What's Cooking (Take Three!)

[Jenise]

Barb, sometimes an avalanche is a blessing in disguise. Sounds like you're turning yours into blessings. I love MFK too. She and I grew up in the same town, and she wrote a book about it which I bought and then misplaced shortly after starting it. Haven't seen it since. Where do those things go?

I order six lobster tails from Maine which arrive today. I'm beyond excited. I honestly don't think lobster can get any better than simply broiled. And I don't want a high calorie/carb side dish....okay, what I really want is lobster thermidor. If calories, fat, etc were no issue, THAT. But they are so, what to do, what to do.

Sensational luck - extra oysters!

How about Hangtown Fry?: bread and fry the oysters, then add them into a bacon-and-egg omelette?

[Jenise]

Where ya been, Jeff? We've missed you! Btw, I only *JUST* found your private response on the vinegar. Will get back to you on that. Want some fresh bay leaves with it?

Where ya been, Jeff? We've missed you!

Vaca. Visiting friends (and their families!) across England and Scotland. Plus a few days in Iceland.

Started in London with friends Jo & John; saw a few exhibits (drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, food and kitchen objects from Pompeii) but mostly spent time with them. Had grouse and pheasant, pretty good fish & chips, and bought half a kilo of damson paste to bring back.

Then went for one night visiting her parents in Hoby, a teeny village in Leicestershire. Idyllic place, no wonder Blake wrote poetry. We wanted to visit to thank them for sending us a homemade Christmas pudding every year(!). They're in the right districts for Melton Mowbray pie and Stilton cheese so we had the real things. Mom also gave us some of her Seville orange marmalade to bring home.

Next two nights we visited with another friend who set us all up at Kilworth House and then Hambleton Hall, two 'great homes' that are now hotels. Pride of Britain, Relais et Chateau stuff. More desultory touristing while hanging out.

Then four nights in Edinburgh visiting Bruce and Ag and the crowd of associated friends: Philip, Ann, Paul. Again, we took in one exhibit (Romanoffs and Windsors) and the new Downton Abbey movie but the real motive was time with friends. We ended the Scottish excursion with a night in Ladybank, the small town in Fife where Bruce and Ag grew up. (And Ag's homemade Chicken Balmoral.)

Finally, we ricocheted back through London to end up in Reykjavik for a bit of gen-u-ine tourist travel. Stayed at a lovely B&B (not AirBnB) but it rained every single day we were there... so, not as much fun as we had hoped.

Btw, I only *JUST* found your private response on the vinegar. Will get back to you on that. Want some fresh bay leaves with it?

Ah, right. Good. My local grocer sells fresh bay leaves but I bet yours are better so yes, please.

So, the next dish in the oyster saga is oyster loaf
Hollowed our a sour dough Kaiser roll, brushed inside with butter and put in the oven just to get it a little crisp on the inside.
Then I filled it with freshly shucked oysters and a ‘bechamel sauce’ made with oyster liquor and cream pop the lid on and baked until golden.
Again a sensational dish.
I’ve generally been an oyster snob,eating the au natural with maybe a squeeze of lemon.
And I am not a fan of kilpatrick or mornay, but I have learnt from having this little abundance.
They can be delicious cooked.
Less is more when it comes to seasoning. Both the stew and the loaf I resisted the urge to add garlic onion even salt and pepper lemon were left in the pantry. And it paid off, in spades IMHO with fine pure creamy oyster flavour. The only addition, a few drops of your favourite hot sauce(for me green siracha or Tabasco.

Jeff, sounds like you have had a great holiday,

I was fascinated by your suggestion of Hangtown fry. I knew only that It existed and I have no idea where I have heard the name. And I certainly had no idea what was in the dish, and now I know,
And I couldn’t quite do it. Sorry. Fried oysters, bacon, eggs, a bit too rich for me now but once upon a time....
I did some breaded in a po’boy with lettuce and tomato.

I was fascinated by your suggestion of Hangtown fry. I knew only that It existed and I have no idea where I have heard the name. And I certainly had no idea what was in the dish, and now I know,

I like the story behind the dish: It comes from the 'Gold Rush' period. A miner struck it rich so went to town -- yes, Hangtown -- and ordered the cook to make him up something with all of his most expensive ingredients. As it happens, that was oysters and eggs as each required careful handling to get them into Alaska still fresh.

[Jenise]

Very nice holiday, Jeff! I lived in northern England for a year back in the 80's (don't I sound ancient) and haven't really been back to the UK since but for a few visits to London. Would really love to see more of the places I did and those I never got to (south Wales, Ireland).

Will send you some bays. My tree has a major infestation of scale and it has spread throughout my courtyard, so we've had to resort to a powerful systemic. I picked a LOT of bay leaves knowing we can't harvest again for at least six months. Picked enough to tide me over and send you some too.

Barb, sometimes an avalanche is a blessing in disguise. Sounds like you're turning yours into blessings. I love MFK too. She and I grew up in the same town, and she wrote a book about it which I bought and then misplaced shortly after starting it. Haven't seen it since. Where do those things go?

I order six lobster tails from Maine which arrive today. I'm beyond excited. I honestly don't think lobster can get any better than simply broiled. And I don't want a high calorie/carb side dish....okay, what I really want is lobster thermidor. If calories, fat, etc were no issue, THAT. But they are so, what to do, what to do.

