POKE: n. (pou-kei) Hawaiian Raw Fish Salad

Tuna.....Single handedly one of the most expensive and revered fish in fishing. There are billions of dollars spent in Japan's fish auction market daily for prized tuna! With that said, if you happen to be friends with awesome fishing savvy friends, you definitely get the high end of the stick! I just want to formally thank Shane Chua for catching such amazing tuna in Mexico. The gorgeous gorgeous red color....sighhhh. Magical I tell ya!

I do have to say that even though I now own a fillet knife, I still do not know how to fillet the skin off the fish!!!!
Despite having "challenges" with that. I still manage to get it done without wasting too much of the meat.

Ingredients
2lbs or however much you want of bitesize Tuna or any fish you want to use. 
1Tablespoon grated ginger
1 1/2 cloves of grated garlic ( i had huge garlic nubs)
2 stalks of green onion
3 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup aloha shoyu
couple dashes of mirin
1 tablespoon unseasoned rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1 Tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds
3 bulbs of shallots thinly sliced or use regular yellow or maui onions
chili oil (optional)

Directions:
Pour sauce over bite size pieces of tuna  and shallots
Marinade in fridge for 15 mins or so.
I two batches of the sauce. one batch to marinade the fish and the second batch to drizzle over the fish.

Serve over hot rice or eat as is! =)

Mushroom Turnovers: Fungus-ly Delicious

I just want to say that a Nobel Prize should be given to the first person who discovered that mushrooms are edible! It is hands down, the coolest fungus around because of how utterly delicious it tastes. However, I find that a lot of people don't care too much for that earth flavor.

Anyways, Trader Joes is one of my favorite super market. They have the most amazing selection of easy prep foods and meals. I just so happened to be at trader joes at the right time when they were giving out samples of their mushroom turnover. Oh my gawd, it was such an experience! The light flakey pie crust holding in the delicious mushroom mixture. ah-may-zing!

Oddly enough, its taken me this long to realize that I can make my own version of my much beloved mushroom turnovers from Trader Joes! Aside from being so magically delicious, they are also super easy to put together..... this of course is after you've spend your time chopping the mushrooms and rolling/cutting the pie crusts. Don't worry, I have some shortcut tips.

Ingredients:
Already made pie crust 2-3 boxes
2lbs of white button mushroom chopped to small pieces
2lbs of crimini mushroom chopped to small pieces
2 teaspoon of Truffle salt, make sure you taste after the first teaspoon and salt accordingly (coarse ground sea salt is fine)
1 teaspoon of thyme
2tablespoon of  olive oil
3 cloves of garlic
4 shallots bulbs minced

Cayenne pepper - seasonto your liking
4oz Cream Cheese( room temperature)

1 tablespoon of Sour Cream
one egg
grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
If you happen to have a large food processor, dump mushrooms in and pulse until its a small dice, if you're not lucky enough to own such a tool, i'm not =(, then save yourself a little time and buy the presliced mushrooms and then chop it down to a smaller size.
On medium high heat, heat up the oil with the garlic and shallots and dump the mushrooms in.
Add the truffle salt to the mushroom to get the water out.
While the mushroom is cooking, add the thyme.
Cook the mushrooms until all the water has evaporated, this could take a while.
Once the water is almost completely gone, sprinkle in the desired amount of cayenne pepper.
Let the mixture cool and then add in the softened cream cheese and sour cream
Stir to combine and then take out pie crust.
Cut in to circles and fill with filling, crimp to close
brush half moons with egg wash (one beaten egg with 1 tablespoon water)
and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
bake at 425F until golden brown and delicious (20-25 mins)
Finish with a drizzle of truffle oil if you have any!

Chilly in Sea Bass

Chilean Sea Bass, possibly one of my most favorite fish to eat because the texture and flavor sorta reminds of me succulent crab meat.

Unless you're ballin' like Kobe, you're probably buying Chilean Sea Bass fillets that's been defrosted in the seafood market at 99 Ranch Market. Still equally good I say and affordable! I bought a fillet for 12.95 and got two meals out of it! Ordering Sea Bass at a restaurant is guaranteed to be at the very least $30-35 dinner.

