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Fried Fish and Summer Corn Salad

Corn salad

Fish and corn
fish and corn

Jonah here.  I haven’t posted recently, but I was proud of this dinner I made a few weeks back, so I had to get on this blog and tell you all about it!

Recently, it was a nice warm summer day and I wanted to make something summery.  So I modified two recipes from Food52.com, a great site Annie introduced me to: Fried spiced fish and summer corn salad. You can find the recipes that this meal is based on here and here.

Fried Fish and Summer Corn Salad

Ingredients

Panko Fried Fish

4 fillets of fish (I used cod)
2 Tbl Chilli powder
1 Tbl Turmeric
1 tsp Black pepper
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp Lime juice
Salt to taste
Panko bread crumbs to coat
Oil for shallow frying

Summer Corn Salad

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
1/2 jalepeño pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
2 handfuls fresh green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 ears fresh corn on the cob, kernals removed
1 handful fresh basil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
3 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt, to taste

Instructions

Panko Fried Fish

Clean, cut and wash the fish. Prepare a thick paste with all remaining ingredients (besides the panko and oil) and apply it to the fish. Allow it to marinate while you prepare the corn salad, instructions below. When you’re ready to cook the fish, coat it with Panko, shallow fry in oil and remove to a paper towel-lined plate.

Summer Corn Salad

Heat olive oil in saute pan to hot, but not smoking. Add in shallots and peppers and a pinch of sea salt. Saute 2-3 mins over medium heat, until shallots start to get translucent. Add green beans and saute another 5-8 minutes, until everything is tender, but still has a crunch. Add corn kernels and saute 2-3 minutes. Take pan off of heat, tear basil into large pieces and stir to combine. Heat will wilt basil, but not over cook.

In a separate bowl, combine lemon juice, maple syrup, mustard and 3 tablespoons olive oil and a pinch of sea salt, mixing. Pour over corn and pepper mixture. Toss to coat all the veggies.

Put everything together in on a plate, and enjoy! Happy summer!

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Caprese Salad

Caprese Salad

In the summer, when the heirloom tomatoes are big and soft and perfect, there is perhaps nothing better to do with them than to make a caprese salad. For the past two summers, my little sister has worked at a tomato stand at the farmer’s markets in the greater Seattle area. And sometimes, if I’m lucky, when she comes to visit she brings me the most beautifully colored, gigantic, perfectly ripe tomatoes.

The other day after work, I went to the grocery store to grab some beer (it had been a long day – and I’m currently in love with Deschutes Brewery Chainbreaker White IPA… if you can get your hands on it, I highly recommend it). At the store, I saw this giant pile of tomatoes and almost bought some until I remembered I had my own even better ones at home. So I bought the freshest mozzarella I could (my local grocery store doesn’t carry mozzarella de bufala, but if yours does, that’s what you want), brought it home, sliced up the tomatoes and cheese, drizzled a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and voila: the most wonderful summer salad, great for an appetizer or snack. (If you feel like buying basil OR you’re one of the lucky ones who has it growing in their garden, throw a leaf on top).

Coconut Curried Fried Rice

Fried Rice

Fried rice

Wow. So this recipe happened a long time ago. I’ve recently started rehearsals for a show (my first professional show) in Portland – The Sound of Music! I’m a nun. I know, silly silly. But oh well. So between work, nannying, social media, and rehearsals, I have been a bit fried. Kind of like this rice. So it’s all very fitting.

This rice is easy and delicious. What else do I need to say? I found the recipe on A Cozy Kitchen, a blog I really enjoy. I’ve adjusted it a bit to include things I really like in my fried rice.

Coconut Curried Fried Rice

Ingredients

Turmeric Coconut Rice

1 1/4 cups water
1 cup basmati or jasmine rice
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 piece cinnamon stick

Curry Fried Rice

1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tablespoon green or red Thai curry paste
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
3/4 cup frozen peas
1 can pineapple chunks
1 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1 firm or extra firm tofu, chicken, or other protein (optional)
soy sauce

Instructions

Turmeric Coconut Rice

Combine all ingredients in a rice cooker or a pot and cook. When rice is ready, remove the cinnamon stick and either use immediately or you can refrigerate for a few days until you’re ready to make the fried rice.

