What's Cooking (Take Three!)

Smørrebrød! A terrific use for pumpernickel or dark rye. (I can taste the dill now....)

The Francophile is experimenting with a blue-cheese cauliflower gratin for tonight's dinner. I passed the oven a minute ago and it was looking good.

[Jenise]

No cooking last night, just Chinese take-out I brought home from Vancouver.

Tonight I'll be doing something with fresh Icelandic cod that I bought in Vancouver as well. I don't know exactly why the Icelandic cod is more appealing to me than fresh Alaskan, but I've liked it better when I've been able to get it. Might panko-coat it for something in the fish & chips category, or go a little more formal by roasting them in little parchment packets...not sure yet.

I don't know exactly why the Icelandic cod is more appealing to me than fresh Alaskan, but I've liked it better when I've been able to get it...

Interesting. I haven't had Pacific cod in a long time, so never even thought about the difference. We've really been enjoying some beautiful specimens of North Atlantic cod in recent weeks, glorious. Google says Atlantic cod has a slightly sweeter taste, while Pacific cod is milder, firmer and chunkier.

[David M. Bueker]

Homemade chicken makhani last night. Gotten it to the level where I don’t want to bother going out for it.

Still trying to perfect chicken korma.

I got some very nice local free-range chicken, so I'm going to make coq au vin tonight.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Google says Atlantic cod has a slightly sweeter taste, while Pacific cod is milder, firmer and chunkier.

That makes sense. Sweeter, yes, with finer texture. It was delicious! I ended up making a sheet pan dish out of it. Roasted them for 10 minutes on a bed of canned cannellini beans with finely diced white onion, diced jalapeno, oregano, olive oil and lemon juice. Delish.

I found Wagyu beef short ribs, bone in at a small grocery store in the neighborhood, center cut with lots of meat. Slow cooked in lime juice, leeks, garlic, red wine, spices, chipotle pepper in adobo, a fresh jalapeno pepper, and a little beef stock. They were a bit more fatty than I llike but the flavor and tenderness was great. Removed the fat today. Served over egg noodles. Had a bunch of roasted veggies, cauliflower, corn on the cob cut into chunks, red onion, Delicata squash.

[Jenise]

You're courageous, Karen, cooking Wagyu short ribs. I confess to liking beef fat but those might have been over the top even for me! But oh I do love short ribs. Your preparation sounds delicious.

Tonight we're having beef curry on rice (jasmine, not basmati!). I need to put some vegetables on the the plate too, and will resort to frozen Italian green beans that I can sauce up with cumin seed and coconut.

Btw, really glad to see Italian green beans (aka romano beans) back in the frozen food department. As a kid who grew up on frozen vegetables (what I prepared for myself when ducking out on the meal plan others were going to partake of), it was a favorite, but they went missing for a few decades when all anyone wanted was haricot vert. Fresh is better, of course, but only possible where I live in August.

I found Wagyu beef short ribs, bone in at a small grocery store in the neighborhood, center cut with lots of meat. Slow cooked in lime juice, leeks, garlic, red wine, spices, a little beef stock. They were a bit more fatty than I llike but the flavor and tenderness was great. Removed the fat today. Served over egg noodles. Had a bunch of roasted veggies, cauliflower, corn on the cob cut into chunks, red onion, Delicata squash.

Sounds terrific!

Jenise, yes the fat was over the top, literally. A bright, almost orange thick layer of it the next moring. It took me some time to pick it all out, thankfully most of it came out in one large chunk. I had read about Wagu Prime but had not seen it around here. They were great but next time I will go back to my regular beef short ribs with less fat. I should have removed the short ribs the night before from the juices, but got lazy and simply put the entire pan into the second fridge once it cooled. So I had to manuever around the bones and meat to get it all out. Using the rest to make tacos tonight. Should be great, as well.

Jenise, I love those Italian beans, as well and always buy them at the Farmer's Market when they come in. Had no idea one could buy the frozen, I will have to look for them. I get tired of regular green beans, for some reason.

