fishy business.

feeding my husband can be a little tricky sometimes. it's not that he's a picky eater...it's just that he knows what he likes and it's hard for him to like something that he's had a bad experience with before. like couscous, for example. he really hates the stuff. for him, the textures are weird and the taste is icky. whereas me, i freakin' love couscous!

another thing that he has a hard time eating is cilantro. while i grew up with having lots of cilantro in my diet, it was almost non-existent in his. he really could care less for the stuff. the same goes with fish tacos. he just never ate one he liked, no matter how many times he had it. so when i saw this recipe, i knew that i really wanted to try it for our "fishy friday" on our weekly dinner routine. there was a lot of different but familiar things going on and i really liked the use of red cabbage. i scaled waaaay back on the cilantro so that it's more of a hint and i tweaked the recipe to suit our taste. the result? a whopping success!! we've had this twice now and he gobbles this up every time. that's a win for me and definitely a win for him!

 

Crispy Fish Tacos
(adapted from Delicious Shots)

Corn Salad: 
2 ears fresh corn, husked with silks removed (or 1 can vacuum-packed super sweet corn) 
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped 
1/2 red or green bell pepper, finely chopped 
1 medium tomato, finely chopped 
1 tbsp chopped cilantro (or more, to taste) 
1 to 2 sprigs italian parsley, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil 
1 to 2 tbsp lime juice 
salt and pepper to taste 
1/4 tsp cumin 
1/4 tsp paprika 

Avocado Crema: 
1 very ripe avocado 
1/4 cup light sour cream 
1 tbsp lime juice 
1 tbsp chopped cilantro 
1 sprig of italian parsley, chopped
sprinkle of cumin 
salt and pepper to taste 

Fish Tacos: 
3 firm white fish fillet (like tilapia or pollock), cut into strips 
1 cup flour 
1/4 cup corn starch 
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 
1/2 tsp paprika 
1/2 tsp garlic powder 
1/2 tsp onion powder 
beer from 1 bottle 
salt and pepper 
flour or corn tortillas 
red cabbage, finely shredded 
vegetable oil for frying 
taco or hot sauce for topping 

For the Corn Salad:
Heat grill to high and grill the corn until charred on all sides. When ready, remove the kernels with a sharp knife. (If using canned corn, skip the grilling part.) In a bowl, combine all the ingredients and season accordingly to taste. Cover and set aside for thirty or so minutes to let marinate.

For the Avocado Crema:
Puree all the ingredients in a food processor or blender. Season to taste. Set aside for thirty or so minutes to marinate.

To make the Fish Tacos:
In a small mixing bowl whisk together the flour, corn starch, cayenne, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Add just enough of the beer to make a thick batter and whisk until smooth. The mix should look like thick pancake batter.

In a skillet, add vegetable oil about to 2-inches deep and heat the oil to 350 degrees F. Season the fish with salt and pepper, dip the fish strips into the batter and carefully place in the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side. To assemble the tacos place one piece of fried fish* in a warm tortilla and garnish with cabbage, avocado crema, corn salad, and taco or hot sauce. Serve immediately.

*also, the batter works well for a shrimp taco version too! :)

christmas time.

Merry Christmas!

It's weird being on a tropical island where it's always the same temperature all year round. At least when I was living in San Diego, there was *some* climate change. Here, the only way that i can tell that the seasons are changing is by the amount of rain fall that we have. Speaking of San Diego, it dawned on me that this will be the very first time in my entire life that I'm away from my family during the holidays and I have to say that it sucks! And to put the cherry on the cake, this would've been the very first Christmas that the hubby and I would have as a husband and wife except that he has work today...meaning I won't see him until *after* Christmas. *que charlie brown sad song here* Lol.

