when everything changes; plus friday lunch

so i’ve been at home in carlisle for about two weeks now; my new lease doesn’t start until mid-july, and this was just the easiest thing to do logistically. it’s weird having everything packed away in boxes, though – and it proves that you really can live without all your stuff. i think i just like having all the stuff around – a little clutter is somewhat comforting.

anyway, the upshot of this is that i have really been far too busy to cook anything. (as it happens, i do have a restaurant review in the works, but i’m going to wait until i’m not typing entries on my ipod for that.). you know how it goes: you don’t want to clutter your fridge with more stuff when you’re about to move, and then you pack up your stuff, then work gets busy, and you’re not unpacked…this is partly why i haven’t moved in five years. this is also how i managed to amass an entire kitchen’s worth of kitchen tools, dishes, and utensils – independent of my roommates’ stuff. yeah. it’s a little obscene.

i did finally feel settled today, especially after my trip to whole foods yesterday (bedford WF < prospect st WF < river st WF < tribeca WF), so today i returned to my friday ritual of cooking and made lunch for my mom and me. cod was on sale at WF, so I’d gotten some with the idea of building a nice lunch from that. i was originally going to sear the cod, but in truth, i was lazy and did it en papillote instead, with some fresh tarragon and lemon zest. i plated the fish on a bed of slightly caramelized leeks, and added roasted potatoes and a quick watercress and mozzarella salad as accompaniments. i think that in the hustle and bustle if the past several weeks, i had really forgotten just how much i like the process of cooking: choosing proteins and vegetables, complementing them with other sides, planning out the sequence of steps to get everything on the plate while it’s still hot. if i get it right, it’s pretty satisfying. this lunch went pretty smoothly – i started prepping at about 11:15 and we sat down to eat at 12:30. i’m not really going to write up a recipe – this is pretty much the most basic and self-explanatory meal you could make. oh, but i did use foil instead if parchment, and the fish bakes for 15 minutes at 400. other than that, i did do a very basic vinaigrette for the salad, lemon juice and olive oil, plus a bit of honey to balance the bitterness of the watercress. so go to it!