Fancy Food

So as you know, I've been reading Kitchen Confidential and LOVING it. I'm also right in the middle of reading The Happiness Project. Both books have had me thinking about a lot of things.

One of the things that I get frustrated with myself about is my seeming inability to stick with a hobby for very long. A few years ago, it was making hand-beaded jewelry. That fizzled out and was replaced with sewing. I've kept up the sewing (partly because it's super practical - that super cute dress on the clearance rack at Target for $7 is an XL? Take it home, take it in, and now it's a medium!) but in general I tend to get into things and then lose interest.

One interest I've had pretty consistently for the past 8-10 years or so is food. Can food be a hobby? I guess so. Anyway, reading Kitchen Confidential has me really inspired to cook more creatively, and The Happiness Project sort of has me analyzing my life to figure out what things I could change to help me feel less stressed out and rushed all the time. So I had a bit of a revelation the other day. I like food, and cooking is just one of those every-day things that I have to do. So why not put a little more energy and enthusiasm into it? It started the other night when I was cooking dinner. I'd picked up a salmon fillet for Kevin, and a tilapia fillet for myself. While cooking it slowly in a hunk of Irish butter (worth it, trust me), and cooking some quinoa in chicken broth, I thought "what can I do to make this meal feel a little fancier?". I decided the presentation was lacking. I quickly grabbed a carton of grape tomatoes out of the fridge, and a few wooden skewers. I threw the tomatoes on the skewers, and roasted them over the open flame on the stove until the skin started to blister a little, and they started to sizzle. I pulled out a basting brush, and basted each skewer in a little bit of aged balsamic vinegar. Perfection. I took another minute or so plating the food so it looked pretty, and I have to say I was pretty happy with how everything came out.

Sad blurry iPhone picture of my buttery and flaky tilapia with some yummy quinoa, and those quick-roasted grape tomatoes in balsamic vinegar. 

Yesterday morning, I threw a pot roast into the slow cooker and then realized I was out of onion soup mix to toss in with it. I quickly forgot about it, and went about my day. When I got home, I found a perfectly cooked, but less-flavorful-than-usual pot roast. What to do? I grabbed my laptop and pulled up instructions for a basic red wine reduction, and pulled some fancy horseradish mustard from the fridge. I tossed some boiled baby carrots with some Irish butter and a little bit of dill weed. Again, like the night before, I took just a few more minutes plating the food, and I was really happy with how it came out. Just being a little bit creative with things I already had around the house, and taking a few minutes to make the food look as good as it tasted made a big difference.

Yummy slow-cooked pot roast with a red wine reduction, a sweet and spicy horseradish mustard, and a nice little bunch of baby carrots in butter and dill.