What's Cooking (Take Three!)

Simple stuff yesterday: sweet potatoes (cooked in the microwave but finished in cast iron with some leftover bbq dry rub), and a quick blood orange sauce (juice reduced, add a spoon of marmalade, a spoon of honey, a little cornstarch, and the zest) for the crispy oven-fried chicken thighs.

Grilled sausage tonight. I'll also have to make up a batch of South Carolina-style barbecue sauce. That, and Inner Beauty hot sauce, are the only things I ever by French's yellow mustard for.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Jeff, that sauce plus the sweet potatoes and fried chicken? Sounds like an incredible match.

The sauce did go really well; I was pleased with it. (And those sweets were really easy to cook... I may do that again soon.)

Cajun chicken and tasso jambalaya tonight, topped with Creole sauce.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

I'm doing something with scallops and pasta. Will be the first time we've been able to outdoor-dine (because we've had almost a solid month of rain) in a long time.

Lunch will be a Duck pho made with the spicy broth I created out of Thursday's tea-smoked duck bones.

Lobster rolls and corn on the cob. That's a New England dinner!

Lobster rolls and corn on the cob. That's a New England dinner!

They're not all gone, are they?

We were going to have restaurant leftovers Saturday night, but we were invited over to a friend's house for grilled cheeseburgers. I said the hell with no carbs and ate two of them. Yum.

Friday night, as usual, I played the piano at a French restaurant and then my wife and I had a comped meal: med-rare fillet with brandy peppercorn sauce, small red potatoes, broccoli (mine) and boeuf bourguignonne with rice and broccoli. Then, Crepes Suzette. Washed it down with an inexpensive California cab-sav: One-Four-Three.

This morning I made omelets and bacon (using a method where you start the bacon in water) and sourdough toast with jalapeno jelly. I sliced up the remains of my sourdough boule and stuck them in the freezer. I'm a convert now to freezing slices for toast. I find it works great and my bread wastage has been cut to zero (sorry, birds).

Edie will have her leftovers tonight. I don't know what I'll have--possibly a ham slice with an ear of corn.

I'm doing something with scallops and pasta. Will be the first time we've been able to outdoor-dine (because we've had almost a solid month of rain) in a long time.

Can you talk to your local weatherman and send some down here? Ever since the fake global warming started rearing its ugly head, we've been getting even drier. Some hoax, we haven't seen rain for a long time. There are stretches of the Rio Grande now that you can walk across. What Rio Grande? I'm working on a canoe design with wheels.

The two thawed boneless skinless chicken breasts that didn't go into last night's jambalaya will become gai pad prik bai krapow (stir-fried minced chicken with chiles and holy basil) tomorrow night.

-Paul W.

Paul, tell us about your wok-ring.

[Jenise]

The two thawed boneless skinless chicken breasts that didn't go into last night's jambalaya will become gai pad prik bai krapow (stir-fried minced chicken with chiles and holy basil) tomorrow night.

-Paul W.

This is a treatment I need to explore, mincing chicken breast for something. Never have, even though I don't think I've ever dined in a Vietnamese restaurant without ordering a minced chicken larb.

Spaghetti with a blue cheese and yoghurt sauce finished with shaved Tasmanian black truffle, parsley and a little Parmesan. Umami!

Spaghetti with a blue cheese and yoghurt sauce finished with shaved Tasmanian black truffle, parsley and a little Parmesan. Umami!

I watched a documentary a few years ago about the Tasmanian truffle industry. Very interesting.

In 1970, I visited Tasmania and have fond memories of the place.Then in the late '70s, my young neighbor across the street was in love with a young girl who was a whiz in baton twirling and traveled the world teaching her technique. She met a guy in Tasmania and moved from Albuquerque to Tasmania (what are the chances of that?). My neighbor was crestfallen; he had promised her that he would marry her. But such is life.

Spaghetti with a blue cheese and yoghurt sauce finished with shaved Tasmanian black truffle, parsley and a little Parmesan. Umami!

Wowee!

[Jenise]

Can you talk to your local weatherman and send some down here? Ever since the fake global warming started rearing its ugly head, we've been getting even drier. Some hoax, we haven't seen rain for a long time. There are stretches of the Rio Grande now that you can walk across. What Rio Grande? I'm working on a canoe design with wheels.

Circa 1999, I signed up for a rafting trip on the Rio Grande. At points, we had to get out and carry the raft. Wasn't much water then, either.

