a long time ago, my dad showed me how he makes his incredible pan-fried fish. tender, juicy, flaky, perfectly salted with ginger and scallions. it's amazing, a sublime work of art.
and i totally made it 2 nights ago.
:: directions ::
1) (amateur) chef required
yes, i'm wearing clothes, not just an apron and a cardigan. and yes, that's an apron from home depot. thanks, brian!
2) fish, preferably pre-gutted. this one is a pompano and was given to me, frozen, by my dad. i was a little distressed at the blood, which is why i didn't show this part to anthony. he was sleeping off a headache and probably would have kind of freaked out.
3) rice is optional, but highly recommended. go ahead and start it cooking. i love my 3 cup rice cooker. i've had this baby for nigh 10 years and she's steered me straight and true. except for the one time i opened her up to find a soggy moldy mess. that was not a good time in our relationship.
4) liberally sprinkle salt on one side of the fish. a pretty good amount. flip it over. salt the other side and sprinkle some white pepper on it. let it sit for about 10 minutes.
5) during this time, cut up some ginger and scallion. peel and matchstick slice the ginger.
don't mind the red onion and broccoli. that was the side dish. i ended up cutting up more ginger mid-way through cooking the fish, though. and seriously? the more scallion, the better. MORE SCALLION!
6) heat a large pan that has a lid on high. put in a "medium amount of oil." let the pan get hot and then drop the fish in. realize that the fish is too big and cut the tail off clumsily with a pair of kitchen shears.
7) cover the fish, turn the heat to medium. oh yea, put the ginger sticks on top of the fish. cook for approximately 15 minutes (my fish was approximately 10 inches long, sans tail) on one side. tilt the pan to move the oil around the fish. it's gonna sizzle and start to smell good. real good.
8) so now it's going to be all nice & brown and crispy (if it's not kind of crispy, cook it a little longer; soggy fish skin is good, but it isn't melt-your-face incredible). turn it over, pour a tidge more oil on the fish and drop the scallions on top. cook for 15 minutes and tilt the pan occasionally. allow the mouth to salivate openly.
9) enjoy consuming the fish, eating as much of the head as you feel comfortable eating. for me and anthony, this is none at all. however, fish cheeks are delicious. the best way to eat a whole fish is to eat one side, exposing the length of prickly spine and then flip it over, eating the rest.
... i think there might be leftovers in the fridge. hmmm..............
after many years of coveting and admiring and adoring this little tin package, i finally realized my dream and purchased this little beauty.
if you wish to spend $25 on expensive (and beautifully packaged) hot chocolate, then this is the one to pick. what's nice is that you can choose between a thicker european style and a lighter, creamier american style. because all it appears to be are a bunch of choco-shavings. or you can just mix it up and make a thigh-fattening creamy mix of the two styles. a little taste of.... heaven. and if you put it in the fridge... instant chocolate pudding!
last night i actually made it correctly and it was sooo good. ignore the directions regarding heating the liquid, for the most part. if you do as they say and pour nearly boilt water/milk on top of the shavings, it's not going to melt correctly. even if you heat it in the microwave for 30 seconds, as they recommend. you NEED to heat the milk on the stove (not boiling) then add the shavings. and mix it for a while. because nothing sucks more than drinking badly-made, watery & expensive hot chocolate. with little soggy chocolate shaving inclusions. very distressing.
i feel kind of lame writing this post, because it's basically a product review, but whatever. skim it and be done with it! it makes me feel productive.
me: *groaning* i feel like i drank last night. anthony: *barely awake* me too. ... oh wait, i did drink. me: oh. yea, me too.
2009 - welcome!
btw - if you're bored and have time to waste viewing 1,000+ photos, here are our wedding photos! sadly, we must be getting old if 1 beer and 1 glass of wine will aid in incapacitating us the next day. i'm sure it also has to do with going to bed at 1 am. i'll console myself with that. don't worry, that piddling amount of alcohol wasn't for the new year.
the new year saw us at our friend's house surrounded by children and fireworks and festivities. it was very relaxed and quite a bit of fun. that night was 3 beers and a little champagne. (i know, slow it down, right?)
it just didn't feel like a new year. perhaps it's the unseasonably warm weather. perhaps it's that i had to work during the day. time is such a strange and relative... "thing". amorphous blob. entity. just an arbitrary date to stop and reflect and consider one's yearly "accomplishments."
