Catfish Sandwich and a Difficult Week Past

Filed Under Mains, Seafood | 33 Comments

Do you know what a clear liquid diet is? Do you know there is something called good bacteria in your stomach? Do you know what acidophilus is? Do you know why they call it an Emergency Room if they make you wait for 4 hours before you get to see even a nurse?

These are just a few of the questions we had to ask ourselves this past week. Some knowledge was gained the hard way, some questions still remain unanswered. It all started end of last month when Siv was down with a cold and fever and went to the doctor for a check up. He was given an antibiotic called Cefuroxime(Ceftin), since he was diagnosed with an ear infection as well. Well Ceftin worked alright, but along with the bad bacteria it was supposed to kill, it also killed off the good bacteria in his stomach that aids digestion, thus causing him severe diarrhea.  Siv is a person who eats a lot of questionable food, so first we thought it was just a bad hotdog he ate. But after a couple of days it got worse, we had to go back to the doctor (the same one who gave him Ceftin just 10 days ago) who thought it could be a viral infection in his stomach. So she put him on a clear liquid diet saying it should go away in a couple of days. No change in two days! Well long story short, it took another couple of visits and a trip to the ER over the weekend and some lab tests before it was established that it wasn’t any bad food he ate or virus. It was antibiotic induced which is apparently a well known cause!

For something this common, why didn’t the doctor even consider this possibility on the first visit itself? What makes us really mad is the fact that while the doctor was trying to figure out the problem, she put him on yet another antibiotic, even after we called to double check if the diarrhea listed as a side effect for the new antibiotic is going to cause any issues. It did cause issues, and he was taken off that and was given a third type of antibiotic, which luckily is finally working its magic.

The whole experience was so frustrating, but we learned a lot about bacteria in the process. For example, we can replace good bacteria in the stomach by eating yogurt containing live active cultures. Look for yogurt that contains Lactobacillus acidophilus, which is a very friendly bacterium that protects the body against harmful bacteria, parasites, and other organisms. As it breaks down, it releases things such as hydrogen peroxide that create a toxic environment for unhealthy creatures in the body, helping to drive them out. It also plays an important role in digestion, helping to produce a number of chemicals which aid in the digestion process. There are also acidophilus supplements for lactose intolerant people.

I just wanted to share this story with all of you, in case there are others out there who don’t know anything about this, like how we were a week ago. I think if we were at least aware of such a possibility, this wouldn’t have gotten so bad! We realized that we can’t rely on the doctors to come to the right conclusion all the time, sometimes it helps to ask the right questions.

Anyway, during the whole trial he couldn’t eat much. The first few days were a clear liquid diet where he could drink only see-through liquids like stock and grape/apple/cranberry juice. Then he could move on to soft foods like jell-o and potatoes and crackers and toast. This week we started introducing more solids, but he is not supposed to take any spicy food at all, also no greens or vegetables with fiber. Now, that is a really tough diet to be on. 

First solid food he had was some yogurt rice and scrambled eggs. When that didn’t cause any issue, we decided to move on to fish. The idea of just fish with salt didn’t appeal to him much. So to add some flavor I steamed the catfish filet along with some herbs and fennel and lime slices. The flavoring ingredients were discarded after the fish was steamed, and the fish was shredded and lightly sautéed in very minimal oil. It was used as a sandwich filling along with some sautéed onions. After two weeks of bland diet, the mild flavors of the fish were a gastronomic delight for him.

I had the same dish, but mine was spiced up with some pepper and crushed chili flakes. I wrapped the two filets in individual parchment paper parcels, so I could make one with spices and one without.

Steamed catfish filet just out of the parchment paper parcel.
 

Ingredients

       For steamed fish

• 2 large catfish filets (any white fish)
• 1 large fennel sliced, both the bulb and the green leaves
• a few fresh thyme sprigs
• a few fresh parsley sprigs
• 1 fresh lime sliced
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• salt to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

Marinate the fish filets in a mixture of lime juice and salt. Place the individual filets in the middle of two large sheets of parchment paper. Season well with pepper. Divide the rest of the ingredients into two parts, and arrange these on top of the fish filets. Fold the parchment paper over from the long side first, fold it over, and staple to secure. Fold and twist both the short ends next, and staple to seal the ends and form a neat parcel.

Place the parcels in a steamer and steam for about 12-15 minutes. Open carefully, since the filets will be hot and there might be some steam and hot liquid inside.

I discarded the lime pieces and the tough ends of the fennel and most of the herbs and transferred my steamed filet to a non stick pan along with the liquid formed inside the parchment paper parcel. Once the liquid was dried out, I added a little bit of olive oil and shredded the filet and sauteed it till the pieces were lightly browned. The fish and caramelized onions were placed inside the tastiest bread ever - Brioche burger bun from Macrina bakery.  Along with some crème fraîche and a side salad, it made a wonderful dinner.

