Healthy: Indian-Spiced Tilapia

Tilapia is probably the go-to fish protein for people trying to eat healthy because it's such a lean fish. It's also among the cheapest fish to buy which makes it a good choice when you are trying to eat a lot of protein. It has an earthy taste which makes some people say it is a "dirty fish" (plus it is a scavenger, like catfish) but that earthy flavor creates a lot of opportunity to put a lot of flavor on top of it. That's also helpful when eating healthy because too many healthy recipes are bland. Most spices are low in calories and contain very little of the nutrients you want to limit on a cleaner diet (i.e. sugar, fat and carbs) so a cuisine like many Indian cuisines offer the opportunity to eat flavorful but healthy dishes. This particular tilapia dish brings big earthy spice to the fish at a small caloric price. You could omit the olive oil if you really want but that's your call.

Indian Spiced Tilapia Recipe

Servings: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Equipment:

• Mixing bowl
• Kitchen utensils, measuring spoons and cups
• Oven
• Baking pan

Ingredients:

• 4 6oz. tilapia fillets, thawed or fresh
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp tumeric
• 4 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 tsp olive oil
• Cooking spray (optional)

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. In a mixing bowl combine all of the ingredients except the tilapia and cooking spray starting with the cumin and working your way down. Mix into a paste.
3.  Coat each tilapia fillet on both sides with the spice paste, gently rubbing it into the meat.
4. Spray a thin coat of cooking spray on the baking pan to keep the fish from sticking (optional).
5. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Healthy: Morrocan Preserved Lemons

Lemon preserves are a common ingredient in Moroccan and other nearby Mediterranean/African cuisines. They can be difficult to source and they are certainly expensive to source which can make then unappealing. However, it is virtually impossible to get the flavor right in a chicken tagine or other dish calling for lemon preserves without the proper ingredient. The good news is that it is incredibly easy to make preserved lemons at home.

Preserved lemons are part of a much larger range of fermented, pickled, or salt-preserved ingredients commonly used in old world cuisines ranging from Morocco all the way to India and into far east Asian countries. This type of food preparation harkens back to a pre-refrigeration time when food had to be preserved or used immediately. Now with reliable refrigeration and international transportation it is much easier to obtain fresh ingredients from all over the globe at almost any time of the year. Although fresh foods are great, there are centuries (if not thousands of years) of cuisine built around the unique flavors brought about by preserved foods. They may have lost favor in Europe and America at a time but they are definitely making a come back, at least in America, with our growing embrace of international cuisine.

Preserved lemons are typically associated with chicken tagine and various other tagines but they also work well in salads, pasta dishes and rice dishes where a little tangy citrus can brighten up the dish. Preserved lemons are actually lemon rinds preserved in salt, in which the rind softens and the flavorful oils in the rind produce the flavors of lemon without all of the acidity that comes along with the fruit part of lemons. Typically the lemon preserves are rinsed to remove the excess salt and the fruit is chopped off. The remaining lemon rind may be chopped, cut into strips, or left whole.

Meyer lemons are commonly used for preserved lemons but if Meyer lemons are difficult to source then you can get away with using whatever varieties are available at the grocery store. Meyer lemons are less acidic than other varieties which makes them a good option (at least in the US) for preserving lemons. Common grocery store varieties are more acidic and taste different but if they are all you can find them you will get much closer to an authentic taste preserving these lemons over using non-preserved lemons.

This recipe is very simple and you can scale the recipe up or down for the volume of lemons you want to preserve. You may just want to make one jar if you do not foresee yourself using a lot of these lemons. They will stay good for several months, especially if you keep them in the fridge. Mason jars are typically used for preserving lemons but if you don't have mason jars then any decent food jar will work as long as the glass is decently thick and the opening is large enough to fit in the lemons.

Use a non-iodinized salt in this recipe. Do not use your regular kitchen iodize salt. It tastes different and you will get a weird iodine taste. Kosher/canning salt or sea salt works well.

Moroccan Preserved Lemon Recipe

Serving size: Varies.
Prep time: Depends on the volume of lemons.
Cook time: None.

Equipment:

• Knife and cutting board
• Measuring spoons
• Several mason jars or other suitable jars

 Ingredients:

• Meyer lemons (or other lemons)
• Non-iodine salt (such as Kosher salt)
• Extra lemon juice

Directions:

1. Slice lemons into quarters if the lemons are small or sixths if the lemons are large. Remove the seeds as you can but it is not necessary that you remove all the seeds. You will discard the seeds and the fruit when you use the lemons.
2. Place one lemon in the jar and add one tablespoon of salt to the lemon. If the lemon is particularly large then add an extra 1/2-1 tablespoon of salt. 
3. Repeat step two with the next lemon. Once the lemons in the jar are at a level that you can touch them, start pushing down on the lemons to compact them. You want to squeeze out the juice and compact the lemons as much as possible. Keep squeezing down the lemons to fit as many in one jar as you can. 
4. Once the jar is as full as you can get it with lemons, top up the jar with extra lemon juice so all of the lemon slices are under liquid. If you overfilled the jar then keep trying to compact the lemons or remove a slice or two until they are all under the liquid. 
5. Seal the jar and place in a cool place for 2-3 weeks before use. Repeat this process with all of your lemons until you have used them all. Try to avoid half-full jars if you can. 

When the preserved lemons are ready, remove what you need from the jar with a clean utensil. Do not use your hands. Rinse the lemon under cool water and then cut out the fruit and discard along with any seeds. Use the lemons as appropriate.

The remaining liquid in the jar after you have used all the lemons will be extremely salty but lemony. Most people discard the liquid but you can use it to brine fish or chicken for a lemony taste. You probably want to dilute the liquid to balance out the salt content. 

Healthy: Baked Lamb Meatballs

E-E-E-E-E-Eat Me-e-e-e-e!

Lamb is delicious and one of the best uses for ground lamb is to make a delicious Mediterranean-style lamb meatball. They work well as an appetizer or as your main meal for a healthy, protein-rich meal. You can toss them with some vegetables, serve with a yogurt-based sauce, or use some of that excess osso bucco sauce from this recipe with some spaghetti squash or pasta noodles to create an interesting take on the classic spaghetti. This recipe is reasonably fast and refrigerates well so you can make one batch and feast on it for your protein purposes for several other meals. You can make it less healthy, but with a nicer texture, by frying them in a little oil in a pan. However, baked will still make an excellent lamb meatball.

Healthy Baked Lamb Meatball Recipe

Servings: 12 meatballs
Prep time: 40 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes

Equipment:

• Oven
• Kitchen utensils
• Knife and cutting board
• Baking sheet
• Mixing bowl

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground lamb
• 2-3 scallions
• 1/2 tsp cinnamin
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1 egg
• Cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven at 375F.
2. Chop scallions.
3. Beat egg in mixing bowl. Add all ingredients except cooking spray to mixing bowl. Mix well until it has a uniform consistency.
4. Refrigerate mixture for 20 minutes.
5. Spray baking sheet surface with cooking spray.
6. Using your hands, roll the mixture into 12 meatballs and place on baking sheet. You may find it easier to take the mixture out of the bowl and cut it in half and keep cutting portions in half until you have 12 equal blobs of meat. Then roll each one into a meatball. It's messy but ensures even size.
7. Bake for 20 minutes in oven. 

Enjoy!

Book Review: "Kimchi: Essential Recipes of the Korean Kitchen"

"Kimchi: Essential Recipes of the Korean Kitchen" by Byung-Hi & Byung-Soon Lim is obviously about Kimchi. Kimchi is a Korean fermented cabbage, sort of like German sauerkraut but spicy. Kimchi is probably the best known component of Korean cuisine in America (if not the only known component for many) and one reason for its acceptance into American cuisine over the past decade or so is because it is versatile and easily substitutes for sauerkraut and other acidic or spicy condiments. Beyond beer and bread, American cuisine largely gave up reliance on fermented foods like Kimchi. We are seeing these foods return to our diet (in thanks partly to the probiotic fad) and thankfully adding interesting flavor options. Admittedly, I do not have wide knowledge of Korean food so when I saw the opportunity to get an advance copy of a book about Korean food I knew that was an opportunity worth snapping up. The advance copy I received is a small part of the book but from what I've seen I expect to purchase the full version once it becomes available.

"Kimchi: Essential Recipes of the Korean Kitchen" is more than a handful of kimchi recipes and a pile of photos to fill space. There are, obviously, many kimchi recipes (roughly a third of the book). After offering many options to make kimchi, the book dives into recipes for using the kimchi in traditional Korean dishes and then rounds out the book with some other Korean recipes so you can put together a meal that isn't kimchi on kimchi. The recipes are brief and easy to follow. The deeper into the book you go, the more the recipes rely on putting together recipes from earlier in the book. That helps strike a good balance between creating authentic flavors and not having to rummage around grocery stores looking for pre-made ingredients or substitutes. There are recipes that use easily found ingredients in American supermarkets, which can be helpful if you do not have Asian grocers in your area. The book encourages the use of authentic Korean chili powder (gochugaru) but encourages you to try other chili powders if you cannot find the authentic ingredients. Perhaps the full book has a recipe for making gochugaru at home but that is something I would like to see.