[current favorite song: the lawless days of drinking whiskey in the 10th grade; volta do mar - strange and quiet and then fast and picky and jangly. it gets good around 2:50 and 4:10. mmm.]
accomplishments during 2008: got hitched! did some stuff. did some more stuff. got a raise. graduated! spent time in gainesville!
honestly, that's all i can remember (AND i cheated by browsing my archives). and while i can appreciate and understand the need for self-reflection, this is what it all boils down to: right now, though my fingers are cold and i have to work the friday after new year's day, i'm really happy and my life is blissful.
2009 hankerings
> eat out a maximum of once a week > drink more water > save lots o' money > think about learning chinese > be more creative > spent at least 1 hr/week in my factory (aka atelier, aka sweatshop, aka practically unused room which i pay for) > watch less tv - i.e. no more weekly marathons of the entire full metal alchemist canon > buy 1 pair of camper shoes > purge what i do not use > take and print more photos > try to have a camera on my person at all times
and speaking of cameras... anthony and i both got new cameras!
he got the canon g10, which i am kind of swooning over. it's actually making me want a canon (sorry, little nikon!) it's got these wonderful hard button knobs, just like my manual nikon. heart! and the display is just fantastic. very intuitive and it shows all the information you need in a very pleasing way.
and for christmas, anthony got me a holga. 120 film! i'm so excited to see how it'll turn out. the mental thought process is exceedingly striking when going from a digital camera (with practically unlimited image capture ability) to a film camera which can only take 12 images, 16 at most. i loaded the film, took one picture and thought, "one down, 11 left to go." and then i set it down. it's like i have to savor them! it's strange, but not unpleasant. like cross-dressing, mayhaps.
and, some pics from the holidays - got to practice using that canon!
thanksgiving at the park! we played lots of boggle and read in the sun on a yellow blanket.
i subscribe to a number of professional magazines and journals at my job. one of them is SuperVision.
it occurs to me, that it's exactly like 'women's world' magazine, except for supervisors and without the color pictures and recipes.
"in conclusion, our friends and family care about us and want us to be healthy. therefore, we must strive to be mentally active. we can make all our hopes and dreams come true when we keep our mind and body in top condition. by staying healthy, we can be productive and pleasant as we journey through life."
oh, why, hello there! how ARE you doing? i know, i know, SO good to see you too, it has been a while. taking care of yourself? drinking lots of water? applying moisturizer and using a condom? keeping that nose clean? well, bully for you!
i'm semi-coherent at present; our office is sweltering today at 2 pm. florida weather is highly whack during early winter (is december considered early winter?! perhaps only for florida. i'm quite sure my sense of the seasons aren't in line with those who live in the northern states.). this morning was a nippy 40 degrees and when i went out for lunch today, to sit by the river and knit, it was 74 degrees out! i was no match for the sun and my long sleeves and i scurried off after 30 minutes to sit indoors. the knitting made my hands sweat. very sexy. and i would have enjoyed myself inside, except that "they", the unseen and almighty controllers of the thermostat, appear to have set the temperature to a balmy 80 degrees, with a humidity of 85%. awesome. i melt.
this weekend was spent in gainesville staying with, sleeping with, and catching up with erika and giving healing vibes to meaghan. we 3 spent many hours knitting, drinking, baking cupcakes, eating them with chocolate ganache and espresso whipped cream, cooing over owen and downing mimosas. and watching office, season 4. the next tv show on our agenda is buffy. gfss is all about the tv show marathons. and spending way too much on yarn. and drinking outrageously strong and thick coffee. and attemping to take non-blurry photos of owen. and incomplete sentences.
i'll have to see what i can do about uploading some photos tonight. must not lose my momentum with organizing my digital photos!
