Marlin Bites

No, we didn't have a marlin biting us, I made marlin for supper.  I took a picture of it before I cooked it and meant to take a picture of the beautifulness of it before we ate it but, once again, my fork was faster than my camera.  *sigh*  You can kind of see how it turned out from these last few bites.  Let me tell you how I fix fish, especially if you have cheap fish that smells like it's been around too long.  (I made up this recipe years ago when all we could afford were those blocks of frozen cod that don't cost very much and taste very fishy if you don't cook them right. This turned out to be the right way to cook them.)  I don't know why or how this works, DIL1 could probably tell me because she's a real, honest to goodness chef, but it works every time.

First thing, thaw the fish, rinse it in cold water and pat it try.  Let it wait on a paper towel, looking pretty, until its turn in the frying pan.  For 1/2# of fish (steaks or fillets, this works for either one) chop enough bell pepper (any color you have) to fill a 4 oz. Pyrex custard cup (everyone has those in their cupboard, right?), wedge-slice (from stem to root end which makes pretty crescents, I'm sure there's an official name for this but I don't know it) an onion to fill another custard cup.  Either open and drain a small can (which would fill another custard cup) or slice enough fresh mushrooms to fill 2 custard cups.  Measure 1 Tablespoon lemon juice and 1 Tablespoon white wine into a little prep dish.  Heat 1 Tablespoon of your chosen oil (I used half toasted sesame and half coconut last night) in a 10" frying pan, saute peppers and onions, when they're about cooked, 5 minutes, add the mushrooms, stir to combine, cook another 2-3 minutes.  Turn heat down to Low.  Spread the sauteed veggies into a bed on the bottom of the frying pan, lay the fish steaks or fillets over the veggies, pour the lemon juice and wine over it, season the fish with a little fresh ground pepper and a dash of Kosher or sea salt.  Clap the lid on the frying pan and simmer for 4 minutes for fillets or 6 minutes for steaks.  Serve fish alongside 1/2 cup brown or white rice with veggies over top of all, and a lemon wedge.  This is good with a simple steamed veggie like broccoli or cauliflower.  **If you have 1 lb. of fish you just double everything but the cooking time.  You can also add any herbs you like when you salt and pepper the fish but it's important to do the seasoning last so the lemon juice and wine don't wash it off the fish.

The sky was pretty again this morning but the maple leaves are still changing color too fast.  I was heartened to notice that there's another tree at the end of the block doing the same thing.  And the apples reaching over the back fence look like they're about ready to be picked and turned into applesauce.





 
I got all the increase rows of Sudoku Almond #7 knitted last night so it'll be all decrease rows at work today.

September 16--Jagdish Agarwal, Palace of Winds, Jalpur.  The red sunset turned the pale orange sandstone the color of flames and every window was a black void.  Jana stood facing the building imagining it swarmed with workmen--stonemasons laying the blocks so precisely that hundreds of years later the mortar joints were still perfect, carpenters painstakingly sawing the intricate latticework for every window, and the tile men on their knees bent to the task of turning thousands of color tiles no bigger than a postage stamp into art for people to walk on.  She marveled at the architect who designed the palace and the engineer who placed it on the site so that each breeze no matter how soft was caught and used to keep the rooms cool even in the heat of summer.

I've got a chiro appointment on my way to work.  Yay.  I love getting my bones rearranged, it feels so good.
--Barbara