a whisk and a spoon

Everyday Dorie: Portuguese-Style Fish and Beans en Papillote

It’s been a minute since I’ve cooked something en papillote, but gosh, what a good technique to be reminded of with this Portuguese-Style Fish and Beans en Papillote. I don’t really cook fish that often, and usually save it for eating out, but this was an easy and excellent dinner. No stuck-to-the-pan skin or disappointingly shredded up flesh or accidental overcooking happening here. Not even any fishy splatters to clean off the stovetop. Everything– layers of sliced lemon and tomatoes sandwiching garlic-and-paprika-marinated cannellini beans and a similarly-seasoned fish fillet–steams nicely in contained bundle in the oven.

Dorie uses cod in her recipe, but I went with some striped bass from Long Island, because that’s what my fish guy had today and recommended. She also uses thyme and scallions in her bundles, but I swapped those for parsley and garlic scapes. A drizzle of olive oil and white wine helps kickstart the formation of a flavorful broth, which turned out brick red for me, as I used a heavy hand with the paprika in my seasoning….I regret nothing. Tied up in a parchment pouch, it all comes out of the oven perfectly cooked in just 15 minutes, including the jammy and delicious lemon slices, which I’m glad I didn’t just push aside. Technically, this is a complete meal in pouch, but I roasted some broccolini while the oven was on and warmed up a piece of bread, too, to mop up all that yummy broth.

For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see what we all thought.

Everyday Dorie: Soy-Sauce Eggs and Sticky Rice

I think the Soy-Sauce Eggs and Sticky Rice recipe has been nominated for CTBF a few times, but it didn’t survive the final group vote until now. I can understand that a cured egg yolk may not be everyone’s bag, but I thought it sounded like a pretty intriguing technique. I made a special egg-gathering trip to the big greenmarket in Union Square, just to get the freshest I could. The yolks then pickle (I went overnight) in a bath of soy and mirin. Each yolk turns out perfectly seasoned and jammy inside (that color!!), and when stirred through hot sushi rice, coats the grains in a most luxurious way.

Before even reading Dorie’s headnote description of the dish, I looked at the photo and thought, “That’s drinking food,” and cooked up some maitake mushrooms and greens to go with. Turns out, while it’s great with a cold beer for lunch or late-night, I can see it being a good breakfast, too, and apparently even kids love it!

For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see what we all thought.

Everyday Dorie: Black Bean-Chipotle Dip

Guac is my usual tortilla chip dip, but I’m game to switch up taco night botanas with something as tasty as this Black Bean-Chipotle Dip. This couldn’t be easier…just whiz up a can of black beans with some seasonings and there you have it. I wouldn’t skip the lime and cilantro, but I used taco seasoning in place of cumin, scallion instead of red onion and red Fresno pepper in lieu of green jalapeño.  I did use the ground chipotle, but why not sub in a canned chipotle in adobo or another type of ground chile powder instead? You can play around with what you have and what you like. You can also use leftovers as a spread for burritos or breakfast tacos, or even leave this chunkier and more salsa-like than I did…lots of possibilities, so you bet I’ll make this more often.

For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see what we all thought.