Still Life with (Local) Burgers

On a warm summer night, there's nothing like sitting out on the lanai (or patio) with a glass of chilled wine or beer and enjoying a big, juicy burger cooked on the grill. Double points if you pick up the burger and the juice runs down your forearms onto the table - you know the kind; the burger that once you pick it up, you don't want to set it back down. Truly, burgers are quintessential Americana at its very best. Around our house, we don't eat our burgers with the traditional French fries and/or soda very often, but there's almost always some kind of salad to accompany them...a lightly dressed coleslaw, crisp lettuce with sliced veggies, pasta or potato salads, you name it...and now, we also often add grilled Maui or Ewa Sweet onions to top things off and give it that extra special Hawaii appeal.

In my book, a "burger" can encompass nearly anything so long as it ends up looking like a "patty" and is eaten on a bun (preferably a big, hearty bakery-made or homemade bun - none of these squidgy white bread buns that are 1/4 of the size of the burger you want to stick on it and that melts and gets doughy from the juice). This can include whizzing up some vegetables, grains or legumes in the food processor and molding that into a patty; marinating a big, properly bun-sized portobello mushroom; or finding yourself some deliciously grassy and lean local beef.

Still Life with (Local) Burger:

Grass-fed beef, Ba-Le Bakery bun, CSA veggies, Kahuku sweet corn (photo by LB)

Since we moved to Hawaii and have a proper lanai for grilling and enjoying our burgers (with wine and beer, of course), I've been sampling different techniques for making all kinds of burgers...quinoa burgers with cumin, portobellos marinated in Korean-style BBQ sauce, grass-fed beef burgers with caramelized onions and Worcestershire (Lea and Perrins, of course) and my latest quest: fish. Moonfish, or opah, to be exact.

Opah are simply beautiful fish - silvery with orange fins as you can see in the picture in this link. They are suggested as a "good alternative" on the Hawaii regional sustainable seafood guide from Monterey Bay Aquarium (If you haven't checked out this fabulous resource before, they have wonderful wallet-sized printouts available that tell you which fish are the best choices, good alternatives, and which to avoid completely. I used to work next door to the Aquarium, and they have a great program going.). The flesh of the opah is firm - similar to tuna - and slightly stringy. There are different colors pertaining to where on the fish the flesh comes from, and most of the opah sold in the markets here are by-catch from long-line tuna or mahi-mahi fishing; but all of it comes from Hawaii. While I'm not a huge fan of long-line caught anything (any kind of dredging, netting, etc. causes havoc on the underwater environment), I guess if it's going to be caught and killed anyway until we develop better ways of fishing (which may never happen), it might as well be eaten and not thrown back into the ocean. That said, until we figure out a bit more about this fish in general, I'd still like this relatively new commercial species not to become a too commonly caught species. But I still had to try it, at least once (besides - the salmon looked absolutely horrid that day, thus, we ended up with opah instead). Supposedly, opah was historically viewed as a good luck fish by old-time fishermen and even given to friends as a good-will measure instead of being sold at fishmarkets (hmm...I hope that doesn't mean I shouldn't eat it).

While opah does rank relatively high on the mercury scale, suggesting that only one 6 oz. serving (for women, that is) should be eaten per month, I'm a proponent of most things in moderation and it's not likely we'll be eating these again this month anyway (too many other fun things to try!). We'll definitely be making fish-type burgers again no matter what - these were delicious and would probably work with other types of semi-firm fish, including tuna, salmon or possibly even halibut (maybe).

I served these babies up with a plain, non-fat yogurt "mayonnaise" (healthy, healthy!) - containing lime juice and zest, tiny bits of mango, chili powder, salt and pepper - a sweet, tangy sauce that complimented the richness of the burgers quite well, and then I topped them off with grilled Ewa sweet onions (our local Oahu sweet onions). We ate them on whole-wheat Ba-Le Bakery buns from the farmer's market and with lettuce from our CSA. On the side was a version of a salad-of-sorts containing leftover wild rice and grilled Kahuku sweet corn (local Oahu sweet corn), mixed with fresh North Shore Farm's Big Wave tomatoes, a bit of olive oil and some spices. We finished it off with a surprisingly nice glass of pineapple and passionfruit wine from Tedeschi Vineyards - the Winery at Ulupalakua Ranch - on Maui. I'm not a real lover of fruit wines, but this one, although still fairly sweet, had enough acidity to balance the sweetness of the fruit and actually complimented the flavors of the opah burgers and the mango in the mayo/yogurt quite well.




