Crab Stuffed Tilapia.

So here's something interesting to start off the season. I caught a glimpse of something similar at the market so I thought I'd give it a spin. The stuffing is:

• creme cheese
• crab
• a little bit of garlic (I used powder this time.)
• some lemon juice

Give it a taste every now and then to decide how much lemon and garlic you really want. Blended, it should end up quite homogeneous. I did look at what other people seem to like to do for filling and they just use bread crumbs instead of creme cheese. I think that would end up a bit dry/not as cohesive.

I have these awesome individually packaged tilapia filets so I used a couple of them. By stuffed, I really mean "rolled up", so don't overdo the filling. I put my seasoning in the flour (paprika, salt, pepper) instead of seasoning directly and then egged (I had two yolks in one egg. Weird.) and breaded. Bake at 400 for about 20-25 minutes or "until fish flakes easily with a fork" as everyone likes to say. I greased my baking dish with olive olil and topped each filet with a bit of butter to get the breading toasted nicely. Clearly, it didn't spread as evenly as I would have like so brushing with melted butter may work better.

Also, the little balls on the side are extra filling I had. They got the same treatment as the filets.

Like I said, the butter didn't spread as evenly as I would have like so crust was a little bland in some places. And I think I might have liked to add some herbs to the breading itself. I will also say that I find tilapia a rather bland fish. That being said, I thought this was pretty good. Of course, the filling is what carries most of the flavor, but you can still taste each component if you look for it. I also think the lemon juice helped temper the sweetness that heated creme cheese+crab mixtures tend to have. In then end, I think I would have to say it turned out rather well. It could have used a little more seasoning (more salt and paprika, someone added cayenne) but I really liked how light the fish was in comparison. I'll have to try other things with fish in the future.

I've also decided I like taking pictures by the window because I can get some real light, but in this case, the color blew out a little bit in some places, and I haven't learned/gotten around to doing any photo editing. Also, I've resigned myself to the fact that my food will get cold while I take and re-take pictures. As long as I can get it to look ok, right?

Stevenot Merlot 2005.

Sweet and damp, here's a merlot I can say I actually like. Medium bodied, just enough tannins to keep it mature and interesting, it'll go well with a light or medium meal, actually something other than red meat. I think it'll go well with the fish I'm planning on making tomorrow. Mildly fruity, in a berry sort of way.

Southern Tier Porter Dark.

It seems I missed posting this one too.

I don't think I've had a porter before. What can I say? Not much, I guess. It's got a nice creamy head and the body is completely opaque, even held up to the light. A mild stout taste, toasted caramel without being excessively sweet. I'm bored.

Yeah, yeah, the lighting and stuff.

Snow Beauty.

I guess I forgot to post this at the end of the summer.

If you don't like sake, then you definitely won't like this one. This was my first unfiltered sake. It has a thick, milky appearance, but I didn't notice much textural difference. To be honest, I don't remember much of this one. It was long time ago and I had been drinking before I had it too. I do remember thinking it was stronger tasting though.

Also, something I've been meaning to mention for a long time: sake screwdrivers. These are surprisingly good and I had them to kill off that bottle of Momokawa last year. Does anyone remember Orange Julius? It was like that except without so much vanilla.

Pajeon.

I absolutely love Korean pancakes (my favorite being bindae-duk which I'll get to at some point). This is one of those Korean comfort foods for me.

It's also really straightforward which means I'll probably be making it a lot.

• 1 egg
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup flour

produces enough batter for two-ish ~6" pancakes. Maybe for two people. Or one. I can eat a lot of pancakes. I'm guessing the "pa" in pajeon is referring to the green onions used. I prefer to use only the green parts, cut into pieces about an inch long, maybe two bunches for the amount of flour used above.

I cooked these in my super sweet cast-iron which basically outperforms any other pan I've ever owned or used. I will say that the cooking is a little slow and that in the time it takes to cook a second pancake, you should have been able to drain the first, cut it (into quarters or ~3x3" inch squares), and have it eaten by someone. That's basically the way it worked in my mom's house.

1. Wait for pancake.
2. (Pancake arrives on plate.) Try to eat pancake.
3. Burn mouth.
4. Walk off with pancake so no one else can get it.
5. Burn fingers.
6. Continue trying to eat pancake. When consumed, go to 1.

You can also add meat to this. I think with seafood, it's called haemul-pajeon. And the sauce that goes with this uses equal parts soy sauce and either rice vinegar or white vinegar and a bit of sugar, chili powder, and green onions to taste. If you use the rice vinegar, you may not want to add the sugar. And is the case with green onions and soy sauce, I like to use the whiter parts for that.

Shigemchi Muchim.

So here is where I start to diverge further from my original intent with all of this. Which was to compile things that I could make in a pinch. While this is quick and easy, it's...not pinch food? Anyhow, this is part of traditional Korean banchan which is the delectable array of side dishes served with Korean meals. I find that the hardest part of making Korean food is figuring out the names of things so I can look up and confirm my ingredient suspicions, but thankfully, I've found some really nice Korean food blogs (the quality of which I'm really jealous).

Shigemchi muchim is blanched spinach seasoned with sesame oil, salt, and sesame seeds. That's it. I love this stuff. The spinach vastly reduces in volume, much more than I expected, so buy accordingly. I think I used about 3/4 lb and ended up with enough for maybe two people if eaten with other banchan.

Also, it may not be evident in the picture, but I didn't squeeze out enough of the water in this batch. I was worried about mashing them into paste.

