Find more artist recipes from our “In the Kitchen” series here.
Despite releasing her first two albums in the thick of the pandemic, Marina Allen’s third LP Eight Pointed Star is the LA-based songwriter’s first collection of song to truly sound comfortably at-home—named as it is as much for the North Star guiding her as for an octagram stitching pattern. As such, the record balances Allen’s forward-looking journey of self-discovery with a visceral familial nostalgia, all told through the inevitable lens of the present with producer Chris Cohen helping to crack open Allen’s soft-rock sound in order to explore all of its possibilities.
In being a bit of a domesticated narrative, Allen is eager to share her affinity for cooking. “I got into this great, cult-classic hippy cooking book from the ’70s, and every page is dog-eared and wrinkled,” she shares. “There are recipes like making your own whey and soaking mung beans for kitchari along with other, more appetizing meals.”
Ahead of the release of Eight Pointed Star this Friday via Fire Records, Allen shared with us a recipe from the more recent Nourishing Traditions cookbook by Sally Fallon: “really easy and delicious” fish cakes. Check out her walkthrough of the recipe (with additional steps for cat owners) below, and pre-order her record here.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs whitefish
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 small onions, diced
1 cup bread crumbs
2 tbsp Dijon-type mustard
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 bunch cilantro, chopped (or dill, tarragon, marjoram)
1 tsp grated lemon rind
Salt to taste
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp Evoo
Recipe:
Place fish in a pan with water and simmer gently until fish is tender. Remove with a slotted spoon, place in a bowl, and break up with a fork. Combine eggs with onions, bread crumbs, mustard, cayenne pepper, cilantro, and lemon rind. Season to taste. Add to fish and mix well. Form into cakes. Saute until golden, a few at a time, in butter and olive oil. Enjoy!
