RECIPE: Pan-Seared Salmon with Mustard-Caper Butter

After my last post and its radical, unwarranted departure from the realm of the sane, I thought I'd share with you a nice, straightforward recipe post.

This here fish is a dish I whipped up last Saturday evening, exhausted from a day spent cycling and swimming, with just enough energy remaining to make something tasty.

Behold: Pan-Seared Salmon with Mustard-Caper Butter Sauce!

Looks good, doesn't it? Want to hear a secret? IT TOOK 10 MINUTES.

I didn't even start it until the rice was almost done. So for my readers who want a very fast, very easy, particularly delicious way to look like a brilliant chef come dinner time, I recommend clicking through for the recipe!

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Legit Paella, with Chicken, Shrimp, and Sausage

In between law school applications, the Jewish High Holy Days, preparations for my travels to the Yucatan, and the regular ebb and flow of work -- I've still been finding a little time here and there to engage in kitchen adventures.

Among the recent dishes I've whipped up is a recurring favorite of mine: My chicken, shrimp, and turkey sausage paella (recipe below)! And I'm excited to show you the awesome pictures I took, like this one:

See how nice I made it look? Just so you know, it was really hard to make the shrimp stand up. But I did it for you, my loyal readers. I even artistically splashed some chipotle hot sauce on the plate!

Though I live by the maxim that anyone can cook any dish with the right preparation, ingredients, and patience, I'll readily admit that paella is a challenge. It's time and recipe intensive, entails juggling multiple prep stations and multiple burners-worth of ingredients, and makes for a LOT of dirty dishes.

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Mini-Post: Super Seafood Pizza

I'll keep it super quick. As part of the Triumphant Return of my boss, she elected to take us all out for a tasty lunch at our friendly neighborhood and strangely-punctuated upscale trendy restaurant, Bar-Cöde on L St. NW. (See why we celebrate her return?) 

I've eaten here three times, but my experience last Friday was by a significant margin the best of the three -- in large part due to this pizza stuffed chok-a-blok with seafood. 

The best part was that each shellfish element of this seafood smörgåsbord was well cooked in its own right: the giant mussels had garlicky tomato sauce; the shrimps were clearly pan seared in a little garlic, butter and wine; the calamari were fried spicy and tender (not at all rubbery); and the little octopi were peppery and delicious.

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Seriously, People, Don't Trust Cafeteria Lobster

Lobster Bib.

I'm going to try hard to get through this post without cursing.

Seriously, people, don't trust cafeteria lobster.

Just...don't. So, for example, if you show up to the cafeteria at the National Education Association and see they're serving a lobster lunch for $12.95, just walk away.

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A Whole Fish, For the HALIBUT

GET IT? IT'S A FISH PUN DAMMIT.

Sorry I cursed. Now my sole is definitely going to eel.

I'll stop, I promise.

Once upon a time, I went for Ethiopian food at Dukem (one of the best in D.C.) with my friend Rebecca. Must have been a while ago; I seem to recall it being the first hot weekend day of the year. No matter.

For those who haven't had the pleasure, Ethiopian food, as it is served in America, tends to be various stew-like dishes of cheese and yogurt, lentils, other vegetables, and meats in little piles on top of the iconic, spongy Ethiopian Injera bread -- which also happens to be the main "utensil" for eating the stews. It looks a lot like this:

Anyways, Rebecca is not a huge meat eater, so we opted for the vegetarian platter. I do, though, like to make lots of a protein a dietary priority, so when we were asked, "Would you like fish on the side?" I enthusiastically said yes. I don't really know what I was expecting (maybe a cup of a fish stew? perhaps a tan of tuna in a bowl?), but I was not expecting this:

It's just a whole fish. Headless, obviously, and about 10 inches long.

It was DELICIOUS. The whole thing was fried but without any sort of breading or batter, with vertical cuts in the skin (presumably to prevent the fish from curling in one direction during cooking, as whole fish are wont to do). Great flavor (particularly with the included lemon wedge) though mild, much like trout, with a crispy texture and not too many wayward bones. I ended up attacking it with my hands as we didn't have silverware and the injera was too soft to make a good barrier between the fish and my fingers.

SO TASTY. Thank cod I said yes to fish.

Ok, I'll really stop.