I like my fish unadulterated. I want to taste the ocean that they breathed and the seaweed that nurtured them. Whenever I go back to Hawaii, I eat poke, a popular raw fish dish in Hawaii that has a variety of preparation methods.  Ingredients might include fish, shrimp and octopus, and might be flavored with seaweed, green onions, kukui nut, sea salt, chili water, even kimchee seasoning.  The main thing is that the fish flavor is enhanced, not smothered.

The few glazed fish dishes I have eaten in restaurants were either over-cooked or over-sauced.  It was as if someone covered dark, rich koa or cherry wood with a thick paint.  Quite disrespectful!

In the interest of trying a new recipe, however, I set out to look for a glaze that might help me be more open-minded.  I found a wonderfully simple recipe from America’s Test Kitchen (yet again!) that had only three ingredients to add to the salmon.  Now that is simple.

In fact, it was too simple, so I decided I needed to stretch a little and bake a peach  cobbler from a recipe I found in an August 2005 Martha Stewart’s Living magazine. The peach filling is tasty with just a touch of ginger, but it is the taste and texture of the topping that renders this dessert a lavish end to a simple meal.

MAPLE-SOY GLAZED SALMON

The preparation time for this meal was 40 minutes, which is the time it takes to cook basmati rice in a rice cooker.  The actual time for the preparation of the maple-soy glazed salmon was about 2 0minutes, including the gathering of ingredients and cutting a side of salmon into fillets.

I simmered a 1/2 cup of maple syrup and 1/4 cup soy sauce for a few minutes until the mixture was the texture of syrup.  I baked six salmon fillets, skin side down, at 450 degrees for about three minutes then basted each piece with the glaze.  I baked it about three more minutes adding a little more glaze at the end.

I then sprinkled chopped up green onions and toasted sesame seeds on the top and the dish was ready.  It was served with rice and a mixed green salad with ginger tofu dressing. 

SALMON SIMPLY GLAZED TO PERFECTION — IN TEXAS!

p.s.  In my quest for a balanced meal, I rounded off this healthy fare with . . .

PEACH COBBLER ALA MODE!

“Flight 0804 has arrived,” the automated voice announced to the air.  “Baggage can be claimed at Baggage Claim C.  For passengers flying to another destination, please check the consoles located throughout the terminal.”

He was expecting many important people arriving on this flight.  Dignitaries, financiers, artists and musicians were listed on the manifest.  But he was especially interested in a woman he had yet to meet.  Her postcards always managed to reach him, bits of her life scribbled on the backs of beaches, mountains and cities.  Her simplicity intrigued him. 

“I like this town.  I may stay here awhile.” 

“I didn’t realize how much this beach meant to me.”

“These mountains must reach heaven.”

The tired-looking travelers started filing in one by one, pushing the turnstyle that ended their journeys.  He recognized the young senator from Illinois who will lead a nation, and another man who will challenge Israel’s sovereignty.  He smiled fondly at a dark colored man who will sing about how wonderful life is, and nodded briefly at a man whose baseball career will be tainted by his credibility before lawmakers.

He stood when a small woman came through, carrying an overstuffed red purse and a slim computer bag.  She seemed so . . .  ordinary next to these other destinies.  Yet he recognized her by her expectant glances at different faces, and a small smile that breathed anticipation. 

She set her bags down near the baggage conveyer and ran her fingers through her hair.  She was business-like in her movements, yet bent down to talk to a little Asian boy who will star in a TV series about being lost. 

She saw him walking towards her, and her smile broadened.  “I knew you’d be here,” she murmured when he stood a few inches away. 

He gently placed his hands on her shoulders, and said quietly, “Welcome to Gaia, child.”  They hugged as old friends do when time is of no essence.

“Let me help you with your bags,” he offered, as they waited for the conveyer to deliver her life.

- a birthday present to myself

HEAT X 2
Water molecules
struggle to remain intact
in heat invasion

HEAT X 3
Hair tendrils perspire
shirt outlines skeletal parts
breathing to exist

HEAT X 4
Indoors or outdoors
an unfair choice for humans
are we not rulers?

