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Posts tagged ‘oranges’

Feb 14

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My Bloody Valentine

Alright it’s Valentine ’s Day and the inevitable talk about relationships, being single etc etc has come round.  Sure enough I have a number of people who have asked me about my “dating life” as the holiday approached and to all of them I say “nope, not dating and I’m good with that.”  As usual some people don’t believe me.  Some people try to convince me I’m wrong.  Some people warn me that time is a ticking away.  Some people tell me I’m being silly when I say I don’t have the time for a relationship.  Some people think I’m in some lonely girl denial when I say I’m happy on my own.

But the truth of it is: I AM sincerely happy on my own.  I AM too busy for dating.  I AM too involved in my own plans, thoughts, needs, dreams, desires to be able to expend energy on someone else’s plans, thoughts, needs, dreams and desires.   There is no case of “doth protest too much” when I say these things.  I am however getting really damn sick and tired of saying them.  I am getting really annoyed by the shocked “you aren’t dating someone?” when my response to the inquiry about my Valentine ’s Day plans is that I’m spending them with my mom.  Especially since even if I were dating I’d be spending the day with my mom.  Valentine’s Day has always kind of been more about mommy/daughter time over the years and when I think of the holiday that is what I associate with it.

I’m not going to rant about it being a Hallmark card holiday like some bitter old cat lady.  True it’s kind of frivolous and silly but a day about celebrating love—no I’m not going to object to that like some sour cherry on the fruit stand.  I think it’s a perfectly wonderful excuse to celebrate if you happen to be with a special someone and regardless of the origins of the holiday, the point is that it’s a day set aside each year to make you slow down and reconnect with your lover.  The restaurants might have crazy markups and the expectation that you shower the object of your affection with gifts—those aren’t things I’m crazy about.  However that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to have one day a year that serves as a placeholder where you push aside work, stress, trivialities and try to remember to spend time with a cherished loved one.

Okay so has that demonstrated that I’m not just a bag of mostly-water with a dusty vagina?  Can I rant now about how ANNOYING it is to be confronted by people who think it’s absurd that I’m happy in a single state?  It ain’t that strange folks.  I was in a relationship at this time a year ago and looking back on it, I’m in a much happier and balanced place now than I was then.  Coupledom does not automatically confer upon its participants a golden ticket to the chocolate factory.

Admittedly part of this is that I burnt out on my last relationship.  I gave a lot of myself and got very little in return.  I was trying to remember what I did for Valentine’s Day last year and to be honest…I can’t remember.  I remember what I baked and I remember that because of the distance and my job I wasn’t able to spend the actual day with the ex-boyfriend anyway.  I remember secretly hoping he’d have the kind of initiative to send me something at work or at home, because like all women what I really wanted was some sign that he went out of his way to let me know I mattered even if it was something as simple as a postcard in the mail with the words “I love you.”  I let it go since we were going to celebrate the following weekend but if I’m remembering correctly, and I may have blocked some of this out or be mis-remembering because to be honest I still don’t want to think about the unbalanced energy I spent on my last relationship, but if I’m remembering correctly I got mostly misplaced for a Magic the Gathering tournament that weekend.  But I don’t blame my ex for any sort of burn out I have experienced.  The truth is that I knew almost the entire time I was in that relationship that I gave more than I got, and I kept doing it the whole time knowing better.  “I give myself such very good advice…but I very seldom follow it.”

It’s kind of a relief for me right now to be able to be completely selfish and focus on what I want.  Like completing a 30 day yoga challenge (which I’ve almost made it through!!) or to work late and not have to worry that I’m short-changing a boyfriend when I do so.  I’m going to be taking some classes again soon, training for my first 10k as well, and so to be honest, the idea of having someone to care about is just exhausting.  The mere thought of it makes me tired.  When I do, or rather if I do, because I’m still not sure I’ll ever get sick of this bachelorette lifestyle, start dating again I have decided I will settle for nothing less than perfect.  Now if cupid wants to plop Joseph Gordon Levitt on my doorstep today, I’ll eat my words here today, but since I don’t see that happening anytime soon I’ll eat this tangy blood orange tart instead.

