Domestic Tuesdays - Fake It

I don't use cookbooks very often, preferring to print my recipes out so I can take them to the store with me. Or, more accurately, carry them around in the notebook in my purse for months and months before I finally admit that I'm never going to make "halibut with carrots and leeks" or "pappardelle with mascarpone-porcini sauce"or whatever and throw them away to make room for new recipes. When I saw an ad for the recipe book Cooking With All Things Trader Joe's, though, I knew I had to have it.

My favorite recipe from the book so far, Red Curry Fish, isn't up on their website, but it's so damn good, I wanted to share it with you. It's by far the seemingly fanciest thing I've ever made, in fact I made it for my mom and grandma when they came to my apartment a couple weeks back, but it's the fracking easiest dish I've ever made. Five ingredients, including the fish...that's it! And it tastes amazing. Want to impress a guy/girl that you're trying to trick into sleeping with you??? This is the dish for you! Hell, I put the moves on myself after I make this, it's that damn good.

It starts with a bottle of Trader Joe's Thai Red Curry Sauce and about a pound of fish fillets. The cookbook calls for halibut, which is not only delicious, but also really expensive, so I use snapper or mahi mahi, which both work fine. Someday I want to use shrimp, but that day isn't today.

Curry Sauce posing with my favorite wine glass.

If you don't have a Trader Joe's nearby, I'm sure you can find something very similar to this curry sauce at any grocery store, or an ethnic market at least. Start by placing one cup of curry sauce in a saucepan large enough to fit the fish, over medium/high heat. Once the sauce starts to boil, add the fish to the pan and spoon the sauce over the fish.

There was a great photo here but I accidentally deleted it while I was finishing this post at home, and the original photo is on my office computer.

Cover and cook for about 6-7 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. At this point, I take the fish out and put it onto a plate, because it makes finishing the sauce easier.

Add about two tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, and two tablespoons basil (I use the frozen cubes of basil from TJ's cause when I buy fresh herbs, I never use them and then I forget to throw them away and my fridge ends up smelling bad), and one tablespoon fresh lime juice, and pour that yummy mixture over the fish.

I was gonna put a photo of the sauce being poured, but it kinda resembles barf, so I'm not going to do that...you're welcome. Here's a photo of me taking a sip of wine from my Mom/Wow glass, instead.

I normally serve the fish with jasmine rice, but, ummm, I forgot this time! Instead, I made the yummiest vegetables ever: sauteed green beans and fennel!!!

I made sauteed fennel for the first time recently, and although I was skeptical at first, I fell madly in love once I tasted it. It smells strongly of anise/black licorice when it's fresh, but once you cook it, the flavor is much more subtle. Using only the bulb, chop the shit out of that fennel. Remove the stems from the green beans after rinsing.

This was a photo of me doing something related to cooking, but I looked weird in it, so I changed it to this photo. I'm vane, I know.

Over medium heat, add two or three cloves of chopped garlic in two tablespoons of olive oil for about a minute, then add the fennel and green beans, cracked pepper and salt to taste.

Cover, and let that awesomeness steam for about ten minutes, or until everything is all brown and caramelized.

Trust me when I tell you that you're going to want to get a loaf of crusty bread to go with this meal, unless you want to be licking your plate after you're through. The curry sauce is amazing and the veggies go really well with the fish. (sidenote: have any of you LA-people ever gotten a baguette from Jon's Market??? Holy freaking hell. That was the best baguette I've ever had.)

Bon appetite, bitches!