The Start of the Low Sodium Life....A wake up call.....And hey look, there's Fish

So I went for a physical this week because earlier in the week my body was talking to me.  My body wasn't saying good things either.  It was saying, your grossly overweight and you use too much salt.  So if you can't see that on your own, i'm going to make your heart beat to the theme of Hawaii Five-O.

Well as you can imagine I heard the music.  Went to see the doctor and got a few x-rays and some blood work. I don't know what the blood will tell me but I know it won't be smiling.  So that was it.  I had gotten back on the exercise routine a few weeks ago so I knew I had to continue that.  But the real issue for me is Salt and portion control.  As you know from reading, I like food a little too much.  Even my doctor said that having this blog is a bad idea.  But I find writing it to be therapeutic and now that I have to change my eating habits a bit, I could use all the therapy I can get.

So the Doctor said to me since I know how to cook, I should know how to cook without salt. Truth is I really don't.  Every thing I read and watch, everyone seasons everything with salt and pepper.  Everything!!!   So I have to be clever with flavor because I like my food to be full flavored.

So last night I decided to try to cook without salt.  I went to the market and got two pieces of Captains cut Cod.  I like the Captains cut because it's a meatier cut and it's mostly the same size all the way through.  So that allows it to cook evenly.  Regular Cod is equally delicious but sometimes I find that you need to cook it so the thicker part is fully cooked and that in turn dries out the thinner parts.

So I started out with about 1/4 cup of minced Shallots and about 6 cloves of garlic that were rough chopped.
I sauteed them till they were fragrant and they were soft. I took it off the heat and let it cool a little bit.  I added about 1/2 a tsp. of oregano to the mixture as it cooled.

I then placed the fish into a casserole dish and turned up the oven to 400 degrees.  I put some olive oil on the fish to coat it.  Now from the photo it may seem like a lot but it was less than I usually put so it was a step in the right direction.

I then took the cooled shallot/garlic mixture and coated the top of the fish and then sprinkled some red pepper flakes on top.

I baked it for 10 minutes until the tops got a little brown and the fish started to flake, and also till the kitchen smoke went away from something I guess I had cooked earlier that spilled on the bottom on became ash.

Overall the taste was very good.  Could it have used some salt?  Of course it could have.  But that will be my job to figure out how to tweak it just a little bit more to get the full rounded out flavor that personally I need.  

This dish was finished with some steamed brocolli so all in all it was a very healthy meal.  And a step in the right direction.

Now the real trick is to see how I do tonight when I go out to dinner with my friends.  We are going out for Thai so I have to really be careful.

Please don't yell at me me when you read my review on it.

Taqueria La Michoacana...........No, your not dreaming, you've stepped into a Taqueria in Mexico

My regular job is located in Bridgeport CT which is home to the largest city population in the state.  With that many people, there are hungry mouths to feed.  There is a large population of Latin residents and therefore a fair amount of Latin Food.

When you look at the store front, you know you are in a place that caters to the local crowd.  There is not a lick of English anywhere.  The space inside is a narrow almost Pizza joint feel with tables on both sides, a TV in the corner and a Juke box in the other.  Sergio the owner is almost always at the counter waiting to take your order.

The Menu shows that they serve everything from Breakfast to Dinner and everything in between.   Fortunately or Unfortunately, at my office we have only gotten one thing there. Tacos.  The Tacos that they make here are like you would get when you are down in Mexico.  They are simple and they let the natural flavors of the meat and salsas do the talking.  And they don't really talk.  They Scream!!!!

We usually get a mix of the Chicken and the Pork Tacos.   But they offer so much more.  They have Beef, Tongue, Sausage and a whole bunch of other organ meat for the brave.  They serve three home made salsas that are fresh made everyday.  Plus they have a pickle mix that includes Cactus which is full of flavor.  When we get the tacos, we ask to have extra grilled spring onions and Jalepenos. Served in two flour tortillas, with a squeeze of lime takes you to a local stand in Mexico City.

Their other dishes include Burritos, Grilled Chicken Dishes and Pork Dishes, and a Mexican soup called Posole which I saw one day.  Looks like a meal rather than a soup.

Go visit Sergio.  You'll be glad you did.

Taqueria La Michoacana can be found at 1914 Main St. in Bridgeport. 203-366-6590.

Luc's Cafe & Restaurants............An Ultra fine Bistro in Ridgefield

So thanks to Facebook, I have met up with an old friend of mine that I hadn't seen in almost 20 years.  We had gotten together a few times with other friends and we discovered that we actually lived very close to each other. As a matter a fact, we both lived 10 minutes from Ridgefield CT.  So after meeting a few times we decided it was time to introduce our better halves.  My friend Scott had said they have been to Luc's Cafe and had the best mussels there.

So as we were so close to there, we decided that would be our meeting place.  Luc's Cafe has been in Ridgefield since 2001 and is just off the main shopping section in the downtown area.  The space is bigger than it looks from outside as it takes up the lower area or even basement of a larger building above it.  when you walk in, your invited to a cozy bar area that is tight for guests to stand if there are no seats.   I say cozy because both my wife and I clocked the head of a sitting patron twice.  Yes we both hit the same guy at different times.

