J. M. Levinton

House Guests and Broken Pipes

• December 18, 2017
• Blog
• 2 Comments

Photo by moore.owen38

Week two into my house guests’ stay, I was washing pots in preparation for making supper when I realized my feet felt warm. A nice feeling in the wintertime. Then I realized my feet felt wet. I looked down and saw half my kitchen floor covered in water.

[Insert expletives here in triplicate]

I turned off the water and began mopping. Fortunately, it was just a hole in the drain pipe. But I did wish it could have happened after my guests went home. A half hour after I finished cleaning up, supper still needed to be cooked.

And it was no one’s fault that I had to bring my cat Frankie to the vet not once but twice during those two weeks. (He’s fine.) He needs to lose some weight, and carrying him in his carrier made me acutely aware of that.

Despite those glitches, the visit went well. And one of the best parts of having house guests? They taught me a few new recipes. I’m including one here, Tuna Steaks with Roasted Potatoes and Steamed Broccoli:

Preheat oven 400 degrees.

Bake the potatoes first. They take 45 minutes in the oven. When there are 22 minutes left, add the tuna. Fifteen minutes before everything’s ready, steam the broccoli.

Tuna Steak with Spices

One Mahi Mahi tuna steak per person (bought in a package from Costco’s)

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil per steak

Dried spices: garlic powder, basil, oregano, minced onion

Defrost the tuna and place in a shallow baking pan. Do not use a cookie sheet unless it has raised sides, to keep the oil from dripping.

Drizzle the olive oil on the tuna.

Sprinkle the spices on top. The only rule my friends gave me is to make sure there’s more basil than oregano.

Bake for 22 minutes (the bag says 10-12 minutes but not in my universe)

Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary

Tiny potatoes (red or assorted colors), about 20 for three people

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Garlic powder

1-2 teaspoons dried rosemary leaves

Wash potatoes and cut each one in half. Place in a shallow baking pan.

Drizzle the olive oil over them and mix until they’re coated.

Sprinkle garlic powder over them.

Crush the rosemary leaves in your hand and sprinkle over the potatoes.

Bake for 45 minutes.

Steamed Broccoli

There’s no real recipe for the steamed broccoli. Add an inch of water to a pot, place the broccoli (it was fresh, not frozen) into the steamer basket and cover for 15 minutes.

This qualifies as an excellent company dish. Very yum.

And there you have it.