cook: tuscan salmon dinner for midsummer

I've cooked Tuscan salmon for a winter dinner, but I don't think I've ever prepared it in midsummer when I usually just grill the salmon, boil ears of corn, and sauté summer squash. Mise en place first. I pan fried the salmon first, skin side down to get crispy for 4 minutes and then removed it from the cast iron and set aside. 

 

Rather than discard all the olive oil in the cast iron, I put it in my stainless steel for sautéing the summer squash. And into the cast iron with some of that frying oil went the chopped shallots and then minced garlic and julienned sundried tomato in its olive oil.

 

After the alliums were translucent, I added white wine, let it cook off, and then added the defrosted spinach (squeezed of all its water).

 

After I had broken up the spinach and let the cast iron heat back up and then set to low, I turned my attention to heating a smaller cast iron, where I placed the chopped zucchini and yellow crooked neck squashes, which I had also salted and let drain in a colander. My pan needed to be hotter for more browning to happen, but no matter, I added the chopped garlic and thyme afterward.

 

Squash done in and turned to low, I turned attention back to the larger cast iron to which I cranked the heat a little and then added heavy whipping cream and then the fish to simmer for 3 more minutes for medium rare protein.

It was now time to turn to the starch. I had for the mise en place already boiled the penne in salted boiling water until al dente. Into the stainless steel went a very good jarred Alfredo sauce (which honestly was so convenient) to heat until a low simmer and to which I then added the pasta and sprinkled with chopped parsley and chives. I had also forgotten to chop basil, which I hurriedly did as the pasta was heating up.

 

Atop the salmon went the chopped basil.

I had just called out, Dinner! Before I could plate and photograph the meal, husband was already serving himself. If I do this again, I'm gonna lighten up the dish. Instead of sundried tomatoes, use fresh. Less cream and add fresh squeezed lemon too. The acidity of the wine was not enough. And there was a lot of creamed spinach along with that one salmon filet. The plan is to cook more penne and add leftover vodka sauce and more sauteed squash to that spinach and add a side lettuce salad for a leftover more vegetable-forward lunch.

cook: asian fried rice

I had gone to a birthday dinner at Benihana, which frankly is not my favorite restaurant. However, I dutifully honored a friend and brought home leftover udon and rice. Ate the leftover udon with seafood, but was still hungry. There was still rice, and I had all the staples in my pantry to cook something scrumptious: leftover ribeye steak, frozen shrimp, frozen vegetable medley of carrots and corn and green beans and green peas, Chinese sausage, scallions, and an array of Asian sauces. I grabbed oyster sauce (Chinese), mentsuya (Japanese), and Korean teriyaki (which sounds frankly confusing, and so why not?)

And into a small cast iron pan went avocado oil and sesame oil. Once the oil was shimmering on medium high heat, I added the shrimp, sausage, vegetables, and then the sauces.

  

Next into the pan the rice and onto the rice I added Maggi because I wanted the rice to have a bit more color.

 

I forgot to add white pepper. But I did sprinkle chopped scallions once plated.

Fried rice Sunday morning from leftover Saturday supper was a staple of my growing up, and the dish is such good use of pantry ingredients.

cook: smoky fish chowder

On my third visit to the county fair, I couldn't bring myself to pay another expensive albeit refreshing $7 for lemonade, and so when I came home I squeezed what lemons were left of a $4 bag and added pulp and juice (note to self, do like Hotdog on a Stick and muddle the lemon peels too!) to simple syrup (1 cup sugar to 1 cup hot water until dissolved). I also visited Goodwill and bought a brand new Bodum French press pot ($6.99) as well as 2 wineglasses ($3.99 each). But I did buy at my favorite kitchen emporium, Crate & Barrel, a pie server.

  

I had hamachi in the freezer and decided to cook a smoky fish chowder. I cut 4 to 6 slices of bacon into smaller pieces and reserved.

  

Took out the hot smoked paprika and vermouth (didn't have dry and decided to try the sweet in the chowder) and then sautéed the onions and garlic in the bacon fat. 

