Eating Fish Three Times a Week

Last February there was a lot of buzz about some new findings about following a Mediterranean Diet. This is a diet that is high in olive oil, fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes, lean meats and fish. The results of a 5 year study were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and showed that the risk of heart attack could be reduced by 30% when following this diet. Most telling to me was that the study was ended early so that the control groups could benefit from the diet.
The problem for some of us living in land locked states is getting good fresh seafood that is affordable. Fresh and affordable trumps sustainable, mercury levels or country of origin, sadly. One fish that I have consistently found to be readily available, inexpensive and reasonably local is trout. I can often find it in the markdown displays at our local grocery store allowing for around $1 per fish. Although it does not meet the guidelines for fatty fish it is still a good alternative to canned tuna.
Here is a favorite recipe for Roast Trout With Bacon and Herbs  from the New York Times posted on March 8, 2013 by Florence Fabricant.

The recipe does call for bacon which is to be avoided when you are strictly following the heart healthy Mediterranean Diet. You omit the bacon and still have a delicious, heart healthy dish since the olive oil provides plenty of fat. Substituting 1/4 cup slivered almonds provides a nice crunch since trout and almonds are a traditional pairing. Sprinkle the almonds on as you would the bacon slivers in step 2.

Serve this with rice being sure to drizzle some of the yummy pan juices over the rice. Accompanied by fresh or frozen green beans picked in your garden and a green salad made from garden greens dressed with an olive oil vinaigrette and you have a wonderful Mediterranean style meal that is affordable and available even in the Nebraska Panhandle.

Cooking with the computer

I have a new computer and I have to say it hasn’t done much to improve my culinary skills. Since Friday I have managed to burn, boil over, scorch or even melt just about every meal.  The latest casualty was a new recipe from Lilikoi Joy called SpicyTomato & Quinoa Soup. Even though it required emergency rescue when I turned the heat to high instead of off for the last 10 minutes, the great flavor and texture shown through. I have supplied the links to the original recipe which I made with few changes. The only substitutions were to use the recipe ingredients that were available locally or from a freezer well-stocked with last year’s harvest.  

Just a little background.

Quinoa is an ancient grain that is traditionally grown at very high altitudes by Andean farmers. I get organic quinoa from Costco but it is available almost everywhere now. The original recipe for this soup calls for soaking the quinoa in vinegar before cooking but I believe that improved processing makes this step unnecessary. That may vary depending on the brand of quinoa you buy so some trial and error may be required here. Rinsing is recommended.

I start with dry white beans because that is what we have available locally. Cannellini beans are hard to come by so I substitute navy beans. I notice they can take a little longer than cannellini beans but that could have more to do with the age of the beans than the type.  If you cook your own dry beans you can control the amount of salt in the beans. I do not add salt when I am cooking. Depending on the recipe I add salt to taste at the very end or I just provide a salt shaker and let everyone salt to their own taste. I have found that you use a lot less salt this way. Here is a quick soak method for cooking dry beans:

2 cups of dry beans equals one pound of beans generally. Place beans in a heavy saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow beans to sit for 1-2 hours depending on the type and age of beans. Most of the liquid should be absorbed. Add more water to cover and cook until tender. Adding herbs or smoked pork at this stage will add flavor. 2 cups of dry white beans produced more than enough beans for this recipe. I have enough left over to make another white bean dish later this week.

I used 6 large frozen tomatoes from my garden last year. By running them under hot water I was able to slip the skins off and remove the stem. They are much easier to chop while they are still frozen.  6 large tomatoes equaled roughly the same as 2 14.5 ounce cans of tomatoes.

I used 3 frozen roasted poblano peppers and omitted the jalapeno. The soup didn’t lack for fire so we didn’t miss the jalapeno.

Here is the resulting soup.

 

Spicy Tomato and Quinoa Soup ala Ms. BeeHaven

 One last note: A great way to get scorched soup off of the bottom of your good stainless steel pans. Scrape out as much of the scorched food as you can. Add about an inch of hot water and sprinkle baking soda on the bottom of the pan and let it sit overnight and scrub with a sponge. Alternatively, use vinegar in place of the vinegar. I am not sure if it works better but it is more exciting.

Basque Style Chevon

Today was the day I was supposed to plant lettuce and spinach and peas in the garden. That has proven to be a challenge since my garden is buried under about 10 inches of snow and surrounded by huge snowbanks  piled up after the road plowing was finished. So no gardening today. Well, maybe a few melons in the basement.
Instead I decided to work on a new recipe using Chevon.   We recently had a goat butchered and I have been looking for some good, easy, Mediterranean style recipes. I often adapt lamb recipes and that is the case here. I used about half the meat called for in the original recipe and added chickpeas since we are trying to eat more legumes and less meat. I also used my own homemade white wine vinegar instead of  dry white wine in the marinade.This is a good time of year to be using up all the delicious things you stashed in the freezer last summer so I used frozen roasted Sweet Italian Peppers and Tomatoes. I have included a link to the original recipe from a site I like called Simply Recipes.
The Basque live on the border between Spain and France and according to Encyclopedia Britannica raise sheep, cattle and apples. I am not sure how truly Basque this recipe is.

Basque Style Chevon
 1 lb goat shoulder, cut into 1 inch pieces
For the marinade:
3 cloves garlic
1 sprig rosemary, or more to taste, chopped
1/4 cup artisan white wine vinegar (do not use commercial vinegar which has too strong a flavor)

Combine the lamb and the marinade ingredients in a medium glass bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Drain, discard the marinade, and pat the meat dry with a paper towel so it will brown well.

2 T extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 T sweet paprika
3 Fire Roasted Sweet Italian Peppers (frozen)
1 large ripe tomato (frozen), peeled, seeded and chopped
1 cup cooked chickpeas with cooking liquid (optional)
2 T chopped fresh parsley (I some I froze last summer)
1 bay leaf
1 cup dry, full bodied red wine
1 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pan with lid, over medium-high heat. Brown the meat on all sides being careful not to crowd the pan, about 10 minutes.

Remove the meat from the pan and add the onions to the pan. Saute, scraping the pan, until onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Return meat to pan and add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered until meat is tender, about 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Enjoy with a crusty loaf of bread and a rich red wine.

Adapted from Basque Lamb Stew