Pescado a lo Macho

I had the leftover mixed seafood and I wasn't sure what I should make... so pescado a lo macho popped into my head. I've had it a few times from Bravo in Wilton Manors and Limon y Sabor in Miami, and also a really bad one from La Granja in Oakland Park. I found what seemed to be a good way of cooking it:

http://www.tastydays.com/videos/pescado-a-lo-macho

I more of less followed the chef's video with a few substitutions. I didn't have any mussels or yuca and I added some thin sliced potatoes and zucchini. I also found that my sauce wasn't runny enough so I added almost a whole can of tomato sauce, which made it a little sweeter than I wanted. Next time I'd puree a fresh tomato and use that. Definitely it's a must to make the sauce a seafood separate from frying the fish fillet.

Onions, garlic, tomatoes, cilantro, zucchini:

I liked the chef's use of a small amount of roux to thicken the sauce. I never think to use roux, probably because I am in Asian mode. So this was definitely something I haven't done in a while.

I had frozen ocean perch in the freezer so I used that:

I'm not even sure what some of this stuff is...I wish I had some whole squid and mussels, it makes it looks better:

Red chili paste which I made from soaking and pureeing dried chiles de árbol, and some of the frozen sofrito that I made a few weeks ago, fried in hot oil:

Adding cilantro gives a fresh look and flavor:

New Stuff from Sushi One

I have been in a raw mood for weeks, so I hit up Sushi One for lunch and they had a few new items on the menu. I had a piece each of scallop and octupus. I've had octupus ceviche before (and it sucked) but never octupus nigiri sushi. It was sliced very thin and had a very good flavor and was not at all chewy. The scallop was flattened onto the rice ball and although it came in second place to the octupus, it was still very good.

Sushi One: still the best sushi takeout in Broward!

Seared Tuna Salad

I recently had a version of this dish from J. Mark's in Fort Lauderdale and I was really impressed with the combination of a delicious salad with wonderfully seasoned cuts of seared tuna, so I came home and made it. I wanted more crunch in my salad, so I tossed the sliced zucchini and red peppers in Asian sesame dressing and herbs and slightly stir fried them for a minute to take away that raw flavor but still keep them crunchy. I seasoned the tuna steak with salt, pepper, and cayenne, drenched in the Asian sesame dressing, and dredged in seasoned bread crumbs and cayenne. I seared the tuna over very high just long enough to set the breading. I want my tuna completely raw inside! I do have to say this is one of the best plates I have ever made and I can't wait to make it again. I want to change up the ingredients and do a completely different take on your typical seared tuna.

This was the plate I had from J. Mark's. Which one looks better? Mine cost 1/3rd the price to make and had 3 times as much fish on the plate, so I'll go with mine! I do like the pieces of ripe mango, I'll have to try that in mine.

Thai Chicken Basil

Always one of my favorites, whether it's from a restaurant or whether I cook it. There's just something about taking a whole bag of basil and wilting it into a delicious spicy fishy sauce with sweet marinated chicken and crunchy vegetables. Yummy!

Dog Eat Dog: Asquerosito

I checked out the Cypress Creek Round Up on Wednesday and visited a couple of the trucks. I got the "Asquerosito" from the Dog Eat Dog truck, which is a "Venezuelan style dog with garlic mayo, pink sauce, ketchup, mustard, corn, raw onions, potato sticks, and Parmesan cheese." Definitely the best dog I've had so far from this truck!

http://www.dogeatdogtruck.com/

https://www.facebook.com/events/200908439999539/

Mixed Seafood Rice Noodle

I had a bag of frozen mixed seafood (squid, octopus, shrimp, etc) and a few rice noodles of course I had to make a quick and easy stir fry. The trick to cooking with chewy seafood like that is to sear it on really high heat in the oil. Even the octopus pieces are fairly palatable when cooked like that.

All the raw ingredients... The sauce is a shrimp paste-fish sauce mixture with a little sugar and water and who knows what else I added, thickened at the very end with a dab of cornstarch slurry:

Searing the seafood and garlic on high heat. When I stir fry, my wok never leaves high heat:

I added some cabbage at the end just because it was in the fridge and the secret ingredient--those tom yum coated peanuts I bought from Cho a Dong:

Super Easy Refrigerator Pickles

If you're like me, you can eat a jar of pickles in one sitting. So that's why you should make your own by the gallon. In my opinion, the only proper pickle is one that tastes like a Klaussen: tangy, garlicky, salty, even spicy, but definitely not sweet and not full of dill. Sweet pickles, "bread and butter" pickles, and all that nonsense is well, nonsense.

