What's Cooking (Take Three!)

[Jenise]

A morning glory, not a nightshade. Well, okay! Didn't expect that.

Say, whatever happened to that co-mingled plant that grew potatoes undergound and tomatoes above? Did anyone ever see/experience one?

Say, whatever happened to that co-mingled plant that grew potatoes undergound and tomatoes above? Did anyone ever see/experience one?

Not I, but a quick read says it is a graft, not a bred cultivar.

A morning glory, not a nightshade. Well, okay! Didn't expect that.

And a yam is related to lilies and grasses. It's rare to find a yam in this country; it's just a name mistakenly applied to sweet potatoes.

FWIW, it was a batata that was presented to Columbus when he landed in the New World--a sweet potato, hence the botanical name, Ipomoea batatas.

I made another batch of pistachio gelato for myself.

I also had a cup of pistachio crumbs -- the shop called it 'butter' but there was nothing buttery about it. I considered whether to mix it in, or use it to roll pistachio ice cream balls in. But, after tasting it, I decided that I wanted more flavor than the raw ground nuts. So I mixed it with 1/2 c flour, 1/2 c sugar, 1/4 c almond flour, salt and cardamom, rubbed a stick of butter through it with my fingers, and baked it until lightly brown. Pistachio crumble. Like a pistachio butter cookie that just won't hold together. Should go very nicely on top of the gelato.

A morning glory, not a nightshade. Well, okay! Didn't expect that.

Say, whatever happened to that co-mingled plant that grew potatoes undergound and tomatoes above? Did anyone ever see/experience one?

The relationship of sweet potatoes to morning glories is very obvious when you look at the flowers.

One must be very careful when grafting tomato plants onto the roots of other nightshades. The roots of potatoes and jimsonweed are hardier than tomatoes, hence the attraction of grafting the plants. The plants synthesize the toxins in their leaves, so as long as the roots never form leaves of their own, the tomatoes will be safe to eat. But let the underground part of the graft form one leaf and there will be toxins in the tomatoes. I read of a case where a gardener and his family had to be rushed to the hospital suffering from hallucinations and convulsions after eating their tomatoes that had been grafted onto jimsonweed.

-Paul W.

I made up a batch of Kitchen Pepper last night. Can's wait to try it out.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Paul, will be excited to hear. I don't do many blends but that one sounded SO attractive to me.

[Jenise]

Tonight, shrimp and snow pea fried rice. Will include scrambled eggs and fresh corn cut off the cob.

Fresh fenugreek and curry leaves from a local Indian grocer made the decision for methi chicken, basmati rice and baby green peas. I cooked and froze the extra methi because it is not often in the store and sometimes I crave the flavors of dishes with methi.

I love methi chicken. There's about a 50% chance that the local Indian grocery will have fresh fenugreek on any given day. Curry leaves are a lot easier to find.

Last night I made Sichuan dry-fried beef slivers (gan bian niurou si).

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

I love fresh fenugreek. The flavor seems to stay in my system overnight, it's haunting. Would love to be able to find it regularly (it's rare here).

[Jenise]

That fried rice I made a few days ago was a bust. I'd fallen for one of those four-packs of fresh corn, a particularly comely package with white and yellow kernels, and pulled one to up the vegetable-to-rice ratio in my dish. I've bought them before and not had this problem, but this package was heavily treated with preservative and even blanching made no dent in the off flavor and aroma imparted. I threw the rest out--never again.

Tonight we're tasting armenian wines with our besties, she the blogger who gets shipments of free wine. I'm making allspice-and-mint seasoned lamb meatballs, a fallback when I could not find lamb shoulder chops at either of two stores on Monday. Inexplicably lamb seems to have gone the way of new Toyotas and the stereo parts my husband was also trying to buy that day--there just aren't any around.

Had to use up the remaining ramps I harvested Sunday so made a pasta sauce for ziti. Cut ramp bulbs about the same length as the pasta, sauteed them with bacon lardons and a small pinch of hot red pepper flakes till almost done then threw in sliced leaves till wilted. Deglazed pan with a bit of pasta water. Finished mixing all in the saute pan and served with a sprinkling of Panko crumbs that had been toasted in just a bit of butter and black pepper. Grated Parm after serving. Great combo of taste and texture. Will think of using the toasted crumbs more often.
I would double the amount of ramps and leaves if there is another harvest. I used a lot to make pesto and soffritto for the freezer.

