Dialing up the dishes

As a gesture, mostly, of defiance, I've been trying to cook again, essentially since I got out of the hospital. However, it's been simple stuff -- meat and starch, basically. Things I can do in my sleep, which has been pretty much the case. (Try not to think about that 210mm Shun gyuto: focus, focus, focus -- you'll need that thumb, later on.)

This week, though, it seems as if I'm able to do a bit more in the kitchen, and here's the first of what I'd call an even marginally interesting menu. Wild striped bass fillets in parchment, with a cashew-carrot gunk spread on 'em, served with a few Michigan farmed shrimp in a butter sauce, a trivial couscous dish, and (not shown) a green bean fricassee side. Drank a white burgundy with it - good match, actually, although not deliberately chosen.

As always, why do you care? You don't.