Did Someone Say Bacon Butter?

We were successfully lazy this afternoon! We shared a bowl of popcorn and watched 2 episodes of The L Word.

I wasn’t exactly hungry for dinner but I thought it would take longer than it did so we went ahead and started it around 5:30.

Going through my weekly routine of pulling magazine recipes, I ran across a recipe that called for bacon butter and you know I was there! I’ve actually been hanging on to the recipe for a couple weeks because I didn’t know what to pair it with. In the end, I said, “The heck with it!” and just made a random side dish to go with!

Mahimahi with Bacon-Tomato Butter

Ingredients

• 2  cups  water
• 1  tablespoon  fine sea salt
• 2  teaspoons  sugar
• 4  (6-ounce) mahimahi fillets
• Cooking spray
• 1/4  teaspoon  table salt, divided
• 1 2 slice center-cut bacon, finely chopped
• 1 2  garlic clove, thinly sliced
• 1/4  teaspoon  hot smoked paprika
• 2  plum roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 2  tablespoons  butter

Preparation

1. Combine first 3 ingredients in a shallow dish, stirring until sea salt and sugar dissolve; add fish. Let stand 20 minutes. Drain; pat dry.

2. Prepare charcoal fire in a chimney starter; let coals burn for 15 to 20 minutes or until flames die down. Carefully pour hot coals out of starter, and pile them onto one side of the grill. Coat grill grate with cooking spray; put grate in place over coals.

3. Sprinkle 1/8 teaspoon table salt evenly over fish. Lightly coat fish with cooking spray. Place fish, skin side down, over direct heat on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 2 minutes or until well marked. Turn fish over and move to indirect heat; grill 12 minutes or until desired degree of doneness.

4. Heat a small skillet over medium heat; add bacon to pan. Cook 5 minutes or until bacon is almost crisp, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add paprika, and cook for 20 seconds, stirring constantly. Add tomatoes, and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in butter. Remove from heat; stir in remaining 1/8 teaspoon table salt. Place 1 fillet on each of 4 plates; top each serving with about 2 tablespoons tomato mixture.

We didn’t get the same pretty grill marks but we got damn good flavor, regardless!

This bacon butter would be good on any mild fish or even chicken or pork. Hell, even tofu if you dig being an oxy-moron!

The random dish to go with: Eggplant with Capers and Red Peppers

Ingredients

• 1  medium eggplant (about 1 1/4 pounds)
• 1  medium red bell pepper
• 1/4  cup  finely chopped red onion
• 3  tablespoons  capers
• 2  tablespoons  chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2  tablespoons  fresh lemon juice
• 1  tablespoon  extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  crushed red pepper
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 2  garlic cloves, minced

Preparation

1. Preheat broiler.

2. Pierce eggplant several times with a fork; place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Broil 30 minutes or until blackened, turning frequently. Cool eggplant slightly; peel and chop.

3. Cut bell pepper in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membranes. Place pepper halves, skin sides up, on a foil-lined baking sheet; flatten with hand. Broil 15 minutes or until blackened. Place in a zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand 15 minutes. Peel and chop.

4. Combine eggplant, bell pepper, onion, and remaining ingredients in a medium bowl; toss well.

I liked the tang to this. But I like anything with lemon. And I love anything with garlic and onion.

Note: We did not get 8 servings out of this. Try 3 or 4. And I didn’t think our portions were ridiculous either.

Ahhhh, Sunday evening! Time to relax and mentally prepare for the work week in between me and Lady Gaga!

We Have a Yard!

It finally feels like summer is here in Washington, and it is mid-August.

The thermostat has hit at least 75* for 4 days in a row! And yesterday it was 93*! I don’t know what happened to summer here this year. It has been non-existent.

We took advantage of the sun again by doing yard work around our new home!

Jodus cleaned out gutters and mowed the lawn.

I worked on weeding our mess or a yard.

We are still waiting to hear back from the owners about them financing us to fix up the yard.  They need new gravel and lava rock to fill in some things. (Lava rock is not our choice. It’s what they had before and there’s still remnants!)

Before:

After:

 

SOOOO much better!

But… we only got the front done. And it took us 2 1/2 hours before lunch and another hour after lunch. But we called it a day.

We had a snack at noon:

Chobani! Love!

For lunch, we grilled up some turkey burgers.

And I made Farmer’s Market Potato Salad.

Ingredients

• 1  cup  fresh corn kernels (about 2 ears)
• 2  pounds  fingerling potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 1/2  tablespoons  olive oil, divided
• 2  tablespoons  chopped fresh tarragon basil
• 2  tablespoons  apple cider vinegar
• 2  tablespoons  whole-grain hot Dijon mustard
• 1/2  teaspoon  hot pepper sauce (Cholula)
• 3/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• Cooking spray
• 3/4  cup  vertically sliced red onion (1 whole medium onion, except a couple of slices for the burgers!)
• 3/4  cup  diced zucchini (1 whole medium-large zucchini)
• 1  cup  cherry tomatoes, halved

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°.

2. Place corn and potatoes on a jelly-roll pan. Drizzle vegetables with 1 tablespoon oil; toss to coat. Bake at 425° for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Place mixture in a large bowl. Combine tarragon and next 5 ingredients (through pepper) in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil, stirring constantly with a whisk. Drizzle potato mixture with dressing; toss gently to coat.

3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion and zucchini to pan; cook 4 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Add zucchini mixture and tomatoes to potato mixture; toss gently to combine.

The goods:

I was kind of sad with the lack of variety in my bag of fingerlings! I wanted more color!

I subbed fresh basil for the tarragon. (I don’t like tarragon! It tastes like black licorice! Yuck!)

The Farmer’s Market items: zucchini, red onion, basil. They had potatoes there but I already had some in the cupboard from Costco. The tomatoes were really expensive at the market so I just used Costco grape tomatoes instead. And I opted to use frozen corn because it is less work! 😉

This salad was sooo good! Please make it for your next BBQ!

I dolled my burger up with tomato, lettuce, onion, mayo, and veggie pepperjack.

This lunch was pretty perfect.

I didn’t quite finish the turkey on my burger and went for another spoonful of the potato salad – it was that good!

We are exhausted! Time to relax now that it is nearly 4pm!

Bed Times

Sunday Morning Frittata

It’s no secret how much I adore eggs.

I’ve been looking forward to this mornings frittata for days!

Fresh basil, mushroom, grape tomato, feta, and the secret ingredient: butter.

Butter makes the world go ‘round. So does bacon.

Question to the couples: Do you and your significant other go to bed and wake-up at the same time? Or do you work off of different schedules?

Jodus and I 98% of the time are on the same exact schedule. I love it. I think that he sometimes has a harder time going to sleep than I do but that’s usually the only issue. I feel weird if I wake up alone in bed!

On today’s agenda: yard work & yoga!