dinner

The Nix + Norwegian Fish Stew

November 17, 2016 by Megan Leave a Comment

With my ambitious yearly goal to read between 48 and 52 books (depending on the year), I don’t usually take the time to read books that are longer than 500 pages. Too many times I have found myself slogging through a book I didn’t particularly enjoy just to get through it and move on to the next. I thought The Nix would be one of those books, but I’m glad I was wrong.

Nathan Hill’s lengthy debut novel - coming in at 628 pages - was suggested as the latest selection for one of my book clubs. We even gave ourselves extra time to read it, meeting again after 2 months instead of the usual 1-ish, which really just gave me more time to stall. Luckily, a well-placed work trip to California gave me ample time to catch up and fully dive in to a book I really enjoyed.

The Nix is all over the place - but in a good way. Hill takes you from 2011 to 1988 to 1968 and back again. You’ll see the world from the eyes of both minor and major characters, and while the reasons aren’t always clear, it definitely comes together at the end.

In 2011, Faye finds herself in a bit of a predicament - one that lands her all over the news and opens up a long-lost connection to her son Samuel, who she abandoned decades earlier. For reasons even he is still trying to figure out, Samuel begins to explore his mother’s past to uncover the truth. On her own journey, Faye sets out to face the haunting folktales of her youth.

What Samuel finds is not only surprising, but life-changing, too. Later, on a trip to her family’s native Norway, Faye also learns about her father’s past, which she confronts over a hot bowl of fish stew and some crusty bread.

I found a recipe on Saveur’s website for Fiskesuppe, or a Norwegian Cod Vegetable Chowder, similar to the one Faye eats during her illuminating trip. It made the perfect meal for a cold fall evening, hearty and delicious. But, full disclosure, my apartment smelled like fish stew for days!

There are a lot of vegetables in this stew, so I suggest you start by prepping them all. I sorted them into two bowls so that they would be easy to add to the pot at the right time.

Heat the butter over medium-high heat until melted. The recipe calls for 6 tablespoons, but I would recommend 4 (or half of a stick). When cooking down the vegetables, the amount of butter was just a bit more than you needed, and trust me, it will make for more appetizing-looking leftovers. Add your first bowl of vegetables (garlic, celery, onions, peppers and leeks) and season with salt and pepper.

After those cook for about 8-10 minutes, or until soft, add your second bowl of vegetables (carrots, parsnips, celery root and potatoes) along with the milk, cream and fish stock - I was only able to find seafood stock at the grocery store - and Worcestershire sauce. Stir and bring to a boil.

Once boiling, reduce heat to medium and cook for about 25 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. While the stew was cooking here, I prepped my cod, cutting it into bite-size pieces (mine were probably closer to an inch, rather than the recommended 2-inches). I also used this time to chop my fresh herbs.

After 25 minutes, add the cod and cook for an additional 6-8 minutes or until it’s cooked through. Remove from the heat and stir in lemon juice (I used a half lemon, but check the flavor and add more to taste), dill and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.

As in The Nix, I served it with some crusty bread.

Norwegian Cod and Root Vegetable Chowder (Fiskesuppe)

Servings: 6-8
Time: 1½ hours
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From: Saveur.com

Ingredients

6 TBS unsalted butter [I recommend 4 TBS]
4 cloves garlic, chopped [I minced mine]
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small leek, sliced ¼" thick
2 medium carrots, sliced ¼" thick
1 large parsnip, peeled and chopped
1 small celeriac, peeled and chopped
4 medium new potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
3 cups fish stock
2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
1½ TBS Worcestershire sauce
2 lb. boneless, skinless cod fillet, cut into 2" pieces [or bite-size]
⅓ cup dill, chopped, plus more for garnish
¼ cup parsley leaves, chopped
Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
Juice of ½ - 1 lemon
Crusty bread, for serving

Directions

Heat butter in a 6-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic, celery, onions, peppers, and leeks, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until soft, 8-10 minutes. Add carrots, parsnips, celeriac, potatoes, stock, milk, cream, and Worcestershire; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes. Add cod, and continue to cook, stirring gently, until fish is cooked through, 6-8 minutes. Stir in dill, parsley, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. Serve with bread.

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Blood, Bones and Butter + Lamb Chops

October 26, 2016 by Megan Leave a Comment

I don’t just enjoy cooking and eating (and writing) about food, I also enjoy reading about it - whether it be literature, a piece of nonfiction or another blog. Most often in my case it comes in the form of a memoir, like my latest read, Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef. This was buried pretty deep on my to-read list (it’s been hanging out there since 2013) when Goodreads Deals brought it back to my attention. I finally added it to my collection and dug in.