Note: You can add some sliced ginger, sliced green chilies and soy sauce while steaming the fish. Steam it for 15 minutes, and skip the second step. It will make a great healthy dinner along with some steamed rice.

Thank you all for the kind e-mails and concerned comments. Sorry I couldn’t respond, but I will get back to you all soon!  The sun is shining again, the dark days are behind us I hope!

Fettuccine with Mushrooms, Asparagus and Baby Spinach

Filed Under Asparagus, Greens, Mains, Mushroom, Pastas, Vegetarian | 33 Comments

Past few days might have been the most humdrum foodie days of our lifetime. There hasn’t been any cooking happening in our house, and actually not much eating either. I won’t go into the details today, but it’s really been a difficult time. I might feel like writing about it some other time, today is definitely not the day.

One good thing that happened out of this near starvation was that I got a new found appreciation for an old favorite. Don’t laugh; I am talking about Red Robin. Yes, that Red Robin. About a decade ago, when we first came to this country dining out meant Chili’s or Red Robin. After we slowly graduated to finer restaurants, the old favorites have been forgotten. These days it seems we only appreciate certain genres of restaurants. On one side the expensive fine dining restaurants and the happening nightspots, and on the other side the hole-in-the-wall, one of a kind places where you get really great food for really low prices. The broad range of restaurants in the middle are often forgotten, especially the chains. It is just not cool enough anymore to eat at these places… But I had to go there for a work event. I am not sure whether it was the near starvation, but the Blackened Bayou Burger had to be one of the tastiest, juiciest burgers I’ve eaten recently. It reminded me how much we used to love this place. That got me thinking, have we become such food snobs that we are ignoring some places just because of the low coolness index? I think so… I have resolved to keep an open mind about such places; I think we are missing out a lot!

Anyway I digress as usual. Coming back to the recipe of the day, this dish was invented as a way of cleaning out the fridge. Last weekend I had done some grocery shopping, and most were not used up. The meats were moved off to the freezer at the beginning of the week itself, but the veggies in the crisper were starting to show the signs of a slow but imminent death, I had to do something quick. I have a bunch of different types of pasta in the pantry now, a recent addition after my resolve to start incorporating more non-rice main dishes into our diet. Combine the two, and that is how this one dish meal was born, and must I add it was a delicious dish for such an easy breezy recipe. You can use your favorite pasta and any leftover veggies in the fridge, but I think mushrooms really add a special something extra to this pasta preparation.

Ingredients

(Serves 2)

• 8 oz Fettuccine
• 1/4 lb Asparagus spears tough ends trimmed and sliced
• 1 cup brown crimini mushrooms quartered
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 1/4 cup sliced leeks (substitute shallots)
• 1 cup chicken/vegetable stock (use water if you don’t have stock)
• 5 large cloves of garlic
• red chili flakes to taste
• salt to taste
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Method

Cook the Fettuccine according to the package instructions, but make sure it is still firm or al dente. Al Dente means the pasta is still firm, but not hard. Rinse with cold water and drain and keep aside.

Crush the garlic cloves well using a mortar and pestle.

In a large pan, heat the olive oil and add the leeks or shallots. Saute till soft. Add the crushed garlic and saute till it just starts to brown.

Add the asparagus and saute for about 3-4 minutes till the asparagus turns bright green. Add the mushrooms and saute for couple of minutes till the mushrooms starts to sweat. Add red chili flakes and salt and stir well to combine.

Pour the stock and stir well. Cook on high heat till the liquid is reduced to about 3/4th. Add the baby spinach and the cooked pasta to the pan and toss well. Cook on high heat, stirring frequently till all the liquid is absorbed.

Serve hot. Season with more red chili flakes and salt if needed.

Food Labels and Salad Lyonnaise

Filed Under Eggs, Soups and Salads | 27 Comments

Fair Trade, Certified Humane, Organic, Homegrown, Sustainable, Local -Are you as confused by these labels as I am? You want to eat right, but how do you define what is right anymore? I know it is an age old debate - the merits of local vs organic, but even that is not the end of the problem. Every new article I read, someone is preaching a new buzzword! How do you keep up?

