RECIPE #5: New Zealand Broiled Orange Roughy
Kee-rist, I barely had time to sneak this one in. I literally had to schedule this evening to make recipe numero cinco, today being the last day of May. Social butterfly, hell; I feel more like a big fat hairy hummingbird. Seriously, for the past few weeks, it has been go, go, go, every day from morning until night. It's good that gas prices are going down a little. I really need to invite people over more, or to start making fakey excuses, or something. Not that I haven't enjoyed most of my free time, but I can barely remember what it was like to stay in for the evening (or afternoon). I didn't even have time to post this thing I wrote about "Spider-Man 4" back when "Spider-Man 3" opened. How am I supposed to relax when I'm constantly hopping off to this or that?
Yet, conversely, if I was sitting on my curiously flat rump at home, I wouldn't have had the chance to experience "Brand Upon the Brain!" with the astounding live soundtrack, or to take in Emperor's first Chicago show since 1999, or to enjoy the most action-packed and freaking amazing Memorial Day weekend I've had in years. I even managed to finish "The Dark Tower" the other day. I'm busy as shit, but things are very good. As the great Kool Keith once put it, "How you gonna flex with Domino's Pizza in your living room?" And speaking of dining at home...
Thinking ahead, I bought a buncha orange roughy a while ago, simply because I remembered grilling it once and enjoying it immensely. Not owning a grill, I needed a recipe that worked in my kitchen. A lot of those that I found online sounded pretty gross - especially those involving dousing the suckers with canned soup - or went the rote "soak them in lemon butter" route. I wanted something cooler than that, but being short on time, I couldn't do something too elaborate. So, I decided on this one, which at least required several phases of preparation, looked tasty and vaguely healthy to boot. Since I was only cooking for myself this time, I halved the recipe and still had leftovers. I'm not too big on leftover fish, but I'll suck it up. As for whether the recipe is authentically Kiwi of origin or whether the recipe's title simply points out that orange roughy is often identified with New Zealand, I'm sure only Zoë Bell knows for sure.
I technically began yesterday by sticking three roughy filets in the fridge to defrost before I rolled out to meet Ephemera Jones for the Emperor show. Today, I moved the fishies to a glass baking dish. For the marinade, I combined a tablespoon of filtered water, 1/2 teaspoon of peeled and minced ginger, 1/4 teaspoon of store brand soy sauce, 1/4 teaspoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice and what I estimated to be 1/8 teaspoon of crushed red pepper that I had left over from a pizza order - I had to eyeball half of a 1/4 teaspoon, since that's the smallest measuring spoon I own. I also had to do without the blender the instructions call for, since such a device is not in my arsenal yet. Instead, the wire whisk gave the yellowish mixture a good thrashing. The marinade went over the roughy filets, I covered them and stuck them in the fridge for two hours.
While the fish soaked up the juice, I did some dishes, burned some white sage, finished listening to the fantastic Anathema bootleg I started yesterday and bopped along with The Pipettes' awesome We Are The Pipettes, drank some water and worked on this post. The recipe called for sesame seeds that were toasted but did not specify how to make them so. Do they sell pre-toasted sesame seeds? I decided to spread a tablespoon of the little bastards evenly over the surface of a broiler pan and subject them to the broiler's fiery wrath for a few minutes. As soon as they started to sizzle, I yanked the pan out and gave it a good shake before sticking it back in for another minute or so. This improvisation worked like magic, and I imagine I'll be toasting sesame seeds for things all the time now.
Anyway, next I sprinkled the toasted seeds over the marinated seafood. The fish went into the broiler pan (now doused with Pam), then right under the broiler. "Don't overcook!" emphasizes the recipe, so I watched them shits obsessively. The specified cooking time of 6 to 8 minutes worked fine for the thinnest filet, but the other two were thicker and needed to go back under the broiler for another couple of minutes before they were firm enough to eat. At first, I didn't taste the marinade at all, just the fish and the sesame. I wondered if I had made a mistake in halving the marinade ingredients. After several bites, however, the light aroma of citrus and ginger kicked in, as did the red pepper. It's a very pleasant flavor, and I got a little warm after eating due to the slight spiciness of the dish. The sesame seeds give it a nice bit of crunch. Served with some (microwaved) broccoli, this was a fine meal.
