Fresh and zingy salmon salad with a rosted macadamia nut pesto, Perfect for sunday lunch or a light dinner. Delicious!

You Will Need

2 x 250g Salmon steaks
extra virgin olive oil (evoo)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the pesto
100g macadamia nuts, roasted
½ cup tightly packed basil leaves, washed and picked
½ cup tightly packed flat leaf parsley leaves, washed and picked
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/3 cup macadamia oil
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Couple of good squeezes lemon, to taste
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Salad
1 Lebanese cucumber, chopped
1 stick celery, chopped into small pieces, reserve the inner leaves
1 bunch parsley
Squeeze of lemon
Vinaigrette
3 tablespoons Macadamia oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

To make the pesto, roast the macadamia’s in an oven pre-heated to 200C until golden, remove and allow to cool. Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor and combine to a paste. Check for seasoning, adjusting if necessary.

Season the swordfish steaks with sea salt and fresh ground pepper, drizzle with a little evoo and sear on a griddle plate for a couple of minutes each side depending on the thickness of the steaks. The centre should still be rare.

Allow to rest for a few minutes then cut into large chunks.

Mix three tablespoons macadamia oil to two tablespoons lemon juice to make a vinaigrette, and season. Toss six tablespoons pesto with the chopped swordfish steaks and add celery, cucumber, some inner celery leaves and parsley. Check for seasoning and adjust if necessary.

Serve, spooning the vinaigrette over the top.

]]> http://porkbelly.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/austin-restaurant-reviews-return-from-exile-garridos-and-uchi/ Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:49:43 +0000 prseshad http://porkbelly.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/austin-restaurant-reviews-return-from-exile-garridos-and-uchi/

The Belly is back after a long work-related hiatus.  I’m jumping right back into it with reviews of 2 of Austin’s most popular restaurants, Garrido’s and Uchi.

Garrido’s, in the swanky 360 building (Nueces and 3rd), is one of several high-end Mexican places that have popped up recently downtown (La Condesa and Cantina Laredo being the others).  I was pretty excited to try it out as the founder, owner, and head chef is David Garrido, who was head chef at Jeffrey’s in its heyday.

Like any respectable Austin Mexican joint, Garrido’s does an array of tequila-based drinks, heavy on the margaritas.

The Mexican Martini (basically, a margarita with olives) was very strong.  This is a good thing, as it’s a wallet-exploding $8.50, and it comes in a single glass, not a 3-glass shaker like at Trudy’s, purveyors of the original and standard MexiMart.  I hoped this one would be better than that cheaper but reliable classic, and it was.  There was a little saltiness from the olive juice, and the citrus flavors were aromatic rather than syrupy sweet.  Still, Trudy’s is a better value.

The Paloma, on the other hand, at $6, was my fave tequila beverage of the night.

With El Jimador, grapefruit juice, and a splash of soda in a tall glass with crushed ice, it was basically a greyhound with tequila instead of vodka: simple and refreshing, mildly sweet, perfect for a summer night.

For dinner I mixed it up with some bocaditos (literally, little mouthfuls, the heartier Mexican version of amuses bouches) and some tacos, which are the mainstay of the menu.

The pork tostadas with goat cheese, pepitas, watermelon, and chipotle ($7.50)

and coffee marinated ribeye steak tacos with queso asadero and chipotle horseradish aioli ($10.75)

were both clearly made with fresh, high-quality ingredients.  But the flavors didn’t jump off the tongue the way I expected them to.  With the tostadas, the pungent goat cheese completely dominated everything else, and the pork was dry.  With the ribeye tacos, the coffee, horseradish, and queso flavors were missing in action, leaving me with the Taco Cabana-esque taste of beef tacos with mayonnaise.

Garrido’s was a little disappointing given its lofty pedigree and reputation, but I’d go there again.  If you’re a taco purist, you’re probably better off hitting a cheaper 1st street or east side establishment, but Garrido’s has more going for it than against it–reasonable prices, high-quality drinks, nice decor, a great back patio with a view of Shoal Creek, and a sexy clientele.  And nice bathrooms.

Uchi, on the other hand, never disappoints.  Since its opening I have failed to find a better restaurant in Austin.  Add the hip architecture and decor courtesy of Austin local Michael Hsu, the chic but friendly service, and the extensive wine/sake list to the world-class food, and Uchi is the undisputed king.  (Also, for you star-chasers, once I saw Jake Gyllenhall and the guy who plays Sabertooth in Wolverine on the same night.  My wife almost had a heart attack.)

Uchi’s concept is Japanese/Western fusion.  Before founding Uchi, Chef Tyson Cole (who’s been on Iron Chef America but lost to the master, Morimoto) was a sushi chef at Musashino, Austin’s best traditional Japanese place, and he has trained in Japan with the best.  For some reason though, the more traditional Japanese fare here isn’t as good as Musashino’s and doesn’t hold a candle to the much more inventive fusion fare.

Every time I go, I try something new from the nightly menu, but I always return to a few mainstays from the permanent menu.  This time my go-to was the bond roll with salmon ($10).

The menu says it consists of avocado, sundried tomato, white soybean paper, and salmon.  That’s a simple ingredient list, but it explodes with flavor.  That’s because, like everything else on Uchi’s menu, the ingredients are the freshest and most expertly prepared in town.  The avocado is creamy and buttery, the salmon is tender but not mushy, and the rice (something lesser sushi joints neglect) is perfect–toothsome, not overly vinegared, rolled tight.  The accompanying mango sauce lends a wild kick of perfume that transforms this dish from merely fresh to unforgettable.

Another classic is the age dofu ($5), cubes of battered and fried tofu with dried bonito shavings and green onion in dashi (fish-and-kelp) broth.

Everything about this dish is perfect at Uchi–the hot, crispy exterior and gelatinous interior of the tofu, the heaps of bacony bonito shavings, the gentle and distinctly Japanese umami flavor of the broth.

One of the new things we tried from the nightly menu was the tara miso (casco bay cod with celery root and toasted almonds).

I loved the play between the sweet/savory almonds and caramelized exterior of the fish against the cool celery.  You can seldom go wrong with celery.

The star of the night though had to be the madai carpaccio (thin slices of raw Japanese black snapper, with shiso oil, san bai sweet vinegar, sea salt, micro greens, and green onions, $18).

The fish couldn’t have been fresher, and it had just the right combination of sea salt, vinegar and green onions to gently swathe it in a translucent sweet/sour/green cloak of flavor.  The salt, simple as it sounds, was key–it’s very rare that something will be perfectly salted in a restaurant, when the kitchen has to turn out plate after plate.  Somehow Uchi always gets it exactly right.

Some other new delciacies we had that night:

tomato katsu (fried green tomatoes Japanese-style in delicate panko breaking, with hot mustard sauce, $5),

hotate adzuki (diver scallops, adzuki bean, bacon, brussels sprouts), a combination of silky, sexy scallop and homey smoke flavors,

tempura ($12 for a vegetable combo, $5 for shrimp), very good, fresh, hot, and crispy, but again, for some reason, greasier and heavier than Musashino’s flawless rendition,

and jizake creme caramel with brown butter sorbet and ginger consomme, $9 (one of my all-time favorite desserts–it needs no explanation).

As the weather turns cold and winter approaches, we add layers of clothes and turn up the heat. What do animals do to prepare for the cold?

Adapt:
Some animals prepare for cold weather by gathering food and storing it for the upcoming winter when it will be harder to find. Can you think of any animals that do this?
Other animals are able to find food through the winter and grow thicker layers of fur. Can you think of any animals that do this?

Hibernate:
Some animals go into a deep sleep over the winter. They usually will eat lots of food in the fall then go to sleep in a den or a deep burrow. A true hibernating animal’s breathing slows way down and its body temperature drops.
Some animals sleep heavily for long periods but will wake up every occasionally to eat.

Migrate:
Seeing birds flying south in the fall is common. They are not only flying to warmer climates for warmth but to be able to find food that is more readily available. They usually follow the same routes every year. Some animals learn the routes by following other animals (mother?) but other animals seem to know where to go by instinct. Scientists aren’t sure how the animals know how, when, or where to go.
Birds are not the only animals that migrate to warmer weather during their winters. Can you think of any other animals that go south for the winter? Do you know any people who go south for the winter? Where do they go?
Not all migrations have to do with warmer weather. Some animals migrate as part of their life cycle. Life cycle migrations may take place every year and similar animals may gather in special spots to find mates or to have babies.
Other animals might migrate only when giving birth or to lay eggs in a specific location (where they were hatched).