Resources:

1. Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch, Regional Sustainable Seafood Guides
2. Environmental Defense Fund Fish Mercury Scale
3. For another idea, check out Hawaii food blogger Kahakai Kitchen's take on burgers Turkey-Falafel Burgers
   

Rosemary is for Remembrance

"There's rosemary; that's for remembrance.
Pray, love, remember."
~Shakespeare, Hamlet

Rosemary has been a symbol for remembrance since ancient times. It has been used as a symbol of love and remembrance at both weddings and funerals, as well as a number of other ceremonies. For newlyweds, its a symbol of fidelity and a promise not to forget the vows they made that day; for loved ones who have passed on, a symbol of love and a promise not to forget the impact they had on your life and the memories that you shared with them.

For me, today, it is a symbol of love and remembrance not only for the people who tragically died on September 11, 2001, but also for my grandmother and my great-aunt, both of whom passed away this Saturday.

I think that the most important thing that I have learned this summer has been that relationships are what's paramount in life. We are all busy; we have dreams we're trying to follow and passions we're trying to live, we have jobs and school, cooking and cleaning, traveling, hobbying, finding our way in the world and trying to discover who we are inside and if that matches up to who we want to be. But we are also surrounded by people who care about us; no matter how far away they may be, or even the time passed since we last spoke. We have to put effort into these relationships: cradle them, hold them near and dear to our hearts and show those that we care about, just exactly how much we care in whatever way possible - even a simple phone call or a few minutes of our time. Just so that they really get it - because of another simple fact of life - they will not always be around.


I was so fortunate to be able to go home the week before last and spend more time than usual with my grandmother. I am only able to go home once or sometimes twice a year and had taken an extra trip home this month because my stepfather was diagnosed with cancer earlier this summer and was supposed to begin treatment. An unexpected "blessing," I suppose, was that his treatment was delayed and we were all able to just spend time together as a family. My grandmother was already in a nursing home after suffering two heart attacks a few weeks ago (although, thankfully, she was able to be at home when she suffered her third and final one), and I spent a large part of my time there with her just talking and visiting.

Grandma lived a long, rich life and had 3 wonderful sons, one of which is my step-father and I am grateful every day for the happiness that he brings my mom, and to my own life. She was married to my grandfather for 63 years, which is something that I won't be able to say when I am her age. She was a fiesty woman with a great sense of humor, and I remember her in her stocking hat and her construction-orange down jacket riding down the sledding hill at our cabin and laughing outloud the entire way. She always stocked ice-cream sandwiches for us kids and made the best cole-slaw and fudge in the family. She introduced me to how a can of smoked oysters can be as great an appetizer as any and how refreshing crisp radishes, kept in icy cold water, can be on a hot summer afternoon. Since she is my step-father's mother, she could be considered my step-grandmother...but grandma was my grandma for as long as I can remember and she will always be...because sometimes the relationships we build, those we spend time in, put effort into, and make memories with...are thicker than the bonds of a marriage between two families...sometimes they turn two people who are not related, into two people who love each other just the same as if they were.

After the initial shock of hearing this sad news begin to wear off, I knew that I wanted to incorporate rosemary into my dinner on Saturday evening. This was my way of expressing to myself that I would remember both grandma, and Aunt Mae, always. I turned, once again, to both food and friendship, for comfort. I spent the day with a special friend, browsing the Farmer's Market and embracing the life that always seems to radiate from there, and grateful for the presence of a friendship with someone who gives so freely of herself even though our friendship is still fairly new. We made a special trip to the fish market and picked up some Oregon Black Cod, and once home, I turned to a recipe inspired by Nigella Lawson's fabulous book, How to Eat.

Black Cod with Orange Zest, Rosemary and Garlic
This is hardly a recipe, but it was tasty, and it allowed me to raise a culinary salute and, had I had it available, a glass of good white wine, to both my grandma and my aunt.


