Teriyaki Tilapia with Grapefruit and Fennel

While waiting for my hair color to process at Todd Shrider's Broad Ripple salon, He Does Hair, I picked up the January 13, 2014 copy of People magazine and flipped through.  It was obviously New Year-oriented, with success stories about weight loss and a 200-calorie fish recipe from celebrity chef Rocco Dispirito.

The January 13, 2014 issue of People magazine was all about weight loss.  At the back, look for the Salmon Teriyaki with Grapefruit and Fennel recipe.

I love light, fresh fish recipes, so this one looked perfect for a road test.  Since it was snowing outside, it made for an excuse to create a make-believe summer oasis indoors.  It was also time for a reunion with fennel.  I've avoided fennel since about six years ago.  I was on a weekend date to St. Louis that included dinner at Top of the Riverfront, the city's only revolving restaurant that's been around since 1969.  I had never been to a revolving restaurant, and it was not a pleasant experience.  I ordered a fish dish that included broth that was heavy-handed with the fennel.  Not only did I dislike all the fennel, either the movement of the restaurant, the food, or the combination of the two left me dizzy, nauseous, and sick in the restaurant's washroom.  No fun, no romance that night!

After reading the recipe, and thinking about fennel (an anise-flavored plant that looks like an onion with dill sprouting out the top), I thought it best to swap the salmon for a firm, flaky white fish.  Fresh Market had tilapia for $10.99 per pound, cheaper than salmon and much more affordable than the pretty but pricey grouper for $21.99 per pound.  Since this was going to be dinner, I also purchased radishes to add to the fennel and grapefruit salad so it would be slightly more filling and colorful.  I wanted to use jicama, but the four jicama left at the Broad Ripple Fresh Market were all moldy.  Rick Bayless' Mexican Kitchen cookbook says that's okay, just cut it off, but I can't justify paying the Fresh Market price for something that's already molding.

I prepped the salad according to the recipe's proportions (combine 2c grapefruit segments and juices, 3c fennel bulb, 1 teaspoon dry wasabi mix), except for the addition of seven thinly sliced radishes.  I didn't have a full 3c of fennel, so I scaled down accordingly.  I prepped the fish according to the recipe (season fish with salt and pepper, cook about one minute each side in hot pan with olive oil spray, finish with teriyaki sauce), except I added a teaspoonful of butter to the hot pan to get a nice crust on the fish.  I also segmented a fresh grapefruit instead of purchasing canned, prepped grapefruit.  The overall result was a refreshing, light dinner with all organic fruits and vegetables.  If I could have changed any of the preparation, I would have used slightly less dry wasabi.  If you don't love wasabi, it's too much.

Sliced fennel, radishes, grapefruit, and dry wasabi in a mixing bowl, waiting to be combined.  

As for my relationship with fennel...we're doing better.  With the grapefruit and wasabi, it was a subtle flavor and nice crunch.  While I was chopping, I ate a slice and was a little unsure.  It's a pronounced taste, and given my dislike of licorice, not my favorite flavor.  Without the grapefruit and wasabi, I may not have enjoyed the dish.

The finished teriyaki tilapia with grapefruit and fennel (plus radish) salad.  This was a dish I enjoyed preparing because it took less than twenty minutes, and enjoyed eating because it was refreshing and light.

I served the entree with a glass of Espiral Vinho Verde, an almost semi-sparkling budget-friendly wine from Trader Joe's, retailing for just $4.49.  The effervesce comes in just under one bar of pressure, so technically this wine can't be classified as semi-sparkling.  This wine comes from the Minho region of northwest Portugal.  The "verde" in the name means green, but not like "green bottle"; it means "young."  The wine is on the shelf when it is less than one year old, and it is meant to be consumed immediately.  This isn't one to put in your closet for a few years to make it vintage.  The first sip is yeasty, but if you stick with it, it'll give way to tart apple, subtle pear, heavy-handed acid, and a hint of citrus.  The citrus develops with the first taste of the grapefruit fennel radish salad, creating a pleasant pairing with this dish.

Espiral Vinho Verde, $4.49 at Trader Joe's.

This isn't a wine where you'll be observing any perlage.  You'll see big bubbles, but they aren't rising.  They'll cling to the glass until you drink about half, and then some will release.  But c'mon, it's $4 and it's not champagne.  It's an acceptable accompaniment that brings freshness and citrus that blossoms with this particular dish.  If you're a wine snob who can't handle the simplicity and that it's from Trader Joe's, that's okay.  I've found considerable happiness in my life enjoying both the expensive and indulgent, and the everyday unexpected small treasures!

