What's Cooking (Take Four)

I have a few chicken parts in the fridge with a spicy Gochujang sauce made with soy sauce, Korean hot pepper paste, honey, garlic, sesame oil, fresh ginger, and mirin rice wine. They will roast in the oven surrounded by baby multi-colored potatoes which soak up the delicious juices. Asparagus is on the menu, dressed with olive oil, balsamic, salt, garlic, and fresh tarragon, roasted and served at room temp. I am craving beans again, so a pot of Ayocote Morado beans cooked in organic, unsalted chicken stock, with 1/2 of a whole onion (to be removed after cooking) garlic, chipotle peppers in adobo, and salt and pepper added later.

[Jenise]

We're having guests for lunch, and we'll be drinking Kobayashi wines from Washington--very special stuff. I'm making artichoke-ricotta-lemon crostinis, spinach/pea/spring greens salad with feta, and fresh papparadelle pasta with a ragu of ground lamb, artichokes, fresh cherry tomatoes and mint.

Wow Jenise, that all sounds delicious...did your guests love it?

[Jenise]

They did. And in spite of waking up to rain at 9 a.m. (I overslept by at least an hour, couldn't believe it) and expecting more thru the day, the sun came out at noon and it was warm enough and not-breezy enough to spend the afternoon outside watching the water and the birds. As good as it gets on every level!

Tonight, simple pan-roasted chicken thighs, vegetable fritters (which I baked off in the oven but that is definitely not as satisfactor as pan-frying), and corn bread (which it turns out Pumpkin doesn't much care for so I have 3/4 tray of corn bread to eat now).

Tonight, simple pan-roasted chicken thighs, vegetable fritters (which I baked off in the oven but that is definitely not as satisfactor as pan-frying), and corn bread (which it turns out Pumpkin doesn't much care for so I have 3/4 tray of corn bread to eat now).

Jeff, I used to make zucchini fritters all the time during the summer months. My littles loved them and grew up wanting me to make them during the season. I agree that frying them is the best, I, too, tried the oven method but they were not as good. I must remember to make them as soon as I see them at Farmer's Market.

Tonight, simple pan-roasted chicken thighs, vegetable fritters (which I baked off in the oven but that is definitely not as satisfactor as pan-frying), and corn bread (which it turns out Pumpkin doesn't much care for so I have 3/4 tray of corn bread to eat now).

Jeff, I used to make zucchini fritters all the time during the summer months. My littles loved them and grew up wanting me to make them during the season. I agree that frying them is the best, I, too, tried the oven method but they were not as good. I must remember to make them as soon as I see them at Farmer's Market.

My veg mix was about half zucchini, a quarter carrot, and the rest was red bell pepper and potato.

Saturday I was done (I thought) at farmers market when I spotted morels at last stand by exit. Got a pint , plus bought a bag of sea beans after she gave me a sample. I had already gotten lemon sole, Betsy made a Colicchio recipe that is supposed to be sole, asparagus, ramps, and morels. Our ramps have died back, she substituted a few scallions (and extra asparagus).
Friends over Sunday. First course I did sous vide halibut with butter. Then a chicken stuffed with rice and samgyetang seasonings (jujubes, ginseng, and chestnuts). From the new Koreaworld book. Good, but felt the seasonings weren't as intense as in a soup. Probably not a do again The fiery side sauce was great though (gochujang, broth, sugar, wasabi, soy, rice wine).

[Jenise]

What did you think of the sous vide halibut? I haven't personally done it but early on a friend did, and I would never want to eat that again. Very poor texture. May not have been done right but the cooker in that case is a very competent cook (and scientist)--may have been his first try though, and he may have relied on bad information.

