Marauding on Weekend Street

It was just one of those good weekends. Friday night started with a knitting lesson with some new friends for Karen's hilarious 30th birthday project (I'm a little obsessed with this idea). That came with wine and a lovely spaghetti squash dish for dinner courtesy of Leah. Then thanks to the power of Twitter and an open-minded partner in crime, I got to toast Katie for her birthday at Innjoy with Robin and TC, then finally made it to the Burlington for one of Jim and Michelle's DJ gigs.

Saturday afternoon was pretty much strong-armed by the dentist. That was probably the least fun piece of weekend but I had a Fresh Air podcast and Terri Gross really did help pass the time. Reward was a fun trip to Whole Foods. If my face hadn't been numb, I might have even had a glass of wine. That would have been absolutely tragic given the circumstances so I just shot wanton looks at everyone else's wine and tried to avoid smiling so I didn't frighten the children. This became a totally moot point because I arrived home to see a snow family had been built in our front yard by the much beloved neighbor kids. They'd made a snow incarnation of Honeycat (who adores them as much as I do). N,o I don't have a picture of either the snowcat or my crazy Two-Facesque expression when I found it. Face still numb, smiling like a crazy person. I love neighbors/neighborhoods.

Saturday night (once I had full use of my face back) was just a beautiful chunk of absurdity. A bunch of us met up at Big Star and even the wait was a joy thanks to some delicious margaritas and some "preview tacos" holding us over (that would be KP and I up top, photo credit to G's iPhone). Different people came to meet us throughout the night and by the end of our taco tenure, there was dancing. So much dancing that we decided to take our talents elsewhere and ended up at Rodan. More dancing. Til the music stopped. Were we done? Apparently not. Off to the Flat Iron. Pool and 90's hip hop and ohmyGOODNIGHT it is 5 in the morning. As in a half hour before my alarm goes off for the gym on weekdays. I could not tell you the last time that happened.

I slept for a lot of a beautiful day on Sunday and I wouldn't take it back. I opened the windows and the cat and I just languished in heavy covers, fresh air and sunshine. I called Gina from bed and we recapped the evening with cracked voices and laughter that hurts a little bit because it feels like your brain is part of a pinball machine. When I did get up it was done with jaunty step. A long walk around the neighborhood, a cake to bake and all the fixings.The weekend shop closed with a proper Sunday supper. Lo and Christina are two of my best friends from college and it was just the most delicious rewind to have them around the table. Dinner was inspired by Kona Bistro, our favorite restaurant in Oxford. Smashed Salmon Salad (which has even been documented here before) and "Winning of Hearts and Minds Cake" from Orangette. I wish I could have shown a clip of it to the three twenty year olds sitting in our dining room on West Collins. They're both wives now- one husband makes tremendous chocolate cookies, one sent his wife to my house with miniature artisan grilled cheese sandwiches. Which is to say, they are both winners in my book. Everyone with joy in their work and life in general. These are good things.

This is a strange type of post for this place- more of a journal entry and kind of a throwback to days of yore. I just don't want to forget it. Not the time untangling yarn and telling stories, not the cabs dotting the west side, not the solo adventures in food shopping, not the hiccups or the hijinks. I don't want to forget cool sheets and the sweetest cat or a house that feels like home and smells like cake.

Smashed Salmon Salad: A Tribute to Kona/College

UPDATED October 25, 2017: I'm sorry to say that 7 years after writing this post, Kona closed its doors in Oxford. May you all have this easy back pocket dinner to eat in tribute.

I'm not really a "look back longingly" kind of girl. I love the pictures and I love the people but am decidedly a bit sad for the "high school/college was the best four years of my life" crowd. Why sell yourself short?

But it was fun. My jobs during the school year consisted of working on the line twice a week at a local restaurant and working in a small gourmet food and wine shop. I spent my earnings at the latter using my employee discount to buy nicer wine than a 21 year old should really have access to. Fun Fact: I was hired to replace a girl named Katie who had just run off with Billy Joel. My closest counterpart at Main Street Gourmet was a woman named Tina who spent her post-divorce summers in France and helped me plan my post-graduation adventure.

Life was good. Life was also frequent tanning appointments (I'm so sorry, skin), peppermint patty shots, huge hair down to my Lumbar and an inescapable lust for the phase of my life I'm in now. So...balance.

Anyhow, that was good, now is good and the only thing my current life was really missing that college TKTC had in spades is pictured at the top of this post. That would be the Smashed Salmon Salad of Kona Bistro fame.

Oxford, Ohio is a small town of cobblestone streets, Georgian brick and the freshly scrubbed faces of young Midwestern yuppies (includes self). There was no sushi, no masala. There were delicious steamed bagel sandwiches, slices of Bruno's, and Skyline 3-ways (chili+spaghetti+cheese). But then there was also Kona.

Kona became a beacon of good eating for me in college. Nice enough to take your parents (my mother demanded it) but affordable enough for a weekly takeout habit. Macadamia nut encrusted tilapia, Ale-marinated flank steak and for $8, I could get heaven in a black takeout box. Heaven in the form of Smashed Salmon Salad.

Turns out that Smashed Salmon Salad exists in a time before cell phone cameras. A Flickr search got me no further. This week I suddenly couldn't go on any longer without Smashed Salmon Salad. Then I realized how simple this dish had to be - only two of these layers require any cooking whatsoever and it was basic.

