BrazenAmateur
Senior Cook
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2007
- Messages
- 193
I tend to be pretty boring during the week, I make the same ol' stuff week in and week out, albeit with a few variations. Most if takes very very little time indeed.
My staples are frozen fish and shrimp, frozen veggies, fresh mushrooms bought weekly, fresh herbs bought weekly, and lots of rice.
Rice is my standby weeknight starch, as I can throw it in my rice cooker and it will sort itself out whilst I tend to everything else. I'd love to work with potatoes more during the week, but they're so much more labor-intensive (peeling, longer to cook, etc. Baked potatoes are the exception, obviously). Pasta works too, of course, but for whatever reason I tend to eat less of it than rice.
I have come to LOVE the Whole Foods "Whole Catch" frozen seafood line. Fresh is obviously always better, but this still tends to be some very good stuff, and it allows me to eat fish 2-3 times per week when I'd normally have no capability whatsoever to go out and spend the time each meal to pick up fresh. I will NOT let fresh fish sit in the fridge for even a day, if I buy it that day, it must be eaten that day. Frozen offers more flexibility.
Anyway, here are my standbys: (I recommend a nonstick skillet for all the fish dishes)
1.) Sole/Tilapia Meuniere:
This is NOT a proper meuniere, but it works, and it takes 15-20 mins for the whole meal. I will have started my starch before starting on the fish (usually the aforementioned rice). Defrost fish by whatever means or have already defrosted. Season with S&P and dredge fillets lightly in flour. Melt desired quantity of butter (lots) on medium-low heat, and when butter stops foaming, add fish. Cook fish 3-5 minutes, turn once, remove fish. Add additional buttah to now-browned butter in pan, turn off heat. Squeeze in some lemon, add a few strained capers, swirl it all around, pour over fish. While you're doing this, be microwaving or stove-topping your frozen veg, and dress those up however you please. Easy-breezy.
2.) Salmon with dill-cream sauce
Thaw salmon, season with S&P, heat some oil in a pan, sear on both sides for as long as it takes given thickness of fish (I like salmon medium rare). Mix some sour cream, fresh dill, and lemon juice to taste and spoon a little bit on top of fillet. I then also top with Ikura (salmon roe) because I always have it on-hand, but most people probably don't. Serve with whatever starch & veg you deem appropriate.
3.) Hot/Sweet Shrimp
Thaw frozen shrimp and clean if necessary (I buy with legs and shells on, you may not). Mix together a sweet, thicker teriyaki sauce with some siracha chili sauce to taste, adding other ingredients if your palate tells you to. Add oil to nonstick pan on medium, add shrimp and some garlic, cook shrimp 90% through, turn heat down to medium-low and add sauce. Stir it all around so sauce coats shrimp, squeeze in a touch of lemon juice, stir a touch more (DON'T overcook shrimp, this should all happen hella fast), then remove and serve with....whatever. End product should be hot, sweet, and shrimpy. I achieve this with the teriyaki and siracha, but you can use anything else that achieves the same result. Make sure you turn the heat down when you add the sauce, burnt sauce on the bottom of the pan will make your end product taste like garbage.
4.) Loco Moco
I'm sure resident hawaiians will cringe at my recipe, but it works for me. This REQUIRES rice, and two more pans (one for beef, one for some quick fried eggs). Form beef into patties, and buy FATTY ground beef, you want it to yield tons of juice. Heat nonstick skillet to medium-high with a tiny touch of oil in it and add patties. Sear until desired doneness, flipping once (I like medium). Remove patties, and you should have a good bit of beef drippings left in the pan. Start your fried eggs at this point, I like mine pretty runny with this dish, it's 100% of the fun. Deglaze beef pan with a bit of beef stock on medium-low, throw in a bit of shoyu to taste and whatever else you like to add (I throw in a bit of siracha too), swirl around, thicken with some cornstarch.
I serve in a bowl. Steamed rice on the bottom, patty on top, fried egg on top of patty, and gravy all ovah! My relatively spicy siracha gravy goes HELLA GOOD with the fatty patty, runny egg, and fluffy rice. This is an angioplasty special, so I only make it once every couple months. I like to eat roasted asparagus with this, personally, but use whatever veg you want.
