Neopolitan Christmas Eve Spaghetti with Walnuts (p. 208)

It's not Christmas Eve, but I had every ingredient for this recipe in my pantry, so I made it anyway.

Toss your walnuts in a very hot oven for about 6 minutes, until they have darkened some and are giving off a scrumptious aroma. When you remove them let them cool for a few minutes and then dump them into a towel. Rub the towel over them to remove most of the flaky skin and then throw the pieces in the food processor to be finely processed.

While your spaghetti is cooking create the sauce -- just sauté minced garlic in olive oil until it is soft and then add chopped anchovies to melt down for flavor.

Mix in the walnut dust for about a minute.

Toss with the spaghetti and top with parmesan!

This was simple and tasty and a nice alternative to all the tomato-based sauces we've been having lately.

And now I'm off to New Orleans for five days, so expect a post on fantastic NOLA eats when I get back!

Total Cost of Neopolitan Christmas Eve Spaghetti with Walnuts: Free

Steam-Poached Fish Fillets (p. 353) with Sauce Rouille (p. 276) and Salad with an Anchovy Sauce (p. 263)

This is a pretty basic fish recipe that requires very minimal prep work. Pretty much all you do is simmer liquid (mine was a combination of white wine and water with a bay leaf, some thyme, parsley sprigs, and salt tossed in) and then put in the fish (I used snapper.) Cover the pan with either a lid or aluminum foil and let it simmer gently until the fish is opaque throughout.

Once the cooked fish has been removed from the liquid, simmer down the wine/water combo and add olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic. Drizzle this over the top of the fish.

Since this was so simple, and since I love sauces, I paired it with Sauce Rouille, which is an equally simple sauce that draws heavily on the flavor of roasted red peppers. To make, roast and peel red peppers and fresh chilies, or, as I did, use dried chilies soaked in hot water and then use the softened pulp to add some spice.

In a mortar, crush together garlic and sauce until it makes a paste. Add the red peppers, chili pulp and any roasting juices, and pound together. Stir in dried bread crumbs and olive oil. I also added some chili pepper. Also, I apparently have poor mortar skills, so I let a food processor do most of my work (but don't over process -- it should still have a texture.) Serve this sauce on the side of the fish.

Actually, the flavors of the fish and the liquid that it was cooked in were lovely and understated. I would have happily eaten it with just a little salt and pepper. The Sauce Rouille was also good, but a little sweet for my taste. If I were to make it again I would add more chili peppers to give it a bit of a kick.

I also served a salad of mixed greens with the fish, and with it made an anchovy dressing. To make the dressing, pound together garlic with chopped anchovy fillets. I don't think I had tried anchovies before starting this project, but now I'm somewhat addicted to them.

When these ingredients have formed a paste, sir in red wine vinegar, olive oil, and pepper and mix well. Drizzle this over your salad or bitter greens.

Looks disgusting, right? Matt thought this was our jar that I dump bacon fat and the like into. Surprisingly, this dressing stole the show of the whole meal. It's delicious. I served my salad with a little crumbled feta and the saltiness of the cheese was really fantastic with the dressing. I'll make this dressing again in a heartbeat.

All in all, a great and well-rounded dinner. Also probably the last Mediterranean food before next week since we're gearing up for a big American feast, though Imay try to fit in some hummus somewhere in my weekend.

snapper -- $12.09

Total Cost of Steam-Poached Fish Fillets: $12.09

(I cut this recipe in half and have about 1 serving left.)

red pepper -- $2.79

Total Cost of Sauce Rouille: $2.79

(I cut this recipe in half and have plenty remaining.)

anchovies -- $1.99

mixed greens -- $2.50

Total Cost of Anchovy Sauce: $4.49

(Enough for several salads left.)

Lots of Mezze!

Matt and I were hosting a little party yesterday, which was the perfect excuse to make some delicious mezze dishes. It rained and we had to cancel, but yummy food was still consumed.

Marinated Olives (p. 47)
This is an easy recipe that can be made in advance and stored in the fridge for several weeks. Take drained black olives and put them in a bowl. Pare the skin in thin strips off of two lemons -- I actually used my vegetable peeler to peel wide chunks away that I then sliced more thinly. Peel away the white skin of the lemon, and cut the fruit into narrow strips, removing any seeds that you come across. Combine these ingredients with the olives and add red chili pepper, sweet paprika, and cumin.

(All the delicious things that get added in)

Mix the dish thoroughly and then add olive oil. Mix again, and set aside for at least a few hours for the flavors to develop in the olives. Serve at room temperature.

