Pacific Northwest Bouillabaisse
For two days now, it has been rainy, oh! sheets of rain coming down. If you have an umbrella, it doesn’t help. You are soaked before you can even get your umbrella up, and the wind keeps blowing in gusts from different directions so the umbrella goes inside out.
The perfect day for Pacific Northwest Bouillabaisse, a recipe from a cookbook my aunt gave me, published in 1946 – no longer even in print. But the recipe is a winner – easy, satisfying, and with a salad and French Bread, a complete stormy day meal, warming and satisfying from the inside out.
A bouillabaisse is flexible, and relies on slow simmering and some reduction to obtain its deep, rich, complex flavor. Fishermen use what they catch – the more, the merrier, in a bouillabaisse. For extra credit, serve with a rouille, a red, peppery mayonnaise. (Yes, blenders make any mayonnaise do-able.)
Pacific Northwest Bouillabaisse
From Mary Cullen’s Northwest Cook Book, 1946 (with alterations)
This is one of the all-star recipes if you like seafood and if your friends do, too.
1 1/2 lbs. cod, halibut or red snapper, or good solid white meat fish like grouper, cut into bite sized chunks
1 large hard shell crab, cook, take meat out (or two or three small Kuwaiti crab)
2 lbs. small clams in the shell, or if you are stuck, you can use canned clams
1/2 lb. mussels, if available
10 – 12 medium large shrimp
1/3 cup olive oil
2 onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
3 cups fish stock (I use the water from cooking the crab, and cook the fish heads etc. until you have a good, tasty stock)
1/2 cup dry white wine (optional)
1 green and 1 red sweet pepper, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon saffron
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 Tablespoons minced parsley
Prepare fish, removing bones and cutting into bite sized pieces. Several kinds of fish can be used, if preferred. Clean meat out of crab legs and crab body, put aside.
In large pan, sautee onion, peppers and garlic in olive oil, add bay leaf and cut up fish and fish stock, cook very slowly, without boiling, for about 20 minutes or until fish is tender.
Add crab, clams, shrimp, mussels, seasonings, and lemon juice. Let cook 3 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve. It is tradition that on cold winter’s days, the bread can be dunked in the broth!
This is a photo from Wikipedia, showing genuine French Bouillabaisse. The Pacific Northwest version doesn’t have a tomato-y broth, but more clear broth.
Christmas Dinner: Festive Alternatives 1
We have had many Christmases in countries where a traditional ham will not do, and is often not available. While turkey is always possible, we find we are not so eager for another turkey so close to Thanksgiving. We’ve tried all kinds of alternatives – duck (once, and everyone said “yuk” because it is so greasy), roast beef (nobody thought it was that special,) shrimp (always a winner in our house) – but one of the all time favorites is rouladen.
It is only intimidating the first time you try it, and then you laugh at how easy it is. When rolling, tuck the sides in before the final roll, and place tucked side down in the baking pan.
Rouladen
Rouladen is a German word that means rolls. The shutters that roll down over the window are rouladen. Little packets of meat roled around a savory stuffing are rouladen. This recipe are not authentic German rouladen, but an evolution over the year to what we like. This is also an approximation, but these work! They are delicious as a meal – and even more delicious as leftovers, but there usually isn’t much left over.
The Sultan center cuts round steak in long thin strips. (about 3-4 inches wide and 10 – 12 inches long) Those work fine.
Not in Kuwait? Find a butcher that will make rouladen cuts of meat! Usually the more expensive supermarkets will have someone who knows how to do rouladen cuts.
Buy a wooden or metal mallet. Pound the rouladen cutlets very thin. This will make them cook up very tender. The goal is that you can cut and eat them with a fork – that tender.
Crisply fried bacon, crumbled
Dill pickles, chopped small, but not as small as relish
Grated carrot
Green onions, chopped
Sharp mustard
Coarse pepper
Salt
Spray your baking pan with oil to protect it from the heavy baked on tomato sauce.
Spread a thin coat of sharp mustard on each slice of meat, then sprinkle with carrot, pickle, bacon, salt and pepper. Roll up, tucking large side flaps inside, and place in a baking pan with the end of the roll down.
Sauce: 2 Cans tomato sauce, 1 cup red wine (does not have to be good stuff) 1 Tablespoon thyme, 1 tablespoon mild paprika – sauce will be thin and should cover the rouladen (make more sauce if it doesn’t). Tuck in a bay leaf or two. In Kuwait, no red wine, use some red vinegar or balsamic vinegar to liven the sauce.
Bake: Heat oven to 325, pour sauce over meat rolls, and bake slowly two hours or so. It will start to smell yummy, and the sauce will thicken. When you serve the rolls, they will be so tender (thanks to the combination of wine and tomato) you can cut them just with a fork.
Serve with noodles, or with rice, or with potatoes to soak up the gravy.
Rotkohl (Red Cabbage)
Heads of red cabbage are available in Kuwait, even in the co-ops. This dish makes a great accompaniement to the rouladen, and has a lovely color, too. It is so so easy.
