Shrimp and Andouille Gumbo

Maybe it was my trip back home to NC for Brian and Jenna's wedding, but I really wanted to make gumbo tonight. So Shrimp and Andouille Sausage gumbo it was!

This is my first time making gumbo, so I followed the recipe from Epicurious pretty closely.
Here's what I used:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup flour
1 small onion, minced
1 small green bell pepper, minced
2 stalks celery, minced
1 quart chicken stock
2 bay leaves
1/2 lb shrimp, peeled, deveined, and cut into 1/2 in dice
1/4 lb andouille sausage, casings removed and cut into bite size pieces
1/2 lb fresh okra (Whole Foods did not have fresh, so I used frozen, but it is NOT the same!)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper - I actually didn't have cayenne, but thought I did, so I subbed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 cups cooked white rice

First, make the roux - rule of thumb for a roux is the longer you cook it the better. Add the oil to a heavy saucepan (about a 3-4 qt pot) and heat it up til it is pretty hot. Slowly whisk in the flour, stirring constantly.  Once the flour is incorporated, turn it down to low, and continue to stir the roux until it turns dark, thick, and aromatic. The longer you have to cook it, the better. I did mine for about 15-20 minutes and here is how it started...

 And how it turned out...

I gave up around 15-20 minutes, but if you cook it even longer, it will continue to deepen in color and flavor.  After you have the roux to your liking, add the pepper, onion, and celery dice. Cook the vegetables for 2 minutes until they are softened and then slowly whisk in the chicken stock.

Let this cook for another 15 minutes or so until it thickens up.  Make sure to stir frequently so that it doesn't stick to the bottom and burn.
Then add the shrimp, sausage, okra, and bay leaves.

Fresh okra becomes very gummy/sticky, which gives gumbo its consistency. You can also use File powder to do the thickening, but I really like okra. The frozen got a bit stringy, but it did the trick in thickening up the gumbo.
After about 15 minutes, remove the bay leaves and add the cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, and I added a pinch of dried thyme. Stir all together and serve over the rice.

The gumbo was delicious. I would probably add a bit more salt next time, but I loved it and the hubby had 2 huge portions.  This makes 4 servings, and my mom's gumbo freezes really well, so I imagine this would, too! You could also make it with chicken or I think adding crab meat would be really good. Enjoy!

Miso Glazed Cod with rice and roasted peaches and snap peas

This one is a winner from several perspectives - cooks in 20 min (though brown rice takes 50 min), delicious, and you only have to clean the dishes that you cook in - no prep dishes!

First thing I did was get a cup of brown rice going because that takes 50 min to cook and I pre-heated the oven to 475.  You want the glaze to crisp up on the ends of the fish but you don't want the fish to overcook, which means a hot oven.
While the rice was going, I put some sugar snap peas (enough for 2 people) in a glass pyrex and sliced two peaches on top like so:

Then I prepped the fish.  This recipe can be made with any firm, thick white fish.  I've made it before with cod, but Whole Foods didn't have any cod today.  The only thick white fish they had were hake and Chilean sea bass. The hake looked a lot like cod and it was $7.99 to the $27.99 Chilean sea bass, so it was a no-brainer that we were going to try out hake. I asked for the thickest piece they had and got 2 filets cut, each about 5 oz and 1 in thick.
Anyway, prepping for this dish means rinsing the fish, patting it dry, and putting it in a pyrex dish that will hold the filets.
I mixed up the miso glaze by using white miso paste and honey, in equal parts. If you haven't cooked with miso paste before, it is basically just fermented soybeans, which is a deliciously salty Japanese condiment.  I've been wanting to learn to cook with miso ever since I visited markets in Japan in 2009 and saw people shopping for miso like it was red wine (with just as many varieties!) I thought I had a picture of the miso bins, but this was a market in Kyoto with something in the miso (maybe some sort of vegetable?) I could have walked around this market for a day or two:

Anyway, you can get miso in Whole Foods or any asian section of your supermarket. It's a little pricey for the 1-2 TB you need for this dish, but since it is already fermented, you can keep it in your fridge for 6 months - 1 year with no problem. I just whisk equal parts of white miso paste and honey in a small bowl - the honey gives it a nice sweet / salty balance. I used 2 TB of both, since I know that both hubby and I like miso flavor, but if you are hesitant, you might want to use a bit less, since 2 TB of each will more than glaze 2 pieces of fish (it would prob glaze 4-5 pieces), but I load it onto our fish. Here's what the miso looks like:

Pop the peas/peaches on the top rack and the fish on the middle rack when there is 20 minutes left on the timer for the rice.
Once the fish is done (it should break away easily with a fork and be just opaque in the center...check it after 15 minutes depending on the thickness of your fish...my fish was thick, so 20 min was perfect), remove it and the vegetables from the oven and plate.  It's best if the fish can rest a few minutes before you serve.

