Karyn's Kitchen

Recently a friend mentioned that you can make boxed scalloped potatoes using a rice cooker. In case you find yourself in an emergency that requires such a thing, there you go. Under any other normal circumstance, why not make them fresh? I haven’t used a box in 20 years because they’re not hard to make and wouldn’t you prefer to be in control of the ingredients? There is so much more freedom in cooking without a recipe.

To decide how much I could make, I first measured my milk. Pouring two cups, I then assessed the potatoes. I decided 8 russets of varying sizes would work well for that amount using this casserole dish.

Preheating my oven, I realized I had a butternut squash that I could cook at the same time. Why not save myself some time and energy later? So I cut the squash in half and placed the oiled, cut side down on a cookie sheet.

I had planned to serve dover sole because that’s what I had defrosted in the refrigerator. While it would have been fine to serve the squash with this dinner, I didn’t think the colors and textures would be very interesting together, so that’s why I served the mushrooms and green beans instead.

Making Scalloped Potatoes

You will need to grate some cheese and slice some potatoes. I do that while my sauce is simmering. I couldn’t find the thinnest slicing disk for my food processor, so I used the 4 mm. Actually I think I prefer the thicker slices. They just require a little longer to cook.

Also choose some seasonings. Yes, you are in charge of the ingredients! In this case, I decided on some Herbs de Provence, garlic powder, salt and smoked paprika. You can flavor it with just about anything you like. Some years ago, a friend gave me a seasoning blend that contained vanilla and lavender. It was delicious in scalloped potatoes. So, experiment and develop your intuition in the kitchen. Cooking without a recipe is easy.

The Sauce

In a saucepan I melted about a tablespoon of butter and then added roughly twice that much of flour. I just wanted to start cooking a paste to thicken the milk that I would add after a couple minutes of whisking the flour/butter mixture. I added a small amount of milk at first to make sure it incorporated smoothly with the flour. Make sure you don’t leave any clumps of flour around the edge of the pan. Then you can add the rest of the milk and let it come to a simmer while whisking every minute or two. Cook it until it reaches the consistency of a thick gravy: 5-10 minutes. Then take it off the heat and stir in a couple handfuls of grated cheese.

Putting It Together

As I pulled ingredients together, I realized that I had some unused broccoli stems, so I peeled and sliced those too. Yes, broccoli stems are tender and delicious once you peel them. They’re great on their own raw, but I decided to bake them with the potatoes. Zero waste cooking!

So, here’s how I do the potatoes: Grease the bottom and sides of the casserole dish. Scatter about half of the potato slices and then the broccoli slices. Sprinkle a little salt on them and pour about half of the sauce over the potatoes. Sprinkle a handful of cheese on top. Scatter the rest of the potatoes in another layer and pour the rest of the sauce on top. Top with another handful of cheese. In all, I used about four handfuls of grated cheese. I have small hands. 6 ounces? You can use more or less. You are in charge when cooking without a recipe!

I baked both the squash and the potatoes for an hour. I covered the potatoes for the first 40 minutes. You know both vegetables are ready once the middle is tender when pierced with a fork. If your potatoes are thinner or your layers shallower, it will cook faster. If your layers are deeper, it takes longer.

After removing the vegetables from the oven, I put the fish into the oven on a cookie sheet. Dover sole takes under ten minutes to cook as it is so thin and delicate. It will be opaque and flake with a fork when it’s ready. That’s how to prepare fish without overcooking it.

The potatoes need to rest before serving, so it works well to put the fish in at this point. Anything with cheese and sauce needs to set up a bit before plating. During that time, I scooped a bit of the butternut squash into a small food processor and pureed. Then I added some lemon juice and pureed again. I thought it would be a nice foil for the fish. You could serve it on top of the fish, but I decided to put a dollop on the side for dipping instead. A little pop of flavor to accompany fish is always welcome.

Want more ideas on how to prepare fish and cooking without a recipe? Read Fearless About Fish next.

I used to make a game of buying a new vegetable each week at the grocery store. I think it’s fun to try new things and experiment with them. You might be delighted to discover how to eat more vegetables when you don’t like them. You can learn to love them.

Depending where you live, your local grocer may lack a wide variety. But, often they will order something special for you if you ask. I guess okra isn’t super popular where I live because I used to have to request it. These days it’s available in small quantities, but it often doesn’t look fresh. So I have to hunt for a few decent looking pods in the back of the basket if I want to buy some.