Smashed Salmon Salad (a recipe at long last; serves 2)

Salmon
2 skinless salmon fillets (about a pound total)
2 TB Dijon mustard
1/4 cup plus 2TB of jarred mango chutney
3 TB olive oil or grapeseed oil

Mashed Potatoes
5 medium red-skinned potatoes, quartered
1/4 cup whole milk or half-n-half (or whatever you prefer for mashed potatoes)
2 TB butter
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
1TB Greek yogurt, sour cream or crema (optional)

Layers
2 handfuls of baby spinach, long stems removed
1 cup of matchstick cut carrots (sold this way by the celery sticks and shredded cabbage in the refrigerated part of your produce aisle)
1 Roma tomato, sliced

Directions:
1) Combine Dijon mustard and 1/4 cup of preserves in a small bowl and whisk till combined with a fork. Bust out your favorite marinating dish (8x8 square glass baking dish works for me. Or a zip-top freezer bag). Pour marinade over top of salmon, ensuring all surfaces are covered. If using a baking dish, cover with plastic wrap. Let salmon marinate in the fridge for 15-30 minutes.

2) Put your potatoes on to boil. Cook them till pieces or easily pierced with a fork and tender. About 20 minutes. Drain, return to pot, cover and set aside.

3) Add oil of choice to a large saute pan and let it warm up before adding the salmon fillets. Cook the salmon at medium heat for 5-6 minutes, enough time to get a nice golden crust on one side. Flip the salmon and loosely cover the pan with its top so the heat building will help the salmon cook through. Check the middle of the salmon 5-6 minutes later for progress. The entire salmon-cooking process only takes about 12-15 minutes and depending on the thickness of the salmon, you may need to sear the sides as well. Pretty basic saute plan...I fear I'm making it sound more complicated than it is.

4) Once your salmon is done, shut off the heat but keep the pan covered. Shift your attention back to those potatoes. Add the rest of the "Mashed Potato" ingredients. This is my typical formula for mashed potatoes but use whatever you're used to...yes Matthew, that includes a box if you so choose.

5) Favorite part: The Compilation!

On your plate start with 1 handful of the baby spinach.
Add a generous helping of mashed potatoes on top
3-4 slices of Roma tomato, pressed into mount mashed potato
Freshly ground pepper and a little salt
A scant handful of carrot shreds
One gorgeous salmon fillet place atop (possible divided in half for balance
1 TB of your preserves spread evenly over the top of the salmon to finish

Enjoy with enthusiasm and a glass of whatever makes you the giddiest. I won't judge you if you have an inexplicable craving for an Amaretto Sour afterward. There's a little Oxford in all of us.

Cheezy Like (Cheddar & Onion) Biscuits

This poor blog is a sad state of affairs. You know you've been on hiatus when your significant other tells you it's time. I still presume him rather ambivalent to my corners of the internet for some reason. It's not that life has gotten dull or stale (HA) or that I've quit cooking (HAHA) or kissing (LMAO). It's just that I frequently find myself all tapped out. And I look at this lovely thing and I see a template that I've seen a dozen other places. I think my blog needs new shoes or something. Maybe a matching URL.

I often wonder if a new look to call my own wouldn't be just what the doctor ordered. Or if I simply need to try a little harder to be a morning person. I was a morning person on Saturday, the light on those damn biscuits as my witness.

I shouldn't use language like that with them, it wasn't their fault. Saturday was the one collegiate tradition I still uphold with friends and continues to resonate with me year after year. In preparation for what can be a rather colorful day (if by colorful, you mean green), and properly introduce it to Jaimeson, in town for a few days, our plan was to take Friday night off. Make dinner at home. Bake the biscuits. Watch a movie.

The appeal of two bottles of wine did not factor in for either of us until it was too late and there I am trying on the bridesmaid dress I'll don in several weeks with my big fur hat. Waltzing around the kitchen and living room to bayou music with my ever-so-amused paramour. (Shakes head)

So you can understand that in such a state, I may have over-handled some biscuit dough. May have dropped a step off the process. May have made English muffins rather than the flaky, buttery biscuits I'd envisioned.

Oh no. I could not show up at breakfast with these. And yet I was in no state to keep baking and at least able to recognize it fully.

Que 5am. I'm awake. I'm AWAKE and panicked. There are very few areas of my life in which I could qualify for OCD behavior. Not my desk. Not the dishes. Not the laundry. Not the hair.

Really just cooking and baking. And these "biscuits" by groggy, soggy, soupy morning light? Unacceptable. Good thing Jaimeson picked up that extra cheese because I shut HC in the bedroom to sleep with him and I got. to. work. I knew I was working with a great recipe, Rustic Kitchen/Janine have yet to steer me wrong, but dough of any kind requires a light touch and not a small amount of eccentricity in a baker. #1 mehhhh but #2 CHECK.

Second time's the charm. I pranced right back to bed just in time to rouse the troops with a triumphant piece of biscuit in hand (J is not said to like mornings but I usually go with food and sweetness and have never had a problem). And thus we took our offerings to Boo's and that is where my camera stayed. Probably for the best...you wouldn't believe the rest of the day if I told you. And I'm not entirely sure that I would have told you anyway.

Recipe can be found at Rustic Kitchen. It's delicious and may save lives.