Too Busy To Cook? Actually, Too Busy To Write!

Over the last few months I've been just terrible about keeping up with my blog. Quite frankly, I think don't anyone reads it anyway! That's okay. I often think that it's funny that so many people, me included, write these blogs in the hopes that we'll be "found" by strangers - as if all the people who we already know, love, and who love us back aren't enough. It must be a anomaly of social media. Sometimes, it's just exhausting. So, I've been avoiding my blog for a number of reasons. Mainly, it's because I've been so busy teaching - the passion of my life these days!

Last night I taught a Greek cooking class at South Seattle Community College. I'd had a heck of a day. (There is another round of incredibly stressful bullshit going on with Vince's job.) So, I wasn't really feeling enthusiastic about going to work. But here's the cool thing, teaching makes me happy. I actually come home most nights revitalized. I love it and I'm so lucky that I get to do it. Last night was no exception. Instead of staying home and brooding with Vince, I had to go out in the world and be present. How cathartic. Have I mentioned that I'm lucky?

I was joined last night by a number of repeat students, Sue, Tim, John, Janelle, Harry, Luisa and Christie. How about that? They like me enough to come back again and again. Now there's a compliment. They'll never know how much it meant for me to spend time teaching and laughing with them vs. dealing with the turmoil of real life.

In their honor, I'll share a Greek recipe today -Tzatziki Sauce. Yummy on lamb, chicken, stuffed grape leaves, or simply with pita bread. Nothing too complicated, but a good one to have in your back pocket.

To get a good Tzatziki, there are a couple of tips I suggest:

• Use Greek yogurt or strain plain yogurt through cheese cloth in the refrigerator for a couple hours to remove excess moisture (whey). By the way, that's all Greek-style yogurt really is. There's less moisture so the result is thicker yogurt.
• After you peel, seed and dice your cucumber, place it in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze the heck out of it.

Both of these tips help to ensure a luscious, thick tzatziki.  It's all about controlling the moisture.

Tzatziki Sauce

Ingredients

16 ounces plain yogurt* or 12 oz Greek-style plain yogurt

1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped

1/4 tsp kosher salt

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 tsp red wine vinegar

5 to 6 mint leaves, finely minced

Directions

Place the yogurt in a tea towel or cheese cloth, gather up the edges, suspend over a bowl, and drain for 2 hours in the refrigerator. *Note: when you strain plain yogurt, you will loose about a 1/4 of it in liquid (whey) so you can purchase Greek-style yogurt which has already been strained, so you only need 3/4's a much.

Place the chopped cucumber in a tea towel and squeeze to remove the liquid; discard liquid. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the drained yogurt, cucumber, salt, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and mint. Serve as a sauce for gyros. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to a week.

Yield: about 2 cups

Thanks again to all my students.  You really made my night!

Feature Article in the West Seattle Herald!

I was recently featured in an article for the West Seattle Herald.  Writer/Photographer, Steve Shay, told me that barring a murder in White Center I'd be on the front page.  Well, I think I made page 7!!!

Chef Erin Coopey Teaches Us How to Impress Our Dates

Chile Ancho Rellenos de Picadillo de Pollo

On our recent trip to Mexico our friend, Bill Pecha, made a wonderful Oaxacan chicken dish with tomatoes, olives, raisins and almonds. The flavor was outstanding! It reminded me of a Moroccan tagine, layers of sweet and savory within a rich, creamy sauce. Vince and I loved it.

I should say that the reason we went to Mexico in the first place was to do a site inspection for our upcoming culinary tours! I'm so excited about this opportunity. We've put together a really cool package for a week-long stay with meals, tours and classes. It's going to be so much fun. Check out CulinariodeMexico.com when you can.

I had picked up a bunch of dried chiles at a mercado during our trip. I'm planning on teaching a cooking class on chiles during the culinary tour. There are so many different ones to try. I think it's a common misconception that all chiles are fiery hot but they aren't (especially if you removed the seeds and ribs/veins). Ancho chiles are good example of that. They have a rich, almost chocolaty sweetness.

After trying Bill's Oaxacan chicken dish I was reminded of a recipe that I'd been meaning to try. It's called Chiles Ancho Rellenos de Picadillo de Pollo which means ancho chiles stuffed with minced chicken. The original recipe was quite lengthy but it only took me about an hour to complete. Use your food processor, if you have one, for all the chopping. That really speeds the process. Anyway, without further adieu, here's the recipe:

Adapted from Savoring Mexico, Mariyn Tausend

Ingredients
Picadillo:
1/2 cup olive oil, divided
1 cup finely chopped white onion
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 lbs Roma tomatoes
1/4tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup raisins
1 1/2 pounds ground chicken or turkey
1/2 cup Castelvetrano or Manzanilla olives, pitted and roughly chopped
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup capers, rinsed
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro, firmly packed
1/4 cup finely chopped italian parsley, firmly packed

Chiles:
8 large ancho chiles
4 oz piloncillo, grated or 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
2/3 cup cider vinegar
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Sauce:
2 cups Mexican crema or sour cream
1/4 cup finely diced white onion
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup firmly packed cilantro, finely chopped

Directions
Core and quarter tomatoes. Place in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.

In saucepan on medium, heat 1/4 cup of olive oil. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add garlic, cook for 1 minute, add tomatoes, thyme and bay leaves and simmer for 15 minutes. Add raisins and cook for 10 minutes. Set aside.

In a large skillet over medium-high, heat remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil. Add chicken, stirring constantly for 4 minutes until lightly browned. Stir in chopped tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the olives, almonds and capers. Remove from heat and let cool. Stir in cilantro and parsley*. Check seasoning for additional salt, if needed.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To prepare the chiles, leaving stem on, make lengthwise slit in each chile and remove seeds. (You can start the incision with a knife and use kitchen shears to complete the slit.) Put 4 cups of water in saucepan and add Piloncillo, cinnamon, vinegar and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Add chiles, cover, remove from heat, and soak for 15 minutes. Transfer chiles to paper towels to dry.

Carefully stuff the chiles with the picadillo and place in baking dish. Cover and bake for 15 minutes, or until heated through.

While chiles are baking, in saucepan on medium-low, heat crema, onion and salt until warm but not boiling. Strain and add cilantro and keep warm. When ready to serve, pour sauce over the chiles.

*Note: The stuffing can be made in advance, adding the herbs when ready to stuff the chiles

Peppercorn Seared Ahi Tuna with Brandied Brown Sauce

Lately, I've been doing a few photos and recipes for the Seattle Fish Company. Jon Daniels, the new owner, is a great guy and very active in the business. I just shot an image of Peppercorn Seared Ahi Tuna that should be appearing in their next newsletter, but it you follow my blog you get it here first!

This is an adaptation of a recipe from the Chart House. I love this combination and I think that you could serve it to a certified meat-eater and they'd love it too. It's a great combination of spice from the peppercorns, sweetness from the caramelized onions and richness from the sauce. I think it's just fancy enough to serve as a special holiday dinner and just easy enough to serve any night of the week.

Hope you like it too!

Pepper Seared Ahi with Brandied Brown Sauce
Serves 4

1 cup caramelized onions, recipe below
1 shallot, minced
1/4 cup brandy
1 cup beef stock
2 tbsp butter
salt and pepper
4 6- to 7-ounce ahi tuna steaks (each about 1 inch thick)
2 tbsp coarsely cracked black pepper
1 tbsp oil

Prepare caramelized onions and keep warm.

Place the shallots and brandy in a small sauce pan back over medium heat. Simmer until the brandy is almost gone. Be sure to keep stirring so the shallots don’t burn.

Once the brandy is almost completely cooked off, add the stock. Reduce the stock by at least half and more if you want the sauce thicker.

Add the butter and whisk until melted and the sauce has a velvety shine. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Keep warm while you prepare the tuna.

Sprinkle tuna steaks on both sides with salt, then sprinkle with coarsely cracked black pepper, pressing gently to adhere. Heat oil in large skillet over high heat. Add tuna steaks and sear until brown outside and just opaque in center, about 3 minutes per side.

Divide warm caramelized onions among 4 plates. Using tongs, place tuna steaks on the onions and spoon sauce over each.

Caramelized Onions
Makes about 1 cup

4 tbsp butter
2 large onions, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions and salt, and cook, stirring constantly, until the onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the sugar and cook, scraping the browned bits off the bottom of the pan frequently, until the onions are golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Salmon Wellington with Dungeness Crab

I've been so busy lately, that I haven't had a moment to write, let alone cook for pleasure. Vince and I recently returned from a trip to Manzanillo, Mexico. We're in the midst of our latest venture - Culinary Tours in Mexico - but more about that later.

I swear to you I just blinked and the holidays are here. I am sure you've been as busy as I have, probably busier so when it comes to holiday entertaining it has to be simple. Well, this recipe for Salmon Wellington fills the bill. It's simple yet elegant and people will think you spent hours in the kitchen. Just go with it, you deserve a little praise...

Salmon Wellington with Dungeness Crab
Recipe and photo by Chef Erin Coopey, culinary-artist.com
(Serves 4-6)

Ingredients
1 2-3 lb King Salmon fillet, skin and pin bones removed
2 sheets of puff pastry, defrosted according to package instructions
1 lb frozen chopped spinach, thawed
8 oz Dungeness Crab Meat, rinsed and picked through for any remaining shells
3 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp minced shallots
3 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F
Remove excess moisture from the spinach by wrapping it in cheese cloth or a clean kitchen towel, and squeezing.

Combine the crab, mayonnaise, shallots, salt and pepper in a bowl. Mix together and set aside.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly coat the parchment paper with non-stick cooking spray. place one rectangle of puff pastry out on it. Place the salmon fillet in the center of the puff pastry and top with the spinach. Spread the crab mixture over the top of the spinach evenly.

Paint the puff pastry around the circumference of the salmon fillet with the beaten eggs. Top with the remaining piece of puff pastry and trim the excess dough from the package. Paint the top piece of puff pastry with the beaten eggs and crimp the edges of the top and bottom pieces of puff pastry to seal the salmon within.

Cut decorative vents in the puff pastry approximately every 2-3 inches down the length of the package. You can use a cookie cutter to cut decorative pieces of puff pastry to place on top of your salmon Wellington prior to cooking if desired. Be sure to brush with egg wash prior to cooking. (See my little puff pastry salmon cut-out below.)

Place in pre heated oven for 30-35 minutes until puff pastry is golden brown. Remove and allow to stand before attempting to slice for serving.

Easy Entertainment Appetizers

On Wednesday, I got an email asking if I'd like to do a segment on New Day NW...the next day!  I thought, what the heck and went for it.  Less than 24 hours later I was on KING 5 with Margaret Larson.  It was really fun and exciting.

The show aired immediately but they've posted my segment online.  Here's the link below.  If you have a Facebook account, I would totally appreciate you hitting the "recommend" or "like" button so I could get a little PR from it.

Hope you like it.  Thanks so much for checking it out.

Olives Marinated in Orange and Thyme-infused Olive Oil

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 orange

1 lemon

4 garlic cloves, peeled

1/4 cup San Juan de Ullum Olive Oil

2 tbsp Sherry Vinegar

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1/2 tsp salt

1 jar Estancia Lucia Arauco Argentinian Olives

Method:

Zest the orange and the lemon and place in a bowl along with the juice of the orange.

Using the flat side of your knife, crush the garlic cloves and combine with the zest and orange juice. Next, add the olive oil, sherry vinegar, thyme, salt, and olives to the juice and zest and mix well. An easy way to do this is to combine the olives and dressing in a plastic bag or container with a lid and simply shake.

Allow the mixture to marinate at least 12 hours before serving. Serve at room temperature.

Crab Stuffed Shrimp with Sherry Cream Sauce

A few weeks ago I catered a birthday party with a menu that included mini crabcakes.  After I initially offered the selection I started searching for crab cake recipes and panicked. I thought I would put myself out of business with the cost of crab!

Here's the issue. When you are a caterer, you never want to run out of food. The host expected 50 people.  The party took place over the dinner hour so people would be eating heavily, so I figured I'd make at least 4 crab cakes per person.  I wanted to serve a quality crab cake that was more crab than cake, so based on the assumption that each crab cake would weigh 3/4 ounce and I'd be making about 240 of them, I thought I'd need around 11 pounds of crab meat...at $16 per pound (dear God). 

I happened to go into my restaurant supply store on a customer appreciation day. One of the featured vendors was offering crab meat for a great price, one day only, so I bought a case - 12 pounds in all. Yea bargain!

However, all of this happened before I decided on a final recipe. It turns out that I had over estimated the size of the cakes slightly and ended up using about 4 1/2 pounds instead of 11!  So, now I have 7 pound of canned crab meat in my refrigerator.  Time to get creative!

So how about some crab recipes, you ask?  Okay - here you go!

Crab Stuffed Shrimp with Sherry Cream Sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tbsp unsalted butter

2 tbsp finely minced onions

2 tbsp finely minced celery

1/4 cup finely minced red bell peppers

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning

1/2 tsp Kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 lb lump crab, picked over for shells, etc.

1 egg

2 tsp arrowroot powder or cornstarch

2 tbsp mayonnaise

24 large or jumbo shrimp, peeled except for the tails and butterflied

Sherry Cream Sauce, recipe below

thinly sliced green onions, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 375F degrees.  Spray a baking sheet with canola oil spray.

Melt butter in a medium skillet over medium heat.  Add onions, celery, bell peppers, garlic powder, Old Bay Seasoning, salt and black pepper.  Sweat until onions become translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add crab meat and stir gently to combine.

Whisk egg in a large bowl.  Stir in crab mixture, arrowroot and mayonnaise.

Shape mixture into 20 balls - using about 2 tbsp for each ball. (A small ice cream scooper/or cookie dish-out works well for this.) Press one ball into each shrimp (as pictured above) and arrange on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until shrimp is pink and stuffing is slightly browned, about 10 minutes.

Drizzle with Sherry Cream Sauce and sprinkle with sliced green onions, if desired.  Serve immediately.

Sherry Cream Sauce

Makes approximately 3/4 cup

Ingredients

1 tbsp minced shallots

1/2 dry sherry

1 cup heavy cream

salt to taste

Directions

Place minced shallots and dry sherry in a small sauce pan over high heat.  Simmer until sherry is almost completely gone.  Add heavy cream and reduce heat to medium.  Simmer until the cream thickens and reduces by about 1/3.  Be careful not to let it boil over.  Add salt to taste and serve over Crab Stuffed Shrimp.

 

Next up - Crab Dip! : )