Small Discoveries

A reader loved the sound of "Sambuco Cream Sauce" for the pancetta-wrapped, grilled prawns (and I loved the taste) so I Google'd and found it's basically 1/4 cup heavy cream, heated and a splash of sambuco tossed in and then stirred. Keep an eye on it and let it boil down just a bit before you serve it.

The only time Richie is a practising Catholic is meatless Fridays during Lent. This in the past put something of a strain on me because I won't eat fish (except canned tuna) and I got real tired of mac and cheese every Friday night and of sauting-salmon-in-olive-oil-with-a-squeeze-of-lime-juice-and-black-pepper.

Because his Southwestern Chicken with a balsamic taste was such a success, I got to thinking about balsamic vinegar and salmon. I came across the recipe for a glaze for salmon. The original recipe was for six filets, but I was using only one, so I cut it down. These are the amounts for one salmon filet:

pinch of minced garlic or 1/4 teas. minced garlic in a jar
1/2 teas. white wine (optional; you can substitute water)
1/2 teas. honey
1 1/2 teas. balsamic vinegar
1 teas. Dijon mustard

Mix all this togther and when the salmon is done in the pan, plate it and then de-glaze the skillet with the sauce and pour it over the salmon. Richie loved it.

The recipe says to bake the salmon and glaze with sauce as it cooks, but this is considerably faster.

Raise your hand if you don't particularly like cauliflower. Me, too. It seems the only way to eat it is steamed with a cheese sauce. Feh.

When I read that roasted cauliflower was delicious it made sense to me. Many winter vegetables are good roasted. It couldn't be simpler. Break up the cauliflower into medium pieces, toss with olive oil and black pepper and chunk it into a 450 degree oven for 10 minutes, pull out the pan and flip them and back into the oven for another 10 minutes. You want the cauliflower to brown just a bit. The taste was very reminscent of Fall -- the coziness of being inside when the weather is gray and raw...