What I learned today

[Jenise]

I just don't like to give my business to slimeballs. And most of the restaurants around here are, essentially, burger joints. I have no use for that kind of food--I'm a very accomplished cook and do that stuff much better at home. Drayton Harbor Oyster Company is doing well now, and there's a new Ital place in Blaine, Rustic Fork. There's also Scampi Osteria--Gianni's a great cook. Did you never go to The Vault wine bar?

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[Jenise]

People dine out for different reasons, basic sustenance being one and it sounds like you're in that camp.

I'm not there; I dine out for adventure and experience. I like to eat in restaurants where real chefs are exercising their creativity, or with ethnic specialties. The last meal in the world I would go out for is steak. Last meal I had at Semiahmoo was a total disaster. No point eating out to eat food that's not as good as what I would make at home. Doesn't have to be fancy--a great pastrami sandwich or bowl of pho is a thing of beauty. But steak or burgers? No. Fries from frozen potatoes not fresh? No. Salads with bottled or sweet dressings (too much of that around here)? Hell no.

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[Jenise]

Nobody's ever wrong about what they like, Richard, we all arrive where we are by different paths. I'm surrounded by people who buy pre-made heat-and-eat food at Costco and Trader Joe's. They have no interest in cooking and it's cheaper than restaurant food. Not only do they not notice the extra sugar in that food that turns me off, it's clearly extra appealing to them because of it.

I'm definitely different. But so are all the other creative people who frequent this little 'Kitchen'--we care a lot about what we eat.

I have had bad food at Pierside, Blue Heron and Packers--all three. Best meal I ever had there was made by my friend Kasey Dubler when he was executive chef there. He posts on the wine forum here from time to time.

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OH BY THE WAY, speaking of that I forgot to tell y'all that I brought a new rolling pin home from Montana. It's handmade out of red bubinga wood. For years I've had a German rolling pin whose tapering makes it harder to get dough even, plus a short one that's exactly an even width that I preferentially use for evenness but, well, it's short! I constantly wish it were longer. Well, now I have one that's longer and not tapered, and it's very beautiful to boot plus a reminder of a beautiful place.

Beauty and practicality win.win. I have a beautiful Huon pine pin fromTasmania which , unfortunately, is tapered but I use it a lot.also a small standard type and a three foot piece of broom handle.
And somewhere lurking in an unpacked box from our last move is a lovely German ceramic pin given to me when my brother returned from working in Berlin.

Ps I wanna cook with you and Jo Ann. That should be wonderful. Enjoy.

[Jenise]

Barbara, come on over! Going to be fun.

New topic: when we were in Montana recently, I had to pick a 'lane' and stay in it, more or less, for the cooking I did there every night rather than spend a fortune stocking a kitchen I was going to walk away from. Though I'm not generally one to buy spice blends vs. making my own, in that situation these big jars of spices at the local Beartooth Market allowed me to accent my dishes with very little investment. I've never seen these before--I presume some supplier labels these for small independent markets like this one and they're probably all around a certain area. There were probably in all about 60 or 80 different things, including dozens of rubs and spice blends like the Kentucky Bourbon spice shown here, but the most intriguing to me were the topping blends.

This Red Pepper (and indeed, there's some kick) Everything Bagel topping was so outstanding that not only did I not leave it behind in the rental house, I bought another to bring home to my brother. Yesterday, the fried eggs that topped Bob's breakfast of spinach salad with tomato dressing were spectacular with a generous application of it--great flavor and texture. There were several other options. Plain Everything Bagel was also an option, and there were others.

Another thing I learned there? Last day we went to a dollar store looking for some inexpensive wrapping/box/whatever for Barry to take gifts home to his little girls in. While there, I cruised the food aisles and realized that for cheap away-from-home seasonings I should have gone there! All kinds of things for a buck. Next time I rent a house--the dollar store!

BeartoothSpices.jpg

My recipe for tom kha gai starts with two cups of coconut milk and one cup of chicken stock. You throw in the sliced galangal, bring the soup to a boil, then simmer for ten minutes. I learned not to get distracted with chopping up ingredients and let it boil over. The finished soup was a bit disappointing compared to past batches. I think that some of the more volatile essential oils in the galangal boiled off during the extra-long sojourn at full boil. Possibly the coconut milk and/or chicken broth acquired a scalded character, the way that cow's milk does when over-boiled.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Dang, Paul! Do you ever look at something like that (as I did my beef broccoli on Friday night) and with a defeated sigh go, "I'm better than that"? I do, sounds like you had one of those moments.

[Jenise]

On deck for tonight: what I call Swedish veal patties. Means veal, egg, grated onion, nutmeg, dill, s&p with a bit of added panko formed into patties and pan fried. I'll serve those on a pile of deliberately overcooked green beans (want them soft, a bit mushy, so will start from frozen--it's a flavor and texture I've loved since childhood.)

Dang the green beans... you need lingonberry jelly!

[Jenise]

Dang the green beans... you need lingonberry jelly!

Not for the veal, for the champagne. We call it a 'Lars Royale'.

Dang, Paul! Do you ever look at something like that (as I did my beef broccoli on Friday night) and with a defeated sigh go, "I'm better than that"? I do, sounds like you had one of those moments.

Absolutely. My first thought when I turned around and saw the pot boiling over was "you idiot!"

-Paul W.

I place a wooden chopstick across the pot. It really helps prevent the boiling over thing. Believe me I know. I make yogurt all the time and have to scald the milk. And I'm reliably distracted every time.

Today I tasted my first Sumo Mandarin, and I'm in love.

