Spicy tuna salad with chard stem pickle, cabbage, and cilantro

A few days ago, I made a batch of Marisa's chard stem pickles. Now -- as usual when trying out a new kind of pickle -- the question is how to use them.

I started off with this experiment in tuna salad. After all, dill pickles or gherkins are a pretty standard ingredient in classic tuna salad. So why not give it a try with a different variation? I like to eliminate the usual mayo and go for a more oil-and-vinegar-oriented salad, which meant that these tangy, slightly sweet pickles were a perfect match.

To complement the rice wine vinegar in the pickle brine, I added hot mustard and cilantro. Together with the tuna and vegetables, this made a nicely spicy, herbal, and complex tuna salad.

Now I want to do another tuna salad experiment with my refrigerator pickled beets. Of course, in that case, everything will be BRIGHT FUCHSIA. But that's okay. Who doesn't like bright pink food?

On that note, because they're just too gorgeous, this is what the chard stems looked like just before I brined them up. So intense.

Spicy tuna salad with chard stem pickle, cabbage, and cilantro
Makes enough for 3 open-faced sandwiches or 2 substantial closed sandwiches.

1 cup shredded cabbage
1 medium carrot
1-2 scallions
2-3 tbsp chard stem pickles
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1-2 tsps hot Chinese mustard
1 tbsp grapeseed oil or other oil of choice
1 5-oz can tuna
salt, pepper

Shred your cabbage and deposit it into a mixing bowl. Sprinkle with a few shakes of salt and mix with your hands, squeezing gently, to soften the cabbage a little.

Prep and finely chop your carrot, scallions, pickles, and cilantro. Add them to your bowl, along with the mustard, the oil, the drained contents of your can of tuna, and salt and pepper to taste. You may also wish to add in a little of the pickle brine for some extra vinegar kick.

Mix everything together well, taste and correct seasonings, and you're done. Super easy.

I had my spicy tuna salad in a couple of open-faced sandwiches on toasted sourdough, with a small green salad on the side. It was fantastic. Needless to say, this is definitely going on the list of things to make when the fridge is full of pickles (i.e. always).

Do you have a fridge full of homemade pickles? How are you eating them this month?

Summer garden tuna salad

The CSA box demands that we eat as many vegetables as humanly possible all summer long. This is simultaneously great and a problem.

Salads are the obvious solution, but an all-veg salad is usually not a sufficient lunch. Unless you want to make another entire dish, some sort of protein is necessary. I chose eggs -- we still have abundant CSA eggs -- and tuna, and decided to wake up the flavors with sriracha sauce, garlic, and fresh basil, scallion, and parsley. For some extra textural interest, I used a mix of cooked and raw vegetables. Altogether, this worked out super well.

If you aren't a tuna person, you can always leave it out and up the hard-boiled eggs to two, or sub in the cooked and drained beans of your choice. I'd probably go for white beans first, but any kind you like that maintains reasonable structural integrity should be fine. If you want to use other fish, maybe try fork-mashed sardines or a smoked fish of your choice. And of course, you can make this completely vegan by switching out both tuna and egg for beans. It's all good.

Some lime or lemon zest wouldn't be unwelcome, either.

Summer garden tuna salad
makes 2 meal-sized servings

1 egg
1 cup broccoli florets in bite-size pieces
1 cup green beans in bite-size pieces
3/4 cup shredded/julienned cucumber
3/4 cup shredded/julienned zucchini (I used gold bar squash)
1 clove garlic, minced and pulverized thoroughly
1-2 scallions or a large handful of their greens, finely chopped
large handful basil leaves, finely chopped
large handful parsley, finely chopped
1 5-oz can tuna, drained
1+ tbsp olive oil
several good squirts sriracha or other hot pepper sauce to taste
salt, pepper
any other veg you think sounds good in this circumstance
salad greens to serve

Put your raw egg in a small pot of water and set it on to boil. Cook for 9 minutes at a simmer. Scoop the egg out of the water and put it in an ice bath.

While your water is still hot, add your broccoli and green beans. Bring the pot back to a boil and cook for 3 minutes, or until the vegetables are done to your liking. Drain, shock briefly in cold water, and drain again.

While you're waiting for the egg and cooked veg to cool enough to use, cut up your cucumber, zucchini, garlic, scallions, basil, and parsley. Add them to a mixing bowl along with your tuna, olive oil, sriracha, salt, and pepper.

When the egg is cool, peel and dice it. Add your egg, broccoli, and beans to the bowl. Mix thoroughly. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Serve on a bed of salad greens of your choice, with an extra drizzle of olive oil and a little more salt and pepper.

A spoonful or two of leftover salad, combined with mozzarella cheese and another dash of sriracha, makes a good quick quesadilla filling. The cucumber makes it a little drippy, but it's still delicious.

How are you eating your fresh summer vegetables?

