fish with sweet chili butter sauce and side salad

I bought some fish at the commissary the other day. It was written in German so I didn't know exactly what I was buying. Googling the label, I think it's a catfish, but my 2 minute research was inconclusive. Anyway, you could probably use any firm white flesh fish; cod, tilapia, or halibut.

I made a "beurre blanc" with sweet chili sauce*. I didn't wait for the butter to soften, so you can see it separated when I mixed in the sweet chili sauce. 1/2 a tablespoon of butter to 1 tbsp of sweet chili sauce. Season lightly with salt.


Season the fish with salt and pepper. Since the filets I had were quite thin, I let it sit for about 20 minutes. For thicker pieces of fish, you may want to season and refridgerate for a well seasoned fish. Dust the fish with "Wondra", a very fine quick-mixing flour. If you don't have the blue canister staple on hand, regular all purpose flour would do just fine. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet; cook the fish for about 5 minutes on one side and 3 minutes on the other. Transfer the fish to a plate and in the same pan, saute some diced red bell peppers. Add chopped scallion right before setting the sauted vegetables aside. Turn off the heat and let the pan cool down a bit. Heat the butter mixture in the pan with the remaining heat. Top fish with vegetables and the butter sauce.


Now for the salad; chop up any ingredients you have on hand in your crisper and wouldn't mind having in a salad. I added red and yellow cherry tomatoes, red onions, and cucumbers, to some green lettuce. Season somewhat generously with salt and pepper. Squeeze in the juice of half a lime, toss and plate. While you're at it, same a few drops of lime juice for the fish too.

*Sweet Chili Sauce can be bought in an Asian market near you.

Ginseng Chicken Soup (삼계탕)

Ginseng Chicken Soup on the "hottest" day of the Summer*

* There are three of these days during the summer; first, middle and last**. And on these days, it's tradition to have a piping hot bowl of this special soup. Today is the middle day: "중복".

I had my usual morning phone call with my mom this morning. She had just gotten back to her office from the post office when she rang. She had sent some ramyun by post; which I have to look forward to in about a week. During our conversation, her cell phone rang. It was Dad, asking her when she'd be home and if she was going to go exercise after work. I could hear their whole conversation. Mom sounded a bit agitated because dad's line was a bit noisy. She asked dad to buy her the Chicken Soup because today was the day to eat it.

I stopped by Real near work to pick up some essentials; a whole chicken, smaller the better. My mom usually use Cornish hens. The main ingredients are ginseng, dried dates, garlic cloves, and sweet rice. I didn't have ginseng and dates, so I had to make do without.


Rinse thoroughly and soak the sweet rice in water overnight. Since I didn't have the time, I microwaved the rice for two minutes. Clean the chicken, inside and out. Stuff the cavity with the rice. I used half a cup for a three pound chicken. Place the chicken in the pot, fill with water to completely cover the chicken. Drop in several cloves of garlice, if you have ginsend and dates, add those too. Bring it to a slow boil and simmer for at least 1 hour. Serve with chopped scallions and season with salt and a generous amount of black pepper.


**The last day falls on August 13th, so why not give it a try.

glazed salmon with polenta and tomatoes

In an effort to update this blog on a more regular basis, I'll start by posting my dinner menus throughout the week. I've been cooking for myself more often now that I'm on my own so might as well write about it.

I had bought salmon a couple of days ago and thought I'd make it for dinner. I wasn't sure what I wanted as a side so I stood in my pantry staring at a box of quinoa, a can of garbonzo beans, when I spotted a bag of organic polenta tucked behind the box of brown sugar. Polenta is ground cornmeal, a traditional stable you'll find in maybe central european cuisines. The texture is gritty, of course depending on the coarseness of the grind, and can be served creamy, baked, or fried. I kept mine simple; I was hungry. Guten Appetit!

plum sauce glazed salmon with polenta and roasted tomatoes

glaze

1 tbsp plum sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp garlic chili sauce
4 tbsp mirin
salt and pepper

polenta

dab of butter
1 cup milk
1 cup water
3/4 cups polenta
salt

roasted tomatoes

tomatoes
oregano
salt and pepper
olive oil

Whisk the glaze ingredients together and marinate the salmon for at least 1 hour. Dice tomatoes into large chucks and toss it in extra virgin olive oil, salt & pepper, and oregano (or whatever herb suits your fancy). Pre-heat oven to 375, bake the salmon on the middle rack for 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. Pop the tomatoes into the oven for the same amount of time. In a sauce pan, heat the butter, milk and water to a scald. Lower the heat, season with salt, and slowly add the polenta. Keep stirring until the cornmeal has thickened. You can add grated parmesan cheese, but I opted not to. Serve the tomatoes on top of the polenta.

kale and pea rice salad

It's a weekday, I don't feel like cooking, but desperately need to consume some greens and all I have on hand are frozen kale and peas, some scallions and one tomato. So what's a girl to do? Chop it up and throw it all together with some barley rice and season it with a little love. I think it ended up needing a bit more love, but it was a light, healthy meal. Maybe adding some protein like grilled chicken or a fried egg would have been a nice touch.

[frozen] kale and pea rice salad

1 1/2 cup of day old rice*
1/4 cup thawed out frozen kale
3/4 cup frozen peas
1 medium tomato, seeded and diced
2 scallions, chopped
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp light oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
dash of ground cumin
salt & pepper to taste


Saute garlic in the oil on medium high heat in a non stick pan making sure not to burn the garlic. Toss in the diced tomatoes; season as you go. Add the kale and rice, giving it some good stirs. Add the frozen peas, cook until peas are heated through. Season with soy sauce, sesame oil, and cumin. Always taste as you go. And yes, it reads more like fried rice, but rice salad sounds much healthier, don't you think?

