maritime fish chowder

I'm a bit of a wuss when it comes to fish and seafood. Generally, I do like fish dishes...but I become a bit more skeptical when it comes to fish stews and broths. If I order pho, ramen or wonton soup I become very picky about the broth. If it's too fishy tasting, I won't eat another bite. However, chowder is something I do like. When we took our summer vacation this past year to the Maritimes, I tried a few different clam and fish chowders. I remember a particularly good one at an Irish pub in Sydney, Nova Scotia. There were large chunks of white fish, salmon and clams along with potatoes, celery and corn and the broth was exceptional. Creamy and buttery without being too rich. It was the perfect bowlful.

So when I found myself with some red snapper in the fridge, along with pretty red skinned potatoes, I knew that I'd try my hand at chowder. I had a tub of flavourful seafood stock in the freezer (tip: next time you make mussels, freeze the leftover liquid!) and some corn niblets that I had frozen myself in September. I wanted to lighten things up, so I used skim milk instead of cream and I just used a tablespoon of butter, but if you want something richer, then go all out and gild that lily! The final result was delicious and came very close to our dreamy Maritime chowder.

maritime fish chowder
(adapted from Simply Recipes)
2 T butter
1 large onion, finely diced
2 stalks celery, finely diced
4 small-ish potatoes, diced
1 t thyme
1 t salt
1 t pepper
1/2 t paprika
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1 1/2 t Old Bay seasoning
1 1/2 c fish stock + water
1 1/2 - 2 lbs Red Snapper (or cod), cut into 2 inch cubes
1/2 c corn
1 1/2 c skim milk

In a large pot, saute the onion and celery in the butter until soft and fragrant. Add in the potatoes and all of the seasonings. Add in the fish stock and add enough water to just cover everything. Cover and simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes until the potatoes are done.

Stir in the fish and cover again for another 15 minutes. Turn down the heat to a low simmer and slowly add in the milk – I had the heat on the very lowest setting. Do not bring this mixture to a boil or the milk may curdle. Add in the corn and let it rest with the lid on for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve in deep bowls with oyster crackers or hunks of buttered sourdough bread.

eat fish and be merry

Last night I wasn't in the mood to cook. It's been a busy week catching up on all the work that had piled up since I went back to Ontario and I had inadvertently skipped lunch which left me at dinner time feeling all woozy and tired. Just thinking about dinner — let alone getting up the energy to make it happen seemed like too damn much. But being the frugal girl that I am, I didn't want to order in take-out since we're in "Get-Ready-Set-Europe!" savings mode. Instead, I did what most modern cooks do. I went online to epicurious and typed in a couple things I had in my fridge and out popped a couple super simple recipes.

The fish recipe seemed too simple to be good, but I read all the comments and decided to give it a go and I'm glad I did. How can you go wrong with crispy roasted rosemary scented potatoes and fish? I added parsley in addition to the rosemary since my balcony garden has been brimming with these 2 herbs and I just used cod since that's what I had on hand. The original recipe called for bread crumbs so I subbed in panko crumbs instead, but next time, I'll skip the breadcrumbs altogether (and I've omitted them from the recipe below). Trust me they added nothing. But what to do with the super fresh local wax beans I had just purchased? I could have just steamed them, but instead I decided to tamper with another epicurious recipe, using limes instead of lemons and adding the juice for extra zest. Yum!

This entire meal was so fresh tasting and simple to prepare. Add a pint or two of ice cold beers and it's pretty easy to forget that I was on the brink of calling for take-out. These recipes saved my day. Really.


baked fish with potatoes & rosemary
1 lb new baby potatoes, halved if needed
3 T olive oil
1 handful of fresh rosemary
1 handful of fresh parsley
4 whole garlic cloves, peeled
Fleur de sel
Black pepper
4 white fish fillets

1. Preheat to 400°F. Place the potatos in large baking dish, pour 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over them, add most of the rosemary & parsley (saving some for later), all the garlic cloves, and salt, and pepper. Toss thoroughly. Put the dish in the preheated oven. After 20 minutes, turn the potatoes over and put back in the oven. Cook until the potatoes feel tender when tested with a fork, another 15 minutes or so.

2. Remove the dish from the oven. Push the potatoes to the sides, making room in the center for the fish fillets to lie flat.

3. Rinse and pat dry the fish fillets, laying them flat in the dish. Scatter the remaining parlsey & rosemary over the fish, add salt and pepper, and the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the fillet. Return the dish to the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on how thick your fillets are. Plate and serve with Lime & Honey Wax Beans and a couple of cold ones.

lime & honey wax beans
1 lb wax (yellow) beans, trimmed
1 T honey
zest and juice from 1 lime
salt

Cook beans in a pot of boiling salted water until just tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water to prevent further cooking. Immediately toss with honey, zest and juice, and salt in a large bowl.

simple can be fancy

I find that taking photos for my blog can be quite trying at times. It's either too dark or I can't be bothered to set up for a good shot or my camera batteries have died. Often times, when I don't have a great photo, I'll just scrap my post and wait for the next recipe and photograph that works. But this time, I just couldn't do that. Sure, it was too dark on Friday night when I snapped this soy/ginger/blood orange trout, but the fish was so delicious and easy that I had to write about it. The photo may be lacklustre, but this recipe isn't. It's simple enough that you can put this dish together within 5 minutes, pop it in the oven and the results will be so delicious and impressive that you can serve it to the fanciest dinner guest and get rave reviews. It's that good.

soy, ginger & blood orange baked trout fillets
2 trout (or salmon) fillets
1 inch piece of ginger, grated
2 T Japanese soy sauce
juice & zest of 1 blood orange
1 clove of garlic, grated or finely minced

Preheat oven to 375. In a small oven proof dish, lay fish fillets skin side down. In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix together the soy sauce, orange juice & zest, garlic and ginger. Pour over fish and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until fish is just done. Remove from oven and serve.

a fishy feast

Last night we wasted our evening by watching the horrible Woody Allen "thriller" Match Point which we borrowed from the library. We may never get those 2 hours back, but at least we had some delicious dinner settling in our bellies. Dinner was a fish dish so full of savory flavour that throughout the meal was complete and utter silence. Even Cornelius didn't mind digging around the olives because everything was so tasty. Normally, I cook fish either in an Asian style with soy sauce and ginger or panfried with a cornmeal crust, so this was a bit different but it was simple and something I'll definitely try again. Plus, it was a one dish meal with everything baked on a foil-lined tray for super easy clean up. As well, this meal could easily be turned into a vegetarian one dish feast by getting rid of the fish and throwing in some chunks of zucchini, yams and eggplant instead. What's not to love?

roasted fish with rosemary, olives and vegetables
2 large potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
1 small onion, quartered
4 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 t dried rosemary (plus additional sprinkle for fish)
2 T olive oil
1 t coarse salt
pepper to taste
1/4 c green spicy olives
1 T capers
2 filets of fish
juice of half a lemon

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a foil-lined walled cookie sheet, evenly line the pan with the cubed potatoes and large onion chunks. Drizzle with half of the olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper and toss everything around with your hands to coat. Bake in oven for about 25 minutes until starting to brown.

2. On a plate, season the fish and the cherry tomatoes with salt and pepper and a bit of rosemary and coat with the remaining olive oil. Use your hands to make sure everything is covered with the oil and spice.

3. Push the potatoes to one side of the cookie sheet and place the fish and the tomatoes on the other side. Fill in remaining gaps with olives and capers. Squeeze lemon juice onto the fish and tomatoes. Return tray to oven for another 20 minutes or so, until fish is cooked and tomatoes are roasted and wrinkled. Transfer onto plates and serve.

summer living at it's best

Ooooh, I'm pretty excited! I should have my camera back tommorrow, so it will be back to all the photographic food porn you know & love. Did I really promise technicolour cupcakes? Hmmmmm.

The sun has come back and the weather is all nice and warm and it's just the perfect time to relax in a hammock tied between two shade trees and an icy bottle of beer in hand. Unfortunately for me, the hammock and shade trees remains a dream but the bottle of beer is chilling as we speak. Oh the blight of urban living! The good news is that there is a beautiful park outside my front door and picnic season is here (at least for the moment!)

Tonight's dinner was settled in a flash. We had some fresh sole filets that were just waiting to be used and because the weather is so nice, I figured that some fish tacos would be just the ticket. Plus, they'd be sweet with a couple of icy cold beers. Sho' nuff. These babies were yummers!

fish tacos with garlic-cumin yogurt sauce
2 white fish filets (I used sole)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 c cornmeal
1/2 c panko breadcrumbs
1 t chipotle powder
1 t chili powder
1/2 t salt
1 T oil

1 small container of fat free plain yogurt
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 T cumin

flour or corn tortillas

1 large juicy tomato, diced
1 ripe avocado, diced
1/4 head cabbage or lettuce, shredded
1 lime cut into quarters

1. Cut the fish into managable strips. Mix the cornmeal, breadcrumbs, chipotle powder, chili powder and salt together. Dip fish into egg and then dredge in the cornmeal mixture.

2. Heat oil in a large cast iron pan and when hot, add the breaded fish. Turn fish over when golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from pan.

3. Prepare sauce by mixing the crushed garlic, yogurt and cumin together.

4. Heat tortillas over a gas flame until softened and slightly charred. Assemble tacos with the fish, cabbage, tomatoes, avocado and drizzle with the garlic sauce & squeeze a bit of lime juice over top.

happy bloggerversary to me

Little did I know that my one-year food blog anniversary had slipped me by. No public ceremonies, no cake. My very first post was written on February 20, 2005 and even though I had good intentions to write often about my own culinary adventures, life and wedding plans seemed to take over. Things didn't really kick in until August when I had returned from a 1 month honeymoon road trip. Work was slow and I needed to keep the creative juices flowing so I privately created one of those 101 things to do in 1001 days lists. Lucky for me, sandwiched between "buy a home" (not completed & probably will never happen according to this article which lists Vancouver's average housing prices way out of league for teachers, police officers and nurses -- not to mention poor arty types like freelance designers!) and "get bangs again" (done!) was this blog entry which read "post at least 1 new recipe a week on food blog". Done! So yay me!

