Physics, Ribeyes, and a good Pinot Noir

And now for my first actual blog update (with little to do with food, but just enough to belong here!).
Summer is slowly starting to wind down in the grand city of Knoxvegas, and I am definitely starting to feel it. Between finding hours at work, finding an opportunity to go home to Ohio, finding time for school, and finding time for food and friends, I'm slowly but surely losing myself. But I'll make it through, because I do have my good friends down here in Rocky Top.

Let me just say that class is hard. I love the fact that I'm taking a fast track course, but a four credit hour physics class in 16 days is kind of rough.  My friend and I are taking the same course but at different universities, and she started in June and I've already passed her (I started the first of July) and my final is the last Thursday of July. It's rough. I have a test every Tuesday and Thursday and a lab report due every Monday and Wednesday.  And this coming week I have a quiz Monday and Wednesday as well.
Not only am I taking that dreadful class, which lasts from 9 am to 3:20 (ughhh), I'm also trying to work 20+ hours.  Which, yeah, is no big deal... but c'mon. I'm doing that in 3 days. Haha! I don't work Monday-Wednesday, and I'm not usually scheduled on Fridays, so my work schedule is all over the place!  But it's okay, I only have two weeks.

Thankfully I've found time to go home this coming weekend.  Due to some family issues, I have to.  And having to deal with that stuff from so far away is rough - my brother and I have had to deal with it the same way, though, so I have someone to relate to.  I'm going to go home Friday morning and probably leave Saturday night, so that leaves little to no time for me.  But I may possibly be bringing back goodies for my kitchen!

Enough rambling, my friend and I had a good dinner this evening!  Emily and I had ribeyes (yum!) with feta butter, along with rice and baked broccoli.  No pictures today, but here's some tips!

If you melt about a tablespoon of butter and add in some fetta cheese, it makes a perfect, salty, cheesy spread for bread and meats.  We put it on top of our steaks and it was delectable!
I also cut up broccoli into mini little pieces and baked them at 400 degrees on a nonstick cooking sheet for about 20 minutes and it created a soft, yet crunchy alternative to fries.  Season with some dried herbs, salt, and pepper before putting them in the oven and they will be so yummy!

The gem of the evening was my 2005 Navarro Pinot Noir (that my mother so graciously gave me in April) and although I broke the cork, it opened up very well in the glass.  Teamed with a ribeye, it was so subtly sweet with a good acid level - my mouth was begging for more of this pairing!! What kind of wine do you like with your steak?

Ciao e Bella Cucina!
Katherine

Friday Fish Night!

Growing up my parents taught me to appreciate food.  My mother is an artist, and she loves to express herself through cooking.  I learned all my basics from her - how to make a roux, how to cut vegetables, how to devein shrimp... after my many tears and cries "I'm going to ruin something!" my mother taught me to trust myself through my cooking.  She also taught me that when food is made with love, it always tastes so much better.  And apparently a pie can only be made when you are happy, or else something bad will happen (and that is why she would get up before the sun to start pies during the holidays, to avoid any distractions from her two wild, salivating children).
She respected food so much, the meat guys at the local grocery store knew her by name. Her favorite was her meat man Joe, who always told her when good pieces of meat were coming in, when things were going on sale, or whatever - he had her back when it came to meat.  I had met him a couple of times when I was dragged to the grocery store, but I never really thought of him outside of that store.  Then he was laid off, and my mother was heartbroken.  She eventually made nice with the new meat guys, but it was never the same.
Then I started hanging out with my dear friend Emily, whom I explained in an earlier post that I hated her when I first knew her (and now she's one of my dearest friends, or "in my top 10 I'd like at my wedding," as she would say).  Band kids would start hanging out at her house at night, but it was always late when we were there so her parents and sister were asleep. But when Emily and I became better friends, I came over at different times.  And then I met her dad.  And I instantly knew that he was Joe, my mom's favorite meat man.  Clearly our friendship was meant to be.

But back to 2010, today was Friday Fish night at my apartment - Emily and I made spade fillets and salmon fillets.  We are both going through a "we can only go out if it is cheap" stage and we decided to stay in (because what isn't cheaper than that?!).  I was at the store today and I bought some salmon, which only costed $5.00, and between two people that's dirt cheap! I had all of the other ingredients at home, so cooking this evening was quick, painless, and easy on the wallet.

I was slightly inspired by my Pecan and Ginger Crusted Tilapia because I still have some left over ginger, so the salmon became my asian-inspired dish and the spade was cooked for a delicate pallet, only using fresh herbs and a little garlic.

Pecan and Garlic Sautéed Salmon
Ingredients
1 salmon filet, with skin
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 tsp dried basil

Rub the basil, salt, and freshly ground pepper into the flesh side of the salmon.
In a small sauté pan, start browning the garlic and ginger together in the olive oil, once it starts to brown, remove the garlic and the ginger and set aside (these will be used later), leaving the oil in the pan.  Turn the oil up on a high heat and once the oil is hot, put the salmon in skin side down, to crisp the skin.  Then flip and cook until the salmon is cooked through.

For this recipe, I made the same honey balsamic glaze that I made for the tilapia, but I added in both the browned garlic and ginger, as well as some ginger powder.

Herb and Garlic Fish
Ingredients
2 filets of white fish (whichever you choose)
2 tbsp fresh herbs, mashed with a little salt and olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Rub the fish filets with the herbs before adding to the heat.
Start to brown the garlic on a medium-high heat, and after a couple of minutes add your fish.  Sprinkle each side with a little salt and freshly ground pepper.  Cook on both sides, until the garlic starts to brown and the herbs start to cook as well.  Once the fish is cooked through, remove from heat and put in a warm oven.

Spicy Rice
Let's just say I'm always doing something crazy with my rice! Haha! :)
Ingredients
1 cup white rice, cooked per packaging directions
1 tbsp butter
Salt to taste
2 tsp herbes de provence
2 tsp habanero sauce

Once rice is cooked through, add in all the ingredients above and stir.  You may need to adjust per your taste, but I found that the spicier it was, the better it balanced the fish's delicate flavor.
Serve the white fish over the rice.

Ciao, e bella cucina!
Katherine