Amy's Food Adventures

Gone Fishing

I love fresh fish.  The key word is fresh.  Fortunately I live in an area with several real fish stores and a Whole Foods with a great fish department.  That means I can have pretty much anything that's avaiable all the time.

For the last few years, I've tried to eat fish at least twice a week.  That's easy -- there's so much to choose. 

Some favorites:

• Grilled salmon with or without a glaze -- just keep it pretty rare.
• Barely charred tuna -- grilled on the outside, rare to raw in the middle, served with a sauce or a salsa.
• Any thin, white, delicate filet sauteed in a little butter and served in a lemon butter sauce.  Takes five minutes.
• Crab cakes (I don't make them -- I just buy them uncooked from someone who only makes them with lump crabmeat and seasoning and nothing else), broiled until golden brown.  I like cocktail sauce with these -- you may prefer tartar sauce or a salsa.
• Secret Fish - a recipe a first tried at my good friends' Ned and Ray when they lived in Estes Park at 9,800 feet in the Rockies.  So easy.  Spray a casserole large enough to hold the fish filets you're going to cook.  scatter some peeled garlic cloves (how many is up to you -- I usually use 3-4 per serving) over the pan.  Place the fish filets on top.  Cover with a jar (more or less) of Salsa -- as spicy as you like.  I love the Green Mountain Hot for this.  Bake for about 30 minutes until the salsa bubbles and the fish flakes.

It's Summertime

Shopping at a Farmer's Market in July is alwlays alluring -- all that fresh produce -- everything says "Buy me."

But when you're cooking for one, it's hard to pick; even harder to have any discipline. 

The first few times I went, I bought just like in the past and ended up with quite a bit of dead produce (more than usual -- I confess to always over buying).

Now I'm a bit more disciplined.  (it's a learning curve.)  I look at each thing and say, "How am I going to use you?" and perhaps more importantly, "When?"

So I can't buy more fruit than I'm going to eat in 5-7 days.  I try to make sure that some of it isn't ripe yet.  I eat lots of fruit -- I usually have some as part of breakfast and lunch and at least one fruit snack every day.  That means I could eat more than 20 portions in a week.  I target my indulgence here -- especially since you can't buy fresh peaches or blueberries worth eating in December.

With veggies, I have to get better at planning.  Some for salads, of course.  I usually have one most days.  But to me a salad might be just tomatoes and parsley with some shallot or cucumbers and red onion in vinegar with a bit of sugar and dill so I don't need seven days worth of greens. 

The rest have to be targeted for actual dishes  This week that means:

• Tomatoes, frying peppers, hot peppers, onions, and garlic for a vegetable spaghetti sauce.  I eat it as is (seasoned with sea salt, pepper, thyme, and basil) or use it as a base for meals with grilled shrimp, portobello mushrooms (one big one is a main course), chicken tenders, and so forth.

I can make a big pot.  It can safely stay in the refrigerator for a few weeks (the acid from the tomatoes), be the basis for a company meal, or get put into pint or quart containers in the freezer.

• Thin spears of asparagus.  I can either make a pot of soup -- again the freezer strategy -- or steam or roast the spears and use them in salads all week long.  This week my plan is to use most of them in a vegetqrian lasagna (I cut it up after it's cooled and freeze the pieces for instant dinners) and the rest in an asparagus omelet.  Omelets are perfect cooking for one.

I had to pass up lots of great looking fruit and terrific looking corn, eggplants, and zucchini.  I'm looking forward to putting them into the plan for next week -- or maybe I'll be seduced by something even better.