travel, eat, cook and repeat
EASY BROILED SALMON WATCH ALL MY COOKING VIDEOS ON MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL: www.youtube.com/@booeats Sometimes, you want to have great tasting food without all the work. Here is a recipe that I came up with for a quick weeknight dinner. It’s better than ordering …
SPICY STIR-FRIED RICE CAKES ‘KOREAN STYLE’ With the colder weather in Southern California this winter, I have been craving spicy food. I decided to try stir-fried rice cakes. I bought Korean rice cakes at H-Mart and made them the same evening, adding spicy Italian …
QUICK AND EASY WHITE FISH IN MUSTARD SAUCE
Take a trip to SE Asia without leaving home
Cook this in under 30 minutes
Spicy, flavorful and budget-friendly
Gourmet dinner for 2 for under $10
Simple, quick, budget-friendly and tasty – these are the hallmarks of the best kind of cooking. This recipe is a budget-friendly choice that uses commonly available ingredients.
Last week, I spotted fresh Swai fish at H-Mart for $5.99/lb and couldn’t resist buying a pound. In less than an hour after we got home, we were eating it freshly cooked and it was delicious.
This recipe makes a common but difficult to make South East Asian fish recipe, where the fish is coated in a marinade of freshly ground mustard and green chilies, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed; super quick, easy and accessible. You don’t need banana leaves, you don’t need to make your own mustard paste. Does it taste as good? It’s almost as good. The only unusual ingredient that I would recommend you get is mustard oil, which is freely available in South Asian groceries, but you can substitute with olive oil in a pinch.
Ingredients:
1 lb Swai Fish filet (other white fish filet will work well too)
½ lime
½ tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp mustard oil
1-2 Jalapeno or other Green chilies, sliced
Cilantro or curry leaves
Method:
Wash the fish in cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
Cut into 6-8” pieces.
Drizzle both sides of fish with freshly squeezed juice of ½ a lime and ½ tsp of kosher salt
Let sit for 30 minutes
Prepare the mustard sauce by mixing 2 tbsp of Dijon mustard with 1 tbsp of mustard oil
(You can substitute with 1 tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil)
Apply the mustard paste to both sides of the fish
Cut a 12” square piece of aluminum foil
Place the fish filet in the center
Top with sliced chilies and chopped cilantro
(I used curry leaves as I had run out of cilantro)
Close the packets loosely (you want the steam to escape as the fish is cooking)
Turn on the oven to 350*F
Place the foil packets in a single layer and let cook for 20-25 minutes
Serve the packets with rice
Open up the packets and enjoy the fresh cooked fish and sauce
Note: Get a good quality Dijon mustard (I used Trader Joe’s brand which at $1.69 a bottle is a bargain). If the chilies are too spicy, consider removing them before eating, they will still add a nice flavor and slight kick. If you use frozen fish, make sure to defrost completely and squeeze out the excess water from the filet.
PORK VINDALOO IN INSTANT POT One of the iconic dishes from the small state of Goa on the South-Western coast of India is Vindaloo – usually made with pork, but beef or lamb can be used. The dish is a modified version of the …
KUNG PAO CHICKEN – MY WAY! I love Asian foods especially Thai and Chinese food. Unknown to many, L.A. has some of the best Asian food in the world, including Chinese, Thai, Japanese and Korean food, thanks to the large number of recent immigrants, …
GRILLED (BBQ) CAULIFLOWER 2 WAYS
This year thanks to my wife’s green thumb, we have a bounty of vegetables from our small garden. Last summer, we had so many tomatoes that we ended up making sun dried tomatoes, as well as canning tomatoes. We had lots of different varieties of chilis and we ended up drying them and making chili flakes, chili powder and chili oil. We distributed other vegetables to friends and neighbors and to the local food bank.
This winter we have a large number of cauliflower and cabbage. I am working on making ‘kimchi’ with the help of my son, but I decided to try and grill cauliflower. Having never done it before, I did a bit of research and it turned out very well. I will definitely make this again. If you don’t have a grill, you can broil in an oven or airfry or cook on a stovetop.
I decided to use a Berbere spice mix for the steaks, which has a rich earthy flavor; and a mix of ketchup and Sriracha sauce for the florets. The florets tasted like wings. If you don’t have the Berbere spice mix, feel free to use any spice mix, like curry powder or Mediterranean seasoning blend.
