Chinese Inspiration: Steamed Shanghai Black Cod with Summer Vegetables

Written by Liz - 

Eating out is probably my very favorite thing to do. I love to pick out a new restaurant, then go check out its neighborhood and decor, imagining myself living nearby and becoming a regular, noting coffee shops on the corner I might frequent in the morning and places to find new wines after work. I always ask the server what the chef recommends – after all, he is the expert. She is the one who knows what’s fresh, what’s done best in her kitchen.

I especially love small, family owned, neighborhood Chinese joints, where you can find dishes so authentic you could only dream of recreating them at home. On a recent visit to one such place, I promptly asked “What should I eat?” Chef sent several dishes: all traditional Chinese slightly tweaked to accommodate local ingredients and Chef’s recent culinary obsessions. My favorites were the Szechuan Lamb Loin in Traditional Orange Peel Sauce and the Braised Fresh Black Cod with Szechuan Chili Sauce. Chef gallantly shared his black cod recipe with me, which was 3 pages long and included ingredients I couldn’t pronounce! I immediately set about making a simpler version that’s also easy to cook (based on Chris’ fish packets recipe).

I love Szechuan cooking: really spicy but also a sweet or cooling element to balance it. In this recipe, you can adjust the amount of red pepper flakes to get just the right level of spice that you will love. Gourmet Chinese food at home!

Steamed Shanghai Black Cod with Summer Vegetables

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 4 tablespoons sesame oil, divided
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• Grated peel and juice from 1 Mandarin orange or tangerine
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 cup MAGGI Seasoning Sauce
• 1/4 cup sake or dry white wine
• 1 bunch green onions, half bunch sliced thinly lengthwise and other half diced for garnish
• 4 quarter-sized slices fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
• 1 to 3 teaspoons red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 4 (4 to 5 ounces each) about 1-inch-thick Alaskan or Black Cod fish fillets (can use other white fish such as wild halibut, red snapper, orange roughy or talapia)
• 1 bunch thin asparagus spears, cut on diagonal into 2-inch pieces (about 2 1/2 cups total)
• 2 zucchini, sliced into 1/4-inch circles (about 1 1/2 cups total)
• Heavy-duty foil
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds for garnish

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 450° F.

HEAT 1 tablespoon sesame oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic; cook, stirring frequently, for about 4 minutes or until brown.

COMBINE remaining 3 tablespoons sesame oil, browned garlic, orange juice and grated peel, chicken stock, seasoning sauce, sake, thinly sliced green onions, ginger, brown sugar, chili flakes and cinnamon in large bowl. Mix well, as shown above.

ARRANGE four 12 x 13-inch pieces of foil on work surface. Divide asparagus and zucchini evenly down center of each foil sheet. Place one fish fillet over vegetables.

FOLD up foil sides to create small foil bowl. Pour about one-quarter cup of the sauce over fish and vegetables for each packet. Double fold top and ends to seal each packet, leaving room for heat circulation inside. Place on 15 x 10-inch jelly roll pan or rimmed baking sheet.

BAKE for 17 to 20 minutes or until fish is just opaque in center and vegetables are crisp-tender. Carefully open packets, allowing steam to escape away from you and let cool briefly. Using a spatula, gently push the fish and vegetables onto plate. Top with sauce, diced green onions and toasted sesame seeds. (This is also great served over rice.)

Cook’s Tip:

Fish packets are also great on the grill! Preheat grill to medium. Place packets on grill; cover and cook over indirect heat for 20 minutes or until fish is opaque in center and vegetables are crisp-tender. Remove from grill and open carefully.

Links:

• Steamed Shanghai Black Cod with Summer Vegetables
• More Maggi recipes

More fish recipes:

No Mess Summer Fish Packets with Pesto

Lemon-Dill Salmon recipe

Perfect for Dad’s Day & Summer: Grilled Sticky Ribs + Asian Coleslaw

Written by Chris

Celebrate Father’s Day and kick off your summer festivities with these succulent ribs. They are first baked then grilled with a sweet chili glaze for a delightful Asian-inspired finish. With only 20 minutes of preparation time, and mostly-unattended cooking time, this meal is hard to beat!

I like to serve this with the Asian Coleslaw above, and here’s a little tip: If you have leftover glaze from the recipe below, use it in the slaw dressing; you only need 2 tablespoons. Just replace the sweet chili sauce with the glaze. Mmm, finger-licking good I tell you!

