sybarites

Szechuan Noodles with Peanut Sauce
A tasty change from the everyday. Only the noodles were cooked. Most of the work was cutting vegetables into matchstick sized slivers. It has a fresh flavor that’s great for a warm summer’s day. I’m always skeptical of vegetarian meals; I’m making this one again. We primarily made this because we had leftover napa cabbage from last week, but I’m glad we did. So good.

The recipe says it makes 6 servings—for 6 sumo wrestlers after spending 40 days in the Gobi. We have at least 8 meals. I tried to call Jordan and Holly to pawn off some. They weren’t home.

Martín Santos Malbec
The wine tonight is another $10 bottle. Jan is keeping me in line. I sometimes long for the days when $17 was the low end. I can feel my palette slipping away. I’m sure that has nothing to do with the smoking.

Peach and Blueberry Crisp
Jan’s mom took a microwave cooking class in the ’80s. Apparently this recipe is the only one that was good. We usually make it with apples or rhubarb. This is better.

Marc

No BBQ? No problem.

Caramelized Corn with Onions and Red Bell Peppers
Marc, being the wonderful person that he is, made this whole meal all by hisself. My back was strained (not at all related to the sexcapades) so he took 2 hours out his life to concoct this purtty meal. As side dishes go, the corn was very tasty; Marc will definitely be making this again. I think it helped that he had gotten most of the ingredients at the farmer’s market in Cochrane so they were bright and big and very fresh. And, for the record, let me just state, that my directions to the farmer’s market were quite clear and that any wrong turns that may have been made (whilst I was enjoying coffee with Chris A.) were entirely due to operater error. That being said, I couldn’t ask for a better chef/partner who would build a whole, precious dinner while periodically checking on me in my pathetic, back-strained, Sex-in-the-City-watchin’, wine-medicated state.

Sweet and Tangy Oven-Barbecued Chicken, courtesy of America’s Test Kitchen
This receipe is one we saw demonstrated before ever attempting construction. On TV, we watched America’s Test Kitchen build this chicken for all of us poor people who do not have a balcony nor backyard and, consequently, do not have a barbecue. Sadly, we have lived ONE ENTIRE SUMMER with no access to any form of barbecue. That being said, we have been blessed by His Noodly Appendage with this version of oven-barbecued chicken that actually almost replicates what you would expect from a grill. Marc made the skin-on version, which is fine, if you like eating skin. Actually, I have to admit that even though I don’t appreciate skin-eating, this was still excellent, as the butcher gave us the free-run chicken breasts. Indeed, the sauce told us to put it into a wee bowl and dip pieces of the delicious chicken into it. We were in no position to disagree with The Sauce (it is the boss of us) and, as a result, subjected every tidbit of chicken to it. Of course, a barbecue would make this brilliant.

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes
Made up by Marc! Highly unusual- he didn’t even use a MEASURING SPOON!!- but nonetheless, perfect. That little rosemary plant on our windowsill is actually fulfilling its destiny.

Folonari Valpolicella
Well, who doesn’t love red wine? Though, it’s no Zenato. Marc looks forward to trying the Ripasso but we do not hold our breath. Altogether, non-offensive. (Note: Unlike the majority of North Americans, we have not become wine snobs as a result of having viewed the movie “Sideways”; we were always wine snobs.)

For dessert: what can top a fresh, ripe watermelon, with juices running through your fingers? Maybe sexcapades.

Meatitarians.
Darwinists.
We love Monty Burns.

Sea Bass with Citrus and Soy
Apparently, I was to have tasted this nearly a year ago when Marc cooked it one night when we were first dating; he hoped I would come by but I was busy dating three other men and two women so didn’t join him for dinner. My loss—this was a lovely way to honour The Sea Bass. Plus, it was so recycle-y: the marinade for the fish was re-used as the liquid to steam it and then, when the fish was done (to perfection), the liquid was reduced to make the sauce. And because of the pretty, little scallions flirting their way across the top of the fish and the udon noodles, we decided to take a picture and start a blog. Hence, Day 1.

Tangy Eggplant, Long bean, and Cherry Tomatoes with Roasted Peanuts
I started this salad on my own and when Marc came into the kitchen, he asked, “What smells like feet?” We tried to determine from whence the smell came and narrowed it down to either ‘roasted peanuts’ or ‘fish sauce’. Smart money is on the latter. Anyway, despite the feet sauce and the eggplant, with whom Marc has a tenuous relationship, it was really tangy (see recipe title). The long beans were worth the 20 minute drive to the asian market ’cause they were all crunchy (and because we saw cleaned TURTLE in its shell wrapped in plastic on a styrofoam tray. It had no head.)

We drank Ruffino Chianti. To quote Marc: “It’s whatever. Uninspired. I’ve had it a billion times.” It didn’t contradict The Sea Bass nor the long bean but it didn’t do them any favours.

Visual Accompaniment: nothin’. We didn’t even turn on the TV; we watched Sam beg for food instead.

Janet