This recipe comes about because I was presented with a whole fresh snapper from the farmers market and told to cook it for dinner, ahh I date such a romantic. Normally when cooking a whole fish I would tend to roast or grill the fish, but I was working within a very limited time constraint so instead decided to step outside the box and pretty much poach the fish. Also, I didn’t feel like buying 20 ingredients at the store - - so again this recipe was good for fixing that problem. I recommend buying the fish already scaled (mine was not and I was still cleaning scales from the kitchen 2 days later, yeah super gross). But this dish is super delish and makes an addicting sauce so be sure to serve it with something like rice or cous cous that can soak it all up! So good!
Ingredients (serves two):
- 1 whole red snapper (head and scales removed)
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 cup roma tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 cup packed fresh parsley (separated in half), roughly chopped
- 6 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup dry white wine
First, season the fish generously inside and out with salt and pepper. Then prepare the garlic, tomatoes and parsley.
Next, heat the olive oil on medium high heat and add garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
Add fish, tomatoes, 1/4 cup of parsley, water and wine to the pan and bring to a low boil. Continuously spoon cooking liquid over the top of the fish and allow fish to cook in the water mixture for about 15-20 minutes until cooked through.
Once the fish is cooked through, remove the snapper and the tomatoes to a plate and cover with tin foil to keep it warm.
Crank the heat up to high and let boil until sauce reduces to about 1 cup, this will take about 10 minutes.
Once the sauce has reduced, add the extra parsley and salt/pepper to taste. Return the fish to the pan.
To serve, filet the fish and cover with desired amount of sauce. Enjoy!
Love and a monkey’s favorite desert is banana pudding,
Toots and Kakes
recipe from epicurious.com
This post is dedicated to my dad! He was the inspiration for the recipe and deserves some recognition for his unruly cravings of pasta and chocolate. My dad is a man of tradition and in relation with this eating out usually lands the family at Macaroni Grill. Guess what he orders every time? Yup, no menu necessary, my pops gets the chicken scallopini every time.
Anyways… One cozy night at home, too comfy to leave the fire place, but still craving a familiar, creamy delicious meal. I decided to trick my dad into thinking he was at Macaroni Grill and satisfy the rest of the family by staying in. Not wanting to leave the house, I had to make due with what ingredients were already in the pantry. Luckily our pantry was stocked and I threw together a meal that mimicked my dad’s favorite restaurant meal.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 box of angel hair pasta
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 4 chicken breasts
- 1 egg, whisked with a dash of water
- olive oil
- 1/2 sweet onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
- 1 can artichoke hearts, quartered
- 1 tablespoon of capers
- 2 large sun dried tomatoes, sliced
- 1 cup white wine
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Parmigiano, grated to taste
In a large sauce pan bring water to a boil, salt heavily, then cook the angel hair pasta until al dente. Drain and splash a bit of olive oil on the pasta, mix and set aside.
Meanwhile, prepare the chicken by first sprinkling it with salt and pepper to each side. Toss each in the egg mixture, then coat with flour. Heat a large saute pan with a splash of olive oil and heat to medium. Cook each chicken breast until golden brown on each side and white on the inside. About 4 minutes each side.
Meanwhile, heat another large saute pan with olive oil to medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Then add the garlic and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and cook until the mushrooms are tender, about 10 minutes. Next throw in the artichokes, capers and sun dried tomatoes. Let them heat threw for about a minute. Then squeeze in the lemon juice and stir.
Next, raise the temperature to medium high and add in the wine. Let the wine reduce for about 5 minutes. Lastly lower the heat and slowly pour in the heavy cream. Stir continuously then let simmer for about 5 minutes to thicken.
Scoop out a ladle of pasta, pour as much sauce mixture on the angel hair as desired, then top with a golden brown chicken breast. Garnish with freshly grated parmigiano. Bon Appetit!
