Sweet-n-Spicy Marinade: Saying Goodbye to Summer

Even though it's officially the last day of summer, we are hanging on to the last remnants of the season here in Northern Virginia, where it could reach the upper 80's today.  We've had some great weather the past week.  Luckily, my friends' gardens are still producing, and I am fortunate that they are generous, because it gives me a chance to use ingredients I wouldn't normally buy. For example, one of them gave me a couple of habaneros. I have never used them before, but I knew they were hot - they have heat, but still have a light, citrus-y flavor.  I thought a sweet and spicy marinade might be good.  I added honey and a little water to keep the heat from getting to be too much, and a little smoked paprika for depth.  I think it's a great combination of heat and sweet.

This marinade was good with chicken (marinated for about 3 hours), but I think it would taste great on shrimp, too.  Maybe even tilapia for fish tacos.  Be careful when marinating seafood, because the acid from the lime will start to cook the fish/shrimp, ceviche-style.

Another note: I would recommend grilling or broiling over pan-frying, just because the honey in the marinade will start to burn on the pan before the meat is done.  Here is a gnarly picture of the pan as I was cooking the chicken:

The chicken itself didn't burn (it tasted awesome) but when the marinade hit the heat, that honey made it really dark.

Sweet-n-Spicy Marinade

Ingredients:

1 habanero pepper (could use jalapeno if that's what you have)
1 lime
2 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup water
1/2 bunch of cilantro, stems and leaves, rinsed
1/2 cup olive oil
(you could also add a little soy sauce or salt, if you like)


Cut the pepper in half and remove seeds and ribs inside the pepper (most of the heat of the pepper is held in the ribs, secondarily the seeds).  Drop pepper halves into a blender.  Cut lime into quarters, squeeze juice into blender, then toss the rest of the lime in.  Peel and coarsely chop garlic, add to the blender, along with honey, water, oil and cilantro.  Cover blender and puree all ingredients until nearly smooth (there should still be small bits, and that's okay).  Pour marinade over protein of choice.  I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs, but shrimp or tilapia would be good (no more than 20 minutes -- the lime juice will start cooking the meat - kind of like ceviche).  Pork would also work. Marinate pork or chicken for about an hour, but a little longer isn't going to hurt, either.




The family liked this one -- even my younger son, who is usually sensitive to spicy stuff.  The flavor of this is not punch-you-in-the-face spicy. It's subtle and light and doesn't linger on your tongue too long.  Hope you like it!

Tuna Melt O' My Heart!

What is it about tuna melts?  They are so comforting and delicious, but I rarely make them. Maybe I just sort of forget about them, until I need something for dinner when I haven't planned anything else.  Tuna melts to the rescue! And please don't get on me about the dry mini-carrots. I told you, I didn't have much else, so we had to do with what we had. Deal, people.  My life is not picture perfect.  :-)

I don't usually have English muffins on hand, so that was really the only thing I had to buy specifically for this recipe. If you don't have actual English muffins, you could do this just on regular bread, too.  Same technique will work for both.

Surprisingly, even my picky eater ate two of these, so you might want to try it with your kids (they even at those dry carrots).  Make sure they wait a little for the cheese to cool, otherwise they might burn the tops of their mouths.  Happens to me almost every time!  :-)

For a non-dairy variation, I broiled one without cheese, then added sliced avocado after I took them out of the oven.  It was delicious, and I didn't miss the cheese (much) at all!

And, in case you don't have either of these tools, you really need to get them if you like to eat tuna salad.  The Pampered Chef can opener and can strainer are fabulous!!

Tuna Melts, My Way


2 cans white albacore tuna, packed in water, drained
two big spoonfuls of mayonnaise (approx. 1/3 cup)
1 stalk celery, small (1/4 inch) dice
2 green onions, chopped fine
1 heaping Tbsp sweet relish, or about 5-6 sweet midget gherkins, diced small
a squirt of fresh lemon juice
Salt, pepper (to taste)
3 English muffins, split
butter
6 slices of cheese (I use American because it melts smoother)

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl (or you can just use your own favorite tuna salad recipe). Stir together to completely incorporate (you might have to smash through some of the larger chunks of tuna).

Turn on broiler.  Place English muffins on a rimmed baking sheet.  Butter lightly (you can skip this part and just toast them dry if you want).  Toast muffins under broiler (pan should be about 4-6 inches away from the heat), about 1-2 minutes.  You just want a little color on them so the middle doesn't get too soggy when you put the tuna on it.  Pull the muffins out of the oven.

Top the muffins with the tuna salad, then top with slices of cheese. I cut the squares down a little smaller, because I don't like having the cheese melt over the sides, dripping down and then burning on my pan, but that's just my Type-A quirkiness shining through.

Put the tuna melts back under the broiler for about 2 minutes, but keep an eye on them. You don't want the cheese to burn, just melt (hence the name of the dish).  :-) When the cheese starts to brown and bubble, pull the tuna melts out and serve.

Fish Soup -- Another Variation (dairy-free)

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you might have already clued into my love for fish soup.  Actually, I love soup in general. It's easy (one pot), fast (fish only takes minutes to cook) and healthy, because you can get away with only a little bit of milk or cream, or in this case, no dairy at all, plus lots of veggies. And on a cool fall day, there's nothing more comforting than a steaming bowl of soup.  Am I right?  :-)

As I've mentioned before, I've been trying to cut my dairy intake and looking for dairy-free alternatives for some of my favorite recipes, but hate recipes where you try to make something taste like something it's not (tofurkey, anyone?).  In this case, I was going to use coconut milk as a substitute for the cream, so I embraced the coconut milk as a jumping off point to make a more Asian-inspired soup.

