7 posts tagged “fish”
The magazine basket has been overflowing for a few months now. What do you do with past issues? Is there some sort of organizational trick that I've missed? Though it's tempting, I don't think buying an additional or bigger basket is the answer.
In an effort to reduce the stack, I've been sorting through the food magazines. I do a few each sitting, so that it doesn't seem that I'm getting rid of too many too soon. I flip through the pages, rip out the recipes I think we may try, file the recipes, and then throw the used magazine in the recycling bin. In today's sort, I found inspiration for dinner.
An article on cleaning artichokes caught my eye. I've not attempted this before and thought it was time, as artichokes were on sale this week. It was quite a chore, and I only prepared two artichokes. Did you know artichokes have thorns hidden inside? Unknowingly, I pricked my self. Ouch! Maybe it gets quicker/easier with practice. The end result was delicious, better than canned, but not so outstanding that I'll do it again.
The other inspiration came from Fine Cooking's April/May 2007 issue. (Yes, I've had this magazine for a year, and there's older ones too). Sear-Roasted Halibut with Roasted Red Pepper Puree was a winner. Husband gave it a thumb's up. This recipe will definitely make it to the file. Thinned out with a little more vinegar/oil the Roasted Red Pepper Puree could also double as an excellent salad dressing.
Sear-Roasted Halibut with Roasted Red Pepper Puree
adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine
2 1/2 oz roasted re pepper (about 1/2 large jarred roasted pepper) (I made my own under the broiler)
2 T sherry vinegar
1/2 t. honey
1/2 medium clove garlic, peeled
1/4 c. plus 2 T EVOO
salt and pepper
4 6-7 oz cneter cut, skin-on halibut fillets
1 T thinly slice fresh chives or marjoram
375 degrees. Combine red pepper, vinegar, and honey in a blender. Process for a few seconds and then drop the garlic in. With the blender still running, slowly pour in the 1/4 c. oil and process until the mixture is smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape down sides of blender as necessary. Season.
Set the fish skin side down on a plate and season. Heat remaining 2 T oil in a large oven proof skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Put the fish skin side up in the skillet, and cook until well browned, 3-5 minutes. Flip the fish, turn off the heat, and transfer to the oven. Roast until the fish is flaky, moist, and cooked through 5-7 minutes. Transfe fish to dinner plates and spoon about 1 T. puree onto or around each piece. Sprinkle with herbs and serve immediately.
Serves 4.
I've been gone for a week. Eating out on a limited budget gets old really quickly. I don't know how Subway's Jared could do it. A six-inch sub sandwich just twice in one week was my limit. You know it's pretty bad when your "splurge" is Applebee's Carside-to-Go. (I did have a couple of really good meals at Brother and Sister-in-law's, so it wasn't all bad. Thanks!)
However, homecoming was oh, so sweet. Husband had a delicious meal waiting upon my arrival. (see above).
Fish Menuniere with Browned Butter and Lemon
Roasted Tomatoes
Creamy Mashed Potatoes (the new potato ricer really works...get one)
And the piece de resistance....
Homemade Chocolate Mousse!
I guess the way to my heart is through my stomach. I'll take this over flowers any day.
Husband and I need to eat a little more fish. You've heard the health benefits. Right? I don't know why we don't make a more conscious effort. Sometimes the seafood counter at the store just doesn't smell right. Sometimes I don't feel like spending $12+ a pound on a protein. And sometimes, I'm just a bit intimidated about preparing it. New Year's Resolution? Please, don't hold me to it.
We were at a lovely Christmas party last month, when the host began telling us about his summer fishing trip to Canada. At the end of the night, we came home with four nice sized fillets of salmon. How lucky! This was my first attempt at preparing this salmon. If you are reading this, host and hostess, thanks! Delicious! Please ignore the overcooked broccoli, above. (Husband said it was the worst part of the meal. Duh!).
Here are the recipes used:
Salmon Fillet with Soy Glaze
Ginger Fried Rice With Mushrooms (I used button mushrooms. It was fine).
Husband spent a year in England going to school. Every now and then he gets a little hungry for "The Motherland." When he requested fish and chips, I went right along with it. Number one, it's fried food. Number two, I just saw an episode of the Barefoot Contessa where she was making fish and chips with her friend, T.R. Do those initials ring a bell? Finally, I've been invited to join her snobbery in the Hamptons!
We took this menu from her episode: Good Catch. Overall, we truly enjoyed this meal, but we both agree that we've had better chips and tarter sauce. Try another recipe. The chopped pickles were good, but we really didn't think the vinegar and fresh dill enhanced the pickles too much.
The cole slaw was not on Ina's menu. It was an attempt at recreating a coleslaw from Husband's childhood. He said he'd watched his Grandma make this many times, so he knew the ingredients...just not the amounts. She just dumped. We fiddled and tasted until we got a "98% match" in Husband's words. It's very simple, but very good!
Husband's Grandma's Coleslaw
Toss in a bowl:
1/2 head cabbage, shredded
1-2 green onions, choped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
Whisk and add to above ingredients:
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1/3 c. plus 1 T white vinegar
2 T sugar
salt and pepper to taste
Maybe it was the disappointment from Ina's baked chips, but we just couldn't get enough fried food this weekend. We had to try fried sweet potatoes the next night.
We were, however, smart enough not to give into our apple cider doughnut craving in the same weekend. This craving has not passed, so maybe another post...
Last night happened to be a night when I got home just at the time our stomachs started growling. Not wanting to give in to temptation by dining out (when I'm starved I crave Chinese and/or Mexican), I knew I could pull together a quick meal. This dinner could qualify as a tasty 30 minute meal...eat that Rachel Ray.
The most time consuming part was the zucchini rolls. Looking at my zucchini in the fridge, I remembered a past episode of Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger. I just threw mine together with goat cheese and chopped fresh basil, but if you'd like to follow the real recipe, here it is: Grilled Zucchini Rolls. Watch out for the amount of cheese you put in the rolls. A little goes a long way. Also, I had a leftover roll for lunch today. They're great cold too!
Besides the zucchini, I popped a couple of potatoes in the microwave. Baked potatoes in minutes! I threw some old bay seasoning, salt and pepper on the salmon and sauted it in a grill pan. Bon Appetite!
Basa is a fish we haven't tried before, but at $5 a pound, we didn't have much to lose.
I'm sure you could cook this anyway you would white fish, but I thought I would look around for specific basa recipes. There aren't many. I tried Crispy Baked Basa from Allrecipes. Made just one adjustment to the recipe: used a mixture of panko and breadcrumbs instead of crushed Melba toast rounds.
I haven't used www.allrecipes.com before, not sure why, but I just wasn't interested. While visiting the site today, I noticed an excellent feature: you can type in how many you want to serve and the recipe is automatically adjusted for you. No math! It's a good thing.
Speaking of good things... The Balsamic Mushrooms (above) came from Martha Stewart Living Magazine's June 2007 issue. Quite good.
1/4 c. olive oil
12 oz white mushrooms, halved
3 T balsamic vinegar
1 t. coarse salt
1/4 t. red-pepper flakes
Freshly ground pepper
Heat oil in skillet on medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in vinegar, salt, and red-pepper flakes, and season with pepper. Cook 1 minute more. Transfer to bowl, and serve.
We spent part of Memorial Day weekend at husband's parents' house. Husband's sister was in town. She's a fellow foodie, so the weekend get together had plenty of cooking, eating and just plain talking about food. Here are a few highlights.
Tilapia or halibut with cherry tomato and scallion sauce
Roasted potatoes
Green beans in dijon vinaigrette
I'm always in the mood for cupcakes, especially the chocolate variety. Found this recipe on Recipe Zaar. They were so good that we made them twice throughout the weekend: the first time with diet caffeine-free cola, the second with coffee. Either way was scrumptious and oh-so moist.
Husband's sister made the final dinner, asian chicken lettuce wraps. After all the previous "stuffing", this light meal was just what we needed. Delicious!