Overall, "Kimchi: Essential Recipes of the Korean Kitchen" does a great job at presenting a wide variety of recipes in a very approachable manner. I do not feel like I need to go buy half an Asian grocer's supply to cook dishes but I do feel like I should find a handful of traditional ingredients to obtain more authentic flavors. I am generally a fan of using authentic ingredients but it is not always easy to find particular types of vegetables so having some recipes that use available vegetables helps add a lot of value to the book. The book is a good entry point into Korean cooking but the recipes seem solid enough that you could use them well beyond just learning the basics. Good stuff.

MAC Knife HB-70 7 1.4" Chef Knife Review

When I moved out on my own after college I bought one of those knife blocks from walmart that had a bunch of plastic-handled knives of poor quality. Honestly, I am surprised I never injured myself. When I moved in with my wife (then girlfriend) she had a nicer block of knives, which greatly improved cutting. It's a Henckels International set with the "eversharp" chef knife with the small serrations on the sides of the blade so it supposedly never has to be sharpened. Except, it's just not that sharp to begin with. Sure, it's sharper than the chef's knife in my old walmart set but it's by no means sharp. A sharp knife is actually safer to use than a dull blade. It can be more dangerous when you cut yourself but a dull blade is more likely to slide or skip and you need more pressure to slice with that dull blade. A truly sharp knife with good balance will cut easily through almost anything with very little pressure. That means if you do accidentally cut yourself you are less likely to do serious damage.

I went on the hunt for a good home-quality chef's knife with a durable blade, good balance and a reasonable price. My wife told me I could spend as I needed to make sure I kept cooking good food for her. I figured the under $100 market would yield a good knife. The knife I chose is the MAC Knife HB-70 7 1/4" Chef Knife. I bought it on Amazon for around $60. (This review is not solicited.) It's a little shorter than most knives and slightly less expensive than other options I considered but it was the knife in my price range that seemed to have the best reviews.

One review I read described the knife perfectly. To paraphrase, the review analogized to what they say about a camel: it is a horse designed by committee. It's like a committee got together and compromised on a bunch of things they wanted in the horse and then you end up with this weird looking animal. Likewise, this knife looks like it was designed by committee. The handle is fit for a much larger knife and the blade is a mixture of the Japanese santoku design (with a stubby point and flat blade) and the classic western design (with a sharp point and rounded blade). It is meant to split the difference between the two styles while allowing the benefits of both.

The MAC Knife HB-70 is actually billed as a utility knife by MAC, presumably due to the length and the design. I was concerned that I would miss the longer blade of an 8" or 10" chef knife but I really don't. I feel like the blade length is a good fit for my purposes and I can maintain control on finer cuts. I don't have a huge cutting board so it's a good size for my use. If I worked in a professional kitchen where I spent hours with a knife then I would probably want something bigger. For my home use, it's pretty much perfect by size. The blade is slightly curved, which allows the rocking-type chopping and it is thinner than most chef's knives, so it can make fine cuts where one would normally need to use a pairing knife or fillet knife.

The MAC Knife is well balanced with a sturdy handle. Knife balance is an important aspect in leveraging the blade sharpness over physical force, which helps make fine cuts and have those fine cuts not include blood. The knife has some heft to it for its size, which also helps. The handle is pakka wood, which is a hardwood composite that has the feel of a wood blade but without the sanitation fears. The handle is nicely contoured and allows either a traditional grip or pinch grip without fear of slipping into the blade.

What I might say I like best about the knife is that the hybrid design, blade sharpness and ease of control has allowed me to use fewer knives in my cooking. I used to use my fillet knife and pairing knife along with the chef knife to chop different herbs and vegetables because the chef's knife has too thick of a blade to make fine cuts. The MAC Knife makes all those cuts comfortably so it's much easier keeping track of one sharp object in my workspace than two or three.

Overall, an excellent purchase that I look forward to using for years to come. I would recommend it for any home cook looking for a versatile knife to cut both vegetables/fruit and meat. It is not the huge, crazy chef's knife that many people pursue but at it's price point it is easily among the most popular and well-regarded knives.

Not Healthy: Barley Risotto with Tomato and Eggplant

Risotto is pretty much the most awesome way to eat rice and not just because it's loaded with cheese and delicious stock. Although risotto is typically made with a short grain white rice varietal like arborio, it can be made with almost any grain with a high volume of water soluble starches. You need the water soluble starches because they help make the rice sticky and is an important part in the creamy sauce. As a homebrewer, I know that brewing grains are also selected for their water soluble starch properties so when I read a little about barley-based risotto I was intrigued and went on the hunt for a barley risotto recipe. I looked at several recipes and settled on this Cooking Light recipe as a base. It smacks of a fall harvest-type dish which would pair perfectly with all sorts of hearty meats or even a simple herb stuffed chicken (recipe will be posted later). I changed the recipe in certain ways but feel free to look at the original recipe for further inspiration.