[Jenise]

Jenise, I love those Italian beans, as well and always buy them at the Farmer's Market when they come in. Had no idea one could buy the frozen, I will have to look for them. I get tired of regular green beans, for some reason.

Yup, they come frozen. But not whole, they're cut into 1.5" lengths approximately. Around here, they're available at the Kroger chain stores but not Safeway or anywhere else that I'm aware. Last night's? Thawed, squeezed dry, then pan-fried with cumin seeds and mixed with unsweetened coconut at the end of cooking: DIVINE. And extra fantastic with the beef curry.

Speaking of rare frozen vegetables, once in my life while in Southern California I ran into frozen "butter beans". Lima bean shapes in a variety of sizes and every shade of beige and tan possible, some speckled and some not, like eggs. I believe in the south they'd call these 'field peas'. OMG. I went back to that store for more and was able to ask a stockist about them. He told me they got them in by mistake, "they don't usually come to the west coast", and wouldn't be selling them again. Indeed, I've never seen them again. Sure would love to have them again, though.

[Jenise]

Homemade chicken makhani last night. Gotten it to the level where I don’t want to bother going out for it.

Still trying to perfect chicken korma.

Sounds wonderful. Btw, I only recently learned that chicken makhani = butter chicken. I had never heard of butter chicken until I moved to the PNW 20 years ago, but I knew chicken makhani from Indian restaurants in L.A. Never put it together. Are you a believer in thigh meat only or do you go white?

[Jenise]

Last night I made a Cambodian curry of chicken breast and chicken breast in coconut milk heavily seasoned with white pepper and lemon grass. Really delish. Tonight we're having the other chicken breast done Chinese, this time with green bell peppers and black bean sauce.

Jambalaya made with the andouille sausage I made last week mentioned above. In keeping with the theme going to precede with a Commanders Palace Sazerac made with New Riff Kentucky Straight Rye.
I am really enjoying cooking in my own home after pretty utilitarian meal prep for my caregiving duties.

[Jenise]

Jambalaya made with the andouille sausage I made last week mentioned above. In keeping with the theme going to precede with a Commanders Palace Sazerac made with New Riff Kentucky Straight Rye.
I am really enjoying cooking in my own home after pretty utilitarian meal prep for my caregiving duties.

Welcome home, Christina. What a difficult life you lead. How's mom doing?

p.s. I love Sazeracs. It was a Sazerac in Kansas City, in fact, that got me started on cocktails so the Sazerac has a very special place in my heart. I did not think I would love it, but I sure did. And I've had a number of poorly made ones since, so I'm so glad that first one was one of the best or I might never have given the category another chance. Or now be part of a group of six friends called Booze Group. In fact, we meet Friday night: this time, Irish Whiskey.

Sheet pan Peruvian pollo a la brasa from a recent recipe in the Washington Post. This is the second time I've made it since back home and ordered the Peruvian Huacatay, aji panca and aji amarillo pastes online. This time used sweet potatoes instead of russets. Sweet potatoes win. Used the aji panca for the chicken marinade and it produces a richer, burnished brown crispy skin. The amarillo causes a definite yellow, think turmeric color, and less rich taste. The accompanying sauce is spectacular with the chicken. I did not use mayo but 2 % Greek yogurt and have enough sauce for lots of other uses. I can see it thinned on a salad or thickly spread on a cold leftover chicken sandwich. This is a spectacular chicken and I would take the effort to find/order the huacatay and pastes which I have already offered to my cooking buddies or will freeze while I am away.
Accompanied this with an okra, onion, cumin, chile, coriander saute. Followed by a simple avocado half over filled with shredded mini red pepper, shaved carrot, very thinly sliced celery and minced green onion dressed with lime juice and a few drops of a roasted butternut squash seed oil.

Christina, you just solved my dinner for tonight. That avocado sounds great. I do not have the butternut squash seed oil, but do have pumpkin seed oil. Should work. Going to have it along with a stacked eggplant. Eggplant is salted and allowed to drain. Brown slices in a little butter and olive oil, then stacked using marinara sauce, onion flavored jack cheese and a sprinkle of chili roasted pistachio nuts. Put in oven for a few minutes to melt cheese.