I would like to do my part for the environment, try to stop the increasing food costs, but it is not an easy task! We do most of our shopping from Uwajimaya and Whole Foods. Uwajimaya for seafood and a lot of Asian produce and Whole Foods for meat, cheese, bread, fruits and the rest of the veggies. The amount of money we spend in Uwajimaya for a whole week is actually less than a day’s shopping from Whole Foods. We still shop at WH, because frankly the quality of the meat there is simply superb, and the cheese selection, where else can you find such wide variety? Also, we thought we were doing the right thing by eating organic. Recently I read that we shouldn’t be shopping from Whole Foods, it is after all a nationwide chain and spends tons in transporting food, we should support the local farmers instead. I want to, it is probably cheaper, but Pike Place Market closes by 6 pm, we never make it back home by that time. I love going to the summer farmer’s markets, but again it is a pain to do this every weekend, I know I won’t be able to stick to it. You’d say we can sign up for the weekly deliveries of organic farm grown veggies and fruits, but we don’t cook that regularly. Some weeks it is tough to cook even one day, so a regular home delivery of veggies is not practical for us.

So what do we do? We buy organic whenever we can. We even try to buy local if it is an option. But sometimes we get cravings for oranges in December, and most of the times we can’t resist a clean cut Australian lamb chops. We still stay away from the 10 lb bag of apples from Costco, which can last for months at room temperature, even though the 1 lb apples from Whole Foods which cost about the same price will go bad if not consumed within a week. This is mainly because the Costco apples are just scary, what could they be putting in them to last that long! We buy food primarily for the taste, then health, finally cost concerns. In a perfect world, we’d like to buy only Fair Trade, Certified Humane, Homegrown, Sustainable and Local, but we live in a practical world.

So dear reader, what is your definition of eating right? Do you always go out of your way to eat right, or do you just think most of it is a fad?

Well, now that it is off my chest, here is one of my favorite salads that I messed up a bit by just altering a small tiny detail. Salad Lyonnaise is a classic French Bistro fare, and is made of frisee  and thick chunks of bacon, topped with a poached egg. I have never made one myself, but it is one of those salads I always order from restaurants if it is on the menu. I picked up some frisee last weekend from Pike Place Market (Yes, I did manage to go last weekend, we had a beautiful Sunday), so I had everything handy for the salad. But lazy me decided to take one shortcut, instead of poaching an egg - a skill I never mastered - I went with a fried egg. It is the poached egg that really makes this salad, so my first attempt at Salad Lyonnaise was not a huge success. It still was eatable, I had the fried egg first, and then the rest of the salad. One can never go wrong with bacon chunks, right?

The original recipe is from Elise’s beautiful blog Simply Recipes. She has such a wide array of recipes, I don’t know if I should even call that site a blog. But I will, since I am sending this one over to my favorite singing chef Raaga who is hosting Monthly Blog Patrol this month. Her chosen theme is Salads and Soups.

Here is my version with minor changes. Do NOT omit the poached egg.

Ingredients

(serves 1 person)

• 1 small bunch frisee torn
• 2 strips of thick bacon
• 1 slice wheat bread (a few store-bought croutons)
• 1 poached egg
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp white whine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Cook the bacon in a frying pan till crispy, remove from the pan and drain on paper towels. Chop into pieces.

Cut the bread into cubes, and add to the melted bacon fat in the frying pan. Fry till both sides are toasted crisp, remove and keep aside.

Whisk the olive oil, vinegar and mustard in a bowl to make the dressing. Season with salt and pepper.

Arrange the frisee, croutons, and bacon in a salad bowl, and pour the dressing over. Serve topped with a poached egg

Thank you Elise for the wonderful recipe, next time I will follow the instructions to make the poached egg.

Soba Noodles with Bacon and Swiss Chard

Filed Under Noodles | 26 Comments

I recently realized how much dependant we are on rice. We cook rice most days mainly because that is familiar and is the easiest thing to prepare!  I love my rice, but I don’t need it everyday. Anyway since I have enough quantities of of Basmati, jasmine, rosematta, Himalayan red and Kalijira rice in the pantry, we are good for a while. I still want to be prepared in case the rice shortage gets really bad, so I am going to make a conscious effort to incorporate more non-rice carbs into our regular meal plan.

Soba is a type of thin Japanese noodle made from a mix of buckwheat and wheat flours.  This dish is loosely based on a pasta recipe from this month’s Bon Appétit magazine. The original recipe called for linguine, but I used Soba noodles instead, since a lot of Soba noodles recipes I found online suggested using linguine as a substitute. Soba is supposed to give a more nutty flavor. Since I used a Japanese noodle, I decided to use tamari sauce instead of balsamic vinegar and some toasted sesame oil instead of extra virgin olive oil. I also added some garlic and omitted the parmesan. I really really love bacon, so I didn’t really go for a substitute for that.

Ingredients

• 6 oz Soba noodles
• 4 oz bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2 ” slices
• thinly sliced leeks about 1/4 cup (substitute with red onion)
• 1 tbsp chopped garlic
• 1 large bunch of Swiss chard, stemmed and chopped, about 3 cups
• 1 tbsp tamari sauce/light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

Cook the soba noodles according to the directions on the packet. Reserve about 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid. Rinse well with cold water and drain and keep aside.

