Thursday, April 30, 2009

Feast on Fish / Miss Cordelia's angers me



Mahi Mahi * with Cucumber-Tomato Relish

This was quite tasty.  I adapted this from a recipe I found on the internet to make a spicy cold salsa to heap upon lemon-pepper mahi. 

1 cup of cucumber (remove seeds and chop into little cubes)
1 large tomato 
1 leek, sliced very thinly
2 cups of cooked shrimp, cut into small pieces
about half a cup of diced jalapeno pepper (the kind in the jar worked for me)
juice from 2 limes
shit ton of fresh dill
Tony Chachere's Cajun seasoning 
salt
1 ripe avocado
lemon pepper seasoning (commercial kind in the spice section)
4 pieces of mahi mahi
4 tbsp of butter

Put the tomato, cucumber, dill, peppers, leeks, lime juice, shrimp, salt, and Tony's into a bowl.  Let it marinade for 1 hour.   

Then, pan-fry the fish with the lemon pepper on both sides in the butter.  Put some of the relish and some avocado slices on top.  

NOM NOM NOM NOM.  

* This recipe was really tasty, but the mahi itself was mediocre because Miss Cordelia's sucks.  This relish would also have tasted great on some tilapia, grouper, or mahi mahi from Fresh Market. The fish at Cordelia's is hit or miss.  The night after the mahi mahi, we got some catfish that was not good.  

Don't cry for Miss Cordelia though, despite my rant, there is no doubt whatsoever that I will continue to drop a large percent of my resources on overpriced Triscuits, warm beer, and milk that is about to expire.  I might just trek on out to the wilderness of Not Downtown for my future fish needs.  






Saturday, April 25, 2009

Fish that Feast



I like animals, in that I like to feast on them.  On rare occasions, however, I enjoy watching animals feast themselves.   

These scary carp are at the Memphis Botanic Garden.  They are the only fish I have ever seen actually BEG for food.  They swarm and follow people standing above the pond.  Some of these fish are so massive that it is actually unnerving.  These photos fail to capture the mouth size of these beasts.  Buy several bags of food.  

The polar bear feeding at the Memphis Zoo is somewhat less impressive, actually.  The bears get tiny, repeat tiny fish.  They resemble moiku (tiny Finnish fish that are fried and consumed in one bite, bones and all) when Payton, Cranbearry, and Hailey get ahold of them.  I was really expecting a whale carcass or a baby seal.  I suppose the polar bear feeding is okay if one has the proper expectations, but the carp are a real sight to behold.  

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Wasabi Salmon Sandwich

I created a new feast last night.  I took 4 sinus pills (epic fail) and turned to Japanese horseradish instead.  

Salmon Sandwich

2 big pieces of salmon
wasabi powder
light mayo (since I was using it for texture and not flavor, the light was acceptable)
hamburger rolls (the cheap kind have the fewest calories)

Cook salmon in skillet with salt & pepper, then remove the skin.  Add water to wasabi powder, then add a tablespoon or so of mayo for the sauce.  Spread the sauce on a toasted roll.

Veggie Stir Fry

bean sprouts
shredded carrots
bagged spinach
rice vinegar
chili sesame oil
mirin
soy sauce

Put about two tablespoons of mirin, sesame oil, and rice vinegar into a skillet.  Then add about a quarter cup of soy sauce.  Next, add the sprouts and carrots.  When they get soft (but not mushy! Nom Nom fail) then throw in some spinach.  Cook until the spinach is soft.  

Mmmmm.  Nom nom nom nom.  Serve with beer, wasabi is spicy!





Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Las Tortugas Deli Mexicana



If you are unfortunate enough to find yourself in Germantown, TN, I recommend mitigating the lameness with a visit to Las Tortugas Deli Mexicana.

The owner is from Mexico City, and this delicious restaurant prides itself on serving fresh, authentic feasts. The choices are served in either a giant sandwich (Tortuga) or in about 5 mini tacos. I chose pork & pineapple in the Tortuga. It was filled with mild cheese, fresh avocado, fresh tomatoes, etc. Mmmmm, NOM NOM NOM.

Despite the large size of the feast, I did not experience the urge to disgorge myself * that typically follows a queso-and-grease-drenched feast from a typical Mexican restaurant. I like to imagine that the Deli Mexicana is fairly healthy. The ingredients were flavorful. I will be back.

So, brave the horrendous Poplar traffic, congestion, and video-camera traffic lights (right to confront your accuser? Ha, suburbs recognize that the Constitution is so quaint!) and go to the Deli. The feast will be eaten so fast that Germantown will not have sufficient time to extract your soul.

* This may also be attributed to the fact that I typically drink anywhere from three to five 22-ounce draught Dos Equis Ambers.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Today's Noms

1.)  Greek Grilled Cheese - feta, fontina, cucumber, red onion, tomato. 

2.)  Mascarpone & honey

3.)  Mascarpone & Nutella

Om nom nom nom. 

Thursday, April 9, 2009

National Grilled Cheese Month - The Gluttony Continues



Sourdough bread, dill havarti, tomato & avocado sprinkled with kosher salt and ground pepper, a handful of baby spinach, fresh dill, more dill havarti.  NOM NOM NOM.  

More Grilled Cheese Feast



Mmmm....hot pepper jelly and cream cheese.  I slathered some fresh sourdough with these two ingredients.  Sandwich success.  

Grilled Cheese Feasts




April is National Grilled Cheese month.  A quick google search of "creative grilled cheese," unfortunately, yields a rather disappointing selection of options.  To fill this gaping void in the internet, Feast Time! will attempt to provide some options that surpass groundbreaking suggestions such as "add some ham."  

(1) Triple Decker Memphis Club 

A clever friend created this feast, choosing some sort of sprouted whole-grain bread from Trader Joe's and proceeding to layer swiss, cheddar, avocado, sprouts, and bacon.   The result was, in her trademark vernacular, "delightful." 

Too thick of a sandwich complicates the challenge of getting the proper level of melt without charring the bread.  The trick?  Grill the middle slice separately in order to create a heat source within the tower. 

Mmmm.  Nom nom nom.