Roasted poblano cream and Mahi-mahi tacos

First off, apologies for the crappy photo quality. I made this in the evening, with no natural light and no blogging aspirations, but it turned out to be so delicious, I just had to share!

Now that that's out of the way, let me tell you of my love for poblano peppers. As a European, I must say poblanos have been one of the most eye-opening culinary experiences I've had since I moved to the US. They have a particular smokey flavor that I just cannot get enough of! Especially when they are roasted on an open flame.

Now, I don't know about you, but they are not readily available in my regular supermarket, so when I found fresh poblanos at the farm produce stand at work last week, I took advantage and stocked up.

This is what I came up with that very same evening.

Enjoy!


INGREDIENTS (for 2 people, or 1 with leftovers)
- 1 pack of frozen mahi-mahi bits, thawed (very affordable - I found mine at Trader Joe's for less than 4 dollars)
- 1 large shallot, diced very finely (you can use onions, but I had shallots on hand)
- 3 cloves of garlic, diced very finely
- a handful of cilantro, chopped
- 1 poblano pepper, charred on an open flame, peeled and chopped in large chunks (make sure to remove all pits and membranes, as this is where most of the heat is)
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup light cream (any liquid cream, sour cream or even greek yoghurt will work too)
- a splash of olive oil
- salt pepper to taste


RECIPE:
- in a medium pan, heat a little bit of olive oil and gently fry the shallot and garlic over medium heat for a few minutes until transparent (do not brown)

- then add the poblano chunks and chicken broth, and simmer for a few minutes on high heat, until the pepper is almost cooked through

- add the cream and cilantro and simmer for another 2-3 minutes, until the cream thickens a little and the poblano is soft and completely cooked through

- using an immersion blender, puree until smooth

Note: if the mixture is still too liquid for your taste, transfer back into the pan and cook over medium heat until thickened to satisfaction 
- serve grilled mahi-mahi bits over a whole wheat tortilla and a bed of lettuce and tomatoes, doused in the poblano cream sauce
- de-lish!

Quick and easy couscous fish cakes

Have you ever felt completely uninspired in the kitchen?

Ever asked yourself "what am I ever going to make for lunch??", "what I am going to do with a half a cup of couscous?!" or "why oh why did I buy 5 lbs of frozen fish?!?"

Well I have... And this recipe is what came out :D

Not only does it use freezer and pantry items, but you can even make it into a 3-in-1 serving it with cooked veggies leftover.

Oh, and it's healthy too!



INGREDIENTS (yields about 12 patties):
- 4 frozen flounder filets, thawed and drained (you can use any fish you like, this just happens to be what I had in my freezer)
- 3 frozen haddock filets, thawed and drained. Make sure to squeeze out any residual liquid or the patty mixture will be too moist.
- 1/2 cup leftover cooked couscous (or any cooked grains or cereals like quinoa, grits, rice, barley. Mashed potatoes will work too)
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs (or dry instant oats, regular breadcrumbs, crushed saltines, AP flour, basically anything to adjust moisture of the patty mix)
- salt, pepper, dried thyme (or any seasoning you feel like)
- the juice of half a lemon
- 1 clove of garlic
- olive oil for cooking


RECIPE:
- put the fish filets in a food processor and pulse-puree until almost smooth

Note: I like my fish cakes to still have a few pieces of fish for texture
- season with salt, pepper, lemon juice, grated garlic and crushed thyme and pulse quickly once more

- transfer the fish mixture in a bowl and add the cooked couscous and half of the panko. Mix well using your hands and adjust the moisture level with panko until satisfied

- form 12 flat round patties

- heat the olive oil in a wide frying pan and cook the patties over medium heat until golden and crispy (about 3 minutes on each side)

- serve with any veggie side you like. I served my fish cakes with a side of chilled Bohémienne (a ratatouille-like eggplant and tomato stew) and a slice of lemon.

- Bon app!

Fish and shrimp risotto

This is more of a what-ever-can-i-come-up-with-to-empty-the-pantry-and-the-freezer kinda mishmash recipe, but it works!

I was craving tomato rice the day I made this recipe, and since I had a TON of frozen fish (that I got for a bargain at the supermarket), I decided to incorporate this maritime ingredient into a risotto.

I made this quite a long time ago, but never really had the time to edit it into a blog entry. Since my next recipe will take another couple of days before I can post it up, I decided to tackle that one and have it ready for you for the weekend.

Hope you'll like!



