Sushi Bowl

This is a tasty, healthy, and very easy to put together lunch. You can buy pickled mackerel from Tokyo Fish, if you live in the East Bay, or any market that sells Japanese or sushi products. This is a great way to use leftover rice but it's great with fresh rice too.

You'll need (serves 1):

2/3c cooked brown rice

1/2 avocado

1/2 filet pickled mackerel

wakame seaweed (soaked in boiling water to reconstitute)

nori seaweed, cut into strips

small piece of ginger, minced

1T soy sauce

1t rice vinegar

1t mirin (sweet cooking wine)

1T Sriracha

1T hoisin sauce

Combine ginger, soy sauce, rice vinegar and mirin in a medium bowl. Add rice and stir to coat. Chop wakame seaweed and toss with rice. Top rice with sliced avocado (salted and peppered), sliced mackerel, nori sheets, and a squirt of Sriracha and hoisin.

Caramelized Steelhead with Sweet & Sour Sauce

This delicious concoction was actually made by the Green Kitchen next door. Briefly marinating the fish in a sugar rub gives it a caramelized crust when you pan-sear it. The sauce is a nice touch.

You'll need:

salmon or steelhead

sugar

1 in ginger

2 cloves garlic

1 serrano pepper

juice of 2 limes

handful cilantro

Rub sugar into fish. Let sit 20 minutes.

In the meantime, combine sauce ingredients in a blender; blend and set aside.

Heat a non-stick skillet and add oil. Place fish in pan (skin side down if you eat the skin; top side down if you don't). Don't move it; let it cook about 5 minutes until the sides are opaque. Flip and cook 1-2 more minutes.

Serve with sauce, jasmine rice, and julienned vegetables.

Ocean Perch in Pastis Vegetable Sauce

Any firm white fish would pair beautifully with this intensely flavorful sauce, made of Pastis (Pernod, Ricard, or any anis-flavored liquor), fresh tomatoes, and sliced carrots, and cooked down until thick and substantial. Served with garlic toasts, this makes a healthy and easy one-pot meal. I served a simple gazpacho as a first course; that recipe to come, soon.

You'll need (serves 4):

4 filets of ocean perch or any firm white fish (even filet of sole would work here, since you don't move the fish around while cooking so it probably won't fall apart)

3 medium leeks, chopped (you should have about 1c chopped leeks)

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 head garlic, crushed and sliced

2 jalapenos, chopped

1 dried chile

a mix of heirloom and cherry tomatoes, totalling about 1c, cut into large chunks

3/4c Ricard, Pastis, Pernod, etc.

1-2c chicken broth or water

1/2t saffron threads dissolved in 2T hot water (optional)

2T tomato paste

4 carrots, sliced

1/4c basil

1 loaf bread

good olive oil

Heat olive oil and saute leeks and onions until translucent. Add garlic and jalapenos, saute until garlic is fragrant. Add tomato paste and stir; cook until slightly caramelized. Add Pastis and bring to a boil; boil until reduced by 2/3 and aroma is no longer alcoholic. Add saffron, dried chile, tomatoes and broth. Reduce heat to low and cook until thick, about 30 minutes. Add carrots and cook another 20 minutes.

In the meantime, slice bread and fry slices until golden in olive oil. Salt and set aside.

10 minutes before serving, salt and pepper fish and lay on top of pan. Cover and steam until fish flakes, about 10 minutes. Serve with olive oil toasts.

Za'atar Salmon Cakes

We often buy too much salmon and have just a bit leftover. Unlike other leftovers, which last up to a week, fish should be eaten within 24-48 hours. I usually flake it in a bowl, add an egg and some breadcrumbs, chopped jalapeno and green onion. This time, I added some za'atar and a bit of feta cheese too. The result, served with a bit of leftover homemade salsa and a tomato-feta salad, was delicious.

Summery Salmon Supper

I realize I've been a bad blogger lately, but I've been doing all sorts of cool things outside of the kitchen, like attending a pig roast on the beach on Tomales Bay (photos up when we find the camera cord).

I also went to visit family, and my sister and I cooked up some dinner to battle the LA heat. The whole meal came together in about an hour, and since the salmon was served at room temperature, it could wait until we were ready to eat. I didn't have my camera with me, so the photos aren't the best.

The menu: Pomegranate Salmon with Feta Tzatziki; Cousous with Mint and Almonds; Tomato Salad. For dessert, Blue and Goat Cheese-Stuffed Figs, roasted until bubbly.

Pomegranate Salmon with Feta Tzatziki

You'll need:

salmon -- 1/3-1/2lb per person

1T pomegranate molasses

5 cloves garlic, minced

1t cayenne

small handful of dill

3 Persian cucumbers

1c lebne or Greek-style yogurt (normal yogurt is ok too)

a good-sized chunk of feta

1 eggplant

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Remove pin bones from salmon with tweezers. Rub salmon with pomegranate molasses and 1t garlic. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Slice eggplant into thin (1/4 inch) rounds. Grease a baking sheet with olive oil and lay eggplant rounds in one layer. Sprinkle both sides with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Bake 15 minutes, until tender; flip and bake 5-7 minutes longer. The eggplant should be golden but not dark brown. Set aside.

Mince dill and chop cucumbers. Mix with lebne or yogurt. Add garlic. Add feta and mix until incorporated. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Place baking dish in oven. When dish is hot, turn oven down to 275 degrees. Place salmon skin-side down on dish and return to oven for about 20 minutes, until just done-- salmon should still be pink in the middle, at its thickest part. Let cool.

Serve salmon on top of eggplant. Top with a dollop of tzatziki or serve sauce on the side.

Cousous with Mint and Almonds

You'll need:

1/3c couscous per person

slivered almonds

1 lemon

handful of mint

Make couscouse according to package directions (combine equal parts couscous and hot water; let sit, covered, for 5 minutes; then fluff with fork). Let couscous cool. Mix in slivered almonds, chopped mint, juice and zest of lemon. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Tomato Salad

This isn't really a recipe; just combine halved cherry tomatoes (we got some really good heirloom ones at Trader Joe's, which is usually not the best place for produce), chopped avocado, red onion or scallion, olives (crush with the side of a chef's knife to remove the pit), chopped basil, salt and pepper. Dress with balsamic vinegar and olive oil right before serving.

Blue and Goat Cheese-Stuffed Figs

Preheat broiler. Halve figs and stuff with a bit of cheese -- we made some with blue cheese, some with fresh goat cheese. Broil until bubbly, about 5 minutes.

Tuna Tartare Salad

This salad turns a delicate tuna tartare into a full meal. It's really, really good.

You'll need (serves 2 hungry people):

tartare:

1lb sushi-grade tuna

1 inch piece of ginger

1/2 bunch cilantro

1 avocado

3T roasted sesame seeds

1/4 red onion

1 lemon cucumber

salad base:

1 large peach (mango would be fine here too if peaches aren't in season)

3 radishes

2 large handfuls arugula

dressing:

rice wine vinegar

mirin cooking wine

soy sauce

sriracha

chopped thai chile, optional

Mix dressing ingredients, adjusting quantities to taste.

Cut peach into small cubes and slice radish. Toss with arugula and set aside.

Slice the tuna into very small cubes, removing any white connective tissue as you go. Peel, de-seed, and chop cucumber into cubes of similar size. Peel and mince ginger. Mince red onion. Chop cilantro. Combine all in a bowl and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Pour 2/3 of dressing on tartare and mix to coat. Toss the arugula salad with remaining dressing. Serve tartare in a scoop on top of arugula salad, garnished with more sesame seeds.

Smoked Trout and Wheat Berry Salad

This is a great summer salad that (if you precook the wheat berries) involves no cooking whatsoever, so it's perfect for nights when it's simply too hot to be in the kitchen. I used smoked trout from Verbrugge's in Oakland; they smoke it themselves and it's not as salty as what you normally find. If you're using particularly salty trout, some croutons might be nice to cut the salt. I use Castelvetrano olives because they are particularly mild, but you would want something more pronounced if your fish is stronger in smokiness or saltiness.

You'll need (serves 3):

1 smoked trout, about 1lb

6 large leaves of red leaf lettuce, cut into small pieces

1c wheat berries

1/4c tahini

juice & zest of 1-2 lemons

1T olive oil

1/4c Castelvetrano olives

1/2 red onion

Cook 1c wheat berries in 3c water & 1t salt until tender (they'll still be al dente), about 1 1/2 hours. Drain, toss with olive oil, and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, beat tahini with lemon juice and zest. If the mixture gets too thick, add some hot water to thin. It should be thick like soft-serve ice cream.

