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Local Eats

Home Cooking & Takeout in Roslindale, West Roxbury and Beyond

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Swordfish Steak with Peppers and Onions

Hi G, made this the other night from pantry ingredients, it was good. The olives, olive oil and swordfish came from Droubie's and the Roslindale Fish Market.

Swordfish Steak with Peppers and Onions
Marinated then seared and cooked in the oven with vegetables.

Marinade:
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Garlic
Melinda's Hot Sauce
Salt & Pepper

Sauce:
Green Pepper
Onion
Celery
Black Olives
Garlic
Canned whole tomatoes
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Swordfish Steak
Heat oven to 350

Marinate the fish for thirty minutes or so. In the meantime cut the green pepper and onion into bite size pieces. Slice the celery, pit the olives, crush and mince the garlic. Get the GP, On, Cel and some S&P started in some olive oil over medium heat, five to seven minutes. Add the garlic and olives for a minute or two and then add enough tomatoes, broken up with your fingers, to make a sauce around the vegetables. A little juice from the can will also be needed. Season to taste with S&P and simmer for five minutes.
Wipe the fish dry, season with S&P and in a heated ovenproof pan sauté the fish for two minutes on each side. Cover with the vegetables and heat in the oven for about twelve minutes. Serve immediately.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

The ABC's of Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale

Italian Gourmet Food at Salumeria Italiana - Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale

The word 'Tradizionale' is a consortium-protected designation relating to various aging & organoleptic criteria. Modena and Reggio Emilia are two specific provinces within the region of Emilia-Romagna, each with its own consortium dedicated to the protection & enforcement of the D.O.P. status ('Denominazione di Origine Protetta'/protected designation of origin) accorded to Tradizionale balsamics. The Modena consortium divides their Tradizionale balsamics into TWO distinct age flights/packaging requirements, regardless of the brand: the 'at least 12 years old' type of Tradizionale, always sealed with an off-white colored foil cap; and then the 'more than 25 years old' type of Tradizionale, further called 'Extra Vecchio', which is always sealed with a gold foil cap. Modena Tradizionale balsamics always come in short, bulbous, onion-like 100 ml. glass bottles. The Reggio Emilia consortium, however, divides their 'Tradizionale' balsamics into THREE distinct age flights/packaging requirements (only two of which we're offering here now) regardless of the brand: the 'at least 12 years old' type of Tradizionale which always has a red seal or label affixed to the bottle; and then the 'more than 18 years old' type of Tradizionale, always with a silver seal or label; and finally there is the '25 years and older' type of Tradizionale, again designated 'Extra Vecchio', which always has a gold seal or label affixed to the bottle. Reggio Emilia Tradizionale balsamics come in 100 ml. glass bottles that are more slender and curvaceous than those from Modena (think 'upside-down tulip'; not onion.)

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Fornax Bread Baking Company... Giving Roslindale Its Bread

Want to know more about Fornax? This article, almost ten years old now, gives all the details. Update: they're now open on Sundays.
Fornax Bread Baking Company... Giving Roslindale Its Bread

fornax ham and brie sandwich


fornax ham and brie sandwich
Originally uploaded by Candlemaker.
Everything from Fornax Bakery is good and this ham and brie sandwich is no exception. Even the pickle and coleslaw were good. The only problem was I let J talk me into splitting a sandwich and I should have got a whole one. I'm still hungry.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Just Braise: Asian Inspired Beef Braise

I really love the sound of this braised beef, especially with the addition of an egg. Potatoes are out of my diet lately but I may have to make an exception and try this.
Also, I jus found this blog and I love the idea of a blog dedicated to braising. Can't wait to see more of the recipes.
Just Braise: Asian Inspired Beef Braise

Monday, November 20, 2006

Dumneazu: The Maramures Happy Meal.

Nitsa is an amazing woman, the source of much Maramures folkore and music, and a great cook. Well, she is if if you like the traditional meal of a black iron kettle of mamaliga cu brinza (corn meal porridge with sheep cheese) and a bottle of horinca.
Mamaliga is like polenta, but with balls. A coarser ground of corn meal than Italian polenta, more flavor, and the cheese is usally very rich with sheep fat, which cook out during the baking process. People eat this day in, day out for their whole lives in Maramures, and they are still stronger than almost any group of people I've ever seen. With a bottle of pure full strength horinca... the Maramures Happy Meal!
Dumneazu: The Maramures Happy Meal.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Kitchen Chick: Copyrighting Food

Copyrighting food and recipes, well copyright issues are certainly in the air these days so why not think about how they might apply to the world of food. Still, my gut reaction is to hope things stay as they are now.

