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: Lobster Paella

Eric made a delicious looking Spanish paella which he shared in a recent guest post, which inspired me to create my own version of this dish. I must confess that I don't have the guts to prepare live lobster, so I used a fresh lobster tail from Fresh Direct instead. My favorite aspect of this paella dish was the incorporation of the lobster, as well as the saffron, which is my absolute favorite luxury spice. I always keep saffron on hand in small pouches (you only need a little, which is good because it is quite expensive) - the flavor is exquisite and it is absolutely essential in making the sofrito portion of this dish. This time, I used saffron that my mom brought back from her trip to Spain in June. The following recipe was created by me, after analyzing several recipes from the Food Network.  I used a spicy chicken sausage in lieu of chorizo, since I don't eat pork, but feel free to use chorizo instead if you prefer. This recipe makes a large amount of food (probably 6 servings), and I don't suggest cutting it in half since it requires so many different ingredients.

Sasha's Lobster Paella
3/4 lb skinless, boneless chicken cutlets
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 chorizo sausages, or spicy chicken sausage variants
1/2 of a large spanish onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, diced
handfull of fresh parsley, chopped
1 15 oz can whole tomatoes, cut up
3 cups arborio rice (or Spanish rice)
5-6 cups of low sodium chicken stock (I used organic store bought stock, but you could also make your own if you have time)
generous pinch of saffron threads
1/2 lb of shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 8 oz lobster tail
lemon for seasoning
1 T paprika
1 T dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

First, combine the paprika, oregano and some salt and pepper to taste and rub the chicken on all sides with this spice mix. Cook the chicken in a pan in olive oil and set aside. Using the same pan (you can add more olive oil if you need to), cook the chorizo or chicken sausage and then set aside.

Next, make the sofrito in a deep pan. Saute the spanish onion, garlic and parsley for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Then add the tomatoes and cook for another minute or two.  Add the arborio rice at this point, and mix well to coat the rice. Add the saffron threads and about 4 1/2 cups of the chicken stock. Simmer for about 15 minutes until the stock reduces and the rice cooks, absorbing the liquid. Next, add the chicken (cut up into small pieces first), the shrimp and the chorizo. Stir, as the ingredients will mix and the shrimp will cook. You will likely need to add another cup or so of chicken stock to keep the rice from sticking. Continue cooking until the rice has the right consistency (don't overcook or it will become sticky) and the shrimp are fully cooked. Next, add the meat from the lobster tail and allow that to cook for a few minutes. Remove from the heat and garnish with parsley and a bit of lemon.

Sasha's Kitchen: Lobster Paella

Michelle's Kitchen in Toronto - Snapper and Mango Salsa with Rice and Beans

With the heat still blanketing the city and me in my element with it, I decided it was finally time to have company over to my apartment now that I have a brand new balcony! After disclosing my plans to finally start cooking again, my insanely talented musician friend Jimi Maze (check out his music here) agreed to play guinea pig in my epicurean experiments. A few days earlier, he very graciously brought me a pepper plant as a house-warming gift. Add this to the Pakistani mangos I had bought earlier that week in Little India and of course, this got my creative juices flowing! How could I use these gorgeous colourful peppers and sweet juicy mangoes in some way? My brain immediately supplied the answer; mango salsa!

Given the heat, I decided that serving something light was a good idea so I headed to my local megamart to see what kind of fish they had. Once that was done, I needed a side dish. Given that I was already on a South American path with the salsa, I decided some rice and beans were in order! My mother had brought me some farm-fresh corn the previous day and I decided to incorporate it into my efforts. I added a salad with homemade dressing and dinner was set!

Mixy's Mango Salsa

1 mango, peeled and chopped into cubes
1 avocado, chopped and cubed
1 green onion, chopped fine
3 tbsp black beans
1/2 red or yellow pepper, seeded and diced
1 bird's eye chilli, seeded and chopped fine (or leave the seeds for extra heat)
1/4 - 1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp chipotle
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped fine
1 lime, squeezed
dash of lemon juice

Mix everything together and use right away or let it hang out in the fridge for 30 minutes to meld the flavours. Make sure to add the citrus before you add the avocado and mix it in so the avos don't turn brown. This is lovely over fish but I also had leftovers of the salsa over pork chops that I covered in chutney, seared and popped in a 400F over for 10-15 mins which was delicious! Jimi and I had the salsa with snapper that I put in a 375F over for 17 mins with some olive oil, lime juice, salt and salad herbs.

