Sayyadieh - Lebanese Fish and Rice with Onion Sauce

One of my favorite Mediterranean restaurants in Houston is Fadi's. The food and the quality is impeccable and I never turn down an offer to have lunch there. My husband attended a party recently and had a to-go box of a fish and rice dish that he brought home for the rest of us to sample (read GORGE on). I have never had this particular dish at the restaurant and couldn't place it on their menu - it definitely was not paella - it was some kind of simple rice pilaf, with pieces of cooked white fish fillets on top. But it was rich, buttery and heavenly!

On my next trip to the library, I ransacked all the Mediterranean cookbooks I could find to see if there was a recipe that sounded the same - and I found this recipe for Sayyadieh in Claudia Roden's cookbook Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon. She describes a rice dish cooked in an onion broth and served with pan-sauteed fish.  That sounded about right, and I set to work reproducing the recipe to suit our palettes at home.

While the final outcome was not exactly what we had sampled from Fadi's restaurant, it still comes in close and is definitely a keeper chez nous. There are three components to the dish - first onions are caramelized and blended into a broth. Rice is then cooked in the broth and served with sauteed fish, and the two served together with any remaining onion gravy.

Sayyadieh - recipe adapted from Claudia Roden's Arabesque

Fish
4 fish fillets - use any firm, (preferably) white fish fillets, skinned and de-boned. (I used salmon!)
1 heaped teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
salt and pepper to taste
juice of 1/2 lemon

1. Rub the ginger-garlic paste, salt and pepper over the fish fillets and add lemon juice. Slice the fillets into pieces to facilitate cooking.
2. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet, and pan/shallow fry the fillets till done (add oil as needed). Remove from pan and reserve.

Onion Sauce
3 large yellow onions - sliced
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 fish/chicken/vegetable boullion cubes
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp allspice, 7-spice or garam masala powder
4 1/2 cups boiling water
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat about 2 Tbsp of the oil in a large skillet, add onions, reduce heat to medium-low and cover skillet. Let the onions cook till they become soft and translucent. Occasionally stir.
2. Remove lid and let the onions caramelize and attain a deep brown color. Do not burn, so keep stirring frequently.
3. Remove the onions from the pan, add to a food processor or blender and add a cup of boiling water and puree the onions.
4. Return the puree to the skillet, add the remaining water and add all remaining spice seasonings and boullion cubes and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer the mixture for 10 minutes on medium heat. Pour out the onion sauce and reserve.

Rice
1 1/2 cups Basmati rice, rinsed and soaked in water for about 30 minutes
Onion sauce prepared above
Splash of oil

1. Add oil to the skillet used to fry fish and heat. Drain the soaked rice, and add to the skillet. Stir fry the rice until you see the grains getting dry, about 2 minutes.
2. Pour 2 1/2 cups onion sauce into the rice and let the mixture come to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover the skillet with a tight-fitting lid and let the rice cook for approx 15 minutes. Different brands of Basmati rice have different cook times, so make sure you keep an eye on the rice. It may be best to use a non-stick pan to avoid the bottom layer of the rice from burning. Try not to stir the rice as it cooks as it can cause the mixture to become clumpy or break the grains.
3. Remove the rice from heat after it is cooked to your liking. Arrange the rice on a platter with the fish on top and garnish with toasted pine nuts or slivered almonds. Serve with the remaining reheated onion sauce or drizzle the sauce on top of the rice.

A 30th Wedding Anniversary Menu and A Winner for the Giveaway!

So I don't date myself too much here, not MY 30th wedding anniversary, but rather a 30th wedding anniversary party that my parents and I hosted for my aunt and uncle who got married on the same day as my birthday. I was a bratty flower girl at their wedding, and as a surprise to me, they rolled out a birthday cake onto the reception floor which I got to cut, and then I graciously returned the favor by throwing a tantrum for all their wedding gifts.

My aunt, the young bride, who was probably exasperated with me at that point for stealing their thunder, steely bartered one gift to me in exchange for good behavior. Thinking I had won the duel, I smartly marched up and selected the largest and shiniest gift box, only to open it up and find a three speed metal blender.

Defeat.

As pay back, I threw them an impromptu little party last week because my parents were in town unseasonably and my mom always complains how she never gets to do anything for her little sister's anniversary.
Since I now pretty much exclusively cook out of all your blogs, this turned out to be another installment of I Ate Your Food, and since I needed to post my giveaway winner..I rolled it all into one post! Scroll down for the winner...yes, I am evil that way.

