I find myself falling into a irony filled trap. Many years ago, a friend of mine was an amazingly excellent cook. She was also very proud, with reason, of her cooking. Her results were well made and really delicious.

As I look over the past few years, I see that my cooking has become much more adventurous. I’m no longer tied to a 9-5 work schedule from which I returned home needing to put a nutritious dinner on the table. I had my go-to’s: broiled chicken, broiled lamb chops, broiled salmon steaks, spaghetti tossed with turkey sausage or shrimp, and on the weekend when I had time a roast leg of lamb or roast chicken. Most cooking instructions were inherited from my common-sense mother’s kitchen. I remember one day Daughter, who was in high school, announced that we ate well – always some sort of protein, carbs, fresh vegetable, and salad. I felt I’d succeeded in feeding my family well.

Now with no real time restraints and the vast library of cookbooks collected over time and clippings, both paper and virtual, I find that I’m trying all sorts of new foods, new recipes, new cooking styles, new tastes. This has been reflected over time in my blog as I celebrate and share this aspect of my creative activities.

My friend, the excellent cook, had shared one of her culinary goals with me; she did not want to repeat any single recipe. I realize that many of the recent additions to my kitchen repertoire have not been frequently repeated. I do mark the recipes the family deem to be keepers, ones that Constant Companion and Daughter are happy with both.

In the meantim, I continue to try new recipes, who knows if they fall into the keeper category or not. Here are two recent entries, roast cod and potatoes and mushroom pot pie.

Roasted Cod and Potatoes. This is a Mark Bittman recipe if you follow chefs. Start with 4-5 very thinly sliced medium potatoes (I used my trusty mandolin for 1/8”). Toss them about 6 tablespoons of olive oil or butter and some salt and pepper. Spread the potatoes on a medium-sized baking pan, put in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 40 minutes til they have begun to brown. Remove the potatoes from the oven.

Turn on the broiler, the rack should be 4-6” from the heat source. Top the potatoes with 1 ½ pounds of skinned cod or other fillets, about 1-inch thick. Drizzle with oil and salt and pepper. Broil just 6-10 minutes, depending on the thickness. If the potatoes begin to burn, move the pan a few inches from the heat source. Serve and enjoy. The potatoes are both nice and crunchy and soft and yummy. The fish perfectly flakey

Mushroom Pot Pie. Spoiler alerts: This recipe calls for puff pastry, something I don’t readily keep in my pantry. I had intended to use a ready pie crust, but there were none at the store. I thawed some filo from the freezer and used that instead.

It also calls for all sorts of fancy mushrooms (dried porcinis boiled and steeped in advance, etc.). I had several boxes of creminis and some sliced portobellos. They all did just well.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cut up the mushrooms. Toss them in olive oil with some salt and pepper. Spread in an even layer on a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast about 25 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F.

Next you’re actually supposed to sauté sliced carrot, celery,* and leek in a 10” skillet. Add “wood” herbs, thyme or rosemary recommended; I used rosemary. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, stir constantly. Add ¾ cup dry white wine (I had none open and just used water). You can add ¼ cup of cream (I did not as my family does not prefer this ingredient). Stir until thickened, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in the roast mushrooms, 1 cup frozen peas (I also added the string beans). Place skillet on a large rimmed baking sheet.

*I had some chopped vegetables in the deep freeze and intended to use them, but could not find them! Instead I added some blanched string beans from the freezer.

Carefully unroll the filo and place about 6 sheets over the skillet. Lightly brush with olive oil or butter between each layer. Fold excess pastry edges under and tuck inside skillet. Cut four 1-inch-long slits into top of pastry. Using a pastry brush, brush top of pastry with remaining 2 teaspoons cream (I brushed olive oil).

Place baking sheet with skillet on top third position in oven, and bake at 375°F until pastry edges turn light golden, about 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F, and continue baking until pastry is puffed, golden, and crisp, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes.

Constant Companion voted the cod a keeper. I might do the mushroom pot pie again so I can use the remaining filo that I returned to the freezer.