One Dish Fish

Sometimes the whole truly is greater than the sum of its parts.  One dish meals have a way of creating new flavors that you can't arrive at unless all of your ingredients mingle and bring out the best in one another.  We love this Cast Iron Skillet Baked Fish both for its minimal ingredients and the straightforward process in which you prepare it.  Practically any white fish will do - we used True Cod here.  When it's baked with the tomatoes, both of them let off natural juices that do something special to the flavor of the potatoes.  Yeah, those potatoes are the soul of this dish.  They are tender, creamy and caramelized in each bite.  Briny olives and fresh herbs punctuate the meal at just the right moments.

This recipe can go from the oven to your table in a few easy steps.  (Don't forget the oven mitts and trivet!)  Begin by preheating the oven (and your oven-proof skillet) while slicing up the potatoes and onion.  Prepare the fish, tomato and olives while the potatoes get a head start in the oven.  Then, while everything goes back into the oven together, you have a few minutes to wipe off the counter and pour a glass of wine.

Slow food made fast is how we think of this recipe.  The rustic flavors that come together in the oven seem like they ought to have taken longer to produce.  The added bonus is that this dish can also be scaled up to accommodate last minute dinner guests by adding a few more potatoes.  Don't forget the crusty loaf of bread to wipe up every last bit of magic in the pan.

Cast Iron Skillet Baked Fish

(serves 4)
A cast iron skillet or roasting pan is ideal for this recipe.  Make sure the pan is not too large.  It’s ok if the potatoes are a little crowded, but if the pan is too big and your ingredients spread out too far, all the yummy juices will evaporate.  A 12 inch skillet is ideal for the measurements listed here.  Another key to this recipe is high quality extra virgin olive oil and using enough of it.  The amount listed here is a guideline.  If you think it needs an extra glug, go for it.

INGREDIENTS
4-6 yukon gold potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4-1/2 inch slices
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided (more if needed)
1 lb cod or halibut fillets, portioned into 3-4 oz servings
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes (yellow grape tomatoes shown in photo) 
1/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted
1 Tbsp fresh chervil, roughly chopped (basil or parsley can be substituted)
salt and pepper to taste

METHOD
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place cast iron skillet or other oven-proof pan in oven to heat up. 

Combine potatoes and onions in bowl.  Drizzle with 3 Tbsp olive oil, toss to coat.  Season with salt and pepper.  Remove skillet from oven and transfer potato mixture into skillet.  Return to oven.  Bake for about 15-20 minutes.  

Remove skillet from oven.  Using a spatula, toss the potatoes and scrape the bottom of the pan to keep the potatoes from sticking.  It’s ok if the potatoes break up a bit.  Continue to bake for about 10 minutes while preparing fish.

Place fish on plate and drizzle about 1 Tbsp olive oil over each piece.  Season with salt and pepper.  Combine tomatoes, olives and herbs in small bowl and drizzle with remaining olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.

Remove skillet from oven.  Using a spatula, scrape the potatoes off the bottom of the skillet again and hollow out a few spots to place the fish.  Add the tomato and olive mixture over the fish and return to the oven.  Continue baking until fish is cooked through.  This will depend on the thickness of the fish.  After 15 minutes, check for doneness by poking the fish with a knife to see if it flakes easily. 

Grace's Nip and Tuck

Have you heard?  Grace had a nip and tuck.  No, not that kind!  We've trimmed down our regular-sized Grace Apron to offer our petite customers a size that makes them feel more comfortable.  It's no secret, we all come in different shapes and sizes.  Our Grace Apron is designed to fit most women, but now we offer two options to flatter even more body types.

The nitty-gritty of the nip and tuck job renders the Petite Grace Apron three inches shorter in length, with shorter straps.  While it fits a variety of body types beautifully, our Petite apron is ideal if you measure below 5'4" or wear up to a size 6 petite.  (Our models above are 5'8" and 5'3", respectively.)  We love hearing from our customers - that's how this all came about anyway!  If you have any specific questions about sizing, email us.

Shop the Grace Apron in both sizes and all colors

Blossoms at your fingertips

Maybe we’re a bit eager, but a few early-flowering plum trees in our neighborhood have us daydreaming about springtime.  The blooming trees seem to offer the promise of renewal.  It’s exactly what we need to get through the last stretch of winter.  In Japan, Hanami (the cherry blossom festival) is the long-standing tradition of welcoming spring in celebration by gathering under blooming trees with friends to share food, drink and companionship.  While many parts of our country are still covered with a veil of frost, we were inspired to create this beginner embroidery project of stitched blossoms to bring some springtime optimism inside. 

Just as Hanami celebrates the temporal beauty of nature, stitching captures this wonderful moment in time when tree buds blossom and we are surrounded by that oh-so-spring color, pink.  Since it is very portable, this is a great little project for a long car ride or flight.  We started off making a large embroidered patch, then turned it into a simple little bag. You might decide to sew the patch onto a tote or use it to make a cuff bracelet.  In the end, whatever you decide on would make a great springtime gift for a someone special or for your special self. 

