What's Cooking (Take Three!)

[Jenise]

Still eating vegetarian. Monday night I turned some leftover pineapple-basmati rice into a fantastic, island-y fried rice incorporating several handfuls of snow peas plus red chiles, scrambled egg, onion and garlic slivers and macadamia nuts into it. That was our first and main course. Having foregone a salad, after dinner we had a tangerine contest. #6 won.

Last night we had a green salad starter and mushroom ravioli.

Tonight, two-hour baked potatoes,unless I decide to go hasselbeck and glaze the fanned slices with barbecue sauce, something we both love, and a simple green salad. Steamed artichokes for lunch.

What's a tangerine contest?

[Jenise]

Jeff, it's a bit of anal insanity. A bowl of little clementines is shared, somewhere between 6 and 10. Bob has fingernail problems and can't really peel his own, so I peel, divide each in half and we discuss each in detail as we go. Seriously--no two are alike. Some are more acidic than sweet, some are sweet but flat, some are more balanced but lack intensity, and one, occasionally, has it all.

OK. This is certainly true but I never thought to gamify it.

[David M. Bueker]

48 hour sous vide beef short rib is going right now. It’s going to be Sunday dinner.

[Jenise]

48 hour sous vide beef short rib is going right now. It’s going to be Sunday dinner.

Very cool!!!


Tonight is Day #3 of Bob's birthday celebration. Thursday night was dinner at Cafe Juanita in Kirkland. Yesterday a late dim sum lunch was the main event, and I brought fresh hamachi home to make a poke out of for a light late dinner. It was major yum with the usual sesame oil, soy sauce and green onions, but also sliced almonds and orange zest--a combination so good I'll never make it without either again.

A fresh duckling from D'Artagnan just arrived and that will be tonight's dinner with brown sauce and fresh blueberries for pairing with a rich Oregon pinot.

[David M. Bueker]

Sounds great!

[Jenise]

Last night's duck was the best duck I've ever roasted, and not so much because of my cooking method but because of the difference a truly fresh, well-raised duck made. I'm too used to industrial frozen ducks.

Tonight: Greek lamb chops (marinated since yesterday with oregano, garlic and white vermouth) on rice. A cold plate of red bell peppers and green olives will be our starter.

Gosh, that duck sounds good. And the poke on the day before.

Yesterday I prepared a multi-course dinner in celebration of friends' anniversaries. (Some of you may recall Jay Miller and his now 7-years paramour, Arnold Valerdo.) I made everything except the English muffin.

Four courses:

"Breakfast" - Deviled Eggs, Millionaire's Bacon, [toasted muffin], Jellied Espresso with Candied Kumquat
"Lunch" - Seared Sesame Scallops, Celeriac Slaw with Caraway, Confit Carrots
"Dinner" - Roasted Lamb Chops, Sauteed Hen of the Woods, Mini-Potato Gratins
"Dessert" - Pan Canele (served with Luxardo Cherries, Pistachios, and Rosemary Chocolate), Cinnamon Ice Cream

Wines served: Brun NV "FRV100" and Christoffel 1998 Mosel Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Auslese**

The results were generally excellent. The pan canele did not rise properly so that was the worst failure, whereas the jellied espresso was surprisingly delicate and the bitter coffee played off the sweet-on-bitter kumquats. The gratins were made in a muffin tin so lots of crispy edges. The scallops and lamb were both served rare to medium-rare.

The riesling drank beautifully, a golden oldie. (Thank you, Chambers St Wines.)

This is a study in logistics. Only the scallops, chops, and mushrooms were cooked a la minute. Everything else was made ahead and reheated/toasted. I never had more than two pans, or pan+oven, going at the same time. That was rather relaxing and I could participate in the dinner more than usual.

[Jenise]

Jeff, logistics indeed. You made a lot of smart choices. Professionally, I come from the world of cost and schedule engineering for immense petrochemical and energy projects. The critical path scheduling tools I learned there are invaluable and employing them in the planning of a complicated meal is just about the most fun I can have. In fact, so much so that I sometimes feel slightly deflated once the plan's on paper "and now I have to cook the SOB".

But tell me more about the jellied espresso and kumquat. That sounds like something I'd make--and love.

Tonight's Day 5 of Bob's birthday week celebration, and here's our somewhat-simpler menu:

White lavender and licorice negroni on the stem
Lobster and shaved fennel crostini
Caesar salad, done with whole leaves and reassembled, then showered with sourdough crumbs
Bevan Sauvignon Blanc with that
Roasted Porcelet (baby pork) shoulder stuffed with mushroom-shallot dressing, rolled and tied, demiglace drizzle
Long and short cooked broccolini
2012 Reynvaan Cabernet
1999 Quilceda Creek cab

Jeff and Jenise those meals sound wonderful. Logistics can seriously impact on outcomes.
Planning, planning, and forethought.

I cooked a meal for two friends yesterday, the first real cook for a long time (the last 3 months have been awful)
Had a 2 bone rib roast in the freezer, it had been dry aged for 3 months. I roasted it to edium rare and simply serv d it with the usual, roast veg, steamed greens, pan gravy and Yorkshire puddings.
The beef was sensational, worth every dollar of the premium price. One of my guests is not overly fond of red meat but came back for seconds and is planning on buying some from the same source.
Dessert was white chocolate pannacotta with passion fruit syrup ( both made in advance) also a winner.

