Fish Chowder

My sister gave me a giant bag of fresh marlin last week. This is not a fish I normally eat (well, I don't normally eat fish at all) but she assured me it was a small marlin, meaning the flavor was more likely mild and the texture less tough. She was right.

Hey, look at this giant onion! I had to show you this monster from Costco. Chopping half of it yielded 2 cups.

Back to the marlin. It is a very meaty fish, so I chopped it fairly small (1/2 inch pieces) and made double sure it was not over cooked. We'll get into the cooking part in a minute. This was my first attempt at fish chowder, prompted by a  need to get creative with this type of fish. 

I'm thinking of submitting a recipe to a contest Hawaiian airlines is putting on. If it's good, will you vote for me?

I realized after making the chowder that the half & half I used was fat free. Don't do that. You need that extra fat and flavor.

So what should I do with the rest of the marlin?

Have a great weekend! Recipe is below. Can't wait to show you the yummy brownies I made for Dustin's birthday.

Fish Chowder
Inspired by: Simply Recipes New England Fish Chowder
serves 6

1 TBL butter
1 TBL olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
6-7 red skinned potatoes, chopped
2 cups of vegetable or fish stock
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp salt*
pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp red chile flakes
1 - 1 1/2 lbs firm white fish, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (we used marlin as this is what we had on hand, use whatever is available in your area)
1 1/2 cups half & half or cream

Heat the butter and olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened. Add the stock, potatoes, bay leaf, salt* & pepper, paprika, and chile flakes. The potatoes need to be barely covered by the liquid, if not add a little more stock or water. Cook, covered for 10-15 or until nearly done, we don't want mushy potatoes.

In a separate pot, heat the cream or half & half until steaming. DO NOT BOIL.

Add the fish and heated cream to the pot. This is the part you need to pay extra attention to. Turn the heat down to low. It is very important that you neither boil nor simmer the chowder at all during the cooking process or the milk will curdle. It should steam and that's it. Keep it on the heat just long enough to cook the fish through, maybe 10 minutes. Don't even think about walking away from the cook pot during this 10 minutes. You need to be sure that sucker doesn't get too hot and check every couple minutes for doneness of the fish. You don't want to over cook the fish either, as soon as that pinkish translucentness is gone in the middle, it's done. Let the soup rest for about 30 minutes and serve.

This was so much easier and turned out better than I thought it would, I hope you'll try it. Enjoy!

*Salt note: Some stocks are very salty, some not so. Please taste your stock before adding and then decide how much extra salt to add. Taste the chowder as you go along so you'll know if it needs more seasoning. 

Journal Day v.3 - No Regrets

Prompts from Sometimes Sweet. Share a link to your own journal day post on Sometimes Sweet or in the comments below. 


If you had a free pass to go back and change anything in your past, with the promise that it would only affect you positively, would you do it? And if so, what would you change?


I am warning you right now, this post is about to be cheesier than your grandmother's macaroni. 


In all fairness I must immediately admit that there have been times when a great deal of my thought energy has been spent rehashing events, wishing I could go back. In fact, about 2 years ago I very nearly had a breakdown worrying myself sick about whether my life decisions were "right" or not. 


Thankfully I was saved by books. And Oprah. And teaching beautiful children. 


There are at least 1.2 million events I would go back and change in my life, but it wasn't until I accepted that it wasn't going to happen that I found some peace. 


So here's how it happened. After a particularly self-hating day in which I'd scolded myself relentlessly for not being a famous author, an ass-kicking politician, a visionary chef, or a world traveler, I took a damn nap. And it felt like the longest, deepest sleep ever. It was more than sleep, it was like a spiritual time machine in which I slept for 26 years, relived my whole life, and having rubbed my eyes and re-oriented, realized I was in the exact same place I started from. It was as if I'd been given the chance to re-do it all, and chose the exact same path. Huh. It occurred to me then that, maybe, just maybe, I'm doing all right. 

Blog Swap: Fabulous Summer Hair

Hello foodies!  Or shall I say Aloha?  My name is Chelsi and I'm happy to be partnered with Gwen for 20 Something Bloggers Ninth Annual Blog Swap!  I know you are used to getting fabulous ideas for food on this blog, but today, I'm going to give you some food for thought.

Summer is my favorite time to experiment with my hair.  It's too hot to use the blow dryer, so every summer you see tons of braids and messy, effortless styles.  I love the carefree beauty of summer hair.  So far, I've tried the following hair dids for summer:

See this board on Pinterest!

I've tried the sock bun curls six times.  It never works.  The sock bun itself, however, is my new goto.  The cascade braid and the partial french braid were too hard to do because I am intellectually challenged.  However, I found a twisty version that looks similar and is much easier.

The effortless, carefree beauty of summer is even better because it's so easy.  It takes almost no time, and no heat.

I have epilepsy.  Often, seizures are triggered by stressful situations or emotional events.  Recently, I had a small one after mustering up the courage to apologize to a former friend for my part in the demise of our friendship.  Several people have told me I just need to learn to control my emotions better in order to avoid seizures.  My husband said, "It's just foreign to me...to care THAT much.  To get THAT worked up."  I am a passionate person.  My motto is to live passionately.  But it takes a lot of effort and sometimes, a lot of heat.  Sometimes that much effort is detriment to my health.  However, I believe that passion is what makes me a beautiful person.  So, I've been thinking, can one selectively guard themselves and their emotions but still be a passionate person?  Is effortless beauty possible when it comes to emotions?  Share your thoughts!

