Opah!

Posted on January 12, 2017 by melsmosaic

Wanted to find something fun to cook the other day so swung into Whole Foods to see what they might have. Roamed over to the seafood section and found something I hadn’t noticed before — Opah. Went to the counter and asked one of the guys what he knew about it. He mentioned it was sort of a cross between tuna and swordfish. Ok, might as well give it a try.

I asked him about cooking and he said either grill or roast. I’d love to grill it but I don’t have the luxury of doing so because I live in an apartment building. I asked about pan searing and he said that works just fine, too. Seasoning-wise, he said don’t go crazy, no more than S&P.

While waiting for it to defrost (dropped it in a bowl of water, still wrapped), did some research on the Opah. They are pretty cool looking. Also found out they are pretty much a Hawaiian fish. Nice way to think about warmth.

It definitely lived up to the ‘firm’ preview. It had a really nice taste — some creaminess to it and was quite filling. I served it with some kale chips and pita & hummus.

And, let me tell you, the leftovers tasted awesome! Totally worth checking out if you see it at the store.

Hummus, oh my hummus

Posted on March 31, 2016 by melsmosaic

There are so many varieties of hummus out there! They can cause problems…aka addiction.

I didn’t know until a couple weeks ago that Boar’s Head (like the meat people make it). Picked some up…new addiction.

There is also the Humm! by Fountain of Health. They aren’t my favorite but twist my arm if needed.

Sabra of course is way up there. Sooo smooth! And so many flavors! They and Boar’s Head are tied now for the leaders.

Cava is darn good.

Trader Joe’s ranks up there pretty high and they have both ‘normal’ and smooth. The price is good.

Then you get Tribe, Whole Foods, Wegmans and so many more.

I also love making the stuff at home. Do you have a favorite hummus — by brand and/or flavor? Or, is it the homemade stuff?

Then the next most important question — what’s your favorite pita chip?

Cream Cheese Find

Posted on December 26, 2015 by melsmosaic

Was having some smoked salmon, smoked trout and bagels, along with some other great food on Christmas morning. But, can’t enjoy cream cheese because of lactose intolerance. Was in the cheese section at Whole Foods on Christmas Eve seeing if I could find any spreadable goat or sheep’s milk cheese and didn’t see any so asked if they had suggestions. I was taken to the other side of that area (had to walk by the olive bar and not grab anything) and handed a tub of (essentially) goat cream cheese, by Merci Chef! Score!

When it was used the next morning on the bagels…wow. So good. It was like whipped cream cheese. Soft, fluffy, smooth and a very nice delicate taste. Will totally remember this for the future.

You can shave more than just legs or seconds off your race time…

Posted on August 2, 2015 by melsmosaic

…and what are you thinking? Well, I have zucchini and yellow squash in my mind! Saw another great recipe in Bon Appetit that I had to make recently…Shaved Zucchini Salad with Macadamia Nuts.

Ingredients (with some other speedbumps)

-1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (I forgot to get a lemon so didn’t have the prior, but had to backup of Penzey’s dried stuff)
-3 tablespoons olive oil
-1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
-1 teaspoon honey
-1 teaspoon soy sauce
-Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
-1½ pounds mixed zucchini and summer squash, thinly sliced
-2 cups baby sorrel leaves or other small greens (Whole Foods had no sorrel so I went for arugula, which I LOVE anyway. And after I bought the bag of arugula vs the plastic box that I normally get, the next day I noticed there is no nutritional info on there. On the same size packaging at Trader Joe’s they have the info. Pure curiosity, what dictates fresh packaged produced needing that labeling? I couldn’t find an easy answer on the FDA website)
-3 tablespoons unsalted, roasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
-½ ounce Parmesan, finely grated (I cut this out because of my lactose intolerance)
-⅓ cup unsalted, roasted macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped (Whole Foods didn’t have a macadamia nut in sight. I opted for pine nuts)

Directions

Whisk lemon zest, lemon juice, oil, mustard, honey, and soy sauce in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper. Add zucchini and squash, sorrel, and pumpkin seeds and toss to combine. Serve salad topped with Parmesan, macadamia nuts, and more pepper.

