Fish en Papillote

Well hello there,

I have abandoned the blog.

I am sorry.

It has been a crazy few months around here, between working 12hr days, government shutdowns, and looking for a less hectic job I have hardly had any time to blog =(. But I am hoping to at least make some time to do a weekly post until things get a bit more regular around here.

So for my comeback post, I am going to introduce you to Fish en Papillote. Which in my lingo, it means wrapping a fish in parchment paper and sticking it in the oven. Voila!

Pretty fancy looking huh? 

But would you believe me if i told you it only took 20min total to make?

You betta' believe it!

Here is what you'll need:

4 fillets of mild flavor fish. I like to use Sole or Tilapia.

2 zucchinis

1 bell pepper

1-2 carrots, depending on size

1 lemon

a bunch of cilantro

1/2 of a red onion

salt and pepper

1/4 of ginger root

4 garlic cloves

olive oil

parchment paper and string

1 bag of "seeds of change" quinoa and brown rice microwavable pouch

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350. Slice the onion and pepper into long strips. Then grab a potato peeler and slice the zucchini and carrot. Mince the garlic, chop some cilantro and grate the ginger root. Set those aside and grab the fish and season it with a little bit of salt and pepper. Grab some parchment paper, drip a little bit of olive oil down the middle and place the fish. Then top it off with a bunch of the shredded/sliced/minced vegetables and 2 lemon slices. Drizzle some olive oil. Then make a little pouch with the paper and fold it close at the top. Tie into place at the ends with baker's string. Follow the same directions for the 3 remaining fillets. I eyeball to see how much of each ingredient i can put in each pouch, but i try to even it out so that all 4 fillets have a similar ratio. 

Place the fish on a baking sheet and place in the oven for 10min or so, depending on your oven. Take out of the oven and let sit for a minute or 2 so that the paper cools a little bit. In the meantime, take the pouch of quinoa and rice, cut a small opening and place in the microwave for 90 seconds (follow the instructions on the pouch). Once that is ready, serve on a plate with a fish papillote.

Be careful when you open the pouch of fish, there may be some steam that comes out and you do not want to burn yourself. I like using a mild flavored fish since it brings out the flavor of all the other vegetables, but you are welcome to try any other fish. 

Enjoy! 

I really love the quinoa and rice from Seeds of Change. It is delicious, healthy and super easy to make. For an even better deal, head out to Costco, where you can buy a box with 6 pouches for half the price of your local grocery store. And don't forget, you can buy a bottle of sparkling water at Trader Joe's for $.79! And some local (and cheap) white wines as well =) 

Easy Meatballs with Homemade Truffle Fries

I have mentioned before how I am currently living computerless since my 7+yr old Macbook decided to die.. and that has negatively affected the frequency of my posts. What I haven't mentioned is that I also work 12hr days, and some weekends too, so I haven't had much time to do anything that I enjoy, much less try to find a new computer.

But the thing is, I know I am not the only person in this country who is working such long hours every day. Not because I necessarily LOVE my job, but rather out of necessity. I haven't had much time to see friends, take a weekend breather, go on vacation. It makes me sad, it really does, but I feel fortunate to at least have a job, regardless of how I feel about the work or the fact that it doesn't help further my career goals. It doesn't pay much, and I do live paycheck to paycheck, but it has so far paid the bills, and that is what matters most, right?

So with the tight budget and the long hours I have been trying to come up with ways to make the most of my free time and make that time feel like a vacation. That's where this meatball and fries recipe comes in. It is super quick and easy to make. God knows the last thing I want to do after 12hrs of work is make an elaborate meal.. or spend a bunch of money eating out. And the cute baskets and lining paper make it feel like I just went out to eat at a ballpark or something, but instead I am watching the Packers get crushed by the 49ers at home. Disclosure: I am a huge Packer fan while my boyfriend is a 49ers fan. Football season certainly tests our relationship!

So here we go!

Ingredients for Clay Matthews (meat)Balls 
(anyone see that tackle on Kaepernick? out of line but dang, the man is a beast)
1lbs of ground beef
4 garlic cloves
1 roasted red pepper
a bundle of parsley
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup of bread crumbs

I mixed the garlic, peppers, salt and pepper and parsley in a food processor until finely chopped. I then put the meat in a mixing bowl and poured the ingredients from the processor in and mixed it all by hand  while slowly pouring in the breadcrumbs. I sometimes add a little more breadcrumbs, depending on how hearty I want the meatballs. I also had some of the garlic and pepper mix left over for another batch of meatballs, so this is perfect if you are cooking for more than 4 people.