Well, that won't do. Today's itinerary? Take that cherry and bake it in a bread! :D

I wanted to make something festive and this recipe caught my eye. It's just so nice and *pink*! When I actually started to make the cake, however, I spied the box of dark cocoa on the shelf and thought, "Hn....chocolate cherry bread....". So I decided to experiment and tweaked the recipe a little bit to add the cocoa. Then I saw cream that was going to expire within the next few days, and I threw that into the batter too (I rationalized with myself that cream was needed since i was using skim milk, lol).

So what did I get? A lesson in glazing, first of all. My technique leaves much to be desired. Next time, I think I'll do a little less juice so that i'll have a nice thick glaze. Following the recipe gave me a runny glaze that I had to pour on the bread over and over again. Taste-wise...rich, decadent, and almost cake-y. The glaze adds a nice touch of almond flavor without having the crunch of the almonds. Since I only had one bottle of cherries, I found that I really wanted it to stud the bread a little bit more. Definitely 2 bottles next time. And the chocolate? Who doesn't like chocolate??

Chocolate Cherry Almond Bread
(adapted from Tastes of Lizzy T's)

Bread:
1/2 cup milk*
1/4 cup cream*
1/2 cup oil
1 egg
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup dark cocoa powder 1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
2 (10 oz) jar maraschino cherries

Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 to 1/3 cup maraschino cherry juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, stir together the milk, cream, oil and egg. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and chocolate chips (if using). Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined (little streaks or clumps of flour is okay).

Drain the maraschino cherries, reserving the juice for the glaze. Coarsely chop the cherries in a food processor or with a knife. Gently fold the cherries into the batter.

Pour the bread batter into a greased or parchment lined 9"x5" bread pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. Allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes, then remove the bread to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, melted butter, and almond extract in a small bowl. Add just enough cherry juice to make a thick glaze. Mix until it is smooth. Once the bread is cool, spread the glaze on top of the bread. Let stand 15 to 30 minutes to set then slice and serve.

*You could probably substitute half and half or all milk. I haven't tried it so I don't know how that'll come out. More experimenting! :D

preserving persimmons.

so after eating a whole bunch of persimmons, i think i've been a little persimmoned out. i still had about 15 very ripe fruits left and i though i'd try my hand at making some jam or preserves. this recipe seemed easy enough, so i adapted a little bit and changed it here and there.

i used about 9 to 10 persimmons in my recipe. after debating for a hot minute, i decided to go through the "preserves" route...leaving the fruit semi-chunky. that meant that i didn't have to strain the pulp, and therefore reducing one step in the process. yay for laziness! then i slowly reduced it for over two hours and added a box of pectin that was dissolved in some water at the end. i let it boil, cooled to room temp, then stored it in the freezer. easy-peasy, if not a little time consuming making all that pulp. it did taste awesome with the persimmon bread though! would i try this again? maybe. probably with sweeter persimmons next time.

Persimmon Freezer Preserves
(adapted from Epicurious Community Table)

4 cups persimmon puree (i used 8 to 9 very ripe fuyu persimmons)
1 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
3 tbsp lemon juice
dash of cinnamon
1 tsp kosher salt
1 box fruit pectin
3/4 cup very hot water

Stir the fuyu persimmon puree, sugars, lemon juice, cinnamon, and salt together in a large pot and let the mixture cook, over medium-low heat, until reduced by half (about 2 hours). Stir constantly to prevent the bottom from burning.

in a microwave safe bowl, heat the water on high for three minutes until it comes to a boil. Remove carefully and add the pectin gradually, stirring to prevent clumping. Once all of the pectin has dissolved, add to the puree mixture and stir. Increase heat and let come to a boil for about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Ladle the preserves into clean jars, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace to allow for expansion during freezing. Once the jars are filled, put the lids on and let the preserves stand at room temperature for 30 minutes, then place in the freezer. Defrost in refrigerator before using.

