Greek Lamb with Yogurt Mint Sauce

August 28, 2015 by Laura Messersmith in Cooking with the Contessa

Each week I follow along with Ina Garten (aka the Barefoot Contessa) and attempt to recreate one of her dishes in my tiny New York City kitchen. The catch? This is my version of cooking school and I’m making these recipes for the first time. I’ll share both my successes and um, challenges, along the way and we’ll see if I can keep up with the Contessa!

Episode: “Herb Story”

The Set-up: Ina is taking her cues from the herbs she grows in her garden.

The Menu: Greek Lamb with Yogurt Mint Sauce, Oregano, Tomato and Feta Salad, Heirloom Tomatoes with Tarragon

0:21 – Ina takes us back into the garden where she has a Fort Knox level wall around her herbs to keep out the deer. Certainly more attractive than chicken wire fencing!

1:33 – As she lists off everything she grows back here – parsley, basil, chives, thyme, mint – I can see why fresh herbs are such a big part of her cooking this is bordering on a farm!

2:06 – Ina says when she thinks about making a marinade for the Greek Lamb with Yogurt Mint Sauce she goes immediately to the classics. As she said, “what grows together, goes together” … “why fight it?”

3:10 – In this case she’s using a ton of rosemary because it has a strong flavor that can stand up to the lamb.

4:27 – Ina is mixing the marinade right in the dish that the lamb will rest in which I am all about, except that my “dish” is a ziplock bag inside a food storage container. The better to clean up quickly, my dear!

5:39 – Lamb chops are on the grill and Ina cautions us not to overcook them – easy to do with a too hot fire and a teensy piece of meat.

6:44 – We also get a little food safety lesson when she reminds us not to use the marinade on the cooked meat.

10:03 – Back in the garden to collect mint and dill for the Greek Lamb with Yogurt Mint Sauce. Pro Tip #1: Measuring herbs accurately is easier when they’re roughly chopped.

11:18 – This is a straightforwardly Greek inspired recipe and I think I read somewhere that dill is a heavily used herb in Greek cooking. Google will know for sure…

12:42 – The mini food processor makes another appearance for the yogurt sauce which Ina says is so thick that she’s going to put it underneath the lamb chops.

13:01 – Now for the Oregano, Tomato and Feta Salad essentially big wedges of tomato, slices of feta, and a little arugula dressed with a splash of red wine vinegar, olive oil, and a sprinkle of dried oregano.

14:14 – Pro Tip #2: Rub the dried oregano between your palms to release the oils before sprinkling over the salad.

15:26 – Ina’s friend Frank shows up and they escape to the garden to pretend they’re in Mykonos over dinner. (“Don’t tell Jeffrey!”)

19:33 – We’re in New York now at Eli Zabar’s greenhouse on top of his specialty food store picking tomatoes for a salad of Heirloom Tomatoes with Tarragon.

20:05 – A few herbs are selected and then Eli and Ina go down into the kitchen with their flat of loot.

21:47 – We’re getting a little arranging lesson as Eli cuts the tomatoes into vertical slices and wedges of all sizes emphasizing the variety of colors and textures.

22:11 – On to the seasoning and Eli explains that since tomatoes are a fruit the heavy dose of salt and vinegar will draw out the sugars and juices to create the dressing.

23:30 – We’re supposed to let the seasoning sit for a little, but Ina is impatient so they taste immediately. Here’s the word: basil is OUT, tarragon is IN when it comes to tomato salads.

27:02 – A little “Ask Ina” on herb related questions. Not that kind of herb! Bill wants to know if he can substitute dried herbs when Ina’s recipe calls for fresh. Short answer: no. Long answer: who knows how long those dried herbs have been preserved? PS: Look at my spice drawer – no herbs!!

28:38 – Deborah would like a recommendation on which herbs to grow, and Mike needs advice on which variety of basil is best? Ina says you should grow what you like and recommends Genovese basil (the large leafed type commonly found in stores.)

29:45 – Last question - Kim needs help storing her fresh herbs? Ina says wash, dry very carefully, and keep in a sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator. Or, mince them up and store them in an ice cube tray in the freezer so you can pop a cube into a recipe when you’re cooking.

Final Thoughts:
I absolutely need to try Ina’s method for storing herbs – they are the bane of my existence the way they wilt so quickly!

I love the simplicity of the recipes in this episode, just allowing the flavors and freshness to be the stars.

Did anyone else have major flashbacks to My Big Fat Greek Wedding? “That’s okay; I make lamb!”

