Recipe Review from 12/8/08

...and winter has arrived with a vengeance! We were hunkered down all day on Sunday with 30mph winds and blowing snow. It was so bad over in Wisc that they shut down the main highway between Superior and Ashland! That doesn't happen very often. I wasn't certain I was going to make it out of my driveway - the Husband was snow blowing at 10:00p last night but it all blew back in. Currently it is -4* with a -26* windchill. Yup. It's a little brisk!

And poor Kia-dog! She was out playing with the Husband this weekend and somehow ran into a stick hard enough to take a serious gouge out of her tummy/chest. She's back in a cone to prevent licking and give the spot a chance to start scabbing up. Poor us because she likes to take us out at the knees with her cone.

With the Husbands help last week, we made three new recipes:

(Picture from Cookinglight.com)

Lentil and Edamame Stew (Ckng Lght, Dec 08, pg 204) 4.0
This was very tasty and easy to make. I'm departing from my usual MO and attaching the recipe. I skipped the fresh mint and used dried parsley. It made about 5 servings.

Fava beans are traditional in this stew, which we updated with edamame. You can also substitute green peas for the edamame, if you like. Scoop up the thick stew with Teff Injera Bread or pita. Halve the portion if you'd like to serve this as a hearty side dish.

Yield
4 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)

Ingredients
1 cup dried lentils
3/4 cup frozen shelled edamame (green soybeans)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups minced red onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash of ground cloves
Preparation

1. Place lentils in a large saucepan; cover with water to 2 inches above lentils. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until tender. Drain well, and set aside.

2. Place edamame in a small saucepan; cover with water to 2 inches above edamame. Bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes or until edamame are tender. Remove from heat; drain well.

3. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, and tomatoes to pan; sauté 6 minutes or until onion is translucent, stirring often. Stir in lentils, edamame, juice, and remaining ingredients. Cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring often.

(Picture from Cookinglight.com)

Cornmeal Crusted {Coho} with Lime Butter (Ckng Lght, Dec 08 pg 250) 4.0
Another winner. I subbed coho for tilapia because we had some in the freezer. This recipe would be great with wild salmon. We were underwhelmed with the "lime butter" and ended-up adding some mayo to the sandwiches.

4 servings (serving size: 1 sandwich)

Ingredients
3 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
4 (6-ounce) tilapia fillets
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon grated lime rind
1/2 teaspoon fresh lime juice
4 (1 1/2-ounce) French bread rolls, toasted
4 (1/4-inch-thick) slices tomato
1 cup shredded red leaf lettuce
Preparation

1. Preheat broiler.

2. Combine the first 6 ingredients in a shallow dish. Coat both sides of fish with cooking spray. Dredge fish in cornmeal mixture.

3. Place fish on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork or until desired degree of doneness.

4. Combine butter, rind, and juice in a small bowl; stir well.

5. Spread 1 1/2 teaspoons butter mixture over cut side of each of 4 roll tops. Place 1 fillet, 1 tomato slice, and 1/4 cup lettuce on each of 4 roll bottoms. Place top halves of rolls on sandwiches.


{Roast Beef} and Veggies (Ckng Lght SlowCooker Ckbk, pg 13) 3.0
This recipe originally called for corned beef, but neither one of us are fans of that cut of meat so I subbed a basic roast. The flavors of this dish were good, but we would do one differently next time:

The potatoes, carrots and onions were overcooked and the cabbage undercooked. Recipe called for placing the veggies in the bottom of the crockpot, put the meat in the middle and the cabbage on top for the last hour. The meat and veggies ended up being overdone and the cabbage underdone. Less cooking time for the meat and veggies and add the cabbage much sooner.

Everything kinda "braises" in a mixture of water, beer and peppercorns. This made a lovely liquid that I pulled out and made gravy out of. Yum yum. This also made a lot for just two of us, but that turned out to be a good thing this past weekend!