What's Cooking (Take Four)

Canned green olives, doesn't sound very appetizing...Hope you are OK. Next time have an apple with chunky peanut butter!

Last night I used up the rest of the BBQ pulled pork. I had work done on two units: one freezer and my Sub- Zero fridge. I had to toss out one shelf full of sandwich rolls and other breads, as they had all frozen to a layer of water on the bottom
of the freezer. I rescued one package that was still ok and made a pork sandwich topped with a good coleslaw and a couple of bread-and-butter pickles. Ate the rest of the Mother Stallard beans and sliced heirloom tomato with Balsamic. Off to a new cooking adventure this morning.
Yesterday, I seasoned 6 pork chops with salt and a four-peppercorn blend. I am browning them later today on both sides they putting in the oven with a sauce made from Beef stock, EVOO, fresh rosemary, Lisbon lemon, and butter. I also made a large sheet pan full of veggies that needed to be used up, seasoned well, to be roasted. Now, I am deciding which salad I want: my favorite coleslaw or tomato bread salad. Nothing exciting; I cook with what needs to be used up. Produce is coming in so large now and big packages of product for only 1 person household. So, I check early in the week to see what needs to be used, and go from there.

Breakfast this morning: two brown farm eggs, mixed with Pepper Jack Cheese with jalapeño, a drizzle of buttermilk, and one cut-up green onion, salt, white pepper, French Basil, and finished with green pepper sauce. It went well with my V8 juice and a Lisbon lemon ice cube. Yum!

Sounds good. We had eggs (blue, from farmers market) on avocado toast with a little Tajin (we've been having avocado toast before it was trendy!)
Lobster and cherry tomatoes on pasta Saturday, last night simple roast chickens (she did 2 as we were taking some to a neighbor) with Koginut squash. Koginut is a cross between Kabocha and Butternut. We just roasted. For the life of me I cannot figure out why 80% of recipes for winter squash call for adding brown sugar or maple syrup. It's sweet enough!

I ended up making a sous vide pork tenderloin last night and then reverse searing it. The pan sauce from that went over couscous and the tenderloin slices on that. To go with, I tossed some brussels sprouts in gochujang, soy sauce, and some Guilin chili sauce and roasted them.

I had to look up Guilin chili sauce.
Quite interesting.
Going to Asian supermarkets this week, but Betsy might kill me if I bring home another Asian condiment.

Hope you have recovered from your olive dinner, Jenise. I know some people say they have salad days, but I don't think that's what they mean!

I had some foie gras brought back from Berlin, so I sprinkled a little fleur du sel and paired it with 1997 Sudiurat Sauternes. Color was amber, but the cork was in excellent shape so I think this was stored well, even though I've only had it in my cellar for 10-15 years. Not the most exciting wine, but nice floral botrytis, quite sweet, with adequate acidity. Could have used more brightness, though. For the main course we had Alaskan chinook ("king") salmon, prepared on the grill, with butter lettuce salad and pain de campagne. To go with the salad, I had some "havanesa" peppers, which are the same color and roughly the same size/shape as habanero peppers, but sans heat. Great flavor. For the wine, St. Innocent Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir. Badly needed a decant, was extremely cranky on opening, more like tomato than wine. A splash decant brought all the pieces in harmony, and the match was superb.

Going to Asian supermarkets this week, but Betsy might kill me if I bring home another Asian condiment.

I don't even remember why we bought it, like a number of the other chili sauces and such that are in the door of the fridge. Can't really blame Betsy there....

And dang, Walt, sounds like a really nice meal!

[Jenise]

Last night's dinner was another loser/minimalist/healthy plate of cherry tomatoes and raw green beans (don't laugh, I do love them raw). On the stove right now is a stewed chicken. I season mine with carrots, garlic, chiles de arbol, green and white onions and black peppercorns--so yes chicken soup but a lot more complex than some. Yesterday's rain had me craving it.

I'm also about to start prepping for tomorrow's lunch at Bill's house. There's no wine theme this month, and I'm doing a riff on a NYT recipe for mushroom and leek pasta.

Mushroom and leek! Add some cream and invite me over.

I like raw green beans, too. Crunchy.

Last night I did a sheet-pan roast: chicken thighs, chunks of butternut squash, and thick slices of onion (one sweet, one red), dressed with maple syrup/soy sauce. Came out nicely browned, squash cooked, onion a little over-cooked -- as expected -- but worth doing again. Possible need to give it a few minutes under the broiler to crisp-up the skin a little more.

