A little of everything

Boy, it’s almost a week since we’ve crossed paths, and in reality, I probably don’t have much to say.  A few this and that’s, and a little cooking update at the end..(sorry, this got a little long, maybe best served in two courses)

So we begin with the 

This and That section

Amazon! (who, by the way are raising their “prime” rates)

As alert readers will remember my kind of favorite snack is Jelly Beans and peanuts.  I ate my way through the bag a friend gave to me, but wasn’t satisfied, so looked to find some more.  No joy in stores, too late.  So, on a whim I consulted Amazon.  Well, they got about a dozen choices of size, type (amounts, classic, spiced, etc.), so, click, click, and within a couple of days on your porch:

Still amazes me how they do that… Jelly Bird Eggs!  Who would have thought!

Oh, Beans..

When our friends arrived from San Diego, they brought a house gift especially for the feeder.  Apparently I missed an article in the New Yorker (one of the publications MFO gets) about some beans (go figure) that have turned into a cult following of Beans from Rancho Gordo. As you can see the story leads off with “the best meal of my life, or at least the most memorable, came from a can”.  And goes on to related how Steve Sando’s passion for beans turned them into a much sought after gourmet commodity.  Anyway, I am now proud owner of

We have yet to use them.  According to them, this variety is particularly enjoyable in Senate Bean Soup.

Magazines Redux…

About a month ago, I lamented the demise of some of my cherished food magazines..  I found the following Sherman’s Lagoon piece in the comics recently that kind of speaks to that issue.

Felt familiar..

As kind of a corollary to that, I was pleased that few loyal readers related similar feelings about “letting go”.  MFO and I attended the annual dinner of the local Historical Society at the Olde Breton Inn a bit ago, and a good friend and follower specifically came up to me and told me that she went through a similar recent “de-acquisition” process, and found herself standing over the recycle bin, with a stack of magazines in her hand, and it took all the fortitude she could muster (with somewhat dewy eyes) to let go…we are not alone!  (more on the Old Breton Inn dinner in the food section)

Comings and ….. comings

You know, I try to keep up with stuff going on, but often the Feeder is the last to know.  A copy of the “Leonardtown Beacon” fell into my hands, and lo and behold the headline was “Coming Soon (my favorite phrase) to Leonardtown” with a story of a huge “market” moving into the old Leonardtown Building Supply building on Longmore street.  According to the story, many vendors have already signed up (usually these stories are published when things are well enough along to not fail).  It will be called “Shepherds Old Field Market” and as I understood it contain crafter booths, home decorator shops, yoga spaces, etc., and on special days the overworked “Farm to Table” produce and even meats!

Have heard stories that a Red Lobster might appear in the area…why eat local seafood when you can order stuff made in a corporate kitchen and maybe finished on site.  But, of course the place will be packed.  Sigh…

And wait for it… Dos Amigos is still “Coming Soon”.  More building issues I think.  Makes you appreciate Loic all the more!

Food Section

First, to close the loop on the Historical Society dinner at Olde Breton Inn.  Before the dinner, somebody asked me if I knew the menu.  Of course.  They’ve been putting out essentially the same buffet for years.  At one end there will be a steam table of some veggies, then some potato dish (mashed or maybe scalloped) a green salad, chicken breasts in some guise (cordon bleu, Chesapeake) fried oysters, a tub of gravy, and then the haunch of carved beef.   Bingo!  Person came back and said I nailed it.  MFO was kind enough to bring me a plate, and the piece of that beef was so tough I couldn’t chew it, and it was on the rare side.  Plus somehow invariably they always.manage slice it with the grain.

Fish

With my new regimen of limited sodium, we are tending to eat more fish (with apologies to Chick Fil-a).   I am souring on Blue Apron and have found “Sea to Table” a good source of just fish, not a complete meal that requires prep work. We tried a new selection “Spiny Dogfish” which is out of the Shark family, and goes by many names, such as: blue dog, common spinyfish, darwen salmon, dogfish, grayfish, Pacific dogfish, piked dogfish, rock salmon, spiky dog, spotted spiny dogfish, spring dogfish, spur dogfish, spur dog, victorian spotted dogfish, white-spotted dogfish, and white-spotted spurdog!  Wowser! More names than a witness protection program.  Although one of the monikers is “Pacific” dogfish, ours came from the other ocean

And they were nice enough:

I honestly don’t remember what we did with it (which may be telling), most of the “suggested” recipes were for fried, and a good substitute for Fish and Chips.

A friend told me of another source of fish, called “ocean in a box”, which I have yet to investigate.  I did see a little review of the various fish by mail services, and Sea to Table was tops for those interested in promoting sustainable sources..

Trout. 

MFO got some trout filets from the local fish monger known as “Giant” which we have found to be not bad.  I found a recipe for “Trout with Garlic Lemon Butter Herb Sauce” which sounded interesting so set out to try that.   Did all my mis en place, and set out all the necessary ingredients for the dish:

1.5 pounds trout or salmon, or arctic char - 2 large fish fillets with skin on the bottom

2 tablespoons olive oil more, if needed

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning dried thyme, oregano, parsley, combined

1/4 teaspoon salt to taste

4 garlic cloves diced

3 tablespoons lemon juice freshly squeezed

2 tablespoons white wine

2 tablespoons butter softened

2 tablespoons parsley chopped

Followed directions to season the flesh side with the Italian herb stuff, heated the oil in the pan and added the fishies.

as well as my new “fish weights”

And cooked until lightly browned

Removed the fish after separating the flesh from the skin “making sure to leave all the cooking oils in the pan”,

 and:

“Add diced garlic, lemon juice, and white wine to the same pan with oil. Cook on medium-low heat for about 1 minute, until garlic softens a bit. Remove from heat. Add 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley, and 2 tablespoons of butter, off heat, to the sauce, stirring, until the butter melts and forms a creamy mixture”.

One of these days, I’ll get that “creamy mixture” part right.  Nuff said for now.  Turned out pretty good, but a creamy mixture would have helped

END

That's long enough for today. 

And I’m seriously considering taking up another cause as well:

NMMJ (No More Mason Jars)

What do you think?

Still however, you must

DFD