I was lazy so I made a very Asian flavored sauce and steamed it in a foil pouch.

Ingredients:
1/2 teaspoon of Chiu Chow Chili Sauce ( delicious, flavorful, and really hot so be mindful of the amt)
approx 1tablespoon of hoisin sauce (squeeze bottle- read somewhere that the flavor in squeeze is different from bottle)
splash of Aloha shoyu
2 dashes of mirin


Directions:
Heat oven to 450 F
Place pouch in oven and cook for 18 mins ( depending on size of fish)

I made two servings of the sauce because I put extra sauce on the fish after it was done cooking =)

 

 

Serve with hot jasmine rice and bok choy

Shrimp n Grits (minus the Grits)

1.Shrimp

2.Bacon

That is all that needs to be said for you to be making this dish. 

Seriously. This is delicious and pretty darn easy to make! The ingredient list is the only thing that seems daunting! 

The only tedious task that I didn't care to much for was peeling 2 lbs of shrimp.

I find that the grits would soak up all that amazing flavor and salt but I love noodles. I won't lie, I used noodles because I had a ton of them left in my freezer and had to use them up. 

Also, Southern food = major water retention. 

Recipe found here at Anson Mills

Ingredients
1 pound medium-sized, shell-on shrimp (I used 2 lbs of shrimp because I'm a fatty kid)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, small dice
1 small stalk celery, small dice (celery flavor can be really overpowering)
2 large garlic cloves, sliced
4 cups spring or filtered water (I used tap...don't tell anyone)
1 teaspoon tomato paste
3 full sprigs fresh thyme (I teaspoon of dried thyme because I couldn't find the fresh one)
1 Turkish bay leaf (one regular bay leaf)
1 teaspoon whole, cracked black peppercorns
1 strip lemon peel
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon flour
2 ounces thick smoked bacon or real country ham, minced (3 tablespoons) ( I used about half a pack of bacon...that might have been why it was saltier than I expected. Next time I make this, I plan on using reduced sodium bacon)
2 large shallots, minced (1/4 cup)
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


Directions
1. Peel and devein the shrimp, reserving the shells. Dry the shrimp between layers of paper towels and refrigerate until ready to use. Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add the shrimp shells, onion, celery, and garlic and sauté until the shells are crisp and the aromatics tender, 10 minutes. Add the water, tomato paste, thyme, bay, peppercorns, and lemon peel. Cover and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, until the stock is flavorful and reduced, about 1 hour. Strain the stock into a small saucepan (there should be about 1 1/2 cups), and keep hot.
2. While the stock is cooking, mash the butter and flour into a smooth paste in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Sauté the bacon or ham in a large, nonstick skillet over medium-low heat until crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Move it to the periphery of the skillet and increase the heat to medium. Arrange the shrimp in a single layer and sear until pink. Sprinkle the shallots over the shrimp, toss, and cook until the shrimp is done, about one minute. Add salt, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Using tongs, transfer the shrimp to a warm plate. Add the hot stock to the skillet and bring to a boil over high heat. Whisk in the reserved butter and flour mixture. Cook until thickened, about 20 seconds. Return the shrimp to the pan and taste sauce for seasoning.

Went overzealous on the celery, ended up using less than half

Shell-y. My house smelled amazing when I was making this!

I love Bacon, Bacon, Bacon, Bacon..... Bacon I do adore

Cooked shrimp in batches because pan wasn't large enough

Flour + Butter = Roux

Its yummy over noodles too!

Om nom nom nom

When life gives me lemons, I make cupcakes!

My co-worker Bethany had a lemon drop themed wedding. In honor of her departure from my unit, I made her lemon cupcakes filled with lemon curd topped with lemon cream cheese frosting.

Recipe modified from Homemade by Holman

Cupcake Recipe:
1 cup whole grain flour
1/2 cup oat flour (You can use 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour but I like the health aspect of whole grain. Plus it tastes great!)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 ounces neufatel, softened (You can use regular cream cheese if you like)
1/2 cup light agave
3/4 cup egg beaters (Or 3 large eggs)
1/4 cup plus 2 T lemon juice
1/2 cup buttermilk
Zest of 1 lemon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a 12 cup muffin tin. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, beat butter and neufatel with a mixer until light and creamy. Beat in agave. Add egg beaters 1/4 cup at a time, beating until incorporated. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture beating until incorporated alternating with 1/4 cup buttermilk until all ingredients have been incorporated. Add lemon juice and zest and mix until incorporated.

