Cooking is one of life's great joys. I'm not a great cook, but the more I learn about cooking the more comfortable I get...and sometimes that extra comfort leads to burning some shit.

I've always loved eating, but it wasn't until college that I fell in love with cooking for myself and my friends. It turns out that while your parents support you emotionally and financially (if you're lucky) they can't really be there to provide things like pot roast on Sundays, interesting pasta creations mid-week, or even a fridge stocked with condiments. So, rather than succumbing to a life fueled strictly by pizza pockets, the ambitious student begins to experiment.

The early experiments were more about utility than flavor, and often involved some combination of Carl Buddig meat products, ranch dressing, and tortillas. That worked ok for the fellas, but quickly fell out of favor making way for the more ambitious fare like fettuccine Alfredo which while still very basic, seemed to lend itself better to meals with the opposite sex.

Skipping ahead a good 10 years I marry an amazing woman who happens to be a much better cook than I am. So what does a food focused fella like myself do in a situation like this? Settle in for 50 years of the little missus' cooking, or try to do culinary battle by claiming the kitchen as my own? The answer is neither...I've opted to play a bit part in our kitchen production, typically chopping a bit of this or that, or doing the dishes (I challenge any of you to a dish duel...my skills are wicked.) I have however built a small portfolio of "signature dishes" that I whip up from time to time and here they are in no particular order:

• "Sauce" On any Sunday afternoon in Kenmore during the rainy season (heh) you can find me in the kitchen working on some sort of hearty red sauce. I never do it the same way twice, but ask anyone who has tried it whether its good...it is. You can make it lots of ways, but I would include some combination of great canned tomatoes (you'll need to experiment here, but these are most likely imported and come from San Marzano Italy) combine these with fresh shallots, garlic, red wine, and olive oil. You then need to decide if this is going to be a meat-focused sauce or not. If so, you should have started by browning the meat (beef, Italian sausage, or chicken sausage.) This sauce will require some serious simmering time so leave it on the stove for as long as you can (hours.) lastly you should top a meat sauce with a dollop of ricotta, and a veg sauce with good Parmesan **hint-its not in a plastic tub**.
• Lasagna. This one takes a lot of work, but my lasagna includes spicy chicken sausage, spinach, mushrooms, and a bunch of other great stuff. you want one? have a baby and i might swing by with one of these in hopes that you get a break from multi tasking
• Spicy grilled prawns. I think this recipe is in Tom Douglas' Seattle Kitchens book, but I can't recall. you basically take some big-ass prawn, dip them in good olive oil (truth be told I am still trying to figure out how to source a high quality olive oil at a good price) you then chop fresh parsley, red pepper flakes, bread crumbs, and garlic together. throw in some salt and pepper, then coat the oily prawns with this multi-colored stuff and grill them briefly over a medium-hot grill. Don't overcook them.
• Salmon. If you see some of my early blogs you'll see my whole salmon spread...its good if a little predictable
• Patagonian Toothfish I'm not going to call it by it's real name 'cause some people think it is endangered, but it rhymes with "filetin' tree grass" and I only buy through reputable distributors. This one is easy. buy the biggest, fattest piece you can get your hands on, marinate it in a big zip loc with Yoshida's Teriyaki Sauce, some sliced Walla Walla onions, and a little garlic. Sear it on both sides, then place the fish on a bed of the sliced onions on some foil. leave it on the grill on fairly low heat for ~10 minutes (need to monitor based on thickness) pull it off the grill and let it rest before you eat it. pair it with the Conundrum, some fresh greens, and a sunny deck. Savor this meal and think about how freakin' lucky you are to have a Whole Foods nearby.

So this past Saturday I broke out of my rut...I decided to try some new things. To be fair, some of the things were not really new (steak) but Emily felt like a filet so who am I to argue? Here's what I made:

appetizer: crab/artichoke spread on plain crackers with Prosecco (just ok)

starter/side: Dungeness crab and spot prawn mac and cheese! (ridiculous)

side: asparagus with chanterelle mushrooms, tarragon, shallots, and butter (nice)

main: prime aged filet mignon topped with morel/chanterelle cream sauce

all paired with a bottle of 2000 Elderton Shiraz. In a word, amazing.

Unfortunately my ability to multitask is limited so I overcooked the steaks, but the rest was a work of art. I kind of got the cooking thing out of my system for a while now, so the Pagliacci hotline is pretty much my go-to recipe this week.

Bon appetite!