Yucatecan Salmon at Home

For dinner, I had some coho salmon, with fava beans, plantains, tomatoes, and a glass of shiraz.

The salmon was interesting. I took a mild risk by dousing it in one of the Yucatecan spice rubs("recados yucatecos") I've been obsessed with lately. They're quick to make, and pack a huge punch of warm spice flavor.

This particular one, adapted from Rick Bayless, contains garlic, cumin, coriander, cloves, cinnamon, oregano, black pepper, and achiote, aka annatto, all ground with apple cider vinegar and flour to form a paste. I added some olive oil to make a better rub for fish, and rubbed away.

The rub worked really well- I went kind of light with it, figuring the flavors would be a bit heavy for the salmon. It paired nicely with the wine, a rather heavy Australian shiraz that had an ABV higher than I'd normally go for. I figured the label art went with my Mexican theme at least:

The wine was awful by itself, though slightly better slightly chilled. Paired with food, it was average. It was described as "heavy fruit" by the Trader Joe's wine assistant; I knew at the store it wouldn't be a wine that appealed to my somewhat spare, minimalist, subtle, low ABV self, but somehow we ended up with it anyway. Oh well. Like I said, cute label.

The favas and plantains were nice- the favas (actually a fava/garbanzo mix), were canned, from our local Middle Eastern grocery, and a little salty. The plantains, from our local Mexican grocery's freezer case (Goya ftw), were a little sweet. So it all balanced. Maybe they would have been better with a little crema.

The grape tomatoes were tasty- I've recently discovered they're awesome roasted in the oven with some olive oil and salt. Pretty much every veggie is. Maybe that's why I love veggies so much lately.

Crab Cakes at Home

For dinner, I had homemade crab cakes with a side of fava beans and a nice Chianti Sicilian red.

I used the same recipe as last time. The recipe comes from a tiny, poorly copy-edited cookbook labeled "A Taste of Charleston, South Carolina Restaurant Recipes" that we purchased while visiting several years back.

I always follow the recipe rather loosely, especially considering they forgot to include the unit of measurement for the Worcestershire sauce. "1/4" what?!? I stick with this mangled recipe only because it is relatively unadulterated by weird fillers, and because it calls for much less (gloopy, disgusting) mayo than other recipes- 1/2 cup per pound crab. I could just make my own mayo, but it's messy and takes a ton of oil, and I'm lazy sometimes.

The crab cake mixture tasted boring this time, so I quadrupled the amount of hot sauce called for. I was using Louisiana Hot Sauce, which proved to be overpoweringly distinctive. Not bad, but next time I'll try using Marie Sharp's. I suspect its citrusy undertones would yield a less obtrusive heat.

I was also slightly disappointed with my crab. I used canned crab from Trader Joe's, which was about $8 for a pound; previously, I used canned crab from Costco for about $12/pound. It could be completely random, but there were no stray shells in my Costco crab and a TON in TJ's.

Overall, it wasn't bad, and relatively quick and easy to make. The Sicilian wine I had with it was the 2006 Fourplay- a blend of four traditional Sicilian grapes (including my much-loved Nero d'Avola). It was, predictably, a little heavy for this meal, but I had been dying to try it after I found it at the (awesome) local Italian market and couldn't wait. It's a nice, slightly tannic wine, with candied fruit undertones, but it could have a little more structure- it seemed to wilt after a few hours of air.

Ful at Home

For lunch, I had ful mudammas, some miniature heirloom tomatoes, and greek yogurt with pomegranate syrup.

The ful has been sitting around in the pantry through two moves, so I figured this was a good time to finally eat it. To clarify, ful (pronounced "fool", also spelled "foul") is an Egyptian breakfast/lunch item made from fava beans cooked with olive oil and spices to the preferred degree of mushiness, served with pita. The ful I had on hand was simply canned favas pre-seasoned for ful. I'd never tried canned ful before, and quickly decided the seasonings were too sweet. To remedy this, I mixed in about a teaspoon of sumac. When that wasn't sufficient, I added several huge pinches of Ethiopian berbere powder I had lying around, along with a little olive oil. The result was interesting and a little spicy. If I'd wanted to make a pita, my Greek yogurt probably would've been a nice contrast to add.

Instead, I prepared the Greek yogurt with my favorite obscure condiment, pomegranate molasses. Pomegranate molasses is just pomegranate juice, cooked down into a thick syrup for use in cooking, but the flavor is like the best tart, bright, earthy, fruity candy you can imagine. Really tart. The effect is similar to passion fruit puree, with a less acidic finish. It's excellent over yogurt or ice cream, and I've even used it to successfully sweeten olive oil & oatmeal cookies. It's one of my favorite snacks that's vaguely healthy yet delicious.

Quirky dinner at home

For dinner, I had basmati rice with fava beans, and a gianduja-filled wrap.

The rice was cooked in my amazing rice cooker, and dressed with Marie Sharp's mild sauce and sea salt. I mixed the rice with our favorite canned fava beans from the local Middle Eastern market. They are "Palestinian recipe", which, after much fava-tasting, is our favorite. In general, you can't go too wrong with canned favas, but I recommend staying away from the Egyptian-style beans- I don't remember what is in them, but they smell like vomit. They taste fine, but I could never get past the smell. Palestinian-style, however, is so very good. It is typified by cooked favas and garbanzos in a lemony garlic and olive oil sauce.

The wrap probably should've been filled with some of the Sabra hummus we have in the fridge, but we bought the million-pound tub of hummus from Costo awhile back, and I'm hummused out. Instead, I filled our high-fiber rye tortilla wraps (seriously, check out how scary healthy these are) with hazelnut-chocolate paste. A bit iconoclastic, but overall pretty good. I was concerned about the nexus of rye (which I kind of hate anyway- I bought the wrong flavor wraps by mistake) and chocolate, but it was barely noticeable. In the end, it was probably better than using the other wraps we have around, which are tomato-basil flavored.