What's Cooking (Take Two!)

[Jenise]

I ended up making another Joseph Carey recipe with my filet mignon, substituting it, sliced 1/2" thick, for the cubed lamb in his Irish Stew recipe. It's not a stew at all as we usually think of 'stew'--no gravy; but a lighter version perfect for autum, really a meat and potato gratin, wherein layers of meat, potatoes and onion are covered in broth and cooked for about 2.5 hours until all the broth is absorbed. His version called for a lot more onion than I used (1:1 with potato, where I used about 4:1 potato), and I added a tomato layer because beef-onion-tomato is one of my favorite flavor combinations and I'm rather rich in fresh tomatoes at the moment, but I used his method and enjoyed the result a lot. In fact, the whole neighborhood enjoyed our dinner: the aroma of that cooking wafted everywhere. Served it atop sautéed cabbage, following a plate of fresh tomatoes cut in sixths and lightly salted.

I ended up making another Joseph Carey recipe with my filet mignon, substituting it, sliced 1/2" thick, for the cubed lamb

I never would have thought of substituting that cut of beef for lamb, Jenise, assuming it would be too lean for the long cooking process you described. Glad to hear it came out great (although I personally am a lambaholic, and would have made the substitution in the other direction, lol).

Let me know if any of your neighbors put their house up for sale, willya?

[Jenise]

I ended up making another Joseph Carey recipe with my filet mignon, substituting it, sliced 1/2" thick, for the cubed lamb

I never would have thought of substituting that cut of beef for lamb, Jenise, assuming it would be too lean for the long cooking process you described. Glad to hear it came out great (although I personally am a lambaholic, and would have made the substitution in the other direction, lol).

Let me know if any of your neighbors put their house up for sale, willya?

Filet is so tender, 'lean' wasn't a concern. More concerned/curious about cooking sliced russet potatoes for two and half hours, but Joe did recommend russets so I felt safe to use them. As for the neighborhood, you'd like it and it would like you! Come on out! Wine's good and the view doesn't suck.

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As for the neighborhood, you'd like it and it would like you!

Exactly what I'm looking for: a neighborhood with no standards! I'm in

NJ just baked up a couple loaves of Braided Ginger Pumpkin bread. The kitchen smells wonderful.

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Chinese marinated chicken wings tonight. The recipe is for deep-fried wings, but I will be grilling them instead.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Having dinner tonight at America's answer to NOMA. Full report tomorrow.

[Robin Garr]

Eggplant pilaf, fresh from the garden, with tomatoes, onions and garlic. Looks a bit like the recent okra jambalaya, but different veggies and technique.

I could eat that, Robin!

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Tonight, Buccatini Amatriciana--an annual tradition to use up the rest of the garden tomatoes at the point where all that are going to ripen have been picked and they're getting a little too soft for salad. I never look forward to summer ending, but this helps ease the pain.

Thinking of bucatini have not found any better than that produced by Benedetto Cavalieri. Made by "the delicate method " of long, slow kneading and slow pressing and drying at low temperatures. It is the best dried pasta I've had recently. Terrific flavor and texture that never gums. Hard to overcook.
Although the process has influence, the most important is source and type of flour

[Robin Garr]

Penne rigate with fresh spinach, some of the last garden tomatoes of the season, and bits of Italian-style "sausage" sauteed with onions, herbs and loads of garlic.

Last night, I made Picadillo. It's described by a lot of people as "Cuban hash", but I like the "Cuban sloppy joe" descriptor better. I used a recipe published a week or two ago in the NY Times, with minimal modifications. Basically, you saute some onion, sliced Spanish chorizo, and garlic, and then add ground beef. Brown the beef and then add a bunch of chopped tomatoes, a hefty dose of cinnamon, some cumin, some red wine vinegar, and some other spices. Put a lid on it and let it simmer for a half hour. Then add halved pimento olives and raisins and let it simmer uncovered for another 15 minutes or so. My only addition was some chili-powder-based rib rub that gave it a touch of heat. I served it over rice last night and had some of the leftover on pasta tonight.

