Except When You Don't. Because, Sometimes You Won't.

Thanks, Dr. Seuss. It's true even in my exploratorium of a kitchen. Bang-ups and hang-ups happen. Like the miserable parsley and green garlic pesto over leftover potatoes and fusili pasta and peas.

Sure, it looked pretty enough. But it tasted terrible. Like, who wants that much parsley? Especially over old potatoes mixed with pasta. Ugh, and peas! This woman had to have been lying when she called the dish "tasty."

Then there was the near Vita-Mix homicide. So despicable it's embarrassing. And it was dangerous--my dear sweet Vita-Mix almost bit the dust; she smelled of smoking motor and went into overload protection mode... twice. Poor, poor Vita: You're worth more than even the tastiest almond butter. But this one wasn't tasty. It was pure horror, all those waxy fresh almonds whipping themselves into a thick, sticky glob, and not getting any more silken with additions of olive oil, water, peanut butter, Nutella (each added in subsequently desperate attempts to salvage the pricey almonds from total failure). This photo from my trash is frightening:

I swore off cooking for two days after these miserable mishaps. Ordered Chinese takeout, of all the ghastly scenarios possible.

Then I inherited a wok...

Poppa Provides: The 22.5LB Wild Striped Bass

Yo. This is massive. So massive that Josiah actually won discounted fishing trips for the rest of his life. Also so massive that we have enough fish to feed us for about a month. We literally made 22 1/3-pound bass fillets from this mother!

Here's dinner number one...

This erases my carbon footprint from those stupid tomatoes I bought earlier this week: A completely sustainable and local meal of wild, line-caught striped bass and peas, potatoes, baby fennel, green garlic and herbs all bought from the farmer's market. 

This was really simple, involving just boiling the fingerlings until they were tender, then sauteeing them up with green garlic and little bits of baby fennel with snap peas thrown in at the last moment to keep them crisp and fresh. Then we chopped up a bunch of dill, cilantro, parsley and fennel fronds while the fish were seared, two minutes a side, in a pan with butter before being finished in the oven for another two minutes. Butter, lemon and herbs were mixed together, then slathered over the fresh, tender, slightly sweet and very mild fish.

Ridiculously delicious.

Why Not Lamb?

The question was posed so casually that I couldn't say no...

2/26/10
The creation:
Pan-seared lamb shoulder with duck-fat-fried potato and cauliflower 

What's in the fridge?
1/3 red onion
1/2 lime
wild rice
rabbit stock

frozen peas

Key ingredients consumed:
red onion
Hmm, since there was pretty much nothing in there to begin with...

Ingredients purchased:
lamb shoulder 
potatoes
cauliflower

The creative process: 
Our wine buyer at Crush is a quiet man. A dear, sweet, hilarious and endearing, quiet man who, I learned today, is also a very, very serious foodie. When I offhandedly asked him, "What should I have for dinner tonight?" and he nonchalantly replied, after a moment's consideration, "Why not lamb shoulder with potato gratin and anchovy-mint sauce?" I looked at him, my mouth agape, and realized he was very serious. I couldn't say "No" to him. Especially not after he told me I ought to pair the lamb with the Clos de Gamot Cahors: "I once had lamb shoulder with the Clos de Gamot, and it reminded me of all the reasons why life is worth living," he (still casually) commented.

Like an addict to the street corner, I shoved that malbec in my bag and made my way to The Meat Hook as fast as possible to ask for the best deal on baby sheep. $9.99 a pound for this pretty little--actually big 'n thick!--chop-looking-like nugglet of lamb shoulder.

Thinly-sliced potatoes, red onion and cauliflower florets got a good pan-fry while I took to the lamb. Salt and pepper, medium-high heat, three minutes a side, and those fat pheromonic hunks of tender, gamey, delectable lamb were enough to make me cast duck breasts to the curb...

The verdict:
I have found a new favorite animal to consume. Sure, I've had loads of lamb before, but the unadulterated simplicity and quality of these suckers shut down past experiences. Oh, and that Cahors really did give me some insight into why life is worth living. Angular, masculine, defined and pulsing with wet earth/rocks/ripe red fruits, it paired just terribly well with the seductive bits of lamb I sucked off the shoulder bone. There may have been audible moans of pleasure...

Comfort Food, Midwestern Style

2/15/10

The creation:
Maple and citrus-glazed ham steak with parsley-butter fingerling potatoes and twice-baked sweet potato

So, what's in the fridge (items listed newest/most recent additions to oldest):
eggplant
mushrooms
fresh Mozzarella
fingerling potatoes
Twice-baked sweet potato
1 slice guanciale
small hunk of Stilton
1/2 white onion
1/3 red onion
1/2 lemon
1/2 lime
3 eggs
Sugo (Mama's homemade, pork-based tomato sauce)
fresh parsley
chicken stock
rabbit stock
3 stalks celery
frozen peas
Maple syrup

Key ingredients consumed:
fingerling potatoes
parsley
twice-baked sweet potato
maple syrup
eggs

Ingredients purchased:
ham steak

The creative process:
I'll say right up front that Cook's ham steak is not remotely local/organic/sustainable. But it's a childhood favorite--even Dad, during The Rice Age, could cook a great ham steak. Mom's "secret" OJ and brown-sugar glaze is a cinch and so, so freaking tasty. I had a craving for this, so I caved--though I will say that the "20% water added" note freaked me out a bit. Must look into what exactly this means and why so much ham has this....

I was out of stock on the brown sugar, so hey, maple syrup is the same color and also sweet. Why not? Dumped a bit of that into the pan and added some OJ; reduced a bit and then tossed in the ham, cooking until it was hot and stuff. It's just ham. Then took out the ham and reduced the sauce some more so it was thick and gooey before pouring it over the ham. YUM. Boiled fingerlings smothered in butter and chopped up parsley tasted like Spring, despite the falling snow outside. And I just shoved that ol' sweet potato into the ham pan and let it heat right up.

The verdict:
Easy and delish. I liked this meal very much--it took me all of 15 minutes and went down super well with a glass of--wait for it... Chocolate Milk!

...Oh and for dessert I may or may not have made a Devil's Food cake with whipped peanut butter frosting so as to polish off my last three eggs...