A little bit of fun + a little confetti

Finished using our lemons last night!! There was a sale at Whole Foods for salmon so I picked up some since it was $8 off...pretty exciting I know.  There were some other things in the fridge that needed to be used...like our container of arugula so I threw that into the mix too along with with pesto mashed potatoes, the healthy way.

So to make the salmon, the ingredients were:

salmon

lemon juice

olive oil

salt

pepper

marsala

lemons

rosemary

I took some aluminum foil, largest enough to make a salmon pouch, and drizzled some olive oil on the bottom with salt and pepper.  Then I put the salmon on top then drizzled olive oil with salt and pepper on top.  The rest of the liquid ingredients were poured on top then topped with lemon slices and rosemary. 

Once it was all done, I wrapped up the foil and put it in the fridge for a little bit while the grill heated.  About 10 min later, I threw it on the grill and let it cook for about 20 min.  Once it was done, I took it off the heat and let it sit while finishing the rest of dinner, still wrapped in foil.

To go alone with the salmon, I made a balsamic reduction which is where the balsamic vinegar, honey, garlic, and dijon mustard in the ingredients picture come into play.  I figured since we had such a lemon based dinner the night before, it'd be nice to add something different.  To make the reduction, just add all the ingredients into a pot and let it....reduce..hehe. It'll get thick and syrupy and much thicker once it's cools so plan accordingly.

I didn't take pics of the mashed potatoes process just b/c I figure most people know what it looks like to boil water and then throw potatoes in.  However, here are the ingredients I used and the finished product.  I used chicken stock instead of cream/milk to keep it lighter and only added a couple  tablespoons of butter. We went with a more "smashed potatoes" texture, leaving them chunky.

So lastly, I cut up an onion and cooked it for a few minutes then added arugula a bit at a time to wilt.  I didn't add any seasonings or oil b/c I knew there were already so many flavors going on with dinner that I didn't want everything to clash.  Plus, I knew the balsamic would drizzle it's way to the veggies and give them flavor.

So once everything is cooked, it was plated and final dinner went something like...

I'd say it went very well!  It was almost  better to just mix everything together like a hash and meld all the flavors together.  I topped the arugula and potatoes with some shredded parmesan.  The reduction made for a good "gravy" for the potatoes and the sweetness of it was a good compliment to the tart of the lemon.

So in honor of birthday week, Eric and I decided it would be a good idea to incorporate Funfetti into dinner last night.  We started out with making ice cream and then realized we had some mix left decided to make Funfetti cookies...but then had the sudden lightbulb that Funfetti ICE CREAM cookies would be even better!!! I know people who are in pastry don't enjoy cooking cake from a box and I usually agree but there is always something about Funfetti cake that gets me everytime.  The process went a little like this:

For the ice cream:

sugar

milk

cream

cake mix

vanilla

Incredibly easy to make..just throw it all into a bowl and whisk it up!

Then pour it all into the ice cream maker and mix it until it's ice cream!

With the leftover mix, we added some eggs, milk, and veggie oil and mixed it until incorporated.  Then, I poured out 4 "cookies" and made cupcakes with the rest of it.  I think one of the best things about being a pastry chef is that you almost always have baking supplies on hand! 

So after being in the oven for a bit, the cakes came out of the oven.

With the cupcakes, we just left the way they were and flipped them out of the pan.  By the time we were done eating everything from dinner, I don't think Eric had any room left for the cupcakes so I ate one and threw the rest of them in a bag.  For the "cookies," I flipped 2 over and covered it in ice cream. Then sandwiched another one on top.  

OH MY GOSH...Funfetti ice cream cookies are probably one of the best things ever.  As full as we both were form dinner and eating leftover batter, we managed to chow that thing down.  We put the other one in the freezer for later.  Probably the most excited I have ever been about leftovers! 

We go outta town again tomorrow so blogging will be delayed again but we will be eating some good eats while we're gone so hopefully I will remember to take pics and