The weeks seem to run by recently and when Friday finally comes around, I want nothing more than an easy fun evening that doesn’t involve a complicated dinner and much clean up. Fish seems to fit these requirements quite well and putting an asian twist on it certainly makes you feel like you’ve instantly travelled to a far away place. So here we have hubby’s Steamed Rockfish. It is actually topped with Ginger and Serrano Pepper and drizzled with sizzling oil and a homemade soy sauce reduction.
Although I am well acquainted with many Russian dishes, I don’t [often] cook them at home and never really have. Sometimes, however, I crave the flavors and I know that I can make a simple meal in a few minutes. When discussing what hubby should get at the store, I offered to make “kotleti” which are cutlets made from minced meat. They’re a staple in Russian cooking and can be quite good if you know what you’re doing.
Hubby paused momentarily, intrigued by the offer and then valiantly declared: “I’ll make it Japanese!”. He dug up a no kidding Japanese recipe and ran off to the grocery mart. An initial inspection of this recipe suggested that it was nothing more than a beef kotleti recipe with minced celery and onion. Of course the recipe came with a sauce made of sake, Mirin and soy sauce (what Japanese sauce doesn’t contain all of those?)
Making the Japanese version was just as easy and when all was said and done, it was very delicious. But honestly, you could make shoe leather delicious with that sauce. I am however not convinced that I can eat kotleti with rice (the suggested Japanese way). In my book, kotleti are best eaten with fresh, home-made mashed potatoes!
Sophia is now highly mobile and still not very independent which means she walks while holding both your hands and cannot stand or walk on her own. With time at a premium, we’ve turned into making easy, scalable dishes. This past Saturday I made stuffed peppers.
The stuffed peppers I grew up with were low fat, low flavor (SORRY MOM), high health factor, chicken and rice stuffed peppers. The ones I reminisce about and the ones I made share only one thing in common: the pepper I use a delivery vehicle for the spicy chorizo and cous cous stuffing. I also use diced tomatoes and cheese to up the moisture and flavor contents. All in all, 9 peppers took 1 hr from start to finish including clean-up. Another 45 minutes in the oven (inactive cooking). I don’t know anyone who can eat more than 1.5 peppers… so these tend to last a while.
{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
I’ve mentioned several times before that both my husband and I like to cook. Before we had Sophia, we would argue about who gets to cook and now we tag-team in cooking and playing with the baby. In any event, when he is left to his own devices, hubby creates beautiful flavors with equally appealing presentations and I feel like I sit down to a gourmet meal. It would be more believable if I didn’t have to share the dining experience with a Cherrio-tossing 9 month old. I’ve decided to develop a series not unlike the Moments series to share the culinary adventures I embark on every week. Today’s is “Shredded Beef” with pasta.
The birds are humming, the air is hot and stuffy (typical for the Washington D.C., area) and our little garden is a jungle. I must admit that we haven’t spent as much time in our garden as we should have. Perhaps we did not anticipate how much effort and time even the smallest of gardens requires. Either way, much to our surprise, we spotted this in our garden:
… and we spotted this 10 feet from our kitchen sliding door:
{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
Being at the shore with my family was rejuvenating and I was able to indulge in one of my favorite things: knitting. I find it very relaxing and gratifying. Here is a cardigan I knitted for Sophia. While I do love knitting, I still need to practice and learn new techniques. 
The blog’s been quiet for the last week or so. That is mostly due to a self-imposed moritorium on all things computer and a much needed getaway to Virginia Beach with my sister, her family and my parents. 
Beach getaways were a staple in my family when I was growing up. In fact, living in Baku, my mom would pack supper and we would head to the shores of the Caspian on a daily basis in the spring, early summer and fall. In the summertime, we headed either back to visit my maternal grandparents or to the shores (e.g., Batumi) of the Black Sea in Georgia. There is something magical about the sound of the waves, the breeze, the clean, salty air that refreshes even the most tired souls.
Sometime during the cold, dark days of last winter, we all all decided that a getaway was a must and picked our dates for mid-July to hopefully make sure that the Atlantic water had a chance to warm up. We also decided to deviate from our usual Ocean City, NJ/MD, Sea Isle City, NJ destinations and head further down south to Virginia Beach, VA. There was a certain risk involved driving 4.5 hrs with a 9 month old and I can now say that we persevered.
My parents drove down from Delaware on Saturday (7/14) morning and we all piled into my little C-RV and drove down to the shore. The drive that was to take 4.5 hrs took almost six hours due to heavy traffic and a mandatory, must feed hungry Sophia stop. I must also admit that our car (as was my sister’s) was packed to the brim. I drove, my mom sat in the front passenger’s seat as she gets motion sick easily and my dad and hubby were the entertainers du jour for Sophia. She took a 1.5 hr nap and spent the rest of the car playing with an occasional outburst that could only mean “ARE WE THERE YET???” in her own little language.
We rented in a small beach community that was blessed with a family-friendly atmosphere which meant no restaurants, no supermarkets, no cafe’s, no … no nothing but the surf, sun and relaxation. We cooked and prepped all our meals, snacks and everything ahead of time and planned to spend very little time in the kitchen. In addition to our meals, I also prepped and cooked all of Sophia’s meals.
Once we got there, we quickly discovered how peacefull Sandbridge, VA was and how calm, clean and warm the ocean was. We spent the days in the water and playing with Sophia. I must admit, she is not a fan of the heat or humidity. She is also not a fan of bright sunlight but by the end of the trip was happily sploshing in her little ducky tub filled with ocean water. In the evenings, I practiced knitting and was able to knit a few things for Sophia. I’ll post a few pictures soon.
This vacation is a steep departure from our previous vacations where hubby and I happily galavanted all over the world. It was, however, especially meaninful and marvelous because we got to spend time as a family, disconnected from all the troubles and cares in the world and unwound in our little cacoon of the quiet shusshing sound of the ocean. Relax, refreshed (well… as one can be with a child who doesn’t sleep longer than 3 hr at a time at night), we are back to reality and pining for out next getaway.
For us, summer screams light, fragrant flavors and aromas. Stews and dishes that require a long cooking time are long gone and we rely heavily on light meals such as this one that hubby whipped up in 15 minutes while I kept him company over a glass of wine and Sophia played in the kitchen. Those by the way (lingering over a glass of wine while watching Sophia play and hubby cook) are my dream moments that have crept up more often recently. And I’ll gladly take them as I cannot attain uninterrupted nighttime sleep.
Anyway, back to the dinner: 16-20 ct pink shrimp (my preferred type and size to maximize flavor and minimize risk of overcooking), a bit of basil, a small clove of garlic, Angel hair pasta and olive oil are all you need. You also need 1 pan and 1 pot. Bring a pot full of water to boil. Sear the shrimp off ~2 minutes a side and set aside. Once you have finished cooking the shrimp, throw in the pasta. It will cook for TWO minutes. Drizzle yet more olive oil into the pan where you cooked the shrimp, turn the heat down to the lowest level and grate the clove of garlic. The point is not to cook the garlic, but to have it perfume the olive oil. After 30 seconds, put the now drained pasta into the pan with the olive oil and garlic, mix well, add the shrimp, basil and serve.