Kitchen Chick: Copyrighting Food

Kitchen Chick: Fudgy Chocolate Brownies

These sound great as they feature the flavor of chocolate rather than the giant gooey sugar hit you get in most Death by, Triple chocolate chip, Genoise glazed modern brownie creations.

Kitchen Chick: Fudgy Chocolate Brownies

Monday, November 06, 2006

Chongqing lazi ji


Chongqing lazi ji
Originally uploaded by Candlemaker.
Chong Qing Chicken Cubes
Chongqing lazi ji


I got this recipe from an article in City Weekend.com. I've made it twice now and I'm starting to get the hang of it.
The chilies come in a big bag and they're available, along with the Sechuan peppercorns, at Super 88 and other Chinese markets in the Boston area. Everything else is easy to find and you can always use pale dry sherry if you can't find Shao Hsing.

Chicken legs off the bone or 3 boned chicken thighs
1 tsp cooking wine and 1/2 tsp salt
150g chopped dried chillies*
2tbs Sichuan peppercorns
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp cooking wine
1 tbsp chopped ginger
4 cloves of garlic -- sliced
20 g spring onions -- cut into lengths
1/2 tsp sugar
Soybean or groundnut oil for deep-frying and stir-frying
Chop the chicken into small cubes; marinade in 1 tsp of cooking wine and salt.
Heat 4 ladles of oil; add the chicken cubes and deep-fry until crisping round the edges. Remove the chicken and place on a plate.

Tip out the bulk of the oil, leaving about 2 tbsp. behind. Add the garlic, ginger and spring onion -- stir and then add the red chilies and Sichuan peppercorns. Fry for about 20 seconds, taking care not to burn the chilies. Put the chicken back in the wok, splash on the cooking wine and season with soy sauce, salt and sugar. Stir and take out.

*Far more than you will think you need.

Try The Korean Tofu Seafood Soup

Golembek found herself down at Harvard Vanguard recently, nothing serious, but it gave her a chance to go across the street and have lunch at Misono. She reports a good experience:

"I had a Korean tofu seafood soup. This was a
flavorful seafood broth seasoned with chili paste,
full of soft tofu, a couple of mussels in shell, a
couple of shrimp, and some squid. Some bits of
mushroom, onion, scallion, and finely diced zucchini
added texture. It was accompanied by a bowl of rice
and mounds of kimchee, spinach, and bean sprouts
attractively arranged on a rectangular dish. The
spinach and sprouts were steamed and lightly seasoned
with sesame oil. It was all very tasty and
inexpensive. The spiciness was right where I like it
- not too hot, but it left a good glow."

Sounds good G. Anything with chili paste in it can't be all bad.

Hannaford Rates Nutritional Value Of Their Products

From The New York Times via Yahoo News

Google Wanders Offline, Borat Rules: The Best of Today's Business - Yahoo! Finance: "A showdown over nutrition

New England grocery chain Hannaford Brothers has created a stir with a three-star system rating the nutritional value of the products it sells. Seventy-seven percent of the 27,000 products Hannaford rated received no stars, including some foods that suppliers advertise as being good for you. V8 vegetable juice was judged to have too much sodium, as were Healthy Choice frozen dinners. The food industry wasn't pleased. 'We don't like the idea that there are good and bad foods out there,' said John Faulkner, a Campbell Soup Company spokesman. (The New York Times, free registration required)"

The program is called Guiding Stars and I happen to agree with them on V-8 having too much sodium. Unfortunately the low sodium variety is not a good alternative for me because it just doesn't taste that good.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Batali To Be Roasted

From The Food Section
The Food Section

Twenty minutes a pound? We'll be here a month!

Panicotta with Raspberry Sauce Mmmmmmmm!


I'm not a big dessert guy but that sounds delicious.

Omni Brain: Brain Recipe