Before I forget, I am officially announcing August’s Family Recipes Event. I will be accepting submissions through Midnight, Saturday, August 29. I hope to see the best recipes that you treasure from your family members–in-laws, children, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, you name it. I hope you head over to The Life & Loves Of Grumpy’s Honeybunch later this week for the July round up!
Here’s a Rules Refresher:
Make a dish from a recipe dear to you from any family member, including the men, those of a younger generation than you and in-laws too!
Post it on your blog between now and 12 AM Midnight Saturday August 29 (USA EST)–all submissions must be in English please.
Provide a link in your post to this page and this blog.
Email me at thespicedlife AT gmail DOT com by 12 AM Midnight Saturday August 29 (USA EST) with:
- the recipe name
- the URL of the post
- the URL of your blog
- your location
Please place a copy of the logo on your post if possible.
Multiple submissions are welcome, but please only one submission for each type of dish (main dish, appetizer, dessert, etc). New posts only please.
Don’t worry about photos–I will grab one from your post.
Have you ever made something and been bowled over by how fantastic it tasted–and then immediately said but cripes I cannot actually tell anyone about it until I figure out how to make it more attractive?
Ah, the curse of the food blogger (see photo to left). And I don’t mean bad photographing but ultimately yummy looking like oatmeal or black bean dip. I mean really ugly, as in I need to figure out why: was the sauce too hot for the sour cream (even with the heat off)? Was there too much oil? Should I have wiped the pan out after cooking the fish and then started over, sans flour? Is this just a poor man’s version of some famous sauce of which I am ignorant, like remoulade, because I am such a novice at cooking with fish?
So I tried again the next night, wiping the pan out and starting with just a little butter. Ironically John liked it better the first night, when it was so ugly, but he he definitely still liked it the second night. The second night was less oily and more creamy, more pretty. It was tarter–which may have been why I liked it and he did not as much. He actually missed the lumps from the first night! Go figure! But seeing as I am unwilling to ever serve anyone a sauce that looks so congealed, it is the second night’s recipe you are getting. If you want it less tart, add more sour cream.
Laura’s Lemon-Dijon Sauce For Pan Fried Fish
3 T unsalted butter
2 T dijon mustard
juice of one lemon
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup sour cream
Wipe out the pan you have fried the fish in (preferably nonstick). Return it to the heat, over medium heat. Add the butter in tablespoon pats. When it has melted, add the lemon juice and whick with a silicone whisk until it is smooth. Add the dijon mustard and do the same. Turn off the heat or reduce to a bare simmer. Spoon some of the mixture into the sour cream and whisk to bring the temperature down. When you have spooned enough in and whisked enough that it is warm, dump it into the pan and whisk it all together. Taste for salt and pepper (and remember how much salt might be in the crust on your fish, depending on how seasoned the flour was). Serve with fried fish for dipping.
Sometimes ugly food tastes better than pretty food.