Hurricane Irene

As you probably know, by the end of last week there was a lot of hype about Hurricane Irene coming up the East Coast and gearing up to hit the NYC area hard. I don't live in NYC, but across the river from downtown Manhattan on the Jersey side. The main concern for the area was flooding and power outages. We live on the 25th floor so clearly flooding wasn't a concern, but a power outage definitely was. So while my husband was making sure we did all of the hurricane 'preparedness' needed, I had some concerns of my own.

Not related to food, I wanted to make sure we had plenty of entertainment for us and our friends in the building if the power went out. I made sure our board games were easy access and downloaded a hurricane playlist for our battery operated ipod speakers. You cannot imagine how many songs are out there relating to hurricanes, storms, wind, rain, etc. They ended up in a pretty good mix in my opinion. Then I of course wanted to make sure we had plenty of cold beer in the cooler. Below was our selection.

It included Anchor Steam, Ithaca Beer Co. Cascazilla, Dogfish Head IPA, Keegan Ales Hurricane Kitty, Stone IPA, and the light choice was Miller Light. Most of these are favorites around our apartment, but the Hurricane Kitty was one we hadn't tried and obviously had to get for the occasion. It was an IPA and surprisingly good considering we only got it because it had Hurricane in the name. We also had plenty of red wine on hand, and we didn't even need to worry about keeping it cold.

Now onto the food, I wanted to bake some snacks up to go along with the other non-perishable food we loaded up on. So I made these peanut butter granola balls from Martha Stewart.

Soy Glazed Cod Baked in Parchment Paper

As usual, I picked up some more fresh seafood when I was at the shore this weekend. This time it was cod and I decided to bake it in parchment paper.  This is a great method you can use with most types of fish and there are several reasons why I recommend going this route. It's healthy, it's flexible (you can throw in a variety of vegetables or seasonings), it's foolproof, very easy clean up - just crumple up the paper and toss it out when you're done, and because it steams in it's own juices (along with the other ingredients you throw in) it leaves you with a moist and flavorful fish. It works for a an easy weeknight meal or it's impressive enough for company. Just cut open the parchment at the table and serve. See below for the recipe.

Clambake at the Shore

My in-laws were nice enough to let us takeover their shore house this past weekend. So we invited some friends down, enjoyed a perfect beach day on Saturday, and topped it off with a delicious dinner with good friends. Can't beat that.

While the boys enjoyed some beers and this view.

Us girls got busy in the kitchen.

Asian Cajun Scallops

More seafood! This time it was sea scallops, which are great for a weeknight dinner since they cook so quickly. A lot of scallop recipes call for a butter sauce, but since we had a butter sauce the night before I thought it was best to opt for something different. I decided use some of my beloved Sriracha sauce, since I can't get enough spicy food. I'll warn you now, these are spicy, so reduce the Sriracha if you can't handle the heat.

One tip I have when cooking scallops is to have all of your side dishes ready when when you are going to throw the scallops in the pan since they cook up so quickly and you do not want overcook them, they become too chewy. Slightly under cooked scallops are better than over done scallops. Once the outside turns opaque it usually only takes a few more minutes to cook them, but feel free to cut one open if you are nervous about having them turn out too under cooked. Keep reading for the recipe.

Grilled Swordfish with Balsamic Brown Butter

This weekend we picked up some swordfish steaks at the seafood market. And since I can't seem to get enough of my grill pan these days, I decided to make grilled swordfish with balsamic brown butter sauce. I was inspired by this recipe on epicurious. I scaled it down to 4 servings, so my husband could have 2 servings for dinner and I could bring the extra for lunch tomorrow. I served the swordfish with a garlic and corn couscous, which I'll follow up with the recipe another day. We also felt very adventurous when we ventured from red wine to white tonight. I think this is the first bottle of white we've ever had with dinner, it was Cielo Pinot Grigio. Pinot Grigio seems to be the only white wine we can get into, and this is an inexpensive bottle that was crisp and fresh, perfect for the hot weather we had today. Keep reading for the recipe with my adaptions.

Linguine with Clams

To top off my week of cooking seafood, I have some linguine with clams for you. I wanted to go light with the sauce and also use up some food in my pantry. Which resulted in this light and simple sauce that has a bit of a spicy kick (I would have added more red pepper, but my husband can't handle the spice like I can).  So add the crushed red pepper according to your preferences. I also only had whole wheat linguine on hand so that is what I used, but normally for this meal I prefer regular pasta. Keep reading for the recipe.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend! I'm going camping, what are you doing?

Baked Flounder with Cilantro Butter

I hope everyone enjoyed celebrating America's birthday. We had a nice weekend at the Jersey shore and capped it off with a pit stop at the seafood market on our way home, which is why I posted Curried Mussels yesterday, baked flounder tonight, and linguine with clams later this week. This flounder was a quick an easy meal to start off the work week (so happy it's a short one), and dinner received rave reviews from my husband.

I served the flounder with grilled zucchini and onions; slice zucchini, cut onion into wedges, drizzle veggies with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook on the grill pan for about 15 minutes (turning occasionally) or until tender. Keep reading for the flounder recipe.

