Sunday, October 7, 2012

What to do in a blackout


Talk about good timing. The teriyaki salmon was ready to serve, the baked small potatoes were crisp in the oven, the steamed buck choy had wilted nicely. And then the power went out. Not just in our house, but in 25,000 houses in inner-western Sydney. And the house was pitch black. For the next few hours.

The good thing about living in the same house for 21 years is that you know your way around in the dark. I just went to the cupboard where we keep one of our torches, turned it on, went to the cupboard where the candles and the matches have lain undisturbed for years, and two minutes later we were back in business, glowing dimly but happily enough. Dinner served. Yum. Then what to do?

Scrabble by candlelight, of course! Pam and I love our
new swivelling Scrabble board. We saw one in a movie
a few years ago, and then at the end of that year, Santa
(and Pam) gave me one. The board sits on a little
swivelly plinthy thingy, so you can spin it around so 
that
each  player sees all the letters right-way-up when it's
their turn to get a triple word score with a 'Q' and a 'Z'.
As we were so blessed with good timing for the blackout, the least I can do for the unfortunates who were halfway through cooking dinner is share the teriyaki recipe that never fails, because it's quick! Works brilliantly with Atlantic salmon.

100ml soy sauce
30ml mirin (or sake)
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1 teaspoon finely minced ginger
1 dessertspoon sugar

Combine ingredients to make a marinade, then marinate the salmon (1 piece/cutlet/steak per person) in this for 1-2 hours. When the time comes to cook the salmon, cook it how you like it. I cook mine on a griddle plate, about 3 minutes either side, so it's still rather pink and underdone in the middle. Others prefer it more well done.



4 comments:

Lithopsland said...

You're such a romantic for having timed that blackout perfectly so that you could have dinner with Pammy by candlelight. Dare I suggest that the swivel scrabble board could second as a great lazy susan? Can not make it to exhibition opening tonight. I hope its a success. Congrats to Pamela! Best!

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

Turn a drama into a romance. A special board too.

outlawgardener said...

Thanks for the recipe and for the scrabble board idea. I'd not seen one like that before but love the idea.

dirtgirl said...

Great recipe Jamie, thanks. I recently made a Thai Salmon recipe using garlic, lemongrass and spinach from the garden. Don't you just love the Swivelling Scrabble board. My son was given one by his american in laws when he visited there a few years ago and it is part of our Christmas tradition to play ( and squabble) over the Scrabble board after lunch.