Photo: hermitsmoores’

Upon my recent return from New Orleans, I gave you a killer family meal idea: a hummus platter dinner. A great tip for sure  (has it become a go-to weeknight meal at your house, too?), but not exactly the Big Easy flavors you may have expected. I owe you. And it’s pay up time. Sort of.

New Orleans has a ton of great seafood and draws a lot of inspiration from traditional French cooking. This equates to (among other things) a lot of creamy seafood preparations like a favorite of mine, crawfish etouffee. Since I didn’t indulge in any such dishes this past visit, I decided to make one at home. Except I didn’t use cajun seasoning. The big kid is going through a “no spicy” phase, so I substituted Old Bay for my favorite Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning. Hm. I guess that means that  this isn’t much of an homage to New Orleans after all. Oh well. It’s good. And it reminds me of my shrimp salad, a favorite lobster roll substitute inspired by the Old Bay brown butter I had at Momofuku Ko.

So have I settled the score? If not, substitute your preferred creole seasoning for Old Bay (modulate the amount for how much heat you want). And keep tuning in. I’ve got another trip to New Orleans coming up in June. I’ll get ya back then.

Old Bay Shrimp Pasta

(can be adapted for kids 10+ mos)*

1 lb organic pasta (I like linguine or fettuccine)
3 tbsp organic butter
2 cloves organic garlic, minced
1/3 c chopped organic celery
1 1/2 tbsp Old Bay seasoning
1 1/2 dozen medium shrimp, shelled & deveined*
1/4 c white wine (optional)
1 tbsp organic tomato paste
1/2 c organic chicken broth
1 1/2 c organic heavy cream
organic parmesan
ground black pepper
chives or celery leaves (optional, for garnish)

1. Put a large pot of salted water on medium-high heat (about 6 qts water to 2 tbs salt). Bring to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain, and set pasta aside.

2. In the meantime, melt butter in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic and celery; saute until soft and fragrant. Add Old Bay and stir quickly to coat veggies, making sure not to burn the seasoning. Add shrimp and white wine, stir.

3. When wine has cooked off and shrimp are just opaque, add tomato paste. Cook for 1 minute, then add broth and cream. Cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring, to bring all of the flavors together.

4. Add pasta and toss to coat. Take off heat and finish with grated parmesan and pepper to taste. (Old Bay has salt added—I don’t add any additional.) Garnish and serve.

*Note: Food introduction guidelines are constantly changing. There is mounting evidence that even high allergen foods can be carefully introduced as early as 6-8 months so long as the child has no personal or family history of allergies. (Read here, here and here to learn more.) Shellfish is considered a high allergen food and the traditional recommendation is to hold off on introducing shellfish until 12+ mos or even 3+ years if the child has a history of food allergies. Speak to your pediatrician about what’s best for your child. And you can always substitute a firm flaky fish for shrimp in this recipe.

My littlest ChowBaby is already 5 months old. I can hardly believe it! Time is flying and, relatively speaking, it’s been a smooth ride. But, all that said, my big guy is missing me. Lots. And so I’ve decided to carve out even more one-on-one time with him. We’re having tons of fun, but our new Monday afternoon excursions are putting a cramp in my dinner style. By the time we’re back home and settled in, it’s about 30 minutes to eatin’ time. And, when trying to coordinate dinner, 2 baths (ha!) and 2 bedtimes, there isn’t much flexibility.

So the new challenge: come up with even more healthy and SUPER quick recipes. This one was inspired by the Martha Stewart app, my new source for perusing recipes (on the go!). This recipe couldn’t be easier. And in the 30 minutes that it takes from start to finish, you can also make rice (cook in rice cooker or on the stove top according to package directions) or quinoa pilaf (cook on the stove top according to directions then toss with olive oil, white wine vinegar, dried cranberries, slivered almonds and green onion) and roast some asparagus (clean, trim, toss with olive oil and salt on a rimmed baking sheet; as soon as salmon is done, heat oven to 350 degrees and roast asparagus until cooked through, time will depend on how thick your asparagus is).


Salmon with Tarragon Yogurt Sauce, adapted from Martha Stewart
(can be adapted for kids 8+ mos)

1 c greek style yogurt
2 tbsp chopped fresh organic tarragon
1 tbsp freshly squeezed organic lemon juice*
1 tbsp organic olive oil
1/3 c chopped organic seedless cucumber
salt and pepper
wild alaskan salmon fillets (the sauce makes enough for up to 8 portions)

1. Make sauce: Stir together yogurt, chopped tarragon, lemon juice, olive oil and cucumber; season with salt and pepper.

2. Heat broiler, with rack set 4 inches from heat. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place salmon on sheet, and season with salt and pepper. Broil until opaque throughout, 8 to 10 minutes. Serve with sauce on the side.

*Note: Skip the citrus juice in portions fed to eaters under 12-months-old.

Photo: The Kitchn

Check out this week’s Food News, Things I Crave, Green Your Eats, Tips, Tools & Techniques, and Weekly Roundtable (a roundup of the most recent ChowMama posts). Plus, for a little while, I’ll follow the Weekly Roundtable with a quick update on my non-resolutions. Not that you should care (but maybe you do? I love me support from fellow ChowMamas and ChowPapas!), but it’s a way of keeping me honest.

