The meal that began it all.

Cooking makes me happy.  Almost as happy as architecture, red wine, and yoga.  A day that involves all four of these, well... thats a perfect day.  I am an architecture grad student with a taste for good food and am a creative soul always up for a culinary adventure.  

The basis for this blog began last night as I sat down to dinner.  My epic "clean-out-the-fridge" night... with photos taken, I felt that I had too much to say just to post it to facebook.  I needed a place where my epic meals and failures could be documented, recipes written down, and shared for this audience of who-ever you might be.

Armed with a tummy full of leftovers and a big glass of red wine, I begin. 

I stopped in at Fred Meyer on my way home from work yesterday to pick out a protein to go with my meal.  Craving fish, I was pleased to find that Cod fillets were on sale... $3/lb!  (Looking back, I now realize how this could have been really horrible.)  At home I found odds and ends left from the cooking adventures Nick and I had last week.  Looking for something to go with the fish, I found half a bunch of cilantro.  Eager to try out my new food processor (thanks to a generous hand-me-down from my Aunt Vicki), I decided to try to make a pesto with it and anything else I could find.  

Served on top of cod and white rice, this creation is one that I am proud of.  Every building needs a blueprint in order to be built.  This is my bleuprint for this meal:

Cod topped with Cilantro-Pecan Pesto

White Rice (Or Brown)

1 Cod fillet   (Other white fish could work too.)

Pinch Kosher Salt

Fresh Ground Pepper

Olive Oil

Half-bunch cilantro

Handful of Raw Pecans (I have small hands... so about 10-15?)

2 Cloves of garlic (halved)

1 Tbs. Lemon Juice (Just two generous squeezes, fresh lime juice could be good, lemon is all I had)

Half of a 4 oz can of Diced Green Chiles (Roasted hatch green chiles could work, and would add some heat)

Olive Oil

Pinch Kosher Salt to taste

Orange zest (For flavor and garnish)

Rice:  Prepare the rice as directed on the package.  This will take the longest to make, so do it first.

Fish:  Rinse the fish, dry, and rub with olive oil, kosher salt, and black pepper.  Place on a cooling rack over a baking sheet.  (Make sure the baking sheet has edges to catch fish juices... as mine did not and I ended up making a little mess.)  Place in oven 4" from top, and broil at 450F until done.  It took mine 10 minutes to finish.

photo: amy perenchio

Pesto:  While rice and fish are cooking, place pecans in food processor and gently pulse until broken apart.  Add cilantro, garlic, green chiles, and lemon juice.  Process until cilantro leaves are chopped.  Begin to add olive oil until desired consistency is reached.  Add kosher salt to taste.

Plate:  Put down a bed of rice, place fish, generously smear the pesto on top, and garnish with a little orange zest.  (You can use a different citrus fruit, but this was clean-out-the-fridge night, and it needed to be used.)

Eat: Enjoy!

photo: amy perenchio