Eggs/Toast hot at same time:In sm skillet:Grill cut in half buttered bread; flip; add eggs, s+p; flick with water. Cover til done.
I’m an egg lover and indulge in one or two in some fashion nearly every day. That said, there is simply nothing like fresh bread or pastries for breakfast. Am I right? Biscuits and honey with sour cream (try it), cinnamon rolls, banana bread, Danish, croissants, English muffins, scones, slices off a warm whole wheat loaf slathered with butter and jam, crumpets, and — of course — muffins. I rarely bake in summer but when a cool morning finally arrives, there’s little to stop me from mixing up some certain special something (Why not a muffin starring our famous Colorado peaches?!) and scarfing it down quite warm, right out of the pan. Well, truth told, it’s husband and best sous Dave who’s more the scarfer. The man can eat; thank you, thank you. I’ll have one muffin with my coffee and call it quits. While Dave…well, you get the picture.
In June of 2024, my dear friend Kathy Beck crossed the river following a devastating fall, subsequent brain surgeries, and a stroke. To say my heart ached is somewhat of an understatement; the lack of her presence was palpable and remains so. She was smart, witty company and fitted with a wry sense of humor she–and everyone else– thoroughly enjoyed. In short, a fine role model and a comforting, intelligent presence. In the days following her death, I posted a recipe, “Salmon on Lemon Polenta with Vegetables,” and dedicated it to her memory as Kathy, who wasn’t a happy cook, often asked me for recipes or cooking advice. I do think Kathy would have thoroughly enjoyed the meal and I’m only sad I hadn’t the opportunity to make it for her. While not always attached to my blog’s statistics, sometime later I happened to check on them and was gobsmacked to see that post hugely at the top of the heap — where it still sits! I’ve made the salmon meal a few times since — just recently for a dinner party where we remembered Kathy warmly — and I kept promising myself I would come up with another salmon and polenta recipe as it has been such a happy match for my readers and guests. This week, after hosting my neighbor Mary Pat for a similar salmon dinner, I ended up with a little extra salmon — just perfect for spending the next morning working out what turns out to be a recipe for today’s Salmon on Parmesan Polenta with Fresh Cherry Tomato Sauce.
Oh, what’s a salsa omelet? Well, honey, I guess it could be a few things but at our house, it’s an omelet where the eggs are whisked together with salsa instead of water or cream. Yep. And it’s awfully good.
Travels well to 4th of July picnics, under-the-weather friends, or campsitesJump to Recipe
Early in our marriage, best sous husband Dave and I somehow fell upon a simple summer recipe for pasta –let’s face it, that was spaghetti back then — topped with lots of fresh, diced tomatoes, shrimp, chopped feta, and dried oregano. (Not to be confused with the more current uber-popular feta sheet pan meal.) For a few years, we served it a lot to ourselves and also to anyone who came to eat outside on the deck in warm weather, of which there was plenty in northern Virginia. Compared to the cookout meals we were used to in the midwest (i.e. burgers and dogs, baked beans, and huge bowls of potato salad and slaw), this felt like sophisticated fare indeed. And while we adored the shrimpy spaghetti, we later put it aside for a few years as seafood-averse children came and went, houses were bought and sold, and moves were made only 25 times or so. Occasionally, it would pop back up in the summer repertoire, but only briefly. I’m sad to say I don’t even think there’s a copy of the recipe in the house, though a recipe probably isn’t necessary. I just might have to put it on this summer’s desirable meal list.
For the last month, I’ve had a note on my fridge (where all important information in life resides) to make a chickpea and pasta salad that I thought I might stuff in halved sweet peppers or …. I don’t know. Somehow, it didn’t get made right away as we had so much cool, rainy weather, but the thought kept perking. Chickpeas, as you’d know or maybe not, have been having a moment for a few years now. It seems chickpea salad recipes keep flying across my social media feeds and, when I look back at my own blog, these peas (beans?) have found a home here, too. Just in case you think I don’t get trendy. But as I finally got around to creating the salad –which I knew would contain feta because I love it — the old Virginia summer spaghetti routine passed through my brain and, I thought, “Why not add shrimp and tomatoes to this chickpea goodness?” And that’s how you’re getting my Chickpea-Pasta Salad with Shrimp + Feta, along with a tasty oregano vinaigrette that could also grace a cold chicken sandwich or a grilled lamb chop.
I’ve been wrapping up pork tenderloin in bacon for so many years (40?) that when I see a photo where someone else has done it, I think they’ve stolen my idea. (Perhaps they have but I’m doubtful. The world is large and I’m but one small cook.) Before the bacon method, I sometimes stuck slivers of garlic into knife-made slits all over the meat, slathered Dijon on top, and covered the whole shebang with almost more salt, pepper, and rosemary than was reasonable. Occasionally, and it’s all here on the blog, I combine all those ideas, and lest you think that was somewhat over the top, it wasn’t. Try it! Pork tenderloin, a bastion of easy-cook lean meat with a plethora of ideas for second round meals, remains a stable favorite in my cooking rotation, especially when it’s BOGO or buy one; get one “free.” This time, as the tenderloins — not to be confused with pork loins (scroll down to see the difference)– were two to a pack, I came home with 4 for about $13.50. Best sous and husband Dave divvied them up and vacuum-sealed them to freeze individually. Given that each was between 1 and 1 1/2 pounds of no-fat goodness and great for just about any cooking method (stovetop, oven, grill, air fryer, or electric pressure cooker), I started looking forward to my choice of preparations for spring and summer. First off was the bacon routine because #1 I could do it in my sleep and #2 I had this sweet sweet potato recipe that I knew was a match made in heaven. Having cooked a number of pork tenderloin sheet pan meals over the years, I knew I could put the meat and sweet potatoes all in one pan in the oven and sit down to eat in a half-hour. Meanwhile, I could find music, pour wine, set the table, and make a green vegetable.
Scroll down to IF YOU LIKED THIS... for a short list of my pork tenderloin faves.Type Pork Tenderloin into the search box for more.
Good dish to take to a friend in need. Skip the garnish or let them add it.Jump to Recipe
Now, I really like mayo. There’s just something about it. As a kid, I once ate an entire jar of it and was later very sorry. Now, I’m good just licking the spoon. (I know folks think they like mayo because it’s creamy and fatty; it’s also salty-addictive and no one ever mentions that. Dijon mustard – same way. Just taste them both all on their own or look up the sodium content and see.) My best sous and husband, however, LOVES it. When we were first married, his favorite snack was saltines smeared with mayo. A whole sleeve of them. Even now, 50 years later, he’s never happier than when offered a lunchtime egg salad sandwich, for instance. So we are both totally ok with something like cold Tuna Mac, which is just macaroni salad with an ocean of mayonnaise plus tuna. It’s especially welcome when we’re hungry and there’s little time or other ingredients at hand. You’ll probably see it at our house once or twice a summer and we’ll eat off it a couple of meals without complaint. But these days, we’d mostly rather have something we now call pasta salad dressed with some sort of vinaigrette rather than mayonnaise — despite pasta salad’s bad rap. (Were you raised with the word pasta? I didn’t grow up with that word. There was macaroni and there was spaghetti. That was it. Mostaccoli and shells later on, I think. So glad things changed.) And while we’re at it, why not some teensy-weensy, cute pasta like orzo or ditalini?
As the end of More Time at the Table FRIDAY FISH season approached, I had one remaining idea that had yet to hatch. For weeks, I’d kept a list of ingredients, on the fridge even, that might make a delicious canned tuna pasta salad without using too many ingredients. I know; you don’t believe that for the first minute but it’s true. And while I pared down the list to a few had-to-have, truly compatable elements, I also knew the whole thing would go to h_ _ _ in a hand basket without a doubly perky vinaigrette. (Nothing is worse than bland or overcooked pasta salad.) I went to work on that first. I’ve made many a lemon vinaigrette and it’s one of my favorites as it’s so simple –basically equal amounts lemon and oil. Here I figured in the zest of one of the lemons to really move the salad into my corner. It worked beautifully! Tuna, asparagus, tiny pasta, briny olives, red onions, fennel, sweet peppers, parsley, and extra lemony vinaigrette; was that all it needed? It was, along with a garnish or two, though you can scroll down to CHANGE IT UP and bathe in a plethora of other additions or substitutions you might employ and enjoy. I’ll be cheering you on.
It is fairly, if not universally true: Wherever you go in the world, there is a Caesar Salad on the menu. You could be in a dive bar, a drive-in, a fast food place, a diner, a London hotel (as was I recently) or an honest-to-God halfway decent restaurant with your lunch girlfriends and there. it. is. A no longer cheap basic Caesar Salad is listed and then, at the bottom of the salad section– at least here in the U.S.– you’re told you can add the ubiquitous grilled chicken (or salmon, shrimp, or steak). Because I adore a well-made, simple no-chicken Caesar, I ordered it at a sweet place in Napa the last time– a few years ago now– our wine group visited. I was the happiest clam because this was not only one of the best Caesars I’d ever had (barely out-of-the-garden lettuce and the perfect Chardonnay in Napa, sigh) but it was bewitchingly showered with young, green-green, perfectly minced chives. Was anything ever better? Not that day! (Menu down below.)
At home, I make a few differently styled Caesars but don’t typically layer on protein except for copious amounts of salty Parmiagiano-Reggiano. My wannabe Caesars may contain a few different vegetables for health, happiness, and texture. But this last week, as I wondered how to use some of the three pounds of tilapia I’d scored for under $20 total at Costco, I realized I was going to throw together a Tilapia Caesar. Why not? If restaurants can put all that (ahem) grilled boneless chicken on their Caesar salad, why couldn’t I slip on a little fillet of nicely seasoned, tender white fish?! The tilapia, which my best sous and husband Dave had divided into 3 (1 lb.) packages, would, I know thaw quickly in a pot of cold water and cook in mere minutes. It would be not only good for us but cheap and fast. Nice.
My friend Thomas, who attends a weekly Wednesday class with me, often asks, “Any scones today, Alyce?” Once in a while, given an early morning with extra time, I’ll throw together some blueberry or peach or strawberry and chocolate chip scones (or some muffins) and bake them off, bringing them along in a basket with butter for the class to enjoy with our coffee. But that’s not every week and maybe not even every month. For Thomas, however, hope springs eternal. I thought of him today as I worked on a new savory scone for this week’s FRIDAY FISH — I know, a bread for FRIDAY FISH!! — and wondered what he’d think of a not-sweet, craggy whole wheat scone featuring smoked salmon, two cheeses, and some finely chopped brightly-colored veggies. I’m guessing he’d go right ahead and eat a couple anyway but might be a little surprised to not find berries or even currants in his scones. While you might be surprised, too, I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy them, especially alongside a bowl of tomato or asparagus soup, a crisp salad, a brunchy egg dish, or even spread with a bit of goat or cream cheese with a glass of sparkling wine at appetizer time. Everyone loves homemade bread but not everyone has the hours it takes to make it. Scones, a for real “quick bread” can be tossed together, baked, and in your tummy in about 45 minutes.
Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, March 5and goes through April 17, 2025.(Easter is April 20, 2025)Some Christians fast from meat voluntarily on Fridays during Lent. I blog fish at that time as a spiritual discipline and learning opportunity, though I could also include vegetarian dishes, if I chose–and I might! This year I celebrate 10 years of FRIDAY FISH on More Time at the Table. Up your fish game with me for the next few weeks! Glad to have you on board.
At our house, Friday night is date night. I realize that for other folks, this means running out to a restaurant, movie, concert, or maybe even ordering in a sweet meal to share in front of the fireplace. For best sous and husband Dave and me, it’s a thoughtful meal cooked right here in our own kitchen and served in a quiet dining room complete with paired wine, candles, music, comfy clothes, no phones and also… our own private restroom just across the hall–wink, wink. We rarely eat dinner in a restaurant unless traveling, and, if we do, it’s not during crowded weekend nights. Do I choose arduous recipes? Not typically but our dinners often– though not always– feature 3 or 4 painless courses, red meat, and an entire evening devoted to one another.
Here’s our Table for Two at home.
If I’ve presence of mind enough, I might say on Thursday, “Any requests for Friday night?” Dave usually leaves it up to me (he chooses wines, btw) but last week he said, “What about shrimp? Or maybe steak?” With that disparate mix in mind, I thawed shrimp for an appetizer and two hefty filets leftover from a birthday meal last October. When Friday rolled around, instead of old school shrimp cocktail, which was my first thought, I threw together a simple grilled shrimp and arugula salad that still included our favorite shrimp cocktail sauce — a spiced up Louie — as a dressing. Because I had olives out from a Friday afternoon glass of wine with good friend, Patti, I chopped those up and skinny-sliced a red onion. (If your onion is too hot, soak it in water or vinegar for 8-10 minutes before draining, patting dry and adding to salad.) This could be sounding vaguely like a Shrimp Louie salad to you aficionados –and you’d be right–but I made it out of what was on hand skipping the usual suspects of romaine, tomatoes, hard-cooked eggs, and avocado. Without the weightier ingredients and just a few shrimp, our salad was more first course-style than a typical main course Louie, which can feel something like a Cobb in size and heft. “Louis,” by the way, is right, too, but however you’d like to spell it, it’s pronounced LOO-ee. Turned out light, elegant (Dave’s word), pleasing, along with sooo appetizing. In other words, we didn’t spoil our dinner. From whence came Shrimp Louie?
