This is super-easy. I swear. And you can do it with any type of firm, white-flesh fish (which sounds gross, but really just means mahi mahi, halibut or sea bass - not dover sole, that would be too thin).

The Ingredients:

1-1 1/2 lb snapper, in filets
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/3 cup roasted, unsalted pistachios, chopped finely (I swear, I did not know until we made this that you can buy pistachios already shelled. Somehow that just seems dangerous.)
2 tbsp. freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp. minced flat-leaf parsley
1 tbsp. fresh thyme
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 cup milk
2 tbsp. butter, melted
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and cover a shallow glass baking dish with tin foil, and spray with non-stick spray.

Combine bread crumbs, 1/4 cup pistachios, parmesan, parsley, thyme, mustard, salt and pepper in shallow dish and mix until well blended.

Place milk in a separate shallow dish and dip fish in milk. Roll fish in crumb mixture and place in prepared baking dish.

Drizzle melted butter over fish and sprinkle the remaining pistachios on top.

Bake at 425 for about 10-12 minutes (10 minutes for each 1" of fish). Fish will appear white and flakey when it's redy.

Remove to a part and serve garnished with fresh lemon wedges.

You could also make this pan fried or on the outdoor grill.
 
I took other notes about how to make this with chicken, but I think we'd had a bottle of wine each by this point, and so I cannot, for the life of me, read my handwriting. Sorry. Here's a picture of Ron, me and Anne. Drinking wine and not helping.

Ron, Daisy, Anne

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Ok, so I'll be honest. This recipe SHOULD be super easy and cheap, but because it requires a lot of spices/herbs and because we actually used a spice grinder, I'm not sure how practical it actually is. Our teacher suggested buying the spices in bulk (at Rainbow Grocery on Polk Street if you're local to SF), but I guess it all just depends on how much you cook. A spice grinder on amazon.com runs about $30, so... Now you know. Maybe you all own spice grinders and you're wondering how on earth I've gotten this far in life without one. Also a possibility.

Grilling shrimp

Pomegranate Glazed Shrimp
This recipe calls upon pomegranate molasses so you can enjoy the sweet/tart flavor and vibrant color of pomegranate all year round.

1 lb shrimp, peel and de-veined
1/2 tsp. whole cloves
1/2 tsp. peppercorns
1 tsp. cumin seeds
2 tsp. coriander seeds
1 1/2 tsp. sweet Hungarian paprika.
2 inch cinnamon stick
6 cardamom pods, crushed, seeds only
11/2 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. pomegranate molasses (found in the syrup aisle - Haigs on Clement & 6th if you're in SF)
6-inch wooden skewers
2 tbsp. clarified butter or ghee

Soak skewers in water for at least 15 minutes and preheat a grill or grill pan.

In a small, dry skillet, heat the cloves, cumin seeds, coriander, paprika, cinnamon stick and cardamom seeds until fragrant (about 1-2 minutes).
Transfer spice mixture to a spice grinder (break up the cinnamon stick into pieces first). You can also use a coffee grinder as long as you don't ALSO grind coffee beans in it. Or you can use a mortar and pestle.
Add salt and peppercorns and grind into a fine powder. Transfer into a shallow dish and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a small dish, melt the butter. Place 2-3 shrimp on each skewer and brush shrimp with thin layer of butter. Press buttered shrimp into spice mixture to coat.

Place shrimp on grill and cook until pink.

Remove from heat. Drizzle with pomegranate molasses and serve right away at room temperature.

Glazed shrimp

YUMMY YUMMY IN YOUR TUMMY.

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Confession: Most of my meals are either eaten out or ordered in. If I do "cook," it's usually a bowl of cereal, a frozen pizza (I prefer Stouffer's french bread - plain cheese - in case you were wondering) or lots of goldfish (parmesan cheese, of course). Which is why it was so great that Aubrey recently organized a cooking class for a group of us. Emily (our instructor, and randomly a woman I went to elementary school with) invited us into her home (ok fine, her parents' sweet house in Pacific Heights) to teach us how to cook a menu entitled "Elegance with Ease." (The "with ease" part is a bit debatable, and the ten bottles of wine we plowed through might have detracted from the "elegance," but all in all, the evening was a success.

Ali_aubs_kevin

For Crepe Batter

1 cup flour
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 egg
1 tbsp. fresh chives, snipped
2 tsp. fresh chervil, snipped (I know, I'd never heard of chervil either. It's similar to parsley, but not as coarse. You can substitute sage, thyme or parsley.)
1/4 tsp. salt

The average crepe equals one cup milk and one cup flour. (I can't remember why I took this note.)
Add a tablespoon of sugar for dessert crepes.

For Pumpkin Filling

1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree (or butternut squash) - this comes in a can
5 oz. chevre, at room temperature
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 tsp. fresh chives, snipped
sea salt
freshly ground pepper

butter or canola oil for preparing crepes (we used butter)

How to make them

In a medium bowl, prepare the filling. With a fork, smash together the pumpkin puree and the chevre until blended. Add the nutmeg and chives and stir through. Season with salt and peper and set aside. (You can do this the night before, if you'd like.)

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a baking dish with aluminum foil.

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, milk, water, olive oil and salt until smooth. Add the egg and beat until well combined. Stir through the fresh herbs. The batter should have the consistency of heavy cream and add additional milk, water, or flour as necessary to achieve this consistency.

Crepe filling

Heat a small (6-inch) nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and brush with softened butter or oil. Pour in about 3 tbsp. of the batter and tilt the pan evenly (pour in a circle and let it swirl to the edges) until the batter lightly coats the base of the pan. Allow to cook until edges start to come away from the sides - about 30 seconds - 1 minute on 1st side. Use a firm spatula to loose and flip (15 - 20 seconds on second side). Transfer crepes to a plate and proceed with remaining batter. (Look how much fun we were having!)

Making crepes

Once you've cooked all the crepes (which you could also prepare the night before), take one crepe and spread 2-3 tbsp. of the pumpkin filling in a strip in the center of the crepe (this must be done right before baking). Roll the edges of the crepe around the filling and place in the prepared baking dish, seam side DOWN. Repeat (duh.)

Place filled crepes in the oven and cook for 15 minutes until warmed through and lightly golden. Remove from oven and allow crepes to cool for a few minutes before serving. Crepes can be served whole or sliced into small pieces and served standing up.

We DEVOURED these.

Shrimp, snapper and dessert recipes to come!

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