The Weekend Cook- Wannabe: GLB Sole + Veggie Couscous


Yay, Sunday (well technically it’s Monday now but it’s sleeping time on Sunday for me hahaha)! Weekends mean one thing– I am free to talk about everything else (aside from shopping) hahaha. I kinda decided that weekends on this blog will be devoted to the domestic life of a tai tai wannabe (who obviously isn’t a tai tai, or there’d be no domestic life to write about except perhaps the family trips to the club or something hahahaha… ok sorry but that ain’t my life YET. Working on it, darnit, but that might just take forever, so don’t wait hahaha :D)– so I’ll  just share tidbits about  things I do on my “off” days which will definitely include the meals out as well as la nouvelle passion of cooking *wooohoooo* 😀

So here goes! I accompanied my friend to Santi’s yesterday because she was going to buy gourmet burger patties for their family barbeque. When we got there, I too, felt the urge to go food and ingredients shopping. Hooo boy.

I came home with this loot. Celeries, fresh white mushrooms, anchovies, fresh arugula (or rocket), fresh basil leaves, a pack of couscous, 3 pcs of lemon sole, 200g of prosciutto, ripe red tomatoes.

Ok. At the time, I didn’t know what I was going to make. But I knew I wanted to make couscous at some point. I have made chicken with couscous a few years ago after having been inspired by a wonderful dinner given by Jon Jon Rufino at his place (this was over 8 years ago already– before I was even pregnant with my first child!). I haven’t really made couscous since then. It was too “gourmet” for me to make hahaha (even if it was not too hard to make it).

It was when I got home that I decided I will prepare the lemon sole  as well. Didn’t want the fish to stay in the freezer for a long time. The fresher the fish, the better. And the simplest way *in my opinion* to prepare fillet of sole is with lemon butter sauce 🙂 And so it was set– lemon sole in garlic lemon butter sauce.
Garlic Lemon Butter Sole (GLB Sole) Ingredients:
  • 3 fillets of sole (from Santi’s)
  • 1/4 slice of lemon
  • Ginger, sliced into strips (enough for 3 fillets)
  • Minced garlic 3-4 cloves
  • A stick of butter (I used about 2- 3 tbsp of butter)
I marinated (yes, I did it again, but NO soysauce hahaha) the 3 pieces of fillet with 1/4 lemon’s juice, minced garlic, strips of ginger, and a pinch or two of salt.
I let the fillet sit on the lemon mixture for 10 minutes before I moved it onto another plate to sit for a good hour (I didn’t let the fillets swim in the lemon juice mixture).

Garlic lemon butter sole will work well with vegetable couscous (well I thought of rack of lamb, with couscous but well I don’t have rack of lamb at home, so the pairing with the fish will do nicely *I hope*).
So I went and made vegetable couscous too 🙂

Vegetable Couscous Ingredients:

  •  1 cube organic Vegetable Bouillon (any gourmet deli should have this)
  •  250g couscous (these come in 500g)
  •  2 cups of hot water
  •  4 cloves of pressed garlic
  •  1/2 onion, sliced into thin strips
  •  1 cup chopped celery (diagonally)
  •  1/2 cup chopped carrots (in strips) *I ran out of carrots, so mine was less than 1/2 cup*
  •  1/4 cup diced ripe red tomatoes (de- seeded)
  •  1 cup sliced mushrooms
On standby: 
  • Extra virgin olive oil    
(I added fresh basil leaves into the olive oil so it would become basil evoo :D– tried and tested, this makes the evoo super good with anything)
  • Iodized Salt 
  • Herbed salt *if you have*
  • Pepper
I dissolved the organic vegetable bouillon into the 2 cups of hot water (you can actually opt to substitute the bouillon with chicken stock). Set aside.

In a non-stick deep- enough pan, I melted butter and stirred in the garlic, onions. Next, the celery, carrots, and mushrooms went in. For added flavor, I drizzled some basil EVOO. Then sprinkled salt and herbed salt.
After the vegetables were  half- cooked, I spooned them onto a plate (will cook this again with the couscous in a bit).

In the same pan, I now poured the vegetable soup stock. Then I poured out the couscous– about 250g of it (the couscous I bought weighed 500g).

Mix with wooden spoon and allow the couscous to absorb some of the liquid. Then put the sauteed vegetables back into the couscous mixture.

