It has been a while...
Jerry and I have been working like crazy on our garden (no photos yet). We have visions of summer meals dancing in our heads and we think that we will be canning and freezing as well so that we can eat "fresh" during the winter.
Last week, I made a cherry pie with the help of Jillian and Caitlin. The cherries were pretty small, but they were from our tree and that means they tasted like heaven to us. I didn't use a recipe for the pie, so I can't share however, the basic premise is that fresh fruit pie should taste like the fruit. I added a little sugar (the cherries are tart) and a little bit of butter and cooked them for about 7 - 10 minutes. The pie crust was homemade and we made a lattice top crust sprinkled with sugar instead of a solid upper crust. It was beautiful and tasty. The best part may have been that Jerry appreciated it so much. He is a fool for a pie and cherry is his favorite. I typically hate anything cherry, but fresh cherries do not in any shape or form taste like cherry soda, canned cherry pie filling, cherry jello, cherry chapstick, cherry limeades, and so on....
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Cauliflower pasta sauce
I was reading an article online the other day about a couple who were going vegetarian. Never fear, dear friends, that this will ever happen at our house. I will readily admit that we don't have to have meat every meal, but we would never give up a good steak or burger either.
This particular couple were gradually going vegetarian. HUH? What that meant was that they don't eat meat at home, but will eat meat at a restaurant or at a friend's house. Reasonable. I would also take that to mean that if they had a mean craving, they would also eat it at home, but they didn't say that because that would have changed the article from "becoming gradual vegetarians" to "we don't eat meat at every meal" and that just isn't as compelling.
The article did mention making a pasta sauce out of cauliflower and I was intrigued. Jerry and I made a cauliflower soup and, while we loved the flavor, we weren't crazy about the texture. I wondered if the pasta would help hide the grittiness of the cauliflower and there is only one way to find that out.
I didn't have a recipe, so if you want to make this, don't look for it in the list or in the cookbooks. I took a cauliflower and cut in into large chunks. I placed these into salted water along with a head of garlic cloves that had been peeled. I boiled these until the cauliflower was tender. I added a half stick of unsalted butter and mashed the beegeebies out of it with a potato masher (I am not a huge fan of the food mill). I added some sirachi sauce to taste and poured it over pasta. Top it with freshly grated cheese. It LOOKED like mac and cheese, but was a little spicy and healthier. LOVED IT!!!
This particular couple were gradually going vegetarian. HUH? What that meant was that they don't eat meat at home, but will eat meat at a restaurant or at a friend's house. Reasonable. I would also take that to mean that if they had a mean craving, they would also eat it at home, but they didn't say that because that would have changed the article from "becoming gradual vegetarians" to "we don't eat meat at every meal" and that just isn't as compelling.
The article did mention making a pasta sauce out of cauliflower and I was intrigued. Jerry and I made a cauliflower soup and, while we loved the flavor, we weren't crazy about the texture. I wondered if the pasta would help hide the grittiness of the cauliflower and there is only one way to find that out.
I didn't have a recipe, so if you want to make this, don't look for it in the list or in the cookbooks. I took a cauliflower and cut in into large chunks. I placed these into salted water along with a head of garlic cloves that had been peeled. I boiled these until the cauliflower was tender. I added a half stick of unsalted butter and mashed the beegeebies out of it with a potato masher (I am not a huge fan of the food mill). I added some sirachi sauce to taste and poured it over pasta. Top it with freshly grated cheese. It LOOKED like mac and cheese, but was a little spicy and healthier. LOVED IT!!!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Wild Wednesday
March 10th - I took the cookbook to school with me. I thought I might be able to sneak a quick peek at it and grab the ingredients on the way home. That plan, at least, worked out well.
I decided on Crawfish and Pasta with Stir-Fried Vegetables. Jerry had purchased some frozen crawfish tails at Kroger and so I was feeling pretty confident about getting this dish made. Unfortunately, there were no frozen crawfish tails, but the recipe forgivingly said I could use shrimp. Shrimp...check. On to the produce aisle.
This recipe was so healthy, I thought I would shame myself serving it to my butter-loving family. I cheated, and cheated, and cheated. Everything except for the shrimp, pasta and mushrooms had to be julienne-cut. I purchased a ton of it already prepared for me. Shredded cabbage, julienne carrots were all I could buy pre-done. I then did the zucchini and celery myself. I skinned the tomatoes, seeded them and diced them. I coarsely chopped the onions and carefully quartered the mushrooms. The veg prep seemed to take forever, mainly because I had already spent what seemed like forever on my feet already.