Spicy tuna pasta salad with green beans, tomato, and romaine

A few weeks ago I found cans of tuna for practically the lowest price ever -- 66 cents each -- and grabbed a stack for future nearly-instant lunch endeavours. You know, like this one. Mixed with pasta and an assortment of garden veg, it was delicious, yet incredibly cheap. Definitely a win all around.

For veg, I looked at what was left of the garden. I know I'm not the only one who still has a windowsill full of slowly ripening green (and orangish, and actually red in some cases) tomatoes. This sounded like an excellent way to eat one. With a handful of the last beans -- a mix of plain green bush beans and scarlet runners -- I had a good mix of vegetables to spike my salad.

And why not serve the whole shebang on a bed of salad greens? Who doesn't like a little salad on salad action? You have to love the texture contrast of chewy tuna and pasta with super crispy, crunchy romaine. Even a soft butter lettuce would be great here, though. It just depends on what you have in the crisper.

In fact, practically any element of this salad can be switched out for something else. Butter lettuce is not the only option -- so are hard-boiled eggs, roasted beets, grated carrots, handfuls of sprouts, tiny broccoli florets, chickpeas, white beans, rice or quinoa, and as many or as few herbs as you happen to have on hand. Use what you have and make what you love.

Spicy tuna pasta salad with green beans, tomato, and romaine

chunky pasta of your choice
1 can tuna
1 clove garlic
the tail end of a bunch of cilantro or parsley
handful of green beans (cooked or raw; mine were raw)
1 small to medium tomato
olive oil, touch of vinegar, dijon or brown mustard
salt & pepper
sriracha sauce if you like it hot
romaine lettuce or your choice of greens, washed & dried

Start by putting on a pot of salted water and cooking your pasta. While it's cooking, prep the rest of your salad ingredients.

Drain your tuna and deposit it into a mixing bowl. Mince your garlic and herbs finely, slice your green beans into pieces (bite-sized if cooked, and very thin if raw), and dice your tomato; add all of these to the bowl. If you want to add any other vegetables, beans, eggs, herbs, etc., cut them up and add them too.

Dress your salad with a few glugs of olive oil. Season with vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper, and sriracha sauce to taste. When your pasta is done, drain it and add it to the bowl. Mix, taste, and correct the seasonings.

To serve, scatter a few handfuls of chopped romaine over your plate. Top with as much tuna pasta salad as you like. Garnish with some extra cilantro or a grind of pepper. Voila!

Everyone loves salad with even more salad on top.

What easy lunches and dinners are you making this fall?

Emergency tuna pasta salad

Sometimes -- like when you get home with approximately 35 minutes to make and eat lunch before the plumber is supposed to show up to fix your kitchen faucet -- emergency food has to happen. This tuna pasta salad is an excellent example.

This salad is 100% flexible, depending on what vegetables you happen to have kicking around your crisper or ready to eat in your garden. Use as much or as little as you like of practically every ingredient. Then nom it like a boss.

If you are in the no-meat camp, you obviously won't be using tuna here. I would probably go for some roughly mashed chickpeas or a couple diced hard-boiled eggs, but you should clearly feel free to experiment with whatever sounds good to you. And if you are in the no-pasta camp, rice or another grain of your choice would be an excellent substitute.

One standard can of tuna plus half a pound of pasta and as much veg as you like will make approximately two servings.

Emergency tuna pasta salad

chunky pasta of your choice
a can of tuna
cucumber
red pepper
green onion
fresh parsley
mesclun mix or other salad greens
olive oil
salt, pepper
dijon mustard

Put a pot of salted water on to boil. Cook your pasta while you're prepping the rest of your ingredients.

Drain your can of tuna and deposit it into a bowl.

Chop up your cucumber, red pepper, green onion, parsley, and salad greens. Add them to the bowl.

Season with olive oil, salt, pepper, and dijon mustard.

Check to see if your pasta is ready. When it's done, drain it and add it to the tuna and veg. Mix well. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Wow! It's done!

Now sit down and have some instant dinner. Or lunch. Or breakfast, if tuna salad for breakfast floats your boat.

What are your emergency back-up lunches?

Serious catch-up catch-all

Where am I? What's going on?

Someone got a nice fancy tray of surprise breakfast in bed. I made migas and coffee for ultimate delight.

Note that the tray was too small to hold an actual plate. As such, that is a very full salad plate.

If you have both leftover rhubarb syrup and a garden bed full of mint, you will end up making a mojito or two. Definitely very refreshing on a hot hot afternoon.

I also drank a good pitcher of iced black tea with spoonfuls of rhubarb syrup in each glass. VERY good idea. Possibly an even better idea than the mojitos.

LUNCHTIME.

This kind of melange is so typical that I don't normally bother to take pictures. Seared chicken sausage, green beans, summer squash, parsley, and some red pepper flake, all mixed up with a handful of spaghetti.

The leftovers were good for pre-dinner I'm-way-too-hungry snacking.

