Stories of a Bobblehead Life

Seared Tuna, ginger bak choy & cold udon

2011-02-25T20:50:00.002-08:00

Tonights dinner was a seared tuna that I picked up from Trader Joes the other week. It was frozen, which I really dont like when it comes to fish, but this was actually quite good. Then I cooked Bak choy in a tinfoil packet with lots of ginger, garlic and soy. Finally I made a udon noodle side that's tossed with soy, sesame, rice vinegar, ginger, garlic and a dash of some amazing Chinese hot sauce. Its got such a deep rich heat, that doesn't sit in your mouth forever, just enough to flavor it. Id tell you what it is so you could get some for yourself, but I got it in a little grocery store in shanghai and it's all in Chinese so truthfully I have no real idea whats even in the stuff. Anyway I topped it with a little furikake for some extra taste and texture and our meal was complete. Tasty!

salmon, bak choy w/ orange ginger sauce and cilantro

2011-02-12T22:01:00.000-08:00

So here it is, one of our favorite salmon dishes that is super quick and easy but tastes so good. First get baby bak choy and cut it into four pieces lengthwise and lay it on a tinfoil square. Then lay the salmon on top and top it with the sauce thats made from freshly squeezed orange juice, orange zest, hoisin sauce, green onion, and fresh ginger. The crush up coriander seeds and salt and sprinkle it on top. Chop up some fresh cilantro and and scatter around the fish and bak choy. Then just wrap up your tinfoil packet and stick it in the oven for about 12-15 minutes, pull it out, open it up and enjoy! You will not be disappointed.

keralan fish curry

2011-02-11T21:11:00.001-08:00

Yesterday while I was at whole foods getting supplies for my pork dish I had decided to pick up some salmon for this dish that Allyn and I have come to love, which I will probably post soon, to eat later this week. Well I couldn't stop there so I got some squid tubes for fun, and then I saw something I hadnt seen in store before, Monkfish! I asked the fish guy his thoughts and he said he loved it, especially in a thai curry kind of dish. So tonight I made Kerulan fish curry, I started with fresh curry leaves and some mustard seeds. then I tossed in diced shallots, green chili, garlic and lots of fresh ginger. once that started to soften I added chili powder and tumeric to cook down for a minute with some water. Finally I added coconut milk, canned chopped tomatoes, and my cut up filet of monkfish. I brought it to a boil and simmered it for about 20 minutes. I will warn you between that between the chili powder and the green chili, this dish was pretty hot. I loved it, but for those of you who don't want a ton of heat I'd at least leave out the chili pepper. Once it was done I added some chopped coriander, warmed up some naan bread and put basmati rice on the side. It was really good! Monkfish may be one ugly fish, but it is super tasty, definitely in my top 5 favorites now.

Roasted pork, savory blueberry sauce, whole grain mustard potatoes

2011-02-11T20:27:00.000-08:00

This was from dinner last night. I guess Im a little early in the seasons for blueberries, but I saw this recipe and had to do it. The potatoes are done in the oven with lots of whole grain mustard, a little butter and some lemon zest and were very good. All credit to my girl who made those while I was on my way home. As for the pork its a simple oven roasted pork chop, but I did get to use my brand new le creuset skillet which was amazing. The sauce is blueberries, lemon zest, lemon juice, red wine, and a little water. It was really yummy! Then for an added twist as opposed to using parsley for garnish, which I really don't enjoy I used marjoram which had such a bright flavor it really added something interesting to the whole dish. Its pretty fragrant so just a little bit works wonders. All in all a great little experiment. I cant wait till blueberries are actually in season and I can try this again.

Prosciutto & herb wrapped salmon with stuffed tomatoes

2010-06-15T20:27:00.000-07:00

So I stood in front of the fish section in publix for a while on this one. I didn't want to spend a ton of money, so I was going to get the farm raised, color enhanced cut, but they had some amazing wild sockeye salmon that I just couldn't pass up. So with my amazing cuts of salmon in hand I took some fresh sage, dill and basil and bashed them up in my pestle and mortar while slowly mixing in some quality olive oil. I laid my herb mixture on top of each piece and then wrapped it in the prosciutto. As for my tomatoes, they were supposed to stay together, but alas they broke open. I filled them with rice, couscous onion and rosemary. busted or not, it was a tasty tomato.

Swordfish, lemon breadcrumbs & asparagus

2010-06-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

Over the past few nights fish has been on my mind and so I decided to cook up some fish recipes. This is a baked swordfish steak that I topped with fresh organic tomato slices and homemade lemon & thyme flavored breadcrumbs. All sitting on top of some fresh asparagus spears cooked up in garlic and oil. Simple, but so so tasty.

asian spice rubbed chicken & pasta salad

2010-05-25T07:34:00.000-07:00

I cant lie about the chicken, I didn't make the spice rub I bought it, but it was tasty. However the pasta salad I did make and it was a hit. Its got your normal stuff in it, olives, red pepper, tomato, celery, and parsley, but the dressing was a home made Sun dried tomato dressing with lemon and capers (my new favorite). SO TASTY.

balsamic onion & spinach stuffed chicken

2010-04-12T19:32:00.000-07:00

For dinner tonight I sauteed onions in balsamic vinegar and then butterflied chicken breasts and stuffed them with the onions and spinach. You could add some mushrooms and maybe even some feta to really make it exciting, but I kept it simple tonight. The key to this is to cook the chicken in the same pan as the onions so you get all that caramelized goodness onto the outside of the chicken. I also quickly sauteed diced tomatoes, basil, capers, lemon zest and lemon juice and dished that on top of some fresh organic spinach, placed the chicken over that and it was time for eatin'.

