Tasty pie full of fish. Yum.

I know, it's been a while. And I'm sorry. Really I am. But when it comes right down to it, I haven't been doing much cooking lately. Doing a lot of travel, but not much cooking. So I'm back and ready to buckle down on the care and feeding of my family. Tonight, for example, I tried something new. Jamie Oliver's Fish Pie. And wow is it ever good.

Try to divorce yourself from the idea of pie crust and think more along the lines of a Shepard's pie. Now you have the picture. Granted, I made a few modifications, changed some ingredients and had to convert grams to cooking measurements I understand (which I'll include below) but the end result is so good, I can't stop wanting more.


Jamie Oliver's Fish Pie (with my modifications)
You can find the original recipe here if you want to compare, or just find a ton of other awesome recipes.
Serves 4 - 6

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2.5 lbs potatoes (I used Yukon gold, and they rocked)
3 carrots
2 stalks of celery
6 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
1 lemon
1/2 chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
11 ounces cod fillets, skin off and bones removed
1 lb smoked salmon fillets, skin off
olive oil (which Jamie measures in "lugs", so I'm not going to measure it either)

Heat your oven to 400°F.
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Cube your potatoes, I don't bother peeling them.
Once your water is boiling, dump the potatoes in and cook until tender.
In a baking pan, shred your carrot, celery and cheese. Add the zest of your lemon and the chopped parsley. Cut your fish into bite sized pieces and put them in the pan. Squeeze the lemon juice over the mixture, add a good drizzle of olive oil, a big pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Mix it all together.

Drain your cooked potatoes and return them to the pan. Add a good "lugs" of olive oil, some salt and pepper and mash until they are nice and smooth.
Spread the mashed potatoes on top of the veggie and fish mixture. I added little fork ruts in mine and drizzled a bit of butter on top, which made it all golden and crispy, so I highly recommend it.
Bake for about 40 minutes. Eat and enjoy.

Jamie recommends serving it with a salad, or katsup and baked beans. I just ate it straight, but that was mostly because I was wiped out today. Next time, I promise, there will be something green on the plate.

My blog just got tagged. Really!

My new best friend (who doesn't know she's my best friend yet) Astrogirl, from Notes from the Bunker tagged me. The deal is, I get to tell you 6 random things about me, and since this is my cooking blog, I'm going to make them all food related. How's that for an awesome twist?

So here we go:

1. I took my first cooking class when I was in 1st grade (mom correct me if I'm wrong on this). The big fancy main course was an apricot glazed roasted chicken that basically involved roasting a chicken slathered in apricot jam. I get queasy just thinking about it.

2. I used to hate tuna in all shapes and forms. No tuna sandwiches, no sushi, no seared ahi. Couldn't stand the stuff. Then I got pregnant with Big Dog, and I craved it non-stop. His favorite sandwich now? Tuna. I also used to hate peanut butter. Got pregnant with Little Dog and couldn't get enough. His favorite sandwich? Peanut butter.

3. While I like peanut butter now, I don't like peanut butter with sweet stuff like jam or chocolate. I like it salty. My favorite peanut butter sandwich is peanut butter and siracha on whole wheat. Yum.

4. I hate eating leftovers. I always cook so we have them, but I hate to eat them. I get freaky about food that has been in the fridge for more than a few days too.

5. I love chex mix. Even the prepackaged junk. Especially if it is the extra bold recipe.

6. On our honeymoon in Belize, we fell in love with Marie Sharp's hot sauce. One of our souvenirs from the trip was a case of the stuff. It took about 2 years to eat it all, then Mr. Dog found a source online and bought two more cases.

Now comes the tagging:

GeekyMummy

Cutie Booty Cakes

52 Faces

Green Yogurt

Robin from Around the Island

KD @ A Bit Squirrelly

House of Crazy

Feel free to crown me Queen of Split Pea Soup.

Sometimes I even amaze myself. Like today. A crappy overcast, windy Seattle day outside, I decided to make soup for dinner. Something hearty, something that really tastes like Autumn. Split Pea. I like split pea soup even though I loathe peas. Go figure. Or don't, either way, make this soup.

Split pea soup is one of those classic comfort soups for me. It is warm and filling, goes great with a nice slice of fresh bread, and is actually really simple to make.

Queen of Pea Soup
2 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
1 1/2 cups chopped carrot
2 cups dried split peas
7 cups water
7 tsp Better than Bullion
1 tsp dry thyme
2 bay leaves

In a large soup pan, melt your butter and briefly saute the onions, celery and carrot. Once they are slightly soft, add your dried peas (wash and sort first, then just dump them in) add your water, Better Than Bullion, thyme and bay leaves. Turn heat down to medium low and cover your pan. Leave it alone. Sure go stir it once in a while, like every 20 minutes or so, but don't hover. It is completely unnecessary. The peas will cook down and dissolve, as will the onions and celery. The carrots never fully commit, but they end up partly cooked away, only flecking the soup with their beautiful autumn gold in the pot. If that offends you, or if you prefer a perfectly silky soup, use your stick blender to beat those carrots and other small chunks into submission.

When the soup is more or less soupy (about an hour), you can fish out the bay leaves, or if you're lazy like me, make up some kind of "If you get the bay leaf you have to kiss the chef" game and avoid dining with people you'd rather not kiss you.

