Pardon My French

Happy 100th birthday, Julia Child!

In honor of the late culinarian, we had a Feast of Butter. Cod Meuniere (couldn't find any sole), mashed potatoes (which I actually peeled, bein' fancy), sauteed green beans with onions and white wine, and a grated carrot salad. And, of course, a lovely bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, because one can not toast Mrs. Child with ice water.

I generally make up for the lack of cream in my mashed potatoes by adding insane amounts of butter. And a little chicken stock. And did so tonight... but they were still the most-boring food on the plate. The carrot salad was surprising- once I finally added enough salt it was quite tasty. The bit of wine for a braise on the beans was phenomenal, especially as the onions absorbed so much of it. The fish was absolutely amazing. So very easy to make and so, so, so tasty. It went with the Kendall-Jackson Sauv Blanc beautifully. I am not sure how authentically-French any of it was, beyond the fish, but I do know that it was fantastic.

I worked from this recipe for the salad, substituting mandarin-infused olive oil for the peanut oil.

For the cod, I followed Julia's guidelines. Melt one tablespoon each of butter and olive oil in a large pan. Salt and pepper the fillets, dredge in flour (Better Batter flour worked for a gluten-free option) and saute 1 or 2 minutes on each side. Don't overcook. If it flakes, it's too done. Remove the fish to plates and sprinkle with freshly-chopped parsley. Wipe out the pan (she said... ha... I had fish sticking all over the place) and add two more tablespoons of butter, swishing it around and letting it brown lightly. Take off the heat, add the juice of half a lemon, and the pour over the cooked fish.

I'm doing this for all the fish I cook forever. SO fucking good. Pardon my French. I am so full.

I heart raw fish!

Tonight's dinner seems like an episode of Connections. We start with my weekly delivery of fresh, locally-grown produce (and meat, dairy, gluten-free bread products) from Greenling. Oh, how I love the adventure of cooking whatever Mother Nature has seen fit to provide! This week included yet another massive bunch of cilantro. I know cilantro can be a very hot topic. But I am in the "love it" camp for this particular herb, so I like getting these big bunches. What I don't like is the guilt I feel when most of a bunch goes wilty (or worse yet, gooey) due to me not getting around to using it. I hate it when that happens with any of the lovely produce the farmers worked so hard to grow. Cilantro is very moody and can be hard to keep fresh for more than a few days. So, I resolved to make salsa. I googled around, but wasn't inspired, so I reached for my trusty Mexican Everyday cookbook, by Rick Bayless (if you're going to cook Mexican, get a Rick Bayless book!) I love this cookbook... for it's simplicity, ease of use, friendly voice, and especially for the amazingly sound advice for life in general that he gives in the introduction. Truly awesome. So, I was going to use his Chunky Fresh Salsa recipe, but I failed to pay attention and make a good list before going to the grocery store. I had no green onions. Would a regular onion work? And would it be too spicy for me? The older I get, the more of a gringa I become. That's when I remembered my Gringo's Guide cookbook... with handy flame ratings for each recipe. So, I flipped through and none of the recipes were quite right. I liked the sound of one that included cucumber, which I just happened to have (I know, I know, not seasonal at all!) But the book said it was best with seafood... and I was planning Grillades and Grits for dinner. Although my foot has been hurting from a freak soccer-with-4-year-old accident, so I really wasn't in the mood for an involved dinner. Last night I made a double batch of very-involved ragu, which fed us and the freezer quite nicely, but... left me rather TIRED. And casting evil glances at my kitchen in general. I've had enough chopping, stirring, and endless cleaning-up for a few days. And I love cooking, so that's saying something.

Ok. What can I thaw quickly (not using the microwave) that would maybe somehow go well with the salsa that I felt forced into making?

Fish. Specifically, halibut pieces from Vital Choice. Tasty for fish tacos, but my kids don't like fish... and I have a LOT of citrus on hand right now, thanks to Greenling... how about ceviche? I can make rice (with chicken broth to boost the nutrition) and we can either put our fishy goodness (plus some extra salsa) over rice, or maybe scoop it up with nacho chips (it's not as crazy as it might sound... the very popular Elise recommends it here.) And we can munch on chips and my fresh, homemade salsa while the ceviche... ceviches.

So, yeah... tonight's lovely and delicious dinner was brought to me by the letter C, for cilantro, and the number... bunch. Oh, come on, bunch is a number! And we'll be having those grillades and grits for Mardi Gras... hope to post about it!

More raw fish!

Not sure why, but I seem to enjoy repeating themes.

The sushi the other night was faboo... so I immediately put ceviche on the menu. I buy our fish from Vital Choice whenever I can, so it is all good quality and worthy of eating raw. Ceviche gives it a cooked texture, but really it is still raw, and therefore still full of all it's goodies... enzymes, delicate vitamins, probably flavanoids and such. Good stuff.