Tonight I'm going to try out the Kitchen Pepper as a dry rub for grilled chicken thighs.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

We regularly buy superb local sourdough that has a very strong texture. Every so often I grind up a few slices and toast them with a bit of garlic. A jar lasts in the fridge for months. Really great last minute addition to salads and putting crunch on pastas like you did here--but I never considered toasting panko! Picture me going "d'oh!"

Today my major kitchen task was baking 12 dozen of ANZAC biscuits to be served with tea and coffee after our ANZAC day service tomorrow.

They are a simple sturdy biscuit which travel well, they were sent in care packages to our troops during WW 1and have become ingrained in our psyche.

The grilled chicken with Kitchen Pepper rub was tasty, but I prefer Jamaican curry powder or barbecue rub. The flavor profile is a bit nutmeggy, as one would expect with both nutmeg and mace present, but the spices integrate well. I could never guess what was in it. I had expected it to be pretty hot with all that pepper, but it has a mild warmth to it. I think Kitchen Pepper would go really well with winter squash.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

I may make some of that Kitchen Pepper to season some swordfish filets.

We are loaded with seafood for this weekend. I connived with Gianni, the chef-owner of a local small restaurant open only three days a week now to a very small crowd, to share a delivery of fresh Hawaiian swordfish and ahi--the most beautiful ahi you've ever seen. Center loin cut, no sinew. We were talking about getting about 20 lbs of it and I cut four friends in on the deal. On Monday we discussed it, and agreed that on Wednesday he'd call me to decide what to order from our Tacoma-based supplier based on what was coming in on the next flight from Honolulu. We'd get our order from Tacoma Friday morning.

In the wee hours of Tuesday morning, unable to sleep and checking email, a delivery notice from UPS advised me that later that day I would be receiving a package from Tacoma Fisheries--that weighed 81.4 pounds!!!! Into the dark, I screamed something to the effect of "Gianni WTF have you done to me!!!"

Of all the wild coincidences, turns out that Tacoma Fisheries sells boat stuff and my husband had ordered a new marine battery for our RV.

So yesterday the fish arrived. Now I have to decide what to do with it. Lunch today: swordfish tacos.

Jenise that is so funny! But the shock must have been a sight to behold, have you recovered yet.

Say, whatever happened to that co-mingled plant that grew potatoes undergound and tomatoes above? Did anyone ever see/experience one?

I saw the plants for sale in garden centres but wasn't tempted.

As Jeff said, its a graft. Grafted tomato and other plants are on sale, supposedly offering growing benefits, but more expensive than I think the benefit offers.

I've just been in the garden pulling rhubarb stalks for our second crumble of the year. In 20 minutes I'll be making scones for lunch and I'll put the crumble in the oven to cook at same time.

Then I'll warm it tonight to have after our dinner of roast lamb while we watch Line of Duty

I had a pound of flank steak left over from the Sichuan dry-fried beef so last night I made Cantonese stir-fried beef with bell peppers. Simple to make, and simply wonderful. IMO flank steak is the best cut for this dish. It's very easy to cut across the grain into thin slices, and it has more flavor than the tenderer cuts. And it used to be dirt cheap. Alas, the big fajita fad changed that.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Paul, I too remember flank being cheap but never associated the "fajita fad" with the change. I'm sure you're right. I love flank, and these days have decided I prefer it to rib eye. Zero waste, and I love the chewy texture. My current favorite thing? A mishmash of Mexican and Asian. It goes like this: pop fresh garlic, quite a bit of it, and fresh jalapenos together with olive oil in a blender. Grind to a very course paste--on this forum two decades ago we called it Garlipeno. Take a flank steak and stretch it to create lots of grooves, then spread the Garlipeno all over, working it into the crevices. Let it soak overnight or all day. Salt it and grill it right here, or paint it with a hoisin- or teriyaki-like sauce for an extra layer of complexity and goop that will attract flames. Grill it on high for black, crispy edges. THAT.

In the wee hours of Tuesday morning, unable to sleep and checking email, a delivery notice from UPS advised me that later that day I would be receiving a package from Tacoma Fisheries--that weighed 81.4 pounds!!!! Into the dark, I screamed something to the effect of "Gianni WTF have you done to me!!!"

Pish. You've got a second freezer.