Cod with Korean Flavors

I found my first fish filet that I enjoyed in COD! Who knew! If you don't remember, I haven't really liked the taste of any of the fish dishes that I've cooked in the past. I think I just don't like the taste of most fish filets. I love other seafoods including mussels, oysters, crawfish and calamari to name a few. This dish was super easy, and the sauce on the rice was SOOOOO good. This is definitely a dish that I will re-visit and try again.

Roasted Cod with Korean Flavors
Serves 4
Source: Weeknight Fresh & Fast by Kristine Kidd

Ingredients
1 tablespoon Olive oil
1 large shallot, minced
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 1/2 teaspoons serrano chile, minced
1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
4 Cod Filets SS: Original recipe called for black cod, I went with regular because the store only had "cod"
2 Green Onions, white and green parts, sliced

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C)
• In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the shallot, ginger, and chile, and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, and water, and simmer until the mixture is reduced to 3/4 cup (6 fl oz/ 180 ml), about 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the sesame oil. Set aside a small amount of the sauce for brushing.
• Brush a small baking pan with olive oil, and place the fish, skin side down, in the pan. Brush the fish with the reserved sauce. SS: Since you're also going to pour the sauce on the rice, I'd suggest putting some of the sauce in a separate dish if you don't like to double dip in raw fish. Roast until just cooked through, about 10 minutes. Transfer the fish to plates, sprinkle with green onions, and serve right away, passing the remaining sauce alongside.

I served the fish over brown rice. It would have gone perfectly with some broccoli rabe on the side, but since this was a "family dinner" and my mom wasn't sure if my brother would like broccoli rabe, she fixed green beans - which I hate! LOL!

Coral lace

Top - Urban; Tank - Anthro; Skirt - Thrifted; Boots - Aldo; Necklaces - Urban; Frames - Urban; Hair - Mini twists in french braid

Date: Sunday, February 27, 2011

This weekend I decided to really go for the maxi look, right? LOL, I promise, I only have one other maxi look in my recent purchases. Both the skirt and the top are new editions to my closet. I got the skirt from a Salvation Army in Lancaster, PA (thanks to Marie for telling me about the AWESOME thrift possibilities out there) for $4.99. I got the top from Urban, and it was $44.00 - but I got a discount for it because I have a "friend discount" there, which is totally legal. I feel like it may sound shady... Anyway, the skirt was one of two finds that I found at the thrift store, and I am really pleased with it! Additionally, this shirt was the first time that I've been able to hop on the whole lace trend, so I also love it. Coral is an awesome color for spring that will transition well to summer. Speaking of spring, it was in the high 40s on Sunday and it really felt like spring, warm weather, please stay for a while!

I LOVE Maxi

 Top - Target; Dress worn as Skirt - Urban; Blazer - Banana; Boots - Cavenders; Hair - Mini Twists in Bun

Date: Saturday, February 26, 2011

I realized that I love everything maxi. Maxi dresses, maxi skirts, if there was a maxi food dish I'm sure I'd love that too. In order for me to fully appreciate my love of maxi's, I did some shopping because I have been having some MAJOR clothing malfunctions recently. I haven't done any serious shopping since the fall season, so I was definitely due to get some new items in rotation. In this outfit - the dress (worn as skirt) is new, I got it for $19.99 from Urban - score! Everything else is at least two years old. I love this dress because I can wear it in the winter, and in the summer! I must admit that I stole this idea from Jessica. Originally, I searched for a floral maxi skirt to get the look, but when I realized I could just turn this dress into a skirt, I was ECSTATIC! To my surprise, Jessica did the same thing in her rendition. Another score in my book!

Congo Inspired Hair Style

**UPDATE: I forgot to tell you where the Congo-inspiration came from**

Happy Monday Everyone! Check out the video below for a tutorial on a Congo-inspired style I did. I did this style back in January and just got a chance to upload the video. It is protective, and it's pretty easy also. It has full bantu knots on the top and a roll-style in the back. Enjoy!

PS - this weekend I took outfit pics - YAY! I'm going to try my best to get back to daily posting, because I really do missing blogging. Here's to being hopeful, and to a great week!

Why the Congo inspiration? I originally saw a video posted by afr0st0ry with a picture of a Congolese woman with a similar hair style. Her entire head had these type of fuller bantu knots. Additionally, she appeared to have some type of mud mask in her hair. The style looked very nice, so that's where the inspiration came from! Unfortunately, I can't seem to find a picture that resembles this woman's hairstyle, and I can't find the original video either, but that's where the Congo-inspiration came from.

