What's Cooking (Take Four)

[Jenise]

My dinner was great last night. The sous vide short ribs? To die for. The 139F temperature I used (vs. 131 recommended) was absolutely perfect, a rich pink-not-quite-rose, what I used to think of as medium-rare before Americans started leaning into the European standard where rare is verging on blue. Perfect for my guests and to be honest I wouldn't have wanted them any rarer myself. And Jeff--the final bake was really just to warm them up and apply two coats of glaze. (The reduction sauce was the texture of a thick demi-glace.) As long as you don't heat them over 139 degrees they can't overcook.

Anyway, none of my guests had ever had anything like that. This morning I took the leftover one out of the fridge to nibble on for a cold breakfast, the way I would prime rib. But oof--when I cut slices off, the visible fat? A little scary!

Today's plan? Atonement! Fruit and salads coming up.

Jenise, those short ribs sounds just amazing. I may have to schedule Pumpkin and me for some soon.

[Jenise]

Come on over! Happy to cook for you. Do you have a sous vide machine? I got this recipe off the Anova site, btw.

We were in Vienna recently and enjoyed the potato salad that's made there, so I tried my hand at "Erdapfelsalat". After looking at a number of recipes, I combined a bit of one from Serious Eats and a second from a blog by "The Food Dictator" (which is a little weird but maybe appropriate for a Viennese food blog). It came out quite well and pretty close to what we had in Austria, although I might have oversalted just a touch. That went with sheet pan chicken thighs in a Vietnamese-style marinade and Caprese with the first heirloom tomatoes to hit the market this summer.The chicken thighs also came from a Serious Eats recipe, and were very flavorful. The Caprese was its typical wonderful self. Our Viet-nese-Italian supper worked out very nicely.

Come on over! Happy to cook for you.

Do you have a sous vide machine? I got this recipe off the Anova site, btw.

No, alas, no sous vide.

That went with sheet pan chicken thighs in a Vietnamese-style marinade ...

I felt that vibe but a few countries to the West: I made regular-oven tandoori chicken thighs. Good flavor but did not give me the firm bite and the char that I was seeking.

[Jenise]

Last night, all of a sudden it was 7:00 and I had not planned any dinner. So I halved a big handful of cherry toms and threw those in a skillet with about half a cup of finely chopped marinated artichoke hearts, a clove of garlic, some olive oil and a few pinches of red pepper flakes, let those meld for about four minutes by which time a cake of ramen noodles I buy at an Asian store in Canada (flat, wrinkly, not like Top Ramen) was done--toss toss, there's dinner. It was incredibly good for something so fast, and not unhealthy.

Today I've thawed some pork chops. Might sous vide them with berbere for grilling. Not sure yet.

I've been craving all sorts of things lately. Recently, it has been a white corn tortilla stuffed with salsa or a pepper jam filled with whatever type of cheese I want for the day. It is lightly browned on both sides, with no oil. Today, it will be chopped Hatch green chiles with Gruyere cheese and homemade pickled red onions. for breakfast, along with cherries.
crazy combo....

Yesterday I made a batch of Northern Thai-style sausage (sai oua). Now I just have to wait for the rain to stop so I can grill the sausage patties.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

crazy combo....

Sure it is, but we're widows. Rules died with our husbands.

crazy combo....

Sure it is, but we're widows. Rules died with our husbands.

Jenise, someone asked me the other day what perks I have found in being a widow. I did not have to think about that one at all. My reply to her was that now I can eat ice cream right out of the carton because it is all mine. So far, that is the only perk. Gene was a great man, easy to live with, very neat, my best taste tester, kept our home and yard in tip-top condition, good provider, not perfect, but then neither am I. I suppose I could add less cooking to my list and that now I stick to the same things, but that is not a perk as I do love to be in the kitchen, just am lazier and don't want to make the fuss like I used to do.

[Jenise]

No perks for me so far. Everything you said about Gene applies to my Bob, and I miss him more than I can say. I loved cooking for him, for us, planning all the parts right down to the wine. It wasn't a have-to, it was a want-to. But I just don't want to just for me. I don't just miss Bob, I miss my old self. It's a facet of grief I wasn't prepared for.

And I miss the word 'someday'. It went away while Bob was alive but dying, and it hasn't come back. I don't have children or grandchildren to define me or my future. I need more, but I don't know what it is yet.

But yeah, no rules.

Jenise, I understand all that you said. I also miss " me " and all the fun cooking I used to do. Gene was the grill man, and we have a great gas BBQ on the patio with a huge vent and lights, a table, and a chair where Gene sat overlooking his cooking. I miss that, and I do all the grilling on a grill pan on the gas stove. Not the same, but it works. My cooking now is meat, potatoes, and a veggie dish. During the week, I can change up the menu by getting creative with the leftovers, if I choose to. I vary from that occasionally, but it is a simple, healthy way for me, so that is how it goes.
I have zero desire to be with another man, and have refused a couple who called wanting to get together. I married the love of my life, and after 59 years with my guy, no other would measure up. And, I have gotten pretty sassy, and find that many of the current population to lack wisdom, manners, respect, and truthfulness. I'm comfortably and safely settled into my community, home, and neighborhood.
So, at this point, I cannot ask for more. Kids watch out for me, grandkids are all grown and have their own lives to lead now, so I rarely see any of them. Two live in Redding, but their lives are full of bad decisions and chaos. They are good people, but I do not want to get involved in their issues. And my oldest son watches over me to make sure I don't. LOL

[Jenise]

You do a great job cooking for yourself, Karen. I admire your zeal and careful planning for the week.

