Lentil Caviar with Cod and a simple salad

I don't usually post a whole meal, but these three simple elements - lentil "caviar," cod cooked in butter, and and the simplest arugula salad - worked so well together that I have to suggest making the combination. I set out just to post the lentils which are great as a hot side dish or as the base for a lentil salad. We buy the tiniest green-black lentils we can find, but simple french lentils or small green lentils should work as well. To turn this into a salad just allow it to cool and then drizzle on a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Toss to coat and you're finished (unless you feel like adding some minced carrots and tomatoes and maybe a little feta, but then it doesn't look as much like caviar).

Lentil Caviar
serves 2 to 4

1/2 yellow onion, diced small
2 garlic cloves, diced small
1 carrot, peeled & diced small
1 1/2 cups tiny black lentils
3 cups stock
1 bay leaf
2 t thyme
1 t mustard
fresh ground black pepper to taste

• In a small pot, saute the onion and garlic in a tablespoon of butter or oil for about 5 minutes.
• Rinse the lentils and add them to the onions along with the rest of the ingredients.
• Simmer uncovered on medium (don't let it boil too hard or the lentils will turn to mush) for about 30 minutes. If the lentils are cooked, but soupy just ladle off some of the water. If the liquid cooks away before the lentils are done, add a little water.

Simple Cod in Butter
serves 2

• Cut 3/4 to 1 pound Cod (depending on how hungry you are) into 4 portions. 
• Heat 2 T butter in large skillet. 
• Salt and pepper both sides of the fish. 
• Pan cook the fish on medium heat until the fish starts to flake apart, about 10 minutes (flipping half way through cooking).

Coq au Vin (the quick version)

A few years ago we made Coq au Vin for a friend's Birthday Dinner. We used a great recipe from the Balthazar cookbook (which is one of my favorite French cookbooks). You have to plan ahead to marinate the chicken overnight and then the whole process takes about 4 hours the next day. It is by far one of the best comfort food meals.
Here in Seattle, the first week of September has been more like the first week of October, so of  course I instantly started craving Fall/Winter meals. I wanted Coq au Vin, but we've been cooking so much (two food blogs in one household it a lot to keep up with!) that I knew I wouldn't have the time or patience for the long version of this French classic. We brainstormed and came up with a great quicker version (it's a little silly to call it "quick" because it still takes 30 to 45 minutes of active time and about an hour and half total, but that's a lot less than usual). I know, there's no real substitute for time, but sometimes we just don't have time. I cheated a little by using a roux to thicken the sauce. Coq au Vin is really all about the sauce. A great alternate name for this dish would be Mushroom, Bacon, Red Wine Gravy with Chicken. Serve it with mashed potatoes - incredible.

"Quick" Coq au Vin
serves 4

1 onion
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
4 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
4 fresh thyme sprigs
fresh cracked black pepper
1 T tomato paste
1 bottle red wine (I used a Cabernet)
1 lb crimini mushrooms, sliced
1/3 lb bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or about 3 lbs with bones)
2 cups chicken stock (I always use Better than Bouillon at half strength and add more if needed)
2 T butter
2 T flour

I know I'm getting a little Rachel Ray with this recipe by having a couple things going at once (which I usually find totally unrealistic - all of her 30 minute meals would take me an hour), but that's what makes the sauce for this so good without as much time.

• Roughly chop the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic. You don't even need to worry about getting all the skin off the garlic or peeling the carrots because this will be strained. Saute all of this in a little olive oil in a sauce pan for about 5 minutes (the onions will just be starting to color).
• Add the tomato paste and saute until the bottom of the pan is light brown with stuck tomato paste.
• Add the bottle of wine, the bay leaves, pepper, and the thyme sprigs and scrape the bottom of the pot to get all the brown goodies off. 
• Let this simmer until it has reduced by half, stirring a couple times, while you work on the rest. I stick my stirring spoon in the liquid to measure so that I have an idea of when half will be. By the time you need this later in the recipe it should be ready.
• On high heat, saute the mushrooms in a little olive oil  in a deep sided saute pan (or a pot if you don't have a saute pan big enough). Keep them moving so that they get some good brown edges, but don't burn - mushrooms like high heat. Set these aside on a plate for later.
• Cook the bacon in the same pan until it is nicely browned. Set aside with the mushrooms. Leave just enough of the bacon fat in the pan for searing the chicken.
• Sprinkle one side of the chicken with salt and pepper. Place this side down in the hot pan with the bacon fat. Now sprinkle the other side of the chicken.
• When the first side has some good brown edges, flip it and do the other side. You're not cooking through here so don't worry if they're still raw in the middle.
• When the second side of the chicken has browned, strain the reduced wine and add to the pan. It should bubble and lift off the good brown bits that have formed on the bottom.
• Add the stock, cover, and reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add a little water (or thinned stock) if needed. 
• After 20 minutes, flip the chicken over and simmer uncovered for 10 more minutes.
  