Another great recipe. Lots of flavor, the pine nuts definitely delivered and the arugula delivered a punch, too. Bring on salad!

Sashimi-me

Posted on August 2, 2015 by melsmosaic

Hot days mean cool dinners. When Bon Appetit arrives at my door it means reading the index of recipes first to see what needs to be made! The recent issue has so much good stuff it was/is hard to pick. But with the recent temps of 90+, little cooking is ideal. So the recipe of Snapper Sashimi with Seaweed and Fennel could not be turned down (the hardest part, honestly, was going to the grocery store after sitting at the pool for awhile).

Ingredients (oh the fun…)

-2 teaspoons dried cut wakame seaweed (I went to Whole Foods. You can either buy a bag of these things for about $8. Or, after talking to one of the guys who works there, we decided that I could try using one of the little seaweed snack pieces, that look like green stained glass, that cost $1.99 cost the entire box…hmmm…
-3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus wedges for serving
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-1 teaspoon finely grated peeled horseradish (I can’t eat the stuff so can’t tell you what it tastes like with this, but I am sure it add tons of great taste)
-1 teaspoon soy sauce
-1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
-Small pinch of sugar
-Kosher salt
-¼ small fennel bulb, very thinly sliced on a mandoline (just random, there were no regular size fennel bulbs, just these tiny guys, maybe the size of 2 or 3 grape tomatoes, pretty cute, then they have tons or fronds. I saved those, heck yeah!)
-2 small radishes, trimmed, very thinly sliced on a mandoline
-½ pound skinless, boneless red snapper fillet, sliced ¼ inch thick (Let’s talk about Whole Foods and fish. The recipe also says “The type of fish you use is less important than its quality. Black bass, striped bass, and fluke all translate well.” They didn’t have any of those on a Friday evening. It’s ‘rush hour’ — I didn’t know what to do, not did the guy working. He deduced that I could try Cobia. I just still just a bit taken aback that Whole Foods didn’t have any of the prime seafood it called for)
-½ cup chervil leaves (Another problem, Whole Foods had no chevril leaves, ok, I live walking distance from it and did not want to drive to get anything. The produce guy said the best substitute would be flat leaf parsley)
-1 teaspoon fennel pollen (optional)
-Flaky sea salt

Getting all this together was pretty easily, definitely fun.

Directions:

-Soak wakame in 1 Tbsp. cold water in a small bowl to rehydrate, 5–8 minutes; drain. Ok, it was sort of slimy afterwards — very cool.

(Don’t forget to take those radishes and that fennel to the mandoline).

Combine lime juice, oil, horseradish, soy sauce, sesame seeds, and sugar in a medium bowl; season with kosher salt. Add fennel, radishes, and seaweed to dressing; toss to combine.

Arrange snapper (or fish at hand) on a platter. Spoon dressing and vegetables over and top with chervil and fennel pollen, if using; season with sea salt. Serve with lime wedges for squeezing over.

WOW! The Asian-flair of flavors all came together to hit the palate and gave an amazing taste. I also happened to serve this on a platter I bought in Japan so of course it made it taste even better! So good. Will definitely try it with bass, too.

Smokin’ (Scallops)

Posted on April 5, 2015 by melsmosaic

Scallops = good. Smoked flavor = good. Combining the two = must inspect. Came across some Smoked Scallops the other day while at Whole Foods and it just sounded intriguing. I was planning to make some form of salad for dinner and they seemed liked they’d be a great ‘topping’ for it. The scallops were small — as in nowhere near U5s. Likely U50s? Do they count that small? I just don’t know the count for the size of that (yes, I’m biased; I love U5-10). Anyway…picked them up in the nice package.

Got home, opened the package and popped one in my mouth. WOW! Nice taste! That smoke, just like that taste I like in Pinotage. In the end (after nibbling on several) threw them on top of a nice arugula salad. Worth trying if you’re up for something new.

