A quick note on Black Cod and a fun grad school note

Let's start with the cod.  I have to give a shout out to Lenny at Northshore seafoods. Again. He turned me on to this fresh black cod and it was nothing less than A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. He told me it was best brushed with butter, seasoned as I liked, and baked.
Of course I tossed "black cod recipes" in the old google-ator and I came up with tons of recipes for a miso-marinated black cod that was apparently all the rage at restaurants such as Momofuku (we all know I love David Chang) and Nobu. But these recipes called for overnight marinading AND large amounts of sugar. I had neither the time nor the carb allowance for such things. So I followed the advice of the wise fishmonger and came up with a pound of fish heaven:


Ingredients:
- 1 lb black cod, skin on
- 1-2 tbsp of butter (depending on how decadent you feel that day)
-S&P
-Seasonings of your choice.
     -I went with garlic powder and italian seasoning. I think you could really go with any light spices you would like, just don't go too heavy- you don't want to overpower the fish.






Preheat the oven to 400 deg F. Place the fish in a lightly greased (or PAM-sprayed) baking dish.


Melt the butter and brush the butter over the top of each piece of fish. Season at will.

Pop it in the oven, uncovered, for 15 minutes. With the size of the pieces I have here, 15 minutes was absolutely perfect. Keep in mind that this is a meaty fish- you want it to flake apart, but in chunks, not small little flakes. Little flakes = overcooked in this case.

I served the fish with a simple cucumber and pepper salad tossed with chunks of fresh mozzarella and a red wine vinaigrette. Super simple, very light and ridiculously tasty.

Notes on Grad School and cooking:

Yesterday a friend sent me this link. It is a great article entitle "Food and Sanity in Graduate School" written by a former grad student about the soothing properties of cooking a good meal or baking a yummy treat.

It's mainly funny because it is so true. At the end of a particularly long or stressful day, I look forward to going home and making something tasty. The methodical steps: chopping, mixing, measuring- all bring me a peace that could not be found elsewhere. Plus there is the bonus that the end result is comforting and good to eat. So I pretty much get to bake my cake and eat it too :) Or, during this no-carb phase, I get to bake a noodle-free lasagna and eat it too... Not quite the same, but it works.

It is good to know I am not the only one sublimating stress with cooking.

So perhaps if you feel like this:

You should try doing this:

And then afterwards you can feel like this:

Noodle free lasagna

We are coming up on the last few days of this no-carb cleanse and I am about to lost my mind. I literally dream about the pizza I would order in a carb-filled alternate life. So when it came to making dinner last night, I needed it to be as close to a "real" meal as possible. I was going to make a no noodle lasagna, but all I was planning was some beef, sauce, and cheese in a casserole dish. Then I realized that eggplant or squash are often used as replacements for noodles in gluten-free recipes....

THEN I thought it would be tasty to pan fry the eggplant first and get it crispy....
THEN I realized it would be even tastier if there was some sort of crispy crust.... But crispy crusts are often breadcrumbs and I can't eat those and that makes me sad.... but
THEN I cheered up when I realized a coating of egg and parmesan would be both tasty and  carb-free.
Then I just got excited. The complete experiment went a little like this:

I bought these two lovely baby eggplants- for this recipe, I actually only used one. I'm pretty sure the other will get the same coating/pan fry treatment and then just served as-is. Yum.

Ingredients:
-1 baby eggplant
-1 egg, scrambled
-Approx 1 c grated fresh parmesan
        -(you can use the pre-shredded in a tub at the grocery store, but I'm not sure you will get the same melty/crispy coating when they are fried...
 -1 can plain tomato sauce
       - I chose this because it has less added ingredients (no added sugar) and I could season it as I chose. In  future renditions, I might just peel/cook my own sauce.
-Italian seasoning
-Garlic powder
- 1 pound lean ground beef
-1/2 onion, sliced into thin rings (I recommend the mandolin)
-EVOO
-Approx 1 c. ricotta. (Fresh would be ideal here, but if you live in a place like West Lafayette, IN, you go with the part-skim that the market carries...
-Extra fresh parm, grated
- Mozzarella- some shredded and a few slices for the top. Fresh definitely works best here...


