I realized that in all my “Using Now” updates, I’d forgotten to include one notebook that I use quite regularly. My cooking notebook is a large Piccadilly notebook that I bought at Borders many years ago, not long after I started this blog.

In the first few pages, I wasn’t sure what I was going to use it for, so there are a few random notes and drawings, but at some point, I decided that I would use it as a place to capture recipes. I almost never label or decorate the front of my notebooks, but on this one, I used a label maker to identify it, even though I have no other notebooks this size that it could possibly be confused with!

Some pages have clippings torn out of newspapers or magazines, most of which I’ve never actually made. But most of the pages are handwritten recipes for favorite dishes that I make repeatedly, with notes about any variations in ingredients or cooking methods that were successful or failures.

After so many years of occasional use, the notebook has held up fairly well except that the front cover is splitting from the spine, mainly because the notebook has been crushed closed with lots of extra papers tucked into the cover. Also, the elastic has been totally stretched out and slack for years. But nevertheless, this notebook continues to serve me well, and it’s helped me serve some delicious meals!

In case you are wondering, this one is steamed cod with soy and ginger, which I’ve adapted with some variations on a recipe originally found on Martha Stewart’s website. It’s quick, easy and yummy and quite healthy too.

In case you can’t read my scribbles (and I’ve added a few clarifying details):

Steamed Fish with Soy and Ginger

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Approximately 3/4 to 1 lb of skinless cod fillets. Cod loin is great because it tends to be a more consistent thickness. Sea bass would also work well. Cut the fish into two portions.

3 TBSP rice vinegar

2 TBSP soy sauce (low sodium)

1 TBSP mirin

a dash of sesame oil– about 1/4 TSP

2 TBSP grated or minced fresh ginger

3 scallions, separated into finely sliced white parts, and green parts sliced thin lengthwise and cut into 3-inch pieces. (If not using scallions, substitute 1 clove garlic, minced)

Combine the vinegar, soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil, ginger, scallion whites (or garlic) in a skillet with a lid (ideally a glass lid so you can see what is going on)

Season the fish on both sides with pepper and place it on top of the sauce in the skillet

Bring the sauce to a boil, the reduce to a gentle simmer. Cover the skillet and cook until the fish is almost opaque, 6-8 minutes. Then scatter the scallion greens over the fish and cook until they wilt and the fish is totally opaque, about another 2 minutes.

Serve with rice and vegetables (lightly sauteed sugar snap peas or roasted cauliflower go well with it. Bok choi or broccoli would also be good.) and spoon some of the sauce and ginger over the fish and rice when you serve. Depending on how much you like salt and ginger, you may not want to use all the sauce– it is very flavorful, so go easy at first. If you have furikake (a Japanese seasoning mix with sesame seeds and seaweed flakes), sprinkling a little on the rice gives a nice added flavor.