Grilled Fish Fillet on Oregano

JS:
With our recent culinary explorations into regional Chinese cuisine, it seems that other cuisines have fallen by the wayside.

It has been quite some time since we've cooked Greek, for instance, and for shame, for shame, too, because we really love the flavours of Greece.

For our entry into the Greek edition of Regional Recipes, we wanted to keep it quick and easy -- and very simple too. We wanted to have something that's quintessentially Greek.



TS:
In our pathetic garden, our oregano and marjoram plants are lush!



TS:
And remember our sage plant? Well, it has started flowering!

So, since we had so much oregano in the garden, we decided to grill some fish on a bed of oregano.



TS:
We used a grill pan because we were short on time, so waiting for the grill to heat up was not going to work. And, sorry again for using fish fillets! Of course, whole fish is the way to go, but we already had these fish fillets in the fridge and had to use them.

I simply placed several "sprigs" of oregano on the grill plan. When they were smoking, a placed my fish fillets on top.



TS:
I seasoned the fish with salt and the faintest touch of cayenne, as well as some roughly ground toasted fennel seeds.



TS:
As a final touch, I drizzled some extra virgin olive oil on top before serving.



TS:
I decided to use more fresh oregano, as well as sage because the purple flowers were so pretty, as decoration. =)


eatingclub vancouver Greek
"Greek" Calamari
Simple Greek Meal
Caper Salad
Greek Meatball Soup (Giouvarlakia)
Marinated Feta
Greek Shrimp with Feta
Greek Ribs with Tzatziki
Mushroom Ragu Pastitsio
Spanakorizo (Greek Spinach Rice)
Zucchini Ribbons Salad with Anchovy Dressing
Souvlaki (Pork and Chicken)
Tomato Bread Salad, Greek-style
Grilled Fish Fillet on Oregano
Pastéli (Greek Sesame Snaps)

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eatingclub vancouver Regional Recipes posts
Greek Meatball Soup (Giouvarlakia)
Simmered Saba Mackerel with Daikon Radish (Saba Oroshi-ni)
Thai Fried Chicken
Roast Pork Belly with Puy Lentils
Beef "Ribbon" Kebab (Pasanda Kabab) with Cilantro Chutney
Canadian Onion Soup with Oka Cheese
Muffuletta
Börek with Beef Filling
Korean Pork Bulgogi (with Muu Namul, Kong Namul)
Lobster Congee from a Lobster Feast
Pork Jowl (Pork Cheeks) with Brown Sugar Rub
Beef Salpicao
Cuban Arroz con Salchichas (Yellow Rice with Vienna Sausages)
Cuban Pastelitos de Guayaba y Queso (Guava and Cheese Pastries)
Vietnamese Spring Roll (Cha Gio)
Grilled Fish Fillet on Oregano
Pastéli (Greek Sesame Snaps)

We're submitting this to Regional Recipes, a blogging event created by Darlene of Blazing Hot Wok that celebrates food from all over the world.

The torch has since been passed to Joanne of Eats Well with Others.

The region for this edition is Greece.

The round-up will be hosted at Regional Recipes and will be posted after July 1. Regional Recipes information

Zha Jiang Mian, aka "Chinese Spaghetti" (炸醬麵)

JS:
I've heard of zha jiang mian spoken of quite fondly: it is even considered by its eaters as one iconic dish, evoking the same warm, fuzzy feelings that "spaghetti" does for most people.

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zha_jiang_mian

For some reason, the vagaries of our lives never permitted our stomachs and zha jiang mian to cross. I'm racking my brain if I've ever had this dish at home and I'm coming up blank.

No, no, no. . . we didn't have a "Chinese Spaghetti" in our childhoods: we just had the regular ol' spaghetti. Okay, not so regular, because our version is somewhat different from spaghetti bolognese. We had ours with hotdogs -- but hey, that's another story for another day.

When I saw the Jessica's version of zha jiang mian on FoodMayhem, I thought it was time to give this Chinese spaghetti a try.



TS:
Literally translated, zha jiang mian means "fried sauce noodles". In this case, the sauces are composed of various "bean" sauces.

Here are the three we used. If making this dish, my advice would be to copy down the Chinese names (or print them out), as most of the time, all of these products would be vaguely labeled as "bean paste" in English. Very confusing indeed.


甜麵醬, translated this time as "Sweet Bean Paste"


豆瓣酱, translated this time as "Soy Bean Paste"


京都炸醬, translated as "Mandarin Jah-Jan Sauce"

TS:
I happened to find that jar of "Mandarin Jah-Jan Sauce" lying around. And hey, if it says that it is the sauce for Northern-style "Zha Jiang", then I definitely should throw it into the mix!




TS:
This is quite easy to make, even easier and faster than spaghetti sauce.

I cooked some green onions in oil, then added ground pork. After cooking the meat for a bit, the bean sauces and some water go in. Everything cooks for a bit more. I added a touch of sesame oil near the end for extra fragrance.



TS:
We didn't have any Chinese noodles in the house, so we used fettuccine.

This dish is usually served with raw cucumbers, so I made little cucumber curls. . . just for one bowl. For the blog! ;)



TS:
Of course, we didn't bother with the fancy plating for ourselves. We simply tossed the meat sauce with the noodles and served the dish family-style.

(And yes, I know that, once again, that below is a huge amount.)


big pot o' Chinese spaghetti

JS:
This was quite popular with the family.