Plus it's easy.

I realize it's not quite ceviche weather where most of y'all are... but today was sunny and fairly warm, so I wanted something summery.

This time I used a recipe from Rick Bayless' Mexican Everyday. I absolutely LOVE this book, by the way (please notice I did not call it a cookbook, because although it clearly is such, it's the other stuff in it that I love with a passion. Someday I hope to meet Rick in person and thank him for being so cool.) This recipe was Ceviche Salad with Avocado, Cilantro, and Green Chile. Please notice that I said "was." Because, I am who I am, and I am psychopathically incapable of following a recipe. :-)

First of all, I used an unapproved fish. Halibut. Vital Choice has a pretty good deal on random bits of halibut, which if you sift through and cut up the bigger bits, work really well for stir fries or ceviche. Next, I used more garlic than he calls for, and honestly didn't even notice it in the final product. I also didn't have a ripe avocado available... 2 hours in a paper bag with a banana just wasn't enough for the softest rock the grocery had available. I really missed the avocado. And finally, I had the Grill Geek do up some bacon-greased sliced onions and bell pepper, as well as add a bit of char to a stack of corn tortillas. We ate our ceviche like fish tacos.

Bekki's Nummalicious Easy Ceviche

1 cup fresh lime juice (oops, another change... I used lemon, orange, and lime)
4 garlic cloves, peeled
1 loose cup cilantro, roughly chopped
1 fresh jalapeno, stemmed and roughly chopped
2 generous pinches of salt
About 1 pound high-quality, sushi-grade fish: salmon, tuna, snapper (or halibut!)

Suggested:
1 ripe avocado, cubed
1 large head Boston, Bibb, or Romaine lettuce, chopped
1 sliced onion, grilled
1 sliced red bell pepper, grilled
1 or 2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
Grilled corn tortillas

Use a blender or food processor to whiz up the juice, garlic, cilantro, jalapeno, and salt until smooth. Pour over the fish (in bite-size pieces), in a non-metal bowl, and refrigerate for 1-4 hours.
Pour off the marinade, and save for ceviching something else!
Toss the lettuce with a bit of rice vinegar and olive oil, and salt to taste.

Stuff corn tortillas with all the goodies and make lots of happy noises while eating.

Sushi

Again.

I guess we like it. :-)

Tonight's sushi was for our seventh wedding anniversary. Seven years. Wow.

Our first anniversary was celebrated at a Joe's Crab Shack in Lexington, Kentucky. Our second, third, and fourth (I think) were at a restaurant called Thai Lotus, which also offered sushi. We honestly can't recall how we spent our fifth or sixth... there was a lot going on those years. But this year we ate fabulous food and spent the evening chatting out in our gazebo in the warm, humid air.

The food was all fabulous, too. Even the salad... which was our nod to the old Iron Chef, for it's apparent oddness. It really was quite tasty.

Sea Garden Squid Appetizer Salad A small serving of mixed seaweed and Squid prepared with sesame oil

Salmon Musubi Sushi rice mixed with Grilled Smoked Salmon, shaped like a triangle,lightly baked with a touch of Sesame Oil.

Nigiri-Zushi Yellowtail (Hamachi)

Sashimi Tuna (Maguro)

Sashimi Salmon (Shake)

Maki-Zushi House Specials:

Summer Roll Tuna, Salmon, Yellow Tail and Avocado. Rolled with Nori on the outside and topped with Ikura Salmon Caviar

Crunchy Salmon Skin Roll Crunchy salmon skin, pickled burdock, cucumber, and kaiware sprouts, rolled urimaki-style

Something Fishy

Mmmmm... this is what I had for Elevensies. Chopped tomato and avocado, topped with smoked salmon salad, with a sprinkling of cheapass caviar. (I would have put a bit more on, but that's all I had left. This afternoon I shall, of course, set forth on an adventure to procure more.)

Delish.

Now I wonder what I should make for lunch?

(Mostly kidding.)

(Ok, only partially kidding. I'm hungry.)

Tilapia, fruit of the sea?

I have had a craving stuck in my head for a few months now. It is very specific. I can see it, almost perfectly in my mind. It is a nice fat fish, head and all, stuffed full of, well... stuff... and wonderfully crispy from the grill.

I just can't remember where I saw it.

I have been rather unsuccessfully searching for the recipe and the right fish for quite a while. I keep not getting it right. But that's ok... because the "failures" all taste pretty darn good anyway. Today's fish was black tilapia, because that's what the store had in the category of "dinner is looking at you." And it was. But anyway... it wasn't quite what I'd expected, so I needed to google around for some ideas. I was inspired by this marinade and the basic gist here.