A 9 from both hubby and me! He said he is saving 9.5s and 10s for unhealthy stuff. Ha.

Linguine with Clams

So hubby had a brutal week last week, and after an all nighter on Thurs, was really hoping for a bowl of pasta and a 9PM bedtime Friday night. 

So I obliged and picked up some delicious looking clams from Whole Foods to make linguine with clams. 

I pretty much followed a recipe from Epicurious with only a few minor tweaks. 

4 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup finely chopped shallots

3 large garlic cloves, minced

24 small fresh clams (such as Manila or littleneck), scrubbed (I actually used some clams from Maine that were on special, and there were about 15-20 in the bag)

1 cup chopped seeded peeled tomatoes (I did not bother with seedless peeled tomatoes - who has time for that? - I used some leftover grape tomatoes)

6 tablespoons dry white wine

1/2 pound linguine 

1 cup (packed) chopped arugula

First I chopped all the ingredients and had them prepped and ready to go.  I wasn't sure how to scrub clams, but I put them in a big bowl of cold water and rinsed them a  few times until there was no more grit in the bowl. I do know that you have to be really careful with clams so that they don't die - don't ever put them in a  closed off bag and make sure they go directly in the fridge. 

First, get the water on for the pasta.  

Meanwhile, saute the shallots and garlic in a bit of olive oil for about 2 minutes until they are translucent. Add the clams, 3/4 of the tomatoes, and the wine and bring to a boil. Then cover and cook until clams are open. I made a mistake here... I turned the heat down when I covered it since it was really, really boiling. However, when I peaked after 4-5 minutes, none of the clams looked close to opening so I turned the heat back up and cooked for another 6-7 minutes.  So I cooked mine too long. Don't turn the heat down and stay to 8 minutes. 

Then use tongs to take the clams out of the pan and put them in a bowl off to the side and tent with foil to keep them warm. Drain the pasta and add it to the pan along with the arugula and the rest of the tomatoes (still on high heat.) Toss all of it together with tongs and plate with the clams.

 We both gave it a 7 since the clams were overcooked, but it would have been an 8 or 9 if they had been cooked right!

Seared Sea Scallops with arugula, snap peas, and haricot verts

Yum. My most perfect attempt at sea scallops ever! This was perfection.
While I was waiting for hubby to get home, I prepped everything since scallops cook so quickly.
So first I made a bed that I would serve the scallops on - arugula, sugar snap peas (raw) and just barely steamed haricot verts. I actually got the ones from Trader Joes that I could just open and pop in the microwave for 2 minutes.

Then I chopped one large shallot (the recipe said 2 TB but I did not measure) and measured out 1/4 cup of white wine vinegar and 1/4 cup white wine.  I grabbed one stalk of rosemary out of our roofdeck garden and chopped it up for the sauce. The recipe called for tarragon, but I love to use our fresh rooftop herbs so I did a little subbing out-
Then I washed the scallops, pulled off the mussel on the side, and then patted them dry.  I sprinkled both sides with salt and pepper and I was ready to go.

Once I knew we were 15 min from dinner, I heated a saucepan on high and then added 1 TB of butter. Once the butter foam calmed down I knew the pan was hot enough and added the scallops.  Let them get a nice crust on the first side, cooking for about 2-3 minutes.  Then flip the scallops and let them cook for another 2 minutes. Don't overcook!

Once the scallops are cooked, I removed them from the pan to a plate (not the salad yet - they will kick out some juices) and tented with foil. Quickly add the white wine & white wine vinegar to the pan, scraping the browned bits as you go. Add the shallot and cook until reduced until about 1/4 of a cup (so about 1/2 the total volume.)  If the scallops released any juices on the plate, you can add those, too.

Once the sauce is reduced, add 3 TB of butter and incorporate into the sauce.  The recipe then calls for 3 more TB, but I only added one more TB of butter until it was incorporated.  Then add the herbs (rosemary in my case) and a sprinkle of salt and stir to ensure everything is mixed.

Place the scallops on top of the greens and pour the sauce overtop.  Serve immediately.

This got a 9.5 from hubby and a 10 from me.  The perfect light summertime meal! I would serve with some crusty bread to scoop up the rest of the sauce.