Beyond The Stoop - Life in Jersey City: Fish

Showing posts with label Fish. Show all posts

Monday, August 25, 2014

"clay pot" salmon recipe

with all the excitement around here lately, hung and i have been slacking in the kitchen. it's not that we haven't been cooking, it's just that we haven't been cooking anything new or, well, presentable. i mean, ramen noodles with egg and spinach isn't exactly rocket science (but gosh does it taste good!). a rotisserie chicken sammich? come on, guys, you don't need instructions on that….

but now that things have calmed down a bit, we (hung) have been stepping things up. the last visitors left on monday, and we took advantage of our day off of work to put some thought into dinner. a trip to the new-to-us asian grocery store on route 440 in jersey city called " asian food " (clever) led us to make a vietnamese dish called "ca kho to," which is essentially clay pot fish or caramelized fish. salmon steaks are cooked in a caramel-y sauce with all the best flavors: sweet, salty, spicy. the dish is quick and easy, the hardest part is pulling the ingredients together if you don't normally cook asian food, notedly fish sauce and black bean chili sauce. both can be found at nearly any asian grocery store or online (see here and here). though there are so many different ways to achieve the key flavors for clay pot fish, we've been experimenting a lot with the black bean chili sauce, which isn't exactly a traditional ingredient for vietnamese food. however, we find that it's the perfect punch of flavor for SO many asian dishes, and like the depth it adds to clay pot salmon. this dish is served with white rice and steamed vegetables, no seasoning needed because the best flavor comes from the sauce from the salmon! we liked this so much that we ate it twice this week. are you hungry yet? lets go.

jamie oliver's sweet pea fish pie

i know i know, the name makes it sound pretty darn nasty, like something that should come from a prison cafeteria or something (but not big red's, or course! who else is excited for season 2 of orange is the new black !?)

honestly though, this stuff hit... the... spot... we invited friends over to try this out with us on sunday. although a little hesitant, they agreed, and agreed to bringing over delicious boozy drinks (to wash it down if it was terrible, i suppose)

jamie oliver posts daily recipes on his facebook page , first thing in the morning (for us eastern-standard-timers), and for a moment just about every morning, i wonder why i packed a salad for lunch. this was the first time we tried a recipe of his, and it looks like we shall be making many more!

sweet pea fish pie is sort of like a creamy fish version of shepherd's pie, or you could think of it as a fish version of pot pie without the crusts. we used salmon and mahi mahi for the fish, and eye-balled most of the big ingredients (more carrots are good for you anyways!) although the dish is a lot of mush, it pairs well with some thinly sliced, toasted sourdough bread very well (and a sous vide poached egg, we're fancy over here). when you top of the meal with a pitcher of champagne/vodka/sorbet, it's a solid boozy brunch at home.

i can envision so many variations to this meal that would make it equally as tasty:

use chicken or turkey instead of fish.
make it vegetarian-friendly by using mushrooms instead of fish.
toss the potatoes and peas for biscuits on top!
add more spinach (it seems like a lot, but seriously it wilts down to nothing)
use kale instead of spinach for some added texture
skip the potatoes, skip mashing the peas, toss the peas in the creamy mixture, and add pasta!

the recipe shows you such a great technique for making a creamy stew-like mixture that you could do almost any variation that sounds good to you.

any way we can add fish to our diet is a good thing. high five to jamie oliver for giving us another great recipe to add to the list!

photo 2014-02-19fishpie2_zps1559d4ae.jpg

photo 2014-02-19fishpie2_zps1559d4ae.jpg

(it's obviously not pretty, but trust me one this one, it tastes amazing)

click here to find the recipe for sweet pea fish pie, and go make it! it's a prefect recipe for a sunny sunday, and makes great leftovers too ;)

cheers!
jenn

Thursday, October 10, 2013

recheck your adult tastebuds.

(if you follow me on instagram, you might have already seen this)

that, my friends, might be the best thing mr p has made this year.
that, my friends, is tuna noodle casserole.