I liked it a lot. 2nd or 3rd time I've done, using Kenji's article.
https://www.seriouseats.com/sous-vide-s ... but-recipe

130 for an hour or so (with butter, orange zest, and thyme). I don't think I did as good a job of cutting portions as last time I did this, or it could have just been my original piece had a "fault" in it. So couple of portions kind of came apart during searing. Not as pretty (Betsy and I got those). But user error. What I like about this is I bagged the pieces hours earler, 20-30 minutes before guest arrival I put in water, when ready to serve I had to leave the table for maybe 5-6 minutes (mizuna was plated, butter was in skillet). Particularly when eating on patio, I hate spending a lot of time finishing a dish in kitchen

I was going to do Creole-style mushroom dirty rice tonight but I'm putting it off ultil tomorrow. I had my pre-cataract surgery eye exam today and my pupils are still dilated. I'm not seeing well enough to be using a Chinese cleaver.

-Paul W.

Thanks for both recipes, love dirty rice, though haven't made in years. I always used chiclen livers, Betsy would like the Food52 more. I do have some commercial creole seasoning (Tony something?) so might save a little time.
Your post got me thinking of the Cajun/Creole craze of 30 or so years ago, where every restaurant seemed to suddenly serve blackened fish. Then thinking of Paul P. and others, suddenly thought of Justin Wilson. Looked him up on wikipedia, some disheartening stuff I didn't know. He apparently wasn't actual Cajun, and real Cajuns felt he was a fake making fun of them. And he was a dedicated segragationist. Damn,.

[Jenise]

I liked it a lot. 2nd or 3rd time I've done, using Kenji's article.
https://www.seriouseats.com/sous-vide-s ... but-recipe

130 for an hour or so (with butter, orange zest, and thyme). I don't think I did as good a job of cutting portions as last time I did this, or it could have just been my original piece had a "fault" in it.

Thanks for the article. Renews my interest, previously lacking as explained, in sous vide fish. But I wouldn't do it to any less firm a fish than something like halibut. Do you pay attention to which side of the halibut you get? I notice that Kenji didn't mention it, and maybe only those of us who are/were lucky enough to have lived in a place like Alaska where cold/deepwater halibut is more plentiful are picky about it, but these are flounders. So white skin is belly and dark skin is, well, not. Belly's fattier, top is firmer. In Alaska most of us had a preference, and the camps were pretty evenly divided. Point is, between one time and another getting belly or top will make some difference in the texture of your result. I think top might be more suited to sous vide.

I ate at K-Paul's in New Orleans once while on a business trip. The meal was outstanding. I had chicken and andouille sausage gumbo. I'd already bought Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen cookbook and made the dish a couple of times myself (and started grease fires while frying the chicken!). The recipe produces exactly the same dish they served at the restaurant.

I remember the blackened redfish craze. Redfish became quite scarce for a while. I don't like fish so I've made blackened steak instead (there's a recipe for it in Louisiana Kitchen).

One valuable part of Louisiana Kitchen is the detailed treatise on Prudhomme's quick method for making dark roux. Being able to make black roux in five minutes instead of 1/2 to a full hour makes gumbos and other dishes a lot more convenient. But the process is a bit scary at first (roux isn't nicknamed Cajun Napalm for nothing) and takes some practice to fully master.

-Paul W.

Do you pay attention to which side of the halibut you get? I notice that Kenji didn't mention it, and maybe only those of us who are/were lucky enough to have lived in a place like Alaska where cold/deepwater halibut is more plentiful are picky about it, but these are flounders. So white skin is belly and dark skin is, well, is not. Belly's fattier, top is firmer. In Alaska most of us had a preference, and the camps were pretty evenly divided. Point is, between one time and another getting belly or top will make some difference in the texture of your result. I think top might be more suited to sous vide.

Never knew that, or paid attention to skin color. This was definitely white (remember from giving some to the hound). Maybe previous was top and that explains the fragileness of this batch?
The only other fish I sometimes sous vide is salmon. Mostly I grill, but occasionally sous vide (115F) either (a) to top cold soba or (b) to serve cold with a dill.horseradish sauce. Latter is usually again the idea of a first course that all the work is before anyone arrives.

