Scrabble night – part 3

I had to throw most of the chicken out.

We tried to whittle down the mountain of poultry that had taken over the fridge, but it was a feat way beyond us. We needed my old gang of cadets – teenage boys that could drink 3 bags of milk and consume dinner plus 2 sandwiches for “dessert” in a single sitting.

I used to feel so guilty about having to throw out food. After all, not only had I carefully shopped (read: put a lot of time into it), I had lovingly spent umpteen hours prepping and chopping, sauteeing and broiling. But I have come to realize that in today’s crazybusy world, you can’t plan the way you used to. Some nights I am certain (and in the mood) I’ll cook and instead I have to do a restaurant review or a meeting runs late and I grab something where I am. And some nights things go awry, a phone call goes well into the night or a neighbour drops by and we open a bottle of wine and, well, dinner gets waylaid.

Since then, because of the heat,  we’ve had a lot of simple foods:

- corn on the cob

- salads topped with organic sprouts and sunflower seeds

- stir frys, pasta, sandwiches. – anything that doesn’t require the stove to be on too long

The most complex dishes I’ve made lately are veal scallopini and stuffed pork chops.

Most disappointing.

Especially since I’ve had the food book clubs and been dying to get to the stove to make some of the dishes we’ve been reading about.

It is 19 degrees tonight. Cold enough for 3/4 sleeves and a jacket.

Cold enough to cook.

Scrabble night – part 2

The following night, I put everything out on our kitchen table and awaited our hungry guests.

Paul came half an hour early (he’s always early) and was starving – could we start eating? Uh, I guess so (At least he was hungry).

We started in and waited for our other neighbour, John. He came about 45 minutes later, after polishing off a hearty Greek dinner, complete with stomach-bloating beers, with his out-of-town guest. Neither he nor his guest (an awesome singer songwriter, who had just performed with Jim Cuddy and Kathleen Edwards the night before) wanted anything to do with food. Damn you, Astoria! Why do you have to serve such hearty food in servings that topple you as you leave the restaurant?

We played girls against boys with Colleen going out first and John winning (he told us he would).

It was midnight by the time we finished and I had all that food to package up.

Would Scott and I have to have chicken for dinner for the 10 nights? Could we do it without dying from boredom or SCF – severe chicken fatigue?

The heat is on

It was over 30 degrees today (For you Americans, that’s like 100 and something), so I had convinced myself that I would just assemble some salads for dinner.  At most, I would get a piece of fish or slice up some chicken to go alongside them.

But as always, I got caught up in the excitement of creating something, with the possibility of it being memorable and/or fabulous, so by the time I had reached the grocery store, I was a quivering hot mess of enthusiasm.

Here’s what I decided on:

Crudites of carrots, yellow pepper, celery, including cucumber spears drizzled with lime juice and sprinkled with chili peppers

Arugula salad with warm, sauteed wild mushrooms

Fresh salmon with pasta and peas in a homemade, dill cream sauce

Broiled prosciutto-wrapped asparagus

It was pretty fantastic, though next time when I’m making the cream sauce, I’ll add a little stock to thin it out.  Somehow though, the pasta took to it extremely well.

As did my fella.

I considered making a dessert too, but I’m not quite there yet – still haven’t got back my fingerprints yet from the forever-to-be-known-as “chocolate incident.”

There’s mango gelato in the freezer if the boy gets a hankering…

Food, glorious food

I finally made it back to the stove.

After a long day of walking the city, I came back to my hood to do a big grocery shop.

Ahh, so nice to have fresh goodies in the house!  But before putting them away, I cleaned out the fridge – ooh, there’s that lovely chicken chili I made last week and the pesto pasta that I thought we finished…

Then I put everything away.  With one small cupboard and one small fridge, this always means that I have to take out the majority of the items before I can make room for everything.

Really, it’s a whole thing.

Two hours after I had come through the door, everything is finally put away and the kitchen looks pristine.

It’s now time to make dinner.  I pull everything out and start the assembly.

My menu for tonight is:

- Roast skinless, boneless chicken breasts stuffed with wild leeks, fresh basil and lemons.

- Boiled new potatoes with olive oil and fresh dill

- Organic kale with garlic and horseradish

- Chopped salad of romaine, yellow peppers, endive and radish

I was tempted to do a big soup as well, but all that chopping and cooking took another hour or so, and I had started on a dessert (yes, I’m trying to learn to bake) that is going to take a couple of days, because you have to let things cool in the fridge in various stages. So despite how tired I was from the whole process, I was very close to just cooking all night.

However, I remembered that there is still tomorrow and Monday is a holiday here, so I may take a couple of hours in the afternoon to do something slow-cooked.

It is so good to be home, cooking again.  I am like an actor who just found out she got the part.

Tonight’s audition: finish the 3-part dessert (it’s a surprise), homemade soup (I think something minestrone-esque) and something from the new Jamie’s America cookbook.

Sayonara

I will have had Japanese 4 out of 5 nights by the end of tomorrow.

I reviewed a Japanese restaurant Friday night, went to one with friends for dinner Saturday night, cooked at home last night (potato leek soup from scratch, chicken with homemade barbecue sauce, rice, veg and salad) and then am going to a Japanese restaurant with 2 book clubs tonight and back again with 2 book clubs tomorrow night.

Similar to the “5 Indian Restaurants in 8 Days” bit in my book, I have had the opportunity to really compare and critique various techniques and dishes.  The only difference is that I think I could have a Japanese meal every day.

Hey, I’m working on it…

Reading books about food can be dangerous

Last night I made  an excruciatingly extensive paella and did all of the dishes and pots and pans that go along with it.  That was exhausting.  I sit down to read my food book club book and suddenly I’m up and I’m making Egg Custard Pie.

There are two things you should know about me:

1.  I don’t bake

2.  I don’t like desserts

So how I came to be making this pie after 2 hours of cooking and cleaning is beyond me.  The only explanation is that all of these books about food and cooking are getting to me.  Luckily I have a fella who will try anything I make and does have a sweet tooth.

If, however, I am found at 1 in the morning, trussing a chicken with lemon bars in the oven, take my reading privileges away.

At least temporarily.

So I finally caved…

… and started a food site because not only am I reviewing restaurants and writing about food for a living, but I’m spending much of my “free” time cooking, shopping for ingredients and basically thinking about what I’m going to make next.

So I hope you’ll follow me and my little adventure here.  I will not be posting pictures of everything I make step-by-step (one photo will suffice), or what I eat at every meal or anything like that. But I will be sharing TMI – what I bought, what I made, what I read.

I figure if I’m thinking about this stuff, someone out there must be too.  I can’t be the only one questioning whether next time I make lime chicken I should finish it with grains of paradise or pepitas.

You’ll find out soon enough…

Thanks for joining me on this ride.  I am excited.

And hungry.