Note: If keeping in the fridge, this will keep for about two weeks. If keeping in the freezer, preserves will keep for about a year.

persimmon schtick...

i'm in a persimmon schtick. having tried pudding last week, i thought i'd try my hand at making a quick bread this time around. this one was recently bookmarked on my pinterest board, despite it being two years old. i looked over the ingredients list this morning and decided to give it a shot.

man, i'm so glad i tried this recipe! it's nice and sweet and even though the whole thing is spiced with nutmeg (a spice i don't normally like), i found that it's used brilliantly in this bread! actually, the taste reminds me of eating pumpkin bread or christmas fruitcake. either way, this was fantastic and is a nice addition to the collection of seasonal recipes in my repertoire.

for this recipe, i did end up making a few changes (namely halving the recipe and swapping the liquor). i used overly ripe fuyu since i only had that on hand. i also changed out the whiskey for dark spiced rum...more my preference than necessity. didn't bother toasting the pecans too, i figured "recipe ready" was alright. also, did an almost 1:1 ratio of whole wheat and all-purpose flour. the result? it's got a nice nutty flavor, thanks to the pecans and whole wheat flour. the raisins and chopped dates stayed nice and evenly dispersed with the help of a flour coating. and the rum? well, rum makes everything all the more festive for this time of year! ;)

Persimmon Rum Bread
(adapted from Putney Farm)

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter, cooled
2 extra large or large eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup spiced dark rum
1 cup persimmon puree (i used 2 very ripe large fuyu persimmons)
1 cup pecans (i used the ones labeled "recipe ready")
1 cup or so dried fruit (i used a mix of chopped whole dates, golden raisins, and regular raisins)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour or line loaf pan with a piece of parchment paper.

Mix flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Reserve 1/4 cup of the flour mixture in a separate small bowl. Toss in the dried fruit in the reserved mixture, making sure to coat each piece well.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and then stir in the butter, eggs, liquor, persimmon puree, pecans and floured dried fruit (note: you want to add any leftover flour that the fruit was tossed in as well...waste not, want not!). Mix the batter just until combined (having little streaks of flour is okay...don't over mix).

Pour the batter into the loaf pan and then place the pan in the oven. Bake 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in the pan before serving.

brunch.

what happens when you kind of want breakfast but you end up waking up closer to noon? brunch happens. with a b.l.t.e... salty bacon, crunchy lettuce, juicy tomatoes, and a runny egg, with just enough schmearing of mayo to put it all together. mmm...tasty.

raising risotto.

often times, breakfast for me is kind of a quickie. fruit, yogurt, ice, blend. occasionally i'll have some cereal if i have some laying around. call it laziness...i'd rather wash my blender than think of what to make in the morning. sometimes, though, i get in the mood of making a legit breakfast. my go-to? oatmeal.

usually i like my oatmeal with brown sugar and a big handful of raisins. sometimes it's maple syrup. sometimes just packet of equal and milk. oatmeal can be pretty routine with everything tipping on the sweet scale. but then i found the world of savory oats that i never knew existed or even though about! man, what a find!

i've only ever made savory oatmeal twice. the first recipe was with spinach and a fried egg. while tasty, i found that the textures was kind of one-dimentional (read: "mushy") and after eating it, i wanted more of a chew...and not so soupy. so i decided to do one on the fly and ended up with a much thicker consistency and definitely more of the mouth feel i was looking for. bonus? i didn't even miss the egg. :)

Pea and Onion Oat Risotto
(makes one serving)

1/4 small onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup frozen peas
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 tsp dried tarragon
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 cup or so low sodium chicken broth
2 to 3 tbsp milk
grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
olive oil
small handful of fried onion

In a small sauce pan on medium heat, add enough oil to saute garlic and onions. After a minute, add the frozen peas and cook until the peas have slightly browned. Add the oats and cook until the oats have slightly toasted. Add the tarragon, paprika, and enough broth to submerge the oat mixture. Season with some pepper and a pinch of salt. Let thicken slightly then add the milk, stirring often. Once the oats have reached desired consistency, add in parmesan cheese to taste and season with additional salt and pepper. Serve with the fried onion (i used french's), a dash of paprika, and a drizzle of olive oil.

sticky and sweet persimmons.