On Sunday afternoon we had more green beans for feast spectacular, along with the first apricots and nectarine of the season and a wedge of very crumbly raw aged cheddar.

There was also a baguette and a lot of hummus (not pictured).

Speaking of the first of the season, how about some peas? Boiled, drained, buttered, and eaten.

The tilapia was super simple too. Toss in seasoned flour, sear in butter, cut a wedge of lemon for garnish. The end.

What delicious dishes have you been throwing together and forgetting to post about?

Tilapia with smoked almond crust

Ok, y'all. I am back on the wagon. By "back on the wagon," I mean I am writing things. And yes, I am allowed to use the word "y'all" in good health & good conscience. I lived in North Carolina for a whole year!

I am also glad to hear that my MFA is standing me in good stead even 12 years after the fact. Thanks, guys.

So. Let's talk about nuts.

Every Sunday on my trip through our local farmer's market I make my way to the far back corner. That's where the almonds are.

I'm sure by now I've mentioned the amazing array of almonds at the farmer's market. There have to be at least 30 different spice mixtures. Cinnamon, toffee, sesame, citrus; cheddar, jalapeno, applewood, hickory. They're all out for the sampling, and the sample strategy works, because I regularly come home with a $6 container of fancy luxury almonds when I could totally get some ordinary roasted ones from the supermarket bulk bins. Still. These are better.

My favorite are all smoked. This time I got applewood.

They're delicious on their own, but they're even more delicious with something else.

Let's make some smoked almond-crusted whitefish, okay?

Smoked almonds! Beautiful white fish! Ten minutes of cooking! What's not to love?

Seared tilapia with smoked almond crust

smoked or roasted almonds
flour
salt, pepper
tilapia or other whitefish filet
butter

Finely chop a large handful of almonds per fish filet. You can use a food processor if you want to and have one, but otherwise, a knife will be fine.

On a shallow plate, mix your chopped nuts with a tablespoon of flour and a sprinkling of salt and pepper.

Wash and pat dry your filet of fish. Dip it into the dish of chopped nuts, pressing gently to coat. Turn it over and do the same to the other side.

Sear your fish in a hot frying pan with a pat of butter. The timing will depend on the filet's thickness. Mine took about three minutes per side. When the first side is cooked and the nuts are beginning to turn dark brown, carefully turn it over with a spatula.

Sear the other side until the fish is cooked through. Plate. Melt another pat of butter in the hot pan and pour it over your finished fish, if you like.

Eat your fish with a side salad or some sort of serious green vegetable of your choice. Lemon is not really necessary with nuts, but it can be delicious. It's up to you.

I am ok. How are you guys doing?

Spicy tuna melt with cilantro and sambal oelek

I haven't had a tuna melt in at least ten years. The last time I remember eating a tuna melt, I was in a bowling alley in East Lansing. White bread, mayo, american cheese--the works.

So what spurred me to make a tuna melt for lunch? I mean, besides that I wanted to actually use some of the emergency tuna I've had in the cupboard for who knows how long.

Well, I wanted to change up the traditional tuna melt, and transform it into something more interesting and less mayonnaisey. I wanted to make it a vehicle for interest and spice. Okay. So let's make the tuna salad component mayo-less, and dress it with a bit of olive oil instead. And let's use some of the big bunch of cilantro that's been hanging out in the crisper. And how about spicing it up with some sambal oelek and mustard? I was out of Chinese hot mustard, so I had to use dijon, but it worked nonetheless.

I can totally see adding a bunch of chopped mint and basil (either along with or in place of the cilantro, according to your cilantro preferences), and maybe even a few drops of fish sauce, for a more obvious Thai tuna salad concoction. I could also see adding some diced hard-boiled egg, for double protein and fat deliciousness. It's tuna salad; you can do whatever you want to it.

One can of tuna will make enough salad for two open-faced melts.

Spicy tuna salad

can of tuna
celery
carrot
scallion (or red onion)
cilantro
sambal oelek (or other hot chili paste)
mustard (dijon or spicy Chinese)
salt, pepper
olive oil

Drain your can of tuna and deposit it into a mixing bowl. Finely dice a stick of celery, a small carrot, and a scallion, and add them to the bowl. You can use more or less veg according to your preferences.

Rip the leaves off a couple stems of cilantro, chop them up, and add them to the bowl. Spoon in sambal oelek and mustard to taste, season with a bit of salt and several large grinds of pepper, and dress with a drizzle of olive oil. Stir it all up and taste it to make sure you're happy with all the proportions.

Voila! Spicy tuna salad.

To make it a tuna melt:

spicy tuna salad
bread
cheese

Put spicy tuna salad on your choice of bread. Cover with a few slices of the cheese of your choice. I used sharp cheddar, which is admittedly a bit weird with the cilantro and sambal combination, but it worked out admirably. The only other cheese in the house was goat cheese, and that's not what I wanted, so. I do think some spoonfuls of cream cheese could be deployed to good effect instead, though.

