Yesterday, I finally stopped going to the bathroom long enough that, for a bit of entertainment, Steve drove around the neighborhood stopping at garage sales. I told him, I think if I were drawing my very last breath, I would be up for a garage sale.
At one sale, the woman was giving away foodie magazines, so I took several. I have always enjoyed them, but haven’t subscribed to any in quite some time. Ha ha! I got quite a chuckle out of how dreadfully seriously these people take themselves. One chef, who plies his trade in a desert state, pronounced that his scallop/chili/honey/pistachio dish “spoke to the region”. I was wondering if his region had farm raised scallops, or…..…..then I read that there used to be a Japanese internment camp there, and so the scallops………..oh please.
Here’s just one of the dishes that evolves for us every day which I can guarantee you is better than anything you can find in a magazine or buy in any restaurant in Virginia Beach. Steve asks me what I want for dinner before I get out of bed in the morning. I never care. You want fish? Sure. He takes two things out of the freezer (our freezer is a giant Jenga puzzle of seafood, mostly caught by Steve, in all sorts of unlabeled containers……I have quite given up) and puts them in a pie plate for me to transfer to the fridge when thawed. He asks what kind of fish is in the chinese take out container, the one with the big crack. I say I don’t know. I don’t say that I knocked it out of the freezer the day before, while I was hunting for ice cream, and shoved it back in. I think, whatever it is, it shouldn’t have freezer burn yet.
Happily, the mystery fish is sea bass (my favorite) that Steve caught in the bay. It will go nicely with the other fish, which is cod he got at the grocery. This also works with flounder. Just take a Le Cruiset casserole and rub some butter on the bottom. Lay your fish out. Melt more butter and mix with juice of two lemons, pour it over your fish, salt and pepper (we do use sea salt and we do crush the peppercorns manually). Lay a bunch of dill all over it, cover, and stick it in the oven for about 25 minutes.
For sides, Steve keeps homemade semolina noodles onhand, pre-cooked and tossed with butter and parsley. I wanted to bake an acorn squash, but I didn’t have enough strength to cut it in half, so I waited until he got home, had him cut it, and threw it in the microwave. While that got cooking, I went into the garden, cut some lettuce leaves (what kind? I don’t know…..light green), flat leaf parsley, and lemon balm. I was thinking how nicely the subtle flavor of lemon balm would compliment the fish. Little did I know that it would be SPEAKING TO the fish’s sauce!
Imagine this lovely meal: delicate white fish beside rich, yellow noodles with brilliant green parsley drenched in that buttery, lemony sauce (I told Steve, I love it so much I want to drink it), cuddling up to creamy, smooth, yolky looking acorn squash, and a lovely, multi green salad dressed with the best olive oil and balsamic vinegar we can afford. It was sublime.
So when I read the article about the scallops that speak to New Mexico, I naturally thought of OUR meals that speak not only to the Chesapeake Bay, Farm Fresh grocery store, and our garden, but also to our incredible ingenuity, expertise, and artistic flair. I love being a Foodie! Hahahahahahahaha!
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