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Main Course Menu Plan: Week 8 Fall I
Day 1: Bacalao a la Marinera (Fisherman's Cod)
Total time: 30 minutes
This is a Spanish dish that would, traditionally, be made with dried, salted cod. I used fresh. In Spain you can buy the bacalao dry as a board or already reconstituted and rinsed. You can substitute any white fish: tilapia, snapper, mahi mahi; adjust cooking times slightly, according to thickness.
Ingredients:
- 12oz (360gr) cod filets or other white fish, fresh or frozen and thawed
- 1oz (30gr) slivered or chopped almonds
- 1/2 onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 3/4 cup (15oz, 450gr) chopped tomatoes, drained
- 1/3 cup (3oz, 90ml) white wine
- 2 bay (laurel) leaves
- 2 tbs dry bread crumbs
Instructions:
- Finely chop the onion and garlic.
- Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and sauté until tender.
- Drain tomatoes, reserving juice for another use. Roughly chop the tomatoes.
- Add tomatoes to pan along with white wine and bay leaves.
- Bring to a simmer and let cook, uncovered, 5 minutes or until thickened.
- Remove bay leaves and stir in bread crumbs.
- Place fish in baking dish just large enough to hold it in one layer.
- Spoon the sauce over, sprinkle with almonds and cover either with a lid or foil.
- Bake at 400F (200C) for about 15 minutes, or until fish is done.
- Uncover for the last 5 minutes of baking time. Fish flakes easily when done. (If you have pieces more than 1" (2.5cm) thick it may take 20 minutes.)
- Remove fish from dish, place on a small platter and serve.
Day 2: Braised Lamb in Red Wine
Total time: 2 hours
Slow-cooking lamb in wine is typical all over France. This uses red wine, similar to the version made in Avignon. The original is slowly baked for 5 hours in a 350F (180C) oven; I opted for a slow braise on the cook top. After 2 hours the flavors have blended perfectly and the lamb melts in your mouth.
Ingredients:
- 14oz (420gr) lamb, shoulder or leg pieces are fine, buy a bit more if there is bone - but the bone adds flavor
- 1 onion
- 4 shallots
- 4 cloves garlic
- 3oz (90gr) bacon
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 cup (8oz, 240ml) red wine, something hearty - Cote du Rhone, Cabernet Sauvignon
- 2 tsp beef paste, granules or 1 stock cube
- 2 tsp dried rosemary or fresh
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tsp dried parsley
- 4 bay (laurel) leaves
Instructions:
- Roughly chop bacon.
- Cut onion into quarters, then slice.
- Slice shallots.
- Mince garlic.
- Cut lamb into 1 1/2" (4cm) pieces and trim excess fat.
- Heat oil in a heavy pot or Dutch oven with tight-fitting lid. Add bacon and sauté until starting to get crisp.
- Add onion, shallots, garlic and sauté until tender.
- Add lamb and lightly brown.
- Add all remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
- Cover, turn heat to low and braise for 90 minutes.
- Serve lamb with onions/shallots and pan juices.
Day 3: Tuna and Goat Cheese Lasagne
Total time: 50 minutes
This is a simple lasagne, using no cooked ingredients. Because there is no hot sauce to start, I increased the baking time by 10 minutes. I puréed whole tomatoes rather than using prepared sauce.... It has a fresher taste.
Ingredients:
- 4oz (120gr) pimiento or roasted red pepper
- 12oz (360gr) tuna
- 1/2 cup Greek olives about 20 olives
- 5oz (150gr) chevre, goat cheese (the creamy kind in the little square carton, in Europe it's Chevraux, in the U.S. Chavrie)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup (2oz, 60ml) milk
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 3/4 cups (15oz, 450gr) whole tomatoes
- 1 tsp basil
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/4 cup (2oz, 60ml) white wine
- 12 - 15 no-cook lasagne noodles
- 1/2 cup (2oz, 60gr) Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup (2oz, 60gr) shredded cheese I used Gruyère
Instructions:
- Open and drain tuna. Put it into a bowl or on a plate and flake with a fork.
- Open and drain pimiento, slice or chop if whole.
- Purée the tomatoes, with all juices, in a blender.
- Add the herbs, garlic and wine, mixing well.
- Put the egg in a medium bowl and whisk lightly.
- Add the goat cheese and milk and whisk well to combine.
- Pit the olives if needed and roughly chop.
- Shred and/or grate the cheeses
- Now you are ready to assemble:
- In a 10" (25cm) square baking dish, or so... make the following layers
- 1/3 tomato sauce
- 3 - 5 noodles breaking to fit as needed
- 1/2 goat cheese sauce
- all of shredded cheese
- 3 - 5 noodles
- 1/3 tomato sauce
- all of the pimiento
- all of the tuna
- 3 - 5 noodles
- 1/2 goat cheese sauce
- all of the olives
- 3 - 5 noodles
- 1/3 tomato sauce
- sprinkle with Parmesan cheese
- Cover and bake 400F (200C) for 25 - 30 minutes, or until noodles are done. Test in center with a sharp knife.
