Keeping the body beautiful!

It's a continuing battle. Everything I like to eat seems to be conspiring against my admittedly half-assed attempts to keep my body in some semblance of shape. Cured pork products? Check. Pasta? Check. Burgers & fries? Check. And if I started to believe food "scientists" that all those calories in my favorite bottles of wine and pints of beer were really "empty calories" then I'd have to just give up, so I choose to believe that they got their science degrees from some mail order university on a faraway Caribbean island. Ah, rationalization!

But luckily for me, w has much more control, and actually considers food that is good for us on occasion. Or maybe she knows that more of me isn't necessarily better. For example she noticed the following recipe on Helen Rennie's great food blog Beyond Salmon. w cooked up this awesome meal using salmon instead of the listed sable (what is sable? according to the fish monger at New Seasons, it's the same as black cod...anyone know any different?). That's one of the things we like about Helen's recipes...they always list alternatives to whatever fish she's using, which is useful since she's an east coaster and the fish choices are a sometimes different than for us left coasters. This had great flavor and complexity, and with a side of chard and rice, I felt perfectly fine about that half-bottle of rosé I washed it down with!!
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Sable with Balsamic Orange Ginger Glaze
Fish substitutions: salmon, Chilean sea bass, halibut, steelhead trout, or pretty much any relatively thick fillets that are not too dense.
Serves 4

4 sable fillets without skin (6oz each)
2 Tbsp honey
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp orange juice
1 Tbsp orange zest
1 inch of ginger, peeled and minced
2 tsp oil
Salt and pepper

1. Preheat the broiler and wrap a broiler pan with foil.
2. Season sable generously with salt and pepper on all sides.
3. Combine honey, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, orange juice, orange zest, ginger, and oil. Mix well and coat sable with this mixture. Sable should be only lightly coated, as too much of the glaze can burn under the broiler.
4. Broil sable 4 inches away from the flame just until browned, 3-5 minutes. Pour the rest of the glaze on top of sable and finish in the 425F oven until done. The total cooking time (broiling plus baking) should be about 8 minutes per inch of thickness. To test for doneness, separate the flakes in the thickest part and look inside. Sable is done when a trace of translucency remains in the center.
*Note: I did not forget to tell you to flip the fish. Cooking it only on one side allows for glaze to really caramelize on top.

Online inspiration!

Sorry for the paucity of postings lately. Nothing too exciting food wise has passed my lips lately. Well, except for these amazing roasted fresh sardines and we had at Castagna Café last night. It's on their appetizer menu, and they were spectacularly savory in a sizzling pool of olive oil, garlic, and pine nuts. Also had a beautifully spring-like watercress soup that by itself would have been enough, but of course The Handsome One ups the ante by floating a few deep fried morels that taste like little earthy croutons. Yum! Plus I've been way busy getting ready for next weeks escape to the land of Euro-food.

So while I have no big food news, it doesn't mean you can't have your appetites whetted elsewhere. Here's a couple more blog sites that I've been hitting regularly:
Beyond Salmon is a very entertaining site by Boston food writer/cooking instructor Helen Rennie. She usually features a great recipe to go along with mouthwatering pictures of her creations. I haven't tried any of her recipes yet, but they all read like they'll be excellent. If any of you try them, I'd love to hear back.

I also have been feeding the food jones at Culinate, which is a locally produced online food magazine with a national focus. A great variety of food related articles, insight, recipes, cookbook reviews, etc. Nice graphics, pics, and more ways to kill time at work...er, search for inspiration to enhance your homelife.

Check 'em out, and starting Sunday the great vacation blog of '07 starts with visits to the Piedmont and Cinque Terre in Italy, then five days eating our way through Paris. Once again giving it up for you!!