Love and home cooking fever,
Toots and Kakes
This dish is spicy good! It all started with my attempt to make couscous from cauliflower, a rumor I’ve been wanting to test for a while. I was actually impressed with the end result and how the cauliflower mimicked the couscous in texture and flavor. I didn’t make the cauliflower spicy so it became a nicer buffer to the heat intensity of the chicken. With that said, if you like heat, then you’ll love this chicken. Also, pair a bit of greek yogurt with the meal for some delicious added taste.
With each piece of chicken the exotic flavors danced on my tongue accentuating the high notes of paprika and cumin. - Super Mario
Ingredients:
Chicken Marinade:
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon curry
- 1/2 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 tablespoon hot paprika
- 1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- 1 table spoon lime juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Curried Cauliflower
- Splash olive oil
- 1 shallot bulb, diced
- 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
- 1 garlic clove, diced
- 1/2 of cauliflower, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon curry
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 cup parsley, thinly sliced
- 1/2 lemon, squeezed
- Salt and pepper to taste
Begin with the chicken marinade. The chicken should marinate for at least 6 hours.
Combine cumin, curry, smoked and hot paprika, red pepper flakes, garlic, and 1 teaspoon of the olive oil in a small bowl and mash together in order to incorporate the garlic as much as possible and mesh the spices. A mortar would be best to use, but I don’t have one so I used a spoon.
Zest the lime and add in along with the rest of the olive oil.
Whisk together.
Pour marinade over chicken and make sure each breast is completely covered with the mixture. Cover with saran wrap and place in the fridge to marinate for 6-8 hours. If you plan ahead even more, marinate the chicken overnight for the most flavor.
30 minutes before you want to serve dinner preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken in a glass baking pan and cover with any excess marinade. Bake for about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat a large saute pan. Add a splash of olive oil then toss in the shallots. Let cook until translucent. Add in garlic and mushrooms. Let cook until mushrooms release any juices and are tender. About 8 minutes.
While mushrooms are cooking, put cauliflower in a food processor and pulse until it resembles couscous.
Add pulsed cauliflower to the saute pan with the mushrooms. Add curry, cumin, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes until the desired consistency of the cauliflower. Add in parsley and remove from heat.
Plate along side the chicken for a spicy meal.
Love and easy peasy lemon-squeasy,
Toots and Kakes
Moroccan Chicken adapted from Epicurious.
So I owe a bit of credit to Trader Joe’s for my recipe. While shopping at the store I eyed a box of edamame beans and suddenly craved edamame in dip form. So I thought all I need now is a few essentials including tahini sauce, lemon, and garlic. Luckily, I had lemon and garlic at home and only needed the tahini sauce. What I found at the store was a tahini like hummus dip which already had lemon and garlic in it. So, I used that as my base, added some more fresh garlic, lemon, and spices and of course the edamame. The dip is light and refreshing making for a perfect afternoon snack! As an added bonus, I have no doubt using straight sesame tahini sauce will make for just as good a dip.
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup fresh edamame beans
- 1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
- 5 tablespoon Trader Joe’s Tahini Sauce
- 1/2 lemon, squeezed
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Next add the garlic and pulse a few times to incorporate. Add the Tahini Sauce and lemon juice. Process for about 10 seconds to blend. Next, while processing, slowly pour in the olive oil to desired texture. Add in salt and pepper to taste. Pulse to finish.
Love and make today a holiday,
Toots and Kakes
I am proud to admit that I did not even come up with the idea for this recipe. Our dear friend Ser..uhh I mean Corky provided the pork chops and asked that the recipe he once used be recreated. Since we were unable to find the recipe online I was put in charge of finding the right balance of flavors that matched what we had enjoyed once before. Luckily the finished product was amazing and both the glaze and cooking time were spot on! So with that I say - go and get your pork on!
Note you NEED tinfoil, unless you want clean-up to be a complete pain…I figured this out the hard way.
Ingredients (this recipe was for 3 chops):
- Boneless bacon wrapped pork chops (ours came pre-wrapped)
- ~1/4 - 1/2 cup Soy Sauce
- ~1 TBSP Dijon mustard
- ~2 - 3 TBSP Honey
- ~1/2 inch minced ginger root
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- Sweet Onion, enough for a 1/2 slice per chop
Set oven to 325 degrees.