1 small red cabbage, sliced thinly
1 small apple, sliced thinly
1 cup grape jelly
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon clove
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons cider vinegar
1 cup grape or cranberry juice
Bring juice,vinegar, jelly, cinnamon, clove and sugar to a boil, add cabbage and apple, stir thoroughly and turn down fire to very low. Simmer for 45 minutes – the house will smell wonderful and the cabbage will shrink to a small amount. Serve with ham or turkey or rouladen.
Christmas Party Stars: Shrimp Mousse
Shrimp Mousse
A friend gave me this recipe when we lived in Jordan, and I have used it ever since. It is one of the all-stars! Looks and tastes so elegant, and makes up SO EASY. Everything you need is available here in Kuwait, and this is a great way to make use of Kuwaiti shrimp, only available this year until January.
You can also serve it in slices as a first course on a lettuce leaf with some parsley. Keep back several shrimp to cut in half and use as embellishment.
1 can tomato soup
1 8 ounce package cream cheese
2 envelopes Knox Gelatine
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup (or one can) small cleaned and cooked shrimp
1/4 cup cold water
Heat soup and add cream cheese, stir until it becomes all smooth and creamy. Remove from heat. Dissolve Knox Gelatine in 1/4 cup cold water, add to soup and cream cheese mix. Let cool and add mayonnaise, onion, celery and shrimp. Pour into 1 1/2 quart mold and chill in refrigerator until firm. (I use two smaller molds) Unmold and serve with crackers.
Christmas Party Stars: Herbed Cheese Ball
Herbed Cheese Ball
Herbed Cheese Ball tastes just like Boursin, but even better, because you make it yourself and it is FRESH. It tastes great, it is EASY, and it is also very fattening. You can make it ahead of time, and it will last quite a while – weeks – in the refrigerator. Boursin cheese was hot in the 70’s.
If you live in Kuwait, you can find everything you need between the Co-op and the Sultan Center.
8 ounces unsalted butter, room temp
16 ounces cream cheese, room temp
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon oregano
1/3 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon marjoram
1/4 teaspoon dill weed
Mix together until all is well blended. Serve in ramekin or form into a ball, May be rolled in coarsly ground pepper as a variation. Serve with crackers.
Christmas Party Stars: Artichoke Cheese Dip
As with all the cookie and candy recipes, these ones are really really easy. This first one is very flexible, so flexible I don’t even use the recipe any more. You can use canned artichokes, marinated artichokes, frozen artichokes, cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, etc.
I’ll give you the basics. You make it a time or two, and then . . . play with it. Make it your own. Share the results with me! 🙂
At one party I gave, two men stood by this dip for an hour, and polished it off between them! Some people don’t like the heat of jalepenos, and if you think your guests like less heat, you don’t have to add them.
Artichoke Cheese Dip
After you have made this a couple times, you don’t even have to measure – you just sort of throw things in. A sure fire crowd pleaser.
1 14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
2 Tablespoons chopped canned red pimentos
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup grated Monterey Jack Cheese
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1/8 teaspoon (just a pinch) cumin powder
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
1-2 finely chopped jalepenos (optional, but these make it the BEST)
Combine all ingredients, turn into baking dish (I use a quiche dish) and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until bubbling hot. Serve with tortilla chips.
Off the Charts
Yesterday I was stunned to discover this blog on the WordPress Top 100 Blogs. It was #87, near the bottom, but I was astonished to even see it there at all, and delighted. Alas, such success is fleeting, and it was only for the one day. Checking this morning, I am now off the chart.
In the meantime, it is so much fun watching what people are downloading – Mom’s Fruitcake. Christmas Divinity. There is such a need out there for EASY recipes for time-challenged Christmas celebrators.
In the meantime, dear ones, time is flying! If you need two easy recipes, these two are the very easiest: Chocolate Macaroons and Russian Tea Cakes. Happy baking :-)!
Christmas Punch – Rum and Rumless
Brrrr. . . . .it is a COLD in Kuwait. The Qatteri Cat walks around begging me to sit at the computer so he can snuggle up next to me and snooze. I wore a real sweater today, it was that cold!
And – it is time for Christmas Punch. We all love this punch; it makes your house smell wonderful, it makes your throat feel good if you have a sore throat, and cranberry juice and pineapple juice – WOW – it’s even good for you.
This is the original recipe. Try it, but now when I make it I cut the sugar in half. Sometimes I don’t even add any sugar at all. And, this being Kuwait, no rum at all, but it still tastes wonderful, warm or cold. We store the leftover punch in the refrigerator in the cranberry jars, and just microwave it when we want a glass. It is SO good, and so EASY.
Christmas Rum Punch – and Rumless
2 32 oz. jars Cranberry Juice (Can be Cran-Rasberry, or Cran Grape, or what the Sultan Center has!)
