TOMATO, WHITE BEAN, AND FENNEL STEW, What Goes with What ebook
This was perfectly pleasant, and a good pantry meal to keep in mind (I find myself with fennel in the fridge often enough that i counts as a pantry item). But it isn’t strongly more than its parts. Garlic and fennel seeds are briefly sauteed until fragrant, then thinly sliced fennel is added and stirred around until well coated (I think I would leave this part for longer next time to get a bit of caramelization on the fennel). Next add canned tomatoes, white beans, water (I used lobster Better than Bouillon) and salt. I also added a little white wine here. Let stew for about 20 minutes. I then added some shrimp and some scallops that I had in the freezer. I served with sliced baguette. It was good, but not especially exciting.
Great suggestions. I did add some chilies, now that I think of it (almost like I do this without thinking about it), but it needed something else to be special.
ARAYES WITH YOGURT SAUCE from Simply Julia
These are great! So so easy – a pound of ground beef seasoned with cumin, cinnamon, and allspice. A clove or two of garlic, salt and pepper. Moosh that together well and flatten a scoop of it inside half a pita. Grill or cook in a skillet on the stove. Serve with thinned garlicky salted yogurt for a sauce. I made my own pitas (King Arthur recipe) so it took (a lot) longer than the 10 minutes it could have taken.
We both approved of these right away, nodding and chewing.
This really was a perfect meal before a travel day. LLD was somewhat skeptical about how the ingredients would work together, but loved it! Very quick clean up is nice too.
I love these. Always increase the seasonings and aromatics, and put in whatever herbs are at hand. Also easy spread on flour tortillas or naans and griddled (like fake lahmacun).
Easy, delicious, homey meal (and vegan, always good for me to have a few of those in my pocket for my bestie). Sauté a pound of cremini mushrooms until browned and glossy, remove from pan. I somehow missed the remove from pan part and cooked everything together, and it still worked. Next add diced onion and red bell pepper and cook until soft. Add garlic, rosemary, mushroom powder (I used TJs umami powder, which has mushroom powder in it), tomato paste, salt, and oregano and cook until fragrant. Add red wine, bring to a boil, scrape up tasty bits (because I’d left my mushrooms in, it was too liquidy to need scraping), then add back the mushrooms (if you took them out like you were supposed to), olives, and a 28 oz can of tomatoes. She calls for the whole peeled ones, I went with crushed. Let this simmer with the lid askew for about 20 minutes. Serve over pasta or polenta (or with nice crusty bread). I slightly over salted because those olives add a lot of salt, but this was delicious. LLD is not a big red sauce guy, but said “this meal might convert me.”
CHICKEN + KIMCHI RICE (with shredded cheddar and fried egg) - What Goes with What, e-book
This was a good but for me not great meal, mostly because it got a bit same-y pretty quickly. LLD liked it a lot (somewhat to my surprise) but I strongly suspect that has more to do with the cheese and egg. This is fall off a log easy to make. Brown seasoned, cut up chicken with some Korean chili flakes in neutral oil. Then add kimchi, rice, broth, stir it all together, bring to a boil, then simmer for 25 minutes, then let sit with lid on for 10 minutes. She doesn’t mention the lid for the simmering part, but i put it on. She suggests topping with cheese and/or fried egg and I went with both.
RICOTTA + POTATO CHIP FISH CAKES WITH PEAS from Simply Julia
Oh dear I can’t recommend this – the usual bread/cracker crumbs and egg in salmon patties is replaced with sour cream and onion potato chips and ricotta cheese. Nope, I’ll stick with my usual long-loved recipe. These seemed too salty and … distracting.
COCONUT MARBLE LOAF from Simply Julia
Oh my this is nice! It’s super moist (coconut milk!) and the chocolate is just right with the coconut. Recipe calls for a little coconut extract too, and coconut flour if you have it (who has coconut flour?) You melt chocolate to make the chocolate batter, not cocoa powder, it works just fine. And we both really like the result. It looks like vaguely like the “tiger” cakes I’ve seen here, but the emphasis is on the coconut/chocolate combo, not really the design. Recommended for sure!
CREAMY SCALLION + FETA DRESSING — Simply Julia, p. 147
I had a small amount of feta that needed using, and it was just about the amount called for here (1/2 cup crumbled). The dressing is feta, scallions, garlic, yogurt, water, salt and pepper buzzed in the food processor until smooth, and it’s tangy and savory. I stirred it into a dish of sautéed vegetables tonight, and as she says in the headnote, it would work well with any number of things, though probably only sturdier lettuces in a green salad, like romaine (or kale).
The recipe calls for full-fat non-Greek yogurt, but only 1/4 cup, so not something I was going to go out of my way for. So in place of the yogurt, I used 3 T. plain low-fat kefir and 1 T. olive oil, to add the richness missing with the low-fat dairy. I found the dressing a bit too sharp using the 1 T. red wine vinegar called for, and ended up stirring in another tablespoon of kefir and a dribble of lemon olive oil for better balance. So I’d probably start with less vinegar, and also use a mellower one like rice or sherry.
That sounds delicious! I wonder if using lemon juice and zest in place of the red wine vinegar might also make the finished dressing less sharp (although citrus leaning at that point…I do love lemon…)?