(jenn, are you crazy? i feared that stuff as a child and vowed never to eat it again)

if that's what you think, i think you need to recheck your adult tastebuds . i know most of you who "hate" tuna noodle casserole, have memories of your parents making you sit at the table until you ate it, or maybe you dumped ketchup all over it to hide the taste, or drank a big gulp of milk with every bite to wash it down without actually tasting it... i, too, was once a victim of food fear from my childhood tastebuds ....until i actually tried these things i used to hate. i didn't actually "hate" tuna noodle casserole (at least i don't think so? i actually liked all the hamburger helper and tuna helper we used to eat all the time) that's because the mushrooms were hidden with no slimy chunks.

i used to “hate” mushrooms, leafy greens, and all fish that didn’t come in perfectly frozen rectangles covered in breadcrumbs. now i love mushrooms, put leafy greens in all things that i can (we’ve recently been going through a family-sized containers of arugula and kale from BJ’s each week), and i’ll eat almost any fish (i’ll even eat it raw!)

after i saw this article on thekitchn.com , mr p sent me the link for the “ grown-up tuna noodle casserole ” and we both couldn’t wait to get home to make it. i bought the ingredients we needed, and went for a run while mr p made the dish.

he followed the recipe exactly, with the following healthier exceptions:

- he tripled the amount of kale (why not? we might even add more next time)

- he used 2% milk instead of whole milk (because that's what we had)

- he used 4 cans of tuna instead of 2 (more extra lean protein!)
- he used non-fat, plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream (and added more for more tanginess!)

go ahead and try out this recipe on your adult tastebuds... they might actually surprise you!

cheers.
jenn

Friday, May 25, 2012

feeling posh

as much as i love to watch shows like sex and the city and think how cool it would be to live a posh life in NYC like them, whenever i go to a "posh" swanky place like they always go to, i realize it's TOTALLY not me.

so, when my friend jo wanted us to go to the chandelier room at the W hotel in hoboken, i was really not up for it (but trying to be social, i agreed).

first, though, i made a pit stop at the historic downtown special improvement district (HDSID) farmers' market on grove street (it's AT the PATH station, so i couldn't avoid it!!) and snagged some whoopie pies from the sassy sweet treats table before heading to hoboken.

yummers.

well... i was certainly PLEASANTLY SURPRISED at how fun i had at the chandelier room!! well, we were there for happy hour, so it might have been a different scene than the typical saturday night crowd, but it was still cool, with all the fancy brightly colored, velvety furniture, crazy huge modern artwork hanging from the ceiling, and amazing views of NYC just across the hudson river.

i was also expecting crazy expensive drinks (to reflect the crazy expensive hotel room prices!!), but they had a happy hour special where most drinks and all appetizers are just $3!! can't beat it! so thanks, jo, for making me go to your fancy shmancy posh lounge :D

but, eating apps is not enough for dinner, so we decided to head over to the new location for biggie's clam bar! we tickled our tastebuds with thai chili calamari, mussels in white sauce, clam po' boys, oysters, and burgers (total fatties last night). we even snagged a guinness glass to boot! (not stolen, they GAVE it to us since we told them i broke 2 of mr p's glasses at home... p.s. THEN they told us they get them for FREE from the vendors! so, don't feel bad about "borrowing" beer glasses anymore!! haha)

mr p is about to eat his raw oysters on the half-shell!

we couldn't even eat half of our meals after eating so much before the real food came out!! (fatties for 2 days i guess since we're eating so many leftovers!)

so, besides the mega MONSOON i experienced on the walk to the W (in my new favorite super flat sandals, mind you) last night was a blast :D ...and i totally recommend BOTH the chandelier room AND biggie's clam bar if you are ever in hoboken (and they are relatively close to the PATH train if you are coming from NYC!)

cheers.
have a happy (and safe!) memorial day weekend :D

Monday, April 9, 2012

vietnamese summer rolls

Summer Rolls:

boiled shrimp (quartered)

boiled pork loin (julienned)

cucumber (julienned)

mint

cilantro

cooked rice vermicelli noodles

rice paper rounds

Peanut Sauce:

hoisin sauce (3 parts)

creamy peanut butter (1 part)

water (1/3 part, or more depending on the consistency you want)

Instructions (Summer Rolls):

put each ingredient in a bowl (rice papers in a pile) and set out a large bowl of room-temperature water, so that you have a "station" and a space to fill the rolls.

dip 1 rice paper in water.

shake off excess water.

fill 1 side of rice paper with remaining ingredients.

wrap up rice paper tightly like a burrito (roll up end near the goodies, fold in sides after 1 full wrap, then roll up the rest of the way).

try to do this quickly, as the rice paper will get really slippery and difficult to roll up after a few minutes! it's ok if the paper feels stiff and sort of dry while you are folding, it will eventually get to the right soft texture after it sits for a few minutes after you've made the roll. also, don't let the rolls touch each other, or they will stick together and you won't be able to get them back apart!!

