The Aroma of Saturday

Aaaah, TGIF and bring on Saturday. That's the day that Brian and I get into some serious cooking, so this blog will alas not be extolling the joys of Learning 2.0 "^ ^" as I can almost smell the aroma of Saturday.
Over the last couple of years we've had some spectacular successes in our foray into the Gourmet world, including a memorable poached trout. We actually went out and bought a fish poacher just for this one dish, and mmmm mmmm, was it ever worth the effort! Gently poached in a court bouillion and served with a lemon and caper sauce, dauphinoise potatoes and baby carrots and whole beans tossed in butter and torn flat leaf parsley, accompanied by a chilled Frascati, aaaah, 'twas enough to make Rick Stein's baby blues weep with joy.
Another fabo fishy meal has become a BBQ regular - it's sooooo easy and is a knockout in the flavour stakes. Just grab some alfoil, make a bed with some flat leaf parsley stalks and whole spring onions, lay on top a salmon steak, top with a few prawns, sprinkle with virgin olive oil, a dob of butter, a slurp of dry white wine, a large squeeze of fresh lemon juice, some rosemary and thyme leaves, a hefty grind of rock salt and some flakes of garlic. Wrap it up into a parcel and drop onto the barbie for about 20 minutes and voila! The most sensational salmon, complete with a gourmet sauce! How easy is that!
We often thank the Library [and my eagle eye] for providing us with Saturday fodder. Doyle's seafood cookbook 641.692 DOY recently appeared in HQ, and then disappeared via a speedy reservation by yours truly. Their Fisherman's Wharf garlic prawns were to die for! But there are sooooo many magz ... so many photocopies :o) and only so many Saturday nights! :oD

Mind you, we're a bit spoilt on the Peninsula as we DO have a local fishmonger whose seafood is so fresh, the shop just zings with ozone, and we have a brilliant coolstore where the fruit, vegetables, herbs, cheeses and other delectables are so enticing you want to take a photo of them! And yes, we even have a real butcher who stocks King Island beef, so no wimpy supermarket frozen/pre-packed/artificially enhanced anythings for us. We enjoy making a list and setting out to buy all fresh ingredients for our Saturday afternoon cook up.
Which brings me to tomorrow ... the weather is all over the place at the moment. Perhaps a beef and Guinness pie? [One of Brian's faves with a fabulously velvet rich filling and a super flaky pastry] Or maybe a steaming bowl of Mussells with a chilli and vermouth sauce? A rack of lamb with the cutlets separated with a pungent mix of feta/black olives/oregano and rosemary, basted with oil and lemon juice till it just sings hillside Greece? Or ... a french provincial chicken casserole laced with wine, garlic and a smattering of truffle? [Sadly just used the last of our jar of these gems. Note to self: Must, must, hunt down some more.] Ah, decisions, decisions. There's some serious retro menu items back in favour at the moment. Think Coq Au Vin, Tornedos Rossini, Osso Bucco and Coquille St Jacques. I absolutely adore scallops, so maybe... And Houghton's wines have recently released one very nice drop - it's a blend of Verdelho and Chardonnay, crisp, dry, and very very easy on the palate.
Ah well, all will be revealed next week.
Now, taking a totally different tack, the sun is coming down on the 'famous' sunset series of pix [my daughter Michaela said: "OMG, not those bluddy sunset photos again! Crank your act up Mum."] so just for the fun of it, [and because these are already saved here at work] up pops a new series of 'what's hangin' at home' :o) - a bit of a peek into the seriously whacky, creative, and seaside domain of Brian, Deb & Flynn.
Have a great weekend everyone. I will leave you with another word of wisdom from my noticeboard:
"If the world is my oyster, how come I'm allergic to them?"