Wednesday, April 22, 2009

my crazy concoctions

So I like to cook. Really, I guess the word is experiment. Yes, I can follow a recipe with the best of them (with much thanks to my Mama who is a culinary and baking wizard raised in the South), but I really enjoy experimenting. I like to look at what I have in my fridge/pantry, recall a recipe from general memory, and throw together spices and foods that our palettes savor. Much to the chagrin of my hubby, I often don't write my creations down and then he asks, "Can you make ______ again?"


I often then try to throw stuff together as best I can...and it usually comes pretty close. I like trying new spices (my new fave is ground chipolte - yum) and using cinnamon as an interesting taste that many can't identify when used sparingly but creates a yummy 'warm' taste. I also like taking full-fat recipes from online or cookbooks and paring them down and sneaking in more veggies and fruits. (Did you know that you can puree fresh spinach and put it in almost anything and you can't tell - ok, anything is a bit of an exaggeration). I am going to try now to write down as much as I can - or recall it from memory afterwards (if I remember).

So last night I created something loosely based on a recipe, and thrown together from stuff I had - and it was TASTY! Chris told me I had to make again sometime, so it is written down and since then, I have had a few ask me for the recipe (after his 'raves'). So here it is...


Cilantro Lime Marinated Fish with Apricot Mango Salsa
juice of a lime, 2T of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, two shakes of garlic salt, 1/4 bunch of cilantro finely chopped, a splash of OJ and 1t of chipolte (whisk all together but oil then slowly add oil while stirring to incorporate well). Marinate white fish for at least 1 hour.


Apricot Mango Salsa
1 mango (seeded, peeled, diced), 5 dried apricots chopped, 1/4 cup chopped red onion, salt, 3T frozen limeade, 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro (1/4 after the chopping), big spoonful of apricot fruit spread (spreadable all-fruit jam) - combine, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Now, I would normally also add 1 small jalapeno seeded and ribs out, but last night I didn't because we were sharing the meal.


Bake/grill/broil your fish and serve on top of brown rice. Spoon mango salsa on top of fish....YUM!

1 comment:

marion said...

That does sound yummy! Thanks.