Lessons Learned:
I have never cooked lamb before and most of my experiences with it have been of the shady, “what’s in this gyro?,” mystery meat variety; the most egregious of which was during our trip to Croatia when we tried the much-hyped ćevapčići. No thanks. All that to say, I didn’t think I liked lamb, but if anyone could convince me it would be Ina Garten and her Greek Lamb with Yogurt Mint Sauce.

Read the Recipe – I must have been half awake when I mixed the marinade for this recipe because in re-reading it I realized I was supposed to use the food processor and the ingredients called for red wine, not red wine vinegar. I also didn’t buy enough lemons (why?) and had to substitute lemon greek yogurt in the sauce. Thankfully it appears that my mistakes were imperceptible in the final results, and dare I say might have even improved the recipe?

Marinating – The recipe recommends at least 2 hours, I marinated mine over night (about 20 hours in total) and it’s well worth doing that far in advance. The flavor really permeates the meat. Same deal with the yogurt sauce, the longer the herbs are in contact with the yogurt the more they meld and develop.

Cooking Lamb – If you can cook a pork chop or a bone-in steak then lamb is essentially just a miniature version of those two cuts. A cast iron grill pan pre-heated over medium flame is your friend and Ina’s cooking time (4-5 minutes per side) is perfect. Make sure the meat good contact with the pan so that it sears and don’t neglect to crisp up the edges!

Small Kitchen Friendly?
Yes! A small food processor will be helpful in both stages, along with and measuring cups and spoons. I also used a medium cutting board, chef’s knife, a cast iron grill pan, and tongs. A ziptop bag, aluminum foil and a large food storage container will come in handy too.

The Verdict:
I was really prepared not to like Greek Lamb with Yogurt Mint Sauce and frankly I was nervous to serve it to Mike, but we both though this recipe was delicious!!! (Yes, three exclamation points.) The marinade imparts a great blend of bright lemon and spikey rosemary; and the sauce is beautifully fresh and light. I don’t know if I’ll be ordering lamb left and right in restaurants now, but I can fully endorse this recipe, even for people who think they don’t like lamb. A perfect special occasion dish that takes very little effort to get great results.

Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa

August 25, 2015 by Laura Messersmith in Cooking

If you had asked me, say 10 years ago, whether I’d be eating, let alone recommend making fish tacos I’d have said you were nuts. Before I lived in Texas I had a weird, Taco Bell-informed concept of Tex-Mex where I assumed everything would be (should be?) spicy, melted-cheese covered, and possibly involving pinto beans. None of those words, perhaps with the exception of spicy, was anything I wanted anywhere near fish. Eww. No way.

And so, I avoided the fish tacos on every menu like the plague until one fine day shortly after we moved to Dallas we stopped at a roadside taco stand housed in a converted gas station called Rusty Taco. The menu was a revelation to this Yankee that things other than ground beef and a ton of shredded jack cheese could be contained in a soft tortilla. Mike and I ordered a variety of their offerings, pork with pineapple, brisket, and you guessed it: fish.

Another revelation. I loved the bright freshness of the white fish topped with a squeeze of lime, layered over a bed of crunchy thinly sliced red cabbage, and lightly drizzled with spicy crema. I was a new convert to the dish and psyched by the realization that stopping for a taco (or 2 or 3) didn’t have to mean a queso-induced food coma.

The recipe below isn’t a direct interpretation of Rusty’s version, just my personal preferences drawn from the many variations I’ve eaten since. But I’ll still remember and tip my cap to that first bite sitting under the whirling fan, just out of the hot Texas sun with a cold margarita to keep me company.

Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa (serves 4)

Ingredients:
2 pounds fresh mahi mahi, skin removed
1 package small soft tacos, 8 flour or 16 corn (plan to double up if using corn)
2 cups shredded red cabbage
2 cups (2 medium) diced ripe mangos
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
4 limes, divided
3 tablespoons minced cilantro, divided
5 ounces lime yogurt
2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper

Instructions:
Zest and juice three of the four limes. Cut the fourth lime into 8 wedges and reserve. Next, peel and dice the mangos into 1/3 inch pieces and place in a medium mixing bowl. Add the red onion, cilantro, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and 2-3 tablespoons lime juice according to taste. Mix the ingredients together until evenly combined and set aside in the refrigerator.

Next, in a small bowl mix the lime yogurt with 1 tablespoon lime zest, 1 tablespoon lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and set aside in the refrigerator.

To cook the fish, heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers and just begins to smoke. While the oil heats, pat the mahi mahi dry with paper towels and cut into 1/2 inch wide strips. Sprinkle one side generously with kosher salt and ground black pepper just before adding to the pan placing the seasoned side down.

Cook in batches if necessary to give the fish plenty of room, and don’t try to move or turn them until 3-4 minutes have passed and the edges have begun to turn golden brown. If the pieces begin to curl up, or aren’t getting enough contact with the pan, gently press the fish down with a spatula. While the first side is cooking, sprinkle the unseasoned side with kosher salt and pepper.

When you’re ready to turn, use a spatula to gently nudge the edges, they should come away from the pan with minimal effort. Flip and cook another 3 minutes on the other side until the fish is just opaque. Same rules apply – no fiddling, give them room.

When all the fish has been cooked, assemble the tacos by layering 2 corn tortillas, then topping with a drizzle of the lime cilantro crema, shredded red cabbage, and 2-3 pieces of mahi mahi. Add a spoonful of the mango salsa and serve immediately with the lime wedges.

Salsa adapted from Bon Appétit’s Mango Salsa. Need more advice on handling mangoes? Real Simple has a great video tutorial! What about your fish pan-frying game? Saveur and Fine Cooking both have excellent advice on the subject.

Small Kitchen Friendly?

Yes! I used a medium mixing bowl, small bowl, and 12” sauté pan along with a Y-shaped peeler, chef’s knife, microplane grater, a rubber spatula and a metal spatula. (A flexible fish spatula would be ideal, but I don’t own one at the moment!) You’ll also want a liquid measuring cup, measuring spoons, and some paper towels.

And, depending on your ventilation situation a small fan placed in the kitchen window is a useful addition.

The Verdict:
To me, this dish just sings of summer whether that’s in a breezy coastal location or punishingly hot North Texas and is the perfect dinner to make when it’s too hot to cook, but not quite too hot to eat. The mahi mahi is tender underneath it’s thin golden exterior, red cabbage gives the taco a crisp texture, and the whole package is jubilant with it’s punchy lime-spiked crema and fragrant mango salsa dressings. Simple and perfect.

Chicagoland + Reading Material - Part II

August 21, 2015 by Laura Messersmith

The bridal shower and bachelorette party extravaganza weekend earlier this month went swimmingly, thanks for asking. Cooking and recipes went smoothly with the exception of some mini-blueberry galettes. My own personal #pinterestfail was saved by quick thinking and a little ingenuity aka a replacement angelfood cake from the bakery served with fresh strawberries. A quick shot of the prep for one app above – I was running around so much I swear all the others were blurry!

And now, the actual big day is here we’re back out to Chicago this weekend for my sister-in-law’s wedding! Since once again I am abandoning you for the Midwest I’ll offer a few items for your reading enjoyment….

Reading Material:
This is a few weeks old, but still relevant since when is good advice ever stale? New York Magazine has collected 25 pearls of wisdom from some famous ladies.

Congratulations to Chef Jacques Pepin on receiving the first Julia Child Award! (via The Washington Post)

I love the way the authors of “Fictitious Dishes” have sought to bring famous meals described in literature to life.

A fantastic list of ideas from Town and Country for desserts featuring gloriously sweet pineapple. This one in particular is living in my dreams, so please pretend to be surprised when it shows up on the blog later, okay?

Oh, Pinterest. You never cease (or is it fail?) to be inspiring, but recreating the fabulous [hand-dyed napkins/decorated cookies/reclaimed bookshelf] just ends in tears. Refinery 29 clearly gets it with their Five Phases of a Pinterest Fail.

Couscous with Pine Nuts & Currants

August 20, 2015 by Laura Messersmith in Cooking with the Contessa

Episode: “Friends of Friends”

The Set-up: Ina and Michael the Florist TM are cooking dinner for some of his “foodie” friends.

The Menu: Roasted Striped Bass, Couscous with Pinenuts, Meringues Chantilly

0:39 – We’re diving right in with Meringues Chantilly and whipping egg whites with cream of tartar.

1:20 – Cream of Tartar sounds like something that belongs more on a seafood plate, but a quick search tells me it’s a stabilizer.

2:14 – Ina is so tricky - she’s tracing the rim of a glass on the back side of a sheet of parchment paper so that there’s a guide to follow when she pipes the meringues and they’re all the same size.

3:08 – Interesting! Pro Tip #1: Fold in (rather than beating) the last 1/2 cup of sugar to the whipped eggs whites for a more tender meringue.

4:51 – Ina advises us not to make meringues on a rainy day (damp air = chewy meringue), but that’s exactly when I’d want to tackle a project like this!

5:27 – Pro Tip #2: Pipe the meringues starting from the center of the circle and spiraling outward to the edge, then go over your outer ring again to make a shallow bowl. Genius.

6:03 – Over to Michael the Florist TM to see what he’s planning for the table. So far it’s an old-fashioned tin colander full of green grapes with some leaves tucked in, like that will fool us into thinking this took work.

