blackened tilapia w/spicy cucumber radish slaw & crispy potatoes with malt vinegar dijonaise
hi friends, lovers, & people probably related to me —
123 — i didn’t mean to take a month off of writing this but here we are. things have been busy or it’s been too nice to even think about opening a computer on a weekend. but today (saturday 6/1) it’s raining and i have no excuse not to work on the newsletter i started three weeks ago
did my first longer run today for some marathon training and let me tell you it was humbling, stars they are just like us. if you can, please donate to support the chicago parks foundation here, which would be much appreciated & you might get a small homemade treat out of it once the race is done!
in my fish girl era
growing up i didn’t really know you could cook fish at home - my mom rarely did (shrimp for the occasional shrimp scampi), fish tacos @ the green’s lake house, etc. fish was for ordering a restaurants, on fridays in lent or specifically @ restaurants in florida. in the last year or so though i’ve been more into cooking fish at home mostly bc variety but also bc what kind of cool food girl would i be if i wasn’t cooking fish at home. i love an an anchovy but we are not talking about those or the cutie lil fish tattoos, audrey, ashton, kate, chloe & i just got. unless you really want to, maybe next newsletter
we are talking about just having a nice piece of fish for dinner with a side or two. a delicious, light & flavorful meal — something different than just defrosting a chicken breast for the third day in a row
i have been horrible at taking photos of what i’ve been cooking lately which is not ideal when you write a food newsletter as a hobby but is also probably good in the scheme of things bc hopefully it means i’m on my phone less. you’ll just have to trust me that this recipe holds up without visual reaffirmation. can you do that? i hope so.
ingredients for the fish
2 smaller tilapia filets (serves two people, add more as needed, this is easily scale able)
olive oil
salt & pepper
garlic powder
cayenne
cumin
old bay
paprika
lemons (for serving mostly but also for always)
ingredients for the potatoes
small multicolored baby potatoes
olive oil
salt & pepper
mayo
dijon mustard
1 clove of garlic, grated
malt vinegar
ingredients for the slaw
radishes
red onion
1 jalapeño
persian cucumbers
cilantro
lime juice
steps
1st — i’m going to ask you to do something ahead of time. not that far ahead of time just like a couple hours before you’re going to want dinner. boil your lil potatoes in salted water till for tender - set aside in the fridge to cool. okay great you can go back to your regularly scheduled programming for awhile. yay, we’re back turn your oven to 375 then drizzle a sheet pan with some olive oil making sure it’s fully coated in a thin sheen. pour your potatoes onto the sheet pan and using the bottom of a glass smush the potatoes down, till the resemble flat lil saucers. generously season with salt & pepper & a lil drizzle of olive oil. pop in the oven. the y will take a lil bit & you might want to flip them because we want them really brown & crispy.
2nd — while the potatoes are cooking using a mandolin or a very sharp knife finely slice your cukes, onion, radishes & jalapeño combine with salt, pepper, lime juice & roughly chopped cilantro — if too spicy add a lil sugar or honey to tamp down the heat. set aside in the fridge to chill. next make the dijonaise - i always do this to taste so a bit of mayo, plenty of dijon mustard, a clove of grated garlic, some salt & pepper & some malt vinegar to thin it out. taste and adjust anything as needed/to preference. i always like my dijonaise to be a pale yellow color. set aside in the fridge to chill.
3rd — once the potatoes are looking p. crispy, taste one to make sure, either turn the oven down/off they will stay nice & toasty in there. combine salt, pepper, cayenne, cumin, paprika, garlic powder & old bay in a shallow dish. taste it they are just spices, and adjust as needed. in a large shallow skillet pour some olive oil, turn heat to medium. pat dry your tilapia filets and coat them in the blackening seasoning be really generous and really press it into the tilapia. once the oil is hot drop your tilapias. cook for 3-4 minutes per side or until fish is opaque and can be flaked with a fork.