Websites of interest:
ParkWise (Alaska National Parks’ e-classroom): Migration: http://www.nps.gov/akso/parkwise/Students/ReferenceLibrary/general/MigrationBasics.htm
Tracking animals. Sometimes scientists put satellite collars on animals so they can track their movements. This helps us to understand how, where, and when animals move around the earth. Here are some sites where you can follow various animals:
WhaleNet: (tracks seals & whales) http://whale.wheelock.edu/whalenet-stuff/stop_cover.html
SeaTurtle.org: (tracks sea turtles) http://www.seaturtle.org/tagging/
Journey North: (tracks whooping cranes, hummingbirds, monarchs and other animals) http://www.learner.org/jnorth/
Alaska Seal Life Center: (tracks seals) http://www.alaskasealife.org/New/rehabilitation/index.php?page=rehab-tracking.php
Wild Tracks: (manatees) http://www.wildtracks.org/Florida/home.html

Ideas for experiential learning:
Keep a wildlife journal for one week. Identify what animals you see and what they are doing. Do you think they are getting ready for winter? Do you see any signs of animals even though you might not see the animals themselves?
• Bird feathers
• Chewed pinecones
• Chewed acorns or nuts
• Scat (droppings)
• Animal tracks
• Bones
What are some ways that humans prepare for cold weather? How do the clothes we wear change with the seasons? Why?
Do we eat any foods now that we might not eat during the hot summer? What foods and why?
In the book, Whistling Wings, the young tundra swan flies about 1,000 miles without stopping to rest or eat.
• Look at a map and figure out how far 1,000 miles is from where you live. Could you walk there without stopping to sleep or eat?
• If the swan flew for ten days, about how many miles a day did he fly?
• If you and your family travelled 1,000 by car, and averaged 60 miles an hour, how many hours would it take you to drive the 1,000 miles? Have you ever driven that far? Did you stop to rest, eat, or go to the bathroom?

Here is a one-week code to access Sylvan Dell’s related titles as auto-flip, auto-read, 3D-page-curling, and selectable English and Spanish text and audio eBooks:
Temporary eBook Viewing Code: FE0Q4Y
Code expiration date: 12/06/2009
Please click on the following link: http://www.sylvandellpublishing.com/ebooktrials.php?e=FE0Q4Y
Read the following books and see if you can find the answers to the questions in either the story or the For Creative Minds’ section. Can you figure out if the animals use adaptation, hibernation, migration, or more than one? If they migrate, do they migrate every year seasonally or as part of their life cycle?
Loon Chase Where do loons spend their summers and why? Where do they spend their winters?
Moose and Magpie Where do moose go in the fall and why?
Ocean Seasons What do humpback whales do during the winter and why? What do salmon do during the fall and why?
One Wolf Howls What do wolves do during the cold weather?
Turtle Summer: A Journal for my Daughter when & why do female sea turtles come ashore?
Turtles in my Sandbox What do diamondback terrapins in the wild do in the winter?
Whistling Wings How does each of the animals survive the winter?

You can access the For Creative Minds section for all the books here (in English and Spanish): http://sylvandellpublishing.com/ForCreativeMinds.htm and the free, 20-40 pages of teaching activities here: http://sylvandellpublishing.com/TeachingActivitiesPage.htm

diamondback terrapin
eagles
humpback whales
loons
moose
muskrats
raccoons
salmon
sea turtles (loggerheads)
tundra swan
wolves

Fish Factor

Halibut Fishery Ends; Salmon Wrap; & Pups up!

By LAINE WELCH

November 21, 2009

Saturday

Alaska's halibut fishery ended on Nov. 15 amidst little fanfare. Brutal winter weather wreaked havoc on deliveries the final week, and bumped up prices as buyers scrambled for the last fresh fish of the year.

The season opened in late March with lots of expensive halibut holdovers from last year in U.S. freezers. That pushed dock prices down by roughly a dollar per pound all season.

Final prices at Kodiak were reported at $3.40 – $4.30/lb for fish weighing from 10 pounds to “40 ups.” Kodiak prices dipped as low as $2.50 at the docks this summer.

At Homer, final halibut prices to fishermen ranged from $4 – $4.35/lb. Homer easily held on to the title of America's #1 halibut port with more than 12 million pounds, 23% of all landings, crossing those docks. Kodiak was a distant second at 7.6 million pounds, followed by Seward, Dutch Harbor, Juneau and Petersburg.

Most of Alaska's fresh halibut catch goes to U.S. retail counters and restaurants. The demand this year came from retail buyers, as more customers avoid expensive restaurants and buy halibut to eat at home, said market analyst Ken Talley. The frozen market also has taken off, and inventory holdings “are said to be very low,” he added.

via SitNews: Fish Factor – Halibut Fishery Ends; Salmon Wrap; & Pups up! By LAINE WELCH.

After a delicious breakfast of peanut butter chocolate chip cookie oatmeal, I went grocery shopping.

Last year, we were too poor to buy a tree, so we wrapped lights around our coat rack and laughed about it.  We created a tribute to our poverty as something we can laugh about in the future. Today,  I bought a tree. It is cheap and scrawny and not too much improvement over last year, but it is something I can actually place presents under for Julieanne! Hurray!

