What's Cooking (Take Three!)

[Jenise]

Last night: food you eat with your hands. Started with grilled artichokes which we followed with lamb burgers plated with a pasta and white bean salad. With those, kind of a domestic syrah 101.

Tonight, for my BD+1, I'm having an organic, grass-fed bone-in ribeye. I'm trying to decide among Ripple, Mogen David, Franzia Fruity Sangria or Franzia Pink Moscato. Decisions, decisions.

Last night: food you eat with your hands. Started with grilled artichokes which we followed with lamb burgers plated with a pasta and white bean salad. With those, kind of a domestic syrah 101.

Gosh, white bean salad is really difficult finger food.

Tonight, for my BD+1, I'm having an organic, grass-fed bone-in ribeye. I'm trying to decide among Ripple, Mogen David, Franzia Fruity Sangria or Franzia Pink Moscato. Decisions, decisions.

Retsina. Then you'll really have something to complain about.

Sorry about that last garbled (and now corrected) post. The cursor on this laptop doesn't always go where I want it to.

The Ants Climbing a Tree came out delicious even though I mistakenly added the chopped scallions too early.

-Paul W.

Sorry about that last garbled (and now corrected) post. The cursor on this laptop doesn't always go where I want it to. -Paul W.

I learned some time ago I can't touch type on a laptop if the touchpad is active. I constantly brush it and the cursor flies everywhere. So I use a mouse.

One of my faves tonight: pot roast.

[Jenise]

Sous vide pork last night, with whole spices, fruit slices, fresh rosemary and bay leaf in the bags. Couldn't decide on what influence to specifically attribute it to in terms of choosing accompaniaments so went with 'tropical South American'--say, Costa Rica--and gave it sweet potato roasted with chopped garlic and snow peas adorned with unsweetened dried coconut, all of which turned out pretty en pointe. The snow peas with dried coconut were especially compelling.

[Jenise]

Yesterday I got in the mood for pot roast, but didn't have the right meat for that so put some frozen meatballs to work roasting with similar sized chunks of russet potato and celery. Pretty delish with an old Bordeaux.

Cold sesame noodles -- made with bucatini. So there!

I can't find bucatini in the local supermarket. I'll have to try Whole Paycheck or Trader Joe's, I guess.

-Paul W.

I can't find bucatini in the local supermarket. I'll have to try Whole Paycheck or Trader Joe's, I guess.

-Paul W.

I found percatelli at Whole Paycheck. The next time I went in, the stock were down by half. The Westford WP didn't have any bucatini.

Bucatini was available at Idylwilde in Acton.

Thanks, Dan. I haven't been to Idlewilde in decades. It's a bit of a drive from Merrimack NH, and with COVID-19 I'm not traveling to Massachusetts. I discovered them when I worked for DEC in Maynard. I used to go there quite a bit back when the Nashua area markets were irretrievably pedestrian.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Tonight I'm preparing mahi mahi. Before you get excited, let me share that it was previously frozen. Making matters worse: from Taiwan.

This is coming from the beggars-can't-be-choosers part of Pandemic life. Purchased it a few months ago at Trader Joe's thinking maybe better than no fish at all if prepared properly. I've got it soaking in milk with kaffir lime leaves, and will plan on panko-coating it and oven baking drizzled with butter. Either that or I'll pan-fry it in an egg-flour batter. Either way, I'm taking no chances on it being good-enough straight out of the package. Will try a new Luberon white with it that's a 50/50 blend of vermentino and grenache blanc, which sounds like a genius combination to get balanced fruit and acid.

What does the milk do for it?

I'm making bread.

Got dough rising in two bread tins, and another two tins worth on their first rise in a mixing bowl.

[Jenise]

What does the milk do for it?

It neutralizes off-flavors possibly picked up in the IQF process and rehydrates. Only needs an hour or two, and the result is always fresher tasting fish. And last night's mahi, though not the texture of fresh as I know it in Hawaii, was delicious. Very unusual for me to eat my entire serving of fish, but I did.

I believe the milk trick is used in the same way when cooking wet scallops treated with STPP.

[Jenise]

Tonight I'm roasting a stuffed porcelette 'collar'. At press time, no other details were available.

Thanks, Jenise (re milk answer).

Tonight: paella.

[Jenise]

Stuffed porcelette is out, boneless baby pork steak marinated in a blender puree of green onions, light soy, dark soy, maple syrp, garlic, sesame oil, red chiles, kumquats and orange bitters is happening instead.

[Jenise]

Bean soup and salad tonight: dried baby limas seasoned with tomato paste, thyme, bay leaf, garlic, dry white vermouth and a bit of bacon. My very favorite bean soup on the planet. And almost meatless (it's Monday).

[Jenise]

Petrale sole tonight, probably Julia Child's traditional.

Bowl of Cheerios tonight without any Peeps.

Is that like a cheerless peep at some bowling?