Fish

by gansie

Sometimes I Love Being an Adult

My first job post-college helped elect Annise Parker to her first term as Houston City Controller. During this period – the first time in my life where I didn’t have homework and I couldn’t get wasted and skip class – I forced myself to be semi-responsible. Thus, instead of going to happy hour every night, or going out to eat, I tried to cook dinner myself. If really only a means to waste time between getting home from work and getting to bed. But I’ll get more into those first cooking atrocities another time.

I remember how much I hated getting up for work. Not that being “Volunteer Coordinator” was all that awful, but I just thought – wow, do I really have to sit in front of a computer for 7 hours a day, 5 days a week (campaign – 7 days/week and 10 hours/day) for the next 45 years?!?! I hated being an “adult.”

Then, one of my coworkers brought in cheese and crackers for lunch. I stared at her in awe. I was so jealous. Here I was, eating my awful frozen veggie Cajun-seasoned stir fry enhanced with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spray (thanks, Mariah!), and she had the brilliant idea to bring in cheese and crackers.

As a kid, no one would ever allow you to eat just cheese and crackers for lunch. But as an adult, and as an adult making an embarrassing $750/month, the absolute genius of a cheese and crackers lunch made me thankful for finally being able to make my own decisions, be it lunch or a host of any other adult situations.

That being said, I now make lots of dinners that don’t necessarily pass as full fledged meals.

Are those “gasps” I hear from my ES readers? Yes, I know, I’m sure you think that every meal I create deserves its own Hollywood Star, but sometimes I keep it low-key. Shocking, I know.

The other night for dinner I made my own little plate where I could mix-and-match the items to create bite-sized pita canapes.

Read on for my sample platter.

by gansie

Endivine

First, thank you to all of the ES readers for helping me formulate my 2nd catering gig menu. According to the librarians, the food was a hit!

80P’s mom intro’d me as the “caterer” and it totally cracked me up. Of course, she also slid in the fact that I date her son, but her colleagues actually thought I was a real caterer. And once she divulged the fact that I’m a “published food critic” her guests were all over me, asking me for restaurant reviews of places all across the District. I’d been to some, but luckily, I read enough of Tom to know a general sense of a place I hadn’t dined at yet. But when they asked me the name of my “catering company” I surely told them that I do this just for fun (although Endless Simmer Catering sounds very nice.) Being known as a food professional (even opening up wine bottles, taking empty glasses and discarding used napkins) felt very exciting, I still think I want to stick to blogging for now. Although – I *may* be up for another gig (email me at gansie@endlesssimmer.com)

The food…

in Fish / Recipe / Veggie 6 comments

by 80 Proof

Did a Pig Just Fly by My Window???

Or did 80 Proof cook an entire meal and is now writing a post about it?

It’s true folks, just this past Monday night, I spent over an hour in the kitchen, dicing, searing, and serving a meal for two. I will fully admit that I did not make this recipe up, in fact I downloaded it from epicurious. (BTW, you might notice a new tag called, follow the leader, which in the future will detail our attempts at cooking other people’s recipes.)

We love eating fish, but our local stores, Giant included, have just a woeful selection. If you are in the mood for sea creatures your choices revolve around 8 kinds of shrimp or crabs, salmon, or tilapia. Freaking tilapia. It tastes fine and is easy to season and cook, but 12 times in row gets a little stagnant. Since Gansie was already planning on shopping at Whole Paycheck, she picked up some catfish. Truth be told, it ain’t that different from tilapia, but enough to make us happy.

in Fish / Recipe 6 comments

by gansie

Only the Mahi Survive

In the glorious world of gchat (IMing on gmail) my very good friend, Jrod, and I can keep in touch about all the important things going on in the world – Philadelphia sports teams and cooking. Here is his latest masterpiece via gchat.

Mahi over Maryland Crab Bisque with Asparagus

Jrod: I made an AMAZING mahi dish last week
gansie: tell me!
Jrod: im super proud
Jrod: right
so
i gotta say first
I stole from HGTV.com
sort of
but anyway, I still pulled it off

in Fish / Recipe / Veggie 2 comments

by gansie

Lox Me Up and Wrap Me in Avocado

I’m really not that big of a sandwich eater. Well, making sandwiches that is. I can’t deny my love for someone else selling me a good lunch-time egg salad on rye. Bread just seems to go bad too quickly in my apartment. So, I usually toss in anything I’d use for a sandwich into a salad instead.

But, when I’m at a Wegmans with my dad, my eyes light up at the fresh bread and endless opportunities for different creations that my tiny Hispanic super market just can’t compare to. Although I will say that it took me almost 5 aisles to find some canned black beans, which I clearly find unacceptable (hence telling my father that Cherry Hill needs more of an influx of Central American immigrants.)

Regardless, with an abundant amount of time (and my dad’s credit card for purchase power) I compiled a killer sandwich for my dad and brother, SAG, and me.

in Cheese / Eggs / Fish / Recipe / Sandwich / Veggie 7 comments