This week, I was going to buy wild salmon for my quality ingredient. Then I realized I had enough money to buy salmon and steel cut oats so I did! Then, on the way home, I realized that one of my recipes for the week is crazy expensive, so I am going to have a quality meal on top of it. It is not cheap and it is not easy, so it kind of defies the purpose of my blog, but I’ve had it before and it is sooo good. It’s worth it for an occasional, high calorie, high cost treat.

My new food of the week is hemp. I bought a trial packet of hemp powder to stick in my smoothie.

While I put groceries away, I ate two squares of blueberry lavender chocolate. It doesn’t taste like a regular candy bar, but something about it was so satisfying and delicious. It had a light, refreshing taste as opposed to a fattening taste like what you would find in a Snickers bar. I thought it would go well with green tea, so I sipped some green tea while I ate another square and blogged. Very tasty snack!

Chicken tostadas for dinner!

The Word: I love Onigiri. I was introduced to them at a japanese restaurant in town when I was in highschool. They can also be called Musubi or Omusubi, generally they are a molded rice ball that has been stuffed. Traditionally, an onigiri is filled with pickled ume, salted salmon, katsuobushi, kombu, tarako, or any other salty or sour ingredient as a preservative. They are often included in picnic lunches, they are seen as an easy kind of take out food. In fact a good deal of convenience stores in japan will have a variety of onigiri available. If you search the internet you will see just how adorable some of these onigiri can be made to look…and they are so delicious!! I have made up my own version of an onigiri, it is by no means traditional but it certainly does the trick now that I am far from that restaurant.

The Yin and the Yang: Salmon aside from being a yin food is full of natural oils that can help us out. The most famous of which is omega 3. Salmon is also recommended for the fall season according to the article that I had posted earlier. The process used in this recipe does warm the yin aspect of the salmon a bit but not by much and being paired with neutral rice and yin nori helps quite a bit in achieving balance in this dish.

The Recipe:

• 1 tbl oyster sauce
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp hoisin sauce
• 1 shalot, sliced thinly
• 1 tin of sockeye salmon
• 1tbl canola oil
• 2 cups sushi rice uncooked
• 5 tbl rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbl sugar
• pinch of salt
• nori sheets cut to fit your rice molds

1. Heat a pan to medium and swirl in the oil when it has reached heat.
2. Add the shalots and stirfry briefly until softened. About 2 minutes.
3. Add the salmon and break it up.
4. Add the hoisin, soy sauce, and oyster sauce.
5. Stirfry until liquid is soaked up and salmon is slightly caramelized. About 2 minutes.
6. Remove from pan and set aside.
7. For the rice I typically use a steamer or rice cooker. A stovetop method that has been good for me has been to add 2 cups and 2 tsp of water to the rice. Allow to come to a boil, then lower to simmer, cover. After about 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat, cover with a tea towel under the cover and allow to steam for another 15-20 minutes.
8. Combine the rice wine vinegar, sugar and salt. Stir until solids are dissolved.
9. Pour the mixture over the rice and stir in carefully, allow to cool until able to handle.
10. To assemble: place the nori in the rice mold, top with some rice, top the rice with some salmon mix in a bunch in the center, top with a bit more rice, and then press down with the top of the rice mold. You will learn the ratios that work best with your particular rice mold.

The Result: What delicious little tidbits these are. They can be very impressive as a little snack at parties or delightful for dinner or at a little picnic. We enjoy two different dipping sauces with these, either wasabi and soy sauce or kewpie mayo mixed with some chili garlic sauce. Kewpie is that bottle of mayo you see in the asian section of your supermarket that has a little kewpie looking doll on the side of it. I love to use it for all my asian cooking that needs a bit of mayo.

Our friends Louise and JP (who live in London but are Danish and Dutch, respectively) just had their first baby, a little girl named Caya.  I have been hoping for the opportunity to knit items for baby girls, so I jumped on this one!  I have had the pattern for the Presto Chango sweater in my Ravelry queue for ages now, and after knitting it, I highly recommend it for any knitting skill level.  It is simple and quick, but with the buttoning front panel, you can go wild by making multiples to change out (in case the one the kid is wearing gets messy) in various stitch, lace, or cable patterns.  So far I’ve made just two, and am making a little seed stitch bordered hat to match (see Robin’s Egg Blue Hat.)  I have yet to buy buttons for the set, but when I do I’ll post an updated picture of the final product.

