05

Jul

Mahi mahi

We’ve been eating a lot more seafood lately. I thought it would be more expensive, but when portions are kept at 3 to 4 ounces each, it ends up being the same as we were spending on chicken, pork or beef. Plus, the incredible health benefits from fish make me feel even better–tastes good, good for you. Matt went a little adventurous for a dinner last week and cooked mahi-mahi for the first time. We had just made a trip to Whole Foods in Austin; among our fun findings was a package of cedar papers for grilling.
These are new and amazing. You soak the papers in a dish of water for about 10 minutes, they soften up, and you put your food in them (fish, meat, veggies, whatever), roll the papers and tie them, and grill like crazy! The cedar wrapped around the food allows for amazing taste and scent, and it’s a fabulous idea (better than cedar planks, in my opinion). 8 papers were $6, I believe. 
Grilled Mahi-mahi
Matt did an amazing job with the mahi-mahi. I honestly did not know anything about the fish, so I took lots of pictures throughout the process. We bought the fish the same day we were using it (advise I kept seeing in all of my cookbooks). We bought a pound of the fish. Matt laid the fish out (skin side down) and cut them into 4 squares (4 oz each, small enough to fit in the cedar papers). He seasoned both sides with sea salt and pepper, rubbing it in.
It’s a really pretty fish, with silver and golden skin.

 Then, he removed the cedar papers from the water (10 minutes of soaking) and placed them on the cutting board.

He placed the mahi in the center of the paper and added shrimp/veggies (recipe below) on and around the mahi.

He secured the papers with string and placed on the grill, 10 minutes on each side.

Unwrap carefully and eat, eat. We served with homemade tartar sauce (although it didn’t need it) and couscous.

Shrimp and Veggies (to accompany mahi-mahi)
4 servings
1/2 pound medium raw shrimp, peeled and rinsed
Cut the following into long, thin slices (julienned):
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 zucchini
2 carrots


Combine shrimp and veggies in large bowl. Add:
Juice of 2 lemons
Juice of 2 limes
Dash of garlic powder and black pepper
Pinch of sea salt


Mix with hands (or spoon) until evenly distributed onto shrimp and veggies. Cover with plastic wrap and put in fridge for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Then top onto mahi when you’re ready to grill.

Tartar Sauce
1/2 cup lowfat mayo
Dash of sea salt and pepper
2 TB dill relish
Dash of garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon of dried rosemary and basil

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and serve immediately.
 
While the grill was still hot, I ran out and added a few pineapple and orange slices. Yum. That was dessert.

Hope you had a great holiday yesterday. Happy grilling!

~Laurel~

15 years ago Short URL

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21

Jun

Pantry Smoothie

Part of the fun of cooking is finding things around your kitchen and creating a delicious meal with them. It’s imagination that has no limits! (okay, you can’t add the kitchen sink to a meal…) Here was my liquid breakfast this morning, a collection of simple things in the pantry and fridge.

Pineapple Orange Smoothie
1 can pineapple rings or chunks
1 can of mandarin oranges (or 1 fresh orange)
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1 cup plain yogurt
1 1/2 cups ice cubes

Drain the cans and add 1 cup of pineapple (5 rings) or fresh pineapple, if you have it, to the blender. Add the oranges or use a fresh orange. Add the coconut, yogurt, and ice cubes. Blend until smooth. Garnish with orange and pineapple slices.

A note on organic: 

I don’t talk much about organic foods because 1)it’s so trendy, 2)it can be so expensive, and 3)we don’t get much of a variety of organics at our local grocery stores where I live.
HOWEVER, if you can, buy organic!

If for nothing else, you are looking for the most bang for your buck, so a $1.00 giant cookie and a $1.00 organic apple don’t compare. Or a $1.00 bag of potato chips and a $1.00 cucumber. You get so many more nutrients from produce in general, compared to packaged and processed foods, so organic produce is a bargain in that sense. Also, the latest studies I’ve been reading (from journal articles at the library–I know, nerd-o) have shown significant increases in vitamins and nutrients in USDA certified organic produce as compared to the “regular” produce on the shelves. I have not found a study that didn’t find many more nutrients in the organic versus the regular.
So, if you’re like me, you don’t want to be one of those people in the fiber commercials chomping on apples and carrots all day long…why not eat 3 regular meals with a couple of snacks and get all of your daily needs that way? Okay, that’s my two cents. Cha-ching.

~Laurel~

15 years ago Short URL

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07

Jun

Easy as Cherry Pie

My sweet husband asked for cherry pie. He doesn’t ask for much, so why not? Unfortunately, Susie Homemaker I am not, so I don’t have 8 hours to piece together a delectable, gourmet cherry pie. But I do have a thinking cap and can simplify it…

Oatmeal Crumble Cherry Pie
8 slices

1/2 cup water
1 large sweet apple
8 cherries, chopped in half and deseeded
1 can cherry pie filling 
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 Dashes of nutmeg
Zest of an orange (optional) 
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup cereal (I used honey-nut cheerios)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 TB margarine or butter, softened
Pie crust–homemade or store-bought


Tools:
Knife + Cutting board
Small pot + Lid
Medium bowl
Spatula 
1 gallon Ziploc bag
Pie pan + Cookie sheet


STEPS:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat water in pot on high. Chop apple into small bits using knife, and toss apples into pot. Cover with lid and let apples boil.
  2. In the meantime, in the Ziploc bag, add in oats, cereal, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and last dash of nutmeg. Remove the air and seal the bag. Using your fist or the back of a measuring spoon, crush the oats mixture for 30 seconds. (Don’t overcrush to crumbs.) Add margarine and seal bag. Using hands on outside of bag, coat oat mixture with margarine.  Set aside.
  3. Pour can of cherry filling into medium bowl, using spatula. Add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 2 dashes of nutmeg, and the orange zest. Add cooked apples to cherry filling and stir. Using spatula, pour filling into pie pan. Using hands, open the bag of oat mixture and sprinkle crumble on top of pie filling.

  4. Put pie pan on a cookie sheet to catch possible drips. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until crumble has browned and bottom of crust feels baked with a knife tapping the bottom. Eat! Top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, and serve with coffee or tea.

 All of this cherry talk reminds me of a quote:

“I never see that prettiest thing, 
A cherry bough gone white with Spring,
But what I think,
‘How gay ‘twould be,
To hang me from a flowering tree.'”

Let’s just hope Dorothy Parker was talking about innocently swinging from a tree and not hanging. Have you ever seen the cherry blossoms in D.C. in the spring? Marvelous!


When I lived in Boston, the street that my apartment was on had incredible cherry blossoms bloom in the spring (which really started in May there). Here’s an old pic and a fun memory:

But back to pie. Enjoy, eat, be merry.

~Laurel~

15 years ago Short URL

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