Once all of the ingredients are mixed well together, I formed medium sized balls and placed them on a lightly greased baking pan. I then placed the pan in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes I took the pan out and flipped the meatballs over and baked them again for 20 more minutes. Once done, I let cool.

For the fries
2 russet potatoes, finely sliced
1/4 of a yellow onion, finely sliced
a cup of mushrooms (any type you like, i used baby bella)
a drizzle of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
a drizzle of truffle oil
rosemary

I sliced the potatoes, onion and mushroom thinly. I then tossed them in a bowl with sea salt, pepper and olive oil and sprinkled some rosemary from my garden on them and placed them on a slightly greased baking sheet. I put them in the oven for 400 degrees for about 45min. I then turned the broiler on and let them cook until golden brown (about 15min or so). Once they were done, I drizzled some truffle oil on them and let cool.

I served them on a plastic basket and liner I bought at Sur La Table on clearance. The baskets were $1 and the liner was $3 for a packet of 40 or so. I also drizzled some ketchup on them as well. These weren't the very best meatballs I have ever made but they were the best meatballs to eat with french fries I have ever had. The other meatballs I make are perfect for hoagies. These meatballs work better on their own and with a simple carb on the side. Now that football season is here, I will be eating lots of meatballs with fries and drinking some fall beers. 

Let's hope my fantasy teams don't crash and burn this season.. 

A Little Rant About Weather

I have a dead computer =(

It's kept me from blogging because honestly, I find it uncomfortable to blog from a public computer in my apartment building. Mostly because I don't want my neighbors creeping up behind me reading as I type. Is that weird? I am sorry for the lack of posts this past month, hopefully I can get on top of things quickly!

But with that straightened out, let me just throw this out there...

This summer's weather sucked. It sucked so much that I don't feel the same level of gratification over my garden as I did last season. Even though I took much better care of it this season, even beating out an aphid infestation and disease, this weather just sucked. And it still sucks.

What's the deal with that!?

Some people think I am crazy and that this summer has been similar to recent summers, but i'm telling you, it's not. And as my boyfriend says, "you're always right", I know i'm right when I say this..

It sucked and still sucks.

Look, I have some evidence to back this up. And I blame the weather for my somewhat lackluster gardening season. For example, by this time last year I was enjoying numerous banana peppers, bell peppers and jalapenos. This season all I've enjoyed is a frankenpepper from hell. The only thing that has done well so far is the patio tomato. Even the mint isn't as robust as last year, the oregano went meh, the lemon tree is still just chillin with some green lemons and the blackberry is just off on its own doing its thing and growing like a giant bean stalk to nowhere.

Frankenpepper

In fact, the humidity has been so bad in the area, that I have had mushrooms growing in my containers. I've never had shrooms, and I keep the containers well drained. But it has been impossible to keep the shrooms from growing all over and as harmless as some people say they are, every time I saw shrooms in the container, the plants did not do well. I've been spraying my plants once a week with the anti-fungal spray because the disease, although it is under control, it is still around. And so, I blame this lame summer weather of high humidity, little sun, and moderate temperatures for a very slow and somewhat crappy growing season.

I'm not a gardening expert by any means, but my garden certainly did better in the record triple digit heat of last season than it has done in the mild temps and ridiculous humidity of this season. Freakin' mid-atlantic weather.

I don't know if it is global warming, aliens, the apocalypse or my imagination, but whatever it is, it is ruining my yield for this season and i'm not happy about it.

Ok, rant over. Anyone else ranting about the weather this year?

PS. While my garden has struggled, the local orchards seem to be doing just fine. Just look at all these peaches and blackberries I picked up a couple of weeks ago! I am officially annoyed and jealous.

I froze most of these so I could enjoy them in smoothies and what not throughout the coming months. I have been contemplating buying a chest freezer so I can freeze all sorts of veggies and fruits for this upcoming winter. Anyone have one of those? does it really hike up your energy bill? 

I think I need to remind myself that I live in an apartment in DC and not on a farm... a chest freezer might not be the right investment at this point in time.