I'm slackin' here

I know, it's been roughly a week and a half since I last posted. I've got reasons though, really. I was home in Key West for about six days, and while I cooked a whole lot, I just never got around to blogging it. There was cooking. Believe me. I wasn't off the boat more than a few hours before we were at the Waterfront Market picking up stuff for dinner, including this snapper.

As far as grocery shopping goes, there's a lot that I like about what's available up here in the Sarasota/Bradenton area. However, I really do miss the cheap and abundant seafood at the Waterfront being only a bike ride away. I believe that fish, which weighed a good few pounds, was only about $5. We prepared it simply--putting several deep slashes down each side, packing them with minced garlic, dredging the fish lightly in flour, and frying it in vegetable oil. I regret not getting a picture of the pan we used, as my father has a beautiful copper-clad (I think) oval pan, just for frying whole fish. Another culinary gift from Phillip (of the chutney recipe and Indian cookbook). When you cook a fish that way, there really isn't much left to do to serve it. We did it Cuban-style, with some slivered onions and wedges of lime.

The following night my father went out for a quart of milk and came home with half a dozen live blue crabs, purchased from a gas station on Roosevelt Boulevard. The guy wouldn't say where they came from, other than that he'd just gotten them from Big Pine. I guess that's good enough. He also had no problem with dad being a few bucks short the crabs, saying only that he can pay him tomorrow. He did, of course. No one wants to be on the crab man's fecal roster. Dinner for the evening became perciatelli and crabs in tomato sauce, much like what I made for new year's eve. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures.

On the next night, I made braciole again. I did get pictures, but they're still on the kw computer. I'll update with those soon. This batch came out just as good as the last, even though I omitted the prosciutto and used parmesan instead of pecorino. Slightly before the braciole was done, our neighbor Tom sent my brother over with one of his homemade pizzas.

I returned the favor later with a big dish of braciole. I'm pretty sure he liked it, as he ate it with his hands.

I'm not sure which night we cooked the rabbit, but we did. I guess it had been in the freezer for a while, just waiting to be thawed. We buy our rabbits from the store, unlike some people. Again, a very simple preparation, basically a braise with white wine, rosemary, olives, and a little tomato paste.

I'm trying to think if I've forgot anything. I now I also turned out another batch of potato leek soup, which I was happy with. There were a few other meals at home, but these were the notable ones. I guess I just can't help myself. I really like cooking in this kitchen.