Fish 'n Potatoes

Hi y'all! As I mentioned in my last post, I could easily be a pescatarian. Well, after saying that I realized that I had no actual fish recipes up on this blog and that I had this meal waiting in the wings. 

It's definitely more traditionally American (or what I perceive to be American!) than what I normally get my eat on with, but it was definitely satisfying. So, without any further ado, here's....

 Scallion-Crusted Scrod with Accordion Potatoes

1 lb scrod* fillets, deboned

3-5 scallions, chopped fine

1-1.5 cup Japanese breadcrumbs or Panko

Lemon, 1 tsp. zest and 1 tbsp. juice

2-3 oz. baby spinach

Olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

Salt

Pepper

*Scrod is baby cod, and since cod is a flaky, dense white fish without a lot of unique flavor, any ol' white fish will do.

Preheat your oven to 375, then dice up your scallions and mince your garlic. Zest your lemon, and then mix these ingredients in with your breadcrumbs. The quantity of breadcrumbs depends on how large your fillets are. Sauté the breadcrumbs, scallions, and garlic all together for ~3 minutes or until breadcrumbs turn golden brown. Take care not to burn them! 

Next you can prep your potatoes. Slice them almost all the way through, ideally 1/8th of an inch apart. I was in a hurry, so as you can see my knife work is pretty ugly. But, I wasn't cooking to impress anyone other than my own stomach, which really doesn't care what food looks like. I will note, however, that the potato will be ready more quickly if the slices are narrower.

Once you've got your incisions, drizzle the potato liberally with ~2 tbsp olive oil and as much salt and pepper as you want. I've put the scallion stems here to try to add a little onion flavor to the potato, which might have worked a little. I'm being honest here, I didn't notice much difference but it made me feel cool and experimental, hahah.

Next, dip your fish in a little olive oil or egg white and cover it in as much breading as will stick.  Place it on a greased baking pan, preferably lined in tin foil to speed up clean up.

Cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. Throw a bed of spinach down on the plate, reuse that zested lemon for lemon juice to top the fish and dress the spinach, and voila! Your very own fish 'n potatoes meal:

Pair with whatever beverage you'd prefer, but may I suggest Joel Gott sauvignon blanc? For $14.99 a bottle, it's delicious, crisp, and very tasty. Even better, it comes with a screw top so you can save it for another day if you don't drink it all in one sitting...

 Happy eating, so long, and thanks for all the fish!

Celebrating with Food!

So to celebrate Christmas and the end of term, I cooked my boyfriend some food last Sunday: spaghetti carbonara and brownies!

Since they're both so easy to make, I'm just going to post pictures and recipes. This also likely to be my last post before the 25th, so Merry Christmas, y'all!


Spaghetti Carbonara:

This recipe is a bit Martha Stewart, a bit of my boyfriend's French host mom's recipe, and a bit of my own tastes:

Spaghetti Carbonara

1 pound spaghetti

8 ounces (8 slices) bacon, cut 1 inch thick crosswise (if you're ritzy you can substitute pancetta)

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

3 large eggs* at room temperature

3/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano** cheese, plus more for serving

1/2 cup half-and-half at room temperature

2-4 cloves of garlic (optional)

1 handful chopped parsley (optional)

*Straight from an Italian and tested by my boyfriend's host mom, it's best when there are n-1 eggs, n being the number of people eating. However, I follow this rule starting at 3 people; for 2 people I add 2 eggs, 3 if I don't have half-and-half. 

**Gruyere is yummy, a bit more flavorful, and may melt more easily. I've done both and I like the Gruyere more, but negligibly. I wouldn't substitute any other Parmesan cheese for the Pargmigiano Reggiano. 

1. Set a large pot of water to boil (for pasta) and salt generously. 

2. Mince the garlic.

2. In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat (with the minced garlic cloves if you add them), stirring occasionally, until the bacon is crisp, 8 to 12 minutes; transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

3. When the pot is boiling, add pasta and cook until al dente, according to package instructions.

4. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together eggs, Parmesan, and half-and-half. Set aside.

5. Drain pasta, leaving some water clinging to it. Working quickly, add hot pasta to egg mixture. 

6. Add bacon and some of the grease if you desire; season with salt and pepper, and toss all to combine (heat from pasta will cook eggs). 

7. Serve immediately, sprinkled with additional Parmesan cheese (and the chopped parsley if you have it).

Next up, Rose's (my roommate) world-famous brownies!

I follow the recipe exactly, and they are super easy to make. Just don't forget to grease/Pam the pan!

Brownie Recipe #2

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 eggs

1 cup flour

1 cup cocoa powder

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 13x9 inch baking pan.

2. Mix together the butter, sugars, and vanilla. Beat in the eggs. Combine the dry ingredients, gradually stir into the wet mixture until well blended. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.

3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes

And then, just because it's totally brilliant--Rose's Christmas present to me! It has the in/appropriate name of a "Screwnicorn" because it's a corkscrew in the shape of a unicorn (I collect unicorns!):

Happy Eating!

What is this blog?

Hi everyone,

Thanks for reading =).

This blog will center on food and fashion, not necessarily in equal amounts. What will I talk about?

Well, food will (mostly) consist of food that I cook plus recipes, food my roommates cook plus recipes, food I want to cook, wine and beverage fun, and things I do to improve my house's dining hall offerings.

In terms of fashion, I'll include anything from what to do if you want a job working in fashion, to trends I like/don't like, to fashion inspiration/mood posts, links to other folks' blogs and websites, and maybe my own outfits (or things I wish I were wearing).

That's the basic idea for this blog. Other subjects will probably pop up from time to time.

One last thing: Spaghetti in Heels. One, I love spaghetti. Over the course of my life, my diet has at multiple points been about 90% spaghetti. Two, I love heels. Therefore, Spaghetti in Heels.