Saturday, July 22, 2006

The lemon crop is coming in here in California. Everyone I know is trying to distribute lemons to worthy recepients. Besides making some wonderful lemonade and lemon curd I'm trying my hand at limoncello. I even had a snazzy Patron bottle that I didn't have the heart to get rid of. Basically the process calls for letting lots of lemon peels sit in vodka for weeks. Here's the recipe I'm using.


Melinda Lee is featuring some wonderful lemonade recipes this weekend, one uses lavendar. I think I'll try the mint version.







This week's cooking adventures included creating some interesting meatloaf nuggets for a weeknight dinner. I didn't want to a. wait a whole hour for my meatloaf to finish and b. heat the house any more than I had to so I put my standard recipe, the classic Lipton Onion Soup version tweaked with 1/2 the amount of breadcrumbs replaced with oatmeal, into cupcake pans. That way the individual servings are ready and freezing the leftovers are easy. The fact that my significant other refers to them as meat bombs has more to do with their size and shape than to their taste or aftereffects. If he insults something he's actually giving props - I tell myself.

An influx of sushi grade yellowfin, bluefin and albacore from a friend back from a long range fishing trip was a pleasure to deal with. I've got all the paraphernalia for sushi but am hesitant to strike out and try it. I just stick to a quick sear with a little garlic. A drizzle of Paul Newman's Sesame Ginger salad dressing was a successful experiment. I did make up some ceviche from the ahi and used a well tested recipe:
  • 2 cups cubed ahi
  • 2-3 chopped serrano chilis
  • 2-3 green onions
  • 1/4 cup minced cilantro leaves
  • 1 tsp Mexican oregano
  • 1/2 cup lime juice
Mix everything together. Refrigerate. The lime juice cooks the fish and will take 2-3 hours. I usually leave it overnight. When the fish turns opaque it's done. Mix in 1 roma tomato - chopped, and serve with tortilla chips.