Fishy Tuesday

I will start this post with a review of the week in general as far as what I spent and a recap of what we ate. I spent a total of $114.20 for all of our meals for the week. This total includes all 3 meals every day except for one lunch that we had out. This total does include food for only 2 people. Let me recap what we ate for a week.

Weds.-Chicken Paillard with Caprese Field Salad (enough left for lunch on Thurs.)
Thurs.-Tacos with Refried Beans (enough left for lunch)
Fri.-Wasabi and Panko Crusted Pork Chops, Mashed Potatoes, Snow Peas (enough left for lunch on Saturday)
Sat.-Fish and Chips (enough for leftovers on Sunday)
Sun.-Flat Iron Steak with Red Wine Sauce, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans (enough left for Gerry)
Mon.-Thai Red Curry with Tofu and Rice (no leftovers since we devoured it all)
Tues.-Red Snapper on Rice with Curry Carrot Sauce (no leftovers)

This week we probably had more meat than we usually eat and we are looking forward to a little more variety next week. I will try to track costs for one more week to see how we compare.

Now about tonight's dinner - fish is an absolute favorite in our house and there are very few fish that we don't like. I probably have a few more fish that I don't like than Gerry does: I don't like oysters, anchovies, calamari (unless battered and deep-fried, on another note anything battered and deep-fried is delicious), sardines and herring either pickled or in cream sauce. All other fish are fabulous in my book. According to research that I have done, fish should be bought and served on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. There are people that will tell you to never order fish in a restaurant on a Monday since it has been sitting there since Saturday. I'm not sure if this still holds true but I like to stick to the Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday rule.

Tonight's red snapper is a recipe that I probably haven't made in a couple of years and since it's been that long Gerry thought it was a fabulous brand-new recipe. He enjoyed it so much that his comment was he will probably request this for his birthday dinner meal. It has a lot of the flavors from last night's dinner with Thai red curry sauce, brown sugar, and fish sauce being components of the sauce. The other great thing about this meal is the visual impact of the bright orange sauce and then you are not disappointed with the flavor. I made a half recipe for dinner tonight and it worked out perfectly.



This recipe is from my Food and Wine One Dish Meals Cookbook
Red Snapper on Rice with Red-Curry Carrot Sauce (Serves 4)

1 cup jasmine rice, or other long grain rice
1 1/2 cups water
3/4 lb. carrots (about 4) cut in to 1/4-inch pieces
1 clove garlic, smashed
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 1/2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons red Thai curry paste
1 3/4 teaspoons brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cooking oil
2 lbs. red snapper fillets
1/3 cup cilantro leaves, optional
lime wedges, for serving

Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Put the rice in a small saucepan with the water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let sit, without removing the lid, for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile in a medium saucepan, bring the carrot, garlic, and broth to a boil. Cook, covered, over moderately low heat until the carrots are tender, about 15 minutes. Puree the carrots, garlic, and broth in a blender and pour back into the pan. Add the milk, fish sauce, curry paste, brown sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.

In a large nonstick frying pan, heat the oil over moderately high heat. Season the fish with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook the fish, skin-side down, until golden about 4 minutes. Turn, reduce the heat to moderate, and continue cooking until just done, about 4 minutes longer for 1-inch-thick fillets. Mound the rice on plates and top with the fish and the sauce. Sprinkle with the cilantro, if using, and serve with the lime wedge.


Gerry and I agree: