Now We're Cooking!

I love to cook. That should be obvious by now. And only once before have I had a gourmet kitchen to enjoy, like the one I have now.

Stopped off at "Whole Paycheck" to pick up some nice produce for dinner. A good friend of mine who has worked hard in the last year to remain sober and recover his life, that was almost lost, arrived last Saturday for a gourmand's treat. Well, within his dietary limitations. Seriously, he's a fabulous cook himself, so I knew I needed to excell.

Moules poullette... that's mussels in a cream and shallot broth enhanced with bacon and chervil, at least, that's the way they make it at my favorite French bistro! Our local seafood place stopped selling PEI's and bought Meditteranean's instead. They were huge and plump!

Miniature beets in both gold and red I roasted. I might make all my beets this way now! Time consuming, but definitely flavorful. Pea shoots! I've been dying to try them for months! Stir-fried them with mint. I grilled brown turkey figs threaded with rosemary and then split them and topped them with gorgonzola and a slight drizzle of wildflower honey. It was the house fave that night. Then I roasted a pricey little beef tenderloin and served it with a horseradish cream freshly made with creme fraiche and grated horse radish. Thank you, Kathy and Tim, for the lovely microplane! Then horseradish looked like fresh snow... so light and fluffy.

I love playing around with my grey fleur de sel and my pink flaked sea salt!

I served a fresh peach pie for dessert... the taste of summer!

If I had all the money in the world and these dishes weren't so rich, I would cook like this every night. But, I'd never want to be a chef or own a restaurant. I've read Kitchen Confidential, thanks!

Almost Forgot...

That it was three years ago that Karen/Kali/Aelsidhe died. I still miss her in so many ways.

What can I do with this?

I discovered that, aside from being a generally all-out good cook, I know how to combine and meld. In my refrigerator last week, we only had:
Some fresh shrimp
A lemon
A fresh fennel bulb
Some peppered bacon
Assorted milks and creams
Parmesan cheese
Some heirloom tomatoes
Some fresh basil
Some tiny mozzarella cheeses

First thing I did was slice the tomatoes and dust them with some basiled sea salt that I made last month, and added a bit of fresh ground pepper. I sliced the mozzarella next, layered them in a fan with the tomatoes and put a chiffonade of basil on the top.

Then I sauteed some garlic and shallots -- house staples, we never run out -- added the bacon, then the fennel. Put the vegetable mix in a bowl and seared the shrimp in all those tasty flavors, then degreased with lemon juice. Addded a little bit of cream and stirred it until it thickened, adding a bit more slowly until I had a nice little sauce, then let a little parmesan melt into it.

Served up the tomato and basil salad with the shrimps resting on the glistening fennel mix, and drizzled with a beautiful pale yellow sauce. What a tasty little hit it was!