College and Orange Roughy with Tarragon Butter

August 21st Is it just me or did the summer just fly by. Sure, we still have the weather and probably will until late October. But doesn't it seem as if the kids just got out of school, and we could drive to work without traffic (well, some) and go to our favorite restaurants without a wait? In just 48 hours this peaceful metropolis is going to turn into a bustling whirlwind of pounding bass, lost parents, and fresh-faced kids ready to try their fake ids. Amongst all of this chaos, there may be a little education, a little responsibility, and long hours in a library. However, when the first Gator kickoff comes, most (not all) of these kids will shed their books and pens for plastic cups and keg stands. Pessimist? Yes. I went to college and feel that some things don't change. For those that are able to stay out of trouble and attain an education . . . consistently, congratulations, you are among some of the survivors of hardcore temptation. I remember when I was dropped off at St. Leo College in . . . well, I'll let you guess. I left high school a cross country runner - tanned, in shape, blond and ready to start my life away from West Palm, Florida. I wasn't a brilliant kid, but I learned how to apply myself and got decent grades. Unfortunately, not decent enough to land in a college that wasn't private and not in the middle of nowhere. This was like a reality show school - put a bunch of young, naive kids on a college campus in the middle of nowhere and see what they do - and do, we did. My roommate did not live the somewhat sheltered life than I did, and I found out rather quickly what my college experience was going to be like, whether I knew it or not. Amongst putting away clothes, my new roomie built a makeshift bar, broke out a 12-pack of Budweiser and lit a cigarette. The first thing he ever said to me was "Have you ever played quarters?" In the first dorm meeting with all the newbies, our dorm manager deemed us the troublemakers. Believe me, it's not easy to mask the banging of quarters on a table with the drunken exclamations of "Drink, I get to make a rule." Halfway through the semester, my educational inspiration was clouded by Marlboro and a breakfast of Budweiser and Cheerios. I took classes like restaurant management and creative writing. This is not a bad thing unless you left restaurant management class to eat lunch, or had a creative writing teacher that showed up smelling of dope and sputtering, "just write," so he could take a nap. To actually walk into a math or history class was like clamping yourself into a medieval torture device. I took any useful information and packed it away into my mental bag of useless information and prepared for the evening's festivities. It took me no longer than one hour (give or take an hour) to completely forget dreams, aspirations, and the future, just to bounce currency into a cup and sip some suds. I didn't learn a damn thing there, and you know whose fault that was, mine. I smoked it, I drank it, I took it, and I slept through the expensive part of college. But I tell you what, life experience can be just as enriching. The older you get the more you think, and as I got older it finally dawned on me that I needed to get my shit together. Things turned out pretty damn good for me in the end and the only advice I can give is, enjoy college, but be ready for it. Go when you are ready to go, not when people think you should. I hope the Lifetime Network reads this because it makes for a great after school special (if they even have those anymore). It's hard to transition from life experience to a fish recipe, but once you try this one, the first thought in your head may be "how can this college screw-up make something so delicious." See, skipping restaurant management does have its privileges. OK, so take two 6 oz orange roughy fillets, wash and then season with sea salt and pepper, then set aside. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and start cutting some vegetables. Get about 8-10 snow peas, about a cup of pre-chopped carrots and .5 cup of yellow peppers chopped and put them into a microwave safe bowl. Add 2 tbs of water to the bowl and cover with some saran wrap (or what I like to call, the most annoying substance on the planet), nuke for 3 minutes. We are cooking this fish in parchment paper, not wax paper. The obvious reason for making this distinction is because I've tried it, and the end result is FIRE!, or blackened roughy. Tear off some big squares (if you are a really big square, like me, here are the dimensions 15 X 12 inches), and fold it in half. Place the seasoned roughy right where the crease is and put the veggies you just slaved over on top. Let's add some fat, shall we? For the orange tarragon butter, take about a .25 stick of butter and leave it out to soften. Then add 1 tbs of chopped, fresh tarragon, 1.5 tsp of grated orange rind, .25 tsp of salt and .25 tsp of pepper (eyeball it, you can't screw this up). Stir it up with a spoon and spread that over your fish. We are ready to seal. Take the parchment paper and fold over the fish. Then. . .well, just make a packet - fold until you make a square with all of the goodness inside. Make sure all of the edges are sealed and place on a baking sheet. Stick in the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes, take out and let stand for 5 minutes more. Serve it on the plate with the parchment and let your loved one unfold the goodness. The fish should turn out nice and soft, and the veggies should have a nice crunch, but not raw. A good accompaniment is a nice leafy green. In other stuff, I have had a couple of nice comments from some of my loyal readers, and I truly appreciate it. I also have gotten a couple of recipes, and I am going to attempt to recreate and post. A cooking blogger's life is never done, unless he/she takes restaurant management in college, then the end is near. More to come.