Sasha's Kitchen: Cod with Slaw, Salsa Verde and Plaintains

Palo Santo is one of Park's Slope's delicious restaurants that my husband and I always enjoy going to.  I adapted this delicious and healthy fish restaurant from the New Brooklyn Cookbook, where the recipe hails from Palo Santo.  I wasn't able to get bluefish, so I adapted the recipe for cod.  It was still delicious and I really loved the salsa verde, plantains and slaw with the fish.  This take a bit of time to make, but not as long as you would think.  The end result is a beautiful, colorful and healthy display - a perfect meal for cheering up on a gloomy day!

Cod with Slaw, Salsa Verde and Plantains
Slaw
1/2 head small red cabbage, cored and shredded
1 scotch bonnet pepper, seeded and minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 T red wine vinegar
2 T extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Salsa Verde
10 oz green tomatillos, husked and rinsed
1/3 cup minced chives
1 cup minced cilantro (original recipe called for two but I used less)
juice of one lime
1 T extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste

Plantains
3 very ripe plantains (I used two)
1 T melted butter

Fish
two 8 oz cod fillets (original recipe called for 6 8oz bluefish fillets)
1/4 cup canola oil
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 425.  To make the slaw, combine the cabbage, pepper, garlic and vinegar and olive oil in a large mixing bowl.  Season with salt and pepper and set aside to marinate.

To make the salsa, use a paring knife to make an X on the bottom of each tomatillo.  Blanch in boiling water for a few seconds until the skin starts to split and then plunge into an ice bath.  Peel, discard skins and seeds and chop the tomatillo.  Combine with the other ingredients above for the salsa verde and set aside.

Roast the plantains on a rimmed baking sheet at 425 for about 20 minutes until they begin to puff and burst.  Then cut them and coat with the melted butter.  Bake until golden brown, another 5-10 minutes.

To prepare the fish, season with salt and pepper.  Prepare an ovenproof saute pan and add the canola oil  and heat.  Cook 2-3 minutes, and then place fish in oven to finish cooking about five minutes until it is opaque in the center.

Sasha's Kitchen: Cod with Slaw, Salsa Verde and Plaintains

Sasha's Kitchen: Pan Seared Salmon with Pumpkin Seed Pesto

This new salmon recipe is the perfect recipe for a week night - one I came across that is simple and delicious from my monthly subscription of bon appetit magazine.  You can find the original recipe here on their website.  This recipe is lovely and seasonal with the pumpkin seed pesto, but perfect for those nights when you just don't have the time to cook a complicated meal.  The pesto is delicious, and would be perfect on chicken, steak and vegetables.  But it works nicely with some high quality organic salmon as well!

Pan Seared Salmon with Pumpkin Seed Pesto
2-4 6-8 oz filets of salmon
2 1/4 tsp plus 1/4 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup shelled unsalted pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup firmly packed cilantro
1/2 tsp cracked coriander seeds (I used dried coriander powder)
1/2 garlic clove
1 T lime juice
kosher salt and black pepper
1 lime, cut into wedges.

Heat the 1 1/2 tsp oil in a nonstick pan and saute the pumpkin seeds for about 2 minutes until they are brown and pop.  Transfer to a paper towel.

Pulse in a food processor the pumpkin seeds, coriander, cilantro and garlic.  Add the lime juice and oil and water, pulsing after each addition to emulsify.  Season with salt and pepper and more lime juice if desired, and voila - there's your pesto.  It's that easy!

Heat the remaining 1 tsp of oil.  Season the fish and cook on both sides until just opaque in the center, about 3-4 minutes on each side.  Serve hot.

Sasha's Kitchen: Pan Seared Salmon with Pumpkin Seed Pesto

Potato & Herb Crusted Striped Bass with Mustard Cream Sauce

Here in New York city, including Brooklyn, we are hunkering down for Hurricane Irene and hoping we don't get flooding from our backyard when the storm hits. I plan on baking some breads tomorrow - banana bread and blueberry bread. I'm worried about flooding and wind damage and all kinds of other unpleasant weather events and am bummed to have to be missing a friends wedding due to the weather out of town this saturday night.

At any rate, I want to share a simple fish dish that I have made the last two weeks, with two different types of fish, striped bass and Australian barramundi. This dish is very simple, it just requires breading the fish in dried potato rather than breadcrumbs, and coating it with a selection of herbs, before pan searing the fish and serving it over green beans.  I bought a box of dehydrated potato flakes and mixed it with fresh thyme, oregano and a bit of parsley. Then I dredged the fish in egg and coated with the potato and herb batter. I didn't measure the herbs precisely, but you really can't use too much for a recipe like this.  I put it about a tablespoon of each!

Thanks to my loving mom for the terrific idea for this recipe, which she said was loosely inspired by something she saw on the Food Network.

I served the fish with a mustard cream sauce. Mix 1/2 cup of heavy cream with three tablespoons of dijon mustard. Simmer and stir until thickened, while adding 1/2 a tsp of cornstarch to enable the thickening of the sauce

Potato & Herb Crusted Striped Bass with Mustard Cream Sauce

Sasha's Kitchen: Tilapia Fish Tacos with Peach-Mango Salsa

Peaches are one of my favorite foods of the summer. I incorporate them into just about everything - grilled peaches with barbecued meat, salads, pies, cobblers, you name it. They are also a key component of my fruity salsas in the summer months. Recently I made some delicious tilapia tacos with a savory peach salsa that was delicious and healthy - full of vitamin C.

Sasha's Peach-Mango Salsa
1 mango diced
2 large peaches, diced
1/3 cup red onion, diced
2 T lime juice
1/2 diced jalapeno pepper

Sasha's Tilapia Fish Tacos (serves two)
2 filets of tilapia, skinned
1/2 cup mirin or sake
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 T sesame oil
2 T fresh ginger
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Marinate the tilapia for about 12 hours (a whole day is usually good). Then grill or bake the fish. After the fish is cooked to your liking, break it up into small pieces with a fork. This should be very easy as it will just fall apart. Serve in corn tortillas with salsa and a bit of fat free sour cream and lowfat cheddar cheese.

Sasha's Kitchen: Tilapia Fish Tacos with Peach-Mango Salsa

Sasha's Kitchen: Miso Glazed Salmon with Passion Fruit-Ginger Glazed Carrots

I really find cooking, and especially baking to be cathartic. When there are other things that are really giving me trouble or that I am struggling with in my life, it provides such a good release, and distraction. Sometimes the more I bake, the more it helps relax me from some of the other things going on. People wonder why I cook so much even during the week, and really that's the explanation. Anyhow, recently I tried this new salmon dish - it sounds complicated - miso glazed salmon with passion-fruit-ginger glazed carrots and creamed mashed potatoes, but it's really not that difficult. It makes a lovely, full dinner with side dishes, and is do-able on a busy week night. The ginger glazed carrots came out really well for my first time making them, as I was quite pleased. I may try to fine tune this recipe in the future to see if I can make ginger glazed carrots without any butter at all - but they were oh, so good.

Sasha's Sockeye Salmon with Passion Fruit-Ginger Glazed Carrots and Creamed Potatoes


1/3 cup white miso paste
1 T sesame oil
1 T canola oil
1 T honey
3 T rice vinegar
3 T soy sauce
sesame seeds
1 lb mini carrots
1 cup passion fruit juice (you could also use orange juice)
3 T butter
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3 T sugar
2 T grated ginger
2 lb bag new potatoes or small red potatoes
1 /2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
 4 T creme fraiche or fat free sour cream

To prepare the  miso glazed salmon, combine the miso, sesame oil, canola oil, honey, rice vinegar and soy sauce with a whisk. Using a brush, coat the salmon, sprinkle with the sesame seeds, and bake/broil the salmon as desired.

To prepare the carrots, in a saucepan, add the carrots, fruit juice, sugar, cinnamon and ginger. Bring to a boil. Then simmer until reduced and the carrots have a nice glaze to them. The liquid should be mostly gone at this point and the carrots should be cooked al dente - this process takes about 20 to 25 minutes.

To make the potatoes, cook the potatoes by adding to a large pot and covering with water, adding a pinch of kosher salt. Bring to a boil and boil for about 10-15 minutes. Then mash the potatoes with a fork or (as I did ) in the KitchenAid stand mixer. Mix in the fat free sour cream or creme fraiche, garlic and chopped parsley.

Sasha's Kitchen: Miso Glazed Salmon with Passion Fruit-Ginger Glazed Carrots

From Amasea's Kitchen in Sun Valley: Cheap but delicious tilapia

Yeah. I got laid off on June 13.

Not much to say about that, except I understand industry-wise why it happened, it totally sucked, and there might be a nice silver lining in that I was planning to get a freelancing career started anyway so this could be the kick in the pants I need to do it sooner rather than later.

Another possible silver lining? I've been thinking about learning how to bake bread for several years now, and even got an excellent cookbook/explanatory book about it a few years ago for Christmas that I haven't used as much as I'd hoped. So with time on my hands, a good instruction manual, a lot of fear and a vanishingly small amount of pastry self-confidence, I may move forward with this project soon. Never fear, I'll keep you posted if I do.

Today, though, I cooked what may be the cheapest fully realized dinner of my life (assuming meals of ramen and reheated chicken wings aren't a fully realized dinner, that is).
It started when I went to Atkinsons' in Bellevue, which has quite the section devoted to those whose appetites are of the Hispanic persuasion. Whole (cleaned, scaled) tilapia were on sale. I bought two...for $2.42. Yep, you read that right; I could have bought four and still spent less than a Subway sandwich. How could I resist that, especially after having seen some excellent depictions of the cooking of whole fish on Top Chef and other such shows?

I pulled one out of the freezer two days ago, and have been researching recipes ever since -- although I have a small amount of whole-fish experience that primarily consists of catching, gutting and grilling little lake trout, these tilapia were slightly frightening. They did have clear eyeballs though, which I've heard is a good indication that the fish is fresh (or freshly frozen). And it didn't smell "fishy" even two days after defrosting (though I did cut the fish open farther than the way it came to me, because the open space wasn't big enough to hold much of the filling I had chosen for this first experiment -- I recommend a sharp fillet knife for this).

So this is the recipe I decided to start with. Because if I'm ever in a kitchen without butter, garlic and onions, shoot me. And I'm growing flatleaf parsley out back (it survived the frost that killed my tomatoes and peppers). I made a few substitutions, like the "tuscan-style" herbed butter+olive oil mixture I bought accidentally a few weeks ago, and oh, twice or three times the garlic. I was suspicious the garlic would be too much when I smelled it cooking, but actually the raw Vidalia onions I used were more prominent in the final product's flavor profile than the garlic. And can you really ever have too much garlic?
I will say that, for aesthetics, the broiling is pretty important. Though the fish was fully cooked when it came out of the 400-degree oven, it still looked like it did when it went in -- broiling gave it the lovely browned bubbliness you expect from some properly cooked fish.

As a side, I cooked some jasmine rice in our rice cooker, and some black rice on the stove, with a bit of S&P and butter. Topped the cooked fish with a little fresh chopped cilantro and a final light sprinkling of salt, and...

...it was *really* good. I like tilapia's ability to take on the flavor of whatever you cook it with -- and I'm already plotting what I'll do with the other fish waiting in the freezer -- but seriously? Onion, garlic, butter, lemon and parsley on fish? How could that NOT be good? You do have to watch out for the bones, including both ribs and backbone, but they're pretty big so unless you eat super-fast or unregarding for unsavory bits they shouldn't be a problem.

I think there are more $1.21 whole tilapia in my future.

From Amasea's Kitchen in Sun Valley: Cheap but delicious tilapia

Sasha's Kitchen: Hawaiian Style Ahi Poke

Ahi Poke was one of my favorite dishes from the time I spend in Hawaii several years ago on our honeymoon. I've occasionally gotten it outside of Hawaii since but it's never really the same as it was in Maui but if the ahi tuna quality is good, it can still be delicious. This is my husband's favorite Hawaiian dish, and although I have made plenty of sushi, I've never given Ahi Poke a try. But, I came across this recipe in one of my favorite Jamie Oliver books. The result was fresh and delicious since I used high quality sushi grade bluefin tuna. Not quite the same as locally caught Hawaiian ahi during my honeymoon, but still healthy and delicious. The tuna for this recipe is basically raw, but it does cook slightly (or at least change chemically) due to the lime juice in the recipe. Now that I know how delicious this recipe was, I plan to try some Hawaiian poke recipes in the future until I can get back to the lovely 51st state.

Jamie Oliver's Asian Infused Tuna (Ahi Poke) (adapted from the original recipe in The Naked Chef Takes Off)
1 lb tuna (bluefin if possible) - sushi grade
1 ripe avocado, peeled and diced
juice of 4 limes, to taste
1/2 diced jalapeno (Jamie uses a bit more)
3 T sesame oil
4 T coconut milk
handfull of fresh cilantro, finely chopped
2 T sesame seeds
pinch of freshly chopped ginger
soy sauce to taste (I added about 1/2 tsp)

Finely dice the tuna and mix with the res of the ingredients. You should serve immediately, on either toasted french bread (like Jamie suggests) or on crackers, which is how I served it.

Sasha's Kitchen: Hawaiian Style Ahi Poke

Sasha's Kitchen: Salmon En Papillotte Salad

This is a healthy salmon salad that is just delicious, and is the perfect meal for a weekday dinner that is both health and satisfying. Next time I make this, I might try adding some crunch string beans as well. The combination of the tangy fruits and avocado with the salmon, salad and dressing is scrumptious and the perfect after-work meal that doesn't take to long to prepare. The En papillotte method of preparing salmon results in a moist and delicious fish that is preferable to many other methods of preparation which dry out the salmon. It's also quite easy, as well.


Sasha's Salmon En Papillotte Salad
2 6-8 oz filets of salmon, skinned
mesculin field greens or other mixed greens
1 mango, peeled and diced
1/2 cup of sweet corn
juice of one lemon, plus 2 T lemon juice
zest of one lemon
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, diced
1/2 cup canola oil
3 T balsamic vinegar
parchment paper

First, season the salmon filets with salt and pepper. Combine the lemon juice and zest of one lemon in a mixing bowl. Use this to coat the salmon filets and wrap the seasoned salmon with the parchment paper. Fold in 2 sides of the parchment paper, then fold in the other sides so that all the edges meet at the top, then twist the edges together to seal. Take the packages of salmon and place in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes at 350.

Combine the lettuce, avocado, mango and corn into salad plates. Add the salmon. Top with a dressing made of canola oil, balsamic vinegar and the remaining lemon juice. Enjoy!

Sasha's Kitchen: Salmon En Papillotte Salad

Sasha's Kitchen: Coconut-Lemongrass Sole with Pineapple-Mint Salsa

A healthy fish recipe to start the new year. I made this recipe using sole, but you could use any whitefish, such as halibut or Chilean Sea bass. This is a simple, tropical inspired fish dish, which was perfect for a busy week night. My favorite way to cook sole is a sole meuniere, which involves a thick butter and white wine sauce. But this is almost as good and much healthier. This was my first meal that I made after returning from vacation in Mexico where the food was nothing special (we stayed at an all-inclusive place, so there was a lot of it, but nothing to brag about). Today was the first day back at work for the new year after a long vacation over the holidays, always a tough day to come back from vacation!

Sasha's Coconut Lemongrass Sole with Pineapple-Mint Salsa


2 filets of sole (or halibut, flounder or chilean sea bass)
1 1/4 cups of light coconut milk
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 T lime juice
1 tsp sesame oil
2 T diced lemongrass
1 cup diced pineapple
2 T diced mint
1 diced green pepper
1 tsp lime juice (for the salsa)

Combine the coconut milk, soy sauce, lime juice, sesame oil and diced lemongrass to make the marinade. Season with salt and pepper.  Add the fish and allow to marinate for 4 hours.

Combine the diced pineapple, mint, lime juice and diced pepper for the salsa. Set aside. Cook the fish - you can add a little but of butter if you like (I didn't this time though).  I cooked the fish at 300, for about 30 minutes. Top with the pineapple-mint salsa.

Sasha's Kitchen: Coconut-Lemongrass Sole with Pineapple-Mint Salsa

Sasha's Kitchen: Wasabi-Crusted Tuna with Orange-Ginger Sauce

I have been meaning to try encrusting fish with wasabi powder for some time, since I have tried some delicious wasabi crusted fish at restaurants. I was originally considering using salmon, but I realized that the asian flair would work better with tuna (in my opinion anyhow). I decided to encrust the fish with a mixture of wasabi and Japanese style panko bread crumbs, which are the best kind of bread crumbs to use for just about anything. I paired the tuna with a carrot-ginger sauce, to which i also added a pinch of wasabi powder for a bit more intense flavor. This was a really rewarding meal - not that difficult to make, but a really spectacular culinary result that makes it sound much more involved than it actually was. I love the way the various Asian and American influences jive with the tuna in this dish. It was a great combination of flavors!

Sasha's Wasabi Crusted Tuna with Orange Ginger Sauce & Paprika Potatoes

For the Tuna:

2 medium-sized tuna steaks (I used blue fin tuna)

1 T rice vinegar1 T wasabi powder
Panko breadcrumbs
1/4 tsp soy sauce
1 T water
1/2 T diced garlic

For the Sauce:
3 minced shallots
1 T minced ginger
2 T orange zest
1 cup dry white wine (cooking wine is fine)
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
pinch of wasabi powder

For the Potatoes
New potatoes
sugar snap peas
2 T of paprika
1/4 cup orange juice

To prepare this dish, combine all of the ingredients for the fish marinade except for the panko and mix well. Coat the tuna steaks with this mixture, before dredging them on all sides so they are covered with the panko. Cook on a grill pan with some canola oil on both sides until they are cooked the way you like it (personally, I prefer mine to be medium), which depends on the thickness of the tuna steaks.


To make the sauce, combine the shallots, ginger and orange zest with a bit of olive or canola oil and cook until the shallots are soft over medium heat for a few minutes. Add the white wine and cook for about 5 minutes, allowing the wine to reduce (the alcohol will burn away). Add the orange juice and heavy cream and cook on low to medium heat, simmering, until the sauce is reduced and has thickened a bit (this isn't an incredibly thick sauce, as I did not want to use butter or cornstarch). When the sauce is done, add the sesame oil, soy sauce and wasabi to taste. The sesame oil is key - it adds another wonderful Asian flavor to this dish.

To make the potatoes, cut up some new potatoes and add to a pot with the sugar snap peas. Cook in some canola oil with plenty of paprika and a bit of orange juice until the potatoes are done - which could take about 25 minutes.

Sasha's Kitchen: Wasabi-Crusted Tuna with Orange-Ginger Sauce

Eric's Kitchen in NJ: Pan-seared Salmon Salad

The first time I had a dish similar to this was at one of my favorite bars in Jersey City, Iron Monkey. I think it was a special on their menu a few months ago, when I still lived there. It paired capers and green olives (which I normally don't like), with mandarin oranges and pan seared salmon and the contrast of flavors was fantastic. This was my first attempt to recreate the dish and I think it came out very nicely.

Ingredients (served 4):
3 salmon fillets
4 bowls worth of spring greens (half a gigantic package)
1 small bottle of capers
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
most of a jar of whole food's garlic stuffed green olives
about 6 peeled mandarin oranges split into sections
Chef Prudhomme's seafood magic
Some cracked black pepper

Dressing (all measurements are approximations I just add things until it tastes good!):
1 Lemon's worth of juice
1/4 cp. Olive Oil
1 tbsp White Wine Vinegar
1 tsp Pure maple Syrup (you can use sugar or honey as well)

Basically I mixed the dressing ingredients in a container until they tasted good with a slice of cucumber and then pan-seared the salmon in a little butter and olive oil, flipping it once and taking out of the pan when firm, making sure not to overcook it. I dislike dry or overcooked salmon quite a bit. In the end the sweet citrus flavors contrasted very nicely with the more bitter flavors of the capers an olives and it was a great summer dish. I also highly recommend some fresh mandarin or clementine oranges instead of canned ones.

Eric's Kitchen in NJ: Pan-seared Salmon Salad

Sasha's Kitchen: Food & Wine Pairing: Maple-Glazed Tuna with Potato-Pear Salad and Wagner Vineyards 2007 Riesling

Last  night we had a wonderful three course Saturday night dinner.  I made a wonderful bruschetta using black truffle oil for the appetizer, and then we had a recipe from Marcus Samuelsson's cookbook, New American Table, maple-glazed tuna with pear potato salad.  For dessert, we had my newest cupcake recipe, some pretty little coconut cupcakes.  For today, I'm writing about the tuna, but the other recipes will appear on the blog soon.  The truffle oil was such a nice addition to my cooking and well worth the $15 I spent on the bottle.  I plan to use it in making truffle creamed spinach next week.

At any rate, I am a huge fan of Marcus Samuelsson's culturally infused style of American cooking, with all the cultural influences from his own background as many of the different cultural and culinary traditions that make of America.  I'm not sure that this recipe has too many of those unique influences, but it is still a great recipe.  The salad was the perfect pairing for the sweet glaze on the tuna.

Wagner Vineyards' 2007 Dry Riesling, from a wonderful Seneca Lake winery in the Finger Lakes Region was a great pairing with the fresh fish and the sweetness of the maple-mustard glaze. I love so many of the finger lakes wineries because of my affinity for excellent Rieslings - and they make some of the best in the world.  Wagner's Riesling was crisp with plenty of citrus, and hints of apple or tropical flavors as well.  It was a nice smooth Riesling with a gentle sweet finish.  We really enjoyed it - thanks for sending me the wine, Wagner :)

Maple-Glazed Tuna with Pear Potato Salad (from Marcus Samuelsson's New American Table)
Fish
1 T dijon mustard
2 T maple syrup (use the real thing, please)
juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup olive oil
Four six oz tuna filets (I only made 2, but made the full salad and glaze anyhow)
salt and pepper
4 cilantro sprigs

Salad
1/4 lb olive oil
1 lb baby yukan gold potatoes (cut into quarters)
2 bosc pears (I used three for extra pear flavor)
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 clove of garlic
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
salt and pepper
juice of 1 lemon
1 1/2 cups of shredded baby spinach (the original recipe only called for 1 cup, but I prefer a bit more)

First, whisk together the mustard, maple syrup, lime juice and a tablespoon of olive oil and set aside for the glaze.

Season the tuna with salt and pepper on both sides.  Heat 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the tuna and cook for 30 seconds on each side. This should be enough to sear the outside of the tuna, but the inside should remain raw.  It goes without saying that to make a recipe like this you must use the freshest, high quality tuna. I also sliced the tuna before serving, but that was mainly for presentation.

Remove the fish from the pan and glaze with the maple-mustard sauce on both sides. Garnish with the cilantro and serve with the pear-potato salad.

To make the salad, heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat.  Add the potatoes and saute until golden, about 12-15 minutes. Add the pears, red onion, garlic, almonds and curry powder and saute another five minutes.  Toss with the lemon juice and baby spinach after removing from the heat.



This was a delicious combination!

Sasha's Kitchen: Food & Wine Pairing: Maple-Glazed Tuna with Potato-Pear Salad and Wagner Vineyards 2007 Riesling

Eric's Kitchen in NJ: Ginger Glazed Mahi & Scallops Risotto

For Mother's Day my Mom and Grandma had me make them both of these dishes as their 'gift'. I had actually never cooked Mahi Mahi before but knew my Mom loved it so I looked up some recipes, considering what she already had in the house and settled on this one. As for the risotto, my Mom was more specific, saying she wanted, seared scallops with mushrooms, and leeks.

