Recipes that I want to try....

One of my favorite food blogs to read is FoodGawker.com, they have beautiful and insipring food pictures. Basically it's a website that combines a lot of different food blogs. So whenever I am looking for dinner ideas, I visit this site.

Here are a few recipes I would like to try that looked interesting:


Baked Green Bean Fries with Roasted Garlic Dipping Sauce

(Serves 2 – 4)
For the fries:

• 8 ounces green beans, trimmed
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

For the dipping sauce:

• 1 small head of garlic, roasted and smashed into a paste
• 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 425°F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment or a nonstick liner, and set aside.

To prepare the fries, begin by blanching the green beans.  Submerge them in boiling water for 2 – 3 minutes until they are bright green but still a bit crisp.  Immediately transfer the green beans to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.  Then, lay them out on a clean towel and pat them dry.
Set up the three breading stations in three shallow bowls.  Place the flour in the first bowl and the eggs in the second bowl.  In the third bowl, combine the bread crumbs, onion powder, and cayenne pepper.  Season all three bowls with salt and pepper, and give each one a quick whisk to make sure the seasonings are evenly incorporated.

Dip the green beans first in the flour, shaking off any excess, and then in the egg.  Then, toss the green beans in the bread crumbs to coat evenly and transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Be sure to place the green beans in a single layer, leaving some space between them so that they bake evenly and get nice and crunchy.
Bake the green bean fries for about 15 minutes, until golden and crisp.

Meanwhile, prepare the dipping sauce.  Wisk together the roasted garlic paste, mayonnaise, olive oil, and Dijon mustard.  Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve the fries immediately with the dipping sauce on the side.

Spicy Hoisin and Sesame Glazed Corn recipe from Sunset Magazine

• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 8 ears corn, husked and cut in half crosswise
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
• 1/2 to 1 serrano chile, minced ***I used a red hot cherry pepper we were growing in our garden
• 2 green onions, sliced thinly 

Preparation

1. Heat grill to high (450° to 550°). Mix together hoisin, honey, soy sauce, and lime juice.
2. Grill corn, turning often and basting with glaze, until glaze is caramelized and grill marks start to appear, about 10 minutes.
3. Transfer corn to a platter and sprinkle with sesame seeds, chile, and green onions.
Note: Nutritional analysis is per serving.

Black Cod with Miso (Miso-marinated Black Cod)

Adapted from Nobu: The Cookbook

Ingredients: 2-3 black cod fillets (about 1 lb)
For the marinate:
1/4 cup sake
1/4 cup mirin
4 tablespoons white miso paste
3 tablespoons sugar
Method:

1. Mix the marinate ingredients thoroughly in a plastic container (with lid) and set aside. Save some for plating purposes.
2. Pat the fish fillets dry with paper towels and put them into the plastic container with the marinate. Cover the lid and leave to steep in the refrigerator overnight or for 24 hours.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degree F.
4. Preheat an indoor grill at the same time.
5. Lightly wipe off (with fingers) any excess miso marinate clinging to the fish fillets but don’t rinse it off. Place the fish on the grill and lightly grill on both sides until the surface turns brown.
6. Transfer the fish fillets to the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes.
7. Add a few extra drops of the marinate on the plate and serve hot.

Cook’s notes:

1. You can substitute black cod for see bass or salmon or any kinds of flaky fish fillets.
2. There are many different kinds of miso (red, brown, white, and more). Make sure you get white miso.
3. I like my miso cod more intense with the flavors of sake and miso, and that being said, the marinate sauce might be too watery for plating purposes as one of my readers pointed out. Heat up the sauce to thicken it if you wish to use it for plating. Or if you like, you can reduce the amount of sake and mirin to slightly less than 1/4 cup each.
4. Use 5 tablespoons miso if you prefer a deeper miso flavor.

Corn Chowder

Recipe Type: Soup

Author: Erin Alderson

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 55 mins

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon butter
• 6 ears
• 4 large leeks
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Remove kernels from ears of corn, set both corn kernels and cobs aside.
2. Dice leeks into 1/8″ circles, poke out the inner circles,and soak in water for 5 minutes to remove to dirt and grit in the leeks. Drain and rinse.
3. In a large pot, heat butter over medium heat and add leeks. Saute leeks until tender (5-6 minutes.) Add in garlic and continue to cook for another 1-2 minutes or until the garlic is fragrant.
4. Stir in corn, thyme, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir and cook for 1-2 minutes. Pour in veggie broth and add in corn cobs, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Let cook for 30 minutes- corn should be cooked.
5. Remove pot from stove top and spoon out 1/4-1/2 cup of the leek/corn mixture with a slotted spoon and set aside. With an immersion blender (or a regular one) cream soup until most of the corn/leeks are broken down. Return to oven, add heavy cream, and bring back up to a warm temperature. Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly.
6. To serve, ladle into a bowl and sprinkle with corn/leek mixture.