Add to this my side of rice and beans that I cooked in my rice cooker. If you don't have one (and you really should!) just cook the basmati according to the package instructions with all the ingredients in the pot at once; easy one-pot wonder!

Beans and Rice - Michelle-style

1 ear corn, corn sliced off the cob (use raw)
1/2 can black beans
3/4 c basmati rice
3/4 c water
3/4 c chicken stock
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 lime squeezed for juice
1 bay leaf

Put everything in your rice cooker and hit "start". I felt it needed more salt, but Jimi said his was great, so salt to taste.

I love entertaining and plan on doing much more of it before the summer is over. Must take advantage of my brand new balcony and killer view!

Michelle's Kitchen in Toronto - Snapper and Mango Salsa with Rice and Beans

Molly D's Kitchen in Seattle: Shoyu Chicken

For the first three years of college I ate in Haverford’s dining hall. Despite the institutional portions and budget the staff tried hard to please the students, so there was a decent salad bar and some notably crave-worthy baked goods (anise bread—who knew?) and desserts (those seven-layer bars!), but it wasn’t enough, at least not for me. Unlike friends from New Jersey or Boston, I only got home to Hawaii twice a year, and I knew I could stick it out and be okay if I could only taste some local flavors, to have a bit of Hawaii in Philadelphia.

From home I brought bags of li hing mui and lemon peel and tried not to go through them too quickly. (At least I never had to share: I learned that no one else wanted any after the first hall-mate who gamely tried a piece spit it out immediately.) I nibbled at the edges of my culinary heritage by going out for Japanese or Thai or dim sum, and for a few moments in those restaurants I felt the warmth of cozy belonging. While studying for finals I sequestered myself in my dorm room and ate long rice from a small rice cooker, sprinkling in jarred nori furikake for flavor. It wasn’t ideal, but it gave me what I needed at the time.

When I eventually had my own kitchen, I learned to travel into Philly’s Chinatown for ingredients. They were still fairly basic, but I had a much wider variety of noodles and rices and some of the other items that I had been carting back from home. I was only just beginning to learn to cook, so I made a lot of rice and fried Spam, waiting for trips home to satisfy most of my cravings.

Finally (and after I had moved to Denver) I was ready to be a bit more ambitious, and one of the first recipes I tried was for shoyu chicken. It’s extremely easy to make, the ingredients can probably be found even in small-town supermarkets, and it works well as leftovers. While I didn’t eat much shoyu chicken growing up, it’s a staple in my house today. My recipe is a minor variation on this one, from the excellent recipe portion of alohaworld.com.

Shoyu* Chicken

6 skin-on** chicken thighs

5/8 c soy sauce

1 ¼ c water

¼ c brown sugar

3 green onions, cut into 2 inch pieces

3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

2 slices ginger, crushed slightly

1. Place chicken in a large pot skin side up. Add all other ingredients and bring to a rapid boil. Lower heat to medium low and cover with lid.
2. Cook for an hour, turning chicken over halfway through to cook on other side.
3. After full hour, taste the sauce and adjust to your liking. If it’s too sweet, add more soy sauce; if it’s too salty, add more sugar.
4. Chicken is done when it is just about falling off the bone. You can leave it in longer than an hour if it’s not quite there yet.
5. When it is done, I recommend removing chicken from pot, turning the heat up to medium, and reducing the sauce down a bit to make a better sauce. Serve with rice.

*When I was growing up we called all soy sauce by its Japanese name, shoyu.

**You can take the skin off some of the chicken thighs if you’d like to cut back on the fat, but do leave some there for flavor.

Molly D's Kitchen in Seattle: Shoyu Chicken

Molly D's Kitchen in Seattle: Congee

One of my favorite comfort foods is rice porridge with Chinese flavors. When I was a kid in Honolulu we called it jook (the “oo” is pronounced as in “book”), which from what I can tell from my limited research is a Korean or alternative Cantonese name. Now that I’m on the mainland it seems the more common name is congee, so that’s what I’m calling it here.

My parents never made congee when I was little, so I only ate it in restaurants, often with dim sum. Muddling through Seattle’s dreary winter, I recently decided to make congee a more regular part of my repertoire. It’s warm and filling, cheap and easy to make, and can accommodate a wide variety of ingredients and toppings.

My congee is adapted from this recipe. (The blog is worth a read, too.)

Here is the absolute base recipe:

Congee

1 c. short-grain rice

8 to 10 c. water

Wash rice and put it in a large pot with 2 cups water. Place over high heat until water boils, then add another 4 cups water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about 1½ hours, stirring occasionally and adding water as necessary (about 2 to 4 cups more).