Ok, to start, I thinly sliced the eggplant using my favorite kitchen gadget- the mandolin. I sliced them particularly thin because I wanted them to crisp in the pan and because I'm not a huge fan of big bites of cooked eggplant... I cut off the skin- ends and did not use those:

Then I took them through your basic "breading" station- I dipped them in the beaten egg and then lightly coated them with parm. I coated them rather lightly and did not worry if there were a few bits of naked eggplant coming through, as I did not want extra cheese falling off and mucking up my pan...

I gave the pan a generous glug of EVOO and let the oil get pretty hot over medium high heat. I would be careful what kind of pan you use for this step. I am still using and loving my ceramic coated non-stick pans. They give me a great sear without anything sticking.

The result = a plate of crispy, cheesy, yummy eggplant fries. I may have eaten 1... or 2... while I was waiting for the final batch. Which is why I plan on doing the same thing for my second baby eggplant and then just eating them all... like little flat eggplant french fries.






While I was finished the 3rd and 4th batches (I cooked about 3 slices/batch, changing out the oil after the 2nd batch), I put the tomato sauce into a small pan. I gave it a liberal shot of italian seasoning, garlic powder (because I was sadly not in the mood to saute fresh - I would suggest doing so if you have the time), and S&P. Then I just stirred it all in and let it come to a slow boil. Voila.

Also, after slicing the eggplant, I started browning the ground beef. When it was done, I strained it and sliced the onions and garlic into the pan with a glug of EVOO. I cooked them until soft and then stirred in the beef with some additional italian seasoning and S&P.

No, the one on the end does NOT look like it has been bitten.....

Now we begin the layering process. I sprayed the pan with PAM and put a layer of the eggplant on the bottom to make serving easier. 

I topped it with a layer of beef and onions and half of the tomato sauced. This got topped with some of the grated parm, shredded mozz, and a layer of ricotta.

I topped the ricotta with another layer of eggplant and repeated the full layering process. I finished with a 3rd layer of eggplant, parm, and sliced mozz:

I put it in the oven at 350 for about 30 mins until the top got all bubbly and I could see that the ricotta had melted through the side of the pan.

 I served it with a lovely caprese salad (my favorite combinations of flavors ever):

 

The final gooey, cheesy product

I was very pleased with the outcome and this is a recipe I think I would make again- even when we're not low-carbing. The leftovers were also great for lunch today. I'm pretty sure my officemate was coveting my eggplant-y goodness....

Quick post- egg drop soup yummm

 I've learned something interesting this week- attempting to completely write up a final thesis draft in a week and a half reallllllllly cuts down on my ability to blog.


Interesting.


It has also cut down on my will to cook, eat, and basically live.
But I will endeavor to persevere.


On top of it all, I have been sick the past 3 days. Awesome. So to cure myself (and retain my low-carb status), I undertook the mission of making myself some virtually carb-free but still uber-comforting homemade (mostly) egg drop soup. It took about 5 minutes.
Here's what I did:


Super Yummy Low-Carb Egg Drop Soup.


- 2 1/2 cups water
-2 tsp concentrated stock (I used chicken, you can go crazy and use veggie or beef...whatever)
  

***Before I move on, lets have a quick talk about bullion/stock. If you must use the little cubes, fine. I'm certainly not at home tossing chicken bones into a pot to make homemade stock. BUT if you can, I would recommend using concentrated products like Better than Bullion. They're still not perfect and not as good as the real stuff, but there is less sodium and they just taste better. Now back to our regularly scheduled program:

- about 1 1/2 tbsp chopped green onion
- 1 large crimini mushroom, sliced super thin (like they do the garlic on Goodfellas)
- a few drops of soy sauce (approx 1 tsp or more to taste)
-a few drops of sesame oil- just a few drops, otherwise the soup will have that oily feel to it
-somewhere between 1 and 3 eggs depending on your preference, beaten
**This is enough for 2 people- or 1 really hungry person



Boil the water in a pot, add the stock. Let it cook for a minute and then add the sesame oil and soy sauce. I don't like mine very salty so I only added a little soy. If you like more, put in more. It's your soup, do what you want.

