Saturday, April 24: Something's Fishy

Happy Saturday!

Laura spent the day overpaying for salon treatments (the roots have started to turn a little gray  -- ugh) and Mike is couch potato-ing it, rooting for the Oklahoma City Thunder, which he picked as a Vegas longshot to win the NBA Championship. He zeroed in on them last year when he saw former Georgetown standout Jeff Green coming into his own (he went 5th in the 2007 NBA draft) and former Texas superstar Kevin Durant starting to regularly dominate games. This is blasphemy in LA since this is Lakertown, but we grew up loving the Knicks (and don't even let Laura get started on her Hoyas), so old allegiances die hard. Needless to say, no tears will ever be shed over a Laker loss.

Laura has been craving a nice piece of fish and we have had our eyes set on a Cakebread chardonnay that has been sitting in the wine rack gathering a nice layer of dust. A 2006 Chardonnay Reserve from the Carneros region. The '06 is no longer available, but the '07 is. It's about $55 a bottle. OK, so we're not doing the best job of drinking our cheaper wines, but this Napa chard is an absolute gem....oaky, buttery bliss. Chill it but serve it a little closer to room temperature to get the full benefits of the wine. As the saying goes, drink your reds a little cooler and your whites a little warmer.

Mike set out to Costco for a tire re-torque and a staple replenishing, with the task of picking up the best looking piece of fresh fish they had available. He came home with a pound of wild Alaskan halibut (about $12 per lb.) This gets interesting because Mike likes his halibut breaded in a crushed macadamia and panko breadcrumb mix, in a style he discovered when he lived in Juneau for 2 years. Laura prefers her halibut grilled. So, here you have it, halibut 2 ways....

Macadamia Crusted Halibut
4-6 oz. halibut (cut in a thick rectangular chunk)
1/4 cup of crushed macadamia nuts
1/4 cup of panko bread crumbs
flour
egg
salt/pepper

Crush the macadamia nuts.  (If you don't have a mortar and pestle, wrap the nuts in plastic wrap and use a rolling pin to crush them to the desired consistency.)  Salt and pepper the halibut.  Roll in flour and coat with beaten egg.  Combine the nuts and panko and roll the fish in the mixture.  Coat the fish and thoroughly as possible.  Pan-fry in medium hot oil.  If the fish is cut in a thick hunk, it's easy to cook in a shallow layer of oil.  Roll the fish every two minutes, as the face down side becomes golden brown.  Two minutes on all four sides and it's cooked perfectly.
Serve with a mango chutney, which can be bought in the international food aisle in pretty much any grocery store. Our is from Whole Foods.

Grilled Seasoned Halibut
large halibut filet (8-16 oz)
olive oil
lemon juice
paprika
salt/pepper

Salt and pepper the fish.  Brush with olive oil and cover with lemon juice.  Top with paprika and let marinate for an hour.  Grill fish to desired temperature.  Our filet was about 10 oz., so it took about 7 minutes a side on a medium-high setting on our gas grill.  Serve with olive tapenade.

Olive tapenade

20 pitted Kalamata olives, coarsely chopped

1 Tbsp capers, rinses, dried and chopped

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp lemon juice

2 basil leaves, chopped

salt/pepper

Chop and combine ingredients.  Mix thoroughly and refrigerate for an hour.

Vegetable slaw
1 large broccoli flower
1 zucchini
1 carrot
3 large radishes
1 large garlic clove
olive oil
red wine vinegar
salt/pepper

Slice the vegetables into thin strips and mince the garlic.  Steam for one minute to soften.  Combine with the remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.  Refrigerate and serve cold.

Our growing herb container garden is in full swing.  The picture shows a trio of basil plants, lavender, rosemary, cilantro and strawberry.  We have about 30 potted plants in our garden now, including two tomato plants, a dwarf lemon tree, strawberries, radishes, green beans, pansies, morning glories, catnip and cat grass, basil, cilantro, lavender, rosemary, mint parsley and sage.