Black Bean, Corn, and Tomato Salad

This salad fix I seem to be on is getting a little out of hand (yes, 2 salads constitutes a fix).  This one was made for a picnic and was primarily consumed atop chips, like a salsa.  It's one of my go-to picnic dishes because it's quite simple.

Combine 1 can black beans, 2 diced fresh tomatoes, 1 cup corn kernals, 3/4 cup diced red onion, and 1/2 cup loosely packed chopped cilantro.  Now again, I never measure these recipes, so that's approximate.  Add more or less of the items you like. 

For the dressing I add a little cumin and coriander (probably about 1 to 2 tsp worth of each) and fresh lime and lemon juices.  Just enough to coat the salad but without leaving a puddle of juice in the bottom (probably 2 to 4 tbsp total citrus juice).  And that's it!  Toss and serve.

Pro tip - I do find that the juice from the can of beans and the freshly chopped tomatoes can accumulate in a less than desirable fashion.  To deal with that, I poured the beans and chopped tomatoes into a sieve while I cut the onions and cilantro.  I was amazed by how much liquid dripped into the sink, but I find that the extra five to ten minutes I allowed for drainage really improved the overall taste and texture of this salad later.

Quinoa Salad with Shrimp

What?  Salad for dinner again? Yeah, don't worry, I'm not turning healthy, as evidenced by the bacon overload.  But the first time I sampled quinoa it was in a salad and I was sold, so rather than serve it as a side dish, I present to you quinoa as the main event.  Perhaps this would make a great lunch salad.

This one is pretty simple.  As you may be able to tell, I was lacking in the lettuce department, so it's heavy on the quinoa, light on the greens.  I cooked the quinoa in chicken broth and threw the raw shrimp and frozen corn kernels into the pot to cook together.  I created a dressing with olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper, and cilantro.  To that I added the cooked quinoa, shrimp, and corn and mixed to coat.  I added the lettuce, chopped red onion, herbed goat cheese, and of course the crumbled bacon.  And there you have it.  Add quinoa to any of your favorite salads and you'll get a nice texture addition.  Though you probably want to add a lot less than I did if you're just using it as an accent flavor.  

Cilantro Lime Soy Marinated Beef Strip Stir Fry over Couscous

I had some beef tips in the freezer that I bought for the sake of stir frying at some point.  Not feeling too inspired to do a typical teriyaki beef over white rice, I decided to change it up with some couscous and a marinade with a bit of a bite.  The couscous cooks in five minutes according to package directions, and the stir fry is very quick as well.  Here's what I used.

Marinade - Soy Sauce, Sesame Oil, Lime Juice, Fresh Cilantro
Veggies - Zucchini, Mushrooms, Onions, Garlic

The glamorous start to this meal is the act of marinating the meat in a plastic bag.  I used about 3 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp lime juice, 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro. 

While that sits we prepare the veggies.  I heated some olive oil and added the garlic and onions.  Now tell me, would this be a legit stir fry without a wok?  I think not.  

Rather than throwing all the veggies in at once, start with the ones that take the longest to cook/soften and work your way forward.  That means the zucchini was next up.  

Followed by mushrooms. 

And last, but not least, your meat. 

As it cooked I added more cilantro, soy sauce, and lime juice because I'm a huge sauce fan and I wanted some extra to pour over the couscous.  Notice I didn't add more sesame oil because it has a strong flavor and only a little was enough to achieve the effect I was going for.  Cook until your meat reaches your desired doneness, plate your couscous with stir fry on top, and drizzle the extra sauce over.  This was a good marinade and brought a little fusion cooking into my stir fry.

The Art of the Omelet

with a dollop of herbed goat cheese on top

Omelets are my go-to weekend brunch item.  Having people over? Made to order omelets.  It's kind of my thing.  So being a self-proclaimed omelet aficionado I have found there tend to be 2 schools of omeleteers - the insiders and the mix-ins.  I myself am a mix-in.  

