Posts tagged ‘parchment’
Fish, Veg, Veg, Veg
Menu: baked wrapped tilapia again * eggplant relish again * three-tomato salad * tilapia-influenced coleslaw
I don’t usually re-run recipes quite so quickly, but we enjoyed the baked wrapped tilapia from my first post so much that I went ahead and did it again. This time instead of the chile garlic sauce, I used fresh hot peppers from this morning’s farmers market run, but otherwise it was unchanged.
I used a few of the ingredients … the wasabi oil and chopped garlic … to make a dressing for shredded cabbage for slaw… I added some chile garlic sauce, a little bit of Steen’s cane syrup for sweetness, Steen’s cane vinegar, a splash of mirin, and finally a spoonful of Miracle Whip light to finesse the line between creamy slaw and vinegary slaw.
For the eggplant relish, again, I roasted two small heirloom ivory eggplants from the farmers market in the same 400-degree oven with the fish packets and a red bell pepper. I chopped the peeled pepper and eggplant together and stirred in a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. That was it.
Finally, I sliced three kinds of heirloom tomatoes purchased at the market this morning, ground fresh sea salt over, and sprinkled a chiffonade of basil over.
I would definitely do it again.
Fish, Grain, Salad
Menu (Serves 2):
Baked wrapped tilapia filets . red quinoa with sun-dried tomatoes and roasted yellow peppers . cucumber/cherry tomato salad . banana cake with chocolate-chip/pecan streusel & coffee ice cream
I have no real excuse for not cooking on Saturdays. M and I like to take our yellow dog, Bailey, to the farmers market, and see what demands to be taken home. This week we picked up pickling cucumbers for salads, cherry tomatoes, and little peaches. Then on our grocery store run, we bought tilapia.
I’ve got a good cookbook collection, but I tend to check online first. Epicurious yielded a baked wrapped tilapia recipe from Chef Duncan Pickford in the June 2003 issue of Self billed as “Tori Amos’ favorite recipe” (this had nothing to do with my picking it), and since it suggested a substitution of parchment paper (which I have) for banana leaves (which I don’t), it seemed worth a try.
As usual, the recipe was a starting point:
Ingredients:
Topping:
- 1-inch cube fresh gingerroot, finely chopped or grated
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped or grated
- 2 green onions (green part only), finely chopped
- Fresh chile to taste
- 1 cup finely chopped cilantro
- 2 tbsp grapeseed (or safflower) oil
- Dash of toasted sesame oil
- Dash of soy sauce
- Dash of fish sauce
- 4 tsp dark maple syrup
- 4 fillets (4 oz each) fresh tilapia (or other firm-fleshed whitefish)
How did it turn out?
Surprisingly wonderful. I was, frankly, cranky about having to cook the tilapia. A wonderful balance of heat and sweet. I had the leftovers for lunch and it held up. I don’t know that the sun-dried tomatoes added anything to the quinoa, but the peppers certainly did.
Would I make it again?
Yes. Soon, probably.