Risotto is heavily technique driven but it is also about the quality of the ingredients. One place that I see almost all recipes miss this key aspect is in the stock. Most recipes call for basic, canned chicken stock. I think this is a huge missed opportunity to drive extra flavor into the dish. Risotto can be made with virtually any stock although obviously some flavor combinations work better than others. Stock is easy to make and freezes with no effort so it is very easy to build a library of stocks in your freezer for risottos, soups and so forth. When I first made this dish I used a combination of chicken stock and a vegetable stock I made with corn yarn, parsley and a little celery (plus seasoning). Basically it was just a bunch of vegetable leftovers from cooking other stuff. You can use canned stock in this recipe but I find it more complex and interesting with a homemade stock with unique flavors.

The barley risotto should have a little more bite to it than a rice-based risotto but it should not feel raw or crunchy. If you feel it is undercooked after you have added all of your stock then continue adding water and cooking until you are happy with the texture of the barley. Getting the right consistency in a risotto is a challenge and something you will develop with experience.

Barley Risotto with Tomato and Eggplant Recipe

Details:

Servings: 4-6 depending on serving size.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 40-60 minutes

Equipment:

• Stove and oven
• Two medium saucepans (at least one with a lid)
• Small skillet
• Baking sheet
• Knife and cutting board
• Kitchen utensils, measuring cups and spoons
• Large mixing bowl

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Aubergine eggplant
• 10 oz. cherry tomatoes
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 1 white onion
• 1 cup pearl barley
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 ounces soft goat cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh basil
• 1/4 cup pine nuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2.  Dice eggplant and halve tomatoes. 
3. Combine eggplant, tomatoes, 2 tbsp olive oil and 1/4 tsp pepper in a large mixing bowl and mix well.
4. Spread vegetables on a single layer on baking sheet. Bake at 400F for 20-30 minutes until tomatoes begin to collapse. Remove and set aside.
5. Bring both stocks and 2 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to simmer.
6. Dice onion while waiting for the stock to boil.
7. Heat remaining tbsp of olive oil in other saucepan over medium heat. Once oil is hot add the onion and saute until the onions begin to brown (approximately 6 minutes). 
8. Reduce heat to medium. Stir in barley and garlic and cook 1 minute.
9. Add wine and stir in, cooking for 1 minute.
10. Add 1 cup of stock and mix well. Allow to come to a boil. Stir occasionally to avoid the barley sticking to the bottom. As the stock cooks down (which will take approximately 5 minutes), repeat this step until the stock is all gone. Do not let the barley dry out. Add another cup of stock once you are down to 15-20% of the stock remaining. 
11. Once you have added the first cup of stock, heat the skillet over medium-high heat.
12. Once the skillet is hot, add the pine nuts and toast to a light brown, stirring frequently. Do not burn. Once heated, set aside.
13. While the risotto is cooking, slice basil in into fine strips. 
14. Once all of the stock is cooked in, test the barley texture. It should still have bite but be soft and somewhat rice-like. If not, add another 1/2 cup of water and continue to cook. Once you are happy with the texture take the saucepan off the burner and turn off the burner. 
15. Add salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and goat cheese and mix until the cheese is dissolved. It does not need to melt entirely.
16. Add as much of the eggplant and tomato as you want. Stir in gently to not tear up the eggplant. Add the pine nuts.
17. Return to the burner that is still warm but turned off. (If you use a gas range you may need to turn the flame on low.) Stir gently and add the basil. Let it sit for 1-2 minutes or until the cheese has fully melted. Stir to mix thoroughly and serve.

Not Healthy: Lamb Osso Bucco

Lamb osso bucco is awesome. Although osso bucco is typically made with veal, I'm not a veal eater for ethical reasons. I also prefer the taste of lamb so it's a win/win to make the dish this way. Osso bucco means "bone with hole" because it is a crosscut that exposes the marrow and allows some of that delicious buttery flavor to stew into the dish. It can be difficult to find lamb shanks cut this way although you may be able to convince your grocery store butcher to cut the lamb shanks this way. I have had good luck using lamb loin chops, which do not expose marrow and does not have a lot of meat to it but they are easier to find in my area and produce great osso bucco(-ish).