Heat up your tuna melt(s) in the toaster oven or under the broiler. When the cheese is melted and beginning to risp, you're ready.

Eat. I put a bit of extra torn cilantro over the top of mine, because CILANTRO, but that's really up to you.

Note that it's impossible to plate a tuna melt in a fancy manner. The extra cilantro was all I could manage. I mean, I guess a bed of greens could happen, but that would be pretty nonsensical, so I didn't bother. And anyway, who cares? It's a tuna melt. What I really needed was a wide stoneware diner plate with the traditional blue rim. I bet we could even plonk down some kimchi in place of the traditional slaw and dill pickle spear.

Now I want a set of diner plates. Great.

What traditional foods have you turned on ear lately?

Cilantro tzatziki

I have a new obsession and its name is tzatziki. Cucumbers! Yogurt! Garlic! YES.

I had yogurt sauces on the brain after the chole palak incident the other day. Sure, yogurt on curry is good--but wouldn't a sauce full of garlic and herbs be better? So when I found Erin's recipe for tzatziki at The Speckled Palate, I nearly ran straight to the store for cucumbers and herbs.

Tzatziki is usually made with dill. However, I had a big bunch of cilantro hanging around, so I decided to sub that in and see how it went. This was a very good idea, especially because all the dill I had was dried. If you love cilantro, give it a try! Of course, if you hate cilantro, the classic version with fresh dill is classic for a reason.

Let's talk for a minute about different dairy options. The original recipe called for half Greek yogurt and half sour cream. Honestly, I tend to use either plain runny yogurt or thick labneh for all my tart dairy needs, and frequently make my own labneh from the yogurt so as not to let multiple containers go bad on me. Making labneh is easy; all you have to do is drain plain full-fat yogurt in a fine-mesh sieve. I use a couple of little nylon sieves I found at Goodwill ages ago. However, if you want to use Greek yogurt and sour cream, go right ahead. Just know that I got amazing results using plain runny yogurt and home-drained labneh.

Cilantro tzatziki

a cucumber or two
1-2 cloves garlic
a big handful of fresh cilantro
3/4 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup sour cream or labneh
1 tbsp white vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Finely chop your cucumber. I'd recommend staying away from the waxed bulbous supermarket monstrosities in favor of thin-skinned Armenian, English, or Asian varieties. I used one big English cucumber; if your cucumbers are smaller, use two or three.

To leach some juice from your chopped cucumber, toss it with a little salt and let is sit in a sieve for at least ten or fifteen minutes. This will ensure that your tzatziki stays thick and delightful instead of getting runny from extra water content.

Finely mince a clove or two of garlic; pick and chop a big handful of cilantro leaves. In a large bowl, mix them with your dairy products, salt, pepper, olive oil, and vinegar.

After your cucumber has drained a bit, add it to the bowl and mix again. Voila! You now have a beautiful batch of chunky tzatziki.

What can you do with tzatziki? I threw several big spoonfuls of mine over poached salmon on a bed of spinach salad, which was delightful, but there are clearly a million other alternatives. With lamb kofte! With lentil kofte! Over falafel sandwiches! On a giant salad! With french fries! (I REALLY want to throw some of this batch in the blender to smooth it out and then use it on all the fries in the land. That may happen soon.) Otherwise, I've mostly been eating it in big spoonfuls on pieces of sourdough toast, for crunchy, garlicky, vegetable-packed results that are well worth the miniscule effort.

If you do want to poach some salmon or other fish to have as a full dinner-sized excuse for eating all the tzatziki, here you go:

Poached salmon

salmon filet
water
bay leaf

If you want to remove your salmon skin, do that first. Otherwise, just put your salmon in a high-sided pan and cover with water. Add a bay leaf. Bring the whole business to a boil, and then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook until the salmon is opaque and can just flake at the touch of a fork. This should take somewhere in the neighborhood of five minutes, depending on the thickness of your filet. Drain your salmon and eat it with tzatziki and spinach salad (or, you know, salt, pepper, & lemon).

And because it's just about Valentine's Day, be sure to share your garlic breath with the one you love! SO ROMANTIC.

Poached salmon with peas and mushrooms

I sat on this for a few days because I wasn't sure how it would go over. I'm still not sure, but I think it's important enough that I'm just going to bring it up and see how you guys respond.

I'm pretty happy with how we've started off the year of food. I mean, we're still at the very end of vacation, and have eaten a bit of restaurant food already, but I'm okay with that. We don't do resolutions at our house. I'm not going to beat myself up for eating a dosa. Everything is fine. And when I actually started cooking myself new year's food, my brain and body wanted poached fish. So I made poached fish.

Man, could I be more defensive? Probably.