Curry Fried Rice

Have all of your ingredients prepped and ready to go when you start as the process moves a little quickly. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet or wok. Add the eggs and cook on medium-high heat. When the edges of the eggs begin to set, gently flip them over or just scramble them, if that’s easier for you. Once the eggs are cooked, remove them from the pan and cut into pieces or strips (that step isn’t necessary if you scrambled them). Wipe the wok clean with a paper towel.

Heat the rest of the oil on medium heat. Add the carrot and cook for a minute, then add the garlic and curry paste and cook for a minute, stirring constantly. Add the rice, peas, and pineapple and cook until heated through. Stir in the egg strips, soy sauce and lime juice.

Meanwhile, slice up your tofu (or chicken or other protein) and cook it to your liking in some Asian influenced sauces. I like to do a little soy sauce and fish sauce or hoisin sauce… the possibilities are endless.

Serve the rice with the tofu, and season with soy sauce and sriracha if you like it hot!

Candy for Grown Ups (or Roasted Tomatoes)

roasted tomatoes

Every summer, I get excited about the produce that will soon be available and all the delicious things I can make with it. I’ve already started with the rhubarb. I am waiting impatiently to go to Sauvie Island and pick strawberries. Soon there will be peaches and nectarines aplenty for me to use for things like salsa, smoothies, pies, etc. The other thing I love? Tomatoes. My little sister worked at a tomato stand at various farmer’s markets in Seattle last summer, and is slowly teaching me the joys of all these different weirdly colored tomatoes. But my favorite thing to do with tomatoes is to season them a little and roast them in the oven forever. And last week I got antsy. I couldn’t wait for the perfectly ripe, soft tomatoes to arrive at the markets. So I went to New Seasons and bought a bag of not-the-ripest roma tomatoes. I left them in our fruit bowl for a few days to soften up, and then I made roasted tomatoes.

Simple Roasted Tomatoes

Ingredients

Tomatoes (any kind will do – I usually go for just regular old vine tomatoes or romas or whatever is prettiest looking)
Olive Oil
Garlic
Salt
Dried basil and/or oregano

Instructions

All of the amounts of the ingredients above are based on your personal taste. If you like garlic, use a bunch. If you are trying to cut back on salt, don’t use it. They’re also great without the basil or oregano.

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. If you have more time to cook, you can heat your oven to 250 degrees. Drizzle some olive oil into a large baking dish. Slice your tomatoes in half and, if you want, cut out the little stem bit. Rub the tomatoes sliced-side down in the olive oil, then flip them so the sliced-side faces up. Mince the garlic and sprinkle it over the tomatoes. Now sprinkle on some salt and whatever other seasoning you want (this is the time for the basil or oregano if you’re using it). Now here’s the fun part: set it and forget it. Throw the suckers in the oven and let them cook for 3-4 hours. I took these ones out at 4 hours because we were leaving the apartment, but they probably could have gone another 30 minutes. You’ll want to check on them after the 3.5-4 hour mark, as the way they cook will depend on the kind of tomatoes and the temperature of your oven. When they’re caramelized and cooked to your liking, remove them from the oven.

I suggest letting them cool enough to eat one before using them for anything else, just so you can taste heaven. After enjoying one all by itself, the rest is up to you: cut them up and put them on a pizza or in a salad, throw them in your food processor or blender for soup (I suggest looking up a recipe so you know what else to add) or pasta sauce. Also, the oil that is still at the bottom of the pan is delicious, so scrape this into whatever container you’re saving them in so you can use it too. These things are amazing. The kids I nanny for didn’t like tomatoes until I made these; I made a giant dish of roasted tomatoes, and they were almost gone by the time their mom got home from work. That’s how hard it is not to eat these all up.