by Sam Tackeff | Jan 3, 2015 | Meal Planning, Seafood
Happy weekend! Welcome to another installment of the weekly meal plan! Maybe it’s the new year, but I’m feeling particularly productive in all aspects of my life, and I hope the inspiration lasts for a good long while. There’s a recipe at the bottom of the post for these scallops with Thai scented pea purée, which were a smash hit tonight for dinner.
It’s been a low key weekend so far – we went to see the final Hobbit this afternoon, which was beautiful, but honestly a bit of a let down. I grew up obsessed with Tolkien, and I think I’m still just bitter about the creation of Evangeline Lilly’s Tauriel for the movies – a lackluster female character who definitely is not in the book, and devised for romantic tension with an all too good looking Kili. The whole thing irked me. But I was certainly glad to have seen a movie in the theaters – it’s been all too long!
This weekend I’ve also been playing around with a new app that my culinary crush Jamie Oliver is collaborating on. (Other teenagers had their favorite pop stars hanging over their beds, I had a picture of a smarmy Jamie Oliver sitting in a bathtub that I had clipped out of the TV Guide. I was completely devastated when he married Jules, but I digress.) The new app is called the YOU-app, and every day it gives you daily photo prompts to encourage simple micro-actions to make a better life. Yesterday’s action was to address your fridge – empty it, clean up, and take stock. I managed to toss a good number of things that were past their prime. Here’s the slightly more tidy version right now.
The Meal Plan: Week of December 28th
Now that you’ve seen me bare all – it’s not looking as bad as I’d worried it would, here are the things to use up in my kitchen: a little bit of cheese, some potatoes in chicken broth, a little bit of leftover tomato coconut sauce from the Moqueca (perfect for simmering an egg or two), the leftover vegetable tops from my spiralizer, some beets which I plan on pickling, some coconut milk.
Saturday: scallops and thai scented pea puree. The recipe for this one is below! I was originally planning this for last week, but life happened. Served with a Trader Joe’s potato pancakes, and a fried sardine for the cook.
Sunday: grilled chicken and winter fennel salad. I made this salad a month ago for a dinner party, and I’ve been craving it ever since. Recipe to be posted shortly!
Monday: ground beef and tomato-rice soup. My version of a stuffed pepper soup, with a Turkish twist. It’ll likely get a dollop of yogurt on top, and I’ll use up the leftover dill.
Tuesday: chicken sausage and egg shakshuka. These are all leftovers in my fridge that need to be used. I might sprinkle with some of the extra feta that needs using up as well.
Wednesday: black beans and rice. I haven’t been eating too many beans lately, but Samin got me thinking about beans with her push for ‘bean month’ this January. And I still happen to have about a dozen varieties in my house from my Rancho Gordo year of beans subscription.
Thursday: pork chops with brussels spouts. Just something simple to use up some of my CSA pork chops. I’m not sure I’ll have anything interesting to do with them – this pork is so good just on it’s own.
Friday: Out!
Scallops with Thai Scented Pea Puree
serves 2
I’ve adapted this recipe from Nigella Lawson’s original one – replacing her creme fraîche with coconut milk, and adding some extra fresh herb (mint) to the peas. Thai basil would also be good here. I use Thai Kitchen Green Thai Curry Paste, which you can find in most supermarkets now. If we’re feeling hungry, or the price of scallops is exorbitantly high, I’ll reduce the number of scallops to two, and serve the meal with some Trader Joe’s frozen potato pancakes. To cook this dish, start by putting out all of your ingredients, because you’ll want to put together this dish quickly, and eat it while hot!
16 ounces frozen peas (I get the 1 lb. petit pois from Trader Joes)
1 to 2 tablespoons Thai green curry paste
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
flaky sea salt
1 pound wild sea scallops, about 3-4 large scallops per person
flaky salt
2 teaspoons butter
2 teaspoons olive oil
juice of 1/2 a lime
Start by prepping your scallops – dry them well, and season with a pinch of flaky salt on both sides. Then, start the mash. In a large bowl in the microwave, heat the peas until hot, stirring every minute or so until warmed through, about three minutes. (You could also do this on the stovetop.) Stir in the green curry paste, coconut milk, and chopped mint leaves, and season with a good pinch of salt, and set aside.