I tend to stay away from discussing this kind of thing because I find it horrifying that anyone should be smacked around by perceptions of female beauty. I myself have largely escaped this type of body issue. How did that happen? I think it was a convenient confluence: I met traditional beauty standards while not really caring what other people thought. But it's unhappily clear that I am an infrequent exception to the norm when I discover foodblog posts about following certain diets, or self-consciously targeting exercise to a particular body area, or overcoming eating disorders that should never have had to occur in the first place. January is a particularly bad time for this, with page upon page of new year's resolutions outlining how this year the author will Be Good and Eat Healthy, too often with a galloping subtext of self-hatred and dysmorphia. I especially don't like how I notice myself also edging into self-judgement after reading these things, even when I actually think what I'm eating is healthy and normal.

No one should have to deal with body hatred, especially in conjunction with food--something that should be joyful and amazing. Obviously a simple statement like that is not going to suddenly change things, though. The situation is far too problematic. So I don't quite know where to go, or if I'm even qualified to open a discussion, and I REALLY don't want to alienate anyone or exacerbate the problem in any way. But I also think the subject is too important to ignore.

I think the best thing for me to do is to acknowledge the situation here, but also to continue simply presenting cooking and eating food as an approachable, delicious, and normal experience. That's how I normally see food, and that's how I hope others can see it too. So that's what I'm going to do.

I made poached salmon and vegetables because I wanted poached salmon and vegetables. They were really good.

Poached salmon with peas and mushrooms

filet of salmon
water
bay leaf
butter/olive oil
shallot
mushrooms
peas
dry vermouth
salt & pepper
parsley & lemon to garnish

Fill a small saute pan with about an inch to an inch and a half of water--enough to cover your piece of salmon. Add a bay leaf and a generous sprinkle of salt, and bring the pan to a boil. Slide in your fish, reduce the heat to simmer, lid the pan, and poach for about five minutes, or until done to your taste. The timing will depend on the filet's thickness.

In the meantime, slice up a shallot and a big handful of mushrooms. In another saute pan, melt a chunk of butter or warm some oil. Add the shallot and saute for a minute or two, until softened, before adding the mushrooms. Season with salt and maybe a little paprika. Cook over fairly high heat, shaking or stirring frequently,

When your mushrooms have exuded all their liquid and begun to brown a bit, tip in a bunch of frozen peas. Add a splash of water and dry vermouth, stirring to deglaze. Now put the lid on the pan, turn the heat down to medium, and let the peas steam for a few minutes. Season with salt and pepper to finish.

To serve, pour your peas and mushrooms onto a plate. Top with your finished salmon. Quickly deglaze the pea and mushroom pan with a pat of butter. Pour the melted butter over your fish and top with chopped parsley and a grind of salt and pepper. If you want a squeeze of lemon, now is the time.

Eat.

Isn't it great?

Baked flounder with cherry tomatoes, onion, and lemon

I'm almost ready for launch! In the meantime: fish and tomato, oh my.

Last weekend--no, actually two weekends ago now--I went to the De Anza Flea Market at 5:50 am to help my friend Gus sell all her US appliances and other bits and bobs before she moves to Europe.

When you're at a flea market for eight hours, it turns out that you find some excellent things.

Behold!

I now have a lovely handthrown pottery serving bowl. It was $2.

This picture doesn't really illustrate the size well. Okay. Behold again!

It's currently holding a good chunk of the season's last cherry tomatoes (which are finally winding down--I think the plants may come out in about a week) until I can eat them. And I can certainly think of a few ways to eat them.

How about throwing a bunch of them into a foil packet with a filet of flounder, some lemon slices, onions, and olive oil, then baking everything until awesome? That sounds pretty good to me.

You can make one big packet if you have a huge piece of fish for everyone, or make little individual packets if you have smaller filets. I was just cooking for me, so quantities listed are for one.

Baked flounder packets with cherry tomatoes, onion, and lemon

flounder (or other whitefish)
onion
cherry tomatoes
lemon
olive oil
thyme, fresh if possible
red pepper flake
salt, pepper
aluminum foil or parchment paper

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Get yourself a sheet of foil or parchment big enough to wrap up all your fish and veg. Put your piece of flounder in the middle. Rub it with olive oil and salt and pepper it on both sides. If you're using dried thyme, season the fish with it too. Add a couple shakes of red pepper flake if you like heat.

Wash your tomatoes and pile them around the fish. I used about ten or twelve. They'll shrink, so use more than you think you need.

Finely slice enough onion to cover your fish and tomatoes, and then do the same with a lemon. Layer all your slices into your packet. I used maybe five or six thin slices of both onion and lemon. Needless to say, this is an excellent use for that odd quarter of an onion or half a lemon hiding somewhere in your fridge.

Top with a couple branches of fresh thyme. Drizzle a final bit of olive oil over everything, and add a final dusting of spices.

Close the packet by bringing the top and bottom edges together in the middle and folding them over a couple times. Fold the left and right side. You should end up with a rectangular package with one long seam across the middle, and one on either side.

Put your packet in a baking pan and put it in the oven for about 20-25 minutes.

