My Man is Going to Love This!

We've had a few amazing dinners these past few days or so.  Turkey Black Bean Quesadillas with Fresh Salsa and 50's Diner Style Salisbury Steak with Mash and Deviled Carrots.  But tonight's dinner, I feel, is worth blogging about.  It's creamy.  It's decadent. Tonight's recipe is going to make my man happy.

This dish hasn't been made since Ken and I were newlyweds.  And I wasn't the one who made it.  (I probably didn't have the cooking skills!) You've got to know, Ken is going to love this!  He is working late and is going to be happy/thrilled to come home to a cold beer and one of his favorite foods.  (Did I mention the dishes are done too?)

Crab Manicotti

Serves four.  I suggest a side salad to lighten things up.

Prep: 1 hour

Bake: 30 min.

Ingredients:

Filling:

• 2 cans of crab, drained (I've had one sitting in the cupboard, needing to be used - my inspiration!)
• 1 cup of ricotta
• 1/2 cup asiago cheese, grated (This is what I had on hand, you could use parm or even swiss.)
• Parsley, generous handful, chopped
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 green onions, diced, greens only
• Dash of red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp basil
• 2 Tbsp grated parmigiana  
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

Bechamel Sauce:

• 3 Tbsp butter
• 3 Tbsp flour
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 cups milk
• Salt and Pepper, to taste
• Dash of nutmeg

Melt butter then add flour to make your roux.  Cook for approximately 3 minutes or until the flour is cooked and it has a nutty aroma - do not brown.  Meanwhile, warm your milk and cream, then add to roux, whisking constantly.  When your milk thickens, around ten minutes at medium heat, add your salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Do not boil.

Crab Manicotti before going into the oven.

Putting it all together:

Cook your manicotti according to package directions, between 8 - 10 minutes, leaving them al dente.  Cool before handling.  This can be done while you are cooking your bechamel sauce.

This is not diet food!

Using a spoon or your fingers, stuff the filling into the pasta.  (Tip: if your filling isn't sticking together a bit, add a bit of bechamel.)

Place filled manicotti into buttered baking dish.

Cover with bechamel sauce and a bit more cheese.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Come On Get in the Boat - Fish, Fish!**

On the menu last night?  Fish tacos.  It's a little piece of the Baja on your plate.  It's summertime.  It's sunshine. Need I say more?  If you've never tried fish tacos before, well you are in for a scrumptious, satisfying and healthful meal.

It's a pretty basic recipe and has a lot of room for your own personal tastes.  With the exception, I'd say, of needing to like fish and cabbage.  Here's what you will need.

Fish Tacos

The basics:

• White fish, such as tilapia, mahi mahi, or basa
• Corn tortillas (I've seen flour tortillas, but the taste of corn really adds flavour)
• Green cabbage or coleslaw mix

The enhancements:

• Seasoning the fish with cajun spice or a mix of chili powder, garlic powder, oregano and seasoning salt.
• Breading the fish with Panko* - optional.  
• Make homemade salsa. 
• Dressing for the cabbage which I found on the Food Network website: 

• 1/4 c. plain yogurt
• 1/4 c. mayo
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 1/4 tsp. each cumin, oregano, dill
• 1/2  jalapeno, minced, seeds removed  
• 1/2 tsp. capers, minced
• Pinch of cayenne, optional  

The Method:

• Fry or bake your fish. Obviously the more healthy option is baked!
• Dress your shredded cabbage.
• Concoct your salsa.
• Dry fry your tortillas to heat. 
• Assemble at table.

The Tips:

• If you decided to bread your fish:  Dip fish in seasoned corn starch, then beaten egg and finally, Panko.  Yes, your fingers will also be breaded by the end! just don't cook them : p  Fry your fish on med/high heat in a small amount of cooking oil. Approximately three minutes a side, depending upon how think your fillets are.
• Easy salsa: a fine dice of tomato, onion or green onion, cilantro, jalapeno, lime juice and a pinch of chili powder, cumin and salt.
• When heating my tortillas, I find that med/high heat in a stainless steal pan works great.  If it sticks leave it a few more seconds.  
• Hold warm tortillas in aluminum foil wrapped in a tea towel.  This way they stay hot throughout your meal.

Did I miss anything??

* Panko is Japanese breadcrumbs.  Find them in the bakery section at most grocery stores.

** If you are a Homestar Runner fan, you will appreciate my title! 

Blast From the Past

Are you tired of making the same starches for dinner?  Day after day, rice, pasta, potato, rice, pasta, potato, repeat...  Me too.  If you're like me, you've probably experimented with yams and quinoa, seeing as they are fairly popular right now and most likely, a part of the Super Foods group.  (If you don't know what I'm talking about, just ignore that last bit!)
But this week I went old-fashioned.  Not oats, but close.  Barley.  I've actually had it sitting in my pantry, waiting patiently for me to utilize it.  Apparently, you can use it as a side dish.  However, I decided to introduce it to my family (read - the kid) as a part of a one dish dinner.
If you are like me, you've only had it in it's most popular form, canned beef barley soup.  Well, I didn't strike out too far from that tried-and-true favorite, other than the fact that my beef barley soup didn't come from a can.  I made it myself.  It was easy, didn't take too much time to prepare and turned out better than any canned concoction I have ever eaten.

"Old Fashioned" Beef Barley Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. stewing beef, cut into small chunks - more if you want a meatier soup
•  2TBSP cooking oil
• 1 TBSP butter
• 2 leeks, chopped and washed 
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed and diced
• 4 - 6 cups beef broth
• 1/2 cup pearl barley, rinsed and cooked to "al dente"
• a couple of twigs of thyme or 2 tsp. dry
• 2 tsp. Italian Seasoning ( A pre-made mix of marjoram, thyme, rosemary, savory, sage, oregano, basil)
• A dollop Worcestershire sauce 
• A small splash Kitchen Bouquet

Method:

In a small sauce pan, place barley with quite a bit of water and bring to the boil.  Simmer, as you would pasta, for around 25 minutes or until al dente.  Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, put your dutch oven/soup pot on medium/high heat for a couple of minutes to bring it up to temperature.  When hot,  add oil, then butter.  When the butter is melted, add your cubes of beef.  Only add enough beef to make one layer.  If you have more, then do it in batches. When the beef is browned, season with salt and pepper.  Set the browned beef aside.  

To the already hot pot, add the celery, leeks and carrots, using their moisture to scrape up the brown bits left from the beef.  Season with a bit of salt and pepper.  Cook until softened.  Add garlic, cook two more minutes.

Add thyme and Italian seasoning, letting the heat wake up the herbs for a minute. Add the beef, the broth,  the Worcestershire and the Kitchen Bouquet. Simmer for approximately 1/2 hour; check that the beef is tender and the seasoning tastes right and, if the beef is close, add the barley.  Simmer for another 20 minutes.

Serve with big slabs of sour dough bread and butter!