Category Archive
The following is a list of all entries from the Fish category.
Just a taste
Today I discovered a new food blog (surprise, surprise!) and as soon as the clock strikes 6, I’m jumping into my car, rushing home and making her Lobster Rolls with Garlic Butter Buns…only with crab since that’s what I happen to have in my fridge.
Hopefully someday soon I’ll actually get to test some of these recipes out for you. Until then, I wish you happy eating!
Rushmore
Last night we had an oyster roast
Actually, it turned into a clam bake because apparently the oysters at the market weren’t tagged and therefore could not be sold. That was okay with me. I much prefer clams anyway and these little babies were nice and salty. I didn’t even add butter to mine that’s how good they were
Yum! Truth be told, I had never attended an oyster roast or clam bake before. Truth be told, the only shell fish I’ve ever actually chowed down on before is crab and shrimp. The last time I had oysters was a nasty experience. They were raw and cold and slimy and I think I got three down before pushing the platter as far away from me as possible. But I was excited nonetheless. I mean, who wouldn’t be excited for something called an Oyster Roast? Come on! Plus, some family members of the boyfriend were coming into town from Pennsylvania, which obviously gave us cause for celebration. And did we celebrate. I don’t think I’ve felt so stuffed since Christmas. It was a feast of oysters, clams, marinated shrimp, Napa salad, asparagus, cheesy potatoes. I don’t know if I even want to get into dessert- ahem cheesecake, chocolate covered strawberries, and peanut butter cups!
Boy, was it a great dinner!
The oysters came in a bad with ice
Then were popped onto the grill. So simple
Then came the clams. There was a pretty serious wager on how many clams came in that bag
These are some of the boys counting them up
There were 98. I lost
But I still got to eat them so didn’t bother worrying about it!
I did use butter for the oysters, which were from the James River
Hmm, oysters or clams, oyster or clams…I think the clams just look more appetizing in general
Ahh, an after dinner cocktail: Sweet tea vodka, raspberry lemonade powder, water, and a lemon twist. So much better than it sounds!
My crush on Ben Ebbrel
Fish and chips
Fish and chips
Everyone loves some fish and chips——
That’s a little tune I just made up. You see, we’ve been watching a bit of Jenna Marbles around here and if you’re familiar at all with Jenna Marbles, then you know that sometimes she sings. Then it gets stuck in your head. Then you sing. It’s an ongoing circle of singing. Actually, I do a lot of singing. Singing, whether you’re good at it or not (and I’m not), is a very good way of passing time. I sing when I’m at work prepping all those meats and veggies. I sing when I’m trying to stuff clothes into my washer. I sing when I’m walking from one block to another. I find singing to be very motivational, even when it’s a simple little tune about stepping in wet grass on your way to the car because it just rained an hour ago. Most of my songs are what I call chore songs. They just help me out with whatever it is I’m trying to accomplish. I’m not even sure if I would call it singing as more of a talking aloud to yourself, drawling out all your vowels. Would that be called drawling? As someone who studied language, you’d think I should know the answer to that. Whatevs.
Of course, I like to sing when I cook as well. Which is how the fish song came into being. I think it’s pretty clear that I’ll be serving fish for lunch. Fried fish, pub style. I don’t have any potatoes so the chips part isn’t necessarily relevant, but I’ll keep it in the song anyway.
Fish and chips
Fish and chips
Everyone loves some fish and chips
Battered in beer
Battered in ale
Then fried fried fried
To give us crisp fish and cheer
What can I say? I should have become a composer- just kidding! I think my talents are better suited in the kitchen. Anyway, back to the fish. This whole thing was inspired by some tilapia. The only way I myself have ever cooked fish is to make fish tacos. It was time to expand my horizons. I thought about maybe broiling my tilapia seeing that the broiler and I are falling in love. I was all set to do so, too. I had my spices picked out (a Southwest blend provided by Mrs. Dash) and I was ready to turn up the heat in my kitchen when I decided to see what my boys at Sorted were up to. That’s how I stumbled across a video for fish and chips. Hmm fish and chips. What a brilliant idea. Why not give that a go? I wasn’t sure how tilapia would fare all battered up (most of the recipes I found used halibut or haddock), but I was willing to experiment for the sake of lunch.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup dark ale or beer (creates a more complex flavor)
- Splash of red wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- 4 tilapia fillets, cut into fingers (total of 8)
- Canola oil for frying
Because I don’t have a deep fryer, something I would desperately love to invest in, I had to use my cast iron skillet to fry up my fish. Coat the pan with the canola oil enough to cover at least half way up the fish. Turn heat to medium and let oil warm up while you make the batter. When I was ready to fry the fish, I turned the heat down to medium-low. A good way to test the oil is to slip some batter into it and see if it sizzles
For the batter, mix flour, salt, and pepper into a medium to large bowl
Add the beer and vinegar
Whisk whisk whisk until the batter is nice and smooth. We don’t want any lumps! The consistency will be rather gooey, similar to pancake batter
After halving your fish fillets and whipping up the beer batter, the oil should be the right temperature. Dip your fish into the batter. Don’t you just love playing with your food?
