version.

I know most of you out there are experiencing the sticky heat of summertime and this soup is a refreshing dinner to serve on the porch with a chilled glass of chardonnay. Or sitting in a sweatshirt at your kitchen table, in my case.

Especially if you’re serving overs…how impressive is chilled soup? Recipe inspired by Palate/Palette/Plate.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Mint & Sourdough Croutons

Serves 2
2 red bell peppers, halved
6-8 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 small red onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/4 cup greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon lemon juice
salt and pepper
1 ear sweet corn, kernels sliced off
2 tablespoons mint, chopped

2 slices sourdough bread, cubed into 1” pieces
drizzle olive oil

Preheat oven to 450. Place bell peppers sliced-face down on a tin foil covered baking sheet. Roast for 25 minutes, then flip over and roast for another 15-20 more minutes. Wrap peppers in tin foil and allow to cool before peeling off skin.

At same temperature, spread tomatoes, onion and garlic onto baking sheet and toss in olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 10 minutes, or until tomatoes start to release their juices. Set aside to cool.

In a food processor, combine all ingredients except for mint and corn and blend until smooth. Adjust liquid to attain desired consistency. Stir in corn and chill for at least 1 hour or until chilled.

In a pan over medium low heat, heat a drizzle of olive oil and add bread cubes. Toast until golden and crunchy. Top soup with mint and croutons.

Kale, Mushroom & Feta Strata Minis

One of my mental shifts that has come with adulthood is the concept of Sunday.I love Sunday. I might like it even more than Saturday. There’s no pressure to be cool (but the option is there if you feel like it), I can wake up late (7:15!), put my proverbial ducks in a row, and cook all day if I feel like it.

Proper Sunday breakfast: Fried egg on toasted chunk of wheat sourdough, with mango and berries sprinkled with chia seeds.

Though I did do a few other things with my day, I spent most of it in the kitchen. After the errands came lunch of course: nectarine, cucumber, corn, tomatoes, parmesan, mint…what didn’t I put in it? Reason #368 why I love summer.

I have yogurt/cottage cheese with fruit for breakfast everyday. I decided to change things up (I live my life on the edge) and make mini veggie packed egg-stratas that I can grab for breakfast instead. This recipe is loosely based off of this strata recipe and a concept I saw on Pinterest.

From basic strata recipe –> to cute muffin portions.

Boom. Breakfast is served…for the next 6 days.

Kale, Mushroom & Feta Strata Minis

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 shallot, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
1/2 bunch kale, chopped
4-5 cherry tomatoes, quartered
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk of your choice
4-5 cups rustic bread (I used whole wheat sourdough), cubed
salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, thyme
1/2 cup feta cheese
1/4 cup shaved parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 375. In a large pan, sauté shallot in olive oil for 1-2 minutes before adding garlic. Stir briefly before adding mushrooms and kale. After 2-3 minutes, add in tomatoes and sauté mixture until vegetables are tender – sprinkle with salt and pepper and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and milk. Stir in bread cubes and vegetable mixture. Let sit for 10-15 minutes to soak.

Spray muffin tin with cooking spray. Scoop mixture into cups and fill completely. Sprinkle parmesan over the tops and bake for 20-25 minutes, until cooked through. Allow to cool completely before covering and putting away. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week.