Here is the menu that my mom and I drummed up for the party. Our idea was to re-create their wedding reception menu, which none of us could actually remember. Yes, I remember my STEEL BLENDER but failed to remember other details of the evening. My dad vaguely described roast chicken, potatoes and salad and so we ran with it:

Lentil Soup With Sauteed Scallops

Garlic Rolls

Hearts of Palm Salad With Cilantro Vinaigrette

Flavors of India Roasted Cornish Hens With Carrots, Celery and Leeks

Hasselback Potatoes

Broiled Salmon with Spicy Mushroom Sauce and Saffron Rice

Lemon Coconut Cake with Raspberry Preserves

As is the case with all meals, as the dinner progressed, I got caught up and couldn't take pictures of all the items, so I'm just leaving a link to the master recipes that I used =(.

But as is always the case, many thanks to all the talented bloggers out there whose recipes I use with much success.

Lentil Soup and Sauteed Scallops - sourced entirely from Chicho's Kitchen with very little adaptation at all.

My only note would be to serve this soup piping hot. I tried to use a soup warmer thingy seen in the pic that I had bought, and it ended up not working right, so my soup reached the table barely warm, a point my loud guests noted quickly. Grrr....

Garlic Rolls - the detailed and step-by-step instructions on Suhaina and Nag's Edible Garden blogs are testament enough. These were killer rolls, perfect in every way and my favorite part of the meal!

Hearts of Palm Salad with Cilantro Vinaigrette - adapted from Food and Wine magazine Recipe by Carolina Buia and Isabel González.

Dressing:

2/3 cup cilantro leaves
1/4 small red onion, finely chopped (subst. for shallots) 
juice of 1 lemon 
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons agave nectar (subst. for honey) 
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste 

Salad:
2 clementine/oranges, peeled and sliced into segments (pith removed) 
1 14-ounce jar of hearts of palm, drained and sliced 
2 bunches Romaine lettuce - rinsed, dried and chopped
1/2 red onion, sliced thinly
a few grape tomatoes, halved
 
1.In a blender, combine the ingredients for the dressing except olive oil and salt and pepper. With the machine on, add the olive oil in a steady stream and blend until smooth. Season the vinaigrette with salt and pepper.
2. Toss together all ingredients for the salad, serve immediately with dressing.


Flavors of India Roasted Cornish Hens With Carrots, Celery and Leeks - I adapted this recipe from Whole Foods website.
I substituted Cornish hens (one per two guests) and the recipe came out perfect.  I added 2 cups each chopped carrots, leeks and celery to the roasting pan with the hens and served the veggies alongside the meat. They still took a good 1.5 - 2 hours to cook, but came out moist and flavorful.


Broiled Salmon with Spicy Mushroom Sauce and Saffron Rice - again entirely sourced from Bong Mom's Cookbook.
I've made this recipe several times now, and I love the mushroom sauce that goes with the easy to bake salmon.

Hasselback Potatoes - these truly deserve their own post, but here is some eye candy to enjoy in the meantime. I adapted the recipe from Seasaltwithfood and added flavored ranch butter to the potatoes as they baked.
They need to be served right away, which I made a mistake on, I made them well in advance, so they lost some of their appeal when sitting out and growing cold.

..and finally dessert. I had to make them cake, in honor for my cake all those years ago, so I chose Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake, which truly was perfect in every single way. What a keeper of a recipe. I ran out of time with this item, so instead of buttercream icing, I just used whipped cream both in the filling and to cover the cake.

Apologies for zero pictures, I kick myself for not grabbing my camera before everything was chopped up and eaten!
And now for the winner of my first ever blog giveaway. The $40 Amazon.com gift card goes to comment #....

........1! As pronounced by random number generator - that is Divya all the way in India who blogs at Easycooking. Congratulations Divya, and thanks to all who participated!

To be honest, I always though the first and last comments were unlucky as they stood no chance against all the other numbers, but I guess that proved my theory wrong! Bang, the first comment got selected, early bird gets the worm...in the form of a gift card =).

Ginger-Lime Salmon Rice Bowl

Hrrmmpphhh...maybe I should change that title to A Whole Lotta Ginger-Lime Salmon and a Smudgeon of Rice - given the proportions in the picture above....

