Chilean Sea Bass w/ Peas & Shiitake Veloute

I hope everyone that celebrated had a very Merry Christmas yesterday!

I know the Garbes definitely did!

Santa was very good to us!  Andy outdid himself this year and upgraded my little beginner Nikon D40 to a Nikon D3200!  It's absolutely awesome!  And better yet, it came with a wireless adapter to stream my photos from my camera directly to my iPhone!  How neat is that?!  So of course I had to start shooting with it right away.  And one of the first things I did was test out it's ability on food - DUH!  And doesn't it just capture this sea bass beautifully?!  Either that, or I'm getting better at my photography skills.  Maybe it's both =)

Anyway, the day was spent with both of our families, driving, and eating!  It was definitely all worth it!

This was our Christmas Eve dinner (the time when Andy and I usually open our presents to eachother) and we both cleaned our plates dry!  It was SO good!

Ingredients:

2 6 oz. Chilean Sea Bass fillets
salt and pepper, to taste
flour, for dredging

Shiitake Veloute:

1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly
1 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 & 1/2 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup seafood/fish stock
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup milk

1 & 1/2 cups frozen peas
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Heat a large saute pan under medium high heat.  Add olive oil and saute mushrooms until they start to soften, about 6-7 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Heat a medium saucepan under medium heat and melt butter.  Whisk in flour to create a roux.  We're basically just making a fish/seafood gravy.  Cook roux for about 1-2 minutes, or until slightly a pale yellow color.  Slowly incorporate the stock, whisking constantly to avoid lumps.  Then whisk in wine, followed by the milk.  Bring mixture to a boil and cook until slightly thickened, to sauce consistently.  You can thin it out with extra stock, if you need to.  Stir in the shiitake mushrooms and season to taste.  Keep warm until ready to use.

Season the sea bass with salt and pepper and dredge in the flour, shaking off any excess.  Heat some vegetable oil and/or butter in an oven-proof saute pan under medium high heat.  Place the sea bass, skin-side down, in the pan and cook until skin is crisp, about 3-4 minutes.  Flip over and carefully transfer pan to the oven to finish cooking the fish, about 5-6 minutes. 

While the bass is in the oven, you can quickly cook your peas.  Bring the water to a slow boil in a small saucepan.  Add peas and cook until warmed - they're frozen peas, so they're already cooked.  Drain and set aside.

When everything is ready, you can assemble your plate.  Place about 1/4 cup of the shiitake veloute in the center of each plate.  Top with a mound of peas.  Top the peas with the sea bass.  Garnish with whatever you like - I used some chives.

And voila - another simple and easy fish dish!  And it's gorgeous, to boot!

Hope you guys have a great rest of the week - and enjoy the snow (I know a lot of us experienced our first batches over the past couple of days!).

Spinach-Stuffed Chicken Breasts w/ Spicy Peas & Mushrooms

Happy 4th of July everybody! 

We've been enjoying our 3-day weekend by being lazy and relaxing!  I really don't want to go back to work tomorrow - but gotta pay those bills, right?

We'll be heading over to my parent's house today for some eats and apparently a Mario Party party - my sisters are addicted (and maybe we can be entertained by watching my mother try to play too, hehe!). 

Anyway, I made this dinner a couple weeks ago after our CSA included these amazing peas.  They're just beautiful, aren't they?  Enjoy your Monday guys!

Ingredients:

2 cups spinach 
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 large chicken breasts, pounded to about 1/2 inch thickness
salt and pepper, to taste
3 thai chiles, chopped
8 oz. package of sliced Portobello mushrooms
1 to 1 & 1/2 cups shelled peas
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Place spinach in a microwave-safe bowl and add about a tablespoon or two of water.  Place in microwave for about 2-3 minutes, or until wilted.  Let cool slightly.

Stir in sour cream, parmesan cheese, and about half of the minced garlic.

Lay the chicken breasts flat and spoon about half of the spinach mixture on top of each.  Either roll the chicken breasts or just fold up and tie with kitchen string to seal.  Place chicken breasts in a greased baking dish (seam side-down) and top with additional Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Bake for about 35 minutes, or until chicken is white throughout and Parmesan on top is golden brown.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet under medium high heat and melt butter.  Add remaining minced garlic and thai chiles and saute for about a minute or so.  Add mushrooms and cook for about 10-15 minutes, or until mushrooms start to "sweat".  Add in peas and cook an additional 5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve chicken breasts atop a big heaping of the mushroom and pea mixture.

