Sunday, March 4, 2018

Living Well


In cold Winter, we hibernate indoors. Deprived of outdoor activities, my creative energy focuses on cooking. I've been making more -- and better -- meals. Which is nice 'cause you get to eat 'em.  :-)

I recently mentioned a seafood company in Alaska run by two women (Salmon Sisters). They sell wild fish. Last week I received a box of sablefish from them which I've been consuming with brio. Sablefish is very healthy, like salmon. I discovered it has a plain flavor which invites you to experiment with seasoning. I tried garlic salt, lemon, etc. This morning I ate some with a new hot sauce from New Zealand. Delightful!

The fish arrive in packets that are the perfect size for a meal. You keep 'em in your freezer until the day before you want to eat them, then move them into your frig for a day to thaw. Super handy.


Cooking the fillets couldn't be easier. Just pop 'em in an oven to bake for 10-12 minutes. Done!

A few minutes before they were finished, I glazed them with the hot sauce. It adds deep, rich flavor, not only of chili spice but also of butter. The sauce contains butter made from milk from cows living the high life on New Zealand grassy farms. You can taste the contentment in it.

A key to good cooking isn't complicated recipes, it's using good-quality ingredients. This dish is as simple as they come: it takes ten minutes to make, requires no prep or special skill and the result is fabulous. You're simply presenting superb ingredients in their natural glory.

That's the way I roll. Do you cook?

14 comments:

  1. That looks delicious, Ally. I'm not much of a cook, or at least I haven't been since Jos, my husband, retired. He's now doing the bulk of the cooking. xxx

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  2. I cook very basic stuff, like this! It looks delicious! I am not a great cook, but I often eat fish when I'm out.

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  3. I love fish. It looks delicious. I love cooking new recipes.
    Visited after a long time after the injuries. I'm still recovering. Hope will find well soon. Have a great Monday! Kisses 😘😘
    http://www.rakhshanda-chamberofbeauty.com/

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  4. It looks delicious! we too invest more time in cooking when it's cold outside. unfortunately for body my husband is now into desserts...

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  5. Getting a good slab of fish and then dressing it for broiling is a great meal. I like to pair it with some form of rice and a veggie.
    One of my favorite things to do is to dress and cook.
    Friday we had the storm and after getting in the car to drive the hour to work I turned around and went home. I indulged in a bit of exercise and then dressed for the day. Since I had to spend some time on the laptop and had to make a few office calls I went for the upscale secretary look with a black skirt suit, black hose and makeup with my 3.5" black peep toe pumps. I have my toes nicely painted in a bright coral for the winter so the peep toe look was a treat.
    In the late afternoon I set about making a wonderful carrot, onion and ginger soup. It was amazing. Peel a pound of carrots, cut them small. Dice a large onion and grate about 3" of ginger root. heat with some oil then add a pint of carrot juice and 2-3 cups of veggie broth. Adding a star anise tops the flavor nicely. Simmer until tender and then puree the result. Meanwhile cube a pound of tofu, dip it in curry powder and lightly fry. Float the tofu cubes in the soup. A perfect Friday in Lent meal.

    Shortly thereafter we lost power and did not get it back until Sunday which turned into a full day dress and cook event. A nice blue, teal, orange print dress over its complimentary slip over my nude hose and beige peep toe pumps with full makeup and wig.

    This was a slicing dicing marathon. I decided to make another batch of the carrot soup for freezing. The main course was a beef stew with butternut squash. In addition to peeling and dicing the onions and carrots for the soup I had to peel and dice a butternut squash, cut, dice and defat two pounds of beef, slice and dice two onions, peel and cube two potatoes and two turnips and cut up several stalks of celery. Coat the beef in flour and brown it with the onions. Then add a quart of beef broth and a quart of red wine and simmer. After that has boiled down a bit you add the veggies and simmer until they are all tender. Finally serve with a toping of pepitas. Great food and leftover stew for tonight with a few quarts of carrot soup in the freezer.

    I told my wife that dressing and cooking is my new favorite winter activity. She agreed.

    Pat

    PS: There was about two cups of butternut squash that was too much for the stew recipe so I cut it up and added it to the orange, onion and ginger soup. It is fun to experiment in the kitchen.

    By the end of the meal I was tired but for the most part my heels held up for the day.

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    Replies
    1. Nice! I enjoy dressing and cooking, too. It's a natural combination. The two activities amplify each other.

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  6. That sounds delicious.

    I no longer cook ... my Mom does the cooking in our house.

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  7. Besides being a great pizza maker, I do not cook everyday. This sounds yummy! Kisses

    Fashion and Cookies - fashion and beauty blog

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  8. I have never had sablefish, but you're convincing me I need to try some STAT!

    -Ashley
    Le Stylo Rouge

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  9. I'm actually not very good at cooking most fish. I can fry catfish very well but that one's pretty hard to mess up!

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  10. Mmm. I love home cooking. I am the main cook, but most days the family is scattered too much. I don't always have the drive to cook just for myself.

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