For me, nothing compares to extremely detailed descriptions of food that actually existed in real life, food that was often so life-changing that it has made its way to a book, tempting readers from the page. Gabrielle Hamilton’s memoir begins with one such powerful food memory.

She walks us through the preparation for her family’s annual lamb roast, which happened every spring when she was a child. Gabrielle describes her bohemian father, who brought her along to the butcher and later basted several whole lambs with a flavorful, dripping marinade over a crackling open fire. She talks lovingly of her now-estranged French mother who “instilled in [Gabrielle and her siblings] nothing but a total and unconditional pleasure in food and eating.”

Gabrielle didn’t set out to be a chef, but that’s exactly what she becomes. Out of desperation as a teenager, she begins working in a local kitchen, mostly learning on the job. A series of kitchens, a trip around the world and a Masters degree in writing later, she finds herself with an unexpected opportunity to open her own restaurant, and so she does.

Though full of descriptions that made my stomach rumble, Blood, Bones and Butter is about more than just cooking and kitchens. It’s about the family that Gabrielle came from, the family she works with, and the family she is beginning to make.

I kept coming back to the lamb roasts of her childhood. Lacking the backyard to roast an entire lamb, I found a recipe for French-inspired lamb chops and accompanied those with new potatoes and Brussels sprouts, both fresh from the farmers’ market this weekend.

The potato recipe calls for them to be peeled, and so I began there, knowing it could be a little time-consuming. It was, and it was also a little dangerous.

Tiny potatoes leave little room to hold onto them while wielding a peeler. On top of which, once the skin is removed, they’re quite slippery. Potatoes were flying all over the counter! I eventually made it through (unscathed), cut them in half and put them in a small pot of water, covered by 1-inch.

Then I preheated the oven to 400 degrees F and began prepping the Brussels sprouts. Cut off the bottoms and remove the outer, dark green leaves, chopping the larger ones in half. (I prefer to keep small sprouts whole, but feel free to cut them in half as well.) Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Toss on a foil-covered baking sheet until well-coated. They should roast for about 30-40 minutes, according to your preference. I recommend tossing/stirring about halfway through, so they brown more evenly. (Here they are pre-roasting.)

With the sprouts in the oven, I began boiling the potatoes and focused on making the butter mixture for the lamb chops. Using a fork, I mixed together the softened butter, mustard, fresh thyme, lemon zest and salt and pepper. Once finished, I put the compound butter in the fridge to stay chilled. (Check the potatoes here and if they’re boiling, reduce heat to a simmer. Set timer for 10-12 minutes.)

I readied my broiler pan, as directed, and placed the lamb chops on top. I seasoned generously with salt and pepper on both sides.

With the broiler on high, I put them in for 8 minutes and set my attention to the shallot mixture for the potatoes. I minced a large shallot and mixed it with lemon juice and salt. I let this sit until the lamb chops were finished (about 15 minutes), before tossing with the chopped parsley and cooked potatoes.

Having never made lamb chops, I found them easier to pull off than I initially expected. I also couldn’t get enough of the rich, buttery potatoes - those will definitely be going in the regular rotation!

Happily, everything came together to make a fancier-than-usual weekend meal and the perfect addition to Scott’s birthday weekend. In a meal based on Blood, Bones and Butter, it became clear “you can never have too much butter.”*

Lamb Chops with Lemon, Thyme & Mustard Butter

Servings: 4
Time: 15 minutes
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From: Fine Cooking

Ingredients

4 TBS unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp whole-grain Dijon mustard
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, lightly chopped
¾ tsp finely grated lemon zest
⅛ tsp kosher salt; more as needed
⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper; more as needed
8 lamb loin chops (1-1/2- to 2-inch-thick chops; about 3 lb.), trimmed

Directions

In a small bowl, mash together the butter, mustard, thyme, zest, salt, and pepper until well combined. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Position an oven rack 5 to 6 inches from the broiler element and heat the broiler to high. Line the bottom of a broiler pan with foil and replace the perforated top part of the pan. Arrange the chops on the pan. Season both sides of the lamb generously with salt and pepper.
Broil until the first side is well browned, about 8 minutes. Turn the chops over with tongs and continue to broil until they’re well browned and the center is cooked to your liking, 3 to 5 minutes longer for medium rare (cut into a chop near the bone to check).
Transfer the lamb to serving plates and top each chop with a dab of the flavored butter. Serve hot.