I like to serve it with a nice hot slice of fresh bread, but you don't have to. Sure, people will talk, but do your own thing.

My take on Marie Anoinette. The cake part, not the choppy head part.

So I promised I'd post the new cake recipe if you left enough comments at From Stage Dives to Station Wagons. You did your part, so I guess I have to keep up my end of the deal.
This recipe is lifted from Nigella Lawson's How To Be A Domestic Goddess. If you don't already have it, I'd heartily recommend it. It makes a single layered dense almost brownie-like cake. She calls for marmalade in her recipe, but I've made it with both apricot and raspberry jam, and they both rock.

Nigella Lawson's Pantry-Shelf Chocolate-Orange Cake
1/2 cup butter
4 oz bittersweet chocolate (I probably use closer to 6 oz, but that's just how I roll)
1 1/3 cup good quality marmalade (I subbed Trader Joe's Organic Reduced Sugar Apricot Jam the first time, and TJ's Organic Reduced Sugar Raspberry Jam the second, both with excellent results, so feel free to experiment)
1/2 cup bakers sugar
2 eggs
1 cup self rising cake flour (yeah, I'll tell you how to whip that up)

Preheat your oven to 350. Butter and flour an 8 inch springform pan.
Over medium heat, melt your butter in a medium saucepan. When the butter is melted, lower your heat and add your chocolate. Melt until smooth and combined completely. Add the sugar, jam and eggs then beat in the flour. Pour into your prepared cake pan.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until the pick comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

You can top it with a dusting of powdered sugar, or slap on some barely sweetened whipped cream, or just eat it. Your choice.

Self Rising Flour (so you don't have to try to buy it)
1 cup cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

So what are you waiting for? Go eat some cake already!

The Cauliflower He Called "Potatoes"

There is magic in oven roasting vegetables. Something about the caramelized edges and concentration of their flavor through the magic of dry heat transforms even the most commonplace vegetable. Even more impressive, if you oven roast cauliflower, it becomes potatoes. Or at least it does for Little Dog because that's how he asks for more. And I can live with that. So, here's how you make that magic happen.

Cauliflower Potatoes
1 large head of cauliflower
Olive oil
Kosher salt

Wash and trim your cauliflower leaving the head in tact. Cut the entire head in slices about 3/4 inches thick and put them in a large mixing bowl. Add about 1 Tbsp olive oil and toss the cauliflower slices to coat. If you need more oil, add it slowly, you don't want to drown the cauliflower, but you also want it evenly coated. Once it is coated with oil, add a couple heavy pinches of salt and toss again.

Spread sliced cauliflower on a baking sheet in a single layer. depending on the size of your cauliflower, you might need to use more than one baking sheet.

Put the baking sheet in your oven under the broiler. Let cook until the edges of the cauliflower are golden, then turn the slices (and bits that have fallen off the slices) and cook the other side until golden on the edges. In our crappy oven this takes about 15 minutes, sometimes more, sometimes less. You want the golden edges and you want the cauliflower to be nice and tender. If you don't get there in 15 minutes, keep on broiling. It is worth it.

In our house this is barely enough for 4 people. Especially once Little Dog gets going. "More potatoes, mama!"

Giving it a second go

And it will probably turn out just as badly as the first, but here is another attempt at Meal Planning Monday (yes, I know it is Tuesday. I told you I suck at this stuff.)

Yesterday we had pasta and meatballs (lovingly crafted by Mr. Dog).

Tuesday: Broiled Salmon and steamed veggies.

Wednesday: Do it yourself (or have mama do it for you) Sushi with Auntie Chihuahua

Thursday: Bean Soup and homemade bread

Friday: CityMama's Veggie Stir Fry with Soba (yes, we love this stuff)

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Homemade Pizza.

If it sounds like a rut, it kind of is. But I'll cope with that.

Now, thinking outside the box

When I was growing up, my mom took care of dessert cravings in a couple of ways. She pretty regularly brought Pepperidge Farms Fruit Turnovers, boxes of chocolate pudding mix and jello. I haven't had a turnover in years (though after typing that, I'm thinking they sound pretty good). I don't eat jello, it's too, um, hoofy. But pudding, that's a different story. I eat it frequently. Only twist on that classic is that I make it from scratch. Guess what. It's easy.

Lately I've been making it several times a week, because those are the weeks I've been having. The boys and Mr. Dog all seem to like it too. Although if you ask Little Dog, he might tell you it's mud, not pudding. He's just strange that way.

Chocolate Pudding, from scratch, for reals.
1/4 cup corn starch
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup Droste Cocoa Powder (my favorite brand, but Hershey's works as will any other)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups milk (I use skim milk because I have it on hand, but use whatever you like)
2 tbsp. butter

In a saucepan, whisk together your dry ingredients. Make sure you break up any lumps in your cornstarch, well, unless you like lumpy pudding, but I don't. Put saucepan over medium head and whisk in the milk, all at once. Heat over medium heat until the pudding thickens to a creamy, pudding-y consistency. Remove from the burner and stir in the vanilla and the butter.

At this point I start eating it right out of the pan. But if you have manners, or are serving others, feel free to put it into bowls and let it cool slightly.

Say you want a slightly more adult twist, omit the vanilla and add 2 Tbsp of brandy. Yum.

Trust me, you'll never go back to the box. Sorry Mr. Cosby.