Give Me a Minute...Or a Day-9/8/09

That first day home after a trip is always a bit challenging. You have more to do than a normal day but less energy. There are trip clothes to wash, suitcases to unpack and put away, and most likely a car to get clean. Eyrleigh insisted on staying awake until we got home last night at about 10:30 p.m. Thankfully, she slept in until 9:00 this morning so we were able to have a pretty normal day but it was a bit shortened. I didn't have time to get to the Asian market to pick up some things I needed for the menu I'd written out for today. So I made a switch to a menu I could pick up at Publix on the way home from Gymboree.

I'm not trying to finish all the zucchini recipes in the first two weeks but I did make my second recipe from The Last Touch section of this month's Gourmet. I made the Zucchini with Lemony Crumbs. This recipe was an interesting and unique twist on zucchini as a side dish. It was pretty simple in execution, no baking or frying but combining cooked shredded zucchini and a butter crumb crust. It was good but maybe a little much if you just want a quick veggie. The crumbs detract from that fresh zucchini flavor of summer and make the dish a bit heavy.

The next dish was much like the zucchini, a bit of a mix between summer and the coming fall. The Romano Risotto with Radishes on page 98 was a warm, creamy risotto with a crunchy, fresh radish topping. I really wasn't sure this dish was going to work. That biting tang of the radish just didn't seem to fit with cheesy risotto. I wouldn't say it was a perfect blend but it tasted better than I thought it would. The radishes were in a dressing that masked a bit of their telltale tang but the crunch was distinctive and a good contrast to the risotto. It was a really pretty dish too and my julienne peeler made the perfect little matchsticks.
I made a little change in my main dish, the Dill Chicken Paillards with Tomato-Dill Relish, because I thought I had chicken breasts but I had only tenderloins. It worked just as well as tenderloins are thin cuts to begin with. This dish was covered with dill but the strong vinaigrette overwhelmed the dill flavor a bit. The Tomato-Dill Relish was a great fresh addition and it worked well with the other two heavier sides I had made to lighten up the plate.
Zucchini with Lemony Crumbs-B

Romano Risotto with Radishes-B

Dill Chicken Paillards with Tomato-Dill Relish-B

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