Shall we dine at Oceana tonight? Or maybe instead we could make a lovely shrimp scampi from School of Fish, the new cookbook by Oceana’s executive chef, Ben Pollinger. Garlic, white wine, oregano, and a touch of butter make it sooo delicious. And even though it sounds fancy, it’s easy to replicate at home. Serve it with some warm, crusty bread or fluffy couscous to take advantage of the scampi sauce, and a big green salad. And since you’ve got the white wine open already, why not enjoy the rest with dinner? That’s what I call the good life! Continue reading
seafood
ginger soy butter mussels
Ginger, soy sauce, and a touch of butter make an irresistible Japanese-influenced East-West broth for these mussels. The original recipe was for clams, but I haven’t quite gotten the hang of cleaning those yet, so I substituted mussels since I know what to do with those (and so will you, read on!). Also, did I mention that mussels are one of the most sustainable types of seafood? Yay for mussels! Continue reading
refreshing shrimp and ginger glass-wrapper spring rolls
Crisp, cool, gingery and refreshing. Plus a mystery solved! How do restaurants make those beautiful glass-wrapper rolls? IT’S SO EASY. If you can roll a burrito, you can do this. Promise! We have even made this on a work-busted Monday night (we did make the Asian slaw on Sunday, a good make-ahead trick because that stuff gets better when it sits). This post is a little photo-heavy because I wanted to show you how to do it. Please comment to let me know what you think about having more process photos! Continue reading
east-west caviar bites
Those little orange bubbles are salmon roe caviar, which you may have had before on top of sushi rolls. Each bubble is a burst of salty, fishy goodness! A small container is not very expensive at the Japanese or Asian market (I paid $4.50 for enough to make 20 crackers). The trick is to rush it home, well-chilled if possible (my shop provides free ice, but you could also bring your own cooler, or buy some frozen items and make sure they’re in the same bag). When you get home, put it directly in the fridge, then eat it the same day. I’ve borrowed from the Russians to create this fun East-West fusion appetizer. And IT’S SO EASY. Impress your guests, or just yourself!
Let me explain what I mean by borrowing from the Russians: A Russian way to eat caviar is on blini (buckwheat crepes) with sour cream, red onion, and diced hard cooked egg. We had this in a restaurant and loved it. Inspired, but knowing making blini is an involved process, I came up with sesame rice crackers, sour cream, and chopped green onion. If you feel like sprinkling on some finely-diced hard-cooked egg too, by all means. It’s swell! Continue reading
zingy lime-cumin fish tacos
white bean, artichoke, tuna, and egg salad
If I might make an observation, IT’S FULL-ON SUMMER here! So maybe you don’t feel like cranking up the oven. Instead, you might want a light but hearty, protein-filled salad for dinner. And wouldn’t it be great if you could make it from items you can keep handy in the pantry, with a few fresh ingredients to liven things up? A tip: put all your canned ingredients in the fridge before you leave for work. Then when you get home, throw this together, and it will already be chilled and you can nom-nom it right away! This is a super-flexible recipe, so if you haven’t got hard-cooked eggs or artichoke hearts already at hand, just leave them out or sub in something else you do have that you think would be nice. It will be OK. Promise. Continue reading