11-21-08

CAN. NOT. WAIT.

the BEST fish tacos

I recently made the MOST delicious fish tacos. Not that I'm bragging about my culinary skills, because the recipe certainly wouldn't register a high level of difficulty, but the tacos were wildly successful. I've made fish tacos several times, and they're actually one of my favorite things to eat or even order in a Mexican restaurant. The other recipes I've tried were all good, but this one has proved to be the best. It came, of course, from Rachael Ray, in the May issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray. The picture that I've posted is actually from the magazine, as my husband and I were too busy scarfing them down to take our own picture.

The recipe actually calls for using two layers of tortilla for each taco-a corn tortilla hard shell and a flour tortilla. I deviated from this aspect of the recipe, mainly because I don't really love store-bought flour tortillas (I'm from West Texas, the land of sublime Mexican food!) and I LOOOOVE soft corn tortillas. I found the perfectly sized package of corn tortillas at Trader Joe's and used them instead, with only one tortilla per taco. I also used tilapia instead of mahi-mahi, another common practice of mine. Tilapia is a good sturdy fish, with a subtle, non-fishy flavor, that happens to be very reasonably priced!

These tacos are unique because of the addition of jalepeno and red onion-spiked black beans, which act as a spread for the tortilla. They're topped with the nicely flaked fish (I made sure to season my fish well with salt and lime juice) and a red cabbage slaw, a condiment traditionally used for fish tacos. It was the first time that I've made the cabbage slaw for fish tacos, and it made a huge difference to the intense flavor of the dish. I was quite liberal with the hot sauce that goes into the slaw, so the tacos were extra spicy. I also made fresh guacamole, which the recipe didn't call for, but made it all the more delicious!

Making guacamole is one of the most satisfying activities for a cook, especially when the avocados are just right. I mashed two avocados, a finely chopped jalepeno, chunks of two red plum tomatoes, and sliced scallions all together, then squeezed a generous amount of lime juice over the mixture and added salt and pepper. I dolloped the guacamole on top of the fish, and we dove into the tacos.

While they weren't the neatest dish and the added layer of beans caused the tortilla to bend a bit under the weight, the tacos were heavenly. It felt a bit like eating a barbecue dinner so good that you don't care about how much sauce is getting on your face and hands. I definitely plan to stick to this recipe when I make fish tacos again!

Here's the recipe:
http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/30-minute-meals/my-oh-mahi-thats-a-good-fish-taco/article.html

Thoughts on entertaining...

You know, entertaining, or preparing to entertain, is not a carefree or breezy activity at all! We are having my brother-in-law and his girlfriend over this evening, and I have been preparing ALL AFTERNOON! Slaving away! Preparing kebabs, making a pie, washing dish after dish, unloading the dishwasher, scrubbing the kitchen sink...it would seem that the preparations are never-ending! And here I was wanting to congratulate myself on the brilliant idea of having chicken and shrimp kebabs. Part of my penchant for kebabs involves the pure satisfaction of threading them, but I also consider them to be a lovely plan-ahead dish. Chop the meat/vegetables, prepare marinade, thread meat/vegetables, place in fridge until time to grill! Simple, right? No, actually! Not when you have to chop each piece of chicken or decide to be so overly ambitious that you prepare not one, but TWO marinades. As though my family will think, "My, these kebabs are so delicious, and with such great, and different flavors!" Even if they did!

I also made a frozen peanut butter pie, which barely fit in the freezer and may turn out to be horrible because I used a springform pan instead of a pie pan. Thank goodness I have a trusty container of Breyer's mint chocolate chip ice cream. It's my favorite mint chocolate chip-instead of being that ghastly minty green it's pure snow white, and studded with huge chunks of DARK mint chocolate. At least I know one part of the meal has the potential to turn out right.

All of this preparation and typing has exhausted me...I'll now remove myself from the front of my computer to take a nap.

Morning Routine

My current situation, that of a stay-at-home, non-Mom, housewife, has caused me to dwell a bit more heavily on the original purpose of my blog, which was essentially to write only about what I cooked and read. A perfect purpose for me, really, when I have a full-time job that occupies my thoughts for most of the time. As things stand now, I see no reason why I can't just write about any old thing that comes to mind.

