Pear with Prosciutto

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Pears are just coming into season in some places, although I have to admit I’m not sure where this one was grown, as it came from the twice-weekly fruit delivery that comes to my office. This Comice pear was perfectly crisp with just a little give, and sweet, but not too sweet.

Melon and prosciutto is delicious as we all know, and it turns out that pear is as well. I may try other fruits now in the future. White peaches next summer maybe?

Tea Eggs

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I’ve had a craving for tea eggs ever since this little tea house that I used to go to to study in college closed down. Lucy’s used to serve rice plates that included a drink for like 4.99, an incredible steal, even 10 years ago, and the plate always included a hot tea egg.

Little did I know how simple these are to make. I found a few recipes online, but this one in particular from Nook & Pantry appealed to me for it’s simplicity, as it’s really just 4 ingredients.

Sauerkraut

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Who would’ve thought that I’d ever make from scratch such a hard-core Germanic food as sauerkraut (which by the way, in German just means sour cabbage). But it turns out that sauerkraut is amazingly easy to make, and filled with those special bacteria that are so good for the tum-tum.

Before I go into the recipe, I’ve got to explain the color. You see, this is my second home-made batch of sauerkraut. I made the first batch with purple cabbage. This one is made with all white cabbage, but I used some of the deep purple liquid from the first batch to kick-start the fermentation process. Aside from giving this batch it’s interesting pinkish color, it worked great, and that nice sour flavor matured much more quickly in this batch. However, after a quick google search I found out that pink sauerkraut is usually a sign that the cabbage growing something called leucoanthocyanidin, and should be discarded. So if you’ve actually heard of leucoanthocyanidin, or just knew anecdotally that pink sauerkraut is bad, DO NOT BE ALARMED!!! …the sauerkraut is just fine. Delicious, in fact!

Now, on to the recipe.

Prosciutto-wrapped Salmon

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I don’t make this very often as my preferred type of salmon (wild-caught) is so damn expensive, and good prosciutto ain’t exactly cheap, now that I mention it, but this dish is fantastic. It’s one of may favorite go-to entrees for a bit of fancy flair without too much effort. I adapted it from something I saw that cute English boy, Jamie Oliver, do on TV, but it’s been ages since I saw it, so I’m not sure how close my recipe is to his original anymore.

And while it might sound a bit off to combine cured pork and fish, it’s actually quite divine, as the prosciutto holds the moisture and flavors in the fish with a very lovely result. I usually don’t even add salt, as the prosciutto takes care of that.

• Salmon fillets - skin-off is best for this recipe, as you’ll want to eat the whole thing
• Proscuitto - as thinly sliced as you can get it. 2-3 slices per fillet.
• Olive Oil
• Herbs

Rinse the salmon fillets , and place them in a pan. I like to use a 9″ x 13″ glass pan. Drizzle the fillets with a bit of olive oil, and use your hands to lightly coat the fish. Sprinkle with dried herbs (and maybe balck pepper if you like) on both sides. I use a simple Italian Herb mix. Then, wrap each fillet with 2-3 slices of the prosciutto, and bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of fish.

Voila! A rich, but still rather healthy main course!

Oh Demi Moore, look at my muscles… (or, the danger of drunk blogging)

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The Hub and I are drinking wine and watching Ghost tonight.

Carl Bruner just dumped coffee on his shirt so that he could expose smooth tanned muscles to a bereaved Demi Moore.

Classic.

Chicken Stock

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Hubby and I baked a whole chicken last night, always the beginning of a delicious journey as the carcass is turned into stock, which is then turned into some kind of soup. (I’m not the only one who loves the carcass, either.) Our version is really simple, and I think making your own stock is one of those things that is pretty difficult to f*** up, as long as you’ve got a little sense.

As you boil the bones, the gelatin comes out of them, which is what makes your homemade stock solidify after it’s been in the fridge, but what also gives it that rich velvety texture when it’s hot.

Here’s the basic idea:

• Chicken Carcass
• Veggies and Herbs (Carrots, onions, and celery are basics. The leaves of the celery add extra flavor, and our favorite herb with chicken is rosemary. )

Throw in some salt, pepper, herbs, whatever you’ve got on hand, and simmer it all together for a couple of hours. Then strain out the solids and put the liquid in the fridge overnight, so you can skim the fat off the top the next day.

I like to freeze a few container for future use.

Commence making delicious soups, stews, risottos, and whatever else your little heart desires.

A digression from the so-far established theme of recipes: A brief environmentalist rant

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I wasn’t planning to use my blog for rants, as I have a tendency to avoid things I think would look self-indulgent or make me look like I think I’m more important than I am. I don’t know where I got that, especially because I’m one of the biggest smarty-pants around, and I just about always think I really do know better than you or anyone else. (Just ask my husband, who, glowingly generous soul that he is, receives the brunt of my helpful suggestions, useful tidbits, and “no, sweetie, I’m right-you’re wrong” patronizing attitude.)

But I’ve just discovered Dooce, and she’s hilarious and cranky and witty and vulnerable, and then this thing happened today, and I was (inspired?… driven?) to write about it.

So here is the ridiculousness that I want to speak my mind on:

I ordered RECYCLED paper towels for work from Costco.com. Three packs of 6 rolls each. I do my best to keep our office as environmentally friendly as possible. We have these expensive water filters so people don’t use so many single-serve bottles, I hardly buy anything disposable that’s not recycled, you get the picture. I’d rather we didn’t use paper towels at all and people just carried around cloths like the No Impact guy, but the folks at work wouldn’t be havin’ it, so I concede and order RECYCLED paper towels. So, back to the matter at hand, the Costco guy brings in the items from the truck individually, cases of soda, big bags of trail mix (I order the big bag and make people share because it uses less packaging). And then he brings in 3 boxes. Each one is sealed up with ONE of the packs of paper towels, and 4 of those bubbly air bag packaging thingys. You know, to protect the paper towels. Because they might get dented.

Jesus, people. I’m trying to REDUCE my carbon footprint here.

I know there wasn’t just one person involved in the inane decision to send my paper towels in an obscene amount of protective packaging, but if there was, I want to pour organic earth-friendly sugar into the gas tank of their gigantic SUV.