These are very very citrus-y -- next time I would potentially use a little less lemon and more of the spices. Still, very tasty.

Roasted Almonds (p. 51)
This was an incredibly time consuming recipe because the skins need to be removed from the almonds before they can be baked. To do so, you boil a pot of water and add the almonds for about a minute. Put them in a colander and, once they're cool enough to touch, husk the skins away from each almond. (It took forever. I brought a stool over to my sink so I could sit hunched over the almonds -- I watched two half hour shows on Hulu before I was done.) Once the shells are all removed, the almonds are cooked for five minutes and then removed from the oven to mix them with olive oil and salt. They're cooked ten minutes longer and then sit for several hours before serving.

These were one of the favorites for the evening. Lightly salted, crunchy, etc.

Provencal Anchovy Dip (p.53)
This is a super simple and fast recipe -- in a food processor, puree garlic and anchovies, and then slowly add butter (!), olive oil, and red wine vinegar. Chuck some freshly ground black pepper on that and you're good to go.

This didn't photograph well, but it was delicious. It was really flavorful and could potentially even be used on a sandwich as a mustard replacement.

Chickpea Salad (p.54)
Really, this is hummus, or hummus bi tahini. It can also be used as a garnish for lamb. I've made hummus before, but never using dried chickpeas, only with the canned type. The chickpeas soak overnight and are then simmered in boiling water for about half an hour to soften them. They are pureed in a food processor, along with some leftover water that they were cooked in, until they are coarse and grainy. The puree is then mixed with tahini, sesame oil, salt, cumin, a lot of lemon juice, and garlic. A garnish of olive oil and hot pepper flakes is added to the top, along with parsley, which I neglected to do. The recipe also instructs you to save a few whole chickpeas to put in a garnish on top, which was very cute.

The hummus was good, but a little too thick at first. I thinned it out with a little water, and also added additional garlic. I think we're spoiled by Trader Joe's hummus, which we love. This was pretty good, but we had hoped for a little more of a flavor punch.

And for dessert, peanut butter pie. Which is in no way Mediterranean, but is in every way delicious.

black olives -- $3.60

lemon -- .69

Total Cost of Marinated Olives: $4.29 (I halved this recipe)

almonds -- $5.99

Total Cost of Roasted Almonds: $5.99

Total Cost of Provencal Anchovy Dip: Free!

dried chickpeas -- $1.39

2 lemons -- $1.09

Total Cost of Chickpea Salad: $2.48


All of these make a ton of food, and cheap!

Penne all'Arrabiata (p.198)

Tonight I made a simple penne dish - it's basically just pasta with a homemade sauce.

I sauteed some garlic in olive oil until it was golden brown and then added canned tomatoes leftover from last night's fish recipe, dried hot red chilies, and, just for funsies, some anchovies and basil (neither of which were part of the recipe, but I wanted to use them up.) The sauce stayed on the heat until it thickened up.

Meanwhile, I cooked the penne according to the directions on the box in heavily salted water. Once the pasta was ready, I strained it, mixed it in with the sauce, and voila. Dinner.

penne -- $2.29 (with a little more than half the box remaining)

Total Cost of Penne all'Arrabiata: $2.29

(with one serving leftover)

Greek Salad (p. 88)

This recipe is a classic Greek salad, also called the horiatiki, which means "country style." It's just a combination of fresh ingredients mixed together, so it's delicious, healthy, and easy.

Chop up all the ingredients (but not too finely, like you might for other salads) and combine them all in a bowl. This salad is huge and the recipe actually calls for a large deep platter to put it on, which I don't have. I divided mine between two bowls, which worked fine.

The recipe calls for anchovies, but says you can also substitute with drained tuna. I used the anchovies and am glad I did, because a lot of people commented on how much they liked them. Also, the co-host Blair was so excited about anchovies that he sent me home with a tin of a brand he's been enjoying.

I was bringing this salad (as well as the tapenade and bread) to a Mediterranean-themed cookout, so I brought the dressing along separately to toss with it later. The dressing is just olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and some oregano.

We had quite a feast. It was all delicious. All cookouts should be Mediterranean-themed. And now I have wonderful leftovers in my fridge.

romaine lettuce -- $1.79

green pepper -- $1.59

red pepper -- $1.23
anchovies -- $4.59 (about half the jar is left)
tomatoes -- $3.69
cucumber -- $1.99

Total Cost of Greek Salad: $14.88