Toss wheat berries in tahini mixture. Mince red onion and add to wheat berries. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Arrange lettuce on plates and place a scoop of wheat berry salad in the center. Surround with trout and olives. Serve with bread.

Vegetarian version: dress salad with roasted eggplant instead of trout.

Steamed Fish with Szechuan Noodles

This is a fast, healthy, and very flavorful meal that you can probably make from things you have around the house-- I use broccoli and pea shoots here but any vegetable would work (peas, carrots, green beans, etc). If you don't have szechuan pepper, get some. It's amazing stuff-- peppery, tingly, and basically fantastic. It really changes the flavor of this dish. If I didn't have it, I'd probably put ginger in the sauce instead.

You'll need (serves 2, but doubles easily):

2 fillets of ocean perch or any other firm white fish

1/2lb fresh spelt pasta (we used Phoenix Pastificio's) or buckwheat/soba noodles

broccoli, cut into small florets

pea shoots

6 cloves garlic

4 scallions

1/4c soy sauce

2T mirin (rice cooking wine)

1T rice wine vinegar

sriracha, to taste

1t cracked szechuan pepper

Crush 4 cloves garlic. Slice scallions. Place in small bowl with soy sauce, mirin, vinegar, sriracha, and peppercorns.

Cook pasta until barely al dente. Drain and set aside.

Salt and pepper fish. Place in skillet with tight-fitting lid. Add 2T prepared sauce and 1/4c water. Cover and cook on low about 10 minutes, until fish flakes.

Steam broccoli in a large skillet; drain and set aside. Slice 2 cloves garlic. Add a little oil to the skillet and add pea shoots and garlic. Return broccoli to skillet with cooked pasta and prepared sauce. Cook until pea shoots wilt and noodles absorb sauce, about 2 minutes.

Remove fish from pan and reduce remaining sauce. Pour sauce over fish and serve with noodles.

And we're back!

Spot Prawns ready for the fire!

Since I blogged last, I've been busy reading, writing, and generally working more than ever before. But now! exams are over and I can't wait to get back to cooking. We just got back from a celebratory vacation to Vancouver and Vancouver Island, and I'd like to share a few great meals we ate while there. If you ever find yourself (or are lucky enough to live) in BC, check out these restaurants.

Honorable mention, Seattle (we flew to Seattle, then drove to Vancouver)

Paseo: Cuban sandwiches. 

Yum. Meat-filled goodness. And that corn on the side was seriously delicious.

Vancouver

Guu with Garlic: Izakaya-style (like Japanese tapas) means you get to keep eating and ordering all night long (and it's cheap!). Some highlights: chopped octopus and seaweed wasabi salad with nori chips, panfried kimchi pork udon, shatteringly crisp calamari, small cubes of barbecued eel, and my first Oden-- a tasty broth with various floating foods (the fish cake was the best).

Gyoza King: also Izakaya-style, maybe better than Guu but a tiny bit more expensive. Their panfried udon was delicious. My favorite dish here (which I plan to try to recreate) was a terrine-shaped tower of avocado, fresh raw salmon, and a raw quail egg on top, with yuzze (reduced shoyu) dressing and nori strips on the side for rolling. Of course the gyoza (we got pork & veggie) were fantastic too. We got bbq'd eel here too, and it was delicious. One of the most surprising dishes was the spinach with sesame sauce, cooked and pressed into a cube so that all the moisture came out and it was just crunchy and flavorful.

Go Fish: 

We went here two days in a row for lunch. It was that good. It's basically a fish shack on the Vancouver seawall (which I recommend biking). The first day, I had a seared scallop sandwich with chili mayo; J had a half pound of spot prawns, which are the sweetest, most delicious prawns ever (more on them later):

The second day, we had incredibly crispy, moist halibut fish n chips. Even the fries were good.

Bin941: J went here last time he was in Vancouver, twice. We would have gone back twice if we'd had more money and time. It was fantastic. The best part was sitting at the chef's counter and getting to see them make all the food! Highlights: navajo frybread (crispy and fluffy) with goat cheese sun dried tomato terrine; crispy pork belly and scallops; balsamic-pepper shoestring fries; cape gooseberries for dessert! (oh how I wish we could get those here!)

