Monday, February 27, 2012

Tarragon and Mint Marlin & WIP


Here's an unusual combination of spices which turned out rather tasty on marlin fillets. I sauteed ginger and shallots in a saucepan and then sprinkled the marlin fillets with tarragon and mint. Once the ginger and shallots were soft and just browning, I placed the marlin in the saucepan to cook over medium high heat. When one side was brown I covered the pan to cook it through since the marlin is a thick fillet. Don't over cook marlin otherwise it will be dry and tough.


I started to make a painted lady today, but somehow I ended up with a large square canister. This one is about 12 x 6 x 7 inches. I'm not even sure what a canister this size with a lid would be used for. It looks art deco in style with the handle shape. I planned on three colors but the thin strips I cut out and stained dried out so I couldn't use them. So I've used two colors, orange and aqua. Well there is some black but I planned on using gray strips over the orange sprigs. I'm going back this morning for more deco (not sure what yet) so this is only a sneak peak through the plastic..


Later I decided to make a lid since the embellishments I planned didn't work out. It was getting late and I was running out of clay which was firm enough to use so I had to improvise. I put two pieces together for the handle and made a raised stand for the handle to make the opening big enough to fit my hand. Then I had to make a gallery out of several pieces of clay. I never seem to cut out enough slabs for these large pieces. I think feet would be nice on this piece but too late now. Maybe I can add another material like metal or something after firing. Oh well, better planning next time. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

9 comments:

  1. Cookies! You could fill it with anything you want to- I love jars they hold so many different things.

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  2. Hi Meredith, thanks, it's kind of a monolith, but I might make some graduated ones in smaller sizes.

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  3. A jar that size can hold a lot of dreams.
    I'll have to try that recipe, it sounds really good, like most of yours do.

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  4. I had no idea that you stained pieces before you attached them, I just figured everything got stained after assembly. Thank you for sharing your process.

    Tarragon is one of my favorite herbs and it goes so well with fish.

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  5. Hi Lori, thanks, yeah a lot of dreams, I like using all different types of herbs, not too much mint though.

    Hi Michele, thanks, I add most of the stain beforehand and let it dry and then attach, then touch up around the seams. When I have sprigs to attach I stain them beforehand because if I don't I may get some on the background color and it's hard to remove.

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  6. Always something fun and interesting going on over here! That Marlin looks divine and great presentation, too!

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  7. You are so adventurous with herbs and spices! I am quite timid about experimenting for fear I'll ruin good food. My Norwegian mother never used any spices beyond salt, pepper and cinnamon.

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  8. You are making fish dishes look so good, I may have to start fixing some myself.

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  9. Hi Marguerite, thanks, yes my imagination goes wild sometimes. ha.

    Hi Ms. Sparrow, thanks, my husband is Finnish and they have very bland food too, probably because in the north the cold weather prevented growing too many spices perhaps.

    Hi Patti, thanks, you can use these same spices in vegetarian dishes as well if you like, variety is the spice of life they say.

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I love suggestions, questions, critiques, thanks for your comment