The Ranting Sumo

Early in my career, I worked for a retailer and as our busiest season was Christmas, we had to push our holiday party to later in January. One year the company rented out a local sports bar to hold our party there.

The store closed at 6PM and by 6:30 we were starting to file into the bar. While there were some free drinks and some pretty good food, we were all so exhausted from the work, work, work of the season that we really didn’t have much energy to party. The DJ played some music and tried to energize the group, but to little avail. That is when they started to look for volunteers. In the center of the bar was a boxing ring. It was typically used as a dance floor, but they also used it for another reason: sumo wrestling.

The first volunteer was our truing manager. She was a petite, 5 foot tall woman and after no one stepped up to fight against her, I raised my hand. They brought us into the ring and we were helped into our sumo suits. If you have not seen these before, they are huge padded suits that have thick padding all over them. The legs were so thick you could only waddle or bounce. The arms were so thick, you could not put them down by your side (think Randy from The Christmas Story). Your stomach protruded almost a foot beyond your skin.

I was in the red corner and she was in the blue. The winner would have to pin the other the best two out of three times. I outweighed my opponent by at least 100 pounds so I knew this would be easy. The bell rang and I felt a shove on my back from the bar employee who helped me into my suit. In an instant, I was laying on the ground on my stomach. The shove had been accompanied by a stuck out leg in an obvious attempt for me to fall. My opponent flopped on top of me.

We were pulled back up, put into our corners and the bell rang again. This time there was no shove and I charged (bouncing) toward my opponent. She did the same and when we collided, she bounced off and fell to the ground. I flopped on top and we were tied.

Back in our corners, the bell rang a third time. I felt the shove again, but this time I was ready for it. I hopped up and avoided the tripping leg. This time she was much more cautious. I found my way to the center of the ring and stood there daring her to charge. She bounded all around me, circling. Occasionally she darted in, daring me to be off-balance, but I didn’t take her bait. After a minute or two I realized that there was no way she was going to win this and it would take a while before I would, so I hopped straight up in the air and landed in a belly flop. I gave myself up for the good of entertainment. She hopped over and flopped on top of me. The match was ended.

Teriyaki Salmon with Mushrooms

This dish is no flop!

If I am not buying fresh salmon, I love the individually packaged filets. They are just so easy.

Cooking the shrooms.

And the salmon.

All together.

Fantastic!

Teriyaki Salmon with Mushrooms

Prep Time: 3 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Servings: 4 servings (serving size: 1 fillet and 2 tablespoons mushroom mixture) | Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

1/4 cup dry sherry
1/4 cup low-sodium teriyaki sauce
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 (8-ounce) package presliced baby portobello mushrooms
4 (6-ounce) skinless salmon fillets (about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick)

Directions:

1. Combine first 3 ingredients in a small bowl; stir to dissolve sugar.

2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add mushrooms, and sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add 1/3 cup sherry mixture to mushrooms. Reduce heat, and simmer 1 to 2 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Spoon mushroom mixture into a bowl; set aside.

3. Heat pan over medium-high heat; add fillets. Cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until browned on all sides. Add mushrooms and remaining sherry mixture to pan; cook 2 minutes. Transfer fillets to a serving platter, and top with sauce and mushrooms.

Source: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=50400000104844