Grilled Sticky Ribs, shown at top

Ingredients for 5 to 6 servings:

• Aluminum foil
• 2 racks (about 4 pounds total) baby back ribs
• Garlic salt
• Ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 3/4 cup MAGGI TASTE OF ASIA Sweet Chili Sauce
• 1/2 cup Apple NESTLÉ® JUICY JUICE® All Natural 100% Juice
• 1 tablespoon rice wine (mirin)

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 300° F.

Using a knife, remove the membrane (that’s the shiny white coating) from bone side of ribs. This step is very important for tender ribs. You basically just need to get that knife under the membrane to loosen it and then start easing the membrane away from the meat. If the membrane feels slippery, use a paper towel for a good grip. If you are lucky, the membrane will come off in one piece as shown above. Just keep working at it, it will come off. 

PAT ribs dry with paper towel; season both sides liberally with garlic salt and black pepper as show above. Place ribs in a large roasting pan, overlapping as needed. Add about ½ cup water to pan. Cover tightly with foil.
 
BAKE for about 3 hours or until meat is very tender but not quite falling off the bones. (If you are short on time, just make sure the ribs bake at least 1 ½ hours.)

For the Sweet Chili Glaze:

HEAT oil in small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 to 3 minutes or until soft. Stir in garlic and ginger; cook for 1 minute. Stir in sweet chili sauce, Juicy Juice and rice wine. Reduce heat to low; cook for 8 minutes or until sauce is reduced to about 1 cup. It should be thick and sticky as shown above. 

PREHEAT grill or broiler. Brush glaze over tops of ribs. Grill over medium flame for 4 to 5 minutes or broil about 4 inches from heat for 3 to 5 minutes or until sauce caramelizes as shown above. Cut between the bones to separate; serve with any remaining glaze.

Happy Father’s Day to all the sweet (and spicy) dads and husbands out there! 

Links:

• Grilled Sticky Ribs
• Asian Coleslaw

Related recipes – make it a meal:

Mini Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches with Fresh Mint Ice Cream

Asian Coleslaw (don’t forget to add sticky rib sauce!)

Easy, Healthy Summer Recipes: Bean Salad, Shrimp Skewers & Ice Cream Pie

Enjoy today’s guest post by Robyn Webb.

There is much to look forward to in the summer months. Who doesn’t love the long, warm days and balmy nights, fun pool parties and outdoor dining? And summertime is a wonderful opportunity to renew your health goals that might have gone astray from those January resolutions. With an abundance of fresh summer fruits and vegetables in every color of the rainbow, eating healthy is only a forkful away.

I started thinking about recipes that would highlight all of this. No one wants to spend hours in a hot kitchen, so I created easy recipes that get food on the backyard table quickly. And with the thought of donning a swimsuit on the minds of many, the recipes had to be as easy on the figure as they would be in preparation.

In the summer, I am always looking for foods that are filling, but not hot and heavy, and cool bean salads fit the bill nicely. In the Mediterranean Bean Salad shown above, two varieties of fiber rich beans are combined with crisp, cool vegetables dressed up in a pesto punched vinaigrette. Pesto is such an intense flavoring and using reduced fat pesto adds a wallop of flavor to this bean salad, but keeps the fat and calories on the slim side. Use the vinaigrette to dress up a green salad or as a marinade to seafood, poultry or lean meat for summer grilling.

And speaking of grilling, there’s nothing more delectable in the summer than smoke-touched foods. These Party Shrimp Skewers are paired with a nutrition-filled vegetable salsa that makes a fun appetizer or light main course. Zesty pesto once again adds richness and depth of flavor to an easy tomato salsa and is a wonderful foil for the smoky flavor of plump grilled shrimp.

If its summer, there has to be ice cream somewhere on the menu, right? You need not deprive yourself of one of summer’s favorite foods; ice cream can be enjoyed even with the focus on health. Frozen Vanilla Peanut Butter Pie makes a fine finish to any summer meal. Edy’s Slow Churned Light Vanilla Ice Cream is whirled with nutty peanut butter all piled high into a low fat graham cracker crust topped with potassium-rich bananas. One cool slice of this deceiving decadent pie paired with your health goals sounds like a summer indeed to look forward to.

Enjoy your summer!

-Robyn Webb

Links:

• Mediterranean Bean Salad
• Party Shrimp Skewers
• Frozen Vanilla Peanut Butter Pie

Enter the Nestlé Kitchens Pie Recipe Contest!

Learn more about the Contest

Enter the Contest

Meatless Monday: Grilled Portobello Burgers with Pesto Mayo

Written by Chris

Portobello mushrooms have been called the steak of the vegetarian world because of their hearty flavor and texture. Like many, I enjoy a good burger but recently have been trying to reduce meat consumption in our household. Eating less meat is a great way to control food costs and get more variety in your diet. One portobello mushroom has about 30 calories and no fat or cholesterol – compare that to a traditional burger.

When looking for burger-style portobello mushrooms, look for smoother and firmer caps without any slimy wet patches. After you bring them home, cook them right away or store them loosely inside a closed paper bag in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.

Wine pairing: Meaty mushrooms pair best with meaty wines. Portobello burgers need bold flavor to bring out their best, so serve them with a pinot noir, sangiovese or syrah/shiraz.

Grilled Portobello Burgers with Pesto Mayo

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 1 container (7 ounces) BUITONI Refrigerated All Natural Pesto with Basil (reduced-fat pesto works great too!)
• 2 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
• 6 large portobello mushroom caps, stems trimmed or removed
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 6 slices provolone cheese (optional)
• 6 whole-wheat rolls, split open
• Thinly sliced red onions
• Roasted red peppers
• 2 cups arugula leaves

Directions:

COMBINE pesto and mayonnaise in medium bowl; stir well.

PREHEAT grill to medium-high. Brush both sides of portobello mushrooms with oil; season with salt and pepper. Grill on both sides for about 4 minutes. Remove from grill and top with cheese (cheese isn’t required, but really complements the Portobello!). Toast cut sides of rolls on grill just until light golden; remove.

SPREAD bottoms of each roll with about 2 tablespoons pesto mayo.

TOP with mushroom, red onion, roasted red pepper and small handful of arugula. Top with top of roll. Ahh, now you are ready to dig in!

Check back soon for more delicious recipes. Oh, and remember to enter our Pie Recipe Contest (worth $1,000) before June 30!

Links:

• Grilled Portobello Burgers with Pesto Mayo
• Get a Buitoni coupon
• Food & Wine pairing tool

Related recipes – make it a meal:

Tuscan Tortellini & Melon Salad

Dark Chocolate Cherry Fudge

Enter the Nestlé Kitchens Pie Recipe Contest!

Learn more about the Contest

Enter the Contest

Time for Summer Grilling: Ribs, Rubs & Chicken Galore

When the weather gets warm, I head outside to cook. Grilling season is here! Recently I’d eaten an entire meal of grilled food in Spain. And Memorial Day is a good time to pull off the cover and blow the dust away. The grill is your new best friend.

Grilling meat may seem daunting if you’ve never done it, so rest assured you can use a grill almost the same as you would an oven. Many recipes have directions for both an oven and a grill, and you can also use rubs, sauces and marinades to season any type of meat: beef, poultry, pork, lamb and more. All it takes is a little research and recipe hunting.

I started my summer grilling by using this Coffee-Spiced Rub recipe, which is perfect on ribs as shown in the recipe. But I wanted to grill a whole chicken using this rub, so I modified the cooking time since chicken has a lot less fat than ribs.

Coffee-Spiced Rub

(covers 4 pounds meat, shown on ribs at top)

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons NESCAFÉ TASTER’S CHOICE House Blend 100% Pure Instant Coffee Granules or NESCAFÉ CLÁSICO Pure Instant Coffee Granules
• 1 1/4 teaspoons sea or kosher salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground coriander
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Baking Cocoa

Directions:

COMBINE sugar, coffee granules, salt, garlic powder, coriander, pepper and cocoa in coffee or spice grinder; cover. Process until smooth. Lightly rub meat with oil. Sprinkle with rub mixture, pressing gently to help it adhere to the meat.

To learn how to grill a whole chicken, I turned to YouTube; it looked so easy! I had a whole chicken and some beef brisket as well, and I still wanted to use this recipe’s method of first slow cooking the meat over beer or wine, then grilling it to perfection at the end. Plus, I was dying to use a handcrafted pecan beer I got at the local beer festival – in the South - to perform this duty.

Since I was cooking chicken and brisket, the meat only needed about an hour in the oven at 250 (it made the house smell so good!) then I put it on the grill to finish the cooking and crisp up the outside. The leftover beer plus drippings in the bottom of the oven pan smelled so good, I used it to make a sauce.

