Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars

Over the weekend it was a miserable 93 humid degrees that came out of nowhere. Today its 65 and raining. I don’t know what to do with this weather and I suddenly have no idea what to cook. I’m sick of winter comfort dishes but today doesn’t feel like summer salad weather either. The kids’ sports were canceled because of the rain so we found ourselves having a free afternoon. What’s better on a rainy day than baking? Perrin, is that one random person that prefers oatmeal cookies over any other cookie. I truly do not understand but she would not have eaten them if we just whipped up some good old fashioned chocolate chip cookies. Pippa, my eternally happy child could not care what we made as long as it was sweet. Chocolate would definitely make her happy and it would please me as well : ) This is an easy enough conundrum. I will just make chocolate chip cookies and add oatmeal. A little bit of rough estimation in my head worked out beautifully. These were the perfect combination of crispy edges, gooey centers, and excess of chocolate. Honestly, I might be on Perrin’s team now. The texture of these cookies is delightful. They are perfect and we happily devoured these cookie bars with some ice cold milk : )

What you need:

1 cup or 2 sticks of room temperature/soft salted butter (go for the good stuff, I love Kerry Gold)

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated white sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups Quick cooking oats (not instant oats, those are different)

1 tsp baking soda

2 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips (I always use Ghirardelli 60%) but you could use semi-sweet if you prefer

Preheat your oven to 375. I like to use a 9x13 baking dish for these, lining it with parchment paper makes it easy to remove the cookies and slice post baking. Next beat your butter and sugars together in a mixing bowl until they are creamy. Add the eggs followed by the vanilla. In a separate bowl mix the flour, oats, salt, and baking soda. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until it is combined. Now add your chocolate chips. It’s a lot of chocolate, but its one of the reasons these are so yummy. After 28 minutes these were perfect, crispy on the top and bottom but still very soft in the middle. Depending on your oven, I'd take a peek at 20-25 minutes. Ovens and baking dishes vary. A toothpick should be able to come out clean. YUM!

Scallion Roasted Fish Tacos

My sweet husband always goes overboard when he does the grocery shopping and he came home with the most delicious looking and massive piece of Halibut on Sunday afternoon. I had a ton of yummy fresh scallions in the fridge and thought they wold pair well with the delicate Halibut. I slow roasted the fish and we had it with a huge Caesar salad on Sunday and yesterday I used the rest for what turned out to be probably the most delicious fish tacos I’ve ever made. The simple preparation of the fish would also taste great on Turbot, Cod, or even a mild Atlantic Salmon.

The chunky guacamole is crucial as a topping because it offers so many different textures and a bit of tang. I recently started using a splash of champagne vinegar in my guacamole instead of lemon/lime juice and its a huge game changer. I’ve also switched to using dried cilantro because it keeps forever and I don’t have to worry about wasting all the excess cilantro that is always around when I purchase it fresh from the grocery. If you make the guacamole at least 10 minutes in advance, it rehydrates and releases its flavor perfectly. This guacamole is complete addictive!

Serve the fish tacos on corn tortillas with bib lettuce and guacamole. Enjoy!

What you need:

For the fish:

2 tbsp olive oil

2 lbs of firm, mild fish (Halibut or Cod work well)

4-5 scallions, trimmed and chopped

2 tsp dried parsley

Squeeze of fresh lemon juice and pinch of lemon zest

Fresh ground salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 and drizzle olive oil over top of the fish. Finely chop the scallions (using the white and green parts). Dust the fish with fresh ground salt and pepper and cover with the scallions, pat down gently so they stick. Now add a squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of lemon zest to the top and bake for about 20 minutes. The fish should give easily with a fork when its done or have an internal temperature of 130.

For the Chunky Guacamole:

2 ripe avocados (give to the touch but not too squishy)

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped into small pieces

1 yellow, orange, or red bell pepper, chopped into small pieces

1 shallot, finely chopped

1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

1 tsp dried cilantro

salt and pepper, to taste

2 tsp champagne vinegar

Remove the pit carefully from the avocado and chop into chunks. Add all of the other finely chopped ingredients to a bowl and mix to combine well. Allow to rest for about 10-15 minutes so the flavors can develop.

When the fish has finished cooking, warm your tortillas (I like to do this directly over the gas burner if you have one). Top each tortilla with a piece of bib lettuce, a few chunks of fish, and guacamole. I promise these are delicious!

Risotto

This is a recipe for a very simple risotto with lemon zest and Parmesan. It’s creamy and bright and excellent all by itself but also a great base for roasted asparagus or fresh peas. It would be a lovely accompaniment to salmon or roast chicken. I recently served it with shrimp scampi and that was also an excellent pairing. It requires a fair amount of stirring and watching, but overall its easy to make.

What you need:

1 cup Arborio Rice

1 large shallot, chopped

3 tablespoons good salted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/3 cup dry white wine (a Gavi or dry Pinot Grigio works well)

4 cups chicken broth

zest from 1/2 a lemon

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

First warm your broth in a glass measuring cup in the microwave or simmer it in a pot on the stove so that it will be warm while you use it. You want to keep the temperature of your risotto even while you cook it and using cold broth will make this difficult.

Next chop your shallot and place it in a warm pan over medium heat with 2 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp olive oil. Add a pinch of salt and stir until the shallot begins to soften (about 5 minutes). Add your rice and stir to coat it with the butter and olive oil. Let it toast for a few minutes but be careful not to brown it, so stir it often. After about 3-4 minutes add your wine and allow to simmer and evaporate (1-2 minutes). Now add 1 cup of broth and stir occasionally while it simmers and evaporates. When the rice has absorbed most of the broth, add another half cup of broth and continue this process of stirring, evaporating, and adding more broth until your rice has absorbed most of or all 4 cups of broth and is nice and tender but not mushy. It should take about 15-20 minutes overall. Turn off the heat and stir in your lemon zest, Parmesan, and another tbsp of butter. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Enjoy!

**If you would like to serve with shrimp like I did, transfer the risotto to a warm plate. In the same pan that you just cooked the risotto in add another 2 tbsp of butter and olive oil, and a splash of the same white wine. Bring to a simmer and cook off the alcohol. Add 4 cloves sliced garlic. Toss in one pound of shrimp and some salt and pepper. Cook the shrimp, stirring once or twice. It should be finished in 5 minutes (Shrimp will be bright pink/orange when done, take them off before they curl). If you are using peeled shrimp, they will cook even faster. Add some parsley at the end : )