• When you've flipped the chicken, it's time to get your roux ready. Don't be intimidated, roux is just cooked flour.
• Melt the butter in the pot you used to reduce the wine. When it is bubbling, sprinkle the flour over it and whisk to make it smooth. 
• Keep whisking until the flour has started to lightly brown, then ladle in about a cup of the cooking liquid from the chicken and whisk a lot. (I think this is the scary step because the roux will start to thicken the liquid right away and I always worry I'm making lumps, but just keep whisking and add more liquid if it seems too thick.)
• Add this to the chicken along with the mushrooms and bacon. Give it all a good stir.
• Taste for salt. Whenever I cook with stock I add very little salt until the end. Even half-strength stock, or low-sodium stock, is pretty salty.
  
• Simmer for about 5 minutes more (or longer if you feel like it isn't thick enough, but you'll have to stir more now that the roux has been added) and you're done.

Seriously, it's worth all the effort.

Simple Steamed Mussels

Growing up spending time in the San Juan Islands I never ate crab or shellfish. I loved to help collect it - the excitement of chasing the squirts coming up from the sand when we went clam digging, setting a crab pot so that later I could watch the basket emerge from the blue-green, murky depths full of treasure (there was always something in it, but not always crab), a trip to a fallen tree that hung into the water where, at just the right time in the tide, we could pick mussels like they were fruit - but the only thing I ever ate was the bread dipped in the cooking broth or melted butter. Now that I'm grown (supposedly) I enjoy the main dish too, but still I make these mussels when really I'm craving a meal of bread and butter. This recipe makes the best broth. You can fancy it up by simply calling it by its real name - Moules a la Mariniere. The simple method here also works if you want to change around the flavors - sprinkle some curry seasonings over the onions and use coconut milk instead of wine.

Mussels a la Mariniere
serves two

1 pound freshest mussels
1 onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 roma tomatoes
2 cups white wine
sprig of thyme (optional)
a really good baguette
lots of butter (fancy if possible)

• Get the mussels ready by giving them a little scrub to get off any seaweed/scum and ripping out the wiry beards (it's great if you can buy them from a place that already does this!).Never cook a mussel that isn't closed (or doesn't close when you tap it). Some websites recommend purging the mussels first, but this isn't needed in the Northwest because they don't grow in the sand here.
• Saute the onions until they are translucent and then add in the garlic. Saute both until they're just starting to turn brown.
• Cut the tomatoes in half and squish out the seeds, then dice. Add to the browned onion and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes.
  
• Add the white wine and thyme and simmer for about 5 minutes more to reduce the sauce and cook off the alcohol.
• Toss in the the mussels and stir well to coat. Immediately cover with the lid. Give the pan a good shake, holding the lid on.
• After 3 minutes give a little peak under the lid. Most of the mussels should be open. If not, put the lid back on for 2 more minutes, but don't wait until every mussel is open - some might not open at all, some will open at the table from the residual heat, and the ones that need even more cooking time have to be sacrificed so that the rest aren't overcooked.
• Divide the mussels and the broth into two bowls and serve with plenty of bread and butter (see above).

Cod in Parchment Packets

Sometimes you've just got to start at the start. I've had this blog set up for almost two years and I haven't posted anything for all sorts of stupid reasons (usually it's time, but often it's because I don't like the photo of the meal!).

So I'm just going to post for the sake of getting going. I'm not going to think about a long introduction. I'm not going to worry about the fact that the background picture at the very top is actually a baking picture and not a dinner picture. Oh well.

John and I made a great, easy meal and here's how you can make it too:

Cod in Parchment Packets
2 servings

1 pound Cod or other flaky fish (we got a pack from Costco and froze the rest for fish tacos)
1 lemon
1 roma tomato
half a small onion (yellow or sweet)
few sprigs of thyme
olive oil
s & p
2 pieces of parchment paper about 3 hand widths square (I think aluminum foil might work just as well)

Preheat the oven to 400.

Slice the lemon, onion, and tomato as thin as you can. Remove any bones from the fish and cut into 2 portions (this doesn't need to be in 2 neat pieces, our packets had multiple pieces in each). Drizzle a little olive oil in the center of the 2 parchments and then layer on each: onion, lemon, fish, thyme, s&P, and the tomatoes. Drizzle this again with a little oil.


Lift the edges of the paper up over the top of the pile and then fold the edges over each other to seal the packet lengthwise. Fold each end under until it's a fairly tight little packet.

Bake the packets on a cookie sheet for about 20 minutes. The parchment will brown as it cooks, but it won't burn. The delicious liquid inside is almost the best part, but it will flood the plate if you rip the packets. Either open the packets on the cookie sheet and take the contents out (spooning some of the liquid over the fish), or carefully lift the packets onto plates. Serve it with something that can soak up some of the liquid. I did risotto in the photo above, but I think little roasted potatoes and a salad would be perfect.