What's Cooking (Take Three!)

[Jenise]

Chris is that Boston chef mostly known for grilling etc? He was a big deal for awhile ten years or so ago but I haven't heard much about him since (more likely my fault than his).

You mentioning the trinity and beans, I am reminded that I made--once--a chicken sausage and white bean chili based on an Emeril Lagasse recipe. LOVED IT. It's really stupid that I've never made it again.

Chris is that Boston chef mostly known for grilling etc? He was a big deal for awhile ten years or so ago but I haven't heard much about him since (more likely my fault than his).

You mentioning the trinity and beans, I am reminded that I made--once--a chicken sausage and white bean chili based on an Emeril Lagasse recipe. LOVED IT. It's really stupid that I've never made it again.

Yes, that's him. He was the chef/owner of the East Coast Grill - home of Pasta from Hell, Inner Beauty hot sauce (google it - someone else is making it now.), and Hell Night. The last I heard of him is that he opened a restaurant in Westfield MA (close to the RI border in wine country).

I have eaten at a couple of his places and I can't tell you how unimpressed I was. Dirty, pest infested, places. One night my late wife and I were at a wine tasting and he sat across from us. She didn't recognize him but I did. When the host introduced hi, she started to let into him until I mentioned that this wasn't the place.

I didn't know that Inner Beauty hot sauce was still being made commercially. Chris Schlesinger published a home recipe for it that comes out very close to the original. I posted it here.

-Paul W.

Last night... steamers!

[Jenise]

Wonderful, Jeff, wonderful. I skipped dinner last night but tonight will make up for it: grilled halibut, chili butter, tomatillo sauce on avocado waffle.

Last night... steamers!

Lucky you. I could eat a barrel of steamers. Way too expensive here.

In NYC they have only a short season. When I lived in CT, it was easier to get steamers (and a pitcher of beer).

grilled halibut, chili butter, tomatillo sauce on avocado waffle.

That sounds excellent but what is an avocado waffle?

In NYC they have only a short season. When I lived in CT, it was easier to get steamers (and a pitcher of beer).

Back in my preschool years our family rented a cottage in Lyme, CT for a month each year. My parents used to drive to Niantic for clamming. When I was five they took me and my two-year-old brother on the trip. We had no interest in digging for clams, but we did have fun collecting starfish. At the end of the day we asked if we could dump our buckets in with my parents' bucket of clams. Assuming we had been clamming, they said yes. About 1/3 of the clams had been prized open and were being eaten by the starfish by the time we got back to Lyme.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Great story, Paul.

Funny story, Paul. And a little familiar: Pumpkin grew up in Deep River, CT, which is close to Lyme. His grandparents had a cottage on Cape Cod, near Dennis Beach, and he remembers going there in the summers with his parents (and baby brothers)... and clamming. Apparently, Papa Pumpkin was crystal clear about what to dig for.

We vacationed every year in Rehoboth Beach, DE, and my uncle and I went crabbing. I remember going to fish stores to get fish heads for the traps.

Oh yeah, when I was 6, I caught my first fish (a flounder) at nearby Lewes, DE.

Stag again but this is a one-off: using up the last of my fancy Japanese golden sesame paste to make a batch of cold sesame noodles (fettucine), enhanced with cucumber, tasso, lemon, and Szechuan peppercorns.

Pasta and me have a thing going.

[Jenise]

That sounds good, Jeff!

Last night we had Chinese. We were stuck near Seattle for a ten hour ordeal at an emergency veterinarian, an area with a lot of Asian restaurants though most are strip mall bare bones things. We found a Chinese restaurant that had a real dining room and good Yelp reviews so went there. It was pretty bad. The moo shu pork arrived lukewarm and there was a powdery texture to it from uncooked corn starch. There was a similar cornstarch problem with the mongolian beef and the onions were way too strong, the lemon chicken was hot and crisp but should have been less sweet, and the BBQ pork fried rice was the weirdest (and the worst, but that's beside the point) I've ever had. It was full of strange, artificial red specks, which I eventually decided was ground fake bacon bits. I give up.

Oh, gosh, that sounds really terrible, Jenise. I'm not surprised that the Lemon Chicken was too sweet but the rest of it is... ahem... unusual.

[Jenise]

And yet the restaurant was about half full at 5 p.m. and doing a fine take-away business. I note that although it portrays itself as a Chinese restaurant, Indian and Thai dishes were blended into the usual categories. Trying to do too much, maybe. But it remains true that I've lived here (in the Pac NW) for 17 years and have yet to have one really good Chinese dinner (except in Vancouver).

Effing hot here and one of my AC units is on the fritz so it's tuna poke bowl: tuna, carrot, red pepper, snow pea pods, mushrooms (sauteed), and avocado on wheat berries. Simple dressing of equal parts soy sauce, sesame oil, olive oil, rice wine vinegar; and added handfuls of sesame seeds (both colors), nigella, "bouquet garni" mix, garlic, s+p, and red pepper flakes.

Tonight is a family favorite, Osso Buco, served with a saffron-scented Risotto Alla Milanese. Also, a sheet pan loaded up with Farmers Market haul this morning. Japanese Eggplant, summer squashes, red and purple bell peppers, couple of handfuls of all colors of sweet cherry tomatoes, and a couple of corn on cob cut in half which I needed to use up. Dressed with fresh lemon zest, s & p, fresh thyme, a little dried basil. Thank goodness I have an a/c dedicated to my kitchen!

[Jenise]

Osso buco! Fantastic. Lamb or veal? And are either easy to find in your area? Veal up here is close to nonexistent and so, in the pandemic, has lamb been.

We have veal shanks tonight, and yes we can get veal shanks easily and lamb is easy to find. Costco usually has lamb chops and lamb racks and so does our local R&R meats and Seafood. A wonderful locally owned business that makes things like jalapeno bacon and salmon marinated in blackberry or raspberry sauce. They will cut and pack to order.

[Jenise]

Lucky you to have veal around, I envy that. And our Costco usually has lamb too but the last 6 or 8 months they frequently have zero. Part of the worldwide supply chain issues, it's almost nonexistent even in regular stores.

[Jenise]

No idea what dinner will be tonight, though I might repeat Friday's dinner: two-hour baked potatoes topped with shaved truffles. I'm getting fresh Italian summer truffles for $20/ounce thru a wholesaler who's Pandemic-workaround is selling straight to customers like me to replace their restaurant business--I talked about them before.

Made a pot of fresh tomato sauce; just chopped tomatoes, a handful of herbs, and a bit of butter and oil. 15 minutes to cook. Tasted great to me but much too watery for Pumpkin. So it goes.

Jenise, I have noticed out-of-stock lamb at Costco. If chops are out, they usually have a lamb rack and vice versa. The meat store I mentioned above usually has lamb shanks but at super high prices and veal shanks are $16.99 lb.