Affordable Gourmet-style Recipes

by: ARA

(ARA) - Looking for recipe ideas that are easy to follow, inexpensive and relatively guilt-free too? Try incorporating an American household favorite -- canned tuna!

For something a little different that promises to please guests and family, Bumble Bee provides some delightful, recipe ideas made with canned tuna’s new gold label Prime Fillet. Keep this gourmet quality solid white albacore tuna ready in the pantry for parties, unexpected guests or family get-togethers. Then, whip up an affordable gourmet-style meal that will have your guests convinced you’ve prepared something truly elaborate and extravagant. As an added bonus, they will enjoy canapés or entrées that are delectable, but without those serious calories.

Specially developed by two of California’s leading chefs, here are recipes that demonstrate how canned tuna is no ordinary ingredient.

* Mediterranean-Style Rigatoni Pasta with Prime Fillet Albacore

Recipe by Chef de Cuisine Fabrice Poigin, Bertrand at Mister A’s, San Diego

This simple and flavorful pasta dish with a Mediterranean flair is ideal whether sitting down to dinner with the family or celebrating with guests. Chef Fabrice suggests complementing this with a glass of 2001 Spottswood Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc. Serves 4.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil

4 ounces unsalted butter

1 large sweet onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice

2 red bell peppers, deseeded and cut into 1/4-inch dice

1 vine ripe tomato, diced

5 cloves of garlic, minced

A sprig of rosemary

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 small jar of Spanish olives (green olives stuffed with pimientos), drained

2 6-ounce cans of Bumble Bee Prime Fillet Solid White Albacore, drained

1/2 pound rigatoni pasta

1 tablespoon thinly sliced chives

Dry aged parmesan, grated

Pinch of crushed red hot pepper flakes (optional)

Directions: Bring water to boil in a large pot according to package directions in preparation for cooking the rigatoni pasta. Heat 2/3 of the olive oil and 4 ounces of unsalted butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until nearly hot but not smoking. Add diced onions and cook for approximately 5 minutes until soft. Add diced red bell peppers, reducing to low-medium heat and cook until peppers are soft. Add diced tomato, minced garlic and 1/3 teaspoon of rosemary sprig leaves. Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Cover and cook over low heat for another 10 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of dry white wine and simmer for 5 minutes. Then, add drained whole olives and Bumble Bee Prime Fillet tuna in solid pieces to sautéed mixture. Cover and cook until tuna is heated through (approximately 3 to 5 minutes).

Cook the rigatoni pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water according to the package directions or until al dente. Drain the pasta in a colander, leaving behind a little moisture. Toss the pasta, tuna sauce and water, then place in a serving dish or on individual plates. Drizzle remaining olive oil over the top and garnish with thinly sliced chives and grated dry aged parmesan. Top with a pinch of crushed red hot pepper flakes, if you prefer a little more bite.

* Delicate, Festive Albacore Tuna Canape

Recipe by Chef de Cuisine Fabrice Poigin, Bertrand at Mister A’s, San Diego

An easy-to-follow, elegant-style canapé for entertaining guests or just treating yourself to a unique way of serving up albacore tuna! Serves 6 to 8.

Ingredients:

1 6-ounce can of Bumble Bee Prime Fillet Solid White Albacore, drained

2 finely diced shallots

1 tablespoon chives, thinly sliced

1 soup spoon crème fraiche

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Sourdough bread (optional)

3 ounces of comté cheese or aged white cheddar, sliced thinly

Extra crème fraiche for garnish (optional)

1/2 ounce domestic caviar (optional)

Chervil sprigs (optional)

Directions: Mix together Prime Fillet tuna, shallots, chives, crème fraiche, and salt and pepper. Spoon mixture onto toasted triangles of sourdough bread or into Chinese ceramic serving spoons. Top each serving mixture with a slice of cheese and place in a pre-heated oven (300 degrees) until cheese begins to melt -- approximately 3 minutes. Remove toasties or Chinese spoons from the oven and top individually with a dot of crème fraiche, and then a dot of caviar (optional). Finish with a sprig of chervil to garnish.