Today I tasted my first Korean Honey Melon (a.k.a., Oriental melon, a.k.a., chamoe) and I'm in Like . The skin is thin but every cooking video I found said to peel it. The aroma under the peel is somewhat apple-y; the inside is definitely melon-y, like honeydew. The texture is firm, moreso than a cucumber but less so than a pear. The goo around the seeds is sweet and fragrant so if eating seeds doesn't trouble you, then that's extra flavor.

It passes my test for a summer fruit - cold, wet, somewhat sweet.

When I see good quality fresh ginger at the market, I buy a bunch of it, peel it, and store it in the refrigerator in a mason jar full of 100 proof vodka. It stays fresh almost indefinitely this way. I tried the same technique with galangal, but it didn't work anywhere near as well. Unlike fresh ginger, fresh galangal develops a tough, fibrous texture once it's harvested, even if kept in vodka. So once I finished off that first batch of galanagal in vodka, I've since been freezing the galangal and that works out much better. But it means I had about a quart of galangal-infused 100 proof vodka in a mason jar left over.

I had the scalded tom kha gai for leftovers last night and I put a couple of tablespoons of the infused vodka in before I reheated it. The flavor was much improved. So I think I was correct that some of the more volatile flavor elements of the galangal got boiled off when the soup boiled over.

-Paul W.

Paul, very intrigued about preserving ginger in vodka. I love to buy large quantities when ginger is beautiful and fresh but have only preserved it whole in the freezer or pickled in the fridge. I do high bush cranberries and black currants and sour cherries in vodka and will definitely do the vodka method for ginger. I imagine that you steep at room temp and then fridge after a period of time?
Do you use the infused vodka in any other way ? I'm thinking ginger vodka tonic with thai basil ?

[Jenise]

Today I tasted my first Sumo Mandarin, and I'm in love.

Today I tasted my first Korean Honey Melon (a.k.a., Oriental melon, a.k.a., chamoe) and I'm in Like . The skin is thin but every cooking video I found said to peel it. The aroma under the peel is somewhat apple-y; the inside is definitely melon-y, like honeydew. The texture is firm, moreso than a cucumber but less so than a pear. The goo around the seeds is sweet and fragrant so if eating seeds doesn't trouble you, then that's extra flavor.

It passes my test for a summer fruit - cold, wet, somewhat sweet.

I haven't heard of that one, Jeff. I adore melons and buy every new one I see. I'm currently in deep love for a yellow melon I bought at Costco. They usually call them Golden Melons and I've bought them before. But this one isn't like the others or any other melon I've ever had--its pale orange flesh is crunchy like a Japanese pear apple, a texture I've never experienced outside of that fruit. And it's INTENSELY sweet, with great acidity.

I think Golden Melons and Korean Honey Melons are closely related.

I imagine that you steep at room temp and then fridge after a period of time?
Do you use the infused vodka in any other way ? I'm thinking ginger vodka tonic with thai basil ?

I just peel the ginger, put it in the vodka-filled mason jar, and put it directly in the fridge. Be forewarned that the ginger's texture changes over time. It goes a softer, but the flavor remains intact.

I haven't used the infused vodka in anything else. I just top up the mason jar with fresh vodka if the level gets too low to cover the ginger.

-Paul W.

I finally did a search for Gentleman’s Relish. I e seen passing references to it over years and wondered but hadn’t ever followed up.
So. GR is a proprietary product, secret recipe yadayada but basically it appears to be spiced anchovy butter. General consensus it is approximately equal parts butter and anchovies seasoned wirh s&p and warm spices.
Used for anchovy toast, on steak, in soups etc.
MAde a simple batch and it is worth having around if you like anchovy and/or umami.

I finally did a search for Gentleman’s Relish...General consensus it is approximately equal parts butter and anchovies...

Those are some serious proportions!

A friend who was living in London gave me a jar many years ago, but I never had the stomach to eat much of it. This explains why! But, glad that you enjoy it. And maybe I would stomach it these days, using small droplets in cooking or something like that.

[Jenise]

Today I learned that indeed Fettucine Alfredo does indeed have real Italian origins. That's a surprise as I'd always heard to the contrary that it doesn't, though of course it's no surprise to learn that what Americans call Fettucine Alfredo is nothing like the original. Per an excellent article in Milk Street that traces the dish to two Roman restaurants owned by one Alfredo di Lelio where it contained just five ingredients: fresh egg fettucine, butter, parm, water and salt. It's a great story.

"As lore tells it, in 1908 [not long after Ristorante Alfredo alla Scofa opened a short walk from Piazza Navona] Alfredo's wife was weak from childbirth. To restore her strength, he reached for a recipe recorded as early as the 15th century called simply 'Roman Macaroni'. Apparently this worked: she rebounded and insisted di Lelio add the ancient recipe to his menu.

No one cared until American actors Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford dined with di Lelio and were smitten with the dish, tossed fresh and with such flair at the table with a fork and spoon. Word spread and soon everyone from Albert Einstein and Amelia Earhart to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (and, eventually, Jimi Hendrix) crowded the dining room."

A Jew, di Lelio left Rome in 1943, selling the restaurant to two of his staff. Their grandchildren still run the restaurant today, selling more than 20 kilos of Alfredo a day which accounts for about 75% of their total sales.

No cream, no optional chicken or shrimp or mushrooms. Just fettucine, butter, parm, salt and water. And tossing. Lots and lots and lots of tossing at tableside.

Back to di Lelio, in 1950 he returned to Rome and opened a new restaurant, El Vero Alfredo (translation: the true Alfredo). More walls plastered with celebrity headshots including Ella Fitzgerald and Walt Disney. Today it is run by his grandchildren and the fettucine is tossed with a golden spoon and fork set gifted to Alfred by Fairbanks and Pickford.