A Tropical Dish for a Summer-y Evening

I went to Whole Foods with a list of ingredients needed for the menu using lamb from the current list. I came home with swordfish and mango salsa. Let me explain. The current menu is chock full of meals for fall! I planned to fill our bellies with warming meals including heavy, stew-like dishes, and hearty meats because it's getting colder outside, but it was 80 degrees today! Originally, I was going to make lamb anyway, because everything to do with that menu sounds delicious, and it's a weekend, which means I can take my time with a meal that will take a few hours to prepare...but lamb shoulders are crazy-expensive right now at Whole Foods, so I scanned the weekly specials for a back-up plan. Swordfish is on sale for $9.99 a pound, for a savings of 50%!? Okay...let's start with that! When I think of swordfish, I think of mango salsa - I don't know why exactly, but I always associate the two, so after getting my fish packaged, I headed to the produce department. Alas, the mangoes were the opposite of ripe, so I then made a beeline for the salsa and chips aisle, where I picked up a jar of shelf-stable mango salsa. I know, I normally don't buy packaged items like this, but...this was an emergency! :)

I also grabbed a bottle of Caribbean mango marinade from the seafood department, and some berries and Mascarpone for a dessert I was contemplating. The rest of the ingredients...well, I had those already. Once I arrived home, I placed the swordfish steaks into a dish and coated each one with marinade, turning it a few times. I covered the dish with plastic wrap and threw it in the refrigerator to marinate for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, I pulled out some baby greens with herbs salad mix, some baby arugula and a giant red pepper that I bought at the farmer's market last week. Voila! Side dish - accomplished.

I used another bottled product here, because I love these salad dressings! Cindy's Kitchen makes a line of refrigerated, all-natural dressings with some wonderful varieties, and while I usually only have one bottle at a time in the fridge, they come in very handy for quick salads! My husband found this new variety last time he came with me to the grocery store, and we both love it! The Fresh Avocado Vinaigrette has great flavor, coats the greens in a salad very nicely, and is a really cool green color too! It's delicious, and I highly recommend it...or any of the other flavors offered by Cindy's Kitchen!

When my broiler was preheated, I took the swordfish out of the fridge and placed it on a broiler pan. Into the oven it went, for about 4 minutes. When the timer went off, I took the pan out of the oven, flipped the swordfish steaks, and basted them with a bit more marinade before returning them to the oven for another 4 minutes. At that point, the steaks weren't completely cooked, so I put them in for another minute...and...perfecto! If you cut into the fish, you'll see that it's flaky, and can remain a bit pink in the very center. You don't want to overcook it! I served the fish with mango salsa on the side, although the marinade was very flavorful and it didn't need much in the way of extra sauce!

After we'd both enjoyed our meal, I went back into the kitchen to whip up a quick dessert. I had bought some fresh berries, and some Mascarpone. I added lemon zest and some confectioners' sugar to it, and stirred it all together...that part's done! I poured the berries into a pot with some more confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, and a splash of limoncello (because dessert is always better with a little liquor!) After allowing that to cook down and macerate for about 10 minutes, I removed it from the heat and allowed it to cool for a bit before using some of our water glasses to assemble a very pretty sort of trifle. I layered the Mascarpone mixture with the berry mixture, and it made for a delicious, albeit very quick, dessert. I think the berries are at the end of their season though - they were a bit tart. It may be 80 degrees outside, but the effects of Fall can be tasted in most ingredients that are not native to this time of year. It must be time to move on to apples, and other fall-ripened fruits!

Dinner At My Place

I've finally gone grocery shopping (thank goodness!) and tonight, I made a full menu from my new Tyler Florence cookbook, Dinner At My Place. This book is separated into full 3-course menus for all sorts of occasions. The one I chose this time around is called Workin' Late.

Penne with spicy Italian sausage, cream, tomatoes, and peas

Bibb lettuce with tarragon vinaigrette

Sweet lemon ricotta with mixed berries and biscotti

Yes, I know...that sounds DELICIOUS! This menu had a lot of moving parts but as a whole, it was pretty easy to pull together, and while I chose to do it on a weekend, this could totally work for a weeknight meal! 

The first thing I did was get the salad components together since that was probably the easiest part. Whole Foods had NO tarragon today, but luckily, I had purchased a delicious lemon tarragon dressing the other day, which happened to include all the ingredients that the recipe asked for : dijon mustard, honey, lemon, olive oil, and tarragon. I added some shallots to the dressing and set it aside, so that I could dress my Bibb lettuce right before plating!

Once that was completed, I prepared my mise en place for the main course. I grabbed spicy Italian sausage links, dried penne, extra virgin olive oil, an onion, garlic cloves, a can of crushed tomatoes, basil, kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, heavy whipping cream, blanched peas, and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

First things first, I preheated my oven to 350 degrees, and put the sausage links in to cook for 15 minutes. I turned them about half way through, even though the recipe didn't specifically mention it, because I wanted them to be nice and evenly browned. Once those were finished, I sliced them on a diagonal so that each piece had a nice surface area for the sauce to grab on to.

I added two glugs of olive oil to a heavy pot, and heated it. Once warm, I threw in my chopped onions and garlic and allowed them to cook until translucent and fragrant. I added the tomatoes and basil, and allowed that mixture to simmer for 15 minutes. During that time, I was also boiling water for my dried penne.

When the 15 minutes was up, I poured the heavy cream into the sauce and stirred, allowing it to cook until it was rich and creamy. Look how the color changes too! (At this point, I also poured my penne into the boiling water I had going...timing is everything, people!)

I added the sausage, blanched peas, and Parmigiano-Reggiano to my sauce, and stirred, letting it cook a few more minutes to warm everything through evenly. I then set the stove to low, so that it would stay warm while I finished everything up (and waited for Matt to get home from his hockey game!) 

Finally, I put some ricotta, lemon zest and powdered sugar in the food processor and blended it together until fluffy. I hulled and sliced some strawberries, and put them in a pot with some raspberries, blueberries and blackberries. I squeezed the juice of one lemon over the mixed berries, and added a bit of powdered sugar. The acid of the lemon helps to macerate the berries over a low heat, for about 10 minutes.

For plating, I tossed the Bibb lettuce with the dressing and put it on the plates first. I then served a healthy portion of the pasta alongside it, garnished with a few basil leaves and a showering of parmesan. For dessert, I added a few spoonfuls of the lemon ricotta fluffiness to a ramekin and topped it with the macerated berries that I had cooked earlier, and allowed to cool. I stuck an almond biscotti into each ramekin and voila...YUM!