2 fillets of black cod (about 3 oz. each)
one orange
1 clove of garlic
1 tbsp. fresh rosemary
olive oil
salt and pepper, if desired
white wine or dry vermouth

Mince the clove of garlic and zest the orange. Finely chop about a tablespoon of rosemary and add these ingredients to a frying pan. Put a little oil in the pan; not too much, because you don't want it to be greasy, but enough that the other ingredients will be able to infuse the oil. Mix them together, turn on the heat to medium (or medium high for most stoves probably - ours is a bit off), and let it come up to temperature until the spices begin to sizzle. Pat dry two fillets of black cod, salt and pepper them if you'd like, then lay them in the pan (skin side down if there's skin). Cook about 4-5 minutes per side until the fish flakes, but is still meltingly tender and juicy. When finished, put the fillets onto a warmed plate and keep covered until ready to plate. To the pan, add about 1/2 cup of white wine or dry vermouth, and let it bubble, evaporate slightly and get syrupy (about 5-6 minutes). When finished, pour this "sauce" over the fish, along with all of the scraped up brown bits from the pan.

I served this with grilled strawberry tomatoes (a little olive oil, salt, and pepper is plenty seasoning for these babies) and crusty pieces of multigrain bread from a local bakery. For dessert? Shauna's incredible Plum crumble, an amazing dessert from an incredibly positive and radiant woman, who just by the sheer energy she exudes on her site, always makes me feel better.

the challenge

A bit more about the challenge that Loving Boyfriend and I have recently embarked upon...we are cooking our way through the "Four Seasons Cookbook," by Shirley Gail (see above) in one year. It hails from London, as is obvious by the measurements in mLs and interesting ingredients I've had to look up on the internet, such as what 'castor sugar' is (superfine sugar here) and converting mLs to cups. It's also incredibly unhealthy. Not surprising, as Loving Boyfriend loves anything unhealthy. In fact, I was recently explaining the challenge to my good friend and fellow foodie, C., and telling her of the delicious baked eggs with cream and tarragon and raspberry meringue gateau with lots of whipped cream in it we've been enjoying, and C., being the lovely friend that she is, says to me:

"Aren't you going to get FAT?"

C. is always honest and straightforward with me.

Why, yes, probably. not to mention a heart attack sometime in the future. So i've began riding my bike more, hoping to counteract this a bit...and I'm sure I'll be making some substitutions to the recipes as well...as soon as I learn what I can substitute and have the dish come out just as yummy. Thanks, C.

This is a constant struggle for me - given my love for all things buttery, creamy, bacony, and fried. Plus, a love of cooking and baking thrown in the mix. Baking in a two-person household can be especially dangerous (I only feed one of the boys - boy #2 has a girlfriend and subsists quite well on lean cuisines and healthy choice meals in the freezer when she's not around). Entire pies and cakes are eaten by two people over the course of two days, just so that I can cook something new. Yipes!

But back to the challenge. We started on September 1, 2005, and we're ending on September 1, 2006. Based on the number of recipes, we have calculated that we will have to cook 3 recipes from this book per week to be finished in a year. We're in the summer season (well, the produce, even if not the weather), based on the produce available right now. Obviously, I won't publish all of the recipes from the book, as that can't possibly be PC, but i will share my favorites of course. one of which just happens to be recipe 1.

warm salmon salad














This recipe was delicious...warm, tender bites of Alaskan silver salmon (caught just over a month ago by Loving Boyfriend, in Alaska), crisply blanched green beans, and toasted sesame seeds, all over a bed of green-leaf lettuce with an orange-flavored Asian dressing. light, crispy, warm, and wonderful. I must confess, though, that it was not I that made this tasty dish... Loving Boyfriend, the challenge having been his idea, started us out on the right foot. I feel I must clarify that Loving Boyfriend does like to cook...and he's good at it...he's my partner in crime and in cooking...he just doesn't necessarily want to talk about it food all the time...like I do.

Ingredients:
1 lb. salmon filet, skinned
2 tsp. sesame oil
grated rind from 1/2 orange
juice of 1 orange
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1 tsp. fresh tarragon, chopped
2 tbsp. peanut oil
4 oz. green beans, trimmed
6 oz. mixed salad greens
1 tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut salmon into bite-sized chunks, then make dressing. Whisk together sesame oil, orange rind and juice, mustard, and fresh tarragon.
2. Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat, then fry salmon for 3-4 minutes or until done, but still tender on the inside.
   
3. Blanch green beans and drain.
4. Add dressing to salmon in pan, and cook for 30 seconds. Remove from heat.
   
5. Add a large handful of greens to plates, then beans, salmon, and pan drippings. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, and serve immediately. Servings: 4