March

March has come and nearly gone, and I haven't posted in a long while. It would seem I haven't been thinking about nor eating any food. Au contraire! I have been on a frenzy of cooking and baking, but then don't get around to writing about it. I have also been reading stacks and stacks of all kinds of cookbooks thanks to a wonderful inter-library loan program we have here in Northern Colorado. I have been sucked in by them and as a result not writing either. My stack is pretty high at this point with more on hold arriving soon! One of the ones I just borrowed is Dessert Fourplay by Johnny Iuzzini. I just made his recipe for invert sugar so I could make his vanilla bean ice cream. It came out divinely....really smooth, great mouth-feel. We topped it with homemade hot fudge, of course. I also made his Chocolate-peanut ganache on p. 152 which I used as a filling for my girlfriend's birthday cake this weekend. It was yummy in a nice moist chocolate cake, typical American birthday cake style. I topped it with a round of chocolate fans for a nice flourish. I made the BBQ beef Brisket from the February/March 2009 issue of Cook's Country magazine in the crock pot and that came out yummy, too. They presented this method of cooking it which was supposed to simulate using a smoker/grill combo. It was interesting to try and fun to taste the final product. It was quite tasty. The left-overs became beef tacos the following night. On a cooler night one evening we had Tuscan White Bean and Rosemary Soup, one of my very favorite stand-bys from my now shuttered business. Warm, crusty bread and Parmesan cheese fricos (my daughter adores these!!) are the only thing it needs to make a nice meal. In the dessert realm, I made one more batch of Cannelle et Vanille's Blood Orange Sorbet with the last of the blood oranges I could find in my market. This has become my kids absolute favorite. And with good reason , it is simply extraordinary in every way. That had me go on a sorbet making frenzy with grapefruit, strawberry-banana and David Lebovitz's Chocolate sorbet from The Perfect Scoop, also getting churn time. All were marvelous except the strawberry-banana one which tasted too much of banana and was too sweet. Back to the drawing board on that one. I just borrowed Frozen Desserts from the library, too by Francisco Migoya of the Culinary Institute of America in hopes of learning how to correct that. I would like to try Green Apple next as I once had it at Julien Restaurant in Paris and it was amazing, like taking a bite from a fresh, juicy Granny Smith apple. Oh, so yummy! Let's not forget all the crepes I have been making. My daughter, S., went to a friend's to spend the night. The friend's mom made crepes for breakfast. S does not like pancakes. She loved the crepes. So off to work I went making batches of them. Since they freeze so well, it is easy to have some to reheat quickly later on. S. liked them best with nothing more than a sprinkling of powdered sugar. My son, A. filled his with sliced strawberries and fresh whipped cream. Too much fun! But alas, it is Spring and it is getting time to lighten things up, so tonight I grilled Citrus Marinated Mahi-Mahi and it hit the spot nicely. Here is the recipe. I think you might like it, too.

Citrus-Marinated Mahi-Mahi

4- 6 oz. Mahi Mahi filets, boneless, skinless

1/4 c. Extra virgin Olive Oil

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

zest of 1 lemon, 1 lime and 1/2 orange

juice of 1 lemon

1/4 c. orange juice

1/2 tsp Tamari or low-sodium soy sauce

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Combine everthing except fish in a non-reactive bowl. Pour marinade over fish in a ziploc bag. Marinate for 20-30 minutes while pre-heating grill. Clean and oil grates of grill to prevent sticking. Remove fish from marinade and grill over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes a side until cooked through.