Cooking time will depend on the thickness of your fish. If you have a particularly thin filet, you may find that it's done in a shorter time; if you have a massive filet, you may find that you need more time. When you think it might be done, unfold the packet and check for flakiness. You can always refold it and stick it back into the oven to cook some more.

When you're done, you'll open your packet to find a gout of steam and a lot of delicious tomato-lemon-olive oily juices. Clearly, this would be great over a plate of couscous or mashed potatoes, so you can soak everything up as efficiently as possible. I just ate mine by itself, and it was delicious nonetheless.

For future application, I'm going to keep a variation in mind: lemon, tomato, garlic, olives, and fresh oregano. Why not make my fish the Provençaliest of the Provençal? I might even add in a little bonus Pernod.

Hooray!

Other people's recipes

Lately, I want to eat practically everything I see.

I saw Cupcake Rehab's jammy muffins, followed a link back to the master muffin recipe, determined that we had the necessary ingredients, and was off. I used wheat flour, put rice milk in place of dairy, and stuffed the muffins full of chopped nectarines instead of jam or chocolate chips. Otherwise, they were totally identical! I ended up with eight standard muffins and twelve tiny little dudes, and we slathered them with butter and ate them all over the course of four days.

The butter situation at our house is now pretty dire, incidentally. No butter!

I saw Emmy Cooks's spicy pickled peppers and I ran off to the farmer's market sort-outs bin, which has been reliably full of zucchini and peppers and eggplant for the past few weeks, and brought a big bag of peppers home with me. I chopped them into rings, packed them into a jar, added dill and garlic, and covered the whole thing with simple brine. Then I stuck the jar into the fridge, where it has been for the past two days. I can finally eat some of them tonight! Patience is the only real problem with pickling things.

I saw Stella Cooks's fish tacos with spicy carrot slaw, so I went to the farmer's market fish guy and walked away with a gigantic piece of flounder. I promptly brought it home, cut it into four pieces (three of which are resting happily in the freezer, waiting for the next fish and/or taco occasion), covered the last piece in spices and lemon, deposited it in a foil packet, and baked it for twenty minutes, or until awesome.

Then I sauteed up a mess of carrots, red pepper, and sambal oelek, mounted it with butter (item: this was before the butter situation got quite so dire), and whacked everything together into a series of flame-toasted corn tortillas. Then I took pictures for posterity and crammed them all into my mouth as fast as possible. Hooray!

What new recipes have you guys been trying?

Frugally Delicious and Mussels and Fennel in Ale

A few weeks ago I got a lovely email from Joey at 80 Breakfasts, informing me that I'd won a very exciting blog contest--and lo, my package has now arrived, all the way from the Philippines! What is it what is it what is it what is it what is it?

It's the Frugally Delicious cookbook!

This little book focuses on ideas for cooking and eating well on a budget: a skill even the thriftiest of us could use help with from time to time. 55 amazing foodbloggers contributed their dishes to make this project a reality.

Overall, the aesthetic is clean, with minimal line drawings illustrating each chapter heading, and a great variety of recipes hiding behind the charming facade. The compact format makes the book easy to use; just page through, tuck a corner under a cutting board, and get cooking.

I obviously had to make something right away--but what? I decided on the third recipe in the book: The Year in Food's Mussels and Fennel in Ale.

Steamed mussels generally look really impressive but take almost no effort or monetary layout, and this version was no exception. The combination of Belgian white (Leffe Blond for us) with fennel and onion created a highly fragrant broth studded with tender shellfish.

The proper way to eat mussels in broth is of course to slurp out the shellfish and then use the shell to scoop up as much broth and veg as possible. Soak up more of the broth with your choice of crusty bread; we had sourdough, which was a perfect match.

These mussels were super easy, fast, and intensely flavorful: an ideal appetizer or quick dinner for those of you who like both shellfish and anise.

Hooray! Thanks again for the cookbook, Joey--I'll definitely be trying out more recipes in the future!

Sole meunière & green bean almondine

At the grocery store this weekend, the fish case beckoned. It especially beckoned when we realized that sole was on sale for $3.99/lb. Oh, really?

So John made me a feast this Sunday afternoon. Classical French food for brunch! Butter for all!

This type of brunch combination is by far my favorite. Perfectly cooked fish or eggs with an equal or greater amount of beautifully contrasting green vegetables? Yes, please.

Sole meunière

olive oil
sole filet
salt, pepper
flour
butter
shallot
parsley
lemon wedges

Since fish cooks quickly, get all your ingredients ready before you start cooking.

Prep your sole by patting it dry, salting and peppering each side, and coating it in a thin layer of flour, knocking off any excess. Finely chop a shallot and a handful of parsley (or two of each, if you're making green beans as well). Have your butter out and a knife ready to cut it. That's about all the prep you need to do, actually. Simple.