INGREDIENTS (for 2 to 3 people):
- 1.5 cups arborio rice
- 1 15oz can of crushed tomatoes
- 2 to 3 cups of water (use 2 and then add more if needed)
- 1/2 cup white wine
- olive oil
- 1 shallot, finely diced
- 1 clove of garlic, slivered
- 2 lbs of mixed fish and peeled deveined shrimp, cubed (I used frozen shrimp and fish that I thawed and drained, my personal fish mix was cod, tilapia and flounder)
- salt, pepper
- grated Parmesan cheese to taste


RECIPE:
- in a skillet, heat a glob of olive oil and saute the shallot and garlic until transparent. Do not let it brown.

- add the rice, and coat with oil. Cook for a minute or so on medium-high heat, until the rice is opaque and bright white. Do not let it brown.

- add the wine and a ladle of water, and stir until the liquid is absorbed.

- add the tomatoes and their liquid. Stir until the liquid is absorbed.

- add the rest of the water ladle by ladle, stirring until each ladle has been absorbed before adding the next one, until the rice is almost cooked through (about 25 minutes)
- when the rice is a few minutes shy of being done, add the shrimp, fish cubes, salt and pepper and cook for 5-8 minutes (or until cooked through)

- finish with a healthy dose of grated parmesan cheese

- serve hot, sprinkled with italian parsley

- Enjoy!

Thai-style lemongrass shrimp soup

Are you tired of the heavy hearty winter stews, but you feel it is still too cold to enjoy a crisp, healthy salad?

How about a (very) low-cal hot soup option?

A while back, I made myself this Thai style lemongrass and shrimp soup taken from Sunday Soup by Betty Rosbottom, and let me tell you, I was very impressed and will be going back to this recipe this spring!

Try it, you won't be disappointed :) It has just the right amount of heat and tang, it really warms you up, but it absolutely figure-friendly :D


INGREDIENTS (for 2)
- 3 cups of chicken broth (or fish/veggie broth for vegetarian options)
- 1lb deveined raw shrimp (peel the shrimp and reserve the shells in a separate bowl)
- 3 tbsp pureed lemongrass (I only had pureed lemongrass in a tube, but if you have fresh stalks on hand, use three sliced very finely)
- 1 pack of frozen snow peas, in chunks (preferable to use fresh snow peas, but I only had frozen on hand)
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 lime, finely sliced
- juice of 1/2 lime (or to taste)
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 8oz fresh cremini mushrooms, finely sliced
- a sprinkle of red pepper flakes (not in the ingredients pictures, but I added them as I went along)


RECIPE:
- prepare the broth: in a deep pot, bring the chicken broth, shrimp shells, lemongrass and half of the lime slices to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and let infuse for at least 15 minutes.

- Strain the shells and lime slices, and reserve the boiling liquid. You can try to extract as much flavor as possible from the shells by crushing them into a sieve.

- Bring the shrimp-lemongrass broth back to a boil and add the pepper, shrimp, snow peas, pepper flakes and mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes on high heat.
Note: be careful not to overcook: you don't want the mushrooms to get mushy!

- Turn off the heat, and add the cilantro and lime juice.

- Serve piping hot, sprinkle with fresh cilantro and squeeze fresh lime juice on top. Decorate with sliced limes.

- Enjoy!

Malaysian shrimp with curry leaves, tamarind and jasmine rice

A couple of weeks ago, I was looking for a shrimp recipe. Something new. Something different. Something I'd never come across before. I found this mouth-watering malaysian recipe online which I immediately decided to try. I tweaked it a bit: used frozen shrimp without the heads, replaced fresh chillies with pepper flakes and added green onions. It was so good I'm sharing it with you here :) Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
- 1 lb raw large shrimp, shell-on (next time, I'll use fresh whole shrimp with heads, it should give it an amazing taste!)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons oil
- leaves from 4 sprigs of curry leaves
- a sprinkle of red pepper flakes (or a few fresh bird's eye chillies -if you can take that kind of heat-, chopped)
- 4 small shallots, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate (if you can't find it in stores, you can make your own -here's my recipe-)
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 2 cups jasmine rice
- 3 cups of water

RECIPE
- bring the water to a boil and add the rice. lower the heat and cover. cook for 15 minutes exactly.
- during this time, pat dry the shrimp and sprinkle with salt.
- heat 3 tbsp of oil in a wok.

- add salted shrimp and curry leaves and fry until shrimp changes color and gets slightly golden. They should not be completely cooked at that stage, they will cook again later. 

- Reserve in a bowl.

- add the remaining tbsp of oil in the wok and saute the shallots, garlic and pepper for one minute.

- add the reserved shrimp and leaves, turmeric, sugar and tamarind concentrate.

- stir fry for a few minutes to cook the turmeric and finish cooking the shrimp. Reserve in a bowl.

- serve over perfectly cooked jasmine rice, and sprinkle with sliced green onions.

- Bon app'!