Barbecued Blackened Rockfish

While shopping the other day at Costco, I came upon a package of wild caught rockfish. We were going to buy the farmed salmon, but after having seen the Salmon Confidential Documentary my brother linked to on Facebook, we opted for the wild caught rockfish instead.

My first thought was to fry the fish, but the ease of sprinkling on some spices and putting it on the barbecue prevailed. I keep a jar of spice rub in my pantry that I used on my Easy Oven Baked Chipotle Wings recipe, used that, and added a sprinkle of Old Bay seasoning, dried oregano and thyme for the blackening spices. I think a seasoning the rockfish with lemon pepper and paprika would be good too.

I barbecued the fish on the low heat setting for 5-6 minutes on each side, or until the fish has a little color--I don't like it to get too charred.

Simple as that!

The rockfish was served on a bed of blanched kale--we bought this big bag of baby kale at Costco too--and have been putting it in everything. I'm surprised we've almost finished the whole bag!

I prepared the kale by boiling about an inch of water in a pot and adding a few big handfuls of kale, turning the kale with tongs until it was just wilted. It took about 1 or 2 minutes, then I removed the kale to a small colander to cool, squeezed the excess water out of it and gave it a rough chop before plating. The taste reminded me of eating the tsukemono my grandmother used to make when I was little, from turnip and daikon greens--a little bit chewy and not unpleasant. Eating a little bit of the kale with a bit of tsukemono--Japanese pickled vegetables--was delicious.

The barbecued blackened rockfish was garnished with a bit of chopped chives and served on a bed of blanched baby kale with a bowl of brown rice, lemon wedges, and some tsukemono.

Itadakimasu!

***

In my Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs post, I showed you a photo collage that we had made into a 2000 piece jigsaw puzzle for my mother-in-law.

She finished the puzzle relatively fast, not taking the 9 months (or so) that it took to finish her first puzzle of this era--she quit doing puzzles for about 20 years--and now spends a big chunk of her day contemplating the pieces. It's amusing to see her sometimes using her fist to pound in a piece because, "some time it doesn't fit right".

This puzzle was fun for the whole family to work on since everyone was in it--and it's enjoyable to sit around the table with Obaachan, reminiscing about the events in the photos while perusing the pieces. When you make your puzzle, set the dpi to 300--this one was 180 dpi and it came out a little grainy and the colors not vibrant.

Obaachan was so happy to have her puzzle done and hanging in her kitchen's eating-area. She looked at the puzzle and counted 12 pictures of herself (not counting her hand in the upper left) and said, "I won't be lonely anymore."

Turns out my husband likes to do puzzles too--I had this one made for him for Christmas. The colors look much better in 300 dpi. Putting the puzzle together on a piece of foam core posterboard makes it easy to move around if necessary.

Here's the original photo.

I haven't tried any other puzzle companies--you can find pages of them online. I liked Venus Puzzle because once I got my photo quality up, the puzzle came out much better, and I liked the shape of the puzzle pieces. Sometimes the puzzles we've done have really strange shaped pieces. 

Obaachan has about 15 puzzles completed, all stacked on top of the other on posterboard, and has been working on them for the past three years. I think she likes looking at all of them with a feeling of accomplishment. She says they keep her going even though each one is, "so, so hard," and each current puzzle is, "hardest one."

No printable recipe.

Grilled Fresh Trout

You may have caught our fishing trip to the Eastern Sierra earlier this week--the one where my son Rick caught the big trout.

Rick immediately thought of Jichan, his grandfather, and how much he thought Jichan would enjoy eating this fish.

Jichan loves fish.

We didn't camp this time, we stayed in a hotel in Bishop.

They've got a Fish Cleaning Room there--sink, disposal, scale and freezer to store your fish until you leave.

Yesterday I grilled the fish.

Sometimes simple is best, so I used salt and pepper to give them a little seasoning and put the fish on the barbecue.