In a large heavy pan, cook bacon for about 6 minutes until crisp. Transfer the bacon to paper towels to drain. Pour out all but 2 tbsp of bacon fat from the pan. Add onion or leek to the pan and saute over medium heat for about 6 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and Swiss chard and season with salt and pepper. Add the reserved liquid to the pan and toss till the chard is tender and wilted. Add the tamari sauce and cook for one more minute.

Add the cooked noodles and toasted sesame oil to the pan and toss to coat. Garnish with chives or green onions and serve hot.

A Gloomy Weekend and a Me-Me.

Filed Under MeMe, Random Musings | 36 Comments

It took us about three weekends of R&R to get back into schedule after the India vacation. We were just cruising through the daily grind, not cooking much or even going out much, mainly doing take-outs and quick fix meals. Siv getting sick in the middle really delayed the transition process. But finally we are back into action, went out both Thursday and Friday night, for happy hour and gourmet food which I’ve been missing so badly!

I had major plans for the weekend, first agenda item was to go to the farmer’s market on Saturday morning, but Seattle is extremely gloomy today. I woke up and looked out the window, and wanted to just crawl back under my blanket. A cruise ship docked at the pier is the only thing that reminds us that it is supposed to be spring now! I feel bad for all the tourists who booked the cruise months in advance, now packing up heavy coats instead of shorts.

Look how sad it looks today?

And see what it is supposed to look like at this time of the year. (from April 2007)

Can you blame me for not going out?

Anyway, now that I have nothing else to do, I thought of doing a me-me. I was tagged by Indian Girl who has an entire blog devoted to make up! She shares some great tips. I am glad she tagged me since that is how I discovered her blog. The tag is to write 6 quirky facts about me. I have done something similar before, but its been a while since I have let you all into the scary wonderland aka my weird mind.

When I got tagged, I asked the person who knows all my quirks the best to help me with it. He didn’t waste any time coming with some in one breath. Seeing the shock in my face, he quickly added some nice stuff too, but unfortunately the tag is about quirky facts, so I can’t use the nice stuff here…

6 Quirky Facts about Me

1. I am super messy. I don’t like too much organization, I can never find anything if everything is where it is supposed to be. My work desk always looks like a war zone. I always know where things are, till I start filing stuff away. Once something is filed away, there is no way I will ever find it again. So messy works for me. Not so much for Siv, so he cleans up after me all the time.
2. I am messy, but I am super clean. I wash my hands with soap many times a day. I hate hate hate public bathrooms, and if I was brave enough I would shout at every woman who won’t wash their hands after using the loo and leave their germs on the door handle. I hate the waiting rooms at the doctor’s office, and the thought of touching the magazines there gives me the chills. If I am every in a place like that I have to take a shower as soon as I get home.
3. I am big procrastinator, I don’t do anything till it absolutely has to get done. We are both the same here, in fact, I think I am a little better. We talk about doing the taxes starting some time in January, and I end up doing it at 11:45 PM on April 15th. We have a coffee maker that can be programmed, but I can count the days we actually programmed it for the morning. Every morning whoever wakes up first (mostly me), wash the jar, the grinder and the filter and start the coffee. We can’t function without the morning coffee, but we are too lazy to the do the work in the night when it will be much easier.
4. I am really really bad at small talk. I simply don’t get the point of making fruitless conversations with people I may never see again in my life. People think I am rude, but I just don’t have the skills. Even if I try, I know it will sound fake, so I simply don’t try.
5. Siv says “I feel like puking” is my most used phrase. Talking to some people makes me want to throw up, it is not the content, but something in their voice does this to me. Siv never used to believe me, till one day after talking to someone for an hour I came back home and actually threw up!
6. Now the quirkiest fact about me. This is kind of gross, but I don’t swallow my saliva in the night. This started when I was in sixth standard. A guy who claimed to be a doctor was trying to promote his book about some health stuff, and he was invited to our school to give us a presentation. I don’t remember the context, it was about the bacteria that breed in our mouth. He said if we went to sleep with some rice in our mouth, and fed this rice to a bird when we woke up, the bird would drop dead instantaneously. I was a big germaphobe at that time and I got really scared. I started waking up several times in the night to spit out my saliva and wash my mouth. Then it became a habit, and my body learned not to swallow during the night, even if I don’t wake up. You can imagine how much problems this can cause!

Well, that’s it. There are many more, but I will leave those for a later tag. I am not tagging anyone, since most people I know have done some variation of this. But feel free to take it up if you are in the mood.

I’d also like to thank some really kind souls who thought my blog was Yummy and Excellent. Thank you Arundathi, Ramya, Kalai, Asha and Cynthia. Thank you so much, I really appreciate the gesture.