What's Cooking (Take Two!)

Last evening since my bride had been gone for a couple of days I made a simple comfort meal. Confetti meatloaf- ground beef and chicken, egg, salt, pepper and a bit of each of almost all the vegetables that were around. Since the bride is on a no wheat "maybe" no gluten kick I did not add some bread crumbs. This meant that I had to drain off a tremendous amount of vegetable juice before I added the glaze. Years ago I learned a tried and true method to hold meatballs, patties and loaves together so they will hold on a steam table. Add some grated raw potato. I glazed the top with a little Asian style honey vinaigrette.

The loaf and a caesar salad made the meal. The wine was a 2000 Cantemerle.

Chicken and andouille jambalaya tonight.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Chicken and andouille jambalaya tonight.

-Paul W.

I'll be right over.

[Jenise]

Last evening since my bride had been gone for a couple of days I made a simple comfort meal. Confetti meatloaf- ground beef and chicken, egg, salt, pepper and a bit of each of almost all the vegetables that were around. Since the bride is on a no wheat "maybe" no gluten kick I did not add some bread crumbs. This meant that I had to drain off a tremendous amount of vegetable juice before I added the glaze. Years ago I learned a tried and true method to hold meatballs, patties and loaves together so they will hold on a steam table. Add some grated raw potato. I glazed the top with a little Asian style honey vinaigrette.

The loaf and a caesar salad made the meal. The wine was a 2000 Cantemerle.

How was the Cantemerle? I opened one exactly one year ago, and it was a lot meaner/greener than I expected. Has it settled down any?

How was the Cantemerle? I opened one exactly one year ago, and it was a lot meaner/greener than I expected. Has it settled down any?

It was nice. It went well with the meal but was not a meal stopper sort of wine. It opened as the meal progressed. It did not taste green to me but we were eating a entree that included an array of vegetables many of which were green. Frankly the wine brought back memories of the $1-2 a bottle Medocs we bought by the case in the late 60's.

Tonight it is a sort of Asian chicken, marinated in soy, dark brown sugar, fresh ginger, garlic, sesame oil, pepper and red pepper flakes. Then baked in the oven, turned once, then broiled to crisp up the skin side.
Also, a wild mushroom risotto. Chicken stock is seasoned with fresh thyme and bay leaves. Risotto is made with leeks, garlic, mushrooms, Arborio rice, white wine and Parmesan.
Also a side of fresh broccoli from the Farmer's Market, just picked this morning. These are smaller stalks now rather than the heads, as the weather is warming up even in the foothills where a lot of the cool season stuff is still available.

Came home from my post-treatment fitness program to find that my wife had put together a dish from a cookbook called "Hugh's Three Good Things", by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. It's just canned white beans, cherry tomatoes, prosciutto, and fresh thyme with a garlic-mustard-balsamic vinaigrette. It's the kind of thing that goes together in no time at all and is surprisingly robust and complex in flavor. If you wanted to go veggie, you could leave out the ham and still have a delicious meal. It was served with pieces of sourdough baguette.

It made for a really tasty summer weeknight dish.

Mike, that sounds to me like a riff on the venerable Tuscan bean salad -- altho I suppose tuna, onion, and olive oil is pretty different. It always surprises me how much I find myself enjoying that when we have it. Beans can be savory, substantial, and satisfying, that is true...

I admit that I do short cut every once in a while...okay more than that with beans. Everytime I swear to myself never again will I use canned beans. They are IMHO over cooked, slimy, & pretty tasteless. There is nothing like beans done from dry to finish. The flavor and the texture make the dish. Canned to my palate are like filler.

Came home from my post-treatment fitness program to find that my wife had put together a dish from a cookbook called "Hugh's Three Good Things", by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. It's just canned white beans, cherry tomatoes, prosciutto, and fresh thyme with a garlic-mustard-balsamic vinaigrette. It's the kind of thing that goes together in no time at all and is surprisingly robust and complex in flavor. If you wanted to go veggie, you could leave out the ham and still have a delicious meal. It was served with pieces of sourdough baguette.

It made for a really tasty summer weeknight dish.

Mike, were the cherry tomatoes added at the finish or were they more cooked and broken down? I'd like to try this tomorrow night, maybe I can find the recipe online.

Tonight is is BLT's, with a macaroni and fresh pea salad. The dressing has a little horseradish in it, with lots of fresh tarragon, green onions and red serrano peppers. It has a nice kick, and is colorful.

Came home from my post-treatment fitness program to find that my wife had put together a dish from a cookbook called "Hugh's Three Good Things", by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. It's just canned white beans, cherry tomatoes, prosciutto, and fresh thyme with a garlic-mustard-balsamic vinaigrette. It's the kind of thing that goes together in no time at all and is surprisingly robust and complex in flavor. If you wanted to go veggie, you could leave out the ham and still have a delicious meal. It was served with pieces of sourdough baguette.

