Recent communiques from EveryDay Food piqued my interest with their focus on fish (a house favorite), with options that transform the taste experience. The Lemon-Parsley Fish Cake recipe specified cod, but I substituted tuna which jumped from “everyday” to “gourmet” with the added green onions, capers and French bread crumbs. The quickly sauteed cakes were nested on a bed of organic arugula, accompanied by buttery yukon red and gold potatoes from Zuckerman Farms. A basil aioli enhanced everything on the platter. The pursuit of trout for the Trout with Brown Butter and Olives recipe finally came to a conclusion with the pristine fillets found at Trader Joe’s. The spicy butter sauce dressed the broiled fish and an organic quinoa salad, intensifying the sweet Campari tomatoes and savory shallots. Adding to the pleasure of these meals were the platters used; the flowered ceramic one acquired at Gump’s for a few dollars at an employee only sale and the glass fish platter from what was Judith-et-Hokins, one of the first gourmet shops in San Francisco. Both beloved treasures! 
Tag: Trader Joe’s
Is the Fish Fresh?
The answer to my husband’s perpetual question in this case is a resounding YES, in fact the fish is Wild. A Martha Stewart Living recipe with the magic words “you make the main and side dish all in one pan” got me going! The succulent halibut from Alaska (purchased at Safeway) roasted alongside the baby zucchini while I made the luscious butter sauce, substituting shallots for the onion. Why cut into a whole onion for such a small amount? Whole wheat couscous from Trader Joe’s, studded with delicate shiitake mushrooms from the Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market, completed the meal. A Pacific Rim Dry Reisling helped the celebration of warm weather – finally – and beginning of the Memorial Day Weekend. Halleluyah!
Silver Seder
Our Silver Seder celebrated several milestone occasions, the most important, of course, the exodus of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. Non-traditional recipes from The Sephardic Kitchen provided the perfect inspiration for our feast that evening. From charoset, made with figs, dates, apples and walnuts and rolled in cinnamon, resembling truffles (thank you Arielle) to a seared ahi tuna salad with arugula and capers to braised chicken made with honey, cinnamon sticks and San Marzano tomatoes from A.G. Ferrari. This chicken dish is a specialty of the Moroccan Jews with saffron adding an incredible fragrance and color. Whole wheat couscous, steamed vegetables and Josh’s delicious hummus accompanied the dish. Lest I forget, we began the meal with Joan’s heavenly matzo ball soup. For dessert, we delighted in a Moroccan Passover torte made with coconut, walnuts and an intoxicating orange flavor thanks to fresh-squeezed orange juice and Grand Marnier, then garnished with Michael Recchiuti bittersweet chocolate shavings and whipped cream. HolyLand Matzot from Trader Joe’s were the ubiquitous symbol throughout the ceremony, from their place on the seder plate to the concluding afikomen – “that which comes after dessert” – and results in a gift. That night, a special birthday gift for Josh!
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Spring Salad
This salad captures the light of the new season with albacore tuna as the central ingredient, “springing forward” thanks to the petite nonpareil capers, kalamata olives and sweet Campari tomatoes. Roasted fingerling potatoes from Zuckerman’s Farms surround the bed of organic arugula and parsley. A combination of minced shallots, Meyer lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil dressed our spring salad. No special recipes used here, simply a culmination of shopping at Costco, Trader Joe’s, Richmond Produce Market and the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market – a testament to the age-old thinking that it takes a lot to make something look simple. Here is to enjoying this time of rebirth and renewal!
New Decade Dinner
To usher in Twenty-Ten, a healthy vegetarian dinner seemed like the appropriate thing to prepare. With eggplants overflowing from shelves all over the city, I found an amazing offer of two for $1.00 at our neighborhood Richmond Produce Market. Quickly accessing my Google dashboard for eggplant parmesan recipes, this traditional favorite was delightfully lightened using safflower oil instead of olive oil. Homemade tomato sauce with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses gave it the decisive yum factor. What better than a spinach salad (love that baby spinach from Trader Joe‘s) with radishes and a citrus dressing (one of Food and Wine’s 5-minute dressing recipes) to accompany the eggplant parmesan?! A surprisingly good Trader Joe’s label Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel bridged the holiday imbibing of the past weeks and the forthcoming ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates & Producers) Grand Tasting. Happy New Decade!
