Have you ever cooked with radicchio? Until recently I have only had it in salads. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with it, radicchio looks like a small head of red cabbage; you can usually find it in the produce section of your grocery store. It’s actually not a cabbage, but a chicory, and it has a just slightly bitter, crisp taste.
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Please welcome Hank Shaw as he takes is through the steps of grilling a whole fish, using sustainably farmed branzino. ~Elise
Branzino. Sounds kinda like a the name of a 1940s prizefighter. If its ringing a bell, thats because this fish is popping up in American supermarkets for the first time. Also known as European seabass, the fish now farmed throughout the Mediterranean has been a prized item on European menus since the days of ancient Rome. The farmed variety began appearing on American restaurant menus a little less than a decade ago, when the European farming operations ramped up production.
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You know one of the reasons why hot dogs are such favorites with kids? Well, at least when I was a kid we got to choose our own toppings. The act of getting the toppings on just right, without making a complete mess, was challenging. But we had such a feeling of accomplishment, keeping the mustard or ketchup inside of the bun instead of all over the floor. Of course, eating the hot dog was another matter. Hard to avoid that mess. 
My favorite topping, next to mustard of course, was sweet relish, which I would pile on with gusto. I do believe the reason they wrap hot dogs in paper at ball games is to catch the relish, so you can still eat it, and not waste a morsel. Right?
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Have you noticed the brightly colored bell peppers in the market lately? They’re glorious. Here’s a quick and easy recipe for Italian peperonata, or fried peppers, with onions, fresh plum tomatoes, garlic, and basil. This is one of those “I almost ate the whole batch” dishes, only reluctantly shared with my parents who agreed they were terrific. Peperonata recipes come in many versions; some get cooked a good long time, some get cooked with potatoes, or without tomatoes. This dish is certainly open-for-improvisation. Rather than cooking the peppers until they were stew-like, we opted for a light sauté so there is still some crunch in the vegetables. A perfect side dish for chicken or fish, great on bread, and great on its own too.
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The trick to a good stir-fry is working with a very hot, relatively stick-free pan. I say relatively stick-free because you don’t want one of those stick-free pans with the coating that peels off, but say more like a well-seasoned wok or a cast iron frying pan. Hard anodized aluminum will work too, as its surface is bonded into the pan and can take high temperature cooking. Cooking on high heat allows you to get a good sear on the meat and vegetables without overcooking them.
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Have extra basil in your garden right now? Here’s a quick and easy vinaigrette dressing you can make with it that you can use not only as a salad dressing, but also as a sauce for fish, chicken, potatoes, tomatoes, or white beans. Here’s an idea, use this dressing with some chopped fresh tomatoes and drained canned garbanzo beans. Presto jammo, instant basil-y bean salad. Enjoy.
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Garrett McCord came by the other day to make these melon sorbets. So good! Refreshing on a hot summer day. ~Elise
Melons are one of those rare ingredients that are practically perfect as is. While they do take well to being tarted up a bit (maybe a light dusting of salt, few lashings of lemon juice, or some chopped mint), they certainly don’t need to be overdressed. No, with melons like cantaloupe and honeydew you want to preserve and highlight their sweet, musky flavors.
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Ground turkey has to be one of my favorite meats to work with. It’s lean, takes to spices well, and is relatively inexpensive. We were brainstorming ideas for something that would use ground turkey, potatoes, and onions the other day and were inspired by a classical Indian dish called “Aloo Keema”, made with minced meat (most often chicken, beef, or lamb), potatoes, and Indian spices like garam masala and turmeric. Our ground turkey version was delightful, warmly spicy and satisfying. Made for great leftovers too. Feel free to play around with the spices. If I didn’t have garam masala in my pantry I would have used some curry powder and maybe a little cardamom. Not that that’s a substitution, it’s just that the idea is not to complicate things too much, but to work with what you have, and note that “curry” is broadly defined.
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Hank made this seafood bisque for us the other day and it was so outrageously good I begged him to make it again. I served some of it to a friend from Provence whose eyes lit up upon tasting it, “This is just like we have at home! ‘Bisque de Fruits de Mer’”. The saffron is essential, and even though I usually don’t like saffron, this soup has turned me into a saffron lover. I hope you make it. ~Elise
This is a curious, blended fish soup Ive been making, in various forms, for many years. I like blended soups, which can seem creamy even without cream although this one does have a little cream added at the end. Theyre just, well, more refined than a typical country soup. And sometimes I feel the need for a touch of elegance, even on a busy midweek night.
One of the things that makes this soup so lovely? It only takes about 30 minutes to make. Yet, eaten with fresh bread and a glass of wine, you feel like youre sitting at an oceanside bistro in Provence; there is a similar soup made like this in the South of France.
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My young friend Audrey was over today. She’s 15, and she is the official summer intern of Simply Recipes. For the most part, Audrey’s job has been to cook existing recipes on the site that for some reason or another I’ve decided need work, or need a new photo (e.g. from this to this). This arrangement has been a lot of fun for both of us as you can imagine. Cooking, eating, singing show tunes, and generally acting silly? Yes, in her words, “it’s the best summer job ever.” (Oddly, Audrey appears to take direction better from me than from her own mother; I sympathize, my mom can’t tell me anything. This hasn’t escaped Suzanne, Audrey’s mom. Audrey credits it to the fact that I’m paying her.)
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