Every Tuesday, our local paper has a Health section with Dr. (Celebrity) Oz who is always on Oprah's show, wearing his medical scrubs and showing us the inside of a colon. OK, I digress...but why should he wear medical attire on a day time TALK show?

Back to the point, the article repeats one thing every week - Eat salmon. Eat more salmon. Eat as much salmon as you can. So in a feeble attempt to get healthy and stop eating cake, more cake, and even more cake everyday which is the case chez-nous, I've been attempting to have us eat more salmon.

Except I only know of about two ways to make it.

Let the Salmon Games begin...

Here's an Asian inspired salmon recipe from Chef Mai Pham that originally called for the salmon to be simply pan-seared and served up with a refreshing ginger lime sauce. I don't like plain salmon, so I decided to quickly marinate the salmon in the sauce and cook it in it as well, and throw in some garlic for good measure.

Because we love garlic over here. It's a close second to cake.

Ginger-Lime Salmon Rice Bowl (adapted from Food and Wine magazine, 2006)

Two 6-ounce skinless salmon fillets
1 1/2 Tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced/crushed
1 Thai red chile, chopped (or substitute 1/2 tsp red chilli powder)
1 Tbsp garlic, peeled and crushed
1 Tbsp sugar (reduce if you do not like overtly sweet dishes)
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp Asian fish sauce or to taste
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups hot cooked rice (I used Jasmine rice)
Optional: one small Kirby cucumber

1. Grind together the ginger, garlic, sugar and chile in a mortar and pestle to get a coarse paste.
2. Transfer paste to a bowl, and add fish sauce and lime juice and mix.
3. Reserve about a Tbsp of this sauce into another bowl and thin out with a little water. Adjust for salt and keep aside.
4. Slash the fillets and season with salt and pepper. Pour on the sauce from (2) onto the fillets, and rub in well. Refrigerate fillets for up to an hour.
5. Heat a non-stick skillet or griddle and add oil. Add the salmon fillets and cook over moderate heat. Turn fillets over so that both sides are cooked and fish is opaque and garlic-ginger in the marinade has turned golden-brown.
6. Mound rice into bowls, and top with the salmon.
7. Serve with extra sauce (from (3)), or cut the cucumber into thin strips, dip into the sauce and serve as an accompaniment.

Bengali Grilled Salmon with Spicy Panch Phoron Sauce - Shorshe Salmon Maachh

I chose to make this dish after seeing a verion of it in the book "The Hindi-Bindi club" which was the October choice at Books That Make Us Cook, see my review of the book here.

Each chapter in the book had a recipe that resonated with the main character in the chapter. Since I have ZERO exposure to Bengali food, I wanted to try one of the recipes featured - which was a baked salmon with a mustard glaze.

I already had some panch phoron spice in stock - this is a Bengali five spice - essentially an equal mix of cumin seeds, brown mustard seeds, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds and nigella seeds.

After I started making the dish per the recipe in the book, I realised I was going to have to make some adjustments. First, the marinade as per the book's recipe seemed too watery, it just called for the panch phoron spice to be blended with water and salt. Well, I tried that and I ended up with a watery paste with some whole seeds floating in it. The panch phoron consists of whole spice seeds, not powder, and that may have been the root of the problem. Then I realised that the salmon would just be dry after grilling it, so I decided to make a gravy to go with it, but also using the panch phoron spice.

I ended up merging the recipe with one I had seen in Cooking Light magazine, where salmon was cooked in a panch phoron "sauce" and named Salmon Kalia. Bengali Food Authenticity Police out there - hopefully, I haven't offended any of you out there with my wrangling of the dish!

Bengali Grilled Salmon (my adaptation from recipe for Shorshe Salmon Maachh in Hindi-Bindi Club - A Novel with Recipes by Monica Pradhan)

3 Tbsp panch phoron spice mix
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 large salmon fillet cut into 8 pieces
1/2 chopped onion
2 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp mustard oil (I used olive oil)

1. In a blender, puree the panch phoron, onion, garlic, turmeric, salt and water to a paste.
2.Brush both sides of the salmon fillets with oil, and then rub both sides with the spice paste.
3.Refrigerate the salmon to marinate for a minimum of an hour, but use within 24 hours.
4.Spray a grill pan with non-stick spray. Heat to high. Sear each fillet on the grill until lightly browned on both sides.
5.Remove fillets from grill, and keep aside.