7:16 - We’re back with Ina to make stewed berries for the meringues. When she started with just water I was confused, but I know my girl and she was soon in the pantry getting a bottle of framboise liqueur.

8:35 – To the fresh berry sauce Ina adds more un-cooked berries and sets everything aside to be assembled later as the meringues cool and crisp up in the oven.

11:44 – Roasted Striped Bass is the main course, but first let’s raise our suspicions that these “friends of friends” will be just the worst before backtracking and postulating that because they’re good cooks they’ll actually be cool.

12:01 – You know what? That’s fair. I bet there are Friends of Ina (FOI) who have a passel of people just dying to meet her and trying to wrangle dinner invitations all the time. You know I would if I had an FOI of my very own…

13:12 – Over to Michael the Florist TM again and I’d like to retract my earlier snide remark, because this is actually clever: he’s used little bud vases of each attendee’s favorite flower instead of place cards.

14:29 – Right. Let’s focus on the recipe, shall we? It involves sautéing onions, pancetta, and garlic with saffron, chopped tomatoes and white wine, along with Ina’s favorite Pernod.

15:57 – Hmm. I wonder how this is going to work? Ina has sea bass, mussels and shrimp all together in the roasting pan – but I’d think they would need different cooking times?

19:23 – I was hoping for a comment on the seafood cooking process, but it’s out of the oven already and we’re on to Couscous with Pinenuts.

20:51 – Ina says she loves to share the responsibilities of a party with friends, but it seems like she has the lion’s share of the effort!

21:06 – Is anyone else almost categorically unable to toast nuts without burning the first batch?

22:40 – Pro Tip #3: Fluff the couscous with a fork (no spoons!) to keep it light.

23:55 – A little montage of packing the stewed berries, couscous, striped bass, and meringues and she’s off!

26:09 – Ina has taken command of Michael the Florist TM’s kitchen and is whipping heavy cream and sprinkling chopped parsley like mad.

27:38 – The dreaded “foodie” friends have arrived and they all look like appropriately lipsticked suburban women. None of them appears to be carrying a stack of Ina’s cookbooks for her signature, which is a mistake if you ask me.

28:24 – Everyone finds their favorite flower “placecard” and the table really does look charming now that the candle are lit. In case you’re wondering there is a sunflower, pink peony, yellow calla lily, pansies, lily of the valley, pink roses, blue hydrangea and of course our girl’s orange tulips.

29:30 – Dinner appears to be a great success, but someone forgot to tell the friends never to bring chocolate cake when Ina has made meringues. Rookie mistake.

Final Thoughts:
I really need to attempt a meringue soon. No more egg white intimidation!

The idea of favorite flower place cards is pretty cute. I should know better than to question Michael the Florist TM.

How do people find that perfect pinkish nude shade of lipstick? If I ever do then I’ll know I’ve officially become a grown-up.

Lessons Learned:
This recipe for Couscous with Pinenuts is dynamite, and the ingredient list is so simple I can’t believe I didn’t think of it myself. It’s not that I’ve never made couscous before, it’s that it has always come from a Near East box and I was never sure about how to achieve the same depth of flavor when starting from square one.

Shallots – The little allium that could. Their flavor is subtle and distinct – not as sharp as onion or scallions, more delicate than garlic – there’s no substitute that I’m aware of and a scant 3/4 cup sautéed in butter worked wonders managing to perfume an entire pot of couscous. Angels sing.

Chicken Stock – Never underestimate the power of replacing water with chicken stock (and a not insubstantial amount of butter) for amping up the flavor. Assuming you don’t have vegetarians coming for dinner I’d start doing this all the time with pilafs, stews, etc.

Currants – The addition of pine nuts was straightforward since many box versions of couscous contain them or toasted almonds, etc. However, the currants were a bit of a surprise, mainly because when I actually tasted them they were sweet; not tart as I expected them to be. A little research uncovered what is typically sold as a “dried currant” is actually a grape and therefore really just a tiny raisin, not the sharply flavored red berry you might occasionally see sold fresh. If you’re actually looking for tartness a cranberry or even cherry is probably a better bet.

Small Kitchen Friendly?
Totally. All I needed was a 2 quart sauce pan (with lid!), a liquid measuring cup, dry measuring cups, a small cutting board, and a chef’s knife. A table fork to fluff it all together and you’re set!

The Verdict:
Is it odd to rhapsodize about a couscous recipe? If so, then get ready for an odd paragraph singing the praises of Couscous with Pinenuts. I love how easy it would be to switching out some of the additions maybe thyme instead of parsley, or chopped apricots in place of the “currants.” Yes, a boxed version is still slightly faster, but couscous is so quick to make that the extra five or six minutes of sautéing hardly makes a difference in total effort and the results are 100% worth it.