Highlights of a Pregnant Appetite

Some stuff I've been craving...

I like to order meat from a butcher that wraps everything up neatly in paper.

This pork butt seems to be labeled with my Dad's initials as it was a joint order. Insert fit of laughter!

Decaf espresso break while the pork butt cooks.

Pulled pork sammiches! (Too busy stuffing myself to take pictures of the finished product).

Another day, another snack. I love some meaty mushrooms. Baby Bellas pictured.

I'm so hungry all of the time. I crave a lot of pasta.

And cream sauce.

Stay tuned for more random yum.

Fish in a Packet!

I had been lusting after this recipe for a while but had trouble deciding on what kind of fish because I'm in the middle of Kansas and I need to make smart fish decisions while I'm pregnant. After talking to my doctor and weighing my available options, I went with a farm raised tilapia.

When I cook (not bake), I either just think it up or find a recipe, or two, put what I like in it, skip what doesn’t sound good, add something I’d rather have or use up, loosely measure, or not measure at all. This normally works well for me. So I frequently have an initial published recipe for inspiration, but it quickly becomes my own thing. I stuck to this rather well in spite of myself.

It’s “French Fish in a Packet” from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home, one of my favorite cookbooks. My biggest change was instead of making separate packets for the two servings; I upped this to three servings and put it in one large packet. After it was said & done I wondered why I couldn’t have saved the foil and just made it in a casserole dish.

Into the packet went: sliced zucchini, sliced mushrooms (I had button and baby bella on hand), thinly sliced red onion, canola oil (substituted for olive oil due to realizing at the last minute that I’d used up all of my olive oil), juice of one lemon, dry white wine, dash of salt & freshly ground pepper, bunch of fresh basil leaves, and black olives. Oh, and I tossed in some garlic.

While my packet was doing its thing at 450° for about 35 minutes, I whipped together something else amazing. I browned onion, garlic, & mushrooms in butter, added zucchini, basil and more white wine and lightly steamed them. Then I added parmesan, cream, and lots of black pepper. I tossed it with some al dente penne. It was so delightful.

The tilapia was mouthwatering. I normally find tilapia a little bland, but the lemon, wine, salt, pepper, etc was a perfect balance for it.

Things I would change:

I would cut the vegetables into smaller pieces for the fish packet as I have better luck getting the husband to eat veggies when they are in smaller pieces. He had lots of onion and zucchini slices left on his plate, which made me cringe. “That’s not a garnish” might be my biggest mealtime nag. Seriously, eat your veggies dude. They’re damn tasty.

Things to make in 2010

So there are lots of things in the kitchen I've either never attempted- or never attempted alone. And there are other things with which I feel I've always fallen short. Some of these may not be all that complicated, but for whatever reason I've been too intimidated to attempt.

And part of this blog is going to be to prove to myself and everyone else that everyone can cook. Because advertisers are constantly trying to tell us we are too stupid or too busy to cook. This has been covered in a lot of places lately. Michael Pollan spoke about it on Fresh Air, and I ran across this in google reader today America: Too Stupid to Cook.

Some things I'm intimidated by, but wouldn't be if I had more experience doing them. So it's time to just do it.

Here's just a few things to do in 2010:

Dolmas/stuffed grape leaves

Pasta/noodles from scratch

Chicken pot pie or other savory pies

Smoke meat in my new hand-me-down smoker

Cook lamb

Multiple kinds of dumplings

Cook with sorrel

Mayonnaise from scratch

Try some other sourdough starters (I had some successes with this and a failure)

More polenta dishes

Cook new kinds of grains

Can tomatoes & other garden bounty

Make pickled cucumbers & okra

Beef stock from scratch

Yorkshire pudding

Master cooking various kinds of rice, try new kinds, too.

Fermented foods like sauerkraut & kimchee

Brew own beer! (But after the baby is born, so I can actually drink it).

And the other first in 2010, baby food. Although off the top of my head I'm not sure what month I'll be ready to start making that.

Food Blog!

So I feel so typical doing a food blog, but it seems as though I need an outlet for my food/cooking obsession. What has been inspiring me lately? Reading Moosewood Cooks at home and listening to Michael Pollan interviews on NPR.

What will this blog be about? Probably my adventures in the kitchen, rants about our culture's attitudes about food, patting myself on my own back for cooking from scratch more, and a lot of "LOOK WHAT I DID!"

I know that no one cares what I had for lunch, but some of my friends claim to care. So that's all that matters. Oh, and I care.

Upcoming projects: homemade beef stock, BBQ pulled pork, & corn scones.