What's Cooking (Take Four)

Due to circumstance, Saturday is often a fish dinner now. Tonight was a bit of an outlier,however: I made some Sichuan cucumbers (Bittman recipe) and salmon salad. Yes, the Blue Plate special. I had acquired a couple cans of some fancy brand of salmon -- wild-caught, humane nets, dyslexic Tahitians rowed the canoe, etc. -- and paired them with the end of the box of Passover matzoh. Crunchy and good.

Been a while since I used my cast-iron plett pan, so I made Swedish pancakes for breakfast along with a cheese omelet and sausage. Even cutting the recipe in half still yielded a bunch of pancakes. I bought the single-use pan in the late '60s, which cost me six dollars. Now, they're five or six times as expensive.

[Jenise]

I am currently fascinated by black garlic, so am making a marinade with hoisin and fish sauce for chicken, which I'll grill tonight.

Breakfast this morning was a nice slice of garlic-and-herb sourdough bread, slathered with roasted onion-and-garlic jam. Slices of tomato on top with fresh parsley leaves, then a fried egg on top, which was cooked in a spray of coconut oil, and seasoned with salt, white pepper, and a bit of red pepper seasoning. Very yummy and filling.

Rack of lamb scheduled for tonight. Still deciding how to prep it. (Small rack so I don't anticipate a long cook.)

Betsy and I did first ramp forage of the year Saturday, but were going to dinner in city (upscale Mexican). So Sunday night we did sauteed scallops on papparedelle with a ramp pesto/ricotta sauce. The pasta was a Rachel Ray recipe (adapted by NYT), pretty sure first time we have ever done anything by her, but it was delicious. Tonight miso black cod (sable).

Betsy and I did first ramp forage of the year Saturday...

Are they easy to find? Some of the folks who show up with piles of ramps at the farmers market look very 'unofficial', making me think they grow like weeds. But of course not outside my apartment, so...

Rack of lamb scheduled for tonight. Still deciding how to prep it. (Small rack so I don't anticipate a long cook.)

"Hm," he said, looking more carefully at the package, "this is a rack of venison."

they grow in mature hardwood forests. We have a 85 acre conservation area with trails near us (3-4 minute walk), we have 3-5 spots where we know they come up each year. Not hard to spot if you know what to look for. They grow in patches. It's a little bit of work to dig up, they tend to grow by roots and rocks. The convention is to not take more than a 1/4. We met 2 young men (hiking out as we were hiking in) who were very excited about their first ramps. When we got to one of the spots we know, they had clearly completely dug up about a 1/4 of the patch. The idea is cull plants from all over, so they will come back next year. I think they just didn't understand, you're supposed to take from across the patch.

"Hm," he said, looking more carefully at the package, "this is a rack of venison."

...which changed my plans not at all; it merely strengthened my resolve to hit the rare side of medium-rare.

I went for a nut-crusted prep: First, dose the rack with herbes de provence (and s+p, and I added a bit of celery seed as that is often good with rich, red meats); sear it in a hot pan. Set it on a baking tray, curved bones facing down. Spread mustard all over the top (I mixed a little grated ginger into it) and completely pat on a pistachio-breadcrumb-lemonzest-gratedparm-butter mix. Roast for 10 minutes at 400*F then continue at 300*F until it hits the mark (about 8 more minutes to hit 125*F). Rest it 10 minutes, then cut the chops apart.

The rack was perfect. I even took a picture! I served myself double-thick chops, a baked potato on the side, and the last portion of imam bayildi. I opened a Brovia 2011 Barolo to go with it; the earthy, minerally, somewhat severe wine matched the firm, just slightly gamy meat with the rich crust.

Happy Birthday to me.

Happy Birthday Jeff! Venison sounds great.

[Jenise]

Jeff, that sounds amazing. I've never had venison on the rack (although I had reindeer once). I would never have thought of adding celery seed to the rub, either. I like the sound of that.

Last night I had halibut. Spent $30/lb on a 1 lb filet at the Indian reservation market thinking I'd eat a third and have leftovers for salad lunches (I like cold fish) but the fish was absolutely TASTELESS. This is a problem I have encountered here frequently. I don't know in how many days after being pulled out of the water it loses it's flavor, but even buying it from the natives who caught it doesn't guarantee pristeen freshness. I was SO bummed. But the seagulls had a pretty fancy breakfast today!

Rack of lamb scheduled for tonight. Still deciding how to prep it. (Small rack so I don't anticipate a long cook.)

"Hm," he said, looking more carefully at the package, "this is a rack of venison."

"That's not a rack of lamb, it's a lack of ram!" Happy Birthday, Jeff.

A friend from Scouts had open-heart surgery a month ago and I've been taking a few meals to the family. Posole, turkey tacos, ma po tofu, and today an adaptation of Charles Phan's Caramelized Chicken. I gather this is supposed to be in a clay pot, I don't have one but it still turned out yummy. Braised some red cabbage which went well with the sweet/savory sauce. I'm always surprised what a difference it makes with red cabbage to mandolin rather than slice a bit thicker with the knife.

"Hm," he said, looking more carefully at the package, "this is a rack of venison."

"That's not a rack of lamb, it's a lack of ram!" Happy Birthday, Jeff.

Thanks, Walt!

Count me in. Happy B-Day, Jeff.

[Jenise]

I'm always surprised what a difference it makes with red cabbage to mandolin rather than slice a bit thicker with the knife.

Green cabbage, too. But speaking of red, I had the classic German side in a German restaurant in Vancouver a week ago, and the cabbage had been so finely chopped you might almost call it ground. In fact, it wouldn't be farfetched to call it the texture of coffee grounds. Good, but different!

Count me in. Happy B-Day, Jeff.

Thank you, Larry!

I'll be making Shanghai red-cooked chicken on Friday but with chicken wings instead of the usual thighs.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

A friend from Scouts had open-heart surgery a month ago and I've been taking a few meals to the family. Posole, turkey tacos, ma po tofu, and today an adaptation of Charles Phan's Caramelized Chicken.

Good on you for helping those people. Interesting recipe from Mr. Phan. Similar to 3-cup chicken and other Asian recipes I've seen where the chicken is not browned in advance but fully cooked from raw in the sauce. I have read many and don't think I've ever done one. The Hawaiian dish Huli Huli chicken might be similar, but of course a lot less spicy.

Similar to 3-cup chicken and other Asian recipes I've seen where the chicken is not browned in advance but fully cooked from raw in the sauce.

Most Indian chicken dishes are like that. A lot of Indian chicken dishes call for bone-in but skin-off meat. The Indians seem to have an aversion to chicken skin.

-Paul W.

I had surgery yesterday and was discharged today a few hours ago, so I had dinner and breakfast in bed.

When I opened up the clamshell for last night's dinner, I had to laugh. It was meatloaf. I had made meatloaf on Sunday and ate it three days in a row, substituting fried chicken on the day before. What was surprising was the quality of the hospital meatloaf. It was great and could have been served in any good diner. It sure amazed me.

My compliments to the chef.

Tonight I'm making Thai tom yum soup. For whatever reason I've never made it before and never had it in a restaurant.

-Paul W.

Tonight I'm making Thai tom yum soup. For whatever reason I've never made it before and never had it in a restaurant.

-Paul W.

This is my favorite Thai soup, absolutely love it . Let us know how it turned out. Please post the recipe if you love it!