Her salty fingers tingle
     he caressed the roundness
     of these weathered rocks
     wishing she could feel its smoothness
     and embrace his touch

Her sunburnt eyes perceive
     he weighed woven nets
     with these forgotten glass orbs
     promising to end his journeys
     with abundance restored

Her sandy feet discern
     he paused to examine
     remnants of starfish and urchins
     regretting life’s journeys
     on divergent oceans

She assembles these icons
    on an altar to a memory
    that ebbs and flows
    through letters she conjures
    from a celestial shore

At home, Mama placed a large metal bucket about two feet wide and one foot high on the kitchen floor.  As she poured boiling water into the bucket, Papa deftly broke the chickens’ necks, cut off their heads, and we proceeded to remove feathers after the chickens were placed in the water.  On those weekends, our extended family had fried chicken and various chicken soups and stews.  Every part of the chicken, including the necks, feet and some of the innards, were used. 

Because I was willing (eager actually) to help in the process, especially in the pulling of the feathers, I was allowed first pick at the chicken pieces.  Inevitably, I selected pieces with the most skin.  The wings, drumsticks and thighs were mine for the asking.  Today I still choose dark meat pieces – on Thanksgiving, in a KFC bucket, at a potluck.  I often replace chicken thighs for breasts when I cook. 

I was therefore delighted to find a recipe on americastestkitchen.com specifically designed to optimize dark meat attributes.  The host of America’s Test Kitchen (ATK), Christopher Kimball, explained that the collagen in dark meat turns into gel and absorbs a lot of liquid.  The tendency of white meat, on the other hand, is to lose water and dry out during the cooking process.

CHICKEN CANZANESE

This is an Italian braised dish that uses common pantry items.  I dried and  peppered nine pieces of chicken thighs and set that aside while I prepared the braising sauce. 

To oil that was shimmering hot, I added about three ounces of prosciutto that was cut about 1/2 inch thick and diced into 1/4 inch cubes.  After cooking this until it was lightly browned, I added four garlic cloves that were sliced lengthwise. As I set it aside, I wanted to make sure that it would be okay, and tasted a couple of pieces of prosciutto.  It was “okay” (excellent!).

Next, I upped the temperature, added a little more olive oil and set the chicken in, skin side down. Although the written recipe called for skinning the thighs, the video noted that the crisping of the skin is part of the tastiness of this dish. Of course I kept the skin on!

I removed the chicken after about five minutes on each side, then reduced the oil to a couple of tablespoons.  I added two cups of Mondavi chardonnay and a cup of chicken broth and while it simmered that for a few minutes, I scraped the chicken crusted at the bottom to get every bit into the sauce.  I added four cloves, two bay leaves, twelve sage leaves and a sprinkling of red pepper flakes.  I stripped a four-inch stem of rosemary of its leaves, added the stem to the sauce and chopped up the leaves to use at the end.  I then nestled the chicken, skin side up, into this liquid and stuck the pan into the 325 degree oven.  

I prepared two simple side dishes that would complement the strong flavors of chicken canzanese. Al dente gemilli pasta sprinkled with fresh parsley and topped with chopped fresh tomatoes was light and perfect for soaking up the sauce. Steamed fresh asparagus rounded off the palate with its distinct flavor.

After about an hour and 15 minutes, I removed the pan from the oven and placed the chicken in its serving dish.  I discarded all the leaves, simmered the sauce until it reduced to a little over a cup,  and added the chopped up rosemary leaves, a tablespoon of lemon juice and a couple of tablespoons of butter.  I poured the sauce over the chicken and it was ready to serve.

CHICKEN CANZANESE – CRISPY SKIN, SUCCULENT MEAT, AND A RICH, FLAVORFUL SAUCE!

Note: Many thanks to America’s Test Kitchen for their videos.  While their written recipes are clear and instructional, their videos bring the cooking process to life and even someone like me can replicate their dishes.

1.
bubble-eyed insect
four-part body on six feet
ant morphology 

2.
obsidian specks
scurry to scavenge stale crumbs
ubiquitous ants

3.
women hunt and march
leaving men to breed and die
no choice for the ant

4.
fire mounds and pincers
soldiers swarm to burn, bite, steal
invasion of ants

5.
assignment from birth
leafcutter, weaver, army
purpose-driven ants

Mark Moffett was recently featured on NPR and CBS Sunday morning.  He is an entomologist, biologist, photographer and ant-enthusiast and wrote Adventures Among Ants: A Global Safari with a Cast of Trillions.  I don’t like ants, but I was fascinated by his stories of these tiny creatures.  These stories inform and sometimes scare me, but most of all, have taught me to respect the ant.

