I made this last night and it turned out decently, although the fish was cut too thick so I had to cook it a little longer. Opah may not be the ideal fish for this, so I’ll try it later with tilapia or other fillet.

1 Tbsp grated ginger
1 large clove garlic
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp honey
1 green chili

1 lb opah
2 sheets parchment paper

2 Tbsp chives

Mix all ingredients other than fish and chives, omitting chili seeds if desired. Marinate fish for approximately 30 minutes (longer will start to cook the fish, ceviche-style). Split fish into two halves and place in parchment envelopes, pouring remaining lemon juice on top. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

I decided to have a Coke today and in order to scare myself into not drinking them anymore, I looked at the nutrition facts label.

Is this just another example of how Americans are falling behind in math? Or do calories not scale linearly with volume?

Actually, there is an explanation — apparently 8 fl oz = 240 ml, but 20 fl oz = 591 ml! So really the problem is that the metric system of measurement is nonlinear. That’s because it was invented by Europeans, who are trying to cheat us, clearly. That, or Americans are falling behind in math.

The problem with migrating from bagged tea to loose tea is that you have to use up the residual bags — two lone “Constant Comment” bags from god-knows-when, a smattering of Tazo tea given as a present by a Starbucks-lover who didn’t know any better, and mysterious other bags of unknown provenance. This morning I decided to do my duty and make one of the Twinings Darjeeling bags. The plus side : it seems nearly impossible to oversteep this bag as long as you actually want to drink your tea and don’t forget that you made it. The negative side : it tastes nothing like Darjeeling. I was merely lighter than my usual Twinings standby, the English Breakfast. In contrast, this weekend I tried the Moondakotee Estate FTGFOP1 (Second Flush), which came in a sampler pack, and found it to be delightful — huge leaves and a nice robust body with all the floral notes and so on. I’ve had a few cheaper ones which have also been a pleasure to drink. It’s not a fair comparison, since the loose tea cost about 50% more than the bagged stuff, but does there even exist a decent Darjeeling bag, or should I just use the remaining ones to help my tired eyes?

I’m sitting with Amrys in an Espresso Royale in Madison. She’s reading a book before class and I’m trying to clean up a writeup on for my research. Espresso Royale was one of my favorite hangouts in high school, and I was distressed to learn, upon moving to Boston, that it was in fact a chain. But there’s something familiar about the place here beyond the Generic College Coffeehouse thing.

Maybe it’s the glassware or ther furniture, the branding of the place (which only became so coordinated and overt in the late 90’s, I think). It’s a manifestation of a greater sense of “home” that I get here. Maybe all midwest college towns are somehow the same. The snow is falling thick and wet outside, we’re warm in here with our coffees, and 90% of the people in here are working. It’s comforting like my recent sojourn in 1369, but this nostalgia runs farther back, to the days of my purple spiral notebook, Ritz crackers, and Coca-Cola.

This is a dish I made for the New Year’s Iron Chef : Battle Champagne party at my friend Usama’s swank pad. Champagne is used thrice in the recipe. The initial idea was given to me by Alexandra, and the fresh chanterelles were generously donated by Michael and Elizabeth (he picks them fresh in the Berkeley hills). Here’s what it looks like:

Marinade
1 cup champagne or cava
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 Ttbsp shallots
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 lbs raw shrimp, deveined and peeled, leaving tails

1. Mix marinade ingredients together with shrimp in a large plastic bag. If you’re like me and are bag-deficient, use a tupperware and toss the shrimp every once in a while to be fair. Let them marinate for around an hour.
2. Take out the shrimp and skewer them (if grilling) or place them on a lightly oiled broiling pan (if broiling). Make sure the broiler rack is high. Discard the marinade and bag (it is tainted with disgusting shrimp cooties).
3. Broil them for 2-4 minutes on each side until they look cooked/grilled. Let them cool and transfer to a serving dish or bowl.

Sauce
3 tbsp shallots
1.5 cups champagne or cava
5 tbsp champagne vinegar
1.5 cups heavy cream
1/2 lb fresh chanterelle or other fancy-pants mushrooms
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp thyme (or more to taste)
2 tbsp honey (or less to taste)
salt and pepper

1. Put shallot, champagne, and vinegar in a saucepan over medium heat util it boils and reduces to 1/2 to 2/3 of its original volume.
2. In the meantime, chop the chanterelles roughly and sautee in olive oil until they give up some juice. Once they are cooked, take them off the heat.
3. After the sauce reduces, add the heavy cream and return it to a boil until it reduces to about 3/4 of its original volume. Add the mushrooms, thyme, honey, salt, and pepper. Reduce it until it’s thick and creamy. You can add a little flour to thicken it up if things aren’t working quite right.

Serve the shrimp with the sauce on the side. Spoon a little onto the shrimp and munch away. Of course you can make any substitutions you like, especially to lower the fat content…

Making a half-batch of wassail is hard — without the sheer volume of liquid, the roasted/caramelized apples have a hard time floating.

3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp mirin
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp sambal paste
2 tsp sesame oil

Slice tofu into 1/4″ thick slices. Make enough to cover tofu and let sit at least 1 hour (best if overnight). Pan fry in a light oil (grapeseed works) until each side seals. Use in sandwiches, etc.

Verdict : marinating for a long time makes the tofu weak and so plan your slice thickness accordingly. Next time I will add garlic and change the lemon juice to lime. Putting in more sambal could help too, or maybe just raw chilies (for that fresh bite). Tofu definitely needs saltiness — citrus doesn’t really penetrate it very well.