What's Happening Hot Stuff?

Tonight went well. 

I found really good looking tuna medallions on sale and decided to build around them. The exciting and risky part of this was I didn't use any recipes so you never know how its going to work out. Tonight it worked out.

Main Course: pan-seared tuna with a soy vinegar wasabi sauce.

I started off trying to reduce the soy. That was a complete and utter failure. Even using low sodium soy the saltiness was overwhelming. I ended up using a mixture of two to one vinegar to soy with a couple teaspoons of wasabi. I added some corn starch and thickened it over a medum fire.

Debby loved it. Buddah didn't love the tuna but did love the sauce. MD was hungry and cranky so she was extremely happy to have anything.

Side: Asian Brussels Sprouts and Cabbage Stir Fry (If that's possible)

I stuck to the basics with Asian cooking. A tablespoon of minced ginger and a tablespoon of minced garlic. I had flash poached the sprouts, trimming and then putting in cold water. As soon as it boiled, I pulled them out and cooled them in an ice bath.

After I got the pan, (yes it wasn't a wok, so what?) good and hot with canola oil I threw in the ginger and garlic and as soon as it was fragrant followed with the sprouts for a few minutes and then the cabbage. If I wasn't trying to do too much at one time, I would have kept it on a high heat and wilted the cabbage and keep stirring and have it ready just as the tuna was coming off the pan. 

Not having that luxury, I turned the heat down and put a lid on the mixture. I also threw in some red pepper flakes because that another basic element in Asian cooking. As a result of cooking the mixture this way, the sprouts lost some their bright green hue.

Debby and Mary Douglass loved the mix and I did as well. Buddah doesn't eat anything purple she announced and didn't partake. She has also informed me that she's not a fan of sprouts or celery root as well.

Salad: Completely incongruous to the rest of the meal I went low maintenance with Arugula, parmesan shavings and a simple olive oil, lemon and a touch of honey. MD doesn't like Arugula but everyone else does.

All in all the meal was pleasant and everyone was in a good mood. 

Now let's talk music. I discovered a piece of music today that has blown me away. It is by Booker T and the MG's, whose are best known for the instrumental hit "Green Onions".  Look I'm totally into music and yet had no f'n' idea how influential this band was. 

The album I stumbled across is called McLemore Avenue. The album was recorded in 1969 and consists of only four tracks. All four tracks are covers of Beatles songs. Two of the tracks are medleys, ten and fifteen minutes long. Amazon actually has it for download and you can hear a sample.

That's it for now. Until later, I am listening to Booker T.

Peace out,

Jason

A Family Favorite...almost

Still under the weather. I made dinner for the girls (minus Ann who has returned to the permafrost of New Hampshire, until Christmas break in two short weeks!).

I wasn't in the mood for fancy still feeling like dreck so I went the easy route.

Main Course: sausage, onions and pepper over fusilli. 

I tried something different this time which reduced the cooking effort. First, I cut the sausage (sweet italian sausage) into pieces before I cooked it. The reason I did this was because I didn't do my normal cooking style, which involves putting whole links into a pan, covering them with water and boiling the mixture until there's no liquid left. When I do that, I end up cutting the sausage on a board and end up with grease and sausage everywhere. 

This time, I put some olive oil into a large pot and cooked the sausage over a medium fire for a good 25 minutes, being paranoid about undercooked sausage. When they were done, I pulled them out with a slotted spoon. I drained all but a tablespoon of oil in the pot. I then put three sweet onions which I cut stem to root and sofened them up for a good ten minutes, stirring frequently.

Once the onions were soft I push them aside and add a tablespoon or so of concentrated tomato paste out of a tube. (I use this stuff all the time. If I haven't already extolled its virtures, I will now. There's no waste. It is concentrated so one tablespoon equals two. When I put it into the pot I try to move it around, flip it over and actually cook it for two minutes before mixing it into the onions.

Right before I put the peppers in I throw in some garlic I've minced cooking it for thirty seconds before trying to mix it into the onions.

When I cut the red peppers, I typically cut off the crown as close to the top as I can. I pull out the seeds and use my hands to remove as much of the white ribs as possible. I then cut the bottom off so the pepper will stand on the cutting board. You can then slice off pieces pretty quickly. 

I added them to them to the onions and let them soften a fair amount...maybe 15 minutes. Then I threw the sausage back in, heated it up and its done.

Buddah and MD loved the dinner. Debby says "it isn't her favorite".

Salad: a wedge with diced carrots and red pepper. Debby's made some bleu cheese dressing that she likes but the girls feel is too cheesy. Buddah suggested that the diced carrots were too small to pick up with her fork and didn't add anything to the salad. 

And there you have it.

I didn't listen to any music. I was feeling like shite. Debby brought me up a bowl of pasta with butter for my dinner. 

That's all I got.