indonesian marinade 2 ways!

so i watched Ina Garten make this marinade last weekend, so i gave it a shot... gotta say, this is even better than the Indonesian Ginger Chicken recipe she modified!

Indonesian Grilled Swordfish [serves 6, but i made 2 portions]
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup canola or peanut oil, plus extra for brushing on the grill
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup minced or finely chopped ginger root
2 tablespoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
6 (8-ounce, 1-inch thick) swordfish steaks
Kosher salt
pepper

Directions [modified]
Combine everything, minus fish of course, in a shallow dish. wisk until well incopopated.  reserve 1/4 of marinadein small tupperware container. Place the swordfish in the shallow dishon top of the sauce and spoon some of the sauce on top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight.  [a little confusing side note- during the show, she said not to do this because it would start to cook the fish- ceviche style... i decided to follow the recipe on the website and marinated my fish overnight. and boy am i glad i did! the fish has time to soak all of the flavors in!]  remove from fridge about 15 minutes before cooking to take the chill off.  heat grill pan over med-high heat.  drain excess marinade from fridge and place in pan.  cook for about 5 minutes on each side.

I served my swordfish with a lovely salad of spinach, mushrooms, tomato, cucumbers, carrots, avocado, and homemade sourdough croutons- brush a few slices of sourdough with olive oil and sprinkle with s+p.  spread on a baking sheet and place in a 400 preheated oven.  bake until golden brown.  toss salad with reserve marinade [all of the ingredients in this marinade are the same as a salad dressing!]

this was a great, tasty yet light meal.

now for the second recipe:
asian fish tacos
so, i bought some fresh tuna this weekend because i had a pretty sweet idea... why not make some asian-style fish tacos?! little did i know i'd be fighting a gnarly sinus infection, but one must still eat delicious food, right?! ;)

i used the same ginger marinade as above, reserved 1/4 in small tupperware, and place 2 tuna steaks in the dish.  i let the tuna marinate overnight. 

now for the rest of the taco filling, i made a fresh salad:
1/4  red bell pepper, julienne
1/4 yellow bell pepper, julienne
1/4 orange bell pepper, julienne
1 large roma tomato, seeded and julienne
1 navel orange, cut in segments
zest of orange + leftover juice
1 avocado, sliced thin
fresh chives

combine all ingredients minus avocado and fresh chives in a tubberware container with reserved marinade.  shake closed container a few times to ensure that everything is well mixed.  add avocado and reclose container.  invert a couple of times to ensure that avocado is covered, but don't shake- this will ensure that avocado slices stay whole.  do not add chives until ready to eat- they'll get soggy.

place a couple of tortillas in a pouch of aluminum foil and place in a 350 preheated oven.  this will steam them perfectly.  heat large saute pan over med-high heat with 1 tbsp olive oil.  drain excess marinade from tuna, then place in pan.  you def want to use a splatter screen.  this is quick, so don't walk away.  cook on each side for about 2 minutes if you want the middle to still be a little pink- and trust me, you do!  remove from heat and let sit a few minutes before slicing. assemble tuna and salad on tortilla, fold, and enjoy. 

what could be better than a warm tortilla with yummy tuna and crunchy veggies?!

enjoy! ;)

necessity is the mother of all invention...

man, whoever said that is a very smart woman! :p

so, i stayed home sick today- gnarly sinus infection...  but anyway, so when i went to Target to pick up my Rx, i thought about buying some chicken noodle soup but decided against it because i still had another serving of chili left over [btw, that stuff just keeps getting better and better!].  so i came home, as the snow was starting to stick- we're expecting 6-10 inches by tomorrow midday- loaded up on my meds, and hopped back in bed with a yummy cup of tea to watch "about a boy"... when it was over, i was starving but wasn't feeling like the chili was going to be a smart idea, and thought to myself, "why didn't i buy that g-d chicken noodle soup?!" - my body needed something brothy... so i decided to experiment.  here are the results:

