Weeks before being admitted to the hospital, I had purchased two bricks of firm tofu. The expiration date was well into the future. I felt confident that I would use the tofu in a dish before the time-stamp indication. Into the refrigerator, the tofu went until called upon by inspiration.
When I returned from the hospital, I was greeted by a refrigerator full of "Best Used By..." products at or past their prime: milk, sour cream, pork chops, ground beef, steamed chicken, mushrooms, croissant dough, clementines--all in need (Indeed!) of some form of esculent solution. These wasting foodstuffs required some special effort; however, the milk was most simple: cereal, pancakes. I wanted something
different to ingest since I had been "blanded" by six days of stringent, yet highly nutritive, delectables.
A menu change was what I desired. Anticipating a hectic week, adjusting to my revised schedule by adding the task of dressing my leg (wounded by the surgery), by altering my sleep pattern (due to a change in my medicine regimen), I was able to compose and prepare lunch and dinner menu items for the week. The results, while organized, were not as I would have liked, yet abundantly satisfactory. "Cleaning out" the refrigerator with recipe after recipe, I noticed the tofu (and the clementines). The date of expiration was nigh; the future was now! Something had to be done. What I wrought was a fiasco.
Charred Fiasco Stew
Tofu (firm, coated, marinated, fried)
-- mustard oil
-- sweet soy
-- curry powder
Almonds (fried)
Dried Hot Chili
Shrimp (medium)
Peas
Rice Cake Ovals (boiled in Sea Salt)
Onion
Marinate (remaining for stew)
Soy Sauce
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyx7ia2zIEkclZ14RDZT6C-WX7PokibNFVRLO2Cd8dAkEyE0KI6KY1Yc2_HpiuMNzJtLjbqYZy07TROFq_V1TUaJm5g3sxY7q3Py9WMCfy_yeHn44sc7IrVTkf0L46MzHWIoqcdSju/s1600/Charred_Fiasco_Stew.jpg) |
Charred Fiasco Stew
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Slump Sump Fiasco
Clementines (boiled, peeled, pulped [liquified])
Wings (fried drumsticks [flour, salt and pepper, cayenne sauce])
Enoki and Crab Mushrooms
Rice
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9YRSExy6tdYo9N70wTXLko_xRu5qdgmD0Ksa_nNhyzWoDfcvoxFJr_LeJ7ax1Pa-6zMj9jjiU0eyWnfOvM7j1jx4P29QwJ0mvJVgnLHl9ppC-_ZEFOm9PcL3nxVfgWEreVCWmSnqY/s1600/Slump_Sump_Fiasco.jpg) |
Slump Sump Fiasco
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Having eaten my mistakes of progression, I decided to try making something less messy.
Early Easter Ham with a Mardi Gras Glaze
Potato (soaked in Sea Salt)
-- bake, cut in half, scoop out
-- toast shell, mash middle
-- Boiled Carrot [bits] and Shallot [slivers]
-- Lemon (juice)
-- Mozzarella (cubes melted)
Ham (hunks)
-- pressure cooked, divvy cut, baked, then broiled
-- Marinate and Glaze: dark brown sugar, filtered water, butter, arrow root, molasses
Cabbage (pressure cooked in ham stock, chopped)
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Early Easter Ham with a Mardi Gras Glaze
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This dinner was not a fiasco. A triumph. Unfortunately this meal will not last in refrigeration until Easter.
Spoils!!!