tequila lime salmon 11/5/07

tequila lime salmon
i felt like having some fish. i've been getting my protein lately from very varied and unruly places, so i figured something healthy and tasty would be nice. salmon was on sale, bought half a pound, a good cut for a bigger dinner.

cut of salmon
1/2 shot tequila
juice from a lime
salt
pepper
minced garlic
lemon zest
bit of olive oil
bit of butter

so the marinade i made by combining all the ingredients save the butter, and combine with the salmon, to let marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes. i preheated the broiler, and when hot, took the salmon out and placed on a top rack in a baking dish, skin side down, to broil for 8 minutes. meanwhile, i placed the used marinade in a pot with the butter to reduce to an almost glaze-like sauce. once the salmon was done and cooked through (i undercooked mine!), poured the sauce over the salmon and served with cornbread.

tea time

so i discovered ann arbor spice merchants today, which apparently just opened up the other week, and bought a few teas and tea blends to try. i spent a long time looking through all their varieties, but decided on a classic darjeeling, good for taking to class. then there was a berry black (a mix of dried raspberries, strawberries, hibiscus, rosehips, and darjeeling) which sounded interesting, but upon further inspection and steeping, was difficult to maneuver because the berries would so easily come to the top of the bag and be hard to work around and get an even distribution with the tea. but very fragrant and sweet. then a ginger-blended green-based tea which i have yet to explore. its called "ginger twist" with a mixture of ginger, orange and lemon slices, lemongrass, mint, papaya, apple, ginseng, and licorice. supposedly it "promotes focus" and is a powerful antioxidant. who knows.

but what i finally broke into is my dried chrysanthemums that i picked up at the asian market a few weeks ago. i spoke of "flowering" teas to tristan, which i've since discovered to be black tea leaves tied in intricate patterns so they "bloom" but are merely black tea leaves with some colorful petals in the middle to resemble flowers. chrysanthemums, however, are a staple of many chinese tea-houses (authentic dim-sum restaurants during mid-day always have this as an option, either alone or mixed with pu-erh). they're truly the "flowering" tea that i had in mind because they are purely the dried flowers of chrysanthemums. they are not very pleasant looking when dried (or pleasant smelling for that matter), but when steeped, truly bloom (seeing a handful of bright white flowers with vibrant yellow centers floating aimlessly, mingling in your cup/pot) and become deliciously aromatic. perhaps its an acquired taste since i've grown up with it, but it's really pretty.

cornmeal-sprinkled dijon chicken 10/23/07

cornmeal-sprinkled dijon chicken
i had some chicken that i needed to make before it went bad, but i wasn't sure, so i made this concoction based partially on what i had, what i knew, and the ability to not get out the chopping board

• 4 chicken pieces (thighs, breasts, or whatever, I prefer dark meat)
• touches of olive oil
• tad bit of dijon mustard
• coarse cornmeal (roughtly 2x more cornmeal than combination of other ingredients)
• dried poultry spices (sage, thyme, rosemary)
• coarse sea salt
• lots of ground black pepper
• little bit of dried parsley
• cayenne pepper to your liking

place chicken in a roasting pan. preheat oven to 375. (i'm all about letting meat warm up a bit before cooking it) coat lightly (!) with olive oil depending on fattiness of pieces. salt each side lightly, pepper generously. spread on top (skin side up if using skin) with a knife a thin layer of dijon mustard. in a separate small bowl, mix cornmeal with dried spices, salt, pepper, maybe cayenne, and parsley. mix well, and sprinkle lightly over dijon-ed sides of chicken. not so much that it forms an entire crust, but enough to be able to taste the flavors and the crunchiness of the cornmeal afterwards. bake for 40-50 minutes, or until juices run clear when poking through thickest part of chicken piece.

dinner with tristan 10/19/07

what better way to revive this blog than with recipes from a dinner tristan and i just made together. well. i made all of this one. but you get the idea.

we started off, with what other than cheese. the cheese was very distinctive. a bright orange french pave de (something?) which was described to us as almost a french cheddar, slightly salty. the other cheese had a hazelnut flavor, slightly peppery, and a lingering bitterness when eaten alone. but when paired with a cracker, was very smooth, but again, french.

unnamed steak.
i found a random large cut of beef in the market that looked very tendonous (i love tendons in meat that just melt in your mouth) and very fresh, came up with a simple marinade for a sweet, flavorful finish to a simple sear. not very expensive either.