Mahi & Beans

2010-03-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

I decided tonight that I love blackened fish. This is only the second time I've cooked fish this way, but I made a sweet blend of spices for it and it turned out awesome. The mahi filets were really fresh and had a great crunch on the outside, but still soft flavorful on the inside. For the green beans I used a parsley & lime butter that I made and sauteed them. Blackened fish and things cooked with lime.... always a good combo!

updates

2010-02-04T07:14:00.001-08:00

So sorry for the lack of updates, I am still cooking away, but sometimes the desire to eat my food overtakes my desire to take a picture of it. :) I'll try to show a little more restraint so you have more to enjoy. Here are some recent dinners I haven't been able to upload till now. Enjoy!

round 2: Seared Tuna, ginger broccoli, cilantro lime rice

2010-02-04T06:59:00.000-08:00

TSo the tuna was done just like the night before, but then we have some big beautiful florets of organic broccoli that were cooked with soy, brown sugar, ginger and sesame oil all of which are sitting on a bed or jasmine rice that was mixed with a blend of cilantro, lime, onion, salt and olive oil. And of course to top it all off I brought out some of that leftover wasabi soy mix to drizzle over top the tuna. I'll say it again, I LOOOOOOVVVVVEEEE Tuna!

Seared Tuna, Wasabi Soy Cabbage Salad

2010-02-04T06:47:00.000-08:00

Tuna is just soooooo good. This was really a fun and simple dish to make. I simply seasoned and seared the tuna on each side for 1 1/2 minutes and then shredded some fresh napa cabbage, tossed in some chopped romaine, celery, red peppers, & avocado. I toasted some bashed up ramen noodles and sesame seeds and sprinkled them over the top and then I finished it all with a wasabi soy dressing. This is most definitely a new favorite.

Chicken Fried Rice

2010-02-04T06:39:00.000-08:00

This is what we call comfort food for asians. The south has its fried chicken, but we have our fried rice. This is a very standard version, no added frills which has not been my style thus far s0 I tried to dress it up a bit. Its sitting atop some h0t sauce and steamed and marinated bak choy.

char siu pork

2009-12-13T20:01:00.000-08:00

So I've had this char siu pork marinating for a good 24 hours and me being the dummy that I am have been snacking all day and wasn't really that hungry, but I had to cook this anyway and Im glad I did. I got some nice charred black bits on it and the sauce brought me right back to my days in malaysia eating at the noodle house. I steamed a little bak choy to go with it and called it a night.

turkey day!

2009-11-27T18:49:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. So for our thanksgiving dinner I went all out and made a honey brined mesquite smoked turkey, gravy (not from a packet), cinnamon & brown sugar sweet potatoes with marshmallows, garlic butter mashed potatoes, and a vegan style green bean casserole. Im not vegan or anything but I cant do the dairy in a normal casserole so I used fresh mushrooms and soy creamer to substitute. Overall it all turned out to be pretty fantastic and I hope you all had a great time too.

honey mustard chicken & bacon wrapped asparagus

2009-11-19T10:18:00.000-08:00

First off I apologize for the poor picture, I'm starting to realize my camera limitations. Anyway last night I did a homemade honey mustard sauce (Mayo, dijon, steak sauce, honey) and marinated the chicken for an hour and did a little bbq on the grill. The Asparagus is wrapped in some nice thick bacon and topped with salt, pepper & olive oil. So simple and so tasty. Lastly to contrast the heat of the mustard I did a cucumber strips in a mayo, olive oil, lemon, pepper & mint. Admittedly the sauce would be amazing if I used yogurt, but Im allergic and had to substitute. I made it work though.

pork tonkatsu

2009-11-16T22:34:00.000-08:00

Tonights dinner was a panko breaded pork cutlet with homemade tonkatsu sauce and steamed napa cabbage with a sweet soy dressing. I was a little worried at first about having the two sauces on the same plate but the sweet soy dressing really helped play off the bite of the tonkatsu sauce. For the Tonkatsu sauce I used ketchup, worcestershire sauce, mirin, sugar, garlic & ginger. And for the cabbage dressing a simple soy, seasame oil, honey and pepper combination.

Chicken Katsu

2009-11-12T20:56:00.000-08:00

So tonight I did a play on the traditional hawaiian plate lunch. I have Chicken katsu, two blocks (scoops) of rice and salad. I opted for the healthier type of salad. The chicken was marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, honey & red pepper flakes. then coated with panko bread crumbs and fried. The salad is organic spinach, roma tomatoes, yellow peppers and onions and both the salad and rice were drizzled in a soy, sesame oil, mirin and black pepper dressing. Its almost like being back in Hawaii.

Pork Chops w/ Pumpkin Butter Glaze

2009-11-11T20:36:00.000-08:00

This is a seared and roasted pork chop with a pumpkin butter glaze, steamed green beans & sauteed potatoes. The beans were seasoned and then steamed, but I did add in some thyme for some aromatics. The pork chops were seared and then put in a roasting pan with a cup of apple juice in it. I topped it with a glaze made from pumpkin butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and ground clove and finished it in the oven.

Penne & Meatballs

2009-11-08T21:09:00.000-08:00

This is a simple penne pasta with a roasted garlic red sauce with some parmesan and fresh chopped parsley with a olive oil and balsamic dressing. The meatballs though I made from scratch and they turned out awesome.

Meatball Recipe:

Ground Sirloin

Chopped sun-dried Tomatoes

Chopped Chicken & Apple Sausage

Steak Seasoning

Fresh Chopped Basil

Eggs & Toast

2009-11-04T14:37:00.000-08:00

This is scrambled eggs cooked up with garlic, ham, red peppers and finished with some organic spinach at the end all served on top of a nice piece of Texas toast. Pretty basic but I did add a little smoked paprika to the eggs to make it a little interesting.