I've taken to shopping on Saturday, which is free sample day at both Target and Harmon's, so we've actually eaten some new foods lately. Good for us!
First, Mission artisan tortillas: they only come in little soft taco size, in our store at least, but that's okay. We tried Ancient Grains, which had a nice multigrain flavor, and Flaxseed and Blue Corn, which were pretty sweet for a tortilla and had a smoother texture than tortillas made of just corn.
Eggo Pumpkin Spice Waffles: I don't buy a lot of frozen waffles because I can get Eric to make them from scratch, but these were really good. They were tasty for breakfast, but I bet they'd be good for dessert, too, maybe with vanilla ice cream and some fruit.
We also tried Sea Cuisine frozen coconut crusted tilapia and hated it. One bit is awesome, with just a hint of sweetness. More than one bite and the sweetness takes over, and not in a good way. We also had the mediterranean crusted salmon and it was okay but we probably won't eat it again soon.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Salmon 2: Electric Boogaloo
I didn't ruin the salmon. Yay! I'm pretty sure this is the first fish I've ever cooked from a real fish counter instead of a box, and it went pretty well for a first try.
I used this grilled salmon marinade from allrecipes.com:
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
garlic powder to taste
lemon pepper to taste
The recipe said this was the right amount for 1 1/2 pounds of fish and that's more or less what I had. I was supposed to marinate for 2 hours and then grill, but instead I marinated for about 1/2 an hour ('cause I found the recipe right before dinner--way to be prepared) and then wrapped the fish in foils with some marinade poured around them. One piece of salmon (I think it was a salmon steak? I don't know) per foil, baked at 425F for about 15 minutes.
And it tasted pretty good. The kids asked for more, so that's a bonus. I realized as I was eating that if I was cooking the fish in foil I probably didn't need that much oil in the marinade, but it still didn't feel greasy.
I used this grilled salmon marinade from allrecipes.com:
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
garlic powder to taste
lemon pepper to taste
The recipe said this was the right amount for 1 1/2 pounds of fish and that's more or less what I had. I was supposed to marinate for 2 hours and then grill, but instead I marinated for about 1/2 an hour ('cause I found the recipe right before dinner--way to be prepared) and then wrapped the fish in foils with some marinade poured around them. One piece of salmon (I think it was a salmon steak? I don't know) per foil, baked at 425F for about 15 minutes.
And it tasted pretty good. The kids asked for more, so that's a bonus. I realized as I was eating that if I was cooking the fish in foil I probably didn't need that much oil in the marinade, but it still didn't feel greasy.
Salmon
Just to prove I haven't totally forgotten our awesome food blog even though I haven't cooked anything worth sharing in a while, we're cooking salmon tonight and I'm telling you about it. That's right, I'm learning to cook fish. I've been rethinking a lot of stuff lately and how there are some things that I do more because I've been doing them a long time than because I actually care about them deeply. And I decided to go flexitarian, I guess. I still like all the vegetarian food I make and it's a great way to be healthy, but it really is nice to order a regular hamburger at a restaurant or not be confined to side dishes at potlucks and such.
But that means I have to get my meat cookin' skills back, and today it's gonna be salmon. I haven't googled recipes or seasoning ideas yet, but I'll let y'all know how it goes and whether I ruin a nice piece of fish or not. :)
But that means I have to get my meat cookin' skills back, and today it's gonna be salmon. I haven't googled recipes or seasoning ideas yet, but I'll let y'all know how it goes and whether I ruin a nice piece of fish or not. :)
Tomato and Sweet Potato Stew
Made a new recipe out of the crock pot cookbook that Akiko got me last year. It came out really well, so here it is, with only the minorest of modifications.
Assumes a 5-qt slow cooker. Makes enough for 2 people to eat for two or three days, or more people to eat for fewer days. YMMV.
Ingredients:
2 large or 3 small chicken breasts
2 large sweet potatoes
2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes
1 carrot
1 parsnip
1 28-oz can whole stewed tomatoes
1 tspn salt
1 tspn paprika
1 tspn celery seeds
1/2 tspn black pepper
1/8 tspn ground cinnamon
1/8 tspn ground nutmeg
1 cup chicken broth
basil to taste
1. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and put in the crock pot.
