My New "Go To" Fish Recipe

I was so excited to be digging through my grandma's recipes again. Of course, I found quite a few that peaked my interest. What was to be on the menu...fish cooked in red wine? fish with gremolata? shrimp creole? Considering that I am embracing Tracy's Italian heritage (let's say calling it my own), I thought the fish with gremolata sounded Italian and cool. Besides, it only had a few ingredients! Since I was having a dinner party with a complicated artichoke recipe, I thought this would be my best bet.

Wendy and Dave arrived and with a glass of white from a recent wine tasting trip in Temecula and an aged white cheddar, we were on our way to another fabulous evening. Thank goodness I had already prepped the difficult part of the menu, so I was available to chat about the latest! (It's funny to think that I am a teacher and I truly struggle with multi-tasking...I mean it!! Ask my wife!) As she dished the dirt, I prepared the gremolata.

I got out the parsley and started to chop it. As I was chopping, I got to thinking- parsley, for most of my life, was the odd garnish on restaurant plates. Now, it seems to find its way into most of my favorite recipes. Weird. Next, I placed the butter into a ramekin and added the parsley. (I didn't really measure the parsley- I just eye-balled it.) Then, I zested one lemon into the same ramekin. Finally, I minced a couple cloves of garlic and with a dash of salt and fresh ground pepper, I microwaved it. It smelled so good. It even interrupted Wendy from her story! I had to walk around and let everyone smell the beautiful gremolata.

For the fish, I used two pieces of orange roughy. As I got it ready with olive oil and salt and pepper, I turned the oven on to broil. Based on the recipe, I only needed to broil it for five minutes. I was nervous about this but I decided to just go for it. After the five minutes, I took it out and spooned the gremolata on the top. Popped it back in for a minute, and let out a sigh because Tracy was coming in from the backyard with her steaks...perfect timing! As I took the fish out, I knew it was cooked perfectly. And, not to mention, looked so elegant.

We sat at the table with my new placemats from Vancouver, my complicated artichoke dish (delicious), flowers, Tracy's steaks, my favorite salad with Paula Deen's dressing, candles, and the prettiest fish dish I have ever seen! It truly is the little things that make an evening an event! Everyone loved the food. I was so thrilled with the fish that I knew it would be my new "go to" recipe for a quick but fancy affair!

By the way, the artichoke dish was from a recent Food and Wine magazine. Mario Batali was pairing wines with vegetables (vegetables that are typically hard to pair). And, when I mentioned mozzarella cream sauce to Tracy, difficult as it may be, I knew I was making the recipe the next chance I got!

Oh, and one more thing, I got a sweet tooth a little later that night and decided to bust out the ice cream machine. It was so cool; however, I didn't follow my grandma's recipe because I didn't think we had a hundred hours! So, in a mere twenty minutes, Wendy and I were slurping some vanilla love and the night was complete!

As it stands:
guests: 3
emotions: 1
mistakes: proud to say none!
meltdowns: none of those either!
recipes: 1
recipes to date: 13

The Recipe

Fish with Gremolata

1 lb fish fillets
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp margarine (used yummy butter)
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
1 clove of garlic

Place fish in a foil lined broiler pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and dot with margarine (used olive oil). Broil 6" from heat for 5 minutes. In a small bowl, cream margarine with parsley, lemon rind and garlic. Spread over fish and broil 1 minute longer, until fish flakes with a fork.

Remembering the Yellow Phone

It all started with a text. My BFF wanted to play. It reminded me of being a teen and skating around the garage waiting for the yellow phone to ring. I don't know what it is but age doesn't seem to change the girly giddiness I feel when I get to play with my friends. Now, of course, back in the day there would inevitably be some issue dealing with the phone...Sharon or Barbara's line would be busy or no answer. With the absence of the answering machine, this Saturday afternoon event would typically end in frustration or miscommunication. But, every once in a while, the planets would align and I got to play with my friend. Times have changed and with technology allowing for you to be found in even the remotest of places a potential "play date" doesn't usually get missed! Woo hoo!

What shall I serve? (As a teen, it would've been Doritos and salsa with shredded cheese. I think I will have to make that soon!) Grandma's guacamole would be perfect! Especially because I had three ripe avocados and I desperately needed to post something on the blog...hee hee

What shall we drink? (Diet Coke would've paired nicely with the Doritos!) For us, water with lemon and pinot blanco would be delicious. We are so sophisticated.

I got to making the guac and everything was going well until I started the first step. You may be asking, "How could everything be going well if the first step was already messed up?" Good question...well, did I mention that my BFF was coming over to play. I was just so excited! Back to the guac, the avocados were too ripe and had some brown spots so I had to do some fancy spooning. After completely "massacring" the avocados, I had enough to salvage. I squeezed in the lemon juice, chopped in the tomatoes, sliced in the onions, cracked in the pepper, dashed in the salt and dripped in the tabasco. TAMARI? What's tamari? Of course, my grandma has to have some odd ingredient. Oh well, this guac isn't going to see tamari. It is, however, going to see my belly. Ha ha ha ha (That was a weak joke...I think I 've been influenced by my teen years!)

By the way, I didn't rub the bowl with a garlic clove because I made the guac in the bowl I was serving it in and I didn't have a garlic clove...okay, those are both lies...I just started eating it and I was so excited about my BFF being here and the yummy guac that I forgot all about it. (Yes, I know, another teen moment here.)

We had a great time laughing and gossiping and just plain being stupid...all the way into the night! I think BFF's at any age would consider that a great "play date." It got me thinking...I really wished that I had asked my grandma about her BFF. What were their best memories? What did they like to do? What did they like to eat? I'll never know the answer, but I am sure that it would've been glamorous and delicious...just like her.

As it stands~
guests- 1
emotions- 1
meltdowns- 0
mistakes- 3, but who's counting- everybody loves guac!!!
recipes- 1
recipes to date- 12

The Recipe~

Guacamole
Peel and mash 2 avocados with lemon juice, salt and grated onion to taste. Add 1 small finely chopped tomato, 3-4 chopped green chilies or chili peppers, a few drops of Tabasco and a few drops of tamari sauce. Rub a bowl with garlic and heap in the mixture. Chill and serve with crackers, potato chips or tortillas. (I am cracking up- crackers!!! bwa ha ha bwa ha ha! Obviously, I served with tortilla chips)