I like the parrot. It was a wedding present, given by a witty pair of Brits who told me "we didn't know what to get you, so we're giving you this." My ex was never fond of it; I adored it, as well as the sentiment that brought it into my life, and I have displayed it prominently in every place I've lived since 1983. I love the unexpected, the departure from the road most traveled, the random synapse of the brain that caused someone to say "I'm buying this as a wedding present."
I tend to cook that way too. Rarely do I have ALL of the ingredients in my house for whatever recipe I'm trying to achieve, and I'm either too lazy or unable to run out and get whatever I need, so I "make do." I've always admired the innovative cooks of The Great Depression, who made "apple pie" out of Ritz crackers and otherwise made sure their families had something GOOD to eat. (I'm reading "Grapes of Wrath" right now, too -- great book.)
So yesterday I set out to make homemade Caesar salad dressing from "The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook" -- if you don't have this, you ought to consider getting it, because the recipes are really good. This week I'm beyond broke, and I couldn't spend money (that I didn't have) for anchovies or egg substitute for the Caesar salad dressing, as I usually do. I don't use egg substitute for anything else EXCEPT Caesar salad dressing, and I didn't see myself having a large Caesar Salad Party anytime in the future, so decided to throw caution to the winds and use a Real Egg. I don't sky dive, ski, or do any other sports that would earn me a higher personal insurance payment, but I will live life on the edge with food. Find me a sushi chef with blowfish, please! I have a 3-day rule on keeping leftovers in my fridge, but raw egg? steak tartare? NO PROBLEM!
I thought I'd try the dressing recipe without the anchovies which admittedly were "optional," according to the recipe, but the finished product didn't have the wonderful snap of flavor of a true Caesar dressing. Inspiration hit: MARMITE! Do NOT turn up your nose at this: it WORKED! The salty punch of flavor of the Marmite perfectly replicated the missing anchovies. I didn't add much -- a little Marmite goes a long way -- just enough for the salty full flavor to give the added kick that was missing from my salad dressing. I am amazed and pleased, and probably won't bother with the anchovies anymore (except as pizza garnishes . . . mmmmmm).
However, the tale does not end here. I had some salad dressing left over when I started dinner. I made scalloped potatoes (from Julia Child's cookbook), chicken breast stuffed with Havarti cheese, and spinach quickly wilted in a little olive oil with chopped garlic, sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and lemon juice. Usually when I make stuffed chicken breast, I make an egg/lemon juice/cornstarch wash to dip it in before rolling it in Italian style bread crumbs. Last night I decided to use the Caesar salad dressing as the wash (well, it DID have a Real Egg and lemon juice in it!), and it was pretty damned awesome. No waste of the raw egg dressing (or another egg and another lemon), and a very delicious chicken breast.
This morning I used some of the leftover potatoes in scrambled eggs with green chilis, topped with Mexican cheese and salsa. I may try using the rest of the leftover potatoes to make fish cakes, but more on that later . . . . I'll turn that around in my mind for a while. It might just work!
I'll ask the parrot.
No comments:
Post a Comment