Persimmon Salsa
An adventure in food and Greek mythology! According to Wikipedia, a persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees of the genus Diospyros, in the ebony wood family. The word Diospyros means “the fruit of the gods” in ancient Greek. We feasted on a manifestation of this fruit of the gods — a persimmon salsa. With thanks to Carole for the fruit and Rachael for the recipe, the sweet Fuyu persimmon was transformed with a combination of onion, lime, ginger, parsley and mint. Braving 35 degrees, I found the last sprig of mint in our garden! The salsa topped a grilled chicken breast, served on a bed of whole wheat couscous. Both the kosher chicken and couscous were purchased at Trader Joe’s. Our dessert of dark chocolate disks from TCHO would have delighted the Greek gods too!
Summer Salads
Simple, one dish salads are the entree of choice at ChezHelvetica this summer. For this weeknight meal, we dined on whole grain Barilla penne pasta and Trader Joe’s organic garbanzo beans nested on a bed of Little Gem greens. These heavenly greens were purchased at the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market. Crostini topped with a tapenade made of kalamata olives and sun dried tomatoes (a recipe adapted from Giada de Laurentiis “Everyday Italian” cookbook) accompanied our salad. We delighted in our Powder Keg wine selection that evening but felt like we were shot from a cannon the next morning. That will teach us!
Grilled Steak Salad with Roses and Calla Lilies!
Surrounded by beautiful roses from my husband’s co-worker Carole and calla lilies from my BFF Joan, we enjoyed a Gourmet Every Day Quick Kitchen recipe of grilled london broil salad with worcestershire vinaigrette, roasted yams and bites of black bean and cheese tamales. Grass-fed london broil from Marin Sun Farms was purchased at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, as well as the organic yams and Primavera Tamales. This dinner morphed the london broil we first ate a couple of days before (perhaps the best I have ever had) into a delicious salad with arugula from Trader Joe’s and grilled red and white onions. The vinaigrette used thyme just picked from our garden. We couldn’t quite finish the tamales at another dinner so this was a great opportunity to eat these delicious bites. Medjool dates (filled with potassium) capped off our colorful, healthy meal.
Bon Voyage Dinner
In celebration of my husband’s upcoming trip to Burning Man (see his Mind Shaft Society web site for images of Uncle Sam’ Elvis Island Immigration Station) and my whirlwind trip to Louisville, Kentucky to visit my room mate from college, I prepared this casual dinner. It consisted of shrimp antipasto and lemon with mint and parmesan pasta. Martha Stewart Living was the source for both recipes, however, the shrimp antipasto was a recipe card I had saved from years ago and the pasta was from the current issue. It called for fettuccine but I used a sprouted whole wheat pappardelle instead and added sweet cherry tomatoes since I had them on hand. A Russian River chardonnay accompanied our dinner. The easy dessert was Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream. We ate straight from the quart container I bought at Trader Joe’s which cost little more than the pints sold in other stores!
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Thanksgiving ’07
It was a nuclear family Thanksgiving, graced by my Mom and Sister and family visiting from out of town. The menu was traditional with kosher and vegan accents. My husband is master of roasting turkey on the Weber. Along with the turkey, he also barbecued petite yams purchased at the Ferry Building Farmers’ Market – no need for marshmallows or brown sugar! We had traditional stuffing using lots of celery and onion and a green bean casserole. My sister also made delicious Yukon Gold mashed potatoes. A meal highlight was the cranberry sauce. Using a recipe from Epicurious, the ingredients include tart dried cherries (from Trader Joe’s) and cinnamon. For dessert we had a vegan pumpkin pie purchased in San Luis Obispo and a chocolate pecan pie with whipped cream made from a recipe in Gourmet. Beverages included cherry cider and Zinfandel. The table setting was the creation of my mother using a new napkin fold and “turkeys” made from pine cones with old silk flowers for tails.