Sauce for Fish dishes

I made something seriously unhealthy.
It's so yummy.

You've done it before, I'm sure. You went to the store, said to yourself, "I don't feel like eating what's in my house. I mean, I have food in my house, but that food sucks. I want new food." Maybe you don't phrase things like I do, but I'm a pretty in-the-moment type of person. Right then, it sucks. When I bought it, it was awesome. Golden retrievers and I should hang out.

So we come across some yellow fin tuna filets. Ooo. Fish. Okay, I know that fish are being incredibly over-harvested and I want to not be a part in that, but once in a while one can't help themselves. Maybe the population would go up if everyone only ate seafood once a month, whether they caught it or not. The idea that most of the things we eat from the ocean could die in my lifetime is pretty horrific. We need a change.
I bought the tuna anyway. Maybe I'll die by then, or 2012 is our last year. Maybe there are zombies in Florida and we're already screwed. Who knows? I wanted fish.

To top it off, I wanted this bottle of creamy lemon-dill sauce. Looks gooood. Has a great label and everything.

I can't tell you how much crap was in it. I took chemistry for a year and a half. I can't tell you what the compounds are, but I can tell you that they aren't natural. They were likely created in New Jersey, where a lot of the new flavorings, colors, and additives are often made in factories. I've been trying to get away from the preservative thing, so I chased Kevin down the aisle and away from the nasty (but probably yummy) lemon-dill cream sauce.

I went home, put the pan on with a little olive oil, salt and ground black pepper, and went to making sauce.

Now, I don't know about you guys, but we buy a lot of jars. Have you noticed that? I don't think I like the idea of plastic nearly as much. Why? It's not incredibly reusable. Not in the fashion I'd like, anyway. Sure, I used them as pots, but that's obnoxious. They're flimsy, there's likely going to be chemical run-off, and they blow away sometimes (which is annoying). Upside? It's easy to drill draining holes into them. So it's a give or take (mostly take).
I started keeping my jars from various things (see: pickles, relishes, pesto, bamboo shoots, jams and jellies..) and filled up a whole cabinet. Downside? I'm not really vast with my cabinet space as it is, so this was a huge hit to my kitchen's functionality. Upside? I can jar just about whatever the frick I want, including dressings and sauces. And, believe me, I've made dressings (like olive oil, with some salt and pepper; and Italian herbs such as basil, oregano, marjoram and parsley. Put whatever you want in there and voila, dressing. Oh, and Balsamic  vinegar. That's TONS healthier than store-bought stuff, and TONS cheaper).

I must say that the overall healthiness of the sauce I made today, though, is relatively atrocious. Is it still healthier than in the store? I'm sure. Do I want to eat 3 liters of it? Not really.

I have a jar that looks like it's a little less than a pint; maybe 1.5 cups? So 16-20 ounces. I cut up two sticks of butter, and melted them in the microwave. This is easy. Actually, the whole flipping thing is simpler than pie (why do people say 'easy as pie'? Have you seen some of those pies? The blueberry one I made took about an hour. I guess it was easy but..)
Add about 1/8 of a cup of lemon juice, or to taste. Add about a tablespoon (or more, to taste) of the following things, each: ground black pepper, dill, lemon pepper, coriander. Add about 1/2 tablespoon of brown sugar (work with me, people). 1 teaspoon of white pepper went in there, but I'm not sure how relevant that is.
Then, top off the whole jar with mayonnaise (or, about 3-5 tablespoons; enough to thicken it up.)
Stir the heck out of it with a fork to de-clump the mayo.
It's so good.

It's so unhealthy.
I need to find ways to make this without, you know, 2 sticks of butter and a huge hunk of mayo..I can make my own mayo, and butter, if I wanted, but maybe there're other things, like Greek Yogurt and homemade butter. Or maybe just homemade mayo -- Duke's has a very noticeable flavor in the lemon-dill sauce I just made, and I'm scared it eats up the undertones the coriander is supposed to put forth.
If you make it, but change it, let me know!

Grade: Caribbean Vegetable Soup

• Flavor
• Texture
• Cooking ease
• Price
• Estimated healthiness
• Creativity of the recipe
• Completeness 

Out of 70 points.

Flavor: 10/10. My job of replacing ingredients because I couldn't find that one thing turned out very well, and I hope the thing I replaced tastes like what I used (does that make sense? :P ). So much was going on. It's fruity, fun, playful, and would go well at a summertime party with fruity-alcomaholic drinks and some Caribbean music. It definitely merits the wearing of bathing suits while eating.

Texture: 10/10. What is not right about this thing? I love full, hearty soups. I learned some time back that hearty doesn't necessarily mean meaty, or heavy, or thick; it can be busy, or full. The Caribbean soup seems to take everything awesome and stick them together. It goes against what we seem to think of Caribbean as, but I'm thinking it makes sense. They probably sleep on banana trees (I jest; that wouldn't make any sense, but we have to import them from far away which isn't fair. Our deal locally is berries, pears and apples, really; we don't get neat fruits like bananas.)

Cooking ease: 8/10. DEAR GOD I CHOPPED EVERYTHING. I chopped ahead of time, thinking I'd need to, and although I was correct I didn't have enough bowls to put everything in. I had bowls everywhere, and I still had more to chop. And when I dumped in the first wave of food, I had to continue chopping. By the time I had everything in and cleaned up, it was close to done. And, my dears, it smelled AMAZING. Fruit soup = very large win. I think this and Apple soup may be my two favorites. Just.. get used to chopping.

Price: 9/10. Melons and plantains and so on and so forth do add up and I get that. Some of these you may have already (e.g. bananas, carrots and squash; everyone has squash when it's in season). Some may not, but that's okay. It's very filling and it's not a sinful food; you can have seconds and be okay with it.

Estimated healthiness: 9.5/10. If you're diabetic, this isn't for you due to the glycemic index of the fruits, plus the potassium in things like the bananas/plantains that are included in the recipe. But for the average person, I highly recommend eating more fruits and veggies -- like any future RD should -- but that doesn't mean in the conventional sense. You can team this up with other things like bread, meats and cheeses if you're creative, and save it for later for when you're too lazy to cook up some smoothies or head out to the store for more fresh fruit. It freezes well but takes freaking forever to microwave. The butternut squash soup, 5 ladel-fulls, took about 5 minutes; this one, same amount, could take 8-10, so keep in mind that warming it back up may be a challenge but it's worth it.

Creativity: 10/10. I don't know whether people in the Caribbean would agree -- if this is really something they'd eat in the first place -- but over here it's freaking brilliant. I would have never put those things together, or replaced that one thing with the melon and the squash like Magz the Food Scientist suggested, but it came out extremely well. It's colorful, bright, happy, and busy, and it's filling. It's just plain the best soup ever.

Completeness: 10/10. What the heck else could you PUT in this thing? It's not a gumbo. You don't necessarily need things like okra or sausage, but you could, I guess. The okra would be bland when eaten with the rest of the very sweet fruits and things, but the sausage would hold it's own. However, the fattiness from the animal meat would make the texture change, and I can't predict how that'd work out. I'm not sure I'd be okay with making this soup greasy. It works so well all on it's own. The only thing I could say, really, is to add some leafy greens, perhaps. But that's pushing it, and that's all I can really think of.

Grade: 66.5/70 = a strong A. And I agree, whole-heartedly. I recommend getting what you can at local markets to enhance the flavor, but I know some of that (e.g. bananas) won't be available here in the States like that. Do remember it's supposed to be chunky, with bite-sized things floating around. There's not enough room for floating juices; there should be enough so you can freeze it and not ruin the solids.

As always, enjoy cooking!

Analysis: Indian Beef and Berry

• Flavor
• Texture
• Cooking ease
• Price
• Estimated healthiness
• Creativity of the recipe
• Completeness 

Out of 70 points.

Flavor: 9.8/10. I did it: I put something other than .0 or .5. Why? Because it was..well, it's amazingly good, but it's weird. It's really weird. Not as in, "I'm not sure I could eat that!" weird, but more like, "my tongue doesn't know how to translate this.." weird. I recommend it to expand your dietary-and-tasteful horizons. It's certainly not bad by any means!

Texture: 9/10. It goes onto the tongue well and the fats from the beef make it nice and smooth; the berries are soft and compliant by the time you get to them, but that's offset by the resistance the meat gives when you bite into it. It's all very balanced (I'd remove some salt, but you guys know me and salt by now).