Yes, with flatfish the two sides are really the top and bottom and are not the same. [fish_joke]You can't ignore which side it is just for the halibut.[/fish_joke]

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Never knew that, or paid attention to skin color. This was definitely white (remember from giving some to the hound). Maybe previous was top and that explains the fragileness of this batch?

I think so.


We went Vegan yesterday with Indian food. Started our meal with ramen/potatoes/peas in a curry broth that I made followed by idli and sambahr from the freezer case at our local Indian market. My first idlis, and I didn't like them. The texture was good and I liked dipping them in the soup, but there was a fishy scent to them that turned me off. I suspect fresh made would be great, though. Fresh cherries followed. Btw, we have been awash in fresh local cherries we buy from roadwide stands set up for same at this time of year, but not usually until late June. It's only May!

Idlis shouldn't have a fishy scent. They're made from a batter of coarsely ground rice and black gram (hulled, split urad dal). The batter is left in a warm place 1-3 days to ferment naturally via airborne yeast and bacteria. This provides some leavening for the batter and a slightly sour flavor. The batter is then spooned into the cups of what looks like a multi-tiered, round cupcake pan (it's called an idli tree). You then steam the idlis for 10 minutes or so, until they are firm, and they're ready to serve.

I've never made idlis completely from scratch. I'm worried about the fermentation step, given that we don't have India's hot climate here in New England. Most Indian grocery stores have prepared idli batter for sale in their fridge area. They also sell idli trees. I buy the refrigerated batter, spoon it into the idli tree, put the tree in a pot of boiling water, and voila.

I've never tried frozen idlis. Maybe they pick up a fishy odor if frozen.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

The girl at the IndiaMart showed me the Idli tree--they had all the hardware--so I could see how it's done. Also that they had frozen batter if I were interested. I skipped it in favor of trying frozen/pre-made, obviously. No idea where the fishiness came from but it was a smell as much as a flavor and I think it may have been a canola spray to keep them separate and from sticking to each other at the point of packaging.

[Jenise]

Today I'm embarking on a quest to make Bobotie. It is very much the national dish of South Africa and I'm going to make it for Bill Spohn's luncheon next week where he's serving a vertical of aged De Toren Fusion V's. I've had the dish but never made it myself and am going to make a few batches in order to make not just any bobotie but a best-possible, elevated version in a format I can make that morning and drive over the border. That always takes a bit of planning.

Regarding fishy idlis, canola spray would do it all right, at least for me. I don't like the aroma or taste of canola. Probably for the same reason I don't like fish. But canola shows up in lots of prepared foods these days.

-Paul W.

Today, I will be cooking a chuck roast...not a fan of them but my usual purchase of a choice sirloin tip cut like a chuck (not sure if that is the correct wording) cannot
be cut like that according to the head office?? I removed most of the fat and slathered it with Larrupin red sauce. It comes from an eclectic cafe a Patrick's Point in Trinidad, CA, very delicious. After putting it into the slow cooker, I will add red wine, beef broth, onions, carrots, garlic, rosemary, thyme sprigs, and mushrooms. Mashed cauliflower with butter, thyme, and garlic will soak up the delicious juices. Another veggie will go on the menu after I see what Farmer's Market has to offer.
The Farmer's Market had bags of baby zucchini and squash, many types. I could not resist. I added mini peppers to the bunch and they are going to get a nice roast. I seasoned it with olive oil, Mexican Oregano, fresh garlic, coarse salt, and red pepper flakes.

[Jenise]

Karen I envy you things like baby zucchinis. Such things are a month away here. At least.

Dinner tonight will be grilled chicken breasts that have been marinating in a wild garlic sauce. Will serve them with a side dish of peas/mint/radishes and, as usual, a salad.

Today, I am making my grandparents' Portuguese Pickled eggs and beets. Also, my favorite gazpacho soup which I am addicted to these days to have for lunches this week. Beet greens are getting a quick saute with garlic and lemon to add to the lunch menus.