Lake to Table!

Brownie and I went fishing today and caught some nice trout!  There's just nothing like cleaning and them and getting them straight on the grill!  :-)

Grilled Rock Fish with Pasta Salad

My stepdaughter wanted Brownie to make her some of his 'pretty food' since we usually only make those things when the kiddos don't need tending.  So tonight, both of us girls got spoiled with his cooking!  My parents gave us some rock fish from one of their fishing trips and ... we put it to good use as usual! :-)

Smoked Duck Breast

Smoked Duck Breast with a Raspberry Port Reduction, Duck Skin Chicharrones and Black Truffle

Brownie has a friend who loves hunting ... someday I will encourage him enough to join these expeditions and fill our freezer!  But I do enjoy the random gifts he brings home from 'beer with the guys' nights!  This week, it was a duck hunting expedition that filled this friend's freezer and they had tried everything and hadn't come up with anything delicious to do with the meat.  So he challenged Brownie to do something!

I personally think he succeeded and now I would like him to become an avid duck hunter :-)  He smoked the duck breast on the BBQ with alder wood and created this beautiful plate for me tonight!

Love, love, love!!!!!!  Yes, this is what everyone should do with duck meat!

Superbowl Sunday

Brownie is a huge college football fan, but neither of us are too interested in the NFL.  The kids were playing and running around the house with the game on, but no one was glued to the TV much.  So we decided to do what we do best - cook!

We now have food for the week and the kids were patient with us because we baked cookies :-)  Win/Win!!!!

Rainbow Trout Cakes

Rainbow Trout Cakes with Garlic Dill Aioli and Sriracha Drizzle

I requested that Brownie make me something in our kitchen for our anniversary.  What we had was some trout that my mom caught on a fishing trip to Diamond Lake in the freezer.  So he made these for us!

Taking the meat off of a cooked trout isn't easy!  This was definitely a labor of love!  Happy Anniversary to us and Happy Eats!!!

Cooking Challenge!

Tonight one of my friends was craving some good food and got carried away in the grocery store.  She wanted Brownie to make some of his yummy creations for her!  So since we had no plans, Brownie agreed to create from whatever she brought over.

She brought a LOT of food over as you can see!  The only rules were that he had to use every ingredient.  So like a kid on a playground, Brownie went to work.  We were up until 1am eating the amazing things he put in front of us, one after the other.  So stuffed - totally worth it!!!!

First, he put out pate and cheese with crackers for us to munch on, which was yummy.  Market of Choice has SUCH good pate and cheese!

His first creation:  Shrimp and Sardine Croquettes with Red Miso Sauce.  DIVINE!  I could have devoured hundreds of these!  Crunchy and flavorful on their own and that sauce....more please!  But there was so much more to come ....

Then we were served Steamed Muscles in a White Wine/Ginger Broth with Tomatoes and Garlic Toast points.  Soaking up that broth with the bread is one of my favorite things to do!  The flavor is just beautiful.  The muscles were fresh and had really nice flavor.  Living in Oregon does have its benefits!  We are blessed with so many different types of local seafood!

Next, he brought us Duck Liver Bruschetta with an Oyster Mushroom, Brown Butter Sage Saute.  These flavors were SO good together!  Rich and creamy and savory and that fresh sage .... ugh!  To die for!  If this doesn't inspire any one to go buy some duck liver, I don't know what would!  

I can't really say that I had a favorite last night, but this is certainly at the top of the list!  Next course was Pasta with Pate and Triple Cream Brie Sauce with Jalapeno Ginger Shrimp.  Be still my heart, this was incredible.  I never quite understand how these flavors work in his head, but Brownie always seems to dazzle my taste buds!  

Now, Brownie was certainly given some strange ingredients to use that really had to be used creatively.  The next dish did just that:  Kale and Almond Chip Crusted Shrimp with Ginger Jalapeno Triple Cream Brie dipping sauce ... see how he tied those two together and saved himself some time?  :-)  Very wise.  But these were so good, I really loved these little morsels.

Last, but certainly not least was the Grilled Lamb Chop, Roasted Brussel Sprouts with a Roasted Red Pepper and Horseradish Cream Sauce.  Oh my.  Life just doesn't get any better than this.  The lamb was cooked perfectly (as if the man could ruin meat) and the flavors were so delicious together.  A fine choice for a Grand Finale!

I have never been so full in all of my life, and still so eager to eat what is put in front of me next!  It was an awesome night showcasing his talents and creativity and he officially has another big fan now; my friend was blown away and so very impressed.  Challenge met!

Now .... I have to do the dishes....see you in a few days!

More Oysters!

Today we went on a driving adventure around our beautiful Willamette Valley with no particular destination in mind.  Of course the places we end up at either serve food or inspire you to cook your own food by offering you gorgeous ingredients.

Today, one of our stops was Fisherman's Market in Eugene.  They serve food, yes, but more importantly, they SELL fresh seafood :-)  They had a great price on fresh oysters, so Brownie had to have some.  After a quick trip to the grocery store on our drive back home, he decided to grill up his catch of the day.

He did them two ways.  One with a spicy and slightly sweet BBQ concoction that he whipped up and the other with a spinach/bacon/panko topping, sprinkled with romano cheese and topped with horseradish.

My mouth is watering as I type.  They were so full of flavors....everyone should go get some oysters RIGHT NOW.

Now.