What's Cooking (Take Three!)

[Jenise]

I love it when a plan comes together.

Especially when that plan takes 2.5 minutes in a pan to cook.

Indeed!

My stove, on the other hand, is 18 years old so it's entitled to a cranky day now and then. Let's see what Dial Appliances has to say about it.

Dial replaced the ignition. Indeed, the old one was heavily encrusted with white mineral residue; it's a wonder anything ever lit.

[Jenise]

Wow, Jeff, you're lucky they still had the part. In our disposable new world one has to hold one's breath about things like that.

Meanwhile, we didn't have scallops for dinner after all. I opened the freezer to get some out to thaw before leaving for the airport to pick up a friend, and a duck breast tumbled out and fell on my foot. Duck is one of those things I buy in Canada, in fact this one came from a market down the street from Bill Spohn. I can't buy duck at a normal market down here, and I can't buy single breasts (they come in pairs, like real life ) at the few outlets that do. They're cheaper up there too.

So dinner was slices of seared rare duck breast on a blood orange reduction with sour cabbage, the latter being my name for finely shredded cabbage flash-wilted with salt and vinegar. A perfect pairing for the duck, and cabbage is so sweet at this time of year.

Wow, Jeff, you're lucky they still had the part. In our disposable new world one has to hold one's breath about things like that.

Funny you mention that. The repairman, waving the part around, said that, in his experience, all brands use the same one. Maytag, Viking, GE, Wolf, doesn't matter.

[Jenise]

Wow, Jeff, you're lucky they still had the part. In our disposable new world one has to hold one's breath about things like that.

Funny you mention that. The repairman, waving the part around, said that, in his experience, all brands use the same one. Maytag, Viking, GE, Wolf, doesn't matter.

But if it's for a GE, it's a $20 part. If it's Viking, it's $100. Or something like that.


So yesterday I decided to make a paella and sent out invites to three couples, figuring maybe only one would be available. Well, all three accepted. So I opened nine bottles of Spanish wine for guests to help themselves to (and vote on later) and did shisito peppers in the style of padron for a starter. Followed that with the paella, and owing to one guest's shellfish allergy and my husband's bi-valve problem, skipped seafood of any kind and just used chicken thighs, three different chorizos (fresh, pre-cooked and cured), artichokes and green olives. And lastly, I put out a platter of four Spanish cheeses and green grapes.

Nice preparation for an elegant Spanish dinner at Bill's tonight.

Sounds like a good "land" paella! Which wines?

[Jenise]

Initially, the scheme was to have these friends help me choose the three last wines to put into next Friday's Spanish wine tasting for a table of 'supermarket' examples. When everybody said yes, I bought three more. Nothing geeky, just the usual suspects: Lan, Caceres, Riscal and Campo Viejo, plus one other. The CVs were dogs and both Lans winners with the rest in between.

The wines at Bill's tonight will no doubt be of a much higher caliber.

[Jenise]

For dinner last night: a cucumber and red onion salad for a starter, then a spicy, Kung-Pao-ish Chinese stir-fry starring pork and celery with a lot of red chile crisps and peanuts.

The pork thing was a weird evolution of ideas. I had a small boneless pork loin roast in the freezer, and I intended just to brine and roast it. When it was mostly thawed and I unwrapped it, I discovered it had deep slits every approximately one inch, so roasting was no longer a good idea as it was halfway sliced. No idea what butcher on earth would do that, but oh well. So I went ahead and cut it into steaks and hit them with a marinade for BBQing later. Then it started raining and I knew Bob wasn't going to want to BBQ in the rain (up here one shouldn't be choosy, but he is), so around 5:00 I cut a few into stir-fry sized slices and added some corn starch to the marinade. I doubled the bulk with celery, red onion and scallions, and added some sweet marsala wine to chicken broth for the finishing slurry. On the fly and totally delicious. I honestly could eat that kind of food every day.

Jenise, what did you use for red chile crisps? Lao Gan Ma?