I found a recipe on another blog as a starting point.  Here's the original: http://strongertogether.coop/recipes/thai-fish-soup/


Here's my version:

3 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 half-inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced

2 tablespoons fish sauce (or tamari)

juice of 1 lime

1 carrot, peeled and sliced thinly

3/4 red bell pepper, sliced thinly

1 cup corn, fresh or frozen

1 1/2 cups mushrooms, sliced

1 1/2 cups coconut milk

2 tablespoons lemon basil, minced

12 ounces salmon fillets cut into bite-sized cubes

Bring vegetable broth to boil, then add ginger and fish sauce in a large pot (I used a 3 qt saucepan). Let that simmer for 5 minutes, then take out the ginger pieces (if you want more ginger flavor, you could grate the ginger before adding to the stock). After removing ginger pieces, add corn, mushrooms, and fish.  Bring back to a simmer and cook until the fish is cooked through, about 5 minutes.  Add the carrots, red bell pepper and lime juice. Cover the pot, but do not stir the carrots and peppers into the soup.  Let them steam on top for a couple of minutes (you still want them to have a little crunch).  Then add the coconut milk and lemon basil.  Stir together, then turn off heat and let sit for another 10 minutes with the pot covered.

 

My version basically used what I had on hand -- salmon instead of white fish, lemon basil from our garden, rather than cilantro, and extra veggies, because that's how I roll. :-)

For those who don't think you're very good at improvising, take a look at the two recipes (mine and the linked one) to see how easy it is to cook off the cuff. It's especially easy with soups, so if you need a little confidence booster, you could start there.  Plus, Fall is the perfect time of year for a nice, hot bowl of soup, isn't it?

Chowdah!

I've posted before about soups, so it's nothing new to you all that I'm posting another soup recipe.  Chowder, to be specific.  What's the difference between a soup and a chowder? Heck if I know.  Usually if it has fish in it, I call it chowder, otherwise it's soup.  If it's thicker, I call it stew and if it's spicy with meat and beans, I call it chili (although some purists would hang me for adding beans...).  :-)

Most of the time I shop at Wegman's, which is such a fantastic store! I feel sorry for people who don't have one near them.  I really do. Anyway, they have big bags of individually frozen tilapia fillets that I buy because fish is the one thing that my boys will consistently eat.  The only problem is that we always end up with an odd number of fillets left over (like 2 or 3), and it's hard to make a meal for 4 out of that little fish. When that happens, I either go to fish tacos or chowder (chowdah! 'Cause it's just fun to say). 

So tonight I went with chowder.  It's simple enough. I know I say that a lot, but soup really is so forgiving.  I'm going to post the recipe below, but know that all the amounts are approximate (I rarely measure when I make soup and just add things until it looks tasty and tastes the same), and I encourage you to adjust it to your tastes...and what you've got in your fridge.  You can even use different types of fish or seafood. I've made this basic chowder with salmon (even smoked salmon), shrimp, mussels and tilapia.  Personally, I like it best with a lighter fish like tilapia, but it tastes good no matter what you add, really.

In the background of the above picture, you may notice a nearly-empty bottle of something.  It happens to be the very last bits of some homemade hot sauce (not made by me, alas, but my friend, neighbor and fellow food enthusiast, Matt Smith).  Please, let us bow our heads for a moment of silence in recognition of the demise of that oh-so-tasty hot sauce.  I mention this because I love a little hot sauce on my chowdah.  You can see how the sauce lends such a beautiful color to it, not to mention cutting a little of the richness.  I suppose, if you don't have a friend who can make you some homemade stuff, you can get by (as I will now have to do) with tabasco or sriracha, both really good substitutes. 

 

Marna's Fish Chowdah

Ingredients

about 5 small, red potatoes, cut in half (or quarters if large-ish)

1/2 cup water

1 slice bacon, chopped in small pieces (or I just cut a couple of hunks off the end of bacon that I keep in the freezer)

1 medium onion, diced

2 large stalks celery, diced

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1 8 oz bottle clam juice

1 cup fresh or frozen corn

2-3 tilapia fillets (about a pound total), thawed, if previously frozen

1 3 oz tin of smoked mussels, drained of oil and rinsed (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup heavy cream

2/3 cup milk

hot sauce (optional)

1. Steam potatoes with 1/2 cup water for 5-6 minutes, using whatever method makes you comfortable. I have a steamer I can use in the microwave, so I usually use that method.  Steaming the potatoes before adding them to the chowder just decreases the cooking time for the soup.

2. While the potatoes steam, heat a 3 qt. saucepan on medium high, then add the bacon and cook until crispy.  Remove from pan, but leave the rendered (melted) fat in the pan.  Add the diced onion and celery to the bacon fat and cook until the onion is softened, about 3 minutes.  Stir occasionally to keep the onions from burning.

3. In a small cup, mix the cornstarch with 2 Tbsp of the clam juice, until the mixture is completely smooth.  Add the remaining clam juice to the saucepan with the onions and celery. Stir to combine, then add the cornstarch mixture and stir again.  Add the steamed potatoes and the corn, then add enough water to just cover all the veggies.  Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to medium low and let the vegetables simmer for 7-10 minutes (until the potatoes are completely cooked through).  The liquid should be bubbly and looking a little thick (that's the cornstarch working its magic).

4. Cut tilapia fillets into bite-sized chunks, then add to the saucepan, then dump in the mussels, if using. Let the whole thing cook until the fish chunks are completely cooked through, about 2-3 minutes (it really doesn't take long).  Taste broth and check for saltiness. Because of the clam juice and bacon, I wait to add any salt until this point.  It often doesn't need much more, if any.  

5. Turn off the heat, add back in the bacon, plus the cream and milk.  Stir to combine.  Taste again and add salt and pepper if it needs it.

Serves about 6