So today I'm baking a loaf of bread, my first using my new Larry starter, which I've named Larry Jr.

Actually, I don't think the starter's quite ready yet, so what I did was throw the discard into the recipe for an overnight no-knead recipe with 1/4 tsp yeast in it to help things along. I could taste the sourdough flavor in the raw dough--should be awesome! I'll photograph it for you.

Can you talk to your local weatherman and send some down here? Ever since the fake global warming started rearing its ugly head, we've been getting even drier. Some hoax, we haven't seen rain for a long time. There are stretches of the Rio Grande now that you can walk across. What Rio Grande? I'm working on a canoe design with wheels.

Circa 1999, I signed up for a rafting trip on the Rio Grande. At points, we had to get out and carry the raft. Wasn't much water then, either.

So today I'm baking a loaf of bread, my first using my new Larry starter, which I've named Larry Jr.

Actually, I don't think the starter's quite ready yet, so what I did was throw the discard into the recipe for an overnight no-knead recipe with 1/4 tsp yeast in it to help things along. I could taste the sourdough flavor in the raw dough--should be awesome! I'll photograph it for you.

Great.It's the kid I never had. Once you get the starter up to speed, an overnight rise w/o the yeast should work just fine. Sometimes I omit the salt until the next day to boost the starter's activity. As you're discarding starter when feeding it, try using it in crackers, etc. I've made pancakes from it, too. Google discard recipes--should be a number.

As you're discarding starter when feeding it, try using it in crackers, etc.

Hm. Do people really bake their own saltines? Ritz? oyster?

I've made my own crackers a number of times. Here are a couple of recipes that are good:

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes ... ers-recipe

https://www.marthastewart.com/1107513/seeded-crackers

I just posted the recipe for gai pad prik bak krapow.

I have two wok rings. The first is for table-top indoor use and is like the chafing burner one would use for crepes or fondue. Except that the top of the hob has curved sides to fit a wok. It's fueled by small butane canisters. You can find these in Asian grocery stores.

The second is from Thailand and commonly used by street vendors there. It's for outdoor use and sits on a stand about three feet high. It takes propane fuel and delivers 100,000 BTU. Again, the top of the hob has curved sides to fit a wok. Otherwise it's very similar to the outdoor burners they sell for making deep-fried turkey or blackened redfish. You could use one of those and sit the wok on the wok ring that's usually sold with steel woks.

Regarding minced chicken, if you have a Chinese cleaver or two it's pretty easy to make. Slice the boneless, skinless chicken thinly across the grain, cut the slices into strips, then repeatedly rock the cleaver blade back and forth across the chicken until it's minced. Using two cleavers, one in each hand, speeds up the process. I don't know if a food processor can do the job; I suspect so.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Great.It's the kid I never had. Once you get the starter up to speed, an overnight rise w/o the yeast should work just fine. Sometimes I omit the salt until the next day to boost the starter's activity. As you're discarding starter when feeding it, try using it in crackers, etc. I've made pancakes from it, too. Google discard recipes--should be a number.

Btw with the recipe I used, I omitted nothing, not even liquid. Made it as written but with a cup of starter in it. Can't wait to show you pictures.

Oh and a question. My starter is on the counter, lid-on. Should I allow for air to get in?

After I feed my starter I let it on the counter for a day before I put it in the fridge to slow it. I always crack the lid not to let air in, but to let the buildup of CO2 out. Otherwise it's almost an explosion if you have a screw top or clamp-type top and you'll have starter all over your counter. You can snug the lid when the jar is in the fridge. (But feed it several times to build up its strength in the beginning stages.) After a while, you'll get to know your starter.

I've made my own crackers a number of times. Here are a couple of recipes that are good:

https://www.marthastewart.com/1107513/seeded-crackers

I like the look of this one but I don't have a standing mixer with dough hook. Can it be made some other way?

I've made my own crackers a number of times. Here are a couple of recipes that are good:

https://www.marthastewart.com/1107513/seeded-crackers

I like the look of this one but I don't have a standing mixer with dough hook. Can it be made some other way?

I remember these crackers as pretty darn good. I don't see why you can't knead by hand and using a bench scraper (it's a sticky dough). Wet hands help keep dough from sticking to them.

Tell your SO you need to knead (pun alert) with a dough hook type mixer. Hint: Xmas present.