I want to become a bit more healthy and broaden my go-to recipes for dinner, so I have decided to cook 1 fish meal and 1 vegetarian meal a week.

A few weeks ago, I picked up some amazing looking catfish fillets and decided to do the obvious – blackened spice. But since it was so warm, I did not want to turn the stove on, thus I turned to the grill!

Grilled Blackened Catfish       (click here to print recipe without pictures)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
4 (4- to 6-ounce) catfish fillets
Vegetable oil, for oiling the grill
1 medium lemon, cut into 8 wedges

 

1. Place the paprika, cayenne, salt, thyme, black pepper, and sugar in a small bowl and stir to evenly combine; set aside.

2. Liberally brush one side of each catfish fillet with butter, evenly sprinkle the buttered sides with half of the spice rub, and press gently. Repeat with other side.

3. Heat a grill pan or outdoor grill to medium high (about 375°F to 425°F). When the grill is ready, rub the grates with a towel dipped in vegetable oil. Place the fillets on the grill and cook undisturbed until grill marks appear and the fish is opaque, about 3 to 4 minutes. Using a flat spatula, flip and cook until completely cooked through, about 3 to 4 minutes more. Transfer to serving plates.

I served the fish with grilled zucchini (which I seasoned with Creole Seasoning*, given to me from a friend from the South) and rice & beans.

 

It was a perfect summer meal and a fantastic way to kick off my healthy eating!

 

(adapted from chow.com)

*I have premade mix of Creole Seasoning, but you can make your own. (if you use the mix, be careful – it’s VERY salty!)

 

Shiro’s Sushi

If you’ve ever seen the movie “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” and have wanted to go to Tokyo but then realized you can’t, go to Shiro’s! He knows what he is doing! He was trained in Japan and moved to Seattle.

We sat at the sushi bar and each ordered the Omakase (chef’s choice). Basically, you get fed until you say “stop”.  We were absolutely amazed at the quality of fish and the fun little twists the chef put on these bite-sized morsels.

Below is a list of what we had, and a few pictures of our favorites!

Albacore belly, Albacore back

Red snapper

Salmon trio: (1) White (albino) Salmon, (2) Salmon with lemon and sea salt, & (3) Salmon with ponzu sauce.

The salmon with lemon was my favorite; The white salmon was underwhelming – it didn’t have the full, fatty taste of regular salmon.

 

Tuna Quartet:  Boston Blue fin tuna – (1) Medium fatty tuna, (2) Tuna with  Japanese peppers, (3) Toro & (4) Sake marinated Tuna

 

Sweet Shrimp, Tempura Shrimp head.

The shrimp was alive (!) just before it was on our plate, it was moving its feelers, eyes and tail. And it was delicious! The tail came raw, and the head was sent to the kitchen to get tempura-battered and fried. YUM!

 

Yellow tail

Seared Scallop & Geoduck

Geoduck isn’t a duck at all! It’s a very large mollusk, like a big clam.

 

Uni hand roll – uni from Santa Barbara. The sushi chef called it an “Uni ice cream cone”

 

I was so very excited for this! (there is a  picture showing my excitement, but it’s so blurry because Kevin was super excited too!) It was great, though I’m mostly a purist when it comes to sushi, so I think straight up uni on sushi rice would have been better. I felt I lost the delicate texture of the uni in the handroll with cucumber.

 

Mackerel – seared, pickled and served with daikon

Seared Squid tentacles & squid body

 

Alaskan king crab

Sea Eel & Unagi (fresh water eel)

The difference in flavor between the 2 eels was astonishing! But I’m still a big fan of Unagi.

 

Dessert: Egg omelet with mountain yam

I’ve never ordered the egg at sushi bars. I always felt they were a cop-out, until I tried this egg. It was silky, strangely sweet and a perfect end to the meal! Shiro may have converted me, though now I will be comparing all other egg omelets to Shiro’s!

I really wanted to get more, but my stomach wasn’t going to let me!

 

The drinks:

I think any drink complements sushi (except perhaps a heavy red wine), but I always go for sake. I love the clean, crisp, mildly fruity taste that cold sakes have. We got 2 different types:

Sake: filtered and unfiltered

 

Unfiltered sake was my introduction into the sake world – it’s smooth, fruity and floral. Some have a perfect balance of flavors, and some taste like you’ve bitten into a flower arrangement.

The sakes offered at Shiro’s were perfect.

Definitely the best, straight-up sushi place I have ever been to!!!