I love me some fish stew

Lately, I've been mostly inspired to cook....from trying on new recipes to bringing out old memories of my mom's cooking. Last night I got a vivid image of her fish stew and just had to make it. Apparently fish stew is not popular with most Americans (my boyfriend refused to eat it but that just left more of it for me and our kitty!) but it's a staple in almost any other cultures' cuisine. (Thanks, Anthony Bourdain for the informative yet funny travel cook books you write!) So I decided to share the recipe for the more adventurous of you.

Ingredients:


About a pound of a fish of your choice. I use salmon cause I love the texture and it gives the stew a nice pinkish color
A small jar of kosher dill pickles. The crunchier, the better and definitely no sweet pickles!
Half a pack frozen peas
Half a pack frozen corn
A can of your favorite tomatoes 
Parsley
Black pepper
Salt to taste
Freshly squeezed lemon juice

As with pretty much everything my mom cooks that's not baking, it's all about eyeballing and you can do very little to ruin this stew. Bring a medium-sized pot of water to boil and put the cleaned fish in, cut to medium-size pieces. (Everything will fall apart later anyway.) Add the tomatoes, frozen veggies and all pickles chopped in little pieces. Since there is nothing in there that will expand, you can put as much veggies as you wish and make the stew as liquidy as you want it. Simmer everything for about 45 minutes, then add the chopped parsley and lemon juice. The fish will be falling apart, so fork it around to smaller pieces so that it blends with the liquid. Taste for salt and adjust; add black pepper. Simmer for a few more minutes. The liquid should thicken from the mixing with the fish but if it's too watery for your taste, add some tomato paste.

Serve hot or cold. There is nothing there that's bad for you, so help yourself with a second serving!

Things come and go

On the not so happy side of life, we woke up this past weekend to find out that one of our bikes was stolen from our fenced backyard. It was a little unsettling, since the bike was tucked in right under our living-room window and the idea of someone roaming so close to my home with bad intentions makes me nervous. We live in a good town that, unfortunately, borders a bad town and many people on the border get things stolen. I guess it is an eye opener - after all, we're too close to urban, not wise to leave doors open.

Our therapy? My love and I just cuddled and played with our kitty for an hour and we felt a little better.

On the Mexican side....

I've been quite into homemade Mexican / South American dips lately, for the sole reason that we can never find the perfect store-bought salsa. During tomato season, I love my fresh salsa roja, and only a few days ago I tried making guacamole for the first time and cleared the bowl within an hour. I also have a spice mix for chimmichurri that I'm also making for the next steak dinner.

I was browsing some blogs today and came across this great looking recipe for salsa verde by Kristina and would love to share it. I never thought much of the green salsa version but now I'm very curious to try the tomatillos too!

Salsa Verde

8-10 larger tomatillos, or 20-25 smaller ones
2 cloves garlic
1 green jalapeño
1/2 bunch chopped cilantro leaves
sea salt

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Remove the husks from the tomatillos and rise them. Add the tomatillos and jalapeño to the pot and boil until all are soft enough to pierce easily with a fork.

Mash the garlic cloves, then add the cilantro and grind until a rough paste forms. Then add the jalapeño and combine, followed by the tomatillos – a few at a time.

Add sea salt to taste. (I might also drizzle a little olive oil.)

I'm trying it this weekend!

Latest loot

There is that used bookstore I randomly came across to one day while I was walking to the Mid-Manhattan library, called Book-off. They moved to 45th and 6th since but I still take the walk from work every now and then. It's Japanese owned there there is plenty of Japanese music, cartoons, music and books, but besides this, a lot of used books ranging from a dollar to 7 or 10. If you have the time - go and browse. Some of the titles are pretty recent and the condition of most books is awesome. They are sort of arranged into sections and alphabetically but I'd recommend to just browse and hope you find a gem. Just like in stores like Marshalls and Target.

They also have used games, CDs and DVDs but I usually go for the books.

Here is the latest loot:

I tried to do a healthy balance of fiction and non-fiction. Fiction is easy to read but I sometimes feel guilty that I don't read anything educational any more.

* Survival of the prettiest - I never thought of prettiness throughout the ages and cultures
* Prisoner of Tehran - A strong woman's account of her terrible time in probably one of the worst prisons
* A cat is watching - I picked this up because we just got a kitty and I know very little about their behavior
* The genius in all of us - They promised me that IQ is not genetic:-)
* The Female Brain - Well, I probably know most things from experience but it may still be interesting to read and loan to a fellow guy friend.
* Geek Love - According to the reviews, there is nothing geeky about this story. Idea sounded very intriguing though and it scored an award.
* Spook - I love Mary Roach's Bonk and Stiff books. Her style is so funny and easy.
* The cellist of Sarajevo - It is a story from my part of the world and I always love reading more about it.

I'll have some fun home time these next few cold months. 

What's on your reading list?

Sweet and savory meatballs with couscous

The other day my co-worker Sarah mentioned making meatballs in grape jelly and chilli sauce and it immediately got my attention. Mixing sweet and savory has always been my favorite. I got the recipe and tried it next day:

1 lb ground beef
1 egg slightly beaten
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp. parsley
1 tsp. salt
1/2 onion chopped finely
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. pepper

Mix well - make small balls.  I usually start out small and end up with jumbos

1 bottle chili sauce
  Half 10 oz. bottle grape jelly
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp. soy sauce

Boil on medium low until smooth.  Add meatballs and cook 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours.

My little variation of the recipe: I used only half jar of jelly and should have used even less - it gets a little sweet. I add extra lime juice and chopped onion (the remains from the meatball mix) and green peppers because I add these to just about anything:-). I served the meatballs and the sauce over couscous, mixed and it turned out great!  Can be prepared as a party appetizer, with a toothpick on each ball.  

I would include a picture but we were so starved that we served and ate right away before the camera could even say hi!


Enjoy!

10 years ago

Today Facebook notified me of the birthday of Brenda, our International student adviser at Ramapo College, where I went for undergrad. It made me think that a couple of week ago, it was ten years since I came to the US. Ten full years. Quite an anniversary and yet, I did nothing to "celebrate" it. I still remember vividly how one ordinary April night, very very late Bulgarian time, I received an email from Brenda congratulating me on being accepted at Ramapo and being awarded a full international scholarship. I shook my mom awake - had to re-read it to make sure I wasn't imagining things. And this email changed my life - I want to say for good.

I still think sometimes what would have happened if I weren't awarded the scholarship. I surely wouldn't have been able to afford school in the US and most definitely would not have made it here at all. Staying in Bulgaria was an option I didn't even think about - so set was I in my mind that I want to go outside and see the world. Since Bulgaria joined the EU a few years ago, I most likely would have gone somewhere else in Europe but I never know in which direction life would have blown me. I would have never met my love here, or my friends and co-workers. As silly as it sounds, it's hard to imagine my life any other way.

Everything happens for a reason. We make decisions and try to steer but at the end, so many things are pure, pure chance.

9/11

9/11 may not mean the same to me as it means to every American but it is still a milestone to me. I came to the US exactly 10 years ago, 2 weeks before 9/11. I never saw the twin towers but keep all victims and their families in my heart. I cannot begin to imagine how an ordinary Tuesday morning could turn into such a life changing tragedy. As I am watching the memorial on TV, my eyes tear for those who lost loved ones. I can't begin to imagine how devastating this is.

The daughter of a victim shared her mother's words and they resonate so much with me:

"Love yourself. Love life. Don't let any day go to waste."