Upscale Dining

recently, an opportunity has come to try melisse, a michelin 2 star restaurant in santa monica that's supposed to be one of the best. after my somewhat disappointing experience at hatfield's last month, i wasn't that excited. this led to a discussion with friends about my inability to appreciate the creamy decadence and textures of fancy french dishes. i guess i'm still a little ghetto at heart :).

in the spirit of "finer" dining, i attempted a thomas keller recipe today from the ad hoc cookbook david gave me. it only called for a few staple ingredients, most of which i had on hand. simple food that tastes great- what's not to love? now if only i could go to yountville and enjoy the real deal...

wild cod en persillade
recipe courtesy thomas keller

one 2-lb piece of cod, skinless (i used wild mahi mahi, a more meaty fish, which i already had at home)
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
2 tsp chopped parsley
1 TBS Dijon mustard
kosher salt
canola oil

directions:
1. remove fish from refrigerator and let stand for 15 min (i actually first marinated in a small amt of rice wine for an hour)
2. cut cod in large pieces (approx 6 cm each) and season both sides with salt
3. combine bread crumbs and parsley in a bowl. put mustard in a separate bowl.
4. preheat oven to 325 F
5. moisten the top of each fillet with a thin layer of water (i used rice wine) and then brush on a light coating of mustard
6. dip the mustard side of the fish into the bread crumb mixture evenly
7. heat canola oil in pan in med-high heat until it starts to smoke
8. then lower heat to med, and cook fish crumb side down until golden brown crust forms (~1 min)
9. transfer pan to oven and cook until fish begins to flake, approx 8-9 min (it took me ~10 min with mahi mahi)
10. serve with veggies

making whole wheat bread crumbs. yay for using unwanted end pieces :)

after coating
















a delicious way to end a relaxing day off!!