This was definitely one of those weeknight meals that you say "wow" to.  The chicken was juicy and the mushroom & pea mixture complimented it perfectly with just the right amount of spicy kick!  If you're struggling to find a good weeknight meal that fresh, seasonal, and tasty - look no further! 

Happy 4th guys!

Sirloin Steak w/ Stir Fried Peas and Red Rice

I've got a throbbing headache. Hopefully, as I write this post, the Ibuprofen will do its job and it will throb less as I keep typing. Key word = hopefully. This week has just been full of great weather... until today, of course. It rained like it's never rained before (or at least so far this year). and I'm pretty sure it will continue to rain all weekend, which is a shame because I would really like to get out there and play tennis again. So here's hoping the weatherman is wrong, and don't forget to set your clocks FORWARD on Sunday!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Food & Wine's March 2010 issue: 'Stir Fried Red Rice w/ Sliced Sirloin Steak & Peas'

1/2 cup red rice (I found this at Whole Foods)
1 cup water
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb. sirloin steak, sliced thinly
salt and white pepper, to taste
1 onion, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
2 cups each of chopped kale and swiss chard
1 cup thawed frozen peas
3 tablespoons soy sauce
small handful chopped cilantro
juice from 1 lime

In a small pot, cover the rice with water and bring to a boil. Cover and turn down to low for about 25-30 minutes, when most of the water has been taken up by the rice. You could definitely use white rice if you wanted to for this, but I think the red rice gives it a somewhat sweet aspect. Not sugary sweet, but just sweeter than your normal rice I suppose.

When rice is finished, spread onto a baking sheet to cool.

In a large skillet, heat up 1 tablespoon of the oil under medium high heat. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Be careful not to let the garlic burn, so stir constantly.

Season the sirloin strips with salt and add to the skillet with the garlic. Brown each side, about 1-2 minutes per side (depending on how thick you cut your slices) and then transfer to a plate.

Heat remaining oil in skillet and add the onion and ginger. Cook until onion is soft and translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Stir in the kale and swiss chard and cook until wilted, about 1 or 2 more minutes. Then stir in the red rice, peas, and soy sauce. Add back in the sirloin strips, as well. Mix well and heat through. Season with salt and white pepper to taste. Stir in some of the cilantro and squeeze the lime juice over mixture. Mix well again. Serve while its hot!

This was great because it was like having everything incorporated into one. The sirloin was evenly distributed among all of the vegetables and there was a good ratio of rice. The red rice was really interesting, not too different from normal white rice, but it had a subtle sweetness to it, I thought. And if the meal wasn't delicious enough, it was just beautiful! Enjoy!

Bowties w/ Ham & Peas

This was an extremely easy recipe. I'm not usually a big ham person, but Andy is, so sometimes I have to be unselfish and please him. I know, I'm a saint. But it actually turned out quite scrumptious and we both cleaned our plates in a matter of minutes, Andy of course, going to seconds. If you're looking for something quick and tasty... search no more.

Ingredients:
adapted from Time in the Kitchen's blog

1 box bowtie pasta
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 lemon, juiced
1 package pre-diced ham
1 package frozen peas
salt and pepper to taste

Set a pot of water to boil. Drop in pasta and cook until al dente, about 8-10 minutes.

While you're waiting for the water and pasta, heat a large saute pan and melt butter. Add flour and stir until beginning to slightly brown. You want to cook out the "flour-y" taste and get it somewhat nutty.

Add cream and stir until starting to boil and slightly thicken.

Turn the heat down just a tad, and add in lemon juice and parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

In a microwave safe bowl, cook the peas for about 1-2 minutes. Just to warm them through. Then add to pan with sauce, along with ham.

Drain the pasta and add to cream sauce. Mix until everything is well-combined and serve hot! Top with fresh parmesan cheese, if desired!


This was great because it's such a simple, comforting meal. The cream sauce was light and the peas and ham compliment eachother so well. I like this also because it's very versatile. You could definitely switch up the vegetables and protein, as well as just having the pasta and cream sauce by itself. Enjoy!