Here is my recipe:
(the reason it is 2 ways, is because you can only cut 2 or 3 steaks from 1 cauliflower and instead of wasting the rest, I used the remaining florets and grilled them too).
Ingredients:
Cauliflower, 1 whole
For the steaks:
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Berbere (North African/Ethiopian) spice mix
For the florets:
Olive oil 2 tbsp
Tomato Ketchup 1 cup
Sriracha Chili sauce ¼ cup (or more to taste)
For topping (optional):
Sliced green onions
Chopped Cilantro
Chopped Green chilis
Method:
Wash the cauliflower and remove the stem and leaves.
Place on a flat surface and with a sharp knife cut in half down the middle.
Then cut a 1-2” thick slice on each side, to have 2 large steaks 1-2” thick.
Cut up the florets of the remaining cauliflower and place in a bowl.
Place the steaks on a flat plate.
Brush 1 side of the steaks with olive oil.
Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste.
Sprinkle paprika.
Sprinkle the Berbere spice mix.
Turn over and repeat on the other side and let sit while the grill heats up.
In a bowl mix the olive oil, ketchup and chili sauce and pour over the florets.
Carefully mix to evenly cover the florets with the sauce mix.
Light or turn on the grill.
Spray/brush the grate with olive oil.
(I used a separate grill basket for the florets which may fall through the grill).
Spray/brush the basket with olive oil.
When the grill is hot (400*F), place the steaks down on the grate.
Place the florets in the basket.
Turn after 5 minutes.
There should be nice char and grill marks on the steaks and some char on the florets.
Repeat every 5 minutes, till cooked through (about 15 minutes total).
Sprinkle the toppings if using.
Serve the florets as an appetizer and the steaks as an entrée with rice/fried rice.
BEER BATTERED SHRIMP TACOS I haven’t cooked much Mexican or Latin American food, though I have made ceviche, empanadas and birria. Mexican food is more complex than most people think and I plan to try my hand at making mole, pozole and other good …
THE BEST JERK CHICKEN I love Jerk chicken and have been making it for many years, however it never ended up tasting as good as what I had in the Caribbean or in an authentic Jamaican restaurant. After a ton of research and after …
SPICED MEAT PIE
With the weather being cold, I have been craving hot soups and baked goods. Here is a recipe for a meat pie which is easy to make but seems complicated. It is very tasty with North African flavors. Feel free to adjust the spices and change ingredients to your own taste as needed. This dish is inspired by Melissa Clark’s (of NYT cooking fame) recipe.
Ingredients:
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 leek, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
1 lb ground lamb or beef
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp ground allspice
1 ½ tsp kosher salt
1 tsp red chilli flakes
1 tbsp sliced almonds
1 lb puff pastry (thawed)
2 eggs
¼ cup sliced pitted olives
½ cup fresh mint leaves
1 tbsp sesame seeds
Method:
Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium heat.
Add the chopped onions and cook till softened, about 3-4 minutes.
Add the leeks and carrots and saute till softened, about 8-10 minutes.
Add the lamb/beef and the spices, mix well and fry over medium heat till browned, about 10-15 minutes.
Let cool, then pour off excess fat.
Take two halves of the puff pastry sheet and roll out to a 9-10” diameter round shape.
Line an 8” round baking dish on the bottom with the rolled pastry, pulling up the sides to cover the side of the dish.
Whisk 2 eggs in a large bowl, set aside a tablespoon.
Add the cooked lamb/beef mixture.
Add the olives, mint and almonds.
Mix to combine well.
Spoon the mixture into the pastry.
Add the other pastry sheet on top and pinch the edges to close, make small ½ “ slits on top.
Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour (upto 4 hours) or freeze for 15 minutes.
Heat oven to 400*F (for convection bake).
Brush the top of the pie with the remaining whisked egg.
Sprinkle the top with sesame seeds.
Bake for 20 minutes (may need 30 minutes if no convection bake).
Let cool slightly, before cutting into slices and serving.
GRILLED SMASH(ED) BURGER I have been craving burgers for a while, especially the crispy thin meat patty commonly called the smash burger. The key to having the thin crispy meat patty is a higher fat content of the meat and high heat which quickly …