Monday, July 19, 2010

Slice of Life: Flavors of the Weekend

I love food. That will quickly become apparent provided I keep working on this blog. But the whole sensual experience of shopping, preparing, and eating can be more satisfying than a relationship. (Sorry Boyfriend). Even if a dish eventually turns on you and results in some quality time with the porcelain god it was totally worth it about 95% of the time. 


This past weekend cemented my love for being home for the summer because I have eaten oh so well.


Friday: Mom had to run a 5k race Saturday morning so she wanted to eat something nice and light. I was fighting a monthly battle against the red army so I was more than happy to eat light. At the call for dinner I crawled up the stairs and my weary spirits were perked by the subtle scents that assailed my nostrils. Mom had made sautéed tilapia fillets with a lime/herb/red onion butter. It wasn't fancy or mind blowing but it was good clean food. The kind of food you could bring home to mother, wears argyle socks, has a stock portfolio, and comes from a good family. 




Saturday: Post race for mom, post tae kwon do for me. I was working on a couple sewing projects all afternoon since my sister was visiting a friend's lake house for the weekend granting me unrestricted access to her machine. I learned at about 4pm that my grandfather would be joining us for an early dinner at 6. (6 is early for my family since dinner is usually on the table about 8:00pm -ish) For this occasion my mother made grilled salmon with a lemon-butter sauce. Unfortunately the salmon from the local meat market that day was rather wimpy and mushy, however the flavor was good and fishy. Our cat gave his portion rave reviews. To go along with the salmon I made a salad with tomato, avocado, red leaf lettuce, and corn. Fairly simple stuff but given a distinct pizazz by the home-made lime vinaigrette. (Lime is the new black, at least for food). So while the salmon was good, the salad turned out divine.


Sunday: Sunday afternoons are for NAPS! Instead of a nap I went shopping with my mom which is an expedition to find the thing that is "just right." These trek takes us to every store that could possibly carry "The Thing." So by Sunday night everyone who would cook was exhausted, and no one wanted to run to the store to replenish our sorely bare cupboards. Luckily there was some venison in the freezer gifted to us by one of our hunter friends this past winter. After some searching on the internet for a good dish my mother and I wound up modifying  this http://www.yummly.com/recipe/6EEE2908-E35C-4EE0-01E854C2987E7D9D?print=true and creating this:


We didn't do any pretty plating. But believe me it tasted way better than it looks.


Even though Monday does not count as part of the weekend it gets an honorable mention because my  sister made the most delicious toffee sauce for ice cream. The recipe is soooo simple and it can be found below. But the best part about this sauce is the nuttiness of the flavor and the sticky sweetness that haunts your taste-buds. Even now the ghost of that sauce is whispering "there's left overs in the fridge, come eeeaatt meeeeee!"


Frankly, food is one of my prime passions and this weekend has reawakened my lust for quality kitchen time. Look forward to something I created myself by the end of the week!


Sticky Toffee Sauce:

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon soft dark brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons dark corn syrup
  • 3/4 stick unsalted butter
  • 2/3 cup heavy cream
  • Serving suggestion: Vanilla ice cream

Directions

Put the sugar, syrup and butter in a pan and slowly bring to the boil, allowing the butter to melt and the sugar to dissolve. Let the mixture bubble for a couple of minutes before carefully adding the cream. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes or until the sauce is thick, sticky and glossy.
Serve with a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream and sliced bananas

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