My cooking friends and I made a road trip today and the route took us by Great Northern Distilling in Plover, Wisconsin. We could not pass up the fantastic Coffee Liqueur made with cold brewed, locally roasted Ruby Coffee. None of the harshly bitter, acrid finish of Kahlua this is phenomenal and I rushed home to make a Negroni as described in the recent book, Negroni by Matt Hranek using a tiny bit of coffee liqueur and floating coffee beans. I love the subtle layers of flavor and sequence of evolution of taste in this excellent cocktail. Nothing sweet or overpoweringly coffeeish this will be something we will repeat after I think about something complimentary to follow in the rest of the meal.
My friend bought the American Ginseng Flavored Whiskey with several roots floating in the liquid. A simply beautiful sight. She is hosting a tasting cocktail tomorrow night.

Ate in a hurry tonight so boiled-up some fresh (package) tortellini and made a fast version of Jenise's lemon pesto for them. Yum.

[Jenise]

So Christina, which element does the coffee liqueur take the place of in the Negroni, the vermouth? Or is it simply in addition to ?

Not cooking at home tonight, it's Booze Group* night. But the hosts asked me to make a salad course (the main is an Irish stew) because their salad skills are pretty much limited to plain lettuce and bottled dressing. So I wandered the aisles at Fred Meyer yesterday looking for British-y things and all I could come up with were local "streaky bacon", peas, and Colman's English Mustard. So that's what I'll do: green leaf lettuce, 'shamrocks' of baby kale and peas tossed in an English mustard vinaigrette topped with a couple 'rashers' of local pepper bacon.

Btw, since Booze Group--initially just pandemic entertainment--has officially become A Thing, I finally broke down and bought Glencairn whiskey tasting glasses, two 'trade packs' of six each which would maximize convenience of conveyance. Tried to buy local but no one carries them so went with Amazon where I'd been looking since before Christmas. Prices were pretty steady at around $39 per six pack but suddenly someone had a few at $28, so I bit.

And when they showed up, one of the boxes was missing a glass. I reported this to Amazon of course, who promptly sent me a refund of $5, 1/6th the price of the pack. But that doesn't make me whole, I complained, as it will cost me $12 to buy a singleton to complete the set, which I need to do. Their response? Then send BOTH boxes back and they would send me two new boxes at no additional cost. I countered with just send me a single glass, you sell single glasses I pointed out. No, can't do that.



Time to give up on emails, so I went Googling and on a site called something like pissedoffconsumer.com, I found a phone number at Amazon where I could talk to a human and complain about this ridiculously labor-intensive and time-consuming solution when they could just send me a $12 single glass. The human was surprisingly resistant to this and wanted to stick with their original plan which would require me to drive nine miles across town to drop off the shipment and even then I wouldn't have glasses for the event I purchased them for. I just flat out said no, ain't doin' it--why can't you just comp me the glass??? The human ignored my question and said if driving was a problem they would pay for UPS to pick up at my home--thus making their solution even more expensive which I, as a shareholder, was compelled to point out. "Just refund me enough money to pay for a single glass, if you can refund me $5 you can refund me $15!" I said. And now the human got it. So he slapped a $15 gift coupon on my account, and meanwhile I ordered the singleton glass which was delivered yesterday. It's insane how much time and effort that took.

So now the cost of my 12 glasses is down to just $48 plus a little wear and tear from talking to idiots.

That's a nutty story. Driven, alas, by computerized catalogs and their rules.

The coffee liqueur was an add in, only 1/3 oz to equal parts, 1 oz each, gin, Campari and vermouth. We used Plymouth, Luxardo bitter and Antica Carpano vermouth with the Great Northern Distillers Coffee Liqueur. Garnish was a few coffee beans. Called Il Professore Negroni form the Grand Hotel Vesuvio in Naples. Quite delicious.