Honey Goat Cheese

Posted on April 5, 2015 by melsmosaic

As you might have noticed I’m always on the lookout for new non-cow’s milk cheese. Since I’m lactose intolerant and now know I can enjoy goat and sheep stuff, life is good! Whole Foods had quite the displays out yesterday for Easter and the one that caught my eye was a Dutch goat cheese with natural honey flavor. I love the proper name — Hollandse Honey Bzzz Chevre. It was pretty good. It was that nice sweet hint in it. For goat cheese not too soft, which is what I prefer. I would say it’s along the lines of a soft cheddar. Worth checking out if you’re looking for something new.

T2

Posted on March 28, 2015 by melsmosaic

So, after making the salad a couple weeks ago with turnips, and being quite happy with the taste of those root veggies I hadn’t tasted for ages, had to give them another try – T2, . Also, since I had purchased two of them I also don’t like food to go to waste. I googled some recipes to see what I could find and nothing overly exciting was coming up so I basically just decided to roast them and make ‘home fries’ — aka the same as what you’d do with potatoes.

I cubed them and threw some delicious Penzey’s spices on there.

Put them in the oven at about 400 for 20-30 minutes. I checked them after 20 and decided they needed more time.

They looked good after 30. Tasted them and you know what, they really just weren’t that exciting. Sort of mushy (?). Maybe I overcooked them? Maybe their flavor had been nicely hidden when I enjoyed them in the (crispy) salad a couple weeks ago. Oh well, I tried them so that’s all I needed to do. At least the turnip didn’t go to waste.

Crunchy Turnip, Apple, and Brussels Sprout Slaw

Posted on March 16, 2015 by melsmosaic

I attempt to try food I ‘don’t like’ at least once a year. But the other day I came across a recipe with something I just sort of dismiss because you don’t have the easy attempt or common offer to eat it, it’s not many people’s favorite and it’s not staring at you in the grocery store — turnip(s). So, when I was having a couple friends over for dinner the other night and preparing a veggie meal, this was a great time for me to give these guys a try.

The recipe I opted for is from Bon Appetit’s January issue — Crunchy Turnip, Apple, and Brussels Sprout Slaw. Well, since this is from the January issue, the main ingredient is not in (high) season right now. Luckily Whole Foods had it (this was after a couple other stops when I was debating changing my menu).

Ingredients

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon finely grated peeled ginger
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 small white turnips, peeled, cut into matchsticks — apparently one the size of a softball, which is ‘normal’, is equivalent to 2 small
1 medium sweet-tart apple (such as Pink Lady), cut into matchsticks — I couldn’t find one, so did the happy medium — some Granny Smith, some other Red one
4 oz. brussels sprouts, leaves separated
1 teaspoon poppy seeds, plus more — gotta love Whole Foods bulk section!

Whisk lemon juice, oil, and ginger in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper.

For the turnips and apple, I went to town with the V-slicer, with the attachment to make those beautiful matchsticks. Oh I love the kitchen!

Add turnips, apple, brussels sprouts, and 1 tsp. poppy seeds and toss to coat. Serve slaw topped with more poppy seeds.

Quite the salad. There was such a nice crunch to all of it, and the dressing was delicious. I love that since the key ingredients were in matchsticks they weren’t overwhelming. I ate turnips again!!! Had I not known there was turnip in there, wouldn’t have been able to tell you. Could almost have been jicama. One thing I’m surprised about is that this is published in the January issue since it’s a no-cook, cold salad. The only thing I could think is on the turnip being more of a winter root veggie. Thoughts? I will definitely save this for summer.

Yodeling

Posted on October 28, 2014 by melsmosaic

When you hear the word Yodeling, there are three things you can do.

1) Look up the definition to be sure you know what it really is, or see if it some new-aged term. To save you the time, per Merriam-Webster, it is to sing by suddenly changing from a natural voice to a falsetto and back.

2) Search for videos that feature this action. Again, saving you some time. Found a great one!

3) Go to Whole Foods and buy Yodeling Goat Gouda! A great cheese for lactose-intolerant folks, those who love cheese, anybody who wants to try something new or just easily Yodle, because they don’t want to sing.

I saw this the other day when I was at Whole Foods and picked some up. It’s great because it’s harder than the normal goat cheese and as the sign mentions, has a bit of a nutty flavor. Also, I’ve not purchase that much cheese there and didn’t realize they cut you as big or small of piece(s) as you want to take home. I got a nice small piece to take with me.