Heat a frying pan of your choice on medium to medium-high. When hot, add a bit of olive oil, swirl it around to coat, and lay in your piece of fish. Let it cook without moving for about three to four minutes, or until golden brown and beginning to curl around the edges. Carefully flip your filet with an adequately large spatula, and cook the other side for another three to four minutes.

Put the finished sole filet on a warmed plate and stick it in a low oven to keep warm. Put your fish pan back on the heat and add a generous pat of butter. As soon as it melts, tip in your shallots and stir to mix. Since your pan will be hot, the butter will begin to turn brown and the shallot will cook almost immediately. Don't let the butter burn! You want a medium hazelnut color, aka beurre noisette. Cook for a scant minute before you pull the pan off the heat. Immediately squeeze in some lemon juice--its cooler temperature will stop the butter's cooking--and mix in the parsley.

Pull your plate of sole out of the oven, pour the sauce over it, and serve with your finished beans and a lemon wedge.

Green bean almondine

green beans
almonds
butter
shallot
parsley
lemon wedge
salt; pepper

Start by trimming and blanching as many green beans as you want to eat. Simply drop your beans into a pot of boiling water and simmer for 3-5 minutes, or until the beans are cooked through but still tender. Shock the finished beans in cold water, drain them, and set them aside.

In the meantime, chop up a handful of almonds. Don't worry too much about making all the pieces uniform; irregular bits are more interesting to eat anyway. Toast the almonds in a little pan over medium heat, watching closely and stirring occasionally. When they begin to get fragrant and turn just barely golden, take them off the heat and set them aside.

If you haven't already done it with the fish prep, finely chop a shallot and cut up a handful of fresh parsley.

Now we're ready for the final stage of cooking. You'll want to start this at just about the same time you put your fish on to cook.

Put a frying pan of your choice on medium heat. We used the pan in which we toasted the almonds. Melt a chunk of butter and slowly sauté the chopped shallot in it. After about two minutes, during which the shallot will start to sweat and turn translucent, add the green beans and almonds, and squeeze the juice of your lemon wedge into the pan. Season lightly with salt and pepper, stir everything together, and let cook, turning the heat down a touch if necessary, for about five minutes.

When your beans (and fish) are done, turn off the heat and stir in the chopped parsley. Correct any seasonings and serve.

Fishy fishy who's got the fishy

Here, fishy fishy...hop into my hot hot cast-iron pan filled with sizzling butter, why don't you?

After poaching and baking, searing is definitely the next step up the ladder toward fish mastery. This is my favorite method of cooking fish by far. It's incredibly fast and easy, requires minimal equipment and ingredients, and produces a remarkably delicious piece of finished fish--and yet it seems that most people just learning to cook fish are scared of it.

It's ok! You can do it! Searing only really requires a hot pan, a decent spatula, and a close eye on the cooking situation. The most likely danger is overcooking--but unless you walk out of the kitchen and let your entire pan burn to a crisp, the finished product will be at least edible, and more likely very good indeed.

On this occasion, I had a filet of butterfish, a piece of butter, a couple chives, and some salt and pepper--and you could get away without the chives.

I prefer to cook thinner filets of fish as opposed to gigantic swordfish steaks, for instance, so these instructions are written for filets maybe 3/4 inch/2 cm thick.

Seared whitefish filet

whitefish filet: butterfish, tilapia, perch, sole, cod, whatev.
butter
salt, pepper
chives or parsley
wedge of lemon to serve

To begin, find a reasonable cast-iron or stainless steel frying pan and put it over high heat. Nonstick pans will work too, but high heat is supposed to make them release chemicals, so...yeah. You need to get the pan very hot; this will 1. make the fish taste great and 2. keep the fish from sticking to the pan. Have an oven mitt ready, as the handle will most likely get hot too.

While your pan is heating, pat your fish filet dry with a paper towel and season it on both sides with salt and pepper. It's important to dry the fish so it won't spatter when it hits the hot butter later. You know what they say about oil and water, right?

When your pan is hot, put your oven mitt on the hand you'll use to hold the pan handle. Deposit a good tablespoon of butter into the pan; it will sizzle and froth almost immediately. Turn the pan so the butter gets distributed over its surface. Then quickly pick up your fish with a spatula (or fingers, if you're ok with the high heat cooking experience) and lay it flat in the pan. It will sizzle loudly.

Now LEAVE YOUR FISH STILL for about two to three minutes. Don't leave the kitchen. You can chop up a couple chives or a few leaves of parsley if you want, but make sure to watch the pan pretty closely.

After two or three minutes, depending on your stove, you'll start to see the fish contracting, turning opaque, and maybe even starting to flake around the edges. When this happens, the filet should be cooked and browned nicely on the bottom. So. Shake the pan a few times to loosen the fish filet; it'll be much more likely to stay intact if you shake instead of prying, so don't prod unless it's really stuck. When the filet slides free, flip it over with your spatula. Cook another two minutes, or until the entire filet is opaque and just barely ready to flake.

