Lazy Week

....And we're back.  It's been a busy 2 weeks.  All the traveling and stuff has got my cooking on a back burner.  On a sad note this week, a cooking class I was slated to attend was cancelled on me.  On the bright side, I now have a new project to work on.  You know, that's always been a bit of a problem with mine.  I'm a relatively creative person, however, I lack direction most of the time.  Back when I had art class for 4 years straight, it was always a bit of a relief to have assignments.  I never actually did the assignment exactly as asked, but I was always grateful for the initial idea.  

Moving on.  Right.  So.  This week's food stuffs.  Let's start with the half-failed experiment.  I have been meaning to try out two things.  First is the dandelion greens and second is the buffalo steak.  The dandelion greens were slightly bitter and spicy.  I enjoyed the taste but they needed to be a part of a bigger salad.  I thought the blistered red peppers would be enough to balance out the flavor but I was wrong.  Along with that, the uncooked daikon just didn't pair so well with it.  Next time, I'll focus a little more on just the greenery and I'm sure I'll be able to work out a more coherent combination of flavors.  So moving onto the buffalo steak.  This part I actually got it the way I wanted.  I did a pan sear and I was scared to bits as this meat is incredibly lean and I didn't want to overcook it.  In fact, the cooking time was very similar to filet mignon so it turned out better than I expected.  The taste was incredibly sweet.  Much sweeter and juicier than I had expected.  I shall revisit this meat, but it is decidedly more expensive than beef.  The garnish itself was made from grated daikon.  That worked surprisingly well.  Next time, I'll add a bit more salt into that garnish and it would match the steak very well.  It was a bit more refreshing than horseradish.  Overall, I was relatively satisfied.  I mean I had steak and thick cut bacon.  I can't not be!


My second dish this week was much better.  It was more or less a rushed job and I was exhausted from lack of sleep and having driven for few hours.  Either way, I was incredibly pleased with the results of this quick dish.  For once, I didn't need to cut anything in order to prep this dish.  Sure I did a bit of grating and peeling but that was insignificant in comparison to the inordinate amount of cutting I need to do for my mise.  The cod.  This was a beautiful piece of fish that I acquired.  It was very firm and came out incredibly light and flaky.  The taste was delicate and paired very well with the lemon butter cream sauce I made with it.  The asparagus was peeled and that created a very crisp texture.  I used a bit of lime juice as well and I used the zest from both the lemon and lime and that worked well with the sauce and fish.  And finally I just have a weak spot for fresh dill.  I love it in my eggs and I love it on my fish.  


So my next few projects, I have a good idea, but I'm not going to promise anything.  Here's hoping I can reschedule for a different class at the cooking school.  I'm still looking into the weekend program at Johnson and wales down in north miami.  Not sure if I'm willing to cut out dance to accomodate this yet.  It's also going to be very pricey.  <sigh>  


Alright then boys and girls.  Time to get back to the Doctor.  I just started catching up on the latest episodes of Doctor Who.  Not sure how I feel about Matt Smith yet.  He's very ambiguous in his emotions at times, very distant from his new companions, and just incredibly shouty.  I'm warming up to him a bit, but I feel a bit disconnect from him for now.  I suppose I'm just still attached to David Tennant as the Doctor.