2. Peel the potatoes and sweet potatoes and cut into large chunks. Put in crock pot.
3. Peel carrot and parsnip and cut into smaller chunks than the potatoes. Put in crock pot.
4. Add the tomatoes with liquid.
5. Add spices EXCEPT basil.
6. Add chicken broth and stir.
7. Cook on high for 5 hours.
8. Serve. Sprinkle basil on to taste.
Couldn't be easier to make, and the result was heavenly. The sweetness of the sweet potatoes and the parsnip seep into the broth and blend perfectly with the heat of the paprika and the aromatic flavor of the celery seeds, and the cinnamon and nutmeg supply a nice richness. The basil adds the perfect finishing touch. (I used dried from a bottle. The recipe calls for fresh, but I have a feeling that might overpower it.)
It's edible after 4 hours, but the extra hour made the veggies nice and tender.
Assumes a 5-qt slow cooker. Makes enough for 2 people to eat for two or three days, or more people to eat for fewer days. YMMV.
Ingredients:
2 large or 3 small chicken breasts
2 large sweet potatoes
2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes
1 carrot
1 parsnip
1 28-oz can whole stewed tomatoes
1 tspn salt
1 tspn paprika
1 tspn celery seeds
1/2 tspn black pepper
1/8 tspn ground cinnamon
1/8 tspn ground nutmeg
1 cup chicken broth
basil to taste
1. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and put in the crock pot.
2. Peel the potatoes and sweet potatoes and cut into large chunks. Put in crock pot.
3. Peel carrot and parsnip and cut into smaller chunks than the potatoes. Put in crock pot.
4. Add the tomatoes with liquid.
5. Add spices EXCEPT basil.
6. Add chicken broth and stir.
7. Cook on high for 5 hours.
8. Serve. Sprinkle basil on to taste.
Couldn't be easier to make, and the result was heavenly. The sweetness of the sweet potatoes and the parsnip seep into the broth and blend perfectly with the heat of the paprika and the aromatic flavor of the celery seeds, and the cinnamon and nutmeg supply a nice richness. The basil adds the perfect finishing touch. (I used dried from a bottle. The recipe calls for fresh, but I have a feeling that might overpower it.)
It's edible after 4 hours, but the extra hour made the veggies nice and tender.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Mimolette
Got a hunk of mimolette at the cheese counter the other day.
Me and mimolette go way back. Akiko and I together have developed a taste for good cheese since getting married, and one of the things we discovered when we lived in Japan a few years ago was that you can't get good cheese in Japan.
Not very easily, at least. Cheese is eaten in Japan, widely, but for the most part it's a cheese so mild that it makes Velveeta taste real in comparison. But a few hoity-toity supermarkets carry a few reasonably flavorful imported cheese, in miniscule quantities at gagworthy prices to be sure.
It so happened the neighborhood we lived in had a couple of hoity-toity supermarkets within walking distance, and so every once in a while we'd splurge on some real cheese. And that's where I discovered mimolette. The bright orange, almost red, color made it look like the most potentially flavorful cheese on the shelf.
The wiki says it tastes like parm, maybe with a hazelnut sheen. I guess. I always thought of it as a really dry, really sharp cheddar - but that's probably the color playing with me. Maybe imagine a really dry sharp cheddar crossed with a gouda, and divided by parm? Anyway, it's a good muscle-y cheese.
Me and mimolette go way back. Akiko and I together have developed a taste for good cheese since getting married, and one of the things we discovered when we lived in Japan a few years ago was that you can't get good cheese in Japan.
Not very easily, at least. Cheese is eaten in Japan, widely, but for the most part it's a cheese so mild that it makes Velveeta taste real in comparison. But a few hoity-toity supermarkets carry a few reasonably flavorful imported cheese, in miniscule quantities at gagworthy prices to be sure.
It so happened the neighborhood we lived in had a couple of hoity-toity supermarkets within walking distance, and so every once in a while we'd splurge on some real cheese. And that's where I discovered mimolette. The bright orange, almost red, color made it look like the most potentially flavorful cheese on the shelf.
The wiki says it tastes like parm, maybe with a hazelnut sheen. I guess. I always thought of it as a really dry, really sharp cheddar - but that's probably the color playing with me. Maybe imagine a really dry sharp cheddar crossed with a gouda, and divided by parm? Anyway, it's a good muscle-y cheese.
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