Whole Roasted Branzino with Lemon & Fennel

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Mediterranean Sea Bass

Until recently, I was really intimidated by the prospect of cooking a whole fish.  I thought there was just too much that I needed to know, knowledge that could not be grasped by this land-locked Mid-westerner that is not the daughter of a fisherman.

The turning point came in Italy last summer when Matt and I ordered whole fish  in a restaurant for the first time.  We went up to the display of fresh seafood, picked our victims, and sat down to our primi piatti.  Before I knew it, our empty pasta plates were being cleared and our waiter was table-side, filleting our two little fish.

Wow…those fish went from being nestled in ice to being grilled and sitting on my plate in a very short amount of time.  And they were delicious.  Maybe it’s not so complicated after all.  Maybe I can do this…

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Red Wine Braised Short Ribs & Cannellini Beans

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For better or worse, I’m not always a very good representation of a twenty-something year old girl.

Example: Instead of going out on the town and cutting loose this past Saturday night, I found myself at home, dressed for comfort, braising beef short ribs and cannellini beans.

Sounds more like an activity for your eighty year old nonna than this vibrant young woman.  And did I mention I sat around drinking tea and flipping through cookbooks while I waited for my dinner?  Oh, well, it’s hip to be square these days, right?

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Crema di Ceci with Porcini & Pine Nuts

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I could have called it creamy chickpea soup or cream of garbanzo bean, but I didn’t want to scare you off by using a name that sounds like it belongs on a can of condensed soup or as if it relies heavily on cream.   No, I’m better off calling it by it’s Italian name- Crema di Ceci.  Say it with me- “chay-chee”.  Much better, right?  Now this simple soup has a bit of intrigue, sounds a little more exotic,  a lot more delicious.  Good enough to necessitate opening a bottle of red wine.  How many other bean soups can do that?

Sometimes it’s all in the branding and I want you to make this, after all.  And you have no reason not to!  In addition to being downright tasty, this soup is warming, nourishing, and healthy.  It’s vegan without even thinking about it, getting all its creaminess from the pureed legumes.  It is easy to make as long as you remember to get your beans soaking the night before (and have some nice vegetable stock on hand) but if you want to cheat and use canned chickpeas, your secret is safe with me.

This soup, like most pureed soups, is delicious as is but a little garnish is always welcome to provide a contrast of textures and flavors.  Since today we gave this soup a charmingly Italian name, we’ll go that route on the garnish by adding Porcini and Crimini mushrooms and a sprinkling of pine nuts.

Flavor still life…or natura morta, if you prefer.  Onions, herbs, mushrooms, garlic, pignoli.

Let’s get this soup underway.  Cook your beans.  You get an hour of downtime.  You could use this time to make vegetable stock or mix up a quick batch of foccacia.  Your soup would appreciate either gesture.

Like I said, there is nothing difficult about making this soup.  We’ll get some onions into the pot, let ’em sweat, let them get a little color.  Add garlic, a dab of tomato paste.

Toss in your cooked beans, cover with stock.  Let it bubble away for an hour.  Make yourself a cup of tea and relax; this soup doesn’t need a babysitter.

When the beans are super tender and creamy, you are ready to puree.  I used my new immersion blender to get the job done but you could toss it in the food processor and buzz ’til smooth.

 

 

 

 

 

Soup’s ready.  Now let’s garnish.

I wish I could get my hands on some fresh Porcini mushrooms, but they’re a little hard to come by in these parts and if I were to find them, I’m sure they would be prohibitively expensive.  Instead, we’ll soak some dried Porcini in hot water and make them do double time, sautéing them with the Crimini and adding their soaking liquid to the soup to make it even earthier and more aromatic.

Sauté sliced Crimini mushrooms and add the soaked Porcini.  Let them get in touch with their dark side.  Splash in a little Marsala, add a sprinkling of herbs.

Ladle up your soup, top with mushrooms, toss on pine nuts.  Bam.  Dinner.  Done.


