Inspired by another post I read; I decided to see what fish we had in the freezer and cook it in a new way for dinner. I saw a package of rockfish. Also on that the same shelf was a box of puff pastry.
I searched the Food Network website using my two ingredients as guidance and found this recipe.
Uncle Bubba's Seafood Pot Pie
As luck would have it, Reed and I had eaten scallops for dinner a few nights ago, so we didn't have any of those, but frozen shrimp are usually in our freezer along with any of Reed's fish.
I didn't have fish stock, but I like a specific brand of vegetable bouillon, so I used that instead. I also didn't have heavy cream, but since Reed and I use non-homogenized organic whole milk for cereal and coffee, I figured that would be heavy enough. Besides, this recipe was from Paula Dean! She loves b-uuuu-ter!
The recipe also called for the cook to prebake a lattice cover for the top of the pot pie, but I like the crust to surround all the gooey-ness, so I used a whole sheet.
Even with all the modifications, I would call dinner a success. The nutmeg came across a little strong, but otherwise the flavor was good. When we only have a few scallops available, I will definitely think of this recipe in the future. Somehow I had a bit of leftover filling, so I will re-heat it as a seafood chowder and serve with bread and salad in a few days.
We also ate our first asparagus of the year. Reed and I saw some at Safeway yesterday, but they were huge and woody and completely dried out. Today at the Co-op, I found a smaller, fresher, and organic selection of the springtime veggie.
I just re-read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbra Kingsolver a few days ago. She says that asparagus needs to be eaten in the manner of corn. Find it, cut it, cook it, eat it; in as few minutes as possible. Although what we ate tonight was a little older, it was still nice to eat with a butter-garlic-lemon sauce.
In the middle of cooking, North took a bad header into the kitchen floor. You know how kids can hurt themselves and their mouths open, but the pain is so bad that their cry is still trying to catch up? North did that. I had to turn down the stove so I could put an Arnica salve on his head and comfort-nurse for a few minutes. Five minutes later, North and I were back in the kitchen as happy as can be.
That, and in all other times of tragedy, is why I nurse my toddler. He bounces back with amazingly good cheer once he gets a good dose of comfort and breastmilk.