To Cook All Weekend: #MDW Edition

Before Memorial Day came around we decided there all kinds of things we wanted to make. After all, with three days to muck about, why not?

ya, fine. i bought bowls that day just for the soup.

Michael made bouillabaisse. Once upon a time, we went to Marseilles and didn't get to eat bouillabaisse because we didn't know you had to make reservations. So, it's been on the to cook list for a while. We went to the Maine Ave Fish Market (a cement pier settled into the Potomac with 5 or so huge stalls of fishmongers selling fish) and bought clams, shrimp, red snapper & monk fish (probably, one of my favorite fishes).

Maine Avenue Fish Market

Sunday, we went to a picnic with some friends. I had a need to make fried chicken. We had made it before at a class and then tried it one weekend in Boston. This instance was the best we've ever made. I think it was the boneless, skinless thighs chopped into 2-bite sized nuggets that did the trick. We used Roses Luxury's brine recipe (sort of... I forgot to boil the brine; it was 6am before coffee on a Sunday), and then used the technique from our cooking class: flour (seasoned with S&P, cayenne, paprika), buttermilk, flour then fry. And again per Roses, we drizzled the fried chicken with honey & sesame seeds. SO GOOD. Best thing we've ever made. Probably.

asparagus, shrooms & onions.

I also grilled up some veggies for the picnic. That's been a spring time go to. (Grilled on a pan, since we live in an apartment with no real grill access :(

For a Monday morning treat, Michael made buttermilk biscuits to have a fried chicken "sandwich". I had that with a side of fried chicken nuggets. I couldn't stop eating them. I drizzle almost everything with turkish honey these days.

I also made strawberry rhubarb bars & whole wheat banana bread for breakfast for the week. Speaking of honey (like 2 sentence ago)!  Instead of maple syrup in the banana bread recipe, I used honey. Other tips I learned that I should remember: don't put banana bread on the bottom rack; the bottom of the oven is too hot! and if your bananas aren't ripe enough, just go ahead and roast 'em, skin on for 10 mins.

All that + 6 movies made for a stuffed weekend.

To Use Fancy French Words: Fish en Papillote

 

This is a relatively easy & delicious dinner. Relatively because it didn't come out EXACTLY cooked in the first go-round, but with a little help from Michael, things turned out terrifically. I think the mistake was that I used a very thick slab of red snapper, and didn't rightfully adjust the cooking time. I used a new technique "en papillote" which just means in parchment paper. I sauteed some greens then threw them with some fish into the parchment paper and cooked it up real good. It was so nice. And, I'm eager to try again and not eff it up.