First, pat dry the pork chops. Then place in a skillet set to high to sear the pork chops for about 2 minutes per side to create a crust - do not cook through! Once they are seared place them in a foil lined baking dish.
Next, make the glaze by whisking together the soy sauce, dijon mustard, honey, garlic and red pepper flakes. Adjust these ingredients to taste (I added more honey to make ours sweeter).
Thinly slice the onion and place 1/2 slice on each chop then drizzle the glaze over the chops.
Place in oven and bake 20-30 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 150 degrees F. (This timing is a guess because we didn’t have the oven set correctly in the beginning.)
They are done!
Love and sweet tooth central,
Toots and Kakes
Sometimes it seems that this blog should be renamed the presto pesto blog or something cheesy like that. This is not because we are cheesy people (that could be a lie) but because we love to experiment with new pesto recipes. Pesto is a favorite because you can do so much with it once you make it. This recipe is great tossed with some whole grain pasta or drizzled over some grilled steak or even as the base for a pizza, YUM! Adjust the amount of poblano and jalepeño peppers in your dish depending on your spice tolerance.
- 2-3 poblano peppers, depending on size
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
- A little less than 1/4 cup pulsed almonds (optional, i’ve made it both with and without)
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 jalapeño pepper (more or less to taste & depending on how many poblanos were used)
- ~1/2 cup olive oil
- Kosher salt
First to make “roasted” poblano pesto, the poblano peppers need to be roasted. Do this by placing the poblano peppers on a baking sheet in the oven set to broil. Rotate the peppers until each side is charred and black.
Remove the peppers to a deep bowl and cover with saran wrap, let sit for about 10 minutes to steam the skin loose.
While the peppers are steaming pulse together the parmesan cheese and almonds until finely grated. Remove these and set aside.
Once enough time has passed, remove the peppers from the bowl and peel off the charred skin, be sure to also remove the stem and seeds. Cut into strip and place into the food processor. Add the jalepeño, garlic and cilantro and pulse until combined.
Add in the almond and cheese mixture. Drizzle in the olive oil while pulsing the food processor. Finish with kosher salt to taste. Enjoy however you wish!
Love and taco flavored kisses,
Toots and Kakes
Adapted from foodnetwork.com poblano pesto, http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/poblano-pesto-recipe/index.html
Whenever I have the slightest feeling of getting a cold, if that be a scratchy throat, grogginess, stuffy nose, etc. I immediately start my herbal remedies regimen. I begin by drinking 3-5 cups of a tea a day. Normally, I buy boxed tea bags at the grocery store, but since I found my favorite store in Berkeley, Lhasa Karnak Herb Company, I have been buying different roots and herbs to create my own remedies. So, since I’m fighting a cold I made an echinacea root, rose hip and ginger tea. What a soothing way to wind down after a busy day of work.
Inredients:
- 1 teaspoon echinacea root
- 1 teaspoon rose hip
- 1/4 inch ginger root, peeled and roughly chopped
- 8 oz of water
- 1/4 lemon
- 1 teaspoon honey
Bring first four ingredients to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes.
Strain water into a mug and discard the herbs. Squeeze lemon juice and add honey. Stir and let your body thank you.
Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea,
Toots and Kakes
This is a celebrity guest post by yours truly, Jay Beach. With a little Turkish flavor in my history, I thought it would be nice to treat Kakes to some classic Turkish cuisine. This meal is simple and classic. Kofte is the Turkish form of hamburger or meatballs, and can be found in any Turkish home. The side dish is rice made with tomatoes, which gives it a little different flavor and texture.
Eh em…This is kakes chiming in. This is AMAZING. That’s all.