I made this for dinner tonight and even though I just played about making this recipe up as I went along, it turned out fantastic, impressing both myself and Cornelius! It looks like a lot of steps, but it didn't seem labourious at all...especially since I made the black bean salad component for my lunch and used the leftovers for this dish. Make sure to read through the recipe first before starting so you don't miss anything!

Mexican Fish & Bean Salad
For the bean salad:
1 can of black beans, drained
1/2 c of corn
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/4 c red onion, diced
3 T fresh salsa
juice of half a lime
1 t cumin
salt & pepper
1/4 t chipotle powder

Mix the above ingredients and then start preparing the following:

Panko-crusted fish:
1/2 c panko crumbs
salt & pepper
1 t cumin
1 large fillet of white fish cut into bite-sized peices (I used cod)
2 T vegetable oil

Mix the spices and panko crumbs together and dredge fish in this mixture until coated on all sides. Heat oil in a large skillet and when hot, add the coated fish. Turn fish over once and then remove from pan when done, about 5-8 minutes.

Salad dressing:
2 T mayo
juice of 1 lime
1 t honey
1 t cumin
1/2 t chipotle powder

Mix the dressing ingredients together until you have a nice smooth consistency. Taste to make sure the dressing is to your liking!

salad greens
1 avocado, diced

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER:
Line 2 bowls with salad greens and top with the bean salad mixture. Drizzle with the salad dressing and top with the panko-crusted fish. Drizzle with a bit more dressing and throw on some diced avocado for extra creaminess.

how i spent my friday night.

Please excuse the messy desktop. The photo of my work area was taken in November, but my March desktop isn't in much better shape, tidy-wise. For me, a cluttered desk means that I'm busy with work (definitely true in this case). However, I still had some spare time to design a new template for this blog -- and add a much needed recipe index so that I could easily keep track of things. As for the design, I tested it on my main browser, Firefox, as well as Safari and it seems to look great in both browsers. I even had Cornelius check it on his PC using Firefox and though there was a slight bug in IE with the top margin it seems to cache alright. What did I learn from this new redesign? Blogger is a bitch to work with. Too many IE hacks in it's code and the code just seems too messy. Blech, I'm not looking forward to a new redesign, so I hope this look stays for awhile. Let me know what you think or if you encounter any bugs. As you can probably tell from this new design, I yearn to be an illustrator! Hello, dream job! Everything was drawn by me...except for the craft/music/design group of illustrations (which are just some really cute looking dingbats). I guess I'll settle for being a designer and an amateur food blogger!

And now on to the recipe portion of our show....

simple fish n' chips
Tonight's dinner was nothing special, just some veggie chili baked natchos and some homemade guacamole. Hmmmm, when I made it, it didn't seem like anything to write about, but just seeing it in print makes it sound pretty damn tasty (it was!). Instead, I'll write about last Friday's dinner since I actually took the time out to take a photograph of it. I had been craving french fries and I decided to take make some from scratch. I just scrubbed some potatoes (skin on), sliced them into fry-like shapes and coated them with a bit of olive oil, rock salt and rosemary. Into the oven they went. When the fries (or faux frites as Rorie likes to call them) were almost done, I started to prepare the fish. I took 3 fillets of sole and covered them in dried dill (both sides) and a bit of salt and pepper. I put a tablespoon of butter into a large cast iron pan and added the juice of 1 lemon and then the fish. I turned the fish over once and it cooked in no time (when the fish is opaque and starts to flake, then it's done). I heaped some fries onto the plate, added the fish and then poured over a bit of the pan juices for some ready-made sauce. It only seemed like a super fancy bistro dinner. We ended our meal with a board game and beers so there was no fancy pantsy-ness anywhere in sight!

simple supper

Two posts in one day? I must be procrastinating! True. This post, however, will not have any photos because my camera's batteries were low and we were just too hungry (and lazy) to wait for anything not food related.

I met Cornelius after work in the older Italian area around East Hastings and Nanaimo today. Our fridge was empty and I figured a walk in the cold, crisp weather would do us both good. The fact that we'd definitely find something for dinner was only par for the course.

red snapper fillets with a cornmeal crust
1 large red snapper fillet (any other fish will do)
1/2 c cornmeal
1 T flour
1 t hot smoked paprika
1 T cumin
salt & pepper
1 egg
1 T olive oil

Combine the cornmeal, flour and all the spices in a shallow bowl. Put the beaten egg in another shallow bowl. Dip the fish fillet in cornmeal mixture, then in egg, and again in cornmeal mixture. Heat oil in a large cast iron skillet, add fillets and cook over high heat, 3 to 4 minutes per side, depending on thickness. Serve on rice with lemon wedges and steamed broccoli.