Adventures in Saucery

Before I get started, I want to say something. In case you haven't heard, the Supreme Court decided that, for security reasons, it would shut down the main entrance. The commentary I've read or heard on the issue, so far, has unanimously lamented the closure - I've heard the phrase "forty-four marble steps" about ten times in the last two days, and more people lament the fact that people will no longer walk into the courtroom past the marble busts of the Chief Justices.

You know what? The only thing that would make me happier than closing the main entrance to the Court would be if they dynamited the building entirely. The Supreme Court - the building, not the institution - is an affront to any decent American aesthetic.

Where to start? The fact that a building designed to house America's most important court is made to look like a Greek temple? (Cass Gilbert, the architect, was ironically enough one of the pioneers of that most American of buildings, the skyscraper. Why couldn't you have given the Supreme Court a skyscraper?) How about the feeling that one gets when walking in - that you are an insignificant supplicant, dwarfed by this gigantic building? Or maybe just that the busts of the Chiefs are clad in togas, rather than robes or suits. (Of course, it could also be the fact that the building is totally unsuitable for its job - it doesn't have enough viewing space, a decent coatroom, or, as this decision highlights, the ability to be made secure.)

More than anything else, the one that has always steamed me is the feeling of insignificance. Someone walking into the Court isn't a beggar, come for handouts from the justices. Justice is our right as Americans. The building should make us feel welcome. It should show us how awesome and unique the role of the Court is, yes, but it should make us feel like we are a part of that. All Americans are.

You know what? I like the side door. It's small. It's workmanlike; visitors and lawyers go in the same way. It leads, not into some Grand Hall with Statues of the Lords of Justice, but a museum - a place that can teach the visitor about the Court's role and history. (Also, a fairly awesome statue of Oliver Wendell Holmes, if I remember correctly.) Sure, it doesn't have the grandeur and majesty of the forty-four foot high ceiling of the main entry hall. It doesn't have the statues of Roman praetors or of "Lord Coke barring King James from sitting as judge." Just all this stupid stuff that's actually relevant to the lives of the people who walk through the door every day, to visit their highest court.

So - for security? Sure. I don't care why the front entrance is being closed. All I can say is, good riddance - I'll never be happier to go in through the servant's entrance.


Back to the topic at hand.

I've gotten a lot of mileage out of the yogurt wasabi sauce that I made the other night. I have a few last things about wasabi in general that I had wanted to finish up today, but I'll push that back until Friday. Today, let's talk about two delicious things to do with leftovers.

Leftover Sauce Shrimp Salad

1/2 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
Leftover Wasabi Yogurt Sauce
Uhhhhh.... salad.

The salad, in this case, was a fairly simple green salad - some spinach, some lettuce, and some chopped-up green pepper. I think you don't want the salad to get too complex, but I could definitely see some cucumber or cherry tomatoes, sort of thing, getting added.

The wasabi yogurt sauce servers triple duty in this dish. First, when the shrimp are peeled, toss them into a bowl (or zip-lock bag) with about half of the sauce and let them marinate for about a half an hour. Then, pour the whole mess into a pot, and simmer for about five minutes, or until all the shrimp have changed color. Drain the shrimp. (I was using fairly tiny shrimp - if you're using larger ones, you may want to cut them down to bite-sized, either before or after cooking.) Toss the shrimp with the salad, then dress the salad with the remaining half of the sauce.

The shrimp themselves, as hopefully we've learned by this point, don't have any heat at all. However, the reserved sauce - the part we're using as a dressing - still does have a bit of zing. Not enough that my spice-phobic wife had any problem with; just a little bit of bite on the back end. Definitely not something you would expect out of a salad, which is part of what made it taste so good; the sauce was cool and refreshing on the shrimp, and ever-so-slightly piquant on the greens. A nice lunch, or salad course to a dinner.


Breaded Tilapia with Leftover Wasabi Yogurt Sauce

Hmm.

Actually, I think I'm going to save the fish recipe for next week. It's not really relevant here, but I'm pretty sure that I'm going to use the main ingredient as next week's spice, so I'm going to go with the path of least resistance and save myself a post.

Really, though, the relevance here is this - after making the shrimp salad the night before, I still had a few tablespoons of the sauce left. The plan was tilapia; I puttered for a while, and came up with a recipe that sounded fun. I'd like to say that I was thinking about compatibility with the yogurt sauce beforehand, but I'm not that clever; as I was frying it up, I realized that I still had the leftover sauce. It was a perfect match; the fish came out a little dry, and the sauce solved that problem while, once again, adding a little bit of zing.


I keep wanting to say something like "I'm amazed at how versatile this sauce has been." The reality is, I've used it on two fish dishes and a shrimp dish. Not exactly a showcase of versatility, to be honest. Still, it was spectacular every time we used it; the combination of cool and spicy at the same time is unusual and enjoyably surprising. Definitely something I'll make again.

On Friday, I'll give some final thoughts on wasabi, including a report on the differences between the horseradish-based wasabi powder and real wasabi. (I broke down and bought some) Also, some more ruminations on wasabi butter, and anything else I can think of that I've thrown wasabi in over the last few weeks.