Yesterday's dinner was a simple Thai red curry chicken with broccoli and green peppercorns.

-Paul W.

I had a small boneless pork loin roast in the freezer, and I intended just to brine and roast it. When it was mostly thawed and I unwrapped it, I discovered it had deep slits every approximately one inch, so roasting was no longer a good idea as it was halfway sliced. No idea what butcher on earth would do that, but oh well.

Sounds like a hasselback sort of thing. Perhaps you were supposed to put slices of onion or apple in the slits before roasting?

Dinner tonight will be North Indian-style chicken pullao.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

I had a small boneless pork loin roast in the freezer, and I intended just to brine and roast it. When it was mostly thawed and I unwrapped it, I discovered it had deep slits every approximately one inch, so roasting was no longer a good idea as it was halfway sliced. No idea what butcher on earth would do that, but oh well.

Sounds like a hasselback sort of thing. Perhaps you were supposed to put slices of onion or apple in the slits before roasting?

That's about what it was, 3/4" wide hasselback pork--it was as if the butcher had started to do something then changed his mind!

[Jenise]

On the stove now, a chili of sorts. Hot chicken sausage, white beans, celery, shallots, green bell pepper, smoked paprika, fenugreek and cumin. Need to take dinner to a friend tonight and he appreciates spicy food, so THAT.

On the stove now, a chili of sorts. Hot chicken sausage, white beans, celery, shallots, green bell pepper, smoked paprika, fenugreek and cumin. Need to take dinner to a friend tonight and he appreciates spicy food, so THAT.

Well, of course the chicken sausage is hot, silly. It's on the stove.

[Jenise]

ARGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

ARGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

It was Tom NJ's idea.

[Jenise]

Of course it was. Uh huh.

Dinner tonight: steak. Outside it's 53 F and sunny, t-shirt and garden weather for us so it's time to dust off the Egg and commission it for 2019.

Roasting chickens and potatoes -- in separate pans -- tonight. One bird is a heritage breed. Let's see if we can tell the difference. (Aside from that one has sage in the cavity and one has tarragon, both have lemon, s+p, and are barded with prosciutto.)

So, why does roasting a 3.5# bird take so long? I gave it an hour at 375F + convection (so, approx. 400F) and while the meat was all cooked, it really wasn't tender and done. Pumpkin says it should take 2 hrs but that sounds long to me. I don't know any cookbook that says to roast a chicken for 2 hrs. Very frustrating.

[Jenise]

Time = doneness, and obviously your bird was cooked (so to speak). But the bird itself, method and temperature are what creates tenderness. A tough bird will be a tough bird. But things like short brines, butter under the skin and lower, slower cooks will improve tenderness. I generally do some combo of all three and allow 25-30 minutes per pound. A spatchcocked bird will cook a little faster than a whole one.

[Jenise]

No immediate plan for dinner, and it's 2:00 so that's gotta change. Might involve lobster, however.

Time = doneness, and obviously your bird was cooked (so to speak). But the bird itself, method and temperature are what creates tenderness. A tough bird will be a tough bird. But things like short brines, butter under the skin and lower, slower cooks will improve tenderness. I generally do some combo of all three and allow 25-30 minutes per pound. A spatchcocked bird will cook a little faster than a whole one.

Thanks, Jenise. I did rub the bird with EVOO and bard it with prosciutto. I think I just did not go long enough, or perhaps I needed to lower it and really do it long.

[Jenise]

Dinner group tonight. Hawaiian theme. I'm providing mai tais (original Trader Vic recipe), Hawaiian steak, bok choy and snow pea stir fry, and 'Paniolo' (Hawaiian name for cowboy) cornbread. Guests are bringing chicken and pineapple kabobs, rice, garlic shrimp, a scary salad called Maui Wowie (fruit and mayonnaise, god help me) and a mac torte.

[Jenise]

Tonight: chicken thighs baked in a butter orzo.