I used the low setting and grilled them until the meat in the cavity was cooked, then flipped them over, about 4 minutes on each side.

I had some photos of preparing and cooking the fish, but somehow the memory card in my camera got damaged and I lost all the photos.

I only have these few, but the preparation is simple, just salt and pepper.

Before starting to cook the fish and after cleaning the grill, put some cooking spray or oil on the grill so the fish won't stick.

Since Rick wanted Jichan--and Bachan too--to eat the fish, I put it on a platter with some greens, lime wedges, a few clusters of mini tomatoes and gave them a call.

"Would you like some barbecued trout for dinner? I'll bring it over."

My mother-in-law's voice lit up, "Really? I can come over."

My mother-in-law is 88 years old. 

I would prefer to deliver it to her, but she wanted to come and get it herself since I was doing her such a favor by cooking the fish and giving it to her--she thought the least she could do is come over and get it.

She only has to drive one mile...but still.

When she came over and saw the big fish on the platter, she was so appreciative.

"Is THIS for...US?!"

This is the kind of Japanese meal my grandparents used to eat--fish, rice and fresh vegetables.

That's a big portion, they would eat half the amount of fish, and maybe add some sliced cucumbers or some tsukemomo.

Simple, fresh and delicious.

Itadakimasu!



***

This is a picture of my mom on her wedding day with my two grandmothers.

A long time ago my mother told me something that her mother told her.

Be nice to your husband's parents, give them your attention. They're older than we are. You'll be happy you did.

It's something I've always remembered and try to live by.

It hasn't always been easy, but now I feel like my mother-in-law is one of my biggest fans.

She doesn't like to cook and really appreciates that I do--and I bring her food.

She thinks that it was me that left a puppy in her yard for her to find and care for--but it wasn't me (really, it wasn't me!).

She likes that I come and help her with the difficult 2000 piece jigsaw puzzle she's been working on all year.

It's a secret that I have to remove the pieces that she pounds in to fit--and the pieces I remove are more than the pieces I place to complete the puzzle.

It's getting to completion though, little by little, the sky is all done now and the two areas on the right and left are slowly but surely closing.


When the times have been tough between my mother-in-law and I, I've thought about what my mother told me, and added a question of my own that I ask myself in difficult family times.

"What's more important--having a close family, or your own ego?"


Sometimes that answer isn't always clear, but it helps.


***

Grilled Salmon with Wasabi Mayo & Furikake

My husband loves fish.

I saw this bright colored wild caught salmon at Costco right next to the farm raised salmon, and it was a dollar a pound less, so I picked out a small package and headed to the check-out.

This Grilled Salmon with Wasabi Mayo & Furikake is so simple--and it never fails to draw a compliment or two when it's served!

My husband actually said the flavor of the fish was one to savor--he used the word 'savory' twice!

Generally he's not much of a mayo person, if he knows something is not too healthy to eat, he can easily stay away from it.

That's why I didn't put wasabi on each piece, but on the side--he put some on his and loved it!

Ingredients:

salmon

teriyaki sauce

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 teaspoon wasabi powder or to taste

furikake nori

This is the fresh wild caught salmon they had at Costco.

The color is so bright and pretty.

It still has the skin on.

Salmon skin is good for you, it's got a lot of good, healthy oil in it--but you need to take the scales off before you eat it.

Taking the fish scales off is not a big deal.

I remember watching my mom do it when I was little when my dad would bring home fish after a fishing trip.

Back then she used a spoon or the back of a knife, but I use this fish scaling tool--there are a lot of different kinds and they're easy to find.

Simply scrape the skin going against the grain of the scales--and they pop right off!

You can see the darker part of the fish is without scales and the silvery part still has them.

Scale the whole fish.

I cut the fish into fillets to barbecue them, but the salmon with wasabi mayo and furikake is also good baked--leave the fish whole and it makes a nice presentation.

Today I'm using this Red Shell Teriyaki Sauce.