The meal turned out great (LOVE it when you can slip turnips in undetected!!!). It was a strange mixture of Cajun flavor and Asian texture. It was pretty darn great heated up the next day at work too.
I decided on Crawfish and Pasta with Stir-Fried Vegetables. Jerry had purchased some frozen crawfish tails at Kroger and so I was feeling pretty confident about getting this dish made. Unfortunately, there were no frozen crawfish tails, but the recipe forgivingly said I could use shrimp. Shrimp...check. On to the produce aisle.
This recipe was so healthy, I thought I would shame myself serving it to my butter-loving family. I cheated, and cheated, and cheated. Everything except for the shrimp, pasta and mushrooms had to be julienne-cut. I purchased a ton of it already prepared for me. Shredded cabbage, julienne carrots were all I could buy pre-done. I then did the zucchini and celery myself. I skinned the tomatoes, seeded them and diced them. I coarsely chopped the onions and carefully quartered the mushrooms. The veg prep seemed to take forever, mainly because I had already spent what seemed like forever on my feet already.
The meal turned out great (LOVE it when you can slip turnips in undetected!!!). It was a strange mixture of Cajun flavor and Asian texture. It was pretty darn great heated up the next day at work too.
Catching Up
I am wondering if anyone is still out there reading. If you are, are you wondering if we are still eating? I haven't posted in so long that I am surprised that the authorities haven't shown up to see if we are still feeding our children.
To answer that question...yes, we are still eating. Not as well as we did during the holidays and perhaps the scales are grateful. Heck, I know the scales are grateful but would be more grateful if I would extend the normal eating routine for a longer period. It has been difficult to arrange a meal when the schedules around here are so crazy this semester. I have after school responsibilities four out of five days. Sometimes we have to eat early so Jerry can go to school. Some days we eat late because Jerry is just getting home from school. It is a nightmare of sorts. I am so looking forward to summer!
Here is what we have been up to:
January 26th - Jerry cooked the Honey-Glazed Tarragon Carrots as a side dish. I really didn't like them. They didn't have much flavor and the flavor they had I didn't like. They had, duh, honey and tarragon and lemon. Jerry has a dozen other recipes for carrots that I like better and I hope he reads this so he won't make these again.
January 29th - Redemption. We made the Shrimp Creole recipe from the Commander's Palace cookbook. It was really good and served over rice. The one thing it needed more of was the seafood seasoning. I have found that I really like julienne-cut veggies. Who knew? Something about the texture, maybe? Maybe that is why I like Chinese food so much. They use the julienne-cut often too, right? At any rate, this dish had Worcestershire sauce and Louisiana Red Hot sauce and so it had me at hello.
February 1st - I vividly remember making this meal. I thought, "I have never had corned beef before in my life." In Texas, we smoke brisket and eat it either as a roast sort of thing or do fajitas. What on earth was I getting myself into? I figured that no self-respecting person of distant Irish heritage could avoid it forever and so February 1st was my day of reckoning. Mother in heaven, this was one of my all time favorite dishes and I wish I could dance a jig and speak Gaelic so that I could eat it all the time. But I must say that I appreciate my dear sweet Cajun heritage, because it added the heat that made this meal absolutely unforgettable. I am absolutely giddy that St. Patrick's day is coming up so that I have an excuse to make this again and drink Guinness.
February 2nd - The weather was frightful during this time period and so I thought that chicken and dumplings would be good. I made the very fancy sounding "Stewed Hen with Buttermilk Herb Dumplings." Funny. Jerry said that they were the best dumplings he had ever eaten. The downside is that he still doesn't like dumplings. They were good, but I have to agree with him. Something about gooey bread clumps in a soup is just not as appealing as they were when I was six and at my Nana's house. However, the soup part of it was worth doing again, especially if I add the extra Creole meat seasoning!!!
February 3rd - A FLOP!!!! This is why I don't like doing this blog thing when I am back at work. I don't have time to spend on a dud of a meal. I need something that satisfies my soul and makes me drift off into a peaceful, full-bellied slumber. the Roast Tarragon Tangerine Chicken with Carrots and Shallots was not that meal. Granted, the tangerines were terrible...dry and tough. I know that it is winter and that asking for good quality citrus may be asking for a lot. No, heck no. This is 2010 and by golly, we have planes and fast boats, trucks and trains. Get me some produce that is ripe and edible. No, never mind. I won't make this recipe again. I think it reminded me of those Honey glazed citrus carrots too much.
