fish – Page 2 – The Kitchen Illiterate

One Last New England Lobster

One of the things on my Things to Do in Boston Before I Move list was cooking lobster. I probably should have re-phrased that, though, to read “Make Mr. X cook me lobster” because when it came down to it, well, I wussed out. There is just something about those things that gives me the heebie-jeebies, even after they’re dead. But I’ve got myself a pretty great man, and when I told him I wanted lobster, he took on all the heavy lifting of this particular cooking project without complaint. He even bought an extra lobster so I could make lobster risotto later in the week.
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Soy-glazed Red Snapper with Spring Vegetables and Roasted Potatoes

It’s finally spring in New England, though we are still about a month away from farmer’s market produce. I’m only four days away from finishing grad school, and miraculously, am actually finished with all my finals—I had to finish early because we had a trip to take: I’m in Los Angeles for my good friend Kim’s wedding! It’s already been a great party, and the wedding itself is this evening, at a ranch in Malibu.

I kind of forgot that eating in Southern California tends to take place in chain restaurants more often than not. We went to the San Fernando Valley’s “restaurant row” last night, which consisted of The Cheesecake Factory, El Torito, Fuddrucker’s, Quizno’s, and P.F. Chang’s. That’s about all there is in walking distance of our hotel. We did get room service for breakfast this morning, which is certainly never the best food, but I love having someone bring a tray of covered plates to my room and being able to eat breakfast on a fluffy, white King-sized bed.
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Miso-glazed Tuna Kebabs

I think my grill pan and I have finally come to an amicable agreement. I keep it clean and dry and rust-free, and oil it liberally before I use it, and it doesn’t send clouds of stinky smoke billowing through my apartment. I am so happy that we’re finally getting along, because I don’t think these tuna kebabs would have been nearly as flavorful if I had had to roast them or sear them or pan fry them. Grilling is definitely the way to go, so if you don’t live in a climate where late-December grilling is an option, I suggest you get yourself a grill pan tout de suite. You won’t regret it.

I used the same marinade here, from epicurious.com, with tofu a few weeks ago. And while it wasn’t bad, it just worked better with tuna. However, with a few tweaks I think it would have been just as good, so I’ll do my best to make some suggestions for those who don’t want to eat tuna.
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Tuna and White Bean Sandwiches

This past weekend was my birthday, and as usual, I spent a lot of time cooking. Slow-cooked pork seems to be something of a tradition, and this year, I made al pastor-style pork for a Mexican feast. It was crazy delicious, and I promise to tell you all about it once I’ve recovered a bit. But today, still reeling from a busy, adventurous birthday weekend, I wanted something easy, and I hit upon what might be my new favorite sandwich.

About a year ago I read about making tuna sandwiches with mashed cannellini beans instead of mayonnaise, and it sounded like an excellent alternative: a little lighter, maybe, and I can never say no to beans. But it took me awhile to get around to it, which is unfortunate, because it’s a perfect summer sandwich. I know, I know, tuna isn’t perhaps the safest thing to be eating, but I love it, mercury be damned. And on days like today, when my house is so hot and steamy I can barely move, it’s pretty nice not to have to get anywhere near the stove.

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What Can You Do with Beluga Lentils?

My trips to Trader Joe’s are few and far between. So when they add cool new stuff to their shelves, I don’t usually know about it until it’s not exactly cool and new anymore, at least not to anyone but me. I don’t know how long they’ve been selling pre-cooked black Beluga lentils, but I saw them and I had to have them. They look so unique and intriguing, like caviar or little shiny pebbles. But what does one do with lentils?

For some reason, I expected them to taste different from other lentils. Yeah, I’m not always the most logical person. They tasted like lentils, and hence, were not at their best as a side dish. A little dry. A little boring. Thankfully, the swordfish and Moroccan-seasoned vegetables I ate them with were plenty flavorful on their own. And I used the leftovers to make a chicken, lentil, and green bean salad that was more delicious than I expected, so not all of those beautiful, gleaming black lentils were wasted.