* Make your own two-minute ready-rice. Having to cook for myself most of the time and cooking just one serving of rice be foolish, here is a little trick I learned. When the cooked rice is still piping hot, I scoop one serving size into a sandwich size freezer bag. When it's still steaming, zip it up and pop it in the freezer. Whenever you need rice, peel open a bag, add a sprinkle of water if you choose, and nuke it in the microwave for 2 minutes and voila!

deutschland

Neon green ribbons tied in double-knotted bows trollied around the conveyor belt on my four pieces of luggage. Piled neatly on the luggage cart, I rolled out past the customs check of the Frankfurt Airport to spot my boss holding up a eight and a half by eleven with my name printed across the center. Wilkommen im Deutschland!

Fast forward 2 months. I pack my car with those very four suitcases and head down south to my new "home". I've been bumming around my temporary apartment for the past month and gearing up for a trip and move to my home for the next n years. Once I settle, I hope to get back to blogging. But with my track record, it may be an arm-twisting, near impossible feat. Let's hope I can surrender easily with being in a new environment, travel opportunities galore, and not to mention the dollar to euro exchange rate that'll most likely keep me cooking at home.

In the meantime, here are a few snap shots of what I've been up to in the last few months.

Thai food in Mehlingen. Yum woon sen that was tasty the following day for lunch, but nothing compared to Chuti's. I miss my old roomie's Thai cooking.

De Gregorio, Wiesbaden. A quaint little Italian restaurant on Frankfurterstr. Good food and pleasant service. "Mineral Wasser mit gasse, bitte" or just "Wasser."
A bowl of pho on a chilly day warmed me right up after a tour of Landstuhl's Sickingen castle. It was my second bowl of pho in Germany and I'll have to say it was quite good.

People watching with a cup of coffee in hand.

Making kimchi in my hotel room.

And yes, I have had some German food too. Schnitzel, kartofflen, bitburger, but no wurst yet. I'm well on my way towards my freshman fifteen.

what's for dinner?

I have 30 minutes before heading out the house to sit in a classroom for two and a half hours. I should eat something. But what? I take out a few of my favorite ingredients: three stalks of asparagus, two eggs, feta cheese and a jar of fire roasted tomatoes I had been keeping in the fridge not knowing what to do with them.

I trim the ends off the asparagus, place them on a plate, sprinkle some salt, cover the plate with saran wrap, and nuke it for one minute. As the microwave hums away, I crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk it with a pinch of salt. Heating some oil in a non-stick pan, I make an omelette. I usually make three-egg omelettes, but I went easy on the cholesterol intake. I scatter a generous amount of feta cheese on one half of the omelette, fold it over and place it on the plate with the asparagus. Using my hands, I squish a couple of fire roasted tomatoes into a bowl; becareful not to squirt yourself or the kitchen ceiling with tomato juice. Heat the tomatoes in the pan with a squirt of sriracha sauce. The heat from the chili sauce lends a mellow spiciness to the roasted tomatoes. A great, simple sauce; spoon over the omelette and asparagus. A quick and easy meal for me.

village bistro

After a Saturday afternoon touring the new DC museum, Newseum (everyone should go and experience this place), Que mentioned a cute boutique in Crystal City called Gossip. For those who don't know me, I have a soft spot for boutique shops. So I had to go and yes, I bought an outfit. After scouring the racks, we headed over to Rosslyn for dinner. Shopping makes me hungry.

On a tiny strip on the corner of Rhodes and Wilson, sits a row of restaurants where it's hard to distinguish where one ends and the other begins. After walking up and down the sidewalk, taking peeks at diners' plates, we took a seat at Village Bistro. I sipped a glass of cabernet sauvignon while Que quenched her thirst with ginger ale as we relaxed under the setting sun.

We started off with an appetizer of portobello mushrooms, artichokes, and sun dried tomatoes in a red wine sauce. Earthy, slightly sweet and tangy, it was a perfect way to awaken my taste buds. Also perfect as a topping on the complimentary french baguette. And let me tell you a little about this baguette and its friend, the butter. The bread had a crispy crust and a soft chewy middle; and the butter, oh the butter. Softened to perfection, it was heavenly as I spread the creaminess on a piece of baguette and popped it in my mouth. Another basket please! Definitely the highlight of my meal.

For the entree, I had the grilled scallops with pesto and navy beans. The pesto complimented the beans quite well which was surprisingly pleasant. The scallops, on the other hand, tasted like they had been sitting in the walk-in for a couple of days, definitely not the catch of the day, but cooked well with a nice seared crust. The sauce I assume was a red wine reduction with light cream splashed across the top.

Que had the New York Strip steak topped with sauteed mushrooms served with mashed potatoes and vegetables. The steak was good and tender despite it being cooked well done. The mashed potatoes almost tasted like it came from a box. (I could be wrong.) The vegetables looked fresh enough. Right, I almost forgot, and kudos to our server who was funny, witty, and sarcastic, which made our dining experience enjoyable.

Finally, the raspberry sorbet. Cool, tart, rich and just right to end the meal. The clouds loomed over hinting at a storm but yet another perfect spring day.