  

Next added peeled and diced potatoes and fennel bulb. Remembered the Aleppo pepper in the spice drawer.

  

Added a bit of the Albariño to the soup pot as well as a bit of heavy whipping cream.

 

Hamachi is more tender as poke than in a chowder, but oh well. 

  

That evening I continued reading a novel after admiring the floral arrangement of hubs. Summer is good.

clay: red clay body with blue green glaze vase

Clay Body: Red Velvet

Underglazes/Glaze: Amaco Blue Midnight; Amaco Seaweed

Method/Firing: Hand build/slab/Cone 5-6

I had red clay scraps, which I think were Laguna's Red Velvet and wanted to use it up. My neighbor, Helen had seen this vase and suggested I give it to her. 

 

And so yes, I gifted it to her on her birthday.

cloth: county fair entries or from book to quilt

In the span of 6 months, I stitched 3 quilts that were all entered into this year's county fair. I thought I was going to stitch a painting from this book. 

But I ended up finding an image of Albers' Homage to a Square: Ascending. I do love the color palette, and this panel is going up on my wall.

 

The quilt that originally was to be a duvet cover as conceived In Stitches by Amy Butler. 

Instead I used her design and fabrics to make a large quilt, which took over a decade to finish earned me some praise from the judges.

  

I did copy some of the color palette of not terra cotta, but of cantaloupe in the quilt design from this book, Zen Chic Inspired: A Guide to Modern Quilt Design by Brigitte Heitland.

The judges deemed the quilt as "a graphically striking composition in contemporary colors." I am less in love with it and will likely give it away.

Let the quilting resume. Working on the Bay Area Modern Quilting BOM today.

cook: more vegetables in the mezze repertoire

While on a return trip home, I stopped for dinner in Santa Cruz. I wanted Mediterranean and therefore dined at Ibiza. I ordered the lamb plate with a dollop of Muhummara and decided that I had to learn to make that spicy dip. The bright yellow pickled cauliflower was my favorite, and of course, anytime I can eat a cabbage salad, I will. I loved the balance of all the flavors and eating rice instead of pita bread. The charred broccolini and microgreens were a boon to my required vegetable intake.

My mother-in-law and sister-in-law went with me to the county fair though I also went to the fair the day before with two other clay friends. I soaked garbanzo beans, boiled them to make hummus. The cauliflower only needed to be washed and cut into small florets for pickling while the eggplant, bell peppers and jalapeno were to be roasted for the spicy dip.

 

I also mixed 2 cups of self-rising flour with 8 ounces of Greek full fat yogurt to make pita bread. Took one of the dough balls to cook on a hot cast iron pan. 

The peppers and eggplant were roasting nicely under a high broil in order to let the skins blister and blacken. I felt no need to cover the roasted peppers with plastic wrap, and they were easy enough to peel. 

 

For the cabbage salad, I sliced half a small head of red cabbage on the mandolin and plucked herbs like parsley, dill and marjoram from the garden. I tossed the shredded cabbage in a dressing of mashed garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice.

 

Love a colorful and...

sturdy salad. Crunchy salad done, I then peeled the roasted vegetables.

 

I had already blitzed the chickpeas and eggplant into hummus and baba ghanous, respetively. Time to pulse the red bell peppers with walnuts, Aleppo pepper, cumin, and pomegranate molasses for the spicy dip.

I read online that the pita dough could be refrigerated and "baked" later, and into the icebox went the dough balls

Lunch for one ready!

  

But prior to eating, food storage of hummus, baba ghanoush, muhummara, and feta cheese.  

Fast forward to the next day, I cooked saffron rice and off to the fair with family. On our return home, I griddled the pita bread and heated the lamb before setting out all the dips and salads.

I had leftovers for quite a few days and added leftover zucchini fritters to lunch the next day. 

I've upped my Mediterranean skill set with a few more recipes and couldn't be more pleased.