Pan Seared Fish with Sweet Fermented Chilli Paste and Roasted Tomatoes

Dear :  The food connoisseur!

 

There is nothing better than eating fresh seafood right from the seashore, however if you are far away from the sea breeze, a trip to a local fish market would always be exciting and fresh! Now… a fresh whole fish should have clear eyes and shiny scales. If you buy a fillet however, look for a firm intact flesh. Picking the fresh fish is the key in flavorful and tasty fish dish.

 

As always, I love to experiment on combining flavors. This time we are going to use my  express taste booster : The asian fermented chilli paste. You can get this in most asian ( Chinese and Korean market in a jar. The sweet and hot taste gives a perfect kick that I need to enhance the fish flavor while minimizing the fishy smell that some people can not stand.

 

This dish actually the east meet the west for me. Being brought up in the Asia, fish is most enjoyably consumed by deep frying it, and serving  it on  rice  with the shrimp paste chili sauce. Omitting the deep fried part, I tried to play around with the idea of keeping the crispy skin texture and the goodness inside. Not to forget a little kick of our favorite friend; the chilli sauce. For those who are sensitive to the heat, dont worry, the fermented chilli paste are very mild and friendly! Just give it a try, and you will definetely back for more!

 

The " ingredients":

 

• Fish fillet cut to medium portion (approximately 4 x3 inch) you can use meaty white fish such as Halibut, Haddock, Marlin if not Salmon will do well too.
• Lemon pepper seasoning
• Sun Flower/ Olive oil
• Fresh Tomatoes/ Roasted tomatoes
• Finely chopped parsley
• 2 tbsp Fermented Chilli paste ( Korean or Chinese grocery)
• 1tsp honey
• Cucumber
• Spanish onion
• ½ tsp minced ginger
• Juice from half of lemon & lemon peel
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
• Salt to taste

 

The “execution”:

 

• Pat dry the fish, and sprinkle the fish with lemon pepper seasoning

 

• Pan Seared the fish to crisp the skin  for 2 minutes each sides ( I love using iron cast or stainless steels pan so I can put the pan inside the oven right after)

 

• Meanwhile, in a bowl mix  the fermented chilli paste, with lemon juice, honey

 

•  Take off the fish from heat, leave in a little oil in  fish pan

 

• Put the sliced onion,  minced ginger, tomatoes, chopped garlic on top of the fish in the pan

 

• Put into oven to bake at 350 F for 16-20 minutes

 

• Once its done, the aromatic vegetable should infused their flavor through the oil, and the natural juice of the fish will ooze out.

 

• Plate the fish and the onions, tomatoes. Add the mixed fermented chilli paste on the side or you can drizzle it on top of the fish

 

• Cucumber on the side is good for cooling down the palate.

 

In order to add servings of vegetables to your diet, you can add in mixed vegetable salads and use the juice from the fish and the sweet fermented chilli sauce as the dressings.

I can not wait until summer comes and try different fish dishes on the grill! For now…I am taking a break to stroll around the town. See you soon!

 

Love always,

Passion + Patience

*Gastrobutterfly*

A food to your soul.

Brunch o'licious with Blueberry Yoghurt Cheese Dip!

Dearest: Brunch lovers!

 

I totally dig brunch, what about you? Especially on a long weekend when life could stop crowding you a little and give you a little rest ( a magic pause button)- I will definitely seize every single second to relax, while some one else might have gazillions of activity lists waiting for checklists.  Whoever you are, eating should be on top of your list. In fact,brunch is a very neat idea to bring enjoyable catch up with your lives. Whether its  spending time with your love ones, friends, the girls get together, or even your little sunshines…brunch is a very appropriate occasion to pause all the busy shuffle and enjoy good food and good company.

 

Yesterday, brunch was the ultimate clean, fast, nutritious , refreshing time for me. Like most of you I am juggling between more works , works and trying to eat tasty healthy food! I knew already what I felt having for breakfast. Eggs, yoghurt, with some sorts of cream cheese and sliced of toast were mouthwatering! I love the idea  of refreshing fruits in the morning, but to lazy to peel them. I needed something quick. So I made this brunch ‘olicious with Blueberry Yoghurt Cheese Dip. I played around  with cream cheese yoghurt and blueberry to make my toast a super delicious dip!The rest can be traditional but still phenomenal! So…here it goes:

 

The “ingredients”

• 2 eggs over medium ( you can do any style you like)
• Mixed salad with cherry tomatoes
• A slice of toast
• My blueberry yoghurt cheese dip

How to make  Blueberry Yoghurt Cheese dip

• In a blender/ food processor add in:
• 2 tbsp of light cream cheese
• 4-5 tbsp of Balkan yoghurt
• Blueberries ( a handfull)
• Honey drizzle (optional)
• Very little salt to give a savory taste
• You can add very little water to adjust the consistency of your dip

 

My sister loved this dip so much…so did I! its creamy but just right for breakfast because it contained the fruity blueberry ( like a jam) with the tangy cream cheese complimented by the love from yoghurt! I just dip my sizzling toast to this heavenly purple sauce, I even ate it with my salad as the dressing! Very simple and healthy! Its low in fat and add to your daily requirements of the  dairy! Most importantly you can alter the recipe using whatever fruit on hand! I can’t wait to make another dip for tomorrow breakfast! I hope I excite you a little with my purple sauce today!