I knit this with Vanna’s Choice Baby in colorway Goldfish, which is a kind of salmon (arctic char?) pinky-orange.  It looks girly without being blatantly, predictably PINK.  My only other experience with Vanna’s Choice was the original version, which was not as soft and caught on your hands while you knit.  Her baby yarn, on the other hand, is quite soft and squishy, and machine washable.  The sweater took up almost an entire ball of Vanna’s Choice Baby (maybe 10 yards left?) before I knit any front panels, so I would recommend 2 balls if you use this yarn, with which you’d have plenty to make multiple front panels, a hat, booties… and make a great set for under $10.

I broke my second teeth (the first way was a month ago) yesterday in my attempt to kill research stress with this

Bad bad bad!!!! How can you be foodie without healthy teeth? Fortunately I didn’t break my health teeth, these two were old decay, I just broke the repair part. But I can’t eat more crunchy/hard food anymore until I go back to China and have them fixed. Fixing them here will cost me more than $1500!!!

I opened a new bag of flaxmeal yesterday. This was sent by Flaxmatter people few weeks ago. I was intrigued by this golden flax with blueberries

We all know the benefits of flax, right? In case that you’re still not incorporating it into your diet, check out this

Flaxseed…

• is the best natural source of Omega-3 ALA
• contains Omega-3s and Omega-6s in an optimal 3:1 balance
• is a good source of dietary fiber, protein and lignans (specially beneficial for women)
• gives food great texture and flavor

For more information, read here!

I kept the oatmeal simple: 1/2 cup rolled oats + 1 cup water + pinch of salt + add in 2 heaping tbsp of flaxmeal at the end + topped with aduki coconut mousse

which one looks better?

Coco’s review: It made the oatmeal incredibly CREAMY, more than my usual flaxmeal. Maybe it has something to do with golden flax? I dunno. It also took shorter time to cook or form the creamy texture, so it was convenient. Taste? I can’t say that I find it better or worse than other flaxmeal and I could barely taste blueberries in it. But it is ok, because when I add flaxmeal into oats is more for its nutritional benefits and the creamy consistency than its taste. So, overall, I like it because it serves its purpose! 4/5

I broke work session at 1PM (started at 7AM ) for lunch. In 30 min I assembled a yummy combo

steamed broccoli with ketchup

sauteed cabbage with mushroom using coconut oil, soy sauce and chili sauce. Kind of thai?

Mustard-honey braised salmon

It looks like a japanese meal…aka. many dishes!

More work work work!!! When everyone is enjoying this Thanksgiving, I’ve became work-obsessed!!! But you know what? I’m not jealous of you, because in <10 days I’ll be on vacation!!!

Dinner was wonton again (5 serv more to go), so I won’t bore you with the same food. Instead I took a pic of my night table with one of my fav magazine

I found this article specially inspiring

My two favorites:

Q: Is there any truth that you wish you’d known sooner? I wish I realized how important is family for me.

Ah, the anticipation. Traditional trips taken each year. Memories extending back many years. A storm is coming, but it probably will be ok, given how low the river has been through the Fall. Up early, as a two hour drive lies ahead and we want to be on the water at first light. There early, gearing up in the dark. Down we go through old briars, alders and mud.

Silent recognition amongst us. Nothing needs to be said; we’ve been here enough times to know where the water line needs to be for safe wading and productive presentations. The river is up a good two feet  too high at the bank…back up into the tall grass and briars. The speed is too fast and the mind starts to work on where could we go to gain ok access. We cannot turn around now.  We each tried according to our own individual patience levels. Some sat out early, fed up. All eventually gave up.Too unsafe to wade and fish.

River levels, prognostications and weather systems were checked, but it poured forth oblivious to the forecast. Next few months maybe….time is so scarce these days….but we all need the fix, the pull, the moment.

(sorry for the delay in posting this!)

I’m really into colorful food. In fact, I know that all of us here feel strongly about having a lot of colors on the plate at any given time. It’s tasty, nutritious and looks good!

We spent our last early evening in Antibes (what feels like a lifetime ago to me now!) cooking, deciding to make something seasonal and full of flavor and shades of the beachy locale.

The menu ended up consisting of: crab (stick), corn, rice and mustard mayonnaise salad; fig, hearts of palm, tomato and mustardy greens salad dressed with lemon and a little tiny bit of aioli; trine pasta with fatty, lightly smoked salmon and a sauce of tomatoes, garlic, onion, cream and reduced lobster bisque.

The salads:

The first is really easy and a definite Russian holiday table classic: cook some basmati rice (in this instance we cheated and used the readymade kind), chop up some crab sticks and toss this with some canned corn (sweetcorn). Then put in enough mayonaisse to make the salad ’sticky’ so that it is not dry but also not goopy. I do have to say that the original Russian recipe would encourage as much mayo use as possible!