Why so few people buying the okra? I have heard some remark that they don’t like it because it’s slimy. My answer to that is, “It wasn’t cooked long enough if that was the case.” Yes, preparation matters and for some vegetables it simply means cooking it less or more in order to make it enjoyable.

For this dish, the wild rice takes about an hour to cook, so that’s the first thing I started. Then the corn because I like to roast it in the husk in the oven for 45 minutes after rinsing it with water.

Into the Skillet

Everything else goes into a skillet with some olive oil, starting with the sliced okra because I want to give it a head start. The seeds need to pop out and the goo inside needs to dry up. Then you can add the chopped onions, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Tomatoes near the end. I seasoned with French thyme, paprika and smoked paprika. Take it off the heat until everything else is ready to serve because shrimp only take a couple of minutes to cook. I seasoned them with garlic powder and then added to the vegetable mixture to cook quickly. Sprinkled a little gumbo file’ in there just because I had some and thought, why not?

Of course I always boil up some stock using the shrimp shells. I put that into the freezer if I don’t use it right away. Meanwhile that would give you a bit of liquid if you needed to add a touch of it to this dish.

Alternatively, you could make this with frozen okra and corn and canned tomatoes. It’s a quick and easy, healthy meal that’s also delicious…as long as you cook the okra long enough! I can help you learn how to eat more vegetables when you don’t like them. Which vegetables are you struggling with?

For a dish with similar ingredients, but with the addition of a roux, please read Creole Shrimp next.

Looking for ideas on how to prepare fish? A simple and healthy idea that’s great for summer is to poach it. No need to turn on the oven and create more heat. We especially enjoy fillets, as the orange roughy pictured below.

First you want to put some flavorful liquid into a deep skillet and bring it to a boil. White wine and water work well. Sliced onions and lemons are always welcome. Garlic and dried herbs too. Here I used some shrimp stock that I had in the freezer. A bay leaf and some rosemary.

Once your liquid starts to boil, reduce to the lowest heat setting, add your seasoned fish and cover until it’s done. That should take 10 minutes or less depending on the thickness of the fish. Add sliced or chopped tomatoes along the way and maybe even some vegetables to cook along with it. Leafy greens, cauliflower or broccoli are some suggestions.

Below is some rockfish that I cooked similarly. Instead of bay leaf and rosemary, I used coriander and lots of fresh lemon juice. Served this in a bowl in order to spoon up all the wonderful broth. You can experiment with all kinds of herbs and spices for a different flavor.

What about leftovers? Put them into a salad, mix with cream cheese for your morning bagel or whatever strikes your fancy.

For more about preparing fish that is delicious, please read Fearless About Fish next.

I made the mistake of putting a fennel bulb in an opaque container in my refrigerator…which means it lost its crisp outer beauty because without having it in clear view, I forgot about it. But I can still cook with it after removing anything undesirable. Zero waste cooking steered me in the direction of a Mediterranean themed dinner and suggested how to prepare the fish I had selected.

Once I decided I didn’t need to add a grain or starch to this meal, I decided to slice half a turnip into about the same sized pieces as the fennel. I had enough sweetness going on with the fennel and tomatoes, so why not add a little radishy something for an interesting counterpart to beef up my veggie dish? Roasted radishes are a fantastic side served with fish too, by the way…but I digress…

Tossed the sliced fennel and turnip with some olive oil and salt. Put into a casserole dish and topped with some grated parmesan. Added tomatoes about halfway through cooking time.

I had defrosted some albacore tuna steaks in the refrigerator overnight, so I coated them with panko bread crumbs and cooked for about a minute on each side in a preheated skillet with grapeseed oil. I wanted them to remain medium rare inside because cooking them further would dry them out. Don’t be afraid of undercooking these. Overcooking is the bigger crime. You can always put them back into the skillet if needed, but you can’t undo overcooking.

After removing from the skillet, I let the fish rest and made a quick sauce in the same skillet with olive oil from a jar of anchovies (hello, umami), sauteed garlic and kalamata olives. Very simple, but it added a delicate finishing touch. An important element in learning how to prepare fish.

Here’s What I Needed To Use

• albacore
• fennel
• tomatoes
• turnip

What would you do with these ingredients?

For another suggestion on searing tuna, please read Ahi Tataki next.