I am not that way yet. Might never be. Yesterday was another day of no plans. I devoted a little time to packing some boxes of Bob's things to go away, then decided to straighten up the pantry. Found two unopened bags of granola and a unopened package of Oreos. All purchased around Jan-Feb this year, and only for Bob. The Oreos broke my heart. Victims of Lewy Body Dementia (in which the dementia part is hallucinatory with brain fog, not memory loss of the Alzheimers kind) get a raging sweet tooth, and such is their reduced appetite that any calorie is a good one, and cookies were something he could self-feed. I bought freshly made ones from the Co-op that at least had some grain content for nutritional value (not that it matters much for someone with no future but I couldn't stop trying) but, sigh, Oreos remained his favorite.

Then all of a sudden it was almost 7:00 and I'd made no decisions about food. All I'd eaten all day were cherries. So I made something quick and Greekish: a pan of lemony rice with mint and marinated artichokes cooked in the rice. I ate it out of a bowl with a spoon. Some days, that's the best I can do.

No rain yesterday (for a change) so I grilled some Northern Thai sausage patties. Delicious!

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

I presume you made your own sausage--probably that pork which you ground in the food processor?

Wha Hoo, it is a beautiful 57° here in the valley. I wanted to sleep in, but the cool air said Get up and let me in, so I did just that. I got most of the windows open, my puppy got the Zoomies, and we played for about 15 minutes, all at 6 a.m. this morning. As soon as I get ready, I head to the kitchen to work on today's menu. Baby back pork ribs have been seasoned since yesterday, and they will get a splash of soy sauce and a bit of brown sugar. Later, they will go into the oven for 2 1/2 hours. A big sheet pan of roasted potatoes, mini peppers, onion wedges, lemon wedges, garlic cloves, prepped with olive oil, and spices or herbs yet to be determined. My favorite tomato, bread salad, will round out the menu. I may pull out homemade applesauce to serve with the pork.

I presume you made your own sausage--probably that pork which you ground in the food processor?

Precisely. Importfood.com published two Thai sausage recipes. This one--sai oua--is flavored mainly by lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves and calls for minced pork belly fat as well as minced pork.

The other one is from Isan in Northeast Thailand and is called sai grok. It is made with pork and cooked glutinous rice and is unusual--and controversial--because it is left at room temperature for a couple of days to ferment. This may be safe if you are very sure of the provenance of your pork, and in the climate of Isan (whatever that might be), but I wouldn't advise trying it with store-bought ground pork. When I've made it I let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. It comes out just fine. I'm sure the fermentation adds some flavor nuance that I'm missing by skipping the fermentation, but I'm also missing out on food poisoning.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Smart move, Paul, I wouldn't do that either. Sounds great though, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf are a magical combination that I don't get nearly enough of. Wish there was a way to capture the flavor of lemongrass more easily in a jar I could keep in the fridge. For me, just finding it is hard, and that's only the beginning of the problem.

That's what I need to start doing, Paul, is freezing it since finding it is so, as you put it, irregular. The Food Coop frequently has it in those clamshell packets one sees fresh herbs in, but not surprisingly they don't have the flavor of the fresh loose stalks one finds in Asian markets.

[Jenise]

Last night I seared then baked some heavily marinated chicken breasts and had one with a pile of carrots sauteed with onions. This seems to be my go-to widow's meal: either a salad or protein plus one vegetable. Creativity has left the building.

I needed to use up zucchini today, so I created a healthy casserole that I could eat for lunch this week. I layered zucchini slices on the bottom of the casserole dish, sprinkled with garlic salt and Herbs de Provence, added sliced onion from a friend's garden, and canned sliced tomatoes. I found a can of Bianco de Napoli whole peeled tomatoes in thick juice in my pantry. Have no clue why I bought them, but they are delicious. Then sliced large brown mushrooms.. On top of those, I placed a large chicken breast sliced into serving pieces almost all the way through and then marinated in soy sauce, Worcestershire, a good red wine vinegar, fresh ginger root, garlic salt, and pepper. Chicken was topped with shredded Gruyere cheese. It is cooking in the oven now.

[Jenise]

I'll bet that smells GREAT, Karen.

I'll bet that smells GREAT, Karen.

I have to say it turned out delicious!. I had drizzled some of the marinade over the mushroom slices after putting them into the dish. The shrooms were beefy and so tasty. The resulting broth in the dish was excellent. The cheese got crispy on top and around the edges of the dish. Zero fat in this dish, and the zucchini still had a little crunch to it. Loved it all. And that brand of canned tomatoes was excellent. I took what was left of the juice in the can and froze it. It is that good. The mushrooms I had were large, brown, and tightly closed, and I was surprised at how good they tasted because, for some reason, I no longer liked mushrooms anymore. Sometimes things work out well...