Aaand, we're having another wind/dust storm.
Is it this year's weather, or our aging, or a bit of both that lessens our enthusiasm for cooking outside? Whatever the reasons, we cooked inside last night and tonight.
Last night, the wind died in time for us to cook outside, but we'd already made other plans. It was tube steaks again. I'd bought some new varieties, and we had a taste-test comparison augmented by gently-steamed asparagus. In the process, I realized that I've been using the Princessmobile's 3-burner cookstove all wrong.
When there are two large skillets in play, the favored front burner must be ignored so the two large utensils can be properly centered over their respective burners, in the back. I suppose it should have been obvious, but I only realized it last night. (Insert head-slap and "D'Oh!" here.)
Here were the tube steaks we tested:
I thought both were good. I thought Aidells' Andouille was hands and fists above Zatarain's version of the stuff. Now I just have to keep reminding my darling of that!
Chores took a great deal of time and energy today. Meanwhile, the wind was building and dust was filtering into everything. This is a holiday weekend, but we noticed a lot of rigs clearing out in the morning rather than waiting until late in the day as usual. We're sure it was because of the weather.
I had intended a dinner stir-fry using the last of a batch of mixed prepped vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, carrots) as well as some mushrooms languishing in the crisper drawer, accented by some pork. It turned out that the mixed vegetables had gone from mixing to decaying, too much to be salvageable. I was getting hangry. Never mind necessity, hunger is the mother of invention. I grabbed the last of the cooked pasta corkscrews from a couple nights ago, the last of some delightful pencil-thin asparagus we've been working on, and a dry salami that I unearthed from somewhere - how long ago, and where, did we get that? Pasta Alfredo, with chopped salami and asparagus. Too bad I wasn't thinking clearly enough to remember the mushrooms!
If you look carefully, you'll see that the sauce broke. Don't look. It was delectable anyway.
