Fish Balls, Broccoli Salad, Turkey Chili Mac

Several interesting and tasty dishes for you to try this week.  Some of them older than I am!
 

Broccoli Salad

A refreshing change for a dinner side salad. I hadn't made one like this is donkey's years, but was reminded of it the other day.

4 cups small Broccoli florets
1-1/2 cups halved seedless Green Grapes
1 cup chopped Celery
1 cup Raisins

1 sweet Apple, chopped (not a Granny Smith or a Red Delicious, the most flavorless apples on the market)
1/4 cup salted Sunflower Seed kernels
1/3 cup Mayonnaise
1/4 cup plain Yogurt
3 tablespoons Sugar
1 tablespoon White Wine Vinegar

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine the mayonnaise and remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Pour dressing over broccoli mixture, and toss well. Chill for at least an hour. Makes 8 servings (serving size, about 1 cup).

Cod Catalunya

Catalunya or Catalonia is the name of a major region of northeastern Spain with it's own language, bordered by France in the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean. Sally's Dad retired there, and she visited him twice yearly until his passing a couple years ago.

This simple pan-poached cod on a bed of neutral-flavored cucumber slices, is dressed with a pinch of cumin and a couple teaspoons of Spanish Salsa Verde, which in the Catalan language is called Salsa Jurvert. “Jur” being Catalonian for 'basil', a major component of the condiment.

I paired my Cod Catalunya with the Broccoli Salad (not a Catalonian dish) above and steamed peas for a tasty mid-week dinner.

Chili Mac

Here's another dish I haven't made in decades. I don't know why. Last time I'm pretty sure I made it the “traditional” way with ground beef and macaroni. This time around I used multicolor corkscrew pasta, ground turkey, and a product new to me from Ro*Teltm which was the inspiration for making the dish – Chili Fixin's. This is not your usual Ro*Tel, it's much darker and richer in flavor – the perfect tomato base for a chili, with just the right amount of heat for us. If you want things hotter, add some cayenne, red pepper flakes, or hot pepper sauce, to taste.

1 lb Ground Turkey

1 12oz box multicolor Rotini pasta

1 can Ro*Tel Chili Fixin's

1/2c cup diced Onion

1/2c cup mixed red and green Bell Peppers

1 tsp Cumin

1 tsp Sazon Completetm from Badia spices or another 24/7 kind of spice blend

Shredded Cheese – I like the “Mexican Blend”

Cook the pasta according to shortest time on the package directions; you want it al dente. Drain. Reserve.

Brown the ground turkey and saute the veggies. When the veggies are starting to soften, add the can of Ro*Tel and stir. Taste and adjust the flavor with the other spices if necessary. Add to the cooking sauce about half of the cooked pasta (save the rest for another dish), and stir to combine. Cover and cook another 5 minutes to heat the pasta through. Plate and top with shredded cheese to taste.

You can freeze cooked leftover pasta in a zip-top bag. To bring it back from the dead, drop the frozen pasta in boiling water for about 2 minutes.

Any Meat Balls

I got this technique from Melissa Clark, via The New York Times Food Section. Serves 4; takes 20 minutes.

“Making great meatballs is all about memorizing a basic ratio that you can adjust to suit your taste. Start with a pound of ground meat — any kind will work, even fish if you want to take it in that direction. Add 1/2 cup bread crumbs for lightness, a teaspoon of salt, and an egg to bind it together. That’s all you need. Pepper and other spices, chopped herbs and minced allium (garlic, onion, scallions or shallot) can be added to taste. Then broil or fry as you like.”

Hmmmm. Fish balls, he said wonderingly?

My Fish Balls

3/4 lb Tilapia or any nice white fish

½ tsp Salt

1/3 cup Panko

1 Egg

1 Tbsp Fish Spice – I love the Pride of Szged tm brand

1-265 Green Onion minced

1/4 cup minced Crimini mushroom

Take the fish for a spin in your food processor until its 'small' but not mushy. In a bowl, combine the fish with everything else. Divide into 6 portions and roll into balls. I baked mine, in cups, @400F for 20-25 minutes. A mini-muffin tin would be the perfect baking medium. Or you could pan fry, or even deep fry the balls.

Hard Boiled Eggs

Last week's Egg Salad Tea Sandwiches raised the question of “How do you hard boil eggs?”

Really?

Well, alright. In today's world where you can buy peeled hardboiled eggs, I suppose some people have never learned this kitchen basic.

Put the eggs in a largish, deep pot, covered by about an inch by water. Bring to a hard rolling boil. Turn the fire off, cover the pot and set it aside for 15 minutes, off the heat. Drain and rinse the eggs and put them back in the pot with a couple handfuls of ice cubes, and water to cover.

Wait a few minutes till the ice is mostly melted, unless you like really cold hands! Roll and tap the eggs to crack the shells very fine, then underwater, peel the eggs. Makes it much easier to get the shell and that skin off. Don't try this on land, kids... keep them under the agua!