Let's start with the Mahi Mahi.

Ingredients (served 4-5 but we had two dishes):
2 large Mahi Mahi fillets
3 tbsp honey
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 bunch of scallions, chopped
1 tbsp garlic, minced (2 cloves)
1 tbsp ginger minced
2 tsp olive oil
Cracked black pepper

Mix everything but the fish in a bowl and then add the fish and let marinate for 20 minutes in the fridge. After that, heat some light olive oil (takes high heat better my Mom taught me) in a pan and then add the fish, skin down, without the marinade and let it brown until crispy before turning. I only turn anything once and after I turned it, I let the other side sear for a minute or so before adding the marinade and letting it cook and thicken until the fish was done. The recipe suggested cooking the fish first and the marinade separately probably to let the fish cook completely without rushing it or to properly thicken the sauce but I ignored or forgot this and it turned out great anyway. The sauce had an amazing flavor! Also check out Sasha's Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa.

On to the risotto!

Ingredients (served 5 and there was a ton left over):
2 lbs. of sea scallops
2 cups of dry arborio rice
8 cups of 'better than bullion' mushroom stock (I forget how many tsp of bullion this is)
1 leek, chopped
1/2 a bunch of scallions
1 package of baby bella mushrooms, washed and thinly sliced
cracked pepper
1/2 cup white wine, we used a chardonnay
1 tbsp white truffle oil

Start by sauteing the veggies in olive oil & white truffle oil until soft while heating the broth and then add the rice and the wine and continue to stir until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid. Then add the hot mushroom broth and stir until the rice absorbs it, maybe 1/2 a cup to a cup at a time until the rice is soft. Definitely taste it as you will know when it's done. It took around 45 minutes but we had it on the wrong burner to start without enough heat or it may have been quicker. Also we had a cup or so of broth left over but considering how much risotto we had left over, we will probably use it when re-heating. Here are a few other risotto recipes on this blog.

In the meantime, sear your scallops with butter and some white wine to de-glaze the pan as the butter starts to darken and dry out. Keep from adding TOO much butter or wine as it will prevent the scallops from properly searing. Also don't crowd the scallops in the pan as this can also prevent them from browning. I love seared scallops and added a picture mainly because they looked nice...

It took about 4 rounds of searing the scallops while Jenn stirred the risotto until everything was done so we set aside the scallops until the end and then mixed it all together. Everything turned out very nicely and my Mom and Grandma were both very happy! Now if I can only get them to read my blog entries!

Here are some other seared scallop recipes:
Sasha's seared scallops with Papaya, blood orange vinegrette and carmelized shallots
Sasha's scallops with organic mushrooms, spicy coconut lemongrass-thyme broth and pomegranate seeds
My fettucine with scallops and mushroom cream sauce

Eric's Kitchen in NJ: Ginger Glazed Mahi & Scallops Risotto

Sasha's Kitchen: Chilean Sea Bass with Heirloom Tomatoes

Chilean Sea bass is one of my favorite dishes to prepare. Usually, i prepare it using an Asian inspired marinade and papaya salsa. But this is a really versatile fish that can prepared a  umber of different ways. I love how soft, flaky and delicate Chilean Sea Bass is and it is a special treat. I understand that it is not the greatest fish from a sustainability point of view, but there is really nothing else out there quite like Chilean Sea Bass.

I decided to prepare the fish simply in a butter and white wine sauce, with fresh heirloom tomatoes, which are just coming into season to showcase the fresh tomatoes alongside the fish.  The sauce is really a thrown-together variation on a French classic beurre blanc, but unlike a more traditional Julia Child beurre blanc, the sauce has a lot less butter and is heavier on the white wine component.  It is lighter, and in my view, plenty enjoyable for flavorful meal.

