Roast fish in Moroccan Marinade

October 31, 2010

This is dinner tonight. It has to marinate for 2-4 hours. So plan ahead.

Roast Fish in Moroccan Marinade, William Sonoma’s Food and Wine paring. Pg 54

1 small onion, grated
¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
¼ cup chopped fresh mint
1 T minced garlic
1 T ground cumin
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
¼ cup lemon juice
4 firm white fish filets
salt and pepper to taste

Combine the onion, parley, cilantro, mint, and garlic in a small bowl. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the oil and lemon juice in a measuring cup (it doesn’t matter which you add to the other, but slowly pour one liquid into the other while whisking continually). Add the cayenne and cumin to the olive oil/lemon juice mix. Pour over the herbs, garlic and onion.

In a non-reactive pan, coat both sides of the fish with the marinade, cover and refrigerate for 2-4 hours. Transfer to a baking dish, lay the fish in one layer and coat with the marinade. Bake at 450° for 10-15 minutes until cooked through.

How I did it: My pan wasn’t big enough for marinating and I didn’t think I had any gallon zip bags (I did, but I discovered that after the fish was already in the pan). The marinade is thick, more like a paste. I put some in the bottom of the dish, added a layer of fish, covered those with marinade, then added the next layer of fish and topped with the remaining marinade. I transferred it all to my paella pan to bake (I really need a 12” skillet!)

I think this had too much cumin powder. It was overtly hot and not as savory as I'm used to in N. African cooking. I would suggest: more mint, more cilantro, 1 1/2 tsp cumin or, even better, toast 1 tsp cumin seeds and 1 tsp coriander seeds then grind them in a spice mill.

I served it with rice and steamed asparagus. My new favorite trick is to trim the asparagus, rinse well, place in a baking dish, season with sea salt, cover with foil and bake with whatever you are cooking for dinner. At 450, it takes about 15 minutes, at 350, it takes 20-25 minutes. I like it.

Tuscan bean and spicy sausage soup

October 31, 2010

I made soup for the week and fish for tonight. So, you get a two-fer.

Tuscan Bean and spicy sausage soup, Food for Friends, pg 24

2 T olive oil
2 red onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 oz pancetta or prosciutto, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 can cannelloni beans, drained (about 2 cups)
3 spicy Italian sausages
1 quart chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large, heavy pot. When hot, add the onions and sauté about 3 minutes, add the garlic and sauté. Add the chopped carrot, celery, pancetta or prosciutto and cook for about 10 minutes until softened but not browned. Add the beans, sausages, stock, bay leaf and pepper (do not add the salt until after it has finished cooking). Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Skim off any excess fat, remove the sausages and cut on a diagonal, return to the soup. Stir in the parsley. Taste the soup and see if it needs any additional salt.

How I did it: I had a package of prosciutto in the freezer. It’s easier to dice when it’s frozen. I used the whole package (5.5 oz). I used packaged chicken broth that I hadn’t checked the sodium content on—960 mg per serving!! Are you kidding me? Between the broth and the prosciutto, I new it would be salty so I didn’t add any extra salt at all. I used Trader Joe’s Sicilian Chicken sausage, which is spicy and lower fat than non-chicken sausage. My carrots were kind-of small so I used 2. I didn’t have Italian parsley, so I used regular. It seemed to work out fine.

It’s good soup. I’m going to add it to the list of favorites.