What's Cooking (Take Four)

[Jenise]

Threw in some chard because it sounded good and we had some.

Mike, that's one of the best reasons to do anything! Yes, that's Kriss. About then he hadn't aged a day since first grade. He's in his late 50's now. Gosh, what does that say about us???? Yikes.

Karen, you're getting a lot of mileage out of those peppers. At the risk of repeating myself, though, I knew you'd love them.

Made a big pot of French onion soup, one of my faves.

Not a big slow cooker guy, probably use twice a year, but can be convenient. I had a little time in AM yesterday, but both Betsy and I were pretty busy from noon till 6. So I browned 2 beef osso buco slices, sauteed some mirepoix, added a little garlic and tomato paste, deglazed with wine then added all to a slow cooker with sage, bay, oregano, & broth. When we were home just had to make a gravy and some gremolata, served with broccoli rabe and leftover kale rice. A do again (beef shank from farmers market is considerably less expensive than veal shank).

[Jenise]

I've done veal shanks many times, Dale, but never beef shanks. Mostly because I don't run into them much, but Costco has started carrying them. Three large ones per pkg is a lot of shanking, though--if I could get just one, I'd be tempted.

I love whole lamb or veal shanks, but a whole beef shank would be daunting (a SE Asian restaurant called Twin Tails does one, and 6-8 of us have plenty for everyone). But I saw at farmers market that a great beef purveyor was selling beef shanks cut osso buco style, got 2 pieces (I think one was 1 lb 2 oz, the other 1 lb 6 oz). $10/lb So $25 for big dinner for 2 (and some marrow), and enough for leftover lunch today.

[Jenise]

Pork shanks are great, too. Again, though, not easily come across in my area though oddly a Mexican restaurant has roast pork shanks in red sauce on their dinner menu. I look forward to trying one sometime.

I'm making one of my cold weather favorites: hongshao ji (red-cooked Chicken) Shanghai-style.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

I made a pot of stewed chicken earlier this week and have been living off of that all week when I've been home: Tuesday lunch, Wednesday dinner, Thursday lunch, lunch AND dinner yesterday and there's one serving left for tonight or tomorrow. I've said before that I love it so much I could eat it every day, and I'm proving that. Tonight, though, lamb chops!

Today I am making Mike's Braised Lemon Chicken, using two large organic bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves. Right now, they are soaking in buttermilk and seasoned with garlic salt and white pepper. These will pair well with a lemon rice dish and a coleslaw made with green cabbage, toasted sliced almonds, Top Ramen noodles, and sesame seeds. Green onions are added, and a simple dressing of sunflower oil, champagne vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper. A strange recipe from a cookbook I created for the police department, called Cops N Cooks. One of our Crime Prevention officers submitted it. I will also saute asparagus and tomatoes, with garlic and seasoning.

Today I am making the bean and andouille soup that was posted here a while back and was well received. I use dried large white lima beans from Rancho Gordo (they are already cooking away in the slow cooker), and I could not find andouille sausage at the store; however, a package of all-natural chicken and artichoke sausage grabbed my eye, so I bought that. I plan on adding a little kale because I picked up a good-looking bunch of it that same day. I am running low on my freezer soups that I like to make this time of year. They come in handy when cooking is out of the question or a neighbor is ill and needs some nourishment.

[Jenise]

This morning I made a brandade to take to a Teutonic Wines themed tasting tonight, breaking from the norm to use smoked black cod (which should be great for the German wines) and grated/dessicated raw zucchini (just the skin, for dramatic green threads). I'll bake it at my destination and serve it with crisp thin baguette slices.

We had cast iron skillet baked chicken legs seasoned with I rub I made with za'atar, oregano, garlic powder, s&p, then sprinkled with a little lemon juice. Tasty.

[Jenise]

I am really really hungry for Chinese food, and have decided to make fried rice for dinner. Will include Chinese BBQ red pork, bok choy, cabbage, eggs, and green onions. Sadly, I don't have any bean sprouts which I do love in this dish.