 

Blood Orange Tart

Modified from Dorie Greenspan’s Orange Tart recipe in “Baking from my home to yours” Read more

Feb 11

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Muffin Monday: Just an orangery old coot….

Deep down inside I think I’m really just an 80 year old man.  With man boobs.  Aw man. **anyone know what I’m quoting?**  I seem to be a cranky old sailor (despite my penchant for sundresses and floppy hats), ready to complain about kids hover-boarding on my lawn and I’m not even 25 yet.  People love to say I have an old soul but sometimes I wonder if that means I’m all withered up like a prune in the “fun” centers of my brain.  Then again I know of other 20 somethings who feel like they had more in common with Mr. Wilson than Dennis so maybe this isn’t so rare after all?  My friend Brian likes to poke fun at my willingness to “rage” on the internet but couldn’t that be simultaneously a symptom of immaturity as well as a lack of youthful spirit?  I prefer to think of it as righteous indignation—because that has the word right in it so clearly I must be correct yes?  Maybe righteous indignation coupled with wisdom, passion and a flawed but ultimately belligerently adorable ornery Olivia state of mind?

Ornery Olivia–she comes out when I’m tired or cranky—not that unusual I think for someone to be a little bit on edge and snappish when stressed.  The bigger issue then maybe is that I’m stressed too often and need to learn to “let it go” as it were.  “Raging” or ranting can release the frustration I feel but sometimes it just leaves me feeling worse off than before—agitated primarily at myself for getting so, well, agitated.  I just don’t know how to not be a smart ass sometimes.  I was contemplating this the other day after leaving my yoga studio.  I just got out of a particularly challenging Bikram session that left me physically drained but very happy with my practice when a young white bald man approaches me.

“Hare Krishna” he says.  I smile and nod as the social expectations dictate even though I didn’t ASK to be approached on the street by a stranger with a greeting.  My phone is in my hands and I’m trying to make sure that I don’t have any missed important messages regarding a brunch I was planning the next day.

“Can you say Hare Krishna?” the man is speaking to me like a child who doesn’t know her words.  Apparently my normally socially acceptable smile and nod was insufficient for this individual who wishes to engage me in his practice.  Ornery Olivia is tired and rears her head, which ironically provides me with a surge of energy.

“Do I have the powers of speech?  Yes I do.”

“Well are you going to say it?”  I roll my eyes.

“Thank you goodbye” my attention turned back to my phone and I shift my bag ready to walk away.

“Do you know what Hare Krishna means?” I am asked.

“Yes thank you goodbye”

“Well then what does it mean?”

“It means I’m about to punch you in the throat if you don’t leave me alone.”  Okay I admit this last bit was a thought bubble and not what came out.  I’m ornery but not generally violent, at least not toward total strangers even if they are being obnoxious.

“I don’t speak on command like a pet.  Now thank you and GOODBYE.”

“Well maybe you’ll do better tomorrow.”

“Not if I see you first.” and then I turned and walked away.

I know I didn’t need to engage but sometimes my mouth just gets away from me.  Still I just HATE being stopped on the street by total strangers.  Pan-handlers are bad enough but at least I understand the begging.  I get far more annoyed by petitioners, especially ones who dress themselves up to look like city officials, who do their best to make you feel guilty for having places to go.  What’s more I don’t find it particularly safe to just stop on the street whenever any person wants to ask you something.  It’s a city mentality I suppose, a crotchety one, but I didn’t grow up in Mayberry and I don’t think it’s wise to assume that people have benign intentions.

Then there is the other side of me.  The shiny, Kaylee, bubbly sundress wearing, parasol twirling little girl who sees the world with Vanellope Sweet-candy eyes.

I guess I confuse even myself.

Anyway after a day of being the old lady version of myself I decided to embrace some sunshiney weather with equally sunshiney orange muffins.  I turned Ornery Olivia into Orangey Olivia.

See, see what I did there?