Seriously, I might be sick of hearing about them in a few months, but right now this album by The Pipettes is kicking my ass. If you like girl group oldies and can imagine how cool they would sound if delivered by cute young British indie chicks, this is totally for you. The whole damn thing is currently streaming at their site, so click that link and rock out, sucka. If you don't have a spare 33 minutes to listen, at least watch this video for "Pull Shapes," especially if you're a Russ Meyer fan:
Yet, conversely, if I was sitting on my curiously flat rump at home, I wouldn't have had the chance to experience "Brand Upon the Brain!" with the astounding live soundtrack, or to take in Emperor's first Chicago show since 1999, or to enjoy the most action-packed and freaking amazing Memorial Day weekend I've had in years. I even managed to finish "The Dark Tower" the other day. I'm busy as shit, but things are very good. As the great Kool Keith once put it, "How you gonna flex with Domino's Pizza in your living room?" And speaking of dining at home...
Thinking ahead, I bought a buncha orange roughy a while ago, simply because I remembered grilling it once and enjoying it immensely. Not owning a grill, I needed a recipe that worked in my kitchen. A lot of those that I found online sounded pretty gross - especially those involving dousing the suckers with canned soup - or went the rote "soak them in lemon butter" route. I wanted something cooler than that, but being short on time, I couldn't do something too elaborate. So, I decided on this one, which at least required several phases of preparation, looked tasty and vaguely healthy to boot. Since I was only cooking for myself this time, I halved the recipe and still had leftovers. I'm not too big on leftover fish, but I'll suck it up. As for whether the recipe is authentically Kiwi of origin or whether the recipe's title simply points out that orange roughy is often identified with New Zealand, I'm sure only Zoë Bell knows for sure.I technically began yesterday by sticking three roughy filets in the fridge to defrost before I rolled out to meet Ephemera Jones for the Emperor show. Today, I moved the fishies to a glass baking dish. For the marinade, I combined a tablespoon of filtered water, 1/2 teaspoon of peeled and minced ginger, 1/4 teaspoon of store brand soy sauce, 1/4 teaspoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice and what I estimated to be 1/8 teaspoon of crushed red pepper that I had left over from a pizza order - I had to eyeball half of a 1/4 teaspoon, since that's the smallest measuring spoon I own. I also had to do without the blender the instructions call for, since such a device is not in my arsenal yet. Instead, the wire whisk gave the yellowish mixture a good thrashing. The marinade went over the roughy filets, I covered them and stuck them in the fridge for two hours.
While the fish soaked up the juice, I did some dishes, burned some white sage, finished listening to the fantastic Anathema bootleg I started yesterday and bopped along with The Pipettes' awesome We Are The Pipettes, drank some water and worked on this post. The recipe called for sesame seeds that were toasted but did not specify how to make them so. Do they sell pre-toasted sesame seeds? I decided to spread a tablespoon of the little bastards evenly over the surface of a broiler pan and subject them to the broiler's fiery wrath for a few minutes. As soon as they started to sizzle, I yanked the pan out and gave it a good shake before sticking it back in for another minute or so. This improvisation worked like magic, and I imagine I'll be toasting sesame seeds for things all the time now.Anyway, next I sprinkled the toasted seeds over the marinated seafood. The fish went into the broiler pan (now doused with Pam), then right under the broiler. "Don't overcook!" emphasizes the recipe, so I watched them shits obsessively. The specified cooking time of 6 to 8 minutes worked fine for the thinnest filet, but the other two were thicker and needed to go back under the broiler for another couple of minutes before they were firm enough to eat. At first, I didn't taste the marinade at all, just the fish and the sesame. I wondered if I had made a mistake in halving the marinade ingredients. After several bites, however, the light aroma of citrus and ginger kicked in, as did the red pepper. It's a very pleasant flavor, and I got a little warm after eating due to the slight spiciness of the dish. The sesame seeds give it a nice bit of crunch. Served with some (microwaved) broccoli, this was a fine meal.
Seriously, I might be sick of hearing about them in a few months, but right now this album by The Pipettes is kicking my ass. If you like girl group oldies and can imagine how cool they would sound if delivered by cute young British indie chicks, this is totally for you. The whole damn thing is currently streaming at their site, so click that link and rock out, sucka. If you don't have a spare 33 minutes to listen, at least watch this video for "Pull Shapes," especially if you're a Russ Meyer fan:
posted by SoulReaper at 11:30 PM
2 Comments:
Webs of intrigue: What's in store for "Spider-Man 4"?
(originally surfaced on May 4)
You don't need spider-sense to foresee this weekend’s box office hero.
"Spider-Man 3," the summer's first blockbuster, stands poised to leap into millions of eyeballs. According to Variety, the movie already set records in each of the eight Asian territories in which it debuted on Tuesday. Today, it opens in 4,253 U.S. theaters, the widest North American opening of all time.
Add to this an avalanche of advertising and merchandising, and Spidey's web is hard to escape, at least until Shrek's own second sequel hits screens in two weeks. There’s no question that "Spider-Man 3" will make some serious coin. It does raise another question, though.
What will "Spider-Man 4" be like?
It's definitely happening. As early as last summer, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige told MTV that after number three, "There will be many more Spider-Man films to come." In January, the Web site Superhero Hype! claimed David Koepp, screenwriter for the first Spidey film, was "in talks" to write the fourth. Last month, Entertainment Weekly quoted Sony Pictures' President of Production Matt Tolmach: "We're making 'Spider-Man 4.' Our hope, dream and intention is to do it with [director] Sam [Raimi]."
The biggest mystery at this point is the identity of returning personnel. Raimi helmed all three Spider-Man adventures, but according to the EW piece, he's interested in directing "The Hobbit," which would be in production around the same time as "Spider-Man 4." On Monday, star Tobey Maguire told NBC's "Today" that he'd consider a fourth if Raimi directs, this after much public ambivalence about coming back to the franchise. Co-star Kirsten Dunst has said in numerous places that she'd only think about returning if Raimi and Maguire are on board.
Keith Anderson, proprietor of Keith's Komix in Schaumburg, believes the movies could survive with a different guy in the Spider-Man suit, "but I think losing Raimi would hurt a lot because he's really in touch with Spider-Man." Anderson compares a Raimi-free "Spider-Man 4" to "X-Men: The Last Stand," which saw director Bryan Singer leaving that series. "The movie was still good, it still did huge box office, but it didn’t have the same feel."
Max Phillips of The Comix Revolution at Mount Prospect's Randhurst Mall thinks a change of director "might be okay, but if they get the wrong guy, like what happened to 'Batman and Robin,' that might be kind of tough to pull. As much as I love Sam Raimi's directing, I can see someone else doing a good job with that, and if they get a good actor that could step into Tobey's shoes, it could work."
W. Dal Bush, store manager at Naperville's Graham Crackers Comics, says the franchise doesn't depend on one person. "Over the years, in the comics, there have been a lot of creators involved, and I don't think it comes down to one specific person beyond [creators] Stan Lee or Steve Ditko."
Then there are the villains, a crucial part of any superhero film. As Bush notes, "The character who becomes the Lizard [Dr. Curt Connors] has shown up in a few films." Last month, Cinemablend.com posted a rumor that Morlun, a more recent supernatural foe from the comics, is under consideration.
As a fan, Anderson would like to see The Rhino, Mysterio or The Black Cat, a sexy anti-heroine who was originally created as a foil for Marvel character Spider-Woman. "They could always spawn Carnage if Venom's as big a hit as I think he's going to be," he speculates, referring to the maniacal comics villain created when the black alien symbiote seen in "Spider-Man 3" bonds with a serial killer.
"If they hadn't blown The Kingpin in 'Daredevil,' he would be a really good villain," says Anderson. "I hope it’s not, like, The Vulture or something, especially after this movie. Electro you could possibly do, but then, how threatening is a guy who throws electrical bolts compared to what they’ve been doing?"
Bush wants a distinguishable villain with a less complicated back-story. "Something like The Lizard or The Scorpion have the advantage of being able to get into it quickly and having a very cool look," he says. "When you see a guy in a green suit with a giant green tail, that's The Scorpion. You get who he is. That stuff is always fun, and it allows more of an emphasis on Spider-Man, rather than spending the whole movie finding out who the villain is and why he's doing what he's doing."
Like Anderson, Phillips wishes for a longer continuation of the Venom storyline. "I'd like to see Spider-Man teaming up with someone to fight Venom. A Black Cat appearance would be neat, or at least Felicia Hardy [Black Cat's alter-ego] showing up somewhere."
For those already anticipating "Spider-Man 4," the best way to get more web-slinging action is to go back to the books. Tomorrow, thousands of comic book shops participate in Free Comic Book Day. Hardcore fans and the comic-curious alike can check out their local store and walk away with free issues of select comics, including Marvel's "The Amazing Spider-Man: Swing Shift" by Dan Slott, Phil Jimenez and Andy Lanning. To locate a participating shop near you, visit www.freecomicbookday.com.
Your method of toasting sesame seeds is pretty much the standard method.
I'm glad you're taking an interest in cooking by the way.
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