Simply Creative: Starving Artist Cooking

  Some of my favorite recipes for you to try at home!

Julianne, my daughter cooking.

Being an artist, mother,

 grandmother- how did that happen! and always being on a budget, you have to be flexible but I have never been afraid to experiment with art or with food.

 I learned to cook from my father, mother, grandmother, daughters, friends and neighbors. Everyone has a different heritage and a different style of cooking.

 But one of the most important things I had ever learned about cooking was from my father and that was to be adaptable and the recipes here that I will be posting will be part of the cookbook I'm working on, that I would like to share with you.

What I mean by being adaptable is adapting to your situation, be it your cookware, kitchen, dietary needs, your financial needs and the ingredients you have available whilst in the kitchen. 

 

      I use this philosophy with my art and with my cooking

 

 

  So if you don't have a particular ingredient or particular cookware, no worries-

To quote Julia child “learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!” 

 

 

Kingfish Photo and bite credit: Melissa Sullam  

 

Starving artist sears free kingfish

It is hard enough to make a living as an artist with the economy as it is, with food and fuel prices continuing to climb it makes it more challenging.

I don't remember ever eating kingfish steaks before and when my daughter was the beneficiary of a fisherman's catch I offered to cook it up. Free is free and I don't believe in waste.

This recipe is adaptable for almost any fish steak; I made a few adjustments for this particular fish.

Too busy to read the whole post here is a…

Quick look at recipe:

Olive oil/ Sea salt/ ground pepper and a dusting of Bob's Red Mill Arrowroot Starch/Flour

Hot heavy weight pan with olive oil, sear for 2-3 min on each side depending on the thickness of the steaks

Rest the steaks (and yourself) for a moment or two

A sliver of butter/ a drizzle of lemon or lime –-

 More time?  Read on.

  A Longer look:

 Everything (except the fish) can be substituted by something else.

Cooking and prep time less than 10 min.

 The main idea: Have seared fish in less than 10 min, which gives you more time to be a well-fed artist.

What you will need:

Cast-iron or heavy pan (but if you don't have one any pan will do)

Olive oil-you can also use some other quality oil that burns at a high temperature

Butter (optional)

Sea salt and ground pepper (you can use plain salt-and-pepper)

Fresh lemon or lime juice (you can go without if you need to)

Arrowroot flour (this is just for a dusting I don't use white flour but, you can or use any other kind of flour or none at all.

Rinse the steaks, put them in a bowl, coat with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and very lightly dust with flour. If you use a tablespoon for 3 steaks that would be too much and remember dusting is optional.

I like dusting certain fish (not furniture) because I like the way it makes it crispier.

Put about a teaspoon to tablespoon of olive oil in a hot pan.

Turn on your stove vent if you have one because it's going to get smoky.

Place steaks in the pan and don't move them (Depending on how thick they are) for least 2 min to 3 min.

Flip and repeat.

Remove steaks from pan to a plate, put A tiny sliver of butter on each steak and let them rest for a minute or 2 then squeeze a little lemon or lime on them and voilà they are done.

Remember the butter, lemon or lime is optional.

 Also if you feel they aren't quite cooked enough or you need a few more minutes to get everything else ready and want to keep them warm, pop them in a 150-degree oven.

Another little tip: which is what I did while waiting for my family to sit down and eat, before I put the fish in the oven to keep them warm, I took a tiny bit- about a teaspoon or tablespoon worth of Italian dressing and put it on the bottom of the pan. This added a little bit more flavor and moisture.

Enjoy!