Tonight: magret duck breast, cooked in a pan; the resulting fat will cook spinach and mushrooms for a side dish. And my fridge is redolent with cantaloupe at the moment so there's definitely going to be some of that, either before or after; also have a pile of fresh black figs to go with it. ETA: And jamon, let's not forget the jamon iberico.

Speaking of duck fat reminded me that I spied jars of tallow for frying in Costco today. They might have been from Canada, but I wouldn't bet my life on that.

[Jenise]

Mushroom and leek! Add some cream and invite me over.

It was outstanding. I'd never made this recipe before. And eyeballing it, no way I believed that one cup of sauce for 1 lb of pasta, 1.5 lbs of mushrooms, and two cups of leeks was enough (!!!), but it was the unlikely combination of miso and parmesan together with pasta water (I used chicken broth because I had just stewed a chicken, and didn't have to worry about staying vegan) and vinegar for the sauce that drew me in. I made the sauce Wednesday while I had the chance to change my mind about any part of it, including pivotting to a cream sauce--that was my back-up plan. But I loved it as-is, just needed to double that part and keep it separate. All the other components were pre-cooked but kept separate for travel to Bill's house the next day and assembled to my taste for service. I added another cup of leeks, plus cooked/ground Italian chicken sausage and garlic for more flavor, and a minor quantity of lightly cooked lacinato kale for color. The recipe suggested tubular pastas but these ingredients were perfect for orecchiette, so that's what I went with. I topped each serving with more parm and a drizzle of white truffle oil.

It was a perfect lunch pasta made of components that could be prepped a day ahead, travel safely and legally across an international border, and be assembled on site with minimal time away from the dining room. (Those three factors add layers of complication to anything I consider making.) And the flavors would flatter any red wine.

I got my birthday present yesterday from the lady who cleans our house - a dinner of carnitas, beans, rice, tortillas, pico de gallo, and a hot salsa. She made everything but the tortillas, and she's a great cook. (I normally don't like refried beans but hers have a depth of flavor to them that I've never encountered in any other version.) We have some friends visiting from Chicago, so that was supper for all of us. It was really good, but what was really fun was the wine. He's a bit of a wine drinker but she prefers sweeter beverages and usually stays away from wine. I ended up opening a Prum Auslese from 2013, which was excellent with the meal and an eye opener for both of our guests. They were really wowed by it and the pairing with the carnitas and accoutrements.

[Jenise]

A housekeeper who cooks for you! That's the good life right there. Happy birthday, and don't you love it when an offbeat wine pairing kills it?

[Jenise]

Last night I just had a tomato and avocado salad. The urge to cook for myself continues to wane. But tonight I'm cooking for my brother and BIL--rack of lamb. It's a huge one that I bought from Flannery about two years ago before life changed my plans--it's only 8 bones but weighs over 2 pounds. I'll pan sear, coat with mustard and panko and then oven roast to finish. Might serve it on a bulgur wheat pilaf, beefed up with shallots and a rich consomme. Oven roasted broccolini might be the veg, and an escarole and radicchio salad will start.

I marinated a sirloin tip roast in beef stock, Worcestershire, apple cider, apple cider vinegar, garlic powder, and onion powder, then browned it on all sides in the slow cooker. I placed the meat on sliced onion, then surrounded it with baby rainbow carrots, rainbow Swiss Chard stems, rainbow potatoes, a mix of Kumato and cherry tomatoes, fresh garlic, and shiitake mushrooms. Later today, I will make a stir-fry with Bok choy, Swiss Chard Leaves, snap peas, orange bell pepper, garlic, and maybe a few more mushrooms. The slow cooker looks colorful! I will add Italian parsley, cut up, later today. Oh, I also poured the marinade into the cooker and added a little French Vermouth.

Tonight: My fishmonger sells ready-to-eat octopus tentacles, frozen. I thawed them and gave them a hot sear in a steel pan -- it's no plancha or charcoal grill but it's what I can do. Separately, I made a fancy sort of potato salad: fingerlings, celery, red onion, olives, a little carrot and red pepper, more or less sauteed then seasoned with a caper vinaigrette and smoked paprika. Definitely a winner, though I only tasted it... I'll serve it up tomorrow.

Tonight I am finishing up the cantaloupe and figs with jamon, and a totally ready-to-go stinky goat cheese on sesame bread. I sprinkled some mace on the melon and that seems to work well.