For the scallops, heat the butter and olive oil in a non-stick skillet on medium high heat. When hot, add scallops, making sure not to crowd the pan, and let scallops cook for 3 minutes without touching them. Check to see if they’re golden on the bottom, and if they aren’t let them go another minute. Flip. Cook three minutes on the other side.
While the scallops are finishing their last three minutes, puree the pea mixture with an immersion blender (A regular blender will also work, but will take a little bit more effort – if you use a regular blender, you may want to do this before cooking the scallops.) Taste, and add any extra salt and pepper you’d like. Plate the purée, and take the cooked scallops out of the pan, and nestle them on the purée.
To finish, make a quick pan sauce: squeeze the lime in the hot pan juices, and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any golden brown bits that have all the flavor! Stir for about a minute, and you are done. Pour pan sauce over scallops and mash, and eat while hot!
by Sam Tackeff | Dec 21, 2014 | Meal Planning
I’ve started listening to Serial. I’ll freely confess that I should have started listening weeks ago, with the first of my friends’ qualified recommendations. But I was stubborn about it. Everyones doing it! Why should I do it? Of course I didn’t actually have any idea what it was about, and true crime is one of my favorite genres. Eventually I couldn’t escape hearing about it, so it was one of those things that I thought that I might as well start before everything is ruined for me. Now I’m a single episode in, and I’m already captivated. If you haven’t started listening, you probably should.
So what can I tell you about this coming week? The office was quiet on Friday, and will likely be until the end of the year, but I’m looking forward to heading in on Monday – somehow it always feels fun when there’s a small group of people there in it together – it’s like a snow day, but for adults. Except you manage to get a lot of work done? Okay, so I probably would have resented that as a kid. But I really like going to work!
There’s likely to be a movie – on Friday we learned that one of our coworkers has not seen the majority of influential movies from the late 70’s to the early 2000’s. Including Star Wars (any of them), Indiana Jones (really??), or the Princess Bride. (No, just no.) The list of must-see movies ended up about 84 long (we’re keeping a Trello board), so there might have to be some group encouragement to get this thing started. Last night I ticked off one of my own on the to-watch list: Grosse Pointe Blank, with the Cusacks, and Minnie Driver, known in this house as Petite Chauffeur. Super fun!
––––––––––––––––––––––
Week of December 20th
My Walden share arrived a week early this month, because of the holiday delivery schedule – which means that my freezer was overflowing, and I needed to pull out a bunch of meat to defrost. Things to use up in my kitchen: chopped Buddha’s hand citron, some chicken basil pesto sausage, a little bit of cheese, peppered turkey, dill.
Saturday: Shake Shack! For as often as I cook at home, we aren’t saints when it comes to diet – and Shake Shack is one of my very favorite treats. There’s something about those crinkle fries (back, finally!), potato buns, and that Shack sauce that make the trip special. And right now, because it’s in season, the salted caramel hot chocolate. (Just get it. Get it now.)
Sunday: Italian sausage, zucchini noodles, and marinara. Whole Foods is having a madness sale on Rao’s Marinara right now, $64 for a case of 12. I couldn’t pull the trigger, but I adore this sauce.
Monday: roast chicken and potatoes. I got my first chicken from my CSA this week! The difference between a chicken from the supermarket and a pasture raised chicken is pretty huge – the farm chicken just tastes better.
Tuesday: pesto zoodles. Are you surprised at how many zucchini noodles I’ve eaten in the past few weeks? I have mixed emotions about eating vegetables that aren’t in season, but if it means that our entire household inhaling vegetables with glee, I’ll buy them.
Wednesday: Chinese food? Something Christmas-y? After seven years, we’re still trying to figure out some of our family traditions. Growing up, Chinese and a movie was de rigeur for most Jewish families (still is). Usually we were in Florida for the occasion. With our mixed household, we’re still trying to determine how best to do holidays when we don’t travel to family.
Thursday: Christmas day! One year, I spent Christmas in New Jersey with my dear friend Julia, and we had these formidable waffles at her cousin Holly’s house. (I still have this memory shining bright it my mind.) I love the idea of waffles, but we don’t have a waffle maker anymore. I’ll still try to do brunch! We might also do a late afternoon dinner – I have some lamb shanks defrosting.
Friday: out! Or possibly eating more green vegetables.