It comes in handy if you don't have any of your own on hand.

It's good, too.

You can find a recipe for teriyaki sauce in my Teriyaki Chicken post.

The owner of Red Shell Foods happens to be my neighbor, and Watanabe-san brings us bottles of teriyaki sauce and salad dressing occasionally.

Thank you, Watanabe-san!

Red Shell Teriyaki Sauce is thick.

It brushes on nicely.

Mine is thin, but you can use it the same way.

While the salmon is grilling, make the wasabi mayo.

Simply put a couple of tablespoons, or more, of mayonnaise into a small baggie and add about a teaspoon wasabi powder.

I used this one, there are lots of different brands.

Squish the baggie around to mix the wasabi and mayo together.

Taste and adjust seasoning.

I added a little more, I like the wasabi spiciness.

Snip the corner of the bag to pipe it onto the fish.

Snip a small hole, smaller than this one.

If you make the hole too big, simply cut another hole in the other corner, and move the wasabi mayo away from the corner you're not going to use.

Zig-zag the wasabi mayo over the grilled fish.

When you're done, throw the baggie away.

Is that mottainai?

Wasteful?

You can also serve the wasabi mayo in a squeeze bottle or small bowl and everyone can put a small dollop on the top or side of their fish.

Sprinkle a little furikake over the mayo.

Furikake is a rice seasoning that has nori (seaweed), toasted sesame seeds and salt.

There's lots of different flavors, but I like the plain nori komi furikake.

Serve with some hot, fresh rice and some grilled peppers.

If you're going to fire up the barbecue, may as well make some Grilled Peppers!

Add some sliced cucumbers and maybe some home-grown tomatoes for a perfect Japanese-stye meal.

Itadakimasu!

***

Yesterday we went to lunch for my friend Susan's birthday.

This is one of my favorite photos of Susan.

She sparkles.

And I love that she's chatty.

If you've been following along, we went to the Santa Monica Farmer's Market with our friend Gail.

I've also written a little about her here.

This is a picture of my son Rick and my friend Sue at the anniversary party of Gail & Ramiro's.

Look--there's Susan in the background, that's where we met!

Sue also joined us for lunch yesterday.

Sue's working on another guest post of her Grandma Smith's Fabulous Cheesecake.

Susan and Gail met when they worked together at Macy's.

Thank you, Gail, for sharing your friend with me!

Sometimes I make too much food for a blog post.

If I call Susan, she will come right over and pick the food up--and she doesn't exactly live in my neighborhood!

When I made way too much mochiko chicken, Susan came to get some and fed it to her boys when she got home.

They liked it, and now ask her to make it!

That makes me happy.

This is Shadow, Susan's dog.

So cute!

We went to the Cheesecake Factory.

Gail had the Miso Salmon.

Sue had the lunch sized Luau Chicken Salad.

I had the Vegetable Salad.

Look what Susan got!

A burger with barbecue pork belly on top and a fried egg on top of that.

She had decided upon the Eggplant Sandwich, but when she came across the words pork belly and fried egg on the menu--she couldn't resist.

She said it was the Chinese in her that zeroed in on the pork belly.

Her mom made it for her family when she was little.

Comfort food for Susan.

I love to watch her eat.

She eats with gusto and enjoyment.

And doesn't gain any weight.

I'm jealous.

I love listening to Susan talk about her boys.

Her youngest just finished a summer program for high schoolers at USC--she had lots of stories of his experiences.

She was a little nervous for him to go and be away from home, and was so proud of what she learned about him from this experience and what he learned about himself.

Happy Birthday, Dear Susan!

Thank you for being my friend and giving me so much support.

When I've felt all alone out here in cyberspace, and wondered if anyone was listening, Susan was there to give me an encouraging comment or two on every post.

I love you, Susan.

I hope you enjoy your birthday month and have many, many happy returns!