New Potatoes with Butter, Shallots & Chervil

Servings: 6
Time: 30 minutes
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Ingredients

2 ¼ lb. small (2-inch) new potatoes, such as Yukon Gold or Yellow Finn, peeled and halved lengthwise (about 14 potatoes)
Kosher salt
1 large shallot, minced (about 1/4 cup)
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
6 TBS unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces, softened to room temperature
2 TBS chopped fresh chervil or flat-leaf parsley
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Put the potatoes in a medium pot, add water to cover by 1 inch, and season generously with about 2 TBS salt (the water should taste almost as salty as sea water).
Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and gently cook the potatoes until tender when pierced with a fork, 10 to 12 minutes. (You want them to maintain their shape, so be careful not to overcook them.)
Meanwhile, combine the shallot, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt in a small bowl, and let sit for at least 10 minutes (up to 2 hours).
Drain the potatoes and return them to the warm pot. Immediately add the shallot mixture, butter, and chervil or parsley and gently stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

____

*From the wonderful movie, Julie & Julia - thank you, Nora Ephron

The Joy Luck Club + Pork Dumplings

September 15, 2016 by Megan 5 Comments

Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club is about four Chinese-American mothers who immigrated from China to San Francisco and their daughters. Like a mahjong game, the novel’s sixteen chapters are organized into four parts, each with four sections. Two sections focus on the Joy Luck mothers and two sections focus on their daughters, with one chapter devoted to their childhoods and one chapter devoted to their lives as adult women.

The story Tan tells is at once distinctive and familiar. While I couldn’t directly relate to what they faced as immigrants in a foreign country or more specifically as Chinese-Americans, I easily related to the growing pains they experienced through childhood, their struggles within relationships as they matured, and the ongoing, ever-changing connection between mothers and daughters.

Every week the women of the Joy Luck Club meet to play mahjong (one woman for each corner of the game table), raise money and feast. The hostess always served special foods to bring good fortune - “dumplings shaped like silver money ingots, long rice noodles for long life, boiled peanuts for conceiving sons, and of course, many good-luck oranges for a plentiful, sweet life.” The women would play all through the night and into the morning, until the sixteen rounds of mahjong were finished, and they would feast again.

I was quite excited to be able to make dumplings to go along with this novel. I found a recipe that sounded promising (The Only Dumpling Recipe You’ll Ever Need) and got a great Asian market recommendation from my coworker. I paid a visit to 168 Asian Mart one evening and picked up all the ingredients for the dumplings + some cute little sauce dishes I couldn’t resist + some mochi for dessert.

I assembled all of my ingredients and got to work.

I wrung out each of the three thawed packages of Shepherd’s purse and chopped them as finely as I could. Then, I spent 7-ish minutes combining the greens with the pork and vinegar, wine, soy sauce and spices. Look at all that green:

I used water to wet the edges of my first dumpling skin, I plopped a generous dollop of filling onto it, and I realized I didn’t remember how to fan fold them. (Side note: I once worked as a “dumpling girl” at a restaurant folding several different kinds, each with their own unique fold. Over two extremely long weekends, I mastered all of the folds and made thousands of dumplings.) I watched some YouTube videos to jog my memory before deciding to stick with the simplest fold.

I boiled two of them to try out the filling. They passed the test, so I enlisted the help of my boyfriend and together we made about 90 before needing a break. A break meant it was time to eat! We pan-fried and then steamed them before enjoying the fruits of our labor.

They were very vegetable-y but still quite good. If I made them again, I’d probably reduce the amount of greens or increase the amount of pork until I got the ratio I prefer. Since we’ll be eating these ones for quite a while, I’m not sure when that will be!

Pork Dumplings

Servings: Yields approximately 150 dumplings
Time: 2hr 30mins
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From: The Woks of Life

Ingredients

3 lbs green leafy vegetable (like shepherd’s purse, baby bok choy, napa cabbage, or Chinese chives)
1½ pounds ground pork (or ground chicken or beef, as long as they aren’t too lean)
⅔ cup shaoxing wine
½ cup oil
3 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon salt
3 tablespoons soy sauce
¼ teaspoon white pepper
⅔ cup water, plus more for assembly
3-4 packages dumpling wrappers

