Fish on Earth: The Jester-in-Exile's Lenten Weekend Dinner

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(This post is sponsored by a DigitalFilipino.com Club Paid Ad: Register to win a new iPod shuffle at Camera World Auction. I don't want an iPod shuffle, though; I want a new kitchen set. Imagine what stuff I could whip up with kitchen gear more substantial than my standard poor li'l bachelor's mess kit.)

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I don't normally abide fish. Really.

However, this being the Lenten season, it might do me some good to bow to common practice (even if it doesn't really matter to me one way or another).

Presenting, therefore, the jester-in-exile's Lenten weekend dinner. By special request, it had to be really REALLY spicy; I'm guessing some folks want something to feel something to come alive ha ha.

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Spicy Pan-fried Gindara and Cordilocoslovakian Farmboy's Salad Deluxe
Ingredients

Gindara steaks
Romaine lettuce, washed and tossed
Green and red bell peppers (large), cut into thin strips
Green and red onions (large), medium diced
Cucumbers (medium), medium strips
Carrots (medium), medium strips
Garlic, chopped
Ginger, shredded
Siling labuyo, chopped
Baby leeks, minced
Celery, chopped and shredded
Parsley, chopped
Cane vinegar, unspiced
Soy sauce
Salt and cayenne pepper

This is how we play.

Procedure

1. Quick-marinate the gindara steaks with soy sauce, a splash of vinegar, siling labuyo, garlic, ginger, and cayenne pepper. About thirty minutes (roughly the time it takes to defrost the fish) should be good enough.

2. On a bed of romaine lettuce, arrange a mess of bell peppers, onions, carrots, and cucumbers -- when I say a mess, I mean a mess; no points for neatness, this is a aggapo-baryo salad.

3. Brown on low flame a handful of siling labuyo, garlic, and celery.

When you smell the stuff as it's cooking, it's not surprising that wars were fought for this stuff.

4. Drain the spiced frying oil on a separate container, setting the browned spices aside.

Hint: some people love this stuff as toppings to flavor steamed rice.

5. Dress the salad using a vinaigrette whipped up from some of the frying oil, some cane vinegar, and some salt. Some might think it a a good idea to cool the mess some in the chiller (but if you want to go authentic barriotic, you can opt not to bother).

The less closely it resembles restaurant food, the better.

5. Using some of the spiced frying oil, slow-brown the gindara steaks on a skillet.

6. When done, put the gindara steaks on a shallow bed of celery to absorb the oil. (Gindara is a quite the fatty fish, so there just might be a lot of it.) Sprinkle some baby leeks to help the celery out. Some parsley would be useful, too.

This is why I'd rather use celery: using paper towels tends to give gindara a taste of paper. (Ewww.)

7. You're done. Set the table. Don't forget the soy sauce-vinegar dip for the fish.

Made for each other.

Yep, Coke makes it purrfect... not the socialites' coke, idiot.

Inta mangan ngaruden, ah. This little quickie meal is meant for sharing.

"Let them eat cake"? Heh. Them high society (pun completely intentional) folk don't know what they're missing.

The jester-in-exile does catering, by the way. Completely personal service. Heh heh.

(I'm kidding. When will I have the time to cook meals for a multitude? I can't multiply loaves and fishes, people -- I may have some skills, but I'm not that good. Heck, if I could turn water into wine, me and my pals would be happy, but noooooo....)

(Then again, I know people who walk on water -- they're called surfers. Heh heh.)

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Just a thought: yes, I'm fishing for compliments, pun once again intentional haha.

Later, all.



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