I've got a few more, but this post is turning into an impenetrable wall of text. If the thread takes off, I'll toss up a few more.
My staples are frozen fish and shrimp, frozen veggies, fresh mushrooms bought weekly, fresh herbs bought weekly, and lots of rice.
Rice is my standby weeknight starch, as I can throw it in my rice cooker and it will sort itself out whilst I tend to everything else. I'd love to work with potatoes more during the week, but they're so much more labor-intensive (peeling, longer to cook, etc. Baked potatoes are the exception, obviously). Pasta works too, of course, but for whatever reason I tend to eat less of it than rice.
I have come to LOVE the Whole Foods "Whole Catch" frozen seafood line. Fresh is obviously always better, but this still tends to be some very good stuff, and it allows me to eat fish 2-3 times per week when I'd normally have no capability whatsoever to go out and spend the time each meal to pick up fresh. I will NOT let fresh fish sit in the fridge for even a day, if I buy it that day, it must be eaten that day. Frozen offers more flexibility.
Anyway, here are my standbys: (I recommend a nonstick skillet for all the fish dishes)
1.) Sole/Tilapia Meuniere:
This is NOT a proper meuniere, but it works, and it takes 15-20 mins for the whole meal. I will have started my starch before starting on the fish (usually the aforementioned rice). Defrost fish by whatever means or have already defrosted. Season with S&P and dredge fillets lightly in flour. Melt desired quantity of butter (lots) on medium-low heat, and when butter stops foaming, add fish. Cook fish 3-5 minutes, turn once, remove fish. Add additional buttah to now-browned butter in pan, turn off heat. Squeeze in some lemon, add a few strained capers, swirl it all around, pour over fish. While you're doing this, be microwaving or stove-topping your frozen veg, and dress those up however you please. Easy-breezy.
2.) Salmon with dill-cream sauce
Thaw salmon, season with S&P, heat some oil in a pan, sear on both sides for as long as it takes given thickness of fish (I like salmon medium rare). Mix some sour cream, fresh dill, and lemon juice to taste and spoon a little bit on top of fillet. I then also top with Ikura (salmon roe) because I always have it on-hand, but most people probably don't. Serve with whatever starch & veg you deem appropriate.
3.) Hot/Sweet Shrimp
Thaw frozen shrimp and clean if necessary (I buy with legs and shells on, you may not). Mix together a sweet, thicker teriyaki sauce with some siracha chili sauce to taste, adding other ingredients if your palate tells you to. Add oil to nonstick pan on medium, add shrimp and some garlic, cook shrimp 90% through, turn heat down to medium-low and add sauce. Stir it all around so sauce coats shrimp, squeeze in a touch of lemon juice, stir a touch more (DON'T overcook shrimp, this should all happen hella fast), then remove and serve with....whatever. End product should be hot, sweet, and shrimpy. I achieve this with the teriyaki and siracha, but you can use anything else that achieves the same result. Make sure you turn the heat down when you add the sauce, burnt sauce on the bottom of the pan will make your end product taste like garbage.
4.) Loco Moco
I'm sure resident hawaiians will cringe at my recipe, but it works for me. This REQUIRES rice, and two more pans (one for beef, one for some quick fried eggs). Form beef into patties, and buy FATTY ground beef, you want it to yield tons of juice. Heat nonstick skillet to medium-high with a tiny touch of oil in it and add patties. Sear until desired doneness, flipping once (I like medium). Remove patties, and you should have a good bit of beef drippings left in the pan. Start your fried eggs at this point, I like mine pretty runny with this dish, it's 100% of the fun. Deglaze beef pan with a bit of beef stock on medium-low, throw in a bit of shoyu to taste and whatever else you like to add (I throw in a bit of siracha too), swirl around, thicken with some cornstarch.
I serve in a bowl. Steamed rice on the bottom, patty on top, fried egg on top of patty, and gravy all ovah! My relatively spicy siracha gravy goes HELLA GOOD with the fatty patty, runny egg, and fluffy rice. This is an angioplasty special, so I only make it once every couple months. I like to eat roasted asparagus with this, personally, but use whatever veg you want.
I've got a few more, but this post is turning into an impenetrable wall of text. If the thread takes off, I'll toss up a few more.
