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cooking

When moving to Australia isn’t an option

Apr 26th, 2010
by gazelle.
3 comments

If you are having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, and nothing seems to be going right, and you break a computer, and get lost in downtown for 20 minutes, and just generally have trouble with every project you’ve touched, it may be a good day to skip the dinner prep.

BUT, instead, I made the pan-fried trout with onions & bacon.

In my attempt to remove the fish skin for the dredging/frying part, I mutilated the fish (my fillet knife was too dull, and my sharp knife was too fat….I see a knife buying trip in my future). So, we had fish sticks with onions & bacon.

I spilled the cornmeal.

And the beer.

My bacon didn’t crisp.

The drippings were virtually non-existent.

I was too tired to think things through, and therefore didn’t realize that dearth of drippings + sticks vs. fillet would mean that 6 minutes per side would be a bit much. I also didn’t halve the bacon & onion recipe for the 2 fillets instead of the 4 the recipe called for.

I apologized thoroughly to husband & cats for filling the house with smoke, but was pleased that at least I didn’t light anything on fire.

And the fish sticks, covered with a LOT of bacon & onions, served with some delicious mashed sweet potatoes, turned out okay….even if I left the kitchen a smoky mess.

At least I got to finish the beer that didn’t go into the recipe!

BUT – next time I’m having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, I’m ordering take out.

Happy Cajun Christmas!

Dec 25th, 2008
by gazelle.
8 comments

Today was a nice day. The architect & I slept late, then got up & had coffee & opened gifties. He got me a flashlight for running, and I, who had intended to do some shopping last weekend, got him a copy of Goonies at the supermarket yesterday. I selected Goonies because, well, the selection sucked. BUT also because we spent our honeymoon in Astoria where Goonies was filmed.

Anyhoo – after coffee & presents, Cajun Christmas began – with homemade biegnets.

We had those with mimosas. Delicious! (And, if anyone wants to come over for a brunch sometimes, I have more biegnet dough in the freezer, so we can have a delicious brunch.)

After taking a breakfast break, it was back to the salt mines. I got started by putting the turkey in the oven and then starting work on the pie.

I made the pie crust from scratch (of course).

Then, it got crazy dark. I knew I hadn’t cooked into the night, yet, so I looked out the window. You’ll never guess what I saw. Go ahead. Guess.

If you guessed snow, you’d be correct!

Our pretty holly tree has been the refuge for a large flock of robins (like 3 dozen, maybe) during this snow storm – much to the delight of the cats.

After yelling a bit (which didn’t seem to help), I finished the pie.

The pecans redistributed themselves during the baking – and those dark spots are not burned spots, just the darker pecan layer. I haven’t sampled yet, but will definitely update you with a PFR.

Once the pie was in the oven, I made the cranberries & cornbread.

I chopped the veggies (onions, garlic, peppers) and shredded the cheese.

I took the turkey out of the oven to cool.

Then, I browned the (turkey) bacon, and started the black-eyed peas. They were FANTASTIC! (Recipe tomorrow on the You Are What You Eat page.)

Once the black-eyed peas were merrily cooking (they looked merry), I started the roux for the turkey etouffee.  The architect made some rice.

Finally, just before two, I removed the slightly chilled wine from the fridge & decanted it and set the table.

I don’t know if cranberry sauce is Cajun or not, but I really like cranberry sauce, had some cranberries, and DIDN’T get any for Thanksgiving, so I decided they needed to be included.

Doesn’t that look delicious? It was all pretty damn good, but the best, by general consensus, was the black-eyed peas. Yum!

After dinner, I went to relax (I’d been standing for aboout 4 hours), and then, like magic, the sun came out. The house was filled with light – the first time in about 2 weeks that we didn’t need lights on to read!

Then, I took a nap.

Next? Pie.

Tomorrow? I should be able to get to work.

Now if only we had New Year’s Eve plans……

Domesticity

Nov 22nd, 2008
by gazelle.
8 comments

We’ve been domestic all day today. The architect made bread. I roasted a couple of LARGE pumpkins (thanks, Kim!), and will make a LOT of pumpkin butter, as well as pumpkin puree for pies & cookies & oatmeal. YUM! I also have a couple cookie sheets of pumpkin seeds that I will roast tomorrow. And a cookie sheet of cranberries that will dry overnight in the oven.

Unfortunately, I have to go to a party tonight, and I’m not sure my pumpkins will be all ready for their overnight journey into butter-dom by the time we have to leave!

The architect is outside finishing a landscaping project we started (and purchased for) a few weeks ago. I don’t think we’ll be starting any new projects anytime soon – just finishing what we already have materials for. (No baseboards for now, I guess. I will have to deal with the fact that you can see the area where our floors meet our walls. Ewww.)