Serves 6-8

Of course, you won’t want to eat it like that; it’s extremely bland, and congee can be much more interesting. This is what I did to make the bowl pictured above:

Congee

1 c. short-grain rice

2 c. chicken broth

6 to 8 c. water

4 or 5 shiitake mushrooms

handful dried shrimp

Wash rice and put it in a large pot with stock. Place over high heat until stock boils, then add about 4 cups water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Soak 4 or 5 dried shiitake mushrooms in hot water until softened. Remove stems and thinly slice. After congee has been simmering for half an hour, add mushrooms and shrimp to pot along with a pinch of salt.

Simmer for another hour, stirring occasionally and adding water as necessary (about 2 to 4 cups more).

Serves 6-8

I topped this bowl with:

• Fried tofu cubes
• Slices of lap cheong
• Fried carrot slices
• Sesame oil
• Dark soy sauce
• Sliced green onion
• Crispy fried shallots

(So many of these were fried because I was already frying the tofu.)

But honestly, you can mix in or top with anything you like. Any or all of the liquid can be veggie or meat broth. In the step when I added the mushrooms and shrimp, you could also put in ginger, garlic, bits of meat, or anything else you want to simmer with the rice and flavor the whole congee.

Other toppings might include:

• Flavorful sauces like black vinegar, chili paste, or soy sauce
• Meats and veggies like char siu, blanched broccoli, or raw tofu
• Garnishes like crispy noodles, pork floss, or bits of onion

You could even use non-Chinese ingredients based on what you have in the fridge and pantry, I just wouldn’t suggest combining preserved soybeans with leftover chicken mole, you know?

Molly D's Kitchen in Seattle: Congee

Sasha's Kitchen: Sushi Rolls (And The Story Of How I Got Engaged)

Sushi has long been one of my favorite foods, since I first had sushi in 1998 on a date junior year of college. As it would turn out, about four years ago, my husband actually proposed to me (with a personalized fortune cookie) the first time that we made our own sushi in our apartment in the Upper East Side. Since then, making sushi has always been a special tradition in our home.

The key to making good sushi maki (rolls) is the quality of the fish that you start with. If you are not using fresh, high quality sushi grade fish, don't bother because you will be disappointed in the result. Further, given that I was making this at home with raw fish, I needed to feel comfortable that the fish market I was using was top notch and that there wouldn't be unpleasant repercussions.

When we lived in Manhattan out fish source was Wild Edibles, in Murray Hill, which in my opinion is the best fish market in Manhattan, with the friendliest service. At the time that I shopped there, they had both sushi grade salmon and tuna for sale. I would still purchase all my fish there today, but for the fact that we moved to Park Slope in Brooklyn about a year and a half ago.

Fortunately, we found a fish market here in Park Slope that might be even better, Ocean Market. Ocean market carries sushi grade salmon, tuna and yellowtail, and all are excellent. Plus, the prices are extremely reasonable and a huge drop from typical Manhattan fish prices. Yet the quality and selection of fish is much better than at virtually any Manhattan fish market.

When you purchase fish for sushi, you do not need to buy a lot of fish. In the beginning, I always wound up with a lot of leftover fish. In total, about 8-10 oz of fish total is more than enough for two people, as you do not need to use a very large amount of sushi in the rolls (just a long strip) and the rice-component of the rolls is very filling. When you purchase the fish, you should have the fish market personnel thoroughly skin the fish for you and mention that you are making sushi, so they will direct you to the freshest (and most expensive, in all likelihood) sushi grade fish. Further, you may want to direct that they cut the fish in a certain part of the fish that has a fairly even thickness and texture (i.e. from the middle).

I have made four basic types of rolls that we have enjoyed - tuna, salmon, shrimp tempura (cooked) and yellowtail. I always enjoy making sushi rolls with my husband, as it is fun to do together and also great to do with friends, or to invite friends over to partake in homemade sushi.

The first step is to make the rice. You must use special sushi rice, which is different from regular rice. I usually make about 2 cups, which is plenty for four people. First, the rice mush be carefully rinsed in cold water. The rice needs to be rinsed over and over (for about 10 minutes or so) until the cold water that you are using to rinse it runs clear.

Put the rice in a saucepan (2 cups) and add 2 1/2 cups of cold water and heat until boiling. Cover and simmer like you would ordinarily cook rice, and do not lift the lid during the simmering process.