Bubbles clinging to the side of this glass of Espiral Vinho Verde.

The cost of the radishes, 1.06 lbs. (three filets) of tilapia, fennel, grapefruit, wasabi powder, and teriyaki sauce at Fresh Market was about $28, dividing out to $9.33 per serving.  However, by pairing it with a budget-friendly wine, dinner for two comes to a much more sensible $11.58 each, with a serving remaining for lunch the next day.

Overall, I recommend this recipe with the addition of radish or jicama and substitution of white fish.  It is refreshing, full of satisfying crunch, and low calorie.

Insider tip: buy fresh tilapia filets at Kroger for about $5 per pound or your local ethnic market for as little as $2 per pound (ask the butcher to slice the filet off the fish for you--this price will probably be whole fish).  Fresh Market is close to my work, and during the subzero windchill and snow, I was happy to make only one driving stop between the office and home.  If the weather had been better, I'd have driven farther to find a better price.

Devour Downtown: McCormick & Schmick's

From January 20, 2014 to February 2, 2014, almost 70 Indianapolis restaurants are offering discounted tasting menus as part of Devour Downtown.  I'm a huge fan of this concept because the discounted menus entice people who haven't experienced Indianapolis gems like St. Elmo's and Mesh to try somewhere new (and hopefully local!)  Moving to Indianapolis about one year ago has burgeoned my appreciation for non-chain restaurants.  Devour Downtown is a nice mixture of chain and local establishments at varying price points.  The least expensive option is a two for $15 deal at Fresco Italian Sandwich Shoppe.  The most expensive options are $38 per person at Dunaway's and Fogo de Chao.

Thursday night, my fiance and I decided to eat dinner out to celebrate his birthday this week.  He challenged me to pick the Devour Downtown menu he'd like best.  I decided to forgo some of the predictable favorites like St. Elmo's because the beef option was a filet.  While a filet is a likable lean cut of meat, when we eat out, we're looking for an indulgent, marbled cut like a ribeye or New York strip.  As much as I prefer local eateries, I picked McCormick & Schmick's based on the totality of the menu.

The McCormick & Schmick's Devour Downtown menu offers bang for your buck (if you choose expensive selections) and a lot of choices.  I saw options that are Greg's favorites, like lobster tail and chocolate lava cake.  Much of the Devour menu is similar to options on the regular dinner menu.  Granted, the Devour Downtown offerings are often slightly smaller than regular menu options, but assuming you selected the most expensive  option from the appetizer, entree, and dessert options, the regular menu prices would add up to about $60.97 ($12.99 for calamari, $39.99 for steak medallions and lobster tail, and $7.99 for the molten chocolate cake).  Given that the Devour Downtown menu price is $35, that's a savings of about $25.97.  If you picked the least expensive options (soup for about $5.99, snapper for about $19.99, and creme brulee for $6.99), your total would be about $32.97, which comes in under the Devour Downtown price of $35, and Devour Downtown might not be a savings at all.

The Devour Downtown menu at McCormick & Schmick's with my notes comparing pricing to regular menu options.  The math isn't exact since many Devour Downtown menu items aren't on the regular menu, but the value is obvious if you're ordering the more expensive options.  If you choose the most expensive item from each course, Devour Downtown offers a 43% discount from the approximate regular menu price.

The experience was pleasant, if not predictable.  I had the calamari appetizer.  I was pleased to find both rings and tentacles in the mix, as well as lightly battered pieces of carrots and peppers.  The lemon aioli was very mayonnaise-y, but mixed with the side of cocktail sauce, made a nice piquant sauce.  All of the pieces had a springy and crispy texture.

Well prepared calamari from McCormick & Schmick's.  The combination of rings and tentacles added authenticity, the addition of fried carrot and pepper slices provided variety in each bite.

Greg selected the blue crab and roasted corn chowder.  He shared a taste.  I didn't have any crab meat in my bite, but the small sweet corn niblets were tender, unlike the overly soft vegetables that often show up in chowders.  It was well seasoned and the base was smooth and creamy.  It was much more of a creamy soup than a chunky chowder.