February 4th - We go down...we come back up. Shrimp Victoria was absolutely delicious. We served it with the pasta option instead of the rice. Next time, we will go with the rice. It was a very quick meal to prepare with the mushrooms, onions, shrimp and cream. Yummy. I don't want this recipe to get too far in the back of the recipe file. It is absolutely wonderful to make during the week!
To answer that question...yes, we are still eating. Not as well as we did during the holidays and perhaps the scales are grateful. Heck, I know the scales are grateful but would be more grateful if I would extend the normal eating routine for a longer period. It has been difficult to arrange a meal when the schedules around here are so crazy this semester. I have after school responsibilities four out of five days. Sometimes we have to eat early so Jerry can go to school. Some days we eat late because Jerry is just getting home from school. It is a nightmare of sorts. I am so looking forward to summer!
Here is what we have been up to:
January 26th - Jerry cooked the Honey-Glazed Tarragon Carrots as a side dish. I really didn't like them. They didn't have much flavor and the flavor they had I didn't like. They had, duh, honey and tarragon and lemon. Jerry has a dozen other recipes for carrots that I like better and I hope he reads this so he won't make these again.
January 29th - Redemption. We made the Shrimp Creole recipe from the Commander's Palace cookbook. It was really good and served over rice. The one thing it needed more of was the seafood seasoning. I have found that I really like julienne-cut veggies. Who knew? Something about the texture, maybe? Maybe that is why I like Chinese food so much. They use the julienne-cut often too, right? At any rate, this dish had Worcestershire sauce and Louisiana Red Hot sauce and so it had me at hello.
February 1st - I vividly remember making this meal. I thought, "I have never had corned beef before in my life." In Texas, we smoke brisket and eat it either as a roast sort of thing or do fajitas. What on earth was I getting myself into? I figured that no self-respecting person of distant Irish heritage could avoid it forever and so February 1st was my day of reckoning. Mother in heaven, this was one of my all time favorite dishes and I wish I could dance a jig and speak Gaelic so that I could eat it all the time. But I must say that I appreciate my dear sweet Cajun heritage, because it added the heat that made this meal absolutely unforgettable. I am absolutely giddy that St. Patrick's day is coming up so that I have an excuse to make this again and drink Guinness.
February 2nd - The weather was frightful during this time period and so I thought that chicken and dumplings would be good. I made the very fancy sounding "Stewed Hen with Buttermilk Herb Dumplings." Funny. Jerry said that they were the best dumplings he had ever eaten. The downside is that he still doesn't like dumplings. They were good, but I have to agree with him. Something about gooey bread clumps in a soup is just not as appealing as they were when I was six and at my Nana's house. However, the soup part of it was worth doing again, especially if I add the extra Creole meat seasoning!!!
February 3rd - A FLOP!!!! This is why I don't like doing this blog thing when I am back at work. I don't have time to spend on a dud of a meal. I need something that satisfies my soul and makes me drift off into a peaceful, full-bellied slumber. the Roast Tarragon Tangerine Chicken with Carrots and Shallots was not that meal. Granted, the tangerines were terrible...dry and tough. I know that it is winter and that asking for good quality citrus may be asking for a lot. No, heck no. This is 2010 and by golly, we have planes and fast boats, trucks and trains. Get me some produce that is ripe and edible. No, never mind. I won't make this recipe again. I think it reminded me of those Honey glazed citrus carrots too much.
February 4th - We go down...we come back up. Shrimp Victoria was absolutely delicious. We served it with the pasta option instead of the rice. Next time, we will go with the rice. It was a very quick meal to prepare with the mushrooms, onions, shrimp and cream. Yummy. I don't want this recipe to get too far in the back of the recipe file. It is absolutely wonderful to make during the week!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
January 22nd
My poor husband has been planning all of these menus and doing the bulk of the shopping for them. I show up and he has already started slicing and dicing. That was the way it was after I went back to work and he was still on Christmas break. Now that he is back in full swing, things are more complicated. I thought I would let everyone know...just in case you were wondering how we were actually doing this whole cooking thing. Yeah, we were doing it because at first both of us were hanging out around the house and then we were doing it because Jerry was only working and not going to class. Now that both of us are back at full schedule, we are making some adjustments. One way to adjust it to suck more people into the madness and this is what I did on Friday.
I took the cookbooks to work on Friday. Before school started, I figured out who my target should be. Easy enough. Carol had already brought me a calendar of cooking classes and said we should cook together. She is commenting on this blog and really into new food. Target acquired.
