What's Cooking (Take Two!)

[Jenise]

Tonight: chicken piccata with chanterelles.

[Robin Garr]

Potato and cabbage colcannon with lots of hot milk and butter. No pictures! It's a pale-green mush. But it's sure good!

[Jenise]

Robin, did you mean it to be so mushy?

I'm onto the potato-cabbage thing too, btw. Found a locally made beef-potato sausage that I've never seen before and it strikes me as something vaguely East European that would demand a long simmer (tonight) with cabbage and potatoes, or maybe just with cabbage and then scooped over separately boiled/buttered potatoes. Either way, gonna be good!

Last night's dinner: pork belly tacos with peach and red savina chile salsa and white cabbage slaw.

IMG_5989-001.JPG

Oh, I'm gonna have to make that!

[Robin Garr]

Robin, did you mean it to be so mushy?

Oh, "mushy" is a poor descriptor for its actual texture, Jenise. But the picture looked pale-green and mushy. It looked like what it was, but we were hungry, and nobody around our house wanted to fool around with foo-foo plating.

Forgot to post this. Sunday night, I made baby back ribs the way Dave R cooked them up when we were visiting him. They went into a roasting pan with some beer, covered with foil, for several hours at about 250 degrees. After that, they were crisped on a hot grill for a few minutes. They were excellent. One of our friends who was over for supper doesn't eat pork, so I also made portobellos, stuffed with parmigiano, mozzarella, panko, and spices that were grilled until the stuffing browned. To go with these, I cobbled together both Southern and Mexican recipes for red rice, using tomatoes, smoked paprika, and a couple of halved Serrano chilies. Also sauteed up some collards with garlic and onions.

/Only hitch was that I forgot that the person who doesn't eat pork is also off gluten,. I was so proud of myself for finding a recipe that would make a good meatless main that I didn't think about the fact that panko contains gluten.

Sounds great, Mike. Did you use Northwoods Fire seasoning on your ribs? That is what I used and if you liked it and do not have any in your spice cabinet let me know. I live very close to a Penzy's store and would be happy to go over there and send some to you.

I would bet your ribs came out quite well considering you were not roasting them in some screwed up oven where the convection feature is stuck in the on mode. Major kudos to Mardi for being able to bake her quince tart perfectly in that demonically possessed oven.

It is cold and snowing here today and I have a guest coming over for dinner tonight. The combination of those factors calls for Zuni Cafe Roasted Chicken and Bread Salad. I have some Laura Chenel Chevre that I am going to drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, rub with Herbs de Provence and serve with crackers for an appetizer. Probably a Goldeneye Pinot Noir to pair with the chicken and if I have time, home made pistachio ice cream for dessert.

Despite the weather we smoked a rack of St Louis ribs yesterday in the electric smoker with hickory chips. Served with Tangy BBQ sauce and tossed salad including newspaper ripened tomatoes from our garden. Washed them down with Sea Dog Hazelnut Porter.

[Jenise]

It is cold and snowing here today and I have a guest coming over for dinner tonight. The combination of those factors calls for Zuni Cafe Roasted Chicken and Bread Salad. I have some Laura Chenel Chevre that I am going to drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, rub with Herbs de Provence and serve with crackers for an appetizer. Probably a Goldeneye Pinot Noir to pair with the chicken and if I have time, home made pistachio ice cream for dessert.

Dave, good to see you again. Sounds like a perfect dinner--the Zuni Café roast chicken with bread salad is one of our favorite dishes in the world.

Thanks Jenise and it is good to see you as well. Are you still in a monogamous relationship with Reggie? That is a fantastic car.

Sounds great, Mike. Did you use Northwoods Fire seasoning on your ribs? That is what I used and if you liked it and do not have any in your spice cabinet let me know. I live very close to a Penzy's store and would be happy to go over there and send some to you.

I would bet your ribs came out quite well considering you were not roasting them in some screwed up oven where the convection feature is stuck in the on mode. Major kudos to Mardi for being able to bake her quince tart perfectly in that demonically possessed oven.

The ribs did come out really well. The rub I used is the Hell's Kitchen Rib Rub, from their cookbook "Damned Good Food". It's a restaurant in Minneapolis with very good food and an entertaining cookbook. I'll check with Mardi on the Northwoods seasoning. Her business partner orders regularly from Penzy's - she may have already put in for some.

Thanks again, by the way, for the rib tutorial. That's something I've had very little experience with, and it's good to have a solid technique under my belt now.

Damn the diet and damn the low sodium restrictions.

Tonight it's going to be reubens on home made rye with potato pancakes.

Tonight it's going to be reubens on home made rye with potato pancakes.

You New York Jews crack me up

It is my turn to host the monthly dinner for my trail biking club tonight. I am getting some spit roasted lamb and pitas from the Greek grocery store and using that with my home made tzatziki sauce, roasted eggplant and sauteed red onions to make gyros for the main course.

For an appetizer I am making a roasted red pepper and feta cheese spread to go on crackers. One of the club members kindly offered to bring baklava for dessert. I will probably open a bottle of very old vintage port to go with the baklava because it should pair well with a sweet and nutty dessert. I have not decided yet on a wine to serve with the gyros. Definitely not retsina though.

Tonight it's going to be reubens on home made rye with potato pancakes.

You New York Jews crack me up

That's pretty close to being fact and if some old family stories are to be believed....

Finding a decent Reuben, let alone a passable potato pancake, around here is next to impossible. Lots of pretenders, but no champions. You'd think Greater or :Lesser Louisville, which is fond of touting itself as a culinary destination could have a decent deli.

[Robin Garr]

You'd think Greater or :Lesser Louisville, which is fond of touting itself as a culinary destination could have a decent deli.

You've probably seen this very recurring discussion on the LouisvilleHotBytes forum, 'winger. I can't explain it either, in a city that's been into food and drink since the War of 1812 and that has had a fairly sizable Jewish community since the 1800s. (The famous Judge Louis Brandeis came from a family here that was already old in his time. U of L Law school unabashedly took his name.)

The best kosher delis, in the '80s with a brief resurrection in the early '00s, were run by a guy who cooked great kosher food but eventually went full Teabag all over Facebook with angry, racist eruptions that would have put Alan to shame. I was astounded that an observant Jewish guy found anything in Torah that could even remotely justify that. Anyway, I digress: The best deli we ever had came from a guy who was too nuts to sustain a business for long, and maybe the city took the obvious lesson from that.

Anyway, next time you're down for lunch, don't necessarily think Jewish, but look for Louisville's top short-order cooks. One of the best potato pancakes I ever had came from Bill Smith, the poet-chef at Shady Lane Cafe off Brownsboro Road (US42) near the Watterson Expressway. He fashions them from the morning's hash browns. Also, in the same shopping center (but only a coincidence - I don't think they share - Gasthaus Restaurant makes an echt German-style karfoffelwhatever that's off the chain. Gasthaus is dinner-only and pricey, though.

Anyway, next time you're down for lunch, don't necessarily think Jewish, but look for Louisville's top short-order cooks. One of the best potato pancakes I ever had came from Bill Smith, the poet-chef at Shady Lane Cafe off Brownsboro Road (US42) near the Watterson Expressway. He fashions them from the morning's hash browns.

Robin-
I've had Bill's Reuben at Shady Lane and it is decent, but not awe inspiring. I know he appeals to a certain price point given his location and clientele, but the sandwich is just too skimpy (a decent Reuben should require the nosher to utilize both hands) . I tried the pancakes once and was definitely not impressed. I don't recall the details, but made a mental note not to order again. Perhaps I caught them on a bad day and should give them another chance.
Never been to the place next door

[Robin Garr]

Baked eggs and Parmigiana on a bed of sauteed chopped broccoli, onions and garlic.

[Robin Garr]

A thick crimini and porcini risotto with onions and garlic, garnished with a few slices of Grana Padano.

A thick crimini and porcini risotto with onions and garlic, garnished with a few slices of Grana Padano.

Well, that looks good!

Nothing too new or dramatic but had a lovely lunch with crab cakes (filling was just crab, a dash of bread crumbs, mustard and chopped ginger and turmeric) accompanied by couscous, broccoli and the season's first cranberry sauce (flavored with star anise cloves and ginger).

Ah, so you did get the three-in-one. Will be interested what you think in the end when you've used all the abilities.

Jenise-
OK, we've had this 3-in-1 appliance (pressure cooker/rice cooker/crock pot) for 6 weeks and all the functions work nicely and after a learning curve or two, I am pleased. The only drawback I've seen is the time when we made chicken in the pressure cooker and thus couldn't use the rice cooker. But, we just made rice on the stove top.....kinda a first world problem.

[Jenise]

Winger, I've never cooked chicken in a pressure cooker. Should try it sometime, I guess. You'd recommend it? What was your end-goal on the dish?


Tonight for dinner, that beef and potato sausage is still calling to me. Tonight, though, instead of the braise I so loved, I'm thinking of grilling them and serving over creamed potatoes with peas.