I cooked up half a bell pepper, half a giant red onion, half a mystery pepper (of the spicy kind), and a few mushrooms, all chopped up of course. And cooked in bacon fat, of course. I stuffed some of that into the fish. The rest was simmered in the leftover marinade.

The fish was a lot smaller than I'd expected, at under 1 pound, including all the bits we weren't going to eat. So I told the Grill Geek to toss a couple of boudin on the grill, as well.

The promise of good things to come...

He grilled the fish about 5 minutes per side. It worked. Not undercooked, not overcooked.

The anticipation:

Despite the oil in the marinade, the skin stuck to the grill basket. Oh, well, I wasn't planning to eat it anyway.

The veggies that didn't fit inside the fish went on top of rice. Just a squeeze of Meyer lemon to dress the fish- it was so tender, rather silky even. I had no idea the humble tilapia could be so good.


By the way, the Grill Geek insists that tilapia is not the "fruit of the sea," as Bubba from Forest Gump would say. Because a fruit can be eaten raw, and you wouldn't want to do that with tilapia. He says instead it is the "vegetable of the sea."
I just really wanted a cleverish title for this entry. So, I'm sticking to it. But I've included his comments because... well... he's right.

Fish-n-Fennel

I've never cooked with fennel before... but it showed up in my local box, soooo... here we go. It's like Iron Chef, which is one of the reasons I haven't formally played Iron Chef Mom recently. Don't get me wrong... I really enjoy the challenge (generally only a 2 on a scale of 1-10) of framing meals around what's in season. But sometimes items in my box grate against what I think I like/don't like. Notice the word "think" in there? Yeah... I grew up in the Midwest, a fairly finicky kid, lived off mac & cheese in my college years, and rarely ate a veggie beyond iceberg salad and green beans.

And look at me now! I was leery after smelling the fennel... so foreign, so unfamiliar. How on earth would this work with fish? Fabulously, that's how.

Braised Halibut Provençal

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 T extra virgin olive oil + 1 T butter
  

• 3 cloves garlic, pressed

• ¼ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

• 4 leeks, washed well and sliced

• 1 fennel bulb, chopped

• 1 cup or so pureed tomatoes*

• ¼ cup vermouth or dry white wine

• 1/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
  

• 1 tablespoon or so fresh herbs (I used basil and thyme)

• 1 lb halibut, cut into smallish pieces

• salt and black pepper, to taste

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Heat the olive oil in a deep oven-proof skillet over medium heat, and sauté the garlic and red pepper flakes for 1 minute. Add the leeks and fennel; cook for 5 minutes.

Add the wine and then the pureed tomatoes, letting the wine sizzle off a bit first. Simmer for an additional 5 minutes until fennel is tender and liquid is slightly reduced. Remove from heat and stir in the olives and herbs.

Season the halibut with salt and pepper, and then arrange over hot tomato mixture in skillet. Bake in preheated oven for 17-20 minutes, until fish is cooked through. Serve over rice or couscous.

I had the Grill Geek do up some zucchini as well, simply because it needed to get eaten. Turns out to have been a wonderful, delicious match. The char on the zukes just really enhanced and danced along with the party of flavors in the fish dish.

* I confess to not measuring at all. I had a jar of leftover tomatoes and I simply used "the rest" of the vermouth (my favorite white wine to cook with). If you measure and it looks like you need more liquid, add more.

More Ceviche

With a side of blue corn chips... yum!

Salmon Ceviche

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 teaspoon agave (a generous squirt)

• 1 1/2 tablespoons sea salt

• 1/2 teaspoon chili paste or sauce

• 3/4 cup fresh juices- lime, lemon, orange, grapefruit
  

• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon cumin

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

• 2 cloves garlic, pressed

• 1/4 cup minced red onion (I omitted)

• 1 ripe tomato, finely diced (I used salsa... on the side)

• 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro (or 1 T dried)

• 1 pound very fresh salmon fillets (sushi-grade), thinly sliced

• 1 avocado, sliced

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large non-metal bowl, dissolve the agave, salt, and chili paste in the lime juice. Season with pepper and cumin. Stir in the olive oil, garlic, onion, tomato, and cilantro. Gently mix in the salmon, then cover, and refrigerate for 4 hours.

2. To serve, drain the excess liquid from the salmon, then gently stir in the avocado slices, and allow to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes.

Sort-of Ceviche

Today I decided to make ceviche for dinner. Unfortunately, it was an impulse decision, so I didn't have a chance to go shopping for all the proper ingredients. And then I lost my nerve and half-cooked it anyway. Next time I will know to make sure the fish pieces are all the same thickness. I had some bigger chunks that didn't really get... ceviched... all the way through. Since I lacked the chiles and olives and... well, pretty much all the ingredients for a traditional ceviche, I used red pepper flakes for heat and... called it good. I cooked my onions, thinly-sliced, because I can't handle raw onion, even if it's had a long citrus bath.