For me, the exotic is the fragrance of spices in temporary tents around an isolated oasis or in a cacophonous bazaar where one can haggle for roasted chicken on a spit or the coveted mace and saffron.  Far off places like Marrakech, Casablanca, Fez  – where travelers in caravans pause for a night of lamb stew, rest, and perhaps a tale or two. 

For Week 5, I harkened back to this exotic scene and found recipes at morrocanfood.about.com that promised to arouse these images – if only for a night.

RAS EL HANOUT

Ras El Hanout is a mixture of several ground spices that are staple in many Moroccan dishes.  Its literal translation from Arabic is “head of the shop,” implying that it is the best.    

I used a recipe that combined 13 spices. Most were in my pantry, though some rarely used. I bought a few in bulk at Central Market, the most intriguing of which was mace, which sold at $45.95 a pound. Mace is the bright red, lacy covering of the nutmeg seed shell. While its sweet fragrance is similar to nutmeg, its bouquet is stronger, more intense. I bought the exact two teaspoons I needed for the mixture.

I poured the following into a large glass jar and shook it well:

• 2 teaspoons each of ground ginger, ground cardamom and ground mace
• 1 teaspoon each of cinnamon, ground allspice, ground coriander seeds, ground nutmeg and turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon each of ground black pepper, ground white pepper, ground cayenne pepper and ground anise seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves

As I transferred the Ras El Hanout into a spice jar, I was as careful as if I were handling gold dust.

M’ROUZIA

Just saying this is exotic.  M’rouzia is a lamb dish with raisins, almond and honey.  It is traditionally prepared in the days following Eid Al Adha, or “Festival of Sacrifice,” a major Islāmic holiday that commemorates Abraham’s willingness to obey God when he envisioned that he was to sacrifice his son.

I used three pieces of lamb shank, which yielded about three pounds of meat.  The Central Market butcher was kind to remove the bone and cut the meat into stew-sized pieces (I later boiled the bones for our dogs and kept its broth for uses I have yet to figure out).  The meat was rich in color and texture, plump, interwoven with fat, sinew and tendon.

I soaked a 1/2 cup of golden raisins in water.  In my favorite Le Creuset pot, I mixed the meat with grated onions, pressed garlic, two cinnamon sticks, two tablespoons each of Ras El Hanout and ground ginger,  a 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric, salt, ground pepper, 2 cinnamon sticks, crumbled saffron and 1/2 cup butter.  I cooked this on medium high heat for about 15 minutes. 

I added water to cover the meat and simmered this wonderfully fragrant brew for a couple of hours.  I then added the raisins, honey, a teaspoon of cinnamon and a 1/2 cup of blanched slivered almonds.  This simmered for an additional 30 minutes, as the liquid became thick and syrupy.  The meat became tender chunks that came apart when prodded with a fork.

RICE PILAF WITH SAFFRON

I prepared a Moroccan rice dish that featured saffron, the fragile stigma of the saffron crocus plant.  In addition to adding a golden color to dishes, it imparts a woody and slightly bitter taste. 

I’m accustomed to preparing rice in a rice cooker.  This dish was cooked in a large skillet.  While I heated four cups of chicken broth in a saucepan, I mixed white long grain rice with two tablespoons each of butter and olive oil, a chopped onion, two finely chopped garlic cloves, and two cinnamon sticks.  To this I added 1/2 teaspoon each of ground ginger, white pepper, cumin and turmeric.  For vegetables, I used a yellow bell pepper and a zucchini, both chopped into small chunks, and a handful of cilantro. 

This rice mixture was cooked on medium heat for 10 minutes, during which I had to stir frequently to keep everything from sticking.  I then added the heated broth and some saffron, stirred it once, and let it simmer for about 25 minutes.

THE MEAL

By the time the cooking was done, I imagined our house smelled like a Marrakech souk (traditional marketplace).   

Of course, this meal would not be complete without the company of fellow sojourners, and we were fortunate to have dear friends, originally from England, dine with us.  We shared stories over m’rouzia and rice pilaf, finishing off iced mint tea at almost midnight. 

Our friends left amid promises of more meals and tales to share.  Our paths shall cross again soon.

2.
Khamsin swirls away
from Moroccan desert sands
to Texas grasslands

Khamsin is the dry, hot and dusty wind that blows in North Africa.
One cannot photograph the wind, only its effects.

tarry the bubble

rising through viscosity

struggling not to burst

Oil on canvas by John Edward Mill, 1886

This haiku was playing in my head for several days, then I stumbled upon this painting that had nothing to do with whatever I was searching.