Tuna Steaks in Teriyaki Sauce

The original title of this recipe, as listed on the newspaper clipping it came from, is "Fish and Vegetables in Foil." AKA the most self-explanatory (and blah) name in the history of food, so I changed the name, but obviously not the recipe.

This week Judson is working his fingers to the bone on an illustration he did that's going to be featured in a magazine, so I've been on my own making dinners for us. This one is perfect for that because everything is prepped together so there's no worry that the sides will be done before the main course, or that everything is going to get cold because you forgot to preheat the oven. 

I guess the idea of cooking food in foil packets had to have been novel at some point, but it's still a foreign concept to me to cut out and preserve a recipe that is basically just "put all ingredients in foil then bake." Anyway, Eleanor thought it was worth cutting out, so I made it and we liked it. It's easy, cheap, and makes a great weeknight meal because the cleanup is practically non-existent. (Plus, you can cheat and buy your teriyaki sauce already made. Bam.) 

Some notes on ingredients: One of the rules of this project is that I make NO substitutions, to the extent that I am able. I've so far been able to find most ingredients that I needed, but that all changed today after trips to two different grocery stores looking for corn syrup brought me up empty-handed. I presume that back in Eleanor's day the lack of scare tactics surrounding high-fructose corn syrup meant that it was much more readily available for her than it is for me now. I don't know if corn syrup is just not available here in the UK, or more likely, if it's just not available at my grocery stores, but either way, I had to come up with a solution to make the teriyaki sauce listed below.

I ended up with Lyle's Golden Syrup, which I've mentioned before. It's a byproduct of refining sugar and kind of tastes like a cross between corn syrup and honey. We put it on sausage all the time at breakfast, and it's delicious. Also, it comes in a paint can, so it's one of my favourite weird British condiments for that reason alone. It worked great as a substitution in this recipe and if it's all you have on hand, go for it. Bonus: the logo on the can is a dead lion carcass filled with bees (it's a Biblical reference, but I fail to see the relevance, and, having worked in advertising for four years, I find it really strange their marketing team hasn't come up with a new logo that doesn't, you know, align their product with dead animals).

Last, I don't even like zucchini, but in the spirit of “don't deviate from the recipe,” I cooked up a zucchini and it was delicious. Tuna works great in this dish because it's an Asian-inspired set of flavours, so get tuna steaks if you can. Otherwise, salmon or any other firm, steak-y fish would be great, too.

The Verdict:

3 Spoons out of 5. It's good, but it's also simple and kind of boring. Definitely worth making on a night when you don't want pizza but also don't want to have any dishes to wash.

THE RECIPE:

Tuna Steaks in Teriyaki Sauce

THE INGREDIENTS:
FISH:

2 fish fillets or steaks (approximately ¾ lb total)*
foil
2 carrots
4 green onions
2 small zucchinis (courgettes if you're on my side of the pond)
1 small sweet pepper

THE DIRECTIONS:
Fish:

Preheat oven to 425F/218C.
Pat fish dry.
Place each piece of fish on an individual sheet of foil large enough to wrap all the way around the fish and veggies.
Slice all vegetables diagonally, divide in half and layer on top of fish.
Pour teriyaki sauce over each portion.
Bring the edges of the foil together and crimp them.
Place on baking sheet and bake 12 minutes per inch of thickness, until fish is just opaque (if using tuna, fish does not need to be opaque but should begin to flake when poked with a fork and should still be pink in the center).

*Original recipe calls for frozen fish, so if you want to go that route you definitely can. We used fresh tuna steaks and they were great.

 

Teriyaki Sauce:

2 tbsp + 2 tsp soy sauce
2 tbsp + 2 tsp white wine or vermouth
2 tbsp light corn syrup (or golden syrup)
¼ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp garlic powder

 

TERIYAKI SAUCE:

Mix all ingredients together and let sit for 15 minutes or up to overnight.
Recipe scales up easily, but if you only need enough for two servings of fish, this will get the job done.

Crepes for Breakfast! Crepes for Dinner! Crepes for Dessert!

This recipe is in my mom's (very distinctive) handwriting, which probably explains why it is the most clear and concise recipe I've made from the box so far. Also it's written on the back of a piece of stationery from the beauty supply store where she bought all of her hair products back when she was a hair stylist, which is... well, to be expected, I guess. Now, I think I need to explain how I feel about crepes before we start this recipe.

I lived in France for a year. I got married in France. I eat a Nutella crepe every time I see a stand in Edinburgh selling them. But I have never attempted to make them before finding this recipe, convinced they'd be too difficult for me to handle.

Plus, I don't have one of those wooden squeegee things that the creperies in Paris use to make sure each super-thin pancake is perfectly round and of perfect, uniform thickness. Luckily for me, it turns out you don't need a wooden squeegee or a degree from Le Cordon Bleu. What tempted me out of crepe-related timidity? Pancake Day.

I had never heard of Pancake Day before this year (how did I miss this last year?), but it's basically just Mardi Gras. Pancake Day celebrates the last day before Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent and a season of major self-sacrifice, if you're into that sort of thing.

