What's cooking?

Cooking large is just a math problem.

Cynthia, dinner sounds great. Do you make big lots of tamales and then freeze them for later use?

That's what Della the chef at my former retreat workplace in NM said. I was fine with jumping in and doing meals for 40 when she was ill or something came up, but 90... I don't think I want to do that. Especially without sous chef help.

I used to make many dozens of tamales with Della every year around now and we'd freeze them for Christmas Eve. I sorely miss those huge extended-family tamaladas at her home. Last year we joined some friends in San Antonio for one the week after Christmas and brought home a few dozen.

This was the first time I've attempted the vegetarian masa version. Most masa gets the great flavor from the lard, of course, so I was searching for a way to bring in extra flavor to these. I took the advice of Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger and added stock and salsa to the masa harina as I mixed it. Of course, they add chicken stock, but vegetable stock worked great.

I've already decided I am going to get really good at this. All it takes is practice. And a devil may care attitude to fat content.

Good for you, Cynthia. Good to see you again, BTW. I'm interested in learning to make lau lau. If anyone is going to give a LauLau party in this part of the country, please invite me. I would like to watch and learn the process. I'll provide the pork and or black cod!.

[Jenise]

I sorely miss those huge extended-family tamaladas at her home. Last year we joined some friends in San Antonio for one the week after Christmas and brought home a few dozen.

This was the first time I've attempted the vegetarian masa version. Most masa gets the great flavor from the lard, of course, so I was searching for a way to bring in extra flavor to these. I took the advice of Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger and added stock and salsa to the masa harina as I mixed it. Of course, they add chicken stock, but vegetable stock worked great.

I've already decided I am going to get really good at this. All it takes is practice. And a devil may care attitude to fat content.

Have always loved--sadly, only from afar--the whole idea of a big close-knit group making tamales for the holidays. And it's a food I just adore. This year I decided I might try to put a tamalada together and was going to practice, and got no further than getting the pork cooked before badly burning my hand. There went that. Haven't had time to get back to it since.

Vegetarian--Rick Bayless uses butter in his green chile/cheese tamales. Pretty up there on the fat content, of course, but at least it's not lard. Did you need more oil or anything in your masa, using only stock?

Jo Ann, that okra looks so GOOD! Okra is out of season here, but frozen ain't bad, so Give me that recipe.....please?

There ain't no recipe, Bob. This is one of those things I grew up with and learned to cook early. We have a Mediterranean store that has the best fresh okra year round. But, what you see in the picture is both frozen okra and frozen corn. Here is how I prepare it.

SNIPPED

Jo Ann, We had this as a side dish one evening, and it was met with full approval from all at the table! Can't wait til the next time. Thanks for posting it, I saved it to file and will have it several times per year but especially when fresh okra and fresh corn is in season.

Have always loved--sadly, only from afar--the whole idea of a big close-knit group making tamales for the holidays. And it's a food I just adore. This year I decided I might try to put a tamalada together and was going to practice, and got no further than getting the pork cooked before badly burning my hand. There went that. Haven't had time to get back to it since.

Vegetarian--Rick Bayless uses butter in his green chile/cheese tamales. Pretty up there on the fat content, of course, but at least it's not lard. Did you need more oil or anything in your masa, using only stock?

Jenise, I used (*gasp*) Crisco as the fat in the masa. That's what Mary Sue does, so I followed suit. I had to buy some since I never use it. However, I do like the idea of butter much better, but it would have to be room temp or even slightly softer to incorporate as well (I think). I'll try it that way next time and find out!

I am sure my fondness for those large gatherings is because of my huge family. I especially miss them around the holidays because I so rarely get back home at this time of year. Holidays in my family are all about the food and being together, none of the other stuff really enters into it. I was so grateful to be embraced by my "adopted" family in Santa Fe. So now that I am in Tejas, I am missing *both* groups!

Tonight's dinner is Beijing meat sauce noodles.

-Paul W.

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Jo Ann, We had this as a side dish one evening, and it was met with full approval from all at the table! Can't wait til the next time. Thanks for posting it, I saved it to file and will have it several times per year but especially when fresh okra and fresh corn is in season.

Congratulations to you, Bob. Glad you like it. It's a very versatile dish. Sometimes my mother fixes it with dried shrimp and file seasonings, which give it a flavor of gumbo. When I want it as a full meal, I add sliced hot links at the top of the cooking and serve it over rice. I've also added canned black-eyed peas on occasion. I am partial to a bit of spice in my food, so a good dash of Tabasco or a few pinches of red pepper flakes makes me happy. Let me know how you change it to make it your own.

Jo Ann, since you like a little heat in your food. You would be right at home here. My son does a lot of the cooking, and he does a very good job of it too. He especially does well with Indian and Mexican foods. I make chili that might be 4 alarm hot. Actually we have to either make two levels of everything one for he and I and a different level for my wife. We have a pretty large population of both Asian, Latino, Indian, Pakistani, and at least a some from Mediterranean countries, so we have good access to specialty ingredients for ethnic foods. I will undoubtedly do things to the okra thing that will change it, but hopefully only make it better (for me) And, I will report it too. Thanks again.

[Robin Garr]

Lima beans braised with onions, garlic, butter and sage and black, red and Sichuan peppers. With ciabatta rolls and a salad, it's a sufficiently hearty veggie dish to serve as a main course. 

[Robin Garr]

Polenta with Point Reyes blue cheese and Swiss chard sautéed with garlic. The Swiss chard is still thriving in our garden in the week before Christmas even after a couple of frosts.

Polenta with Point Reyes blue cheese and Swiss chard sautéed with garlic.

Now, Robin - that looks very nice. I must make a version of that for the Francophile's vegetarian daughter-in-law.

We enjoyed our own sem-homemade pizza tonight and washed it down with an '08 Secco-Bertani Valpolicella Valantena Ripasso. Great dinner; great wine to go with it.

Does anyone have a Prime Rib seasoning recipe to share? Au jus recipe, too?


Tanx!

[Robin Garr]

Does anyone have a Prime Rib seasoning recipe to share? Au jus recipe, too?

Tim, this came up on my Louisville foodie forum this week, and a chef at a local culinary college posted a procedure that the recipient said came out great. Here's a link to the thread - you should be able to read it without having to join the forum:

http://forums.louisvillehotbytes.com/vi ... =4&t=18392

We enjoyed our own sem-homemade pizza tonight

I do not know what this means. I understand all the individual words, but it makes no sense.

We enjoyed our own sem-homemade pizza tonight

I do not know what this means. I understand all the individual words, but it makes no sense.

Maybe Carl didn't make his own pepperoni?

Merry Christmas/Happy Hannukah to the two of you. Heck I will just go ahead and wish it all for all of Austin.

Does anyone have a Prime Rib seasoning recipe to share? Au jus recipe, too?

Tim, this came up on my Louisville foodie forum this week, and a chef at a local culinary college posted a procedure that the recipient said came out great. Here's a link to the thread - you should be able to read it without having to join the forum:

http://forums.louisvillehotbytes.com/vi ... =4&t=18392

* 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
* 4 tablespoons olive oil
* 1-1/2 tablespoons Lawry's Seasoned Salt
* 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper

Does anyone have a Prime Rib seasoning recipe to share? Au jus recipe, too?

Tim, this came up on my Louisville foodie forum this week, and a chef at a local culinary college posted a procedure that the recipient said came out great. Here's a link to the thread - you should be able to read it without having to join the forum:

http://forums.louisvillehotbytes.com/vi ... =4&t=18392

Thanks, Robin.

Looks pretty easy...I'll give it a go!

Does anyone have a Prime Rib seasoning recipe to share? Au jus recipe, too?

Tim, this came up on my Louisville foodie forum this week, and a chef at a local culinary college posted a procedure that the recipient said came out great. Here's a link to the thread - you should be able to read it without having to join the forum:

http://forums.louisvillehotbytes.com/vi ... =4&t=18392

* 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
* 4 tablespoons olive oil
* 1-1/2 tablespoons Lawry's Seasoned Salt
* 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper

Thank you, as well.

[Robin Garr]

Root veggie stew of carrots, parsnips, turnips and potatoes with a battuto of onions, celery and garlic. 

Wow...I could eat that. Robin, what is the difference between a Battuto and a Soffritto?

Drew

[Robin Garr]

Wow...I could eat that. Robin, what is the difference between a Battuto and a Soffritto?

Drew

That's a truly great question, Drew! I had to stop and think. The short answer is that battuto, soffritto or mirepoix all mean about the same thing: A mix of chopped veggies that's sautéed and used as a flavor base to start many Italian and French dishes. Then, once you got me thinking about it, I'm pretty sure I'm remembering correctly that battuto literally means the raw chopped veggies, while soffritto is the sautéed result. But they're pretty much used interchangeably.

Root veggie stew of carrots, parsnips, turnips and potatoes with a battuto of onions, celery and garlic. 

Robin, that picture looks as if it might haved some chicken or pork in it. Does it, or is it totally meatless? How did you make the gravy? Thanks.

[Robin Garr]

Root veggie stew of carrots, parsnips, turnips and potatoes with a battuto of onions, celery and garlic. 

Robin, that picture looks as if it might haved some chicken or pork in it. Does it, or is it totally meatless? How did you make the gravy? Thanks.

Bob, it's actually animal-free, but there are some pieces of seitan ("mock chicken" made from wheat gluten) that I put in as an experiment. It was okay, but really the dish would have been just as good with the veggies alone. I chopped and sauteed the onions, celery and garlic in olive oil until the onions were well browned ("The Maillard Reaction is your friend," - S. Yaniger), and that contributed a lot of the color. Diced and blanched the root veggies to crisp-tender, then added them in plus the seitan, sauteed for a few, deglazed with a shot of ponzu, then added a bit of water and let it simmer for 20 minutes or so. Finished with a shot of hot sauce, a very healthy grind of Tellicherry pepper and a couple of tablespoons of hoisin sauce, which contributed the rest of the color and some good sweet umami flavor; thickened with a bit of cornstarch and we ate it right up with some 2009 Vitiano.

[Jenise]

A dear friend of ours passed away this weekend and we're going to be unable to attend the celebration of his life tomorrow in Alaska, so last night we held our own Celebration for Steve right here. It was through Steve that we gained familiarity with some of Italy's greatest wines, including many a Gaja, so an all-Italian dinner was called for. We started with a couple antipasti with a pretty-darned-decent-for-$7-at-Trader-Joe's Soave. They were proscuitto-stuffed pickled green peppers that we picked up at De Laurenti's market in Seattle last week followed by a salad of butter lettuce and fresh basil tossed with a red wine vinaigrette served on a cold plate tiled with capicolla. After that we opened a good 2005 Tuscan rosso to go with beef bolognese sauce on homemade spaghetti.

Tonight we're hoping to have the baked ham dinner that didn't happen on Christmas day. This is especially exciting because it means that the big oven will be working again!!