Recipe of the Week: GOOP

One of my all-time favorite role models is Gwyneth Paltrow. We have a lot in common.  She is slender (as am I). She loves yoga (as do I). She's attends Coldplay concerts (as have I). She was once engaged to Brad Pitt. (Okay, I wrote a lot in common, not everything in common).

I am an avid reader of Gwyneth's blog, GOOP, not only because I want to be just like her, but also because it's filled with really fun, creative ideas, solutions and recipes. In her last post, she featured Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution (as did I). Coincidence? Or proof that perhaps my aspirations are attainable? I'll let you decide.

In channeling my inner Gwyneth, I stayed pretty close to the original recipe and I am so glad that I did. After all, this woman does know what she's doing...

Spicy Moroccan Stewed Fish with Couscous
Serves 2 (or 1 Gwyneth wanna-be who enjoys leftovers)
Original recipe and interview with Jamie Oliver

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup quick-cook couscous (leftover from previous meal)
• olive oil
• 2 lemons
• sea salt and freshly ground
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 fresh red chili
• a bunch of fresh basil (reserve leftovers for pesto over eggs this weekend - yum!)
• I teaspoon ground cumin
• ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 x 8-ounce salmon fillets, skin off and bones removed
• Handful of Trader Joe's frozen langostino tails (um, if you forget to buy shrimp too)
• 14 ounces, or half a can, of Trader Joe's whole plum tomatoes (reserved tomatoes can be used in egg/pesto dish too)
• 2 handfuls of frozen French cut green beans from Green Giant

INSTRUCTIONS:

Take an amazingly great yoga class. Appreciate life. On your way home, realize that nearly a week has gone by and you have not yet conducted your weekly culinary experiment and will therefore be lagging behind with your blog. Recall an interesting recipe that Gwyneth sent earlier in the week. Take out iPhone and pull up her newsletter, which informs you of ingredients needed. Use iPhone as your shopping list as you peruse your local gourmet market. Briefly wonder how you ever functioned without an iPhone.

1. In a tea kettle, bring water to boil. Put the couscous into a bowl and add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Halve the lemons and squeeze in the juice from two of the halves. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Pour in just enough boiling water to cover the couscous, then stir and cover the bowl with a plate. Let stand.

2. While couscous is soaking, take out your iPhone again to reference the recipe. Peel and finely slice your garlic. Finely slice your chili. Pick the basil leaves off the stalks. Put the smaller ones to one side and roughly chop the larger ones. Enjoy the amazing aromas of the fresh basil. Mmmm... make a mental note to register for your CSA so you can continue to get fresh basil from your farm this year. Yum. Decide to make fresh pesto with the remaining basil leaves. Double yum.

3. Get a large saucepan on a medium heat. Add a couple of lugs of olive oil to the hot pan. Add the garlic, chili, basil, cumin and cinnamon. Give it all a stir and put the fish fillets on top. Read the recipe and notice that the next step says, "Scatter over the shrimp." Crap. Notice that you did not purchase shrimp and that you do not have shrimp! Open your freezer. Grab the langostino tails. Decide that they look like shrimp. Decide that they probably taste like shrimp. Scatter two handfuls of frozen langostino tails into pan. Exhale.

4. Add tomatoes and use spatula to break them up into chunky bits. Notice that canned whole tomatoes are so much more fun to cook than diced tomatoes. Add two handfuls of frozen green beans. Notice that frozen beans are never fun to cook. Squeeze in the juice from the two remaining lemon halves. Put a lid on the pan. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for about 8 minutes.

5. While fish is stewing, return to your iPhone. Send a few WhatsApp messages. Check email. Check Facebook. Try to figure out the hype about iemoji. Feel genuine gratitude for the best device ever. Wonder if Gwyneth has an iPhone too and venture to guess that perhaps that is how she keeps it all together. Re-read her newsletter and sign Jamie Oliver's petition to save cooking skills and improve school food. Feel like you can contribute towards the greater good just by cooking and being in your own kitchen, thanks to your iPhone.

6. Check to see that the fish is cooked through and flakes easily. Taste, and season with salt and pepper. Fluff couscous with a fork. Wonder if you will ever truly be able to make couscous the way it tastes in Morocco. Spoon the couscous on to a large dinner plate. Top with the fish, vegetables, and juices from the pan, sprinkle with the reserved basil leaves. Savor its aromas and flavors. Be amazed that this dish took no more than 15 minutes to make. Be inspired by Jamie and Gwyneth.

Optional step: Place iPhone on your sound dock and put on some Coldplay to truly create a Gwyneth and Chris Martin-inspired atmosphere in your home. Realize that the stew is very hearty and that you'll have ample leftovers, being able to extend this experience for another day. Wonder if Gwyneth and Chris will be able to extend their marriage as well.