Curried Mussels

Nothing beats a big pot of mussels for dinner. One of my favorite restaurants in NYC is Markt, they have excellent mussels and an excellent beer selection. I think at one point we were almost going there once a week, and we have also managed to get my family hooked. Probably because the mussels remind us of one of our favorite restaurants when my parents lived in Paris (can't think of the name). I usually order the mussels with curry and cream at Markt, which is why I made these curried mussels for dinner. They turned out great, and there's nothing like sopping up the sauce in the bottom of the pot with slices of crusty french bread. Keep reading for the recipe, which was adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table cookbook.

Grilled Fish Tacos

Grilled Tilapia

The Taco

I used the Roasted Tomatillo Salsa recipe from yesterday on these Tilapia Fish Tacos, and they made the perfect pair. Tilapia is pretty widely available and reasonably priced, but can be substituted with any white fish (cod, haddock, catfish, mahi mahi, pollock, red snapper, sea bass). If you already made the Tomatillo Salsa, or just opted to buy some bottled at the store, these make a quick and easy weeknight meal.  This was just what I was looking for after a long day of work, followed by one of my last training workouts before the Philly Triathlon this weekend. The tacos were really tasty too! Click below for the recipe.

Firecracker Shrimp Salad

I made this salad using The Pioneer Woman's Firecracker Shrimp, which is delicious on its own as well as in this salad, and is so so easy to make. I agree with her that Sriracha is the best hot sauce choice, so definitely use that when making this recipe.  I don't skewer the shrimp before putting them on my grill pan, call me lazy.

I love shrimp, of course fresh is the best, but I stock up on frozen uncooked shrimp as it thaws and cooks up quickly, which is perfect for weeknight dinners.

For this salad I used fresh shrimp that I picked up on sale at the store and tossed it with mixed greens,  avocado, corn, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, black beans, and onions.  I threw on a little ranch dressing as it helped balance the very spicy shrimp (because I always use extra Sriracha).  I'll be making this again, very soon.

Easy Baked Fish Fillets

Easy Baked Fish Fillets

This recipe from MyRecipes.com is a perfect weeknight meal.  I'm training for a triathlon right now so by the time I get home from the office, workout and am finally ready to cook I'm looking for something quick and easy like this recipe.  The recipe calls for Grouper, or any white fish really.  Pollock was on sale at my store and it looked white so I went with that.  I've never had it before, but wikipedia tells me it's a cheap substitution for Cod or Haddock.  The recipe calls for drizzling it with butter before placing it in the oven, but I sprayed it with a little cooking spray instead.  It turned out well, and I'll definitely be making it again.  Although, next time I will most likely use panko breadcrumbs.  

I Love Sushi

Spicy Yellowtail Roll and Rainbow Roll

California Roll & Sushi Assortment

I told you that we would be eating a lot of takeout and leftovers this past week due to hectic schedules, and I wanted to share my favorite choice for delivery.  I love sushi, we order it once a week (twice if I'm lucky) for delivery, but if it was up to me and mercury poisoning didn't exist I'd eat it 5 times a week.  Our order usually consists of shumai, a rainbow roll, assortment of sushi,a  california roll (it comes with the sushi assortment), and a spicy yellowtail or spicy scallop roll.   Our go to sushi place for delivery in Jersey City is Honshu Sushi.  When I used to live on the East Side in NYC our favorite place was Iron Sushi.  Okay, I just wanted to confess that I have a sushi addiction.

Maine Lobster Rolls & Grilled Sweet Potatoes

Lobster tails were on sale at the grocery store so I decided to make some lobster rolls.  The recipe comes from this Dishing Up Maine cookbook that I bought when we visited Maine.  It had a little too much mayonnaise for my taste, but still tasted delicious.  My husband could eat mayonnaise out of a jar so he of course loved it.  The recipe is below.  On a side note, I ate a lot of lobster and lobster rolls in Maine, but my favorite is the lobster roll at Neptune Oyster Bar in Boston.

Ingredients
2 cups cooked lobster, cut into chunks
2 teaspoons of lemon juice (about 1/4-1/2 lemon)
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
Salt and fresh ground pepper
Top-split hot dog buns (regular works fine too)
Snipped chives

Directions
1. Toss the lobster with lemon juice and mayonnaise, season with salt and pepper to taste
2. Toast hot dog rolls
3. Spoon lobster onto rolls and enjoy!

I served grilled Grilled Sweet Potatoes with Scallions from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine on the side.  I live in an apartment so I don't have a grill, I use my double burner grill pan instead and it works perfectly.  This is one of my favorite side dishes to serve and eat.

Honey and Soy Glazed Salmon

Honey and Soy Glazed Salmon

This doesn't look pretty, but it sure tastes good (please note I took this picture before reading the link on food photography I posted below).  This recipe makes a regular appearance in our apartment.  The only change I make is that I throw onions in the pan when I cook the Salmon, which results in slightly burnt onions, an ugly photo, and a very tasty dinner.  I usually serve it over rice and with a side of edamame.  It's a very quick and easy weeknight meal.

Shrimp Scampi Pasta

Shrimp Scampi Pasta

Shrimp Scampi Pasta from Epicurious, a great Friday night dinner after a long week; lots of oil, lots of butter, and quick.  I usually like to add halved cherry or grape tomatoes to the recipe but I didn't have any on hand, and whose going to the store on a Friday night?  So I threw in some frozen green beans due to lack of options, and the feeling that I needed some veggies to offset the oil and butter.  I also upped the crushed red pepper, because I can never get enough.  Once again, this recipe got rave reviews from my husband (I really enjoyed it too).