It made for a really tasty summer weeknight dish.

Mike, were the cherry tomatoes added at the finish or were they more cooked and broken down? I'd like to try this tomorrow night, maybe I can find the recipe online.

Karen - These were halved and added in cold - they were not cooked. Their sweet, juicy flavor complemented the balsamic nicely. If I have a chance, I'll post the RCP when I get home this afternoon.

Frank - Definitely in the same family as Tuscan bean salad, but with very different flavors. The thyme is added in at a fairly hefty level, so it and the balsamic are prominent. The beans, tomatoes, and prosciutto play off of them.

Geo - While going with dried beans is always better, I find the canned beans we use to be quite adequate for quick meals like this one. Once rinsed, they aren't slimy and have some flavor to them (although not nearly what you'd get from cooking up dried ones).

[Jenise]

Tonight's wine club, so all I have to prepare is an appie to share. As the food at these events tends to be carb-centric, and since the wines are all white, I'm taking a bowl of sugar snap peas flash-sauteed in olive oil and dry white vermouth. I'll finish them with fresh mint and salt just before serving.

[Robin Garr]

Cacio e pepe: coarsely ground black pepper browned in butter, emulsified with a little pasta water and tossed with spaghetti, Pecorino Romano and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheeses. It's based on the recent New York Times recipe linked below, but I wanted to try the original Italian recipe without The Times' healthy but less authentic addition of peas and fava beans, so we held the veggies to serve on the side. Good decision. The dish alone is amazing.
http://www.nytimes.com/recipes/1014828/ ... Favas.html

Last night, we had BLTs as per the recipe Karen posted (which were great). Served them with a salad that consisted of orange segments, strawberries, cucumber, mint, and nothing else.

Tonight, it's pulled pork sandwiches from the cookbook "Damn Good Food".

Pulled pork sandwiches here too with a twist. Bobby Deen (Paula's son) is redoing momma's recipes to be much healthier. He did a pork tenderloin last week, with a good sounding rub and bbq sauce. No sugar involved, heavy on smoked paprika, ginger and an array of other spices involved. I bought a boneless loin of pork however, used the rub and after an all night stay in the fridge it is browned well, and cooked stove top in a sauce using the bbq sauce, apple juice, apple cider vinegar, ginger, garlic. and a few other ingredients. If I do it right I am slicing it for tonight and serving with more of the sauce. A side dish of roasted eggplant, red bell pepper, red onion, red potaotes, whole garlic, in evoo, turkish oregano, salt and pepper. Coleslaw, too. If I get it right, I will shred the meat tomorrow, add more bbq sauce and serve on talera rolls with the coleslaw, I saved out for this.
I have used pork tenderloin with great success in the past, shredding and using for sandwiches. It is great when you want to cut some calories. We'll see how it comes out with the pork loin.

Robin, that is what our 11 year old granddaughter orders from restaurants, pasta with butter and Parmesan. She just bats her big brown eyes and they happily bring it to her. She is a vegetarian....announced one year ago that she would not eat anything with a face, and she has stuck to it, much to the dismay of this meat eating family, but we respect her wishes! It sounds delish, but like you I would also do the beans and peas on the side.I have some bucatini to use up, this is where it is going to go. Were the veggies from Mary's garden?

Made microwave potato chips today. We devoured them.

Jason

Made microwave potato chips today. We devoured them.

Molto bene.

IIRC, I flip them over partway through the cooking.

Made microwave potato chips today. We devoured them.

Molto bene.

IIRC, I flip them over partway through the cooking.

Thanks for the tip. My first time making them. My wife likes them under cooked so I could take hers out and give mine a flip.

J

Made Yakisoba for dinner last night. Sometimes you just get it right!

Yakisoba (800x600).jpg

Beautiful picture, I could taste it!

[Robin Garr]

One-pot Mujadara with green lentils, basmati rice, spring greens (kale and chard), crispy leeks and Lebanese spices. Based on a recent New York Times article and recipe.
http://www.nytimes.com/recipes/1014804/ ... reens.html

Nice match tonight of a delicious copper river salmon (is it really still the season!) with an olive/green onion/parsley 'tapenade' sauce, soba noodles, and beets and red peppers sauteed and finished with saba. The whole thing went really well with 05 Balthazar Cornas Chaillot (especially with the tapenade and saba touches I added to faciliate the match). The wine was also surprisingly open and full of fruit, compared to the last bottle from several months ago, so it was an interesting moment of a true Cornas going with fish!