I loved the flavor in these but not so much the texture.  I tried out a recipe from a cookbook I rarely use (because I own too many cookbooks and am trying to branch out from Dorie) and was immediately suspicious of this being too cake like.  Sure enough they were very cakey and as a result they really were only good day of baking.  I put them out for a brunch on Sunday (made them Saturday) and found that the muffins were probably the least popular thing on the table…but they sure brightened it up with their chipper appearance.  Also don’t tell anyone but they actually got a nutrition boost from my own addition to the recipe: flax meal.

Ornery Orange Muffins

Modified from “The Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook” Read more

Jun 27

National Orange Blossom Day & an Orange Cake Montage

I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end. –Margaret Thatcher

Random aside: did you know today is National Orange Blossom Day? Hurray Hurray! It’s my favorite flower for honey so this recipe gets to be doubley awesome posted today.

My birthday is coming up and I keep trying to figure out what to do for it. I feel pretty paralyzed about it to be honest.

I’m turning 24. 24? WHAT? How did this happen? How did I suddenly jump from 21 to this age? That’s what it feels like and I’m just not sure where those three years went.

Year One: finishing college.
Year Two: screwing around for a year in a lab job trying to recover from college.
Year Three: working my ass off for a major pharma company and still trying to make my way as a full time employee.

Okay, I guess that makes sense but frakking hell I don’t know how it went by so frelling fast. I have had too few moments like the one right now where I’m sitting outside my co-op with the sun shining, birds chirping and a gentle breeze tickling my exposed toes. I’m so scared I’m wasting my youth away. Wasting it on people who don’t give back what I give and wasting it on chances that may never unfurl. I would feel so much happier if I knew I was heading somewhere, to someone or something that made me important. That’s not a tall order is it?

I get why people flirt with or dive into religion. It would be so nice and comfy if I could be more religious and believe that someone out there has a plan for me. It would be so nice to think that what I’m doing serves a purpose I just don’t yet understand. I can’t. I can’t be that person. I can only believe in myself, in what I make happen and these days I just don’t seem to be making anything happen. But I’m being too hard on myself. Real life is hard, and it takes a while, and I am driving forward just not at 90 mph.

Real life doesn’t get a montage.

My impatience extends to baking too. I made this cake recently. This amazing, oh-my-god this is the greatest thing I ever put in my mouth cake. Really. It might be what I make for my birthday and every future birthday I ever have. It also took me awhile to put it all together. It’s an all day project if you have the time, but who really does anymore? So instead it’s a many day project. It started even with tracking down just the right olive oil for the baking. I spent a week having to wait to go to the little shop in the Ferry Building down on San Francisco Embarcadero waterline.

A week from seeing this recipe just to get a single ingredient! I hate waiting that long to get into my kitchen to do things. If only I knew in my day to day life that the kind of patience and time and toil I’m spending would result in a creation as magically delicious as this cake. After waiting a week to get to the Olive Oil shop where they had the perfect Kalamata Olive-Oil it still took me another week to find time to make this cake and then it took me three days to put it all together. I made the orange syrup and candied peels on night one and then due to work overtime I didn’t bake the cake and assemble the whole shebang until night three. The cake itself takes several distinct steps: making the syrup, baking, soaking, waiting, waiting, waiting in agony because the smell is so good, toasting the nuts, topping and the agonizing last few minutes between slicing and lifting of forks to mouths and tasting.

Really it’s that good. Then you’ll look down at your empty plate and wonder: where did the time cake go? The upside is that unlike with most of life, this isn’t an experience that will pass you by without notice. It’ll smack your tastebuds and seduce your palate with flavors that make you sit back and savour. Well provided you have the self-control of course.

The edges of the cake look a little dry in the photos but do NOT let that deceive you. This is a moist cake that has the pleasant crumb of a fresh, soft cakey donut and more flavor than you will know what to do with. Also if you have leftover syrup do what I did: make yourself a cocktail with some rum and fizzy filler. It’s amazing. I’m going to create a great cocktail from this stuff someday and share. Obviously though I’ll need to test it a lot. Responsible drinking means giving those boozey recipes a full and thorough clinical trial….