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Cooking some fish in Barcelona

Miss Crystal, former recipient of all my culinary experiments, insisted that I cook her multiple dinners during our time in Barcelona. A more than fair price for her and her housemates’ generosity in letting us sleep in their living room for nine days. So we took a trip to the Boqueria and waiting for inspiration to strike. There is no better place for kitchen inspiration than the Boqueria. We went in there with no idea what to cook, and as we wandered and pondered (ha! I’m a poet!), we seemed to stumble upon what we wanted seconds after we thought of them. “Perhaps some fish? Oooh, look, there are hundreds! Some fresh pasta? Wow, look, they’re making it right there!” If only all my shopping excursions were like that.

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A Little Bit of Sole

The warmer months tend to bring about thoughts of salads and vegetables and all-around healthy eating. It’s around about now that my wintertime heavy cream binging starts to feel like a bad idea, and all my suddenly extra squishy bits start shouting at me, demanding green things and, inevitably, fish. I am not generally a seafood eater. I don’t get excited by the idea of lobster or oysters or salmon or mussels. I still remember the first time I found myself enjoying fish (at a restaurant called Skates in Oakland when I was 13), and similar memories are, well, few and far between. But around about May, when my mac and cheese regrets kick in, I find myself lingering at the seafood counter and buying things like sole.

Yes, it’s the annual “Please Try to Be Healthy, Laura” fest up in here, and I’ve now had sole for dinner two nights in a row. And you know what? I think I’ve also managed to form two new positive fish memories. Tuesday night I took another cue from Blake Makes and Bon Appetit and wrapped my sole fillets with a bit of asparagus up in parchment. Tonight, I threw caution to the wind. I cooked without a recipe of any kind. And I think I’ve decided sole might be one of my favorite kinds of fish. Who knew?

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Bucatini with Shrimp, Spinach, and Tomatoes

Bucatini with shrimp

I have been looking for bucatini in the supermarket and the hippie mart and pretty much everywhere for years, but never managed to find it, until last week. Trader Joe’s started stocking bucatini, and I might actually have cried out in serendipitous joy when I saw it on the shelf. Yes, I’m that kind of crazy person at the supermarket. I had all kinds of glorious ideas for my bucatini, not least another, and hopefully better, attempt at carbonara. Then I went to Philadelphia for the librarian conference and forgot all about my bucatini. Until tonight.

Like many other people this time of year, I’ve been trying to get more vegetables and fish and other good things in my diet. I’m not sure if shrimp is even the kind of seafood that’s all good for you, but no matter. When you add spinach, everything is good for you, right? This pasta was improvised and random and really damned delicious. And bucatini? The hollow core makes it difficult to slurp up the wayward strands. Effective and graceful eating of the bucatini is going to take a little practice.

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The Atlantic, Some Lobsters, and Beer in a Can

The beach at Chatham

I finally visited the Cape for the first time, after over four years of living in Massachusetts. I grew up on the Pacific and always considered myself an ocean lover, a beach goer, someone who had to live near large bodies of salt water. And yes, Boston is technically near a large body of salt water, but it sure doesn’t feel like it. I so rarely see the Atlantic, and when I do it’s usually in some half-assed way: I’m looking at a bay or harbor or some crap. This weekend was the first time I found myself looking at the unhampered, unimpeded Atlantic Ocean. And I got to tell ya something: It was a little disappointing.

Don’t get me wrong. I really enjoyed my weekend in Chatham. It was glorious to spend an entire day at the beach, to experience truly perfect summer weather (no humidity!), to actually get a suntan and wear a bathing suit. And best of all: I had my first real lobster experience. Lobster ravioli from Trader Joe’s just doesn’t count. No, this weekend we bought live lobsters and threw them into a vat of boiling water and then pulled their innards out of their shells to devour. Yes, yes we did. And I loved it.

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Grilled Swordfish with Balsamic Brown Butter Sauce and Zucchini Risotto

Swordfish and Risotto

None of my pictures of last night’s dinner turned out well, because the light in our kitchen is truly crappy, but trust me, it was excellent. This was one of those multiple-pan feats of timing in which everything came together and ended up being one of my best efforts yet. Which was made even better considering I was nervous about my risotto and the sauce was untried and my grill pan experiences have been hit or miss in the past. Yeah, there was some kitchen magic going on last night. Thank god, too, because Miss Crystal had a shitty, shitty day and I like to think that setting a plate of spectacular food in front of her played some small part in making it better. Isn’t that why we feed people, after all?

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