To read Gwen's post, visit my blog at liljohnstons.blogspot.com

Thanks for having me!

Fried Goat Cheese Salad

Melted cheese is good. So is fried food. So let's do both of those things and make a fried goat cheese salad with Honey Mustard Lemon Poppyseed Vinaigrette. Do you like how many words I fit into one salad dressing title?

First, pick some baby salad greens. From your garden or your fridge.

Since I don't have a salad spinner, we had a glass of wine and clipped our toenails while the lettuce dried.

Whipping up the vinaigrette. I realized this week that "condiments" is a really fun word to say. For so many reasons.

Cheese dipping station.

Goat cheese can be messy to cut into rounds. Throw it in the freezer for 20 minutes or so and cut with dental floss or a really sharp knife.

Get the pan pretty hot before adding the cheese and be careful turning the cheese rounds as they are fragile.

Goat Cheese Salad with Honey Mustard Lemon Poppyseed Vinaigrette
Inspired by (but nowhere near as fancy) Love & Olive Oil
serves 2

5-6 oz goat cheese (log style)
enough salad greens for 2 salads
1/3 cup flour
1 egg
1/2 cup panko
pepper

For vinaigrette:
1 tsp dijon mustard
juice from 1 lemon
1 TBL honey
1 tsp poppy seeds
salt & pepper
1/4 - 1/3 cup olive oil

Put the goat cheese in the freezer to harden up while you whip up the vinaigrette. Put all the vinaigrette ingredients in a bowl and whisk them together. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while you whisk. Taste as you go and make adjustments if needed. Set up the cheese dipping station with 3 plates. In the first plate put the flour and some pepper, in the next plate put the egg and whip it up, in the last plate put the panko. Slice your goat cheese rounds, you'll want them about 1/4 inch thick. Dredge in flour, then egg, then panko and fry in a hot (medium high) non-stick pan with a little olive oil. Flip when you see a nice browning happening, this happens pretty fast. Toss the salad greens with the vinaigrette and place cheese rounds on top. Enjoy!

Brunch for One

"How many?" The hostess asks. I secretly love replying, "one." You could say enjoying a meal all by myself, whether at home or out and about, is one of my SSB's. There is something so fulfilling about treating yourself to a nice meal. Yes, I'm here alone, and hell yes, I'm going to enjoy this. No apologies.

The other day I fried up some potatoes with garden fresh asparagus (yes, my garden) and topped it with a fried egg. Don't judge my fried egg, when you try flipping the egg with a wooden spoon because you are too lazy to get out a spatula, this is the result. Oh well.

We have a big, big week ahead ladies and gentleman. My husband turns 30, and I'll be attending two book club potlucks, one for Life and the other for The Help. So we're looking at making a birthday dinner, brownies, cupcakes, fondue, and some sort of Southern inspired creation in the week to come. Wish me luck! Suggestions needed!  

Leftover Rice

Day old rice gets dry and yucky. But don't throw it away just yet, revive it in a stir fry.

Once you gather the ingredients, it's a booty bump to throw together. 

We also had some lovely, island caught tombo (albacore tuna) to sear up and serve with our stir-fried rice.

January seems like a long time ago. I mean it IS a long time ago, no time for silly things like New Year's Resolutions. As some of you may recall, I vowed to give up meat this year, including fish. However, I don't think eating locally and sustainably caught fish is technically cheating. But who's counting anyway?

Remember to get the pan nice and hot to get a good sear on the fish. I like using my cast iron for this task.

The green blob on this piece of fish is some left-over arugula pesto I made the other day. It was great on the fish.

I'm not that good at exact measurements. Deal with it. But seriously, if you taste as you go, you can't go wrong.

Leftover Stir-Fried Rice
serves 2 to 4 depending on how hungry you are

2 cups cooked day-old (or fresh) brown rice
1/2 chopped yellow onion
2 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 tsp chopped fresh ginger
1 TBL olive oil
2 TBL sesame oil
1 heaping tsp chilli garlic paste
1-2 TBL soy sauce
2 cups shredded Swiss chard, spinach, or kale
1/4 cup chopped green onion

Heat olive oil over medium high heat in a large non-stick pan and add yellow onion. Add garlic and ginger after onion softens. Once aromatic, add chard and cook for 3-5 minutes. Stir in chilli garlic paste, sesame oil, and soy sauce. Add rice and cook until heated through. Garnish with green onion. Enjoy!

Food Tales: Into the Deep South

We made our way to the geographical deep south this weekend, also known as South Point on the Big Island of Hawaii. 

While in the deep south, we always stop at the "Hana Hou" cafe.

How do you not love a place that puts their sugar in this little mug? I wish you could see the interior; aqua blue diner chairs, garlands of paper cranes, twinkling Airstream lights, and one glorious dessert case. Charm to the max. 

They do have a great home cooking style menu, I had the grilled cheese because it's made with fresh baked bread, but please save room for dessert. Dustin had a peanut butter brownie. 

And let's just take a moment and appreciate a coffee mug like this. The white chocolate raspberry brownie was pretty amazing, too.

Just when you thought the place couldn't get any cuter, you take a trip to the restroom out back and are greeted by this lovely little Japanese garden complete with pond and fountain.

My favorite detail of the visit was a tiny plastic pony residing in a potted plant near our table.

Best cafe ever.