that picture might no look like much...but, boy, is it one big bowl of happiness! That, my friends, is a warm serving of sweet pudding. persimmon pudding, to be more precise. and smothered with an awesome buttery, caramelly, toffee sauce. mmmm......

it's that time of year when persimmons are in season and after my last attempt, i decided it was high time i tried my hand at using persimmon again in baking. i did some googling and found that persimmons aren't all that weird in american cooking. what really intrigued me was that in some areas, they prepared desserts similar to british dessert puddings like sticky toffee pudding. wait a minute...that didn't sound like a bad idea!

that got me looking for recipes and i finally decided on combining two recipes. i wanted the persimmon pudding to be an old-timey recipe that someone's grandma used to make since i only had fuyu available in my area. secondly, i wanted to make an easy toffee sauce that would really compliment the pudding. well, since the sauce was already made for a persimmon pudding, i decided to go ahead with it. and was i glad i did!! it's nice and buttery and almost too sweet...almost.

the pudding, on the other hand, was okay. i might try for a more "cakier" pudding as it took longer than the perscribed time to cook. it does get firmer as it sits but no where near "sponge-like". will definitely keep the toffee sauce recipe and hunt for another pudding to try. heck, i think i might try the actual pudding the came with the toffee to save me the time!

Treva’s Prize Winning Persimmon Pudding
(from Bloomer Living)

1 cup of persimmon pulp
1/4 tsp soda
1 egg, beaten
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 cup cold milk
1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray pan with cooking spray. Stir soda into the pulp and mix well. Add the egg and the sugar until combined. Mix together the flour with baking powder. Alternate a little flour with a little milk until all flour and milk is gone. Don't dump them in together or else you will get lumps. Stir in the melted butter and mix well. Pour into 9x9 pan and bake for 30 minutes or until edges pull away from the pan and toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Sticky Toffee Sauce
(from A Cozy Kitchen)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup light or dark brown sugar
1/4 vanilla bean, scraped
3 tablespoons heavy cream

In a small bowl, mix together the vanilla bean caviar and brown sugar together. In a medium saucepan, set over medium low heat, add the vanilla brown sugar and butter. Cook until the butter has melted and the brown sugar begins to caramelize, about 2 to 3 minutes (deviated a little bit...no vanilla bean, only extract so i added the extract right at this point). When the brown sugar begins to bubble, add the heavy cream and stir. Cook for an additional 3 minutes. During this time the toffee sauce will thicken and reduce by a little bit. When the persimmon pudding comes out of the oven, pour the warm toffee sauce over the pudding and serve.

pizza, big island style.

speaking of creative leftovers...my ham, although freakin' delicious, seems to be the one item that i struggle to be creative with. Maybe it's because i don't really eat a lot of pork...but so far, it's been multiple sandwiches, scrambles, benedicts, breakfast burritos, and other morning-type dishes. it seems like whenever dinner comes around, my poor ham takes a back seat to the turkey. for shame! so what's a cook to do? well...epiphany hit and the pizza light bulb went on! a hawaiian pizza to be exact. with barbecue sauce, of course.

and what a great opportunity to clean out the little leftover crap that was sitting in the fridge! mixed some leftover pizza sauce with some barbecue sauce...got some bell peppers, bits and pieces of onions from sandwich stuff, and olives from the enchiladas. the dough i made from scratch from my favorite recipe, but modified it to make a half batch.

so in went a handful of ham, a small can of pineapple rings i chopped, and a couple of cups of random leftover grated cheese (an italian and a mexican blend). seasoned it with some pepper, onion powder, and paprika and in it went to the oven for thirty minutes or so.

my reward? well...even though it was in the oven for a tad too long, it was a definite win with pizza for dinner! with ham!! granted it didn't make much of a dent with the ham sitting in the fridge, but at least that's one thing that i can add for possible choices in the future. actually, i feel slightly dumb for not thinking about it sooner, lol. well...then again, i guess i'll know not to get so much ham next year, right? :)