So many people have asked me how married life is so far. And my response has been that it’s great – nothing has changed. Or rather, it hadn’t, until last week.
Last Tuesday was the first day that our new house cleaners came. And all the sudden, married life is looking like a huge improvement over non-married life!
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This recipe is my way of pretending I’m still on the Vineyard. Every smoky, creamy bite brings me back to vacation… delicious, delicious vacation!
Actually, this recipe is my way of mashing up vacation and real life. A creamy fish pate is definitely an island treat, but the one we had on the Vineyard is made with smoked bluefish. Well, in Utah, there is nary a bluefish to be found, never mind smoked. Trout, however, we have in abundance, and that’s how it made its way into this pate.
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So I’ve finally made the acquaintance of harissa. For the last year, I’ve seen other bloggers making delicious spicy recipes with this spice blend I’d never heard of. I kept vowing to try it… then returning to my lazy, familiar ways. But a little tub of it caught my eye at the farmer’s market on Martha’s Vineyard, and I knew I’d regret it if I procrastinated further. Plus, who doesn’t like to come home with some foodie souvenirs from their travels?
As it turns out, I probably should have left the harissa, because I spent my last cash on it. When Nate and I went to apply for our marriage license minutes later, neither of us had the $4 that it cost, thanks to his farmer’s market coffee and my harissa purchase. We actually had to ask my dad for $5 to apply for the license! Now there’s a story for our kids – Mommy and Daddy were so poor they couldn’t even afford to get married for $4. It’s kind of romantic, right? (We can leave out the part that Mommy had just paid more than that for a gourmet spice blend and Daddy was feeding his expensive latte habit.) That’ll teach me to walk past the ATM on my way out of the airport…
It was the harissa dip I sampled at the farmer’s market stand that put me over the edge towards buying it. That dip, made with yogurt and cream cheese, was nothing like this one, but I wanted to try out the harissa and carrot combination I’d seen all over the blogosphere. Also, Nate read The China Study while we were on the Vineyard, and he’s convinced me we should try to be a liiittle more vegan again. (Although I probably had you fooled with Monday’s recipe, which contained three types of dairy and an egg.) In any case, a carrot dip seemed like a good place to start with making a dent in my new tub of harissa.
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Today I’m in the mood for a history lesson. Ketchup – wanna know about it?
First of all, did you know ketchup originated in Asia? I wondered about this when I picked up a bottle of kecap manis for that peanut sauce I love so much. Kecap… is that like ketchup? Well yes, apparently. Ketchup originally referred to a Chinese fermented fish sauce, and was brought back to Europe by sailors in the 17th century. Once in Europe, ketchup wasn’t necessarily fish sauce, but it didn’t necessarily contain tomatoes, either. It was any spiced condiment and could be made out of mushrooms, oysters, walnuts, etc.
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Is it weird to have a favorite color to photograph? Because mine is definitely green.
Cilantro on guacamole and scallions on tofu,
Asparagus with kale and avocado gazpacho,
Eggs that use herbs instead of mayonnaise, these are a few of my favorite things!
…to see through a lens.
Greens always look so fresh, the way nothing else can. I try to add at least a touch of green to every recipe I photograph (the savory ones at least!) to give that vibrant feeling to the dish. I guess that’s not so hard – what’s a vegetarian blog without greens?! – but it’s crazy to me how much more appetizing I find my own photos when they have a sprinkle of herbs.
Orrrr when they’ve got green all over!
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