Ingredients

1 pound halibut, carefully cut into equal inch-ish pieces

1/4 cup grapefruit juice

1/4 cup lime juice (1 really juicy lime)

generous splash of vermouth

1 inch-long knob of ginger, peeled and grated

3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 pinch red pepper flakes

1 small onion, thinly-sliced, almost-caramelized in bacon fat

2 tablespoons or so fresh parsley, minced

1/8 teaspoon dried oregano

Combine the juices, vermouth, ginger, garlic, and pepper flakes in a non-metal bowl. (Yes, it is important that it not be metal.) Toss in the fish, stir, and stick in the fridge for 3 hours. Check on it every now and then, to stir again. Bits of fish that stick snugly to other bits of fish won't get enough citrus magic to "cook" them.
Since I had many raw-looking bits still, I cooked mine real quick in some olive oil and butter, and served it with the onions over rice. Oh... and drain the fish before serving... plenty of flavor sticks to the fish without the need for all that tart juice.
It was scrumptious.

Grilled Salmon

Today is Ostara, the official start of Spring, a day that should be filled with treats left by Eostre's bunny, and the milk should be overflowething. Except... my Fairy Child positively insists on celebrating on Easter (despite being quite happily pagan) and we can't have milk. Luckily there are other seasonal and traditional goodies we can have.

I started the day with chocolate pancakes. I won't share the recipe. They were terrible. Any time you can make a chocolate pancake... chocolate... and neither kid will eat more than one, you know it's time to throw out your aprons and flours and condemn yourself to storebought waffles.

Lunch was just munchies... ham, nuts, and oodles of berries. None of them local or organic... so sue me. I was trying for a teachable moment with the Fairy Child, where I could tell her about the Way Things Were before electricity and refrigeration and getting everything we want from Chile during our winter. Instead she grabbed her berries and ate lunch in front of her computer.

So, dinner was grilled salmon, rice (and I'm still bitter about it not being coconut rice... it just tastes so flat when it's plain), and a big salad of fresh local greens.

On the grill... sort of the "before" shot.

And after... ready to eat... luckily, there are leftovers!

Irish Heritage Day

I refuse to give the murderer of so many innocents his own special day, so instead I will honor the spirit of the day. I have no problem whatsoever in celebrating Irish culture!

We did not dye our beer green, but we did eat green food for lunch.


Green salad with shamrock-looking kohlrabi sprouts, celery, greenish dip for said celery (put parsley in it) and green olives. We aren't rabbits, though, so we needed something more, and it wasn't really green. It was, however, Irish-ish.

Salmon patties. With dill and fresh parsley... for green.

Then dinner was more classic...


Roast leg of lamb (not the entire leg... we're a small family), potatoes, onions, and garlic roasted in the lamb drippings, braised cabbage and leeks with butter and lemon, and gluten-free soda bread. The lamb looks pretty much raw in this shot, and it wasn't. I took it's temperature and everything, it was supposedly medium-rare. It was definitely delicious. I think the soda bread stole the show, though, it was beyond fabulous. The sorghum flour I ordered wasn't here yet, so I used amaranth instead. And, thanks to experience and knowledge about what I don't like, I used a very scant one TEAspoon of caraway, instead of a tablespoon. Oh, and she cooks at high altitude. My bread was done more than 5 minutes early.

Iron Chef Grill 3!

This was an impromptu Iron Chef... we happened to be at a store that happened to have the exact ingredient I had been looking for since the first Iron Chef Grill "episode." So... guess what, honey? It's time for you to shine!

Kyo no tema... tai!

Whole red snapper. Way back when I was looking up inspiration for my own Iron Chef Shark night, I happened across many recipes involving whole fish, stuffed with something, and grilled. I salivated. I hungered. I longed. So, naturally, I decided then and there that the Grill Geek's first ingredient ought to be a whole fish. And promptly couldn't find any.

We also managed to hammer out another rule of Iron Chef Grill with this installment. Unlike Iron Chef Mom, where nothing but the already-present contents of fridge, freezer, and pantry may be used (no trips to the store for ingredients), grilling is all about last minute jaunts for _____ and beer. So, the Grill Geek ran out for crab, shrimp, and beer. I think it's a fitting rule.
We still have a lot of rule-making to do for the Grill version.

• 3 tablespoons butter

• 3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs

• 1/4 cup chopped green onions

• 1/4 cup celery, diced

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 4 ounces cooked shrimp

• 4 ounces cooked crabmeat

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

To Make Stuffing: Melt 2 tablespoons butter or margarine in a skillet. Add the bread crumbs. Saute and stir the mixture over medium-high heat till the bread crumbs are browned. Remove the bread crumbs to a mixing bowl.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter or margarine in the skillet and sauté the onions, celery and garlic until tender; add to bread crumbs in mixing bowl, then stir in shrimp, crab, parsley, salt and pepper and toss gently.

