Reframing Dinner

I have to tell you, I was not, not, not looking forward to another dinner of plain old pork chops this week. Between the world events and the weather, I'm feeling pissy and those pork chops, although nicely thick with gratifyingly robust tenderloins, just didn't do it for me. I've had enough pork-and-fruit this winter to last me a while.

I needed Cher to come and yell, "Snap out of it!"

I reframed.

I imagined them on a platter instead of a plate. I have no idea why that made things better, but it did. Maybe it was the sharing aspect, or just the slightly more formal-than-normal way of serving? Perhaps it was the play of colors with the platter that made it seem new. Whatever - it was better. It just was.

So, I got to work slicing a smallish kabocha squash in half and setting it, seeds and all, onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Into the oven at 350 for half an hour.

(Worked on the diabolical jigsaw puzzle that my friend Wenirs sent me for my birthday while that got going.)

After the squash was tender when pierced with a sharp knife, I set it aside to cool a bit and sliced a great big onion thinly, sautéing it in a wide pan. Pushed the onion aside when it was clear and laid the chops into the oniony pan to brown.

While the browning was going on (and, incidentally, the onions got brown, too, but slowly, at the edges of the pan), I coaxed the seeds and strings out of the squash with a wooden spoon and scooped out the rest into a small pot with a knob of butter, the zest and juice of a small tangerine and a small thumb of microplaned fresh ginger. While that gently heated and mingled on the back burner, I prepped the broccoli and quickly steamed it.

The standout was the roasted-and-doctored kabocha squash - ginger and tangerine did wonders for it, and a little butter never hurts. The chops were good, too, richly brown on the outside, lightly pink and juicy on the inside, and deeply satisfying on their slippery bed of caramelized onions.

When I brought the platter to the table, My Beloved said, "Ladies first," as he was trained to do as a young man; I selected my portion from the platter and passed him the serving utensils, handles first. Those little acts of politeness reframed the whole meal and reminded us that we are genteel people, the kind of people who remember to say please and thank you. The kind of people who realize how incredibly lucky we are to have this beautiful dinner, this dry and warm house and each other.

Attitude is everything.

Neighborhood Watch Salad

We had been invited to a potluck party for our Neighborhood Watch section; I was determined to take something a little different, so I went surfing on the interwebs to find something appealing and springlike.

I had tangerines on hand so I searched epicurious.com (man, I love that site!) for tangerine recipes; when I found this one, I stopped looking.

Roasted Asparagus Salad with Tangerine Dressing

1 pound asparagus, trimmed
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 large tangerines or small oranges
1/3 cup fresh tangerine juice or orange juice (Having tasted this, I think orange would be too bitter)
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1-1/2 teaspoons oriental [sic] sesame oil
1-1/2 teaspoons grated fresh tangerine peel or orange peel
1 clove garlic, pressed
3/4 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
2 Tablespoons finely chopped green onion tops
2 Tablespoons finely chopped dry-roasted peanuts

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place asparagus in medium bowl. Pour enough cold water over asparagus to cover; let stand 15 minutes. Drain. Spread asparagus in a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan; drizzle with oil. Roast asparagus until crisp-tender, turning occasionally, about 10 minutes. Transfer asparagus to platter and cool.

Using a sharp knife, cut the peel and white pith from tangerines. Cut between the membranes to release segments. Arrange tangerine segments atop asparagus. Whisk tangerine juice, vinegar, sesame oil, peel, garlic and ginger in a small bowl to blend. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle over asparagus. Sprinkle with green onion tops and peanuts.

I mostly followed directions but when I whisked up the dressing it tasted a little too blah so I splashed in more vinegar, garlic and ginger than called for. Didn't finely chop my green onion tops, just sliced and sprinkled. (Took this picture; note no peanuts yet). Coarsely chopped my peanuts, which were indeed dry roasted but not salted - another time, I think the salty ones would have been a bit better.

The salad was a big hit at the party, according to My Beloved, who went in my stead while I stayed home and made sure Cora didn't scratch her ear or worry her drain. I kept some for our dinner, too. Good move.

Salad Weather

We've had seriously sunny weather for the past month or more but only a few days warm enough to tempt me to make a salad. I'm one of those who looks askance at salads in the cooler months. We're on a warming trend according to the (notoriously erroneous) weatherman, so I took a chance and concocted this from what we had in the house. Nothing very innovative; I'm more of a follower than a leader.

Nice, leafy lettuce with red edges. Sweet little tangerines. Voluptuous avocado. Crisp scallions. Sprightly fresh mint leaves. Savory Dijon vinaigrette. Happy people.