Serendipity and Ina

 

This post is going to have two parts.  The first is a little bit of serendipity relating to Wisteria that happened years ago and the second part will be about food.  Specifically Ina’s food.

Our family used to spend a lot of time down in the Monterey Bay area when the children were younger.  So we have been shopping at Wisteria for years.  One of my sisters and I were heading over there and I was telling her I was keeping my eye open for a certain pitcher.  I could see it with my mind’s eye – it was blue and white with a floral design.  Not too much blue – a good balance of blue and white. 

We got there and walked in the house and other buildings then went out into the gardens which were in full bloom and really spectacular.  I decided to make one final pass through the main house before we left.  When I was in there, this second time, I noticed an antique china cabinet with one lone piece tucked way back in a shadowy corner.  I opened the cabinet and pulled out a blue and white pitcher and it was exactly what I had pictured in my mind.  I turned it over to see the price and there was a sticker on the bottom that said "Andrea."

Okay ~ onto the food.  My sister, well two of them actually, gave me Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa At Home for Christmas. This weekend my sister planned both Friday and Saturday’s dinner from the book.

I think I gained five pounds this past weekend and I’ll probably gain another five just talking about it.  The food was amazing.  And the recipes were not terribly complicated.  Ha!  I say that like I had much to do with the actual preparation when in reality I may have chopped a shallot or two and swilled a lot of wine. 

Friday’s meal was Eli’s Asian Salmon with a gingery panko crust.  It has a nice Asian flavor to it and the salmon was very tender.  The only thing we thought should be different is to use a low sodium soy sauce and maybe cut back on the amount.  It was just a tad salty.  My sister served it with roasted potatoes and cauliflower.  She served it on a huge fish shaped platter and surrounded the salmon with the vegetables.

On Saturday we had Chicken with Goat Cheese & Basil, Garlic & Herb Tomatoes and Couscous with Pinenuts & Currants.   Each dish was wonderful on its own but combined the flavors were just out of this world.  The chicken dish was really easy – just take boneless chicken breasts and make a slit or pocket in them, insert some goat cheese and fresh basil leaves, a little salt and pepper and bake. 

The tomato dish was done in a saute pan using tiny cherry tomatoes, fresh garlic and basil.   My brother in law demonstrated his flipping technique (where you shake the pan just so to flip the contents) ~ if I had tried that there would be blistering hot tomatoes missiling through the air. 

The couscous dish had roasted pinenuts, shallots and currants that came together pretty easily.  I love roasted pinenuts.  The little bit of sweetness from the currants offset the savoriness of the rest of the meal nicely.

You can do the prep work ahead of time (roasting the pinenuts, chopping the shallots and garlic, preparing the chicken) so this meal would be be great for a dinner party. 

The subtitle to Ina’s book is "Everyday Recipes You’ll Make Over and Over Again" and it is so true.  All the dishes were simple, beautiful and tasted sooo good.  See?  I did just gain five more pounds.