I waltzed into Carol's classroom and made small talk for about a second and then plopped the books down onto a table and said that we needed to decide what was for dinner. We were off. The only requirement was that it needed to be pork, because Jacob had requested pork that morning. Yeah, the 8 year old has a preference...go figure. Carol and I nailed the menu down in record time and we parted eager to teach and then to cook.
The selections for Friday night were: Honey-Mustard tenderloin, Braised Asparagus with Peppers and Onions, Carol's Spoon Bread, and Fig Habanero Barbeque sauce. The tenderloin was very, very good. The cracked mustard seed and peppercorn crust was simple, but oh so flavorful. The cookbook recommended that we serve it with the fig habanero sauce. Carol was certain that the pork was wonderful without the sauce (she is the queen of snitching little pieces...maybe even better than me!), but I assured her that if the Commander's Palace recommended it, we needed to serve it that way. We were all so very glad that we did!!! The sauce complimented the pork and took it to new heights. So many flavors!!! Lucille and Carol think that the fig habanero sauce would be great on toast. It was that good.
Jerry and I like our pork cooked more than the medium/medium rare that the recipe called for. Carol agreed with the experts at Commander's Palace. I thought that the pork was wonderful (pink or not), but I really like pork more tender than the pan seared version we had this night. We are thinking about pan searing it to make the herb crust and then finishing it in the roaster. I will let you guys know what happens when we get around to circling back to this recipe.
The braised asparagus was good. It was really easy, but next time, we will take the lid off the pot so that the vegetables keep some texture. I bet I overcooked them, but still, they were almost boiled with the lid on the roaster. Better luck next time!
The spoon bread was really good. We let it sit too long, Carol said. This is again what happens when you have no idea when the meal will be ready and have to time things. I thought it was good and was really good with, you guessed it, the fig habanero sauce!
Eat something yummy!!!
PS
Carol reminded me that we also had garlic mashed potatoes. They were really great and very garlicky. I haven't figured out if I love or hate the food mill. It really is a pain to use, but every time I have used it, the results have been wonderful. I must confess that the potatoes had so much butter (2 sticks not counting the stick we fried the garlic in), sour cream (1 cup), and buttermilk (one and a half cups) that I don't think the potatoes were even necessary!
I took the cookbooks to work on Friday. Before school started, I figured out who my target should be. Easy enough. Carol had already brought me a calendar of cooking classes and said we should cook together. She is commenting on this blog and really into new food. Target acquired.
I waltzed into Carol's classroom and made small talk for about a second and then plopped the books down onto a table and said that we needed to decide what was for dinner. We were off. The only requirement was that it needed to be pork, because Jacob had requested pork that morning. Yeah, the 8 year old has a preference...go figure. Carol and I nailed the menu down in record time and we parted eager to teach and then to cook.
The selections for Friday night were: Honey-Mustard tenderloin, Braised Asparagus with Peppers and Onions, Carol's Spoon Bread, and Fig Habanero Barbeque sauce. The tenderloin was very, very good. The cracked mustard seed and peppercorn crust was simple, but oh so flavorful. The cookbook recommended that we serve it with the fig habanero sauce. Carol was certain that the pork was wonderful without the sauce (she is the queen of snitching little pieces...maybe even better than me!), but I assured her that if the Commander's Palace recommended it, we needed to serve it that way. We were all so very glad that we did!!! The sauce complimented the pork and took it to new heights. So many flavors!!! Lucille and Carol think that the fig habanero sauce would be great on toast. It was that good.
Jerry and I like our pork cooked more than the medium/medium rare that the recipe called for. Carol agreed with the experts at Commander's Palace. I thought that the pork was wonderful (pink or not), but I really like pork more tender than the pan seared version we had this night. We are thinking about pan searing it to make the herb crust and then finishing it in the roaster. I will let you guys know what happens when we get around to circling back to this recipe.
The braised asparagus was good. It was really easy, but next time, we will take the lid off the pot so that the vegetables keep some texture. I bet I overcooked them, but still, they were almost boiled with the lid on the roaster. Better luck next time!
The spoon bread was really good. We let it sit too long, Carol said. This is again what happens when you have no idea when the meal will be ready and have to time things. I thought it was good and was really good with, you guessed it, the fig habanero sauce!
Eat something yummy!!!
