Red Snapper with Raspberry Dressing and I'm back!

11.3.10

 Hi Everyone, I'm back!

Hope you had a great Halloween and enjoyed your costume :)

First off, thank you all so much for stopping by here while I was gone, and for voting for me on the mushroom challenge. Although I didn't win, I really appreciated your support! The 1st place winner's recipe looks great. So, here it is. There are many great recipes!

Since I've been gone, it seems like many new things have happened in this blogosphere. The creative juices from you guys are all over the cyber world. I really need to keep up with all of you! One thing that I can feel is the warm welcome from the lovely friends here.

I had a blast during the vacation. Among the 4 cities I went to, I like Barcelona, Spain the most. It's also a no-tip country! I wish I knew more Spanish. People there are pretty fashionable! Boots and leather jackets are in trend for girls. I felt good when girls checked me out. haha.  For Rome, I would go back just for the food. Homemade pasta was so good.  We ordered a simple dish - cheese and black pepper pasta, but it was so delicious. It was fresh and the sauce was light and tasty: just right. This really makes me want to get myself a pasta maker seriously. Tomato sauce was not as acidic as tomato sauce in the States. They said they used Roma tomatoes. For Paris, I would go back for the romantic atmosphere. What a beautiful city at night. Beautiful artwork, love story, history, cold weather, and being with your life partner can make your eyes watery.

While we were cruising on the Seine River at night, a tour guide on the cruise mentioned Van Gogh's  famous quote, "Be mysterious, be in love, and you will be happy". There are a lot of love stories!

Luckily, my phone had unlimited international emails. I emailed my friends a lot for help and one of them was so good at getting back to me. I assigned her to be our cyber travel consultant, haha. We ate a lot during the trip. My game plan was to wear dresses almost everyday so that I had room to eat more. To see some of the food we ate, you can click to see on my Facebook page here. I've got a lot of inspiration and ideas to cook from!

Before going to the photos I'm going to share, let's see this beautiful dish. My friend has lent me a cookbook called "Fish & Shellfish - Superb ways with seafood", for sometime now. I chose to make the red snapper with raspberry dressing for the first dish. It's easy, light, and delicious.

Red Snapper with Raspberry Dressing

Yield: 4

Ingredients:

8 red snapper fillets, scaled
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs raspberry vinegar
1 package of mixed green salad
salt and black pepper

For the dressing:

1 cup raspberries, puree and sieved
2 tbs raspberry vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4-1/2 tsp sugar

Directions:

• Lay the red snapper fillets in a shallow dish. 
• Whisk together olive oil and raspberry vinegar, and a pinch of salt. Drizzle the mixture over the fish. Cover and let marinade for 1 hr.
• While waiting, whisk dressing ingredients and season to taste.
• Pour the dressing on the mixed green vegetable; toss lightly.
• Heat a skillet or pan untill very hot (need to be hot otherwise fish's skin will stick to the pan), put in the fillet and fry for 2-3 mins on each side or until cooked. 
• Cut the fillets diagonally in half.
• Arrange sald on a plate and place fillets on top with the remaining dressing spooned around. 
• I garnished with radish sprouts that I had left.
• Serve and enjoy!

No further ado, here are some photos from each city.

Parc Guell, Madrid

The Palace,  Madrid

Parc dela Ciutadella, Barcelona

One of Gaudi's works, Barcelona

Beach, Barcelona

Colosseum, Rome

Rome, Italy

Trevi Fountain, Rome

Nortre Dame, Rome

Pantheon, Rome

Eiffel Tower, Paris. We were lucky to see a light display before we left.

Le Louvre, Paris

Arc de triomphe, Paris

One more shot of Eiffel Tower