Cooking ease: 9.5/10. You brown beef. You add things. You cook. This isn't rocket science, guys, and it comes out very well. If you're a habitual cook -- just know how things go and when and where -- it may throw you off to add berries to something other than a dessert or alcoholic beverage. I found myself confused about lightly squishing them to add to a soup, and it gives it a weird color. If you can get past that, you're in the clear.

Price: 9/10. Meat's going up. I'm trying to avoid it for multiple reasons -- none of them are largely due to humanitarian reasons, but they're somewhere in there in the scheme of things. The amount of protein one takes in a day, on average, can be multiple times more than one needs. We're oversaturated with it, and a lot of people think it's good because it offsets carb. intake. I could go on, but, really, this soup is a meal in itself, and so, really, the price isn't so bad. Have some bread with it (omgcarbs!") and enjoy yourself.

Estimated healthiness: 9/10. I don't really advocate the eating of beef for health reasons as much as I would fish and chicken, but there's balances to everything and I understand that. There's this whole agricultural and logical and humanitarian side to the meat and veggie issue, and that's your decision. But I still vote for the weak link to colon cancer due to eating animal meats; try to replace that with some veggies or the occasional granola bar or something. This soup, for me, would be my beef for the week. You heard me.

Creativity: 10/10. Someone pulled off a recipe called 'Indian beef and berry.' Let's look at that again and knock off some useless words, shall we? INDIAN BEEF. I know, I know, it's racist to say that an Indian would never eat beef, but you shut up. It's not common, still, and it goes against the American view of the Indian diet. I'm just sayin', it's bold; adding berries makes it creative. It's impressive and I'm glad I chose it.

Completeness: 9/10. I feel like Indian Beef and Berry needs to have some space filled up with something like little green onions, garlic, or tofu, or something. I love the texture of tofu, by the way, which is why I mention it sometimes. The flavor means nothing to me. But you see what I'm getting at. It's beef and berries and liquid. I like more complicated soups, myself, but if you're into the see-through deal that a lot of Asian soups really embrace, then this is definitely in your zone.

65.3/70 is a mid-range A, which definitely reflects how I feel about the soup. I would give it a shot sometime, especially if you come across a thing of beef you're just not sure you know what to do with. If you're tired of the norm, then get on it and try this.

Caribbean Vegetable Soup Recipe

Oh. My. Gosh.
Everyone loved this. I'm not even kidding. I'm having a hard time keeping my freezer-full-of-soups anywhere near capacity. My husband, especially, just finds himself wanting to eat it by the pound.

This would be me. I always wear my butterfly apron =)

Recipe:


2 tablespoons butter
1 chopped onion - to preference
1 crushed garlic clove
2 sliced carrots
1 1/2 quarts vegetable stock
2 bay leaves (see? Always with the bay leaves)
2 sprigs of fresh thyme (almost always goes with the bay leaves..)

This is usually what my counter looks like. It's my only one, and it's limited, but it works

1 minced celery stalk
1 1/4 cups peeled and cubed white yams (po-ta-toes!)
2 green bananas, peeled and cut into 4 chunks
2 tablespoons red lentils
1 chayote, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons of optional macaroni (go whole wheat with it!)
salt and fresh black pepper
chopped scallions, to garnish

1: Melt the butter or margarine. Add the onion, garlic and carrots to fry for a few minutes. Stir occasionally until they begin to soften. Add the stock, bay leaves and thyme and let it boil.
2: Add everything else. Season it as you see fit and let it simmer for 25 minutes, or until things are at the cooked consistency you like. Serve with the garnish.

You could do that. Or you could lead my relatively hectic lifestyle and have no idea where to find chayote -- unless it's at a stupid Whole Foods store; they're stupid 'cause I don't feel like driving for 25 minutes to get to it.
Instead, you could call a fellow food science major and ask them what the heck chayote is. She, we'll call Magz the Scientist, will do what we do best: Google it. Upon doing this, we discover it's a gourd similar to other light-flavored gourds. Can't find one? It's somewhere between a cucumber squash (or something close to it; I keep wanting to say spaghetti squash but it's a lie) and, oh, honeydew melon. Sure. So we went with that.