Olive-Oil Cake with Candied Oranges
from Bon Appétit June 2011

Candied orange and syrup:

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3/4  cup orange blossom honey
  • 3 tablespoons green cardamom pods, crushed
  • 1 orange, thinly sliced

Cake:

  • 1/2 cup olive oil plus more for brushing
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup semolina flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup sugar, divided
  • 3 large eggs, separated
  • 2/3 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Chopped unsalted pistachios, lightly toasted

9″-diameter springform pan

For candied orange and syrup:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Bring sugar, honey, cardamom, and 3 cups water to a boil in a medium heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add orange slices. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer, turning orange slices occasionally, until tender and syrup is reduced to 3 1/4 cups, about 40 minutes. Arrange orange slices in a single layer on prepared baking sheet; remove cardamom pods and seeds. Strain syrup. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover syrup and orange slices separately; chill. Return orange slices to room temperature and rewarm syrup slightly before using.

For cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush pan with oil. Whisk both flours and next 4 ingredients in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup oil in a large bowl for 1 minute. Beat in yolks, and then flour mixture. Beat in yogurt, zest, and vanilla. Using clean, dry beaters, beat egg whites in another medium bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in remaining 1/4 cup sugar until firm peaks form. Fold egg whites into batter just to blend in 2 additions. Transfer to prepared pan; smooth top.

Bake cake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Pierce hot cake all over with a metal skewer. Slowly drizzle 3/4 cup warm syrup all over. When syrup is absorbed, slowly pour 3/4 cup more syrup over. Reserve remaining syrup for serving. Let cake cool in pan on a wire rack. Run a thin knife around edge of pan to release cake. Remove pan sides. Arrange candied orange slices over. Sprinkle pistachios over. Cut into wedges and serve drizzled with more syrup.

Jun 7

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Yogurt Cake with Attitude

What is rude?

I was accused of being a “rude bitch” by a complete stranger this past weekend. It was jarring and ultimately hilarious for reasons to follow. Still as I sit here looking longingly at the photos of my French Yogurt Cake, I think of the “Rude French” stereotype and wonder: what is rude? More specifically where did the concept of the prissy Parisian stem from? To date I haven’t been to France though I fully intend to go one day, if nothing else to tour Giverny home of my favorite impressionist Monet. I’ve been told by many friends that have gone that the “rude” French is simply a misconception from simple cultural differences. Americans can seem quite rude contrasted against native French in their quiet cafes when they scream at misbehaving children like they’re living on a barn. In short: it’s all a matter of perception.

Back to my story though about my rude behavior. Friday had been a series of unpleasant, disappointing events culminating in the worst dining experience I’ve had in a long time. Davis friends do NOT go to Luigi’s. My double date decided to try to salvage the evening by seeing a film. It was 10PM and we were hoping to go to the 10:10 showing of the new Snow White flick. Alas twihards were out in force for opening weekend and at that point the showing had sold out. The line for the 11PM was wrapped around the block already and only one register was open. Knowing we probably wouldn’t get tickets, the group decided to try to catch Dark Shadows that was playing at 10:15. Side note: don’t see this movie. Not worth it.

In any case after I did a quick survey of the group I realized we were not going to move fast enough through the line to make the start of the film. Most of these kids had plenty of time for their film and I wondered if there was a way to get our tickets well, first. I mean it makes sense from the perspective of a business owner: selling more tickets is good. An empty theatre in 5 minutes for a full theatre in 50 is silly when you could have 4 more purchases with a little line shuffle and still fill up the later showing. So I sought out the manager and asked if they could open another register for non-snow white movie goers. A woman at the front of the line heard my inquiry and then made her comment.

See she’d been standing in line for the past 30 minutes. I can only surmise she partly resented my asking because she put in the time. Or she just doesn’t understand that sometimes in life it never hurts to ask. We got our tickets by the way. The manager agreed with my summary of the situation and let those trying to get to other showings go to a second window. I couldn’t be bothered to suppress a little smirk when I waltzed into the movie a few minutes after this exchange to discover my insult slinging strange acquaintance been standing in line for Dark Shadows as well; no wonder she was annoyed I moved through the line so fast.