4th — in a blate (shallow bowl / plate) lay your fish & top with the slaw, do a generous swoosh of dijonaise (saving the rest for more dipping ofc) and add some crispy potatoes. serve with lots of lemon & some ice cold rosé
particularly good things i consumed recently
enchilada sunday. pretended my new kitchen was a tex-mex restaurant, made the enchiladas verdes w/ pork & they were delicious! will make homemade chips next time bc i am decidedly a snob about that.
challengers w/ janel. go to logan theatre & get small popcorns & small cokes - we honestly really enjoyed it - such a smash of a movie. but now i’m starting to think i should dig out my racquet from when i was 9 & also that i should buy the tennis racquet shaped pasta at the grocery store
a little walk for pizza lobo for slices & miko’s italian ice. this is the perfect thing to do on a nice night when you don’t feel like cooking. italian ice can be consumed either pre or post pizza or both. i won’t say anything. you can get really tiny sized italian ices there.
the 1st baseball game of the season. it was a sox game, i had a hot dog & a couple of beers & wore my overalls & it was great.
a v. good saturday w/ kiera. we strolled over to sunday standard for the rawson residence(y), middlebrow for lunch ofc - then eskell for the cities in dust & lindsay lewis popups where we had such lovely time chatting, capped it all off with a couple of glasses of wine @ red & white. a 10/10 no notes day.
ash’s birthday & a cheeseburger on the walk home. there was a hot tub, there were tequila shots & natural wine drank out of solo cups. calling it an earlier night we tried to go to best intentions for a cheeseburger but it was too crowded, sad. so we got one @ gretel on our way home - such a good burger.
1st farmers mkt of the szn. chaotic of course, but we got ramps, some good mushrooms, some rhubarb, linked up with ashton & had some v. good tacos from what was most definitely not a farmers market sanctioned stand.
mother’s day sunday. katie wanted to plant all the flowers bob bought her @ home depot & she wanted lemony chicken cutlets. so that’s what we did. we even fried the lemons. you should do that too. they are so good they won’t even make it to the table
websters. for a couple of post work glasses of wine & some great conversations about food, & writing. want to go back soon. their burger looks divine.
a dreamy outdoor weekend. apparently spending the weekend walking everywhere & having little treats is a cure for depression. who knew?!
the wire. we finally finished it & i don’t know what to do with myself.
the breakfast sandwich you can customize @ boars head. so if you work downtown and you are remarkably hungry @ 9am or whatever go get yourself a little breakfast sandwich they are made to order & always good. i do bacon, egg & cheddar with spinach, avocado & chipotle mayo on a toasted whole wheat wrap.
beach is back baby. first beach volleyball game of the szn, was v. fun & i rode my bike there & back which made me feel remarkably alive & also v. tired
the rachel incident | caroline o’donoghue — the best book i have read in awhile. literally so good, if you like ireland, interpersonal relationships & a less pretentious sally rooney vibe, plz pick this up.
a soft housewarming. ryan’s parents were in town & our apartment is finally ready to have people over. it was wonderful, there were chips & dips & veggies, lil chicago dogs, pulled pork & a miso salad & a bunch of friends & i wore my new oversized bright blue button down, ty able shoppe.
queen mary. sundays & mondays they have an oyster & martini happy hour & they are probably the best oysters in the city. you should also get the anchovies w/ bread & a butter. that is all.
a lil suburb surprise. molly’s soccer team made it to state (they got 3rd!) & with meg meg’s help i snuck out to the burbs early thursday am to surprise her @ the game. we got fat rosie’s after which was v. good as always. how can you not love a place where they just keep bringing you chips & salsa
first heritage happy hour of the szn. ryan & i went on a lil walk over where we sat outside & we got some oysters, a bump (of caviar) & a shot, a few glasses of $7 dollar wine & also their new korean fried chicken nuggies (LITERALLY SO SO GOOD), asparagus three ways & their mexican inspired steak frites which are a seasonal special right now. phenomenal as always.
currently consuming
trying to decide what white fisherman sandals i want to spend my money on. noodling over these & these but am open to suggestions if they are good.
also it’s sunday so you know the drill - farmers mkt, maybe a lil run, diversey, etc., etc. text me if you want to join!
as always,
mk
p.s. i also discovered an expensive claw clip brand & now want all of them but am trying to limit myself to one