Let me start off by saying that cooking dinner tonight almost ended up with having the fire department show up at our house with sirens blasting. What happened was that I was cooking the kale. When I removed the lid a big blast of hot steam was sent forth up into the air. When that happened I thought I wouldn't be surprised it if set off our smoke/fire detector, well it did. Our detector is with an alarm company so that alarm was going off shouting "fire", "fire". as my husband desperately tried to get it to stop (resetting the alarm). We should have gotten a call from the alarm company stating the obvious, that they had an alarm. We did not receive a call, which we thought was strange. I encouraged my husband to call the alarm company to make sure that the alarm went through and to tell them that all was okay. Of course they had tried to call, it went to voice mail, so they naturally called the fire department. We told the dispatcher that it was a false alarm and she said that they would work to get the firemen before they got to us. Shortly after this we heard sirens, we knew they were coming for us. Thankfully the sirens stopped so we knew that they had received the "all is okay" signal. I think the worst thing that could of happened was 1) be totally embarrassed because firemen show up at my door as I am cooking dinner, 2) the neighbors knowing about number 1, and 3) that I didn't have enough food to feed them. All of that being said, I did let the department know that I would make it up to them by posting on their facebook page. I guess you can say that cooking dinner in my house is never dull.
Halibut Cheeks in Lemon, Caper and Butter Sauce
I have made this recipe before. Click here to see what I did then.
1/2 cup flour, I used my gluten free flour
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pound halibut cheeks
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 tablespoons butter
4 slices bacon, diced
1/2 cup white wine (I used chardonnay, from Virginia of course)
1 lemon, juiced
2 teaspoons capers
2 tablespoon fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
Put the flour on a deep plate and season well with salt and pepper. Dredge the fish in flour. Put a large skillet over medium high heat, add 1 tablespoon oil and butter and get the skillet hot. Add the cheeks and cook until browned on one side, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip the fish and continue to cook until desired doneness, about 2 minutes more. Remove the cheeks and set aside, keeping warm. Add the bacon and cook, stirring to brown. Remove and drain bacon on paper towels. Put the skillet back over medium heat. Add another tablespoon of olive oil, the white wine, lemon juice, capers, the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and the parsley and bring to a boil; boil until reduced and thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Place a serving dish of the cheeks on a plate, pour the sauce over the fish with the bacon, and serve immediately.
Sauteed Kale
1-1/2 pound bunch of kale, washed/soaked, stems and leaves coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
1/2 cup water (this time I used white wine in place of water**)
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until soft , but not colored. Raise the heat to high, add the water and kale and toss to combine. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove cover and continue to cook, stirring until all of the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add vinegar. Serve.
**I found that by using the white wine in place of the water it gave the kale a sweetness that we had not had before.
