Friday, December 23, 2016

Catfish with farro and kale salad

A Blue Apron recipe. The original calls for another element - a grape relish - but the combination of grapes, almonds, and fried rosemary just ended up producing a "peanut butter and jelly" like topping that didn't harmonize with the rest of the dish.

Catfish with farro and kale salad
serves 2

Add 1/2 cup semi-pearled farro to a pot of boiling salted water.  Cook uncovered 16-18 minutes, until tender. Drain and return to the pot.

Season 2 catfish fillets with salt and pepper, then coat in flour. In a non-stick skillet, pan fry in 2 tbsp. butter, 5-6 minutes on the first side, 1-2 minutes on the second.

In a second pan, saute for 2-3 minutes:
2 tsp. olive oil
1 bunch kale, destemmed and rough chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper

Add and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally:
1/2 c. water

Stir to combine:
cooked faro
cooked kale mixture
2 tsp. lemon zest
juice of 1/2 lemon
drizzle of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Five-spice chicken over noodles

Via Blue Apron. The original recipe calls for the chicken to be cooked first, then the same pan used to create the sauce. This makes a tedious sauce prep even longer, so here I've swapped that for cooking the collard greens in chicken stock. I also excised the mushrooms that were to be cooked along side the collard greens, but feel free to toss 3 oz. back in.

Five-spice chicken over noodles
serves 2

In a saute pan, cook for 8-10 minutes:
1/2 bunch collard greens, destemmed and sliced into ribbons
3/4 c. chicken stock

Add and cook 2-4 minutes more until softened: 
4 cloves garlic, minced
1" fresh ginger, minced
1 green onion, sliced
1 baby fennel bulb, diced small (discard stems and root end)

Add and cook 6-8 minutes, until liquid volume has reduced by half:
1.5 tbsp. hoisin sauce
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1.5 cups water

Meanwhile, prepare chicken and noodles.

Season two chicken breasts with 1 tsp. five spice powder each, plus salt and pepper. Cook ~4-6 minutes per side.

Boil 4 oz. linguine until al dente. After draining, toss with 1 tbsp. sesame oil.

Serve in bowls, with linguine on the bottom. Divide vegetables and broth between the bowls. Top with a sliced chicken breast.

Shopping list
collard greens, 1 bunch
fresh ginger, 1"
green onions
baby fennel bulb

Check the pantry
five spice powder
linguine
garlic
hoisin sauce
soy sauce
chicken broth