Pecan/Parsley-Crusted Mahi

A quick word about mahi before we dive into the recipe, because I do love trivia. Did you know that mahi-mahi is a new name for what has historically been called a dolphin fish? It's true. I remember learning this one summer in the Outer Banks and being terrified that the gorgeous dolphins I was watching swim and jump in the distance were the same ones being served up at my aunt's restaurant. But never fear, Flipper fans, the dolphin fish is not the same thing as these gorgeous animals we photographed swimming alongside our ferry during our honeymoon last summer:

To assuage these Flipper concerns, the dolphin fish community decided to rebrand itself as the mahi-mahi some years ago. Mahi means "strength" in Hawaiian, but it might as well mean "delicious" in my book. Mahi is my go-to white fish for home cooking - it's economical, it's easy to prepare, and it's mild enough to bring out any flavor you'd like to taste. Here's my go-to mahi recipe, which can be whipped up in no time flat. We eat it nearly every week.

Maggie's Pecan/Parsley-Crusted Mahi

The idea here is that I always have pecans in my pantry and flat-leaf parsley in my fridge - use whatever you always have on hand, too. Using two of my favorite ingredients, it doesn't get any more weeknight-proof for me than this. These directions are for two mahi fillets, but I've also made it for four, doubling the "crust," and could easily see doing an entire tray's worth for a crowd.

Ingredients

2 mahi fillets
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup pecans
3 tablespoons chopped parsley

Instructions 

1. Preheat oven to 425ish (Sometimes I do 400, based on whatever else I'm cooking. In other words, it doesn't really matter. Easy, remember?)

2. Place the mahi in a glass casserole dish or roaster skin side down and coat in a splash of olive oil. Pat a bit of salt and pepper over the fish.

3. In your grinding implement of choice, combine 1/2 cup pecans, 3 tablespoons of chopped flat-leaf parsley, a pinch of salt, and 3 good turns of your pepper grinder. Cover the fish with the mixture.

3. Bake for 15ish minutes. Really, this depends on the cut of fish. If your pieces are on the smaller size, 15 should be fine. If your pieces are thicker (or obviously, if you're cooking more than two of them), you might go up to 25 or 30 minutes. Just keep an eye on the fish and when you think it might ready, slice into one of the pieces to check. You don't want to see pink, but you do still want it to be juicy. Nothing's less appetizing than eating overcooked fish. You'll know when they're ready, really.

4. Eat! Oh, the simplicity!

Let me know if you make this and like it, and what other fun nut/herb combinations you come up with for your crust. Mmmmm good.... is it lunchtime yet?

Philadelphia, again.

The funny thing about Philadelphia is that once upon a time, it was the setting for my first glimpse of adulthood. I was 16 and enrolled in a summer program for fellow media nerds at Penn. We were a group of hyper-motivated, weird kids who found ourselves and each other immensely fascinating. Living in a dorm together for six weeks - attending classes, working on projects, traveling - made for the coolest summer ever. (Yep, "coolest summer" for me involved school - go figure.) So this is what college is like, I thought. So this is what living in a city is like, I thought. I had the bug, and ended up attending college in Boston two years later, a city lover already. Boston was my first urban love, but without Philadelphia, it might never have happened.

Save for a quick weekend in college, I hadn't been back to the city since. This weekend, we hopped onto a quick 2-hour train (I'm giddy at how easy it is to do this now that we live in DC) and went to see the most fantastic play and stay with the most fantastic people. They're old friends of T's family and are responsible for things like this at our wedding:

A truly fantastic couple, H&D, married for over 30 years and still having goodbye makeouts each time one of them leaves to run an errand. Here's just one lovely thing about H&D: they say that T is the reason they ever married at all.

See, T's parents had tried and failed to set them up. They were all living in Philadelphia back then, and my in-laws arranged a meetup at a local bar. Only, the plan backfired - D went home with H's roommate instead of H. Oops.

Some time later, they were all going to a toga party and came to pick up H. She answered the door expecting to see my father-in-law. Instead, it was my father-in-law's pal D, the one who'd gone home with the wrong girl (who of course wasn't The One), and he was carrying a baby in his arms. That was little T decked out in a kiddie-sized toga. H couldn't resist the sight of D with the adorable towheaded baby. They were married six months later.

