Sunday, March 23, 2008

Oh, Right, Easter

I woke up this morning figuring that I should have planned something nice for Easter, but that since I hadn't- bad parent/husband that I am- I should pretend that I had and figure out what I could bust out convincingly. To begin with, we had eggs. A good start, and lucky, because the wife she likes the eggs so we're often low or out. And I had bought a big bar of organic super-dark chocolate last week, thinking to make the melty cakes again soon. So what I'm saying is I got a huge assist and came off looking pretty OK after all. I made crêpes.

When I make them, I like to have two kinds: a savory and then a sweet. It's the win/win of breakfasts, like getting to have waffles AND an omelet without feeling like a giant hog. The first was pesto and feta, topped with the leftover pesto chicken gravy. The second was chocolate-cassis sauce and kumquat marmalade (we mercifully also had a handful of mostly still good kumquats at the bottom of a fridge drawer.) I melted the chocolate and some butter in a double boiler, then whisked in some Vermont cassis to finish it. The sliced kumquats simmered in honey, 5-spice, and pear juice.







































Man, is it nice to shoot using the morning sun for a change. I never use the flash, so in the evenings I have resorted to some pretty silly setups to try to get a decent shot. This was effortless.

Then, after a lovely day that included an egg-hunt and lunch at some friends', dinner was chicken broth from the carcass with tofu and fish balls made from the leftover snapper, pesto mashed potatoes, ginger, garlic, and a bit of activa to hold them together. I also made udon and blanched spinach in the pasta water. Finished with togarashi and black sesame seeds, it all made for a big bowl of goodness that provided a welcome change from the richer food of the day's earlier meals, and had excellent company in another Millet Sancerre.

8 comments:

Heather said...

I kind of forgot about Easter. No kids and being un-churched will do that. I did eat some prosciutto on my penne primavera tonight, though, so I was close.

Good call on having both kinds of crepes. It's how it should be, dammit.

michael, claudia and sierra said...

ummm, excuse me? but you are damn good. no really. i mean, you probably know this. and i am hard to impress. but you are very fucking impressive whippin alla that up like that. again...

peter said...

H: Absent the egg hunt, I would have had no idea.

CeF: Stop, I'm blushing. You're no slouch yourself.

Zoomie said...

I'd call you a magician, Peter, to have pulled such a lovely rabbit out of your hat!

peter said...

Z: It's all about having stuff in the fridge and pantry, and a hungry family.

Zoomie said...

And a sense of adventure!

michelle @ thursday night smackdown said...

those kumquats are calling to me.

peter said...

Z: Or no sense at all.

M: "Come quat with me...?"