Thus, I decided to write about my new morning routine. As you can see from the picture above, this routine consists of a delicious bowl (or two!) or Cocoa Beach (for more on this divine breakfast, read my previous post), a cookbook to peruse, and an episode of Top Chef in the background, all accompanied by a hot cup of coffee and a few shiny, bright fresh strawberries. Ah, how relaxing! Nothing could be better. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I prefer such a combination to the New York Times. I should be more aware of the goings-on in our world, but I'd much rather read about grilled blue cheese burgers and blackberry lemonade. Hearing the drama and dishes in the tension-filled kitchens on Top Chef not only inspires me to get into the kitchen and cook for myself for lunch but also entertains me greatly. There is something comforting for me in watching old episodes of TV shows that I love-one of my favorite things to do is to have Friends playing on my computer while I'm cooking. Sounds a little weird and TV-obsessed, I know, but it's undeniably calming.

Unfortunately, I have to end my morning routine a bit early today. My in-laws are returning from a two-week trip and I'm going to vacuum, do the laundry, get some groceries, and pretty much clean the house from top to bottom. All the more reason for me to feel not one bit guilty for having that extra bowl of Cocoa Beach.

Ode to Cocoa Beach

Yes, I know it's silly to dedicate a post to a box of cereal, especially considering that I did not make the cereal myself. I can't help it, this heavenly granola from Kashi is just sooooo delicious!

Let me list the reasons why you should immediately search and find every box of Cocoa Beach you can:

1)The delicious, subtle chocolate flavor that reminds you, just a little, of the chocolate cereals that you consumed as a child.
2)The huge shards of dried coconut mixed into the aforementioned chocolate granola.
3)Chunks of almond, a welcome addition to any cereal, granola, entree, or snack.


Oh, Cocoa Beach, how glad I am to have finally found you, after scouring aisle after aisle in store after store. How grateful I am to the Safeway on El Camino for stocking you on its shelves...

Yes, I should return to the more serious posting. After I've had a mid-afternoon snack of Cocoa Beach.

Bleak House

This summer I took it upon myself to take a Continuing Studies course at Stanford taught by the dean of the MLA program, in which I am now enrolled. She'll be teaching some of my later courses, in the second year of the program, so I thought it would be good to establish my relationship with her early. Incidentally, her area of expertise is Victorian literature, which just so happens to be MY area of "academic interest." The summer course, "Bleak House: From the Slums of London to the Haunted Parks of Lincolnshire" was irresistible to me. For all my professions of adoration for Charles Dickens, I am ashamed to admit that I've only read (now that I've completed Bleak House) four of his novels. That's certainly enough to acknowledge and respect his tremendous talent, and I have embarked on a quest to read all of his works.

Of the Dickens novels I have read, Bleak House stands as the most triumphant, a truly brilliant novel that defies expectations, not only for the fine writing and deft storytelling, but pure entertainment value as well. It's a story of the connections that are made in a society that has become rife with corruption and degradation. With the law and an interminably long civil case setting the background, we are introduced to a wide and diverse cast of characters who seem to be connected to each other in more ways than we can imagine. (My professor emphasized throughout our course that on a second reading, the connections are even more profuse and evident!) It is told in two separate (well, seemingly separate) narratives, one through the voice of Esther Summerson (Dickens' only female narrator!) the other through an omniscient narrator.

To summarize the story in the briefest way possible, Esther Summerson is an orphan of unknown parentage who is taken under the wing of John Jarndyce, an heir of the infamous Jarndyce and Jarndyce case, along with two other young innocents who have some interest in the case, Richard and Ada. Alongside this central story of Esther is the mystery surrounding Lady Dedlock, the wife of Sir Leicester Dedlock, a member of the steadily dwindling aristocracy. Lady Dedlock has a potentially devastating secret, and the the ruthless, heartless attorney Tulkinghorn is set to discover the specifics of the secret.



At the time that Dickens wrote Bleak House, London was steadily become more of an urban center. Progress was everywhere, though squalor was increasingly evident. The rich were getting richer, but the poor were getting poorer-London had grown rapidly, but without a plan to take care of its citizens. It was a world without health or clarity. The upper and middle classes seemed to either have no idea how bad things could get, or chose to ignore it. In the core of London, poverty and disease were rampant. In writing Bleak House, Dickens wanted his readers to "Take a better look at the rotten world in which you live." Throughout the novel, we meet all kinds of characters who are representatives of that world. Jo, the poor crossing-sweeper, angelic in his simplicity; Mrs. Jellyby, a shocking and silly example of philanthropic stupidity; Harold Skimpole, who proposes to know nothing about everything and lives his life dependent on the charity of others; Allan Woodcourt, a kindly doctor who feels a burden for those suffering around him; and Inspector Bucket, the incorrigible detective who is intent on ferreting out the truth, but in a more hopeful and true way than Tulkinghorn. Though Dickens seems to criticize almost every element of society, from religion to the courts, he builds a story that is difficult to turn away from.




