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The photo doesn't look like much. Even less so as it's badly exposed. But I really wish I'd have taken better notes on this one.
I didn't intend to make a post in this thread tonight. This was "I worked long hours today, I'm tired as hell, I did no shopping, and I just want a quick meal with whatever I have lying around before I get too wasted to wield a knife."
The side is easy. One bunch asparagus, one large vidalia onion, one small tray of white mushrooms. Slice, toss in oilve oil, white pepper and rosemary. Bake. Top with lemon juice after plating. Blah, blah, blah.
Tilapia. Four fillets, thawed. Place in pans sprayed with olive oil. Sprinkle with one packet of Sazón Goya. Broil on the top rack 2 minutes per side.
(Seriously, I'm making this **** up as I go along.)
Beforehand, make the following sauce:
2 tbs butter
2 tbs mayonnaise
Appx 1/2 cup grated Romano. (**** the Parmesan clan.)
A hefty shot of dried basil
A hefty shot of black pepper
A hefty shot of onion powder
A very moderate shot of kosher salt.
I did remember to take a photo of this phase:
After the 2-n-2, reduce the oven to a bake at 425°. Spoon the sauce over the fish, sprinkle lightly with panko, and return to the middle rack for 5 minutes.
That's it. That's the whole recipe. I could have gotten all fancy 'n ****, but it just wasn't needed.
An old friend from Florida was in town this weekend visiting family. This is actually the guy who gave me my very first job at a little radio station in the early 90s, and he takes endless pride in where my career has gone since then.
He stopped in this morning along with his cousin and something-in-law (I didn't get the details) on the way back to ORD. I gave them all a tour of the TV station. Feels weird to see your former mentor, the guy who taught you basic electronics, gawking over the stuff you consider just ordinary, everyday engineering. But in retrospect, I have been to a lot of stations, and we are kinda the biggest, most complex non-network operation out there...
Anyway, then I took them all out for brunch at a local 24/7 greasy-spoon called The Golden Nugget.
It was my first time, but I'd heard good things. They did not disappoint.
I am now on a mission. I must determine the recipe for their crępe filling. I can tell right off the bat that it involves mascarpone, ricotta, and heavy cream, but they refer to it as a "three-cheese blend" and I'll be damned if I can figure out the third cheese.
I took no photos, because I am not nearly so gauche as Brainey.
But Jesus titty-******* Christ, these things were amazing. Freshly made apple compote and the aforementioned three-cheese blend inside, topped with freshly whipped cream and berries.
This sprang from getting some Thai basil at the farmers market. I asked the ladyfarmer what she makes with it and she said some sauteed ground pork blah blah blah sauce blah.
I did some regooglesearch and also facebooked the farmgirl and came up with this.
It's essentially pork kapow aka pork krapow. I rejiggered the recipe a bit and upped the quantity of sauce and meat, but here's basically what it is:
2 lbs ground pork
half an onion, cut into thin slices
2 hefty cloves of shallot, sliced thin
an assload of garlic.. like 5 or 6 large cloves.
a bell pepper cut into long dice. or stubby batonnets. whatever.
a fistful of thai basil, stems removed. I guess a packed cup or more?
oyster sauce 3-4 tbsp
fish sauce 3-4 tbsp
soy sauce 2-3 tbsp
brown sugar 4 tbsp
couple dashes of salt and white pepper, to taste
couple dashes of cayenne (but really this recipe calls for thai chilis--i'm feeding an 18 month old here!)
method is pretty much
med-high heat, add some oil
sautee onions
then shallots
then garlic
barely brown the pork (or chicken, or beef, or boar, or whatever the **** meat you got)
add in the peppers, chilis, sauces, and sugar
mix it all up and soften the peppers
toss in the basil, stir it in until just wilted.
salt, pepper, cayenne to taste.
If you said that around me, I'd be extremely offended and it would not end well for you.
Just putting that out there. That's about the most vulgar, depraved, and offensive thing I can think of.
I had some good Thai Lemon Grass Seafood soup with rice noodles and Kimchi at an Amish farmer's market in the middle of Pennsylvania.
Propcat approves of this.
In the past three days, I have consumed two fast-food hamburgers, one Chick-Fil-A "grilled chicken sandwich" (which, if anything, was even saltier and more unappetizing than the deep-fried version), a pouch of beef jerky, two extremely mediocre hotel breakfasts, quite a lot of truck-stop coffee, and a plate of... something. I literally am not sure what.
I am not proud of this, nor of what I will likely consume for lunch and dinner over the next few days as I unpack.