Crema di Ceci with Porcini and Pine Nuts
 
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I've used mushrooms as a garnish in this recipe but you could customize this basic pureed chickpea soup with a sprinkling of spiced nuts,a dab of truffle butter, fried chickpeas, shaved Parmesan, crispy prosciutto, herb infused oil, garlic croutons...
Author:
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 1½ c. Dried Chickpeas (Ceci Beans, Garbanzo Beans), soaked overnight
  • 4 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided
  • 2 small or 1 medium White Onion, diced
  • 3 cloves Garlic, minced
  • 1 T. Tomato Paste
  • 4 c. Vegetable Stock
  • Fresh Rosemary
  • Fresh Sage
  • Lemon Juice, to taste (optional)
  • ¼ c. Dried Porcini Mushrooms (reconstituted with boiling water, water reserved)
  • 1 c. Fresh Crimini (Baby Bella) Mushrooms, cut into thick slices
  • 1 clove Garlic, minced
  • 1 T. Dry Marsala
  • 1 T. Flat Leaf Parsley, minced
  • 2 T. Pine Nuts (pignoli), toasted
Instructions
  1. Drain and rinse soaked chickpeas. Place in medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Add a halved onion, sage leaves, and bay leaf for additional flavor, if desired. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer. Skim any foam that rises to the top. Cook beans about 1 hour, until tender. Remove from heat, remove onion, sage and bay leaves, season with salt. Do not drain.
  2. In a heavy bottomed pot, warm 3 T. olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute until golden. Add 3 cloves minced garlic and tomato paste, stir to coat onions and allow tomato paste to get a little darker.
  3. Add beans with cooking liquid and stock. Tuck in a couple sprigs of rosemary and a few sage leaves. Bring to boil, then reduce to simmer.
  4. Simmer soup 1 - 1½ hours until chickpeas are very tender and creamy. Remove from heat, remove rosemary and sage leaves, and allow to cool slightly before pureeing.
  5. Puree soup in pot using an immersion blender or in batches in a food processor or conventional blender.
  6. For the mushroom garnish, heat 1 T. olive oil in saute pan over medium-high heat. Add Crimini mushrooms, saute until they have released liquid and are dark brown. Add soaked Porcini mushrooms and garlic, season with salt. Add Marsala, allow mushrooms to absorb. Remove from heat, season with black pepper, some chopped rosemary and parsley.
  7. Meanwhile, reheat pureed soup, thinning with Porcini soaking water. Season with salt and pepper and add a squeeze of lemon juice if acidity is needed.
  8. Ladle soup into warmed bowls. Top with sauteed mushrooms and sprinkle with toasted pine nuts.

Pork Roulade with Caramelized Fennel & Onions

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This pork roast is so good.  It tastes so familiar, so comforting, so homey.  It tastes like autumn Sundays of my childhood.

So, now what?  Am I about to share my mother’s top-secret, time-honored recipe for pancetta wrapped pork loin roulade with caramelized fennel and onions?

No, I’m not.  No, the only “roulade-ing” I remember my mother doing those days involved corned beef and cream cheese (which is still delicious, but not the point).  In fact, I doubt anything pancetta-wrapped or caramelized fennel-stuffed came out of her kitchen pre-2002.

So why does this pork remind me so strongly of my youth?  It’s like we’ve met before, I just can’t pinpoint where.  Did one of my grandmothers make something like this?  An aunt?  A friend…

It finally dawned on me.

It’s not the finished product- it’s the process of making it that seems so familiar.  It’s spending a Sunday afternoon at home, the smell of onions cooking, padding through the kitchen to give something an occasional stir, wearing your grandma’s old “kiss the cook” apron, the sound of a football game on in the background.  That’s what I remember from my childhood; that’s what I find so comforting and satisfying.

But you didn’t come here for sap.  You came because you’re hungry!  Let’s cook.

Flavor Agents, report for duty.  Red onions, fennel, apples, walnuts.

Let’s take our fennel and onions from crisp and sharp to dark, concentrated, and sweet.

 

 

 

 

Unroll your pork and pound.  Work out those frustrations.  You’d never have this much fun just popping something in the microwave.

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s put it all together now.  Spread on the onions, roll up the pork, wrap with pancetta.  It’s like a pork on pork jelly roll…I wish I looked this good in pink.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brown on the stove and place over apples, onions, and Brussels sprouts.  Add cider and you’re oven-ready.

 

 

 

 

 

Roast, let rest.  Mash potatoes, open some wine, and call your mom if she’s not across the table from you.