Panch Phoron Vegetable Gravy (slightly adapted from Cooking Light)

1 tsp salt or to taste
3/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp Panch Phoron Blend
1 large onion thinly sliced
1 large peeled Yukon Gold potato, cut into 1/4-inch strips
2 large tomatoes
1 large zucchini cubed
1 cup water
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp minced peeled fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp plain low-fat yogurt
5 serrano chiles, halved and seeded
1 tsp Garam Masala
a handful chopped fresh cilantro

1. Combine oil and Panch Phoron Blend in pan; cover and cook for 30 seconds, shaking pan constantly.
2. Add onion, garlic and ginger, chilli powder and garam masala, stir fry till slightly cooked then add potato; stir-fry for 6 minutes or until potatoes begin to brown, stirring frequently.
3. Add tomatoes, salt and zucchini to pan; stir fry, then add water and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
4. Reduce heat or take off heat completely and stir in yogurt until well blended (take off heat to prevent curdling).
5. Return salmon fillets to the pan, carefully nestling them into the vegetable mixture.
6.Cover pan and cook 10-20 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Sprinkle with cilantro.
Serve with a simple rice dish, I chose peas pulao.

When Life Gives You Sharks, Make Pickle!

Shark Pickle.
Not something I rustle up at the drop of a hat, but I thought I'd venture my blog into Anthony Bourdain territory.
Because I'm Bad Like That.

And why exactly do I have a shark lying around my kitchen? Well, the male species in my house decided to go for a deep sea fishing trip the past weekend, zing-bang in tow. And of course, not only did they haul fish back, they brought a shark home too.
Yes, a stupid lumbering oaf knuckle head shark.
And that consequently left me with sleepless nights pondering how to turn this potentially mercury laden meat into an appetizing entree.I ruined the dish right there with that visual.
But I was sleepless. Wouldn't you be, if effin' JAWS was in your freezer down the hall from you?
Insert '70s terror music here (din-dan-din-dan-din-dan SCREEEAAAAMMMMM)

OK, I exaggerate. Wildly. The shark had been filleted and parceled impeccably by the boat hands before they even got to shore. It looked like chicken, to be honest. Shark meat is not the best seafood out there. Scientifically, it's prone to have a mercury content higher than other types of seafood due to a sharks position in the food-chain. Like all types of food out there, you eat it at your own risk. Like wild mushrooms. Or fast food. Children and pregnant ladies, stay away. I rest my case.

Someone came up with the brilliant idea to use the fillets to make a Kerala pickle.

Kerala Pickle 101 - whilst traditionally pickle is made with vegetables and fruits like lime, lemons, mangoes and gourd vegetables, it can also be made with beef or firm fleshed white fish. The pickles range from tangy, hot and sour and are used sparingly as condiments or as an accompaniment to a traditional Kerala meal. Emphasis on the word S-P-A-R-I-N-G-L-Y.

So my first foray into pickle making. I used the brilliant "Flavors of Kerala" cookbook and adapted their fish pickle recipe. I was also pleasantly surprised to note that this type of pickle does not require aging or any period of fermentation. It's ready to go as soon as you are happy with how well the oils and spices have been absorbed by the meat. I deviated from the original recipe in the proportion of wet ingredients, we liked our pickle with a lot of "sauce", the original recipe resulted in a drier pickle.

Fish Pickle (prepared with shark fillet) (ever so slightly adapted from "Flavors of Kerala" - Hena Jacob and Salim Pushpanath)

500g Boneless fish/shark fillets, sliced into small cubes
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 cup sesame oil
2 heaped Tbsp red chilli powder
1 tsp pepper powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 Tbsp crushed ginger
1 large bulb garlic - chopped
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp asafoetida powder
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 stalks curry leaves
Salt - to taste

1. Clean and wash fish pieces, marinate with pepper, turmeric and salt to taste. Keep aside for about an hour.
2. Deep fry the fish pieces in coconut oil. Reserve on a plate lined with paper towels.
3. Heat the sesame oil, add fenugreek and mustard. When they splutter, add the ginger, garlic and curry leaves.
4. Remove the pan from heat, add chilli powder and asafoetida powder.
5. Add the fried fish pieces into this oil mixture and then add vinegar and give everything a big stir.
6. When cooled, transfer to a clean dry bottle with tight-fitting lid. Refrigerate.
7. Use as a condiment with rice-based dishes.