While the rice is cooking, I prepare a sauce in a saute pan of 3 T of sushi rice vinegar, 1 T of sugar and 1/2 tsp salt. This is then mixed with the prepared rice, once it has cooled. You can alter this recipe a bit to taste, but this is a pretty standard recipe. Once mixed, the rice is fairly sticky.

For the next step, you will need to purchase a sushi rolling mat (about $4)and of course some nori, which is the black seaweed paper used for rolling sushi. It is very tricky to explain in writing how to roll the sushi, but is is pretty easy to get the hang of it with a little bit of practice. Here are some instructions that may help a bit.



Basically, place the nori on the mat the long way. Spread the rice on the surface of the nori, fairly thin (but thick enough to evenly cover the nori) about 1/4 of an inch thick. Whne you are spreading the rice, you should make sure the shiny side of the nori is facing down. Only spread the rice about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way to the top of the nori, leaving the top portion without any rice spread on it.

Then cut a strip of your favorite fish and place horizontally across the roll. You may also want to add other ingredients - a mixture of wasabi and mayonnaise is perfect to make a spicy tuna or salmon roll and we usually add either avocado or cucumber.

If you want to make shrimp tempura rolls, you should shell and de-vein the shrimp and then coat in egg and panko breadcrumbs, before frying it. Then you can put pieces of the shrimp tempura inside your roll. I have also made delicious rolls using two kinds of fish.

The next step is to roll into one long roll using the sushi mat, by folding the mat over and tucking the nori's end. Use the mat to squeeze the sushi roll once you have rolled it into a log and you can modify the shape with your fingers.

Next, place on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to cut off the ends. Cut the roll in half and cut into about 6-8 sushi sized pieces.

I would suggest purchasing some nice sushi plates for serving the sushi (we have several sets), and making sure to have plenty of wasabi and soy sauce handy.

If you start with quality fish, this should be a lot of fun to make with your spouse, family and friends, and great to do with a group. I just wouldn't necessarily expect your first sushi experience to turn out quite as well as mine did and end in a marriage proposal :)




(I should note that I actually did not cook tonight, as we went out for dinner, so the sushi in the photos are pictures that were taken about two months ago.)

As always, if you have questions, comments or suggestions, please comment and one of our writers will get back to you shortly.

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Sasha's Kitchen: Sushi Rolls (And The Story Of How I Got Engaged)

Molly D's Kitchen in Seattle: Butter Mochi

American pastries are usually made with wheat flour, which can provide great flakiness or a delicate cakey crumb, but if you’ve lived elsewhere and love food, you know that there are other textures out there. I grew up in Hawaii, and one of my favorite local treats is springy, soft rice-based mochi.

I know some mainland residents believe mochi is the ice cream-filled dessert they get at Japanese restaurants, but that’s mochi ice cream. Mochi is that little rice flour dumpling encasing the ball of ice cream. At its simplest, Japanese mochi can be made with just rice that is pounded into a paste and shaped, or it can be sweetened, flavored, and colored and wrapped around bean paste or peanut butter or fruit or anything else you want.

In Hawaii, cooks are also used to other Asian and Western influences, so we eat Chinese gau, deep fried poi mochi, and mochi banana bread. Most home cooks nowadays use mochiko flour instead of pounded rice, and the dishes they make can be sweet or savory and steamed, baked, microwaved, or fried for different results.

Hawaii’s Best Mochi Recipes is one of my favorite local cookbooks and a great source of all of the above. Today I wanted something eggy, and the butter mochi recipe on page 9 fit the bill. I've adapted it for my own, low-sugar needs, but if you want the beloved dense, crusty treat instead of the bready option I made, use two or three cups of sugar instead of my lowly 1/2 cup.

Butter Mochi

1 lb mochiko *

1/2 c sugar (see note above)

1 Tb baking powder

½ c butter or margarine

5 eggs, beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1 can coconut milk (12-oz)**

Melt butter and set aside to cool. In large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients. Mix until batter is smooth. Pour into greased 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake at 375° for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool and cut into squares. (If your knife sticks, try a plastic take-out knife.)

*I’ve included an Amazon link for mochiko in order to show you the box, but in many areas of the U.S. you can buy mochiko at Asian grocery stores, and in Seattle (and our last home in Denver) I could pick it up at the closest supermarket. By the way, brown rice flour will not produce the same result at all. It's a fine product, but it's not for mochi.

** The coconut milk does not add coconut flavor; you can sprinkle toasted coconut on top if you like.

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Molly D's Kitchen in Seattle: Butter Mochi