Quick dinner

So this past Wednesday evening I went to the theater to see Sartre's play "No Exit". It was fantastic, disturbing, and a lot to ponder. Just what I like. As for dinner I needed to have us fed by 6:45 and it needed to be easy and nutritious. I cheated a bit and picked up some already crusted trout from Co-op and then made my side dishes to go with it. The trout was nicely flavored and easy to cook. I was quite pleased. To accompany it I made some beets, brussel sprouts and bulgar. Bulgar is not something I have ever made before but I was quite pleased with it and will be using it frequently in place of rice I think. This is a dinner for two with (depending on how much you like beets) some leftovers for the next day.

Fish:
Buy two fillets of trout from Co-op, already breaded.

Beets:
I used two big beets and it was plenty. Boil the beets whole, trimmed of their greens, until tender when a fork is inserted into the middle of them. When they are cooked through run them under cold water to stop their cooking. When cool eel off the outer layers with your fingers. Cut them in half and then slice the halves. Put them in a pan with some olive oil and garlic. Sauté.

Bulgar:
Boil 1 cup water, add 1/2 cup bulgar. Cook for 15-20 minutes.

Brussel Sprouts:
Remove any tough outer leaves and trim the stems of the brussel sprouts. Toss in olive oil, sea salt, and pepper. Put in the oven at 400 and cook, tossing every once and a while, for 15 or so minutes.

When the bulgar only has 10 minutes left put the fish in the oven at 375-400.

Mushroom Ravioli

So tonight's dinner is mushroom ravioli. I used wonton wrappers for a quick and easy wrapping for the ravioli and I will use up what's left when I make wontons this weekend. For the mushrooms feel free to use any variety you want, I used white button but portobello would lovely and meaty as well. Something which I may try at some point is to add a few pine nuts. I'm not sure how it would taste, but I think it would be interesting.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups mushrooms chopped-small
1/2 small onion chopped-small
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. fresh thyme
2 tsp. olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. sherry
Wonton wrappers


Smashed peas:
2 cups of peas
1/2 cup of stock
2 tbl. grated parmesan cheese

Add all the ingredients to a food processor, process until they reach a slightly chunky texture. Put the mixture into a small put and warm through.

Heat the olive oil in the pan over medium heat and add the finely chopped onions. Saute those until translucent about fie or six minutes, add the garlic and thyme, saute those for about a minute and then add the mushrooms. Turn up the heat to high and let the mushrooms cook until the moisture has evaporated. Add the sherry and cook for one more minute. Let the mixture cool for about 20-30 minutes or until the next day.

Take out the wonton wrappers and wet the edges of them as you use them. Spoon a small amount of filling into the center of the wrapper, about a tsp., fold in half so it becomes a triangle and press down on the edges so that they stick really well. When you are done making all the raviolis add them to boiling salted water. Cook for two or three minutes. Plate them on top of some smashed peas. Dress the ravioli in a nice olive oil and drizzle with some balsamic glaze. Enjoy!

My new adventures in cooking

I say new adventures because I have been a big fan of cooking since high school but seem to have gotten in quite a rut in the last few years. I continually buy new cookbooks as if my life depended on it, however I find that I never cook anything from them. This is sad for a variety of reasons. I feel badly because it seems like a waste of both time and money to continue buying these cookbooks without using them. I also feel disappointed in myself for not following something through yet again, it just adds to my pile of things to feel bad about.
This year, 2010 is going to be different. My goal/resolution for 2009 can be summed up as such: do things which are challenging and outside my comfort zone. For 2010 my goals/resolutions are: continue to do things which are outside my comfort zone and which are challenging and to cook things from my cookbooks. Now I don't have a steadfast rule such as "cook three new recipes a week" or anything like that but simply to cook new things as often as possible. So that's what I'm going to do. WIth this I hope to explore many different types of cooking from Italian to Mexican to Indian and so on. The focus will be on recipes which are healthy and not to complicated. I am sure some will be bad and some will be great, recipes which I will go back to again and again. I am looking forward to finding those.

So, let's get going!