Pork Roulade with Caramelized Fennel & Onions
 
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This pork roast could easily be assembled the day before you plan to serve it. I served it with brussel sprouts, roasted in the same pan and mashed potatoes. It would be delicious served with polenta or squash puree as well.
Author:
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 2 medium Red Onions, sliced
  • 1 bulb Fennel, sliced
  • ½ c. Walnuts, chopped
  • 2# Pork Loin Roast
  • ¼# Pancetta, thinly sliced
  • Fresh Rosemary
  • Fresh Sage
  • 1 c. Apple Cider
  • 3 Apples, cut into wedges
  • 2 small White Onions, halved
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Butter
Instructions
  1. Heat 1 Tbsp. butter and 1 Tbsp. olive oil together over medium-low heat. Add sliced onions and fennel, season with salt and pepper, and caramelize slowly over low heat, about 2 hours, stirring occassionally. Add 1 tsp. chopped rosemary and walnuts towards the end and season as neccesary.
  2. Preheat oven to 400°.
  3. Roll cut pork loin to create a rectangle. Pound to even thickness and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  4. Spread flattened pork with onion-fennel mixture and roll.
  5. Cover rolled pork loin with slightly overlapping slices of pancetta and secure with cooking twine. Tuck sprigs of sage and rosemary under twine.
  6. Place apple wedges and halved white onions (and brussel sprouts, if desired) in roasting pan.
  7. Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat and brown pork evenly on all sides, about 10 minutes.
  8. Place browned pork over apples and onions.
  9. Pour apple cider into skillet and bring to boil, scraping up brown bits. Pour in roasting pan.
  10. Roast pork about 1 hour, until internal temperature reaches 140°.
  11. Remove roast, apples, onions, and brussel sprouts from pan and tent under foil for half hour before slicing and serving.
  12. While pork is resting, strain pan juices, skim fat from top, and reduce in small sauce pan. Remove from heat and finish with 1 Tbsp. butter.

 

Pumpkin Cake with Pecan & Cream Cheese Streusel

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I’ll bake for the fun of it, I’ll bake for company, I’ll bake for you when you’re sad or sick.

I’ll also bake to bait.

Why did I bake this beautiful coffee cake today?

I’m totally baiting.

But don’t worry, this cake is for a good cause.

I’m using it to remind my boyfriend that some things are more important than going in to the office on the weekends.  Sleeping late, wearing sweaters and taking walks, spending an afternoon at the dog park, reading the newspaper in jammies while eating your favorite fall flavors baked into a cake.  Personal sanity and mental heath make the list, too.

I think this coffee cake will do trick.  Who would choose work over digging into a spicy, nutty slice of pumpkin cake with cream cheese and streusel?

Time to get started.  Lots of steps, but none are difficult.

Cream cheese goodness, check.

 

 

 

 

Let’s go on the streusel.

 

 

 

 

We’d better batter.

 

 

 

 

Put it all together.

 

 

 

 

Bake and cool.  Patience, patience.

 

Weekend breakfast bliss.  Have another cup of coffee, do the crossword puzzle.  You can work on Monday.

 

Pecan & Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Crumbles
 
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This spiced pumpkin cake is perfect with coffee for breakfast or dessert. It would also be great for your Thanksgiving brunch.
Author:
Serves: 12-16
Ingredients
  • .
    For the Cake
  • 3 c. All Purpose Flour
  • 2 tsp. Baking Powder
  • 1 tsp. Baking Soda
  • 1½ tsp. Cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. Ground Ginger
  • 1 tsp. Cardamom
  • ½ tsp. Ground Cloves
  • ½ tsp. Allspice
  • ¼ tsp. Black Pepper
  • ¾ tsp. Salt
  • 1 c. Unsalted Butter, softened
  • 1 c. Granulated Sugar
  • 1 15 oz. can Pumpkin
  • ½ c. Buttermilk
  • ½ c. Sour Cream
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  • 4 Eggs
    For the Streusel
  • 3 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter, chilled and cut into pieces
  • ½ c. Dark Brown Sugar
  • ½ c. All Purpose Flour
  • ¼ tsp. Salt
  • ½ tsp. Cinnamon
  • pinch of Black Pepper
  • 1 c. Pecan Halves
    For the Cream Cheese Topping
  • 4 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
  • 2 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter, softened
  • ½ tsp. Vanilla Extract
  • ¼ c. Light Brown Sugar
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Butter and flour a tube pan.
  2. Combine sugar, flour, salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Cut in chilled butter until crumbly. Add pecans halves. Set aside.
  3. Cream butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and brown sugar until light and creamy. Add a splash of milk in nessecary. Set aside.
  4. Whisk to combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pepper, and spices in medium bowl. Set aside.
  5. In another medium bowl, whick together pumpkin, buttermilk, sour cream, and vanilla. Set aside.
  6. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy- about 5 minutes on high speed. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well.
  7. With mixer on low speed, add a third of the dry ingredients, mix until combined, followed by half of the pumpkin mixture, and repeat, mixing until just blended.
  8. Spread half of the cake batter into prepared pan and sprinkle on half of the pecan struesel. Spread the remaining batter on top and evenly dollop on cream cheese mixture and sprinkle with remaining struesel.
  9. Bake until tester comes out clean, about 1 hour. Allow to cool in pan for at least 30 minutes.