Calamari Stew

Apparently it's a Southern Italy tradition to eat seafood on Christmas Eve as part of the Feast of the Seven Fishes. However, I only realized this after I had already decided to make this calamari stew for Christmas Eve this year, so I wasn't really following tradition on purpose. In our case, the reasoning wasn't that we were going to have so many heavy roasts the next day (we actually had fish on Christmas Day as well), but just that this seemed like a tasty dish similar to what we had made once before and enjoyed. There was also the added bonus that calamari is cooked for a long time in this dish, so we wouldn't run into the issue of varying preferred cooking times of meat (I generally prefer my meat cooked medium rare, some other visiting family members prefer theirs very well done).

The original recipe calls for Sambuca, an anise flavored liqueur. Since our family isn't big on anise flavor, I decided to leave it out - though I kept the fennel bulb. I also left out the final touches of parsley and fennel fronds, but that was less intentional. We served this stew over polenta and it was appreciated by all (or at least all the grown-ups).

Calamari Stew
Adapted from Simply Recipes

2 lbs cleaned calamari (squid), tubes sliced into rings and tentacles roughly chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 sliced onion
1 fennel bulb, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup red wine
1 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes
Salt and pepper

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the onions and fennel. Stir to coat with oil and sauté, stirring occasionally, until it begins to color, about 5-6 minutes. Sprinkle some salt over it. Add the garlic cloves and tomato paste and stir well to combine. Cook this for another 2-3 minutes, stirring once or twice.

2. Add the red wine, stir well, and increase the heat to high. Boil until the liquid is reduced by half.

3. Add the crushed tomatoes. Stir in the calamari and bring the pot to a gentle simmer. Simmer for at least 1 hour. After an hour, taste a piece of calamari; it should be tender. If it’s not, keep simmering. Check for tenderness every 15 minutes afterward.

4. Once the calamari is tender, taste the stew for salt and pepper, adding if needed. Stir well to combine and serve.

Zucchini Ricotta Cheesecake with Chanterelles

In an attempt to slightly atone for my pretty sparse blogging this year, I am trying to squeeze in one more post before the new year arrives (good thing I am in one of the last few time zones to welcome 2011). We hosted some family for an evening tea a few days ago, so in addition to sweet things (fruit salad and lemon pie), my mom (who was visiting - yay!) and I thought we should have a savory dish as well. This (non-sweet) cheesecake fit the bill quite well - it's easy to make, doesn't need last minute fussing when the guests arrive, and was a hit with everyone. We adapted the original recipe by adding chanterelles and were rather pleased with the look and taste of the result.

Zucchini Ricotta Cheesecake with Chanterelles
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

1 lb mushrooms (chanterelles, shiitake, or some other "pretty" mushroom), cleaned and chopped into small pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups zucchini, unpeeled & grated
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
2½ cups ricotta cheese
½ cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
4 shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
¼ cup fresh dill, chopped
zest of one lemon
2 large eggs, well beaten
⅓ cup goat cheese, crumbled

1. Preheat oven to 325°F degrees, racks the middle. Butter a 9-inch springform pan.

2. Wrap the ricotta in some cheesecloth and allow some of the moisture to drain away. (This step is not strictly necessary but can be helpful, even when your ricotta looks rather non-watery, like ours did - chances are there is still plenty of water to be drained away from it.)

3. Heat the olive oil in a skillet and add half of the chopped shallots. Once they've softened a bit, add the chopped mushrooms and sauté until they are cooked through. Set the cooked mushrooms aside.

4. In a strainer, toss the shredded zucchini with the salt and let sit for (at least) ten minutes. (Ours sat draining for much, much longer, and it was still OK.) Now squeeze and press out as much moisture as you can. Set aside.

5. Combine the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, remaining shallots, garlic, dill and lemon zest in a medium bowl. Stir in the eggs and continue mixing until well combined. Now stir in the shredded zucchini.

6. Fill the springform pan with the ricotta mixture and place the pan on a baking sheet. Place in the oven and bake for 50-60 minutes.

7. Take out the cheesecake and cover the top with the cooked mushroom/shallot mixture. Sprinkle the goat cheese on top of the mushrooms. Return to the oven for another 20-30 minutes or until the goat cheese is melted.

Wordless Wednesday Dinner: Carrot, Beet and Avocado Salad

The previously made carrot and avocado salad combined with (parts of) French "peasant" beets from Food52.

Thanksgiving Recap

Yes, it's been 5.5 months since I last posted here. What can I say - the last few months have been pretty busy. We got back from our honeymoon, packed up our Boston apartment, drove cross-country, moved into a new place in the San Francisco Bay Area, and started our new jobs (well, completely new for me, sort of new for Mihai). Since then, we've been occupied with fully settling in, getting accustomed to our new surroundings, traveling back east for multiple weekends in a row for friends' weddings, etc. In between all that, there has been lots of home cooking - we have an amazing farmers' market 5 minutes away from us every Sunday that showcases some of the best that California has to offer (we were particularly excited to discover that tomato season lasts much longer around here than what we are used to). I just couldn't find the time to also write about the delicious dishes we were trying. We'll see if I manage to do better from now on. But for now, the Thanksgiving recap (a lot of these can be done for Christmas too, so this doesn't feel too backwards-looking).

Mihai's parents came out to visit us for the first time since we moved, and this was also our first time hosting Thanksgiving. The pressure was on, but we think it turned out OK.

(Part of) The Mise en Place:

We made butternut squash soup to start, with some cabbage pies on the side:

Since there were only four of us, no one of the four particularly likes turkey, and Mihai's dad particularly likes pork, we decided to try out a new-to-us pork recipe. Here's a beauty shot of the pork mid-way through the cooking:

Mihai was in charge of the milk and cream braised pork, and it turned out amazing - not dry at all, just juicy and delicious. He did have a great recipe to start with, one from Gabrielle Hamilton, the chef at Prune, and written up as a "favorite" in Amanda Hesser's Cooking for Mr. Latte (and covered online here and here).

For sides, we had Roasted Cauliflower with Gremolata Bread Crumbs:

and Green Beans with Almonds and Thyme:

Here's a shot of a full plate:

For dessert, I wanted something with apple (both because I like apple desserts and because we had a bunch of apples from the CSA we recently signed up for). Mihai's dad has pretty high standards for apple baked goods, so I went with a safe option - combining one of my favorite doughs (I always go with the all flour option rather than the almond and flour combination) with a pinch of cardamom and, on top, apples and cinnamon instead of the traditional plums or apricots. It turned out quite well, if I do say so myself:

All in all, a satisfying but not overwhelming Thanksgiving, with a good mix of tried-and-true and new-to-us dishes. The leftovers have been tasty too.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Honeymoon Cooking

Mihai and I are in Hawaii for our honeymoon and have opted to stay at rental cottages/apartments so that we would have the option of cooking (two weeks of going out every day did not seem appealing especially since a) we are spending a whole week at each of the two islands we are visiting so renting a place is easy and b) we haven't heard the best things about quality/price ratio at most Hawaiian restaurants).

So here is some of the food we've been enjoying at our temporary homes:

Linguini with Shrimp, Parsley, Garlic, and Lemon (adapted from Amanda at Food52)

Fish Tacos (adapted from Merrill at Food52)

Zucchini-Tomato Pasta (adapted from Anne's Food)

Watermelon-Feta Salad (adapted from Smitten Kitchen and previously blogged about)

Lemony Green Bean Salad with Feta and Mint (adapted from Food52)

I must say, cooking while on this vacation has actually added to the relaxation factor, rather than detracted from it. Cooking straightforward (and yet delicious) dishes certainly helps too.

Wordless Wednesday: Okonomiyaki

(Based on 101 Cookbooks' recipe)

Wordless Wednesday: Mango, Avocado, and Shrimp Salad