I’m leaving town tomorrow morning for a meeting in Las Vegas. I knew my husband would probably fix fish or shrimp and broccoli for dinner for himself each night (he doesn’t stray much from that), and I had a lot of vegetables from Tuesday’s CSA shipment that needed to be used. So I sauteed up a mixture of chopped prosciutto, spring onion, zucchini, red bell pepper, and swiss chard. It was very flavorful because of the prosciutto, and only needed a sprinkling of salt and pepper. I still have lots of shrimp in the freezer from last year’s catch, so I thawed that, and sauteed the shelled shrimp in a tiny amount of olive oil, salt and pepper. I looked through the fridge to see what I had to flavor it with, and I stirred in a small amount of Robert Rothschild Farm Ginger Wasabi Sauce. It was quite good. I like to frequent the one gourmet food store we have, and keep a supply of flavored vinegars, sauces, jams, chutneys, etc. on hand. They make easy salad dressings, or pan sauces for meat or fish, and allow you to create a special meal when you don’t have a lot on hand or haven’t cooked an elaborate meal. I always thought it would be fun to have that guy from an old food network show (I think his name was Gordon, and he went to people’s home and cooked them a meal from what they had in their fridge) show up on my doorstep and cook me a dinner. Since I always have shrimp, halibut, and salmon in the freezer from our summer’s fishing, and usually some game a friend has given me, combined with my stash of sauces, condiments, etc, I thought it would be fun to see what they come up with.
I have meetings every day while in Vegas, and each night but one. I am going to eat dinner with a group of co-workers I don’t know, and I’m just hoping that they’ve made reservations at a good restaurant. I hate to have the opportunity to eat at places that I never get to try, have the company pick up the tab, and be with others who don’t care about food and choose the fake Italian restaurant because they think it will be good(can you tell that’s happened many times?). We’re staying at the Venetian, and my husband and I had a fantastic dinner at Mario Batali’s Ristaurante B&B a few months ago (we did the 7 course pasta tasting menu with wines to match), so I’m hoping for a repeat of a wonderful meal (although somewhat less costly, since it is the company’s money). Hopefully I will be able to post about a wonderful meal I had while there.