John and I eloped on July 17, 1972, forty-eight years ago. I know that most if not all of the people who follow my blog were not even alive yet when we decided that we were going to get married and not our families, our differences, nor our finances were going to stop us. Look at us now-still happily cooking together every night, still playing tennis together when we can, and still enjoying each other’s company.
Crossing Lake Champlain on our honeymoon
Next week is our anniversary. Since we cannot go out to eat anywhere we are making one of our favorite meals, fried scallops with new potatoes and asparagus (or some vegetable.) Tonight’s dinner of sautéed scallops is almost as good and also one of our favorites. The scallops make both dinners extra-special. They are sweet and delicious and low in calories too! How often does that happen?!
Sauteed scallops with new potatoes and collards and corn
I first ate orecchiette with bitter greens in October, 2011 in the quaint town of Alberobello, Italy. Alberobello is the home of the Trulli, conical buildings which house everything, restaurants, hotels, churches, and especially gift shops. It is a great tourist attraction.
The Trulli houses of Alberobello, Italy
In one of these restaurant Trulli we stop for lunch. The essence of Italian food is local and uncomplicated. Orecchiette with bitter greens and olive oil is just such a dish. In our rendition we include mushrooms for more bulk and a difference in texture. The sauce is made with the pasta water and good olive oil is drizzled on top.
Orecchiette with broccolini and mushrooms
This was a delicious fish dinner. We had bought a bag of frozen Chilean sea bass at Costco and had three pieces left. John marinated them briefly in olive oil, garlic powder, paprika, lemon zest, salt, and bay leaf. The cooking was done in a 400F oven for 12 minutes for the thinner pieces and 15 minutes for the thicker piece. I made a mayo, lemon juice, mustard, parsley, caper, olive oil sauce and reheated our leftover rutabaga and sautéed snow peas. The dinner was a great success! It was so easy and took little time at all. I always feel daunted by the idea of cooking fish but this simple dinner is changing my mind.
Chilean sea bass, rutabaga, and snow peas
This dal is made with split pigeon peas or Toor dal. It has the usual spices plus peanuts, chile, and tomatoes. After sautéing the tempering and spices the rest of the ingredients go into the Instant Pot for five minutes under pressure. I used this recipe – https://pipingpotcurry.com/gujarati-dal/ With the exception of the peanuts, I thought this was a lot like Chana dal. We served it with baby kale and white rice and a garnish of lime and cilantro.
Gujarati dal
A while ago I came across a recipe by the chef, Gabriel Hamilton, for a clam chowder that you serve over toast. It was way more complicated and full of fat than anything I normally make but the idea appealed to me. Last night we adapted that recipe to one that meets our requirements without, I think, sacrificing flavor. Remember John and I are in the midst of a weight loss/healthy eating journey where I have lost over 45 lbs. and John over 40 lbs. eating exactly the plates of food pictured on my blog. I also made the recipe much easier by using canned chopped clams and bottled clam juice. We really, really liked the results and I have posted the recipe following the picture.
Clam chowder with crouton
CLAM CHOWDER WITH CROUTON. Serves 3-4
Adapted from a recipe by Gabrielle Hamilton
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
2 ribs of celery, minced
2 leeks, dark, woody green parts removed, ¼” coins
10 ounces golden new potatoes, medium dice
2 sprigs thyme, picked
2 sprigs tarragon
6 ounces dry white wine
2 bottles/16 ounces clam juice
Juice from 2 cans chopped clams (~8 oz.)
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons heavy cream
12 ounces chopped clams (2 cans, reserved liquid, see above)
3-4 slices hearty bread, toasted
Step 1
In the Dutch oven, heat the olive oil, and add onion, celery, leeks, potatoes, tarragon, and thyme, stirring to coat. Season with salt, and cook over low heat until the vegetables have just started to soften, taking care not to brown, about 5 minutes. Deglaze with white wine and then add the clam juice and reserved clam liquid. Simmer until potatoes are al dente.
Step 2
Stir in the cream, and simmer until vegetables are cooked through, taking care not to boil. Add the chopped clams, and season to taste with salt and ground black pepper. Remove from heat.
Step 3
Toast the bread until golden, and place each piece in a bowl. Add a ladleful of chowder around the toast. Add another ladleful partially covering toast.
A delicious dinner – mixed green salad and clam chowder with crouton
This week’s menu appears to be all seafood and veggies but we may have to change it up on Saturday if our son comes over to play tennis. Then they will have sausages in buns and I will have a turkey sausage. Playing tennis and then having a grilled lunch has become a special weekend fixture at our house the last few weeks. It is so lovely to have both my kids here once a week!
There is no recipe for this dinner. John cooks and I chop up vegetables. First John marinates the shrimp briefly in soy sauce, garlic powder, and ginger powder. Then he sautes them, cuts them in half and sets them aside. Next he microwaves the mushrooms briefly to get excess water out of them. Then they get sauteed followed by onions. I am madly chopping all this time. Carrots, celery, broccoli, scallions, cabbage, garlic and fresh ginger are sauteed. Everything is seasoned with soy sauce and sesame oil. At the end of cooking he puts the shrimp back in to warm them through. Our stir-fry is served on rice. It is so great to eat a delicious giant bowl of food!
Shrimp fried rice
My classic chicken dinner features a sous vide chicken breast, rutabagas made in the Instant Pot, and sautéed broccoli and zucchini. Using our immersion circulator gives us a lot of flexibility for the chicken to wait while I finish off mashing the rutabagas and sautéing the vegetables. The chicken can be enhanced with a variety of sauces. Tonight I used BBQ sauce but I often make chicken gravy with mushrooms or even a lemony butter sauce.
Details: sous vide was set at 160F and the Instant Pot at 12 minutes high pressure with instant release.
Chicken breast, mashed rutabagas, sautéed broccoli and zucchini
Spicy Thai basil eggplant with tofu
Wow, was this good! We have been trying to replicate our favorite restaurant dish and I think we nailed it. My part in dinner was to chop everything up in fairly equal sized pieces while John was the kitchen hero, cooking the dish and getting the sauce right. I am sure the restaurant has a big jug of the sauce but we do not know what it is called just that it is the perfect balance of soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and optional fish sauce.
Our dinner is under way!
We also used a lot of basil which we grow in a pot outside and I think that helped the overall taste plus we have found a super firm tofu that we do not have to press to get all the water out.
Basically all you do is stir fry Chinese or Japanese eggplant, tofu, red bell pepper, onion, garlic, and a Fresno chili together, add the basil and the sauce and then let it steam together for five minutes. We served it with rice and it was a super, almost vegan (except for a couple drops of fish sauce that you could omit), supper.
Omnivore 