• 
  Trying new marinade for fish...we'll how it goes
• 
  
• 
  Method
• Marinade
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 teaspoons lime zest
• 1 1/2 teaspoons honey
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay™
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, or to taste

Lemongrass tofu, fennel chickpeas, lambic sorbet

A few new recipe experiments

Lemongrass tofu
Methods:
I followed this recipe for the sauce portion. I sliced tofu into six pieces to create sandwich-conducive pieces. After marinating, I cooked them in a cast iron and transferred everything to the oven.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/spicy-lemongrass-tofu-233844

Results:
Excellent for sandwiches if the tofu is kept separate until the last minute. I don't know how it would go if made the night before.

Chickpeas
Methods:
I did not have coriander or olives on hand. Even without them, this chicpea recipe was delicious. I did put the lemon zest in the chickpeas by accident. So it goes. We haven't tried the couscous yet.
http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-couscous-159922


Sorbet
We tried to make Jeni's lambic sorbet this weekend, substituting frozen blueberries for stone fruit. The first night was a fail--after churning it still did not work. We popped the sorbet mix back into the fridge, and the ice cream maker back in the freezer, and turned down the freezer temp. We also realized that with a kitchenaid ice cream attachment, we probably should not have been churning the sorbet in a super hot Southern California kitchen while the oven was on.
We retried the experiment the next day, with a more temperate kitchen and the product turned out great. Putting a scoop of sorbet in lambic for a boozy float was particularly delightful.

Cantonese Restaurant

We are on a hunt for a favorite Cantonese restaurant. This weekend, we tried Fortune Gourmet.
We had the green beans, fried sole, and fish congee.

The portions were large and the price reasonable. The green beans were not as fried as I prefer them, but the green beans were fresh and plump and for those who like that style, they would enjoy them. The fried sole was quite delicious--good delicate batter with delicious sauce to put on top. The fish congee was fine--it did its job, though I like mine with a bit more flavor.

Overall, it was a fine experience. I still prefer the Cantonese restaurants in Boston but this definitely does its job just fine.

Sole

We are a fan of this fish

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/provencal-style-lemon-sole

Kahlua - The Revolver

We tried this drink tonight. It's delightful--not too sweet, not too heavy...

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/03/time-for-a-drink-the-revolver-bourbon-cocktail-tia-maria-kahlua-orange.html

salmon

In case you missed it, this reference list for salmon is fantastic

http://cooking.nytimes.com/guides/19-how-to-cook-salmon

Miso cod

Background: This recipe is a keeper! We got black cod at the Ranch 99 (Asian supermarket). It was about five bucks a pound. Never cooked with whole fish before but the guy there gutted it, cleaned it, and hacked it into a few steak-ish pieces.  I was totally intimidated by the whole fish buying experience (he wanted me to pick the fish myself and I had no clue and asked him to pick it. He said I should never let a fishmonger pick the fish because he could be dishonest, pointed me to tongs, and told me pick one myself and inspect all the options.

Method: Combo of the two...
http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-nobu-miso-marinated-black-cod-117238

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/black-cod-with-miso


I kept the fish curing in a ziplock bag, and then the bag in a pyrex bowl in the fridge to avoid fishiness issues.

Cooked on the stove and then oven.

Results: It totally worked. Still shocked. Meat easily fell off the bone. We had it with Shanghai noodles (also bought at Ranch 99), bok choy, shredded soy with carrots and shitake mushrooms, and baby potatoes. Not the world's easiest dinner, but given pre-prep form the weekend, it probably took about forty minutes....and then there was chocolate cream pie dessert...

Avoiding eating out in 100 degree weather

I had always lived on the East coast until recently. I've never really had to live with dry heat. It's a whole new beast to me. This week, for groceries, we bought little fingerling potatoes to roast, asparagus to grill, pizza dough, and soft tomatoes for making fresh pasta sauce... and then it was 97 degrees. Then low 100s. And it was clear that what we bought and planned for meals this week was not going to fly in this house that heats up like no other.

I'm going to start keeping a list of no-cook meals as this is new to me, and we kind of get caught off guard every September and it would be great not having to eat out every time it's this hot.

