Mother's Day Meal

For this year's Mother's Day, I did not give mom jewelry or flowers or picture frames. I gave her the gift of food. My parents and I watch Food Network over our lunch breaks and, from time to time, my mom proclaims, "You can make that for me." I usually make a mental note of the recipe, and then forget it by the time I return to a place where I can download and/or print the recipe. But not this time, this time I was determined to remember. And remember I did.

In the past, I have prepared dinners for my parents, and with mixed results. Salmon last year was too herby, mom does not like risotto, and other culinary missteps. It is always something of a risk to make food when you are not sure if the eaters will appreciate it. Well, the eaters definitely appreciated this one.

For Mother's Day, I prepared Linguine with Shrimp and Lemon Oil. Nothing about it was difficult - boil pasta, saute garlic and shallots, cook shrimp, toss it all together - but the outcome is magnificent. White pasta with lemon oil (olive oil + lemon peel) clinging to it, pink shrimp, and slightly wilted green arugula. A good tell of the success of the meal is if there is any left over, which there was not. The slightly tart lemon plays well with the peppery arugula, which in turn highlights the lighter flavors of the shrimp and pasta. And, what is even better about this dish, is many components can be easily switched out; spinach for arugula, salmon filet for shrimp, etc. This adventure in cooking for others was an overwhelming success.

Coffee Macadamia Nut Brownies

This is the first time I have truly experimented with baking. I have cooked “create-a-meal” many times, using whatever I have on hand to form dinner (the latest evolution of this has been pasta salads). However, I have not leapt out into the baking arena to test the creative waters. Sure, I have changed the topping on a sugar cookie or used strawberry instead of raspberry jam, but never something like that. And, in all honesty, it was not that great a leap. And not that great a brownie, in my opinion.

It all started after I saw, tasted, and found Mary Louise Butters Brownies to be just about the best brownie on earth. And one of the flavors is Kona Buzz. Rather than spend 2 or 3 dollars on a large square, I thought I would see if amateur me could produce something similar. So I did.

I did not make my brownies from scratch, but from a box of brownie mix. I did not like the brownie mix, it was too dry and not chocolatey enough. Next time I will use a brownie mix I know to be good or make the batter from scratch. Depends on how much I want brownies versus how much time I have to make them.

Next, the coffee. I opted to use instant coffee, which I have used in the past for Espresso Brownies. Apparently, I did not use enough of the stuff because I could not taste or smell the coffee at all. I don’t know if I should use more next time, seek out instant espresso (an item that has thus far eluded me in grocery world), use brewed espresso, or ground coffee. My only fear with the brewed espresso is that I will need a lot of liquid to get the coffee taste in there and lead to soupy brownies that are not cakey and gooey, but hard and chewy. And the coffee grounds could work, it just depends on the grit factor.

Finally, the all-important macadamia nut. The only ones I could find at my store were salted. Not sure if that is what I want to use in the future as the salt overpowered a lot of the chocolate and coffee flavor. But other than that, great crunch, they did not sink to the bottom of the brownies, and I coarsely chopped them so there was a wide range of nut chunk size.

I have not heard from my tasting panel on what they thought of the brownies, but upon receiving them, there was much excitement and anticipation in the household. Experiment #1 was not an overwhelming success, but rarely is the first time around perfect. I have gained valuable knowledge and look forward to the next time I make these brownies. They may never be as good as Mary Louise Butters, but they will be mine.