Trout Shout-out! (A.K.A. The Trout-out!)

That's right... TROUT! 

I eat most kinds of fish even though I'm technically a vegetarian (or if you want to get even more technical, you can use the snobby "pescatarian" term). However, when it comes to trout, I always freeze up a bit about putting it on my dinner plate. 

Why? Well, years ago when I was a "SKOOK," (If you don't understand the reference, you're not from Schuylkill County, PA!) I would go fishing with my parents and grandparents to "The Whipporwill" and what did we catch? Trout. Red, Coleman beverage coolers full of trout! I can still remember my family frying up the fish and I wouldn't go near them with a ten foot pole. Perhaps it was the taste or the fact that we caught them ourselves or even the location we caught the fish, but I just plain despised trout! 

Fast forward 18 years and I wearily decided to give trout another chance thanks to Martha. This time around, I purchased my from Whole Foods fish section and prayed that the fish didn't come from "The Whippy." (My luck, it probably did!) Anyway, here are the dinner results:

The Apéritif: Cherry Beer
Rating: 7
Tweaks: Used Whole Foods Tart Cherry Juice in lieu of Cherry nectar.
Comments: Nice, refreshing summer drink and a great way to spruce up a regular, old Stella Artois!

Dinner: Cornmeal-Fried Trout w/ Tomato, Sorrel & Basil Panzanella

Rating: 8

Comments: I dug this recipe, A LOT! The panzanella (which was like a bread salad) helped to bring out the flavor in the trout. I was really surprised how good this was and would definitely make it again. Now, only if my "other-half" felt the same way!

Dessert: Almond-Apricot Tart w/ Whipped Cream
Rating: 6
Tweaks: I used rum and almond flavoring since I didn't have amaretto on hand.
Comments: This tart didn't really do it for me - partly because I'm not a big dessert person and partly because it  didn't involve chocolate! Nonetheless, the homemade whipped cream was awesome. It reminded me of when I first learned how to make whipped cream as a waitress at one of my favorite restaurants, The Greystone. To die for! I think my fiance and I could have eaten the entire bowl and slipped into a whipped cream coma. Joy :)

Summer Dinner Party

Nothing is better than good friends and family, great weather and superb wine! 

Last night, my fiance and I hosted our first summer dinner party and we cooked up a few recipes from the June MS Living.  Although I completely forgot to take photos (except for the awesome wine!), here is what we sampled:

Green Salad w/ Chickpeas & White Balsamic Dressing
Rating: 7
Comments: The dressing was good but I thought it could have used more vinegar and less oil. The dressing had a slight sweetness from the honey and was a nice, summery dressing. 

Grilled Buttermilk Chicken
Rating: 9
Comments: I used some of the fresh herbs we were growing outside. Even our pickiest eaters enjoyed this recipe and I'm looking forward to making it again!
Tweaks: We used chicken breast in lieu of whole chicken

Spicy Grilled Shrimp
Rating: 7
Comments: I was really scared of some the ingredients in the recipe, especially its use "fish sauce." However, after I realized that fish sauce sounds way worse than it actually looks, I'm glad we gave it a try. 

Vermont Burgers - Turkey & Beef
Rating: 7
Comments: Although I don't eat meat, I heard that the beef burgers were pretty good. As for the turkey burgers, I didn't hear anything about them. I'm going to take that as a sign that they were edible, but not memorable!

Roasted Asparagus w/ Capers & Lemon
Rating: 5
Comments: I guess I expected more from this recipe since I was using capers and lemon. However, the asparagus tasted, well... just like asparagus. Nothing real special about it but it was still good. 

Overall, we had a great dinner! I just wish I would have more time to prepare dessert! Maybe next time. 

Martha & RATM

Well, it finally happened! All components of dinner were finally ready to be served at the same time! 


For me, this was as an absolute first. Why? Because often I find myself serving courses to my fiance when they are finished (rather than as a complete meal) because I somehow failed to calculate the cooking times of the dinner courses properly. Boy, grandmothers use to make it look so easy!


Although I intended to start cooking some of my MS Living recipes a few days ago, I delayed tackling some Martha's "What's for Dinner?" recipe section until last night. The results: Well, spectacular - of course! It was one of the best meals I have cooked in a long time and it got me out of my incessant cooking rut. 


It all started with my enlightening grocery store trip to Wegman's. Instead of purchasing the same six produce items, I finally had some variety in my cart - rhubarb, leeks, various peppers (and they weren't red or green), salmon and fresh mint, to name a few. In the past, if I even dared to purchase these items, they would just sit in the fridge until they "went bad" because I had NO CLUE what to do with them. Not this time! 


Armed with my recipes and ingredients, I was ready to take on dinner. Of course my execution was indeed, hilarious - for several reasons! However, the comedy in my execution first hit me when I when I was in my disaster of a kitchen, chopping fresh herbs in my 4" stiletto stacked heels with crimson lips, all while singing along to Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name Of." How very un-Martha of me! Nonetheless, the dinner turned out great. Next time, I will try a little harder to "fit the part" a little more!


The breakdown of the dinner and the recipes are as follows:

Bruschetta - w/ Tomato, Balsamic & Dill

Rating: 6

Garlic-Jalapeno Shrimp

Rating: 8

Tweaks: Substituted a Hungarian pepper for jalapeno

Comments: We loved this recipe!

Rice w/ Peas and Cilantro

Rating: 6

Tweaks: Substituted parsley for cilantro

Carmel Custards

Rating: 7

Comments: Reminded us of a creme brulee type of dessert - minus the crunchy top!

Drink - The Taurus

Rating: 2 (Holy crap! Strong tequila!)

More to come...


~ I