PS
Carol reminded me that we also had garlic mashed potatoes. They were really great and very garlicky. I haven't figured out if I love or hate the food mill. It really is a pain to use, but every time I have used it, the results have been wonderful. I must confess that the potatoes had so much butter (2 sticks not counting the stick we fried the garlic in), sour cream (1 cup), and buttermilk (one and a half cups) that I don't think the potatoes were even necessary!
I Do Love Chinese
Jerry is back in his PhD program and when a schedule is new, I have a hard time organizing myself around it. Dinner sometimes just can't be on the table and sometimes I don't want to get it onto the table. Most often, it is Jerry who rallies and does something amazing. When he isn't around, the amazing trick ends up being me calling for a delivery pizza or Chinese food. Luckily, everyone except for Jerry loves Chinese...except now that Jerry's mom and dad are around, I have to sort of add PaPa. I don't think he dislikes it as much as Jerry because he doesn't protest nearly as much and so he has to eat it whenever the rest of us get a hankering for General Tso's chicken and an egg roll. We ordered Chinese on Tuesday night and then had leftovers on Wednesday.
There wasn't enough Chinese to totally feed everyone because Jordan had wiped us out of General Tso's Chicken at lunch. General Tso's, of course, was the ONLY thing Jacob wanted to eat on Wednesday night. Jillian wanted fried pickles and I wanted a soup. Dinner was a bit of a hodgepodge, but everyone was fed.
I must tell about the soup. If you have read the book "Julia/Julie", you may remember the scene where Julie has had a bad day, stops at the store and just happens to purchase the ingredients for Julia's Leek and Potato Soup. Interestingly enough, I just happened to have the ingredients at home and so this is what I made. Simplicity itself is what Julia called it. I must agree. Lucille had never had leeks before and so when I described the soup as potato and onion soup, she was all about it. Jacob was still pouting about there being no General Tso's Chicken, but ended up drinking three little mugs of this soup. Lucille sheepishly had to admit to Jerry when he arrived that she might have eaten his portion of the soup. I am still pretty amazed that the soup was a hit and I am excited about the fact that I will be making it again and again. It was a perfect winter soup, but not in the traditional sense. It wasn't heavy, it wasn't dark, it didn't have savory chunks of anything in it, but it was smooth and warm and tasted like onions and potatoes and that is a very comforting combination.
Adding my new cookbook to the list today!!! Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1.
Eat something yummy!
There wasn't enough Chinese to totally feed everyone because Jordan had wiped us out of General Tso's Chicken at lunch. General Tso's, of course, was the ONLY thing Jacob wanted to eat on Wednesday night. Jillian wanted fried pickles and I wanted a soup. Dinner was a bit of a hodgepodge, but everyone was fed.
I must tell about the soup. If you have read the book "Julia/Julie", you may remember the scene where Julie has had a bad day, stops at the store and just happens to purchase the ingredients for Julia's Leek and Potato Soup. Interestingly enough, I just happened to have the ingredients at home and so this is what I made. Simplicity itself is what Julia called it. I must agree. Lucille had never had leeks before and so when I described the soup as potato and onion soup, she was all about it. Jacob was still pouting about there being no General Tso's Chicken, but ended up drinking three little mugs of this soup. Lucille sheepishly had to admit to Jerry when he arrived that she might have eaten his portion of the soup. I am still pretty amazed that the soup was a hit and I am excited about the fact that I will be making it again and again. It was a perfect winter soup, but not in the traditional sense. It wasn't heavy, it wasn't dark, it didn't have savory chunks of anything in it, but it was smooth and warm and tasted like onions and potatoes and that is a very comforting combination.
Adding my new cookbook to the list today!!! Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1.
Eat something yummy!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
January 18th
Jerry is starting to wonder if I am losing interest in the blogging. NO...I am not losing interest in the blog, but I am so full and sleepy after eating all the food! I can't see straight let alone sit down and write a blog entry. Hope everyone understands. I am one content gal!!!
January 15th was our last cooking episode. That was a Friday night. Saturday was spent in class, at BWW, and then at Capitol Ale House with a friend from Salem. (Hi, Kevin.) Sunday was a football day and so we just munched. Monday was a holiday and so we decided to do something BIG.
The menu was Shoestring Potato-Crusted Lyonnaise Fish, Roasted Vegetable Lasagna, Sesame Pepper-Crusted Tuna salad with an anchovy-garlic dressing. Maybe I haven't posted until now because this meal absolutely wore me out.
Jerry took care of the tuna salads. He was grilling outside, making the dressing inside, slicing the vegetables in preparation for the lasagna. He was everywhere and had a ton of dishes out.