What are you eating this week?
–– Sam
by Sam Tackeff | Dec 13, 2014 | Meal Planning
Hello! I should be heading to sleep – I’m running Yulefest tomorrow! – but HGTV is on in the background, and it’s always so hard to shut off the calming voices of Canadians talking about open concept living spaces and income properties.
I wish that I could say that this week was relatively uneventful, but it was a difficult one for me. My grandmother Sterra lost her dear best friend of 81 years, and hearing her give Betty’s eulogy was so terribly, deeply sad. Think about that for a second. 81 years of friendship – longer than many people live in a lifetime. My heart is broken for her.
––––––––––––––––––––––
Week of December 13th
After getting my new Paderno spiralizer in the mail this week, I’ve had vegetable noodles on the mind! It was a serious upgrade from noodles made with my Mouli by Moulinex (which is still one of the most useful tools in my kitchen) – these noodles are really quite pasta-like.
Things to use up in my kitchen: cabbage, zucchini, mushrooms, a sweet potato, 1/2 jar of Rao’s, shredded carrot, celery.
Saturday: zucchini noodles, leftover Rao’s tomato basil sauce, Italian chicken sausage. To my surprise, zucchini noodles this week were a huge hit. So much so that they were requested not two days later, and who am I to turn down a request for zoodles?
Sunday: coconut milk shrimp (from Sunset) over sweet potato noodles. I bookmarked this recipe the second I opened the new Sunset. (I’m still grieving that Time just sold off the Sunset gardens and HQ. This is another terribly sad week for food magazines.
Monday: Turkish kapuska – cabbage and meat stew. I’ll make this on Sunday, as it always tastes better day two. Here’s a recipe, similar to the one I use (which I’ll get around to writing up one day soon.)
Tuesday: spiced Indian beef over carrot noodles. A riff on Jamie Oliver’s Indian Carrot Salad that’s always a hit in the house.
Wednesday: Devon’s office holiday party. Hopefully I’ll have a real meal at some point, but it’s likely going to be grabbing something on the way over.
Thursday: Turkish tomato eggs (menemen) – using this recipe from my blog.
Friday: out!
What are you eating this week?
–– Sam
by Sam Tackeff | Nov 30, 2014 | Meal Planning
Well, hello! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I stayed in New England, where my aunt managed to pack 45 people into her house (we held a coup last year to stop going to the large function facility, but I don’t think that anyone was expecting everyone to show up in the house!) I held back from taking leftovers, except the leftovers of the cheese plate, because, well, cheese.
This year I didn’t sign up for a Turkey trot, but managed my very own little Turkey trot (to coffee), and back, because our office had free t-shirts on the line to any of us who completed a 5k, and I am highly motivated by free things. While in the fitness spirit, I managed to score a few Black Friday deals (mostly on cycling/running/fitness gear), and am looking forward to the goodies coming my way.
My winter training plan was challenging this week – base line testing in swimming, cycling, and running. While running theoretically is my best sport of the three, I’ve been focused on really slow distance running, and that, ahem, shows in my pace. Looking forward to speeding up a little bit as I push forward in three sports! I missed two of the seven workouts (because of the holiday gym schedule, and my general lack of preparation), but this week I’m hoping to jump in 100%.
––––––––––––––––––––––
Week of November 30th
After my house got a deep clean this weekend, I also did the same for the refrigerator – I did my best today to toss all of the old condiments, jars with mysterious contents, and find more appropriate containers for things that I’d managed to eat half of. Things to use up in my kitchen: after the purge, little was left – cabbage, fennel, celery, beets, onion, mint. Some miso butter, bacon, parmesan, a hot dog, and some milk.
Saturday: Trader Joe’s Make Your Own Meal! I generally try to make us a meal that we both share, but some nights it works best for us to head to the store and get our own meals. Devon got franks and beans, and I got a frozen wild salmon entree. I made myself a side of fennel salad.
Sunday: monkfish with miso butter, mashed potatoes, fennel salad Monkfish is a meaty (odd looking) fish, that stands up well to bold flavors – in this case, the leftover miso butter that has been sitting in my fridge for weeks. (Half white miso paste, half butter). One kitchen mistake was to mash my baby potatoes with my immersion blender, and they ended up a tad gluey.