I do about a 1:3 ratio of white vinegar to water, then add whatever spices I can find. Chopped raw garlic, black peppercorns, crushed dried red pepper, and lots of kosher salt usually make a pretty good brine. Taste the brine! If it doesn't have a delicious taste almost good enough to drink, then the pickles won't taste good either. A few weeks of pickling in the fridge seem to amplify all the flavors in the brine, so if there is even a hint of a bad flavor, it will carry over to the pickles. Also, don't use too much vinegar; it only takes a relatively small proportion to properly acidify the brine.

I then add a few pounds of quartered cleaned pickling cucumbers (the small ones with lots of bumps make the best pickles!) which are sometimes available really cheap at a farmer's market and let them sit up in the fridge for about 2 weeks. I find that I can start eating them after 1 week but they are still slightly crunchy at that stage. But this is no problem at all for me because I really don't care for the mushy processed pickles that you tend to buy on sale for $1/jar at a dollar store.

Just a last word on the commercial pickle mixes sold in grocery stores: all the ones I've tried are super sweet, even the ones labeled "kosher dill." I tried those a few times, using way less than the amount called for on the package, and I still ended up with a sweet pickle. So those are a no no.

Yummy Orzo Salad

I've made this many times and it's one of the most addictive salads ever. Cook some orzo until al dente, add some chopped red, green, and yellow peppers, red onion, and cucumber, shredded grilled seasoned chicken, and toss with the Chinese mushroom seasoning (which is kind of salty and umami), lemon juice, black pepper, and maybe some olive oil and soy sauce. Chill in the fridge so the flavors combine and I like to eat it cold. It's good with whole wheat saltines.

Thai Fish Soup

Like usual, I was in the mood for something the clear the sinuses....so I decided to make Thai fish soup with some fish I had in the freezer and some veggies I had on hand. It was really good although the fish was really, well, fishy. I'd love to make this exact same thing again with jumbo scallops instead. I like to use the tom yum paste and a little shrimp sauce to make the base. Add lots of fish sauce, a little sugar, garlic, ginger, peppers, basil, and a little coconut milk to add a little richness but not enough to make it thick. You could literally drink this stuff.

Something about the beauty of paying half price for fresh veggies (at a farmer's market) and getting something that actually looks like it was grown in a garden and not some hydroponic lab on the moon... Looking at this onion makes me want to make some sort of cream cheese and crab dip loaded with the onion and smear it on some garlic-toasted crostini...

Lucky Farmer's Market

All the above: $16

You gotta love the Lucky Farmer's Market at Commercial and Dixie. It's probably the cleanest smelling market I've been in and the prices are unbeatable. I especially love the prices on fresh basil, mint, and cilantro (all less than $1 for a huge bag). They also have good colored peppers. They have a small canned goods section and also a small meat market but I've never bought any meat from there. And behind the counter they always have fresh fried chicharron!

http://www.yelp.com/biz/lucky-food-farmers-market-oakland-park

Asian Shopping Trip

Latest trip to Cho a Dong in Lauderdale Lakes. The vegetarian seasoning is very good, the shrimp sauce is VERY useful for making a seafood stock, and the tom yum coated peanuts were addictive....

This is a great market that literally carries everything, and it is 10 minutes from my house :-)

http://www.choadong.com/

http://www.yelp.com/biz/cho-a-dong---oriental-food-market-laud-lakes

Chicken, Shrimp, and Crab Fajitas

Who doesn't love fajitas? On this particular night I happened to have shrimp, crab, and chicken at the same time so I thought I'd make fajitas. I cooked them in several different skillets and I put this shallow griddle pan in the oven on high heat, hoping to have the sizzling effect you get at a restaurant. It sizzled for a little bit but I think I should heat it over a stove burner, not the oven. The fajitas were good though. I made a sauce for the vegetables from soy, brown sugar, vinegar, and a few other things.