Sounds great, Jenise!

Found a deal on a bag of tomatoes, so I made BLTs in November. What was really surprising to me was that the tomatoes came from TriSon Farms in Canada.

Found a deal on a bag of tomatoes, so I made BLTs in November. What was really surprising to me was that the tomatoes came from TriSon Farms in Canada.

Those are from 2024. Gotta have long hang-time in Canada to get things ripe.

Found a deal on a bag of tomatoes, so I made BLTs in November. What was really surprising to me was that the tomatoes came from TriSon Farms in Canada.

Those are from 2024. Gotta have long hang-time in Canada to get things ripe.

No doubt.

I have to say they were pretty and red, but like all supermarket tomatoes totally tasteless. At least they weren't crunchy.

I've been buying Kumato tomatoes, they come 4 to 5 to a box and are on the brown side. For my taste, they are the best at this time of year, as are Wild Wonders, multi- colored cherry toms. If Kumatos are not in stock, I pick up another small tomato, Compari and those are not bad dressed up in a salad or with sea salt and pepper.

decided to make fried rice for dinner

I haven't made fried rice in years, even though I enjoy it. Probably because I never keep fresh eggs around. You've inspired me to make fried rice soon.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Karen, agree about Kumatos.

Yesterday morning I spent a few hours trying various ways of cooking a massive quantity of bacon for lardons to festoon salads for 90 diners in a few weeks, which I was going to have to train someone else to do. By the end of that effort, I concluded that it can't be done--not with the bacon product I was using anyway (1/2" thick slices)--and in the meantime I'd eaten way too much bacon. Ergo, last thing I wanted for dinner was meat, and I had a fat zucchini I'd grated the green bits off of earlier this week for another purpose, so the zucc, two leeks and a tennis-ball sized yellow potato all got diced and sauteed together to create a satisfying bowl of hot vegetables, and that was my dinner with a fresh apple afterward.

Tonight I'm making a warm potato and green bean dish to take to a beer-and-merlot event (I had nothing to do with picking that topic). Just dawned on me that this might be a good way to use up some of that bacon!

decided to make fried rice for dinner

I haven't made fried rice in years, even though I enjoy it. Probably because I never keep fresh eggs around. You've inspired me to make fried rice soon.

-Paul W.

That's interesting, I don't cook much in the Chinese vein but fried rice is one of our standbys. We are lucky enough to have an Asian supermarket, "88 Seafood" about 1 km / .75 mi from us, and they have very affordable prices and lots of turnover. I lightly fried some tofu separately, then steamed/sauteed some broccoli. Finally I fried the rice, leftover Three Ladies brand jasmine rice from Thailand, the 2025 crop. A bit of soy sauce and oyster sauce mixed in with the egg, and it turned out really well. I don't have quite the right stove and pan for fried rice, my larger cast iron needs somewhat better seasoning and isn't fully covered by the electric burner. So the rice gets cold and sticks to the outside rim. But my larger nonstick obviously doesn't brown very well, and I don't want to use the really high heat for safety reasons. I think that may be the only dish I'm being held back on by our 1983 stove. That and the fact that 1.5 of the burners are busted, really need to swing by the appliance store this weekend.

I am cooking with a pork tenderloin this morning, using a marinade of 5-spice powder, pepper, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, molasses, and garlic. It will be oven-cooked later. Also doing a roast of broccoli, red bell pepper, mushrooms, herbs and red onion. Not sure of my other dish yet, maybe Laura Calder's potato and onion bake. Simple, but delicious. Might add cabbage!

[Jenise]

Karen, a little more detail on the Laura Calder dish, please!

I have no plans for today. Maybe a pot of black eyed peas as I have some bacon that needs to be used up.

Yesterday I made a fantastic warm German potato and green bean salad for Wine Club last night (someone commented, "Trust you to sneak in something green"). I am known!

Jenise,
http://www.sprigsofrosemary.com/2010/09 ... ngere.html
I added cabbage to this dish because I love cabbage and potatoes. Very nice recipe.