Mahi Mahi in Parchment (Week 6)

One of my pals did this amazing Mahi Mahi dish that I had to share.....  Hat's of to Karen!  Good job.

Mahi Mahi in Parchment

Lightly coat Mahi-Mahi with olive oil, season with sea salt and pepper. Place fish onto a piece of parchment paper (paper should be large enough to fold over the fish with a couple of inches to spare). Place thinly sliced vegetables on top of fish, pictured here, I used red bell pepper, carrots and celery (zucchini and lemons is a good option, too). Drizzle with a splash of white wine, like a Chardonnay (Drink the remainder of the bottle of wine with dinner). Top with a sprig of fresh Thyme or Rosemary. Crimp and fold closed the edges of the paper, creating a sealed packet. Place your fish packet on a baking sheet and Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. When done, place packet on a serving plate, cut open the top of the packet with kitchen scissors. Enjoy!

Hobotnice - marinated octopus (Week 52)

Let the festivities begin!! We kicked off our holidays at my sister's house with a big batch of priganica (recipe to follow). Basically they are a Croatian version of a donut hole.

Now, since tomorrow is Christmas Eve, I made my annual trek to Central Fish (downtown Fresno.... And ran in to every Catholic friend and relative of my folks.... It's a fish thing!!). My quest was for their cooked octopus. I tried once (with the help of Barica's recipe) to start soley from a raw octopus but the smell was a bit much and my hubby (who is always a good sport when it comes to food) said NO MORE!

So... This leaves us with an option of the cooked octopus - much less smelly.

Here, for your holiday enjoyment, is my easy recipe for hobotnica (marinated octopus). Delightful all by itself (with French bread) or on top of a crisp green salad.

1/2 lb cooked octopus (two arms)
1 medium red onion chopped
1 medium bunch of parsley chopped (about a cup)
Olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Garlic powder
Sea salt
Cracked pepper

Chop up the octopus - take each arm, cut it in 2 inch sections and split. Take each split and half this then cut in to tiny bite size pieces. Think "salsa" size!

Toss in the onion and the parsley. Drizzle with olive oil (I make a big slow circle around the bowl), then add vinegar to taste. Sprinkle in liberal amounts of garlic, salt and pepper. Put in a sealed container, shake and marinate overnight (at lest 8 hours). Note, you can add chopped tomatoes, garbanzo beans and other things to the mix....I am a purist. Just the hobotnica please.

Really yummy! Each bite is filled with memories (Ante's in San Pedro.... With Ellie trying to force feed me dinner along with her latest match maker efforts, summers in Cavtat at Taverna Domizana....oh my)

Enjoy