Category Archives: Dinner

Mediterranean Roasted Fish with Potato

Dinner, In the Kitchen August 2, 2012 Leave a comment
Exactly a year ago from today, we took some time off for a sailing trip in Croatia. During our one week vacation, we sailed around the Dalmatian Coast.  Once we settled into our island of the day, we would explore the area to find the best restaurant in town and reward ourselves with a local feast. Usually we’d find a seaside restaurant, watching the sunset while sipping some local wine, and then following up with a hearty dinner.  Seriously, life can’t get any better from there. We didn’t have a bad meal throughout he whole trip, but some were definitely better than others which we will never forget. Besides the more common staples such as steak and lamb dishes, the fish dishes are definitely to die for. In Croatia, almost all the fish were served whole, as in from head to tail. Some restaurants even bring over a tray of fish for you to choose from.

Whole fish on the plate in Croatia!

If you don’t mind deboning the fish (I grew up in Taiwan eating fish like that, deboning a fish is almost second nature to me, no big deal at all!), these are the dishes that you don’t want to miss. There is this particular dish we had on an island called Hvar, a whole fish baked in herbs with sliced potatoes. With just a few simple ingredients, this fish is so unexpectedly light but flavorful… here’s the picture of it:
When we got back from Croatia, we could not stop think about that dinner. We’d sail back to the town of Hvar to order this dish again, but in reality, recreating something similar in the kitchen would be the fastest way to have a little taste of Croatia again.
Mediterranean Roast Fish with Potatoes 
Serves 2-3 (depending on the size of the fish) / Prep-time: 45 min
Ingredients:
  • 1 big red snapper ( I think the one we got was about 2 and a half pound)
  • 3 or 4 small potatoes (thinly sliced)
  • 1 leeks (thinly sliced)
  • olive oil
  • garlic (minced)
  • fresh parsley (chopped)
  • capers
  • lemon
  • dry white wine
  • salt and pepper

Directions:

Pre-heat oven 375F
Rub the fish with olive oil. Combine garlic, parsley, capers, wine and lemon juice, and pour the mixture over the fish. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour yourself  a glass of wine and take a sip, we’re recreating the Croatian lifestyle here. Mix the sliced potatoes and leeks, season it with olive oil, parsley, salt and pepper. In a baking dish, arrange the potato-leek around the fish. Bake for 20-30 min or until done.

Ready to put in the oven.

You’ll have to debone it at the table before eating, if you don’t know how, you might have to invite a Chinese guest to share the dish and help you with that!!

Spicy Thai Salad

Dinner, In the Kitchen, Lunch May 20, 2012 Leave a comment

I don’t think I’ve seen this many Thai restaurants before I moved to New York. Walking down 9th Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen, you can find almost one (or more) on each block. Of course we have our favorite ones ,(there will be posts about them, too), but on a lazy Sunday like today, we decided to create our own Thai Salad at home instead of eating out.

I remember feeling intimidated by Thai recipes years ago when I first started to cook. Not only because it’s usually a long list of exotic ingredients, some of the items (such as tamarind and galangal), I didn’t even know how to pronounce the names correctly, and they were only available in specialty stores. Although all these foreign herbs and spices are now more common and are definitely easier to find in regular markets, we still decided to go with a more approachable route and only use the ingredients we can find in the neighborhood markets…. We might hold off on some of the unpronounceable exotic ingredients, but we are definitely not holding off on the flavors in any sort.

Spice Thai Salad:

Serves 2/ Prep time: 30 min

For the Salad:

  • 1 head of lettuce
  • Cherry Tomatoes, cut into halves
  • Red Onions, thinly sliced
  • Asian Spiced Roasted Peanuts
  • Fresh Cilantro
  • extra toppings such as cucumbers, carrots, or bean sprouts

For the dressing:

  • 2Tb      Fish Sauce
  • 2Tb.     Lime juice
  • 1 ts.      Soy sauce
  • 1 tb.      Garlic
  • 1 tb.       Ginger
  • 1-2ts.    Sugar
  • 1 ts.       Chili oil (We like it hot!)
  • 1 ts.       Sesame oil (optional)
  • 1 tb.       Green onion, thinly sliced (optional)

Toss all the salad greens, tomatoes and the extra toppings in a big bowl. Loosely chop the peanuts and set aside, so they don’t lose the crunch before we eat it.

Blend all the dressing ingredients (besides green onions) together. I usually use a spice grater and grate the garlic and ginger into a paste, but it’s easy to just throw everything in a food processor to blend it up, too.  Take half of the dressing and marinate the red onions, too. It only takes about 5 minutes, the onions turn translucent and it simply adds an extra punch to the flavor. Throw in the green onions if you’re using it in the remaining dressing. Let it sit for a few minutes for the flavors to settle in.

Now it’s time to put everything together.  Pour the dressing over the salad and toss it till everything is evenly coated, top it off with with the marinated onions, roasted peanuts, and sprinkle on the cilantro leaves, and that’s your delicious Spicy Thai Salad right there. As flavorful as it is, it’s actually very light and refreshing. It is fulfilling too as a perfect summer salad. For those who wants something heartier, top the salad with some shredded chicken, sliced steak, or grilled tofu for vegetarians to upgrade the salad into a main dish. It doesn’t require anything overly seasoned, there’s already a lot going on in the salad… Easy like that!

The last time we made it, we top it off with some grilled steak, medium rare. And I’m just saying, THAT, is one delicious meal!!!

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