Free Range Friday ~ A Little Taste of Food Reality

One of the perks of house sitting is the understanding, either implied or implicit, that food and drink are part and parcel of the deal. Of course, that varies with every person, but since most of the people I know really like good food and are pretty healthy, I'm not going to suffer.

This has nothing to do with this blog post. I just think the blossoms of plantains are beautiful.

However. The caveat is that if I want to make something that looks like it is out of a magazine, I need to plan ahead to add the little this and that touches required. And since I am more of a grazer than a meal planner, that never happens. Hunger is different for everyone and since real hunger isn't existent in most of our lives, we all deal with what we consider hunger accordingly. Being on my own, I deal with it like so - eat when I felt like it. That might be at three in the morning, awake and wanting to cook. It will not be at 6:00 in the morning when I might be fully awake as well but not inclined to look at food for at least a few more hours.

Because there was fresh fruit around I didn't want it to go into my compost bin, but into me instead. Wash away those visions of a clean fruit salad, that wasn't happening. Because I also had this little bit of ice cream from home. Not enough for a bowl of ice cream. Why did I leave such a dumb amount? To toss into my fresh fruit, obviously.

Bananas, two kinds of pears, apple. Milk. One large spoonful of Cookies and Cream ice cream. A dash of citrus rum, because hey, citrus is good for you. It sounds disgusting but it was really good. I felt like a complete health freak and went jogging for two hours after I was done. That's a lie.

Up in the freezer (one of the perks for the house owner - everything gets cleaned) there was some stew beef getting freezer burn. No no no! Not allowed! Into a pot with a almost aging sweet potato and lots of onion and red pepper and tomato paste it went, after being quickly braised in a little bit of olive oil, with fresh, sliced garlic.

Perfection would have added some peas, some corn, a couple tablespoons of flour, and using beef or chicken stock but I just let it become its own stock and called it good. And it was. And it is.

Sometimes I have to kindly finish up an opened package of something or other because you know how freezers are. Things get lost. Or zippered openings get unzippered. Regardless, I am here to save that from happening. No worries, you're welcome.

 Of course, this should be made with pasta, or rice. But four baby bliss red potatoes were languishing in the veggie drawer and it's my rules, which say, use it or lose it, don't lose it.

Thinly sliced potatoes and a LOT of thinly sliced garlic, in olive oil, sauteed as low as possible until the potatoes are soft. Toss in the shrimp and cook until they are pink and slightly browned on both sides. These are pretty large so it took maybe 4-5 minutes. I'd never used potatoes before but they worked and I'd put them together anytime. Salt and pepper to taste.

Sometimes my eyes are bigger than my brain. That's what happened here. I don't think I realized just how big the scallops were. So I cut them into smaller pieces. That didn't help. What did help was this became three meals. Three really delicious meals.

To be photo perfect, this should have fresh parsley on top, not as just a garnish, but for the wonderful taste of fresh parsley. Ah well, so much for planning - my loss. 

Garlic. Butter. A dash of white wine. Cook your pasta like you normally do. Saute thinly sliced garlic (there's a theme going on here, obviously, but it wasn't in the fruit! yet) in butter, toss in your scallops and cook about six minutes or so, turning once. Some shaved parmesan reggiano and it was ready for prime time consumption. A few times. 

Some recipes will say butter isn't the best fat to use because of its low smoking property. I say, just don't have it that hot. Or use olive oil, but for scallops, it's butter for me.

Yes, I understand why this could be mistaken for cheese.

Yesterday was my Dad's birthday. He'd have been...really old! His sister, my Aunt Mimi, will be 99 tomorrow, the last of that tribe, but she isn't big on cooking. My Dad was not only big on it but very good at it and taught me 95% of everything I know about cooking. Even more important, he taught me about appreciating good food that just happened to be good for you too. In thinking about him more than usual these last few days, cooking together is one of my bigger smile making memories. Thanks, Dad!

Have a family familiar Friday. Do something fearlessly.