The meat sauce was hearty, deeply and darkly savoury, but with enough of sweetness to balance it off.

In fact, I think this zha jiang mian was even more popular with some family members than what I have been calling in our house as the Chinese equivalent to ragu bolognese, namely, the Taiwanese Stewed Minced Pork sauce (魯肉飯 or 肉燥飯).

Our recipe for Taiwanese Stewed Minced Pork sauce (魯肉飯 or 肉燥飯)

Me? I'm quite undecided which Chinese "bolognese" I prefer. Following Solomon's infinite wisdom for my end of infinite gluttony, I suppose I would have to split my stomach into two.

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Recipe
Zha Jiang Mian, aka "Chinese Spaghetti" (炸醬麵)
adapted from FoodMayhem's version: http://www.foodmayhem.com/2009/11/za-jiang-mein.html

This is quite a large amount, as we used 2 pounds of pasta. Please feel free to halve the recipe.

900 g (2 pounds) fettuccine, or Chinese wheat noodles

2 tablespoon vegetable oil
6 stalks green onion, chopped
3 pounds ground pork
1/2 cup sweet bean sauce/paste (甜麵醬)
1/3 cup soy bean sauce/paste (豆瓣酱)
1/3 cup Mandarin Jah-Jan sauce/paste (京都炸醬)
2/3 to 3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon sesame oil

julienned raw cucumbers

Boil water for your noodles. When boiling, add your noodles and cook according to package directions.

For the sauce, heat oil in a pot over medium heat. Cook green onions until soft and fragrant.

Add the ground pork and when it is almost fully cooked through, add the three bean sauces and water. Stir occasionally and let cook, uncovered, until the mixture has thickened. Add sesame oil, and adjust seasoning (salt or sugar), if needed.

Serve over cooked noodles. Or, toss noodles and sauce together. Serve with julienned raw cucumbers, if desired.

Sloppy Joe Sandwich

JS:
There are certain foods that send me running to the hills just at the thought: unfortunately, the Sloppy Joe is one of them.

Now please don't flame me: this is a personal preference and, as with all personal preferences, yours or mine or Adam's, this does not have anything to do with anything. Some people can't seem to get this simple point.

In the past couple of weeks, we've started getting some hateful and angry comments on this blog -- at what, I have no idea. Some of them were incoherent. Does that mean this little blog of ours is finally growing up? ;)

Anyhoo, I have no love for ground meat that has been cooked with or mixed with ketchup. Don't ask me why or how that is: it is what it is.

CSC's family makes their egg torta with a ground pork filling mixed with ketchup: the thought alone sends shivers down my spine. Our version is such a nice golden one. ;)

I guess all of this just goes to show that I'm the wrong person to be writing the introduction to this Sloppy Joe Sandwich post.

Why did we even make Sloppy Joes? Well, I thought maybe I'd change my mind about Sloppy Joes. . . and our other family members like this whole meat-with-ketchup concept.



TS:
For this American thing, it's only fitting we turn to America's Test Kitchen. Specifically, the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook.

Their version called for just onions and ground beef. In hindsight, I should've used a recipe that called for bell peppers as well, as I saw in one episode of Throwdown in Bobby Flay. (The challenger was Schnipper's Quality Kitchen.)

We already disclosed this dirty little Throwdown secret before, so no need for disparaging remarks this time. ;)

It's a good show to turn on when one is feeling sleepy; that way, one doesn't feel like she is missing out if she does fall asleep in the middle of an episode. Teehee.



TS:
To make the filling, I simply cooked some onions and garlic, then added chili powder, ground beef and brown sugar. When the beef was more or less cooked through, I added tomato purée, ketchup and a touch of Tabasco. (I didn't taste any heat, though.) Of course, I seasoned with salt and pepper to taste.



JS:
For the record, I couldn't bring myself to eat one. I did take a spoonful to taste the meat filling. I can taste the appeal but it's really not for me. At this point, it's probably not the flavours that I don't like, because as I said, I can taste the appeal. I just have an adverse gut reaction to it for some reason.

TS:
JS has some sort of mental hurdle she has to overcome herself.

For me, the sloppy joe sandwich was all right. Maybe it was still too ketchup-y. In my head, I had always assumed that the sloppy joe filling would be tomato sauce-based (as opposed to ketchup-based).

So, perhaps that's what I would do next time: more tomato sauce, less ketchup, add bell peppers.

That is, if there is a next time, with JS' aversion and all. But, the 3 kids(Bosses #1-3) loved it! And of course, CSC too, with her ketchup-love and all.


You gotta SQUISH the bun!

TS:
By the way, I liked the loosemeat sandwich better. I made the two sandwiches on the same day!

JS:
Anyways, I'm working myself up to this Sloppy Joe thing. Wish me luck.

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Recipe
Sloppy Joes
from America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
Serves 4

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium olive, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon brown sugar
salt and pepper
1 cup tomato purée
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup water
Tabasco
4 hamburger buns

1. Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and chili powder and cook for 1 minute. Add the beef, brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon sat and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, breaking the meat into small pieces, until the meat is no longer pink, about 4 minutes.

2. Stir in the tomato purée, ketchup, and water. Cook until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with Tabasco and salt and pepper to taste. Spoon 1/2 cup of the meat mixture into each hamburger bun.