Wild Mackerel over Spicy Tomato/Veg Sauce

23 Feb

Here’s a delicious and simple way of serving and eating wild mackerel: simply seared, over a chunky, veggy-packed, spicy tomato sauce.  Not only does it make for a tasty, hearty meal, it’s also very pretty!

For the sauce: Heat a pot drizzled with olive oil.  Sauté together chopped onions (1 large), minced carrots (3 carrots) and minced garlic (3 cloves), over medium-high heat; salt and pepper.  When the onions are tender, add a pint of organic cherry tomatoes (whole); lowering the heat to medium-low, simmer until most (but not all) of the tomatoes have burst, softened and cooked down.  Add 2 bay leaves.  Chop up pitted Kalamata olives (I used a little less than a half cup), and add to the sauce.  Here, add a store-bought, natural (i.e. no added sugar) arrabbiata sauce (I personally like Mario Batali’s arrabbiata sauce, which comes in a jar).  Simmer on low until heated.  Stir in a handful of finely chopped basil.

For the mackerel:

Salt and pepper both sides of the filets.

In a non-stick pan, heat a drizzle of olive oil.  Lay down the filets, skin-side down, and sear for about 6 minutes, or until the skin is crispy, on medium high heat.  Turn over, and cook for another 3 minutes.  Take off the heat, and let it rest for a few minutes.

Pour the tomato sauce in a bowl, and gently place the mackerel filet on top.  Garnish with a few fresh basil leaves.  Enjoy! x

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DD Stockholm Premiere!

18 Feb

This week has been quite eventful and busy!!  We had our gala premiere on Monday –the “pink carpet” event had many Swedish celebrities in attendance.  David and I walked the “pink carpet” as well (although it was freezing out!).

On Tuesday was our official premiere, with press in the house.  The reviews have been very good and positive — whew!  The opening was also Valentine’s Day, and we had a wonderful party with the cast after the show.

Now we’re back in Brooklyn!  Somehow we managed to pack up our apartment in Stockholm and return to the states in one piece.  We are so happy to be back in our own apartment — and I am thrilled to be in my own kitchen!!  Can’t wait to start cooking with all the gadgets I’ve so missed having in Stockholm (not the least are a large oven and a gas stove)!!

x x

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Mediterranean-style Salsa

9 Feb

We’ve found gorgeous organic, heirloom mini-tomatoes here in Stockholm — perfect for making my “Mediterranean salsa” even more colorful!  This “salsa” is great alongside meats (pork chops, steaks), as a dip (with gluten-free crackers, for instance), or with eggs (fried or scrambled).  Very simple to make, and tasty.  In a large bowl, mix together: chopped up the tomatoes; a small red onion, minced; finely mince jalapeno pepper (less or more depending on your tolerance for heat); a big handful of basil, chiffonade; and 2 tablespoons or so of capers (depending on how much you like capers).  Squeeze in the juice of one lemon.  Drizzle some olive oil, and season with salt to taste.

P.S.> No need to use heirloom mini-tomatoes, of course.  Any delicious, preferably organic tomatoes would make a great Mediterranean-style salsa!

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Arugula Salad w/Figs+Toasted Pine Nuts

2 Feb

This salad is very simple, and looks fabulous.  The sweetness and texture of the figs, the crunch and earthiness of the pine nuts, the crisp and slightly bitter arugula leaves… all make for a beautiful, delicious salad.

To make: toast pine nuts in a non-stick pan at low heat.  No need to add oil.  Keep moving around and toast until the nuts turn a light golden brown color.  Take about 6 figs, peel, and chop up into bite size pieces.  In a bowl, toss together arugula leaves, figs, and pine nuts with a drizzle of olive oil, good balsamic dressing, and a sprinkle of salt.  Enjoy!

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Festive Coleslaw with Mango

30 Jan

I made this coleslaw to go with the spiced ribs.  I wanted to infuse some sweetness to the salad to complement the spicy ribs — and had the idea to add mango into the mix.  The mango adds a faintly sweet, slightly tart quality to the coleslaw, and brightens the salad.  It’s colorful and flavorful, and pairs very nicely with the spicy ribs.  This coleslaw was a big hit at the birthday party — what a great way to get a solid vitamin C boost from the cabbage!  The coleslaw is excellent the next day.

INGREDIENTS

  • Half a head of cabbage, finely shredded (**I use a knife to thinly cut the cabbage.  Make sure to take out the core, and cut the half cabbage in yet another half — quartered — and thinly cut the sections.)
  • 1 large carrot, finely shredded (**I cut the carrot into thirds, then slice thinly length-wise/vertically; then I finely chop them into thin “match sticks.”)
  • 1 small red onion, finely sliced
  • 1 mango, finely chopped into “matchsticks”
  • 1 stalk of scallion, finely chopped

DRESSING

  • 2 tbsp organic mayonnaise (made of free-range eggs)
  • 3 tbsp good quality white vinegar
  • 1/4 cup organic olive oil

Chop all the vegetables and place in a large bowl.  In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise and white vinegar.  Slowly whisk in the olive oil, mix until smooth and silky.  Season with salt.

Pour the dressing over the salad and toss.  Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

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Rock the Party Spicy Ribs

29 Jan

We threw a birthday party for our musical director, Conrad, in our Stockholm apartment.  Conrad has known David since he was 16, and we’ve all worked together on Dirty Dancing since 2004 — he’s family to us, and it was wonderful to celebrate his birthday with him, his wife Penny, Eleanor, Michael, and our set designer Paul.