H & D still live in Philadelphia, in a 150-year-old townhouse on a great street in a neighborhood dotted with local businesses and neighbors who recognize each other. With a skyline right there. And everything walkable.

Upon our arrival, we engaged in Battle Martini: Shaken v. Stirred (I'm a stirred girl myself, it turns out).We explored historic sites, visited the building T lived in as a baby, and enjoyed delicious food. We saw a play honoring one of my heroes, and it was wonderful. We walked home and drank wine and played word games (T and I are out of practice). We woke up early and had breakfast at a little neighborhood cafe run by a French couple who are H&D's vacation buddies. Life is good for these two. Their daughter's almost out of graduate school and is moving to DC (!) in the fall. They're dialing back their workloads. They're ready to enjoy what's in front of them. The decade between 60 and 70, H told me, is what she calls "the sweet spot." They're living it.

And so throughout that weekend, more times than I could count, the Philadelphia thing hit me again. Once more, I got glimpses of what being a grown-up could look like. (Why yes, I'm still searching for that reality sixteen years later, aren't you?) This kind of life - the walking and the history and the knowing your neighbors and the local businesses and the vitality of it all - is very much the kind of life that T and I would like to build. Not to mention the kind of partnership that's at its center. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us to make it happen (DC real estate voyeurism can turn into panic and depression really quickly, it turns out), but it's what we want. Someday. Maybe sooner rather than later. Our Life Plan feels a little less tenuous having seen a model of it in action, even if the steps to get there still feel enormous and slightly mind-boggling.

So progress, then. Baby steps toward the Plan. Found, once more, in Philadelphia. Who knew?

Any "Philadelphia moments" for you all lately? I'd love to bask in everyone's inspiration for a bit. With spring in the air, life feels so hopeful right now.

A week from today, we're in Brides Magazine!

As a kid who wanted to write from the time she could hold a pencil, being featured in a national magazine would seemingly be a lifelong goal. But being featured in a national magazine due to pretty pictures and the fact that I said "I Do?" Not really what my politics-obsessed newshound self had in mind. But hey, I'll take it!

A week from today, the May issue of Brides Magazines hits the newsstands, and our wedding is featured as one of their Real Weddings. Kind of surreal for this camera-shy girl. I did the interviews early this year, but have no idea what photos they'll be using or how they'll spin our little shindig. Only time will tell! I loved our wedding and I love the idea that a non-bridey-bride girl like me might see this feature and realize she's in good company. So to that: bravo!

Brides Magazine: Not Just For Girls Who Like The Word "Bride"

Tick tock, tick tock, one week to go.

The Typoman Cometh

I would like to wage war against typos. Be on notice: this is the moment my internal campaign goes public. I abhor typos, nearly as much as I detest grammatical errors. The question of whether typos or grammatical errors are worse is a personal one for us all. Is an indifferent shrug or lack of attention paid to how words are supposed to be spelled better or worse than a painfully ignorant attempt to employ grammatical techniques, even if done horribly wrong? This debate of mine speaks to my favorite mood-brightening blog, the brilliant "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks. I mean, really, this blog is the stuff of magic:

I can scan my eyes across a page of print and see the its/it's and you're/your errors in an instant. This happens so often, in fact, that I sometimes think typos and bad grammar possess a magnetic pull toward my line of vision. They are everywhere. Oh, and commas? I like them. When they are used properly. Enough said. But I digress with the bad grammar; the focus here today is typos.

Know that I do not recuse myself from this indictment. When I catch a typo in something I've written, I want to plunge my head into a vat of boiling water. Typos seem to happen far more on this chatty little blog project of mine than in my "real" writing (note correct use of quotation mark signaling sarcasm), which I think speaks less about my devaluing of said blog project and more about my general frenzied mental state these days. I explain all of this to ask a series of questions:

Wouldn't you agree that our social security numbers are our most important piece of identification when it comes to data?

Yes? Me too! Okay then:

Wouldn't you agree that anyone who's ever lasted one day as a college freshman will forever have their social security number seared into their brain, that it's one of those numbers that is simply impossible to forget even if numbers aren't your thing, like pi equaling 3.14?

So glad we're on the same page! Now, then:

What kind of person not only doesn't know their social security number front and back, but actually gets it wrong when filing their taxes, a time when crucial items of identification are not only on the brain, but likely spread out on a table before them?

What I'm asking here is:

How in the world does someone make a TYPO in their SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER on their TAXES?

I mean REALLY?!, right? Now the obvious question:

Can this person's typo be construed as a personal vendetta against my preference for conscious typing and IRS-funded European vacations?

Imagine our household happily skipping along, planning our European getaway and eagerly awaiting the funds designated to pay for said getaway. Until, oops, what's this note from the IRS? It says we have already filed taxes, and therefore our latest return cannot be accepted? Because one of our social security numbers has already been used?! Because someone probably made a typo on their tax form? A typo on their SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER? A typo that turned their social security number into, oops, ONE OF OURS?

Fun, fun, fun over here!

On Monday we will get to experience the joy of going to the IRS headquarters to discuss this matter with a friendly agent, one who I expect will share my disdain for typos and the people who make them. I'll be sure to report which medieval torture device will be used to exert punishment upon the errant tax filer.

In the meantime, we are off to Philadelphia for the weekend to see a tribute to one of my all-time heroes, the late Molly Ivins. When I'm reporting next week on the punishment reserved for folks who make typos on the single most important detail of their identification, I'll also be sure to note whether Kathleen Turner's voice is as wonderfully raspy on stage as it appears on screen.

Happy weekend, everyone. Get those social security numbers of yours straight, why don't you?

Roasted and Citrus'd

One of my favorite flavor combinations is the deep smokiness of roasted vegetables combined with the bright lift of citrus. This time of year is perfect for eating this way. Roasting channels cool nights, but citrus signals that warmer times are ahead. Here are two dishes to get your Roasted/Citrus'd groove on perfectly - Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette and Parmesan Roasted Broccoli:

Momofuku's Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette

Why no photo, you ask? Because it was one of the last dishes I made before we moved and life was crazy. Also, I wasn't entirely successful with this - I burned the cilantro crisps. But Momofuku for 2 has a fantastic (as always) photo, and a write-up of how the recipe should work. This recipe is so damn tasty, even with burned cilantro crisps (you could totally skip them if you're already intimidated, or just focus on them instead of getting distracted like I was that night). Have I mentioned how good a read Momofuku is, by the way? And you're warned: Chang's fish sauce vinaigrette will have you craving it on everything.

Fish Sauce Vinaigrette

• ½ cup fish sauce
• ¼ cup water
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• Juice of 1 lime
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 to 3 red bird’s-eye chiles, thinly sliced, seeds intact

Combine the fish sauce, water, vinegar, lime juice, sugar, garlic, and chiles in a jar. This vinaigrette will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette
(recipe also gives versions for frying or using cauliflower)

Serves 4

• 2 tablespoons very thinly sliced cilantro stems, plus ½ cup cilantro leaves
• 3 tablespoons chopped mint
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoon grapeseed or other neutral oil
• 2 pounds brussels sprouts
• ½ cup puffed rice (like Rice Krispies) tossed with ½ teaspoon grapeseed oil and ½ teaspoon shichimi togarashi (Japanese 7-spice powder) 

1. Combine the vinaigrette, cilantro stems, and mint in a bowl, and set aside.

2. Heat 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil in an oven-safe wide skillet (12 to 14 inches) or 3-quart sauté pan over medium heat. When the oil slides easily from side to side of the pan, add the cleaned and trimmed brussels sprouts cut side down. When the cut faces of the sprouts begin to brown, transfer the pan to the oven to finish cooking, about 15 minutes. The sprouts are ready when they are tender but not soft. 

3. Heat about 1 cup of oil in a small sauté pan or skillet—the oil should be ½ inch or so deep—over medium-high heat until a deep-fry or instant-read thermometer registers 375°F. Fry the cilantro leaves. Make sure the leaves are dry and fry them by the handful, dropping them into the oil and agitating them with a slotted spoon or spider so they don’t clump together. Give them 5 to 10 seconds to crisp, then drain on paper towels.
4. Toast the puffed rice: Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat for 1 minute or so, until it's hot, then add the puffed rice. Toast, stirring occasionally, until it's aromatic and perhaps a shade darker than it was when you added it to the pan, just a couple of minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.
5. Divide the brussels sprouts among four bowls (or serve it all out of one big bowl), top with the dressing, and toss once or twice to coat. Sprinkle the fried cilantro and puffed rice over all, and serve.

****

Hungry yet? Here's one more Roasted/Citrus'd recipe for you, discovered by my hometown pal Heather. 

Parmesan Roasted Broccoli
from the Barefoot Contessa

The earthy warmth of the broccoli paired with bright lemon is a total winner. Just like the puffed rice in the brussels sprouts recipe, the toasted pine nuts here add a satisfying crunch. This dish is good enough that it prompted a "we don't eat enough broccoli" conversation at our dining table.

Serves 4

• 4 to 5 pounds broccoli
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
• Good olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons julienned fresh basil leaves

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Cut the broccoli florets from the thick stalks, leaving an inch or two of stalk attached to the florets, discarding the rest of the stalks. Cut the larger pieces through the base of the head with a small knife, pulling the florets apart. You should have about 8 cups of florets. Place the broccoli florets on a sheet pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Toss the garlic on the broccoli and drizzle with 5 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, until crisp-tender and the tips of some of the florets are browned.

3. Remove the broccoli from the oven and immediately toss with 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, the lemon zest, lemon juice, pine nuts, Parmesan, and basil. Serve hot.

Auntie 3.0

You know how much I love being an aunt. Besides my gracious brother bringing my ridiculously adorable niece Taylor into the world, I also have my sister to thank for my insanely cute nephew Liam. Liam is enormous (as in, he's an 8 month old wearing 24 month clothes) and bald and happy and just so freaking fun to hang out with.

Liam is making some waves on the homefront as a baby model (for real!). Hanging out with my sis last week while we toted around the huge football of giggles that is Liam is hilarious... I felt like I was with celebrity spawn. Routine scenes from strangers around us include:

"He is the cutest baby I've ever seen!"

"Oh my word... look at him!"

"He is HUGE!"

[Countless people including single guys who do not consider themselves baby fans seeing Liam and unconsciously breaking out in a huge smile as they walk by.]

So yep, he's kind of a big deal. And you can see his cute little self in Cary Living magazine this month!

You might remember that my sis stood beside us on our wedding day as the Best Woman just eight days before she brought Liam into the world. She rocked it.

Pregnancy suits her, doesn't it? I'm spending this morning bragging a little because I've finally been given the green light to share some news that I've been bursting holding in for over a month:  

My sister is pregnant again!  

Liam will be a big brother to a another cutie just sixteen and a half months younger than he is. I'm beyond thrilled for Lisa and my brother-and-law... and giddy about having another niece or nephew in my life! Bonus: now that I live so close, I can spoil them all whenever I want!

OIY: Order it Yourself

There were supposed to be DIY moving announcements. They were to be made out of our moving boxes: postcard-sized cutouts of cardboard with clever sayings stamped on and some great-looking twine holding the package together. Kind of like this.

But there was also supposed to be furniture a week after we got here instead of three weeks later. And none of it was supposed to arrive broken. And record-breaking snowstorms weren't really in the picture, either. So when those moving boxes of ours finally got here, I didn't want to hang onto them a second longer than I had to for unnecessary crafting. Except for those boxes I still can't get around to unpacking, of course - I really like hanging onto those, apparently:

 So no, there are not DIY moving announcements. Instead, there is Tiny Prints to the rescue, and an adorable little moving announcement that all I had to do was order. "I" to "we," of course.

Sometimes, life needs a shortcut or two. I'm okay with that. Lots of work catchup to do this week after spending five days in NC, and then I have *got* to get my office in shape, wouldn't you say?

Spring fever

I'm spending the rest of the week down in Raleigh to be with my grandmother, who's not feeling like her usual spunky self right now. While I'm traveling - and while recuperation and rejuvenation are on the mind anyway - join me in anxiously anticipating the arrival of spring over at EADL. In addition to tapping my foot impatiently for the new season to arrive, I also use more exclamation points than any adult rightfully should, so there's always that for entertainment.

The weather at home this week is low to mid-'70s and sunny, so I think my timing for that post might have been perfect.

Me on EADL: Thinking Spring!

Prague and Vienna and Ljubljana, oh my!

In the excitement over picking up our lives and moving to a brand new city, a big event on our calendars got a tad overshadowed for a while. Now, though (thanks largely to the nice tax lady at H&R Block), our excitement is back in full-swing: we're going to Europe in six weeks!

One of T's sisters is getting married in Ljubljana, Slovenia in early May. She and her fiancé (who is an old college teammate of T's, so they go way back) were both in our wedding, and we're thrilled to go and celebrate theirs. Here's what the NY Times has to say about Ljubljana:

FROM the 16th-century fortress walls atop Castle Hill, the view of Ljubljana is exquisite: waves of red-tiled roofs, turquoise domes, spires and, here and there, lacy bridges spanning the green Ljubljanica River, stitching the two sides of Slovenia's capital city together. The overall effect is that of a snow-globe town in the foothills of the Alps.

Ummmm..... okay! To top it off, A&A are getting married in a castle... seriously! It's a wee bit stunning:

With regard to planning the trip, we wanted to make the most of our little European family reunion without spending a fortune or taking too much time off work. We finally have a plan - a combination of good logic and fantastic sightseeing:

The details:

Stop 1: Prague

I have so many friends who just adore this city... I can't wait to see it for myself. We're looking at spending two and a half days there, so we've gotta make it count!

Stop 2: Vienna

I couldn't resist using this 1902 photo outside of the Vienna Court Opera - isn't that spectacular? We'll have 1.5 days to take this city in... short and sweet, but it looks so lovely!

Stop 3: Ljubljana

Four days of partying with my rather fantastic in-laws and cheering on one of our favorite couples ... I am pumped!!

So tell me, those of you who've been to any of these cities: what's on our must-do and must-see list? Time will be short, but we're excited to gogogo once we get there. I'd love to hear your recommendations!

Simple Salad with French Vinaigrette

Oh, how I love salads. Not in an annoying girl-not-eating-on-first-date way (by the way, I've never been that girl), but in a hearty, voracious "I will now compose the perfect salad for this moment and it will kick ass" way. Salads matter. I go through phases with them in my own kitchen, showering one with attention for weeks and then firing it from the runway when I'm bored. For a record three months, though, this salad has kept my attention. It's sneaky, this salad - so simple yet somehow so rewarding. So before I proclaim it "out" and send it to the workroom to pack up its things, I thought I'd share it here.

The first and most important ingredient: the dressing. I found it via David Lebovitz, whose post on french vinaigrette is exactly why I love his blog. He doesn't just throw out a recipe; he sets the stage. He muses over mustard and complains at length about how balsamic vinegar is misused in dressings. He makes the case for sherry vinegar and then charmingly includes photos of freshly-washed greens drying en plein air. And finally, the recipe. Here it is in all its glory.

French Vinaigrette

from David Lebovitz

Makes about 1/4 cup - you'll want to double this if your head(s) of lettuce are especially large

Ingredients:

1/2 small shallot, peeled and minced (about 1 tablespoon)
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
(or red wine vinegar if you don't have sherry vinegar - but I recommend taking this excuse to buy sherry vinegar)
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
(I love Maille Dijon Mustard so much I eat it with plain crackers as a snack. The stuff is like crack to me.)
3T to 4T olive oil
Fresh herbs, if desired
(I love making this dressing with fresh flat leaf parsley, but any herb you love will do - or none at all!)
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, mix together the salt, vinegar, and shallot. Let stand for about ten minutes.

2. Mix in the Dijon mustard, then add 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Stir well, then taste. If too sharp, add the additional olive oil and more salt, if necessary. Add more mustard if you like as well.

3. If you wish to add fresh herbs, it's best to chop and mix them in shortly before serving so they retain their flavor.

4. Plan on adding freshly ground black pepper to your greens before dressing the salad.

This dressing will keep for about eight hours at room temperature. I like to make it while dinner's on the stove and I can throw everything together when it's fresh.

Maggie's Simple Salad

It doesn't get any easier than this, folks. Or more delicious! 
(For now. Until my next salad phase strikes.)

Ingredients:

French vinaigrette

Soft greens (I usually do a combination of red and green leaf lettuce)

One apple, cut into strips (Pink Lady apples are my fave)

Handful of walnuts

Sprinkling of cheese if you want some (I've done a slew of different cheeses - it's pictured here with freshly grated Parm)

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Add freshly ground black pepper to your greens and mix in apple slices and walnuts

2. Dress the salad and add cheese, if desired

3. Eat! Make silly noises and utter weird groans because it is so good!