I bought Ina Garten's new cookbook the day it came out. While I frequently buy used cookbooks for pennies on the dollar, I'm fine with buying Ina's cookbooks new. Why? They're so well done. She obviously tests and retests her recipes because they just work. And, they're so often relatively quick and easy. Perfect for work nights. That's how I felt about her Flounder Milanese. After reading the book cover to cover and making a list of recipes to try, this one came to the top of the list. I stopped at our favorite fishmongers and picked up some cod instead of the flounder.
We left the office about 7:00 and headed home. I still needed a salad. My idea was celery. A great recipe from the New York Times was on my radar. But, it required a two hour marination. Not happening at 7:00 in the evening! So, on to eatyourbooks.com. I typed in celery, pine nuts, feta, thinking I'd get a bunch of salad ideas. Nope. Just one, from Food 52. So, I used the basic ingredients and made up my own salad dressing.
What did we think? Both recipes were fives. They were SO easy to make. And, SO very good. This is exactly what we like on a late evening. Quick, flavorful and pretty darned good for us.
Cod Milanese
Ingredients:
1 pound cod fillet
1 c all purpose flour
salt and pepper
1 extra large egg
1 c seasoned dry bread crumbs
unsalted butter
good olive oil
1 T drained capers
lime juice
Directions:
Put the flour in a shallow bowl. Beat the egg with a tablespoon of water in another shallow bowl. And, the seasoned bread crumbs in another. Since I didn't have seasoned bread crumbs, I put in a good bit of Italian seasoning. Cut the fish into pieces. I cut it based on the thickness of the fish. Pat the fish pieces dry. Melt a tablespoon of butter in a large skillet. Add a tablespoon of olive oil. Dip the fillets first in flour, then the egg, then the bread crumbs. When the butter is sizzling, put the thicker fillets in. When they are brown on the first side, flip them and add the balance of the fillets to the skillet. You may need to add more butter and/or oil. The thick fillets (1") took about 8 minutes and the thinner ones took about 4 minutes. Serve topped with capers and a squeeze of lime or lemon. Ina also added salad greens with a lemon vinaigrette.
adapted from Cook Like a Pro by Ina Garten
Celery, Artichoke and Chickpea Salad
Ingredients:
3 celery ribs with leaves, finely diced
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and diced
1 jar hearts of palm, drained and sliced thinly
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 c crumbled feta cheese
2 T toasted pine nuts
mustard vinaigrette
Directions:
Mix the celery, artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, chickpeas and vinaigrette together and allow them to marinate while you prep the fish. For the vinaigrette, I had about 3 T of Dijon mustard left in a jar. I added some red wine vinegar, a pinch of sugar, about 2 t of Italian seasoning and then a good bit of EVOO. Serve the salad topped with crumbled feta and toasted pine nuts.
adapted from Food 52
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