What's Cooking (Take Three!)

[Jenise]

Tonight I'm planning a baked tomato paella. Can't wait!

Sounds wonderful, Jenise. Tonight I'm making a Burmese variant of chicken noodle soup. It's made with a 3:1 combination of chicken stock and coconut milk, with curry-type seasonings. In addition to cubed chicken it has cauliflower and a few other vegetables. It's made with rice noodles rather than wheat noodles.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Well, the tomato paella is out. New plan: wine and charcuterie, because I was delivered the most beautiful box, about 10 x 13, of charcuterie. Cheeses, salami rosettes, fresh vegetable on skewers, olives--all that, and in the prettiest way imaginable. It's something called an 'Aloha Box' that are made locally and delivered fresh. I can't imagine what that costs. It came with a really beautifully composed vase of dahlias and other flowers, all from a local chef thanking me for promoting his restaurant on my foodie Facebook page.

Which wasn't a promotion per se, I was just talking about a place I liked and recommended. The card that came with the gifts says he's had more than 50 diners come in on my recommendation (he personally thanks each table for dining there, and I guess he asks "how did you hear about us"), and further invites us to come in for dinner soon "on me". WOW.

So tonight: charcuterie. Mind blown.

How fun Jenise, that is a great gift. Love those boards and have made my share of them on hot summer days. Mine may not look as artsy as others, but it is all good. I print out pictures of ones I see and like the looks of, and use them as a guide, especially if making for family or other guests.
Your tomato paella reminded me of my favorite tomato rice dish I have not yet made this summer. Going to make it this weekend to go with a nice flank steak I picked up.

Dried fava beans.....going through the pantry in preparation for an extended period away and found 3 #. Yikes ! Making ful mudammas and sauteed garlicky chard topped with fava puree.

One of my local shops is having a sale on dried cannelini and Great Northerns. I'm debating whether these are really worth it to buy ahead.

Tonight: lamb ragu with shaped pasta (cascatelli, reginetti).

[Jenise]

One of my local shops is having a sale on dried cannelini and Great Northerns. I'm debating whether these are really worth it to buy ahead.

Always worth it to have dried beans on hand, isn't it? I've always got a pound of something in the pantry that I can turn into soup on a cold, wet day.

[Jenise]

Tonight: lamb ragu with shaped pasta (cascatelli, reginetti).

I don't know why or how lamb ragu escaped me for most of my life until just a few months ago, but it did. In this case a local restaurant served such a sauce over some heavenly house-made ravioli. And the green garnish? Mint. Great touch, I thought.

Here, we ended up going to a political fundraiser last night, so the tomato paella is finally going to happen today.

Jeff I always have several types of beans and lentils in my pantry for salads, soups, dips. I buy from Rancho Gordo and they have always been fresh. At your local shop I would attend to the best buy date and avoid any the are within a year of date. I recently cooked Scarlet Runner beans that I dried last summer. Absolutely no comparison to any store bean. Totally different texture of skin and pulp and amazing taste. Can't possible plant and dry all the varieties of beans that I love so I'll keep stocking up at Rancho Gordo. In order to pad the order for free shipping I'll get hot sauce, oregano indio [amazing !] chile powder or vinegars. Well worth it.

[Jenise]

I made gravlax a few days which I'll be serving at a lunch today for friends. Pumpernickel topped with Chive boursin, gravlax, and a green apple-shallot salad.

Jenise and Christina: Yes, dried beans are good to have on hand but I have no space for all the things that are good to have on hand. And, thank you for the idea to check the 'buy by' date!

Jenise: If it weren't so much fuss I would make ragu more often. I put no dairy in it so not a Bolognese just dark-roasted vegetables, minced grilled lamb, a bay leaf, a cup of red wine, and enough tomato sauce to hold it all together.

I love Rancho Gordo, buy from them all year long. Rio Zappe and Royal Corona Bean, Midnight Black Bean all so great. Pineapple Vinegar is also a favorite and I love it with the finished beans. It is fun to go on site and read about each bean, and which one to choose. Not available all year long, as each bean has its own season. They offer to sign you up for an email when out of stock and they will notify you as soon as the bean you want is back. Great customer service, and they sent out a newsy newsletter with recipes.

Rancho Gordo is great.

Jenise, we make gravlax a few times a year. Last time we did something a little different, from the Pulpo cookbook. The curing coating was grated beets, with the more usual bunch of dill, orange zest, vodka, sugar, salt. We had chioggia beets from our CSA, so not as intensely colored as the cookbook picture, but fun and different (and tasty).

Last night Betsy made a hot honey chicken recipe, after you crisp thighs you add honey and cider vinegar into the fat, and then pour over hearty greens (called for escarole, but Betsy chiffonaded some (young) collards and it was great. But got us talking about the 90s, where you couldn't go into any midrange restaurant without encountering a warm/wilted spinach salad with bacon fat. Haven't seen that in years,

[Jenise]

Rancho Gordo is great.

Jenise, we make gravlax a few times a year. Last time we did something a little different, from the Pulpo cookbook. The curing coating was grated beets, with the more usual bunch of dill, orange zest, vodka, sugar, salt. We had chioggia beets from our CSA, so not as intensely colored as the cookbook picture, but fun and different (and tasty).

