Saturday, October 30, 2010

Fishbone in the Tongue

Okay, I was taking risks when I decided to cook fish tonight, extremely daring, as it was neither salmon nor cod. I saw the glazed eyes of the Daurade looking blankly out at me and knew right there and then-this will be delicious! Having just run across a recipe for cooking Daurade whole in the oven I asked the fishmonger to prepare my catch. How could it not be good? The recipe included-ginger, garlic, lemon grass, fresh coriander and hoisan and soy sauce. Perhaps it was my son's expletives and he took in the opaque eyes staring back at him. Maybe it was my husband's doubtful expression as he bit back the words he so badly wanted to utter "FISH-YUK!" I have to admit even I lost my gusto after picking out long, sharp bones from my mouth with every biteful-not helped by the skin I sometimes ended up chewing. Midway through the meal my son said "Barf" for the umpteenth time and gave up. I told him he could just eat the rice but could he PLEASE stop saying that. I then proceeded to thread my tongue with one of those sharp bones which involved the whole family going into the bathroom to help me remove the aforementioned weapon...I mean bone.
So why didn't I just make salmon after all....

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Figgy Galore

As fig season winds down, I sigh inwardly as I review this years' batch of  recipes. The highlight was a simple fig compote sweetened with a little sugar, lemon and topped of with orange zest. I cooked it down to practically a confit which I preserved and will pull out  in December with our traditional foie gras. I also liked the roasted figs we had on several occasions-once with mascarpone& honey and several times with  vanilla sugar and butter-once out of the hot oven topped off with a dollop of creme fraiche. But I  love figs so much that nothing beats biting into fat juicy delicious one -green, black...I truly love figs!!!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Jeff Abbott

I love  a good thriller like nobody's business and this quick read just hit the spot. "Adrenalin" is a great  page turner with a clever CIA agent who always does the right thing. A few surprises kept this story going and it left you with a cliff hangar to ensure a sequel...Can't wait til that comes out!