Sunday, April 5th - Grav Lox and BBQ'd Halibut and Asparagus

Breakfast was pancakes with unbleached flour. I think I over beat them cuz they were fairly chewy. Had them with maple syrup and Mango and Dragon fruit on the side. D didn't want pancakes. He made eggs and fried cherry tomatoes on a bagel with cheddar.

As a side note, we have a VERMI-COMPOSTER or worm composter here. So all the trimmings of all our cooking are gobbled up by a hungry gang of worms. You can get one at a subsidized price in Vancouver if you sit through a seminar. D went one evening a few months ago listening to how much to feed them, what not to feed them like meat or cooked food. Actually the latter is because of the smell of rotting that will emanate from the container which is roughly the size of a large storage tupperware. I remember in University a friend of mine had one in her apartment. I mean this was over ten years ago. The practice was still nascent for urban living so there were no air holes or hay, or restrictions. It was just a plastic bin. At Christmas holiday, Peggy's worms died while escaping across her kitchen floor. We found them in the new year as dried brown strips in lines on the linoleum. We all assumed it was because they were hungry and they had escaped her bin in search of food. Well, I've since learned that they can go for some time with new scraps. They likely escaped due to high acid levels in the food mixture. Too many tomatos or citrus can result in upset worm stomachs. We feed them pretty well. They started just eating 1 litre a week to 4 times that now. One of the grosser bits is that the container, which is lidded also has a tray. One other by product is 'worm juice'. You have to syphon it off. D bought a turkey baster and keeps an empty cranberry juice jar nearby. It's apparently really nutrious for houseplants. blech.

I started Course Salt Grav Lox Yesterday . They've sit for the required 24 hours. So I took the pyrex dish out of the fridge and took the weight off. I tossed the plastic wrap but now that I think about it, should have kept it for the wrapping.

I stared with the back side of a knife but moved to a flat head spatula to scrap off the salt and dill. Be thorough. The salt has done it's job. Make sure to drain off any liquid completely.

Keep going until you have a naked fish. But don't muck up the flesh. So be reasonable.

Slice thinly as possible across the filet (short side). D prepared a wasabi mayo from some dried wasabi powder which he believes is more autentico. I don't entirely agree. The mayo didn't sit right with me so I tried grain mustard and then finally some horeradish, which D readily pointed out is the same thing as wasabi :0D. The horseradish was the best.

We bough some whole grain rye that comes thinly sliced in blocks. Cut those into fourths and thinly sliced some red onion. Serve as you like. I spread some horseradish add some red onion and add a slice of the salmon. MMMMMM D broke out a yummy jar of cornichon in vinegar from Beaufor. Perfect. Add some chopped dill if you still have some. Don't DON'T re use or eat the dill used in the recipe.

Dinner will be some halibut filets we bought yesterday with some asparagus I picked up at Kin's Market on the way home from Ultimate frisbee practice. But I'm so full right now, I can't even think about it.

We had the BBQ halibut with the Dean and Deluca chipotle rub. The asparagus was lightly tossed with lemon olive oil. It was a very light meal but with the salmon and Oh, my earlier snacking on blue corn chips with Trader Joe's organic all natural Black Bean dip. The meal was the perfect size. No bread and no rice. Fantastic.