What's Cooking (Take Two!)

What a delightful menu! Not that I'm such a fan of radicchio but whee! on the rest.

Petit Manseng? Italian Petit Manseng? You're mean.

And odd.

Good think we like that around here.

[Robin Garr]

Mushroom risotto kicked up with all manner of umami to make it a serious match with a dry red wine, specifically a Rioja for Wine Focus.

Boy that looks good. What kind of rice do you favor for your risottos, Robin?

Usually I just go with standard arborio, Tom, although sometimes carnaroli or vialone nano for a change of pace. We're lucky to have a few shops here with excellent selections of pasta, Italian rice, etc., most notably our beloved Lotsa Pasta.

Still have a little New Orleans on the brain, so I made pan fried fish (black cod) with pecan butter from Paul Prudhomme's (first) cookbook.

[Jenise]

What a delightful menu! Not that I'm such a fan of radicchio but whee! on the rest.

Petit Manseng? Italian Petit Manseng? You're mean.

And odd.

Good think we like that around here.

The raddichio changes with the double-cook (sautéed before being stuff in the puff pastry, then the tarts are baked)--and the marriage with the tangy, funky taleggio is the food equivalent of "opposites attract". I'll bet you'd like it better than you think you would.

And guess what, one of my friends guessed PM right off the bat. He's a wine distributor--turns out he sold that wine. Dang!

...most notably our beloved Lotsa Pasta.

My god, that company is everywhere!

Thanks

[Robin Garr]

...most notably our beloved Lotsa Pasta.

My god, that company is everywhere!

Naw, it's strictly local to that Derby City, Louisville, Kay Wye, a landmark since the early '80s; but I think it's likely that they're not the only people who ever thought up that name.

Naw, it's strictly local to that Derby City, Louisville, Kay Wye, a landmark since the early '80s; but I think it's likely that they're not the only people who ever thought up that name.

HA! And here I thought the phrase we used when we'd make up a mess o' noodles to feed the family/team/world had become so universal that even you guys out in the boonies now use it. But it's an actual store! Go figure. Stranger than fiction, I tell ya....

[Jenise]

Tonight we're having tacos. I'm working down the overstuffed freezer and fridge and forcing myself to buy little other than fresh dairy and lettuce until I get through more backlog. So yesterday some chicken breasts turned into arroz con pollo, and today some prime rib cab rolls are getting marinated in soy sauce, kind of bulgogi flavors, for tacos that will be topped with a cabbage slaw with slivered red onion and peanuts, and accompanied by sesame-garlic grilled fresh asparagus (first from my garden!).

...and today some prime rib cab rolls are getting marinated in soy sauce, kind of bulgogi flavors...

Yum! I like bulgogi flavors but not a fan of perpetually having to dredge mouth for bitty bits of bone, sinew, and gristle.

[Jenise]

...and today some prime rib cab rolls are getting marinated in soy sauce, kind of bulgogi flavors...

Yum! I like bulgogi flavors but not a fan of perpetually having to dredge mouth for bitty bits of bone, sinew, and gristle.

Same here. Or at least, not within the confines of a taco. I'm okay with chewy meats as long as it's in a circumstance acceptable to eating with my fingers.

[Robin Garr]

Another take on spring spinach with pasta: in a light fresh-made marinara over mezzi rigatoni.

spinach-rigatoni.jpg

And Kraft "Parmesan", you dog! (Or is that Mondelez?)

[Robin Garr]

And Kraft "Parmesan", you dog! (Or is that Mondelez?)

Barbarian! It's freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. No green can of Par-Mee-Jun in this house.

[Jenise]

Interesting--because it has that ground appearance. I buy large chunks of P.R. and grind it myself in the food processor. I prefer the ground texture vs. grated or shaved, and always have a small tub of ground in the fridge.

[Robin Garr]

Interesting--because it has that ground appearance. I buy large chunks of P.R. and grind it myself in the food processor. I prefer the ground texture vs. grated or shaved, and always have a small tub of ground in the fridge.

Maybe I wasn't clear. I do exactly what you do. I was so horrified at the idea of the green can, I was probably spluttering.

