If You Can't Handle the Heat [Outside], Get in the Kitchen

On Saturday evening, the night of my shadowing experience at The Short Story, I remember seeing what looked like sangria; regardless of what it actually was, the idea had been planted ("inception," anyone?). Sunday proved to be a beautiful day and with a shift in weather to the warmer side, sangria sounded like an extraordinary idea. And as such weather blossoms, I often think equate that heat with the freshness and vibrancy of fruit--particularly mango--and decided to pair that in some way with salmon. With a recent gift from Normandy (sel gris, a.k.a. grey sea salt) also needing to find a home in my blog, I ended up with a great Sunday dinner: Pan-seared salmon atop a bed of steamed green beans with sel gris, garnished with an orange balsamic reduction sauce (influenced by an episode of Dinner: Impossible I had recently seen), and served with jasmine rice and a spicy mango-cucumber salad. Oh yeah, along with a tall, cold glass of sangria. Of course with no actual blood in it, sangria comes from the Spanish word sangre and is based on the tradition of using red wine as the base. From what I have read, there is no one way of making an "authentic" sangria; as you continue reading, note the different layers to this wine punch of sorts and feel free to let your culinary creative juices (wait for the punch line...) flow.

Today's Sunday Brunch Dish: White Wine Bacon Orzo with Green Beans and Mushrooms

Of the many things that signify breakfast, if not at the very least brunch, bacon is perhaps the most recognisable. And cognisant of the leftovers still in my fridge from Wednesday's six course extravaganza, I needed to make something that combined these together. With the help of some white wine and a handful of orzo, I came up with a great brunch dish for two (or one... if you're either really hungry or think it's as good as I think it is).

Oh, and I had thought I was being very original with this particular dish, but it turns out I'm not the only one who thinks bacon and pasta go well together. :)

Super Bowl "Unity" Dinner... Because I'm Not Officially Choosing a Team

After the official coin toss and start of play, I got to work on last night's dinner. For those who don't follow the Super Bowl, or were perhaps less inclined to turn on the game as I was, yesterday saw the meeting of the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, with the former eventually winning the game. And as alluded to in the title of this post, I had no strong preference either way as to who would win; unofficially, if your team name somehow has my favourite colour incorporated in it and you come from the midwest, chances are my support may lean in your favour. In any case, I attempted (and I think succeeded) in cooking to unite both teams, and using lemon as the common thread in my meal, created a fabric of flavour that was coloured with green, black, and of course yellow.