As it turns out, Esther is the illegitimate daughter of Lady Dedlock, who had believed that Esther died at birth. Esther's father, dies a penniless opium addict, and she never learns of his existence. Lady Dedlock is devastated to learn that her child is indeed alive, and heartbroken at the pain that would be caused by the public revelation of these facts. The reader is never made privy to the details of Lady Dedlock's relationship with Esther's father; suffice to say they certainly loved each other and were seemingly separated by unknown societal concerns.

There is much more to the story than this central mystery, and I shouldn't like to take away from the powerful significance of the cast as a whole. I would like to include a few of my favorite passages in this post.

Mr. George, sharing with the Bagnet family his feelings about leaving his mother many years ago:

"The time will come, my boy," pursues the trooper, "when this hair of your mother's will be grey, and this forehead all crossed and re-crossed with wrinkles-and a fine old lady she'll be then. Take care, while you are young, that you can think in those days, "I never whitened a hair of her dear head, I never marked a sorrowful line on her face."

Sir Leicester at the time of his realization about Lady Dedlock's secret and his ensuing devastation at her flight:

It is she, in association with whom, saving that she has been for years a main fibre of the root of his dignity and pride, he has never had a selfish thought. It is she whom he has loved, admired, honored, and set up for the world to respect. It is she, who, at the core of all the constrained formalities and conventionalities of his life, has been a stock of living tenderness and love, susceptible as nothing else is of being struck with the agony he feels. He sees her, almost to the exclusion of himself; and cannot bear to look upon her cast down from the high place she has graced so well.

And, even to the point of his sinking on the ground, oblivious of his suffering, he can yet pronounce her name with something like distinctness in the midst of these intrusive sounds, and in a tone of mourning and compassion rather than reproach.

This last passage is the most poignant to me-I was moved to tears as I read, and still feel choked up as I revisit the words. My professor shared a most wonderful belief about Dickens with us-he believes in the power of the human heart, to redeem us all. I think of that when I read about Sir Leicester's suffering. I know, because I read the book, that Lady Dedlock did indeed love her husband-the story isn't really so much about her love for Esther's father, but so much more. And yet, she crumbled under the weight of the pain and love in her heart.

I could continue to write about Bleak House, and these few mere words are not justice enough for it-I merely wanted to document a bit about what I learned, and share some of the words that I cherished most.

My Summer Cake!

Throughout the summer (which is quickly coming to an end, alas!), I have had the privilege of attending several lovely evening parties. One of my favorite things about California is the penchant seemingly shared by all to entertain outside, taking advantage of shady backyards, cool patios, Adirondack chairs and teak furniture. Usually the gathering starts in the late afternoon, so you can still enjoy the warmth of the sun as you sit with a beverage in hand, chatting with neighbors who feel as lucky and happy to enjoy the weather as you do. As the evening moves on and the air tends to become more crisp and cool, a fire pit is often called for, and usually everyone will choose to remain outside, warming their hands by the fire and enjoying coffee and dessert.

I brought a dessert to two of these evening parties, which just so happens to be so easy and delightful I had to share it. It's a simple white layer cake, and it's light, refreshing and a breeze to prepare!

White Cake (from The Settlement Cookbook)
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 cups cake flour
3 tsp. baking powder
2/3 cup milk
1/2 tsp almond extract
grated rind of 1 lemon
3 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter, add sugar, and continue beating. Sift flour once, measure, sift with baking powder 3 times, add to the butter mixture, alternately with the milk, beat thoroughly until smooth, add flavoring. (By the way, I did not do all the sifting-it didn't seem to make much of a difference) Carefully fold in egg whites (this is the step that my sister declared makes the cake more complicated than I think, and it is annoying and slow to beat the egg whites, but the finished product is very nice), beaten stiff but not dry. Butter and flour a 12 x 8 pan (yet another flexible part of the recipe-I used two mismatched round springform pans and attempted to pour approximately the same amount of batter in each one, again, it all turned out fine). Put the batter into the pan and bake about 1 hour (My baking time was shorter-after 30 minutes I began to check the cakes regularly. They definitely did not take an hour to bake.)

While the cakes bake, whip fresh cream (at least 1 cup, but more is always nice). Slice a pint's worth of strawberries (again, more is always nicer) and sprinkle with sugar. When the cakes are done and cooled, spread a thin layer of jam (raspberry, strawberry, or any sort of mixed berry) on each layer. Top the jam with sliced strawberries, then with a layer of whipped cream. Repeat these steps for the top layer. Try to artfully arrange the strawberries on the top layer, and add a mint leaf or two for a nice touch.

That's it! A delicious, heavenly summer dessert!