Keeping it Simple, Fish, Sweet Corn, Zucchini

You would not think that after 40 yrs of cooking personally and professionally, that I would screw up a meal at home.

Fish, corn on the cobb, zucchini. The corn was the best but not all that good either - boiled it instead of roasting it in its jackets. Over a fire or in the oven. Diminished/diluted when boiled in water.

Zucchini, like summer squash should be fast sauteed w/salt, pepper, garlic and finished w/ parmesan cheese. It should have body. I simmered it slow and it was soft and mushy. I am generally w/ Julia and believe that vegetables like broccoli should be cooked beyond crunch ( carrots, too). Not summer squash or zucchini.

When doing fish - floured and pan fried - and if you are doing a beurre blanc type sauce( reduced wine, herbs and butter), use plain flour, not a highly seasoned variation w/ paprika and cayenne and garlic that you would do as a shore lunch on a camping/fishing trip. Overkill and a muddied flavor. Keep it simple. Do one or the other. Roll the filets in plain white flour, saute in butter, and or olive oil, remove from pan, add wine, reduce, add herbs and cold butter pats. With highly seasoned flour leave it at that, fry it and eat it.

I hate it when I screw up a simple meal.

The St Croix Open

Just back from the exceptional Lake St Croix in NW Wisconsin - headwaters of the Brule and the St Croix Rivers.
Exceptional eating was involved as well. Pizzas and Porterhouses off the grill, a cuban style paella w/ black beans and rice, onions, bell and jalapeno peppers, grape tomatoes cut in half ( sweet and luscious), cilantro, plenty of garlic, and lime juice( v-8 juice, too) - w/ largemouth bass, a crappie, and a walleye poached in the bouillabaisse like liquid. We served the rice on the side, so it wasn't really a paella.

I picked a quart of wild blueberries up there too, and today made a galette( a rustic free form tart - a lazy cook's fast pie) which was sweet and tart w/ lime juice and sugar and cinnamon. It's almost gone and it's just me.

Sink your putts.