-cold tofu cubes with a soy/wasabi mix sauce, diced tomatoes and scallions, and bonito flakes on top
-spicy tuna fish with the siracha mayo we made and shredded carrots
-kale salad with peaches and buttermilk ranch dressing


We did another grocery run and now also have on deck

-avocado toasts
-smoked salmon salad
-arugula salad with goat cheese

Taking more no-heat suggestions...

recording. mayo. pancakes. and more.

Augh, I hate it when I don't record which, of many recipe versions I have used.

Case last night--mayo. I still can't find the original one I tried. >:(
This is one I tried last night but did the 1 drop of hot water trick: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1012697-mayonnaise

It's not as good as the original recipe I tried, which I still can't find.

And then we made buttermilk dressing: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014617-southern-buttermilk-salad-dressing

We made an aioli with the mayo. Added siracha.

And tried to apporximate the siracha dressing at Trader Joe's. by adding a bit of the siracha aioli to the buttermilk dressing on the spot. (We still wanted some normal buttermilk dressing for the rest of the week)

This morning--pancakes. I've tried a dozen recipes and still can't find "the one." And I have done a terrible job of keeping track of what's been tried.

Let's try this one today:

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/bas-best-buttermilk-pancakes#recipe-ingredients

Let's go with 375 degrees

pancakes

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/bas-best-buttermilk-pancakes#recipe-ingredients

beets!

Background: We are constantly wanting beets, but it is such a pain to heat up the house roasting the beets when it is 90 degrees! I had no idea you could eat beets raw, and then heard that it was possible. We decided to give this recipe a try.

Methods: http://markbittman.com/recipe/raw-beet-salad/
We tried the carrot ginger version.

Results: ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! WE LOVE THIS BEET AND CARROT GINGER SALAD!!!

Discussion: MUST MAKE AGAIN!!!

first ice cream

Let's see how this goes!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/cherry-chocolate-ice-cream-recipe.html

Another pizza dough experiment. Also welcome favorite pizza dough recipes from others...

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/homemade-pizza-dough-108197

Just kidding. Realized the above is for grilled pizza...we went with this recipe using regular flour:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/pizza-dough-recipe.html

fish marinade?

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/more-macho-fish-marinade
If anyone tries this fish marinate before we do, let us know how it goes!

creme fraiche

This was a delicious recipe for mushrooms. We use lime instead of lemon, and fennel instead of the herbs
http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014484-button-mushrooms-a-la-creme

pisco sour?

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/peruvian-style-pisco-sour

Tried cebiche tonight....
lime
onions
garlic
ginger
cilantro
aji
fresh fish

Last minute entertaining

Lime juice
olive oil
cilantro
salt
pepper
lime zest of two limes

This was good as a salad dressing, over kale, quinoa, black beans, tomato, avocado, and oranges. I would have put jalapeno into the dressing if we didn't have a toddler coming over as part of company.

We paired this with the fettucine alfredo, doubled. Worked out well for a last minute get-together of four adults and a child--probably took about an hour to prep and cook.

Waffles

We received a waffle iron from my brother and his fiancee. That means waffles!

1. The Trader Joes pumpkin pancake and waffle mix is amazing.

2. We tried these chocolate ones which were okay, based on the cup volume measurements...our scale battery needs to be changed so we didn't use the weight measurements. I'd try something different next time. They're not bad but not amazing.
 http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/chocolate-waffle-recipe.html

Another delicious Sunday night dinner

Spinach salad with the citrus vinaigrette

Thai hot and sour fish soup

Methods:

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/thai-hot-and-sour-fish-soup

Substituted with what we had--onions for shallots...zest of 2 limes and 1 lemon... vegetarian fish sauce... added zuchini... used the white fish fillets we had in the freezer...used dried shitaake mushrooms we soaked first...
We did chunks of ginger so it would be easier to avoid while consuming.

Discussion:
It was delicious! Making this one again

new salad vinaigrette - citrus

We discovered that the house we are living in as a citrus machine we can use. Man does it change our lives, buying 10 pounds of oranges a week at the farmers market. I will miss having a juicer when we move! Taking advantage of the machine before we move!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/spinach-salad-with-orange-vinaigrette-recipe.html