What's Cooking (Take Four)

[Jenise]

So suddenly I have company coming tonight. Am going to do a low-and-slow 30 minute roast on an impressively large side of fresh steelhead trout. Will probably make a bearnaise sauce to top it with, and a shallot-herb rice pilaf. A starter salad will occur, of course, though I'm not sure yet how I'll embellish the lettuce.

Btw, Karen, I found a little lump of ground chicken in the freezer. For lunch I threw that in a small pan, still frozen, then quickly gave up on browining it and just added a slice of onion, chopped, fresh shitake mushrooms and chicken broth. Once the ground chicken broke apart I crumbled two wads of vermicelli into the broth and let it steep for five minutes. Topped with black pepper and a short drizzle of white truffle oil, it made a great 15-minute lunch and my jones for chicken and rice has been satiated.

I'm gearing-up for another bash at making mostarda. Like this viewtopic.php?f=5&t=56896&p=506684&hilit=mostarda#p506684 only this time with cherries/nectarines instead of cherries/pears.

Still looking to make the spicy flavor element pop more. I suppose I can add more mustard powder or seed, but I've seen occasional mentions of folks using a little wasabi paste or ginger root. I wonder about using Sichuan peppercorns?

So many ideas and so _tedious_ to try them out!

[Jenise]

Sichuan peppercorns is exactly what popped into mind as I started reading your post. Wasabi doesn't sound appealing.

[Jenise]

60F and raining outside. What a change from earlier in the week! I think I'm going to take advantage of this and make my first pot of clam chowder in like 40 years. (Bob was allergic to clams.)

I like clam chowder, but I'm really nuts about steamed clams. Could eat a barrel of 'em.

[Jenise]

Made the chowder. Seawatch brand surf clams--quart sized can from The Chef Store. Mostly small frilly pieces, none of the big chewy meats that I like, and they were full of sand. I mean like every other bite had an invisible grain in it. I accept that there will always be a grain or two in any can of clams, but this was ridiculous. I don't even think they'd have rinsed out.

My fish guy carries canned "ocean clams" for chowder and I've never had trouble with the brand he carries. I'll be there tomorrow so I'll check.

Supposedly, Pacific razor clams are good for chowder, too.

On today's menu is conchiglie pasta from Italy, with onion, garlic, lean ground beef,red bell pepper, fresh parsley, marinara sauce which includes sweet basil, and Parmesan Reggiano. A side coleslaw with green cabbage, carrots, and a fresh garlic vinaigrette, which Mike F posted a while back.
It is a beautiful, cool day in the valley today. I have my windows open, and the cool air coming in feels so good.

[Jenise]

My fish guy carries canned "ocean clams" for chowder and I've never had trouble with the brand he carries. I'll be there tomorrow so I'll check.

Supposedly, Pacific razor clams are good for chowder, too.

Yeahbut, catching the razor clams isn't so easy!!!

But sad. I'd planned that pot of chowder all year. It's a comfort food since childhood, and I during my single years I often had a pot of it in the fridge which I'd gnaw on for days. But it had to leave my life when I married Bob. I'd rather have him back than make chowder, of course, but I nonetheless looked forward to making it again and had that big can for months just waiting for the right time. Yesterday, our first cool rainy day in a long time, which I knew was coming, was something I planned for the entire week. Was going to stay home, binge The Bear, and feast on chowder. The disappointment of the chowder kind of ruined my whole day. I threw the whole pot out, all four quarts of it. It looked like vomit going down the drain. So appropriate.

My fish guy carries canned "ocean clams" for chowder and I've never had trouble with the brand he carries. I'll be there tomorrow so I'll check.

Snow's. Although I think that is not the same as it was because I remember whole ocean clams and I had to cut them up.