Manhattan Pizza

In my travels for work, I stay at my parents house in Virginia Monday evenings before I head out to work in Central VA the following morning. This is the only chance I have in a kitchen for the entire week! It's so dreadful...ok, that's a bit much, but it's not the best. I have encouraged my brother to pick out what he wants to eat for dinner, and this night - he chose PIZZA! He got the idea for this pizza from a local pizza shop that calls it: Manhattan Pizza.

Manhattan Pizza
Serves 4

Ingredients
Pizza dough, 1 lb SS: Ours was pre-baked
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Truffle oil
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, leaves only
1 onion, thinly sliced
250 g cremini mushrooms, coarsely chopped
250 g shitake mushrooms, sliced
4 oz fresh mozzarella, shredded
1/4 cup feta cheese
Salt and pepper

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 425 F. In a large nonstick frying pan over medium heat, warm 1 1/2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the onions and the olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and saute until golden, about 20 minutes. Transfer the onions to a bowl. Wipe out the frying pan, set over medium-high heat, and warm the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper. Saute until the mushrooms are tender and juices evaporate, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Transfer the Brush the crust with the truffle oil. Spread the onions and then the mushrooms over the crust, leaving a border. Sprinkle with the cheeses. Bake until the crust browns and the cheese melts, 12-15 minutes.

Since we swiped the toppings from a local favorite pizza place, I had to guess on the amounts used for the pizza. We used the directions from another similar pizza. This combo of pizza toppings is AMAZING, the feta adds a nice creamy flavor, while the mushrooms and carmelized onions keep things sweet and salty. We served this with a side salad.

3in6 Hair Challenge Update

I'm right in the midst of week 4 of the 3in6 Hair Challenge, and I'm surprised to say that I've learned and re-learned some things about my hair. I'll break my learning's down by weeks.

Weeks 1-2: I wore small/medium two-strand twists. I washed my hair at the end of week two, and I noticed that a lost very little hair in my wash session - probably half of what I typically lose. I think this was due to the fact that I went straight from to my twists to my wash routine. I normally wear my hair out for one or two days after twists. Observing the minimal hair shedding/loss led me to see that even one to two days of wearing my hair out in loose form affects my hair retention.

Weeks 3-4: I attempted a new protective style at the beginning of week 3, and it was an ultimate FAILURE! The style was a side-cornrow style with the rest of my hair in medium-sized two-strand twists. After I saw the style, I realized that I do not like cornrow styles on me - personal preference. After the failed attempt, I twisted my hair in small two-strand twists. Since I did the FAILED style on wet hair, I also lost more hair than I expected due to re-detangling my semi-dry hair. I haven't twisted my hair on wet hair in over a year. I decided to try this old routine, because I didn't know when I would have time to twist it in the coming days. To my surprise, I found that this method of twisting on wet hair led to more detangling and hair breaking than I remembered. Clearly, that is something I won't do again. I really was about to call the challenge quits at the beginning of week 3, because I was not feeling how my hair was looking. Thankfully, I found another updo style for my twists that I received tons of compliments for, and that I love. Check out pics below.

I'm contemplating box braids for my Week 5-6 hairstyle, however I think I don't like box braids on me, so maybe I should just stick to twists...However, I know I'm getting tired of twists so I'm not sure what I'll decide...maybe I'll just bite the bullet and do some mini-twists - only time will tell!

Spiced Bean and Herb Hash

Doesn't this sound just delish! My brother and I prepared this dish for the fam while I made a pit stop at home traveling for work a couple of weeks ago. My mom, dad and brother, really enjoyed this aside an herbed chicken breast. I served this over rice, and my dinner was complete!

Spiced Bean and Herb Hash
Serves 4
Source: The Illustrated Quick Cook

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra as needed
1 tablespoon butter
1 red onon, coarsely chopped
Handful of fresh thyme sprigs, leaves picked
1 lb (450 kg) russet (baking) potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 14oz can chili beans
2/3 cup hot vegetable stock
Handful of flat-leaft parsley, finely chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Heat the oil and butter in a nonstick frying pan over low heat. Add the onion, a pinch of salt, and the thyme leaves, and cook for about 5 minutes until the onion is soft.
2. Add the potatoes and cook until ightly browned at the edges - you may need to add more olive oil to accomplish this.
3. When the potatoes are nearly tender - about 15 minutes - stir in the chili beans. Pour in the hot stock and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the parsley and season well with salt and pepper. Serve hot. SS: Cooking potatoes is not a quick task, especially if you want them to be soft and tender. I found that the potatoes needed to cook much longer than 15 minutes to get them to the right texture.