I definitely have some of my happiest moments in the kitchen. Whether alone or with my husband or a group of people, the kitchen is such a hub of goodness, fun, nourishment, and rest.
Last night was no exception. My husband was out with his family, so I first baked buttermilk biscuits using the leftover buttermilk from my chilled avocado soup. Yes, I baked. A small feat, but still, I never bake, so these simple biscuits will get their own post.
Once the biscuits were done, I got to work on dinner. Although we are facing an end of August heat wave, I am ready for fall cooking which, for me, involves lots of roasting. Last night I decided to roast onions, potatoes, and tomatoes together for a flavorful side to a cornmeal and chile crusted cod. Thanks to the generous portion of cod sent by Alaska Seafood for the Foodbuzz contest, I had a couple of filets left and decided to cook them with a little crunch and spice.
But first, the veggies. I love roasted red onion, and because of the roasting time, thought that I would toss in the chunks of onions and potatoes together. While I chopped them into chunks, I preheated the oven to 420, then tossed the veggies in olive oil and popped them in the oven.
In the meantime I chopped and set aside some heirloom tomatoes to be added to the mix later. I wanted them roasted but not disintegrated!
Next, I mixed an egg with some fire roasted green chile peppers from Trader Joe’s and coated cod filets with the mix.
Before I popped the fish into the oven, I sprinkled cornmeal over the top for a little bit of crunch. At the same time, I added the tomatoes to the dish of roasted veggies and doused them in some nicely aged balsamic vinegar before I put them back in the oven for some more roasting.
Adding the balsamic toward the end provided some great flavor to the vegetables but did not burn because I didn’t add it at the beginning.
My husband arrived home just in time for dinner, and we had a nice, cozy meal on our deck, each with a glass of Pares Balta Ros de Pacs wine.
Barefoot, in the kitchen, music playing, open windows, food on my hands, yes, one of my favorite ways to be. Now how do I make this my job? 😉
Do you have a hobby you would like to turn into a job?
And I can’t forget to wish a Special HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the best mom in the world today! Happy Birthday mom, love you! 🙂