This recipe takes a lot of work and it avoids using canned tomato products, which I generally dislike because they add greater acidity and less flavor. So this recipe will take longer than most while you boil down the tomatoes. As I have mentioned on other recipes, I am not a fan of removing the skins from my tomato-based sauces because I believe the skins give the sauce a rustic texture and provides greater flavor. If you prefer, you can blanch the tomatoes and peel them. Alternatively, if you want to use canned products, use one 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes and 1/4 cup of tomato paste and pick up the recipe after the tomatoes go into the saucepan to simmer.

A dutch oven is the easiest way to cook this dish but if you do not have a large dutch oven I would suggest using a skillet to brown the lamb and vegetables and then pick your best option for the oven. You want something that will keep all the ingredients together so they stay moist and cook slow, rather than drying out quickly. If you have a 1.5 quart stockpot with a lid that is safe in the oven up to 350F (check with the manufacturer first!) then that will be 95% as good as the dutch oven and the closest substitute. If not, try to pick a baking dish (I would go with glass if you can) that will keep the ingredients together as much as possible and cover it with a layer or two of foil.

My favorite way of serving this dish is with cheesy polenta with cheddar or gruyere. (I will post a recipe for it later.) I like to place the serving of polenta in the bottom of the bowl, then place the lamb on top and pour the sauce around it and top with the gremolata.


This recipe serves eight but it takes a long time to put together so I am happy to have leftovers or even freeze extra servings. Feel free to cut down the ingredients although it won't change much about the cooking time. The major change will be a shorter cook time on the tomatoes as there is less liquid to cook out. If you find you have an excess amount of sauce after you eat all the lamb then consider freezing it as an alternative pasta sauce or pizza sauce (you may need to further boil it down for a thicker consistency). It is delicious with lamb meatballs and pasta. Also consider making a lamb stock with the leftover bones.

Lamb Osso Bucco Recipe

Details:

Servings: 8
Prep time: 20 minutes (You will prep several other steps while you are cooking.)
Cook time: 4 hours

Equipment:

• Stove
• Oven
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Kitchen utensils
• Knife and cutting board
• 1-2 quart saucepan
• Large dutch oven
• Fine tooth grater or microplane
• Food processor or blender
• Foil
• Large plate

Ingredients:

• 8 lb. lamb shanks
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• 12 cloves of garlic
• 4 medium onions
• 4 medium carrots
• 3 celery ribs
• 2 cups red wine
• 2.5 lb. tomatoes 
• 3 cups lamb stock or chicken stock
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 tsp thyme
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1 large bunch parsley
• 2 lemons

Directions:

1. Chop tomatoes, removing core.
2. Heat saucepan over medium heat with 1 tbsp olive oil. Add tomatoes.
3. Simmer tomatoes for 30-60 minutes until it has a consistency slightly thicker than canned crushed tomatoes. Stir occasionally.
4. While tomatoes are simmering, dice onions, carrots and celery. Mince 10 garlic cloves.
5. With approximately 15 minutes left on the tomatoes, preheat oven to 350F.
6. Heat dutch oven on stove over medium heat with 1/4 cup olive oil.
7. Once the olive oil is heated, place half the lamb in the dutch oven and season lightly with salt and pepper. Brown lamb on all sides. Remove and set aside.
8. Add the remaining olive oil and repeat step 7. 
9. Once all the lamb is browned and removed from the dutch oven, add the garlic, onions, carrots and celery to the dutch oven and cook until the onions are soft.
10. Add the wine to the dutch oven to deglaze the dutch oven and gently scrape the bottom to loosen the pan drippings.
11. Cook for 3 minutes.
12. Take the dutch oven off the heat. Add the tomatoes, stock, bay leaf, thyme and oregano and mix well.
13. Return lamb and submerge into the sauce.
14. Bake the lamb, with the lid on, for 2.5-3 hours until the lamb is tender.
15. While the lamb is baking, prepare the gremolata in the following three steps.
16. Remove the parsley leaves to make one cup of loosely packed parsley leaves. Chop parsley to fine chop.
17. Use fine tooth grater to grate remaining two garlic cloves. 
18. Use same grater to zest lemons. Mix lemon zest, garlic and parsley. Set aside in the fridge.
19. Once the osso bucco is finished baking, remove the lamb carefully from the dutch oven and set aside on a large plate and cover with foil. 
20. Add the contents of the dutch oven to the food processor or blender and puree. You may have to work in shifts and blend it back together in the dutch oven. Season with salt and pepper if preferred.
21. When ready to serve, place the lamb on the plate or bowl and cover with sauce. Sprinkle gremolata on top and serve.