• 1-1.5 lb steak-like cut of beef, very tendony, about an inch thick - enough for 2-3 people
• half a head of garlic, smashed and minced
• 4-5 shallots, peeled, smashshed, minced
• generous sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• .5-1 c. cabernet sauvignon (mondavi's woodbridge in this case, quality is not of the essence)

place meat in shallow baking dish (about the size of the steak), and rub dry ingredients lightly over meat, pour in red wine turn a few times to mix everything well, and cover with plastic and marinate overnight in fridge

in a large nonstick pan, heat pan on high, add a few tablespoons olive oil (and butter if desired, but not only butter) and with tongs, place steak in to sear, about 4-5 minutes on each side (or until medium-rare). cover meat with a slightly smaller pan lid while searing to let steam/smoke escape but to prevent splattering if desired. when finished. let rest, or to keep warm, wrap in foil before serving/slicing.

sauteed balsamic green bell peppers.
just taking advantage of pan drippings to flavor some relatively bland green bells into something a little more tasty. fresh sauteed green vegetables (asparagus, green beans, snap pease etc) and balsamic vinegar are always a good way to go.

• 1-2 green bell peppers, seeded, sliced into strips
• pat of butter, some more wine
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (or more if you'd like)

with the same pan above, add in leftover marinade (including garlic and shallots), and a little extra wine and a tablespoon of butter, let reduce, or not. allow pan to get hot. add cleaned and sliced bell pepper strips to saute for a few seconds, add balsamic vinegar. cover for a minute, stir, cover, stir, up until bell peppers are cooked through while still green. once cooked, immediately remove from heat and serve.

risotto-style orzo with sauteed mushrooms, orange bells.
i do this recipe pretty often, with many variations. i love the idea of risotto-style orzo because it is so quick, so manageable and comes out pretty creamy and flavorful just because if its own natural pasta starches.

• 1/2 head of garlic, smashed and minced
• 1 medium red onion, small-diced
• 1 lb white mushrooms, sliced
• 1-2 orange bell peppers, seeded, large diced
• fresh oregano
• dried oregano, rosemary, thyme, basil (to your liking)
• olive oil/butter
• 1 cup dry orzo
• 1-1.5 c. chicken stock
• generous sea salt/freshly cracked black pepper
• fresh shaved parmesean cheese (doesn't need to be fresh, its all i had on hand)

using a wide, shallow pot (5-6 qts), or a deep , walled, frypan with a lid, add olive oil (and butter if desired) on med-high heat. add garlic and onions, and saute until onions are slightly translucent and fragrant. add mushrooms and saute until mushrooms are soft. add bell peppers, along with the fresh oregano, and generous dried italian herbs to your liking. saute a minute or two more until everything is cooked through. add a pat of butter, and once throughly melted in center of pot, spread vegetables to the side of the pot, and add dried orzo to the melted butter in the middle of pot to saute. stir and scrape (a little sticking is okay) until some more liquid is evaporated up to a minute. add enough chicken stock to slightly more than submerge the orzo and ingredients. stir and scrape off anything that is sticking with a spatula, and wait to boil. once boiling, cover with lid, place on low heat (just so it barely boils) and let cook for 12 minutes. at 12 minutes, check, done-ness of the pasta, if a little dry, add more chicken stock, or add more just because. add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. salt brings out the flavors of this dish. and, still on low heat, continue stirring until any excess fluid is absorbed. (about another minute or two with the lid off. once orzo looks dry and creamy, add parmesean to your liking, and stir in while removing from heat, until parmesean is well incorporated.

this all was paired with Riparosso Montepuliciano d'Abruzzo, Vintage 2005. supposedly a dry wed wine that pairs well with meat and the strong cheeses we picked out, we found this italian wine to be very acidic, and not that great. oops.

dinner was finished off with chewy ginger snaps (recipe to come later, when i manage to make a second batch) and an australian muscat from R.L. Buller & Son. very sweety and syrupy, a good close to a nice diner.

Pavlova!

Backlog.. so busy lately!

Been so busy with crew, classes and such. Seems like I have a pretty significant workload this year. But today was my first day after crew practice where I got to come home, since dropping 9am French C&C. I managed to whip up some chicken and asparagus, in the bacon I'm still trying to get rid of. Not the healthiest thing, but whatever, it's tasty. Lined everything with some cucumber and just some plain rice. Simple, quick. I didn't even manage to eat this until dinnertime cause I was so busy with class and stuff and crew physicals. Ate in the new Charles Commons dorm place thingy. They certainly have a problem with lines, but the place is nice. Very comfortable seating and it certainly doesn't look like a dining hall. I think I'll hang out there for more than just the food, do some studying there sometime over dinner.


This one was from a while back, on the 8th. Made some fried rice with egg, mixed frozen veggies and of course bacon again. Then sauted some green beans with bacon, and then took one of my frozen scallion pancakes and heated it up and cut it up. Fast and easy. Sounds like the theme of my unfortunate eating habits lately...

Fishies!

This is my new bento box! It's way cute. and the little chick at the bottom holds rice seasoning. But anyway, my bento for today was just some rice, some tortellini with alfredo sauce, bell peppers, and italian sausage, then for some more vegetables, I took a little bit of bacon in a pan and kinda stirfried that up with some frozen mixed veggies. I know, it's all way fat, but it was super good. Here's the pic: