Shellfish and Chicken Paella

Hands down the best paella I have ever eaten! I'm definitely going to make each and every recipe in Jacques Pépin's "Fast Food My Way" and "More Fast Food My Way" cookbooks. I have been thrilled with every recipe (and techniques). I had a tough time, however, finding authentic Spanish dried chorizo, rice, and saffron, so I ordered from Amazon Prime and wasn't sorry! Starting with quality ingredients is key. You don't need a paella pan for this, and you don't have to cook it on the grill outdoors. I used a large, nonstick fry pan with lid and cooked on the stovetop.

Serve this amazing dish with Gazpacho and Pineapple in Dark Rum Sauce accompanied by a good Spanish red wine.

From Jacques Pépin's "More Fast Food My Way." Video and recipe can be found here.

Gazpacho

A perfectly cool soup for a hot day. I put all the ingredients in a Vitamix, turned it on, and a minute later had a fresh first course to my Spanish inspired dinner of Chicken and Shellfish Paella and Pineapple in Dark Rum Sauce.

Recipe

1 green bell pepper, peeled with vegetable peeler and chopped
1 Vidalia onion, chopped
3 cucumbers, peeled, seeds removed
4 large ripe tomatoes, quartered
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1-1/2 c. Bloody Mary Mix (I used Zing Zang)
1 tsp. salt
Sprigs of parsley for garnish
Croutons

Save 1/2 c. each of the green pepper, onion, cucumber and tomato for garnish. Put all the ingredients, except for the parsley and croutons, in the blender. Turn on and blend until smooth. You can't beat a Vitamix for this step!

Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with spoonfuls of the reserved veg. Add 2 or 3 croutons and sprigs of parsley, if desired.

– Jacques Pépin, "More Fast Food My Way"

Cod with Olive-Tomato Crust

No, it's not burned! Just looks that way ... but the flavor of the topping was too good to pass up. It's just sun-dried tomatoes, black olives and parmesan. It would go well with chicken too. 

Recipe

1/2 c. oil packed sun-dried tomato halves
1/2 c. pitted black olives
2 T. parmesan
– put this in a food processor and process until you have a puree that will hold together

4 cod loin fillets
1 T. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the broiler. Rub the fish with 1 T. of the oil and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Place on a piece of oiled foil on a baking sheet. Cover the top of the fish with the tomato-olive puree and put in the oven, about 4-inches from the heat source.

Depending on how thick your fillets are, broil for between 5 and 15 minutes. I had fairly thick fillets so it took just about 13-14 minutes to cook through. To serve, drizzle a little olive oil over the fish and sprinkle some fresh herbs on top (parsley or oregano would go nicely).

– Jacques Pépin, "More Fast Food My Way"

Cookie Dough Raspberry Tart

Bring out your inner artist when making this fun dessert. Store-bought sugar cookie dough is used to create a giant surface for fresh raspberries, warm seedless raspberry jam, and fresh picked mint leaves. Simple. Have your guests arrange the berries while you heat up the jam.

Recipe

6 oz. sugar cookie dough
1 pint fresh raspberries
1/2 c. seedless raspberry jam
1/2 c. sour cream
Fresh mint

Preheat the oven to 375-degrees. Flatten the cookie dough between two sheets of plastic wrap, then roll to about an 8-inch circle. Put the giant cookie on a lightly oiled cookie sheet, discarding the plastic wrap. Fold the edges of the dough like you would a pie crust to make it thicker on the outside.

Bake about 10 minutes – don't overcook or it will get very brittle. The dough will expand a bit in the oven. Let rest to cool and harden for about 15 minutes before putting it on a serving platter (or cake pedestal).

Just before serving arrange the berries however you wish. Heat the jam to thin it a little, making it easier to spoon over the berries. Cut the tart into 4 pieces and serve with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of mint.

– Jacques Pépin, "More Fast Food My Way"

Bowpicker Fish & Chips

I really don't like hot weather. At all. It was 95-degrees in Portland yesterday. Escaping to Astoria on the Columbia River sounded like a good idea, but it was 93 there. Whenever visiting Astoria, I must have Bowpicker's Fish & Chips (it's that good) – they use freshly caught tuna from the docks every day, and it's the only item on their menu. They start serving around 11 a.m. and quit when they run out of fish.

They must be doing something right to for me to willingly stand in line for an hour in the searing sun for 5 pieces of perfectly fried fish. But stand in line I must, because it's worth it! You'll meet people from all over the world while waiting for your turn. Yesterday there was a couple from Germany who read about Bowpicker on Twitter, others from Seattle, Phoenix, eastern Washington, and Southern Oregon. Next time you find yourself in Astoria, look for their boat in a parking lot across from the Maritime Museum, and definitely try the fish.

Shrimp Pane on Watercress

Jacques Pépin's recipe for Shrimp Pane (pane means "breaded") is elegant, light, and crunchy – what a great dish for a party or a small gathering of friends. Whole shrimp are coated with a shrimp puree (using the lower tail segments of the shrimp + 3 whole shrimp, egg, garlic and parsley), breaded with fresh bread crumbs, and fried for 3 minutes on each side in oil and butter. It's served on a bed of peppery watercress dressed lightly with walnut oil and sherry vinegar. Make the shrimp before your guests arrive and keep in the fridge until you're ready to cook.

This past weekend, I served this with a first course of cold black bean soup with banana and a cookie dough raspberry tart.

For Jacques Pépin's recipe click here, and to watch him prepare click here (at about the 3:55 mark)