I incessantly plagued my mother with that question during my childhood. She worked her revenge by teaching me to cook for myself, and to do it well. Now that I KNOW how to cook, the answer to that question rests solely with me.
While I was on Maui, I had no trouble thinking of yummy things to eat.
I scrambled chopped turkey with generous dollops of honey-pineapple teriyaki sauce and a giant spoon of ginger preserves. Served over toasted Hawaiian sweet bread dinner rolls, they were a tropical version of sloppy joes.
I marinated chunks of ahi tuna and ono (a kind of Hawaiian mackeral) in Thai green curry for a mixed grill of fish kebabs.
We soaked chicken in soy sauce with fresh grated ginger, orange juice and some dark cane crystals. Grilled up, the chicken was delicious with pad-thai noodles and a salad of sesame dressing over spicy baby greens.
The breakfast spread in the picture above is pear-ginger turnovers, diced pineapple and cheddar-turkey croissants. You didn't think we'd stay in a place without a kitchen did you?
The bounty of Hawaii is far behind me. Here I am stuck in America's bread basket and produce sack. What's for dinner is a far trickier question, I have so much more to choose from.
Tonight the answer was chicken thighs browned skin down, then topped with a container of salsa, and braised covered over low heat. While russet potato chunks microwaved in heavily salted water, I chiffoned oregano and rosemary from the yard. Once the potatoes were mostly cooked I pan-seared them with a handful of bell-pepper slices and the fresh herbs. There was so much salsa mingling with the chicken cooking juices that I removed the cooked chicken and pureed the entire remaining pan sauce. I suspect my roommate may have licked his plate.
Good eats do not have to be complicated.
5 comments:
What, no Spam? Or did you feel that it was better to leave the Spam preparation to Hawaii's professional gourmet chefs?
No Spam. I was making do with what we had, and that was turkey. Plus, Spam is gross.
Inspiration shouldn't be gross.
I'm sorry... WHO cut up the ono and ahi, and marinated it in the green curry? I seem to recall being the one who did that entire aspect of that particular meal.
prep work is not the same as culinary invention. Ask Thos. Keller.
My parents got a place with a kitchen and had a field day with the pacific seafood bounty as well. They get tons of south asian fish there...giant pomfret, pacific mackerel etc.
Post a Comment