Ingredients for rice:
- 1 cup jasmine rice
- 2 medium-sized tomatoes
- 3-4 tablespoons of butter
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
Ingredients for kofte:
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 2 medium-sized onions
- 1.5 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoons red pepper
- 1 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1.5 oz chopped parsley
- 5 oz breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Kakes again! Wanted to dish a secret for an avo-tastic salad. After a couple glasses of wine I accidentally smashed the chopped avocados I threw in salad and created an avocado dressing of sorts. I tossed a couple splashes of olive oil with one splash of balsamic vinegar with the lettuce. Toasted some slivered almonds, threw those in. Added diced red onion and chopped broccoli. I then tossed the salad a little to strenuously and it came out avocado creamy with a balsamic twist. ooo weee!
One of my favorite foods is peanut butter. Another one of my other favorite foods is a bunch of sauteed veggies. So one night having my usual cravings I looked up a basic Thai recipe (for that peanut butter craving) and put my own spin on it by adding an abundance of produce and topping it over rice. The meal came out delicious and is now a recipe I will remake again and again. I also like this recipe because if you use the sauce as a base, you can add or change any of the other ingredients in it. Snap peas, eggs, and cilantro with rice noodles sounds yummy. Reply with your version and/or a picture if you dare stray from my recipe!
Ingredients: For two (with a small lunch of leftovers or breakfast).
- 1 tablespoon peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- 1/4 large red onion, sliced
- 1 zucchini, halved and sliced
- 10 mushrooms, sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce plus 1/4 cup for sauce
- 2/3 cup coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon red curry paste
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
- 1/2 cup basil sliced
Heat a large saute pan to medium heat. Add the peanut butter and butter, melt and combine. Add the ginger and garlic and continually mix so they don’t burn. Cook for about 1 minute then add the onions. Coat the onions in the peanut butter mixture and cook down for about 5 minutes.
Add the remaining vegetables and coat with peanut butter mixture. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Add 1 tablespoon soy sauce and cook vegetables for about 8 minutes or until tender.
Meanwhile, toast the almonds. I toast mine by throwing then in a small saute pan on medium low heat until effervescent and slightly golden. Set aside.
Once veggies have cook through add coconut milk, red curry paste, lime juice, and remaining soy sauce. Stir to combine. Then simmer until sauce thickens about 5 minutes. Finish by removing from heat and adding the basil and almonds. Scoop over rice and devour. Yum!
Love and Your Highness is a horrible movie but whatever we laughed.. a lot,
Toots and Kakes
I have fond memories as a child having artichoke night. These nights were rare on occasion, only eating them once or twice a year. The tradition may be reason for my nostalgia and why I felt the need to have an artichoke night in my west coast studio. My parents prepared the artichokes simply by steaming them, microwaving a bit of butter, and scooping some mayo for a dipping sauce. They were perfect combinations. But regardless of their perfection, I wanted to jazz up the recipe for some extra goodness.
Indredients: For two!
Artichokes
- 2 artichokes
- 1/2 lemon
- 1 clove garlic, peeled
Roasted Garlic and Lemon Butter Dip
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 bulb garlic, roasted and smashed
- 1/2 lemon, squeezed
Preheat oven to 450 degree.
Cut the bottom stems off. If there are any prickly thorns at the end of the leaves cut those off and discard.
Add the artichokes, lemon, and garlic clove to about 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer and let artichokes steam for about 20 minutes. Check to see if the artichokes need more or less time by poking a fork into the center. The fork should come out clean and easy. Also, carefully try to pull of a leaf towards the center. If the leaf has any resistance keep steaming. Once steamed, let cool and set aside until butter sauce is ready.
Meanwhile, once the oven is preheated cut the garlic bulb in halve horizontally and transfer to a baking pan placed on dash of olive oil. Roast for about 20 minutes or until squishy. Make sure not to burn the garlic or remove any brown parts and discard. Not very tasty. Let garlic bulb cool enough to handle and squish out the cloves and discard the skin. Mash cloves with a fork until pasty.
In a small sauce pan add the butter and melt. Add in the garlic and lemon juice. Mix and let flavors combine then enjoy with the artichoke leaves.
Love and team toothpick,
Toots and Kakes
