Now... for the vegetable. I wanted to do broccoli, and I wanted to do more than just steam it. I normally always steam broccoli. And, normally, it is not a crowd pleaser. My aunt Louise makes a mean roasted broccoli with gremolata, so I asked her for the recipe. Louise is an amazing cook. She makes things that normal Ozarks folks can't pronounce, like gremolata and tabouli. Mike has a natural aversion to any food that is difficult to pronounce and polysyllabic. However, when Louise cooks Mike cleans his plate. I was hoping for the same luck with the roasted broccoli.
First, I had to get out some bread and let it sit out on the counter to get stale. Jack found my stash and made a little snack of it.
Meanwhile, I took Jack with me to visit our friend Jane. Jane is another great cook. We used to make homemade jelly together. This was before Jack came along and put an end to my free time. Jane has been reading the blog, and noticed how much I liked bread. She felt sorry for me eating crescent rolls all the time. She has been on a bread making kick, and offered to give me half the dough she had made the previous day. She even offered to loan me her cookbook.
Being the breadhead that I am, I got in the car and put the pedal down. Jane gave me two loaves of rising bread and three jars of jelly.
As soon as I got home I put the bread in the oven to bake. It makes you feel good to have bread baking in the oven, even if you didn't it yourself. The house becomes warmer and cozier. You start to use words like home, hearth, and artisan. You smile dreamily over your toddler as he plays on the kitchen floor. For a moment, you feel like a better you.
Jack was busy during this time, too. He began playing one of his favorite games: use the Swiffer to knock all the keys off the key-holder.
This game leads to the slow demise of the paint job on our walls, but I like to watch Jack play. I'm proud of him for using tools to accomplish tricky tasks.
When Mike groans, I point out that the use of tools is what separates humans from animals... and thumbs, of course. What an exceptional human Jack must be, since he is using tools to solve problems already!
While Jack destroyed the hallway, I happily worked on Louise's gremolata. My bread wasn't quite stale enough, so I toasted it in the oven. Then I put it in the Cuisinart and chopped it to smithereens.
All I had left to do was sautee a diced shallot, throw in the bread crumbs, and mix in some lemon zest. I would sprinkle this mixture over the roasted broccoli. Perhaps I was excited because I would get to eat bread with my broccoli, but I just knew Mike would love this. Louise had cautioned that I wouldn't be able to hide the broccoli, but I had assured her it didn't matter. Mike would acknowledge the vegetable, eat said vegetable, and applaud the cook.
It turned out fantastic. Our dinner was so nice I even lit the candles.
The bread was amazing. Everyone loved it, including Jack. Once we broke out Jane's homemade strawberry jelly, we couldn't get Jack to eat anything but the bread and jelly. Thus we have learned not to serve jelly at dinner.
Sad news. Mike didn't like the broccoli. He devoured his salmon, though. I ate so much bread and broccoli that I wasn't even hungry by the time I got around to the salmon.
I was happy that tonight had been such a healthy, happy meal. Things are going to get difficult this week, since Mike will be travelling for work and I'll be teaching at night. I'm not sure how this is going to work...
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