I wanted to make the dinner a casual affair, and also wanted to cook something that you don’t often find at Stockholm restaurants.  I decided to make spiced ribs, which were a resounding success.  These ribs are easy to make and delicious — although eating can get messy, with good, friendly company, it’s a lot of fun to eat with your hands!  (Just have plenty of paper towels on hand.)  These ribs would be great for Super Bowl parties, too.  (I will be staying up late to watch next weekend!)

“ROCK THE PARTY” SPICY RIBS

**NOTE: The measurements below are for 1 full set of ribs (2 large ribs).  For the party, I made 4 sets of ribs, and so multiplied the ingredients by 4.

DRY-RUB

  • 3 tbsp paprika
  • 2 tbsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp good quality salt (I used Himalayan pink salt)
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp cumin

Mix the ingredients together.

Because our oven in Stockholm is tiny, I cut each rib in half, to make the refrigerating/baking process easier.  Coat the dry-rub onto the ribs, both sides.

Stack the ribs on top of each other, and cover tightly with cling wrap.  Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 175C (or 350F).  Lay out the ribs in a baking pan or tray covered with foil.  Cover the ribs with foil, and roast in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes.  Take off the cover, and cook for another 15 minutes.  Let the ribs rest for at least 5 minutes, then cut into pieces.

I served the ribs with some coleslaw and an arugula salad with fig and toasted pine nuts — I will post the recipes for them soon!

Happy party people

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Sunday Roast: Roasted Garlic/Onion Parsnips + Roasted Leg of Lamb

25 Jan

Roasted parsnips are a new vegetable dish in our home.  I’d never cooked parsnips before, but turns out they are quite easy to roast.  A little sweeter and nuttier than carrots, parsnips pair very nicely with slow-roasted lamb — and together, they make a great Sunday dinner!  My favorite recipe for a slow-roasted lamb is Jamie Oliver’s “Incredible Roasted Shoulder of Lamb” — although the recipe calls for the shoulder, you could also apply the roasting method on a leg, which is what I did.

As for the parsnips, here’s how I  cooked them:

Preheat the oven to 400F (or about 200C).  Peel the parsnips and cut them into approx. 1/2 inch slices; lay them out in a baking dish.  Chop up a red onion (or 2, if you like red onions); peel and halve 6 or so cloves of garlic.  Add some sprigs of thyme or rosemary.  Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and mix.  Add about 3 tablespoons of water.

Cover tightly with foil, and put in the oven.  After about 20 minutes, take off the foil.  Toss the parsnips/onions/garlic, and continue to roast for another 20 minutes or so, until tender.  I like to keep moving the vegetables, so that they brown evenly.  If you want to crisp up the edges, broil for 5 minutes at the end.

The turnips keep for several days and make for a delicious sweet-ish veggie snack!

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Simple Dishes: Seared Duck Breast + Broccoli

22 Jan

Seared duck breasts are surprisingly simple to make.  We love duck —  they make a great departure from chicken, beef, pork, lamb… the usual meats we eat.

Here’s how I usually sear duck breasts:

Rinse and pat-dry the duck breasts.  Score the skin side — I like to make the cross-hatch quite small, so that the fat really renders out and makes the skin crispy.  Salt and pepper both sides, and let it stand at room temperature for half an hour.

Heat a pan/skillet on high.  When hot, place the duck breasts, skin-side down, in the pan/skillet.  Sear the skin for about 7 minutes, until the skin is crispy and a golden brown.  Turn, and sear the meat-side, for about 6 or 7 more minutes for medium-rare (depending on size).  Transfer onto a plate and cover with foil, and let it rest for at least 5 minutes.

(**While the duck is resting, I sauteed some broccoli and garlic as a accompaniment for the duck.)

Slice the duck breast thinly.  Enjoy!

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David at Work

20 Jan

We had a day of filming dance silhouettes and movements yesterday.  The images will be used in the opening sequence of the Stockholm production.  David did an amazing job putting the pieces together and supervising the shoot.  It was a demanding but very productive day, and everyone felt happy about the results.  Here are a few snapshots from the day…

…better yet, here is a video of one of the dance couples, taken on my iPad as David went over the choreography with them (NOT the final product to be used in the show).  A behind-the-scenes sneak peek…!

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Spicy Lemon Paprika Chicken Thighs

18 Jan

These oven-baked chicken thighs are juicy, delicious, and easy-to-make — they are great during the work week, when you want to make a relatively simple dinner at home with a lot of flavor, and also yield plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day.

SPICY LEMON PAPRIKA CHICKEN THIGHS

  • 2 lbs. organic chicken thighs, skin on
  • 2 tbsp paprika
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder
  • 2 tsps cayenne power
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground pepper
  • Zest and juice of one lemon
  • ¼ cup organic olive oil

In a bowl, mix paprika, garlic powder, cayenne powder, salt and pepper.  Stir in lemon zest, lemon juice, and olive oil, to create the marinade.  Check the taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary (you may want more spiciness here, for instance).

Add the chicken thighs and toss.  If you have the time, let the thighs marinade for a couple of hours –in full-disclosure, I often make this recipe when I don’t have time to marinate the thighs for much longer than 15 minutes, and the chicken still tastes delicious.

Preheat the oven to 215C (about 419F).  Lay out the chicken thighs in a roasting pan and roast for about 30 minutes, until cooked through.

Turn on the broiler and broil until the skin is lightly crisp, 2 to 3 minutes.  Take the roasting pan out of the oven, transfer the thighs onto a platter and let them rest for about 5 minutes before serving.

These chicken thighs are great the next day, even cold!

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