This is definitely mom food, albeit gussied up with the chorizo and some of the spices. I really liked it and will certainly make it again.

Mike -- I made Picadillo recently and found myself frustrated by the lack of chili powder -- I see it as basically a fancy kind of Cuban chili. I was allowed to put in Cayenne and kept adding that but it didn't quite scratch the itch. You found a way to sneak in some chili powder and I am sure I would have liked yours better than mine!

Yeah, the rib rub was a good addition. It went in after everything had been through the first simmer, when the olives and raisins were added. It's a rub that's used for the pulled pork recipe in "Damn Good Food", the cookbook from the Minneapolis restaurant Hell's Kitchen. It has hot paprika, black pepper, chili powder, cumin, granulated garlic, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and cayenne. There's a lot left over after making the pulled pork, so I have a jar of it that I use whenever it seems like it might be a good additive in a dish.

[Jenise]

As I posted on Facebook, in the Pacific Northwest when we say goodbye to summer we say it with tomatoes.

Last night's Amatriciana (with spaghetti not buccatini, as it turned out I didn't have the latter) garnished with pesto, parmesan and the last sungolds from my garden.

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And today's lunch, into which went the tail end of the Amatriciana sauce: ratatouille en crouton with pickled okra.

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The local farmer's market has a lot of Hmong and Vietnamese vendors. Made Thai spinach - the arrow leaf type sauteed in sesame oil with a mix of seasonings sold by a lovely Vietnamese woman. Addictive! Garlic, sesame, lemon grass, keffir lime and others. I'm going back to by another batch tomorrow . Just terrific. Definitely requires a bitter green for full effect. Planning on making a pork/shrimp dumpling to steam and then put on a bed of the sauteed spinach. Can't wait as that is what I am craving now...funny how your taste buds cycle !

[Robin Garr]

We got a nice bunch of lanciato/Tuscan/"dinosaur" kale at one of the farmers' markets today. We sampled it for lunch au naturel, and I really liked it ... more like spinach than most greens, tender and soft and fresh tasting, not "vegetal." I'm not much of a greens fancier, but i can eat this. Tonight I turned it into a seasonal veggie saute, then served it over short pasta.

Late summer veggie saute: Tuscan kale chiffonade, yellow corn and tomatoes, onion and garlic over conchiglie pasta with a sprinkle of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

We had friends over for supper last night and I made the chicken with caramelized onions and cardamom rice from Ottolenghi's "Jerusalem" book. Also made the roasted cauliflower and hazelnut salad from the same book. They were served with the 2012 Lucente and 2010 Bone-Jolly, which paired nicely.

[Robin Garr]

Cajun eggs! Sauted okra, onions, garlic and tomatoes with Cajun spice, gently folded into fluffy scrambled eggs.

Cajun eggs! Sauted okra, onions, garlic and tomatoes with Cajun spice, gently folded into fluffy scrambled eggs.

You sure that isn't a platter of stewed okra, garnished with a bit of egg?

[Robin Garr]

stewed okra, garnished with a bit of egg?

And the difference is?

I don't do stewed okra, though. I'm not southern enough. Saute the bejeebers out of it with tons of onion and garlic, a little tomato and something hot-and-spicy until the okra gets good and brown.

When I hear "stewed" okra, I assume something berled in a pot with lots of water until it's gummy and soft. Is this wrong? (serious question)

When I hear "stewed" okra, I assume something berled in a pot with lots of water until it's gummy and soft. Is this wrong? (serious question)

You're asking a damn Yankee an okra question? I assume you're correct, since that's exactly how I would have answered the question "what is stewed okra?". But I'll defer to anyone south of the Masey-Dixie Line for the definitive answer if they care to chime in.

The only ways I myself make okra are 1. in gumbo, and 2. dusted with cornmeal and pan fried, a dish my redneck trailer trash spouse demands at least one a month

[Robin Garr]

Spaghetti tossed with a ton of minced garlic and Parma butter tastes great and makes a really quick dinner, but it would make a boring picture.