What's Cooking (Take Two!)

Tonight's dinner will be gaeng ped gai (Thai red curry with chicken), made with bell peppers, bamboo shoots, and green peppercorns.

-Paul W.

Somehow or other there's going to be chicken cacciatore tonight.

Tom, or everyone, what ELSE do you do with your Romertopf?? I have been looking at those and wondering if I would use it enough to justify the price. Oddly enough I got pushed in that direction by this great new Turkish restaurant in my town. They make Güveç -- vegetables slow cooked in a clay pot. And I thought, I wonder if I can make it that tender and delicious at home? And there are other clay cooked things like Moroccan tagines, lamb dishes, chicken dishes. I have thought for a few years about buying a Tagine but those strike me as being too limited in their use, whereas a Romertopf ought to be able to do all of these things.

Is a closed clay pot really that different from a heavy metal enameled dutch oven with the lid on? Does the result taste different, is the texture better? I wonder if anyone has tried the experiment. That's what clay cooking aficionados generally say, that you can taste the difference.

The fried pork chunks were then tossed in a soaked Romertopf along with sliced onion and halved mushrooms. The reduced vinegar mix was poured over, along with a little more fresh vinegar, Fujian wine, and a good squirt of honey.

Into a very slow oven for almost 5 hours.

Tom, or everyone, what ELSE do you do with your Romertopf?? ...Is a closed clay pot really that different from a heavy metal enameled dutch oven with the lid on? Does the result taste different, is the texture better? I wonder if anyone has tried the experiment. That's what clay cooking aficionados generally say, that you can taste the difference.

Hi Frank -

My kid sister gave me mine a while back after she couldn't figure out what to do with it. I've been having fun making all sorts of things in it, often just to see what will happen. A few thoughts from my experiences so far:

1. It cooks well, but a lot of the hype is over blown. The "It really tastes different in a Romertopf!" crowd must not know how to cook if they can't duplicate their dishes in other vessels.

2. Pre-soaking is recommended for every operation, as far as I can tell. But for many dishes, roast chicken for example, this leads to an excess of unwanted liquid. The first roast chicken I made came out as poached chicken - and it went into the pot dry, and I removed the lid partway through to facilitate browning. Just a ton of water leeched out of the clay and pooled under and around the bird. So now, despite Official Warnings, I often don't pre-soak. It works fine. Here's a bird I made that way:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/551831760566526683/

3. It's nice to make bread in it. Soak, or don't soak. It's basically a cloche.

4. Not cleaning with soap, only water and a stiff brush with maybe some baking soda, takes getting used to (and more elbow grease). Gotta resign yourself to the fact that it's never ever ever gonna look pristine again the moment you decide to actually use it.

5. It's actually pretty good for this: pre-soak, throw a bunch of dry, raw ingredients in, cover, and set it in the oven. That's it. The steam from the soaked clay will steam cook everything. I've done this with an entire bunch of carrots, a few sprigs of thyme and a drizzle of maple syrup. No problemo.

Overall, it's fun to play around with and makes very good food. But there's a bit of a learning curve for some foods, in that moisture control can be tricky. I'm glad I have mine, but honestly if I didn't have it there's nothing I couldn't make exactly the same using other, more common, kitchen kit.

(BTW, it's funny you brought this up now because as I type this I have a boned-out, stuffed and rolled leg of lamb cooking away in mine. So far, it at least smells great. I have high hopes.)

Tom

Frank,

I agree with Tom. It's strength is that it steams food from all directions. It's weakness is that it's really hard to brown anything in it.

I have a handmade pot from a friend who got the right kind of clay for it. Alas, but I really only ever made one dish in it -- a veal stew with caraway seed, in the manner of a blanquette -- but maybe I should try a tagine someday.

Made a beef fricassee last night that involved slices of tenderloin, onions, and fava beans. The sauce was egg yolk, cream, and lemon juice, cooked just enough to thicken. Tasty and very quick (if you don't include the time spent shelling and skinning the favas).

[Jenise]

Fresh halibut steak tonight, asparagus on the side and a cold Chablis.

Tonight we enjoyed a rib eye steak cooked restaurant method (browned and roasted), baked sweet potato and tossed salad. We matched it with a 2011 Tobin James Notorious Cabernet Sauvignon. Yum!

[Jenise]

Tonight we enjoyed a rib eye steak cooked restaurant method (browned and roasted), baked sweet potato and tossed salad. We matched it with a 2011 Tobin James Notorious Cabernet Sauvignon. Yum!

Our dinner last night was almost identical--steak cooked inside on cast iron till crispy, though we had broccolini on the side instead of your sweet potato. The wine was a 2001 Karl Lawrence cabernet.

I don't have a solid dinner plan yet for tonight. But the salad course is going to be turnips roasted in a salt crust, cooled and sliced atop a whipped goat cheese and honey and garnished with fresh mint and micro arugula. Lots of small steps I can turn out over the afternoon without spending too much time on my feet. I'm very curious about salt-roasting---I've had some root veggies prepared this way and they're to die for, but I've not picked up the technique myself. Time for that to change.

Turnips? Turnips? Ugh.

