Oven-Roasted Cod, Portobello Mushrooms and Buckwheat Noodles

This was Christmas in a nutshell: a wonderful holiday spent with family, visiting with people who sorely needed a visit, some driving in cold, nasty weather, and way too much random and purposeless eating. Which is the point, right? However, the excesses of the holidays are now behind us. I always sigh in relief after the holidays are over. I have usually had enough. And essentially, they are over, because New Year's isn't really the exciting night it once used to be. Steve and I simultaneously (and probably half the country) realized that the time was now upon us to return to healthful (ish) eating. Last night we had this really delicious meal which felt healthy and hearty; a great combination in my book.

Put fish on a large cookie sheet lined with foil. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Olive oil, salt and pepper on the fish. I used northern atlantic cod, though I'm sure many filets would do. Check with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch. (I really like their Super Green List.)

Top with a dressing of

3 or 4 cloves grated garlic,

1 large knob of ginger,

1/4 cup light olive oil,

splash of tamari or soy sauce, and

1 T lemon-lime glaze (or use some lime juice, lemon juice, a teaspoon of brown sugar--a mix of citrus and sweetner)

Mix this up and use most of it on the fish. Put the fish in the oven for about twenty minutes.

On the lower rack put a tray of sliced portobello mushrooms, drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper. These two trays will take the same amount of time. Halfway through you could flip or toss the mushrooms around while checking on the fish.

Meanwhile, cook buckwheat noodles, reserving two cups of the cooking water after draining. Put the reserved liquid back on the heat to simmer, add two heaping tablespoons of mild miso and dissolve. Return the noodles to heat up.

To serve: ladle broth into bowl, add noodles, fish on top, portobellos on the side. The mushrooms get slightly crispy in the oven, seasoned perfectly, they are meaty and dense. The fish is light and the sauce is a perfect blend of garlic, ginger and sweet citrus. Add to that the hearty noodles and savory broth, you've got a perfect bowl of repentance.

Buckwheat Pancakes, Key Lime Curd, and Sweet Potato Latkes

We started the morning right, with the wood stove cranking (five days straight now, it's been cold!) and Jonathan Richman's Corner Store playing on the phonograph. If that song can't get you moving, then go back to bed and call it a day. I had a hearty breakfast forming in my head in preparation for being snowed in, but the storm fizzled. No matter. It's not like we go anywhere anyway!

For the savory side of things, I baked these sweet potato latkes for last night's dinner, a light repast with just a dollop of yogurt. I've been eyeballing all the latke recipes (must try Sunchoke latkes when we harvest next) and also hearing about all the hot oil burns. I had this great recipe ripped from a Women's Health magazine (ripped it out at a dentist's office--that's okay, right?) tucked in a folder and pulled it out. These are baked so I guess that's better for you than all that oil...

2 large sweet potatoes (or 2 lbs.) peeled grated

1 medium onion, grated

2 beaten eggs

1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. nutmeg (it also called for cinnamon, but I'm getting cinnamon-ed out these days.)

Preheat oven to 400. Oil two cookie sheets. Mix all ingredients. Drop by quarter cupfuls onto sheet. Flatten with spatula. I got twelve out of this. Bake for 25 minutes; flip and bake for an additional ten minutes. Mine cooked quickly and hotly, but that's due to my crappy pans and uneven oven. You know. Eyeball it.

In the morning, I whipped up this batch of buckwheat pancakes from one of my favorite breakfast cookbooks, The Good Breakfast Book by Nikki and David Goldbeck (1975). I love buckwheat. I love pancakes. Need we elaborate?

1 cup buckwheat flour

1/2 cup whole wheat (I used all purpose; didn't feel like going to the larder and opening a new bag of whole wheat. Sooo lazy.)

3 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup nonfat dry milk powder (omitted this)

1 1/2 cups water (used 1 cup water, 1/2 cup milk; not sure why)

1 tbsp. oil

2 tsp. molasses (I used honey)

Combine dry ingredients. Add wet to dry. Do that pancake thing. It never fails that my first two pancakes are awful. But still tasty. I plug ahead and the last one is always stellar. Sigh.

Yesterday, I tackled the little bag of key limes that my mother sent me. She knows I'm partial to these kind of things. Z and I had fun squeezing all the little green marbles to gather the precious juice. (Not really; I did it while he sat on the counter next to me play mixing in an empty coffee mug. They are like squeezing hard little leathery nuts. I persevered because they needed to be consumed.) I was going to make cookies until I thought of curd, and found this super easy recipe from Coconut & Lime. It really only took ten minutes and it would have come out even better if Z didn't wake from his nap right in the middle of the cooking time, thus making me a tad distracted. My only sub was that I used vanilla sugar in this. It was delicious: not too sweet and super tart.

Lately, there have been a huge flock of turkeys hanging out. They are still lingering, and it's mid afternoon. It's not a great picture--so much grayness these days!--but this is out the dining room window. You can see the neighbor's cat under the tree being overwhelmed by all these large, fearless birds. He initially was creeping up on them, but there must have been twenty of them! Not that it matters. You've got to be a really tough house cat to take on a wild turkey. He soon realized this was not a conquest he could attempt and ran back to his house. Smart cat.

Pre-Game: Birthday Dinner

Tonight's meal is all about not working too hard. Time is of the essence. Time spent by the fire eating and drinking is of the essence. Time standing by the stove is not of the essence. Thankfully, a favorite of both of ours is easy and luxurious. Buckwheat blinis, smoked trout, salmon roe, with capers, red onions and sour cream (I was going to get creme fraiche but this local sour cream looked really good). Deep fried oysters with a traditional remoulade. And your very basic shrimp cocktail, which I never tire of. Cocktail sauce? But of course. Champagne? Chilling. Apricot vodka (which I haven't tried yet)? On deck. Some good beers? On the porch, perfectly cold. Dessert? You know, I just bought something small to stick a candle in. After all that, dessert isn't really necessary, right? Maybe just a nice, thick and honeyed ice wine that's been gathering lots of good old dust.

Post Script: The meal was fabulous and if you haven't made buckwheat blinis, well, plan on doing it very soon. I will now make them regularly. I love buckwheat. To be very honest, there was one hitch to the night and that was a teething toddler who woke up just as we were going to tuck into some fresh out of the Fry Baby oysters. Steve sadly had to eat them alone (not so sad, I'm sure) while I went to try and put Z back to sleep. But all in all, as you can see by the dark and fuzzy pictures below, the evening fulfilled its destiny.

Buckwheat Blinis, Joy of Cooking:

Heat 3/4 cup of milk and 3 tbsp. of butter, so that butter melts. Let the mixture cool down to about 11o degrees and add 1 1/2 tsp. of yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes, then stir up and add to flour mixture, which is: 1/2 cup white flour, 1/2 cup buckwheat flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tbsp sugar. Whisk well, cover in plastic wrap and let sit somewhere warm for an hour. You can cook them immediately, or beat them down and cover up, then refrigerate for up to 8 hours. (It's better to let it sit for a little while.) Remove from fridge for twenty minutes, stir down. Add two large eggs. Let sit another 5 minutes. Use a heaping teaspoon for each blini.