Pan Grilled Tilapia and Roasted Veggies

Two posts in one day, and this post is a food post - considering I haven't posted about food on here for about two years makes this kind of a big deal... to no one in particular except me.

I still use my blog as a personal recipe book and often search and bake stuff from here. It's been quite convenient and this is a recipe I want to keep and make again, hence the pause in my posting hiatus.

The meal is pretty simple, quick and cheap which basically sums up my cooking endeavors since we moved here and I have no time to cook anymore. In an attempt to eat healthier I bought a bag of frozen tilapia at Costco and have loved adding it to our rotation of meals.

Pan Grilled Tilapia and Roasted Veggies

For the Tilapia

• 1-2 tilapia fillets, thawed if previously frozen
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• onion power to taste
• garlic powder to taste
• Ferry Building Spice Blend to taste (or any variety seasoning that has dill, dried shallot, lemon peel and celery seed) 
• side note, before I had this blend I would just use chili powder instead and it was great too, but I prefer this now.

For the Veggies

• handful of small fingerling potatoes, cut in half
• 3 cloves minces garlic
• handful of asparagus
• 3 TBS butter, melted
• 2 tsp olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to broil.
2. Place the potatoes and garlic on a foil lined cookie sheet, cover with butter, salt and pepper and stir to coat. Cook for 10- 15 minutes or until golden brown.
3. Cover the fish with the spices and rub it to coat. Let sit for several minutes while potatoes cook. Spray a grill pan with non-stick cooking spray. Once the potatoes have cooked for 10-15 minutes, turn the grill pan heat to medium and let it heat up while you prep the asparagus.
4. Once the potatoes have cooked for 10-15 minutes and are golden brown, add the asparagus to the cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil and salt, and cook for 5 additional minutes.
5. As soon as you put the asparagus in the oven, place the fish on the grill pan and turn heat to medium-high. Let cook on each side for 2-3 minutes. The fish should be opaque all the way through when done.

Hog Island Oyster Company

Last year for Andrew's birthday I planned a day trip to Hog Island for oysters. Andrew loved it so much that he requested we make it a tradition so to celebrate his 28th year of life, we journeyed back to this beautiful cove to stuff ourselves full of shell fish.

Hog Island is a bit tricky to navigate, since their set up is a bit confusing. You basically have to reserve a picnic table months in advance in order to get a bay-side view and shuck-your-own oyster service. With this route you can also BBQ, but we forego that option and choose to do a high class picnic assortment instead and have the oysters be the main event.

This is Andrew shucking our meal. I am not a huge oyster fan in general, since the texture kind of weirds me out. but when they're fresh like this (2 years old, harvested that morning, and still alive while you eat them), they are soft and delicious. I ate six by myself even though the whole drive there I swore to Andrew I was going to eat two max, because I just wasn't in the mood that day.

Here's the birthday boy!

Our spread. 12 raw oyster (that we dress in Hog Wash, lemon and Tabasco before eating), 4 BBQ oysters which were divine, Mt. Tam cheese, prosciutto, raspberries and french bread. Not pictured is my Magleby's chocolate cake that Andrew requests for his birthday cake each year.)

And Stanley and I were there too.

Then afterwards we went to Stinson Beach for a nice walk since I've been wanting to go here since we moved to SF, and we like to bask in the fact that we live in California and can go to the beach year round (in jackets and scarves, but that is a minor detail.)

Plus there is nothing happier than a dog at the beach.

Quick trip to Mendocino

Last weekend was the kick off of our California travels. Over the next few weeks we plan to spend a lot of time exploring this ginormous state of ours. 

The weekend started with my dad and step mom coming up to SF to join us for a weekend getaway. We drove Highway 1 up the coast to Mendocino. It was such a beautiful drive! We saw lighthouses, beaches, cliffs, rolling hills... My dad said this was God's country and I had to agree. 

We stayed at the cutest bed and breakfast in Mendocino. 

The town is teeny tiny and you can see it all in about an hour. We spent a lot of time hiking around the headlands. 

It was the perfect weekend. I came back home SO relaxed. Anytime I get to spend hanging with this guy is a win. 

Fact: Butter Makes Life Better

At the time of posting my hair hasn't been washed in two days, I haven't put on make up for possibly over a week, my leg hair and Andrew's leg hair are almost indistinguishable, and my apartment is in serious need of a scrub down. But I did make perfect looking and tasting croissants. BOOM. It's all about priorities. 

About three months ago I was asked to be the president of my church's youth group. I get to hang out with 6 awesome girls every Tuesday night, Sunday, and occasionally even more often. Today was our church's general conference (check it out at lds.org) where we watch live talks given by church leaders on tons of different subjects. 

Naturally I am looking for any excuse to party so we had a brunch for the youth and all the youth program volunteers. Read: 20 people in my studio apartment chowing down. It was cozy and awesome and I loved it. And I made croissants from the Tartine cookbook. It took 3 days and there was 6 sticks of butter in those things. 

Ain't no thing. 

Ps- it was 70* and sunny all weekend. So dreamy. 

From Where I Stand

We have lived in San Francisco for almost two years now. I have enjoyed every minute of it and find myself aggressively in love with this city. I think part of why I feel so passionately is because I never know how long we'll be here. We could leave next year, or in ten years. Or... as recent late night chats have developed... maybe we'll stay in the Bay Area forever.

Unfortunately I am bad at documenting my time here but am worried that someday I'll look back and forget what it was that made this city special. So here is a mash up of reasons my heart belongs in San Francisco mainly it's the food, friends, and amazing scenery.

 ^Tobias from Arrested Development^

All these things I did with my bestie. I have the most fun with him.

Spam Bots

What the what does this even say?

Please prove that you are not a robot? Now you are just mocking me. Prove that you can read this or else you are a robot.

I can never leave my witty comments on friends' blogs due to these government ploys. Seriously. I had a professor who wrote down all of the spambots she ever got because she was convinced they were secret government code or something.

We're on to you, big brother.

Coconut Curry

I really love thai food but had a hard time finding any thai recipes that tasted good when made at home. I finally found a pad thai recipe I loved in the Steamy Kitchen Cookbook. That book is full of all sorts of amazing recipes and I use it all the time. Another gem I found there: coconut curry.

This is a great meal because most the main ingredients come from canned or jarred ingredients (curry paste, coconut milk) meaning I can make it anytime I want. I just throw in whatever veggies are in my fridge, and sometimes chicken if I feel like going all out, and then bang. 30 minutes later I have really awesome curry.

Here's the recipe as The Steamy Kitchen makes it but with my additions and edits also.

Coconut Curry

Ingredients (feeds 4):

• 4 oz thai red curry paste
• 4 cups coconut milk, divided
• 1 TBS fish sauce (I used 1/2 TBS because I think 1 full TBS makes it fishy)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3 fresh kaffir lime leaves, torn (I've never used this)
• 6 oz chicken breast, cut into cubes (I omit this most the time and just make veggie curry)
• One 8 oz can of sliced bamboo shoots (I'll leave this out about 50 percent of the time)
• 1/2 cup red onion, sliced
• 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil (I omit this most the time)
• My addition: whatever veggies I have on hand, lightly steamed
• Veggies included in the above photo: carrots, yam, broccoli, asparagus, small potatoes

Directions:

1. Cook some rice in a rice cooker.
2. Add the curry paste to a medium pot and turn the heat to medium-low. As the pot heats up, the curry paste will begin to fry. release its oils and become fragrant. It's best to keep the heat fairly low as you are doing this - otherwise the curry paste can burn.
3. When the paste is fragrant pour in half of the coconut milk and turn the heat to high. Whisk until the curry paste has dissolved into the coconut milk. Pour in the remaining coconut milk, fish sauce, sugar, and kaffir lime leaves. Bring the curry to a gentle boil and then add the chicken, bamboo shoots, and red onion. Let simmer for 5 minutes to cook the chicken. Once the chicken is cooked add in the other steamed veggies. Turn off the heat and add basil.
4. Serve over steamed rice.