1 32 oz. can Pineapple Juice (or 1 liter Pineapple Juice in the refrigerated section at the Sultan Center)
1 cup brown sugar
12 inches cinnamon stick
3 Tablespoons whole cloves
1 orange peel
Original recipe: In 30 cup coffeemaker, put cranberry and pineapple juice in bottom, and place coffee basket with brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves and orange peel in top. Perk juices through basket. When ready light comes on, add 1 quart Meyer’s Dark Rum. (Yeh, it’s a punch, you can use something else, but Meyer’s Dark Rum is SOOO good in this.)
In Kuwait – don’t add the rum!
Alternative when you don’t have a big coffee pot – Put juices into large kettle, add cinnamon sticks, cloves, orange peel, sugar and bring to simmer. When hot, use strainer to fish out cinnamon sticks, cloves and orange peel – Do this sooner, rather than later, or the juice will get too spicy.
Add 1 quart of rum – or not! The juice is good either way, good for you, and has a very Christmas-y smell.
Old Fashioned Christmas Gingerbread Cookies (Advanced)
I will tell you honestly, I don’t make these any more. They are too difficult. But if you are fairly experienced at baking, these are totally amazing cookies my French grandmother used to make.
Gingerbread Cookies
Preheat oven to 400 F/ 200C
1 cup molasses (Brer Rabbit Green Label)
1 cup sugar
1 cup shortening
1 cup hot water
3 teaspoons baking soda
3 teaspoons Royal baking powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups flour
Add hot water to molasses, sugar and shortening. When well-mixed and cool, stir in sifted dry ingredients.
Roll out to 3/4 inches thick, sprinkle with sugar and cut with cookie cutters. Place on cookie sheets and bake about 10 minutes, maybe a little longer.
Doesn’t sound so hard, does it?
This is a very soft dough. My grandmother says it rolls easier if you chill it before rolling it out, but even so, it is very soft. The rolling surface should be well floured, as well as the rolling pin, and it is best to work fast.
Note to my niece: Little Diamond, I sent the fruit cake. This is the recipe for the cookies you promised to send 🙂
Christmas Cookies: Butter Tarts
These are particularly easy if you can buy ready-made pie crust. If you can’t, use the Never Fail Pie Crust published earlier in this blog. You can freeze what you don’t use for later. Easy easy easy.
Butter Tarts
Preheat oven to 375 F/190 C.
Cream together:
1 Tablespoon butter
1 cup brown sugar
Add:
2 beaten eggs
1 large cup currants, sultanas or raisins
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Line patty or tart tins with pie crust (cut with cookie cutter to fit) and drop in enough mixture to nearly fill. Small tart tins work fine, and make a great one-bite sized tart.
Bake 10 – 12 minutes,
Christmas Cookie Making Photos
This weekend (Thursday and Friday are the week-end in Kuwait) was the big cookie making weekend – the upcoming two weeks are busy with occasions that require plates of cookies. (See cookie recipes in early December/late November).
In military campaigns, in event planning, after scoring a major business coup, there is an event called the “after action report.” Now matter how well you have done, it helps to sit down, right after the event, and brainstorm where you did well and where you could do better.
Here is where I did really well – the cookies taste great. Making the dough ahead of time and then cooking it up when I have time is a good game plan.
Areas where I need improvement. . .
Sugar Cookies
1) When using the food processor to make cookie dough, take off the blade protectors before beginning. Fortunately, I figured out what had happened while the pieces were relatively large, and easy to pick out of the cookie dough.
2) I didn’t realize in my January move that in the two boxes that went missing was my rolling pin. The good news is that a long, smooth sided plastic glass worked just fine. Better, in fact, than any rolling pin, wooden or plastic, I have ever used before.
I forgot what a big mess cookie-making makes . . .
This is what they look like after they have been glazed and green sugar crystals added.
They don’t have to be fancy – just relatively uniform – to make a pretty cookie plate.
Swedish Rosettes
3) Where did my big transformer go? The Fry Daddy I use to keep the oil at a steady temperature for the Swedish Rosettes needs 1200 watts, and the biggest transformer I have on hand is 1000 watts. Why on earth am I still using a 110v appliance after 8 years of living in 220v countries?
I ended up using the low-tech solution:
Although I have gas burners as well as electrical burners, I am terrified of the potential for fire using so much hot oil over the course of several hours. I don’t know why, I suppose it is not rational, but it just FEELS safer using the electric burner. It is hard to maintain an even 370 F, and quality control is problematic.
This is one of the first ones, when the oil isn’t quite hot enough. The flavor, however, is awesome! That’s the good thing about the rejects.
You can see the variation in color below. Save the darker ones for the last. You can still serve them with enough powdered sugar.
Ready to serve:
Russian Tea Cakes
These were a piece of cake. SOOOOOO easy. The ones on the right, are fresh out of the oven. The ones on the left have been rolled in powdered sugar, and are ready to eat. Yummmmm.
I buy my sparkling crystal sugars at Market Spice, in the Seattle Pike Place Market, but when I checked, they no longer sell online, and refer us instead to Amazon where they have a truly astonishing variety of sugar decorations available through the mail.
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