A Home-Cooked Meal

May 23rd is a wonderful day-- it's the day my mother was born. Normally, I try to buy her a gift (usually something useful), but this year, I drew a blank as to what she needed that I could afford, so I came up with a suitable alternative: dinner, cooked by yours truly. With the new Food Network Favorites cookbook I just purchased, I had the meal all planned out: for starters, grilled shrimp with a spicy mint dressing; the entree, roasted salmon on a bed of roasted plum tomatoes, with carmelized lemons; and a dessert that was scrapped because my dad bought a cake.

The shrimp is pretty simple: In a bowl, mix a cup of fresh mint leaves, two serrano chiles, some kosher salt and fresh black pepper, a little white wine vinegar, and some fish sauce (which I hope I will use again and again because I have a whole bottle of it). Blend this mixture then drizzle over the shrimp (which you have grilled for 1-2 minutes on each side) which is sitting in a bed of lettuce. Here's how it turned out:This was a pretty good starter. It was light, the shrimp was well cooked (naturally), and the sauce was pretty delicious, with the mixture of mint and a little kick from the chile.

The main course was even easier: Season salmon with salt and pepper to taste, then stick it in the oven for 15-20 minutes. As for the tomatoes, season to taste, drizzle generously with extra virgin olive oil, then stick it in the oven for the same amount of time. To carmelize the lemons, simply sautee them for a bit with some EVOO in a skillet. And that's it!

I will be honest, the salmon was a little bland, but it was cooked perfectly, so it was the right amount of moist. The tomatoes were sweet and delicious, and the lemons were also surprisingly good (even while being overwhelmingly sour). Overall, it was a pretty good main course.

So what did my parents think? My dad was the complainer. He's not a fan of shrimp (which he mentioned ad nauseum), but I got him to eat at least two pieces, which is an accomplishment. He really enjoyed the main course, despite the fact that the portions were so small. "Who do you think we are, Americans? Is this some sort of snack? Is there more food coming out? You did all that work for this much food?" etc. etc. It was to be expected.

The most important opinion though was my mom's: she loved it, like only a mother could. Here she is post-salmon and pre-cake (when she sang happy birthday to herself):
Overall, I'd say it was a success: B+ (because I did all the work).