Easy Entertaining

Fish with tomatoes and mushroomsI had an ultimate kitchen klutz moment this week.  One of my best friends was visiting from New Mexico.  I was really excited to see her, but I had a long day at work and I was kind of flustered.  I pulled together a last minute meal--cheese (my new favorite, pierre robert) to start, followed by a trio of fish roasted with tomatoes, mushrooms and parano cheese.  I decided to make rice to accompany the fish.  I just poured a delicious glass of Starry Night Zinfandel (another favorite) and indulged in a single sip.  I'm not certain about the exact sequence of events but somehow the rice jumped out of the cabinet, crashed into the cutting board on the counter, which flew into my glass of wine sending the glass and its precious contents onto the floor.  I was covered in wine and glass shards and ran upstairs to let my guest clean up the mess I made.  Martha Stewart beware; I truly am the most gracious host ever.

I'm back!

Sorry for the hiatus folks, but I was foiled by comcast last night.  Not only did we lose our internet and phone, all of our neighbors lost their internet and phone service so I couldn't even use one of their networks.  By the time Comcast fixed our service I was already in a benadryl-induce fog (I think I was allergic to something in the black raspberry fields).  We did have a delicious dinner, however -- Tuna and Scallop Ceviche with Warm Carmel Corn.  Ceviche RecipeTo me, ceviche is a perfect summer meal--it's light and citrusy, high in flavor and protein but low in calories, and it's incredibly easy to make!  The "Carmel Corn" actually didn't have any additional sugar in it.  I removed fresh corn from the ear and sauteed it in a little butter and salt until it began to carmelize on the bottom of the pan.  I then deglazed the pan with a little bit of white wine, which made a delicious "carmel" sauce to coat the corn.  The warm sweetness of the corn was a perfect complement to the cold and citrusy ceviche.

Unbeknownst to me, my drivers license expired on my birthday last month even though I got a brand new license in February.  I only realized my license was expired when I tried to buy a box of Claretin and was denied.  The DMV is always an adventure; it's great people watching and most of the stereotypes are true.  I sat in the waiting room with a motley crew of compatriots for 45 minutes when a rather large, scowling woman called my number.  I had a great rapport going with Selma Bouvier until the time came to take my picture.  First offense--I smiled.  Second Offense--I had my head tilted.  Third offense--Selma forgot to save the picture.  Strike three. I was ready to give up my right to drive, and was adjusting my hair when BAM the flash went off.  Success, I think, although I won't get my new license for a week and I think my hand might have made the glamour shot. 

I definitely need to stress cook.  We are having pan seared grouper and Black Raspberry Honey Drops.

Update on Monday, June 15, 2009 at 9:12PM by Klutz in the Kitchen

Pasta wtih Lemon, Maple, and RumI originally was going to make a lemon caper sauce for the grouper.  My capers mysteriously disappeared (I"m thinking The Case of the Caper Capers could be my next great work...).  I switched gears and went with a sweet and sour sauce instead.  Using Shallots, Rum, Lemon juice and zest and the secret ingredient, maple syrup, I created a tangy sauce that paired perfectly with the pan fried fish and linguini.

Happy National Kitchen Klutzes Day

Black RaspberriesHope it was spectacular!  Isn't it wonderful that the powers at Hallmark would create a holiday for us?

I celebrated by driving an hour to go pick black raspberries.  My husband thinks I'm crazy.  Ok, maybe I am a little, but they are hard to find (hence the hour drive), have a very short season, and are delicious.  It was hard work.  I even have the wounds to prove it...those thorns are sharp! I'm going to make jam tomorrow.  yum.  Black raspberries look like their cousins, the red raspberry, but you guessed correctly, they are black.  The flavor is different as well.  I find them more intense, slightly tart, and less delicate.  We used to pick them wild growing up, but shockingly I haven't seen them growing on the streets of DC. 

Guest Grillin' (and bloggin') from Seattle

Lately I've been reading blogs alot more often than writing and right now I'm hooked on food blogs. Food writing is fun to read for so many reasons, but the best reason is that food is fantastic - to make - to eat - to look at - to smell - to read about - well, you get the idea. I found this "klutzie" blog via my college roommate who came for an extended visit and got me cooking again. She spoke of a friend who regularly made her own pasta and just like that - there was a post about just that! (I just might have to guest-post about the working-mother-of-two's attempt at making her own pasta in the future...)

Now that Summer has arrived here in the Pacific Northwest, I've been scouring the blogs for fun outdoor recipes. One led to another, then led to another, until suddenly, all of these blogs led me back to what a friend introduced us to a couple of years ago: GRILLED PIZZA!

Yes, it may sound totally crazy, but I actually even think it was Martha Stewart who was the initial inspiration for these.

Since my children (especially my son) enjoy eating pizza above all other foods, and they LOVE to help roll out the dough, we celebrated the 20th sunny-day-in-seattle-in-a-row by grillin' up some 'za! The kid-caveat here is that they don't always like the burned parts of grilled food, and they didn't get to build the pizza themselves since the grill is hot-ish but it was still a pretty huge success.

My treat was that I got to fill up my pizza with whatever I wanted! I used up all my farmer's market treats (in Seattle, the Spring Farmer's Markets are a little slim pickins).

Here's what we did:

Roll out your pizza dough (either pre-made or bought) into round-ish shapes and let it rest for a little while.

Heat up the grill so it's REALLY hot.

Grab a pizza peel/non-edged cookie sheet and sprinkle some corn meal or similarly-textured flour (semolina) on top and load up the dough.

Slide the dough onto the grill and close it.

Give it a couple minutes to puff up a bit and get brown, then flip it and let the 2nd side do the same.

Then TURN OFF THE GRILL! (otherwise... burn marks)

Dress your pizza time! 

Our kids: prefer just tomato sauce and cheese. 

Hubby: tomato sauce, cheese and any cured meat - preferably Salumi

Mine: olive oil base, potatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, gruyere and bleu cheese. I think if I could have fit more on, I would have!

I think we'll be grilling lots of pizza this summer. I'll keep reading food blogs for ideas, and maybe even find a few more to pass along.

Thanks, Mary, for the guest spot and I hope you enjoyed your day off!

until next time... yum

The Life of a Carnivore (or what we do for love)

I love meat.  I'm not picky on the type...give me beef, venison, chicken, goat, kudu.  You name it, I'll eat it.  At one point in time we had ten different species of animals in our freezer.  When I was in eighth grade I decided I was going to be a vegetarian.  My parents took bets over how long it would last (a month...they both lost).  My always health conscience husband likes meat, but (why I don't know) doesn't like to eat it every night for dinner.  As a compromise we eat fish at least once a week and I try to cook a vegetarian meal just as often. 

Herb Grilled TroutTonight we had herb grilled trout.  I'm the annoying shopper at the market who insists on smelling the fish.  It's the best way to tell if it is fresh (you should also make sure the eyes are clear and the gills, if they are still attached, are spongy).  Fish should never ever ever be "fishy."  If it is, don't buy it.