i hope you eat good food, grow beautiful things, and have more love than you know what to do with.
A friend of mine is Belgian and a couple of days ago our topic of conversation shifted to Belgian cuisine—and all I really know if it, despite my love for food, is that it’s kind of French. So I went digging. Of course, luck would …
My hot peppers are in full swing which means I’ve collected quite a bit of them. While I’ve been giving them away to friends and family, I’ve also been dreaming of making hot sauce for those cold winter months to come. I came up with …
I had been craving ganjang gejang (Korean marinated raw crabs) and I could not, for the life of me, get my hands on ANY. I went to four of my local fishmongers and none of them had them, went to the Asian supermarket, none were there either. Supposedly the prices for them right now are too high for the markets to stock them, so they don’t.
Annoyed, I decided to go down to the docks with the kids and my husband to catch some instead. Last year the blue claws had been bountiful, and while they may end up being mostly male, they would still satisfy my craving for those delectable morsels.
Instead, turns out the blowfish are in town (video of the ones we caught today at the docks a few minutes from our house.) North American blowfish in the Long Island region are not poisonous the way Japanese Fugu are. However, because they’re here and they harass crustaceans, this meant that there were no crabs to be found. Instead, we pulled them up one by one on salted clams until we had more than two dozen (there is no bag or size limit on these in LI.) A tip, when skinning them, wear gloves. Their sandpaper skin really takes their toll on your hands.
Most of them I fried up to be served Rockefeller style, the way I did oysters the other day. A few I saved for nanbanzuke, which is a Japanese style side dish where fried fish gets steeped in a sweet and sour soy based sauce. It’s simple and delicious and a fine way to eat blowfish or bluefish snappers, serve with a bowl of white rice.
This is not for the faint of heart–literally. The amount of butter in this is positively sinful, but once in a while makes for a wonderful treat. I cheat by steaming the oysters for a minute, until their top shells are loose so that I …
It’s been over 4 years since I started on this journey and it’s had its ups and downs. I thought I’d give everyone an update on my progress as far as my edible landscape/food forest goes. The good thing is, everything is maturing and filling …
This is a recipe featuring fishmint (Houttuynia cordata), also known as the chameleon plant, or yu xin cao. I grow it in my garden, having gotten a bit from my parents since it’s an attractive ground cover. It’s used often in southern Chinese and Vietnamese cooking, noted for the “fishy” flavor of the leaves. I happen to think it smells like fishy cilantro, but not everyone enjoys the flavor. Depending on where you are, you may be able to forage for it.
It’s been slow to establish (although I hear it can be very invasive), so I haven’t had enough to really experiment with it in terms of food. I decided to sample a bit of it to see if I would use it in the future. The verdict–I think a salad like this would go great with Vietnamese cuisine, the fishy flavor muted with the sauce, on top of a spiced lemongrass grilled chicken, or beef satay. Maybe mixed in with a spicy cold noodle. I don’t know how it’s flavor profile plays when it’s cooked, but if you stick around, I’ll eventually find out.
Of note, when harvesting, utilize the young new growth leaves for tenderness. The rhizomes that grow horizontally are the ones you’ll be wanting to collect since each plant has one main root going down vertically, with rhizomes (zhe’ergen) growing out from segments. If you can’t pinch snap it, it’s too tough.
As my ducks egg-laying season gets off to a late but present start, I’m treating myself to my favorite way of eating eggs–namely, the yolk, and always raw. This one is different from my single-side sear short rib donburi in that you can use thinly …
Asparagus season is in full swing in my garden which means the sweet, nutty, why-does-my-pee-smell-weird spears are a common sight during mealtimes. In general, I like them simple, roasted with a little olive oil and lemon, a turn of the salt and pepper grinder. Very …
There’s a Greek restaurant near me that makes an absolutely delectable charcoal octopus, tender and grilled to perfection. They usually serve it with a side of vegetables and some lemon potatoes. I don’t always finish the lemon potatoes, so rather than letting it go to waste, I love making Skordalia with it.
Skordalia is a garlic dip that is made with garlic, acid, and a starch, most commonly potatoes or stale bread. Red wine vinegar or lemon juice can be used as the acid. Now, the garlic is potent due to the fact that the more broken up the cells of the garlic, the more of its volatile compounds get released. This means a little garlic goes a long way especially if you use the food processor. I like mixing fresh or dried dill, plus lemon zest into the dip itself, serve it with feta cheese, and a generous drizzle of olive oil. Sometimes I’ll garnish with a few slices of cucumber, some tomato, and fresh parsley from the garden.
It will seem a little runny at first due to the heat, but once chilled, it will firm up quite a bite.
I got my last box of ugly produce this past week as my garden has sprung to life and I won’t be needing their services until winter. I received two eggplants in it and while I do like eggplants, for busy weeks it’s one of …