Carefully lay the dipped fish down into the oil. The last thing we want to do is splatter ourselves with molten lava- I mean hot oil!
After 5 minutes or so (golden brown), flip your fish using a fork. Or whatever instrument you can manage
I know it doesn’t look all that golden. You don’t have to tell me. Fry for another 5 minutes or so and then transfer to some paper towels for draining. Keep frying the rest of your strips in batches. Aluminum foil is a good way to keep the cooked fish warm
Since I had no chips on hand, I served my fish up with some quesadillas…
…which unsurprisingly led to this:
Crispy fish quesadillas! But the fish was good in or out of the cheese filled tortilla. I was pleasantly impressed by my first attempt at beer battered fish. The boys weren’t complaining either. The only downfall is the whole house smells like oil now and I’ve gotten a couple complaints about burning eyes. Poor fellas.
Fish and chips
Fish and chips
Everyone loves some fish and chips
Mixed with flour
Battered in beer
With cheese and tortillas
All made into quesadillas
Leap Year
There are moments in life when a girl just needs to watch a chick flick. It’s the truth, I tell you! Such movies may be cheesy and sappy and might fill our heads with unrealistic romantic notions and all that nonsense. But on a rough day when the world seems against you and nothing is going the way you had planned or hoped and you’re just filled with lots of confusion, a little chick flick can brighten the day a bit. There’s nothing like a chick flick to lighten your heart. My flick of choice today is Leap Year. Not one of my top ten movies for sure, but who can resist a rugged Matthew Goode playing an Irishman? Between the accent and the beard and those wonderful hazel eyes (though I think they’re really blue), my worries melted away in Ireland. Plus, I have a soft spot for lanky men. Oh, and his character is a chef. I think all my everything on my list has been met. Yup!
Ah, nothing like a man that knows his way around the kitchen. I’ll try not to swoon over his chicken stew. Anyway…enough about all that. Another thing that can brighten up one’s day is some mint. Especially when that mint is pureed with some lime and some mayo in a food processor and drizzled over succulent fish tacos. Mmm
I remember the first time I discovered fish tacos. It was the summer after freshman year of college and my best friend and I decided to go visit his mom in good ol’ cali. Santa Barbara to be exact. I can’t remember what we did that day, but his mom and her roommate decided that we were going to cook up some fish tacos. What…? I didn’t think I had heard correctly. Did they say they were going to put FISH in my taco? Now, at this point in my life I was not the adventurous eater that I am today. Fish certainly was not a menu option for me. Ever. Gross. They were trying to kill me. It just had to be a conspiracy. But I did not want to be rude and reject the graciousness of my hostess. So I figured I would take a bite, push the thing around my plate a bit and claim to be too full to eat anymore. To my great disappointment, I ended up eating two tacos. Turns out I liked fish after all. The fish tacos were absolutely fabulous! I was converted as soon as that first bite hit my tongue.
Fast forward a couple years and I discover Aarti Paarti and her FISH TACOS. I’m telling you, in this recipe it’s not even the fish I care about. The mint mayo absolutely makes this dish in my opinion. Something about the mint mixed with the lime just pacts the perfect punch of flavor for my taste buds. I’m drooling now as I type. Here’s her video if you care to watch:
Yum yum yum and yum. There aren’t enough yums in the world to go around! I love Aarti. She’s so adorable. I want her hair. My curls are never so tame! Okay, let’s get cooking!
Back in college, we used to have family dinner nights. I miss those nights. As you can see, sometimes the menu changed
Recipe courtesy Aarti Sequeira
Ingredients:
Fish
- 4 white fish fillets
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoons coriander
- 2 teaspoon ancho chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Pinch cinnamon
- Salt
- Pepper
Mayo
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 lime
- 8 mint sprigs
- Salt
- Pepper
Of course, we need tortillas too. As far as toppings go, I like nice crispy cabbage. I may or may not have added some pickles. I love pickles. I blame Aimee
(Borrowed your pic. Hope you don’t mind!)
But you can use whatever taco toppings you want! So first thing’s first. Mix up your spices! That would be the coriander, chili powder, and garlic powder, plus a few shakes of salt and pepper. And the cinnamon. I almost forgot
Mix the spices with the olive oil so that you have a nice little marinade. Slop all over fish in a large bowl. Leave it be for 20 minutes or so
While that bit of magic is happening, we can make the mayo. I like mine served chilled so it’s best to do it before we cook up the fish. Add mayo, garlic, mint, cumin (toasted for a few minutes on the stove top if you like…I skipped this step), juice from the lime, and some salt and pepper into the food processor. Pulse until smooth. Presto done! How simple can you get? Pour your minty concoction into a bowl and stick it in the fridge
Set your skillet on medium heat. Place fish into non-oiled pan and cook for roughly three minutes per side
That’s it! Chunk up you fish with a fork and get ready to assemble. Slather your tortillas with the mayo and lay down some cabbage. We also whipped up some coleslaw to go on the side
Oh boy! Am I excited for these. Bad day shmad day. Do you know what else makes you leave your worries behind? Looking at old photos of your friends doing a crazy dance while you were cooking
armadillas 