After having such a long day I relished the victory even if the movie was abysmal. Still I wonder: do you think I was rude?

I don’t. I think if I offended anyone recently it would probably be Dorie Greenspan when I smothered her already delicious recipe for a dense French Yogurt cake with orange cream, orange flavored whipped cream and ripe strawberries. Over the top and excessive Americanism on a simple, understated French Dessert. Sounds about right :-D Next time I’ll just make the loaf itself and enjoy it that way but I couldn’t help myself from wanting to use up the orange cream I’d made days earlier… All a matter of perception I suppose.

Anyway here is the original recipe with my variation for baking listed below.

French Yogurt Cake Read more

Mar 20

Barramundi: Healthy Earth, Healthy Body, Healthy Mind (Think Thin Tuesday!)

I’ve been making a lot of healthy strides for myself in the last year or so. I have focused my OCPD into creating a strong and disciplined work ethic. I’ve been eating a diet reduced in sugars and refined carbohydrates to complement an effort toward eating local, organic foods. While socially it’s still quite hard to do this, and I often have to break the habit to enjoy group dining dynamics, when I eat alone I focus on it. Sometimes in groups I’ll go vegetarian for the meal since I really hate eating big industry raised meat. I’ve also developed a fairly regular running regimen and have been going to yoga almost on schedule. The last few weeks have been hectic at work and yoga was sacrificed a bit.

So to honor my body and mind I’m going to force myself back in that hot Bikram room and provide you with a healthy recipe that utilizes foods available in winter and sustainable fish. Barramundi is a fish of particular interest to me and when I found this recipe in one of my magazines I was very excited. It can be a challenge to find this fish, especially US Farmed but if you can make the hunt, it is well worth it.

Aquaculture, i.e. fish farming, is a commercial practice and not always the cleanest, healthiest or greenest way to fish. The more traditional practice is actually a haven for disease as they are essentially insecure nettings along the coastline. Shrimp farms in particular have been destructive of Indonesian coasts; they use up the nutrients in the environment, leave a toxin build up and move on. There are issues with waste management, overuse of antibiotics and since many fish are carnivorous, there is the issue of needing to also supply additional fish as feed.

Of particular interest to me however is the concept of vertical, indoor recirculating systems for raising fish. Why? These indoor tank systems allow us to grow healthy fish through a variety of ways. Clean, controlled water means no mercury exposure and no need to pump antibiotics in the system. Recirculation and filtration means water gets recycled and most of the waste (entirely organic waste too!) can be used to create compost. No risk of GMO fish escaping into the wild since the tanks are self contained. Plus we need to understand all the details of each breed’s particular life cycle so it creates a market for marine biologists. Industry that actually encourages academic, scientific pursuit! Not to mention that once the start up costs of research and creating the business have been recouped, the fish are actually cheaper to produce.

Barramundi has been a fish of interest for this form of aquaculture. Unlike most other carnivorous fish, Barramundi are able to synthesize Omega-3 fatty acids from plant life making a primarily vegetarian diet (and thus reduction in feed costs) possible. They have a better Omega 6/Omega 3 balance than Tilapia and grow in freshwater. Salt-water based fish are still a challenge to vertical aquaculture as they require much more study to create ideal artificial growth environments. If you are interested in this fish check out http://www.thebetterfish.com/home the website for Australis. The only thing I don’t like about this option is that the only US based farm I know of is in Massachusetts so my food has to travel a while to get to me. Hopefully the company will do well, the model will catch on and more vertical aquaculture will rise up on the west coast.

As always if you are interested in sustainable fish be sure to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium website for up to date listings of what to eat, what to eat sparingly and what to avoid. http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_regional.aspx

Roasted Farm-Raised Barramundi with Fennel and Orange

Read more

Mar 28

A Cake-walk Orange

Just because I was away for a few weeks months doesn’t mean I wasn’t cooking and baking pretty much nonstop. As with any human, I occasionally make mistakes and have a bad day in the kitchen.  This is the story of the cake I made for my friend Gordon’s birthday that was floptastic and how I saved it to keep it well, edible.  I must have had a long day at

work or been brain frazzled from yoga, but I just made one mistake after another.  For example: when you make buttercream frosting, the butter needs to be in solid form or else you end up with buttersoup rather than buttercream.  Yet for no reason I can explain I absentmindedly melted all the butter I was going to use.  After realizing my mistake and cursing loud enough to make my pup think he was in trouble I put the cup of melted fat aside for other projects and pulled out two fresh sticks.

Butter Please?

Never let it be said that I waste anything, I found ways to use that melted butter though Oz was certainly hopeful it would end up on his dog food.

The cake came out well, pound-cakey and not what I envisioned at all.  My suspicion is that the baking powder I used was bad.  It was the last dregs of what was in my can and I don’t think I had enough or that it was actually effective.  Still the cake tasted pretty good and Gordon dismissed my apologies and gobbled it up.  The buttercream frosting wasn’t quite thick enough for decorating well so I threw a few squiggles on and called it a day.

The cake is going to need some sort of jam / fruit preserves.  I had some homemade orange marmalade and chose to use that.  It’s going to be inbetween each layer so make sure you use a really yummy jam for this recipe.

Perfect Party Cake

from Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking from my home to yours” Read more

Nov 22

A Delicious Thanksgiving Pie

Are you counting down the hours to the ultimate foodie holiday?  I certainly am.  Of course the event I was most excited about this month wasn’t Thanksgiving but the midnight premiere of HP7-Part 1.  I grew up with those books and they were a huge part of my life so when the last installment of the series came out in 2007 I was understandably quite depressed.  Thankfully I had the movies to continue to look forward to but after last Thursday night, and the amazing job done with the first half of Book 7, I find myself truly facing the end of Harry Potter.  July 2011 will officially be the last bastion of Harry Potterdom for the forseeable future.  How sad.

For now though my attentions must turn to Turkeys, Stuffing and Pies.  I just got a delivery from my CSA that had a LARGE quantity of Butternut Squash.  I do love the squash but I find myself stagnating on what to do with it and so I turned to Dorie for inspiration.  Lo and behold she had a recipe that utilized not only one of my jumbo squash, but the pears that were currently over-ripening on my counter.  The results were satisfying but not as savory as I’d hoped.  Next time I’m thinking of omitting the raisins and tossing in some fresh chervil to get more savory flavors in.

Depths of Fall Butternut Squash Pie

Adapted almost faithfully from Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking: From my home to yours”

  • 1 double pie crust, slightly chilled
  • 2 cups peeled and cubed Butternut squash
  • 4 small ripe pears, peeled, cored and cubed
  • 1/2 cup moist, plump dried raisins
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • Grated zest of 1/2 orange and the juice
  • 1/2 cup ground walnuts
  • pinch of salt

Prep the bottom pie crust in the pie tin/pan and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.  Dorie doesn’t say to do this but I think partially pre-baking the crust definitely helps.

Meanwhile cook the squash either by steaming or heating in the microwave for approximately 6 minutes.  Path the squash dry and toss it with the remaining filling ingredients.  Let this stand for 5 minutes before filling the crust with the mixture.  Roll out the second pie crust and lay over the top.   Make sure you cut in some vents to let steam release or use a piebird.

If you have time refrigerate this for 30 minutes before baking for approximately 50 minutes in a 400 degree oven.  If the crust begins to brown too quickly cover it with a pie protector/tin foil and finish baking.

Sep 6

I taught I taw a Pudding Tat!

Well actually it’s a Bread Pudding, the “Best Bread Pudding” ala Paula Deen.  I’ve moved home for the next week or so while I wait to move into my new sublet because…I GOT A JOB!  Wheeeeeee.  Oh wait I told you that already didn’t I?

Sorry it’s hard to contain my Glee, even a week or two later.  Anyway while I’m home I’m still going to be using either original experimentation recipes OR things from the interwebs.  In this case I’m using a slightly modified Paula Deen recipe.  I modify hers usually because 9 times out of 10 the woman just uses too much sugar for my taste.  I cut the amount in half, and because I love orange flavours* I used an orange liqueur instead of brandy.   Additionally I recommend you serve this dish WARM. Why?  Well for one it is especially delicious on a cool evening if it’s warm.  More importantly it will be less sweet if it’s warm because the sugars are in a different chemical configuration that is less sweet to your tongue above a certain temperature.  Cool huh?   That’s why say Hot Chocolate tastes great hot, but when it cools off gets too sweet.  It’s why cold coffee drinks will taste sweeter than the hot equivalent.  Read more

Aug 2

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There’s something fishy going on…

So what’s on plate for dinner this week?  It’s August and my lease is up in September so I’m trying to use up food rather than buy more.  I have a bag of frozen sea bass in single servings that my mom gave me when I was a starving college student.  Now I’m a starving unemployed college graduate…or will be come September.  I want a JOB!  *Cries in the corner*

Well that was embarrassing.  You came here for food not my drama.  I had some leftover white wine that I was given as a gift, sea bass, fresh citrus and some gypsy peppers from my CSA box.  Hmmmmm.  My brain started churning “these ingredients could possibly combine into something clean, simple and scrumptious.”  They did.  It’s not a five star meal but it’s a great summer supper.

The Gewurztraminer is a white wine that has a strong aroma and dry sweetness.  The pacific white sea bass is very fishy…at least the ones I have are so it stands up well to the strong flavor in the wine.  German Gewurztraminer, as opposed to Italian or French, is typically sweeter.  The floral notes work well with citrus so the juice from fresh oranges and lemons work nicely in the sauce.  The gypsy peppers have a unique flavor that I find I love.  They are stronger and sweeter than bells but not hot like banana peppers.  Whipping up this fish on a weeknight is a cinch and add whole grain garlic bread with a salad of some light greens and you won’t go to bed feeling stuffed to the brim.

Simple Sea Bass

  • 2 sea bass fillets~6 oz meat each
  • 1 cup sliced gypsy peppers
  • 1 tsp diced garlic
  • 1 orange, zest and juice
  • 2 lemons, zest and juice
  • 2 cups Gewurtztraminer, or other sweet dry white wine
  • salt and pepper

Season both sides of the fish with salt and pepper to taste.  Let the fish sit for a few minutes before cooking.  Contrary to my usual stance you do NOT need a lot of salt for this recipe as the fish is a little salty to begin with.

Pour a little oil in a saute pan (use a deep one since you can reuse the pan for the fish later) and saute the peppers and garlic over medium high heat for about 5 minutes.  Reserve.   Combine the wine, juice and zest in the pan and cook to reduce on high heat for about ten minutes.  I braised the fish to get a soft white color and tender flesh. About 10 minutes on one side and another 6 on the other.  I had really thick cuts of fish.  Then I removed the fish and blasted the heat on high to give the sauce another couple of minutes to further reduce down.  This was so I could avoid using multiple pans and I was just feeding myself.  If I’d wanted to serve a group of people I might have cooked a sauce separately so I could plate the sea bass immediately.  There’s nothing worse than being served lukewarm fish.

Apr 1

Orange Ginger Glazed Salmon

This is a feature called: What is Lea eating for dinner this week? Salmon. Pink, Wild- Alaskan Salmon.

Please pardon me a moment to tell you about sustainable fish. Please try to eat healthy, sustainable fish when you select seafood as a dining choice. This is a more powerful tool than any government regulation: the power of the consumer. If you make the choice to eat fish that are either farmed safely with minimal pollution OR fish that are relatively more abundant, you put the pressure on fisheries to make wiser choices. I’m a huge fan of aquaculture when done correctly and *gasp* despite being a biotechnology major I have some major issues with farmed genetically modified fish. Read more

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