Food News

• Did you know? Cascadian Farms was purchased by General Mills who changed the Purely O’s formulation. It now contains THREE TIMES the sugar as well as a list of fillers! Learn more, with commentary from Marion Nestle (via Food Politics)
• The first east coast affiliate of the Edible Schoolyard (a program started by restauranteur Alice Waters of Chez Panisse) is set to come to my hometown: BROOKLYN, baby!! (via: NY Times)
• So frustrating! The FDA on BPA: Our Hands Are Tied (via Civil Eats)
• I thought this was super interesting. What do you think? Did you search for one of these last year? The Top 10 Most Googled Recipes of 2009 (via Serious Eats)
• Michelle Obama vows to ‘move the ball’ on kids’ diets (via Grist)
• Has our snacking gotten out of control? When Did Grazing Take Over Our Children? (via NY Times)
• A reporter spends a week in a DC public school and tells us what kids actually eat there. Chews Wise calls this great six part series “cheese-filled.” Read the details here.
• A video for the Gourmet (magazine) nostalgic (via Grist)

Things I Crave

• Pretty tea towel! It’s a replica of an original 1940’s sign (via The Kitchn)
• Form meets function in this high style bakeware designed along side a pastry chef. Beautiful! (via The Kitchn)
• Not sure how I feel about this spice carousel. Honestly, I find it a bit ugly. But it’s cool that it dispenses 1/4 tsp amounts with the turn of a dial. What do you think? (via Serious Eats)

Green Your Eats

• A resource list for starting your own school garden! (via Civil Eats)
• All about whole grains, including a primer and recipes, from NPR (via Cheap Healthy Good)

Tips, Tools & Techniques

• Fish2Fork, a site that ‘names and shames’ restaurants—find out which restaurants are serving sustainable fish… and which aren’t (via Cooking Up a Story)
• A great post describing how to make a basic white sauce and veloute, along with variations including mornay sauce, bechamel and caper sauce (to name just a few) (via Pink of Perfection)
• These are a part of a larger “trim your budget” series on The Simple Dollar: trimming your food at home budget & trimming your eating out budget (via Cheap Healthy Good)
• Snack hack! Create single servings to teach portion control and increase independence (via Parent Hacks)

Weekly Roundtable

• This week was all about party planning! I started with a full menu plan & schedule, plus a one-step side dish that’s perfect for entertaining (or any weeknight): Corn Pudding
• I moved on to the main dish: ChowMama Baked Chicken Fingers
• And no party is complete without cupcakes: Chocolate Chip & Devil’s Food Cupcakes with Chocolate Chip Buttercream

Non-Resolutions 2010

• I’ve gone to the gym 3 times since last week. That was my goal. I achieved it. I hope to do the same next week… even though it hurts (literally).
• I’ve been eating lots of fish—2x’s this week—and making lots of vegetarian meals. (My latest: I’m working on a recipe for stuffed peppers for us. Check it out next week!)
• I’m running into a challenge with my vegetarian meals. Maybe you can help?! I’m trying to cut way down on carbs to help me lose weight, but it’s cutting into my vegetarian meal repertoire. IDEAS PLEASE!!
• I saved the worst for last. I did NOT find any time in the last TWO weeks to do anything nice for myself. No massage. No mani/pedi. A meeting for tomorrow was just cancelled. I’m going to keep the time for myself. I’ll let you know how it works out next week.

• I’m going to start making time to hit the gym.
• I’m going to cook (and eat) more vegetarian meals.
• I’m going to cook (and eat) fish once a week.
• I’m going to be better about treating myself—and my body—to something nice (pedicure, massage) at least every other week.

So predictable. I know. And, I bet you’re suspicious about the whole, “these aren’t resolutions” thing. But THEY’RE NOT because these changes will happen. I will deliver on these promises to myself. (Right?)

I started last week and was totally successful at cooking one fish and more vegetarian meals. They gym… well I’m likely to get a slow start on that one. And I still have this week to treat my body to something nice. I’m thinking a spa pedicure. Ahhhh.

This is the fish dish I made last week. It’s DELICIOUS and incredibly fast and low maintenance. I used low mercury Pacific Cod (specifically from Alaska, which is the best Pacific choice). It is available frozen at Trader Joe’s. Try to avoid other Cods, especially from the Atlantic (with the exception of Cod from Iceland), as they are in danger. See here for alternatives if you can’t get your hands on Pacific or Icelandic Cod.

Cod with Leeks, Tomatoes & Olives, barely adapted from Martha Stewart
(can be adapted for kids 8+ mos)

3 organic leeks, white & light green parts only, cleaned & thinly sliced
juice of 1 organic lemon
1 tsp freshly grated zest
1 tbsp organic olive oil
1/4 c white wine (optional)*
3 sprigs organic thyme
salt and pepper
6 organic plum tomatoes (or 2 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes)*
2 handfuls of organic pitted kalamata olives
4 cod fillets, 6-8 oz and about 1″ thick each

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, toss together leeks, lemon juice, zest, oil, wine, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cover with foil and bake until leeks just begin to soften, 8 to 10 minutes.

2. Remove baking dish from oven. Add tomatoes and olives, and toss to combine. Season both sides of cod fillets with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; place on top of vegetables.

3. Cover dish and bake until fish is opaque throughout, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Note:Be sure to pick out the tomatoes before serving eaters under 10 mos and the olives for eaters under 12 mos. I’d also skip the wine if feeding little, little ones.

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