What's Cooking (Take Three!)

What a stretch.

Long day here; I'm easily amused.

[Jenise]

Last night's Sole Amandine was spectacular.

Tonight, a stovetop prep of chicken leg quarters finished with an onion-apricot pan sauce.

Last night I made Taylor Ronderstvedt's carrot, sweet potato, and red lentil soup. Super easy to make--you chop up the principal ingredients (not the masoor dal, of course) and a large sweet onion, season with harissa and ras el hanout, then simmer in chicken or vegetable stock for 25 minutes and puree with an immersion blender. The result is a fragrant, moderately spicy Moroccan-style soup. Garnish with a big dollop of Greek yogurt and a pinch of nigella. Just the thing for a cold New England winter night.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Sounds delish, I love red lentil soups.

Tonight we're having a celebratory dinner with my brother and his husband John. The occasion was initially about the close on their new home today, but Chris just got even better news: post-radiation tests indicate "no detectable cancer"--best possible result at this moment in time. Everything we did to save his life, to get him here, has paid off.

He wanted lamb shanks. I offered a choice of styles, he chose Spanish (onions, sherry, green olives) which actually threw a wrench in my works because I had planned a parfait 'salad' of raw ahi and Hawaiian avocado. To take that in a more Spanish, tapas-like direction, I've got onion slivers soaking in a lightly sweetened yellow tea of saffron and white vinegar. Fennel seeds will go in too, not sure what else. John will make whatever he thinks goes with all that.

Tonight: A package of foie gras fell out of the freezer. One medallion chipped off a piece and the packaging was pierced. So, foie gras appetizer tonight. Followed by the intended menu, chicken-bacon quiche.

[Jenise]

Tonight: A package of foie gras fell out of the freezer.

Yeah, SURE IT DID.

More probable that, like Humpty Dumpty, it was pushed.

We had steak with brussels sprouts. Very simple and straightforward. We even skipped wine.

French toast with my potato bread and bacon for breakfast yesterday. Pizza that night using low-carb flour tortillas.

Sauteed cod with browned butter sauce, applewood smoked salt, and almonds, leftover rice and tossed salad for Edie tonight; the same for me (minus the rice) plus a sirloin steak (trying to clean out my freezers). with mushrooms and onions.

Anyone else use smoked salt? I have both hickory and applewood smoked salt.

Yeah, SURE IT DID.

More probable that, like Humpty Dumpty, it was pushed.

Think you're going to crack the case wide open with that hard-boiled detective act? You're bedeviled if you try.

You're huevos too clever for me!

I made BLTs yesterday. North Country Smokehouse in Claremont NH makes an uncured (no nitrites), applewood smoked, sugar-free bacon. I'm not diabetic or a paleo type, but I don't need more sugar in my diet to be sure. It's really good bacon, and local. I'm glad to see that the Market Basket supermarket chain is carrying it now. It only used to be available retail at Whole Paycheck.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Tonight: will roast a double chicken breast that's marinating as we speak in white vermouth, bay leaves and EVOO. Have no idea what else will end up on the plate.

What I scored today: a 2.5 lb whole chicken $1.19; a 1.1 lb Angus porterhouse steak $2.71; and microgreen seeds for $1 at Dollar Tree (I'll use for salads and in bread).

Lemons are 5/$1 right now so I think I'll make some lemon curd.

[Jenise]

I take it the proteins weren't at Dollar Tree...?

Fantastic prices. We never see discounts like that up here.

I take it the proteins weren't at Dollar Tree...?

Fantastic prices. We never see discounts like that up here.

Dollar Tree doesn't sell such things; that's why I used semicolons to separate. I have been buying big boxes of wildflower seeds and bags of potting soil there, though, hoping to attract more butterflies and birds this.

The Albertson's store next to me is what frequently determines my meal that day. It's chicken tonight, steak tomorrow. Citrus fruits, avocados, berries, etc. are usually cheaper here because of our proximity to Mexico.

[Jenise]

What I thought but had to ask.

Tonight: chilean sea bass. Thoughts rolling around in my head involve romesco sauce, pureed cauliflower with fenugreek and roasted cauliflower in a creamy lemon sauce. Hmmm...quarter of six. Better decide.

Those Albertson's prices are just fantastic. Are they a loss leader, or trying to clear shelves, or end of bin, or ?

Clearance meat with a couple of days left on sell by date. Always been good. I look just about every day. The porterhouse ($2.71) I'm eating tomorrow was originally $13.86. And for a chain, they have pretty good meat.

[Jenise]

Tonight, Chinese roast duck with a Chinese vegetable stir fry.

Scored some Gaea Organic EEVO from Greece today for only $5.00/bottle. And just in time. I'm almost out.

Last night I made neua pad prik--Thai pepper steak. This is like Chinese pepper steak--thin strips of beef marinated and then stir-fried with red and green bell peppers--but with Thai seasonings. What's interesting is that the heat in the dish doesn't come from chiles. It's from white pepper, hearkening back to the days before capsicum arrived in Thailand and the only heat source was peppercorns. The Thai word for pepper is 'prik'. Peppercorns these days are called 'prik Thai' and there are names for the wide variety of capsicums ('prik ki nu' is the bird's eye chile, what around here we call Thai chile).

The dish has lots of garlic and shallots. The main seasonings are ground white pepper and fish sauce. It also calls for Maggi seasoning (I substituted Golden Mountain sauce) and tapioca flour as part of the meat marinade (I substituted cornstarch). The fragrance of white pepper marries very well with the fish sauce. This one definitely goes into the rotation.

-Paul W.

Last night I made neua pad prik--Thai pepper steak. -Paul W.

Sounds great. I'll be over the next you make it.

[Jenise]

Very interesting Paul, always appreciate your knowledge. Did not know that white pepper was integral to Thai cooking. I use it in heavy quantity in only two places--hot and sour soup, and when making creamed peas (a favorite breakfast) which, come to think of it, I season very much like hot and sour soup. Lots of lemon, lots of white pepper (to the point of being hot).

So last night we had roast duck. I basically was tired of trying to stuff things in the freezer around it so on Wednesday I moved it to the fridge to thaw. It's not a very friendly shape! Loosely, I planned to cut it in half, do a conventional French roast with fennel and other stuff with the first half for last night and season the second half Chinese style for today.

Only problem was, we just got our Sprinter van RV back from the mechanic where it had been for eight days and we needed to take it on a road test--at least 100 miles--and we didn't get up until after 10 due to issues during the night with one of our antique cats. We probably wouldn't get back until at least 4 p.m. So, heck, I cleaned the bird, halved it, and liberally sprinkled both with sugar, salt, and Chinese 5 spice powder and threw them in the fridge for a quick cure--6 hours at best, nothing like the 24-48 I think is needed. Oh, and I never oven-roast these, I always smoke them.

But yesterday we weren't smoking, so when we got home I threw them both in the oven to roast.

So less than ideal time, a LOT less, and less than ideal method and you know what? Possibly the best roast duck I've ever done. Super crispy skin, succulent meat. DAMN!!!

Tonight I'm doing patties of chopped steak with mustard, a brand new method to me that I saw in the WSJ about two weeks ago.

Oh, those antique cats are such a problem. Hardly anybody left who knows how to re-string them, and it's almost impossible to get the right lacquer to match.

[Jenise]

Oh, those antique cats are such a problem. Hardly anybody left who knows how to re-string them, and it's almost impossible to get the right lacquer to match.

Yes, all of that. But tuning. The real problem is tuning!