June Was a Wash!- Mid-July:)

To be honest, I didn't expect to get very far into my June Gourmet menu. I wrote out a menu that would have allowed me to make all the recipes in the June issue of Gourmet but as I was only going to be home 4 days the entire month, I didn't realistically expect to be able to make many of those menus. I was right, I didn't. In fact, while I traveled, I didn't make any of them. That's not to say I didn't cook at all on the trip. I made a few bowls of ramen noodles at the corporate apartment in New Jersey and actually cooked a couple of real meals at my parents in New Hampshire. None were from Gourmet, however.
One thing I did notice was that this project has made me a more creative and adventuresome cook even without recipes. Even some salami sandwiches I made were jazzed up with a little homemade artichoke dip that I whipped together from stuff in my mom's cupboard.
I did make a few recipes from the June issue of Gourmet in those few days before I left for the second half of this monster business/ vacation trip. I never wrote about them at the time because of the craziness that was laundry and repacking. Well, I'll write about them now and do my best to be accurate to memory.
I've said before that I like to be thematic and though I didn't have time for the huge menus in this issue, I combined the Greek-Style Mahimahi and the Toasted Orzo with Saffron and Fennel on page 59 for a wonderful Mediterranean style meal. Mahimahi is a great non-fishy fish, perfect for people who profess they do not like fish. (like Richard!) This recipe was delicious and the feta and herb spread was excellent. I had some left over after I covered the fish and it was excellent as a sauce as well. The Orzo dish was good, though I'm not as fond of fennel as many of the recipe creators for Gourmet are. It added great crunch but the slightly sweet anise flavor was a bit strange.
Also before we left, I pulled out the grill rack and made the Grilled Skirt Steak and Arugula Salad with Roquefort and Catalina Dressing on page 49. This super easy, flavorful salad was a great quick meal. The dressing was strong so go light or let people add their dressing at the table.
My last recipe of June, yes, that's only 5, was the Lemon Sandwich Cookies on page 18. These light, lemony sandwich cookies were excellent as well. I didn't get anywhere near the 24 cookies the recipe said I would but I still had enough left over to take on the road with us. Two days later, they were a lifesaver while we were hiking. It was a 8+ mile hike and Eyrleigh was very sick of being in her hiking backpack. Every 10 minutes or so, I gave her a cookie to keep her happy and we finished the hike with our sanity intact.
You will notice that one thing about this blog has changed now that I'm home again. The cost analysis and calorie count for each recipe were interesting and informative but figuring them took lots of time. I enjoy cooking for and writing this blog but I did not enjoy the amount of time I was spending factoring cost and calories. I've mentioned this before but I don't make a penny for writing this blog so... until I get paid, I'm not going to spend that much time calculating.
Greek-Style Mahimahi-B+
Toasted Orzo with Saffron and Fennel-C
Grilled Skirt Steak and Arugula Salad with Roquefort and Catalina Dressing-A-
Lemon Sandwich Cookies-A-

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