Food Glorious Food

Here are a couple of recipes I've made recently.

1. One of my favorite restaurant dishes is the spinach and artichoke dip at the Sunset Grill and Tap, but I've never made it myself. I tried out this Spinach and Artichoke Dip recipe from Cooking Light for the last blogger book club meeting and it was a big hit. I served it with pita chips and sliced baguette rather than tortilla chips, and I added black olives. When it was done cooking, I sprinkled some diced tomato on top because A. yum and B. people who don't like tomatoes cannot be trusted, so it's a good way to identify potential enemies. It's not the most healthy of appetizers but it is tasty, very easy to make, and a great item to bring to a party.

2. After a shameful dinner of Nutter Butters and Fritos during a late night in the lab, I decided to compensate the next day by cooking up some healthy fish. I bought ocean perch for the first time- when it comes to white fish, I usually opt for cod or haddock, but the perch was fresh, wild-caught, and on sale for only $2.99 a pound. I found this recipe for Parmesan-Basil Perch and decided to give it a shot. It was excellent! The fish was light and flaky and the coating provided a nice but not overpowering flavor. And it only took about 5 minutes to prepare before popping it in the oven. I served it up with mashed potatoes and steamed green beans and a big ol' glass of pinot grigio. And yes I eat in front of my laptop. But only sometimes.

Onto the links:

During last weekend's wedding celebration and festivities (congratulations, Buddah and Molly!) a friend made Puerco Pibil. This Mexican pork dish was featured in a Johnny Depp movie and the director Robert Rodriguez made a cooking video to go along with it. He gives some good tips at the end- pick a few favorite dishes and learn to make them very well. I also love his kitchen and the personal menus.

Here are a couple of food blogs- first, we've got the highbrow FoodPornDaily- which, despite the name, is very SFW and features fine food photography as well as some recipes. And lastly, the lowbrow: The Snackmaster catalogues his adventures in junk food. I like his writing style but seriously, the more you read, the more you become amazed at the sheer amount of snacks this guy consumes.