The insiders prepare the eggs to doneness, add the fillings at the very end and fold over.  Perhaps this is what you traditionally envision an omelet to be.  I, however, have found the taste to be much more appealing when the flavors get a chance to infuse with the egg.  Ingredients that I want to have cooked, such as mushrooms, onions, meat, etc., cook in the pan and the eggs are added to the ingredients.  That way the mix-ins are combined with the egg, ensuring that each bite has a little something different.  I'll put cheese strictly in the middle, and certainly am not averse to throwing more mix-ins/toppings into the center of the omelet, but I like my eggs to also have some surprises lurking within.  You may think of this as more of a scramble, but since the omelet ends up folded over and the egg is a single entity, I call it an omelet.  

I digress.  A very important first step to any good omelet is the preparation of the eggs.  I typically make 2-egg omelets.  Crack your eggs into a small mixing bowl and add milk.  About 1-2 tbsps should do for 2 eggs.  I eyeball it.  Add some salt and pepper and stir.

You want to make sure you have a nice homogenous mixture of yolk, white, and milk, but don't go overbeating.  If you want to add any dried or fresh herbs to your eggs, this is the stage I like to add them as well.  

Next, cook whatever fillings you will be using in a nice omelet-sized skillet.  Nonstick is great for a nicer looking omelet.  My pan is old and not very omelet friendly, but it's the perfect size!  As should be expected by now, I typically start by cooking the bacon.  Once done, I remove to paper towels, but then I use the bacon grease to saute my veggies.  If you are averse to bacon, or perhaps want something feigning healthiness, use butter.  

Once your veggies are sauteed to your likeness, add your scrambled egg/milk mixture.  You'll get a nice even coating of the pan and hopefully there will be a nice distribution of your veggies.  

this omelet appears to contain onions and tomatoes

I used to think a good omelet was one whose integrity was never disturbed following the addition of the eggs to the pan.  It would often take awhile to cook through entirely, but I didn't want to disturb the beautiful flat egg pancake I had created.  I often covered the pan with a lid to help cook, but this was getting tedious.  I then learned that omelets actually taste exactly the same even if they're roughed up a little around the edges.  Using a nonstick, heatproof spatula, it's ok to push the cooked egg at the edges into the center and allow the still uncooked egg to ooze into this previously occupied space.  Sure you get a lumpy omelet in some places, but your egg cooks evenly and quickly.  

this omelet has onions, mushrooms, bacon, and cheese

Once the omelet is about 90% done, add your center toppings.  For me this will include the bacon and most definitely the cheese.  I can't have an omelet without cheese.  Scallions or chives are good at this point.  Avocados and tomatoes are also crowd favorites.

Finally, it's time to slide the omelet out of the skillet and fold it over on the plate.  You can fold it in the skillet if you'd like, but i've always been one to slide it off the pan half way and with a flip of the wrist let the top half fold over.  The lower your heat, slicker your pan, and shorter your cooking time, the less brown the finished outside of the omelet is.  And worst case scenario, if you mess up an omelet, you have a delicious scramble, still a meal that will certainly impress your guests when they've just woken up. 

Shrimp Quesadillas with Mango Salsa

This was the featured dinner item at my 4th of July shindig this year.  We spent all day stuffing ourselves with chips, guac, cookies, and a failed attempt at frozen yogurt, so we really weren't all that hungry.  Thus something simple and quick to hold us over before the fireworks.

Sadly, I do not have any more pictures for you.  So imagine if you will, a skillet on medium heat.  Take your flour tortilla and place it in the skillet to warm it on the side that will be holding your fillings.  Remove said tortilla and lightly butter your skillet.  Place the tortilla back in the pan, this time facing the other way so the outside is cooking nicely in the butter.  Having a pre warmed interior means faster cook time, which results in a less burnt exterior.

You can add your cheese almost immediately and watch it melt.  I then added shrimp which I poached in chicken broth, but you can use any pre cooked shrimp you have.  After only a minute or two the cheese should be mostly melted.  You can put a lid over the skillet for 30 seconds or so.  Then fold the tortilla over, heat about another 30 seconds, slide onto a plate, and slice into thirds.

No microwaves or toaster ovens allowed.

The salsa is much more exciting.  Get a fresh mango.  Chop it into small cubes.  Similarly chop some red onion and cilantro.  Put it all togeter with some fresh lime juice and toss to coat.  Proportion to your own tastes.  I had about 1/3 cup red onion, 1 1/2 to 2 cups mango, 1/3 cup cilantro, and maybe a tbsp or 2 of lime juice.

Serve as a garnish with chips, dillas, or any white fish, especially if the fish is blackened or spicy because the mango and lime provide a nice contrast.

Seared Scallops in a Walnut Leek Sauce with Fried Sage and Bacon

I haven't had much of an occasion to cook myself scallops lately, so I had a friend over for dinner last night who also loves bivalves as much as I do, which allowed me to try a new recipe I found in Food and Wine Magazine.  The only glitch was that the recipe called for chestnuts and wouldn't you know, but no grocer sells chestnuts in June.  This was incredibly frustrating, as I had purchased all the necessary ingredients sans chestnuts, so I opted to substitute walnuts in the sauce.  Had I planned more than an hour before dinner time, perhaps chestnuts could have been found in the city.  Suffice it to say, next time I'll plan ahead.

Sauce Ingredients bacon, 1 leek, 2 tbsp cognac, 1 1/2 cups chicken broth, 1/2 cup walnuts, salt/pepper
Other Ingredients Scallops, sage leaves, butter, olive oil


The recipe called for one slice of bacon, but that's like filling a fishbowl with only 1 drop of water, so I bumped it up to five slices.  Slice and cook in a saucepan over medium heat until properly rendered.

I removed 1/2 the bacon for garnish later, and to the pan added the sliced leek, white and green portions.  After cooking for about 5 minutes to soften, it was time to add the cognac.  I purchased cheap brandy since I'm not much of a cognac drinker, but in the future I may use white wine, or a fruit cider.  The fun part is adding the cognac and igniting it.  Please don't attempt this at home if you've never tried it before.

Typically when you ignite liquor on the stove you are using a shallow sauce pan which you can tilt into the gas flame of the stove to pick it up.  I don't have a shallow sauce pan.  I used a blow torch.  After about a minute the flame subsides, but if you want to make sure you can blow it out completely.  Next you add the chicken broth and the walnuts, or chestnuts if you are so lucky.

Let simmer for five to ten minutes, remove from heat to cool a bit, then transfer to a blender and puree.  Return to saucepan, season with salt and pepper and let sit over low heat while you prepare the scallops.

In a shallow pan heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add single sage leaves and fry for about a minute, turning over once.

If you've never had fried herbs/greens before they assume a really interesting texture.  They practically melt on your mouth after an initial feeling like a thin paper.  Sage leaves, since they are naturally so thick, did not have quite the same effect of disintegration, but it was close.


Finally it's time to cook the scallops in the sage infused oil.  Make sure the oil level is low, and add the scallops to sear on the outside.  Turn over after a minute or two.  Then melt some butter in the pan and spoon it over the scallops to continue cooking for another 2 to 5 minutes.  The butter acts as a poaching liquid at this point, but keeps the scallops moist.

Finally you're ready to plate.  Serve immediately so the scallops don't get tough.  I plated the sauce first, then piled on the mashed potatoes and displayed the scallops around.  Garnish with the sage leaves and bacon.  We served with salad on the side.

All in all I would prepare this again, hopefully using chestnuts instead of walnuts.  The scallops were perfect, but we both agreed the brandy flavor in the sauce was a little more noticeable than we would have liked.  I had no problem mixing the sauce with the mashed potatoes and avoiding the strength of the brandy.  The leeks and bacon really came through too.  In the future I may skip the brandy, use less, or use a different spirit.  But if you like your sauces tasting like something from behind the bar, then you'll love this dish.