I've mentioned the 8-people-feeding-frenzy we have weekly. It really is a bit insane. I cook. I yell at people who get in my kitchen. The longer the night goes on, the more I have to yell. The smell of nearly-done food seems to make them respond like shark do to bloody waters; eventually, every single one of them will just continually walk in circles through my kitchen, into the hall and back again.



This soup satiated the men-sharks.

These are man sharks. Don't be fooled by their present lack of movement; they eventually become troubled when hungered.
See the redheaded one? He's going to be the first to fall victim to his own stomach. I had to watch him carefully, to be sure I could complete my meal.

Thanks to Magz the Scientist, I ended up doing just what it says. Except I tripled everything. And I couldn't find green bananas, so instead I used plantains. Red lentils? What about a can of red kidney beans instead? Whole can. Why not? Chayote turned into 2 zucchini squashes and a whole honeydew melon. 2 carrots turned into half a bag of baby carrots I'd found on sale. 3 celery stalks, 4 red potatoes and a stray sweet potato later, and what was an attempt to fix a missing ingredient turned into Frankenstein-Caribbean Vegetable soup.

Frankenstein Soup

Contrast is off, but I wanted everyone to see how chunky it was =)

I also added some Caribbean spices I found at Bi-Lo some time back. Everything was put into chunks. I didn't garnish. You don't garnish DND nerds -- there's no point. It went over EXTREMELY well, and I must say it was probably the biggest hit of the semester. Is it anything like the original recipe? I'm disappointed in myself for straying, and it probably isn't like the original, but no one cares.

This is my best shot of it. The colors and everything are right; it was hard not just to eat it right then, too.

Indian Beef and Berry

Okay, for one, I've noted a lack of my (preferred) spices. That is, this soup book lacks generally any spices at all except the occasional thyme sprig or bay leaf. That being said, I found this soup to be pretty mild but widely acceptable.
Also, I didn't go by the recipe as much as I should have. It's my man's fault! So don't blame me. I asked for stew-beef and he gave me ground beef, but, then again, at the price of meat I was okay with it.

If using ground beef, and it's anything like the one I used, be sure to let it cook for a while with some extra water to soften it all up. The recipe really does lend to tender meat, and ground beef is a bit chewy and resistant to be the texture it should. Keep in mind, too, that this generally makes your house smell like sausage and you may find yourself feeling like eating breakfast for lunch.

The recipe is as follows:

2 tablespoons veggie oil (I use olive for things like this)
1 pound TENDER BEEF STEAK. Or, if you're me, then ground beef.
2 onions, finely sliced
2 tablespoons butter
1 quart good beef stock or bouillon
1/2 teaspoon salt, if desired (that's your choice)
1 cup fresh huckleberries, blueberries or blackberries, smashed up some (I attacked mine in a small bowl with a shot glass. It works well.)
1 tablespoon honey (Go local!)

1: Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan (the one you've been using for any of these other recipes) until almost smoking. Add the steak and brown on both sides over medium-high heat. Remove the steak and set it aside.
2: Lower the heat to low and add the sliced onions and butter to the pan. This will smell fantastic with the beef still looming in the air. Stir well, scraping up all the meat juices. Cook over low heat for 8-10 minutes or until the onions are soft. (This made everyone in the house melt. I swear it was this step that made them almost run me down to get to the finished product.)
3: Add the beef stock or bouillon, and salt, and bring to a boil while stirring often. Stir in the mashed berries and the honey and let simmer for 20 minutes.
4: Meanwhile, cut the steal into bite-sized slivers. Taste the soup and add more salt or honey as you see fit. Add the steak to the pan and let simmer for 30 seconds, stirring the whole time. Serve when desired.

Orange cupcakes.

Homemade icing :D

If you're like me and you have ground beef, don't take it out of the pan. Let it cook for a few hours and then just add the butter and onions to it like you normally would; this would turn out slightly different, I'm sure, than the original recipe, but not by much. Also, it saves you from having another pan to clean, which is amazingly useful after one serves 8-people like I do.
Also, I added a few trace things -- some rosemary, curry powder. Not a lot, but it seemed to help. The berries definitely make it and you don't want to overpower them, so be careful with strong herbs and spices like that. Be sure to taste the soup FIRST, and add things gradually.

Also, I made more cupcakes. They were delish. I never had the chance to take a photo of them with icing because they all got eaten pretty fast. =)