Recipe of the Week: NoTakeOut

I was recently introduced to a website called NoTakeOut.  It is perfect for too-busy hipsters and yuppies who are just learning to cook.  NoTakeOut sends an email every day with the featured recipe, which spells out every ingredient you need to purchase, as well as outlines  the "game plan" for prepping and cooking.  However, I realized three things while I was experimenting with this recipe:

1) I am a little more advanced than the average beginner
2) The recipe's proportions were somewhat incorrect
3) I don't understand how to follow "game plans"

... so I did it my way.


Braised Manhattan Studio Chicken over Couscous
my take on braised farmhouse chicken, served with a crisp mixed salad
Original recipe on NoTakeOut

INGREDIENTS

Shopping List

• 2 yellow onions, diced 
• 1 fennel bulb, diced 
• 1 bag mixed lettuces from Dole (it was on sale) 
• 3 cubes frozen cilantro from Trader Joe's (I love their frozen herbs!) 
• 1 15 oz. can chickpeas, rinsed 
• 6 chicken thighs 
• 1 cup couscous

Pantry Items

• Balsamic vinegar, 1 - 2 tbsps 
• Black pepper, a sprinkle 
• Chicken broth, 3 1-cup serving boxes from Pacific Natural (a real pantry must have!) 
• Extra-virgin olive oil for vinagrette 
• Canola oil for browning
• 4 garlic cloves, minced/diced/crushed 
• Ground cumin, 1 1/2 tbsps first, more later 
• Ground ginger, 1/2 tsps 
• Red pepper flakes, a pinch 
• Sea salt, a sprinkle

INSTRUCTIONS
Turn on computer. Visit NoTakeOut. Read recipe in its entirety. Get annoyed that a website that targets super busy people would list ingredients without measurements and educate folks to prep everything first, then cook - as if we have the time to do things separately. Decide to go against the grain.

1. Rinse chicken and pat dry. Heat canola oil in frying pan. Place chicken skin-side down and begin to brown. The chicken should make a sizzling sound once it touches the pan. If it does not, remove and count to 10, then try again. Brown about 5 - 6 minutes on each side and just listen to it snap, crackle, pop.
2. While chicken is browning, dice onions and garlic. Dodge the crazy bits of oil jumping out of the pan. Realize that canola oil heats at a higher temp than olive oil and it hella stings when it hits your skin. Curse the chickens and their mothers. Move chopping board farther away from frying pan. 
3. Once chicken thighs are crispy and golden on both sides, remove from pan and place on plate, season with salt and pepper. Set aside. Add to the pan diced onion, garlic and spices. Stir and cook until onions are translucent, about 5 to 6 minutes. Wonder if you've added enough cumin, as the color seems light. Note that you did not use the a precise measuring spoon and sometimes eyeballing it isn't always accurate. Decide to think about it later. 
4. Add 4 chicken thighs back to the pan. Wonder if braising in a clay pot would bring about a different result and place two thighs in there. In both pots, cover with chicken broth (about 3 cups, instead of the 4 that the recipe recommends) and add chickpeas. Simmer for 30 minutes. Begin to watch the premiere of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. 
5. During commercial breaks, prep salad: open bag, rinse salad and place into large bowl. Make vinaigrette: Whisk together 1 tbsp. vinegar, the minced garlic and salt and pepper in a bowl. Slowly whisk in 1/4 cup olive oil. Taste and want it to be more vinegar-y, add another 1/2 tbsp. Dice the fennel and stir into the vinaigrette. Toss into salad with fun giraffe utensils that mom got from South Africa. 
6. Check on the chicken. Notice that it looks too watery. Taste chicken sauce and notice that is really bland. Panic. Add more cumin to both until it is a golden brown color. Remove Trader Joe's cilantro cubes from freezer and mix in bowl with 1 clove garlic. Microwave to melt cubes and stir together. Add cilantro/garlic to both pots. Partially uncover and return to watching Food Revolution. Cross fingers and hope that the spices create their own revolution. 
7. At next commercial break, prepare couscous by bringing to boil one 1-cup serving of chicken broth in a small pot. Add a bit more water and couscous. Set aside 5 minutes and fluff with fork. Briefly remember the couscous in Morocco. YUM. 
8. After sauce has thickened, taste once more and marvel at the ability for a dish to make a complete comeback due to an extra 10 minutes of simmering. Decide the meal is ready to be served. Place on plates with couscous. Serve with a perfectly tossed salad. 

Optional step: Do a blind taste test with your dinner guest. You may notice that the clay pot version is more flavorful and sauce is thicker, but the chicken is a little tougher. On the other hand, the flavors in the pan version are a more subtle, although the chicken is more tender and juicy. Learn that guest prefers the pan version, eats a second helping and even offers to do the dishes. Feel happy that everything turned out okay.