The second salad is a great example of how you can take a random assortment of seasonal produce and concoct something amazing so, we took:

• 3-4 ripe figs
• a bagful of mixed greens/baby greens salad leaves
• a jar of hearts of palm – chop them up
• couer de bouef tomatoes – also chopped
• juice of half a lemon – mix the lemon juice with the oil and aioli (garlic mayonaisse)  for the dressing
• a bit of salt & pepper

Pasta:

Trine pasta with salmon in a lobster bisque and tomato sauce

1. Boil trine pasta. Without breaking it, preferably!

2. Chop up half a couer de boeuf tomato, about half a small clove of garlic and half a medium-sized white onion.

3. Sautee the garlic and onion with a mix of olive oil & butter.

4. Add in about 1/2 of a can of lobster bissque. Mix in about 1/4 cup of cream, adding more to taste.

4.1 NB!  Don’t add too much salt as the bisque will most likely be a bit salty.

5. Let reduce, add in the tomatoes as liquid reduces.

6. Keep stirring and tasting to adjust any ceam and salt proportions as need be for about 10-15 minutes.

7. Add in fatty smoked salmon, chopped into small pieces. Stir to combine with sauce and heat through.

8. Put pasta in a large bowl and pour sauce and salmon on top. Garnish with roughly chopped parsley.

9. EAT

Makes a perfect late fall lunch to enjoy with your friends!

small documentary of our day today :O)

hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving!

(update: my current theme only shows the first photo, so i’ll set up an album or another page so you all can see the entire set of photos!)

Thanksgiving 2009

Main course:
Vegetable Soup
Mashed potatoes
Turkey

Dessert:
Spice cake
Puff Pastry “strips”
Meringue cake (store-bought)

The turkey I’ve made in the last 5-7 years has always been moist as a result of both brining and baking it in a bag. However, this year it was absolutely superb. Please don’t think that I’m boasting. I did absolutely nothing differently from years past. The difference is in the turkey itself. I ordered a turkey at a farmers market earlier this year through Rueggseger Farms. The turkey was never frozen, it was “harvested” on Tuesday morning and we took delivery in the evening. It was astonishingly fresh and well-cleaned and absolutely lip-smacking when cooked.

Additional Recipes will be coming soon.

Tadpoles Organic Double Knit Cotton Footed Snap Front Romper, Salmon, 6-9 Months Review

Check Price Now!

Tadpoles Organic Double Knit Cotton Footed Snap Front Romper, Salmon, 6-9 Months Feature

• Includes 1 footed romper
• Organic, pesticide-free, and baby-safe
• Available in 3 colorways

Tadpoles Organic Double Knit Cotton Footed Snap Front Romper, Salmon, 6-9 Months Overview

No need to choose between fashion and health! This snap-front footed romper in organic cotton double knit with a subtle diamond pattern is the best choice to give your baby a good start in life. Made from soft 100% certified organic cotton that is healthy to use, eco-friendly to produce, and soft on baby’s skin. Manufactured without harmful chemicals, the comfortable romper dresses your baby in style. Available in cocoa, sage and salmon. Machine-washable. Organics by Tadpoles – good for your baby’s future.

Tadpoles Organic Double Knit Cotton Footed Snap Front Romper, Salmon, 6-9 Months Specifications

Tadpoles brfdkl030

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Nov 26, 2009 14:20:04

32inch lcd hdtv

Hiya

How was your Thursday? Mine was great! Headache faded away once I had a coffee, the day flew, I went out for lunch , I got in some exercise and made a yummy dinner!

I’m afraid I’m a little photo-less tonight, sorry guys! I didn’t take my camera to lunch as my co-workers don’t know about the blog and I just didn’t want to bring it up.

Snackies were another morning banana with a skinny cap around 9.30am and then 3 corn thins around 11am. Since I’ve been eating brekkie earlier I’ve been getting hungrier for my snacks earlier. Not surprising I suppose. Plus my 35 minute walk to work, works up an appetite.

For lunch we went to The Generous Squire a new pub/bar in Shafto Lane. It was great – the food was fast and tasty. I went with the Salmon Nicoise which I’ll describe in detail since I have no photo! It was tiny baked potatoes, just steamed green beans, kalamata olives, red onion, big capers, 1/2 a just boiled egg and a small fillet of crispy baked salmon. It was really delicious and came with a lemon wedge. Just enough to fill me up and I didn’t crave an afternoon snack at all.

