Slow Cooked Brisket

This is one of my favorite things I've made in a while! I've never made brisket before, but have been having a red meat craving for a month and thought I'd give it a try. It was exactly what I wanted - so so juicy and tender and full of flavor. The recipe I adapted was Emeril's (thanks Dania!), but I made it in a slow cooker instead of the oven and simplified some of the steps and ingredients. Original recipe is here.

Seared Salmon with New Potatoes and Spinach

I'm suddenly addicted to pinterest, which is where I found this recipe (thanks Laura Candeloro), originally from epicurious.com. I made some changes, and the result looks almost nothing like the photo from epicurious, but it was still very good. It's a little bit of work; took me about an hour of leisurely cooking. The good news is that all the steps can be done using just one large pan and one baking dish, so not too much clean up.

The recipe calls for white wine, but I ran out and added about a quarter cup of red, which is why the onions look like shredded beets.

Honey-Mustard Salmon with Potato-Fennel Puree and Garlic Spinach

My husband, P.J., had an idea one evening as we sat and ate our all American, Family Guy style, starch-protein-vegetable divided plates. He stacked his salmon on top of the potatoes, topped it with spinach, and we drizzled some of the pan sauce from the salmon over the top. It was immediately elevated from a boring I-couldn't-think-of-anything-better-to-make-for-dinner dish to an eye-catching presentation worthy of a special occasion. We dove in vertically with our forks, and the three elements combined into one bite created a lovely progression of acidic, sweet, salty, and bitter.

Cutting up or shredding the fennel in the potato puree can take a little longer, but if it is done with just regular mashed potatoes, this meal can easily be made in 20 minutes.

Tilapia over Swiss Chard and Cannelini Beans

I just found this recipe for swiss chard with cannelini beans on the Williams-Sonoma website.  You might not expect it, but they have an amazing recipe collection which I highly recommend.  The author suggested serving it as a sauce for pasta or over polenta, but when I saw it I immediately thought it would be great served under a fillet of fish.  I prepared the tilapia similarly to the meuniere method I used for the sole a few posts ago.  It came out to be a really nice dish.  It reminded me of something very fancy I had in a five course meal at Ten Tables Restaurant in Boston, but this version is really pretty inexpensive and also fairly easy to make.  I prepped all the ingredients before I left for work so it only took about 25 minutes  when I got home.  Feel free to substitute whatever fish looks best at your market.  For an extra special presentation, make some polenta and serve it beneath the bean mixture, but it really is so elegant without it too that it doesn't seem worth the extra effort to me.

Special Occasion Sole Meuniere

Tonight I told PJ to be nice and hungry when I got home because we were having special occasion sole meuniere.  What was the special occasion, he wanted to know?  The fact that we're having sole tonight!

I just started eating fish a couple of years ago and I hadn't tried sole yet.  When I went to the fish counter today I realized why - $17.99 a pound!  But the fish monger convinced me that I would like it so much more than flounder or tilapia so I decided to go for it.  It really was so so good!  The fillets were thick and held together nicely while sauteing, and the finished product was flaky and flavorful, but not at all fishy.  The fish was cooked with a Meuniere sauce, which is classic French sauce of brown butter and lemon and pairs really nicely with sole.  I served it with boiled sliced potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts.

Party H'ors D'oeuvres: Golden Beet Bites with Smoked Trout

My sister and soon-to-be brother-in-law are engaged! I threw a small party last month in their honor and made all the food bite-sized and passable. This was one of the most popular bites, and it was so easy to make! All the prep was done the day before and then I assembled them just before the party. Use golden beets so that the color won't bleed onto the crackers while they are sitting, or if you can't find them just use red beets and try not to let them sit for too long.

The Best Thing I Ever Ate: Potato and Bacon Tartlets with Reblochon Cheese (With a budget-friendly alternative recipe, too!)

Everyone needs a little bit of bacon sometimes! Okay, well maybe not my husband's ulcer, or my kosher parents. But for everyone else, this recipe is truly one of the best things I've ever eaten and you must indulge at least once to try it. Just the memory of the salty sweet goodness of this tart is enough to get my taste buds watering! I've made this both as mini tartlets, which work great as appetizers or if you want to make sure you control your portion, and as a whole tart to serve family style. Either way, you'll need a good metal tart pan with a removable bottom. If you don't have, it is well worth the small investment to be able to make professional looking savory and sweet tarts and tartlets to impress yourself and all your friends! Here is the recipe: