cakeypal: June 2008 Archives

This week I cooked fish. Big deal, you're probably thinking. Why is that worth blogging about?

Frankly, it's probably not worth blogging about. Although I grew up thinking that fish sticks with ketchup was what eating fish was all about, I did eventually try and fall in love with "real" fish. When I lived in Portugal, I tried everything and liked a lot of it. And I've loved fish ever since.

However, it's rare that I cook fish at home. I've mastered the salmon in foil technique, and I'm sure that at some point I've prepared fish in other ways as well. But something has held me back from cooking fish at home on a regular basis.

Recently, I went to Whole Foods and bought a tilapia fillet. I decided that I wanted to bread it and fry it--the classic way of cooking fish, but something I don't remember ever having done. I whisked an egg with a little bit of water, dipped the fish in the egg, then dipped it in bread crumbs with a little bit of salt and pepper. Then I fried it for about 5 minutes on each side.

I served the fish with a yogurt and shredded cucumber sauce with a few spices: salt, pepper, cayenne, and a touch of chili powder. I also squeezed lemon on top of the fish.

I loved this way of preparing and eating fish. It was easy and really tasty. Why has it taken me so long to figure this out?

Last night's dinner with John B. and John J. was fantastic! When they arrived, we quickly strategized our pizzas. I had two with marinara sauce (one was just a mini-pizza with the leftover dough) and one without. It didn't take much discussion really to figure out what we wanted.

We started off with the plain dough topped with a little olive oil to which we added gruyere, sliced tomato, crushed garlic, and chopped rosemary (from my garden). Of the three pizzas, this was both the most visually appealing and the most delicious. Of course, it's really a variation of one of my favorite breakfasts: a toasted everything bagel with gruyere and a slice of tomato. Now I know to add garlic and rosemary to the mix (I'm really going to try this for breakfast!). In any event, the flavors were subtle but also complex. I knew we were going to have difficulty creating a better pizza.

Our next invention was the full size crust with marinara to which we added mozzarella, sliced green olives, garlic, and red onion. We had planned to add basil to this one, as well, but forgot. This was a really juicy pizza and a little messy to eat, but it was really tasty. I especially enjoyed the combination of mozzarella and the green olives (which were high quality olives from the olive bar at Whole Foods). I actually had a hard time deciding which of our first two pizzas I liked the most, although I ultimately decided that this was a close second to our gruyere wonder.

For our last pizza, we made the tried and true goat cheese and roasted red pepper. I'd roasted the red pepper ahead of time (and found one lonely seed inside). This was the least successful pizza, but then how could it live up to the first two? I did like that the crust was thinner--I prefer thin crusts but my recipe keeps giving me big fluffy crust. I've got to figure out why (is it the wrong recipe, my lack of a rolling pin, or the yeast I'm using?). In any event, it was a fine pizza, just nothing memorable.

For dessert, I'd picked peaches from my tree in the backyard, blanched them to remove the skins, and prepared a crumble to go on top. I was disappointed with this recipe (so I won't include it). Although the Johns claimed to enjoy it, I thought the peaches needed to be sweetened and the crumble was just okay. I'll have more opportunities to find a peach recipe that I love.

The whole evening was so much fun. We had a great time designing pizza and sharing our reviews of each one. I also really enjoyed the game portion of the night, even though John B. won every game we played. He beat us at one game of Scrabble and two of Clue. I usually hate to lose at board games, but I was having such a good time that I didn't mind. It was just so nice to share a night with two people that I really care about. The Johns have been part of my life for 8 years, and I feel incredibly lucky to have them as friends.

Here's John's winning Scrabble board. I want a rematch . . . and an excuse to eat together again!

By the way, this morning we tried the chayote greens at Samina and Alex's. YUM! Alex grilled them and they were really really interesting. The texture was a little rough in a really good way, and I actually thought there was a nutty quality to the flavor. I think I'll try sauteing them as well.

I've had a vexed relationship to cooking for a long time. When I was married (oh so long ago and ever so briefly), my ex and I had an . . . unequal relationship to cooking, i.e., I cooked and shared with him but he cooked only for himself. I was always stunned when this happened. He'd retire to our home office with a bowl of food in hand and nothing left in the kitchen. After we split up, I think that one way I asserted my independence was to give up cooking to some extent. Of course, I've cooked over the years, but not regularly and only occasionally with enjoyment.

This whole food blog thing has been a big surprise to me--since it indicates a shift in my relationship to food. I'm discovering that eating isn't just about the actual act of chewing and swallowing food, it's also about the preparation--including the origin of the recipe, shopping for ingredients (or growing and harvesting them), and the actual act of cooking. All of these elements can be tactile, pleasurable, and communal.

