These next few blogs are going to not only be about the wonderful Not So Mundane Monday meal we enjoy, but how you can turn a Not So Mundane meal into fabulous left-overs. So.....you will be getting two for one these next few weeks!
While "J" and "A" were on their (much deserved) vacation, I was tasked with watering their yard (including the all so important JAK's garden!). The pressure was on! I'd go over in the morning, before work, and soak everything. Things were looking good, but on the third day I noticed the potatoes weren't looking so "hot". Keep in mind, the Oklahoma weather these past few weeks has been H-O-T! I was beside myself! How could everything BUT the potatoes be doing well? I had to let "J" and "A" know, so I texted them as a warning. Well, to my surprise, when they returned home, I received the below picture (via text) with the following statement:
"The potatoes were ready!". Apparently potato plants "die" when they are ready to be picked! Can you believe it?!?! Look at all of those potatoes! So beautiful, and SUCH a relief!
This Monday night meal star were the potatoes, but the other offerings certainly didn't take a back-seat.
For our appetizer, colorful bell peppers (which we wish we could say were from our garden).
For the bell peppers, "J" made the most fabulous homemade blue cheese dip. Friends, I'm telling you, this dip should be bottled up! I ate and ate and ate!
The potatoes chopped and ready. Notice the endive salted and peppered. This was another treat "J" supplied as an appetizer. He grilled them, of course (remember, the grilled salad blog. said I would never have it any other way).
The main dish, that certainly could have stole the stage from the potatoes, were swordfish filet's.
"J" getting the grill ready for the endive and swordfish!
Here is the grilled endive. We, of course, drizzled each one with the homemade blue cheese dip. Perfection.
Swordfish filet's getting a turn on the grill.
"J" giving the filet's one last drizzle of the marinade (which included fresh ginger, soy, garlic).
The potatoes! These were absolutely amazing. "A" sliced them, and then they enjoyed a boil in water. They were removed halfway through cooking though. A very important step to note.
Because.....to finish the cooking process they were fried in the skillet with rosemary (fresh from the garden)! Listen folks, I grew up on fried potatoes. But, my mom always did them this way: Sliced them, then (putting them in raw) placed them in an inch of oil and turned and cooked and turned and cooked until they were saturated with the oil and almost at a mashed consistency (from the turning). Don't get me wrong (mom, if you are reading), the fried potatoes I grew up on were great. But, this is truly the way to do fried potatoes! Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. And, they retain their shape. Yummo!
Swordfish ready! Aren't the new plates awesome? Nice touch "A" added this meal.
The star, ready!
My plate, ready.
My plate, done.
All three of us devoured the potatoes; however, we each left plenty of swordfish (the filet's were huge, but we wanted to utilize the left-overs for a special treat).
Again, these next few weeks will not only be about the Not So Mundane Monday meal, but how to turn that meal into fabulous left-overs. This includes a follow-up visit (for lunch) on Tuesday where "A" will create a new fabulous meal with an item left-over from the night before. If you've been afraid of left-overs before, this will change your mind!
So, we were out of potatoes but "A" picked up a hearty eggplant. So, we had eggplant chips that joined........
A swordfish salad! "A" diced the left-over swordfish into cubes, and gave it a flash fry on the stove. She added it to sliced tomatoes, roasted garlic, onions, a great quality feta cheese and a light dressing (made up of olive oil, honey and red wine vinegar). We enjoyed the salad with the crunchy eggplant for lunch on Tuesday! Who said Tuesday's are toxic?!?! Ha!
Until next time.....A la cuisine!
No comments:
Post a Comment