Fill muffin tins 2/3 of the way with batter. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Completely cool cupcake before adding in lemon curd and frosting the cupcake.
















Lemon Curd Recipe:
4 egg yolks
Zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup plus 1 T lemon juice
1/2 cup light agave
5 T unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces

Directions:
Combine egg yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice, and agave in a sauce pan. Place over medium heat. Stir constantly for about 8 minutes until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of your silicone spatula. Take mixture off of heat and add butter in one piece at a time, whisking until incorporated. Continue to do so until all the butter is incorporated. Strain the mixture through the a mesh strainer. It's important to do so you can have a nice smooth, shiny mixture. Place in a bowl, cover with saran wrap so saran wrap is touching the top of mixture. Refrigerate until ready to use.















Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe:
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
6 ounces neufatel, softened
1 T lemon juice
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Cream butter and neufatel together until light and creamy. Beat in lemon juice. Add in powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until incorporated. Lastly, beat in lemon zest and vanilla.

How to assemble:
When cupcakes have cooled, use the small side of a melon baller and scoop out the middle. Place scooped out piece on the side.















Fill the center with the lemon curd filling (about a teaspoon).


Place the removed center back on top of the lemon curd. Get a large ziplock bag. Cut a small part of the corner and place a pastry tip into the bag. Fill bag with cream cheese frosting and frost away!












Enjoy! :)

Fruit Tartelette

I am in LOVE with Fruit Tarts.

It must be from my infatuation with buttered crusts. Pie Crusts and tart crusts...does it get any better than that? I think not. 

The simplicity and beauty of a tart contributes to the perfect bite because you feast first with your eyes and then your stomach. You have the bright and colorful fruit on top of a creamy, silky, custard, followed by a crisp, crumble tart shell. The different textures all in one bite. 

I never thought that I would ever attempt to make tarts because I heard tart shells, like pie crusts, were dependent on cold everything to make the perfect crust. However, this recipe I stumbled across on foodgawker.com used room temperature butter to make the crust! (original recipe here)

This makes my life so much easier.

Lets get to cooking!

Sweet Tart Dough

Ingredients:

9        oz unsalted butter at room temperature

1        cup sugar

1/4     tsp salt

2        large eggs, at room temperature

3 1/2  cup all-purpose flour

Egg wash (optional)

1        egg, beaten

2        tsp water

salt     pinch

Directions:

1. Using a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar and salt at medium speed until smooth.
2. Add eggs. One at a time. Mix until smooth before adding another. Scrape the side of the bowl occasionally.
3. Add flour all at once and mix at low speed until just incorporated.
4. On a lightly floured surface, pour out the dough. Divide the dough into four equal portions.  Shape each portion into a ball and then into a disk about 1/2" thick.  Wrap each disk with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
5. Preheat oven to 325°F
6. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into 1/8" thick and cut out pieces of 1" to 2" bigger than your tart pan or tart rings. Transfer the dough to the tart pan and apply slight pressure to the bottom and side of the pan.
7. Put the pastry shell in the fridge and chill for 15 minutes or until firm.
8. Dock bottom of the tart shell with a fork, making holes around 2" apart.  
9. If using 31/2" tart rings, bake for 10 mins.  Mix egg wash ingredients.  Take out the tart shell and brush the bottom and side lightly with egg wash.  According to the book, this can seal the bottom and the side of the tart shell to avoid the tart shell to get soggy that easily.
10. Put the tart shell back to the oven and bake for another 20mins, or until lightly browned.

Instead of tart rings I went with muffin tins. 

the original recipe also calls for some homemade custard but I cheated by using trader joes' vanilla pudding mix.

I used one cup whole milk and one cup heavy cream. You can put in a 1/4 tspn of vanilla if you fancy or perhaps a vanilla bean.

This takes approximately 5 mins to set. 

I've stored the extra dough in the freezer for next time! :)

ENJOY!!!