[Jenise]

Interesting--because it has that ground appearance. I buy large chunks of P.R. and grind it myself in the food processor. I prefer the ground texture vs. grated or shaved, and always have a small tub of ground in the fridge.

Maybe I wasn't clear. I do exactly what you do. I was so horrified at the idea of the green can, I was probably spluttering.

No, you were clear! I was just splainin' what I thought made Jeff say that. I'm glad to meet a fellow grinder!

[Jenise]

I had a really strange last 24 hours. Went to B'ham to attend a wine tasting by myself, ended up with a dead battery in my car, got AAA to get me going again AND a hotel room, then went straight to a battery guy the next morning, left my car to get juiced up for many hours, and arrived home with groceries just in time to make a basic dinner. Which was a salad of arugula, tatsoi and sugar plum tomatoes in a spicy mustard dressing followed by roasted chicken breasts and fried potatoes with rosemary.

Also had what I needed to make tonight's Dinner and a Movie. The highlight of the dinner will be a Hawaiian rib eye steak from a recipe in the just-delivered Bon Appetit magazine's long article by Andrew Knowlton paying homage to the privately owned restaurant group responsible for Houstons, the Rutherford Grill and a few other names but which are, apparently, all pretty identical of menu. I tend not to like fruit and meat, but I do like sweet beef, and the idea of a rib eye marinated for 24 hours in pineapple juice, chopped onion, ginger and soy sauce sounded utterly fantastic so I'm doing that with smashed cucumber salad, fried rice, and one of those corny old Frankie Avalon surfing movies filmed entirely on Oahu.

So, we had to go to The "big smoke" ie Melbourne, and decided to stay a couple of days to see folk and ... Pay a visit to one of our favourite markets. So we came home with lots of interesting stuff.
Sea urchin. After doing the necessary to remove the gonads (that sounds so suss) we tried it au naturel; creamy, salty, savoury, rich, mmmm. Most of it, however, I tossed through pasta with garlic, chilli,lemon, olive oil, parsley, pretty tasty.

Mackeral steaks. Brined and hot smoked. Sensational! Not done mackerel before. Used some the next night in kedgeree, whilst this is usually a breakfast dish, so who cares, made a tasty dinner.

Atlantic salmon. Cured and cold smoked. Our usual reliable recipe, portioned and cryovacced.

Breadfruit. We had never seen it here before and only ever had it once, in Vanuatu. So we did that boiled, roasted etc. bland and , of course starchy. Will take on flavours and as a staple ,in it's context, a good filler. Made a pea and potato curry with it as well.

Plantain. In many ways similar to the breadfruit, in the context of tropical communities it is a readily available starchy product. Served fried Slices with jerk chicken.

We have been having a .lot of fun with our big city shop

[Jenise]

Barb, what a fun shopping trip. Aren't sea urchins amazing? They were all over the rocks at one of the rocky beaches we went to as children, because we loved climbing around the tidal pools. We had no idea anyone would eat one. They are divine. I've only done that at home once--last summer, as an appie on top of a ciccerone (piece of fried pig skin) festooned with a square of an avocado-cucumber aspic.

Breadfruit--I've never even seen one but read about them in places like James Michener novels. I'll have to go look for a picture of one, just to get a fix on it.

Mackerel--you're brave. It's a fish I've stayed away from, believing them oily and strong, two things I don't especially care for. Maybe super-fresh they're otherwise?

When my brother was a cash-strapped medical student he once bought canned mackerel because it was cheap. He and his roommates found it inedible, so he gave it to me to feed to my cat. The cat wouldn't eat it, either.

-Paul W.

Pumpkin doesn't mind canned mackerel sauteed in a pan with frozen brussels sprouts. (He would make that for himself when he was single.)

Mackerel is good, but it is an oily fish and a strong-flavored fish so it helps to know what you're getting.

[Robin Garr]

Mackerel is outstanding in sushi, but it has to be fresh.

[Jenise]

Speaking of fish, we shared a basket of fish & chips in White Rock (BC) for lunch today, so dinner tonight's just salad--I'll go retro with iceberg lettuce wedges topped with a gingery Dorothy Lynch type dressing and lots of parsley.