What's Cooking (Take Three!)

Last night's dinner was very simple: a big bowl of tom kha gai and raw carrot rounds with Greek salad dressing.

My tasso shipment has arrived to jambalaya will go back into the rotation.

-Paul W.

Last night's dinner was very simple: a big bowl of tom kha gai and raw carrot rounds with Greek salad dressing.

My tasso shipment has arrived to jambalaya will go back into the rotation.

-Paul W.

On my list of favorite soups.

I wish fresh galangal were easier to find. There was a Thai grocery in Boston's Chinatown that used to carry it on an irregular basis, but they closed some years back. Fresh ginger root tends to get increasingly fibrous and tough after it's harvested, and that problem is even worse with galangal. Fortunately galangal freezes well. importfood.com sells very fresh galangal. I buy a bunch of it, cut it into smaller chunks, and put it in the freezer. Galangal doesn't respond well to being stored in high-proof vodka in a jar in the fridge, which is the way I keep fresh ginger root.

-Paul W.

Luckily, no problem here finding fresh galangal.

I have a suribachi set that includes a ceramic grater for ginger/wasabi. I peel fresh ginger with a spoon, grate it, and freeze it in 1 tsp portions. I also freeze odd pieces and fragments for use in flavoring while heating the oil in a wok and removing before stir-frying.

Both ginger and galangal are fairly easy to grow in a pot or garden if you want to go that route.

[Jenise]

Tonight is Bob's pre-birthday dinner. For it, a 1st Growth Bordeaux (likely 2001 Haut Brion) and one of his favorite foods: hamburgers. These will be fresh local grass fed beef, muenster cheese, lightly pickled red onions, arugula and marinated roasted Hatch chiles. On the side, garlic-marinated green beans.

Bob drinks very nicely indeed!

I've grown ginger before, but not galangal. At least here in New England, you have to grow ginger in a pot, not planted in the garden. The plant seems to survive OK planted directly in the soil, and even produces flowers, but the roots get infected by both black rot and nematodes and aren't suitable for culinary use.

I have a big jar of galangal-infused 100 proof vodka left over from my failed experiment in preserving galangal that way. I sometimes add a bit of it to give a hint of galangal flavor to a dish.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Jeff, ended up going with a Latour instead. For anyone who thinks that a great wine lack that is wasted on a burger, think again. First of all: no sauce. No sweet elements there at all but for the sweetness of the thick onion slices which were tamed by vinegar. The Kaiser roll and Muenster cheese are neutral, and the beef/arugula/green chile and oregano all play well into the lightly herbaceous flavors that are Latour's strength. Absolutely loved it.

I just wish I had a few First Growths in my cellar. (If the food is not appropriate, you can always eat later.)

[Jenise]

I've decided we're going to drink all the good stuff. Have an '88 Y'Quem ready to go with tonight's apple tart. Yo ho yo ho the pirate's life for me!!!!

Aaaaaaaaarrrrr.
Good wine is never wasted if shared with good people in good humour and preferably in good glasses.
Yeah drink the good stuff.

[Jenise]

The rest of last night's dinner:

Parmesan-crusted shrimp; sparkling Felsina sangiovese
Red butter lettuce w/Dijon vinaigrette, chives and a thick disc of crusted chevre cheese; white burgundy
Braised lamb shanks, red sauce, saffron risotto, purple broccoli sprouts; two '92 domestic cabs
Free-form apple tart; that d'Yquem

That sounds wonderful, Jenise. Please post a review of the '88 d'Yquem in the Wine Forum.

It's nice and sunny today, so I'll be outdoors grilling some sausage.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Paul, it's there--just look for the Bob's birthday thread.

Senegalese Chicken Sassa, black rice, salad.

[Jenise]

Larry, when making black rice, do you always bring it to a boil and pour off/replace the liquid?

Larry, when making black rice, do you always bring it to a boil and pour off/replace the liquid?

It's all absorbed, but if any liquid remained, I'd pour it off. (I was using Forbidden Black Rice--really black.)

[Jenise]

I usually pour off and replace to avoid stains should a forbidden kernel land on my white blouse, but otherwise it's probably not needed.

My better half was in a bad mood yesterday and said she didn't like the black rice. So now I'm wondering was it the taste or her mood? It tastes earthy to me, like a brown rice (which she eats) or maybe more. It's certainly a striking color. What's your opinion of the taste?

The bummer is it's loaded with anthocyanins, which would be beneficial to her.

Back in Wisconsin and pleased to find some beautiful artichokes which I stuffed and baked. Anxious to use up some jamon serrano I altered my usual Italian take for artichoke stuffing using some minced ham, sweated onion and garlic, Spanish paprika, some dry harissa [ Mourad's recipe ], a few fresh sourdough turmeric breadcrumbs and some grated aged manchego. Quite tasty but somewhat overwhelmed the artichoke. Glad not to waste the ham and ordinarily not a fan of cooking serrano or prosciutto.

My better half was in a bad mood yesterday and said she didn't like the black rice. So now I'm wondering was it the taste or her mood? It tastes earthy to me, like a brown rice (which she eats) or maybe more. It's certainly a striking color. What's your opinion of the taste?

The bummer is it's loaded with anthocyanins, which would be beneficial to her.

Pumpkin and I are big fans of wild rice. Trader Joe's has it at reasonable rates; I occasionally buy some hand-harvested for a treat.

Pumpkin and I are big fans of wild rice. Trader Joe's has it at reasonable rates; I occasionally buy some hand-harvested for a treat.

Me, too. I even have a jar of the genuine stuff, grown in Minnesota* and hand beaten into canoes that was given to me by a Native American who was head of the wild rice alliance there.

*To my knowledge, most wild rice is grown in CA. Actually it's a hybrid; the real stuff is tan and looks like grass seed, and it cooks in about 10 min--as you know.

Pumpkin and I are big fans of wild rice. Trader Joe's has it at reasonable rates; I occasionally buy some hand-harvested for a treat.

Me, too. I even have a jar of the genuine stuff, grown in Minnesota* and hand beaten into canoes that was given to me by a Native American who was head of the wild rice alliance there.

*To my knowledge, most wild rice is grown in CA. Actually it's a hybrid; the real stuff is tan and looks like grass seed, and it cooks in about 10 min--as you know.

Yes, I was surprised by the look but love the taste and texture.

[Jenise]

Back in Wisconsin and pleased to find some beautiful artichokes which I stuffed and baked. Anxious to use up some jamon serrano I altered my usual Italian take for artichoke stuffing using some minced ham, sweated onion and garlic, Spanish paprika, some dry harissa [ Mourad's recipe ], a few fresh sourdough turmeric breadcrumbs and some grated aged manchego. Quite tasty but somewhat overwhelmed the artichoke. Glad not to waste the ham and ordinarily not a fan of cooking serrano or prosciutto.

I bought some beautiful artichokes last week that I hope to turn into stuffed ones--my brother loves them but neither he nor his husband have ever made them. I use Italian sausage, which I grind and combine with panko, sauteed shallots and parm. Glad I saw your note which reminded me that I have the artichokes in the outside fridge and need to buy ingredients today while out--we were gone for a long weekend and I am completely disconnected from the contents of my refrigerator(s).