I am sharing some of the pictures that I took last weekend at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park in Key Biscayne. Forbes Magazine ranked this park as the 7th best beach in the country in 2013. The 400 acres park includes a lighthouse, known as Cape Florida Light. This is the oldest standing structure in greater Miami.The park is full of wildlife and can be a photographer's paradise..I am also uploading some pictures of this weekend's SuperBloodMoon...Hope you will enjoy...

 

Trip to Fort Myers, Sanibel and Captiva Island.

Its been more than a week since I last posted on the blog. So, today I thought of sharing my experience with you all about our recent long weekend trip to Fort Myers, Sanibel and Captiva Island. It was not a pre-planned trip and we decided just a week earlier. It takes about 2.5 hours from Miami to Fort Myers through freeway. But we decided not to take the freeway and traveled through Big Cypress National Preserve. Although this is a longer route and has only one lane, it gave us ample chance to enjoy nature and make frequent stops.

Our first stop in Fort Myers was the Manatee Park. It was super hot and humid. The Manatee park has beautiful wild fruits and flowers but we could not spot a single manatee. By the time we finished our stroll, we were starving and decided to have our lunch. We went to an Indian restaurant called India Palace for the weekend special buffet. The restaurant was clean and cozy and the food was really good.

Since it was extremely hot and we needed to freshen up for the evening, we checked into our hotel. Our evening stop was Fort Myers State Pier. The Pier area was very colorful with many shops and restaurants. Finding a parking can be a bit tricky but we were lucky to get a flat rate parking spot.

We then proceeded towards the beach and enjoyed the beautiful sunset. I always love watching sunrise and sunsets. Especially here in Florida, you get to see awesome sunrise and sunsets. There are so many colors in the sky and each day they are different. Looking at them, I always think how beautiful mother nature is. That day, on one side there were heavy clouds and on the other side the sun was setting amongst all beautiful colors. It was such an amazing sight.

After it was dark, we came out of the beach and decided to take out our dinner from a Chinese Restaurant. The food was really good and the best part, the owner was from Falmouth, Massachusetts. We met another customer there who was also from MA. It was great to meet people from there as MA will always hold a very special place in our heart.The day came to an end with heavy rain.

Next day, our first stop was J,N Ding Darling  National Wildlife Preserve in Sanibel Island. The road to Sanibel Island via Sanibel Causeway is very seinic. J.N Ding Darling National Preserve was good but nothing compared to Everglades. There are bus tours in the preserve but we drove. The best part of driving is that you are allowed to stop wherever you want. You can take pictures, enjoy nature and watch different birds and animals.

Our next stop was Browmans Beach State Park. The beautiful stretched beaches and white sand immediately blow your mind away. Sanibel and Captiva beaches are known worldwide for shelling. While on the beach you can look for shells and collect as many as you want.

From the beach, we went to the Bailey Matthews National Shell Museum famous for their collection of shells from different parts of the world. Here, you get to see world’s largest shell, Charonia Variegata which measures about 16 inches and was collected from northeastern Brazil in the year 1816.

Another point of attraction in Sanibel is the lighthouse. The Lighthouse is closed on Sundays but the beach was accessible.

We went to Turners Beach for the sunset. It was cloudy and we could not see a good sunset, but the beach was just too good. Turners Beach is worldwide famous for shelling. You get to see different types of shells. Its always fun to collect shells whatever your age is. The beach was less crowded as parking is limited. It was so beautiful and peaceful to sit and watch the day coming to an end.

Next morning it was raining heavily and we got up late. Its time to return home. We really enjoyed the trip except the hot and humid weather. Would love to go back but in winter.

Swai Fish Curry 

Being a Bong, Fish is a must in my menu if not everyday, atleast  twice or thrice in a week. When I first moved to US, I only wanted to eat fish that are available in Bangladeshi grocery store, but gradually I started trying fresh fishes like Salmon, Snapper, Cod etc that are available here and I quite liked it. I started browsing different recipes on the web and also learnt some from my friends in Massachusetts . Few days ago  while browsing Facebook,I came across a fish-recipe in Bong Mom's Cookbook. It was very easy and I decided to try it last weekend with some variations of my own and it was an instant hit. So yesterday, on a weekday night, I decided to make the dish again. Its super easy and quick.

I try to avoid oil so instead of frying them, I put them into the oven and grilled them for 15-20 mins. 

