stormy monday.

I keep thinking about the octopus. Is he satisfied?

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So, Scrabble yesterday...my play was satisfyingly (full disclosure: my opponent is probably reading this, so I must season my words with an extra dash of diplomacy) "insurmountable", and the food was...eh, fine.

I did what I said I was going to, the pork belly with cumin, fennel, and orange; zucchini with feta, pine nuts, and mint (tahini-buttermilk thing on the side); catfish in cumin and cardamom butter plus mango salsa.

Though it was all quick and relatively inexpensive, I don't think I'd repeat any of it exactly that way again, especially not the pork belly: not enough sweetness for me (maybe that's what the quinces were for in the original recipe? Duh....) And yeah, the spices weren't pronounced enough in the butter, leaving the catfish totally "pleasant" (it was fish sauteed in butter, I mean come on) but highly unspectacular.

In fact, I think the only bit of the afternoon's effort worth keeping was the mango salsa, which I know doesn't sound thrilling, but try to look past the generic name...it's easy and goooood.

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mango salsa.

1 just under-ripe mango, cubed

juice of 1 lime

1/2 cup sweet onion, diced

1/8 cup roasted red pepper, rinsed, dried, and diced finely

salt to taste

1/4 cup cilantro and/or mint, chopped fine

Hmm...combine? I made mine in the morning and kept it chilled all day so the flavors could blend and the salsa would be nicely chilled. If you do this, don't add the herb(s) until you're ready to serve. As you can see, in this instance I added my herbs to the fish instead. I am a fucking madman sometimes.

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