For the sauce:

Pour the liquid from the pan under the meat through a sieve into a sauce pan. Bring to a boil and add a bit of butter. Cook until it reduces by about half and serve alongside the meat.

For my next backyard dinner, I decided to marinate and grill a whole chicken. The marinade in this Chardonnay Marinated Chicken recipe captured my heart and I set to work. I doubled the amount of chardonnay to almost cover the chicken, and created a custom herb mix made from every herb growing in the garden around my house, including rosemary, thyme, parsley, lavender and mint. I also used good, local olive oil and large sea salt. Turning the chicken in the marinade a few times during the evening made me lick my fingers! I couldn’t wait to eat it.

To grill, I followed my handy YouTube instructions, and it turned out perfectly cooked. 15 minutes before the chicken was done, I added zucchini, asparagus and broccolini to the grill. I also made a warm spicy-vinegar potato salad and mini lemon tartlets to fill every last bit of space in my guests’ tummies.

My grill is now the most popular kid in town.

Links:

• Coffee-Spiced Ribs
• Get a Taster’s Choice coupon
• Get a Toll House coupon

Related Grilling Recipes:

Skewered Sesame Chicken (oven or grill)

Grilled Pound Cake with Berries & Apple-Ginger Syrup

Pesto Possibilities for Mother’s Day: 5 Delicious Ways to Use Pesto

Mother’s Day is just days away. Going out to eat has become an American tradition, with restaurant industry stats showing it as one of the busiest days of the year. Well, on this day, I actually prefer to stay in (and yes, this is coming from a mom of three eight-year-olds). I prefer simple, delicious food prepared and eaten at home.

Since my mother and mother-in-law are local, effortless entertaining is essential. After all, it’s my day, too. So in the spirit of keeping things simple and homemade, I wanted to share five delicious ways to use Buitoni All Natural Pesto.

Buitoni Pesto is made with fragrant basil, pungent garlic, pine nuts, aged Parmesan and Romano cheeses and extra-virgin olive oil. Friends, this is as close to homemade as you are going to get! Plus, you don’t need to clean your food processor (that’s huge in my book).

Make a quick crostini appetizer

Add a touch of elegance to Mother’s Day without spending much time in the kitchen with this tasty appetizer, Crostini Aperitivo, shown above. Toasted bread slices are topped with a delicious goat cheese and pesto spread, and then topped with thinly sliced prosciutto. Roasted asparagus or peppers, chopped dates, sliced apples and shaved cantaloupe also pair well with the spread.

Watch the video below to see just how easy it is.

 

Make Pesto Kale Chips

Kale Chips have been quite the rage lately. I did a Google search and found a number of creative recipes. I decided to try a version with pesto, shown above, and landed on something truly unique and absolutely delicious! Finished with a sprinkling of fine sea salt, it’s really difficult to stop with just one handful.

Drizzle over soups

Vine-ripened tomatoes, marjoram and garlic are combined with a fragrant broth to make this beautiful vine-ripened tomato soup. And to heighten it even more, Buitoni Riserva All Natural Quattro Formaggi Agnolotti (pasta filled with a blend of creamy whipped ricotta cheese, fontina, Parmesan and authentic Italian Grana Padano) is added. It’s then topped with homemade croutons, a handful of arugula and a spoonful of Buitoni Pesto. This would make a perfect Mother’s Day lunchtime meal.

Spread on sandwiches

Looking for something a little more casual? Try this recipe for Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with Pesto Mayo. Perfect for simple entertaining, these sandwiches offer a classy, yet casual approach to mealtime.

Use as marinade for meats and fish

Grill up some wholesome fun with this flavorful recipe for Pesto Chicken & Vegetable Kebabs. Marinated in a pesto sauce, these skewers of chicken pieces and seasoned vegetables make a colorful and appetizing entrée.

Of course, you can also just toss pesto with pasta, add to pizza, dips and dressings. Pesto possibilities are really endless.

However you decide to celebrate this day, please take time out for you. I am constantly reminding myself of this. With simple recipes like these, it’s that much easier to find time.

Happy Mother’s Day everyone!

Links:

• Crostini Aperitivo
• Pesto Kale Chips
• Quattro Formaggi Agnolotti with Vine-Ripened Tomato Tuscan Soup
• Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with Pesto Mayo
• Pesto Chicken & Vegetable Kebabs

Related pesto recipes:

Insalata Caprese with Pesto Vinaigrette

Olive, Pesto and Bruschetta Cheese Torta