J cooked for me Saturday night! Hell, J stayed over that night! I suppose I should back up...
I recently moved into a new apartment, downsizing my life to a comfortable, manageable degree. My place now is easy to maintain, I get to spend more time with my dogs, and ultimately it isn't a Shame Shack of a residence as I had taken to calling the former. And, since I still talk to J (I know, I know, really ought to quit that cold turkey already!), I mentioned i was in a new place that I was actually proud of and he was welcome to visit anytime. He decided to come over Saturday.
Now, I know him. I highly doubted he'd show- after all, he was coming over after he left work (late-ass o'clock) on his restaurants' busiest service night. In fact, I was convinced he wasn't coming. So when he told me he was going to bring food and cook for me, I made alternate plans.
I made Forelle Blau, also know as Trout au Bleu based off of a Lower Saxon recipe. Live-tweeted it the entire time as well (follow me @andiwredonkulus). It turned out really well, and I flipped on reruns of 'A Cook's Tour' to doze off to. 10:17pm, I got a text- "Just left 15 min ago"
I was flabbergasted. He was actually going to show up? Hell, I was getting a second dinner?? (Food shows make me hungry) And show he did. With food. At about 12:30am. I didn't care, I was over the moon and starving at this point. He wound up making me a shortrib dish that is popular at one of his restaurants, and I can see why- granted, it wasn't my thing necessarily (it used whole grain mustard, which I am nooot a fan of), but the fact that he cooked for me was incredibly sweet. And even better? In the morning we collaborated on a frittata, and that turned out goddamned delicious. I'm feeling really good about things with J! I might even have hope for a future with him again.
In other news, going to be spending my morning making a couple different condiments- a special German hot mustard that my former boss taught me, and Jägersauce for schnitzel that I'll be making later in the week. I'll live-tweet the Jägersauce around 12pm EST if you are interested! In the meantime, here's the Forelle Blau recipe I used.
Forelle Blau
*serves two*
2 whole trout, cleaned
1pt stock (fish preferably, but chicken works too)
1c white wine
1/4c white wine vinegar
Salt
Black peppercorns
Boil your liquids together. While those are getting started, tie your trout into a u-shape by tying their lower jaw to the tail. Put the fish in a deep, roomy pot. Pour your boiling stock mix over it, then season with the peppercorn and salt to taste. Cover, let simmer for 15 min, then serve. Quick, easy, and pretty tasty!