 Keep stirring the mixture until the couscous is not hard anymore– the couscous should have absorbed all the vegetable stock. Taste the couscous. If it’s not salty enough, add a pinch or two of salt. Drizzle some basil EVOO again onto the couscous. When ready, set aside.

Now, back to the garlic lemon butter sole.  In another pan, melt butter, and add the garlic, ginger, and lemon juice mixture.

Place the fillets next to each other in the pan.  Some herb salt will do these fillets good. And note that they will cook fairly fast (unlike steak hehehe)

And when they’re ready, set aside.

Get a nice, clean plate and spoon some vegetable couscous. Top couscous with one garlic lemon butter sole. Drizzle a bit of the butter sauce, and add a sprig of rosemary to “garnish” (or basil leaf, or heck, even arugula :D) for that little sumthin’ sumthin’ 🙂 And make sure to keep the basil EVOO around as you eat this– you might want a more basil-y taste, and well, you can drizzle the oil onto the dish liberally 🙂

Et voila, dinner is served 🙂 Le Famille will never go hungry hahahaha 😉

*I think I will ask DH to give me salary as a cook hahahaha. Ding ding ding!! NEW JOB ALERT!!! :D*

It’s established that I love food. So maybe I should take some serious cooking classes to actually learn how to cook! I was thinking… Cordon Bleu *muwahahahaha tsk boy, I must have the skin of a rhino to even suggest Cordon Bleu! Hahahaha– oye, anything just to stay in Paris!! 😉 *

Can anyone recommend a very good cooking school here please? *preferably one with an exchange program with Cordon Bleu so I can go to Paris hahahahahaha*

x
Mrs. T

No Comments Yet
  1. Mrs. T! The food looks so delish! I love your food posts and recipes. Please keep them coming! Also, asking your DH for a salary since you’ve been cooking is a BRILLIANT idea. I’m gonna have to do the same thing. Haha!

  2. Loving the new Mrs. T (though I always knew you loved to Cook:) this dish is so tempting, and the idea of serving it with couscous is excellent.-Patricia

  3. hello Mrs T…

    i am enjoying your new topics here.. sino mag sasabi na u dont know how to cook.. u already look like an expert ha!

    culinary is one more thing i have not fulfilled yet as a course.. i also need to do that soon! … love cooking too but time is my problem especially now with my work..

    Happy cooking (and eating) !

    docD

  4. Hi Ingrid! I’ll ask my godfather, Chef Ed Quimson, for suggestions re: cooking school with Cordon Bleu exchange program.

    Incidentally, what kind of cooking would you like to focus on?

    I am very very proud of you and am fully supporting your cooking endeavors. Malay mo, you and I might be classmates in cooking school someday.

    Luvya!

  5. @AinaL: thank you!! I dont want to bake, that’s for sure 🙂 And yeah! being classmates in cooking class/school would be coool!! 😀

    @DocD: But I don’t know how to cook– I experiment! Hahaha Nice to see you here 🙂 How’s everything on your end?

    @PBB: Hehehee one day, I will be bold enough to ask you to try my cooking. But not yet!

    @Patricia: Thank you for the kind compliment! 🙂 I’m happy you think the pairing is good! More experimenting soon 😀

    @MrsMartinez: Yes, plating 🙂 I think there’s a Santis in Annapolis right? Try that place for fresh basil

    @daphneosena: Thanks D 🙂 And i just bought some Personalized Favors from your site!! 😀 Talk about online shopping LOL

    @Christina: Good luck! I didn’t give measurements because I kept tasting the dish as I made it. I think that’s the best way to go 🙂

    @Appledumplings: Yes! Cook ! 🙂

    @JDHoschka: Try also orange peel into the evoo. Soooo good! I did that with my other evoo which is almost finished. 🙂

    @nanayniisay: LOL yes! Ask for a salary! It’s a VERY difficult profession!! 🙂 Im definitely going to do more food and recipe posts. Im exploring this passion this year 🙂

    @R: I wasn’t into couscous too before but after that dinner where I had chicken couscous, I was a changed eater 🙂

  6. Hey! why not get a macbook pro? 🙂 uve been with mac, why betray? teehee.. just my 2 cents, wants you go mac, youll never go back.. 🙂 haha
    I like your blog.

    Ps – can i add your blog on my blog’s favorite lists? 🙂
    thanks. please check my page if you have time, too.

  7. that was so dumb right there.. i meant to say “once you go mac, youll never go back” .. i just re-read the posting and discovered how lousy my previous comment was. harhar..

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