Let it cook for another minute, then toss in the green onion and mushroom. Since the mushroom is so thin, it only takes a second to heat through. When the soup is back to a low boil, start pouring in the egg. The more you stir, the more the egg breaks up. If you like small bits, stir a lot. I like it with big bits, so I only stirred it a little. Once the egg has pretty much solidified, you're good to go.

I enjoyed it and I'm pretty sure it had healing properties (These claims have not been supported by the FDA).

Ok, hope you try this, I am off to try to make magic with swordfish and whatever we happen to have in the fridge- wish me luck!

Cheesy Southwestern Pork Chops

I don't particularly like going low-carb. My favorite food product EVER is the potato. I don't care what you do with it- fry, mash, bake, scallop- whatever. I will eat that potato.
Sadly, this post is not about potatoes.
However, when it is time to cut out the carbs for a bit, this is one of my favorite go-to recipes. It's gooey and slightly spicy, as well as being quite satisfying. I find that low-carb food leaves me wanting something more a lot of the times (probably a potato), but this recipe feels like comfort food. I have had the recipe for years, but to give credit where credit is due, I'm pretty sure I got the original from the old Atkins website some time ago...


Cheesy Southwestern Pork Chops
2 pork chops (thicker chops work better here. If you use thin chops,you may want to reduce the cheese topping). I used bone-in chops.
A little bit of EVOO (about 1-2 tsp)
1/4 cup tomato salsa
a small can of diced green chilies (4 ozs.)
1 teaspoon cumin
1/3 cup grated Cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons cream cheese

You want to  start with a nice hot pan. For this, I usually recommend not using a non-stick pan. It is usually not good to get those pans hot without anything in them, it can mess up the lining- That is, unless you have one of these new types of non-stick pans that also sear. My new non-stick is some sort of ceramic lined deal that gets nice and hot AND provides a great sear without getting the meat stuck.


Give the pan a go-round with the EVOO- not too much or you will just end up boiling your meat in oil instead of searing it. Get the pan nice and hot over medium-medium high heat. Set the chops in and don't touch them! My biggest problem when I started cooking was that I could not let food just sit and cook... 
I had to touch it and move it and stir it. But that is bad and I smacked myself on the hand and said, "NO!"
 If you are using a non non-stick pan, this is especially true. Wiggle the meat a little with a pair of tongs- when it comes willingly, it is ready to be turned. Otherwise- let it cook for about 5 mins (depending on the thickness of your chops- it took me about 5 mins and these were pretty thick, about 1").

It should have a nice brown crust on the bottom when you flip it. Let it cook for about another 3-4 mins. It should feel firm to the touch when you poke it in the thickest part. There is still another 5 minutes of cooking left so if it is mostly done, that is fine.

While the second side is cooking, mix the salsa, chiles, and cumin. The ratio given here is variable- I actually tend to add more salsa, probably closer to 1/2 cup. The cumin may seem like a lot when you put it in, but it is the key to  the sauce.

When the chops are mostly done, top them with the salsa mix. Cover them and let them cook for about 5 mins, until the salsa is warm and the chops are cooked through. During this 5 mins, mix the cream cheese and cheddar. I usually put the cream cheese into a bowl and nuke it for about 20 sec to get it soft enough to mix. You should end up with an odd looking concoction like this:







Divide the mixture between your chops and spread it over the top. Don't worry if it is too hard, as it melts it will spread. Cover it for about 1 min or until the topping becomes all gooey. Plate it up, serve it with a salad with a nice tangy vinaigrette and you are good to go!