First grilling of the season here: leg of lamb, butterflied, marinated an hour or so in olive oil with lots of garlic, rosemary, juniper berries, and bay leaves. Yum. Served with butternut squash ("sweet" spices) and roasted potatoes -- roasted long enough to go all creamy inside -- and a good bottle of Rioja.

[Jenise]

Turnips? Turnips? Ugh.

They're good when prepared right!

[Robin Garr]

Turnips? Turnips? Ugh.

They're good when prepared right!

They are much like brussels sprouts in this regard.

This weekend I made a batch of sai oua, Northern Thai sausage.

-Paul W.

Had some early strawberries that weren't particularly sweet so I decided to make pickled strawberries and then used them tonight in a salad with radishes. First time pickling strawberries and a delicious twist that I will return to throughout the season!

[Jenise]

Had some early strawberries that weren't particularly sweet so I decided to make pickled strawberries and then used them tonight in a salad with radishes. First time pickling strawberries and a delicious twist that I will return to throughout the season!

Your method?

Had some early strawberries that weren't particularly sweet so I decided to make pickled strawberries and then used them tonight in a salad with radishes. First time pickling strawberries and a delicious twist that I will return to throughout the season!

Your method?

I got what seemed to be a fairly standard recipe from the web, cooked down a solution of vinegar (mostly flavored by balsamic plus some more neutral ones), water and a bit of sugar. Then poured it over the strawberries, put in a jar, and refrigerated.

Pretty delicious and will be doing that again.

[Jenise]

Balsamic? Didn't see that one coming. What's the color of your finished berries?

Balsamic? Didn't see that one coming. What's the color of your finished berries?

Mostly red, a tiny bit brown, but not unattractively so (at least to me).

Still, I'll be tinkering with variations as the summer berry crush gets underway.

GOOD balsamic vinegar with strawberries and maybe a touch of sour cream or cream cheese is a classic.

[Jenise]

GOOD balsamic vinegar with strawberries and maybe a touch of sour cream or cream cheese is a classic.

Am aware of that, and I even add balsamic to strawberry sorbet when I make my own--black pepper, too!

[Jenise]

For dinner last night, we had pan roasted halibut. My god, was it good. And at the place I bought the fish, Barlean's, I found myself wishing I could videotape the process of buying where I do. It's at a barn out in the country, and it's neighbors are a couple refineries and several large-acreage farms with heads of cattle. The land on the opposite side of the street is Indian reservation land all the way to water/coastline, which is maybe five miles away to the west and south (it curves). The edge of Bellingham is about 12 miles east, and this side of town is sparsely populated. IOW, it's on the way to absolutely nowhere and for very few, but for some reason it works. I stop in on my way home from Bellingham sometimes because I live in an even more remote area about 15 miles north, and it can be on my way if I take the long way home. It's a route I take ONLY when I want to stop at Barlean's.

Nobody would ever advise anyone to set up this business where it is, but they're very successful because of their restaurant customers and flaxseed oil business. If any of you buy the latter product at places like Whole Foods Market, you're probably buying Barlean's.

But anyway, it's just a barn, and inside are always several large plastic totes like the kind that are used for harvesting fruit and other things, and they're full of ice. On top of the ice will be a few pieces of whatever fresh fish is available that day. Yesterday, there were fresh spot prawns and three pieces of halibut, but just tails. I said I came in for halibut but didn't like the tail pieces, so this guy went to another covered tote and pulled out a 50 pound halibut that had just come in from Alaska. He asked which side, I said 'white', and he then plopped it down on this big stainless steel table and filetted that side and then cut me a perfect 1 lb piece from the part near the lower collar.

There is no better halibut than Alaskan and there is no place you can buy Alaskan halibut any fresher in the lower 48. In fact, by the time most Alaskan halibut is presented for sale here, it has essentially been kept too cold too long and no longer tastes like halibut does when eaten many days fresher in Alaska. Last night's halibut tasted just like Alaskan--in Alaska. It's my favorite fish in the world.

Yesterday at Costco I looked at the halibut they had. The packing date was April 29th, and 'sell by' date was May 8th. That will not taste like halibut does in Alaska--no thank you! Interestingly, the ahi tuna they had was packed on April 30th, one day later, but the 'sell by' date was May 7th, one day earlier. No thank you to that as well!

Good story, Jenise. Really fresh fish do taste better. My fish store only sells sushi-grade tuna frozen; it's the best compromise. (And they are no slouches- they are at the Fulton Fish Market (Hunts Point, now) when it opens.)

[Jenise]

Jeff, there isn't much that we have up here, food-wise, that beats something anywhere else but simple, quirky Barlean's is a local treasure. At least, for me.

Dinner tonight: friends wanted to make dinner for me here at home, so I semi-accepted. I figured they'd feel a little hoodwinked if they saw me getting around so well--which I do, I just should do the least possible--so I suggested they bring a starter for an Italian themed dinner in which I provide a simple main. So in addition to bringing a neat cocktail, they're making homemade ravioli for a primi. The secondi will be my version of bistecca Florentine--prime rib eyes grilled rare and sliced, served on a bed of arugula with parmesan and lime juice. The accompaniaments are cippoline onions charred and baked with a topping of fontina and chives plus asparagus in white truffle butter. The meat and vegetables will be divided between two platters, one per couple. Dessert will be ice cream from a local island creamery drizzled with 100 year old balsamic vinegar.