Instructions (Peanut Sauce):

mix ingredients together :D

enjoy! we surely did! we took them over to our friends' house for an "international dinner".

christina's italian bruschetta

mr p's vietnamese summer rolls

nick's hungarian chicken paprikash

jo's indian potato cakes (don't remember the name!! JO?? help here!)

jo's potato cakes dressed with plain yogurt, red onions, green chutney, and siracha!

the spread

we had such a great time!! LOVE nights like this :D

toodles.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

happy quarter-century to me

(so... you turned 25?)

that is correct!

to celebrate mr p and i decided to use up one of our livingsocial.com deals and try out a tapas place called Euzkadi in the lower east side of manhattan.

intentionally making reservations a bit later, we anticipated grabbing a drink at eataly's new rooftop beer garden, birreria. i assume it has a great view of the city and union square park, though we didn't make it in, because there was a waiting list even for just the BAR! i guess it's a popular place :( guess we'll have to make reservations next time! yes, reservations for a bar? just for a drink!? (only in NYC)

we ended up finding another cozy bar that had a guinness chalkboard sign out front (ideal curb appeal of our ideal bar) bartender was super nice, great ambiance, music not blaring, not TOO crowded (and only after a bit of google maps investigating did i conclude this place was called the globe). we enjoyed ourselves a nice brooklyn lager and guinness and headed over to euzkadi.

(how can you NOT love him, when he looks THIS good?)

when i walked into this place, i knew we picked a good place! it was PACKED! good thing we made a reservation! it was a cozy, low-lit, inviting restaurant with friendly wait staff who treated us like friends instead of the stiff properness of snooty restaurants (sticking tongue out with finger going in mouth like a 5-year-old child showing how icky mushrooms taste)

the FOOD though... so good. we ordered 4 tapas, i chose a vegetarian dish and meat dish, while mr p ordered a seafood dish and meat dish:

Bomba de Queso de Cabra
Goat cheese and honey croquettes

Albondigas de Pato
Roasted duck meatballs in a sofrito duck demi-glace sauce

Vieras a la Navarrica
Searedscallops in sofrito and Serrano ham

Cordero a la Plancha
Roasted lamb in a mushroom raisin demi-glace

(respectively)

i win the award for best choice of food!!!

(for once! mr p almost ALWAYS wins!)

(duck meatballs and scallops... meatballs SO good , scallops good, but nothing special)

(grilled lamb and goat cheese balls... lamb good, but those goat cheese balls totally took the grand prize)

the goat cheese though... yum ... it belonged on the dessert list. it was goat cheese balls in a light layer of bread crumbs, deep-fried, then dunked in honey (with some extra honey at the bottom of the bowl for extra indulgence).

mr p dared me to eat a spoonful of honey, to which i quickly replied "you're DARING me to do that?" as i picked up the spoon and dove it into the layer of honey "i don't need to be DARED ."

"babe, don't do that... we really don't need the extra sugar, those things probably have 500 calories a piece anyways"

...thanks, mr p, for ruining the dish! (ha, not really, i'm totally ordering them again!).

the dishes were pretty small though, just enough to feel satisfied, but not over-stuffed.

(i.e. just full enough for dessert at pinkberry before heading home!)

(i love me some delicious original tart froyo!)

after mr p had me convinced he didn't get me anything for my birthday because i didn't TELL him anything that i wanted (in time anyways), he surprised me at home with jimmy choo perfume, and a dress, and 2 belts (and an $8 hat from one of those cheesy sidewalk stores in the LES) :D and he picked it ALL out himself! (good job babe :D)

thanks to all of you for the birthday wishes!

cheers to a great weekend ahead :D

Sunday, February 26, 2012

just another weekend

this past weekend was a much needed good food-, good friends-, lots of relaxing- kind of weekend .

friday: happy hour at Qi, a thai restaurant in manhattan on 14th between 5th and 6th avenues with great happy hour specials and drinks at Lilium, the bar beneath the union square W hotel. all of course with some great friends :D then, surprise late night visit to McD's by the grove st path on the way home.

(don't worry... i made up for the bad eating habits by running 5 miles the next morning)

saturday: night in new brunswick with the girls from work at the stress factory comedy club. fat sammiches (from a knock-off R-U-Hungry? "grease truck"... it closes literally as we walked up to it) and george st ale house first, though, for a few drinks and food.

never thought woman engineers could be so stylish , huh?

(check her out here)

sunday: deli sammiches before star wars half-marathon round two (though we only got through episodes I and II, and will probably watch episode III during the week...) mr p made a delicious pork chop dinner for us, zack, and the neighbors :D ....if you want to make your next pork chop amazing, just top it with a mixture of whole-grain mustard and real maple syrup (your significant other is sure to be impressed)

those are the highlights of OUR weekend... tell us about YOURS!

toodles.

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