***

Ingredients:

salmon

teriyaki sauce

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 teaspoon wasabi powder or to taste

furikake nori

Brush teriyaki sauce over salmon and grill on the barbecue--or bake in the oven at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes or until fish flakes apart in the middle.

Mix about 2 tablespoons mayonnaise with about 1 teaspoon wasabi powder. Taste and adjust seasoning. Pipe over grilled (or baked) salmon and sprinkle with furikake nori.

Grilled Hamachi Kama

My whole life, I must not have been paying attention.

How could I have missed this?!

Hamachi Kama.

The collar part of the yellowtail fish.

It's the part of the fish that is right behind the head.

Delicately fatty and super-flavorful.

A long time ago, I remember my father-in-law saying it's the tastiest part of the fish--I must not have given him much credibility then-- possibly because I've also seen him eat a fish's eyeball and the guts of a crab.

I was young then, and have since learned.

When I was little, my dad used to tell us kids to eat the eyeball of the fish.

He said it makes you smart.

My brothers ate it, but I didn't.

I guess that about says it all, doesn't it.

Last year, on one of our trips to Mammoth Lakes, my brother and sister-in-law bought us dinner at a Japanese restaurant.

My brother ordered Hamachi kama.

He said it was so good--and sitting across from him at the table, I remember watching him savor every bite.

The rolling-your-eyes-closing-your-eyelids kind of savoring every bite.

So when I went to Marukai Market, and saw a package of Hamachi Kama, I bought it to make at home, knowing that my husband would really enjoy this meal.

It's a little expensive, but he deserves it.

Besides, it still costs less than going out to a restaurant.

The first thing you want to do when you open the package is wash the fish, then take the scales off by running a fish scaler or knife against the grain of the scales.

Sprinkle it with salt and pepper.

Then cook it on the barbecue on low heat.

You want to get a nice, light char on it on the meat side,

And a little bit more of a char than this on the skin side.

My husband likes it with a little bit of tsukemono--Japanese pickles--and some steamed brown rice.

The black tsukemono at the front of the plate is one of my favorites--soft kombu flavored with a hint of shiso.

I hope he enjoys it as much as I remember my brother enjoying his fish.

Itadakimasu!

***

I'm looking forward to my nephew's wedding this month.

I'm really looking forward to seeing my whole family--I love family gatherings!

Meet two of my nieces.

This is Hannah.

Her family lives in Hawaii.

This is Leslie.

She lives in Northern California.

They'll be here for the wedding soon!

It's been a year-and-a-half since we were all together last.

We like cooking together.

Leslie is a cupcake maker.

You can see some of her cupcakes on her website.

Hannah and Leslie are showing off their vegan coconut lime cupcakes (with Rick in the background getting in the picture too!).

Coconut Lime Cupcake.

The last time we were together, Hannah and Leslie decided they were going to become vegetarians.

They asked me if I would like to join them.

I thought it would really help me in my quest to eat healthier and eat less, so I said yes.

It's been a year-and-a-half!

A couple of weeks ago, Leslie sent Hannah and I a message to tell us she ate meat at her sister's graduation party.

I have yet to tell them I ate meat on our recent camping trip.

I thought that if I cracked the door open and ate some meat it would blow that door open with hurricane force and moving toward eating a plant-based diet would all be over for me.

But it didn't.

And isn't.

When my daughter would ask me, in the last year-and-a-half, "If you could eat meat right now, what would you eat?"

I would always say, "A rib eye."

But when I ate part of that rib eye steak--I wanted that part of a rib eye steak that's around the outside, the part that's marbled with fat--
it really wasn't as good as I remember.

I wouldn't choose that anymore.

But bacon?

That's another thing entirely.

I just may need to move in the direction of being a vegetarian that occasionally eats a slice of bacon.


Just like our friend Erica that occasionally eats a hot dog at outdoor events.

The jury is still out on this one.


I'll let you know.

***

No printable recipe.