Week 3: Avoid Products Containing Ingredients No Ordinary Human Would Keep in a Pantry

The self-explanatory title of this week's rules necessitates much closer ingredient inspection of nutritional labels than the previous two weeks and much more rejection of some of my everyday stand-bys.  A rethinking of how I will flavor foods. Even a rethinking of which ethnic foods can pass my lips this week.  The first major consideration was during the first few hours of the week picking up gas station coffee on my way to a client Monday morning at 6:45 AM.  Black coffee? OK. Flavored creamer? Hay yell no. Half n' half. And some sugar to counteract the bitterness of the coffee...and my Mobile station had no real sugar. WTF?  At Blue Bottle and Intelligentsia sugar is not only unnecessary, it gets in the way of the joy of quality coffee. But gas station coffee is a different beverage altogether. And what self respecting gas station does not have real sugar?  I added extra half n' half.

The compelling part of Week 3's brief directive is, "you don't cook with it at home, why let someone else cook with it for you?".

At the grocery store today a few things came fell under my scrutinizing eye. The Laughing Cow cheese that I spread on Wasa high fiber crackers for a snack a few days a week? Out. Even regular cheese. I thought I might pick up a few slices.  Every one I picked up contained natamycin, a mold inhibiting additive. I was taught by Mom when cheese molds to slice off the offending life form and keep eating. No cheese from the grocery store if this rule is the one you are going to follow to fidelity from the first section in the book. Sriracha? No. The spicy tuna rolls with sriracha?  No. Potassium sorbate, sodium bisulfite, and xantham gum. This calls into question my methodology for doctoring my pho. Granted, most pho has MSG, but since I can find MSG in many kinds of packages and several different sizes on the shelves at my local Asian market, I am going to let MSG slide. No sriracha for me this week.

I started off the week with another batch of roast veg tossed with oilive oil, fleur de sel and chunky garlic. This time I chose mostly root veg with my Brussels sprouts thrown in for green measure, They turned out delicious as usual and the perfect thing to toss in a zip lock bag for lunches. Really. This and a big bottle of water were all I needed for lunch at a continuation high school in a remote school district.

Planning to miso-marinate some fish, I happily scruntinized my most accessible miso paste.

All quiet on the eastern front. Water, rice, soy beans, sea salt.

I thin miso paste with some mirin. It adds acidity and makes the paste easier to spread across the filet o' fish.

Looking good except for glucose syrup. Wiki says glucose syrup is synonymous with corn syrup, and corn syrup I have in my cupboard from making dog knows what dessert in my kitchen two or three years ago. Mirin, in.

Found some gorgeous wild caught cod at the yup-mart for 7.99 a pound. FTW. Typically I would use black cod and marinate for a few days, or salmon. However, the wild salmon looked, um, not so fresh, and the farmed salmon is farmed salmon. The good people at Passionfish in Pacific Grove taught me years ago why not to eat farmed seafood, and I try to maintain this in my own kitchen when possible.

I also added some sesame oil to the paste for a little nuttiness, and schmeared both sides thickly with the mixture. When the veggies were done roasting, I tossed the fish under the broiler and voila! Be very careful when turning cod. It literally falls apart along the seams if you are not very careful, and sometimes even if you are. And I use literal in the literal sense.

Pondering options for flavoring food while scouring the grocery store shelves, I decided the time and tree were ripe for preserving some lemons.  My tree remains thick and heavy with beautifully huge yellow lemons.  After roasting veg & marinating fish, I stepped outside and climbed up to the tree.

I quickly read through the recipe at Simplyrecipes.com for a refresher. Fill the bottom of an airtight container about an inch deep in kosher/rock salt.

Slice lemons across almost all the way to the bottom, leaving some rind on the bottom to hold the lemon together.

Make the same cut crosswise.

Fill the insides of the cut with salt. Place in the bottom of the container. As you add lemons, squish the previous lemons down so some juice squeezes out and they are squished down tightly in the container.

All along the sides, fill the empty spaces in container with salt. Push lemons down more so there aren't any empty spaces.  Squeeze the juice of a couple lemons over the top of the salt.

Leave the container at room temperature for a couple days, turning a few times so that the liquid moves from the top to the bottom more than once. Refrigerate fior 2-3 weeks.  You are looking for lemon rind that is soft and silky. The texture of a preserved lemon is a joyous thing.  It reminds me of dining out in the 90's...preserved lemons were appearing on salads, in mussel broth, on grilled fish.  Delightfully bright and acidic yet mellow. And I love that there are two ingredients in the preparation. I cannot wait to use these when they are ready in  week 6!