Category Archives: Seafood

Snippets and spoilers

25 Thursday Apr 2019

Posted by in A Precarious Magic, Food, Recipes, Seafood

≈ 6 Comments

I had grand intentions yesterday. I was going to do so many things, starting with writing 1000 words. I was going to do laundry, and take a shower, and walk the dogs, and go to a meditation class… Yep, just as soon as I wrote those 1000 words, I was going to do ALL the things.

Sigh.

When S got home from work, I was still mostly in my pajamas. No shower, no dog walks, no laundry, no meditation class. But darn close to 1000 words, each and every one of them a struggle.

I also hadn’t planned dinner or gone to the store, so it was time to make do with what we had. That included half a bag of seafood medley and some brown rice noodles. I was not inspired, but I knew that: a) if I didn’t use up the seafood medley, it would probably sit in S’s freezer forever and b) as long as I made it spicy enough, she’d eat it happily. So this recipe is mostly me thinking, “gotta use up the seafood, too lazy to do something serious with it, I’ll just cook it with red pepper flakes and it’ll be fine.” (Spoiler alert: It was more than fine.)

I started by boiling some water for the rice noodles, while letting the seafood medley defrost for a few minutes. When the water boiled, I took it off the heat and tossed the rice noodles in. While they cooked, I preheated a frying pan for a minute, then melted a chunk of butter, maybe two tbsps, in it. When the butter bubbled, I added two cloves of chopped up garlic, a generous tsp of red pepper flakes, and a little kosher salt, and swirled it around. When it seemed nicely done — garlic browned a little, red pepper flakes smelling sizzled — I added the seafood. I let it cook for just about five minutes, during which time I drained and plated my pasta. Then I zested a lemon onto the seafood, added some paprika, squeezed a lemon half into it, and topped the rice noddles with it. I finished it by sprinkling on some chopped-up cilantro.

I called S in from the garden, but I started eating without waiting. It was a good thing she came promptly, because by the time I was two bites into mine, I knew that if I finished eating mine before she came in, I would start eating hers. It was so, so, so good. I think it was the paprika or maybe it was the lemon zest. But it was spicy and smoky and tangy and buttery and absolutely delicious.

I feel like there ought to be a writing metaphor there: something about flavors mixing or finding balance or maybe just the serendipity of using what comes to hand? But if there is, I can’t find it.

And I was going to post a snippet, but we’re in spoilers galore territory — of all the words I wrote in the past couple days, I don’t think I can share any of them without giving things away that might be more fun as surprises. Hmm… well, maybe tiny spoilers…

Fen felt like she’d stepped inside Sleeping Beauty’s castle. All they needed were some serious brambles with killer thorns to make the whole place a scene out of a nightmare. 

She set her chin. “Come on, Luke. Give the ghost to Trevvi. I need your help.” 

“Ghost?” Trevvi took a step back, hands raising in protest. 

Luke lifted his hands away from his chest, pausing for a second with one finger moving as if gently disentangling tiny claws from his tunic. He extended his cupped hands to Trevvi. “Here.” 

Trevvi stepped farther away. “What?” 

“It’s a kitten,” Luke said. “An invisible kitten.” 

Trevvi scowled. “Nitrogen narcosis. Your dive pattern must have malfunctioned.” 

Nitrogen again. Fen really needed to learn more about chemistry. Or was it biology? Maybe it was both. 

“I’m not hallucinating,” Luke replied. “Take it.” 

“Miss?” Trevvi’s pleading look asked for her help. 

Instead a corner of Fen’s mouth lifted. She tilted her head in the direction of Luke’s seemingly empty hands and said, “Really, take it.” 

Reluctantly, as if unwillingly playing along with their delusions, Trevvi held out his right hand. Fen could see the exact moment when he felt the kitten as his eyes opened wider with shock before he hastily enclosed it in a nest of both hands. “What the hell,” he muttered, drawing it closer to his body. 

“Exactly.” Fen grabbed Luke’s empty hand and drew him into the courtyard. 

Had I mentioned the invisible kitten before? I almost — almost! — know what she’s doing now. In fact, I think I’m pretty close to knowing what the whole thing looks like now. I just need to find the words to share it. And I’m working hard on that, I swear. 43,000 words so I’m not quite at the end game, but I’m definitely in the murky middle.

Sous vide spicy sockeye salmon

22 Saturday Jul 2017

Posted by in Food, Seafood, Spicy, Vanlife

≈ 2 Comments

I was texting a friend recently, making plans to meet up with her in August to go camping together, and she wrote, “I can practice my cast iron pot campfire skills.”

I responded, “Or we can use my perfectly good propane stove. Or my microwave.”

Or my grill.

Or my induction cooktop.

Or my InstaPot.

Or, now, my new favorite toy, my sous vide precision cooker.

And yes, I do think it’s a little crazy that I live in a van and carry more cooking devices than outlets to power them. (Not literally true, by the way, Serenity has plenty of outlets!) But more cooking devices than surface areas to put them, maybe? Certainly more kitchen stuff than room to store it all: over the past year, the kitchen and pantry have gradually crept from the obvious space — the compartments over the stove and the drawers under the microwave — to take up almost the entire wall of compartments on the driver’s side, plus some room under the bed, plus some room in the space over the cab, plus some floor space, too.

No regrets, though. Last night’s dinner was a spicy wild sockeye salmon over brown rice with a salad of arugula, avocado, fresh peas, radish, and cucumber with balsamic.

salmon and salad

Not the greatest picture, but it was dark and rainy, so the light wasn’t great.

The salmon was sous vide cooked at 115 for 30 minutes, which felt a little underdone to me, but tasted incredible. When I was done, I used the warm water from the sous vide pan — completely clean, since the food was cooked in a ziplock bag — to wash the dishes. This morning (and last night, too) there was no smell of fish in the van, despite the fact that rain meant that I’d had to keep the van closed up during the night. YAY!

The recipe I read from the Anova app (where I got the timing and temp) said not to use acidic or chunky ingredients, because they would damage the shape and texture of the fish. I read that and promptly ignored it, putting about a tablespoon of chili garlic sauce into the bag with the fish. It was not as pretty as it might have been if I’d gone with the suggested dill, but wow, it tasted great. Sous vide cooking is supposed to infuse the food with flavor and yeah, it works.

The salmon was on sale at CostCo, which means I’ll be having lots more opportunities to practice my sous vide cooking skills this week, but that’s not a problem. I’m writing this at 9:20 AM and already looking forward to my lunch leftovers. And fortunately, salmon is thin enough to easily fit into Serenity’s freezer.

I do look at that picture and think, “you’re eating sockeye salmon and arugula, no wonder your grocery budget is out of control.” But the salmon cost about $3.50/serving, the arugula probably .50, the other ingredients in total maybe $1.50/serving, which all adds up to a cheaper meal than a Chipotle burrito or a Big Mac meal at McDonald’s. (I had to google the latter — it’s been so long!)

In other news, I’m in Ohio. It’s rainy. I’m starting to wonder if life in Florida and California has just really skewed my perceptions of how often it’s supposed to rain. Maybe the rest of the world really does have rain every day? Campgrounds in PA and OH don’t seem to include water hook-ups with their electric sites — maybe that’s because they think you can just stick a bucket outside and have it fill up overnight? But the grass is very green and pretty, and it’s so hot that the rain feels nice.

Lesson learned this morning, though: if you’re enjoying walking in the rain with the hood of your jacket down, perhaps roll the hood up or tuck it inside the coat to prevent it from filling with water? I wouldn’t call it an unpleasant surprise, exactly, but when I decided I’d had enough of the rain on my head and pulled my hood up, I splashed myself with all the water that had filled the hood while it was down. Ha.

Last night I reread everything I’d written on Grace so far and decided it was all an incoherent mess. Before I threw the whole thing away, though, I decided that maybe I was just tired. Reread it this morning and yep, I was just tired. Whew. For a lot of reasons, what I should really be doing right now is finding myself a place to sit and write without any distractions at all — no family or friends to visit, no beaches to roam, no interesting meals to cook. Actually, “a lot of reasons” boils down to “finances.”

But I’m not going to. The aforementioned friend is a single parent with a real job, and limited time. I’ve got a chance to go camping with her and I’m going to take it. Which means I’m about to embark on an epic cross-country drive to get to Seattle by early August. I might be making poor life choices. But when I run out of savings, maybe I can find a job as a cook. Although if I did that, I suppose I’d have to care about whether the salmon looked as pretty as it would with dill…

Monday mornings

08 Monday May 2017

Posted by in Food, Randomness, Seafood, Serenity, Soup

≈ 5 Comments

sunrise on Cedar Key

Sunrise from the bridge leading into the town of Cedar Key.

I’m sitting outside Serenity watching a giant white bird — I think a great egret, but maybe a snowy egret — stalk its breakfast in the water and wondering why those birds are so cool. Partly it’s the color, of course — it’s such a pure, almost shocking white. But it’s also the mix of awkwardness and grace. They look so ridiculous when they’re standing still or when they’re just beginning to fly — legs too tall, neck too long — but their movement can so quickly become beautiful. And their stillness has such an expectant, waiting quality to it. A predatory peace. Hmm, that feels like the beginning of an idea. Probably just because it’s alliterative, though.

My weekend was glorious. The storm brought a cold front in and the temperatures dropped, into the 50s at night, only up to the 70s during the day. It was delightful. I baked cornbread and made a bay scallop chowder, grilled pork chops with a spice rub and chicken marinated in yogurt and garlic, made salad dressing with my homemade yogurt… I also took some nice long walks with Zelda and wrote some good words, but really, it was the cooking that made me happy, I think. Well, or vice versa — I was happy so I was cooking. But either way, I had a lovely couple of days.

Yesterday, though, I looked at the weather report for the week coming up and thought, ugh. Back to the high 80s by Tuesday. Then I looked around me at the open spaces in the campground and thought, hmm… so I strolled over to the office and asked about moving to a different campsite. The ones I asked about were already booked, but the campground host suggested another one. My old site was on the water, but in the direct sun most of the day. My new site is not on the water, but it’s got trees all around it. Also, a concrete pad and a gravel driveway, which I didn’t know enough to care about until I realized last night that Zelda was no longer bringing a handful of sand into the van with her with every step. Yay for gravel and concrete! And trees. It also still has a lovely view, which could disappear if someone moves into the site across the way, but for the moment at least, this campsite is all good things. It’s in the very center of the campground, too, which I probably would not like if the campground was crowded, but in its two-thirds empty state, it just means that we’re getting to meet all the dogs that wander by. I’ve counted either eleven or thirteen this morning. (I’m not sure whether there are two sets of people with two labs each or whether those were the same labs being walked by different people.)

My summer plans have reverted to their previous state, which means I’ll be heading up to PA in June, down to North Carolina in July, with destinations along the way to be determined. R, in a move that I find both amusing and also somewhat gratifying, turned his summer internship into a tutorial, applied for funding, got it, and now has his transportation issues resolved without relying on me. My lecture on settling still feels appropriate — I really think he underestimates himself — but I think he would argue that I just think he’s great because I’m his mom. I’m pretty sure he’s great, though. But I’m looking forward to my Pennsylvania blueberries and my North Carolina beach days, so no complaints.

Bay scallop chowder

My bay scallop chowder. Next time I wouldn’t use broccoli but might add some bacon. The mushrooms, eh. Not sure about those either. (Made with no recipe, obviously, just what I had on hand.) The bay scallops are amazing, though. I might have to buy some more before I leave.

Cedar Key

04 Thursday May 2017

Posted by in Campground, Food, Personal, Seafood, Serenity

≈ 2 Comments

picture of a camper under a palm tree

That palm tree really doesn’t provide much shade.

I’m watching the rain right now, although not really over the ocean, because the view out the side window is of the campground. I could angle myself better to see more water, but not without disrupting a dog’s nap. And it doesn’t matter anyway, because the rain is coating the windows and turning the view into a static-y television screen.

(I wonder when the image of static-y television will become completely meaningless? Like talking about a party line or sending a telegram? Probably not yet, but eventually.)

Serenity is feeling really crowded, because after six days in this campground, I’d pretty much filled my outside space. I had my chair, my table, my grill, my beach mat, and miscellaneous smaller items all scattered over the site, until it became clear that this was going to be serious rain. Now everything is jammed haphazardly inside while I watch the storm.

So even after six days, I’m still not sure how I feel about this campground. The biggest negative is the lack of good walks. The campground is set on a busy road and there’s no sidewalk. I’ve walked in both directions, roamed around some roads that feel like they should be private despite not being marked as such, gone all the way into the town and explored the railroad trail, but it’s felt like a struggle every day to find places to wander. The roads in the campground itself are dusty sand, the gritty kind that sticks to everything, and bumpy rocks, not at all fun to walk on.

The second biggest negative is the no see ‘ums. Relatively speaking, I don’t think they’re that bad. I’ve certainly been in places with much worse mosquitoes — I remember a park in Vero Beach, where the mosquitoes swarmed even the dogs. But when the no see ‘ums are biting — which is not always — staying outside is not fun. They seem completely undeterred by my environmentally friendly bug repellent.

And I guess the third biggest negative has been the heat. My spot is in direct sun and the weather’s been hitting the high 80s every day. I’ve had to run the air conditioner almost constantly. Sadly, I originally had reservations to be in Key West these weeks, but I cancelled them months ago because I decided it would be too hot. It is just as hot here. Alas. I rue the cancellation fees. And as I wrote to a friend today, heat + camping = sweat + dirt = yuck. It’s certainly no fault of the campground, but I really hate feeling dirty all the time.

All that said, wow, the sunsets are lovely. Sunrises, not so much. I haven’t found a place with a good view of the sunrise, except for a bridge on the way into the town. The campground is cute as can be — colorful signs, lots of plants in pots, pretty picnic tables — and the town is adorable. It is what I imagined Key West would be — small and arty, tropical but still feeling like Florida, not the Caribbean. I bet if I was here in March, I’d adore it. Even the lack of good walks would probably not bother me so much. In fact, if it weren’t so hot and dusty, I’d probably think walking into town was a great walk, despite the lack of sidewalks.

And sitting still feels wonderful. I originally thought that yesterday or today I should drive to a store to do some grocery shopping, but I have been completely reluctant to make the effort. I’m not being lazy — I’ve been writing and walking and cooking — but I’m really appreciating the peacefulness of not needing to pack up and go places.

It’s been good, but not yet great, for my writing. I’ve made definite progress, including some words that are very entertaining (to me, at least) but my characters seem to want to chat rather than reach exciting climactic moments. But I’ve got another week here, so I hope to get there.

Today I walked into town without Z and went to the little market. It’s 1.4 miles away, so I couldn’t buy more than I thought I could comfortably carry that far. In 80 degree weather. But I bought yogurt and salad greens and bananas and a few other things, enough to avoid shopping for a couple more days, I hope. On the way back, I stopped at the seafood market. The right thing to buy there was clearly fresh clams and if I was feeding anyone else — ideally three or four people, I absolutely would have. But they were selling the clams in bags of 100 and the thought of eating 100 clams by myself… well, I’m really not sure I’m capable of that. It seemed ambitious, anyway. So I bought some frozen bay scallops instead.

For dinner, I started with brown rice, while I marinated some of the scallops in lemon juice and garlic. I was thinking of doing something lemon-zesty with them but I got distracted by the red pepper flakes I bought recently. Once the rice was done, I melted some butter in a frying pan, added red pepper flakes to it until they were sizzling, added green onion until it was sizzling, then tossed the scallops in. I think I would have done better with a hotter pan at that point or less lemon juice on the scallops or longer defrosting of the scallops, but eventually they looked done. I then tossed in some arugula. I gave that thirty seconds at most, then put the whole thing over the rice. I added cilantro (which I should have added with the arugula) and then a sprinkle of romano/parmesan cheese.

I inhaled it. And if there’d been more, I would have eaten every bit of the more. The combination of the ocean taste of the scallops and the kick of the red pepper and the bitterness of the arugula… so good. Even the textures blended well. When I make it again (which I will have to, because I have about 3/4 of the scallops left), I’m going to skip the lemon and garlic, because I think I was working on two different ideas at once. But maybe I will marinate the scallops in a little gluten-free soy sauce.

The dogs are also eating really well. I don’t remember if I wrote about this, but when I took Zelda to the vet last week, she had some tests, and has an appointment for more tests, but the vet did sort of shrug and say, “Well, maybe feed her what she’s willing to eat.” And what Zelda is willing to eat is people food. And, post my birthday, I have an immersion blender as well as an insta-pot. So dinner for the dogs tonight was sweet potato, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and chicken, cooked in the pressure cooker and then blended to a dog-friendly consistency. (I define that as one where Zelda can’t pick out the meat and ignore the vegetables.) I’m going to have to figure out what supplements they need and maybe, now that I can make the veggie cubes, I will try the raw diet for them. But it’s been really satisfying to watch Zelda lick out her bowl instead of turning away from it and leaving it to B. B, of course, is delighted. He’d be perfectly happy with kibble, but chicken and veggies works for him. The other day, he actually growled steadily as he ate, which you would think might indicate something bad, but which I think was him saying, “Mine, mine, mine, mine…”

So yes, cooking good food, writing good words, and watching the rain. And now I’m getting back to those other words…

Grilled tilapia with lime & cilantro marinade

04 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by in Seafood

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No picture, but C might have one later.

Sprinkle fillets of tilapia with salt & pepper & Old Bay seasoning. Let sit while preparing a marinade of:

Olive oil
2 garlic cloves, pressed
The zest of half a lime, the juice of a whole lime
Some chopped up cilantro
A tablespoon of drained capers

Pour some of the marinade over the fish and leave it for a while. (A longer while than the ten minutes or so that I gave it would have been good.)

Oil the fish… basket? grate? the thing we bought at Big Lots for $5 last week that holds fish on the grill so you don’t lose them into the flames… and do a better, more thorough job of it than I did.

On a pre-heated grill, cook the fish, three minutes per side.

Serve with the extra marinade and add extra marinade to tilapia.

Say yum.

The smokey flavor from the fire was so good on the fish, and the lime, garlic, cilantro, and capers added much flavor without over-powering the lightness of the fish. It was excellent.

Idea for another time: the same marinade with grapefruit and mint. It sounds weird but I bet it would be delicious on tilapia.

Steelhead trout with sriracha, lime & soy sauce glaze

01 Thursday May 2014

Posted by in Seafood, Spicy

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Costco had very nice-looking steelhead trout filets the other day, so while I stood in the aisle next to the fish, I pulled out my smart phone and pulled up the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s watch list. It said that farmed steelhead trout were a Best Choice (or whatever their highest rating is), so I went ahead and brought some home. I’d never cooked steelhead trout before, but hey, fish is fish, right?

But as I browsed the internet looking for recipes, I felt increasingly dissatisfied. I didn’t want to go the rosemary & lemon route and I wasn’t going to challenge my grill skills with fish filets. I can grill steaks, hamburgers, and chicken just fine but I don’t have a fish grate (or whatever those things are called), and my success (lack of) with fish has not made me eager to keep trying. But I didn’t want any of the recipes I found.

So I made my own.

I made a marinade of olive oil, soy sauce, sriracha, and the zest and juice from a whole lime. Measurements were entirely arbitrary except for the lime: I did the lime first, added enough soy sauce to cover the zest, added a couple of swirls of sriracha and then enough olive oil to bind them all together when mixed. I marinated the fish in it using a plastic bag, so I could easily rotate and make sure it was thoroughly covered, for about an hour, maybe a little longer, turning it a couple of times.

I pre-heated a pan on medium high (7 on my stove). I let it pre-heat for several minutes because I wanted the pan hot enough that the marinade would cook instantly and become a barbecue-ish glaze. On a lower heat or a cooler pan, it might have flowed off the fish. I put a little bit of olive oil in the pan, just enough to make a nice shimmering surface. I put the filets in, skin side up first. I flipped them after a couple of minutes but they were nice fat filets so I had to flip them again before they were through. I’d say they were in the pan maybe six or seven minutes total.

Along with the trout, we had salad of organic mixed greens, red onion diced fine, chopped sugar-snap peas, cherry tomatoes and feta.

C took a picture, so I’ll post it later if it turned out. But it was incredibly good, definitely worth repeating, and extremely creatively satisfying!

Pan-seared tilapia with strawberry salsa

17 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by in Seafood

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Make salsa by finely dicing strawberries, cherry tomatoes, red onion,cilantro and mix together. Amounts depend on how many servings you’re trying to make and your personal taste, but I went for equal proportions of everything, which was maybe a little heavy on the cilantro. Squeeze some lime over the top and add a shake or two of Marie Sharp’s grapefruit habanero sauce. Let sit. More time is better, because the flavors will mix in better, but it’s good right away, too.

This salsa combo–sweet, tomato, kick, cilantro, lime juice, hot sauce–is a basic outline for salsa. You could substitute mango or peach or raspberries for the strawberries or any type or peppers, shallots or even green onions for the red onion. As long as you’ve got tomatoes, cilantro, lime, and a hot sauce that doesn’t have a smoky or barbecue flavor, it ought to be good. That said, Marie Sharp’s grapefruit habanero sauce is perfect for salsa. Also perfect for many, many other purposes, but awesome in salsa.

Pre-heat frying pan on medium-high (7 on my electric stove). Add enough olive oil to cover the bottom in a thin layer. Salt and pepper both sides of a tilapia filet. When the oil shimmers, put the fish in the pan. Flip when the edges start to turn deeper white, about two minutes, although the length of time depends on the thickness of the filet. Another two minutes, then remove fish from pan. Both sides should be nicely browned.

Top with salsa and serve.

I made this for lunch. Half an hour after I started, I’d eaten, washed all the dishes and headed back to work. Super-fast, super-easy, super-healthy and seriously delicious.

 

Almond tilapia

26 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by in Seafood

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No pictures, unfortunately, and this meal wasn’t shared. But I bought tilapia at CostCo a while back and for dinner on Tuesday, I took one of the fillets dredged it in almond flour with some lemon-herb Old Bay seasoning, and sauteed it in olive oil. Three minutes or so per side, on medium-high heat, then let it sit for a minute longer off the heat to finish cooking. Squeezed half a lime over it. Delicious! Definitely worth making again.

Seared tuna salad

28 Saturday Sep 2013

Posted by in Salad, Seafood

≈ 1 Comment

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Seared tuna salad

I don’t have a recipe link for this one, because I sort of made it up. I read a bunch of recipes and picked up ideas from them, then combined bits and pieces. So…

Sprinkle the tuna with rice vinegar and sesame seeds, then sear it in a pre-heated on high pan with a little coconut oil for about a minute per side. Slice into thin, bite-size pieces.

Mix two tablespoons of rice vinegar, two tablespoons of soy sauce, one teaspoon of wasabi powder, and 1/3 cup of olive oil, and whisk briskly. Pour over salad greens and sliced radishes. Add tuna.

Eat.

Say yum.

I did pour a touch more soy sauce on the tuna, because it needed a little color. But I don’t think it really needed it for the taste, although it didn’t hurt. The salad dressing had just a little bit of kick, so might have been good with some more wasabi, but I’d eat it exactly as it was any time.

Spicy tuna volcano

27 Friday Sep 2013

Posted by in Seafood

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Image

So CostCo sells seaweed salad. Once before I bought the giant box of it and ate seaweed salad for days. I actually thought that maybe I’d be done with seaweed salad after that, but turns out  I still like it. And I particularly like it when it accompanies the spicy tuna volcano at Arigato, my favorite sushi restaurant.

When I saw the seaweed salad again, I wondered how hard the tuna volcano would be to make. Answer: EASY!

Chop fresh ahi tuna into small chunks.

Mix two tablespoons of sriracha sauce with one tablespoon of sesame oil and pour on the tuna. Add the green from two spring onions, finely chopped, and mix thoroughly. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Serve with sushi rice (1 1/3 cups fine-grain rice, cooked on the sushi setting of the rice cooker, mixed with 2 tbsps rice vinegar and 1 tbsp sugar) and seaweed salad.

Eat. Say yum. Yum, yum, yum, yum.

Given the price of the seaweed salad and the tuna (total, $33), it’s probably cheaper to buy it as an appetizer. But we have enough tuna left for another recipe and enough seaweed salad for a dozen more meals. And it really was delicious. Just as good as at the restaurant, and maybe even better — it had a bit more kick in my version.