Category: Lunch

Fried Fish Sandwich


Growing up, fried flounder (with a side of mashed potatoes) was always on the menu in our house during the nine days, as well as erev Tisha B’av. The fish was always perfectly golden with a crunchy breaded coating; simple and delicious. When I married my husband, I found that fried fish was a favorite of his as well, except his mother made it with tilapia in a tempura-style batter, and served it with lemon wedges. No matter how it’s coated or served, in sticks or fillets, fried fish is a favorite everywhere. You’ll find many cafe’s serving it “fish ‘n chips” style, but my absolute favorite way to eat it is in a sesame sub with wasabi mayo.

Fried Fish Sandwich Essentials:

Fish: You can use any mild white fish such as sole, cod, flounder or tilapia.
Crispy Coating: bread crumbs, panko crumbs, corn flake crumbs, cornmeal, crushed potato chips, tempura batter, beer batter.
Bun: baguette, soft bun, kaiser roll, sesame roll, rye bread, whole wheat bread, ciabatta.
Sauce: mayo, tartar sauce, wasabi sauce, pesto, remoulade.
Veggies: lettuce, tomato, pickles or onions.
Accompaniments: french fries, sweet potato fries, potato chips, mashed potatoes, lemon wedges.

When frying fish, it helps to set up a dredging station and use separate tongs or forks for each coating. Most people like to dip the fish into flour, egg, and then crumbs of choice. Personally, i find that my fish comes out perfectly crispy when dipped into eggs and panko or bread crumbs. You can season the fish, crumbs, flour or eggs with spices of choice, such as, seafood spice, paprika, garlic, or salt & pepper.

For a quick and easy alternative, you can pan-fry frozen breaded fish fillets such as Dagim’s.

Fried Fish Sandwich

Sesame baguette
Wasabi mayo (recipe follows)
Fried flounder or tilapia (see my easy recipe here)
Rommaine lettuce
Plum tomatoes
Pickles

Method:

Pan fry fish. To prepare wasabi mayo, add 1-2 tbsps Gold’s wasabi sauce and 1 tsp lemon juice to 1/4 cup mayonnaise. Spread mayo generously on baguette. Top with fish and veggies. Serve with chips or fries.

TIP: When frying fish, prepare a cookie sheet with a few paper towels to absorb excess oil. If you layer the hot fish on top of each other, the steam will make the breading soft and soggy. Laying the fish out in a single layer will keep them crispy.

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{Guest Post} Vegetable Calzones

For me being asked to be a guest blogger on Chanie’s blog is not only exciting but an honor. She sure knows her stuff. She is definitely my go to person when I have one of those ‘how do I…. ‘ questions. If she thinks Im good enough to be her guest (for the second time), I must be doing something right :) I’m not much of a take out, ready made, store bought type of aperson. If it can be done at home (and is not TOO complicated). I usually give it a try. When I was given the idea of making homemade calzones for dinner I was super excited to try it. And it has since made its way to my list of favorite dinners to make/eat! I hope you enjoy this recipe as well.

NOTE: You can also use this dough recipe to make regular dinner rolls when making soup , or even fancy it up to make garlic rolls.

Vegetable Calzones

Dough:
1 tbsp dry yeast (1 packet)
1 1/4 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt
3 1/2-4 c flour

In a small bowl, combine yeast with warm water and sugar (the sugar activates the yeast). In a separate bowl, mix flour, oil and salt. When yeast mixture begins to bubble, add it to the second bowl and mix. Knead and let rise for approximately 1 hour.

Filling:
onions
mushrooms
eggplant
squash
broccoli
yellow, green and red pepper
salt and pepper, to taste
olive oil, for sauteing
shredded cheese of choice (I use mozzerella)
1 egg yolk, for brushing
marinara sauce, for serving

Saute vegetables to your liking and season with salt and pepper.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out a piece of dough into a circle (do not make it too thin). Place some of the vegetables on the lower half of the circle and top with cheese. Take top part of circle and fold it over to close, creating a moonlike shape. Brush with beaten egg yolk. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

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“Magic” Salmon

Even though we’re not big dairy eaters around here, I’m so excited to cook for the Nine Days. It gives me a chance to think outside the box, and a rest from typical chicken dinners. I’m grabbing at the chance to make delicious and healthy fish recipes which are a great source of protein and Omega-3 fatty acids.

There are many different ways to prepare fish, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. You can grill, pan-fry, bake, poach or steam fish in many different preparations, but it is best cooked quickly over high heat. If your fish is cooked right, it won’t taste “fishy”.

When purchasing fresh fish, it should smell like the ocean, not like fish. It should have a vibrant color. Pale fish or fish with discolored patches is not fresh. A great tip is to tell your fishmonger that you are making sushi with the fish. This will ensure that the fish is fresh enough to be eaten raw.

One of my favorite ways of preparing baked salmon and tilapia is using Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Seafood Magic Seasoning Blend. The blend is exactly as it is named; pure magic. When baking fish, the key is to bake it at a high temperature for a short period of time. Your fish will be soft, tasty, and best of all, so incredibly quick and easy to prepare. Recipes follow below.

I have lots of ideas brewing for the upcoming week, so I thought I’d share some ideas for those of you who like to plan ahead:

Dairy Recipe Ideas:

– homemade pizza
– lasagna
– quiches
– risottos
– quesadilles
– stuffed shells
– eggplant parmesan
– fettucine alfredo
– penne alla vodka
– french onion soup
– cream of any vegetable soup
– stuffed mushrooms
– eggplant rollatini
– macaroni and cheese
– pancakes, waffles or french toast
– baked potatoes with broccoli and cheddar or other fillings

Meat-Lovers Recipe Ideas:

– vegetarian chili with cheesy corn bread
– portobello mushroom burger
– tuna steak
– grilled halibut
– fish tacos
– falafel

Light ‘n Healthy Recipe Ideas:

– salad nicoise
– shakshuka
– portobello pizza
– sushi rolls or sushi salad
– chickpea patties
– cheesy stuffed mini peppers
– stir fry with tofu and rice
– steamed fish and veggies au papillote
– baked sweet potatoes with cottage cheese or other fillings

Other Pareve Recipe Ideas:

– tuna or salmon croquettes
– tuna casserole
– salmon pasta salad
– Crispy breaded fish sandwich or “fish and chips”

Please feel free to share your Nine Days Menu ideas in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you!

Quick & Easy Salmon or Tilapia

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

For salmon, rinse fish and pat dry. Sprinkle very generously with Seafood Magic spice and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for approximately 15 minutes, until flesh is opaque and flakes with a fork.

For tilapia, rinse fish and pat dry. Squeeze a lemon over the fish, sprinkle very generously with Seafood Magic and brush with canola mayonnaise. Bake for approximately 12 minutes, until flesh is opaque and flakes with a fork.

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Deviled Eggs

Deviled eggs are a great way to turn a basic food into a gourmet dish. They make for a fun and tasty hors d’oeuvre as well as a low-carb and filling treat. I often serve deviled eggs on Shabbos day instead of egg salad for a more substantial side dish. There are hundreds of recipes and even a few books dedicated to the art of making deviled eggs. But all you really need is a little creativity and perfectly hard-boiled eggs to create this delicious dish. Click here for my tutorial on how to make eggscellent hard-boiled eggs!

I have experimented with many different fillings including sundried tomatoes, horseradish and pickle relish, but my classic recipe below is our all time favorite.

Deviled eggs

7  hard-boiled eggs
1/3 cup mayo
1 heaping tbsp spicy mustard
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp salt
pepper, to taste
paprika, for garnish
chives, for garnish

Method:

Follow my instruction in this tutorial to hard-boil your eggs. For easier peeling, use 1-2 week old eggs (fresh eggs do not peel well). Peeling them underwater also helps. Cut eggs in half and gently remove yolks. With a fork, mash yolks well and add all ingredients besides for paprika and chives. You can spoon the filling into the eggs, or for a prettier presentation, pipe them using a ziploc bag. To do this, insert a ziploc bag into a measuring cup (this makes them easier to fill), folding the top of the bag over the rim of the cup. Spoon all the filling into the bag and twist closed, pushing all the filling down towards the corner. Snip the tip of the bag with scissors and pipe into egg whites. Garnish with paprika (try smoked paprika for added flavor!) and chives.


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Sushi Salad II


Google Analytics is a fascinating tool. It allows you to track who visited your website, how they found it and what they looked at, among other things. When I have time, I like to research how people came to Busy in Brooklyn, and which recipes are the most popular. Ever since starting my blog in February, the all-time most popular post is this sushi salad. Being such a crowd-pleasing recipe, I figured it was about time to try another variation. Now I am beginning to understand why just about every kosher pizza shop, restaurant (be it meat or dairy) and supermarket is carrying sushi! I thought the fad might pass at some point, but I think I can rest assured that it is here to stay!

I love making sushi salad because it takes all the hassle out of hand rolling the sushi, but it offers the same taste and texture with minimal effort. It is also visually appealing. For a beautiful presentation, choose vegetables with vibrant colors. I recently made a similar recipe to this one, using shredded carrots in place of the edamame. The bright orange carrots with the green cucumbers and vibrant pink radishes looked picture-perfect. Feel free to try whatever vegetables suit your taste. You can also add mock crab, flaked salmon, lox and/or pickled ginger.

NOTE: Edamame are soybeans that come in a pod. They are commonly served in Japanese restaurants with a dusting of sea salt. Edamame are tasty, fun to eat, and good for you. When served in their pods, just squeeze the beans out and they’ll easily pop. I like to buy them already hulled. They can be found in the freezer section of most supermarkets.

Sushi Salad II

2 cups sushi rice
3 cups water
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 sheets nori
1-2 cups frozen edamame, thawed
3 Persian cucumbers, peeled and diced into tiny pieces
4-6 radishes, diced into tiny pieces
2 scallions, thinly sliced
black sesame seeds

Dressing:

1/4 c extra light olive oil
1/4 c soy sauce
2 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
1 heaping tbsp Gold’s wasabi sauce
1 tbsp sugar

Method:

Rinse the sushi rice until water runs clear. Soak rice in 3 cups of water for 30 minutes. Add 1 tsp salt. Bring to a boil. Stir once. Cover with lid. Reduce heat to simmer and cook 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Let stand in covered pot for 10 minutes. Pour 2 tablespoons rice vinegar over rice and mix. Put into a Ziploc bag and refrigerate, or use immediately (when it comes to room temperature).

For the nori, with tongs, hold a sheet of nori over a low flame, moving it slowly over the flame to toast it. Be careful not to hold it too close or it will burn. Tear the nori into bite size pieces.

To plate, spread the rice out on a large platter. Top with nori. Sprinkle edamame, cucumbers, radishes, and garnish with scallions and a sprinkle of black sesame seeds. Mix the dressing ingredients and pour over salad.

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