I don't have a lot to report from this weekend's cooking. I didn't take on any projects, mostly contenting myself with throwing some dishes together out of stuff in my refrigerator that needed to be used. But I did pick up one fun little trick.
For a couple of decades, the one recipe I knew that seemed a little fancy was one my brother-in-law had taught me. It consisted of pasta tossed with olive oil, sliced black olives, and feta cheese. The thing that made it a little fancy is that, before the dish is assembled, the olive oil is flavored by warming sliced or minced garlic in it for a few moments. (If you hear any sizzling, turn the heat down.) The garlic is then disposed of before the oil is used.
A week or so ago, my neighbor lady asked me to make shrimp tacos for her. The shrimp I was using was precooked, so I decided to just flavor it with a saute with olive oil infused as I described above. Today, though, I though the zest of a lime in with the garlic. Although the result was a bit subtle and was buried by the salsa verde I used as a taco sauce, it was very nice right out of the pan. I'm thinking it might be very nice to cook fish or chicken.
I always think that flavors should be subtle. If something jumps out at you then usually it's too much. I particularly feel this way about any sweetener whether artificial or sugar. If the first thing you taste is sweet, then you need to cut back. Same with most spices unless it's something like chili. ;)))
ReplyDeleteIf you want to pump up the lime flavor, put the zest into the olive oil & let it set for a few days. :)
ReplyDeleteWell done, my friend!