Dining Out - Monterey Bay Fish Grotto

Celebrated our third year anniversary at Monterey Bay Fish Grotto on Monday. As usual, we were greeted by friendly and attentive staff and we got seated at the "blue section" of the restaurant that extends out above Tysons Blvd. We ordered calamari for appetizer; the breading was perfect, just the right amount. For dinner, I had the lemon sole with lemon herb butter and my husband had the seared ahi tuna. The fish was fresh and cooked just right (though I would probably prefer the tuna if I were not pregnant). For dessert, we had Crème Brûlée (silky smooth and light) and cheesecake. Better yet, the dessert was on the house. :)

We have always enjoyed our visits to Monterey Bay Fish Grotto, with its nice ambiance, outstanding service, and excellent food. The bill might be a little bit on the pricey side (you can also tell by the groups of business people dressed in nice suits on expense accounts), but it is well worth it, and without the snootiness in some of the upscale restaurants.

Link to restaurant: Monterey Bay Fish Grotto - Tysons Corner

Baked Scallops - Linguini Alfredo

Made baked scallops tonight, paired with linguini alfredo. Recipe for the baked scallops can be found here:

Since I couldn't find bay scallops, I bought one lb of fresh sea scallops instead. And I sautéed the garlic in butter and mixed it with the scallops first before rolling in the mixture of bread crumbs, paprika, garlic powder, and parsley.

Dinner turned out to be wonderful. Nice alternative to poached scallops that I normally make.

Dinner ideas

Dinner ideas for the next 5 days.
This is a short planning week since I am trying to keep my credit card bill within budget (and the statement cuts off on Tuesday!)
Here’s what’s on the docket:
Mexican Shrimp soup: Epicurious calls this Shrimp and Scallop Possole. I leave the scallops out and add the juice of half a lime.
Sun-dried Tomato Risotto. For this recipe I adjust the Epi version by using oil packed tomatoes, skip the simmer in the water part, replace the cup of water with ½ cup of wine and ½ cup of broth and steep some saffron in the broth. I add the half cup of wine first and then continue on with the broth.
Turkey meatloaf with mushrooms and herbs: This is a new one for me, I found it on Epi “Buzz box”
Theo’s spinach mushroom quiche from the post below this one
Brined roast chicken...I’ve included my recipe for this after the jump.

The Palmburo Adventure

I was craving butter fish the other day...so off I went to Super H Mart (a local Korean supermarket in NoVA) and got myself two palmburo. Problem is, I was so excited that I didn't even realize the fish wasn't "cleaned" (i.e. guts, bones, fins still intact). Luckily, with my friend's help, I was able to get the guts out and I will spare you the glory details. After rubbing some sea salt inside the belly and on the outer skin, I pan fried the fish with some olive oil...and voila, a delicious meal was served (yes, with the head - Hong Kong style).

For future reference, here are some "easy" instructions - although I would recommend asking the store to clean them for you:
http://www.thefarm.org/charities/i4at/lib2/clnfish.htm

Back in the kitchen!

So finally I got the ok from my doctor to move around a bit in the house...and guess where I end up? In the kitchen of course! Don't get me wrong, the meals that my husband and our friends have been cooking have been delightful. But cooking to me is simply, relaxing. :)

As my first comeback, I made my favorite spinach and bella mushroom quiche (simple, easy, doesn't require much standing time). I did cheat and got a pie crust from the store.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 pack fresh spinach, washed and chopped
6 bella mushrooms, washed and sliced
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, smashed and finely chopped
6 oz shredded cheddar cheese
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
salt/pepper to taste
1 deep dish pie crust

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Sautee onion and garlic with butter until slightly brown. Add spinach and bella mushroom. Season with salt and pepper and turn off heat. Drain water from pot and stir in 1/2 cup cheddar cheese.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and milk. Blend in with mozzarella cheese.
4. Spoon half of the spinach and mushroom mixture onto pie crust. Pour in egg mixture, then add remaining spinach and mushroom.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 15 mins. Sprinkle remaining cheddar cheese on top (at this time, the quiche should be setting). Base for additional 30 mins.

Food musings

Well, haven't been eating much lately. I know! this is a shock to me as well! Today though, I noticed there are some very interesting recipes in the Washington Post Food section. They published several quick, easy, and healthy chicken recipes that, apparently, you can freeze and cook later...kind of like that "let's dish" idea. The Rosemary and Lime chicken is definitely on my list to try and the Californian chicken looks good too. As a bonus, they published the pear salad recipe from 1789 restaurant. Pear salad is one of my favorite salads! I'll be working on the grocery list today and will post my next week's food ideas by tomorrow. In the meantime, happy eating!

May 2009 Paella experiment

Back in May, Clay and I decided we finally needed to break in the paella pan that Jim had given me several years. We invited a few taste testers and started the planning. Every recipe we looked at was either very complicated or too simple. Plus not all of our guests ate pork but, for us, we felt paella should have sausage (most of you know I have a love of andouille). In the end we cobbled something together from multiple recipes. It may not be authentic but, we think it came out well and you can tell by the picture Kathy took that at least it looked good. I’ve made this one other time since and I didn’t make any changes to it. I might consider a brief olive oil and garlic marinade for the shrimp.
I posted the recipe after the “jump”