Rumor has it, there is a big-ish football game on the TV in a little while. Rumor has it that the New England Patriots are playing in it. I’m a New Englander. I might care about the game.
So while I am sure there are lots of appetizer and snack food recipes going around today, I thought I would make something with an ode to where I live: Lobster Mac + Cheese. Maine Lobster. Vermont Cheddar. Made in Massachusetts. OK, that’s half of the New England States represented. Best I could muster.
I had bought some sweet potatoes at the farmer’s market the other weekend, with the full intent of making sweet potato fries (which I love), but somehow today was another “cold weather food day” so here I am, making another soup. Added some shrimp just because I had them in the freezer. And there are leftovers.
PS: don’t tell me that it looks like baby food. Should have added more cream at the end because it got a little thick after I added the shrimp/prawns. Adjust the cream level as needed!
While I spend a larger percentage of my time on this here site talking about my baking, I do actually cook as well. I’m just better at the baking, which is somewhat surprising because it is actually more complicated that cooking. Anyway…
Dinner tonight was halibut. I love fish but sometimes it is more of a hassle than it is worth for just one person. And I’ve done most of my fish recipes to death. So I decided to do something new: wrapping fish in prosciutto. It adds a nice salty, slightly earthy flavor. And add some italian style veg. Definitely a repeat meal in the making.
And while we’re on the topic of Spring Veg, here is another recipe to whet your appetite… risotto, asparagus, wild garlic (ramps, ransom, German: Bärlauch) and shrimp. Resfreshing and actually quite light, creamy and fresh and spring-like. I really really have this thing for ramps (here are all the recipes from last year) so I have to make the most of the very very short season… only a few weeks. Dinner tonight.
And yet another lucky foodie idea: eating fish on New Year’s Eve/Day. I’ve heard many different reasons why fish is supposed to be lucky — everything from that the scales look like coins (wealth), that they swim in schools (abundance) and that they swim forwards (moving ahead). New Englanders (and people in Scandinavia, Italy, Brazil, etc) are known to eat the (sacred) cod … more on cod some other time. Some people advocate that is it because of cod that the world is what it is today — bit of a stretch in my opinion, but whatever. In Germany, there is the tradition of Silvesterkarpfen (New Years Carp), but also herring (also a Polish tradition) is an option.
Me? Well, I don’t have any carp or herring, but I love smoked salmon, so here we have a quick appetizer of smoked salmon with dill mascapone, on homemade knekkebrod. The Knekkebrod is a cracker like bread (no fat or leavening) with sunflower, sesame and flax seeds. Yummy like this or even just with a schmear of cream cheese.