Starting with a washed rectangle of bright pink linen fabric, we sketched out a design, chose some natural colored threads that would feel a little "vintage" and started stitching.  We did a bit of botanical sleuthing to learn that the blooming trees in our neighborhood are formally named Prunus mume (Chinese plum or Japanese apricot).   Originating from China, many cultivars are popular and iconic in Japan, often planted outside Japanese temples.  The blossoms have five round petals and the flower colors can range from white to dark pink to red.

To start our embroidery, we sketched out some horizontal branches (with a water soluble fabric pen) to anchor our design.  Using chain stitches (click images below for close-up), we stitched those branches and then added a few contrasting leaves, first with an outline and then filling in.  To make the point of a leaf, click on For a sharp turn below.  While these trees don't actually have green leaves, we took some creative license to add a complementary pop of color.

Chainstitch Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

For a sharp turn

The real fun starts when you add the blossoms.  We chose to use 3 different colors of straw silk (using Silk Road Fibers) to add highlights and lowlights.  The variations in the dyed silks give each flower unique shading, and the flatness of the straw silk provides a petal width.  Using a straight stitch to add each of the five petals is simple and pleasing.  Bring the needle up in the flower center and stitch a petal, then bring the needle up back in the center, continuing until you have 5 petals.  Sometimes stitching over the branch and sometimes near it, we started with a peachy color, then added some darker plum and then a few light pink flowers, again overlapping sometimes for depth.  Our design grew organically, just like the branches and buds of the tree.

Neither of these stitches is difficult, and you can add as many flowers as you want until it feels done.  If you aren’t pleased by how a flower takes shape, don't stress.  Just pull the needle off the thread, pick your stitches out and start that flower again.  Embroidering can be like painting with thread where layering is OK. Focusing on those humble little stitches can be very zen.  This stitching style is somewhere between Japanese boro and classic embroidery, allowing relaxed, imperfect stitches and surfaces where possible.

As mentioned, after our branches had blossomed sufficiently, we decided to give another nod to Japan textile craft by stitching up a simple little bag that can be hung from a purse strap, or from a wrist.  All simply sewn by hand, the bag is lined and has a scrap leather handle that unbuttons so that you can attach the bag to another one.  We like to imagine this as a perfect passport pouch for when we someday take that trip to Japan to soak up the early Spring blossoms in person.

Click here for an embroidery template, simple bag pattern and printable instructions.  

Vibrant & Fresh

A burst of color and a vibrant meal do wonders to lighten the soul on a January day.  We've been nesting indoors as the grey and drizzly days are reaching their peaks here in Oregon.  The other day, we were chatting by phone with a colleague in Florida when a certain context led her to mention "well you realize that it's about 100 degrees here every day, don't you?!”    

Drifting off into a momentary dream bubble of blue skies and warm air, we realized that everyone could benefit from a little bit of the Sunshine State-of-Mind.  Coupled with the fact that citrus season is at its peak, the thought of orange and lemon trees heavy with fruit makes us wistful. It’s funny that no matter how much technology brings us together, we remain many climates apart.  And unfortunately, you still can't pass an orange to a friend through your phone.

So off to the grocery store to celebrate citrus on this chilly Oregon day.  Duly inspired, we have created this salad of Cara Cara and blood oranges, along with fennel and watercress to wake up your palate and brighten up your table.  Blood oranges are known for their alluring jewel tones and their sweet but tart flavor.  Cara Cara's are sweeter than regular navels and have a beautiful color comparable to Ruby Red grapefruit.  In fact, a combination of grapefruit and other navel oranges would be equally delicious for this salad. 

Although we think this salad would be a great side dish to any main course, we decided to ride the color wave and recommend a Beet Ricotta Spaghetti recipe that we discovered at The Impatient Foodie.  Elettra Wiedemann, the founder, has a great approach to navigating her desire to marry Slow Food ideals with the realities of faced-paced life.  Her spaghetti recipe is a perfect example of her philosophy.  It is rich in flavor and satiates the appetite.  The ricotta lends a creaminess to the dish so that the skeptical diners at your table won't complain about eating beets.  (Yes, we feed some nose-crinkling eaters too.)  They'll be delighted about eating pink spaghetti.  Beyond that, it's quick and simple to cook too.  While we can't pass the platter through the computer screen, we can share the recipes.

Orange, Fennel and Watercress Salad

(Serves 4-6)

INGREDIENTS
2 blood oranges
2 Cara Cara oranges
1/4 fennel bulb
1 small bunch watercress
1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
coarse sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste

METHOD
Prepare the oranges by using a sharp knife to remove the peel and pith. Begin by slicing off both ends of each orange, then set each orange on end on a cutting board.  This keeps them from rolling away while you continue to cut away the peel in a vertical direction. If there is any pulp left in the peels, squeeze the juice into a small bowl and set aside.  Slice each orange into 5-6 horizontal discs.

Prepare the fennel bulb by cutting away any stalks or fronds.  Using a vegetable peeler, shave the entire piece of bulb into thin vertical slices.

Arrange orange slices on a platter, slightly overlapping.  Top with shaved fennel.  Arrange watercress, goat cheese and olives over oranges.  Drizzle with reserved orange juice and olive oil.  Seasons with salt and pepper.