Shrimp & Mango Salad

Posted on 7 . 3 . 2011 by admin

When I lived in San Francisco, I worked across the street from a decent restaurant that I would go to for one thing: grilled mango and shrimp salad. It was the perfect lunch. Filling but light. Pretty healthy. Slightly extravagant for a week-day lunch. And when I saw the tiny, yellow, Champagne mangoes at Whole Foods I knew right away what I wanted to do with them. The shrimp got a quick marinating in some lime juice, olive oil, chili powder and garlic and were then cooked very quickly in a super hot pan. The mango was sliced into long, … Continue reading →

Broiled Eel, Chili Garlic Zucchini Noodles, Avocado Cream

Posted on 6 . 29 . 2011 by admin

Another pretty standard meal around when we are running short on time is broiled eel. While I have made it from scratch in the past, I am not at all above keeping some already sauced eel on hand from H Mart. It thaws quickly, cooks quickly and can be paired with a ton of things. Usually we serve it with rice, some form of avocado and cucumbers. This time around I had zucchini and decided to make noodles from them (another thing we do often in the summer). The zucchini is cut into strips on the mandolin, heavily salted, and … Continue reading →

Grilled Salmon, Pickled Carrots & Roasted Shiitake Salad

Posted on 6 . 26 . 2011 by admin

I’ve spent most of the summer, no matter how hot, cooking up a storm. Boiling, baking, braising and boiling in my skimpiest of skivvies because with the abundance of weekly veggies arriving on my porch (thanks to Door to Door Organics’ local box) I can’t help myself. Though with a husband working his ASS off just about every day and night since we bought a new workshop for his business, a toddler, a garden, a household and, oh yeah, a full-time job, I have not made any time to write about said cooking. So in the next many posts I … Continue reading →

A Pleasant Walk, a Pleasant Talk Along the Briny Beach

Posted on 4 . 17 . 2011 by admin

I think the new name for this blog should be just “Do What I Want,” as that seems to have been my method these last several days. I want sweetbreads? I go git ‘em. Yesterday I needed a tin of sardines. No problem! Today it was mussels or moules frites to be exact. And I believe the journey to the moules started innocently enough. Maybe it was, hmmm, I should make something simple in as few pots as possible with small effort, but big results. Then I probably thought, we should definitely do something with the big pot of oil … Continue reading →

Thanks, H Mart

Posted on 4 . 10 . 2011 by admin

We took a trip to H Mart yesterday, a large and impressive Korean grocery store in Aurora. The entrance is flanked by all manner of specialized electronic gizmos from humidifiers shaped like frogs, to $400 rice cookers to a whole row of kimchi refrigerators. I am always tempted by such machines, but force myself to keep walking toward the homemade tofu stand, the heart-stopping, loud and dangerous-looking machine which periodically explodes out rice cracker things and endless rows of produce. I had no real agenda, so I just pushed the shopping cart (the best kid car cart there is, where … Continue reading →

OMG Asian Fish Tacos

Posted on 4 . 9 . 2011 by admin

Shortly before Meatless March I had purchased a couple whole snappers for a dinner party. I thought at the time that I probably only needed one, but wanted to be safe and ended up with about 2 1/2 times the amount we’d need. So we cleaned and froze the extra fish which has been staring up at me from our large freezer in the basement. Eyeing me each time I reached in for a black bean burger, chik patty or loaf of bread. So I finally thawed the sucker out. Last time we deep fried the fish whole served with … Continue reading →

Sooshi

Posted on 4 . 7 . 2011 by admin

I had a dentist appointment which happens to be in Sakura Square where a Japanese grocery store is so naturally I had to go there afterwards. I have to admit to having bought a box of tempura shrimp at Costco the day before. It’s a weakness. What can I say? They are so good and convenient. So as I looked at the vegetables at the grocery store, I saw a tiny pack of shiso leaves. Otherwise known as sesame leaves, they have a strong, almost medicinal taste and are often paired with tempura shrimp rolls so right away I knew … Continue reading →

Salmon, Artichokes and a Fabulous Sauce, Oh My

Posted on 4 . 7 . 2011 by admin

Finally, a week after the end of Meatless March, I got my salmon fix. I had picked up some wild sockeye fillets and several artichokes I found on sale at the infamous Queen Supers. This visit was fairly uneventful, though we did notice the same penny horse ride was there that I rode on when I was a kid. So I asked a checkout woman for change for a dollar and got four quarters and a penny (“It’s only a penny” she shrugged) and set out to show my daughter a TRUE great time. I put her on the horse, … Continue reading →