Mmmm…. it's good to be home
Last night I had a great reminder about why I like to be home — I treated myself to Wonderful Dinner ™.
First course was jumbo shrimp with cocktail source, which took the edge off my hunger. Then it was off to the kitchen to start preparing the main dish, which was grilled Cajun-rubbed trout. After scaling the fish, and then rubbing the fish with a mixture of paprika, ground pepper, cayenne pepper, onion powder, garlic power, and Italian parsley, I threw it on the Foreman Grill (wonderful device!) along with some sliced cucumbers.
Second course was an experiment. I took some freshly baked bread from a bakery in Medford Square, just five minutes walk from my house, and dipped it two different kinds of balasmic vinegar. The question I was trying to settle was whether I could tell the difference between the 6-year aged Manicardi balsamic vinegar and the 39-month aged Ortalli vinegar. I decided I could tell the difference, although the Ortalli was quite yummy. (I’m not sure it would be such a great idea to develop a taste for the 30+ year aged stuff, though — the only place where I’ve seen it is William Sonoma’s, and it’s expensive.)
I also had some of the leftover sliced cucumbers, and then it was time to retrieve the grilled trout from the grill. The grilled trout was wonderful, although I decided the cucumbers was better fresh than grilled. I ate dinner while watching the “Graduation” episodes from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which had been recorded on my Tivo while I had been traveling. (Yeah, I know that eating while watching TV isn’t the greatest thing to do, but hey, I was pampering myself.)
Speaking of pampering, dessert was chocolate dipped strawberry. Yum!!
All in all, last night was definitely a good evening. Mental note to self: must do this sort of thing more often.