Art of the Odd

When NovySan posted a description of our Mardi Gras dinner to Twitter, Slackmistress asked for pictures.

It was, alas, too late.

So, in lieu of pictures, here’s the recipe (more or less) for spiced date and pecan-crusted catfish and balsamic greens.

Start with about a cup of pecan halves. Add three dates (sans pits – does that sound like romantic advice?), two or three cloves of garlic, a dash of salt, and a generous measure of garam masala. (I have two varieties in the cupboard. One contains more cumin, the other more black pepper. For sweeter dishes, like this one, I use the one with more pepper. If you don’t have garam masala, it’s a mix of sweet and savory spices – pepper, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, clove and cardamom, maybe some saffron or nutmeg. It’s like a shortcut to yummy.) Pulse in a food processor until everything’s mixed – but try not to completely pulverize the pecans. Spread the mixture in a baking dish – mine’s 11X7. You might want to drizzle a little olive oil in there first, just to make sure nothing sticks. Lay two catfish fillets on top of the pecan mixture, then flip them over a couple of times until they’re completely coated. You might need to dig some of the mix out from under them and ladle it over the top. I sprinkled them with some peppercorns, fennel seed and a little more salt. (I’d stick with black pepper – I used a peppercorn mix, and we discovered the white pepper was still a bit crunchy at the end.) Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes, covered.

As for the greens, they were cooked over a medium flame in a cast iron skillet with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a bit of salt, until they wilted. These were collards, but any greens you like would do. (And actually, I think the collards do better to be slow cooked – they don’t have a lot of moisture in them, so they don’t soften in the pan the way chard or spinach will.)

On my first trip to New Orleans, in the early ’90s, I sat at the Cafe Du Monde sipping cafe au lait and listening to an old jazz trumpeter accompany himself on “When the Saints Win the Super Bowl” (to the tune of “When the Saints Go Marching In,” of course). It was played for humor – the Saints had a decent team at that point (the mighty Wikipedia tells me they made the playoffs in 1990, and won their first division title in 1991), but it was still clear that this man didn’t expect his beloved team to take home the big trophy anytime soon.

I watched the game tonight with a bunch of geeks and bellydancers, at the home of a New Orleans expat, and I kept hearing that old man sing. Wherever he is, I sure hope he saw every play.

I’ve been working on this bias-knit scarf – a project stalled first by my need to order nickel-plated tips for my interchangeable needle set (the mohair-acrylic yard I used sticks to the wooden ones as though they were coated in rubber cement), and then by the need to buy two more skeins of the yarn (because the color I’m using comes in skeins half the size of the other colors in the line). My goal, though, was to have it finished in time for one of the holiday parties NovySan and I were attending – and I got it done. Granted, it was still a bit damp from blocking (I handwashed it, then dried it on low heat when I realized it would never air dry in time), and I was weaving in yarn ends this afternoon, on the way to Be the Boy and Slackmistress‘s house, but it was finished!

I do have a couple of projects in mind for the new year, which I’ll fill you in on over the next few days, but for now – may 2010 be better for than 2009, whether 2009 was an excellent year or a terrible one.