The restaurant was still bustling (surprisingly) at our 8:30 p.m. reservation time.  The wait to entrees was a little long, but I sipped a glass of Penfolds Shiraz ($9) contently.  Standard wine markup is about three times retail price.  The bottle should retail for about $13, so if you're assuming four to six pours per bottle (hoping for a generous barkeep who offers a taste first!), the price is in line but to the high end of three times markup.  Depending on the size of the pour, the three times markup price per glass should range from about $6.50 to $9.75. 

We both ordered the steak medallions and lobster tail entree.  Greg talked me out of the shrimp trilogy with the argument that I should splurge on surf and turf indulgence.  The presentation was workmanlike.  The dish components were spread out across the plate, and a grilled tomato offered some color and freshness.  There was adequate white space on the plate.  Crowded plates are one of my pet peeves, so I was pleased to see all the food on an amply-sized plate.  The steak medallions were thin slices of what appeared to be tenderloin, based on the grain and flavor.  The medallions were simply seasoned and juicy, cooked perfectly to my requested medium rare.  The lobster tail was a nice size for the price of the dinner, broiled, and served with a side of butter.  The lobster was broiled slightly too long and the edges were overdone but edible.  The roasted potatoes were an adequate side.  I would have preferred them to be crispier, but I also order hash browns well done.  I enjoyed the grilled roma tomato on the side--it was the lightness the plate needed since bites of butter, steak, and potatoes were heavy. 

Nothing artful or unpredictable: a nicely executed steak  medallion and lobster tail entree for a steal of a price at McCormick & Schmicks during Devour Downtown.

Dessert was the only disappointment.  The kitchen was out of the mango creme brulee.  Mango is one of my favorite flavors.  Coupled with the fact that I'm allergic to cocoa, dessert options were looking bleak given that restaurants who participate in Devour Downtown do not permit substitutions from the Devour menus.  After explaining my cocoa allergy to the server, she came back with news that the kitchen had one vanilla bean creme brulee left from the ordinary dinner menu.  Greg had the chocolate molten cake with vanilla ice cream and I had the kitchen's last remaining vanilla creme brulee.

The vanilla creme brulee was very successful.  It was a perfect texture, not overcooked and not a lump of eggy-ness to be found.  The dish was covered in the telltale black specks of vanilla bean, a reminder of the authentic vanilla flavor.  Its only downside was that it wasn't mango.  Perhaps McCormick & Schmick's should be cranking out creme brulees for the weekend services given that they were on short supply Thursday.

McCormick & Schmick's vanilla bean creme brulee.  One of the better creme brulees I've enjoyed in recent history.  The ramekin was dotted with black specks of vanilla bean, even though I tried to eat every last bit.  The disappointment was that it wasn't mango.  Part of choosing McCormick & Schmick's for dinner was to try mango creme brulee for the first time.

The total for two Devour Downtown offerings, a glass of Penfolds Shiraz, and two Arnold Palmers was $91.33.  We added a respectable tip to the amiable server who did what she could to fix the dessert issue.

Overall review of McCormick & Schmick's Devour Downtown offering: Mostly positive.  The lack of mango creme brulee was sad.  The value is excellent if you order the expensive options.  Compare your selections to the regular menu if you aren't selecting higher priced items to determine whether the $35 price tag is worth it.  The decor and ambiance are pleasant inside, but nothing you haven't seen at a nice chain restaurant.  The wait staff is very pleasant and eager to please.  The calamari appetizer was standout, and the steak medallions and lobster are predictable but pleasing so long as the lobster isn't over broiled.  All the dishes were presented in a simple manner on well-sized plates.

Insider tip: If you aren't interested in Devour Downtown, or the dinner menu is out of your budget for an ordinary weeknight, check out happy hour Monday through Saturday from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the bar area.  For $3.99 you can score a burger and fries or sliders.  Also, keep an eye on Foursquare.  The Indianapolis McCormick & Schmick's used to offer buy one, get one free entrees to the Foursquare mayor.  This special isn't available right now, but maybe the restaurant will re-join the ranks of Foursquare specials in the future.

Welcome!

I'm that Indianapolis lawyer who sometimes wishes she went to culinary school instead of law school because I really love food.  I love to eat food, cook food, talk about food, Instagram my food, dream about food, and teach my takeout-addicted friends to cook.  After peppering my Instagram and Facebook feeds with this food love affair for the past few years, it's time to give my culinary love notes their own place in the blogosphere.  Here it is.  Welcome to Dining with Stacy.  I hope you're hungry!