clean out the fridge veggie soup:
2 cups low sodium chicken broth [was left over & frozen]
1 shallot, dice
1/4 red bell pepper, rough chop
1/4 yellow bell pepper, rough chop
1/4 orange bell pepper, rough chop
handful baby portobello mushrooms, slice
handful baby carrots, rough chop
1 clove garlic, smashed
~ 1 tsp fresh thyme
1 tbsp olive oil
s+p to taste
dash of red wine vinegar
fresh chives

heat olive oil in med saucepan over med-high heat.  add shallot, peppers, and carrots- saute until slightly caramelized.  add mushrooms andgarlic.  when you can smell the garlic, add the thyme and s+p.  add chicken stock and when it all starts to bubble, drop the temp to med-low and cover for about 15 minutes.  taste and re-season if needed and add dash of red wine vinegar.  lemon juice or zest would work well also- it was just begging for a little quick of acid.  i served with fresh chives and a slightly buttered piece of warm cornbread because i happened to have those things in the house at the time.

so, maybe this wasn't mom's chicken noodle soup, but man did it hit the spot!  i might try this soup again this weekend with a little additional vegitation and some chicken... we'll see.

enjoy! ;)

Rachel Ray's chili... YUM-O! ;)

Uptown Down-Home Chili

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 pounds ground sirloin [i used 1.5 lbs of beef chuck roast, most fat trimmed off, and cubed into 1" pieces]
2 tablespoons grill seasoning (recommended: McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning) a palm full
1/2 pound baby Portobello mushrooms, chopped1/4 pound shitake mushroom caps, sliced
1 medium yellow skinned onion, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped [substituted with 1/2 of each red, yellow, and orange bell peppers chopped into 1" pieces]
4 to 6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 canned chipotle peppers in adobo, chopped, with their juices or 1 generous palm full ground chipotle chili powder, about 2 tablespoons [1 seeded mine.  please note this means 2 peppers from 1 can, NOT 2 CANS OF PEPPERS! ;)]
1 tablespoon ground cumin, half a palm full
1 bottle imported beer (recommended: Stella Artois (...imported just 'cause we're Uptown and that's all they drink here.) [i used a tap room no. 21 brewing co.'s amber ale]
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained [i used red]
1 (15 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 cup beef stock (8-ounce box) [i used low sodium, fat free]
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
8-ounce piece smoked Gouda, shredded [i used sharp cheddar]1 small white onion, finely chopped  


Directions

Trim fat from meat and cube.  Heat a deep, large skillet or a pot over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and the meat. Season it with grill seasoning and sear it up for 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer meat to a plate and return pot to stove. Reduce heat to medium- high and add another tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil. Add the mushrooms and begin to brown them before adding the other veggies. After 2 or 3 minutes the mushrooms will begin to shirk and soften. Push the mushrooms off to one side of the pot and add all the remaining veggies to the opposite side of the pot surface. Once the onions, celery, peppers and garlic have been working for a few minutes as well, mix the veggies with the mushrooms. Add the meat back, season with Worcestershire sauce, chipotle in adobo or chipotle powder and cumin. Add in beer to deglaze the pot, scraping up all the pan drippings. Reduce the beer by half, about 2 minutes. Add the black red beans, tomatoes, stock and thyme to chili and simmer 10 minutes for flavors to combine. Taste to adjust seasonings. [I let it all simmer an extra 20 minutes, while my Jiffy cornbread was in the oven ;)] Top bowls of the chili with shredded smoked Gouda sharp cheddar and finely chopped raw onions. a dollop of fat free sour cream, 1/2 avocado sliced, a sprinkle of fresh chives.  Serve with a piece of cornbread and an ice cold beer!


I've gotta admit, I usually don't like Rachel Ray's recipes, but this one is GREAT!  the only thing i'll change next time i make this is that i'll only use 1 chipotle in adobo... 2 was a bit too spicy for my geography tongue to handle! ;)

enjoy! ;)