Cooking with Ljuba.

I probably should say,  “watching Ljuba cook”,  since that would be more appropriate,  but I did sort of help.  For my part,  I prefer to be left alone if I’m making the meal.  Some sort of a Gloria Swanson thing I suppose.  Is that where those Swanson dinners came from?   (I’m kidding,  really) 

Oh wait!  Shoot,  that was Greta Garbo.   There goes that whole witty “Swanson dinner” mime.  Helps to do a bit of on line research before making these assertions.  Just sucks that I was wrong however.

 

There were a couple requests for the rather awesome smoked salmon recipe from last night,  so that’s going to be pretty much it for today. 

First though,  we need a little show,  since then the recipe will make that much more sense.  That’s my theory anyway.

Not that it had anything to do with it,  but I also grilled some white asparagus.  I tell ya,  now that I’ve started grilling them on the BBQ with a little olive oil and maybe some salt and pepper sprinkled on,  I don’t think I’ll ever go back to the boiling them. 

The method below with the pan is my preferred tool of choice,  since they’ll still grill nicely,  and not fall helplessly through the grates into the nether regions of the grill. 

…or coal fired BBQ,  as the case may be.

I just put that second one in there for comparison purposes.  I mean,  that BBQ set-up was truly awesome and everything,  but a bitch to operate.  It wasn’t just me who lost one puny little asparagus either,  the “chef du jour”  managed to lose an entire fish.  Um ya,  I didn’t mention that the last time.   So just give me the simple Weber over the sexy charcoal thingy.

 

So there was the finished dish.  It really is “Bob simple”,  so I’m sure I’ll give it a go in the not too distant future.  

There’s some freshly grated parmesan off to the left there and,  like I said,  the asparagus are optional. 

So the hope is that you can simply copy and paste this into some sort of document file and give it a go.  I’ve never been tempted to drink the Apple cool-aid,  so this is on a PC (laptop)  and came from an open office text file.  I don’t think it should matter.   Go nuts↓

 

*******

 

Smoked salmon and cream with pasta:

 

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 small onion, chopped

• 1/4 pound smoked salmon, chopped

• 1 cup heavy cream (a.k.a. whipping cream)

• 3 tablespoons capers, drained

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

• 1 pound pasta, cooked al dente, drained (reserving about 1/4 cup of the cooking water), and tossed with olive oil

• Freshly grated imported Parmesan cheese

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until translucent, but not browned. Add the smoked salmon and continue cooking just until the salmon turns opaque, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in the cream and add the capers. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Be careful how much salt you add because the smoked salmon and capers are both salty. Add the pasta and toss to coat. If there doesn't appear to be enough sauce, add a couple of tablespoons of the pasta cooking water to thin it down. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

 

There were no moving pictures.   Sorry. 

Um because, when the day comes that I start posting cooking videos on YouTube,  I’m sure the apocalypse will be right around the corner.

Oh,  and we just used regular olive oil.  I’ve never been tempted by the “extra virgin, stomped on by young women with nicely trimmed toenails” variety of olive oil.  The ordinary stuff seems to be fine.  Besides,  with the amount of olive oil we use,  we’d be hurtin’ in the pocketbook in no time flat. 

 

 

Other than that,  it’s a normal Friday.  Ljuba took a little hike over to Schönbrunn,  and by “hike” I mean,  on foot.

She then took the U-bahn back here and just now walked in the door.   It’s my turn for din-din tonight,  and it’s going to be “meat and potatoes”.   OK well,  it’s actually steaks cut to order from a tenderloin,  but let’s not get all hoity toity here.

 

Keep your quills sharp.

 

 

Thanks for lookin’.

 

 

*Oh,  and “imported” parmesan cheese??   Whatever.  I’m in Europe.  It’s just parmesan cheese.  It’s kind of like that “Wiener dog” thing?  Here they’re just called “dogs”. 

 

Really.

 

 

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