Easter Dinner

I love not knowing what I'm cooking before I get to the store. Sometimes I surprise myself. Today on the way in to the store I saw packages of Pita bread. Instantly I knew what I wanted, and it was a far cry from the sort of dinner I'd planned to make--something with lamb or a crown of pork roast. But, I'm tired, feeling a bit jittery from the big chocolate easter egg I ate this afternoon (with no other food) and perhaps from the sleight hangover from last night's wine consumption.

D. agreed readily, and we trundled over to get some green leaf lettuce, some ripe hothouse tomatoes, some sliced turkey breast (talk about lazy), some muenster cheese. I also picked up some asparagus since I wanted a nice veggie.

I got some tortilla strips and decided to make the mango salsa we had last night at the party. I bought some mangos, some grape tomatoes, some red bell peppers, a white onion and some serranos. I've got some cilantro on hand, and I can't think of anything else that was in the recipe.

I'll assemble the sandwiches and the salsa, and I'll pan roast the asparagus.

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Here is the plate with my serving.



Everything came out pretty good, except I mangled the mango, and should have cut the grape tomatoes into quarters. The asparagus, which I roasted in olive oil, came out very nice -- didn't even really need butter.

I served this with Newcastle Brown Ale, to be followed shortly (before the sun goes down) by a nice cold gin martini.

Welcome to Dinner at my House!

Since this is the first post on this blog, I will not talk about a specific recipe but about my methods. Listen, I'm not a chef, I'm just a man who likes to cook, to eat, to be with friends and family, to drink good beer and wine, to enjoy cocktails. And so these are the things I'll talk about here.

I cook dinner weekends and sometimes during the week. These aren't generally recipies construed out of a recipe book, though I look to them for inspiration and advice and new ideas. I tend, rather, to go to the grocery store and see what's available. Sometimes, what I'm cooking is a rehash of what I've cooked and reported on many times. Still, each attempt is a unique night in its own right.

Don't expect one of those amazing feats of bloggerdom where the person cooking goes through the entire Julia Child's French Cooking -- I'm way too lazy for that. What I will do is describe the meal I cooked, perhaps starting with the grocery store excursion, and building from there. I'll give the recipe in general terms, and for common dishes I'll link to formal recipe.

I've read only one cookbook cover to cover, Tom Colchinos "Think Like a Chef". His methods have inspired me -- and I just do what feels right to me. My method of inspection is all about whether I was happy with the food. Taste is something one can never argue about, and some of what I think works will be horrific to some readers - I've been known to serve dishes from multiple cuisines on the same menu and to mingle ideas from cultures in one dish. It doesn't always work, even for me.

I'm slowly trying to try specific recipies, or "set dishes", and when I do that, I'll announce it. I am a pasta fiend, and could eat it every night. My kids love potatoes. When appropriate we eat rice, generally basmati, jasmine, or chinese short grain.

This is not a vegetarian blog. We eat meat. By meat I mean, Steak, Lamb, Veal, Pork and Chicken. We also eat fish and shellfish, though not as much as I'd like. Where I live, hopelessly landlocked in Utah, the only fresh fish easily available is from Costco. And though I hate large chains, Costco get's me good fish and meat for a reasonable price.

We love vegetables, and regularly have a large vegetable side (cooked) and / or a large salad (especially in the summer, when we have fresh tomatoes). We garden in our yard and raise tomatoes and peppers, cucumbers and squash, and hopefully some peas and lettuce (it's getting late!). I'm particularly fond of braising vegetables and pan roasting things like asparagus and green beans.

I welcome your comments, I'll gladly expound an area I've glossed over if you ask. I'm interested in insight into what might have gone wrong with a dish I've tried. I'm also interested in critique as to unneeded steps I'm taking (there is a certain religious quality to my cooking, where I ritually follow all the steps that led to my idea of success.

Finally, a bit about me. I'm in my late 40's, married with four daughters, living in the SLC area of Utah. Two of my daughters are married and two live at home. The oldest married daughter lives here with my grandaughter and her husband. Here is a short gloss of the characters that might be attending my dinnners.

D. - my lover / partner
Amy, Ben and Ay. - daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter.
Melissa and B. - daugher and son-in-law
Tina - daughter
Caitlin - daughter
Jono - dear friend, who occasionally stays over
Deano - dear friend who lives nearby, who comes over often
biloba - a friend from school who sometimes comes over on sundays.

Welcome to Dinner at my House!