Y
Four courses:
[i]
"Breakfast" - Deviled Eggs, Millionaire's Bacon, [toasted muffin], Jellied Espresso with Candied Kumquat
"Lunch" - Seared Sesame Scallops, Celeriac Slaw with Caraway, Confit Carrots
"Dinner" - Roasted Lamb Chops, Sauteed Hen of the Woods, Mini-Potato Gratins
"Dessert" - Pan Canele (served with Luxardo Cherries, Pistachios, and Rosemary Chocolate), Cinnamon Ice Cream

Wines served: Brun NV "FRV100" and Christoffel 1998 Mosel Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Auslese**

What a fun theme
And perfect Arnold wines
good job

Y
Wines served: Brun NV "FRV100" and Christoffel 1998 Mosel Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Auslese**

What a fun theme
And perfect Arnold wines
good job

Thank you. I worried about finding good wine at low alcohol.

[Jenise]

Last night we started with a charred endive salad and followed that with roasted duck legs that had been pre-treated since morning with Asian spices, pan seared to brown up the skin, then roasted for 45 minutes until cooked through. Some potato slices were fried in some of the fat created by the former procedure. A brown sauce with blueberries was drizzled over. Utterly fantastic with a very good Oregon pinot.

[Jenise]

This morning I'm making a strata to turn last week's sourdough bread and leftover corned beef into a delicious breakfast. Later, I'll oven-grill a big pile of Asian-marinated chicken wings while we watch the Masters.

Had to look up strata. Most people say it comes out too soft to cut into squares, you should expect to serve it with a spoon. Is that how it comes out for you? Is it possible to firm it up? (I'm imagining making it in a cake shape so I can wedge it and sizzle a wedge in a pan (or broiler) before serving.)

[Jenise]

Depends on your bread and how much custard mix you add. I prefer it dryer, and I use sourdough bread which crisps up much better than, say, regular supermarket chemical bread. I've never had to spoon it out of neccessity, a spatula works great. All that said, most of the crispness and texture is mostly on top--think of it as a flat bread pudding. The pan you use (metal vs. glass) will make a difference too.

It's sure a dandy way of using up leftovers. And artistry comes into play--every dish is different, and meat not required.

[Jenise]

Last night dinner was a hands-on cooking class at a local restaurant wherein we made:

Pizza (individual biancos with crushed and seasoned San Marzano tomatoes and fresh mozzarella)
Roasted asparagus and purple broccolini with proscuitto and fresh mozzarella
Trifles with strawberries, lemon curd, meringue and ricotta pound cake

And we made the fresh mozzarella. And that's why I wanted to take the class. The rest was just group fun and a novel way to go out to dinner. Have to tell you after having that experience, I've always kind of resented the high cost of fresh mozzarella, but no more. Forget the other ingredients you also need, it takes a gallon of good-quality raw whole milk to make just 1 pound of mozzarella. In our case, about $16 worth of milk. Henceforth, I shall be very grateful to pay whatever they're asking.

I've always kind of resented the high cost of fresh mozzarella, but no more. Forget the other ingredients you also need, it takes a gallon of good-quality raw whole milk to make just 1 pound of mozzarella. In our case, about $16 worth of milk. Henceforth, I shall be very grateful to pay whatever they're asking.

Ha! Always nice to see that something is not a scam!

Yes cheese has high intrinsic costs, ingredients, time, expertise, and that loss of moisture increases the price per kilo.

Tonight I had a light whole meal bread dough proving nad drifting through the fridge there was a small quantity of fresh blueberries. Hmm. It’s Easter and I Haven’t had a hot cross bun. So nipped off part of the dough flattened it out sprinkled with blueberries and sugar rolled it up and made blueberry scrolls. Nice, better with a touch of salt crystals. Better than (I think) the hot cross buns on offer locally.

[Jenise]

Very creative, Barb!

Our dinner last night was what we playfully call 'Wokness'--I make a lot of stir fries you'd never see on a Chinese menu. This one was a play on Green Pepper Beef which would have been more aptly named Beefed Green Pepper, if one were to try to apply an actual description to it. The idea was to repurpose a terrible Mongolian Beef we got from takeout a few days ago. 'Terrible' because it was ghastly sweet. In my version, the meat was mere seasoning to the stir fried diced green and yellow peppers plus lots of white onion and ginger. Made a great dish.

Tonight's our monthly neighborhood wine tasting. I've got 8 pounds of boneless leg of Australian lamb marinating for grilling later and serving over a lemony orzo. I'll also do a cucumber and feta salad (theme is Greek).

Greek wine to go with?

"Wokness" -- I thought it was some kind of Chinese-Scottish crossover!

smviking_15-512.png

[Jenise]

Greek wine to go with?

"Wokness" -- I thought it was some kind of Chinese-Scottish crossover!

smviking_15-512.png

Yup, lots of Greek wine.