As an incredibly devout Catholic, Eleanor was really into Lent. I don't know the kinds of things she'd give up, but my mom still talks about Fish Fridays when she was growing up, and in a box of family photos I went through to make this site, I found at least a half dozen Catholic funeral cards and a card for the “patron saint of traffic” that Eleanor carried in her wallet. Proof positive she would've been into Pancake Day, if only they celebrated it in mid-twentieth century central Florida.

So how are these two things linked, you may be asking? Well... in Britain (where celebration of Pancake Day is so widespread that grocery store signs boast of stocking “ALL YOUR PANCAKE DAY NEEDS”), Pancake Day is a big deal and pancakes here are actually crepes. So I figured Pancake Day was as good a time as any to debut this recipe.

Oh, also: maple syrup pretty much doesn't exist here in Scotland-- if you find it, it'll be in a specialty grocer and it costs more than my monthly cell phone bill. Plus, you don't eat maple syrup on crepes. But since this entire project is focused on blending Eleanor's life with mine, I figured I'd serve the crepes the way that people eat them here: with lemon and sugar.

If there is a way that the whole “lemon and sugar” thing is supposed to be done, please don't tell me. We just squeezed lemon halves over our crepes and then sprinkled a spoonful of white sugar over them. As far as I was concerned, this was a far inferior substitute for Nutella (though delicious in its own right, I'll grudgingly admit), but Judson, whose tastes, inexplicably, do not run toward chocolate hazelnut spreads, loved it.

Anyway, the crepes were amazing! I conquered my crepe fear! I want to make nothing but crepes for the rest of time! People will be so impressed with my breakfast skills! I'll have to set up a waiting list for next year's Pancake Day because guests will be coming from far and wide to taste my crepes! Half-credit goes to my mom, for writing an incredibly specific and clear recipe, and 25% credit goes to Judson, who took all the pictures so I could focus on spreading the batter in the pan.

Some important crepe notes:

• The recipe says to use an iron skillet, and while I'm sure that would make it more legit, it would also make them (probably) far more likely to stick. If you're as inexperienced as I am, use a non-stick pan, preferably in the exact size that you want your crepes to be.

• Don't skimp on the butter! Make sure you brush a little melted butter into the pan before every crepe. It turns out the butter in the pan is what gives crepes that really beautiful marbled texture. We tried with and without (when I forgot it), and if you skip the butter the crepes just look like pancakes (BORING!).

• We got exactly 8 crepes out of this recipe, and they were on the small-ish side (because that is the size of our pan). If you're feeding more than 2 people, I would scale the recipe up.

• I used a small gravy ladle, filled ¾ full for each crepe. When you pour the batter into the pan, pour it directly into the center of the pan, then IMMEDIATELY swirl the pan to spread the batter. You want the last few drops of batter to cover the last remaining bit of your pan-- it shouldn't be thick like a pancake.

• We ate these for dinner because Pancake Day is a Tuesday, but they'd be great for either breakfast or a très chic dessert.

The Verdict:

5 Spoons out of five! Try this soon and you'll be in awe of your own cooking skills. (Or don't try it and consult me about tickets to the Pancake Day breakfast I'm already planning for 2016). ;)

The Recipe:

Basic Crepes

THE INGREDIENTS:

½ c unsifted all-purpose flour
2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled plus additional for brushing the pan
1 egg plus 1 yolk
¾ c milk

Garnish as desired with butter and sugar (Judson's favourite), Nutella (my favourite), apricot jam (if you're feeling French), lemon and sugar (if you're feeling British), or whatever else your heart desires.

The Directions:

In small bowl, combine flour, melted and cooled butter, egg and yolk.
Add milk gradually, mixing all the while until very smooth.
Refrigerate, covered, for at least 30 minutes.
Slowly heat a non-stick pan until a drop of water sizzles and rolls off.
Preheat oven to 300F/150C.
For each crepe, brush pan with lightly with butter.
Using a small ladle or something similar, pour about 2 tbsp batter into pan, rotating pan quickly to spread batter completely over bottom.
Cook until lightly browned, then flip with a spatula and brown on the other side.*
Turn out on wire rack or cookie sheet and keep warm in oven until all crepes are done.

Best eaten fresh, but stack with waxed paper between every two crepes if not eating for several hours.

*When bubbles start to form at the edges and the very rim of the crepe begins to pull away from the pan, it's ready to flip. This only takes 30-45 seconds per crepe, so keep an eye on things.

Makes about 8 crepes-- enough for 2 people as a meal, or more if being used as dessert.

Old-Time Chocolate Cake with Fudge Frosting

“Oh no, this is a dire situation. Once she starts thinking about birthday cake, she's basically useless until she gets birthday cake.”
--Parks and Recreation Season 6, Episode 6 ("The Filibuster")

Quiz: what do these six things have in common?
A) Clothes
B) Fragrances
C) Massages
D) Mimosas
E) Fine leather goods
F) Chocolate cake

Answer: They are all things you should treat yourself to at least one day of the year.