Last night Betsy made a hot honey chicken recipe, after you crisp thighs you add honey and cider vinegar into the fat, and then pour over hearty greens (called for escarole, but Betsy chiffonaded some (young) collards and it was great. But got us talking about the 90s, where you couldn't go into any midrange restaurant without encountering a warm/wilted spinach salad with bacon fat. Haven't seen that in years,

I love the idea of staining the salmon that way. Must be beautiful! I did nothing unusual, just salt, sugar, dill and a dash of gin. Used local silver salmon; wish I'd used king. But it was good, and the green apple and shallot salad I topped the open-faced sandwiches with (pumpernickel, garlic-herb Boursin base) was absolutely fantastic for the chardonnay tasting I made it for.

I love the idea of the chicken dish; I've not had that before but it sounds like a heavenly and less complicated version of the Zuni Cafe recipe I also love. I am totally going to try it this week.

But got us talking about the 90s, where you couldn't go into any midrange restaurant without encountering a warm/wilted spinach salad with bacon fat. Haven't seen that in years,

I used to love those salads. I think I still do!

But got us talking about the 90s, where you couldn't go into any midrange restaurant without encountering a warm/wilted spinach salad with bacon fat. Haven't seen that in years,

I used to love those salads. I think I still do!

Lol. At the very first restaurant I cooked at we made a pan basted steak and poured the hot basting butter over baby spinach with the sliced steak on top. It was our single most popular lunch item. I still make it occasionally for my wife, and I have to say it's still a great dish!

A flank steak has been marinating in a spicy soy, ginger, marinade. Ayocote Blanco beans are going into a slow cooker, with garlic, onion, bay leaf, and chicken stock. chipotle peppers in adobo sauce will be added later, along with Mexican Oregano.
I was going to make tomato paella, but have been craving potato. So Yukon Golds are going on a sheet pan, with red onion, peppers of many colors, and Brussels Sprouts coated with fresh garlic evoo, and tossed with a spice or herb, yet to determined or I may just use lemon juice. Hitting the Farmer's Market this morning, may get inspired with a brilliant idea or NOT. Peppers are doing great this year, and the grower I frequent packages them in bags, purple, red, green, yellow, gold, stripped red and green, for $5 a good size bag. A few are hot, most are sweet. They are great roasted in oven or outside grill.

[Jenise]

Going to a neighbor's today for a crab boil. Excited!!!

Also yesterday, I roasted 25 lbs of green chiles.

Our biggest grocery has a road show, they roast and you peel and seed. Took me 2 hours yesterday but I have converted my box of the Hatch Valley's finest into 6 kg / 13 lb. of pure green gold (not that kind). They were already sold out of mild, unfortunately, but the hot ones aren't too hot. For the most part. I was smart enough to do almost all the work outside, then I brought in the cutting board to wash it off and de-seed a few that I had saved for making chile relleno. Big mistake. The spray of the water kicked up a cloud of capsaicin and my wife and I were both fit to cough up a lung. Turned on the fans, that helped enough that we could finish cleaning up. Still, that stuff is volatile! You could smell it down the driveway, even inside a plastic bag inside the box. And yes, I wore gloves and an apron.

Do you have a recipe for green chile stew, Jenise? This is my first time roasting a case, and even after I part some of it out to friends I'll still have a bunch.

Walt, that sounds really ugly and dangerous. (I use hot peppers prepared by other people, not me.)

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Tonight, chunks of turkey breast, rubbed with garlic, pepper, salt, and lemon peel, simmered in beef broth spiked with worcestershire, bay leaf, fresh rosemary and thyme, and with chunks of carrots, mushrooms, celery, sweet potatoes, brown rice and wild rice. I conceived it as a turkey variation on pot roast but it ends up herby and light (...because no tomatoes and no potatoes). Came out very nicely, Pumpkin loved it, and it cooks for 2 hrs instead of 5 hrs which is nice in August!

And another thing: I've been making popsicles, lotsa popsicles: orange juice with simple syrup and Cointreau, lemonade with grapefruit liqueur, pineapple in two brews: one just juice with vogelbeeregeist and the other with cream, vanilla, and apricot schnapps.

And a small batch made by blending equal parts half-and-half and Nutella.

Regarding roasting hot chiles: The old-school-Thai prep for dried chiles involves dry-roasting them for half a minute or so to aid in releasing the essential oils. We are talking about prik kee noo (Thai bird's eye chiles) here, which are very hot. You definitely want to do this outdoors if possible. I'd recommend a chemistry lab fume hood otherwise. I skip this step, myself.

I read a story about a shopping mall that was evacuated after customers and employees experienced eye tearing and coughing fits. A terrorist attack involving poisonous gas was suspected. But what had happened is that a Thai restaurant in the mall was doing a bulk roasting of a wokful of chiles. The process got out of control and the cooks put the wok outside the kitchen door to air out. Unfortunately one of the main air intake ducts for the whole mall was right over where they placed the wok.

-Paul W.

I've been roasting Hatch chilis for years and I was told to char them on the outside grill, (I have an under the patio gas Weber with a side burner and a huge overhead fan and light), then let them cool. Then I put the charred chilis in sandwich zip lock freezer bags, usually about three or four to a bag depending on their size for the season. Then I put four of those bags into a gallon zip lock freezer bag, and lay them flat into the freezer. I take out what I need, let them sit a few minutes, then peel off the skin, pull out the stem and seeds. then give them a final brushing with a small, clean paint brush I keep in my kitchen. No fuss or mess and explosive scents trying to do the entire batch before freezing. Usually, I use two or three per a recipe, so it is easy. I was told that leaving the skin on not only protects the meat of the pepper but retains more of the flavor.