Tonight my friends John B. and John J. are coming over to play Scrabble. I decided to make them dinner as well, pizza, salad, and peach pie (or cobbler, I haven't decided yet). I plan to make the crust, sauce, and peach dish before they get here. But together we'll decide what to put on the pizza. I have a few ideas: sliced tomato, red onion, green olives, sun dried tomato, red pepper (roasted?), green pepper, garlic, basil, broccoli and (of course) cheese.

This morning I went to the Farmer's Market and was wowed by a new vegetable. Do you know what this is?

Tomatoes, red pepper and . . . chayote greens. They were just so beautiful, I had to buy some. I think I'll saute them tonight for an unusual side. I wonder what they'll taste like.

I also went out back and picked some peaches from my tree. Some of them are a little small, but aren't they lovely?

I know, I know. You're used to seeing pictures of already prepared food. I hope I'll be able to share some of those tomorrow. But for now, I just wanted to enjoy the anticipation of turning these ingredients into something delicious. At least, I hope that's what we'll end up with.

A few months ago, I blogged about the restyling of iceberg lettuce in the form of the wedge salad. Today I had one that was professionally done at Pangea.

Since I have a party to go to tonight, I didn't want anything terribly heavy. As a result, I wouldn't even let myself look at any part of the menu except the salad section. I've been going through a blue cheese kick lately (thanks to a delicious chicken kebab salad with blue cheese dressing I ate at George's downtown), so as soon as I saw blue cheese, I knew that was the salad for me. The rest of the components of the salad included red onion, apple, tomato, bacon, grilled chicken, cracked pepper, and . . . a wedge of iceberg lettuce.

The blue cheese was really pungent (not as mellow as the versions I've been eating lately), the chicken was nicely grilled, and the dressing was creamy. At the end of the meal, I felt satisfied rather than full. I don't think I'll ever crave this salad, but it made for a fine lunch on its strange, see-through plate. Now I'll be able to eat whatever I want tonight at the party.

Last night, my neighbor Lori came over for dinner. I loved the meal Sam made for me so much, I decided to repeat it . . . with one addition, chicken. I thumbed through a couple of cookbooks and found the perfect recipe--South Indian Pepper Chicken--easy, beautiful, and delicious.

During the afternoon, I went to Whole Foods to buy small bags of the spices I would need, some spinach, and a chile (very cool that one can buy any amount of spice at Whole Foods). In between bouts reading a student's thesis, I prepared lentils, raita, and finally saag and chicken.

I love the smell of cardamom and enjoyed the process of putting it in my mortal and pestle in order to get at the seeds inside. I thought about a scene in Audre Lorde's Zami: A New Spelling of My Name which inspired me to buy a mortal and pestle because of its sensuality. And, in fact, there is something very appealing about kneading the pod with the pestle. The crunch of the pods, the aroma of cardamom wafting up, and the emergence of the small seeds.

It was a low stress cooking experience with a great payoff. My lentils tasted exactly like Sam's, but my raita was more spicy and the saag more fragrant with garam masala (Sam had to make do with her own combination of spices since I didn't have garam masala in my pantry).

The chicken dish was delicious and so easy to make. I loved cooking the spices and combining it with the small pieces of chicken. I also loved the yellow color and the peppery taste. By the way, since I was making raita I didn't add yogurt to my chicken. Next time, I definitely will. I wonder if this would work using tofu instead of chicken? Maybe without the yogurt.

Lori was impressed and we had a nice evening getting caught up. I need to cook more often.

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South Indian Pepper Chicken (from Fresh Indian by Sunil Vijayakar)

1 T. sunflower oil (I used canola)
1 bay leaf
4 cloves
1/2 t. crushed cardamom seeds
2 t. crushed black peppercorns
1 t. finely grated fresh ginger root
2 t. finely grated garlic
1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 c. water or chicken stock
1/2 t. turmeric
1 1/2 c. low-fat plain yogurt
salt

Heat the oil in a large nonstick frying pan and when hot add the bay leaf, cloves, crushed cardamom seeds, and peppercorns. Stif-fry for 30 seconds, then add the ginger, garlic, and the chicken. Stir fry over a medium heat for 4-5 minutes before adding the water or stock and the turmeric. Season. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat, and simmer gently for 10-12 minutes or until the chicken is tender and cooked through. Remove from heat, drizzle with the yogurt so that it is partially stirred in and serve.