This week, one of the Cowan family's favourite TV shows, Parks & Recreation, ended. We've been moping about it all week and had to put off watching the finale until last night (because of the time change and a really busy week), so to cheer us up on what would have otherwise been a pretty sad evening, I decided it was time to treat ourselves to... what else? Chocolate cake.

I think Leslie Knope would wholeheartedly approve. So, while we didn't have any Snakejuice, we did pour out a glass of wine in honour of the town of Pawnee while we ate what turned out to be a pretty awesome cake.

This recipe is from May 1959, a fact I know because the date is printed at the bottom of the leaflet. The cake (and its frosting) come from something called The Woman's Day Kitchen Collector's Cook Book #28: Chocolate Cakes and Frostings. It appears to be pages 50-56 of the May 1959 issue of Woman's Day, and it's retro and kitschy and printed on manila paper. I don't know why Eleanor ever thought she'd need this many chocolate cake recipes, but I guess when you have two little kids (like she did back then) you have to prepare for anything. I wanted a pretty straightforward chocolate cake with chocolate frosting for our finale-watching, so I went with something called “Old-Time Chocolate Cake with Fudge Frosting.”

The cake is good, but it's really small and doesn't rise much-- this was perfect for us, because I didn't need a giant layer cake, but if you're making this for a party, you might want to double the batch and make it as a layer cake. It's deliciously soft though (because of the cake flour), and it somehow manages to be both moist and lightweight. The description under the recipe notes that this cake is “square, dark in color,” but I didn't find it to be particularly dark... and it's only square if you bake it in a square pan, obviously.

I thought the frosting would be incredibly difficult, since it involves boiling (and a candy thermometer, if you have one), but it ended up being pretty easy to follow and remarkably forgiving, since I had no idea what I was doing. Also, let's be honest here, halfway through making the frosting, I realised I don't have a candy thermometer, so I was going to have to boil the frosting until it reached “the soft ball stage.” But I have no idea what that means, so I googled it. Do you understand? I googled the phrase “soft ball frosting.”

For the love of all things holy, don't make the same mistake I did, or if you do, at least think through your search terms a little better than I did. Let me just explain to you instead what “soft ball stage” means: basically, when you're boiling your frosting, have a small bowl of cold water next to you at the ready. It needs to be a bowl (not a glass or a mug) so you can reach inside it. After your frosting has been boiling for a few minutes, drop a bit of it into the cold water, then reach in and scoop out the frosting. If it forms a soft ball in your hand while underwater, then flattens out and kind of drips away when you take it out of the water, that's soft ball stage. (If you have a candy thermometer, it's 232F/111C.)

I made a lot of substitutions in both the cake and the frosting this time around: I didn't have cake flour, so I made my own by adding cornstarch to all-purpose flour (noted in the recipe). I also can't ever find buttermilk in the UK, so I made my own by combining lemon juice and milk and letting it sit for 5 minutes. And, as discussed elsewhere, I can't find corn syrup in Scotland, so I used golden syrup instead in the frosting.

Oh, also: this is obviously supposed to be a square cake, but I didn't have a plate big enough to hold the square cake, and I thought to myself “I wonder why no one makes triangular cakes?” so I cut mine on the diagonal and layered the two pieces with frosting between them, thinking I was clever. I was not clever. YOU try coming up with a way to slice a triangular cake that makes any sense whatsoever. If you make this, just let it be a square.

The verdict:

4 Spoons out of 5. It's delicious, the frosting tastes fudge-y and creamy, and it is set off nicely by the pillow-y crumb of the cake. Make it next time you need a no-particular-occasion pick-me-up and I can guarantee you: you'll be converted to the ways of Treating Yo' Self. It doesn't rise very much, though, so it's a little too unattractive for taking to a party.

THE RECIPE:

Old-Time Chocolate Cake with Fudge Frosting

The Ingredients:
Cake:

2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate (2 oz)
¼ c butter
½ c boiling water
1 c sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 c all-purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch/cornflour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
¼ c buttermilk
½ tsp vanilla

 

 

 

Frosting:

2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate (2 oz)
1 ½ c sugar
½ c milk
¼ c butter
1 tbsp corn syrup/golden syrup
½ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

THE DIRECTIONS:
CAKE:

Preheat oven to 350F/176C and prepare an 8x8 square pan by lining the bottom with parchment paper.
Melt chocolate and butter in the microwave, checking and stirring every 10 seconds.
Pour butter/chocolate mix into a medium mixing bowl and add boiling water.
Mix well and let cool for at least 5 minutes until it's very warm but not hot.
Add sugar, mix well.
Stir in egg.
Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together and add them, then the buttermilk and vanilla, mixing well.
Batter will be very runny.
Pour into prepared pan and bake 20-25 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let cool and frost as desired.

FROSTING:

Note: This frosting takes quite awhile to cool, so you can make it as soon as you remove the cake from the oven and they should both be ready to use at the same time.

Combine all ingredients except vanilla in a saucepan.
Bring to boil.
Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture reaches “soft ball stage” (see above), or 232F/111C on a candy thermometer.
Pour into mixing bowl and allow to cool completely (this takes at least an hour).
Add vanilla once cool and beat to spreading consistency.
Frost cake as desired.