Cram this stuff inside le' poisson. Grill 20-25 minutes, or until flaky.

I wish I'd remembered to take a "before shot."

It was delicious!

Iron Chef Grill 2!

Good things happen when he grills... that's why I (as Family Budget Officer) authorized the purchase of a new grill out of our tax return. He got this shiny pretty one at Big Lots, of all places. Hey... it works! We had been ogling various really fancy grills at Lowe's. This one cost about $800 less than those. And the whole point is... they make fire. This cheap one makes fire just fine.

Anyway, enough about grills and more about gills. I chose marlin steaks as his secret ingredient. The man behind the counter said they were well-suited for grilling, and I'd never had them before. That makes for a perfect Iron Chef Grill ingredient!


The menu, as he wrote it:

Wine: Frei Brothers Chardonnay, 2005
Entrée: Grilled Naigiri steak with lime butter
Side 1: Lemon Salsa
Side 2: Sautéed Mushrooms and Onion
Side 3: Jasmine Rice
Dessert: Grilled Grapefruit

Sautéed Mushrooms and Onions

2 tbsp. butter
½ lg. onion, sliced
4 oz. fresh mushrooms, clean and thickly sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 c. red wine

Mix first four ingredients, cook over medium-low heat. Stir once. After 5 minutes, pour wine in and stir. Cook for another 5-7 minutes, or until onions are turning translucent, stirring once or twice more.

Grilled Naigiri with Lime Rum Butter

2 Nairagi (marling) steaks (about ½ lb. each), skin removed
2 slices bacon
1/3 cup butter
1 medium-size clove garlic, minced or pressed
Juice of 1 lime
1 shot Sailor Jerry's Spiced Navy Rum

Skin fish, wrap bacon along edge, securing with toothpick. Melt butter, mix in lime juice, rum and garlic.

Grill fish for 5 min per side, basting with lime butter.

Lemon Salsa

1 lemon, diced
½ tsp. capers, rinsed
3 green onions, chopped
4 shakes dried parsley
1 tsp sea salt
cracked black pepper to taste
¼ cup red wine

Mix all, squeeze lemon peel over mixture, stir.

Grilled Grapefruit

1 grapefruits
2 tbsp. agave nectar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Mix nectar and cinnamon, cut grapefruit into ¾ inch rounds, 2 minutes and flip until lightly caramelized.

Grill Maestro in action. I love how the smoke shows up in this shot. I can almost smell it!


There it is, in all it's delicious glory. Bacon-wrapped (total pandering to the judge!) marlin, topped with delicious lemon salsa, coconut rice smothered in wine-soaked mushrooms and onions, and the fabulous, out-of-this-world incredible grilled grapefruit. Everything was so good... once again, I was making noises while eating. I can't help it.

Kung Hei Fat Choi

The Year of The Rat. Hmmm... in lieu of eating an actual rat, I decided on this meal. I based it off a few different recipes I found online... and included 8 wedges of orange, because oranges are lucky (or at least traditional) and 8 is lucky... the lettuce represents money, and therefore wealth in the new year. We shared a platter instead of having a whole fish or whole chicken... which represent family unity and togetherness.

Sautéed Shrimp and Oysters

½ pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 pint shucked oysters
Coconut oil
2 tablespoons ginger, julienne
1 carrot, julienne
2 tablespoons white wine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch green onions, in 2” pieces
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons tamari
1 teaspoon fish sauce

Bring 4 cups water in large saucepan to boil. Plunge oysters and shrimp into boiling water. Cook 10 to 15 seconds, until edges begin to curl. Remove with slotted spoon and drain.

Blend cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water until smooth. Stir in tamari and fish sauce. Set aside.

In a hot wok coated with oil, add the ginger and fry until golden brown. Add the carrot and stir-fry until soft. Add the shrimp and wine. Then oysters, green onions, and garlic. Stir-fry for 30 seconds then add the reserved sauce. Remove from heat once sauce thickens.

Serve in bowls of butter lettuce.

We also had curried noodles, with the noodles very purposefully unbroken and uncut. Cutting them cuts one's fortune. Wouldn't want to do that.

Shark Attack

I. Am. So. Full.

And so is my dishwasher.

But it's broken. I think I should back up a bit.

On Iron Chef Mom days, the Grill Geek goes to the store around lunchtime to get the Theme Ingredient. I told him to "be nice to me" because I wasn't feeling well and our Little Guy was already sick. What's he come home with?

Shark.
Um... ok.... Thanks for being easy on me, honey.