Vancouver Island (one of my new favorite places)

smoked salmon at Goats on the Roof

Shelter (Tofino): This was surprisingly good. It looked like a "fancy" chain-style restaurant but the service was warm and the food delicious. We both got the spot prawn risotto with seared salmon. It was creamy and sweet and the salmon was perfectly cooked.

Wildside Grill (Tofino): 

The perfect lunch spot. We went here twice. The first time we both got the Cod Club (shrimp, cod, bacon, avocado): 

The second time J got fish n chips (which he said were better than Go Fish's) and I got the salmon sandwich-- a large, seared salmon fillet with corn tomato relish and avocado.

Markus' Wharfside Restaurant (Sooke): This was probably the best meal of the trip. J had the soup of the day and the risotto of the day (yes, they have that). The soup was creamy sunchoke with a duck confit goat cheese quenelle. This might have been the best soup I have ever had. Ever. I had seared scallops with double-smoked bacon and then a Tuscan-style seafood stew, which was delicious-- the broth was intensely flavorful (cooked for 6 hours!) and the seafood was perfectly cooked (I'm always wary of seafood in soups because it's usually overcooked, since, for example, shrimp takes less time than mussels and clams). We had a Rioja that was simply fantastic-- Marques de Riscal Rioja Reserva, 2003. Get it if you can.

The Edge Restaurant (Sooke): This opened days before we went. We actually tried to go for dinner but they hadn't gotten their liquor license yet, so they were only open for lunch. We told them about the soup at Markus' and they gave us a cup of theirs-- lightly curried cauliflower soup with pulled pork and green olives. The pork was a perfect pairing, both flavor and texture wise, for the thick soup. J got a homemade sausage sandwich; I had the "kitchen sink"-- a cilantro broth with noodles, clams, mussels, halibut, and homemade sausage. It was fantastic, but the real highlight here was the bacon (on J's side cesar), which came from the chef's farm's pigs and was smoked for two days straight. It had an intense flavor and crispy, almost spongy texture. It was so good that J ordered a slice for dessert.

Lest you think that our trip was all about food, I should say, we did do other things. We smoked Cuban cigars. Also, by the time we were in Tofino, we were so in love with spot prawns, that we built a campfire in the firepit outside our door, on the rocky banks of the Clayoquot Sound, and roasted spot prawns and scallops on the open flame:

 If you *ever* see fresh spot prawns, get them! I even had one raw from a market on Granville Island. Delicious.

We also visited a Pocky Store that had expired Pocky on clearance. I overheard someone saying they must be ok to eat or they wouldn't sell them. I'm not sure about that.

We also ate mangosteens!

The Purplecook Makes Vietnamese Food!

Banana Blossom Salad

My friend Trang, patiently and generously, taught me to make Banana Blossom Salad and Clay Pot Sea Bass, two of our favorite Vietnamese dishes, a while ago. I decided to try them myself to see if I still remembered the lesson. A few phone calls to Trang and some quick internet searches later, here are the results.

Clay Pot Sea Bass

I'd say the two best moments were at the Vietnamese market when the cashier rang up the banana blossoms and said, "Do you know what to do with these?" and I proudly responded in the affirmative, and at the end of the cooking process when my caramel sauce actually, magically, came together (even though I probably put too much oil in the oil-to-sugar ratio).

Vietnamese mint; Thai basil

Chopped fried peanuts; fried shallots

sliced banana blossom

in acidulated water

cutting the sea bass into cubes

sea bass cooking on caramel sauce

sea bass, cooked

the finished salad

another picture, just because it's so beautiful

(and delicious!)

Roasted Monkfish

This was inspired by a recent Bittman post, though I've been wanting to make monkfish for some time. Often called the poor man's lobster, it's a firm white fish with a delicate flavor that stands up well to sauces. My mom poaches monkfish in a vegetable mirepoix that's then pureed into a thick carroty bed for monkfish fillets. Fillets are hard to find; here I use tails, which are easier to find and very easy to work with.

You'll need (serves 2):

1 monkfish tail, bone-in

salt, pepper

Aleppo pepper (you can use sweet paprika if you can't find Aleppo pepper)

good olive oil

Preheat the oven to 475. Rub the monkfish with salt, pepper and Aleppo pepper. Coat with olive oil. Pour a little oil into a baking dish and heat it in the oven. When the oil is hot, add the monkfish. Cook about 15 minutes, until warm in the center (use a skewer to test it).

we ate the fish with beans & kale