- When noodles are tender, uncover and bake 5 minutes longer to brown cheese.
- Remove and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Cut into squares (or oblongs) and serve.
Day 4: Chicken Breasts with Sherried Mushrooms
Total time: 30 minutes
Mushrooms soak up the flavors they're cooked with, and when simmered with a bit of sherry, they turn simple chicken breasts into an elegant, gourmet dish suitable for guests... or just a delicious mid-week treat. For a dinner party I would use the cream... Midweek I use the milk or stock - which is what's on the List.
Ingredients:
- 2 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
- 5oz (150gr) mushrooms
- 1/4 cup (2oz, 60ml) sherry
- 3/8 cup (3oz, 90ml) milk
- 1/2 cup (2oz, 60gr) shredded cheese, Gruyère
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 tbs white Balsamic vinegar or white wine tarragon
Instructions:
- Clean and thickly slice mushrooms.
- Heat oil in medium nonstick skillet.
- Add chicken breasts and brown on both sides, about 10 minutes total.
- Remove and keep warm.
- Add mushrooms and vinegar to pan and sauté 5 minutes.
- Add sherry to mushrooms and scrape up any browned bits.
- Return chicken to pan, turn heat to low and simmer 5 - 10 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.
- Sprinkle chicken breasts with cheese and cover briefly, just until cheese melts.
- Remove chicken and cover with the pan lid to keep warm.
- Increase the heat to medium high and add the milk to the pan.
- Boil rapidly, stirring, for about 3 minutes, until sauce has reduced and thickened.
- Spoon mushroom sauce over the chicken and serve.
Day 5: Turkey Cutlets Piccata
Total time: 25 minutes
Thinly sliced turkey cutlets cook quickly and are a great substitute for the veal cutlets normally used in this dish. If you can't get them get a turkey tenderloin and either slice it into thin cutlets yourself or ask your butcher. You could also use boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
Ingredients:
- 2 - 4 turkey cutlets, 12oz, (360gr)
- 1/2 onion
- 2 tbs capers
- 1 lemon
- 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) chicken stock (broth)
- 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) white wine
- 1 tbs cornstarch (maizena, corn flower) dissolved in 1 tbs water
- 1 tbs olive oil
Instructions:
- Chop the onion.
- Slice the lemon and pick the seeds out of the slices.
- In medium nonstick skillet sauté the onion until tender.
- Move onions to sides of pan and sauté turkey cutlets until lightly brown on both sides.
- Add the chicken stock, wine and the capers.
- Place the lemon slices on top of the turkey cutlets, cover, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
- Remove turkey cutlets (with lemon slices on top) to a platter and keep warm.
- Stir in the cornstarch mixture and heat, stirring until thick.
- Serve cutlets with sauce on the side - sprinkle on more capers if you like.
Day 6: Oriental Beef and Vegetables
Total time: 30 minutes
You could substitute thinly sliced flank steak or beef pre-cut for stir-fry if you prefer. Any bits of vegetable left in the fridge would be fine in this: sliced Brussels sprouts, broccoli, whatever.
Ingredients:
- 8oz ground beef (mince 240gr)
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 green pepper
- 1 medium carrot
- 3oz (90gr) mushrooms
- 2 ribs celery
- 4oz (120gr) water chestnuts
- 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) beef stock
- 1 tbs tomato paste (or ketchup if you don't have tomato paste)
- 3 slices peeled ginger, about 1" diameter (2.5cm) 1/16th" thick
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 tsp sesame or walnut oil
- 1 tbs cornstarch (or thickener of choice) dissolved in
- 2 tbs soy sauce
- 1/2 cup (3.3oz, 95gr) quick-cooking brown rice substitute Basmati
- 1 cup (8oz, 240ml) beef stock or whatever your rice calls for
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
Instructions:
- Mince garlic
- Chop onion and pepper.
- Clean and slice mushrooms.
- Slice celery at an angle into 1/8 inch slices.
- Cut carrot into matchsticks.
- Drain and slice water chestnuts.
- Peel and chop ginger.
- In large non-stick skillet heat oils over medium-high heat.
- Add onion, celery, pepper and carrots and stir-fry 5 minutes.
- Add mushrooms, garlic and ginger and stir-fry 3 minutes more.
- Add beef and sauté breaking it up as it browns.
- When beef is brown add chestnuts, tomato paste and stock.
- Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer 5 minutes.
- Give the cornstarch mixture a stir to recombine. Turn the heat up under the skillet and add the cornstarch mixture, stirring constantly until thickened. Serve over rice.
- Rice
- Cook rice according to package instructions adding the oregano with the stock
- Fluff and serve.
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