Now as I said we were in the basement of this older building and you know it when you are seated.  The foundation is part of the decor of the space.  Many old buildings didn't have the nice smooth walls they have today when laying a foundation.  It was piled rocks and you see them and feel them as they surround the room.

Luc's menu is primarily French with staples as Salad Nicoise, Escargot, Steak Frittes, and Cassoulet.  But what brought us here are the Moules.  or Mussels as we call them here.

We started off with Salads and my favorite Escargot.  The snails were served in a traditional Escargot plate which housed the succulent little morsels sans shells. The buttery sauce each snail is submerged in has just the right mix of garlic and spices.  My dish was practically ready to be put back on the shelf as I used a good amount of bread to mop up the extras.  My friend Scott's wife Corrie had never tried Escargot so I insisted she try.  I think I might have created a new fan.

For the Main dishes three of us had gotten Mussels and my wife had a craving for Duck.  Her Duck was served Confit in a port wine sauce and served with Mushrooms and shallots.  They use a fancy word for the mushrooms and shallots but I think you get the idea.  I had a taste of the duck and it was tender and juicy and a good choice if you want duck.

The rest of us got the Mussels.  they cook the mussels in a round dutch oven and serve it to you in that same pot.  They are served two ways.  In a white wine sauce with multiple herbs and a tomato and garlic sauce.  Now I'm usually a big fan of the white wine sauce and Scott and I got the white wine sauce.  Scott's wife Corrie had gotten the garlic and tomato and it was a winner of a decision.  Not that mine was bad, it was delicious.  The garlic and light tomato sauce took it to another level.  We asked for more bread for the mopping which was great and absolutely necessary.  The side of Pomme Frittes (french fries) were crispy on the outside and steamy on the inside.  A perfect fry indeed.

Luc's Cafe & Restaurant is located at 3 Big Shop Lane, Ridgefield, CT 06877.  203-894-8922 or you can go here to see the full menu /www.lucscafe.com/

The Hariton's are going Green………..Or at least really trying

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Married to a wonderful woman Anita who does more for others than she would ever do for herself.  It’s a great quality in a person and she is often looking to do the right thing.  For whom at times is at question but for the most part her actions are purely genuine. 

 So this time she said, “look at all the plastic bags we use.  We must go through hundreds of bags a week on our kids snacks for school a month”.    She was right.   We have two boys 8 and 6 and we have to pack them snacks and lunch if they don’t want to buy lunch at school.  Thankfully they both decided they would buy lunch every day and this so far has lasted about two months. I say thankfully because those of you readers who have to do this, know that packing lunch for your kids everyday can get a little monotonous at times.  And costly.  I’m not sure if there is a cost savings with the kids buying lunch.  But I can tell you when you don’t have to do it every day, it’s worth it.  For snacks, we would take a quarts size plastic bag with their name on it and fill it with a drink which would be a milk box or another drink box or water. Then we would have two little snack size baggies with a fruit and a salty snack like pretzels or Pirates booty.  So for each snack you would have three bags.  And for our youngest son Jacob, 4 of the 5 days he would have 2 of these snack bags.  You do the math.  That’s a lot of bags.

                So Anita says, “ we need to do something different with the kids snacks”.  So different we did.  We started out small because well, it’s better that way for the kids.  We said to Jonah, our oldest son, “If we pack you a spoon, can you remember to bring it home so we can clean it and use it again?”  He said sure.  Now he’ll say sure to many things and then 5 minutes later have no idea what he said sure to.  But he agreed and that was good enough for us.  So the next day we packed him a fruit cup and said “don’t forget to bring home the spoon ok?”.  He said OK and off he went.  Now before all of you who are so green that you are practically Forest Green you’re so green that you will say, “why would you pack one of those disposable fruit cups in with a metal spoon if you’re trying to be green?”  To you people, I say back off.  He’s 8 and we are new to this so baby steps people, baby steps.

                Later that day, Jonah comes home with his spoon.  It was a successful test.  It was then that we thought we could move this thing over.  So we had their lunch boxes (not really boxes but reusable sacks I guess you can call them) that were just sitting there.  Those were to be our new snack bags.  We even had another smaller reusable bag so that when Jacob needs two, he can have two.  We then got those smaller reusable plastic containers for the snacks and they each picked out an aluminum bottle to refill every day. 

                And you know what?  It worked.  The kids didn’t think anything of it.  They went to school, and came home with the stuff we sent them with.  It’s so great.  They love it and we have less waste.

                I have even bought an aluminum water bottle that I keep with me.  When I travel for work I always buy a bottle of water for the flight after I clear security.  I buy one because you only get a cup of beverage when you fly and you get it when they choose to give it to you.  Then you have a little table to keep it on for when are done.  The water bottle has a top and therefore you can put it anywhere and it won’t spill.  So now I carry my own bottle through security and find the nearest water fountain and fill it up.  It’s so simple I’m embarrassed I haven’t done this sooner.

                So I ask you my readers, all three of you, look around at your lives and see how something simple like getting an aluminum water bottle or a reusable snack bag can make a huge difference.

                Ok, I’ll get off my soap box now and write more about food.