Unplanned-Off the cuff dinner...wonderful


 
S

Steve Petrone

TVWBB Platinum Member
Tonight we had a totally unplanned dinner. What's in the fridge & freezer?
1. leftover 11 oz. ribeye roast (the sr. moment one-well done). Just defrosted and sliced.
2. fresh asparagus (limited amount so I had to add other veggies to the quick pan fry...onion, carrot, garlic & an unnamed hard root veggie )
3. over ripe tomatoes-oven roasted with onions and red pepper. the tomatoes were heavenly.
4. cast iron skillet baked potatoes
5. cotes du rhone

amazingly good meal just happened...how nice
wine was a pleasant surprise as well
 
A spin on this is when you make significant changes to a recipe and it comes out far better than you hoped. I had that happen recently. It was right near the end of the garden season and I knew I had a few red bell peppers still out there. And I had four giant chicken breasts in the fridge. I found a pasta recipe that included chicken, red bell peppers, fresh basil, and dry white wine. I go out to the garden and find while I have plenty of red bell peppers, the basil has all succumbed to the first near frost. Thankfully, the much heartier oregano is still doing fine, so it's oregano instead of basil. Then I find the only white wine I have is rather old and has been stored upright for far too long. The cork has dried out and just falls apart when the corkscrew tries to bite. What to do? I find a bottle of dry vermouth. It's wine. Sort of. Anyway, oregano instead of basil, vermouth instead of dry white wine, and the dish couldn't have come out better. If I had paid $15 for a plate of that at a restaurant I would not have been at all disappointed.
 
Yep a good thing about herbs like oregano and basil, thyme and mint is they're all in the same herbal family (mint) and can easily sub for one another by simply adjusting anything in the source recipe. Other strong herbs like Rosemary and Sage can sub for each other but not for the sweet herbs like parsley, and the mint family herbs. I regularly use dry vermouth in place of white wine because of it's herbal qualities it stands in very well for it's "weaker" sibling. IN place of red wine I regularly also use a port, Marsala, dark vermouth, or a Madeira. All stand in VERY well especially in things like mushroom dishes or in place of some soy sauce which also helps reduce the salt intake.
 
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