We Raised Them Right
June5
I recently came upon a statistic about 18-34 year olds depending primarily upon processed and pre-made food and the reason for this being that "from scratch" cooking was not modelled by their parents. I commented in a recent post, that this was not the case in my family and a couple of weeks ago we had dinner with three other couples where this was not the case either. In fact, one offspring is a gold-plate chef and two others have sons who are not chefs, but professional cooks. I recounted our evening together and pondered what we had all done "right" to ensure that our children were comfortable in the kitchen.
One couple was in from Toronto for the weekend and staying with another couple. One half of the hosting couple was about to celebrate a monumental birthday which was our reason to get together. None of us wanted the hosting couple to go to a whole lot of trouble because, the dinner was in their honour after all. In addition, the visiting couple did not want to spend their short time grocery shopping and in an unfamiliar kitchen so I suggested that we order in. Consensus was that even considering the concerns noted above, it would still be better if we all cooked and contributed ourselves and so.....
The menu was decidedly simple: D and I provided little plates of sausage, cheese bread, olives and other brined items.
At the appointed time, R fired up the grill showing me how he first brushes the grills with oil and hot sauce to neutralize any flavours from previous use.
First he marinated the salmon in soya, balsamic vinegar and sarachi sauce. He called the fish "Iphone Salmon" because the trick was to flip the fillets, precisely when his Iphone signalled, to ensure even cooking without over-cooking. The lid of the grill was lowered for intervals and the cuts were placed crosswise on the grill each time they were flipped to decorate them with the precise cross-hatch marks.
The result? Perfection!
The salmon was accompanied by boiled baby potatoes tossed in butter and fresh dill,
grilled asparagus
and the lightest, freshest tasting bean salad, I have ever tried. I am not typically a bean lover but this one was sensational. So much so, that I had to get M's recipe:
Marie's Very Fresh Bean Salad
Author: Marie Rice
Recipe type: Salad
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 6-8
has a Mexican flare
Ingredients
- 1 tin red kidney beans
- 1 tin black beans
- 1 tin chickpeas
- 1½-2 c Edamame
- 3-4 small hothouse cucumbers, cut into small cubes
- ¼ c fine cut green onions (only the green part)
- ½ red pepper, cut into cubes
- 1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 c cilantro or Italian parsley, coarsely chopped
- juice of 1 lime
- 3-4 T olive oil
- ½ t cumin
- ground chili powder to taste
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Make sure all the beans are drained, rinsed and dried off.
- Let them sit on a while on a kitchen towel and use paper towel to soak up excess moisture.
- Worth the effort, so that the beans can soak up the flavours of the ingredients.
- Toss together all ingredients.
Influencers of the next generation of “real” food eaters.
So did we have some fun? Absolutely! We were entertained by the antics of the bearded fellow with the parasols stuck into his whiskers. He kept disappearing into their home and coming back out attired as famous bearded men-think: ZZ Top, Moses, Duck Dynasty, etc. (Perhaps some wine was enjoyed as well).
Kath’s quote: “The basic thing a man should know is how to change a tyre and how to drive a tractor. Whatever that bearded dude is doing on the Dos Equis beer commercials sets the bar. That’s your guy. Every man should be aiming to be like him. The beard is just the tip of the iceberg.”-Timothy Olyphant
Love-that is all.