You should definitely try!

Passion + Patience

*Gastrobutterfly*

A food to your soul.

Oh La La Caramelized Chicken Pinneaple

Dear: Aficionado!

 

What comes to your mind if I serve you Oh la la  Caramelized Chicken Pinneaple ? The burst of flavors from the caramel and the tangy pineapple are just indescribable and makes you scream for more!

 

This is my latest recipe “invention” resulted from tons of pineapple left over from another food presentation. The actual idea was not very original I should say, it came from the pork and pineapple stir-fry peeking out from the Styrofoam box from lunch eater on Yonge and Gerrad St.  

So here is how to make it:

 

Ingredient A:

• 4 medium chicken breasts ( diced ½ x ½ inch)
  
• ½ tsp of lemon pepper seasoning
  
• Pinch of salt
  
• Pinch of paprika
  
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  
• 2 eggs white
  
• 3tbsp of cornstarch
  
• Olive oil to fry
  

 

The stirfry ingredients:

• 1 cloves of garlic
  
• 1 cup of pineapple ( chopped)
  
• ½ red bell pepper
  
• ½ vidala onions
  
• Salt and pepper to taste
  
• Juice from ½ lemon
  
• Chilli powder to taste
  
• 1tbsp of honey
  

 

The “execution “:

 

• Season the chicken with all ingredients,  including egg whites, and mix in cornstarch right before frying
• In a pan heat up some olive oil, and shape the chicken to small paddies and fry them until golden brown
• Let them cool off
• Set aside the olive oil to make the stir fry ( approximately 1 tbsp)
• Sautee onions,garlic and bell pepper
• Put in the pineapple , & honey, let it caramelized then add in lemon juice and other seasonings
• Lastly add in the chicken , let the sauce coat the chicken
• Serve it on top of rice bed and ready to eat!

 

I had an oh la la lunch… I hope you will have it very soon too!

Passion + Patience

*Gastrobutterfly*

A food to your soul.

Gelfite Fish with Mango and Purple Cabbage salad with beet horseradish

Dear: Food adventurer!

 

I am so relieved the stormy sea has passed and Iam sailing smoothly ( cross my finger)…. Moving on from one project to the next could be overwhelming.  Today, at last I have my peace of mind when everything is done. Don’t get me wrong,  I love school and interesting projects, especially one involving food challenges. Well I go to school for that, so that is expected!

 The highlights of this week were in fact presenting food demonstration and food intelligence test! The first really worn me out just because I had this little perfect idea how it supposed to be done and presented…and off course there were thousand little reasons turns in to a giant catastrophe why it did not turn out as I expected it. Let just say kitchen and whatever comes out of it  equal to my sanctuary and my greatest obsession! I am like a mama bear ready to eat someone alive when they come to mess with my cub ( read : food). But we cant always win can we? So… whatever passed I shall let it drain in the sink. The second challenge could have been more exciting: It involved more traveling than cooking! I was given a task to present kosher food for Passover.

The real challenge: it has to contain secret ingredient for audience to guess.

The problem: there aren’t really any secret ingredients for Jewish food! Besides matzo meal ,gelfite fish and horseradish!

So I managed to deal with that anyway, and served the traditional Gelfite fish with beets horseradish. See http://erasofelegance.com/cooking/ancientrecipes.html

 

Unfortunately with 100 eater expected, only few dare to try, and I was left with piles of Gelfite fish. Enough to feed the whole village, not to mention the flavor is a little bit off my palate. Gelfite fish tastes sweet, almost like a sweet boiled fishcake.

Devastated, I had to come up with a plan to use up all the left over.

 

Texture and flavor are most desirable components to taste in food. So I decided to revive the soft gelfite fish with a crunchier,and more savoury  exterior to give that crispiness to the skin, but keeping the soft filling.  I also added some love of liquorish fennel to the mixture which was perfect to give a depth to the dish. Lastly I presented the Gelfite fishcake with its traditional beet horse radish sauce with mango chutney and purple cabbage coleslaw to give it a balance. 

 The ingredients:

• 600 grams of Gelfite Fish
  
• 1cups of bread crumbs
  
• 2 tbsp  light soy sauce
  
• half of fennel bulb, cored and chopped 
  
• 2 eggs
  
• ¼ tsp of pepper
  
• Dash of lemon pepper seasoning
  

A blend of oatmeal, all purpose flour and nori seaweed, and paprika in the food processor  to make crispy skin.           

 

The “execution”

• Mix the all the ingredients and make into paddies
• Toss it in a blend of our savory flours and then to the frying pan with olive oil
• Once served, slice it with beet horseradish and light mayonnaise

Ps: this edition might  be an eye opener to other culture's traditional food!

Passion + Patience

*Gastrobutterfly*

A food to your soul.