Sasha's Chilean Sea Bass with Heirloom Tomatoes
Two 7 oz filets of Chilean Sea Bass
3/4 cup white wine
1/2 stick of unsalted butter
1/2 lemon
2 zucchini
assortment of heirloom tomatoes

To prepare the dish, heat the butter and melt it in the white wine. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees and put the fish on a baking sheet with the heirloom tomatoes and zucchini. Drizzle several tablespoons of the sauce on top of each piece of fish. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon on top. Bake the fish for about a half an hour, until the vegetables are cooked and the fish is nice and flaky.  Serve with a bit of the reserved sauce.  This is a lovely fresh spring dish that was enjoyed almost as much as my asian-inspired signature Chilean Sea Bass dish.

Chilean Sea Bass

Sasha's Kitchen: Chilean Sea Bass with Heirloom Tomatoes

Eric's Kitchen in NJ: Asian Pan-seared Halibut

I'm staying at my Mom's house for the next three months while Jenn is up in Jersey City until we can get out of our lease. The only other person at my Mom's during the week is my Grandma and we decided to make Halibut this past Wednesday night. It was very easy and tasted fantastic!

Ingredients (serves 3):
3 halibut fillets
1/2 a bunch of scallions, chopped
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp of soy sauce
2 tbsp of white wine (we used a Reisling)
a nice coating of sesame seeds on one side of the fish

First we marinated the fish in all the other ingredients for about 15 minutes. Then I got some olive oil hot in a pan and added the fish, keeping the marinade aside while the fish seared. I only ever flip any meat or fish once I flipped it and gave it a few seconds to sear the other side (toasting the sesame seeds). Then I added the marinade and let that cook as well since it was on the raw fish. I covered it for a minute or so as well to help ensure it would be tender. I'd say no more than 2-3 minutes on each side for a 1 inch thick fillet. It came out perfectly flaky and delicious and was a pretty healthy meal in the end.

We served it with some chopped, stir fried bok choy. Same ingredients without the sesame seeds and added some turkey broth maybe half a cup at the end. Please keep in mind any measurements in my recipes are probably not completely accurate as I guesstimate.

Eric's Kitchen in NJ: Asian Pan-seared Halibut

Sasha's Kitchen: Mahi-Mahi Fish Tacos With Mango Salsa

One of my best culinary related memories from our honeymoon in Hawaii was the sensational fresh Hawaiian fish - from the Mahi-Mahi to the baked opakapaka to the ahi poke, all of the fish was fresh catches of the day and some of the catches were fish that you can't find back on the mainland. Mahi-Mahi is one of the few fish that I ate in Hawaii that I am sometimes available to buy quality filets of locally.  So, this dish perhaps takes be back just a tiny bit to those meals at Mama's Fish House and the other great places we ate on that trip. Just an aside, I would love to make fresh ahi poke, but without the local Hawaiian fish quality, I don't think I could do it justice. That might not stop me from trying at some point anyhow though.

Mahi-Mahi makes an excellet soft taco, even though the fish is quite good, because it is a bit tougher than say salmon of chilean sea bass.  I did an asian inspired marinade, very similar to the marinade that I use in my signature Chilean Sea Bass dish.  It came out really well and my husband, who generally prefers the softer, flaky fishes, was pleasantly surprised.

Sasha's Mahi-Mahi Fish Tacos With Mango Salsa

Marinade
1/3 cup mirin (or sake)
1/3 cup pineapple juice
1/3 cup low sodium soy sayce
1 T minced fresh ginger
1 tsp dried lemongrass
1 tsp red pepper flakes
10 oz of Mahi-Mahi, skinned

Salsa
1 mango diced
2 T lime juice
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 to 2 T of diced cilantro

To prepare the fish, I allowed the marinade to soak for about two hours. Then, I grilled the fish, after cutting into small pieces, on my grill pan. You could, of course, grill the fish as one large piece and cut it up afterwards.  To prepare the salsa simply dice and combine the ingredients.  Allow the salsa to chill for about an hour before serving so that the flavors have a chance to mix appropriately. Serve in flour tortillas with a bit of sour cream.  Yum!

Mahi-Mahi

Sasha's Kitchen: Mahi-Mahi Fish Tacos With Mango Salsa