* Prime Fillet Albacore Tuna and Potato Casserole

Recipe by Chef Gerald Hirigoyen, owner and executive chef, Piperade and Fringale Restaurants, San Francisco

Recognized in Food & Wine magazine’s 2003 Top Ten Best New Wine Lists, Chef Gerald suggests complementing this entrée with a glass of 2001 Turnbull Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc. Serves 4.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil

2 large onions, thinly sliced

4 medium Anaheim chilies, seeded and thinly sliced

2 bay leaves

8 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced

2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, quartered

1 cup dry white wine

3 cups vegetable stock or canned vegetable broth

6 to 8 saffron threads

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

1 mild dried chili pepper

4 6-ounce cans of Bumble Bee Prime Fillet Solid White Albacore, drained

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Pinch of piment d’Espelette (Basque chili pepper) or mild cayenne powder

Directions: Warm 1/2 cup olive oil in a large casserole over high heat. Add onions, Anaheim chilies, bay leaves, and garlic and sauté for 10 minutes. Add the potatoes, wine, vegetable stock, and saffron. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to medium. Add salt, pepper, and dried chili pepper, and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Add the tuna and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes, or until warmed through. Stir only occasionally to avoid breaking apart the fish. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Discard the bay leaves before serving. Serve in shallow soup bowls, and sprinkle with the parsley and piment d’Espelette.

Look for Bumble Bee Prime Fillet’s upside-down gold can in most supermarkets nationwide. For more information on Bumble Bee, visit www.bumblebee.com.

Courtesy of ARA Content



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Submitted by Dr.Shoukath.ND

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Cook from the Heart, Not by the Book

by: ARA

(ARA) - You don’t have to go by the book to create tasty, easy, sociable food. Easy-peasy meal preparation is all about stripping cooking down to its bare essentials (they don’t call me the Naked Chef for nothing!), using little techniques and conveniences to make the most of your recipes. It’s so simple: Skip the fuss and follow your heart.

Here are some tips to take the stress out of cooking, whether you’re stirring up supper for your mate or hoping to impress the new in-laws:

Dinners-in-a-Bag

When Jools and I first moved to London we were completely broke, our kitchen was the size of a cupboard, and we were working opposite shifts. I didn’t want Jools to feed herself on frozen dinners, so I found myself custom-making the fantastic “Jamie Oliver Dinners in a Bag,” involving glorious aluminum foil.

What I would do for Jools was make up a combo at 4 p.m. as I was going off to work and write with a marker pen “25 minutes at 425 F”, for example, on the foil. Even though Jools didn’t like cooking, she never had a problem with cooking the bags. Now that we have our Amana range, however, it’s easier than ever -- I just program the “Favorites Cycle,” which lets me preset the cook time and temperature for the recipes I use most often. Here’s just one version, but feel free to vary the recipe with things like grated parsnip, smoked bacon or red wine.

Chicken Breasts Baked in a Bag

(Serves two)

2 7-ounce skinless chicken breasts

1 handful of dried porcini

9 ounces of mixed mushrooms, torn up

1 large wineglass of white wine

3 large pats of butter

1 handful of fresh thyme

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced

Using wide aluminum foil, make your bag by placing two pieces on top of each other (about as big as two shoeboxes in length), folding three sides in and leaving one side open. Mix everything together in a bowl, including the chicken. Place in your bag, with all the wine, making sure you don’t pierce the foil. Close up the final edge, making sure it’s tightly sealed and secure on the sides, and slide it onto a roasting pan. Place the pan on a high heat for one minute to get the heat going, then bake in the middle of a 425-degree oven for 25 minutes.

When it’s time to take it out, the Amana EasyRack oven rack, with its practical U-shape design, lets you remove the pan without touching the hot rack. Then you just place the bag on a big plate, take it to the table, break open the foil, and start hearing the raves.

Bare-Bones Cooking Techniques

Here are some other bare-bones techniques I’ve perfected using my Amana range:

* If you invited friends to come round but they’re running late, pop up to four plates of food in the separate warming oven. Your glorious food not only stays warm, but also keeps the kitchen smelling wonderful until they walk in the door.

* If your side dish is ready but you still have other things to cook, just slide the pot onto the middle of the cooktop. The “warming zone” there acts like a fifth burner, keeping it warm and freeing up the other burners so you can finish cooking.

* If your recipe’s left a mess in the oven, don’t fret -- the hidden bake element and smooth oven bottom make it simple to mop up spills before they become baked-on disasters. The oven can clean itself while you’re in the middle of a dinner party -- just flip on the self-clean mode, pour yourself another glass of wine, and go back to your guests.

Visit www.amana.com for more practical appliance solutions from Amana.

Courtesy of ARA Content



EDITOR’S NOTE: For more information contact Maggie O'Brien, (612) 375-8510, mobrien@clynch.com.

Recipes are adapted with permission from Happy Days with the Naked Chef, Hyperion. Jamie Oliver 2002. Food Photographs, David Loftus 2002.


About the author:
Courtesy of ARA Content

Submitted by Dr.Shoukath.ND

Delicious Recipes - Home Based Business

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