Maredsous Triple.

Ah, there's that strong ale taste I miss!

I do have to say though that these two Maredsous brews have a peculiarly different taste than other Belgian abbey ales I've had. They've both been a bit more bubbly and less smooth and rich than I'm accustomed to. Hmph. I'm looking for something a bit more like Brother Thelonius, heavy and sweet.

That's not to say it was bad. I'm glad I had the experience. Really. I just don't think I'll buy it frequently or in quantity.

Mexican Casserole.

This is the true essence of casserole: leftovers. Refried beans, seasoned ground beef, enchilada sauce, black beans, and corn, all of it at least a week and up to two weeks old. I used corn tortillas to separate the layers and added some partially cooked instant rice.

Addendum: So I was rethinking my philosophy of casserole. Now, there's two paths a casserole can take. Both consume leftovers. One path culminates in something more than the sum of its parts. The other makes its parts palatable. This was the latter.

Also, there's a new Sun Chips flavor: Roasted Sweet Chili. It's bears a striking resemblance to Doritos's Spicy Sweet Chili flavor. Between the two, I think I prefer the Sun Chips. While the Doritos pack more punch, sometimes it's just too overpowering and you just keep eating them for the sake of salt. The Sun Chips, on the other hand, have that naturally sweet multi-grain taste with a much milder but longer taste residue. I like them.

Maredsous Dubbel.

One of the beers I picked up at the greatest beer store ever at like $4 a pop.

So. Belgian abbey ale, huh? It's very carbonated, kind of reminds me Coke, actually. It has a rich caramel color and taste, very fizzy and sweet but not overpoweringly so or syrupy.

It's actually rather thin in the mouth compared to some other Belgian-style abbey ales I've had. ...I'm not going to say I'm disappointed. It's just not what I expected.

Azin Zinfandel - Amador County 2004.

Let's see if I can remember this one properly.

Characteristically big in the mouth. Silky but rather thin, weak tannins. I can't tell if it's because this wasn't that great or if I'm just a huge fan of zinfandel.

Also, I'm working on paying more attention to the quality of my pictures. ISO, EV, white balance, lighting. Sigh. Sometimes, I don't have the patience to get a good shot. Or compose and set up because lighting is usually a big issue for me. I just want to eat sometimes.

Lasagna Bastard Child.

I had a grand plan for this. I really did. But it turns out the box of lasagna noodle was more than half empty so I had to improvise.

Originally, I was going to use spinach and zucchini to spruce up the place, but as I was layering, I realized I didn't have room for zucchini. Also, I forgot about it until the very end. Seriously, why are baking dishes so damn shallow? So, I laid down lasagna, ricotta, baby bella mushrooms, spinach, Italian sweet sausage, and a pile of half-cooked spaghetti, modestly sprinkled with a shredded blend of whatever Wal-mart thinks is Italian.

I winged it, and I'm glad that things turned out ok. The spinach was an awesome addition. It adds a really smooth, buttery texture to the dish. So, basically, it's a pile of stuff on top of lasagna noodles and covered by spaghetti. It's so casserole. I need to keep on the lookout for a deep dish pan so that I can finally realize my dream of a Leaning Tower of Lasagna. Seriously, if I had the space, I could make a pie with something for everyone, not too much, not too little of anything.

Huntington Petite Sirah 2005.

Yet another PS that I managed to find at a grocery store. But this was at Whole Foods so I was expecting a little more than the PS I picked up at Wal-mart.

The first thing I took note of was how thing it was compared to other PSes I've had. If you hold the legs up to the light, it's a very rich purple that leans toward lilac, much thinner than I would have expected from this variety. It has that similar strong nose, but...something is missing. It's like there's some thinness that permeates the whole thing.

Yeah. There's definitely something lacking in this one. Tannins seem to be relatively non-existent. Am I disappointed? A little.

Dry Creek Mood Hill Cabernet Sauvignon 2003.

I corked this guy the other night at our first get-together of the year. (A hell of a night, by the way.) Between cabs and merlots, I'm a cab guy. But I haven't had a cab in quite a while since I've been stalking PSes (six on the way, booyeah!). My memory on cabs are a little fuzzy since it's been so long.

I'm tempted to write my notes verbatim, but they don't make sense to me. So maybe I should try to decipher and remember them. I remember a very wet nose and the mouthfeel being thin and pinot-ish. But then being tannin-y. I wrote that. And then later wrote "very tannin-y". So it must be pretty tannin-y. Also, not sweet and a strong alcohol taste?

Maybe I'll get a better idea of what's going on with the second bottle.

Addendum: It got pretty spicy. The tannins have mellowed out considerably. Personally, I think I might have liked it younger.

Southern Tier IPA.

Southern Tier is a regional brewer that I never got around to trying. I saw it at the grocery and since I'm kind of in an IPA kick, I decided to give it a try. You have to work a little to head nice head on it, but the first thing I noticed was how ale-y it was. It was creamy and filling, not as much as a Beamish but more than a Goose Island. It also wasn't as hoppy but had a more toasted taste to it. I would not have a problem describing Goose Island's IPA as "crisp", and this wasn't. Which isn't a bad thing. I think it'd be a nice beer to have as the months cool and head into fall, drank with something hot and hearty.

It seems I've lost a lot of motivation. I'm either anorexic or bored because nothing sounds definitely appealing to eat or make anymore. Which means maybe I should make something new and interesting. The question is...what? Or better yet, how should I go about finding said "what"?