Peter Paisano Salad-April 2009

My inspiration for this month’s dish came to me in a dream. No joke. I had a dream that I was in some kind of cooking challenge (presumably reality TV based as the head “chef” was Capt. Keith from “Deadliest Catch”) and we were tasked with make a “Peter Paisano Salad”. The actual making of the salad involved some sort of expanding octopus that resulted in a mound of something (who knows it was dream). What I do remember, though, is saying, “You mean Peter Paisano like the first Pope?” Here again I don’t know why. Next morning I awoke and told Sara about my dream, and when I said “Peter Paisano Salad” she said, “What? Like the Pope?” That’s when I knew this wasn’t just a dream but a vision. The fact that I am having visions is a little disturbing as my most recent vision involves me being a Mason and getting turned into a vampire when I reached the ninth level.

At any rate, I knew I had to make this salad. I also knew that there was no such thing as the expanding octopus stuff I had in my dream. So, I’ve improvised.

I figure Peter was a fisherman and probably would have eaten some fish (pouches of salmon). Plus, you’ve got to have the unleavened bread (holy water crackers) and wine (red wine vinegar). Tip for Eucharist shoppers: most Christian supply stores are closed on Sunday. I added some Roma tomatoes, an onion and some olive tapenade.

Arranged said ingredients appropriately and:

In the end, I didn’t use the tapenade shown, but made my own out of Spanish olives and capers. The flavor was very good. I think I will definitely make this ecclesiastical dish again. Probably for lunch tomorrow as I have leftovers.