Once home I was thrilled because some angel came and ripped out the stupid bougainvillea plant that has been possessing our house (thankyou thankyou thankyou whoever you are), and I was pretty hungry having gone without a snack, so I chomped down some cottage cheese and a pack of sultanas and apples. Then I chopped up the last of my veggies in the fridge – a small sweet potato, a carrot and the rest of that enormous zucchini. I put them on a baking tray with foil, tossed them in Cajun spice mix, sprayed a tiny spray of canola cooking spray and baked them at 250 degrees in my oven for 30 minutes. Then I turned the oven off but left the veggies in, and went to the gym.

Tonight’s workout consisted of:

• 15 minutes Elliptical – calorie burn setting level 15
• 10 minutes hill walking on treadmill – 5.5kph at incline 15% (SO HARD!!!)
• 10 minutes seated bike – calorie burn setting level 5
• 50 squats with 8 kg medicine ball
• 20 lunges each leg with 5kg hand weights each hand
• various crunches and abs
• stretching

The veggies were amazing when I got home and had filled the house with a gorgeous smell!

I ate the whole lot.

Then I had some nuked raspberries for dessert.  

I’m picking Adam up from the airport later – he didn’t have to catch the later flight after all, yip yip!

Just snacked on a handful of Digestive 1st cereal too. Oops.

Last day of work tomorrow, casual day, lunch at Country Road Cafe, drinks with friends after work, sounds like a great start to the holidays!!!

A descendent of a long line of cooks, I have spent years experimenting in the kitchen with a wide variety of cuisines for reasons that go far beyond satisfying taste buds (although they do demand a certain level of gratification).  Indeed, those of you who know me have likely noticed that I have a tendency to feed people.  It nourishes my heart to nourish others’ bodies; besides, the right food nourishes a whole lot more than just the body.  Not a unique perspective, I know…  I absolutely love to rummage around until the raw materials speak to me – it’s usually interesting to see what flavors emerge.  There are usually herbs involved, and chilies during the right season.  In the wrong season, hot sauce takes over where the chilies leave off, though if truth be told, hot sauce has a permanent place in my larder.

I like cuisines from all over the world and this morning, while everyone else in North America is bringing you recipes for turkey and its accoutrements, I offer you one of my family favorites that has absolutely nothing to do with Thanksgiving: grilled salmon with Asian glaze as inspired by my grandfather – inventor, engineer, and avid cook.  Enjoy!

Culling’s Grilled Salmon

Makes enough for 15-inch long filet (or thereabouts)

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1 salmon filet, skin intact

¾ cup good apple cider or juice

¼ cup soy sauce

1 large clove garlic, finely minced

1 Thai chili, finely minced

2 tablespoons butter

Drizzle of sesame oil

Gently bring the cider and soy sauce to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes.  Add butter, garlic, chili and sesame oil and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick enough to coat the back of the spoon.  This can take a long time – 20 minutes or so.  Allow to cool to room temperature.  Cover fish with marinade and allow to stand at room temperature about 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, light a charcoal or gas grill.  When hot, lay fish skin side down and cook over medium-hot coals/flame for 10 minutes (more or less depending on your preference for doneness).  Remove from grill by sliding spatula under the flesh just above the skin.  It will lift right off.

I rather like serving this (especially for parties) with cilantro and either wasabi or cayenne cream that I make with a little crème fraîche or mayonnaise and lime juice along with the primary flavoring.

Forzieri Salmon Variegated Stripes Cotton Italian Dress Shirt Review

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Overview
Multicolor variegated stripes on a salmon ground add a colorful element of style to this Forzieri dress shirt in premium quality cotton. Made in Italy

Nov 25, 2009 21:03:03

What a gorgeous day it is, have you looked outside your window London? I just had the healthiest lunch. It took 30 minutes to cook and tasted heavenly. I put a Salmon fillet and shrimps with some lemon on the side into the oven, wrapped in foil just the way I like it. I steamed my veggie’s. I can go on about the steamer for days, vegetables taste amazing this way- they keep all their flavor.

Fried salmon on mashed potato in sauce. Scrumptious!

Today…has been an infuriatingly unproductive day. Usually, that would get me all stressed out. But you know what? Screw my numerous impending research essays. Screw my upcoming finals! This week…it’s all about Thanksgiving, and I refuse to let my spirits be badgered down by schoolwork.

That was long. I wish I could go on and on, but the food is running cold, and I’m sure your eyes are starting to glaze over. Well, stick a ruler up your eyelids, because you want them to be wide open for this freaking amazing dish I’m going to share with you.