Ingredients :

 3 Fish Fillets ( u can take any fish of your choice). I had Swai so I used it

 1 small onion, diced

1 tomato

3-4 green chillies

1/2 inch ginger

4 cloves of garlic

1 tsp of Red chilly powder. If you don't want spicy simply use some Kashmiri Red Chilly Powder.

1 tsp of Coriander Powder

1/4 tsp of Meethi/ Fenugreek seeds

1 Dry Red Chilly 

1 tsp of Turmeric Powder

Salt as per your taste

Some curry leaf

Cilantro/Coriander leaf for garnishing (optional) .

After about 20 mins, the fishes are out from the oven.

Procedure :

Wash the fish fillets and pat them dry. Sprinkle some turmeric, salt and olive oil and put them on a baking tray into the oven to broil. It should take about 15-20 mins depending on your oven. Once they turn golden, take them out of the oven.

In a food processor, add the diced onion, tomatoes, green chillies, ginger and  garlic. Make it into a smooth paste.

Take a non stick pan and heat it over medium flame. Once the oil is hot, add the dry red chilly, meethi seeds and curry leafs. When they start to splutter, add the onion-tomato-greenchilly-ginger-garlic paste.

Add salt, red chilly/ kashmiri mirch powder and coriander powder . Cook for sometime till it leaves oil.  Add 1 cup of  water and let it boil. Add the fish pieces, cover it and let it cook for few minutes. Check the seasoning. You can put some cilantro for garnishing.

Serve hot with Rice.

Fish Chop or Fish Croquettes

This is my first post on the blog. As a foodie, I love to cook and try different recipes in my kitchen.I also love to take pictures of what I cook and send them to my parents on whatsapp. Recently I posted an album on my Facebook page with different dishes and many of my friends enquired about the recipes. So, finally I decided to start this blog and share the recipes here.My mom and hubby were asking me for a long time to start writing a blog but I was too lazy to do so but finally I am here...

This weekend , we were stuck inside the house as there was a hurricane (Erika) and Flash Flood warning issued all over South Florida. But fortunately nothing happened except little rain. We decided to stay in the house and hubby wanted to have some Fish Chops or Fish Croquettes. When we were in Massachusetts, I often used to make Fish Chops but after moving to Miami , I hardly made them. So after Sudip said , he was craving Fish Chop I decided to make some.

This recipe is easy to prepare and I hope you all will love it..

Ingredients:

2 Fish Fillet : you can use any white fish fillet like talapia, pollock, swai etc. (I used Swai)

2 medium Red Potatoes.

1 small onion cut into very small pieces.

2 green chilies cut into small pieces.

a pinch of cumin seeds for tampering.

1/2 a Teaspoon of Red chilly powder.

1/2 a teaspoon of Turmeric powder.

1/2 a teaspoon of Coriander powder.

1/4 tea spoon of Garam masala powder.

a handful of cilantro (optional).

1 egg for coating.

Some breadcrumbs.
Canola oil for frying / you can also bake them if you want to avoid oil.

Salt as per your taste.

Procedure :

Boil the potatoes and keep them aside.

Take the fish fillets and put them in a pan with water. Add a pinch of salt and black pepper and boil them for about 5-7 mins.
After 5 mins, drain the water and mash the fish and the boiled potatoes together.
Take a wok, put little oil and add the cumin seeds. When the seeds start to splutter, add the sliced onion and green chilies. Let it cook for sometime till the onions become translucent.
Add turmeric powder, red chilly powder and coriander powder. Finally add the mashed fish and potatoes and mix it well.
Cook the mixture for 2-3 mins on a low flame and stir it so that it doesn't stick to the pan. Add the garam masala powder and cilantro and give it a final stir. Let the mixture cool down.
After the mixture cools down, form it into the shape you want..
Beat the egg in a bowl and add 1 Tsp of water. 
Coat the round/oval mixture balls in egg batter and then roll them into the breadcrumbs.
For thick outer layer, you can repeat this process once again.

Frying options:

Heat oil in a pan on medium flame. When the oil is hot, add the fish chops and fry them till they are golden brown.Once they becomes golden brown, take them out and drain the excess oil.

Baking Option.

Preheat oven to 350 °F /180 °C. Sprinkle some oil on a baking tray and.place the fish balls on it, Bake it for about 20-25 mins or till they become golden.Serve them hot with ketchup.