Directions

Wash your vegetables thoroughly and blanch them in a pot of boiling water. Transfer them to an ice bath to cool. [If using frozen shepherd's purse, make sure it is fully thawed before continuing.] Ring out all the water from the vegetables and chop very finely.
In a large bowl, stir together the vegetable, meat, wine, oil, sesame oil, salt, soy sauce, white pepper, and ⅔ cup water. Mix for 6-8 minutes, until very well-combined.
To wrap the dumplings, dampen the edges of each circle with some water. Put a little less than a tablespoon of filling in the middle. Fold the circle in half and pinch the wrapper together at the top. Then make two folds on each side, until the dumpling looks like a fan. Make sure it’s completely sealed. Repeat until all the filling is gone, placing the dumplings on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Make sure the dumplings aren’t sticking together.
If you’d like to freeze them, wrap the baking sheets tightly with plastic wrap and put the pans in the freezer. Allow them to freeze overnight. You can then take the sheets out of the freezer, transfer the dumplings to Ziploc bags, and throw them back in the freezer for use later.
To cook the dumplings, boil them or pan-fry them. To boil, simple bring a large pot of water to a boil, drop the dumplings in, and cook until they float to the top and the skins are cooked through, but still slightly al dente.
To pan-fry, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a non-stick pan over medium high heat. Place the dumplings in the pan and allow to fry for 2 minutes. Pour a thin layer of water into the pan, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low. Allow dumplings to steam until the water has evaporated. Remove the cover, increase heat to medium-high and allow to fry for a few more minutes, until the bottoms of the dumplings are golden brown and crisp.

Serve with soy sauce, Chinese black vinegar, chili sauce, or other dipping sauce of your choice!

Find the dumpling skins fresh at the Asian grocery store. Look for the white, round ones. If they start to dry out, wrap them in a damp paper towel and put them in a sealed plastic bag for a couple hours to soften back up.

Freeze any unused dumpling wrappers in an airtight sealed plastic bag for later.

This post contains affiliate links. Full disclosure here.

Bridge Daughter + Zucchini Pancakes

August 11, 2016 by Megan 2 Comments

Bridge Daughter came to my attention when a friend, who happens to know author Jim Nelson, recommended it. Based on the concept alone, I knew I had to read it. Once I got started, I finished it in less than a day.

A short dystopian novel, Bridge Daughter describes a world very similar to our own, with one exception - when a woman gives birth, she always gives birth to a bridge daughter. Fourteen years later, the bridge daughter gives birth to her actual child.

Hanna is one of the lucky ones. Raised by caring parents and taught to read, she grows up hoping to attend college and start a career. These dreams seem possible, until she learns that she, too, is a bridge daughter. Hanna must decide if she wants to accept her fate or become the woman she always dreamed she’d be.

A strong character, I found myself sympathizing with Hanna and rooting for her until the very end. The morning her mother forces her to make pancakes for breakfast, it becomes clear things are shifting for Hanna. Later on, pancakes are on the table again as her life takes another unexpected turn.

I’m sure Hanna made traditional breakfast pancakes, but since I decided to make them for dinner, I opted for a more savory recipe - adapted from Wonderland Kitchen's Pancakes with a Heart of Gold. An apt name, I think, as Hanna counts on the goodness of many along the way.

I began by finding my sifter so that I could get my dry ingredients together and shredding my small zucchini, so it would be ready to go.

After combining all of the ingredients to make the pancake batter, I heated my griddle and put the first one on. Here it is with some cheddar, pre-flip.

I always find pancake-making a little precarious - a flip too early can create a mess, just as a misplaced turnover can end up folding the little guy in half...or off the griddle onto the stovetop. Fortunately, no pancakes were harmed in the making of this post, so I call that a success.

Print Recipe

Zucchini Pancakes with a Heart of Cheddar

Prep Time20

Cook Time10

Total Time30

Course: Main Course

Servings: 2

Ingredients

1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 TBS olive oil
1 small zucchini about 1 - 1 1/2 cups shredded
2 scallions finely sliced
1 garlic clove minced
1 tsp lemon zest
8 thin slices of cheddar from a block (I used sharp white cheddar)

Instructions

In a medium-sized bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Set aside.
Shred zucchini and blot well with paper towels to remove as much excess moisture as possible.
Beat egg into the buttermilk and add this mixture, the oil, zucchini, scallions, and lemon zest to the dry ingredients. Whisk together until just incorporated. Allow to rest while bringing your skillet or griddle up to medium heat.
When hot, grease lightly with a little butter. Drop batter by the roughly 1/3 cup onto griddle.
When dry around the edges and ready to flip, place a slice of the cheese on top of the uncooked side and turn in over in the pan. Continue in this manner until all pancakes are made. I got eight 6-inch cakes.
Serve hot topped with a pat of butter and a drizzle of honey.

Notes

Adapted from: Wonderland Kitchen

Yields approximately 8 six-inch pancakes.

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