Put your finished filet on a plate. You may notice that it really wants to break into pieces at this point. That's totally fine (if a little messy); it just means the fish is entirely cooked. If you want, you can melt a little extra butter in the pan and pour it over the fish. Or you can just pour whatever butter is left in the pan over it.

Sprinkle your fish with chives or parsley, stick a wedge of lemon on the side, and eat ASAP. Fish must be eaten HOT.

I had my butterfish with cucumber and mint raita.

Cucumber and mint raita

plain yogurt
cucumber
mint
pepper

Chop up a cucumber (peeled or seeded at your discretion) and a handful of mint leaves. Mix them with a couple spoonfuls of yogurt and season with pepper. Eat.

Hooray! You seared fish! That wasn't so bad, was it?

Salmon with marmalade marinade

It seems like everyone I know is making marmalade. I myself have a treeful of oranges and one of lemons, but I haven't jumped on the marmalade bandwagon quite yet. For one thing, Veronica gave me a full pint of her seville orange marmalade in exchange for a baby spider plant!

I really don't need more marmalade...but who am I kidding? I'll probably end up making at least a small batch in the near future. I think I want to try this lemon marmalade with tea.

In the meantime, I do have an entire pint of marmalade to use for whatever nefarious purpose I choose. So why not mix the marmalade with some soy sauce, ginger, and sesame oil, spread it on a piece of salmon, and bake it?

Baking fish may not be quite as easy as poaching--you can, in fact, burn fish if you bake it, while it's awfully difficult to do so if it's submerged in water--but it's still very easy. I think the only real danger is letting the fish get dry. By using an oily fish like salmon and covering it with marinade, you can take a few steps back from that likelihood.

Baked salmon with marmalade glaze

salmon fillet
marmalade
soy sauce
sesame oil
sambal oelek
olive oil

First, make your marinade. In a small bowl, mix together a spoonful of marmalade, several good shakes apiece of soy sauce and sesame oil, and a small spoonful of sambal oelek or other chili paste. The proportions are really up to your tastes. Obviously, I like spice; if you don't, feel free to reduce the chili amount. You could also add a variety of other things to your marinade--rice wine vinegar, mirin, garlic, salt and pepper, or shredded herbs come to mind. I personally wish I'd thought to add some seriously minced and pulverized fresh ginger.

I considered briefly precooking the marinade so the marmalade would melt, but decided not to. This worked out fine.

Lightly oil the skin side of your salmon, so it won't stick. If your fillet is skinless, or you want to skin it first, that's fine. I did find that after cooking, the skin separated from the fillet of its own volition, so I don't think skinning is necessary. In any case, spread your marinade over the other side of the fillet.

Let your fish marinate for at least a half hour, so the marinade has a chance to soak in. Put it in the refrigerator if you're going to marinate it any longer.

When you're ready to cook, preheat your oven to 425F and take your salmon out to come to room temperature. Put your fish on a piece of parchment paper in a baking dish, so the sugar won't make your pan impossible to clean later. Bake for about ten minutes, or until the fish is cooked through and its flesh flakes easily. You may need a couple more minutes if you have a particularly thick fillet. Mine took about twelve minutes total.

After baking, your salmon will look like this. Hooray! That parchment paper was definitely a good idea, right?

Since salmon and marmalade both have very strong flavors, it's best to keep any additional vegetables simple. It would be great with a green salad, a whack of rice pilaf, or a bed of wilted spinach.

I liked this initial experiment, but I think I could make it even better. I definitely want to try spiking the marinade with ginger, for one thing. I also want to try using sea bass instead of salmon and lemon marmalade instead of orange. Ooh, I know--sea bass with lemon marmalade and fresh rosemary. There's the excuse I need to make lemon marmalade! Food tweaks FTW!

Poached salmon with vegetable melange

I know several people who find cooking fish difficult and scary. For you, I have a suggestion: why not poach it?

Poaching is perhaps the easiest possible way to cook a thick fillet of fish. All you have to do is bring about two inches of water to a boil, reduce the heat to low, put in your fish, and simmer very gently for maybe five minutes, depending on thickness. That's it. Your fish stays moist and juicy, since you are cooking it in liquid. There's also no way you can possibly burn a piece of fish submerged in water.

If you want to up the ante, you can always poach your piece of fish in a pan of court bouillon or other light broth, but I think water is entirely adequate.

On this occasion, I poached half a fillet--maybe 6 ounces--of salmon. If you want to use some other kind of fish, be my guest.

For the vegetables, we chopped up a bunch of shallots, mushrooms, tomatoes, and zucchini, and sautéed them with olive oil and a little salt. We deglazed with vermouth near the end of cooking, scattered chopped parsley and capers over the vegetables, and finished with a squeeze of lemon juice and a couple grinds of pepper. Then we plated the finished salmon fillet and poured the vegetables over it.

This resulted in an entirely filling and delicious yet super fast and easy dinner. Bonus: since I was really only eating fish and vegetables, I felt awesome afterward.

Make some!