It’s a nice day. Tomorrow will be nice, too. I have a 10 AM run scheduled, and then the architect & I are going to finish making our rain barrels.

I am sad that I forgot to harvest any lavender when my plants were blooming.

I am happy that I have fresh rosemary, mint, oregano & sage whenever I want it.

I’m going to plant little pots of spinach to keep in the kitchen so we can have lots o’ greens all winter.

I am pleased that the only real lapses in frugality have been things easy to correct – dining out & my shopping habits. We don’t have to make major lifestyle changes, and that is nice.

I do wish that I had a small chest freezer (that’s right, Margaret, a chest freezer) for all my stuf. It’s easier (and cheaper) too cook in bulk & freeze the leftovers. I don’t want to spend $250 for a new one.

I pretty much love my life. :)

Something’s Fishy…..

Sep 30th, 2008
by gazelle.
4 comments

Last night, I made dinner for the architect. Actually, I do that most nights. I (almost always) love cooking. It’s that pesky cleaning up later that I hate.

BUT – back to the subject at hand. I do like to cook. And although I don’t LIKE getting groceries, I prefer that I do it (and not just because that way it does actually get done in a timely fashion – my timeliness, of course). I plan the week’s menu and buy the groceries that I’ll need. I usually make at least 4 servings for dinner, so that I can have the leftovers for lunch the next day.  The downside to this method, if you’re the architect anyway, is that the meals are 100% things that I like, but that rarely take into consideration his preferences.  Example: I rarely make fish and often use squash. 

That’s not to say that I don’t consider him when planning menus. I don’t cook with cauliflower. Or beets. And I even planted radishes last year for him (I really don’t like radishes). 

So – every once in a while I grit my teeth, plug my nose, and cook some fish. I usually pick a pretty mild whitefish (such as tilapia, or sole, or whatever is on sale). I’ve only cooked salmon twice (it’s so…fishy). But once a month, whether we need it or not, we have fish.

Last night I apparently hit the jackpot. The fish was excellent, and the architect endorsed it thusly, “I think I’m going to go out on a limb and declare this the best meal you’ve ever cooked for us. Ever.”

I even liked it – and I’m notoriously hard to please when it comes to fish. Also? It was easy.

So – my delicious fish recipe (as in the recipe I used – I did not create this recipe).

Sole with lemon caper sauce

  • 1 TB olive oil
  • 1 lb of sole (or other white fish)
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
  • 1 TB butter
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3/4 c vegetable broth
  • 2 TB capers, drained, rinsed & minced
  • 4 TB lemon juice + zest from 1 lemon
  • 2 TB fresh parsley, chopped
  • Fresh grated parmesan cheese
  1. Heat the olive oil in a med. saute pan. Salt & pepper the fish, and cook 3 minutes on each side, or until fish flakes easily. (Be careful to not cook it too hot or it might fall apart a little. Not that I’d know.)
  2. Remove the fish from the pan & keep in foil until you’re ready to use. 
  3. Melt butter in same pan and add garlic. Saute until brown (about 1 minute). Scrape the sides to get all the crusty fish pieces up. 
  4. Add the broth & bring to a boil. Cook until the liquid reduces by half (about 5 minute). 
  5. Add the capers, lemon juice & lemon zest. Cook for about 2-3 more minutes, until the sauce begins to thicken. 
  6. Stir in parsley. Pour over fish. Sprinkle with grated parmesan. Serve.
From start to finish, including prep, it took about 20 minutes.  I served it with some roasted potatoes that I cooked in a little lemon juice & sprinkled with more parmesan.
When I ran it through my recipe calculator (without the potato side), It said that if the above recipe was 2 servings, each serving had 303 calories and about 15 grams of fat. It didn’t taste that fatty to me, but I’m sure that the 2 TB of fat account for that.  Other exciting nutritional information: 
  • 74 mg potassium
  • 34 g protein
  • 21% Vit A
  • 23% Vit C
  • 6% Vit E
  • 9% Calcium
  • 11% Iron
So – delicious, and (relatively) nutritious.  Although I was plenty full from my fish & potato (and martini), the architect was still hungry. Fortunately, he didn’t starve to death, but instead ate the extra elk burger that was in the fridge. 
Does anyone else have any ridiculously easy yet tasty fish recipes for me to try?  I’d like to get to fish 2x a month, and eventually once a week (and chicken once a week), so that we’re getting our 2 meaty meals each week from different sources. (I love chicken, but I think I may be running out of ways to cook it.)
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