I was completely stationary. I stood in place and grated raw potatoes for an eternity. The grated potatoes had to go into bowls (I had to use two bowls because none of mine were large enough to hold the potatoes and the water.) I washed and drained, washed and drained, until the water was clear. Then it was time to start getting the water OUT of the potatoes. Could have used some cheesecloth. Maybe next time. After the potatoes were happily awaiting their fate, I started making the lemon sauce for the fish. I was able to use fresh lemons from the tree in our foyer. Tell me that isn't a strange story. Garlic and lemons, white wine and peppercorns all in a saucepan being boiled into who knows what. Actually, the sauce was delightful. After boiling and stirring, everything except for the peppercorns disappear into the liquid. The fun part was whisking two sticks of butter into the mixture 4 TBSPs at a time. Strained and then kept warm for the little fishes. Yeah, you would have thought that I was finished...not exactly. I seasoned the flour for dredging and made an egg bath. Dipped the fish into each and then - get this - placed the potatoes on a work surface and put the fish on top. You then have to put more potatoes on top and then somehow get it all into a skillet. I found that Jerry's enormous grill spatula did the trick. It was sort of funny to be cooking what was essentially hashbrown covered fish.
While I was struggling with the fish, Jerry had moved on to the vegetable lasagna. The issue with this dish was the oven roasting that had to be done. He had three cookie sheets going and I had to slide out of the way every time he put something into the oven, checked the oven, or took something out of the oven. I didn't mind, but it did make for a very strange dance.
The outcome was well worth it. I can't tell you how fresh the lemon sauce was! We need to use smaller fillets next time. The roasted vegetable lasagna was amazing. The tuna was wonderful too, but we will try to keep it more rare next time.
Linda wanted to know how long these meals take to prepare. I couldn't even begin to let her know about this one. I will tell you that these dishes were wonderful and we will make them again and again, but never on the same night!
Eat something yummy!!
January 15th was our last cooking episode. That was a Friday night. Saturday was spent in class, at BWW, and then at Capitol Ale House with a friend from Salem. (Hi, Kevin.) Sunday was a football day and so we just munched. Monday was a holiday and so we decided to do something BIG.
The menu was Shoestring Potato-Crusted Lyonnaise Fish, Roasted Vegetable Lasagna, Sesame Pepper-Crusted Tuna salad with an anchovy-garlic dressing. Maybe I haven't posted until now because this meal absolutely wore me out.
Jerry took care of the tuna salads. He was grilling outside, making the dressing inside, slicing the vegetables in preparation for the lasagna. He was everywhere and had a ton of dishes out.
I was completely stationary. I stood in place and grated raw potatoes for an eternity. The grated potatoes had to go into bowls (I had to use two bowls because none of mine were large enough to hold the potatoes and the water.) I washed and drained, washed and drained, until the water was clear. Then it was time to start getting the water OUT of the potatoes. Could have used some cheesecloth. Maybe next time. After the potatoes were happily awaiting their fate, I started making the lemon sauce for the fish. I was able to use fresh lemons from the tree in our foyer. Tell me that isn't a strange story. Garlic and lemons, white wine and peppercorns all in a saucepan being boiled into who knows what. Actually, the sauce was delightful. After boiling and stirring, everything except for the peppercorns disappear into the liquid. The fun part was whisking two sticks of butter into the mixture 4 TBSPs at a time. Strained and then kept warm for the little fishes. Yeah, you would have thought that I was finished...not exactly. I seasoned the flour for dredging and made an egg bath. Dipped the fish into each and then - get this - placed the potatoes on a work surface and put the fish on top. You then have to put more potatoes on top and then somehow get it all into a skillet. I found that Jerry's enormous grill spatula did the trick. It was sort of funny to be cooking what was essentially hashbrown covered fish.
While I was struggling with the fish, Jerry had moved on to the vegetable lasagna. The issue with this dish was the oven roasting that had to be done. He had three cookie sheets going and I had to slide out of the way every time he put something into the oven, checked the oven, or took something out of the oven. I didn't mind, but it did make for a very strange dance.
The outcome was well worth it. I can't tell you how fresh the lemon sauce was! We need to use smaller fillets next time. The roasted vegetable lasagna was amazing. The tuna was wonderful too, but we will try to keep it more rare next time.
Linda wanted to know how long these meals take to prepare. I couldn't even begin to let her know about this one. I will tell you that these dishes were wonderful and we will make them again and again, but never on the same night!
Eat something yummy!!
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