Keith's Caribbean Rice and Peas and Curry Goat

I found this cool video for Keith's Caribbean Rice and Peas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRUVYu7P6ic

I didn't have all the ingredients and I didn't want to make such a huge portion as he made but I more or less followed his cooking style of making a curry paste to add to the rice and peas. It worked out pretty good. Apparently I made some curry goat to go with it, using some curry goat powder I got at a local meat market and fresh veggies.  The goat was good for the most part but could have used a little sweetening.

Fried Potato Cakes with Chana Masala

I was feeling vegetarian and I had an Indian friend make this for me a while back, so I thought I'd try it. I found a recipe for fried potato cakes and varied the usual way I have been making chana masala. I was hoping for a thinner, saucier, yellower curry to pour over the cakes and this one ended up being a little reddish with more of a tomato flavor than I wanted, but it was still very good. I know it's not traditional but next time I'd like to coat the cakes in egg and panko to make them really crispy and give another layer of texture to the plate.

Grilled Shark Fillet with Spicy Red Rice

I bought some shark fillets with no idea of how to cook them. I used the upright basket in the vertical rotisserie and cooked them on high for about 20 minutes. The texture of the shark was really good and firm, almost like chicken. I made a brown dill sauce and added a touch of habanero relish.

Pork Veggie Skewers

The vertical rotisserie I bought came with a set of hanging skewers, so I made some park and veggie kabobs. They turned out really good except the carrots were pretty crunchy. I just added them for some color and because they were in the fridge. Some red peppers would be better. I also made a spicy barbecue demi-glace sauce to drizzle over the skewers.

Leftover Chicken Recipe: Halal Cart Style Chicken and Rice with White Sauce

I was doing some random Googling and came across the concept of halal cart chicken. This was really delicious, I would just change up the sauce a little next time. I want to go to New York and find a real halal cart.

Ingredients:

FOR THE RICE

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1 1/2 cups long grain or Basmati rice

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

salt and pepper

FOR THE WHITE SAUCE

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

salt and pepper

FOR THE CHICKEN

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 onion, thinly sliced

1/2 cup chicken drippings (or chicken broth)

2 pounds cooked, leftover chicken, shredded

TO SERVE

1/2 head iceberg lettuce, shredded

1 large tomato, cut into wedges

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

flatbread or pita bread, cut into wedges

Harissa-style hot sauce (or hot sauce of your choice, like Tabasco)

Directions:

1. To cook the Rice: Melt the butter over medium heat in a large pot. Add the turmeric and cumin and cook 1 minute. Add the rice and stir to coat. Cook, stirring freqently, until the rice is lightly toasted, about 4 minutes. Add the chicken broth, season to taste with salt and pepper. Raise the heat to high and bring to boil. Cover, reduce to simmer and cook for 15 minutes without disturbing. Remove from heat, keeping the cover on, and let rest for 5 minutes.

2. For the White Sauce, combine all the ingredients together.

3. For the chicken, heat a large saute pan or frying pan over medium-high heat with the butter. When bubbling, add in the onion and cook for 5 minutes. Pour in the chicken drippings (or chicken broth) and bring to simmer. Add in the leftover chicken and cook for 1 minute just to warm through. Remove from heat, stir in 1/2 of the White Sauce.

4. Wrap the stack of pita bread or flatbread in damp towel. Microwave on medium for 60 seconds to soften and heat through.

5. To serve, divide the lettice, tomato and red onion amongst each plate. Spoon rice onto each plate and top with the chicken. Add a spoonful of the remaining White Sauce onto each plate (you can use this as salad dressing for the salad or just spoon on top of the turkey). Serve with Harissa-style hot sauce.

http://steamykitchen.com/19511-leftover-turkey-recipe-halal-cart-style-turkey-and-rice-with-white-sauce.html

Venison Quesadillas

When you have leftover deer roast, what do you do? Make quesadillas, of course! So yummy...

Yummy Tom Yum Something

I wasn't feel good and wanted something spicy, sweet, sour, and very flavorful. So a Thai soup is always a good choice for that. I had found this wonderful Tom Yum Paste at an Asian store which made the soup base really easy to make. I also added some red curry paste to give it even more flavor, and just enough coconut milk to make it slightly creamy but not thick. This was amazing!

Garlicky, spicy, fish saucy goodness: