Sunday Feast № 52 | Roasted Red Snapper with Rosemary and Fennel

About a year ago, a photo of red mullet with fennel appeared in front of me again. OK. Less dramatic: I was looking for a Christmas Eve fish dish that was not carp. I went to one of my local stores that still has the fishmonger-like stand and one that seemed the most likely to have less standard fish options despite still being a supermarket, and looked for mullet. Saw none and asked - yes, actually interacted in the supermarket with someone beyond a cashier! I was told that this supermarket doesn't carry mullet due to its poor sustainability. "What is a good substitute then?" "Sea bass is one." It was good. Just did not have the red tinge on in its scales, and I suppose that's what I wanted. Too.    But red snapper does! What's more, supermarket next door always has it and I had a roasted red snapper recipe ferreted away already. This one was from Food Network courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis, which is rather fitting since the red mullet recipe was from an Italian cookbook. My oil use was liberal; hence, no measure. I sliced the onion and fennel bulb being too lazy to chop - isn't that the height of laziness?! This roasted snapper makes a great alternative to Christmas Eve carp, and beyond.

Sunday Feast № 49 | Grilled Swordfish with Cilantro Chile Vinaigrette

The combination of what I see as Latin flavors of cilantro, chilies, lemon or lime juice, is irresistible to me. The multi-dimensional citrus flavors cut with spicy heat enhance any rich food far better than any of those ingredients alone. Plus, the simplicity of this meal is quite alluring. Think about it: simply grilled fish steak with butter finish, elevated with that kind of a vinaigrette. Have it with crisp dry white wine and good bread to mop up those juices, or maybe skip the latter if you have big fish steaks, and after all, licking the plate is acceptable is certain circumstances. If you can't get swordfish steaks, I hear halibut and fresh tuna are good substitutes. The recipe is very slightly adapted from Food & Wine magazine November 2014 issue (yep, still with the same issue after the pumpkin focaccia): it was the garlic - the cloves I had were big so I downsized from two to one as not to lose the other flavors. And yes, I did use left over vinaigrette like pesto. Fun on the side The same magazine issue made me happy to no end by including a recipe for Yemeni hot sauce. This meant that for once I didn't have to fret over what to do with significant amount of cilantro left behind, which is more often than not the case in my kitchen. This sauce drizzled over roasted vegetables was a divine simplicity. Yet again.

Sunday Feast № 46 | Grilled Escarole Toasts with Salmon Roe

Simplicity is happiness. "Really?!", you pull back and purse your lips. Take a look at this! As simple as it gets! Grilling and good produce brought together to get the feel good factor going. And I have you know that I woke up uncustomarily early for a weekend day, and for me, and started the day with crème fraîche and salmon roe courtesy of œufs en cocotte, so you would think I have had enough crème fraîche and salmon roe already. Come lunch, this tweaked recipe from Food & Wine magazine October 2015 issue was on the menu (more thyme and infusing the olive oil with thyme and garlic, microwave has to have its purpose). Great as an appetizer, too. Add a glass or more of your favorite dry white wine, and you will be as happy. Trust me.

Sunday Feast № 36 | Roasted Trout with Thyme

This is a recipe I picked up a long time ago. Really long time ago. It is the easiest way to prepare a meal that can be served on a bed of lettuce or with Turkish bread and salad or with some sautéed potatoes and salad, and paired with a nice sauvignon blanc or similar dry white wine. Till now, I always did it with a whole trout, head and all, but as it turns out fillets work just as well. They have the added advantage of visual assessment for doneness as you can see the flesh turning opaque. Clean, filling, and very satisfying.

Sunday Feast № 31 | Crispy Tilapia with Spicy Thai Basil Sauce

Ah dear Thai basil, you just keep on growing! Also, it is time to clean out the freezer from those frozen tilapia fillets (fresh is always nicer, but stocking food is a must). How can I marry you both? Thai basil meet tilapia fillets. Tilapia fillets meet Thai basil. And lets coax this relationship along with a dowry of matching staples. The recipe is from Sel et Sucre, and considering that I more often than not have non-panko bread crumbs (for such comforts as breaded pork cutlet), panko breading was a textural heaven for the mouth with that funky Thai basil sauce. Up for many returns. Thank you Thai basil!

Sunday Feast № 16 | Riffing on a Po' Boy

Po' Boy is a New Orleans thing. One of those things "prone" to never be "right" outside of its origin. I honestly took it as a sandwich style, as a combination of fried and sauce that would be seafood and picante, respectively, on the account of being billed as Louisianan. Somehow in my head those two together in a sandwich spell Louisianan. It is possible that the first time I saw the name "po-boy" or "po' boy" was in New Orleans, as it should be the case, took it as one of those Americanisms like "submarine sandwich", "hoagie" or "hero" - which are really three non- and regional names for the same thing that is a sandwich using long roll of bread - and that "po' boy" is a regional name for a sandwich that effectively contains regional offerings in a bread that makes it look like a "sub". To add to this, it is possible that it was the first time I saw breaded fried fish in a sandwich and since it was called "po'boy" I took it that po' boy is a sandwich with breaded fried fish and fixings such as spicy sauce, because New Orleans has a lot of that. Heresy? Maybe. Maybe not.    To quote from, with my own emphasis, a University of New Orleans history professor Michael Mizell-Nelson's historical description of po' boy "The sandwich is as diverse as the city it symbolizes. The crisp loaves have served as a culinary crossroads, encasing the most pedestrian and exotic of foods: shrimp, oyster, catfish, soft-shell crabs as well as French fries and ham and cheese." To me, that sounds like anything goes, and the trick to the original is in the bread, because bread is a living thing that represents the taste of local water and responds to local humidity. But I don't live in New Orleans. So what I am left with is

Sunday Feast № 10 | Rosemary Tuna Steaks with Cabbage Salad

Living in a cold climate has its practical upsides. When schlepping frozen produce back home, the freezing temperatures ensure nothing will thaw en route. I take full advantage of that fact whenever possible or when the freezer looks empty. Not living close to the coast where either sea fishing is done or the sea bounty arrives relatively soon after it is caught, and looking to stock the aforementioned freezer, I grab fish frozen in its raw state after some deft filleting. Call me lazy. This is how I end up with ahi tuna steaks as often as I like, and considering it is still in season, this is how I still have cabbage on hand.    Ahi tuna and cabbage. Perusing internet seemed to provide, at least in my case, Pan-Asian options, which tickled my fancy as is, except this time I wondered about a different take. I looked to "The Cook's Companion" by Stephanie Alexander. And Bob's your uncle.    The cabbage salad can also be used for sandwiches a la Reuben, if there is any left over from both recipes which are to serve 4.

Sunday Feast № 9 | Oscars' Night Smørrebrød Improv

	Tomorrow night, freshly minted golden statutes, each called Oscar, will be given new owners and homes.    That's right, it's that night of the year when movie buffs, critics, couch potatoes, snobs, enthusiast and consumers do the dance that either divides them or makes them "ooh" and "aah" in unison, for the 88th time. Pure tango.    Not having a reference at hand, I will construe the origin. Here were these shows, and their makers were playing The Game to make it all BUSINESS, and were wanting to get awards no one was giving them and to have the clout in the part of the city they called home and beyond. Complicated matter, but you gotta start somewhere. Business is Business and it has little patience for procrastination of real or feigned Art unless Art makes money, provides promise of glory and riches, or occasionally sublimes beyond all of that.
	sublime verb | sub·lime | \sə-ˈblīm\ sub·limed sub·lim·ing transitive verb 1: to cause to pass directly from the solid to the vapor state and condense back to solid form 2 [French sublimer, from Latin sublimare] a (1): to elevate or exalt especially in dignity or honor (2): to render finer (as in purity or excellence) b: to convert (something inferior) into something of higher worth intransitive verb : to pass directly from the solid to the vapor state
	Simplistic and cynical, I know, especially since that very Business has created many a dream, fostered technical advances and tattletales for our pure enjoyment, brought us glamour, exposed us to realities we would rather forget or not step into but have to know about, and created jobs that span beyond its lots as long as the economy is good.    Depending on your inclination vis-à-vis this Film and Show Business, you can either watch 88th Academy Awards ceremony, watch "There's No Business Like Show Business" or "Chicago", or opt for a spot of theater. Either way, keep the evening meal light in the spirit of the red carpet, but not minute. Minute is for starving artistes and those that want to or need to look just so since the lens adds pounds and ... and I am trying hard not to go down that pathway of analysis, commentary, issues, and views. I'd rather eat.    Improvised smørrebrød will do just fine. Grab buttered rye bread and stack on your toppings (smoked salmon or lox, marinated herrings, cold cuts, lettuce, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, etc.) and wash it all down with cold beer - more filling than canapés and more grounding than champagne. It will be Sunday night, and most of us have to clock in early on Monday morning to non-Film and non-Show Business jobs, at least till we get that part we were made for.

Sunday Feast № 7 | "Like you'd cook for Picasso in his seventies. Like it's a matter of love and death."

Oh my, it's that day tomorrow, the one that either wakes a crazy ravenous romantic or utterly world weary cynic in you. Either way, you gotta eat! Might as well make a multi-course feast of it, because it is good for your soul and your body. Puurrrfect!      And what better source than "The Cosmic Feast: Divine Inspiration For Earthly Pleasures" by David McKay, Anna Johnson and Kirsten McKay (a threesome of authors? well lookie here and how about that *snicker* ... I totally digress - blame tomorrow) - "a spell book for the modern chef" toying with the dictates of Western horoscopic astrology. Utterly silly secret pleasure? Well, why thank you!      Whether for tomorrow or any other Sunday when a three course feast is called for (no dessert yet, have to work up my way to that slowly, then again - here I digress once more), the chilled red pepper and tomato soup with fresh prawns can be made the day before and sit pretty in the fridge, the squid stuffed with rice will test your skill and patience during stuffing but it is totally worth the suggestively "naughty" fun and the taste once ready, while Pablo's chicken, although maybe not truly Picasso's dish (then again who knows, too busy entertaining to research), warms and grounds towards olé!      Now that sounds like delicious fun *wink*

Fun on the side and after Music Pandora Flamenco Channels Movie "Pulp Fiction" & "Under the Skin" Drink Hoegaarden with squid & Vinos de Arganza "Flavium" Premium Bierzo 2011 with chicken

Sunday Feast № 6 | Going Light with Japanese

As far as feasting goes there comes a time when a certain sentiment arises: cannot do "La Grande Bouffe" / "The Great Feast" kind of thing anymore, need a "Lost in Translation" kind of thing instead. Let me explain somewhat by highlighting parts of a dialog from the latter. Lydia Harris: [over the phone] Is this a bad time? Bob: [pauses] No, it's always a good time. Lydia Harris: The burgundy carpet is out of stock: it's going to take twelve weeks. Did you like any of the other colors? Bob: Whatever you like - I'm just completely lost. Lydia Harris: It's just carpet. Bob: That's not what I'm talking about. Lydia Harris: What are you talking about? Bob: I don't know. I just want to... get healthy. I would like to start taking better care of myself. I'd like to start eating healthier - I don't want all that pasta. I would like to start eating like Japanese food. Lydia Harris: [icily] Well, why don't you just stay there and you can have it every day? Bob: [biting his tongue] How are the kids doing? Lydia Harris: They're fine. They miss their father. [pause] Lydia Harris: Do I need to worry about you, Bob? Bob: Only if you want to. So here it is, a light Japanese-style lunch or dinner which is easy and quick, with overnight pickling. Some dashi, tsukemono and a seafood salad.      Recipes are from the back of kombu packet and “Harumi's Japanese Home Cooking” by Harumi Kurihara, with few of my alterations.

Fun on the side and after Drink Hitachino Nest Beer White Ale Movie "Sakuran"

Sunday Feast № 4 | Broiled Salmon with Sautéed Bok Choy and Broccoli

Memory can be quite random. One week big packets of ramen noodles are bought at a Korean hypermarket. The label at the back gives instructions to cook them for 3 min in boiling water and then eat with favorite dipping sauce, e.g. hoisin. Few weeks later, in a different market, I am looking at Asian sauces, just because. "Shall I? Which one to choose?" I wonder. "How about hoisin? Yeah, let's try that one." A week later, "I feel like fish," not as in I-am-a-fish, but as in I-want-to-eat-fish, and "How about testing that broiler function in my oven?" which I read use instructions for at some point in all those weeks. Rice is always on hand, and cooked well courtesy of a trusty rice cooker. Now just add a vegetable side, and all's good to eat.      Recipes are from “Everyday Food: Great Food Fast” by Martha Stewart Living Magazine, with few of my alternatives.