Turned out to be absolutely fabulous... I dug around online, searching for inspiration, and got the idea of fish tacos... and a menu was born. This glorious meal/feast was almost unraveled many times... true chaos in the kitchen. The Little Guy really wanted to help, as usual, and per the Rules of Iron Chef Mom, I had to let him. So, I almost lost all my lime juice to the floor (and didn't have more limes), dirtied twice as many dishes as necessary, got my foot stompled right after I almost amputated a fingertip (luckily my own), kept the Little Guy busy with the spice jars (all glass... yikes!) and somehow he didn't dump out the cilantro until after everything was done.

Little Guy lined up the spices...

So, this wonderful meal was truly brought about with blood, sweat, and tears. And it was worth it. Without further ado...

KYO NO TEMA... Same! (Sah-mee)

Shark Tacos with Chili-Lime Slaw

First, the order in which to do things:

- If you have a rice cooker, get that started. I like to use coconut milk for half the liquid, but I have no idea if that works well on the stovetop. I love my rice cooker.
- Juice 2 limes
- Melt 3 T coconut oil (unless it's warm in your house and it's already melted)
- Make the marinade... stick the shark in said marinade... in the fridge.
- Make Chili-Lime Slaw sauce
- Make salsa
- Start the black beans/corn Thing
- Heat the grill (I delegated this to my sous-chef, the Grill Geek)
- Peel and slice mango. Carefully. I can't stress this enough. Never, ever cut toward any part of your body with a Very Sharp Knife. It's a bad idea. Don't do it. I certainly wouldn't...
- Grill the shark, basting with coconut oil, grill time depends on the thickness of the fish.
- Toss shredded cabbage with Chili-Lime Slaw sauce, thereby making Slaw
- Toast/warm corn tortillas in a skillet with a bit of bacon fat

This all went really quickly, even with all the interruptions we had. I didn't use all my 70 minutes. I also didn't remember to start the timer. But I know I didn't use all my time. Now, for the recipes...

Marinade:

2 T lime juice
2 T melted coconut oil
smoked paprika
cayenne

salt

Put shark in a ziplock, add marinade ingredients, close, and shake-shake-shake. Refrigerate.

Chili-Lime Slaw

1/2 cup Hellman's mayo
1 tsp hot pepper paste
2 T lime juice
½ tsp cumin
generous squirt of agave nectar
salt

Stir. Refrigerate.

Salsa:

about 1 cup diced tomatoes, drained
½ cup red onion, minced
1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 T EVOO
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 T white vinegar
1 T dried cilantro
½ tsp Mexican oregano
salt and pepper, to taste

Mix... stir... let sit, mingling the flavors, stir when you pass by...

Black Bean/Corn Thing:

2 T bacon fat (mmm... bacon...)
1/4 diced red onion
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 can black beans about
1 cup frozen corn kernels
smoked paprika, cayenne, and salt, to taste
1 T lime juice

Cook the onion and garlic in bacon fat, until starting to soften. Add the black beans, corn, and some liquid if it needs it. Heat through. Add spices. Leave to simmer over lowest heat. When it's time to serve, remove from heat and stir in lime juice.
There's the grilled shark, in it's cage. Turned the tables on that one, didn't we? Anyway... once the shark is done, break it up with a fork.

Assembling the tacos... I put a spoonful of slaw on each tortilla, topped with luscious grilled shark, and put the salsa in a little bowl, to let each diner decide for themselves. I tossed the mango slices with agave nectar and lime juice, because it wasn't quite ripe yet... needed some pizazz. The Black Bean/Corn Thing went atop rice, with some more cilantro (wish I had fresh), and the last little bit of lime juice went in my margarita. Delish.

And after all that, the fully-loaded dishwasher began to smoke. Oh, well. I don't really care.

Baked Fish

I love recipes that use leftovers.
Tonight's recipe used leftover rice, which we almost always have. It's nearly impossible to guess the appetites of children. Both kids love rice, and will often go back for seconds. There had better BE seconds. But then sometimes they don't. So then there are leftovers.

I based it, loosely, on an Alton Brown recipe. I have made that one before, following it closely, and it's fabulous. If you can has cheez, do it as Holy Alton says. If not, do it as I says.

Bekki's Baked Fish Dish

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 medium onion, chopped small
salt... not white
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (10-ounce package) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 lemon, zested (I used 1/2 tsp of shredded lemongrass... had no lemon)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
1/4 cup white wine (I always use dry vermouth)
1/4 cup chicken broth
4 tilapia (or other white fish) fillets
3 cups leftover cooked rice
Toasted sesame oil and paprika

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium saute pan over low heat, melt the butter; add the onion and a pinch of salt and sweat until translucent. Add the garlic and continue to cook for another minute. Add the spinach and lemon zest/grass and cook until just heated through. Season with the salt and pepper, wine and broth, and stir to combine. Simmer a little, to reduce the liquid. Remove from the heat and keep warm.

If the fillets are large, cut in half. Season each fillet on both sides with salt and pepper. Divide the spinach mixture evenly among the fillets and roll the fish around the mixture. Place the rice into a 2 1/2-quart casserole dish and spread evenly. Place each roll on top of the rice, seam side down and place in the oven for 25 minutes. Drizzle with toasted sesame oil and sprinkle with a dash or two of paprika before serving.

I didn't roll our fish... just layered it. I was using small Corellware dishes, so The Grill Geek could has his with cheez.

Salmon

I made up another recipe. I think it's vaguely French. I like to imagine that Julia Child whispers in my ear. Maybe I should take something for that? Nah...

Anyway, I decided it was French because it had mayonnaise and vermouth. It was definitely delicious. Rather hard to go wrong with wild Alaskan salmon.

So... you slice an onion thin, chop a couple of large cloves of garlic, and sauté in bacon fat (of course!) until pretty darn soft. Just don't burn the garlic.

Plop your salmon fillets in a pan, skin down. Pour a bit of vermouth around them. 1/4 cup, or so. In a small bowl, stir up two heaping spoonfuls of mayonnaise, a squirt of fresh lemon juice, grated rind from half a lemon, salt, and white pepper. Spread that on top of the salmon, then top with sautéed onions and garlic. Bake, covered, at 375 for 15-20 minutes, removing cover for the last 5. If I had a decent broiler, I'd broil for a minute or two, to brown up the onions.

Use Your Noodle Tuna Skillet

Today's lunch was named by my daughter. She asked what I was eating (she had plain noodles with olive oil and Parmesan) and I said I didn't know. I made up the recipe, so I wasn't sure what to call it. She asked if it had fish in it. "Yeah, it has tuna." She declared it was Use Your Noodle Tuna Casserole. Well... it's not a casserole, it's all done in a skillet, so...

I did use my noodle on this one. I looked up recipes, didn't have all the ingredients for any of them, but got some ideas. I absolutely devoured it, as did the hubby, so it seems to have worked out

First off, start a big pot of salted water boiling, for the spaghetti (or the spaghetti-style rice pasta.) Then you can get busy with the rest. The "rest" doesn't take very long, so don't bother getting started on it until the pasta is in the water. Unless, of course, you're using that delightful spaghetti rigati from Barilla. That only needs 5 minutes, which isn't enough.

So, here's the rest:

1-2 T extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp bacon fat (I'd normally use more, but I'm running low)

1 tsp minced garlic (or more... once again, I'm running low)

about 1/2 cup? frozen pearl onions- I counted and I had 18 of them. I didn't measure.

1 T anchovy paste (or a couple anchovies, I didn't want to open a can)

2 shakes red pepper flakes

1/8 cup (or so) dry vermouth

1/4 cup (or so) chicken stock

salt and pepper

1/2 tsp dried basil

6 oz can of tuna

Sauté the onions and garlic over medium heat. After a couple of minutes, add the anchovy paste and stir it around until it starts to dissolve a bit. Add the red pepper flakes. When the garlic looks done (and definitely before it burns), add the vermouth. Let that reduce down a bit, then add the chicken stock, salt, and freshly-ground white pepper. Simmer away over medium-low heat. When the pasta has just a couple of minutes left, add the basil and tuna, making sure to break up any really big pieces of tuna. When the pasta is done and drained, and it to the skillet and stir around, so that all the noodles can suck up the sauce. Heat for a minute or two, then serve.

When I was gobbling mine down, I had two thoughts beyond "yummmmmm."

1) "This really needs some cream." *sniffle*

2) "Another way to do this would be to use green onions instead of pearl, add a bit of almond butter (or peanut, if you like it and it likes you), and some sesame oil at the end." That would taste Asian-ish.

Definitely very yummy.

Before I go... last night's dinner. It was supposed to be Nachos Grande or something like that,

using leftover chili. I didn't get to the store for avocados, and without cheese or beans, my nachos weren't going to be very "grande." So, instead I did a chili salad. Seriously. Like taco salad, but... um... wetter.

I think my daughter would have named this Monster Salad, because it looks like it has a face.

Lemony Snicket

I have no idea what to call this. I made up the recipe by combining two... Salmon with Lemongrass and Coconut Sauce and Thai Fish Curry, which was already my adaptation of someone else's recipe. The salmon recipe comes from one of my favorite books ever- Full Moon Feast by Jessica Prentice. It's fabulous- both the recipe and the book. I can't have soy sauce, but I love Asian food, so... I'm beginning to get a bit weird.
So, um... it was tasty. Not sure these flavors really belong together. I probably have the wrath of several small, impoverished Asian states aimed at me for slaughtering their cuisine... or perhaps for combining their cuisine with that of their mortal enemy.

So... my weirdness...

Thai Lemony Fish Curry (yeah... that's it)

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 can coconut milk
1 lemon
1 stalk lemongrass
1 teaspoon arrowroot powder
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 servings of firm fish (mine was already in chunks)
2 tablespoons coconut oil, or combination of coconut and palm oil
about 1 tsp mild curry powder (to taste)
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
green beans or peas... optional
salt to taste

PREPARATION:
1. Pour the coconut milk into a wide-bottomed, shallow saucepan (with lid).
2. Cut the remaining zest off in big pieces with a vegetable peeler or paring knife.
3. Cut the lemongrass in 4- to 5-inch lengths (soak first, if using dried), then split these in half.
4. Add the big pieces of lemon zest and the lemongrass to the coconut milk and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Simmer, covered, over low heat for 7 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, juice the lemon and dissolve the arrowroot completely in the lemon juice. In a separate pan (sorry... too many dirty dishes) heat oil. Add sliced onion and saute just a few minutes- leave it a little crisp. Add curry powder and cook an additional minute. Remove from heat.
6. Add the fish sauce to the coconut milk and simmer another 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the lemon peel and lemongrass from the coconut milk.
7. Rinse and pat dry the fish fillets (or bits), then place them gently in the simmering sauce. Plop onion mixture on top of fish, and add green beans, if using. Replace cover and cook until done, 5-10 minutes. If using peas instead, add them the last two minutes.
8. Transfer the fish to plates. (Part of the original instructions, proved impossible with fish bits and veggies... so, I ignored it.)
9. Whisk (stir, if pan still full of fish) the lemon juice-arrowroot mixture into the coconut milk. It should thicken immediately. Turn off the heat. Taste the sauce and add salt, if needed. Sprinkle strands of zest on top and serve immediately. I put mine over rice.

It was powerfully lemony, light on the curry... still needs some adjustments, I think.

Me CaveWench

The banana bread tasted great. If I get a chance, I'll share the recipe, but it wasn't anything special. I used the recipe that came on the back of the bag of gluten-free flour. Said flour was a mix of rice and various bean flours. Sounds weird, but tastes good. Trouble is... (and there's always trouble, isn't there?) apparently I'm not just intolerant of soybeans, but all legumes. I always had issues with peanuts (nasty little poison pellets, anyway, no loss), and suspected soy for a long time... but ALL legumes? Is this really necessary??

*sigh*

This realization dinged a bell deep inside my head. I remembered something I read many years ago, and went searching the 'net to prove/disprove the accuracy of my memory. I had once entertained the idea of the Eat Right 4 Your Type diet. It seemed to fit easily, which made it more believable. I'm a Type O, which means I get to eat meat. But it also means I shouldn't have dairy, grains, legumes, or sweets. Harrumph! said the me of many years ago. Must be a load of hooey. I gave the book away...
And I still think it's probably a load of hooey.
But the guy behind that book was one of the first (in the last 50 years) to publicly decry lectins. I don't think he's got it right... but he maybe got some other people to look into it. Lectins are baaaad, see, and possibly cause all the diseases we can't figure out a cause for. They are a plant's (or animal's) natural defense against being eaten. We've evolved ways to get past animal lectins, just like birds have evolved ways to get past seed lectins. But we humans have NOT (probably... this is where I wonder about the blood type theory) evolved ways to get past the lectins in 4 groups of foods: grains, nightshades, legumes, and dairy.
This is where the Paleo Diet (I should have a link to that, where'd it go?) comes in... and why I figure I must be a cave wench. I have trouble with grains, legumes, and dairy... and we'll see about the nightshades (don't take my tomatoes!)
I did a lot of reading up on the Paleo Diet, since that's pretty much how I'm eating these days anyway. Might as well find recipes and propaganda to tell me why I'm better off. And some of it makes a lot of sense.

I didn't post yesterday, because I spent the day reading... and wavering between clarity and brain fog, as I learned that bean flour banana bread makes me really dumb.

Dinner was good, though- salmon with a strange little "sauce" that I made up, rice, and steamed green beans and carrots with sesame oil.

The "sauce" was just some leftover petite diced tomatoes (about 1/4 a can), some chopped green onion, some chopped kalamata olives, a bit of olive oil, and a generous splash of vermouth. I risked sulfites with that last one. It paid off. Once the salmon was baked, there was a good bit of saucy stuff in the pan that I poured over my rice. Yum!

Breakfast this morning was scrambled eggs and fried boozey apples. Lunch was leftover smoked pork butt, dipped in mustard (couldn't make a sandwich, now could I?), and carrot sticks with hummus. Then I got really hungry mid-afternoon and decided to have another slice of dumb bread... got dumb... finally remembered my new Antidote (black tea), and here I am... finally able to post. I guess cave women didn't eat banana bread. What a shock.

More later, after I make what I hope is a lovely dinner.