Proud Italian Cook

Roasted Cod with Cherry Tomatoes

July 24, 2010 by Marie 28 Comments

My local Whole Foods had a 3 day sale on Alaskan cod this weekend so I scooped some up and made this for dinner, I couldn’t resist the pristine white fish that was sitting all pretty in the showcase window.

If you’re a reader of my blog you know I love roasted tomatoes of any kind especially those little cherry and Campari tomatoes. I use them often adding them to many dishes I cook, I just love the deep robust flavor they add.

My garden is filled with all different varieties and colors and I’m just now beginning to reap the benefits, so I hope you don’t mind, but I’ll be posting more upcoming recipes using them.

My husband said this was the best fish I ever made, but then again he says that often, he’s a good guy! But I must say the flavors were really awesome, so awesome that I ran out today to pick up more fish before the sale was over.

For this dish do your tomatoes ahead of time. I like to roast mine on a small sheet pan covered with foil it’s seems to hold all the juice from the tomatoes and olive oil much better and that’s a good thing, because I just can’t bare for any of that to burn off. I also always add shaved garlic and some kind of a fresh herb like thyme, basil or oregano. Roast at 400 until they split and blister and the juice runs out.

To prepare the fish, place the fillets in a shallow baking dish drizzled with olive oil.

Season the fish with salt, pepper, and a little paprika.

Squeeze half a lemon all over, then cover the fish with a few thin slices of lemon and a quick drizzle of olive oil.

Add fresh thyme branches and kalamata olives.

Now take those luscious roasted tomatoes along with all the juice that’s infused with garlic and olive oil and place that in amongst the fish. Bake in a hot oven at 450 until fish is opaque. Let it rest for 5 minutes then garnish with parsley.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and Buon Appetito!

Grilled Baby Artichokes with Tomato Basil Salsa

July 20, 2010 by Marie 18 Comments

I struck gold when I came across a huge pile of baby artichokes at my Italian market this Saturday and they were even on sale, I couldn’t wait to get them home and put them on my grill!

Baby artichokes are easy to prep and great for grilling, they’re the perfect light appetizer for a hot and sticky day. The most important thing is to precook them in boiling water or steam them first until tender, you don’t want to just toss them on the grill before cooking they’ll be very tough, burnt and unappetizing and they’ll never get tender.

The grill adds a nice smoky flavor that enhances the taste and the tomato basil salsa gives you a fresh and summery dipping sauce, guilt free nice and light and perfect served at room temperature.

Here’s what you do:

Slice tops off artichokes, pull off leaves until you see pale green, trim stems, and snip off thorny tips. In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt, the juice of 1 lemon, garlic cloves and artichokes; cover and steam until artichoke bottoms pierce easily, 20 to 40 minutes. Drain artichokes.

When cool enough to handle, cut each artichoke in half lengthwise and scrape out the fuzzy center, sometimes you don’t even have to with the babies. In a bowl, combine crushed garlic, olive oil, you could also add balsamic vinegar if you want, and salt and pepper. Toss your artichokes in the mixture and place cut side down on a grill over medium heat, don’t move them until you see nice grill marks, then turn on the other side until lightly browned.

Tomato Basil Salsa

Chopped tomatoes

Fresh basil

Chopped scallions

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt & pepper

Place the arichokes cut side up on a big platter and spoon the salsa all over. Now go ahead and make these before summers bounty is all over!

Buon Appetito

18 Comments Filed Under: Appetizers, Vegetables Tagged: appetizer, baby artichokes, grilled artichokes

Bunco!

July 14, 2010 by Marie 28 Comments

I’m a part of a Bunco group, where twelve of us get together once a month taking turns hosting at each others home. We get together to play a game but really it’s an excuse to connect with friends for some good food, fun and lots of laughs. The month of June was my turn.

See all these women here, they can get pretty wild and crazy!

In case you’re wondering what Bunco is, it’s a game of dice played in rounds. Players take turns rolling the dice and trying to accumulate as many points as possible to win each round. The game is played at tables of four in competing teams of two. The first one that yells out “Bunco!” wins the round. This is a game that requires no skills at all, anyone can learn how to play in 5 minutes!

Yes, we’re high rollers and we play with money, everybody chips in five bucks!

The one hosting supplies all the food and drink but almost always someone will walk in with delicious homemade cookies or a cake. We usually visit and eat first then play the game, afterwards we’ll have coffee and dessert. Finger foods and appetizers are typically served.

Along with various dips and a caprese pizza, here’s a few other things I made when I hosted at my house.

Salami and Bocconcini Bites

On a piece of thin sliced salami place one basil leaf, one half of a cherry tomato, a small bocconcini ball or a cube of fresh mozzarella and one sun-dried tomato in oil. Secure with a pick and drizzle with balsamic and olive oil.

Fruit Kabobs with strawberries, pineapple, cantaloupe and blueberries.

If you have extra fruit freeze it into ice cubes it tastes great in a punch, tea or lemonade and it keeps it nice and cold.

Tostada Cups with Artichoke Salsa

The tostada cups are made by spraying both sides of a tortilla with cooking spray and then cutting into 8 wedges. Press the wedges into 8 muffin cups with all 3 points sticking out. Bake in a 450F oven for about 5 minutes or until golden and crispy.

The salsa is simply made by opening a jar or two of your favorite marinated artichokes, draining them and pulsing them in your food processor. When finished pulsing, pour into your bowl.
Then chop some red onion, kalamata olives, 1 clove of smashed garlic and diced and seeded tomatoes. Finish off with salt, pepper, shredded basil, a hint of lemon peel and a little olive oil to taste.

La Bomba, is a mix of eggplant, fennel, roasted peppers, onions, artichokes, mushrooms and olives diced up small and served with Mini Pita Rounds flavored with olive oil and rosemary. This is a perfect party appetizer, it makes a huge amount and can be made ahead of time.

Here’s the recipe.

The pita chips I made before but this time I just used mini round fresh pita’s, split them horizontally and baked them like this.

These bite size spaghetti appetizers were a big hit, I got the inspiration from Joan at Foodalogue, she added bacon and peas to hers but I had a lot of different things going on so I wanted to keep them lighter.

Cooked spaghetti, mozzarella, provolone, parmesan, eggs and fresh basil mixed together and baked in mini muffin tins topped off with a light marinara sauce.