Monday: fresh ham steak, cabbage and onions, green beans. I’m still not 100% sure how I’m going to cook the pork – possibly a sear and roast job – but it’s defrosting right now in my fridge, from my CSA haul.
Tuesday: chicken sausage chili. This was supposed to be turkey chili, but I forgot to buy the ground turkey at the grocery store, and happen to have a few chicken sausage links that needed to be used. I’ll likely spice the meat with cumin, dump in a jar of salsa, and a can of tomatoes, and add any extra vegetable that I can find in my freezer.
Wednesday: köfte (Turkish meatballs) with mashed cauliflower and tomato salad. These spicy little meatballs are one of my favorite foods.
Thursday: A holiday party! The party itself isn’t dinner, but I’ll be out until around 10:00 pm. Emergency eggs if I end up needing dinner, but most likely, I’ll be too stuffed.
Friday: out!
What are you eating this week?
–– Sam
by Sam Tackeff | Nov 23, 2014 | Meal Planning
I got back in the pool today. It’s been a while, my arms were feeling it. My strokes were terrible, and I was *very* slow. But I got in the pool today! I got in about 1500 yards, warm up, a 10×100 set, and a cool down – to test my baseline 100 meters before I dive headfirst into my winter training plan. Next summer my triathlons are going to get kicked up a notch!
The weekend was low key. A dinner party with old friends, some headway with Jo Nesbø’s ‘The Bat’ – the first in the Harry Hole series. Reading my way through two gorgeous new cookbooks: Aarti Parti: An American Kitchen with an Indian Soul, and Persiana: Recipes from the Middle East and Beyond. There’s not much I like more in life than curling up on my couch with a mug of coffee and a new cookbook. Many bookmarks in each so far.
I picked up a few new products at Trader Joe’s worth mentioning – a honey trio sampler, the Sicilian single varietal extra virgin olive oil collection, uncured turkey cranberry apple sausages, pumpkin pie mochi, and a jar of sambal matah, an Indonesian condiment with shallots, lemongrass, and peppers. I served it tonight with the chicken – that red shmear – and it was hot, punchy, and good! What can I say? I’m a sucker for new Trader Joe’s products (and by sucker I mean… they are almost always great.) Do you have any current Trader Joe’s favorites I can’t miss?
––––––––––––––––––––––
Week of November 22nd
Thanksgiving week! Boy, am I looking forward to all of the eating. We’ll see if I manage to get a Turkey Trot in there, too. Things to use up in my kitchen: pretty much the same as last week – polenta, eggplant, onion, turkey cranberry sausage (cook for breakfasts), feta, goat cheese, eggs, sweet potatoes, cabbage, a whole mess of herbs, a little bit of applesauce, and bacon.
Saturday: a dinner party! We headed out to my friend Kevin’s house to have a little dinner party with him and his girlfriend, and another couple. I’ve known Kevin now for almost 18 years! It was all very civilized. We ate mushroom turnovers (yep, I brought Trader Joe’s to a dinner party), a garlicky kale salad, a winter fennel salad that I made, and butternut squash risotto. Dessert was apple crumble, coffee, and scotch.
Sunday: rotisserie chicken with mashed potatoes I know that I’m going to need to eat more green vegetables, but I got in a massive fill at the party last night, and all I wanted was Whole Foods hot bar.
Monday: rotisserie chicken and christmas lima stew. When one has a rotisserie chicken for dinner, there are leftovers. Fortunately, I had a crockpot of christmas lima’s going in some broth this afternoon – a perfect vehicle for leftover chicken.
Tuesday: pork tenderloin, brussels sprouts, and sweet potato. These two sweet potatoes have been sitting in my house for weeks, and I’ve set out some pork from my meat share to defrost in the fridge. I also have a dearth of bacon, so it might be pork on pork to jazz up this dinner.
Wednesday: egg night. At least I think that’s what’s going to happen. I try to make one night a week egg night, because it’s super easy, and also because I always have a few dozen eggs in the house that need eating.
Thursday: Thanksgiving Linner! We used to go to an antiseptic banquet hall for Thanksgiving every year, until a good part of the family staged a coup. Now we’ll be heading to my aunt’s house, and I know it’s going to be good.
Friday: out! Or more likely…a large pile of greens and some restorative broth.
What are you eating this week?
–– Sam
