In case y’all didn’t know, Columbia’s Shop Tart went all healthy last week.  Inspired by her steamed fish and spinach post, I picked up a small mahi-mahi steak at the Publix in Trenholm Plaza tonight and decided I’d cook it Shop Tart-style.  It even happened to be on sale.  Yay! (But I got the last one. Sorry.)

I opted to broil my fish rather than steam it a la Shop Tart …because I just don’t have the willpower that she does.  (I’ll always listen to the little Paula Deen whispering in my ear on one shoulder rather than to the little angel on the other shoulder.)  And I decided I’d prepare it with Asian flavors. 

Here’s how I did it.

• Move the top oven rack to roughly six inches from the broiler.  (This may vary depending on how powerful your oven is.)  Preheat broiler to high.

• Rinse the mahi-mahi steak off with water and pat dry with a paper towel.  (This recipe would also work with any thick, mild fish — swordfish, salmon, halibut, sea bass, grouper, etc.)

• Rub both sides with a little olive oil and generously salt and pepper.

• Squeeze fresh lemon juice on both sides of the fish and place on a broiling pan or cookie sheet after spraying pan or sheet with cooking spray.  I used a cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil so that I could just wad up the messiness when it was done and have less to scrub.  Broiling can make a mess.

• Steam and salt your fresh spinach if you have it, or heat up frozen spinach according to directions.

• Now for the glaze.  As the fish begins to cook, mix together a small amount of vegetable or canola oil, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, soy sauce, seasoned rice wine vinegar (not really necessary if you have the lemon juice … you just need one acid … but it adds an interesting flavor element if you have it), garlic powder or minced fresh garlic, a few drops of honey, a drop of sesame oil (if you want … just remember that one drop goes a LONG way), and fresh ginger.  I cheated and used this ginger stuff, which can sometimes be found near the refrigerated salad dressings. (Freshly-grated ginger tastes and smells awesome, but it’s also a pain to grate.) Apologies for the lack of specifics on measurements for each of these ingredients. I just eyeballed it. Start with a small amount of each and season to taste. You won’t need much of any one ingredient.

• Keep a close eye on the fish under the broiler.  Try to resist moving the tray around, but be careful that fish doesn’t start to burn and that smoke doesn’t start billowing out of the oven …because, man, will that make your house reek.  Billowing smoke = bad.

• Depending on the thickness of the fish, it should broil for about 8-10 minutes or so and doesn’t need to be flipped.  The fish should have a golden crust on top and easily flake apart with a fork when it’s ready.

• After removing the fish from the oven, place on top of bed of spinach and drizzle glaze on top.

• Serve with Uncle Ben’s Whole Grain Wild/Brown Ready Rice, which is surprisingly tasty and is ready in 90 seconds.  (I top with a little bit of butter and salt.  I have Paula Deen on my shoulder, remember?)

Verdict?   Loved it.  And so will you.  It’s simple and takes practically no time to prepare.  Bon appétit!

My friend Rhodes Bailey of Whiskey Tango Revue fame raved about LuLu’s hot dogs on Devine Street beside Publick House, so yesterday I decided to swing by for lunch.  Turns out that on Monday’s, LuLu’s offers a lunch special of a hot dog, chips, and a drink for $5.  Score!  I opted for the LuLu — their signature ‘dog, which is topped with chili, mustard, onions, and slaw.  It didn’t disappoint.  Next time I’ll probably go with no slaw since I’m not a huge slaw fan in general, but LuLu’s does the classic Carolina combination just right.  LuLu’s is simple, tasty, cheap, and kid-friendly.  Stop by and check it out.

PS – LuLu’s is cash-only.

Yep, that image is gross.  But now you’re reading this post now, aren’t you?  BTW, I apologize for the somewhat culturally insensitive-sounding subject line.  I drop all standards and manners when it comes to puns.  I love puns.  And I’m not sorry about it.

Between my junior and senior years of college, I was lucky enough to snag an internship at Southern Living magazine’s headquarters in Birmingham, AL in their new media department.  Back then “new media” was so new that there weren’t courses in it in journalism schools like there are today.  Given that the overwhelming majority of applicants to the program were Southern sorority girls, only a fraction of us were dorky enough to sneak off to the computer lab to play with Photoshop and HTML in between crush parties and mixers.  So I got the job.

While I was at Southern Living, one of my very best buds was a fellow intern named Josh.  Not a Southern sorority girl … but close enough!  Today I keep up with him via the blogosphere.  If you like cooking and you like funny, then you need to read his blog, Kitchen Mischief.  Laughs turned into snorts a couple of times as I read his tribute to miso, an ingredient typically found in Asian food.

Here’s a teaser, and click over to his site and continue reading … seeing as how I didn’t ask for permission to reprint this and all.

Friends, not to be obnoxious, but I consider myself somewhat culinarily enlightened. What I mean is, I love to experiment with new ingredients. No lie — I have bookoos of salt. Porcini, Maldon, Gray, Chardonnay-Smoked, Rosemary, Truffle, Hawaiian Red, Sicilian White. So much for not being obnoxious. It’s starting to sound like I’m a heroin dealer.

Anyway, I like to cook with weird stuff. But six months ago when my friend, co-worker, and serial blogger Carrie (Shop Small and Plate & Pattern) recommended that I try miso, I nodded, smiled politely, and hurriedly dismissed the very notion of such a thing. You see, Carrie is what I call VERY Vegetarian. She doesn’t eat fish — she doesn’t cheat and sneak a sausage ball during the holidays (sorry Jen). She even sometimes eats sauteed chard or broccoli for breakfast. So yes, I am ashamed, but I dismissed miso as a “vegetarian thing.”

For those of you who don’t know what miso is, let’s hear what The Holy Brain of the Internet has to say about it:

(Continue Reading)

Cock N Bull – style.  Definitely one of Columbia’s best burgers… if not THE best.  Highly recommend!  In keeping with tonight’s theme, the chips even got the Boehner treatment!