It’s my own rendition of the ultimate Japanese comfort food, Ochazuke, by going tropical-style. Ochazuke is a dish in which hot tea is poured over cooked rice topped with a few simple ingredients such as pickles and leftover fish. It’s supposed to be made with leftovers, but hey, I’m a poor college student and I don’t get many meals with good fish. So here is my tropical version of the Ochazuke:

Tropical Ochazuke

Basic Ingredients:

• 3 cups cooked brown rice, mixed with kidney beans
• salmon fillet
• 2 sheets nori, shredded
• 1 packet bonito flakes
• brewed green tea

I’m going through a Michael Bublé phase. I call it, every day with Michael Bublé. He makes for good cooking music, study music, commuting tunes, house cleaning tunes.. The only time I stray from my Bublé is with my running music. Sorry, but you just can’t mess with this girl’s rhythm. I need a beat that can carry me, push me, and keep up with me on a hard run. Today I really wasn’t feeling a long, or even average run. After yesterday’s 12-miler I really just wanted to keep the muscles from stiffening up. Plus its been said that you recover faster if you don’t take the day after a long run off. So I went to the gym for a light jog. It was nice. I brought my Runner’s World magazine along, but really I was just absorbed in my music. How did we ever get along before ipods? I remember taking my CD discman to the gym. It would skip every time my foot struck the belt. How annoying. Or how about the good old tape deck? Aaah, technology is spoiling me. However, the downer hit me when only 20 minutes into my exercise-coma my ipod froze.. again!! I want to be upset, but all I can think is “serves me right for buying a refurbished ipod off Amazon”. But seriously. Shouldn’t I get more than 4 months out of an ipod I spent $100(ish) on? I now own three and the one that almost works perfectly is my first generation ipod. Ggrr…

I’m debating whether I should get a new one or switch to something cheaper like a Shuffle. First I think I’ll take it to an Apple store and see if they can do anything for me. It’s beginning to look like an Apple graveyard in my glovebox.

I know how excited I get to run with a new playlist so I thought I’d share some of my top faves right now. Hopefully if they’re new to you they’ll  help you get excited about your next run.

Meet Me Halfway– Black Eyed Peas
Empire State of Mind– JayZ and Alicia Keys
Got Whatever It Is– Zac Brown Band
Happy– Natasha Bedingfield
Don’t Take It Personal– Monica
Enough Crying– Mary J. Blige
If I Never See Your Face Again– Maroon 5
Summer Love– Justin Timberlake

To name just a few.. What I’m about to say is almost too nerdy to admit, but I have playlists named: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday… all through the week. Isn’t that lame! lol. I have other playlists tooo..I just seem to forget which one I already played recently and then I get bored with the same mixes. SO, I also have running playlists titled: Rainy Day Jams, Beezy’s Old School (from burning my roommates CDs), Girly Hits. You get the idea

So in other news.. lunch was so good today! Mostly because I had a whole hour to eat after my quickie run. I came home from the gym (and yes I totally pampered myself my taking 10 minutes to unwind in the sauna). I assembled a sandwich on toasted whole-wheat bread. fixins included last nights salmon, spinach, tomato, onion and alvocado. Then I cut a sweet potato into strips, drizzled EVOO over them and broiled for 9 minutes. Tadaa: fries! All that with a side of crisp green beans and I was good to go.

Bread really isn’t a staple in my diet. I probably buy a loaf once every couple months. This week I really am craving sandwiches though so be prepared. I plan on jazzing up a few classics.. a twist on turkey perhaps. Only 4 days until its time to get creative with leftovers!

And a meal just isn’t complete without a little sweet so I grabbed a Honeycrisp apple to go.

(Sorry for the bright photo. My camera and I have been fighting today.)

After a full and satisfying meal, with plenty of time to relax at home for a bit, I headed off to my afternoon cooking lab. We made gluten balls, which I saw no need to photograph since they aren’t exactly edible. The idea was to mix flour and water into a dough, soak in cold water and watch it shrink as the gluten is lost in water. It was kinda cool to see the different flours and their varying gluten content, but you want to see the good stuff. That’s why I have pics from the popovers I made! I’ ve never even heard of popovers. They’re this nifty pastry that puffs up as it bakes. When they came out of the oven they were huge, and full of air. Perfect for honey, jam, fruit.

I know food isn’t “cute” but I just can’t help it, these are “cute” little puffs!!

All in all it was a really nice Monday. I was proud to check everything off on my study/school agenda, I got a workout in (which always makes me feel good), and I even had time left over to relax. That’s right, I’m currently blogging with a glass of cab while watching Anthony Bordain’s No Reservations. Don’t you love that show!? He is so…raw. Not to mention he gets to sample the best  of all food from around the world. It’s a tough job. What I wouldn’t do to trade him places. Alright, that’s enough already, goooooodnight!

Do you prefer to listen to music when you run?
What’s on your favorite playlist?
What do you do with turkey leftovers?