My mother came up this past weekend and saw the new place. We had Thanksgiving dinner with my friend from work, Lauren and it turned out pretty well. I roasted Cornish game hens with red potatoes and asparagus, basted in a lemon-garlic mixture, Mom made some scalloped yams and brought her pumpkin and famous pecan pies; and Lauren brought a Hungarian dish called Mushroom Paprikash, which is hearty and tasty and sort of like a stroganoff.
Friday I took Mom ’round town and she bought me a bunch of stuff for the apartment. I now have an effective knife set and a blender and mixing bowls and new sheets. We ate lunch down the street from my place at La Bodega, I had the Southwestern Sub, which was spicy and tasty [the Cajun herbs made the sammich but aren’t really southwestern] and my mom had the Mediterranean sub [which I ate the rest of the other day].
That night I took her out for sushi, something she’d never had before, and though she seemed a bit out of sorts, she did marvellously. We split a three roll at Pacific East. We got the Sweet Potato roll, the Boston roll [shrimp, boston lettuce, avocado, ?] and the Ichiban roll [salmon, eel, cucumber, avocado and fish roe].
She left Saturday after being appropriately impressed by the West Side Market. We got a raspberry strudel there for breakfast.
Last night I made Mushroom Pike Chowder, my own invention, and cornbread.
Ingredients:
4 Red Potatoes, diced
3 Garlic Cloves, minced [use 2 if you make this]
1/2 pound of boring mushrooms
2 Northern Pike filets
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can evaporated milk
frozen sweet corn
frozen peas
cilantro, salt, pepper to taste
Take the skin off of the fish and soak the filets in some water with a bit of lemon in it. If the fish is frozen it will be thawed in about an hour. Dice it, drain it, and put it on a paper-towelled plate to soak up extra fishiness. [Pike are damn fishy].
Put just enough water in a pot to cover the potatoes and put it on the stove on high heat until it just starts to boil. Then chuck in the evaporated milk and cream of mushroom soup. Stir vigorously. Dump in everything but the fish. Simmer for a bit. When you put the cornbread in the oven, drain the fish one more time for good measure and then stir them into the chowder. Simmer some more.
It will all be done at the same time. Watch out for Y‑bones in the fish.
[Note for next time: Use less garlic and no cream of mushroom]