A shame you lost the book which was almost certainly Among Friends, Whittier had, apparently a large Quaker community whilst the Kennedy family were in the Episcopalean minority. What was it like when you were growing up?

I pretty much have everything she wrote, plus collected letters, biographies etc. she would be top of my list for dinner party guests wish list.

Seriously craving veggies after all theoysters thia week
Hanging in the kitchen is oil from deep frying the oysters for the po’boy .
Veg, deep frying.......tempura!
Thin ovals of spud, rings of red capsicum, wide batons of green capsicum, and carrot, quartered mushrooms, ovals of potato.
.

[Jenise]

Seriously craving veggies after all the oysters this week
Hanging in the kitchen is oil from deep frying the oysters for the po’boy. Veg, deep frying.......tempura! Thin ovals of spud, rings of red capsicum, wide batons of green capsicum, and carrot, quartered mushrooms, ovals of potato.

So, Barb, you might call that a Tempura Tantrum?

I'm in veggie heaven right now myself. On Friday, pressured by the news of snow in the passes and an early winter, I paid a visit to a local produce farm/vendor who close mid-October for one last indulgent car load. $84 worth of new potatoes, eggplant, onions, red and green peppers, cauliflowers, tomatoes, plums, peaches and I can't remember what else. Oh, celery. An especially beautiful stalk with rich deep green branches and tons of leaf. I detest the way commercially-grown celery has all that delicious foliage chopped off, and am reminded once again that in places like Holland it's revered, only removed from the branches to be packaged for separate sale. A pot of Dutch mussels wouldn't be without that heavy celery leaf influence.

Speaking of which for dinner last night I made a starter salad of thinly sliced cauliflower marinated in oil, vinegar, salt and garlic along with a chopped green bell pepper and celery leaves. That was followed by roasted lamb shanks in an onion/clove/chive sauce over very dilly mashed potatoes with a touch of berbere for complexity and heat. A superb autumn meal.

Seriously craving veggies after all theoysters thia week
Hanging in the kitchen is oil from deep frying the oysters for the po’boy .
Veg, deep frying.......tempura!
Thin ovals of spud, rings of red capsicum, wide batons of green capsicum, and carrot, quartered mushrooms, ovals of potato.
.

Yum! I love vegetable tempura and I never make it at home.

For your next po'boy make sure to spread on some olive salad - it's an ingredient in muffuletta but it adds real richness and depth to a fried-food sandwich.

Last night I used half of a two-pound flank steak for Cantonese stir-fried beef with green peppers. Tonight the other half will go into gan bian niu rou (Sichuan dry-fried beef).

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

More kitchen science tonight involving cooking a top sirloin steak sous vide. Will report back tomorrow!

Crumbed lamb cutlets with panzanella.
I was chanelling panzanella and someone here mentioned Marcella Hazan, ok go there and she Translates as bread and vegetable salad with anchovies. Where else would I go! Dressing of evoo, red wine vinegar, capers , garlic and anchovies. And the bread fried in olive oil, instead of sprinkled with water.
We have had a few super spring days and this meal hit the spot

[Jenise]

Isn't panzanella wonderful? Very versatile idea, too. In winter I often make them with marinated cauliflower and lots of parsley. Sometimes mushrooms and watercress.

Last night we went vegetarian and gnoshed on olives followed by a baked ratatouille of eggplant (skinny little cigar sized ones), roma tomato, red bell pepper, onion and garlic, to which when done I added a grated cheese layer and fresh basil to make it all gooey for slathering on crusty bread. Divine.

Love ratatouille, must make it again soon.

[Jenise]

Tacos tonight. The filling will be highly seasoned healthy ground turkey and rice, and today I'm going to try adding green olives to the filling (I love the flavor of cooked olives in Mexican Albondigas soup, so it's a riff off that). Will reduce the meat by a 25-30%, and add some interesting variation to bites.

Tacos tonight. The filling will be highly seasoned healthy ground turkey and rice, and today I'm going to try adding green olives to the filling (I love the flavor of cooked olives in Mexican Albondigas soup, so it's a riff off that). Will reduce the meat by a 25-30%, and add some interesting variation to bites.

"Tragedy tomorrow, tacos tonight!"
-- not Stephen Sondheim

So a few months ago our local butcher had ramen broth in freezer, I bought court. But Betsy thought too warm for ramen, cool weather comfort food. But today was cool, and after we went to Ferry Festa (downtown fair) , I thawed the broth. Poached some sea robin in broth, wilted some spinach , served over green tea noodles, a 5'10" egg, and some harukei turnips. Winner.

[Jenise]

Sea robin? Dale, a fish I presume, but not one I've even heard of. Certainly sounds good. Ramen's one of the world's great comfort foods, isn't it?

[Jenise]

And last night's turkey and green olives taco dinner was a winner, too. I've been making that turkey and rice filling for 30 years, but from now on it will include olives.

I still have a lot of iddli batter, so I made another batch of sambar, but this time a Madras version as opposed to the Kerala variant I made last week. No coconut milk in the Madras version, and it came out blazingly hot (I like it that way). I did use peanut oil instead of the gingelly (Indian sesame oil) that the recipe called for.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Paul, I've not heard of gingelly. How is it different from Asian sesame oil?