Miso Glazed Pink Salmon

{miso glazed pink salmon, stir fried sugar snap peas and baked  sweet potato}

We finally got around to making some of MK's salmon (remember Lotsa Salmon post from a few days ago?}. But we didn't feel like preparing the salmon as I had mentioned in that post. Instead we were jiving a sweet miso glazed fish. So we cleaned and portioned the two large fillets that came in a vacuum sealed bag, rubbed both sides with the marinade (ingredients below) and broiled skin side up on the top rack at 500 F for about 5 minutes. Note the type of miso paste used... its a pale yellow colored miso, with a short fermentation period, mild in flavor and sweet so it's awesome for fish and veggie marination.


     Miso glaze marinade

• 1/4 cup saikyo shiro miso paste
• 1/4 cup mirin
• 2 tblsp brown sugar
• 1 tblsp sesame oil

Sides? We shared a baked organic sweet potato topped with butter and cinnamon and wok fried some sugar snap peas with garlic, salt and pepper. Dinner is served!

{MK's salmon}

Saturday Night Nijiya Snack Run

{clockwise from bottom: salmon, tuna, cherries, terriyaki nori, muscat flavored black tea}

We had plans for a mini date night on Saturday.... dinner out and catch movie at the theater. I had been wanting to watch One Day every since I caught a glimpse of the trailer and who doesn't like Anne Hathaway? Fast forward to Saturday. I had just finished work and I was suddenly in no mood to see this movie. I'm sure EHK felt relieved since its a total chick flick. So what did we do instead? Snack run and catch up on our DVR. It was approaching 8pm and EHK was craving sashimi. We normally shop Mitsuwa for our Japanese groceries but it was about to close. Option 2? Nijiya opens a little later so we headed down to Convoy.

Now, I'll admit in the past we've written off Nijiya for whatever reason I don't remember. We decided to wipe the slate clean and went into Nijiya with fresh eyes. I'm glad we did. We were quite impressed with how great the produce and proteins looked and were presented. EHK collected some nice looking salmon and tuna to prepare as tasty sashimi at home. The tuna was ok but the salmon was great and something I'd purchase again... rich, buttery and sumptuous. He also grabbed a package of terriyaki nori which turned out to be addicting at home. We wandered into the tea isle where some teas were open to display to customers. The muscat flavored black tea caught our attention with its intoxicating perfume so that went into the basket.

The cherries caught my eye. I'm a terrible cherries addict. At home, everybody in my family loves cherries so my dad planted a tree for each person in the family so we'd have an amazing summer bounty of cherries. These cherries were on the pricey side, $5.99/lb. That's quite a price when sale prices for cherries in season are about $1.50/lb at the major markets and sometimes I've seen it for $.99/lb. Costco is about $2.69/lb which isn't bad at all considering the quality of the fruit they sell but I was just at the Mission Valley Costco yesterday and there were no cherries in sight :(. Part of me was hoping these Nijiya cherries didn't taste the $5.99/lb I paid for and part of me was thinking they better taste amazing because they were $5.99/lb. Ugh... the dilemma. They were intensely sweet and the flesh was firm like biting into a firm mini plum. This is what I think cherries should taste like as the cherries I've had this season paled in comparison... either not very sweet or on the soft side or several in the package should not have passed QC.

We spent about $40 for snack Saturday evening as you can see from our receipt below. I think this is the beginning of an expensive habit as we found our purchase more than satisfying and leaving us wanting more. We ended up visiting again Sunday and we have plans to peruse the meat sale tonight (20% off items except sale items and processed meats). But we don't mind the hefty price. We love a great deal but sometimes I think the quality of the product is worthy of the price paid such as we've experienced with this purchase.

{$40 for snacks?}

_
Nijiya Market
3860 Convoy St.
San Diego CA 92111
858-268-3821
http://www.nijiya.com/
9am-10pm everyday

Lotsa Salmon...

A few weeks ago MK went on a fishing trip with his family in Seattle. His trip yielded an amazing bounty and he brought back 40 pounds of pink salmon. Well unfortunately for him, his catch and bags were not awaiting him when he landed at Palomar Airport. Stranded since his keys were also in his bag, EHK and I rescued him from sitting on curb for hours till his things got routed back to Palomar. We took him to a dinner party BT was hosting till his bags arrived and he rewarded us with several vacuum sealed packs of pink salmon fillets. I'm ashamed to admit that we didn't immediately delve into such a bounty.... as you can see from our freezer drawer full of salmon fillets.

{freezer drawer full of salmon fillets}

I think we'll be in a salmon mood this weekend and I'll be sure to post when we prepare some of these fillets. We do prefer a simple preparation of sprinkling with a light coat of olive oil, salt and pepper. Seared skin side down in a dutch oven for about 4 minutes +/- time depending on thickness of fillet. About 2 minutes into the searing we add a pat or two of butter to the mix, let it melt and continuously spoon the hot butter over flesh side of the fillet till it has reached desired doneness. Sounds yum right?

New Digs

Hello!

Its been quite hectic since we last posted. 2011 has been a year of changes. Some professional changes, we moved into EHK's place in Carmel Valley and we got engaged at the Hotel del Coronado, a place that has held a special meaning in our relationship over the years (7 years). The move and wedding planning have taken center stage in our lives over the past few months leaving little time for blogging. Things are settling down and we are looking forward to regular blogging again. Like the new digs? We thought it was time for an update and name that would more aptly describe our blog. Looking forward to sharing our adventures with you again :). Below are photos taken the night we got engaged... enjoy!

{The Hotel del Coronado, Coronado, CA}

{The Ring!}

{Cool photo EHK took on the Hotel del  Coronado grounds}